WoS Ch16 - Rock Bottom

The story so far: After getting less than two hours of sleep last night, Kouji's had a day and ends up alienating his only ally. While JP (Warrior of Thunder) manages to befriend the whole reason the two boys have separted from the three other humans also trapped in the Digital World, Kouji ended up all alone in a long and brutal fight against Arbormon, the Warrior of Wood. The overwhelming power of Arbomon's Beast Spirit, Petaldramon, is too much for Kouji and he loses his own Spirit, Lobomon the Warrior of Light, while being critically injured. At the last moment, JP as Beetlemon and Gotsumon who currently is in possession of the Beast Spirit of Light (Garmmon), swoop in - and at least manage to save Kouji's life. But Gotsumon has no control over Garmmon, and Petaldramon continues to be a threat.

Chapter 16 - Rock Bottom

-Kouji-

While Beetlemon was in crisis, Kouji tried to focus his swimming vision. He forced himself to concentrate on the ground below and saw Garmmon in a losing battle. It was a sobering thought that not even his Beast Spirit was able to go against Petaldramon. Arbormon would walk away from tonight with both Spirits of Light.

He was so resigned that it took him by surprise when Beetlemon landed at the edge of the clearing that the rampaging Petaldramon had created earlier.

“I need to help Gotsumon,” the Thunder Warrior explained, sounding torn.

Kouji was too slow to stop him from leaving towards the fighting beasts. His entire strategy was yelling at Garmmon to run away, which it gleefully ignored.

But the Gotsumon inside had been pushed so far, stretched so thin with an out-of-control Beast Spirit that zapped most of his energy whenever he transformed. The aggressive digivolution didn’t leave much for the Beast of Light to fight with. With weakness halving Garmmon’s impressive speed, Petaldramon aimed a perfect Leaf Cyclone. The storm tore through the air and slammed into Garmmon.

It toppled over, shortly before its form faded to black. A ring of data appeared around its midsection and the shiny Beast Spirit formed along the blue band. Petaldramon eagerly lashed out with its tongue.

Thundering fists crashed onto its head. “Thor’s Hammer!” The heavy blow made its mouth snap shut.

It let out a deafening howl after its own powerful jaws bit its tongue clean off. “Why, you! Ahh!”

Fractal code surrounded Garmmon’s black form and dropped the weakened digimon inside.

“Gotsumon!” Beetlemon dove for him.

He didn’t get far. Petaldramon lashed out with its Thousand Spikes, murder in its eyes and Beetlemon was too slow to evade. He got stuck in the tangled roots and strained against the bonds, tearing them apart with his impressive strength. He wouldn’t be fast enough! While Petaldramon’s head powered up its Leaf Cyclone, its split tail lashed out towards Gotsumon, still frozen in the middle of the clearing.

Kouji had never felt so helpless. He could see everything, but there was nothing he could do. Damn it all.

-Meanwhile-

Gotsumon could see the attack coming, and he was having a nervous breakdown. He couldn’t move! He was too weak, completely drained! It was a miracle that Garmmon and its massive energy sink hadn’t forced him back a level.

He curled up, losing himself to the turmoil inside. Again and again, he hadn’t been able to control Garmmon. Again and again, he’d ignored advice from ally and enemy alike. And now... This was all his fault. Petaldramon would’ve scanned and killed him if Beetlemon hadn’t stepped in. Now his new friend was taking the beating for him, and it was all for naught because he couldn’t move!

Petaldramon’s tail approached, and he screwed his eyes shut. This was it.

-Kouji-

Forcing his twisted ankle to move was one of the worst things he’d ever done, but Kouji rushed out into the clearing, consequences be damned. Gotsumon was so much heavier than expected, and for one terrible moment, he thought that he wouldn’t make it with just one arm. But then he secured his hold and hauled the frozen digimon out of the way. Petaldramon’s focus was elsewhere, and its tail swished over them with only the wind affecting them. It made Kouji stagger and his grip slipped. He barely caught himself and stumbled onwards.

“You saved... me,” Gotsumon croaked out and he seemed unable to move on his own, limp in his grasp.

Kouji couldn’t reply, even if there were so many things fighting over the right to be said. He needed to focus on dragging them both out of the danger zone. Behind him, Beetlemon screamed, and he shuddered, then winced. Damn it. Small steps. He could only do one thing now.

Gotsumon was turning into a blubber of misery, and tears were threatening to roll down his cheeks. “This is all my fault.”

