Hi. Want to know something really annoying? You write a chapter, you use spell check, you read through to check for errors, and there are still problems with it when you look at it on the site. It drives me insane!
Oh, whenever people speak in English, their words will be in italics. That's all for now, enjoy chapter four.
Adventures of the Tainted
Chapter Four: Calib
"My Lord, you have returned; I heard that you were looking for me yesterday." A tall, muscular human with brunette colored hair and black eyes approached the figure in his throne room.
"Yes, I have a job for you, are you up to it?"
"I'd do anything to serve you, My Lord."
"Good, then listen closely. I cannot stay in the Dark World for long, my current body is linked to the Dark Ocean and I must return there soon. I want you to join up with the digidestined, learn what you can about them."
"But Daemon, My Lord, won't they be able to sense that I am from the Dark World?"
Daemon handed his servant a vile. "This is Essence of Angel. It contains data of a digital angel. If you put it on you than they will think you are a holy creature, or it will cover your dark aura, at least."
One of the creatures that lived in the castle came rushing into the throne room. It looked like the creatures that lived in the Dark Ocean, except his body was solid looking and did not reflect light. (Again, not the Scubamon, what the Scubamon turned into after Kari freed them and they left the cave.) It was a Glist, a Dark World creature.
"Lord Daemon, I bring news about the pendant."
"What have you found out?"
"The pendant you are seeking is the Pendant of Narnium."
"And where is it located?"
"I do not know. All that I could find was that it is hidden within the heart of the chosen angel of all four worlds. But that would be impossible, since the same angel could not represent both the Dark and Light worlds."
"Keep searching for more information," Daemon commanded. The Glist bowed and left the throne room.
"Shall I leave now?" Daemon's servant asked.
"Not yet, I'm going to send an opponent in their direction. I want you to intervene when he has finished his job."
"Very well, My Lord." The servant bowed his head and Daemon reopened the void and returned to the Dark Ocean.
(0)
The digidestined had been able to find some fruit in the section of the woods they were in. It wasn't much, but everyone got enough to eat. Veemon replenished his energy and both he and Davis were ready to talk about what had happened. Veemon was answering questions about the digivolution while Davis was bragging about his partner's new abilities.
"Yeah, that's right, Ken. I've got the totally awesome digimon that can digivolve! How does that make you feel?"
"Davis, that's wonderful, but if you don't shut up I will be forced to hurt you."
"Oh, you're so jealous! Admit it!"
Ken took a step towards Davis, sending him a threatening look. Davis jumped back and ran off, deciding that it was time to annoy Tk instead.
Tai watched with mild amusement as Davis jumped around Tk, succeeding at his attempts to annoy the poor teen. In the excitement of recent events, he had forgotten his intentions to yell at his sister for running off. He remembered, however, when he saw Kari sitting with Gatomon a short distance away from the group.
Walking over to her, Tai suddenly thought of his dream again. Tai I don't have a fever, I can see monsters on TV, and I have been to Digiworld. Well, I think I got there through…
"Tai?" Tai reentered reality with the sound of his sister's voice. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"What, oh yeah, I'm fine. What happened earlier, why did you run off?"
Kari looked down at Gatomon as she stood up with the white feline in her arms. She didn't want to have to tell Tai about the Scubamon, not when she knew he would go into psycho overprotective brother mode. Gatomon realized Kari's fears and did the first thing she could think of. "Cat's Eye Hypnotism!"
"Gatomon!" Kari scolded, "what are you doing!"
"What were we talking about?" Tai asked with a confused look on his face.
"You were asking Kari what she thought about Periveemon," Gatomon explained.
"Oh, right…" Tai didn't look fully convinced. "What do you think about it?" he asked slowly.
"It's kind of cool, I guess. It was lucky, that's for sure."
"Uh, Tai?" Tai turned around and found himself face to face with Matt. "Would you mind doing something about that girlfriend of yours? She's going to drive everyone to be homicidal."
"Me? She isn't talking to me right now, remember?"
"Well now is as good a time as any to make up."
"Yeah," Kari added. "You should kiss and make up now."
