Digimon Miracles: The Start of Miracles

by Athre

Post-01/Pre-02. When Hiroto meets his digimon partner, he doesn't know what else to expect, but he definitely didn't think of a messed up life, haywire robots, and a killer samurai. Could things get any worse? OCs can be added through reviews/PMs.

10. A Miracle Takes Three

Pokemon fan 1991 Not logged in
That was awesome work
There were a few mistake but i love it. so will Shoutmon digivole or Xros? And who will replace Shoutmon?
Thanks. If you see any mistakes, feel free to state them in your review so I can correct them. Who will replace Shoutmon? Well, keep reading, because he's gonna' be in this chapter!

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Congratulations! You officially have the best story I found in the Digimon homepage! I like Hiroto, he reminds me of a Japanese, aale, Matilda. However, I did notice a few grammar mistakes, some sentence fragments, and even points where the narration was weak. I appreciate Hiroto's sarcasm though, it's definitely refreshing! One more thing that bothered me is that Hiroto, Rinji, Mai, and Yuki are all Japanese names, but Lance, Dylan, and Minnie are all English names, are they foreign? Just curious.
I can't wait to read on, hopefully there is room for me to submit a character! :)
Thanks! About the grammar mistakes, sentence fragments, and weak narrating, do you mind stating them? And if you can add in how I could fix them, even better!
Hiroto's sarcasm is just my way of trying to light up certain moments. I'm glad you liked it.
I'm not going to pre-determine everything for the readers. I'm going to let your imagination fly and handle some of the work. For example, Lance, Dylan and Minnie could be, as you've said, foreign. Or, they could merely be dub names.

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Woah...this was intense! I really hate Drake, what a jerkface. Again, Hiroto's sassy realism is appreciated, but it sometimes make him seem a bit socially awkward. Some confusion was had in this chapter as to what happened with the silver-haired girl, who I'm assuming was a digimon-related being, and Drake's gang. Drake's a sword fighter? Is his sword magical, because I'm pretty sure Veemon could break it. There was some grammatical mistakes, I encourage you to have a friend re-read your writings before you post them online, if you want, I'd help you. I'll keep on reading!
Intense? I know, right?
Oh, right! I forgot to put in Hiroto checking in on how the silver-haired girl was doing... but after being through a life-or-death situation, some people get a little self-centered. Hiroto called to check on Yuna because she's his close friend.
Drake's reviewer, pokemon fan 1991, wanted to make Drake's sword immensely powerful. Of course, if Veemon has such a hard head, he'd definitely have broken the sword. However, there is a reason I'm making his sword super powerful.
And what are the gramatical mistakes, might I ask? You can list them in your reviews if you want to. Plus, I do have a friend re-read my work, at least those before this chapter. Still, you can pitch in and help anytime.

kitefire
Heres my character's profile hope you like it and please tell me waht you think kay :3
Name:Sabrina Williams
Age:16
Appearance:Black Hair Shoulder length with a pink ribbon in the back,greens eyes,petite,A pink short sleeved t-shirt with a yellow star in the front,Light blue short denim skirt,knee high white socks,light brown short high heel boots,wearing a silver pendent around her neck.
Personality::Kind,Caring,Friendly,smart,shy,stands up for others if needed to,like to help others,a girlie-girl.
Likes:reading,singing,animals,stuffed animals,art,helping,shopping
Dislike:buillies,animal cruilty,the dark
Pros:studing,relieable,smart
Cons:sports
Partner:Guilmon
personality:Protective of Sabrina,navie,friendly,playful,serious in Battle,likes to eat
Likes:eating,playing games,video games
Dislikes:girly stuff
Your OC's actually quite well-groomed for the story. But, do you want your OC to have a crest? You might want to list a few, as some others might be taken. An extra tip: just choose whichever crest you like. It doesn't really affect your digidestined or her digimon much.
Thanks for the OC submission.

ThirdTimeztheCharm
You need to get rid of all of these parentheses, what you are stating in them can be said outside. Save parentheses for author's notes.
We already knew about Yuna's father, so mentioning it again was a little awkward, but not unnecessary. I'm not really up to date on Japanese culture, so you may want to specify for readers like myself what a meehoon stall is.
Hiroto didn't crash their date though, are you referring to a previous event before the events of the story? A small anecdote here might be refreshing.
Gasoline? Laughter? I'm confused...
practicing not practising.
Pride should be lower case, and the previous period should be turned into a colon.
Why are none of them talking about the incident yesterday? That seems a little more important than their soccer match...
I really hate Rinji :p
"I saw Lance and Yuna, still sitting at the tables, but now their tupperwares were emptied of their contents. Lance and Yuna were chatting, no doubt about daily news, though I couldn't help but stare in amazement. They were quite fond of practising their communication, given the chance, or as everyone else likes to call it, their 'chemistry'. I didn't like being a wet blanket, and so I fought the urge to drop in on them ninja-style."
This is a confusing paragraph, not only because of the misspellings, but also because you have a giant run-on sentence at the end, and his simile doesn't make sense.
DemiVeemon doesn't have nails. You also referred to him as Veemon before this, so I am confused as to which form he is in right now.
I also really hate Yuki :P, but I am liking the Yuna/Lance pairing. However, I don not like how wimpy Yuna got in Yuki's presence! She was ready to fight to the death for somebody yesterday, and now she's shaking in her metaphorical boots!
I would have liked a brief housekeeping montage...
You didn't mention that he had brought Veemon with him, so it was a bit unusual when Veemon suddenly appeared.
Also, consistency with Veemon's name! Also, seldom seems like a big word for Veemon to use.
Wait, Hiroto is fighting Airdramon? Good thing this doesn't have to make much sense, because Airdramon could kill him! Also, Airdramon is usually a good digimon, just saying.
I feel as though an awful amount of time would be consumed fighting a dragon monster, just a thought.
Soccer, in a football stadium?
I admire his dedication to his friends and their team...but the boy just fought a giant dragon, I think he deserves to be a little self centered.
His friends? Kind of jerkfaces, poor Hiroto, everyone is such a jerk in his life :P
I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Hiroto's cocky attitude. It's nice to not have him be so depressing, but his life sucks, no offense, so it's also a bit unrealistic.
Wow, I can sense irritation in this review.
The parentheses are Hiroto's personal thoughts on the matter. The author's notes are for what I have to say, not Hiroto.
I didn't actually see the problem in mentioning Yuna's father again. A meehoon stall is not Japanese. Meehoon is kind of like mee or noodles. Sorry, but I'm not sure how to explain it.
I said Hiroto dared to crash their date. He didn't actually crash any of their previous ones. He also mentioned, 'Why would I want to sabotage a friend?", meaning he's never actually done it before.
The gasoline and laughter were actually supposed to support one another. Dylan was snoring, so everyone was struggling not to laugh. If the cooks joined in the laughter, they would pay less attention to their cooking, thus resulting in a possible fire involving gasoline.
Practicing? Practising? I've done research on this particular topic several times. Both can be used. It's just whether it's British or American. I'll try to standardize my writing next time.
Well, none of them are talking about the previous day's events because the current day's events are more... rushed. Besides, they've been training to be Saikou's image for a long time so it would be quite disappointing to lose to another team, wouldn't it?
Yeah, I hate Rinji too. :)
I don't see anything confusing about it. The words are certainly not spelled wrong.
Whoops! Sorry about the nails problem. I'll get to it as soon as possible.
Yuna maybe tough but traumatic experiences can lead to a kid being scarred for life. It can turn the toughest men into weak wimps. I'll see what to do with Yuna's trauma in the future, whether she recovers from it, is still traumatized, or to just leave it at that.
Sorry about the housekeeping montage! I must've been so rushed at that moment I forgot to add it in. However, I'm not going to change it this late in the story. You can just let your imagination fly and decide what you want the house to look like.
I have got to stop mixing soccer and football. I'm guessing you're American, so 'football' there isn't soccer. Don't worry, I'll try stopping myself from intertwining those two words.
I guess Hiroto's friends were actually a bit selfish at that part. However, it's not everyday they get defeated by Yuki, especially in their field of expertise: soccer. Moreover, if I'm not wrong, Hiroto never mentioned anything regarding Airdramon, so his friends don't know he'd been fighting a murderous killing dragon.
Hiroto's life sucks, that I agree with. :)
Thanks for the long review. It really helped me spot several mistakes.

pokemon fan 1991
awesome work!
can I make Drake sister as an oc
Sure, feel free. I might spin that out into a mini-story, too. :)

Super g
geez,hope yuki looses and fail in life, all his siblings in fact,there should be abnsolutly NO reason to act like assholes to your brother, and if you have some sort of problem,calmy discuss it with them in a civil manner.
"WOW, look at the time!"*laughs*i love it when people do that! Like they 4real gotta go somewhere,it's even better when they don't have a
Man, i'm not gonna like, it was a WHILE last you update..but whatever, you update when you can..
I have a totally logical – or maybe not-so-logical – explanation for the hatred they feel.
Haha, I also love it when that happens.
You're not gonna' like? Sorry, but I don't understand that last sentence. Yeah, I'll update when I can. :D

Super g
ok sorry, i just noticed i have typos out the azz.
Absolutly(I think,i can't spell)
Calmly.
Not gonna LIE
I should revise before i submit least i corrected myself so it dosn't look like a monkey typed it.
Whew! Thanks for correcting that! I almost got the wrong message because of those typos, but we all make mistakes. :) Fanfiction should add an additional word-checker to their site. Haha. :D

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Ok, so another decent chapter! yay! But here's my main problem with this one: the flashback style narrative you use is very interesting, but sometimes asking the reader questions gets annoying. I feel involved in the story, but I don't want to be on a tour down memory lane, I want to be in the action, you know what I mean? Anyway, I can't wait to read more, and please let me know if you want anymore characters!
Sorry about annoying you. But, the whole reason I'm writing this in first-person is because I want to bring the readers as close to the story itself as possible.
Like I've said, it's not whether I want the characters or not. If you have one, you can submit it, and I'll decide when that character will make an appearance.

