TobuCatmon flipped through the pages of a thick, leather-bound book anxiously. "Where is it?"
He paused on a page where a large, red X-mark was prominently featured over a sketch of a dark humanoid Digimon wielding two swords and with raven-like qualities. He flipped through the pages, pausing momentarily to look at another page with the same X-mark over a beautiful flower-woman Digimon. Clicking his tongue, he passed over several pages at a much slower pace, carefully eyeing each sketch before shaking his heads.
"Where are the Puaka Generals?"
After their battle with Arachnemon, Liu Ying and JD had returned to the Forest Sanctum without their partners. They had informed him about Arachnemon mentioning the Puaka Generals; Liu Ying had thought that it would be best for TobuCatmon to look up for that information. Their Digimon partners had returned thereafter, announcing with glee that KoKabuterimon had been taken care off – nobody had to worry about the unassuming insect's treachery anymore. TobuCatmon had been surprised to learn that KoKabuterimon was sent to lure the DigiWira into a trap, but then again, the insectoid Rookie had declined his offer to enter the Forest Sanctum…perhaps he had known that the sanctum was protected with evil-repellent charm.
His eyes fell over a big, blue question-mark, over a page aptly titled 'Puaka General I', and following that page was a same page as before, but with the title 'Puaka General II'. Both pages had the question marks emblazoned over a dark shadowy being with no apparent shapes. Beside the pages, a rather lengthy description in neat, cursive handwriting was placed.
"While the Puaka Generals' existence and treacheries were known to many during the Great War, their identities remained elusive from many. They were once a part of the clan called the Darkshadow Brethren, but had renounced against the clan after achieving means to attain their fully-digivolved form – the powerful Mega level. Another known fact was that the Puaka Generals were extremely vulnerable to the power of light – an advantage used by Grademon to sentence them into statue imprisonment.'
TobuCatmon closed the book with a sigh, and looked up. His azure eyes fell on a human in pale beige garb that was standing nearby. He didn't appear to be surprised with the figure's presence.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head for emphasis.
The human nodded. "The DigiWira have best be careful."
xxx
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"Sorcerymon, Shutumon," the female Puaka General acknowledged, observing them with her glinting scarlet eyes as the duo entered the hall of the Puaka Generals' Blackmoore Bastion. The servants for SkullSatamon were not alone, apparently. Behind them, two tall figures lurked within the shadows. "I see you have freed the Blood Brothers. Excellent."
"Step forward, Blood Brothers," the male Puaka General indicated with his gruff voice.
The shadowy figures behind Sorcerymon and Shutumon walked past them and revealed themselves underneath the illuminated center of the hall – where the moonlight showered down past a transparent glass part which was placed at the uppermost part of the domed ceiling. The taller of the two stood at roughly seven-feet-tall, and was clearly masculine judging by his frame. He wore a black cloak over an indigo double-breasted suit and pants with golden trimmings and button. A golden bat insignia fastened his high-collared cape to his suit over the front. The insides of his cloak were bright red, matching the bat-shaped eye-mask he wore over his pale cyanotic skin. He had bleached blonde hair offsetting a pair of cold, calculating, ice-blue eyes.
The second figure was slightly hunched, and with a very thin frame. He wore a pair of silken crimson flowing pants, which blended perfectly with his long, pink silken sleeves which fell to the floor. Golden pair of bat wing folded around his waist, and a red pair of bat wing folded around his shoulders. This mysterious being wore a blade-like mask, its tip pointing towards the front and with an opening at the middle, revealing a shrunken bluish face with a pair of green eyes.
"We, the Blood Brothers, are at your service, generals, as it had been three hundred years ago," the caped being said in a deep, pompous-like voice.
Both Puaka Generals nodded. "Your time of service shall come soon, once we've gotten hold of the Bane Brothers," the female general said silkily.
"The four of you shall take part in a bigger plan." The male general's six eyes flickered towards Sorcerymon and Shutumon. "But for now…"
xxx
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 28 – Same Old Brand New Enemies
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"Do I really have to go?" Adam said, that Monday morning.
"Yes, you do," Aizad said, handing his younger brother his rather bulging schoolbag. "I've already got Patamon packed inside."
"But my head still hurts," Adam said, pressing his temples for effect.
"Your teachers will be wondering if you miss school more than three days," Aizad pointed out.
"…You've got a point." Adam forced out a smile, allowing his brother to push him towards the door. "But…" he paused abruptly, and winced upon feeling his brother's hand pushed somewhat forcefully against his back. "…how am I going to go to school today? Kak Lisha usually drives me to school." He turned around and narrowed his eyes towards Aizad. "And I'm sure you can't drive; I don't think the Digital World offers driving lessons…and even if you can, there's no car to drive…"
"Ah-ah-ah, don't get smart with me," Aizad smirked. "I've called the taxi five minutes ago. It should be arriving at…"
As if on cue, the phone rang. Tsukaimon picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked, with a poorly-done imitation of a woman's voice. "Uh huh…alright…he'll be on his way…thanks!" Tsukaimon placed the receiver back and turned towards the two brothers. "It was the guard from the gate. He said the taxi's here."
"Go on, get out of here!" Aizad opened the door and pushed Adam, who was struggling to wear his shoes.
"Hey, don't push me…" The DigiWira blinked, seeing that his shoes were pristine clean white. "Wait a minute…I didn't wash my shoes this weekend, how did it…"
"With all your sleeping how on Earth do you think you were going to wash them? I had to do that for you! Now go…you're going to be late!"
"Oh, and one more thing…" Adam said, turning around as soon as he finished tying the shoelaces. He grabbed his brother's hands, shook them while bending his body down slightly, before letting them go and straightened his body back up. He slung his bag on his shoulders and let out a wide grin upon seeing the young man's slightly stunned expression. "See you later, Abang Zad!"
"Yeah, yeah…see you," Aizad returned with a mock-bored tone, the stunned expression washed away with a blink of the eyes. He eyed his brother's retreating figure with a smirk before closing the door. Turning around, the smirk vanished as his brown eyes trailed towards the clock. "He'll be back around one…we've got six hours." He walked towards the computer and switched it on. Tsukaimon flew over his head, descending just over the keyboard while the Windows program was being loaded. Aizad then made a waving gesture with his hands, and a purple light erupted from the screen. The light enveloped them both, and pulled them into the screen before it vanished along with the pair…leaving the computer unoccupied.
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'Damn it, stop watching me already!'
JD groaned inwardly as he made his way through the school's entrance, letting out a small growl to intimidate a few students and prefects who were there. They were looking at him with a somewhat astonished expression, and were whispering amongst themselves. He trudged his bicycle towards the bike shack where all the bicycles were kept during the school session, and chained the glistening crimson and black bike towards a white-painted pillar. Then he slung his red Timberland bag, ignoring a soft whimper coming from it as the bag came into contact with his back. Narrowing his green-blue eyes menacingly towards a couple of students who were about to enter the bike shack, JD smirked upon seeing them moving out of his way to let him walk out of the shack with apparent ease.
