I don't own Digimon

Fertilizer, Half Off

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"Ugh, could this place stink any worse?" growled Jason as he stumbled along the root infested ground. They had found a stretch of dry land in a swamp they had wandered into.

"You're just mad because you got a face full of Nume-poo," said Otamamon with a giggle.

"Yeah well, you weren't any help," grumbled Jason loudly as he stopped to lean against a tree. "You just sat there laughing your tail off."

"Well, you should've seen your face when that big glob of poo slammed you in the face," giggled Otamamon.

"I don't even remember why he did it either…" growled Jason as he shook his head. "It took an hour to clean that stuff off!"

"I know, you cursed for two hours before and afterwards…" chuckled the tadpole.

"Well it's a good thing those Numemon aren't very dangerous, or I'd be dead by now, you were laughing so hard you couldn't have digivolved if a herd of Assaultmon were chasing us," said Jason loudly. He looked at his digivice and sighed, "I wish we could pick up that signal. It seems every time we get close to it; it disappears into thin air."

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"There it goes again…" Kevin sighed, as he looked forlornedly at his digivice.

"It can't be that bad," replied Snow Agumon as the little white dinosaur looked up at the boy with the red hat.

"We're at the end of the road," whispered Mark quietly. He looked up at Kevin.

"Yeah, and this swamp isn't looking very inviting either," whispered Kevin quietly, "but that's where the signal was…" Kevin blinked slightly. "A new signal…coming from…" Kevin swiveled left a little and looked into the maw of the swamp, "This way…"

"Are you sure?" asked Mark quietly as he took a step forward overstepping a large root.

"No, but then again, we haven't been sure about things for a while now," replied Kevin and he took another step and promptly fell into a mud hole. The brown haired boy looked up at Mark, "Case in point?"

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"This is insane," grunted Brendan as he hoisted Michelle a little higher up on his back as he waded through the quagmire that they had followed the digital signal to. "I'm not built for heavy lifting you know…"

Lucemon was hovering over the mud holding Labramon, "Do you think I look like a cargo plane?" The angel looked down at the digivice that Labramon held. He furrowed his brow. "Signals now…two, no, three, no…five…"

"Really?" Brendan looked up at the angel in anticipation.

"But the original is gone," Lucemon narrowed his eyes. "The closest one is thirty degrees to the north."

"I say we go to that one," said Brendan as he pushed Michelle a little higher up and pushed through the mud that sloshed around his waist.

"It looks a little drier there at least," whimpered Demi Meramon as he hovered towards the trees.

"Yeah…" murmured Brendan as he stumbled forward tripping a little on raised roots.

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"It's gone!" shouted Amy as she looked down and saw the tree line.

"Damn," growled Steven as he held Kyokyomon.

"Don't worry, we'll find it again," said Saberdramon as the large raven bird swept over the canopy.

"We may not need to do it alone," called Steven as he pointed downward. "There is a signal, two signals actually close together. Maybe Brendan found someone, or maybe one of the others found someone else."

"Down Saberdramon, we have to find out who's down there," shouted Amy as she looked at her digivice and two blinking red lights started to grow larger and blinked faster.

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"Janet, why are we doing this?" asked Renamon quietly as they sat in a small white void of Renamon's kitsune universe.

"It's for the best," whispered Janet as she looked down at her crest, "What does that hyper fur ball know anyways…lots of love my…"

"We should return to the others, they need us," said Renamon quietly.

"No," Janet stood up from her sitting position and shook her head, "No, every time I've tried to help it's only caused us trouble, getting my crest…." Janet closed her eyes and shook her head, "No, we can't we…just…"

"He's alive, is that not what you hoped for?" asked Renamon quietly.

"It's my fault!" shouted Janet loudly. She closed her eyes. "I let Boogeymon get away when we could've blasted him, I was the one that got you hurt by Nohemon, and I was the one that made Kevin disappear! I can't…I just can't. Every time I try to help…every time I get involved someone gets hurt, I can't let them get near me again."

The golden fox looked down at her partner. Her eyes narrowed quietly. The bright blue eyes pierced Janet as they searched for something anything to console the human girl.

