Disclaimer: You know the drill, right~?
The group was still heading south, on foot now that the Shadowlord was gone. Lucemon was in a very foul mood. Chiharu spoke, desperate to break the tension. "I wonder how everyone else is doing, back in the Real World."
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"Hey, wait up!" Asuka yelled, running after Dai and Hiroshi after class. She'd had to gather up her things in English when the bell rang, but as expected, Hiroshi was the first one out the door, and Dai was close behind.
"Sorry," Dai said when she caught up. "It's just… It's Shimizu-sensei."
"Yeah," Hiroshi added. "We wanted to get out of there as soon as possible."
"It's fine, I guess," the girl replied with a sigh. "Let's get to lunch, I'm hungry."
Once they got to the cafeteria and got their food, they went over to their table and, like every day, couldn't help but notice the empty seats.
"They've been gone for quite a while," Lotosmon commented.
"I wonder what they're doing…" Snimon contemplated.
"No idea," Dai muttered. "I wonder if there's any way we can call them and see how they're doing."
"We can ask one of the teachers about it later," Hiroshi said.
"I miss Chiharu," Asuka said. "Things are kind of boring, now that she and Beelzemon are gone."
"I know what you mean," Dai said with a nod.
"I wish they'd hurry up and get back…" Hiroshi added.
BlackSeraphimon gave him a look. "Would you rather they return soon, without completing what they went there to do, or would you rather they stay as long as they need to and solve the problem?"
"I know, I know," the redhead muttered. "But I don't have to like it…"
"Things have been a lot more peaceful, though," Lotosmon commented.
"Careful, now," Asuka said. "You don't want to jinx us."
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
The next day, that 'jinx' went into effect.
The ground began shaking, and the three children looked at each other. Ever since the Digi-Destined had left for the Digital World, no Gates had opened. So why was one suddenly opening now?
"Let's go check it out!" Hiroshi suggested, already on his feet. His two friends and their Digimon followed him as he ran in the direction the tremors were coming from, and they saw the Gate in the gym. Standing right outside the doors of the Gate, smirking, was Makuramon. The children had never seen the Deva before, but from what Chiharu had told them about the attack before she left, this Digimon seemed to fit the description.
Makuramon studied the children. "Running toward danger, instead of away from it," he observed. "You're very much like them." His eyes narrowed.
"By 'them', do you mean the Digi-Destined?" Asuka asked.
"No, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny!" he replied sarcastically. "Of course the Digi-Destined, you fools! I've come for something very important. You are going to do something for me."
"Don't bet on it," Dai hissed.
"You're going to bring me Kumbhiramon's Egg," Makuramon continued, as though Dai hadn't spoken.
"Arrow of Artemis!" the children and their Digimon heard from behind them. An arrow just narrowly missed the Deva as he side-stepped to avoid it.
"Nakayama-sensei! Dianamon!" they yelled.
"What are you doing here, Makuramon?" he asked the Deva.
"You!" Makuramon yelled, startled. "You were there when the Demon Lords were destroyed!"
"You were what?" Hiroshi asked.
"Later," the teacher said absentmindedly. "Right now, we have more important things to be focused on."
"Primal Orb!" the Digimon yelled, attacking.
"Twin Sickle!" Snimon attacked, and his blades cut through the orb that was about to hit them.
"Crescent Harken!" Dianamon yelled, but Makuramon quickly jumped out of the way.
"You aren't going to get me with that one again," he hissed.
"What's the matter?" Dianamon taunted. "Didn't you enjoy it?" The monkey Digimon's eyes narrowed in response.
"Don't make me ask again," Nakayama said. "Why are you here?"
"There's something here that I need," Makuramon replied. "I've come for Kumbhiramon's Egg."
"What do you want with it?" the teacher asked.
"That's for me to know," the monkey replied.
Nakayama shook his head. "I can't let you do that."
"Arrow of Apollo!"
Makuramon ducked as the fire arrows flew over his head. He glanced to his left to see Ikeda and Apollomon. Turning to look behind him, he saw that the Gate, his way home, had vanished.
