Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Love Evolved ❯ Boys, Wolves, and Raptordramon ( Chapter 6 )

Love Evolved

By Lord Tarsisk

Soyez influencé-Be influenced!

---

Italic Text indicates someone's thoughts.

"Someone's speech…" As if you couldn't tell that one. Honestly, some people are just plain stupid.

--- Indicates a transition between different times, scenes, and/or points of view.

~~~ Indicates a transition between memories or visions (but same real scene and time and same POV.)

Warning: This chapter has a lot of death in it. I would like to rate this at 14A, but PG13 will get more readers, so it's okay. Also very sad, and graphic. The next chapters will be as well. Warning.

As always, I don't own the subject matter, but seeing as they're not busy or doing anything useful, I will now take them from their holding cells and use them for my own "Emotional Reward." Just don't sue. In fact, any jumpy lawyers can stop reading this right now.

Again: As always: Be Influenced, and review. This is my hardest worked fic yet. I think I deserve a little feedback.

---

Boys, Wolves, and Raptordramon

---

Daisuke walked home from the mall, massaging his wounds. Tailmon had put three neat little slices across his face, barely missing his eyes, and Daisuke was almost entirely sure he deserved them. Almost.

Hikari was normally a very understanding girl, very compassionate, and her hot body excluded, Daisuke found that it was those qualities had attracted him the most to her. Of course, Daisuke had noticed the body first. Daisuke look up at the sky, which was getting rather dark.

Hikari never yelled, she didn't argue for the sake of arguing-and besides, she was never wrong.

But now… Daisuke sighed. Hikari certainly hadn't been acting compassionate, nor had she been very understanding. Trying to manipulate Daisuke, and Veemon, so that she wouldn't have to deal with Veemon's infatuation? How hard would it have been, anyways? he wondered. He made it home and called for an elevator.

Daisuke was worried, too. Worried that perhaps Veemon would be mad at him, and he was almost certain that he deserved it. Almost. Daisuke now stood in front of his doorway. Should he knock? Nonsense, this was his home.

He opened the door; wary of some provoked surprised attack from Veemon, he cringed, but none came. He asked, tentatively, "Veemon? Are you here?"

No answer. Daisuke began searching the house, careful not to wake up his family. Not in the bathroom, but he had been in here… the box of tissues was gone, and Daisuke assumed that Veemon had taken it…

Veemon wasn't anywhere in his house, and Daisuke could only assume he was back home, in the Digital World. For a moment, Daisuke wondered if he should follow, but soon decided against it.

Veemon needed some time to think, and when the time was right, a solution would present itself and Daisuke would apologize. He hoped. His computer beeped, but Daisuke shut it off. He needed rest, to prepare for tomorrow.

---

I didn't do anything wrong-I know it.

All heroes have their off-days, and they all have some resting place where they go to recuperate. Superman had his Fortress of Solitude. My friends have their computers, which they use to filter out reality. Me, I have the Digital World.

I don't really think of it as retreating-I did nothing wrong, and I don't deserve these feelings of guilt. But here it all fades, and playing soccer with some Fresh Digimon in Primary Village really helps to calm my nerves. I should come here more often; now I don't think I'll ever leave. Soccer is nice.

Of course, this was Daisuke's game as well, and I start to think about him again and again and I can't help it. I hate him, but I can't see him deliberately breaking our friendship over something so trivial as a girl-even though you certainly aren't trivial.

So I wonder if maybe you did something. Are you so desperate to get me off your back that you would distract me? Hurt yourself? Hurt me? Seemed crazy this morning, but now I'm not so sure. I hate blaming you for anything, and you know that-but I just don't know.

I can't see why you're afraid of me. I mean, I can-but I don't think you would've ever cared about mere physicality. Of course, physicality was the highest wall, right from the beginning.

I didn't do anything wrong-right?

---

Hikari woke up, and Tailmon was right beside her, and Tailmon knew she hadn't slept very much, if at all. Hikari rolled off the couch and smacked the floor. Tailmon winced, but Hikari ignored her, knowing that she probably deserved that.

Tailmon looked at the clock… far too early for anything. She wished Hikari would just roll back up and sleep away the pain, but she knew she was up for good.

"What happened?"

"Well, after you ran from the dance club, I guess you ran into Daisuke, and then left for home."

Hikari groaned. "Oh, yeah…

"What did you do to him?"

"Slashed at his face." Tailmon looked at her claws as if they weren't even a part of her, as if they were some foreign body that she needed to get rid of. She sighed.

~~~

Daisuke stood over Hikari, laughing, as she rolled and squirmed and tried to get up. Daisuke put his foot over her chest and held her down, still he laughed.

~~~

Daisuke pulled Hikari close, and kissed her, and she sighed-except that his tongue was made of fire, and Tailmon felt the pain, and shrieked.

~~~

"Did he deserve it?"

Hikari shook her head, and Tailmon looked away. She asked the same question, "What did you do to him?"

And Tailmon listened as Hikari told her about kissing him, then being kissed back; feelings of guilt, of pain, of sorrow, and of terror; and how she'd almost certainly hurt Veemon again.

~~~

Tailmon held her claw right in front of Daisuke's face, and he squirmed and tried to get away, except that her other paw held him tightly around the neck, and he was choking, and she was scratching him, and he was bleeding, bleeding crimson love for the two of them, but she didn't care-

~~~

Tailmon sighed. When shit hits the fan… "What now?"

Hikari looked away. "I don't know. I'm so tired of hurting them. You fix it, all I ever do is wrong." And she slumped, silently cursing herself.

"Don't say that." Tailmon hopped onto the couch, and Hikari rolled up off the floor and sat beside her. "You saved his life, I doubt that hurt him."

---

Daisuke woke up, and felt disoriented. Suddenly he covered in something, something cold, and he couldn't breathe for half a second. He rolled left, then right, and couldn't tell which way was up. Daisuke fell to the floor, banged his head, and cried out, "Veemon? Veemon!" while stars danced around his vision.

Silence, and Daisuke paused. What the…

"Oh. Right." And his heart fell.

Veemon wouldn't answer him today. He pulled the sheets from his head and looked around the dark room. He was covered in a cold sweat, but was chilled for other reasons.

Daisuke turned to Veemon's unused bed and closed his eyes. It was early, and Veemon would normally be sound asleep-actually, Veemon tended to snore.

And it wasn't a normal snore, either. Of course, it had his ordinary, higher-pitched voice, and a hint of his fading lisp. It also tended to shudder-his snore was choppy. Sometimes he would moan, and he would get louder and louder, until suddenly he would belch, take a deep breath, and sigh in relief.

Daisuke would kept awake for hours on end before he'd end up kicking or smacking Veemon-gently, of course-to make him roll onto his belly.

Usually, Daisuke would be at his breaking point right about now.

Of course, that was before the flight of the Ouryuudamon, and the Digimentaling Up with Hikari. Still, Veemon should still be here-maybe sharing a bed with Daisuke for support, or for comfort; maybe crying softly in his sleep; or having a love torn nightmare, which would prompt the rest of the house to wear earplugs and fold their pillows over their head-and Daisuke shouldn't be finding himself longing for whatever nightly disturbance Veemon had planned, natural or otherwise.

