Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while till they are needed again for new episodes.
Ken: "But they don't need us anymore…"
*smirks* I know.
Chapter Seven: An unexpected Welcome.
Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Toy Town, File Island
We got lost, I should have known it would happen. We finally left the forest but not at the place we wanted to be. Lucky for us Ken spotted a town on the horizon so we decided to ask for directions there. That proved to be a big mistake in hindsight.
All seemed well at first, we were greeted by the leader of Toy Town, Pandamon, and were invited to stay the night. During our short stay Ken met some Numemon when he was touring the city, who told a different story about the 'benevolent' Pandamon. Meanwhile V-mon and I had decided to check out the palace. Digimon were overly friendly and used some weak excuses why we couldn't go to any of the lower levels. Something fishy was obviously going on, but we needed more information. Well, I got what I asked for when V-mon didn't show up for dinner. As he never misses a meal I became very suspicious. I figured that he might have been captured while he was sneaking around, so I told Ken to leave the palace while I looked for V-mon.
I finally found him in the dungeon along with the real leader of Toy Town, Monzaemon, but Pandamon showed up to. It turned out the Pandamon was a Phantomon in disguise, who had been stealing energy from other digimon for a long while. We managed to beat him after I had freed Monzaemon with help of Ken and his Numemon friends. When we had done so a strange golden thing appeared before me, what could it be?
End Log.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Ryo was again looking at the golden shard in his hands. He felt it was important somehow, but he didn't understand why, he didn't even know what it was. V-mon wasn't any help either as he to had no idea what it was. The entire night it had appeared in his thoughts, disrupting his sleep. What are you? He thought.
"Hey Ryo, are you coming?" V-mon asked at the door. He had gotten up a bit earlier than Ryo and had already spoken with Monzaemon about breakfast. Always thinking with his stomach, Ryo thought.
"Yeah, sure V-mon, I'm coming," Ryo said, pocketing the golden object he stood up and followed V-mon.
At about ten O'clock the four companions had joined Monzaemon again in the dining hall for a bit of breakfast before they would set of again.
"Hey Ryo!" Ken called out when he saw Ryo and V-mon entering the room. Ken and Wormmon were already sitting at the large table, eating as much food as they could.
"Hey! Leave some for me, you pigs!" V-mon shouted goodheartedly as he too quickly joined the others in eating.
"Good morning, Monzaemon, Ken, Wormmon," Ryo said as he sat across the two youngest members of his team and next to V-mon. While the others talked excitedly about the battle yesterday with Monzaemon and the numemon who were still quests in the palace, Ryo couldn't keep his mind off the golden shard and the dangers ahead of them.
Noticing that Ken was giving him worried glances during breakfast he shook of his depressing thoughts and put on a smile.
"Well Ken, are you ready to set out again today?" he asked Ken.
"Sure Ryo! I'm looking forward to seeing Server and traveling through the warp cave. Is it really true that we'll cross hundreds of miles in a second?"
"Maybe not hundreds," V-mon said with his mouth stuffed with food," but certainly a lot."
"Cool!" Ken said.
About an hour after they had started breakfast, Ryo, Ken, Wormmon and V-mon were standing once again at the entrance of Toy Town with Monzaemon and the Numemon.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Monzaemon said.
"It is," Ryo said, turning to the bear digimon, "I'd like to thank you for your hospitality, Monzaemon."
"There is no need to Ryo," Monzaemon told him," if it wasn't for you and Ken, I'd still be in the clutches of Phantomon and Toy Town would have been destroyed."
"Still, I'd like to thank you for your hospitality."
A few feet away Ken was also saying goodbye, but he was doing it with the Numemon.
"I'll miss you guys," he said sadly," and I'm sorry I got the others killed."
"Don't think of it that way Ken,"
the Numemon Chief said, "digimon don't really die, their data gets
recycled and reborn. And if it wasn't for you convincing us to fight, the
outcome of the battle might have been completely different. We don't have
regrets and neither should you. We are forever in your debt."
"Nah, we are even," Ken said with a smile.
With their good-byes made, the four of them started to leave when another voice suddenly spoke.
"Hey Ryo, V-mon, where are you going?"
Surprised at the sound of the voice, they turned towards it, seeing a holographic image of an old man.
"Who is he?" Ken asked, could it be that Gennai guy?
"Gennai?" Ryo asked in surprise at seeing the old man.
"Yes it's me, or rather, a projection of me," Gennai said in usual cheer," ah, I see you're in Toy Town. That's good, I take it Monzaemon has showed you his excellent hospitality."
"He did," Ryo said.
"After we saved him," V-mon added.
"Really? Saved him?" Gennai asked, though he didn't sound all that surprised.
"Yes Gennai, a Phantomon disguised as Pandamon took over Toy Town." Monzaemon said coming over to the holo.
"Interesting, it's good that Ryo came this way then," Gennai said with a small smirk making Ryo believe it wasn't really chance that got them lost. "It's also good to see you again Monzaemon but I really need to talk to Ryo in private for moment."
"I understand Gennai," Monzaemon said, then he and the Numemon departed the scene. Waiting silently till the others had departed Gennai looked over the four of them, glancing a bit longer at Ken and Wormmon.
"Gennai," Ryo said," I'd like you to meet Ichijouji Ken and Wormmon."
"Nice to meet you Ken, it's good to see you here." Gennai said with a smile to the young boy.
"Hello Sir," Ken said.
"And so polite too," Gennai chuckled.
