"Remind me not to let you help me eat in future," Adam grumbled.
"Aw, why not?" JD asked and thrust a spoonful of rice and chicken into his mouth. Then he spooned some vegetable soup and gulped it down.
"Because I'm the one who's supposed to eat, not you."
JD raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I thought we've agreed doing the 'taking turns' thing now? There's only one plate of rice and there are two of us." JD smirked and spooned the last portion of rice and chicken on the plate, and held it in front of his cousin's mouth. "And now it's your turn. Open wide!"
Adam grimaced as he ate the rice. "Taking turns as in, one to me and four to you?" He looked at the empty plate of rice, empty plate of bowl which used to have soup, and the half-empty glass of juice that stood at the corner of the tray. His face fell when JD gulped the juice down to the last drop. "Look at what you've done!"
JD looked at the plate and sheepishly grinned. "Oh…heh, heh…" He observed growing irritation gracing Adam's face. "Sorry about that. I haven't eaten since last night, y'know…I was famished."
"Humph."
"Okay…how about I get you something from the cafeteria to make up for it?"
Adam considered his cousin's offer and a small smile appeared on his face. "I want char kuey teow and soya bean drink. And doughnuts for dessert."
"Now that's what I call taking advantage of the situation," JD pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest with a frown. His eyes caught movement from the corner of the room – Agumon, Patamon and the Saintly Siblings had just woken up, probably from the noise their mild bantering was causing. He suppressed a sigh; they were bound to get hungry too. Maybe he had to stretch out all the money in his wallet to get all of them some food.
Adam shrugged. "If you didn't…" He was stopped short when a soft knock was heard from the door. The cousins shifted their eyes towards the door, which was opened tentatively. Adam couldn't see who was at the door but seeing the four Digimon dropping their puppet acts as soon as they'd assumed it, Adam knew that the visitor must be someone who knew about them. He saw JD arching his head back slightly before a sly grin came over his rugged face.
"Well what do you know… come on in," he said and stood up. "Look who's here, Adam."
Footsteps were heard and Adam felt his breath blown away upon seeing a pretty dark-haired girl in light violet chemise and a knee-length white jeans. She was holding a small package of chocolates and was smiling shyly at Adam and JD. She was alone and looked somewhat gauche upon being stared by the two boys. "Umm…hi."
"Dina!" Adam thought out loud, and briefly shot JD an accusing look as he nervously tugged on the medical gown he was wearing. JD shrugged, looking baffled for a briefest time before the sly grin returned.
"I'm gonna get those things you ordered now ok?" JD sprinted out before Adam could protest. He laughed as he closed the door, liking how this day turned out to be.
It had been just an hour ago when he'd contemplated on what he should be doing while waiting for Adam to wake up. After his brief awakening that night before, Adam had slept through the whole night and only awakened around eight that Saturday morning. The brief awkwardness JD thought he'd feel faded when the nurse brought in Adam's breakfast, and the boy had contemplated on eating his meal with his left hand – something he'd never attempted before as it was considered generally improper for their culture. The boy had shrugged it off then and decided to use his left hand anyway, only to find it really awkward. That quickly had reminded JD of what Liu Ying had said the previous day, and he'd offered his help. The stunned look on Adam's face upon hearing the offer was priceless.
He however hadn't counted on Dina visiting Adam that morning. What was up with that? Ever since Gayathri's two friends were made known of the fact of the DigiWira, he'd noticed a consistent change in Adam's daily timetable. He'd spend about an hour or so daily – while JD had his afternoon nap usually – chatting away with someone at the computer. That had struck JD as odd as Adam seldom chatted online, but he'd found out soon enough from Gayathri that the girl had given Adam's Yahoo Messenger ID to Dina, and vice versa. That had instigated the two into chatting, but funnily enough they never really talked much when they were at school. Online however, they appeared to be friendly. JD could attest to that, based on one or two chat conversations he'd managed to glimpse over – the two talked online about pretty much anything, which almost surprised him. How on earth could two people be so tongue-tied face to face yet yakked like there was no tomorrow when hidden within the world of virtual reality?
'Kinda cute though,' JD thought with a grin as he stepped into the hospital's cafeteria. He purposely took his own time buying the food Adam wanted before making his way back. But as he crossed the foyer, a frown crossed his face before a soft growl escaped his mouth. 'What the hell are THEY doing here?'
xxx
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"What brings you here, Dina?" Adam said, after a brief moment of bashful silence. He beckoned for the single-sitter sofa. "Please, have a seat."
"Gaya told me what happened so the three of us thought of visiting you this morning," Dina explained as she took a seat. She played with the chocolate she'd brought, cheeks tinted slightly. Then she looked up, and as she adjusted a stray dark lock to the back of her ear, she continued, "Actually we've agreed yesterday to meet straightaway at the hospital's foyer at nine. But when I got here none of them are still here."
"Oh…did you try calling them?" Adam asked.
"Bel called me and said that she needed to go to her grandma's house all of a sudden. I called Gaya – she's just woken up. And I thought, since I'm already here I might as well come up and visit you. And…" Dina handed the chocolate to Adam with a smile. "Hope you like Ferrero Roche."
Adam accepted the gift, beaming. "Thanks. This one's my favorite actually…"
"Really? Mine, too." Dina chuckled.
Adam looked at the chocolate contemplatively before untying the small blue ribbon that was tied around the small package. He then opened the package and took out the three chocolates there, handing one of them to Dina. "Here. Why don't we share the chocolate?"
"I'd like that." She took one of the chocolate. "Another one is for you and the other for your cousin."
"Nope. Both are for me. That'll teach him not to eat my breakfast." Without a second thought Adam unwrapped and gulped down both chocolates at once, and Dina giggled.
Suddenly the door sprang open and the two friends saw a black-haired woman dressed in smart red suit with a stylish pair of glasses walked in, along with a wire-haired thin cameraman. Adam frowned; he recognized these two, having met them twice.
