A/N: The end of arc 1! Arc 2 deals with a different set of events so you'll be seeing why I time-stamped everything this time around. :) Mostly Hunters this time, so we'll get to see more changes in the timeline. Also, since I pass 10k with this chapter (requirement for the comp) and it's the end of the arc, I'll be taking a break to work on some other fics. But I'll be back. Hopefully before the end of this year, because reaching 20k will fulfill a diversity hurdle and that was one of my NYRs. So see you then!

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Impure Diamond
4. New Days

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

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He finds himself awake again and it's a new day, and he doesn't know if that's figurative or literal or a misinterpretation on his part, but it doesn't really matter either. It's a new day and he may have wasted the old one… or he may not have. It's hard to tell with the Digital World.

Still, he's decided. He'll work under the assumption that the world and everyone in it still exists within Quartzmon, because anything else will break him beyond repair. He'll see if there are any digimon in his Xros Loader first, and then formulate a plan based on what he has. If there's nothing, then he's in very big trouble. If there's someone though, then that may be a chance.

Aside from the digimon, he needs to know what else is left. There's the sun, and the sky. Quartzmon hasn't been able to touch those. And the land is technically there. It's just different. The buildings, the fences and the trees though… they're all gone. So Quartzmon could take all signs of life but not Mother Nature.

That still doesn't explain why he's still here.

Maybe he's not here. Maybe he's dreaming this from somewhere inside Quartzmon.

He can't think like that. That's another thing that will make this all useless and break him.

So. He takes a deep breath. First. The Xros Loader.

There are digimon inside. Everybody he's caught during the Hunt… even though his count is pretty pitiful in comparison to most active Hunters. He's got more than one at least, which is more than can be said for some of them. But that's fair enough, because all they wanted was a partner. They didn't want anything to do with the fight.

If that had been his first meeting with Damemon, he mightn't have wanted a more active role in the Hunt, either. But in his case, he was involved in the Hunt even before he got Damemon back.

Except he never really did get Damemon back.

He scrolls through the digimon. No, Damemon isn't there. He's got SuperStarmon and the star army though. And RookChessmon. And… Cutemon? Wisemon? Ballistamon? How did those three get in there? They were Taiki's digimon. Though he'd given Ballistamon to Zenjirou, hadn't he? And Cutemon to Akari…

He goes through them again. The star army looks a little different too, but he can't be sure about them unless he tries to make the Star Sword. But Cutemon and Wisemon and Ballistamon…

'We're Xros Heart's digimon-kyu,' Cutemon pipes up. 'Yuu was sad again, so I had to come-kyu.'

And Yuu is reminded of how Cutemon had visited him so often in those days without Damemon. How he'd stay in the empty Xros Loader. Flop on the couch like one of the pillows and wolf down rice balls like they were the best thing in the world (instead of just something he made to use up the leftover rice he often seemed to wind up with).

Is it Quartzmon playing tricks again? Cutemon has been in his Xros Loader before. So has Ballistamon, now that he thinks about it. That was Akari's idea: a way to get around the two digimon per Xros Loader per Xros-Up rule. Wisemon hasn't though, and for the life of him he can't think of a good reason for Quartzmon putting a shadow of him there.

'I suppose you could say we escaped,' Wisemon says thoughtfully. 'I could have brought some others too, but it might be more prudent to discuss a game plan first. We don't want Quartzmon catching on too early and cutting off our only link to him.'

'Link to Quartzmon..?' Yuu repeats. He processes that slowly. So Wisemon, and likely Cutemon and Ballistamon, hadn't been in the Xros Loader initially. They'd escaped from Taiki's Xros Loader while within Quartzmon.

So Taiki and the others are definitely in there. And alive.

Thank goodness…

'Ah, Yuu is crying-kyu.' There's a clamour thereafter, like Cutemon is trying to get out. Yuu rubs his eyes dry (when has he started crying again?) and looks at the screen. Cutemon is there, held back by the star army. They make for an amusing sight and he can't help but giggle at it. Cutemon smiles too. 'Ah, Yuu is smiling-kyu. That's better-kyu.'

'Smiles are good,' Ballistamon agrees.

Neither of them sound mad.

Then again, they are Taiki's digimon. Though even Taiki will lay blame where it's deserved some of the time. And sometimes he won't. Like Yuu. Like Puppetmon caught in the thrall of DigiQuartz as well. Like Tagiru at least fifty times over by now, but Tagiru is harmless in the end. A big teddy bear whose sin is over-enthusiasm and clumsiness as opposed to anything truly malicious.

