risa: I'm glad you dislike Aki! Disliking a character means one of two things, 1) they're so poorly written it's irritating, or 2) they're written well enough that you feel actual annoyance towards them, and since I'm a optimistic person, I'll take the second one! And Rana's going to be an interesting character to write (although I think I have her figured out, my problem character is going to be writing Kouta). Thank you for the review!
Chapter Seven: Crying Petals
Rana had never been privileged to such a meal before. She'd rarely been to restaurants with her parents, only with her extended family, and even then it was at a laid-back, cheap place. The steak, soup and appetizers had melted her taste buds with flavor, and needless to say she was stunned. How could anything have such seasoning and be so fresh and, and... How did one describe food? She really only ever had old bread, cereal and dry poptarts. Pizza or sushi for dinner if she was lucky. And to get it all for free? She couldn't tell if it was a dream come true, or too weird to be true.
After they had finished eating at Deramon's Family Restaurant, they had decided to head over to the New Shinko Village to see if they could find a hotel of some sort and to put the in-trainings in an orphanage or shelter. They had found a place called "Home of the Maigo", recommended to them by one of the diners. They were currently registering all of the in-trainings and Rookies into the orphanage. It made Rana very sad that they were all without parents. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she lost her parents. But Gabumon and Gaomon had volunteered to stay at the orphanage and help out with all the little kids.
"Wonder what happened to the Village of Beginnings," Takuya mused, but there was a sad edge to it.
"It must not have been rebuilt," Tommy responded quietly.
"The Village of Beginnings?" Rana inquired softly.
Tommy and Takuya traded mournful looks. "It was the place where Digimon were reborn at."
Rana solemnly bowed her head. From what they had explained, Digimon were reborn into Digi-eggs when they died, usually without memory of their past lives.
"O-oh..." Rana said awkwardly. She wondered what it was like, saving the world, and now coming back to save it again, but it was different, and places you saved had changed, and places you didn't manage to save were demolished. How would she feel? Would she feel numb, determined, or depressed? What of the people she would have met? The friends they had left behind, the enemies they had made? They had spoken fondly of a Bokomon and Neemon, and Rana remembered the malice in their eyes when they had noticed Grumblemon. But there had also been confusion. Something about purifying his Spirits?
After that sad conversation, they had finished registering the in-trainings into the Home of the Maigo. The workers of the orphanage had been kind enough to sign them into a hotel to stay the night in. A Biyomon, a pink bird and the desk lady, handed them a card.
"Here, use this so they know we've signed you in. Although, I'm sure they'd recognize you as humans anyway," Biyomon informed them politely. It seemed like humans were treated as special, as saviors in this world. She wondered if that would be the same if Digimon went to the Human World. Probably not. They would be captured and probed and treated as lower beings. Digimon also had freaky powers. Humans would not enjoy that.
With a jolt, Rana realized she was now one of those digital monsters that they would hate. When she went back home, would anyone know? Would anyone realize? Would anyone tear her away from her family and use her as a science experiment? If they knew, would they discriminate her?
"Alright, thank you," Takuya responded, taking the card from Biyomon's clawed wing.
The Hawkmon waved to them as the human children left. "Stay safe, Warriors!"
They began to look for the Natsunoyo Hotel that the bird Digimon had given them vague directions and descriptions for. There was an awkward silence as no one talked. Or at least, Rana found it awkward. Maybe the others found it peaceful? Or maybe they weren't even thinking about the silence and were lost in there own thoughts? Kouta certainly had that distant eyed look despite his chipper attitude. Aki and Koji had their typical cold demeanors up, while Koichi and Tommy had more softer looks. JP and Yori wore more neutral looks. Takuya was stressing over the hotel, but not exactly. 'Stressing' wasn't the right word. He didn't seem stressed. More like 'desperately but also goofily searching for the Natsunoyo Hotel'? Yeah, that kind of worked. He had furrowed eyebrows as he looked from the card to the buildings, but he wore a confident, light-hearted smile. Zoe was beside him and frowning at him as he huffed and whined comically as he looked for the hotel.
