Chapter Seven
Davis sat well away from the little campfire that he and the others had set up in the little clearing where they had stopped for the night. Even after two days since his back had been burned by the searing attacks of the Fiend of Terror, the modest heat was still very uncomfortable on his skin. Removing a little tube of ointment from his pocket, the boy stripped off his shirt and again started his twice-a-day treatment.
Explaining to his parents just where he had been the previous few days had been excruciating. They had, naturally, been thrown into a terrible panic when he had failed to come home from school that first evening when he and Yolei had been taken. It had been a stroke of genius on the part of Izzy to suggest that they be 'found' in an old, abandoned part of the school the day after their return. The explanations that the older boy had drilled into their minds of just how and why they came to be in that part of the school had been initially unnecessary, as both sets of parents were just happy to have their children back. The police and school officials had been a little bit harder, but Izzy's script had been simply masterful.
Davis' mother, upon his return, had stuffed him full of a meal of meatloaf and broccoli (yuck) since she had been convinced that the boy had survived the previous days on nothing but "a few stale Twinkies and diet soda". The boy had downed the meatloaf ravenously (his actual fare of the missing days being little better than the made-up version) but had secreted the broccoli away to give to Veemon when he finally got to his room. The food that Patamon had taken up to him before the others left the real world had only gone so far, of course.
Davis looked back over his pink shoulder at his partner, who turned away in a huff. Yep. He was still angry about the 'broccoli incident'.
The boy twisted his body around awkwardly to try to smear the oily cream on as much of his back as he could. It still stung quite a bit, but the balm was beginning to repair the worst of the burns that he'd suffered, if slowly.
But even as he twisted his mind continued to race. Somewhere out there was Myotismon, in his new body as the Fiend of Cruelty. After leaving the Void (which was a sort of parallel dimension, according to Izzy), the Chosen had split up into two groups... with a couple of new members of sorts going them as well.
Matt had stayed with Kari and the dark-haired girl called Rio in the real world. Kari had told them that the madman Roan had somehow become fused with the Fiend of Hatred, even after Davis had seen him take what should have been a fatal blow from the Fiend of Terror, and was on his way there. None of them bothered to ask just how the girl had come by this information... T.K. had explained to him a long time ago that there were some things about Kari that just couldn't be explained very easily.
Meanwhile, he, Cody, Yolei and the little girl that the others had called 'Rena' had been sent to defend the digital world. Davis had initially wanted to leave the blond-haired child behind with her mother. The two had, after all, just escaped four years of bondage in the Void... and then there was the fact that Davis really didn't feel like watching over two nine-year-olds. But oddly enough, the girl and her mother had insisted... both with sideways glances at Cody which they had thought had gone unnoticed. And the girl was, strangely, now leading about a little Digimon of her own.
Davis' eyes fell upon Rena as he studied the others. She was embracing the little furry creature as she slept, her arm draped over its heavily bandaged body. The creature refused to speak except to the child, and the look in its eyes whenever any of the others tried to talk to it or even to look at it chilled the blood. And even more alarmingly, Izzy's preliminary scan had led him to identify it as some sort of unknown virus-type. But once again, Kari had spoken up and insisted that the little girl be allowed to accompany them. Barring an objection from her mother, the others had relented.
You're out there somewhere... Davis thought as his eyes turned to the horizon. Scattered reports had been coming from all corners of the digital world from all types of Digimon, describing destruction on an unimaginable scale at the hands of a shimmering, crimson monster who simply ignored all attempts at counterattack. Ultimate-level creatures, who had never known defeat in their entire lives, were like stalks of wheat before the scythe that was Myotismon. An impenetrable shell of crystalline armor, searing balls of crimson fire, seemingly unlimited motion and the ability to turn even the most docile creature into a savage killer... these were the tools that the Prince of Digital Darkness now wielded.
"Do you want some help with that?"
Davis was torn from his reverie by Yolei's voice and he gave a small start as the girl approached him from behind. "No," he answered simply, once again twisting his arm at an almost impossible angle to smear the ointment on the center of his back.
The girl frowned, then snatched the tube out of the boy's hand as he continued to stretch. "Hey!" he protested, turning to look at her.
Yolei was studying him through her glasses, staring at him with a silent fervency that was beginning to make the boy somewhat... uneasy. There was something in those eyes that he could never recall having seen before, even if he was uncertain just what it was. It made him feel... funny.
After a moment of silence, Davis realized that he was staring as well. "Give that back," he snapped, thrusting a hand forward at the girl and breaking whatever magic had held the two mesmerized for the moment.
"Turn around and sit still," the girl retorted, ignoring his demand as she sat down on the grass behind him and inched forward until he was seated between her legs. Davis opened his mouth to protest. He didn't want anyone touching his burns, and was not going to start taking orders from Yolei of all people. But just as he was about to tell her to go away and to mind her own business, she lightly smeared a dab of the cream right between his shoulder blades.
The boy felt an unexpected, delightful shiver start at that spot and race through every inch of his skin as he blinked in surprise, the hairs on his body starting to stand on end. Her hands were cool and very gentle as they glided smoothly across the whole of his burned back, from the sides of his shoulders all the way down to the small and back again. Despite still being quite tender back there, he felt absolutely no pain at her touch.
