DSI: RELOADED Chapter 19: Fighting on Ice, a digimon fanfic

Digimon Savers International: RELOADED

Chapter 19: Fighting on Ice

Greg

We found this old man we'd seen before all bundled up and fishing in the frozen lake. "It's the old guy that gave me my Digivice!" Marcus shouted as he ran up to him. "Wait wait wait, you mean he gave you your Digivice?" I asked. "Yeah."

We approached the old man as he pulled up his line and retracted his fishing pole. "Haven't had a nibble all day. Must be the bait, I should've used leeches," he said. "Man, you sure are sneaky for an old dude, aren'tcha?" Marcus laughed.

"Maybe he's a Digimon like Keenan," Agumon joked. Gaomon turned to him with a stone face. "Do me a favor. Just be quiet."

"Are you absolutely positive we can trust this guy?" Anya asked Marcus, who nodded. "Yeah, this is the old guy who gave me my Digivice."

"Probably stole it," I said. "Hmmm? What's that, young man?" the old man asked, putting his hand to his ear. "I said you must've stolen it," I repeated, just a bit louder. He just laughed. "That's quite the accusation, young man. What proof do you have?" "Um... none," I admitted. He let out another hearty laugh as he packed up his chair. "Just as I thought. Well, come on."

He turned around and started to walk away. "Hold up, where do you think you're going?" Gary asked him. "Why, I thought you wanted to find Merukimon," he said. "Wait, you mean you know where he is?" "I did tell you to follow me, didn't I?"

"What is this, 20 Questions?" I asked. The old man answered, "You started it. Come on." He started walking away again.

"So now what?" Anya asked us. "I'm not entirely sure we should trust this guy," Tom began. "Why not? I do," Marcus said. "That's why," Tom shot back. "Since when did you start caring about my opinion? We need to find Merukimon, and that guy knows where he is. So, yeah, I trust him. And I'm following him."

"I agree with ya. We aren't getting anywhere just standing around here," Agumon agreed. They both had their fists clenched in a determined look.

"He's got a point you know. Back when Anya and I were in the Digital World, we followed strange Digimon around all the time. Besides, the old man seemed friendly enough. Come on!" I said, leading the way.

We caught up with him and I introduced everyone. "Um, sir, I'm sorry I made that accusation without proof. I guess you're innocent until proven guilty. That really doesn't matter. My name's Greg, Greg Logan. This is my partner and closest friend Veemon. The blonde male's name is Thomas H. Norstein, and his partner's Gaomon. The guy in red's my brother Gary, with his buddy Tentomon. The other blonde is Anya... I can't pronounce her last name, but it starts with an R. Her Digimon's name is Lalamon. Finally, the guy you gave that Digivice to is Marcus Damon, with his partner Agumon." "Well, it's a pleasure to meet all of you," he said with a smile. We arrived at a cave entrance.

"Well, this is the place," the old man said. But suddenly, he whipped out his fishing pole, and cast out a line hitting a small Digimon that was behind us. He threw it back, sending it flying into the sky. "Now that's what I call casting a Digimon away," Marcus joked. "Save the bad jokes, I wanted to catch a fish," the old man shot back as he brought his line back in.

Tom looked it up on his pocket PC. "That was Kuramon. Great. I just hope he wasn't spying on us the whole time." "Hard to know. Anyway, it's too late to worry about it now." He led us into an ice cave.

[BGM: "Walking on Ice" by Keats]

"Careful where you step. The ground is slippery," the old man warned us. That was no joke. It took all the traction we had in our shoes just to keep ourselves from slipping. Unfortunately, that didn't help Marcus any. He started looking around the area, but then bumped into the old man when he stopped. "Hey!" he shouted. The old man shushed him up. "We are not alone," he said solemnly.

So, we cautiously looked around for anything suspicious, and sure enough, we discovered a large group of claw-like Digimon. I looked it up on my Digimon Analyzer. "'Tsumemon, In-Training level. The tips of its feelers are claw-shaped. It corrodes data at a tremendous speed, and causes malfunctions in the Network.'"