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Yayy! Epic victory for Hiroto and Veemon! Although, I was a little disappointed in this chapter, it's the filler zone, I get it. Anyway, keep doin' what your doin.
Yeah, not much to contribute in that chapter, huh? Well, it's just a filler, so there's not much action.
Thanks for the encouragement.

CrossoverxToxThexDarkxSide
Yeah update!
I saw a few things, like curious spelled curios, but with the Mobile site I can't find/fix them.
Wait... curious is spelled 'curios'? I always thought it was spelled with the 'u'. I hope you like this chapter, even though it's really really really late. :)
I meant...
You had curios, and you meant to spell curious. XD
When is the next OC joining the fun?
Haha, thanks! Yeah, I can't even upload stories with the mobile site. Fanfiction should really allow us to do that. You'll have to read on to find those OCs! :D

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Again, a relatively well done chapter. I literally laughed out loud at DemiVeemon in this one! I am beginning to appreciate Hiroto's innocence, and I am curious to see what his power is. I like Selene a lot too!
However, there are several grammar mistakes, and you weren't very clear on the whole DemiVeemon/Veemon thing, and what is recess or canteens? I know the definition of them, but I am curious as to what you are using them for.
I also am not really feeling Seishirou!
Haha, thanks!
If there are mistakes, you can just state them there. For the 'recess or canteens' term, I don't fully understand it so I'll just skip it temporarily.
What do you mean by 'feeling Seishirou'?

Tendou Souji
Yo. It's been two months, has it not? I seriously thought you had abandoned this story but when I checked my mail and found out that this fic has been updated, my heart soared to the heavens. (Not really. I was just very happy)
Ah, yes. The Three Demons get some more screentime. And how do they make the best out of it? I know, why don't we all discretely but not so discretely insult Hiroto and lower his self-esteem? Gotta love them. (Again, not really)
I love the battle with the Monochromon; mainly because my OC was in it but I also liked it when Shoutmon and Veemon teamed up. The way you described Coredramon's appearance and fighting prowess was perfect. I really thought that Coredramon was Ultraman Agul. The only thing you could have done to perfect the Ultraman Agul persona was to have Coredramon do some collateral damage to his surroundings as well en route to defeating the Monochromon.
Nice to see Hiroto getting a Digivice, despite the fact that it PALES in comparison to the TransVice. Regardless of this fact, I think Hiroto would rather have an old model of Digivice that not have one at all.
Regarding your question, if Seishirou summons out Dracomon, then Seishirou would not evolve him in the middle of a fight. Even if Seishirou did, Dracomon doesn't want to. Dracomon can pretty much hold his own against most Champion-level Digimon; the reason being that he has been continuously training since the day he met Seishirou. That would be after the 01 kids defeat the Dark Masters. If the situation is dire, then Seishirou would point the TransVice at Dracomon and a stream of light will shoot out of the wings and engulf Dracomon, digivolving him into Coredramon. However, immediately after the battle, Dracomon would berate himself for relying on evolution to win and also beat his forehead with his clenched fist until blood is drawn.
Hope that answers you question. Update soon.
~Tendou Souji~
Yes, it had been a whole two months. When I realized I'd delayed that chapter for a month I was rushing to complete it. But, I had to hold more as my finals were coming up. There is absolutely no way I'm closing this story down without a good reason. No more 'Sorry, this is messed up' from me. But, in advance, sorry for this chapter being immensely late.
Haha, nice words for the Three Demons. :D
Wow, I'll be sure to keep Coredramon's destructive nature in mind the next time I write him. The only reason I didn't bring out his destructive nature was because the battleground was already darn wrecked. Hiroto's unofficial digivice is just an alternative for hiding Shoutmon. He'll get his real one soon.
Okay, I'll take that into mind. And yes, it answers my question quite well. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

ThirdTimeztheCharm
Interesting chapter. Once again, Veemon takes the cake as my favorite character! I am beginning to question Hiroto's reliability as a narrator, he seems very self-absorbed and cocky...might be something you want to tone down.
Also, I would have loved to read about his adventurous way to school! Right these things out, they could really help the reader connect with Hiroto!
Guardromon? Dwarvish? I don't see it.
Also, axe the use of "Oh, did I forget to mention?" and just mention it. It gets annoying. :P
Veemon's also my favourite character in this story, aside Hiroto. Yeah, maybe I'll reduce Hiroto's cockiness, but I doubt my abilities in doing that.
I'll try to write out those scenes I possible.
Guardromon? Dwarvish? Yeah, maybe I was mistaken on that.
Thanks for reminding me. I'll reduce my usage of that line.

ThirdTimeztheCharm
"Wait, were we talking about supporting Yuki's team? My bad, but I don't really see the upside to that."
^This line. Forever. Love it.
I think that Veemon's character development is great, he's hilarious. I hope to see some good interaction between Shoutmon and him later.
Two major problems in this chapter, other than Hiroto's god-like immunity, you never had a moment where Hiroto recognized Seshirou, and you described Coredramon as having pure gray-white claws, which doesn't make sense.
Also, why do some characters have Japanese names, but others don't? I think it's better to be consistent, or think of a way that they are living in Japan.
Also, keep on the look out for the first chapter of my story: The Travis Story (the title isn't the best :P)
That line. Forever. Love it, too.
Veemon's character development is great, but enjoy how he interacts with Shoutmon while it lasts.
Hiroto's god-like immunity... darn, I was trying to avoid that. Before I get to anything else, I apologise for not spotting his godliness before and I'll try reducing his power in the future battle scenes.
Coredramon's pure gray-white claws? Sorry, I admit I wasn't feeling in top shape when I wrote that.
Well, you can use your imagination. Maybe they're foreign, or maybe their names are just English dubs. :) Besides, if you're talking about Will or Drake, it's because their submitters wanted them to be as such. I have no say in the matter when it comes to OC biography.
I'll look out for that story when it's released. The title is important, but what's more important is the story itself. As long as the story's good, everyone will want to read it. I hope it goes well. :)

NovelistOfTheSky
Really good chapter, sorry about the late review, uni has sort of taken over down here. My tips for crowd dialouge is that even in a crowd/group, you get groups. For example, it could start off a bit of a free for all but it will eventually calm and become person 1 person 2 person 3 in one group, then person 4 and person 5 in a seperate side of the conversation. Or you could just have them talk and cut each other off and one person lead the conversation. Hope that helps.
It's okay. My chapters are pretty late, too.
Good idea. Thanks for the tips. They'll definitely help. But, what I'm trying to aim for now is the method of controlling fourteen to twenty people talking together. It might even rise to forty people, depending on whether the digidestined all meet and if their digimon actively take part in the conversation. :D

coolguilmon
question why is it only veemon what happened to th other main characters like patamon or gatomon or anything really from the main characters
This Veemon isn't the one from Adventure 02. Yes, there'll be doubles when I make Hiroto and Davis meet, but according to what I know, there'll be several more doubles joining the fray, if I'm not mistaken.

