Chapter 8: When the Gears of Fate Begin to Turn
A brilliant streak of light tore through the boundless azure sky, a false meteor heralding a massive shift in the digital world. The gears of fate had finally begun to turn.
A gentle breeze swept across the grassy plains, ruffling the young boy's hair and brushing against his half-closed eyelids.
Mizuki kept his gaze locked on the distant horizon. He rolled his shoulders, wincing slightly as his stiff joints popped, and pushed himself up from the dirt. Time had passed since the brutal clash with Devimon. That desperate fight had left him battered and bruised, but his youthful body was resilient. The lingering aches were fading. While he still could not guarantee an absolute victory against the ruler of File Island in a straight fight, he was no longer the helpless victim he had been on that first day.
The soft crunch of grass drew his attention. Elecmon trotted up from behind. The red, mammalian Digimon had miraculously survived Devimon's initial purge, having been rescued by Koromon and Monodramon shortly after the chaos. Because of their timely intervention, Elecmon had avoided the worst of the subsequent bloodbath.
Elecmon followed Mizuki's line of sight toward the fading trail in the sky. "Mizuki, is that the meteor you were talking about?"
"Or rather, the DigiDestined," Mizuki corrected softly. He offered a faint nod. "It seems they have finally arrived in this world."
"What do you plan to do?" Elecmon asked, his nine tails twitching with nervous curiosity.
"What to do?" Mizuki echoed. Memories of a distant childhood flashed through his mind—the anime, the adventures, the courage of those seven children. He could not deny a certain fondness for them, especially the goggle-wearing leader, Taichi Yagami. A mischievous smile tugged at the corners of Mizuki's mouth. "Of course, I am going to say hello to them. After all, I still need to borrow a little bit of their power."
Elecmon tilted his head, utterly bewildered. "Is it for BlackGatomon?" The electric Digimon's tails swayed in the breeze. "But... are these DigiDestined you mentioned really reliable?"
"Who knows? At least two or three of them are," Mizuki replied with a casual shrug. "However, my reason for finding them has nothing to do with their personal reliability."
Mizuki crouched down, his expression softening instantly as he reached out to stroke the small, sleeping figure beside his boots. Her eyelids fluttered. A moment later, a pair of large, bright blue eyes blinked open, reflecting the boy's gentle face.
"Mizu..." she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. "Is it time to eat?"
"Not yet, BlackGatomon," Mizuki chuckled softly.
BlackGatomon. A Champion-level Digimon. She was, without a doubt, the very same Nyaromon that Mizuki had encountered at the beginning of his journey. The battle with Devimon had exacted a heavy toll on her. Her Digicore had been severely contaminated by the demonic ruler's dark virus data. The innate holy power of light and the intrusive virus data of darkness—two violently opposing forces—had waged a brutal war inside her very core, nearly causing her data to collapse entirely.
She had managed to stabilize her structural integrity, but the cost was steep. Unable to maintain her Ultimate-level power, she had degenerated back into this Champion-level BlackGatomon form. Now, she spent the vast majority of her days in a deep slumber just to keep her internal data from fracturing.
Yet, a fascinating anomaly remained. Because the holy light within her had never truly been extinguished, Mizuki's partner possessed something no ordinary BlackGatomon should ever have. Snug around her dark-furred tail was a gleaming Holy Ring—an artifact exclusive to a normal, light-aligned Gatomon.
"Instead of eating, we need to get moving," Mizuki said. He kept his eyes on the trajectory of the fallen meteor as he gently scooped BlackGatomon's soft, lethargic body into his arms. She settled against his chest, purring weakly. "It is time to find some external help to fix your little problem."
The dense canopy of the tropical rainforest near the Village of Beginnings filtered the harsh sunlight into a mottled green haze. Mizuki handled the thick undergrowth with practiced ease, holding BlackGatomon securely against his chest.
His objective was clear. The DigiDestined. While a small fraction of his motivation stemmed from childhood nostalgia, the overwhelming priority was the Digimon resting in his arms. After monitoring her condition for days, Mizuki had concluded that BlackGatomon's suffering was purely a matter of imbalance. The dark power forced into her was simply too massive.
Devimon's mocking words echoed in his memory: The brighter the light, the deeper the darkness behind it.
