Chapter 8

Zoe's POV:

Takuya and the rest of us had made it out of the Rose Morning Star, but we were still in the Continent of Darkness. Koji and the girl we found had gotten their injuries healed as best they could. Koji was informing everyone about what happened while he was being held prisoner by Mercurymon. I couldn't believe it I knew Mercurymon was evil but I didn't think he would go as far as to seriously torture Koji. I walked over toward the girl we rescued who was more concerned with the little boy we found with her and Koji.

I asked her, "I never got your name I'm Zoe. Who are you?"

She turned toward me and said, "I'm Kari."

I asked, "How exactly do you know the little boy?"

Koji noticed this and said, "Kari it'd probably be best if you told everyone your story. You can do that and I'll watch over Kai." She just nodded and began her story.

Sky's POV:

I gasped for breath as we landed, wincing in pain as a sharp pain shot up through my ankle.

"Great; that's all I need," I scowled before standing up shakily and glaring at Mercurymon. "Where are Kai and Kari?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, an amused smirk on his face.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn't in the mood for his behaviour, "LISTEN HERE YOU JERK! YOU KIDNAPPED THEM AND WE'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK ABOUT THEM FOR THE PAST FIVE DAYS! I AM ALMOST READY TO STRANGLE YOU AT THIS STAGE, so I'm going to ask you ONE more time; where. Are. They?"

"I. Don't. Know," Mercurymon repeated slowly as though he were talking to a small child, crossing his arms. "I got what I wanted from them, they left. I don't care what happens to them anymore. But Hope on the other hand…"

He slowly turned to Tyson, a smirk on his face.

"Oh no you don't," Marcus snarled as Tyson took a small step back. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

Mercurymon's smirk turned sour as he sighed, "Is this really necessary?"

"Why? Scared you'll lose?" Apemon taunted causing even Mercurymon's scowl to sour.

"No; it's just a waste of time. We both know how this will turn out."

"Exactly; with you losing!" Apemon shrieked, lunging at Mercurymon - who raised a mirror.

"Dark Reflection: Lupine Laser!"

However, he yelped slightly and teleported out of the way when no beam of light rushed to protect him, "The brat stole the spirits of light!"

"Kai…" I heard Tyson mutter and glanced behind me to see him staring down at his feet. "I'm sorry… we didn't get here in time…"

Turning back to the fight, I gasped as Mercurymon threw Apemon at us, "Tyson, move!"

As I shoved him out of the way, I heard Apemon yell, "THIS IS GOING TO HURT!"

He then slammed into the wall, de-digivolving from the impact, "I… was… right…"

"I did warn you," Mercurymon sighed in a bored manner before turning towards Tyson - who was staring at Marcus, dumbstruck. "I really don't understand why I need such a weak power; hope is nothing more than a feeble belief that everything will work out alright in the end when your doom is inevitable. Still, I don't want to give my power up."

"You're wrong," Tyson's voice was so quiet that I barely heard it, but Mercurymon apparently did.

"Hm?"

"You're wrong about hope," Tyson continued, his voice rising with every word. "Hope keeps us going when things seem bad, it's what pushes us to fight harder to get what we want! The crests weren't just made out of randomness; they were made out of friendship! Courage is what we show when we stick up for one another, friendship is our bond itself, love is what keeps us together, knowledge helps us learn more about one another, sincerity helps us be more honest with one another, reliability is there so that we know when we're needed, light is so we always strive to see the good and not the bad, and hope…" he paused and glared at Mercurymon with such ferocity that I could barely believe it was Tyson. "Hope is what keeps us together through thick and thin! This is why you'll never defeat us!"

"Nice speech," Mercurymon feigned a yawn. "Too bad it will be your last! Dark Reflection: Blockade Seed!"

"TYSON!" I screamed as Arbormon's attack shot towards Tyson, but a small orb of light burst from the ground, protecting him from the attack.

Blinking, I watched as he pulled out his tri-tector, pointing it at the orb, "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

Koji's POV:

I sighed and said, "This isn't good." I had noticed Kai once again was shaking uncontrollably. I assumed he was having another nightmare. I had noticed one major difference between Kai and Kari. To me it seemed Kai represented the frail side of light much more than Kari. Kari seems to be a mix of the frail side of light and courage with courage dominating. I thought to myself It seems to me Kai is more of the Digidestined of Light than Kari is.

"Kari, is Kai okay?" I heard Takuya ask as Kai continued to spasm violently in his arms - we had decided to take turns carrying him.

"I don't know," Kari frowned. "He has nightmares sometimes, but this seems worse…"

Suddenly he shrieked and began glowing brightly, "TOO MUCH! MAKE IT GO AWAY!"

He jerked several times in Takuya's arms as the warriors and Kari gathered around him, worry evident on their faces.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed open and he threw back his head, howling like a wolf, his eyes a pure white colour.

He then leapt out of Takuya's arms and turned to Kouji, "Kouji."

