Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ DigiTerra: The Digital Earth ❯ Chapter 5: Hope Versus Despair! A Reason for Existence ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Now, you gotta bear with me while I tell this. It's not easy for
me... it's not something I like to talk about. At all. But,
hey, like I said, after what you told me it's only fair I tell
you this.

Okay... now, you know I'm not the sharpest guy in the world,
right?

Well... it used to be worse. A LOT worse.

You know what they used to call me? "D-D-Dummy D-D-Davis."

Yeah, that's right. This cool mass of Soccer God that sits
before you used to have a stuttering problem. I guess it was
'cause I was kind of a slow learner... I had to take some special
classes and I learned how to read a little late. Looking back, I
guess it wasn't that big of a deal, but back then I felt like I
just had to be the stupidest kid in the world or something. You
know how little kids can't really... uh... they can't put things
in perspective, right?

I guess that's why kids made fun of me... I figured out since
then that mean kids will just make fun of anybody who sticks out.
It doesn't have anything to do with whoever that person really
is... but I didn't know that then. I figured that if everybody
was saying stuff about me, then it had to be true or not
everybody would be saying it. I ended up stuttering too bad to
get out a good comeback, so I just ended up not doing anything.
Some kids thought that since I wouldn't fight back, they could
punch me or push me around and stuff... it never really turned
into a fight because I was just too scared of them to do
anything. Whoever said, "Sticks and stones will break my bones
but names will never hurt me," was a big fat liar. I mean, all I
knew was that apparently I was really stupid, and even now, I
know I'm kinda a little on the short side. Someone like me
couldn't win a fight, so what was the point of trying?

It went on until, finally, I just couldn't take it anymore. One
day in the second grade, I got punched in the face really hard
when I couldn't get away from this really big kid who was
bothering me. My nose started bleeding and I was afraid to go
home because then my folks would've wanted me to explain it and I
got this feeling that if I told them I got beaten up... I dunno,
like they'd love me less or something. You know how weird little
kids can be. Once I started running away from that kid... I
guess I just decided I'd run away until I reached some magical
place where people don't make fun of you for being kinda slow.

So I just ran through Tokyo with my eyes closed half the time. I
wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, and now, I
really wonder how I managed not to get kidnaped or run out into a
street or something. After awhile, I kinda realized that my plan
had a major downside. Especially since I'd gotten lost and
decided that I didn't really like being that way. But I figured I
would've felt just as bad no matter where I was, so it didn't
matter. So I just kept walking.

I ended up in some kind of park. There were all these older kids
there playing games and eating food and enjoying themselves. I
was scared because I didn't know if they'd get mad at me if they
saw me there, because I figured it was obvious that I didn't
belong there. My stomach was empty and growled at me a lot, but
still, I kept walking away. The sky was getting darker all of a
sudden and people started scattering for cover,
but, you guessed it, I just kept walking away from them. I mean,
where was I gonna go?

I don't think I'd even been more miserable in my entire life up
to then. I was wet, and lost, and scared, and my face was
probably bloody and I felt really bad and stupid. That's
probably why, when I finally tripped and fell face-first into a
puddle of mud, I didn't try to get up. I just laid there and
started crying. Fortunately, the rain didn't last very long. It
was getting close to summer and the end of the year, and you know
how weird the weather gets when it starts getting warm.

But the coolest, best, most awesome thing that had ever happened
to me happened then! When I was still sniffling and feeling
pretty hopeless, someone kneeled down in front of me in the mud
and placed a hand on my shoulder. "G-G-GO A-A-AW-AWAY!" I said.

But the person didn't. Instead, that hand went under my chin and
lifted my face up a little.

And it was a little girl with a whistle around her neck.

I couldn't get anything else out. I stuttered pretty bad even
when I wasn't crying. She looked at me kinda sideways and then
she just... hugged me. Even though I was all muddy and dirty and
stuff, and she had to have gotten dirty, too. She didn't let go
of me until I stopped crying, either.

Now, the entire thing just left me feeling pretty confused. Who
was this? Why was she doing this? What did she expect to get
out of doing something like this for someone like me?

When I finally started to calm down, I sat back, rubbing my eyes
as I asked, "Wh-wh-why'd ya g-g-go d-do th-th-that
f-f-for?"

She just shrugged and said, "You looked like you needed a hug."

I just sorta grunted, not really trusting myself to say anything
more without sounding stupid and making her laugh at me. She
just kept smiling at me and said, "My name's Kari Kamiya. What's
yours?"

Yup. That's right. That's how I met her.

"D-D-Davis Mo-Mo-Motom-m-m-miya."

"Davis Motomiya? That's a nice name."

That was when it started to dawn on me. Holy cow... she'd heard
me stuttering and yet she'd understood perfectly what I'd been
trying to force out. "Th-thanks," I said, "S-S-Sorry about the
mu-mu-mud..."

"It's okay," she said, "I can get some towels from the soccer
field... do you want a towel?"

"S-Sure..."

Man, she wasn't just understanding what I was saying... she was
LISTENING. I mean, she was really listening without any sign of
getting impatient or frustrated. Nobody, not even mom and dad,
even though they tried their best, had ever listened to me
stutter on before without getting this look in their eyes like
they wished I'd just hurry up and spit it out.

But not her. No... those eyes of hers were full of light and
warmth and just all-around kindness as she listened to me tell
her about my running away. She even bought me ice cream with
some extra money she had because she heard my stomach growling
like a tiger. I mean... this was too good to be true!

"A-A-Are y-you f-fr-from H-H-Heaven?" I ended up asking her.
Now look, I REALLY meant that. I mean, when this girl comes
out of nowhere and suddenly treats you so nicely when most kids
your own age treat you like dirt, you start asking questions.

She just giggled anyway, smiling at me as she said, "The
soccer field, actually. I'm watching the game my big brother is
in. Want to come along? And after the game, we can take you
home. You don't live too far from where we live."

"Su-Sure..." I said. "I think I'd l-l-like that."

And then something hit me. I seemed to be stuttering a lot less
as I got more and more comfortable talking to her. I was never
much one for sports, but hey, if it meant I could stay with this
kind person just a little longer, I'd give it a look-see. I'm
REALLY glad I did.

As we got to the soccer field, she introduced me to her
funny-looking kitty cat. It had these weird forepaw gloves on
and it's tail was this funky blue and white swirl... yeah, I know
now that it must have been Gatomon, but at the time it was just
this weird cute kitty to me.

Then I got to see the game itself. I'd never really gotten into
sports before, 'cause the kids who did were all really big and
seemed like the kinda people who might wanna use my face to
practice, but as I watched them play... it just looked so
incredibly FUN. Then Kari pointed out her big brother... and it
was like I was watching a god in motion.

None of the other kids could even TOUCH him whenever he got the
ball and he didn't even slip on the little bits and pieces of mud
that had been left all over the field even once. The smirk on
his face as he and the rest of his team just completely
overwhelmed the other one... the way he could make it look like
he was going to shoot and then pass to someone with a better
shot... the way he'd do this little spin move and hook the ball
around with him so the guy trying to steal it would miss and skid
along on the ground... it was unbelievable.

Naturally, when his team won, I was the one cheering the loudest.
It turns out that win was the first really major win for his team
in the National Tournament that was going on at the time, so he
was pretty hyped up himself.

He seemed a bit surprised though when I half ran, half skipped
onto the field and danced around him as I said, "That was GREAT!
I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"

And that's EXACTLY how I said it too. Not a single stutter at
all.

He blinked at me a few times and then turned to look at Kari as
she came over as well. "Hey Kari," he asked. "Is this a friend
of yours?"

"His name is Davis, Tai," Kari said. "He's lost and I promised
we'd help take him home since we live near where he does."

"Hey, no problem," Tai said as he looked back down at me. "So
what's up, Davis?"

"I can't believe it!" I said, "All that stuff you did it was just
so COOL!"

He smiled at me. I felt like I could just flap my arms and fly
off into the air. "You know," he said. "You could probably be a
good soccer player yourself. You've definitely got that spark in
your eyes."

And then, he reached up and took off the goggles he was wearing
and handed them to me. I was in total shock and was about to say
I couldn't take something like that but before I could, he said,
"Here. Take'em. They're kinda falling apart on me anyway, maybe
you can do something with them."

I just nodded and took them.

They walked me home and I was still having a blast just talking
normally. I mean, I still stuttered a bit every now and then,
but it was like, I KNEW I could beat this now. I KNEW that, from
this point on, my life was gonna be different forever.

Mom and Dad went into hysterics when they saw me, doing the whole
big hugs and crying while promising that I was going to be
grounded for life all at the same time. I just smiled at them
and then waved good-bye as Tai and Kari left, promising to myself
that I'd never forget them or what they'd done for me.

That night, with some duct tape borrowed from dad's tool kit and
a little bit of glass cleaner, those little goggles were as good
as semi-new. I knew I was going to have to save up my allowance
for some leather straps and stuff so I could completely repair
them and keep them around as long as possible, but at the moment,
all I could feel was the... well, I don't mean to sound cheesy
about it but it was like those goggles filled me with an energy
like I'd never known before in my life. I mean, it was almost
like I could hear my own personal theme song in my head whenever
I put those goggles on. Sometimes I still feel like that. I know
it sounds stupid, but these things are probably the most
important thing I ever had up until I got my Digivice and stuff.