Partly, probably. He could’ve done more damage as Garmmon.

Gotsumon was still going on, “What was I thinking? This isn’t working for me. Can’t even lose my mind properly. I can’t… I can’t do this.”

He reached out and grabbed Kouji uninjured hand, completely ignoring the sharp intake of breath, and stared beseechingly at him. “But it’s going to work for you. Lobomon worked for you. You’re the real Warrior of Light. It’s my fault you can’t do your job. You’re hurt... But I can help you...!” His whole body started to glow. Through the pain of a desperate rock person crushing his arm, Kouji feared another uncontrollable transformation.

“What...?” he started, but a loud wail had his head snap around.

Petaldramon had one foot on Beetlemon’s chest, pressing down. Beetlemon tried pushing it off, but he wasn’t strong enough. Above, Petaldramon was spinning its dark brown leaves. “Leaf Cyclone!”

With no way to run, Beetlemon had to take the brunt of the hit and out came the dreadful data circle. A second later, the Thunder Spirit appeared.

Kouji had to turn away because the light in his arms became unbearably bright.

“Help him!” Gotsumon cried frantically, and the light surged outwards and engulfed Kouji.

The Beast Spirit that he’d already given up on connected with his very being. It promised immense power and he dropped Gotsumon to deal with the sudden input of strength. The security of a Spirit was back, but it was very different from Lobomon. The essence of Garmmon was already tearing at him, savage and fierce. Kouji tried to put a stand against it, but his heart wasn’t in it. He needed power. A multitude of data rings appeared around his left hand that spread along the broken bone. Then there was data all around him.

Execute Beast Spirit Digivolve to...  

PAIN! It hurt and hurt and he thought breaking his arm had been terrible! This was so much worse! But while the pain was unbearable, he could feel the power it brought along. He screamed.  

...GARMMON!

Irate strings of data dispersed and Garmmon howled at the enemy. It was good to start with intimidation. There was a distant memory about a hurting front paw, but the raw energy of the Beast Spirit digivolution had disposed of the damaged data. Garmmon was in prime condition. It would end this threat.

...As soon as it could get rid of the human’s hindering presence who was adamantly attempting to assert control.

Garmmon wanted to jump forwards and close its teeth around the wide neck of the enemy, but the human was still struggling with the vastly different body and his troublesome thoughts distracted the mighty Beast of Light—so it walked straight into another Leaf Cyclone. It hadn’t seen the little stone digimon that was protected by its armoured body now. The powerful wood attack made it lose its balance, but a sudden bout of clarity had it change the position of its legs to withstand it. Now, they could move onwards into the fight!

It forced the human into the background and leapt. The enemy loomed. They fought, they separated. It felt familiar. They had done this before. Garmmon growled, frustrated. There was too much in the way, so many obstacles to destroy.

It was so hard to see, so dark.

The human was there again. Garmmon didn’t need him. It knew where the enemy was. With his troublesome interference, it took a while to turn its head into the correct direction, just in time to receive another wood blast. It was infuriating! Garmmon opened its mouth with the sharp row of teeth and howled in anger. A righteous notion that was cut short because the human had figured out how to initiate the Giga-Laser. Instead of a sound of defiance, a white beam of light came out. It hadn’t been aiming and the shot went over Petaldramon’s head. From high up the sky, where the laser beam had gone, came Beetlemon’s indignant shout, “Oh come on!”

-JP-

With Garmmon’s tunnel vision, it couldn’t see what wasn’t directly related to murdering Petaldramon. While the Beast of Wood busied himself with pounding Garmmon into the dirt, Beetlemon managed to suck his data ring back inside. He took one look at what was going on and rushed forward to pick Gotsumon up before the two beasts could smash him to pieces.

Beetlemon had a little trouble clearing his head and only Gotsumon’s alarmed shriek stopped him from nose-diving into the ground. Ouch. He corkscrewed higher until all he had to do was beat his wings. It was tiresome, but he could do that. He could do it. Kouji was handling the fight.

Despite Garmmon occasionally stopping to glare at or smash offending rocks and trees, it was doing an excellent job at... not being a savage rage monster.

“He’s doing great,” Beetlemon said, more to calm himself down. “I think he’s got it under control.”

Then Garmmon shot a laser beam at him. It was practically tradition by now, but Beetlemon couldn’t help the indignation. The shot missed him by half a meter.

“Yeah, that’s totally what control looks like,” Gotsumon deadpanned, and he almost sounded like himself.

