Come home [70A - 70C]

Demi felt that Desmond might be a bit angry for being, let's admit it, lost. The older man didn't come into the Digital world for years. It took forever for Demi to convince him to come back, just one last time. He told his tamer that his world was in danger and that Desmond was the only one he trusted. The Frenchman gave up on the Digital world and kind of became a hermit in his small home. Just before that, he spent a full year in Demi's home but that was years and years ago. It wasn't clear if Desmond didn't want to go there anymore, he never told Demi about it. He gave the fireball his Digivice and told him that he would go back home. They didn't talk in more than twenty years.

Now, both of them were trying to find the exit of the forest. "Desmond." Said Demi before slowing down. "Desmond." He repeated after seeing his tamer still moving at the same pace. "Desmond." This time, the older human turned around sharply and yelled at the Digimon. "What?" It was very easy to feel that Desmond was pretty annoyed. "What do you want?" His tone was stern and filled with anger. Demi sighed. "We can take a break." The Digimon could see that his old friend was getting tired, physically and mentally. The human was about to yell something again but in the end, he just sighed and nodded. "Fine." He said while looking away.

The duo went on a bit longer to find somewhere else to sit but the fallen leaves covering the ground. It didn't take long before seeing one big tree with huge branches. "Wanna go up?" Demi asked with a smile. A smile that Desmond did not return. He stayed silent making the younger man sighed. "Come on, old man." He teased before starting to climb the tree. It was way easier than he first thought as well. He made it to the first branch before looking down. "Need a hand?" He teased him again. Desmond looked around to find an excuse to not join his partner but found nothing of interest. "Fine." Demi was about the same height as his tamer in this form. Both extended their left hand toward each other and within the next seconds, they were both sitting on branches with Demi slightly higher.

"Race you to the top?" Demi said with his signature broad smile. The Frenchman shook his head. "How about you go ahead and I let you win." Well, that was almost a joke from him. They were making progress. The Digimon laughed and made his way to the top of the tree and saw an end to the woods north of them. "You really should come up here, Desmond. It is a nice view." He said without looking down. The tamer just looked up and sighed. "I rather stay here." He said still a bit grumpy. Demi inhaled the natural scent of the forest and closed his eyes, feeling the breeze in his hair. He would stay there, with his arms on each side for a bit longer before deciding to come down.

"You just missed something beautiful, Desmond." The Digimon said while climbing down. He would sit on a branch just next to his old tamer. The two of them stayed silent, Demi was smiling but Desmond was not. Twenty years is a very long time. In the Digital world, that was even longer. However, Demi did not spend it alone. He made friends and went on all kinds of adventures. He fought alongside his friends and defeated evil Digimons all across the world. He still had Desmond's green and brown Digivice. While he found how to tap into that power to Digivolve, he wasn't able to do anything else with the strange device. Demi was happy to see his tamer, even if he looks grumpier than ever.

Desmond would look at Demi's left arm for a moment. "The arm still works?" He softly asked. "Yes, it does work and it does wonders." Even after all these years, the Frenchman still felt guilty. It wasn't his fault that they got ambushed but when they were together, he always felt like he was the big brother that would protect his little brother. Even if the little brother could turn into a giant fire Digimon. Demi could recall seeing the tamer cry for the first time. The Digimon wasn't used to seeing people cry and still ain't used to it.

The two adults stayed on the arms of the trees for a bit longer, not saying much to one and other. Desmond would be looking down and Demi looking at his tamer seeing the sadness in his eyes. "Why did you call me?" Desmond then asked still looking at the ground. Demi sighed and reached out to get his Digivice out of his jacket. "There's something that came up..." He said while sighing heavily. "Something crashed into the Village of Beginnings a few weeks ago." Desmond slowly moved his attention to his partner with a confused look. "We don't know what it is at first. It looked human though. He didn't seem evil at all. He was just a kid that fell from the sky."

