"After they've split up with Mimi and Palmon, Armadillomon and Cody went to Sea City, an Atlantis-like palace that's completely underwater. There, they met an old but still powerful Veedramon named Zero, who claims to know our buddy Tai. Meanwhile, Joe and I had our hands full with evil sea digimon controlled by Greedmon. I took care of the Power Spine that was controlling them, but not before Plesiomon had his way with them. Hmm… I wonder what's going on with him and Joe?"
-Izzy
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Nineteen: "The Sky's The Limit"
While the days were filled with heart-racing activity left and right, night time, the one time one would expect to see trouble, turned out to be the one moment of each day that was the most peaceful.
Wherever they were- by the beach on the edge of the continent, or atop a secluded plateau, or deep in the jungle, the Digi-Destined and their digimon partners slept through the night with a feeling of serenity they truly deserved.
…Well, almost all of them slept.
Izzy, Cody and Joe took themselves and their digimon to a motel off the beaches of Coral Town (what was left of it), and each one was given a place for the night.
While Gommamon peacefully slept, curled up by Joe's feet on his bed, Joe himself stared at the ceiling as a beam of moonlight found its way through his window. He was deep in thought, and all of his thoughts seemed to be focused on his behavior that day. Mentally, he asked himself, "…What's happened to me back there? Where did I get that nasty attitude?"
------------ Flashback ------------
Joe narrowed his eyes and balled his fists, as he watched in frustration the increasing numbers of charging behemoths. "Plesiomon!" shouted Joe, "Show them what you've got: unleash your Mega attack!" Plesiomon felt that he had no choice but to obey his friend, and assumed his battle stance.
Surprised at this, Hercules Kabuterrimon gasped, "Are you crazy?? These digimon aren't that evil!" "You have no choice!" shouted Joe from a distance; "Release your fury, now!"
At first, the dinosaur-like Mega felt reluctant, but then a dark haze filled his master's eyes; "DO IT NOW!" In reaction to Joe's outburst, Plesiomon himself became engulfed in a rage that seemed to have come out of nowhere. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a newfound sense of power, and like his master, it seemed dark.
Plesiomon then bowed his head at his on-coming enemies, then roared, "SAD WATER BLAST!!" A massive torrent of energy, with the force of a deadly hurricane, came spitting out of the mouth of Plesiomon, drowning out almost every enemy-controlled digimon in sight.
------------ End Flashback ------------
Joe blinked as his thoughts went on; "I shouldn't have been so rough on Gommamon. He was only doing what I told him to do; I totally forgot that those digimon weren't really evil…"
He then let out a sigh and glanced at where Gommamon was. He found the little seal snoring softly, and his right leg was twitching. He seemed to be just fine at that moment, so Joe relaxed himself a bit.
"…Still, he thought, I couldn't shake that need… for control."
------------ Visions: Joe's Past ------------
In his thoughts, Joe could see himself growing up in those years after his first adventures in the digital world. He realized how quickly he went from being a scary-cat to a hopeful doctor in a matter of eight years.
"Ever since I became a Digi-Destined, my life has changed. I used to be scared of a lot of things, especially change. I didn't think I'd end up becoming some kind of hero, with a sidekick that can turn into a giant powerhouse. But I did, and I liked it!
"…And then, reality came in, and made me start to think that I had to grow up and move on…
"So I did.
"I started taking school and getting a license for practicing medicine more seriously. I almost became as much of an egghead as Izzy! After a while, it just seemed like I was no longer needed in the digital world… I guess that's why I started to feel like I didn't belong here all over again…"
These thoughts led him back to that late afternoon, when he became possessed by a mysterious fit of rage. For the first time since then, he could see just how it affected Plesiomon, when he took to his special attack at full force.
"I guess that's why I got so tense today. I needed to be in control of my life and my decisions, like I have been in the real world. But still… that doesn't excuse me for what I did to Gommamon…"
------------ End visions ------------
"Maybe I'll get over it soon…"
Moments after Joe's thoughts have been collected, he started to feel his eyes get heavy at last. So he closed them, hoping that this would be the moment when he could finally join all of his friends in a state of sub-consciousness.
That same night, Yolei, Sora slept under the guarding wing of their Champion partners, Aquilamon and Birdramon. They nested atop the flat surface of a plateau, as the night sky was blanketed by dark clouds that overlooked the savanna.
While the rest of them seemed peaceful, something was bothering Sora in her dreams, and she showed it by wincing and turning slightly in her sleep.
It started when she heard her own voice say something that was very similar to what she said to Biyomon, just a few days earlier: "Ever since we released the power of our crests years ago, we Digi-Destined kids lost a part of ourselves…"
------------ Vision: Sora's Dream/Flashbacks ------------
Sora could see herself receiving the Crest of Love for the first time; it was a rather unexpected moment, as she was taken prisoner by a half-crazed Datamon, who wanted to use her Crest for his own selfish purposes.
Since that day, Sora became more and more open to her feelings, which helped her patch things up between her and her mother. It was about that time when she and her friends were battling an even more power-hungry digimon named Myotismon. During one of their fiercest battles with this maniac, Birdramon digivolved into Garudamon for the first time.
Sora's bond with her digimon never felt stronger, and she hoped that the same could have been said for the bond between her and her human friends.
That's when she started to look for signs of a deeper love. At first, it seemed as though Tai would be the one; he was always the bravest and one of the most dedicated of Digi-Destined. Heck, he was pretty much the ringleader of the group.
But it wasn't meant to be; in the digital world, Tai put his friends before him but in the real world he and Sora showed off their bratty sides.
