Chapter 8:

Daisuke, who was wearing a maroon jacket over a green T-shirt and a pair of light brown pants, was sitting on the stands next to the Odaiba Elementary's soccer field with a notebook in her hand and a pencil on the other.

She was observing the school's soccer team's movement on the field while writing down statistic on the notebook.

'Hmm, maneuver 17 would be useful somewhere at the last fifteen minutes if player five and seven weren't injured or tired beforehand' Daisuke thought before writing down the idea onto the notebook page.

The young mage was so caught up in her planning, that she did not notice the Digidestind walking towards her.

"Dais, what are you doing here?" Tai asked, making the younger brunet jumped in shock before hiding the notebook into her backpack.

"Nothing, just watching the soccer team practice that's all" Daisuke said nervously, which seemed to intrigue everyone in the group.

'Since when did Daisuke ever get nervous?' was the thought that was running through their minds.

Practice was soon over and the couch huddled all the players together.

"Quiet down everyone, I have an important announcement to make" the couch said, getting all the players' attentions.

"Right, our next match is this Sunday against last year's number one team in the league" he announced.

"But couch, our captain is in the hospital until next week! What are we going to do?" one of the players asked with worry.

"Don't worry; a replacement player is being brought in to take the captain's place for the time being" the man reassured while sending a look at Daisuke.

Daisuke ignored the couch's gaze and head to the computer lab with the Digidestind.

When they got there, they started searching about the visiting team coming on Sunday.

Their search leads them to the team's captain, who turns out to be Ken Ichijouji.

"As captain of the soccer team, Ken Ichijouji, led his team to victory by setting a record breaking 45 goals" Yolei said, reading the report on the computer.

"Wow, this kid maybe better than I am" Tai said.

"I bet he could join the Olympics if he wanted to" Cody commented.

"I'm sure our soccer team can beat them on Sunday" Daisuke said confidently.

"What makes you say that? Our team got knocked out early in the preliminaries" TK pointed out.

"Have some confidence TK" was all the brunet said before leaving the computer lab and headed home.

(At the Motomiya apartment building)

Daisuke was standing on the roof with a soccer ball under her foot and a large pentagram portal at one end of the roof.

In between the young mage and the portal were several of her Summonings ranging from all kinds of sizes and shapes.

With a light tapped of her foot, the ball moved forward and the decay spirits start their attack.

A large snake was first to attempt to take the ball by pouncing at it but Daisuke easily kicks the ball over its head and catches back.

The next up was the hunter spirit, who pounced a little too high and would have hit his master, if she had not slide under it with the soccer ball still in her possession.

The wolf spirit tried its luck at stealing the ball but Daisuke easily twists out of the way and head for the goal, which was guarded by a large human that had only one eye, no mouth or nose, six metal spikes coming out of his back, three on each side, claw like fingers and a muscular body.

Daisuke kicked the ball and even though the spirit had fast reflexes, it went right through him and into the pentagram.

Daisuke smirked at the sight of her defeated Summonings as she walks to where she drew their magical circles.

'If I can defeat three champions and one ultimate level spirits this easily, tomorrow will be a snap' the young mage thought smugly while rubbing away the magical circles.

(The next day)

At the Odaiba Elementary soccer field, people were filling the stands as they waited for the team from Tamachi to arrive.

Among the people in the stands were Tai, Sora, Matt, all the members of the second generation and their digimons.

"Is anyone sitting here?" a voice asked and when the group turned to see who it was, they saw Jun in her school uniform.

"Jun? Sure you can sit here, right guys?" Matt suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Jun, I didn't know you came to soccer matches" he asked curiously.

"I don't really like sports just like Dais, so I usually don't come sport matches of any kind. The only reason I came to this match was to show my support to the person replacing the injured captain" Jun explained, pointing to the locker rooms.

What the group saw come out of the locker rooms, shocked them.

It was Daisuke, who was wearing the Odaiba Elementary soccer team red jersey and a pair of white shorts with a red stripe on the side, walking out the locker rooms with an unamused look on her face.

"Dais is the replacement captain?! But how?!" Tai exclaimed in shock.

"Well, Dais was the one who put the original captain in the hospital because he apparently was hitting on her, making her angry and beat him to a pulp. This is kind of her way of apologizing for sending the school's best soccer player to the hospital" Jun chuckled nervously.

The Digidestind and their digimons stared at disbelief at the fact that the young mage was a very violent person.

