Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
A/N: This chapter was supposed to be posted three days ago. Unfortunately, due to certain technical difficulties with my computer or the site, I was unable to post. Sorry.
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Redemption
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"Are we done with our little breather yet?" Kanaye snapped, seeming impatient.
As usual, Kako noted with a small smile. Beaming up at him, she said, "Yup! Let's go!"
Although he looked slightly embarrassed, Kanaye kept his cool demeanor and headed back to where everyone had been before coming to find Kouichi. "We have to hurry," he murmured, "because Lucemon will be here soon."
"Yeah, keep your horses," Kouji snapped, pushing Kanaye out of the way to be in the lead. "Why should we trust you, anyway?"
"Because you left the egg back where Duskmon and Kouichi fought," Kanaye answered smoothly, placing his weight on his back foot and springing back forward without losing his balance. He didn't seem perturbed at the least. "I was wondering when you'd notice."
"N-NO!" Kouji frantically turned around and ran back, deeper into the cave, ignoring the stares he received. "Where'd it go?" His voice faded into a bare echo.
Kouichi rose to his feet, unable to ignore a sudden rush that swept through him. He stumbled forward before catching his balance. "Let's go look with him," Kouichi mumbled, feeling his cheeks warm up at the feeling of all eyes on him.
Everything was back to normal. He felt himself again. He could concentrate. He could live.
Nevertheless, he felt at a loss.
"Kouji...?" the older twin called out, stepping carefully into the cave. Now that he took a good look at it, it really did resemble a cave by itself, and the rest of the tunnel were halls leading to it. Hah, a ballroom for the Drimogemon. He smiled at the thought, nearly falling to the side at the loss of a place to put his hand on. Again, Kouichi called out his twin's name, this time in a bare whisper he wasn't sure even he could hear.
In the dark, he could hear someone whimper, "The egg...the egg...Lobomon'll kill me when he finds out I..." A groan. "Where is it...?"
Kouichi frowned and took a step forward, stopping immediately as his foot brushed against something. The egg, he decided, hearing a slight rolling noise. He kneeled down to pick it up, groping his way around in the darkness until he felt the smooth oval shell in his hand.
"Kouji," he started, standing up. Something felt terribly wrong there, as he took a step forward. His eyes refused to adjust, and Kouichi found himself stuck in eternal darkness.
Break free of your past.
Startled, Kouichi's eyes widened as he took another step forward. His sight returned, revealing a crying Kouji right in front of him. He tried to hide a frown as he held the egg forward. "Um, Kouji..." Kouichi whispered. Did he even see me...?
Kouji stopped crying momentarily and looked up. "Uh...! The egg!" Delighted, he stepped forward and snatched the egg out of Kouichi's hands, holding it up to examine it. "This is great! Now what do I do?" he asked eagerly, looking at his brother for a clue. "Crack it on a rock?" Kouji ran over to the boulder Duskmon had been sitting on as Kouji and began an attempt at hitting the egg against the rock. "Come on, hatch!"
"NO!" everyone screamed. Izumi was the only one to rush forward and snatch the egg out of Kouji's hands.
Kouichi tried to concentrate as Izumi began reprimanding Kouji for his actions, but something else was taking his attention away. It all seemed too convenient.
'Even in darkness, you are able to see, because there is a light. You cannot let anger and pain blind you, or you will never see that light.' That was what Duskmon had said, and yet...
Maybe pain...? Kouichi bit his lip, unsure of what to think. Maybe...It seems more likely than anger. He took another gaze around the cave, frowning mentally while a solemn look was carefully placed on his face in case anyone dared to look at him. It was almost strange. He was seeing the cave with more light every second.
"G-guys," Kouichi started, feeling that he was the only one seeing things. "Do any of you-" The boy stopped, realizing they didn't hear him. His heart was hammering in his chest as he tentatively took a few steps forward, walking towards his brother. "Kouji..." Again, he stopped, eyes widening as a sense of fear filled him, rooting him to the spot.
Kouichi...
Kouichi swallowed, not daring to look around. What is this? His breathing became rushed. "K-Kouji..." he tried again, managing to reach out a hand.
