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"Shadow of a Doubt"

"Come on, Bancho. Give me all you got!" Max growled as he danced to one side, his tail swaying behind him as he moved in a semi-circle exactly opposite the Digimon.

Bancholeomon's eye twitched a bit as he watched this display, the white wolf's red tipped ears flicking as they pointed in his general direction, the smug, confident grin across his muzzle, how it begged the lion to simply swing and knock it off, but he kept his cool. He tightened his fists, the sound of leather squeaked as he readied himself into an attack posture, his own tail dipped and swished as he lowered his field of attack and growled. "I told you not to call me that." He threatened.

"You two have been doing this dance for some time." Sci broke the otherwise private grimace between the two spar partners. They looked up to see a comically large pocketwatch slip back into the Taomon's vest as if it hadn't existed a moment before. "If we're to properly practice, it would be prudent to actually do so."

Bladeleomon sighed and rested his unsheathed sword against his shoulder. "It's not practice either, it's training. If you're going to learn how to uncover your sayian powers like your brother has Max, you're going to need to put a little more effort into it."

A tisk escaped Max's tongue and he rolled his eyes at the others. "I know, I know. But you can't expect me to push myself facing you guys."

"What was THAT?" Bancholeomon growled as he swung in, narrowly avoiding hitting Max's muzzle with his right hook. He ducked and readied himself for another strike, his white mane of hair flopping in front of his eyes for a second as he tried to uppercut the wolf.

Max stepped back and flattened himself as best as he could to avoid the next strike, then he blocked another punch and swivelled around to kick Banch. The Digimon quickly adapted and kicked down on Max's leg, causing it to bend almost grossly inward. "AUGHH!" Max cried out.

"Bancholeomon, what are you doing?" Sci said.

"We're supposed to be training him, not killing him!"

Ignoring Bladeleomon, Bancholeomon avoided the fast retaliation that Max gave him and grabbed his arm, thrusting his elbow into his ribcage as he spun in under him and flung him to the ground. "We're not going to get anywhere babying him!" He shouted at the others. "We need to teach him how to control his powers!"

"You...!" Max roared as his powers elevated suddenly, flashing the entire area briefly in a golden light. He darted in and tried to overpower the Digimon by a forceful burst of energy. Bancholeomon slapped Max's encroaching paws to the side, avoiding being hit by the attack and he punched.

Max blocked the punch and the following kick, striking in with a burning fist that narrowly grazed Bancholeomon's shoulder. He snorted and blocked again, grabbing Max's incoming fist, he tried to push it off, but then got a punch to the nose that made him reel back. "AHH!" He grabbed his nose, then ducked under another furious punch. "You might get lucky with those shots every once in a while..." He said as he grabbed Max by the arm and delivered a fierce kick to his side before spinning and kicking him back toward the hill. "But you need to control that strength and see what each move will deliver..."

Max's glow faded quickly as he skidded to a halt. Groaning, he placed his hand on his head as he sat up. The light rain that evening had left the ground under him a bit soggy, and he could feel the streak of mud against his shoulder blades. He began to wipe it off as he spoke. "Y'know, maybe we should do this on another night. All this water is fizzling my powers out."

"It's not about fizzling out your powers, Max." Sci said as he produced a slim piece of paper between his index and middle fingers. "It's about controlling what you do with them..." Suddenly, the paper became straight as a board and the Taomon flicked it toward him.

Max gasped and re-ignited his power to avoid the incoming strike. Slapping it with his hand, he realized his powers weren't fully engaged and the bolt struck him back and knocked him to the ground again. "Ouch!" He cried as he landed on his butt once again. Glaring as the Digimon began to laugh he rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I get it. I need to control my powers, but I won't be doing it on my a--...what?"

Max felt the ground under his feet begin to quake; a bit of the land had come loose in the rain and that last blow had knocked him back toward the edge. "Max!" He heard all three of his sparring partners cry out as the ground crumpled under him with enough forces to send chips of rubble around him. Max put his arms over his face on impulse, but nothing could defeat the pull of gravity suddenly ripping him downward.

"Oh shi--" He managed to utter as he vanished down the hillside. Bancholeomon, Bladeleomon and Sci all darted to the cliff and watched as the muddy rubble followed Max downward.

