Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Millenium ❯ The Shield of Light ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: Nah, I don't own Digimon … *sighs for the thousandth time*

 

Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews, all you reviewers! But I still think I've let the actual flaunt of the story down … it's just not, right … damn, I've gotta work on this!

 

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Chapter Nine

 

The Shield of Light

 

“W-where am I?”

The sound of something droning had awoken Kari from her sleep, which wasn't exactly pleasant. She felt like she had a major migraine and that she was carrying a huge sack of something heavy on her back. As she blinked her eyes, getting used to the blinding light that was being shone to her; she felt all memory rush back to her.

“Oh no!” she cried. “Ken!”

She looked around to find with a sinking heart that she was indeed alone. She didn't want to believe all that had happened earlier in the day. Tears started welling up in her eyes as Davis's face and Ken's mangled body came into her mind. She sat up, trying to wipe away her tears.

“I've got to get out of here,” she said, getting up. Her knees felt shaky, and it looked like she'd fall any moment, but she managed to stand upright with the help of the wall she was next to. I wish Gatomon were here …

Forcing her mind not to go anywhere near her friends, she looked around for any loophole out of this mess. “There's got to be something … anything …”

Kari made her way towards the window, the only one in the obstructed room. Looking outside of it, she gasped to find the ground miles below her. Where was she? Streaks of lightning flew down from the sky, making her jump brilliantly. “What is this?”

She narrowed her eyes, feeling the intense power that came from all around her. She had the aptitude to sense certain kinds of force, and this power was evil. Kari couldn't remember anything like it since MaloMyotismon. And just like then, she felt scared and useless.

“No!” she cried sharply. “I won't be weak! I won't!”

“Very good … It's nice to see you up.”

And then all of her confidence came crashing down like bricks around her, hearing that voice.

“I wish I could say the same thing …” Kari croaked. She turned around, facing Rita who was smirking down at her from the door which was now unlocked.

“Hm,” Rita walked forward. “I see your power also is beginning to open up …”

Kari looked at her with hatred. She and her partner greatly reminded her of Arukenimon and Mummymon. But she knew these two were much stronger, more powerful.

“What do you mean by that?” Kari snapped.

Rita shook her head in mockery, “Losing your temper is a bad thing you know. Leaves marks on your forehead …

“Why are you here?”

“We need you down at the chambers … immediately.”

Kari said, “And what if I don't want to come with you?”

“Then you just go down with me the hard way,” Rita replied, removing the smile off of her face.

Kari found she couldn't do anything else but follow her. Maybe she could find hints of the evil preparation while going down there. She walked forward and Rita led her out the door and through the dark passageway.

I hope everyone else is alright …

 

Moments later …

“Hey! Hey you guys, look over there!”
Cody's yell broke TK out of his train of thought and he looked towards where the boy was pointing. He felt dread wash over him as he stared over at what seemed like a soaring tower, radiating its iniquity as far out as it could reach.

“It seems to be a tower of some sort …” Gatomon said.

Yolei stepped forward, her fists at her sides, “I don't care what sort of tower it is! As long as it's got any sorta clue to where this place leads us, I don't care!”

“Yolei, wait,” Cody said. “What if it's too risky? We might not know if the others are here or whether this place does have answers for us, though it does look pretty mysterious.”

Yolei turned to him, enraged, “I'm sick and tired of waiting, Cody! How long have we been waiting out here for, huh?”

“I know that, Yolei, but …”

TK frowned as he studied the tower more closely. There seemed something very familiar about this and he felt a sudden flashback hit him. That's when it happened.

“Woah!” he shouted out. Yolei and Cody looked back at the tower and gasped.

A brilliant burst of light stretched out from the base of the tower, blinding them. TK closed his eyes tight, his mind going through memories on its own. And just as it started, it stopped. It took a while for them to get used to the darkness that had yet again swallowed everything in sight.

“W-what was that?” Yolei whimpered.

“It was certainly very intense,” Hawkmon said.

TK slowly opened his eyes and fear hit him hard in the chest. Those memories he had been seeing … he couldn't believe her power had gone that far out of its limits.

“Kari!” he shouted. The others looked at him in alarm and confusion.

“What happened to her?” Yolei asked.

“She's using her powers! I didn't even know she could summon them yet!” Gatomon said, apparently knowing what TK meant.

TK ran forward, his footsteps sinking into the ground making dark tracks. “Come on, you guys! We've gotta hurry!”

 

 

“This is entertaining,” Cyrius said, watching Kari, locked up in her bonds, scream.