Kouichi...
"KOUICHI!"
Startled, Kouichi looked up, eyes widening at the sound of his name. He took a step forward, stumbled, and fell to one knee. "Uh...hi?" he said quite dumbly. The same dull, dark tunnel. Odd...
"Good, you're back with us," Kouji said, and his brother could note the start of some sarcastic comment. But an impatient clear of a throat from Kanaye interrupted any chance Kouji had. "Come on, let's go," the younger twin said instead, dragging Kouichi to his feet.
"W-wait...what about Lobomon?"
Kouji turned pink and started muttering incoherently under his breath. In his place, Kanaye explained aloud, "Bandana brain managed to hatch an egg after all. He'd make a lovely chicken, though I'd fear for the eggs nevertheless."
"Translation: Lobomon's egg went all shiny, you went all spacey, and the next second we find you all weird and Lobomon in Kouji's D-Tector," Kako whispered to Kouichi, ushering him forward. "And I nearly forgot to ask, but do any of you have any idea where Hideki or Rai might be?"
Kanaye purposely shouldered the girl with a smirk. "Maybe if you'd move faster..."
"You jerk!" Kako practically screamed, outstretching her hands in an attempt to strange him, but Kanaye just stepped away, snorting. Kouichi also held Kako back by grabbing onto her shoulders, letting out a small sigh at her protests. The fact was, his attempt was completely half-hearted, and anyone could tell. Finally giving up on murdering Kanaye, the girl turned around and tilted her head to the side. "Still upset?" she asked quietly.
"Upset?" Kouichi repeated, gazing thoughtfully at the dirt ground in front of him. Kanaye was in the lead, navigating them through the tunnel. Kouichi was lagging behind in the back, with a gap between him and Kouji, who was several yards ahead. Again, he repeated, "Upset..."
"Yeah, you know, that feeling you get when you're sad," Kako added in a sarcastic tone before stopping and grabbing a hold of Kouichi's shoulder and turning him to face her. "What's with you? Only what? Five minutes, and you can't get over it?" she scowled.
"At least I'm not taking years, okay?" he blurted.
Kako stared at him in surprise. Her mouth opened, and she seemed ready to say something. "You..." Closing her mouth, Kako turned away and continued walking. "You...you're lagging behind. Hurry up."
He watched, unsure what to do, as she walked off. Quietly, he whispered to himself, "Yes, I'm upset. How can I not be...? I don't know myself anymore."
All the more reason to run up to her and apologize, no? Lowemon appeared beside Kouichi, eyes set ahead. "Hurry up," he remarked aloud, "because she was right. You are lagging behind."
A small smile appeared on Kouichi's face, followed by a short laugh. "Yes sir!" he said with a mock salute, before picking up his pace.
By the time he caught up to the crowd of his friends, Kouichi found Kako had disappeared to the front, or so he suspected. "Sorry, Takuya," he mumbled, startling the goggle boy from his incredibly interesting moment with Izumi that Kouichi wished he hadn't witnessed. Kouichi continued on, mumbling about krill, bandanas, and videogame freaks until he reached the front and found Kako and Kanaye ahead, arguing about which direction to go.
Kako stomped down with a foot and jabbed her finger out, poking Kanaye's shoulder. In a loud voice, she yelled, "I'm telling you, right is always right!"
"And who proved this theory correct?" Kanaye just snorted, facing the left hole. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt-"
"I'll hurt you, and then it'll hurt!"
"That was lame, girly. You couldn't hurt a spider."
Kako reddened. "Th-that isn't fair! Spiders are disgusting!"
He just smirked. "There's a spider right there," Kanaye said, pointing to Kako.
"WHAT? WHERE?" Kako jumped forward, then hopped the rest of the way to Kouichi. "Get it away, get it away, get it away!" the girl squealed, grabbing onto Kouichi's hand and yanking on it.
"Um..." Kouichi gently removed Kako's hand. "So left it is...?" Something still feels wrong.
Kouji ran up to them, nearly bumping into his brother as he stopped. "Hey! Hear that?" He waited for the silence to take effect.
