I barely made it but it's because I decided to make it long and I decided against breaking it into multiple parts. So hopefully this was worth the wait.
Chapter Sixty: Begins With a Loss
[Evan's P.O.V]
I dug my heels into the ground trying hard not to be blown off of my feet. The flames went flaring out as Belphemon's flame covered fist broke through the flame shield. I wasn't completely surprised because I knew it would probably not stand up against his power. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. I had to do something because the attack would do who knows what to everyone. I could probably dodge the attack but that would leave the others to face it and I couldn't do that to everyone. I poured a lot of energy into that shield though so I didn't have much left because I was really hoping that turning his own power against him would make him easy to deal with.
"Crimson Blaze." It was a broken whisper but I watched surprised as bright red flames slammed into his fist but I sensed a high familiar sensation yet it was different.
Someone had a Digital Core. I didn't dare to look away to figure out who had a Digital Core because I saw something, an opening that I wanted to take. I might regret this. I took a deep breath as I shot forward, summoning my sword. When the red flames had slammed into his hand it managed to get rid of some of his flames but didn't stop him yet it had slowed him down. Using his speed and mine I ran my sword into his hand between one of the chain links.
"Dragon Fang." Fire sparked on the guard of my sword before jetting up my blade that was impaled into his fist.
Belphemon let out a shriek that surprised me. As a red mark of what looked like a dragon shot up his arm he yanked his arm back but as he did so the mark lit on fire. I tried to stay on the ground but my sword didn't budge and I was already holding onto it for dear life by the time I realized that he had flung his arm high into the sky. I was stunned because data leaked off of him.
"I'm not sure if you're smart, stupid, brave, or foolish Zeal." I was yanked back, sword in hand, seconds before black flames rushed and covered Belphemon's hand.
Baalmon had me by the back of my shirt and he landed on the ground easily. He dropped me to the ground and now everyone was looking at us. I stood up again and I watched as Belphemon struggled to put out the fire that was burning him; that mark would burn until I told it to stop. The only way to make it stop besides that was to remove the mark but the mark was inside of his body and inside of his data so to make it stop he would have to expel the data that I had infected. Yes it was actually a virus type attack.
"Oh this isn't good, I promised I wouldn't use that but it seems like it might be the way to hurt him." I stood up a bit unsteady on my feet but I gripped my sword tightly; I promised both Storm and Gallantmon that I wouldn't use any of the virus type attacks I had learned because I had a very high chance of losing to the darkness that allowed those to be viruses.
"What are you talking about?" There was a reason why most couldn't withstand my black fire.
"Don't worry about that." I rushed Belphemon, choosing to ignore Baalmon, in a flurry of flames and Belphemon was too distracted to notice me.
I smirked; his one track mind would probably be his downfall. Flames surrounded the blade of my sword and I watched as streaks of black started to invade the pure white blade. I hated how easy it was to corrupt my powers. I finally found the strength to let my flames become pure but if it means having the strength to protect I don't care. I didn't have the strength to protect my friends and group last time. I watched as my group fell apart, Belphemon being one of the reasons didn't help any.
"Flame Curse!" My flames turned dark as I swung my sword; a cut appeared upon Belphemon's chest.
Belphemon turned his attention to me but I flung myself backwards in a flurry of flames and even if he went to grab me he stopped. The black stigma lit on fire as well and another shriek later he yet again was fighting a losing fight of getting the flames put out. I noticed though that both parts of burning didn't have black fire but instead had the golden orange flames. Belphemon stopped though and he turned his attention to me and a chain came at me. I shot upwards into the sky as pure flames; well I got a hang on these new powers pretty quickly apparently.
"Get back here Zeal! I should've killed you when I had the chance!" He managed to grab me but I wasn't going to let him win so easily.
I summoned my flames and covered myself with my flames before he fully crushed me in his grip. My flames licked his hand and I watched entranced at how bright my flames were. My sword vanished from my hands since I put my strength and focus into my flames. I let my flames burn as hot and brightly as I could. Suddenly I was back into whatever light existed of this world and Belphemon had wheeled back, his hand that had been scorched by my flames and his hand gave off data. I was surprised by the fact that I was hurting him.
"You never should've made it out of that world!" I went to dodge him but suddenly I was falling.
My body was completely numb. I couldn't feel anything, not even the rushing of the wind. I faintly caught sight of my card falling through the sky after me. I used too much energy and it failed. I felt a searing sensation in my chest, I had to look to see if Belphemon had done something but he hadn't to my surprise. Heh, I guess I used my flames too much. Last time I used too much I got a high fever that threatened to kill me because I was overheating.
"You're still so weak!" I couldn't protect them.
I failed. Yet again I failed my group. I had been so cocky as to tell Rin I wouldn't let her die. I couldn't even guarantee that I wouldn't die. If it was anything to judge from I was probably going to die this time for real. At least I'll get to see the others again. We would be together again and I can tell them everything. I closed my eyes and I could almost picture everyone in my mind. Everyone looked happy for about two seconds before it turned into the horrid sight I had seen. I had seen them in their final seconds before they vanished just like the rest of our world.
"You're not even a good toy!" How far up in the sky had I been?
How far have I fallen already? I saw a chain appear above me and it was coming towards me at a high speed. He was gonna let me hit the ground before squashing me with his chain huh? I guess I'll be glad that my body is numb. I felt a hum of energy and suddenly the dark grey sky seemed to crack and glitch almost. I was surprised because suddenly a warm sensation surrounded the area.
[Rin's P.O.V]
I curled my hands into fists as my shoulders shook. My whole body shook actually. Belphemon just wouldn't shut up. He was just toying with people's feelings. He was toying with people's lives. I had always tried to control myself. I tried to keep my anger in check. I tried to keep my head down. I never fought back because from a young age I knew fighting back would only end up in pain. I refused to sit back and continue being the person that is defended!
"You're not even a good toy!" For once, in a very long time, my temper snapped.
"Enough!" I screamed the word, my crest shined so brightly even I was nearly blinded but I refused to close my eyes.
I always tried to keep an even temper. I tried to live up to being what I was the DigiDestined of, afraid that my crest would stop glowing. I never knew what would happen if it lost its glow and I never want to know. Yet today, right now, I'm done being fearful and restraining everything. There is a line that you cannot cross, once you cross that line you are passed being able to be forgiven or receiving mercy.
