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Flare was just ending his match, the Drimogemon he'd been facing didn't last long considering he specialized in ranged fire attacks. He felt bad for charring it though. When he walked backstage to make it back to their room he spotted Jesse, laying sprawled on the floor, spear and shield laying a few feet from his position, almost immediately he took Jesse back into their room, setting him on the bed and startling Max who rolled out of the way "Woah! What happened to Jesse?!"

Flare shrugged his shoulders, his usual happy attitude changing as he checked on Jesse's vitals, there were a few cracks in his armor but nothing severe "No clue, I saw him like this when I was coming back from my match."

RD was standing to the side, giving Flare room to work, despite Flare's earlier disposition, he now worked as if Jesse's life depended on it. "I saw something, not sure what. Did you see that one contestant called blade? I saw him and Jesse talking a little while ago but then I needed to get something to eat." RD winced as he shrugged "When I came back this had happened, I wonder if they had a fight"

Flare shrugged his shoulders "Not sure, I caught a look of Blade's attacks during his match, I can't see how he could have injured Jesse this bad."

Suddenly the Loweemon opened his eyes, cringing as he grasped at his arm "He's playing around. If he wanted to he could have deleted me."

"So why did he attack you in the first place" RD asked bristling "And why is someone so powerful in this tourney? It's almost unfair, I mean we're not overpowered ourselves, I just got lucky since I had no idea a shoutmon's mike was connected to their life force, Flare had a range advantage on his opponent and Max evolved mid-fight"

Jesse tried to sit up but he was held down by Flare who wouldn't have it "It was probably a message for us. If that had been Myotismon we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion. As for why he's allowed in this tournament...I really wouldn't know. He's definitely keeping it under wraps. Be careful if any of you end up against him in the next round."

RD winced, and sighed "Just when I thought we'd have an ok time in this tourney because there were three of us then this guy shows up. Give me a break" RD hung his head, what people didn't realize is surprisingly RD had self-confidence issues especially when he knew the odds were against him. Being part gambler he was always one to 'play with the odds' rather than against them and yet if this opponent could beat Jesse this easily what chance did any of them have?

Max took a deep breath, he gave Jesse's condition a good look then sighed "He can't be all bad if he didn't delete Jesse. There has to be a good reason behind it. We can ask him in the next round. He doesn't want the crowd to know how strong he really is, so we have that to our advantage, he can't go overbored in this tournament."

"Yeah but the problem is none of us are at a power level high enough to expose him. Unless one of us can press him against the wall it's useless and then there's the fact that if we evolve to ultimate we'll be automatically disqualified" RD said annoyed

Max rubbed his chin "Maybe not...He'll keep his power just below that of an ultimate. If anything he'll match his opponants strength with his own. All I know is that he's not from this part of the digital world. Like Etamon announced he's a champion of the East. I don't think we need to go any higher than champion. Besides...being champion in level isn't the same as champion in power."

RD folded his arms then finally sighed and nodded "Alright but he still worries me, he attacked Jesse out of the blue for reasons we have no clue about. What if it isn't just about Jesse but about the entire group as a whole that he has a problem with?

Jesse nodded, digitizing his shield and spear "He mentioned that we were outsiders. That this matter was one that should be resolved by Digimon. The way he said it, I assume he means to say none of us are true digimon"

RD folded his arms "Hey don't blame us, we were essentially volunteered and turned into digimon on the way in, besides the way I see it the digimon of this world can't handle the darkness without outside help, if he had his butt handed to him by the darkness effortlessly he'd change his tune in a hurry as harsh as that sounds" RD said annoyed, his tail twitching as he spoke

Max sweatdropped, he had to look down at everyone else as he was still in Growlmon form, he'd even forgotten this for a moment "The digivice is the greatest defense we have against the Darkness. It channels the light inside of us as a weapon that exorcises negative influences. He might not realise that."

"Digimon have known about the power of the digivice for a long time now the fact that he doesn't know about it....forgive me for saying this...but that makes him pretty out of touch with digi-lore, in other words he may be a good fighter but he's an idiot" RD said marking the last sentence with a wave of the hand

Jesse shook his head "Not so." He pushed Flare away, sitting up with a bit of effort. "The digivice may be a common known thing in this world. But only those who have wielded one or was the partner of one who did would know about the light. My digivice is the one exception to this rule. I lack any sort of light so my digivice can't purify anything. all I can do is corrupt."