The worst incident (if you could call it that) was during the time another megalomaniac digimon named Diablomon was trying to take over the Internet.
Tai and Sora had a fight, and were still embittered with each other when the evil digimon was creeping his way around the world through the World Wide Web. Had she swallowed her pride much sooner, Sora would have joined that fight.
Her time for redemption would be at hand yet, when Diablomon- then in his full evolution as Armegamon- struck again a year or two later. She, along with Kari, TK, Davis, Ken, Yolei and Cody, became the first to witness the first appearance of the supreme force and beauty of Imperial Dramon's Paladin Mode. His victory over Armegamon would not have been complete without the support of Sora and her friends.
By then, she had already started to grow feelings for Matt- another leader-like member of the Digi-Destined, and seemingly more mature than Tai.
The two of them had a lot in common; they were down to earth, focused, and serious about everything. No longer have they had the will to explore their inner child, and so they grew up before most of the others had. This was just the kind of maturity Sora was looking for in a hopeful partner for life.
But all of these trials and errors would eventually lead Sora to the biggest challenge of all, and this time, no digimon alive was there to fight or support her.
Sora was waiting backstage for him after the last curtain call on that one fateful night, at his first real concert tour. By then, the two of them made an agreement to hold off their personal goals, such as dating, so that they both could focus on their dream jobs.
But Matt's opportunity came first, and that night after the concert, it became clear that the stage married him.
He greeted her backstage with a hug and friendly words, but there was no intimate affection. And to make things even more awkward, he was already getting swamped by younger, energetic fan girls who wanted his picture and autographs. After two minutes of talking with them, Matt seemed to have completely forgotten that Sora was even there.
It got worse with time. Their dates were soon limited to once a week. They emailed each other more than they talked in person. Matt was a no show, while Sora waited for him at their usual rendezvous points.
And then, one evening, the straw broke. She was walking home from the park, where she and Matt were supposed to meet, when she caught him driving in a flashy car. At first, she figured he was with his band, and he was… What she didn't realize until she took a second look, was that they had girls with them in the car.
Two girls, in fact, sat side by side with Matt in the backseat, each one with an arm around him. As they drove away, Sora watched as her confused heart shattered into a million pieces.
------------ End Vision ------------
Sora was awakened by a harsh gust of wind, as were the rest of the group, just moments later. This was no ordinary gust, and Aquilamon was the first to notice danger in the distance: "…A tornado… And it's headed this way!"
They all gasped in shock; indeed, a tornado that seemed to have come out of the blue that stretched as far as three miles could be seen twisting and spinning its way towards the travelers. Birdramon had the right idea when she gasped, "Let's fly!" Instantly, the two Champion birds scooped up their human partners into their talons and took to the air.
To their shock, they had only been able to outrun the tornado for just a little while; it seemed to have picked up its pace and was soon on their tails at rapid speed. Desperate for more power, the Champions became Ultimate humanoid birds, and doubled their pace. But eventually, even that wasn't enough.
Yolei started to lose her grip on Silphymon's arm, and found herself getting tugged all the tighter by the wind. She started to scream in panic, as Silphymon, her angel/eagle hybrid partner, glanced her way and said, "Yolei, hang on! We're almost out of this thing!" But he was wrong; Yolei tried to stay attached to his arm, but it was no use; "Silphymon!" she shrieked; "Help me-e-e!!"
No sooner than that, the wind took her by the legs and carried her off. "YOLEI!" howled Silphymon; he slowed his pace long enough to see just where Yolei was being carried off to: right into the tornado's funnel. He screamed again, "Yolei, NO!!" and took off after her.
Meanwhile, Garudamon, an eagle-like monster with twice the talons and ten times the strength, found herself being tugged by the forceful winds as well. "Sora," she growled in frustration, "I can't… keep this up much longer. It's pulling me in!" Her hopeful partner, safely kept in the Ultimate's arms, replied loudly, "You can do it, Garudamon! Don't give up! Keep trying!!"
Try as she could, she couldn't resist the winds much longer. Soon the funnel of the cyclone was right on top of them, and before they could pause to breathe, the funnel inhaled them all.
Spinning and screaming at the same time was the last thing that the four weary travelers remember of that night…
But when dawn came, it was a completely different setting. The sun peeked through clouds that were painted in purple and pink, and the first thing Yolei could remember feeling was the softness of her pillow. When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to discover that it wasn't a pillow she was sleeping on…
It was a cloud.
She gasped, "Huh??" and leaned up to observe her surroundings. She soon found out that the object that made up her bed was a cloud, that the objects surrounding it were clouds, and nearby the little pink power puff known as Poromon was bouncing up and down playfully on a cloud. Yolei paused to blink; "…What's going on? …Have I really died and gone to Heaven?" "I think we did!" smiled Poromon, as he bounced his way over to his partner.
She caught the little trainee in her arms and frowned, "This doesn't make any sense, Poromon. The last thing I remember was being sucked up by a tornado. …Unless…" "Unless what?" cooed the little trainee; Yolei looked around and blinked, "Unless, this is where the tornado took us; straight into the clouds!"
"It sure as heck did!" came a familiar voice; Yolei turned around, and there were Sora and her own little pink trainee, Yokomon. "Sora," gasped Yolei.
Sora seemed much calmer than Yolei, perhaps because she had been awake longer than she had; she smiled, "Yokomon and I went looking around for answers, and you'll never believe what we found! Come on over with us."