Max fell off his platform almost immediately though, as his elbow struck the ground, he realized it was muddy from the days before where it had rained heavily. He rolled over and over again and even though it was only about twenty seconds of falling, he hit the ground feeling like it had been five minutes worth. He groaned and pushed himself up, realizing he was in the wooded area down below the cliffs he was only moments before. He was muddy with splotches of brown throughout his fur. He grumbled and brushed himself off. "Oh what else could go wrong?" He asked himself before shaking his legs off and seeing the water of the lake just a few yards away. "First get your powers insulted, then literally fall down in a mud fight..." He continued to mutter as he crouched down next to the lake and began to wash his arms, dragging his shirt off and dipping it in as well to rinse it off. "Of all the lousy..." His voice trailed off as he heard a growl that gave him a start. He looked around for the source of the noise, but right off he saw nothing.

There it was again; a low, resonant rumbling that made the wolf's heart beat even faster. He stood up and started toward the trees. Cautiously he pushed back some of the low hanging leaves where the sound grew even louder. Looking down at his feet, he was startled to see a familiar and large built body practically underneath him. The deep blue skin was a dead giveaway to his identity; "Frost?!"

The Wargreymon was lying unconscious at the base of the tree; his arms and chest wrapped in bandages while a good portion of his visible skin was covered in scratches and bruises. Quickly, Max bent down to check him, but got several whips from pink vine-like things that made him recoil and fall back. "OUCH!" He exclaimed as two Koromon descended from behind Frost and stood in rabid defense of him now. 'Hey! What's the big idea?" Max asked angrily.

"You're not going to hurt him! He saved our lives!"

"Yeah! Back off!"

"I'm not going to hurt him, I'm a friend of his..."

"We all are..." Sci's voice made Max turn to see that he, along with both Leomons had made their way down the hill after him. "What happened?"

"You can't fool us!" One of the Koromon said.

"You're probably here to hurt him!" The other one shouted.

"Help! Intruders!" They both shouted at once. "Intruders!"

"What're you going to do? Set a flock of Koromon on us?" Max asked sarcastically before hearing another rumbling noise.

The noise was more thunderous than a simple rumbling; the sound of feet hitting the ground so hard that it caused small tremors every time it hit. The trees overhead began to sway slightly from the incoming force, and the glow of a pair of red eyes emerging from the darkness was followed by the form of a black Wargreymon, coming at them in full charge. As Shadow noticed the trio, his charge slowed down and the Koromon stared at him in confusion.

"Max." Shadow said, looking at the wolf. "Sci, Bancholeomon, Bladeleomon..." He recognized all of them with a slow nod of his head. "A pleasure."

"What's going on? What are you doing to Frost?" Sci asked with a glare.

"I'm keeping an eye on him while he recovers."

"What happened to him?" Bladeleomon asked as he crouched next to Frost to examine his wounds, again getting interfered by the two smaller Digimon, who he simply brushed aside.

"Trey." He answered. "As an out-of-control JagerDorulumon."

"What? Trey wouldn't do anything like that. Not to Frost anyway."

"Frost was defending me, and these Koromon." Shadow explained. "But Trey had gone wild and was attacking anything that stood in his way. After the battle, he ran off. I did okay." He raised an arm to show a white bandage wrapped from his elbow to his wrist. "But Frost took the hardest hits, so we've been trying to keep him safe."

"And you didn't bring him to us because?"

Shadow looked askance at Sci for asking that. "Do you really think me bringing my brother cradled in my arms would have been the best thing? Besides, I didn't want to move him too far, I thought I was risking it bringing him here, but with the lake so close I found I could easily shelter and tend to his wounds here."

"Would you two... stop arguing?" Frost said, jarring both Sci and Shadow out of their angered conflict. "It-it's alright, I'm just... resting..."

"Are you alright, Frost?" Max asked, resting a hand on his forearm.

"Is what your brother saying true?" Bladeleomon asked. "JagerDorulumon attacked you?"

Frost barely was able to look up at Bladeleomon, but finally closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, when I was injured, Shadow brought me here to rest."

"Come on, let's get you back to the village." Sci said as he reached for Frost.

Frost began to oblige, but cringed in pain. "N-no... I can't yet. I haven't recovered enough yet."

