CH. 35 Over the River
It was dark again as it always was here. Albert walked down a solitary path alone. He looked forward to see a light shining, but it slowly faded away. Albert would run toward it but the light seemed to move further and further away, slowly fading from existence. An eerie laugh could be heard behind him. He ran even faster now, the voice still behind him laughing. Albert ran.
"Gaomon… Cody… Agumon… TJ… somebody,… anybody… Help!"
Albert woke up in a cold sweat and shook his head. Wanyamon Digivolved to Gaomon the second he heard Albert yell out.
"Another nightmare?" said Gaomon.
"Yeah," sighed Albert.
"You were doing so good these past few days."
"I know… I thought once NeoDevimon was gone, I could sleep peacefully. I think Myotismon's darkness is affecting my dreams," said Albert, laying back down. Gaomon did the same right by his side.
"Need me to Digivolve to Gaogamon so you feel safer?" asked Gaomon.
"No that's ok. Your fur is softer when you take that form and I feel safer but you don't have to. You do make a good pillow though," smiled Albert.
"That smile is what I like to see. Let's go back to sleep, we have another full day tomorrow." Albert just laughed as the two of them returned to their dreams.
The group met the next day at their usual spot at the lake. Their partners greeted them in the usual manner. Winona opened up her laptop and pulled up the map of the Digital World and opened a new message from Wizardmon.
"Let's see here. Wizardmon says that we need to learn how to get each of our crests to glow. He also says that the light from the crests seems to repel Myotismon which is why we have to learn ASAP."
"A vampire being afraid of light, should have seen this coming," sighed Javi.
"Where we going today?" asked TJ.
"This place looks good, it's called The Grand River," said Winona, clicking on a square on the screen.
"You guys are going to have to go without us. Me and Michelle have to get to choir practice," said Brandi.
"I need to practice my solo for the marching competition this Saturday," Javi added.
"So do I," put in Andrew
"I'll watch the computer I guess," Winona said.
"So that leaves me, TJ, Albert, and Ann," said Cody, pulling out his Digivice. The others did the same.
"Be back later guys. Digiport open." said TJ, holding his Digivice to the screen. The group was sucked through the screen to land on a grassy plain, the sky a deep blue over head. The group could see a massive gorge before them. Cody walked over to the edge and looked down the side of the cliff. A large river could be seen flowing at the bottom of the cliff.
"That's a long way down," gulped Agumon.
"No kidding," said Veemon, looking down the cliff side.
"It's not that far," Hawkmon added, flying over head.
"Easy for you to say, you have wings," laughed Ann.
Albert looked over to see a bridge swaying over the gorge. The bridge looked to be unstable, being made of mostly wood and any slight breeze would cause it to move. A forested area was visible on the other side of the gorge.
"Oh this looks so safe," mocked Albert.
"You think?" laughed Gaomon.
The group began to laugh but was cut off by a loud roar. They looked to see a large Digimon spring up from the ground. It resembled a triceratops but was black and had a dark green underbelly. Two black horns stuck up from his skull while another horn stuck up from on top of his nose. "Lord Myotismon wishes that I crush you worms."
Albert scanned the Digimon with his D-Dex "Triceramon, a dinosaur type Digimon, uses his two horns to perform his Tri-Horn attack."
"Tri-Horn Attack!" yelled Triceramon. A series of beams of red energy shot forth from each of his horns, sticking the surrounding area.
Gaomon Digivolved to… Gaogamon
Agumon Digivolved to…. Greymon, Greymon Digivolved to… Metal Greymon
Hawkmon Digivolved to… Aquilamon
Veemon Digivolved to… Veedramon
"You guys need to get to safety," said MetalGreymon.
"Leave him to us," added Veedramon.
"Where do we go? There's a cliff behind us," said Cody.
"Do you really have to ask?" sighed Albert, pointing to the old bridge.
The group nodded and Cody, being the leader, stepped on to the bridge first and slowly made his way across. Albert followed behind him, trying to avoid looking over the edge of the bridge. Ann looked at the bridge and shook her head.
"I can't do it. I can't walk across the bridge. I'm too scared," said Ann, shaking.
"I'll be right behind you Ann. Trust me, I won't let you fall off," said TJ. Ann just nodded slowly and began to make her way across the rickety old bridge. TJ followed behind her closely. The two were able to make it half way across while Albert and Cody made it to the other side of the gorge without any problems. Triceramon saw his chance and attacked the bridge.
"Tri-Horn Attack!" yelled the Digimon, releasing another stream of energy. The beams caused the bridge to sway back and forth violently. Ann held on to the side of the bridge in terror.
"Keep going Ann. I'm right behind you. Trust me, you'll be safe," TJ said reassuringly.
"Ok… I'll keep going," said Ann nervously. She continued to make her way across the bridge. She stopped when she felt solid ground beneath her feet. "I did it!"
"I told you, you just had to trust me." Another attack struck the bridge, causing one side to collapse. TJ was still on the bridge, holding on to the side.
"TJ!" yelled the group at once.
"I'll save you buddy!" yelled Veedramon, running to the bridge.
"You're too heavy and you can't fly!" yelled TJ, clinging to the bridge.
"Trust me. I'll think of something!" yelled Veedramon. TJ just nodded. The remaining parts of the bridge began to fall apart. The section TJ was hanging on to began to break apart, causing TJ to fall into the gorge. Veedramon dived in after him. TJ's crest began to glow a bright teal color.
Veedramon Digivolved to… AeroVeedramon
AeroVeedramon had the same form as Veedramon, but with large red wings as well. His claws had now grown longer along with the horns on his head. The white part of his body seemed to extend to his other extremities. AeroVeedramon was easily able to fly down and catch TJ before he hit the ground. AeroVeedramon flew TJ back to the edge of the cliff where the group was standing.
"You Digivolved!"
"Yep, I'm AeroVeedramon now. Let me take this guy out," TJ's newly-Digivolved partner said, flying to Triceramon. Triceramon looked up at AeroVeedramon and released a few attacks. AeroVeedramon could easily dodge the attacks while in flight.
"Let me end this, V-Wing Blade!" said AeroVeedramon, flapping his wings. A wave of orange colored energy shot out from his wings and struck Triceramon, destroying him into bits of data.
AeroVeedramon returned to the side of the cliff where the Digidestined were standing and picked them up to carry them back to the other side. After being placed safely on the ground the teams' Digimon returned to their rookie forms while AeroVeedramon returned to his DemiVeemon form and landed in TJ's arms.
"Told you that you could trust me to find a way to save you," said DemiVeemon.
"Yeah, I never doubted you for a second," smiled TJ.
"Hey guys, I think I know how to get the crests to glow…." said Albert.
"Oh yeah, how?" asked Ann.
"When Greymon Digivolved it was because Cody felt his crest of valor's power. In this case, TJ felt the power from his crest of trust and it began to glow. When we feel the power of our crests, they begin to glow allowing our partners to Digivolve again. I think that is the secret to getting the crests to glow," he explained.
"Makes sense," said Gaomon.
"It does sound right. When we fought NeoDevimon I felt courage and valor flowing through me which gave me the strength to stand up to NeoDevimon," thought Cody.
"So then that has to be the way to get our crests to glow," put in Ann.
"And when you do that we can Digivolve," said Hawkmon.
"Yeah, looks like we don't have much left to do here. Let's head back home," said Albert. The group nodded in agreement and headed back for the real world.