He crept back to his bed, but knew sleep wouldn't come. So he ended up thinking of Veemon again, and of Tailmon and Hikari and Koushiro, and of how this was all Koushiro's damned fault. If Koushiro hadn't sent them on that damned adventure… It was also Miyako's fault, for looking for excitement, for adventure… And Takeru's, for breaking up with Hikari-and Hikari's, for being full of lifesaving light.

Daisuke rolled over, and stared blankly at the alarm clock, and how it had advanced a mere twenty minutes since the precious inspection.

Daisuke realized, suddenly, that it was all his fault, and had been all along: for not giving Veemon enough support and energy during the fight; for not being there all the time, during his sinking depression; and for the fiasco at the dance club. He didn't dare get mad at Hikari now, not with how fragile Veemon was…

~~~

Veemon shined in the sunlight, but he winced as a giant soccer ball rose up from nowhere and shattered his vase-shaped body; he crashed to the ground, ripping into a million shards.

~~~

Daisuke shook his head and looked back at Veemon's clean bed, and he was alone for the rest of his waking moments-until he finally fell asleep; then he had disturbing dreams of white light and empty spaces to keep him company.

---

Daisuke was awake by the time his mother poked her head in to wake him. With the sudden sound, thoughts started materializing in his otherwise empty, non-existent consciousness, and he sighed.

Veemon's gone. It's all her fault. Why did Hikari do that? Hikari was pretty upset about Veemon. Wonder if she really doesn't feel anything for him. A flurry of thoughts slammed into him, and before he could sort them, his mom told him that he would be late for school.

Daisuke scowled, and found himself putting on clothes and eating breakfast. He was so upset at himself and at Hikari that he was halfway to school before he realized his shirt was not only backwards but also inside out, and he rushed to the restroom as soon as he had arrived.

School flew by fast, and Daisuke found that he couldn't remember much of what he'd tried to learn. Not that that wasn't customary.

Math helped him: as he watched the symbols and hieroglyphics mold into the blackboard, and the teacher's words fade to nothingness, his brain followed; he was able to forget for about an hour or so. Then the bell rang and Daisuke was forced back into reality.

Japanese, on the other hand, didn't help nearly so much: they were reading short stories with morals and Daisuke felt like throwing the hardcover book at the teacher's face. He didn't; but the urge was there.

The rest of the day was a blur. He returned home, walking through an unusually hot sun, to read an email from Koushiro, an apology for how he'd acted. Daisuke sighed: he knew Koushiro meant well.

Daisuke soon found himself face to face with his problem, of which he suddenly realized the capacity. He counted off on his fingers: "Vee-kun hates me. Vee-kun's gone. Hikari is a whore, and it's probably my fault for forcing Veemon to wear that stupid bowtie. Oh yeah, Tailmon wants my head on a stake."

"Hikari's not a whore," Veemon's voice said, and Daisuke sighed. I know…

But how much had she been offering at the mall? That was something Daisuke didn't want to know. Now, Hikari was probably at home, crying, and Tailmon was most likely plotting ways to remove Daisuke's body from its extremities… Daisuke let his mind wander, but he didn't like where it went.

Tailmon hated him. Which meant that Hikari hated him, and of course Miyako and the others, once they found out, would want him dead as well. First Takeru, now him-Daisuke wondered if Hikari was cursed, then he shook his head and remembered that his whole life had been cursed since day one.

Daisuke knew he had to make things right with the two of them-even if it involved pain. He knew, but didn't know how to go about doing it. A card would be tacky… Taichi wouldn't let him in the door without a black eye… Nor would Tailmon… He knew e-mails were cold-after all, how had Koushiro seemed after his apology but cold and indifferent?

But Daisuke had to do something. The email from Koushiro brought back memories from their meeting, and Daisuke pondered for a while.

Talking to himself was something Daisuke was fond of doing. "He said that Hikari Digimentaled Veemon, and that I could to do the same for Tailmon."

~~~

Lynxmon, a tall, fiery cat of courage, stood proud against many dark, sinister enemies, and Daisuke stood behind her, a smirk on his face, his arms crossed. He wasn't afraid of her flames: they wouldn't hurt him if she didn't want them to. But to her opponents, they were deadly.

~~~

"That would be cool. Or hot, like it is now… But maybe Bitmon…"

~~~

Bitmon, pink and cute, ran across the ground, and Daisuke found himself laughing as he and the rabbit sped past other Digimon, too slow for them… He sighed.

~~~

Daisuke sighed, and wondered if Tailmon would ever let him Digimental her-not likely, he realized, after recalling how devastated he'd been after Veemon had Digimentaled into Gargomon. Still…

"Veemon certainly seemed to enjoy it as Gargomon. And Hikari would feel better if I showed her how much we all still care about her."

Daisuke started thinking-a dangerous thing. He knew that he had the ability to Evolve his Digimon at will. He also knew of several Digimon who would be able to give him that will. He cursed the heat from the outside.

He wondered. Should I try to Digimental Up Tailmon?

Daisuke frowned. Tailmon would never willingly allow Daisuke to Evolve her, for his pride or not. Hikari might not like it either.

"Of course they wouldn't like it. I wouldn't like it."

Daisuke was firm as he said that. He returned to his homework, but that was boring, and it was very warm outside. He sighed. He had to do something. He was running out of options.

No, I won't! He realized he could do it without being obvious.

I can't. Tailmon wouldn't even know. Just trick her into saving Daisuke…

Daisuke swooned in the heat, his eyes suddenly very heavy. Images of Hikari appeared out of nowhere, and flew past him, blurring the room around him.

Tailmon: no longer Tailmon, no longer just Hikari's. Just like Veemon.

He trembled, he was sweating, but it was cold. He shivered.

~~~

Maildramon. She stood proud and tall, her golden armor gleaming in the morning sun. As the darkness receded, Daisuke felt a growing sense of pride, and he ended up climbing on her back and soaring through the sky, white puffy clods floating lazily above and below them. Daisuke smiled-

~~~

Can I? He took a deep breath, and the world righted itself, and the answer seemed straightforward and true.

---

The phone rang, suddenly, and though the ringing was a welcome change from the sounds of Hikari's silent sobs, Tailmon jumped and felt slightly irritated. Whomever it was that would dare to disturb them right now…

The person on the end didn't make her feel much better.

"What do you want, Daisuke?"

"Um…"

Of course, Tailmon knew what he was about to say, and all at once she realized that she didn't need to hear it.

"I'm sorry, Tailmon-kun. For everything-"

"Don't bother-"

"-And I need to talk to Hikari, if she'll go for it."

Tailmon shook her head, and held the receiver close so there was no chance of him hearing Hikari's grief. "No, she doesn't want to."

She sighed. "But, thanks. She knows how you feel, and so do I. I know what happened-I think."

Daisuke huffed. "Even I don't know what happened… Still. I want to make it up to the both of you.

"I feel awful for what I said-and my face hurts."

Tailmon felt a bead of sweat drop down her cheek. She'd given him some good scratches, indeed-right on the face. "Ha ha… What do you mean, 'make it up' to us?"

Daisuke waited.

He must be desperate, trying to fix this mess we're all in now-and he doesn't even have an idea of how to do this. Still, she waited for his answer, which took a long time coming.

"Um… Well, maybe you and I could go for a walk."

Tailmon blinked, and looked at the receiver, trying to view his expression, see if he was lying or joking or serious. "Huh? A walk?"

"Yeah. I guess some things were said-but some things need to be said as well."