"You crossed the line Belphemon!" I shoved my fear down and into a bottle, locking it away.
"Very well, you've found your determination." Baalmon jumped and he flew through the sky towards the chain that was aimed for Evan.
Six circles of pulsing pale yellow light appeared; one at his feet, one at his head, one on each side of him, one below his chest and the last above his back. The light engulfed him, the symbol that was within the circles reminded me almost of a stone bench that then had a smaller one within upside down crossing the two lines that went upwards towards the top without touching the top or being connected.
"That symbol, that's the symbol of Gluttony!" It came from the red head that reminded me of Davis.
The Davis look alike shot me a look as did the girl that he that had used the fire attack earlier by some means. I looked from them and I watched as Baalmon emerged from the light as his Mega Form, he flew through the air faster than before and he pulled guns out from seemingly nowhere, aiming both at the chain.
"Double Impact!" To everyone's surprise the attack was aimed at Belphemon's chain and to further their surprise Belphemon's chain actually broke.
"Why was the Demon Lord of Gluttony, Beelzemon, with you?" I looked at the angry Davis look alike; he had forced himself up and he glared at me.
"A very long story that doesn't need to be told right now, all that needs to be said at the moment is that we're not the enemy but an ally." He was going to challenge my words but Beelzemon landed, he had Evan under his arm and it was obvious that Evan was knocked out.
"There's no going back now Rin." I shook my head.
"Doesn't matter, there was no going back either way. Either I chose to reveal the secret now and have you save Evan's life or reveal it later and bear the guilt of Evan's death." I glared at Belphemon and he stared at us.
"Beelzemon, what are you doing here? Lucemon ordered you to hunt down Chrono Aleksander and kill her since she managed to not only kill Lilithmon's sister but Chronomon as well." Beelzemon dropped Evan as he aimed one of his guns at Belphemon.
"I'm not like your senseless beasts, I saw something and I learned something." Belphemon let out a roar that shook the ground and he seemed to completely catch fire, Evan's golden orange red flames marred his black flames though.
"Double Impact." Beelzemon growled the words out as he released more than just one shot from his gun that was aimed at Belphemon, it caused damage but Belphemon still continued the punch.
"Void Walk." The voice drifted through the clearing and it sounded almost dead.
Tai's sister, Kari, appeared in front of Belphemon's fist and before any call of her name could be said the wings on her back flared out. A rift appeared in the air in front of her and his fist crashed into it. His fist went into the rift and came out a rift that appeared in front of his face. Belphemon stumbled backwards from punching himself in the face thanks to whatever Kari had just done.
"Kari, you need to control your emotions or you're going to lose control!" It came from the Davis look alike but Kari shifted on her feet.
"I'm in control Daisuke, the anger has a slight hand in guiding though since I never learned how to use this." Belphemon got back to his feet but Beelzemon shot towards him at a speed faster than he could go at when he was Baalmon.
I noticed that Kari had a change of outfit suddenly, kind of like when Evan used whatever he could use. Her outfit though was a white sleeveless baggy turtle neck shirt that revealed the top of her back, on her back on her revealed shoulder blades seemed to be tattoos almost, on her right shoulder blade was a white tattoo like mark which the wing of light had appeared from while on her left shoulder blade was a black tattoo like mark which the wing of darkness had appeared from. She wore black pants while on her arms she wore a white and black checkered gloves that were fingerless that went above her elbows. What stood out though was in the very center, between her shoulder blades, was a small yin-yang symbol.
"Don't over estimate yourself Beelzemon! You went and got tamed so you're nowhere as strong as us who manage to be strong on our own!" Belphemon slapped Beelzemon with a chain but Beelzemon didn't seem as fazed as any other Digimon would but that was because they were close to the same level.
"The Digivices, if you combine light and temperance then you should be able to do something about the Digivices." I looked at the girl who had used fire.
She had red hair and black eyes, yet I noticed a flicker of red in her black eyes. I might be seeing things but I think she had wings of flames sprouting from her back but they looked transparent unlike Kari's wings. They looked almost like a mirage if I didn't know any better. No one else seemed to notice the wings though.
"Even if Beelzemon is on our side we can't win with just him." It was a sad truth, he could turn the tide of a battle and even hold off a Demon Lord for a while but he couldn't defeat a Demon Lord by himself especially when he's protecting people.
"Why the hell should we trust her when she's working with a freaking Demon Lord! Have you lost your mind Nori?!" It came from Daisuke but he received a look from Nori, the red haired girl apparently.
"Did you forget you've practically hunted everyone here but they still trusted you?!" He flinched back but he crossed his arms.
"What were you talking about Digivices?" I was ready to get my head bitten off when I cut in.
"Our Digivices kind of shattered." I frowned hearing that and looked at the brown haired boy that wore the hat.
"Digivices aren't supposed to shatter." Even if I never had much interaction with the Digital World and stuff I knew Digivices weren't supposed to shatter not to mention I couldn't even imagine what it would take to make a Digivice shatter.
"Well they did." I flinched slightly when the long blue haired boy snapped at me.
"Now is not the time to be fighting amongst yourselves!" I let a small squeal because I was grabbed and suddenly flying through the air.
Beelzemon held me and I saw a chain go whipping through where I had been. Beelzemon was quick to fire off shots at Belphemon but Belphemon seemed angry now and he didn't seem half as 'slow' as he had been before. I bit my lip and kept in my reaction when Beelzemon dropped me rather roughly because I knew he didn't have time to mess around since he was trying to keep Belphemon's attention from us as long as he could.
"What do we do?" I realized that I was closer to the red haired girl now after Kari spoke and broke my focus that was on the battle between Beelzemon and Belphemon.
"Well there is little hope we can reform them, even I doubt I could manage that even with shards of a Digital Core in my back." I slipped out my Digivice when she said 'reform'.
I stared at my Digivice for a few seconds, looking it over. The Digivice looked like the one that Ken had that he called a D3. My grip was a pale yellow while the body of it was black; around the screen was also pale yellow. The buttons were pale yellow as was the ring that had the two arrows on it. In the middle of that was black but it held Beelzemon's sign in the middle that currently gave off a faint yellow glow. Between that and the screen was a circle that had a triangle within but had a triangle sprouting from each point of the triangle.
