So we're on the second match of the finals! Blade vs Wargrowlmon and there seems to be some tension between the two. What's their story...and what is Blade's relationship with the mysterious Red Chrome village. Enjoy! And comment, it helps me keep the story going :3

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Blade's crest


Back in the eastern region, a pair of Kotemon were sparing side by side. Kendo sticks clashing into one another, occasionally bumping the others helmet, harmless training as far as the watching Dinohyumon's were concerned. This simple sparring session lasted for several minutes, until the larger Kotemon fell on his back, gasping for breath. "That's enough Blade. I think you proved your point." A Wargreymon stepped over, approaching the smaller Kotemon and grabbing the entirety of the rookie in his palm.


"Ack! Uncle Grey don't baby me!" Blade cried out, wiggling in the Wargreymon's grasp. Groaning as he was powerless to stop the dramon destroyer.


The Wargreymon cocked his head to the side, laughing at his nephew. "Keep acting up like that and you'll never make it to Azulongmon's personal guard. Your brother's already the current guardian so why do you have to compete with him anyway?"


Blade looked down, grumbling as he looked about, noting how the crowd was laughing at his situation. He started blushing through his helmet and sighed. "Because my brother doesn't have a shred of sympathy for other digimon...He only cares about Azulongmon's orders without thinking about the consequences for the other digimon."


"Careful nephew...you're stepping on thin ice. You know it's LORD Azulongmon. And his will is absolute." Wargreymon stated flatly, dropping Blade down to fall on his butt.


Blade would slowly pull himself up, staring up at Wargreymon and tapped his foot. "Nobody's will should be absolute. As a guardian, my brother should know well enough to question it. Even Azulongmon can make mistakes and I want to help shape our world."

---

Blade snapped his eyes open, suddenly hearing the roar of Smithy's voice echo within the waiting room. It sounds like RD won and in the middle of it all he seemed to doze off. He sighed, pulling himself up with the help of his Saberleomon sword. He took one look at the Wargreymon one strapped to his hip and muttered quietly to himself. "I'll make you proud uncle...Please watch over me." He clasped his hands together as if in prayer, closed his eyes briefly then stepped out to the arena. Wargrowlmon following his trail with a blank expression.


Watching the two dragon types step out into the ring, Smithy couldn't help but grin. "Alright! This match proves to be an exciting one. Both contestants hail from the East. Blade, the sole guardian to the great Lord Azulongmon, comes from a village primarily of Dinohyumon known as blue chrome village. And his opponant, a Wargrowlmon! But this Wargrowlmon is very unique. He claims to be the sole survivor of the Red chrome village."


Blade's eyes went wide when he heard that. He gulped once then controlled his facial expressions. It would do him no good to let the opponant know his mood state. "Red chrome. My brothers biggest shame. So this is the reason Azulongmon brought me here." He closed his eyes, palm pressed to his forehead, then with a fluid motion he swung his arm back, pulling his Wargreymon sword out of it's sheath so that he was wielding both now.


Smithy chuckled, noting each dragon type's hard stare down. "For those of you who've yet to travel to the East...There are 12 small villages among the peaks of some of the larger hills but there's only 7 major villages settled atop the regions highest peaks. Each mountain village consists of a unique ore that is found within their domain."


Wargrowlmon snorted at Smithy, then waved a dismissive paw. "I could care less about that right now. Besides, after today everyone will know that the blue chrome village are nothing but murderers! Atomic Blaster!!"


Watching the two gunsports on Wargrowlmon's chest glowing in preparation for his deadliest attack, Blade lifted up his Wargreymon sword and made a single swip forward. "Great Tornado slash!" He roared out as a tornado of flames burst forth from his blade and clashed into the great red blast of Wargrowlmons, canceling each other out.


"I don't KNOW, what you think you know." Blade growled out, twisting the hilt of his Wargreymon sword to the side. a brilliant red ball of fire starting to form at it's tip. "But what my brother did to your people, even I know is unforgivable. He was shunned from the village for his disgrace."