“Shut up,” Beetlemon said. “You had an entire day and couldn’t make it do what you wanted. Give him a chance, alright?”

And Gotsumon stopped being himself and started to cry.

If it weren’t taking all he had just to stay afloat, Beetlemon would’ve shaken him in frustration. It was so unfair! Why did he always end up with the crying people? Did he look like he knew how to handle them? No! No, he didn’t! He sucked at it! And no, he wasn’t completely panicking, who thought that?

Beetlemon awkwardly patted Gotsumon’s head, but there wasn’t anything he could say. Finding Kouji broken and half-dead at the mercy of a cruel enemy like Petaldramon had shook him to the core. He was still shaking, his thoughts scattering in distress. It was all too much...!

Deep breaths, beat wings, calm down, he thought to himself.

At least the transformation to Garmmon had fixed Kouji’s injuries.

But Kouji had lost his Human Spirit. Kouji without Lobomon? That simply didn’t add up in Beetlemon’s brain. He’d met Kouji as Lobomon!

Crushing self-doubt snaked through his mind, and Beetlemon remembered just why he’d gone after Kouji back in the Gotsumon village. He’d gone to prevent exactly that! To stop Kouji from doing something stupid, and now they’d argued, and he’d left and Kouji almost died! Beetlemon had had one job, and he blew it for no good reason!

So it wasn’t easy to listen to Gotsumon proclaiming that this was all his fault. Because it really wasn’t. If Beetlemon had only stayed with Kouji as planned, he could’ve flown him out, just like he’d saved Gotsumon earlier. Or if he’d remembered to stop being a child and focus on the mission after he’d met Gotsumon, they could’ve joined up with Kouji before it had come to this. Arrgh. The biting irony did not escape him.

Down below, Petaldramon handled himself with grace. Despite the drawn-out battle, he showed barely any signs of wavering. How? Was the forest powering him up? Wait! ...Was the night making Garmmon weaker?!

This was an avenue of thought Beetlemon hadn’t even considered before! The urge to compare all their previous fights with the surrounding external situations for reference was so strong... But no time! Whether this was a real possibility or not, there seemed to be a clear imbalance in the fight. Garmmon did look impressive when it blasted the approaching thorn vines with light and disintegrated the ones stuck in its wheels, yet… Its movements were becoming worryingly sluggish.

Come to think of it, the Beast Spirit transformation had to have used up a lot of energy just to heal Kouji! Beetlemon could already see Garmmon faltering. Much like before, it completely ignored its bad situation, no matter how detrimental it was to continue the fight. It really, really wanted its Human Spirit back.

Its next laser blew off two of the branch-like appendages on Petaldramon’s back. They didn’t regrow!

But considering how long it had taken for Petaldramon to show weakness and Garmmon’s exhaustion by comparison, it seemed obvious where this battle was heading.

“This doesn’t look good,” Gotsumon said quietly. He’d stopped crying, but his eyes were still rimmed with red.

Garmmon jumped over an incoming Leaf Cyclone and retaliated with another laser beam that hit home, but only barely breached Petaldramon’s moss skin. It didn’t seem to realize how much it was flagging and launched a second laser that also didn’t do much. If Kouji were in full control, he would’ve already recalculated his chances and fled. Kouji would’ve known that Beetlemon was there to fly them all away if push came to shove. The enemy would be stuck on the ground. But their window was closing. After the beating that he’d received, Beetlemon wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep the transformation going.

Instead of doing the sensible thing, the Beast of Light charged straight into a Leaf Cyclone. It had planned to reach Petaldramon’s side and cut it with the wing blades on its back, but that plan failed miserably. Garmmon was blown back, tumbling over and creating a deep crevasse in the loose earth. It took a long moment to get up again, time enough for Petaldramon’s thorn vines to approach. It had enough energy to blast them away, growling weakly.

Petaldramon was panting now and hadn’t said anything in a while, too concentrated on bringing down the last viable fighter. He knew, much like Beetlemon knew, that it was only a matter of time.

“Garmmon, we can’t win!” Beetlemon shouted desperately. Why were the bad guys completely in control of their Beast Spirits while no one on their team seemed to get a semblance of intelligence out of them?

Then, Garmmon surprised him. Its eyes lost the liquid shine and for the first time, he could see their true colour. They were golden. With the manic glow gone, so were its random bouts of insanity.

Kouji’s voice came out of its mouth. “GO!”