"Kari, do you trust me?" I looked Kari as I gripped my Digivice tightly and held it close to me.
"I don't have a reason not to; while Beelzemon might be a Demon Lord he saved Evan and as Baalmon he even saved me." I nodded and stood up.
"You have your crest right?" From under her shirt she pulled out a tag and crest; her crest was pink and bore a symbol similar to a sun but not because it's points were longer and slimmer than a sun.
"Why?" I hesitated but I held my hand out.
"Can you make it glow?" She hesitated but she didn't take my hand.
"Like you can?" I nodded; Beelzemon had taught me a trick or two about crests and what kind of power it could influence if used correctly.
"Probably not." She took my hand after a second and I glanced at Belphemon, he was focused on Beelzemon.
"We're gonna need cover because Belphemon will catch on and he might try to attack us." I wasn't sure how this would turn out and it terrified me just a little to think about what Belphemon might do if he senses it.
"I'll do what I can; you owe one huge ass explanation after this though." Daisuke moved so he stood in front of us and I noticed Tai shift and Koromon jumped out of his arms and somehow found the strength to turn into Agumon.
"Think about your brightest memory Kari, let that light flow outwards." I looked at her and even if it hurt I brought back the most painful memory I could that contained me holding everything back and keeping a level head.
"If you can imagine their Digivices too, I didn't get a look at them so I can't provide the form for them to take." Kari closed her eyes and I could tell she was having trouble.
I knew when the sound of fighting stopped that Belphemon had noticed. Mine and Kari's crests were shining; Kari's was shining brighter than probably ever before. The ground below us had turned into lush green grass instead of the dull dead grass of this world. A transparent circle had formed below us and our symbols glowed below us and around the circle was a ring of Digital Script that was surrounded by another ring. There was more Digital Script there but it was only three words and three symbols which I wasn't sure was Digital Script.
"Stop!" Kari flinched slightly when Belphemon screamed; she knew his scream would be occupied by an attack.
I didn't have any more time to take in the appearance of the circle below us or to ponder on the fact that a yin-yang had formed in the innermost circle. Kari stood on her crest that was in the white half while I stood on my crest in the black half. When her crest began to glow brighter I knew. I closed my eyes and focused and poured in as much strength as I could manage since I knew Kari couldn't add a lot in since she hadn't dealt with this before.
"Reflection!" I felt a bit of water splash on my face, probably dealing with whatever Daisuke just did but I couldn't spare any thought for it.
A faint image appeared in my head when I felt Kari's grip tighten slightly and a warm sensation spread throughout my body. I was surprised that despite the painful memory a sense of comfort washed over me. The darkness around the edges seemed to crack slightly, light was invading the darkness. The image grew bolder and it soon covered most of the memory, it must've been the shape of the Digivice somehow. I concentrated on it and I felt a falter slightly, a part of me was starting to feel drained though.
[Koichi's P.O.V]
I stared at Kari and the blonde haired girl that had appeared with Evan. After the shock of learning that Evan was still alive she went and revealed that her partner was Beelzemon. Not only that now she was working with Kari and something freaky was going on. She and Kari stood on the circle that floated a few inches from the ground. There was little color to the thing they stood on. Their crests were in the innermost circle; well I guessed what the blonde girl stood on was her crest. The second had no colors but had plenty of Digital Script which I had no clue what the said. The outermost ring though had three words and then our symbols. Takuya's Flame Symbol glowed red while Koji's Light Symbol glowed light blue and even my Symbol of Darkness glowed even if it gave off a black light.
"Stop that forsaken ritual right this second!" I stood up when Belphemon yelled; his fist went towards them this time instead of the chain.
Daisuke threw his hands out and a dome of water appeared around Kari, him and the blonde girl. The shield gave a little but he didn't get much give before flames slammed into his arm and bullets hit his arm. I followed where the fire came from only to see that Evan was pushing himself up, he looked dazed but there was a gleam in his eyes that I had only seen once before. Evan managed to force himself up to his feet but he was unsteady on his feet. He swayed and looked like a leaf would knock him down.
"Are you scared Belphemon?" Evan did it on purpose, the moment he said that Belphemon's attention was no longer on Kari and the blonde girl but now focused on Evan.
"You should have just died." Evan stumbled back and phased into fire but when he reappeared across the clearing he stumbled and almost fell.
He wasn't in any condition to fight. I looked at Storm, she was breathing very shallow. She was breathing shallow enough that I had barely noticed it. Storm was barely alive and if she did wake up the amount of damage she had would be enough to cripple her probably. I curled my hands into fists and I bit back every bit that told me I couldn't do anything. I was angry and for once, I might just pull a Takuya. Let everything else just fade away and do what my instincts tell me to do for once.
"For once, just let me be useful." I muttered the words and I felt something materialize in my hand.
I glanced at my hand before opening my fist. I was surprised to see the black crest but it was different, it didn't bear the same mark as Kari's crest anymore. This time carved in it was my symbol. I gripped it tight in my hand when I remembered what it had done to my Spirit Evolution. It made my Spirit Evolution so much stronger and it gave access to a level we hadn't hit before.
"T-they actually did it." My eyes snapped to Kari and the blonde girl at Nori's words.
I was stunned when I saw our D Tectors appear around the outermost ring, floating above our symbols. How did they recreate them? There was no one that should be able to do that besides Digital Rulers; only Digital Rulers should be able to create Digivices. I glanced at Takuya and Koji, they stared as well.
"That forsake ritual will not be completed!" Daisuke didn't snap out of his own surprise in time to throw up any kind of shield but Beelzemon managed to knock Belphemon's fist off path.
Belphemon's fist slammed into the ground and it caused the ground to shake. Daisuke managed to stop flying debris with a water shield but he was knocked off of his feet. Kari and the blonde girl's concentration were broken when they were knocked off balance. Takuya's D Tector was surrounded in a red light and went flying towards him as if it was a homing missile, the same happened with Koji's D Tector but it was a blue light. Belphemon tried to grab them but he was too slow. I grabbed the D Tector that flew at me but I noticed one thing that made me just a bit angrier. There were three cracks on the side below the Fractal Code scanner.