"Run!" Tom called. So, we did. In the meantime, our Digimon directed their attacks upward. "Pepper Breath!" Agumon fired a fireball that took out a number of them. Tentomon launched himself up and charged up his antennae. "Super Shocker!" That took a number of them out. "Seed Blaster!" Lalamon spit out more seeds, knocking those claws out cold. Gaomon and Veemon both jumped up and swung their fists. "Double Backhand!" "Vee Punch!" That took out a number of them. Marcus and I even got a piece of the action when they started flying too close to us. We punched them out as we were running.

Finally, we made it out of the dark cave into another one with a long, icy path. The path wandered along until it reached a foreboding ice castle. "Look, guys! Merukimon's hideout, the Infinite Ice Ridge!" Marcus exclaimed.

"It's so pretty," Lalamon said in awe. "Pretty dangerous," I countered. "Why can't you ever just stare at something and admire its beauty?" the little bud asked me, annoyed. "I can, but we're not here to admire the frozen architecture. We've got to press on."

"Besides, we could be attacked from any angle at any time," Tom added. "Well I say bring it on already!" Agumon bravely said. Somebody must've heard that because something came flying our way. It was the boomerang again, so we dived for cover and looked up. Sure enough, there was our very own Keenan of the Digital Jungle with his trusted companion Falcomon. I looked him up on my Digimon Analyzer, but I couldn't find anything. I even did a manual search, but nothing showed up. "I beat you! Bad! All humons I will destroy!" Keenan shouted in his fury. He wasn't the only one who had fury. So did Marcus. "I've had it! I'm taking this kid down!"

[BGM: "Fight To Win (Custom Instrumental Version)" by Keats]

Marcus quickly made a running start from the floor and yelled at the top of his lungs as Keenan dropped down. This was the ultimate acid test. If Marcus landed a punch on Keenan and his DigiSoul ignited, then Keenan was a Digimon. Otherwise, it wouldn't make our resident brawler look good. The two finally met, and Marcus landed a punch- on the boomerang. The two took their distance. "I Digimon Warrior! I fight all Merukimon enemies!" Keenan boasted.

Holy smokes, there was some hope for this kid after all. He used the word "I" correctly in a sentence.

"Outta my way, kid!" Marcus shouted as he went back for more. "Keenan? I knew it was you," the old man said. Just then, Falcomon began to swoop in. Agumon fired a few Pepper Breaths, but they hit the ice wall instead. Soon, Lalamon deflected all the Ninja Blades with her Seed Blasts until it created a huge dust cloud. "Gao Rush!" Gaomon called as he jumped and punched at the same time. None of his attacks hit, though, but one of Falcomon's did as the boxing dog hit the floor. "Gaomon!" Tom called. He and Anya got out of the way as Keenan attempted to attack them with his boomerang. Unbeknownst to me, Gary must've taken some martial arts training on the side because he sparred with our little barbarian. Marcus tackled into the little brat and the two went into battle.

"Keenan, stop! You're not a Digimon!" the old man called to him. "Lotsa luck," I told him. Just then, I heard some buzzing and I quickly took out my binoculars. There was Gotsumon on his dragonfly. "Gotsumon!" Keenan called, thinking he might help. Well, the help Gotsumon gave didn't help anyone at all.

"Rock Fist!" The rock-type Digimon threw rocks up at the icicles, causing several of them to fall. We had to duck to avoid them. "Ha ha ha! I'm gonna crush everyone here!" he shouted. "Everyone? That means you smash me!" Keenan realized. Another Rock Fist caused a column to fall, creating a rift in the hole. Both Keenan and Marcus fell in. Their two Digimon called out to their partners. "Boss!" "Keenan!" Soon, they went down too. I ducked for cover with the others, making sure Veemon and Anya were safe. All I could see was rock and ice.

Falcomon

Magnificent. Simply magnificent. It seemed I had fallen in quite literally with one of my greatest enemies of the time. "Gotsumon takes far too many chances," I groaned, grabbing my wing. Agumon groaned as well, holding his head. Then, he came to. "Boss?" He crawled to look over the cliff. "Boss!" I looked down, and there were Keenan and this "Boss" cad hanging for their lives. I was outraged. This "Boss" had his bloody grasp on my partner Keenan!

