EPISODE 53: Early Cramming Gone Digital
"What? Kosuke-kun's mom came here and wants me to have this?"
About an hour after Kanako left, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon came home from their play date in the park, and Yun only just heard about what happened earlier. Hisako gave her the My Little Pony toy, though Yun is obviously quite surprised by what Hisako just told her. Even Lucero and the rabbits were surprised.
"Yes. She says it's to thank you for being his friend...and she wants you to take care of him," Hisako said kindly.
"Wow. What a wonderful thing she did. Yun, it seems someone else cares about you after all!" Lopmon said happily, with a cute smile glued all over her chubby little chocolate brown face.
"I guess she's way more than just a drunkard after all," Terriermon proclaimed with his little green paws on his sides.
"Terriermon! What a thing to say! Thou shan't recite such calumny!" Lucero scolded sternly, giving Terriermon an austere look that made him run behind Yun's leg. No, Lucero didn't give him the "I'm going to break you" look he gave Tsukaimon and Seiko.
"What's calumny?" Yun asked.
"I think it means malicious lies," Hisako said.
"That's a funny word, kyu," Cutemon mused.
Yun looked down at the My Little Pony toy resting contentedly in the palm of her little hand. It's true, Yun never played with My Little Pony toys, nor did she watch any of the cartoons (though on websites she visited she read that the most recent series is quite good. She wondered if it would ever come to Japan one day), read the comics, or watch the direct to DVD specials (which, she read, were supposedly very horrid, bland, dull, lifeless, and overly saccharine, reeking of crass commercialism). She never immersed herself with it, though she did like the pony in her hand, white as snow with pale rosy pink hair and sky blue eyes just like Lucero's. She was sad that the pony toy wasn't a pegasus-she prefered pegasi-but she didn't want to be ungrateful or unappreciative-which she always tried to be-so she kept it.
"Thanks, Mom," Yun muttered.
"You're welcome," Hisako said.
Yun ambled to her room, with Lucero and the rabbits following her.
"What art thou going to do with it?" Lucero asked curiously, his sky blue eyes wide and bright.
"I'm gonna put it in my little treasure box," Yun said.
"Treasure box?" Terriermon asked.
"Yep! Want to see? I'll show you," Yun said.
She looked under her bed and pulled out a bronze wooden box with a painting on the top showing a grey and white hummingbird happily flying in a forest caressed by a beautiful rosy pink, violet purple, and mandarin orange glow. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon happily hopped onto Yun's bed, overcome with curiosity and eagerness. Lucero just slid on there, without having the need to jump. Once Yun got it out, she placed it in front of them and gently pryed it open. It made a slight squeak, but nothing that would hurt Yun's ears. Lucero and the rabbits became surprised by the contents of the box. There's lots of little trinkets in here! One of the trinkets is a flat purple stone the size of a 100 yen coin with a white peace sign painted on it. Another is a little toy bird made out of white wood with it's wings painted in all the colors of the rainbow with a little red string hanging from it. Another one is the little blue egg-shaped bunny that Kosuke got her recently. Another is a little necklace featuring a pure white, long eared puppy-like creature with round blue eyes and rosy cheeks, along with a little yellow star next to it, both hanging from a little silver chain. Another is the bracelet that Aria gave her. Three of those trinkets are brooches, one in the form of a bouquet of red roses with gold stems, another a heart shape with a pale pink heart shaped stone in the middle surrounded by silver, and another a pale blue butterfly with a darker blue body. The final trinket is...a little toy Lopmon!
"Wow! They're all so pretty!" Terriermon said. Lopmon pulled out the purple stone and smiled.
"Oh! May I take a guess?" Lopmon asked cheerfully.
"Sure," Yun replied.
"Did Minako give you this?"
"Yep! In second grade!"
"I can certainly see she did," Lopmon said as she put the stone back. Terriermon pulled out the little wooden bird with the rainbow wings.
"Did Kosuke give you this?" Terriermon asked.
"Yep. In the fourth grade as a thanks for giving him a super rare Pokemon card. I had extra so I gave him the other one, and in return he gave me that little bird," Yun explained.
Lucero pulled out the necklace, which Yun saw immediately.
"Oh! That's my Cinnamon necklace! Mel-chan gave that to me in third grade for going to her birthday party once," Yun explained.
"It's...very cute," Lucero muttered with a smile as he looked at the necklace lovingly for a few seconds, then put it back.
"So...are all these things stuff that people gave you?" Terriermon asked.
"Yep!" Yun said.
"Oh!" Lopmon exclaimed, taking note of the very tiny toy version of herself. She picked it up and let it sit in her rose pink paws in between her little black fingers. She was quite surprised at how very closely it resembled herself, and how small it is! "It's me! How cute!"
Yun chuckled a bit. "If you can believe it, Rikkun gave that to me."
"Riku? He did?" Lopmon asked, curiously.
"Yeah! I remember when I was little, I got into collecting the old Digimon toys, and I really wanted a Lopmon toy, but it was so rare and I could never find it...but Rikkun said he had two and gave one to me. This happened around the time I first met him," Yun explained.
"Awww! How sweet!" Lopmon cooed.
"I know, right?" Yun said as Lopmon gently put back the little toy.
"What? You have a toy version of yourself, Lopmon? No way! I want one too!" Terriermon complained.
"It's okay. You have a toy," Yun said.
"Do I have a toy me, kyu?" Cutemon asked.
"I dunno. I'll have to check," Yun replied as she gently put the My Little Pony toy in the box, sealed the box shut, and put it back under the bed. Cutemon then noticed Yun's digivice beeping.