"I stopped one of the three from being completed so that's good enough!" I gripped the D Tector, it didn't react at all.
It was shaped the same as my old one and the color scheme was mostly the same. The only change was that there was a ring around a rectangular screen, the inside of the ring was a pale yellow but the ring itself was white. Around the ring on the outside was three different words but it was in Digital Script so I had no clue what it said. The three buttons were different as well; the two bigger buttons were white on the outside ring but black in the inside circle while the third smaller button was a pale yellow. On the grip was a Digital Hazard Symbol, it was black but the center triangle was a pale yellow. The scanner and the bit that was exposed on the side were white, as if it hadn't gotten a chance to be colored.
"Yeah but you failed and let two be completed!" I looked at Takuya when he shouted the words.
I watched the fractal code appeared and when he went to scan the fractal code something different happened. The red crest had appeared but Takuya just smile wider, probably remembering what's happened the two times before. He was swallowed by fractal code after that but it was quick to turn to fire and I noticed that Koji had gone into his own crest powered form too. I looked at my D Tector, it wouldn't even react.
"Spirit Evolution: Flare!" The fire cleared and he came out in a form that reminded me of Agunimon but it was different like the forms of Lobomon and Loweemon had been; what had been black turned a golden flame orange color and the blonde hair had a bit of brown to making more of a sandy brown.
"Spirit Evolution: Shine." Koji emerged as his altered Lobomon form.
"You puny humans can't keep those forms for long!" I glanced at the blonde haired girl when she laughed; I also noticed that Beelzemon was gone.
"You're wrong about that Belphemon! Those new Digivices, they're meant to handle that kind of power! No longer will the Digivices buckle from holding that form!" My eyes widened, that was why they cracked I bet.
"Until I saw that I had no clue what would have caused them to shatter but that's what did it I bet! They surpassed the power that those tampered Digivices could withstand!" Tampered, our D Tectors had been tampered with?
I tried to think of when it would've happened but then it blared in my head. Shortly after Kari had appeared, before we found out about Lady Ophanimon we had given her our D Tectors. Lady Ophanimon said she wanted to add something to them and since she had our complete trust we handed over our D Tectors without a thought. She tampered with them, she weakened them.
"Why you, this is why Lucemon ordered you to be killed when you were a child wasn't it!" That was enough to shut the blonde girl up; she looked so fragile and broken suddenly.
"Leave her alone!" I was surprised when flames rushed past me.
"Dragon Wave!" A sword of golden red flickered and suddenly flames shaped like a dragon went flying towards Belphemon.
"Just die already Zeal!" A chain scattered the flames but even if Evan fell and landed on his butt he was grinning for some reason.
"Light Blitz!" My eyes widened, Belphemon had focused solely on Evan and left himself open for Koji and Takuya.
"Sun Burst!" Just as Koji darted away a ball that looked like a miniature sun slammed into Belphemon before collapsing inwards and bursting outwards but not enough to get close to us.
"Absolute Zero." Belphemon who had almost recovered was suddenly sent toppling forwards.
I was about to feel a bit of joy when there was a growl. The growl resounded throughout this empty world and the fire that had appeared thanks to Evan's earlier attacks vanished. The flames vanished when suddenly a massive amount of black data was sent flying in the air. The black data burned and vanished but I watched as Belphemon shrunk. That wasn't going to be good. A big Belphemon was powerful but slow and a smaller Belphemon would probably be strong but faster.
"Enough playing around, playtime is over, time for me to complete my mission!" I gripped my D Tector tighter, wishing I could do something but even now it wouldn't give any kind of respond.
Belphemon was up from the ground, he was no longer as big as he had been. He was big enough that he easily towered over us all but he was a Digimon so that was to be expected. He was probably only ten foot now though. He moved faster than Takuya could react; Takuya was hit and was flung through the air and Koji was soon following him as he too was hit.
"You'll be the first to die Zeal!" Evan's eyes widened when Belphemon seemed to appear in front of him, Belphemon cocked his arm back.
[It Gives a Name P.O.V, it's a secret at first]
I sat on the ground staring at my hands. I knew what had happened. I knew where I was now. There was no mistaking it. I knew where I was because all of my pain seemed to have vanished. The heartache was gone and I felt at peace.
"Why are you here?" I was surprised hearing that voice, no it couldn't be.
I looked over my shoulder and my eyes met soft purple eyes. Her sandy brown hair was tied back in her usual pigtails. She had a sad smile on her face. I stared at her taking in her outfit, she was wearing the same thing as she had worn the last time I saw her. She wore a grey t-shirt and black shirts.
"I lost the battle." I tried to smile at her but the smile wouldn't come.
"Sorry about losing, I know I said I'd make them pay for hurting everyone." Instead of a smile tears started to fall.
"We never asked you to get revenge for us." I blinked because in the flash of soft pale green light the voice echoed from formed a rather familiar red head.
"You've carried a burden and put unnecessary pressure on yourself for so long." He spoke the words softly; his toffee brown eyes were soft but held a hint of sorrow in them.
"Yeah, you should be free!" I flinched backwards when a burst of light appeared, those words resounding from them.
Hair as blue as the sky and eyes a deep sea green shined despite the horrors they had witnessed. She was smiling away; she looked the same as she had years ago. She hadn't aged a day since I last saw her. She still wore the white strap shirt that had a blue ribbon at the bottom and in the loops of the pockets that were on the front of shirt. She wore blue shorts underneath and she had a wide smile on her face.
"Let go of the past, let go of the hurt and live." I was about to wipe away my tears but they were brushed away by a hand that seemed to be glowing white.
"No more tears, you've done everything in your power but you forgot something a long time again." I looked at him at his words, catching sight of him turning solid; I stared at him with wide eyes.
"Your power comes from those who trust in you, our power come from others." He bent down and he rested his forehead against mine as he spoke; his black hair tickled my forehead and his sky blue eyes closed.
"No one trusts me any longer though." There was no one who trusted me anymore, those that did are dead.
"It doesn't matter how far away those that trust you are." The voice was soft but foreign.
I had never heard the voice before. I looked behind me and my eyes widened. Forest green hair and pale hazel eyes framed by black glasses told me who it was but the voice startled me. She placed a kiss on my temple and gave me a bright smile, a smile that I had gotten attached to in the past.
