Chapter 23: A Touch of Venom
"Poisonous words, poisonous tongues,
The one that speaks out to divide;
Her evil traced in every syllable,
Will not so willing let go.
What worse fate waits?
Than for the virus to slip
Around the barrier of fire and light."
Year: August 1, 2308
Location: Nature's Wind, Americanus North Tri-Border
"They've finally caught up…" Rachel's voice was quiet as she peered out the eastern window, watching the black smoke rising over the machine-land as sunset neared.
"That'll be Chaos again, only his fire burns that wildly…" Crystal shifted her gaze from the window to the other destined as her fingers tightened around her digivice, "We'd better get over there…"
Strike nodded, his own digivice at the ready as he took off out the door with the younger ones while Ariel lingered by the window a moment longer.
"I do not like this…something feels wrong here…" The water-dweller started as Crystal suddenly dropped to her knees, the younger girl's eyes wide as the crest of vision glowed with a soft hum. "What is wrong now?"
Crystal blinked, trying to clear her vision as she made out her partner's worried face and the neko crouched beside her, "That…no…oh, no… We have to go now, we have to stop him…"
"Stop who? What is happening?" Ariel sighed as the younger destined dashed off without answering, the aquatic neko shaking her head as she rose again, "Come on Pearl, I know you've been wanting to join the fight…"
Strike slowed as they neared the destruction, the skyscrapers and laboratories that made up much of the machine-land were gutted and still blazing. Twisted metal frames dotting the immediate area as Higermon crouched over his next target.
Further away Persiamon and BlackAeroVdramon tore through another building while Doumon hovered over the chaos watching them approach.
"They're really out in full force…how should we tackle them?" Ryan stood between his two partners as he surveyed the rampage, his tokens loaded and his digivice at the ready.
"Greed and Lust fight best together…we need to separate them and knock out Chaos…" Strike shifted his gaze between the four DarkDestined, lingering on the Doumon as he registered the sign of wrath on her shoulder, "Another Wrath…Pride must have thrown a tantrum again…"
"They won't separate easily…" Ryan hit the power-up button then, bio-merging with impmon to skullsatamon while Curls digivolved to seasarmon.
"We have a team too, come on Marcus…" Lucy digivolved with her own partner to angewomon while her brother bio-merged to zudomon.
"Be careful…" Strike muttered, watching them take off as Rachel and Wild followed, but he was interrupted by a new sound to his left.
A lynxmon crouched in the narrow alley between two ruined buildings, its eyes narrowed as it stalked towards him while behind it stood an all too familiar shape, LadyDevimon.
"Pride, what are you doing out of your little cave?" Strike hit the power-up button as he and his partner digivolved to flaremon, not wasting a second as he stared down the DarkDestined leader and her pet.
"Oh, don't worry, this is a special delivery…Envy, let's take this somewhere quieter…" LadyDevimon stepped closer, her claws raised as a shadow-port opened behind Strike.
The lynxmon growled and leapt forward, bowling into the blazing lion as they both fell through the portal.
"This will be fun…" LadyDevimon glanced to where the others were still locked in battle, smiling a moment before she followed them through the portal and let it close behind her.
Crystal stopped short as she saw the swirling darkness of a shadow-port, her gaze locked on the shape disappearing into it, "Pride…she's here already…no…" She snapped around to where the water-dweller was following a few paces behind, trying her best to control her voice, "Ariel, where is Strike?"
The water-neko paused, her head cocked as she listened to their surroundings. It was a well-known fact that water-dwellers were very attuned to their environments and could quickly pick up things others couldn't. After a few moments though she shook her head and pointed to the battle raging before them, "I sense the younger ones engaged in battle with four of the dark ones but Strike is not here… What have you seen to make you worry so?"
Crystal shifted her gaze to the battle, marking how the younger ones were faring while her fingers tightened around her digivice. The twins were side by side against Lust and Greed, holding their own against the older DarkDestined, while Wild and Rachel had teamed up to try and take out Chaos. Closer to them Ryan and Curls were circling the new Wrath and of the fights it seemed to be going the best so far.
"They can handle this…" Ariel was at her side now, leaning against her cane as she too took stock of the fight, "Where are we needed?"
"I don't know…it was so fast…" Crystal's eyes suddenly locked on a shape drifting towards them, "Falcomon, that's what we need…"
The bird digimon dropped to the ground before them, a crest held in his beak as he studied the two destined, "It has been a while Crystal, I do hope you have not forgotten your old partner…hunting for the remain crests has proved a daunting task, but I am ready to claim my place at your side…"
"You found it?" Crystal took the crest from him, smiling at the symbol of knowledge across it.
"You have another partner?" Ariel straightened and folded her cane before slipping it into her bag, "Why have I not heard of this?"
Crystal glanced back at the neko as she clicked the new crest her into tag, her digivice flashing to indicate the acceptance of a new partner, "I didn't, not really… Falcomon is a wild digimon I worked with before the fall…" She shook her head suddenly and hit the power-up button on her digivice, "No time for that…Leo, you stay here and help the others while we find Strike…"
Her partner, now a leomon, nodded and took off to help the twins while Crystal jumped onto peckmon's back and helped Ariel up, "We have to find him fast…they can't have gone far…"
Strike grunted as the lynxmon pinned him to the ground, struggling to get a grip on the smaller feline as he heard Pride approaching again.
"Good, good…flaremon are quite harmless when you negate their speed advantage, but you needn't worry…this won't take long…" LadyDevimon crouched beside him now, her left hand transformed into a spear as a dark poison glittered on the tip.
Strike growled low, knocking the lynxmon to the side as he struggled back to his feet but the fallen angel was ready. Her right hand latched onto his shoulder as he felt a sharp pain on his left side, the spear point pricking his neck as Pride's element activated.
Pride stepped back as the virus took root, devolving back to her neko appearance with Dema beside her as they watched the great lion devolve back to Strike and sunmon.
Envy paced before her, retaining ultimate level for the time being as she watched the fallen destined leader, "What now?"
Pride had closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate on the alpha's call but she opened them again to regard the younger DarkDestined, "Now? We retreat and plan…the virus will slowly eat at him, erasing the crest's trait…and splitting the destined in the process…" She turned and opened another shadow-port as she spoke, smiling at the prospect of what was to come, "They won't be an obstacle any longer…and now we can turn to the wolf…"
Envy watched her disappear through the portal, casting a glance back at Strike before following without another word.
Peckmon slowed as they neared the neutral border, another shadow-port closing before them as he caught sight of the collapsed destined.
Crystal leapt off the bird digimon's back as they got closer, immediately dashing to Strike's side as she took in the scene. "No, no, no…please be okay…"
Ariel dropped to the ground beside her as Peckmon finally came to a stop, the water-neko focusing her element as she scanned the area. "Pride is gone but her element is still here…" she knelt beside Crystal as she spoke, her fingers finding the wound at his neck where it was already swelling, "We need a healer…"
"We need to get him back to base…" Crystal pulled out her digivice again and hit the message button, the vision still vivid in her mind as she stepped over to where Flare had collapsed in his in-training form.
"Something is wrong with his crest…" Ariel's hand had shifted lower now, grazing the tag that carried the crest of courage.
Crystal lifted Flare into her free arm and turned back to them as she focused on the once bright orange crest. The color had almost completely drained from it, the sun-like symbol barely visible as it pulsed with a faint light. Her gaze drifted from the crest to the wound again, the single point spreading out across his neck and shoulder in a tangled web of angry black lines.