Tai looked at the two who had teamed up against him. Didn't they know that Sora was unapproachable when she was pissed off? He sighed in defeat. "I'll try." He started to walk away, but saw that Matt made no movements to follow him. Remembering Yolie and Mimi's dares, Tai didn't want to leave the two of them alone. "Matt, why don't you go and stop Davis from driving Tk to the brink of insanity?"
Matt saw that Davis was still taunting Tk about the digivolution and Tk was pulling at his sleeves. "That might be a good idea," he said before rushing off to meet them.
Tai made his way over to Sora. She was leaning against a tree with her eyes shut. "Sora?"
"What do you want Taichi?" She asked coldly, not finding him important enough to waste energy opening her eyes for.
Tai considered how to approach the situation. It would more than likely end badly if he wasn't careful. He decided that small talk was the best way to start off. "How are you doing?"
"I was contently resting in a quiet atmosphere, but now I'm being forced to answer your pointless questioning. Is there something you want or are you just her to annoy me?"
"I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me." Tai sat down beside Sora and took her hands. "Come on, you can't stay mad at me forever, I'm too cute."
Forgiving Tai would mean that she wouldn't have to remember why she was angry with him in the first place, and he'd be there to protect her from any wild digimon that might attack them. She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're forgiven," she replied. He smiled, obviously relieved, and bent down to kiss her.
"I say that we take on Ladymiramon now and give her what's coming to her!"
"First off Davis, we don't know how this new digivolution works. We don't know what level Periveemon is at, either. Kuwagamon was one of the weaker champion digimon, so we can't say for sure if he has the power of a normal ultimate. And we don't know what level Ladymiramon is, she could be a mega for all we know," Izzy tried to reason.
"So what?" Davis asked. "Veemon can handle whatever is thrown at him."
"Care to test that out?" A Cyclonemon approached the group. Each step the massive dragon digimon took made the ground shake. He had a tan colored body with brown lines running across his skin, the top half of his head was structured by brown bone with a horn sticking out from the middle of his forehead, his right shoulder had spiky bone armor on it, the entire arm was larger than the other and his claws on the paw were red instead of brown. He walked on all fours with his tail slicing the air back and forth with each step.
Davis looked over to Izzy. "Do you know who he is?"
Izzy quickly went through the Digimon Analyzer. "He's called Cyclonemon; he's a champion, a strong one."
Davis smirked. A champion, that should be easy enough. He held up the charm. "Are you ready Veemon?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright then, here we go!" Davis waited for the charm to react, but nothing happened. He looked down at Veemon.
"I'm ready," Veemon insisted.
"It isn't working," Davis whispered.
Cyclonemon laughed. "Like you said, this should be easy enough. I'll give you all five seconds to run."
Tai grabbed Sora's arm and pulled her to her feet. He ushered everyone backwards. "No," Davis said, holding his ground. "It'll work, I'm sure of it."
"Until then we need to get out of here! Stop being stubborn!"
"Hyper Heat!" A wave of heat shot out of Cyclonemon's mouth. Tai pushed Davis and himself out of the way just before they were reduced to charred skin and bones.
"Okay, maybe we should get out of here," Davis finally agreed. He ran beside Tai, following the rest of the group as they made their way through the trees.
"Arm Bomber!" Cyclonemon's enlarged front arm circled around and shot off three bombs. They landed right ahead of the digidestined, knocking them all backwards.
Kari was thrown backwards into Ken, making them both fall to the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"I've been better," Kari responded, rubbing the side of her arm.
Ken stood and helped Kari to her feet. The group slowly found its way forward again, avoiding the holes in the ground. "Arm Bomber!" This time, Ken found himself being slammed against a tree. He put his hand against the bark, feeling a sharp point sticking out. He investigated the spot and found a tiny charm just barely sticking out.
As Ken pulled the charm out, he noticed that it was shaped like the Crest of Kindness. It looked like a comma divided into a circle, sideways crescent moon, and backwards crescent moon. It began to glow when Ken tied the attached bracelet around his wrist.
Wormmon felt a strange sensation take over him. "Wormmon transform to… Shoku Spirit Stingkumon!"
When the surrounding light died down around Wormmon, a new digimon stood in his place. He had a body very similar to Stingmon's, except tough black skin covered his body, his shins, elbows, back, and head were covered in metal, and he had four large gray wings sticking out of his upper back.
