Chapter 11

Author's note: dreams/flashbacks

Word or phrase emphasis

Spirits/Beast Spirits speaking

Past:

Serena sighs as she listens to Bokomon prattle on about fortune telling, she already knew her destiny, she was gonna skip out on this. She had Muchomon and she had figured out how to use her D-Tector to contact Takuya. Unlike the others she spent time fiddling with her D-Tector. There was also the fact that she wanted nothing to do with Koji. The less time she had to spend with him the better in her opinion. Takuya would not be thrilled with her splitting off from them but, she could teach him how to contact her.

Muchomon looks at his friend, she had withdrawn so much from everyone save for him, Takuya, and Tommy. She wouldn't even go near the Light Warrior, not that he could blame her for that. Koji had been downright cruel to her on the Island of Toys. That had been uncalled for and as Tokomon he could see that Koji had regretted his words yet he refused to apologize to Serena. The female Kanbara tosses an apple at her brother's head, testing his situational awareness. Takuya was quick to catch the apple, cook it, cool it down, and toss it back to his little sister, " Спасибо, брат(Thanks, bro). "

" Нет проблем, сестренка(No problem, little sister). " Takuya says. The elder Kanbara really wanted to tear Koji limb from limb for what he'd done to his little sister but, he could see that Koji had regretted what he'd said. Takuya was just grateful he'd remembered enough French to talk his little sister down. He hadn't quite mastered that particular language yet. Serena was quick to teach her brother how to use his D-Tector to communicate with her and the others. Takuya pays attention to this because he knew the only reason she'd be teaching him was if she wasn't going to stick around for meeting Shamanmon.

Takuya was no fool, he knew she was keeping something other than her maternal home life from him. She knew her destiny and so saw no need to go to a fortune teller. She'd have Muchomon with her and the capability to call in back-up as well. Serena and Muchomon have fun checking out the different sights in the Fortuneteller Village. Serena even got a cool pendant from one stall for helping the Sunflowmon get a major sale. If there was one thing she was good at, it was convincing people to buy things. Her new pendant hung on an orange leather cord and the pendant itself was made out of blue sea glass and shaped like the Warrior of Water's symbol.

Serena decides to stick around and help Sunflowmon make her sales, this way she might be able to get Takuya his birthday present, which would be his Warrior symbol hung on a red leather cord made out of red lava crystal according to Sunflowmon. She had just gotten her older brother's present gift wrapped when she hears the sounds of a fight, " Sorry, Sunflowmon, my brother and the others must be dealing with the evil gnome again. " She stuffs the box into subspace and races off with Muchomon. Her eyes widen in horror as she sees Tommy's fractal code appear, " Ardent Flare! " Muchomon calls out even as Serena races forward and times her kick just right, nailing Gigasmon right between the eyes.

Gigasmon goes sailing and Tommy retains his spirit, Serena smirks when she sees the predicament Koji was in and her look said everything to him. He'd called her dead weight and now he was. He needed the others to protect him because Grumblemon had taken him out of the fight. Serena leaps up into the air to avoid Gigasmon's underground sneak attack and completes a triple somersault before landing. Her chocolate eyes narrow as she stares down the Beast of Earth, " You no be scared of Gigasmon, why? "

Serena snorts, " Почему я должен быть(Why should I be)? "

Gigasmon blinks, not having expected that response while Agunimon rolls his eyes at his little sister's antics, " Imooto. "

" Что(What)? " Serena asks innocently, even though she knew what he meant.

That was when all hell broke loose and Serena's eyes widen when she sees the Flame Beast. Golemon is dealt with easily and Gigasmon retreats. Serena watches as her brother saves Shamanmon and is overtaken by his beast spirit. " Taku-nii! "

Kazemon lands beside the younger Kanbara, " Serena, what's wrong? "

Serena's chocolate eyes have concern in them as they meet Kazemon's, " Ecco il suo spirito bestia e ha praticamente avuto il tempo di prepararsi se stesso a differenza di Luce(That's his beast spirit and he basically had no time to brace himself unlike Light). "

" Oh no. " Kazemon says, " Guys, that's Takuya's second spirit. "

" Damn, Takky had no prep time for this, which means he has to find his way out of all that primal power. " Beetlemon says.