Daisuke joined the other soccer players in stretching and a moment later, the bus carrying the Tamachi players arrive.

As the bus door opens to drop off the players, a crowd of squealing fangirls hoard around the bus.

Daisuke rolled her eyes at the fangirls' behavior and went back to stretching, not noticing that Ken was not among the players that got off the bus.

Her stretching was interrupted when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Tai standing next to her.

"Hey Dais, can we talk?" the older brunet asked.

Daisuke nodded her head and gets to her feet.

"Dais you need to be careful, even though Ken's not here his teammates are still champions. If you're not careful they'll use you as the soccer ball" Tai advised the young mage.

"I highly doubt that they could" Daisuke huffed.

Soon the teams got to their position on the field with Daisuke, the replacement captain, at the center of the field.

The referee blows the whistle and the game starts with Daisuke easily maneuvering the ball around the defense and passing the ball to her teammates when necessary.

Daisuke with the ball in her possession ran past one defender, passed the ball to her teammate as she move pass the last defender.

The boy passed the ball back and Daisuke scored a goal.

The rest of the first half went on with the Tamachi team being on the defensive.

The half-time whistle was blown and went to their benches to rest.

Daisuke, who looked like she barely broke a sweat, was relaxing down at a bench by herself.

"Dais!" multiple voices called out and the Digidestind and Jun walk towards Daisuke to congratulate her on the first half.

"Nice job on the goal. Look, I even took a picture of it" Kari said as she showed the picture on her digital camera.

"It was nothing, fighting an army of digimons was harder and more painful than this. I wish a real challenge would come" Daisuke said non-chantingly.

Then as if on cue, the sound of fangirls squealing can be heard and coming out of a taxi was none other than Ken Ichijouji.

"Looks like you got your wish Dais" Jun mused as Ken turns his head towards the opposing team and for a moment he scowled when he saw the Digidestind but it too short for any of them to really notice.

"They say that he's the best as they can get. Let's see if it's true" Daisuke said in her usual non-caring way.

The teams got into their positions with both Ken and Daisuke stood at the center of the field as captains of their respective teams.

"Hello, my name's Daisuke" Daisuke introduced herself.

Ken did not say anything as he turns his gaze towards the Digidestind sitting at the stands, cheering Daisuke on.

"That's some nice friends you have there" Ken mused as both captains get into ready stance.

The whistle signaling the start of second half was blown and in a blink of the eye, Ken was already running in incredible speed towards the Odaiba team's goal while passing whenever necessary.

None of the defenders manage to stop him before he kicked the ball straight into the goal.

"Now that's a challenge. Let's do this" Daisuke grinned smugly, showing off her now slightly elongated canines and crimson tinted dark brown eyes.

"Man, looks like Dais is in trouble" Tai gasped, shocked just like everyone else from seeing Ken's speed.

"Not really, but this is when the fun starts" Jun mused, confusing the Digidestind and their digimons.

Suddenly, Daisuke kicked off the ball and ran straight to the Tamachi's goal in a speed that was almost if not the same as Ken's.

The young mage easily got around the defenders and even Ken, who was stunned by her speed, could not stop her from scoring another goal.

'She's just as fast as I am! But she had never moved that fast in the Digital World before, does that mean she was holding back all this time?!' Ken thought as he gets to position.

"Whoa, how did Dais move so fast?" TK gasped in shock.

"Dais had been putting her body through grueling and harsh training for almost four years non-stop, so it's natural for her to move that fast" Jun explained as she remembers some of the training her little sister had gone through.

(Flashback Begins)

A nine year old Daisuke with both her arms bandaged from the palm of her hands to all the way to her shoulders wearing a black tank top and a pair of jeans was standing on the roof of her apartment surrounded by wooden dummies and various training machines.

Daisuke observed the dummies through her cold soulless eyes before charging at the nearest dummy and punching her fist right through it.

This set off a chain reaction with two maces being thrown at her.

Daisuke used the dummy that was still in her hands as a shield and it shatters from the impact.

Without any hesitation or resting, the young mage grabs the mace by its sharp spikes and rips it out of the machine, ignoring the pain from her bleeding hands.

In one swing, Daisuke smashes two dummies with the mace but then got shot in the shoulder by an arrow.

Growling in anger, she rips the arrow out of her shoulder before charging at the crossbow machine and tears it to pieces.

But before she could even catch her breath, a metal chain wraps around her neck before pulling her back.

