Irish here again for the fifth chapter of this story. We are almost closer to the end of this fic and I just want to say thanks to all of you who have either read, reviewed, or done both! Your support means a lot to me! Anyway, as always, hope you guys enjoy!
Traveling back to the group, Davis couldn't help at all but to feel ecstatic by the way TK managed to help him out of his depressed state that he was in. He could clearly see how much TK really went through on his first few days when he did his first adventure. At the thought of this, Davis simply let out a little chuckle.
"What's so funny?" TK asked.
"Nothing, it's just that…I'm just realizing what you possibly went through all those years ago," Davis started out. "I mean, I never could have guessed what did occur to you in as little as three to four days."
"Well, a lot more followed that Davis; I hope you realize that."
"Oh don't worry, I know. It also gives me a reason as to how you and Kari already know each other."
"Yeah…look, about Kari…" TK started to say but was interrupted by Davis.
"Don't worry about it, man. I now understand that you haven't seen her in a while and you guys are just catching up. Oh, and I also apologize about the way that I treated you yesterday; it was totally uncalled for."
TK couldn't help but to smile at that little memory: Davis rushing into the library with his face showing anger at the fact that he was talking to Davis' 'girl.'
"It's alright man, I accept your apology."
"Good," Davis answered. The two boys continued to walk in silence until Davis decided to ask something he's wanted to know the answer to.
"Hey TK, how do you expect we're going to get Veemon back?"
"We're just going to have to fight him. Doesn't sound bad, right?"
"Wait, what? Isn't there any other method besides hurting my digimon to get him back?" Davis asked, astonished by TK's answer.
"Well, if you come up with a better solution, then let me know by any means necessary; until that time comes, we just have to stick to that plan. You are alright with that, right?"
Davis didn't want TK to know what he truly felt about the devised plan, so he simply shook his head yes and smiled.
"Guys, there you are!"
The duo were started to hear Kari calling to them. Apparently, they were walking to find Davis and TK to see if they were alright...or if one of them were dead.
"Hey Davis, you feeling better?" Kari decided to ask.
"Yeah, I'm doing better, thanks for wondering." Davis answered back. He then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Guys, I truly am sorry for the way I have been behaving today. I guess I was just so caught up with the whole 'Veemon being captured' situation and I didn't feel right with what happened with that."
"Well, you do sound somewhat sincere…" Yolei started to say until Cody rudely elbowed her. "Okay, fine, apology accepted."
"Yeah, same here," Cody followed up.
"Good, now that we got that taken care of, what's next?" Davis asked when he heard somebody from overhead.
"Oh good, I'm so grateful that you guys didn't wander that far," Tentomon stated as he and Biyomon started to descend towards the ground. "We followed Flamedramon just like TK told us to do and we know his exact location."
"Wait, Flamedramon?" TK asked.
"Yeah, apparently the Emperor had Veemon digivolve up to the next level," Biyomon stated. "We found him wandering towards a coliseum not that far away from here."
"Really, you guys found him?" Davis asked.
The two digimon gave their answer, shaking their heads in a yes gesture.
"Well alright then guys, shall we head over to retrieve our friend?" TK decided to ask.
Without any hesitation, the group declared yes and they were off towards the coliseum.
It surely wasn't a long walk for the digidestined, but considering how much walking that had to do prior to the new trip, it felt like an eternity.
"So, any idea on where this thing is?" Yolei decided to rudely ask after only a few minutes of walking.
"Relax Yolei; it's just over this hill…and down the hill…and just about a half mile more." Biyomon tried to say this calmly to the preteen as she knew she could blow up at any minute.
This time, however, Yolei simply sighed, too tired to fight back with the rookie.
"Oh dear," Hawkmon couldn't help but to say, "I guess she's more exhausted than I thought." The digimon were far enough back from the others so that they couldn't hear them talking.
"Yeah, she's been getting on everybody's nerves as well," Gatomon explained the obvious.
"I see," Hawkmon started off, "I suppose you guys haven't had problems with your partners then, have you?"
"Like what?" Tentomon decided to ask.
"Like this; having to deal with a preteen girl who shows signs of fatigue and biting other people's heads off…quite frankly, being a little rude."
"Well, Izzy is a guy so I really haven't had that issue before." Tentomon said.
"Yeah, and Kari really wasn't a preteen when I first met her, she was just a little kid. Plus, she was never bratty to anybody!" Gatomon boldly stated.
"Well, besides a few times when Sora bit a few heads off, she's been good. Plus, she did have reason to do it, Yolei just does it constantly." Biyomon said.