Okay, so he still sounded raw and wild, animalistic, but this was definitely Kouji, and he was definitely talking to them.

Beetlemon shouted back a confirmation. They needed to get out of here, fast! Later, Kouji would tell him that it had been his voice that had allowed him to take control over the Beast of Light.

For now, Beetlemon shifted Gotsumon to his left arm and stretched out his free hand, “Lightning Bomb!”, to provide some covering fire. Petaldramon’s massive size was like a beacon to the lightning attack. The Wood Beast didn’t even pause and aimed his next Leaf Cyclone upwards.

Beetlemon dove beneath the inrushing wind, focused on his ally down below. He hadn’t guessed wrong. Garmmon brought in his wing blades and used the distraction to jump over the fence of wood spikes that had already reformed. Even in his weakened state, Kouji made the most out of Garmmon’s reserves and was off like a flash.

Beetlemon didn’t know where he was going, but he made sure that Petaldramon also wouldn’t know. He sent out another Lightning Bomb.

The seconds stretched into an eternity until it looked like Garmmon could make a clean getaway. Beetlemon breathed in relief and turned around for his own escape. He was so tired...

“Watch out!” shouted Gotsumon and Beetlemon gave a start.

Oops, almost drifted into the treetops, here. He angled his flight path higher, but Gotsumon shifted in his arms. “No! Behind you!!”

Behind...? He turned around and nearly dropped the rock digimon when he saw the maelstrom of Petaldramon’s attack coming towards them. No! He couldn’t move out of the way fast enough!

In front of him, half a dozen rocks shimmered into existence, surging forwards. “Rock Fist!”

Gotsumon’s shield tried to withstand the incoming wind but broke apart nearly the second the Leaf Cyclone reached it. It was all Beetlemon needed to fly high enough to let the attack pass on below them. He didn’t have the breath for a thank you and put all his focus into getting away.

They left Petaldramon behind, another Leaf Cyclone coming after them without getting that close. The Beast of Wood was forced to weave through the trees and couldn’t move fast enough to catch up with them.

From his last check up, Beetlemon knew that Garmmon was heading for the mountain. He made sure that he was out of Petaldramon’s view and made for the mountain as well. So began the hunt for Garmmon in the night. In all honesty, if Kouji hadn’t looked so terrible earlier, Beetlemon would’ve just given up on him and called it a day. It was so damn dark, trees with lush and plentiful leaves were in the way and his exhaustion made his thought processes sluggish. He had the uncomfortable feeling that there were things slipping his notice.

Gotsumon didn’t do much better. More than once, he dozed off and snapped awake with a start.

They found no sign of Garmmon, even when they reached the mountain. Great. Beetlemon yawned. Maybe he should transform back and see if he could reach Kouji on his D-Tector. But if he did that, would he be able to transform—?

A tingling sensation popped up in his head. It... Well, it was hard to describe. Like light flashing up inside him, but it didn’t blind him or distract him and... Okay, he was seriously starting to feel the fatigue, since his thoughts were running in circles. He just concentrated on the sensation and suddenly, Kouji’s voice was straight in his head. “Are you still around?”

-Kouji-

Kouji dropped out of the transformation and collapsed on a patch of grass.

Up ahead rose the sheer mountain wall, and a small stream trickled out between a set of collapsed rocks. No one was around, and a layer of clouds blocked most of the moonlight.

He couldn’t keep his eyes open. The world spun around him, and he lay there, letting wave after wave of fatigue wash over him. He didn’t know where Petaldramon was, but right now he wouldn’t be able to fend it off regardless. There was no way he could muster the energy for another painful Beast Spirit transformation.

It wasn’t only an issue of control. He was reasonably sure that he was on the right track of getting full control over the feral thoughts of Garmmon. And Garmmon was powerful. It had allowed him to withstand and escape Petaldramon, something he couldn’t have done as Lobomon.

It’s just… That power came with a price.

With difficulty, Kouji brought both hands up to rub at his eyes.

Lobomon had become almost like a second skin to him; it had taken hours of staying transformed for it to fail him.

Garmmon was so much more draining.

In a matter of minutes, it had burned through his reserves, and he felt weaker than ever. It had been like opening all his inner floodgates and breaking all limits set by his body. Even now, feeling had only returned to his arms.

But... His broken arm was healed. Moving didn’t hurt anymore. Lobomon wouldn’t have fixed this injury so quickly.