Snarling, Wargrowlmon charged forward only to be pushed back into place by a miniature Terra force. The brunt of the impact dented his chest plate and left it charred black. His eyes glaring angrily over Blade. "Azulongmon brought him to u-"


Blade stepped forward, sealing away his Wargreymon sword and switching the Saberleomon one int his dominant left hand and sent the dull end of the blade skating along Wargrowlmon's chest plate, yellow sparks enveloping him and paralyzing him. "LORD Azulongmon. Now if you want to stop being unreasonable and listen to my side of the story. I'll gladly let you beat me to a pulp if you aren't satisfied. But I won't let your anger stretch toward the entirety of my village. When it's my brother alone who is responsible. We share the same strand of data and since he isn't present. I'll take his punishment in his place."

---

10 years prior


Blade, who had finally gathered enough experience training with his uncle, digivolved into a Dinohyumon. He'd never been more proud of himself. He clenched his fists a bit, before relaxing and looking over himself with a grin. "Hey uncle...were mom and pops Dinohyumon too? Or were they greymon like you."


"Honestly..." The Wargreymon took a deep breath and stretched out. "Your mom was a Dinohyumon, but your father was the Greymon. I guess unlike your brother you took on your mother's stunning form, minus the breasts."


"I'm not developing breasts!" Blade flailed his arms out before grinning. "Let's go see Hilt, now uncle. Maybe he'll find me suitable to be his replacement as Azulongmon's guardian."


Wargreymon sighed, grabbing Blade by the back of his neck and smirked when the newly digivolved champion started squirming around in his grip. "Your brother isn't even in the village right now. And even if he were, it's time for you to take your pilgramage down the mountain. To test yourself against the wilds of this region."


Blade blinked, stopping his struggling as his uncle carried him out of the village and grumbled. "Oh yeah...one is not credited to being a true warrior until they go down to the world below. So then if I come back a warrior then you'll stop treating me like a child?"


Wargreymon nodded, setting Blade down just outside of the boundry of the village. "If you come back a warrior...yes. You'll be a man worthy of me treating as an equal. I won't give you any advice. Even if you're my nephew I won't deprieve you of experiencing the world and tainting it with my own view on it. All I have to say is, if you survive then I'll consider you a candidate for the next guardian."


Blade nodded, looking down to the world below but did his best to keep a straight face. "Then I guess I'll see you in a couple months uncle." He nearly moved forward to hug him but stopped. It was bad form for a warrior to show emotion even if it was to his own flesh and blood.


"Go on. And do me proud." Wargreymon smiled, sitting down on a large stone, seeing Blade off.

Not looking back, Blade continued his descent down the mountain. He'd spent hours in his uncles study, simply reading of the eastern regions ancient history. Before the dinosaur and dragon digimon colonized on the rugged mountain tops.

---

"Let me stop you right there." The Wargrowlmon grumbled out, snarling in Blade's direction. "We've all gone through such a journey. It's a long held tradition in the east. I don't need to hear about your travels."


Blade took a deep breath and clapped his hands. "I can garuntee if you'd just stop interrupting you WILL find value in my lifes history. SO I'd be very grateful if you'd let me continue."


The first few days and nights, Blade spent getting a better layout of the area. He'd heard of a another mountain village not too far off from his own. His brother was sent down there just before his own expedition. Maybe the villagers would be kind enough to offer him supplies, having already ran out of his food rations the day before.


It only took Blade half a day, but just as he began scaling the mountain to the next village he could feel a chill in the air. "That's never happened before..." Blade muttered to himself, grabbing onto the closest foothold. He was forbidden to use the beaten path for his travels, as such he made use of the rock climbing skills his uncle tried to beat into him during training sessions.


When he finally made it to the top, his muscles ached, sweat dripping from his shoulders and chest as he took deep breaths. Then when he looked up, his eyes stared in horror at the scene laid out before him. All of the buildings, each one was demolished. Very few still had a roof in tact and even those were ransacked. the place was littered in digieggs, making him sick to his stomach as he tried to fathom what could bring such devestation. "What caused this?"


He banished the aching pain in his muscles and pressed forward. What few buildings were still stable he would check around. Making a count of the survivors was his first priority. And when he found that, he sincerely wish he hadn't. He spotted a growlmon, leaning over the village's water well, drinking from what it could manage. "Hey, are there other survivors?! What happened here?"


