The Candmon huffed as he bounced himself up the ramp, careful not to drop the wrapped boxes in his arms. "Why doesn't he live in the village?"
The Candmon beside him heaved, his arms full as well. "He's a holy digimon," he panted, staring up the path to the mountain peak, "Living up high and breathing thin air is part of the job description."
The first Candmon snickered, but that turned into a gasp as the peak blew apart. The two Candmon dropped the boxes and shielded themselves from the showering debris. They could just make out a winged beast flying overhead.
"That was a HippoGriffomon!" the first said.
"Aren't the Chosen looking for one?" asked the second.
They both stared at each other for another second before bouncing up the path. The peak was nothing but smoldering pebbles. They started digging, throwing aside handfuls of stones until they found a figure dressed in a hooded robe lying beneath.
"Lord Wisemon!" they cried.
Wisemon coughed and waved them away. "It's too late for me. Alert the Chosen, tell them that d'Arcmon is seeking the Floating Island."
Chapter 4
When Michio woke the next morning, he repeated the same thing he did for the last two days. He patted his torso and checked between his legs. "Still a guy," he muttered.
His mind raced, remembering the day before. He evolved Palmon to MegaloGrowmon, repairing his digivice even more. How many more times did he have before he was unable to turn back into Mimi?
Despite that anxiety, another memory raced through his mind, of being alone with Taiko. He almost had... He was almost with a girl…who was technically a boy. He was really a girl, who was with a girl who was really a boy. Screwed up did not even begin to describe it.
After finishing using the toilet, which he was starting to get used to, he exited the bathroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. Even though it took far less time to get ready in the morning as a male, it was only because of a lack of options. For one thing, the clothes were so much more boring than girls clothes.
While he ate breakfast, his mind churned. What was he going to do if he was not able to change back? Could he really live as a boy for the rest of his life? Would it really be that different from being a girl? He hated the boring clothing, but school, college, friends, family, they would all still be the same; his life would more or less be the same except for one giant aspect: romance. His sexual orientation was already starting to change, but was that really so bad? As a girl, he had liked boys, and now as a boy, he was starting to like boys.
No, that was not entirely right. It was because he and Taichi had swapped traits along with their physical genders. Taichi had liked girls, and now, so did he.
His heart raced as a panic attack swept over him. He needed to hang out with someone if nothing more than to not be alone with his thoughts.
He tried Sora. "Sorry, I have tennis practice first thing."
He was going to try Miyako and Hikari but grew uncomfortable at the thought of spending the day alone with two girls.
He tried Koshiro. "Sure, I'll be here all morning."
When Taiko woke the next morning, she repeated the same thing she did for the last two days. She patted his torso and checked between her legs. "Still a girl," she muttered.
Her mind raced, remembering the day before. She evolved Agumon to Lilamon, repairing her digivice even more. How many more times did she have before she was unable to turn back into Taichi?
Despite that anxiety, another memory raced through her mind, of being alone with Michio. She almost had... She was almost with a boy…who was technically a girl. She was really a boy, who was with a boy who was really a girl. Screwed up did not even begin to describe it.
After finishing using the toilet, which she was starting to get used to, she exited the bathroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a blue tank top. She then fished out a hairbrush and smoothed out the tangles that appeared overnight. She next used Hikari's borrowed makeup kit. She really did not want to, but at the same time did not want to stand out either. It took far longer in the morning to get ready as a female. Not only the makeup, but the clothes as well. Boys clothes were simple and girl clothes had an endless variety.
While she ate breakfast, his mind churned. What was she going to do if he was not able to change back? Could she really live as a girl for the rest of her life? Would it really be that different from being a boy? School, college, friends, family, they would all still be the same; her life would more or less be the same except for one giant aspect: romance. Her sexual orientation was already starting to change, but was that really so bad? As a boy, she had liked girls, and now as a girl, she was starting to like guys.
No, that was not entirely right. It was because she and Mimi had swapped traits along with their physical genders. Mimi had liked guys, and now, so did she.
Her heart raced as a panic attack swept over her. She needed to hang out with someone if nothing more than to not be alone with her thoughts.
She tried Yamato. "Got band practice.
She was going to try Koshiro or Daisuke but was strangely uncomfortable at the thought of spending the day alone with two boys.
She knocked on Hikari's door. "Hey, do you want to do something today?"
Michio followed Koushiro into his room and saw Daisuke sitting on the floor in front of the television and Iori at the desk. "Oh, hello," he said.
"Iori's helping me do some Digital World stuff," Koushiro said. Then he frowned and waved to Daisuke, "And he's here for the video games."
"You're the only one that can afford the Xbox," he protested.
Michio smiled and bowed. "Well, thank you all for inviting me here…"
Daisuke snorted. "If you're a boy now, you need to start talking like one."
Iori rolled his eyes. "You mean by being rude?"
"No!" Daisuke growled, "Just not so, you know, formal."
Michio plopped on the bed. "What? How?"
"Say something like, what's up dude?"