"It is not true, you are lying to yourself," said the fox quietly. Janet looked up. The fox didn't flinch at the glare. "You would rather hate yourself, alone, than to face the truth that you were not responsible for the situations we were put in."

"What would know?" Janet looked down angrily.

"I know something you do not, that you are a very loving, caring person," replied Renamon. The fox turned from her partner. "You may have been at the epicenter at some very bad things but you also were at the epicenter of a very good thing."

"What do you mean…" growled Janet under her breath.

"You are at the epicenter of you, and I would not have it any other way," said Renamon quietly. "You have much more power than you believe. I can sense it. I know that together we can be just as strong as the others. We can be the heroes."

"Strength isn't the point, every time we get close to them they get hurt," said Janet in a small voice.

"If you hadn't been at the Bakemon chapel…" whispered Renamon.

"Jason would never have gotten hurt," finished Janet.

"That, was not was I was going to say," said Renamon quietly. The fox turned her head slightly to look at the brown haired girl. "If you were not there, Jason would have died, Phantomon would have found someone, anyone, to free him, without you there, Jason would've died maybe more would've died if you had not been there."

"I freed Phantomon!" Janet shouted shaking her head in disbelief.

"It could have just as easily have been Amy or Kevin or Steven or anyone," Renamon returned calmly. The fox walked to Janet. "Please, let us return to our friends."

"Not right now, I still feel uncomfortable," whispered Janet quietly as she sat back down and curled up holding her knees to her chin.

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"So, those brats are going to be making a reunion huh?" Tsukaimon looked down at the converging digi-destined. An unpleasant smirk played over his lips. "Let's see who can I get to destroy them?" The purple winged hamster flew down over the trees. He caught sight of a lumbering flower shuffling through the swamp. "Oh, Blossomon!"

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"Ke-Ke-Ke…" Amy fell sideways as she pointed forward.

"Somehow I figured you'd be too stubborn to die," said Steven with a wry smile as he looked at the mud covered boy with the red ball cap. "It's a shame we didn't know earlier…your sister took it hard…"

"I know," said Kevin quietly as he looked at Amy. "Shouldn't we…?"

"Nah, she's more tolerable like this," said Steven as he looked at the catatonic Amy. Steven looked at Mark, "Where's Lucemon? Is he scouting up ahead?"

"Uh…not really," Kevin stood between Steven and Mark. "He kind of got captured."

"It wasn't his fault!" shouted Mark preemptively. "There was this fog and it messed with our vision!"

Steven narrowed his eyes. "There is always something…"

"It wasn't his fault, I saw it, there was a fog," said Kevin defensively.

"He was captured, so who, captured him?" asked Steven with a growl.

"We aren't sure, we think it was the same digimon that captured Michelle," said Mark. The boy walked forward and looked at his brother, "I trust in Lucemon, I know he isn't evil, and I'm not afraid of him, and you can't make me feel any different."

Steven looked at his brother. The boy's blue eyes showed through his smudged glasses. Steven sighed. "I know you trust in him, but…you're my little brother, I don't want you to get hurt…that's why I don't feel so comfortable sometimes with Lucemon…"

"He won't hurt me on purpose!" growled Mark the boy eyes narrowed.

"Ok, ok," Steven put up placating hands and stepped back. "So do we have any idea…"

"Kevin's alive…" whispered Amy as she stood.

"We already established that," murmured Saberdramon to her partner.

Kyokyomon sat on Steven's shoulder. "Yeah, when you passed out…"

"Oi, Steven, tell your little orange worm to shut it!" yelped Amy.

"I'm a dragon!" retorted Kyokyomon, "and I'm rust colored for your information!"

"Whatever…" grumbled Amy loudly and she looked at her digivice. "I got a signal…up ahead."

"Yeah," Kevin looked behind him to an expansive swamp and then back to Saberdramon and Amy. "Do you think we could…?"

"Air travel would be faster," said Steven quietly. He turned his eyes to Amy, "and infinitely cleaner, wouldn't want to muss up that skirt now would we?"

"Yes, now let's go before the signal dies!" grumbled Amy as she climbed up on Saberdramon, "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, you haven't gained that much weight since being queen," said the large black bird.