The Growlmon coughed out a bit of water, data pouring from his right temple as he glared in Blade's direction. "YOU. YOU HAPPENED! Why'd you destroy our village?! What'd we ever do to you?!?!?"


Blade cringed, jumping out of the way from an incoming dragon slash and sighed. "Woah hold on! You're not making any sense. I only just got here!"


"What?!" The Growlmon looked Blade over once more, then winced, doubling over with a growl. "You're...not him. You're much smaller than that Dinohyumon..."


Blade quickly made his way to the Growlmon's side, trying to help him up and checking for wounds. "Other Dinohyumon...Was his name Hilt?"


That got the Growlmon's attention who quickly shot an eye of suspicion toward Blade. "He called himself the hand of Azulongmon." He coughed again, groaning as he started pointing toward a building that had all but one of it's walls crumbled inward. "Take me there...I have to make sure the gate of light is still shut tight."


Raising an eyeridge, Blade did not object. He grabbed the Growlmon's arm and started leading him slowly toward the ruined building. He assumed it was some sort of holy temple, judging by the carvings in the crumbled stone. He took notice of a ruined statue, but he could make out Azulongmon's frame from it, as well as what looked like a strange variation of the Greymon species. "What...or WHO is that?"


Growlmon looked at the ruined figure and sighed. "VictoryGreymon. He's a variation of Wargreymon. He was supposedly the first guardian of the holy Lord, and the greatest. His essence was locked away in here. see...when digimon usually die, they are converted into a digiegg. But he was special. He chose to lock himself away, though his body is crumbled and dead, his data lives on. Waiting for Azulongmon's chosen successor."


"And how is one...selected? Is he aware of what's happened here? Why did he not choose to show himself then?" Blade asked, questionable of Growlmons tale.


"The chosen successor has to be free willed but also capable of retaining his sense of self. He can't let the world dictate his actions or let his superiors make mistakes that can otherwise be avoided through council." Growlmon grunted, clutching at his gut as he started searching through the debris, a crack formed underneath the floor. "Hilt came, supposedly to gain Victorygreymon's blessing on orders of Lord Azulongmon. But he denied the warrior the gift and turned him away."


Now it was starting to make sense to Blade, though he did not want to accept it. "My brother is the nobelest of warriors in my village. Why would he throw a tantrum over a lack of acceptance. Shouldn't Azulongmon's approval be enough for him?"


Growlmon pulled the crack back, revealing a hidden stairwell. "I suppose greed. Azulongmon probably dotted on him, made him think that he was entitled to the great power stored in here. But Azulongmon and Victorygreymon's opinions on the rightiously chosen differ. Just because one says yes while the other says no does not mean you qualify. Both must be accepting of your existance. And they must both acknowledge you."


Blade winced, grabbing Growlmon's shoulder and leading him down the stairs. Worried that the large dinosaur was pushing himself too hard, he insisted that they took a break halfway through the stairs. "Then Azulongmon is the one at fault here? No...I doubt Azulongmon was aware of my brother's greed. He's not one to be selfish so it had to have happened after he was accepted as the new Guardian."


"Pride changes people." The Growlmon grumbled, taking a deep breath and pushing against Blade as they made it to the bottom. "Once you've been recognized as a warrior...a holy one at that, it becomes harder and harder to maintain your purity without the title going over your head." Growlmon sighed, letting out a small puff of smoke as he walked over to an alter with Victorygreymon's form carved into the floor. "Since you're of his blood...Let's see if the same corrupt spirit lives within you. Victorygreymon will be your judge and jury. Please step on the altar."


Blade sighed, scratching his head. "I...I guess that's the only way to determine if I'm lying or not isn't it. Fine if it will disprove my suspicions then I'll do it. But why would you take me here if you were weary?" Before Blade could get an answer, when he stepped onto the alter a bright orange glow enveloped him, he had to shut his eyes just to withstand it all. "I...feel a strange pressure. It's getting hard to breath..."


Suddenly, a voice echoed inside of Blade's head, as if an ancestor reaching out to it's long lost descendant. "Your spirit is fresh. You've yet to experience the harshness of life...Yet I also sense great anguish. Speak to me, and let me know your troubles."


