Lilithmon: Now then, let's see if you have anything intelligent to say before we begin your... "re-education". *removes gag*
Cinder: Let me go now, or I'll DESTROY YOU-Gurgh!
Lilithmon: *sigh* What was I expecting?
The Children and their partners were in the middle of discussing the other things that supported the theory about the cloaked figure being Ruby's mom. It was mentioned that Summer Rose was reported "missing in action", implying that she might still be alive. Also, after checking the book, they also saw that the person's voice sounded familiar to Yang and Ruby. Speaking of the book, when they tried to turn the pages beyond what Gatomon red, the page wouldn't threw them on a loop.
"Sorry, but I had to ensure you won't skip to the last page or something," Novice said, having teleported back and scaring everyone a little. "You guys have anymore questions?" The Overseer added as an after thought.
"...Where's Black?" Gatomon asked, seeing that the black feline wasn't with Novice.
"Playing with her new toy," Novice said with a smile.
"What kind of toy," Armadimon asked innocently.
"Something that will keep her occupied for a time," Novice said with a small chuckle.
"Aww... is it a cat toy," Mimi asked teasingly, picturing Black playing with something like a ball of yarn happily.
"That would be funny. And cute," Sora said the last one in her head.
"It is," Novice said, internally relieved. He was curious about the results Lilithmon would show him, once she was done... Which reminded him of the fact that he needed to take precautions to ensure that no one saw the Demon Lord's handiwork. But for now, "You guys ready for the next chapter?"
"Yeah!" Was the universal answer.
Novice smiled as he took his seat, "Okay then. Taichi, you're up."
"What? Again?" The Chosen of Courage was surprised to say the least.
"Just pick up from where we left off and you'll understand," Novice said with a grin, as the book floated to Taichi.
Taichi wondered for a moment why it would be his turn, before he remembered what they were facing after the ship. And he was not looking forward to it, even though it wasn't one of his more embarrassing moments they were about to witness. Despite that, the older Yagami opened the book from the appropriate chapter.
Perfect Power! MetalGreymon!
"Wait, what!?" Seven Children and digimon shouted in unison at seeing MetalGreymon's silhouette as the title card. Earning a startled look from the second generation and a confused look from Hikari.
"Taichi, this didn't happen yet, right?" Hikari asked her brother. This being among one of the many parts Taichi and the others had gone over with her.
"This isn't right. Unless the Remnantians never meet Pixiemon," Taichi said, before choosing to read. Except his eyes hurt for a moment, "Ow!"
As exclamations of concern started ringing out, Novice had a dead-pan look, "Did you just try to jump ahead on purpose?"
"Whuh?" Agumon was the first to voice, right before Taichi confirmed Novice's statement with a nod while rubbing his eyes.
"Don't do that," Novice said simply.
"Hold up," Jo piped up, "You cast some kind of spell on the book that hurts our eyes if we try to jump ahead?" At that accusation, Novice found himself on the receiving end of everyone's glares.
"If you tried to jump ahead on purpose, yes," Novice explained, before trying to salvage the situation, "But what Taichi just experienced is more along the lines of neural simulation."
"Neural-what?" Veemon asked in confusion.
"...Pain is a warning about damage in your body," Koshiro began to explain.
Which was picked up by Jo, "So you're saying that Taichi was feeling pain, without actually hurting. Like feeling a papercut despite not actually being cut."
Novice looked surprised at Jo figuring it out, before remembering what the blue haired boy would become in the future. "I couldn't have put it better myself," Novice said with a proud look.
"I don't get it," Agumon said, being confused about the whole thing.
Gatomon rolled her eyes, before trying to put it as plainly as possible," He's saying that the pain Taichi felt isn't real."
"Oh." With that, Agumon looked relieved.
"Moving on," Novice then said quickly while motioning Taichi to continue. Which, despite still feeling annoyed, the leader of the first generation did.
The group was in high spirits as they drove through the sandy desert. So far their journey had been off to a pretty smooth start. Already they'd managed to obtain 5 of the 10 Crests they were searching for, with one already partially awakened. On top of that, they'd recently found out that they had allies who were also searching for the Crests in order to keep them safe from evil hands. All in all, things were going well for them. "Ya know, if it weren't for the killer monkey and his army of evil monsters trying to kill us, this would make a pretty sweet road trip," Pierce commented, now behind the wheel for a change.
"Yeah, it'd be nice if we could just enjoy the day without worrying about anything," Veemon nodded in agreement from his spot on the passenger seat.
"And he just invoked Murphy," Takeru commented, earning some laughs.
"Why do we keep taunting Murphy so much?" Weiss said with a sigh.
"From what I understand so far, it seems to be 'human nature' as you call it." Tentomon said, patting her back.
"He's not wrong," Gomamon commented with a snicker.
"...No one wants to hear that from you," Jo said while giving his partner a disapproving look.
"And Murphy is pretty active today. Brace yourselves!" Pierce suddenly shouted, before he took a strong turn, narrowly avoiding a sinkhole that suddenly appeared in the ground. And by narrowly, it means had he been just a millisecond late, they'd have fallen in. "That was close…" Pierce breathed as he maneuvered the RV in such a way that they now had some room away from the sink hole, still not noticing the faint glow of his crest before it disappeared.
"...Is his Crest going to activate when his semblance helps them with something huge," Daisuke felt like asking, earning several questioning looks. "Well, it's the Crest of Miracles, so wouldn't it make sense if it activated that way," the frizzy haired boy said unsurely.
"...That actually makes sense," Biyomon was the first to comment.
Novice was again surprised at how these kids already figured that out. It was worrisome to say the least. With that thought, Novice opened up a small holographic screen to add a few new restrictions around his lair. Who knows what would happen if they stumbled on Lilithmon's handiwork, or better yet the Demon Lord telling where she got her "toy" from.
"Yeah...though...why did that thing suddenly appear?" Jaune sighed.
They got their answer when they heard a faint...buzzing.
"...I'm having bad deja vu. Is anyone else having bad deja vu?" Blake sighed.
"Am I the only one who doesn't," Taichi felt the need to ask. To his surprise, the universal answer was "No". After everything they had faced, the red bug that they thought would appear wasn't scary at all.
"Yes," everyone else deadpanned.
"I swear to Oum… if this is who I think it is…" Gyro trailed off while muttering, already having drawn Ascalon as he opened the RV door, and saw a pair of large red pincers going straight for him.
Gyro didn't even blink as he turned one of his swords into its wing mode and used it to swat the pincers away, enhancing it with his semblance, and thus, launching Kuwagamon a few feet away.
"I guess it's time for some sweet catharsis then." Gyro said with a grin as he stepped out, the others following after him, weapons drawn.
"...Am I the only one who feels sorry for this Kuwagamon," Wormmon asked, believing that the Remnantians were about to curbstomp the red bug.
"Think you guys can sit this one out?" Yang asked the Digimon as she cracked her knuckles.
"A little," Hikari replied, despite the digimon being asked to sit this out.
"I think we have a few issues we need to work out with this thing." Jaune said as he turned Crocea Mors into its bastard sword mode.
(Play This Will Be The Day)
Kuwagamon didn't seem particularly impressed at being pushed back, and was soon back for more...only to stop dead when he hit a black glyph head first, and was launched back again. As he flew back, a red blur went past him, before revealing Ruby...with Nora, the carrot top already readying her hammer like a baseball bat...and smashed it into Kuwagamon, sending him flying back, right to the glyph again, only this time Pierce had set Pandora's cable around it, and electrified it. Kuwagamon lit up like a christmas tree when he made contact.
"...I feel jealous," Yamato commented at the Remnantians beating the oversized bug alone.
"You're not the only one," Taichi added in.
"Ooooh….Aaaahhh…" the Digimon all said from where they were watching in the RV.
The digimon reactions were shared by the reading group's digimon. They would never get used to seeing humans this strong.
