Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Not a long wait this time!
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
"Unless my eyes are deceiving me, that's the light of digivolution!" -Makuramon (Season Three, Episode 29: Goliath)
Chapter 44: The Light of Digivolution
Takara 'Kara' Kamiya
Text, Southern Hemisphere, Digital World
"Opal Laser!" Dovemon shouted, swooping down and hitting Sirenmon in the back with her attack.
Sirenmon stumbled, but she managed to catch herself and leaped onto a large rock. "It's time to finish you off, rookie! Dark Tidal-"
"Leave her alone!" Sam shouted, sitting up and glaring at Sirenmon.
Sirenmon froze in the middle of her attack and stared at Sam in astonishment. "Impossible!" the mythical digimon gasped. "How did you wake up from my attack so quickly? It's suppose to last at least a couple of hours!"
Takara glared at the ultimate level digimon and held up her D-Coder. "I guess I'm finally beginning to understand why you guys want these things so much. These D-Coders are a lot more useful than I'd thought they'd be!"
"So that's how your little friend was able to wake up on his own earlier. I thought that was just a fluke," Sirenmon murmured. "The only reason I was able to keep him in a semi-conscious state was because I had used my attack again."
"What?" Spritemon shrieked, leaping to her feet. She glared at Sirenmon and crossed her arms. "Don't just stand there, you fool! You'd better capture Dovemon, right away, and bring that D-Coder to me! I'm not going to risk having Daichi and the others wake up, too!"
"What about our little Emperor friend?" Sirenmon asked.
"Forget him," Spritemon snorted. "He doesn't have a digimon like the others. He's not a threat to us!"
"What did you call me?" Sam snapped, leaping to his feet and glaring at the two evil digimon. His eyes were sparkling with fear, and he looked uneasy.
"Not now," Takara said softly, wrapping an arm around him. "We need to concentrate on saving the others first."
She turned to look at Spritemon and held out her D-Coder. "If you think that I'm going to let you hurt my digimon and steal my D-Coder, think again! If you don't want to get zapped, I suggest you move out of the way!"
A beam of green light shot out of her D-Coder, and it headed straight for Spritemon. The mega digimon let out a squeal of surprise and quickly leaped out of the way. The green blast slammed into Dai and her other friends, and there was a flash of bright light. A moment later, the glow faded away, and Dai slowly opened his eyes.
"What happened?" the goggle headed leader muttered.
"Did we fall asleep?" Embermon asked.
Mickey sat up and frowned. "That's funny. I remember seeing a really beautiful lady, but that's all I remember."
"She had really pretty hair," Matty added, rubbing his eyes and smiling at Celestimon.
Dai nodded in agreement. "She also had a pretty face."
"With really pretty eyes," Ryoko said, sitting up next to Dai.
Takara felt a stab of anger and glared at them. "Boys!" she muttered.
"Guys! Are you okay?" Sam gasped, racing towards them.
Takara quickly followed him and knelt next to Dai. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"No," Dai replied, frowning in confusion. "What happened to the pretty lady?"
Takara felt her face turn red, and she hit Dai hard on the back of his head.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Dai shouted, glaring at her.
"As if you don't know!" she wailed, giving him a dirty look.
Dai crossed his arms and frowned at her. "What's wrong with you?"
"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you!" she replied, turning up her nose.
"Sirenmon! Hurry up and use your attack again!" Spritemon shrieked, leaping to her feet. "We can't let Embermon and the other digimon get involved in the fight!"
"Yes, mistress," Sirenmon replied, raising her arms and gazing up at the sky. "Musical Sleep!"
"No way!" Takara snapped, holding out her D-Coder again. "Let's see what else these things can do!"
Her Digivice started to glow a bright green, and once again a beam of light shot out of it. The light hit Dai and the others, and she gasped in surprise as all of her friends were suddenly surrounded by emerald green mist.
"What's happening?" Halomon asked, frowning in confusion and glancing down at his glowing body.
Sirenmon quickly used her attack, but nothing happened.
"It was her!" Ryoko gasped, pointing at Sirenmon.
