Disclaimer! I own only my OCs and potentially a few of the OC digimon. Everything else is owned by Saban Brands.
Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 4
The two boys were only a little ways into their watch when Michael got up. "I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be right back." He walked off into the bushes while Caninmon and Jacob sat around the fire, watching the flames crackle and jump from ember to ember. "Caninmon?" Jacob asked, breaking the quiet silence. "Yeah Jacob?" The digimon looked up the boy from where Caninmon was laying down. "What do you think our chances of survival are?" Jacob frowned. "Well, if we stay together as a group, then we've probably got a really good chance. If we split up though, we'll be picked off one by one." Caninmon decided to be completely realistic. "Oh… So I've got to be more cooperative and less argumentative." Jacob smiled and petted the digimon. "That's right! I know you can do it!" Caninmon barked quietly, so as to not wake the sleeping digimon and humans in the mobile home.
"Okay, let's be real quick about this." Michael went a short way into the jungle and quickly did his business. "Alright, now this way back." He started moving quickly back, but tripped on a gnarled root. "GAH!" Michael yelled as he landed on the wrist that he had landed on when Jegamon had thrown him off of his back. He stood up slowly, seeing stars from the pain currently flashing through his wrist. "Ooookay, note to self, this is probably broken." Michael slowly made his way back to camp cradling the wrist and keeping it as stable as he could. "Watch out for that root, and that tree limb, and that rock." He muttered to himself as he made his way back to the fire.
"Hey Michael, what's wrong with your wrist?" Jacob asked the boy as he came into the light of the fire, clearly in pain. "Oh nothing, it's perfectly fine." Michael lied, sitting down and putting his wrist onto the ground, hissing in pain. "That's not true, and you known it." Jacob tried to look at Michael's wrist, but Michael pulled away and moved to the other side of the fire. "Don't be silly Michael." Jacob chided and Caninmon went into the mobile home to get their resident medic, Luke.
"Hey, Luke. Michael hurt his wrist pretty badly in the fight with Jegamon and he's not letting Jacob look at it." Caninmon nudged Luke awake and the boy stirred awake with a small sigh. "Do you want me to look at it?" He asked sleepily. "Yeah, it sounds pretty bad." Caninmon quietly whispered so as to not wake the others. "Alrighty. I'll take a look." Luke slowly got up and pulled on his shoes. He quietly tiptoed out of the mobile home and went over to the fire, where Jacob and Michael were sitting. "Here Michael, let me look at your wrist." Michael sighed and frowned. "Do I have to? I can manage just fine without a functioning wrist, you know." He reluctantly gave held up his wrist of Luke to see.
"Oh yeah, that looks pretty bad." Luke frowned when he saw the wrist. "It does?" Jacob sat down next to Luke and looked at Michael's wrist. "Yeah, see that part? It's supposed to be more like this." Luke touched Michael's wrist and squeezed a bit, getting a pained grunt out of Michael. "Yeah, it looks to be a fracture of some severity. We're going to need a cast for this, or at least something to wrap it up so that it will heal properly. Can you get my first aid kit?" He asked Jacob, who went and did so in the mobile home. "Michael, when were you gonna tell me about this?" Luke glanced up at the younger boy. "Well, eventually, when it wasn't so bad, or healed, at least." Michael laughed nervously. "Be glad that Jacob caught it before that, because it could've healed badly and then you would've been left with a useless hand and wrist, which is not something you want." Luke chided him quietly.
"Yeah, I know…" Michael sighed as Jacob came back with the first aid kit. Luke pulled out the wraps. "Michael, this is going to hurt a bit, so get ready." Luke began to wrap the wrist as Michael let out a little whimper of pain. "Hang in there, the first rotation is almost done." Luke tried to calm him down as he continued the wrapping. "Okay, this is really not okay, I'm fine, I assure you." Michael began babbling. "Oh stop. You're not fine." Jacob stopped the babbling. "Almost there, see?" Luke held up the small amount of wrap left. "Okay, this is much worse than I thought it would be." Michael muttered through clenched teeth. "There, all done." Luke let go of Michael's wrist. "Ouch… No way for that to be more gentle?" Michael asked, eyeing the first aid kit cautiously. "Not really. You hurt your wrist pretty badly." Luke frowned. "Now, go get some sleep with Chinchilmon and send Ravenmon out here. I'll finish up your watch while you get some sleep." Michael smiled and climbed into the mobile home, where Chinchilmon was sleeping.