"Hello there. We meet again," Rita Kaur greeted him with a sugary tone, remembering Adam quite well. The boy was with that Chang Liu Ying girl and the unknown tall handsome blonde when they'd staked out outside the school to get an exclusive interview with the Chang girl. Something seemed to have set off the blonde boy, and he had punched poor Chia's video-camera. Rita was glad that the blonde boy was currently nowhere in sight. That would leave her free to get her interview with the boy who'd allegedly been caught in the crossfire between Digimon battle just outside the main mosque of USJ Subang Jaya the previous day. "Adam Ariff isn't it?" she asked Adam before her eyes fell on Dina, who fidgeted nervously upon being under her sharp scrutiny. "And who is your friend? Is she your girlfriend? How sweet of her to come and visit you. Chia, get this on tape."
"Right away, Miss Kaur!"
That remark caused both Adam and Dina to blush furiously. Rita took advantage of this and quickly sat on the bed by Adam's foot, despite being uninvited. She eyed Adam's bandaged and immobilized right arm with a spark on her dark eyes. "Did a Digimon inflict that injury on you? You poor thing. Do you suffer broken bones? What did the doctors tell you about your injury?"
The door slammed open again and this time Adam was glad to see who it was.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" JD yelled angrily and stomped in. He was red in the face; not a good sign, Adam thought.
Seeing him, Chia the cameraman yelped and moved out of the boy's way. However JD stopped just by him and saw he was recording the whole thing.
"Got it repaired already?" Without warning he punched the lens, at the same time pushing the smaller-framed cameraman towards the wall from the force of his punch. Sounds of shattered glass echoed the single ward, and everyone sans JD winced.
"You can't do that!" Chia protested, looking as if he was about to cry as he inspected the damage sustained by the videocamera.
JD eyed his slightly bleeding right knuckle and smirked. "Funny. Thought I just did it! Now get the hell out of here!" he barked, causing Rita Kaur to jump from Adam's bed. A scowl appeared on the woman's face but he didn't care. He was getting too irritated with these two. First they'd been pestering Liu Ying about her kidnapping, and now they were going to pursue his cousin? Not a chance.
"Who are you?" Rita Kaur demanded. "Unless you are a family, and I certainly do not see a resemblance, you have no right to order us to get out! Furthermore I do not see or hear Adam protesting."
JD raised his bleeding knuckle and pointed with his thumb towards himself. "Guess what? I AM his family. His cousin, to be precise. And his sister has personally asked me to watch over him right now. So I get to kick your butts outta here if I want to!"
Rita deflated at the declaration, but decided to try to talk things out with this angry teen. Perhaps she could persuade the boy to see her way. If she could get him to agree for an interview, then Adam Ariff certainly wouldn't deny her the privilege. "Why so angry…what is your name again?"
JD snorted. "Look lady, I'm not interested in doing any damn interview. Now take a hint and scram before those glasses of yours suffer the same fate as your friend's camera." He gave the shorter woman a glare, relishing in seeing the alarmed look on the woman's face. The cameraman behind him was still whimpering about his broken camera. To intimidate them even further, JD cracked both knuckles and tried hard not to wince as pain shot out from his injured right knuckle.
The door sprung open again and this time it was Dr. Abu. "What's all the commotion…" His tired face instantly looked alarmed. "Reporters? Here?" A scandalized look crossed his face. "Please step out from the ward right now. You're disturbing my patient and I suggest you to leave, now."
"The people want to know what is going on and I am trying to do my work here!" Rita shot back. She stepped towards the doctor and whipped out her notepad. "Now, as Adam's doctor perhaps you can give some insight of the injuries sustained by the boy, and…"
"Don't make me call security," Dr. Abu deadpanned with a tone of finality. He gave a nod towards a nurse who was passing by, and the nurse darted towards the counter.
Rita Kaur huffed with annoyance. "No need to do that; we will show our own way out. Chia, come!"
Dr. Abu and JD watched the reporters' retreating figures with equal looks of distaste. Then the doctor saw that JD's hand was injured and asked the blonde to follow him to the infirmary to get it looked upon. JD didn't protest, but gave Adam the bag of foods he'd been carrying along with him throughout the whole commotion before he followed the doctor.
"Wow, Adam…" Dina said with admiration when the door was closed before she burst into giggles. "JD….he's really something isn't he? I'd thought that he somehow mellowed down when you two announced that you are cousins, but apparently he only does that with you and the other DigiWira." She giggled. "Those reporters learned their lessons the hard way, I think. Maybe they should've done their homework more; then they'll know that no one messes with your cousin."
Adam nodded with a smile, thinking how great it was for him to have JD as his cousin, despite some of the blonde's quirks. JD entered the room after ten minutes, with a bandaged right knuckle and his trademark lopsided grin.
"Looks like we both gonna have to learn to do things with our left hands for a while," he remarked. "C'mon, let's eat! Dina, join us; I bought food enough for all of us." He turned around and saw hopeful looks from four Digimon. "Yeah, you guys too, c'mon." He took out a large box filled with sugar-raised doughnuts and gave it to Agumon, and the dino scooted over to a table where Patamon, Salamon and Gatomon instantly pounced at him happily.
Dina looked around the room with a small smile, admiring the dynamic shared between Adam and JD, and them with the Digimon. She felt a little left out in this setting, but had to remind herself that she now was included in the DigiWira's strong circle of friends. And didn't JD ask her to join them eat?
"Thanks for inviting me eat," she said and took a doughnut as Adam began eating his char kuey teow, while at the same time swatting JD's hands which attempted to grab on some of the food. She thought that it was a very endearing sight to watch.
Unbeknownst to her, at that very same time, her two best friends were currently sharing a phone conversation.
"Did you do as we planned out yesterday night?"
"Yeah. And Gaya, you owe me! I really was looking forward to go to the hospital!"
"Oh hush! We both know it's not Adam you wanted to visit."
"Yeah. JD Kamaruzaman is going to be there… I could've caught him getting out of the shower once again. You know I've had a couple of dreams about him…"
"Eww Bel, spare me the details. Anyway, that freaky new obsession of yours aside, this time I wanted to make sure that those two – Adam and Dina – get some time of their own. Both are just too shy to ask each other out; it's totally up to us to set them up. They're already chatting online, thanks to me. Maybe this will get them to see that they're meant for each other."
