The Shuffle

Chapter Ten - The Light of Faith


The concept and characters of Digimon belongs to Toei Animation and Akiyoshi Hongo. They are used without permission or the intent of profit.


Who's who:
Taichi is in Sora's body, Sora is in Taichi's, Koushiro is Miyako, Miyako is Koushiro, Hikari is Jyou, Jyou is Hikari, Mimi is Ken, Ken is Yamato, Yamato is Iori, Iori is Takeru, Takeru is Daisuke, and Daisuke is Mimi.

Reminder, I will be referring to the characters per the body they are in. For example, if Mimi in Ken's body thinks about Daisuke in Mimi's body, then Mimi thoughts will regard that body in the masculine possessiveness, that Tachikawa's body is HIS real body since Mimi is currently male and will be referred to as such. When Hikari, in Jyou's body, is talking she will be referred to as Jyou. The only exception is dialogue where the characters are the ones to refer to each other.

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After two weeks of being in the wrong bodies, we finally have a chance to face Piemon and get put back into our own bodies. The demon clown wasn't going to make it easy and scattered our digimon and the fake crests Gennai made throughout the Digital Labyrinth.

Hikari was particularly eager to be switched back. She still hadn't figured out to deal with the sex drive of a seventeen-year-old boy. Especially since Jyou was straight and gave Hikari unwanted thoughts of things he wanted to do with Sora, who happened to have her brother's soul, and Kasumi, a girl Jyou started dating after he 'borrowed' her bike during the Armagemon battle.

Jyou didn't want to remain a girl, particularly since his mother was hoping he would NOT get changed back. Mrs. Kido always wanted a daughter, but Jyou desperately doesn't want to play the part. Especially with the first hand knowledge of having a period feels like.

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"Can't these mazes ever have maps?" Jyou bemoaned, adjusting his glasses trying to peer deeper into the various directions they could go in the labyrinth Piemon had trapped their digimon partners in.

Hikari also peered down the potential paths. "I guess I do whine," she said matter-of-factly.

Jyou looked at the young girl that should really be her, and not Jyou. "Do I come off that cold sounding?"

"Cold?" Hikari blinked. "Normally you're rather cheerful sounding." She then pursed her lips. "But... I've heard the others talk about you when you get... serious. It's like you're another person."

Jyou nodded. "And this is a good time to be serious. Though I find myself almost wanting to hear Gomamon's wisecracks right now."

Hikari let out a short laugh. "Gomamon is good at lightening the mood."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them as they advanced down a path.

"You know, ignorance is bliss," Jyou commented.

"Huh?" Hikari questioned.

"When you said when I was serious I'd act like someone else, I started to think about it and that made me remember all the psychology books you read," Jyou replied.

"Ah." Hikari frowned. "We all went through some traumatic experiences back then. We still are." She motioned at their bodies. "When you actively wanted Vamdemon dead for killing Wizarmon, it took your innocence from you too soon. You were too old to develop Disassociative Identity Disorder, but such a situation would have some effect on your mental state."

Jyou smirked at the girl. "Thank you."

"Why?" Hikari questioned.

"For proving that you're still Jyou." The boy sighed. "I've been seeing too much of the bodies we're in, and not the soul inhabiting it."

"People change in appearance all the time as they grow up. This may be a bit different, but at our core, we're all still the same person we were before." Hikari grinned sheepishly. "Just with added knowledge we wished we never had."

Jyou looked around quizzically. "Where'd this fog come from?"

Hikari shared his confused look. "I didn't see this before."

"Maybe we should head back?" Jyou suggested.

"But our partners may be this way," Hikari returned, and then pouted. "This is why I never could be a leader. I can't decide which is the better course."

Jyou smiled weakly. "We both had the problem before the switch."

Hikari nodded. "And mostly for the same reason, not wanting to make a decision that could hurt others."

"But we have to make one," Jyou pointed out.

Hikari sighed. "The path hasn't dead-ended yet. We should go further but be on extra guard for traps."

Jyou nodded. "Right."

Hikari pinched the front of her shirt and began fanning herself. "It's getting awfully hot."

Jyou noticed what the girl was doing and silently vowed he would never do that in mixed company again when he got his body back. While her action made him nervous, it wasn't nearly on the level Kasumi and Sora generated in him-- which was a relief to him.

Both teens stopped cold as a Bakemon appeared before them and floated straight past them. They didn't let out a sigh of relief until four other Bakemon had gone by as well.

Then a Gazimon glared death at Jyou. "I don't know who I hate more, you or Nanomon! Mark my words, the King will be back!" He then stomped off.

"That was weird," Hikari commented, strongly suspecting that was Metal Etemon, who he had helped kill with Saber Leomon.

Jyou frowned as Evilmon, Red Veggiemon and more Bakemon paraded past them. "I don't like the looks of this."

"Indeed you shouldn't!" a voice called out from the mass of Evilmon. The owner of the voice then leapt out over the vile digimon and landed before the teens.

"Wizarmon?!" Jyou and Hikari cried out.

