Hello and welcome to Chapter 11. I hope you're enjoying the story as always. The two following chapters will be two original, one origin and one taking place during the current adventures so if they take a bit of extra time to get put out, I hope you'll be patient. I don't own Digimon. But I do hope you'll follow, favorite, review and enjoy the story all the same.


Chapter 11:

Friendship and Sympathy


Yolei looked down to the Digidestined of Dreams who was contently resting in the corner of one of the coal carts, his eyes closed as he slept. She'd only joined the group with Mat after the battle, but from what she'd seen, it'd been a rough fight. Despite its length, Kouki hadn't passed out afterwards, nor had his friend, Asuka, for that matter. Rather the two had made it to the cart before drifting off to sleep. The two Digidestined had superficial wounds, and assured the others they were okay, but Yolei couldn't even think about fighting against a Digimon. They were powerful, much more so than humans.

"Can I help you with something?"

Yolei jumped, she'd thought Kouki had been asleep and had nothing to hide her staring. With a deep blush, she quickly turned away. "I was just wondering if you were okay," she mumbled, glad the other Digidestined were in the two carts before them so none could witness her embarrassment.

Before she'd become a Digidestined, Yolei had only known Kouki as the quiet, mysterious, handsome student. She'd never bothered to dig beneath his surface, or talk to him, but took part in the regular chatter other girls would have about him. After all, it wasn't like Yolei was the only one to have noticed Kouki, his blonde hair and blue eyes caught the attention of practically all the students. So, Yolei'd joined in on the gossip, having never thought she'd known Kouki.

The Digidestined of Dreams smiled gently, "I'm fine. Just a bit tired. How are you doing?"

Yolei froze in her shock, the boy was asking if she was okay after going in a head to head fight against Digimon? After all he'd been through, she felt guilty about not wanting to fight Ken and leaving the others to save Agumon. "I don't think you should be the one asking that," Yolei pointed out.

Kouki hummed in agreement, shifting slowly into a new position so he didn't wake the Digimon sleeping on his lap. "I don't think you need to feel so bad for not wanting to fight Ken. He's the same age as the rest of us yet he's… It seems he's misguided. He probably isn't aware of the gravity of his actions or perhaps there is a greater power at work, pushing him into doing all of this. We can't pass a judgement on him until we know more."

Yolei nodded, she hadn't been able to put how she felt into words before, but sitting and talking to Kouki... Well it made her feel as if she wasn't alone in how she felt. "It must be difficult for you to be fighting against someone you know," Yolei commented.

"It is. Although, I suppose it wouldn't be a first."

Before Yolei could ask what he meant, Kari's exclamation interrupted their conversation, waking Asuka and the two Digimon in the cart. "It's Tentamon!" Kari pointed out as the bug Digimon flew towards the carts.

"All aboard! I just love riding trains," Tentamon exclaimed, landing in Yolei's cart. "Where's the dining car?" He perched on the side of the already full cart, looking down at Liollmon. Yolei could swear she saw Tentamon's expression morph into one for worry for his friend and she supposed it was well meant as none of the Digidestined knew how long the two had known each other.

"Always the jokes with you, Tentamon," Liollmon purred. It was if some sort of understanding passed between the two Digimon in those words as the bug Digimon turned to the rest of the Digidestined as Cody's messenger dinged.

"An email from Izzy," Cody explained, pulling out his messenger.

"Has he found them yet?" Kari questioned.

"Apparently Ken and Metalgraymon have been seen south from here," Cody replied as he scanned the email.

"Then, we're on the right track," Matt commented from the front of the trio of carts.

"Well technically Matt we're on the only track," Tentamon joked.

Yolei could feel Hawkmon stifle a groan at the poor attempt of humor. While they had only known each other for a few weeks, Yolei felt so close to her Digimon, it was almost as if he completed her, evening out her rather emotional personality. Actually, it was like that for almost everyone. Kouki was rather quiet, while Saemon was outgoing and friendly. Kari was quick to trust others but Gatomon had a hard time trusting anyone—Yolei'd seen how cautious the cat Digimon was around Kouki and Saemon after the human announced he'd known that Ken was the Digimon Emperor, even if no one else paid any attention to it.

"All right Digidestined. This time we'll get Agumon back for sure!" Tai said raising his fist.

"Yeah, that Ken can't stop all of us," Matt started, "Eh but just in case Tentamon I need your help."

"Now? I was going to have my shell waxed," the bug Digimon whined.

"I want you to go and search for Garurumon," Matt explained.

"Garurumon huh? Okay I'll be back in a flash." With that Tentamon flew out of the coal carts to look for the wolf Digimon.