Since purging the darkness from her Digicore was impossible, Mizuki approached the problem like a strategist. If he could not remove the dark, he would simply elevate the light. He needed to force a perfect equilibrium.
The Digivices carried by the chosen children were the key. Those small devices contained an immense, unique holy data capable of triggering miraculous digivolutions. Channeling that ambient light would undoubtedly give BlackGatomon the anchor she needed to balance her internal scales.
A sudden, violent crash echoed through the trees ahead, snapping Mizuki out of his thoughts. Birds scattered into the sky with frantic cries.
"Mizu—" BlackGatomon's lethargy vanished in an instant. She twisted in his arms, her blue eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she stared toward the noise. Dark energy crackled faintly at the tips of her claws.
Mizuki knew that look. Even if it meant shattering her fragile data stability, BlackGatomon would not hesitate to force an digivolution into LadyDevimon if she sensed a threat to him. She existed to protect him. He was her entire world.
But the feeling was entirely mutual. Mizuki would never allow her to destroy herself for a fight he could manage.
"Do not be nervous, BlackGatomon," Mizuki whispered, resting a calming hand over her ears. "Let us confirm the situation first."
"...Mm. I will listen to you, Mizu," she murmured, the dark sparks fading from her claws.
Sharing a silent nod, Mizuki adjusted his grip on her and leaped upward. He caught a thick, mossy branch and pulled himself high into the canopy, hiding within the dense foliage to observe the clearing below.
It was exactly as fate dictated. The seven DigiDestined, led by the wild-haired Taichi Yagami, had met their respective Digimon partners. And right on cue, disaster had struck.
A massive, red-armored insect dominated the clearing. Kuwagamon. Its giant mandibles snapped with terrifying force, driving the exhausted children and their tiny partners toward the edge of a steep river cliff.
"Mizu, those people are in danger. What should we do?" BlackGatomon whispered, her tail flicking anxiously. Despite being corrupted into a Virus-type Dark Digimon, the pure kindness she possessed as Nyaromon remained completely untouched. She wanted to help, but she would not make a single move without Mizuki's command.
"Danger, huh..." Mizuki watched the giant insect rear back. "Indeed, on the surface, it looks that way."
BlackGatomon tilted her head, confused by his calm tone.
Mizuki smiled down at the clearing. "But, the DigiDestined are beings who can summon miracles."
The very moment the words left his lips, the digital world responded. Seven distinct pillars of blinding light erupted from the sky, piercing the forest canopy and enveloping the tiny Digimon below. The sheer force of the holy energy washed over the clearing.
Within the light, the In-Training Digimon began to change, their forms expanding and shifting rapidly as they evolved straight into their Rookie stages.
"They actually... evolved?!" BlackGatomon gasped, her eyes wide with shock. As a Digimon who had fought tooth and nail in the wild, she knew exactly how brutal and agonizing the path to digivolution truly was. It required an immense accumulation of data, a threshold these tiny creatures clearly had not met.
"See? This is their power," Mizuki said quietly, his eyes tracking the glowing Digivices clutched in the children's hands. He tightened his hold on BlackGatomon, his muscles tensing for action. "Next, it is our turn to move."
The newly evolved Rookie Digimon launched a coordinated counterattack, their elemental strikes pushing Kuwagamon back. But Mizuki's tactical mind saw past the flashy lights. The Rookies had temporarily stunned the giant insect, but they lacked the raw power to actually kill a Champion-level threat.
If the original timeline held true, Kuwagamon would recover, shatter the cliff edge, and send the children plummeting into the rushing river below.
Mizuki had no intention of letting them take that fall. He would step in, secure their safety, and consider it a fair trade for siphoning their holy energy.
"BlackGatomon, listen closely," Mizuki instructed, his voice dropping to a serious whisper. "When we strike, I need you to absorb as much of the scattered data radiating from their Digivices as possible. With that holy support, you will definitely be able to balance the warring powers inside you."
"Mm! I understand, Mizu!" BlackGatomon nodded sharply. She turned her gaze back to the battlefield, her blue eyes burning with newfound determination.
If absorbing this light meant fixing her broken core, she would take every last drop. She was tired of sleeping. She wanted to spend her waking hours fighting by Mizuki's side.
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