"You do not belong here!" Wizarmon warned. "This path leads to Digital Necropolis, where all dead digimon go to in wait of being reformatted. If you continue, you will face the worst foes you've ever helped kill."

"As usual, your warning is too late," a dark haughty voice echoed that sent a shiver of cursed familiarity down the Chosen Children's spines.

"Oh, shit," Hikari cursed while Jyou backed away at the sight before him.

Belial Vamdemon, Lady Devimon, and Mega Seadramon loomed over them.

Wizarmon moved in front of the teens protectively.

"Oh, you would need a miracle to save you," Lady Devimon laughed viciously, which Jyou was sure this was the one that served Demon and that her partner had helped kill in her jogressed form of Silphymon.

"One Digimon of Miracles coming up!" XV-mon charged into view and slammed his fist... through the demonic lord's jaw as if passing through smoke.

All of the evil digimon laughed.

Belial Vamdemon backhanded XV-mon, sending him flying.

Daisuke rushed into view as he checked on his fallen partner. "You okay?"

"From that love tap?" XV-mon growled. "I kicked his ass once, I can do it again!"

"Do it!" Daisuke cheered.

"XV-Laser!" A large light in the shape on an X shot out from the dragon's chest, striking Belial Vamdemon in the face and causing the demon to howl in rage and pain.

"Magical Game!" Wizarmon struck his staff into the ground raising a bright flash, obscuring the evil digimon's sight. "XV-mon, grab the Chosen and go!"

"Wizarmon, come with us!" Jyou pleaded.

"I cannot. I shall be reborn soon enough," Wizarmon replied. "Go before it's too late."

Jyou continued to protest, "But Wizarmon, Tailmon has--"

"I KNOW! It's okay! GO!" The wizard digimon pushed the boy into XV-mon's open hand. "GO!"

The dragon leapt away with the Chosen in his arms just as the light flash Wizarmon made faded. XV-mon pushed his speed while the wizard once again moved himself to defend the children.

"You can't kill what's already dead," Wizarmon commented.

"But we can make you wish you never existed," Belial Vamdemon returned.

And the Chosen began to hear screams of pain.

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"Takeru, you got V-mon?" Hikari questioned.

"Yep. Certainly seems I got the 'miracles' motif going," Daisuke replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously. 'That's Jyou, not Hikari,' played in his head like a mantra.

V-mon looked at Daisuke strangely, still wondering if that was Daisuke. The boy certainly didn't seem like Takeru.

"We should go back for him," Jyou stated, but didn't get a step closer before V-mon tripped him.

"We can't help him there. It's not our world. They're dead, we're not," V-mon told the elder teen.

"Wizarmon already died once for Tailmon and me, he shouldn't face any more torture for helping us!" Jyou protested.

The girl sighed while closing her eyes. "Hikari, you know there are things we can't stop from happening."

"I know, but it's not fair!" Jyou cried out.

Daisuke placed his hand on the older boy's shoulder. "Hikari, you heard Wizarmon. He's going to be reborn soon! No matter what Vamdemon does to him, it'll all be forgotten once he hatches! This isn't good-bye, but a chance to say hello! You'll be able to see him again, ALIVE and well!"

Jyou sniffed. "I guess...."

"Come on, I'll show you where Tailmon and Gomamon are!" Daisuke chirped, pointing down the path.

V-mon cocked his head. That pep talk wasn't exactly what Daisuke would've said. Still a bit too cheerful for Takeru, but he saw something of Takaishi in it. And while the older teen's words sounded like they belonged to Hikari, the actions were more like Jyou's. The initial switch wasn't this confusing for the little dragon. He shook his head and followed the teens.

"Here we are," Daisuke announced.

Hikari and Jyou looked down the path and saw some of the partnered digimon trapped within glass cases dotting the sides of the walls. As they approached the cylinders containing their own partners, the glass opened and Plotmon and Gomamon rushed out.

Jyou approached Plotmon. "I missed you."

The puppy nodded, feeling some more power return to her. "Plotmon evolve to... Tailmon!" The now feline digimon flexed her paws. "I'm ready, Hikari."

Gomamon padded closer to Hikari. "Guess you're still Jyou, huh?"

The girl nodded and then blinked as the seal began to glow.

"Gomamon evolve to... Ikkakumon!" The now gigantic walrus looked at his body. "Damn, does Hikari have a LOT of power or what?!"

Jyou and Hikari sweat-dropped.

"That'll certainly help," Daisuke commented. "Now all we have to do is find our exits and return to normal."

Hikari nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Jyou raised his fist up into the air. "Let's go!"

Tailmon and Ikkakumon exchanged confused looks.

V-mon sighed. "Don't try to think too much about it. Daisu... er... Takeru has been confusing me with the way he acts too."

Tailmon nodded. "Well, Gennai did warn us about their personalities blending a bit."

"Hurry up!" Daisuke called out. "I want to be back in my own body before dinner!"

"I think that's going a little past 'a bit of blending,'" Ikkakumon remarked with a sweat-drop.

"You're telling ME," V-mon retorted.

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"Harpoon Vulcan!" The horn on Ikkakumon's forehead fired off like a missile, then broke up into numerous smaller missiles which detonated along the path. One trap was sprung while two others were visibly destroyed.

