"Oceanamon told us that Jun somehow made it into the Digital World; problem was, she was found way off course in Gaiamon's land. I went off to find her, while the others ran into a few of Wrathmon's goons- including a GigaDramon and MegaDramon, who then transformed into a Hercules Kabuterimon! Izzy's Tentomon then turned into a Mega himself, but apparently he needs practice. Yolei is starting to feel the worst- should the rest of us feel the same?"
-Davis
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Thirteen: "The Call Of Darkness"
The day sunk into nightfall sure enough. From where Tai and his friends were, anyway. Only two of these heroes couldn't sleep a wink: Izzy and his new Mega, Hercules Kabuterimon.
The gigantic beetle stretched his massive wings, causing all those underneath them to be shadowed from their only source of light, the full moon. He growled, but as softly as possible so that he wouldn't awaken any of his human or digimon friends nearby. He then put up his dukes, and started- slowly- to throw punches in the air, as if fighting an invisible enemy.
He then buzzed deeply, "Boy, I really do have a lot of practice ahead of me, don't I Izzy?" The young man standing nearby, checking the digimon's stats on his laptop, just replied calmly, "It's not really that you're inexperienced, Hercules Kabuterimon. It's just that you're naturally slow. We'll work out a strategy for you to use if we ever really need you, so that you can use your electric attacks more than your speed."
The Mega winced his head to the human and answered, "I'd rather work out for a while. And you don't have to say my whole name; it's too long." Izzy let out a soft giggle; "...You're right... Shall I just call you Hercules then?" The massive beetle shrugged, "Suits me."
Meanwhile, the other humans had spread out on the grassy plain, rolled up in their individual sleeping bags, with their digimon partners snuggled closely nearby. All was peaceful on their side of the world.
That is, except for Ken.
While Wormmon was curled up in a little ball at the foot of Ken's sleeping bag, Ken himself was in a deep sleep, and his closed eyes started shifting back and forth under his eyelids. His head, every once in a while, would toss and turn slightly. He was having a dream- actually, it was more like a flashback.
------------ Vision: Dream/Flashback ------------
Lustmon had her snaky legs wrapped up around Ken's so that he couldn't escape her. So that he wouldn't lose his balance on the tree branch, he held on tightly to another above him.
The Sin Digimon looked him deeply in the eyes and hissed, "You don't know just how much in danger you are, young one. If I hand over the dark spore to my Master, he may very well leave you and all your friends alone.. Not to mention the fact that you'll never be at risk of becoming the Kaiser again." "He's dead, I tell ya. Dead!" Ken argued. Lustmon narrowed her eyes; "...We shall see..."
Then, something was beginning to happen- something that did not happen, as far as Ken remembers from reality. The skies were getting dark, and thunder rolled. The wind started to pick up, causing a few leaves in the tree to fly away.
Lustmon then helped herself down the tree, smiling, "The time is coming, Ken Ichijouji! My Master will arrive, and when he does, your little dark spore- and life- will be his!" Ken watched with a look of fear in his eyes as she snaked away into the dark bushes below, and heard her cackling; "I'll see you then! Heheheheheheh!!...."
------------ End Vision ------------
Ken's upper body shot up quickly, as he had awakened from the nightmare. He let out a small huff in the process, which was enough to wake up little Wormmon nearby. The caterpillar opened his weary eyes and groaned, "...mmm... What's up?... Ken?" Ken looked to him, with a look on his face that read both surprise and confusion; "Huh?"
Wormmon's eyes opened wider; "Is something the matter?" "I..." the young man began to say, when suddenly his hair was caught by the rising gust of wind. Leaves were blowing by, just as they did in his vision just now. It caught his attention; so did the clouds that were now covering the moonlight. Ken shivered and muttered, "...I just got this bad feeling."
Wormmon looked around curiously and asked, "Uh-oh. What is it?" Ken replied uneasily, "...I dunno... Uh, okay, I'm getting a little freaked out right now. Maybe I just gotta get more sleep."
With that, he rested his head back on the pillow. "Okay," responded Wormmon, and he curled back into a ball. For a moment, Ken closed his eyes, and found peace again.
"Ken..."
He heard this soft, base voice that caused him to suddenly sit up again. Wormmon's eyes peeled open again; "...Ken?" Ken looked to him quickly and wondered, "Was that....?" Wormmon was now growing worried for his partner; "What's what?" he asked calmly.
"I.... I thought....."
The young man tried to speak, but not much was coming out. The little green caterpillar then crawled up to Ken's side and said, "If something's wrong, you can tell me." Ken blinked, "Uh-" He was then interrupted by an eerie thunder roll that sent chills up his spine. As if paranoid, Ken glanced around at the unfriendly night sky.
Izzy and Tentomon were just returning to the camp, seemingly satisfied with their previous workout. "I'm sure that with time and plenty of practice, we can have you bench-pressing Gran Kwagamon," Izzy joked to his little insect friend. Temtomon giggled, "Not unless he feels like using me for a basketball first!... Hey, Ken's awake."
Izzy saw his human friend too; "Ken? You okay?" Izzy wondered. Ken nodded, "...Oh, yeah. Just a little insomniac, that's all." Izzy and Tentomon couldn't say the same; they were tired and needed rest. And so, they turned in for the night, and everything fell quiet.
Everything.
In about twenty more minutes, Ken finally went back to sleep in peace.
(Song parody of "A-Do-Run-Run;" no accompaniment)
Veemon (with Davis on backup vocals)
"Well, he came outta nowhere for the Destiny Stone,
Azulongmon-mon, Azulongmon!
He told Black WarGreymon, 'Lea'e me alone!'
Azulongmon-mon, Azulongmon!
Yeah, he saved a Destiny Stone
Yeah, he said, 'Lea'e me alone!'