DiLost
Cool story, I've been looking for good OC Digimon fic since a while, this story has a lot of potential
By the way, here is an OC.
Name: Shirayuki 'Shira' Tenno
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Physical:5'"6 height, as for the face just look at my avatar. Usually wear white shirt and white jacket with black pants.
Personality: Sarcastic and calm outside but actually has a dominative personality (not in sexual way). He likes people who are loyal (or as he call them devoted) to him and he will repay them with his loyalty. He is also good at housework such as cooking and cleaning. In love with his sister Kanna, and is feeling guilty, while his sister think his love to her is normal in all family.
History: He grew up only with his sister after their parents were killed by a criminal. He always took care of his sister and has developed a huge sister complex. He found BlackGuilmon nearly dead. near his home and took care of him. He consider being digidestined as a way to repay BlackGuilmon help in taking care of his sister.
Origin: Tokyo, Japan
Partner: BlackGuilmon
Name: BlackGuilmon
Personality: Unlike most BlackGuilmon that are wild, this BlackGuilmon act more like Guilmon. He is childish and naive (which makes him a good friend of Kanna). If there is any enemy, he will become wild in fight. In wild state, he will follow only Shirayuki orders because his instinct realize that he owe Shirayuki his life after he was attacked by other BlackGuilmons and left near dead.
Digivolution: BlackGuilmon, BlackGrowlmon, BlackWarGrowlmon, ChaosGallantmon
Just in case, I add his sister data too.
Name: Kanna Tenno
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Physical: a little shorter than Shirayuki. She is Shirayuki twin so just think of Shirayuki with feminine face, and long ponytailed hair. Usually wear white shirt and white skirt.
Personality: Kind and naive. She is sometime clumsy and can do no housework. Shirayuki always took care of her so she is very dependant of him. She believe that all brother and sister have the same relationship as they have.
History: She grew up with Shirayuki and have always been protected by him, causing her to be naive to real life. She knew about digimons and think them as friends because BlackGuilmon always played with her.
Origin: Tokyo, Japan
If there is any problem with my OCs, please just mail me. I'll try to fix the problem.
Your OCs will be interesting to write. I can already imagine Kanne trying to calm a wild digimon down. Plus, maybe Kanna can inquire on Hiroto's relationship with his siblings.
Something optional: do you want your OC to be involved in any sports? This could help them get to know the digidestined in a different way, like through a competition or something.

That Anon Guy
I guess somewhat short sentences can help with the crowd things or they don't all say something at the same time.
And I'll be attempting with an OC, and see wether or not said OC shows up for something.
Okay, I'll keep that in mind.
Thanks.

Okay, everyone, really, really, extremely sorry for the late update. It's been, what, three months? I would really have updated sooner but I've been experiencing writer's block.

I actually had this chapter finished two weeks after Chapter 9, but I found many mistakes in that. Then, I fixed all the mistakes and added in some stuff, which took two days. Then, I realized the battle scene was too one-sided. Afterwards, I realized I was making Hiroto too godly again. Finally, I managed to revise and rewrite the whole chapter.

It's also come to mind that, in my previous chapters, I've been usually designing battles by being won with the need for power, not strategy. I'm trying to change that so you can enjoy more battles without just reading, "For my comrades, I will defeat you!" and all that in later chapters. Hopefully the battle scene in this chapter is apology enough for the lateness of this update.

Enjoy!

---

Digimon Miracles
The Start of Miracles
Chapter 10: A Miracle Takes Three

Remember how I wanted to watch Yuki fail against the Okinawa team? Yeah, I'm not going to have the pleasure for a while.

After the Monochromon dissolved to data, I made my way to stadium ASAP with Veemon and Shoutmon well-stuffed in my bag. Due to my unbelievably bad luck, the journey to the stadium was unfortunately eventful. There were malfunctioning traffic lights, cars zooming at much more than the speed limit, and overhead bridges under construction almost everywhere. So, I guess you can see I was nowhere close to getting to the stadium on time.

The stadium was a magnificent sight to behold. The coliseum-like building rose several dozen metres above the ground. Around twelve feet from ground level, lights were placed at intervals of half a dozen metres. Fences of radius five hundred yards surrounded the stadium and enclosed the grassy fields the structure was built on. There were several concrete paths specially for spectators to walk on, and along this stretch were several food stalls.

From outside, I could already hear the cheering of the crowd. On a normal day, this stadium could be packed to a maximum of six thousand people. If the match was really extreme, such as this one, they would try squeezing people in to bring the number to seven thousand spectators at a time. I felt envious I wasn't in there but I was determined to be.

Sadly, the guard on-duty wouldn't let me. At all. He went on and on about how I was late, how I didn't have a ticket, and how he was supposed to stick to a disciplined and neat schedule. Despite this, the guardhouse that he was posted to was completely filthy. Papers littered the tables and floors. A bottle of Coke was modified to be an experimental rocket, but the fizz had already leaked out. Several pens rolled around the work table, whereas a picture of Superman hung on the wall.

"You call that disciplined and neat?" I pointed to the desk in the guardhouse.

The guard hesitated for a moment, before moving to block my view. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave this place."

After a few minutes of pointless debating and arguing, I gave up trying to justify myself over his inadequate work performance. I turned to telling stories about Yuki. Every embarrassing tale that Yuki had, including the sticky icky mess that she made this morning, I disclosed to him. For the first two tales, the guard acted uninterested. But, by the sixth story, he was already leaning against the fence holding his gut in pain. He laughed so much his mouth would be numb for the next coming minutes.

All in all, I got my entry pass and indirectly embarrassed Yuki so it's a win-win situation. By now the match was only two to three minutes from full time. However, I didn't care much about how Yuki's team played, what tactics they used, and all the junk that they call 'skill'. I only want to know whether they won or lost, and by what margin. I'm not interested in anything my sister does on the field since it's usually somewhere along my lines of 'I don't care'.

But before I got in, Rinji showed up. Ugh. My day just got worse tenfold.

If it was just another guard showing up I would've ducked between his legs and made a dash for the seats. But now it was Rinji, and I'm sure I don't have to reiterate how strict he can be, especially when it comes to me. Mentally, I weighed the options: watching how Yuki was doing, or staying alive. Oh crap, why did I always have to make such drastic decisions?

Reluctantly, I exited the stadium. Rinji didn't look happy and I didn't want to push his buttons, no matter how tempting that would've been. He's already made my life miserable; I don't need him constantly turning my life upside down, though that probably sum up what he does.

Finally, after what-seemed-like hours and hours of waiting (which was actually just fifteen minutes, but you get the idea), the game officially ended. The crowd of over six thousand spectators flooded the exits in the next few seconds. Against my will, the flood of people washed me even further from the stadium. Plus, with the big crowd and all the tall people around I couldn't spot Selene anywhere in the crowd.

Minutes later, Selene called out my name from behind and I managed to locate her. But, it wasn't until twice that amount of time that we were able to meet up thanks to the still-huge crowd that filled the place.

"Hey! Where were you? You missed the match!" Selene said.

"The guard wouldn't let me in. Well, he was about to until Rinji cut in."

"Well, bummer. Anyway, what took you so long? Maybe Seishirou could've gotten you in like he did for me. He was on the VIP list."

"He was on the- Wait, are you serious?" I fumed. Seishirou got here not more than a week ago and he was allowed in for free. I was one of the candidates for this match but I couldn't even get a sneak peek of the show.

"Yeah. So, why were you late?" Selene quizzed.

"Well, Seishirou didn't exactly take care of the Monochromon. Speaking of the kid, where is he?" I asked.

"Seishirou had to rush home for something," Selene shrugged. "Now, back to the Monochromon thing; how did you get away?"

"What makes you think I had to get away?"

"Come on, Hiroto. Don't play this game with me," Selene smiled. "We both know very well how you were holding out against the creature, so don't tell me you defeated it by some sheer miracle."

"Oh, then how ironic is this? I actually beat it!" I faked an exited cheer. "It was difficult, but with Shoutmon's help, Veemon and I were able to beat the oversized lizard."

"Shoutmon...?" Selene wondered.

"Yeah, Shoutmon. You know, Drake's Shoutmon?"

"Drake's Shoutmon?" Selene exclaimed. "The Shoutmon that tried to kill you on more than one occasion?"

"Umm, leaving out the former part, yeah," I confirmed. "I don't see what you're getting so worked up about."

"Okay, let me get this straight... or as straight as I can. You teamed up with Drake's Shoutmon just because he helped you defeat one digimon?"

"Like I said, yeah," I repeated. "Sure he tried to annihilate me twice and you once, but come on, the little guy was under Drake's influence."

"How do you know he's not under Drake's influence now?" Selene countered.

"Okay... that I didn't think of but it's something my gut is telling me," I stated. I knew the term 'united we stand' and ever since recent events I stood firmly by it. "Come on, you guys can digivolve your digimon. Why can't I just have another digimon to add to my team to even the odds? You might not always have to come to my rescue, too."

"So you're stuffing both of them in your bag now?"

"Technically, yeah. I'm squeezing DemiVeemon in my bag-"

"And it totally hurts," DemiVeemon's muffled voice came. At least I knew he was still alive.

"-and I stored Shoutmon in a digivice he gave me," I finished.

"Digivice? Did you say he gave you a digivice?" Selene asked. I nodded. "And is it real?"

"Well, according to Shoutmon, some of his friends back in the digital world created it for him so that his human partner could carry him around easily."

"Then you better be careful," Selene warned in a serious tone. "No one's ever even had the gall to create a digivice, but based on what some of our seniors say, the results could be catastrophic. Depending on what you're using it for, it could easily blow up an entire town, or worst case scenario, the entire country."

"You've got to be kidding me. It's that serious?" My eyes widened in surprise. "I'm just using it to store Shoutmon so I don't have to lug two digimon around everywhere I go. Is that dangerous?"

