Going My Soul - Part 2

[drunkenpandaren]

Episode 2: Chill of Ice


“Rescinded orders?” exclaimed Tiana. “Why?”

“In light of the events from last night, unfortunately we need you back on the home front Tiana,” said Fate with a truly apologetic expression. “I wanted to bring you along but the brass wants you here since you’ve been the only one who could deal with the creature.”

Said creature was inhaling another plate of fried eggs alongside Subaru who was matching it pace for pace. Ginga and Genya were watching them eat as Tiana groaned. “Please tell me that this is just temporary?”

“For now anyhow,” said Fate. “I’ll do my best to get you back on my team but for now, just hang tough. I’ll book you for vacation too.”

Tiana sighed again. “Thank you.”

Fate nodded and the line cut out.

Finishing his plate of eggs, Agumon belched. “Wow that was good. Just as good as Sayuri’s fried eggs!”

“I’m glad you liked them,” said Ginga. “So, Agumon is it? Are you Tiana’s familiar?”

“She’s my oyabun,” replied Agumon, making Tiana choke on her coffee. “She beat me in a man to man battle and there hasn’t been anyone since Aniki who could do that!”

“Oyabun… isn’t that a Japanese term for supervisor?” inquired Genya.

“Uh huh! Aniki is Aniki, but Oyabun here is my boss for the duration of the attacks!” cheered Agumon. “We’re going to beat up a lot of opponents!”

“Wait hold on there,” grumbled Tiana. “I can’t be your boss, I don’t even know you. And what’s this about more attacks?”

“That would be the reason for why you’ve got the Spirit,” said Kouichi from the other end of the table, sipping coffee as if there wasn’t anything going on. Ignoring Tiana’s exclamation of “GAH!” he grinned. “Hi!”

“And who might you be to pop in unannounced?” inquired Genya. Really was his house supposed to be a haven for strangeness?

“The messenger boy,” said Kouichi as he looked over at Subaru who was fingering Mach Caliber. “Don’t worry I’m not here to fight, just to let you know there are eight more opponents, each hand selected by us.”

“Us?” asked Tiana.

“The council of five. Guardians and watchers of the Eternal Digital Plane. We’ve handpicked the strongest to test you. You’ve passed the first one since Agumon has never been beaten so easily in a straight fight.” Kouichi sipped his coffee. “The next will show up today. The Harbringer of Ice.”

“Oooh he’s a tough one. Almost as tough as Aniki!” said Agumon with a nod.

“You said eight. Isn’t Agumon counted in that or does that make nine?” inquired Subaru.

“Technically it’s ten, but Tiana passed the first and second tests of flame. You hold the Spirit of Fire, the power of the Legendary Warrior. That will allow you to withstand the attacks. Agumon boasts the power of a man’s heart in his fist, which makes him the test of strength.” Explained Kouichi.

“There are eight more, each corresponding to the tests and virtues of the human heart. The test of Ice is also the trait of Friendship. You’ll need it to achieve victory.”

Finishing his coffee, Kouichi looked over at Tiana who was sitting quietly, trying not to freak out quietly. “It’s hard, and we never had to shoulder this on one person. It’s not our thing. But to survive as the Xros, you need to rely on others soon.”

And he dissolved into mists before any other questions could be asked.


Tiana liked high places when she had to think, and lately the rest of the world was at her fingertips. Having no ability to fly herself, she was doing the next best thing: lying on the roof of Subaru’s house looking at the Digivice in her hands.

“Oof, there you are,” said Subaru as she clambered onto the roof and sat down next to Tia. “What’s up?”

“Just thinking,” said Tiana, closing her fist as the digivice vanished in a flurry of zeros and ones, outlined in green. “Get the feeling we’re not told everything?”

“Yep,” replied Subaru as she looked over the edge of the house as Agumon zoomed around the yard, working off the extra energy and punching out much like Subaru would do to stay limber. “I don’t trust that Kouichi guy one bit but something about him tells me he’s not a liar. But with that Digital Hazard coming, I’m really getting worried.”

“We don’t even know what it is, beyond some kind of battle,” pointed out Tiana. “That much is certain.”

“True.” Tiana sighed. “I just want to know why it’s me who’s been picked. Has anything been found out if there’s going to be an attack somewhere?”

