(staring in surprise at the completely-filled notebook) Wow…Germany is amazing for inspiration. I think I've got half a dozen chapters written here…all on different stories. I guess I better get typing, eh? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything to do with it. I am just, quite simply, utterly and completely obsessed.

More More Happy Christmas

Chapter 6: Spirits

"What's the matter, Takuya-nii?"

"Forget to breathe again?"

"Ha-ha. I'm just thinking."

"You think?"

"Hey! I'm serious guys. I'm trying to figure out what's familiar about all of this."

"Well, you said you lived in Odaiba when you were a kid, right?"

"That's not what I mean. I mean, why is it familiar to have all of us here together, in this spot?"

"Actually…I does kind feel like we've already done this."

"I told you, I swear, this has happened before. I just wish I could remember… when…"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Tokyo, Japan - Odaiba District

December 24th, 1996 - 9:07 PM

Flamon ran swiftly across the lightly-paved rooftop, not even pausing a moment as he leapt nimbly off and landed on the next one. Takuya, riding piggy-back, gasped slightly and held on tighter.

"Don't worry." The Digimon grinned back at him soothingly. "I won't let you fall."

"That's nice to know." Takuya groaned, looking rather queasy.

"Yea!" Cheered Tomoki from Flamon's arms, waving his pudgy hands with a huge grin on his face. "Again, again!"

Takuya groaned as they took another running leap. "You've got some stomach, kid…"

A flash of something like thunder caught his eye. Queasiness forgotten, he sat up and focused as best he could on the cloud of dust rising up from the park only a few blocks away. The cloud rose like the fallout of an explosion, a strange, brownish mist that occasionally lit up with flashes of lightening or whirled with small tornados.

"Is that it?" He asked, tensing slightly.

"Yeah. Those are definitely Digimon attacks."

Tomoki squirmed. "Kemmeimon-mon."

"More likely than not." Flamon shifted the little boy to increase his hold. "Takuya, hang on tight. I'm picking up the pace."

The six-year-old gulped, wrapping his arms around his friend's neck. "I don't like the sound of…that…" was all he managed to say before they suddenly dropped and the air was thrown from his lungs.

( - )

10:37 PM

"Striking Thunder!"

"Kaze Spiral!"

The forked tongue of electricity lashed down from the cloudy sky, grazing Triceramon's huge cheek as the giant Digimon moved to avoid the tiny tornado of razor-sharp wind. Fushamon was suddenly in front of him, one foot going straight up into his jaw as Kaminarimon landed a hard punch to his left foreleg.

Triceramon roared lightly, bringing up his right fore-claw to swipe at the bird-like Digimon, sending her crashing into the blue beetle. Fushamon cried out, as did Kaminarimon as he companion hit his soft underside and knocked him on his hard back before she bounced painfully to the ground.

"Uh…" The blue beetle waved his arms and legs, rocking back and forth in a desperate attempt to right himself. "A little help?"

"Kaminarimon!" Junpei exclaimed, and he and Izumi scrambled forward.

Fushamon, who was trying to push her teammate back to his eight feet, yelled at them. "Izumi, stay back! It's dangerous!"

"But Fushamon…"

"Stay away!" Shouted the female Digimon, and shot a blast of air through her hands to topple the bug back onto his usual position.

Junpei's eyes widened sharply. "Watch out!"

The two smaller creatures looked up just as a massive claw plummeted down from the sky. They barely had time to move, let alone dodge as they were thrown off their feet and into the trees, crunching at least two each before they stopped.

"No!" Junpei shouted.

"Fushamon, get up!" Izumi shrieked.

Triceramon growled, turning towards the two Rookies as they tried to recover their senses enough to move. His three horns glowed softly, a venomous red color that grew bright and bright like a stove burner slowly warming up.

"Get out of there, you two!" Junpei yelled, and Izumi covered her eyes with her hands.

Triceramon's growl turned into a low roar as the three horn-lights merged into one beam, his yellow eyes locked on his targets beadily. "Tri Horn!"

"Blizzard Bite!"

Triceramon's huge head jerked, the lave-red beams misfiring into the empty darkness of the night. Junpei and Izumi stared in awe, as did Fushamon and Kaminarimon as they smallish white bear dropped to the ground and landed easily in front of them, his teeth and claws still glowing an icy blue.

Friendly blue eyes turned to grin at his two fellow Rookie. "Need some help?" he asked, and a puff of chill-laced breath floating from his mouth.

Kaminarimon grinned. "What took you?"

Fushamon nudged him. "Thanks," she said to the bear, bristling all over as she advanced, "But we don't have time to talk."