"Well, I guess if you use it to store him – and only to store a digimon – it should be safe. Only serious stuff like digivolving would cause casualties. Higher levels of digivolution are more dangerous if used with a fake digivice."

"Oh... I think I get it," I mused.

"Digivolution is a very powerful process," Selene continued explaining. "The energy needed for digivolution would be negative in a self-made digivice, so the energy they emit will only counteract one another, creating-"

"I know, I know, I know," I yapped, "I said I got it."

"Well, okay then," Selene shrugged.

"So, back to the match, how was it?" I asked. "Who won? When the crowd came out, some were smiling, some were drooping and the others looked like they'd just witnessed a miracle."

"Well, the score was 6-0," Selene said. I was like, 'What in the world! 6-0! Is Yuki's team that powerful!' until she added in, "The Okinawans won by that huge a margin."

"Are you- you actually... serious...?" I stuttered. Not in my whole life would I have been able to imagine Yuki losing like that to someone else besides me. I know I've said bad things about her in the past, but her soccer skills were one of the things I personally respected about her. Make her and I work together in a team and we're the ultimate winning machine... not that I'd like to think about that much.

"Mmm-hmm," Selene nodded. "There was one girl on the Okinawan team – a blonde – who moved gracefully across the field, whether or not the ball was in her possession. She danced across all the players swiftly and scored every goal with style. Compared the her, Yuki's team was left dumbfounded and in her tracks every single time."

"Dorumon," I called out. I got a muffled reply from Selene's bag. "She's overselling the girl, isn't she?"

"Yup," came the reply.

"Hey!" Selene snapped at Dorumon, who remained quiet.

"Okay, ignoring the fact that the blond girl is supposed to be very good, the fact remains that Yuki lost badly. So, want to have a celebration?" I asked.

"Actually, I already invited Seishirou and your friends to a celebration we're having tomorrow. Want to come?"

Hearing 'Seishirou' and 'your friends' made me feel queasy, but I had nothing else to do, so I just agreed.

"Okay, Sushi Heaven, one o'clock. Don't be late. Last one there pays for the whole group," she winked before running off.

I considered how punctual I always was, before voicing out, "I am doomed."

Reading my mind, Veemon agreed, "Yes, you are."

"If it's another digimon attack that slows me down, I'm making you pay for it, Veemon," I retaliated. This time he stayed silent.

When I got home, I found that my siblings were still out. My guess is they're bringing Yuki out to comfort her. Between you and me, I feel for her. I really do. Despite the fact that I hate her with every fibre in my body, whenever it came to soccer, the level of resentment between us would deteriorate into just extreme competitive rivalry.

In the living room, I unzipped my bag. DemiVeemon bounded to the kitchen faster than you could say 'chocolate bar' and emptied out all chocolate bars in sight. By the time I reached the kitchen, Veemon had finished three bars of chocolate and was forcing a fourth and fifth into his mouth at the same time. In front of him was a jar of lemonade on the table which was mysteriously already half-empty. I should sign him up for a contest sometime.

Back in the living room, I took Shoutmon's digivice out and fondled with it for a second. "Hey, Shoutmon?" I called out, hoping there would be an answer. I felt like a total idiot talking to a mobile phone which wasn't even a mobile phone in the first place. I know Shoutmon's in there somewhere, but I still felt awkward.

"Yeah?" Shoutmon answered.

"How do I get you back out?"

"That's easy. You press the screen."

Figures. That was the only thing on the digivice. Although I was hoping for something more, I guess this would have to do. But you have to admit, having fancy flashes and all that does boost morale. I did as he asked and the screen flashed white thrice before releasing a swirl of data pieces. Data shone brightly as it swirled into a mini-tornado, slowly forming the silhouette of Shoutmon. Then, the brightness disappeared with a flash.

"This thing works like a charm!" I exclaimed, holding the digivice up for inspection.

"Did you actually think I would give you a piece of junk?" Shoutmon snorted before adding, "Don't answer that."

I slumped myself on the couch while Shoutmon made his way to the kitchen casually. He joined Veemon in his eating spree, though Shoutmon magnetized to burgers instead. He gathered some ingredients from the fridge – buns, vegetables, tomato, meat, cheese, and some orange juice – before adding them all up to form a nine-inch-tall burger. And he drenched the whole thing in orange juice. Note, when he started eating none of the ingredients were defrosted yet.

Me? I sat on the couch watching TV. I didn't realize how tired fighting the Monochromon had made me until I rested my muscles on the soft surface of the sofa. I felt like I could enter a hibernating race with a bear. Since I didn't feel like sleeping, napping, or fainting, I just watched television. Mainly, I surfed the channels watching shows that always just air repeats. Then, I gave up and read my manga collection.

Rinji, Mai, and Yuki returned late in the evening. Yuki danced into the house with her hands full of baggages. She was as happy as could be, except I could still see disappointment behind that mask of cheerfulness. I didn't see how shopping could help one release frustration... must be a girl thing. Still, spending what is estimated to be a hundred and eighty five thousand yen should really at least perk her up.

The next day, I awoke to DemiVeemon and Shoutmon playing racing games on the gaming console. They stated they had tried waking me up dozens of times throughout the night, but just proceeded with their slumber party when I slept like a log. The first thirty minutes of waking up was spent not washing my face but instead cleaning up their mess. And was that... oh, gross. I have to tell Shoutmon where the toilet is from now on.

I had breakfast and watched TV shows until eleven or so. Breakfast was dull but educational. I learnt that, eat your food with two energetic digimon around and you tend to spill your food a lot. For TV shows, there was still nothing interesting on. I just continued reading mangas like a bookworm, though the type I read won't add to my vocabulary or grammar much.

Around twelve thirty, I departed for the Sushi Heaven restaurant. It was a restaurant specially where you could order sushi. There are many types of these restaurants littered around Japan, though I have to admit Sushi Heaven is one of the best I've tasted. It's also quite costly, too. Spend five hours in there and even the richest of men will have half their wealth stripped away.

I got to the restaurant in record time. No cars or anything to slow me down today. My luck was holding out, though having this much luck meant I'd have to pay for it later. Maybe being ambushed by three super-digimon at once? I don't know and I don't care. For now I just want to dig in and forget all my troubles.

The restaurant itself wasn't much to look at from the outside. The walls were painted brown and were brick-themed. The transparent windows were shielded from sunlight by bamboo shutters from the inside. The words 'Sushi Heaven' were written in cursive above the doors and windows. The contrasting yellow colour of the words were written in cursive above the door, but that was the only reference to it being a sushi restaurant. Any regular tourist would've overlooked the shop as a garden emporium.

The magic wasn't outside the restaurant, but it was inside. When you enter, it's like stepping into an entirely different world. The room was moderately-lit by ceiling lights, giving the room a cool and calm aura. There was a conveyor belt in the shape of an oval in the middle of the room where sushis were placed for browsing and purchasing. Within the oval worked several professional sushi masters. Elsewhere, the tables were arranged in a neatly grid-like fashion, except for some big round ones at the center of the room.

I spotted Selene sitting at one of the large tables. For now, she was the only one there, so I hadn't needed to worry about expending my entire life's allowance just to treat our group lunch. I sat beside her and placed my bag under the table as she had. DemiVeemon grunted upon being dropped on the floor, but made no move after that.

"So I guess I don't have to worry about people bankrupting me anytime soon," I joked to break the silence.

"No, actually everyone else already came more than ten minutes ago," Selene stated. "Your watch must be malfunctioning or something. You should have it checked. I said one o'clock, so why are you here at ten past one?"

"You for real?" My spirits broke. Now I would be walking home with empty pockets.

"I don't get why you never make it on time," Selene said. "You're always either unlucky or just totally forgetful. Don't you have a watch or something to keep you on time on a normal basis?"

"Well, I have a clock at home but it runs slow sometimes and I've never gotten a wristwatch, so no," I answered. Shoutmon beeped a bit, but I paid him no mind.

"Hey, Hiroto!" Minnie greeted me from behind, patting my shoulder with her slightly wet and undried hands. People have got to start using the dryers or tissues in the toilets.

"I am doomed," I said.

"How's everything?" Dylan asked, following Minnie with his laptop in hand.

"I am doomed," I repeated.

Yuna was playing around on her phone, but she too noticed me and greeted me.

Once again, "I am doomed."

Seishirou and Lance were the last ones to arrive at the table, but they had sushis in hand so they clearly went to get their pick of sushis before any ran out. They were talking something about soccer, though through the chatter of my friends the only things I caught were the words 'dribbling' and 'shooting'. They were no doubt discussing about the previous day's match.

Seeing them, I added again, "I am doomed," and banged my head on the table.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Yuna asked, putting her phone away.

"There are seven of us, we're hungry for sushi, each one costs at least eight hundred yen, and I came last. What do you think?" I said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Well, it's your funeral," Dylan said.

"Anyway, where were you yesterday?" Lance asked after finishing his conversation with Seishirou. "You missed a great match."

