Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness

By Black Knightmon

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Chapter Three: On the road again

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Gennai's house, near the Eternal Desert.

Gennai was not what I had expected him to be, but then again, who ever is completely what you expect him or her to be? Gennai explained the situation to me, an impossible situation. Two digimon, both stronger than V-mon, my temporary partner, are going to fuse into a digimon with the power of a god if I don't stop it. How am I to do this? It seems to be a suicide mission, but if I don't then I'm dead anyway, so what choice do I have.

The two digimon in question are a Perfection level digimon, called Chimeramon, and an Ultimate called Mugen Dramon. We are supposed to go after the latter, as Chimeramon's whereabouts are unknown to Gennai. When we find him, we are supposed to kill him and this saddens me. From what I heard it's the Chimeramon that's after the fusion to become a god, not the Mugen Dramon. I don't know, maybe the Mugen Dramon is a true monster, that might make it easier to kill him, but for all I know it's just an innocent creature. Oh well, I seem to have no choice in the matter. Mugen Dramon must die and soon, for if Chimeramon reaches him before we do, all will be lost. It's gonna be a tough fight with just Mugen Dramon and I don't think we stand a chance against the fused digimon god. Sigh, I hope we complete our task before Chimeramon makes an appearance. And after Mugen Dramon, we have to destroy Chimeramon, just in case another Mugen Dramon comes into being later, and all of this will start again.

After I told Gennai and V-mon that I'd help them, Gennai adjourned our meeting and I retreated into a bedroom Gennai supplied for me. I was tired, the long trip through the desert, the attack by Kuwagamon and Gennai telling me I have to face up to a god, all contributed to my fatigue. Still, with all the excitement I didn't think that I would be having much sleep. I was glad to see that I was wrong as I slept almost instantly and right through to the morning.

Now, at the beginning of my second day in Digiworld, I will be setting of on my mission, to save the world.

End log.

" Good morning," V-mon said cheerfully when Ryo came out of his room. He was already sitting at the same table as the day before, eating his breakfast. Ryo went to a chair and sat down as well.

" Good morning yourself, V-mon, " Ryo said," I see you've started breakfast without me. So, where's Gennai?"

" Oh, he's in his garden. We will go and talk to him after breakfast," V-mon then continued eating his breakfast.

Seeing that V-mon's full attention was now focused on eating, Ryo decided it would be for the best if he too started breakfast and ask questions later. The food did look very appealing and who knows when he'd have a chance of eating something like this again. Besides, if yesterday had been any indication of V-mon's appetite, the food on the table wouldn't last long. If he didn't start eating now there would soon be nothing left for him to eat.

He was half way through his breakfast when his resolve about not asking questions wavered. Something about the mission bothered him and he really wanted to talk to V-mon about it, see what his companion thought about the matter.

" V-mon, " Ryo started, " can I ask you a question?"

" S're fing, Wyo," V-mon said, still with his mouth full.

" Ah, okay," Ryo said hesitantly," it's just that I was thinking about that Mugen Dramon. Maybe…I was wondering… could it be that we are going to kill an innocent digimon just because it exists. I understand that we must, but I was just wondering."

V-mon took another bite of his sandwich and swallowed it before taking another bite, a thoughtful expression lay on his face. Ryo just waited patiently, till V-mon was done. He didn't want to rush his new partner into anything and it could be that V-mon didn't want to talk about it. V-mon finished his sandwich before answering Ryo's question.

" I can understand your concern Ryo, and I too would be having second thoughts about it if this digimon were innocent, but it isn't. I'll explain to you how I know this. First of, I'll have to say something about digimon in general. We are divided into three types; vaccine, data and virus. Vaccines are generally good, only a small percentage is evil. Data types are neutral and one of them going evil or good, is about fifty percent either way. Virals, " and here V-mon hesitated briefly," now they are evil. They care nothing of others and would do anything for power. I'll admit that a small percentage is good, but this is even rarer than an evil vaccine. Mugen Dramon," V-mon stopped for a moment for dramatic effect," is a virus. This fact, combined with the fact that it's an Ultimate makes for enough proof that the Mugen Dramon is evil. There has never been a good, viral Ultimate as far as I know."

