Chapter 3:

Ryo felt thirsty, sweaty and just plain tired. The duo had been walking for a while now. The village was a lot further away then it seemed. The sun was setting and if there didn't make it in time, it would be dangerous to brave the night.

"We're here," Agumon said.

Ryo looked around. The shadows that he had spotted earlier and assumed were buildings were actually ruins. There were claw marks, scorches and sharp metal objects scattered across the rubble. No signs of life were seen anywhere.

"What happened here?" Ryo asked as he scanned their surroundings.

Agumon sighed sadly. He explained, "While all of us were fighting against evil, we couldn't help to oversee everything that went on in the Digital World. A rogue group of bad Digimon took over this place. It wasn't until Taichi and the rest were called back to the Digital World to defeat Milliniummon that we realised this place was under the control of bad guys. This place is the result of the wrestle for control from them."

The yellow dinosaur kicked a piece of rubble in front of him. "They fought dirty. Instead of picking a fair fight, they laid waste to this place. We had to evacuate and relocate the Digimon living here. Taichi was really, really angry. In the end we defeated the bad Digimon but we couldn't save this place."

Ryo placed a hand on the wall of a burnt building, trying to picture faceless and shapeless creatures destroying the village. He lifted his hand and dusted his palms. He asked Agumon, "So are we going to camp here? There's no-one around."

Agumon bared his teeth in a grin. "Of course not. The place we're heading towards is actually hidden around the corner. Come on!" He turned and ran to the edge off the village ruins. Ryo followed until the came to a stop at the top of a slope. When Ryo spotted their destination, his mouth fell open.

"Whoa…" he breathed.

The new location of the village was at the foot of the mountain, situated at the centre of a valley. A river flowed past it, and there were quite many buildings. It was as large as a small town, covering more ground compared to its previous location. In addition to the late evening sun shining its rays across the place, it was a magnificent sight indeed. Agumon headed down a small path and Ryo hurried after him.

"Do you live here, Agumon?" Ryo questioned.

"Not exactly. My friends and I normally stay in Gennai's house far from here but sometimes we follow him on a trip to other places. He has a house here as well."

Other than a tall wooden fence around the village, there was virtually no other defence mechanism available. Ryo asked if they weren't afraid of another attack and Agumon replied that the village had its protectors and he needn't worry about it. The boy felt sceptical but he didn't question it any further. They made their way towards the centre of the village. Some of the buildings had really unique designs and looked comfortable. Others took form of huge household products. Ryo witnessed a white coloured Agumon open the door of his building sized refrigerator and walk in. Ryo managed to catch a glimpse of the internal design, which was nothing at all like the home appliance.

I guess that gives living in a fridge a whole new meaning, Ryo thought.

The place was quite busy and lively with all sorts of Digimon present. Small Digimon chased each other around the streets, a Monochromon stomped past pulling a cart filled with what Ryo assumed was fruit. Merchants hollered about their cheap sales and Ryo sniggered when he heard "Buy two for the price of three and get one absolutely free!" However, he noticed the stares of the villagers as he walked past. There were whispers of "It's a new human", "Do you think it can help us?" and "Only one human? We're doomed". He pretended not to hear them and hurried along behind Agumon.

They took a few turns and stopped in front of a cottage. It was single-storied and had a chimney on the roof. On the garden outside grew various beautiful flowers and there was a pebble-laden pathway to the door. On the veranda sat an old man in a dark green armchair, surrounded by a few Digimon that sat on the ground listening to him. Ryo spotted a floating ball of flames, another Agumon but made of colourful Lego blocks, what seemed to be a giant toad with a red fin and a black ball of fur with yellow eyes. He lifted his wrinkly face and smiled faintly at the newcomers. The Digimon all turned to the direction he was looking at and excitedly bounded towards Ryo and Agumon.

The ball of flames hovered around Ryo, inspecting him closely. The heat it radiated wasn't blazing hot, in fact it was merely warm. Ryo didn't think it would talk as its mouth was stitched close, until it surprised him by firing away in a squeaky, high pitched voice. "Hello, Ryo! I've heard a lot about you. I didn't think you'd make it in time. I pictured you to be a lot bigger. Why is your head so small? Taichi's head was a lot bigger than yours. Is it something with you humans that your heads become bigger and smaller all the time?" it asked in its helium induced-like voice, the threads across his mouth lengthening and shortening as it moved.

Ryo found himself having a hard time answer those particular questions from a floating ball of fire that now he could be sure was a dismembered head.

Gennai chuckled and scolded lightly, "Now, now. Let's not give Ryo a hard time. You haven't even introduced yourselves yet."

The ball of flames grinned creepily through its sewn mouth. "I'm PetiMeramon."

Lego Agumon said softly in a girl's voice, "I'm ToyAgumon." Ryo saw briefly that ToyAgumon looked at Agumon shyly and hurriedly looked away when Agumon obliviously looked in her direction. The boy raised a curious eyebrow but didn't say anything.

The red-finned toad snorted and looked up balefully. "I'm Betamon," he said gruffly.

Finally, the black furball bounced up and down excitedly, saying, "I'm Botamon! Nice to meet you!"

Ryo held up his hands and tried to grin, unsure of how to react to the situation. He was saved by Gennai who got up from his armchair and hobbled over on his cane. "I believe our guest is tired. You can have fun with him tomorrow. Come on inside, Ryo."

ToyAgumon said shyly, "You must be tired as well, Agumon. Everything has been fine since he arrived, hasn't it? Why don't you come with meand take a rest?"

Agumon scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess… But I can't join you. I have to speak to Ryo and Gennai," he said.

ToyAgumon looked downcast, but she nodded anyway. "I understand. Take care!" said she before jogging off to join her fellow Digimon.

Ryo gave Agumon a half-lidded, knowing look but the Digimon stared back blankly. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, come on," Ryo answered as the two of them entered the cottage and closed the door.


"Whoa, that's so cool! You met Agumon AND Gennai?" Takato was practically fanboying over Ryo's tale. Being a big fan of Digimon, he had heard of stories about the Legendary Chosen Children and their mysterious informant Gennai.

Jianliang looked impressed as well. "Indeed, Ryo-san. I knew you had experience in the Digital World but never would have I imagined that you had such a golden opportunity. You're lucky indeed."

Ruki looked mildly bored. She scooped some fried rice and said, "Yeah, so you met and Agumon and an old geezer. What else is new?" before putting the food into her mouth.

Ryo rolled his eyes and sipped his drink. "You never seem to be impressed, don't you, Your Highness?" he deadpanned.

Ruki choked on her rice and had to drink a gulp of juice before glaring at him. "Don't call me that, and yes I am not easily impressed, at least not by the likes of you."

Jianliang coughed lightly and folded his arms. He shot at Ruki, "Can you please just let him finish his story, Ruki-san?"

Ruki shrugged, replying, "Don't look at me. Takato was the one who interrupted Mr Sunshine."

Takato rubbed his head sheepishly and busied himself with his Salmon Don. Ryo took this as a sign to continue his story.

"So as I was saying…"


A/N: I'm back, guys! Took me long enough with choir, finals and lots of assignments. But the good news is, my summer break has finally started and I should be able to write more often. Perhaps I might even update this story once a week.

Sorry to leave this short chapter on a cliffhanger after waiting for so long. I'm pretty excited to continue writing but I also have other stories to juggle. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review to let me know what you think about it and I'll catch you guys in the next chapters of LFAW and MOTOS.

Ultimateblack, out!