"You have people that trust you but you can't trust yourself anymore, you have to trust yourself for their trust to be valid." She spoke, I couldn't believe it.
"Y-you're speaking." She nodded, she had been mute when I knew her and she had nearly been blind.
"I can speak here for a reason, perhaps this is our paradise." She had been an older sister to me; she taught me how to read people because for a time she could only talk through body language.
"Just come out and say it you guys." I turned to look at the late arrival; of course he would be the late one.
His sandy brown hair was a complete mess still and his eyes were grey but they had a faint dash of blue to them. I covered my mouth now as I pulled away from them and the tears fell faster than ever. I never thought I could be together with everyone ever again.
"Stand up and do the thing that we all knew and loved you for." I looked at Reese; he ruffled his already messy sandy brown hair as his eyes slowly turned more blue than grey.
"We're still with you even now." Amelia's words brought my attention back to her; her purple eyes had a small hint of guilt in them.
"I feel like this is some cheesy moment from an anime." Alek cringed when Amelia wacked him on the back of his head, red hair ruffled from his quick movement since his hair was a bit on the long side.
"Aw you don't have to pretend you're not happy to be all together again Alek." Free smiled and spun on her feet, blue hair flowing around her since her hair went to her mid-back.
"Besides, let go of the darkness." Free turned towards me and she gave me a look that looked far too grown up on the face of a nine year old.
"We can tell you all we want but we know that you'll never forget that day or what happened. Yet, you survived so live your life." I looked to Locke, green bangs covered her eyes.
"We're right by your side even if you can't see us." I looked to Kain; his hand was on my cheek.
"It's time to gather up the broken pieces, Zale." He kissed my temple before standing up.
He moved so he stood by the others, even Locke stood and went so she stood with the group. As I looked over the group I realized that Evan never appeared. The group wasn't here all together. I should've known that our group would never be all together again.
"Zeal is still alive Zale, sometimes miracles do happen." Free spoke the words; a wide smile crossed her face as she closed her eyes.
"Tell us of all of your adventures when you see us again." I wanted to say something at Reese's words but they began to fade away.
They turned to light the color of their crests that they had owned years ago. Free turned into a bright pale pinkish light since she had been the DigiDestined of Benevolence; in other words the DigiDestined of Light. Reese grabbed Locke's hand before they fully turned to light; Reese was a neon orange light and Locke was a neon purple light. Reese had been the DigiDestined of Valor and Locke had been the DigiDestined of Understanding. Despite Amelia having hit Alek she grabbed his hand too. Amelia turned to pale red light and Alek to a pale green light; Amelia DigiDestined of Adoration and Alek DigiDestined of Honesty.
"One day we'll be all together again and we can start a new adventure." Kain faded to just a white light at his words.
"Amelia, Locke I never blamed you two." I placed my hand over my heart as I spoke.
"I went for revenge because I blamed it on me. I had sensed something wrong with Phascomon and Syakomon but I never said anything. I saw what would happen but I never said anything. I was afraid." I gripped my shirt over my heart tightly.
"No more guilt, we'll forgive ourselves if you forgive yourself." Amelia and Locke spoke the words at the same time and I closed my eyes but I nodded.
[Koichi's P.O.V]
One hit from Belphemon wouldn't kill or seriously injury either Takuya or Koji since they had armor and were essentially a Digimon. Unlike Takuya and Koji though Evan had no armor and was fragile compared to Digimon. I heard what sounded like a clap of thunder almost and suddenly Belphemon was sent flying. My eyes widened and I was quick to glance at where Storm had been as if to make sure I wasn't seeing things before I looked back.
Storm stood in from Evan. Storm had electricity sparking off of her as she stood there as if she wasn't hurt one bit. She wore a different outfit than she had worn which gave away the fact that she had used her card but I recalled watching her card shatter. She wore a shirt that revealed her upper back while it had straps, the shirt was a light blue but it was outlined in black.
"We came here with a mission as well, Belphemon; you're the first Demon Lord that will fall because you made a mistake. You choose to attack us when we're all together." We couldn't all fight though.
"You better look behind you Zale; there is none left that can stand behind you. Even if they have upgraded Digi-" Belphemon stopped and I saw Takuya and Koji stand up, they both didn't know when to back out.
"Did you forget that we don't know when to quit? As long as there is a little hope we're going to seize it because sometimes miracles can happen." Hearing that come from Koji instead of Takuya was a little surprising, he was the one at least years ago when we were against them that was the one who didn't want to take a chance but wanted to know that we would make it out; he didn't want to gamble back then.
"Sometimes you gotta fight even if there is no hope." Daisuke forced himself up as he spoke and noticed that even unsteady he looked ready to fight.
"Besides sometimes when we can't fight you trust those that can." I noticed that a bolt of electricity that sparked from Storm was just a bit thicker and seemed to hum with more energy at Nori's words.
"Besides how about you preform your miracle now, Ms. Gate Sneaker!" I was confused before all I saw was a blur of white, arrows rained down upon Belphemon and when he dodged one he got bombarded with an attack from Takuya.
"It's no fun when you know what's coming." I narrowed my eyes slightly seeing Chrono appear.
Chrono was vastly different; the feel of her was different from that one from the night when we found out about Lady Ophanimon and different than the one that had been in that warehouse. The bow she held in her hand was made of silver and on her hands were some kind of design while she wore clothes that were to baggy for her, also obviously belonging to a guy.
"Cutemon, mind healing them up?" I watched a pink rabbit appear from seemingly nowhere.
"Got it Chrono!" The rabbit, Cutemon, darted to Evan first.
"Aren't you going to fight Koichi?" I jumped and looked at Storm when she appeared beside me in a burst of electricity.
I noticed it now that she was so close. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused; they lacked what little light that they had previously held. Her now mismatched eyes looked close to devoid of light. The blue eye that had the odd white symbol had a little more light in it than her red eye. I also noticed the bits of blood that were staining the shirt she was wearing. She was hurt she was just pushing it away and continuing to fight. She was always pushing herself far past her limits.
"You fight so hard, why?" She seemed surprised by my question but she looked away and bent slightly, as if she was about to bolt back into the battle.
"I never learned how to cope with pain Koichi, all I know is fighting. Once there is nothing left to do is when I will break. The break will be messy and could be quite dangerous." That's right, they were orphans from the time they were small then they watched their friends die in front of them.