"We caught you on a security camera," Ikeda told him. "We couldn't let you escape back to the Digital World to cause the Digi-Destined any more trouble than you probably already have. We put up a Digital Barrier in the Academy, destroying your Gate. You can't get home now."
Makuramon was not stupid. He was outnumbered and overpowered. If he were to stay and fight, he'd surely be destroyed. One Ultimate against a Champion and four Megas, two of which belonged to teachers, didn't have very good odds, Deva or no Deva. So he followed his first instinct: Run.
"Don't let him get away!" Asuka yelled, and Lotosmon and BlackSeraphimon went to block the back door, but the Deva had already left.
Nakayama quickly pulled out his cell phone. "Shinji, we have a Code Green. Make sure Makuramon doesn't escape… or find where we're keeping Kumbhiramon's Egg."
"Got it," the security guard replied.
Ikeda must have called Hotaru, because the receptionist's voice came over the PA system. "Everyone, we have a Code Green. For students who don't know what this means, we have a dangerous Digimon loose in the Academy. Please evacuate as quickly and calmly as you can. Go to your dorms immediately and remain there until an adult comes to tell you otherwise."
An instant later, the hallways were pure chaos. Everyone was pushing to get out of the building.
"What part of 'calmly' do they not understand?" Nishimura asked, shaking his head as he directed students out of the Academy. He caught a movement in the corner of his eye and looked back at Minervamon. "He's around here. I'll stay here, but I want you to go and make sure he stays away from the students."
"Understood," his Mega partner replied, running off.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
The building was almost completely cleared out, but Dai, Asuka, Hiroshi, and their Digimon remained.
"You should really get out of here with the others," Ikeda advised.
"We'd like to help," Asuka protested.
Ikeda was about to object when Nakayama spoke. "They are the best in their classes, aren't they?" he asked the woman. "We could use all the help we can get."
"Alright, but stay safe," the Team Battling/Art teacher told them.
"Got it," they replied.
"Okay," Nakayama said, "so I'll go to the east side of the building, Ikeda, you go to the west."
"And us?" Hiroshi asked.
"I want you guys to go up to the Nursery. It has a back room, and in it is Kumbhiramon's Egg. We don't know what he wants with it, but we know it can't be good. No matter what, we have to keep this away from him. If he finds out where it is, take the Egg and run." He fished through his pockets. "Here's the key. We lock it to keep any new students from wandering in, but a door isn't going to stop a Deva."
"Got it," Dai said, taking the key.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ikeda remarked. "Let me see your D-Powers." The three students held them out. "We're going to set this up so you can get us on Conference Call." She pressed a few buttons and then handed them back. "Just press the button on the right, and it will put you in contact with us."
"Thanks, Ikeda-sensei, Nakayama-sensei," Asuka said with a smile.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
Shinji watched half of the monitors carefully, while LadyDevimon took the other half. He'd just set up the connection between his monitors and Hotaru's computers, so that they could both be on the lookout. Not that he'd needed too; Datamon would have cracked the system anyway.
LadyDevimon studied screen after screen, waiting for some sort of sign that would tell them just where the Deva was hiding.
"Wait a minute…" Shinji said, pointing to a screen. "LadyDevimon, take a look at this." The Digimon leaned over to see what he was talking about.
"This isn't good," she said as Shinji made a call.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"I'm scared," Reiko whimpered.
"Me, too…" Kazue replied. "But we have to get out of here. And we gotta be careful." Their class had been in a different room that day, because of a mess that was made in the normal classroom, so they had no idea where they were in the Academy. That announcement had terrified them. If there was a dangerous Digimon in the school, then they were sitting ducks.
"O-okay…" Reiko said.
"It's going to be okay," Gazimon assured the girls.
"That's right," Candlemon agreed. He looked at Kazue. "Your brother probably deals with stuff like this all the time, and I'm sure he's just fine."
"Alright," the girl said with a nod. She saw something moving in the shadows in front of them and jumped.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a taunting voice asked, and a figure stepped out from the shadows. This had to be that dangerous Digimon that was the reason they had to evacuate.