"Yes, very nice Gennai," V-mon interrupted hastily," but could you get down to business, you said you had to tell us something. We don't have all day you know."
"Yes, yes," Gennai said, not at all fazed by V-mon's rudeness," I understand perfectly, as you should know V-mon. But anyway, I've been looking over every resource I have at my disposal to find something that could help you. And I think I may have found something!"
"And?" V-mon pressed after Gennai had fallen silent for a moment," don't keep us in suspense man."
"Oh right sorry," Gennai said," I guess I kind of drifted of for a moment. Anyway, in some ancient text I found out about another way of evolution that may come in handy. It's called "Armor Evolution", it's a very ancient way of evolution. It works by using a 'digimental' to help the digimon evolve."
"I've heard of this kind of evolution Gennai," V-mon said looking at Gennai like he had lost his mind, " but it only gets digimon up to an alternative adult form, a slightly weaker one at that in attacks, but a bit stronger in defense. I already have achieved my adult-form Gennai, this isn't helping any."
"I'm not crazy V-mon, "Gennai said, still smiling.
"Then how can this 'armor evolution' help us?" Ryo asked.
"A normal one can't, but I've found references of a special Golden Digimental which has the power to bring a digimon up to Perfection level. And since it's an armor evolution it takes up almost nothing of the digimon's own power supply!"
"That's great Gennai!" V-mon said.
"It is, now we may have a better chance," Ryo added, but his smile faded when he saw Gennai's face, "what's wrong?"
"Well even though the Golden Digimental would be a big help, it is said that the egg was split into several pieces by the Sovereigns, The Powers That Be of digiworld, because of its power. And unfortunately I have no idea where the pieces might be." Gennai explained.
Golden pieces? Ryo thought, could it be that?
Involuntarily his hand went to his pocket and the golden shard he kept there.
"Then we will just have to find them," Ken voiced.
"Right Ken," Wormmon said.
"Easier said then done, Ken," Gennai said," very unfortunate for us, I'm afraid."
"Maybe not," Ryo said as he revealed the golden piece to Gennai.
"Ryo, where did you get that!" Gennai exclaimed in wonder.
"It appeared after we beat the Phantomon last night," Ryo explained," I don't know how though."
"This is excellent!" Gennai said enthusiastically," Ryo, bring forth your digivice if you will. And let it touch the Golden Digimental piece."
"Why?" Ryo asked as he took the digivice from his belt.
"Trust me," Gennai said.
Everyone looked at Ryo is suspense, waiting for him to bring the two objects in his hands together. He didn't know why, but Ryo trusted Gennai's words. Bringing the two objects together slowly, the shard began to glow a slight golden light. When they touched the golden light passed on to the digivice. After the light subsided the shard was gone, leaving in its place another device. His digivice had also changed Ryo noticed, it was now sort of egg shaped. The color had changed as well, it was now light blue with white highlights.
"Wow," he said, almost whispering.
"It is as I expected," Gennai said, breaking the silence that had fallen after the transformation of the digivice and the golden shard, "your digivice has changed to accommodate for the ability to armor evolve. That other device you are holding is called a D-terminal and is means of storage for the Digimental you hold, or in this case for its pieces. It can also be used for communication."
Opening the other device, Ryo watched a small screen with an egg-outline on the display. Part of the outline blinked, indicating the part of the digimental they already have in their possession, Ryo realized.
Closing it again, he pocketed the device and holstered the digivice back on his belt.
"You will have to find the other pieces for the digimental to help you, but I have fait in you Ryo," Gennai said, "You will find a way to do it. Speaking of ways, I assume you know the way back to the Warp Cave?"
They all nodded and Gennai continued, "Well after you return to Server, you will have to travel west to reach the ruined city of Mugen Dramon. It will take you some time to reach it, a week or two I suppose."
Two weeks, that's what I was afraid of, Ryo thought.
"Gennai, can I have a word with you in private?" Ryo asked the hologram, his voice almost devoid of emotion.
"Huh? Sure you can Ryo, what's on your mind?" Gennai asked.
"What is it Ryo?" Ken asked, worrying about him for a moment.
"Nothing Ken, now please leave me alone with Gennai for a moment please," Ryo said a bit more vividly.
"Okay," Ken said, then he and Wormmon went a small distance away from Ryo and Gennai.
"Should I go to Ryo?" V-mon asked.
"No, you can stay V-mon. I just don't want Ken to hear this." Ryo said, I have to protect him, I just have to somehow.
"What's this about Ryo," Gennai asked.
"Mugen Dramon." Ryo said," he's an Ultimate and after having faced a perfection like Phantomon I think I understand the balance of power in this world a little bit better. You said we'd have an advantage because he hasn't grown into his power yet, but we have to travel for about two more weeks. Isn't that enough time for him to get to know his power? And even if he doesn't and we manage to reach Perfection level, than he is still a lot more powerful than we can ever be."
"Ryo," Gennai sighed," you may be right, but we mustn't let that stop us. I admit our chances are a bit lower than I the once I gave you earlier, but we can't give up hope."
"You understand me wrong Gennai," Ryo said, looking over at Ken," I'm not giving up, I know what I have to do."
Looking back to Gennai, "But I don't like being lied to, I want to hear the odds for what they are and face them head on."
"I understand Ryo," Gennai said," you are a lot braver than I thought you'd be. I was afraid you would refuse if you knew how bad the situation really was, but I was wrong. Good luck Ryo, V-mon."