Rana rolled the beads of her bracelet as she examined the village. She hadn't been quite paying attention when the bird Digimon had given the description of the Natsunoyo Hotel, but she just wanted to observe the village. It wasn't exactly the same as a human village, but there were strong similarities. God, she'd never thought she'd think that. Putting 'human' in front of a word in that context. Using it as an adjective.
Rana suppressed a sigh. She was here, in this Digital World, so she was just going to have to deal with it until it proved itself a dream and she woke up.
She was scared. Of course she was. Who in their right minds would want to be a Legendary Warrior? Maybe people like Takuya who were stubborn and optimistic and loud. But she wasn't one of those people. She was no hero.
Rana squeezed her eyes out and shut out the thoughts. She didn't want to worry about things. That's all she ever did, and all she ever ended up doing. Right now, she was going to be calm, and observe the nice, peaceful, pretty village.
She opened her eyes. New Shinko Village wasn't big on flashy, bright colors, but she didn't think any village was, human or digital. The buildings were a soft, dusty brown and gray, and the pathways and roads were made of pebbles and old hay. While most houses were more like huts, there were tall stone buildings for businesses. They were currently looking for one of those buildings, with a white sign out front, from what little she recalled.
A small white cat Digimon with gloves tilted his head at the humans as they travelled. His tufted ear twitched and he whispered something to the purple imp with a smiley face on her stomach beside him. She nodded and watched the humans turn the corner with slitted eyes.
There were whispers about the humans everywhere they went. Rana didn't like the attention. Most of it was positive, but that didn't mean Rana enjoyed it. She shouldn't be classified as a hero. That wasn't her. She hadn't done anything. She could only run like a coward. She never fought back. She couldn't.
Rana felt herself wince, outwardly and inwardly. She had yet to fight at all. She ran away the first battle, she was too scared to fight during practice and she was babysitting the in-trainings in the fire.
Practice. They might of thought she had some secret quick relexes when 'she' had swung around and hit Lobomon- which she was still sorry for. But that wasn't her. That's what had startled her the first battle, and why she ran away. Hearing voices was never a good sign. But the voice had calmed her down and guided her to the others. Then it coached her on how to fight back, or at least defend herself. She never defended herself when someone started punching. She didn't know how to.
During the practice fight against Lobomon, the voice had taken over for a brief period of time. The voice was more skilled than Rana, by far, and had sensed Lobomon quicker than she could tell Rana to dodge. Rana had let her take over. The voice had also informed her of her attacks. Well, except for the Cry of the Water Princess. She wondered why the voice hadn't told her of that attack. Was there some consequence for using the attack? Maybe she shouldn't put her trust in the voice. Maybe the voice was planning something. Voices weren't normally kind and well-intentioned.
"Aha! Found it!" Takuya cried elatedly, pointing to a tall, dark gray stone building with a thin white sign. Written sloppily in running ink that had long dried was "Natsunoyo Hotel! 24/7", although the 'u' and 'n' were merged as one letter and '24/7' was tiny and in the corner.
"Yay, finally," Koji muttered dryly.
"Ooh! There's a restaurant beside it," Zoe stated happily, eyes shining. The restaurant was a horizontally long building with a flat hay roof and was made of strong oak wood. The neat sign read "Peter's Diner". There were soft lights decorated on it.
"Free food," Tommy added hopefully, adjusting the orange hat he had grown into.
Koichi chuckled with a warm smile. "They probably have food in the hotel."
"Why would they when they have a restaurant right here?" Zoe argued.
"Uh, profit?" Yori responded with a raised eyebrow. They group chatted lightly and entered the Natsunoyo Hotel. At the front desk was a Labrador puppy with curly red ears and a fairy girl with shining, golden wings and a green bow in her dusty long blonde hair. While the Labrador narrowed his eyes at the Warriors, the fairy girl smiled pleasantly.
"Hello!" The fairy held out her hand. "Welcome to the Natsunoyo Hotel. Open twenty-four seven!" Her eyes gleamed. "So you're humans, huh? Labra here has spoken so fondly of you." She gave her glaring dog friend an amused look before returning her attention to the children. "Card, please."