I started wearing them to school the next morning. Everyone
looked at me funny at first, and some of the mean kids tried to
steal them from me, but they learned pretty fast that I would
fight back if they tried to mess with my goggles. I don't know
what surprised them more, the fact that "D-D-Dummy D-D-Davis"
started hitting back or that I raised the Kick In the Crotch into
a high art form by the end of the year. And when third grade
started... this time, I signed up for the soccer tryouts. I had
to warm the bench for my first year, but I was just so happy to
even get to be on a real soccer team that I didn't care. And I
was starting to catch up in school... by fourth grade, I was out
of my special classes altogether and just to the regular classes
with the other kids.

Everybody told me it was because I'd been able to 'develop' some
more and gotten serious with my studies, but I knew why it really
happened. It was because I got those cool goggles, and as long as
I had 'em on, then they'd make me a little bit cooler, too. And
maybe if I worked at it, someday they'd make me as cool as the
guy I got them from. Of course, sometimes working at it was too
hard... I mean, even when I caught up with the other kids, school
was still real boring and not as cool as fun stuff like playing
soccer. But I had to keep my grades at least average to stay on
the team, so I managed to work hard enough to make it through
every year.

Fifth grade was the year when... well, IT began. I showed up for
homeroom and was going over the homework I'd been able to do, and
YES, I DO check my homework sometimes, so no remarks, okay?
Anyway... there I was, just sitting there when someone sits down
next to me. At first, I didn't really think anything of it as I
gave the person a passing glance....

But then I saw it was the girl with a whistle around her neck.

I did a double take so fast I think I fell out of my chair. That
certainly caught her attention and if I hadn't been sure before
then hearing her voice confirmed it as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Kari," I said nervously as I stood back up and got back in
my seat, "I'm fine." My stuttering problem was pretty much gone
by then. The speech classes I got into when I was in third grade
helped out a whole lot, and so was having some friends who'd tell
me to slow down and start over when I started getting too hard to
understand.

Kari blinked at me... and I could almost feel my heart smash to
pieces as she seemed to be drawing a blank on who I was. Yeah, I
know, it'd been awhile, but I'd never forgotten her. But then
again, she was really special and important to me, and I guess
there wasn't any reason for her to think of me the same way. So I
just introduced myself again and started over. I guess I'd
changed so much, she didn't remember that Davis Motomiya was the
same kid who hadn't even been able to talk right when she met
him. We just talked about little stuff, and I could use the
soccer team as a pretty easy excuse for knowing who her brother
was. Just talking to her about anything made me feel lighter than
air. It was right then that I decided that she was the best girl
in the entire world, and the only girl for me.

That's kinda how the years passed. It wasn't long because just
about everyone forgot about "D-D-Dummy D-D-Davis" and knew me as
"Davis Motomiya, the Mighty Goggle-Wearing Soccer God!" Every
year someone up in heaven seemed to think I deserved a reward for
something because I always ended up in the same homeroom as Kari,
assigned a seat near-by, where I could always see her as she
started to grow up from this cute little girl into the most
attractive woman in the world, with eyes that seemed to just suck
you right in and hold your spirit there for an eternity that you
never wanted to end.

I'll never forget how nice to me she was. I just hope...
someday... I can really show her just how much she's always meant
to me. I want to be her Prince Charming... but sometimes I think
I may still end up just being the toad to her.

+ + +

Yolie stared at Davis in awe as the boy accepted a gentle hug
from Veemon. The blue dragon Digimon sniffled and said, "That
wash beautiful, Davish."

"You know...." Yolie said with a sigh. "You can really frustrate
the hell out of me sometimes."

Davis looked up, blinking at Yolie.

"I mean, " Yolie continued, "JUST when I think I have you figured
out you go and let me know I'm wrong. You'd be a lot easier on me
if you'd just let me figure you out and not go and mess it up
five minutes after I thought I have."

"Heh," Davis laughed back, a wolfish grin forming on his face.
"Think I got a chance against YS?"

"Well..." Yolie began thoughtfully. "Have you ever told Kari this
story?"

"What are you, nuts?!" Davis said. "I want her to love me because
of how cool I am now. I don't want her to remember that other
kid who couldn't talk right or anything. Besides, that doesn't
seem like it'd be fair to her. It'd almost be a guilt trip, and
that's not cool."

Yolie shook her head slowly as she said, "Like I said... just
when I think I've got you figured out, you go and change
everything on me."

Davis grinned again as he said, "Well, I figure I've got to have
at least as good a chance as Cody does with his dream girl!"

Yolie blinked as she asked, "Wait, what's this about Cody? Since
when did he get crushes on anybody? Is it someone I know?"

Davis blinked as well, before he hastily stood up and began
walking back into the main room. "Oh... uh... it's nothing that
big! If you really wanna know, you should probably ask him
yourself 'cause you know he keeps to himself and he might get
kinda mad that I let something slip! Not that he told me
anything but I just happened to figure some stuff out, and...
uh... I'll see you later!" he grinned nervously before he bolted
into the hallway. Veemon trotted happily after him.

"Miss Yolie? Do you mind if I ask you a question about all this?"
Hawkmon asked.

"Um... sure, what's on your mind?" She replied.

"Precisely what is a 'crush'?"

Yolie frowned to herself before she answered him. "Something
you'd think my best friend would have talked to me about before
anyone else! I mean, even Davis probably knows who she is, and
Cody's gonna tell me about her because that way if she's not as
nice to him as he deserves I can make sure she pays for it!" She
smacked her closed fist decisively into the palm of her other
hand as she spoke.

"... I'm afraid that really hasn't made me any less confused,"
Hawkmon said as he blinked at her.

"Well... look, we can talk about it later. Let's go find the
others for now, I don't think it's a good idea to be here alone,"
she said as she began walking out the door.

"A most excellent idea!" Hawkmon nodded happily as he flapped
after her, the perplexing 'crush' entirely forgotten about.

+ + +
DigiTerra: The Digital Earth

A Digimon: Digital Monsters Fanfic by Christian Rogers (AKA The
Flashman) and Alicia Ashby (AKA Lynxara)

Aided and abetted by: Damien Karolev, Shelby Scott,
Ben-San Arizona and Jeff Yang

Digimon is copyright Toei Studios, Saban, and FOX Kids.
+ + +

Chapter 5: Hope Versus Despair! A Reason for Existence

+ + +

They seem to understand... I suppose. I can't tell... I
keep losing my sense of focus. I'm not even sure if the extra
details of our adventure that I told them came out coherently.

Kari is sitting in one of the corners in the room, looking down
at the floor, while TK is looking out the window as Jim checks
his supplies. It's actually sort of annoying. I've prided myself
on always being aware of my situation and here I am, blacking in
and out of consciousness... I don't even know how often. I
suppose no sleep followed by trying to fight off a living blender
would have that sort of effect. I know the headache that keeps
getting a little bit worse every time I come to is probably a
warning that my blood sugar is probably dropping to dangerous
levels... but I think I can hold out until everyone else decides
they need to eat too.

I can't waste the supplies... I can't be a burden to the team. I
have to be strong, like Grandpa wants me to be....

I shouldn't be this tired. I should be able to just stand up
and say we can get going now... instead of just slowing everyone
down.

Maybe I should have used it... that blow I landed to her
shoulders would have been a more effective coming from a steel
blade, rather than my bokken....

... no.

The fact I'm even considering something like that proves that
Jim's right. As much as I hate slowing everyone else down... I
need to rest. I just wish this was only a dream... or a
nightmare. Even then, it wouldn't be real... and I'd know that
eventually, it would have an ending.

Father...

... Grandfather...

... Will I be able to make you proud?

+ + +

The soft sound of Cody's gentle snoring drifted over to TK as he
looked out the window. The boy's frown deepened as he thought
back to the story the taller boy had told him not too long ago.

"How could things have gotten so bad so quickly?" he said to
himself, eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction.

"... did you say something?" Kari asked, glancing up.

"It's nothing," TK replied, hastily. "I just hope those two get
back soon. We need to make plans."

Kari nodded slightly. There was a moment of silence before Kari
spoke again. "... you can sense him, can't you?"

TK pursed his lips. "Yes. I'm not afraid of him... I think
facing him is something I have to do. But I'm worried about
bringing the others into this."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... back up a minute. Sense who?" Jim asked,
slightly alarmed at the conversation. "One of your Psychic
Friends or what?"

"My... my rival, I guess. He's the one who's the opposite of me.
I can feel the Crest of Despair's power." TK said. He paused, as
if judging what he had just said. "We have to go south for seven
more miles to reach the hospital, right?" Jim nodded. "Then we're
going to have to go through his place," TK continued, pointing
out the window.

Jim glanced in that direction. He went wide-eyed as he saw a
large, swirling dome of fog that perched heavily on the
landscape. He could not help but have the bizarre feeling that he
was looking at some sort of demonic snow globe. "... that's not
smog, is it?" he asked.