"Oh, like you and Manny?"
"Hmmm…. Anyway, want to go for breakfast? My treat."
"Where?"
"I think McDonalds still have their Mc-Breakfast thingy now. Meet me there in ten minutes okay? After that we can go to the hospital."
"Sure. See you there. Bye."
xxx
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 43 – A DigiWira Catastrophe, Part II
xxx
xxx
"Aldiyamon is down for the count," Persiamon said with a flourish tone as she flexed her gleaming claws repeatedly, enjoying how they glinted amidst the darkness of the main hall of the Onyx Pyramid. "With only four Wira Digital left, perhaps we can win this battle without having to wait for the Puaka Generals to achieve their Ultimate forms."
"I may be able to know your plan without you saying it, but do enlighten our brethren about it," Lucemon noted simply from the stone throne he was sitting on, gesturing towards Doumon, Shawujinmon and Astamon. The Puaka Generals Devidramon and Devimon were notably absent, but that was simply because they were training to regain their Ultimate forms. Lucemon hoped that it would be quick; to make sure that they were able to do so he had to allow them fighting some of the released servants, and more often than not the Puaka Generals ended up deleting them in the process.
"Of course. They are included in my plan, after all, since we're so lacking good Digimon grunts, thanks to the Puaka Generals and those wretched old ladies of that Lost Mountain," Persiamon huffed. "Until Mystimon and Jetsilphymon return with more of the Master's servants, we're pretty much on our own." She paused, seemingly considering her next words. Her emerald eyes met Lucemon's ice blues. "And I think we better save up what servants we have left for your grandeur plan when the Puakas are Mephistomon and Phelesmon once again. Besides…" she returned her gazes towards the other three Darkshadow Brethren. "Without their Light-based leader, the Wira Digital can't defeat us if we attack them together at once."
Astamon and Shawujinmon exchanged glances while Doumon considered Persiamon's words. Each of them had a score to settle with three particular Wira Digital, with them having suffered humiliating defeat against the champions of good. It didn't help that Persiamon had successfully taken on not one, but two, Wira Digital at the same time, and ended up having one of them gravely injured. How she managed to do that was another matter that impressed them. Although apparently the human boy and the Patamon that composed Aldiyamon were not destroyed, with them out of the way they only needed to face four Wira Digital. Each Darkshadow Brethren was on par with each Wira Digital; the Wira Digital only won with better luck and better teamwork.
Persiamon's plan was excellent. It was time for them to attack the Wira Digital as a team.
"Explain away, Persiamon dear," Doumon said.
xxx
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That afternoon, Dina had already gone back as she would be going out with her family, but Adam's list of visitors expanded. His sister had dropped in after Dina had stepped out before she went to her physiotherapy sessions. His Uncle Johan and Aunt Leeanna had come as well, bringing some extra sets of clothes for him and JD, before going out to Kuala Lumpur. The other DigiWira and Belinda Foo came to visit him thereafter, and they were with him and his cousin right now.
"You should've been here this morning," Adam noted, grinning at JD before shifting his attention towards Liu Ying. "Remember that reporter Rita Kaur, Liu Ying?"
"How could I forget?" Liu Ying said with an exasperated sigh. "She hounded me for a week after the kidnapping. It's a good thing JD managed to drive them away…wait a minute. JD, why's your hand bandaged, again?"
JD chuckled. "Oops, I did it again," he merely said, before the cousins laughed.
"You mean they came here?" Manny said, understanding what JD had insinuated. "And you…"
"Broke that cameraman's videocam again?" Gayathri saw JD's grin became wider.
"Does your hand hurt?" Belinda asked, observing JD's bandaged hand.
"Nah, don't worry about it. It can't be any worse than Adam's." JD patted Adam's right arm lightly – with him having made peace with the incident that led to Adam's fractured arm, he was now at ease and was able to make comment as such. The other DigiWira were glad to see it, but their smiles faded when they saw Adam frown. The frown intensified as a low grunt escaped Adam's mouth, followed by a soft, pained gasp. The boy was blinking rapidly. Seeing his friends' change of expressions JD looked down and saw Adam looking to be in pain. His eyes widened and inwardly, he swore, thinking that he'd inflicted Adam pain with his light gesture. "Oh no! Adam…sorry 'bout that. Did I…"
"No, it wasn't you…" Adam said through gritted teeth as his good left hand clutched his bandaged arm. He closed his eyes tight and began to shiver. "The pain…I'm beginning to feel it. I haven't felt it before but now…" He was sweating profusely and the other DigiWira, Digimon, and Belinda didn't know what else to do. "It…hurts…"
'Damnit. Where's that nurse…' JD slammed a red button on top of Adam's bed. "Nurse!" he hollered at the intercom.
No sooner than a minute a nurse walked in and saw Adam's condition. "Oh dear. The pain's coming back. Hold on." The nurse rushed towards the infirmary and returned with two medication tablets inside a small plastic cup and a glass of water. "Here, take this. It'll help ease the pain."
Adam took the medicine without question and soon his ragged breath steadied as he felt the pain in his arm slowly diminishing. He took a tissue from Liu Ying and promptly wiped the sweat of his relieved face, seeing the scared looks from his friends' faces vanishing. Even the Digimon – in their puppet modes – were wide-eyed. Patamon and Agumon were actually restraining Salamon and Gatomon, who looked like they were about to pounce on top of his bed – the Saintly Siblings were pretty much as attached to him as Patamon was. He looked up at JD and saw the blonde teen still had that transfixed look in his hazel eyes.
"Don't worry…I feel fine now," Adam assured.
"It will ease up the pain for the next couple of hours," the nurse informed. "It will be like this for the next two to four weeks, depending on how fast your broken bones need to rejoin. The medicines I've just given you are painkillers but it's important for you to know how exactly you need to take these medicine to avoid being dependent on them. Dr. Abu will explain it to you as soon as he's finished with his afternoon rounds, okay?"
Adam nodded. "Alright. Thank you, nurse." The nurse nodded in return and excused herself.