After a few moments of treatment it occurred to Davis that she had covered all of his injured areas with the cream several times, yet still she continued to apply more. And the boy realized that, despite his initial resistance, he did not want her to stop. He really, really did not want her to stop. It was like being in some sort of wonderful dream where he could feel no pain, and where Yolei was the catalyst for an intense shower of elation. Suddenly he felt very confused.
And then the girl stopped rubbing, placing her fingertips on the sides of his shoulders as she leaned forward. "Uhm... Davis?" she whispered quietly, and her breath swirling around his ear sent yet another stirring shiver down his spine. "I wanted to ask you something... about what you said to Roan back in the jail cell. When you told him that you were fighting him because of what he did to me--"
Davis blinked in alarm, and despite the pleasure that he was deriving from her presence he scrambled away, turning back to look at the girl. "I... I didn't say that..." he stammered awkwardly, turning his eyes away from her.
"What?" Yolei demanded, her voice rising in pitch as a distressed look passed over her eyes. She knew what she had heard him say, but why would he deny it now? Except that... perhaps her fears were going to be realized. That when the time came, that he would not be able, or willing, to return her feelings.
A moment of distinct, awkward silence fell over the two for a moment after that. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling and snapping of the fire as it continued to burn in the center of the camp and the howling of a Garurumon somewhere in the distance.
Davis could have kicked himself as he silently studied the ground at his feet. For a brief moment, he seriously considered turning around and bending over so that Yolei could do it for him. What on earth had made him say that? He knew, of course, what he had said when he had been fighting Roan... he just hadn't been certain of just why he had said it. Opening his mouth to respond to the girl's question he looked up--
--right into Yolei's tear-filled eyes. The boy's mouth fell open in guilt and astonishment as he looked right past the frames of her glasses. There was no question about it. For the first time in his young life, Davis' words had actually hurt someone enough to bring tears to their eyes. At that moment, the boy wished fervently for the chance to step back in time and to clamp his own hands around his mouth before those words escaped... or maybe to have a giant hole open up in the ground that he might be able to crawl into. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, he suddenly found that what his words had implied had hurt him as well. "I... Yolei... I..."
But the girl was already speaking. "I... guess I must have heard you wrong," she said with a wavering, forced smile on both her lips and in her voice. For a moment she looked around awkwardly, trying desperately to find some way to excuse herself before the tears fell from her eyes as she knew that they were about to do. "Oh... uhm... here," she said, thrusting the little tube of ointment at the boy.
Davis stretched forward his hand to receive the object, and then noticed how badly Yolei's hand was shaking as she held it forward for him. Desperately his mind searched for the words that would make everything better, that would repair the awful hurt that he had just inflicted on her. He may have been quite naive in matters pertaining to girls, but he was not so stupid that he did not know what she had been trying to ask him with her question... and what he had denied by denying his own words. "Uhm... thanks," he said as his fingers brushed up against the bottle.
But before he had the chance to take it from the girl, her quivering fingers went numb and she dropped the ointment at his feet. Turning quickly, she quickly scrambled back towards the little campfire as the tears started to pour out of her eyes. Davis said something at her back but she really didn't hear him, listening instead to the sound of her own rapid breathing as she tried to regain her composure.
"No, wait! Yolei!" the boy tried again, but it appeared as though the girl were ignoring him or simply didn't hear.
"Will you two be quiet?" Cody snapped at him from where he lay by the fire, Armadillomon curled up in a ball at his side. Davis opened his mouth to retort, but then swallowed the words as he knelt to pick up the little tube of medicine at his feet. He supposed that he had done enough damage for one day with his big, stupid mouth. Angrily he kicked a small rock away into the wilderness, though if the truth be told, he was much more angry with himself than he was with the rock.
*****
Davis' dreams were haunted that night, but the boy almost welcomed the frightening images as they allowed him to take his mind off of his encounter with Yolei. Inside his deep, twisted dreams, Davis saw the horrid face of the Fiend of Cruelty as it swept throughout the digital world, raining death and misery down upon the weaker denizens that he encountered. And superimposed upon the crystalline face of the creature, he could also see the grim mask of Myotismon.
And then... another face, as if it were trying to make itself be seen against the background of the first two. A boy's face, topped by a jumbled thatch of blond hair, with weary blue eyes and a sort of halo surrounding it. "D... Davis..." the boy murmured weakly to him, as if pleading for help.
"T.K.! T.K., where are you? How can I help?" Davis demanded of his friend in his sleep, hearing the heavy fatigue in the other's words. But there was no answer to his words, as the boy's image briefly flickered and then disappeared again behind the insane eyes of Myotismon.
Davis sat up in his sleep, sweating heavily and gulping in deep breaths of air. Over on the far side of the camp, the campfire had been reduced to a pile of glowing embers. It didn't really matter, of course. Unlike back in the real world it was still quite warm here, and so the boy turned his attention to more important matters. He had to figure this out... there had to be a method to Myotismon's destruction.
The boy tried to calm himself, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing. If he got too excited his brain had an unfortunate tendency to simply shut down, leading to the popular misconception that he was less intelligent than he really was. He was not stupid, but he had to remain relaxed to prove it... even to himself.
