Digimon ND, Book 3; ShadowEmpressmon's Evil Game. Chapters Ten and Eleven are Up!!

[legendhiro]

hello guys (and gals) who frequent the fanfics section! you may (though you probably don't) know me from my work on my fanfic Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Force. well, i've seen that there are people here who also like digimon, and since i have a digimon fanfic as well, i thought i would post it. i already have a large amount of this one typed, so expect many chapters today! and don't feel disappointed if it comes off as being a little tame. in book one i tried very hard to capture the feeling of season one (digimon adventure). hope you like!

 

 

 

[spoiler=Table of Contents]

--Book One:

-Intro – Chapter Two: Post #1 (Page 1)

-Chapter Three: Post #2 (Page 1)

-Chapter Four: Post # 13 (Page 1)

-Chapter Five – Chapter Eleven: Post #15 (Page 1)

-Chapter Twelve: Post #35 (Page 2)

-Chapter Thirteen: Post #41 (Page 3)

-Chapter Fourteen: Post #44 (Page 3)

-Chapter Fifteen: Post #56 (Page 3)

-Chapter Sixteen: Post #64 (Page 4)

-Chapter Seventeen: Post #68 (Page 4)

-Chapter Eighteen: Post #69 (Page 4)

-Chapter Nineteen: Post #78 (Page 4)

-Chapter Twenty: Post #84 (Page 5)

-Chapter Twenty-One: Post #89 (Page 5)

-Chapter Twenty-Two: Post #92 (Page 5)

 

--Special #1:

-Chapter One: Post #104 (Page 6)

-Chapter Two: Post #112 (Page 6)

-Chapter Three: Post #118 (Page 6)

-Chapter Four: Post #120 (Page 6)

 

--Book Two:

-Chapter One: Post #140 (Page 7)

 

[spoiler=Intro and Chapter One]

 

Introduction

 

 

Four Years Ago…

 

“What’s going on?” I asked my cousin Jenifer (or Jen for short). My sister Sarah, my cousins Jen and Kristin (Dad’s brother’s daughters), my cousin Amanda (Dad’s sister’s daughter), and I were over at my Uncle Chris’s house in his basement when Jen called us all over to the computer. Sarah, Amanda, and I ran over to look at the monitor. Kristin watched from her place on the couch against the opposite wall, though she seemed less interested in the images that danced across the screen.

 

“Something’s happening on the net!” said Jen, “something weird! Look!” She pushed her long unruly brown hair out of her face and pointed at the video feed of several creatures doing battle.

 

“What are those things?” Sarah asked. Her curly blond air was hanging messily over her intense blue eyes. Again. Even though we are siblings, my brown hair and eyes made us look as though we were completely unrelated.

 

“There’s a message about it spreading out along the net.” Jen replied. “Apparently they’re called Digimon, digital life forms! The blue one is MetalGarurumon, and the orange one is called WarGreymon. It doesn’t look like anyone knows what the black one is called.”

 

“Turn on the speakers,” I said, “and see if there’s any audio.”

She turned the knob, and voices rang out.

 

“…Pentagon just launched nuclear missiles!” said a kid who seemed to be connected with these Digimon things.

 

“Wait,” Sarah asked, “is this real?”

 

“I can’t be sure,” I replied, “but my gut says it is.”

 

“So if those two good ones lose-.” Said four-year-old Amanda, running her hand through her short almost black hair.

 

“Yeah, people will die.”

 

Amanda started to cry.

 

“It looks like the black one cloned himself!” said Jen, “And it doesn’t look like the good ones can move anymore.”

 

“They’re being pummeled!”

 

“Look!” said Amanda between sobs. She pointed at the screen where two human kids had suddenly appeared. They moved toward the Digimon, and the Digimon transformed into a glorious white soldier who called himself Omnimon.

 

It looks like they need to partner with a human to grow stronger!

 

“Man,” I said, “I wish I had a Digimon!”

 

“look what the white one’s doing,” said Jen. Omnimon swung his sword and roughly half of the cloned disappeared. Then Omnimon fired several shots from his cannon, destroying clone after clone until only one of the black Digimon was left. It jumped around and around, avoiding Omnimon’s eye until it suddenly found itself frozen in place. Omnimon turned to face it and rushed forward, stabbing it with his sword. The blade pierced the enemy’s head, and the evil black Digimon melted away.

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Arrive in the Digital World;

Enter Dragonterramon

 

 

Present Day, the State of Ohio, the United States of America…

 

Ever since that day four years ago, the five of us who had seen the battle between Omnimon and the evil black Digimon would get together every Saturday at Family Game Night (which really just means The Adults' Poker Night) and discuss Digimon. This Saturday, however, Jen’s younger sister Kristin was home sick with the flu. My aunt had stayed with her. The rest of us; my cousin Jen, 12, my cousin Amanda, 7, my sister Sarah, 10, and myself John, age 14, were upstairs in my bedroom building Digimon models out of some old building blocks. I was building a black dragon while Jen and Sarah were busy building a horse. Amanda’s model looked like a lizard or something, though it was hard to tell because it wasn’t very good.

 

“I bet mine could beat yours,” I told Sarah and Jen, laughing.

 

“No way,” said Jen, “our’s is better.”

 

“But wouldn’t it be cool if it was a black horse?” I asked.

 

“No way!” said Sarah.

 

“Black is creepy,” said Amanda.

 

I chuckled and went back to work, my concentration interrupted almost immediately.

 

“Does anyone else hear that?” Jen asked.

 

“Hear what?” Sarah replied.

 

“That whistling sound,” said Jen.

 

“Yeah, I hear it,” I said. “Like a high pitched ringing?”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“What could it be?” asked Sarah.

 

“Uh, guys,” said Amanda, holding up her model, “it’s coming from these.”

 

We held our models up to our ears, but even as we did, something happened. Something weird. Sarah and Jen’s horse, my dragon, and Amanda’s lizard changed shape, becoming small devices roughly the size and shape of a cell phone. They floated into the air, and Sarah and Jen’s copied itself, creating a fourth device, and one device fell into each of our hands. Mine then turned orange and black, Sarah’s turned pink and white, Jen’s turned red and violet, and Amanda’s turned gray and blue. They glowed brightly, and all four of us blacked out.

 

 

When I awoke I found myself lying sprawled out in a clearing covered by patchy grass and surrounded by tall, tick trees. Jen, Amanda, and Sarah were just waking up as well.

 

I looked around, disoriented. “Where are we?” I asked.

 

“No clue,” Jen answered, “but I don’t think we’re in Ohio anymore.”

 

“You’re not!”

 

I looked around. The excited-sounding voice that had just spoken was unfamiliar. A young-sounding kinda raspy voice. “Who said that?” I asked, standing up and looking around again. That’s when I saw them. There were five of them standing in a small group. A stout blue dinosaur-like creature standing on his hind legs, Two small furry horse-head creatures, legless, one black and one brown, a tiny pony, no taller than a medium-sized dog, and a little green snake with purple stripes down its back and a purple diamond on its head.

 

“I did,” answered the snake, and my suspicions were confirmed. I knew where we were.

 

“W-We’re in the Digimon World!” I said. “And you guys are Digimon!”

 

“Not just any Digimon,” the snake said, “we’re your partner Digimon.”

 

“Our partner Digimon!” said Jen. “You mean it?”

 

“Yep,” said the brown horse-head Digimon in an excited, perky voice. “I’m your partner, Mainemon.”

 

“And Sarah,” said the small pony, “I’m your partner Digimon, DemiPonymon.”

 

“And I’m your Digimon, Amanda,” said the dinosaur, his voice airy and high-pitched. “Call me Chomon!”

 

“And John,” said the snake, “I’m Snakemon, and this hairball is BlackMainemon, my best pal, and we’re your partner Digimon!”

 

 

“Why do you get two?” Amanda whined. Oh, did I forget to mention? Amanda whines. A lot.

 

“That’s not important right now Manda,” I said, balancing annoyance with the excitement that I was already feeling. “We’re really in the Digimon World!”

 

“Yeah,” said Jen, “but being here poses the question of weather or not we can get back home now.”

 

“You mean that we can’t go home?!” screamed Amanda. She stopped whining, only to start crying. You guessed it. Amanda cries a lot too.

 

“No, no,” said Jen, kneeling down to look Amanda in the eye. “I only meant that we have to figure it out first. That’s all!”

 

Amanda immediately stopped crying. “Okay then,” she said. “I’ll just go play with Chomon until you do.” And like that she was off.

 

We all sighed.

 

“Thank God,” said Jen. “Now we can get some real discussion done.”

 

Without realizing it, we had leaned into a huddle. We had barely begun talking when Snakemon, who had somehow climbed onto my back without being noticed, dropped his head into the circle. “What you guys talkin’ about?” He nearly startled me to a heart attack!

 

“Oh,” I said, “nothing. We were just wondering how to get home if we need to.”

 

“Well,” said Snakemon, dropping to the ground as Sarah, Jen, and I spread apart, “you can talk to us. We’re here to help you.”

 

I looked to Jen, and then to Sarah, and then said, “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”

 

But they never got a chance to because, just then, Amanda came out of the woods with Chomon at her heels, screaming in terror. “”John,” she cried, “a giant snake! A giant snake attacked us!”

 

And just like that, a giant black snake rose above the trees, its head held as high as a third story window. Sharp spines ran all down his back.

 

“Oh no,” said Snakemon, “that’s Serpenterramon! He’s an Adult Level, two levels higher than us!”

 

“No matter,” said BlackMainemon, speaking for the first time. “We are here to protect the children, so that’s what we’re gonna do.” He rushed eagerly between us and Serpenterramon. The other Digimon followed suit, and the cell phone sized devices came online, buzzing and vibrating, the screens flashing. And the Digimon changed.

 

“Snakemon…”

 

“BlackMainemon…”

 

“DemiPonymon…”

 

“Mainemon…”

 

“Chomon…”

 

“…Digivolve to…”

 

Snakemon changed into a longer, fiercer-looking black snake with ridges over his eyes, “Serpentmon!”

 

BlackMainemon became a small black horse about one and a half times the size of DemiPonymon, “BlackColtmon!”

 

DemiPonymon grew until she was just barely smaller than BlackColtmon, “Ponymon!”

 

Mainemon grew until her was the same size and build as BlackColtmon, “Coltmon!”

 

Chomon grew until he was as big as a Saint Bernard, standing on all fours. He was a baby Brontosaurus with a collar around his neck. Tucked into the collar was a shiny golden red feather, “Chickomon.”

 

The Digimon in their new forms stood to face their foe. He glared down at them with yellow eyes and hiss/roared, baring long, vicious-looking fangs. Jen and Sarah held Amanda. I stood ready to defend them any way that I could.

 

It was then that Serpenterramon began his offensive. “Serpent Fang!” he hissed, and a huge fang shot from his throat at Serpentmon. Serpentmon and the others leapt away moments before the fang hit the ground and exploded. Serpentmon and Chickomon spun around quickly. Serpentmon called out “Serpent Strike!” and a hundred tiny explosive fang-shaped needles shot from his mouth and hammered the foe. Chickomon jumped and slammed Serpenterramon, BlackColtmon kicked him with hooves wreathed in black fire, and Coltmon and Ponymon tackled him to the ground. He got right back up.

 

“We’re too weak!” said Coltmon

 

“We have to Digivolve again!” said Ponymon. I knew she was probably right, but I have a problem with leaving things in other peoples’ hands. Serpenterramon was preparing for another attack. I jumped between Serpenterramon and the Digimon to shield them from harm.

 

“John, get back!” said Serpentmon. Serpenterramon launched his attack. Serpentmon jumped onto my shoulder and sprung toward the enormous fang, just as the small device came alive, and Serpentmon changed again.

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to!” he grew huge. About ten and a half, eleven feet tall. His body thickened and he grew short but strong arms ending in claws, and powerful legs ending in mighty talons. Sharp triangular spikes sprouted along his back. Fin-like protrusions sprouted from either side of the back of his head, and he grew rows of razor sharp teeth in his lengthening maw.

 

“That’s the dragon I built,” I said. “That’s -.”

 

My dragon raised his head high, and with unfaltering confidence declared his name, “Dragonterramon!”