"If you're planning for us to fight Metalgraymon then you shouldn't get in the way," Liollmon spoke up. The lion propped her two front paws on the side of the cart to get a better look at Tai and Matt.

Yolei stared at Liollmon in surprise, she knew as well as the others they would probably have to fight Metalgraymon to free Agumon, but to mention it to Tai? Well the Celestial Warrior was brave to do so. Surely Liollmon would get an earful from Tai.

"Wait are you planning on us fighting Metalgraymon?" Davis asked standing up.

"Yeah," Tai grimaced.

She couldn't believe it! If Hawkmon was under Ken's control then she'd do anything to get him back, but to attack her partner? Yolei didn't think she'd be able to do that.

"But I don't think you four will be able to do it by yourselves. You're strong, but you're also hurt. With all of us together, I think we stand a chance. There are just some things that have to be done," Matt said, "Am I right Tai?"

"Yeah," Tai replied grimly.

"I'm not so sure guys. What makes you think we'll be able to defeat Ken and Metalgraymon?" Davis asked.

"We aren't going to know until we try Davis," Asuka pointed out.

"Who asked you?" the goggle head snapped back.

"She's just speaking from experience!" Tai defended instantly, his eyes focused on Asuka. Was it just Yolei or did Tai seem quick to defend the Celestial Guardian?

"We have to try because if we don't who else is gonna save Agumon! What are you so scared of anyway Davis?" TK snapped at leader of the Digidestined.

Yolei heard Kouki wince, she couldn't blame him, the two were going to butt head again. And in a situation, such as theirs, they couldn't afford the toll on their teamwork.

"Who said anything about being afraid! I just don't want to see Agumon get hurt! That's all!" Davis backfired. He leaned back from the first cart to the second one where TK was with Kari and Cody.

"No one said we have to hurt him. All we have to do is get rid of that dark spiral!"

"And how do you propose we remove it especially without hurting Agumon? Any bright ideas under that fancy hat!?"

"At least I'm trying goggle head! And don't make fun of my hat!"

Davis pounced at TK as the two boys started to fight. Kari, Cody, Armadillomon and Gatomon jumped to the sides of the cart, trying to get as far away from the fighting duo as possible. With an exhausted sigh, Kouki stood up, gently nudging Liollmon aside as he struggled to pull the two apart.

"Come on you two. This isn't helping anyone."

Tk and Davis both glared at each other, panting from the exertion of their fight. They still looked mad, and Yolei wouldn't mind if they just dropped the duo off before going to face Metalgraymon. Kouki looked back and forth between the two as if expecting for them to jump back into their fist fight at any moment.

"You two are friends and you need to learn to work together if we want to stand a chance of defeating Metalgraymon," Saemon barked to the two.

The two mumbled a swift apology to the other before turning away to pout.

"Fine, we'll attack Metalgraymon to get the dark spiral off," Davis finally relented.

"For now, let's catch up with Ken," Tai said.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Tai whined almost thirty minutes after TK and Davis fought.


Kouki knew the soccer player was anxious to rescue his friend but that didn't mean he had to be impatient. They probably had a while before they would catch up to Ken and Kouki figured everyone could benefit from taking a nap with how irritated they were getting. A nap sounded pretty good to him, but Joint evolving hadn't used this much energy since when he'd first done it. Perhaps, after being in the human world for so long he had a hard time accessing Owryumon's power that allowed them to Joint Digivolve in the first place.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden and persistent beeping of his D3. "Hey, my D3's going off," Kouki announced to the group, "I think it found a Digiegg."

"Well don't just sit there! Someone hit the brakes!" Davis ordered.

As the carts squealed to a stop, Asuka jumped out of the cart, much to the surprise of Liollmon, Kouki, Saemon and Yolei. In little more than a moment she had raced across the canyon and was scrambling her way down a steep decline.

"Asuka wait up!" Kouki called, jumping out of the cart to follow her, Liollmon and Saemon behind him.

The frantic beeping of yet another Digivice caused the Digidestined to stop as Cody held up his D3. "I think there's another Digiegg up ahead. What should we do?"

"Kouki, do you think you two can find this one? The rest of us will go up the track and look for the other one," Tai questioned.

Kouki nodded, "We should be able to handle it, I'll message you when we find it." He waved the group off before trekking over and down the small cliff. When he found Asuka and the two Digimon partners, the Digidestined was running her hand along the cliff face. She was tracing the Crest of Sympathy that was engraved in the wall before them.

"What is that doing here?" Kouki questioned, eyeing the crest cautiously. He knew many Digimon practically worshiped the Celestial Guardians—in fact, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a whole cult out there to worship them—but carving the crest into the wall seemed like way too much trouble for the passing Digimon to put the effort into.