"Well, honestly speaking I was held up by some of Seishirou's unfinished work."

"I didn't know you knew how to work," Seishirou spoke up.

"Well, your loss," I replied.

"Okay, I know Selene told me I forgot to finish off the Monochromon. I'm sorry for that since it could've been a very traumatizing-"

"And deadly," I added.

"-incident for you. But you survived, didn't you?"

"You do realize he got a new partner, right?" Selene backed me up.

Seishirou choked on his tea. "Hiroto, digidestined can only have one digimon."

"This so-called partner is Shoutmon," Selene added. "The same Shoutmon that I told you attacked Hiroto twice and me once."

Seishirou's eyes widened. "Okay, forget what I said just now. Hiroto, either you're very smart and you've made friends with the enemy, or you're too stupid to see that your enemy's made friends with you. Though I prefer the latter, it's your choice."

"Yeah, 'stupid', and you're talking to the kid who made it this far without the help of digivolution, unlike you," I retorted.

"The fact that you haven't been killed by any of the digimon so far is because there are people whose digimon can attain digivolution are there to help you out."

"But if I can last until they get there, it's good enough, isn't it?" I provoked, "Even if the said digidestined doesn't always make sure he's actually defeated the digimon before he walks away full of pride and smug with victory."

"Whoa," Yuna intervened. "What's with the two of you? You're suddenly getting so worked up. It's like you can't even sit at the same table."

"We can't," the two of us said in sync.

"This is going nowhere," Lance sighed.

Seishirou and I glared at one another, building up tension. First, I thought he was a nobody when he came to the school. Then, he aced the classes. 'Okay, he's super smart,' I told myself. Then, my friends flocked to him like bees to honey. I still kept my cool since I thought I was a digidestined. Then, this kid ruins it by turning out to be the most talented digidestined I've met so far, rivaled only by Will, whom I didn't even know so well.

"Can we have a minute?" Seishirou asked, and led me out of the restaurant.

I didn't know what he wanted, but for the sake of getting done with it I followed him out. For all I knew he could've set a trap outside and asked Dracomon to incinerate me alive before I even knew what was happening.

"What do you want?" I asked, once the doors to the restaurant were safely shut behind us.

"I don't mean to argue with you, but why do you have to be such a social reject?"

I was taken aback by this comment. "I am not a social reject. I have friends-"

"And who have they been with most lately?"

That was really crossing the line. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was talking about Yuna, Lance, Minnie, and Dylan. "If you brought me out here just to brag about how good a time you're having, you can forget it. Just because they're not around doesn't mean I'm a complete loner."

"Exactly."

His words hit me like an arrow. I won't lie; the past few days of my life were dark compared to others. But, despite all this I had also made friends, friends like DemiVeemon, Shoutmon, Selene and Will, and to a lesser extent, this Seishirou kid who was currently giving me a lecture. I had been so focused on the fact that Seishirou 'stole' my friends that I haven't realized I had made new ones in the process.

"Why do you think your friends needed some time away from you?" Seishirou asked.

The answer clicked in my mind like a gear. "I was starting to distance myself, wasn't I?"

By now, I was sure that Seishirou knew every history there was to know about me and my friends. The only question here was: to what extent? Did he just know of recent events, or did his knowledge extend to that of my first few days at Saikou? Either way, he knew stuff about me and not vice versa.

"After meeting Veemon, you showed him to them, right? They took it as okay back then because they didn't know what would happen next," Seishirou explained. "They never expected to be in a life-threatening situation like what happened with Drake. Worse still, your 'job' got into their personal lives when they lost to Yuki."

I was starting to get it all in place in my head... except for one thing. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because we're supposedly the next set of digidestined and I can't risk having you and I at each other's throat's all the time."

I could see it now: Seishirou Syuusuke, deleted by an enemy digimon because his rival thought it would be funny to secretly use him as bait. "But why tell me all this now?"

"Well, I had to enjoy having friends, right?" Seishirou asked, giving me a smile I concluded would be super-rare. "Most of my life people just befriended me because of my talents. I never felt what it was like to have friends who actually cared about how you felt or how you did. Before this, the only one I had to go for comfort was Selene."

"You do know the school offers counseling classes for loners, right?"

"Then why didn't you take it up?"

"I have friends."

"Yes, you have friends." Seishirou stressed the word. "Do you know that half the time your friends were with me, they were talking about how great you were?"

"Wait, seriously?"

"Don't think that just because they're consciously apart from you for a few days means that they've cut off all ties to you. Yesterday at the stadium, when Selene and I got there, they kept insisting that one of the seats in the middle – the ones with the perfect view – was reserved for you and you only."

"You're not lying, right?" I asked suspiciously. My friends were definitely like that, I'd know, but after going through those past few days I was starting to feel doubtful... so doubtful I preferred slapping myself twenty times than thinking about it.

"Definitely," Seishirou replied. "So can we eat? I'm starving and you're paying."

I groaned. "Please don't remind me."

Seishirou turned to enter. I almost followed when another nerve twitched. Without another thought I knew it was a digimon in the vicinity. It always was. Whenever I got this sudden feeling I knew there would be a fight sometime soon. I turned around, hoping to find the digimon hiding somewhere waiting to ambush me. Luckily, no sort of digimon were in the area.

"You sense something?" Seishirou asked. "Digidestined aren't supposed to be able to 'sense' digimon. That's their partner's job. So why can you?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I don't even know the full basics of a digidestined yet. How am I supposed to know why I can do what I can do?"

"Okay..." Seishirou conceded. "So what do you sense?"

I looked around once more. "I'm not sure. I still don't have this whole 'I sense a digimon' thing down. Personally, I wish I couldn't do this. It always messes up my free time."

Shoutmon's digivice beeped wildly in my bag. I retrieved it, but the beeping only intensified until I shook the item roughly several times. "Hiroto! It's Drake! I can sense him!"

"What?" I gasped. Drake?
"This Drake is Shoutmon's owner, right?" Seishirou guessed.

"Yeah." I looked around once more, paranoid that Drake might ambush me from somewhere. "I better get going. Drake's the type of person who would destroy an entire building just looking for someone. And for better or worse, I think he's hunting for me."

"Hold on," Seishirou stopped me. "You don't know where to go to find him."

"I think Shoutmon can do that just fine," I said. I got a beep of agreement from the little guy.

"Are you sure?" Seishirou pressed.

DemiVeemon pushed around in my bag. "I think, if Shoutmon fails, DemiVeemon's constant struggling will lead me there no problem. Besides, I keep getting the feeling that I know where he is."

"Which is?" Seishirou raised an eyebrow.

"That way," I absentmindedly pointed. I don't know how I knew but my index finger just thrust in that direction automatically.

"If you're so intent on going, I'll call Selene," Seishirou answered. "Better three than one."

Just then, my internal nerves tingled like crazy. "I don't think I have the time. You call her if you want. I'm going first."

I took off in the direction, heading down one of the less populated streets. Behind me, I heard Seishirou give a sigh of defeat and race after me.

"I'm coming too!"

I felt relieved. I knew I didn't get along too well with him but that guy's digimon was one powerhouse. Something within me told me that Drake would be much stronger than before. I would need a lot of help to defeat him this time and I was glad Seishirou would be there to provide me with necessary backup.

Along the way, we weaved our way expertly through half a dozen people. For me, it came easily to direct my way around some people in the way since I commonly played soccer; it was natural for a player to be able to string his way past defenders. But Seishirou did much better than I thought he would; the kid actually kept up with me the whole way, and I'll never admit this but he was slowly catching up.

Finally, we arrived at our destination: a T-junction. I don't know why I knew it was here. When we reached this spot I just seemed to forget where I was supposed to go. I double-checked with Shoutmon but even he stated this was where he sensed his former partner the most. DemiVeemon was also struggling a lot now, so I knew he was itching for an incoming fight.

The T-junction we were at wasn't exactly best of quality – the exact place Drake would choose for a showdown. There were lamp posts stationed at every corner of the junction but all of them malfunctioned, as once in a while I saw some static electricity sparking off. The buildings surrounding us were of corroded cement and faded paint from the passage of time. Even the roads weren't even anymore; they were broken here and there.

Suddenly, "Erase Claw!" a hoarse voice called from above.

Seishirou and I looked up and saw a shadowy figure dashing down to us at high speed from at most two hundred metres away. I rolled out of the way while Seishirou jumped backwards twice. We moved just in the nick of time, too. The figure's claws hit the ground and, everywhere the claws touched, the ground disintegrated into pieces of data. Within a second, he had already formed a crater half a metre deep and created a whole billow of smoke surrounding him.

In an instant, I had both DemiVeemon and Shoutmon out for battle. DemiVeemon digivolved and got into a battle stance, already itching for a fight due to yesterday's so-called victory. Shoutmon wielded his mike proudly in his hands, ready for his second battle with Veemon and I.