Davis knew all about Myotismon. T.K. had explained it to him on several occasions, and the boy could now recall every single detail about that battle as if he had been fighting it himself. He had, of course, stood in front of the evil creature before, but the insights of one who had actually fought again the dark prince at the time provided even more information.
He's already conquered the digital world once, he thought to himself, and now that we've beaten Ken, he could probably just step into that power vacuum and reestablish his control. But he's not trying to recruit the evil Digimon to his side now. He's killing them right alongside all of the others. It's as if he's trying to depopulate the entire world. But he's got to know that he can't do that. Unless...
The boy snapped wide awake, feeling the morning sun just starting to shine upon his face. He had been up most of the night thinking, and now he had been rewarded with the answer. But oh, what a terrible answer.
"Veemon," the boy started, moving to his partner's side and shaking the little reptile by the shoulder. When the other responded only by slapping at the boy's hand and turning over to his other side in his sleep, Davis tried again. "Veemon!"
The Digimon blinked open one eyes and looked up at the boy. "If this is your way of apologizing for the broccoli, you're off to a lousy start," he complained irritably.
"Will you forget about the broccoli?" Davis snapped back. At hearing the tone of the boy's voice, Veemon sat up and looked at him intently. Despite the seriousness of their trip to the digital world, the creature had been expecting to be awoken by the Davis that he had become used to. The playful, charmingly naive boy that he had come to know. But the look in the human's eyes now was anything but playful, and was far from naive. It was deadly serious.
"Veemon, which way to Primary Village?" the boy demanded, his brow furrowed tightly. Veemon blinked, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder by way of response.
And then without another word Davis was on his feet again, rushing to the side of the others and shaking them urgently. Yolei, then Cody stirred and sat up with very little problem, but when it came time for the boy to rouse the newcomer Rena...
It was like a flash of fur and claws as the little Digimon at the girl's side flew at him, swiping angrily at his face with its elongated talons. The boy reared back just in time to avoid having his eyes put out, Yolei catching him moments before he sat down in the still smoldering ashes of their campfire. "Hey!" Davis exclaimed, holding up his hands to give emphasis to his harmless intent. "I was just going to wake her up!"
Despite the boy's words the feral little creature still stood between the two humans, the coarse brown hair on its back bristling and its teeth bared. Davis frowned. Now that the girl was with them, it was his responsibility to watch over her, and so he couldn't just leave the two of them there. Despite having lived most of her life around Digimon, she was absolutely clueless about the digital world. But precious moments were slipping away as the boy tried to determine a way around the little virus-type.
"Rena," the boy muttered in an urgent whisper, uncertain if this too would entice her partner to assault him. But the girl remained silent, and from his vantage point, Davis was uncertain if she was still asleep or was simply ignoring him. After a long moment, he frowned. "Rena!" he insisted.
A little growl escaped from the creature's lips, warning the boy that he was treading quite close to where the other did not want him to be. Davis looked helplessly at Yolei, who, he noticed, still had not removed her arms from underneath his own.
And then Cody joined them, the younger child padding up quietly behind the pair. "Rena?" he asked, his voice as coarse and as polite as ever.
The little blond-haired child was on her feet in a second after that and went to the boy's side, patting her partner's head on the way to calm him. She smiled as she approached, not for a second taking her eyes from him to look at the older pair. "Yes, Cody?" she responded, fawning over the boy with a broad, charming smile and a cheerful tone to her voice.
Cody drew back slightly, raising one eyebrow questioningly. "Uhm... Davis?" he prompted, deferring to the older boy.
Davis let out the breath that he had been unconsciously holding as the angry little Digimon seemed to have been pacified by the girl's touch. Then he turned and gave Yolei a small grin for having saved him from falling into the fire... and also for the fact that she still had her arms wrapped tightly around him. At this point the girl noticed that fact as well, and quickly dropped her arms as she started to blush.
Davis fixated the rest of the group with a serious look, humans and Digimon alike. "Primary Village," he said gravely, giving them all the answer that they had been searching for.
Rena looked questioningly at Cody, who stood next to her. The boy was still quite uncomfortable around the little girl, unsure of just how he should act. He was still angry... furious, really... at how she had betrayed him and given him over to Roan and Myotismon. But he still had the faintest touch of the feelings that he had felt for her when they had first met. When she had been standing in the ankle-deep snow and crying out sorrowfully for her lost cat. Protective? Confused, the boy fell back on what he knew best. Manners. Strict, formal manners. "Primary Village is where Digimon who are killed go to be reborn," he explained politely to the girl. "Unless they're killed in a different world, like Wizardmon was."
"Well what are we still waiting here for?" exclaimed Yolei, Hawkmon already having completed the change to Halsemon. "Let's get going!"
*****
T.K. reached down and gently stroked the side of Pegasusmon's neck, showing deep concern for his partner. "How are you holding up?" he asked his partner wearily.
The other was silent for a moment, and the boy was suddenly struck with the unreasonable fear that the Digimon might have dozed off in mid-flight. But then... "I'm fine, T.K.," came the response, though T.K. could hear that the truth was anything but.
The pair had been scouring the digital world for Myotismon ever since they had won the exhausting battle against the Fiend of Terror three days before, stopping only once for a brief respite. And now the boy knew that they would have to stop again to rest. He was riding, expending very little energy while Pegasusmon did all the work, and yet was already starting to hallucinate from lack of sleep. He knew how much worse off his partner had to be.
