In the Dark

Part Fifteen: The Battle for Purity

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Digimon belongs to not me. Characters, concepts, etc, are the property of a bunch of companies which do not employ me. This plot, however, belongs to me, although some parts borrow heavily from the original. I am only borrowing everything, and I'm getting no monetary compensation (read: money) from the writing of this story. Darn it. Don't steal, don't sue. Enjoy!

***

Hikari looked up toward the top of the tree again, a worried expression on her face. "I do hope they haven't killed each other yet," she said with a sigh.

Takeru shook his head. "Too quiet," he disagreed. "We'd hear it if they were fighting."

"Would we?" V-mon questioned, doubtful. "It is awfully high up."

Before any of the others could respond to this statement, there was an unexpectedly loud sound which startled all of them.

"What was that?" Hikari wondered nervously, looking out into the empty woods.

"Sounded like a falling branch," Iori replied, tilting his head to the side. "Maybe one that was frozen."

"Heavy with ice," Armadimon agreed, nodding simply.

Tailmon was tense, listening with her sensitive ears to the stillness of the forest. Far off, she could hear a rustling in the foliage. "Do you hear footsteps?"

Patamon raised his own large ears. "I hear leaves," he answered after a moment.

Suddenly there was another thunderous crashing sound, and this time the ground shook beneath them. Caught off balance, Takeru fell sideways into the tree. There was a pause, and then another rumbling crash shook the forest.

"I think I hear those footsteps you were talking about," Armadimon commented, safe because he was low to the ground.

"Where are they coming from?" Takeru asked, attempting to regain stability. Another crash made that increasingly difficult.

"Over there!" Tailmon pointed in one direction.

"No, that way!" Patamon disagreed. He left the perilous perch that was his partner's head and hovered in mid air, looking in the opposite direction.

"I'd guess that way," Hikari said then, pointing in a third direction. Another crash made all three of them turn in opposite directions, and made Takeru fall to the ground once more.

Iori realized what was happening. "It's coming from all sides!" he cried. "We're surrounded!"

***

Hawkmon heaved a knowing sigh from his perch of safety a few branches higher than his partner, and shook his head. "I knew it would happen eventually."

"I didn't fall!" Miyako retorted. "I just slipped because that crash startled me. If that hadn't happened then everything would be fine."

"Save the argument for later," Daisuke advised, ascending to another branch and pulling himself above Miyako, who was still holding on to one limb with both hands and dangling perilously above the ground. "After we're on the ground again."

"Where are you going?" she asked, watching as he climbed above her. "Aren't you going to help me?"

"I'm getting there," he answered, more serene than she because he wasn't hanging on to a branch some great distance above the ground with a smug-looking partner perched nearby. He climbed to another branch, and then another, and a few moments later he was standing near the branch she was holding. He gripped Miyako's wrists with his hands, and wrapping his legs safely around the trunk of the tree, pulled her upwards on to the branch. A few moments later, she was sitting safely beside him.

Miyako took a few deep breaths, soothing herself and trying to get her heart to beat steadily again. "Thanks," she said, still gasping for air after the stressful and strenuous experience she'd just been through.

"No problem," Daisuke responded, relaxed and secure now. Then there was a loud, thundering crash, and the tree shook violently.

Miyako gasped, gulped back another scream, and gripped the trunk of the tree with both hands. "What was that?" she demanded.

Hawkmon was alarmed now. He let go of his perch and flapped into the air. "I suspect something more serious than before," he commented. "I'll see if I might be able to see anything."

"I have this feeling that we shouldn't be in this tree anymore," Daisuke commented, having also grabbed tightly hold of the trunk of the tree. There was another shake, and Miyako bit her lower lip.

"See anything, Hawkmon?" she called loudly instead of screaming.

"Nothing yet," her partner answered calmly, flying higher up. There was another crash, and then another.

Miyako felt her hands loose their grip and she wobbled back and forth on the branch. She shut her eyes, feeling dizzy, and tried not to look down toward the endless expanse of branches through which would be the ground…tried not to think about how far she would have to fall in order to hit the ground again…and how much it would hurt when that happened. There was another crash, and then she couldn't hold it in any longer, and screamed aloud, squeezing her eyes shut tighter than before.