Ravenmon came out quickly and floated to the ground. "How long is the shift?" He asked, clearly very tired. "Not too much longer. Just until Linzi and Tiffany come out here." Jacob answered as they settled down to finish their watch. Linzi and Tiffany came out soon after that, stretching and yawning. "You guys go get some sleep. It's our turn now." Torpedomon cuddled up to Linzi while Tiffany and Azuremon stayed standing, watching the jungle on all sides. "Azuremon, do you think we're going to see anything?" Tiffany asked, watching the bipedal digimon. "Not necessarily. Late at night, digimon don't like to come out and attack unless it's been possessed or something." Azuremon reassured her. Tiffany smiled and settled down as well to wait out the rest of the watch.
In the morning
"Alright guys! Time to wake up for another day!" Tiffany burst open into the mobile home and opened the curtains. "Wha?" Michael sat up abruptly, confused by the light. "Do we have to?" Jacob groaned and slowly got up. "Yes, you do. We've got to get out of here sometime." Ally got out of her nest of blankets and stretched. "Come on Luke, wake up." Kangamon bounced over to the sleeping boy and bounced on his stomach. "ACK!" Ravenmon was up first, looking very confused. Luke soon woke up after Ravenmon and muffled something incoherently. "What was that, Luke?" Tiffany smiled as she pulled his blanket off of him. "Nothing…" Luke grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around him, pulling on his shoes as well. He was the last one out of the cabin, as the rest all smelled the food roasting on the fire that was being tended to by Linzi.
"That worked spectacularly Tiffany!" Linzi smiled and laughed as she saw the still sleepy group gravitate towards the food. "We've got to ration now, but with the digimon's help, we can forage and catch fish, so we won't run out of food." Tiffany explained. "Our digimon should get the majority of the food though, so they don't run out of energy." Michael noted, still cradling his wrist. "Definitely. They need the food to protect us." Jacob agreed. "Right! Chow down everyone!" Ally cried out, holding out the cooked fish that Torpedomon and Azuremon had caught. "It's delicious!" Luke smiled. "Thanks you guys." He thanked the digimon and their partners who had cooked it.
After Breakfast
"Alright, I guess we've got to keep moving now, to see if there's anything else here, or any other people." Jacob stood up, looking longingly at the mobile home. "Exactly. We can't stay here for too long otherwise we'll be attacked again, and I really don't want that to happen." Linzi frowned and looked around, expecting to see another digimon. "I feel uneasy here. We should go now." Azuremon sighed and began walking in a direction that led out of the forest. "Wait for me, Azuremon!" Tiffany yelled and ran to catch up with him as the rest followed behind.
"It sure is thinning out pretty quickly." Ally smiled as they began walking out of the gigantic jungle. "Sheesh! I'm so glad to be out of that awful jungle." Kangamon laughed and kept hopping on. "That's right. It was so warm in there!" Linzi ran ahead of the group a little bit and stopped in her tracks. "I've got some bad news guys…" Linzi turned around and started laughing. "It's not a desert, is it?" Michael asked and Linzi started laughing harder. "It is, isn't it?" Luke frowned. "It is a desert." Linzi stopped laughing and looked at the others. "Isn't this wonderful! Now we've got a small desert to cross instead of a massive jungle!" Ally tried to look at the bright side. "She has a point, you know. It could always be worse." Jacob tried to calm the group down. "We could always be going through an ocean. Only Torpedomon could help us then." Chinchilmon piped up.
"At least it's only a small desert too, like Ally said." Torpedomon chimed in, even though she was not happy about going through another hot place. "That's right. We've got to look on the positive side of things." Ravenmon cawed and floated on top of Luke's head. "Well, let's get going then!" Tiffany cheered and the group began their trek through the small desert.
