Chapter 11: Battle at the Ancient Proving Grounds
The scenery was the forest area just outside Maze Castle. The fog was not surrounding the very outside f the castle, allowing the midday sunlight to shine through. Many trees were knocked over, and several were scorched with burn marks.
A loud crash sound was heard as BlackGabumon jumped back to avoid an energy blast. In the smokescreen resulting from the blast, something slammed into BlackGabumon's body, knocking him onto his back. BlackGabumon looked up to see Belphemon holding his claws out in front of him, making BlackGabumon feel even more insignificant in size that he already was.
"We're done for the day!" Belphemon announced, lowering his claws and walking away.
"I can still keep going!" BlackGabumon spat, panting heavily and he sat up.
Belphemon turned and smacked smacked him with the back of his hand, knocking him into a tree which down in the process. BlackGabumon twitched in severe pain, barely able to move. He tried to lift his head, but passed out soon after.
"If that little tap did that much damage to right now, then obviously you're not fine!" Belphemon stated. He turned to the group of black Lego-like Agumon approaching. "Get BlackGabumon to his room make sure he has plenty to eat and drink after he's rested a bit."
"Yes, sir!" they all replied, standing firm and saluting him.
As BlackGabumon slept, he remembered the day when he first hatched from his egg. He had hatched already in his Rookie form. As his young and curious self examined his new surrounding, he realized he was surrounded by six mysterious figures. Due to the lack of light in whatever area was in, apart from a single pillar, he couldn't make them out.
The young BlackGabumon turned and noticed a long character in the single pillar of light. He heard a voice coming from it, telling him not worry and that he was in safe hands. He turned back to face the other six and could hear them muttering amongst themselves.
"Everyone introduce yourself to BlackGabumon," the virus ordered.
While BlackGabumon went to meet the Digimon, DemiDevimon flew over to the virus' side.
"Where is Belphemon?" the virus demanded to know.
"He was busy securing his sector," DemiDevimon answered. "He said he'll be here later."
Later that day, BlackGabumon was outside the virus' lair, testing out his Blue Blaster attack by attacking targets that had been set out. He prepared to fire another blast when he suddenly tripped on a rock, falling back and accidentally shooting in the air.
"Watch where you're aiming!" a voice roared.
BlackGabumon looked up and saw Belphemon standing over him, looking very angry. BlackGabumon tried to apologize, but it didn't stop Belphemon from lifting him up with his index finger and thumb, heading into the castle. Belphemon approached the virus in his chamber.
"Master, is THIS the reason you called me here?" Belphemon questioned.
"Yes," the virus responded. "His name is BlackGabumon, and someday he'll be as strong as, if not stronger than you."
"Well, tell him to watch his aim!" Belphemon exclaimed, throwing him hard to the ground.
BlackGabumon landed hard on his back. His eyes began to tear up as he sat up. While the virus scolded Belphemon for his actions, Belphemon muttered under his breath. BlackGabumon could barely hear him and began to get uncontrollably angry. In an instant a black flame surrounded his body as he lunged and unleashed his energy in one massive outburst. BlackGabumon couldn't remember what happened after that, only that he was contained in the tower after that so his emotions would be kept under control.
"Why did I get stuck with him?" BlackGabumon thought as he remembered all of this.
Elsewhere in the Digital World, Nero's group had stopped atop a small waterfall for lunch. They had climbed it earlier to get to where they were going. Agumon munched on a piece of bread as looked off in the distance. He felt a strange feeling that he couldn't describe flowing through his body, but it subsided just as quickly as it had appeared.
"What's wrong, Agumon?" asked Aimi.
"Huh?" Agumon replied. "Oh, nothing."
Ryudamon was slightly disturbed by the way Agumon, Veemon, and even Guilmon ate as Agumon rejoined the feeding frenzy. She could now understand how Agumon and Veemon got into the trouble they were in earlier.
"Oh great, another one…" Nero sighed after seeing how much Guilmon ate
"Sorry about that," said Ana, trying to apologize for Guilmon's actions.
"Eh, don't worry about it," Nero replied, standing up. Everyone had finished eating and the group now packed back up. "Let's get going!"
"Exactly how far is this place?" Hikaru wondered.
"If we keep moving, we should arrive before noon tomorrow," Nero answered. "Trust me, it'll be worth it!"
The group continued to head northwest, eventually setting up camp once nightfall had arrived. After the group had eaten, Nero stared up at the clear night sky as he lay on his back. He held his Digivice out in front of him and he observed the locations of the others. Only about half of them had moved since earlier in the day. Nero expected that those who hadn't moved were either in a position where they couldn't, decided to stay and wait for the others to come looking for them, or just decided to take a break for the day. As Nero continued to stare at the Digivice, his eyes had once again taken their fiercer look, meaning he was now deep in thought.
"Psst, Yggdrasil sir, you're doing it again," Dorumon whispered upon noticing this.
"Oh," Nero responded, his eyes returning to normal. "Sorry about that."
"What are you thinking about, sir?" Dorumon wondered.