Yeah, he's a Digi-God
Azulongmon-mon, Azulongmon!"
They laughed at their own song parody, as Davis and Veemon treaded through a swampy region of the digital world that next day.
Davis then took a moment to wipe the sweat off his brow and complained, "Man, can it get any hotter around here?" "Wanna take a break, Davish?" Veemon asked curiously; Davis replied with a frown on his face, "I dunno. Jun's out here, all by herself. I can't rest without knowing she's safe........ Let's go find a pool."
"YEAH!" cheered Veemon, and they were off!
One hour later, Davis and Veemon had come across a lake, surrounded by willow trees and tall grass that made it seem like they had mistakenly ran straight into the Everglades in Florida. "Alright, a pool!" Veemon exclaimed with excitement. As the little digimon went off to take a running start, Davis thought aloud to himself, "...I dunno, it could be dirty and full of-"
"GERONIMOOOOO!" Veemon howled, and took a mighty cannonball dive into the water. "....piranhas?" Davis finished. He then shrugged, took off his shirt, and made his own cannonball dive into the water.
They splashed and swam, all alone and at peace. They were having so much fun dunking each other in the water, and playing "shark," that they had completely missed catching sight of Jun and Penguinmon in the distance.
"Do you hear something?" Jun wondered, feeling paranoid again. Penguinmon heard cheerful hoots and hollers, but then shrugged and replied, "It's probably just some wild digimon... Whew!" he huffed; "No wonder penguins belong in the Arctic. This place is hot."
Jun wiped off sweat from her brow with a small towel and agreed, "Yeah. So... These Digi-Keepers. They created this whole place?" Her partner then clarified, "They gave it life; many things were done to create this place. Some say that the imaginations of people from all kinds of worlds had some inspiration for some digimon here. That's why there are animals, angels, demons, dragons, gods..."
Jun looked at the pathless road ahead and asked, "So, where do humans fit into all this again?"
Penguinmon said, "You humans are special. You get to feel and act in so many different ways, while most digimon have one-track minds. Basically all angel-type digimon are good, and all demon-types are bad. But people? They can be good and bad! I guess that sorta explains why there are some of you that can be here; it's almost as if you were meant to be here just to fix things the way you see fit."
Jun nodded, "That explains the crests." "Yeah!" jumped Penguinmon; "Exactly! The crests bring out the best in all mankind, and that's what you guys are gonna do when you're ready." Jun nodded, "I think I get it.... But... How'm I gonna get my crest from Greedmon? He sounds like it's gonna take a whole army just to beat him."
Penguinmon paused, but then said, "He won't expect just the two of us comin'. We should plan out a surprise attack. Catch him totally off guard, you know?" "Sounds like a plan," Jun sighed softly; "...I don't know, though.... I'm still new to this whole thing. I don't even know where to start looking for the others." Penguinmon smiled at her, "Don't worry. Even guys like Tai and Matt had to start with baby steps." His optimism was enough to make Jun smile.
For the moment.
They had finally made it to the mountain range. Tai looked up at the tallest mountain- it was so tall, the top was covered by a dark mist. He sighed, "Here we go again... Is everybody ready?" Yolei nearby said, "Ready as we'll ever be. But what if it doesn't work again? Those Shadowmon can come back out at any time and-" "Lighten up, Yolei!" blurted out the air-born Patamon; he smiled, "Back then we weren't a whole team."
Yolei bowed her head and frowned, "We're still not a whole team."
Matt took a step forward, towards Tai, and suggested, "Some of us should go up there and check to see if the coast is clear." "Good idea, Matt," Tai responded; "Kari, TK, Sora and Yolei. You guys go up there." "...Us?" Yolei blinked. Tai looked to her and said, "You're Polarimon's Chosen; you have to be the ones that call upon her."
Hawkmon fluttered to Yolei's side and smiled, "Everything's taken care of, Tai. We'll go get her right now."
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Champion ------------
"HAWKMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..................................AQUILAMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
Aquilamon let those who were Polarimon's Chosen climb on his back, and to the air they took. Joe, Mimi, and their digimon waved them off; "Good luck you guys!" they cheered, almost in unison.
Tai then turned to what was left to the team and ordered, "We'll just stay here and act as their reinforcements." Matt sat down at a boulder in the road and yawned, "That's fine. I'm bushed anyway." Gabumon loyally rested at his side, letting out a peaceful sigh.
While the others retired themselves, Wormmon looked to his own partner with concern. Ken was looking rather pale, and his eyes were halfway open weakly. "...Ken?" Wormmon muttered softly; "Hm?" the boy hummed to him. "You don't look so good," Wormmon frowned; "Why don't you go find a place to sleep? Huh?" Ken paused, but then nodded; "Yeah... Rest... That's what I need... Gotta rest."
With that, he dragged himself over to a tree, and curled up right at its base. Wormmon crawled over and curled up, acting as Ken's pillow.
Nearby, Mimi smiled, "Aww, look how cute." Palmon smiled, "Loyalty, thy name is Wormmon... Hey, Mimi, let's go get something to eat. There are plenty of apple and orange trees nearby." Mimi smiled at the thought; "Yeah! Let's go, I'm famished." Off they went; on the way, Palmon wondered, "What's famish mean?"
On the mountaintop, it was nice and snowy. Gatomon wasted no time in forming a snowball, and throwing it right at Patamon. The two of them were suddenly in a snowball war.
Nearby, Sora and Biyomon were making snow angels; TK and Kari were awed at the scenery, and so Kari took out her camera and started taking pictures. TK gave her silly poses to go with those shots.