Eventually Kuwagamon found himself flung away again, landing on the ground in a roll. Groaning, he tried to get up, angrily looking at the hunters, before charging again, intending on cutting someone in half….or he would have if Gyro hadn't suddenly hit him with a massive gust of wind from up top, causing him to dig his pincers into the ground, stopping just shy of Jaune and Yang, who both grinned, before bringing their weapons down on the pincers. Kuwagamon screeched as his pincers were cut/broken off by the bastard sword and the bullet enhanced punch.
"Ouch…THAT's gotta hurt," Gomamon winced slightly, not that they really cared after what that thing tried to do to them last time.
"Okay, I think that's enough playing around," Pyrrha chided.
"Right, let's just finish him off and be on our way," Blake nodded as all the hunters with long range weapons aimed them at Kuwagamon's head.
"Say 'aaaah', dirtbag," Pierce said, before they all opened fire. Kuwagamon was met with a hail of bullets and bombs, and when it was done, his head looked quite blackened, as he fell over.
"And that's that," Yang said, dusting her hands off as they turned back to the RV.
(End song)
"I guess Piccolomon didn't need to appear, if he's even in this chapter," Biyomon said, still in slight awe at Kuwagamon being defeated.
As they were about to step back into it, Kuwagamon got back up, roaring in rage… before his body started to glow and change.
"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me." Ren said incredulously.
"He said it," Ken found himself agreeing.
It quickly stopped changing, as everyone saw that the body structure wasn't all that different, though it now sported a silver carapace with red markings and a tuft of brown hair coming out the back of its head, it's uppermost arms having changed into a pair of pincers each, while the middle arms became an added pair of legs.
"Okuwamon!" The second generation, including Hikari and Takeru exclaimed in unison.
"Um… this is probably bad." Nora said a bit nervously.
"Guys? What's this thing called?" Ruby asked the digimon, sweating a bit at the sight of the even more deadly bug.
"It's Okuwamon, he's really dangerous!" Palmon said in warning.
Digimon Analyzer: Okuwamon
Okuwamon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Insectoid Digimon. A deadly evolution of Kuwagamon, it reached this form to be able to combat the Kabuterimon species more efficiently. It's poor defensive abilities have been augmented, while his offensive powers shot up greatly. Its special attacks are Scissor Arms Omega, which uses both of the pincers on its arms to cut the enemy to shreds, and Stabbing Horn, which speaks for itself.
"I don't know how much help it'll be, but, we have to evolve!" Agumon said as he stepped up next to Gyro.
Before they could do that however...
"Bit Bomb!"
And suddenly a small bomb rammed into Okuwamon, blowing him up and sending a shower of sand flying.
"...And there he is," Sora commented with a relieved sigh.
Although the second generation was a little surprised, especially Takeru and Patamon. They knew Piximon was stronger than he looks, but this much?
When it cleared, the hunters were left staring. "...that just happened, right?" Jaune blinked.
"A tiny bomb hit Okuwamon and destroyed him in one hit? Yes, yes it did," Ren nodded almost dumbly.
"...pray whoever did that is friendly?" Ruby suggested.
"Yeah," the others all nodded.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm plenty friendly." a voice said, making everyone look up to see a VERY small Digimon, that looked like a small pink furry ball with arms and legs, long wings on it's back and a spear in hand.
"Well aren't you the poster boy for 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'?" Gyro couldn't help but say, easily believing the Digimon that was implying it did Okuwamon in.
"...He had easier time believing than we did," Taichi couldn't help commenting. Although they weren't much worse off.
The Digimon couldn't help but laugh "That's a new one, I have to admit, never been told that before! Anyway, allow me to introduce myself, I am Piximon."
Digimon Analyzer: Piximon
Piximon. Data Type. A Perfect Level Fairy Digimon. Fluent in magic, Piximon has abilities that are rare, even among Digimon, able to create miracles according to old tales. This powerful Digimon is said to always be in the right place at just the right time. His special attacks are Bit Bomb, conjuring a small bomb in the shape of a bat that deals a surprising amount of damage, and Fairy Tail, using it's spear to attack the enemy.
"I think I've heard about you before, you apparently train any Digimon you think has potential, whether they want to or not." Gabumon said as he remembered something from back on File.
"...Does he," Daisuke and Veemon asked in unison.
"...I don't know about forcing, but we didn't have better options at the time," Jo explained.
"That would be me yes. And I have to say, I didn't think you humans would be so interesting, taking on an Adult Level Digimon like that. You Digimon too. Even when he evolved you didn't show any fear or hesitation," Piximon said. "That's why I've decided, I'll be taking you all in as my newest students!"
"I'm guessing we can't refuse?" Gomamon asked dryly.
"Nope!" Piximon said with a wide grin, making them sigh.
"...The Piximon we met didn't say that," Tentomon commented.
"Well… I guess it won't so bad, it'll be nice to get some training in with someone who's had lots of apprentices before." Gyro said, looking for the positive in the situation.
"That's a good way of thinking, but, you two won't be doing the same training as everyone else." Piximon said as he pointed at Gyro and Agumon.
"We won't?" Agumon asked in confusion.
Piximon nodded "I know about the crests, and I also know about what happened at the colosseum, so my special training course will help you truly activate your crest."
"Did Piximon offer you that, Taichi," Daisuke asked with stars in his eyes.
"...Well... no... Or maybe he at least pointed me in the right direction," Taichi said, looking thoughtful about it.
"What did he make you do," Miyako then asked, getting curious.
"I don't want to talk about it," Taichi said, not wanting to open up about it, even if it wasn't anything too bad. All things considered.
"Wait...you know about the Crest virtues?" Patamon asked in surprise.
"Are you part of Renamon's group then?" Biyomon asked as well.
"Close, I'm not fully part of their group, but we help each other out from time to time." Piximon corrected.
"Are you going to make us drag the RV along?" Wormmon asked suddenly, hoping the training wasn't starting already.
Piximon hummed in thought, looking at the vehicle "I would have… but that looks a lot more heavy up close, so no, just get in it and follow me to my home instead, training will begin once we're there."
The first seven Children and digimon once again felt jealous about the Remnantians riding in the RV, especially when they knew what would come next.
"Phew," they all breathed a sigh of relief. As such it wasn't long before they were in the RV, and were now following Piximon. Eventually they stopped at...seemingly nowhere.
"Here we are," Piximon said, to which they looked around.
"Uh...I'm assuming there's some secret passage, right?" Agumon blinked.
Instead of answering, Piximon chanted some kind of incantation, and suddenly a part of the scenery peeled away to reveal a lush jungle. "This way."
"Huh, that's pretty cool." Salamon said as the RV rolled into the jungle, the path thankfully being just wide enough for them to pass.
However, they stopped when they heard what sounded like a truck's horn being blared out behind them, making them lean out the windows to look back and see… "Wait, that's Etemon's trailer!" Ruby said in worry.
"Don't worry, he can't see past the barrier, and I made sure none of his cables got in here." Piximon said, drawing a few sighs of relief from them.
"That's good at least," Hawkmon commented.
"Glad we finally found a place that's safe," Weiss sighed.
"It would be nice to be able to sleep without having to keep an eye out all the time," Gabumon nodded in agreement.
"Well don't relax yet, my home is just a little further ahead," Piximon said as the RV drove further, the windows all lowered so everyone could look around. Eventually they came to a stop near a flight of stairs. A VERY big flight of stairs. "Your training begins now. Your first task is to reach the top of the stairs," Piximon explained.
"Yes we did," Mimi answered the question that was about to leave Iori's and Miyako's mouths. "It was horrible," the pink haired girl continued as she remembered how her feet ached later.
"Somehow I'm not surprised." Gyro said as everyone got out of the RV and started stretching their legs for the long walk.
"No flying Tentomon." Weiss said suddenly, knowing what her partner was planning and making him slump down at being caught before even trying.
"I'm surprised Weiss told Tentomon that," Koshiro commented.
Novice smiled a little, "Misery loves company as they say."
"Are you all ready?" Piximon asked, receiving several nods and sounds of confirmation "Alright then, go!"
Going up the stairs SOUNDED easy, but as many of them soon realized, it was anything but.
