Author Notes: My apologies for taking so long to update. The past few weeks have been busy with work and this episode turned out much longer than I anticipated. I continue to appreciate readers and any comments to improve the story.
Episode 3: Arrival of the Samurai
This was all becoming too much for Hiro. Between the weird light show, these creatures claiming to be their partners, and watching them suddenly transform out of the blue, it was all unbelievable. On top of that, they weren't even on Earth anymore. The strange chaos was about to send Hiro crazy with wondering whether this was all some bizarre dream, but deep down he knew everything before him was real. The ruins, the mutated phones, and the digimon. He turned away from the awkward union between Payton and his partner digimon, and walked over to where Shintomon was standing. At first it looked like she was watching to see if the bear digimon would go berserk at any moment, but the moment he approached, Shintomon looked towards him.
"You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?" Shintomon asked.
Hiro shook his head. "I'm just confused with everything going on. I have no idea where this digital world is to even try to get home, and the whole partner thing isn't making sense either."
"I am just as confused as you are," she remarked. "I have never seen or heard of a human before, but according to the delusional canine over there, every digimon is partnered with one and I believe he is telling the truth about that. You may not notice it, but I sense a link between us rather than with any of your human companions. If that is the partnership, then I believe we are partners. Whatever the case, the presence of humans gives me hope."
"Hope?" Hiro asked. "If you haven't noticed, we can't exactly fight the way you guys can or transform for that matter. We're stuck the way we are."
"That may be, but look at what two of your friends already did since coming here." Shintomon pointed towards the little bear digimon and the large jackal digimon. "Apparently long ago we could digivolve into our champion forms at will, but since Arismon has taken over the digital world, none of us can do that unless we are enslaved. Your friend made their partner digivolve to their champion form and the other revealed the black chains binding Ursamon. No digimon has been able to do that so easily. You four may be the ones to give us a fighting chance to stand up to Arismon."
"You do realize we are still only kids, right?" Hiro commented. "The more I hear about this Arismon guy, the more I think this is something adults like the police or military should deal with. Kami, Payton and I are way too young to handle something like this, and Miki is even younger!"
"However, it was you four who appeared before us. It means a lot to us digimon that we have been given a chance for freedom. I wish for that more than anything."
Hiro looked at the digimon in silence. Shintomon's words were honest and sincere. She truly believed that with them in their world, they could stand up to Arismon, which meant she believed they were genuine partners as well. Hiro didn't know what he believed in. Sure, it was a serious shame about the state of this world, but there were places back home dealing with similar circumstances that even adults couldn't resolve. How could kids help this world? Hiro felt confused a decided to return his attention to the others.
The bear digimon was coming around and glancing around in a mixture of terror and confusion. However, his eyes always seemed to return to looking at Payton. Hiro could easily sympathize with the digimon's confusion considering he felt that way when they were dropped into this world. However, he was still getting past the fact the digimon almost crushed them as Ursamon. By the looks of it, Payton was too.
"You guys are sure he is safe, right?" Payton asked.
Pharaohmon nodded. "Yes, human. I know very well when a digimon is possessed by Arismon or not. If he could not be restored, he would have turned to data rather than de-digivolve." The jackal digimon lowered himself to one knee and looked down at the little bear digimon. "I am Pharaohmon for the moment. Once I de-digivolve, you can call me Anumon. What is your name?"
"I'm Cubmon," the digimon answered. His brown paws were rubbing his temples as if he had a headache, but by the expression on his face, the digimon looked like he was waking up from a terrible nightmare. "It was so terrible...I can't believe the things I did. I hurt so many digimon!" Hiro bit his lips at the sight of the digimon. He couldn't imagine what Cubmon was going through if he was able to remember what he had done as Ursamon.
"Arismon is a curse." Hiro heard Shintomon mutter quietly to herself and couldn't help but nod in agreement. It was one thing to control a person, but to make them aware of their actions while controlling them...it was terrible. Hiro left Shintomon's side and walked over to Payton to give him a kick in the side.
"Hey, man, what was that for?" Payton muttered while rubbing his side. Hiro merely pointed towards Cubmon.
"He's your partner, help him out."