He thought for a moment. "Um, how's it going, guys?"
"There, that's better," he laughed.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Iori asked. He looked at Michio, "Don't you want to turn back?"
"Yes! Of course, I do." He sighed and frowned. "Just...it might be a while before I turn back, so I might as well get used to being a boy."
Koushiro turned back to the computer. "I'm going through the Chosen message board right now."
Michio winced; they were doing so much for him and Taiko. "T-thank you very much for…"
"You're doing it again," Daisuke said.
Michio tried to remember how the boys back in America spoke. "Thanks, bro."
Koshiro cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, no problem…"
Daisuke gave a short laugh. "But since you're here…" he tossed Michio a controller, "We've got a two-player game."
"I…I don't really play video games. Well, these kinds of games."
"Really?" he blinked, "W-what do you play?"
He shrugged. "Phone games…"
Daisuke wrinkled his nose, "Oh, those games." Then he laughed, "Well, if you want to learn to be a boy, then we'll start with console games. Take a seat."
Iori muttered to Koshiro, but still loud enough for the others to hear. "Daisuke just wants an easy person to beat, since Koushiro never loses."
"Hey!" Daisuke snapped.
Miyako waved from the front of the mall. "Hey, guys!"
"Hi," Hikari bowed.
"What's up?" Taiko said.
Miyako shook her head and giggled. "If you're a girl now, you can't talk like a boy."
Taiko blushed even more but thought about how the girls in school greeted each other. "Oh, um, good morning. Nice to see you."
"There, that's better," she giggled.
Hikari made a strange face. "A-are you sure you should be doing that?" She looked at Taiko. "Don't you want to turn back?"
"Of course, I do, but…" she sighed, "It's looking more and more likely that I'll be stuck this way."
Hikari's face dropped and Taiko shifted on her sandaled feet. She said too much again.
"Well," Miyako said, breaking the silence, "All the more reason to add to your new wardrobe. Which means shopping trip!"
"Shopping?" Taiko paled.
Hikari turned to Miyako. "He hates shopping." She turned back to her older sister, "Well, if you think you're going to be stuck this way, then you might as well buy an entire wardrobe."
"Why?" Taiko asked as she followed them into the mall, "Mom already bought a bunch of clothes the other day."
Michio laughed as his character on screen finished the fighting match against Daisuke's character. "Take that!"
Daisuke's face dropped. "How did you get through that? That's my best move."
Michio shrugged. "I was just mashing buttons."
"I guess Koushiro's not the only one that can beat you in those games, huh?" Iori asked.
He sneered. "I can still beat you, shorty."
Iori's eyes darkened. "Don't call me that!"
"Don't rip me about video games," he snapped back.
Koushiro turned from his laptop. "I'm trying to read."
"Well you'd better try harder," Daisuke laughed.
"Knock it off!" Koushiro snapped.
Michio watched the exchange and tried not to be surprised. Even his friends acted differently to one another when they were not in mixed company. They knew Michio was really Mimi, and yet they must, subconsciously, have just considered him one of the guys. And guys were just different. Girls were not so forward, they said one thing but thought another. Most of the time, anyway. Boys just blurted things out, the hell with anyone's feelings. Even polite Iori did not beat around the bush. Being a boy was much simpler.
Koushiro gasped. Daisuke leapt to his feet. "What?"
"An S.O.S. from some Candmon," he gasped, "They know where d'Arcmon's going."
Daisuke nodded. "Then let's…" Koshiro and Iori glared and he nodded, turning to Michio. "Oh, right."
Michio could feel his digivice in his pocket. "Yeah, don't worry. Go ahead and show that witch what happens when they mess with us."
"Hell, yeah!" Daisuke cheered.
"Um, you can hang here if you want," Koshiro offered.
"Nah," Michio said, "I'll see you guys later."
Koshiro typed on his keyboard and struck enter. "I've let some of the others know. We'll get as much help as we can." He pointed his digivice at the screen, opening a Digital Gate. "Let's go."
Taiko stood in front of the mirror, fingering the edge of the blue skirt that rested against her legs. "How does it feel?" Hikari asked.
She was not sure how to answer. The skirt was loose, even fluffy, and only reached her mid-thighs, making her painfully aware of the air against her upper legs. "I don't know. It's…it doesn't cover a lot, does it?"
Miyako nodded. "Yes, I think you need something else." She gasped. "Not that anything's wrong with your legs." She handed her a pair of dark tights that Hikari had to help her get on.
Taiko looked into the mirror again. She felt like a damn doll, but had to admit that, "I guess I do look kind of cute."
She then watched as Hikari took her turn in the dressing room. She came out in a bright multicolored dress with a criss-cross pattern over the torso and odd crinkles near the hips. "How does this look?"
It looked like a rainbow got shoved through a paper shredder. Miyako said, "It looks…good, but I don't know if it's really you." She looked through a pile of clothes and handed her a black dress. "Why don't you try this one?"
