Chapter 3: Brainwashed 02 Digimon
"So what's the matter?" Gomamon asked as all entered the room, concern appearing upon the Digimon of Reliability's face when he saw the worry that Joe, Tai and the others all shared.
"Davis and the others might be alright, but we tracked down Veemon, Wormmon, Armadillomon and Hawkmon." Izzy informed, only to add. "However, something feels wrong about them."
Curious about the newly mentioned Digimon, Guilmon asked. "Who are they?"
The question made Agumon say in reply. "Our friends. They helped us a couple of times when the Digital World was in danger a few years back, but after the Drasil incident, we haven't heard from them."
"However, something is seriously wrong." TK pointed out as he revealed. "From what Izzy managed to find, they are attacking innocent a small town of Digimon within the forest."
"Wait a second. What do you mean Veemon and the others are attacking innocent Digimon?" Patamon questioned, shocked at what he had heard, part of him finding it impossible to believe the second generation of Digimon would ever harm those who didn't deserve it.
"We don't know why, but we're gonna find out." Tai replied as he took charge and instructed. "Joe, you stay here and call Davis and the others. Tell them everything you can while we head off to investigate."
"You can count on me." Joe replied, determined not to let Tai down.
And as the Digidestined prepared to confront their allies, Sora smiled as she knelt down on one knee, facing Guilmon and Renamon as she said with a great kindness in her heart. "Guilmon, Renamon, I know you still have many questions, and I promise we will do all we can to help you remember who you are and return you both home, but for the time being our friends need our help and we would be honoured if you come with us." Sora said.
"Of course." Renamon replied, finding it hard to decline Sora's kindness, with Guilmon also aboard, desiring to assist the Digidestined for all they had done and all they would do for him and for Renamon.
-In the Digital World-
Arriving in a small village within one of the vast forested areas, per the coordinate Izzy obtained, everyone rushed to the location, where their friends were supposed to be.
Concern filling them all to see various Digimon fleeing the town in terror, with many Digimon doing what they could to help those obviously wounded away from what had become a battlefieeld.
"Veemon, stop!" Agumon then called out as he and the others saw them in the distance, but looking closer at Veemon, Armadillomon, Hawkmon and Wormmon, all saw their eyes were all a deep red, while strange yellow markings were patterned upon their bodies and dark red auras emitted from them, producing a terrible energy none of the Digimon had ever sensed before.
Concerned at seeing her friends in such a strange and fear inducing state, Gatomon asked. "What has happened to them?"
"They're being controlled." Tai said, knowing that whatever had happened to Veemon and the others, someone was pulling their strings to make them act like monsters.
"Controlled? What do you mean, Tai?" Gabumon asked, a little confused, for he had not experienced such manipulation since the Digimon Emperor's reign.
"We fear that since the Digital World has been rebooted, our previous enemies are behind this." Matt said in reply, shocking the Digimon, mostly Gatomon, who snarled as she asked. "Then does that mean... Myotismon and Devimon might be back?"
"There is a high chance of such a problem I am afraid." Tentomon replied, hating to be the one to share the bad news, but knew he couldn't keep it hidden.
"Renamon... that red aura. Those yellow markings, the creepy eyes... it all seems familiar somehow..." Guilmon then said, making Renamon nod.
"You're right. It's as if we have faced an enemy who had the same appearance." Renamon replied, feeling a familiarity, just before questioning. "But when, or where?"
"Look out!" Kari suddenly called out in warning as Veemon attacked, leaping up where he held up his right hand, gathering the same negative energy controlling him into a sphere and released it as a powerful blast, which all the Digimon managed to dodge, leaping away and saw the destruction Veemon left in his attack.
"Agumon, Biyomon, everyone, you've got to stop them. Fight them, it's the only way." Izzy informed, telling that trying to reason with the Digimon in their current state would be pointless.
And though reluctant a little, the first generation of Digimon agreed, knowing Veemon and the others would do the same for them if the tables were turned.
"Sorry about this, guys." Agumon said as he prepared to strike.
"Pepper Breath!" He then called out, releasing a fireball from his maw, just before the others joined in.
"Blue Blaster!"
"Spiral Twister!"
"Electro Shocker!"
"Poison ivy!"
"Cat Laser!"
"Boom Bubble!"
However, with the combined attacks, Veemon and the others leapt aside and charged, attacking with a great and relentless fury.
Patamon leapt away from Armadillomon's Scratch Beat attack, trying to shred the Digimon of Hope to bits, while Palmon suddenly leapt from the side and tried to perform a sneak attack.
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon announced, extending her vine-like fingers, trying to ensnare the infected Digimon leaps, only for Armadillomon to move away, jumping from side to side as he avoided each of Palmon's vines.