"We can't just leave you here Frost." Max said.

"Please. It hurts to move, I just need some time..."

Max sighed. "Okay, if that's what you want." He looked at the others. "But I want to stay here and make sure he recovers, why don't you guys go back to the village and let the others know what happened. Maybe they can help Trey too."

"That's a good idea, but what about your training?" Bancholeomon asked.

"I can help him." Shadow suggested, getting a set of eyes from everyone including Frost. "What? I may be winged, but I can spar with him if that's what he needs."

"That's not necessarily what he needs." Sci said. "He needs guidance in controlling his Saiyan powers. If he goes nuclear, are you going to be able to handle the attack if he can't control it?"

"Piece of cake." Shadow said confidently.

It wasn't long before Sci and the other Leomons both departed for the village, for a time, Shadow and Max said very little to one another. The silence left time for them to notice a slight change in the wind that ruffled Max's fur slightly. The wind was warmer this time, a sign that the constant rain may be passing soon. Dusk was turning to twilight and getting darker as Max noticed the Koromon had fallen asleep on Frost's chest.

"So, shall we train then?" Shadow asked all of a sudden breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I guess."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem to be too enthusiastic about it."

"Huh? No, I am." Max said. "I really want this, I'm just frustrated that--"

"Your kid brother beat you to the punch." Shadow said with a smirk, earning a surprised look from the wolf. "I know the feeling." He nodded slightly in Frost's direction. "But you know what really would be the best way to show him up?"

"What?" Max asked, but then grunted as he avoided a foot sweeping across his face.

Rolling back, Max jumped to his feet and Shadow did the same, immediately charging in to attack the wolf as he was getting up. "Proving that you can do it!" He shouted as he charged in. Max leaned back and swivelled on one foot to avoid the dragon and was instead shouldered and knocked back further.

"AH!" He shouted as he landed hard. "I wasn't ready for that!"

"Learning to control your power isn't about being ready, it's about making sure when the time comes you can handle it." Shadow said with a sneer. "Come on, Max! Prove yourself!"

"HAAAA!" Max charged in now, flexing his fingers into fists as he ran at Shadow, the two collided and there was a brilliant spark of energy between them as Shadow locked Max's arms in place.

"Yes! That's it, use your power to break free." He urged.

The ground was wet under Max's feet and he kept feeling like he was about to slip, but he pushed harder against Shadow and tightened every muscle in his body to keep from falling. Another spark ignited between them and he let out a growl to try and spin the dragon Digimon away.

"You're holding back..." A dark voice caused a shiver to go down his spine. "You can do much better..." The male voice had a deep echo to it.

"You're only using a quarter of your power." A female's voice interrupted... "It is within your capabilities..."

"Ahh...!" Max grunted as he fell to his knees all of a sudden.

"Max! What's going on?" Shadow asked as he crouched down and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"We... we're being watched..."

Suddenly, Shadow looked up and glanced around. "I sense that too now. Who has the power to sneak up on me like that?"

"HAHAHA!" A laugh echoed through the wind with enough effect to send birds flying from their nests in the trees, filling the air with dark clouds that hastened the onset of night. "You are a fool to think that you are a master of darkness, Wargreymon..." Her voice felt like nails running across Max's skull as a familiar form came out of the darkness.

Long, white hair and eyes as red as blood appeared first. Lady Devimon's skin was a pale greyish white under the black garb she wore. A mask prevented her face from being visible above her cold lips. Chains dangled low under her as she floated in, her right arm appeared normal aside from being wrapped in the chains while her left sported a large red claw on the end. Her lips curled into a rather sadistic smile as she made her way closer to the others on the ground. One boot, then the other; not attached to any legging of sorts came down afterward. In a quick snap, Shadow stood in between her and Max.

"What do you want, Lady Devimon?" He asked.

"Me?" She asked, her voice too scratchy to sound at all innocent as her smile broadened. "Why, I'm here for him." She said, pointing at Max. "My masters have plans for his potential. And orders of course to eliminate you Shadow; for your betrayal."

"You can forget that." Max said as he narrowed his eyes.

"You haven't a choice in the matter." She said shortly. "What the masters want, the masters get."

"You wouldn't stand a chance against us alone." Shadow said.