The cemented center of the school – the place where the assembly was held – in front of the small podium was slightly crowded, and so were the parking lot which was kept empty that morning. It was Monday and there would be an assembly being held that morning, so the cars were all parked at the school field adjacent to the canteen instead. The blonde teenager looked around, searching for three faces that he'd like to meet that morning for normal chit chat, and a particular prefect who he felt like strangling.
'There she is…'
JD made several long, brisk paces towards a willowy girl in green prefect attire, who was in the company of a familiar built boy with spiky dark maroon short hair and several other students, presumably their classmate. Not far from them, closer to where JD was at, was a trio of girls – the darkest-skinned girl with curly brown hair looked up and grinned widely when she saw him.
"Hi, JD!!" she said with her ringing voice, waving at him excitedly. She gestured for JD to come over to her. Instantly, her two friends whipped their heads back, and their eyes widened upon setting sight on him. One of them, a fair girl with shoulder-length straight dark hair, merely turned her head back, looking at the girl who had called him suspiciously. The other girl, with a boyish hair cut, eyed him even longer and a dazed look passed over her face.
Groaning, JD made his way towards the group of girls, simply to greet the one who'd called him just recently. "Hey, Gayathri."
Gayathri smiled brightly and pointed at his head. "Nice hair, really. It does look good on you." She wasn't aware at all that her two friends were looking somewhat shocked.
"I still think it's a bad idea…" JD grumbled, and was about to made his way towards the prefect girl when Gayathri caught his arm.
"Hang on; I'd like you to meet my best friends first. This is Dina…" JD nodded at the aforementioned girl, who nodded back, looking at him with an unreadable expression, before a hand was thrust in front of him, coming from Gayathri's other friend who was staring at him with an anticipating look.
"Hi, I'm Belinda, but you can call me Bel!" the girl said breathlessly.
"Hey," JD nodded, sounding somewhat uninterested but he shook the girl's hand nevertheless. He then returned his gaze towards Gayathri. "I'm gonna go…meet Liu Ying and Manny over there for a while, before the bell rang." He promptly left the trio of girls, ignoring the excited chattering and a gleeful squeal that were exchanged between the girls. Liu Ying and Manny then saw him, and excused themselves from their friends. JD caught the looks on Liu Ying and Manny's friends…they were looking at his hair, and whispering something, before pointing towards him and Manny.
"Wow…short hair, shirt tucked in, and a tie…although not fixed properly," Liu Ying said with a smirk. "I have to say that I'm impressed."
"Nice haircut, JD," Manny said with his slow, bashful-sounding voice.
JD groaned. "D'you know everyone was staring at my hair today?!" he hissed towards the prefect.
Liu Ying eyed JD's hair – which still retained the messy-trendy look, but the bangs no longer went past his light eyebrows. The sideburns were gone as well, and the back part weren't grazing his shirt collars any longer. "So? At least it's no longer a sore to the eyes to stare at anymore. My mama did a good job with your hair yesterday, I have to say," Liu Ying commented. "Well worth the twelve ringgit, don't you think?" she added with a smile.
JD grumbled, annoyed. "It's too short to my liking."
"My hair's still shorter, though, if that makes you feel better," Manny consoled. "It'll be a horrible mess if I keep it as long as yours – my hair's even curlier than Gayathri's. So I rather keep it short like this." He ran a head over the spiked tips of his hair with a grimace. "Sometimes I wish I have straighter hair like you or Adam…"
"Well, whatever," JD grumbled, seeing that he was getting no support from his fellow former-ShadoWira. He was about to complain again when an unexpected sight from the gate caught all three of their attentions. "Hey, Adam's here. I thought he's going to stay home again."
Adam saw his fellow DigiWira and hastened his pace towards them. His eyes widened upon seeing JD's new hairdo, followed by an opened mouth – to JD's displeasure – but that was soon replaced with an acknowledging nod.
"Wow JD, you've got yourself a neat haircut," he said cheerfully. "Hi guys," he said at three of them.
The others returned his greeting. Adam waved at Gayathri before looking back at the three DigiWira.
"Someone looks happy," JD noted with a smirk.
"How are you feeling, Adam?" Liu Ying asked, concerned. It had only been three days since Alisha's accident, and the last thing she knew Adam's older sister hadn't wake up yet from coma.
"I'm okay," Adam said, the cheerfulness remained but dropped considerably. He easily interpreted the concerned looks his friends were giving him. "Having Abang Zad back really helps getting over the fact that Kak Lisha's still not waking up yet."
Liu Ying nodded. "You know, you and JD better go to the computer room now and leave Patamon and Koromon there. It's fifteen minutes before the bell, but it's always best to go early and…" She sweatdropped when JD was already dragging a complying Adam towards the stairs of the second block of the school. "Humph." Then, she and Manny both noticed the curious looks shot by several of the students that had gathered at the assembly compound, and decided quickly to get into their line to avoid questions.
As Adam and JD climbed the stairs to reach the second floor – where the computer classroom was located, Adam cleared his throat.
"Umm…I guess I still owe you an apology, for my brother's behavior that day," he said slowly.
JD grunted; his hand went to his stomach subconsciously. "What did you tell your brother to set him off like that?" he asked, wincing slightly at the somewhat demanding tone that escaped along with the inquiry. He hadn't meant to sound harsh – it just escaped his mouth due to the annoyance he felt when the memory of being punched by Adam's brother came back to him.
Adam looked like he was suppressing the urge to wince. He shook his head. "That's the weirdest thing…I didn't tell him anything. Abang Zad said that he heard about your…wrongdoings…while he was traveling to look for me. He said that Digimon were good gossipers, so news got around fairly quick." He sighed. "My brother…he can be a bit protective of me and Kak Lisha…I remembered once he bashed one guy for making a pass at my sister when both of them were still at school…"
JD blinked. What Adam had said rang a bell in his mind. "Oh…"
"…and I really pitied that bully who tried extorting my money that time when I was ten…"
"Uh…what happened to him?"
"Hmm…from what I've heard – I didn't get to see because Abang Zad told me to go back home when he found me and that bully – people were saying that his nose was broken."
'All that for extortion? I wonder what he'd intended to do to me then…' "Sounds like he really looks out for you and your sister…" 'VERY overprotective…but Jade never did stuffs like that when I got in trouble…Adam's got one heck of a brother…'
Adam chuckled. "Don't look so worried…I explained that you and Manny weren't yourselves when you kidnapped me and all that happened after that…and I told him how you stood up for me when we were at the Dark Ocean. He won't lay a hand on you. I made him promise that."
"I'm not worried!" JD snorted. Adam's chuckle turned into a laugh. "Really, I'm not! He just caught me off-guard that other day. If I was prepared that time…"
"I'd hate to see you two fight it off, then," Adam concluded amidst his laughter. Then he sobered up, coughed and repeated what he had just said with an even tone. "But really, I'd hate to see you two fight. It'll be great if you and Abang Zad can get along…besides maybe he can be a great help to our team, even though he's not a DigiWira."
JD grumbled, annoyed but didn't reply. He instead looked around and saw people looking at him weirdly. "Sheesh, what's with them? It's like I have a disease or something, the way they are staring at me…"
Adam looked up at the passer-bys, who immediately looked away upon meeting his gaze (or JD's blazing eyes). "Hmm…I think maybe it's because it's you I'm walking with, and I was laughing at you for some reason and miraculously you decided not to punch the lights out of me…" Adam then winced at the bad pun he'd said unintentionally.