"I only just met him! I don't know what I could do..." Payton looked towards Cubmon. It was clear he felt bad for the digimon too, but he was also confused about what to do. It was no different to Hiro and Kami wanting to help Shintomon and Anumon earlier.
"Look, if Kami was able to nearly take an axe to the head to help her partner, I am sure you can help this guy. Just talk to him." Hiro remarked. "Besides, you were ready to take two axes to the head to help Miki. This should be a walk in the park." Hiro ignored Payton's glare and nudged his friend to approach the bear digimon.
"Um...hi Cubmon. My name is Payton." Payton was awkwardly scratching the back of his head while Cubmon looked up at him with full attentiveness. "Anyway, you shouldn't let the past bother you. I mean, sure you can feel upset that digimon were hurt, but it wasn't your fault. If the Arismon guy was the one controlling you, he is the one who was hurting them. You had no choice in causing harm."
Hiro smacked his forehead. How was it that Payton was such a caring person, but said the worse things in the worst way imaginable? He was contemplating standing in, but he felt a hand on his shoulder to stop him. It was Kami. She made a gesture to stay quiet and pointed to Cubmon. When Hiro looked, he noticed the digimon didn't look like he was in pain at that moment. He was entranced by Payton.
"You're not a digimon are you?" Cubmon asked. "Yet you broke Arismon's control."
"No, I am not a digimon. I'm a human like my friends. We sort of landed here out of the blue."
"What's a human?"
"Um..." Payton looked towards Hiro's direction for some sort of assistance, but all he could provide was an apologetic shrug. How did someone describe what a human was, anyway? Payton was on his own for this one. "Humans are what Miki, Kami, Hiro, and myself are," he explained while pointing to each respective person. "We are people with different names and appearances the way digimon like yourself have different names and appearances. No two are the same, if that makes a little sense."
Cubmon shook his head. "Nope it doesn't make sense," the little bear answered while Payton lowered his head in defeat.
"If it is any consolation, it didn't make much sense to me either." Shintomon added. "Quite a few digimon are very much identical. In the Ice Valley I've seen countless flocks of Penguinmon, and the few times I've ran into Arismon's troops, there are usually two or three Vilemon among them to command the group. Those are only examples, though. There are thousands of digimon in the digital world."
"So you are really just different species of digimon." Kami remarked. "It's like the different species of animals back home. There still must be some traits to distinguish digimon from one another, though, even if you are the same as another."
"That would be our past, present, and future." Pharaohmon answered, and then turned his attention back to Cubmon. "Like the human has said, your actions were not your fault and are a part of the past now. You do not need to understand entirely at this point what a human is, but they have been a part of digimon history for a long time, and this human before you is your destined partner. It is thanks to him that you are free."
"Free..." Cubmon turned away from the jackal digimon and stared at Payton. "You are called Payton, right?" Hiro watched Payton give a slow nod while rather uncertain of why the digimon asked, but then the bear digimon wrapped his furry arms around his partners legs since he was too short to hug any higher, and sent Payton tumbling to the ground. "Thank you, partner Payton!"
"Uh any time, Cubmon." The help expression was back on Payton's face, but no one made a move to help their friend. Hiro knew he would be fine with the little digimon now, and watched the scene in amusement until he noticed the jackal digimon looking at the damage in the room. Hiro's first thought was Pharaohmon was upset by the state of his place, but then the digimon's eyes began looking around at the undamaged areas.
"Shintomon, you said digimon can no longer digivolve?"
"That is correct," the ninja digimon answered. "With age, we can reach our next level. It took me years to digivolve from Torimon to become a rookie level, but I have never seen a digimon past their Champion level without being controlled by Arismon. The instantaneous digivolution you had pulled off has only been done when Arismon permits it."
"It is extremely difficult to go beyond the champion level even if there is no restriction." Pharaohmon commented. "My champion level is the highest I have ever reached, and I was always able to digivolve at will as long as I had the strength. Until that moment it failed."
"What is the point you are trying to make, then?" Shintomon asked.
"That digivolution hasn't been working for years." Despite wearing a mask, Shintomon was looking at Pharaohmon as if he was pointing out the obvious. However, Pharaohmon wasn't done either. "How long has Arismon been in control for?"
"About 600 years. Why?"