Greg

Moments later, Veemon picked up and moved the rock away. "Greg! You OK, man?" he asked. "Yeah. I'm fine," I said as I got up and started moving rocks. Soon, everyone was up and OK when a voice shouted, "Don't move!"

I turned around, and there was Gotsumon with his arm around the old man's neck. "Everyone stay where you are. Got it?" he demanded. Everyone gasped, while Anya, Tom, and Gary thrust forward their Digivices. "Drop 'em! Drop them down nice and slow." He made his hold on the old man tighter, and soon we had no choice but to drop our Digivices. I put mine down nice and easy, so I wouldn't break it. I even put my empty hands up for good measure.

"Psst... Veemon. Put your hands up, we're being held hostage," I loudly whispered. So, he did. "OK. Do what I say and nobody gets hurt," the rock went on.

The old man didn't look so concerned. "Hmm... you know you're really not worth all this trouble," he said. "What'd you say?" Gotsumon asked with a glare in his voice. "He said you're really not worth all this trouble," I repeated so he could hear me.

The rock just shot me a deadly glance. "You keep quiet! I heard what he said!"

"Merukimon! You're watching, aren't you?" the old man called. We turned around as he went on. "I have something to say. You should really hear me out." "Stop! Speak to me! Not Merukimon!" Gotsumon ordered. Just then, another voice came into the picture. "Wait!" "Huh?" "Bring him to me!" Gotsumon was absolutely speechless as that stone jaw of his dropped. "Uh, uh, of course sir. Right away." We looked at each other. That was Merukimon.

"Psst... Greg." I turned toward Veemon. "What?" "Can I put my hands down now?" he asked. "Yeah, I think so. We're going to meet Merukimon." Gotsumon insisted we leave our Digivices where they were, so we did. Of course, that meant it was going to be up to Marcus to save us. I absolutely hated that.

Marcus

"Let go!" that annoying brat shouted. "Shut up!" I shot back. "No, no humon save me! I save me!" "You better get used to disappointment," I said, struggling to get back up to even ground.

I used all the strength I had just to get the little kid up there. I read somewhere in a sports magazine that somebody can get high by engaging in stressful or risky behavior on purpose. That causes a release of epinephrine by the adrenal gland, whatever that means. Believe me, I wasn't feeling high that day. In fact, when I got to safety, I was pretty tired.

"You OK, boss?" Agumon asked me, kinda worried. "Yeah, sure, piece of cake, " I said in one breath. After all, to me, it was just another day at the office. "Why Gotsumon do that? Why me, you save?" Keenan asked me. Rrrgh. "Do I have to spell it out for ya? We're not done fightin' yet. I've gotta win first. Got it?" I strained, calmly but clearly letting him know how much patience I was losing.

We made our way up to the top and I looked around. The first thing I spotted were four Digivices lying on the ground. One in pink, one in blue, one in green, and one in red. "Thomas and Anya! Greg and Gary!" "We need to find everyone fast," Agumon suggested. I agreed, then turned to the little punk.

"Keenan! We'll settle this later," I told him. Then I turned back towards our mission. "Agumon, let's go!" "Right!" I picked up the Digivices and put them in my pockets, then started running.

Greg

The next thing you know, we were in Merukimon's court. Every second was intense. We had no way of fighting back, and I didn't know whether we were going to get killed or not. No matter what happened, I had to keep hope alive. Unfortunately for me, I had to put it all in Marcus' hands.

Gary

There were so many unknown variables in this equation, I didn't know what to do. I factored in Marcus having to come to our rescue. I followed that up by this old man who supposedly knew Merukimon. On top of that, I worried about when I was going to be able to fully charge my DigiSoul. Who knew what was going to happen?

Greg

"It has been a very long time," Merukimon said. "And you haven't forgotten it. I'm really touched," the old man answered. We gasped.

"So, do you know this guy?" I asked the old man. "In a word, yes."

"Sir, is this true?" Gaomon asked, turning to Tom. "Could be. I have a feeling about seven years ago, he was part of the original Digital World Exploration Squad," he said. "Exploration Squad?" Anya repeated.

"Original? Ha! I thought that was us," I quipped. "The first official and intentional Exploration Squad," Tom emphasized.