The original Warriors gave the dog, 'Labra', an odd look, before Takuya handed the fairy the card. Rana wondered if they knew 'Labra'. They didn't seem to. Maybe 'Labra' had been a bystander during one of their fights? Or maybe 'Labra' had been told something from someone who did have an interaction with the Legendary Warriors? Maybe he was just jealous?
The fairy inspected the card. She fluttered her glowing golden wings and the card glowed. She handed the card back to Takuya with a sweet smile. "The Home of the Maigo signed you in, correct?" She didn't bother waiting for an answer and continued on. "Your card will now open Rooms 115, 116 and 118 on Floor C." She flicked her wrist and there was suddenly two more cards in her hand. She smirked at their stunned stares. She held them out and Zoe and JP hesitantly grabbed them. She winked. "If you ever need more cards, just ask me!"
'Labra' growled and tapped his claws on the desk top. The fairy nodded to the Labrador.
"Labramon will be your guide," the fairy giggled. "My name is Tinkermon, for your information."
Labramon scowled and slipped away from the desk, dissapearing for a second due to his height. He reappeared around the corner and walked over to a map on a wall. Takuya and JP traded looks before the Warrior of Fire shrugged and trailed after the golden dog.
Labramon nodded to the map of the hotel. "There's one of these on every floor. If you touch a certain area, you can zoom in and get information on it."
"What?!" They all gasped.
"But it's a normal paper map pinned on a wall?" Yori questioned, voice raising an octave.
Labramon glared at the pale-haired Warrior of Earth. "Yeah. And this is the Digital World."
JP shrugged. "I guess that's true. You can explain everything here by saying it's the Digital World."
Kouta nudged himself to the front of the group of ten and poked a section of the map. The map turned gray, like pencil marks, and 'redrew' itself into a zoomed in version of the section Kouta touched. Information wrote itself on the side of the map. "Swimming Pool", it read at the top. Color slowly filled the lines.
They all studied the map in awe.
"How do I go back?" Kouta asked innocently.
"Just touch it again," Labramon growled. Kouta tapped the map with his knuckles and it redrew itself again, turning back to a lay-out of the first floor of the hotel.
"Cool!" Kouta's eyes sparkled. "I wish we had stuff like this in the real world!"
"We have electronics," Tommy said.
Labramon pushed his way past the Warriors, strolling over to an elevator beside a plant. He nodded his head toward it but continued walking.
"That's the elevator," Labramon grumbled before stopping at an entrance to another room. "This is the lunchroom, not like it matters though. No one goes here when there's a friggin' restaurant outside. Stupid Peter..."
Takuya furrowed his brows with a confused look. "I'm sorry, but do I know you? Your voice sounds oddly familiar."
Labramon snorted. "Yes."
Once again, the original Legendary Warriors traded puzzled looks. "Uh?"
They six fell into silence while Yori and Aki looked at them suspiciously. Rana herself twitched and messed with her bracelet. How come they couldn't recognize him then? Hadn't they said when they defeated an enemy they were reborn? Perhaps Labramon was one of those former enemies. But then why could he remember them? Didn't Digimon forget their past lives when they were reborn? Or were there exceptions?
"H-How do y-you know th-them?" Rana asked quietly and hesitantly.
"What's it to you, aqua girl?" Labramon sneered. Rana sqeaked and blushed madly. She just liked the color blue! It was like an identity thing! It wasn't that weird, was it?
"Hey, no need to be rude," Takuya defended her with a frown.
Leeremon huffed. "Whatever, Warrior of Fire."
Takuya's eyes widened. "How did you know I'm the Warrior of Fire?"
'If we go off colors, you have on a red t-shirt,' Rana thought silently. Leeremon glared with narrowed eyes at the goggle-headed boy.
"If I met you, why wouldn't I know who you are, hot-head?" Labramon tested.
"Labby! Stop pestering the guests!" Tinkermon shouted. Labramon growled at her and she threw a pen across the room in response. Labramon yelped as the pen narrowly missed stabbing him in the eye.
"Hey! Damn human types..." Labramon grumbled, rubbing a paw over his head. "Lord Cherubimon shoulda whipped you off the planet."