"Well…"

Hikari chose that moment to interrupt. "Tailmon? Who is it?" she asked quietly from her room, and Tailmon covered the receiver.

"No one, onesan. Try and rest, Hikari-kun."

Hikari fell silent.

"So, what do you say, Tailmon? Give me a chance?"

"I don't know. Where were you thinking?"

"I dunno…" and he was silent for a few moments. "Maybe the Digital World?"

"Why there? And why not bring Ken and Wormmon?"

Daisuke was either very unprepared for this conversation-or he was reaching for a reason, thinking something up on the spot. "Well, I haven't seen Veemon since… the dance… and I think he might be there somewhere.

"And it's nice there.

"And you're an adult, so I'd be safe, and so would you, and Hikari wouldn't have to come.

"And I don't need to talk to Ken-"

"Alright! Fine, you win-if Hikari's okay with it."

---

The Digital Transit was colorful that day. Daisuke soared, with the bright, binary Tunnel surrounding him, transporting him, protecting him. Outside, Koushiro said once, one could get lost and fragmented-to which Daisuke had replied, "Yes, one could," and he had sounded very pretentious.

Though in reality mere milliseconds passed, for Daisuke the voyage lasted twenty minutes.

As Daisuke approached the Primary Junction, he concentrated hard on his chosen destination-ahead, the Tunnel's right wall disintegrated and reformed off the side in a new destination, while the fragmented particles formed in front, creating a wall. He turned, though it required neither will nor energy of his own. Above, the brilliant colors molded from greens and yellows to grays and browns.

This corridor was more crowded: there were several other passengers with their own tubes side by side with each other: many Monster, some Human. Koushiro, having finished with his safety lecture, had then continued to say that a genius Chosen at an Institution in America had programmed a way to use the Real World Gates as both Startgate and Endgate, so that one could travel from America to Japan in under a second-to which Daisuke had responded that it sounded like another evil Kaiser was coming soon, laughing.

Looking back, Daisuke realized that he might have hurt Koushiro's feelings… he sighed.

A few more Junctions, and Daisuke emerged in a flash of light and a silent roar that energized him. His clothes were different, and his smile broad-for once. Beside him appeared Tailmon a fraction of a second later. She blinked, and then looked around; then her eyes stopped as she perceived him, and he had to look away for a moment-she wouldn't care for his plan at all.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Tailmon sighed, and Daisuke turned back to look at her.

"Why am I here, Dai-kun?"

Now Daisuke found himself once more at a loss for words. He hadn't had time to plan this far ahead. "Um… Well, I wanted to talk to you about… stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah. Stuff-I mean, I've been thinking a lot lately about how Veemon Digimentaled Up with Hikari. I don't know how he did it-or whether I like it."

Tailmon nodded, and said, "Do you know where he is?"

Daisuke shook his head, looking at his feet.

"Cheer up. We'll find him. And you can talk about whatever's bothering you. Consider it 'making up' for scratching you."

"Thanks. You have very sharp claws."

Tailmon chuckled, and flashed the razor-sharps in front of her face. "I trim them every week." She asked where Veemon was likely to be, and Daisuke replied that Veemon would likely be at Primary Village.

"But… I don't know which way that is."

Tailmon led the way.

---

"Tailmon-what's it like?"

Tailmon looked to him as they walked down a path. "What's what like?"

"Evolving. What does it feel like?"

Tailmon smiled. "Well, its… good. Really good. Like you turn around and find your long-lost best friend running up to you. Or lover." Her smile grew sly. "Actually, it's more like making up with your long lost lover."

Daisuke smiled. "That good? Well-why do you stay like this, then? I mean, if you have the energy, wouldn't you spend a lot of time Evolving and Devolving?"

"Who says I don't?"

And again, Daisuke had to smile.

"Actually, more than the energy-it's need. We don't do it if we don't need to-because it's sacred, almost. Why bother if you do it all the time? Where would the 'special' go?"

"I guess I see your point."

They walked some more. The sky above was clouding up, and Daisuke could see rain way off to the distance, but it was moving away, and he didn't feel worried.

"Does Veemon feel this way? When he Evolves, I mean?"

"I suppose. I mean, some Digimon never Evolve because it causes them excruciating pain-or they only do it for their partners, when they need to." She winced. "Sort of like… when Taichi Evolved Greymon into SkullGreymon, only all of his or her Evolutions are like that. Not pretty, sometimes necessary. But yeah, I've talked to Veemon. He likes Evolving-especially because he gets to show off for you, Daisuke-kun.

"You know, he thinks the world of you, Daisuke. I wouldn't be surprised if the moment he sees you he latches onto your legs and forgets this whole… incident."

Daisuke shook his head, and stopped walking, letting Tailmon get a few steps ahead. "I don't know about that. I betrayed him, kissing Hikari-and kissing back."

Tailmon walked back to him, with a disapproving set of pursed lips. "You wait, Dai-kun. You wait."

Daisuke bent over and gave Tailmon a hug, to which she grudgingly returned the favor. Actually, she was nice, and whispered, "It'll be okay. Veemon will get Hikari-I can feel it. Just a little more time is needed."

Daisuke considered this, and let go.

"Anyways. When I evolve, a surge of energy flows through my body-how can I explain it? Have you ever licked a battery?"

Veemon had tricked him into doing just that. He sighed, nodding.

"Well, like that, only it's not electricity, it's something else. Maybe not pleasure, but just as nice. Then I look down at my body and for a split second I can see everything-all around me, up down, left and right, outside and inside. I see my original body, and the new one. Tailmon and Angewomon, for example. Or Salamon and Tailmon. Then the energy is gone, replaced with a new consciousness and body."

He thought of another question. "Who are you when you Evolve?"

Tailmon paused, considering the question. "I'm Tailmon, mostly. All my forms share the same memories, but that's it. When I'm Salamon I react to the same situation differently than Angewomon would, but I remember it all the same."

"So Chibimon wouldn't feel so bad about Hikari?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe Chibimon would be worse off-not being able to understand Hikari's point of view at all. At least Veemon is mature enough to find mature ways to deal with his rejections." And she looked away as she spoke.

---

I'm in pain-not only are my knuckles bleeding, and my horn dented, but I'm cut on the inside and there's a dead ModokiBetamon in front of me and I can't seem to figure out why she won't frag-nor can I remember exactly how I killed her. I don't even know if she attacked me first.

---

Daisuke sighed: somehow he doubted that Veemon could deal with this. Even Daisuke wasn't able to deal with rejections very well. He'd certainly received a lot of rejections-most from Hikari herself. Hikari was a rejecting-type of person, he realized, then shook the thought from his mind.

Yet Veemon was still deeply head-over-heels for Hikari, while Daisuke had long before let go. Daisuke had never really been in love-only a schoolboy infatuation.

So it was different, which meant… Veemon still has a chance.

---

They rounded a bend, and all at once this place was familiar to Daisuke. His eyes shot open. He remembered… this was the place. He frantically searched his memories-who was it?

No time for that.

"Tailmon?"

"Yes?"

"What does your Tail Ring do?" Of course, Daisuke knew the answer to that already.

"It makes me a very powerful Adult Digimon." She narrowed her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. Can I see it?"

The bushes rustled, but Daisuke tried to ignore them.

"I guess. Let me sit down, though."