"He's in there," TK said. His eyes suddenly seemed strange to
Jim. They looked grim, as if reflecting the weight of some
terrible burden that TK's narrow shoulders were forced to carry.
"And he's waiting for me."

+ + +

The golden retriever was lost. He had been that way ever since
those strange-smelling creatures had appeared out of nowhere and
frightened his Daddy and Boy away. He trotted along, sniffing
the ground in search of food and perhaps hoping to find that
familiar scent that would lead him to his home.

The fog gathered around him suddenly. Something about it seemed
wrong. He growled at the swirling air and then whined as it
licked against his golden-brown fur. He kept walking, the
hackles on the back of his neck still raised as he continued to
search. He went deeper into the strange fog bank.

Something was nearby. He sniffed the air experimentally and he
knew three of the strange-smelling creatures were up ahead... and
something else, too. Something that smelled sort of like a
human, and sort of like the strange creatures.

He slowed down, uncertain of what his next move should be.
Maybe they had food. Maybe they'd turn him into food. Maybe
they knew where his home was and could help him. There was only
one way to find out.

He padded closer, the silhouettes of the four beings coming into
view.

The almost-human-smelling one saw him first, turning to look at
him as he came close. The voice that came from the strange one's
mouth was so soft, even his sensitive ears almost missed it.

"Hello doggie," the stranger said.

The stranger then held out a hand... a very large hand. The hand
was attached to an arm that was longer than any the dog had seen
before. It seemed out of place on the tiny body that it was
attached to.

The dog walked a little closer, sniffing at the hand and then
getting a ticklish giggle from the strange one as he licked it
experimentally. He looked up at the boy and decided that this
one seemed okay.

Then he jumped back with a yelp of surprise as another pair of
yellow, slitted eyes opened on the stranger's chest and a new
voice casually said, "Heya mutt! Welcome to da neighborhood!"

Off to the side, sitting on a park bench next to Leomon, Mamemon
snickered as he pointed to the dog and said, "Look! Lunch!"

This drew an anger-filled glare from the boy as he kneeled down
and began to softly pet the startled animal. Mamemon backpedaled
instinctively and fell off the bench, cringing as soon as he hit
the ground.

ShimaUnimon looked down at Mamemon and sighed, stretching his
wings as he stood next to the bench. "Really now," he said. "I'd
think Master Kevin would have more sense then to waste stomach
space on a little fluffball like that when he can have his fill
of Angel blood if he waits just a little bit longer."

"I wish they'd get here faster," Mamemon grumbled as he hopped
back onto the bench. "I HATE waiting and I LOVE a good fight!"

"A 'good fight' being where you have a distinctive, perhaps
unfair, advantage over your opponent?" Leomon asked casually.

"Well, yeah," Mamemon replied. "Knowing there's no way you can
lose is what makes it good!"

"For one so small, he is quite vicious," Leomon stated to
ShimaUnimon.

"Compensation," ShimaUnimon replied with a grin.

"Compe-wha?" Mamemon asked, blinking.

"Nothing important," ShimaUnimon said, still grinning.

+ + +

You know, I don't think I'll ever understand how decidedly
odd humans can be at times. Particularly my human, Miss Yolie.
Oh, but I'm being rather rude... my name is Hawkmon. I'm a
Legendary Digimon of the Rookie Level. I may be a fowl but I'm
never foul or a chicken. If you think I'm harmless then my
Feather Strike should tickle your fancy.

At any rate, we are all still determined to do a nice spot of
good for this new world and I can't say that I'm unhappy at that
notion. It's much more interesting than being asleep. Right
now, we're back in the main room with the others, planning our
next move. Everything's been explained to us and we'll be ready
to move on any moment now... well, as soon as Mr. Cody wakes up,
that is.

As a matter of fact, I do have to wonder when he had the
opportunity to change out of his torn-up garments and back into
that strange green uniform he and Mr. Davis were wearing when we
Digimon first met the humans Asuramon was kind enough to find for
us.

Miss Yolie seems to notice the change as well and asks "Hey, when
did Cody get a chance to change?"

The others look at him and seem equally surprised. "I wasn't
paying very close attention," TK says, "But I think I would
have heard him get up or something. Heck, all our bags are on
the other side of the room."

Armadillomon walks over to his human and carefully balances
himself on his back legs momentarily so he can lay a paw on Mr.
Cody's forehead. "Ah-ha!" Armadillomon says. "He's just fully
restin' now insteada tryin' ta fight it, so he probably just
digivolved down a level."

"But we don't digivolve... well, not like TK and Kari do..."
Miss Yolie rightfully points out. "... but when we summoned the
Digi Eggs for the first time, we DID get the new outfits to go
with them...."

"Maybe it's another form of Transfer Digivolving," Miss Kari
adds. "Like what we did with Gatomon and Patamon, but since the
Digimon use the Eggs to transform, you only get wardrobe
changes."

A worried look passes over Miss Yolie's face for a moment before
she responds. "Maybe..."

Hmm... I wonder what could be troubling her. Perhaps she thinks
that this means she and I could at some point... oh dear. That
would be a cause for concern, one would imagine. And as much as
I like Miss Yolie, I don't imagine I'd want to BE Miss Yolie.
Besides, humans digivolving is an entirely illogical and unseemly
concept to begin with. Everymon knows that humans, while
excellent companions, are quite frail and breakable compared to
even a Champion Digimon. Sending a human out into a heated
battle... why, it's simply absurd. I'm quite glad we still have
our Armor Eggs so we can digivolve properly and keep our humans
safe.

"Hey!" Mr. Davis suddenly exclaims, drawing human and Digimon
alike out of the brooding spell that seems to have started. "I
think I got it! Check this out!"

We all turn to regard him as he raises his D3 and indicates a
small button near the bottom of the device. He strikes the
button once and then, suddenly, his outfit flies apart in a
shower of pixels, revealing a uniform just like the one Mr. Cody
is wearing underneath. Mr. Cody's seems rather less sloppy,
though, if you ask me.

"And with another flick..." Mr. Davis adds before hitting the
button again. The pixels gather again, and he's once again
attired in his usual garments, complete with his rather tacky
jacket.

"And it's all cleaned and repaired and stuff too," Mr. Davis
continues. "I mean, after what we went through, these things were
getting kind of gunky and stuff and there were a few rips but now
it's just like new again."

"Well," Mr. TK says with a small grin, "that technique would save
a small fortune in dry cleaning bills alone."

I must say, I was rather overjoyed by this discovery. At least
now we know we can save the world in a clean and sanitary
fashion.

+ + +

Cody slept for another four hours before awakening and announcing
that he was ready to go. The rest of the group filled him in on
their plans and discoveries while he had been resting. After Cody
experimentally re-summoned his 'Digital' attire, he found the
cuts on it mended and the stains cleaned away. Refreshed and
rested, the group continued on their way.

Yolie stayed near Cody, walking by his side. She reached into her
backpack, pulling out a small weight gain shake container and
holding it up towards Cody as they continued to walk. Cody,
whose attention was occupied trying to figure out how such a
large fog bank could stay so perfectly spherical, blinked
down at her in surprise as the can entered his field of vision.
Yolie said, "There's five things I want to say to you. One: Drink
this. Two: Don't argue with me. Drink it. Three: I MEAN
it. It's not healthy for you to go this long without SOMETHING,
so drink it. Four: If you don't drink it this second, I'll MAKE
you drink it! Five..."

"... Drink this?" Cody asked as he obediently took the shake,
popped the top off, and brought it to his lips.

"I'll get to five when you finish drinking," Yolie said with a
smile.

"She knows Cody pretty durn well, don't she?" Armadillomon asked
with wide eyes as Cody drank. The drink's taste was bringing a
curious half-revolted look to the young man's face.

"I think," Hawkmon replied, "that has something to do with this
whole 'having a crush' business I've been trying to figure
out..."

Cody let out a small snort in mid-drink and his face turned a
deep red as he lowered the can and began coughing. Yolie
worriedly patted Cody on the back as she exclaimed, "Cody?!
What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"

"I'll be..." Cody wheezed as he caught his breath. "... fine." He
then finished off his drink and looked at Yolie expectantly.

"Well," Yolie said, "Okay then. Number five is about something I
heard not too long ag--"

"Eyes forward, everyone!" TK said from the front of the group,
"We're about to enter the fog, so get ready for anything!"

"Hey!" Davis exclaimed, sharply. "Who said YOU were in charge?!"

"I've been at this Digidestined business longer than you have,"
TK replied firmly. "Plus, I know who we're going to be up against
in there."

"Oh yeah?!" Davis shot back. "Well... well, Asuramon said I'M in
charge of MY team! So if YOU wanna make plans with MY team then
YOU have to run them by ME first instead of just acting like a
hot shot and yelling at everybody!"

"Oh, look who's talking about acting like a hot shot!" TK scowled
back at him, expression mildly disgusted.

"If I'm a hot shot, then at least I have a reason to be!" Davis
shouted stubbornly.

The others sighed as the argument quickly degenerated from there.
"Have they always been like this?" Jim whispered to Kari.

"It's gotten worse since we got out of Junior High School," Kari
whispered back. "But they've always sort of rubbed each other
the wrong way. TK tries really hard to control himself and be
seriously and helpful to everyone, and Davis is... well... he's
Davis," she finished, simply.