"I'd guess that those are footsteps," Daisuke noted somewhere between the earth shaking, still remarkably calm. "We've got to get out of this tree."

"I'm not moving," Miyako answered quickly. She opened her eyes briefly, and another tremor coursed through the tree. She shut them again. "Not moving!" she repeated loudly, as though she was trying to convince whatever was causing the trembling. "Not letting go of this branch!"

"If we stay in this tree, we'll fall," Daisuke returned. "We've got to get to the ground…," he paused to wait for another rumbling footstep to pass, "…because on the ground we won't have anywhere to fall to."

"But we'll fall on the way down!" Miyako answered, opening her eyes again. "I don't want anyone to have to tell my parents, 'Sorry, but she died falling out of a tree!'"

"If we get to the ground, then we won't fall."

"You climb down. I'm not moving. The first thing out of my mother's mouth will be, 'I told her not to climb trees. I told her she'd fall. She never listened. And now look what happened.'"

"Stop that! We're not going to die!" Daisuke shouted, exasperated. There was another shake. "We've got to get to the ground before whatever is making those footsteps gets here!"

***

The half of the group that was safely on the ground was trying to remain safe. The footsteps – that was what they were certain was responsible for the loud rumbling and shaking – were getting closer, but it was impossible to tell from which direction they were coming. Each of the three thought they sensed the noise coming from a different direction. And, most startling of all, they could see nothing but trees.

"Woody Smash!" a voice shouted suddenly, breaking the tense silence between steps. A tree branch crashed down to the ground, narrowly missing the three Chosen.

"That's why!" Iori realized quickly. "The trees are attacking us!"

"The trees?" Takeru echoed, confused. "How?"

"Not trees," Patamon explained. "Woodmon. They look like trees, but Woodmon are actually plant digimon." Peering into the maze of tree branches, Takeru thought he could make out a few red-glowing eyes.

"Controlled?" he questioned.

"Either that or they really don't like us," Armadimon noted. "Shall I?"

Iori nodded. "Digimental up!" he called, and for a moment the bright light of his digivice caused the trees to hesitate slightly.

"Armadimon armor evolve! Digmon!" The small yellow digimon was replaced with a larger digimon; one who was much better equipped to handle a few attacking trees. "Big Crack!" he called, placing the drills of his nose and arms on to the ground. A fissure appeared in the ground, causing another mild earthquake and shaking the trees on their roots.

"Be careful!" Iori warned his partner, pointing to the tree that Miyako and Daisuke still inhabited.

Takeru was watching the surrounding trees, wondering which were simply innocent plants and which were their enemy. He could see a few red eyes in the darkness beyond the edge of the clearing they stood in, but no clear shape of their attacker.

"Woody Smash!" one shouted without warning, and then one of the trees seemed to reach out a branch and throw it to the ground. Takeru narrowly avoided the attack, and saw, for a brief moment, the outline of the attacking Woodmon.

"I see it!" he shouted, falling backwards to the ground while trying to dodge at the same time. He raised his right hand, in which was enclosed his digivice. "Digimental up!"

"I'm on it!" Patamon declared. "Patamon armor evolve! Pegasmon!" This Woodmon was barely stunned by the light of the digimental, and swung his wide branch again in the direction of the newly evolved Pegasmon.

Takeru hauled himself to his feet in the brief moment the Woodmon took to prepare his attack and climbed easily onto his partner's back.

"Woody Smash!" the Woodmon growled, swinging its branches.

Pegasmon spread his wings and a split-second later was off the ground, having easily avoided the attack. "Shooting Star!" he shouted, firing back and managing to stun his attacker more seriously.

Digmon, meanwhile, had taken a less earth-shaking approach to fighting the other attackers. "Gold Rush!" he called, firing his drills into the trees and smashing a few branches. Several Woodmon cried out in pain.

***

The footsteps appeared to have quieted down, and Miyako was beginning to calm as well. Daisuke thought that perhaps he was getting closer to talking her into climbing down the tree, but she decided it was best to stay until Hawkmon had returned. Suddenly, a bright light appeared to try to make its way through the dense brush, flaring up suddenly and then dimming. "I think someone may have evolved," he noted.