" Secondly, I spoke to Gennai about the Mugen Dramon for a moment this morning, when you were still sleeping. Gennai has managed to track down the Mugen Dramon's history. Now apparently this Ultimate used to be a Gigadramon, who worked for the previous Mugen Dramon, the Dark Master.

Gigadramon and his partner Megadramon almost completely destroyed a city in order to kill the Chosen. Gigadramon was a monster, an evil monster that now has evolved into an even bigger evil. Even if this whole fusion thingy weren't happening he would have had to be stopped sooner or later. We are lucky that it is sooner, in that he isn't up to full strength yet. Do you understand Ryo?"

" Yes," Ryo said, " thanks V-mon, I guess I really needed to know that."

" I understand kid," V-mon replied," think nothing of it. It hasn't been easy to kill for any of the Chosen. And they only did it to protect themselves when they were attacked. Not many of them purposefully went after a digimon with the sole intent to kill it, certainly not in the beginning. Just finish your breakfast, we'll go to see Gennai soon."

After breakfast they sought out Gennai in the garden. They finally found him sitting under a tree overlooking a small pond.

" Good morning Ryo," Gennai greeted when he saw them approach, " slept well I hope? "

" Yes, I did," Ryo answered, " thank you for the accommodations."

" Ah, it's nothing Ryo," Gennai said, " come and sit here for a moment. There are some more things you need to know before you can go."

Complying with Gennai's wishes, Ryo sat down in front of him.

" Now, the first thing you should do, is find the second chosen…" Gennai started. Ryo listened carefully as Gennai gave him and V-mon the directions. After they had found the second Chosen they would be contacted by Gennai again.

The sun continued to beat down upon the desert and the grass plain bordering to it. A slight breeze made the grass move around a bit. The plains were empty, as most digimon preferred to stay away from the Eternal Desert and the neighboring plain. But now, three figures could be seen journeying through it.

Two small figures floated on either side of the third one, the only one of them who was walking. The figure flying on the left looked like a hamster with bat wings for ears, which it used to stay in the air. It resembled the Chosen digimon patamon, only this one's color was a deep, dark purple and is called Tsukaimon.

The digimon flying on the right didn't have wings, or any other appendages used for flying. It looked like a large, purple ball with arms and legs attached to it. A lightning bolt sat atop his body, which was also his head. This digimon went by the name of Thundermon.

" So why are we here? " Tsukaimon asked, being quite bored with the entire situation. Not only was the sun very hot and the scenery hadn't changed in hours, but they were all alone with no digimon to pick on.

" Yeah, it's boring," Thundermon replied.

" Oh be quiet," the third figure said angrily. His two companions had been complaining off and on for the last couple of hours and it was getting to him. Unlike his companions he couldn't fly, but that didn't really bother him. He looked like a large purple bunny, standing on two feet. He wore a lose-fitting, orange fighting suit with a black belt and spikes attached to his shoulders. On his hands were red gloves with big, iron claw-like things attached to it. On his forehead were three, small protruding horns and he had very large ears, which allowed him to stay in the air for a few seconds when jumping real high.

" Geez, Turuiemon, calm down will you," Tsukaimon said.

" Yeah, we didn't mean anything by it, we're just a bit bored you know." Thundermon added.

Neither of them had understood why their leader wanted to trek trough this barren wasteland. They were doing well in their little mountainous district.

" Listen, guys," Turuiemon said," I know there is nothing here, but I've heard there are big settlements of digimon on Server and I plan to visit them all. And then we'll show them why we are the Terrible Trio, the baddest gang of digimon around!"

The others cheered, Turuiemon's idea did seem good. With more digimon around they could have more fun. But they were still bored now and Turuiemon knew he wasn't feeling very happy either. The journey was uneventful and he'd expected to have found some digimon hours ago. He hated to admit it, but he was missing his home too and silently considered going back. However he didn't want to lose face to his two friends by admitting he was wrong. He was the leader after all, and just couldn't be wrong. It was then that he noticed two black dots moving in the distance. Could it be that he had finally found some digimon to terrorize?