"You're right." Another voice emerged from the darkness making the pair turn toward another set of red eyes as Devimon emerged from the shadows. A virtual match for the Lady, he was dressed in a full black outfit only the lower part of his face was visible, a greyish white skin on him too, and his large left handed claw completely black. His laughter caused a cold wind to blow across the pair trapped between them. "Which is why I am here as well."

Max looked behind him at Frost, he was awake, but obviously unable to move well enough to fight. The Koromon buried under his arms were wide awake now, trembling in fear at the sight. "We've got to protect them..." He whispered to Shadow, who nodded slowly.

"Be ready for a fight."

"Touch of Evil!" Devimon roared as his arms suddenly began to extend toward Max

"Darkness Wave!" Lady Devimon's smoky attack launched from her hands as it quickly moved toward Shadow.

"Talisman Star!" The voice echoing through the sky was accompanied by a shining white sword that struck Devimon's arms, causing him to cry out in pain and retract them.

"Flash Bantyo Punch!" The shape of Bancholeomon entered the field of darkness from Lady Devimon's attacks and it exploded apart to clear the sky as he came to a landing by them. "Are you two alright?"

Bladeleomon swept past Max and Shadow, drawing his swords and aiming them at Devimon. "You will do no such thing." He growled. "Max, Shadow. Take Frost and go!"

"Hurry." Sci urged.

"Oh, I don't think so." Devimon taunted. "We had a suspicion that you heroes would interfere, so we have a backup plan." He chuckled darkly.

"Meet our flock, heroes." Lady laughed as she snapped her fingers.

A massive cloud poured from her hand, black as the night that dotted out every hint of color or vision to everyone else in the group. Sci placed his palms together and illuminated the darkness like a beacon. As the others gathered, a strange presence began to make itself known; high pitched laughter and cackling began to resound in the darkness as the light began to shine off of hundreds of small faces with wings attached. Sharp white teeth in grinning mouths and short little legs made them look even more ferocious when they were piled together in a gigantic storm of them.

DemiDevimon; hundreds of them erupted from the darkness and began to throw themselves onto the heroes that had arrived.

Utter chaos broke out around Max as he summoned the power into his hands and spun around wildly.

"Darkness Tornado!" Shadow roared as he began to spin in order to sweep up the DemiDevimon swarming them, but his power was immediately squelched by the flying kick from Devimon. "Unnh!" He grunted as he was thrown to the ground. "No!" He shouted.

Max roared loudly as he moved to attack Devimon now, but the DemiDevimon swarmed him and knocked him to the side. There were so many, he couldn't see any of his friends, even the glow from Sci's power had been knocked out. Roaring to increase his power again, Max could see the wall of DemiDevimon preventing him from getting through. Each time he tried to stand up, he was knocked down by another wave of the gaggling and laughing miniature-mons. It was enough to make him claw the ground under him in frustration; leaving gold streaks where his fingers scratched. His fur becoming a bit more luminescent he could feel a spike of energy deep down in his chest. Could this be the power he was searching for all this time? As the fog of DemiDevimon parted a bit, he could see Frost off in the distance, the Koromon leaping now to headbutt and bite at the attacking creatures.

Lady Devimon laughed as she darted around the flock and stared at Frost and the Koromon. She let out a ferocious cry and began to fly towards them; finding the easy prey a lot more enjoyable than the battle for the moment. "I will claim your brother!" She roared as she flew toward him.

"FROST!"

Something happened in that moment, Max felt an enormous surge of power, his body transforming as he clawed his way back to his feet. The waves of energy so strong now that the DemiDevimon that were pinning him down suddenly evaporated into Digital Dust as Max charged toward the tree.

Inches from striking Frost, Lady Devimon was surprised that she suddenly stopped, a burning pain shooting through her leg made her cry out as she realized that Max was holding her effortlessly by the ankle. The burn from his light set her body shaking in agony as she tried to pull herself free. "Y-you!" She stammered before she felt him grasp her harder and swing her around. He released her mid-swing and she hit the ground hard, rolling over and over until coming to a stop at Devimon's feet. Both he and Bancholeomon ceased their fighting as they realized the extent of Max's change. Light burned off him like a fire, immolating the surrounding DemiDevimon as he made his way through the crowded battlefield.