Tailmon sat, and she pulled off her Tail Ring and handed it to Daisuke. He examined the golden Ring, and looked on the inside, then asked what the markings meant.

"No idea. I can't read them, and never bothered to find out."

Daisuke tossed the Ring in the air, planning on catching it-

"Actually, it's pretty cool-"

"No, don't-"

They were both interrupted by a thundering shake of the ground, and by a dark giant rumbling out from the trees to their left.

---

The following string of events passed so quickly that Tailmon had to piece them together after the small fight.

It started with a large Dark Digimon thundering out of the forest line and shaking the earth. Daisuke stumbled on his feet, and her Ring went rolling. The Digimon turned to face them, and Tailmon later recognized it as a DarkTyrannomon.

DarkTyrannomon roared, a deep, guttural roar that caused the trees to shake, and their leaves to fall off and fly away. Tailmon immediately jumped in front of Daisuke, planning on easily defeating the minor Adult.

Tailmon jumped up and slashed at the DarkTyrannomon's face-

Her Ring of Power rolled along the ground-

Tailmon was thrown to the ground. Okay, she thought, groggily, as she struggled to get up. Plan B. "Tailmon!" she cried. "Evolve to…"

There was a slight glow, but nothing thrilling, and Daisuke was lifted up by the DarkTyrannomon and thrown into the bushes. He groaned, and cried out, "Help! Tailmon!"

Tailmon was still Tailmon, not Angewomon, and all at once she began to fear for them both. She looked around wildly, trying to figure out what to do.

The Tail Ring rolled around, spun on its point, and turned towards Tailmon.

"Tailmon! Digimental up! You have to!"

DarkTyrannomon picked Daisuke up again and opened his jaws. Tailmon paled, then felt a cold object roll up to her feet.

Tailmon quickly grabbed the Ring of Power and returned it to its place, and cried, "Daisuke!" Now she was mad.

The DarkTyrannomon was soon dispatched, and Daisuke fell to the ground, panting. He looked up at her, and she towered over him, tapping her foot in impatience.

"I told you not to do that."

"No, you were about to… tell…" He frowned. "Sorry. Won't happen again." He rolled over and tried to pick himself up.

"That DarkTyrannomon left pretty quickly, once it realized I had my Ring of Power again."

He sat up, looking towards the path that the DarkTyrannomon had left in its wake.

"Yeah. He was scared; you had him good."

"Daisuke?"

"Yes?"

"Few other Digimon know about my Ring of Power."

"…" Daisuke sweat-dropped.

Tailmon sighed, and swatted him over the head.

---

Veemon returned to Primary village later that morning. A crowd of Fresh Digimon poured around him, but he shrugged them away, meaning only to sulk in some dark corner behind the nursery. The Fresh found him again and he left, but soon the entire village knew of his return.

Veemon looked up, away from the bouncy, energetic crowd of Fresh Level One Digimon and observed the sky: it was cloudy above, and beyond the clouds he could see the streamers in the air: Digital Streams of data, passing from place to place at dizzying speeds.

He noticed something odd, though: many of the Digital Streams seemed to bend around when they hit the edge of the Village, and few were entering now, and they reminded him of people in the hospital during a recent viral epidemic-quarantined? Maybe that's what Daisuke had called it. He sighed.

---

Daisuke was quiet for a while, and Tailmon kept an eye on him. Despite "dismissing" the incident-she sighed-Tailmon was still very angry with Daisuke. Of course, Tailmon knew, he had been trying to get her to Digimental up, and for a brief moment she'd considered leaving him here, alone, but that would've been cruel, and she wanted to see Veemon as well.

Well, maybe. Tailmon wasn't totally sure if she wanted to see Veemon yet. Just thinking of him made her think of the dance, of all the fun he had been having, having with her. She'd wrapped her tail around him, and pressed her body to his. In one corner of her mind, she wondered if she'd enjoyed it too much. The pumping of the speaker cones, the hormones flying everywhere, the rubbing of her fur against his rubbery lizard skin-had it been too good? Tailmon wasn't sure.

Nor was she sure that Daisuke had really planned to get them both attacked by anyone. In fact, there were few DarkTyrannomon that would conspire with a Chosen Child, so… And Tailmon knew that even if Daisuke had managed to do this, he meant well. Daisuke probably only wanted to let Tailmon discover her own potential. At least, that's how he would explain it. Daisuke certainly didn't want to hurt her, and DarkTyrannomon were low on her list of threats.

Tailmon guessed that she wasn't really mad at him now, and in reality, Daisuke was very sweet, if not a little persistent. Like a puppy. She smiled, a small smile; and hoped he wouldn't try to get her to Digimental Up again. They might both end up with a little more than a few bruises.

---

Hikari vegged out in front of the TV, trying to put her problems into perspective. She wasn't dying, or living on the streets outside, or some refugee-only she had a lizard with a love lust for her and friends who left her. Well, Tailmon had asked before leaving, and Daisuke had tried to apologize, and she had saved Veemon's life… she sighed, and the television stopped being sufficient. She turned it off, but all it left in its wake were memories of strobe lights and Daisuke's face wrought with surprise.

Her fault, she knew it, and she couldn't punish the others for it.

At the same time, she couldn't do anything about it at the moment, so she couldn't blame herself and lock herself in a cage in a tiny portion of her mind either. And sitting in front of the blank TV didn't cut it; she stood up and stretched her legs, felt a head rush, sat down for a few moments, then tried again.

Confident in her standing skills she attempted walking and soon found herself in front of her computer. A few new e-mails, mostly junk, so she hit the button and deleted them. Her daily activities complete, she was again pressed face to face with the dilemma.

But she already knew she had to see him. She just wasn't sure if she was sure. Maybe Veemon wouldn't want to see her again; maybe she didn't want to see him or Daisuke or both. Maybe right now she needed to see her mom, and talk.

Well, her mother wasn't home at the moment, so she turned to the next best thing-which turned out to be the worst thing.

"Niisan?"

"Yes?"

"I need to talk."

Taichi sighed. "Alright, I knew this day would come."

"You did?"

"Yes. Hikari, there's a time in every girl's life when she starts to notice some changes, in her body and her mind."

"Oh, God! Shut up!"

"Ha ha!" Taichi laughed. "Alright, fine. What's wrong?"

Hikari looked around his room, which was actually their room. The window was open, and a warm breeze was coming in. It was actually quite soothing. Despite this, she felt suddenly very cold, and couldn't explain it.

"Hikari?"

"Oh. I…" she blushed. "How would you feel if… someone you were deep friends with… started liking you… but it wouldn't work because…" She found trouble forming her words.

"Because?"

"…Because he's a… a Digi… Damn it--It's Veemon!"

Taichi took a deep breath. "Veemon… likes you? As in, likes you?"

Hikari hung her head, and slowly told her elder brother about saving his life, then him saving hers-twice, then about the dance. It was a story that she seemed to tell far too often.

"Is this why he came over here with flowers and a bowtie? Kuso," he cursed silently, "I thought he was here for Tailmon."

"He should've been. This isn't how it's supposed to be!" she cried out, and Taichi recoiled a little. "He's a Digimon! He's supposed to fall in love with Tailmon; he's always liked her! Not a Human!"

"Calm down, Imoto!"

"I can't deal with these feelings! I can't love him." And she collapsed onto Taichi, and cursed herself for always crying. She was acting like Veemon.

