Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ressurection War ❯ DARK OCEAN: Masters of Darkness ( Chapter 17 )

Kari here. Last time we were returning from defeating Dark SEED, when we were suddenly thrown into this weird place with a giant ocean in the center. Everything was black and dark! Our ship was damaged, so Ken, Cody, Derek and Yuehon stayed behind to repair it while the rest of us went to explore this strange place. We were attacked by the human named Oikawa who wants the Key Cards! We are about to be destroyed by him and his digimon army when we were rescued by this kid named Takato. I hope he can help us.

You'll find me beyond the tears

While making sure, one by one

I'll become myself heading toward tomorrow.

Running toward the park you are waiting at, sharing the morning

My shoes have become tight again.

Can't I catch up to the growing me somewhere?

Only my heart is keeping time.

[I'll try to be strong.] But why are you doing that?

You asked me but

It's weird, I can only respond with a smile.

There is a strong me, somewhere in my heart

It only comes out every once in a while but

You showed it to me.

You'll find me beyond the tears

While making sure, one by one

I'll become myself heading toward tomorrow.

Everyone thinks I'm just a nice guy

And that's a little disappointing.

I can't just be good at fighting

I know that but I don't say it.

You get hurt for me

That's hard, so now I'm becoming stronger

Just a little but

Maybe my invisible wings grow larger too

Will I suddenly begin to understand?

Like my shoes getting tight.

Because you are smiling beyond the tears

I'll definitely cross over too

Because now I'm walking carefully towards tomorrow.

"Across the Tears" Takato's Theme

Dark Ocean: Masters of Darkness

Davis breathed a sigh of relief when he was once again standing on solid ground. He turned to glance at the one who called herself Taomon. He paled slightly at the fox woman. "Uh, no offense, I'm just not all that comfortable riding in something that I can see through."

The orange haired young woman crossed her arms and glanced at her partner, who began to glow brightly, and regress to a smaller form. "Jeeze, Renamon, we save his butt and he doesn't show any thanks."

"Hey, I'm thankful!" he protested, "I'm thankful!"

She huffed and turned her head away.

"Don't mind her," Takato said, "Rika's always like that."

The giant digimon that Takato called, "Megagargomon,' landed on the ground and began to glow. He split into two figures, a young man and a small dog digimon. The Digidestined cried out in shock.

"You can join with your digimon too?" Tk asked, "But, I thought only those of us with Holy Weapons could do that."

"We're…a little different," the man said, "My name's Henry, this is Terriermon."

"Please to meetcha!" the small bunny/dog waved his hand.

Rika mentioned to the others. "Now that you know who we are, why don't you tell us who you are and why you're holding the Key Cards?"

The Digidestined quickly introduced themselves and gave a short history of what had happened since Kari woke up with strange dreams about Apocalymon and the original Digidestined.

"Really?" Rika asked, raising her eyebrow, "But that still doesn't explain why you thought you needed to bring the Key Cards here."

"Excuse me if I seem a little annoyed and pushy," Hiroshi interrupted, staring at her, "But we're the ones who just crashed here! We were chased by a human who looks like a ghost with hair that wants the Key Cards, and we don't have any idea where the hell we are!"

The Tamers were silent for a moment before Takato began speaking. "This is the Dark Ocean, but we don't know how it got. Ya see, we're really from another world, and the Dark Ocean is a gate between the two worlds. A sub-plain of the Digital World."

"Another world?" Tatum asked with a strange expression on her face.

"Yeah," Henry said, "We're called Tamers, and on our world we had to fight to keep a rouge program that was brought to life from destroying our world. This was called the…"

"D-reaper!" Tatum gasped, "That was the D-reaper!"

The Tamers and their digimon partners stared at her. "How did you know that?" Rika asked.

"I'm Alice," Tatum said, "I mean I was, in my past life."

"Alice?" Guilmon gasped, "You're Alice? But, how come you're still a kid, but Takato is older?"

Tatum mentioned to the other Digidestined, "I was with them when they died fighting against Apocalymon and was reborn as Tatum. That's why."

"Alice," Takato smiled, "Wow, that was sixteen years ago. Well, anyway, we fought against the D-reaper, but we couldn't stop her. She was totally unstoppable. Finally, the Sovereigns were able to seal her away in a place they hoped she'd never escape from, the Dark Ocean."