"Let's set down over there," the boy suggested, pointing to a small clearing just off to their right. The other didn't answer, but did turn and begin to circle down in a decent towards the area that his partner had indicated.
The two, in addition to being terribly fatigued, were becoming frustrated as well. Three times already they had tracked down Myotismon in his new crystalline body, and three times the other had done his damage and slipped away through a doorway in the air before the two could bring him to battle. And the carnage that they had seen... what had been left behind by the monster still haunted them.
T.K. leapt off the other's back as soon as they landed, and Pegasusmon immediately reverted back to Patamon. The boy looked on in concern as the little creature flopped on the ground, his ears falling limply to his side. It was not just a matter of simple fatigue, though that was weighting heavily on them as well. But the truth was, neither of them had had sufficient time to recover from the horrors that they had been exposed to while battling inside the heart of the Fiend of Terror. T.K. knew what he had seen, and had no wish to bring it up again, even though the visions that he had been tormented with still haunted his every waking thought. And it had seemed so very, very real...
T.K. closed his eyes and blew out a gust of breath. It was easy for the boy to concentrate on the search for Myotismon while the two of them were still airborne, but now that they had landed, he was forced to confront what they would have to do when they finally caught up with him. Once again, they would have to go inside the shell of the crystalline beast, as they had done against the first. He had been shown that until the wickedness that powered the Fiends, the energy in the crimson gems, was destroyed that their outer shells could not be broken.
And the second Fiend would have so much more power than the first, he knew. The other, the Fiend of Terror, had been frightfully strong, yes, but had been without an awareness to guide it. And still T.K. and Patamon had almost failed before the horrors that they had been confronted with. Had the boy not heard Kari's call at that last moment, and had the crest of Light not given him the strength to fight on...
The boy shook his head. It was better not to relive that just now. Later, when this was all over, he would have time to reflect and heal from that battle. Now it was time to fight the second.
"You do not sleep?" asked a rich, serene voice from behind the boy.
T.K. turned quickly and bowed his head in acknowledgement of the other. A feeling of reverent awe washed over him as he stood before the other, the golden spirit who he had met as Cheyne in the world of the a'ladon and that he knew as the archangel Gabriel, when he was not. T.K. would have spoken a response, but before he started the boy had to fight back an overpowering yawn. He was horrified to imagine what the other would think of him if he were simply to yawn right in his face.
"Perhaps I would think that you are a very tired mortal boy who had exhausted himself in a very gallant defense of his world."
T.K. smiled wearily. "Do I really have time to sleep? Myotismon is already much too far ahead of us. If we stop to rest, I'm afraid that we won't ever catch him."
The other returned a nod. "And yet, if you do not then you will have no strength to fight him when you do catch him. It is a difficult decision, I imagine. But there is something that you are overlooking." T.K. did not respond, only waiting for the other to continue. In truth, he hated speaking when they were together, for it robbed him of a chance to hear the other's majestic voice, a voice that somehow seemed to give him strength.
"You are still thinking as a mortal, Takeru. You think that if you can fly fast enough and run far enough that you will eventually apprehend him. But you cannot, of course. He is a spirit creature, and travels as we do. He will never tire, and can move from one place to another with the speed of a prayer... or a curse."
T.K.'s face fell. "Then how...? Will you help? Help us to catch him?"
The archangel shook his head. "This is a matter between mortals. We have done what we can, but the battle is yours to fight."
The boy look confused for a moment and was prepared to speak, but the other's precognition of his words made them unnecessary. "Done? It was we who brought the girl Rio back into this battle, when she would never have dared on her own, and in doing so gave your brother the will to fight as well. We kept the man, the one called Jon, alive until he could give Hikari the words that reminded her to call upon you when you were inside the heart of the first beast. And it was our finest who saved the life of Davis Motomiya, that he might fight alongside you in this battle."
T.K. again looked up, hope still flickering weakly in his blue eyes. "Can we win?"
The other smiled in response, the first time that the boy could remember having seen anything but gravity on the face of one of the beings. "That has not been given to me to know. However, from what I have seen of you, I certainly will not be the one to say 'no'."
And then the boy could no longer hold back the ferocious yawn that had been choking him for the previous day, even though it still struck him as mightily disrespectful. "Rest then, Takeru," Gabriel commanded, motioning to the suddenly very inviting spot at Patamon's side. "Rest, so that you will have all of your strength upon you when you finally do bring your enemy to battle."
T.K. could no longer resist the urge to sleep. Even if he could have, the angel's voice would have dissolved his resistance away like so much smoke against the wind. Plopping down heavily upon the verdant ground, the boy folded his arms beneath his head and closed his eyes. It would be just for a moment... just to get his strength back, and then he would wake Patamon up as well so that the two of them could continue their pursuit.
Gabriel watched as the boy dozed off, nodding in satisfaction. He considered, then gave a quiet chuckle. If this mountain of a boy could not go to Myotismon, then Myotismon would have to come to the mountain. He should have stopped his useless pursuit long ago anyway. Myotismon could no doubt feel the righteousness and integrity that this child exuded, and naturally would flee from it. So until a sufficient distraction could be arranged he would have to sleep... and hopefully the boy's dreams would not give away his presence.