"Goodbye Gennai," Ryo and V-mon said as the hologram disappeared.
Meanwhile about a mile outside of Toy Town a group of digimon, all of them Gazimon, was hiding in a small outcropping of trees. Just last night they had to make a quick escape after their master, Pandamon, had been defeated by a human and a dragon. The bear digimon had offered them great power in exchange for their help in conquering Toy Town, but all of that was gone now. Some of their own hadn't even returned yet either.
"What do we do now?" Gazimon1 said.
"How should I know?" Gazimon2 replied angrily.
"We have to hide, they are sure to come after us to kill us all," Gazimon3 said.
They others thought about this and started nodding their consent.
"No," another voice said calmly, though his voice was kind of raspy," you shouldn't do that. Hiding won't help you."
"Who are you?" Gazimon2 demanded.
"I'm called Shadramon," the voice said, revealing himself to the Gazimon from behind the trees. A black, bipedal digimon stood in front of the Gazimon. Almost his entire body, except for his upper arms, lower legs and the back of his head, was covered in a dark red armor with flames on it. On his back he had butterfly-like wings, also with flames pictured on them. "And I'm your friend."
"Our friend?" Gazimon1 asked skeptically.
"Yes, your friend. I heard about what happened to you and I have news about your missing comrades. I'm afraid it is very bad," Shadramon said compassionately, "you see, they have been killed."
"What!" The Gazimon were shocked and outraged to hear the news. And as they watched Shadramon and listened to his words their rage seemed to increase.
"They were all killed, brutally I might add, by the dragon V-dramon on orders of the human called Ryo. Oh, I'm so glad you weren't there to see it, it was beyond horrible. They were ruthless. I saw them do it with my own eyes, to the Gazimon guarding the prison, to the one who stood guard in the halls…" He said, trailing of at the end.
"Those monsters!" Gazimon2 yelled.
"Let's kill them!" Gazimon3 added.
The other Gazimon were now screaming similar threats, much to Shadramon's amusement.
"No wait!" Gazimon1 suddenly called out, controlling the rage he felt inside him," have you forgotten they killed Pandamon! We don't stand a chance against them. We will only get ourselves killed."
This seemed to calm the Gazimon down somewhat, making Shadramon frown. You have a strong will, little one, it won't help you though, he thought. Adding a bit more power behind his Psychic Wave, hopefully enough to stimulate the Gazimon's anger but not enough to have them notice what he was doing, the Shadramon continued his persuasion.
"But you can win, you see they only managed to brutally slay Pandamon with the assistance of Monzaemon. They are alone now, making this the perfect opportunity to have your revenge. I know where they are, I can bring you to them and help you exact the proper revenge for what they did to you and your fallen comrades."
Observing the Gazimon, Shadramon could see the murderous glint in the one who had spoken against him before. I have them now, he thought, for the glory of the Master.
"So this is the cave?" Ken asked when they reached the site of the cave after about an hours walk.
"It is." Ryo said, "Come on."
They quickly entered the cave, Ryo didn't want to have any more delays. It was bad enough it would take them more then a week to reach Mugen Dramon, he didn't want to add anymore time to that if he could help it.
The cave was just as it was when they were first in it, dark and not really worth anyone's notice. That is, until they reached the end of the passage and the chamber that would take them to the Server in the blink of an eye. The chamber seemed to emanate a light of its own, but remained unnoticed till they were practically standing inside the room.
"Amazing," Ken said, wondering how the light could have remained hidden from their sights.
"The room remains hidden by a digital barrier, right V-mon?" Ryo observed as they stood in the center of the room.
"It does," V-mon said, then after a few seconds," that should be enough I think."
"Agreed," Ryo answered, then followed V-mon out of the room.
Ken looked on in slight surprise then he and wormmon looked at each other. Shrugging, Ken followed Ryo and V-mon out. The cave seemed exactly the same as before and taking a glance back he noted that the light was once again gone.
"Are we really there already?" Ken asked Ryo when he had caught up to the older boy.
"See for yourself Ken," Ryo said with a smile when they exited the cave. Instead of the woodland clearing they were now on a hillside overlooking a grassy plain.
"Incredible," Ken said as he and Wormmon took in their surroundings. It took them only a moment to notice that Ryo and V-mon were already moving along the side of the large hill to the other side. Rushing over to follow them, Ken looked about him in interest.
The trip downhill took a lot less time then the one going up, much to Ryo and V-mon's delight. It didn't take them all that long to reach Chida Village. It may have been faster to head west at once, but Ryo wanted to check up on the digimon living in the now ruined village.
Only a few days had passed since the town was attacked by Lynxmon and almost completely leveled, but Ryo could see they had made a lot of progress. The main house, Chuchidarumon's dwelling, was completely fixed, though not very clean. At least the digimon have a roof over there heads again, he thought. He still found it hard to swallow that anyone could want to lay waste to a peaceful village as this one. And to make it even worse, the offending digimon was working on orders of someone else and that someone was still at large, causing trouble.
"Hello there!" Ryo called out to a young Tsunomon as they entered the village.
"Ryo, you've returned," the Tsunomon said excitedly as he hopped to them, "mayor Chuchidarumon will be so pleased to see you again."
Glancing over to Ken and Wormmon, the Tsunomon chirped happily.
"And I see you've brought friends," he said.
"Yes, these are Ken and Wormmon, fellow Chosen like me."
"Good to see you again, Ryo," a heavier voice said from the town," and your friends as well."