"Let me guess," Hiroshi said, "That guy, Oikawa, wants to find a way to free this

D-reaper?"

"Yup," Rika nodded.

"But why?" Catherine asked.

"Does it really matter?" the orange haired woman asked, "He wants to free something that can destroy entire worlds, I don't think the reason why is really important."

"Why does he need the Key Cards?" Tk asked.

"The seal of the Sovereigns is a dimensional one," Henry explained, "From what I understand; the Key Cards break and bend dimensions."

"Yeah," Davis said, glancing at Hiroshi, "We kinda figured that out."

"Seal?" Kari asked. Her mind was suddenly flooded by a memory of her first time in the Digital World, when she was searching for Salamon.

Her digivice stopped beeping, so she moved it to the right, but nothing happened. She moved it to the left and it began to beep again. She was about to start walking again, when she noticed that a hooded figure was standing in her way.

"Ah!" she jumped back. "I wish everyone would stop doing that!"

"My apologies," the figure said,"I only wanted to see the great hero that is going to save this world."

Kari smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know about that..."

The figure chuckled. "You are not aware of your true destiny. You may be the hero this world desires, not, that this world requires! You could be the one to break the seal, and turn back the darkness! You may be the one to save us all!"

"Kari?" her partner asked.

"Its'… It's nothing," she smiled slightly.

"Well, it gets worse," Rika said, "That guy Oikawa, he's like some sort of…mad scientist. He does all sorts of creepy experiments." She shook her head, "He gives even me the creeps!"

"Just great," Davis sighed, "What kind of.. experiments?"

"Perversions of life," Henry nodded, "Both biological and digital."

"How did the D-reaper get into your Earth?" Yolei asked.

"Through Jeri," Takato said quickly, "The D-reaper used her body, and Jeri's still inside of that creature."

"She's inside of it?" Salamon asked, "Why don't you just get her out?"

"We can't," Takato sighed, "She and D-reaper are completely bonded, and there's nothing we can do about it!"

The Digidestined stared at Takato's outburst, but Henry interrupted before they could question. "We should get going." He mentioned to the dark forest around them. "We're still out in the open."

"What about Ken and ze others?" Catherine asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to find our way back there just yet," Hawkmon said, flying into the air, "I think we're a good way away."

"They should be okay, anyway," Yolei said, "I mean, we did land in those marshes. It's the perfect cover."

"What about Myotismon?" Floramon questioned.

"He was still unconscious," Davis said, "Remember?"

"Yeah, but for how long?" Veemon asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to take you back to your ship just yet," Renamon said, "It's going to be night soon, and we need to get out of the open."

Kari nodded, "I hate to say this, but Ken and the others will just have to do the best they can."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Dragomon, Arukennimon and Mummymon stood with their hands at their sides while Oikawa paced the room, stopping every few seconds to stare at the large assemblage of machines and giant metal cylinders in front of him. Test tubes bubbled with strange liquids while an array of colored smoke filled the air.

"We need those Key Cards," he frowned, "The seal must be broken before the Armageddon!"

"Yes sir," Dragomon said.

"But how are we gonna get them, boss?" Mummymon asked, "Those Digidestined brats aren't exactly push-overs you know."

"I could just send you to take care of them," he said, glancing over his shoulder, "You screwed up when you lost their airship! I'm sure they'd put you out of my misery!"

Mummymon started shaking. "But I still need you," Oikawa frowned.

"So who are you going to send?" Dragomon asked.

Oikawa walked over to a line of giant metal cylinders attached to the brick wall. He scanned the names displayed over top until he found the one he wanted. "I think he'll do perfectly."

He reached over to a small control panel attached to the side of the cylinder. There were a variety of buttons, but he pressed the large red one at the bottom right. The outside of the metal cylinder slid open to reveal a small, circular chamber with a blue figure standing inside.

"Welcome, Blue Meramon ," Oikawa grinned.

The corrupted digimon stepped out of the open cylinder and flexed his muscles. His body was covered with blue flames. He stared at the ceiling and yelled out a yawn.

"Good, good," Oikawa grinned, "I have an important mission for you. Locate the Digidestined, destroy them all, but bring me the Key Cards. Do you understand?"

Blue Meramon growled in agreement.

"Excellent," Oikawa grinned even wider, "Find them now!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Takato nodded. "This should be good for tonight."

Salamon looked around. "Where are we?"