Pharaohmon's ears twitched as he gave a small growl in frustration. For the moment, he seemed like his stubborn and rash previous form versus the present, much wiser, form as he sliced at the ground with one of his blades. "I was there when Arismon began building forces, and attacked the four kingdoms. The southern kingdom was the first to fall before he came here to do battle. The last thing I remember before waking up in these ruins was losing to Arismon in combat. Arismon had won the war."
"So that means you've been sleeping down here for 600 years." Kiramon commented from a top of Miki's head. "That explains a bit, but if you were defeated, why weren't you turned to data? You should have been reborn at least ten times if you quit picking fights."
"Unless the device like the ones our partners are carrying had something to do with it." Shintomon added. Pharaohmon quickly turned to Shintomon with a questioning expression, but she only pointed towards Hiro and the other humans. Hiro knew what she was talking about and pulled out the device that had once been his phone to show the jackal digimon. Beside him, Kami did the same, and Payton followed suit and revealed a purple and grey device. Pharaohmon looked at each one with a sudden intensity.
"Those are the digivices," he muttered. "They look different from the one I saw a long time ago, but I was told they have the power to change in appearance."
"These had been our phones back on Earth, but they transformed on our way here." Kami explained.
"They look like the one that fell from the sky." Miki added while holding a yellow and pink device in his hand. Unlike with the previous devices, Shintomon and Pharaohmon looked at it in surprise.
"That is the one I saw!" Both exclaimed in unison. Poor Miki jumped back at the sudden reaction, and sent Kiramon tumbling off his head. Hiro began glancing between the digimon and digivice before looking at Shintomon.
"That's the digivice you were talking about?" he asked.
Shintomon nodded. "The appearance is different, but the scent is the same. It was with you when we found you, Pharaohmon. Then when Kiramon touched it, something happened and it disappeared."
"It then reappeared in our world when our phones went haywire, and then we ended up here." Hiro finished.
"These events are extremely peculiar." Pharaohmon muttered. "I've only seen that digivice once and it was some time before Arismon attacked my kingdom. Everything happening is not a coincidence and I have a feeling things will become more bizarre as time progresses." Pharaohmon was starting to walk a little ways from the group while eyeing parts of the ceiling.
"What do you mean as time progresses?" Shintomon asked. She was starting to approach the jackal digimon before he began another Desert Tomb attack to create four, small sand pillars in a square formation. "What in the digital world are you doing?"
"A history lesson apparently," he answered while facing the group. "I was always told the reason digimon could perform instantaneous digivolution without a human present was because they still held a connection that bound them between the two worlds. In the digital world, there were four points, one within each kingdom, that linked it to the human world, and enabled this connection between humans and digimon. If these points were harmed," Pharaohmon struck one pillar and then the next three one by one, "the connection was lost. By defeating the four kingdoms, Arismon had gained access to these points and put a stop to digivolution." Pharaohmon explained. "The digivice is an ancient technology used by humans to enable their partners to digivolve before these points had been constructed. Once the worlds were connected, though, there was no use for them any more and they disappeared."
"So the appearance of these devices and our partners means we can all digivolve?" Shintomon asked.
Pharaohmon nodded. "Unless humans have appeared elsewhere with digivices, you, Cubmon, Kiramon, and myself are the only ones who can," he answered. "Otherwise, for all the digimon to be able to freely digivolve again, we will need to restore the damaged points."
"This could be our chance to fight back." Shintomon responded. Hiro noticed a slight change in the digimon's voice. Joy. This was her chance at having her wish come true, and he couldn't help but be happy for Shintomon.
"The points are also the best chance for the humans to return home."
"I will help with the digivice any way I can." Hiro added. His partner turned so they were face to face, and Shintomon gave an honouring bow.
"Thank you so much."
"We'll help too." Kami said. "Right, Payton?"
Payton had finally freed himself from Cubmon's bear hug and nodded too. "We don't exactly know how to return home yet so we might as well help out. Besides, I don't like what this Arismon has been doing. He needs to be stopped."
"Let's kick his butt!" Miki cheered.
"Before we face Arismon head on, I wish to examine the point my kingdom guarded." Pharaohmon replied. "It could tell us a lot about what Arismon can do, and if it is repairable, then so will the other points. We'll need to leave these ruins to get there."