"You won't hurt them," Gazimon said, taking a place in front of the girls. Candlemon stood by her side.
"We won't let you," the candle Digimon added.
Makuramon laughed. "You won't let me?" He smirked. "You're just pathetic Rookies. You don't have a choice in the matter." He raised his arm. "Primal Orb!"
Both Rookies quickly pulled their partners out of the way. Gazimon, however, was hit fairly badly.
"Gazimon!" Reiko yelled, worried that she would lose her partner.
"I won't let you hurt these children," the Digimon hissed at the Deva.
"And neither will I," Candlemon agreed.
"Gazimon Digivolve to… Lynxmon!"
"Candlemon Digivolve to… Sorcermon!"
"Lynxmon, Champion Level," Reiko read about her newly Digivolved Digimon. "Attacks: Thermal Mane and Wild Nail Rush."
"Sorcermon, Champion Level," Kazue said, doing the same as her friend. "Attacks: Crystal Barrage, Drowning Aquarius, and Ice Illusion. Cool."
"So you Digivolved to Champions, so what?" Makuramon asked, bored. "You're still going to be my bait. I can use the two of you as bargaining chips, even."
"Ice Illusion!" Sorcermon yelled, and a contained blizzard surrounded the Deva, temporarily blinding him, allowing for their escape. "Let's go," he told them.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"What?!" Asuka practically shrieked into her D-Power. She and the boys had just gotten the news that two young girls and their Digimon were trapped in the Academy, and Makuramon was heading their way. What was worse, the two girls were still R-Class students, so they couldn't defend themselves against a Deva.
"We have to go after them!" Dai yelled.
"But we have to stay here and protect the Egg," Hiroshi argued.
"But their lives are at stake! We need to go, now!" Dai yelled back.
"No need," Lotosmon said, pointing. "Here they come."
The children looked up to see Kazue, Reiko, Sorcermon, and Lynxmon running their way.
"What happened? Where's Makuramon?" Snimon asked them.
"I blasted him with an Ice Illusion, but that won't stop him for long," Sorcermon informed them. "What are you guys still doing here?"
"Makuramon's after what's behind that door," BlackSeraphimon told them, pointing at the door in the Nursery.
"Why, thank you for telling me," they heard, and saw the Deva stepping out of the shadows. "I appreciate your help."
"You'll have to go through us to get to that Egg!" Asuka yelled.
"Oh, good. You humans are annoying anyway, the world could do with less of you," the monkey Deva replied nonchalantly. "Treasure Orb!" He hurled his attack in the direction of the humans, but when they dodged out of the way, the orb destroyed the door they'd been guarding. "I knew you'd fall for it!" he laughed as he took advantage of the time they were taking to get up. He ran into the room and grabbed Kumbhiramon's Egg. "Now," he muttered to himself. "How to get back home?"
"Wild Nail Rush!" Lynxmon yelled, swiping at Makuramon. The Deva was sent flying, and the Egg was wrenched from his grip. Hiroshi quickly picked it up and handed it to Reiko.
"I want you to take this and run, okay?" he asked the girl, who nodded. "We'll distract him while you get away."
"Okay," she replied.
Makuramon looked up, and his eyes locked on the Egg in Reiko's arms. "Give me back that Egg!" he yelled, diving at the child, but Lotosmon and BlackSeraphimon blocked the way.
"Seven's Fantasia!"
"Seven Heavens!"
While Makuramon was recovering from the attack, Reiko climbed onto Lynxmon's back. Clutching the Egg close to her body. "Digital Enhancement. Speed: Connect!" The Champion dashed off with her partner in hopes of finding a safer place.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
Hotaru watched the screen vigilantly. Once the news had spread that there were two young children that were lost, she'd been terrified that Makuramon would get to them. She'd nearly had a heart attack when he did, but the girls were safe now. The security camera that had been on the Nursery revealed that one of the girls, Reiko Sakurazaki, had taken the Egg and was now on the run with it.
"Datamon, Sakurazaki's got the Egg, and she's heading for the Technical Ability room. Can you send out a message to all the staff so that someone can meet her there?" she asked her partner.