"So you were one of Cherubimon's minions?" Koichi asked softly, although it was phrased like a quiet statement. Labramon nodded with a cold stare at Koichi.
"Cherubimon? Who's Cherubimon?" Aki questioned with suspicion.
"He used to be our big baddie before he reformed," JP explained. "He's one of the three Celestial Angels."
"Like angel-face?" Aki said.
"Lady Angewomon, yeah," JP corrected. Rana noticed they had a lot of respect for Lady Angewomon. How important was she? What had she done for the Warriors? How had she earned the title of a Celestial Angel?"
Everyone jumped as there was a scream from outside and clattering. The original six immediately reacted, dashing out of the Natsunoyo Hotel. The new four followed after them, Labramon at their heels and Tinkermon launching herself over the counter.
"Hey! You're disturbing the diners!" A deep voice yelled. The owner of the voice was a man dressed in a green and golden jacket, a green hat with a red feather, golden hair and sheaths for knives on his hips. He was standing in front of Peter's Diner and glaring at the beast lounging on top of his restaurant. It was a lizard with a wooden face, a mane of dark red leaves, a back made of grass and moss, a two-tailed tail and bundles of wood jutting out from his back. Instead of claws, he had dark red leaves with sharp edges.
Digimon ran out of Peter's Diner frantically. Monstrous black and brown-furred Doberman Pinchers with piercing red eyes and a metal collar with spikes around its neck surrounded the restaurant. Well, not only the restaurant. They also lurked around the alleyways of the town, snarling at innocent bystanders and stealing their items.
"Petermon!" Tinkermon called, flying over to the man with the knife sheaths.
He tilted his head but kept his body angled towards the threat. "Sis!"
Labramon dashed over to the two, growling at the mossy lizard. The ten Legendary Warriors fanned out behind the three.
The lizard licked his maw with an ivy-like tongue, hunger in his white pupil-ed eyes. "I've heard this restaurant's got good reviews. Wouldn't mind giving me a free snack, would you?"
"You've gotta pay!"
"Petaldramon," Tommy murmured darkly. "I would have thought Chamelemon would have been his lackeys instead of Dobermon."
"Well, these guys usually come in pairs, so whoever his companion is must be a canine or dark Digimon," Labramon rumbled, not taking his eyes off Petaldramon.
Petermon narrowed his eyes in distrust at the Labrador. "And how would you know, mister?"
Tinkermon fluttered her sparkly wings. "Later, bro." She raced forward towards a trio of Dobermon that were terrorizing a pair of bunny Digimon. "Speed Nightmare!" A red lance appeared in her hands and she stung it into the side of the smallest Dobermon who yelped and stumbled onto its side. The other two Dobermon, a large male and a blue-eyed female, snarled at Tinkermon and jumped at the fairy who fluttered away.
Labramon leaped in front of Tinkermon and snarled, a blue and white light enveloping him.
"Labramon digivolve to... Seasarmon!" He was now a bulky white dog with a stout face, a golden mane of large spikes, wispy golden paws and tail, and a golden unicorn horn. The Dobermon, all of them, paused, tilting their heads with curious, slitted eyes. The blue-eyed one let out a low snarl followed by a bark. Seasarmon paused as well, slowly tilting his head before letting out a low, echoing 'boof'. The blue-eyed Dobermon responded with a series of barks, and the large male put in his own two barks.
Seasarmon raised his head. "Revenge sounds sweet. Keep your paws off the hotel and its a deal."
Tinkermon looked to Seasarmon with surprise. "Seasar-"
The Dobermon cut her off with a sharp bark and a nod. Seasarmon curled his pale purple claws in the ground before whipping around. Without warning, he snapped his jaws around Takuya, who shouted in surprise, kicking at the large mutt.
"Takuya!" Zoe and Tommy yelled together.
"Seasarmon!" Tinkermon gasped. Seasarmon heeded her no response and launched onto a house, his weight lighting crushing the hay roof. He hopped from house to house, building to building, until he was out of sight, taking Takuya with him. "Seasar! Pupper! You get back here! Seasar!"