"Belphemon interrupted Kari and the blonde; Takuya and Koji's D Tectors were finished but mine wasn't completely formed." She glanced at me and gave me a rare smile.
The smile that crossed her face wasn't big but it wasn't small. She bolted away a second later. That smile right there, was a real smile. Something changed when she was out. This wasn't the forced happy attitude she had earlier on when she tried to pretend everything was alright. I looked at my hand when I felt a prick of energy, lightning sparked from my D Tector. The screen blinked to life and the electricity sunk into my D Tector. The cracks vanished by remained in a way, there now seemed to be three lightning bolts where the cracks had been, the three lightning bolts were a light blue. The scanner and the exposed bit was a very pale blue, it was almost white.
"Loyalty, you stand beside your friends through everything. Let me repay you for your earlier stunt when I was Duskmon Storm, you have absolute trust in me and you have my own trust." I muttered the words as I summoned my fractal code, it turned black when the crest appeared but I noticed the faintest spark of electricity when I scanned the fractal code.
"Spirit Evolution: Shade!" As the ball of shadows formed different memories flashed through my head.
[Kari's P.O.V]
I stared at the fight more than surprised. I felt numb; the card lay on the ground under my right hand. Takuya and Koji were working together and forcing Belphemon to dodge their attacks and step into the other's attack or forcing him into range of Daisuke and Storm. You wouldn't think that before today they had never fought together. You wouldn't even think that Daisuke had been an enemy only days ago.
"Sorry about the whole stunt back in the warehouse Kari." I looked at Chrono surprised by her words.
"That was you?" She didn't look away from the battle and she shot a pulsing white arrow at a stray attack.
"In a way, it was created by my magic but it got corrupted by the Demon Lords. I was able to control it enough to give it a few characteristics that thankfully you picked up on and knew you couldn't trust it. I couldn't drop off the face of the earth so I hoped to leave that 'copy' to deal with school." She shifted as she shot another stray attack.
"Where's your partner Rin?" I glanced at Tai who approached; Chrono still didn't look away from the fight.
"He um, he probably hid because I used too much of my strength. His Mega level is locked and can only be accessed when he's given 'permission' to do so. If my strength is cut suddenly the lock activates thinking he's going out of control and will actually kick him back to Rookie." So Beelzemon wasn't exactly just left to be good in good faith.
"Who's your partner? I figured everyone else out and I barely figured you out." Chrono dodged an attack that she couldn't shoot down fast enough, I had a feeling it was aimed for her actually since it came from Belphemon who no longer had a 'one track mind'.
"Um well, Beelzemon." Chrono stopped before looking over her shoulder at Rin, she was stunned.
"Beelzemon; as in the one that is the Demon Lord of Gluttony?" Rin gave a nervous laugh but nodded.
"Great that's one less we have to fight besides Beelzemon wasn't connected to anyone's dark past. He was killed by a previous group, he was probably cleansed." Chrono held her hand out quickly, a pulsing sun like shield appeared, black flames slammed into it and was sent jetting around the side but it didn't touch Rin, Tai, or me.
"How can you block one of Belphemon's attacks?" Chrono shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't know, still getting used to my strength now since I removed the seal." She had a seal on her previously?
I stared at her back as she focused on the flames. Something about the new feel of aura was a bit off. Something felt familiar about her aura, not a good familiar either. The black flames stopped just as her shield cracked slightly. She had been driven backwards slightly but she had dug her heels in and managed to remain upright. I curled my hands into fists because something told me there was something that she was hiding from us.
"Are you two hurt?" I jumped and I looked at the pink rabbit that had approached us without me noticing.
"Kari might be but I'm just tired Cutemon, you're healing can't help me with that." I looked at Rin.
"How do you know Cutemon?" Even Chrono glanced at her but Rin blinked and tilted her head.
"I don't know actually, she just seems really familiar like an old friend that I haven't seen in years." Any words I would've said after Rin's statement was stopped when a soothing sensation took over my senses.
"Chrono, the blonde lightning girl can you make her stop and let me heal her? She's badly hurt and if she doesn't stop she's going to hurt herself worse or kill herself like that." My eyes snapped to Storm at that.
Yet I was absorbed in the fight instead of staring at Storm. It was hard to tell what attack came from who had it not been for different elements. Belphemon could dodge most of the attacks but Koji and Storm were landing the most hits because they were the fastest besides the fact that Storm was still human. I also noticed that even if Daisuke was strong he seemed more of a defender at the moment since he was intercepting attacks from hitting Storm. Storm was slowing down and her pale blue lightning as starting to turn red like it had last time when she was losing a lot of blood.
"That's gonna be harder said than done Cutemon." I couldn't muster any words to speak to Chrono.
Takuya had hit Belphemon with some kind of attack; I think he had called it Sun Burst earlier. Yet even if it hit Belphemon it sent Storm fleeing backwards since it almost hit her. Evan who had jumped into the fight somewhere redirected the flames somehow but he fled backwards too after that. The flames cleared but Belphemon still didn't seem very hurt but Koji let leash his Light Fall attack before Belphemon had time to orientate himself. Koichi followed up with an attack that looked like a javelin made of shadows, it impaled Belphemon in his arm but it didn't seem to do much damage.
Wait, when did Koichi join the fray? No I think I knew when even if I hadn't seen him Spirit Evolve, I hadn't even noticed he had somehow. It was probably right after Storm had bolted out and spoke to him. Storm had fled from an attack in that instance; she must've taken the chance to talk to him. Storm and Koichi were close. My thought was driven home when Koichi and Storm preformed a combination attack, something that was a bit scary since it was like a blast of electrified shadows. Even if Belphemon dodged it something told me that it wouldn't have been a kind attack. He managed to step back into an attack that was similar to Light Fall but light shot upwards from a stigma that appeared on the ground.
"Storm come over here and get healed!" Chrono took the chance to call out the words, Storm spared a glance but she bolted towards the fading light.
Electricity sparked around her and as the light cleared she stopped and held her hands out facing Belphemon. Belphemon hadn't been touched by the attack because of the swirling black flames around him. He had protected himself. Storm had a look on her face that was between horror, concentration, and fear. The flames around Belphemon fluctuated, he was charging something up.