And even if they had, this seemed different, almost like it was calling him. Perhaps Asuka had felt the tug in her gut that he was just now noticing which would explain why she'd left in such a rush. Even now, it felt like the crest was pulling him closer, and finally, he reached out to touch the engraved symbol.

All at once the canyon around them began rumbling, rocks coming loose from the shaking wall. "Asuka, Kouki, we need to get out of here!" Liollmon growled. Kouki was vaguely aware of something, probably Saemon, attempting to pull him back up out of the canyon. But he needed to stay. He couldn't explain why. But he needed to be here.

"Asuka, Kouki."

Oh, that was why.

"Owryumon, what are you doing here?" Asuka asked. As quick as it had begun, the canyon walls stopped their shaking, and the pull from the Crest ceased. The Celestial Guardians were just left facing the enormous gold, brown, purple and black dragon who settled down on the canyon floor, bending down to look at them clearly.

The Earth seemed to shake slightly as the dragon let out a thoughtful rumble. "It is not I who should not be here, but you," he replied after a moment.

Kouki swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at the appearance of the Digimon. He could practically feel Saemon trembling beside him. Despite being forgiven by the ruler of the Digital World, both still feared the repercussions for allowing themselves to be controlled by Fujinmon.

"Kouki was summoned here or well, he at least got one of the new Digivices," Asuka argued. And while Kouki was thankful for her defense, the last thing he wanted was for the attention of the dragon to focus on him.

"I am well aware of this. I'm afraid the others ignored my voice in this matter. You have done enough for this world, and you should no longer be bound to help us Digimon," Owryumon rumbled. Regret and grief momentarily flickered across his face but soon disappeared as his stony expression was restored. "We have put you through enough as it is."

"The others? I had no idea the leaders of the Digital World were meeting. Yet, you have done nothing to stop Ken from taking control of innocent Digimon," Liollmon interjected, stepping forward to face the massive Digimon. Sheer determination shone in her eyes, well that and anger. For the first time, Kouki wondered if she had lost friends to Ken's control.

Owryumon chuckled, shaking the walls of the canyon, "Surely you have seen the Armor Digimon, Liollmon. Once more we left the faith of our world in the hands of both human and Digimon. But it has not failed us before. Which is why I have come now. The Celestial Guardians are the last defense the Digital World has, but you must not treat your power so frugally.

"Each of you are important to the safety of this world, but if the one calling himself the Digimon Emperor was to hold the power you have now, it would be a matter of days before the Digital World fell. No matter the cost, you must be sure he never gains control over you.

"But you must also know, my children, that all is not as it seems. There is much more than one piece to this puzzle and only time will reveal what now remains unseen."

Saemon let out an exasperated sigh, "Must you always speak in riddles, Owryumon? What do you mean? What aren't you telling us?"

"That is not for me to tell, Saemon, but for you to remember. You must heed the words of warning you were given in order to reclaim the Digital World and stop the destruction of the human one," Owryumon bellowed, "Now Kouki, step forward, for I will give you what it is you need in order to defeat what you can see."

Kouki took a few nervous steps forward as the dragon Digimon shifted upwards, revealing an egg to the Digidestined of Dreams. The Crest of Sympathy swirled over the purple and blue egg. Wave patterns were littered over the egg while light and dark shades of purple filled in the upper region of the egg. As he approached, it glowed softly, almost warmly.

"But its not my crest," Kouki protested, mesmerized by the egg.

"Saemon is the only one of the Celestial Guardians able to Armor Digivolve for you two have more power than you know. It is now your responsibility to guard the Digital World with your new comrades. Now, take the egg, Kouki."


"Patamon! Put him down!" TK shouted at Ken, his eyes trained on his small rookie partner. This was not happening. He couldn't believe he'd let Ken get his hands on Patamon like that. They hadn't thought he would target them in such a narrow space, wiping out their armor Digimon almost immediately.

"No, I'm just getting started with him!" Ken snarked, holding up a dark spiral for the Digidestined to see.

There was nothing he could do. Patamon was about to be put under Ken's control and he was helpless to stop it.

"Frosted Dew!"

All eyes turned to the new Digimon as Ken's Airdramon lost control, sinking to the ground after taking the brunt of the attack. The fox like Digimon stood on two legs, although it was about twice as tall as TK. A long, white and blue tail brushed the ground behind the Digimon. Long ears flicked every few seconds, with the same coloration as the Digimon's tail. Most of its fur was white, with light blue accents on it's feet and chest. Silver bands dangled around the Digimon's wrists, from there two arm guards spread up to its elbows, down its shoulder blades and covered its upper chest. A visor shielded its eyes from view, and in it's hands it held a staff like Shiroangemon's.

