DAY 5

"Ugh. What happened yesterday just made me feel worse." Palmon said to Gabumon as they woke up.

"What do you mean?" Gabumon asked.

"Hookmon has a partner. And Shamamon has a family. If they both lost the games, then they'll never see them again. It just makes it worse that only one of us can win."

"I know; I feel the same way." Gabumon said sadly. "Palmon...do you think we had partners or families back when we were still alive?"

"Maybe." replied Palmon. "Since our memories were taken, I really don't know."

"But that makes us no different from all the other players. Everyone here, whether they remember or not, has someone they left behind. That's why we're fighting. That why everyone's fighting; why Strikedramon and Dinohyumon are fighting."

Palmon nodded.

"Besides, it's all the DL's fault." Gabumon said angrily. "They're the reason why we have to fight for our own survival."

Palmon nodded. "The next time we see Levi and Manfred, let's make them regret it."

Gabumon nodded in agreement.

Beep! Beep! Their devices went off. They turned to it to know what they have to do to survive at least for the day.

Escape the four-way intersection you are currently in. You have 45 minutes. Fail and be erased.

-the DL's

"Argh!" The timer appeared on their hands with that ever annoying burn.

"Leave the intersection? That sounds pretty easy." Gabumon said.

"Too easy if you ask me." said Palmon. Looking around, they saw that they were indeed in the middle of a large four-way intersection filled with people who clearly didn't know the presence of the two Digimon.

They walked towards the upper portion of the intersection that led to the street beyond. Gabumon walked forward and encountered what seemed to be an invisible wall preventing him from going further.

"Noise wall." Gabumon said. Looking up they saw a Noise symbol floating in mid air. It flashed brightly and several Dixiefrogs appeared before them.

"Hey, these guys're pretty easy." Palmon remembered how easily they were taken our before. After just a few minutes, all of the Noise were taken care off.

"Well that's that." Gabumon said walking forward a bit. "Let's get out of here and-Ow!"

He stepped back rubbing his nose. He put his hands before him and his hands came upon the barrier again.

"No way!" cried Palmon. "Why's it still here? We beat the Noise." The two of them looked up and saw that the Noise symbol was still there.

"Something's not right." Gabumon said eying the symbol. "Let's check another exit."

They went across the intersection and checked the bottom exit. Sure enough, the it was blocked by a Noise wall too.

"Let's try taking out the Noise here." Palmon suggested. The Noise that popped out this time were three Circle Pit Grizzlies. The Noise immediately charged at the two Digimon who got ready to fight.

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Flower Cannon!"

But only one of them was taken out. The other two proceeded to slash at Gabumon and Palmon with their powerful claws. Thought they tried to dodge and evade, they ended up getting slashed at at least one.

"Needle Spray!"

"Garuru Kick!"

The last two Circle Pit Grizzlies were finally taken down. After checking their injuries, Gabumon and Palmon checked the wall again.

"Darn, it's still there." Gabumon said pounding the wall frustratingly with his fist.

Palmon looked at her timer. "We're running out of time. Maybe there's a pattern on how to fight the Noise here."

"Yeah maybe." replied Gabumon. "Let's check out the other two walls around this place."

After searching and fighting for several minutes...

"Alright, let's put together what we know." Gabumon said. "The upper wall has those frogs. The left has those wolves, the right some tadpoles and the bottom one had those large bears."

"Maybe we should take them all out. That might remove the wall." Palmon said.

"Yeah maybe." said Gabumon. "But..." He glanced at the wall that held the Mosh Grizzlies. "I'm still worried about that wall. Those bears really are tough."

"I know." Palmon said rubbing her wounds from the battle with the Circle pit Grizzlies. "Let's save those guys for last. Let's just start with those wolves."

They approached the left side exit and three Garage Wolves showed up. After growling and baring their fangs, they encircled their opponents waiting for the perfect time to strike. One charged in but it ended up having Palmon's vines wrapped around itself. Then, Palmon swung her vine and sent the wolf she caught into the remaining ones. All three of them were now slumped up together in a neat pile.

"Blue Blaster!"