From behind the buildings Chuchidarumon strode, looking pleased to see Ryo again and to show him the advances they had made in rebuilding the town.
Leaving the Tsunomon behind, Chuchidarumon showed them the repairs they had made. Aside from the roof of his own house, which now housed all the baby digimon, they had also managed to repair several of the less damaged houses.
"You've come a long way," Ryo complemented him on the repairs.
"Yes, but we wouldn't have come this far if we hadn't received some unexpected help. Some of your acquaintances came by asking for you and then decided to stay and help us."
"Who?" V-mon asked.
"Well here they are right now," Chuchidarumon said as three figures walked up to them. Ryo recognized them at once as the Terrible Trio; Turuiemon, Thundermon and Tsukaimon.
"What are you doing here," Ryo asked them accusingly, remembering the times they had been attacked by them.
"Why Ryo, we came to help that's all," Turuiemon snickered, "could we have a moment in private with our old friends mayor?"
Seeing no reason to refuse the request, Chuchidarumon bade them farewell for the moment and went to help in some more of the repairs.
"At last we meet again, Ryo," Turuiemon said after Chuchidarumon had left earshot of them, "now we can finish what we started."
"I should have known you'd be out for a fight," Ryo said with contempt. Yet another distraction, another waste of his valuable time.
V-mon was already bracing himself for the upcoming fight, but Ken and Wormmon were looking on in surprise, not really knowing what this was all about.
"Wait!" Ken suddenly shouted, then stood between the two forces," you can't fight here, the town might be destroyed again."
"You're right Ken," Ryo said,"
but I don't think that matters to these digimon."
"Now wait a minute!" Thundermon said.
"Yeah! We care! After all we helped rebuild this place." Tsukaimon added.
"We agree with the kid, we will fight outside of the town." Turuiemon said, looking around the town they had helped to restore. Strange how things go sometimes, he observed, we came to this region to terrorize it and here we are helping in rebuilding it.
A small smile formed on his face, something that wasn't lost on Ken, wonder why he's smiling? The boy wondered, maybe he cares for this place.
Agreeing about something for once, they all started to make there way out of the town together. The Terrible Trio at the front followed by Ryo and V-mon and then Ken and Wormmon.
Letting Shadramon lead them on their quest for vengeance they had arrived at the Warp Cave only fifteen minutes after Ryo and Ken had. Still fueled by the rage that the insect-dragon had awakened in the Gazimon, they had no doubts about Shadramon's words that this cave would take them to their prey.
This is almost too easy, Shadramon thought.
"This is it, my compatriots," he said to them, still using his Psychic wave attack. The continued use of his attack was needed to keep the Gazimon motivated and under his influence but he was beginning to feel the drain of it. Can't stop now, he thought, following the dark drive inside his own soul to cause as much chaos to the Chosen known as Akiyama Ryo.
"Just go inside the cave, vengeance is close!" He pressed.
Watching first as all the Gazimon entered the cave he quickly followed, smirking at the fruition of his plans.
"Alright," Turuiemon said, after a few minutes," that's far enough."
At about a distance of a few hundred meters away from the city the Terrible Trio turned around from there front position and faced the Chosen.
"Now we are going to have our fight!" Tsukaimon said, grinning in anticipation.
"And this time we are not going to lose!" Thundermon added.
Taking the opportunity that presented itself as his opponents voiced the challenge, he quickly evolved into his adult form, V-dramon. The blue dragon cracked his knuckles and grinned at the digimon in front of him.
"Alright, who's first?" he asked, eyeing each of them individually. Tsukaimon was a child digimon so one swat would probably be enough to knock it unconscious. Thundermon, an adult, was a fast flyer with heavy thunder attacks, so he would have to strike quickly while he was still hovering above the ground with his friends. Turuiemon, another adult and the leader of the group, was more in his league. Like V-dramon himself he was incapable of flight, so he wouldn't face the same problems as he might with Thundermon. Further limiting Turuiemon was the rabbit's inability for ranged attacks, like his V-breath Arrow, so if he kept his distance the rabbit couldn't hurt him. This is going to be a piece of cake, he thought. Hmm, cake, I could use some of that. Haven't eaten since we left Toy Town.
"Focus please, V-dramon," Ryo said quietly in the dragon's ear as if he had read his thoughts.
"Right Ryo," he murmured, not wanting the three digimon in front of him know of his slight embarrassment, a little louder he continued; "Now answer my question, who goes first? Or do you want to go at it at the same time like the cowards you are?"
"No!" Turuiemon snarled angrily, "I will go fi…"
"Wait!" Ken suddenly interjected, taking a few steps towards Turuiemon and passed a surprised V-dramon," I don't understand. Why do you want to fight?"
For a moment all of them could only stare at the young boy as his innocent question sunk in.
"Uhm, because they beat us," Thundermon said.
"Twice!" Tsukaimon added.
"I think we got that part," Turuiemon said dryly, placing his hand over his eyes in humiliation. After a moment he shook of his humiliation and glared at the child who had managed to bring these unfortunate occurrences back to the surface.
"They have taken our honor, kid," Turuiemon said," and now we will take it back."
"But you attacked them first," Ken said," they only defended themselves. You speak of honor, but you didn't act like that when you attacked them. You don't have to fight, why can't we all be friends?"
Once again the boy's honest and innocent words put them off their feet.
"Ken, sometimes we can't all be friends," Ryo said putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Listen to the human, uhm Ken, he's right." Turuiemon said, when he looks like that it's just like those baby digimon. No I can't think like that, these humans are nothing like digimon.