But all the while, Yolei and Hawkmon kept to themselves. Yolei watched everyone else playing, and she sighed, "They're just wasting their time." Hawkmon shrugged, "Well, it never hurts to have a little fun. Besides, we're too stressed with all that's been going on. Maybe all we really need is a game to calm our nerves." Yolei huffed, "Hmph. Easy for you to say..."
Bam!
She then found herself getting smacked in the back of the head by a snowball; she almost lost her glasses in the process. "OW!" she cried out; then she whipped her head around to see a guilty-looking Patamon. "Patamon!" she growled; 'ere!" With that, she started chasing the little hamster-like digimon with bat wings for ears.
Hawkmon let out a small laugh, but then paused to look up at the cloudy sky. "...Hmmm..." he hummed to himself; "...It sure is dark up here. Can't imagine this being a good place to call Polarimon."
Yolei finally caught up with little Patamon; "Gotcha!" she cheered in victory once she grabbed his ears.
Bam!
She just got hit in the back of the head with yet another snowball. Yolei turned around, red in the face with anger, and growled, "Who was that now!?" Sora and Biyomon, who were building a snowman at this point, shrugged; "Wasn't us," Sora admitted. Kari, who was still taking pictures nearby, replied, "It wasn't me either." Yolei looked at TK and Gatomon, who were just chilling nearby; "You two?" she asked. Gatomon shook her head, "Nope."
Yolei's eyes glanced around suspiciously; "...Well then... if it wasn't you, or you, or any of you...?" Then, she heard the strangest sound. It sounded like something getting tapped, and it was coming from behind her. Yolei gasped in fear; it was a Shadowmon, grinning mischievously as it played catch with a snowball in its hand. "SHADOWMO-" TK started to say, but was instantly cut off by having the snowball slam right into his face.
Then they all came out; about a dozen of them at once! Three came down sledding from a mountain slope, another dressed as a Swiss mountain climber came yodeling down from another mountain top. Snowballs flew everywhere!
"BOOM BUBBLE-PUFF!" Patamon unleashed a blast of breath that destroyed an on-coming snowball.
The humans shielded their faces; TK growled to himself, "They just can't go away. Send the reinforcements!"
Biyomon, already in the air, decided the opposite; "No, we can take them! They're just trying to scare us away." Sora nodded, "Biyomon's right. Let's use our digivices!"
In mere minutes, a scuffle broke out. It was Champion against Shadowmon; and the humans even armed themselves with snowballs and the powers of their D-3's and digivices.
Before they all knew it, two icy forts were made, one for the Shadowmon, and another for the heroes. Every once in a while, a Shadowmon or a hero would peer out to see if the coast was clear, and every peek was welcomed by a snowball.
Yolei and Hawkmon frowned to each other; Yolei said, "If we keep this up, we'll never find Polarimon." Hawkmon just replied, "Keep the faith, dear. Once Tai and the others get here, we'll be unstoppable."
But by the time this fight broke out, Tai and the others were already preoccupied with such things as food, mapping out the world, and scouting the region for enemies. But worst of all...
"...Ken..."
Even in his dream, he heard it. That soft base voice; it was haunting him to no end now. And the scariest part about it was the very tone of it; it sounded kind and gentle.
"Ken, answer me... Don't be afraid."
He was scared, and had a right to be. But that couldn't stop him from opening his eyes. When he did, they looked a little empty, as if he was suddenly entranced by a force unknown. He saw himself rising, sitting upright as if nothing was wrong.
Then he saw himself get to his feet. It was the strangest feeling; he knew what he was doing, but for some reason it didn't feel like he was doing it willingly. He wasn't really. But he couldn't stop himself.
"Come to me..."
Wormmon opened his eyes just in time to see Ken walking away, down the road towards the forest region. "...Ken?" Wormmon blinked; he jumped up and ran to Ken's side as quickly as possible. "Ken, where are you going?" asked the little caterpillar. Ken, not looking down on his little friend, replied with, "I dunno."
Wormmon was instantly worried; he asked calmly, "Well, do you mind if I join you?" Ken said, "...I guess not..." "Good," Wormmon answered, and without anymore words to say, they disappeared.
The afternoon was slipping away, and it had been nearly half an hour since TK and his gang went to the mountaintop. Tai looked up, as did Matt and Agumon; Tai frowned, "They've been up there for a while. You think they need help?" "Yeah," Matt nodded; "Let's get the others! Mimi! Joe! Izzy!" Tai looked around for his friends, until he finally gasped, "...Where's Ken? ....KEN?"
Matt rose to his feet and said, "There's no time, Tai. We gotta go help them now, and then we'll round up the others." Tai really wasn't in the mood to argue; he knew that Matt was thinking of his brother- and perhaps even Sora. Tai said, "Okay. Agumon, let's get the others." "Right," nodded the little yellow dinosaur.
Back in the swampy regions, Davis and Veemon were fanning themselves with banana leaves in the treetops. It's uncertain where they came from, but they were both clad with sunglasses. "Aaahhhh.." sighed little Veemon; "Thish is the life, isn't it?" Davis looked to the sunny sky and smiled, "Yeah..."
Veemon continued, "I hate worrying. All worrying doesh is make you feel schick. And we don't need that, right Davish?" "I guess so," Davis replied calmly.
He was about to lay back and relax, when he had gotten a nasty pit in his stomach. It's as if something had hit him in the head or stomach.
Davis sat up, alarmed. Veemon raised his shades and asked, "...Davish? What's wrong?" Davis looked around slightly and frowned, "I- I dunno... I just got a bad feeling...." Veemon asked, "Ish it that coconut you had earlier? I agree, they tasted kinda funny." Davis shook his head, "No, no... It's something else... I can't put my finger-" He felt it again, and it made him get to his feet.
Veemon got to his own feet and gasped, "Davish?" Davis looked to him and said, "Veemon... We gotta go. We gotta head back now."
