Legends of the Digidestined
Chapter 34: "Another One of Us"
The unexpected outcome from the battle they had with the Digidestined and their allies had forced X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon to retreat to the Macabre Glades, hoping to buy some time for them to recuperate and to come up with an explanation for Mephistomon regarding the loss of the entire squadron of Black Exveemon, Orochimon and possibly MadLeomon.
"Now that was utterly humiliating. You were defeated by children!"
The two defeated Digimon stopped cold and looked up at the source of the raspy masculine voice, by a taller rock formation by the valley's entrance. Amidst the shadows they could make out a tall, winged figure with two crimson glows on the spot that marked the eyes, with the rest of his body shrouded in darkness. The shadow flapped his wings once, and the mists shifted as he stepped forward, revealing a demonic satyr with leathery pair of wings, with a slim torso but large arms and lower limbs that ended with thick hooves. With a sneer, he tapped one hoof lightly, sending sands their way, scorn reflected from his ivory ram face.
"Lord Mephistomon!" X-WereGarurumon quickly gathered his wits. "You… saw the battle?"
"A scouting excursion turned sour, I believe," Mephistomon replied with a snicker.
"They were stronger than we thought!"
"You have more experience," the dark satyr countered silkily. "You are trained to become a Nightmare Soldier for the Dark One. These children were pulled from their home world… they're scared, unsure, probably no proper training beforehand in combating powerful Digimon and obviously wanting to go home. Yet they were still able to deliver some good beatings on you all… at the cost of my Black Exveemon squadron and Orochimon…"
The two Nightmare Soldiers looked up to their imposing master.
"MadLeomon…"
"Oh, he survived…" Mephistomon interrupted, his expressionless face finally contorted into a frown as he added as an afterthought, "hideously."
X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon looked at each other with relief, before Mephistomon cleared his throat and glared towards the former.
"Now don't get too relieved. It's obvious that all your trainings were not up to par. How long have I trained you?"
X-WereGarurumon's head hung low in shame. "Close to six years."
"Yes. From the day you were just a mere Psychemon, until now. Those Digidestined, however, have only been in the Digital World in less than a month! While I agree that they too have Ultimate Digimon at their disposal, but even so, they should not be able to defeat you in such a humiliating manner."
"Orochimon was more brute than brains, anyhow," Mummymon quipped.
"Says you… the one who got knocked out cold," Mephistomon snapped, and the mummified demon immediately looked down in shame. "I wonder what your master, Astamon, will say about this."
The mummy cleared his throat. "In my defense, Lord Mephistomon, my adversary was one imbued with light magic. A bane to creatures of darkness such as us…" he paused, apparently weighing his chance before continuing carefully, "even to you."
Mephistomon waved a heavy hand airily. "Ah yes, Taomon… most likely the strongest one in their arsenal. Furthermore she is empowered by that diva… Lady Angella. Oh well, do not worry about the fox. I have someone in mind to pit against her and her alone, on the great Dark One's behest."
X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon both gulped at the revelation. "The… Dark One?" Mummymon whispered, wide-eyed.
"He's here?" The armored werewolf looked around the heavily misted valley.
"He was, and now he's not." Mephistomon crossed his heavy, furry arms over his chest. "It was the exalted Dark One, of course, who had showed me the events that had transpired over the grounds of the Skydancer Mountain. I was embarrassed, of course, to be visited by the mighty one only to be shown the weakness in my arsenal, but thankfully our lord was in his more… benevolent mood today. He highlighted the weaknesses in that battle, ones that we could learn from."
"What will those be, master?"
"We now know what line of defense the Castle Eos now have," Mephistomon said. "And we also know that even four Ultimates and a squadron of ten Champions are not adequate to counter the forces of the Digidestined when they are together…"
"They've had helps. Two wolf-like Digimon with powers of light and that huge crow," X-WereGarurumon supplied.
"Angella's disciples, no doubt," said Mephistomon with disgust, "but no matter. It's the age-old game of 'divide and conquer' after this. The Dark One also has given specific orders for me to devise a way to take away their ability to become Ultimates. As I am not familiar of this technology craft these children possess to be able to digivolve their Digimon… I will have to look for answers in the only one place that may have the answer – the Order of the Light's headquarters. We attack tonight, at the last day of the full moons. That should be much to your liking, shouldn't it X-WereGarurumon?"