 

Dragonterramon spun in midair, deflecting Serpenterramon’s attack with powerful tail. The fang spun away into the forest, exploding, and tossing several trees out of the ground. Dragonterramon landed firm and called, “Terra Flame!”

 

He opened his mouth wide and spewed flames that engulfed his foe. Serpenterramon broke down into pixels and broke apart, the pixels fading away as they drifted through the air like dust. Dragonterramon changed back into Serpentmon, and the girls stopped screaming and my knees stopped shaking. I fell to my knees, relieved that we had survived, even though I knew that this danger would not be the last.

---

here is chapter two already:

 

[spoiler=Chapter 2]

 

The Informative Desert Tower;

BlackStaliamon vs. Devidramon

 

 

After the battle with the monstrous Serpenterramon, the nine of us (four humans and five Digimon) began walking. Our goal was to leave the Forest Region for the neighboring Desert Region. It would be hot, but according to the Digimon, it was better than the forest, which is the region most densely populated by hostiles.

 

“So how far are we from the edge of the forest?” I asked Serpentmon, who was hanging around my neck. BlackColtmon walked at my side.

 

“Don’t know,” He answered dismissively. Serpentmon's not what you would call the knowledgeable type.

 

“I think its about another half mile,” said Chickomon. He was carrying a sleeping Amanda on his back. On either side of him, Sarah and Jen walked with their Digimon. We were tired, we were sweaty, and we were on edge, worrying whether or not another enemy was right around the next corner.

 

“At the rate we’re going,” said Jen, “we should get there well within the hour.”

 

“And look,” said Sarah, “the sun’s on its way down. That means it won’t be too high when we reach the desert.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, “but we still need to be careful.” And I pulled a sheet of paper and a pen out of my pocket, and I began to scribble out an idea.

 

 

“Okay,” I said to the others as we neared the forest’s edge, “We all have over shirts or jackets. If we fold them up like I’ve drawn here and tie them on with one of our shoestrings, we can shade our faces from the sun. The only problem is, I don’t know what to do for the Digimon.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry about us,” said Chickomon.

 

“Yeah,” said Coltmon. “This is our world. We know how to handle it.” The other Digimon nodded their agreement, save BlackColtmon, who never really expresses himself.

 

“Alright then,” I said, excitedly, “onward ho!”

 

“Yippy!” said Serpentmon. We tied our over shirts over our heads and headed forward into the sandy expanse.

 

 

It was about another twenty minutes before we felt it. It was like someone was tugging at us, just enough to give us a feint indication as to where we needed to go.

 

“Feel that?” Amanda asked, stretching herself awake.

 

“Yeah,” Sarah said, “we all do.”

 

“We think its directing us toward something,” said Jen.

 

“Toward what?” Amanda asked.

 

“Toward that,” I answered, pointing at a spot near the horizon. Everyone looked, and they saw what I’d seen; a ruined tower rising out of the sand, right in the middle of nowhere. We headed right for it, ready for anything, except what we were about to find.

 

 

“So this is it?” Jen asked as we slowly circled the tower. It was 65, 70 yards in diameter with one window near the top. The base had long since sunk into the ground, leaving only the top floor accessible through the window, which had sunk close to the ground. We climbed inside.

 

Once inside the tower we found ourselves in a wide open room, the floor slanted at a slight angle. There was no light, save the light that filtered through the window from outside. The room was dusty, dirty, sandy, and covered in cobwebs.

 

“So what now?” asked Sarah.

 

“I’m scared!” Amanda whined.

 

“Me too,” said Sarah.

 

“Okay,” I commanded, “Sarah and Ponymon, take Amanda and Chickomon back outside and wait for us in the shade, okay.”

 

“Yeah,” said Sarah, nodding, “sure.” She led Amanda back out through the window, their Digimon following close behind.

 

“Okay, boss,” asked BlackColtmon, “now what?”

 

“Now we spread out and look for anything that seems out of place. We were called here for a reason, and I get the feeling that it was to find something.”

 

“What should we be looking for exactly?” Serpentmon asked.

 

“Not sure,” I answered. “Just anything less dirty and less made of stone.”

 

“Got it!”

 

But before we could do much searching Sarah and Amanda started screaming outside. We ran to see what was wrong. I jumped through the window first, and was startled as Chickomon’s attack, an energy blade fired from his eyes, flew by my head. I traced the path of the attack to the top of the tower where a large dragon, black in color with four glowing red eyes, stood perched, roaring. It spread its tattered wings and dropped down, blood red claws swiping, barely missing our heads.

 

“Get him Serpentmon,” I said. I pulled the orange and black device from my pocket, hit the activation key, and brandished the screen toward my Digimon, calling out, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to, Dragonterramon!”

 

My own black dragon Digimon let out a very distinct roar and leaped up, calling, “Terra Strike!” and clipping the foe’s right wing with his razor sharp claws. Both Digimon landed hard.

 

“Looks like you're grounded,” Dragonterramon said with a gruff chuckle. I guess he’s still Serpentmon at heart.

 

“I will not let the Crests fall into your hands,” the dragon called out in a raspy, deep-throated voice. “By order of Lord Manipulamon!” He called out, “Crimson Claw!” and his claws began to glow red.

 

“Terra Strike!” called Dragonterramon, his own claws glowing white. The two dragons pushed off of the sand and charged at each other at full speed. Both slashed, and for a second, the just stood there, almost back to back. Then Dragonterramon fell and changed back into Serpentmon.

 

“No way!” Jen said in disbelief.

 

“Serpentmon!” I called out, and ran toward him.

 

“No,” said BlackColtmon, “stay back!” He leaped between me and the foe, “I’ll take care of this guy.” At that moment the orange device activated again.

 

Taking my cue, I raised the device and said, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to!” BlackColtmon grew until he was as large as a very large male horse, with a long, wild mane, silky black fur, and huge, earth shaking hooves. He reared up and neighed at the top of his lungs, “BlackStaliamon!”

 

“I will not let you attack,” said the foe. His eyes started to glow brighter.

 

“Sorry,” said BlackStaliamon. “I’m a pure fighter. My mind can’t be clouded be hypnosis.” And with shocking elegance, my second Digimon launched himself into the fray.

 

“Hoof Stomp!” BlackStaliamon called. He launched himself hooves first at the foe. The foe caught the blow with his left arm and flung BlackStaliamon over his head, toward the tower, spinning instantly, preparing to counterattack.

 

BlackStaliamon flipped and pushed off of the tower’s exterior wall, giving him a serious boost in leaping speed and power. He called his attack once again and slammed his massive front hooves into the dragon’s chest, crushing him to digital bits. BlackStaliamon landed with unparalleled grace, and reverted back into BlackColtmon.

 

Jen, Coltmon and I re-entered the tower. Serpentmon and BlackColtmon stayed outside to rest. It took awhile, but we managed to find what we had been meant to find: five necklaces ending in gold tags, each bearing a different symbol, four mini ROM disk players colored to match our first four devices, and an orange and black laptop computer with a large symbol on the top that matched a small symbol pictured on my first device and on the orange disk player. The laptop had a slide out palm unit in the bottom and a plug in the back for connecting with other digital devices.

 

“Looks like we found it,” I said. I knelt down and lifted the laptop, inspecting it. I noticed that the power was on, so I opened it up and looked at the screen. There was a dialogue box open asking, “Play stored message: yes or no?”

 

“A stored message?” I said, looking to the others. “I think we may all want to see this.”

 

 

I led the way out of the tower. “What did you find?” Sarah asked. She, Amanda, and the Digimon listened intently for my answer.

 

“Not sure,” I answered, “but we’re about to find out.” I knelt down, placing the laptop on my over shirt to keep it from picking up sand, and pressed enter, playing the stored message.

 

“Welcome, Digidestined,” said a computerized voice. “I am the artificial intelligence program that controls the fully equipped portable data storage unit, known properly as the D-4 Digicomp. I was programmed by the Great Protector to explain your place in this world.

 

“Centuries ago, Old Time, the four Sovereign Digimon of the Digital World determined that the data in their world was growing at a greater rate than expected. They used their immense power to create a second Digital World, meant to be an overflow for the original, tying it together with the five Digital Cores.”

 

On the screen flashed images of five distinct environments throughout the Digital world: a forest, a desert, a volcano, an ocean, and a cavern. The voice continued, “Circumstances in the original Digital World forced the Sovereign Digimon to choose a group of human Guardians to pair with a group of Digimon to protect it from the evil Digimon that inevitably surfaced. Seeing that it would soon be time for him to pass on, the Great Protector followed the Sovereigns’ example and, looking into the future, selected a group of his own. They were charged with protecting this world, dubbed File Two, in his place. That group is you. John, chosen for your courage and leadership skills. Jenifer, chosen for your heart and compassion. Sarah, chosen for your inner strength. Amanda, chosen for your untapped potential. You have each been given one of each Digivices,” images of the first devices flashed on the screen, “to help your Digimon in reaching their fourth, or Adult level, and Digiplayers,” images of the second devices flashed on the screen, “to aid your Digimon in reaching a level beyond Adult. You have also each been given one or more Crests, representing your best traits.”

 

An image of two golden tags, one bearing a sun-like symbol, and the other resembling a yin yang with two curved spikes protruding from either end appeared. “John, you have been given the Neo Crest of Courage and the Neo Crest of Friendship.” The image changed to a tag bearing a star-like symbol. “Sarah, you have been given the Neo Crest of Light.

 

“You, Jenifer, have been given,” an image of a tag bearing a heart-like symbol appeared, “the Neo Crest of Love.” An image of a tag bearing a symbol like a boomerang sitting next to an orb appeared, “And you Amanda have been given the Crest of Loyalty. When you have grown enough your Crests, in combination with your Digiplayers, will give you the power you need to defeat your enemy, saving this world and all life in it.

 

“Of course,” the computer said, nearing the conclusion of its presentation, “you will be curious as to the identity of your enemy.” An image of a gray, human-like creature with a dinosaur-like head appeared, “this is Manipulamon, an evil Digimon that can manipulate almost any data, energy, or element, converting it into virtually anything. He uses borrowed energy to create M-Tags, small patches that he uses to tag and control wild Digimon. They are distinguishable by the red “M’s” that he emblazons them with. Manipulamon is working toward his goal of enslaving the entire population, and it is believed that this goal will soon be within his reach.

 

“The Great Guardian would not ask you to risk your lives without the ability to choose,” the computer went on. “If you so choose you will be sent home immediately, but your decision must be unanimous. Choose now and voice your decision aloud.”

 

I looked around at my makeshift team, and they stared back at me. “Well guys, what do you think? Do we play hero, yes or no?”

 

[legendhiro]

and here is chapter three:

 

[spoiler=Chapter 3]

 

The Team’s Choice

 

 

 

“Hold on!” said Jen. “Before we decide, I have some questions.”

 

“I am designed to answer any question to the best of my ability,” the computer voice replied.

 

“Alright then,” said Jen. “I’m worried what will happen when our parents realize we’re missing. I mean, we have no idea how long all of this crap will take.”

 

“Uh,” I said, “I realize that they’ll be worried, but I know my parents would understand. And I think that your mom and dad would get it too. This is our destiny. We’re meant to do this.”

 

“Yeah,” said Jen, “I guess you’re right.”

 

“I have one,” said Sarah. “What if we get hurt here? Is it for real?”

 

We all looked at the computer, awaiting the answer.

 

“Any injuries sustained in this world are just as real as those sustained in your world,” the computer answered.

 

“Okay,” I said before anyone else could chime in, “I think we need to address something more important than any of this stuff. We have to remember that if we don’t stay and do our best, every Digimon in this world will be enslaved. Digital or not these are living, breathing beings, and we’re the only ones who can save them. I think we have to try.”

 

“You’re right,” said Jen. “I vote that we stay.”

 

“Me too,” said Sarah. “I vote stay.”

 

We all looked at Amanda. She was young and had a tendency to be pretty selfish, making her the most likely of us to want out. She was also pretty likely to give in, since she probably didn’t understand what was going on.

 

“If you guys think we can help out,” said Amanda, “then I guess we should stay.”

 

“Then its settled,” I said, turning back to the computer, “we stay. Now, what’s next?”

