Chapter 50
Bastion Village
Izzy was returning from school, mentally exhausted coupling his studies with research into Chronodata. He wiped his brow and prepared to remove his bag and heavy school uniform jacket.
'Mom! I'm home...'
He was surprised as he opened the door to see Yoshie using sewing materials on large stiff leaves, with Tentomon watching her with fascination.
'Uh... Mom? What are you doing?'
Yoshie smiled sweetly. 'Oh, I was just working on something Tentomon calls a "leaf door" - it's something he found while on vacation, but couldn't afford it. When he mentioned it to me, it does seem pretty silly to charge so much for something so simple...'
Izzy raised an eyebrow. 'So... what? You're making one? Do you have any idea what it looks like?'
Tentomon raised his head to glance up at Izzy. 'She's been going by my descriptions... and it looks so accurate so far! Yoshie's amazing, Izzy...'
Izzy couldn't help but grin uncomfortably, but shrugged. 'All right, as long as your helping, Tentomon.'
Yoshie glanced at him briefly. 'You look more relaxed than usual, Izzy. How's your study going, by the way?'
'Well, Mom, it seems I'm finally on top of all my work now... I've finished all but the study for my finals exams, and they're not for a month...'
'How'd you manage that?'
'Well, maybe my enthusiasm to finish research on Chronodata just allowed me to get it out of the way...'
Yoshie smiled encouragingly. 'Oh, well good for you. Maybe you'll have some time to get out with Tentomon soon?'
'Maybe... I would like to, if that's okay with you Tentomon.'
Tentomon nodded vigorously. 'Of course! It's been a while since I've hung around with... uh...sensible people...'
Izzy chuckled to himself. 'I'm guessing you found some trouble on vacation?'
'You have no idea, Izzy.' He paused, and suddenly frowned nervously. 'But it was still worth it! Way worth it! I... uh... thank you for letting us go, Izzy!'
Izzy smiled. 'Relax, Tentomon... you guys deserved it... after all, when's the last time the digimon had a break? You do all the fighting.'
'Tentomon?' Yoshie spoke up suddenly. 'How would you suggest I attach the ceiling panels? They're made of the stems...'
Izzy managed to break away and get into his room, eagerly anticipating any new developments from Ken or Gennai. As his laptop booted up, he was momentarily elated to see a message from Gennai... but it wasn't about Chronodata. It was another voice message; thankfully with his normal robe on.
'Izzy...something has come to my attention, and it may be related to Alphamon. Do you remember the Knightmon your group first fought, in your recollection to me? It seems that similar digimon have been sighted along the borders of the northern quadrant; Ebonwumon's realm. He isn't very concerned, due to the scarcity of any real reports, but I have my suspicions that they serve Alphamon. That Ebonwumon is a tad absent minded, if you ask me. Whatever they're doing, it can't be good. If you have time, I'd like you to follow up with some reports; see if you can figure out what they're doing. Ideally, capturing one of the Knightmon and interrogating them would help us gauge what Alphamon's motivation is. But... from your descriptions of them previously, they may be completely unresponsive... in that case, there's nothing to do but trace their movements, and if there's any sign of them threatening the digimon, you'll have to find them and destroy them.
I know this may sound daunting... but we do have a lead. I believe you know of him... Matt and Sora met him while I was on vacation. I would go to Baromon first, then the leader of the village... I would get Matt or Sora to go with you, along with your partners. Being discreet here is important so as to avoid alerting the Knightmon to your intervention. It's called Bastion Village - and Coredramon is its leader. He's not the friendliest digimon around, but he is concerned about the Knightmon just as I am. Good luck. And tell Baromon I haven't gotten a Christmas card in a while.'
Izzy stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds.
'Aw, come on! I was just about to... well... research...'
After his exclamation, he heard scraping noises at the door.
'Izzy? Izzy! Is everything okay in there...? Yoshie's nearly finished, so... do you want to come look?'
Izzy opened the door and grimaced down at Tentomon. 'Well, it looks like we'll be going together earlier than I thought, Tentomon.'
Tentomon scratched his head with a claw. 'What are you talking about, Izzy?'
'I'll explain when we've got Matt or Sora... we'll need their help... especially if we're dealing with vaccine types.'
He sat down immediately and sent messages through his web chat program, and sighed with relief when he saw both Sora and Matt were available. After calling them both, they answered after a few seconds.
'Izzy?' Sora sounded surprised. 'What's up?'
'I'd have thought you'd be doing stuff on the Chronodata, given how relieved you were in handing in that report on programming...'
'I know, Matt, but... Gennai sent me a message. It's not exactly urgent, but it's of concern, since it might have something to do with Alphamon.'