“Yes, it is, isn't it?” beside him, Rita said.

She had managed to bring Kari down to the chambers, where she locked her tightly to the bonds. Now she was constantly hurting her, making sure her powers came out just the way she wanted them to. The bonds were attached to the wall, making her hang down.

“Come on …” Rita said, smiling spitefully. “If you be a nice, little girl and give out your true powers then maybe I don't need to hurt you as much, although it is fun.”

“Never!” Kari cried, her eyes shut tight in pain. It took all her effort not to let tears spill out, but it was getting harder hanging in.

Rita brought her hands up, creating a sadistic energy ball which crackled right near Kari's face. “See this?”

Kari either didn't, or couldn't. But she could feel the immense power it was giving out and she was trembling with shock after all the blows she had received.

“I will make sure you are as spoilt and as withered as that Ken Ichijoji, or maybe worse, if you don't let out your true powers …”

Cyrius looked at Ken, who was still unconscious. He took care of him when he was refusing just like Kari, and they had managed to just get little of his powers. Of course, they knew all along that he had possessed power, and great power. Together, if he and Kari Kamiya's powers combined, just the way Master wanted them to, then they would get enough control to destroy the Digital Gate, letting in the Digimon from the Dark Ocean and also destroying the seal from the Real World. The other humans out there all had to be the same as the Digidestined, officious … Master always wanted to get rid of that race, but he figured it would come in useful for his later plans.

“Careful Rita,” Cyrius said. “We need her alive later on … her powers won't just come by violence.”

The energy quickly faded in Rita's outstretched hand. She brought it down by her side and sighed, “Fine. But if we do get to finish them off, I'd like nothing better than to eliminate this one.”

“That's all right with me,” said Cyrius.

Rita looked at him. “Where is he? The Digidestined of Miracle?”

“I've got him safe somewhere …” Cyrius replied. “I think we should get rid of him. He's no use to us anymore … from what I've seen so far, we've weakened him enough that his Digimon partner can not even digivolve to its Champion level.”

“Really?” Rita nodded. “Then I guess it's best if we do. These brats have been so cut off from the Digiworld the past year that even their crests have begun to weaken.”

“Yes, they weren't prepared for all of this. They've all become pathetic …”

Kari, although nearly out cold, heard all what was being said and she couldn't believe that they had been that dense not to realize that they were needed, and that their crests had destabilized. She felt like breaking down just thinking about what will happen.

“What shall we do about the girl's D3?” she heard Rita ask, and all the blood rushed to her face. They had had it all along!

“I suppose she'd want it now after being so separated from it so long …”

“You're right.”

Kari opened her eyes and watched Rita place the D3 next to her feet. She closed them quickly. My - my D3 …

“That's better. Now, if you may Cyrius, I think we have someone to get rid of.”

Feeling her pulse racing with fear again, Kari wanted to shout out, to scream, to do anything that would stop them from summoning Davis. But she couldn't.

A huge rush of wind told her that Davis had appeared. She had to stop them from doing this, but she felt pathetic. Please! No!

“Nice to see you've come, boy,” Cyrius said, roughly. “There's something we need you to do for us. It might just be the last ever order you take …”

Inside of him, the real Davis was screaming in pain. It intensified more than ever and he felt something terrible was to happen.

Kari squinted a little to see Davis kneel down in front of Cyrius, who gathered in his hands darkness energy just like Rita had done. Meanwhile, Rita stepped back, enjoying every minute of this moment.

Just as Cyrius lowered his hands to lay the energy onto Davis, Kari broke out.

“NOOOO!”

Kari was staring at both Rita and Cyrius with fear, and there was something else in her eyes. Hate.

“So she's broken out of her cocoon,” Rita said, a dangerous look on her face. She walked towards Kari, “I'll take care of her.”

But before she could reach her, bright light disintegrated from within Kari, shining everything in sight. Rita screamed brutally and stepped back, while Cyrius's energy flickered off in his hands.

The bonds that had fastened Kari's hands broke apart and she fell on the ground, landing on her feet. Her eyes were flashing dangerously, and the power she was giving out was extreme. Holding out her hands, she said forbiddingly, “Never - never will you even think of hurting any one of my friends! Ever!”

Davis bowed his head, his eyes shut tightly. His breathing hastened and he clutched his arms agonizingly. He felt he was falling through a vortex, not knowing when it would end, not knowing whether he would wake up and find it was a nightmare. Then he heard a scream. His eyes flew open and he found he was in a dark, hollow chamber. Light was glowing from the midst of it and he could just make out a shape as he peered at it.