Merukimon turned to Gotsumon. "What happened to Keenan?" he asked. The rock gasped. "Ya see, it's uh... uh..."

"What Gotsumon here is trying to say, sir, is that he was completely impartial. He tried stoning everyone," I explained. "Hmmm?"

"You've been raising a human child," the gentleman went on. Merukimon turned his attention back to him. I shook my head. We nearly had Gotsumon on the ropes. "Keenan is like the son I never had. His presence here helps me appreciate the human world better," Merukimon said. "If you feel that way, then why did you continue to attack them?" "SILENCE! Have you conveniently forgotten that it was the humans who struck first?" This was getting heated, to say the least. The old man was sharp on the defense. "We did not! It's true that humans entered the Digital World before you entered ours, but we were never aggressive towards you. Besides, conquering the Digital World was never the intention of our exploration here, and you of all people should know that!" "How dare you spout such lies to me!"

"Yeah, especially since Merukimon isn't a person. He's a Digimon," I chimed in. "Mmm mmm, mmm mmm." I looked to Veemon, and he violently shook his head. That probably meant he wanted me to shut up.

"Rrrr, I was lead to believe we had broken a treaty that would ensure stability between our two worlds. Someone told me there would be no further strikes from your world," the Mega level continued. "What is he talking about?" Anya asked the old man. There was no answer.

"It was you humans who went back on the deal!" Merukimon called, as if he was trying to accuse us of something. I spoke up. "Not us! I was in the Digital World eight years ago and I didn't know anything about this treaty. Last time I was here, this place was getting ripped to shreds by the D-Reaper. It took all the power my friends and I had to subdue the jive turkey Zhuqiaomon. Well, it was mostly Henry, Takato, and their Digimon who did it, but Anya and I helped. You two must belong to the same political party!" I shouted. Then, I heard a loud slap. It was Veemon facepalming.

"Oh Greg... why don't ya ever keep your big mouth shut?!" he grumbled loudly. Merukimon looked intrigued. "Hmm... you, in the green with the large oral orifice. Speak on about Zhuqiaomon," he ordered. I cleared my throat and began.

"Well, Merukimon sir, Zhuqiaomon felt about the same way you did about humans and Digimon."

(flashbacks to DTI Chapters 13 and 14)

"Such a large demand from such a small creature. Why should I give him up, so you can take him back to the other world? Never! The Catalyst belongs here!" The Catalyst? Henry stood his ground. "You're not gonna scare me off!"

That big turkey wasn't impressed at all. "You Digimon depend on these human maggots for strength! But we don't need filthy weaklings in the coming battle! Blazing Helix!"

I called up to the giant robot. "HEY HENRY! MegaGargomon is an extension of yourself! Don't fight it, be one with it!" "Uh... thanks, Greg," MegaGargomon answered. The giant turkey wasn't happy. "Digimon and humans Digivolve together? This is an abomination! You have tainted the very core of the Digital World, and you will pay... DESOLATION BLAST!" He lifted his wings and caused the building to cave in. Taomon quickly generated a shield around the rest of us. MegaGargomon fired up the jetpack on his back and went into action. "Is that all you got? And you call us pathetic!" he taunted. His voice was a mix of Terriermon's and Henry's voices. "You dare taunt me?!" Zhuqiaomon demanded to know. The robot flew up to the chicken. "You bet! And I'll do it again too!" He fired a pulverizing shockwave from his fist. "Power Pummel!" That hit the chicken right to the core!

We all nodded. Just then, a column of fire came up from the gaping hole. We heard an evil laugh, and then a fireball shot up and reformed itself. "Surprised? You dare believe you could defeat me? I am a Sovereign! There will be nothing left of you but ashes when I'm done! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!"

Guilmon and Terriermon looked to each other, nodded, and jumped out of the shield! "No! Come back!" Henry pleaded. But they couldn't. They kept falling and using their attacks, but it was no use. The grouse spoke again. "You are nothing more than irritating insects, your powers are just as insignificant. Surrender or be destroyed." Then he knocked them into the ocean! "Guilmon!" "Terriermon!"