 

The computer screen blinked and a new image appeared. It was a digital representation of the desert and Desert Tower. “Using the handheld computer interface to determine direction, head north from this spot until you reach an oasis spawned by the water of a river, using this device’s built in Digimon Analyzer software to aid in your defense. Follow the river east until you find a bridge.”

 

“Alright,” I said, “we have a mission! Let’s go!”

 

“Hold it!” said Jen. “Its almost completely dark out we should sleep here tonight. You know, get some of our strength back.”

 

“Yeah, okay,” I said smiling, “but I get top bunk.”

 

 

Using the open Digicomp as a nightlight, we spent the night in Desert Tower. It was cold, it was rough, and it was dirty. We woke up with our hair and cloths full of sand and dirt particles. We were sore, and we were on edge. But we had a purpose, a reason to endure. So we endured.

 

We were hungry, but we endured. We were thirsty, but we endured. We were hot, but we endured. And only a few hours into our trek, we found ourselves at the most beautiful grove of trees we had ever seen.

 

“Awesome!” said Sarah, running up under the edge of the grove. Amanda jumped down from Chickomon’s back and followed, Chickomon and Ponymon close behind.

 

“Hey John,” said Jen, pointing, “those are apples in those trees!”

 

“I see ‘em,” I said. I turned to Serpentmon and asked, “Do you know if those are okay to eat?”

 

“Of course!” he answered. “They’re just meat apples. Each one tastes like a different meat, from pork, to steak, to hotdogs.”

 

“Pretty sweet.”

 

“Yup. You’ll probably find some regular apples too, and some Digimushrooms. Digimushrooms don’t taste very good, but they provide protein and restore health and energy, especially in us Digimon.”

 

“Alright then,” I said, “while the kids play in the woods, we’ll look for mushrooms. Jen, stay with Sarah and Amanda and pick some apples.”

 

“Aye aye, boss!” she responded with a mock salute. I chuckled and headed off to pick some mushrooms.

 

 

“Ah! These must be them!” I bent down and pried a black mushroom from the base of a tree. I held it up for Serpentmon to see.

 

“Yep, those are them!” Serpentmon said, and I lay my over shirt open and began filling it up with the unappealing black fungus. I had just finished tying the makeshift sack closed with my shoestring when I heard a series of screams coming from the apple grove where the others were waiting. The screaming was accompanied by a series of small explosions and the toppling of a tree.

 

“Time for action, buddy,” I told Serpentmon. I looked at BlackColtmon, “You too pal.” The two Digimon nodded, and my Digivice came online.

 

I raised my Digivice up and called, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to, Dragonterramon!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to, BlackStaliamon!”

 

I jumped onto BlackStaliamon’s back, and we shot off toward the grove. Dragonterramon charged past us, letting out his signature distinctive engagement roar. It shook the ground beneath us. He shoved several densely packed trees out of the way, revealing our friends, under siege from a spider-like creature the size of a car.

 

I pulled the Digicomp handheld out of my pocket and held it up to the spider. Text appeared, reading:

- Name: Dokugamon

- Characteristics: Female, Adult, Virus Type, Insectoid Species

- Attacks: Spider’s Web, Viral Grenade

*WARNING* Poisonous

 

“Careful guys,” I said, “she uses poison attacks in battle!”

 

Dragonterramon roared and charged, calling, “Terra Strike!” Dragonterramon raised his claws and slashed, but Dokugamon fired a web, using it to pull herself out of the way. Then, while Dragonterramon was still mid rush, Dokugamon wrapped his legs with webbing, causing him to fall hard.

 

I jumped down from BlackStaliamon’s back and said, “Get her bud!” BlackStaliamon leapt at Dokugamon, who shot up a net-like web that caught the powerful Digimon mid leap.

Dragonterramon shot a thin stream of flame across his feet and legs, incinerating the web that held him. He jumped up and roared again. Dokugamon turned around to face him, and I saw it, a small patch emblazoned with an “M” attached to Dokugamon’s thorax.

 

“Look there, a manipulation tag! If we get rid of it, Dokugamon won’t attack anymore!”

 

“I’m on it!” Chickomon declared, and he charged. Dragonterramon tried to jump onto Dokugamon’s back and pin her, but she used a web to pull herself away, disappearing into the trees.

 

“Look out,” Dragonterramon growled. “She could be anywhere." He fired another spread of flames at BlackStaliamon, burning the web away, freeing him. BlackStaliamon scowled as his gaze darted through the treetops.

 

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Dokugamon descended from the treetops, hanging by a thread. “Viral Grenade!” she called, and several smaller spiders the size of squirrels, dropped from the treetops and grabbed onto Dragonterramon. They exploded, causing Dragonterramon to revert to his previous state and pass out.

 

“Chickomon Blades!” called Chickomon, firing energy blades from his eyes, cutting Dokugamon’s thread. She fell, and Coltmon and Ponymon began running a tight circle around her. “Hoof Tornado!” they called, and a pillar of wind rose up, trapping Dokugamon inside.

 

BlackStaliamon jumped up, pushed off of a tree, and fell into the cyclone’s eye. He fell, knocking the tag off and smashing it with his hoof. Coltmon and Ponymon ended their attack, and Dokugamon stood up, disoriented.

 

 

“The last thing I remember clearly,” Dokugamon said, “is my best friend Birdramon and myself running from a group of willings who were trying to tag us. Manipulamon equips his taggers with the ability to produce M-Tags using a small portion of their own data. They were being lead by Okuwamon, a mighty Perfect Level Digimon who-.”

 

“Excuse me,” Jen cut in, “but what do you mean by ‘willings’?”

 

“Oh!” said Dokugamon, “as Digidestined, I thought you would know! Only some of Manipulamon’s subjects are controlled.

 

“You see, many Digimon, especially the more wild ones, will align themselves with the Digimon with the most power and serve them willingly, like the majority of Manipulamon’s current ranks. We call them ‘willings’. There are other Digimon that remain unaligned, neither assisting or resisting Manipulamon’s influence. Then there are those of us who actively resist or fight back, dubbed ‘fighters’.”

 

“And you and Birdramon were fighters?” I asked. We were sitting in a half-circle, facing Dokugamon, listening to her speak.

 

“Yes,” Dokugamon replied with a nod.

 

“Where is Birdramon now?” I asked.

 

“She has likely been tagged and placed on lookout in the sector that she is most familiar with. Her nest is in a cliff located in this very forest.”

 

“Alright then,” I said, standing up to better address my friends and allies, “we’re gonna go free her too! In fact, we’re going to free as many tagged Digimon as we can. The more we free, the more potential allies we have against Manipulamon!”

 

“Alright!” Sarah agreed, leaping up as well, “Dokugamon, lead the way!”

 

“Thank you, Digidestined,” Dokugamon said, rising to her too many feet, “I am in your debt.”

 

“Don’t mention it,” said Serpentmon, jumping up to hang around my neck.

 

“Yeah,” BlackColtmon agreed, a wicked tone to his voice, “its what we do.”

 

[Stigma_Horrizone]

thx 4 posting

[legendhiro]

here are some of my characters' digimon:

 

[Stigma_Horrizone]

nice

[legendhiro]

thanx

[Zack Blaze]

Its ok for your first

[Exodia118]

sweet

[legendhiro]

Its ok for your first

 

believe me, once they get the hang of things, it gets WAY better.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

more chaperrs plz?

[legendhiro]

soon, don't worry ^__^

[Stigma_Horrizone]

okay

[legendhiro]

CHAPTER 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[spoiler=Chapter Four]

 

Versus Birdramon;

Spread Your Wings, BrauntoPhoenixmon

 

 

We had been traveling for about forty, fifty minutes when we reached the cliff face. It was at least ninety feet high with a ledge about two-thirds of the way up. Birdramon’s nest. Jen, Sarah and I slid down off of Dokugamon’s back where we had been riding.

 

“This is it,” said Dokugamon, “Birdramon’s home region.”

 

“You said that Birdramon is a big fiery red bird, right?” Jen asked

 

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s what the analyzer said. I don’t see her here.”

 

“She’ll be back,” said Dokugamon, “but in the meantime I suggest that we rest and eat. Birdramon is a powerful foe.”

 

So we found a nice flat space with a clear view of the cliff to sit and take a rest. I opened up my makeshift sack and passed around some mushrooms from our rations. Jen opened up her jacket and removed several bruised and slightly battered apples, passing them around as well. Sarah gathered some twigs and Amanda gathered some grass and leaves, piling them up. Then BlackColtmon lit them with a burst of black flame that turned bright orange as soon as they hit the makeshift fire pit. Soon we had a good fire going and a good meal of roast meat-apple-kabobs to eat.

 

“Mmm,” said Sarah taking a bite, “mine tastes like steak and pork chops!”

 

“I got hotdogs and sausage,” said Amanda, talking with her mouth full.

 

“The mushrooms aren’t bad either,” said Ponymon. She picked up a mushroom in her mouth and went over to lay down between Sarah and Coltmon.

 

I went to take a bite of my own kabob, but before I could, a small reptilian head shot over my shoulder and snatched it away.

 

“Serpentmon!” I whined. “Give it back!” I lunged at him, but he sprung out of the way and I fell face first into the dirt. Everyone laughed, and for a little while everything was great. Peaceful.

 

And then Birdramon showed up, and she wasn’t alone. There were two other Digimon with her. They looked like giant bees with red manes. I aimed the handheld at one of them, and they registered as Flymon, Adult Level Insectoid Digimon that launch their poisonous stingers like missiles. The poison plus the ability to fly gave them a noticeable advantage over us in a group.

 

“Three of them?” Said Jen, worry apparent in her tone of voice.

 

“Yeah,” I said, “but we promised to free Birdramon, and that’s what we’re going to do, no matter how many of them there are.” I turned to Dokugamon and asked, “Do you know if the Flymon are being controlled or not?”

 

“Swarm insects like Kuwagamon, Snimon, and yes, Flymon, are all willings. They are social insects that make decisions as a whole community, or not at all. Plus, I recognize those Flymon as two of the Digimon with Okuwamon when he tagged us.”

 

“Well,” I said, “at least we know that we can go all out against them then. That should make things a little easier.”

 

“I hope you’re right,” said Jen, still not convinced.

 

“Just watch,” I said, “this’ll be over in no time.” I looked over at my Digimon, “Let’s go. Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to! Dragonterramon!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to! BlackStaliamon!”

 

“Take out the Flymon first!” I said. “Keep them from stopping us from freeing Birdramon!”

 

I yelled my instructions to my Digimon as they charged, using their momentum to run up the face of the cliff. Dragonterramon let out his trademark “engagement roar”, just before leaping onto Birdramon’s ledge. BlackStaliamon followed.

 

“Terra Flame,” called Dragonterramon, expelling a massive stream of flame at the two Flymon. However, before the flames could hit there mark, Birdramon flew in between the flames and her Insectoid allies, shielding them with her massive red wings.

 

Birdramon spread her wings, flinging the flames away. Her allies emerged from behind her wings and launched their stingers strait at Dragonterramon. He slashed one out of the air with his claws, but the second caught him in the arm, poison pumping into his body, bringing him to a near dead stop.

 

BlackStaliamon was up next. He tried to slam one of the Flymon with his large, oversized hooves, but the Flymon simply pulled up and away, dodging the attack. They made sure they were out of BlackStaliamon’s reach and stopped to release their stingers again, but BlackStaliamon leaped gracefully out of the way. He ran a short way up the cliff and leaped back toward his foes, while Dragonterramon, unsteady on his feet, tripped and slid down the cliff face and collapsed at my feet. “The mushrooms,” he said, “they can help a Digimon recover his strength!”

 

I grabbed the remaining mushrooms from behind me, beside the fire, and shoved them into Dragonterramon’s mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and began to rise, his strength already returning.

 

“Meteor Wing!” came a booming voice from above. I looked up and saw fireballs raining down from Birdramon’s wings. BlackStaliamon avoided one fireball, then a second, but the third destroyed the ledge where he would have landed. With nothing under foot he rolled all the way down the face of the cliff, landing hard at the bottom.

 

“BlackStaliamon,” I asked, “you okay?”

 

“Yes,” BlackStaliamon answered as he got back to his feet, “I’ll be alright. But there’s no way that two grounded Digimon can defeat three flying Digimon. They just have too big an advantage.”

 

“You may be right,” I said. I tried to think of a way to turn the situation around, but before I could, Birdramon launched her attack again.