"I certainly don't know what you're going through-it would be like Piyomon confessing to loving me: I just can't imagine it. But Veemon-kun really loves you?"

She nodded, and held onto his chest, hugging hard for support. "How did it feel, to love someone?"

"You mean Sora-chan? I don't know." He frowned.

"I never really realized that we were in love, Hikari. It's not really something that I want to talk about, though, even if I could help you. But as for Veemon, you should probably see him, and apologize. I don't think you handled the situation very well."

"Neither did you, when you and Sora gmff-"

He clamped his hand over her mouth, and suddenly he was staring at her, with hatred and fear in his eyes. There was no one else at home at the moment, so he slowly let go. "What are you talking about, Hikari?"

Taichi and Sora… She sighed. "I just don't think you're in a position to be telling me what's involved in handling a situation, Niisan."

He slumped, and looked out the window. "Sorry. Go see Koushiro, he'll let you into the Digital World."

---

Daisuke rubbed his sides and groaned silently. His plan to get Tailmon to Digimental Up wasn't going so well. He had a backup, but wasn't so sure that this one would be any less painful-actually, he knew it could land him in some serious hurt. He groaned again.

Tailmon stood behind him, watching him carefully, lest he try to take her Ring of Power or do something stupid. Of course, Daisuke did stupid things all the time, so… He smiled. They stood beside a large rock wall, and to their left, a cliff.

~~~

Daisuke held to the edge of the cliff face, the bridge broken from underneath him, and he was scared-Veemon couldn't reach him, and Vee was going to lose his balance as well… Veemon made a desperate grab for his buddy and fell over the side, taking Daisuke along with him. They yelled, and it was only a river at the bottom that saved them.

And Veemon still wouldn't Evolve, and Hikari would never be impressed.

~~~

Daisuke praised the powers above that kept Tailmon from learning about that particular series of events, long ago, just after "The Kaiser Days," as he referred to them.

He knew that cliffs weren't really good ways of getting people to Evolve for you. Of course, he wasn't doing this to impress Hikari anymore. He was doing this to get Tailmon to forgive him. At least, he hoped Tailmon would forgive him when she Digimentaled Up. Tailmon had actually said the words, but he knew she didn't really mean them.

And right now, she was tapping her foot and looking around, suspicious of his every move.

Daisuke sighed and looked to his left, out towards the breath-taking view of the valley. A low cloud cover had descended, and it was very chilly out now. The valley seemed to have been carved out of the flat, boring landscape by some God-above the wall to his right was nothing but forest, flat forest. He looked down: a long way down. The fall was too far for him to comprehend, and with the cloud cover he couldn't even see the bottom, and had no idea if there would be a river to save him lest he fall.

~~~

Daisuke screamed for help, and Tailmon looked down to him. A look of understanding was all it took, and a look of apology, then Daisuke was falling, his only handhold crumbling while he sped towards the unseen ground below. A flash of light, and Nefertimon was below him, slowing his fall, catching him, saving him. He smiled.

~~~

Daisuke sighed. No way would Tailmon be able to save him that fast, and Daisuke had no intention of pretending to fall. Though the other side wasn't more than a football field's length away, the drop was sudden and sharp, and he would have a long time to scream before the green flora spiked up towards him, impaling him on their razor-sharp cones.

He shuddered.

Daisuke looked ahead: there was a wooden plank bridge that crossed the valley-ravine?-and though it looked sturdy, it might have been a suitable candidate for his misadventure he had planned. One little snip, maybe two, and the bridge would be weakened enough to snap under his weight, making it look like a genuine accident.

~~~

Daisuke called Tailmon over, he found a crossing. She approached with apprehension, and her fears were well placed as the bridge ropes snapped under their combined weight and they started to fall, and there was a flash of light, and Nefertimon was below him, slowing his fall, catching him, saving him. He smiled.

~~~

Again, not enough time, and Tailmon wouldn't be foolish enough to fall for that. Even Daisuke could recognize a plan that dumb. Why he had assumed it would work on Veemon was beyond him at the moment.

He sighed, pointed out how beautiful the view was, then continued on their journey to the nearest entry to Primary Village.

---

Hikari's journey through the digital gate was uneventful and she found herself a mere hundred meters from where Daisuke and Tailmon were. Miyako's D3 at hand, she followed the little dot on her screen.

---

Daisuke turned to look towards the summit of the mountain they were walking along, looking up at the steep slope that continued forever. It looked none too stable-at least, that's what Daisuke hoped.

Tailmon followed his gaze, and then frowned as she sensed someone approaching.

Daisuke paused. Tailmon said she forgave me. Should I really do this?

-Getting her to Digimental Up would make her very happy, and she'd really be a friend.

-But if this doesn't work, she'll hate for the rest of my life.

-She's already close, and this can't fail. Look around, there's nowhere to run, and she can't hit them all away in her Adult form. But Nefertimon could fly me away, and take me to Primary Village a lot quicker than walking.

-I do miss Vee-kun.

With new resolve, Daisuke quietly pressed a button on his D-Terminal, and started turning away from Tailmon, who was looking a ways down the path. Daisuke noticed and followed her gaze. To his horror, there was someone walking down the path towards them, waving his/her arms and trying to get her attention.

Tailmon cried out, "Onesan!"

Daisuke winced, and knew this wouldn't go well at all-

Hikari ran up towards them-

There was a large blast-

And they looked up to see a wall of snow and rock starting to form at the top of the mountain face.

"Tailmon!" Hikari cried out. She'd seen it too.

Tailmon looked back to Daisuke, then ran to Hikari and there was a flash of light, then Angewomon was there, and Daisuke sighed as he was picked up and flown away in Angewomon's grasp, beside a relieved-looking Hikari.

Well, at least Hikari looks better now.

---

Angewomon set them down near Primary Village, and Devolved. She looked at Daisuke with a glare, and tried to lunge at him. Hikari held her back, but only just.

"Tailmon! What has gotten into you?"

"Him!" she snarled, and slashed at him, though she was a good two feet too far away. "He's tried to get me killed twice today, and I'd bet he has more plans for us!"

Daisuke looked away, not wanting to see Hikari's expression.

"I'd probably deserve it…" Hikari said quietly. She frowned, and gasped. "Daisuke! You can't!"

"Why not?" he wondered, in a distant voice.

"Because even though Veemon's gone, suicide isn't the way!"

He whipped around. "Suicide?" He laughed. "You think I'm suicidal? Jeez, Hikari, I'm trying to get Tailmon to Digimental up! It made Veemon so happy when you two did it, but no-o-o! I can't help Tailmon, can I?"

"What do you mean? He hated it!"

"And it's not up to you, Daisuke, to get me to Digimental Up. I'll do it when I want to, with or without you."

Daisuke turned on Tailmon. "But you'll never get to turn into Lynxmon or Bitmon or Maildramon! Don't you want to? You told me how good it feels to Evolve, remember?"

"Hey," Hikari scolded. "You can't control Tailmon. Did you really come here to find Veemon at all?"

"Of course I did! But I thought I might as well… um…"

"Kill two birds with one stone?" Hikari guessed, sneering.

Daisuke looked away and kept walking.

---

The walk to Primary Village was quiet, and neither Tailmon nor Hikari would look at Daisuke, nor would he look back at them. Hikari and Tailmon whispered to each other, while Daisuke concentrated on finding the right paths and getting them there. The though of missing Veemon much longer was becoming unbearable, since he had just lost another two friends.