The armored wolf hesitated. "The Order, my lord? Forgive me for saying this, but something suspicious happened last night."
Mephistomon glowered at the wolf. "Something you've failed to inform me?"
"I'm sorry. Several of my pack was growing restless last night. It was full moon night, and some of them weren't able to control their thirst for power. Three BlackGarurumon and one Sangloupmon went out to look for data, but never returned."
"Only Champions? Maybe they were deleted by stronger Champions," Mephistomon waved off the wolf's concern disinterestedly.
"No, I've sent them to feed at the Koromon village where they shouldn't be met with much resistance. The village was mostly inhabited by those Koromon, some have digivolved into Rookies and the leader was said to have the power to go Champion. But the pack members I've sent had the ability to ascend into Ultimate during the full moon… and yet they didn't return."
Mephistomon took out a purple sphere from the furry belt around his waist and ran a hand over it. The sphere glowed and displayed the battle at the Koromon village. He watched as a Flarelizamon incinerated the lone Sangloupmon from the pack before it was surrounded by the three BlackGarurumon. One was jolted by a sneak thunderbolt from a Betamon, at which he snickered in amusement, before the remaining wolves ascended into Shadow WereGarurumon via the power of the full moon. Flarelizamon was deleted, but then the Shadow WereGarurumon were assaulted by a light explosion coming from two strange Digimon, before realizing that those were actually flying vehicles controlled by two humans. Mephistomon saw the Ultimates were forced into devolving back into their regular mode and were eventually deleted by the Betamon in its Airdramon form.
"It's the Order's doing," hissed Mephistomon. "Looks like these humans have overstayed their welcome. They now have the power to travel the air, and unfortunately…" He planted a long stare towards X-WereGarurumon, "they've found a way to reverse your pack's temporary ascension to power, by using a brand of light magic of their own."
X-WereGarurumon snarled in anger. "I've suspected as much. The Order's headquarters were located not far from the Koromon village… I've thought they had something to do with my pack's disappearance. But to have the kind of power that reverses our power-up from the full moon…"
"Then, that is simply unacceptable," Mephistomon decided. "If these asinine humans have the power to dedigivolve us, I want them gone."
"I will lead my wolves to battle, master," X-WereGarurumon offered.
"You will not," Mephistomon's eyes glowed crimson and the armored wolf was taken aback. "I will," he continued. "You will come along as one of my fighters."
X-WereGarurumon shivered. "It… will be an honor, master."
"I shall lend my service as well," Mummymon said.
"Of course. I need to put in some good words on your behalf for Astamon, yes? You haven't provided me with any input as of now," the dark satyr jeered. "See to it that I have something exceptional to comment to your master."
Mummymon silently nodded his reply. "What of MadLeomon?"
"He's recuperating, in a much faster phase than you two," Mephistomon nodded. "His tendency to data-absorption facilitates his recovery. This is a way to counter the Order's ability to dedigivolve us. Maybe you should consider doing so as well."
X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon shuddered.
"I still look into the technique as being taboo," Mummymon noted.
The armored wolf shook his head towards Mummymon, before shifting his gaze back to the satyr. "I don't, but I have seen how the absorbed data able to corrupt the minds of those who did use it. A number of wolves in my pack have used it and they did gain power, but at the risk of losing their minds too. Just like MadLeomon."
"That's because their minds are weak," Mephistomon replied with a snort. "They lose their sanity in exchange for power, but for those with sharper minds and intellect…" the satyr tapped the side of his head gently and smirked, "such limitation does not apply."
The wolf and the mummy looked at each other before gazing back at the warlord with great interest.
"If you could teach these lowly servants…"
Mephistomon brought his two hands together and began muttering a spell, both eyes glowed crimson that first illuminated his entire visage in red aura, before enveloping both X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon, and finally washing over the entire valley in bloodlike light that shot up towards the clouds hovering, creating thunder and lightning that struck the entire desolate valley.
The phenomenon in Macabre Glades caught the attention of the Vanguard of Light, who was at that precise moment, standing by the balcony of Castle Eos where she saw within the serene clouds, a dark patch formed over the distance. This patch turned into thundering clouds with flashes of red. Something foreboding crept within her, the aura of darkness which she recognized crept towards the palace.
"The Curse of the Crimson Eyes," the vanguard whispered to herself, as a movement from another corner of her eyes caught her attention.