 

“Lookout!” I cried, thinking that the shot was meant for the Digimon. They saw something I didn’t.

 

“She’s not aiming for us,” said BlackStaliamon, “she’s aiming for you!”

 

My team and I turned and ran and dove out of the way. All except for Amanda, who was frozen in fear.

 

Everything seemed to slow down. The fireballs fell toward my young cousin, and their was nothing I could do to save her. Chickomon jumped up, trying to shield her from harm, and something amazing happened. Amanda’s Digivice came online.

 

Amanda removed her Digivice from her waist and held it up to her Digimon and called, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

Chickomon grew into a massive full sized brontosaurus with tree-trunk-thick legs and a twenty-foot-long tail and neck. Then two streams of flames erupted from his shoulders, wrapping around him and shielding him and Amanda from Birdramon’s attack. “Chickomon, Digivolve to!” the flames from his shoulders retracted back, forming two massive flaming orange-feathered wings. The collar with the feather in it became a ring of feathers resting a few feet down his neck from his head, “BrauntoPhoenixmon!”

 

“Wow,” said Amanda, “you got really big.”

 

“Yes,” said BrauntoPhoenixmon, “and much more powerful. Now we have a fighting chance against our winged opponents!”

 

BrauntoPhoenixmon flapped his massive wings and lifted off of the ground. He shot up the cliff side, followed closely by Dragonterramon and BlackStaliamon, and slammed into Birdramon, carrying her into the air and away from the Flymon. Dragonterramon reached the ledge moments later and dug his claws into the rock. BlackStaliamon leaped up onto Dragonterramon’s tail.

 

Dragonterramon swung his tail upward just as BlackStaliamon leaped skyward. The tail acted as a springboard, giving the leap a huge boost in height and speed. BlackStaliamon slammed his hooves strait into a Flymon, blowing it to digital bits, fell, and landed with his back to the remaining foe.

 

The second Flymon launched his stinger strait at BlackStaliamon’s back, but Dragonterramon leaped up over his ally and slashed the stinger out of the sky with his claws. Then he skidded along the stone launching flames from his mouth. Flymon tried to dodge, but he was caught by one of the flames and burned up.

 

Meanwhile, BrauntoPhoenixmon and Birdramon rolled around in the air, kicking, clawing, and slamming into each other while BrauntoPhoenixmon tried to spot Birdramon’s tag. Finally he caught sight of it on Birdramon’s back and maneuvered around her. “Dino Fire!” he called, and the flames around his wings extended outward, wrapping Birdramon with rings of fire. The rings tightened, burning the tag to ash. Birdramon fell unconscious and fell from the sky, only to be caught by Dragonterramon, who was waiting below.

 

The Digimon de-Digivolved and we rushed to Birdramon’s side, ready to offer whatever support we could.

 

 

“It was horrible,” said Birdramon, “like being trapped inside my own head. Manipulamon made me tag dozens of fighters. He used me as a tagger because of my ability to fly, meaning I can cover more ground than other Digimon. I don’t know what Manipulamon is doing all of this for, but he has to be stopped!”

 

“Don’t worry,” I said, “because we’re going to free everyone that Manipulamon has under his control. All you have to do is lead the way.”

 

“Oh, no,” said Birdramon, “you can’t do that! You were brought here to our world because you are the only ones who can destroy Manipulamon. It’s the only way to save everyone!”

 

“She’s right,” Dokugamon agreed, “you worry about Manipulamon, and we’ll worry about finding allies.”

 

“Are you sure?” asked Ponymon. “I mean, we only just released you.”

 

“Yeah,” said Jen, “if you two go now you could be tagged again!”

 

“Don’t worry about us,” said Birdramon. “Just worry about fulfilling your destiny.”

 

[Stigma_Horrizone]

nice

[legendhiro]

here is chapter five. i hope everyone likes it.

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter 5]

 

The Digital Bridge;

Enter the Fifth Digidestined!

 

 

After our battle with Birdramon and the two Flymon, and after our two new friends set out to free more Digimon, my team and I made our way once again toward our destination; Digital Bridge.

 

“How much further is it?” Amanda whined.

 

“No clue,” I answered, offering nothing else.

 

“I wonder what we’ll find when we get to this bridge,” Jen said. “I mean, of all the places to send us in this world, why a bridge?”

 

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I do know that the computer doesn’t know. I’ve checked now like a trillion times.”

 

“I bet we’ll find something else at the bridge,” suggested Chickomon.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Serpentmon, “maybe we’ll find a new message that we can hear with that computer!”

 

“I hope there’s something there,” I said, “because if we don’t find something soon, we’re in serious trouble.”

 

We continued walking through the dense forest into the night. The unfamiliar stars of this unfamiliar world twinkled overhead. Once we finally found ourselves too tired to continue, we set up a makeshift camp in a clearing under the light of a half moon.

 

“This sucks!” I complained, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground with nothing to sleep on but a now tattered and filthy button up shirt. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take!”

 

“Yeah, well,” said Jen, “you’ll have to deal.”

 

“Hey guys,” asked Sarah, “shouldn’t one of us stay up and be lookout?”

“Don’t worry,” said Serpentmon, “I napped all day, and its pretty late already. BlackColtmon doesn’t sleep much anyway. We’ll trade off shifts.”

 

“Thanks guys,” I said. “You’re great.” And I immediately went back to trying to sleep.

 

 

After lying awake for at least an hour I finally fell into a restless sleep, only to be woken at the crack of dawn by a snake face nose to nose with mine. I jumped back, tossing Serpentmon away,

 

“Hey, don’t do that!”

 

Serpentmon, laughing, said, “Sorry, bro, I couldn’t help it!”

 

I shot him an annoyed look and reached over to shake Jen awake. “Hey Cuz, get up.”

 

“Yeah, I’m up,” she said, reaching into the air to stretch the fatigue from her bones.

 

I grabbed my shirt and swung it down on Sarah’s back, “Get up, we gotta go. Jen, get Amanda will ya?”

 

Serpentmon moved to wake BlackColtmon, Chickomon, and Ponymon. Coltmon was already awake. Guess he’s a light sleeper. Soon we were on our feet, alert (more or less), and once again on the way.

 

We walked about another two hours, stopping only once to pick some lunch, before we saw the river. It flowed from the ocean in the west toward the mountains in the east. According to the handheld, the bridge was to the east. We ran strait to the water’s edge and drank, and splashed ourselves with the cool liquid. There were other sources of water throughout the Digital World, of course, but the river was an important milestone on our journey. Knowing that we had reached our first such milestone was satisfying in a way that water alone could never be. I washed my grimy face in the river and sat down, letting the water flow between my fingers, and I made an observation about the river itself.

 

“Hey, look at this. The river’s flowing at a pretty manageable rate.”

 

“Yeah,” Sarah answered in an annoyed tone brought about by fatigue, “so?”

 

“So we know we have to follow this river east to reach Digital Bridge, and the river is flowing east. And we’re in the middle of a forest. Full of trees. Trees and vines-.”

 

She stared blankly at me, “So?”

 

“So you’re thinking-,” said Jen, grinning.

 

“Yep,” I said, “we’re gonna build a raft!”

 

We went to work immediately. Chickomon used his energy blades to drop four thick trees. Then he stripped them down until they were about 18-20 feet long. Then the Digimon worked together to strip away extra branches while us humans pulled vines down from the trees to use to tie it all together.

 

Next, with some work and creativity, we managed to get the logs tied securely and the raft in the water. We rode the current lazily, making the raft ride something uncharacteristically enjoyable about this world. We didn’t encounter a single hostile Digimon. We were able to talk and relax, and get some rest. It was just what we needed.

 

It was about two hours before we saw the Digital Bridge. It was at least twenty feet wide made of stone, almost completely overgrown by ivy-like vines. Very sturdy despite the fact that it was obviously very old.

 

“We’re here,” I said. “Time to get back to shore.”

 

I reached behind me and grabbed an unused vine. “Ready, Serpentmon?” I asked.

 

“Yep!”

 

“Then here we go.”

 

Serpentmon grabbed an end of the vine in his mouth and jumped onto my arm. He coiled his body like a spring and sprung up, just as I swung my arm up, causing him to shoot strait to shore. He took the vine and tied it around a tree. I tugged, making sure it was secure.

 

“Alright guys, pull!” My team and I pulled on the vine, bringing the raft close enough to the shore for us to jump off. The raft spiraled back out to the middle of the river and floated away. We ignored it and walked toward the bridge.

 

 

“Okay,” I asked as we stepped onto Digital Bridge, “anyone see anything here that we might care about.”

 

“Nope,” said Amanda, who, having lost interest, began throwing rocks into the river.

 

“Well keep looking,” I said. “I don’t want to stay in one place for too long.”

 

“Right boss,” said Jen, searching the area diligently.

 

I walked to the other end of the bridge and back, looking it up and down. That’s when I heard it. Explosions. Sounds of battle nearby, in the forest across the bridge.

 

“Sounds like someone needs our help,” I said. “Let’s go.”

 

We ran across the bridge into the woods, and we were nearly run over by a tall mechanical Digimon running from three large red beetles with vice-like pinchers. I pulled the computer handheld out of my pocket and scanned the four new arrivals. The machine Digimon was unknown, but the analyzer had plenty on the others.

 

“Those beetles are Kuwagamon, Digimon that attack with there claws and pinchers. They’re swarm insects, making them willings. They’re pretty weak. Let’s only use minimal force.”

 

I turned to my Serpentmon and said, “Go, Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Sweet!” he said. “Serpentmon, Digivolve to, Dragonterramon!”

 

“Me too,” said Chickomon.

 

“Okay,” said Amanda, “Initiate Digivolution.”

 

“Chickomon, Digivolve to, BrauntoPhoenixmon!”

 

Dragonterramon charged through the forest until he was just below the hovering Kuwagamon. “Terra Flame!” he called, firing a stream of flames strait up at one of the bugs, hitting it in the underbelly, causing it to sharply descend. Dragonterramon leaped up into a tree, using it like a springboard to launch himself strait at the scorched foe. He slashed with his claws, reducing his opponent to digital dust.

 

Meanwhile, BrauntoPhoenixmon spread his wings, knocking over three large trees, and took off into the sky. He spun and slammed one Kuwagamon with his tail, rose up, and dropped, catching Kuwagamon in the back with his foot, slamming it into the ground, crushing it. However, while the two Digimon were distracted, the third Kuwagamon bore down on BrauntoPhoenixmon from behind, making to sever his head with its claws.

 

“Braunto!” Amanda cried out, but neither Digimon could do anything. It was just too late. Everything seemed hopeless until Kuwagamon was suddenly vaporized by a beam of electrical energy coming from within the trees.

 

“Where did that come from?” Jen asked.

 

“Was that the Machine Digimon?” I wondered aloud.

 

“Of course,” answered a familiar yet unknown voice. We turned toward the source and saw a kid taller than me and about mine or Jen’s age with brown hair step out of the trees, wearing a brown jacket, white t-shirt, and tattered and faded blue jeans. “My partner Mechamon and I couldn’t let my allies partner get killed, could we?”

 

“Jeremy?” Jen exclaimed.

 

“In the flesh,” the kid answered. He walked over just as our Digimon, now back at the Child stage again, moved to rejoin us.

 

“Man,” I said, “we haven’t seen you since you moved. In fact, I don’t think we’ve had any contact with you at all since that day when we were instant messaging from Jen’s four years ago! How have you been?”

 

“Great,” Jeremy answered, shaking my hand, “really great.”

 

“How’d you get here?” Sarah asked our old friend.

 

“Not sure,” Jeremy answered, leaning back against a tree. A small mechanical monkey-ish Digimon with outlet plugs for hands and an outlet cord for a tail dropped down from the branches to land on Jeremy’s shoulder. “By the way, this is Mechmon. Anyway, I was on my computer one day looking at old videos when I decided to take another look at the video of the net battle between the Digimon. The one that appeared that day four years ago. All of a sudden the video froze, and the video window started to glow. Then these things popped out of the screen.” He held up two devices, a Digivice and a square device that looked like a calculator. “The glowing went away, and the video file was gone. Next thing I knew I was in the forest with this guy,” he pointed at Mechmon. “We walked for awhile until we came across a small group of Digimon called Gekomon. They called us Digidestined. They lead us to their hidden village where they live with their lower form, Otamamon, and there chief, a Perfect Level named ShogunGekomon. He gave me this Tag and Crest,” he said, showing them to us, “and this third device called a Digiplayer, and they told me all about Manipulamon and my mission here, and pointed me in the direction of Digital Bridge. Now here I am.”