"Man, what's eating them so bad that they'd keep going at it even
in a situation like this? I mean, we're just standing here
waiting for something to wander along and eat us now," Jim
stated, wincing at the increasing volume of the shouts.

"Well, they both really competitive over... certain things... and
they always try to out-do each other and end up breaking even at
the end of the year. TK humiliates Davis on the basketball court,
Davis gets even on the soccer field. TK gets straight A's in
Math while Davis can't make it through a lecture awake. But Davis
gets better grades in Woodshop, especially since TK's almost cut
off the teacher's fingers with the band saw three times in a
semester. TK's a really graceful dancer but Davis can't tell a
Tango from a mango. Davis is a surprisingly good cook but TK can
barely boil water. Both of them are really popular, but not
enough to be the class leader... and it's all because of their
rivalry."

Jim arched an eyebrow as he glanced down at Kari. "How's their
dating life?"

Kari blushed again. "Oh... well, they're really popular with the
girls, but..."

"... but they're not dating any of those ladies because one
lady in particular has become another point of contention, eh?"
Jim finished with a wink.

Kari blushed slightly and looked away as she said, "Let's just
say that under other circumstances, they probably could have
ended up being the best of friends."

"FINE!" TK snarled, his angry shout startling Kari and Jim out of
their conversation. "If you HAVE to be the big man and bark
orders at everyone like you're SO much better than everyone else,
then FINE! But don't come crying to me when you need your fat
pulled out of the fire!"

"FINE!" Davis shot back. "We don't NEED you to save us, KP!
*I* can do MY job JUST FINE!"

"My name is TK! How long is it going to take to sink into your
thick head?!" TK all but shrieked in frustration.

"About as long as it takes you to realize you're not some perfect
know-it-all!" Davis shouted back.

"Somehow..." Jim remarked to Kari, once things got quiet enough
to allow other conversations, "I find that hard to believe."

+ + +

"What was that you were saying about a number five?" Cody asked
Yolie as they wandered through the dark fog, shivering slightly
from the unnatural cold.

"I think we should save that for later..." Yolie replied as she
took in her surroundings. "I think I'm too nervous to remember it
right now."

The inside of the dome was, as expected, the usual Tokyo
cityscape shrouded in thick fog. Cloudy wisps of it swirled
around the group, casting anything more than a few feet in front
of them into impenetrable grey shadow. As with the petrified area
of the city, the sense of mournful abandonment hung heavily over
them. However, this section had a feeling of its own, too...
a soft, occasionally hot breeze that howled dimly through the
streets, giving the impression that some predator, lurking just
out of sight, awaited them in the grey world that they found
themselves in.

TK had grown increasingly silent as they traveled deeper
into the fog, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides as
he stared ahead. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned
grim as he continued to walk.

"So TK and Davish don't like each other?" Veemon whispered to
Patamon as he walked. "How come? I don't see how anyone could
not like Davish because he'sh such a neat guy!"

"I guess TK doesn't," Patamon replied, sounding as perplexed
about the situation as Veemon. "I think it has something to do
with Kari, but I'm not sure... humans can be so weird."

"Well... maybe if we're friendsh, then they'll learn
to be friendsh too," Veemon replied, brightly.

Patamon smiled at that. "Yeah! We'll be the best of buddies!"

Gatomon glanced back at the two of them "I can feel the
black hole of cluelessness forming already," she muttered to
herself.

That was when the tapping sound began. It was a slow, steady
clicking noise that seemed to echo all around the group. They
stopped walking, and fruitlessly tried to look around for its
source.

TK clenched his teeth. "It's him."

"Well, well, well..." a high-pitched, mocking voice said.
"Look who we got here. It's Gennai's Angels and some extra canon
fodder!"

"DemiDevimon..." Kari said, eyes narrowing, as she also searched
for the source.

A small figure almost seemed to melt out of the fog before them,
giving the Digidestined their first glance at their new enemy.
It had long, thin arms that terminated in oversized hands that
were tipped with sharp talons that scraped along the ground,
creating the tapping sound. Large, shredded black wings sprouted
from his back and apparently through the black bodysuit he
wore and folded around his torso like a cloak.

"It's..." Yolie gawked. "It's... a little kid?!"

"His name is Kevin," TK replied quietly.

The top of Kevin Sadamoto's head only came up to the bottom of
TK's chest, but his eyes flashed red as he looked up at him,
demonstrating that his small body held a great power within.

"Whadda ya know," the voice of DemiDevimon clearly spoke, though
no one could see where he was just yet. "This is kinda
disappointin'. Here we were wondering what you'd look like as a
flying gerbil, and here you are all normal and stuff. Say
whatcha want about us bad guys, but at least we're not as boring
as you guys!"

"What are you talking about?" TK demanded as he glared back at
the small child.

Kevin suddenly threw back his wings... to reveal the face of
DemiDevimon leering at them from the boy's upper torso. "Let's
just say..." DemiDevimon smirked. "... that we reacted to the
crash of worlds a little bit different than you did."

"Dude!" Davis exclaimed. "He's got a Digimon for a chest!"

"Brilliant deduction, Davis," Yolie retorted, flatly.

"The power of Darkness works to corrupt and twist things from
within..." Kari began. "That's why it works through Virus type
Digimon so much. Our Digimon are all Data and Vaccine Types
powered by the Light... even when the worlds collided, they
wouldn't want to merge with us anymore than they had to. But the
Darkness will devour whatever it can take... and if the
world fusion really did blur the lines between Digimon and
humans..."

"... that's why Michelle's partner wasn't around when she
attacked the others!" TK exclaimed. "She wasn't using Kimeramon's
power to Transfer Digivolve... Kimeramon had begun to infect her
and take her over!"

"Is this REALLY important right now?" DemiDevimon asked,
irritation in his voice. "Look, I'm sure you people got places to
go, things to do and what not, so we're gonna make this quick and
to the point."

Kevin raised an arm, a long finger pointing towards the main
group, his soft, quiet voice speaking one word. "Go."

The finger then swung around to point at TK, and the small boy
spoke again. "Stay."

"Wait!" Davis suddenly exclaimed as he leapt between Kevin and
TK. "Look, I may not understand everything that's going on and I
may understand what it feels like to want to punch GQ's lights
out, but come on! You're a little kid! You shouldn't be wanting
to have super-powered duels to the death or stuff like that! You
should be learning to ride a bicycle or eating ice cream, or...
or... you know! Kid stuff!"

Kevin looked downward, DemiDevimon's eyes rolling back up to meet
his gaze. After a moment of silent communication, the two
leveled their gazes at Davis, questioning looks in their eyes.

"... Bicycle?" Kevin asked.

"What's ice cream?" DemiDevimon asked.

"He doesn't know what ice cream ish?!" Veemon asked in horror.

"Makes ya feel kinda sorry for th' guy..." Armadillomon added.

"Perhaps this situation need not degenerate into violence,"
Hawkmon exclaimed brightly. "I have the feeling a grave
misunderstanding is at work here."

"I wanna believe them," Patamon whispered to Gatomon, "but I
don't know..."

"We'll keep our claws in for now," Gatomon whispered back. "But
he's still one of the Dark Ones. This is probably just a trick."

"... Man," Davis said, after he had finished absorbing the
implications of what he'd just learned. "You've had it pretty
rough. Have you ever had any toys?"

Kevin shook his head slowly back and forth once.

"Do you know how to swim?"

Another slow, solitary head shake.

"Have you ever played Video games? Jump rope? Hop scotch?
Baseball? Soccer?"

Each question was answered with the same slow, hesitant shake of
the head.

"ARRRGH!" Davis finally exclaimed, "That is UNFORGIVABLE! How
could anyone go through life being treated like that?! Not even
being allowed to learn how to play SOCCER?!!"

Kevin and DemiDevimon shared another, highly confused look.

"Alright then..." Davis said, grinning and clenching a fist in
determination. "If that's the case then I'll TEACH
you two about all the things that little kids should know about!"

"Really?" DemiDevimon asked, both his and Kevin's eyes lighting
up. "That'd be swell! I'm REALLY curious about this Ice Cream
thing!"

"ONE condition, though!" Davis added, his confident grin turning
into a smirk, "I'll only do it if you let me and the rest of the
people with me through, and that means JJ too."

Kevin blinked, as did DemiDevimon. A silent conversation seemed
to pass between them before DemiDevimon said, "... okay. You got
a deal this time. But if Angel Boy there ever comes back, then
all bets are off."

"... fine by me," TK replied.

"Wow..." Yolie whispered to Cody. "Who knew all of Davis' goofing
off would have ever been so useful?"

Cody smiled faintly as he replied, "Sometimes the simplest
solution is best."

"And Davis is certainly simple," TK muttered.

"TK," Kari whispered. "We never did really get to know anything
about the Sadamotos before... maybe there's another way. Maybe
they're just violent because they don't know any better."

"Maybe...." TK whispered back, "But there's no excuse for
accepting the powers of Darkness... and you know as well as I do
where that kid's powers are coming from."

"Hey, hey, hey!" A new voice suddenly exclaimed. "What's goin' on
here?!"