"These digimon only care for causing terror, they don't care about others," Ryo droned on.
"Hey!" Tsukaimon said.
"I resent that," Thundermon added, "we do care, we've helped these digimon rebuild their town!"
"Only so you could lay a trap for us," V-dramon interjected.
"No! Well, uh, maybe at first," Tsukaimon admitted.
"You see Ken, they only thirst for their vengeance," Ryo said pulling the boy back. V-dramon took a step forwards and so did the Terrible Trio.
"Now, let's begi…" V-dramon started saying, but was interrupted by some sort of explosion in the town. All eyes turned towards the town, which now had a reddish glow coming from one of the sectors.
"Oh no, not again," Ryo said exasperated. Aside from the explosion the sound of screaming reached their ears.
Hearing the screams and explosions coming from the city all thought about fighting each other vanished. Though somewhat loath to admit it, the Terrible Trio cared for what happened to the town they had helped to rebuild and the innocent digimon that called it their home. Not waiting another moment they all started running back to the town hoping they would still be in time. During the run back to the town, Ryo found himself running next to Turuiemon, who had a worried look in his eyes when Ryo spared a glance at him.
"Human," Turuiemon said brusquely.
"What do you want, digimon," Ryo answered accentuating the last word to counter the rabbit's condescending tone.
"The town is in danger," Turuiemon said slowly as if he was still considering his words, "I propose a truce, at least until we have saved the town."
"Agreed," Ryo said after a moment, he knew it was wisest to form a truce with the three digimon as not to increase the numbers of foes they would have to battle. There was no doubt in his mind that they would need every digimon on their side if the attacker, or attackers, where as powerful as Phantomon, though he sincerely hoped it wouldn't have to come to such a fight again anytime soon.
"And the name is Ryo," he added, right before they entered the town again.
The town was in chaos, with screams coming from multiple directions. Knowing the best course of action would be to split up to cover more ground, Ryo quickly shouted his orders.
"Turuiemon, we need to split up! You go left, we'll go right." Not waiting for a reply Ryo turned right, flanked by V-dramon and dashed past two damaged domes. Risking a glance behind him he could see Ken and wormmon trying to keep up with him. Turuiemon and the others were gone and for a moment he was surprised they'd actually done what he told them to. Can't dwell on that now, Ryo realized, as after he had made his way past a few domes he was faced with a group of digimon that didn't belong in the town.
A group of about five gazimon and an unknown bug-like digimon were ravaging the buildings. The bug was obviously in command, but the gazimon were acting strange. Ryo couldn't put his finger on it, but they seemed somewhat out of it, like they weren't fully sane. They were growling and moving about like rabbit animals, all that was missing was the froth at their mouths.
It didn't take the bug digimon long to notice him and V-dramon standing between two buildings looking at them. The fire-bug seemed to grin with his, though how that was possible with a mouth like Wormmon's was beyond him.
"Ah, if it isn't young Ryo, Gennai's Chosen boy and V-dramon the brute dragon. So good it is to see you here, "the digimon said to them, not making any move to attack. The gazimon had also stopped their vandalizing of the domes around them to look at the pair in murderous rage.
"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," Ryo said calmly, buying some time to assess the situation fully. The opposing digimon had them outnumbered, though Ryo was sure that V-dramon could take care of the rabbit rabbits without much problem, he wasn't so sure about the bug's strength though.
"As you obviously know who we are. Tell me, who are you then and why are you attacking this town."
"Why how rude of me," the bug said in a mocking tone, similar to the one Ryo was using, " allow me to introduce myself, I'm Shadramon and we are attacking this town because they are harboring a known criminal."
"What are you talking about?" Ryo demanded, narrowing his eyes. He could feel that Shadramon was playing some sick game, the result of which he most likely wouldn't like in the slightest. Grinning wickedly, the Shadramon turned slightly to his gazimon minions.
"Look my compatriots, that's the foul monster who ordered your master's death and murdered your friends. That's the demon you've come to destroy."
"Ryo did no such thing, he didn't kill any of your friends, your master did! He was really a Phantomon who wanted to kill everyone," Ken shouted from behind Ryo and V-dramon. He had just arrived to hear Shadramon's last words since he couldn't keep up with the older boy and the dragon.
"Ah, the young Ichijouji boy, Ken isn't it? So good of you to show up as well. But I'm afraid your plights fall on deaf ears, these gazimon only feel rage and won't listen to anyone but me," Shadramon said triumphantly with a smirk.
"What have you done to them?!" V-dramon demanded, already having a fairly good idea what it was that happened to them.
"The question isn't what I've done to them, it's what they are going to do to you!" Shadramon remarked, pointing suddenly at the four of them. "Now attack!" He shouted and as one the Gazimon lunged forward, snarling like mad beasts. Shadramon, knowing the Gazimon couldn't possible win alone, flew up and prepared to attack as well.
Can't believe I'm actually doing what that brat says, Turuiemon thought, but he does know what he is doing.
"Move it you guys! We've got a town to save!" Turuiemon shouted to his two friends. He wondered who was attacking this town now and if it had anything to do with that Ryo boy. When they came here they had wanted to fight Ryo and wouldn't have cared what happened to the town, though they didn't feel like that anymore. The human seemed to attract trouble where he went, Turuiemon thought grimly.
Not long after thinking that the three of them exited an alley between two domes and came face to face with about fifteen mad Gazimon.