"Max!" Sci grunted as the light burning was almost too bright for him as well. "His--his power... it exceeds Mac's power by a huge margin!"

"You will pay for this..." Max said as he stormed toward the devils. His voice was calm, but deadpan in its delivery, like his personality had been wiped clean.

Bancholeomon raised an arm to block the light emanating from the wolf's body, but he could even feel it burning his fur. "Max! You've got no control! Stop this now, before you hurt someone!"

Max's eyes glowed brilliantly as he looked at Bancho, but he did not stop moving forward.

"We will make you stop! Razor Wing!" Devimon threw his arms back, then forward again firing blasts from his wingspan that shot at Max. Despite the danger, Max ran in and tried to attack the Digimon. The power blasted Bancholeomon out of the way as the ground became fire under Max's feet. He leaped up as Devimon tried taking off and grabbed him by the wings.

"RAAAAAAHHHH! LET GO!" Devimon cried out in agony as Max's power increased exponentially and began to wear away the devil's body starting from the feet. "Stop! I surrender! I surrender!"

"You should have thought about that before!" Max shouted.

"What's going on?" Sci asked as he helped Bancholeomon to his feet.

"It--it's Max..." Bancho said.

"No." Shadow stated. "He is the potential of what Max's powers are capable of. Right now, he's out of control; almost... chaos incarnate..."

"He could destroy the forest!" Bladeleomon said.

"No." Shadow replied. "With that much power--"

"He could destroy the Digital World..." Sci completed the thought.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Devimon was pleading now as Lady Devimon pulled back, the sheer power being too much for her to handle.

"I think it's time your "masters" learned not to fool with me." Max said darkly. "And this is the message..."

Shifting his hands from Devimon's wings to his face, the devil let out a tremendous scream that filled the sky and in an instant, Devimon was no more; the dust that remained was carried off in the wind before Lady's eyes.

"You will regret this!" She cried angrily as she snapped her finger and a portal opened behind her. "The masters will not be happy with your mistake."

"I believe sending Devimon was their mistake..." Max replied with a smug grin as he dusted his hands off. Without another word, Lady Devimon vanished through the portal, along with the remaining DemiDevimon that had accompanied her.

Slowly, Max returned to the ground, the power still radiating off of him when Shadow placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned sharply, angrily glaring at him. "Max, you must calm down."

"Must I? These creatures are out to harm us!" Max said, his voice sounding almost disembodied as he spoke. "I will take the harm to them if it's the last thing I do!"

"We will in time." Bancholeomon said, stepping forward.

Sci nodded. "He is right, Max. You must practice the control of your powers, this... this madness... this isn't you."

Max glared at the Taomon. "What if it is? What if... what if I am this power?"

"You're mad!" Bladelomon exclaimed. "Even your brother knows that too much power can destroy everything!"

"Mad am I?" Max asked before looking among the group. "Not one of you have the kind of power to entertain me anymore I'm afraid..." He held up his hands, still burning with a glow. "This... this power is what I am now... and with it, I will destroy all the evil in this world!"

Without a word, Max jumped from the ground and was out of sight faster than the flash of a comet-tail that he left behind, the wind still took a good twenty seconds to die down from his departure, leaving everyone else stunned. "Wh-what do we do now?" Bancholeomon asked.

"We get help." Frost said, for the first time getting back to his feet since the others had arrived. "Max's judgement is being diluted with the sudden burst of power. I saw the look in his eyes when he saved me and the Koromon... it shifted from concern to an unrecognizable one. I can't describe it short of... losing his spirit to the power he was feeling. An addiction that isn't so easily remedied."

"So, we go back to the village." Shadow grunted as he helped his brother back to his feet. "Regroup and find him. Bring him home."

"What's so bad about this?" Bladeleomon asked. "If he is set out to destroy all evil--"

"The way he's thinking, I don't believe he has the same definition of good and evil anymore." Sci said. "If he's allowed to continue, he might see us... all Digimon as evil, maybe even his brothers being our friends might be considered treason to an unstable mind... we need to help him see reason, and the sooner we can, the better."

As the group parted for home, Bancholeomon stopped to see the golden claw marks left in the ground by Max as they faded away and became normal scratches in the dirt again. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Don't worry Max, we'll bring you home again..."

THE END