Everyone looked up for the source, a silver ball with eyes, a
mouth, a pair of red arms, and a tiny pair of legs. The Digimon
stood on the railing of the second floor of a nearby apartment
complex.

"It's Mamemon!" Kari exclaimed.

"That mark he has on his forehead!" Cody said as he saw the fist-
shaped tattoo that rested over the small Digimon's eyes. "It
looks just like the mark on that..." he trailed off as Davis'
eyes narrowed and his exuberant demeanor faded into something
quieter and angrier.

"He's one of Shane's goons," TK replied. "At some point Shane
learned how to manipulate the Crest of Domination into giving him
the power to enslave the minds of other Digimon. His Crest's
mark appears on the foreheads of the ones he's managed to
Dominate."

"Shane..." Davis whispered under his breath. His fists clenched
just a little bit tighter.

"Boys, boys, boys," Mamemon sighed at Kevin and DemiDevimon.
"This is kind of disappointing. I thought you two would be smart
enough not to fall for lies like the ones these guys have been
dishin' out."

"... lies?" Kevin asked, blinking.

DemiDevimon snarled. "Watch it with the intelligence cracks,
runt! Remember who you're talkin' to!"

Mamemon raised his hands peacefully as he replied, "Well, still,
think about this. If they're so friendly, why are there so many
of them? I mean, what is it? Five-on-one? And what reason could
they possibly have for coming here? Unless they know about...
her."

Kevin stiffened at that, a panicked look coming into his eyes.

"Oh yes, Kevin," Mamemon said, "They know. Of course, ask'em and
they'll lie and say they don't, but they know. Poor little
Megan, lying there helpless, with only you to protect her. And
here you are letting THEM go right on in. Heck, her rival is
even with them too! Can you honestly tell me you believe that
she's won't try something once her little friends have conned you
into letting her get close enough?"

"You shut up!" Yolie yelled back. "How can you lie to a little
kid like that?! We're trying to get to the hospital so we can
help people! We don't need someone like you trying to start
trouble"

Mamemon completely ignored Yolie as he continued speaking to
Kevin. "And besides... things like games and sports and ice
cream... you think they mean anything to someone like you? They
won't give you a purpose in life. They won't give you a reason
to be alive. And you want that, don't you? A reason to live?"

"Stop with the philosophical crap and get to the point!"
DemiDevimon snapped.

"Well," Mamemon said, "all I'm sayin' is, you DO have a purpose
in life. To fight the Angel and protect your little sister.
That's it. Nothing else is important for you. It's the only
reason you were ever born. Are you so selfish that you're gonna
turn your back on your destiny and let your sister get killed
just so you can have a little fun? Big Brother'd be real
disappointed in you, Kevin. He thought you were one of the ones
he could trust. But I guess I'll have to tell him he was
wrong...."

Kevin looked down at the ground, tears forming in his eyes.
DemiDevimon's blinked up at his human for a moment, a pained
expression on his face, before he tried to smile comfortingly up
at Kevin. "Look... it's up to you, kid Whatever you decide, I'll
go with it, no matter what the cost."

"Don't listen to that little silver nad!" Davis yelled, pointing
an accusing finger at Mamemon. "He's just trying to...." Davis
stopped as Kevin looked up, his eyes glowing red as the tears
continued to flow.

"I'm sorry..." was all he said before he flared out his wings and
leaped forward, one of his distended arms reaching out to grab
Davis by the furry lapels of his jacket and lift his body easily
into the air.

Davis screamed as he was grabbed and futilely attempted to break
the grasp of the oversized hand. "Stop it! Come on, kid, I'm
trying to be on your side!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Mamemon cheered.

"While he may not be your rival, this one in particular has
displeased Master Shane. One squeeze is all it would take to make
big brother happy..." ShimaUnimon grinned, insofar as a horse-
like creature could, as he appeared on the rooftop over Mamemon.
Kevin turned an uncertain gaze up at Davis, locking eyes with his
captive as he hesitated.

Patamon's body quickly shrank into Tokomon's form as he cried,
"Transfer Digivolve!"

The golden ball of light that engulfed TK's body shattered as the
boy's transformed form emerged, his golden Angel Staff in hand
and his white wings stretching toward the air in readiness. "You
know who your real enemy is, Kevin. Let him go," TK demanded.

Kevin's head turned toward TK as he heard his rival speak. The
demonic boy swung the arm holding Davis to one side and dropped
him to the ground. Kevin's eyes flared red once again as, his
path now clear, he leapt toward TK, stretching his oversized
claws toward his rival's throat.

Instead, they could only grab onto TK's staff as he swung it
defensively in front of himself. TK frowned as Kevin grabbed onto
the Angel Staff and began pushing backward on it, apparently
trying to throw his rival to the ground. The two struggled to
retain their balance as TK said, "Remember, this was the decision
you made."

TK pushed away at Kevin with one final heave, the smaller
boy having to let go and stagger back a few paces to
keep to his feet. Both combatants flapped their
wings and flew to the skies at the same time to continue the
fight.

"Well," Mamemon said with a smirk as he jumped on ShimaUnimon's
back, "Our job's done. Have fun, booooyyyys!"

The small Digimon laughed exuberantly as he and the striped
Digimon took to the air. "To leave without at least an
introduction seems distastful," Leomon muttered to himself as he
leapt off the side of the building and away from the
Digidestined. His body had been shrouded by the thick fog the
entire time.

"Davis! Are you alright?" Cody asked as he and Yolie ran toward
their friend's fallen body.

"No way..." Davis growled, dusting himself off as he stood up.
"No WAY are we gonna let this happen! C'mon guys! It's Armor
Time!"

For a moment, Cody and Yolie both looked confused by Davis'
exhortation to action. "But why, Davis?" Yolie asked. "TK and
Kevin obviously want to fight each other, and if there really is
some big predestined thing going on here, I mean... who are we to
interfere?"

"I can't answer that..." Cody began, slowly. "... but I do think
it's obvious how this fight will end if someone doesn't
intervene. Either TK will kill Kevin, or Kevin will kill TK.
Neither one of them will stop until he's destroyed his opponent."

"Right!" Davis nodded. "And I'm not gonna stand by and watch that
happen when they both deserve to live! Any destiny that
sacrifices good people NEEDS to be changed!"

Yolie smiled as he withdrew her D3. "And let me guess, we just
happened to get caught at the wrong place at the right time
again?"

"That seems to be what being Digidestined is all about," Cody
smiled wryly back at her as he got ready to raise his own D3.

"Well, somebody's gotta do the dirty work!" Davis grinned as he
raised his D3 to the sky.

All three friends shouted as one. "DIGI ARMOR, ENER... GIZE!"

"FLAMEDRAMON! The Fire of Courage!"

"HALSEMON! The Wings of Love!"

"DIGMON! The Drill of Knowledge!"

"Alright!" Davis exclaimed as the three Armored Digimon broke
out of the shells of elemental power that transformed them. "Now
let's go get the bad guys!"

The Armored Digimon stood there, looking at each other for a
moment before turning around. "Two questions," Flamedramon
said, "One, how are we supposed to find them? Two..."

"... who's the bad guy here?" Digmon finished.

"... they have a point," Cody said.

"We need to separate TK and Kevin without hurting either of
them," Yolie said. "Then we've got to try and calm them down and
convince them that they don't need to fight with each other just
because something else is telling them to."

Gatomon transformed back to Salamon with a cry of, "Transfer
Digivolve!"

Kari was once again enveloped in a ball of pink light which
shattered and left her in her transformed state. She tensed her
legs to leap off in pursuit of TK but stopped as Jim suddenly
placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Wait."

"I can't wait!" Kari objected. "He needs me!"

"I dunno," Jim replied. "It looks like he can take care of
himself pretty well, and, well, the Armors have a point.
There's no way anything that can't fly under its own power is
going to be able to keep up with those two in this fog, and
flying is something that not many of us can do... you included.
And more importantly, there's something else that's not being
taken care of... look over there!"

Kari looked towards where Jim pointed. A strange, shadowy black
fog seemed to be drifting out of a small window in the third
floor of the apartment complex where Mamemon had previously been
standing. "I don't know what it is," Jim said, "but where
there's smoke, there's fire, and where there's fire, there's
usually people. And those people may need help, or may be able to
help us! Plus, remember what WhiffleBallmon or whatever he was,
said about Kevin having an injured sister near-by? If it's her
and we can help her, then maybe we can really convince him that
he doesn't have to fight us."

"But..." Kari began to protest.

"That's it!" Davis exclaimed. "Look! Halsemon can fly all over
the place! Yolie and him can go after TK and Kevin while the rest
of us help you and Jim check out whatever that is. There's no
point in throwing ourselves at a situation where we can't do
anything when there might be another one where we can actually
help, right?"

Kari sighed a little and looked down at the ground as she said,
"I know, but..."

"Look..." Davis said, "I may not like TK that much... but I know
you do, Kari. I want him to come back safe and sound, and we'll
do what we can to make sure that happens."

