Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Chapter 4: Kick It Back Up, Kazemon
"Should we take him back to Seraphimon's castle?"
"No, it's too far, it's getting dark and Yutaka and Kouji are exhausted."
"We'd better make camp here. Tommy, can you, Shinya, Bokomon and Neemon look for some firewood, meat apples and water? Yamato, help me move Takuya. Kouichi, Taiya, and Zoe get some leaves to make a cushion for Takuya. Kouji, Yutaka, you two just rest, you look like you're going to collapse," JP rapped out and grabbed a hold of Takuya's upper body. He sensed that he was getting looks and yelled.
"Stop looking at me like that and do your jobs! Or do you want his wounds to get infected?" Yamato then hurried over to Takuya and got a hold of Takuya's lower body, helping JP move the unconscious leader to a safe spot. Tommy and his group had scuttled off to find everything they were assigned to look for. Kouichi, Taiya and Zoe began to pick leaves for the cushion as did Yutaka and Kouji, to JP's dismay.
"Hey, take a rest you two." Yutaka shook his head as he continued to gather leaves while Kouji ignored JP and helped Kouichi. JP muttered something about stubbornness but didn't say anything on the matter. Soon the 'bed' was done and Yamato and JP gently put Takuya on it. Tommy, Bokomon, Neemon and Shinya came out of the woods, their arms full of wood and apples.
"We found a stream near the meat apple tree," Tommy said as he deposited his load.
"Good, go back and get some water," JP instructed. "Bokomon, you and Neemon get the apples ready to cook."
"JP, how are Tommy and Shinya going to carry the water? We used Tommy's over-sized hat last time and it disappeared," Kouji pointed out.
"Why not use this?" Zoe asked holding up a bowl shaped leaf.
"Good idea, Z."
Tommy and Shinya each got a leaf and dashed back to the stream. JP then clapped his hands together.
"Well, let's get a fire going. No Kouji, you rest. Yamato, Kouichi and me will start it."
After five minutes of trying to get a fire going, their attempts were still futile as the ember died before they could coax it to a small flame. The three didn't notice as Taiya walked up to them, knelt down to the pile of firewood waiting to be lit and pulled out two things. In a few seconds she got the leaves and twigs to catch fire. By the time the three boys noticed that there was a fire going, Taiya had gone over to the tree where she had left her backpack.
"Who started the fire?" Yamato asked.
"Taiya," Kouji said, "but I don't know how she did it."
Tommy and Shinya appeared then, bringing the two now full leaves into camp. Everyone grabbed a couple sticks of meat apples and poked them into the ground near the fire to cook. They all stayed near the fire, partly for warmth and partly to make sure their apples didn't burn. Zoe sat next to Takuya, cleaning and bandaging his wounds with some cloths JP provided.
Soon the apples were done and, at JP, Kouichi and Tommy's urgings, the new Chosen tried their apple. Yamato bit into his apple and wondered how the 'apple' tasted like chicken. JP commented on fried chicken, Tommy found his to be beefsteak and Kouji got deer.
Zoe didn't eat; instead she was tending Takuya's wounds. She gently moved his bangs to see a bleeding cut on his forehead. She quickly grabbed a cloth and applied pressure to the area. When the bleeding had stopped, she carefully bandaged it. After she had bandaged the wound, Zoe noticed Taiya sitting next to her.
"Take a break and eat. I'll tend him while you eat," she said to Zoe. When Zoe hesitated Taiya added, "You can watch if you want. But you still need to eat."
Zoe nodded and got some of the cooked apples. She then watched as Taiya carefully cleaned and bandaged Takuya's injuries. At one point, she paused after she cleaned the blood away; looking at the brunet as if he had said something. The moment past and she bandaged the rest of the injuries.
"Thanks, Taiya," Zoe said.
"No problem."
Both girls looked over to the others, watching as JP taped Bokomon's mouth with tape that came from who-knows-where. Yamato went over to help JP and everyone was laughing except for Neemon, who was oblivious to everything around him. Yutaka, then Kouji stifled a yawn and JP paused in torturing Bokomon.
"Go to sleep you two. You need your strength since you're the only ones who can Spirit Evolve." Both of them nodded and walked off to their sleeping area. Taiya then stood up, walked over to where she had left her backpack and sat down. Kouichi walked over to her shortly after, sat down and began to talk to her. Zoe smiled and looked back to Takuya, her smile fading. She then began to play with his bangs.
Soon only she and JP were awake. JP had volunteered to take the first watch shift. Yamato was close by, having offered to take the second shift. JP looked at Zoe.