A few hours later
"This desert… Is a lot larger… than I thought it was…" Ally panted and fell on her knees. "It's like it keeps growing the farther we go!" Caninmon panted and collapsed as well. "There's got to be a quicker and better way across the desert." Tiffany began looking around them for anything that was different in the surroundings. "It does not feel right. There's got to be something somewhere that is causing it to grow." Azuremon growled and knelt to the ground, trying to feel the sand. "Do you feel anything Azuremon?" Jacob asked the digimon. "Something is not right in this desert, and the only way that we shall get out of it is if we find the source of this growth." Chinchilmon frowned. "We must keep split up to find it, because we won't find anything together." Azuremon stood up and looked at the group.
"Oh… I really don't like the idea of splitting up, but if you say so." Linzi looked nervous. "Don't worry about it! I'll protect you." Torpedomon smiled up at Linzi. "That's right! We'll be sure to protect you if we have to." Caninmon nuzzled Jacob's hand. "I sure am glad to have met you guys. We'll be safe as long as we've got you." Ally laughed and hugged Kangamon. "Yeah!" Tiffany began to walk off, taking Azuremon, Michael, and Chinchilmon with her. "We'll go the east, guys!" "Alright, then Linzi and I will go north with our digimon!" Jacob smiled and the two headed north. "Alright then, I guess I'll go to the south then, and Luke, you go to the west!" Ally smiled and started walking off with Kangamon while Luke went to the west with Ravenmon. "We'll be sure to find something if we go this way!" Luke laughed as Ravenmon hopped on his head.
Tiffany and Michael had been walking for a while before Michael began to speak. "Did Ally tell you-" "Yeah, she did." Tiffany gave Michael a hug. "Thank you…" Michael returned the hug, wiping away a small tear. "I know it's tough, but I believe we can get through this together." Tiffany released the hug and smiled at Michael, who smiled back. "We'll always be here for you." Chinchilmon hopped on Michael's shoulder and whispered something in his ear, causing him to blush. "What was that, Chinchilmon?" Azuremon leaned in to the digimon. "Oh, nothing at all!" Chinchilmon laughed and began running away from Azuremon. "Don't go too far you guys!"
"Do you think we'll find anything?" Jacob asked Linzi. "I sure hope so. I don't fancy having to be stuck in this desert forever." She replied. "Why do deserts have to be so hot, Caninmon?" Torpedomon panted some more. "I know Torpedomon, but we can't give up. We've got to keep them safe!" Caninmon tried to boost her confidence and attitude. "That's right Torpedomon. We can't give up!" Linzi gave her partner a hug. "I know it! We'll always make it through whatever we go through because we're in this together." Torpedomon smiled and kept walking with her head up.
"Ravenmon, can you see anything?" Luke asked his partner digimon who was flying high above. "Not easily! It's just sand, sand, and more sand!" Ravenmon called down and Luke growled in frustration. "Calm down Luke. I'm sure we'll find something eventually." Ravenmon flew down and nuzzled his agitated partner. "You're right. I do need to calm down before I accidentally turn the sand into glass or something." Luke chuckled. "It's not a bad thing to be anxious, but it's bad to be so anxious that you lash out." Ravenmon noted, and Luke nodded. "I'll stick to being the overly cautious one, so how about that?" "That'll work with me!" Ravenmon cawed and flew back up to look some more.
"Hey Ally, how far do you think this desert goes?" Kangamon asked the girl. "I have no clue Kangamon, but I sure hope it's not for too much longer!" She replied, trying to be cheerful. "Oh dear, Kangamon, I'm so tired…" She fell to the ground again. "Come on Ally, we can't give up now! The others are counting on us to help find the solution!" Kangamon propped Ally up and helped her stand up. "We'll go slow, so you can get a bit of rest." Kangamon conceded, seeing how tired Ally was. "You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" She asked. "No, not that much. I couldn't sleep in such a tight, enclosed space." Ally frowned. "Hm… Maybe it would be good to take a bit of a break." Kangamon frowned and helped Ally sit down. "Take a breather for a second."