From the calmer part of the clouds, the magnificent visage of Yatagaramon suddenly burst forth, ascending towards the sky following a familiar melody from a flute. The holy bird soared high before she extended her great wings wide for a halt. For several heartbeats, the magnificent crow was suspended in the air before she flapped her great wings at a gentler phase as she descended to the balcony's level.
The vanguard cleared the way as the crow swooped inside, carrying Gennai and two adults in identical robes. The man and woman got down from the crow and placed their arms in diagonal position over their torso and nodded their heads down. Yatagaramon then turned and flew out of the balcony, making a turn to fly behind the castle where she resided.
"Lady Angella," they chorused, looking into the interior of the castle with awe.
The vanguard nodded. "Babel. Daisy. It's good to see you two again. Welcome to Castle Eos. But first… look ahead." She gestured towards the storm clouds at the distance.
"What is going on there?" Gennai followed the vanguard's gesture and frowned.
"It looks like it's happening over…" Babel glanced towards his blonde companion.
"Macabre Glades," Daisy finished with a frown over her thin brows. "Mephistomon is up to something again."
"As he usually is," the vanguard said with a sigh. "That's the sign of the Curse."
Babel sweated. "After the stunt we pulled over those wolves last night… the other wolves are bound to want to get revenge."
The vanguard's serene expression remained unchanged. "What stunt?"
"We took the Sky Gliders over the Koromon Village last night after noticing some disturbance signal from our headquarters," Daisy began, "It turned out to be an ambush from the wolves. It was the second full moon night and I bet they were hungry for data. The full moon enabled them to digivolve into Ultimate against the village's leader, a Flarelizamon, who didn't stand a chance."
"Luckily Shibumi devised that Light Bomb, thanks to you, of course, milady," Babel continued excitedly. "It worked in forcing the dark wolves to revert back into their regular forms, and our Photon Stunners were able to knock them out. The Airdramon who was also there deleted them off."
A small smile appeared on the vanguard's face. "This will tip the scale in our battle against Mephistomon's forces. They are weak against the Light."
"Cool!" Gennai said exuberantly.
Daisy and Babel looked down at the youth and grinned. "Your father sends his regards, Gennai."
"Great. What project is he working on nowadays?"
Daisy considered it briefly. "Something to assist the Digidestined."
Gennai's expression lit up even more. "They're here!"
"They're here?" Daisy and Babel chorused in surprised.
"Just arrived this morning."
"Oh, yeah…" Babel rubbed his chin. "We haven't been around Riley and Megumi much to receive the updates; we were kept busy in the labs and the fields, testing for the new Photon Stunners, remember? Yamaki's the only one been keeping track of the Digivices' signals since the kids arrived… but we've been kept busy by Mephistomon's goons and the weapons project, and your dad's project for those kids."
"Where are they?" Daisy inquired, her eyes sparkled with interest. "After these years…to see people from our world again…"
"They are currently with their Digimon partners, recuperating after earlier battle today," the vanguard informed.
"Yeah, you've just missed it by less than an hour's mark," Gennai added. "It was brutal but no casualties on our side, thankfully. But these goons are getting more and more powerful."
"So we've come at the right time," Daisy noted. Babel nodded.
"Do come in, my friends," the vanguard beckoned, her eyes still observing the thunder clouds. "We shall continue our discussion there, and I'm positive the Digidestined will be thrilled to meet people from their world."
"Not as much as we are," Daisy said.
"Especially after we didn't fit the bill to become Digidestined," Babel quipped.
"How are they, Gennai? The Digidestined?"
"Well…"
As they were walking inside the Castle Eos from its topmost tower to the deeper part of the castle, at the castle's main base the Digidestined were all camped out in the same room which was Max and Darien's room. Kira was sprawled on the bed beside Darien, Kanto sitting on the floor with Jon, and Max pacing the room. Their Digimon partners however were seated in one straight line, eagerly watching the door.
Soft taps were heard on the door twice. The taps were not loud, or neither there was urgency in them. There was no attempt on the door knobs, signaling that it was more of a request to come in rather than demand.
Max went towards the door and opened it. A peculiar archbishop-like Digimon in white robes and violet cape was there, followed by three wheeled tables draped in white sheets with an assortment of foods spread out over them. Behind each table was a small, armored white knight, all three of them ready to push the tables of foods inside.