He swallows those thoughts down. This isn't the time for it. Not now that he has a way forward, and a way that is more than he could have hoped for.

He checks the situation again. Quartzmon still hasn't moved. And he's got three powerful digimon, along with a healer. Naturally, against an enemy like Quartzmon, they won't hold for long, but if there's something else…

He suddenly recalls. 'Where's the Brave Snatcher?' Tsuwamon dropped it, but what happened then. He remembers either Tagiru or Ryouma saying something about trying to pick it up again. Did they manage it? Is it with them now? Are they trying to Hunt Quartzmon right this minute? Is that why Quartzmon isn't moving?

'Ryouma has it-kyu,' Cutemon replies cheerfully.

'Dove into the ocean after it,' Ballistamon adds more solemnly.

That sounds more like Tagiru. Maybe he'd rubbed off on Ryouma finally. One of them should have won the right. They mightn't be in this situation then.

'But Ryouma is struggling,' Wisemon explains. 'He did not earn the right to hold the Brave Snatcher, so it won't respond to him. … or any of the other Hunters. Even if Tagiru hadn't had to take Taiki's place, I hypothesise it wouldn't have responded to him either. The Brave Snatcher has already recognised you. It's a miracle Ryouma was able to get it out of the ocean at all. He can't fight adequately enough to Hunt Quartzmon with it.'

Because it's Yuu who won the allegiance of the Brave Snatcher, which means it's Yuu who has to use it.

He can fix things.

He's also the reason why it's a mess twice over, and that's ignoring the whole fiasco with DarkKnightmon too.

The laughter bubbles past his lips. He doesn't bother trying to stifle it and the digimon don't say a word as he gets it out of his system. It's a wild, hysterical laughter and it stops as suddenly as it starts, and that suits them all just fine. Out of sight, out of mind. Or something like that.

'Okay,' he says, once he's caught his breath. 'Okay.' But which of his digimon will take the lance?

And then he's dunked in metaphorical ice water, because he remembers something else. 'Quartzmon was the one who fought for the Brave Snatcher. Can we beat him with it?'

'We can,' Wisemon is quick to reply. 'I've already checked. The battle was to determine the Hunter. And while all of you fought with one base digimon, you also fought with another that you used in the DigiXros.'

They did. Yuu remembers now. Triceramon for Ryouma. Sagomon for Tagiru. And RookChessmon for Yuu himself. 'So RookChessmon can wield the Brave Snatcher. RookChessmon who I can DigiXros with another digimon if I need to.'

'You will need to,' Wisemon says. 'Because you and RookChessmon can't get into Quartzmon without me, but the window of opportunity is too narrow for a digimon with average speed, much less RookChessmon.'

He frowns at that. He's entirely focused now and that's a good thing. It's a war he's trying to win. A puzzle he's trying to solve. 'Tsuwamon was my fastest digimon.' He frowns, then presses on. 'SuperStarmon's speed isn't bad per say, but its forte is more in the attacking domain. The same goes for the star army.'

'I can only heal, kyu,' says Cutemon sadly.

And Wisemon moves in an entirely different dimension and it's probably better to have him still in the Xros Loader as a backup plan… or to come up with the backup plan. Which leaves Ballistamon. 'Will Ballistamon be fast enough?'

'Theoretically,' says Wisemon. 'Of course, the result of a DigiXros can't be assessed until the two parties have fused at least once, but Ballistamon has the best chances, being a machine type similar to RookChessmon.'

The best chance… That's all they can bank their hopes on, at this point.

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Monday-Tuesday, May 19-20, 2010

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His reunion with his sister is far too fleeting for the circumstances, but it settles like a marshmallow by a campfire in his heart. What follows though is a frenzy: a prolonged battle and he's not sure when it starts or when it'll end or what role he might have played in it if things were different…

Things aren't different. They simply are as they are.

It's actually a little amusing, when he looks back at it later. Nene barely has the chance to comfort him before Mervamon smacks him with her blade. And that does a good job in cutting through to the crux of the matter. Her curt: 'we don't have time to deal with this' is equally well received, though Nene doesn't seem to agree.

But 'deal with it' is far more honest and agreeable than 'it's okay.' Because it's not okay, but it probably is within his power to deal with it.