Seishirou retrieved his TransVice and slid his fingers over the blue crystal in the center. The pair of wings on the device shot open and released a familiar stream of light from between them. The light shot out all the way into the sky, materializing into a vortex which Coredramon descended from in all his glory.

As the smoke around the enemy faded, I got a good look at him. The digimon was humanoid in shape with gray skin – body, tail, and all – with shiny metal plates embedded into his shoulders and legs. Talk about a gross mutated cyborg. His claws were of average length, slight curve, and pure destruction. There was a metal mask covering his upper face, leaving no holes for even his eyes or ears. Two horns stuck out behind his head. He also had a set of wings that were (surprise, surprise) torn.

I heard footsteps approach from behind the atrocious monster. I was about to yell for the newcomer to run when I realized he was none other than Drake. He strode into the battlefield beside what-I'm-suspecting is his new partner. His longsword hung firmly on his back, glimmering in the sunlight. He still had that same look on his face that told you he was going to rip you to shreds.

"So that's Drake," Seishirou observed.

"Yeah, but there's something off about him..." I said.

Veemon spoke up, "Maybe he got a new haircut? No, that's not it. I know! He shined his sword! That's why it looked better than before!"

"I've got it! Drake's aura!" Shoutmon said.

"That would make sense..." Seishirou pondered.

"But why wouldn't we have noticed this before?" I asked.

"Well, a digidestined's aura usually grows under certain circumstances. For instance, when the digidestined is in grave danger, when he's with his digimon partner, or when his partner is at a higher level of power," Seishirou explained.

"Let's forget about the second one?" Shoutmon plead.

"There are five levels a digimon is known to have – In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. Right now, Coredramon's what you would call a Champion digimon. Veemon and Shoutmon are Rookie digimon. Get the picture?" Seishirou turned to me.

I nodded. If digimon were this complicated, I think I'd have a better chance at the international exams.

"What level do you think that digimon of his is at?" I asked Seishirou.

"I know! I know!" Veemon interrupted. "It's got to be higher than In-Training, right?"

Seishirou ignored Veemon's talk. That annoyed me a bit but even I found Veemon a bit too hyper at times, and I was supposedly his partner. "Based on how strong you're sensing him as, I'd say he's probably a Champion or an Ultimate. I'd vote for him being the latter."

"So we're facing an Ultimate digimon?" Shoutmon asked. Seishirou replied with a nod.

"We are so doomed," I muttered.

Seishirou continued. "When your digimon partner is at a higher stage, then your aura will grow as well. Let's take Selene for instance. When Dorumon, a Rookie kinda' like Veemon and Shoutmon, digivolves, do you realize that you get a little smarter?"

Veemon and I stared at each other blankly. Smarter? "No," we both replied.

"Okay, then I really don't know what's wrong with you," Seishirou said finally. "But considering the fact that Drake is radiating terror into his enemies, I'd say he's the digidestined of Anything-Related-to-Terror."

"Well," Veemon said energetically, punching his fist into his other palm, "Hiroto's got to be the Digidestined of Whatever-Has-To-Do-With-Kicking-Butt, 'cause I feel like kicking butt!"

"Veemon, you always want to kick butt," I reasoned.

"I've only known you for less than twenty-four hours and even I know that," Shoutmon backed me up.

Drake interrupted our discussion. "Cyberdramon, attack!" he commanded.

"Got it!" Cyberdramon roared. The buildings around us shook for a moment.

Cyberdramon flapped his wings once, sending a huge gust of wind our way. Seishirou was protected by Coredramon, who conveniently just had to open up his wings as shields. Veemon, Shoutmon, and I were less lucky. The wind buffeted us in the face and I had to cover my face with my hands to actually reduce the force of the wind. Even then, I was actually forced back a few inches.

"That was... amazing..." Shoutmon stammered.

"Yeah..." I agreed.

"Hey, you done talking?" Drake yelled. "I see you've got Shoutmon on your side! Might as well, too, considering that weaklings should stick with weaklings!"

Shoutmon tensed at the comment. Being around his former digidestined, one who was probably the first human he met, must've really got to him, seeing as how we were on different sides.

"Why you-!" I almost ran at him when Seishirou stopped me.

"Hiroto, don't fall for the bait," he said. "He's trying to lure you in so he can easily finish you off."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" I snapped. Seishirou had that covered.

"Coredramon," Seishirou ordered, and with the glance of an eye his digimon partner understood his commands.

Coredramon took off in flight towards Cyberdramon, intent on dealing the first blow. Seishirou and Coredramon were experts as digidestined, so I had to refrain myself from joining in the fight in case I accidentally got in their way. Unfortunaetly, Veemon didn't feel or think the same way.

"Chocolate!" Veemon's battle cry sounded. He ran towards Cyberdramon as well.

By now, Coredramon had already engaged Cyberdramon in battle. The former was holding off pretty well against Drake's new addition, yet Cyberdramon was fending off the attacks not bad either. Every scratch sent was returned, every block used was repeated. It was like watching a fight against two mirrors. I was quite taken back, seeing as Coredramon was, as Seishirou put it, a Champion whereas Cyberdramon was an Ultimate.

Everything was leading to a stalemate, which in our perspective was quite good... until Veemon jumped in.

Veemon punched Cyberdramon in the head but it accomplished nothing. Cyberdramon didn't feel it and didn't show any sign of annoyance either. Veemon was like a fly pestering him, something that he only needed to swat away. With a simple swipe of his hand, Cyberdramon did send Veemon flying. Coredramon, acting upon instict, grabbed Veemon in midair, though this opened him up to one of Cyberdramon's tail slams.

Both Veemon and Coredramon were thrown backwards by the impact. Cyberdramon dashed after them, not planning to give them any recovery time. His speed mid-flight was really commendable. He had his claws outstretched, and any moment now Veemon and Coredramon would be torn to shreds.

Shoutmon and I locked gazes before we both nodded in silent approval. Shoutmon threw his mike from his right hand to his left, while I grasped his right arm firmly.

"Cyberdramon! Over here!" I yelled, getting the digimon's attention.

I calculated how far Cyberdramon would've advanced within the next few seconds and with all my might, I propelled Shoutmon towards him. Shoutmon grasped his mike with both hands and held it above his head. Cyberdramon actually turned his head to face the oncoming threat, though he didn't slow down.

"Soul Crusher!" Shoutmon yelled.

His body was bathed in a screen of red aura. He brought the mike down on Cyberdramon with enough force to give someone a concussion. However, it did little to the Ultimate digimon. If anything, Shoutmon's attack backfired as he himself was blown back by his own attack. Cyberdramon only intensified the hit by smacking Shoutmon away with the back of his palm.

Shoutmon crashed into a nearby building. He was injured but still overall fine. I doubted the reasons I'd used him as a distraction in the first place but our goal was achieved – Coredramon had regained his balance and snatched Veemon out of the air, landing safely beside Seishirou.

Shoutmon shook his head and wobbled out of the small crater he'd created in the concrete wall. "That hurt..."

"Let's do it again!" Veemon cheered.

I sighed. "I really need to re-evaluate my life."

"Hiroto," Seishirou called, eyeing Drake. I turned to face him. "Drake has a longsword on his back; does he use it often?"

"Often? He uses it all the time he fights!" I burst.

"Okay. Then you, Veemon, and Shoutmon take Drake on," Seishirou planned. "Coredramon will be enough to handle Cyberdramon. Just to make sure, I'll keep an eye out for any openings that Cyberdramon has."

"Wait, what?" I gasped. "No way am I letting you handle this alone! I'm in on the action, too!"

"Hiroto, listen," Seishirou said. "You take out Drake because he's literally the more dangerous one of the pair. From what Selene told me, his skills with the blade are frightful. If Coredramon were to go up against him, he'd only have an advantage if he attacked from the sky. But, if the three of you went and took Drake on, it would be easier because the three of you aren't as big as Coredramon. Therefore, you'll have a simpler time evading his attacks."

I stood there dumbfounded. Seishirou had all that deduced in just a matter of seconds. From now on, I held that guy in a higher position of respect. "How long have you actually been a digidestined?"

Seishirou actually smirked – smirked – at this comment. "Just keep Drake busy, and once one of us finishes up we'll help the other."

"Got it," I gave him a thumbs up.

Veemon, not wanting to lose out on the action, also gave him a thumbs up. "And don't worry if you lose! You'll just be buying my chocolate supply for the next year!"

Seishirou smiled, until I told him Veemon meant business by that statement. With this, he paled as he thought about his budget.

"Okay, so do we have a plan?" Seishirou asked. I nodded in confirmation. "Very well, then! Coredramon!"

Coredramon took to the skies once again, provoking Cyberdramon to follow suit and take their battle to the skies. When they were at a certain level, Seishirou motioned for me to go off. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I would ever get on par with that kid in terms of being a digidestined. Nevertheless, with Veemon and Shoutmon at my heels, I ran at Drake, who now stood alone in the midst of all the chaos.