"You gave us quite a scare there," Manny said, after a minute of silence. He sat down at the corner of the bed, beside Adam's left foot. "These pains can be pretty nasty too, especially for the next few weeks. My cousin once fell of his motorbike and he fractured his arm. I remember him sometimes crying out at nights, when the painkillers' effects wore off. But it was a couple of years ago, and now he's alright. He's back on the bike, much to my aunt's displeasure." He smiled comfortingly towards Adam, who looked glad – that meant that he would heal and regain the function of his fractured arm. That set him at ease.
But the story, and the pain incident, didn't bode well with JD. He'd interpreted them in a completely opposite angle. To him, it meant that Adam would feel pain from time to time, because of something he had done. It hadn't crossed his mind that Adam would be experiencing recurrent pain; he'd thought that the surgery would take care of that. He'd just made peace of what he had accidentally done to Adam, but if he would be reminded of it from time to time, how could he really do that? The guilt would just keep on coming back every time the pain returned.
Without a word, JD walked out of the room, leaving the others stunned.
"Was it something I said?" Manny wondered, wincing as he heard the door slammed shut.
Adam sighed, knowing what was on his cousin's mind. "No, it wasn't you," he assured Manny. He felt his head becoming heavy slightly and yawned.
"Looks like the painkiller's side effect is taking over," Manny noted. "Sleepy?"
"Very and suddenly." Adam pressed his temples. He gazed sleepily at his friends. "I'll be ok…but can you guys talk to Josh? He's seeing this in a very glass-half-empty sort of way…" He yawned again.
"Sure, Adam," Liu Ying said. "Don't worry. He'll come around. I suppose seeing you in pain just set off his guilt."
"Guilt? Why?" Belinda asked, confused. The other DigiWira had told her of the accident, but not the nitty-gritty detail of how Adam was injured. She looked at Gayathri with a questioning expression. "It's not like its JD who hurts Adam, right?"
The DigiWira were very glad that JD was not around to hear that. They bid Adam goodbye, collected Agumon with them just in case, and went to look for JD.
xxx
xxx
JD stepped out of the hospital with a frustrated look. At times like this, an old habit he'd thought he had successfully kicked off threatened to rise back. It was lucky that the hospital condemned selling cigarettes or JD might have smoked one right now. Then he shook his head; he'd promised himself and his friends that he wouldn't smoke again. Fists clenched, he now resisted the urge to punch the wall – Dr. Abu had told him to take it easy with his right hand.
He saw several passer-bys giving him strange looks and glared at them. 'What's their problem?' He thought angrily as he sat down at the stairs, observing the calming garden and the full parking lot.
"JD!"
JD didn't bother turning to look at the voices that were calling him. He heard rushed footsteps approaching the stairs where he was sitting and soon the shadows of four people shrouded him, shielding him from the afternoon sunlight. Still he didn't bother to look up.
"Don't bother telling me what to think. If you've been in my place, and you have to see someone close to you in pain like that because of what you've done, then only talk to me. If not, just shut the hell up."
JD's hostility took everyone by surprise but they soon saw past that, knowing what was eating him.
Suddenly, the ground shook. It wasn't an earthquake but it was enough to cause everyone to panic. People scampered about and cars screeched into a halt, two almost knocked upon each other right in front of the hospital's gate. Some of the medical staffs outside the hospital immediately assisted some patients who were taking the outside air back inside.
"Earthquake?" Belinda wondered.
"Quakes don't happen in Malaysia!" Gayathri gasped as the ground shook again.
A dark blue portal opened and to JD's dismay a familiar feminine figure stepped out from it. She took a moment to assess her surroundings, grinning underneath the veil she wore upon the frightened screams of the people as they rushed towards the hospital. Without much consideration she flicked her hand and released streams of crimson energy ribbons haphazardly. One blasted through a car's windows, shattering them to pieces. One wrapped around a bike and crashed it against a family minivan. Another sliced a tree and it collapsed onto the hospital garden which was fortunately abandoned. Two ribbons wrapped around an electric pole near the guardhouse before yanking it off the ground, causing it to collapse upon the guardhouse. She smirked when her eyes found her target.
"Aha! I was wondering where all of you are!" Persiamon said delightfully. "Oh, still not the whole litter, but understandable."
"Blasted bitch! What the hell are you doing here?!" JD roared furiously.
"Bel, go inside the hospital right now," Gayathri nudged her best friend. Without arguing Belinda ran towards the automatic door and Gayathri kept close watch on her friend, afraid that Persiamon would attack her. She was relieved to see Bel made it inside the hospital safely, with some other people. The hospital compound was completely deserted now except for the DigiWira and the Virago General.
"Labramon, Agumon, Access!"
"Penguinmon, Access!"
"Floramon, Access!"
JD was glad to see that Liu Ying had brought Agumon along with her; it saved him a trip of going back up. Without much thought he took out his own Digivice and roared, "Digital Access Digivolution…" By this time the others joined him as they shouted together, "HAAA!!!"
Satriamon, Samudramon, Xianamon and Puspamon appeared within showers of bright multicolored lights, ready for battle against what seemed to be their biggest threat yet. With a roar Satriamon charged towards Persiamon, his whole body coated in raging flames and his gauntlet glinted, reflecting the sunlight. He leaped into the air and loomed over the Virago General with the utmost intention to delete her before she could do harm to anyone else. "Dragonforce Striker!!"
Before Satriamon's gauntlet managed to make contact with Persiamon, an opaque purple barrier materialized in front of the general and it stunned Satriamon with dark-powered thunderbolts. Satriamon was thrown off effortlessly as the barrier lowered down. Persiamon smirked, and another portal opened above her. From it, Astamon, Shawujinmon and Doumon descended.
"Prepare for your doom, Wira Digital!" Persiamon declared. "Four of us Darkshadow Brethren are here; you won't stand a chance!"