"Why? What about Jun?" asked the Rookie; Davis replied in an unfamiliarly serious tone, "Jun can take care of herself; it's not her I'm suddenly worried about. Hurry, digivolve!" "Okay," Veemon nodded.
"Na-na-na-na-naa-naa!" sung the teasing Shadowmon, as they stacked themselves up in a pyramid as if asking to get hurt. "Okay! That does it!" Gatomon hissed; "GATO-PUNCH!"
This went right through the pyramid; one Shadowmon evaporated, and the others fell down.
Sora held up her digivice, and a blast of energy shot from it and stunned a nearby enemy.
Suddenly, Metal Greymon came soaring into the scene with Tai. Matt and Gabumon. The Shadowmon screamed at their entrance, and started to scatter off.
Tai jumped down off of the Ultimate's back and said to Kari, "Kari, are you guys okay?" Kari nodded, "Yeah, Tai. Those guys were pushovers, actually." Tai and Matt looked around, as if skeptical; Matt disagreed, "Those guys are anything but pushovers."
TK said, "But look! They're gone now..." "Okay, that's weird," Yolei said; seeing that all obstacles were gone in a flash just felt eerie at this point. Kari said, "It's as if it was all for nothing... or maybe..." Gatomon's ears perked up; "They were just keeping us occupied!"
Tai frowned, "Okay, it's now or never! We gotta call Polarimon now! Do it!" Yolei hesitated; "We... We can't." "What do you mean you can't?" Matt wondered impatiently. Yolei just looked away sadly; "....I'm sorry."
Tai approached her; "Yolei, what's wrong?" Hawkmon flew to his side suddenly and replied calmly, "She's alright; we just can't call Polarimon right now." Tai demanded answers; "Can somebody tell me what's going on?"
"Tai..." Metal Greymon murmured. Tai looked to his Ultimate partner and responded with, "What?" The cyborg dinosaur tilted his head upward and asked, "Can't you feel it? ...The uneasiness...?" Sora agreed, "Something is wrong. This whole thing was just a cover up, I can feel it now." TK scratched his head; "A cover up for what?"
Then in a flash, Davis and Ex-Veemon arrived, shooting through the air like a bullet! Kari saw them first and gasped in surprise, "Davis??"
Davis was mounted on his Champion's back and said sternly, "We have to go, you guys! Now! Get the others!" Matt said, "Woah, woah! Calm down... How'd you get here so fast, Davis?" Davis wasn't in the mood for explanations; "I can't explain it, okay? All I know is, something really, really wrong is happening, and we gotta stop it."
Tai then reached for his digivice, and called Izzy through it; "Izzy. Round up the others; we'll meet you there." He then heard Izzy reply through the communicator, "Everybody's here except Ken."
Davis's eyes lit up with fear, "...Ken?....Oh no.... That's it. That's it!" He and ExVeemon then darted away, the same bullet-like speed with which they came into the scene. "WHAT!" Tai hollered, but it was too late.
It was too late for everything, except to act.
It was abnormally cold, and the fact that there was no color and no sunlight at all made it an even more chilling scene. It was a scene that was all too familiar to Ken; a dark beach, with an even darker ocean on the horizon.
The first time he was at a beach like this was where he lost his innocence as a youth. All it took was one dip of his digivice into that dark water, and out came his black D-3, and the Digimon Kaiser was born.
Another time he had seen this beach, he wasn't so alone; he, Yolei, Kari and their digimon faced off against a nasty Blossomon. That scene had a very different outcome, because the Ultimate hero, Silphymon, was born.
And the last time Ken saw a beach like this, he conjured up all his inner power, and with the help of his friends, he had sent an evil Mega, Daemon, into the realm of darkness forever.
But now, looking out at this ocean, with the same black sky and the same unfriendly water, Ken felt a chill down his spine. He knew it, just by looking at it. This was the same ocean.
"...Ken?" little Wormmon blurted out nervously, "are we in the digital world anymore?" Oh, how he wish he could say yes, or even lie about it; but Ken replied with the truth; "No... We're back here... Where we started. Where I started." Wormmon gulped; "You mean... Oh, don't tell me. Not the Dark Realm!" Ken nodded, "Yes. The Dark Realm. I thought all the gates were locked from the digi-world, but..."
He wanted to turn away from the water, back to the sandy plain behind him. But it was too late; once someone had their eyes caught on those hypnotizing waves, there was no turning back. And he knew it. "What are we doing here, Ken?" Wormmon asked; his voice was giving away the fear he tried to hide. "I don't know," Ken replied.
There was something wrong in his voice. It was monotonous. Unfeeling. He sounded like he was in a trance... again.
But Wormmon was still very much the boss of himself; he turned his little caterpillar body around and suggested, "W-we should go back now. The others are probably worried about us by now." Ken replied with that monotonous voice, "Yes. They are worried. They should be." Wormmon sweat-dropped; "Ken? Y-you're not sounding right. It's as if it's not you anymore... Ken?"
In a way, Wormmon was right. Ken was called here, by someone; and now that he has answered the call, he was no longer in control. It wasn't something he wanted, but it was not something he was unfamiliar with. And no matter how blankly he looked or how unemotional he sounded, Ken didn't really want to be here. He was scared too.
"Wormmon?..."
"Yes, Ken?"
"....I don't think I can go back."
"What makes you say that?"
"...I can't move."
"Ken."
At last, he showed emotion, by gasping in horror. But that was all he could do, for he was right; he was stiff as a statue on that shore. Once he heard that deep voice again, he knew it was all over for him. Whoever it was that was calling him, was here.