RD winced "Please don't say things like that, it makes it sound like you're down on yourself" RD said with a hint of worry in his voice

Jesse sighed, rubbing his head a bit "We're in this situation because of me and you know it. Reapermon or the Darkness wouldn't have resurrected if I had been able to keep a tighter leash on my emotions."

"Maybe so but the darkness is a master of manipulating people who are vulnerable to it's own ends, anyways let's not worry about this now ok?" He suggested.

Max nodded "Agreed! The important thing now is coming up with a solution." He looked at RD* "Let's go outside. I'll help you digivolve to the next level like Spike did for me."

RD blinked "Alright, it sounds like a good idea considering how tough this competition is going to get"

Max nodded, opening the door and stepping out "Flare, mind keeping an eye on Jesse for awhile?"

"Of course." He smiled then addressed RD. "I'm sure your champion form will be pretty amazing."

RD actually blushed from the complement but he knew to stay focused as he stepped outside of the building

Max lead RD outside of the domed like building and stretched out "Alright, well to start things off...it's probably important to try to find the right motivation. Like...what's important to YOU."

RD blinked as he thought then smiled "I think what's most important to me is all of you, honestly I don't think I had really good friends until I found all of you. I was pretty lonely"

Max laughed, smiling "I can understand that. I was the same way. Well then the next best thing would be to imagine it. Try to imagine Reaper- Oh wait...you weren't exactly there at the end...well try imagining Myotismon, he's a pretty common digimon compared to Reapermon. Imagine him trying to hurt everyone you care about."

RD blinked, he was really good at picturing things in his head and he knew myotismon really well, from the tv show. He also knew that myotismon was one of the worst of the worst, he imagined the worst case scenario, it was like something out of a video game, the darkness suddenly spreading throughout the digiworld, corrupting everything it touched, the thoughts were too much to take

Max watched quietly, taking a few deep breaths "Take it all in, and let the desperation in wanting to protect us and this world fill you with new power. As we are now we wouldn't hold a candle to Myotismon. So we have to get stronger."

RD was already in that thought process, he knew what myotismon was, essentially the ultimate of ultimates and the worst kind in that case, the thought of 'playing the odds' in this case meant the darkness would win! He needed to get stronger, had to get stronger, it finally pushed him hard enough to digivolve, his body growing in much the same way that Kiya's body had morphed, instead of green coredramon however, he'd became a Blue Coredramon.

Max's eyes went wide, smirking when RD finally digivolved. He couldn't help but be happy "Alright! Now all three of us are Champions! Wait...that leaves just Fang and Coronamon...but still now we all have a fair shot at winning."

"Yeah" RD growled a bit "Just be careful this form is...kinda heavy, I might need to move around a bit to make sure I can keep up with the zippier champion levels"

Max nodded "Hey this forms pretty heavy too y'know...doesn't help that I'm still digesting an Ankylomon. Anyways how about we have a sparring match so you can get used to that new body. Believe me...things were easier as a Leomon." He admitted

RD winced then smirked "Alright let's do it then"

Meanwhile, inside of the Tournament dome, Blade was stepping towards his assigned room, standing beside it was Smithy, his arms crossed and a claw tapping against his arm. "Was confrontation really necessary?"

"If he were that weak he would have been deleted. I don't think a few sword strikes and a couple kicks would hurt him that much." Blade defended himself, starting to turn the knob on his door.

Smithy took a deep breath, staring at the opposite wall. "Didn't Azulongmon inform you? Those kids happen to be our best hope at surviving the coming days. We may be as powerful as Mega's...but there are some things that strength alone can't solve."

Blade paused, his hand on the knob as he turned his head to Smithy's direction. "I'm well aware of that. But right now, I'm not comfortable with putting the fate of our world in their claws. So until they prove me wrong, I'm going to do what Azulongmon trained me for. You should do the same for Baihumon."

Holding up one large paw, Smithy lifted himself away from the wall. "I am. Baihumon has already given me orders to observe this tournament, but not to interfere. I have enough faith in my nephew to know he doesn't need my help to show you your place in all of this."

"We'll see Smithy. You'll see that those kids are better off in their world than here trying to play hero." With that, Blade stepped into his room, closing the door right behind him.

Smithy walked away from Blade's room, taking his time to get back to his seat. "Azulongmon wants to test them does he? Well, go ahead Max. Show the Sovereigns why YOU'RE the TRUE inheritor of the light."

(To be continued)