"Hey, Bishopchessmon, Pawnchessmon," Max greeted. He had seen them earlier during breakfast. He instantly made way for them to wheel in the foods.
"Greetings, Master Max," the robed Digimon greeted, in a masculine, baritone, butler-like voice. "When we went knocking into the doors of young masters Jon and Kanto, and young lady Kira and received no answers, I have a guess that everyone will be here."
"Uh yeah… Max will do, I've told you earlier," Max replied, slightly uncomfortable with the reverence shown to him. It was a total stark contrast to what he used to get back home. He made way for them to enter the room.
Bishopchessmon merely shrugged and beckoned for the Pawnchessmon to wheel in the foods. At the sight and smell of foods, the four Rookies and one In-Training immediately surrounded the table with cakes, pastries and fruits. The Pawnchessmon behind that table dutifully took down each tray and plate and laid them in front of the eager Digimon, and once he was done the hungry partners wolfed all the delicacies within seconds. They proceeded to the second table, but with one sweeping glance they looked at each other, shrugged, and scurried to the third table where they excitedly jumped around as the Pawnchessmon laid out before them plates of fried fishes, roasted chickens and fresh fruits. With one simultaneous sweeping gaze of the foods, the 'mons didn't waste any more time wolfing the foods down.
"Yummm!" ToyAgumon said dreamily.
Max stared at his partner dubiously. "Somehow I'm still working out how a toy Lego dino can actually eat all these foods."
"I don't know," his partner admitted.
Demidevimon laid flat on the floor, his rounded face-body swollen as he rubbed his belly with satisfaction. "I really, really, could get used to this!"
"Hey, you didn't even leave some for us!" Kanto complained.
Kira giggled. "It's barely lunch time, and they did all the fighting just now."
"Actually," Bishopchessmon beckoned to the second table, where the three Pawnchessmon were seen taking out stools from under the table, and arranging them around the table. "I have personally tailored these meals to be more of your likings. Please… have a seat."
The Digidestined however, were pleasantly surprised with the foods on the second table. It was a spread of various sushi, sashimi, five small bowls of miso soup, five large bowls of ramen, and five bowls of rice with fried unagi and tamago slices on them served with thinly-sliced ginger and soy sauce. The five kids instantly drooled and looked at Bishopchessmon with wonder as they took their seats.
"How did you know to make all these stuffs?" Darien asked.
"These definitely cure some homesickness inside of me," Jon said approvingly.
"And you even have these for us." Kanto found the chopsticks and took one.
Bishopchessmon poured cold tea inside the cups. It was hard to see his expression, for only the eyes of the puppet Digimon were visible, but they twinkled with mirth, as if he was enjoying this too.
"Yeah, Bishopchessmon, how did you know how to make Japanese foods?" Max reiterated. "Because I don't think they're common delicacies here."
"They're not, Master Max," Bishopchessmon nodded and produced a staff from out of thin air. "Actually, forgive me for saying this… but I took the liberty of scanning your minds with my staff in order to have an idea of what foods do you like. I imagine after being taken away from your home so suddenly, you must have missed it terribly. So I thought why not I make something from the Human World, as a token of gratefulness for what you're doing to us?"
"Ohh…" The Digidestined looked at each other.
Kanto stared at the staff dubiously. "I hope you only scanned about the foods."
Bishopchessmon nodded. "Anything more than that is a breach of privacy, and the lady vanguard frowns upon that."
"Oh, who cares," Darien said with his mouth full. "These foods are awesome! So I say, scan away."
A glow from the Digimon attracted their attention. They saw Viximon shimmering in gold light before she transformed into a familiar bipedal fox.
"Wow, Renamon's back!" Bearmon cheered.
"That didn't take too long," Renamon noted, pleased with the growth spurt.
"Must be the foods," Kotemon nodded.
"Excellent!" Kira grinned.
There was another tap on the door, and this time around it swung open before any of them could answer the tap first. Gennai walked in, accompanied by two unfamiliar adults, and upon the sight of the vanguard everyone stood up. Demidevimon cried out as he struggled to turn his round body to stand on its two feet, before Kotemon helped him up.
"Milady," Bishopchessmon bowed slightly. He shifted his gaze towards Gennai. "Master Gennai."
"Guys, look at who we have here with us," Gennai grinned as he went straight to the five kids, beckoning towards the two adults.
Jon looked at the two adults up and down, and the robes they chose. "Woah! They look like Jedi-warriors."