"Cool…" Ken whispered.
Stingkumon flew forward as Cyclonemon advanced towards the digidestined. "Leave now and I will spare you your life. You will not win a battle against me."
"Quitting is not an option. If you weren't exposed to those humans and their ignorance, you would realize that the Digital World is unbalanced. Things in this world are changing, and I'm going to be on the side that will prevail. I will prove my worth by defeating you and killing those humans before they find any more Charms of Suduko."
"Charms of Suduko?" Izzy questioned.
"Later, Iz," Tai advised.
"Enough of this, we shall fight and find out who the stronger of us is. Are you ready?"
Stingkumon nodded his head and sped around Cyclonemon. He moved so fast that Cyclonemon could barely keep up with his movements. "Kushun Strike!" A long rod extended out from Stingkumon's wrist, jabbing into Cyclonemon's side.
The dragon digimon opened his mouth and shot an attack at Stingkumon from the close range. "Hyper Heat!" Stingkumon was knocked backward, taking down several trees as he collided with the nature around him.
He stood up from the rubble and flew back towards Cyclonemon. "Shun-ku Meteor!" Fragments of meteors plummeted down to the ground onto Cyclonemon. He howled in agony as the meteors town into his skin. One piece, about the size of a fist, pierced through Cyclonemon's heart and he exploded into data.
Stingkumon dedigivolved back to Wormmon. "I did it!" he chirped happily.
"You really showed him," Ken agreed. "How do you feel?"
"Exhausted, but otherwise I'm peachy." Ken chuckled lightly as he picked up his digimon partner.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Tai screamed suddenly, turning his attention to Davis. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I, um, well…"
"You nearly got yourself incinerated, not to mention the fact that you almost got everyone else here killed. What in God's name were you thinking!"
"Back off, Tai," Davis warned. "How was I supposed to know that Veemon wouldn't be able to digivolve?"
"Regardless, you should learn to be more responsible for your actions!"
"Fine! You know what? I'm going to be plenty responsible for my actions; first action, Veemon and I are leaving!" Davis turned on his heel and stomped off. Veemon ran to catch up.
"Are you just going to let him go?" Kari asked. "With everything that is out there?"
"The kid needs to grow up," Tai retorted.
"You've done plenty of idiotic things in your lifetime, Taichi; I can't believe that you think that you have the right to pass judgment on Davis."
Kari ran after Davis. "Kari, wait!"
"Let Hika go, Tai," Mimi spoke up. "She's right; Davis shouldn't be off on his own."
Tai sighed in defeat. He looked around at the other digidestined and knew that they all wanted to say the same thing: Tai was just as reckless when he first led the digidestined team years ago.
"We probably shouldn't let them get too far, it isn't safe around here," Ken said. Tai glared at him. "What? I'm right."
"I'm not disagreeing," Tai responded, still glaring.
Mimi noticed the tension between the two for the first time. She knew that Tai and Ken didn't get along very well, but she had never asked Kari for the details. She'd have to remember to do that sometime or another. "Maybe we should start heading their way now; knowing Davis, it won't take too long for Hika to convince him to come back."
(0)
He watched with little interest as the two leaders argued. "Earth humans are so strange," he mused, "they are driven by their emotions to the point where they'd lose their allies just so they could have the last word."
He pulled a vile out his pocket, the Essence of Angel that Daemon had given him. A vortex appeared beside him and a digimon came through. "Put that on," the digimon said.
He opened the vile and tapped a few drops of the liquid above his head. It sank into him and covered his dark aura. "How am supposed to know if this is strong enough?"
"We will see soon enough" the digimon replied. He was an artificial digimon, one of the toys Puppetmon had made. He was called Archormon, a short humanoid digimon with a green cape and a leotard over his body. A quiver of arrows and his trusted bow were strapped onto his back.
"So what is the plan?"
"This arrow," he said, removing a black arrow and his bow, "is meant for the girl who represents the Light. I will shoot her with this and you will come and save the day. Gain their trust and find out whatever it is you need to know."
"Couldn't the arrow kill her?"
"Only if you are not quick enough to react. I know you want to please Daemon, so I'm sure there won't be any problems." Archormon jumped up into the tree above him and hopped from branch to branch towards the two teens.
