A/N: Hello, my wonderful readers! Please, don't kill me. :)
I know, I know, I said that I was going to update a lot sooner...but writer's block had other ideas. Now that school is back in session, it decided that it was going to lift from my mind, just enough to get in the way of my school work. Anyways, thanks to Latina shewolf, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, finalfan21, DCLWLOKPR44424, SoulDragon162, lmv16, Eaten Alive By Boredom, and Cosmos Angel and Yami Chaos for reviewing my last chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way shape or form. But I do own Jade. :)
The Warrior of Hope
Chapter 23
Cherubimania
We stood; looking up at the place where we were sure Cherubimon was hiding out. I shook my head, this was definitely the final battle that we had been waiting for, and I barely had the strength to stand up.
"Wow, look at all those pretty floaty thingies!" Neemon said. I nodded at his accurate description. Thingies was definitely the word that I would describe the pieces left over from Cherubimon's castle.
"Sorry to burst your blissful bubble, but those are not "thingies."" Bokomon said.
"Oh yeah, then what are they?" Neemon asked. I looked at Bokomon; I myself wanted the answer to that question.
"Well…um…I don't know! But see, thingies do not glow!" Bokomon said quickly when the floating pieces started to glow.
"Oh, okay." Neemon said.
I rolled my eyes, I was surrounded by idiots. Suddenly, fractal codes started streaming up towards the floating, glowing, thingies.
"Whatever it is, it sure us sucking up a whole lot of data." Takuya remarked.
The data streams suddenly weren't going up anymore and a shockwave burst out from the floating thingy. The ground around us started rising, making it dangerous for someone who was unsteady on their feet, like me, for example.
"Oh boy, now what?" MetalKabuterimon asked.
"Cherubimon is definitely up to something up there, I can just feel it." Koichi said.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had just about enough of that guy." Zephyrmon said.
"Apparently the space and gravity data is being affected by some sort of energy warp." Bokomon said as the ground that had once been below us started gravitating upward, toward Cherubimon's hideout.
"Or by those glowing thingies!" Neemon remarked.
Bokomon was obviously exasperated with Neemon's lack of vocabulary. "Neemon would you please stop it with your thingy…um…thingy!"
I chuckled a little, after all, he would be just as annoyed with me if I didn't carefully control everything I said.
"I think it's time to finish this. How about it, are you with me?" Koji asked.
"Um…yeah. I guess…I mean we have to do something, right?" Takuya asked.
"Definitely, and you and I are the only ones who can do it." Koji said, obviously determined to get the job done.
I looked down, I felt like I was letting everyone down. I was absolutely useless. After all, Koji and Takuya didn't need my spirit, yet I was too weak to even think about helping without Koji getting angry with me.
J.P., Zoe, and Tommy all de-digivolved. "Well, alrighty then." J.P. said.
"Win this battle and you could save the Digital World." Zoe said.
"Yeah, we really could, huh?" Takuya said.
"You bet!" Tommy laughed and made a peace sign with his hand.
"Well, I'm game if you are." Takuya said, looking at Koji.
"You don't mind staying behind?" Koji asked.
"Ah, come on! Why would we mind? After all, you're the ones who have to fight Cherubimon. EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon are the only ones strong enough, but don't worry, we'll be here waiting for you." J.P. said.
"Wow, I'm touched." Koji said.
"I'm touched. Touch this! Just remember pal, if you lose, you'll have to answer to me!" J.P. teased.
"Right." Koji laughed.
"Relax, J.P., we've got everything under control." Takuya said.
"Yeah, buddy! I'm glad to hear it, men! And we'll all celebrate once you've won!" J.P. exclaimed.
"Yeah, when you guys defeat Cherubimon I'm going to cook a big yummy dinner for everybody!" Patamon said.
"I want to contribute something…I know! When you win, you can take me on a date!" Zoe exclaimed.
"I hope you mean Takuya…" I muttered, feeling very far away from this group of optimistic idiots.
J.P. almost fell over in surprise. Tommy puckered his lips, "Yeah, and I'm going to give you both a great big kiss on the cheek."
"That's just wrong." Koji and Takuya said at once.
I smacked my forehead with my palm and shook my head, there was something wrong with that kid.