Tinkermon's cries were lost on the dog's ears.
The Dobermon lurched forward, snapping at the villagers, and at the Legendary Warriors. The immediately responded with their calls of "Execute! Spirit Evolution!". Rana flinched and maneuvered herself to the back of the crowd. Hesitantly, she put her hand on her D-Tector, but she couldn't muster the strength to pull it from her pocket.
'Do you really think you can fight? What could you do? You can't fight. You're a hindrance. You're useless. You're a mistake,' Rana's thoughts echoed loudly in her head. 'You're just taking up space. Stay small in the back, or you're gonna cause a problem.' Rana closed her eyes and took deep breaths.
'I need to. I'm weaker as a human.' Rana breathed in. 'Pessamon can take over.' She breathed out. The fractal code surrounded her hand and she slowly swiped it across her blue D-Tector.
"Execute! Spirit Evolution!"
The data cocoon surrounded her, and everything muted. There was eerie silence, and her sense of feelings disappeared as well. It felt like everything in the moment was just a blank slate. What had she been doing? What was she going to do? Instead of being certain of what was happening, it was just like she was reading about what was happening. Something beyond her senses was flowing with power. Like her fingertips were brushing a hurricane. There was a pull on her body, as if something was trying to pull her. But something else felt like it was pushing her back. The cocoon broke.
"Pessamon!"
"Dodge to the left." Pessamon immediately reacted, moving her otter-woman body like it was a piece of heavy armor on her. A Dobermon barreled past her.
She took a deep breath, the world around her blurry. She always felt dizzy after Spirit Evolving, like she had been dissociated from the world. She managed to focus back into the world, her vision sharpening, despite her lack of eyes as a Digimon.
Petaldramon curled his leaf claws into Peter's Diner, sniffing the air. He lazily turned to face the Warriors as one of them sent an attack his way. He smirked at them.
"Hello, Warriors," Petaldramon rumbled, licking his chops. He opened his mouth to say more when his eyes widened, glazing over. They suddenly turned red, bug-eyed staring at them. His body twitched. "You." His face turned into that of a snarl, but no noise came out. "You." Who was he talking about? His eyes and nose twitched. Tears pricked at the corners of his red eyes. "You murderer!"
The Warriors jumped as Petaldramon screeched. Beetlemon turned to Lobomon confused.
"Since when did he cry?" Beetlemon mumbled, face furrowed in confusion, and a hint of worry. Whether it was towards Petaldramon, or Petaldramon's sanity, Rana did not know.
Petaldramon scrunched up his body, raising his split tail threateningly. "Thorn Jab!" His tail came back down, curling around the restaurant and stabbing into the ground. The ground rumbled, and below Nymphmon, Loweemon and Kumamon vines burst forth. Nymphmon, startled, tried to fly away, but the vines wrapped her and she panicked, trying to kick at the vines. Kumamon froze the vines after him, while Loweemon used his Shadow Lance attack to keep the vines at bay.
"Overgrowth, Overgrowth, Overgrowth,urrgh! Why isn't this working?!" Nymphmon screeched, Kazemon and Hantamon at her side, fending off the drooling, vicious Dobermon.
Without even turning to look at Nymphmon, as his attention was focused on either Kumamon or Loweemon, Petaldramon said hollowly, "Their my vines, replacement." Pessamon guessed, based off the insult towards Nymphmon, that Petaldramon was probably the former Warrior of Wood.
Petaldramon glared with red eyes at the two Warriors who were dodging his vines. "Murderer..." He muttered under his breath. Pessamon shivered. Who was he calling murderer? Was it one of the original Warriors? Did... Did one of them permanently destroy a friend of Petaldramon? ...
"Rana, focus. You're in a fight." Pessamon jumped, startled. She had forgotten completely about both the voice and the fight. Currently, the Dobermon were targeting those dealing with vines or bystanders. What should she do? What could she do?
"Help the bystanders," the voice said as if it was obvious, which it probably was. Pessamon slinked along the sidelines of the main battle, trying to find a villager who wasn't holding their own. With persuasion from the voice, she managed to use Ocean Shards on a snarling Dobermon. The Dobermon backed off as one of the shards hit him in the eye. He whined, just like a little puppy, and rubbed his paw over his face. Pessamon felt horrible for attacking the Dobermon.