"Oh! Yun-chan! Your digivice is beeping, kyu!" Cutemon proclaimed.
Yun pulled out her digivice and saw that it really is beeping. Yun opened it and, to her surprise, it's a text from Kosuke!
To: Everyone
From: Kosuke
Subject: Last minute studying?
Hey everyone! Want to meet behind the school building tomorrow morning and go to the Digital World for some last minute studying?
"What? Kosuke wants us to go to the Digital World to study?" Yun yelped.
"My, what a strange idea Kosuke-dono has thought up. I wonder what he wishes to do," Lucero said.
"Well, the passage of time is different in the Digital World than here, so maybe it might not be such a bad idea, so long as we tag along, which might be rather risky. I don't want to be spotted by Nemoto and Shimizu," Lopmon explained. Terriermon hopped onto Yun's head.
"I say we do it! Maybe it'll be fun!" Terriermon said.
"Can I go, kyu?" Cutemon asked.
"Hang on! I haven't decided yet!" Yun proclaimed.
"She's right. Let's think about this first," Lucero explained calmly.
They decided to think about this by getting through the rest of the day. Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon sat in the living room to watch more of Yun's anime DVDs, Yun studied some more, had dinner, and did her homework (she had to ask for Lucero's help a few times). However, once she finished, she made her decision. She texted Kosuke back, and in a few seconds, she got a reply. Kosuke told her to meet behind the school building at 8:15 AM, since it's five minutes before school starts, and nobody goes behind the school building at that time. Lucero and the rabbits were surprised at Yun's decision, but decided to let her go through with it anyway. Yun did, however, suggest that Lucero stay in the human world in case one of Witchmon or LadyDevimon's old friends decide to kidnap him and take him away. Lucero didn't want to leave Yun, but since she was thinking about him and that Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon will be with her (plus the fact that Lopmon and Terriermon can digivolve into ultimate level), he decided to obey Yun.
The day went by quickly, and Monday came. Yun noticed that it was warmer than usual, so she decided to throw on some summer clothes. She put on a sleeveless beige shirt with two buttons and a collar, and a pair of olive green shorts. Summer is coming, after all, so she thought she should dress appropriately as well. Much to her surprise, however, only a few of the Digimon Brigade members came. Kosuke, Melody, Isao, Otoya, Patamon, Biyomon, Bearmon, and Labramon. They all got texts from the other members. Minako can't come because she doesn't like the idea but let them go anyway, and because she has a report to work on. Rena and Riku couldn't come because they're both grounded for some reason they couldn't tell them (they weren't even allowed to use a phone and didn't have time to tell them why). Aria can't come because she's too small and doesn't like breaking rules (according to her) and because the school is too far from where her school is. Hokuto has a doctor's appointment today, and Shunji's sick with the flu.
"Ouch. Looks like everybody's in hot water today," Bearmon said.
"Awww. I'm sad the rest of them can't come. It'd be so much fun if they came!" Isao said, feeling a little sad that the rest of the Digimon Brigade can't come.
Yun found Isao's presence to be an interesting topic, so she decided to bring it up. "Sorry if this sounds rude, but exactly why did you agree to come with us? I mean, you're not in our grade, and we're just going so we can find more time to study for our test today."
"I kinda figured, but you're gonna go to the Digital World, and I sure don't wanna miss that! I made sure to sneak out extra early, and I know some short cuts that'll help me get to school faster," Isao explained jauntily.
"Yes, but Bearmon will de-digivolve into Tsunomon once we leave. Won't you be late?" Yun asked.
"It'll be fine! I've done this lots of times!" Isao said.
"And won't your mom worry?"
"Nah. She thinks I went to school already. I always walk to school."
Yun didn't feel it was right to drag Isao with them despite his reasoning. Sure he has Bearmon by his side, but he's still just a kid. Kids want to go on big adventures and experience new and exciting things. She didn't want to bore him or put him in unnecessary danger. Not only that, she's not the only one who thinks so either. Otoya, Kosuke, and their Digimon looked at each other with apprehensive faces. Only Melody didn't think much of it.
"I think you should let him come with us. He did manage to get this far after all. Besides, if anything goes wrong, we'll protect him," Melody said rather insouciantly.
She sort of expected Isao to make some snarky comment like, "Hey! I don't need protecting! I can take care of myself! I want to be strong!" But Isao made no such comment, or any comment for that matter. He just looked up at one of the green leafy trees with a somewhat yearning and wistful look in his eyes. Yun looked at Melody and smiled a bit.
"Okay. You're right," Yun said. She wasn't totally disappointed. Everyone has their opinions, and sometimes, one has to listen to others. She knew this well, and made no protest against it. She looked at Isao with a kind face. "You can come with us, Isao-kun."
"Really? Yay! Thanks so much!" Isao leaped on Yun and hugged her. Yun was taken aback by Isao's unexpected gesture, but she rubbed his back anyway.
"But we won't be going on any dangerous adventures, will we?" Lopmon asked.
"No. They're just gonna study while we play around. I don't mind a little social activity much, so long as nobody's rough with me," Biyomon said, actually not sounding vain for once.
"I just hope we don't run into more branded Digimon or that master's evil minions," Patamon said. "I've had enough of them!"
"I agree. But enough lollygagging. Let's get to it!" Kosuke said as he got his digivice out.
Otoya, Melody, Yun, and Isao all followed suit. The Digimon made sure to hold onto their tamers lest they get separated as they go to the Digital World. They all pressed the door button and closed their eyes. The ground below them disappeared, and they fell in, floating through the shiny world of ones, zeroes, grid lines, and neon colors. They kept their eyes closed as they floated, even though there was really no need to do so. After what seemed to be a short while, they finally landed on solid ground. They opened their eyes and became quite surprised by what they saw.