"Leave that to me." Kiramon answered. The little dragon digimon quickly flapped her wings and flew towards the ceiling of vines. "Spit Fire!" Kiramon inhaled deeply then unleashed a few short blasts of blue fire. Vines that were hit by the flames began breaking apart until Kiramon was able to pull out one long vine. She dropped that down to where the others were and then returned her attention to the ceiling. "Gust Strike!" Kiramon surrounded herself in a torrent of wind and rammed the ceiling. The first time it looked like it had hardly done anything, but with each attack light started leaking into the room until there was a hole large enough for a person to crawl through. Once her deed was done, Kiramon wearily descended and settled on Miki's head. "That was one tough ceiling," she panted. "Now I'm hungry."
"I'm sure we'll find some food up there." Miki said assuringly. "I'm getting hungry too." Now that he thought about it, Hiro realized none of them had eaten since breakfast and with all the running, he was starting to feel hungry too. He hoped they would find food soon.
"Let's get climbing then." Hiro instructed. In case of any danger up top, Pharaohmon climbed first and just barely made it through the hole with his size. Kami went next, and then Miki, Payton, Cubmon. Kiramon flew through the top with ease, and then it was Hiro's turn.
"I'll be right behind you." Shintomon assured him once he was a few feet off the ground. Whether she was behind him or not, Hiro felt tense while climbing the vine. The vines had to be centuries old by now, and the higher he climbed, the more painful the image of falling became. Just keep climbing, he silently told himself. Now was not the time to be dealing with a fear of heights. Hiro mentally relayed the message to himself throughout his ascension until he was greeted to the light of the surface.
Everything was so bright in comparison to the ruins that he remained clinging to the ledge while his eyes adjusted, but then Payton came along and pulled him out of the hole so Shintomon could come through. "Thanks, Payton." Hiro said while rubbing his eyes again. "Why are your hands all sticky?" He looked from his friend's hands to his jacket, which now had sticky hand prints on the sleeves.
"That would be thanks to Cubmon. Apparently he has this attack that makes food so we were sort of sitting around and snacking while you climbed. You were taking a long time."
"Gee thanks." Hiro looked around at the group and noticed everyone was snacking on honey. Pharaohmon was back to Anumon and somehow holding a bubble of the sweet substance with his claws while everyone else used their hands. The only ones who didn't seem to be eating were himself and Shintomon, who was pulling herself out of the hole.
"In fact, the attack creates a healing property for basic injuries." Cubmon quietly corrected. "However, thanks to its honey form it can relieve mild hunger. It's very handy for digimon because without food, we cannot fight. Would you like some?"
It looked like everyone else was enjoying the honey so Hiro gave a quick nod. "Yes, please."
"Alright. Honey Charm!" Cubmon clapped his paws together then slowly pulled them away to reveal a bubble of honey. The digimon quickly rotated it in his paws a few times and then held it out to Hiro.
"Thanks." Hiro said as he took the bubble from the bear digimon and bit in to it. He was surprised to find the honey rather hard instead of a liquid goo, and was eating it as if it was an apple. However, the taste was definitely honey and very sweet. "This tastes amazing."
"It took lot practicing to make it edible. Your insides will definitely be feeling great in a bit from the Honey Charm properties too." Cubmon explained. "Would you like any, Shintomon?"
"I'll pass," the ninja digimon answered while casually tapping her mask. For a moment, Hiro wondered how and if his partner ate food with her mask. Was there even a face underneath?
"Once we are all done with the quick rest, we have a bit of a trek ahead of us." Anumon announced. "The point we are looking for should be on the other side of that cliff." Hiro followed the direction of the jackal's claws and nearly dropped his honey at the sight of it.
"How are we supposed to climb that?" Hiro asked. It had to be at least three times as high as the room they just finished climbing, and that was just a vine!
"It's not entirely difficult." Shintomon assured him. "I had been climbing it with ease during our confrontation with Ursamon. I do apologize for bringing it up, Cubmon." The bear digimon didn't say a word and quietly lowered his head to lick his paws clean of honey. "What I mean to say is, it has many places to grip that even a human should have no trouble if we take it at an easy pace."