They would cool down, and realize he'd just been trying to help, and they'd know they had been in no real danger-

"Daisuke!" Hikari cried out. "You got Tailmon attacked by a DarkTyrannomon? How dare you!"

"He attacked me too, Hikari! Almost ate me too!"

Hikari stuck her nose in the air, and Daisuke, mad as ever, turned back to the task at hand.

He rounded a bend and found a clearing. Ahead was a pair of train tracks, similar to others around the Digital World. This, at least, was familiar to him-all he had to do was wait. Eventually, a train would pass them-not that Daisuke or Hikari or even Tailmon would even see it. But it would make a lot of noise, and when the gates lift, they could walk through to Primary Village. He sat by the side of the Railroad, listening for the Train.

"Don't sit there, Daisuke," Tailmon said quietly. "The Train has a habit of sneaking up on people. You wouldn't want to get run over, would you?"

He sighed, and pretended to ignore her, but stood up and walked a few feet just the same.

Just in time, too, because a Train suddenly whooshed past with great speed and an even greater roar and Daisuke had to forcibly avoid their gaze. The gates lifted, the blinkers stopped, and they walked forward into the land where Primary Village was.

"I told you."

"Oh, shut up, Tailmon. I've had enough of your I'm-better-than-you attitude. You know that?"

"Fuck you, Daisuke."

Hikari gasped, suppressing a small smile.

"Just Fuck Off. You tried to get me killed-you know that?!"

Daisuke resisted the urge to hit her, and turned to Primary Village. What he saw took the argument out of his mind entirely.

Seems they've built a wall… or something… And he was right, partly. The wall was obscuring their view, and as one they all looked up, finding that the wall continued for some while, and they couldn't see the top. The wall acted like snow glass, the kind Daisuke had in his bathroom that let light in but blurred everything. Primary Village was blurry. But it wasn't solid like snow glass-rather, it was almost fluidic, though try as hard as he could he couldn't make the wall budge one inch. Things that were close were blurred the least.

And it blocked sound, it seemed, because though there was definite movement he could hear no noise from within. He could see something red flare up from inside, and wondered if the Fresh Digimon were having fun with Flamedramon, or some fireworks.

"I should never have come," Tailmon muttered, bringing Daisuke back to the argument.

"Calm down, onesan," Hikari said quietly.

"No! I should hurt him back."

"I hurt you? I was trying to help you!"

Hikari rounded on him. "You don't choose to get her into situations like that, Daisuke."

"You think I need your help?" Tailmon cried. "You need my help! You need Digimon to protect you." She laughed. "I should have shredded you at the mall-you deserved it."

"Guys, please!" Hikari cried, trying to put herself into the middle.

Daisuke slid to the side. "I didn't do anything at the party! She kissed me," he accused, pointing at Hikari but not taking his eyes off of Tailmon.

"Guys!"

Tailmon ignored her. "She had every right."

"Tailmon! Daisuke! Stop it!"

"I hope you never Evolve again."

"Daisuke!"

"I hope Veemon never forgives you," Tailmon hissed.

"Tailmon!" Hikari stepped in between them again, but this time, Daisuke shoved her to the side and glared at Tailmon.

"Go ahead," Tailmon taunted. "Punch me. Veemon will hate you for-e-ver…"

Daisuke pulled back, thoughts leaving his head. He saw her, laughing at him, at all the stupid mistakes he'd ever made, and the others were there, laughing as well. Ken, beating him at soccer, and Takeru, better than him at basketball. Hikari had always liked Takeru more than him.

Tailmon closed her eyes, but kept the smile on her face-

Daisuke swung, a small drop of spittle flinging from his mouth, and he snarled-

Hikari winced, blocking her eyes with her hands-

Tailmon started humming, and she kept her large, faked smile-

WHUMPFF! The sound was deafening, and for a second, Tailmon felt as if she had really been punched. Hikari imagined Daisuke had hit herself, accidentally, and her ears cried out in pain. Daisuke flew through the air, convinced he had done something terribly wrong.

Hikari and Tailmon were thrown to the ground. Daisuke hit a tree, and was bent around, his stomach screaming. His ears were ringing, and he could taste iron and salt-he was bleeding now, and as he hit the ground he put a hand to his face and felt a cut on his right cheek, and it was leaking blood down his face. He pulled himself off the ground and clutched his stomach. Hikari's D3 fell out of his pocket.

Did I do that? Daisuke wondered to himself, but one look in the direction of the blast made his heart stop cold.

Another orange flare was erupting in Primary Village, only much larger now, and it certainly wasn't a fireworks explosion.

Hikari gasped, and tried to look closer, tried to peer through the snow glass-like wall.

THUMP. Splat. Hikari screamed, and the others rushed over.

Hikari fell backwards, and as Daisuke and Tailmon dropped to catch her, they caught a glimpse of something that had hit the wall-and stuck. Daisuke and Tailmon screamed in horror.

However, Daisuke had at first though it was some sort of reflection-a twisted reflection, maybe, but still not real. A face had hit the wall-only it wasn't a whole face.

The ground tilted, pitched forward, and Daisuke threw his arms out to balance, and to stop the spinning, and he feared fainting. As the part of a face slid down the wall it left a red trail of fleshy bits and blood. One eye was missing-or rather it was one eye, a nose, and part of a pair of lips that had been torn off of someone, with a clump of scalp attached to the top. Someone had suffered a painful death-or was still suffering. He heard Tailmon scream, saw her turn around out of the corner of his eye, but he looked on in fear and apprehension. The face, or piece of face, was frozen just as it had been during the blast, which had most certainly torn it off of whomever it belonged to.

And it had been fixed with a look of surprise, a look of fear, and a look of defeat. The face-piece slid a few more feet to the bottom of the ground and landed with a faint splat, just barely audible through the wall. It promptly exploded into data.

And now that Daisuke listened hard, he could hear screams-bone chilling screams crying out from the Village of Infants. And the air smelled of smoke.

He looked up. The blast had torn-or something like torn-a hole in the wall. Digital Streams were pouring out of the wall, and right away, in a moment of clarity, Daisuke knew that whomever it was that was attacking the Village had erected the wall to keep them from getting detected. Only now…

There was another explosion, and suddenly waves of heat hit them, as well as sound, deafening sound, and a hole opened up right in front of them. With no thought to his safety Daisuke threw himself in and found that the other two had followed. Now the wall no longer blurred their vision; he and the others looked on in horror at the destruction that was unfolding in front of their eyes.

There were fires, large fires, and Digimon were screaming. Buildings destroyed, and he looked over, the school was gone as well… There was a dark pillar of smoke rising into the air, and he cold smell death. The grass beneath his feet was scorched. As the three nursed their bruises and walked slowly up to the edge of the destruction, Hikari looked behind and exclaimed, "The hole is gone!" And it was.

Without caring how they were supposed to get out, Daisuke began searching for Veemon. Veemon has to be here, fighting, trying to save baby Digimon, he reasoned. Veemon wouldn't run.

Not like myself.

The chilling thought remained alone as he concentrated only on finding Veemon and saving somebody, anybody.

But everywhere he looked, he couldn't see a hint of life. The Village had grown, tremendously; between the rubble all he could see were crispy Digimon of all ages, burnt and dead, silent and still. He fought back tears and pulled some bits of blackened wood off of a Fresh Digimon.