Meanwhile in the distance the two dots continued on their way. After they had finished talking to Gennai, Ryo and V-mon left the hidden house. Gennai had informed them that the second Chosen was going to appear in a place called Primary Village on File Island, quite a distance away from their present location. Luckily, a gateway to File Island was in a village a few days travel to the north.

" Do you know this village, V-mon," Ryo asked, curious as to what digimon could be living in a village and what a digimon village would actually look like.

" Not really, I hardly come to these parts anymore. And I didn't pass through it when I was looking for you. But I'm sure the locals will be nice."

" Yeah, I hope they are, " Ryo said.

" Thunder Volt!" was shouted before a bolt of electricity flew into the ground in front of them. Ryo and V-mon jumped away from where they were standing and tried to make it less easy for whoever was attacking to hit them. It wasn't before long when V-mon spotted a round figure levitating in the air just a few meters away.

" Ryo! It's over there," V-mon shouted while pointing the digimon out to Ryo. V-mon then proceeded to close the distance between him and the Thundermon, an adult digimon. Not something to be taken lightly as a child, but he knew he could get to adult at any time. If he got close now, he just might surprise the attacker.

" Come on, little one, " the Thundermon mocked, " try and get me!"

Provoked into attacking V-mon suddenly lunged forward, but the Thundermon just scooted out of the way in the air. It started shooting electricity at V-mon, but he just dodged them.

" Come on, stand still," Thundermon said, already feeling very annoyed by this child.

" Why don't you stand still, damned Thundermon," V-mon replied.

Neither of the two digimon seemed to be able to hit the other, V-mon was to fast and Thundermon was just out of jumping reach. To bad I don't know any long distance attacks in this form, V-mon thought, maybe it's time to evolve.

" Why are you attacking us!" Ryo yelled at the attacking digimon. Unlike the Kuwagamon from yesterday, this one didn't seem quite as ravenous as the big insect. The insect was probably hunting them for food, but this one seemed to do it just for fun. The reply startled Ryo, not because of what was said, but by the one who said it. Behind Ryo stood another digimon, this one reminded him of a bunny, a purple bunny in fact.

" We do it because we can. It's a lot of fun scaring you all like this," the bunny said.

" Who the hell are you," Ryo questioned harshly while moving away from the digimon. V-mon was already busy and wouldn't be much of a help to him now.

" I am Turuiemon, " he answered," and that there is Thundermon and Tsukaimon. We are the Terrible Trio!"

Tsukaimon? V-mon thought suddenly as he heard Turuiemon speaking to Ryo. The next thing he knew was slamming to the ground when something hit him in the back. Rolling further on the ground he just barely avoided another electric attack from Thundermon. Getting back up on his feet he started jumping to the side again, al the while keeping the two digimon, Thundermon and Tsukaimon, in his sights. From the corner of his eyes he saw that the Turuiemon was quickly approaching Ryo, who had no way of defending himself against an attack. I have to evolve and finish this quickly.

V-mon just stopped avoiding the attacks and looked at the attackers in anger. For a moment they wondered what the blue lizard was going to do and in their surprise they forgot to attack.

" V-mon evolves to…" he shouted as a blue light engulfed him. He could feel his body change, reformatting into something bigger, something stronger. When the light subsided only a few seconds after it began, a large horned dragon was standing in the place of the child.

" V-dramon!"

V-dramon wasted no time and attacked the Thundermon head on. Firing his V-breath Arrow before it could react. The attack knocked out Thundermon in an instant.

Tsukaimon gasped when he saw his friend go down in one attack by the dragon. He then realized he was next, but since he was a child he couldn't hope to win. V-dramon was in front of him in a split second and punched him to the ground. He hit it with a loud thump, then everything went black.

Having knocked out both Thundermon and Tsukaimon, V-dramon looked over at Ryo and Turuiemon. The digimon was staring at him, having forgot all about Ryo when his friends were being taken out of action.

" You'll pay for that," Turuiemon said, having overcome some of his shock. Ignoring Ryo altogether he lunged forward at V-dramon intend on taking revenge for his friends. Nobody ever did this to them and he wouldn't let an overgrown lizard defeat the Terrible Trio. Closing the distance between him and the enemy, Turuiemon brought his fists back and prepared to strike.