Wormmon started tugging at Ken's pant leg; "You can move, Ken! Run! Try to run away, like I'm about to!" The boy replied, "No. I can't. Save yourself, buddy; run away before he gets you too." "Who's HE?" the little digimon wanted to know. His human partner again spoke monotonously, "Forget about it, it's too late. Go now, leave me here."
Wormmon blinked, "...M-me? ...Alone?... No! I can't do that! What kind of digimon partner would I be if I left you behind?... Listen, Ken, I'm scared out of my mind right now, but I'm not gonna leave you. If it's a fight somebody wants, then bring it on! But I'm not leaving!"
And then, all of a sudden, a huge gust of wind howled through the starless night sky. Clouds were rolling in, though one couldn't tell being how dark it already was. The wind was icy cold, and slammed right into their faces and bodies. Then, just when it passed, the floor became wet. Wormmon looked down and gasped; the tide was coming in.
Already, Ken's feet were halfway underwater. Wormmon started to panic; "Ken, try to move! Just try! The water's rising!.... Ken, you know I can't swim!" "I already told you, you gotta save yourself Wormmon," Ken argued.
Another howl of the wind- higher this time- screeched in the air. It sounded like a wolf was dying in the distance, giving it one last try to call for help desperately, but then there would be no answer, hence no hope. And that's exactly how Ken felt right now, hopeless.
"Ken. I knew you would come."
Ken took a soft breath, and called out to the dark horizon; "Who are you!? What do you want from me!?" His curious little partner wondered aloud, "...Who are you talking to?" But then, little Wormmon noticed that the water was rising. His tiny feet were completely underwater, and now he wanted more than ever to run.
So he did; he sped as fast as he could to where the water was low enough to just touch the sand. But he wasn't going to be much help here. Wormmon called out, "Ken! Use your digivice; I'll save you!" Ken tried to look back, but could only do so with his eyes; "...You can try."
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Mega ------------
"WORMMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO...... STINGMON......... DINO-BEEMON....... GRAN KWAGAMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
The massive insect beast could have easily lifted his human friend from the water; he could lift a mountaintop if he wanted to! But when he lowered his tusks to Ken and said, "Hurry, grab a hold of me!" it couldn't be done. "Hurry, Ken!" Gran Kwagamon pleaded, but it was no use. The water was rising quickly, up to Ken's shins.
The giant Mega was about to grab Ken with his claws desperately, when his eyes just happened to look up. He finally saw something in the distance, approaching them from the ocean ahead. "...What is that?" the insect beast muttered worriedly.
It was a tornado; it was so big, it almost looked like a bridge from the sea to the sky. And being in sight must have meant that it was even darker than its surroundings, which to some might seem impossible. But it was clear enough to Gran Kwagamon's six eyes; he roared, "Ken, a tornado! It's coming this way!"
The Mega struggled to lift his human friend, but it was like lifting ten times his own weight. "How could this be?" he wondered to himself.
He tried digging a trench around Ken, thinking that this will somehow lift the gravitational pull around him. But that was a failure. How was it that one of the largest known digimon in all existence could not lift a small child from the ground? It was tearing him apart inside. To make things worse, the tornado was practically on top of them in a matter of two minutes. "Oh, no," he uttered.
"...Ken..."
Finally, the digimon heard it. It was an unpleasant base voice- kind of demonic, if that could justify its tone. Gran Kwagamon eyed it angrily; "Who... What are you!?" The tornado hissed with the force of ten winds, "I am the Master of this realm. The king of all that is evil. The Keeper of Darkness."
Gran Kwagamon gasped; Ken would to, if he could move on his own. "So..." Gran Kwagamon growled, "the fourth Digi-Keeper finally makes his appearance." The Keeper laughed softly, "Fourth!? Ha. Last I heard, you haven't even met Polarimon yet. But it doesn't matter right now. I have come to claim that which is rightfully mine." He was referring to Ken, of course.
The giant insect- though right now he was looking tiny compared to this force of black wind- took one mighty step forward, blocking Ken from the Keeper, and warned it, "You stay away from him! Haven't you done enough already?" The tornado then started twisting and turning, until it grew itself a skull-like head near its top. The skull gave Gran Kwagamon a nasty, sharp-toothed grin, "I have only just begun."
With that, the ocean erupted into a wild hurricane-like current, causing waves to throw violent tantrums in the waters ahead. This caused the water to rise all the way up to Ken's waist. Gran Kwagamon himself was just beginning to throw a fit; he raised his massive head to the sky and roared, "I WON'T LET YOU HAVE HIM!"
He then uncased his blood-red wings, and in a flash he took to the air. He was such a quick flyer- much quicker than his size made it seem he would be- that with every zip and sharp turn he made in mid-air, he came off looking like black and red lightning. He knew deep inside that he couldn't possibly stand a chance against a Digi-Keeper. But he had no choice; his best friend in the whole world- two worlds, really- depended on him.
"DIMENSION SCISSORS!"
What this attack consisted of was, a flash of energy from his wings that would shoot out like horizontal beams of white light, and slash right through their target with such force, it could be enough to rip a hole right through reality. And that's what could have happened, to any other target.
But not the Digi-Keeper; his tornado body only made the beams bounce off of him, and they almost backfired right at Gran Kwagamon. He dodged them gracefully, but this only made him angrier. "Go ahead, try that again," mocked the Digi-Keeper.
Gran Kwagamon then tried to outsmart the Keeper with speed; he swarmed around him like a bee to a hive trespasser. Then, once he thought he would catch the Keeper off guard, he pulled out his claws, and scraped away. He also charged with his tusks, butted with his head, and bit with his teeth. Now he was only irritating the Keeper.
