Chapter 41: Digital World: Dark Evolution XI
Send: 58 hours ago
To everyone,
Don't use your Digivices! They get tracked somehow. Digimon are dark evolving and attacking us left and right when they notice our presence. Are we the only ones? Does anyone know how they are able to do that? We've been able to get by without fighting for the last few days. Let's all meet up at the castle again. The six of us are on the way and still lots of days' worth of travel away, to the south east. We have nothing but a few scratches.
From Tai, Yolei, Matt, Agumon, Hawkmon and Gabumon
Send: 53 hours ago
To everyone,
The Digivices?! No wonder we've been running none stop and if it weren't for Veemon we would have been caught like last year. XVeemon has evolved to AeroVedramon! Get that! We got a couple of close calls, but it's no problem. No worries with us. At our speed it'll take only a couple more days back the castle. AeroVedramon is too fast to get tracked, so using digivice is fine! Hah! I think. It has been fine so far. Not even scratches (anymore)!
From Davis, Veemon and Tommy
Ps: does anyone know why the D-terminals are working again?
Send: 44 hours ago
To everyone,
I don't think it's only the Digivices that are tracked. I haven't used mine in days and Takuya and I have hardly been getting a few moments of rest. Was anyone aware of an Ancient Civilization living underground? We stumbled over it separately. We've been calling it Fire Sect. They are devoted to an ancient Sovereign. Zhuqiaomon. They are fire element fanatics and have racism against other types, but they are removed from enemy control due to a special kind of force field. We have managed to talk them into accepting refugees, though don't expect kind treatment. Pass that along if anyone is at refugee camps. Also, they have been hunting us thinking that my partner is their god reborn. Deal with caution.
We have managed to deal so far, we don't need help. We could be better off, but better worry about yourselves and each other.
Still near the Vulcan Fields, but we'll be at the castle.
From Sora and Takuya.
Send: 44 hours ago
To everyone,
The tracking through digivice is an interesting theory. As evidence shows, there is something to it as since we got the message and tired it, we have not been attacked once, which has been relatively regular previously to it. Has Sora completely deactivated her digivice? That might be able to get tracked as well. If you have and you are still found, I suspect it is more likely that out of your group, it is Takuya who gets located and therefore attacks follow. It is only just a theory still, though. Incidentally, where is Kari? Dark Evolutions have not occurred before we came to the Digital world, which was quickly followed by us getting scattered (the exact timing is difficult to pinpoint, however it falls roughly into the same time frames at the very least, the odds of it being a coincidence stand small). Evolution is of the Light Element. Though they have had Koji (Warrior of Light) for weeks already, this has only just started. Unless Kari is reading this right now, I stress that the chances of Dark Evolutions happening by coincidence shortly after we have lost contact with our chosen one of Light are small.
Dark Evolution is a form of forced evolution that occurs not only though Darkness, but also still through Light. However as we don't know everything about it, it might also be connected to Koichi. Does anyone know where he is? From the amount of information I have at the moment, either of the two being connected to Dark Evolution is most likely.
We have left the Grand Desert behind towards the North West. From our current position to Vamndemon's former castle it'll take us at our current speed about a month. We'd greatly appreciate it if someone fast could pick us up. So far we have no broken bones to report, however Ken and Wormmon do have concussions.
It is as of yet unknown why the D-terminals have not worked.
From Izzy, Ken, Tentomon and Wormmon
Send: 42 hours ago
Why is everyone so far away from us and why are we all alone? First we almost got trampled by a wave of annoying SkullMammon and then there is this stupid heavy box that reacted to my digivice but didn't do anything else and is heavy to carry and then we have nothing to eat any more with the lunches from Mrs. Izumi gone and my feet hurt. I haven't walked this much ever and there are no showers here and no basic body care materials, like always, and I'm sick and tired of this. How are we gonna end this stupid fight?
From distressed Mimi and Palmon who are fine
Ps: How did we end up this scattered anyway?
Send: 40 hours ago
Izzy,
What do you mean? What has happened to Kari? Are you saying they have captured her? She is too smart for that! Would they need to capture her? Can't they maybe have just stolen her crest?
Tai
Send: 39 hours ago
To everyone,
Though I can't be sure, there is a chance, however unlikely, of a technical difficulty that has caused our separation. There is also the chance of a trap, an accident or similarities. We'll have to ask Gennai for details. Be cautious. Incidentally, has anyone else noticed how all gates are completely locked down? No one can enter the digital world and no one can exit.