"Already done," the machine Digimon replied.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
When Reiko arrived at the Technical Ability classroom, Nishimura was waiting for her. "You did a good job," he told the little girl. "I'll take the Egg, now."
Reiko handed the Egg to the teacher. "Can I go back to the dorm, now?" she asked quietly.
Nishimura nodded. "Of course." He looked at Minervamon, who stood beside him. "Will you go with her to make sure that she gets there safely?"
"Alright," the Mega said. "But what about you?"
"I'll be fine," he assured her. "Harada, Kudo, and Tatsumiya are keeping Makuramon busy, or so I hear. You'll be back before he even comes near here."
"Okay, then," Minervamon said, but she wasn't completely convinced. "Let's go," she told Reiko, and led the girl and her partner out the door.
Nishimura, of course, was proven wrong when Makuramon entered the room, grinning. "This is going to be too easy," he commented. "Primal Orb!" The orb flew at Nishimura, knocking him off his feet. As a reflex, he put his hands out to brace his fall, and in doing so, he let go of the Egg, which Makuramon caught. "Thank you," he said while his grin grew wider. He heard footsteps behind him and quickly left the room. Surely the Master would notice his extended absence and open another Gate. But then he remembered: there was that barrier that had been placed. He'd have to do something about that.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"He's coming this way!" Datamon warned Hotaru. "I think he's planning on smashing the control to get the barrier down."
"No," Hotaru said. "I won't let him." This desk was practically her home sometimes, and she knew that to bring down the barrier, Makuramon was just going to destroy her equipment. She'd always been a computer geek, which was why she was the perfect partner for Datamon.
"Nano Spores!" the Ultimate yelled as soon as Makuramon came into view.
"Is that the best you've got? You're nothing but a piece of scrap metal," the Deva taunted. "Treasure Orb!"
"Data Crusher!" Datamon retaliated, hitting the orb headed their way. He wasn't powerful enough to destroy it, but he did manage to break it into smaller pieces, each of which hit the equipment hidden inside the desk. It didn't do much damage, but it made enough sparks fly to let Makuramon know that he'd done it. He'd destroyed the barrier.
A Gate opened up behind him, just as the children, their Digimon, and most of the teachers came rushing in. "You're too late," he informed them with a sly grin. "I got what I came here for." With that, he stepped through the Gate, which vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Damn!" Nakayama hissed.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"I've never seen you so angry, Nakayama-sensei," Asuka told the teacher.
"We shouldn't have let him get away," the teacher said, annoyed. He caught the looks the children were giving each other. "Don't worry, I'm not annoyed at any of you or anything. But Makuramon's bad news, so if he wanted that Egg, he must have something planned."
"He recognized you," Snimon remembered. "He said that you were there when the Demon Lords were destroyed. What did he mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Nakayama replied. "About ten years ago, the Demon Lords were getting out of control and they needed to be stopped. So, the Headmaster, some teachers, and the Elite Students, as they were called, traveled to the Digital World to stop them…"
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"This is the Digital World?" Makoto Nakayama asked, staring. He was three weeks from graduating, and planned on becoming a teacher at the Academy himself. He was also one of the Elite Students, so he was there with the others that had come to destroy the Demon Lords, for the better of the Digital World, and even the Real World, possibly.
"Yep," one of his teachers, Aoki, said. "Now come on, let's get going."
He'd come with the Headmaster, Aoki, a few other teachers, and one other student: Kyoko Nakayama, his little sister. She was the only other Elite at the time. "Is that where the Demon Lords are?" Kyoko asked, pointing up the mountain to the castle. Headmaster's partner, Dynasmon, nodded.
"Yes, that's where the information's led us to, anyway."
"It's going to take forever to get up there," Makoto said with a sigh.
"Relax, and be patient," his own partner, Dianamon, told him.
"Come on, Onii-chan, Gryphonmon and I can take you up there," Kyoko said, already on her partner's back. She reached a hand down for him to grab. He climbed on. "Is that okay with you, Headmaster?"
"You can do up, but do not enter the castle," the Headmaster ordered, earning a nod from both students.