"You bore me," said the evil tornado; as he said this, his tornado body developed a hand, and it grabbed the insect in mid air. "...Gran Kwagamon," Ken whispered in despair. The Digi-Keeper of Darkness then proceeded to crush the bug-like Mega in his grip; Gran Kwagamon tried to fight back, but he was trying to fight a force of nature as unstoppable as thunder and lightning. In fact, he was fighting the wind; even his wings couldn't defy such a power.
While the Keeper was kept busy, Ken felt the strength to fight himself; he called out, "STOP IT! ...Let him go; I'm the one you want!" The Keeper's skull/wind face looked down on the boy, who was now halfway buried beneath the dark water; "...Too true," the tornado beast said, and he threw Ken's digimon with great force, to the sands of the shore. Now, he was in his baby form, Leafmon, and he looked battered and bruised. Half dead, even.
This broke Ken's already fragile heart; he felt like taking the blame for having his partner almost killed (for the upteenth time), for not even trying to save him. The Keeper then sighed, "Now, then. Where were we?... Ah, yes. Your dark spore. That is what I want from you, Kind One. With it, my powers will reach their full potential, and I will finally claim my place in the digital world. Now be a good boy, and stand still... This will only hurt for a minute."
Ken did stand still, with his body halfway underwater. For a moment, there was nothing- in the next, extreme pain. It was the pain of electricity shooting all through him, all the way down to the bones. This was necessary for the Keeper; the dark spore was way too bonded with Ken, and it was located right in the back of the boy's neck bone.
His spine.
His spine was powered by the electricity that came from his own brain, and so the only way to separate the spore from it was to interfere with another kind of electricity. The Keeper's.
Ken was surrounded by a faint, purplish orb, filled to the rim with this electric power. And the longer it lingered, the more it hurt. But soon enough, the dark spore would be free of its bond with the boy's body, and that would be the moment when the dark Keeper would reach down, and yank it right out like the thorn in the lion's paw.
"KEN!!"
This was a completely different voice now, not the Keeper's. Ken, though weak already from being drained of his natural power, recognized it all at once; "...Davis?" Indeed, it was Davis. He brought the whole crew with him- Tai, Matt, Yolei, Kari, TK, all of them and their digimon.
They came charging through the air, like an army. Davis called out again, "KEN, HANG ON! WE'RE COMING!" Those digimon who were flying- ExVeemon, Metal Greymon, Angemon, Kabuterimon, Birdramon, and Lilymon- dropped off their friends right at the edge of the ocean. That's where they found Leafmon, halfway buried in the sand.
"Leafmon!" Mimi called out, and with Sora she rushed to his side. She scooped up the little green creature and gasped, "What happened? Are you alright?" All he could do was cough and gasp for air, but then he replied weakly, "...help....him....he...."
Sora pointed forward and gasped, "Look!" They all saw it, that black tornado with the skull face in the middle, which looked down on all of them as if they were insects. "Ken!" gasped Yolei, once she saw that Ken was now up to his neck in water and otherwise blocked off by a wave of dark electricity.
Tai looked back up at the tornado and hollered at it, "What do you think you're doing, you monster!?" The tornado laughed, "Ha-ha-ha-ha-haa! Blind fools; I'm simply putting this child out of his misery, that's what." Davis balled a fist and growled, "Let him go!" TK added, "Or we'll make you sorry for ever coming here!" The tornado let out a harsh howl; "Raaaaaaaaar!! ...Simple-minded creatures. You are in my territory. This is MY Realm!"
Tai blinked in surprise, "You-- you mean..." "That's right," it nodded; "I am the Digi-Keeper of Darkness. And you are trespassing."
Davis took a brave step forward and said, "We're not leaving without our friend, now give him back!" "Make me," the Keeper responded coldly.
So, it was on.
"GIGA-BLASTER!"
"HAND OF FATE!"
"METEOR WING!"
"X-LASER!"
None of those attacks dented him, or even made him flinch. Izzy called out, "You guys! He's a Digi-Keeper; nothing we can do can stop him, he's too powerful." "But we gotta save Ken!" Davis argued abruptly. The tornado huffed impatiently, "No one can be saved from me. Haven't you children figured it out by now?..."
------------ Digimon Card: DAEMON ------------
Level: Keeper
Attribute: None
Type: Demon/Human Nature
"I am the pinnacle of all hatred and despair. I own the Dark Realm, and everything in it. I have even assumed the form of a demon lord. I.. AM.. DAEMON!"
-Daemon
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"....no.......way....." muttered Tai.
Funny, he looked nothing like the demon lord they've faced before. Here, he was a natural element, when before he was a kingly beast with a solid humanoid body. But it was true; it was the same creature that they've banished to this world years ago. Here, he had spent the last several Earthly years building up his energy.
Now, he was a titan.
A very big one.
TK, among the others, was skeptical nevertheless; he turned to his brother and pondered, "This can't be the same Daemon we fought before, can it?... I thought Daemon was a digimon!" Matt shrugged, "I guess all of the Keepers can assume the form of digimon." "Indeed," nodded the Keeper.
"But now I quickly grow impatient of all of this reminiscing. Why dwell on the past, when I have so much important things to do in the here and now? Stand aside, children; I have business to attend to."
Davis watched as Daemon's hand was reaching towards Ken, ready to grab the dark spore as soon as it made itself known to him.
Davis wasn't going to have that! He charged directly into the water, towards Ken. "Little fool!" called out Daemon, and unleashed a force of black lightning at Davis. "Davis!! Get out of there!" hollered ExVeemon. But Davis wasn't about to back down, no matter how strong these electric currents were. All he cared about was Ken, his best friend. Davis would gladly charge through Hell itself for his friends, if he had to.
This dark raging tide with a surge of electric power wasn't going to be any different. To everyone's surprise, even Daemon's, Davis had just enough energy to arrive at Ken's side. Both of them were up to their heads in water, and Ken was so stiff, he couldn't even speak at this point.