While Turuiemon advanced V-dramon just stood still and watched the purple rabbit lunge at him. The moment his opponent brought back his fists to strike he knew his time had come. Taking a quick step forward he punched Turuiemon in the face before he could react.

Dazed by the attack, Turuiemon stumbled back but didn't go down. V-dramon prepared his finishing move when he heard Ryo call to him.

" Don't kill him V-dramon, let him live."

" V-breath Arrow!" V-dramon shouted and fired at Turuiemon. The blast hit the dazed digimon head on and Turuiemon fell to the ground, knocked out but not deleted.

" You're lucky runt," V-dramon said to the unconscious form lying at his feet. " It could have been a lot worse."

Devolving back in his V-mon form, he left the three digimon behind and walked back to Ryo. Together they continued their trek through the plains. The attack had cost them some time, even it was only a few minutes. They hoped to be more than halfway through the plains by the time they had to stop for the night.

" What was that all about, V-mon," Ryo asked.

" Don't know kid, probably just some rookies looking for some fun. To bad they were weak as hell."

" Oww," Turuiemon mumbled," what hit me?" That lizard sure packs quite a punch, have to be more careful next time.

Surveying the area, he saw that his friends were starting to come to as well. He wondered for a second why they were still alive. For a moment he had feared their lives where over, deleted by a ravening blue dinosaur. Speaking of which, both the lizard and the human had left, but he could still smell their trail. He smiled, but then grimaced in pain. That blow to the head wasn't agreeing with him.

Standing up, albeit a bit wobbly, he went over to his two friends, who where lying close together.

" Get up you guys," he said when he came close enough, still rather silently.

" Oh, man, that hurts," Thundermon said as he got on his feet, but immediately sat down again.

" Tell me about it," Tsukaimon added in pain, " so what's next?"

" We are going to get back at them," Turuiemon said with conviction, already a plan was forming in his aching head. They would strike tonight and this time they wouldn't be stopped.

Night was falling rather quickly as V-mon and Ryo tried to find a comfortable place to spend the night. After all the attacks they had suffered while on the plains they weren't very happy with staying in the open, especially at night. Luckily for them V-mon spotted a dark spot in the light of the setting sun and he pointed it out to Ryo.

" Ryo, let's go over there."

The dark spot was a bit further away than either of them had thought and by the time they were close enough to see what it was the sun was almost completely gone. It took them another five minutes to reach the small outcropping of trees. There weren't a lot of them, but it was enough to keep them out of sight and maybe even risk lighting a fire. Darkness was descending rapidly with only a couple minutes of light left. The moon was already shining, but somehow the light seemed dulled down, giving it an eerie feeling.

Ryo and V-mon moved around the trees quickly trying to collect enough twigs and branches to make a fire. While they searched and made a pile of the wood everything became dark around the plains.

On a nearby hilltop three figures where watching their prey go into the small forest. The trees would hide the two from sight, but it would also make it a lot easier for them to sneak up on the unsuspecting travelers.

" When do we attack Turuiemon?" Thundermon whispered.

" We will attack in a few hours, when they are asleep. Then we come in and steal their stuff, that ought to show them they shouldn't have messed with us." Turuiemon answered.

" But," Tsukaimon started," weren't we the ones who attacked them?"

" Shut up, Kai," Thundermon almost shouted," we are going to make them pay for beating us up, and if they resist we are going to delete them!" For a moment Thundermon doubted if he could delete them, he had never done it before, but for the sake of the gang and their reputation he figured that he could.

Tsukaimon had similar doubts, if it would come to fighting he would do his best but he too had never killed before. All the things they had done were rather innocent compared to that, they had frightened people, stolen from people and even attacked people, but never killed or hurt them that they needed medical treatment. Today, however, that may change and Tsukaimon didn't know if he could really go on with it. Today it would stop being fun and games.

" No," Turuiemon suddenly said, startling the others out of their thoughts, " we will not delete them. When they were beating us up they let us live, even though that dragon could have deleted us in an instant. I saw it in his eyes, he has killed before and will do that again. But for all intents and purposes they let us live and therefore we shall let them live. It is the honorable thing to do." And even after all we've done, I still have a sense of honor.