"Get some sleep, Z. We can watch him," he whispered. Zoe shook her head and looked around at the group. Tommy was sleeping next to Yutaka, obviously worried about his brother. Shinya, on the other hand, didn't seem at all worried about Takuya and slept as far away from his brother as possible. Kouichi slept near Taiya. Bokomon and Neemon each found a tree branch to sleep on. Zoe smiled at the sight of a bigger group and prayed that Shinya would behave…however, the gods begged to differ.
"Shinya, why did you eat the rest of the meat apples?" JP yelled at the 13-year-old.
"I was hungry. What is the big deal about that?" Shinya retorted.
"The big deal is that there are other people!"
"So?"
"You need to think about others too!"
That was Zoe's alarm clock that morning. Tommy and Yamato were trying to calm down their friends to no avail, Kouichi was walking up to help Tommy and Yamato, and…Yutaka, Taiya and Kouji? The three were not in sight. She looked over to Takuya, who was still unconscious. Removing the old bandages, Zoe replaced them with new ones. Takuya seemed paler than before. After Zoe had changed the bandages, Lobomon, Mercurymon and Taiya came back.
"Where were you three?" Zoe asked, everyone else either watching or trying to stop the argument. Taiya ignored the question and walked over to the argument. After everyone got out of the way, she got a leaf full of water and poured it over JP and Shinya, successfully stopping the fight.
"Will you two be quiet? You're giving me a headache and we're supposed to be a team. You're doing a real good job of it," Taiya told them before they could yell at her. Lobomon and Mercurymon then neatly dropped their loads, which turned out to be meat apples. The two then de-evolved.
"She's right. You're getting on my nerves as well," Kouji agreed before yawning. Kouichi looked at the two.
"Didn't you get any sleep?"
"My guess is we slept for two or three hours. Yamato was too tired to notice us leave," Yutaka answered.
"You should have rested! You need energy to Spirit Evolve later!"
"We aren't worried about ourselves; we're more worried about Takuya."
Everyone sat by the fire Taiya had relit and cooked their apples, except for Shinya because JP wouldn't let eat any because he had eaten enough on his watch. Kouichi was talking to Taiya and Tommy watched his brother worriedly.
"Are you sure you're ok Nii-san?" Yutaka gave a small grin and nodded before yawning again. Yamato changed the subject.
"Did you find anything interesting?"
"Found some Bakemon trying to sneak up on us and scanned them before they could attack."
"From what they were talking about, Daemon wants us out of the way so that he can create a digimon that can open gates to take him to different worlds."
"Create? Bokomon, is that possible?" Zoe asked the Keeper of the Book. Bokomon pulled out the Book and looked.
"Not that the Book tells of. If this is correct, then they must have gotten it mixed up. He must want to revive Dimensiomon."
"Who is Dimensiomon?"
"Let me see…I don't know. There is hardly any information. Actually, there isn't anything except for what we already heard. Maybe I can update the Book when we get to Bookin Town…"
"Bookin Town? Why didn't you go there when we first came here?"
"I couldn't. Don't you remember the state of the Digital World when you first came here Tommy? It was being scanned and most the land was gone. Bookin Town had been scanned before you all came."
"That explains it. So, sub-leader, when do we leave?" JP asked looking at Kouji. Kouji blinked and stuttered as everyone looked at him.
"What?"
"Well, you and Taki were always fighting for the leaders spot and since Taki's unconscious it's only natural that you lead."
"Fine, but stop staring at me!"
"One question, who's going to carry Takuya? After all, he won't be able to walk," Taiya pointed out.
Everyone looked at each other. Good question and point. After debating it, they decided that JP, Yamato and Kouichi would each carry Takuya on the way to Bookin Town. When they started out, Takuya on JP's back, they met up with some digimon that the original Chosen had helped before. Shinya muttered under his breath and gave JP death glares, which were ignored.
After a little bit, Takuya was transferred to Yamato. Zoe kept behind the carrier to check on Takuya often. The day was calm until it was interrupted by a controlled digimon.
A large humanoid-rabbit digimon jumped in front of the Chosen, growling and snarling dangerously. Neemon began to scream his head off and everyone else was in shock about the large digimon.
Digimon Status:
Name: Antiramon
Attribute: Vaccine
Level: Ultimate
Type: Holy Beast
Attacks: Ashipatoravana, Treasure Axe
Neemon: Ahh! It's Cherubimon's ultimate stage, Antiramon! Antiramon is usually kind and won't attack unless there is no choice, but this one looks like Cherubimon when he was controlled by Lucemon! Watch out for Antiramon's Treasure Axe and Ashipatoravana, there deadly!