Kouichi narrowed his eyes on a single pebble on the ground. In the distance, he swore he heard a rumbling. "That's..." he began in a whisper, watching in amazement as the rock began jumping up and down. "Is...that someone's stomach? Because I really hope it is..." Swallowing, Kouichi looked up, noting that the walls were shaking as well. "Earthquake?" He had to yell over the noise for Kanaye to hear him.
Shaking his head, Kanaye replied, "Something else!"
Something feels wrong. It isn't me...but then what is it? Kouichi frowned, less worried about what was coming by the second.
The light was flooding in again.
Why? Am I the only one who sees this? Kouichi let out a weak cry as he felt himself become immobile once more. Leave me alone!
"Kimura, move!" Kanaye growled.
Kouichi felt his eyes widen as he was yanked back. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out several forms of breathless people. "Kanaye...Kouji," he whispered to himself. But those other two? He squinted, hoping it would improve his eyesight.
"Kouichi, are you okay?" someone whispered beside him.
Kako! W-wait...why can't I talk? Kako! Kouji! Someone? LET ME TALK! Kouichi felt himself shrink. He could have sworn he was mouthing something. He felt his mouth moving. Please, let me talk...
One of the two figures he couldn't make out walked up to him. "Kako, how long has he been like this?"
Ms. Kawai's voice! Kouichi felt his heart flip with joy. Maybe now I can talk? Ms. Kawai-no...
Kako's voice answered hesitantly, "After Duskmon...well...I don't know...and we went to get Lobomon's egg. And now. But...I...don't think it was this bad last time!"
"Well no duh? Digimon, Kako, you couldn't tell a seizure from a cold!"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY?"
Hideki. Kako, lower your voice. My head...hurts. Kouichi tried opening his mouth again. Pain seared through him, traveling through his veins. A groan escaped him, or so he thought-he wasn't sure if anyone else heard.
"Rai, what happened...?" Kako's voice again, more anxious than he had heard it ever before. "He's okay, isn't he? He isn't going to die, right?"
"Yeah, that'll be the day. Kako, if Kouichi dies, we'll all die. Oh...no wait...that isn't funny." Hideki sounded annoyed as he muttered aloud, "That's true."
"Whatever! What's wrong with him?" This time, Kouji was the one being snappy.
"Shut up and let me see..." Kouichi felt himself being lifted up. It hadn't occurred to him that he had even fallen. He was sure he had been leaning against the wall. "Um...you know what? I have no idea, actually," Rai suddenly admitted, looking at Kouichi from one angle and then another. "I guess he'll have to figure it out himself."
"You're kidding." Kouji again.
A snort. Kanaye, Kouichi guessed. He was right. As irked as ever, Kanaye snapped, "We need to get going. If we stay in one place too long, Lucemon will get us."
Rai sounded equally annoyed. "Well we need to live with it! Would you like to carry Kouichi?"
Am I causing all this trouble? But I can't wake up. What did Duskmon say? Lowemon...? Someone, please, help me...
'You will have to let go. It's best if you do so now,' Duskmon said.
Let go. Can I really? Anyone? Ideas would be nice...
Pick yourself, Kouichi. Only you can choose. Hurry up. You heard Kanaye, Lowemon reminded him.
Memories...are just memories, then? But I was there...then...maybe...it's experience? Not memories? Kouichi let out a sigh, feeling his eyes shut. The blur was gone momentarily, the headache was clearing, but he could still feel the ruins of it. Time to clean up.
"I'm...fine," Kouichi said slowly, as if learning how to speak. "I'm fine," he repeated.
"You're okay?" Hideki suddenly blurted, staring at Kouichi as if he was a zombie.
Kouichi returned the look with a confused gaze of his own. "Yeah...?"
"Finally!" Kako threw her arms around Kouichi, releasing a shaky breath. "Don't...do that. It's scary."
Reddening, Kouichi asked in a quiet voice, "C-could you let go…please?"
Kouji noted this with a grin. Raising an eyebrow, he cackled, "Hey, is Kouichi being allergic to girls again?"