"Easy for you to say," he quietly grumbled, but left the argument at that. By the looks of it, it could take days to go around and Hiro could only imagine how worried sick his mother would be if he was gone for so long. He would not be allowed to leave the house again until he was twenty. The faster they got to the point Pharaohmon was talking about, and dealt with the Arismon problem, the faster they could try to return home. Somehow.
Once everyone was rested and ready to climb, they approached the cliff and began their next climb. Rather than going single file, they climbed side by side except for Shintomon, who was far ahead thanks to her climbing skills, and Kiramon, who was circling them from below in case anyone fell. Hiro continuously shook that thought from his head and tried to ignore the dragon digimon's flapping.
"You're falling behind, human!" Anumon called. Hiro looked over to the side and realized the digimon was speaking to him when he saw the others ahead of him. At the same time, another rush of anxiety struck and Hiro wearily stared back towards his climbing area.
"It would be easier if you referred to us by our names." Hiro remarked. It would make climbing easier at least.
"I keep telling him that, but it won't sink in to his stubborn head." Kami commented from above. "I lost track of the number of times I told him to call me Kami while everyone else climbed to the surface." By the sounds of it, his friend was not getting along with her partner too well despite the events in the ruins. The digimon seemed to possess more stubbornness in his current form which easily clashed with Kami's stubbornness, and left the two with nothing to do but butt heads with each other. This made Hiro thankful that Shintomon was more focused on her mission, but still open minded to his presence, or so he hoped. It was clear that Shintomon wanted nothing more than freedom and to keep Kiramon safe from Arismon, but they were partners too, which had to count for something. Hiro knew it would take some time to figure out how important these supposed partnerships were, but in his gut he felt like they would learn soon.
The top of the cliff took some time to reach, and once they did, everyone collapsed on a grassy field. "How is there grass in the middle of a desert?" Hiro asked.
"It's how the data formed here." Kiramon answered while playfully rolling in the grass. "Sometimes a forest will have an ocean inside it or a canyon will be full of bizarre objects. Data randomly collects and forms wherever it pleases here and can last for years. Like those mushrooms over there!" New excitement emerged in the digimon's voice as she scurried over to a patch of purple mushrooms.
"It's how we find food." Shintomon added.
"The area's data has changed since I was last awake." Anumon interrupted. "I don't recognize any of this scenery, and I can't see the point anywhere." His eyes were scanning everywhere so intently that Hiro got up too and looked around to see if he would notice anything.
"What exactly does this point look like?"
"It is based on top of a tower. You could never miss it." Hiro continued to search, but apart from grass, the occasional bush, and mushrooms, there was no tower in site.
"Could it's data have changed the way everything else has?"
"No. Some data cannot fade away with time."
"What about destroyed?" Hiro suggested. This only made Anumon give a grim expression
"For the sake of the Digital World and your chance at getting home, it better not be," he answered. "I say we keep walking to see if it shows up." Anumon started walking with no sign of slowing, which left the others looking at each other questioningly.
"So what now guys? I don't think we'll be getting home by sitting around, and I am beginning to doubt if this tower is still standing." Kami remarked. "What do you think, Shintomon?"
"I think that your partner is going to get himself killed from his stubbornness," she replied rather bluntly. "However, I think we should at least search a little further. The Digital World can be full of surprises when it wants to be."
"Alright," Kami nodded. "You guys ready, then?"
Hiro, Miki, Payton, and Cubmon all nodded in confirmation. "Let me go get Kiramon," Miki quickly added and hurried off to fetch the dragon.
"Let's hope the tower will show up soon." Kami remarked. Hiro nodded in agreement, but then his friend's attention seemed to shift elsewhere. "Hey, Payton, what is Miki doing over there?" Hiro shifted his eyes towards the youngest member to find him rolling in the grass, laughing.
"I'll go check it out." Hiro casually approached the mushroom patch and noticed both Miki and Kiramon were rolling in laughter. "What are you two doing? We have to get going."
"Haha-I can't-haha-stop laughing." Miki responded. The kid was laughing so hard that his face was slowly changing colour from lack of breath. Kiramon, on the other hand, was gradually entering spasms while her laughter subsided.
"Alright, that's enough. We have to go now."
"Zen Arrows!" Hearing the sound of his digimon's attack made Hiro duck down while ninja stars shot past him and struck the mushrooms. He was about to turn and ask what that was about, but then the mushrooms started moving. Arms and legs emerged from the ground and those that were hit began pulling the stars from their caps.