Taiko watched the exchange and tried not to be surprised. Even her friends acted differently to one another when they were not in mixed company; they knew Taiko was really Taichi, and yet they must, subconsciously, have just considered her one of the girls. And girls were just different. Boys were not so reserved; they said exactly what they meant. Girls tried to say what would not cause hurt feelings. With girls you had to try and decipher what they really meant. Even blunt Miyako did not want to insult Hikari's feelings by suggesting a dress she picked should be burned as soon as possible. Girls were so complicated.
Miyako's phone buzzed and she dug it out of her purse. "It's from Koshiro. He's found d'Arcmon."
Hikari turned to Taiko but she shook her head. "I'll stay here, don't worry."
Her sister relaxed slightly. "Okay. We'll be back as soon as we can."
They used an unattended cash register to vanish into the Digital World.
Michio turned the corner of the street and found a brown-haired girl pacing in front of the apartment building? "Taich-er, Taiko?"
The girl spun around. "Mi-Michio!" She put a hand on her chest, "Damn, you scared me."
"Sorry," he said. "What's up?"
"I was, um, just wondering if you were home," she said.
Michio raised an eyebrow. "New outfit?"
She fingered the hem of her skirt and her cheeks darkened. "Y-yeah. Hikari bought it for me while we were at the mall earlier."
Michio frowned, "You were told to stay behind too, huh?
She slouched. "Yeah."
They stared at one another, the silence growing until Michio blurted, "Do you want to, um, get something to eat?"
Taiko stared. "Are we going to have to talk about last night?"
"We probably should."
She sighed, "Yeah, we probably should." She smirked, "As long as you're paying."
Hikari and Miyako greeted the others as they approached the shoreline. "Great," Daisuke grinned, "Now we can get going."
He and V-mon started for the water but Koshiro ignored him. "I spoke to the Candmon. There's a legend amongst the Digimon here, that there's an island that floats in the air over the sea. There's a power hidden there, one that can make digimon evolve to the Mega level."
A chill crept through the group. "And that's what d'Arcmon's after?" Miyako asked.
"Why would she?" asked Hawkmon, "She can already evolve?"
"Maybe not," Koshiro said, "Yes, she can evolve to Hippogriffomon, but maybe she needs more power to evolve further."
"Then she needs to be stopped," Iori said.
"Yeah, I agree," Hawkmon nodded. "If she was a good-natured digimon, that would be one thing, but as she has killed digimon to get this power, it cannot be for anything good."
"Then it's time for the Kabuterimon express!" Tentomon flew into the sky and evolved to his Adult form. The Chosen climbed onto his back and he started across the ocean.
The floating island was, in fact, little more than a large chunk of rock hovering over the ocean, or, as Koshiro suggested, "Like an asteroid out in space."
"Whatever," Daisuke said, "All that I care about is that tower."
He pointed to a building that stretched high over the surface of the island. "I'm betting that's where d'Arcmon is."
Kabuterimon dropped onto the surface and the Chosen leaped off. "Let's take this slow," Iori said, "We don't know what's inside."
Daisuke nodded and whispered. "Then let's move."
They stepped through the opening into a large room that looked like it was chiseled from the stone. D'Arcmon stood at an altar in the center with two objects in both of her hands; one statue resembling a Kotemon while the other resembled a Bearmon.
"Chosen!" she laughed, "I should have realized you'd stick in your nose into my business again!"
Daisuke pulled out his digivice. "She knows we're here! Get here!"
D'Arcmon continued talking. "The two keys needed to open the lock!" She slammed them onto the stone altar. Bolts of white energy shot up through the statues and into her. She threw her head back and screamed.
"What's going on?" Hikari asked.
Koshiro gasped. "Those aren't keys, they're conduits! She absorbing energy!"
"We're stopping her," Daisuke said, "Right now! Do it, V-mon!"
V-mon evolved to XV-mon and was joined by Hawkmon evolving to Aquilamon and Armadimon evolving to Ankylomon.
D'Arcmon pulled her hands off the statues and twirled to face them, bolts of energy still coursing through her. "The power is mine! The power to evolve to the highest level! d'Arcmon super evolve to Murmukusmon!"
"No!" Koshiro exclaimed, "A Mega!"
Miyako put her palm on Hikari's shoulder. "Jogress!"
The other girl nodded. "Get ready, Tailmon."
Murmukusmon smirked and held up his hands, a large black sphere forming in his palms. "Let me taste this new power!" He threw the sphere-like pitching a baseball. "Necro Interrogation!"
The Chosen braced themselves as the sphere exploded in front of them, showering the area in a swirling mixture of light and dark. When it faded, the Chosen and their partners lay scattered along the ground.
Murmukusmon laughed as he stomped towards them. Hikari fought the incoming unconsciousness to grab her D-terminal from her pocket. She hesitated before sending the emergency message. If Taiko or Michio got the message, they would want to come, but if they fought again, would they be stuck?
Before unconsciousness claimed her, she hit the send button and her eyes closed.
To be concluded….