"Hey, what do you think you are doing?!" Thundermon yelled to the destroying horde.
There goes the element of surprise, Turuiemon noted, but it didn't really matter. They may be outnumbered five to one, but Gazimon weren't the strongest digimon around and are only at child level. Both he and Thundermon are adults and Tsukaimon, though a child like the Gazimon, could fly and was sneaky enough to hold his own in combat. Still, it may be more profitable if they could resolve this without fighting.
At Thundermon's question the horde of enraged Gazimon all turned to the interlopers, but didn't attack. In fact, apart from all of them looking at the Terrible Trio they seemed to be ignoring the three. Weird, even for those digimon, Turuiemon thought.
"Look, we don't have to fight, "Turuiemon started saying, "If you just leave quietly we'll forget this ever happened okay?"
The Gazimon just stared at them, seemingly unable to understand what they were being told.
"If this is about that Ryo kid, "Turuiemon continued, "You'll just have to pick a number and stand in line behind the rest of us."
At the mention of the name 'Ryo' the Gazimon suddenly started growling and flexing their claws menacingly.
"Murderer," They snarled, barely unrecognizable under all their bestial growling.
"Oh, oh," Tsukaimon said, flying at the left side of Turuiemon's head.
"Indeed," Turuiemon said dryly, "looks like we'll have to fight. But only knock them out, don't kill them."
From the corner he could see some baby digimon hiding in a damaged dome, they were looking at the three of them to save them. He didn't want them to witness any killing, not at that age. Besides, if they could win the fight without killing it might just make them even bigger heroes. I can get used to this hero stuff, Turuiemon thought before the first gazimon were upon him.
They all just lunged forward at the three digimon, not using any of their trademark attacks.
Three jumped in front of Turuiemon, but the purple rabbit held his ground bracing himself for his own attack.
"Swift Secret Punch," he said, punching the right-most Gazimon in its face with his right fist. Immediately he shot out his left fist, landing it on the left Gazimon. Like the first Gazimon it also fell down unconscious leaving only the middle one to take care of. If the Gazimon had been thinking clearly they might have used their own attacks to bring down the rabbit. A Paralyze Breath followed by a few Pitfalls would take care of about any adult digimon, but they weren't thinking at all it seemed. So like the others the third Gazimon also fell quickly by Turuiemon's fists.
"This is too easy," the purple rabbit mumbled.
Flying to fast for the Gazimon to catch him, Thundermon surveyed his foes. He knew they were only child digimon so this fight should be pretty one-sided. Not like with that blue lizard, the thought entered his mind unbidden and he ignored it.
The Gazimon kept jumping up, trying to reach him, their feral minds couldn't think of anything else. It was quite a comical sight those jumping Gazimon provided.
"This is truly unbelievable, "Thundermon said, "Thunderbolt!"
Shooting balls of electricity from his now glowing hands, Thundermon was able to take out six of the Gazimon in a few seconds. Their unconscious bodies hit the ground hard, but the impact didn't wake them up.
Four other Gazimon immediately tried to attack Tsukaimon, but he did nothing as they approached him. Hovering above the ground at their eye-level he waited for them to come closer. When they were a few feet away Tsukaimon shouted, "Purple Fog," and took a deep breath. In that time the Gazimon had crossed the remaining distance between and in a close group they were now right in front of him.
Easy pickings, Tsukaimon thought, they should have spread up instead of cluttering together.
Exhaling, Tsukaimon released a purplish fog on the four digimon in front of them. The results as the Gazimon inhaled the fog were instantaneous and Tsukaimon flew up a few feet to evade the sleeping bodies of the attacking beasts.
Looking over to Turuiemon and Thundermon he could see that only two more Gazimon remained, but they were also easily taken care of by Turuiemon.
"This was way too easy," Tsukaimon remarked when all the Gazimon were laying unconscious on the ground.
"Yeah, it seemed like they weren't even trying, they were like wild animals." Thundermon said.
Slowly the hiding baby digimon were coming out of their shelter, looking timidly at the bodies of the Gazimon and at the three of them.
"Don't worry, you're safe now, "Turuiemon reassured them.
"R-really?" a Tsunomon asked meekly.
"Yes, really," Tsukaimon said, looking at the red glow rising above the domes in the distance. Obviously the fight was still going strong at the site that Ryo had chosen.
"Just stay away from the red glow and you should be fine. Maybe you should try to find Chuchidarumon and let him take care of these demented rabbits, while we go and take care of the other attackers" Turuiemon told the Tsunomon.
"Okay, we'll do that!" the baby said enthusiastically, then added, "you're real heroes."
Staring at the kid, letting the words sink in they realized that they were heroes in a way. They had been helping the town to be rebuilt and now they were defending it without getting anything for it in return. Quite dangerous potentially and not something they were prone to do, but the look of gratitude and admiration was making it all worthwhile.
Maybe that other human is right, maybe vengeance and terror isn't the right way to live.
"Just run along now little one, "Turuiemon said, turning his back on the babies and started to run towards the other battle. He needed to clear his head and the fight just might help him do it.
Meanwhile the battle against the five other Gazimon and Shadramon had begun in earnest. Pulling back Ken away from the fight and shielding him from it with his own body, Ryo surveyed the situation. The Gazimon were an easy thing to take care of, they were so under the Shadramon's power that their rage blocked out any coherent thought, even battle strategies. But the Shadramon was a different matter all together; the dragon-bug was letting the Gazimon distract V-dramon so it could get a free shot in at the dragon. Can't let that happen, Ryo thought.