The part of the Digital World that they landed in looked like a cross between a barren desert complete with sand and rocks, and a tropical paradise, with tall, huge palm trees with long, thick green leaves that loomed over them like a thick grey rain cloud hanging over the city. They certainly blocked away the huge digital sun shining in the sky, and provided lots of shade that seemed to go for miles. Not only that, all the palm trees were literally loaded with food! Every single fruit under the sun. Bananas, apples, grapes, cantelopes, even kumquats! But the place wasn't entirely spick and span. Some places had huge rocks on them, some had digital spots. The biggest one was the size of a pillow, and that was on one of the big rocks. Some digital spots dotted the trees like dew, while some looked like puddles on the barren orange sand.
"Wow! This place looks like it came out of a blender!" Bearmon exclaimed.
"Yeah. It looks like a cross between a vast desert and a tropical paradise!" Terriermon agreed.
"It's kinda hot here, isn't it? The sweat is going to ruin my feathers!" Biyomon moaned a little. Melody paid no attention to this at all.
"Yeah, it is rather hot, but there's lots of shade so there shouldn't be anything to worry about," Yun said.
"Oh! I recognize this place! This is Fruitful Desert!" Labramon exclaimed.
Otoya smiled and crossed her arms. "I can see where it gets it's name."
"Exactly. I remember someone telling me about this place once. A caravan of Digimon settled here many years ago, hoping to start a new life. The sand here isn't really desert sand. If you can believe it, it's actually very fertile, and it's dominantly called Odhra Sand. It's the only known sand that allows plants to grow. The trees are called Pompona(1) Trees," Labramon explained.
"That's so cool! But I thought that plants could never grow with sand. My mom says only dirt can give them the stuff they need to grow," Isao explained. Yun kneeled next to him and smiled.
"The correct term would be nutrients. Isao-kun, do you know how plants grow when put in dirt and water? It's like how we need to drink milk so our bones can be strong and we can grow taller," Yun explained.
"Yep! Mom told me that too!" Isao said.
"But here in the Digital World, things are different," Lopmon said with a smile.
"Indeed they are! I swear, I'm going to have to start writing a compare and contrast paper about the differences between the human and Digital World!" Otoya said.
"We better keep away from those digital spots over there," Melody said, pointing to the big pillow sized hole on the rock.
"Yes. Bucchiemon told us that if we fall into them, we disappear for good," Lopmon explained.
"How scary!" Isao shivered a bit, clinging to Bearmon. Patamon flew over to him and stroke his hair a bit.
"All we have to do is stay away from them, so we'll be fine as long as we're careful," Patamon told him. Isao stopped shivering and let go of Bearmon.
"Yeah. Mom is always telling me to be careful about a lot of stuff," Isao said.
Kosuke sat down on a slightly smaller, flatter rock and opened one of his books. "Let's just get to studying, shall we?"
"Yeah. I agree," Yun said as she sat down next to him and opened one of her books. Melody and Otoya followed suit, while Isao and the Digimon decided to play amongst themselves.
Well, it was mostly Terriermon, Patamon, Isao, Labramon, and Bearmon doing the playing. Lopmon, Cutemon, and Biyomon sat down under one of the big leafy trees and talked amongst themselves. The boys happily chased each other around, played hide and seek, wrestled with each other, and played pretend battle while being scrupulous to not come into contact with the big digital spots on various parts of Fruitful Desert. The older kids studied diligently and silently, staring at their books deeply, hoping that this last minute knowledge will help them pass the test. Kosuke wanted to pass this time because he failed the last one, and he did not want to fail this time. If he failed again, it would really hurt his grade, and he didn't want his grades to drop. Besides, he already knew who to blame for his slightly dropping grades. Isao and the Digimon played and the older kids studied for about what seemed to be half an hour. Unfortunately, they couldn't finish because Biyomon's feathers began ruffling on their own and the ears of both Lopmon and Cutemon perked up. Bearmon noticed this.
"What's wrong, you three?" Bearmon asked. When they saw the three Digimon looking very strange, Isao and the other Digimon stopped playing, and the older kids put their books away.
"A Digimon's here, kyu!" Cutemon proclaimed.
"I'll take a look and see where it is!" Biyomon said as she flew high into the air. Once she got to a considerable height, she used her pale blue eyes to scan the entire area around her, hoping she'll see the Digimon that stimulated her body into tensing up a bit. After some close on-looking, Biyomon saw something black hiding behind one of the palm trees, carrying what appear to be multicolored balloons.
"See anything?" Melody called out.
Biyomon didn't respond. She did, however, cover herself in flames and shoot herself at the Digimon at full speed with great force.
"Holy Blaze!"
"Be careful! Don't burn the trees!" Yun advised, but Biyomon didn't heed her warning, as she already hit the Digimon.
"OWW!" A slightly high pitched voice yelped wildly as Biyomon knocked the Digimon out and into the open. Thankfully, her flames didn't get onto the trees so nobody had to worry about a potential fire.
They did, however, manage to see the Digimon that Biyomon attacked just now. They were quite surprised. The Digimon in front of them is a small, black furred, chubby little animal Digimon with a chubby white face, big, wide green eyes, and a big tooth protruding from it's mouth. On it's head is a limp red elf hat, on it's hands are two red gloves, and on it's feet are little red booties. It has a rather thin black tail, and the insides of it's ears are pure white. In one of it's hands are a set of multi-colored balloons with weird faces drawn on them, smiling creepily. Blue, red, yellow, green, and purple. Melody looked up the Digimon's information on her red digivice.