“Let's go, Rita!” a sharp voice made him turn his head, and he saw Cyrius grab Rita's hand. The next minute, they departed in a small current that appeared.

“Hey!” Davis yelled out, angrily. But it was too late to stop them now.

The light diminished slowly, and it was then that Davis made out the figure that had now fallen to the floor in her fatigue.

“KARI!” he ran towards her, wincing as he felt the twinge in his limbs. But he didn't care. Kari was hurt, and he had to go to her. He had to do something to help her.

He bent down and gently pulled her up from her waist. He supported her against him and his heart sank as he noticed the state she was in. Blood was dripping down from a cut made just underneath her eyes and her face was pale. Her uniform which was cut from the previous times she had been hurt, now was spotted with blood.

“Kari …” he whispered, hoarsely. “Kari!”

She peered slowly up at him, trying to ignore the pain that was throbbing more in her head than anywhere else. “D-Davis?”

“It's me, Kari. I'm here …” Davis looked down at her, relieved to know she was at least conscious.

“A-are you alright … now?” she asked. It seemed painful for her to breathe, let alone talk.

“I'm fine. What about you?” It was a stupid question to ask, seeing as she was in no state to even answer it, although she gave a small nod before closing her eyes and resting her head against his chest.

“Kari …” Davis ran a hand through her hair tenderly. He now understood that the reason Cyrius and Rita fled was because of her. Because of the light she gave off. And all to save him. “I'm so sorry …”

For a moment he sat there, looking down at the girl. He had always admired her. When he first became a Digidestined, he wanted to have full-on experience just like her and TK. That was probably why he envied TK, and why he wanted Kari to respect him back. He felt ashamed when he thought of the times he acted like such a goof over his crush on her back them. It was true; he did like her a lot. But over the years, it just vanished since they became such good friends. And Davis now grasped just how much his relationship with her meant, how much value it had to it. Because of what she did for him …

He stared at her for a while more, before placing her back onto the floor. He had to get them both out of here. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled, “VEEEMON!”

“Where are you?” he called. “VEEMON!”

When he felt his voice might vanish, he fell onto his knees, feeling more disappointed and upset than ever. First Kari got hurt because of him, and now he couldn't find Veemon.

Suddenly, a crash occurred from nearby. Davis feared at the thought of those two back, back for vengeance, and him trying to uselessly defend himself and Kari. He walked unevenly back towards Kari and knelt down. Putting his arm around her petite form, he looked around; ready for anything that came at them. Whatever happened, he hated himself for being so weak. For making Kari do this to herself for him.

For a moment, there was silence. Davis thought that they'd be planning the best way to get in and give it to them. But nothing of the sort happened. Amazingly, a very familiar voice called out …

“Davis?”

Davis almost fainted with shock when he saw Veemon emerge from the broken entryway that was placed a few feet away. The Rookie's face lit up when he saw his partner and he ran towards him with his arms outstretched, “DAVIS!”

“Veemon!” Davis hugged him, picking him up and swirling him around. He was a bit amazed of the strength he had left, suddenly after seeing such a familiar face. And that being of his partner.

After he put him down, Veemon was about to open his mouth to say something when he noticed Kari on the floor out cold. “W-what … happened?”

Davis immediately became solemn once he turned back to Kari, “She … she got hurt while trying to save me.”

“Oh no …” Veemon walked forward and knelt down next to the girl. She shook his head, “Gatomon will not be happy when she sees this.”

“Hmm,” Davis nodded. “But … where were you Veemon?”

Veemon shrugged, “I don't know. When I woke up, I found myself locked up in some sorta hall … I was searching for you when I came across -”

“VEEMON!” a voice screeched through the depressed chamber, echoing off its walls.

“Yolei?” Davis turned around to see, with relief, Yolei with the other Digimon running towards them. Behind her came TK and Cody, supporting the very battered Ken Ichijoji.

“What the hell happened?” Davis asked, getting up. He felt disgusted as he studied Ken, who was half-awake.

“I haven't got a clue,” TK said, shaking his head in despair. “When we got here, we saw Ken on the floor … and - and …”

His voice trailed off as he saw Kari, unconscious on the ground. “Kari!”

Letting go of Ken, he ran towards his friend. This action caused Davis to take Ken's other side. He watched with sad eyes TK bending over Kari, calling to her as he tried waking her up.

“TK!” he called. “It's no use. I've tried what you're doing!”

“What,” TK's voice had an edge to it, “happened to her? How did this happen?”