“Nothing yet, although I kind of want a pot shot at the next one.” Said Subaru, slapping her fist into her hand. “I’m pretty sure your ‘follower’ wants a crack at the next too.”

Tiana groaned. “It’s like having two of you.”

Subaru laughed at that.


“This can’t be right,” said Yuuno as he slapped the edge of the monitor as Arf looked over his shoulder. “Arf, can you check the feeds?”

“On it.” Checking her side while popping a piece of jerky into her mouth, Arf chewed as she tapped the controls. “Strange, looks like the cameras are working but nothing’s coming up.”

Yuuno nodded, exhaling when he noticed his breath was visible. “Is the air conditioning on?”

“… I thought it was broken,” said Arf. And then she sensed it – a buildup of power. “DOWN!”

Yuuno was tackled by Arf as a freezing gust of wind erupted through the library as the front desk was turned to ice. “Damn, what the hell?”

Fog rolled in as Yuuno stepped back as a shape began to step out of it. Arf’s ears flattened to the back of her head as she growled as the figure stepped into the room: a large white furred wolf but its body was luminescent and transparent.

“How did that get in here?” exclaimed Yuuno as the maw opened as ice cold fire built within it.


“This way hurry hurry!” exclaimed Agumon as he lead the group towards the Library. “Inside!”

“No wonder we couldn’t get a hold of Yuuno, the place is iced over!” exclaimed Subaru as she tried the door and only succeeded in tearing the handle off from the brittle knob.

“No doubt about it, a digimon is in there, the test of ice!” Agumon turned to Tiana. “You need to go, evolve!”

Tiana nodded as she held out her hand and held up Cross Mirage which was in his gun mode. “Ready?”

“Get Set,” chirped Cross Mirage as digicode wrapped around her hand.

“Spirit Evolution!” In a flash of light, Agnimon stood there as Agumon grinned. “Now what?”

“Use my power Oyabun!” exclaimed Agumon, his body turning into data and flying back into the digivice. “Power your arm with the raw fist of a man!”

Agnimon sweatdropped and Subaru had to laugh. But she cracked her knuckles and reared back. “Digicross” intoned Cross Mirage as orange energy circled her fist.

Throwing it against the door, it buckled and snapped inwards with a burst of searing flames as a gust of superheated air met the chilly interior of the library. “Nice fist of a man Tia,” giggled Subaru and Tiana groaned. “Just saying!”

“Let’s just beat up this digimon please?”


Yuuno thought he had seen everything with this wolf that managed to freeze over most of the library when steam hissed at the arrival of the newcomer. “Oi oi,” chirped the device in her hands. “It’s Garurumon! Hey pal what’s up?”

“Agumon,” growled the Wolf. “Good timing. Though it took you ages to get here.”

“Oyabun’s slow,” replied the digimon-in-the-vice. “Though pleasantries’ll have to wait. Let’s get to it!”

Garurumon let out a barking laugh as he shimmered into the visible spectrum. “Two against one? That’s not really fair.”

“You two know each other?” inquired Subaru, eyeing the giant wolf. Hell he was twice as big as Arf or Zafira!

“Yeah, he’s friends with my cousin.” Was the reply.

“I’m so glad to know that this guy isn’t out to kill us all,” groused Agnimon as she leveled Cross Mirage at him. “Fight’s on, let’s do this.”

“Crossfire Shoot,” intoned Cross Mirage as several balls of flame appeared and lanced out to slam against a blast of Fox Fire.

“Mind telling me what’s going on here?” inquired Yuuno from behind the protective barriers he and Arf hid behind. To his credit, he had maintained it for quite some time since even Vita had little success in penetrating them.

Subaru nodded and quickly ran down what they knew while Agnimon and Agumon engaged Garurumon in a trading of flames. “And that’s all we know thus far,” said Subaru as Agnimon was tossed into a bookshelf. “Tia try to keep the damage down!”

“Trying but without a barrier it kinda sucks,” replied Agnimon as she aimed another attack with a chirping of “Fire Darts,” from her device.

“Well I suppose it’s not sporting of me to stay indoors now,” said Garurumon as he leaped over Agnimon and charged out the door. Agnimon followed and was met by a cheap shot, freezing her feet to the ground briefly.

