Chapter Thirty One: Clash of Friends
(Koji's P.O.V)
Even once the fractal code faded I still stood where I had. Gatomon had disappeared when I was Spirit Evolving but she was probably fighting with Koichi against Takuya. I looked at the way that they had fled with Kari; I could trust Storm but Evan bothered me. Not to mention Kari's last few words hit me. She thinks she's weak. It couldn't be farther from the truth and maybe she would realize it someday but I don't think it's something that she can be told and she would believe. I cursed the fact that I spaced out when Koichi was sent flying back to the clearing and barely landed.
"You alright?" He was tense, he was having a problem fighting Takuya, but he nodded.
"He's Aldamon but it's not right." I was confused until Gatomon, who had Digivolved again but I didn't know that form's name, came crashing through the trees and Takuya emerged.
I stood stunned, I stared at him and I knew then that he was truly under their control. I also wouldn't call that thing Aldamon. No that thing couldn't be Aldamon. In front of me was what appeared to be Aldamon but the red wings were black and the armor that had been red was now black as well, what was once white was a grey. That thing isn't Aldamon.
"He's been corrupted." I griped the Beo Saber and I narrowed my eyes.
"We'll beat him and uncorrupt him them." A reason to fight Takuya, fight him and win to save him.
"Frozen Hunter!" The light energy was upon him by the time he attempted to move.
"Ebony Blast!" Koichi's attack was quickly upon him as well.
"Celestial Arrow!" Three attacks, he would live through that right?
Wait, stop worrying so much. He might be my friend but he's corrupted at the time. Not to mention he's lived through fighting both Cherubimon and Lucemon, he can handle three attacks at once. I couldn't hold back but it didn't change the fact that he's my friend.
"Inferno Arrows!" His attack, twelve arrows made of fire came at us.
I jumped back to dodge it while Gatomon flew to avoid them but one hit her and it exploded. It sent her flying up in the air but she managed to catch herself midair. Koichi dodged them as well but one hit the ground and kicked up dust. I noticed that he dodged our attacks but if I looked hard enough I saw the smallest scratch.
"We didn't even scratch him." How could he have taken those three attacks and come out unharmed?
"It's not possible." Gatomon was in disbelief but I believed it even if I didn't want to.
"Cleansing Light!" The missiles went towards him and I watched he dodged them, barely a problem.
He's faster and he at least has a higher defense. Not to mention he's either smarter thanks to them or he isn't infected with his usual nonchalant until a crisis attitude and he's already serious. It didn't sit well with me. Something told me that this was probably gonna one of those battles that showed something.
"Dark Master!" Koichi jumped at Takuya with the dark energy but I noticed the split second that Gatomon scanned the area for some reason but I shoved the thought away and I was about to attack.
"Inferno Blaze!" Takuya let off a massive blast of fire right at Koichi.
At first I expected Koichi to be able to go through it or at least have the two attacks cancel each other out but that wasn't what happened. The fire stopped him and Koichi let out what seemed like a howl of pain. The fire kept him in the air as well and when it faded and when he was already dropping to the ground Takuya kicked him sending him towards the ground faster.
"Inferno Arrows!" I expected the twelve arrows but this time I couldn't even process the number of arrows before I was struck.
I closed my eyes as they hit and exploded. They burned but thanks to the armor not as bad as it could've. I felt myself getting slid backwards slightly by the force and by the time it was done I opened my eyes. Gatomon was out of the air and seemed like she was fighting to stay in her current form while Koichi was forcing himself to his feet, he could barely stand. I wasn't much better since I swayed on my feet.
"If you think you can beat me then your mistaken." His voice wasn't normal; it was darker almost as if something had possessed him.
"Why is that huh?" Let's see if he still gets mad when I taunt him, when he gets mad enough he sometimes acts rash and maybe if he acted rash he would reveal a way to beat him.
"I only listen to two people and neither of you three are either of them." Probably Barbamon and Lucemon yet something didn't sit right with me, that day he tried to attack Kari Barbamon wasn't around unless he was hidden.
"So you're just a lap dog then." I guess Koichi had realized what I was doing, his comment made Takuya pissed off but I had to wonder if it was a good idea to piss him off since we weren't in that good of a shape already while he didn't even seem out of breath.
"You'll regret calling me a lap dog." I got ready to use Frozen Hunter on him but I barely registered him move his arms.
"Volcanic Eruption!" My eyes widened slightly from the sudden attack.
I jumped to dodge it but just when I thought I was safe the ground beneath me shook before what I could assume was lava shot from the ground and encased me. I couldn't help the scream of pain that came from me; I hadn't expected such an attack. It seemed like his Atomic Inferno at first, fire balls from the things on his arms but it must've been a mere distraction from the actual attack.
"You guys aren't anywhere near my power level!" The eruption stopped but I sank to my knees, my spirit evolution failing and fading.