"It looks like a church or something," Floramon said.

"It was," Renamon said, appearing behind them, "At least, that's what we think."

The structure was made of a material that resembled marble or ivory. There were columns every ten feet or so, arranged in lines down the center, pushing up a circular ceiling. There was a large circular hole in the center, with a stain glass dome over top. The marble walls contained pictures of various digimon, as well as lines of text written in a strange language.

"We found this place a few days after we got here," Henry explained, "We examined this place, but we can't find any language that we can read." He mentioned to the writing on the walls, "It's just that form of….digital cuneiform."

"But there's something else here, yup!" Terriermon grinned.

"What?" Kari asked.

"Over here," Henry said, "Just follow me."

He led them down a hallway which had stain glass windows covering both walls. Each window contained a design of specific figure. "Who are all these?" Tatum asked.

Henry pointed to the windows. "These are deities of the Digital World, the Sovereigns, Azulongmon, Zhuqioamon, Baihumon and Ebonwumon."

"Those are the Sovereigns, huh?" Patamon asked, "Hmm, they don't look like I thought they would.."

Tk turned to Henry. "What about the Destiny Stones?"

"Destiny Stones?" Henry asked.

Tk nodded. "Yeah, each Sovereigns has a group of Destiny Stones under his area, right?"

Henry shook his head. "That's the first I heard of it."

"What about these others?" Yolei asked, "These dragons?"

"A group of great dragons that supposedly watched over the Digital World. Legend says they saved the Digital World thousands of years ago by banishing the fallen angles from the Land of the Sovereigns. According to that legend, they'll appear again when the Digital World is in danger, but their arrival will be the starting point of the end of the world."

"End of ze world?" Catherine gasped.

"The Digital World," Terriermon clarified, "Your world still gonna be safe."

"Not necessarily," Henry corrected, "Typically, what happens to one world happens to the other. I doubt Earth will make it out of it unharmed."

"What exactly is supposed to happen?" Hiroshi asked, "I mean, I know what some religions and myths say are supposed to happen at the Armageddon, but what happens in the Digital World?"

"I don't really know," Henry explained, "But what I do know is that a Dark God will return and destroy the entire Digital World."

"What Dark God?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know."

"I know where we might be able to find out," Rika said, stepping into the hallway.

"Where?" Penmon asked.

Renamon appeared behind Rika. "According to some of the natives of this Dark Ocean, there was once a Holy Book that supposedly had written in it all the lore and mythology of the Digital World. According to local folklore, the book used to be here."

"Here?" Floramon gasped, "Something like that in this disgusting place?"

"Again, it's only folklore," the fox continued, "But I bet that the Sage might know."

"The Sage?" Tk asked, "What Sage?"

"After we got here, this Sage helped us understand what was going on," Terriermon explained.

"How did you get here anyway?" Tatum asked, "I can barely remember how I passed through here to your Earth when I was Alice."

"Probably the same way," Henry said, "In our world, there's a government organization called Hypnos that monitors digital activity. The head of Hypnos, a man named Yamaki, told us that he was approached by someone called Oikawa, who was looking for a way to free the

D-reaper. Oikawa apparently came from another world and found a way there. We eventually caught up with him and followed him back here through a portal near the park."

Kari nodded. "So, can the Sage help us?"

"He might," Renamon answered.

"Then we should head there tomorrow," the brown-haired girl said, "If it's possible."

"Yeah, that'll be fine," Henry said, "I'll talk to Takato, right now, it's really late, and I think you should get some sleep. Don't worry, we'll keep watch."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Ice Mearamon walked through the forest of the Dark Ocean, his blue flames giving off an eerie light. He knelt down and examined a couple of odd shape in the dirt floor, a few shoeprints and one distinct paw print. He grinned and kept walking.

A Gizamon hopped out in front of him. The reptile digimon stopped and stared at the strange digimon in front of him. "W..what the heck are you? A Meramon, covered with ice? What..?"

Blue Meramon answered by firing a beam of blue flames at the smaller digimon, covering him in a sheet of thick ice. He ran over and smashed his fist through him, shattering the Gizamon's body seconds before it deleted.

Blue Meramon licked his lips and continued walking. A few feet behind him, Oikawa crossed his arms. "He is supposed to be locating the Digidestined and those Key Cards, not showing off his new powers!" He frowned into a scowl, "I want those cards!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Come on Ken, come on…" Kari said, pressing the buttons on the side of her D-terminal, "Come on, Ken, you've got to be there."