Drake, noticing that we was advancing towards him, drew his longsword and charged at us, taking his attention off Cyberdramon. Within the next few seconds, he delivered three accurately deadly slashes, all of which I almost barely evaded. One was headed for Veemon and as usual he deflected it with his forehead, although the impact sent him careening back a little.

Once or twice, Shoutmon steeled his nerves against his former partner and attempted for close combat. But, the fact remained that Drake was ex-partner, so he couldn't actually get Drake out of his head long enough to perform an attack. As a result, Drake would always send him jumping back in fear with a slash of his blade.

Once, I made a small miscalculation in my steps and stumbled a little. Drake saw this as an opportunity to strike and sadly neither of my digimon were close enough to directly help. Drake and slashed horizontally in my direction twice. I dodged the first and evaded behind an electrical pole for the second. The pole was cut in half and in a fit of adrenaline, I jumped up and roundhouse kicked it towards Drake. As it threatened to squash him, Drake sliced it in half with shocking ease.

Two seconds later, I realized this was a bad idea. As the electrical pole fell to the ground, so did all the wires connecting to it. Several snapped and ran wild on the ground, threatening to electrocute anyone who dared go near with thousands of volts of electricity. I even had to watch my step while I inched my way towards my digimon to avoid getting fried.

"Erase Claw!" Cyberdramon yelled.

I looked over and saw Cyberdramon flying at Coredramon with his claws at the ready. Coredramon, waiting for the right moment to dodge, ascended within the last second. Cyberdramon's claws dug their way deep into the building behind Coredramon, deleting what he touched within the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, Cyberdramon had hit a beam holding the building up. The rumble shook down to the ground, and the ground floor pillar cracked. Coredramon dashed downwards to support the building's now shaking foundations, albeit leaving himself wide open to attacks. Cyberdramon descends a bit, staring in smug victory at Coredramon's current condition. He couldn't even fire his beam in fear that he would lost his concentration and let the whole building collapse.

Finally, after what seemed like five long seconds of agonizing waiting, Cyberdramon used another Erase Claw on the ceiling above Coredramon's head. The ceiling broke, and anything not deleted by the attack came crashing down on Coredramon. I caught sight of Seishirou's eyes widening as he watched blocks of cement seemingly collapse onto his partner.

Coredramon finally deemed the building out of his power to save, and looked up, energy charging in his mouth. Then, with a strong burst of energy, he fired off an intense flame that incinerated anything in its way. I could practically see the line of blue energy pierce through the sky with its azure glow. It would've been an eye-catching sight, one to behold, if it weren't for Cyberdramon already getting ready to go another round.

Cyberdramon acted quicker than the still rejuvenating Coredramon, grabbing him by the waist. Then, he proceeded to smash him to the ground. However, before his attempts bore fruit, Coredramon charged up the same energy, threatening to engulf him if he didn't escape. Coredramon let loose with his lethal weapon again, lighting up the sky, though Cyberdramon had already let go to dodge the ferocious attack.

Coredramon dashed upwards, leaving Cyberdramon in the dust. The latter soon caught on to events and gave chased. Suddenly, Coredramon stopped in his tracks and zipped back down again, forcing the bigger digimon into a deadlock. Coredramon, with the help of his momentum and gravity itself, seemed to be having an easier time than Cyberdramon.

"Coredramon's good," I mumbled.

"Yeah..." Veemon agreed. It was seldom that he praised anything, so I took it that he really was amazed.

It was Shoutmon whose ears first picked up the sound of metal sliding across gravel. He turned around and we followed on cue to see Drake supporting himself with his sword. The death glare was still etched in his eyes. Any normal person to unluckily see him would faint of fear right away.

Shoutmon yells into his microphone, creating a shriek that amplified through his mike. It was one for record books. Veemon, Seishirou, and I covered our ears immediately. Coredramon and Cyberdramon were luckily only slightly affected as they were high up in the sky. But, the one thing I noticed was that Drake covered his ears as well. Veemon, seeing this as the key opportuniy, ran forward to punch. I would've stopped him, though my voice was nothing compared to this frighteningly loud noise Shoutmon was making.

Veemon was about to launch into his famous flurry of lightning combo and thunderous head butts when Drake gripped his longsword and wildly slashed it around. Veemon was forced backwards. By now, Shoutmon had eased his voice and I ran forward in time to pull Veemon back from a strike that would very well have dissected him. Drake gave us two slashes as a welcoming present, and I only barely managed to evade both.

Shoutmon, during all this, had sneaked up behind Drake and was ready to ambush him from behind. "Soul Crusher!" he yelled.

"Wha-?" Drake asked surprised, turning around to see his ex-digimon partner about to smash him in the face.

At the last minute, Shoutmon hesitated. Oh no, I thought. This was going to be a disaster. Shoutmon's hesitance gave Drake enough time to whip around his sword and give a violent slash. Shoutmon shook himself out of his own delusional state and blocked the hit with his mike. Then, Drake raised his leg and kicked Shoutmon out of the way.

To stop him from finishing Shoutmon off, I applied the same tactics I had used against Cyberdramon to Veemon. I grabbed him by the waist, though he was much more unwilling than Shoutmon, and spun once before flinging him at Drake. Drake, hearing Veemon's screams of terror, turns around and hits Veemon with the hilt of his blade, deflecting the small digimon onto the road.

Drake seemed to see me as a bigger threat (or an easier target, whichever suits most) than both my half-unconscious digimon. He danced around with his sword with much more mastery than he had before. It made me doubt whether I had been wise not to invite Selene to the party. Lucky for me, my reflexes kept me alive and out of his reach.

But, one particular horizontal strike caught me off guard. I quickly spun around a corner to avoid it, panting as I rested against the wall. I hadn't expected Drake's sword to slice through the cement as easily as butter. Pain coursed through my arm as I felt the cold metal cut through my sleeve and press against my skin. But, I breathed out in relief once I realized that Drake had only cut a small gash in my arm.

I ducked under the blade and kneed Drake in the chest before kicking him away. Drake's grip held tightly onto his longsword, so the moment I kicked him the blade dislodged from the wall as well. From his side, Veemon, apparently already fully re-energized, punched him twice in a combo. The last one in line was Shoutmon but my mind raced around whether he would be able to do it.

Shoutmon came out with his mike, in close quarters with Drake. There was doubt written clearly in his eyes. 'Should I attack?' he was questioning himself. He had the strength and mind to do it. The only thing missing was his guts. He just didn't have enough within him to actually bash his former digidestined partner, no matter how badly he was mistreaten.

"Just do it already, Shoutmon!" I yelled.

Shoutmon didn't budge. Drake was stumbling across. He wouldn't be regaining his balance anytime soon and Shoutmon would still have the time to attack once he had fallen. But if Shoutmon didn't attack soon, Drake would come back at us with twice as much as he had to offer. Veemon and I, being an average distance away, could only hope for Shoutmon to fight.

Then, Veemon did the most amusing thing that snapped Shoutmon to reality. "You can do it, Shoutmon! There's a burger feast at home!"

With that, Shoutmon's eyes seemed to return to their usual state, bright and twinkly instead of dull and deep in thought. He twirled his mike in his hands, shouting, "Soul Crusher!" before smashing into Drake's chest.

The samurai kid huffed before crashing onto the ground in a heap. Next to him, a wire jumped around wildly, eager to electrocute someone. It would've reassured me more if Drake had been pumped with a thousand volts of electricity. It didn't take me at all a long time to figure out that Shoutmon had purposely avoided hitting Drake into the wires. Shoutmon's heart still had Drake carved deeply within and no amount of comforting would change that. I was only glad he had the guts to actually attack his former digidestined. That was enough an achievement for the little guy for now.

I shifted my vision to watch Coredramon's battle. It wasn't going as well as I'd thought it would.

Cyberdramon and Coredramon were still locked with each other, each struggling to get the upper hand over the other. However, I could make out the fact that Cyberdramon was, despite Coredramon's strength and the aid of gravity itself, pushing Coredramon back inch by inch every second. Seishirou himself didn't know what to do, and since the fight was taking place in the air, I couldn't help much either.

Before we knew anything, a metal ball flew out of nowhere and smacked Cyberdramon right in the face with a metallic ring. My eyes widened. I only knew of one digimon that attacked like that. Turns out, it was just as I suspected. Dorugamon was flying a little distance away, accompanied by a small igure of a girl running towards us – definitely Selene.

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon cried, firing three metal cannonballs at Cyberdramon.

To avoid anymore attacks, Cyberdramon disengaged from the deadlock, using his claws to swipe away the incoming cannonballs. Cyberdramon was just about to dash forward when Coredramon rammed into his side. Cybedramon lost balance for a second, but that second was all that was needed for the two Champions to wrap their respective tails around Cyberdramon's legs.

Acting like trained professionals, both of the digimon synchronized their movements and skilfully catapulted Cyberdramon down to the ground. He crashed like a meteorite, forming a crater twice his size. I stared in shock at all this. I knew Selene and Seishirou knew one another but I didn't expect their digimons' teamwork to be so good.