"So you're the one who has been singing!" Dai shouted, glaring at the mythical digimon. "We should have known that this was a trap! Let me guess. You two ladies are working for Vampiramon and her buddies, aren't you?"
Sirenmon let out a shriek of rage and glared at Takara. "This is all your fault! How dare you stop my attack from affecting them!"
"Don't thank me!" Takara shot back. "Thank my D-Coder!"
"What's going on?" Alopemon asked, frowning at Spritemon.
Takara quickly explained what had happened to them, and Matty smiled.
"So somehow your D-Coder is protecting us!" the younger twin said in amazement. "We can still hear Sirenmon's music, but the light from your D-Coder is stopping us from falling asleep!"
"Thanks, Kara!" Celestimon said, fluttering into her arms and giving her a hug.
"You're welcome," she replied, smiling at the little rookie. "Now, will you guys hurry up and help me out? While you boys were having a nap, Dovemon and I have been doing all of the dirty work!"
"Sorry," Ryoko replied, giving her an apologetic look.
"Boys," she muttered, smiling fondly at them.
"Man, sometimes it sucks being a guy! We're missing all of the action!" Dai complained, standing up an straightening his goggles. "Embermon, you'd better get in there and give Dovemon a hand!"
Takara glared at him and crossed her arms.
Oh sure. He can fall head over heels for an evil digimon, but he can't even give me a second look! Typical!
"Come on, guys! Let's help out our new friend!" Halomon shouted.
"You idiot!" Spritemon shrieked, glaring at Sirenmon. "Now look what you've done! Bring me that D-Coder, right now! I won't have it causing anymore trouble, understand? I won't let anything stand in the way of my plans, especially not a stupid little gadget!"
"Yes, mistress," Sirenmon replied, holding out her arms again. "Dark Tidal Wave!"
"Look out!" Sam shouted.
Takara let out a gasp of horror.
A huge tidal wave rose up out of the ocean behind Sirenmon and shot over the mythical digimon's head. The five rookies disappeared in a flood of rushing water, and they ended up slamming into a large group of rocks.
"Ouch. That hurt," Celestimon moaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. The water had disappeared, but it had left Embermon and the other digimon soaking wet.
"I hate water," Embermon muttered, holding out a hand and pulling Alopemon to his feet.
"There's no way we're going to let you come anywhere near Takara!" Alopemon shouted, giving Sirenmon a dirty look.
"And we're not going to let you capture us and turn us into slaves either!" Dovemon said.
"Embermon, digivolve now!" Dai shouted.
"You, too, Celestimon," Matty said.
"And you, Halomon," Mickey added.
"You got it, Dai! Embermon digivolve to, Dragermon!"
"Celestimon digivolve to, Angelicmon!"
"Halomon digivolve to, Gabrielmon!"
"Dragon Fire Spin!" Dragermon shouted, leaping into the air and shooting his attack at Sirenmon's head.
"Holy Sceptre!" Gabrielmon called out, darting around Sirenmon and shooting his blast at her legs.
Sirenmon dove to the side, and she landed on her back in the sand. Both attacks missed her, and the mythical digimon quickly jumped to her feet again.
"Dark Tidal Wave!" Sirenmon shrieked, throwing her arms into the air.
"Fly out of the way!" Takara cried, her heart pouding with fear.
Dragermon, Dovemon, Gabrielmon, and Angelicmon quickly flew off in different directions, but unfortunately the attack was still heading for Alopemon.
Takara jumped as Ryoko suddenly clutched her arm, and the blond stared at Alopemon with fear in his sapphire eyes.
"Alopemon, move out of the way!" Ryoko gasped. "She's going to drown you in a flood of water!"
"I'm not going anywhere!" Alopemon replied, racing directly towards the tidal wave. "Frozen Specter!"
The shadowy image of Alopemon flew right into Sirenmon's attack, and the tidal wave became nothing more than a large ice sculpture.
"Good move!" Dovemon called out, landing on Dragermon's head and giving Alopemon a smile.
Dai turned to Spritemon and smiled triumphantly at her. "Our digimon, including Takara's partner, are kicking Sirenmon's butt, and her attack isn't going to work on us guys anymore! Looks like we win again, Spritemon!"