"What's the matter?" Salamon asked, looking down from the top of the stone table that Kari was leaning against.

"I'm trying to contact Ken through our D-terminals, but he hasn't responded yet." She sighed, "I sent him an e-mail message telling him about what happened. I just hope he gets my message." She ran a hand through her short hair. "I could sure use a shower, my hair's a mess. Hey Yolei, do you…Yolei?" She stood up and looked around the stone room. She saw the other girls in the small stone room, but not the purple-haired girl.

The brown-haired girl walked over to where Catherine was sitting down on the floor, checking herself in the mirror. "Hey, Catherine?"

She turned and smiled at her. "Oui?"

"Do you know where Yolei is?"

"I t'ink she went to talk wit' Tk."

"Really? I wonder about what." She frowned.

"What's wrong?" Takato asked, walking over to them.

"I was just looking for Yolei," Kari replied.

"She's the one that you…?"

"Yeah," Kari nodded.

"I'm sorry," Takato said, "I know what it's like to have someone you love, and never get that love in return."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked.

Takato hesitated, silently debating whether or not to tell her. He finally sighed. "When the D-reaper invaded our Earth, it possessed Jeri Katou, a girl that I…really had feelings for. When I finally got up the courage to tell her, it wasn't even her, but that…that thing, that

D-reaper!" He stared at the ground, "I tried my best to save her, we all did, but it wasn't enough. Jeri was trapped inside of D-reaper, but we couldn't free her. We had to seal the D-reaper away, along with Jeri. She never even knew how I felt about her."

Kari and Catherine were in shock. "I…I'm sorry," Kari said, "I…I had no idea."

Takato smiled slightly as Guilmon started rub his back. "It'll be okay, Takato-mon, you'll see."

He smiled slightly at his partner. "Yeah, thanks."

Kari could not help but smile at the scene between human and digimon. She knelt down and stared to rub the back of Salamon's head. "What?"

"Nothing," the brown-haired girl grinned, "Just promise me that we'll always be friends."

"You need to get some sleep," Takato said, "It's a bit of a way to get to the Sage."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''

The next morning the assembled group of Tamers, Digidestineds and digimon walked through the center of the black forest, situated at the corner of the massive ocean. However, Davis thought that there probably was not anywhere in this dimension where you could not see the ocean.

He looked up to the sky and saw the darkness of the morning slowly fog the area. The threes were dark, the ground was black, there was thick fog clinging to the air. He had to shake his head; this dark atmosphere was starting to affect him. Everything was dark, except for Kari, but he noticed that she always seemed to be a light in the darkness.

Davis glanced over at Tk, who was staring at Kari as well. He knew about the relationship feelings between Tk, Kari and Yolei. He glanced over at the purple-haired girl, but was surprised to see that she was not staring at Kari, but Tk.

"Hey Catherine," he whispered, mentioning to the scene, "Do you see that?"

"Oui," she nodded, "Yolei haz been ztaring at Tk zince we left."

"I wonder what's going on with those three," Davis mumbled, "I wonder if I should…"

Catherine slapped his hand. "Don't you dare! Let uz leave zem alone."

Davis rubbed the back of his hand. He should have yelled at her for that, but chose not to. "Why?"

"Because, it iz not our buiznezz," she replied, "Let zem make zeir own choice."

"Yeah," Floramon added, "Let them deal with it themselves."

"How can you act like that?" he asked, "My parents always taught me that if your friends are in trouble, you help them."

"Hey, are you guys cold?" Tatum asked, walking over to them. She saw the expressions on their faces, "What's wrong?"

"Tk, Kari and Yolei," Davis sighed, "Hey, wait, you said that you and Tk knew each other…I mean, before you died."

She nodded. "Yeah?"

"Where the two of you in love?"

Catherine hit him on the back of the head. "You're zo rude! Did your parentz teach you any manners?"

Veemon shook his head, "Not really, you should see him tip people."

Davis rubbed his injured head and glared at Catherine. He was starting to feel a drop in the temperature, but turned back to Tatum. "Well?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but Catherine shook her head. "You don't need to answer."

"Then why don't you tell me?" Davis asked, "Huh? You were Mimi Tachikawa, were Matt Ishida and Sora Takenouchi ever in love?"