"At least he knows how to behave around girls," Rai said loudly, directing a glare at Hideki.
"Shush. Lead the way, Kanaye!" Hideki pointed to the right passage, then stopped, seeing a giant boulder blocking it. "Oh, wait...that's right. The piece of junk decided to block the way, huh?" He scratched the back of his head and turned to the others. "Anyone care to break it?"
"Let me!" Kouji said quickly, whipping out his D-Tector. "Spirit-"
"Wait! That's what's wrong!" Kouichi suddenly shouted, pointing at the D-Tector. "You said Lobomon went straight into the D-Tector! But...but...why aren't any of the other digimon in the D-Tector?" He gazed from Kouji to Hideki to Kanaye to Rai. "It...doesn't make sense!"
Rai gestured to Kouji. "Well, Lobomon was in a digi-egg, right?" she asked. When this was confirmed with a nod, she continued, "He isn't developed yet."
"Oh...n-no...wait..." Kouichi paused, staring at the D-Tector for several seconds before bursting out into laughter. "I'm...going insane, huh?" he said aloud.
"I'll say," Kako snorted. She pulled him to his feet and pushed him forward. "Well, if Lobomon isn't developed yet, someone else break the boulder. And how'd it get to following you two anyway?" the girl asked Rai. "I thought that was just in the movies!"
Shrugging, Hideki replied, "Then Lucemon must love the movies."
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"Um, so what's this place?" Junpei asked aloud, taking a casual look from one side to another. Talk about bright...it looks like a baby's nursery.
Rai took a few steps forward and turned around to face the group. Gesturing behind her, she said, "Welcome to the Core."
There was silence until Kako blurted, "But it's so bright!"
"But it's so bright," Hideki mimicked in his highest falsetto. "Oh no! I think I'm blind!"
The girl snorted and pushed her brother to the side. "Har, har...very funny."
Hideki just bowed with a grin. "Why thank you!" he said, taking another bow.
"Shut up," Rai snapped, looking serious. "Now you're all smart children," she said, stressing the 'children' as she looked at Hideki, "so of course you know that the Core is only so small. In fact, it's actually pretty large. Think of it like a nucleus of a cell. We need to head to the nucleolus-"
"Huh?" This outburst was mainly from Shinya, though Tomoki was equally confused.
Shaking her head, Rai muttered, "Never mind..." With a sigh, she explained, "We need to get to the actual center. That's where Lucemon will be. And as of now, we're on his grounds. We have to expect everything."
Ritsuo rose a hand and shouted out, "Including a ten minute break in which Lucemon provides us milkshakes?"
"Milkshakes that could be poisoned," came the dry reply. "Anyway, Kanaye had a point earlier. We really can't stay in one place too long, or Lucemon'll find us."
Now they're listening. Kanaye just snorted and walked past Rai. "It's this way. I suggest you be on your guard at all times," he said, turning his head slightly and looking back to focus his gaze on Kako. "Especially certain people." Looking back in front of him, Kanaye smirked and continued through the nearest tunnel.
"I have a question, though!" Tomoki shouted. "Why is the Core underground?"
Rai, who had been ready to follow Kanaye, turned around and explained, "Well you see, the Core was always underground. We were standing on top of it the entire time. I guess Duskmon and Hideki just spared us the trouble."
As they all began following Kanaye, Tomoki found himself muttering, "Why does it seem like they're making this up as they go?"
Shinya just shrugged. Tossing Takuya's goggles up in the air (he had stolen them without his brother noticing), he guessed, "Probably because half the time they are?"
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"Yeah...um...we're lost, aren't we?" Takuya asked, gazing around the room. They were back where they had started, in the same, colorful room. All the bright colors reminded Takuya of puke.
Kanaye frowned, stepping forward, then to his right, then to his left. Growling, he clenched his fists and snapped, "Naoko, it's her, isn't it?"
"Which was what I was trying to tell you about...oh, I don't know...five thousand times?" Naoko retorted.
"Honestly, listen to the girl!" Fujitaka muttered under his breath.
At this, Ritsuo snorted. Smirking at the younger boy, he said, "You're just saying that because she's your girlfriend."