Hearing this relieved the others and they went back to observing the forest, when a flash of light caught their attention.

" So what now, V-mon," Ryo asked after they had made a pile of the lumber. It had become quite dark, but he had no idea how to light the wood.

" Now we light it," V-mon said with determination. He took a few deep breaths and started glowing.

" V-mon evolves in…." The light started to engulf him totally before expanding in size. When the light cleared V-mon's larger form occupied the clearing. " V-dramon."

He turned his head down towards the wood and then smirked at Ryo, forgetting for a moment that in the darkness Ryo couldn't see him. Oops, stupid.

" Ah, I see," Ryo said, realizing what his friend had in mind.

" V-breath Arrow."

A low powered blast set the wood on fire, basking the clearing in it's light. Seeing that his work was done, V-dramon devolved back to V-mon and sat down against a nearby tree watching the fire burn.

Ryo followed his example and sat down as well.

" They made a fire," Thundermon stated, looking at the faint glow coming from the trees.

" Yes, so what do we do now," Tsukaimon asked and looked at Turuiemon for an answer. Turuiemon looked at the small forest for a few moments. With the fire going, they would have a better view when they attacked, but so would their opponents. Furthermore, the fire could momentarily blind them in their attack, as they had to move towards the fire. Still, if they took a few moments to get used to the light before they attacked it wouldn't blind them.

" We move closer to them, very quietly. Then we take positions to surround them and we wait till they are asleep. In the meantime we let our eyes get adjusted to the flames. You got that?"

The others quickly agreed, Turuiemon always came up with the plans. Thundermon thought himself not smart enough to make plans and Tsukaimon just got to nervous when he had to make up a plan, fearing it would fail. So that just left Turuiemon and he wouldn't let the others down. They needed a plan? He'd give them a plan, no matter how farfetched sometimes. This time, however, the plan was absolutely perfect. Just wait for them to go to sleep and then mug them before they could react, just a quick hit and run. There was absolutely no way it could fail.

" Let's move guys," Turuiemon said, then started moving to the forest as close to the ground as he could to avoid detection. The others followed suit.

An hour later and neither the human nor the lizard had fallen asleep, they were still talking to each other about the days events. Or what they *said* were the days events, Turuiemon found some of it hard to believe, especially about this god thing. They are totally nuts, he couldn't help but think.

He really hoped they would go to sleep soon, the guys were beginning to get restless, he could feel it. So far, they were still together, watching their opponents through a dense bush. They would split up after the prey had gone to sleep and make a quick strike.

" So, V-mon, about those three who attacked us earlier." The boy, or Ryo as the lizard called him, said.

" You really took care of them, didn't you?"

Realizing they were talking about them, Turuiemon started paying more attention to the conversation. So far he didn't like what he heard and neither did Thundermon and Tsukaimon.

" Ah, they were a piece of cake Ryo, I could have taken them in my child form but we needed to hurry. Take that weak-ass Thundermon for example." V-mon stated.

" What!" Thundermon hissed and was already moving forward, before being grabbed by Tsukaimon and Turuiemon. The latter quickly placing a hand on Thundermon's mouth, silencing him. With the two of them holding the angry digimon down.

" Be quiet or they'll hear us," Turuiemon whispered, " we'll get them back, don't worry."

With Thundermon calmed down, they tried listening in on Ryo and V-mon again. In the struggle they had missed the things being said about Thundermon.

" And then there is that pansy of a Tsukaimon, " V-mon continued. A quick glance on Tsukaimon was all Turuiemon needed. Both him and Thundermon had to hold the angry child down, with Thundermon keeping Kai's mouth shut. Damn it, this isn't going well, hope they don't hear us.

They soon had the situation under control again and Turuiemon checked to see if anything had changed in the scene in front of him. It would be bad news if they had been discovered. Luckily this wasn't the case and as the conversation progressed, he knew that they would soon get to him.

" Lastly there was that stupid bunny, Turuiemon, " V-mon said, as if on cue. Thundermon and Tsukaimon looked over at him, expecting to see a burst of anger as they had shown only a few moments ago. But they were surprised when all that Turuiemon did was smile. He had known they would also mention him and had sworn to himself not to act. Anger didn't solve anything here and by just sitting in peace he wouldn't lose face to the others by snapping at these petty insults.