Before he left, Gabriel stared beyond the trees to the Primary Village. He could only pray that Davis had been receptive enough to the dream that had been sent to him to know that was his destination, and that when he arrived that he and his friends could provide enough of a distraction so that the Dark Prince would be caught unaware when T.K. awakened.
*****
Halsemon struggled to stay in the air beneath the weight of the two girls and the one rookie Digimon that were astride his back. Yolei by herself was easy enough, but the added weight was throwing off his balance substantially.
Rena quietly unwound the bandages that surrounded the little creature in her lap as they flew. The creature gave a brief growl of pain, but let it pass without further comment as the child removed them all and scattered them on the wind. Yolei looked back as the younger girl murmured quietly to the creature, "There. Now they're all off, and most of your fur has grown back. It'll probably still hurt for a while, so don't scratch at it, okay?" The girl's voice was very soothing, almost hypnotic as she spoke, and it seemed to calm the creature instantly.
"So how long have the two of you been together?" Yolei asked loudly that she might be heard over the wind whistling past their ears, indicating the girl's Digimon partner.
Rena looked up at the girl briefly, apparently debating on whether to answer or not. The environment that she had been raised in did not often compel her to speak with strangers and left her with a terribly awkward feeling. When she had first met Cody, it had somehow been different. Most likely because of the similarities in their ages, but she had felt almost completely at ease as she tricked the little boy into following her into the trap that her mother had set for him.
But she could hardly expect to be friends with any of these children without speaking to them first, so, with a quiet voice that the older girl had to strain to hear, she responded, "Not long. Not... very long at all." It was a nebulous answer, but really the only one that she was ready to give at this time. She still had not figured out a way to broach the topic of who this particular Digimon was just yet. But when she had seen him there... wheezing and ready to die, she just couldn't bring herself to leave him there. She had been raised all of her life to fear him, since he was one of the bullies that Myotismon had left to terrorize the people from the Void into obedience... but when he had seen that his former master has been ready to kill him without a second thought...
Davis crouched low over the head of Raidramon as Cody clung tightly to his back, their little group tearing with all speed towards Primary Village. Davis' anger seemed to be communicating itself silently to his partner, whose growling and panting could be heard even over the wind as it rushed past their ears. For the dark-haired boy had, over the span of the past hour or so, worked himself up to where he was now on the verge of seething. Going to the digital world to fight against innocent creatures was one thing, and bad enough by itself, but Myotismon was on his way to destroy the newborn and even the unborn Digimon in the village, and indeed the place itself. It wasn't just destruction that the boy was trying to stop... it was genocide.
Cody was, in retrospect, grateful for the long ride, though he knew their urgency. It gave him time to mull over the little girl with the sea-green eyes who was riding with Yolei atop Halsemon. Ever since they had left the Void, she had been following him around with a very... intense fascination. He didn't know how else to put it. Rena had more or less avoided or ignored all of the others, speaking only with the injured Digimon that she had brought along with her, but whenever he turned around, it seemed that she was always under his feet.
The boy looked up, watching as the girl's long, golden hair trailed along behind her as she held tightly to Yolei. It was all very confusing. He desperately wanted to remain angry with the girl for having betrayed him like she had, yet if she remained so irritatingly eager to please it was going to be somewhat difficult. Cody bit down on his lip, then looked at Davis. He needed to put a question to someone, but he wasn't certain that the older boy was the best choice just then. Maybe Matt. Or T.K. Both of them seemed to know at least a little bit about girls, whereas Davis...
"Hey, Davis?" the boy started politely, leaning forward a bit in an attempt to be heard over the rushing wind. There was no response, only the continued and rapid padding of Raidramon's feet upon the ground. The boy sighed--
"Davis!" He just hated to shout.
"Cody, what?" the older boy replied, craning his head around slightly.
"Davis, I need to ask you a question. It's about... well, girls," he said almost guiltily, trying to keep his voice as low as he could be loud enough so that the other could hear him. He definitely did not want Yolei or Rena to hear him.
"You've come to the right guy, Cody," the older boy replied with a nod, and though the words and even their tone was overly confident, somewhere behind them the younger boy thought that he heard the sound of a mocking self-depreciation, "but aren't you kind of young for that sort of thing?"
Cody blinked. That wasn't what he had in mind by asking the question. He looked at the other. "No, Davis. What I meant was--"
"Girls are funny, Cody," the other boy was already saying. "Usually, you start off thinking that all they want is to be paid attention to and impressed. So at first you'll probably try too hard and end up making a fool out of yourself one or two," here Davis started to mutter, but Cody got the distinct impression that he continued on with 'or twenty or thirty'," times, but that's the wrong way to go about telling a girl that you like her."
"Davis, that's not even what I--"
"So after some thought I've come to the conclusion that it's better to play it cool and to not say anything to them that might make them think that you're trying to flirt with them. Don't admit to anything, and don't make a fool out of yourself just because you start to like one. Trust me. You'll just end up driving her away."
Cody pulled back slightly and looked at the rear of the other's head, a single eyebrow askew. Somewhere shortly after the first words out of his mouth, the younger boy had gotten the distinct impression that Davis had stopped responding to him and had started talking to himself. That hadn't helped at all. "Uhm... thanks," he nevertheless replied courteously.