"I'm not that bad!" JD replied indignantly. "Really, while you weren't around, I've helped out with Gayathri, Manny and Liu Ying on Digimon battles separately. We're all cool now, friends and all."
"That's very nice to hear," Adam nodded. He looked further up past JD's head. His brows furrowed albeit so slightly. "Or maybe it's your hair…"
"God, I wished you didn't have to say that…"
"Really, it's not bad at all, JD. Honest. But it could get a little bit of getting used to, that's all. You've been around the school with longer hair for years, I think." Seeing the older boy looking miffed, Adam smiled and added, "Just think of it as the best thing you've done to your hair."
"Are you kidding? It's the WORST thing I've done to my hair!!"
Adam tilted his head slightly, looking somewhat amused. He shrugged. "One way or the other."
JD grumbled. He decided to switch their topic, intending to ask about something that had been playing in his mind. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"About your brother…well, I thought he's dead in an accident? How did he manage to come back?" JD studied Adam's expression, and was surprised to see that the younger DigiWira didn't look the least taken aback with the very straightforward question.
"It does seem weird and I couldn't figure it out thoroughly yet…" Adam said, and winced visibly all of a sudden. His hand shot up immediately towards his temples. His forehead creased.
JD stopped walking and eyed Adam's sudden reaction. "Hey, you ok?"
Adam massaged his temples slowly and closed his eyes. He then nodded as the creases on his forehead faded away. "Yeah, I'm ok…it's just this stupid headaches I've been getting lately. Abang Zad said that I'm probably overtired with all the adventures I've been into recently, coupled with Kak Lisha's accident and all…"
JD furrowed his eyebrows, and decided to let the subject drop as they approached the computer classroom. He watched Adam pushing the tinted glass door, trying to make a connection of what had just happened. 'Something's off…' he thought, as he held the door open, allowing himself to enter the classroom.
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With a sigh, Adam sat down at his place inside the classroom. He glanced sideways, noting the empty seat which used to be Hakim's. His best friend wouldn't be attending school anymore; they'd be moving to Saudi Arabia in two months, and it was necessary for Hakim to start with intensive English Language classes to improve his communication, comprehension and writing skills in said language, as the school he'd be attending there would be an American international school. Their last meet was during Hakim's family's kenduri, which their whole class had attended in order to give him a proper sendoff. Hakim had said that he'd be coming to the school for a visit from time to time whenever he would have the time.
"What's with the long face, Adam?" A familiar feminine voice snapped Adam back to reality. It was Gayathri, who was standing by Hakim's table with a tentative look.
"Oh…just thinking about Hakim, that's all," Adam admitted, gesturing at the empty seat.
"About that…" Gayathri smiled nervously. "If it makes you feel better, how about I sit here from this day onwards? Kevin…" Gayathri looked at the wire-haired boy sitting behind Hakim's table, who was seated beside her current table. "…you don't mind if I switch, do you?"
"I'd say that I envy Adam…" Kevin Shan grinned, but shook his head. He stood up and waved at a tall boy with straight black hair and a crimson tie. This was their class monitor, David Liew. "Hey, David, come sit with me! Gayathri's leaving me for Adam!" he announced theatrically. His antique earned roundhouse laughter from the whole class, Adam and Gayathri included.
"I guess that's settled," Gayathri said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly at Kevin while placing her bag on the table beside Adam's. "Unless, if you don't want me to?" she asked Adam.
"What? No, no…I'd be happy to have you sit here," Adam said, smiling.
Gayathri got settled on her new seat quickly. She then looked at Adam, who was twiddling with his exercise book, trying to read the boy's expression. She concluded that Adam looked fairly happy, although anxious and worried at the same time judging from his distant look. Gayathri understood completely, and thought that Adam was holding himself up well for one who'd lost both parents and brother, and nearly lost a sister when the thought-to-be-dead brother suddenly came back to him, apparently alive all along. When she heard the story from JD about Adam's big brother returning from the dead, she had merely brushed it off as JD being misinformed. She hadn't had the chance to ask Adam about it. And now, since the teacher wouldn't be coming in for at least another ten minutes, this was her chance to ask Adam about this.
"Adam?" She got no response. Frowning, she poked the boy's right shoulder with her index finger. "Hello? Adam…"
"Huh?" The boy turned to her, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I just got a lot of things in my mind."
"It's ok. I just want to ask you of how you're holding up."
"Oh… I'm ok, mostly. Abang Zad being here helps me cope with Kak Lisha being comatose tremendously," Adam said, and smiled. He then made a face. "Although he wasn't any help at all with all the homework assignments I've missed…I still haven't finished the Science report, but luckily Science is tomorrow…"
Gayathri leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "The teachers know about you, so I don't think they'll give you a hard time about homework. However, our classmates don't know about Kak Lisha…I wasn't sure whether you want me to tell them or not so I just told them that you had this horrible flu with cough."
Adam nodded. "That was thoughtful of you…thanks, Gayathri."
"No problem. I'm happy to help. That's what friends are for, right?"
"Yeah..." Adam nodded.
Gayathri's kind face looked thoughtful all of a sudden. "There's still one thing that baffles me though. About your brother…what's the story actually? JD's told us that your brother's supposed to be dead, but he couldn't be dead if you're now with him, right?"
Adam thought about it, and his temples throbbed once again, like it had been when he was with JD. He let out a soft groan and pressed his temples.
"Adam, are you ok?"
"Yeah," Adam groaned. The pain began to recede, leaving him somewhat short of breath. "I'm alright. Just a headache, that's all. I've been getting headaches quite a lot these few days, Abang Zad reckons it might be because I'm overtired or something. Don't worry, it's nothing serious. It's gone already."
Gayathri nodded, and let the matter drop entirely. She then dug into her school bag, and took out a long notebook – a lab report notebook.
"I might have a remedy to a part of your headache…you said you haven't finished the Science report, right? Well, the experiment you've missed was a fairly difficult one; even I who did the experiment had trouble completing it, let alone you. But I finished it anyway last night. So here, take it and do what you must…either to refer or to copy…" she grinned and pushed the notebook towards Adam's table. "Just make sure you alter a thing or two so Mrs. Heng won't see two identical reports when she checks them."
Adam took the notebook with a grateful expression. "You're really a lifesaver, Gayathri. Thanks."
xxx
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It had been forty minutes after school had let out. The DigiWira team, sans Adam, was now gathered at the computer classroom. Manny had needed to go to the library to know whether he managed to become a library prefect or not, while the others chose to wait at the computer room for him to know the results. Adam hadn't been able to join them – he and his brother had planned to go to the hospital after school was over. In fact, all of them had managed to get a glimpse of Aizad Ariff, who'd been waiting by the school gate for Adam. He'd come by the school with a cab to fetch Adam before heading to the hospital.
Liu Ying was doing her homework, while Gayathri and Floramon were chitchatting. JD was idly playing with the Pinball game on one of the computers, in which Jackie had tolerated as long as JD kept the sounds down and refrained from using profanity whenever he lost the game or failed to set a new high score. The other Digimon were enjoying the snacks their partners had brought with them. Jackie in the meantime was conversing with someone via instant-messaging.