"So what?"
"Biased!"
"And what about you? Anyone gives you candy, and you'll totally root for them. Hell, that's how Lucemon got you, huh?" Fujitaka sneered.
"QUIET!" Angrily, Kanaye whirled around. His eyes almost looked blood red, more so than anyone else's, and they were all lacking sleep. "Where is she?" he demanded, walking up to Naoko.
"That...will take some time," the girl admitted, folding her arms and looking perplexed.
"We don't have time!"
"Well shut up then, and let me think! This is Ai we're talking about, after all," Naoko snapped, rivaling Kanaye's look of annoyance.
"Ai?" Kouichi pushed his way to the front, a scowl on her face. "Not her!"
"Her," Kanaye replied in a grave tone, accompanying this with a slight nod.
A groan escaped from both Kouichi and Takuya. "Wait...is she that bad? I thought her ideas for the dance were pretty good," Kouji commented, looking confused.
Kako walked up to the bandana boy and just glared at him. "May I remind you," she said slowly, "she's the same...insult to girls...that attempted to blackmail Kouichi into a date and tried spreading rumors about me?"
Kouichi, who had been nodding in agreement with Takuya with every word the girl had said suddenly stopped and looked at her curiously. "What rumors?"
"Um...so, Naoko, find anything yet?" Kako asked loudly, twitching nervously.
Letting out a sigh, Naoko turned to them, looking slightly worried. "Well...for one thing, I wish Duskmon were here. I have a few questions...other than that, I'm guessing it's some kind of illusion. Ai loves tricks...what can I say?"
"Lucemon loves the movies, Ai loves tricks. How very interesting," Hideki remarked, "but may I remind you that we have absolutely no time whatsoever?"
Nodding, Kouichi murmured, "He's right. We need to get this over with, and fast."
"Right! Now, where would this...Ai be?" Hideki looked around, sniffing the air and ignoring the strange looks he received. "And...why does it smell like perfume?"
"Oops." The bright colors faded into dark gray slabs of rock. Above, there was a protruding rock, and there stood Ai, dressed in her usually bright colors.
"Gaaah!" Takuya covered his eyes. "I'm bliiiiind..."
Junpei snorted and pried the goggle boy's hands off his face. "If you're blind, I'm a dancing monkey. Well, do you see me dancing?" he demanded, once Takuya's eyes were opened.
Silence.
"Can I get back to you on that?"
"NO!"
"FOCUS!" Izumi barked, hitting the two upside the head. She turned her attention to Ai, looking very incensed. "And what do you want?" the girl snapped, folding her arms and walking towards the other girl as she hopped down from the slab of rock.
Ai just laughed lightly as she landed gently on the floor in a kneeling position, then rose on her feet. Instead of answering Izumi, she walked straight to Kanaye and, huffing, folded her arms and declared with a pout, "You promised you'd always be on my side."
"You're a real brat. I can't stand you for more than a second," Kanaye snapped. "The only reason I made up that lie was because of my mother."
"And your mother will be upset to know that you've betrayed your family!"
"Nonsense! Lucemon's a thieving pig!"
"Oh really?"
"Hey, I really hate to interrupt this lover's spat, but...we really have to be going," Kouji said, pushing Kanaye aside and staring straight into Ai's eyes. "Either you let us go, or we'll go anyway."
She just let out a small laugh. Stepping up to Kouji, Ai whispered, "You're really cute, but it's a pity..."
"Uhh..."
"Out of the way!" Kanaye pushed the bandana boy to the side, cursing slightly as a knife's blade shot out of nowhere and skimmed past his sleeve, ripping it open and leaving the skin untouched. Kouji fell to the ground, looking up at the two, positively stunned. In the meantime, Kanaye examined his sleeve, then ripped it off. "Yes, brat. Are you happy? You ruined my favorite shirt."
"Favorite?" Kako practically screeched. "It's ugly."
"It's called...oh, never mind! Just shut up and get going!" Kanaye snapped, glaring back at her. "We'll take care of Ai!"
"We?" Kouji echoed, rising to his feet.