"HEY!" yelped Amy loudly. "You know you didn't complain two days ago when we searched that mountain pass!"

The three boys and the two other digimon shook their heads and walked towards the large black bird. After climbing on, the raven made a massive flap of its wings and took to the sky.

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The roots sliced through the waterlogged silt like a hot knife through butter. He was feeling looking for a chemical imprint anything. Tsukaimon said that an easy meal was nearby. He expected to get it. The soil in the swamp lacked the proper amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus he needed to live just off of the ground minerals. He had resorted to eating fish, but a human and a digimon that was too rich a meal to just let them escape.

The root tip stopped. It rooted around in the muck. A signal flashed down the fleshy tendril. The yellow face of a blossom smiled hungrily and lifted its head shaking the lavender petals. The other tentacle like roots shifted together as legs. The large flower looked down at arm like tendrils that produced little flowers on the tips of a couple of its tendrils. It scuffled over the soft earth.

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Jason stopped suddenly. Otamamon nearly walked into the human. The boy turned and looked around.

"Did you hear something?" whispered Jason as he pushed his voice at Otamamon but his head still seemed to be scanning the area.

Otamamon narrowed his eyes and strained his aural cavities, seeing as he lacked any real ears. "I don't hear anything."

It was at that exact moment that the roots exploded from the mud.

"SHI-!" shouted Jason, but his voice was muted by a well place tendril.

"Don't worry I'll get us out of this!" shouted Otamamon. "Otamamon digivolve to Seadramon!" The small tadpole in one of the few miracles this world still had metamorphosed into a large serpentine sea dragon in mere seconds. The dragon turned its head down and opened its mouth. A crippling freeze washed over the tendrils that had erupted from the ground. The roots cracked and exploded Jason started to fall but Seadramon snagged him.

"What the hell is going on?" shouted Jason loudly.

"Show yourself, we know you are there!" shouted Seadramon loudly. A huge flower shuffled from the trees it snarled in annoyance as it inspected the remains of three of the tendrils that had just been frozen off. Seadramon growled loudly, "Blossomon, a flower digimon, they are usually docile, unless hungry…"

"And I'm very hungry!" roared the flower. It lifted several tendrils with little flowers on the end. "Ninja Flower!" The flowers flashed forward spinning like buzz saws and whirring as their sharp edges sliced through a nearby tree.

"Holy crap!" shouted Jason loudly as one of the flowers whizzed past his head. Seadramon twisted around the blossoms curling and bending his azure, serpentine body in near impossible ways.

"Let's see how this green house plant likes a little frostbite!" shouted Seadramon in retaliation. "Ice Blast!"

The bluish tint of the ice swept around the plant. It creaked loudly. Seadramon turned to retreat, when suddenly there was a loud snap and then a thorn like whip snapped at the dragon sending it crashing to the ground. Jason bounced off the dragon and landed in the mud. Seadramon growled as he was lifted forcibly into the air.

"We perennials scoff at a little chill bringer like you," growled Blossomon as it exploded from the icy prison. "Thorn…"

"Mach Shadow!" Black meteors exploded around the flower. The tendrils released Seadramon allowing the large reptile to assume a protective stance in front of Jason.

"Nice shot, Saberdramon," shouted a voice that made Jason smile. He looked up to see Saberdramon glide over head.

"Put us down, I'll take care of this overgrown bit of crabgrass!" A second voice shouted. Jason's heart stopped.

"No…" Jason whispered. The large black bird lowered down and four figures jumped down.

"Snow Agumon digivolve to Shima Unimon!" The black and white, zebra unicorn dropped to the ground in front of Jason.

The boy on the equine's back… Jason gulped, "Ke-Ke…no it's not possible…"

"Why do people do that, you'd think I was dead or something," smiled Kevin as Shima Unimon charged forward.

"Wild Thunder!" a blue bolt of energy slammed the flower in the face. Before Jason could process what was happening Steven was at his side and a few seconds later Mark was on his other side.

"That can't be…" whispered Jason to Steven.

"Some people are so stubborn that they don't know that they're supposed to die after running headlong into the apocalypse," replied Steven as he helped Jason to his feet. Mark only smiled in agreement.

