Tai had explained the situation is as much detail as he could while Takuya, Kari, Tai and Koichi were carried out of the whirlpool by Nefertimon and WarGreymon.
Takuya saw, that as soon as they exited the dark fog Tai´s crest stopped glowing. But Kari´s didn´t. Takuya guessed it was because Koichi was nearby. Light and Darkness preferred to be hostile in most of the cases after all. Though, that was based on Light´s narrow minded attitude and the little fact that Darkness was evil most of the time. It was moments like this that Takuya considered himself pretty lucky to be fire. To him it would be way to much of a hassle to check if someone was Light or Darkness first before befriending them. But, well, it wasn´t Takuya´s place to change or even pint that out. He as fire had pretty much nothing to do with the relationship between both.
Takuya saw the explosions and flashes of battle from far inside the huge vertical hourglass was kind of hard to miss, but what he didn´t 'see' until they left the whirlpool was the Hourglasses' aura and presence. He was little grateful that he didn´t 'see' it earlier. That he didn´t 'see' gave him few more moments piece of mind, though. But if he had had a chance to choose he would have never chosen ignorance. And be it only for a few moments. It was concerning his friends after all. Then again maybe it was good that he got this few second, because it was kind of obvious that he wouldn´t rest anymore after he got out of his shock.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE DONE, YOU BASTARDS?" It didn´t matter that there was only water below, he would swim his way to the hourglass if he had to, but Kari had instantly graped him and she was not letting go.
The black fortress was only black. That was if one only looked with his eyes.
But Takuya and Koichi too, had learned not to rely on eyes only. But in this case that wasn´t even needed. He felt Agnimon and Vitramon inside him resonate with the fortress or rather with the other 8 Spirits inside it. And he saw the fortress no longer in black. It was emitting all colors of the rainbow except black and red.
His blood rushed to his head and anger clouded his judgment once again and yet, at the same time he was thinking clearer then ever:
Nothing and no one, but Susanoomon should shine in all colors.
"Please let go of me!" Koichi demanded, his voice shaking. Had he not been this angry Takuya would be the same. Instead of anger worry was eating away at Koichi. Takuya, too was worried, he was just too enraged to pay it any mind.
No one and nothing should shine like Susanoomon.
Susanoomon was a living being. A fusion of all Spirits. And yet that fortress shone in the same manner. Takuya didn´t dare to think why yet did so. Despair was mixing with his anger.
If they had infused the fortress with the Spirits then what has happened to his friends? Were they alive?
Damm it!
Takuya ceased trying to make Kari let go of him. Like this he could do nothing. Hence he had no choice but to think. What could he do...? He had to get to that fortress. Maybe if he was closer he could find out something more. Other then the knowledge that the Spirits were inside.
"Can you get me closer to it?" Takuya asked Kari and Nefertimon. He earned himself disbelieving looks.
"No way! We are getting you and that Darkness brat out of here!" Nefertimon answered all to clearly and not too kindly.
"But I have to get to it!"
"I´m sorry, but we aren´t strong enough to get closer." Kari shot him an apologetic look of the shoulder. "And as Nefertimon said, we have to get you to safety first."
"That´s not-"Covered by several Digimon Nefertimon and WarGreymon had closed in on a pretty huge black and white dragon type Digimon. Koichi had already mounted it´s back against his will, Takuya guessed. It were his brother´s Spirits on the other side of the battlefield. And maybe Koji himself was there, too.
"GaiaForce!" Wargreymon shot a red burning ball towards the enemy Digimon.
…
That´s it! That was his way.
"WarGreymon!" He addressed said Digimon quickly. WarGreymon floated beneath Nefertimon right now. Perfect! "Shoot another GaiaForce at the fortress!" Ok, normally one should add a 'please', but Takuya hardly had the patience to waste time with it.
After a confirmative nod from Tai WarGreymon accumulated atmosphere between his claws to shoot another ball of burning energy. Takuya clenched his jaw. He had only one chance. Adrenalin rushed his blood; made his heart beat even faster. This had to be the most reckless thing he had done in four years, even counting the clown. And he most certainly was glad once again that Koji was not there to see it.
"Gaia-"
He slipped his wrist out of Kari´s hand and jumped.
"-Force"
Takuya hoped the burning atmosphere was dense enough to not let him fall till the attack connected with the black wall of the fortress.
The rustling of the flames around him blocked out every other noise; but it wasn´t hot. A grim smile lifted his lips. Being fire was definitely useful. Way better than the always-fighting Light and Darkness. Though, when asked Koji and Koichi would likely say the same.
To Takuya´s relief the attack was dense enough to not let him drop. Thanks to that, however he couldn´t see anything but the red flames dancing round him. Hence Takuya didn´t know when he was going to hit the fortress, which was a bit troublesome considering that a careless collision might as well break a few of his bones.
But that couldn´t be helped now.