After that the two by the fire discussed what they were going to do the next day, apparently there's a village close by. I knew it! We are so close to fame and fortune! Our reputation will skyrocket!

" I hope they will let us use that portal, V-mon," Ryo said.

" I'm sure they will Ryo, I'm sure they will. Why wouldn't they? We mean them no harm at all." V-mon answered. " So they have no reason to deny us the use."

" You're probably right V-mon," Ryo said," I'm just a bit nervous, I guess. Oh well, if Gennai's right than we might meet that other kid soon. I must say I can't wait."

" Yeah, a little re-enforcement will be neat. Though I'm sure we will be able to handle it."

" I hope so V-mon, I..yawn," Ryo said, " but right now I think I'd like some sleep. So, do you mind taking the first watch?"

What? First watch? Oh no, they aren't both going to sleep!

This was seriously upsetting his plans. If one of them was going to stay awake, they couldn't be easily surprised. The wise thing would be to attack when the kid was awake and overtake him before he could wake the lizard. But this could take hours and he and the boys also needed to get some sleep.

" Damn," Turuiemon whispered.

" Yeah sure kid," V-mon said, " I'll wake you in a few hours."

Damn, damn, damn, Turuiemon thought furiously.

" Okay, guys," he whispered, " change of plans. We wait another hour before we attack. That way, maybe the V-mon isn't paying much attention anymore, so let's just wait."

The next hour went by slowly, very slowly. With no one to talk too, V-mon was just left with his thoughts. So far Ryo was doing great, taking the stress of the mission and the subsequent attacks like a pro. This was more than V-mon could have hoped for and as such he didn't mind being the kid's temporary partner, he even enjoyed it.

Thinking about Ryo, his temporary Chosen, he couldn't help but think about the next one. Tomorrow they would reach the portal and go to File Island, Ryo's as well as his own, first trip there. The other Chosen digimon came from that Island and they had done great against all their foes. He often wondered what the island was like, was it a paradise or a death trap meant for training? From what he had heard it was both for a time. It's supposed to be a beautiful and tranquil island now, but when Devimon ruled there it was also filled with danger, provided by the black gears. But those days were over and it was peaceful once again under the protection of the reborn Leomon, though he wasn't at that level yet.

The new Chosen was to appear there, in Primary Village and soon. But Gennai couldn't really say how soon. It could be now, but also in a few days. He wondered, just as Ryo did, what the other Chosen would be like. They would be finding that out soon enough, he supposed.

His thoughts also went back to Chimeramon and Mugen Dramon, the fusion and the dark god. Such powerful adversaries, he could still hardly believe it. If successful this mission would be his crowning achievement, he might even get famous for it, which would be nice for a while. But after that there would be another mission and another, he would keep fighting for the side of good.

But if they failed, there would be no fame and no further missions. He would be dead and the whole world with him, an unsettling thought. Why can't they just be like those three losers?

Speaking of which, he wondered what they were doing now? Surely they had recovered from his beating by know. Heh, that was kind of fun, but they shouldn't have attacked Ryo.

They were probably long gone by now, those type of digimon usually didn't risk a second confrontation. By know they were most likely licking there wounds in a pit somewhere.

But even if they were gone, an attack might still be made. Server just isn't the safest place to be, especially at night. Good thing Ryo thought about taking guard duties, we'll make a soldier out of him yet.

" Yawn."

The hour wasn't as good for the Terrible Trio either, in fact it was worse. While Ryo was sound asleep and V-mon comfortably propped against a tree, they were huddled close together in the bushes.

They were cramped, tired and annoyed, but Turuiemon tried to keep a sense of discipline. Only a small wait longer was needed, he was sure of it. Soon a moment of opportunity would present itself and he was dead set on taking it.

That moment presented itself when he heard the lizard yawning, a sign that it was tired and it's guard lowered. He stifled a laugh as he peered at it from the bushes. Turning to face his friends, he smiled at them and they new the time had finally come.

" Alright guys, I'll attack from here, Thundermon you attack from the left and Tsukaimon from the right. Okay let's go."