With that, Sora led Yolei and their digimon over to a clearing in the puffy clouds. What they saw was a grand palace, just sitting in the middle of this massive cumulus cloud; in fact, the palace itself was made up of the cloud. Yolei was breath-taken; "Wow…" she muttered.
And to further her surprise, she realized that they weren't alone; dozens of star-shaped Starmon were flying around, as if this was their home. Sora nudged Yolei and insisted, "Come on." With that, the four of them hurried down a puffy white hill and hop-footed it to the palace.
As the girls and their digimon entered the gates of Sky City, Sora, Yolei, Yokomon and Poromon were welcomed to the sight of not just Starmon, but also different kinds of angel-type digimon, like Piximon, Angemon, Angewomon, and the like. As any citizens of a city, they turned this cloud into a world of their own, where they could eat, play, and even put up shops.
Passing through all of this, the humans and their partners were all astounded. "I've never seen anything like this place," admitted Yokomon; "Yeah," added Poromon, "it's like a hidden paradise." Suddenly, the four of them were greeted by an Angewomon, who smiled at them pleasantly and said, "Welcome to Sky City! This is the home of Polarimon, and she welcomes all who are able to find it."
"Sky City?" echoed Sora; "Polarimon?" echoed Yolei.
The Angewomon nodded, "Yes. This is one of three paradises, made entirely by the Digi-Keepers. Here, Polarimon herself keeps watch over all of her selected digimon types, like us celestial beings." Yolei gasped, "Oh… So, it wasn't really an accident that we got here, was it? That tornado purposely brought us here?"
The Angewomon just smiled, "Well, it doesn't matter just how you got here, what matters is that you're here! Come, let me take you to Polarimon. I'm sure she'd like to see you." Without even considering an argument, the girls and their digimon followed the Ultimate angel toward the great cloudy palace ahead.
Up until now, Polarimon had been seen as a living constellation in the sky; but now that she had a place of her own to call home, she could assume a more human-like appearance. Sitting on a throne fit for a queen, which was guarded by a Seraphimon and Ophanimon, the starry-shining Polarimon, dressed in a flattering Ancient-Grecian gown, welcomed her chosen children as they came through the doors of her great hall.
"Ah, Sora. Yolei. And Yokomon and Poromon," she smiled; "Come in, come in. You're more than welcome here." Bashful with honor, the girls and their digimon entered the room and gazed in wonder, as it felt to them like they've stepped into the great hall of a fairy tale kingdom. "Like what I've done with the place?" smiled the Keeper of the Sky; she wasn't bashful at all. "It's beautiful," smiled Sora.
"Come closer," insisted the ten-foot-tall Keeper.
As they approached her, she said pleasantly, "Welcome to my new home." Curious, Yolei asked, "What exactly is this place? Is it a cloud, or a city?" Polarimon answered, "It is a cloud and a city; it's Sky City. My sisters and I need our own special places where we could slowly reconfigure ourselves into human-like forms. This way, we'll have enough strength to undo the evil that's begun to take over this world."
Sora guessed, "So, the three of you are going to battle Daemon all by yourselves?" Polarimon replied, "Well, sort of. You see, we don't exactly 'battle' as you children have battled Daemon's minions over the years. All he wants with this world is to consume it with darkness and corruption. Once our powers are fully regenerated, we'll erase all of that from our world and send it right back to his."
"Okay. You can leave the Sin Digimon to us," said Yolei confidently, but Polarimon warned, "It won't be easy, children… I'm sorry, I keep calling you children!" The Keeper giggled, feeling silly in her error, but then Sora smiled, "Well, I don't mind being called a child. At least not by you, Polarimon." The Keeper gave her a nod, "Well, I'll always see you Digi-Destined as children.
"Even now as young adults, you have managed to maintain the innocence of your hearts. Unfortunately, the Sin Digimon are designed to take advantage of that innocence. That's why I say this won't be an easy battle. They will test your will power unlike anyone who ever has; they can see right into your deepest, darkest fears, and will use them against you… I fear that it has already begun to happen."
"What do you mean?" blinked Yolei; Polarimon explained, "Yolei, you were the first to go through such a test. Remember how Envymon tried to convince you that you lacked the potential of earning your crest? That was just a sample of what these Sins can do to you children. Some of you, I fear, will be easier targets than others."
"I think I understand now," Sora said with a bowed head; "That's why they're based on the seven deadly sins. They're not just fighters, they're tempters." "Yes," nodded Polarimon; "It's going to take a lot more than the power of your digimon to defeat them."
The tall Keeper stood up, and descended from her throne. "Come," she said, "I need to show you something…"
The humans and their digimon partners followed the giant Keeper of the Sky outside, to an open space on the massive cloud that was Sky City. Here, they could see the vast desert lands of the digital world, and in the far off distance they could see a tall, dark tower.
Polarimon pointed to it and said, "There lies your newest challenge." "What is it?" blinked Yolei; Polarimon replied, "That is a Power Spine. It's one of seven; each is controlled by a Sin Digimon. Kellen has been observing them, but he isn't fully aware of what they do. All he knows is that they are digging deep into the center of the digital world, causing the core data to spill out into the atmosphere."
"Core data?" Sora asked.
"Yes; the digital world's core is made up of pure digital data; without it, the world itself could be deleted. At first, we thought the purpose of the Power Spines was to change that data into that of a virus, which would explain why it could easily corrupt any digimon around it.
"But it's far worse than that, children. Those Power Spines do more than just corrupt digimon and decay the land; they're reaping the core of this world of its power source. Slowly, this world is being drained of its power."