The Digimon uncurled from the position it had landed in to reveal Patamon in its arms, the rookie free of a dark ring. And as if on cue, Garurumon jumped in, breaking the dark ring which would have been responsible for controlling Patamon.

"And here I thought we'd be too late."

TK jumped in surprise as Liamon stopped beside him, the lion Digimon carrying Asuka and Kouki. As the two Digidestined hopped off the mighty Digimon, she Dedigivolved to Liollmon once more, watching the scene.

"Good job Shimomon," Kouki called out as the mysterious Digimon—Shimomon—swiftly jumped back to the group, handing Patamon to TK.

"Patamon, how do you feel?" TK asked, gently taking his partner from the large Digimon.

"Long overdue for a snack," Patamon playfully answered, looking up at Shimomon, "Thank you for rescuing me, Shimomon."

"Yes, thank you," TK repeated. While he'd never tried to get close to Kouki or his partner, he never thought they would be there for him at such a crucial time. Without them it was hard to know what would have happened to Patamon.

"Don't thank me yet, we still have to deal with Metalgraymon," Shimomon replied, her voice somewhat deeper than that of Saemon's. A new air of seriousness seemed to surround her as she turned to face Ken. It was an expression TK rarely saw Saemon wear, but Shimomon seemed to fully embrace a sober mood.

"Perpare for the fight of your lives," Ken proclaimed, looking down at the group. He didn't seem the least worried about the two new Digimon entering the fray, but TK knew better than to dismiss them. The Celestial Guardians were too strong to underestimate.

As Liamon Digivolved into Ogonnomon, the rest of the Digidestined readied themselves for what would surely be a rough fight. While they didn't want to hurt Metalgraymon, it may be the only way to get the ring off of him.

"Don't listen to him Metalgraymon! Don't you recognize me? I'm your friend!" Tai called up. He was all but ignored by the great dragon Digimon. And the leader of the first generation of Digidestined looked absouletly crushed by the state of his partner. TK couldn't imagine how he'd feel if Ken had taken control of Patamon.

"Garurumon and I are going to try and get those rings off Metalgraymon," Matt explained to the rest of the group.

"Shimomon and I will try to distract them until you can find an opening," Kouki tagged on. The humanoid Digimon nodded along, watching Metalgraymon's movements carefully. Yet, TK couldn't help but wonder why they didn't Joint evolve instead, both partners could fight that way, at least as he understood it, and Shiroangemon seemed to be more powerful than the Armor Digimon.

Asuka and Ogonnomon exchanged a weighted glance before the human partner spoke up, "We don't have much energy left from the earlier fight, but we can probably handle one more big attack if you make us an opening."

The three main parties nodded their agreement and Shimomon led the charge of the other Armor Digimon. It's speed was unparalleled, jumping from cliff side to cliff side as it landed quick but relatively weak hits on Metalgraymon.

Wind whistled through the canyon, whirling around the Celestial Guardian and her partner, and TK wished they could make their attack less flashy, because a moment later, Ken saw it as well, distracted as he was by Shimomon. "Not this time!" he snapped out, ordering Metalgraymon to attack the Celestial Guardian and her partner.

Metalgraymon lashed out and TK couldn't help but wince when he saw Asuka flung up against the cliff side. She slid down the wall painfully slow, and from her place, Ogonnomon Dedigivolved into Liollmon. The lion Digimon scrambled towards her partner, nudging Asuka as she watched the battle.

Without the help of the Celestial Guardian, the armor Digimon begin taking damage until only Shimomon and Garurumon were above Rookie level. The situation looked dim, TK clung tightly to Patamon, ready to protect his partner should Ken try to capture him again.

On the battle front, Shimomon was getting worn out. Her speed was gradually slowly, and Metalgraymon's attacks were getting closer and closer to hitting her. Garurumon had yet to find a way to get the Dark Spiral off of Metalgraymon, he too was just able to keep from getting hit. If they didn't find a way to get rid of the Dark Spiral soon they'd have to abandon the plan of getting Metalgraymon back for now.

"Liollmon, do you think we'll be able to Digivolve again?"

TK turned around in surprise to look at Asuka who had just come to. There was no way she could take another hit like she did. No matter how strong she was, Asuka was just as human as the rest of them.

Liollmon shook her head, nudging her partner, "You can't take another hit like that, Asuka. We don't have enough energy to Digivolve again and I'm not going to put you in danger."