To Tai,
The crests we have are in the end nothing more than an object created to fit our greatest characteristics. Compared to her in person, the crest has smaller value. Especially since we are talking about something as elemental as evolution. But it's only a worst-scenario theory. It is also well possible that Kari cannot reply out of simpler reasons and that the enemy has found ways to force evolution in completely alien ways as they come from a different dimension.
To Mimi and Palmon,
What box? Can you send a picture and describe it? Size, weight, substance, etc.? Why did you pick it up? Have you noticed anything about it? How does it compare to the black box we already have?
From Ken and Izzy
Send: 24 hours ago
To everyone,
Before we can do much of anything, we need to regroup. We need to find Kari. Know where she is. And the others; TK and Cody are also still unaccounted for. As are Joe and Koichi. And we need information. We can't do anything like this. Don't even know where the enemy is. Also, we can't challenge the army in a head on fight. We need to go around the main force and strike where it hurts. For that, freeing Takuya's friends is the top priority; it will stop them from controlling digimon and therefore take care of how outnumbered we are. The how there is a problem. I'm open to ideas since the last try didn't really work out.
From Tai
T.K looked up from the list of messages at Cody. The younger boy finished reading the storm of missed messages a few moments later, after which he met T.K's eyes. If T.K understood the context right, it wasn't only that their D-terminals didn't connect because they were too deep underground but also because they for some reason just plain hadn't worked for some time. Though having been too deep underground also seemed to play a role since the two of them only just now received the round mails that have been send over the past few days and what was T.K thinking about?
Kari. Dark Evolution.
Battles, fighting.
So much danger that Ex-Veemon evolved higher.
Kari.
Kari was getting used to violate digimon in the worst way possible. Dark Evolution. T.K felt sick just thinking about it. He hated, really, really hated Darkness. But what he hated most was the evil in it.
Using Kari-
T.K felt his anger stir awake. "What are we going to do?"
"We have to get him."
Angry as he was, T.K still didn't allow himself not to agree. He hated Darkness and evil, particularly if those two appeared together – and he still wasn't quite convinced there was a way for them not to-, but however much he did, he could never bring himself to abandon anyone to it.
The Digimon Kaiser had received what he had asked for, meddling with the powers. Koichi was more and closer to Darkness than Ken ever had been, however unlike the Kaiser, the other dark haired teen did not have any choice to choose or not to choose. Not anymore than T.K had had a choice in being the Chosen Child of the Crest of Hope.
However, even that did not make TK eager.
The chamber the two boys had stumbled upon in their quest for an exit was clearly created for the sole purpose of show casting a gleaming, wet looking surface at the far end of the room, raised upon a set of stairs. The chamber was as big as two houses, the exiting tunnels wide enough for most sizes of beings.
They had hoped to finally find an exit as the floors were no longer wet, the passage ways widening, but instead they had found this.
The blond looked at the pool of Darkness embedded like a mirror in a wall. Looked at the gray -dead- stone and the ash floating in the air even when there was no sky to fall from. It was a scene so very unlike the moss lit space the Chosen Children and their two partners stood in and so horribly familiar that TK had to suppress a shiver of dread.
He looked at the person beyond the transparent sheen who was sitting on stairs too large to have been made by human hand, head in his hands, fingers twisted in his hair.
T.K knew just from one look what he was seeing. "It's the Dark Ocean," he said, for only Kari, Tailmon, Ken, Patamon and T.K himself had ever gotten a clear look at the parallel world.
Cody accepted that with a nod and no further reaction. The younger boy was very steady, something T.K respected a great deal about him. Cautiously, Cody put a hand to the picture. It slipped through like there was no resistance at all and Cody quickly pulled back. Patamon on T.K's head shivered.
Sending a quick report about their and Koichi's situation, TK put his D-terminal away and willed himself to think about the present only. There was nothing else he could do right now.
"It seems at the very least that we can go through," the younger boy mused. From the corner of his eyes, he traded a wary look, then very, very carefully put his hand back through, let it swallow his arm and, hesitantly up to his shoulder.
T.K pressed his teeth together and took hold on the back of Cody's clothes. There could not be made too many precautions when dealing with darkness; the blond really didn't want to do this, didn't even want to be in the same room as a connection to the dark world, but that didn't matter. He may not even like Koichi, but that too didn't matter.
They had to try this, they had to get him. Not only because they needed his help for the fighting and the digital world, but because Koichi needed help.