"Sheesh, you call that an attack? You're no better than those two weaklings," one mushroom muttered out loud than looked up so he was looking Hiro face to face. "As for you, what kind of digimon ducks? You're no stronger than a fresh form if you can't fight!"
"I'm not a digimon."
"Oh you're not? Well, then beat it or we'll show you what a digimon is supposed to do! No one is allowed to cross through here!"
"Didn't Anumon just pass through, though?"
"He...he has our permission! It has nothing to do with those sharp looking claws or scary face," the mushroom answered quickly. "Oh forget it! You're annoying. Fungus Crusher!" Out of nowhere the mushroom began throwing tiny mushrooms at him, but then a new wave of ninja stars arrived and struck each of them mid air, where they exploded.
"Hiro, get out of there now!" Shintomon shouted as she dashed forward. Her presence sent the mushrooms cowering a few feet back, which gave Hiro a chance to get Miki onto his back while Shintomon picked up Kiramon. Neither of the two were laughing anymore and had gone stiff. "It's paralysis from laughing mushrooms. Cubmon should be able to help them." The ninja digimon than glared towards the crowd of mushrooms. "You will let us pass through once we have helped our friends," she ordered, and walked towards the others. Hiro followed after her and didn't say a word until he out Miki down and Cubmon was using his Honey Charm again.
"What are those things?"
"Those are Mushroomon." Cubmon answered. His honey created an amber mist that he covered over Miki and Kiramon. Almost instantly the pair were moving again and no longer laughing. "They are very ill-tempered digimon and like to bully those they see as weaker, but are very shy too. The only thing you have to worry about is their mushroom bombs, as you saw what they can do. They shouldn't be a problem now."
"Um...are you sure?" This time it was Payton speaking and he was pointing towards the mushroom digimon. One by one a black chain was becoming visible around the mushroomon and then the digimon transformed into treelike creatures. Once the chains vanished, the tree digimon began growling.
"Woodmon." Cubmon's tone went cold and serious as he stared at the newly digivolved digimon. "They are champion level digimon, and rather ferocious...these Woodmon are enslaved."
"Other than their tough bark, they are not strong digimon. The three of us could take them on as rookies or champions." Shintomon explained. "It would be even easier if a said jackal digimon was present too, but we'll have to make do."
"Well..." Cubmon sheepishly held his paws together with his head down. "I would be rather comfortable staying the way I am and not digivolve," he explained. "I'll still fight, but I don't want to become Ursamon."
For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the growling from the Woodmon while the group was silent, but then Payton nodded. "It's okay. You don't have to digivolve if you don't want to." He gently patted his partner on the head then leaned down to whisper. "But do me a favour and kick their butts hard for picking on Miki." Cubmon nodded with a small salute.
"I will do my best!" he saluted.
"So what do we do to digivolve?" Shintomon asked. The ninja addressed the question towards Kami, who was pulling out her digivice.
"At the time Anumon digivolved, this started beeping and a light just came from it after I shouted his name," she explained. "Mine isn't doing anything right now, but it could be because Anumon isn't here."
Hiro pulled out his next, but like Kami's it wasn't making any supposed sounds. "Shintomon!" he shouted his partners name, but nothing happened. "Miki?" Miki tried with his own digivice and got the same result.
"Just great," Shintomon muttered. "Well, we cannot stand here much longer. If their roots get too settled we may become their prey and never get out of here."
"What?" Payton asked out loud, but the three digimon were charging forward. The Woodmon started stretching out their arms to grab for the digimon, but Cubmon used a strange attack that deflected all the branches back at the digimon while Shintomon launched a series of stars and Kiramon spat blue fire in all directions. The flames really seemed to be doing the trick because the digimon were cowering again.
"Go, Kiramon!" Miki cheered. The Woodmon were clumping together in fear of the fire and were then tossed into the air by a tornado of sand. Each of the Woodmon dropped to the ground as the tornado vanished so there was nothing more than a pile of Woodmon, and Anumon standing behind the pile with his foot tapping impatiently.
"What is taking you guys?" he called.