"What's this 'we' stuff? I'm going to be doing all the talking!"
Yolie said as she climbed onto Halsemon's back. "But still...
Kari, he IS right. We all have to do our part to make sure that
everyone gets out of here alive, even if the part we're stuck
with isn't one we want. I mean, I know I wish I could let you be
the one to go after him... but right now, that's just not
possible."

Kari smiled softly at all of them as she replied. "I know...
thank you, everyone."

"Well... uh..." Davis' face turned a deep red and he turned his
gaze downward as tried to not openly gawk at Kari's current
barely-dressed state. "You're... y'know... welcome... and
stuff... and, uh..."

"Davis..." Flamedramon interrupted his human's stammering. "...
now might be a good time to get going."

"Uh... yeah, right!" Davis said as he shook his head, his cheeks
still tinged slightly crimson. "Yeah, let's go!"

Kari gathered up Salamon and a very worried-looking Tokomon in
her arms. She, Davis, Cody and Jim raced for whatever awaited
them in the building while Yolie and Halsemon took off into the
unnatural cloud cover to try and find the battling children.

+ + +

Where is he? I know he's out there. I can FEEL him. I'd have
already beaten him if he hadn't flown off into the fog to hide
himself. This fog... it's more than physical. There's...
something to it that's dulling my ability to sense where things
are.

I still can't believe all this... here I am, flying only God
knows how high off the ground, probably looking like Angemon,
with Angemon's powers, fighting my rival who just happens to have
Devimon's powers and DemiDevimon's face stuck in his chest. Even
for a veteran Digidestined, this is a bit much to take in all at
once.

But I can't stop to think about this now. I have to defeat him.
I have to destroy the Powers of Darkness that are inside him. I
will never let those powers ever gain even the slightest of
advantages so long as I'm alive. I am the Digidestined of Hope.
Does that mean I want to kill him? No. I don't want to kill
anyone. But sometimes decisive action must be taken.

"Touch of Evil."

I almost missed hearing it because of how soft his voice is, but
I know the flare of energy is coming in from my left. I flap my
wings hard, rising up higher and avoiding it. Close. But not
close enough.

I look down and I know he's there. I raise my glowing fist and
try my counter attack.

"HAND OF FATE!"

He flies upward as well, snarling as he dodges the beam and
closes in, those large arms extended. He grabs onto the staff
again and we grapple over it once more. "Don't you get it?" I
say to him. "You think you can do whatever you want, just because
you're powerful! You and your family think the Powers of
Darkness Musyamon gave you have given you the right to cause
suffering to untold millions of humans and Digimon alike. Well I
will NEVER allow you to do what you did to the Digital World to
this world as well!"

"Hoo boy," DemiDevimon says, "You, my friend, are in DESPERATE
need of a clue. You think we care about stupid 'Bwahaha, the
world is mine' junk? We got questions. The type of questions a
little Golden Angel Boy like you could never understand. And one
way or another, we're gonna have our answers! DEMI DART!"

DemiDevimon inhales quickly and I try to twist to the side and
avoid what I know is coming. He spits out the giant syringe with
whatever substance is in it and... ARGH!

Almost made it... but it got me... in the side... of my
stomach. A backhand to Kevin's face... there, he let go and...
he's backing off too.

I feel dizzy... and nauseous... remember that Biyomon got hit by
one of those once upon a time... gotta keep my distance until it
wears off... if it wears off.

"HAND... OF... FATE!"

I unleash... a lot of power with that one. He's not expecting
it... and it manages to knock him back into the fog. Don't
think... that ended it, though.

But I... will not... LOSE.

+ + +

"This REALLY sucks!" Salamon grumbled to herself as they raced
down the halls of the darkened apartment complex. Kari was
currently trying not to leave the others too far behind while
she was getting used to her new body.

That was the main thing about the Transferring that really
bothered Salamon. Digimon automatically knew what their body
could do when they Digivolved, but the humans didn't seem able to
understand themselves fully. It was going to be a long time
before Kari was really able to use Angewomon's abilities
effectively. But would any of the humans survive long enough to
do that? Even while transferred, they were so... fragile. And
on top of all that, Kari was not the least bit aggressive
unless she was forced to be. She'd let the others fight for her
and make decisions for her whenever she could get away with, and
that would prevent her from becoming strong enough.

The power in the building was out, shrouding the hallways in
darkness. Fog from outside seemed through cracks in the walls
and underneath doors to further obscure their vision. Jim's
flashlight seemed to do nothing to brighten their path, which
filled the group with a deep and nameless dread. Nagging despair
seemed to eat at their minds; was there really any point in
trying to help someone in this terrible, broken world?

The feeling was even hard for the Digimon to shake. Tokomon
asked, "Is this really a good idea?"

"Probably not," Jim replied, looking down at the Digimon he was
carrying. "But I'm a doctor. I took an oath and swore to help
people and I can't leave someone who's possibly sick or injured
even if it means doing something fairly stupid."

"I hope TK doesn't get hurt," Tokomon said, his face drooping
into a worried frown.

"Us too, Tokomon," Kari said, her lips pressing together.

"Yolie can do it," Cody said, shakily, trying to be heard over
the clanging of Digmon's legs. "I have faith in her."

"I think--" Jim started to say.

"That's a first," Salamon grumbled, irritably.

"Ha ha," Jim replied flatly, scowling at Salamon. "Good one, Pink
Poodle. ANYWAY, I think that door up ahead is where the... stuff
is coming from. You guys ready?"

"You know it!" Davis said, pumping a fist in the air as
Flamedramon nodded. "If anything evil's waiting for us, we'll be
all over it before it ever knew what hit it!"

"Yeah, well... just make sure you don't accidentally torch us or
burn down the building in the process," Jim said as he hesitantly
opened the door.

The group paused at the sight that awaited them inside the room.
It was a young girl lying on a mattress.

"Whoa! That's her, Kevin's sister, right?" Davis asked. "But I
though she was supposed to be younger than he was or something?"

"She certain does look... mature," Cody nodded, swallowing
nervously. "She's at least Kari's age, or older."

"It's her," Kari sighed, her voice sad. "She may have gotten
older somehow, but she looks the same and she's even wearing the
same dress she had on when I first met her."

"... that's supposed to be clothes? It looks like it'd fall to
pieces if you even breathed on it too hard," Jim said with a
disapproving shake of his head. "And it's definitely way, way too
little to be keeping her warm."

"Or covering much of anything," Cody added nervously.

"I don't get it," Salamon grumbled. "How'd she get big so fast?
You said that humans had to spend a long time in the Puberty
stage, Kari, but her chest is already fluffier than yours and
it's irritating!"

Kari fell silent while the male humans all took a moment to stare
at Salamon in disbelief. "I... I don't know," Kari said with a
sigh. "It could be another negative reaction to the world fusion,
like Kevin and Michelle had...."

"Or maybe it's because she's a cat-girl!" Davis exclaimed
brightly.

"... what?" Jim asked.

"Well, just look at her! She's got black cat hears sticking out
of her head and she's got this big long black tail with purple
stripes, and she's even got kitty gloves like Gatomon has! She's
a total cat girl, she's even all fanservicey and stuff!"

"He's right!" Cody exclaimed, as his adjusting eyes finally
picked out the unnatural additions to Megan's body in the
darkness.

"And her partner was a Black Tailmon that evolved into Lady
Devimon... no wonder Salamon doesn't like her," Kari breathed in
shock.

"Well, whatever's wrong with her, she's got it bad," Jim said as
he began to approach the filthy mattress. "I can't believe all
this talking hasn't woken her up. She probably doesn't even know
that we're here." He knelt down, to try and examine her as best
he could in the dim light.

"We've really got to give him credit," Kari said softly.

"Indeed," Cody added. "Even if he's not Digidestined, he's
as much a hero as any of us."

Megan did not wake up at the few words Jim tried to speak to her,
or from his attempts to prod her shoulder with a finger. Jim
then reached into his medical bag and took out a stethoscope,
checking her breathing and her pulse as best he could. He even
pried her eyes open and shone a smaller flashlight into them, all
while still receiving no reaction.

"My best guess is that she's in some kind of fatigue-induced
coma," Jim finally said, standing up and dusting himself off.
"Something really drained her energy. She seems fairly well
hydrated, but I'm willing to bet she's malnourished, and she
definitely needs a bath and a MAJOR change of clothing, too."

"Why aren't we like this too?" Kari asked. "If this is a result
of what Musyamon did to us to make the two worlds become one..."

"Well, we've still got two bodies," Salamon shrugged. "She's
stuck with only one.
Remember, it took us a few hours to wake up after TK and Patamon
did."

"Yeah," Tokomon added. "TK was really scared that you weren't
going to wake up at all."

"We have a different problem for the moment though," Jim said.
"We're going to have to take her to the hospital with us if we
want to treat her properly... and I'm not quite sure how we could
pull that off."

"... oh, just what the heck IS this?! 'Help the Bad Guys Day'?"
Salamon snapped. "What next, go fine Shane and give him a nice
big hug?"

Kari glanced down at the angry Digimon. "Salamon," she said, "I
know how you feel but... she's still a living being. We have to
at least try to help her."

"I know..." Salamon replied, looking down at the ground and
feeling about as big as a Thunderballmon's pinky. "I just don't
like this. For all we know, this could still be a trap."