"I...Did my brother really cause all of this destruction? Please tell me! Is something wrong with him? Is he infected with a virus?" Blade tried voicing out his doubts, but the crushing weight of Victorygreymon's presence kept any words from forming in his mouth, instead he left it to thought.


The voice boomed with great authority. "He came seeking me out. He followed Azulongmon's orders. Took pride in his work, yet he never took the time to analyze the situation. He simply went through the motions. Thus I denied him my power, he went into a frenzy confirming my suspicions. I can only imagine that a dark force from our past is resurfacing."


Blade cringed. Victorygreymon made no mention of this foe through words, but rather emotions burning too bright for the young Dinohyumon to truely fathom. His body rippled in struggle, as if his entire form was going to collapse. "C-can I save him? Can the people of this village be saved?"


"I sense great determination in you. I can sense that you have the qualifications to take my power. But you have yet to be tested by Azulongmon and you are in the middle of your expedition. Had you come later with more experience I would gladly extend myself into your care. Alas...I can already feel my presence crushing your core. Any longer and you might delete from the pressure." Victorygreymon expressed great sadness, then suddenly a great mark appeared beneath Blade, shaped in the form of a fragmented star. It slowly shrank to encompass Blade before perminantly etching itself on his left shoulder. Victorygreymon's presence started fading out, as if going back into a deep slumber. "As long as your heart remains pure...this crest shall remain on your form. Grow strong, and seek Azulongmon's tutulage. Then when you've grown, return and I shall bestow upon you all of the power that I have at my disposal..."


The Growlmon stared in awe, before falling on his backside with a groan. He kept his eyes trained on Blade with great intensity as the light faded. "H-He has accepted you? Are you truely the chosen digimon?"


Blade collapsed then and there, his eyes straining to remain open as he passed out infront of the wounded dinosaur.


Two days later, Blade awoke in what was to be a makeshift stone hut. The Growlmon sitting beside him with a pained expression on his face. "You...are awake. I thought you'd kicked the bucket. More than once did your data begin to scatter."


Blade pulled himself into a sitting position, it was still hard to breath, and he was sweating like mad. But he was still alive, and his left shoulder throbbed. "I...I almost did. What happened after I passed out?"


The Growlmon sighed with relief, his wounds having had enough time to heal apparently. "I used the wreckage of the village to create a small protective hut. Something just told me it was the right thing to do. The crest of light on your shoulder's been glowing a hot pink's since your encounter with Victorygreymon. So...what did he say?"


Blade touched the mark on his shoulder and winced. It burned like hell! Whatever Victorygreymon did to him...That's right! "He said I had the right state of mind to be his chosen one. But that I lacked experience...This mark is supposed to stay with me for as long as I remain qualified. I'm much too weak to accept him into my body right now. And I nearly deleted myself."


Growlmon nodded, handing over a sack full of supplies. "I took the time to check our old homes...What we had to spare I've packed away in that sack. It should serve you well for the rest of your pilgramage. I'd honestly like you to stick around, but you still have a job to do."


Nodding, Blade accepted the sack and pulled himself up. "Go to Blue Chrome village. Explain what happened here and they'll accept you. When I come back, maybe we can discover more about this mark." He motioned to his shoulder.

---

The Wargrowlmon's eyes went wide, staring at Blade's left shoulder and indeed spotted the Crest Of Light on his person. "Wait...so then you're the one..."


Blade nodded, removing the paralyzing effect over his opponant and sheathing his weapon. "When I finished my exploration I asked for you. But they said you never made it to the village. I assumed something bad happened to you. You were the last surviving member of Red Chrome. And you gave me a gift that still gives me strength to this day. I haven't been back to visit Victorygreymon...Though after this tournament I have every intention to make the journey. To this day I've tried to stay pure. And I was recognised as an honorable warrior in Azulongmon's eyes. I've yet to find my brother but I haven't given up hope."


Wargrowlmon stared Blade over, and sighed. "I...I didn't recognize you. I did try to make it to Blue Chrome...But then I was pulled away. I was decieved into thinking you had betrayed me! That mark proves otherwise. Can you forgive me?!" Wargrowlmon got down on his knees and bowed.