Davis didn't feel like explaining the incident, but he knew they had to find out sooner or later. Sooner was the best option here. He looked TK straight in the eye, trying to tell him the best way he could. “I was in trouble, and she saved me … but got hurt in the process …”

“Oh no …” Yolei fell to her knees near Kari's side. She was shaking with panic and anger. This made Davis feel even guiltier. He never meant to hurt any of his friends. He felt more culpable as he watched Gatomon stand by Kari, not saying anything but looking blankly at her.

“It's OK Davis …” Ken croaked, surprising him. Davis looked back at his best friend, who continued, “I know it's not … your fault.”

“Ken …” Davis shut his eyes tight, trying to prevent tears from cascading out. He never imagined himself to be in the state he was in right now. “I … I …”

TK looked at the leader with misery. He had seen Davis cry before, but this was serious.

“It's my fault …” Davis said, burrowing his eyebrows in frustration. “If … if it weren't for me, Kari never would've been like this …”

“Davis, shut up,” TK said, getting up.

“No!” Davis yelled, opening his eyes. He let go of Ken and walked forward. “I'm weak! I'm frail!”

He looked at TK walk right up at him. The two of them were the same height now, courtesy of Davis's soccer practices and puberty. Four years ago, he would've been looking up at TK in fury.

“What are you -?” he began but couldn't finish his sentence as TK punched him hard across the face. Pain made way to replace his guiltiness, and in his mind's eye, he could see his mentor being punched across the face by Matt.

“There, are you all better now?” TK asked, mockingly. He almost burst out laughing at the sight of Davis's expression. If only he had a camera.

“What did you do that for?!” Davis roared, suddenly furious.

Now TK really needed that camera. He felt he had warped back in time back to the days they used to have tremendous fights.

Yolei started giggling. She thought herself mad to laugh in such a situation but she couldn't help it. And immediately, the whole group started laughing. Even Ken chuckled.

“WHAT?” Davis cried, angrily. “TF hits me and all you guys start laughing? Jeez!”

“I've gotta thank Matt for all those pep talks we've had,” TK said to Yolei, winking. “He also taught me some of his moves … pretty good, eh?”

“They're great!”

Davis felt he'd burst with anger. But soon, he started cracking up as well. It had been such a long time since he'd laughed like this; he forgot how it was like. And he owed it all to his friends.

“See Davis,” Cody said, smiling. “You've gotta learn to forgive yourself.”

“Yeah,” said Ken. “And if I remember correct, wasn't it you who told me the same thing? Amusing how things like this work, isn't it?”

Davis nodded, beaming. “You can say that again …”

He became serious at once as he walked towards Kari and knelt down. He placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her beaten, yet beautiful face, “I just wish Kari was awake. It kills to see her like this.”

TK studied Davis as he stared at the girl. Something definitely had changed between those two, just as he predicted. Davis had grown more caring of Kari and she in turn, became his close friend. And it all happened when Davis stopped trying to be someone he wasn't … when his crush on her died. TK also noticed something different about the way Davis felt hatred towards himself because of Kari … TK nodded in realization. His crush hadn't faded at all … it had bloomed into something much more, and without Davis realizing it.

“Pathetic …” TK murmured, knowing Davis wouldn't believe him if he told him.

“Was there something you said, TK?” Patamon asked.

“Oh, nothing, nothing …” TK said, putting on an innocent expression. “Nothing at all …”

Veemon looked at Davis, “Shouldn't we get going now? What if Cyrius and Rita come back?”

“Who and Who?” Yolei asked with her hands on her hips.

“Cyrius and Rita,” Davis said, getting up. “The two goons we saw in Frosty's. The man and the women. Turns out they're the perpetrators in this case …”

“But what do they want?” Armadillomon inquired.

“They're planning on destroying the Digital Portal …” Ken replied, his voice a bit stronger.

“What?” Gatomon said, shocked.

Ken nodded. “Yeah. They told me all about it when they held me prisoner … their Master wants to get rid of the Digital Portal so the seal to the Real World and the Dark Ocean could be broken.”

TK frowned, thinking of that place that he was once transported to. The place that Kari feared above all. “The Dark Ocean …”

“We did seal the portal to it,” Hawkmon said. “How can he break it?”

“If he turned Davis into a monster, he could definitely do something like that,” Yolei said.

“What!?” Davis said. His face lit with insight, “So … I was a monster?”

Cody nodded, “Yes. And you were very powerful.”

“Kari must've been trying to save you from becoming what you had,” TK said. “She has powers that she can't control. No wonder she's like this!”

“That's what they wanted,” said Ken. “They wanted her powers, along with mine.”

