Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Passage Through Shadow - Prelude to a Storm ❯ Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not claim to own Digimon. Toei own Digimon and Sensation Animation (formally known as Saban) make the dub. This is for fun not profit.

Please R&R

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Passage Through Shadow

Prelude to a Storm

Part Five

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"What the hell is going on?" Takeru wondered out loud as he reached the entrance of the cavern. He paused and waited for the other two boys who caught up with him. Just as they did he noticed that his brother was involved in a fistfight and Garurumon was looking severely outclassed as he faced down an Ultimate.

"I'm not sure." Daisuke answered his original question. "But it looks like trouble."

"That's Necromon and that Ali girl." Ken noted as he saw them walking towards the sleeping Miyako, Iori and digimon.

"Hmm… so the other two are counterdestined too." Daisuke noted absently as he looked at the boy who was riding on the shoulder of a BlackMetalGreymon and a wave of dizziness and nausea nearly overwhelmed him. "I know him! And not in a good w… Look out!" His shouted warning came just to late for the three of them to get out of the way of a blast aimed directly at the cave mouth. The only thing that saved them was some sort of force field from the cave that absorbed the attack. As they ran towards their digimon he heard the boy curse and shout something about the cave being defended. Daisuke grabbed Veemon and Hawkmon and leapt behind a rock. As the other two joined him he began trying to wake Veemon. "This doesn't look good." The commotion finally woke Iori and Miyako long enough for them to get to some shelter as well. However even the fight did not seem to be able to keep them awake.

"It must be because they failed." Ken noted. "I don't feel tired anymore… but that's not going to be much use without our digimon." He was also shaking Wormmon.

"Patamon, please wake up. We've got to save Yamato… somehow." He heard Takeru whisper. Daisuke glanced over at Takeru and saw him put his digimon down and pick up a large stick.

"Um… Takeru… I don't think that's wise." He said but the blonde didn't listen to him he just headed round the edge of the clearing and charged the teenager who was attacking Yamato. Of course the larger boy sensed him coming and turned quickly enough to parry the stick. Daisuke gasped and looked down at his digimon. "Come on, Veemon, wake up… please." He whispered desperately. His digivice began to glow and Veemon woke up. The blue digimon took in the scene almost instantly.

"Oh… I don't think that I've got enough energy to digivolve."

"What about Armour?"

"Yes… maybe. I'll try." Veemon said. When Daisuke activated the Digimental of Friendship he managed to digivolve to Raidramon and leapt to attack Necramon. Ali looked over to the rocks where the digidestined were hiding with a mocking smile.

"An Armour digimon against an Ultimate?" She laughed. "Motomiya, you are insane, Why don't you just give up?"

"Never!" Daisuke yelled even though it obvious to him that Raidramon's attacks were being blocked with ease by Necramon and that all his digimon could do was dodge Necramon's spears and hope for a lucky shot. He looked over at Ken who had just managed to bring Wormmon round.

"He's still really groggy." The former Kaiser said. "I don't think that he can digivolve. That place seems to have had an even more pronounced effect on our digimon than it did on Miyako and Iori."

"Use that." Daisuke suggested pointing to the thing the cave had given Ken. The blue haired boy looked down at the bud-like Digimental dubiously. "What are you waiting for?"

"Ho-How can I use this? I-I don't deserve it." He broke off as Daisuke slapped him.

"This is not a good time for a guilt trip, Ken. Use the Digimental." He snapped. The other boy blinked and did so. The two of them then stared as the result hopped towards the battle.

"Typical." Ken said in a much more normal tone. "You get fires and storms I get a pixie." He paused. "A pink pixie." He paused again as Puttiemon got in a lucky shot that obviously caused Necramon some discomfort. "A strong pink pixie." He smiled wryly then sighed. "Probably not strong enough though."

"Yeah well… I don't think Necramon is particularly strong Ultimate and two on one is better odds." Indeed it seemed as if the two were successfully holding Necramon in a stalemate. However the boy with the BlackMetalGreymon looked over.

"Need some help over there, Ali-chan?" he called.

"Well two armours aren't really a match for an Ultimate but it wouldn't go amiss, Logan."

"I think that we're in trouble." Daisuke muttered as Logan's digimon came to Necramon's support.

"I thought that we already were." Ken replied. "But I think that Takeru may be in worse trouble." Daisuke followed his gaze and saw that Takeru was still fighting the boy who had attacked Yamato. His use of the stick had allowed him to hold off the older boy but now the stranger's digimon had joined in. As they watched an attack sent Takeru flying and Okuwamon closed in for the kill. The giant insect launched an attack and then stopped in surprise as it was blocked and Bastemon leapt between it and Takeru.