"After a few days, something went wrong. The Digi-Tamas were the first to disappear. They all went to sleep at the same time but never woke up. And they, they turned grey and... Died." Demi paused to take a deep breath. "The eggs, they became one big egg made of darkness. After it hatched, there was something evil that came out. We didn't know what it was, it was taller than me, even in my mega form. It didn't attack us, it just was there and the new kid went to see him. They bonded quickly and on the next day, it began deleting the whole village."

"Some of us stayed, most of us didn't make it. I knew that we needed more than Digimon to fight that one. We needed you, tamers, spirit users. We needed humans. However, after all those years, we forgot how to contact you. We lost that bridge that leads into your world. Then, the Digivice found you and I managed to contact you." Desmond wasn't sure what to believe. He knew that Demi wouldn't make that kind of story. But by how he said it, was he the only tamer left? "You want me to fight this, kid?" The older man asked while looking at his partner. "I want you to fight for us."

"I know that you gave up years ago and I do not blame you." The Frenchman stood silent and immobile for a minute or so. After that moment of silence, he just began climbing down the tree and Demi promptly followed. "Where are you going?" Demi asked seeing his tamer move so suddenly. "To the village. Where else?" He said without emotions. "Better hurry if you want to join me." It was Demi that stood silent this time. He then smiled. Yes, that was his old tamer right there. "Yes! But it's that way!"

It would take them about an hour in a half before seeing what was left of the Village of Beginnings. The ground was black and a layer of dust or something was on it. In the center, a young kid, perhaps eleven years old, was playing with a tiny wooden horse. And there was that enormous aura around him. A shadowy presence around him. Truly evil. Desmond squinted his eyes to see what was he facing. And then, the kid lifted his eyes to meet his and a smile drew on the kid's face.

"A human?" He asked with joy. "I thought I was the only one." The blond tamer sighed and looked at his partner. "Give me the Digivice." He softly whispered. Demi quickly did so and readied himself for battle. "I'm Desmond, Desmond Edmund." The Frenchman made a few steps forward and the kid stood up. "Do you have a name?" The kid laughed and nodded. "I'm the king!" He said out loud. The voice was kind of distorted. The large shadow that was there slowly twisted itself into a form that resembles a Chaos Dukemon but pure black. "Did you come to play?" The voice had a hint of joy and malice in it.

Desmond stopped moving to see the giant black Digimon in front of him from a safe distance. Or a safe one according to him. "Do you want to go home?" He asked in a fatherly tone. The kid laughed. "Nope! I'm the king here! I decide everything!" The blond tamer shook his head. "No, you don't." His voice was very stern. "Come, we will go home." Hearing that, the kid stomped the ground and the Chaos Dukemon moved forward. "No! I'm the king!" Desmond had to take a few steps backward while Demi went in front of him. "Let me handle this, Demi." The fire Digimon shook his head. "No, it won't work."

"Chaos Dukemon! Destroy them!" And with that order, the evil Digimon jumped so high and was going to land on them but Desmond's Digivice began glowing. Demi felt his human form turn into data before feeling his body grow larger and larger until he became a SaintMeramon. However, even in this form, the Chaos Dukemon was perhaps twice as big. He looked like a toy next to it. But that didn't scare him, he had his tamer with him now. "Shield!" Desmond shouted and Demi obeyed. He placed his shield up and the tip of the evil Digimon's lance came crashing down on it destroying the shield in one hit. Demi rolled to the right and stood up ready to fight.

Usually, Desmond would use his cards but he didn't have them on him anymore. He cursed in french before trying to go to the left so that he wouldn't be in the heart of the battle. Instead, he looked at the kid who was laughing and wanted to go toward him but the sound of a giant lance piercing the ground stopped him. The Chaos Dukemon wasn't going to let anyone go near his king.

Demi used that moment of distraction to sprint and jump on the back of his enemy. However, the black Digimon swung his shied around and sent him flying a few meters into the air before landing on the hard ground. Standing up as quickly as possible, Demi charged in once more. His lance turned white as he used his Heated Lance ability. The Chaos Dukemon was about to slam him once more with his giant shield but the fire Digimon slid below it and went to stab it in the leg. The attack was successful but aside from a loud grunt, nothing really happened. The lance went through the leg without resistance. It was like it wasn't corporeal. However, that same leg would go kick Demi in the face and it was very real. He felt the impact even with his armor. Tumbling down and then rolling to the right, The SaintMeramon stood up again.