But Davis had evidently gone off on a self-directed rant of some sort, and didn't hear the word of gratitude. "And don't ever tell them how you really feel unless you're sure that they feel the same way, and always remember to think before you talk, and never..."
Cody stopped listening at that point, though the older boy continued on for a long time afterwards, indeed, long after Cody had fallen asleep against the other's back. This was probably unwise, traveling as rapidly as they were, but fortunately Armadillonmon was at his back and held him steady where he might otherwise have fallen off.
Raidramon and Halsemon were well out of breath by the time that the group reached the Primary Village, and the children all tumbled off the backs of their mounts while listening to them pant and wheeze. Just beyond a nearby hill, Davis could hear the mewling cries of a hundred upon a hundred newborn (or perhaps reborn) Digimon. The boy's eyes flitted nervously around the area that he could see from the hilltop, and after an impatient moment, he shouted, "Where are you? I know that you're here, so you might as well come out now!"
The boy's words echoed among the hills, drawing more cries from the babies on the other side of it but nothing more. He frowned. "Come out, damn you!"
Yolei's eyes blinked open in alarm as the boy swore and her hands clamped tightly over Rena's ears. The little girl shrugged off the hands, but the older of the two didn't seem to notice as she continued to stare at the boy. He sounded genuinely angry about this. Walking over quietly, she placed her hands on both of his shoulders. Gently she touched him, remembering the burn that was still prominent over much of his skin.
Davis wheeled in surprise, grabbing both of the girl's hands in his own as if he was expecting to have to fight... then stopped. Both of them stood quietly, the boy gripping the girl's hands tightly as they stood there eye-to-eye, just staring. Davis could see his own image reflected in her eyes, and desperately wanted to close his mouth before drool started pouring out of it, but for the life of him he couldn't seem to remember how to work his jaw at that moment.
"D... Davis?" Yolei murmured quietly as she peered at him through her thick lenses. Her heart was beating rapidly against the inside of her chest, and for a moment, she froze.
But only just for a moment. After that the girl removed her hands from his and slowly, deliberately, started to pull the fingers of one of her gloves away from her hand. First one, then the other, but at no time did she break the almost magical bond that their respective eyes were creating in that small (and getting smaller by the moment) space between them. And when finally both of her gloves were off, Yolei took what had to be one of the bigger chances of her young life.
She reached forward, and lightly lay the fingertips of one hand against Davis' cheek.
The boy, for the life of him, had no idea what to say. A thousand words passed through his head, but he couldn't seem to grab onto any of them to analyze what they might mean if he should speak them. Indeed, he wasn't sure that he wanted to speak, for that might necessitate the girl moving her pinky finger away from where it rested, just against the corner of his lips.
And then a phrase entered his mind. Yolei's fingertips were moving ever so slightly upon the skin of his cheek, and now her other hand was resting flat against his chest where she just had to feel his heart pounding out the rhythm of a hundred drums. Don't say it! his mind screamed at him. What did you just tell Cody? Don't you dare make a fool out of us again. Don't let it be like it was with Kari! Don't you dare say--
"Yolei...?"
"Davis...?"
The boy blinked, then swallowed hard. "Yolei... I... Duck!"
The magic was broken at the shout, and her face fell. "Huh?"
Davis slammed his shoulder into the girl's midsection, taking her forward and to the ground as a meteor-like ball of multicolored flame raced over their heads and exploded on the ground nearby. "Ahh!" the boy shouted in pain as he took most of the damage from the heat and shrapnel that flew from the spot of impact. Still shielding the girl with his body as little bits of rock continued to rain down upon them, the boy looked up.
Through a shimmering gate in the air stepped the massive figure of the Fiend of Brutality, his crimson, crystalline skin shimmering and his broad shoulders presenting an awesome sight as he walked calmly through the dimensional door that he had created. And now a velvety black cape was draped about his neck, the smooth edges of the garb fluttering silently in the wind.
Raising up a hand and clinching his fist tightly, a fist that genuinely glowed with suppressed power, Myotismon stared down the little group. "What a foolish and conceited little creature you are, boy. Did you think to come all this way to stop me here? With only this pathetic rabble to help you? I suppose that I should have just killed you off when I had the chance." The words were chill as ice, the comparison becoming even more apt when one considered the almost crystalline sound of the other's voice... almost like a chandelier rattling after being shaken too hard.
"And maybe you'd have done better at that than you did trying to scare me with all of those spooks that you conjured up, right?" the boy retorted. "Well this time, there's no one around that's going to help you. To get at those babies, you're going to have to go through me."
The other's face took on a very serious mien, a dark fire swirling deep within his eyes. "Of course. I should have killed you the first time all those years ago when you stood before me in place of the child of Light. I should have killed you after I had you bawling for help while sleeping in my dungeon. There will not be a third 'I should have', I think."
"No, there won't," Davis shot back at the creature. "Veemon! Ready to fight?"
The boy turned and looked at his blue-skinned partner, who was dozing quietly nearby, and blinked. Then he looked, and saw that Hawkmon was doing the same. "Uhm... Yolei?"
"Davis, that's what I was trying to tell you! We exhausted them by pushing them to get here so fast. They passed out almost the very minute that we got here!"
At the boy's back, Myotismon's fist crackled with available energy. "Turn around, boy," the other commanded with a sibilant hiss. "I want you to see this coming as it burns you to a smoking cinder."