Daisuke looked up and saw Hikari standing on top of the cliff. She didn't meet his eyes as Okuwamon and Bastemon went head to head.

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"Who is that?" Logan asked, he sounded positively awe-struck. Ali followed his gaze and scowled.

"What's she doing here? Not that one Ultimate makes that much difference to the outcome of the fight." She said as Raidramon and Puttiemon were forced to dedigivolve and run for cover.

"Yes but who is she?"

Ali sighed. "That's the Kamiya girl." She replied as she sent Necramon to assist Okuwamon. She looked over at the Canadian boy who was staring at Hikari as if he'd been hypnotised. She shook her head and stood on his foot as hard as she could. He yelped and looked at her. "Get with the program, Logan," she snapped in English. "We're here to fight the digidestined not to admire the scenery. Especially not when said scenery *is* a Chosen Child."

"Huh… yes." He still seemed distracted but did send BlackMetalGreymon to join the other two.

"Three on one? That's not exactly fair you know." Hikari said in a mocking tone. "Then again neither is this." Ali didn't see what she did next but it made the counterdestined's digimon dedigivolved down to their rookie stages. The three teenagers looked at each other, grabbed their partners and ran for it.

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Takeru struggled to his feet and looked up at Hikari as he walked towards his brother. She was leaning against a rock.

"Hmm…" she said. "I think you'd better come up with a story about where Yamato got the black eye. Maybe a disgruntled fan." She laughed and waited for Bastemon to return to her. "You know you really aren't going to be much of a success fighting for the light if I keep having to rescue you." She added before vanishing.

Half an hour later, having finally woken Miyako and Iori and patched Yamato up a little, they made their way to the nearest gate.

"So Hikari saved us?" Iori asked. Takeru nodded but said nothing.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Miyako said. "If Hikari's fallen to the dark and is our enemy now then why did she save us?"

"We know that the Dark is divided." Ken said. "Maybe she sees the counterdestined as a worse enemy."

Takeru said nothing but shook his head.

"You don't think so?" Daisuke asked him.

"I'm not sure. This Prophecy is very strange but it definitely suggests that there's more going on here than we currently realise."

"We'll look at it tonight." Daisuke said as they reached the gate. "But let's get back first." They emerged from the computer to find a concerned looking Jun waiting for them.

"Dai, you've got to get home. Dad's somehow decided that you're involved with a gang or something worse." She told him quickly. "Perhaps you should bring one of your friends along so that he can see that you aren't." Everybody turned to look at Ken except for Jun who had apparently just noticed the state Yamato was in. "Yama-chan, what happened to you?" She bustled over to him. Daisuke rolled his eyes and looked at Ken.

"Erm… sure." Ken said. "Just let me call my mother."

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"Why did you save the others from the counterdestined?" Taichi had headed to Hikari's room as soon as he heard about what had happened. He knew that his confusion must be showing.

"Are you complaining, onii-chan?" She looked up from the book she was reading with a smile.

"Of course not." He shook his head. "I was just surprised. I don't understand why you did it. I thought that…" He trailed off not wanting to say it aloud.

"That we were enemies now?" She finished for him. "That's not an incorrect assumption but Maruyama and her cronies are my enemies too. There was no way I was going to let her strengthen her cause if I could avoid it… especially not at the cost of my friends…"

"Don't you mean former friends?" He interrupted mildly. She raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Whatever. It doesn't actually alter the fa…" she stopped abruptly and rubbed her temples in obvious discomfort.

"Kari-chan are you alright?" He knelt beside her a touched her forehead and was surprised to find it was extremely hot. The sight of his sister biting her lips and apparently having to fight to breathe properly made all thoughts of light and dark vanish for the moment. "What's wrong?"

"Something feels wrong. Something is happening that shouldn't." She said between clenched teeth. Her breathing seemed to be returning to normal but her skin was still unusually livid.

"You mean in the Digital World?"

"No, Timbuktu… of course in the Digital World." She rose to her feet with a pained sigh. "Though whatever it is has happened now. I have to go and find out what. Come on, Gatomon." She gave her brother an appealing look. "Cover for me… please?" She whispered before vanishing through the digiport she had opened. Taichi watched her go and then went to email the others. He was even more confused now than he had been when he entered her room.

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It was the next day when the digidestined met up again. Their cover story was a picnic in the park but it was a very somber gathering. To the late arriving Taichi it seemed that Ken and Wormmon in particular seemed distressed about something.

"So I guess we know what happened last night and that it was serious?" He asked. Koushiro nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Tentomon contacted me last night. Apparently a bunch of vaccine followers of Athenamon attacked a Minomon village and totally destroyed it."