Finally, he thought, and he lifted the Digimon and carried it away. The Digimon was crying, she wanted her 'mommy,' but Daisuke feared that she would never be reunited with her parents.

Tailmon had a couple of Digimon, clinging to life as she clung to them, and she found a small pool of water were the three could rest and sleep away the attack. Hikari soon joined them, her hands and arms blackened by soot. Five or so Fresh Digimon, not nearly enough.

Someone running up towards them. Daisuke tensed, knowing that Tailmon should already be Angewomon, but they were too late. But the voice was all too familiar and soon Elecmon was on top of him, demanding to know why they were here.

"We came to help!" Daisuke cried over the blasts.

"A little late!" Elecmon sneered, but then smiled and let Daisuke up. "Why haven't you Evolved to save us?"

Hikari looked away, and Tailmon answered, "I can't find Hikari's D3!"

Daisuke suddenly started checking his pockets, then realized that hers had fallen out and was stuck on the outside. He sighed, and with new determination he ran back to a pile of bricks and mortar and started digging. Elecmon and Hikari joined him, while Tailmon tackled a big wall on her own.

Daisuke couldn't find anyone. They stopped and heard fresh explosions coming from the other side of the Village, so they rushed over. Hikari screamed as a wall toppled over, and Daisuke jumped to shove them out of the way in time. On the ground, sharp rocks picking at her back, she smiled, and thanked him weakly.

She was on the verge of tears, and he feared that he was too.

Daisuke grabbed Elecmon as he ran past. "Where's Veemon?" he cried, over the loud noise of the fires and screams.

"He's fighting them!"

"By himself?!" Hikari gasped. Elecmon nodded solemnly. "How?"

Elecmon shrugged, and ran ahead.

---

Hikari struggled to lift a piece of concrete, but no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't get it to move at all.

"Help me!" a tiny voice screamed from the inside, and Hikari, close to giving up, gave the last push she could, the hardest she had, and the concrete slowly gave way to her efforts.

Well, hers and Daisuke's. He merely looked at her, a pleased look mixed with pained breaths, before running off. Hikari pulled the Fresh Level Two Digimon from its hiding place, ignored the bruises and slashes and blood spilling from a major wound near the neck, and ran back to find a safe place to put the baby.

One more, she thought, before looking around and wiping her brow, clearing the tears from her eyes. The Village looked like battlefield, but she couldn't seem to see the attacks themselves. She winced as she took a deep breath, convinced she had a cracked rib or two, and pushed forward.

Something rushed past her, and all she noticed was the gust of wind it left in its wake. She looked over her right shoulder, saw nothing. Ahead of her. She whipped back. Nothing.

She whimpered, and realized it had to be some sort of phantom attacker, and that they were responsible for the desolation. She put her arms up in a futile defense, and turned around again as the wisp of noise blew past, leaving fear in its wake.

She felt a cold sweat, and the ground began to rotate.

Tailmon rushed past, running at full tilt, her fur blackened by burnt wood and soot, and Hikari watched in a near trance as Tailmon stopped and turned back to her.

"Hi-ka-ri," Tailmon called out, except it was slow, too slow, and her vision was turning gray, and the ground pitched forwards-or maybe she did-and there was a burst of light before her eyes, then nothing.

---

"HIKARI!" Tailmon cried, and she rushed forward and just missed her Partner as she crashed to the ground. Tailmon lifted her head; with a free hand she wiped some of the debris off Hikari's face. Tailmon barked out a sob, and started dragging her onesan to the outskirts, where the fires had been reduced to smoldering ashes and coals.

Now she was crying, and she knew Daisuke was being brave as well, and that they had all put up a good fight-but Primary Village was lost now. She longed for Hikari's D3, longed for the ability to Evolve to Angewomon, and longed to beat whomever had started this into a bloody, fleshy pulp.

Daisuke ran up to her. "You have to come now!" he panted, and turned and ran back to the front. Tailmon set Hikari down away from any walls or debris and chased after him.

I have to fight, she decided. I don't care if I get hurt, or killed. The noise quieted with her admission, and she realized how absolute the truth was. She could die, but she didn't care. All she cared about was hurting someone, and in a tiny part of her mind she wondered if she deserved the Crest of Light. But she didn't care, so she ran. Soon the tears stopped, all that was left was hatred.

It was louder here, and there was more than just the crackle of the flames and the crashes of rubble. Here there were massive explosions and screeches, and a familiar cry.

"Vee-Head Butt!"

Veemon!

And she nearly cried in relief. Somehow Veemon had managed to stay alive, stay fighting.

There was an unnatural screech, and she watched as a large, dinosaur-type Digimon reared back on his legs. Veemon ran back, behind a wall, and saw them. He smiled, but was soon consumed with concentration as he jumped to another hiding spot.

Six were the aggressors. A yellow hide, and its body and arms and upper legs were covered in gray armor. Massive Chrome Digizoid wings protruded from its back, and the front of his neck was armored as well as the tail. Tailmon cursed-Chrome Digizoid was the strongest armor known to humans or Digimon. She was amazed that Veemon had even managed to hurt them.

Tailmon lunged at one of them, slicing at the underside of his head, right near where the jugular would be. The Digimon cried out in pain and staggered over to the side, and fell over. He started chocking, blood was flowing from the neck to the lungs, and soon he started twitching. Tailmon proceeded to attack him in rage, but a Digimon who'd snuck up behind her threw her to the ground.

She added the newest bruises to her list. She retreated to the hole where Daisuke and Veemon were now hiding, and the Digimon returned to their relentless destruction.

Veemon tossed Daisuke's D3 to him, and climbed out. With a nod to his Partner, he was consumed by brilliant white light. Exveemon emerged, and Daisuke turned to his D3.

"Raptordramon. Perfect Level. Weak at the neck and leg arteries."

He winced as Exveemon was slammed into a wall and fell to the ground. He turned to Tailmon. "I need you to do this for me, Tailmon!" he cried out. "You need to Digimental Up!"

"I'm trying!" she cried back. "I can't!"

"Where's Hikari?" he demanded.

~~~

Hikari lay on the ground, and a Raptordramon, now forty feet tall, towered over and proceeded to lift her up. With a smack of its lips he lowered the fainted girl into his mouth was a sickening crunch.

~~~

Tailmon shuddered. "She collapsed!"

"You need to do this, Tailmon! For Me! For Hikari! For all the dead Digimon we've seen today!"

"I CAN'T!" she cried, and started to sob. She looked up just in time to see Exveemon shoved to the ground. He rolled up, determined to keep going, and blasted one of the remaining Raptordramon, tearing a piece of its Chrome Digizoid armor. Then she heard a cry of "Ambush Crunch" and she couldn't watch the attack pound into Exveemon.

She couldn't block the sound, though, and Exveemon let a cry of pain escape before he clamped down hard with his pride and got back up. Tailmon gasped, and kept crying. Another thump, and Exveemon was down again.

Tailmon paled, and Daisuke cried out, "Roll, Exveemon! ROLL!"

Exveemon stayed still, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing, and his blue flesh was stained red around his knees and lower legs.