"I'm going to knit you both matching waistbands that look exactly like mine." Bokomon said happily.
"Bokomon, you really shouldn't." The boys seemed exasperated.
Koji came over to me and grabbed my wrist leading me a little ways from everybody else. "So, what will you give me when I come back?" He asked.
I shrugged, "Everybody else seems to have taken the things that a girlfriend should give you."
"You know why you can't go, right?" He asked, looking directly into my eyes.
"Of course!" I said angrily. "But it doesn't make me feel any less useless." I whispered.
Koji immediately pressed his lips to mine, gently kissing away all my insecurity. "I don't think that you're useless." He said softly.
I smiled, "I know what I'll do when you come back."
"What's that?" He asked.
"I'll welcome you back with open arms, because if you don't come back, then I'll go and get you." I said.
He smiled, "I'll be looking forward to it." He gave me one last kiss before we headed back to where the others were.
"Alright, now I'm ready to go." Koji said.
"Before you go, there's something I need to tell you." Koichi said, walking towards Koji and Takuya. I felt like he was really just walking to Koji and Takuya was just standing there as well. Koji smiled at his brother. "You can do this."
Koji smiled, "Yeah."
"I believe in you, brother." Koichi said.
"Yeah…" Takuya walked away awkwardly. "Okay, I'm as ready as I'll ever be! How about it?"
Koji laughed, "Oh, yeah."
I groaned on the inside, they are such idiots.
"Now let's go make some history." Koji said.
"Then go already! I've got some rooting to do!" J.P. ordered.
Everyone brought out their D-Tectors, with the exception of me. "We're coming for you, Cherubimon!" Takuya exclaimed. "I don't know what's going to happen up there, but I do know that we'll need you guys to believe in us with everything you've got! You up for that?"
"Definitely!" Everyone shouted, while I just watched from the sidelines.
"Let's bring peace back to this world." Takuya said.
"This could be our last battle. I'm proud to be fighting it with you, Takuya." Koji said.
"I guess we better win then, huh?" Takuya asked.
Koji grinned, "Yeah."
"Go get 'em, guys!" J.P. exclaimed.
Everyone followed his example by shouting words of encouragement. "Don't forget what I said, Koji!" I yelled.
Koji sent me a grin and a thumbs up before turning back towards his objective. I sighed, that thumbs up wasn't really his style. Was Takuya rubbing off on him?
"Unity Execute, Unified Spirit Evolution! EmperorGreymon!"
"Unity Execute, Unified Spirit Evolution! MagnaGarurumon!"
"You ready?" EmperorGreymon asked.
"Let's do it."MagnaGarurumon replied.
We ran after them as they took off in the air. "Don't mess up guys! Hey, but no pressure!" J.P. shouted.
"Get him, get him!" Tommy yelled.
"Stay tough, we believe in you!" Zoe exclaimed.
"Fly strong, fly fast." Patamon continued with his saying. Neemon seemed to be copying him.
We had to stop due to a drop off in the way. "Come back safely!" Bokomon shouted. "Oh dear, just come back!"
My legs gave out and I plopped down on the ground. My body was already worn out from that small bit of running. "You better come back." I whispered as I pulled my knees to my chest and looked up at them making their way towards the "thingies", which were glowing for a second before growing dark again.
There was a very dark aura coming from the floating building. The battle begun, but it was very hard to see what was going on from our viewing point so far away. All I could see were exploding lights around the floating rocks. A giant explosion filled the sky, engulfing what looked like everything.
The dark aura was suddenly overwhelming, even from so far away. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, trying to escape from such an evil presence. I now recognized that it wasn't dark, just plain evil.
I felt something shaking me, but the evil aura was still so strong that I couldn't get a grip on myself. My wrists were grabbed and my hands were pried from my head. I opened my eyes just as red lightning filled the sky, attacking what looked like a castle. The red lightning stopped, only to be replaced by larger, purple lightning.
Something deep in my heart told me that something was wrong. "They're in trouble!" I jumped up, scaring Zoe, who had been holding my wrists. "I have to go and help!"
"But, you're too weak!" Zoe exclaimed.