Just as they were both beginning to breathe easier, the ground shook violently, though this time without the thunderous crash. "Earthquake?" Miyako asked, partially returning to her frantic state.

"Just what we needed," Daisuke sighed, trying not to lose his balance. He looked down at the ground, trying to see if he could make out anything that was happening below, but saw only a mass of branches, as before.

Miyako was trying to breathe as calmly as possible so that she might better sense some sort of magic. "I didn't sense anything dark approaching before," she said, frowning.

"Do you now?"

"Faintly," she answered, shutting her eyes and trying desperately to concentrate. "But I can't be sure. This whole place is covered with dark magic."

There was a rustling in the branches above and Hawkmon floated in through the canopy. "I see nothing above," he reported. "But I think there might be some sort of battle happening below."

"All the more reason to get down there and help out," Daisuke agreed, starting to descend. "Coming?"

Halfway down the tree, both climbers paused and noticed another bright light surround them. This time they were certain it was another evolution. Miyako reached instinctively for her digivice, but knew there was no space for Hawkmon to evolve there. "We've got to hurry," she said instead, and quickly climbed down another branch.

"I agree," Daisuke replied, "but that might be difficult." He gestured to the area they next had to climb through. In the process of the fight, many branches had been knocked down. The trunk was mostly bare, only a few branches protruding from the many stem of the tree. It would be nearly impossible for them to make their way down the rest of the tree.

"Woody Smash!" came a shout, and then another branch seemed to crash into the side of the tree, violently shaking them.

"I think we might get down faster than we wanted to!" Miyako shouted, panicking.

"What was that?" Daisuke demanded, not really expecting a response.

"I've no idea," Hawkmon replied from his perch a few branches above them. "But I'd guess that is what they are fighting." He frowned in thought.

"Well, someone should tell him not to pick on helpless targets," Miyako retorted as though the creature could hear her response.

"Woody Smash!" the shout echoed again, the attacker apparently not interested in Miyako's thoughts on the matter.

"Gold Rush!" another shout rang out, and this time there was no mistaking the source.

"Theory tested and proven true," Hawkmon observed simply.

Miyako was frustrated. "All these trees," she muttered. "Even if we were on the ground it would be nearly impossible for you to fight," she commented to her partner. "Not fair. Just when I feel like fighting again, I can't."

Daisuke had been silent because he was trying to formulate a plan. Unfortunately, neither he nor Miyako had carried anything up with them, which meant the idea of using any thing to escape was hopeless. He was fairly certain that no magic Miyako had previously used would assist them, and he wasn't eager to ask her to try anything new. As climbing down unassisted was next to impossible, he decided the only option would be to ask for assistance.

"Hawkmon," he said abruptly, interrupting the bird's attempts to console his partner. "Do you think you could get to the ground?"

Hawkmon glanced toward the ground and immediately performed a few mental calculations and scenarios within his head. "Without a doubt," he answered proudly. "I got up here on my own, after all."

Daisuke nodded, having expected, and hoped for, such a response. "Do you think you could do so, and bring us back a rope?"

"A rope?" Miyako echoed.

"We can't get down on our own," he explained. "And I didn't bring any supplies with me. But if we had a rope – ."

"We wouldn't have a problem," she finished, understanding. "Can you do it, Hawkmon?"

"I don't see why not," he answered, preparing to take off. "I shall return." With that, he was gone.

"Woody Smash!" rang out, and again the two in the tree braced for impact. When none came, they assumed that this time the attack was not meant for them.

"Shooting Star!" Pegasmon replied.

"Woody Smash!" returned the opponent. The quick exchange of attacks obviously indicated that the battle was moving along quickly. Miyako and Daisuke listened for the return attack, but heard only a crash of branches.

***

V-mon glanced up toward the tree his partner was in for the tenth time in as many seconds. He sighed. One of the most exciting battles in some time, and of course, he couldn't participate. He'd barely even been able to try that new evolution yet.

Hikari debated whether to try to focus her energy on keeping herself and V-mon safe or if she should evolve Tailmon and help out. She was still thinking it over when she heard a shout from nearby.

"Woody Smash!" the Woodmon shouted again, but now there were two of them, and they were shouting in unison.