(0)
"Davis would you wait up!" Kari pleaded, running to catch up with him.
He stopped abruptly, and Kari narrowly missed colliding with him. "Go back with Tai and the others, Kari. You'll be safer with them."
"Could you not be so stubborn for about two minutes? Tai didn't mean what he said, you know that."
"But he was right! I could have gotten someone killed!"
"So running off by yourself and getting yourself killed is the answer? Be reasonable, Davis. You aren't going to prove anything by doing this."
Davis sighed. "You don't understand. I'm supposed to be the new chosen leader. I'm supposed to make decisions to help the team and keep everyone safe. But can I do that? Of course not; I have to act like a twelve-year-old and rush into things without thinking."
Several leaves fell from the trees around them. They looked up and saw a flash of dark green jump from the tree above them to a nearby one. "My name is Archormon," the archer digimon said. He drew his black arrow and put it against his bow.
The other digidestined were spotted a short distance away. Archormon growled, he didn't like being rushed; torture was so much more enjoyable when it was slow and painful.
Noticing the digimon up in the trees, the digidestined quickened their paces. Archormon pulled back the string on his bow and let the arrow fly freely towards its target.
Davis grabbed Kari by the arms and whirled her around. He turned just in time to be struck in the chest by the black arrow. "Not exactly what I was aiming for, but it will do just the same," Archormon said, taking off before having to face the remaining members of the group.
"Davis!" Kari screamed, collapsing beside him.
Davis lay motionless on his back. It hurt to breath, seeing as the arrow had pierced through his lung. "I'm good," he choked out, forcing a smile onto his face.
"Daisuke, you idiot! Why would you do something so stupid?" Tears streamed down Kari's cheeks and landed softly on the ground. That arrow had been meant for her, Davis shouldn't have gotten in the way.
"I always wanted to go out in a memorable way, I just didn't think it would be so soon-" Davis paused to cough up blood. "I can die happy so long as I know that you're okay."
"You aren't going to die," Kari whispered.
Tai sat himself down beside his younger sister. "Davis… we have to get this out. I saw on TV once that you're supposed to push it all the way through, break off the arrow head, and pull the rest out."
"Don't you dare," Davis hissed.
"I'm only guessing," Joe said, "but it looks as though the arrow just missed his heart. It had to have pierced his lung; we need to get him to a hospital really soon."
"Oh I'll just call an ambulance and have them pick his up here," Tai snapped.
"Hold him still." Kari looked up and saw a handsome brunette with dark eyes sit opposite of her. "This is going to hurt a bit."
Kari took Davis' hand into her own and waited for the newcomer to act. She cringed and turned away as he pulled the arrow out from Davis. Davis screamed bloody murder, and whispered a few obscenities, before coughing up more blood.
"You'll be alright," the brunette assured the injured teen. He put his hand over the wound and a light shot out of his palm into the wound. It shrank in size until only a tiny 'v' shaped scar remained as proof of the incident.
"I guess you're stuck with me a while longer, after all," Davis joked before passing out.
Kari let out a deep sigh of relief. "Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Calib," the brunette responded.
"Uh, thanks for whatever you did," Tai spoke up.
"Don't mention it," Calib said, his eyes still locked on Kari. She smiled at him before returning her attention to Davis. "He'll be fine after some rest," he assured her.
The group set up camp around Davis, knowing that the poor boy wasn't going to get up for anything. Mimi pulled Kari to the side while Calib became acquainted with the guys.
"So what do you think of Calib," Mimi asked, speaking in English so that the others couldn't listen in on their conversation.
"I think that we were really lucky that he showed up when he did. If Davis hadn't been helped… I don't even want to think about it."
"That was a lucky break," Mimi agreed. "And such a handsome one, don't ya think?"
"Meems, please don't start on that. The last thing I want to think about right now is guys."
"Is that because of Davis' selfless act of love or because of that blonde beauty, Matt?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on now, Hika, I know you well enough to know when you're interested. Besides, reading peoples' attraction to other people is my thing, I'm good at it."
"Whatever Meems."
"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Tk asked. He, along with Ken, Tai, Izzy, Matt, and Calib, were standing in a circle, trying to listen in to their conversation.