They finally hit the ocean and Zhuqiaomon flew up next to the shield. "Do you see how foolish it is to defy me?" "Defy you? You didn't tell us to do anything!" Ed tried to reason.

Gallantmon blocked the fire with his shield. Then, he threw the shield, throwing the fire away. "This Digivolution is powerful, but not powerful enough! You too shall be defeated!" the turkey pronounced after he deflected a Lightning Joust. "Not until you see that humans and Digimon are more powerful when they work together!" Gallantmon shouted in Takato's voice. He flew up and fought with Zhuqiaomon's talon to start with. […] "We want to protect this world as much as you do," Gallantmon claimed in Guilmon's voice. "Spare me your lies, I know you only want to help the humans take over the Digital World. Well you shall not succeed as long as I live," Zhuqiaomon retorted as he flew back. He created winds that sent Gallantmon back, but our knight withstood it. Gallantmon flew with his sword ready to Zhuqiaomon as the Sovereign flew to Gallantmon. "I cannot allow you to take over my world!" But then a chain separated the two. "That's enough!" the dragon Sovereign proclaimed. [...] "This fighting is pointless, the true enemy is what we should be focusing our energies on, not each other. Zhuqiaomon, give the humans a chance, they really do wish to help," Azulongmon said.

Greg

"Hmm... ah, so I see." Merukimon was beginning to understand. But just when I thought we had him, we lost him. "That still doesn't excuse what your fellow humans did after they signed that treaty! I'll never forget the ruthless way you humans destroyed Digimon! Your actions were brutal! The attacks wiped out entire banks of Digimon data memory, causing so many innocent Digimon to become permanently deleted!" I gasped at that. "And it all started with a human trick!" Merukimon growled.

Even the old man didn't know what to say. "That... can't be! It's not true! We wanted peace! We were trying to figure out a way for humans and Digimon to live together!" he defended himself. "You spout the same old lies! Once again, you humans have brought down the barrier that exists between our two worlds, and you have done this to create chaos and destroy Digimon forever!" "No! Never! We would never do that!" the old man insisted. "ENOUGH!" Merukimon clenched his fist and began to pass down the verdict. "These lies end now! You humans will be punished for the crimes you have committed. I will see to it that your tyranny will end- NOW!" And with that, he unleashed his fury.

We tried to duck out of the way to avoid it, but the floor and walls cracked and we took the hit. It felt like a 150-pound wall hit me in my most vital spots, and I fell down with the others. I struggled to look up, and perhaps I shouldn't have. He was about to do it again. "This ends now!" He raised his fist in preparation, and we stared at it in terror.

Veemon and I held onto each other. "Well, I guess this is goodbye forever," he whimpered. "It was nice knowing you, too," I agreed in terror. Just then...

"Not so fast!" a voice courageously shouted. I looked up again, and it was Marcus jumping off a high spot. He made his fall, but clenched his fist and landed a punch on Merukimon's snout! Then, he landed on his feet with Agumon. Marcus had come through at last! We all let out a sigh of relief and cheered. "The gang's all here, Merukimon!"

"Your DigiSoul Charge is familiar to me," Merukimon said. He recovered from the punch well. "Well I'm glad you've heard of me. I'm the famous Marcus Damon!" "Damon? Is it possible you're Spencer Damon's son?" Merukimon asked. Marcus gasped. "Huh? How do you know about my father?" he asked in shock.

Just then, Gary cut in. "Look, Merukimon, it's good that you're having this reunion and all, and I'll let you finish, but first we've got to answer that attack you unleashed on us." I stood there, beaming. My little brother had just pulled a Kanye West on Merukimon. The Mega-level unleashed an attack on Marcus to make up for it, but our long-haired friend flipped back and avoided it. Then he took out something from his pockets. It was our Digivices. He threw them to us. "Thomas! Yoshi! Greg! Gary! Heads up!" I raised up my left hand and caught mine.

Gary

If ever there was a time to unleash my DigiSoul Full Charge, this was it. I'd just taken a major hit, and I was loaded with righteous indignation. Greg turned to me.