"Shooting Star!" Pegasmon shouted, still safe from their attacks while hovering a few feet above ground. One of the Woodmon was dazed slightly, and paused in his attack, but the other merely swung its branches again.

"Woody Smash!" it shouted, and this time it aimed higher, and stretched its branches further. The whip-like limbs found their target this time and Pegasmon, still in the air, was flung into the trees nearby, Takeru still on his back. Both cried out, flying across the small clearing and crashing through several levels of underbrush before smashing into a tree.

Takeru sat up a moment later, rubbing his head, but his partner had been too badly injured and reverted to Patamon. Both groaned painfully.

"I guess we haven't a choice," Hikari noted with a sympathetic wince, and lifted her digivice from the pocket of her skirt. "Digimental up!"

Tailmon nodded with determination. "Time to even things out," she agreed. "Tailmon armor evolve! Nefertimon!"

"Hawkmon!" V-mon called, waving toward the flying digimon who was just now making his way out of the tree, flapping hurriedly to try to avoid the battle.

"What's going on up there?" Hikari asked, turning away from the battle her partner had just entered.

"There seems to be a bit of a problem," Hawkmon answered calmly. "I've been sent for assistance. We'll need a rope."

"A rope?" V-mon echoed, nodded, and then went to rummage through one of the packs for just such an object.

"Are they hurt?" Hikari questioned, observing with some relief that the request had not been for any sort of medical supplies or bandages.

"No, no. No damage," he replied. "Just a bit of a difficulty in returning to the ground."
"Good," she nodded. "We've enough injured here." She turned to see Takeru slowly making his way from the trees, holding his head and limping slightly, a few small twigs lodged in the fabric of his clothes.

V-mon returned a moment later with the rope and passed it to Hawkmon, who immediately took off, promising to return shortly.

"Remind me next time to try to land in something softer," Takeru groaned as he collapsed to the ground. Hikari looked closely at his face, noting a bit of blood between the fingers of his hand.

"Is it bad?" she asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"Is it bleeding?" he returned, answering the question with a question as he removed his hand from his forehead. A small trickle of blood had appeared where a sharp branch had made contact with his skin.

"Not badly," she answered, and searched for a bandage.

"That's the worst of it, I think, then," Takeru replied to the first question. "Other than that, just bruises. Trees do not make good landing places."
Patamon was not hurt, only tired, and feeling badly for himself because of their defeat. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have dodged faster."

"It's all right," his partner assured him. "We'll get them next time."

There was just then a sound coming from the tree nearby, and a single line of rope dropped from the upper branches, ending just above the ground. It shook for a few moments, and then Miyako dropped out of the tree. "That's it," she declared. "I'm not climbing any more trees unless they're near my own house."

Takeru shook his head. "Not willing to give up entirely, then?" he asked.

"Not a chance," she answered, and then turned to examine the battles that were happening around her. Nefertimon was still busy with the two Woodmon that had managed to throw Takeru and Pegasmon into the woods, and Digmon and Iori were concentrating on two others. She frowned. "Not good odds," she observed.

"They were better before I went flying into the forest," Takeru answered, touching the bandage Hikari had just affixed to his head with tender fingers.

"I don't doubt it. I heard that crash," Miyako replied with a sympathetic shake of the head. "I'm surprised you're not more badly injured."

"I'll survive," he answered cheerfully. "I always do."

Just as he had finished talking, Daisuke dropped out of the tree, and then Hawkmon appeared a moment later, having retrieved the rope from the branches. "Good to be on solid ground again," he commented as soon as he felt the dirt beneath his feet.

"Don't stand there talking," Takeru scolded. "Hurry up and save us all!" He had decided to accept his injury and thus was playing the overdramatic part of the injured.

"We are sort of outnumbered," Hikari agreed, rolling up the bandage to return to the bag she'd taken it from while still keeping an eye on her own partner, who so far appeared to be having better luck than Takeru and Pegasmon had experienced.

"The problem is that whenever she manages to free one of the Woodmon, another appears," Patamon observed. He'd been watching Nefertimon do battle with the enemy trees. "I would not be surprised if there are many more within the forest."
Daisuke looked expectantly at his partner. "Ready?" he asked. V-mon nodded with a grin, eager to enter the battle. "Digimental up!"