"Minomon?" Taichi asked quickly.

"They're the in training form of Wormmon." Koushiro supplied. "From what we know it seems to have been the village where Ken's Wormmon was hatched. I certainly doubt that it's a coincidence."

Ken looked from trying to comfort his partner. "We haven't been there yet but we've been told it's more than a simple massacre."

"How can it be more than a massacre?"

"I have no idea… but that is what Tentomon told me." Koushiro agreed. "I have a bad feeling that we'll find out."

"Since we are going to investigate, yes." Daisuke said. "But not before we see this prophecy we went to so much trouble to get." He looked over at Takeru. "You have it don't you?"

Takeru nodded. "I do." He brought it up on his d-terminal and passed it round for the others to see."

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Night must follow Day

Light always casts a Shadow

This I foresee

The Darkness will return and among those called

Will be the one called the Child of Light

And she will help to save the worlds against the odds

And time will be as it once was.

And there will pass nearly 12 seasons of peace in both worlds.

But the final surviving Dark Lords from outside

The last of three brothers in heart but not blood

Shall desire her heart and seek it

But will not gain it.

Now turns Day into Night

This is the time of the Shadow Queen

Who may come to rule.

For now will return the one who stands at the heart of Darkness within

And the cold, terrible brightness from without also.

And from without the final darkness find his power again

And will give his aid for a time to the Child of Imbalance.

Therefore the Chosen Children must pick their battles carefully

Or all will be destroyed.

And one heartbroken shall see further than he now knows

And only if he can accept what he sees but does not wish to be true

Can all be saved and Light restored.

For Balance is her own reward and follows her nature until the end.

For Day always follows Night.

And for there to be a Shadow there has to be Light.

Don't forget to wear sunscreen.

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"Okay that's just plain weird." Miyako muttered. "Are we actually supposed to understand it?"

"Very likely not until the right moment." Takeru said. "Prophecies seem to only make sense at just the right moment."

"I think this Child of Fate had a thing for truly weird ending lines." Yamato said. "What has sunscreen got to do with anything?"

"I'm sure it'll make sense in the end." Daisuke said confidently.

"I don't know. That line in the prophecy about Vamdemon still doesn't make sense. I mean 'Please always recycle'?"

"What happened?" Ken asked curiously.

"We thought Vamdemon was dead but Gennai sent us a prophecy which suggested he wasn't. Then Vamdemon somehow absorbed the data of the dead digimon to reformat himself and digivolve to mega. Angemon and Angewomon had to shoot me and Yamato to stop him."

"In other words Vamdemon recycled the dead digimon's data." Daisuke grinned. Taichi stared at him.

"Erm… I never really thought about it that way."

"So the real question isn't 'does this mean something?' But 'what does this mean?'"

The others looked at each other and nodded.

"But we have no idea what it means." Miyako scowled.

"I think we'll find out soon enough." Takeru said calmly before looking over at Yamato. "What exactly did you tell Dad about that black eye?"

Yamato winced. "I said some weirdo attacked me for no apparent reason. I think he suspects that I'm not being entirely honest because I wouldn't let him call the police."

"I knew that something was up - he actually rang mom. She quizzed me about it but I played ignorant."

"I thought that might happen." Yamato sighed. "Ah well too late now."

"Speaking of suspicious parents did Ken manage to allay your parents suspicions, Daisuke."

"Oh, yes. My mother is ecstatic that someone in the family knows someone famous and my father thinks that he must have been tutoring me."

"Hmm… yes. I didn't think it would go down well if I told them that you didn't actually need a tutor." Ken said. "Don't they look at you homework?"

"Jun's the only one who even bothers to read my report card."

"Ahem." Miyako said. "Aren't we getting off the point? Shouldn't we be going to the Digital World to investigate this massacre and see what we can do to help?"

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The counterdestined were as yet unaware of the destruction of the Minomon village. Their current concerns were with the way the previous day's fight had ended and whether their new patron would be able to provide them with what he had promised. His messenger had arrived not long ago and they were following it to a meeting with him.

As she led them through a dark and twisted digital forest that appeared to be inhabited solely by Virii Logan looked around with a frown and then leant over to Ali.

"Ali, I don't think this our Digital World but I don't recall a gate." He whispered.

"I know." She replied equally quietly. "I still don't trust this deal."

"I think we should keep out eyes open." He agreed. "And not agree to anything unless we are absolutely sure."

He fell silent as they entered a large clearing where their new patron stood by a stagnant pool. At his feet were five black Digimentals. Chiharu was obviously trying not to look too eager as she took a step forward and bowed respectfully.

"Daemon-sama, you honour us with your patronage and with these gifts. Please tell us how we may serve you."

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