"Fools!" shouted Blossomon loudly. "Ninja Flower!" The Champions quickly scattered from the flying flower shuriken.

"Watch out Steven!" yelped Kyokyomon as the dragon zipped from the blonde's shoulder. "Kyokyomon digivolve to Ryuudamon! Helmet Return!" in a flash of movement the boomerang like headgear of the newly digivolved black lizard dragon sent one of the incoming flowers careening safely in the perpendicular direction.

"Mark!" shouted Steven. A thorny root had snaked up behind Steven's brown haired brother.

"Divine Feat!" a flash of light followed by a six pairs of feathered wings flashed between the tendril and the lens wearing boy. A child-like angel in a white toga was hovering between Mark and the swaying root.

"Demi Fire Ball, Pah!" Jason turned his head. A little fire ball was spitting tiny sparks into the flower's eyes, much to the plants disagreement.

"Get away from it before…" Yelped the voice of Brendan as he struggled out of the mud. He was carrying Michelle on his back.

"I got it!" yelped a small retriever as the canine grappled with a tendril that was trying to snap the little fire ball into the water. "Retrieve Bark!" yelped the canine and a pink burst punched at the flower's cheek.

"Michelle!" Kevin shouted loudly as he saw something snaking under the water towards his sister.

"Grand Cross!" a cross of energy undercut the flower's leggy roots and severed the underwater menace.

"Wild Thunder!" a blue burst of lightning snapped at the water under the plant and the electricity ripped upwards through the plant.

"Black Saber!" A black saber of dark energy sliced through a group of roots.

Blossomon growled loudly and lifted another tendril up. Seadramon swept around opened his mouth and froze the tendril in its place and then crashed through it, shattering it to a million pieces. Blossomon sneered and then looked at the humans and the digimon before him.

"Easy meal…I know where to get an easy meal…" the flower grumbled and lurched back into the swamp. The black scars and burns twitched and the flower disappeared into the trees shadows.

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It was later that afternoon, the children were now in a much safer, and drier portion of the swamp. The others were commenting on their adventures as they happened. Lucemon was inexplicably quiet. He looked at Mark and then at Michelle, Labramon, Kevin and Snow Agumon.

"Michelle, Michelle, oh…you're safe…" whispered Kevin as he held his sister tightly.

"You aren't real…" whispered Michelle. She felt like a cold rock in his arms.

"What do you mean?" gasped Kevin as he pulled back.

"Kevin's dead, he died in the desert, you aren't real," replied Michelle as she pulled from the boy's embrace. Labramon looked at Kevin with sad eyes. The boy looked shocked, angry, and sad.

"It's been…very difficult," whispered Labramon quietly as the canine slowly crawled up to Michelle. The dog laid its head on Michelle's lap.

"Michelle…" whispered Kevin quietly as he looked at his sister. The next thing the boy knew was that Lucemon was behind him.

"She's endured a lot, it may be best not to back her into a corner," whispered the angel quietly. Kevin looked up at Lucemon. His brown eyes shimmered with hesitant tears. Lucemon only gave a weak, hopeful smile. "I know, it's hard but she has to do this on her own I think…"

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Michelle looked up at the boy that had reappeared in his life, "He's not real, he's just a trick, the shadows know he's not real, and the light knows he's a lie. The shadows…I want to be with the…"

She felt something crackling inside her over her chest. She looked down and frowned. Labramon had somehow coaxed the crest around her neck again. She lifted her hand to remove it but stopped short.

"You know he's real, you're lying to yourself to stay in the dark," said a voice quietly. Michelle let out a slight gasp and looked to her left. A girl was sitting next to her. She had short, glowing hair and large, light-filled eyes. A whistle hung over her chest. "You can't keep lying to yourself. Look up, know the truth, he's alive, he's always been alive. He's here now, love him, and you will find your escape."

Michelle's eyes teared up. "Don't…please…"

"Michelle?" Labramon looked up. The Michelle closed her eyes.

"Not real, not real, not real," repeated Michelle in tortured whispers. She turned her head slightly and sighed to see the young, glowing girl was gone.