"Everyone stay back! Let's go Yutaka!" Kouji yelled, pulling out his D-Tector as Yutaka did the same. Both then began to Spirit Evolve.
Frontier Spirit Evolution Theme: With the Will
Lobomon's armor form drew itself onto Kouji's D-Tector as Mercurymon's armor form drew itself onto Yutaka's D-Tector. Kouji crossed his arms, right over left, and watched as a ring of Fractal-Code appeared around his left hand while Yutaka then crossed his arms, left over right, and watched as the ring of Fractal-Code appeared on his left hand. Uncrossing his arms, Kouji began to scan the code in front of him before raising his hands over his head and Yutaka uncrossed and re-crossed his arms twice, he began to scan the code after the second uncrossing.
"Execute!" they yelled in unison.
"Spirit Evolution!" After scanning the data, Kouji's right hand dropped to his side. His left hand dropped a second later and, when it dropped, his clothes were ripped off. Lobomon's armor appeared behind him and then gave off three bright flashes of light. After Yutaka scanned the data, his clothes were ripped off. Mercurymon's armor appeared behind him, in the second form, and looked like light was being reflected.
The armor began to appear around Kouji and then compressed onto him. His eyes were filled with light for a moment before it disappeared to reveal crimson red eyes in place of navy blue. Jumping down, he landed on the platform, slashed with his sabers before sheathing them, and stood up firing his laser once, completing the evolution.
"Lobomon!"
The armor began to appear around him and then compressed onto him. Jumping down, he landed on the platform, and held up one of his shields before changing it to the other, completing the evolution.
"Mercurymon!"
Both Mercurymon and Lobomon got ready to fight as Antiramon snarled. Antiramon glanced at each Warrior before attacking Lobomon.
As Antiramon attacked using 'Treasure Axe', Lobomon unsheathed his sabers and blocked the attack. He then looked over to Mercurymon.
"Get everyone out of here! I'll keep the over-grown rabbit busy!" Mercurymon nodded and began to get the others past the battle. Top priority was the injured and unconscious Takuya, with Yamato with him. The next group was JP, Tommy and Shinya, the younger Kanbara in a headlock, complements of JP. As Mercurymon came back for the next group, Lobomon began to get into trouble.
Antiramon hit him with 'Ashipatoravana' and Lobomon was sent flying and slammed into a tree. After that, he de-evolved into Kouji and slumped to the ground. Kouichi noticed and alerted Mercurymon.
"Mercurymon, Kouji needs help!" Mercurymon cursed and ran over to stand in front of Kouji. Antiramon then attacked with 'Ashipatoravana'.
"Dark Reflection!" After being hit by its own attack, instead of having its Fractal-Code appear, it glared at Mercurymon who sweat dropped.
"Shit! I made it pissed!"
"Mercurymon, look at Antiramon's arm! There's something on its arm!" Kouichi yelled pointing to a dark band on Antiramon's right arm. Mercurymon nodded and attacked, aiming for Antiramon's arm to no success. Kouichi led everyone else into the bushes in hopes of being safe, but at that moment, Mercurymon was sent soaring into a tree trunk causing it to split in half because of impact. He then de-evolved to Yutaka, beaten and unconscious. After that, Kouichi jumped up and put his baseball skills to the test by pelting as many rocks at Antiramon.
'I have to help them! Kouji and Yutaka are tired and injured…and Takuya is still unconscious and injured! Kazemon, please help me protect everybody!'
A breeze began to stir in the trees as Zoe felt a familiar presence come with the breeze. She concentrated on the power being sent to her as Antiramon shifted its sight away from Kouichi to Zoe. Taiya ran over to Kouji, who had regained his feet but was leaning against the tree listening to the breeze, to move him away from Antiramon. Bokomon and Neemon found a hollow tree and hid inside it.
Antiramon was blown into the air and Kazemon flew over to the flying rabbit digimon. When se was close enough, Kazemon kicked Antiramon, so that it hit a tree. Kazemon then landed and faced Zoe.
"Zoe. Will you fight with me once again?" Zoe nodded as she pulled out her D-Tector. Kazemon smiled as she changed into her armor form and entered Zoe's D-Tector. Zoe smiled as the symbol of Wind appeared on the screen.
Frontier Spirit Evolution Theme: With the Will
Kazemon's armor form drew itself on the screen. Zoe then spun once and held her left hand out, the palm facing inwards, watching as the ring of Fractal-Code appeared around her left hand. Turning so that she was facing her left side, she crossed her hands twice, turned a quarter to the right, and began to scan the code.