He was sitting in a way that screamed defeat, in a terrible world, their voices didn't reach him. He showed no sign of moving when he clearly should. Maybe he didn't even get the messages through the D-terminal.
Or maybe, TK thought morbidly,he no longer can read. Or think.
Maybe he was already dead.
T.K put nothing past Darkness, up to and including harming its own host. Ken was proof.
And in the end, that was not Koichi's fault. T.K felt a bit of his resentment ebb away at the thought.
"How are you, Cody?" Armadimon asked worriedly from where he was sitting at their feet, eyes wide.
Cody was about to put his head through the mirror gate. He frowned a bit. "It's fine. It's warm, I think. It feels stale." They could see the part of Cody that had already slipped through with no problem, his hand weaving through the air cautiously. Even that move didn't cause any motion to the flakes of ash.
"That's the Dark Ocean. Every thing is like that. It makes you feel like the only living thing in the world."
Cody shivered, but bravely took a step forward and was all but swallowed by the mirror. T.K had to take a step forward and the hand connected to Cody slipped through. The comfortable warmth, such a contrast from the cool tunnels they have spent the last days in, was revolting and made his skin crawl, but Cody seemed fine and, eerily soundless, gestured for T.K to let go of his clothes.
Reluctantly, the blond did, pulling his hand back. Now the two of them stood in two different worlds yet hardly more than a few feet apart. Cody reached out with a hand and the surface shimmered, before the hand reached through.
T.K breathed a sigh of relief. Already, he felt tired. Emotional anxiety was draining, but at the very least they seemed to have a real stable gate, accessible from both sides and without time lag.
Swallowing his distaste, T.K took the steps forward as well. Just as a fail save, he took his hat and put it half through the mirror back, marking the place of the gate as, and TK found he was unsurprised, there was no visible sign of its existing in this place. For all that it looked like, the four of them had stepped out of a solid wall.
"Darkness likes to trick and lie," Patamon said solemnly and somewhat sadly.
"I know," said TK quietly. "It makes me wonder how anyone drawing from it, hosting it can be trusted." He sighed. "But that isn't really the point, is it, Patamon?"
"Nu-uh," Patamon agreed as they both watched Cody shake Koichi's shoulders, Armadimon shoving against the dark haired boy and not getting a reaction. "Darkness is difficult, never easy and most of the time corrupted," the little digimon spoke with confidence and wisdom beyond his years, "Evil likes it and if there were ever to be a host responsible for it, then they too would have to balance on a blade's edge, for falling in either direction or cutting themselves means failing and corrupting. Darkness is Darkness and it must never be anything more than what it is. Which it usually is."
T.K wanted to either sigh or throw something.
"He isn't reacting, TK," Cody called, a hand on Koichi's shoulder. "What do we do?"
Patamon took off and flapped over to the dark haired boy's head, sitting down there and pulling on the hair with some noise. Without effect.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I think maybe we should first of all leave the Dark Ocean. I don't think it's good for him or safe for us."
Cody nodded. The chamber they were in was almost an exact counterpart to the one they had come from, except for the half missing walls revealing the gray outside... The edges of the still standing parts of the wall were smooth and precise, like they were cut with a diamond. They looked fresh. The landscape outside was crater riddled.
Together they dragged Koichi's unmoving body -empty, but still blinking eyes, breathing, slack- over to the part of the wall that was the gate and just when T.K had begun to hope against his better expectation that there was not going to be trouble, he caught sight of Koichi's shadow.
T.K stared at it, a bad feeling setting in his gut, but for the life of him, he could not pinpoint the source. It was only a shadow. It didn't move out of sync or away from the ground, he ran a list down, it also wasn't bigger than it ought to be-
They walked through the gate with little problem, T.K not pulling his gaze away from the ground and it was only when the green moss of the other side gave them solid, natural light, that he realized.
The breath escaped him in a sharp hiss. "Get away from him!"
On command, reflex honed, there was little hesitation as all scrambled to obey, getting as far away as possible. T.K clutched his Digivice. He had not let go of it since he had set sight on the gate, but now he raised it in preparation. A faint glow emitted from it.
Koichi had fallen limp to the ground, unresponsive.
Cody looked hesitant and confused as he stood at the opposite wall of the chamber from T.K, digivice similarly in hand and Armadimon defensively in front of him.
Koichi didn't move. Nothing moved.
TK didn't let the shadow out of his eyes.
"TK?" Cody asked, confused.
"Look at the shadow," TK prompted. "In the Dark Ocean, there hadn't been enough light to make one, but Koichi still had one. I only noticed when the moss made our shadows."