The door was pushed open, and Manny walked in. His entrance attracted everyone's attention, prominently by JD who swore loudly as the computer speaker blared with the 'Game Over' music.
"Son of a…OOWW!!" Liu Ying had smacked him on the back with her thick textbook, which effectively stopped JD from finishing the vulgar sentence.
Manny sweatdropped. "I hope that's not meant for me…"
"No! It's this stupid game…" JD muttered, rubbing his back while glaring at Liu Ying. "Did you have to smack me so hard?"
"If I have to endure another of your swearing…you'll wish that I smack you instead of what I'm having in mind right now," Liu Ying warned.
"Ooh…kinky…OWWW!!"
"Umm…" Manny said, trying to get the attentions of his fellow DigiWira as he closed the door. He saw Gayathri still had her eyes on him. He smiled. "Guess what?"
Gayathri squealed excitedly and rose from her seat. "Oh, you got in, that's great!!" Her ringing voice promptly stopped Liu Ying and JD from bickering.
"You did?" the two elder DigiWira asked at the same time. "Well, congratulations!" Liu Ying said, beaming.
"What did Emily Chua say?" JD inquired with a knowing smirk, which elicited a blush from Manny.
"Who's Emily Chua?" Gayathri asked JD curiously.
"My ex," JD replied simply. He chanced a passing glance towards Liu Ying, and scowled when the girl didn't even look like she was concerned.
"Umm…actually she didn't say much, but she did talk to the teachers and all, and apparently since I already had experience as a librarian back at my old school, the teachers said that it's an indication that I'm fit for the job already," Manny explained as he took a sit in between Gayathri and JD.
"What about that thing about you having punching the daylights out of me?" JD pressed on with a sly grin.
Manny's dark tanned cheeks colored noticeably. "Apparently it's quite a universal gossip already…" he muttered.
"Uh…totally confused here?" Gayathri said, raising an arm slightly to emphasis her point.
JD snickered. "My ex, who's a library prefect, told Manny last Friday that she'd recommend Manny for the post because Manny had punched me. She said that it would make people think twice from damaging the books, etcetera…if Manny's around the library." As he explained it, Manny kept his face down, growing noticeably redder by the seconds. When Gayathri and Liu Ying giggled upon hearing the story, Manny looked like he wanted to hide.
"Hey, relax, man…" JD said, and clapped the other boy's back. "You're red as a tomato!"
"What matters is that you got in," Liu Ying said consolingly.
"When do we get to see you in your uniform?" Gayathri asked.
Manny thought about it. "Umm…probably by next Monday. The tailor was there as well; he'll have my new pants ready by Friday, he said."
"This calls for a celebration," Gayathri prompted with a grin.
Manny nodded. "I've thought about that too when I was on my way here…but we're short of one member. I'd love to give you guys a treat…" The DigiWira looked at each other, somewhat thoughtfully as they were reminded of Adam. "And by the way…I ran into Adam when I was waiting for the results at the library earlier. He was there to borrow a book, and we managed to have a chat outside the library." The burly boy appeared worried. "He didn't look so good…somewhere in the middle of our conversation he had a headache."
"Again? He had headache too when I met him during recess," Liu Ying pondered.
"And during class…" Gayathri supplied.
JD looked at his three younger teammates; what they were saying had set off alarm-bells in his mind. "He had headache too when we were on our way here this morning." He gazed at Manny, Liu Ying and Gayathri one by one cautiously. "What exactly were you guys talking about before Adam had this headache?"
Manny rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I was asking him about his brother…"
Liu Ying's eyes widened. "That was what I asked him too before he got that headache!"
"Same here," Gayathri murmured as she idly played around with her plaits.
JD nodded. "So he got a headache whenever we ask him how exactly his brother managed to come back, right?"
"Seems like it," Liu Ying said.
A fissure of worry appeared in between of JD's eyebrows. "I don't like the sound of this at all. Something's fishy is going on, and it involves that brother of Adam."
"I don't know…maybe it's just a coincidence?" Manny said.
"Hmm…headaches each time after being asked about his brother?" JD said with a mock-pondering tone. "And the kid was just fine if we didn't ask him anything about the brother."
"But you're forgetting one thing," Liu Ying said. "From what I gather, Adam adores his brother. I can understand your reasoning should they don't get along, or if Adam dislikes his brother. I saw them earlier when the school let out. They're very close…as close as brothers can be." She saw a dark look passing JD's face.
"But…" JD tried to reason, but was cut off by Gayathri.
"Or maybe we're thinking too much about this. For all we know, Adam might be having migraines," Gayathri said. "My mother has migraines – it gives her quite a headache."
"What about the timing…"
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
JD groaned. "Talk about perfect timing…"
The girls got up and strode towards Jackie's table. Manny stood up as well, but paused when he saw that JD was still looking unsatisfied.
"Umm…maybe you're thinking too much about this because you still have a grudge against Adam's brother?" Manny asked tentatively.
JD glared at the other boy. "What did you mean by that?"
"He did punch you last time…"
"Drop it." JD said, and stood up promptly. The boys joined the girls by their mentor's table.
The message from TobuCatmon was brief. A pair of evil Digimon was attacking a city about several kilometers northbound from the Forest Sanctum. Jackie had received coordinates from TobuCatmon, and had adjusted the DigiPort on his computer so that the DigiWira would be led straightaway towards the closest DigiPort to the village, instead of the Forest Sanctum. It was something that Jackie, Alisha and TobuCatmon had been working on together prior to Alisha's accident.
Without Adam, the former leader of the team, Liu Ying, opened the DigiPort instead.
xxx
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A city was a somewhat misnomer to describe Zephyrus City. It was, in all actuality, a massive fortress city. Huge brick gates were built around a small mountain with peak that stretched all the way up towards the lowest clouds of the sky. When the four Wira Digital arrived at the gate, they saw two injured humanoid dragon Digimon with blue scales and flame-patterned armors. Scorch marks could be seen on their armors, and their scaled skins were bruised. Chaos could be heard from inside of the fortress. Smokes soared towards the blue sky, and explosions were heard.
"What happened here?" Xianamon asked, stepping forward along with Puspamon to help the injured Flamedramon, the gate guards of Zephyrus City.
"The DigiWira!" the Flamedramon both exclaimed with great relief. "Thank the Guardian Beasts that you're finally here. We…we've been invaded."
"By whom?" Satriamon asked.
"There are two of them," one of the Flamedramon supplied. "A female, with great power of the winds. Accompanying her was a wizard in red armor and a blazing sword. They brought along a horde of Vilemon. We…we're no match for them."
"Please, don't mind us, we're quite alright," the other Flamedramon said quickly. "It's our leader who needs your help."
The four Wira Digital entered the massive gate and saw a magnificent city. The roads and buildings were all seemingly made out of bricks. Each building boasted great architecture of medieval Europe. The buildings lined the path they were now at, which was sloped, heading straight towards a light-violet stone mountain. True to its name, soft breezes could be felt coming from the violet mountain up ahead, which cooled the whole city. The shade provided by the mountain blocked out the warm sunshine, giving Zephyrus City a cool, windy, valley-like atmosphere.