"I don't know, but I heard Matt and Davis' names mentioned" Tai said. "Izzy, you're the genius, you should be able to understand English."
"You want to know the extent of my English? My name is Izzy, in the morning I shower, I brush my teeth, and I eat breakfast. Then I go to school and then I go home. That's about all I know."
"Did you just list your morning routine?" Ken inquired. Izzy nodded.
Kari and Mimi turned their heads and gave Izzy a questioning look before Mimi broke into a fit of giggles. "That's impressive, Iz. You'd make it no problem in New York."
"Hey, I know a large variety of vocabulary about household appliances, school situations, and commands. Here's one: Kiss my ass."
"What did he say?" Tai asked.
"No clue," Tk responded. "I was never required to do well in my English classes. I just copied Kari's homework and crammed for tests and quizzes."
Yolie watched as Kari and Mimi talked like they had been best friends since the womb. She couldn't help but feel jealous; gorgeous Mimi had stolen her only close friend. She sank down in the grass with the digimon, sulking as she watched Mimi and Kari talking with the boys.
Kari suddenly had a strange feeling. "Mind keeping everyone entertained for a bit?"
"Sure, any particular reason why?"
"I'm not sure yet, I'll let you know."
Mimi diverted the boys' attention by telling them a story about her misadventures at the Cat Scratch Club. She had thought it was a pet store, but boy was she mistaken.
Kari tried to be inconspicuous as she wandered off to an isolated area. The same strange feeling sent chills through her body. The scenery around her diminished to nothing but blackness. She felt a pair of strong arms wrapping around her from behind, though she could not turn to see a face. Her body felt numb and she wasn't sure how she was still standing.
"Hello, Hikari."
That voice! It was the same one she had heard when she first returned to the Digital World. It still seemed so familiar, yet she could not put a face to the voice. "Where are we?" she asked.
"I have brought you between time and space so that we could speak." His grip tightened around her as he spoke.
"Speak? What about?"
"About your new friend, Calib. No doubt you suspect that he is not everything that he appears to be."
"Why would you think that?" she asked, trying to look behind her to see his face. She could not turn her head, however.
"Don't you think that it is a little too convenient that right after you and your friend were attacked, Archormon runs off and Calib shows up, magically able to heal your friend?"
"It did seem like an unlikely stretch, but I'm not going to complain. Davis is safe, so I don't really care about the convenience."
"But what if I told you that he was waiting for you to be attacked so that he could come in and appear to be a saint? His aura is unusually pure for a human, don't you agree?"
"So what?"
"The aura that surrounds him is a fake; he is using the data of angel digimon to mask his dark energy."
"Why are you telling me this? Isn't he on your side?"
"My side?"
"You know, the bad guys."
"What makes you think that I'm one of the bad guys?" he asked, one hand rose to her throat.
She waited for him to do something, but he paused again. "Good guys don't hide their identities."
"But we've already talked about this; I am neither good nor evil. Don't you remember?"
"No. Maybe if you'd let me go and show me your face, I'd be able to recognize you."
"Maybe I don't want to let you go. Maybe I'm just going to hold onto you forever."
"I doubt that," she said, somewhat coldly. "I'm going to find out your motives sooner or later."
"When I want you to," he responded. "For now, just beware of Daemon's servant."
The trees and grass around Kari slowly reappeared as the darkness around her faded. Her body was no longer paralyzed. She turned, but found no one there. She could feel a dark energy coming from the group. Calib, she realized.
She walked up to him slowly, sensing a pure aura coming from inside his pockets. She stood in front of him and slapped him across the face.
He looked surprised more than anything else. "What, may I ask, was that for?"
Kari reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the vile. She popped of the top and let the contents spill onto the ground. "How many digimon did you kill to make this?" she asked.
Calib's face darkened and a sneer formed. "I really don't know, it was a gift."
"So you really are just a secondhand servant after all," she hissed coldly.
"Secondhand? I assure you that I am first class. I am his most trusted servant."
"Well, why don't you go tell your master that his plan failed."
Tai looked at his sister with wide eyes. He had never seen his sister slap anyone, and to think that she would slap someone who saved Davis was unthinkable. "Kari, what the hell are you doing?"