I was breathing heavily but I looked to Koichi and Gatomon, Koichi was on his knees and Gatomon was out. Did being controlled by them really give him such a power boost? Weren't we equal in power before this or did he have hidden strength? I couldn't believe that he defeated us without us causing more than just so small of a scratch you could barely see it. If we couldn't even defeat Takuya how were we going to defeat the Demon Lords or was this really a doomed battle, are they just toying with us? Giving us a false hope?
"Beast Spirit Evolution." I looked at Koichi, he struggled to his feet and he was engulfed in fractal code.
I was surprised by his action. He could barely stand but he was still going to fight? I looked at the black Aldamon, that wasn't Takuya I knew for sure. He was laughing and I tried to force myself to my feet but my legs could barely support me. That attack, it managed to hurt me even through the armor of BeoWolfmon somehow.
"JagerLoweemon." I looked at Koichi; even if he was hurt he had a determined look in his eyes.
"What did the Demon Lords send you to do?" I looked the black Aldamon and he smirked.
"Well they wanted to play with you guys but they're growing bored since you guys are nowhere near strong enough to even fight them." Hearing that made me mad, they were looking down on us.
"They sent me to get rid of the pests that tried to sneak into their garden." He began to laugh again but I pulled out my D-Tector but before I could Spirit Evolve I was blasted backwards and I groaned when my hit the ground.
"No, no I can't have you evolving after all two on one isn't very fair." I tried to push myself up once again, I'm not about to give up now.
"Ebony Blast!" The dark energy went right at the black Aldamon; he dodged it though like the other attacks we tried to hit him with.
"Beast Spirit Evolution isn't strong enough to fight in truth not even Fusion Evolution is strong enough so when you're stuck at only Beast you're nothing more than a hindrance to your friends." Koichi growled at him but something changed.
"A long time ago Kari told us something, when we were told we weren't strong enough. She told us that if we gave our all then would be able to win, because no matter what we never gave up." I watched surprised as black light began to engulf him.
"It doesn't matter if I'm not strong enough by your standards because there is someone who believes in me, someone who I made a promise to!" The black light turned to complete shadows and he was encased in it, I couldn't see in.
"What's going on? What are you doing?!" The black Aldamon seemed panicked; as if whatever Koichi was doing surprised him but then again this was new.
Yet I was both surprised and confused as well. Just what was Koichi doing? As seconds past I felt a sudden jump in power, something was happening in that ball of shadows. I didn't know what was going on but something told me that whatever he was doing might be the key to fighting this fight. I watched as the ball of shadows began to crack and black light shone through the cracks.
(Kari's P.O.V)
We all stopped and stared when we saw the three pillars of fires shoot up into the sky. We were looking back at times to make sure we weren't getting chased yet we hadn't expected it. My legs gave out then and I dropped to the ground. My throat felt dry and fear crept into me. Were they ok? What was happening back there?
"Are they ok?" I don't know why I asked in truth, there was no way that they would know.
"I, I don't know." Evan sounded lost and I swear when I looked at him I saw his legs shake, as if he too wanted to just drop to the ground but he didn't.
"I, I can still sense them. It's faint but they're alive." Storm sounded worried and I glanced at her, I was surprised to see a tear slip from her eyes, she didn't even bother to wipe it away.
"What else can you sense?" She looked at the ground.
"Takuya, he's overwhelmingly strong. He's stronger than he had been the last time I sensed him before today. He has a darker feel but it might be because of where we are." I looked back towards where they were.
"Their weak, they probably stood no chance against him." If they couldn't even fight Takuya then how would we defeat the Demon Lords?
As I thought I felt tears sting at my eyes but I refused to cry. Right now I had to think of something. There had to be something that I could do to help them. We needed to become strong but how do we become stronger? Was there some kind of training that we could undergo or something? We usual got stronger as our opponents got stronger but this time we were thrown right up against our strongest opponents without much of a chance to get the time to get stronger.
"We need to find their weak point or another level." They couldn't use Unified Spirit Evolution so we needed something as a next level.
"Maybe we can find it in that Tunnel of History thing that Koji spoke of." I nodded slowly at Evan's words.
"We have to do something to help them now though. At this rate they'll be overwhelmed and be out of the fight permanently." At that my eyes went wide, I knew what she meant.
"We can't fight though, what can we do Storm!" Evan seemed annoyed.
"I hate having to run away to Storm but we would've just been dead weight since neither of us can fight at the time." I pulled my D3 out of my pocket and I looked at it.
I thought about Gatomon. If both Koji and Koichi were being overwhelmed was she ok? Storm didn't mention her so what happened to her. I wrapped my hands around my D3 and held it close to my heart. Please let my friends be safe, let them make it out of this alive. I closed my eyes to fight the tears; I don't want to lose anyone.
"Kari, what are you doing?" I opened my eyes and I was surprised.
My crest was shining like there was no tomorrow. The pink light was bright but soft, I heard a few hisses and I heard creatures running. The light was driving away the darkness. I looked at my D3 and it gave off a similar light as my crest but weaker and dimmer but the screen shone with the Crest of Light.