However the city's beauty was disrupted by the fact that from up ahead, small and medium-sized Digimon were seen scampering about in panic as they were chased by several grotesque creatures with gray-black fur. Those dark creatures had seemingly permanently-opened jaws which covered their body. Small arms and legs with orange claws were visible. Small bat wings jutted from their backs, and tufts of orange hairs grew out from their heads.
Satriamon and Xianamon immediately recognized the Digimon, thanks to their experienced Digimon halves. "Those are the Vilemon the Flamedramon guards were talking about!" Satriamon supplied. "Nasty little twerps, but only Champion level. They shouldn't be so hard to beat."
"Everyone, get to safety, we'll handle them!" Xianamon exclaimed, beckoning for the Digimon of Zephyrus City to move out of the way.
The Digimon – ranging from In-Training to Champions mostly, were led by an Ultimate-level Piximon, whose size belied its true form. However, this Piximon had obviously seen better days.
"You heard them!" Piximon shouted in a high-pitched voice that still indicated him to be male. "Head for the infirmary everyone!"
"I'll cover them," Samudramon offered, and followed the city occupants, looking back cautiously should the Vilemon decided to pursue them. They had no need to worry, as the other three Wira Digital were sufficient enough to ward off the horde of no less than twenty Vilemon. He followed the crowd as they were heading towards a big brick building painted white. However, just as they were about to cross a T-junction, three Vilemon appeared from the right. Piximon was caught unaware and was struck down, and the other Digimon scampered in panic.
Samudramon pointed his trident towards the trio of Vilemon, shaking his head. "Cosmic Thunderstrike!!" One lightning bolt was struck towards a Vilemon, who was electrocuted severely before it dissolved in data bytes. The other two Vilemon snarled angrily and attempted to attack Samudramon, but they soon suffered the same fate as their deleted comrade.
"YAAYY!!" the crowd cheered at Samudramon. A large bear cub wearing a cap quickly gathered the fallen Piximon and sprinted towards the infirmary…when it then let out a scream.
Samudramon quickly turned his attention towards the infirmary, and saw another group of Vilemon swarming out from it. Two Vilemon made their way towards the bear cub, attempting to rip the Rookie Digimon's body with their sharp claws, but Samudramon summoned torrents of water and blasted it towards the Vilemon, throwing both Vilemon away from the bear cub. The cub quickly sprinted away, heading towards Samudramon, seeing that the merman was their only protection now.
Sounds of broken glass were heard from above the two-storey infirmary, followed by a terrified shriek. Looking up, Samudramon saw an Ogremon donning a doctor's white medical coat and a stethoscope flying out helplessly from the broken window. Quickly Samudramon generated a pillar of water, which caught the Ogremon doctor, saving him from a fall that would have caused serious injury upon him. Six Vilemon flew out from the broken window, cackling with glee as Samudramon lowered the water pillar carefully.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, and thank you!" Ogremon said gratefully as soon as the water pillar vanished and he stepped onto the brick floor on his feet again.
"It's ok…but we're not done yet!" Samudramon quickly raised his trident and zapped the incoming Vilemon, electrocuting all six of them with three focused shots of his Cosmic Thunderstrike. They fell limp onto the road, unmoving but not deleted.
"There's too many of them!" the bear cub, Bearmon, cried helplessly.
A brownish-yellow lion cub growled angrily towards the Vilemon, attempting to roar but managed to let out only a meowish-roar instead of the fearsome adult lion's. He squeaked and scattered back towards the crowd of Rookie-dominated Digimon. A shinobi-like humanoid wielding a fencing stick held a battle pose, ready for battle. Its action was mirrored by a black owl-like Digimon wearing a purple vest, which was holding a shuriken. A green monkey holding a wooden sling stood behind the black owl. A dark purple goblin Digimon with a red bandanna lit up a fireball and bounced it on its hand, ready to throw it at any Vilemon that was close enough to their group.
Samudramon saw a bigger Digimon amidst the crowd of Rookie – identifying it to be a Champion Digimon easily. It was an ostrich Digimon, with purple feathers mostly but its wings were beige and the tufts of feathers that formed its tails and 'hair' were dark orange. The Digimon, Peckmon, was eyeing Samudramon with apprehension. Beside the Peckmon was a white swan – easily recognized as the gentle Swanmon.
"What do we do?" Swanmon inquired, as another group of Vilemon appeared from the back of the infirmary. "The infirmary is infested with Vilemon!"
Samudramon counted no less than thirty Vilemon apart from the fallen five which he had zapped earlier. He glanced back towards the Digimon crowd he was protecting. "You all better find another place to hide…I'll fend off the Vilemon."
"No!" Peckmon said. "We'll fight alongside you. These vermin have made us run before, but no more."
"YEAAHH!!" the others cheered.
Samudramon grinned at their exuberance. It looked like the Digimon wanted him to lead the battle against the pest-like Vilemon. "Alright…let's do it then."
Following Samudramon's word, the Rookies and Champions all charged towards the infirmary. The Vilemon looked taken aback momentarily, but they then snarled and jumped towards the incoming city dwellers. One Vilemon yelped as it was struck by a shuriken, followed by a flaming stick from the shinobi-like Rookie, several volleys of stones from the monkey and the fireball from the imp. With a shriek, the Vilemon combusted into data, fueling the Rookies with more spirit. They then teamed up again to fight another incoming Vilemon.
Swanmon and Peckmon, the Champions of the group, easily dispatched several Vilemon, while keeping a close watch on Bearmon and Leormon who were guarding the unconscious Piximon. Samudramon focused his attacks towards multiple Vilemon at one time, knowing that they weren't his match so he refrained from using his most powerful technique, using only the weaker-but-effective-nonetheless Cosmic Thunderstrike.
It didn't look like it was going to be difficult fight for Samudramon after all, with him and the citizens teaming up against the Vilemon.
In the meantime, the other Wira Digital had easily disposed the twenty Vilemon that came their way and began searching for the city leader. Satriamon ran along the path, while Xianamon and Puspamon took to the skies. They soon approached a violet mountain, and saw three shapes zipping across the air. One was red, the other white, and they were teaming up to fight a blue blur that was moving as fast as lightning.
The path Satriamon took to head towards the mountain was suddenly blocked by swarms of Vilemon that appeared from the small alleys in between the buildings. There were about twenty of them altogether. Satriamon smirked; they were no match for his Ultimate-level power, and he would show them exactly why.
"Hey!!" he shouted, drawing the female Wira Digital's attentions. "You two go ahead, I'll handle these rats!"
The females nodded and continued flying towards the mountain. Satriamon observed the Vilemon with his green eyes, thinking of the best way to finish them off. Then, grinning lopsidedly he summoned the Shadow Flame Helix and deleted several Vilemon at one go by drowning them with the flames of the orange dragon and the black serpent. Eight Vilemon fell victim to the dark-fire attack, and Satriamon was satisfied. Eyeing the dozen Vilemon that remained, he let out a confident smirk and flexed his fingers.