"That doesn't matter right now! All that matters is that they are in trouble! Koji needs me!" I yelled as I grabbed my D-Tector from my pocket.
Koichi grabbed my wrist, "Don't do something rash. It will only get you hurt."
I glared at him, "What's your point?"
"Koji will be upset if you hurt yourself. Besides, you can't hope to accomplish anything in the state that you're in." Koichi said.
I yanked my wrist away, "You don't know what I'm capable of. Besides, he would do the same for me. It's not like I don't have a plan, I know exactly what I'm going to do. It will at least buy them some time, and it's not like it's all about me. We have to think of what's best for everyone."
"How is letting you go hurt yourself what's best for everyone?" Koichi asked.
"Let her go." Zoe said.
"Huh?" Koichi asked.
"When a girl knows that the one she's in love with is in trouble, nothing can stop her. It's useless to even try." Zoe said.
I blushed, "I never said that I loved him."
Zoe raised her eyebrows at me, "But you do, don't you?"
I nodded as I pressed the side button on my D-Tector, "Execute, Spirit Evolution! DeviAngewomon!" I took off, heading straight for Cherubimon.
"Wait, you won't be able to do any damage as your human spirit!" Koichi shouted after me.
I ignored him, knowing perfectly well that I couldn't even do a little bit of damage, but that wasn't the goal that I was hoping to accomplish. Cherubimon soon caught sight of me and started laughing, "So, the weak little Princess is hoping to try her luck against me?"
"Don't underestimate me! Evil Charm!" As I sent the black claw mark soaring at him, I caught sight of EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon. They were both unconscious, lying on the rocks. I brought my attention back to Cherubimon, who had easily batted my attack away. "Heaven's Wave!" I released my angels, but didn't put any energy into it.
Cherubimon was trying to swat the little angels away, "What an annoyance."
While he was distracted, I flew over EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon, "Celestial Blessing!" My healing powder covered them, sapping away all my energy. I plummeted towards the ground. I could barely even feel my body hit the ground, I was too exhausted. I fell out of my evolution as both MagnaGarurumon and EmperorGreymon woke up, their energy completely renewed.
MagnaGarurumon caught sight of me, "Jade!"
I smiled slightly, "I told you that I'd come after you."
"How touching, the Princess did all this just so her worthless "protectors" might have a chance against me. Too bad that no amount of new energy can give you a chance against me!" Cherubimon mocked.
I frowned, "Koji, I'm tired. I'm going to take a little nap. While I sleep, teach him a lesson." I closed my eyes, giving into my exhaustion.
"Well, that was handled well." Hope's voice echoed through my mind.
"Why do I feel like you're using sarcasm?" I asked, annoyance in my voice.
"I am not being sarcastic. It was a good plan, though risky and not something that I myself would think of." Hope said.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, how are we doing? Are we winning?" I asked.
"Yes." Hope replied.
"Really? Does that mean that we can go home soon?" I asked.
"No, you still have other enemies to face, even stronger than Cherubimon." Hope replied.
"What? But I thought that Cherubimon was the big bad guy at the end of our journey." I said.
"This is your real enemy." Hope said as I became aware of a red orb that looked like it had fingerprints on it.
"What is that thing?" I asked.
"It is the center of the Digital World. Inside it is Lucemon." Hope said.
"Lucemon? I thought that the original Legendary Warriors took care of him long ago." I said.
"He was defeated, but has been regaining energy as time passed. He was the one who corrupted Cherubimon." We were suddenly pushed into the red orb. Inside, was a glowing pink orb.
My eyes widened as I saw a sphere of data get sucked into the pink orb. "Was that the data that Cherubimon had collected from the Digital World?"
A pink orb and a blue orb burst from the pink orb, heading towards the surface of the Digital World. "Yes, and now Lucemon has sent his two warriors to collect the remaining data from the Digital World. It will be no easy task defeating them, and Lucemon is even stronger." Hope's voice was beginning to fade, "Prepare to face this new enemy. Sleep for a while and let yourself heal. The Legendary Warriors will need all the help that they can get."
I drifted into a dreamless sleep, knowing that there was a lot of work that still had to be done before we could go home.
A/N: Lots of writer's block for that one short chapter, I know. Tell me what you think with a review. :)