The noise faltered, and Tailmon gazed on in horror as Raptordramon let loose his Ambush Crunch-

The vision slowed-

Tailmon sobbed, and longed to throw something at the enemy-

She grabbed her Ring of Power, and launched it at the Raptordramon-

Daisuke gasped with a draw of energy, and Tailmon started glowing white-

Exveemon tensed, knowing that the end was near-

"Tailmon," she said in a quiet voice. "Digimental Up!"

She jumped out of their hole and flew into the air, enveloped in a glowing sphere.

"Maildramon!"

Maildramon exploded into being in front of the attack, and her own Chrome Digizoid armor deflected the attack with ease. A Digimon from the Digimental of Miracles, Maildramon was an armored Dragon with golden highlights. From her head to her wings to her claws, everything was as armored as a medieval knight. Majestic golden wings, too…

She looked at Exveemon, slowly getting up, and with a nod they knew what to do.

"Ion Breath!"

"X-Laser!"

Twin beams of death shot out from the Digimon, slicing the head off of one of the Raptordramon. Before it had even hit the ground Maildramon and Exveemon were off, searching for another victim. Daisuke quickly followed after them, but his knees were a little shaky from the sudden energy draw. Exveemon and Maildramon both took to the air, and found the next Raptordramon quickly. Before it even had a chance to look up it was missing three limbs and part of its neck, and it was killed quickly too.

But the three other Raptordramon were alerted to the new defenders and scattered, keeping their minds off of destruction for a few moments, while Elecmon darted behind the scenes pulling Fresh Level One Digimon from the fray and hiding them in safety.

"Lightning Spear!"

"Strong Crunch!"

Exveemon drove his fists into the nearest Raptordramon, cracking the armor covering on his back. He cried in fury and hit him again, dodging the claws and fangs the enemy attacked with. When enough of the flesh was exposed, he shot his X-Laser into his back and straight through his lungs (Exveemon hoped. The effect was none-the-less devastating) and the Digimon exploded in a flash of data and flesh and bone and armor shrapnel.

Maildramon threw a lightning-bolt-like spear into the thighs of another Raptordramon, and he was attacked by a great spasm and hit the ground. Lifting off of his legs the Raptordramon took to the air, his lame legs hanging beneath him, bleeding from large, deep wounds. He screeched in pain and fury and retaliated, firing massive bursts of Dark Energy, and Maildramon was slammed to the ground. Exveemon flew over and shot his X-Laser into the Raptordramon's belly and killed it.

One left, now, and Maildramon and Exveemon took to the air to find it. It was fleeing; flying hard and fast through the wall that had disappeared. It didn't go far, however.

A pair of powerful missiles impacted on his hide, burying it in a massive explosion.

MetalGreymon stood on the cliff, and Taichi stood proud beside it, though his expression was worsening by the moment. The rest of the Chosen Children were running into Primary Village, most stricken with grief, others mad with rage. The Village was almost completely ruined.

Maildramon Devolved into Tailmon, and dropped a few feet to land into Daisuke's waiting arms. She looked up; there was Aquilamon, and Garudamon, flying cover. Exveemon landed with a thump, flexing his great muscles, and Devolved into Veemon.

Tailmon hugged onto Daisuke's vest and cried, covering the fabric with a slight layer of tears. Veemon clamped onto Daisuke legs. He was holding back tears as well, and so was Daisuke. He lifted the blue lizard up with his free arm and carried them back from the burning buildings to an area were most of the fires had burnt themselves out.

Taichi was running up, with Sora and Miyako a few feet behind. He was white; his knuckles were fisted tight and he was seething. Sora and Miyako were in shock, utter disbelief, they said, and Tailmon had to agree.

"Why here?" Taichi was muttering. Tailmon couldn't find an answer. "So many Digimon. Why?" He looked away from the wreckages, unable to take any more in. There was an explosion off to their right, and a scream-a jet of Digital Data shot out of the sky, only to turn around to find birthing grounds.

Only the grounds were destroyed, and the jet hovered before dispersing entirely. Tailmon's heart sank, but she and her friends were alive, and her heart thumped its agreement.

She turned, and watched Veemon collapse-from fatigue, she guessed, and proceeded to lift his head and cushion his back with whatever she could find. Tears splashed onto his chest as she worked, but she ignored them with stoicism long since acquired while working with Vamdemon.

---

She felt pressure beneath her back, and she obligingly sat up, though what Hikari really wanted to do was sleep.

But something was tugging at her consciousness, and as she unpeeled her eyes and wiped-dried tears?-she came to realize what had really happened. She stood, so suddenly that Daisuke fell backwards, no longer having weight to support. Hikari didn't care-only that the most peaceful place ever created was smoldering and crackling and burning, and the sky was brown and gray and black above.

Daisuke picked himself, brushed off his vest, and turned. Hikari grabbed him, grabbed onto his flame-sporting vest and cried, "Daisuke! What happened?! Where's Tailmon?!"

He ignored her, and she shook him.

"Daisuke!"

"She's fine!" he answered suddenly, and Hikari let go. "She saved us all," he whispered. He turned around, and walked away, but Hikari hounded him and he pointed to where Tailmon was tending to a wounded and exhausted Veemon. Hikari rushed over.

"Tailmon!" she cried, and the cat jumped into her arms and hugged as tightly as she could, because she was still afraid of losing her again.

"What happened?" Hikari asked in a shaky voice.

"I Digimentaled Up with Daisuke. I saved Veemon and he Evolved, and we killed five of them."

"Five of whom?"

"The Raptordramon."

Hikari shook her head, and made sure not to look at the blood that stained much of the broken walls.

Miyako and Sora and Taichi were walking over, and Daisuke was clutching onto Taichi for balance. Hikari looked at Veemon for a moment, and realized the pain he had been going through. Suddenly she felt a strong desire to leave, and she turned and ran.

---

"Hikari!" Miyako called, but Hikari paid neither her nor the others any attention.

Tailmon looked ready to give chase, but in the end she stayed with Daisuke and Veemon as they walked slowly to the nearest port. Veemon snuggled up in Daisuke's arms, and while his face was blotchy and red, he was in a deep, dreamless sleep and Daisuke felt no desire to interrupt him.

There was a crunch, and Miyako gave a great shriek. Daisuke looked down and felt sick; Miyako had inadvertently stepped on a crisped Punimon. She sobbed, and Sora held her. Daisuke held back his own tears, and slowly they walked in the direction Hikari had left.

"They'll pay," Daisuke promised, and Taichi nodded.

"Koushiro's already working on it."

---

Wow, that was a long one! Sad, too, and I'm sorry for putting you through it, but it had to be done. Some questions: What does Koushiro have planned?

Well, that's the only question I have. Maybe you have more, I don't care.

Now it's time for Reviewer's corner! What?! Only nine reviews? Oh well, I can still thank some people, namely BlackSpark, for reviewing not once but 4 times! And the others, who have put this story on their favorites list.

And a question, from Giren:

"What if Veemon digivolved into Flamedramon and stayed there. That could solve the hieght difference."

Well, Giren, while a small Digimon like Veemon wouldn't have created much of a disturbance, Digimon are still new to many humans and an Adult as 'robust' as Flamedramon might scare a few people. That, and the fact that Veemon wasn't thinking.

I will post the next chapter as soon as I get a couple more reviews-not too much to ask for, is it?

© 2003 Lord Tarsisk (Not the characters, or anything else Toei owns, just everything else! Don't steal my ideas, or the insects will get you!)