"That's Opossumon, an armor level, vaccine attribute, beast Digimon. Her attack is Mad Ballon Bombs," Melody said as the Digimon, Opossumon, struggled to her feet. Otoya couldn't help but be charmed by the Digimon's adorable appearance.
"Awwww! She's sooo cute!" Otoya cooed sweetly.
"Umm...are you okay?" Yun asked the Digimon, ignoring Otoya's cry of cuteness.
Unfortunately, Opossumon brushed the sand off of her fur, put on an angry expression, and attacked!
"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Three of Opossumon's multi-colored balloons shot out of her hand. Lopmon and Terriermon were the first to react.
"Double Typhoon!" They combined their tornado attacks together to make one, and they managed to knock out at least two of the balloons.
"Spiral Flame!" Biyomon attacked again, only this time she used another attack to nullify the other balloon bomb. But that was just the beginning.
"Mad Balloon Bomb!" This time, five balloons were thrown at them. This time, Yun reacted quickly.
"Digishield!" Yun threw up a digishield, which managed to make the balloon bombs dissipate. Once both the balloons and the shield dissipated, Opossumon looked at them with shock. Yun approached her a bit with Lopmon and Terriermon by her side.
"Umm...hello. Are you-" Yun tried to talk to the Digimon, since she could tell she wasn't branded with a Dark Emblem, but Opossumon just wasn't having it.
"Who do you hooligans think you are, trying to steal our precious food and claim it for yourselves?" Opossumon yelled in a shrill voice.
"We're not here to steal your food! Honest! We came here by accident!" Yun replied.
"Don't think you can weasel your way out of this! I know what you're here for, and I'm not gonna let you sully our wonderful home! I demand you leave this instant! I've already called for reinforcements so you won't stand a chance!" Opossumon exclaimed angrily.
"Will you please listen? We're not-" Kosuke tried to reason with her as well, but she just wasn't having it.
"Now why should I listen to a bunch of petty thieves trying to steal our food and make us starve?" Opossumon yelled.
"CAN Digimon starve?" Otoya asked Labramon, who shook his head. Isao suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong?" Bearmon asked.
"More Digimon are here!" Isao proclaimed.
He's right. Three more Digimon appeared by Opossumon's side, all of which are much bigger than her! One of them is a creature heavily clad in gold and silver armor, with a pair of striking gold metal wings. Blue hair is protruding from it's gold and silver helmet. The second Digimon is a creature that looks like an orange haired kangaroo, with red boxing gloves, a blue and black helmet, red shoes, white stripes, and a little blue stuffed animal in it's belly pocket. The final Digimon is a giant owl, with a brown body and wings, a white head, white and yellow feet, a white metal tail, and a pair of silver goggles on it's face.
"That dragon Digimon is Maildramon, an armor level! Her attacks are Iron Press and Lightning Spear!" Yun said.
"That kangaroo Digimon is...well, Kangarumon, also an armor level. His attacks are Jumping Jab and Hop Step Punch," Otoya said.
"That owl Digimon is Owlmon, another armor level. His attacks are Midnight Sniper and Infared Eye," Kosuke said.
"Opossumon, are you sure these are the thieves? They don't look as though they can do much," Maildramon said in a lady-like voice, sounding very doubtful about the kids.
"Sure I'm sure! They're the thieves! I know it! We must stop them at all costs!" Opossumon yelled, not happy with Maildramon's reaction.
"We don't tolerate unwelcome trespassers!" Kangarumon exclaimed confidently, displaying some jabs with his big red boxing gloves.
"We suggest you leave this place at once!" Owlmon said.
Yun held onto one of Melody's arms. "Let's go somewhere else."
"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon threw some more balloons at them.
"Boom Bubble!"
"Echoing Bark!"
"Karate Fist!"
Patamon, Labramon, and Bearmon negated the attacks this time.
"Please! Listen! We mean you no harm! We have not come to steal your food!" Labramon importuned.
"Don't think I'm gonna listen to that poppycock!" Opossumon said.
"Opossumon! Calm down! Shouldn't we listen to what they have to say first?" Maildramon advised kindly, but Opossumon just wasn't listening at all.
"Why should we listen to a bunch of no-good thieves and bandits? We have to fight to keep our stock safe! If you won't agree with me, then fine! I'll do it myself!" Opossumon said.
"If you want a fight, then fine!" Melody said as she got her digivice out.
"No! Please! Don't fight! We didn't come here to fight them!" Yun importuned loudly.
"Yun! These guys won't listen to a thing we say! We have to fight them!" Melody told her.
"No we don't! If we fight them, we'll just make everything worse! Let's not make a scene!" Yun exclaimed.
"She is right. Nothing good will come out of fighting them. They're only trying to protect their home, and we can't get in the way of that," Lopmon told them.
"Infared Eye!"
"Mad Balloon Bomb!"
Both Owlmon and Opossumon attacked.
"Holy Blaze!"
"Holy Wing!"
Both Biyomon and Patamon stopped the attacks from hitting the kids.
"Opossumon. Calm down right this minute! Let's be civil here!" Maildramon advised, but Opossumon hit her in the face (though she didn't seem to feel it) and proceeded to get into a big brouhaha with Biyomon.
"We're not thieves! Why do you have to be so vulgar and uncivil?" Biyomon yelled.
"It's you who's vulgar and uncivil! Leave this place at once!" Opossumon yelled back.
Biyomon pecked at Opossumon incessantly while Opossumon proceeded to try and rip out Biyomon's feathers, which set her off greatly. Yun, Lopmon, Otoya, and Labramon have finally had enough.