The formerly peaceful hospital compound was instantly transformed into a battlefield as the Darkshadow Brethren began attacking the Wira Digital. Astamon and Shawujinmon started the assault and were immediately countered by Puspamon and Samudramon. Xianamon quickly released her clone; one of them would raise a force-field to prevent the hospital from sustaining damage while the other would battle Doumon. After a brief arguing it was decided for the more reckless clone to be the one battling Doumon as Xianamon didn't think her duplicate would have the patience to stay put for a long time. And finally it was obvious that Satriamon would go for Persiamon once again, with an intention to kill.
Shawujinmon slammed his Demon Quelling Staff onto the road and water pillars burst out from the crack. Samudramon quickly manipulated the pillars so that they would slam upon the Kappa General, but Shawujinmon raised a water field to prevent any attacks from harming him. Exasperated, Samudramon summoned his Divine Rain to weaken the water barrier before charging through it. Angrily the general slammed his metal staff upon the merman but Samudramon blocked it with his own trident which began to crackle with electricity. Underneath his azure helmet his eyes sprout lightning, but Shawujinmon was unaware of it. Samudramon had the advantage against the Kappa General, with him controlling the element of thunder as well as water. With his trident he locked Shawujinmon's staff, instigating a battle of strength between the two evenly-matched Digimon.
"Do you know what will happen to a toad that's struck by lightning?" Samudramon taunted Shawujinmon, quoting from a movie which was one of Manny's favorites.
Shawujinmon grunted at the mockery of his form and pushed further, not bothering to answer the Wira Digital.
"The same thing that'll happen to anything else…" Samudramon murmured and withdrew his trident. Utilizing his Ninjutsu skill and a basic Capoiera move JD had taught him, Samudramon made a midair back flip and slammed his foot onto Shawujinmon's belly. The Kappa General was thrown off balance and Samudramon lowered the water pillar he was using to hoist himself up. The crackles of lightning on his trident intensified as he pointed it towards the falling general. "Double Edged Thunderblades…Powered Up Mode!!"
An electric-blue dragon coiled out from Samudramon's trident and for a moment hovered in midair, letting out intense lightning. The sky darkened momentarily, further enhancing the ferocity of the dragon. Then it roared – its roar similar to a booming thunder – and shot towards Shawujinmon. The Kappa General saw the looming dragon and panicked, trying to quench it with his staff. Samudramon willed his hydrokinetic power and showered Shawujinmon with water, which would make his thunder dragon deadlier. The dragon roared again right before it approached Shawujinmon, disorienting the general with the earsplitting sound before it coiled around him. Shawujinmon shrieked as the thunder dragon electrocuted him full-force. He struggled to break free and managed to do so with Doumon's interference.
"Thousand Curses!!" Doumon let out scrolls upon the thunder dragon and it roared before diminishing out of sight. Shawujinmon was spared, but he was in no condition to fight anymore. Doumon was about to attack Samudramon before Xianamon II intercepted him.
"Hey old coot! Your battle is with me, not him!" The wayward sorceress in blue pointed her palm towards the priest fox. "Soul Freezing Needles!!"
"Talisman Star!!" Doumon's talisman blade knocked away his opponent's poisonous needles.
"Jade Needles!!"
Doumon looked up and saw the real Xianamon now above him, showering him with her own brand of poisonous needles. Surprised, he was struck by them and felt bee stings creeping all over his body, which was soon quenched by his own power to nullify spells. He watched warily as Xianamon and Xianamon II hovered beside each other, both letting out their fly whisks simultaneously. With an irate grunt the Shaman General summoned his paintbrush and drew a symbol with rapid ease, intent on defeating his opponents as quickly as possible.
"Talisman of Night!"
"Double whammy?" Xianamon II asked with a smirk as the symbol Doumon had created shone with lavender light, permeating dark aura at the same time.
"Whatever that means, you're on. Diamond World…"
"Matrix World…"
"….MANDALA!!!"
The two Xianamon crossed their fly whisks together and summoned their potent magical finishers. First the Diamond World Mandala was projected behind them and it let out showers of golden and blue energy waves with a rainbow of violet diamond-shaped projectiles. Then the Matrix World Mandala appeared behind the energy-spewing Diamond World Mandala and burst with white energy waves and ruby projectiles. The two magical powers fused and the resulted attack was a myriad burst of power which easily shattered the Talisman of Night before slamming forcefully upon Doumon. The energy carried Doumon all the way towards the sky before an explosion of light took place similar to fireworks. When the light subsided Doumon's lifeless form fell from the sky. In the meantime both Xianamon vanished, replaced by Liu Ying and Labramon who were both balanced on Samudramon's arms.
Similar to how the Final Purification technique would affect Aldiyamon, the Mega-class Diamond Matrix World Mandala also weakened Xianamon, causing her to revert back to her composite forms. But it was worth it; Doumon was very powerful and with him defeated the Wira Digital only had Astamon and Persiamon to worry about. Samudramon, Liu Ying and Labramon then winced upon hearing an earsplitting feminine scream coming from the air above – where an airborne battle took place between Puspamon and Astamon.
"Sweetheart, can't we talk about this?" Astamon taunted as he avoided Puspamon's attempt to slap him over the face. He seized Puspamon's wrist and backhanded her.
Angrily Puspamon summoned her Hibiscus Hurricane, trying to fling the perverted demon away. But the demon's grasp upon her was so strong the hurricane had almost no effect on him. She tried writhing, kicking and screaming, but still Astamon was persistent. Then she gasped upon seeing Astamon placing a knife beside her throat.
"Your friends might have won but I have another way to win this battle, sweetheart," Astamon murmured near her ear, causing her to gag upon the disgusting smell of alcohol which permeated from his breath. "Try anything and it'll be the end of you. As quick as you can summon your power, I doubt it's quick enough to stop my hand from slitting your throat."
Puspamon snorted disgustedly. "You dirty demon…you'll be sorry for this!"
"Sorry? Right now, I'm loving this!" Astamon declared with a cackle. "It's not so often I get a beauty pressed this close to me."
"Savor that feeling as long as you can, pervert," Puspamon seethed, and began soaring upwards, taking Astamon with her. She had a plan but it was too risky. However, Puspamon would do anything to get this smelly demon off her body. She increased her speed and continued flying towards the bright sky, her visor shielding her from the ultraviolet rays of the sun and blocked the glare, enabling her to see where she was going. Astamon stubbornly didn't let go of her still.