He heard Biyomon's voice sound worriedly. 'Has he been sighted? Do we need to... fight him?'
'No, Biyomon. Do you remember those Knightmon, those in that YMIR lab? More have been sighted, though not in large numbers, and reports seem to vary widely.'
'So... what?' Matt asked uncertainly. 'What are we supposed to do about it? In case you hadn't noticed, Izzy, we're not completely free to just go exploring the digital world whenever we want... not until the holidays, and even then only for a day or two at a time.'
'Hopefully, that's all the time we'll need.'
Sora sighed lightly. 'All right, so... what's your plan, Izzy?'
'Well... I'd say tomorrow, we go to this Bastion Village, and see what Baromon and Coredramon have to say about these Knightmon. I can then scan for Knightmon using the data on them from the database we have so far...'
'Uh... Izzy?' Tentomon spoke up. 'There's a problem... those Knightmon were different from normal ones, as they seemed to be clones or something. They also might have been upgraded since we last saw them... not to mention any possible Chronodata Alphamon could imbue into them.'
Izzy groaned. 'Well... you're right Tentomon, but even a partial data match will be enough to pick up something... granted, if the data was identical, this would be much easier, but we have to try this, at least. If we could capture a Knightmon or its data, future scanning would be much easier. I'm guessing that's why all these "reports" of Knightmon are so inconclusive, given the intelligence available.'
'I guess that's fine.' Biyomon stated with slight anticipation. 'Maybe we can see if that Falcomon is doing alright in there. It's been a while.'
After assembling together in Digital City square the next morning, Izzy was quick to share the Knightmon's data between Matt and Sora's digivices. As he was doing so, Sora began to fidget restlessly, and Biyomon also looked concerned.
'What's the matter with you two?' Tentomon asked.
Sora grimaced nervously. 'I dunno, Tentomon. It just feels weird... shouldn't we have told Tai about this? I know they're busy, but...'
Izzy snorted derisively. 'Have you been to Tai's house recently? He's actually doing schoolwork. That should tell you something.'
'Agumon, too?' Sora spoke up incredulously.
Gabumon sighed morbidly. 'Well... to be honest, I didn't have the heart to say anything. He seems really stressed lately... I've asked to hang out at Yuji's a few times too, even with Guilmon sometimes, but he keeps saying he "needs to focus". I've asked Guilmon what he's talking about, but he has no idea.'
Matt chuckled lightly. 'As usual, I guess.'
Izzy grinned encouragingly. 'Besides, this way we stand the best chance of finding any information at all. Since MegaKabuterimon's a Vaccine type... having you two, Gabumon, Biyomon - maximises our effectiveness against these Knightmon.'
Tentomon scratched his head in confusion. 'Aren't Knightmon Data types?'
Izzy shook his head. 'Not these ones... these minions of Alphamon are Vaccine type, just like him. I'm also assuming they've been upgraded since we last saw them...'
Tentomon nodded, then looked towards Matt and Gabumon expectantly. 'So... where's Calumon? He could help me digivolve.'
Matt and Gabumon glanced toward each other. 'Well...' Gabumon began. 'We didn't think it would be a good idea, since we might not even fight anything, not to mention Calumon would easily break our cover if we were following Knightmon.'
Tentomon sighed with disappointment. 'I suppose you're right...'
Biyomon glanced towards the travel terminal propped up against a nearby wall, flashing with few blinking lights leading to numerous destinations. 'Shall we go?'
Lopmon and Terriermon's training with Veemon and Gatomon had been progressing smoothly for a few days now, and Lopmon had gotten used to the company of Veemon and Gatomon. However, the past two times after training, he had followed Veemon and Gatomon despite them expressing the desire to be alone. Willis, Terriermon and Lopmon were surprised one day when Patamon and TK showed up instead of Veemon and Davis.
Upon arriving at the usual time after school at Transparent Lake, Terriermon greeted Patamon enthusiastically, while Lopmon folded his arms thoughtfully.
'TK?' Willis blinked in surprise. 'Did you want to help with training this time?'
TK nodded. 'Yes... Davis actually kept me in the loop. He actually said you were ready to move on to something else before trying to get to ultimate.'
'Hey!' Lopmon protested indignantly. 'I can already get to ultimate!'
'Really?' Gatomon inquired slyly. 'For how long? And was it even in battle?'
Lopmon grimaced uncomfortably, while Willis stepped forward defensively.
'It was... an accident, really.' He sighed shortly before continuing. 'We were just going for a little exploring, as Lopmon wanted to find a place called Tranquil Glade, or something... and we ended up getting ambushed along the way.'
'Hang on...' Kari interrupted politely. 'We've been to Tranquil Glade before. Were you ambushed by a Lotosmon by any chance?'