"V-mon armor evolve! Fladramon!"

"Woody Smash!" called one of the Woodmon, swinging its limbs toward Nefertimon.

"Curse of Queen!" Nefertimon returned, aiming directly for the dark ring she could see visible upon one of its lower branches. The attack bounced back, having only slightly damaged the object of control.

"Fire Rocket!" Fladramon shouted, pleased to be finally involved in the battle. Woodmon being composed of a rather flammable material, the dark ring disintegrated in one violent fireball.

"About time you arrived," Nefertimon scolded, avoiding the Woodmon attacks. "Just watch out for those branches. They pack quite a punch."

***

Miyako sighed as she watched the battle happen, feeling a bit left out because, of course, Holsmon would be nearly useless fighting close to the ground in this enclosed forest. She sat on the ground, leaning up against the tree she had so recently climbed down from, and watched as the others watched the battle with interest. With little to do in this battle, she felt helpless, and realized that if she were on her own she would have been in serious danger.

With little else to do, she decided to do the only thing that she could do that no one else could. She shut her eyes and tried to focus her magical senses. She saw the obvious dark magic emanating from the empowered dark spirals that surrounded the Woodmon, but they had a certain darkness underneath which she assumed was because they were virus digimon. Viral digimon sometimes had a darker quality to them, and the dark spirals were apparently enhancing this inherent darkness and focusing it in a direction. The spirals, which had apparently replaced the rings as the Kaiser's main form of controlling his subjects, were more powerful than the rings had been, and Miyako wondered how it was that she had not sensed the Woodmon before they had attacked.

'Maybe Koushiro was correct,' she thought grimly. 'I rely too much on my vision and not enough on sensing the magic. And then maybe the rings also have some manner of shielding themselves and making themselves appear much less powerful.'  She mulled over this point for a few moments while still keeping a watch on the battle, and tried to focus her magical senses outward without using her vision to rely on. As she did this, she could sense the dark magic much more clearly, and then she sensed something else, something that wasn't dark, in the distance.

At almost the exact time, there was a loud sound emanating from her digivice. In almost perfect unison, the others detected the sound and turned toward her.

"Another digimental?" Iori guessed. Miyako lifted the small box from her pocket and peered at it, a small blinking dot in the center of it.

"It looks that way…," she answered hesitantly. "But – …."

"Go, then," Hikari advised. "If it's your digivice that sensed it, then it must be your digimental."

"I'll go with you," Takeru offered, standing up. "Seeing as how I've already been knocked out."

***

Sora frowned, peering out over the expanse of empty land from the balcony. It was too quiet here at the palace, and she was acutely aware of those that were missing. In the distance she could see the beginnings of construction, and people hard at work, but within the walls of the palace, the silence was deafening.

The door behind her opened unexpectedly, and Mimi stepped out. As was often Mimi's habit, she had put great thought into her outfit for the day. Today found her dressed in a pale pink gown trimmed with a darker rose color and a matching shawl around her  "Sora?" she asked hesitantly as she stepped on to the terrace.

"Hello, Mimi," Sora answered. "Am I needed for something? I just wanted to think for a bit."

The other girl shook her head. "No, no. I'm sorry if I've disturbed you. I only wanted to talk."

"I'm not disturbed. Did you want to go inside?"

"No, let's stay out here in the fresh air," Mimi answered. "You've seemed quiet these past few days. Are you feeling well?"

"I'm just concerned, that's all," she replied, leaning on the railing and peering out at the snow-covered lawns. "I've never felt so helpless, so useless."

"So alone?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "I'm used to having Miyako close by. To have her so far from here is…well it's odd. And she's in danger. Oh, I know that she can take care of herself. She does have her magic, after all, and isn't a child any longer. But still…."

"We all worry about our loved ones," Mimi agreed with a knowing tone, a wistful expression on her face. "But – perhaps there's a loved one here, within this very palace, that you should also concern yourself with?"

Sora felt her face grow warm. She examined her toes for a moment. "I don't wish to be a bother," she murmured in a very soft voice.