"Don't you dare Storm! Your body can barely handle that when you're in top condition!" She started to spark wildly, not heeding Chrono's warning regarding whatever she was doing.
"That's the attack that decimated our world in seconds." I tore my eyes away and looked at Evan when he spoke, he had ended up back towards us when he fled earlier I guess; I hadn't noticed him appear beside side
"If he lets that off then there is no way any of us is surviving this." My body shook as fear shot through me, I looked back to Storm after Evan's words but my eyes stopped when I caught sight of Chrono.
Her eyes had narrowed now. She had summoned her bow once again and she shifted her stance as she took aim. I noticed for the first time that there was no string to her bow yet when she made the motion of grabbing one, a string formed of pure red light. As she pulled the string back an arrow formed, it wasn't her normal white arrow though, it was pure red. I noticed a white sun like design was in front of her bow.
"Stop S-" Chrono never got to finish whatever she was going to say.
"Raijū." The word despite how soft Storm said it seemed to echo, everything stopped.
I felt the hair on my arms stand up when suddenly the amount of electricity in the air spiked. I looked at Storm, the electricity that sparked around her had faded slightly but now floating in the air above her was a wolf like creature made form electricity. The wolf made of electricity charged at Belphemon faster than I could perceive but when it slammed into Belphemon there was a sound like thunder that resonated. The fire that had surrounded Belphemon faltered and it dispersed quickly surprisingly. The wolf tore into Belphemon's shoulder and Belphemon let out a shriek of pain.
"Storm!" Koichi managed to catch Storm as she dropped from the sky; he jumped backwards putting distances between them and Belphemon.
"You two remind me of your damned mother! Never knowing when the hell to give up and always going past what any other DigiDestined could ever do to us! You two should've just been killed the moment it was revealed! Nightmare Flame!" The seconds it took for his attack to form seemed to go in slow motion, it seemed to last minutes.
Koichi was forced to release Storm as she was swallowed in dark green fire and Evan was swallowed as well. Evan screamed something out; his words were a jumbled mess. The green nearly black fire burned hot enough that I could feel the heat from here even if Evan was at least twelve feet away from me.
"Red Sun!" Chrono's scream is what brought everything back to focus.
A red arrow tore through the air; it tore clean through Belphemon actually. That surprised everyone and Belphemon turned to look at Chrono. I wanted to look but my eyes couldn't stop looking between Storm and Evan. The fire still burned and I had no clue what happened to them. I didn't want to think about what happened to them in truth.
"How do you have that power?" I saw something flicker within the fire, something which surprised me.
I looked to my side, to Rin. She sat there with eyes closed gripping her crest tightly. Even having it gripped so tightly in her hands light still made it out of her closed hands. What did she just do? She was muttering something under her breath but I couldn't make out any words.
"Dark World." My eyes went wide hearing that yet to my surprise it wasn't deathly dark like it had been last time.
The light from Rin's crest made it through the darkness and Chrono's bow gave off a faint light as well. The ground shook underneath of me and I heard another shriek but the light didn't come back. The darkness was illuminated though when light crashed into Belphemon, Koji. Something exploded and there was flash of red, Takuya. Suddenly visibility rushed back I watched Belphemon sway on his feet, data leaked off of him quickly. His wings were torn to shreds and one of his horns was actually missing, blood seemed to leak from some kind of wound on his back. There were multiple slashes upon him now and parts of his body looked burned, badly burned at that.
"Kari, purify the fire now." I looked at Rin; her face was contorted as if in pain.
"Please." I grabbed my card without a second thought after that, Rin sounded like she was begging yet as I moved I noticed Belphemon moving.
"Release." My word was drowned out when Belphemon screamed; his words weren't in any kind of language that I recognized.
Darkness began engulfing him and everything it touched withered before it just vanished. Koichi who was closest to him swayed on his feet, as if suddenly sleepy. Takuya and Koji also seemed affected. Something nudged me, it felt familiar in truth. I heard a whisper telling me I could do it, it sounded like Gatomon. At the thought of Gatomon my eyes stung.
"Light Haven!" I was swallowed in light and it quickly spread outwards.
The light washed over those farthest from me somehow unlike how normally it would wash over those closest to the sources. Digital World logic I bet. Belphemon froze when the light hit him while Koichi reverted back to human when the light washed over him, as did Takuya and Koji. The fire that surrounded Storm stopped burning as if frozen and vanished revealing that Storm was wrapped in a cocoon of pale yellow light, the same was revealed for Evan as well when the fire vanished. What surprised me though was when the light got to Chrono that there was a flicker of an image of wings had appeared; three wings that looked like angel wings on her left and three wings that looked like bat wings on her right. The image was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Kari!" Tai caught me when I fell; the world swirled around me now.
[Chrono's P.O.V]
I stared blankly at Belphemon stunned. I wanted to look at Kari but I couldn't. I was more than surprised. I watched as cracks seemed to appear upon Belphemon who was frozen. Does she realize what she just did? She shouldn't have the strength to do that. I knew had Belphemon not have taken the damage that he had from the others it wouldn't have the effect that it was having now, especially if it wasn't for Evan's attacks that caused Belphemon to ultimately decide to expunge some of his data it wouldn't be happening.
"This can't be happening." Belphemon didn't even move to attack, he raised his hands and just stared at them because he was just as surprised as I was while the others were confused.
"How can you have this kind of power?" I hadn't thought it was possible, I thought he would be yanked out before it happened but I was wrong.
"We underestimated you foolish people, we thought you would fall just like the last group." The last group, Chronomon never told me much about the last group besides that they fought tooth and nail to try and defeat them before deciding to seal them away.
"Even if they put up a good fight it was never enough." Parts of Belphemon began to shatter into data, surprising everyone because they knew what was happening now.
"How are you puny humans able to defeat someone like me?" He shattered completely after uttering those words.
"It's too good to be true." The words slipped out of Koji's mouth mere seconds later.
"We have to be seeing things." Takuya's words surprised me because when we talked he always seemed confident; he seemed very doubtful right then.
"There's no way we were strong enough, or experienced enough to have defeated him." Koichi's words showed both his disbelief and a bit of his pessimistic thoughts and lack of self-confidence, at least gave me a thought he lacked some self-confidence.