Willis blinked in confusion, before nodding slowly. 'Well... that sounds like it would have been her name...'
Lopmon shivered a little in fear. 'She was scary... but she only launched one attack before she just... disappeared. I was able to carry Willis away quickly as Antylamon, but I haven't been able to get to that form since.'
TK cleared his throat. 'So... back on topic. Patamon and Gatomon have some ability in using healing powers... we were hoping we'd be able to teach Lopmon the same things, unless he knows them already. Does he?'
Lopmon smiled smugly. 'Well, I can treat little cuts and bruises already, especially those Willis gets from sharp thorns and branches when we go on bushwalks.'
'Really?' Patamon landed closer to Lopmon to examine his hands. 'How 'bout you show us something?'
Lopmon nodded and brought his paws together and closed his eyes. After waiting a moment, a small turquoise glow began to form between them, and Gatomon and Patamon smiled with approval.
'That's the way!'
Willis frowned thoughtfully. 'So how are we going to train this? It's not like we can just practice healing without seeing its effects on actual injuries. And we can't ask people to keep hurting themselves.'
Kari nodded in agreement. 'Not to mention the actual purpose of this healing is to prevent someone from dying...'
'Come to think of it...' TK began. 'When exactly did Gatomon and Patamon learn how to use healing powers?'
Gatomon glanced between them. 'We didn't actually try it until Veemon was wounded... we just tried to use the power of our crests. After all, they could seal away dark portals. I guess we discovered our healing powers without realising it.'
Patamon instinctively tried the same thing as Lopmon, and after a moment, a golden light began to shimmer in between his paws. Gatomon tried the same, and a bright pink light appeared between her thick paws as well.
TK smiled shortly. 'So how can we train this ability?'
'Simple.' Kari stated. 'We get them to try and heal each other's injuries after they train by fighting one another.'
Terriermon looked unsure as he raised a hand. 'That means I'll have nothing to do afterwards... I can't heal. I'm pretty sure I never could.'
Lopmon simply shrugged dismissively. 'So are these guys. Well, you can always watch.'
'Speaking of which...' Willis wondered out loud. 'I have been getting kind of restless just watching them train now. I don't mind Lopmon training now, because despite getting a little beaten up, he seems happier for some reason.'
Lopmon nodded enthusiastically. 'Sometimes, you need to have a goal to focus on. Otherwise I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly.'
Willis studied him proudly, before glancing around with his digivice in hand.
'Should we get started?'
TK nodded. 'Right.'
Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!
Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!
Lopmon digivolve to... Wendigomon!
After a slight pause, Wendigomon turned to face Angemon and braced himself. 'I hope you've improved since we last met, Patamon. After all, all you did last time was turn into a big Archangel... kinda weird that you didn't do anything after that.'
Matt, Izzy, Sora and their partners arrived outside the entrance of the village to come face to face with a large wall of digital chrome panels where the entrance used to be, looking like enormous digital chips, coloured with bright blue circuits and yellow metal. Matt and Gabumon turned around to look at the lush grass plains, which seemed undisturbed, without any signs of invading Knightmon. To the north, however, were sights of tall, spiky mountains that were clouded by a strange purple shroud that was so thick that they couldn't see the snow that was apparently coating the peaks. The large hill that the village was resting against cast a slight shadow over them as they walked up to the entrance uncertainly.
'Excuse me?' Sora spoke up loudly. 'We're investigating the Knightmon sightings! Coredramon should be expecting us.'
After a few seconds, a large masked head poked over the right side of the wall, presumably from a battlement behind the wall. Baromon's face lit up when he spotted them.
'Hello, friends! It is good to see you again! Along with the red-headed newcomer and his Tentomon partner. Come in, come in!'
He waved behind him and the two innermost panels slid down, allowing them to enter. Baromon walked down the steps, also made of similar yellow metal, and met them at the bottom of the steps as the doors slid up behind them as they entered.
Baromon observed Gabumon's impressed expression. 'I see you've noticed our most recent renovations. It's not nearly as difficult as it looks to build; Datamon can simply program the material to specific points and we can form the systems like building blocks.' He nodded to himself, as if he couldn't believe it himself. 'You realise we actually moved our previous village and merged with Coredramon's? It has been of great benefit to both our people, seeing as we were so close together anyway. Coredramon and I took a while to get things going, but we've learned to trust each other.'
'Has the village been all right since?' Matt asked. 'No more rogue digimon?'
'To be honest, not really.' At their concerned expressions, he quickly raised his hands encouragingly. 'Oh, no rogue digimon, I mean... if you don't count those Knightmon reports. I've never seen them myself. I keep telling Coredramon to relax the security measures, but he seems to be getting more guarded as of late.'