"How are the others doing, I wonder." Michael looked around to see if he could find the others in the desert sky. "We're so far away at this point, I don't think they could find us if we wanted to." "I've got agree with you on that one." Chinchilmon spoke up. "When we find the solution to this desert, we'll make our way back." Azuremon stated, and Tiffany nodded. "At least we're not being chased by an angry digimon!" She announced cheerfully, and Michael's face dropped. "You just jinxed us." He facepalmed, and looked to Chinchilmon for support. "Jinxed? What's that?" The digimon just looked at Michael, confused. "Oh, don't worry about it." Michael muttered and kept walking while Tiffany collapsed in peals of laughter. Azuremon and Chinchilmon shared a look. "Humans sure are strange." Chinchilmon giggled. "You can say that again." Azuremon kept walking onwards.
Jacob stood up straight and looked behind him. "Linzi, I'm not seeing anyone behind us. Did they all split up and go different directions?" "That would be my guess. That would mean that two of them would be going by themselves." She pointed out. "That's not the best strategy in the digital world." Torpedomon frowned. "It's a kill or be killed world." Caninmon explained. "I guess so…" Linzi trailed off and looked worried. "Hey, don't worry! They've all got their digimon partners to help them sort out any issues." Jacob put his hand on her shoulder and tried to give her confidence. "Thanks Jacob. That's right." She smiled as well as they continued walking.
"Hey Kangamon, are you hearing anything?" Ally stopped in her tracks and tilted her head. "No, why? Are you hearing something?" She responded, attempting to listen as well. "Oh yes, you hear me, don't you?" A mysterious voice whispered into Ally's ear. "Yes, I do hear you. What do you want from me?" Ally asked out loud, looking around. "Ally, what is it?" Kangamon asked, very concerned. "Kangamon, something tells me that we're not alone anymore… Something is controlling the very sight we see right now." Ally kept looking around and took a practice swing with her fist to test the air.
"Now now, we can't have that, can we? Fighting is completely unnecessary. You must only do as I say, okay? And then everything will be alright!" The voice continued, talking quiet enough so that Kangamon didn't hear it. "Ally, are you okay?" Kangamon looked concerned at Ally and nuzzled her leg. "Yes, I'm fine Kangamon, but I know that I'm hearing something…" Ally's eyes widened as she heard another phrase. "Yes, you like my illusions? I'm glad… They took me so long to make so I might as well use them on you!" The voice grew to a quiet talking voice. "Yes, I hear it now." Kangamon announced what the noise had made itself revealed.
"You don't really hear me though… I'm just an illusion of your mind, here to make you hear the basic truths!" The voice continued, mockingly laughing. "I am not a fan of this digimon. He seems to be a bit of a self-centered and cocky digimon, two things that I absolutely hate." Kangamon barked out and threw a testing punch to see if there was anything near the group. "Wait a minute… There are very few digimon that can mess with illusions…" Kangamon began to think as she watched Ally clutch her ears. "I don't want to hear this anymore!" Ally yelled.
'Wait! That's it!' Kangamon realized what digimon it was and a deep dread filled her. "Ally, when I tell you to run, that's the time you need to run." "Um, okay Kangamon." Ally replied, very confused. "So, evil digimon. There are very few digimon who would actually chase us, but this one is just whispering in her ear?" Kangamon was quietly muttering to herself. "Um… Kangamon, he says that he's been watching all of our friends for a long time now, especially in the desert." "Ally, run. Now." Kangamon took off at breakneck speed and Ally followed him. "Now now! Come back here! I didn't separate you so that you could run away!" The voice called out, following the girls.
"Did we lose him?" Ally asked Kangamon. "Nope!" The voice appeared right in her ear, causing her to scream and fall down. "Oh my! I love when they scream! It makes my job so much easier!" The voice kept mockingly laughing. "Okay, this thing's laugh is really starting to annoy me. Kangamon, is there anything you can do?" Ally asked Kangamon. "I don't know where it is, so I can't even attack it…" Kangamon looked at the ground, disappointed in herself. "That's right lovely girl, doubt yourself. We've got all day long!" The voice appeared again. "No, Kangamon, don't doubt yourself. If it weren't for you, we never would've been able to hold out that long against the Jegamon! You saved my life back there, there's no doubt about it." Ally gave Kangamon a hug.