"We did, somehow." Daisuke sounded just as stunned as them but he knew more since he was with them for the past couple of years.
"We actually beat one of them." Kari's words shook and I still wanted to check on her but I still couldn't stop staring; now I stared at where Belphemon had been.
"Why are you guys so surprised? We were meant to defeat them besides; we won because we were all together." I lowered my bow slowly at the blonde's words; she mustn't know much about the Demon Lords despite Beelzemon being her partner.
"Wait, your partner is Beelzemon right?" I turned to look her; my eyes glanced over Kari though who seemed fine besides having to lean pretty heavily on her brother.
"Yeah, you're not going to turn on me now right?" She looked afraid and I was confused by how fearful she seemed she even shook the slightest bit.
I looked over the shaking blonde; from her outfit I would've guessed she was a fighter perhaps. She wore a fitting black t-shirt but she had shoulder pads on. The black pants she wore also had knee and shin guards. The tag and crest she wore stood out slightly; crest being a bright pale yellow was eye catching. I also noticed that it gave off a very faint glow. If she was Beelzemon's actual partner and he's the Demon Lord of Gluttony she's the DigiDestined of Gluttony but since she's good and not evil she's probably actually the DigiDestined of Temperance. Temperance was the opposite of gluttony.
"No, well you haven't given me a reason to think you're an enemy." I wasn't like the others.
Everyone else had a reason to fight. Storm and Evan wanted to avenge their world; they wanted to see Daemon, Belphemon, and Leviamon die. Lucemon, Barbamon, and Lilithmon had attacked Kari's word which resulted in Takuya, Koji, Koichi, and Kari fighting them five years ago. Until recently when Lilithmon nearly killed Kari this fight wasn't exactly completely personal to them. Daisuke had told me about the fact that his oldest friend had been kidnapped and threatened by Daemon, that he worked with them only because it meant that his friend and world would stay safe and wouldn't become targets of the Demon Lords. I hated all of the Demon Lords; it didn't which one it was.
"Just answer a question for me." I gave her a smile, I would hear her out and only if given a reason would I attack her or Beelzemon because at the moment he might be the best ally we have.
"What's the question?" She seemed hesitant, afraid still.
"Why do the Demon Lords seem nearly invincible?" I had asked Daisuke and he didn't know the answer but since her partner was a Demon Lord she should know.
"Thanks to a fallen DigiDestined our Digi Code has a shield encoded within; it blocks all attacks from Digimon that are weaker than a Mega automatically." I looked to Beelzemon but to my surprise I had to look down, he really was back to his Rookie form of Impmon.
"The shield can be bypassed though and probably removed with the correct means but even then any Digimon not on Mega Level would do little to no damage since we're stronger than normal Digimon and our Digi Code is naturally stronger than most." He moved and I was surprised when he stood between me and the blonde girl, he held his arms out to the side.
"If you plan on doing anything I won't let you touch Rin, she's suffered enough in her life. She is the reason why I stand here as an ally, why I've played double agent all of this time. She is the reason why Gallantmon and Chronomon knew so much, I was Baalmon the Demon Hunter that worked so close with Gallantmon and Chronomon. I would rather be known as Baalmon the Demon Hunter than Beelzemon the Demon Lord of Gluttony." I was stunned by his words, he would protect her.
"Rin is mine now; to hurt her you'll have to kill me first." I let my bow vanish; he wasn't one of those filthy demons.
"You're not like those filthy demons." Impmon nodded.
"They are indeed filthy demons, Chrono Aleksander DigiDestined of Miracles." My eyes widened when he spoke.
"You, you were the one in that world." He gave what seemed like an innocent smile but it was a smirk.
"So what if I was?" I looked at Rin, what did she suffer that made even him feel so worried about her?
The partner of a Demon Lord should be strong, stronger than any other DigiDestined. Unlike regular DigiDestineds there would only ever be one person who would have the crest for a Demon Lord, be the crest evil or good. The one chosen to be the partner of a Demon Lord would be one of the strongest among DigiDestined ranks.
"We should probably leave; they're probably going to attack soon." I looked at Kari's brother, he looked far too afraid for a DigiDestined of Courage but even the bravest soul would have to be a fool not to hold some kind of fear of the Demon Lords.
"You're wrong there; they won't attack for a while. They'll be baffled and try to figure out how we defeated Belphemon. We have a week at most, three days at the least." The words came from both Impmon and Daisuke, at the same time.
"So we have time to recover some?" I looked back to Rin, even if it had been Takuya who spoke.
She was silent and she stared at the ground. The way she held herself, she was terrified of something. Her body was shaking so badly. Impmon still stood in front of her, ready to attack anyone who dared to touch her. Something happened to her, what happened I wasn't sure. Even knowing the prophecy didn't tell me the silent suffering that people suffered. I didn't know what part of the prophecy matched who, besides Storm and Evan.
"I'd love to leave this world." I looked Kari; she was now standing on her own.
"The portals are still down so we have to go out whatever way that Chrono came in." They looked at me when Daisuke spoke and I sighed.
"I was originally aiming for this world but I hit a barrier, probably having belonged to Belphemon. I landed in some Digital World that had a passageway here." That got me a look from Tai and Kari.
"That would be their world; it's the only world that has a connection to this world." I glanced at Daisuke; he now sat on the ground beside the red haired girl that was out cold.
"Our world also has the bad problem of our Digital World being locked; we can't get in or out." Tai muttered the words but I shrugged.
"That would be an easy fix for me, now we would need one of you guys' Digivices but we can get out, we'd have to wait for Storm and Evan to come around for a gate out of your world though since I'm on gate restriction currently." Besides it might be good for Kari to be around her friends for a change, it might be what she needs at this point.
So, did I catch anyone with the chapter title? Anyways, yes I know it lacked in the fight scene and for that I'm really sorry. I felt like I couldn't do it justice at the moment, trust me the fight will be more detailed in future chapters [how is a secret for now though]. I'm really sorry about the fact that I keep getting writer's block for the story. Also it jumped through P.O.V a bit [technically every different P.O.V would've been a different chapter basically but I chose to just keep it one chapter], I would apologize for that but I'm not sure if I should be sorry. Also chapters still won't be this long usually, I just had a really good flow this time and it turned into this.