Mimi sighed as though she were a mother or a teacher gently correcting a pupil. "Sora, Sora," she said, gently scolding in her tone. "If it is love, it is never a bother." She frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "You may have the crest of Aijou, but it would seem you still have much to learn about love."

***

Miyako felt guilty as she and Takeru left the scene of the battle, but there was little that could be done. She focused on the blinking dot that had appeared on her digivice, and concentrated on following it to her digimental. "I think that I sensed something other than dark magic nearby recently," she recalled and she walked. "I think that might possibly be my digimental."

"There's magic in the digimentals?" Takeru asked.

"Of course," Patamon replied, scolding his partner. "What did you think they were?"

"I don't know," he admitted, frowning in thought. "I never really thought about it."

"They're a different sort of magic," Miyako explained. "If I remember correctly, the crests and digimentals contain the magical energy necessary to evolve our partners higher, and we can use them simply because we have the correct traits and can focus the energy in the correct direction – that is, toward our partners."

Takeru suddenly paused in his walking, and then had to hurry to catch up with Miyako again, who was already a few steps ahead and hadn't noticed he'd stopped. "Does that mean that the spells that Koushiro found – the ancient ones used to evolve the digimon- were a similar type of magic?"

Miyako looked toward him and tilted her head slightly, thinking. "I would guess that they are the same magic…," she answered hesitantly. "Perhaps whoever – or whatever – is responsible for the creation of the digimentals harnessed the magic and contained it within the objects." She shook her head, an expression of reverence on her face. "That would have to have been powerful magic, though."

"Very powerful," he agreed, understanding enough of what she said to know that it was awe-inspiring. He thought for a few moments, and they continued walking in silence, until Hawkmon broke the silence by asking:

"How far is it to this digimental?"

"Not far," his partner replied. "I can sense it fairly strongly."

A few moments later they emerged into a small clearing, where a building – built entirely with stone bricks – stood in the center of the clearing, a pond of water behind it. This section of the woods was halfway between the coldest, snow-covered section and the heat of the desert, and so the climate was temperate. Miyako tried to sense the digimental but could not determine its exact location.

"What do you suppose that hut is for?" Patamon questioned.

"I don't know," Takeru answered. "Maybe we should see?"

"I don't know if that's the wisest course of action," Hawkmon warned hesitantly, but Takeru didn't see any harm in it and so walked up to the door and rapped upon it with his knuckles. Miyako ignored this activity and instead tried to focus on locating her digimental.

The door opened a moment later, and an egg-shaped digimon emerged. "What do you want?" he demanded, catching Takeru completely off guard. "I am closed. Don't you see the sign?"

"Sign?" Takeru echoed vaguely.

"Yes. Sign. I am closed. Go away," the digimon snapped, and slammed the door shut, a sign appearing on the doorknob as he did so.

"Digitamamon's Inn," Patamon read. "Closed due to…unforeseen circumstances?"

"Well, he is operating in rather unsafe territory," Takeru conceded. "I suspect controlled digimon don't very often stop by an inn."

"I know it's here somewhere; I can sense it, I can detect it," Miyako held up her digivice. "But I don't see it!"

"It's got to be around somewhere," Hawkmon assured her. "We'll help you look."

For the next few moments, all four searched the area around the Digitamamon's Inn, scanning the ground and the nearby trees for signs of a digimental, but with little success. Suddenly, the door to the Inn opened again, and this time Digitamamon stepped all the way out, his eyes narrowing beneath his shell.

"I told you I am closed," he stated bluntly. "If you would please leave the premises." It was not a question.

"Sorry," Miyako apologized politely as possible. "I'm just looking for something that I need. As soon as I find it, I'll be out of your way."

"No. This is my land, this is my Inn. You must leave. Now!"

"Hey, wait," Takeru interrupted, hoping to ease the tensions.

"I am not interested in negotiations," Digitamamon answered harshly. "Leave now or else."

"We'll be gone in just a few moments," Patamon tried.

"Enough talk!" Digitamamon shouted, interrupting the bargaining. "Nightmare Syndrome!" A mass of some sort of black liquid gas began to spill out of his shell, turning the air black and filling the area with a sort of darkness. It was aimed directly for Takeru and Patamon.