The attack came suddenly, quick and unexpected. One moment V-mon was just resting against a tree and the next he was on his feet dodging blasts and fists. Though he knew nothing of the oncoming attack he was always on guard and noticed a difference in the forest a second before the first blast hit.

" Ryo!" V-mon yelled, hoping that none of the attacks had hit him in his sleep.

Dodging blasts he risked a glance at Ryo's sleeping place, but no one was there. Fearing the worst, that Ryo was dead by these jokers, he flew into a rage. No longer was he trying to play defensive, he went into a full-fledged offensive. He cared nothing for his own life, only to make these fools pay for what they had done.

" Die! You fiends! " He shouted at his first target, the Thundermon. In the darkness of the forest and the blinding light of the fire, his foes were camouflaged, but now he had his sights on one of them.

I should have killed them when I had the chance.

Jumping over an electric blast shot straight at him, he could feel his rage turn into power and with a light surrounding him he evolved.

Thundermon was afraid, never before had he felt like this. This was supposed to be a simple mugging, a surprise attack. No one was supposed to get hurt, especially not them. But this little lizard, angry beyond belief, was now a dragon in murderous rage. It just kept evading his hits as it charged at him. Thinking the end had come Thundermon did the only thing he could think of, he screamed.

" IIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!"

But then the wild beast suddenly changed its course and sailed past him, he was saved! Looking around he saw his savior, Turuiemon, in a fight with the dragon. Both fighters were holding each other's hands, each trying to push down the other. So far it was a stalemate, but Thundermon could see that Turuiemon was getting tired, while the V-dramon was going strong and getting even stronger. It wouldn't be long before Turuiemon would be lying on the ground at the berserker's mercy. And from what he had seen, there would be no mercy at all. He had to act soon to save his friend, but what could he do that he hadn't tried before? Whatever he was going to do it had to be done now.

Tsukaimon had the same idea, as he was now flying at full speed to the struggling two, intend on knocking the dragon down. V-dramon had no idea of the little digimon attacking him, so set was he on taking out his rage on the rabbit. For him all hope was lost, Ryo was dead and so was all hope of winning against the dark god.

Then out of the darkness of the forest a shape collided with Tsukaimon, making both of them roll over the ground. They rolled right passed the struggling digimon and the blazing fire. For a moment the fire's light washed over the two rolling figures and V-dramon could see that one of them was the Tsukaimon. The other however…

" Ryo! Your alive!" he shouted in surprise and happiness, momentarily losing some of his grip on Turuiemon.

" O-of course he is," a winded Turuiemon said. Turning his gaze back to the purple rabbit, V-dramon scowled at him again.

" What do you mean by that," he demanded.

" No-one was supposed to get hurt, " Turuiemon spat, " this was just a simple mugging to get back at you for beating us up earlier."

" You were trying to ROB us, " V-dramon was getting quite pissed at the rabbit again. After he saw that Ryo still lived he was considering going easy on them. But now he knew these dishonorable dogs were gonna steal their stuff and leave them to rot, all bets were once again off.

Just as he was getting the upper hand again he felt something move in the air behind him. A glance behind him told him enough, Thundermon was there, preparing to strike.

" You will not hurt him, " Thundermon said," I will k-kill you before I will let that happen, I swear." I hope I can, oh by the gods, I hope I can. I've never killed before.

" Stop right there," a voice said.

Sleeping in the open for the first time was a strange experience for Ryo. It wasn't as bad as he had feared, but it was still weird. That's why he wasn't sleeping very deep when he heard the attack. As soon as the first blasts hit he was wide-awake and rolled away from his position. Only a moment later did he hear V-mon yell his name, but by then he had already rolled closer to the tree line. By the time V-mon could check up on him, he was already hiding in the darkness, watching the scene unfold. He wanted to help, but knew that in a direct confrontation with a digimon, especially against an adult, as two of them were, he didn't have a chance in hell.

From the sidelines he saw V-mon evolve and then in hand-to-hand combat with the rabbit digimon, Turuiemon. He wondered why they were attacking them again, he didn't believe them to be evil at first. Maybe he was wrong, he didn't really know them come to think of it. For all he knew they were working for the evil he was here to fight against.