"I don't t'ink zo," Catherine shook her head, "But we've…you're right, it iz getting colder." She rubbed her bare shoulders.

"Well, you're the one wearing the tank-top," Davis muttered.

"It'z zummer!" she shouted.

"It's getting really cold," Betamon said, "Even for a cold-blooded digimon like me."

"Hey guys!" Davis shouted, "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm freezing!" Yolei muttered, rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah, why did it get so cold all of a sudden?" Kari asked, the fog of her breath hissing out of her mouth.

"It's even colder then Rika out here," Terriermon commented.

"Very funny," the red-headed young woman sneered at him, "But it is freezing."

Hiroshi glanced down and gasped. "The ground, it's covered in ice!"

"What the heck is going on here?" Tk demanded, "The temperature can't drop more then fifty degrees in less then five minutes! That's impossible, even for the Digital World."

"Not this place," Takato muttered.

A freezing, shrill blast of wind shot past them, causing each one to start chattering their teeth. Patamon and Hawkmon took flight into the air and were able to break through the cold air draft. As they did, they focused on a tall black tree, which had a group of beings standing on its thick, strong branches. "I say," Hawkmon said, "I think you should look to the trees!"

The humans twisted their heads around and saw the group of four beings grinning and laughing at them. "It's them!" Hiroshi growled.

"Oikawa!" Renamon shouted.

"What do you want?" Kari demanded.

Oikawa laughed. "The Key Cards, remember? Hand them over, and you won't get hurt."

"We're not giving in!" Takato shouted.

"Digivolve!" Kari ordered.

Each Digidestined and Tamer grabbed their digivices and held them out to their partners. They waited for their partners to evolve to their next forms, but were horrified to discover that they could not. "What is going on?" Renamon asked, "I can't digivolve."

"I can't either!" Guilmon gasped, "I can't!"

Oikawa started laughing again. He pointed to one of the thick trees in the forest, seconds before it blasted apart, revealing a tall dark obelisk. "A Control Spire?!" Tk gasped.

"That's right," Oikawa chuckled, "I have to hand it to you, this is a truly ingenious invention. I'm truly amazed."

Tk frowned. "It's not 'ingenious,' it's hideous! How did you get the plans for those things?"

He continued to grin. "After you left your base and gave up your position as Digimon Emperor, it was pretty easy to sneak into the remains of your base and drain your computer system. I even found the experiments that lead to the creation of Kimeramon."

"No!" Tk screamed, "You can't!"

"Don't worry, I didn't," he answered, "There isn't exactly a wide variety of digimon here, so don't worry, but your Control Spires are here and fully active. You will not be able to fight back, so prepare to die! Blue Meramon!"

His evil creation leapt out of the shadows. "What the hell is that thing?" Davis exclaimed.

"A Meramon that is made of ice, not fire," Hiroshi mumbled, "Diabolical."

"Perversions of life," Henry exclaimed, "Perversions of life!"

Oikawa grinned. "Thank you. Blue Meramon, destroy them."

"All right guys," Veemon said, "We can't digivolve, but we can armor evolve! Davis!"

The Digidestined grabbed their D-terminals and held them towards the sky. "Digi-armor energize!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Patamon armor digivolve to Ponchomon, the Warrior of Sincerity!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

"Salamon armor digivolve to Lynxmon, the Fires of Courage!"

"Amazing," Henry trailed off, "Armor digivolve?"

"We need to destroy that tower!" Lynxmon said, "The rest of us need to keep Blue Meramon busy."

"Leave the tower to me," Ponchomon said. He ran over to the black obelisk and began to slam his fists into the side. "Tequilla Punch!"

Blue Meramon waved his hand and sent a blue translucent ghost at the green cactus. "Ice Phantom!"

"Watch out, Ponchomon!" Halsemon shouted, "Eagle Eye!" Two red beams of light fired from his eyes and tore through Blue Meramon's attack. The beams of light connected with the ice digimon's chest, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Blue Thunder!" Raidramon shouted, firing his main attack into the already injured Blue Meramon.

The ice digimon grinned and shot a stream of blue flame at the canine digimon. "Cold Flame." Raidramon's front paw became covered in ice.

"Ah!" Davis shouted, "Raidramon!"

"Ice Phantom." Blue Meramon waved his hand again and his familiar blue phantom appeared. It merged with Raidramon and covered him with a complete sheet of ice.