"What are you trying to do?!" he demanded. "If you're heading to space you'll kill both of us. The lack of air…"
Puspamon ignored him and continued soaring higher and higher, using her super-speed to aid her flight. Her elemental powers of wind and nature would help her with what she had in mind, she silently hoped. She flew past the clouds, from the thin bottom layer to the darker top layer. Astamon was heard gasping for breath, and Puspamon, now coated with pink aura, smiled. She too was experiencing difficulty breathing, but her power would aid her for the time being. Astamon had no such luck as he was now choking. The fairy sped upwards even more, taking note of how the bright sky darkened into black and blue and for a brief moment, marveled of the cosmos' beauty. Flames erupted from the tips of her high-heeled boots but the aura coating her dutifully shielded her from the atmospheric friction. Nevertheless she halted; if she went farther the flames would burn her. It was time to turn back. 'Get ready for a rollercoaster ride, perv.'
With lightning speed she hurled her body upside down and sped down back to earth like a fallen rocket. Astamon's grasp around her waist loosened and Puspamon realized that her plan was working. She increased her speed even more and the winds that were blowing against her were also pulling Astamon away from her. 'Good; just as I've thought,' the beautiful fairy silently thought. Taking a deep breath Puspamon sped through a very thick white cumulonimbus cloud and there she felt Astamon's hands slid away from her slim waist. When she emerged from the cloud, she happily noted that she was alone and could hear Astamon shrieking within the clouds, sweatdropping as she noted how similar it was with the cartoonish scream she'd heard from the character Goofy in any Disney cartoons.
"I better get out of here now." Puspamon then sped back down to earth, and began to see the familiar outline of the town she lived in. As she closed in the hospital building became more and more prominent and with a relieved sigh she slowed down, and touchdowned on top of the hospital's roof. Her knees buckled and there she devolved back into Gayathri and Floramon. They then saw a door leading to the rooftop and used it to get down.
In the meantime, the fiercest battle took place between the rage-fueled Satriamon and the Virago General Persiamon. For the past thirty minutes they had been exchanging physical and power-based attacks. Cuts were evident all over Satriamon's red armor while Persiamon looked pretty much unscathed. She continuously unleashed her crimson energy ribbons towards Satriamon, taking advantage of their nimbleness to fluster the red dragon warrior while countering any of Satriamon's fire-based technique with her ice power. All the time, she was laughing, knowing that she had the upper hand against Satriamon.
But Satriamon would not give up. He was driven with the desire to teach Persiamon a lesson for making him injure Adam. Despite having his attacks countered time and time again by the feline, Satriamon persisted on. Even his powered up form of Dragonforce Striker was nullified with one blast of Persiamon's Sekhmet Shadow Sutra. His only consolation was the fact that he was durable enough to withstand Persiamon's attack upon him; he'd need time to figure out how exactly he could beat the Virago General. He saw Shawujinmon slumped on one corner and Doumon crashed over several cars, causing huge dents on the roofs. Astamon was nowhere in sight, and so was Puspamon. Samudramon was standing by a distance behind him, and Liu Ying and Labramon taking refuge near the hospital already.
"Flaming Torch!!" He enveloped his body with flames and shot towards Persiamon. This technique gave him the ability of limited flight and he used that to sail above the Virago General. With a snarl he grabbed hold on Persiamon's head and yanked her up. Spinning around in midair he went for the metal gates and crashed Persiamon over it repeatedly.
"AAAAAAIIIEEEE!!" Persiamon yelled, shocked and dumbstruck of the sudden physical onslaught. "This is no way to treat a lady!"
"You're no lady, whore!" Satriamon grabbed the general's lustrous red locks tight and spun her once before slamming her onto the tarred road. With a snort he let go of Persiamon, feeling a bit fatigued himself after a drawn-out battle. It proved to be a bad move.
Persiamon spun over her back and hoisted her legs up, twisting them around Satriamon's neck. With a snarl she pulled Satriamon down and delivered a kick on his face, almost pulling out his dragon helmet. She got up quickly and blasted Satriamon with her crimson ribbons, using them as whips as she lashed upon Satriamon, slowly damaging his armor.
"Oh, lookie, what's this? Isn't this the weapon you used against that little white kitten?" Persiamon taunted; blood trickled down her face from her nose and the forehead where gashes marred her attractive face. Using her ribbons she grabbed the shining gauntlet and flung it up before raising her right arm. The gauntlet, aided by the ribbons, slid down her arm nicely. With a vicious glint from her emerald eyes she pointed the Dragonforce Striker gauntlet towards the most private part of all men, and grinned maliciously. "Let's see if I can make a woman out of you, dragon boy…"
Satriamon swore violently but before he could move, Persiamon's ribbons held him in place. He howled in pain as the energy ribbons shot through his shoulder blades and thighs, pinning him on the ground. Red liquid oozed out from them as Persiamon approached him slowly.
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Worriedly Adam watched the whole battle taking place from the window of his ward. Outside at the corridors, he could hear doctors and nurses issuing safety orders; the hospital was under siege and they needed to ensure the safeties of their patients. He stood by the window, slumped by the wall as he watched his friends battling the Darkshadow Brethren, who appeared to be deadlier now than ever. He wished that he could help, but with his arm injured he'd end up being a liability to his friends.
"Patamon, can you fight?" Adam asked. When Satriamon struck Aldiyamon, Adam was the one who'd sustained the more brutal aspect of the fight while Patamon was only bruised with no severed limbs.
The Rookie nodded. "Digivolve me into Sagittarimon Radiant Mode and I…"
The door flung open and Dr. Abu stepped in. "Adam, come on. We're evacuating this wing to the safer west wing. Your sister is already safe inside the physiotherapy ward, and she's asked me to bring you to him." The young doctor frowned slightly as he saw the orange plush toy Adam always had with him dropped from the air on Adam's left arm, while the puppy and kitten dolls were by the boy's feet. He thought it was weird for Alisha's thirteen year old brother to still have plush toys for comfort, but decided that it was not his business.