"Gary! Do you think you can fully charge your DigiSoul?" he asked. "I figure now is just a good a time as any. I'm ready!" I declared, clenching my fist. He smiled. "Good. I don't know what lesson you're supposed to learn from all this, but maybe you don't need one." He turned toward the enemy, and I turned toward Tentomon.

"Tentomon, you ready for this?" I asked him. "I was born ready!" he answered. "Good. Then let's do this!" I felt a metaphorical electric spark in my heart, like someone had turned on an electrical current. An aura of red DigiSoul came over me.

I brought both hands up together holding the Digivice, then separated them by bringing them down, kind of like a paso doble. "DigiSoul!" Then, I swung my right hand up to the sky, fully extending it, then slamming it back down on the sensor on top. "Full, CHARGE!" After that, I quickly raised my Digivice to the sky. The power swept down to Tentomon, who took it.

"Tentomon Warp Digivolve to..." He started off as Kabuterimon, but then went further as his skull helmet grew and turned red. His body changed color from blue to red and gained armor as his wings retracted into a giant jeweled shell. "MegaKabuterimon!"

I stood there in awe as I looked him up on my Digimon Analyzer. "Prodigious. 'MegaKabuterimon, Ultimate level. It is almost 1.5-times the size of Kabuterimon, and is quite large among Insect Digimon. With the exception of its survival instincts, its behavior has been observed to consist of protecting the weak, and there are even times when its behavior has appeared knight-like.'"

Greg

I guess my brother was a lot more like Izzy than I thought he was. Marcus, Tom, Anya, and I went next. "DigiSoul... Full, CHARGE!"

"Lalamon Warp Digivolve to..."

"Veemon Warp Digivolve to..."

"Agumon Warp Digivolve to..."

"Gaomon Warp Digivolve to..."

"Lilamon!"

"AeroVeedramon!"

"RizeGreymon!"

"MachGaogamon!"

We stood with the five Ultimate Digimon against Merukimon. This was the perfect time for a roll call. "Marcus! You want to do a roll call?" I asked him. "Whaddya mean a roll call?" he asked back. I facepalmed. "Marcus... you don't watch much Super Sentai, do you?" "Greg, this is kind of short notice. Perhaps something simple would work," Tom suggested.

[BGM: "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (Instrumental Short Size)" by Ayumi Miyazaki]

I agreed, then boldly pointed to Merukimon. "Merukimon! Your attacks were uncalled for, and now we have no choice but to defend ourselves!" I dramatically brought my free hand up to the sky. "We are..." "Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!" Marcus cut in. "Marcus!" "What?" I shook my head. "Let's try this again, shall we? We are..." "The Digimon Data Squad!" Anya, Tom, and Gary shouted with me.

"Hmmm... it needs work, but I appreciate your spirit," the old man commented.

Just then, Keenan and Falcomon ran in. "Merukimon!" On the other foot, Gotsumon saw them. "Keenan!" That caught the kid's attention. "Gotsumon!" "Keenan! Stay out of this!" Merukimon ordered as he stood up.

Lilamon began the attack. "Let's get him! Lila... Shower!" She unleashed pink beams from her fingers, but that didn't work. Our foe batted them away. MachGaogamon charged up his jet pack. "Winning Knuckle!" The only thing our champion dog could punch was Merukimon's palm. "Our turn up to bat, AeroVeedramon! Let him have it!" I directed, pointing the way. "All right. Dragon Impulse!" AeroVeedramon launched a shock wave that had the appearance of a dragon. This wasn't enough for the Mega-level.

"That tickled," Merukimon deadpanned as he launched an attack at him. "Wild Scratcher!" MegaKabuterimon jumped in and tried to scratch Merukimon with all four arms. Again, no good. "Trident Revolver!" RizeGreymon shouted as he fired. That created smoke, but no fire. Our giant enemy jumped up and readied his fist. "Thousand Fist!" He poured on a hyper barrage on the Digimon. "Ahhh!"

All five hit the wall as Merukimon jumped back. "Nice shot!" Keenan called. "It's just as I suspected. They're far weaker than I thought," Gotsumon commented. "But of course, they're Ultimates and Merukimon's a Mega," Falcomon pointed out.