After he was reasonably certain that his voice wouldn’t shake, Kouji contacted Junpei. He didn’t know if the other boy was still around and what state he was in, but Kouji knew that he needed his help. He couldn’t stay here, and he was painfully aware that he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere on his own.

Kouji had no idea how many possibilities he opened up when he connected to Beetlemon instead of Junpei. He simply gave a general description of what little he saw of his surroundings. The tense waiting gave him time to make it to the little stream and drink something.

Four minutes later, Beetlemon landed heavily next to him and almost toppled over. Without preamble, he said, “I really want to know how you did that, but not now. Let’s just get outta here.” He switched Gotsumon to his left arm and reached for Kouji with the other.

Kouji had managed to push Gotsumon completely out of his mind. It caught him off guard to see him with Beetlemon, and he didn’t know what to say. It even took him a moment to remember that the digimon had given him his Beast Spirit. Everything around the actual transformation had blurred together into an impenetrable haze.

To be honest, Kouji had no plan other than getting a move on, but the other two were prepared. Despite his obvious exhaustion, Beetlemon managed to carry them both to a respectable sleeping place higher up the mountain.

He unceremoniously dropped both of his charges next to some meat apple trees and surrounded himself with data. “Nope, I’m not going to move a single step more today. Not gonna happen.”

“Not even to the cozy cave?” Gotsumon asked and he aimed for teasing light-heartedness, but he was so tired, it just sounded sleepy. He yawned while pointing at the edge of the cliff where a small black hole promised some sort of safe sleeping haven.

Junpei didn’t even bother to answer and flopped onto his back.

Kouji gave the small clearing a thorough inspection and found it almost inaccessible without flying in. That was a good start. The aforementioned trees were an acceptable food source. In between them, he saw the scorched remains of a campfire. That told him that Gotsumon and Junpei had already been here and spent enough time together to cook their food. They left some nicely browned meat apples on sticks to the side of the burnt-out fire.

Kouji was too tired to follow that line of thoughts further. The rest of the night had already been one big disaster. Finally having his Beast Spirit wasn’t worth it, considering how much he’d lost in the process.

Gotsumon shuffled around the remains of the fire, poking the ashes as if that would magically start it again. Not that he was truly committed to that action; he moved sluggishly with the same exhaustion that Kouji recognized in himself. No wonder, they’d both used Garmmon today.

No one said a word. Something that Junpei was unable to live with because moments later, he swung back to his feet. Somehow, he still had the energy to complain. “Ugh, I’m so tired, but now I’m also really hungry! Who wants some burgers?”

Kouji and Gotsumon stared at him, unblinking.

“Woah, you really are alike, you know that?”

Kouji had never been compared to a pile of rocks. He shot a look at Gotsumon and was greeted with a similar stare. They both shrugged.

“You can’t tell me you aren’t hungry!” Junpei said after making a noise somewhere between an exasperated sigh and a hysterical giggle. Instead of waiting for their dismissive replies, the heavyset boy waddled over to the extinguished fire and the meat apples left on sticks. Despite being the liveliest, tonight’s events affected him too. Huge rings were under his eyes, and his skin was clammy and pale.

With the heavy cover of fatigue compelling Kouji to curl up and sleep for the next few days, food hadn’t sounded appealing. But now that the issue was on the table, his empty stomach demanded a switch of priorities.

“You’re really going to do that?” Gotsumon asked tiredly.

“I’m really going to eat something,” Junpei insisted. If he swayed when he bent down to pick up a skewer, no one called him out on it.

Gotsumon looked like he’d much rather drop dead than help him. He still suggested, “Then we should get another fire started...” and immediately afterwards, turned an entire shade paler.

Before they could reveal their position to anyone watching from down below, Kouji stepped in. It was rather cold, he gave them that, so he helped them move the fire into the cave. The stone walls would block the light.

That strenuous activity almost undid him. Unlike Junpei, who was apparently motivated by the thought of food alone, neither he nor Gotsumon could shake off the aftermath of the night’s fight that easily.

After reheating the apples over the flames, they all grew quiet again, dwelling on their own thoughts while they ate.

Kouji thought about the Spirit he now possessed. If he closed his eyes, he felt Garmmon’s irate and unfamiliar energy. He had trouble connecting to the Beast Spirit and its feral anger made the absence of cold and precise Lobomon more poignant. He had the uncomfortable feeling that his slow recovery had a lot to do with both of these facts. No connection and no familiar human side to bridge the differences.

He shouldn’t have lost Lobomon.