"I don't think so," Jim said. "This seems too... I dunno, just
call it doctor's instinct. This is someone that needs help. Now
how are we going to carry her?"

"Digmon and I could handle it," Flamedramon spoke up. "Humans
don't weigh enough to be a problem for carrying."

"But she's carrying herself just fine!" Tokomon said as he
pointed a paw-nub toward where Megan was.

The group blinked as one and then turned their attention to the
Sadamoto girl. She had... changed. Aside from the fact she was
sitting up, what was visible of her skin had faded to a white,
chalky color. Her entire body had been covered in a black leather
bodysuit that looked almost exactly like a slightly less
revealing version of LadyDevimon's costume. One of her arms was
like LadyDevimon's, too, big and long, with red claws and a chain
wrapped around it. She looked up at the group, her eyes glowing
red. Her slow gaze passed over Salamon, Tokomon, Jim, Davis,
Cody and then rested on Kari. The two of them stood there,
staring at each other, not a single word passing between them.

Then, they started screaming. Kari fell to her knees, gripping
the sides of her head as Megan also leaned forward, bringing her
one normal hand up to her head.

"Kari!" Davis cried in alarm. He tried to reach out to her, but
Cody grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back.

"Davis, don't! Look at them!" Cody said.

Both Kari and Megan's bodies were radiating power. Kari's body
glowed with the warm radiance of the Light, while Megan's body
emitted the cold, grasping shadow of the Darkness. Both of
the auras seemed to be completely uncontrolled and somehow
hostile. Shafts of power erupted and shot randomly out at the
landscape whenever the two auras briefly touched. Flamedramon and
Digmon rushed forward to block the bolts of power with their
Armored bodies as Tokomon and Salamon leapt up and knocked Jim
out of the path of a streaking beam of chaotic power. Cody
frantically pulled Davis behind their Digimon partners, despite
his protests.

"The shockwaves are getting worse!" Flamedramon shouted through
gritted teeth as waves of the chaotic power tore at his body.

"Ya'll gotta run! We can't keep this up much longer!" Digmon
added, as he felt his carapace begin to crack.

As the auras continued to collide, they sent out increasingly
strong shockwaves of power that began to attack everything in the
area
on a mental as well as a physical level. Everyone could hear Kari
and Megan's voices, speaking together in the exact same tone,
saying the exact same things. "Make it stop... make him stop...
please... someone save me... it hurts... it hurts... I can't
control it... can't stop him... please... make it stop...."

Davis ripped free of Cody's grip. "Let me go! I gotta help
Flamedramon! I've got to save her!"

"Davis!" Cody cried in alarm. "Stop! You'll be KILLED!"

Davis, however, was already charging between the stunned and
helpless Armor Digimon. Flamedramon and Digmon's efforts at
holding back the tide of chaotic power could not allow them to
divert their attention enough even to move the arm that would
block Davis' passage. Instead, the boy leapt between them and
charged into the maelstrom of raw chaos.

The aura of hostile energy tore at him for a moment before
shrinking away and melting aside just enough to allow Davis to
continue to make his forward, step by laborious step. He waded
through the storm to the point where the two auras seemed to
collide most fiercely, the foot or so of space that remained
between Kari and Megan's bodies. After lifting an arm up just
long enough to pull his goggles over his eyes, he winced slightly
before sticking an arm into the source of the chaos.

Davis screamed as the opposing powers ripped into him. On one
side, he could feel the warm power of the Light spinning out of
control, becoming a raging fire that sought to burn away
everything. On the other, he could feel the wrenching Darkness
seek to find a way into his body, to infect it with sickness and
the lust for power even as it tried to drain his strength and
leave him a withered shell. Each power seemed to beg him for
company, to invite him to take solace there, even as it
blindly threatened him with absolute destruction. The stress
was more than any human body could hope to bear.

Davis gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, ignoring the pain of
the dueling energies, shutting out the images of the two
screaming
girls from his mind. "Gotta make it stop..." Davis thought.
"Can't let them kill each other... nobody else dies... I won't
let this happen! I can't let this happen!"

Suddenly, the howling storm of chaotic power in the room shifted,
some unknown force transmuting it into a serene golden energy
that crackled through the air with restrained strength. The power
radiated from Davis' body, consuming and containing Kari and
Megan's auras of power. Both girls were lifted in the air by the
force of the new power. Their pain dulled and their senses
cleared, both could open their eyes to stare at the boy who has
stopped their unconscious battle. The golden light grew in
intensity, the crackling of raw power making everyone's hair
stand on end. Davis slowly opened his eyes and spoke a single
word.

"ENOUGH!"

That single word, however, was fraught with a supernatural
intensity and authority that seemed to twist and distort even
Davis' voice into something unrecognizable. The auras of both
the Light and Dark were extinguished. Davis shut his eyes and
seemed to slump, as if the effort of doing that had been too
much. But the golden power did not stop, and instead, crackled
with new fierceness as the will that guided it fell away into
unconsciousness.

The greatest shockwave of all hit a few seconds later. It tore
the roof from the apartment building and spiraled into the sky,
becoming a glowing beacon of light that was visible throughout
all of Tokyo and Honshu for the few seconds that it managed to
exist.

+ + +

"Where ARE they?" Yolie snapped in frustration. "Even WITH this
fog, you'd think it'd be easy to find a guy who looks like an
angel and a guy who looks like a devil flying around in the sky
and trying to kill each other!"

"We may be close," Halsemon replied, his eyes darting back
and forth rapidly. "I hear something up ahead that could be
them."

"HAND OF FATE!"

A golden beam of energy suddenly lanced out of the cloud cover.
Halsemon twisted in mid-air, dodging the misfired attack while
carefully making sure not to dislodge Yolie from his back. He
landed on a nearby rooftop, looking up toward the direction that
the attack had come from. "Correction," Halsemon said. "I hear
and SEE something up ahead that is DEFINITELY them."

"An earlier warning would have been nice," Yolie muttered as
Halsemon took back to the air to fly towards the dueling youths.

Kevin and TK were still fighting ferociously. TK's movements,
from what Yolie could see, seemed somewhat sluggish and clumsy
as he swung the end of his staff at Kevin's face. TK's chest
appeared to have been marked by a shallow gash, but that didn't
seem to be the source of his obvious discomfort. The culprit
seemed to be a large blotch of dried blood on the left side of
TK's stomach. He winced as he had to twist his torso to continue
attacking with his Angel Staff.

Kevin managed to dodge that particular swing. But from what Yolie
could make out, others seemed to have found their mark. Kevin's
right eye was swollen shut and blood trickled from his split
upper lip. He also seemed to be having trouble breathing, and
his left arm was tucked protectively around DemiDevimon's face.
The eyes on the unnatural chest-mounted face were closed, most
likely meaning the sort-of-Digimon had been somehow knocked out.

Halsemon cautiously drew closer. "Please try to make this quick,"
Halsemon said. "I do not believe either of them shall last much
longer at this rate."

Yolie nodded and said, "Okay, then! We're going to have to get
their attention first."

"HAND OF FATE!"

"Touch of Evil."

Both young boys unleashed beams of power that colliding in the
air between them, each ray of power struggled for dominance as
the two forced more energy into the attacks. Kevin clenched
his teeth, as did TK. Sweat poured down their faces as both boys
depleted their internal reserves of energy, both intent on making
this attack the final blow. Neither seemed to care about the
consequences such a terrible expenditure of energy would have on
their own bodies.

"EAGLE EYE!!"

Halsemon's eyes glowed red as he unleashed the twin beams of
crimson energy toward the dueling beams of Hope and Despair. The
extra energy interrupted the duel as it hit, the three beams
quickly fading out in a flash of light and dissipating power.
Both Kevin and TK briefly lost altitude, as if staggering from
the sudden disruption. Then they turned to look at Halsemon as
Yolie cleared her throat.

"Now that we've got your attention..." Yolie began. "... could we
please stop fighting now?! Look... TK, I may not understand
everything that's going on here, but don't tell me you honestly
like the idea of having to fight like this. And Kevin... look,
the fact I'm here instead of trying to find and kill your sister
should say a few things about the credibility of that Moronmon or
whatever he was called."

"I can't stop," TK replied, his voice cold and filled with an
anger Yolie had never heard from him before. "Not until the
Darkness is gone FOREVER! It's in him, and it has to be
destroyed or it will destroy everything else!"

"TK..." Yolie whispered, staring at the angelic TK in
horror. What could bring such relentless anger out of a boy who
she'd always known to be gentle and friendly to virtually
everyone? Was it the transfer Digivolve influencing him, giving
him some of an angel's righteous wrath? But Angemon hadn't
seemed like some sort of scourge that was out to destroy sinners
when she had seen him fighting. He'd seemed more like a
superhero, trying to defend the school from the devils that
wanted to hurt the children inside. She could understand
how a Digimon like that could be TK's partner.

But this outburst... it may have been part Angemon, but there was
just as much TK in it, too. A TK she didn't know, one that was
angry and zealous. And very frightening too, she decided.

"I... can't..." Kevin said, frantically looking down at
DemiDevimon. He obviously wanted the partial Digimon to be awake
again, probably so he wouldn't have to talk. "Have to... fight...
questions... answers...."