Stepping forward, Fujitaka snorted, "Duh. We." A wide gesture to Naoko and Ritsuo answered the rest.
"Ohh...right. In that case, let's make our leave." Kouji glanced at his brother and nodded.
Kouichi bit his lower lip, trying to come to a consensus. "B-but..." he began, until Hideki grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him roughly.
"Look, they'll be fine. Except...Shinya should technically be with them, but he's too inexperienced at the moment. Now listen here. Kanaye is almost as good with a sword as you are, if not ten times more lethal. You're too nice for your own good. Learn when to let go!" Hideki said, letting him go and racing after Kouji and the others, who were following Shinya and Tomoki through a small opening under the protruding rock Ai had been standing on.
Let go. Like Duskmon said. Kouichi took one look at Kanaye and nodded. "Good luck," he breathed, running past the boy and straight through the opening to catch up to the others.
A snort escaped the others as they watched Kouichi leave. "You'll need it more," Kanaye muttered, his gaze set on Ai. "Ready, everyone...?"
Still, he really wasn't sure who would need it more.
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They were running.
Why are we running...? Aloud, he voiced his thoughts, "Why are we running?"
They all came to a halt and began wondering the same thing. Kouichi just shook his head and snapped, "Keep going!" It didn't feel safe, staying in one place like that. In fact, he preferred running.
Was that why they were running?
They were running.
Why...?
Kouichi shook his head and continued to run until they saw a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, so faint, Kouichi began to wonder if it really existed. It didn't seem to be getting any closer.
"This is real," he whispered to himself, wincing as he tripped over a rock and was sent sprawling forward.
"Kouichi...?" Kouji stopped and turned back with a frown appearing on his face. "You seem really out of it. Come on, hurry up."
"This is real, Kouji," the older twin repeated, rising to his feet. "Not digital. It's real. You realize how much trouble we're in if we don't do this right? We're at an advantage in the real world, but Lucemon conveniently brought up this Area. And why is that?"
"Keep running and tell me!" Kouji yelled, grabbing his brother's hand and yanking him forward.
Kouichi did as his brother requested and continued, "In the Digital World, we're the ones at a disadvantage. We're humans, even as digimon. But closing the Area...I'm not sure if..." He let out a frustrated sigh. "We secured the points, but that isn't good enough! I actually want to live my life, not fight. I always figured if there's too many factors, you have to make sure that you look through all of them to make sure everything is perfect, but..."
"But...?"
"But by looking through all of them, you tend to forget the important factors. And that's all I want to concentrate on right now. What matters to me most."
The bandana boy just grinned. "And that would be everything, right?"
Kouichi returned this with a smile. Pushing forward with his brother, he nodded. "Right."
They reached the light and continued through, catching up with the rest of their friends.
Kouichi nearly choked in surprise, seeing Piximon flying around a familiar face, much to Kako's distress. Laughter bubbled through him, but he managed to keep it hidden.
"Marise..."
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Kanaye bit his lower lip, feeling the digivice in his pocket. Never once had he wanted to digivolve, and he didn't want to start now. He was confident in his own skills with a sword, or his fists.
However, he wasn't one to hit a girl.
Everyone else was already digivolved, ready to fight, just waiting for him.
For him to give an order or for him to digivolve?
Kanaye's grip on the device tightened, his eyes shut, and his head bowed down. "Let's..." Maybe...just this once. His eyes flashed open and he looked up. His discomfort was painfully obvious. At least I digivolved.
"Woah...Kanaye digivolved," Arbormon remarked to Mercurymon, glancing sideways at Devimon. "This might get interesting.
"Oh, my...digimon," Ai snorted, digivolving herself. LadyDevimon stood before them, looking amused.
Ai always looked amused. Kanaye supposed it was only habit. But something about her eyes made him wonder what the reason was this time.
Clearing her throat, Ranamon suggested, "Maybe an attack would be nice about now...?"
"Uh...right!" the other two stuttered, returning their attention to their current problem.
"Dark vapor!"
"Roundhouse punt!"
"Dark reflection!"
The attacks were easily evaded, and LadyDevimon just laughed, turning to Devimon and awaiting his attack.