 

“This is great,” I said. “This means we’ve got another ally against Manipulamon.”

 

“Yeah,” said Jeremy, “that’s great. Honestly, though, I’m just happy that I found you guys. This world isn’t kind to a lone boy and his Digimon.”

 

 

I’m going to back up for a minute. Jeremy used to be one of my best friends. Then he moved up state. He had just gotten his computer set up in his new house (he’s good with computers, at least more so than I am) and was IMing with us at Jen’s when the Digimon battle appeared on the internet four years ago. It seems that whatever chose us to become Digidestined chose him too. Maybe that very day. It was pretty cool. A good puzzle that I hoped to solve one day, once I had more pieces.

 

“So,” I asked Jeremy as we walked together through the forest, “where are we going now?”

 

“Back to the Hidden Village. The Gekomon and Otamamon told me that there was more to know once I had found what waited at the bridge. Besides, they have food and beds!”

 

“Sounds good,” I said, “I’m sold!”

---

and another one:

 

[spoiler=Chapter 6]

 

Jeremy is Suspect;

Manipulamon’s Greatest Pawn

 

 

“Welcome fellow Digidestined,” said Jeremy, waving us through a gap in the brush, “to my digital home away from home, the Hidden Amphibian Village!”

 

We stepped through and found ourselves in a village of small huts built of reeds, barely as tall as me, scattered around a much taller open structure made of log pillars covered by a reed roof. There were several long logs, cut in half, placed inside the structure, flat side up. I figured immediately that this was the village dining hall, and probably the village equivalent of a town hall as well. Behind the main village was a large, Lilly-pad-filled lake rimmed with green algae. Suspended above the lake, on wooden stilts, was a much larger hut for the chief. There was a large reed built gondola positioned out front.

 

At first we saw no Digimon, but then they started stepping out of their huts tentatively, stepping close to us to get a look. There were three distinct types; tadpole-like Digimon with stubby fin/legs that came either red or blue, and gangly green frogs that stood about two feet tall on their hind legs, each carrying a brass horn on one of their shoulders. There were about fifty of them altogether.

 

Jeremy introduced the Digimon to us. “The green ones are Gekomon, Adult Level,” he said, “and the blue and red ones are Otamamon, Child Level. Their color depends on their type.”

 

Just then an eight-foot-tall fat red frog with a horn on each shoulder emerged from the hut above the lake and stepped into the gondola and rowed across using his broad webbed hands as rowers. Upon seeing their chief emerge, the Gekomon and Otamamon bowed, waiting to rise until their chief had reached us. “And this,” said Jeremy, gesturing to the new arrival, “is Chief ShogunGekomon. He’s the one who gave me my Crest and Digiplayer and told me about my quest and where to go next.”

 

“It is good to see you again Jeremy,” said ShogunGekomon in a booming baritone, “and it is good to see that you have found the others. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what, or who awaited you at the bridge, but trust that I had my reasons.”

 

“Its cool. Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Now please,” said ShogunGekomon, “I already know your names, so let us skip the introductions. Please join us for evening meal and the night’s meeting. We have much to discuss.”

 

ShogunGekomon turned away from us and let out a bellowing croak. When he did, Gekomon and Otamamon came running from their huts with large, green mats that they set out along the flat-sided logs. A few of the Gekomon then ran back to some of the huts close to the central structure that I now noticed were longer and taller than the others. They ran strait inside and re-emerged almost immediately with extra mats for my team and myself, as well as various bowls and platters covered in leafy veggies, mushrooms, fruit, bugs, and algae. Another group retrieved enough wooden bowls and plates for everyone, passing them down the length of the log tables. I have to admit, their precision impressed me.

 

ShogunGekomon sat at the end of the longer table behind a large tree stump upon which sat a bowl and two plates. We were seated near him. “Normally,” ShogunGekomon said, “I eat more than my fellows, for reasons that I’m sure are quite obvious. But today, I share what little food I have with you.”

 

“Actually,” I told him, opening my over shirt sack to reveal our remaining supply of mushrooms and meat apples, “its us who will share with you.” I handed him one of the larger of the apples, “For your hospitality.” Then I turned to my friends and divided the rest of the food amongst us.

 

“Your kindness is greatly appreciated,” said on of the Gekomon across the table, “but please, there is plenty of fruit and algae and mushrooms to go around. Please have some of whatever you want!”

 

“Well,” I said, taking a mushroom from the plate in front of me, “if you insist.”

 

 

Once the meal was over and the sun had begun to set, ShogunGekomon called a meeting to order. “I’m sorry to report that the affairs of our world have grown even more complicated my friends,” he said, Speaking more to us than to his people. “Recently, as most of you know, we have been allowing those who fight or flee Manipulamon to use our hidden village as a safe place to regain their strength. In doing so, we have been able to learn many things about current Digital World affairs. There is a rumor,” he said, speaking now only to us, “of a new presence in Manipulamon’s ranks with the power of a Digidestined. A Digimon with the power to Digivolve at will, and at least one companion that seems to call the shots. He has been hunting down fighters and tagging or destroying them for about a week now. No Digimon who has gotten close enough to see his face has escaped to tell of it, but all who have had the displeasure of meeting him in battle claim that he is an enemy easily as dangerous as Manipulamon himself. This is all I know, but I thought that my Digidestined allies should know all that I know.”

 

“Thanks,” I said, scowling at the theory forming in my mind. “We’ll sleep on this, and we’ll decide how to act on this information first thing tomorrow.”

 

With the meal out of the way, my team and I were led to one of the taller longer huts. The one that the Gekomon didn’t bring food and dishes from. I noticed a group of Digimon taking the dishes from dinner to the pond to wash up. I would have offered to help, but I honestly didn’t want to. “You can sleep here,” our Gekomon escort said. “You’ll find bedrolls and blankets inside against the back wall.”

 

“Thank you,” said Jen, once she saw that I wasn’t going to say it. We ducked into the hut, and she elbowed me in the ribs, “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been distracted since the end of dinner.”

 

“Sorry,” I replied, “I’m just tired.” She seemed skeptical, but she excepted my answer, at least for now.

 

I stepped inside the hut and pulled one of the bedrolls down from a stack against the wall. It consisted of a mat, a stuffed cloth cylinder, and all blanket. The cloth was green and sturdy, though obviously made of interwoven leaves. The texture was different to say the least, but not at all uncomfortable.

 

The others were asleep fast, except for Mechmon who left to walk by the pond. I guess being a machine means you don’t have to sleep. Once I was sure they were all out, I sat up and removed the Digicomp from the tattered bad we had found with it and opened it up, turning the volume down to a whisper, and accessing the A.I. program.

 

“How can I help you?” the computer voice asked.

 

“Just one quick question.” I replied. “What can make a Digimon able to Digivolve at will?”

 

The answer was simple and sweet, and exactly what I didn’t want to hear. “The only thing that can give a Digimon the ability to Digivolve at will is a Digivice operated by a Digidestined.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s what I thought.”

 

 

“John, wake up!”

 

I shot up into a sitting position, startled, and saw the others running out of the hut. I leaped up and ran for the door. I stepped through to find three Kuwagamon and six Flymon flying back and forth over the village, tearing huts apart as they went. The sun was only a quarter risen.

 

“Crap!” I said. “I didn’t expect this. Okay guys, go to work!” Amanda and I raised our Digivices. “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to! Dragonterramon!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to! BlackStaliamon!”

 

“Chickomon, Digivolve to! BrauntoPhoenixmon!”

 

BrauntoPhoenixmon leaped up and took to the sky, careful to avoid crushing any of the remaining huts. There were Gekomon and Otamamon running into the forest. One of the Kuwagamon gave chase, and was cut of by BlackStaliamon. The Digimon kept the enemies occupied until the Gekomon and Otamamon were all safely away.

 

“You gonna help?” I asked Jeremy.

 

“Yeah,” he said, “right. Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Mechmon, Digivolve to!” He grew until he was a good 7’6” with a more human posture and rocket boosters on his back. He had folded up treads attached to his legs, and closed panels in his chest. Laser guns extended from his plug-shaped hands. “Mechamon!”

 

“Take them out!” growled Dragonterramon, charging ahead. BrauntoPhoenixmon flew low just behind him. BlackStaliamon ran with them at first, but veered to the right, while Mechamon veered left.

 

Dragonterramon called out his attack, spewing flames over one Kuwagamon, blowing it to bits. He was then immediately pelted by Flymon stingers, pumping him full of enough poison to bring him down. Meanwhile, before the Flymons’ stingers had had a chance to grow back, BrauntoPhoenixmon did a barrel roll strait through their ranks, slinging flames from his wings and incinerating them. Then BrauntoPhoenixmon spun mid-air, slamming a Kuwagamon with his tail. It fell from the sky, landing hard on its back, and was immediately crushed by BlackStaliamon’s attack.

 

Nearby, Mechmon was fighting against a single Kuwagamon, one on one. He fired several shots at point blank range, missing each time. He was hit by one of Kuwagamon’s Scissor Claw attacks and de-Digivolved to Mechmon. We were now only two strong.

 

It was then that three more Kuwagamon and six more Flymon rose up out of the surrounding trees. The Flymon launched their attacks, giving the Kuwagamon enough cover to get in close. BlackStaliamon could avoid the stingers easily, but the much larger BrauntoPhoenixmon was sure to be hit.

 

The stingers were only a few yards away when ShogunGekomon, back from showing his people to safety, jumped in the way, taking the hits himself. Then he was hit by Scissor Claw attacks from all three Kuwagamon at once. He fell over and broke apart.

 

“No!” I cried.

 

“Destroy those Digimon now!” Jen commanded, her face flushed with anger. Coltmon and Ponymon ran forward and called out their Hoof Tornado attack. The swirl of purple and red wind rose up, destroying two Flymon and drawing the rest together. Serpentmon leaped up and destroyed one with his Serpent Strike, while BrauntoPhoenixmon’s Dino Fire finished the rest.

 

BlackStaliamon kicked and destroyed two Kuwagamon with his back hooves, and smacked the third with his front hoof, knocking it onto its back. Then he called his attack, slamming the ground. Waves of concussive energy hammered the fallen foe, and it reverted to data as well.

 

“Dammit!” I screamed. The Digimon de-Digivolved and moved to where myself and the other humans were standing. I turned around and punched the tightly woven wall of the hut behind me. “ShogunGekomon just gave his life for us!” I yelled. By now the Gekomon and Otamamon were returning from the surrounding forest. I turned to face Jeremy and said, “This is all your fault!”

 

I ran strait at Jeremy and punched at his face. He raised his arms to absorb the blow, so I swung my other fist, catching him in the gut and dropping him to his knees. I was about to hit him again when Jen, my unnaturally strong cousin, grabbed my arm, “What are you doing?!”

 

“Don’t you get it!” I said. “The one who’s been working with Manipulamon the past few days is Jeremy! The Digicomp says that the only way a Digimon can freely Digivolve back and forth is with the help of a Digidestined, yet Manipulamon’s new general can freely Digivolve. And this is an enchanted village. You can’t get here unless you’re led by someone who has already been shown the way, and yet the village was ambushed almost as soon as we arrived!”

 

By now the Gekomon and Otamamon, teary eyed over the loss of their beloved leader, were surrounding Jeremy, preventing his escape.

 

Jen, looking stunned, said in a low voice, “Check him for an M-Tag.”

 

“Here!” said one of the Gekomon, lifting Jeremy’s left sleeve. Sure enough, there was a tag attached to his arm. I reached forward to remove it, and stumbled, hit in the back by a wave of electricity. I turned abruptly to see Mechmon standing there, his eyes glowing red. Immediately Serpentmon and BlackColtmon were standing between Mechmon and myself, Serpentmon’s jaws wide, BlackColtmon’s hooves ablaze.

 

“Heh,” said Jeremy, “the only times you’ve ever seem my Digimon fight he was holding back. You have no idea how powerful he really is. Mechmon, go! Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Mechmon, Digivolve to, Mechamon!”