Cody narrowed his eyes at the teen, eyes sharp. Lying as he was, the shadow was hardly visible. "Are you sure that's a bad thing?" He swallowed. "I mean, maybe because he is Darkness he always has a shadow. Would that be odd?"
TK's eyes flashed to the younger boy. Cody avoided his stare, keeping his eyes on Koichi and there was silence for a while, disturbed only by their breathing and the TK's heartbeat in his ears.
Koichi didn't move. TK forced his eyes closed.
Was it possible?
No, it wasn't, was TK's instinctive reply, but that was no answer.
Unwilling, he thought about it. Why did he think it wasn't possible? Because it was Darkness. Because Darkness was not to be trusted. But there was more...
….because TK could not think that it may not be so. Because he could not think that Darkness might not be plotting their demise right now.
TK was unable to think like that, but it didn't mean it wasn't possible and that was what mattered for this.
It went against all his instincts, against all his good sense, but maybe, just maybe, he, TK, was not the best to deal with Koichi. Not the best judge.
He could not be impartial.
That meant he was not fair, ever, where Darkness was concerned. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
TK opened his eyes. "I don't know. What do you think, Cody? I can't look at this rationally."
Cody pressed his lips in a line, but understanding as he was, didn't comment. TK's conflict with Darkness was no secret, but only very few knew how to deal with it. Cody was one and he did it being neither acknowledging nor dwelling on it. "I don't know either. But even if it isn't natural, he isn't really doing anything. And we still need to get out of here." Cody lowered his Digivice and took cautious steps towards Koichi.
No reaction.
"How long has he been like this? How do we get him to respond? He can't eat or drink like this. When was the last time he had either?"
The shift in subject was subtle but welcome and TK forced himself to focus on it. "Maybe Gennai will know something. Or one of the other Spirit Holders." TK pulled out his D-terminal and sent off another quick report. He noted his inbox. "It might take some time till we get an answer. What should we do in the meantime?"
Cody frowned. "It doesn't really make a difference if Koichi is awake or not. We have to get out of here and meet the others at the castle."
TK ran a hand through his hair, only then noticing his lack of hat. He picked it up, then turned his digivice towards Patamon. "We can't carry him all the way. We're counting on you, Patamon."
His little partner looked proud. "Leave it to me, TK!" He beamed, just as Cody shouted, "No! Don't!"
TK's digivice flashed, but he just managed to break off before he caused evolution. "What?"
Cody pulled Koichi's limp body up to his shoulder. "Have you forgotten? They said our digivice get tracked!"
His stomach dropped. "Right. I forgot. Sorry."
The younger boy shrugged it away and TK went to help him carry the third human member of their team. If Koichi wasn't going to wake up, they were not going to make it far, probably.
For the past few days, they had survived on water and the moss, but it wasn't substantial and TK felt weak. How long could they carry a limp body around with them under these circumstances?
Whatever ground they were going to cover, it was not going to be much. And the worst thing was that even if they made it out of this labyrinth, they would have to continue carrying Koichi if he didn't get better. Above ground, they might not even have anything to eat or drink available. Already, there was no water standing in the corridors anymore and the boys had counted on moving swiftly and efficiently out of this place. They couldn't do that anymore.
Still, they did not whine or complain. As much as TK still wanted to, he didn't blame Koichi either. It didn't cross his mind leaving him behind, if only temporary.
Because it was necessary. Because it was their duty. Because overcoming hurdles was what they had been chosen for.
It was not the first time that TK faced the prospect of going hungry or thirsty. As a kid in a desert, he had starved and longed for water.
It was that memory that TK recalled to the forefront of his mind as they struggled onwards. This was still easy, this was still comfortable. It was nothing compared to then.
Trials and challenges to overcome was the life of a Digidestined. Possibly this too. The challenge of his own temper and the goodness of his heart was always in conflict when Darkness was brought up to matter and TK felt that all-consuming cold anger that, in Cody's words, made him seem like a different person. TK had to overcome that.
Why else was he, out of all people, one of the people who had to help the host of Darkness.
To overcome his hate.
Did TK even want to?
He couldn't even say. He hated, hated Darkness. Hate was easy to feel, stable. Safe.
If he started not to hate, then he'd become soft. A weakness Darkness would not hesitate to exploit.
Just the very thought made him shudder and reject the thought. And in another uneasy realization, he understood it was because he feared.