"Stop! Stop fighting right now!" Otoya and Labramon pulled on Opossumon while Yun and Lopmon tried to pry Biyomon off of Opossumon despite the fact that Biyomon is still a level lower than the cute and cuddly possum Digimon.
"Jumping Jab!"
"Karate Fist!"
All of a sudden, Bearmon and Kangarumon engaged in battle. Fists flew at each other in flurries. Soon, an all out brouhaha exploded...well, only for just a second.
"Wool Grenade!"
Out of nowhere, two torpedos hit some open areas between the kids and Digimon, leaving them flying all over the place. Once the dust faded away, the kids and Digimon got up and saw another Digimon looking at them with a very austere and disappointed expression. The Digimon is...a sheep! A black sheep covered with soft, fluffy, cotton candy pink wool with yellow eyes, big red ram horns, and a set of silver guns on the top of it's back. Yun looked up the Digimon's information on her digivice.
"That's Sheepmon, an armor level. Her attacks are Wool Grenade and Silence of Rams," Yun said. The austere Sheepmon walked over to them and shook her head.
"What is wrong with you all today? Look at you! You're all acting like a bunch of brainless hooligans fighting over children's toys! Don't you know that's a very uncivil way to welcome weary travelers who have traveled afar?" Sheepmon explained in a high but very dignified voice. Owlmon, Kangarumon, and Opossumon all stood up with alarm.
"Sheepmon! Are you blind? These are the thieves that have been stealing all of our food!" Opossumon yelled.
"We were just trying to stop them from stealing any more!" Owlmon backed her up.
Sheepmon sighed. "Have you all forgotten? These creatures here are humans, and humans are not the thieves."
"Humans?" Kangarumon asked curiously, sounding confused.
"Yes! Haven't you heard the legends? Humans have created us and given us life! Is this really how you repay your creators?" Sheepmon told them sternly. "Besides, the Bakemon are the ones stealing our food."
"Oh great, more back talk again! How do you know Bakemon have been stealing our food? You have no proof!" Kangarumon exclaimed.
"I saw them with my own eyes, and I even tried attacking them, but they're immune to physical attacks," Sheepmon said. "But more importantly, stop all of this ridiculous fighting at once! I can see that these humans don't mean us any harm. Come now, can't you be sensible enough to at least listen to them?"
"She's right. You were wrong to act so childishly," Maildramon said.
Otoya sighed. 'At least someone understands,' She thought to herself. Unfortunately, Opossumon exploded.
"Why do you two have to be so difficult? You know what? Fine! I'm not listening to you anymore!" Opossumon yelled.
"No! Wait!" Sheepmon tried to stop Opossumon from attacking again, but she was too late.
"Mad Balloon Bomb!"
"Terrier Tornado!" This time, Terriermon flew himself through not just the bombs, but at Opossumon as well, and actually managed to hit her with great force!
But Melody gasped when she saw the direction in which Opossumon was heading.
Right toward the big rock with the pillow sized digital spot.
If Opossumon fell into it...
"WAIT!" Melody decided to take action and ran full speed toward the unconscious Opossumon. Melody sprinted with all her might, and once she got close enough, she extended her long arms as Opossumon flew against them. Once Opossumon was in her arms, Melody clutched her tightly and closed her eyes. Melody realized too late that she made a mistake. Now that she's grabbed Opossumon, she tripped, and was about to fall into the digital spot with her.
"MEL!" Yun yelled, but it was too late to try and grab her...for Yun, that is. Someone else did it for her. Melody and Opossumon both fell on something hard. It was cold yet smooth. They cautiously woke up to find themselves on Maildramon's face! Melody and Opossumon both regained their equanimity and removed themselves from Maildramon's face. Everyone watched with awe as both Melody and Maildramon performed very valiant, altruistic, and chivalrous deeds! Even Opossumon realized it: Melody saved her despite the fact that Opossumon had assaulted them so mercilessly just minutes before! Melody got up and let Opossumon go, but not before giving her a good scolding.
"You've gotta be more careful! If you fall into one of those digital spots, you won't make it out alive!" Melody scolded. Opossumon shed all of her feelings of anger and hatred and finally lost the need to attack them.
"You...saved me," Opossumon muttered.
Melody then turned to Maildramon. "And you saved me."
"I just happened to be there, that's all," Maildramon told them.
"Wow! That was quite a move you made there, Mel!" Kosuke said with his arms crossed.
"Did you see that? That human saved Opossumon!" Owlmon said, pointing one of his wings at Melody and Maildramon.
"Perhaps...they're not the thieves after all," Kangarumon said, feeling remorseful for his own actions earlier. Sheepmon smiled and walked to the kids.
"You all must be very tired. Would you like to come to our home. We'll throw a wonderful feast for you as thanks for saving one of our own," Sheepmon told them with a smile. Otoya couldn't help but hug Sheepmon.
"You're sooooo cute, and we'd love to be there!" Otoya cooed happily as she squeezed Sheepmon. Sheepmon is a bit bigger than her, so she didn't feel as though she were being suffocated. She didn't mind. She could feel Otoya's love in her warm arms.
The four Digimon escorted the Digimon Brigade to the main part of Fruitful Desert, which is full of fruit-filled Pompona Trees, other Digimon, and HUGE houses made entirely of rocks! The four Digimon took them to the biggest one. The inside didn't look like much. It was just full of rocks made to resemble chairs, tables, and beds, with a few merchandise embellishing them here and there. Some fiery Digimon and candle Digimon lit up the place. Yun looked up their information and found them to be called DemiMeramon and Candlemon. A friendly bunch they are. They roasted some of the food and left others alone for everyone to eat. Some in-training level Digimon, namely Tokomons, Nyaromons, and little blue and white Digimon played around happily. The blue one is called DemiVeemon, Otoya found out. One of them began playing with Terriermon happily. Opossumon flew over to the kids and bowed before them deeply. So did Kangarumon and Owlmon.