"If you hadn't noticed, we were dealing with a pile of digimon possessed by Arismon!" Shintomon shouted in irritation. "Your lousy digivolution theory doesn't work, either."
"Now you're just weary from the fight. You saw me digivolve" It looked like there was going to be a new fight about to break out so Hiro quickly ran to Shintomon to hold the digimon back. Kami was doing the same with Anumon.
"Look, the Woodmon won't be able to attack us anymore. Let's get out of here while we still can," he explained calmly.
"You're right. I am sorry for losing myself."
"Don't worry about. If you want you can lose yourself later. Just not now." It looked like they were set to go, but the pile of Woodmon looked enraged.
"Arismon forbids your departure!" one shouted.
"You are enemies and traitors to the great Arismon!"
"Long live Arismon!"
The sound of wood hitting wood echoed throughout the pile as the digimon broke apart, "Branch Drill!" Branches shot out in all directions and ensnared the four digimon before they could retaliate, and slowly energy pulsed through the branch from each of the digimon. They were being drained of their energy.
"Shintomon!" Hiro tugged at the branch draining his digimon to break the connection, but the bark was too tough. "Hang in there." Hiro was frantically looking around to think of an idea. Off to the side, it looked like Kami was trying to digivolve her partner to break the branches, but the results were the same as his and Miki's. "The digivolution isn't working for them either."
"Maybe it is their link..." Shintomon panted. "Before, there was a desire to protect each other between them like how your friend Payton stood up to Ursamon and how I wish to protect Kiramon. A partnership. If a digivice enables us to digivolve, then why else would they need to be in a human's possession?"
The partnership... Hiro allowed the words to sink in and then thought of everything else Shintomon has confined in him. They had only just met, but she already entrusted him with her wishes, and has saved him countless times since then. She was treating him as her partner the entire time, and he had ignored it. His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the digivice beeping. "My turn to protect you." Hiro pulled out the digivice and watched as a light shot towards Shintomon. The digimon was consumed in the white light while the Woodmon's branches broke.
"Thank you, Hiro." Shintomon's voice echoed from within the light. Like with Anumon's transformation, Shintomon became surrounded in a sphere of white chains. "Digimon Link activate! Digivolve into champion." The light vanished and standing in Shintomon's place was a samurai. She stood a little shorter than Pharaohmon's height, and was clad in dark and crimson armor. Her mask was now replaced with half a helmet while the other side was concealed by bandages. As for weapons, his partner was now wielding a long katana. "Samuramon!" she called out and charged the Woodmon.
A few of the digimon feebly tried to stop the champion level digimon with more Branch Drill attacks, but the pieces of would were cut into wood chips by the deadly weapon. Samuramon was unstoppable. In minutes, the branches draining their comrades were non existent and the Woodmon were cowering more than ever to the point that black links were appearing. "Time for your freedom. Deity's Judgement!" Samuramon raised her katana into the air where the sun's light gathered around the weapon and she struck downwards. The light launched towards the black chains and disintegrated them while the Woodmon quickly returned to their Mushroomon forms.
"Woah..." A Mushroomon grumbled. "Sorry for calling your attacks weak. I didn't think anything would break those black links." The small digimon was rubbing the top of his purple cap similar to Cubmon's behaviour when he was first free, then sighed. "I am ashamed to call myself a digimon."
"You had no choice, Mushroomon. The sign that you weren't returned to data means you have a second chance." Samuramon explained. The sphere briefly returned and the samurai digimon reverted to her rookie form. When Shintomon was back, she looked extremely exhausted so Hiro quickly offered himself as a support so she could rest. "Thanks. I didn't have much energy left after the Woodmon drained me."
"You did amazing, Shintomon. Just make sure to take it easy now. All of you looked wiped from the Woodmon." Hiro wasn't exaggerating either. Off to one side Cubmon was slumping against Payton's legs and Kiramon was fast asleep in Miki's arms. On his other side Kami was doing her best to support her tired partner, though Anumon looked more annoyed than exhausted.
"How were you able to digivolve and it failed for us?"
Shintomon quietly laughed. "I think I understand your theory more than you do. The digivice only provides the pathway for digivolution. It is up to the connection between human and digimon to activate it." Hiro nodded in agreement. "I saw that connection back when you digivolved in the ruins" Shintomon added. "If you ever want to digivolve again, you will do best to remember that moment."