When the adults finally caught up with them, they entered the castle, ready for any sort of ambush. But, for some reason, there was none. Had the Demon Lords already gone?
They split up, though Makoto and Kyoko stayed together. They heard noises coming from one of the rooms and poked their heads in. "Sensei!" Kyoko called, though Makoto was frozen.
In the room, against the wall, was the Digimon known as Beelzemon, the Demon Lord of Gluttony.
"So, it's you," Dynasmon said when he entered the room.
"Dynasmon," Beelzemon spat. "So a Royal Knight's working for a human now, huh?"
"You're hardly in any condition to fight, so I'd suggest you lay off the taunting," Dynasmon advised.
"Do you know where the others are?" Makoto asked.
"Even if I did, it's not like I'd tell you. I hate those bastards, but I hate you humans more."
It was over quickly. Makoto watched with a blank expression as the Demon Lord was destroyed, and the last word he uttered was his leader's name, his voice full of anger and hatred. "LUCEMON!" It was the first time Makoto had seen a real Digimon destroyed. He'd fought countless fake ones in the Team Battling Simulator, but the thought that they ended a life… He shook his head. This wasn't murder, it was justice for the rest of the innocent Digimon. But he couldn't help but think it hadn't been fair. The Demon Lord couldn't fight back. They'd basically sucker-punched him.
They found the other Demon Lords quickly enough, but when they found the others, they noticed the Devas nearby. They, however, had the sense to know that they were overpowered, and made no move to aid their old Masters. Makoto locked eyes with one of them, however. The one that looked like a monkey, who he would later learn was called Makuramon.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"You were an Elite?" Dai asked, in awe.
"Yeah," Nakayama nodded. "I even got my Burst Mode card to prove it." He held out the card for the children to see. It had a picture of Dianamon on it, but she looked different. The two antennae looking things on her head were gone, and a flower similar to the ones on her boots replaced on of them. Her scarf was yellow, and there were no spikes or double edged blade type weapons on her back. She also had a pair of white, feathery wings.
"That's Dianamon's Burst Mode?" Hiroshi whispered. "Cool!"
"Come on," Nakayama said. "The Headmaster wants to see you. It's about how you stayed in the school after being instructed to leave the building."
The three and their Digimon looked at each other and gulped. This couldn't be good.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x
"You all disobeyed direct orders to leave the building during a crisis," Headmaster told the group, pacing. "Instead, you constantly placed yourselves in numerous dangerous situations. You could have gotten hurt, or even worse."
"We're sorry, Headmaster," BlackSeraphimon said quietly. They were all dreading the punishment they were going to get.
But the Headmaster surprised them by giving a small, rare smile. "You handled yourselves very well. Even though Makuramon escaped, you proved yourselves capable of rising to unexpected challenges." He reached into his desk drawer. "Congratulations." He handed each student a card, and they took them with confused expressions. Their faces lit up when they read the two words written on the otherwise blank card: 'Burst Mode'. "Congratulations, Dai Harada, Asuka Kono, and Hiroshi Tatsumiya. You are now members of the Elite."
Next time:
Chiharu: Makuramon what?!
Hideaki: What's wrong with Yuichi?
Satoru: Maybe it's because this is his first Christmas without his family.
Beelzemon: Christmas? What the hell is a Christmas?
Woot~ I liked the way this came out, even though it was still a little shorter than I feel like it should be. But give me a break, people, I finished this two nights before I left for Europe, more specifically, at about 1:30 in the morning. I also enjoyed writing that little flashback. I finally gave one of the teachers a first name~ (I'm not sure if the Headmaster even has a name, though... hehe…) So, I got around to describing Dianamon's Burst Mode. See, I really wanted to do a flash to the Real World thing, and when I decided that Makuramon would start collecting the Deva's Eggs, I realized that he never grabbed Kumbhiramon's, so that was the perfect opportunity. I might have a few more of these every so often, as fillers or some such thing.
Anyway: Questions and Covers, please~ (But remember, I can't actually answer your questions until I get back, so depending on how many I get, there may be a LOT of questions in Episode 23)