"Sorry Hawkmon," Gatomon stated, "guess like you just got unlucky with your partner."
Hawkmon couldn't help but to sigh, dreading the many, many days ahead for him.
With Patamon overhearing the others' conversation, he decided to start one with Armadillomon.
"So, umm…what do you think of your partner?" Patamon decided to ask.
"Cody…well he seems to be a true and loyal companion so far, but…" Armadillomon couldn't help but to state the obvious. "He's a youngster. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if a simply broken twig scratching up against a window would scare his pants off, how can he fare with monsters three times his height?"
Patamon knew just how to answer this. "I see, you think your partner is weak simply because of his height. I thought the same thing when I met TK. But as time went on, I learned that he was a strong person with a lot of hope inside of him." Patamon couldn't help but to beam at this statement, remembering his partner's crest. "Give Cody some time and before you know it, you'll see the same thing in him: a great kid with an even bigger appetite for fighting!"
"Thanks for that Patamon." Armadillomon thanked his newfound friend as he pat the little bat creature on his head.
"No problem!" Patamon replied back.
"Hey guys, I see it, the coliseum!" Davis bellowed out as they saw what appeared to be a small stadium directly ahead of them.
"I'm coming for you Veemon!" Davis sprinted off ahead of the group, with the rest simply trying to keep pace.
From a distance, it was so small, but up close, the coliseum showed why it earned its name. The stadium was massive in size, showing walls about one-hundred feet tall arched around in an oval. The group was standing at the entrance, going over the plan one last time.
"Just so that everyone knows the plan, we do not stop fighting for anything at all until we freed Flamedramon and, possibly, give the Emperor a piece of our minds." TK explained to the group.
Gatomon was about to speak up - yet again on behalf of the Emperor - but this time, Kari stopped her in the middle of her tracks.
"Gatomon, we get it. You have a bone to pick with the Emperor that you can do on your own time! Right now, we are only worrying about saving Davis' partner got it?"
The feline looked displeased at this statement, but still gave a yes to Kari in the form of a nod.
"Alright then troops, let's move out!" TK instructed the group to follow him into the coliseum, but he felt someone not obliging. When he turned around, he saw Davis standing there wearing a face full of fear.
"I...I don't know if I can do this, guys. I don't think I'm ready," Davis started to explain. "I mean, here we are, about to attack my partner. What is something bad happens to him? What if someone accidentally kills him? I don't know guys; I'm…I'm just really scared."
The rest of the group looked at the worried digidestined, puzzled about what to do or even what to say.
"C'mon Davis, we are right here. Only a few steps away from getting your friend back. This is what you wanted, right?" Yolei asked.
"You know if we don't do this, the Emperor could use Flamedramon to kill everyone that he wants dead," Cody stated.
"Davis, you sounded so confident before we came here to rescue Veemon. What happened to that?" Kari asked.
Throughout all three testemonies, Davis stood silent. TK couldn't take much more of this silent treatment that his friend was showing.
"Davis, look at me," TK walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, and Davis looked up at him.
"Remember that talk we had back at the tree. I meant every word of it. This is what I was talking about."
Davis remembered those words that were spoken to him not so long ago.
"You can't be scared, you can't show it. You are the leader for a reason and it's because you aren't afraid of anything. Yes, I know this situation may seem scary now, but believe me, after it's done, after you are holding Veemon who will be freed from the Emperor, you will be glad you did it. You have your friends backing you up on this and I would be damned if you walked away right now."
Davis simply looked up at his friend and gave him a warm smile. "Thanks for that man; I'm ready to go right now."
With newborn courage now inside of him, Davis boldly moved on into the coliseum with the rest following behind.
When the group got inside, they saw something that puzzled each and every one of them. Besides from the usual old-timed seating around the coliseum, they saw, from the middle of the stadium, a long black tower shooting straight up.
"What is that?" TK couldn't help but to ask.
"It's a control spire," Gatomon stated. "This is what caused the rest of us digimon to not evolve into our Champion level. If we found a way to destroy it, we could give digivolving a shot!"
"Sounds good and all, but where's the Emperor? More importantly, where's Flamedramon?" Kari asked.
Suddenly the group heard a noise from above them. Turning around and looking up into the seating area, they saw the controlled Flamedramon with a look of malice painted on his face.
There you all go! I hope you liked the fact that I decided to axe the whole TK/Davis rival thing altogether and kind of start a bromance with them (though IMHO Tai/Matt will always have the better romance...I mean, let's get real, a real bromance doesn't occur until punches are thrown =P). So next chapter is where the fight goes down, and sadly, the last chapter! Hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and story so far and I will see you all next time!