"Indeed." Kemmeimon growled softly. Triceramon was recovering from his attack, snarling and snapping in vicious rage. "We're gonna need all the time we have right now…"

( - )

10:45 PM

Kuroimon and Karuimon leapt down the sidewalk at top speed, taking two-foot leaps with each bound. Occasionally they paused a moment to wait for the two humans scrambling to keep up with them on the icy cement.

"Hurry, Nii-san!" Kouji urged, pulling his brother by the arm.

"I'm trying!" Kouichi gasped, stumbling a bit on the slick ground. His brows were furled in a worried expression, a somewhat frightened pout on his lips.

Kuroimon stopped to look up at his friend. "What is it, Kouichi-kun?"

"I…I don't like it here." Kouichi muttered hesitantly, holding his brother's hand all the more tightly.

"Is it the dark?" Kuroimon asked. "I told you, Kouichi-kun, you don't have to be scared no more! I'm gonna protect you, no matter what!"

Kouji gripped his brother's hand. "I…" His eyes were slightly downcast, looking both at his feet and just ahead of them at the same time. "I don't like it either, Nii-san. It's not the dark. It's something else. Something's wrong. Really wrong."

Kouichi nodded, gazing around them at the steadily-dissipating cloud of dust. There was a slight tinge of something like static electricity in it all, making their hair stand ever so slightly on end and cling to the air. The wind swirled strangely, in a way that wind normal didn't move in the city.

"Somethin is happening." Karuimon whispered seriously, his blue eyes narrowed at the trees in front of them, the entrance to the sparse park. "In there."

A bolt of lightening shot from the sky into the depths of the trees. On instinct, the twins leapt back in one motion, Kouichi moving to grab ahold of his brother's arm with both hands. Karuimon and Kuroimon bristled all over. "That's not normal lightening!" The black kitty-thing squeaked.

"It's an attack. A Digimon!" Karuimon hissed, bounding forward. "Come on, Kuroimon!"

But they'd hardly gone four feet before a beam of fiery red shot from the trees, leveling several of them in its wake. Kouji jumped to the side, pushing his brother out of the way and sending them both crashing to the ground just out of the way of the beam.

Karuimon uncurled from his defensive position, the top of his fur lightly singed from the attack. "Wow."

"That would've hurt." Kuroimon whimpered.

"Are you okay, Kouji?" Kouichi asked as the boys started to move.

Kouji sighed, brushing himself off. "Fine, Nii-san. I'm…"

A sharp crack cut him off. Both twins looked up and froze as a nearby street lamp, its base melted away by the red beam, toppled over with the boys directly in its steadily growing shadow. Kouji drew in a sharp breath, gripping his brother's shoulders as Kouichi's arms went around his waist, both actions protective and futile as the huge metal beam came down.

"Kouji!" Karuimon cried.

"Kouichi!" Kuroimon shrieked as the two raced forward. And around them, there was a strange sort of ringing, metallic beeping…

"Kuroimon, Digivolve to…Yiniyamon!"

"Karuimon, Digivolve to…Yanagamon!"

The twins, still crouched over each other on the ground, were momentarily surprised to be lifted into the air together and swept easily out of the shadow. Two pairs of blue eyes looked up into a friendly, cat-like face, covered in soft black fur with the occasional golden yellow tabby strips on his face and ears. His eyes were wide and brown, and as he landed on two legs they realized he was about the size of the average twelve-year-old boy, with clawed hands and feet, a long tail swishing in behind him. He was treed in yellow-gold clothing, lined with black stitching, flared pants and a vest with golden bracelets on his wrists. Supported across his chest, dangling on a chain between the open sides of the vest, was an odd golden symbol.

The lamppost, now a good eight feet to their right, had been caught by a white, dog-like creature of similar size and build. His face was that of a white wolf-dog with shining blue eyes, his silky white fur covered with swirling blue markings, especially at the tips of his nose and ears. His outfit was exactly similar, only blue and silver rather than gold and black, and the silver symbol across his chest was completely different from the gold.

Both twins just stared a moment, slightly agape, before Kouichi could bring himself to speak. "Ku…Kuroimon?"

"Yiniyamon." Corrected the cat-thing, smiling as he set them both down on their feet. "I told you I'd protect you, didn't I?"

The wolf-thing…Yanagamon…tossed the lamppost to the side harmlessly. "Everybody okay?" He asked, checking Kouji over.

"We're fine! Everyone's fine!" Kouji giggled, squirming in the Digimon's claws. "Cut it out, that tickles!"

Yanagamon grinned, scooping his friend up somewhat haphazardly, almost like a game. But before it could go too far, the laughter was cut off by a not-so-distant roar and a fork of lightening.