His brief plan foiled unknowingly with the doctor's intrusion, Adam was left without a plan. He went to his drawer and took out his Juara Digivice. Clutching it and his three 'plush toys', Adam allowed Dr. Abu to escort him out.
'Josh… I can't help you with my condition. Please stay safe. I can only think of this…'
With the location and recipient locked in his mind, Adam teleported his Juara Digivice with the White DigiSphere in it to Satriamon. He didn't know why, but he had a fleeting feeling that it would help Satriamon. It was practically a leap of faith on his part, but he trusted his instincts. Something told him that it was the right thing to do.
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Persiamon cackled haughtily as she pointed the gauntlet towards Satriamon's crotch, enjoying the look of horror that graced the usually-fearless warrior. "I've wanted to do this since yesterday, just to know how it'd felt when you struck your friend on the arm…"
"Cosmic Thunderstrike!!"
A thunderbolt blasted upon Persiamon's raised arm, nearly yanking the gauntlet away. With a snarl she turned sideways and saw Samudramon, the only other Wira Digital left standing. "You meddling fool! Helter Skelter!!"
"Deep Ocean Submerge!!" Samudramon had observed the battle, and knew that his water power could easily counter Persiamon's attack of fire and ice. Waters quenched flames and could melt ice; that was Samudramon's strategy. He watched as his water drowned the white tiger and the yowling fire cats from Persiamon's attack, but he didn't count on being attacked from the sides by…
"Crescent Moon Slash!!"
"Talisman of Night!!"
Samudramon cried loudly as he was struck by a spinning black staff and a shining purple symbol. It flung him towards the guardhouse and in the process devolved him back into his composite selves. Manny and Penguinmon scrambled back up their feet, surprised to see Shawujinmon and Doumon still able to fight.
"But…how?"
"We're the Darkshadow Brethren, boy! We can't be beaten that easily!" Doumon snarled. But despite his words, the Shaman General was very injured; his robes tattered over the edges, his hat gone and part of his body oozed out a violet liquid, apparently blood. He stood supported by his giant paintbrush. Shawujinmon's condition was worse – he looked like a fried toad, nearly black all over. But despite all that they still were able to sneak-attack Samudramon.
Persiamon smirked, liking the odds of the battle. Satriamon now was the only Wira Digital left. She turned to face the dragon man and surprised to see a flash of white light erupted from out of nowhere. From it a silver Digivice materialized and surrounded Satriamon with orbs of light. Satriamon disappeared and reappeared back on his feet, still bleeding but no longer restrained.
'Adam's Juara Digivice…' Satriamon thought, surprised as he made a motion to hold the Digivice. It felt warm in his hands and Satriamon was struck with realization of how much this move meant to him.
When he'd been evil, JD had seized Adam's Digivice and the White DigiSphere, rendering the boy and his partner powerless. That had put Adam and Patamon in danger every time they went into battle, especially with opponents as dangerous as himself.
And now, Adam had willingly given his Digivice and the White DigiSphere within it to him. Did his cousin really trust him that much?
'Josh…Adam's Juara Digivice! I think…he's asking us to beat Persiamon on his behalf. He knows Persiamon is at fault, and he's asking you to beat her for him.'
Agumon's assumption echoed in their conjoined minds. He clutched the shining silver Digivice and a burst of pure white light erupted from it, revitalizing Satriamon similar to how it had been when they were at the Dark Ocean. The wave of light erupted from Adam when he was seized by Dragomon had returned JD his strength and supplied Agumon and Sagittarimon with power. Something appeared in his hand, shining, long, pointed and radiated purity and strength at the same time. When the light subsided Satriamon gasped in surprise, seeing Aldiyamon's Heavenstar Gladius sword now in his hand.
'I'll fight for you, cousin. I'll make Persiamon pay for what she'd made me done to you.'
Satriamon flared with radiant white and red flames as he fueled power into the sword. Knowledge of how to execute Aldiyamon's powerful finisher came to his mind, and knowing that Persiamon was tough he tried thinking of another way. Perhaps he could combine the sword's power with his own? It worth a shot, Satriamon decided.
Persiamon gasped and tried to seize the sword with her ribbons, but to her surprise the ribbons melted into data particles upon contact with the sword's radiant blade. She unleashed her Vampire Dance but the bats were all drowned with the light erupted from the sword. Not willing to give up Persiamon attacked again with her Helter Skelter, but with one clean slash Satriamon cancelled it out with the sword.
Satriamon's green eyes blazed with determination as he saw a way to attack. Clutching the sword tight he leaped towards Persiamon, who flinched upon the harsh light that radiated from the sword.
"Heavenstar Gladius… FIRE STORM SLASHER!!"
With relentless fury he slashed Persiamon vertically, diagonally and horizontally before unleashing a flaming white tornado from the sword's jewel embedded on the hilt. Persiamon's sickening cry echoed all over the hospital compound as the tornado enveloped her, hoisted her up before proceeding to tear her apart, before it dissipated and Persiamon crashed onto the tarred ground face-on, defeated.
'I did it, Adam. Thanks to you and your sword.'
However, he'd thought wrong when he assumed that the battle was over. Liu Ying and Manny's warning screams were heard, but before Satriamon could turn around he felt someone leaped onto his back, securing their legs and hands onto his body.
"Nice trick, dragon boy, but I always have the last say in a battle." Persiamon's soft snarl unnerved Satriamon as the Virago General ran a hand over his chest. "Blight of Bastet," she whispered with what sounded like a deadly finality.
Satriamon felt a burning pain on his chest before Persiamon let go of him. He then dropped to his knees, clutching his chest as the pain intensified for a brief few seconds. The pain then gradually disappeared and Satriamon soon was able to breathe normally again. He saw Persiamon staggered towards Shawujinmon and Doumon.
"Until next time, Wira Digital!" she said and beckoned for Doumon with a flick of her arm.