WarGreymon approached Imperialdramon, dodging few stray attacks that passed by the other Digimon. But Matt´s eyes were glued to the boy that had a remarkable similarity with Ken. And he couldn´t help but think of this as irony. That boy was Darkness, after all. That said Matt saw the Darkness lurking from within him if he looked closely.
It was a Darkness stronger and different from anything that Matt had encountered so far. He glanced over to TK and saw rare emotions of hate and disgust breaking his usually gentle face.
Not that Matt didn´t understand, but he thought of himself and TK as rational enough to save concerns for later. He wasn´t that sure about few other on Imperialdramon´s back, though. His eye´s drifted to Cody and Ken, but to his surprise neither showed emotions like TK on their faces.
"Guys, this Koichi Kimura." Tai introduced to the DigiDestined. Tai´s eyes quickly locked with his and then TK´s; a silent warning in his look. Matt had no problem with that, but he wasn´t sure about TK. He walked few steps over to him attempting to be some kind of moral support. He knew he wasn´t good with that, though.
The Koichi boy quickly bowed before turning around and directing his sight towards the fortress. Had Matt known him better he should have been able to read the boy´s emotions which were pretty obvious on his face, but he didn´t and Matt wasn´t that much of a peapol´s person in the first place. Hence he could not interpret the face lines of the boy. But he guessed it was worry, anyway. Matt also noticed that his eyes often flashed over to Takuya who was discussing something with Kari. However the battlefield was too loud for him to understand what they were talking about.
"WarGreymon!"That Matt heard. And something struck him as odd in Takuya´s voice. He couldn´t pinpoint it, though. "Shoot another GaiaForce at the fortress!"
….there was definitely something odd with the way Takuya spoke….
He saw Tai give an approving nod.
That was when it clicked. Matt felt nostalgic listening to Takuya. And that was not good. Especially when it was Tai he was reminded of. "Don´t-"
"Gaia-"Too late. Only he noticed that something was off. The others were focused on either Koichi or the battles of their partners.
He saw Takuya jump.
"-Force"
Takuya was hit dead on with the attack.
"TAKUYA!" He heard Kari´s panicked scream. Finally the others attention to their partners battle broke and Confusion filled Imperialdramon´s back. Even the Digimon were momentarily distracted from defending Imperialdramon and Nefertimon.
Somebody snickered. Matt looked around and found Koichi at the source. He instantly scratched all reservation he thought to be best. He griped the boy at his collar and nailed his dark blue eyes with his own.
"Do you think this is funny?" He hissed. Part of him thought he made a mistake when Koichi´s eyes turned from amused to sad, but Matt knew he had done nothing wrong.
Koichi shook his head, eyes averted.
"It´s just that it is impossible for Takuya to do nothing. " A slight hint of amusement returned to the boys features; but it was overshadowed by sadness.
Matt ignored it. "You knew he would pull a stunt like that? Why didn´t you say something? You watched him jump to his death." Matt was furious like he hadn´t been for a long time.
Again the boy just shook his head. "No.
Fire can´t kill him." Right...Matt saw first hand how Takuya tended to set himself on fire. Why hadn´t he thought of this before?
He looked up and searched for MetalGarurumon on the battlefield, but he didn´t release Koichi.
"MetalGarurumon-""WarGreymon-"
"-after him!" Tai and Matt shouted in unison. Both of them had already taken off, though. Tai put a hand on Matt´s hand and gestured him to let go of Koichi.
And Matt did;ashamed. He had been caught up in his emotions and prejudice, thinking that Darkness couldn´t care less about lives and had forgotten that Koichi too, was just a human worrying about a friend that had recklessly taken of towards enemy´s headquarters. He must be worried. If he wasn´t Matt would scratch him from the list of humans.
"Even so, why didn´t you say something? What if he gets captured?" Looks like Matt didn´t need to do so. Sadness, worry and depression darkened the boys eyes to almost black.
Koichi turned away and followed the red ball with his eyes. "Because it was a necessity. For both him and me." That was the last he would say for now. Matt heard it in his voice. And seriously there were more important things to do than to figure out the morals of the darkness boy on a battlefield.
"Davis, Ken have Imperialdramon follow after WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The other Digimon have to devolve and come here to us. We are going to rely on Imerialdramon´s speed to get us there. And after we have collected Takuya and our partners we are going to escape at top speed." Tai ordered unusually calm. Matt could guess why, though. And he smiled.
An attack cut the air and left a vacuum before other air could fill the hole. WarGreymon adapted his curse to avoid being caught off guard by the unpredictable air currents that would follow.