"These stairs are starting to feel like they go on forever…" Jaune sighed, once again glad for the extra training he'd gotten since meeting the twins. The old him would have been exhausted by now.
No one felt like voicing their feelings of jealousy in favor of not seeming whiny. The Children are a little more mature than that.
"Please don't say that," Gomamon and Palmon sighed.
"Come on guys, don't give up yet! Its gonna help us become even MORE awesome!" Nora encouraged, while Salamon chuckled as she maintained pace behind her.
Gatomon couldn't help but smile as it looked like her other didn't even look winded yet.
"It's not so bad when you take it a step at a time," Wormmon added helpfully as he crawled up the stairs at his own pace.
"I wasn't made for running though." Tentomon groaned out as he tried to keep pace with Weiss.
"Well, you know what they say, 'No pain, no gain', so push through the pain!" Gyro said as he was jogging a bit up ahead with the others of the group who were in better shape (this meant Pierce, Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang, and Ren) with their Digimon not all that far behind them.
"That's a good way of thinking about it." Piximon said with a nod of approval as he was also running up the stairs ahead of them… while going backwards.
"Did the Piximon you met do that with you," Armadimon asked.
"Yes, and it was annoying," Agumon complained, remembering how the smaller mon kept telling them to go on while doing exactly the same thing the one on the screen was.
"How have you not fallen yet?" Pierce couldn't help but ask.
"Lots of practice." Piximon said with a grin.
"That's what he said to us," Biyomon confirmed.
"Ok, that actually sounds tempting." Veemon muttered.
"You'll get it eventually if you keep practicing," Piximon chuckled. "Now keep up, its only a bit more further."
"Right!" they all said together as they kept on going up the stairs.
Eventually, as the sun was slowly heading into the horizon, but before the actual sunset, they finally reached the top of the stairs, some of them winded, and others falling to the ground as they panted.
"Not bad. I expected you all to take longer than that, but it seems I was wrong." Piximon said with an approving nod "Just for that, you all get to eat before we move onto the next step of training, come along now." he said as he flew towards his home, the others following him slowly as they recovered. "Oh, and watch your step. The floors are being cleaned, right now," Piximon added, and when they entered…
"They got to eat before the next training? No fair," Gomamon finally complained.
"They're in better shape than we are," Jo said, despite feeling cheated himself.
"Uooooh!" came three war cries as three figures darted across the floor, pushing a cleaning cloth in front of them.
"...did you all just see that?" Agumon deadpanned.
"Were those..." Wormmon trailed off with the question.
"Yep…"
"Screw you, Murphy…" Pierce groaned as they realized the three that had just gone by were the trouble makers of File City: Dorumon, Ryudamon, and Zubamon.
"Ok… just, how?" Gyro said, turning to Piximon.
"That's what we want to know," Gabumon commented, not understanding how these three were here.
"Last we saw them, they were being shipped away with Whamon," Patamon added in.
Before anyone else could add an input, the door to the room opened and Impmon walked through. "Hey, Novice. Where's Blackie," Impmon asked, earning a look from Novice.
The said man opened his mouth to answer, but Armadimon beat him to it, "Playing with her toy."
This made the Imp raise an eyebrow, "What kind of toy?"
"A ball of yarn," Armadimon said, thinking that it was that.
"...Really?" Impmon said before giving Novice a questioning look. The said Overseer emitting the aura of "Say something wrong and very bad things will happen.". "Okay then," Impmon shrugged before deciding to walk towards Novice's seat and jump on the armrest and took a seat.
"I found them washed up on the shore a few days ago, they said something about escaping from Whamon before passing out, so I took them here and put them to work." Piximon explained with a shrug. "Despite appearances, they actually DO have potential, so I decided to train them."
"Right...how's that working for you?" Veemon asked dryly.
"...it's a work in progress…" Piximon admitted.
"If those two have potential, I'm a Nume- Never mind," Impmon said, changing his tune at the sight of Dorumon.
"Do you know something?" Gatomon asked, finding the imp's sudden change of tune suspicious.
"...I plead the fifth," Impmon said, implying that he refuses to talk.
"I can see why you wanted us to come here if you're dealing with them." Biyomon said dryly.
"Well, it's not so bad, there are other people here after all." Piximon said with a shrug.
They were immediately drawn to the sound of someone hitting something, and peering into one of the rooms, they found another pair of familiar faces currently practicing on training dummies.
"So you have reached this place as well," Keenan said, pausing from his training, his cape/cloak hanging on a nearby chair, his D-Ark with it as well...and what appeared to be a card holder now that they looked closely too.
"Oh, Keenan is here too," Palmon commented.
"How did YOU get here? Last time we saw you was on File, and that's a week away, so I doubt whatever evolution Falcomon has could fly for that long." Pierce asked incredulously.
"We stowed away on your ship, and flew the rest of the way the night before you all landed ashore," Falcomon said simply.
"That can't be right," Ren frowned. "We checked the entire ship from top to bottom after we found those three. We didn't find anyone."
Instead of answering, Keenan simply placed a hand on Falcomon's shoulder, and right before everyone's eyes, they literally sank into the shadows, before rising up on another side of the room. "My Semblance," Keenan said simply.
Everyone blinked at the ability, before Daisuke gave a pleading look to Novice.
"No." The Overseer said sternly, not needing to know exactly what the frizzy haired boy wanted to ask.
"Oh great, another ninja." Gyro said with a groan "At least you're on our side."
"My teacher said the same thing when I figured out my semblance." Keenan said in a bit of amusement.
"Is your teacher by any chance Renamon's partner?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She is, she took the two of us under her metaphorical wing after meeting with our mother." Falcomon answered.
"So, the two of you are basically brothers then?" Yang asked.
Keenan was about to answer...but the moment he saw Yang's face, he suddenly stiffened, and they could all swear for a moment a flash of rage crossed the young boy's eyes...before he suddenly relaxed...or at least calmed down.
Everyone caught onto Keenan's reaction and they wondered why he would react like that. Novice on the other hand was wondering if he should tell them... No too early.
"...was it something I said?" Yang blinked, more than a little apprehensive at the reaction.
"N-no," Keenan said quickly. "My apologies, and yes, Falcomon and I are basically brothers, as we were both raised by Frigimon," he nodded.
"Great," Impmon said, laying down with his hands behind his head, "Mushy stuff."
This comment earned the imp several glares.
Gyro and Pierce glanced at each other after witnessing Keenan's reaction, having a decent idea of WHY he reacted that way at seeing Yang. At least he stopped himself and noticed she only looked like the person he mistook her for.
"Oh, also, it is actually rather convenient you all found your way here," Falcomon suddenly said. "Truth be told, aside from training, we were meeting one of our members here. It would be in your benefit to talk to him too."
"Provided he isn't buried in his books again...literally sometimes," Keenan sighed.
"Literally?" Everyone parroted that part, getting a mental image of someone being buried by a book avalanche.
"Yes, but before that, I think it's time for dinner." Piximon said, and was met with a chorus of growling stomachs, making him chuckle "Come along now everyone."
"Please enjoy!" a trio of voices said as everyone by now as seated at a dinner table, a spread of food already prepared. The ones who had set the table were what appeared to be a trio of nuns.
"Nuns?" Mimi and Sora questioned in unison.
The first, and tallest of the nuns, wore a short white dress that reached her knees, with socks going up to the same point, her short blue hair peeking out from under a sky blue hood that had a mouse motif, her blue eyes having cross shaped pupils.
The second nun wore a black outfit, her skirt being just a bit shorter as her socks stopped before the knees, exposing some of her legs, with black hair poking out from her black hood that had a cat motif, with her gray eyes having the same pupils as the first.
And finally, the third nun, and shortest of the trio, wore a white outfit like the tallest, but the dress was a bit more poofy and went past her knees, silver hair falling down from underneath her pink, rabbit themed hood, her pink eyes bearing cross shaped pupils like the others.
"Thank you, you three. This looks delicious as always," Piximon said, before looking at the Chosen Children. "Ah yes, allow me to introduce you. These are the Sistermon sisters. From oldest to youngest: Ciel, Noir, and Blanc," he introduced, the three Sistermon curtseying slightly.