And how much he feared, Patamon, Angemon - blackness, night, feathers death-
TK hated because the alternative was to fear. Fear it more than even Ken or Kari. If he feared it, he was too afraid to attack it. He couldn't destroy it.
No, TK could not stop hating Darkness.
But maybe...
He shifted Koichi's weight hanging on his shoulder, careful not to disturb Patamon from where he was resting.
But maybe he could make an exception for Koichi. Koichi didn't chose this and Darkness in its purest form, as Koichi was supposed to be, he was not evil.
TK didn't want to hate.
Maybe he could-
The arm over his shoulder twitched and stiffened. Kochi's entire body jerked and then TK was violently shoved into a wall, hitting his head. Patamon let loose an alarmed squeak, Armadimon growled and TK heard Cody shout.
His sight swam and his head beat painfully as TK instinctively crouched to a more mobile position on the floor, his digivice at hand. One then did enough awareness return to take the situation in.
He was separated from Cody, the younger boy a dozen steps down the corridor in an equally alarmed position. Armadimon growled from in front of him.
Patamon was by TK's side, braced on all fours and for once looking aggressive at his target.
Koichi posed one of the eeriest sights the blond had ever seen.
His feet were rooted to the ground, but he swayed back and forth, like a drunk. His head was titled up, expression hardly visible, yet there were little jerks shaking his body that spoke of great pain even if he didn't actually made a single sound.
TK had let his guard down.
The shadow was no longer obediently following Koichi's every move. Instead it slowly creeped up his legs, tinting his clothes and inky black, darker than the most moonless night.
But that wasn't the scariest. The parts of Koichi's body longest covered by that shadow started to deform, grow, change. Unevenly. One of Koichi's feet had become big and bulky, bony. A vague shape of a skull started to become apparent. Something reddish grew out of a blackened hand.
TK's instincts screamed at him and before he could think, he had flashed his digivice in front of him, making it glow brightly.
No evolution, half to his own surprise, but he didn't allow himself to break off even if this might bring enemies down on their heads. Some little voice that was always positive whispered that at least then they would know the way out.
Koichi screamed.
It was an awful sound, distorted; a low growl yet at the same time a high screech full of pain.
Yet TK didn't let off. He couldn't say why, at least not at first. For all that he did hate, he never, even in his darkest moments, wanted to cause pain, yet that was exactly what he did.
But then he noticed the disturbing jerking had stopped and that the hands rushing to hold his head moved fluidly and naturally. The shadow grayed and faded away.
It left Koichi behind. Koichi stood, panting, trembling, but out of his own violation.
TK was not sure what he had just done. Not even if it was good or bad.
Send: 3 hours ago
To everyone,
Cody, Patamon, Armadimon and I are fine. We are stuck somewhere deep underground and have only just now gotten reception to our D-terminals. We don't know where we are, not even vaguely. The GPS function is as of yet not working. There was a giant temple, styled like the Maya. Does anyone know something about this? Armadimon seemed somewhat familiar with it in a different way from Patamon, though he couldn't remember. Inside the temple we have found an object called 'Xuanwumon's Ninth' that stored itself inside Cody's D-terminal. It's not working like a Digimental. Searching for a way out, we have been wandering a labyrinth for the past few days. Now we have found a chamber that has what seems to be a relatively stable gate to the Dark Ocean. Koichi is on the other side, though his exact state is unconfirmed. We will recover him and hopefully report again shortly.
From TK, Patamon, Cody and Armadimon
Send: 2.5 hours ago
To everyone,
We have recovered Koichi. However he is unresponsive, though he seems to be awake; things like breathing normal and blinking are all normal. He just doesn't move or respond in any way. More pressing, is it part of his element that he has a shadow even when the light conditions should not make one?
From TK, Patamon, Cody and Armadimon
Send: minutes ago
To everyone,
We have recovered Koichi from the Dark Ocean and after some short problems everything is fine now. I used my digivice, but so far we have not been attacked, though maybe that is due to us being underground (don't know how far, don't know where) and there are no digimon to dark evolve near us or there is a different reason. Do our Digivices get only detected when we are using them for evolution or in other cases as well? TK didn't use his for evolution. Those things considered, we are wondering, is there a chance that with Koichi's dark element the light of a digivice may be covered and made undetectable if Digivices are getting tracked by every usage?
From TK, Patamon, Cody, Armadimon and Koichi.
This is the beta-ed version. Many thanks to smfan. :)
Do you have suggestions? Critique? Likes? Dislikes? Complains? Things you noticed?
TBC.