"V-dramon, watch out for Shadramon! You'd better take the others out quick, but don't kill them, they aren't responsible for their actions!" Ryo shouted over the roars of battle.
"Right Ryo," V-dramon responded, punching one of the Gazimon away. He had to keep moving so the fire attacks of Shadramon couldn't hit him.
"You can't keep this up forever V-dramon, or should I say Loser-Dramon! The rabbits are slowing you down, it's only a matter of time." Shadramon boasted, firing his Flare Buster attack, which consist several fireballs shot from his clawed hands.
"We'll see about that," Ryo muttered, then proceeded more loudly for Wormmon to hear him, "Wormmon, help V-dramon. Use you're webs to immobilize the Gazimon. With only Shadramon to worry about this fight will be a lot easier."
"Sure, Ryo," Wormmon said and hopped away from Ken. He really wanted to stay with Ken, to protect him, but he realized that he could do that better in another way.
"Sticky Net," Wormmon said, shooting a net all over the Gazimon that V-dramon had knocked away.
"Good work Wormmon," the dragon said, but winched when one of Shadramon's attack hit home.
"Sticky Net, "Wormmon shouted again. Another net hit one of the Gazimon, this time it was one who was just about to lunge at Wormmon. The others were also quickly taken care of, V-dramon would knock them down and Wormmon's webs would make them stay there, whether they were conscious or not. The battle was over in about a few seconds, but during that time V-dramon had suffered several hits by Shadramon's fire.
Right now, the bug was looking down at them from the roof of a nearby dome, smirking with his strange bug-like beak.
"Well done V-dramon, Wormmon, but they were only an appetizer; the main course has yet to come." Shadramon boasted gleefully.
"Bring it on, I haven't eaten in hours." V-dramon replied.
"As you wish, "Shadramon said, "but this meal will give you a heavy indigestion."
"Could you knock it out with the food jokes?" Ryo said annoyed.
Flying away from the rooftop Shadramon hovered in the air above them, fire dancing on his claws.
"Flare Buster," Shadramon started shooting fire at both V-dramon and Wormmon, both of them sometimes only barely able to dodge the attack. In the meantime the two digimon on the ground weren't able to hit Shadramon for the creature could dodge their attacks to fast.
Man, this is the battle with Pteramon all over again, Ryo thought, wait a minute!
"Ken, does this battle look familiar to you?" Ryo asked, a small smirk starting to creep on his face.
"It does, it looks like with that Pteramon," Ken said, understanding what Ryo was getting at, "Wormmon, that bug is to strong you have to get out of the line of fire!"
Both disappointed that he wasn't allowed to help V-dramon anymore, but relieved at the same time, Wormmon hopped away from the battlefield and back to Ken and Ryo.
"Great, now there is only one target left," V-dramon said dryly, "namely me."
"Wormmon, I'm so glad you're safe," Ken said to his digimon while bending down to hug him. When his head was close to Wormmon's, Ken whispered some instructions to him, but no one else could hear them, Ryo made sure of that.
"You have to keep fighting V-dramon, you can win!" Ryo shouted.
"The dragon is the only one fighting that fire bug, "Tsukaimon commented at seeing the fight while hiding behind a nearby dome. They had only just arrived at this side of the town and decided to check out the fight first before rushing in.
"It doesn't look like he's winning," Thundermon declared.
Indeed it didn't seem like V-dramon had the advantage. Shadramon made good use of his aerial capabilities and easily dodged any attack the dragon threw at him. Since the fire bug was airborne the only attack V-dramon could use was his V-breath Arrow, but the attack was to slow.
"Grrr, stand still and fight me like a real mon," V-dramon growled at the bug.
The fight wasn't going well, while V-dramon couldn't hit his opponent, the same couldn't be said the other way around. V-dramon was already covered with scorch-marks from Shadramon's fire and more burns were on the way.
Suddenly from an unexpected corner another attack shot out, a string of webbing from the small child's digimon. It almost caught Shadramon but the bug managed to evade the attack.
"Nice move, "they could hear Shadramon boasting, "but I saw that one coming a mile away. There is no way you're gonna surprise me like that."
"We'll see about that," Turuiemon muttered, already a sneaky plan formed in his head after seeing Wormmon's move.
Okay, new plan, Ryo thought as their idea to use the same tactics as in the fight with Pteramon didn't seem to work here.
"V-dramon, try to keep fighting, we'll think of something," Ryo said to the struggling dragon.
"I'm trying Ryo, but this bug is just to fast for me!" V-dramon said, seething in anger. In fact it was this anger that kept him going, letting him stay in his adult form. If he let go of his rage just a little he knew he would instantly devolve to his child form of V-mon. If I can't win this fight as V-dramon, I certainly won't have a chance as V-mon, he thought.
"Silk Thread, "Wormmon said, using his string attack in the hopes of catching Shadramon with his second attack. This attack being slightly faster than his Sticky Net since it was only a single thread and not a whole web. Still the attack wasn't fast enough to trap the evading dragon bug.
"Ryo, what are we going to do?" Ken asked, looking up at the older boy.
"I don't know, but right now I'm open to suggestions." Ryo said, his eyes never leaving V-dramon.