So he tries. He tries but, at first, he only stands there uselessly as the others fight. First it's DarkKnightmon fused with Bagramon, and then Bagramon re-emerges and swallows his little brother whole and that's an awful parody of what could have occurred with him and Nene that he just wants to run and hide except he can't. His feet are rooted to the spot and there's a voice whispering in his head: you did this. Look at the consequences of your actions.

At least it's something of a relief when DarKnightmon is swallowed by that skeletal form. But that relief is short-lived because MegaDarknessBagramon is far too powerful. Shoutmon X7 defeated the entire Bagra Army but fails in the face of this behemoth. They get up and try again anyway.

And then Shoutmon is gone. Just like Damemon.

Yuu wonders if he had looked as shattered as Taiki does in that moment.

And moments later, when they are all lost and in the dark and without hope, he wonders how Taiki can muster up the motivation to keep on going by himself. Because he does, somehow. He's the one reaching out to everyone, and pulling them back together even though he's got the best reason to lie back and give up. But that's simply not in him. He'll fight anyway, without Shoutmon if he has to, and he's already thought of the way that might bring Shoutmon back.

And that tells Yuu that his fleeting idea with the Code Crown isn't a fool's errand after all. If they win it, they can get Shoutmon back. And Damemon. And all the other digimon that have died for a foolish cause.

They can do it. They will do it.

But they don't have the strength to do it and that's their problem now.

'We'll do it.'

He's not sure who says it, but he remembers the flat of Mervamon's blade on his head. Deal with it. He has to deal with it. He has to push on through.

They don't have Shoutmon anymore, so they can't make X7. Their strongest digimon is ZeekGreymon: the only one left amongst them that can super evolve.

Taiki has a plan and his ability to put his grief aside and come up with it is astounding, Yuu thinks. He's in awe all over again. And Taiki's plan is sound. Reckless but sound, and it's a recklessness they must afford, given the situation. They need Shoutmon: the core of X7. ZeekGreymon alone isn't enough. Therefore their role isn't to take MegaDarknessBagramon down. It's to open up a pathway.

Well, that's a different tactic altogether.

'Yuu, can you handle it?'

He starts. He has been listening – of course he has – but he doesn't expect an active role, much less one so important. The others seem similarly surprised, but Taiki just shrugs. 'He is an excellent strategist.' Then, after a pause: 'Oh, don't look at me like that, Kiriha. I need you elsewhere.'

'Yeah,' the other boy snorts, 'as glorified bait.' And he sounds so disgruntled that the others laugh. Yuu doesn't join them. Not yet. Maybe someday, he thinks.

But he puts his mind to work for them anyway, because here is the little bit he can pay off.

He can also mess up just as badly, because he didn't do too great a job the last time he was entrusted with an army, did he?

But no-one brings that up. They only stare at him. Nene and Taiki smile. Kiriha's lips are pursed but that's not his angry, distrusting expression. Yuu knows that one. He knows all of them pretty well, despite having barely interacted with them. He's watched them for a long time after all. He had to, to formulate strategies against them. And I still can't grasp how strong they are. But he thinks he has the other aspects down pat.

'You can do it.' Nene squeezes his hand lightly.

'Want me to smack more sense into you?' Mervamon asks.

'I'd listen to her,' Ignitemon says nervously. 'She means it literally. And she hits hard.'

Mervamon knocks him on the head with her free hand. 'I'm not going to kill Nene's cute baby brother,' she protests… and somehow, that doesn't make her look any less intimidating.

That also doesn't make her any less in the right. It doesn't make any of them any less right. Or any less wrong. But it's up to him which side he decides to lean, isn't it? And it's a far better feeling, feeling useful. 'I can do it.'

'Then go out there and do it.' And Kiriha is suddenly off, before Yuu can take his words or his conviction back, leaving most of his forces behind. He's on ZeekGreymon, of course. And Nene is merging Mervamon and Sparrowmon and racing off too. The pair of them head straight for MegaDarknessBagramon.

Yuu's job is to protect the rear and provide volley support. Use the resources he has without sending them out to die. Which means he needs fast long range types. And a good defence.

He surveys the group. They're a diverse mix. Combinations jump out at him. Some have been used before. Others haven't, but he thinks they can work.

'I can do this,' he repeats to himself, mind throwing itself into this work.

The conviction echoes merrily, because he doesn't have time right then to sink back into guilt ant doubt. He's got an army to command, after all. And once it's over, whether he succeeds or fails, he can then struggle in the grips of those once more.

And if he wins, then he can pay of just a little of that debt he's accrued.