"Demon Gate Escape!" Doumon made a circular wave over the air with his paintbrush, and an oval portal appeared. It sucked all three Darkshadow Brethren in and they vanished, Persiamon's giggles lingered briefly even after the portal had vanished.
Satriamon devolved into JD and Agumon, and JD placed a hand on his chest. "What the hell was that all about?" he wondered. He shrugged; it was painful after Persiamon removed her hand from his chest, but now he didn't feel anything at all. Whatever Persiamon had tried to do to him, apparently it didn't work. He shrugged it off as his eyes trailed to the silver Juara Digivice within his right hand. A smile graced his rugged features. 'Thanks, cousin. Couldn't have done it without you.'
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Adam heard about his friends' victory and heaved a relieved breath. Right now the hospital was closed to public as the doctors and nurses worked on restoring order to the hospital. Thanks to the Wira Digital the hospital didn't sustain any damage although its compound would need extensive repair works. Adam went back to his room and settled on his bed, on the doctor's order. He'd taken another medicine and already felt sleepy. Patamon, Salamon and Gatomon, under the pretense of being dolls, were left on the bed with Adam as one nurse had commented on how cute it was for him to still cling on plush toys for comfort.
Right now, he didn't really want to sleep. He wanted to see JD. He wanted to know whether his Digivice had helped JD in any way. It was the biggest battle they had yet and he had to sit it out. But the longer he tried to resist the soporific effect induced by the drug, the weaker he'd gotten. His eyelids soon felt really heavy and soon he was asleep, snoring softly.
"Poor Adam…" Salamon said, stirring up from where he had been placed – on Adam's stomach.
"Poor Adam," Gatomon reiterated and got up from Adam's left-side where the nurse had placed her. Being so young their vocabularies hadn't developed as quickly as Patamon, who as a partner, had his development accelerated and his memory of his previous life intact. But for the Saintly Siblings they had to start anew; it was a wonder why they started out directly in their Rookie forms instead of Baby or In-Training. "Hand hurt," the white kitten said and climbed on Adam's body.
"Hey, careful there. You're going to hurt him," Patamon whispered, but Adam looked pretty much undisturbed.
Salamon and Gatomon shared a look which unnerved Patamon briefly. The two of them were on Adam's belly and they seemed to want to move towards Adam's fractured arm. His suspicion was proven correct when the Saintly Siblings slid down onto Adam's forearm, but Adam was in a very deep sleep and the painkillers he'd taken had suppressed the pain he would be feeling upon having the siblings on his fractured arm.
"Hey, get down from there...woah…" Patamon gasped when he saw Salamon and Gatomon began to emit soft white light.
"Adam help us…we help Adam…" Salamon murmured and closed his eyes.
"Adam gonna be ok again…" Gatomon whispered and closed her eyes.
Patamon's mouth hung open when he saw the white aura from the siblings intensified until they enveloped nearly the whole room. The Rookie partner was nearly blinded by the radiance from the siblings and used his bat ears to cover his eyes. Curious, he peeked through to see what was going on and gasped in awe upon seeing shadows of two angelic figures appearing behind Salamon and Gatomon. Both were garbed in white, one male and one female, both with burnish long blonde hair. Both had shining wings; the male silver and the female white, and their faces were obscured – the male with a violet manteau while the female with a silver gray helmet. Patamon would've identified their clothes but the lights were giving him so much comfort that he ended up feeling so sleepy and closed his eyes, drifting to dreamland.
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JD arrived at his home with a sigh. He really wanted to see his cousin again and tell him about the details of the battle. He especially wanted to thank Adam because it was his Heavenstar Gladius which had helped him out of a very tight spot and ultimately forced the Darkshadow Brethren into retreating. But when the hospital had ordered the people other than the patients and the medical personnel to leave the hospital, JD was forced to return home. A staff had told him that everything would probably return to normal the next day, so JD would have to wait until then to meet his cousin again.
Entering his room, he freed Agumon from the Juara Digivice and sat on his bed. The room was very still; JD was reminded of how much laughter his cousin had brought during his stay with him. He suspected that it would be another few days before he could have his cousin back with him, and his parents had told him that he'd have to sleep at home during schooldays instead of the hospital.
"This sucks."
The light from Adam's Digivice had pretty much healed all the wounds inflicted on Satriamon, but now JD still felt a bit sore from where Persiamon had pinned him with her ribbons. He took off his shirt and went to the mirror, wanting to see whether there were scars or anything on his shoulders where the ribbons had struck through. What he saw however made him stop dead on his track.
"Josh…your chest!" Agumon gasped.
JD looked down his left chest, where a black cat with crimson eyes and claws was tattooed on. The cat was in a curled position, its claws clutching a space which could be defining JD's heart. It was a menacing sight which sent chill down his spine. He ran a hand on the feline tattoo, but didn't feel anything. He frowned. 'What the hell…?'
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"That was rather unexpected," Lucemon commented when his fellow Darkshadow Brethren generals returned from the human world.
Persiamon snorted scornfully. "I hadn't counted on Satriamon being able to use his angel friend's sword to attack me. Apparently what I did yesterday didn't break their bond…but had further strengthened it. Humph. But it was pretty clear that if Satriamon didn't get the help at the last minute, he'd be a goner for sure."
"If," Lucemon reiterated, and an annoyed look crossed the Virago General's face before it turned into a wicked grin.
"But I did have my last say," Persiamon said with an evil smirk. The other generals stirred uncomfortably as she said this and Persiamon laughed. "Oh yes…I always have the last say."
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Author's Notes:
Whoever thinks Persiamon is creepy, raise their hands! Yeah, I thought so. She's creeping me out too, and I'm the one writing about her. What is her plan anyway? And as promised, I've showed what the Saintly Siblings could do, although I'm pretty sure it's not what you all have been expecting. Everything will unfold slowly until the big revelation. And I think I've somewhat stretched the limit in this chapter, luckily it's already rated so I'm safe.
Char Kuey Teow is a Chinese/Malaysian dish, similar to fried noodles, and one of the widely accepted dishes in Malaysia well-liked by all races. The noodles used are those wide broad types instead of the longish snaky noodles.