Tommy and Muchomon join Serena even as the Flame Beast roars, what were they going to do? How could they get through to Takuya?

Present:

Serena runs a brush through her long chocolate hair, she'd lent hair care implements to Sora and Mimi. Right now she was taking a break from all the training while Taku-nii ran the others through their paces. Leomon and Muchomon were keeping watch while she and Tommy rested. Candlemon stuck close to his partner, just close enough to intervene if need be. Once her hair was brushed to her satisfaction, she loved her subspace pocket, she was quick to whip it back into its customary braid with spikes, and light blue and orange ribbons woven in.

The female Kanbara rolls her shoulders and stretches out before going through one of her more difficult tumbling routines. Everyone save those that knew her well stop to watch her perform. Takuya smiles, he was glad she felt comfortable enough with the new kids to do this. He hadn't seen this routine yet, she was so good at gymnastics, and had recently taken gold at a competition. She already had Olympic coaches scouting her and yet she just wanted to compete for fun, she didn't care about the Olympics, which really put the coaches off. They'd never had someone whom didn't want to compete on the international stage before.

" Fantastic, how long has she been training, Takuya? " Izzy asks.

" Three or four. I can do most of what she can, if only so I can help her train, plus, it's good for soccer. " Takuya admits.

" She's good. " Tai says.

" She's a Kanbara. " Takuya states, as though that explained everything.

Serena ends her performance by sticking her landing on a triple salto backward pike. She bows when she hears the applause and laughs when her brother scoops her up, " You are way too good at that. "

" You're just as good, Taku-nii, you just don't like gymnastics, you prefer contact sports. Can't say I blame you, soccer is fun, I just prefer track. " Serena says.

Those that didn't have close sibling relationships felt a slight pang of jealousy as they watch the pair interact. Tommy smiles, Takuya had tried to help his relationship with Yutaka. Instead Tommy was considered an honorary Kanbara as much time as he spent with all three Kanbara siblings instead of his own family. It was Betamon that noticed the trouble and Takuya wasn't far behind him. " Betamon digivolve to…Seadramon! "

Seadramon slams his tail into the Cerberumon that had showed up, " Seadramon, make that overgrown puppy wish he'd never been reconfigured. " Takuya snarls.

" Flame. " Cerberumon snarls.

" Seadramon, watch out for his Portals of Darkness attack. " Takuya says.

" Emerald Blaze! "

" Water Breath! "

The two attacks cancel each other out though Seadramon had followed up with an Ice Arrow attack. The frozen arrows slice into Cerberumon and Seadramon takes advantage of this using his Ice Winder attack to finish off the digital hound. His fractal code shows and Takuya wastes no time in scanning it. That was when Seadramon is slammed into by several Woodmon. Takuya curses this even as Tommy and Serena's digivice light up, " Candlemon digivolve to…Wizardmon! "

" Gaomon digivolve to…Gaogamon! "

" Double Dash Claw! "

" Thunder Squall! "

None of the warriors spirit evolved, they knew what Devimon was up to, he wanted to wear them out. " Fist of the Beast King! "

" Ardent Flare! "

Serena does however leap over her partner and kick away one of the Woodmon, pushing off of another, and landing on a third. This causes one Woodmon to attack the one she was on, causing deletion. Takuya had already tried his new digivice and it was no good, these Woodmon were willingly working for Devimon. Seadramon slams one with his tail while another gets sailed with his Ice Blast attack. Wizardmon uses his Magical Game attack to great effect while Gaogamon starts using tooth and claw in the fight. Serena just causes mayhem and makes it so they attack themselves while also making sure the friendly digimon didn't get hurt.