"Oh no, Raidramon!" Davis shouted at his frozen partner, "Raidramon!"

Blue Meramon pointed his hand at the Control Spire and fired another Ice Phantom. Ponchomon leapt out of the way, but Blue Meramon's attack covered the entire tower in ice, affectively shielding it from any attack. Ponchomon tried valiantly to break through the ice with his punches, but it was not any use.

Kari turned to her armored partner. "You can melt that ice! Let's go!"

Lynxmon nodded. She leapt into the air and shouted, "Thermal Mane!" A stream of reddish orange leapt off of her back and headed towards the frozen Raidramon. Blue Meramon sent one of his Ice Phantoms to absorb the attack instead. The ice digimon grinned and sent another Ice Phantom to directly attack the fire digimon. Lynxmon was covered in ice and her flames lingered to nothing. She quickly returned to her Salamon form and landed on the ground.

"Salamon!" Kari shouted. She ran over to grab her partner, but Blue Meramon covered the rookie digimon in a sea of ice.

"Salamon, hang on," Halsemon called. He and Ponchomon charged over to attempt to free her, but they were trapped in Blue Meramon's ice as well.

The evil ice digimon grinned as he towered over Kari.

"Get those Key Cards!" Oikawa order, from the top of the tree.

Blue Meramon grinned and lifted his ice covered hand when he was attacked by a bolt of electricity.

"Electric Shock!" Tatum's Betamon shouted, followed shortly by a blast of wind from Terriermon's 'Terrier Tornado,' and a stream of sharp cuts from Renamon's Diamond Storm.

"Endless Slap!" Hiroshi's Penmon shouted, leaping at Blue Meramon and continuously slapping his face with his purple flippers.

"That's it!" Hiroshi shouted, "Keep him on the ropes! Keep fighting!"

"Keep him busy, Renamon!" Rika ordered.

While the other digimon kept the evil ice beast occupied, Guilmon and Takato quietly crept around behind Raidramon. "Pyro Sphere!" the dinosaur shouted, firing his small red blast into the ice around the frozen digimon. The ice melted slightly.

"Good work," Takato said, "Now keep it up."

Blue Meramon was finally able to get his hand up to his face and bat Penmon into the ground. Renamon dropped down in front of him, and both of them were covered in the Ice Phantom attack. Betamon and Terriermon tried to fight back, but they too were soon covered in ice.

"Excellent work," Oikawa shouted, "Now, get me those Key Cards!"

Blue Meramon quickly grabbed Kari at the shoulders and lifted her up. She could feel the extreme cold against her bare arms. She tried to fight, but felt her body start to feel the affects and started to drop into unconsciousness. "I can't give up," Kari shouted, struggling to stay awake, "I..I can't…"

"Put her down!" Davis shouted. He grabbed a black stick from off of the ground and charged at the ice digimon.

"Daviz!" Catherine shouted, "What are you doing?"

"Davis, don't' be foolish!" Takato tried to warn, "He'll cream you!"

"I've got to save her!" he shouted, "It doesn't matter what happens to me!"

Suddenly, a bright orange light exploded from Kari's D-terminal, where she had dropped it on the ground. The orange light filled the entire battlefield. It grew with intensity as a odd shaped object rose out of the screen. "The Digi-metal of Courage?" Davis gasped.

The orange egg shot across the battlefield and shot through the ice sheet that covered Raidramon. The canine digimon was covered in bright orange light, and the ice exploded around him. The Digi-metal of Courage and Veemon floated into the air.

Veemonbegan to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Courage began to twirl around in synch. "Veemon armor digivolve to…"

The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in fire and light, as the images of Agumon, Greymon, Metalgreymon and Wargreymon flashed behind him. The flames receded to reveal two orange gauntlets with three claws. The flames receded to reveal a sharp blade at the end of an armored helmet. Geysers of flames erupted behind the humanoid digimon.

"Flamedramon, the Fires of Courage!"

"Flamedramon?" Davis gasped, "You digivolved using the Digi-metal of Courage!

Flamedramon turned to him. "But..but how?"

"It doesn't matter right now," Takato shouted, pointing at the Control Spire, "Destroy that ice! Guilmon will free Kari."

Davis nodded. "Do it!"

Flamedramon leapt into the air and pointed his two gauntlets at the ice-covered Control Spire. A series of red fireballs exploded on the surface of the ice shield completely melting it.