The four figures stopped, staring into the trees silently. Then Yanagamon, holding Kouji almost sideways, spoke softly. "We better go."

"Yeah." Yiniyamon crouched down and lifted Kouichi into a protective embrace. His golden eyes were set just the same as his companion's blue ones, narrowed in the serious defense of an animal protecting its pack and territory.

"You ready?" Yiniyamon whispered.

"Oh yeah." Yanagamon tightened his hold on Kouji, setting the younger twin upright. "Let's go."

( - )

11:06 PM

Flamon's eyes widened as he took a particularly far-reaching leap off one of the tall buildings, shooting out over the trees that made up the sparse park. Down below, through the wind and the dust, he could see a giant Digimon, much bigger than him…Triceramon? That sounded right somehow…fighting with a trio of smaller ones, Rookie-levels of his own data size. Despite having their foe outnumbered, the Rookies were being gradually overpowered by the huge Digimon's strength, and Kaminarimon was one of them…

"Flamon!" Takuya shrieked from his back, jerking the Digimon back into reality just in time to switch Tomoki into a one-armed hold and grab ahold of a tree trunk, sliding slightly with just enough friction to slow their decent and drop them easily to the ground.

The Digimon sighed, straightening. They were only a few meters from the battle. It was close enough for him to hear the attacks being thrown against the huge beast:

"Blizzard Bite!"

"Striking Thunder!"

"Kaze Spiral!"

Tomoki blinked up at the Digimon carrying him. "Flamon-mon.

Flamon crouched down, letting Takuya off and handing him the two-year-old. "You guys have to stay out of the way, okay?"

"What? Flamon!" Takuya exclaimed, eyes wide. "Why should we?"

"It's dangerous." The Digimon pouted up at his friend with pleading eyes. "Please, Takuya, I don't want you to get hurt."

The child wavered a bit. Being six, he couldn't actually remember when, if ever, somebody had actually been concerned for his immediate safety, and it…rather confused him.

"Please, Takuya?" Flamon's ears twitched sadly.

"Fine." Takuya nodded. "We'll stay out of it. Just go, hurry. They need help!"

A large, fanged grin spread over the Digimon's face. "You got it!"

Dropping to all fours, he bounded out into the ruined clearing and leapt into the air to lunge at the huge creature. "Blazing Claw!"

His red claws ignited seconds before he smashed his hand into the dinosaur's side. Triceramon roared and twisted around to swipe at him, but missed as the brown creature back flipped out of the way and landed near the other Rookies.

"Nice." Kaminarimon complemented.

Flamon smirked. "Pretty hot, right?" He quipped. Once again, he had mental flashes of knowing this situation, knowing these Digimon, but there wasn't enough time for him to dwell on that.

Kemmeimon bristled slightly, looking up at the humanoid pyro-type. "Where's Tomoki?"

"He's safe, don't worry." Flamon grinned. "Takuya's taking care of him."

"Who's…"

"Kemmeimon!"

The bear turned to find his young charge poking his head out of the bushes. A huge smile was on the toddler's face as he cheered. "Go, go!"

The ice-Digimon grinned. "You got it."

Another head popped from the bushes, this belonging to the slightly-older boy holding Tomoki around the waist, and he had a warning: "Watch out!"

The bear's reaction time shot to life, leaping out of the way of the dino's huge tail just before it came crashing down on them.

Fushamon bristled all over, her wings trembling slightly in the cold wind. "Kaze Spiral!"

Swirling winds appeared from nowhere into the mini-tornado. Flamon caught sight of it and sparked and idea. "Blazing Claw!"

The flames flew from his hand to catch in the spiral winds. Fed by the swirling air the fire quickly grew, soon becoming a miniature, fiery tornado that slammed into Triceramon's side. The dino roared in pain, recoiling from them with a searing burn along his right side.

"You got him!" Izumi cheered.

"Not quite…" Junpei gulped, pointing. "Look!"

Triceramon's tail whipped around, slamming into both Fushamon and the still-airborne Flamon, slamming them both into the ground hard enough to leave small, though deep, craters. His left forepaw swung around to swipe Kaminarimon from the air and into Kemmeimon, pinning both.

"No!" Takuya cried, hauling Tomoki away from the fight and towards the other kids.

The toddler squirmed. "Kemmei! Kemmei!"

"Get out of there!" Junpei hollered as the huge Digimon's giant mouth descended on the pinned pair…

"Umbra Swipe!"

"Illumi Flash!"