"Please don't...You make me feel like I'm a bully by doing that..." Blade sweatdropped, crossing his arms as he tried not to smile. "Want to make it up to me? Let's have an honorable battle. No bloodshed, just honest fighting mono e mono."


"I think we can do that!" Wargrowlmon clasped his hands together and charged toward Blade, locking claws with him. Despite his size, Blade could not be easilly pushed over. At this point it was a tug of war. "You...don't have Victorygreymon yet you're even more powerful than your brother was."


Blade growled, clenching his teeth. "I had a lot of motivation." Suddenly, Blade broke his grip and took out his Wargreymon blade and lunged forward. "Great tornado!!"


Wargrowlmon's eyes went wide, but charged forward, grabbing the tornado in his paws, feet stamping into the ground to prevent being knocked out of bounds. "ATOMIC BLASTER!"


Blade grunted as the red beam of light blew right through his tornado. He lifted up his weapon, using it to deflect the attack though it knocked him on his back.


"This is checkmate Blade!!" Wargrowlmon cried out, making a great leap forward. The Pendulum blades swinging forward. "Radiation blade!!"


Blade was quick however, he leapt to his feet just as Wargrowlmon was crashing down on him. He used those legs to spring forth at his opponant, switching his Wargreymon sword for Saberleomon. "Howling Crusher!" His entire body was enveloped in what looked to be the spirit of a Saberleomon, it's massive paws springing forth to meet Wargrowlmon's pendulum blades. There was a bright flash, then the two fighters were standing on opposite ends of the ring. They turned to face one another, bright grins on their faces. "Nobody's made me work this hard before. You've withstood several Mega class attacks...yet you still stand."


Wargrowlmon's eyes locked with Blade's. Right here and now, they were tied together, locked intimately through combat. "You're not so bad yourself. We've both been growing stronger these ten years. Same goal, different results."


Nodding, Blade put the Saberleomon's blade into it's case then took out Wargreymon, wielding it in both clawed hands. "We're nearing the end of our stamina though. So how about we make this our final attack?"


Just as Blade said this, his body was enveloped in a Wargreymon spirit. The crowd watching in awe as a great pressure enveloped them. They all winced and stared in anticipation.


Wargrowlmon nodded, his claws glowing bright red as did the gunsports on his chest. "YOu're exherting a lot of power Blade. Victorygreymon should be no problem for you now."


Suddenly the two charged forward once again. Blade lept forward, a great red ball of flaming energy coming from the spirit claws of the Wargreymon. Both Terra destroyer and Atomic blaster clashing in point blank range. The entire ring balooned in a mass of flames and red energy.


Smithy was speechless, He couldn't look through the flames but he had a feeling the ring had seen better days. When the cloud of energy dissapated, he could see the arena was completely crumbled to pieces. It would definitely need to be repaired before the next round. He stared at both contestants, locked eyes with one another as if defiant of their loss. Then, Wargrowlmon's chest plate cracked open as he was reduced to a basic Guilmon infront of everyones presence. Blade got to his knees, panting after such a heated battle. "THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! THE WINNER OF FINALS ROUND TWO IS BLADE!"


Dorugamon's jaw was gaping, so long that Max had to push it back up with a laugh. "Blade is scary strong...and RD has to battle him next!"


Nodding, the great beast type champion sighed. "Yeah but I have to battle next. And the ring needs to be repaired before I can even step forward...what a bummer..."


Max laughed, jumping on Doru's back and patting his fur down. "That just means you can rest a little longer. Besides...Your match might be just as intense, I hope that you can make it through in one piece..."


"Gee thanks!" Doru groaned, before the two burst into laughter.


Grapleomon stared at the holoscreen and approached the two friends. "This is the finals. I'm actually kind of scared senseless! I never thought there were monsters of this calibur in this tournament. I hope we can give an equally good show!"


Doru nodded, grinning at Grapleomon and holding a large paw to shake. "We'll do our best! Don't go easy on me just because I'm a champion."


Grapleomon nodded, staring up at Doru and shaking his paw. "I wouldn't dream of it." He layed back on the couch and sighed, watching the arena being stripped of it's ring. Several champion type digimon already startin to install a new floor. Two matches in and these finals are already proving to be quite deadly.


(To be continued)