"Execute!"
"Spirit Evolution!" After scanning the code, her clothes were ripped off. Kazemon's armor appeared behind her. The wings of the armor then created a small tornado.
The armor began to appear around her before it fused with her body. After fusing, she dropped down to her platform, spun five times, kicked once and flipped one of her bangs, completing her evolution.
"Kazemon!"
Antiramon snarled at the butterfly warrior. Kazemon glared at the offending rabbit. JP and the rest had run back to where the others had been left when they were hurried away. When Tommy saw his brother all beaten up, he ran over in worry. Kouji and Taiya were nowhere in sight.
Kazemon didn't let Antiramon get the chance to attack. In a flash, she was on her hands and her legs were in a split.
"Tempest Twist!" she yelled, spinning around and kicking Antiramon many times before flipping upright. Putting her hands up in front of her, a small pink tornado formed on each of her finger tips.
"Hurricane Wave!" Bringing her hands down, the wind hit and destroyed the band and Antiramon howled.
"The ring was its energy! But it's been corrupted so you still need to scan it!" Bokomon yelled. Kazemon nodded and prepared another attack.
"Hurricane Wave!" The attack hit Antiramon's forehead this time and made Antiramon's data appear.
"Corrupted spirit let this storm of evil be blown away by the purifying wind! Fractal-Code! Digitize!" After scanning the data, the Digi-egg flew off. Kazemon then de-evolved to a heavily panting Zoe who, despite of being out of breath, yelled at the people who had come back.
"Why the hell did you come back? Mercurymon got you past the battle for you to be safe! Not so you could come back!" Zoe wouldn't stop yelling until someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around Zoe saw Taiya and began to yell again. "Where were you? You disappeared right after you got to Kouji!"
"I was in a tree. And you're being too hard on them, Zoe. They probably got worried when we didn't show up. I would rather they come back if they're worried. That's a true sign of friendship," Taiya said.
"But they could have gotten injured!"
"They chose to risk it because they care."
"I don't care right now! JP!" JP winced and hid behind Yamato. When Zoe found out who suggested to come back, she would make them suffer.
Kouichi walked over to Kouji.
"You alright, otouto?
"Yeah, Nii-san."
"Can you remind me not to get Zoe angry?"
"We should remind Shinya. He'll get on everyone's nerves. JP and I are on our last nerve with him."
"Wonder why…"
"It was Tommy's idea?"
Tommy 'eep'ed and cowered behind Yutaka, who was now conscious. Zoe was furious that the youngest member of the original Chosen had suggested to come back.
Before Tommy could suffer Zoe's wrath, Taiya grabbed Zoe.
"Zoe, calm down. Think about it. Tommy's older brother was the one who got them across. Then when he went to get the next group, he didn't come back. How would you feel if you were Tommy? What would you do?" Taiya asked, calming the blonde down.
Yutaka then leaned against the tree, glad that Taiya was able to talk some sympathy and sense into Zoe. Shinya was muttering something about someone being useless which caused Yutaka to frown. Takuya was only trying to look out for his brother and got a bad attitude in response. It reminded Yutaka of himself when he was trying to give Tommy advice. Speaking of the goggle-boy, he glanced over to Yamato with the still unconscious leader on his back. Strange…he was still knocked out. Why was that? Had he been hurt fighting Daemon?
Bokomon and Neemon climbed out of the tree and Bokomon pointed the direction Mercurymon had carried everybody.
"Up ahead is Bookin Town. We can stay there until Takuya is better and we update the Book." Everyone nodded and started off again. Taiya walked at the back of the group and saw Kouji stumble and begin to fall behind. Taiya then watched Kouji's every step. When Kouji was about to fall, Taiya grabbed his wrist to steady him.
Kouji looked over to Taiya. He was beginning to think that Kouichi's description of her personality left out most parts. After regaining his breath, Kouji stood up and thanked her. Taiya gave a small smile in return. Ahead of them, Zoe hollered for them to hurry up. Taiya and Kouji then ran up to the group.
Yamato: We've finally made it to Bookin Town!
Tommy: But Takuya-nii-san is still unconscious.
Zoe: Takuya, please…wake up.
Kouji: Bokomon's updating his book. I hope Takuya is awake before he's done.
Kouichi: If he isn't, we'll stay here until he is.
Takuya: Where am I? What's going on? Who…is that?
Kouji: Next time on Digital Union: Frontier! The Past of the Ancient Warriors! It's time to Spirit Evolve!