While Patamon was in the midst of dodging Armadillomon's attacks, Biyomon flew away from Hawkmon, who was chasing after her, trying to knock her out of the sky.
And while Gabumon was up against Wormmon, finding his attacks were more powerful than he remembered, with his Blue Blaster flames not enough to burn away the webs, Agumon and Veemon were in close combat, locked in a stalemate as each grasped the other's claws, trying to overpower the other chosen Digimon of Courage.
"Stop it, Veemon! I don't wanna fight you!" Agumon called, trying to reason with him, but saw that in Veemon's eyes, he wasn't listening to a word he was saying.
"Tai!" A sudden voice, an ally of the Digidestined called, causing the brunette and the others to turn, where they saw Joe, Davis, Ken, Yolei and Cody rushing towards them.
"Good to see you are well again, Davis, but something is wrong with your Digimon." Tai said, gesturing to Veemon and the others, where the new arrivals were all shocked to see the changes in their partner's forms, but more so to see them in combat with their friends.
"Wormmon!" Ken called in concern at seeing the feral side to his partner, concerning him further when the Digimon of Kindness ignored him and continued to try and take down Gabumon, making Ken think. 'What's gotten in them after the reboot?'
"Their memories should be restored, so why are they attacking?" Yolei questioned with an equally concerned voice to Ken's.
Agumon and the original Digimon stepped back as Veemon, Wormmon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon stayed in place, refusing to back down.
"Armadillomon! Stop this! Fight against whatever Devimon and the others have control over you!" Cody called, hating seeing Armadillomon used for evil.
"It's not your enemies' behind this." Renamon said, shocking everyone, where she then informed. "Someone else is controlling them, or something else."
"She's right. We've seen this before, but where?" Guilmon questioned, too caught up in his curiosity that he failed to notice Hawkmon and Armadillomon had ceased their battles with the Digidestined Digimon turned to them and attacked.
"Guilmon, Renamon, watch out! They're targeting you!" Mimi called in warning, causing Guilmon to turn, where he saw Armadillomon approach, attacking again with his Scratch Beat attack, which Guilmon quickly countered.
"Rock Breaker!" Guilmon bellowed with a mighty voice, leaping up and slamming his arms into Armadillomon's body, sending him crashing back into a tree, knocking the Digimon of Knowledge and Reliability out cold, where all saw the red aura and yellow markings disappear.
And following in Armadillomon's path, though Hawkmon tried to attack Renamon, the vixen used her great speed to catch Hawkmon off guard as she appeared behind him and showed off her skills as a fighter by striking a pressure point on the back of Hawkmon's neck, knocking him out and causing the dark aura and marking to fade and disappear.
"Hawkmon!" Yolei cried out at seeing her partner down and injured, before she rushed to him, while Cody rushed over to his partner, checking to see if Armadillomon was alright.
"One attack and it's over? Who are these Digimon?" Davis questioned, this being the first time he saw Guilmon and Renamon.
"They're Tai's and Sora's second Digimon partners." TK informed, before telling Davis and the others. "They have memory loss, and they're not from this world, but they're here to help us."
"I apologize for my actions upon your partner, but it was for their own good." Renamon said, looking down at Hawkmon with empathy, hoping his human partner would understand.
But before the Digidestined could reply, all heard Veemon and Wormmon snarl, before both began to glow, with the negative energy increasing in size and power.
"Look out! They're gonna Digivolve!" Ken warned,just before Veemon and Wormmon each let out a fearsome bellowing, where the dark energies consumed their forms completely, before reshaping them into corrupted forms of Flamedramon and Stingmon.
"Flamedramon, no!" Davis called out, not wanting to believe his partner would ever allow a dark power to control him, but found that Flamedramon was no longer in his right state of mind as he attacked.
"Flame Shot!" The Digimon of Courage called agressively, igniting his gauntlets and throwing the flames off of them at Davis, which made Tai act fast as he tackled Davis to the ground to avoid seeing his friend blasted.
"Tai, are you ok?" Agumon called out.
"We're alright." Tai assured, before saying in a serious tone. "But Agumon, you and the others must Digivolve!"
"This time these two have gone too far!" Patamon added, knowing they had to stop Flamedramon and Stingmon.
Using their partners' powers, Greymon, Garurumon, Birdramon, Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon, Togemon, Pegasusmon and Nefertimon appeared, ready for battle and to take down those they had called their friends in the past.
"Nova Flame!"
"Howling Blaster!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Electro Shocker!"
"Needle Spray!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
"Star Shower!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
As the attacks all hit Flamedramon and Stingmon, they then showed both were unharmed as the dust cleared, causing Pegasusmon to groan as he said. "It's not working. It's just like Kuwagamon."
"Then we have to Digivolve again." Greymon suggested.