A white-hot beam of light shot across Triceramon's eyes as a whip of dark, purplish energy came lashing down from behind. The monster roared, lifting both forearms to cover his blinded eyes as he stumbled back in pain.

Yiniyamon and Yanagamon dropped out of the inky night sky, carrying to identical little boys in their arms protectively. They landed nimbly alongside the other children, confident smirks on each of their lips.

"Looks like we found the problem." Yanagamon muttered setting Kouji down.

"Looks like it." Yiniyamon agreed, setting Kouichi down as well. "Shall we help?"

"We already have." Yanagamon stretched his shoulders. "Besides, we gotta protect the kids."

"Good point."

'Hey!" Flamon shouted down, dashing by on all fours and throwing himself at the huge monster. "We don't have time for chit-chat!"

Yanagamon rolled his eyes. "He's impatient."

"I kind of like him." Yiniyamon smiled, and the two leapt into the fray.

Kouichi slid quietly next to his brother, never taking his eyes off the battle as he grabbed Kouji's hand. "are they gonna be okay?"

Before the other twin could respond, Izumi suddenly appeared behind him with a broad smile on her face. "Of course they will! If they're anything like Fushamon and the others, they'll be great!"

"Yeah!" Junpei added, pumping his fists. "It's six-against-one!"

"That bully won't stand a chance!" Takuya put in with a huge grin.

In his arms, Tomoki squirmed and giggled. "Bad Dino!" he squawked. "Kemmei-Kemmei go!"

As the battled raged above them, Kaminarimon grinned. "Always nice to have support."

"In more ways than one." Fushamon added, soaring overhead. "Look!"

The other managed to spare fleeting glances upwards to find big, heavy white flakes floating down from the thick gray clouds high above. A lopsided, fanged grin slid across Flamon's face. "Looks like the weather's on your side, Kemmeimon."

"Let's hope it's enough." The bear grumbled. "Blizzard Bite!"

Triceramon's annoyed rumbled turned to snarls and snapping at the air. The snow stung his sensitive eyes, making hard to see the increasingly regular attacks as they came one after another…burning fire, scaring wind, sharp cold, harsh lightening, blaring light and searing darkness, each in rapid succession and a never-ending ring of light, but gradually significant, pains.

His golden eyes fell on the huddle of humans just out of the battle, his sharp ears picking up their cheers and minor insults against him. A low growl rumbled from his throat as the three-pronged horns began to glow red.

Yiniyamon frowned, pausing next to his partner in the branches of a high tree. "He's attacking."

"But where's he…aiming…" Yanagamon's blue eyes widened sharply. "No!"

Fushamon, who had also figured out the trajectory, had a similar reaction. "Izumi!" She shrieked, pulling her wings in and going into a dive.

"Junpei!" Exclaimed Kaminarimon, turning in mid-air to shoot back.

"Tomoki!" Gasped Kemmeimon, bursting into a frantic run.

"Takuya, move!" Flamon shouted, pushing off the tree he was mounted on. "Run!"

"Kouji!"

"Kouichi-kun!" Yiniyamon and Yanagamon dropped from the tree just as a deafening roar echoed over them.

"TRI-HORN!"

Everything happened rather slowly. AS soon as they saw the beam, Izumi and Junpei both tried to push each other out of the way, the result being that he knocked Takuya, who was trying to cover Tomoki, to the ground, which she crashed into the twins, each of whom was trying to protect the other. They all collapsed into a kind of pile just as the Digimon leapt to their air, flinging themselves forward to received the brunt of the blast.

There was a hot, searing noise, somewhat akin to water dripping out of a pot and boiling instantly on the warm burner, only a million times louder.

Then there was silence.

This was soon broken by a triumphant, echoing roar from the gigantic monster.

Takuya groaned, coughing against a second rising cloud of dust and smoke as he pulled himself and a whimpering Tomoki from the ground. "Is everybody okay?"

"Peachy." Moaned Junpei, rolling over to stand.

Kouji helped his brother up by the arm, blue eyes darting around wildly. "Where are they?"

Izumi let out a sudden gasp. "There!"

The others followed the line of her pointing finger to a straight row of fallen trees and charred ground. Their Rookie-level friends were sprawled almost evenly across the blackened ground, not moving, their eyes closed.

A dull shock ran through Takuya's body, sliding along into the others. "N-No…way…"

"They can't…" Kouichi's whisper was frightened and hesitant, holding onto his brother tightly. "They can't do it…They can't…"

"Nii-san, stop it!" Kouji increased his protective grip, trying desperately to ignore the tears welling up in his eyes involuntarily. "You can't…talk like that…Kouichi-nii…"

Tomoki hiccupped. "K-Kemmei…"

A loud boom and a crunch drew their attentions away from their fallen friends and back towards the huge creature. Triceramon was approaching them oh-so-slowly, leaving huge, crater-like footprints in the ground as he moved. His yellow eyes were focused murderously on the huddle group, a maniacal gleam deep within.