Davis tried to shake Ken's shoulders as he called out to him, "Ken! Wake up! We gotta get outta here, buddy!... Ken, snap out of it!" "It's too late, boy!" Daemon responded; "He's mine now." Davis forced his way against the wild tide, until he was in front of his friend in an attempt to block him from Daemon's power.
Davis then raised his arms to the air, and called out to the dark Keeper, "I'm not giving up! Come on, give me everything you got!" From the shore, his friends were all panicked. Kari screamed, "Davis!? What are you DOING!? Get out of there!" He wasn't listening; he was too busy blocking all of the electricity and water from Ken.
Kari called to him again, "DAVIS!!" But still, he didn't budge. One would think, if he would listen to anybody, it'd be Kari. But no; he had made his choice. He would single-handedly free his best friend from Daemon's hold, even if it meant forfeiting his life. And for a moment, it almost turned out that way.
That's when his Crest started glowing warmly, giving off a reddish sparkle. The sparkle, for a few seconds, kept to itself. But then, it started expanding, more and more, until it became a soft red orb around Davis and Ken. It was enough to block off Daemon's electricity, and in mere seconds, it started blocking off the raging dark waters.
The tide was being pushed against itself, and the water was starting to go down. Further, and further, until Davis and Ken were almost totally out of the water.
"...What??" Daemon gasped, "How... How COULD you!? No mere human can withstand.... That's it!" Enraged, the black beast pulled out his huge hand, and it reached for the two boys.
WHAM!!!
The hand came at them like a launched missile of mass destruction, and the true impact could have come out like a bomb's explosion. But to everyone's utter shock, Davis's Crest formed such a powerful force shield, that it blocked the Darkness, and on top of that, it shone like a newborn sun. It pushed back the Keeper; light was something he was not accustomed to, and seeing this huge blast of light was just too much.
Everyone on shore was speechless. How? How did one small boy accomplish that which a whole army of Mega digimon couldn't possibly? And how could he do it with a Crest that wasn't even whole yet!?
Daemon knew. It was way too obvious at this point.
Once his red eyes adjusted to Davis's light, he gave out an evil hiss; "The Noble One... I should have known... Your power is strong, but it can't save you forever, boy!" Davis, not quite understanding what Daemon was talking about, simply replied with, "I'll fight you to the very end! Come on, bring it on!" "So be it," Daemon growled, and tried once again to penetrate the heavenly force field.
Back on the shore, the humans and digimon were trying to come to grips with what was happening. Davis, and Davis alone, had the Keeper of Darkness held at bay. But it couldn't last much longer, and they knew it.
TK finally said, "Guys, we can't just stand here. Davis can't do this all alone!" Kari blinked sadly, "What can we do, TK? We're not powerful enough to stop a Digi-Keeper."
"That's it!" Izzy exclaimed; "The only way to stop a Keeper is with another Keeper! We need Polarimon!" Yolei sighed, "Izzy, how're we gonna find her in the Dark Realm? We couldn't even find her in the mountains, remember?" "Where's your faith, Yolei?" Izzy replied calmly; she frowned, "...I really don't know." She then bowed her head, and in by doing so her eyes met those of her own partner, Hawkmon. She asked him softly, "Did I really blow it this time, Hawkmon?" The little eagle Rookie just smiled at her; "My dear, the only thing you don't have faith in is yourself." She looked away in shame and said, "You're right..."
Hawkmon wasn't about to take his eyes off of hers; he knew that now, more than ever, she needed his confidence. So he hopped over to where her sight was, and once their eyes met again, he said calmly: "Yolei, I know how hard it is for you right now. But before you go and think that all is lost, I want you to look around. ...Go ahead, dear; look around."
She did, and as a result, she had seen all of her human friends, and their digimon partners. Hawkmon said, "We're all in this one together. Nobody is alone, not even Davis. I think that all we need to bring out Polarimon, is to believe in each other. The whole team! I know you can do that, Yolei." As proof of his words, Sora and TK and Kari all gave Yolei a chorus of positive smiles and nods.
Sora then said, "I know that by staying angry at Daemon, I can't really summon my power of Love. So, I'm just gonna focus on my love for all of you guys right now." With that, she closed her eyes, and fell into a meditation-like trance.
TK gave a smile and addressed the group himself; "I know it's tough to think that there's any hope for us right now, but if I just try hard enough, I know I can feel the Hope in my heart." He then closed his eyes, and fell into the same meditation as Sora.
Kari then smiled, "I'm the child of Light, and as such I'm supposed to be the one who believes in Righteousness above all things. So, if Sora and TK can tap into their feelings, I'll try the same myself." With that, Kari closed her eyes, and joined in Sora and TK's meditation.
There they were, three children summoned by Polarimon to bear her crests of Love, Hope, and Light. All they needed now was Faith.
"YOU GUYS!" Davis screamed from where he was; "If you're planning something, I suggest you do it now! I can't hold this guy back forever!!" He was right; Daemon's hand was closing in on Davis's seemingly unbreakable force field, and it was now giving off yellow lightning bolts.
It was the moment of truth for Yolei; everything was now in her hands. She walked over to Sora, Kari, and TK; forming with them a small circle in the sand. Yolei closed her eyes, and started to think deeply.
Everyone fell silent around her, and for a moment she found the peace she needed to concentrate. She started thinking of the days when she joined the Digi-Destined in that school computer room. The first time she ever set foot in the digital world, and when she met Hawkmon as he emerged magically from the digi-mental of Love.
Those were the good old days; no matter how bleak things looked, somebody- or the whole group- turned the tide for the forces of good. There wasn't a digimon- fake or not- that they couldn't defeat. Though she hated to do it, there were some that she killed for very good reasons.