"Liollmon, we have to help Shimomon! She can't go on at this rate. Surely we can do something. Yukanmon could do something, couldn't she? She probably has enough power to take down Metalgraymon," Asuka protested. Using the cliff face for balance, Asuka stood, her legs trembling beneth her with the effort it took to remain standing.

"No," Davis interjected, catching the Celestial Guardian before she could fall, "Liollmon's right. If you go out there you'll just get hurt again. There's no way I'm letting another one of my friends get hurt."

TK stared at Davis in shock. For all his antics, Davis lived up to being their leader at the times that it mattered the most. A faint glow spread into TK's vision and he grinned at the revelation of what it was. "Davis, you're Digivice, it has to be the egg."

As if it had been summoned, the egg lifted itself off the ground, hovering in front of Davis. The Digidestined grinned wickedly, "Veemon, do you think you can handle another fight?"

"Of course I can," Veemon exclaimed, obviously excited by the prospect of helping his friend.

"Digiarmor energize!" Laighdramon now stood in Veemon's place looking powerful enough for TK to know that they now had a chance. They stood a chance of gettng Metalgraymon back.

Shimomon landed elegently beside Laighdramon, grinning to her friend. "It's about time you joined the party," she huffed, excitement glimmering in her eyes.

"Sorry Shimomon, but now that I'm here let's show them what we're made of," Laighdramon replied. Together their eyes focused on Metalgraymon, ready to face their enemy head on.

Ken gasped at the sight of Laighdramon, his glare hardening. He shouted out his order to the gigantic Digimon, "Show then who's in charge around here!"

As Metalgraymon shot his hand at the two Armor Digimon both dodged. Lightning crackled through Lasighdramon's horns before he used Blue Thunder. Jumping beside her companion, Shimomon used Frosted Dew which combined with Laighdramon's attack creating an even larger one. The attack hit the dark spiral but as it faded only a small crack had formed.

"It's no use! It won't come off!" Matt cried.

"Ha your weak attempts make me laugh!" Ken sneered.

"We need more power," Kouki muttered, he turned to the older Digidestined, "Matt can you help us. We all need to try and attack at the same time, that might do some more damage."

Matt nodded, shouting the plan out to Garurumon who convended with the two Armor Digimon as they attacked together. All of them aiming for the Dark Spiral.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Blue Thunder!"

"Frosted Dew!"

The three attacks hit in unison and the Digidestined waited with baited breath. Soon a loud crack rang through the air as the Dark Spiral crashed to the ground. Destroyed.

It didn't take long for Tai to pull Agumon into a hug as Ken retreated on the back of an Airdramon. But they didn't care, for now the Digidestined had saved their friend. "I'm sorry we attacked you Agumon," Tai said squeezing the small Digimon.

"I'm sorry too," Agumon sobbed.

"I'm sorry that you're sorry," Tai answered back.

"Well I'm sorry that you're sorry that I'm sorry," Agumon countered.

"Tell you what, I won't be sorry anymore and you don't be sorry either," Tai suggested tears in his eyes.

"So far, we've managed to get Agumon back safely, but we can't relax while Ken's out there. Tentamon I need you to be a spy and see what he's up to," Izzy ordered.

"Liollmon you help too, and make sure the others know as well," Asuka added.

"Don't worry, I'll also make sure Tentamon doesn't get in any trouble," the lion Digimon purred cheekily.

"Thanks for saving Agumon you guys are good friends," Tai thanked Kouki and Davis with a sharp nod of his head.

"Davis did all the work," Kouki insisted, waving towards his friend with an embarrased flush at the attention.

"Who me?" Davis asked.

"That's right come here," Matt said giving Davis a noogie.

"Hey guys I got a noogie! This means I'm one of the guys now," Davis exclaimed.

"Hey Davis, I have a question. Does that mean that you use to be one of the girls and how come you never told me about it?" Demiveemon asked.

TK chuckled before he saw Kari gently pulling Kouki out of the computer lab. Without a single moment of hesitation, TK followed them. Not because he wanted to snoop on where they were going wthout their partners, he assured himself, but because he wanted to thank Kouki for saving Patamon. He followed them carefully and quietly as he listened to their conversation.

"What did you want to talk about, Kari?" Kouki questioned as they stopped by the school's vending machines. TK quickly duck behind the corner, kneeling as he watched them.

"Look, Kouki. I care about you a lot," Kari started out, her back turned to Kouki and TK. The latter could pratically feel his confusion echoed by Kouki as they both watched Kari. "As in more than a friend."

Oh.

Oh.

"I didn't know you felt that way Kari. I, I feel the same way."

TK didn't need to hear anymore.