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"So you've been chasing it too?" sighed Steven quietly as he looked across the fire at Jason and Brendan.

"Yeah, a signal that lasts for about twenty minutes, and then it just disappears," said Brendan as he looked at the flames. "It has to be her...but why?"

"I don't know, from what Lucemon says, this Bastemon is in cahoots with some big time magic, could Bastemon be faking the signal?" asked Amy quietly, she looked up to Brendan.

"I don't think so, the digivices give off a multi-band signal that randomizes, it's pretty hard to copy, not to mention making it a remote transmitter," said Brendan quietly.

"So it's definitely, Janet," said Jason. He looked at the fire and frowned, "Why…is she being coerced?"

"We won't know until we get to her," said Kevin quietly as he walked up to the fireside circle. He looked back at where Michelle was sitting and sighed.

"Don't worry, she took it really hard when…you disappeared," said Jason. The blue eyed boy with dark hair looked up at Kevin quietly. "She just has to get used to it, err to you being back…"

"That's nice to say, when you aren't the one being called fake," replied Kevin quietly.

"I know…" Jason looked down at the ground. "It's just…what a lot of people said to my father when…," Jason sighed quietly, "when my mother died."

The others looked up but didn't say anything. It had been the first time that Jason had spoken so openly about the death of his mother.

"Let's not dwell on it, right now," whispered Mark quietly. He gave a child-like smile with that charming innocent quality. "We…we have to find Janet…"

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"You lied to me!" shouted Blossomon as he erupted in front of Tsukaimon. The purpled hamster shuddered in front of the fierce flower. The enveloping darkness of night didn't help the hamster's fears any. The flower moved forward on its twisting tendrils. "You said it would be an easy meal," Blossomon lifted the burned and torn tendrils, that had yet to regenerate, "It was not an easy meal, it was no meal at all!" The flower's eyes gleamed in the early twilight. "I plan to rectify that, though." One of the tendrils shot forward mummifying the small mammal.

"Please…no…." screamed Tsukaimon as the thorns pressed against his flesh.

Blossomon screamed and Tsukaimon was flung from the death grip that threatened to crush him. He fell to the ground and looked up. A crimson line was wrapped around the flower. It compressed and Blossomon soon turned into a tossed salad as the fluid in the plant digimon's xylem and phloem gushed outwards from the laceration lines. The crimson ribbon sliced through the remains of Blossomon and held its position for a few seconds after the flower had been sliced to bits; it hovered there as an intertwining helix of red energy. Tsukaimon looked up, in the glow of the ribbon two twinkling hazel eyes looked at him. Lynx-like ears swiveled slightly and the hourglass shaped figure walked forward with a feminine sway. The shadows of two tails swished back and forth.

"Mis-mistress, Bastemon…" gulped Tsukaimon between tears and silent sobs of reverence. "Why, why are you here?"

"There are some things one should do for themselves," whispered Bastemon with a little purr. The feline walked past Tsukaimon and leapt into the trees with unfathomable grace and agility and then disappeared into the canopy.

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AN: One short thing, and I hate to have to write this, because theoretically I shouldn't have to, but Amy's mentioning of riding on Saberdramon two days ago is a time thing, in case you guys didn't get it, it's been a couple of days since, at least the actions that led to the defeat of Majiramon, which is why Kyokyomon can digivolve.

Alforce: Yeah, Lucemon Falldown Mode is engrish, which is like pseudo-japanized English. It is supposed to be Fallen Mode, but well it didn't quite make it. Lucemon is actually not named after Lucifer per se, though he reflects him, Lucemon actually means Light Monster. Luce is Italian for light, but you probably already knew that. I went back and read the last chapter, and yeah, it was better than I thought, I was worried that the fight was too short, but then again, Mega Kabuterimon owns Vademon in like five seconds so…eh not so bad. And Lucemon's digivolutions, you won't be able to cheat by using Shining Celebi's site because, I cheated! You see he actually digivolves to…..which is suggested in chapter….. within……. But you're perceptive. You'd have picked that up by now!

Dark Qiviut: Yes the tension did build, it was one of those two page barrier things where the story didn't really seem to coalesce until after I had breached two pages.