 

“That poison hit me hard,” said Serpentmon. “I need more time before I can Digivolve again.”

 

“I don’t,” said BlackColtmon.

 

“And we’ve got some fight left too,” said Coltmon. He and Ponymon stepped up beside Serpentmon and Chickomon, ready to give everything they had.

 

“Then let’s go,” I said. “BlackColtmon, Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to! BlackStaliamon!”

 

Mechamon jumped back, up into the air, and aimed his guns at BlackStaliamon. He fired, but BlackStaliamon leapt out of the way. He jumped into the air to tackle his foe, but was kicked out of the air before his attack could connect.

 

“Serpent Strike!” called Serpentmon. He launched his attack strait at Mechamon’s back, and one of his rockets sputtered and burnt out. The other overcompensated and blew out, causing Mechamon to cry out in pain. But his pain wasn’t passed. Only moments later he was hit by a Hoof Tornado and tossed through the air, landing a good ways away in a crumpled mess, blasting clouds of dust in every direction. When the dust cleared, he was already up, but seemed damaged.

 

Mechamon leaped to Jeremy’s side, picked him up, and jumped away.

 

“Follow him!” I ordered. We took off running, determined to save our friend, no matter the cost. If I hadn’t been so angry, I probably would have realized that we were running right into a trap.

---

and another one:

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter 7]

 

Battle Manipulamon!

 

 

 

I ran, following in the general direction of Jeremy’s escape. As I ran, I wrestled the portable Digicomp unit from my pocket and searched the programs folder for a way to track Jeremy and his damaged Digimon. I discovered a tracking program, locking onto Mechamon’s signal. Serpentmon slithered along at my left, BlackStaliamon trotted along at my right, and the others followed close behind.

 

Then I got a lock. “This way!” I yelled back to my team. I curved to the right at about a fifty degree angle. The others followed my path as best as they could. I was tired, thirsty, and out of breath, but if I stopped I’d lose Jeremy, and I’m a sore loser.

 

Then, as I ran, Jeremy’s signal suddenly stopped. As I rushed to catch up with him I vaguely noticed the trees beginning to change. Becoming less like the denser trees of the deep forest, and more like the thinner, more scattered trees of the forest’s edge. I yelled back to the others that Jeremy was just ahead, and suddenly the forest gave way to a rocky area ringed by cliffs, mostly enclosed with no cover anywhere. The perfect place to lay a trap. My Digimon erupted from the forest at my side, followed by the rest of my team. We stood together, staring down a figure that we had hoped not to see for a long time.

 

A week ago, when we’d arrived in the Digital World, we found the Digicomp. The Digicomp showed us the face of our enemy, a gray-skinned creature with a humanoid body and a dinosaur-like head and tail. Here that figure stood. Our ultimate enemy, Manipulamon.

 

“Oh crap,” I said, juggling fear and anger.

 

“Hello Digidestined,” Manipulamon said in a massive booming voice. “So we finally meet! I’m sorry children, but I cannot let you continue to exist in this world. You are too great a threat to my endeavors. Since none of my minions so far have had any luck in destroying you, I’ve decided to test your powers for myself and, ultimately, destroy you.”

 

Manipulamon waved his hand in a wide arc and called, “Manipulate Wind!” Ripples of air, thickened by Manipulamon’s unique powers, rolled strait at us at high speed. I threw up my arms in anticipation of the impact. The ground shook and I lowered my arms, and I could see that Chickomon had Digivolved, using his wings to shield us from the attack. He threw open his wings and cried out making a booming sound somewhere between a whale song and an eagle’s cry. With a flap of his mighty wings, BrauntoPhoenixmon soared along the ground, rushing his foe at full speed. It looked like he would hit his mark, until Manipulamon raised his hand, stopping the airflow along BrauntoPhoenixmon’s wings, causing him to crash face first into the rocky ground.

 

“That’s enough!” I cried. Manipulamon was trying my patience. I ran strait at him, catching him off guard, jumped and punched him in the face. He was shocked.

 

“How dare a human assault Lord Manipulamon!” He cried. He flicked his wrist and I went flying, landing hard on my right arm and sliding several feet along the hard ground. I’m lucky my arm didn’t break.

 

Manipulamon waved his hand, “Manipulate Wind!” The wave of air flew strait at me, and I was to shaken up to move. It would kill me. I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come, but it never did. I looked up and saw Dragonterramon, spinning in mid air. He deflected the attack with his tail and landed nearby, standing over me, protectively, BlackStaliamon at his side. Several yards away BrauntoPhoenixmon rose to his feet and spread his wings. The flames around his wings flared up to three times their usual intensity as he focused his energy into his attack.

 

“Dino Fire!” He cried, and spirals of flames shot from his wings with such force that they tore up the ground along their path. The flames were inches away from Manipulamon’s face when he redirected them. They crossed, curved, and hit the ground. There was a massive flash and an even more massive explosion that blinded the Digimon long enough for Manipulamon to attack unhindered.

 

In the period of a second and a half, Manipulamon flew forward, skimming the ground, and motioned with his and, tossing BrauntoPhoenixmon over his head, slamming him into the ground and sliding him into Dragonterramon and BlackColtmon, flipped to face them, landed on his feet, and fired another wave of air that sent the Digimon toppling over each other. They were hurt, almost too much so to move.

 

“He’s too strong!” I said, pounding the ground.

 

“Not if we all work together,” said Jen.

 

“Ponymon, Coltmon,” said Sarah, “time to get in the game!”

 

The two small horses ran and jumped at Manipulamon. He blocked them with his arm and threw them back. They landed on their feet and ran in a circle, kicking up their Hoof Tornado attack. It bent and flew strait at Manipulamon. He motioned and the attack changed course, dispersing in the open air.

 

“Hoof Stomp!” called BlackStaliamon. He lunged at Manipulamon from behind, but Manipulamon was too fast. He spun and backhanded BlackStaliamon out of the air. He landed sprawled on the ground.

 

“Terra Flame!”

 

“Dino Fire!”

 

Manipulamon was engulfed in flames, but when the attacks ended and the fire fell away, Manipulamon stood unharmed, protected by a cocoon of hardened air.

 

Manipulamon cried out and the cocoon shattered like glass into dozens of razor sharp shards. The shards exploded outward in all directions. Any one of them could slice any one of us humans in half.

 

“Nooo!” screamed Dragonterramon. He and the other Digivolved Digimon rushed to protect us, but it was too late. Unless something changed, we were dead.

---

and one more:

 

[spoiler=Chapter 8]

 

 

Celestial Digivolution

 

 

 

That’s when something miraculous happened. Sarah and Jen’s Digivices came online for the first time since the battle against Serpenterramon. Coltmon and Ponymon leaped into the air between us and the shards, glowing like small stars.

 

Without a moments hesitation, Jen and Sarah called out, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

Coltmon grew until he was the same size as BlackStaliamon, but with smaller, more proportionate hooves. He wore a military quality saddle and four curved blades, one attached to the outside of each horseshoe. He sprouted a pair of white feathered wings and his voice rang out, “Coltmon, Digivolve to! BattleStaliamon!”

 

Ponymon glowed even brighter than Coltmon. She grew until she was almost his size, sprouting a pair of silvery angelic wings. Her hooves became a silvery color, and her coat glistened with a brilliant silvery sheen. Her voice was lyrical, like a harp, “Ponymon, Digivolve to, Fillimon!”

 

BattleStaliamon and Fillimon shone with a bright light and called, “Celestial Ring!” Spheres of light spread from their glowing forms, merging into a single wave of light that vaporized the shards. Then the two Digimon took off, rushing strait at the foe.

 

“Those two Digimon,” I said, looking up from the handheld, “are both Celestial Beast Digimon. They exist to destroy Evil and Dark Digimon. They could actually win!”

 

“I’m impressed by your luck and timing in Digivolving, but you know that the area around me is a no fly zone!” He waved his hand, trying to make them crash by halting airflow across their wings, but they stayed in the air, continuing toward him.

 

“Wrong,” said Fillimon in her beautiful, lyrical voice. She and BattleStaliamon began to circle their foe. “Our wings don’t use air for lift. We fly by channeling our angelic auras along our wings, letting us interrupt gravity and levitate, pushing off of the ground to climb or to move. You are a resourceful Digimon, Manipulamon, but the one thing that you cannot manipulate is our auras.”

 

The two Celestial Beasts charged at the foe once again. Manipulamon spread his arms wide, releasing a wave of thickened air in their direction. “Hoof Blades,” called BattleStaliamon, releasing two curved energy blades from the blades attached to his front hooves. “Filli-Beams!” called Fillimon, firing twin beams from of shining light at her hooves. The two attacks hit the air wave, canceling it out. The two Digimon fired their attacks again, this time aiming for Manipulamon himself. He hardened the air around him again, but BattleStaliamon’s blades, which were a millisecond ahead of Fillimon’s beams, spread along the surface of the barrier, canceling it out. Fillimon’s beams continued through, hitting Manipulamon square in the chest. He was thrown backward, landing hard on his back and sliding several feet before he finally stopped.

The Digimon positioned themselves to strike the finishing blow. BrauntoPhoenixmon took flight and dropped waves of flame onto Manipulamon. Dragonterramon launched his own flame, and BlackStaliamon stomped the ground, unleashing a wave of seismic energy. BattleStaliamon and Fillimon circled around and fired their attacks again from above. If the five attacks connected, Manipulamon would likely die, higher level or not.

 

Manipulamon, in a last ditch effort to survive, levitated himself up into an upright position and threw up another barrier, summoning all of his strength, using all of his concentration to keep it strong. The combo attack hit, and though the barrier was shattered, Manipulamon remained unharmed. There was an explosion, and before the smoke had even cleared, A battered Manipulamon shot into the air at supersonic speed. Before we could react, Manipulamon was gone.

 

“So…tired!” said BrauntoPhoenixmon

 

“Can’t…move!” Dragonterramon growled.

 

The two Digimon collapsed and de-Digivolved to there Baby II forms, Snakemon and Chomon.

 

BlackStaliamon, BattleStaliamon, and Fillimon became BlackColtmon, Coltmon, and Ponymon.

 

“We have to get to Jeremy,” I said, “he was just here before the fight.” I started walking, brandishing the handheld. Jen grabbed my arm to stop me.

 

“John,” she said, “Jeremy wasn’t here. It was Manipulamon. He made himself look like Jeremy on that scanner and made Jeremy look like something else so he could lead us here. The whole thing; the attack on the village, Jeremy running away. It was all part of Manipulamon’s plan. I mean, you heard Jeremy. He said Mechamon was stronger than that. The only reason for him to run would be so we would follow him. So Manipulamon could test our strength.”

 

“No!” I said.

 

“Yes John,” said Jen. “If I see it, then I know you do too. I’m right-.”

 

“I know!” I screamed back at her, yanking my arm from her grip, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m the leader of this team. I have to save him!”

 

“Rushing blindly into the forest isn’t the way to do it!” Jen yelled back. “Manipulamon wants us dead, and as long as we have Coltmon and Ponymon, he can’t do it himself. He’ll send Jeremy back sooner or later to finish what he started!”

 

I may be a sore loser, but I know when to concede defeat. Jen may not be the least emotional person I know, but, unlike me, she knows how to set her emotions aside and look at the big picture. I dropped to my knees, sat back on my heels, and punched the ground. I punched it again and again, until my knuckles were bloody and raw. The I put my face in my hands and cried in frustration.

 

 

That night we made our way back to Gekomon village. I was asked to speak at a memorial service for ShogunGekomon, and my team and I were asked to witness the coronation of a new chief, an older, slightly larger Gekomon who was thought wise enough by his fellows, and who seemed close to Digivolving. He promised to lead with compassion and heart, and to do all he could to keep the village safe and whole, honoring the memory of ShogunGekomon. Everyone clapped, and several of us, including Sarah and Amanda, cried.

 

That afternoon and evening we helped the Gekomon and Otamamon rebuild there huts and repair damage to the huts still standing after the attack. It was hard work, but none of us minded. We were glad to help, and even gladder to be among friends. The Gekomon and Otamamon allowed us to stay with them again that night, and this time we slept late a woke up well rested.