"I'm just thinking about the other humans that are here," Nero answered. "I just hope they're okay."
"Based on what I've seen with the other Digimon partners you made, they should be just fine," Dorumon assured.
"Thanks, buddy," said Nero, raising his arm and patting Dorumon on the head.
Morning arrived fairly quickly, the sky now a bit cloudy. They continued their journey northwest until they arrived at some old ruins. The ruins were merely broken pillars and old worn-down arches surrounding a very large and open platform.
"Is this the place?" Alex asked.
"Yep," Nero confirmed. "This place is known as the Ancient Proving Grounds."
"Ancient Proving Grounds?" Veemon questioned.
"I've heard about this place," Ryudamon stated. "This used to be a place where Digimon were forced into dangerous and life-threatening situations just to prove themselves worthy of existing."
"If I remember correctly, it was mandatory for Digimon who lived in this area to participate at least once," Guilmon added. "However, after the times of war had passed, about 500 years ago, they stopped doing it."
"Wow!" Ana gasped, amazed because Guilmon had never shown her his intelligence like that before.
"Wait a minute, 500 years?" questioned Hikaru. "I thought that this game was only a few weeks old."
"A few weeks?" the Digimon all wondered.
"That's true," Nero informed. "However, I programmed a history into this game as well. As far as the Digimon know, they've existed as long as humans themselves."
"Oh," responded Hikaru, feeling a bit dumb for not realizing that at the start. "That makes sense."
"Lord Yggdrasil, what are all of you talking about?" Dorumon wondered, not understanding the concept.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Nero answered with a smile.
Nero had the group walk into the center of the platform. There were about four other Digimon in the area, all of them battling each.
"Looks like a few players have figured it out already," Nero said with a bit of a chuckle.
"Figured what out?" Aimi replied.
"The reason we're here," Nero explained. "You see, the Ancient Proving Grounds is a place where the experience gained in battle is tripled. However, because there are no wild Digimon with several miles of the area, most players who find this information out don't bother coming here. These aren't called the Ancient proving Grounds for nothing, the 'Proving' means that players must battle each other to gain the experience."
"You mean…?" Agumon began to say.
"That's right, you guys are going to spar each other!" Nero announced.
"Sweet!" cheered Veemon. "I call Dorumon!"
"Sorry, Veemon, but you'll be sparing against Agumon," Nero replied. "I want Ryudamon and Guilmon to spar with Dorumon together. No offense, but if you took Dorumon on all by yourself, you wouldn't last too long."
Veemon pouted at this, unwilling to accept that Nero was probably correct. Ryudamon didn't laugh, though she gave a faint smirk. She was definitely interested in seeing how strong the partner of Yggdrasil was.
"All right, Agu, let's go," Veemon grumbled, grabbing Agumon's arm and storming off to the far side of the platform.
Alex and Aimi followed both of them while Hikaru and Ana stayed with Nero. They stayed near the center of the platform to allow themselves the most room possible. Ryudamon and Guilmon stood face to face with Dorumon, all three Digimon taking battle-ready poses.
"Are you guys ready?" Nero asked Guilmon and Ryudamon.
"Yes, sir, Lord Yggdrasil!" both replied at the same time.
"How about you, Dorumon?" Nero eustioned.
Dorumon nodded his head and Nero and the others backed away a bit.
"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted, charging up a plasma-like fireball in his mouth and firing at Dorumon.
Though the fireball was incredibly fast, much faster than Agumon's, Dorumon easily avoided it by jumping into the air. Ryudamon opened her mouth and unleashed an iron blade projectile at the mid-air Dorumon. Dorumon leaned backwards and managed to have the projectile just barely miss him. Dorumon began doing back flips as he landed back on the ground.
"Metal Cannon!" he yelled, firing his projectile attacks at the two Digimon.
He had missed them purposely, just hitting the ground directly in front of them. The two opposing Digimon both looked on in awe; Dorumon's skill was incredible. Ryudamon was very impressed with Dorumon's swift movements and strong attack power, sort of admiring him. In her mind, he was the perfect partner for someone as important as Yggdrasil.
Nero watched the Digimon spar and then turned to see Agumon and Veemon sparring a little bit away; they were more even of a match. The reason he wanted Guilmon and Ryudamon to spar with Dorumon was because they hadn't learned how to digivolve yet.
They continued to spar until evening when Nero told everyone to relax. They set up camp underneath one of the arches. At least by staying out of site from the main area, they could avoid being spotted by any normal players that might stop by.
After everyone was asleep, Ryudamon woke Guilmon and their partners. She asked them all back out to the platform.
"What's up, Ryudamon?" Hikaru wondered. "Why'd you wake us?"
"Hikaru-sama, Lord Yggdrasil is concerned about us," Ryudamon informed. "We need to be able to digivolve like the others."
"So, are you saying you want Guilmon to train with you while everyone else is sleeping?" Ana asked.
"You got it," Ryudamon answered.
"That's sounds like a good idea," Guilmon complimented.
They were about to start one Guilmon suddenly sensed an uneasy presence in the area, tasking the pose he usually did when stuff like this happened.