"We're so sorry! We're so deeply sorry for the transgressions we committed! Please forgive us!" Opossumon wailed.
"It's okay. You were trying to protect your home. We totally understand," Yun told them kindly.
"We did have good reason for being so volatile. Lately some scoundrels have been stealing our food over the past month or so. After our home got destroyed, we strived to regain what we lost, and we finally did. It pains us that others wish to deprive us of our most valuable stock. We only wanted to make sure nobody stole anything this time. We just got sick and tired of it," Owlmon explained sadly.
"But even though we were trying to protect our village, it doesn't justify what we did to you. We should have listened to you, and for that, we are truly sorry," Kangarumon said.
"Yeah! You SHOULD have listened!" Melody snapped.
"Mel! Zip it!" Yun scolded. Melody crossed her arms and pouted a bit.
"It's fine. We kinda dealt with similar situations like this before, so it's no biggie. Besides, it's natural for someone to want to protect their beloved home. If someone was stealing my stuff, I would have done the same thing," Otoya explained.
"And I would have protected you just as much as they tried to do," Labramon said.
"Exactly...why did you come here, anyhow?" Owlmon asked.
"Well, since the passage of time in this world is different from ours, we kinda thought we'd come here and study for our test today before we take it. It was kind of a last minute thing, and we thought going to the Digital World would be perfect, since not a minute passes in the real world when we're in the Digital World," Kosuke said.
"Is the real world really that different from ours?" Opossumon asked curiously.
"Not totally different," Terriermon said as the little DemiVeemon hopped on one of his long ears and played around with it happily.
"Everyone! The feast is ready!" A Digimon called out and everyone chowed down.
Melody had a few pieces of shish-ka-bob before she saw Opossumon looking at her with sad eyes.
"What?" Melody asked rather gruffly.
"Umm..." Opossumon muttered timidly, but steeled up the mettle to finish what she had to say. "I...I want to thank you for...saving me earlier...and I'm sorry for what I did. I should have let you tell your side of the story."
"Yeah! You should have!" Biyomon piped in.
"Biyomon. Zip it," Melody said.
"But she attacked us!" Biyomon complained.
"For a good reason, yes. Now zip it and eat," Melody handed her a shish-ka-bob and kept her quiet. Opossumon wasn't offended this time. Opossumon did, however, notice the silver bracelet on one of Melody's wrists.
"That's a pretty bracelet you have. I don't think I've seen anything like it," Opossumon said. Melody looked down at her silver bracelet gruffly.
"This? Yun gave it to me," Melody said. Maildramon sat next to Biyomon.
"My, that's quite a hair style you have," Maildramon said. Melody twiddled pieces of her red hair between her fingers.
"I kinda like it," Melody muttered.
"Me too. It suits you!" Biyomon piped in this time, without making another snide comment.
"Exactly...why did you save me?" Opossumon asked.
"I just don't like it when Digimon are about to fall into those holes. They'll die if they go into those, and Yun would have a fit if she saw you fall in," Melody explained.
"Even so, that was very noble of you despite what we've done," Maildramon said kindly.
Otoya sat in between Sheepmon and Owlmon, with Labramon on her lap. Sheepmon noticed a little gold cross necklace around Otoya's neck, along with her blue D-Heart of Faith.
"What's that gold thing on your neck?" Sheepmon asked.
"Yes. Care to tell us?" Owlmon asked.
"Oh? This? It's my cross necklace. My dad makes me wear it a lot. He says it'll be useful, but I don't see how," Otoya explained.
"It looks stunning," Sheepmon said.
"It certainly does," Kangarumon said. He sat next to Owlmon.
Once the feast was finished, everyone went about their own way. Yun and Kosuke decided to sit down and study amongst themselves, Isao and the Digimon played, Melody hung out with Opossumon and Maildramon, who grew to like her, and Otoya and Labramon hung out with Sheepmon, Owlmon, and Kangarumon.
"You say your father is the pastor of a church? What's a church?" Sheepmon asked.
"A church is a place where people go to meet and worship God together, though I don't know if God exists or not," Otoya explained.
"Is this God a being higher than even you humans?" Kangarumon asked.
"Possibly," Otoya said, her face getting a little red.
"My! How very interesting! I had no idea there was a being even higher than the humans!" Owlmon exclaimed.
"I'm also surprised you're able to partner with Digimon so strongly," Sheepmon said.
"I'm quite happy to be Otoya's partner, just so you all know. She is a wonderful girl, and I love her very much. That is why I vow to protect her and stay by her side, even if it costs me my life," Labramon said.
"I-I'm not wonderful at all! No way!" Otoya exclaimed modestly.
"Why do you deny it? It's true," Labramon asked curiously.
"No it's not!" Otoya argued. Kangarumon and Owlmon laughed a little.
"Why do you two laugh?" Labramon asked sternly.
"Yes! It's not nice to laugh at others!" Sheepmon scolded again.
"Sorry. It's just...the two of you really do get along," Owlmon said.
"Yes. You two are practically made for each other," Kangarumon said.
"Well...I do love Labramon. He's one of the best things that ever happened to me," Otoya said as she stroke Labramon's head gently, which made him smile a bit.
"One? What do you mean by one?" Sheepmon asked.