 

The Gekomon and Otamamon used their skill at making plant-based cloth to make each of us a pack and bedroll of irregular green, brown, and yellow patches. They gave them to us just as we were leaving. “Thank you,” I said to the new chief as he presented us with our gifts. “I don’t know what we would have done without your help.”

 

“It is the least we can do for our new friends,” said Chief Gekomon. “We wish you luck and a safe journey.”

 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jen asked.

 

“Yes,” Chief Gekomon answered. “I have already altered the enchantment that protects this village to prevent Jeremy and Mechmon from finding it again. I hope that one day soon such a precaution will no longer be necessary.”

 

I thanked him again, and with that we were off once again into the forest. Our new friends bid us goodbye, every one of them painfully aware that we were their only hope.

---

here's a big one, chapters 9, 10, and 11:

 

[spoiler=Chapters 9-11]

 

Chapter 9

 

Battle Okuwamon;

Dragonterramon’s Level Up

 

 

“So, do we have any idea where to go from here?” Jen asked. We had returned to the clear area where we had battled Manipulamon, figuring that it was as good a place to start as any

 

“No clue,” I answered, taking the Digicomp handheld out of my pocket.

 

“Then what are we supposed to do,” Sarah asked in an annoyed tone of voice, “wait here forever?”

 

“No,” I said, putting the handheld away and walking toward the forest at the opposite side of the clearing, “we go this way.”

 

 

“Are we there yet?” whined Amanda, riding on Chickomon’s back.

 

“Manda, sweetie,” I answered as calmly as I could, “I’m only gonna tell you one more time. We don’t even know where there is yet!”

 

She looked down at her hands, “Sorry.”

 

“Good.”

 

I looked down at the handheld in my hand, checking for any unusual signals. Suddenly the screen was filled with blinking blips. Dozens of Digimon signals just at the edge of the scanner’s range.

 

“Whoa,” said Snakemon, looking down from my shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” I said, “whoa.”

 

“What is it?” Jen asked

 

“A large group of Digimon almost dead ahead at the edge of the scanner’s range. Maybe twenty minutes away.”

 

“How many?” Amanda asked.

 

“I can’t tell. They overlap. A lot.”

 

“Is it a village?” Sarah asked.

 

“Yeah, or an army.”

 

 

After discussing the situation we decided that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to gain so many allies, if the Digimon were friendly. If not, we would just have to run as fast as we could a hope for the best. It wasn’t long before we reached the sources of the signals. There was nothing on the ground, so the signals had to be in the trees overhead.

 

“Snakemon,” I asked, “are you up for a little recon?”

 

“Sure,” he answered. He coiled up and launched himself into the trees above. The leaves rustled, and Snakemon dropped suddenly from the branches only moments later. “Flymon!” he said. “It’s a Flymon nest!”

 

Out of the treetops descended three Flymon, firing their stingers. We scattered, avoiding the attack.

 

“Looks like we’ve got a fight on our hands,” I said. “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Snakemon, Digivolve to. Serpentmon!”

 

Serpentmon leaped onto a branch, launching himself upward, and fired a spread of fang-shaped needles, hitting one of the Flymon, reducing it to digital dust.

 

“Lets get out of here,” I said, “before we wake them all up.”

 

“Too late,” said Chickomon, “look.” As he spoke, more than half a dozen Flymon descended from the trees.

 

“Don’t pull any punches,” I said. “Digivolve!”

 

As one, Sarah, Jen, Amanda, and I said, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to, Dragonterramon!”

 

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to, BlackStaliamon!”

 

“Coltmon, Digivolve to, BattleStaliamon!”

 

“Ponymon, Digivolve to, Fillimon!”

 

“Chickomon, Digivolve to, BrauntoPhoenixmon!”

 

BrauntoPhoenixmon flew upward. He spun in a corkscrew, destroying several Flymon with a single hit. The Flymon seemed to hesitate. They abruptly rose above the treetops and let out a high pitched buzzing before running away.

 

“That was easy,” said Jen.

 

“Its not over yet,” said BlackStaliamon. “There are more on their way.”

 

We watched and waited, and sure enough a small group of bugs appeared, two Kuwagamon, two large green mantises, and a much larger Kuwagamon with a gray exoskeleton and massive claws. I scanned them with my handheld.

 

“The green ones are Snimon, able to launch energy waves from their sickle blades, and the gray one is Okuwamon, a Perfect level with an incredibly hard shell.”

 

“Split them up,” I commanded. “Draw Okuwamon away from the others.”

 

BrauntoPhoenixmon flew strait at Okuwamon and curved to the side, while the horses flew toward the lackeys. Okuwamon veered away, leaving his group alone.

 

BattleStaliamon and Fillimon began to circle the Snimon and the Kuwagamon, keeping opposite each other. A ring of energy formed, following their path. Both horses called out, “Celestial Ring!” and veered away. The ring tightened, vaporizing the giant bugs on contact.

BattleStaliamon and Fillimon landed nearby. “Wow,” said BattleStaliamon, “I didn’t think that would actually work.”

 

“Yeah,” said Fillimon, “good thing Insectoids are stupid.”

 

“You’ll pay for that!” Okuwamon cried from above.

 

“Apparently this one’s not,” said BrauntoPhoenixmon.

 

“And he’s a Perfect Level,” said Jen, “making him stronger than us.”

 

“We’ll see about that!” cried BlackStaliamon. He jumped up into the trees and used the branches like a springboard, his hooves glowing with energy. He slammed Okuwamon in the back, but Okuwamon’s thick armor rendered the attack ineffective.

 

“You’re first!” said Okuwamon. He turned and called, “Double Scissor Claw!” He struck with both of his massive claws, throwing BlackStaliamon back to the ground where he de-Digivolved.

 

“We can’t beat him one on one,” said Dragonterramon. “We have to attack him all at once and overwhelm him. Attack!”

 

BattleStaliamon, Fillimon, and BrauntoPhoenixmon shot off through the air. Dragonterramon was crouched down, preparing to leap, when I stopped him.

 

“Hold up pal,” I said. “I’m riding along.”

 

“No,” he protested. “Its too dangerous.”

 

“Yeah, its dangerous,” I said, “but while you’re fighting, I might be able to spot some kind of weakness in his exoskeleton.”

 

Dragonterramon growled, a thoughtful look on his face. Then reluctantly he said, “Fine, get on!”

 

I jumped onto his back, standing on his tail, holding onto one of the spikes lining his back. He jumped up, avoiding a tree sent flying by an attack. He bounced from one tree to another tree, and into the top branches of a third, springing himself into the air. “Terra Flame!” he called, launching a barrage of fireballs at the foe from a distance. Only two hit. Dragonterramon reached the apex of his jump and fell back to the ground below the trees.

 

“Get closer this time,” I told Dragonterramon.

 

“Got it,” He growled. He charged forward and launched himself from another treetop, bringing himself close to Okuwamon’s back. I looked him over quickly. Bingo! I thought. There was a small opening in the armor in Okuwamon’s back. If I could get that gap open, the Digimons’ attacks could get through, and they could finish Okuwamon off.

 

Dragonterramon launched his attack and began his controlled drop. Before he could drop below Okuwamon, I jumped, landing on the enemy’s back, hanging onto the armor at the edge of the gap.

 

“John, no!” Dragonterramon cried. I pulled myself up and began pulling on the armor plate. If I could only get the gap open a little wider.

 

“Get ready to attack this spot!” I yelled, but before I could get anywhere Okuwamon shook me off. I was falling, just above Dragonterramon, just out of his reach. I was sure it was finally over, when suddenly my Neo Crest of Courage began to glow. It slid free of the tag and changed shape, becoming a small disk.

 

Everything seemed to slow down as strength and knowledge flowed through me, even as I fell. I don’t know how, but I knew what to do.

 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Digivice and my Digiplayer. I connected them together, the disk still hanging in the air. I swung the Digiplayer, catching the disk in the slot, and pressed the activate button, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”

 

Dragonterramon began to glow. He hung in the air, and I fell past him, “Dragonterramon, Digivolve to!” he grew roughly a foot taller and longer, and he roared as broad, orange, bat-like wings sprouted from his back in twin bursts of flame. His claws grew longer, and his talons became sharper and more curved, “WingedDragonterramon!”

 

WingedDragonterramon folded his wings close to his body and dropped down below me. He opened his wings, catching the air, caught me in his arms, and glided down to the ground. He set me down, and then launched himself back into the fray, just as BrauntoPhoenixmon, BattleStaliamon, and Fillimon were hit by a mighty attack. They fell to the ground and de-Digivolved, defeated.

 

“Double Scissor Claw!” Okuwamon called. He swung his massive blade-like claws, but WingedDragonterramon flapped once, rising mere inches above the range of the attack. He spilled air from his wings and flew forward, hitting the foe with a full bodied tackle.

Okuwamon fell backward, and before he could regain control, WingedDragonterramon rose up above him and called, “Wing Fireblaze!” His wings caught fire, and a fireball formed in front of each wing. He flapped hard, flinging the two fireballs, each nearly as large as his torso, strait at Okuwamon. The fireballs hit at high speed and exploded. The fire from the explosion filled the sky. When the flames cleared, we saw a singed and battered Okuwamon turn tail and run away in retreat.

 

WingedDragonterramon landed next to me and the others and changed back into Snakemon, his energy spent by the Digiplayer Digivolution. He teetered for a second and then passed out. I walked over to my friend. “Thanks man,” I said, picking him up and hanging him over my shoulders, “I owe you one.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

Jeremy Returns;

Ultimate Explosive Battle!

 

 

It had been three days since our battle with Okuwamon and Dragonterramon’s Digivolution to the Perfect Level. We had given up on trying to catch up with Jeremy and had set up camp in a clearing along the foot of a twenty-foot cliff, walls of tall thick trees lining the remaining three sides. It was a very defensible spot. Other than that, what could we do? Jeremy and Manipulamon would attack us again when they were good and ready. Still, I felt bad, like I was doing something wrong by waiting instead of seeking them out.

 

It was mid afternoon. Jen and I were just returning from collecting apples and mushrooms (both of which I hated by then). We ate, and we were just packing away the extras when something happened.

 

“Do you hear that?” BlackColtmon asked, staring intently out at the forest’s edge.

 

“Hear what?” I asked.

 

“A scraping sound,” he said, relaxing, “but I think whatever it was is gone now.”

 

“Serpentmon,” I said, switching instantly into “cautious leader mode”, “get up in the trees and keep lookout, just in case.”

 

 

Serpenterramon

 

 

I heard some sounds to my left. I turned and slithered a short distance to the edge of the woods where I found myself looking out over a clearing. There I saw my query; the Digidestined. Master’s general, who was currently commanding my squad, would be very happy with my find.

 

I turned my head, preparing to leave the area, and my scales scraped a tree. One of the traitor Digimon, a dark-haired Coltmon, heard this. I stood still for a minute and then pulled back, slithering silently away. I would alert the general, and the Digidestined would finally be destroyed!

 

 

John

 

 

It was starting to get dark. It had been at least thirty minutes since BlackColtmon had heard his mysterious sound.

 

“John,” Serpentmon whined from within the treetops fifteen yards away, “I’m bored. Can I come down now?”

 

“Yeah,” I said. “If someone was gonna attack, they would have done it already.”

 

“I don’t think so,” BlackColtmon said. “If they know who we are and they still want to attack, they’ll gather numbers and form a plan before attacking. We should remain prepared.”

 

I was about to counter his remark when the ground began to shake. A chunk of stone tumbled down from the top of the cliff. Suddenly four Serpenterramon erupted from the ground, surrounding us.

 

“Terra Fang!” the Serpenterramon called. They snapped at us, but because they had not yet gotten their bearings, their attacks were easily avoided.

 

“Crap!” I said. I ran and sprung behind a rock. Jen joined me, and Sarah and Amanda ran for cover in the brush bordering the clearing.

 

The Serpenterramon struck again, forcing the Digimon into a tight group.

 

“Let’s get out of here,” said Serpentmon. He lead the other Child Digimon underneath the Serpenterramons’ attacks and formed a line of defense between us and the foes.

Then I heard it, a voice on the cliff. “So, what do you think of my new troupe?”

 

“Jeremy!”

 

“These four Serpenterramon are Manipulamon’s strongest Serpenterramon followers. I’ve spent the last seventy-two hours training them to fight you. You can’t win this time.”