"What the - ?" Takeru questioned, confused. Suddenly, he was surrounded by the dark mass, unable to see anything else. A pounding vibration filled his skull, and thoughts became impossible.

***

"Fire Rocket!" Fladramon shouted, and the last dark spiral on the last Woodmon disintegrated, leaving the confused tree to slink back into the dark forest.

"Finally," Daisuke stated, breathing a sigh of relief as his partner de-evolved.

"It's a good thing you finally got here," Iori noted. "We were greatly outnumbered."

"What took so long, anyway?" Tailmon questioned, having also de-evolved.

"Have you tried climbing down a tree when the ground is shaking?" Daisuke questioned, shaking his head. "It's not exactly an inviting situation."

Hikari was looking around. "Speaking of situations, Takeru and Miyako haven't returned. I hope they haven't gotten into any trouble."

Tailmon sighed pessimistically. "Probably, knowing our luck," she answered.

V-mon rubbed his stomach. "Can we eat soon?" he asked.

Armadimon was also hungry after the latest evolution and battle. "Some food sounds good right now," he agreed.

"As soon as we find the others," Iori promised his partner. "Let's follow them. Which way did they go?"
"This way, I think," Hikari answered, pointing.

Unexpectedly, the silence was broken by what could definitely be considered a bloodcurdling scream. Without further conversation, they all followed the sound.

***

Miyako watched in stunned horror as the black substance surrounded Takeru, nearly suffocating him. She cringed at the sound of his screams, and then turned to the one responsible.

"You jerk!" she shouted, unable to control her anger any longer. "What was that for? We said we'd be out of here in a moment, we weren't hurting your precious land! Why did you have to go and do that?"

Digitamamon was so surprised that he stopped his attack and the blackness began to dissipate. He narrowed his eyes again toward Miyako. "Impertinent wench," he muttered.

"I'd rather be impertinent than cruel!" she snapped back. "We tried to be nice to you and you just attack him like that?" She gestured toward Takeru, who was still holding his head as though it were about to explode. "That's it. I'm not going to be nice to anyone who does that. Forget manners!"

At that last statement, there was a glowing from behind her, and the loose soil near her feet began to move. Slowly, the egg-shaped digimental rose from the ground. It was a pale green-yellow with a four-pointed star on the bottom and the symbol of purity on the side. Miyako reached out and lifted it from the soil before it had finished emerging. She raised it above her head with a triumphant expression.

"See? Didn't hurt your precious land! Hawkmon! Let's teach some manners! Digimental up!"

Hawkmon, who was a little taken aback by his partner's sudden show of fury and anger, simply nodded. "Hawkmon armor evolve! Shurimon!"

The bird-like digimon transformed into his newest evolution, a bipedal creature with four-pointed stars as feet and hands. A cloth was wrapped about his face, making only his eyes visible, and the rest of his body was covered with a loose green cloth the color the digimental had been, in the traditional style of the ninja.

"Ha! Worthy opponent you are not!" Digitamamon scoffed. "Nightmare Syndrome!" This time the dark attack was aimed directly towards Miyako. She forgot her fury for a brief moment so that she might be afraid, but there was no need.

Shurimon moved faster than the wind. Within the blink of an eye he had gripped Miyako's waist and transported her quickly to the other side of the clearing near Takeru. Before she had time to recover from the journey, her partner had returned to the scene of the battle on the opposite side of the building. The attack hit no one and nothing but a tree, and then merely dissipated in the air, leaving the tree unharmed.

"Kusanagi!" Shurimon called, attacking his opponent for the first time. The four-pointed star attached to his right arm flung itself into the shell of Digitamamon, and then the left star as well. Miyako was surprised to note that the stars were attached to Shurimon's body with long springs, and that after the attack, they simply rebounded into his body once more.

Digitamamon was unharmed by the attack, however. The shell was far too tough for the stars to have any real effect upon him. He laughed simply. "As I said. You cannot defeat me." He seemed to sense that he wouldn't be able to hit anything with his own attack, however, and so quickly withdrew himself into his shell, so that he appeared to be only a large egg.