The other four Digidestined sweat-dropped. But the two adults laughed humorously at Jon's fanboy-ish remark.
"Indeed, son," the man grinned, "It was what Shibumi had in mind when he created this costumes for us. He's such a big fan."
The man's reply instantly clicked his identity in Jon's mind. "You're the Order of the Light! Gennai told us you're from Earth."
The blonde woman smiled. "We are," she said and held out her hand, which Jon took eagerly. "I'm Daisy and this is Babel."
The Digidestined and the two members of the Order became acquainted and there was instantly a rapport between the two groups, with them coming from the same world.
"How did you get here?" Darien asked.
"And when?" Max inquired.
"Well…" Babel's face became thoughtful. "It has been too long now since we arrived here. What year is it back home?"
"When we were taken here, it was July 26th 1995," Jon answered.
"1995?" Both Babel and Daisy chorused, wide-eyed in shock. The two looked at each other and there was a longing expression etched on their faces. "We came here in 1985…"
"That's a long time ago," Kanto noted with a frown. "10 years…"
"10 Earth years," Daisy corrected. "But we have been here for more than a century."
"Almost 110 years to be exact," Babel added.
"WHAT?" All Digidestined cried in surprise.
"You're kidding!" Kira sputtered.
"How?" Jon wondered out loud.
"You look like you're in your late 20s!" Max pointed out.
"Nobody answers my question," Darien grumbled with a low voice, unnoticed from the livid noises made by the other Digidestined.
"Somehow the Digital World did a wonderful job preserving our youthful glow," Babel said with a wry grin. "I think we all stopped aging after the Wall of Fire event."
Jon turned towards Kanto. "Can I borrow some papers and pencil?"
Kanto handed the blonde bespectacled boy his backpack and Jon rummaged through it. He took a piece of paper from Kanto's sketchbook and a pencil and lay down on the floor on his belly as he made some calculations, as the other Digidestined and Digimon peered with interest. The two Order members took the seats the Digidestined used earlier while having their meal.
"We came here 10 years prior to the appearance of the Wall of Fire in the skies of the Digital World," Daisy began slowly, "and afterward, another 100 years passed."
"We imagined that it's already a new millennium back home," Babel said, "roughly year 2095."
"But instead it's just 1995," Jon said, holding up the paper he had scribbled with numbers and calculations.
"My eyes hurt," Darien grumbled. "Explain in layman please, Jon."
"According to my calculation, it seems that the time in the Digital World runs faster than the time in our world. Based on the information Daisy and Babel gave us, it seems that 1 day here equals to only 2.181 hours back home."
"We've been here for a month now, except for me, I came here earlier," Max said, analyzing the information as his eyes shifted to his teammates, "so this means for you guys, only more than 2 days have passed back home?"
"I believe so," Jon concurred.
"That's… not so bad now, right?" Kira asked. "I mean, our parents would freak if we're gone for more than a month… but if only 2 days have passed, they'll probably think that we're still in camp."
"The camp counselors would still freak out," Darien pointed out. "We've registered our names and bunks."
"Oh no…" Kira whispered.
"And you're worried about that now?" Kanto asked. "After one month?"
"It didn't cross my mind until I saw all the facts on paper," Kira huffed.
Babel and Daisy had remained silent the entire time as they watched the Digidestined banter about the facts. Something about Jon's calculation was off. Daisy started a little when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.
"Something on your mind?" the vanguard asked quietly.
Daisy nodded. "Yes. The calculation the boy… Jonathan… has made does sound plausible. But something happened just a couple of years after we got here, which makes the calculation invalid." She looked at her comrade. "Do you remember that one time when we've managed to make contact?"
"Oh… yeah." Babel nodded.
"You should tell them," the vanguard nudged.
"Um… kids?" Daisy called for the Digidestined. Everyone turned their attention on her immediately. "Jonathan, can I have that paper you're holding?"
"Sure."
Daisy took the paper with the calculations Jon had scribbled and silently studied it. Her expression shifted from a frown, to a bemused one, and occasionally a forlorn one before it turned serious again as she returned the paper to Jon.
"As I've said, all of us came here in 1985, and we have been here for 110 years."
Everybody nodded in anticipation.
"If your calculation is true, however, then something didn't add up properly," Daisy said.
"Really? But I've double-checked my calculation, three times!" Jon protested.