Takuya takes a page from his sister's book and his soccer expertise starts to come in handy. Tha Kanbara siblings work together like a well-oiled machine, easily anticipating the other's moves and working with them. Tommy has his D-Tector in hand just in case while Leomon has drawn his sword and has joined the fray fully. Muchomon snipes the Woodmon from afar. Agumon and Gabumon follow Muchomon's lead, " Blue Blaster. "

" Pepper Breath. " Agumon calls out and then his eyes narrow as a Woodmon sneaks up on Tai. The younger goggle head follows his partner's gaze and immediately dives to his left, coming up in a somersault even as Agumon sends power to his claws and uses his Crossfire attack on that Woodmon. The sneak attack on Tai puts everyone else on alert and Sora, rather nimble footed from years of playing soccer, spins out of the way of one Woodmon while Biyomon nails that one with a Spiral Twister. Mimi, oddly enough uses her dancing lessons to move out of the way of another one and one Poison Ivy from Palmon sends that one at the one that had snuck up on TK.

" Oh, wow, thanks, Palmon. " TK says.

He dodges yet another Woodmon that Patamon nails with a Boom Bubble Breath only the little rookie with a lot of heart gets caught. " Patamon, no! " TK calls out, his digivice coming to life and whining. A Rainbow beam of light shoots down and surrounds the only rookie to not have attained his champion form.

" Patamon digivolve to…Angemon! Hand of Fate! "

That Woodmon is deleted and then Angemon joins the fray, using his Angel Rod as a staff though he made sure to stay close to his partner to protect him. Matt goes into a baseball slide under one Woodmon that Seadramon then handles while Tai's brown eyes narrow and his digivice blazes to life, " Agumon digivolve to…Greymon! "

" Get 'em, Greymon. " Tai calls out, even as he starts to follow the lead of the Kanbara siblings easily enough.

Joe trips as he moves to dodge another Woodmon, " Joe, no! " Gomamon calls out and Joe's digivice lights up.

" Gomamon digivolve to…Ikkakumon! Harpoon Torpedo! "

" Thanks, Ikkakumon. " Joe says, there was nowhere for the humans to hide, so they all had to dodge the attacks. Izzy was close enough to Tommy that the Ice Warrior was able to keep him safe. The warriors had an easier time of this, as they hadn't had partners before. Sora and Tai were also able to dodge easier as they were used to playing soccer and that experience shines through as they weave through the battlefield like Takuya and Serena.

Devimon watches the fight from up above and curses the fact that Patamon had digivolved. This was not going well for him, when the last Woodmon fell Angemon's Hand of Fate just narrowly misses him. " Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon! "

" Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon! "

" Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon! "

" Palmon digivolve to…Togemon! "

" Ice Breath! "

" Meteor Wing! "

" Needle Spray! "

" Electro Shocker! "

" Hand of Fate! "

" Nova Blast!

" Howling Blaster! "

All these attacks slam into the evil angel from all sides and Takuya smirks, " He's mine. "

Devimon gulps as Takuya's left hand is surrounded by a flurry of fractal code, his D-Tector gripped in his right hand, he crosses his left hand over his body and then the code meets the scanner, " Execute Now…Fusion Evolution! Ahhhhhhhhhh! " The human and beast spirits fly around him and then merge to form, " Aldamon! "

The fused Flame Warrior was on the emo angel in mere seconds and starts punting him around, " You stole the fractal code of my home. Do you have a fucking death wish! "

Devimon now knew what a pinball felt like as Aldamon was essentially treating him as one. Then he's kicked into the ground hard enough to leave an impact crater while Aldamon snarls and starts building power for his attack. A sphere the size of the crater is formed and thrown, Devimon's eyes widening in horror, there was no way he could dodge in time, " SOLAR WIND DESTROYER! "

The attack impacts with the evil angel and his fractal code emerges. Aldamon snarls nastily, " Devimon, time to let the flames purify the evil, fractal code digitize! "

He keeps Flame Terminal's fractal code for the moment, at least it was safe with him. Tai and the others are staring at the destruction wreaked by a pissed off Flame Warrior. Serena rolls her eyes, " There's a reason why you don't piss off Taku-nii. "

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Digimon.