But then from Myotismon's rear, another voice sounded. "Aww, didja forget about us? Rock Cracking!"
Digmon slammed his steel drills into the ground at his feet, opening a long, thin cavity in the earth which raced towards the Fiend's massive crimson feet. Unfortunately, the creature had failed to take into account the fact that there was an enormous underground cave just where he had started to drill, and so the opening which proceeded past that point could almost be described as 'craterous'.
"Davis!" Yolei screamed as she tumbled down the steep embankment of the massive fissure, digging her fingers into the side of the chasm as she slipped. Fortunately the opening narrowed as it went deeper, so the girl was able to slide/tumble down instead of just falling into empty space.
Digmon looked on in alarm, his eyes wide. "Oops..."
Myotismon, meanwhile, had caught the edge of the chasm and was now dangling by one arm to keep from falling in, since the decline of the area where he had fallen was much steeper than where Yolei had been. Nevertheless and despite his anxious situation, the creature laughed mockingly at the little group. "Is this how you think to stop me? Don't you understand yet? Even if I should fall, in this body... I am invincible!"
"Yolei!" Davis cried, his heart almost bursting through his chest as he saw the girl sliding deeper and deeper into the chasm. The thought of her being buried alive somewhere down there... "Veemon! Hawkmon! Get up, you two!"
Over on the far side of the chasm the two little creature started to stir, and then sat up wide awake at hearing the noise. Both rubbed their eyes in fatigue, then blinked them open as they saw Davis laying face-down on the ground and staring into the deep hole. The boy looked up, relieved, as they moved towards him. "Hawkmon! Go get me some of those vines over there!" And the boy pointed to a little thicket atop a nearby hill where a grove of trees was growing.
"Veemon! I need Flamedramon... now!" And the boy reached down to his side for his D-3 and thrust it towards his partner.
Veemon strained, then burst forth into life as the fires surrounded him, now transmuting his flesh and body structure into that of Flamedramon. Seeing Myotismon still dangling from his seemingly precarious position, the creature launched his attack. "Fire Rocket!"
Myotismon's crystalline voice rang out in peals of hallow laughter as the balls of fire burst upon his shell, then instantly dissolved. "Oh, now that was truly, truly pathetic."
But now Hawkmon had returned with the vines, dropping an exceptionally long one at Davis' side. "Flamedramon! Forget about him and get over here!"
As the creature turned in response to the boy's call, Davis busied himself by tying a tight knot around his waist with the springy green vine while Yolei continued to cry out, slipping deeper and deeper into the fissure with every passing minute. Hawkmon now turned to the battle, seeing that Myotismon had pulled himself out of the crevice that he had been dangling from with very little effort. Digmon, with Cody by his side now squared off against the Fiend, but looked none-to-confident of success.
Myotismon peered at the younger boy. "And you are the one that provided life to this body, child. I think it only appropriate that I use it to take yours from you."
"No!" shouted a voice at the back of the massive figure, and then Myotismon was forced to take an involuntary step forward as he was struck by a furious whirlwind of teeth and hair.
"Cody! Come on!" Rena screamed, dashing to the boy's side and tugging urgently upon his sleeve. The boy looked confused for a moment, his jade-colored eyes looking from the girl to Myotismon and then back again. He couldn't leave Digmon and the girl's little rookie to fight against him alone, but...
"Cody, now! Or he'll kill you!" The girl had now set her feet firmly in the ground and was trying to pull the boy away from the fight, her face turning red with the effort and frantic tears falling from her eyes as she looked at him. Cody felt a strange tug of emotion as he watched her, hysterical and desperate as she tried to save him.
"You're right," he said with a nod, taking the girl's hand and running off in the direction of the little hill.
Meanwhile, Myotismon had grabbed the little creature on his back by the scruff of the neck and pulled it forward, holding it dangling in front of his dark eyes. "You... you never cared about us," the furry rookie growled deeply. "You used us, then just threw us away when you were done. You sent the other to kill those who served you, and then you would have killed me as well. How does it feel? To know that you have failed?"
Myotismon dashed the creature violently to the ground. "Who are you? I don't recognize--"
"Of course you don't. Does this help?"
And with that the other closed his eyes and started to strain, and in a moment a dark cloud seemed to envelop him. Then, as the mist vanished, the dark creature stepped forward from its remnants... only now, he was much, much larger. And angrier. "BlackGrizzmon," the crystalline Fiend hissed. "You should be dead. I saw you crushed beneath the whirlwind of stones."
The other scowled, baring his feral teeth at the other's words. "Yes. Yes, and I would have died, were it not for the foolish mercy of that little human girl. She saved me, when I had spent my life trying to exterminate her race on your orders. Now you will answer to me."
"Foolish creature. Do you think to pit your strength against mine? Yes? Then let us find out how you fare."
And then the crystalline beast leapt at the bear-like Digimon, only to see him move and to come face-to-face with the sharpened drills of Digmon. The drills slammed into his face, not damaging his skin in the least but surprising him enough so that he did stumble backwards a bit.
"Hold this!" Davis ordered, thrusting the end of the vine at Flamedramon.