We looked to our Digimon. "We used all of our power, and it didn't even leave a scratch!" RizeGreymon said. Then, a miracle happened. Marcus came up with a good strategy. "We need to combine our attacks against him!" "Huh?"

My jaw dropped. "That... is brilliant," I finally said. "Thanks. We're never taking the easy way out again. We're staying and fighting! Never surrender!" Marcus shouted. RizeGreymon nodded as the Digimon got up. "Fightin' time!" the cyborg dinosaur shouted. "Yeah!" Lilamon went first. "Lila Shower!" "Howling Cannon!" "Twister Saber!" AeroVeedramon charged up the blades on his arms with energy and then released it in cutting waves. "Electro Shocker!" MegaKabuterimon fired an electrical ball from his hands. "Rising Destroyer!" RizeGreymon fired a barrage of beams from the six guns on his wings and the two on his chest. All those attacks combined in one blast to form a giant pink and blue arrow that hit directly into Merukimon's palm. He tried to block it, but we overpowered him as the three bystanders hit the floor. It seemed he was still standing, but a large part of the wall had been taken out, revealing the Digital Gate.

"The Digital Gate has been opened," Gotsumon realized. We gasped at what we'd done. Finally, the dust cleared.

"You actually weakened me," Merukimon said in surprise. He brought his hands forward and started to charge them while growling.

"Watch out!" the old man shouted. I didn't take any chances as I dived out of dodge. He fired his blast, creating a giant white ball of power and smoke. I felt the dust settle in my lungs as I coughed. When the dust settled, our Digimon were back at their Rookie forms, barely alive. We rushed to them.

"Veemon! Speak to me! Are you OK?" I urgently asked him. "Heh heh... yeah," he weakly answered.

Soon, Merukimon was towering just over us. "And now, I will completely obliterate you!" We stared in horror for the second time that day (or was it the third?). Just then, the old man bravely stepped forward, shielding us. Veemon and I got out of the way fast enough to see the old man take out his own green Digivice.

"Huh? He's got a Digivice too?" I gasped. "Kamemon, realize!" The lens lit up as Kamemon formed itself. "Kamemon!" he identified himself as he landed on the ground. "The tea guy!" Marcus realized.

"The Digimon that serves drinks!" I added. The old man brought his Digivice forward and raised up his other hand, which gained a green DigiSoul. "DigiSoul... charge!" he shouted as he put his hand on the scanner. Seconds later, Kamemon Digivolved. "Kamemon Digivolve to... Gwappamon!" He had Raggedy Ann hair with a disc on the top of his head. I looked him up on the Digimon Analyzer. "'Gwappamon, Champion Level. It was fused from the data of a music player and the legendary animal, Kappa. It is always listening to its favorite music in bright and cheerful spirits, but it sheds tears if the disc-like portion on its head is damaged.' Oh man!"

"DJ Shooter!" Gwappamon rotated the disc on his head at high speed and then shot it off. He did this a number of times, breaking the columns. The place started to cave in, so the old man directed us to the exit. "We can't just run away!" Marcus protested. "Yes we can!" I countered. "Forget it! We're finishing this right here right now!" "Marcus, don't be a hero," I said.

"Our Digimon have nothing left. They can't fight anymore. We'd be defeated easily," the old man explained. That made our hot-headed friend gasp. He went on, "Protect your friends for now. Finish this later."

Then, he ran over to Keenan, picked him up, and gave him to Marcus. "Marcus. Take care of Keenan. Make sure he gets back to the Human World." I decided enough was enough, as Veemon and I started running towards the pathway back home. Behind me, Merukimon roared and I was sure something was coming for us. It was just like a James Bond movie. Tom and Gaomon jumped in first, followed by Gary and Tentomon, then Veemon and me. "WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

What seemed like half an hour later, we splashed down in Tokyo Bay. That fall was even longer than when we hit that underwater cave in the Digital World. Thankfully, there was a helicopter shining a spotlight down on us. I checked to make sure my glasses were on. They were, but I lost my hat. I later found it floating in the water, just about to sink, so I grabbed it. Standing in the entryway high above us was Sampson.

Author's Notes:

Gary did indeed pull a Kanye West, referencing the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards. Originally, it was "I'mma let you finish", but this sounded much more correct.