"This thing is Daemon's servant. Archormon's attack was a setup so that we would trust him."
Tai I don't have a fever, I can see monsters on TV, and I have been to Digiworld. Tai let out an aggravated sigh as he forced the memory away. "It that true?" he asked Calib.
"For the most part," he said, still smiling darkly. "I'm afraid that I must be off now, but you can expect to see me soon." Before anyone could react, Calib disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"How did you know that he was deceiving us?" Tk asked Kari.
"I, uh," she couldn't tell him the truth, he'd freak out. "I sense his dark aura, and I sort of figured it out."
The others seemed satisfied with the answer; although Tai was beginning to suspect that something was going on that he didn't know about. Well, I think I got there through…
(0)
"Why did you expose Daemon's scheme to her?" Ladymiramon asked her ally after he returned from speaking with Kari.
"I need for him to move along a little faster. The digidestined knowing about Calib will force him to work more efficiently. He has found out what pendant he seeks, but is still ignorant to its location. If it is so damn important to him, he should focus on finding it."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Of course I do."
"Then why don't you tell him?"
"I want to see him figure it out on his own; the location couldn't be more obvious if he looks at the clues from the right perspective."
"I am going to speak with Daemon now, find out his next move." Ladymiramon bowed before opening a vortex into the Dark Ocean.
"Don't worry Hikari," he said to himself, "soon we'll meet in person and you'll see just who I am. Won't you be surprised?" He smiled darkly at the idea. "Soon," he assured.
(0)
"Lord Daemon, are you here?"
"Calib? What are you doing back already?"
"Lord Daemon, the girl, Kari, she was able to tell that I wasn't who I said I was. I had to leave before I could find out anything important."
Daemon struck his arm against a pillar, causing the entire castle to shake.
"Now, now, Daemon, watch your temper." Ladymiramon appeared before him.
"This seriously messes with my plans!" Daemon growled.
"You'll just have to work faster," Ladymiramon replied. "Have you made any progress on finding the pendant?"
"No, the clue would put it in an impossible location. It must be flawed."
"Or perhaps you aren't looking at it the right way?" she suggested.
"Is there a particular reason you came here?" Calib asked.
"I wanted to let Daemon know that I'm going to be sending one of my minions to take care of Peace and Serenity. That won't interfere with any of your plans, will it, Daemon?"
"No, go right ahead. Just make sure that you don't mess with Hikari. She is essential to my plans."
"Why she would be I cannot understand. Of well, do what you wish with the girl." Ladymiramon gave a short farewell before leaving the desolate ocean.
"What shall I do now?" Calib asked Daemon.
"I need your help in locating the pendant. It lies within the heart of the chosen angel of all four worlds…"
(0)
Author's Note: This chapter was a bit shorter than the previous three. Sorry. And I didn't have time to read it over to check for errors, so there are probably are a few. I wanted to get this posted before Dayton, though.
Can you say Circuit Champion? That's right; I've got a gold metal! Yay for my guard and me! World Championships, here we come! Except I hurt my finger at practice and it really, really, really hurts. :(
In the last chapter there was a one through five system. Basically, Kari and Yolie used it as a reverse of the normal 5 is the best and 1 is the worst, so that no one but them would know how they rated people for whatever reason. So, say Yama was the best kisser (which of course he is), he would get the lowest score instead of the highest. It was to crush the guys' egos more than anything else, or make them think they're awesome when they aren't. Does that clear everything up? Sorry 'bout the confusion.
About the sequel to Shattered… it's coming, really it is. When I had the idea for Shattered, it was before school started, and I planned it all out in my head at that time. I wrote the fic based on memory. The same goes for the sequel, except I don't really remember all the details, just the major events, so I'm having trouble remembering all the crap I'm supposed to be writing.
Don't you all just love Davis right now?
Next chapter will explain the Charms of Suduko and all that jazz. Also, you may just find out who Peace and Serenity are. Wondering who the mystery enemy is that Kari seems to know? You've still got a while before he's going to be exposed :)
HOW AM I DOING? SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, FLAMES, I'LL TAKE ANYTHING!
REVIEW It makes me happy ;) Seriously. ten per chapter, that's my goal!
Jillie062