'What if he's just doing this because the rest of the Dobermon are like his pack, and he's following them? What if he was being forced to fight? What if he didn't realize he was doing any wrong?' Pessamon thought, covering her fear of fighting with worry for her enemy.
"But right now he's attacking someone who's innocent," the voice added in. Pessamon hesitantly agreed. She cast another Ocean Shards towards the Dobermon and he hopped away, not wanting to fight an opponent who could fight back. The Digimon he was attacking, a black cat, mewed her thanks to her before she ran away to her friends and helped them against a pair of Dobermon. Pessamon felt a small burst of delight in her chest. She had done something.
'Not that I had done much. That Dobermon was weak,' her thoughts sneered. Pessamon shook them off. She needed to focus on the battle. She had to do more. She couldn't be useless, again.
"Watch your left. Peteldramon's vines have gone wild,' the voice told her. Pessamon heeded her advice, and turned to her left, keeping an eye (or lack there of) on the battle of Petaldramon and vines versus the Legendary Warriors. Kumamon had disappeared, along with Beetlemon, and Pessamon had to guess that they might have gone to help other places of the town, like the Home of the Maigo. Nymphmon had gotten out of the vines with assistance from Kazemon and Hantamon. Kazemon was keeping an eye in the sky, using her wind attacks to protect the villagers while Nymphmon and Hantamon hesitantly tag teamed. Leeremon was hopping around, messing with the Dobermon and dancing around the vines. Loweemon had clearly been singled out by Petaldramon. The beast jumped down in front of the humanoid lion, blank-faced and red-eyed.
"Arbormon..." Petaldramon whispered as if talking to himself. His eyes hardened. Loweemon didn't hear him, but strained his ears trying to. Petaldramon spoke up, snarling at the Warrior of Darkness. "Murderer!"
Loweemon's ears flattened. "What are you talking about?" Something in Loweemon's deep voice stressed, going up a pitch. Fear flickered in his eyes.
"Yesterday's ally is today's enemy," Petaldramon spat. Recognition suddenly flashed in Loweemon's eyes. Terror and guilt soon followed. "Leaf Cyclone!" Loweemon's attention was drawn from the vines he was fighting off so he could defend himself from the hurricane of leaves that shot out from Petaldramon's nostrils. He spun his lance to destroy the leaves. The vines made their move.
Nymphmon, who was close to the battle, glanced at the vines, and she seemed to look like she wanted to help for a moment, before her gaze flickered to Petaldramon and her hollow eyes narrowed, and she moved away from the fight. Pessamon could just guess what she was thinking. An accusation like 'murderer' doesn't just come from nowhere.
"Innocent until proven guilty," the voice said, strong and loud. Pessamon found herself listening to the voice and running forward.
"Flow of River!" She used it on two Dobermon that had been lurking forward to pounce on Loweemon when his guard was down. The two dark Digimon yelped as they glowed blue, caught of guard. When it went away, they both traded glances of confusion. One of them used their attack, Black Beam, to test if anything had changed, and they were both surprised to see gusts of wind appear from its mouth and not a deadly black beam like the name implied. Not used to being Digimon of wind, they tripped over themselves and whined, not knowing if they should attack, or how they would.
Lobomon raced forward, intent on defending his brother from the vines, but Petaldramon caught him off-guard by slamming him with a large vine. Lobomon flew back into a hut due to momentum, and his weight made him crash through it. There was a bright light, and Pessamon guessed he dedigivolved.
Koji grunted, grasping his left shoulder. He had slammed through both walls of the hut, and had hit his shoulder pretty bad against the wall of the next hut. Hopefully it wasn't dislocated. Other than some cuts and bruises, he was fine. Exhausted and winded, but fine. He struggled to get onto his feet and decided to rest before he went back out to help his twin.