"Cute aren't they," Novice said while giving most of the older boys a knowing look. The said boys keeping their mouths shut for varying reasons.
"Pleased to meet you," the three said cheerfully.
Digimon Analyzer: The Sistermon Trio
Sistermon Ciel, Noir and Blanc. Data, Virus and Vaccine respectively. The first two are Adult Level while Blanc is Child Level, and all three are Puppet Digimon. The three were born from leftover holy data of a deleted angel Digimon, and are said to be able to call on its power in times of great need. Ciel is the one who always keeps a cool head, Noir is more mischievous, while Blanc has the innocence of a child. Their special attacks are, respectively, Silent Bullet, shooting a completely silenced shot from a cross shaped gun, Bless Fire, rapid firing of a pair of holy guns, and Divine Pierce, stabbing the opponent with a holy trident.
"Wow, this looks great!" the three trouble makers started and looked ready to just dig in without a care...only to stop when Piximon suddenly whacked them on the head.
"Fools! I've told you many times, a warrior must maintain control in and out of battle! You won't get stronger by acting like a bunch of Hogmons!" Piximon scolded.
"S-sorry!" the three said.
"Even Veemon has better table manners," Hawkmon commented.
"Yeah," Veemon said, before the sentence fully registered in his head, "Hey!"
"No, you said you were sorry last time, and the time before that. You leave me no choice!" Piximon said, and suddenly they were cowering.
"My special training technique! Strike of Tough Love!" Piximon called out, breathing on his staff, before delivering a strong whack on their heads, causing them to faceplant into the ground.
"...I'm glad we were never whacked." Agumon said, wincing a little at each hit. As did everyone else.
Everyone stared at the sight for several moments, with Pierce and Gyro breaking out into a cold sweat as Piximon's words reminded them of a certain show they liked back on Earth.
"Holy shit… we're being trained by a tiny Garp." Pierce whispered nervously.
"They have One Piece on their Earth?" Takeru and Daisuke questioned in unison.
"So yours does too," Novice said with an interested look, "Small multiverse."
"Well… as long as we listen to him we won't get that kind of hit, and besides, the training will definitely be worth it in the end." Gyro tried to reason, but even he sounded a bit nervous.
At the same time though, Keenan was looking around, before he sighed.
"Something wrong?" Salamon asked.
"Wizardmon isn't here again. He must still be in the library," Falcomon explained dryly. "This happens very often…"
"Wizardmon!?" Gatomon exclaimed in disbelief. Before realizing something. Since her other was never part of Myotismon's army, neither would Wizardmon be.
"...should we go get him?" Nora blinked.
"You all stay. WE will go get him," Keenan sighed, before sinking into the shadows with Falcomon. A few minutes later, and suddenly they emerged again, this time with what was OBVIOUSLY Wizardmon.
If the obvious outfit wasn't enough,which consisted of a cloak over a beige outfit and a red short jacket, the pointy hat on his head and the staff with a sun at the tip definitely hammered it home.
Digimon Analyzer: Wizardmon
Wizardmon. Data Type. An Adult Level Demon Man Digimon. He apparently hails from another Digital World known as Witchelny, where magic users are common, and somehow ended up in the current Digital World. A master magic user, Wizardmon is always interested in the history of the world. His special attack is Thunder Cloud, summoning forth a small storm cloud to shock his opponents with.
"Sorry about this again," Wizardmon said rather bashfully as he scratched the back of his head.
"You'd thank us better by taking better care of yourself," the two deadpanned.
"...That... sounds like the Wizardmon I knew," Gatomon said, ears drooping a little.
"Do you need a moment," Novice asked, forgetting this little possibility.
"No, I'll be fine," Gatomon said, straigthening her expression.
Wizardmon just chuckled awkwardly at that.
"Wait, I thought it was a joke at first, he was actually buried in books?" Patamon asked incredulously.
"He was, we had to drag him out." Falcomon said dryly.
"Was Wizardmon like that," Hikari felt like asking Gatomon.
"Kind of," the white feline admitted.
"Please stop pointing it out." Wizardmon requested as he covered his face in embarrassment.
"You sound like the kind of mon who gets in a lot of troublesome situations." Salamon pointed out.
"Yes, well, considering Keenan and the others found me passed out in the desert, I suppose that would be accurate." Wizardmon admitted.
"...Wow," Daisuke commented. While Gatomon remembered fondly of that time.
"You know what would do you some good? Eating, before I repeat what I did to those troublemakers again." Piximon said dryly at everyone who was still talking, making them quickly start to eat the food spread out before them.
Though the hunters did pause when Wizardmon pulled down his collar and they saw his mouth was stitched up, yet he could still open it enough to eat small bites.
Besides that though, and Piximon having to clobber the troublemakers a few more times, dinner went by rather calmly.
Once it was over…
"Come along now you two, it's time for your special training session." Piximon said as he guided Gyro and Agumon outside of his home.
"What was it like for you Taichi," Yamato asked, only now getting interested.
"I'd rather not say," the Chosen of Courage said.
"Right, so what do you need us to do?" Gyro asked as they followed.
"You'll know when you get there," Piximon said, leading them to a cave. "Find your way out of here, and you'll find what you need."
"So, what, do we need to come out the other side or some…thing... " Gyro trailed off when his foot sank into the ground in the cavern, he and Agumon falling through the floor as it rippled like water.
"Just like with me and Taichi," Agumon commented.
Piximon nodded to himself after watching them fall "Let's hope the illusions work, kid seems decently smart after all so there's the chance he might not buy it."
Back at Piximon's home, the group had been led into a room by Keenan where they could do some actual training, since Piximon felt the floor polishing was better left to those with less discipline.
"Is that why he made us wash the floors? Because he felt we weren't disciplined," Mimi asked in annoyance.
"It actually makes some sense," Koshiro said with a thoughtful look.
"This place is pretty good," Jaune mused as he looked at the training area. It had just about everything they needed. Punching bags, training dummies, treadmills, a ring for sparring, the works. There were even a few books and scrolls regarding a number of martial arts, exercises, and various other things to support training. Not to mention there were multiple rooms, so they didn't all have to share the same room either.
"Ah, I'm glad I caught you all before you started." Wizardmon said as he entered the room "I wanted to talk to you all about some information I gathered."
"What's it about?" Jaune asked.
"Your crests." Wizardmon answered, and he gained their undivided attention.
"Oh, they're going to find out about their Crests now?" Ken wondered aloud.
"You know something about them?" Ruby asked eagerly.
Wizardmon nodded as he sat down on the floor, the others mimicking him "I've been able to figure out what each crest represents, and can extrapolate which crests you all have, as their were mentions of what kind of Digimon would be partnered to each crest bearer."
"That's definitely the biggest information possible." Pierce said with a grin.
"Definitely," Takeru agreed.
"Lay it on us." Veemon added with his own grin.
Wizardmon laughed at their eagerness "Alright, I'll start with your friend Gyro I suppose, it helps I was able to get a look at his crest, as he bears the Crest of Courage. Legends stated that from the flames of courage, a slayer clad in gleaming armor would arise, with power to defeat even the greatest of dragons."
"That's WarGreymon," Taichi said, feeling himself smiling at the confirmation that Gyro's Agumon would become the mighty warrior.
"That… that honestly sounds rather amazing." Weiss admitted as she blinked, before trying to picture it, thinking it would probably have some features from Greymon.
"Oooh! Oooh! Do Ren's next!" Nora said, pulling Ren over.
"Nora…" Ren sighed, but turned to Wizardmon all the same. "Though I am curious as well…"
As were the Children and their digimon, especially Ken and Wormmon.
Wizardmon chuckled, and nodded all the same. "Let's see here…" he said, examining Ren's Crest. "Ah yes...this one was a little more obscure than the others, but I found legends on it as well. Your Crest is the Crest of Kindness. According to the legends, the warmth of Kindness would call forth the warrior with blades that could penetrate any defense, hidden in the shadows of the deep forest."