Gabumon's attack scored a direct hit on the pile of helpless Garage Wolves. All they could do yelp in pain as they vanished.

"Alright, let's move on to those frogs now." Gabumon said.

Together they headed to the upper exit and defeated the Dixiefrogs there. Then, they proceeded to the left wall were they took out several Bigbansprogs. Now, it was time to tackle the Circle Pit Grizzlies again. Even thought the previous battle were easy, they were still a bit tired.

"I hope this is the last time we fight these guys." Palmon said. The noise symbol flashed and the same three Circle Pit Grizzlies appeared.

"Poison Ivy!"

Her vines coiled around the arm of one of the Grizzlies and forced it down. Palmon then told Gabumon to attack the one she was handling.

"Garuru Kick!"

But as he sailed towards the Circle Pit Grizzly, another one slashed at him painfully in mid-air knocking him sideways. As Palmon cried out for him, the Noise she was immobilizing yanked its arm backwards, causing her to fly towards the Grizzly. It slashed at her and sent her away from Gabumon who was still trying to recover.

"Palmon!" Gabumon cried out as a Grizzly ran towards her. "Wait! No! Don't hurt her!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

The Grizzly was about to finish Palmon off with a swipe of its claw when it got hit. Its back arced in pain as it was soon encased in ice.

"Poison Ivy!"

Palmon's vines went right through the chest of the frozen Grizzly and afterwards stabbed the other two also in the chest. All three of them flailed around in Pain before disappearing into nothingness.

"Palmon! Are you alright?" Gabumon said running up to her.

"Never mind me. What about you?" Palmon asked.

"I'm alright. It's just a few scratches."

"Just a few scratches? You're as injured as I am!" Palmon exclaimed noticing several scratch marks on Gabumon.

"I'm telling you I'm-Ah!" Gabumon suddenly felt a sharp pain as he spoke and ended falling next to Palmon.

"Are you alright?" Palmon asked.

"Not really. No." Gabumon admitted. Both of them looked at the timers on their hands. "30 seconds left."

"I guess that's it for all of us. Unless someone's found out the pattern and is working on it right now." said Gabumon.

00:00:25

"What are the odds of that happening?" asked Palmon.

"I really don't know."

00:00:20

"Hey, Gabumon..." Palmon began. "two days ago, you asked me what I think about you."

Gabumon nodded clearly remembering that incident. Palmon took a deep breath and blushed as she continued.

"I think you're the bravest Digimon I've ever met and I mean that even though I don't have any memories."

"Thanks Palmon. At least I'll have a happy thought when we're erased." Both of them looked down at their timers and saw that they didn't have much time left. "Wanna count down the time left?"

Palmon nodded and they both looked at their timers again.

"10"

"I guess this is really it." Gabumon thought.

"9"

"The Odaiba Games end in just the 5th day." Palmon thought sadly.

"8"

"7"

"6"

"5"

Palmon's hand suddenly grabbed Gabumon's and gave it a squeeze. He returned it without saying anything. Neither of them had the strength nor the will to continue counting.

00:00:04

"I'm just glad I met someone as wonderful as Palmon." Gabumon thought sadly.

00:00:03

"Gabumon...I'm glad that I've met you..." Palmon thought sadly.

00:00:02

All of a sudden, they both felt like they wanted to get something off their chests before they were erased. Seeing that they only had a little time left. they both said it at the same time.

"Gabumon/ Palmon, I-!"

Then their timers disappeared at the 1 second mark.

It took them several seconds to realize what had just happened. First shock came to them, followed by happiness.

"We're OK!" They cried out at the same time. They were so relieved that they couldn't think straight and ended up hugging each other.

"We're Ok but...who finished the mission?" Gabumon asked.

"Who cares? We're both alright. That's all that matters." Palmon said happily.

"Yeah you're right." Gabumon said with a smile.

Then it happened. Even Palmon didn't know why she did it. Maybe it was out of the happiness that they weren't going to be erased but she really didn't know.

Right before they blacked out like they usually do at the end of the day, she grabbed the back of his head kissed him.