 

“We’ll see,” I said. I was confidant, sure that my power was superior.

Jeremy smiled a wicked smile down on us, “Serpenterramon A Troupe, attack!”

 

“Digimon,” I commanded, “Digivolve!”

 

The four Serpenterramon drew back, preparing to strike. Jen, Sarah, Amanda, and I raised our Digivices, “Initiate Digivolution!”

 

“Serpentmon…”

 

“BlackColtmon…”

 

“Chickomon…”

 

“Coltmon…”

 

“Ponymon…”

 

“…Digivolve to…”

 

“Dragonterramon!”

 

“BlackStaliamon!”

 

“BrauntoPhoenixmon!”

 

“BattleStaliamon!”

 

“Fillimon!”

 

The Serpenterramon struck, and the Digimon avoided the attacks with varying degrees of difficulty.

 

I jumped onto Dragonterramon’s tail and gripped one of the spikes on his back. “Dragonterramon,” I commanded, “Jeremy’s ours!”

 

BlackStaliamon, Fillimon, BattleStaliamon, and BrauntoPhoenixmon remained behind to fend off the snakes. Dragonterramon dug his claws into the cliff side and dug his way up, leaping up directly in front of Mechamon. I jumped down from my Digimon’s back. “Terra Flame!” Dragonterramon called, spewing flames at the metal foe. Mechamon jumped up, using a boost from his jets for lift, flying clear over my dragon’s attack.

 

Mechamon fell back and landed twenty yards away, jumped strait up, and waved his arms, spreading them wide. Electricity slung from his hands, rolling toward Dragonterramon at lightning speed. He lunged, barely avoiding the blast.

 

Meanwhile, below us, the others engaged their individual foes. BlackStaliamon leaped up to stomp one of the Serpenterramon flat. Serpenterramon swung his head back, dodging, and struck, attempting to snatch BlackStaliamon out of mid air. BlackStaliamon shifted his weight, flipping backward out of his opponent’s reach, landing firmly on his feet.

 

Fillimon flapped her wings, rising into the air. Her Serpenterramon foe snapped once. She dodged. Twice. She dodged. Three times. She dodged, but only barely, landing hard and sliding backward several feet before coming to an eventual stop. Fillimon reared up onto her hind legs and fired twin beams from her front hooves. Serpenterramon jerked back, avoiding them, and snapped again. She jumped back, avoiding the attack just in time. The same was happening to BattleStaliamon. BrauntoPhoenixmon’s size gave him a greater advantage over his opponent, though he had yet to score any lethal hits.

 

Dragonterramon jumped to is feet and I jumped onto his back. He leaped at Mechamon, sailing past Jeremy. As he did I dropped down and landed on Jeremy. We rolled until he kicked me off of him. I tumbled an fell onto my back, cursing at the fact that I hadn’t managed to get hold of the tag that bound him. I rolled and leaped to my feet, just in time to roll out of the way of Jeremy’s fist. I kicked, catching him in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees.

 

Dragonterramon landed in front of Mechamon. He struck out with his claws. Mechamon jumped back, dodging the slash, so Dragonterramon followed through with a tail sweep. Mechamon jumped over it.

 

Mechamon kicked, catching Dragonterramon in the jaw. As Dragonterramon stumbled, Mechamon charged up and launched another electric attack. Dragonterramon recovered just in time to dive out of the way. As he did, mine and Jeremy’s fight brought us over to our Digimon. We veered apart and regrouped.

 

“Pretty good,” said Jeremy. “I had no idea that your Digimon would be such a close match for mine. But Mechamon has one more trick up his sleeve.” Jeremy passed his hand in front of his tag, and his Crest slid out of the tag and converted to a disk, hanging in the air. I was shocked and a little scared by this development, though I tried not to let it show. Digiplayer Digivolution was supposed to be my trump card, and now Jeremy could do it too.

 

I smiled. If nothing else, this was a challenge. I’ve always liked a challenge. “That won’t help,” I said, “because we can do that too.” I passed my hand over my tags, and the Neo Crest of Courage emerged, becoming a disk and hanging in the air. Jeremy pulled his Digivice and Digiplayer from his jacket pocket. I pulled mine from the pockets of my jeans. We connected our respective devices together, swung them, and caught the disks, calling “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”

 

“Dragonterramon, Digivolve to! WingedDragonterramon!”

 

“Mechamon, Digivolve to!” His legs folded up and the treads on his legs unfolded, connecting into functional treads. His torso raised up and his chest panels opened, revealing several small missile launchers. His shoulder panels slid up, revealing laser cannons, and his armor flashed for a split second, evidencing that his armor was being strengthened by a thin energy field. The panels on his chest and shoulders closed again, “MegaMechamon!”

 

MegaMechamon opened his jets, and two more jets extended from his legs. The jets ignited and together the four jets lifted him off of the ground. WingedDragonterramon flapped his wings and rose to meet is foe. The two Digimon slammed into each other and were thrown apart by impact.

 

MegaMechamon opened his chest panels and called, “Assault Missiles!” A dozen missiles shot from the launchers under the chest panels and flew true toward WingedDragonterramon.

 

WingedDragonterramon, however, was fast for his size. He shot into the air, and the missiles sailed over the edge of the cliff. They threatened to hit BlackStaliamon and his opponent. I yelled down to them. The much more agile BlackStaliamon leapt out of the way, but Serpenterramon wasn’t so lucky. He was hit by five of the missiles and broke down, becoming data. Now it was four to three in favor of the Digimon, giving our side a huge advantage.

 

WingedDragonterramon rolled in the air, his wings ablaze, flying past MegaMechamon, tossing flames in all directions. The flames hit MegaMechamon, but he recovered quickly, raising his guns. His shoulder panels slid open and he called “Electro Lasers!” Twin beams lanced from his guns, and more intense beams burst from his shoulder cannons, all aimed strait at my partner. He folded his wings and dropped below the beams. They followed him. He spread his wings and sailed around his foe until the attack ended.

 

“Terra Flame!” flames shot from WingedDragonterramon’s mouth. They hit MegaMechamon in the chest, causing him to spark from under his armor, though he was far from finished. He was slow, but his armor was strong.

 

If I don’t think of something fast, MegaMechamon will outlast us. I thought, trying once again to take things into my own hands. I need a plan! But before I could screw anything up, something happened. MegaMechamon raised his guns to fire beams at my Digimon, and was surprised to see BlackStaliamon leaping over the cliff edge. “Hoof Stomp!” he called, slamming the machine Digimon in the face. MegaMechamon was knocked back, landing on the rocky ground near his human partner. Immediately he found himself surrounded by five Digimon.

 

“So, lackey,” I asked, “what will it be? Run away again, or stay and fight?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11

 

John’s Obsession;

The Team Splits up

 

 

Jeremy’s eyes swept over each of the Digimon. They were battered and covered in dirt, making their condition hard to determine. So, it seems, he decided to test us. “MegaMechamon!” he commanded, and his Digimon lunged, sliding past WingedDragonterramon, catching BattleStaliamon and Fillimon, and carrying them down the side of the cliff to the ground below, out of site. Fillimon was dazed, but BattleStaliamon was already back on his feet when I reached edge and could see them again. MegaMechamon opened fire, and BattleStaliamon jumped out of the way. One of MegaMechamon’s missiles went off course. It would have hit Jen and Amanda had BrauntoPhoenixmon not jumped down and shielded them with his wings.

 

WingedDragonterramon took flight. He swooped down and kicked MegaMechamon onto his side. “Hoof Stomp!” called BlackStaliamon. He leaped down from the top of the cliff, trying to smash his foe in the chest and incapacitate him, but MegaMechamon swatted him away and sprung upright -.

 

- Only to be sent sprawling by Fillimon’s beams!

 

WingedDragonterramon launched his Wing Fireblaze attack. The fireballs hit their mark and exploded, obscuring my view. Then, out of the explosion shot MegaMechamon, soaring over my head and landing at Jeremy’s side, his armor visibly damaged.

 

Jeremy smiled and said, “Even though I’d like to stay and play, Manipulamon still needs me. I can’t risk my life just yet. Goodbye Digidestined!”

 

He waved at us, and MegaMechamon de-Digivolved to Mechamon. With a burst from his jets Mechamon was gone, carrying Jeremy on his shoulder.

 

“After him!” I screamed. I started to give chase, but Jen stopped me.

 

“John,” she said, “we need to talk.”

 

“What could you possibly want to talk about right now?” I demanded. “Jeremy’s getting away!”

 

“That’s what we need to talk about!” Jen said, her voice and expression stern. “You’ve become obsessed with freeing Jeremy. I understand to a point. He’s our friend, and we have to help him. But you’ve become obsessed to the point that you’re ignoring our well being!”

 

“I’m not. I -.”

 

“Yes you are, John, look!” she pointed at Amanda who was curled up by BrauntoPhoenixmon’s leg, crying. “She was scared to death when the Serpenterramon attacked, but you didn’t even notice, did you? John, Amanda wants to go home.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, “well she can’t. She’s stuck with us here.”

 

“That’s not true,” said Jen. “I know there’s a way home somewhere. There has to be. I’m taking Amanda to find it.”

 

By now, Amanda stood next to Jen, holding her hand. I was shocked! Jen and Amanda wanted to leave the group? I should have been concerned and sympathetic, but the only thing I seemed able to feel was anger. “Fine,” I yelled, “leave! Sarah and I can take handle this ourselves!”

 

It was a call to their bluff. They wouldn’t really leave, would they? But, only seconds later, with sad looks in their eyes, Jen and Amanda turned and disappeared into the woods, their now de-Digivolved Digimon close behind.

 

“Come on Sarah,” I said, turning my back to the retreating traitors, “Jeremy’s getting away.”

 

 

Jen

 

 

I hated to do it, but I knew it had to be done. John was going completely overboard, and Amanda was afraid. She was too young for the constant danger. If John wouldn’t listen, then the least I could do was try to get Amanda home.

 

“You okay, Manda?” I asked, looking down at her. Chickomon stepped up beside her and gazed up at her with concern.

 

“Yeah,” Amanda said, “I’m fine.” She climbed up onto Chickomon’s back, curled up, and went to sleep.

 

 

We walked along silently for a few more hours. I figured our best shot at finding a way home was to get back to the Desert Tower. Problem was, without the Digicomp, I had no way of knowing how to get there from where we were. I thought that the Gekomon might be able to help, so that’s where we were going; Amphibian Village.

 

There was just one problem. I was tired. I was beyond tired. Amanda was awake now, just lying curled up on Chickomon’s back, staring into space.

 

“Okay guys,” I said, “we’re gonna camp here tonight.” We stopped, and Amanda got down off of Chickomon’s back and stretched.

 

“Amanda,” I said, kneeling down to speak to her at her level, “since there’s only four of us now I’m gonna need you to do more to help out, okay?” She nodded. “Okay then,” I continued, “I’m going to let you and Chickomon set up camp and gather wood for a fire while Coltmon and I go and gather up some food and hopefully some water.”

 

Amanda agreed, and Coltmon and I set out, careful to keep our bearings in the deepening twilight. As soon as we were out of view of the campsite, Coltmon asked, “Do you really think that splitting up the team was a good idea?”

 

“Honestly no,” I replied, “but until John and Amanda both grow up a lot, I don’t see any other choice.”

 

[Stigma_Horrizone]

you are good at making fic, keep it up all the way, buddy

[legendhiro]

thanks ^__^ i will not work on this one as quickly as yugioh df, but i will get it done, don't worry.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

i never doubted you

[legendhiro]

i know people don't usually bump fanfics, but with it on hold, i still want people to read what i have...

 

so, bump.

[Stigma_Horrizone]

bumpady, bimpady, boompady, bump

[legendhiro]

i am thinking of finally doing some more work on this fic and want some more feedback first, so bump

[Stigma_Horrizone]

still bumping. Ka-Bump( The brick wall shatters:lol: )

[.:Abarai Renji:.]

Hey, not too shabby! Although, I never thought of inventing my own digimons! That was a stroke of genius my friend, a stroke of genius!

[legendhiro]

thanks. i've been working on this for awhile on paper. i just thought to post it here recently. i'm glad people like it.

[Furious Reaper I]

end the hiatus