From the other side of the clearing he could see something small moving towards V-dramon and Turuiemon. Looking more closely he recognized the form of Tsukaimon, intend on attacking V-dramon in the back. Ryo couldn't let that happen, not while he was still there. Taking a quick dive forward from the trees he intercepted the flying pot-roast in mid air, making both of them tumble over the ground.

" Ah! Let go of me," Tsukaimon managed to bring out before another spin brought Ryo on top, taking all the air out of the small digimon's longs.

Ryo heard V-dramon and Turuiemon talking and he felt relieved that they didn't work for the dark god. But still, robbing them just to get back at being beat up in an attack that they started didn't sound very good either. However, they weren't planning on killing them, so maybe there was hope yet.

Then Ryo heard Thundermon threatening V-dramon and he knew that V-dramon couldn't react to it, being in combat with Turuiemon and all. Ryo knew it was up to him.

Getting back up to his feet, he held Tsukaimon in a tight grip close to his body, with one hand over the creature's mouth. Having seen what attacks V-dramon could do from his mouth he didn't want to risk something like that with this digimon.

" Stop right there," he shouted with authority, hoping he could bluff his way out of this one. His shouting made all three heads of the fighting digimon looking in his direction, surprise appearing on all of them.

" Let V-dramon go, " Ryo said," or the little one gets it." To make his point he intensified his grip on the struggling digimon in his arms, Tsukaimon had a look of fear in his eyes now. Ryo just hoped that the other two believed that he'd make good on his threats too, he didn't really feel like killing the little one. If it wasn't attacking them, he would have thought it was quite cute.

" Y-you wouldn't," Turuiemon said, trying to find out what the human was thinking. He knew too little about them, he realized, there was no way he could find out whether the human was bluffing or not, until it was too late. He had no choice he realized, no choice at all. In a split second he gave up on struggling with V-dramon, the dragon relaxing a bit as he did so.

" Thundermon, " Turuiemon said dejectedly, " ease of, we don't want to endanger Tsukaimon."

Thundermon kept in position for a few seconds, but he to knew that he had no way of winning this with Tsukaimon in danger. He hovered a few feet away and lowered his arm, dissipating the blast he had prepared.

Seeing that they were backing down and that Ryo was in no immediate danger, V-dramon got an evil grin on his face, something Turuiemon noticed a bit to late. Flung away by a V-breath Arrow he was knocked out when he hit a tree. Making a quick turn before anyone knew what was happening he fired another V-breath Arrow knocking out Thundermon as well.

Surprised at V-dramon's sudden attack, Ryo relinquished some of hold on Tsukaimon. Taking this unexpected opportunity Tsukaimon used whatever strength he had to break free.

" Hey!" Ryo exclaimed when the digimon broke free and tried to fly away. It didn't even get a meter away when a third Arrow hit him to and sent him sprawling like his friends.

Grinning from horn to horn, V-dramon approached Ryo giving him a tight hug.

" What was that all about, " Ryo asked when he was released from the dragon's grip.

" Just happy to see you, I guess," V-dramon said, apologizing for his rash behavior in hugging Ryo like that.

" Know what to do with these miscreants?" V-dramon continued, the anger still clear in his voice.

" What do you mean?" Ryo asked, not really liking what he thought his friend wanted to do. V-dramon turned his head to Ryo, looking him straight in the eyes.

" They have attacked us twice Ryo, we should take care of them now before they do it again."

" No, " Ryo said with conviction," we won't kill them. I don't want to kill unless it is necessary, and now is not the case. They are defeated, they can't hurt us now. Let us tie them up with some of those vines in the trees. When they come to they will need time to escape and by that time we are already at the portal."

Ryo looked at V-dramon pleadingly for a time, hoping he could change his friend's thoughts. V-dramon meanwhile found it hard not to give in to the kid when he stared at him like that.

" Oh alright," he said, " let's tie them up."

" Thanks my friend."

Authors Notes:

Well, another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it.

Japanese to English: Mugen Dramon = Machine Dramon ; Chimeramon = Kimeramon.

If you have any comments, suggestions or anything else to say you can mail me at: black_knightmon@hotmail.com

Next time, Chapter 4: Arrivals of File Island.