Junpei stumbled back slightly, then turned to yell. "Come on, Kaminarimon! Get up!"

"Hurry, Fushamon!" Izumi shrieked. "He's coming!"

The Rookies groaned painfully and shook just a little, but none of them made a move to sit up.

"Yiniyamon!"

"Yanagamon!"

"Get out of there!" The twins chorused as Triceramon stomped ever closer to the helpless group.

"Come on, Flamon!" Takuya shouted with all the force his little lungs could muster. "You can't let him win!"

But the Digimon couldn't hear them, or weren't able to respond if they did, not as Triceramon paused in front of the kids and roared in a way that made all of the kids dive to cover their ears in pain.

Tomoki was blubbering now. Generally, he had a rather mild temperament for a two-year-old, bright and happy without much complaining at all. But in a situation such as this, anyone could be expected to burst into tears. Especially a toddler.

"Ke-Kemmei…" He whimpered, struggling even as Takuya gripped him tighter around the waist. Tears bubbled from his green eyes and splashed down his cheeks in waves. "KEMMEIMON!"

A splash of tears fell to the ground in the midst of his scream, and the dark park was suddenly flooded with rainbow lights.

Triceramon stopped and roared in confusion, reeling back as he searched for the source of the light. The kids, too, froze in their tracks and stared around them in awe.

"What in the…?" Junpei faltered, taking several steps back.

"Something's happening." Kouichi whispered, his eyes reflecting Kouji's surprise.

"But…what?" Takuya breathed, and Tomoki cooed softly.

Izumi saw it first, her blue eyes instantly lighting up. "L-Look!"

They looked. And many nearly lost their balance in surprise.

Flamon was standing somewhat steadily, the symbol on his belt buckle glowing with bright red-and-orange sparks. His blue eyes were narrowed in determination, his tail flicking eagerly in a way that sent sparks flying from the rocks beneath him.

Kaminarimon leapt back to his feet, the symbol on his shell glowing a bright, sizzling yellow. He stamped his thick blue boots with a resounding roise that echoed like thunder.

Fushamon was suddenly in the air once more, the symbol between her ribbons glowing a brilliant pink like wild-flower petals in the wind. The air around her swirled and looped in intricate, strong breezes and gusts that rustled the leaves around her.

Kemmeimon groaned slightly as he lifted himself back to all fours, the silver charm on his chest glowing a pale, frosty green. He sniffed at the flakes around him and growled softly, firing a gust of icy-cold breath.

Yanagamon's symbol was a shining blue as he leapt to his feet, fangs bared and claws glowing with his own energy. Beside him, Yiniyamon's symbol swirled a dark purple, ears twitching restlessly as darkness swirled around his hand. Standing next to each other, they seamed to both clash with and compliment each other at the same time.

Above and between them all came another kind of light, this one from the sky. It was neither sunlight nor moonlight, though it seamed exactly like and exactly unlike them both. It was soft pink as well as dark blue, calming and invigorating, bright and dim all at the same time. It seamed to come from the clouds and from the falling snow, filling the entire park but never once touching the buildings or streets around it.

It was, in short, the most beautiful thing any of the children had seen in their brief lives.

"Do you remember now?" Whispered the Light in a voice that seamed both male and female, young and old, but not quite any of them either. "Remember, little ones, the powers your home has gifted to you. The strength of the elements rests within you."

Triceramon roared in pain. The Light, though soft and calming to all the other brings present, was unbearable to him as he reared back, hands over his eyes.

"He…He can't fight back!" Kouji let a broad grin stretch over his young face.

"Here's your chance!" Junpei shouted.

"Yeah!" Takuya spun around, a huge, expectant smirk shining in his eyes. "Get 'em, guys!"

Flamon grinned. "You got it."

The six smaller Digimon shot forward, on land and in the air, flinging themselves ahead for one last, spirited strike, all of them at once:

"Blazing Claw!"

"Kaze Spiral!"

"Blizzard Bite!"

"Striking Thunder!"

"Illumi Flash!"

"Umbra Swipe!"

The elements swirled together into one blow, ramming the Ultimate firmly in his soft underbelly. Triceramon screamed, the final roar echoing through the streets of Odaiba as it swirled around him, then vanished slowly as the energy gave out.

A flurry of blue sparks accompanied the huge egg up into the clouds. And then there was silence.

TBC…