“Hey!” Leveling Cross Mirage at him, it intoned, “Burning Salamander,” as she fired a dragon at Garurumon who leaped out of the way.

With Garurumon out of the Infinite Library, the others spilled out of it as Agnimon charged in, the weapon changing to Dagger Mode as Agnimon closed in on her target. “She needs to be faster,” remarked Subaru as Agnimon dodged an attack.

Inwardly, Agnimon was thinking the same as she ducked a blast of Fox Fire. Charging her fist with burning orange energy, she struck, blowing Garurumon backwards. “Not bad,” grunted Garurumon. “Though it takes more than that to stop me.”

“This is bad Oyabun, Garurumon’s way too fast for the pair of us,” exclaimed Agumon from the digivice at her waist. “We need to step it up, match him blow for blow!”

“Don’t you think I’m trying that?” grunted Agnimon. “Got a plan?”

“I don’t really have one,” grunted Agumon as Garurumon was upon the pair, knocking them to the ground.

“TIA!” yelled Subaru as she tried to rush in, but a wall stopped her short. “What?”

“It’s not your fight,” said Kouichi from the side as he watched Agnimon throw Garurumon off. “But you can help her.”

“How?” demanded Subaru. “You’re not letting me get through to do so!”

In response, Kouichi held up a hand as a glowing white spirit appeared in his hand. “Throw this at her. She’ll know what to do with it.”

Reaching out, Subaru plucked the idol from his hand and turned towards Agnimon. “TIA! CATCH!”

Tia saw the totem flying towards her and instinctively she held out her digivice. There was a flash of light and Cross Mirage stated “Spirit Scanned. Digixross.”

“Digi… XROSS!” In a blast of light, Garurumon stumbled backwards as Agnimon’s body changed from red to white, the armor shaping itself to be more wolf-themed as Cross Mirage changed to Dagger Mode, but the blade was a brilliant white light. “Wolfmon!”

Garurumon looked over at Kouchi who smiled and waved. “Tch, good with the last saves. Let’s see if you can handle the Xros then!”

“Licht Seiger,” retorted Wolfmon as she charged in, faster than Garurumon. The pair met with a resounding crackling of energy.

Garurumon coughed as he grinned, the blade stuck firmly into him. “Not bad. You may just be worthy of the Xros after all.”

In a flash of light, his information poured into the Digivice and Cross Mirage reported “Garurumon Scanned. Register Two Digimon.”


“Two Digimon now? And Two spirits.” Genya shook his head. “Our house is getting crowded.”

“Sorry,” said Tiana and she hung her head. “I can get myself a place…”

While not quite a enthusiastic eater as Agumon was, Gabumon was very polite as he helped out Ginga in the kitchen. “I’ll do my best to earn our keep,” said Gabumon with a smile.

“So that’s two down and seven to go,” said Subaru. “And how many spirits did you say there were?”

“Ten, and Tia has two,” said Kouichi who had invited himself over for dinner, along with Arf and Yuuno who wanted answers. “I only had that spirit so don’t go looking for freebies.”

Yuuno nodded. “Count us in. I’ll start looking for these spirits, and references to them. I’m sure there’s something.”

“Same here,” said Arf. “Can’t let one of Fate-chan’s friends get in trouble without us!”

Tia colored and nodded. “Thanks.”


“Nice bit there Kouichi,” said Taichi that evening. “You gave away the second one.”

“Had to. Garurumon would overpower Tia in an instant. Still, her resolve is making her a good person to power the Xros,” said Kouichi. “It’s not like we haven’t done this dance before.”

“Any more freebies then?” inquired Masaru with a grin.

“I’ve set up leads in the Infinite Library that weren’t there before,” said Ryo, answering for Kouichi. “Yuuno will find them, he’s resourceful that way.”

“True. Let’s hope diverting time like this will lead to a better victory in the end,” said Hikari. “For all our sakes.”

Kouichi nodded as he held up the Spirit of Darkness in his hand. “I’ll have to set this up somewhere. Ryo, mind helping me then?”

“Ah, no problem. Let’s go, partner.” The dark shadow looming over Ryo’s head nodded and the pair vanished into the mists.