'Goddamn Petaldramon, going on about Koichi being a murderer. He's not a murderer! That was Duskmon. And if he's a murderer, than so are we! We also defeated Digimon and purified them. I purified Arbormon's Beast Spirit. I purified Petaldramon! Does that not make me a murderer? And they were reborn! Digimon we purify are reborn. Petaldramon was reborn. So why is he going on about being murdered?' Koji took deep breaths. Once he was certain he had calmed down and had enough strength, he began to prop himself up against the wall with a groan.
He paused as his eyes caught on something out of place. Sitting peacefully on the roof of a hut was a white and blue Digimon. It was humanoid, but it had beak, although it was just an extension of its face, and it had a flared tail of tan feathers, along with tan feathers on its head that looked like hair. Instead of hands it had three deep blue claws, the same for its feet. Something was tied around its neck, and it looked dirty and old due to its pale blue color and ragged look. It wore white and blue armor and clothes. Its base color was white, with dark blue lines and markings and eyes. From this angle, Koji couldn't see it well, but there was something else on its shoulder, as evident by a pale red scaly tail hanging from there. It was watching the battle emotionlessly, or maybe with disdain. There was a glow on its head. A gem in the middle of its forehead, perhaps? It was glowing a red, the same red as Petaldramon's eyes.
Koji had never seen or heard of a Digimon like it. He narrowed his eyes and studied the Digimon. What was it doing here? Was it a villager? Then why were no Dobermon attacking it, and why wasn't it helping its fellows?
And then it spoke. Not towards Koji, so Koji guessed it was speaking to its companion on its shoulder.
"It's kind of twisted that they put Arbormon's actual murderer on the team with Petaldramon," it said in a boyish, dead-pan, deep voice. Koji guessed 'it' was a 'he'. The figure on his shoulder popped its head forward, chirping, and revealing it was somewhere between bird-like and dragon-like in design. It had a sharp, pointed head and two tiny dark yellow eyes, It looked oddly familiar.
'Arbormon's actual murderer?' Koji's breath caught in his throat, and he felt his heartbeat stop for a second. 'Duskmon?' Was Duskmon somewhere here? Lurking in the shadows? It had been in the back of his mind since Labramon had mentioned Petaldramon's teammate being a 'canine or dark Digimon'. It would make sense, if the dark Digimon was Duskmon. He was the former, corrupted Warrior of Darkness.
'But we purified his Spirits!' Not like that had stopped Grumblemon and Petaldramon from appearing. 'But Koichi had been in control of Duskmon, to an extent. Grumblemon and the others were independent.' Would that have affected anything? Did it matter? If Yori had been in control of Grumblemon back then, would Grumblemon still be here today?
'Why hasn't Duskmon showed his face?' Wouldn't Duskmon rather fight Koichi than let Petaldramon take him? Wouldn't Duskmon have more of a reason to fight Koichi? Or, what would Duskmon's motive actually be? Jealousy because he was replaced as the Warrior of Darkness, just like Grumblemon had been angry that he had been stripped of his title of Warrior of Earth? For some reason, Duskmon didn't strike Koji as the jealous type.
'Then again, we never met Duskmon. We only met Koichi as Duskmon.'
Koji closed his eyes. He was going in circles. He needed to focus on the battle happening now. If Duskmon decided to show his ugly eyeballs, Koji would be ready.
Koji grunted and pulled himself up.
"Execute! Spirit Evolution!"
Pessamon dodged a vine that warned her she had gotten too close to the battle going on between Loweemon and Petaldramon. She tried to dip out of the way of a Dobermon that launched at her, a maw full of sharpened fangs ready to rip her to shreds, but she tripped on her otter boot-ed feet. Pessamon felt her heart jump out through her throat as the Dobermon snapped inches away from her face as she put her staff in front of her. Drool from the Dobermon's mouth dripped onto Pessamon's face, and the Dobermon pushed down with his weight. Pessamon struggled to keep the Dobermon from ripping her apart, her arms shaking and wobbling. The Dobermon pushed down, puffing hot breath on Pessamon's face.
'I'm not gonna make it!'
"Use Cry of the Water Princess," the voice instructed her. Pessamon felt hesitant. Why hadn't the voice told her of the move earlier? What was wrong with it?