"I haven't done my Capoiera trainings for a while now…" he murmured. Raising his clawed gauntlet, he charged it with flames and smirked cockily. "Who's up for some dance…?"
One by one, the dozen Vilemon that survived the Shadow Flame Helix became preys to the might of Satriamon's Dragonforce Striker.
Xianamon and Puspamon halted in midair when they were only about a mile away from the three combatants. The combatants stopped fighting momentarily as well, standing at a wary distance between each other, realizing that they had company.
One of the combatants – the one being attacked by the other two – was a humanoid canine Digimon with blue fur. Clearly masculine, he was the tallest of the three. He wore a black pants and a red championship belt was slung at his torso. His eyes were obscured by a pair of dark shades. This Digimon was MachGaogamon, and he was the leader of the citizens of Zephyrus City. He was eyeing Xianamon and Puspamon warily, seemingly worried that they were foes.
One of the Digimon who was attacking MachGaogamon was clearly feminine judging from her figure. Armored in white with violet linings, she had blue hair that framed her half-obscured face. A white airplane-shaped hat was donned on her head. Her armor continued to the back, forming two wing-shaped projections. She was wielding a giant pinwheel as a weapon. The other Digimon – male – was wizardly in appearance, clothed in red garment, metallic chest armor which protected his chest and shoulders, purple cape and an equivalent purple wizard hat. He was wielding a fiery sword on one hand, and a shimmering crystal ball on the other.
"Hey, hey, they're here!" the wizard exclaimed with glee.
The female stared at Xianamon and Puspamon with mirth sparkling from her violet eyes. "Finally, you've come. We've been waiting for you."
"Um…do we know you two?" Puspamon asked, wondering who the two Digimon were.
"Enough!! Puspamon, I challenge you to a battle!" the female snapped, and pointed her weapon towards the fairy Wira Digital. "Ultra Turbulence!!"
"What in the world…?" Puspamon quickly pointed both arms forward to counter a raging whirlwind that erupted from the other female's pinwheel. "Hibiscus Hurricane!!" The two hurricanes, one violet and the other pink, slammed against each other and were cancelled out. This proved that Puspamon and the unknown Digimon were at equal standing.
"Heh, heh…I love this new power up…" the female stranger muttered. Although it wasn't visible, she was clearly smirking underneath her facemask.
"Power-up?" Puspamon pondered, and stared at the stranger more carefully. Something was very familiar about this Digimon. Another Digimon with blue hair and a masked face came to mind, and Puspamon smirked. "Ah…I thought I've smelled bad perfume," she said sarcastically, recognizing the stranger.
"Hello, I'm not even wearing any perfume!" the female stranger said hotly.
"No wonder I can detect something fishy about you, grandma," Puspamon countered, using the nickname that she knew the other Digimon would hate.
"Don't call me grandma! I'm now Jetsilphymon, and I've got more than enough power to dispose you for good!"
Puspamon snorted. "Really? We shall see."
Upon hearing the revelation, Xianamon placed a placating hand on her forehead – which was covered by the golden fox facemask she was wearing. She'd been afraid that this would happen again. The last time those two encountered each other – as Fairymon and Shutumon – they were involved in a violent catfight that she deemed was a disgrace to all females. She turned her head warily towards the wizardly Digimon.
"If Jetsilphymon is actually Shutumon, then you must be…Sorcerymon."
"Right, but not quite there," the wizard laughed – his voice was still similar to his pre-digivolved form. However his new form had given him an imposing aura. "Mystimon's the name now!" He held out his blazing sword. "And while Jetsilphymon's battling that gorgeous friend of yours…I'll fight you, wizard-to-wizard!" He sailed towards Xianamon, raising his sword which then erupted with wild fire, attempting to slash at Xianamon.
Xianamon cocked her head sideways. "I don't think so," she said wryly, and flicked her arms towards the incoming wizard. A flash of faint golden light erupted, followed by a disbelieving gasp from Mystimon. When the light faded, the sorceress smiled with satisfaction upon seeing that Mystimon had frozen in midair. Her Magical Stasis had worked perfectly.
"You have caused enough damage to this city, so go back to wherever you came from," Xianamon said smoothly and pointed her fly whisk towards the immobilized Mystimon.
"Wait…can't we talk about this?"
"Sure. Three words… Diamond World Mandala!!"
Waves of golden and indigo lights slammed against Mystimon, sending him plummeting towards the ground below. Xianamon sighed in satisfaction upon her victory, but before she could turn around her back was slammed with several energy projectiles, which sent her towards the ground below. A freezing sensation crept all over her back. The force that came with the attack nearly took her breath away, and she gasped loudly to regain her breath. The freezing sensation had irradiated to her shoulders and arms, and was heading for her front torso. She saw that her body was being coated by thin ice. Her chest became painful and she lost control of her telekinetic and magical powers altogether. She'd suffer the same fate as Mystimon if it weren't for the timely rescue from a very familiar red knight.
"Gotcha!!" Satriamon smirked as he caught Xianamon on his strong arms. He then made a skillful frontward somersault over the air before landing onto the ground with his two feet. His green eyes flickered back to Xianamon, who was grasping her chest, which was now coated in ice. However, the ice was melting instantly due to the warm air Satriamon was radiating.
"I…I'm alright," Xianamon let out a gasp when her breath returned. Satriamon nodded and lowered her onto the ground cautiously. "Thank you, Satriamon."
"No sweat." Satriamon saw that Xianamon was drenched due to the melted ice. Her outer yellow garb was clasped tight against her body, somewhat revealing her feminine figure despite they were modestly covered by the midnight-blue bodysuit she wore underneath her outer garb. The dragon-man smirked mischievously as he sneaked an appreciative glance over the seemingly unaware sorceress before his sharp eyes caught another incoming Digimon.
Mystimon had gotten back up on his feet, and was heading their way. "I'm not finished yet! You think your magical power is strong, sorceress? Take this! Blast Fire!!"
Satriamon snorted upon seeing the torrents of dark red fire coming from Mystimon's sword. He walked several steps away from Xianamon and snickered haughtily. "You call that fire? Let me show you how a real fire attack is done!" Spinning his arm in circular motion before thrusting it forward, Satriamon then released a jet of fire in a shape of a roaring dragon towards Mystimon's fire. Compared to Satriamon's dragon-fire, Mystimon's attack looked somewhat feeble. The magical fire was instantly consumed by the pure firepower from Satriamon.
"AAH!!" Mystimon screamed when Satriamon's fire grazed his sleeves. He was forced to withdraw his arms away. He let go of his sword and took out something from his back. Leaping forward, the Ultimate-level wizard threw a volley of fiery projectiles towards Satriamon. "Core Darts!!"
The projectiles sailed at rapid speed, but Satriamon was pushed away by Xianamon who then waved her fly whisk, releasing her Jade Needles which contained poisons. Mystimon's Core Darts were large and a dozen in number, while Xianamon's silver needles were small and thin, but hundreds in amount. The two projectiles techniques collided in midair and combusted into data particles.
Mystimon laughed, and raised his crystal ball. "Nice try, sorceress, but I still have another trick up my sleeve! Behold my special technique: Flaming Windstorm!!" From the crystal ball, a hurricane of flames was unleashed and was heading towards the two Wira Digital. The temperature around them raised several degrees immediately – the whole area became scorching hot.