"And Jon is really good in Math, he scored full-marks in Math in school," Kira pointed out.
The two Order members smiled lightly. "I do not doubt your Mathematical prowess," Daisy nodded at Jon apologetically. "It's just that, something happened roughly 2 years after we have arrived here. And to answer Darien's question," she nodded towards the athletic Digidestined, "I'm not too sure how to put it in words, but I think all of us got sucked in by our computers."
Darien face-faulted, blinking hard to make Daisy's explanation logical.
"Let it go," Max whispered, "The weirds and fantastics shouldn't bother you anyway, after all we've been through."
"With help of some helpful Digimon, upon arrival the nine of us managed to find a home in an area not too far from here," Babel continued. "We built our headquarters within an abandoned castle on top one of the stone mountains there, and built the lab underneath. Thanks to the wonders of the Digital World, some mechanical Digimon, and of course, milady Angella when we found her, we were able to come up with decent lab, computers, gadgets and all…even more advanced than the technology we had back in the 1980s."
"So with all equipments at our disposal we tried to come up with a way to return home," Daisy carried on, "It took us hard work before finally, 2 years after our arrival, Yamaki and Shibumi came up with Project Datiri, when the magic of the Digital World helped us in creating our first Digimon – Datirimon. The Digimon appeared first in our computers, and somehow it appeared in the computers and televisions in Earth."
"We've made contact with two boys," Babel reminisced with a smile, "Datirimon was especially fond of them… young, excitable Hiroki, and serious, sullen Yukio. From them, we managed to learn that time between the two worlds was linear. It was August 1987 when we had made contact with them, and they had confirmed that it was also the same date on their side of the world. We managed to stay in contact several times before we lost the link due to equipment failure… and we just couldn't get a hold on them anymore."
"That's why Jon's calculation seemed to be off," Daisy said.
Jon scribbled on the paper again. "If my previous calculation is to be believed, then the time the Order made contact to the two boys back on Earth should have still been in 1985, about 60 days after they were taken here."
"But that's not the case," Max noted.
"Time was linear between the two worlds before, but something happened, and now time is warped," Gennai realized.
"Exactly," Babel said.
"The only event I could think of that could probably alter the space and time continuum between the two worlds is… the Wall of Fire event 100 years ago, when the Legions first came to the Digital World. After the fight between Apocalymon and Omnimon," the vanguard highlighted. "I remember seeing flames erupting all over the skies; I had to protect the castle to avoid the Legions from coming here."
"So nobody is sure of the time difference between our world and here now?" Darien asked, scratching his head.
"My guess is that, our first 10 years here, time was still linear between the two worlds," Daisy deduced, "but after that Wall of Fire's eruption 100 years ago, when all of us stopped aging, that was when the linearity was warped. Jonathan…" She called, and Jon straightened. "Write this down, please. Maybe we can figure this out together."
The blonde boy blushed before he bent down to begin writing what Daisy was saying.
"Okay… if we're taking this theory as plausible, so the first ten years was linear, that means from June 1985, when we came, until 1st July 1995, the time between the two worlds was the same," Daisy began. "Then the Wall of Fire erupted, and time was warped. So between that and the time the five of you came here… a millennium has passed in the Digital World, but only 25 days have passed on Earth."
"25 days Earth equals to 100 years Digital World," Jon mumbled as he began calculating.
Kotemon peered close to the paper Jon was scribbling on, but it wasn't long before his yellow eyes swirled with confusion and he had to sit down.
"Okay! I've got it!" Jon declared triumphantly. "So, 1 day in the Digital World now equals to just 1 minute on Earth!"
"No way," Kanto said as he made a mental calculation, "that means after a month here, of all those adventures and near-death experiences and getting possessed and whatnot, we're only gone from our world for HALF AN HOUR?"
"More or less," Jon replied. "If Daisy's theory is correct."
"That's the only thing we have so far," Daisy said.
"The only way to be sure is by sending you kids back home and see the time for yourselves," Babel added.
"We? What about you?" Max asked.
"Wait!" Darien shouted. "You have a way to send us back home?"
"It's been more than a hundred years… things have changed," Daisy said softly, before glancing towards Darien. "We don't, as of now, but Shibumi has a theory but he's keeping it hush, none of us knew what he is up to."