"Lobomon?" Kouji's eyes widened in shock along with everyone elses. "I thought… Mercurymon-"

"We were attracted to the light in the boy," a deeper voice growled, the sound seeming rather unusual from Kai's small body. "He managed to free our spirits from Mercurymon."

"KendoGarurumon?" Kouji blinked in surprise before narrowing his eyes. "Why are Kai and Kari here? And for that matter of fact, why did Mercurymon want them?"

"There's a prophecy," Kai hesitantly stated in Lobomon's voice. " If three lights form with steel, a new power will be unlocked, but if those lights form against steel, the power will be blocked. Those three lights are you, Kari Kamiya and Kai Kamiya, so Mercurymon wanted some of your essence, which he extracted while torturing you. You gave it to him with your screams."

Both Koji and Kari winced slightly, Koji's lower back stinging from a particularly nasty attack from a Karatenmon, Kari biting her lip as she slowly traced a moon-shaped scar of where she had been prodded with a white-hot pole.

"Kai on the other hand wasn't physically injured, so Mercurymon didn't get any of his powers," KendoGarurumon continued.

I said, "If that's the case then I think we should find a way to get Kai back to his world."

Kari everything but shouted, "NO!" This shocked everyone that this quiet girl would shout.

I growled slightly, "Kari you might think of him as your little brother, but he's not. Besides wouldn't an older sister want what's best for their younger sibling?"

She said as tears fell down her cheek, "I know Koji it's just for first time ever, I don't feel like the helpless little girl who everyone has to protect, or even sacrifice their life for. I started to feel like someone who can fight on their own without help from others. I want Kai here to prove this to myself." I thought to myself if that's so then what do you want to happen to Kai?

All of the sudden all the D-tectors went off and Ophanimon's symbol appeared on the screens.

They heard Lady Ophanimon's voice saying "Digidestined I sense more people have been brought to the Rose Morning Star. Save them and then come to my castle I have some information that may aid you."

Takuya said, "We're on our way." Just as he said that Koji's spirits floated out of Kai as he woke up.

Sky's POV:

I gulped as I stared up at Tyson's spirit form. He looked like an average Angemon with a yellow matching his crest robe instead of blue and a yellow helmet, but his jaw was set in rage and I had a feeling that had we been able to see his eyes, they too would be burning with anger over the disappearance of his best friend.

It wasn't that I was scared of him… more terrified. Tyson generally remained passive, but those who got him as angry as he was now must have a death wish.

I swallowed again as Tyson - now Piddomon - took a menacing step towards Mercurymon, who simply smirked, "Hello, pinky."

"I wouldn't waste my energy on name-calling if I were you," Piddomon seethed, fists clenched. "Fire Feather!"

A single feather was plucked from each wing by an invisible force as Mercurymon smirked, "Two feathers? I'm almost insulted."

"It's not just two," Piddomon growled as Mercurymon frowned.

Had the warrior of steel possessed eyes, they would have widened in shock. The two feathers became ten, then twenty, and then forty before being surrounded by a pure, golden aura and bombarding him from all sides, giving him no time to defend himself.

Before his first attack had even finished, Piddomon raised his staff and began twirling it rapidly until it became nothing more than a blur, "Apollo Tornado!"

Amidst the golden blur, a fiery sun appeared before flying at Mercurymon - who was still recovering from the first attack - backed up by a surge of energy formed out of rage, hate and pure anger.

I glanced at Marcus, meeting his eyes as the two of us reached a silent agreement. If we didn't stop Tyson, he would either get himself killed by Mercurymon, or hate himself for destroying the warrior of steel.

We had to stop that from happening before it was too late.

Koichi's POV:

I glanced at my brother as we sprinted through the barren plains leading up to the Rose Morning Star, seeing the hard, almost-impassive look concealing anger directed at Kari, himself and - most of all - Mercurymon. His eyes also possessed worry for Kai - who was clinging onto BurningGreymon with Kari as he flew above us.

"Koji…" I paused as Lobomon glanced at me slightly. "I… I'm sorry…"

"Wasn't your fault," he grunted in reply, leaping over an unusually large tree root in the process. "You didn't have your spirits; you couldn't have done anything."

"Right…" I mumbled, glancing down for a brief moment. "Also… I'm glad you're safe."

I heard Kai say, "I'm sorry for worrying you guys."

Lobomon gave a noncommittal grunt of acceptance, but everyone else smiled while Kari told Kai, "It's fine; it wasn't your fault."

Kai said sadly, "Yes it was, something took over; I couldn't control it."

Lobomon and I both flinched slightly at that statement, Kai having brought back memories of a certain evil bunny who had made me almost destroy my brother.

"What do you mean?" Zephyrmon inquired as she swerved through the trees in an attempt to move closer to BurningGreymon and his passengers.

Kai said softly, "When Mercurymon was showing me him torturing our partners, Kari and Koji . I felt something take over me, and I couldn't control it. It caused Salamon to digivolve and all it wanted to do was fight."