Together with MetalGarurumon he pressed forward into the countless numbers of hostile Digimon dodging most attacks, disabling few lower Digimon in chase of Tai No.2. '
WarGreymon regretted leaving his partner behind, but he also knew it couldn´t be helped and that Tai was more or less save with Impeerialdramon. He knew Tai No.2 needed to be protected. He understood that and didn´t specifically mind it. He liked the fire boy –Taku.. something-, not only because he was like Tai to an extent, but also because he had a peasant air around him. WarGreymon wondered if it was because the boy was fire. He definitely saw fire burning inside him. Back then on the plain, down in the whirlpool and even when he jumped into his attack.
A fire that was different from the Digimon inside him. A fire like Tai´s and yet nothing like it.
The boy and his partner certainly had caught his interest. The first thing he´d do when this was over was to remember his name. And maybe talk to his partner. But for now he had to focus on getting catching up to him.
Wargreymon rammed his knee into an attacking Icedevimon´s stomach, but paid it no further mind. He had to get to his own GaiaForce before the enemy Digimon, who were more and more blocking his and MetalGarurumon´s path. The majority however chased after GaiaForce as well. The Digimon were intelligent enough to not block it´s path. They´d be burned to a crisp, WarGreymon thought not without a little bit of pride.
Blocking Mega Digimon on the ground with a hostage was one thing. A completely different one was to block them when they were only passing through. Moreover, both, MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon were experienced, strong and had good teamwork. Though, that they progressed this far into the enemy lines was not only thanks to skill, but also because of luck and the fact that GaiaForce had somewhat cut the enemy lines. The cut was getting filled fast though, but not fast enough to make the distance between said attack and pursuers greater than it was thanks to the attack´s head start. But they weren´t catching up either. And that was not good. The fire boy could not only get hurt when GaiaForce connected with the fortress, but also it would provide about 5 second for an enemy Digimon to catch him. More than enough.
WarGreymon hit another Digimon with his claws and threw it out of the way. In only a few more seconds GaiaForce would make contact. No enough time. And enemy Digimon already crowded around the point of impact. 3…2…1…
Usually GaiaForce didn't explode, instead the attack burned its way through whatever it was aimed at until it came out on the other end. More often than not deleting a Digimon in the process. But now it didn´t. GaiaForce hit the black wall and just melted down at it; revealing the fire boy desperately trying to hold on to the steep wall. With little success. He fell down and WarGreymon hurried to catch up.
A Dinobeemon caught him in one of his claws, leaving the boy even if he would have been struggling little chance for escape. But he didn´t, WarGreymon noted; in fact the boy showed no reaction at all. And that could not be good. Wargreymon did not know much about humans and their behavior, but he had noticed that they rarely sat still. Let alone not a second later the boy did move again. And he didn´t just try to free himself, he did it.
How, WarGreymon didn´t know, but the boy fell again.
He and MetalGarurumon changed curse. The short time of capture had them allowed to close the distance to a mere two seconds of full speed travel. And with no other Mega insight, no one could reach him before them. That was good.
Wargreymon caught him with his claws and was immediately met with an apologetic but also triumphant look. No sign of regret.
He and MetalGarurumon turned around with a loop and made all efforts to get out of the enemy's layer. But that of course was not easy. Now pretty much the entire army was focusing on not letting them escape.
He didn´t plan on getting stopped by that, though. And neither was MetalGarurumon.
"Cocytus Breath!" He aimed the attack directly at many Digimon in front of them; now that there was no longer the danger of hitting fire boy MetalGarurumon could use his attacks. He was hoping they would dodge and give them space to flee, though, so that as few Digimon as possible died.
Both WarGreymon and Metalgarurumon stopped shocked in their tracks when the icy dust cleared and all Digimon were revealed not only in place, but also completely unfrozen. Even if they hadn´t dodged it, they should all be frozen. WarGreymon blinked. What just happened was-.
Had it not been for the wind taking a quick change, MetalGarurumon would not have noticed. But it did change.
Wargreymon didn´t notice. He didn´t notice until MetalGarurumon made a sudden jump at him. Pressing him out of the way of a sharp trident. WarGreymon had been to surprised to react.
He saw blood drip down into the ocean below. Luckily it was only a scratch. Wargreymon could see that, but that didn´t change the fact that it was blood. He strengthened his grip on the boy in his hand with emotions changing faster then he could name them. He almost forgot that the boy he was holding was human. But the fire boy did not complain, maybe he too, was to enchanted by a friends blood dripping.
To Wargreymon it seemed as if time was frozen.
A second drip fell town to the wide ocean. A friends blood. The blood of MetalGarurumon. The blood-
A thick white beam shot past them deleting countless Digimon in its range. Not even a second later Imperiladramon had appeared before them. Tai and Matt standing at his back´s edge. Screaming and gesturing them to devolve and broad Imperialdramon as well.
Sadly my releases are going to slow down a bit more. I need more time to come up with a plot. :( That is also why this chapter is shorter than the others, by the way.
I´ll try one every three days.
Anyway, please review.
And as usually thanks for the reviews from the last chapter.