Yolei gasped, "Oh! So they're actually destroying this world!" Polarimon nodded grimly, "Yes… But I don't think they mean to delete it all; my guess is that they're weakening our source of power just to weaken me and my sisters. If they're successful, then we won't me able to fully rejuvenate." Sora concluded, "And that means, you won't be able to stop Daemon from taking over."
Yolei balled a fist, "Well, that does it! We gotta shut down those Power Spines and stop those Sins from doing any more damage." Polarimon clued them in with, "The power is in your battle crests." "…These?" asked Sora as she held up her Crest of Love. "Yes," replied Polarimon.
"Your crests come with their own special data stream; it's what grants you the ability to become Battle-Gear warriors. You must use that same power to reverse the flow of the core data that's being taken by the Power Spine. Once you two find your way into that Spine, the rest will come to you."
"What does that mean?" asked Yolei; the Keeper just replied with, "You will see."
Standing atop a plateau in the red-sanded desert, Lustmon, in her true form as a lavender-skinned buxom beauty wearing black, lacy lingerie with an equally dark and lacy robe, watched carefully as Sky City's cloud headed toward her.
She was already aware that this was Polarimon's paradise, and that it was now inhabited by not one, but two Digi-Destined. But that didn't phase her at all, as she smiled with a hand to her chin while the wind picked up her long, pale blue hair.
"Hmmm," she muttered to herself as she narrowed her purple, pupil-less eyes, "company is coming. I might as well go say 'Hi.'" With that, she disappeared like a shadow in the presence of sunlight.
When it had finally reached Gluttonymon's abandoned Power Spine, Sky City came to a gentle but noticeable halt. The two young ladies, each with a digimon partner, that had accompanied the ride up until now, stood on the very edge of the aerial city as they gazed curiously at Gluttonymon's Power Spine.
Seeing that it was, indeed, still in tact and slowly reaping the desert of its life, Sora took command by saying, "There it is… Let's do it!" "Right," Yolei nodded, as she grabbed her own battle crest of Faith.
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Battle Gear ------------
(Sora jumps into a vortex of pink data, and passes through an image of Birdramon.)
"Sora Takenouchi, Battle-Gear Digivolve, based on….. BIRDRAMON!"
(Yolei jumps into a vortex of light blue data and passes through an image of Aquilamon.)
"Yolei Inoue, Battle-Gear digivolve, based on…… AQUILAMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
Likewise, their digimon improved on their cutsey looks…
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Champion to Ultimate -----------
"Biyomon, warp-digivolve to……. (Birdramon) …….GARUDAMON!"
"Hawkmon, warp-digivolve to…… (Aquilamon) ……SILPHYMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
Four air-borne heroes swooped down from the massive cloud of Sky City to engage an attack on the dark tower, when they came to a sudden stop at the sight of something out of the ordinary. Yolei pointed to the thing she saw on the very rooftop of the Spine and gasped, "What's that?"
Sure enough, they took a better look at it; it was Lustmon, sitting pretty in waiting for their arrival. In fact, she looked bored as she filed her cat-like nails impatiently.
She looked back at them and narrowed her violet eyes, "What took you girls so long?" "You were expecting us?" Sora blinked as she boldly moved closer; Lustmon smiled, "Of course. Somebody has to guard this tower while Gluttonymon's away; why should I let you humans take all the fun out of our world conquest?"
The heroes looked confused, and Yolei asked, "Where's Gluttonymon, then? Shouldn't he be here?" Lustmon raised an eyebrow, or would have if her eyebrows were visible, "What? I'm no fun?" Short-tempered, Silphymon approached the Sin and growled, "Well if it's a fight you want, lady, then bring it on!"
Lustmon felt tickled by this challenge, and she giggled, "Ha-ha-ha-ha-heh-hee-hee… Don't you people know me by now? I'd rather make love, not war."
Garudamon was not amused, and so replied with, "You're just stalling us. Come on, Silphymon, let's take her!" "Suit yourself," yawned the bored Sin, and without even making an effort to be dramatic, she sighed, "Beasts Within The Beauty."
Once her attack was activated, Lustmon's body then became as intangible as that of a ghost's, and as if brought forth from another dimension, a series of enormous black-skeletal dragons emerged from within her. Unlike her human-like form, these monsters were very tangible, and lunged at all of the heroes hungrily.
"Lookout!" hollered Sora, as two dragons came straight for her and Yolei. Soon it became a game of cat and mouse, as the heroes went this way and that way in the air to avoid getting snapped in half by the lightning-quick jaws of Lustmon's creatures.
It was when Silphymon and Garudamon tried out their special attacks on the creatures when they realized just how strong they were. Silphymon's "Static Force" and Garudamon's "Wing Blade" smacked into the bony heads and necks of the dragons, but then they just fizzled away, like they were bubbles.
"Did you see that!?," gasped Silphymon to Garudamon; "It didn't even phase them!" "Try again," commanded Garudamon, and try again they did…
Over and over again they tried, as the skeletal dragons reached again and again for Sora and Yolei. None of those attacks worked; it was as if the dragons were made of a special metal that could never be scratched.
Then it was time for the warriors to give it a try. First went the Indian Princess-styled Yolei, who summoned, "TALON TEMPEST!" This allowed her set of Aquilamon talons to launch its claws into a hurricane-style sequence.
One dragon was thrown back by this attack, but it was otherwise in tact. Then it was the harpy-styled Sora who announced, "TORPEDO BEAK!" Her helmet, which resembled the top half of Birdramon's head, launched its fanged beak like a bullet at the dragons, and just like that it reappeared back onto her helmet.