"So it wanted to fight Mercurymon and it helped Salamon digivolve?" I could tell that through his armour, Beetlemon was smiling. "Score; something's finally going right for us!"

"I don't think that's what Kai meant, JP," I softly told him. I thought to myself, I know how it feels to not have control over yourself. I could tell Kai had noticed and figured out what I was thinking about.

"It wasn't like Duskmon, Koichi."

I flinched again; I wasn't used to casually bringing him up in conversations and the fact that Kai even knew about it made me feel guilty.

I asked, "If it wasn't like Duskmon, then what was it like?"

I said, "I don't know how to describe it… it was like something deep down inside of me surfaced and somehow took control of my body."

Kari thought to herself, I hope this isn't being caused by the Dark Ocean. The way he describes it is the way I felt like when I was first brought into the Dark Ocean.

Thoughts already being on darkness, Kari glanced at me warily; I could feel her gaze burning through my armour.

I shifted uncomfortably before coming to an abrupt halt so as not to crash into Lobomon - who had stopped, "We're here."

Tyson's POV:

I was still giving it my all attacking Mercurymon and surprisingly he wasn't reflecting my attacks at me. I taunted, "Mercurymon, you scared you Shakespearean wannabe?"

"Bah!" he growled, raising his mirror to block another Apollo Tornado. He continued, "You want me to fight back? Very well you little pest. Dark Reflection: Draining Rain!" The storm cloud went above and rain pounded down on my wings and I couldn't stay in the air.

I hit the ground with a loud thud, but I stood up again once the rain had stopped, anger blazing in my eyes. This was the digimon who had kidnapped my best friend and hurt him; I wasn't going to let him off easily, "APOLLO TORNADO!"

Mercurymon shouted, "DARK REFLECTION!"

The beam of energy was absorbed by his mirror, but before he could send it back at me, I smirked and readied my staff again, "APOLLO TORNADO!"

The first blast already being in his left mirror, Mercurymon was forced to absorb it into his right mirror, and then his body mirror when I attacked again.

"APOLLO TORNADO!" I aimed my attack above him, relaxing slightly as the energy hovered above him and he shrieked in pain, a golden glow leaking out of each mirror, "I guess Hope isn't as weak as you thought it was, right Mercurymon?"

He scowled, "No matter I'll finish you off right here." Before he could attack, he got hit with an attack from behind. He turned around and saw the Legendary Warriors once again. He said with a cocky smile, "Did you fools come back to surrender the small light?"

"No," Kumamon growled, baring his small fangs, "we came to give you the chance to surrender."

"That's not going to happen, teddy bear," Mercurymon spat angrily as Marcus grinned.

"And the cavalry has arrived! Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

We now stood seven warriors strong with two Gatomon, Koji not spirit evolving for some reason; I assumed he was too injured to do so. I launched my Apollo Tornado and Zephermon strengthened it by and her own Hurricane Gale attack.

Then Loweemon, Kumamon and Beetlemon used a joined attack with Apemon which included their Shadow Meteor, Thunder Fist, Blizzard Blaster and Metallic Fur. Finally, BurningGreymon shot dozens of blasts of liquid fire at Mercurymon.

Mercurymon took the hit, but he was still standing, "You may have won this battle, but the war will continue and this time I'll have some allies of my own."

"Not going to happen!" I growled as two feathers were plucked out of my wings again. "Fire Feather!"

The attack caused a large cloud of smoke to appear, and when it cleared…

"He got away…"

END OF CHAPTER!

Icy: BAM!

DD: WE'RE EVIL! Or I am in any case. Icy's not.

Icy: No offence but I agree with your cousin Slinking Fox you don't have sanity. You kidnapped another author!

DD: IT WAS JUSTIFIED! SHE SAID THAT KOJI AND ZOE ARE A BETTER PAIRING THAN KOICHI AND ZOE!

Icy: I do NOT support kidnaping an author just because you don't like that they support a different pairing. I MEAN THERES MILLIONS OF THEM!

DD: Oh, I didn't kidnap her. Koichi here did it for me!

Koichi: Uh… she made me…

Icy: Don't worry Koichi I know thats why I'm having Angestar straighten her out.

Angestar: On it Icy. (Grabs DD and flys off)

DD: YOU THINK YOU CAN GIVE ME SANITY! SANDWICHES! I'LL GIVE YOU SANITY! (randomly appears next to icy again) I'm back!

Icy: Uh oh Koichi a little help here?

Koichi: I've got my own problems… can't… breath...

DD: (hugging Koichi tightly)

Icy: Um while I free Koichi read and review. The poll for if Lina and Kai switch gender is still please leave it in the review. I have to help Koichi. EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION.

(Screen goes dark)

DD: WHY CAN'T I SEE?! WHERE ARE YOU, KOICHI! I WANT A SANDWICH! Oooh, a flying pig! Please review!