"Sooo... Some kind of ninja?" Daisuke guessed.
"It is a little vague," Wormmon admitted, but he was looking forward to seeing what it would be.
"Kindness…" Ren mused as he looked at his crest, nodding in acceptance after a few moments.
"Penetrating any defense huh? I wonder what I'm gonna look like then?" Wormmon wondered.
Wormmon wouldn't say it out loud, but he was also very very VERY curious.
"The legends did not name them, sorry," Wizardmon said. "Now then…" he looked at Jaune's Crest. "Ah yes, the Crest of Reliability. Through a heart that remains faithful and dependable to those around them, the warrior of the frozen sea will surface, mighty enough to shatter even dimensions, or so the legends say."
"Wait, what?" Gomamon questioned, "That doesn't sound like Zudomon."
"Well I can imagine you at frozen seas as Zudomon," Jo supplied helpfully.
"Reliable huh?" Jaune said nervously, before Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder.
"I think you're starting to become a very reliable person Jaune." she said with her usual kind smile.
"More than Jo was at the time anyway," Mimi jabbed, before giggling a little.
"Hey!" The Chosen of Reliability wasn't happy about it.
"Mimi isn't wrong, you know," Sora couldn't help adding in.
"Pyrrha's right, you've done a lot already, so don't ever think the opposite." Pierce added with a grin.
"And I know I can count on you to help me turn into that super strong sounding warrior." Gomamon added as he patted Jaune on the back, the blonde managing a smile at the encouragement.
"So...uh...what does mine mean?" Ruby asked after a few moments, as her curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Hm...my, its the Crest of Purity. According to the legends, through the light of a pure heart, the eternal queen of flowers will awaken from her slumber, blooming flowers of hope for her allies, and thorns of despair for her enemies," Wizardmon recited.
"Thorns of despair?" Palmon wondered with a head tilt, "I don't think that sounds like Lilymon."
"No it doesn't, what's going on," Mimi questioned too. Besides, calling Lilymon a queen is a slight overstatement.
"Somehow, the crest doesn't surprise me." Blake couldn't help but say in amusement.
"What does Purity mean though exactly? Like, how do I show that?" Ruby wondered.
"Just keep being you Ruby." Yang said simply as she patted her little sister's head.
"So I'm gonna turn into a flower then? I can't wait!" Palmon cheered as she did a small spin.
"So I guess mine is last then?" Pierce said, stepping forward and showing his crest.
"Hm...oh my…" Wizardmon's eyes widened.
"Something wrong?" Veemon blinked.
Daisuke and Veemon were practically squinting at the screen, wanting to find out what the next form of Veedramon might be.
"Oh...nothing. It's just, I didn't expect to see this one so soon. This is the Crest of Miracles, and I will say that of the 10 Crests, this is the one I know the least of, sadly. However, it is said that when the light of miracles shines, the dragon knight who flies faster than the wind will come, striking down evil with his blades of light," Wizardmon explained.
"That sounds so cool," Veemon said with stars in his eyes.
"I want to see it," Daisuke also said with excitement. Imperialdramon is cool, but Ken and Wormmon are needed for that.
"Miracles, huh? That sounds pretty vague." Pierce said as he tried to think how exactly he was supposed to show that.
"A super fast dragon knight sounds really awesome though." Veemon said in excitement.
"And that's all the Crests we have so far...what are the other five?" Salamon asked.
"Hm...the remaining Crests are...Friendship, Knowledge, Hope, Light, and Love," Wizardmon listed off, before showing cards depicting the symbols of each crest. "As for the legends...I'll start with Friendship," he said, clearing his throat. "Through the unbreakable bonds of Friendship, the metal beast will bare his fangs, to freeze his enemies in ice as eternal and unbreakable."
"MetalGarurumon," Yamato commented with a smile.
As one, the Digimon in the group all turned to Gabumon, making him blink at the 8 pair of eyes on him "What?"
"That's totally a Garurumon evolution he just talked about." Biyomon said with a firm nod.
"No doubt about it." Patamon agreed.
"I… I guess that makes sense." Gabumon said after a moment.
"It does now," Gabumon admitted.
"So, my crest would be Friendship then." Pyrrha mused, deep in thought.
"Next is the Crest of Knowledge. When the answer sought is found, the great beetle will take flight. The storm itself bend to his will as all who threaten what he holds dear will fall before the might of the lightning," Wizardmon recited.
"...I don't think I'm that amazing," Tentomon said, not thinking this was AtlarKabuterimon for some reason.
"I'm literally the only beetle in this room." Tentomon didn't need to look to see the others were all staring at him "Still though, storms bending to my will? Sounds interesting."
At that moment Koshiro looked like he had a realization. "I don't think the legend is talking about AtlarKabuterimon," the Chosen of Knowledge said looking a little shocked.
"Well, yeah. I don't think he's that powerful. No offense, Tentomon," Patamon spoke up, earning a shrug from the insectoid digimon, signaling that he wasn't really bothered.
"No! I mean... what if it's talking about Tentomon's... Ultimate level," Koshiro clarified, finding it difficult to voice the possibility.
"WHAT!?" Was the universal response to that, before Taichi and Yamato had a look of realization.
"The legend described WarGreymon clearly," Taichi said, as he looked towards Yamato.
"And MetalGarurumon," Yamato added in, before looking at the other digimon whose forms were described, "What if the digimon described are Ultimate level?"
"...That would make sense," Palmon said, now finding the description more sensible.
"You mean... my other could become Ultimate like Agumon and Gabumon?" Gomamon added in with stars in his eyes at the thought.
And then they realized it. If this story pans out like they thought it did... they would eventually have 10 Ultimate level digimon.
"Taichi, keep reading," Hikari of all people commanded.
"Hikari?" And it surprised the older Yagami.
"Just do it!" Hikari then shouted, before realizing what she just did, "...Sorry." She was just so excited.
With that, Taichi kept reading.
"Weiss having the Crest of Knowledge… you know what? It does fit her the best." Pierce said with a nod after thinking about it.
"And by that you mean…?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You're the most curious out of all of us here." Blake answered, and Weiss conceded the point after a moment.
Wizardmon chuckled at how...easily it seemed they were finding the correct matches. "The Crest of Hope is next. Heeding the call of undying Hope, the great celestial being will descend, to cut through the darkness and silence despair."
"Oh, come on!" Patamon complained. With that kind of description, he couldn't tell if it meant HolyAngemon or something else.
"Somehow, I think that's Patamon." Yang said with a laugh.
"The little guy can turn into an angel, it's definitely him." Pierce agreed.
"I bet I'm gonna have a ton of wings!" Patamon said to himself with a laugh.
A laugh which was shared by Novice, who tried to cover it up with a cough.
"Hope…" Blake muttered, wondering on her crest "I suppose that's certainly mine." she said quietly, and unless one looked closely, she had the smallest of smiles on her face.
"Now then...the next one is a little...odd," Wizardmon sighed. "Its the Crest of Light."
"Aside from how Light isn't really a virtue...how is it odd?" Ren blinked.
"Well...the legends were...very obscure. They could never quite agree WHO was the Digimon that the light would herald. Some legends call it a great holy dragon, others say a radiant celestial being, and there are some more obscure legends that I just can't seem to decipher properly, implying a third candidate," Wizardmon sighed.
"Huh?" Gatomon mouthed out, "Three candidates?"
"It's true," Novice spoke up.
"...I wonder which one is it," Hikari mumbled.
"That's… not as obvious as the others, could be either of us honestly." Biyomon said as she turned to Salamon.
"Yeah, I mean, sure, either of us turning into a dragon or a celestial being sounds a bit farfetched, but maybe we're gonna become this mystery third candidate." Salamon reasoned with a shrug.
"So, the last one then I guess, maybe we'll figure it out after hearing it." Yang said with a shrug as she turned back to Wizardmon.
"Right. The Crest of Love. From the deep flames of love, the great firebird will take flight, wings of gold bringing forth an eternal flame upon the wicked souls," Wizardmon finished.
Biyomon's eyes widened into saucers at the description, "That sounds so awesome." The starstruck pink bird said with a low voice. Sora was also awed by the description.