They were thrown back again by this attack, but it otherwise didn't seem to phase them. Then, it was Lustmon's turn: "TOXIC PHEROMONE!" This allowed the dragons to unleash their deadly breath, which was as black as smog.
The smog covered the heroes entirely, blinding them temporarily. This gave Lustmon's beasts just enough time to ram themselves into their enemies, and toss them through the air like frisbees.
Sora was the closest to the Power Spine, so to catch herself from falling even harder, she latched onto the rooftop of the Spine as quickly as she could. With her talon-like gloves, Sora gripped onto the Spine's roof, where Lustmon sat comfortably on her side.
She smiled to the human near her, "What's the matter, Sora; you don't like my pets?" Sora replied with a frustrated growl, "Err… You're nothing but an ugly hag on the inside! Or worse!" The Sin nodded, "True, I represent both the pretty and ugly side of my sin; but hey, that's my job."
Then she sat up and added, "And what's your job, Sora? Still trying to represent love, in all its glory? You know, I've been watching you… I've even seen your dreams."
"Quit it!" growled Sora as she struggled to get a grip onto the Spine's surface. The Sin frowned, "Aw, I'm just trying to make conversation. You know, girl talk?"
"You're not a girl… You're not human at all!"
"Maybe, but I know how humans think. I know exactly what you want. And what you believe in. Let me tell you something, girlfriend, I've seen your past and I've learned one thing from it: your thoughts and beliefs about love are completely misguided."
"WHAT?"
"It's true… I mean, look at you. Here you are, fighting for what you believe in, and how's it going so far?"
"Stop it! You're just trying to throw me off, and- Woah!!" At that moment, Sora nearly slipped out of her grip, and in the process, she had accidentally unleashed a surge of black electricity from the surface of the Power Spine.
Lustmon took this opportunity to smile, "Just look at you. You and your friend Yolei have problems with love, don't you? Tell me something, girls, how could you fight for something that doesn't even exist?"
"Shut up!" hollered Yolei from nearby; she had just about heard enough of Lustmon's remarks, and decided to take her out by performing a nosedive at her. But the Sin saw this coming from behind, and reacted calmly by blocking Yolei's attack with the skeletal neck of one of her "pets."
But that was only the beginning; once dazed, Yolei found herself grabbed by the same dragon by its mouth, seconds later. Lustmon then stood up and said to Sora, "Perhaps your little friend here would like to be reminded of how 'love' has failed her time and time again! Watch!"
With that, she directed her weapon of choice's neck like a whip, causing it to toss Yolei right into the side of the dark Power Spine. On impact, Yolei was met by the same dark energy that Sora had started to become shocked by.
But this force of energy was, perhaps, even greater, causing her to let out a howl of pain. Her digimon friends tried to rush to her rescue, but they were being held back by Lustmon's dragons.
Soon this dark energy found its way into Yolei's mind. Once there, it consumed her with these haunting images of the past:
------------ Vision/Flashback: Yolei's Past (Part 1) ------------
Her first beau was named Takeya, and right from the start their relationship was rocky. He had warned her early on that his parents were very snooty, but she had to see it for herself.
One evening, before they were to go on their third date, Yolei sat down with Takeya's parents, and the trial began. "So," started the father, "Takeya says you're the smartest young lady in school. Are you studying to be a nurse?"
"No."
"A lawyer, perhaps?"
"N-no…"
"Well then, what kind of an education are you getting if you're not applying yourself, young lady?"
"I- well-"
The father then added, "What exactly have you been applying yourself to?"
"Um… Well, I- I use computers a lot."
"So you're a hacker?"
"No! No… Not really. I-"
"It's not that much of a career if you're planning to spend all day at a computer desk," remarked the mother; "You'd think you were playing video games or something."
"I don't play video games all the time!"
The father then asked, "Are you making video games?"
"No, of course not! That would be-"
"That would be the best career of all! Lots of money is going into that business, you know!"
"…You both seem to be interested in me making money."
Then, they both said, "How could you be good enough for our son if you're not making MONEY!?"
This made her fall out of her seat, and out of the relationship.
Another beau she had was named Maro, and he was recommended by Yolei's mother's friend. "Oh, you'll love my son," she would brag; "He's the smartest in his class, and he's so charming."
He was about as charming as a tick on a dog, and it only took one date for Yolei to figure this out. It was at a fancy Japanese restaurant in downtown Tokyo, where the most exquisite of traditional foods were served.
During their dinner, Maro's motor of a mouth ran wild; "I'm actually taking an extra two years in college so that I could become a teacher. I really want to teach trigonometry; you know, I've scored a higher SAT grade than anyone in the entire country when I was in high school.
"Are you eating with those chopsticks? I'll bet those weren't cleaned off entirely. Excuse me, waitress! Waitress! …Please take these chopsticks back and give us some clean ones."
"They are clean, sir."
"Oh, I'm sure. And while you're at it, could you give us new glasses of water? There's something floating in there."
"Yes sir, right away."
"Now, as I was saying Jodie-"
"Yolei."
"Right. As I was saying, I had to prove my genius in college by being given a mathematical problem that even the professors couldn't solve. It was quite simple, really; all I had to do was take the equation of two and multiply it by…"
And this went on for the next ten minutes, making Yolei as bored as she was hungry, until, "What are you doing with that dish?"
"It's the appetizer."
"I'm not sure if that's fresh. Here, let me taste it."
"Oh, fine. Here…"
"…Yep."
"Fresh?"
"Nope! WAITRESS!"
"Ugh!"
"What? Is it wrong for me to be a little concerned? I mean, you are my date."