And when they faced off against Daemon for the first time in the real world, that looked like the darkest moment of all. But they all pulled it off, by sharing their energies as one. Back then, she had faith. All she had was faith. Faith that good would overcome evil. Faith that would save the day...
She still had the Faith! She knew it! She knew she had it all along; she just couldn't remember. It was there, in her heart. It never left! It was there... even now!
Yolei opened her eyes. She looked down, at her chest. From where her heart was, she saw a soft, white glow. Sora opened her eyes, and saw a soft red glow from where her heart was. TK saw a glow from where his hear was. Kari saw a soft pink glow coming from her heart. They did it! They finally tapped into their souls, and reawakened their virtues. Hope, Light, Love, and Faith.
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Four beams of light shot through the sky- white, gold, pink, and red. They were like searchlights, or beacons, tearing through the endless sky of blackness. They were calling her.
When the lights diminished, there was darkness again. The humans and digimon glued their eyes to the sky, waiting for some kind of sign that their summoning had worked. But this was the Dark Realm; Daemon's territory. How was the element of light even allowed here?
This thought crossed all of their minds, but Polarimon's Chosen held their ground. They couldn't give up; it wasn't in them, especially not now. But a minute had gone by, and nothing happened. Daemon gave a soft smile, sure that he had won this battle.
But then... there came a rumble. A rumble from the sky, almost like thunder. It was very soft and distant. But then, another one came; louder....
Rumble... Rumble.... RUMBLE....! RUMBLE!!
Finally, a shot of light split through the black sky. It came out like a sky painter's cloud dust, but as it got closer and closer, the "dust" of light grew wider, and wider. Until it finally revealed itself as a pure white comet. ...Or was it a comet?... No. Anyone who could look closely enough could see that this was a force of energy, and right in its front was the shape of a woman. A very angry woman.
Daemon looked up one second too late-
WHAM!!!
She slammed her comet-like body right into his middle, knocking the "wind" out of him, so to speak. He was pulled away from the heroes, and the comet-girl even pushed him further and further back to the ocean's horizon, him screaming in pain all the way. Until, at long last, he was gone. Disappeared, into the darkness from whence he came.
And to the amazement of all of the heroes, the sky opened up. Out came stars, millions upon millions of stars. And dust fell from this brilliant sky.
The dust trickled all the way down to the earth, to the four children who have successfully called upon their Keeper of the Sky. Once the star dust had touched them, there emerged in soft heavenly light, their crests. Sora's, TK's, and Yolei's came out like necklaces, and Kari's in the form of a bracelet. Yolei proudly looked at her new Crest; it was white over blue, and the white symbol resembled that of praying hands/wings. "I did it..." was all that she could say.
Meanwhile, Davis helped Ken walk away from the dark water; Ken's arm held onto Davis's shoulders for support. "Take it easy, buddy," Davis muttered; "It'll be okay now..." Weakly, Ken knelt down into the sand, grateful to still be alive.
"Ken!" cheered Leafmon, who leapt into his partner's lap at the first chance he had. Ken hugged him softly; "...Are you okay?" he whispered. Leafmon grinned, "Yes. Are you?" "I guess," Ken smiled back, but then he looked to Davis and said, "...you saved my life..." Davis grinned meekly; "Ah, gee. It was nothing..." But then, they all fell silent; the sky was glowing all the brighter now, and for a reason.
She was there.
All eyes were on her- the woman suspended high in the night sky, like a living constellation, in an Ancient Greek Goddess-like gown. She was glowing as faintly and colorfully as the Northern Lights in the real world. A charming beauty so distant, and yet so close, she almost looked like an angel, or at least a dream come to life.
She herself looked down on the new slit in her dress's leg area; "...This is my best dress," she muttered angrily; "...He will pay..." But that's when she looked down on all of the children and digimon. She gave a small grin; "Oh... Forgive me for being so late."
------------ Digimon Card: POLARIMON ------------
Level: Keeper
Attribute: Data
Type: Human Nature
"I am Polarimon, Keeper of The Digital Skies; please, hold your applause. It wasn't until my Chosen had reawakened the power inside them could I arrive."
-Polarimon
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Kari was the first to respond: "....We were looking all over for you. And you really couldn't have come at a better time." The Digi-Keeper replied cheerfully, "I try... So, you're Kari, my Child of Light. ...And Sora, The Loving One. TK, The Hopeful One, and Yolei, The Faithful one!"
Yolei blushed meekly, "Err... Faithful, at the last minute." "Which is always the best," Polarimon nodded with a smile.
Tai gulped softly, "...So... Now we've seen all the Keepers. What do we do now?" Polarimon replied, "Well, we really must return to our realm of the digital world. Daemon will shortly regain his strength, so all of you move quickly."
Davis helped Ken to his feet and asked, "Are you sure you're okay, dude?" Ken nodded, "Yeah. I can move now... Geez, that was scary, wasn't it? I started to think I was really gonna die back there." Yolei ran to him and replied, "We wouldn't have let that happen, right guys?" Sora nodded, "Yeah, we're all in this together."
Yolei then glanced at Hawkmon, who have her a warm smile. Sora and Hawkmon were right. No matter how bad things looked, or whenever it looked like all hope for victory rested on one person, nothing could change the fact that they were all a team. And believing in that team was really all that Yolei needed. So they all started leaving, together.
"I'm just glad we finally found her- Polarimon, I mean," Joe said solemnly. Gommamon agreed, "Yeah. And now we got all the good Digi-Keepers. Now all we gotta do next is stand guard for all three of them. Right?" "Yeah," Davis responded; "And we gotta watch for each other. 'Cause we're all we got..."
TO BE CONTINUED