"Ok, yeah, process of elimination worked, that's totally me." Biyomon said with a firm nod.
"Huh, so guess we're the Crest of Light then, let's try and figure it out." Salamon said as she got in Nora's lap.
"Gonna be tough, but we'll manage." Nora said with a cheery smile.
Meanwhile, Yang was having an internal dilemma as she processed what her own crest was.
'Am I really the right person? Maybe it's a fluke?' she couldn't help but wonder, before she felt Pierce put his arm around her, managing a weak smile as she turned to him, even though she didn't feel all that confident right now.
"...Does Yang have some kind of problem too? What could it be," Sora thought. She remembered how she believed herself to be incapable of love, stemming from her own mother. But from what she understood, Yang's and Ruby's mom sounded like the best mother in the world. "Could it be her biological mother?" But if she left Yang as early as the story implied, Yang shouldn't care at all.
After a few more questions for Wizardmon, the group ultimately decided to do some training before bed time.
Meanwhile, back in the cave…
"Agumon… how long have we been walking through this place?" Gyro asked as he looked through the dark and very huge forest surrounding them.
Agumon and Taichi shared a look with each other, both of them having the same thought, "That's different."
"A few hours I think." Agumon answered easily.
"Right… what the hell is our special training supposed to be?" Gyro wondered, with Agumon shrugging in response.
Just then, both of them stilled as they heard a faint buzzing noise coming from deeper in the forest, and Gyro instinctively knew this wasn't a beetle, it was a buzzing he easily recognised, and one he never wanted to hear.
Slowly, the two turned in the direction of the buzzing, and Gyro's face paled as he managed to mutter weakly "Oh find me in the alps."
"...Wasn't Gyro afraid of wasps," Iori asked, remembering that little tidbit.
It was at that moment that everyone felt pity towards the poor guy.
"So...we've been here all night...and my brother isn't back yet," Pierce said, looking at Piximon rather crossly. "Care to explain?"
"That just means they haven't completed their training. The spell would have brought them back when they completed their training," Piximon explained, not the least bit phased by the glare. "His Crest while simple, is hard to show. After all, Courage is about facing one's fears."
It took Pierce a moment, before his glare actually doubled "I don't like that cave… and Gyro is going to want to kill you very badly." he said, before walking away from the fairy.
"Yes, I was well aware that might happen when I picked this one for him, but it was the best I could think of. Better now in an ultimately controlled environment than right when it's needed the most," Piximon pointed out.
"He's not wrong," Taichi said, feeling that he got off easier than Gyro this time.
Pierce stopped, looking over his shoulder with a glare, before stomping away, angry that he couldn't refute the logic. He didn't have long to stew in his ire, as he noticed something else. "Huh? You four are up early," he blinked when he saw Pyrrha, Weiss, Gabumon, and Tentomon creeping out of their rooms.
"Look who's talking," Weiss yawned a bit. "But we're up for a very good reason." When she said that, the two of them reached into their clothes and pulled out their Tags. Both were glowing.
"If you're looking for the Crests of Friendship and Knowledge, they're in a well just outside my territory," Piximon said suddenly, floating down. "I picked this location not just due to its convenience, but also to keep an eye on those two Crests."
"Right, that means we're stepping back out into the sand again." Pyrrha said, covering her mouth as she yawned.
"Be careful of Etemon's Dark Network, I've seen plenty of cables in the area outside the barrier." Piximon told them, before floating off somewhere else in his home.
"That would've been good to know," Yamato sighed, feeling annoyed that Piximon didn't even warn them.
"But we still found our Crests," Koshiro pointed out.
"And left us behind to do it, Tentomon said, sounding mildly offended.
"You guys needed the sleep," Koshiro retorted with a small smile.
"You guys gonna be okay?" Pierce asked.
"We'll be alright," Tentomon said.
"Should I go wake the others?" he asked again.
"No, let them sleep," Gabumon said.
"Though...if we're not back before the others wake up, please let them all know where we are," Pyrrha requested.
"Got it," Pierce nodded.
With that settled, the four of them set out. Using their Tags as a guide, they soon found their way to one of the edges of Piximon's barrier...and true enough, they could see a well just outside, the sun just starting to rise.
"Well, looks like this is it," Weiss gulped. Even if they knew they'd have to venture out eventually, it still wasn't a comforting thought that they'd be out of this safe haven and back where Etemon could...and probably would...find them again.
"Except, you guys didn't know that," Miyako commented, feeling slight pity for them.
"We still got out of it alive," Yamato said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Came out of Iori.
"You'll see soon enough, if this turns out like it did with us," Yamato said.
"Doesn't look like anyone is around...so we might be able to get in and get out quickly," Gabumon said.
"Right. Now or never," Pyrrha nodded, before the four of them took a deep breath, and ran out of the barrier. Getting to the well, they immediately grabbed rope, finding it to be a strong rope, and started using it to get down, with Tentomon following them, and Gabumon acting as a lookout in case any uninvited guests showed up.
"Well, this place feels pretty damp." Tentomon noted as he flew down slowly.
"Well, it IS a well, even though it seems dried up." Weiss said.
"Considering how small the bricks are, the crests are going to be hard to spot." Pyrrha said… before the whole inside of the well started to glow in blue and purple "Nevermind."
Covering the walls of the well, the Crests of Friendship and Knowledge appeared, the first being shaped like a blue wheel with fangs on its side, and the second being shaped somewhat like purple pair of round glasses.
The two Crests spun as they removed themselves from the walls, before they each went into the tag of their respective owner.
At the same time, they started to hear Gabumon launching his attack, quickly climbing back up and seeing that he was shooting at some of the Dark Network cables that came into view.
"That's... probably how Etemon realized we were there," Koshiro said, thinking back on how that Tyrannomon came out of nowhere.
"We got them!" Pyrrha said quickly, catching his attention.
"Great, now we should go before-!" Gabumon never got to finish, as the ground started to shake with the sound of HEAVY footsteps. The group turned, and saw a large red dinosaur with green spikes going down its spine, making its way towards him, and attached to its body were more of the Dark Network cables. "...that happens…" Gabumon finished lamely.
"Speak of the devil," Yamato couldn't help commenting, "And we were all alone there."
"So we had to run," Koshiro said, with a small chuckle. It was odd for him to remember that incident being funny now.
"Ack! Its Tyrannomon!" Tentomon gasped in alarm.
Digimon Analyzer: Tyrannomon
Tyrannomon. Data Type. An Adult Level Dinosaur Digimon. The most basic of Dinosaur Digimon, it has a good set of battle skills. It can be found in many places in the Digital World, and has a few varying evolutions. Its special attack is Fire Breath, shooting out a stream of flames from its mouth… it really doesn't have anything special going for it.
"Isn't that a little mean," Hikari couldn't help but ask.
"Well it's true," Gatomon said.
"Well...I guess we should be used to this by now," Weiss sighed, holding her head in her hands. "It's not like we don't already spend every other day fighting for our lives. Why not START the day with one while we're at it."
The Children and the digimon couldn't help but find Weiss' commentary funny.
"So...we evolve?" Tentomon asked rhetorically.
"Yep," Gabumon and Pyrrha nodded, before the two girls moved to grab their Digivices, their partners ready to evolve, but…
"Dynamic Entry!" came a trio of voices, as three figures jumped out of the trees, and landed kicks on Tyrannomon's snout. The scene WOULD have been awesome...if it weren't for the fact they did absolutely nothing, Tyrannomon blinking almost comically at the three child level Digimon that had just kicked him in the nose...or tried to anyway.
"Those idiots," Sora commented, resisting a face palm.
"Are they that eager to die," Gatomon asked dryly.
There was a small staring contest for a moment, before Tyrannomon flicked them away, making the trio land near the others.
"Did you honestly think that would work?" Weiss couldn't help but ask the troublemakers dryly.
"We were just gauging his strength!" Dorumon quickly said as he got up.
"Suuuure," Gabumon drawled out, voicing what everyone else was thinking.