"Yes, but you don't have to be prissy about every little thing!"
"Sssh! You'll disturb the other guests. Have a little courtesy, Yolanda."
"…That's it, I wanna go home. Check, please!"
"Yes, let's get out of here. I'll bet they serve the rats that crawl in the kitchen as deserts!" When he said that, the other guests were disgusted enough to leave along with them.
"I HATE YOU! I WANT YOU TO DIE!" screamed Yolei from her bedroom window.
She was looking down hatefully at her latest boyfriend, shouting, "YOU PROMISED ME YOU'D NEVER SEE HER AGAIN, AND YOU LIED TO ME! NOT ONLY THAT, YOU KISSED HER! HOW COULD YOU KISS HER WHEN YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH ME!?"
The young man, as scared as a rabbit staring down a fox, stuttered, "No no no no! Y-You don't understand. Sh-She kissed me-"
"OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Yolei screamed. "Don't even GO THERE, boy! The old 'She kissed me' thing is no longer relevant! They just passed a new law stating that ALL kissing is EQUAL!" "...W-when they do that?" the boy foolishly asked.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" she hollered furiously, and proceeded to move away from the window.
"I know I was stupid," the young man admitted; "I shoulda known I was weak. I can't help it; I'm a man! Men have these uncontrollable urges, you know? We're just being true to our natural instincts, our primal-"
WHAM!
The poor kid just didn't see that thick textbook coming, and it slammed into his face. Stunned and cross-eyed, he chirped, "Right... Well..." Trying to keep his balance, he wobbled as he looked at the blurry, spinning images of Yolei and saluted, "I'll see ya later." With that, he stumbled away.
------------ End Vision ------------
Once this last image of her past was lifted from her mind, Yolei was overcome with despair, to the point where it had weakened her physically as well as mentally. She was then freed by the electric shocks of the Power Spine's energy, but without her strength, she made a rough tumble to the sandy earth.
Silphymon got to her side before Garudamon, but once they got there, they found Yolei stunned. "Yolei?" muttered a worried Silphymon, as he scooped her up in his arms; "Yolei… Speak to me. Say something."
She responded by opening her eyes; she seemed alright, but only on the outside. When she muttered, "Jared…" it was clear that something else was going on, on the inside.
------------ Vision/Flashback: Yolei's Past (Part 2) ------------
This was Yolei's fifth beau of all, and the hardest to forget.
They've been pretty serious for two months, and during those two months he proved to be everything Yolei wanted in a sweetheart; charming, polite, and very handsome.
But all of that changed slowly, as Jared became more and more possessive with time. She didn't notice it at first, but after a while he wanted to know where she was all the time, and who she was with whenever they weren't together.
But the can of worms was opened at last when they came back from seeing a movie one evening. Jared pulled up in the driveway of Yolei's house, and turned the car off, but when Yolei reached for the door, he pulled it shut. Startled, she turned to him and gasped, "W-what's the matter?"
"We need to talk," he said with a dark gleam in his eyes.
Yolei blinked, "What do you wanna talk about?" He replied coldly, "I see you hanging out with those other guys a couple times. Are you seeing any of them behind my back?" Yolei was appalled by this remark and snapped, "Those guys are my friends! I can see them whenever I want; you're not the boss of me."
"Listen Yolei," he snapped back, "I want you to tell me what you and your so-called friends do every time I see you go with them into diners and malls."
"We just hang out. What's the big deal?"
"You're raising your voice to me."
"Well, you started it you big jerk!"
She then tried to get out of the car, but again he shut her door. "Jared," she warned, "let me out of here! I wanna go home." "Not until you prove to me that I'm the only guy in your life!" he growled jealously. She rolled her eyes, "What do you want from me, Jared?" It didn't take him long to give her a clue: "Kiss me."
To appease him, she gave him a quick little peck on the cheek; "There," she said, "now take me home." To her surprise, he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and started to squeeze it tightly; "That's not good enough!" he replied darkly. "Ow!" she barked; "Stop it! You're hurting me."
"You're not getting out of this car until you give me what I want!" he sneered. "You're crazy," she replied, now seeing the change in his character. "Let go of me!" she added, while starting to struggle for freedom. But it was no use; he was much stronger than her, and his grip on her arm began to hurt even more.
Again, he demanded, "If you're serious about us, then you'll kiss me now!" This was all starting to scare poor Yolei; what was she to do?
------------ End Vision ------------
Sora watched from above as her friends on the ground seemed to be lost in thought. She turned to Lustmon and narrowed her eyes to her with, "What did you do to her?" The Sin replied with crossed arms, "I simply reminded her that you humans are gullible enough to believe that true love is possible, but in fact it is a fantasy.
"In fact, I'm sure you can agree with me on this, Sora, that love in all its forms is too rare a thing to come by. I mean, look at Yolei; she's been looking for love her whole life, and it's brought her nothing but pain."
"That's… not true," replied Sora; she tried to defend Yolei, but seeing her friend in this state of shock she was in made Sora seem hesitant. Lustmon huffed, "Hmph. You of all people should know what I'm talking about. What about your situation with Matt, hm? You want to think that you two still have a chance, but deep down in your heart, you know it's going to fail. Don't you?"
Now she was going too far; Sora growled at Lustmon in frustration, but couldn't say anything in her own defense. She did, however, receive the strength to crawl up the rooftop of the Power Spine at last, so that she could square off against the Sin personally.