"What kind of answers could come from fighting?!" Yolie snapped.
"All fighting does is destroy things and break things! It won't
make anything new for you, like the answer to a question!
Kevin... you're so young. You shouldn't have to do things like
this. Come with us and we'll be your friends. We can figure out
something better together."

She held her hand out to Kevin, smiling warmly at him.
Kevin looked at her, tears beginning to brim in his eyes as he
slowly started to extend one of his own clawed hand towards hers.
But he hesitated, his glance nervously straying toward TK. He
turned back to Yolie and spoke, his voice as always barely above
a whisper. But his terrified, distraught expression and frantic
eyes made it clear that he was coming as close to shouting as
he possibly could. "I can't!" Kevin tried to shriek. "I'm not
... we don't... not allowed... no friends!"

He spun around, his tears flowing freely as he dived back into
the fog. TK seemed to regard the boy's departing form for a
moment, and raised his fist. It glowed faintly with holy power as
he began to take aim.

"TK!" Yolie shouted at him. "If you so much as say the word
'hand', I'll have Halsemon taking you out before you even make it
to 'of'!."

Halsemon narrowed his eyes and nodded, indicating his willingness
to follow such an order. TK froze in place for a moment, the
aura of power disappearing from his hand. He glared as the fog
swallowed up Kevin's retreating form entirely. "You have no idea
what you've done," he said in simple accusation. With a flap of
his wings, he flew back down toward the ground.

"Okay, Yolie," the lavender-haired girl thought to herself. "What
have we learned today? Dumb ol' sometimes-- jerk Davis actually
has a soft, gentle side and soft, gentle TK has a Holy Avenging
Jerk side. Oy VEY...."

Yolie's thoughts trailed off and briefly seemed to stop entirely
as she saw the pillar of golden energy. TK saw it to, and stopped
his descent, instead hovering in place so he could watch the
spectacle. It rose into the sky like an explosion, it's light
piercing even the roof of the fog dome, letting in natural
sunlight for all too brief a moment as it continued to travel
higher.

"What in the world was THAT?!" Yolie exclaimed.

"That's... that's Crest power..." TK whispered softly, his head
snapping upwards towards the energy, "But it's not Kari, and not
any of the others... and it's coming from where-- KARI!"

He suddenly regained altitude, flying desperately toward the
apartment building where the fight had started as Yolie followed
as closely as she could on Halsemon's back.

What they found when they arrived was the apartment building
perfectly intact, save for the third floor and the upper right
side of the building. Something, presumably the pillar of golden
energy, had literally burned away everything above it, leaving a
large cone-shaped blast hole that still smoked from the force of
the energy. Lying on the ground, at the bottom of where the blast
must have originated, was the rest of the group. All of them
were unconscious. The Armor Digimon had reverted back to Rookie
form, and Kari had reverted back to her fully human form once
again, with an unconscious Gatomon at her side. Megan had also
reverted to her feline form.

"KARI! TOKOMON!" TK cried again as he landed on the floor and
changed back to normal, the unconscious Tokomon beginning to stir
as the rush of energy changed him back into Patamon.

"CODY! DAVIS! JIM!" Yolie cried as well. Halsemon landed and
reverted back into Hawkmon as Yolie leapt off of his back.

The unconscious humans began to stir slightly as well as they
heard their names being called. Cody was the first to shakily
raise his head, soon followed by Jim and Kari. Davis, however,
collapsed back down, panting heavily.

"What happened?!" TK asked in worry.

"Energy..." Kari rasped. "Unlike anything I've ever felt
before... Megan and I were fighting..."

"Megan..." TK narrowed his eyes as he saw the unconscious
Sadamoto and started to rise.

"TK..." Yolie spoke in a warning tone as she aided Cody in
sitting, "Don't start that again. ESPECIALLY now."

"... fine. She does seem harmless. For now," TK replied quietly
before kneeling back down, cradling Patamon in his arms as he
helped Kari sit up.

+ + +

The unleashing of the energy had a much more profound effect than
the small group of young people and Digimon could have realized
at the time. The pillar's incredible visibility and intensity
made its presence impossible to ignore. Average citizens and awed
Digimon stared at it as they would any sudden light in the sky.
And other beings, those with some inkling of what the pillar
truly was, realized that the pillar's appearance marked the
occurrence of an event whose significance could not be ignored.

In one part of the city, a young man paused and whistled as he
saw the beam erupt. He could feel its power, even if he couldn't
immediately identify the source. "What the fuck was THAT?"

He turned his head a little as he heard the heavy metallic clank
of his much larger companion's footsteps grind into the asphalt.
A soft voice crackled slightly over the external speakers that
amplified it. "TK or Kari. Nobody else ever gets to pull off
stunts like that," the speaker noted, unable to entirely disguise
the edge of bitterness in his voice.

"Maybe. Maybe not. It felt... different," the young man grinned.
His canine teeth were far too sharp and oversized to
have been anything a normal human could possess. "Wanna go check
it out?" he asked.

In another part of the city, a young woman was flying close to
the ground as a young man leapt alongside her. The woman flapped
her red wings as she slowed to a stop in mid-air, giving a
slightly worried glance to her companion. The man landed with a
crash and flexed his oversized metallic arm thoughtfully. "Well
damn," he said. "I'd say that definitely counts as a clue for...
something."

In yet another part of the city, another pairing of a young man
and a young woman also looked up at the sky. "Oh! How pretty!"
the woman smiled, twirling a green vine-wrapped scepter in her
hands.

"You could say that..." the young man replied as he adjusted his
glasses, his slender frame somehow managing to support the
incredibly large hammer he held slung effortlessly across his
shoulder. "Although I get the feeling that whatever this is will
end up really complicating things."

Within the depths of what had once been Tokyo Tower, a young man
with a scarred and useless right eye frowned as he sensed an
unknown power that would challenge his aspirations of absolute
Dominance.

From his hidden base, the Digimon Emperor's systems recorded the
energy and sped to report their findings to their master. The
Emperor frowned as his readouts failed to tell him anything
useful about the explosion save that it was of unknown origin and
incredible intensity. Yet another irritating mystery for him to
solve about this new world, and one that would definitely come
into play later in the game.

From within the dome of fog, Asuramon smiled warmly. One by one,
his
hunches and gambles were paying off handsomely. It was almost
time for things to be taken to the next level.

Also in the fog, Kevin looked up at the blast along with a newly-
conscious DemiDevimon. "Wow..." DemiDevimon said. "No wonder that
kid seemed so special."

"Too strong..." Kevin whispered, shaking his head.

"Yeah..." DemiDevimon said. "That beam may look pretty
impressive, but it's a big waste of power. That kid can't control
himself at all. A power like that... it needs somethin' to keep
it in check or it's just gonna burn itself out. And I dunno what
could keep somethin' like that kid under control."

Outside the dome, Gennai, his hands shaking, let his cane slip
away as he also felt the power. It was a power he was familiar
with, a power that was intimately connected to his most exquisite
failure as a guardian of the Digital World. He cursed himself
for making another failure of similar magnitude, as he had only
now realized the nature and terrible ramifications of Asuramon's
true intent. "Miracles..." he whispered. "But Kindness is all but
dead... Asuramon, you fool. How can you think anything is really
worth sacrificing another child's life?"

+ + +

Another three hours passed as they continued to walk. Megan, who
was resting on a makeshift gurney, remained unconscious even
after they'd passed out of the cloud bank and into the sunshine
beyond. "Look!" Davis shouted excitedly as he pointed towards
the horizon, "There it IS!"

Indeed, as they quickened their pace, the group could see the
quickly defining outline of a large, white multi-story hospital
building. As they drew even closer, they could see people and
Digimon rushing out to meet them. In a matter of minutes, they
were surrounded by other doctors and friendly, helpful Digimon
who took the comatose girl inside.

"We made it..." Yolie said. Her knees buckled, and she finally
acknowledged her physical exhaustion by toppling backward onto
her bottom. "We actually made it." Cody sat right down next to
her, looking up at the sun and nodding happily.

Davis sat down as well, reaching out to pat Veemon on top of the
head as he let out a mighty sigh of contentment. "Yeah!" he
smiled. "Who knew we had it in us?"

The three of them remained quiet for a long time, smiling in
contentment. At some point, someone began giggling. Much to the
confusion of their Digimon, that lead to all three of the humans
beginning to laugh uproariously. It quickly grew in volume,
becoming stronger and more out of control as the seconds past.

None of them, after that day, were sure which one of them started
it. But soon, a single sniffle from one of them changed the mood
entirely. Within seconds, the three were crying. Tears streamed
down their faces as they embraced their Digimon and each other,
forming a small circle of frantic hugging and weeping.

Jim looked on as the incredible phenomenon took place. He turned
his gaze toward Kari, who was also crying. Yet her tears were
silent, and seemed to speak of a particular, nameless pain. He
then looked at TK, whose gaze was solidly locked on the fog dome
far in the distance.

The young doctor shook his head and simply walked away. "At least
they're starting to let all of the bad stuff out. Now, maybe the
healing can begin...."

+ + +
To be continued...
+ + +