"That's so cool..." Shoutmon gazed.

"Chocolate!" Veemon burst out randomly.

Coredramon fired a Blue Flare Death once he saw Cyberdramon try getting up. Dorugamon did the same and fired several Power Metal attacks his way. Cyberdramon would evade the strong beam of azure blue first, before smacking the below-his-standards metal balls away. It was virtually a stalemate all over again.

"Hey guys!" Selene greeted as she panted from her run.

"How'd you get here, Selene?" I asked.

"When you two didn't return for a while, I suspected foul play from one of you," Selene eyed me and then turned her gaze to Seishirou who was jogging towards us. "I told your friends I'd pay the bill but they weren't exactly psyched to be alone for lunch. Anyway, I just saw Cyberdramon and Coredramon wrestling it out high in the sky so I figured that's where the both of you were."

"Good guess," Seishirou complimented. "So you left everyone else back at Sushi Heaven?"

"Yeah," Selene admitted, twiddling with her fingers. "It's bad, I admit, but would you rather I'd stayed back there and let the two of you have your butts kicked?"

"Well, in any case, I guess you arrived just in time," I said.

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon yelled, directing our attention back to the battle.

The purple Champion digimon fired three shots from his mouth, all easily repelled and blocked by Cyberdramon. Coredramon seemed to be regaining his energy, slightly panting. In a rash attempt, Dorugamon flew at Cyberdramon, trying to make his best imitation of Veemon's infamous headbutt attack.

The attack worked. Cyberdramon was forced back a few inches as Dorugamon slammed into his chest. However, being at this close range meant Cyberdramon had the opportunity to quickly grab hold of Dorugamon's tail and slam him into the ground. Coredramon, who had just finished recharging his energy, made several hesitating attempts to fire in fear of hitting his fellow comrade.

Seishirou, sensing the situation, called out to Coredramon. "Go close!"

Coredramon understood perfectly and zipped into close quarters with Cyberdramon as well. He made a U-turn right in front of Cyberdramon, letting his tail crash into the cyborg dragon digimon, causinng a miniature explosion. "Strike Bomber!"

The hit was enough to loosen Cyberdramon of his hold. Dorugamon flew up next to Coredramon before the both of them retreated several metres.

"Erase Claw!" Cyberdramon shouted, dashing at the two again.

Dorugamon and Coredramon both parted in different directions, with Cyberdramon turning his attention to face the former. Dorugamon strained his wings to keep away from the attack. In the end, Cyberdramon's speed topped his and his back was slashed by the vicious attack.

"Dorugamon!" Selene cried out.

Dorugamon degenerated mid-flight and hurtled to the ground like an out-of-control meteor. Selene caught him before he crashed onto the rough gravel below. She was busy checking if he was okay. I would've helped her if I wasn't busy trying to keep an eye on Cyberdramon's movements and help Seishirou find an opening.

Speaking of the guy, I took a glance and was shocked at what I saw.

His irises, usually just red in colour, were now a striking deep blood red. His expression had also turned cold, with no sign of worry in his face, just anger and fury boiling up. He eyed Cyberdramon cautiously before turning his attention to Coredramon.

"Coredramon, use Strike Bomber from above!" Seishirou commanded.

There was a different aura about him. When he spoke, he held authority in his voice. It was certainly the tone a general would use on his troops in a war, especially a losing one. The tone itself contained discipline and comfort, crunched together. He certainly knew how to fuel someone.

"Seishirou, how about trying to weaken Cyberdramon first with those loose electric cords?" I asked. "If Coredramon looped around them fast enough, he could confuse Cyberdramon into going between the lines, trapping his colossal figure there. The shock should at least weaken him, right?"

Seishirou considered my plan but gave no sign that he'd accepted it.

Coredramon, in the sky, flew downwards at Cyberdramon, ready to strike with his tail again. "Strike Bomber!"

Cyberdramon was ready this time and deflected the hit with his claws. However, Coredramon just rushed pass him after his attack failed, going down towards the electrical wires that hung loosely from pole to pole.

"Coredramon, build up air currents!" Seishirou shouted. I had no idea what that meant but apparently Coredramon did.

His digimon partner proceeded to randomly zip here and there, creating massive gusts of wind wherever he went. Cyberdramon gave chase to the wild digimon, attempting to catch him in an Erase Claw attack. With two digimon dashing around wildly in the air, the sky broke into mindless gales of wind everywhere.

"Now get through one of those wires!" Seishirou commanded.

I could see what Seishirou was doing now. The wind was blowing several wires either apart from or towards each other. Coredramon found one with a large enough opening and dove through it, folding his wings just to make room. Cyberdramon, on the other hand, was too large for the gap between the two wires and found himself entangled, before thousands and thousands of volts coursed through his body.

Despite this, Cyberdramon still managed to summon enough strength for him to tear the wires out of their holds. Even so, Coredramon anticipated this turn of events and had a Blue Flare Death attack all charged up. Cyberdramon, although barely, evaded the attack. However, in his dizziness at getting shocked by volts of electricity, he didn't see where he was clearly going and accidentally slammed into a building, knocking him out as he crashed to the ground.

I was about to yell out in triumph when I heard someone stepping silently behind me. Upon instict, I knew that it was Drake. I just knew. I pushed Selene and Seishirou, who were standing beside me, away as I dodge rolled of a downward slash from behind. Shoutmon and Veemon were both surprised at the sudden piece of metal that came down between them. They both jumped out of the way and got ready for a fight.

As expected, Drake was behind us. Veemon headbutted him backwards, causing him to fall over. Drake struggled to get up and he found renewed vigour when he saw one end of a wire dancing wildly. He took on a crazed look as he touched the tip of his sword against the electric current. In the blink of an eye, electricity surged through his metallic blade as well, crackling wildly and impatiently.

Uh oh. I knew on the spot that he just got twice as dangerous. Now, Veemon couldn't deflect his hits with his forehead unless he wanted his brain fried. Shoutmon and I couldn't risk getting near either, afraid of inviting the several thousand volts of electricity now running through his blade.

Drake slashed at us with insane speed. I was only lucky I managed to dodge all of them. Selene and Seishirou were devastated at the fight. They obviously didn't dare jump in themselves in case they received the fatal blow from the sword. However, Dorumon was still not recovered and Coredramon would've risked destroying everyone with his Blue Flare Death.

Then, I spotted an opening and quickly seized the opportunity. I ducked under Drake's arm after he executed a poor swing of his blade. Then, I grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards, swinging him around twice before tripping him. Drake fell onto the ground but not before throwing his sword at Veemon.

Veemon, being the idiot that he was, didn't realize that headbutting the electrical sword would result in him receiving part of the charge. He jumped up and attempted to headbutt it. His thick skull managed to once again deflect the blade, but it didn't protect him against the volts now coursing through his body.

"Veemon!" I called out.

Drake got up and knocked me over before running for his blade. Shoutmon knew he couldn't let Drake get hold of the blade or we'd all be finished, and therefore raced for it as well. Sadly, Drake was the one who reached it first, delivering an assassinating blow at Shoutmon. The digimon skilfully blocked with his mike, but the same event occurred with Veemon, and Shoutmon felt volts of electricity paralysing his body.

"Shoutmon!" I yelled.

"You're last," Drake turned to me.

He then continued to do several slashes, all of which I dodged for my life. If I was even hit with one of them I would be doomed. Not only would I feel shocked from the zap, I might loose a limb or two. Unfortunately, even I couldn't continue dodging forever, and Drake managed to cut a small gash on my shoulder.

I felt my mind go fuzzy as electricity traveled throughout my body. Instantaneously I fell to the ground, unable to keep my balance.

Seishirou, seeing as he had no choice but to interfere, ran forward to help me. Coredramon found that he had to protect his partner and therefore also dashed towards me. What we didn't know was that Cyberdramon had regained consciousness and was watching the fight. Sensing Drake in danger, Cyberdramon knocked Coredramon into a building, stopping the digimon from providing aid.

Then, the next thing that happened was a chain of blurry events. A dark figure dashed out from the shadows, pulled out a gun, and fired two energy shots. One was aimed for Drake and the other at Cyberdramon. Both exploded upon contact.

As the smoke cleared, I noticed that the dark figure was gone. However, Drake's sword was broken in half. Meanwhile, Cyberdramon was on all fours, struggling to even crawl.

That was all I remembered before I blacked out.

---

So how was it? This chapter was a little longer than others I've done. Hopefully it's apology enough for not being able to submit this chapter earlier. So how was the fight scene? Good or bad?

I know I might have some grammatical errors and vocabulary mistakes this time because I couldn't submit this to my beta beforehand. If you find anything, please state in your reviews so I may correct them.

Tendou Souji, I wanted to clarify if I got Seishirou's character right. Since it's been a while since I wrote him, I was worried I'd get him a little different than how you'd prefer. If I made any mistakes with his character, please let me know.

Please read and review!