Miyako, entranced by the battle as she was, tried as well to help Takeru, who appeared to be returning to the real world at least partially. He opened his eyes, but they were had the expression of one who has undergone a lot of pain and anguish, and is possibly still feeling some of it. He still held his head in his hands, and spoke not at all except to moan slightly. Patamon peered up at his partner with a worried expression, but could do little to help.

"Miyako!" a voice called from somewhere behind her, and then she turned to see Hikari, Daisuke, and Iori emerging with their partners into the clearing from the edge of the forest.

"What happened?" Hikari asked, kneeling beside Takeru as Iori searched through the bags for some medical supplies that might be of help.

"He's not hurt, I don't think," Miyako answered, and explained as best she could about Digitamamon's attack. "I think it might just be some sort of mental anguish."

Hikari understood immediately. "Do we have any water?" she questioned, and Iori immediately produced a canteen, which she then coaxed the boy to drink.

"My head…," Takeru muttered after he'd sipped a bit of the water. "There's this pounding…." He groaned slightly.

Meanwhile, Shurimon was still trying to break Digitamamon's shell, though not with much success. He'd pounded it endlessly with his stars and tried repeatedly to dent it somewhat, but his opponent's defense seemed to be impenetrable.

"It doesn't seem to be working!" he called helplessly to Miyako.

Armadimon shook his head with a sigh. "I'm not surprised," he commented. "Digitamamon's a perfection level digimon. It's very difficult to defeat him."

Miyako groaned. "Just my luck to pick an invulnerable opponent," she sighed. "Well, I don't care. He deserves to be punished somehow. That attack was completely unprovoked and just plain cruel." She clenched one hand into a fist and glared angrily at the giant egg.

Shurimon paused his attacks and shook his head helplessly. It's not working," he stated simply, shrugging. Digitamamon opened his eyes, which glowed for a moment from beneath the shell. He laughed to himself in a soft voice.

With the same lightning fast moves he'd used before, Shurimon spun round quickly. "Kusanagi!" he shouted, and one of his four-pointed stars flew quickly in the direction of the egg digimon. Before Miyako could completely grasp what had happened, Digitamamon was screaming loudly and Shurimon had de-evolved to Hawkmon.

"My eye! My eye!" Digitamamon shouted. "Oh, why did you have to do that!?" He'd released himself from his egg, his legs reappearing, and now he was running about wildly with one eye shut.

Miyako winced. "Why did you have to –  ?" she asked Hawkmon, but a sound from Digitamamon's direction interrupted her. A few sparks flew from the inside of his shell, and then there was a hissing sound as the dark spiral within his shell was deleted. "A dark spiral. I should have guessed."

"Dark spiral, nothing," Digitamamon scolded, having ceased his running about for the moment and stood in front of Miyako, glaring at her with his good eye. "Why you have to poke out my eye?"

Feeling badly now that her anger was dissipating, Miyako apologized. "I'm sorry," she said. "It was you that attacked us, and I was angry because you were so irrational about your land."

"Irrational nothing!" Digitamamon answered sharply. "You are on my land! You are trespassing! You must get off!"

The fury Miyako had felt returned as quickly as it had dispersed, and she put both hands on her hips and reproached Digitamamon for his own rudeness. "I just freed you from the dark spiral!" she told him. "You should be thanking me, you ungrateful egg! I wasn't hurting your land, I was only searching for my digimental." She turned on her heel. "See if I ever eat or stay at such an Inn. No wonder you're closed you must never have had any customers to begin with. I know I wouldn't stay here!" She stormed away from him then, leaving the egg digimon to grumble under his breath about impertinent little girls as he returned inside his inn.

Through the entire argument, the others had simply stared at Miyako, watching the argument. Even Takeru forgot the pain in his head and watched the battle with bewildered stillness. They continued to gape at her as she stormed off into the woods, Hawkmon following behind her with the air of someone who was quite glad to be on her side.

"Well," Takeru said in the stunned silence which followed. "Remind me not to get in an argument with her."

***

Done! I've managed to finish an action-filled chapter and I've not gone insane! Yes! Well…I was insane already, but….

As promised, this chapter gave you two battles for the price of one! What will happen next? I'm not telling! ^_^

Next chapter coming soon, I promise.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and saying nice things! Till next time! ::waves:: ^_^