"No." Tai said suddenly, thinking their Ultimate forms would be too powerful and would wind up destroying their friends, lt alone what remained of the town.
Facing Sora, Tai prepared his Digivice as he then asked. "I think I have an idea. Sora, wanna test that theory?"
"Of course. It's worth a shot" Sora said in reply as she too got her Digivice out, leaving all curious as to what Tai and Sora had in mind, before all received the answer as the Digidestined of Courage and the Digidestined of Love each held their Digivices towards Guilmon and Renamon, calling with a great might. "Digivolve!"
"Guilmon Digivolve to..." Guilmon began to say as he was surrounded by a small sphere, using the energy from Tai and his Digivice to change form to that of a huge dinosaur-like Digimon with white hair, horns on its head and a set of blades protruding from its shoulders, where the new Digimon roared out his name. "Growlmon!"
"Renamon Digivolve to..." Renamon started to say as she too was surrounded by a sphere and took to a new form, one that still resembled a fox, only she now stood on four legs and had nine tails proudly swaying from her tailbone region.
"Kyubimon!" She announced, making her name known to her friends and her foes, leaving the Digidestined amazed.
"Whoa. That is amazing." TK commented, quite impressed to see the two Digivolve, but was just as curious to see how they would fare in battle.
Seeing the new enemies, Stingmon lunged at Kyubimon, extending out his energy blades from the gauntlets upon his wrists.
"Spiking Strike!" He yelled, striking at Kyubimon, but found his speed was no match for hers' as she leapt away and curled herself into a ball, preparing her counterattack.
"Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon declared, releasing a burst of light blue flames around her form, taking shape of a dragon as she shot down and struck Stingmon, delivering one powerful blast that sent him back several feet, crashing through the dirt as he skidded through the abandoned streets.
And though Ken was concerned for him, relief filled his being when Stingmon De-Digivolved back to Wormmon, where he lay unconscious, while the yellow marks and red aura disappeared, freeing him from the corruptive power that was controlling him.
"I knew it. Whoever controlling them knows our Digimon's movements." Tai said, before adding. "But they have no knowledge on Guilmon or Renamon, so that gives us a fighting chance."
"And one I won't waste." Growlmon said, facing Flamedramon and attacked.
"Pyro Blaster!" He yelled, releasing a stream of fire from his mouth that consumed Flamedramon, causing him to cry out, unable to withstand the power of Growlmon's attack, where the Digimon of Courage then De-Digivolved back to Veemon, collapsed, while the dark aura and yellow marks disappeared.
"Veemon!" Davis called as he and Ken rushed to their Digimon, concerned for the pair.
"Kyubimon, you're amazing." Sora cheered as she hugged Kyubimon's muzzle, making the foxy Digimon smile and say in reply. "You are quite welcome, Sora."
"Way to go, Growlmon. You saved us all." Tai said, proud of his new partner, but made sure not to play favourites as he gave Agumon a friendly smile.
"Thanks, Tai. And it looks like your theory was right." Growlmon said in reply, before reverting back to Guilmon.
"So if we encounter any more surprises, we can rely on you to help us fight our battles." Agumon agreed.
"Don't be too sure" Kyubimon said in reply, reverting back to Renamon as she explained her denial. "I think we all could do with some training so our enemies will find it harder to anticipate our next moves."
"Renamon does have a point. Our Digimon's attacks are becoming too obvious. But if we train, maybe we can get the advantage next time." Izzy said, agreeing with Renamon, liking her strategic way of thinking and logic.
As the Digidestined were in agreement for training, all heard a groan as Veemon began to wake up.
"Veemon, are you alright?" Davis asked, holding his partner close to his chest as he told the Digimon of Miracles. "I am seriously sorry we had to hurt you, but you were going nuts."
"Davis... I... I'm sorry. We were being controlled by this new force who is using our old enemies from the past to do their dirty work." Veemon managed to say, still weak from his battle with Growlmon.
"You mean someone else is behind this?" Yolei questioned, both shocked and confused as to who would do such a terrible thing.
"We were on our way to warn you, but we got captured..." Veemon replied, trailing off as he added. "And you know the rest..."
"Ok, Veemon. We're going back to the Real World so Joe can treat your injuries properly, and then you and the others can explain what exactly is going on." Matt said, getting no arguments from his friends.
But as the other Digidestined prepared to make their return, as well as inform the Digimon that their town was now safe again, Guilmon paused, which Renamon noticed and made her ask with a curious voice. "Is something wrong, Guilmon?"
"I don't know, but why do I have the feeling that history's about to repeat itself?" Guilmon asked.
"Well whatever happens, we must protect our new friends." Renamon replied, placing a paw on Guilmon's shoulder as she added. "And each other."
Guilmon nodded in agreement as they went back with the others, knowing they had a long road ahead of them and many obstacles to follow.