"Well, Labramon's not the only best thing that ever happened to me. Everyone in the Digimon Brigade makes me happy, and I'm happy to have them all for friends," Otoya explained.
"It is true," Labramon piped in.
"Exactly why is that?" Kangarumon asked.
"W-Well, you see-"
Otoya felt a little embarrassed about telling some Digimon about her past, but thankfully, the opportunity to do so was interrupted and taken away from her...but not in the best context or way possible.
"STOP! THIEVES!"
A Digimon yelled angrily, which prompted everyone to run outside in alarm. Some citizens of Fruitful Desert are fighting off a gaggle of ghost Digimon!
"Those are Bakemon, champion levels! Their special attacks are Zombie Claw and Poison Breath!" Isao said as he read the information from their digivices.
The group of Bakemon prepared to attack.
"Poison Breath!" All eight of them spewed ugly black liquid from their mouths, and the Digimon stepped in to help.
"Lightning Spear!" A lightning bolt shot out of Maildramon's head.
"Mad Balloon Bomb!" Opossumon threw some more balloons at them.
"Freezing Snow!"
"Boom Bubble!"
"Spiral Flame!"
"Ultrasonic Wave!"
Although they attacked as hard as they could, the Bakemon weren't entirely affected. They did, however, manage to frighten them enough to make them drop their food. Kangarumon, Owlmon, and Otoya took the honor of giving the food back to the Digimon.
"Did you silly little ghosts really think you could get away with our precious stock so easily?" Kangarumon yelped angrily. The group of Bakemon cackled with laughter. Otoya got her digivice out.
"I think it's time to digivolve!" Otoya said, but Sheepmon got in front of her.
"Wait! I think you should let us handle this," Sheepmon told her.
"But why? You said they're immune to physical attacks, and we can't just sit here and watch!" Otoya reasoned, becoming quite worried.
"She is right. Let us help you," Labramon told her.
"I'd love for you to help, but we've caused you enough trouble already. Consider this our apology for giving you such a hard time earlier," Sheepmon said.
But regardless, Melody and Isao both yanked out their digivices. "No way are we just gonna sit back and watch! We're here now, so we might as well help you fight off these ghosts!" Melody exclaimed.
"I agree! I don't like it when other Digimon are fighting and we can't help! You ready for some ghost busting, Bearmon?" Isao exclaimed.
"I'm ready!" Bearmon yelped.
"I'll fight too!" Terriermon piped in, although Yun was quite reluctant to let him fight.
Sheepmon sighed as the other Digimon marched into battle. Labramon came first, and digivolved into Seasarmon, Biyomon to Birdramon, Patamon to Angemon, and Bearmon to Grizzlymon. Only Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon stayed in their rookie forms. Yun wanted to obey Sheepmon's orders, but she also didn't want to sit and do nothing while the others fight them off. The three rookies decided to fight, though they also decided to not digivolve since they felt the rest of Digimon, both the citizens of the village and the Digimon Brigade's, were enough. The kids decided to get their digilassos out and try to lasso some Bakemon. Otoya managed to lasso three.
"I got some!" Otoya called out and gestured Seasarmon to attack.
"Tee Dia!" Arrows of light hit the three Bakemon and turned them into data. But they noticed too late that three other Bakemon were about to attack.
"Infared Eye!"
"Hop Step Punch!"
Owlmon and Kangarumon literally hopped in (or, in Owlmon's case, flew) and kept the Bakemon away from Otoya and Seasarmon, even though their attacks weren't enough to really kill them, especially not Kangarumon's. Seasarmon helped them out and with another Tee Dia, turned the other Bakemon into data.
"Thanks for your help," Seasarmon told them kindly.
"Consider it payment for treatin' you so bad earlier," Kangarumon said.
"Meteor Wing!"
"Hand of Fate!"
"Crescent Dawn!"
"Lightning Spear!"
"Mad Balloon Bomb!"
Birdramon, Angemon, Grizzlymon, Maildramon, Opossumon, and various other Digimon managed to take down a good number of Bakemon. Melody tried to lasso one of them, but it got out and nearly tried to strangle her.
"Mel!" Opossumon stepped in fast, and threw some balloons at it, which frightened it enough to let go of Melody.
"Mad Balloon Bomb!" With a few more balloons popping and exploding, the Bakemon turned into data. Melody smiled a bit and wiped some dirt off of her face.
"Thanks," Melody said.
"Now we're even!" Opossumon told her with a smile and a flash of the peace sign. Yun managed to lasso a Bakemon, though she had a hard time forcing it to sit still. Thankfully, Lopmon and Terriermon all had the upper hand.
"Freezing Snow!"
"Blazing Fire!"
Their attacks turned the lone Bakemon into data, and Yun breathed a sigh of relief.
"Jeez! Don't these things ever take a break?" Yun moaned a little.
"Probably not, but let's keep fighting! Who knows what kinds of trouble they're gonna cause next!" Terriermon explained. Yun nodded at him and ran back to the brouhaha.
Both the Digimon Brigade and the citizens of Fruitful Desert fought with the growing number of Bakemon with all their might. The Bakemon themselves were quite difficult, not allowing both the kids and Digimon proper control of them, but the citizens managed to gain the upper hand and subdue a voluminous amount of them. Maildramon saved Melody from a Bakemon trying to attack her from behind, and Sheepmon saved Otoya from being dragged away by one while she took the honor of destroying it with her digisword.
"Poison Breath!"
"Digishield!" Otoya threw up a digishield and protected some of the smaller Digimon from a Bakemon's attack.
"Are we done yet?" Birdramon complained.
"Almost! There's just a few more to go! Just hold out until then!" Grizzlymon advised.