Meanwhile. Desmond would be running toward the kid who was still holding on that miniature horse. The self-called king saw him but didn't move. He saw him stomp the ground before but why didn't he move away. As the human got closer and closer, Demi was getting wounded left and right. The body of the SaintMeramon came down crashing between his tamer and the kid. The Chaos Dukemon wasn't going to let him near his king. "Demi!" Desmond shouted as he got in range to put a hand on his partner's armor. "Stand up, quick!" Demi nodded and tried to stand but felt a giant foot kicking him down. His armor cracked under pressure and the kid was still laughing.

The Frenchman was starting to think that it will end badly for them. But he had to carry on, they had to carry on. Taking his courage in hands, Desmond jumped on Demi and on that foot of the Chaos Dukemon and then jump once more toward the kid only to meet the surface of the back of the shield. Hitting his head straight into the metal, Desmond got dizzy for a moment and even saw blood slowly sliding to his brows. That is going to leave a mark. "Desmond..." Demi tried to say his name but the Chaos Dukemon kept stomping on him making his armor crack under each stomp.

Desmond was out of idea now. There was no way from them both to be able to reach that kid. Unless. While he wasn't sure if getting to the kid would do anything, that was the only thing he could come up with. "I'm sorry, Demi." The older human said before shouting at the evil Digimon. "Come and get me!" The Chaos Dukemon turned around and let Demi on the ground. Struggling to even move, the SaintMeramon did all he could to stand on one knee with the help of his lance. "Desmond..." What was he doing? He is going to get crushed by the Chaos Dukemon!

The black Digimon would slowly advance toward Desmond and lift his own giant lance in the ground. He was going to delete Desmond with it. "Demi! Get the kid!" Upon hearing that, the Chaos Dukemon instantly turned around again and saw the almost armorless Meramon next to it. When Demi was next to the kid, he knew what Desmond meant by sorry. He wanted him to self-destroy. Holding the kid with his right arm, the Digimon curled himself around the kid and with a flash, Demi was no more. Data went flying everywhere and the Chaos Dukemon growled before vanishing in thin air.

Desmond flew a few feet back from the explosion. Upon standing, he saw that the shadowy aura was gone but the kid was still there, next to nothing? Demi should be here, unconscious but still here in his DemiMeramon form. Desmond looked around the little boy but there was no sign of his partner. The kid was now on both knees crying with his wooden horse broken. The human began making his way to the so-called king and sat down next to him. "Don't cry." He said while trying to calm himself. "You broke it! You broke it!" The kid held on the wooden horse that was now in many pieces.

The blond tamer would wait next to him, looking at him cry and cry and cry. "It's okay. I can fix it." The kid quickly lifted his head and looked at Desmond with teary eyes. "Can you?" He asked shakily. "Of course, but we need to go home first. Would you like to come home?" The kid didn't know what to say. He was a king here and just a little boy outside this world. "Come, let's go home." The kid stayed down for a bit longer before standing up and grab Desmond's hand. Without saying anything he still nodded. Using his Digivice, he opened a portal back home, leaving this world behind once more.

A year later, the village was back to normal. the Digi-Tamas were there, the other guardians as well. The ground had grass and flowers but there was still one thing missing. Demi. Desmond was next to a gravestone with the drawing of a fireball with a smile and glasses. Somehow, Demi never came back, not even as a Digi-egg. Desmond looked everywhere but not one trace of his partner. The human stood there, silent and sad. There were a few Digi-Tamas around as well and none of them were happy. "I'm sorry, Demi." He quietly spoke. He took out his Digivice, made a portal and then placed the device on the gravestone. He took a deep breath and bowed. "You were a good brother, Demi. Thanks for everything. See you around?" And with that said, the human shed a tear and a laugh and crossed the portal away from this world for the very last time.

Another year has passed. Desmond kept in touch with the kid. They would hang sometimes in the park and Desmond did repair his horse. He also painted a fireball, with a smile and glasses on the side of it.