"What's wrong, boy?" Ana asked.
Two samurai-like Digimon appeared on the platform, both wearing red samurai armor and wielding backswords. They had long blue hair and wore brown peasant-like cloths around their chest and for pants. They had blue sandals on their right feet and bandages on their clawed left feet. Hikaru took out his Digivice.
"Data Analyzer, open! Code: BakuRyuu Asuka 1034672!" he said, cuasing his Digivice to show the information. "They're called Musyamon, Champion-level Wizard-type Digimon of the virus attribute! I wonder what they're doing here?"
The four managed to avoid being seen by the two Digimon, as they appeared to be in conversation.
"We're early," one of them said.
"Well, Lord Belphemon did say that he wouldn't show up until tomorrow afternoon," the other reminded.
The first Musyamon sighed and turned around, spotting Ana, Hikaru, and the Digimon.
"Hey!" he shouted.
Guilmon and Ryudamon quickly jumped in front of their partners. The Musyamon shouted "Get them!" as they charged at the group, their swords in hand.
"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon shouted as he shot a fireball at one.
"Katana Attack!" Ryudamon exclaimed, firing her projectile attack at the other.
One Musyamon swatted Guilmon's attack away with his sword, while the other jumped in the air to avoid Ryudamon's attack. He came down directly at Ryudamon, whom pushed her partner out of the way. She held up her arms and blocked the blade, Musyamon pushing down even harder.
"Ninja Blade!" he Musyamon yelled, cuasing his sword to become engulfed in blue flames.
The flames singed Ryudamon's face, but she managaed to push he Digimon away.
"These guys have been strengthened by the virus," Ryudamon realized.
"Shogun Sword!" the other Musyamon shouted, creating ghost-like flaming dragon with his sword and sending it at Guilmon.
Guilmon attacked it with his Pyro Sphere, but the attack had no effect. Guilmon smacked Ana with his tail, knocking her away while he took the full damage from the attack.
"Guilmon!" Ana cried out after sitting up.
Her Digivice began to glow. Meanwhile, Ryudamon struggled to keep Musyamon away from her. After realizing that he couldn't defeat Ryudamon fairly, Musyamon dashed at Hikaru, whom was just getting up from being push to the ground by Ryudamon. Ryudamon quickly intercepted the attack, receiving a burning wound across her chest.
"Ryudamon, no!" Hikaru cried, his Digivice glowing as well.
Both Digimon had received experience from all of their efforts, and they now had enough to digivolve. The two Digivices shot beams of light that struck the Digimon.
"Guilmon digivolve to…" Guilmon said as his form changed. Guilmon became a much larger version of himself, long white hair flowing down his back. He also had two large horns and what appeared to be two large blades made from his skin sticking out above his wrists. He wore black straps around his wrists, and his hazard sign symbol had moved to his upper arms. He shouted out the name of his new form. "Growlmon!"
"Ryudamon digivolve to…" said Ryudamon as she changed as well. Her body took a more defined shapr, her arms extending so they looked more like legs. Her tail became longer, with a furry tip. Her body was now covered in a much smoother black armor, though the region covering her longer neck was a purple color. Her face was a bit more lizard-like now, but now even smoother. The area around her mouth was covered in white paint. She also shouted out her new form's name. "GinRyumon!"
Both humans gasped at the Champion-level forms of their partner Digimon. The Musyamon that had attacked Growlmon once again tried Shogun Sword attack out on Growlmon.
"Pyro Blaster!" Grolwmon shouted, releasing a powerful fireball at Musyamon.
The attack overshadowed Musyamon's, defeating the flaming dragon and engulfing Musyamon. Musyamon emerged from the attack, only to find Growlmon charging at him with a glowing blade on his right arm.
"Dragon Slash!" he yelled, slashing down at Musyamon and cutting him diagonally.
As the Musyamon became data after being defeated, the other one tried using his Ninja Blade atack on GinRyumon. She didn't bother dodging it as the blade struck the backside of her armor, bouncing off and having no effect. GinRyumon grew annoyed with the Digimon and knocked him away with her tail, which has suddenly lit up.
The force of the impact threw the Musyamon back, and GinRyumon began charging up another attack in her mouth.
"Armor Piercing Blade!" she exclaimed, firing an iron spear from her mouth.
The spear struck Musyamon in the chest, causing him to let out a cry of pain as he disappeared into data. The two Digimon resumed their Rookie forms as they rushed to their partners, making sure they were okay.
"Impressive!" Nero complimented.
The four looked to see that Nero and Dorumon were no standing not too far away; the noise had woken them up. They had only seen the ending of the battle, so they didn't know what caused the Digimon to digivolve.
Meanwhile, back at Maze Castle, Belphemon was observing the scenery just outside the castle. A bunch of the black Lego-like Agumon were scattered around the area, all of them badly injured. A black leg stepped out from the shadows, the leg belonging to a new Digimon.
"Looks like you've finally improved," Belphemon cackled. "Guess you aren't entirely hopeless, BlackGarurumon!"