I don't want to, Devimon thought, looking annoyed. Evil wing. Touch of evil. Why does it have to be evil? Instead, he brought out his sword and stared at it. Compared to his current state, it was small. The only reason it came to him was because of the jewel.
He didn't want that. Holding a hand over the jewel embedded just below the base of the blade, Devimon muttered something, smirking to himself as the black jewel shattered, resulting in everyone falling silent in surprise.
LadyDevimon was the only one who gasped, pulling herself backwards and into the air in horror. "You dare reject Lucemon's gifts?" she hissed, eyes narrowing on him.
Devimon stared at the blade, allowing his energy to pulse through it. I wonder if this is how Kimura felt when he was possessed by Duskmon. Lost in darkness. And yet, it's the only way we can fight. Perhaps that is why I hate him. By now, the sword was completely enveloped in darkness controlled by Devimon alone, its length doubled.
"Reject...?" he repeated. "No...renounce. Discard. Deny. They aren't gifts, Ai. They're just the strings he uses to control us. We're mere puppets to him." Devimon felt the sneer slip onto his face, the sneer he had been hiding ever since Ai stormed out of the room. "I'm not letting a worm like him control me, Ai. Sad thing is, I thought you had sense to see the same way. Pity, really. I guess we really aren't in the same boat. I'm several ahead."
"Wh-why...you..."
Finally, he could be in control of his own destiny. His life had changed so much...he wasn't sure who he was anymore. He didn't care, either.
In front of him, LadyDevimon was gathering enough energy to destroy all of the Area, or so he guessed. It didn't matter.
"You..." he muttered, brandishing the sword, "you aren't my concern. I have better things to do." Smirking, he extended the blade forward, awed by the straightness of the outer coat of darkness. "Go away." Mercilessly, Devimon swung the blade down onto LadyDevimon, watching it shatter.
Watching as LadyDevimon lost control of the energy she had been gathering.
The dark orb disappeared, enraging the deviless. "Now!" Mercurymon shouted, following this command by sending an attack towards the unsuspecting LadyDevimon. "Dark reflection!"
"Dark vapor!"
"Power pummel!"
"Let's change this, shall we?" Devimon drew himself up, gaze set on a shrieking LadyDevimon. "Dark wing!"
After all, he thought, watching as the attack hit her head-on, was it not Shakespeare who claimed in the character of Romeo that a rose by any other name is still a rose? Thus, the same applies for attacks. He smiled at the sight of Ai's fractal code and de-digivolved, walking up to the girl as she collapsed into a pitiful heap on the floor. He hadn't expected her to be a challenge, but merely himself.
"Get up," Kanaye muttered, gazing down at the girl in disgust.
Her breath was audible as she looked up at him defiantly. "Why?" Ai snapped. "After all we worked for, why are you throwing our work away? Is it because they'll win?"
Win...? That isn't why, is it? Looking aside and contemplating the question, Kanaye found himself muttering, mainly to himself, "It isn't a question of winning, but of what is right. I'm human, Ai. I refuse to be a slave to anyone, digimon or human. And besides..." Meeting her eyes once more, Kanaye mumbled, "I don't feel like playing along with destiny." Kanaye released a breath, feeling as if all his worries had been blown away. He continued to walk past Ai, past the shards of metal from his sword, and through the entrance that Kouichi and the others had gone through. Perhaps redemption would await him at the other end.
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A/N-
I was going to throw in a song ('Realize' sung by melody.) and end it with "Marise," but I figured, break from horrible song-chapters is needed. It was a pretty good moment. Unintentionally formed. XP I was listening to 'Realize' (I don't have the English lyrics memorized), but somehow the words just came to form that song. So I went on a craze, trying to listen to music when writing, believing it would help me. Because in all honesty, Kouichi's going a bit too crazy for me. He just won't stop changing. I think I got him this chapter. Kanaye's part was especially hard. He's been changing on me too...
Stupid boys.
Thank you for the reviews! They were awesome-Lady Hikari-Yami, GemmaniGirl
This should be wrapped up in...three chapters?
Review or PM or Flame.