Xianamon pointed both her left unoccupied hand and her fly whisk. "Diamond World Mandala!!" Powerful magical waves of midnight blue and glittering yellow were released again, and they slammed against the fiery whirlwind. Xianamon summoned more power on her attack, which began to draw the windstorm back. There was a brief standstill – Mystimon's attack was remarkably strong as Xianamon now found out. They were at near equal standing, but she had another advantage. She glanced towards Satriamon and gave him the briefest of a nod.
Satriamon seized this chance to deliver a finishing blow to end the battle. He coated his whole body with flames and sailed towards the windstorm. Aided by Xianamon's magical waves he entered the hurricane and absorbed all the fires, channeling them into his Chrome Digizoid claw-gauntlet. The hurricane soon dissipated and with a triumphant roar, Satriamon streaked towards the flabbergasted Mystimon and slashed him with his powerful finisher: "Dragonforce Striker!!"
To his credit, Mystimon was strong enough not to get deleted. However, Satriamon's finisher was too much for him to handle and he was thrown back. His torso shield and the red garb underneath were both slashed by the severity of Satriamon's claws, which also left three long gashes on his body. Howling painfully, Mystimon glimmered with white light and reverted into Sorcerymon just seconds before he crashed onto the ground.
Satriamon smirked and turned to look at Xianamon. "Great teamwork, huh?"
Xianamon returned the smile with a nod. "Indeed."
Shrieks and sounds of slapping were then heard from the sky. Looking up, Satriamon sweatdropped upon seeing a brutal catfight that was taking place between Puspamon and a female Digimon he didn't recognize. "Hey, who's the other chick?"
"That's Jetsilphymon…Shutumon's digivolved form," Xianamon groaned, seeing the dragon-man watching the battle with rapt interest – his green eyes weren't even blinking and his mouth hung slightly opened, left in a lopsided grin that was akin to JD's. Suddenly, something crossed her mind which caused her fair cheeks to tint with faint pink blush.
Satriamon wolf-whistled. "Battle of the chicks, heh, heh, OWW!!" He rubbed the part where his forearm was not armored. "HEY!! Why'd you pinch me?"
"Did you really think I did not notice you sneaked a perverted glance on me just now?!!"
"Uh…heh, heh, OWWW!!"
The battle between Puspamon and Jetsilphymon had taken to a more severe degree after they exchanged several kicks and slaps. Puspamon had tried using her Dream Rose Mirage against Jetsilphymon, but apparently her opponent had known of the effect of the attack and had retaliated by sending a powerful and concentrated gust of wind from her pinwheel which forced Puspamon's Black Rose Staff out of her hand. Without the staff Puspamon wasn't able to summon her illusionary tactic. Enraged, Puspamon had retaliated with her Sprite Scream, which Jetsilphymon had gleefully countered with another gust of whirlwind which had reduced the effect of her supersonic scream greatly.
"Take this!! Whirlwind of Pain!!" Jetsilphymon unleashed barrages of violet energy crescent-shaped projectiles towards Puspamon. The technique was similar to her lesser form's Wind of Pain attack, but several degrees more powerful. The crescents sailed towards Puspamon with the speed of lightning, tearing through Puspamon's Hibiscus Hurricane which was launched in an attempt to block out the crescent barrages.
Puspamon shrieked as the crescents tore against her body, dress and wings. Seeing this, Jetsilphymon became more confident and released more of her barrages mercilessly. She was fully intent to have her revenge for her humiliating defeat as Shutumon several weeks ago. The evil mistress of the wind cackled with laughter seeing that Puspamon was forced to be at the receiving end of her powerful Whirlwind of Pain.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Satriamon and Xianamon attempting to help Puspamon, and unleashed her crescent projectiles towards them as well. She was speedy enough to alternate her attacks between the three Digimon; the power of her Ultimate form was surprisingly fast and furious. She grinned, seeing the other two Wira Digital were forced to draw back from attacking her, and focused her attention back to her real opponent.
"Jet Winter!!" This attack was the one sent at Xianamon earlier, which had evidently weakened the sorceress. Jetsilphymon wanted to see what this attack would do towards her sworn enemy.
"Sprite Scream!!" Surprisingly, Puspamon was still resilient enough to come up with a counter attack.
"Oh yeah? How about this: Ultra Turbulence!!" With a wave of her pinwheel, Jetsilphymon trapped Puspamon in a chaotic violet hurricane which battered and flung Puspamon around. Laughing maniacally at Puspamon's lost of control over her balance, Jetsilphymon grew overconfident…she'd forgotten that there was one other audience waiting for the right chance to strike.
"Winning Knuckle!!" A sharp blow on her back forced her to stop attacking. Her whole body shook violently from the blow. She turned around angrily and saw the culprit: MachGaogamon.
"Why you…!" Seething, Jetsilphymon lashed her arms out. "Whirlwind of Pain!!"
"Gaoga Tornado!!"
MachGaogamon zipped around the crescents and surrounded Jetsilphymon, going into a fast bunch of melee attacks consisting of kicks and punches. He was hurt as well from the crescents, but nowhere injured enough to stop him from attacking the intruder of his city. With a forceful kick over Jetsilphymon's exposed stomach, MachGaogamon allowed a grim chuckle escaping his snout as he saw Jetsilphymon sailed away towards the fairy Wira Digital. "Now, child!!" MachGaogamon shouted towards Puspamon.
Puspamon nodded as she saw an opening for her to release her fourth technique. She crossed her arms in front of her body, forming an X-shape, as her whole body glimmered with a bright pink aura. The simple plum-red tulip which was attached at the center of her bodice detached itself, and became translucent as it passed through Puspamon's crossed arms.
"Jelita Shocker!!"
After passing through Puspamon's arm, the tulip expanded twice its original size, multiplied into half a dozen, and all were sent towards the flailing Jetsilphymon with the speed generated by a powerful gust of wind as Puspamon uncrossed her arms. They cornered Jetsilphymon at six sides and released six hot magenta beams that shot through Jetsilphymon's body in six different directions. Jetsilphymon screamed in agonized pain as her whole body shone bright magenta as the result of the attack, sensing her Ultimate level power slowly evaporating away form her body. She then felt severely weak and devolved back to Shutumon before plummeting towards the ground.
"You're lucky, grandma…the Jelita Shocker would've deleted you if you're not strong enough…or if I'm at my top form," Puspamon said softly.
"WOO-HOO!! Puspamon, you totally owned her!" Satriamon yelled gleefully as Puspamon and MachGaogamon descended towards the other Wira Digital.
The three Wira Digital and MachGaogamon saw Sorcerymon crawling weakly towards Shutumon's unconscious form. They watched with grim amusement of how Sorcerymon trying to wake Shutumon.
"What do you suppose we do with them?" Puspamon asked MachGaogamon.
"They have done a great crime against Zephyrus City, and for that, I wish for you to allow us to deal with them," MachGaogamon requested.
Puspamon smiled and shrugged uncaringly. "By all means."