"And he's strong!" Ryudamon added.
"So we'll have to get stronger!" Zubamon finished.
"How can you get stronger fast enough to beat him?" Pyrrha couldn't help but ask.
In response, the trio grinned… and then started to glow.
(Play Brave Heart)
"Dorumon, Evolution!" Dorumon called out as he felt his energy peak, and he soon transformed. "Dorugamon!" his body had grown, his fur becoming a darker shade of purple with lighter purple stripes, his tiny wings turning into actual working wings covered in fur.
"Ryudamon, Evolution!" Ryudamon said as well, following his friend's lead and soon transformed. "Ginryumon!" his body took on a more salamander styled structure, his fur being replaced with actual scales while his body was covered in even more samurai armor than before.
"Zubamon, Evolution!" Zubamon called out, topping off the trio, and like his friends, he soon transformed. "ZubaEagermon!" his body went from bipedal to a quadruped, and looked even more dangerous then before, his sword shaped horn growing longer while his tail became a large blade, as what looked like a sword handle came out of his back.
"...Okay, that happened," Hawkmon commented, fully expecting the trio to just get in the way.
"...They're still idiots," Impmon commented, finally speaking up as he glared at Dorugamon. Then the imp nudged Novice's arm to earn his attention. "Is that the Dorugamon I think it is," Impmon whispered.
"If you mean who I think you mean, then I don't know," Novice whispered back.
"Okay...guess the training wasn't wasted on them after all…" Gabumon blinked.
"They actually learned how to evolve?" Tentomon said in surprise.
"Believe it!" Dorugamon grinned.
"We said we'd get stronger, and we trained our butts off to do it," Ginryumon nodded.
"I honestly didn't think they could," Gatomon commented, earning some laughs.
"So let's beat the crap out of this guy!" ZubaEagermon grinned.
"Right!" the other two nodded, before they charged forward, ramming into Tyrannomon, and this time they actually started to push him back.
"Say 'ah', dirtbag!" Dorugamon growled, before opening his mouth. "Power Metal!" he called out, firing a cannon ball from his mouth, which hit Tyrannomon dead on, pushing him off his feet.
"Don't let him get up! Tekkoujin!" Ginryumon called out, shooting a spear from his mouth, hitting Tyrannomon in the shoulder, causing him to roar out in pain.
"And the finisher! Vantheon!" ZubaEagermon called out, spinning in the air like a super sharp wheel of blades, before descending on Tyrannomon, earning more painful roars from the dinosaur before he ultimately collapsed, seemingly out cold.
(Song end)
"Woah." Gabumon muttered, honestly impressed.
"What he said," Gabumon, agreed with his other.
"...I may have to change my opinion of them," Palmon commented.
"They did pretty good." Tentomon said with a nod.
"I must admit, I didn't think they could handle it at first, but I'm glad I was wrong." Weiss said.
"They've certainly grown a bit since the last time we saw them." Pyrrha said, before gaining a look of deadpan when the three adult levels started dancing in celebration "Although they could still use some work."
"Still childish," Novice said with a fond look. Everyone else shook their heads a little.
And suddenly, the celebrating was cut short, as Tyrannomon got back up, roaring in challenge while the cables started feeding energy into him.
"Oh no." Weiss groaned as she saw the cables.
"Uh… that doesn't look good." Dorugamon said, before he, Ginryumon and ZubaEagermon were sent flying by the now glowing Tyrannomon's tail, crashing through the barrier and breaking it as they quickly reverted back to Child Level, knocked unconscious.
"He evolves now? That's cheating," Veemon complained, earning a roar of laughter out of Novice.
"Pata kattilaa soimaa(Pot rebuking kettle)," Novice said through his laughter. But of course, no one understood what he said.
What stood in Tyrannomon's place appeared to be something that would be more at place in a junkyard, it's body now white while it's green spikes were now black and heavily damaged. Its body was covered in cables and wires, while its lower jaw was made of metal, same for its snout which now sported a small horn. Both hands also appeared more mechanic, while its feet gained iron claws.
"Oh that's just great! Now he's MetalTyrannomon!" Gabumon said in panic as they ran back into Piximon's territory, picking up the unconscious trio and running off as fast as they could.
Digimon Analyzer: MetalTyrannomon
MetalTyrannomon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Cyborg Digimon. Its body being remodeled as an anti-ground interceptor Digimon, MetalTyrannomon is a force to be reckoned with. Its chin can break through even the toughest of metals, with the exception of Chrome Digizoid. Its special attack is Nuclear Laser, firing an energy shell from its left arm.
"Suddenly I now know how our enemies must feel whenever we pull the evolution trick on them…"Pyrrha sighed as MetalTyrannomon started stomping towards them. However…
"Oh." And now they had a pretty good guess about what Novice was laughing about.
"...I never thought of that," Biyomon said having a thoughtful look.
"Neither did I," Gomamon added in, before his eyes widened, "Does that make us cheaters?" That was not a comforting thought.
"Relax people," Novice said, calming down from his laughing fit, "It's more common with you guys, but sudden evolutions among digimon have happened before."
That was a little comforting.
"Bit Bomb!" came Piximon's voice as MetalTyrannomon was hit in the head with the move. Unfortunately he seemed to be MUCH stronger than Okuwamon as he withstood the attack.
"Hey, are you all alright?!" came Jaune's voice as all their friends (save Gyro and Agumon who weren't back yet) arrived at the scene.
"Could be better." Gabumon said, panting a bit.
"So, Etemon sent a Perfect after us?" Yang easily figured that the Digimon had to be that strong if they had run instead of fighting it.
"It started as an Adult, but it evolved after these three managed to beat it." Weiss said, motioning to Dorumon, who she was carrying under her arm.
"Wait… these three beat him?" Gomamon asked incredulously.
Everyone chuckled as that was basically their reaction to it, despite seeing it.
"They evolved." Tentomon said simply.
"Oh, that makes sense then." Gomamon said with a nod.
Now they were laughing, despite the Remnantians' situation.
"Dammit!" Pierce growled, before looking in the direction of the cave "I hope you hurry it up Gyro!"
Speaking of Gyro…
"KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!"
He was absolutely losing his shit.
"Well, no shit," Impmon commented, smirking at Gyro's situation.
Sitting on Greymon's head and just barely being able to focus enough to use the wind to enhance his Mega Flame as they were being attacked by a colony of wasps… Rapier Wasps… HUGE Rapier Wasps, the same size as Waspmon, and with their stingers longer than his own body.
"I feel sorry for Gyro," Agumon commented, now feeling really like he and Taichi got off easy.
"I don't think they're backing off!" Greymon said in alarm, as more kept coming.
"In that case only one thing to do! Retreat!" Gyro shouted...only to find that they were surrounded. "...mommy…" he all but squeaked. However, just as they were about to attack...everything froze. "...huh?" he blinked.
"Uh… the world doesn't normally just stop moving, right?" Greymon couldn't help but ask.
"No it doesn't," Jo agreed with Gyro's Greymon.
"No… no it does not." Gyro answered, looking around in confusion, before a light started shining in front of them, and they could see… something inside of it, the image slowly coming more and more into focus, until…
"Crap!" Gyro shouted in worry as he saw MetalTyrannomon stomping around in Piximon's territory, Kabuterimon, Birdramon and Angemon flying around it's head and pelting it with their attacks, while catching glimpse of the other Adult Levels in the jungle below launching their own attacks, which weren't even fazing the Perfect Level. Not even Angemon's Heaven's Knuckle was doing more than annoy the Digimon, to which he retaliated. Suddenly the image started to 'fast forward', and when it was over, all that was left was a burning forest and all his friends on the ground.
"Taichi, did anything like this happen to you," Sora now asked in worry.
"No, Agumon and I had something... easier than this," the Chosen of Courage said, wondering how he would have reacted if he saw somehting like this.
"That's debatable," Novice said with a knowing look.
Gyro's fists tightened at the scene before him "No… We won't let it happen!"
"They need us right now, so we won't let them down!" Greymon said in agreement, before letting out a roar as he charged the strongest Mega Flame he could.