"Haaaahaaaahaaaaa!" The voice chimed in again, laughing mockingly. "You! I know you…" Kangamon scowled. "Oh? Do you now?" The voice kept laughing. "Your laughter… There's only one digimon who has laughter like that!" Kangamon growled and began looking around. "Oh no! It seems that my cover has been blown!" The voice shrieked and disappeared for a second. "Kangamon, what is that?" Ally asked the rookie-level digimon. "It has to be…" Kangamon was cut off by the appearance of a scarecrow-looking digimon with a raven holding onto its hand. "That's what I thought! It's Nohemon!" Kangamon yelled and assumed a battle pose.
"Ohohoh! You caught me, what a clever little digimon!" Nohemon adjusted himself. "My name is Nohemon! My Derision Crow attack will leave you just begging for a bit of a reprieve!" He announced and charged at the duo. "He's a champion level digimon, and is probably the cause of why this desert seemed like it would go on forever!" Kangamon jumped out of the way, dragging Ally with her. "By the way, I really appreciate you bringing the digidestined with you; it saves me the trouble of having to find her later." Nohemon mockingly laughed once again. "Digidestined? What is that?" Ally asked, seeming quite confused. "Well, I'll just figure it out later. Now, quit your laughing and get with the program!" She yelled, quite angry with Nohemon. "Well, if you insist! WILLIAM'S ARROW!" Nohemon pulled out a bow and shot a powerful arrow at Ally. "Woah!"
"Hey, Ravenmon, are you hearing that?" Luke looked up from where he was sitting down. "You bet I do! It sounds like Ally and Kangamon!" Ravenmon and Luke began traveling in the direction that Kangamon and Ally were fighting Nohemon in. "We better hurry! She could be in serious danger!" They began running as fast as they could as the sounds of the battle became clearer. "That sounds like Nohemon!" Ravenmon gasped. "Who is Nohemon?" Luke asked, not recognizing the name. "Nohemon is a champion level digimon who has the power of illusions! He's got a nasty attack called Derision Crow that can debilitate his enemies by laughing cruelly at them and calling them all sorts of awful things!" Ravenmon increased his speed and Luke followed. "We've got to hurry!" He yelled as he passed sand dune after sand dune.
"Kangamon! Are you okay?" Ally ran over to her fallen digimon partner. "Ooof! That hurt a lot you overgrown toothpick!" Kangamon tried to get up, but fell back down. "Oh no! Are you okay?" Ally pulled Kangamon close to her. "I'll be fine in a little bit… I have no energy though…" Ally gasped and held Kangamon behind her as Nohemon approached. "Hehehe! I wish I could've had a little more fun with you and your little partner there, but I've got bigger fish to fry, such as your companions!" Nohemon cackled. "WILLIAM'S ARROW!" He drew back his bow again and prepared to fire.
"NO! LOOK!" Luke cried out as he crossed the final sand dune and saw Nohemon standing over Ally who was protecting Kangamon. "RAVENMON! YOU'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!" He yelled. "ON IT, BOSS!" Ravenmon flew towards Nohemon, intent on protecting Ally and Kangamon. "FIRE SPRAY!" Ravenmon cried and landed a direct hit on Nohemon. "OOOOOUCH! WATCH WHERE YOU AIM THAT THING!" Nohemon cried out and turned his attention to Ravenmon. "WILLIAM'S ARROW!" "Woah! Ya missed me!" Ravenmon taunted the digimon, giving Kangamon and Ally enough time to get away from him.
Ally gasped. "LUKE! THERE'S A DARK STRIP ON THE RAVEN ON ITS SHOULDER!" She yelled to Luke, who was now directing Ravenmon in battle. "Got it! Ravenmon, you heard her!" "You betcha! FIRE SPRAY!" Ravenmon shot out flames at the raven itself. "HA! I'm not that dumb!" Nohemon ducked and began attacking again. "DERISION CROOOOOOOOW! HA HA HA!" The crow on the shoulder of Nohemon began laughing as the scarecrow began insulting the four. "DID YOU EVER THINK THAT YOU HAD A CHANCE AGAINST ME? Well, YOU THOUGHT WRONG!" Nohemon cackled and began firing arrows all around him.