"There's more traps here than I thought," Hikari mentioned.

Daisuke looked up. "Thankfully most of them seemed to be set for adult sized digimon."

"I don't think I have to worry about those," Tailmon retorted.

Ikkakumon ducked under an exposed blade as he passed it. "Speak for yourself."

"Jyou, what do you remember of a labyrinth in Greek mythology?" the elder teen questioned.

Hikari shrugged. "You know mythology isn't my strong suit. I'm a Buddhist boy. I don't even know a whole lot about Shinto mythology."

Jyou sighed. "Being Catholic myself doesn't exactly help us there."

The younger boy laughed. "Actually, 'Daisuke' knows the answer. The labyrinth was made as a prison to keep a minotaur trapped inside it." He grinned sheepishly. "It was in a video game."

Hikari looked at the traps. "That would explain why they're all set to go off in the same direction on the path."

"Right!" Daisuke chirped. "And as long as the traps spring towards us, we're going in the right direction!"

"Let's just hope we all steer clear of the minotaur and the others avoid him as well," Jyou commented with a frown.

With the theory of why the traps were set up, it gave the group an easier time of choosing directions. They traveled through the maze until they came upon the symbols of Hikari and Seijitsu.

"Takeru, this is where we'll have to part ways," Hikari said reluctantly.

"But I could help you," Daisuke retorted.

"Yes, but we'll need to do this part by ourselves," Jyou returned. "This is our trial and if you helped us here, that would be cheating."

"Besides, if you help us too much, you might end up preventing Ikkakumon and I from achieving Perfection," Tailmon added.

Daisuke closed his eyes and nodded. "Good luck."

Jyou let out a short laugh. "We'll need it."

Daisuke and V-mon watched as they entered the area designated as their exit. He then stared when two Perfection digimon came into view: the demonic vampire, Vamdemon, and human-sized yellowish-orange monkey, Etemon.

"It's time to rock the house!" Etemon cheered.

"Time for revenge, Child of Light," Vamdemon called out coldly.

Hikari looked at them strangely. "Any reason why you're pretending to be foes we helped kill?"

"The Vamdemon is a poor actor, but I might've been fooled by Etemon if it wasn't for bumping into the one we faced on the path to Digital Necropolis," Jyou added.

Etemon sagged. "There goes my motivation. Alas, I shall be as I shall be and deal with these tragic souls. I shall enjoy hearing their symphony of screams."

Vamdemon shrugged. "The act was rather stupid. Why should we pretend to be weak-ass versions of ourselves that lost to these children?" The vampire then licked his lips. "Leave the boy alive. I haven't had my way with a human yet and his ass looks... yummy."

"A cruel torment that would be." Etemon grinned. "I shall grant thy request."

Jyou sweat-dropped. "I get turned into a boy and I still get rape threats."

Hikari frowned as a memory of the Dark Ocean surfaced.

Tailmon glared murder at Vamdemon. "Let's just kill them and be done."

Etemon snapped his fingers and called out, "Dark Spirits!" Black lightning cascaded over the Chosen and their digimon, causing them all to scream in pain.

"You will pay for that," the cat hissed. "Tailmon super-evolve to..." Engulfed in a streaming lights, the small adult became a beautiful two-story tall angel. "Angewomon!"

"If she can do that, so can I! Ikkakumon super-evolve to..." The walrus was also encased brilliant light, which faded to reveal a much larger gray humanoid walrus with a giant shell on his back and metal hammer in his hand. "Zudomon!"

"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon announced, shooting an arrow at Vamdemon.

The demonic vampire's head was thrown back as the arrow slammed into his red mask. With a cry of pain, he deleted.

"Hammer Spark!" Zudomon slammed his hammer into the ground, sending a beam of energy at Etemon, who was flung into the air and crashed hard into the ground from the hit. As the monkey tried to stand up, Zudomon slammed his hammer down on Etemon's head.

Hikari frowned, watching the digimon delete. They didn't have any real choice. Those digimon had worked for Piemon and threatened their lives on their own. And to regain their original bodies, the digimon had to be destroyed. When had killing someone become so easy?

A minute passed without incident as the Chosen and digimon waited for Piemon just outside of the labyrinth. Only after Angewomon and Zudomon reverted back to adult level to conserve energy did the demented clown make his appearance.

"Well, that was a bit too easy." Piemon pouted. "The labyrinth came closer to killing you than those two losers did." The clown shrugged. "Ah, well. A deal is a deal." He flashed two cards before tossing them at the Chosen.

Tailmon and Ikkakumon immediately devolved to Nyaromon and Pukamon while the Chosen patted their bodies.

"Yes! I'm a guy again! No more dresses! No more periods! I can go to med. school!" Jyou danced around merrily.

Hikari smiled at the boy's antics, half-tempted to join him.

Daisuke wanted to cheer for his comrades as he had watched everything; however, he frowned looking at the baby digimon.

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Author's Notes:

Coming Soon:
Chapter 11 - Pure Knowledge
Can Koushiro and Miyako succeed when one of them doesn't want to kill?