"I can never thank you enough, DigiWira. Do know that you're always welcome to this city, anytime." MachGaogamon bowed his head slightly. "I'd offer you to tour as you please around this city, but I fear that the city is still infested with those nasty Vilemon…"
"Not anymore," said a calm, echoic male voice that sounded like it was spoken whilst underwater.
Everyone turned around and saw Samudramon approaching them with a horde of Digimon of various shapes and sizes.
"They've been taken care of," Samudramon supplied. He smiled as he approached the other Wira Digital. "It seems like I've missed a great fight…" He glanced at Puspamon.
"Eh…it's not a bad fight," Puspamon said, her tanned cheeks pinked ever so slightly.
The four Wira Digital observed as MachGaogamon approached the fallen Sorcerymon and Shutumon. Sorcerymon quivered in fear as MachGaogamon snatched his staff away and picked up the unconscious Shutumon by her neck; his large stature made Shutumon and Sorcerymon appear like rag dolls compared to him. Sorcerymon tried to crawl away and yelped like a mouse when MachGaogamon grabbed his white cape, pulling him up as well. Sorcerymon whimpered, pleading for MachGaogamon to set him and Shutumon free, but MachGaogamon wouldn't hear any of it.
Their victory however didn't last long…
Two dark shadows suddenly plummeted from the sky. A crimson lightning streaked from one and struck MachGaogamon from behind, eliciting a pained howl from the canine humanoid. Another lash of the crimson lightning sent the Ultimate Digimon tumbling over the brick ground, releasing Sorcerymon and Shutumon from his hold.
Before the Wira Digital could do anything, the second shadow zipped all around the four of them with a speed so fast that it set Gayathri's super-speed to shame. The Wira Digital felt their bodies being grazed by multiple swords which were able to penetrate through their armors. The attacks were delivered so rapidly they had no chance to even defend themselves, let alone attack back. A vicious lash from the shadow sent all four of them flying, devolving in midair into four pairs of wounded humans and Rookie Digimon. As they tumbled onto the ground the two shadows zipped towards Sorcerymon and Shutumon, picked them up, and sped away towards the sky before disappearing into nothingness.
Everything had happened with such an unbelievable quickness that the DigiWira and Digimon thought that it might all had been a dream if it weren't for the pain they were feeling. Their visions blurred and all eight of them lost consciousness…faintly hearing the sounds of the Rookie Digimon calling out for help.
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"Why don't you get the movie started while I take these to the kitchen?" Aizad suggested, beckoning at the McDonalds take-away bags he was holding.
"Okay!" Adam said with a smile and sprinted towards the living room as soon as he closed the door to their apartment. He unlatched his schoolbag and released Patamon, and went towards a schoolbag Aizad had been carrying with him to release Tsukaimon. The two Rookie Digimon fluttered around the apartment, flexing their tired muscles after being cramped inside the bags for quite a while during their whole journey to the hospital, at the hospital, their journey towards the McDonalds fast food restaurant for a take away and the rest of their journey home. It didn't help that instead of taking a taxi, the brothers had opted to use the bus instead. The bus had been so crowded that their schoolbags were often squeezed against the other bus passengers, much to their dismay. Hadn't it been for the Rookies' eagerness to try out the Human World's foods (Tsukaimon more than Patamon) they wouldn't have tolerated the rather excruciating experience.
"What movie do you like to watch, Abang Zad?" Adam called from the living room.
Aizad poked his head from the kitchen. "I've missed two years worth of movies. You pick one for me." He went back to the kitchen, but his head appeared again with an affixed frown, "But if I see romance or chick-flicks…someone's going to get seriously hurt around here," he mock-threatened before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Adam laughed and scanned their DVD and VCD selections. He ruled out all the Disney cartoon movies – while he and his sister were fans, he knew that Aizad didn't like cartoons. He left out the Hollywood blockbuster movies and TV series as well and also movies from outside the country, which left him with some Malay movies. Those, Adam knew, Aizad liked to watch. From the limited selections, Adam screened out the romance-themed movies that his sister were fans of and the choices were now down to one comedy and one horror-supernatural movie. Adam had watched both, but he knew that his brother was a fan of comedy more than horror, and took the comedy movie out.
Patamon sailed towards the kitchen, still trying to work out the tenseness he was feeling. Tsukaimon was already inside the kitchen, perched over the dinner table. Suddenly he paused, his eyes widened in alarm when he saw Aizad taking out a small vial from his pants pocket. Patamon saw the young man pouring the content of the vial inside Adam's vanilla milkshake before stirring the milkshake well with the straw. He then placed the cover of the tall paper cups provided by McDonalds on top of Adam's drink, and then proceeded towards the cup that meant for Patamon.
'What are they doing…?'
Quickly he flew back to the living room and got himself settled at the single sofa. He watched warily as Tsukaimon took over the double sofa opposite Patamon's sofa. Aizad placed the tray containing their drinks and burgers on the living room's table and sat on the three-sitter sofa opposite the television, balancing his Coca-cola and Big-Mac on his left thigh as Adam sat down at his right, his Quarter-Pounder burger and milkshake cradled in his folded right arm and the remote controller in his left. The brothers then ate their meals as they watched the comedy, and Patamon observed anxiously as Adam began to drink his milkshake, not missing the anticipating look shared between Aizad and Tsukaimon. Then, sensing that he was being watched, Patamon pretended to sip his drink as well.
Not long after, right after Adam had finished with his burger and drink, Patamon heard his partner groaning softly. From the corner of his eyes he saw Tsukaimon was observing him, and he pretended to look drowsy as well and plopped down on the cushion. He risked opening one eye, and saw his partner's eyes completely closed and Aizad slowly pushing Adam's body onto the cushions, positioning the boy so that he was on his back as Aizad himself got up from his seat.
'What is going on here…?' Patamon thought, daring not to move anymore, as it would give away the fact that he was not knocked out. He began to have a foreboding feeling about what was happening. Closing his eyes, Patamon strained his ears, and heard Aizad and Tsukaimon heading towards the computer. He heard the computer being switched on, and after a while, he sensed lights – dark lights – washing out from the monitor screen. Everything was quiet again soon after.
Patamon opened his eyes and quickly fluttered towards Adam. He landed on Adam's chest and tried waking his partner. "Adam? Adam, wake up."
Adam didn't reply. He didn't even move. The only guarantee Patamon had that Adam was still alive was the fact that his chest was heaving steadily up and down. His heartbeat could be felt, soft, steady and in normal rhythm. Adam looked peaceful even, sleeping like a baby, completely undisturbed by Patamon's weight on his body.
Patamon flew towards the computer, knowing that somehow Aizad and Tsukaimon were at the Digital World. 'How did they open a DigiPort? Aizad doesn't even have a Digivice…'
"AHA!! I thought there was something fishy from the way you were acting!"
Patamon turned around and saw himself face to face with Tsukaimon. Before he could act, Tsukaimon breathed out dark purple fogs from his mouth, which enveloped Patamon wholly. Patamon felt weak instantly and limped onto the marble floor. He heard Tsukaimon chuckling in satisfaction before his eyes gave out into blackness.
xxx
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Word Glossary:
Jelita – A Malay word which means 'ravishing'. So Jelita Shocker Ravishing Shocker