Anumon seemed to listen to the words, but the digimon gave his usual, stubborn growl. "If we ever find that tower we will not have to worry anymore. I am sure it will restore the power we need."
Hiro could hear Shintomon and Kami sighing, but there was nothing they could do about it. Some things took time to figure out and if Shintomon had been patient enough with him to understand the partnership, then he felt there was hope for Anumon too. "Well, we better move on." Hiro commented. It was enough to break the silence, and the others nodded in agreement too. "The faster we find this tower the better."
"Hold on a sec, did you say tower?" A Mushroomon asked. Hiro gave a brief nod, but was interrupted by the Mushroomon. "Is it a very tall and old tower like this?" The digimon held his hand up as far as he could without toppling over. This time only Anumon nodded.
"It is one of four towers connecting the Digital World to the human world. Do you know if it is still standing?"
The Mushroomon paused for a moment then summoned his fellow Mushroom digimon into a group huddle where they began to quickly whisper to each other. This went one for a minute before the digimon broke up again and the Mushroomon nodded. "It stands very tall and old," he said. "But it is very dangerous too." A few of the Mushroomon began shivering in fear, but they all remained in their spots while their friend spoke. "We Mushroomon were imprisoned there until the black links took over our bodies. There are many evil and powerful digimon there. It is no place for enemies of Arismon. Even the strength of the mighty Samuramon won't be enough!" The other Mushroomon were quickly nodding their heads and chanting 'yes' in agreement. "Arismon should know you are here by now because of the black links, if you hurry you may evade his forces in time." Another chant of 'yes' followed while Hiro looked to Kami and Anumon, who were both deep in thought.
"He's turned it into a base." Anumon growled out loud. "With his forces all over the place, the point will be next to impossible to reach."
Kami gave a slight nod, but she still appeared to be in as deep of a contemplation as her partner, which Hiro knew from experience that meant nothing good could come of this. "This point may be your chance to help your world and could be a lead to us figuring out how to return home. The way I see it, we might as well try or at least check the area out. Besides, you guys believed digivolving freely was impossible and we believed going to other worlds was impossible. Considering, the past hour proved both things possible, next to impossible sounds a lot more possible than you think."
On top of making nothing good come of it, Kami was making things hard to follow. Hiro had to mentally translate her explanation so it was easier to understand, and unfortunately he agreed with her. "We need to try, at least," he answered. However, it was easy for both of them to say yes to some crazy scheme as they were only responsible for themselves. Hiro looked over at Payton and Miki, but his attention was more on the former. "Payton, what do you think?"
His friend looked like he was struggling with a serious decision while Miki stood next to him with a pleading look. Of course, the kid wanted to help Kiramon out, but he was still young and Hiro wasn't sure he could grasp the severity of the situation yet. This wasn't like his video games or movies. Payton remained silent for a long time to the point Cubmon was looking at him worriedly, but he soon made his decision and looked a little weary from the responsibility. "We'll go to the tower, but you guys check it out first," he answered. "Then we will follow." Miki's objection and complaints started fairly quickly, but Payton had made his decision and the others supported it.
"Let's go then." Kami said.
"We wish you luck!" the Mushroomon cheered. "We have to find a new home now where we can hide so you are free to pass through here whenever you wish."
"You know, at the bottom of the cliff, there are holes in the ground that give you access to the ruins of my home. It's dark, but some areas have light, which should make for a suitable mushroom environment." Anumon suggested.
The Mushroomon retreated into their huddle again, but this one was for a shorter period as they split up again and jumped. "Yes!" They answered in unison. "Thank you very much! We better claim it immediately before anyone else does!" Hiro highly doubt there were other people or digimon who would want to claim the old ruins as their home, but he didn't want to ruin their excitement as they departed to make their trip down the cliff.
"I never thought I would see a day Mushroomon weren't ill tempered." Cubmon remarked.
"I never thought I would see a moment that Anumon was generous." Shintomon added.
Anumon gave a small growl while turning away. "It hasn't been my home in 600 years, those Mushroomon will get more out of it than I will. Let's go." Still supporting Shintomon, Hiro began following his friends and their tired partners in hope of finding the tower.