"It's reacting to my heart, it's the way that in my world our partners Digivolve." If it was giving off this much light Gatomon must be alright but what was going on?
"So what's going to happen?" I just stared at my D3, not knowing of how to answer Evan's question.
"It's never shined that much before has it?" I slowly shook my head.
"Never." What does spell out?
I placed it back close to my heart and tightened my grip on it. The light drives away the evil darkness, once long ago I believed that all darkness was evil but Koichi changed my opinion on that because he wasn't evil. Light and Darkness balance, you can't have one without the other. I have to believe they're alright, we can't give up.
"As long as we have our friends then nothing is impossible, as long as we try and have hope then there can always be a miracle." I stood up and I looked towards where Koichi, Koji, and Gatomon were.
"You think so?" I looked at Storm; she had a small almost hopeful smile on her face.
"Of course, besides as long as we never give up we can't lose. Losing is only when one doesn't put their all in, one who tries can't fail because they did the best they can which means they did it because they did what they could." I smiled and closed my eyes, I remembered all of the hard things that I faced and I remember all of the things that my friends have helped me overcome.
"As long we try our best we win huh?" I opened my eyes and looked at Evan.
"The terms win and lose have no meaning but what we give them though right?" It served to stun them I think.
Maybe my views on the two terms were different than others, but it was something that four people helped me mold. It was thanks to Takuya, Koji, Koichi, and Davis that my view on winning and losing were what they were. You can disagree with me if you want but it won't change who I am. I'm done letting people sway who I am.
"Do we keep going?" I looked back towards where Koichi was and I got a strange sense that with the increase of light there was an increase of darkness for some reason.
"I don't like it but we should. Come on you two." Evan began walking but both Storm and I stood still for a few moments but we both began following him after a few moments, something deep down told me that they would be alright.
I looked back once more though as I walked. Even if I had the feeling they would be alright and I have faith in them to return alright I couldn't help but worry. This was a battle that showed me something. We have some improving to do or we will truly need everyone to fight in this battle to win. I thought back to what Chrono said, about the 'four actors'. The four actors are in addition to Takuya, Koji, Koichi, Chrono and I. Chrono was missing or controlled along with Takuya which we need to get them back. Baalmon was one of the actors that Chrono mentioned but I'm starting to think that he wasn't or he wasn't one of the four that she truly meant in that count.
"What you think about so deeply?" I noticed that the light had faded by the time that Storm jarred me from my thoughts.
"I was thinking about what Chrono said, about the 'four actors'. You two are definitely two of the actors but who are the other two? At first we assumed the other two was Gatomon and Baalmon but maybe they weren't." If only we could ask Chrono what she meant.
"They might be but we can't tell you much about how Chrono thinks." Evan sounded a bit annoyed.
"She's smart but the way she thinks is crazy, she might've included them or the other two might be humans. Chrono might be our friend but we don't understand how she thinks." I stopped at Storm's words and something dawned on me.
"Kari?" Why didn't I realize it before!
"She said we were missing four actors right?" They nodded, not getting what I was saying.
"When Baalmon showed up he was protecting something, there was someone with him. Something tells me there is something about Baalmon that is more than we saw. He isn't one of those 'actors', whoever he was protecting is one of those actors while Gatomon is my partner so she wasn't included into the count." They seemed stunned a bit but looked at each other.
"Who's the fourth 'actor' then?" I sighed.
"That's the thing, either she knew she was going to go missing and included herself in the count or there is someone in the shadows that we're missing." Only Chrono knows what she meant, so question is where did she disappear to.
"It's also possible that it was bluff on the fourth." Chrono really left a riddle for us huh?
"Maybe we'll figure out what she meant if we find the information that we need to fight the Demon Lords, for all we know she might've held a part of a prophecy in that head of hers. Chrono usually did have her nose stuck in a book." If she had a prophecy then who could we ask, the Digital Rulers here probably don't even exist or have been turned to work with the Demon Lords.
"It's possible but we can think later." Evan seemed a bit on edge suddenly and I felt something tingle and Storm narrowed her eyes and suddenly they were both serious.
Out of the trees around us emerged Digimon that kind of looked like wolves almost. There was red marking on their tail hind legs and there back. While what looked bat wings came from their head making them unable to see from the sides and from their upper back framing their lower neck. They also looked like they had blades on their feet for claws.
"What are they?" There were four of them, two in front of us and two behind us, Storm stood facing the two behind us and Evan the two in front of us.
"Sangloupmon, Digimon I wish that they didn't live here or that we didn't have to fight them." The wolf like Digimon growled and I wished there was a way for me to fight with them but there wasn't.
"This is going to be interesting since neither of us are in the shape to fight." I saw the wolves move like they were about to pounce.
"Don't complain Evan, just fight. We've been in tougher situation and be glad it wasn't a Demon Lord." Storm summoned her card as did Evan.
"Release." They spoke at the same time and I watched them both the best I could.