"Nothing, it's just special," the voice said, a bit strained despite its regal tone. Pessamon had a feeling that wasn't all. Why was it special? Was it really powerful, or...?
The Dobermon took her moment of not concentrating to move forward, trying to bite her face. Pessamon felt something push from inside her, and she immediately let go of her senses, recognizing it as when the voice had taken over. She was now an observer in the background, and she felt nothing. She felt no breeze, she felt no push from the Dobermon. She smelled nothing. She felt nothing. She only saw and heard what 'Pessamon' saw and heard. She couldn't move herself, but she didn't mind. It was just like watching a movie, but your neck was broken and couldn't move.
'Pessamon's' strength was far greater than Rana's, and it was glaringly obvious. 'Pessamon's' arms snapped straight, and the Dobermon yelped at the sudden movement, tumbling over. She didn't even need to use Cry of the Water Princess. She raised her arms and cried "Ocean Shards!". The shards of water sliced at the Dobermon swiftly. The Dobermon howled and suddenly became a silhouette. Blue code appeared around him. Rana caught the name 'Fractal Code' from one of 'Pessamon's' passing thoughts. 'Pessamon' pulled Rana's D-Tector from thin air and scanned the Fractal Code silently. Rana sensed curiosity poking through 'Pessamon's' mental barriers.
'Has she never used a D-Tector before? Well, it's not like I have either,' Rana thought in the background. Once 'Pessamon' finished scanning the Fractal Code and the Digi-egg flew away, she leaped onto a hut gracefully, gazing out onto the battlefield.
"Rana," 'Pessamon' thought to her. "You need to learn to fight. I can't keep taking your battles for you. Advising you what to do is one thing, but fighting the fight is another."
'I know,' Rana thought guiltily. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been extremely relieved when 'Pessamon' had taken over.
'Who are you?' Rana asked, although she already had her suspicions. Apparently, 'Pessamon' had caught her suspicions in her thoughts.
"Yes, I am the Spirit of Pessamon," 'Pessamon' responded.
'What's so special about the Cry of the Water Princess?' Rana inquired, mentally narrowing her eyes.
"..." 'Pessamon' was silent for a moment, and Rana caught feelings of dread flowing off from her. "There's... bad memories connected to it for me. Nothing is wrong with the attack itself, I assure you." 'Pessamon' collected herself. Rana felt her consciousness being tugged forward. Rana didn't want to, but she felt the breeze on her arms, and she knew she was back in control, and where there was once the buzzing of 'Pessamon's' muted thoughts, there was a wall of silence. Rana inwardly sighed.
Leeremon suddenly appeared on the roof of the hut beside Pessamon, whining and holding his tail.
"Ouch!" He said, rubbing it. He must've gotten bitten by a Dobermon. He stretched out his tail and sighed, eyebrows furrowed as he looked out at the commotion. "Three battles in two days..." He muttered, and for the first time, he looked concerned and hesitant. He shrugged his worries of his shoulder, though, and flung himself back into battle. He attacked two Dobermon at once, flinging his Dark Orbs at the two. One Dobermon yelped and trembled as if attacked, while the other slumped over as if fatigued.
Pessamon sighed and turned back to the alleyways where Dobermon were picking on harmless villagers. She was off to fight the cowardly ones, the weak ones. It's not like she was any different from them, though.
So I was looking through some of my scrapped Digimon Frontier stories, and one of my favorite moments was this (over text):
" " In all seriousness can we just stop texting and deal with this in the morning? My eyes can abrely stay open-minded " -Koji
" *Barley " -Koji
" *BARNEY " -Koji
" NO BARLEY " -Koji
" URRRGH BARELY " -Koji
" Finally " -Koji
" What about open-minded? ? " -Koichi
" MAYBE MY EYES CAN BE OPEN-MINDED IF THEY WANT TO KOICHI " -Koji "
I find this very amusing because i actually made BOTH typos when writing this XD along with another time where JP texting "bug-thing" changed to "big-times" which i had to roll with (basically, any typos i made, i could NOT undo, since it was texting, and you make typos while texting, right?)