"Let's cut a path through! These bugs can just burn in hell!" Gyro shouted as the wind started to kick up around them. At the same time, time seemed to resume, the swarm now ready to attack again, but they also seemed to be getting between them and the image.
"Mega Flame!" Greymon let loose the attack, which got swept up into the wind, creating a vortex of fire around them that burned all the swarm to ashes.
"Let's go!" the two shouted together as they ran on ahead, Gyro's Crest shining brighter and brighter all the while, until…
(Play Brave Heart)
"It's happening," Taichi said in disbelief as the song began.
Gyro's Digivice began to vibrate, before it changed, turning from its standard color into a deep orange, the same color as the Crest, while the buttons became blue, before a beam of light shot out of the screen and into the back of the Tag, going right through and carrying with it a projection of the Crest of Courage, the beam going up till it penetrated a thick layer of clouds above, dispersing them as the Crest seemed to fly into the heavens. As it rose up, energy gathered into the Crest as it stabilized and began to spin, releasing a radiant burst of energy, which shot down a beam of light that soon took on a form akin to DNA into Greymon down below. "Greymon, Super Evolution!" he called out as he took in all the energy. His left arm was encased in metal, forming a larger, sturdier, claw, while his helmet was replaced with a metal version of it, from which red 'hair' grew from the base, while on his back, a pair of strange wings sprouted, looking more like strips of leather with holes in them, yet still strong, a patch of metal appearing on the back of his tail. Finishing off, his chest was covered in a metallic armor of sorts. "MetalGreymon!"
The Children were staring at slight awe at the evolution sequence. It was definitely different from when they change into Adult forms.
"Super evolution deserves a super sequence," Novice quipped, having fond memories of this. And of course, some measure of happiness at the fact that the Finnish dubs never touched the soundtrack. Aside from the poor translation of Butterfly, but that's a minor gripe.
Back at the forest, MetalTyrannomon was advancing forward, steadily pushing them all back, before he was suddenly stopped as something extended out of the ground, and nailed him in the head, pushing him aside, before the ground exploded.
"What now?!" Yang groaned in worry. However, their worry turned into awe when they saw what emerged.
"Is that Greymon?" Jaune asked in awe.
"He's so big! And all robotic and stuff!" Nora shouted with a grin, because the new form looked very impressive.
Digimon Analyzer: MetalGreymon
MetalGreymon. Vaccine Type. A Perfect Level Cyborg Digimon. With a brand new mechanized body, this evolution of Greymon is a powerful Digimon, with strength equal to that of a nuclear warhead. His body has been covered in Chrome Digizoid armor, the strongest metal in the Digital World. His special attacks are Trident Arm, launching the mechanized left claw on a cable at the enemy, and Giga Destroyer, firing a pair of missiles from his chest.
"He's also ready to kick that thing's ass." they all turned as Gyro walked up to them, bags clearly visible under his eyes, but a grin on his face.
"Glad you made it, Gyro," Pierce grinned...until he noticed the state Gyro was in. "You...look like you've been up all night.."
"I think anyone would stay awake after what I saw," Gyro deadpanned, before turning to Piximon with a glare. "As for you, pull something like that again, and I'm gonna stuff you in a bottle and leave you to collect dust in an attic," he growled.
Novice was worried, the Children seemed to be in a small state of shock at this event. And Taichi was reading on what looked like auto-pilot, given how his voice was droning.
Piximon sighed, but nodded all the same.
Back in the fight, MetalTyrannomon tried to ram into MetalGreymon, but he stood his ground, lifting up MetalTyrannomon, before throwing him out of Piximon's territory. MetalTyrannomon growled in anger, before he tried to attack again. However… "Trident Arm!" MetalGreymon called out, before launching his left arm, striking MetalTyrannomon again, pushing it back before it landed in a heap.
Roaring in anger, MetalTyrannomon aimed and fired at MetalGreymon with his Nuclear Laser, but MetalGreymon blocked it with his left arm, then dispelling it by knocking it aside. NOW MetalTyrannomon was starting to realize he may have made a bad choice, but it was far too late. In retaliation, MetalGreymon's chest opened, revealing a pair of missiles in his chest which were a simple black and had grinning mouths full of fangs. "Giga Destroyer!" he called as the missiles fired, catching MetalTyrannomon in the chest and carrying it skywards, straining the Dark Network Cables, before blowing up in a bright explosion, taking out both MetalTyrannomon and a large portion of the cables.
(Song end)
With the danger gone, MetalGreymon's body glowed, before shrinking down, leaving a tired looking Koromon in his place.
As the scene ended, Novice decided to give everyone some shock therapy.
"OW!" Literally, as everyone felt a small jolt of electricity on their butts. Even those who weren't sitting on anything.
"Sorry, but it looked like you guys were under a spell or something," Novice apologized.
"...Just... don't do that again," Mimi complained, rubbing her butt a little.
The truth is all of them wanted to ask so many things, but they didn't even know where to start from. So they decided to just get on with this.
Some small time later, the group started getting in the RV, Piximon watching them as they readied to leave.
"Your methods leave a lot to be desired honestly… but thanks anyway, the results were good." Gyro said, yawning as he held the equally tired Koromon in his arms.
"...I guess that's true," Taichi commented, wondering if they had gotten Agumon to become MetalGreymon if Piximon had made him face something else.
"Well, I'm just glad you were able to awaken your Crest when you did. Good luck on your journey now everyone." Piximon said with a nod, as Gyro was about to get inside and close the door.
"Wait!" Wizardmon shouted as he ran up to them, panting as he caughts his breath.
"Something up?" Gyro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'd like… to come with you. I know where to find the Crests of Hope and Light. It's the least I can do for you." Wizardmon said, pausing at the start to finish catching his breath.
Gyro blinked at the request, before smiling as he stepped aside "We'd love to have you aboard then." he said, Wizardmon nodding thankfully as he stepped inside the RV, earning a few looks of surprise as he sat down in a chair.
Everyone glanced at Gatomon to see how she was taking this, and to their relief, she had a small smile.
"Someone has to stop him from getting himself killed," Gatomon said jokingly, surprising everyone a little.
With that, Gyro cast a last glance at Piximon, nodding before getting in the RV and closing the door.
As soon as he stepped in however, he was sat down on a sofa by Pierce and forcefully layed down on it as a blanket was thrown onto him by Ruby.
"Sleep." was all Pierce said, and Gyro didn't complain as he closed his eyes and was soon heard snoring softly, Koromon doing the same as he slept on his partner's stomach while the RV drove off, heading for their next destination.
As that scene played out, the book shut itself.
"...I wonder what the Ultimate digimon of Veedramon line looks like," Daisuke then said, breaking what little suspension of disbelief anyone had.
"I wanna see what my other becomes," Palmon exclaimed, bouncing in her seat.
"Oh, please, like you guys would be any good even if you did reach Ultimates," Impmon snarked, raining on everyone's parade.
"Why don't we test that theory," Novice suddenly spoke up, earning everyone's attention.
"Excuse me?" The imp was pretty sure he heard wrong.
"Time to put your money where your mouth is, Impmon. You against WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, in the arena," Novice clarified before turning his attention to Yamato and Taichi, "If that's okay with you guys."
"What do you say, Agumon?" Taichi asked his partner.
"I wanted to beat him up since he messed with the food," Agumon said eagerly.
"Gabumon?" Yamato sounded out to his own partner.
"If Agumon's going, I'm going," Gabumon said putting his fists in front of him with a look of determination.
"Okay then, the match will be: WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon versus Beelzemon," Novice declared as he got off his seat, "If everyone would follow me to the arena now." With those words, Novice, Impmon and all the Chosen and their partners moved out towards the Arena.
Lilithmon: You love this don't you.
Cinder:*gurglguhgrrh*
Lilithmon: I know you do, still... I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something important about now... I wonder what it could be... Probably nothing. And by the way.
*sizzling sound*
Cinder: GHHHHHHHH!
Lilithmon: That was for speaking out of turn earlier. If your gurgling even counts as speaking.