"Awww, come on! I'm sick of ghost busting!" Birdramon whined, but knocked out a Bakemon trying to bite her leg.
"Wow. This really does feel like GhostBusters," Angemon said.
"Can we not make any worthless references to ghost related cartoons, please?" Kosuke yelped.
"Get away, evil ghosties!" Isao yelled as he sliced at some Bakemon with his digisword, though not very well. Grizzlymon came and helped him out a little.
"Crescent Dawn!" Grizzlymon defeated the Bakemon that were giving Isao a hard time. Isao smiled at Grizzlymon greatly.
"Thanks Grizzlymon! You're awesome!" Isao exclaimed. Grizzlymon smiled back.
"Don't mention it," Grizzlymon said.
"Ultrasonic Wave!" Cutemon, with her high pitched howl, managed to defeat more Bakemon and blast out their ear drums, even though technically they didn't have ears.
It took them a while, but once the last Bakemon was finally defeated, the Digimon Brigade sighed with relief, and the citizens of Fruitful Desert rejoiced in their victory. Only Bearmon de-digivolved immediately after the battle.
"Hurrah! Three cheers for the Digimon Brigade for aiding us in stopping an act of larceny on our home!" Owlmon cheered.
"Hurrah!"
"Oh!" Otoya suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong, Otoya?" Seasarmon asked.
"Look! They're glowing!"
Otoya is right. Five Digimon are glowing! Maildramon's top horn glowed in a yellow light, the tip of Opossumon's hat glowed in a silver light, Kangarumon's helm glowed in a pale brown light, one of Owlmon's wings glowed in a dark brown light, and Sheepmon's horns glowed in a pale cotton candy pink light. Soon, all the lights floated away from them. Three of them landed in Otoya's hands, and two of them settled contentedly into Melody's hands. In Melody's hands are two gem stones. A gold Omega sign, and a silver balloon shape. In Otoya's hands are three gem stones. A pink lamb with thick wool, a brown kangaroo, and a dark brown owl. Birdramon saw the gem stones despite her large size and was ecstatic.
"Hey! Mel! You know those D-Chips Yun was talking about? I think you just got some!" Birdramon said.
"Hey! You're right!" Melody exclaimed.
"So...are we your partners or something?" Maildramon asked as she and Opossumon both approached her.
"You're both my secondary partners now, so it seems," Melody said, smiling a little. Otoya cheered and jumped all over the place like a happy Elvis fan girl.
"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Otoya squealed happily as she hugged Kangarumon, Owlmon, and Sheepmon. "You three are my secondary partners! Woohoo! I'm so happy!"
"So...should we be happy about this?" Owlmon asked cautiously. Sheepmon smiled.
"I think we should!" Sheepmon said.
Both the Digimon Brigade and the citizens of Fruitful Desert celebrated, though it must be confessed that Yun covered her ears with her hands and was rather intimidated by the noise. Cutemon mollified her gently, and the lop-eared rabbit twins were going to celebrate too...if it wasn't for Terriermon's ears perking up suddenly and the fact that a strange, eerie, and ominous feeling zipped right through his body as though he had been zapped by lightning. He turned around suddenly and saw a strange, red, intimidating creature shoot a red beam of light at him.
"Boogey Beam!"
Thankfully, Terriermon reacted quickly. "Blazing Fire!"
Both attacks collided and dissipated upon contact, which caught the attention of everyone else. Once the cloud of dust dissipated, out came a very frightening Digimon. He's red, with red and purple bat wings, has evil yellow eyes, has black markings all over his body, and in his left hand is a coal black, tri-pointed pitch fork. Small horns protruded from his head. A wicked smile was painted on his face.
"You meddlesome brats managed to defeat my army of Bakemon? Hm, very interesting," The red, imp-like Digimon cackled with the smile on his face. The citizens of Fruitful Desert backed away in fear while the Digimon Brigade's faces turned to anger.
"You tried to attack us just now, didn't you?" Yun yelped angrily.
"Hm. Yes I did. So?" The red Digimon replied insouciantly.
"Who are you?" Terriermon asked.
"Ah! I just LOVE introducing myself, you see! Since you asked politely, I'll tell you. I am known as Boogeymon, and it's very nice to meet you...if this were in a nice setting, that is," The red Digimon, Boogeymon, exclaimed happily.
"Boogeymon?" Both Kosuke and Otoya looked at each other with confused faces.
"As in...the boogey man?" Isao asked Bearmon.
"Wow. That's just stupid," Angemon said.
All of a sudden, both Melody and Birdramon exploded into a paroxysm of laughter, leaving everyone, even Boogeymon, looking quite confused.
"Bwahahahaha! Oh! This is too good! Boogeymon? My God, that's the stupidest name for a Digimon I've ever heard!" Melody laughed heartily and loudly.
"Tell me about it! Oh, my ribs! Do I even have ribs? Ha ha ha!" Birdramon laughed.
Boogeymon exploded into a paroxysm of anger. "SILENCE! I don't know WHERE this boogey man business came from, but I will not have you insult me with such calumny!"
His pitch fork glowed in a bloody red light, and he threw it like a baseball bat hitting a ball. The light shot out from his pitch fork straight for Fruitful Desert. "Dimensional Warp!"
Yun, Isao, and their Digimon saw this and ran toward it.
"NO!" All five of them got hit by the attack. All of a sudden, everything turned black. They could hear screaming, but it faded away. They had no idea what happened to them.
Footnotes:
1. Pompona is the Roman goddess of plenty and fruitful abundance. Her name comes from the Latin word, pomum, which means fruit, and which refers to orchard fruit.