“But wait a minute!” Yolei interrupted. “You've got powers? I never knew that!”

Ken shook his head, “So didn't I. They tortured me, trying to get it out … the same they did to Kari, only she has a purpose in this plan.”

Davis looked at Ken, “But … how do you know all this?”

Cody helped Ken sit onto the ground carefully. Sighing, Ken began talking, “Well … it was a few years ago … when I …”

“Yes, go on …” Davis said, knowing Ken was uncomfortable with the topic of himself as the Digimon Emperor.

“Anyways … I had just come back from destroying a certain Digimon village when, when these two appeared. They came out of nowhere. Wormmon told me they had been waiting for me.”

He continued. “They wanted to make a deal. They said that if I help them destroy the seal to the Dark Ocean, they could help me make my minions stronger and more dominant … I declined the offer since I wanted to take control over the Dark Ocean as well. Surprisingly, they didn't get angry or anything of the sort. They just smiled and thanked me, and vanished … and now, I saw them again, and they said that they can make me become what I once was …”

“Oh Ken!” Yolei said.

“And I declined again … so they said they would take out my power with force. After that, well … I was unconscious …”

Davis looked at his friend for a while. He had been so brave to stand up against what he believed was wrong. That was what he expected in himself.

“But wait …” Veemon said, frowning. “Where is Wormmon?”

“Yeah Ken,” said TK.

Ken closed his eyes tight, “I don't know … when we appeared in this place, he wasn't with me.”

They stared at one another in silence. Either Wormmon was left in the Real World, or he was lost alone in the Digiworld … Davis felt horrible. If Ken lost Wormmon again, he'd feel heartbroken. He had lost him once; he'd never want to lose him again.

Yolei bent down next to him and put an arm around his shoulder affectionately, “Don't worry Ken. We'll find him, I know we will …”

Ken slowly smiled at her, fondness shone in his eyes. “Thanks Yolei …”

TK beamed, watching them. He looked at Davis, “What do we do now?”

“I don't know. We move on …” Davis replied. “I'm sure glad Tai's not here; he would've gone crazy if he knew what happened to his little sister.”

“Oh yeah! That reminds me - Tai and the others are in the other part of the Digiworld,” TK explained. “Izzy managed to contact us, and it looked like they were in the original Digiworld while we were in another part … so they're trying everything they can to break in or find some sort of gate.”

“That's great,” said Davis. “So does this mean that this place is like, an illusion?”

Cody shook his head, “This isn't an illusion like MaloMyotismon. Trust me, it's very different … almost real.”

“That's just great …” Veemon mumbled. He groaned and held his stomach, “I'm hungry!”

Everyone laughed. It was nice to know Veemon and Davis were back to their normal selves. Yolei giggled, “I'm sorry, Veemon. I had the food but it all got wasted during the battle we had with you guys …”

“What are we gonna do?” Veemon cried, alarmed. “I need food!”

Davis grinned and patted him hard on the back, “Doesn't matter, pal. If we wanna be strong, we've gotta maintain our diet program.”

“What? By being starved to death?” Veemon wailed. “I thought it was the other way round.”

Davis rolled his eyes while the others grinned at the Digimon's behavior. “Well … I guess we should head off now.”

TK nodded, “Yeah. It's good we're all reunited … now we can properly plan on what to do.”

“Yeah, well here's the first problem we need a plan on,” Yolei said. She looked sadly at her best friend lying on the floor, “Who's gonna support Kari?”

“We can always put her on one of the Digimon,” said TK.

Davis frowned, “But the problem is not one of our Digimon can digivolve … this is a predicament.”

“Well, one of us can always carry her …” Cody pointed out. He stared at all his friends' confused faces, and hurried on. “I mean - not carry! There can be two people to support her.”

“I guess we're the two for that,” TK said to Davis. “Since the others might wanna help Ken.”

Davis nodded. He walked over to Kari and with the help of TK, hoisted her up carefully. One arm was draped around Davis's neck while the other one around TK's.

“I guess we're ready,” Davis said, looking around at everyone's determined faces. He spoke up, “Now our next goal is to find Cyrius and Rita and stop them from what they're trying to do!”

“Right,” everyone said in unison.

They walked out of the chamber, two being supported, on their way to another quest. And just like the last times, to save the Digiworld from a newer evil.

 

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Author's Note: FINALLY! It took me a whole day to complete this chapter!! I hope it turned out alright; my imagination for the day was poured out into it.

Anyways, review if you want. And those of you who constantly review, a million thanks goes are on their way to you!

Cheerio!