Daisuke growled demonically as she rips the chain off her neck and continues to attack nearby dummies.

As the fighting continues, the air was cooling to the point thin layers of ice started forming on everything and cracks were forming on everything.

Then a mysterious dark aura formed around Daisuke's body before she let out a demonic roar and a wave of darkness burst out from her body, destroying all the training machines.

Exhausted from letting out her power, Daisuke collapsed onto the damage roof.

Hiding behind the staircase door, thirteen year old Jun, who was holding a strange hand-sewed monochromatic rabbit plush toy in her arms, wearing a violet turtleneck and a pair of jean shorts, was staring at her little sister through the door crack with a sad look in her eyes.

"Dais loved you like a father, Ryoki. Why did you have to leave?" Jun asked no one in particular while petting the plush toy's head before opening the door to get her sister.

(Flashback Ends)

Jun was so caught up in her flashback she did not notice that game was over until final whistle had blown and the game had ended in a seven goal draw.

Both teams cheered at their respective captains for all the goals they scored.

Daisuke manage to escape her team and walked towards Ken.

"Hey Ken, I'm sorry about that tackle. I guess I caught you off guard" the brunet apologized.

"I barely felt it, too busy thinking about scoring goals" Ken reassured her.

"You were really tough out there on the field. I've never played so hard before".

"You weren't so bad yourself. You and I are very alike; I'm sure if we were working together, we can achieve great things".

"Maybe when we meet again, Ken" Daisuke said with a smile as they shake hands.

Later, Daisuke, Jun, the Digidestind and their digimons were walking home along the side of a canal.

"Man Dais, you and Ken were in a league so high up; none of the other players could keep up!" Tai complimented.

"Thanks Tai, I guess me being force to become the replacement soccer team captain today came out quite well" Daisuke mused.

"Yeah, that game was intense! You and Ken moved so fast, we were struggling to keep up with the action!" TK complimented.

"Ken and I are so alike, maybe we would work together someday in the future".

Unbeknownst to the group, Ken was standing on an overhead bridge watching them.

'Hehe, enjoy as much as you can; because soon you will bow down before me' Ken chuckled mentally before heading back home.

(The next day)

Daisuke, the Digidestind and their digimons are now sitting at the computer lab.

"Dais, give me your hand" Yolei commanded.

"Why?" Daisuke asked, closing her book.

"Just give me your hand because I ask you give me your hand!".

"You better give me a good reason before I get pissed off and we all know what happens when I get mad" the young mage glared coldly at the computer nerd.

Yolei gulped nervously and decided to drop the issue.

"What are you doing Cody?" TK asked the youngest member of the group.

"I can't believe it" Cody gasped.

"Are you dreaming? Do you want me to pinch you?" Upamon asked.

"It's a Control Spire" the brunet said, pointing to a black square surrounded by white squares.

"What's it doing there?" Kari asked no one in particular.

"Controlling, spiring, the usual" Gatomon joked.

"It must've been built overnight, amazing" Cody commented.

"So where is it located?" TK asked.

"I don't know, there are no defined landmarks there".

"It's the Forbidden Valley of No Return" Upamon informed.

"Why do bad guys always things like that?" Kari groaned.

"It's in the job description. It's right after 'really stinky breath'" TK joked.

"Even if this place was called the Valley of Duckies and Bunnies, with a Control Spire there, there's trouble" Cody pointed out.

"We better destroy it before it's used to control all the digimons there, yeah?".

"Right" Kari agreed.

The group gets sucked into the computer.

(In the Digital World)

The group arrives in a large empty desert valley.

"Wow, this valley sure looks forbidden alright" Kari commented.

"Come on, let's get moving. The Digimon Emperor could still be around here, so stay sharp" Daisuke instructed.

"Right, stay together guys" Cody agreed before they started walking down one direction.

They walked for about an hour with Daisuke leading up in front.

But the walk was interrupted when Yolei and Hawkmon suddenly got swallowed into the sand.

Then, Kari, TK, Cody and their digimons also got swallowed into the sandy ground.

"What the fuck just happened?! A booby trap?" Daisuke swore as she felt the ground where her teammates were just standing for any traps.

Much to the young mage's relief, nothing had happened.

"Looks like whatever that caught the guys, is gone. Better stay out of trouble in case it comes back" Daisuke said to no one in particular.

"Trouble has found you" a voice echoed around the brunet.

"Digimon Emperor, what have you done to my teammates?!".