The other took the item uncertainly. "Davis? What are you--"
But the boy did not listen, diving headfirst into the crevice into which Yolei had fallen. A very long way he slid, sharp pebbles and rocks scraping his skin painfully as he tumbled. But then he caught sight of Yolei in front of him, looking very tired and very dirty as she clung desperately to a narrow outcropping of stone. "Yolei!" he shouted, digging his hands and toes into the wall of the crevice to slow his fall.
Fortunately, at that point the vine became taut and Davis stopped with such suddenness that he was afraid that his spine had been wrenched out of joint. All of his blood rushed to his head as he stopped, making the boy quite dizzy. "Yolei!" he again cried urgently, reaching for the girl. "Take my hand!"
The girl shook her head rapidly, clinging to the outcropping of rock as if it were her only means of survival... which, in a sense, it was. "Yolei, please," Davis begged, reaching for her hand but coming up just short. "Please, Yolei, you've got to trust me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. Listen, I admit it, okay? I was fighting Roan like that 'cause of what he did to you, all right? If you're going to make me say it, then I guess now's the best time. I can't stand to see you hurt, Yolei. I can't stand to see you hurt, or afraid, or lonely. And if that means that I... that I... I mean... oh, shoot! C'mon, Yolei. Don't make me do this here!"
And then, with a mysterious look on her very dirty face, the girl nodded and shot one hand forward to clasp the boy's, then the other one as well. Within seconds the outcropping of rock crumbled away, falling down into the massive maw of the underground cavern. Then the girl slowly climbed up the boy's body, until she was holding the vine wrapped about his waist. "Flamedramon!" Davis called urgently. "Pull us up!"
As the creature did so, slowly, Davis mumbled something, something that was apparently just for Yolei's ears. "What was that, Davis?" she asked sweetly.
The boy grumbled again. "I said, 'Get your foot out of my face,'!"
*****
The three looked on in horror as Myostimon dashed Digmon, Hawkmon and BlackGrizzmon about like so many rag dolls. "Flamedramon," Davis said with a nod, feeling suddenly a bit more secure as Yolei's hand slipped comfortably into his. He hadn't said... what he had been going to say, but apparently she had heard enough. Well, time enough to worry about that later, he supposed.
Myotismon threw his head back and roared with laughter as the attacks of the creatures vanished against his crystalline armor. "Fools! Did you really think to best me like this? I am... I am more than invincible! I... am... a God!"
Digmon groaned in pain and looked up weakly at the beast. From quite a distance away, Cody struggled to get back to his partner as Rena had wrapped herself tightly around his legs to keep him out of the battle. Hawkmon stared on helplessly, unwilling even to try his strength against the massive form that Myotismon now wore. BlackGrizzmon lay crumpled on the ground, the massive talons on one of his paws having been broken off already.
Flamedramon stood ready to attack, but Davis put one hand on the creature's arm. "Wait... not yet," he said with a knowing smile as he looked around the field of battle. Then, after a moment, he focused on Myotismon. "It's time for this to end."
And at the poised sound of the boy's voice Myotismon suddenly became aware of the danger that he was in, but it was already too late. With a dazzling burst of holy light, T.K. and Pegasusmon suddenly appeared in the sky and descended upon him, striking the Fiend in the center of the back and vanishing inside its crystalline body. Myotismon looked suddenly stricken, his hands starting to shake with a visible palsy and the crimson essence within his body beginning to diminish with every passing moment.
"No..." the creature gasped in a panicked voice, raising a trembling hand filled with crimson fire and leveling it in Davis' direction. "I can't... I won't let it end... like..." And then, as if speech required too much of his waning strength, the Fiend hurled the ball of fire directly at Davis and Yolei.
The girl cringed, awaiting the impact, but Davis only stepped forward and raised his palm towards the little ball of flames. Mere inches and a split second before the fire reached them it abruptly vanished, simply blinking out of existence like a candle extinguished by a gust of wind. At that same moment and with the sound of a glass shattering against stone, the Fiend's crystalline heart burst.
Davis nodded. "Now."
"Fire Rocket!"
Myotismon saw the fire coming, a fire like that with which he had already slain dozens of Digimon, and knew that, like those Digimon, he was powerless to avoid it. His invincibility was gone, stripped from him by the victory of the damned, blond human child who had just invaded his body. He should have been ready... should have been ready...
"We did it!" Yolei cried, leaping into Davis' arms as the Fiend's body crumbled into splinters. The boy embraced the girl awkwardly, watching as Myotismon's soul once again flew away. Hopefully it would be the last that they would see of him... but he had an uncomfortable feeling that the truth would be otherwise.
And as Yolei hugged him tightly and little Rena attempted to do the same with Cody, Davis looked skyward at the wisps of white smoke trailing away from the shattered husk of the creature. There, within the vaporous cloud, the boy could have sworn that he saw the image of T.K., draped limply over the back of Pegasusmon. With one arm tightly around Yolei, the boy raised the other hand in a silent salute to the blond-haired child of Hope. And he gave a single nod of satisfaction and relief as he saw the image of the other boy raise his hand to return the gesture... just before the two of them vanished upon the wind.
And then Yolei stepped back, her hands tightly upon his shoulders. "Now," she said with a triumphant grin. "Did you have something that you were going to tell me?"
Davis almost winced. "Oh. Oh... boy," he murmured, glancing about every which way to avoid the girl's especially bright eyes.