We need to slow it down somehow, thought Ken, but how? Remembering the battle against Pteramon and the darkness escaping from its deleted remains, Ken recalled Ryo saying that the digimon this happened to worked for a mysterious 'master'. However no one had any idea who this master could be and what he wanted. All that Ryo knew was that this shadowy master had it in for them. If that was so, then maybe this digimon's attack wasn't random and it actually worked for this mystery person. Maybe he could use this information to his advantage, Ken reasoned.
Suddenly, as he looked at a point somewhere behind Shadramon, Ken got a look of terrible fear on his young face.
"Oh, no! It's the Master!" Ken exclaimed pointing his finger at the spot behind the bug while gasping for air.
"What? Where?" Shadramon said, looking over his shoulder to the place the boy was pointing at. Doing so he saw…nothing! Ken smirked at seeing his pathetically simple plan actually work. Wait a minute, Shadramon thought shocked as he realized he had stopped moving the moment the boy had mentioned the Master. The moment he realized this it was already too late, thick webbing from the worm had hit the back of his head and was now curled around his entire head, blocking his view. Only on instinct did he let himself fall out of the air and in doing so he only barely evaded the V-breath Arrow aimed for him.
Ripping the webs of his head, he looked over at the whelp who had managed to trick him, his face contorted with rage.
"You'll pay for this humiliation, boy!" It snarled and prepared to strike the boy down for good. Hovering towards the boy while evading the attacks of the worm and dragon it's eyes started glowing blood red. Ryo moved in front of Ken to shield him from an incoming attack the best he could.
"Any last words?" Shadramon screeched at them.
"How about, look behind you." Ryo said with bravado, even managing a small smirk. The boy's got courage, I'll give him that, but there is no way they'll catch me with the same trick twice, the bug thought.
Maybe you should have listened to him, a cold voice said to him in his mind.
Before he could question what the voice meant, something very painful collided with his back, paralyzing him.
"Thunder Bomber," Shadramon could hear a voice say behind him. From the left most corner of his eye he could see that a Thundermon, its body fully charged with electricity, had managed to sneak up on him. Even worse, the electricity temporarily seemed to have paralyzed him and from somewhere behind him he could hear two very disturbing words, the last he would ever hear.
"V-breath Arrow."
The arrow went straight and true, burying itself in Shadramon's back and with a horrible scream the digimon fell apart into data-fragments. Out of those pieces of left over data, which were already dissipating into thin air, a blast of pure darkness originated shooting of towards the western horizon.
"Another one, "Ryo said, then remembering Ken's ploy added, "Good call on that one Ken, that was very clever."
"Aw, thanks Ryo," Ken said, blushing slightly.
Hovering to the ground, Thundermon stood a few feet away from Ryo and Ken, looking at them. Leaving their hiding place the other two quickly joined him for a stand off.
"Our plan worked perfectly," Turuiemon said, looking around him seeing that this sector of the town had been damaged even more than it had been before during the battle.
"I hope you don't still want to fight?" Ryo asked the Terrible Trio as they stood a foot away from them.
Tsukaimon and Thundermon looked over at their leader, Turuiemon, as he took a step forward.
"No, we're not going to do that. We've decided to give up our evil ways," the purple rabbit said, glancing over at Ken to acknowledge that he had been right earlier.
"We are?" Thundermon asked, sounding relieved.
"We are," Turuiemon confirmed.
"Great," V-dramon said,"Because I've just about had it."
Saying that he immediately devolved back to V-mon and slumped down on the blasted ground. Ryo was amazed, the nuisance that had plagued them since they had set of from Gennai's house was giving up. And not only that, they were also going to completely chance their way of life, turning from evil to good. The work they did in this town must have really changed them, Ryo thought, but remembering that they had still wanted to fight when the four of them had returned he knew that it wasn't the whole story. Ken's words must have really made an impact, he thought, making them question their own honor must have really done it for them. Ken is really an amazing kid, he proved that here with this fight as well. Smiling he looked over at the young boy and his Wormmon. He's really done some good here, Ryo thought, when suddenly a golden light basked their present location in radiance. Recognizing it from the dungeons under Toy Town, Ryo looked at the second piece of the Golden Digimental hanging right in front of him. Taking it in his hands he brought the digivice from his belt to the shard, absorbing it. At a pinging sound from his D-terminal, Ryo took that device in his hands as well, opening the hatch of the screen. On the display was again the egg-outline, but now it was filled even more.
"Yes! Another piece!" Ken said enthusiastically.
"Great," V-mon said tiredly, not really caring about that now since he had used up almost all his energy during the fight and he was still slightly injured, though most wounds had vanished when he devolved.
"Take some rest and find the mayor," Turuiemon said to his former opponents, when he realized just how tired V-mon was, "we'll round up all the gazimon and take them to the mayor's building. Then we'll decide what to do with them."
"Good plan," Ryo said, picking up his partner, V-mon, "if Wormmon still has some energy left, then perhaps he can help by rapping them up."
"You up for that Wormmon?" Ken asked.
"Sure Ken, let's do it."
And with that Ryo left with V-mon to find the mayor and inform him of what happened, while Ken and the former Terrible Trio located all the incapacitated Gazimon. While he wasn't strong enough to do any of the carrying, his webbing proved very useful to keep them all together for the others to drag them away.
Author's Notes:
Well, early January became mid/late January. It was supposed to be done earlier, but after experiencing some computer problems it got delayed a bit.
As always, please leave a review.
Till Next Time!
Preview of the next chapter:
Ryo and Ken have located the third piece of the Golden Digimental, but actually getting it proves very difficult.