Blue Meramon glared at the tower. He did not see Guilmon run up in front of him and fire a Pyro Sphere into his arm. The ice digimon shouted in pain and dropped Kari to the ground. Takato leapt in front of him, grabbed Kari, then jumped back. Blue Meramon ignored Takato and Kari and turned his attention back to the Control Spire. Flamedramon had melted the ice, and was now about to destroy it.

"Fire Knuckles!"

The gauntlets on the armored digimon's hands were covered in a sea of red flame. He smashed both sets of claws into the base of the black obelisk. The tower cracked, then collapsed.

"No!" Oikawa shouted.

"Great, but our digimon are still frozen!" Yolei pointed out.

Takato patted Guilmon's head. "Leave him to us." He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Watch, you're gonna love this."

Takato's digivice broke in his hands, and his body was covered by a bright light, melting away his clothes. He merged together with his partner, changing into a impressive knight with white armor and a flowing red cape. "Guilmon bio-merge to Gallantmon!"

The Digidestined were awestruck at the massive figure before them. "G..gallantmon?" Tk gasped.

Davis had to blink a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. He turned to look at Rika and Henry. "You can fuse with your digimon too?"

Henry nodded. "It's called bio-merge. And from what you told us, you only fuse with your digimon, when we join with our partners, we digivolve to the mega level."

"He's a mega! Wow!"

Blue Meramon jumped and fired his Ice Phantom from the air, hoping to catch Gallantmon off guard. The mega digimon brought his shield above his head and easily deflected the attack. Gallantmon swung his glowing lance at Blue Meramon and fired a blast of white electricity.

"Lightning Joust!" he shouted in a mixture of Guilmon and Takato's voice. His attack ripped through the ice digimon's stomach, and Blue Meramon was destroyed. Instantly, the frozen digimon were returned to normal.

Kari slowly opened her eyes. "W..what happened?"

"We won," Davis grinned.

Gallantmon turned towards Oikawa and his evil group. "Now, what do we do with you?"

"Nothing," Oikawa replied simply.

"Oh really?" Hiroshi asked, "Your Control Spire is destroyed and all of our digimon can digivolve again. I think you're doomed."

The evil human chuckled. "Same old Hiroshi. Despite the circumstances, it is good to see you again."

Hiroshi stared at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" he shouted, "What?"

Oikawa shook his head. "Memory manipulation, that's what."

"What are you talking about?" he shouted, "I was the Lord of Dark SEED! No one manipulates me!"

Oikawa roared with laughter. "Are you so sure? Well, let me tell you something that's gonna send chills to your very soul, tainted as it is. I once ruled Dark SEED!"

The other Digidestined stared at Hiroshi, who pointed his finger at the evil human. "You ruled Dark SEED? Ha! You're got to be kidding me, a pathetic old man who looks like he's about to croak at any second? Yeah right!"

"You'd better believe it," he said, "Don't you think it's odd that a teenager could have control of a powerful organization like Dark SEED?"

"That's because of me!" Penmon pointed to himself.

"Yes, that's right," Oikawa nodded, "I remember when you first meet Hiroshi here. I remember it quite clearly."

"You're not fooling me," Hiroshi said.

"Then tell me, please, enlighten me. When did you take control of Dark SEED? When did you first enter the Digital World? Why don't you just tell me when you first met Penmon."

Hiroshi stuttered, "I…I…I…"

Oikawa grinned triumphantly. "I rest my case." He bowed. "And now, I shall take my leave of you."

"You're not getting away!" Gallantmon shouted.

"I have no intention of leaving, for, you see, you haven't been talking to me at all, but just a biological contrast which I've been operating by remote control. Farewell." His body suddenly started shaking, and he melted into a blob of flesh and blood.

"Eww!" Catherine and Floramon exclaimed.

"He almost beat us," Kari said, "How did we win anyway?"

Davis and Veemon glanced at each other. "Well, you see…"

Penmon stared up at his partner. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not!" Hiroshi growled, clenching his fists, "What the hell is going on here?"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Author's note: All right, I finally finished this chapter. This took much longer to write then normal, so I apologize for the delay. Things might seem kind of boring right now, but I promise things are going to get much more interesting in the next few chapters.

I know that I didn't really explain that much about Oikawa and the Tamers, but I don't want to unload everything at once, so there will be more in the next few chapters.

See ya next time.