"I know what you're doing," she growled at the Sin; "Polarimon tried to warn us… But it's not gonna work, you hear me?" Lustmon knew better than the human that her influence was working perfectly; she narrowed her eyes and disagreed, "Oh, I beg to differ…"
Yolei was just getting to her feet at this point, and Silphymon was helping her by holding her up in support. "Are you sure you're alright, Yolei?" Silphymon asked her; as she grabbed her head in anguish she replied with a shaky voice, "It's those memories… She's making them haunt me! I gotta fight it…"
Deep within her mind, the images of an aggressive Jared kept taunting at her.
As devastated as she was with these oppressive memories, Yolei was giving it all she had to fight them off. Now on her feet independently, she coaxed to her digimon friends, "Hurry… Go help Sora, she needs you." Her Ultimate partner frowned, "What about you?" Yolei turned to him and replied, "…I'll be fine. Go!"
With that, her digimon friends obeyed her, and took off to help Sora.
Once again, the Ultimate digimon had their chance to fight Lustmon, and once again the Sin was ready to counter them. Sora saw them coming and shouted, "Hurry! Change into your Mega forms and beat this witch!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," warned the overconfident Lustmon to her enemies.
Garudamon took her challenge and said, "I'll stop you, you evil monster. GARUDAMON, DIGIVOLE T-"
WHAM!
The Ultimate was countered by one of Lustmon's dragon pets from behind; she proved to be much stealthier than she seemed. As one humanoid bird took a hit and nearly fell to the ground, the other attempted the same feat; "SILPHYMON, DIGIVOLVE-" "TOXIC PHEROMONE!" countered Lustmon immediately.
The sudden breath of poisonous gas took Silphymon by surprise, and caused him to cough and gag for air. Two Ultimates were losing their powers fast, and Sora felt helpless to save them.
"Come on Yolei…" she commanded herself, as she forced herself into a state of near meditation, "You've just got to think… You know Lustmon's just using these thoughts against you, now concentrate! …Remember… Remember what happened that night… Remember what happened next…"
Perhaps Yolei's will was much stronger than Lustmon had anticipated, for soon after that, she made herself remember…
------------ Vision/Flashback: Yolei's Past (Part 3) ------------
"You're not getting out of this car until you give me what I want!" he sneered. "You're crazy," she replied, now seeing the change in his character. "Let go of me!" she added, while starting to struggle for freedom. But it was no use; he was much stronger than her, and his grip on her arm began to hurt even more.
Again, he demanded, "If you're serious about us, then you'll kiss me now!" This was all starting to scare poor Yolei; what was she to do?
Then suddenly, Jared's car door flew open without his doing. A young man's arm reached in, grabbed Jared by the hair, and yanked him out of the car with a force that even he couldn't fight off, for he didn't expect it. This forced exit caused Jared to let loose his grip on Yolei, who fell back in the car.
Then, as she reached for a breath, she looked out to see who came to her rescue; "…Ken?" Indeed, it was!
Ken threw a startled Jared to the ground and barked, "What do you think you were doing in there!?" The bigger young man got to his feet and shoved Ken back in reply, "It's none of your business!" "Oh yes it is," argued the shorter young man; "When you started attacking my friend, you made it my business."
"She's not your girlfriend," growled Jared, but Ken remarked, "Oh, so that gives you a right to push her around?"
At this point, Yolei got out of the car and approached the two of them; "Guys, stop it," she demanded in a shy voice. Taken back, Jared moved away and said, "Forget it!" Then he pointed shrewdly at Ken and hissed, "You want her? You can have her. I'm outta here."
At first, Ken was ready to let him leave, until he heard the bully remark, "She's a dog, anyway." With his eyes lit up with rage, Ken turned back around to the big bully, and gave him what he deserved: a punch across the face hard enough to knock him on his back.
"Ken!" gasped Yolei; she ran to his side and looked down at a temporarily knocked out Jared. Then she looked to her friend, who was shaking his hand in pain, and blinked, "…wow… That was some punch!"
Without any concern over his own health, Ken turned to her and asked, "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" She held onto her bruised arm and lied, "No, I'm okay… I guess."
He could tell that she was shaken, and in a calm voice he said, "Come on, I'll take you in." She failed to argue, and as they were heading to her doorway, she looked to him and asked, "Uh, Ken?"
"Hm?"
"…How did you… I mean… Why are you here?"
"Huh?"
"At my house. How did you know I'd be here?"
"Oh… uh… I saw you and Jared at the movies. I wanted to make sure you got home safe, so I had Matt drive me here."
"Ohh…"
"I mean, I wasn't trying to be paranoid! I was just- uhh… Concerned!"
"Right…"
"…..Cause I don't like it when people pick on my friends! Especially my BEST-"
"I understand, Ken. It's alright…"
He tried SO hard not to blush and show his true feelings this whole time, but Yolei saw it early on, and was flattered.
She smiled to him confidently, "Thank you." He couldn't help but smile; it was a silly love-struck smile, but it worked.
That was the last ting that was said, other than the two of them exchanging "Goodnights" to each other. But that was enough to make Yolei's night; she went inside her house knowing that she had somebody looking out for her.
And it didn't matter if he was her boyfriend or not.
------------ End Vision ------------
"THAT'S IT!" Yolei cheered, as she opened her eyes to welcome a newfound spirit within herself. She looked up at the top of the Power Spine and narrowed her eyes as they burned with a thirst for revenge.
As the weakened Garudamon and Silphymon clung desperately to the corners of the Power Spine nearby, Lustmon let her guard down by making her attached dragons disappear, becoming tangible once again. She glared sinisterly at a weakened Sora and smiled, "Poor little Sora; you're as weak and helpless as you were when you first came here. I've got you right where I want you."