Ally began crying as the laughing started. "Ugh, his laugh… It's so depressing…" Luke fell to his knees. "It reminds me of that time…" Ally began crying harder and put her face in her hands. "Ally…" Kangamon hopped over to the girl and gave her a hug. "Oh hey now, we can't have that!" Kangamon looked up and saw Nohemon standing over her. "Now, move so I can finally get rid of those pesky digidestined for the master!" He ordered. "NO! POWERFUL KICK!" Kangamon attacked Nohemon in a last ditch attempt. "HA!" The crow laughed one more time and caused Kangamon to collapse onto the ground. "Now, get out!" Nohemon grabbed Kangamon and threw her off to the side. "Now, little girl, are you ready to die?" "No…" Ally began sobbing hysterically. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLYYYYYYY!" Kangamon cried out.
"Wait, look Ravenmon!" Luke glanced up and saw Ally's digivice on her bag glowing, as well Kangamon glowing.
"KANGAMOOOOOOOOOOON!" The light from the digivice flowed into Kangamon, allowing her to digivolve. Kangamon's golden-brown skin began to grow a lighter color of brown fur. Her paws also grew opposable thumbs and a tree branch appeared, which she grabbed. Kangamon also grew to about 6 feet, tripling her previous height, and the rest of her body grew to meet that proportion. "DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kangamon opened her eyes and growled, showing sharp fangs and bright purple eyes and that shined in the dark. "TUNIPYMOOOOOOOON!" Tunipymon jumped up and glared at Nohemon.
"Um, um, um… Good digimon?" Nohemon giggled nervously before turning and starting to run. "YOU GO TUNIPYMON!" Ally smiled at her digimon. "GRAAAAAAH! BRANCH CRUSH!" Tunipymon used her incredibly powerful legs to vault herself directly over Nohemon. "HIYA!" She brought the tree branch down on the raven on Nohemon's shoulder. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" The two cried out as they kept getting smashed on the head. "THIS! IS! FOR! ALLY!" Tunipymon growled once more. "GROUND PUMMELER!" Jumping up another time, Tunipymon landed on the raven again, but this time, she used her powerful legs to jump off of the digimon, burying it in the ground. The dark strip came flying off and was destroyed as well.
"Oh please! I'll teleport all of your friends out of this desert, I swear! Just don't hurt me, please!" Nohemon cowered under the intimidating stare of Tunipymon. "Good. Now, please." Ally ordered him. "Here you go! Illusion confusion!" Nohemon waved his puppet arms and the next thing that Ally saw was the rest of their group.
"Wait, weren't we just in the desert?" Michael frowned and touched the ground. "This is the forest that was just beyond the desert, though." Azuremon pointed out, and Tiffany nodded. "It was all because of Nohemon." Ally explained, catching Kangamon, who had just dedigivolved from Tunipymon. "He was under the control of a dark strip and controlling the illusion of the desert." Luke finished. "Well, I knew we'd figure it out!" Jacob smiled and clapped. "Plus, Kangamon digivolved too! That's great news!" Chinchilmon cheered.
"Alright, where are we going now?" Torpedomon asked the group. "I guess we better keep going through this forest and see if it's any safer than the jungle." Linzi started walking. "I guess we're following her then." Caninmon barked and the group started their trek into the forest.
"Hehehehehe…" An evil voice floated out across the desert. "They'll never know what hit them until it's too late!" The voice appeared next to Nohemon, scaring him. "Oh no, master, please forgive me! One of them digivolved and-" "Silence. I saw everything. You were too weak to stop them, so I must absorb your energy so I am strong enough." Nohemon panicked. "NO MASTER! I PROMISE THAT I CAN GET THEM NEXT TIME, I-" "Data stream." Nohemon quickly disappeared, destroyed and absorbed into the voice by the powerful attack. "Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MARK MY WORDS DIGIDESTINED! I'LL KILL YOU ALL EVENTUALLY!" The voice evilly laughed and vanished from the world.