"Your 'teammates' are with me!" the Digimon Emperor taunted.

Daisuke run towards the Digimon Emperor and after minutes of running, she arrives to an area with tall cliff faces.

Standing on top of one of the cliff faces was the Digimon Emperor with a smug look on his face.

"What have you done to my teammates, Digimon Emperor?" Daisuke yelled in anger.

"Why don't you have a look for yourself" the Digimon Emperor taunted as he gestures to an overhead rock bridge on his right.

The Digidestind and their digimons were hanging by ropes under the rock bridge.

"Dais, save yourself!" Kari pleaded.

"Run, you can still escape!" TK called out.

"Don't take your eyes off the Emperor!" Cody instructed.

"What are you waiting for? Save me!" Yolei exclaimed in annoyance.

"Don't worry; I'll get you guys down in a moment!" Daisuke reassured but before she could do anything the Digimon Emperor cut in.

"Your time is running short. Oops, you're out of time. Awaken, Deltamon!" the dark haired tyrant called out and the mountain behind the rock bridge shatters, revealing a large blue dragon with a white abdomen, two blue tails and heads for arms, a metal dragon head for the right hand and a dragon skull for the left hand.

"What luck for you to be dropping by, since it's now Deltamon's dinner time; you'll make fine meals for him, don't you think so?" he taunted.

"You cowardly fuck, let them go!" Daisuke exclaimed in anger.

"I'll let them go if you do something for me".

"And what's that!" the brunet asked through gritted teeth, not really wanting to know the Emperor's proposal but was too pissed off to care.

"At first, I was going to make you beg for to let them go but after seeing your true capabilities; I want you to join me".

"What?!".

"You heard me; you have to join me in order to save your teammates' lives".

"Don't listen to him, Dais!" Kari called out.

"He'll kill us even after you join him!" TK called out.

"Just run as far as you can Dais!" Cody called out.

"Oh, sure then, make me look bad! Fine, then, don't save me!" Yolei complained again.

Suddenly the ground under Deltamon's feet collapsed, trapping him in place.

Digmon emerges out of the ground while Halsemon, Nefertimon and Pegasusmon flew in from overhead.

"Dais is just an illusion!" called out a voice and the Digidestind came into view, running towards Daisuke.

"Wait, if you guys are here. Then who are those guys?" the young mage asked no one in particular.

The fake humans and digimons transform into floating tattered white sheets.

"Urgh, what are those things?" Yolei asked in disgust.

"Their Bakemons, ghost digimons that can mimic anyone perfectly" Hawkmon explained for his partner.

"You tricked me!" Daisuke growled, glaring at the Digimon Emperor.

The tyrant ignored the young mage as he commands the Bakemons to attack the armor digimons.

Daisuke notices that by commanding the Bakemons, the Digimon Emperor was not fully aware of his surroundings.

The brunet quickly climbs up the cliff and tackles the tyrant down onto the ground, causing them to roll down the slope.

The Digimon Emperor kicked Daisuke off him once they arrive at the bottom of the cliff side.

"You won't beat me! Deltamon, Triplex Force!" the Digimon Emperor ordered.

The mouths of three of the Deltamon's heads charge with blue energy to attack but Daisuke was not in the mood to fight the champion level.

"Fuck off!" Daisuke swore and with a swing of her arm, an invisible force was flying towards Deltamon while shattering the ground and freezing anything that came in contact.

In a flash, the dark ring on Deltamon shatters but the force from the attack had not fully disappeared as the dragon digimon was torn out from Digmon's hole and crashes into a mountain, almost destroying it.

'Unbelievable, Daisuke's true power makes Andromon look like a rookie digimon! I must have her under my control, no matter what it takes!' the Digimon Emperor thought as he tries to get to his feet but kneeled back down from the injury on his right ankle.

"It's over Digimon Emperor" Daisuke growled while in the back, the Control Spire was being destroyed.

"For now at least, I was a fool to think that you would join me so willingly. I guess we're not as alike as we thought we were" the Digimon Emperor mused.

"What are you talking about, Digimon Emperor? Wait, where did you get that leg wound? Could you be?".

"I could and I am! Ken Ichijouji!" he exclaimed while taking off his glasses.

"Ken?! You're the Digimon Emperor? Why? We could've made great things in the Digital World together!".

"Who says that we can't work together?" Ken chuckled evilly before jumping onto an Airdramon and flying off into the distance.