"Give me that D-Coder, right now!" Spritemon shrieked, her face filling with rage.
"No way!" Takara shot back.
She let out a scream as Spritemon suddenly leaped into the air and flew towards her. The sprite digimon tackled her to the ground, and she found herself lying on her back in the sand.
"That D-Coder's mine!" Spritemon snarled, grabbing onto her wrist. The mega tried to pull it out of her hand, but she managed to roll to one side and quickly scrambled to her feet.
"Takara! Are you okay?" Dovemon shouted.
Dovemon, who was still battling Sirenmon, glanced in her direction, and she managed to nod her head.
"Not for long!" Spritemon shouted, fluttering into the air and flying straight towards her again.
"Don't you even think about hurting her!" Dai shouted, racing after Spritemon.
Ryoko and the others ran after Dai, and she could see the fear in their eyes as Spritemon came closer to her.
She's going to kill me!
"Alopemon! You have to help Takara!" Ryoko shouted, reaching out and trying to grab one of Spritemon's wings. Unfortunately the blond missed and ended up running into Dai. The two of them fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs, and they were almost trampled by Sam and the twins. Sam managed to step around them, but Matty accidentally tripped over Dai's foot, and the younger twin fell face first into the sand. Mickey stumbled over his brother and quickly grabbed onto Sam's sleeve. Both boys ended up falling on top of Matty, and the younger twin let out a loud groan.
"You're dead, human!" Spritemon snapped, and Takara found herself being slammed up against a tree.
"Kara!" Dovemon cried, turning in the air and flying towards her.
"I don't think so!" Sirenmon shouted. "Dark Tidal Wave!"
The ocean behind her erupted and several swirling geysers shot up into the sky. The watery tornadoes slammed into Dragermon, Dovemon, and the angel digimon, and all four of them tumbled out of the air. They hit the ground with a large crash, and Takara let out a squeak of terror.
Unfortunately Alopemon had been distracted by Ryoko's voice earlier, and the little rookie had not been able to use his ice attacks to stop Sirenmon's attack. Now Alopemon was the only digimon on their side who was still standing.
"All I need is your D-Coder and your partner," Spritemon said, hovering in the air and keeping a firm grip on her throat. "You know what that means, don't you? You're useless to me, now that Dovemon had been released from the pedestal, and I'm tired of the way that you keep ruining my plans! Say goodbye to your friends, human, because your D-Coder isn't going to help you out this time!"
"Kara!" Dai shouted, struggling to his feet.
"No!" Ryoko cried, his face turning white with terror. "I won't let you kill her!"
"Alopemon, you've got to stop Sirenmon before she hurts Kara!" Mickey cried.
"I'm coming, Kara!" Alopemon shouted, leaping over a rock and heading towards them.
Takara let out a gasp as the weapon on Spritemon's arm came to rest against the middle of her forehead. Her heart began to pound with pure terror, and she slowly closed her eyes.
Oh, Dai. I should have told you how I felt a long time ago. Now I'm never going to have a chance to make you see how much you mean to me...
"Goodbye, human!" Spritemon shouted. "Fairy Cann-"
"Kara!" Ryoko screamed.
Takara's eyes flew open, and she let out a gasp. Ryoko's whole body disappeared in a blaze of icy blue light, and she stared at the blond in shock.
What's going on?
Alopemon's small body began to glow a bright blue, and the little rookie glared at Spritemon. "It's my turn now," he said softly. "Alopemon digivolve to, Tirimon!"
Takara glimpsed a flash of icy blue fir, and suddenly Spritemon was no longer hanging onto her. The mega digimon went flying through the air, and she landed in a large clump of bushes.
What just happened here?
She quickly turned to the left, and her mouth fell open in astonishment.
"Alopemon?" she whispered.
The large digimon in front of her nodded, and she gazed into his deep blue eyes.
"That's right," the champion digimon said softly. "I had to digivolve in order to save you."
The digimon glanced at Ryoko and smiled. "My name is Tirimon, and Spritemon's about to find out what it feels like to be nothing more than a pile of excess data!"