Then a familiar voice came from behind: "I could say the same thing about you, you tramp!"
Lustmon gasped to hear Yolei, and by the time she turned to see where she was coming from, the rejuvenated warrior of Faith slammed into her by surprise. The impact of their collision tossed both Yolei and Lustmon off of the Power Spine, then the two of them levitated in mid air to regain their breaths.
The stunned Sin panted, "You! …How did you… resist my influence??" Proudly, Yolei crossed her arms and replied, "You forget, I'm the Digi-Destined of Faith! As long as I have faith in at least one guy out there, you've got no effect on me."
The Sin's eyes fluttered, "…One… guy?" That's when it hit her like a thunderbolt, and she hissed, "…No…" Yes. She now knew that she wasn't the only one whose feelings were aimed at a certain Digi-Destined of Kindness.
Yolei didn't understand why, but Lustmon's blood was now pumping full of jealousy; the Sin immediately unleashed her dragon horde again, this time without even needing to call on them.
Taken by surprise, Yolei made a dash for it, but Lustmon was set to attack anyway. The two of them started to fly laps around and around the Spine; at one point, Yolei had enough time to call to one of her digimon friends; "Garudamon! Get Sora! Make her shut off the Power Spine! Hurry!!"
As she said this, Yolei just barely missed getting chomped up by a skeletal black dragon. "GET…BACK…HERE!" roared the insanely jealous Lustmon.
While these two played tag, Garudamon swooped over to Sora, who was still lost in deep thought. The giant bird perched herself by her side and said, "Sora, we need you. Use your crest to shut off the Power Spine.
"…Sora?"
Hearing her partner's voice, Sora finally blinked her way out of her spell and muttered, "Huh, what? …Garudamon?" "Sora," replied the Ultimate, "we must go, now!" Garudamon picked Sora up into her front arms and took a flying leap off of the roof of the Power Spine.
As fast as the wind, they swooped into the interior of the Spine, whizzing past the maze-like walls as they shone blue with ancient data codes, until they made it into its center. There, they found the core data, spilling upward and out of the tower like a reversed whirlpool.
Garudamon held out her partner and said, "This is it, Sora; use your crest." Sora knew her place, despite the heaviness of her heart, and so she reached her battle crest out to the spilling data, and said the command:
"LOVE'S LIGHT, ENERGIZE!"
Instantly, her battle crest shot out a ray of pink light, which touched the core data; once it did, the data was then painted pink, just like the light of Love.
In reaction to this, the core data reversed its flow and fell downward, back into the center of the digital world from which it came.
From a safe distance, Silphymon watched in utter shock as his partner clashed with the mad-driven Lustmon. At this point, Yolei and Lustmon were clawing at each other like cats; feathers flew from the wings of Yolei's battle gear, and likewise shreds of Lustmon's silky hair went flying like torn paper.
Most furious of the two of them was the Sin, as she started to ramble, "You think just because you two are friends, you think you have a chance with him!? He's mine!" Confused, Yolei defended herself by saying, "What are you talking about??" "Don't play coy with me, you stupid girl!" hissed the purple Sin.
But then-
WHOOSH!
The two of them came to a halt, as the earth and air around them felt the impact of the Power Spine's reversed effects. Both Yolei and Lustmon turned to see the Spine change glowing colors, from blue to pink. "No!!" cried the Sin; Yolei reacted quite differently, "It's Sora! She did it!"
They watched as Sora and Garudamon made their way out of the Spine, and hovered around the surface of its rooftop. As soon as it turned dark and lifeless, the two of them combined their powers, with "Wing Blade" and "Torpedo Beak." Like glass, the Power Spine shattered on impact with the combined powers.
This fight belonged to the heroes, and Lustmon knew it. She hummed and sighed with the agony of defeat, as her enemies turned to her, looking for some more action. But she declined by moving backward in mid air; she frowned, "Sorry, kids, but I've lost all interest in this game… Ta-ta." Then, to their amazement, she vanished.
Garudamon huffed, "Heh! She barely put up a fight there…" Yolei shook her head, "I don't think she was looking for a fight…"
She understood what Lustmon was sent to do; to challenge her and Sora by messing with their insecurities, just as Polarimon had warned them. Once Yolei had the upper hand, there was no point for Lustmon to carry on- she had done her job, and she had failed…
Or, did she?
"Sora?" Yolei muttered as she turned to her friend. She saw the blank look in her friend's eyes, which was temporarily shut off once the warrior of Love heard her name. Sora blinked, "Yeah? …I'm fine. Really." Concerned, Yolei gave her a trusting nod.
A little time had passed, and their digimon partners regained their strength by reverting back into their In-Training forms. Each one was perched securely in the arms of his or her partner, and couldn't feel safer anywhere else. "…Let's try to find the others," suggested Yolei. They all agreed with her, and started on their way.
No one seemed to notice, but Sora's eyes gazed blankly at the ground as they walked. In her mind, she remembered that of all of them, she clung onto the Power Spine the longest. And even though Yolei took the hardest hit to it, Sora had dark energy charging into her first. It was a much longer-lasting effect, compared to Yolei's, and it started to show, as her blank eyes started to darken.
Back in the heavenly Sky City, Polarimon and her angelic friends gathered to observe the outcome of the battle in the desert. The Keeper of the Sky focused deeply on Sora; she could see the darkness which the young lady had received from the Power Spine grow inside her already. Polarimon gave a deep but gentle sigh…
"It's starting already…"
TO BE CONTINUED