"He's afraid of Mephistomon, if that lamb-demon knows about it he might want to use it to invade Earth," Babel said with a shudder, "and the effect will be catastrophic!"
Darien's excitement deflated. "Oh…"
"Sorry to get your hopes up, son," Babel said apologetically.
"But we can ask my dad about it, right?" Gennai quipped. Everybody looked at the boy. "He might know something. Maybe he'll be more open to discussion with the Digidestined."
Babel and Daisy nodded. "Maybe he will," Daisy confirmed.
Gennai grinned at the Digidestined. "How do you guys feel about a trip to the headquarters of the Order of the Light?"
"I personally feel that it is a good idea," the vanguard spoke up, "but that journey is not without its danger. The Curse has been evoked in the Macabre Glades, which is lesser than a day's journey from the Order's headquarters on foot. I am afraid… that the Wolfsbane Clan is planning something big."
"And the nearest big thing, probably the only big thing worth attacking in a larger scale, is the Order's headquarters," Gennai deduced.
"We have to alert the rest of the Order," Daisy said, alarmed.
"We'll help," Max decided for his team.
"We're all ready!" ToyAgumon declared spiritedly, followed by nods from the other four partners.
"We'll cut some time by having Yata send us there," Gennai suggested.
"Daisy and I will follow you with the Sky Gliders," Babel said.
"It is still afternoon, so all of you still have time," the vanguard said calmly. "After today's battle, Mephistomon's forces will hesitate in instigating another attack in broad daylight. They will wait until the full moon tonight which will empower the wolves into digivolving. Digidestined, please work closely with the Order, for they have the device that can disable the wolves' digivolution."
After the vanguard's parting words, everybody boarded Yatagaramon and headed towards the Order's headquarters as the late afternoon sun still shone. The sun's location would be their reminder of how much time they had left before the battle with Mephistomon's forces of darkness would take place.
In the meantime, back in Macabre Glades, Mephistomon had dismissed X-WereGarurumon and Mummymon, and was on his way back to his lair at the farthest edge of valley, where the path was bordered by stone walls on both sides and the grounds cracked. The air was misty, damp, and there was no vegetation in sight. With every step he made, thick dusts hovered, but the dark satyr didn't care as he walk calmly along the narrowing path, and reached a set of stairs that would lead him down for a hundred steps. The darkness was thicker at the bottom of the stone stairs, but with a wave of his heavy hand the torches that hung on the wall on each of his side were lit instantly. He took each step down calmly, as each torch he passed along would spontaneously flared green. The straight staircases ended with a narrow square area, and Mephistomon turned right, descending another hundred staircases down until he reached a massive underground cavern, nearly the size of a coliseum. Deep inside the cavern, on an elevated stone platform, there stood a formidable fortress in the form of a giant ram's skull flanked by two towers on the sides. The fortress was partially covered with dark moss with the eyes shone with ghastly green flames.
Mephistomon stopped walking as he was reaching the fortress. A tall figure phased into existence from behind him, but his profile remained shrouded in darkness. He smiled slightly.
"How is he?" he asked, without bothering to look behind.
"Recovering," the figure replied with a soft masculine voice. "The fall he took did quite a number on him, but MadLeomon is extremely durable. He shall live and I have done all I could to heal him. All he needs now is to siphon the remaining data he had absorbed earlier today, and probably some new data will not harm him."
"Excellent… because tonight I shall require his service again."
"I am sure he will be able to offer his service again by dusk."
"I'm pleased to hear so." Mephistomon spun behind, watching the smaller, lithe figure behind him. "I have a special task for you as well."
"Oh?" The figure's tone was a feigned surprise. "Name it, master."
"I shall need you to come along with me and the others in an attack on the headquarters of those meddling Order of the Light. The Digidestined and their partners will definitely be there tonight to stop us."
"I imagine it will not be hard for you to stop them?"
"No, but I need you to stop one of the Digidestined's partner. You see, there is this one particular Digimon on the side of the Digidestined who I think is more of your line of expertise when it comes to battle."
"Oh. Who is he?"
"It isn't a he… it's a she."
"This begins to sound a lot more interesting."
"I thought you will see it my way," Mephistomon said silkily, as the other Digimon's profile was made apparent. "You two are very much alike. One from the light and the other is from the shadows. One is yang to the other's yin. One is day and the other is night. One is warm and the other is cold. One is antidote to the other's poison. One is Taomon, and the other… is you."