'Any reason why?' Tentomon asked.
'If I had to guess, I'd assume it's to protect the entire village, along with Quetzalmon...' At their questioning looks, he continued patiently. 'She arrived here around two years ago, and he took her in, as she seemed in a bad way, with little food or water. Coredramon was reluctant to accept her as a permanent resident at first, but since then she has become a welcome part of our village.'
'What can you tell us about the Knightmon reports?' Izzy asked brusquely.
'Nothing you don't already know. Some of our watchers have reported seeing large groups of Knightmon marching across our plains, but none of our systems can track them properly... if they even exist.'
Matt studied him. 'You sound doubtful that they're real.'
Baromon shrugged lightly. 'Well, the ones who report these marches also continue insisting on seeing other strange figures going across our plains... some even flying... but they can't even provide any real description of these figures. I'm thinking they've been our sentries for too long. Perhaps the incident with Ravemon has just fed images into their heads...'
After waiting another couple of seconds, Tentomon spoke up again. 'So... nothing else you can tell us? Should we go see Coredramon too?'
'Hm?' Baromon answered distractedly. 'Oh yes. I should accompany you, though. Coredramon isn't very hospitable to strangers, even to the Digidestined.'
He began to lead them through the village. The buildings seemed to be in better condition since the last visit, made from sturdier materials. There also seemed to be more digimon around, like the village was expanding.
'So...' Biyomon began uncertainly. 'That Falcomon, is he still here?'
'Oh, that one. He's been a real asset to us since your rescue of him. I had to convince Coredramon to let him stay, and I think it's paid off.'
'How has he helped, exactly?' Izzy asked.
'Well, he often goes and gathers food for us and adds it to our stores. He's also helped defend our village a couple of times, just from some stray wild digimon, nothing too serious. Quite good at battle, that one. I still feel sorry for him though.'
Biyomon nodded in agreement. 'So he doesn't remember how he got put under Alphamon's influence?'
Baromon shook his head sombrely. 'I'm afraid he doesn't remember anything about his life before his battles as a Ravemon. A shame, too... he seems to remember just enough to know that there others important to him before, but he just can't seem to remember any of it.'
'Where is he?' Sora asked.
'Oh, he's around. He chose not to get a dwelling; instead he keeps moving every night. A little odd. I'm sure you'll meet him, he was actually looking forward to meeting you again.'
After about 10 minutes of strolling through the houses, they looked up towards an elevated dwelling. It was shaped like a tower, except it only had two large levels. The lower half had an enormous pair of swinging doors with mosaic patterns on the metal. The patterns reminded Matt of some oriental tapestries of dragons he had seen when shopping with his mother. The upper half was wider and had a smaller opening, but with similar mosaic patterns, all with a combination of brilliant colours or red, gold and turquoise.
Baromon walked up to a large thin, golden bell and chimed it with a metal rod next to it. After a moment, a long, thin figure appeared out the top of the building and wove its way gracefully through the air towards them. They stared at the elegant digimon with fascination.
'Oh, Quetzalmon. I didn't realise you were in.' Baromon stated respectfully.
Quetzalmon gathered her body into a coil as she stood in front of them. Her elongated body was white, with runic gold patterns and maroon bands wrapping around the entire length. Her body ended with a golden fan tail in the shape a flame. Two silver feathered wings sprouted from behind her head, and she had a lush turquoise mane of feathers running down the back of her head. Her face was covered in similar gold runes, along with the crest of light on her forehead. She bowed her head graciously at Baromon, then to the Digidestined, who inclined their heads back instinctively.
'Greetings, Digidestined. It's good you have seen fit to answer Coredramon's concerns.' She turned around pushed one of the doors open with half her body. 'Please, come in. I would talk awhile before showing you to Coredramon.'
Baromon bowed and took his leave while the others followed Quetzalmon inside. The level was rather empty; there were no conventional items of furniture or desks like the humans were used to. There was a familiar data terminal on the far right, but there was no seat in front of it, and its keypad was too high for any of them to reach. There were many large sacks of what looked like apples, along with many other strange food items and plants. The only other object of interest was the large spiral staircase at the other side, and a few well placed piles of hay leaves, which looked to be woven into one cushion each like strings or a blanket. Gabumon, Tentomon and Biyomon sat together on one like it was customary, and Matt, Sora and Izzy slowly sat themselves upon another next to it. It actually felt quite comfortable.
Quetzalmon gathered some of the apples in a large basket and offered it to them in front. 'Help yourself - meat apples are quite plentiful in the forests up the hills to the north.'
Gabumon gratefully took some and dug in, while Biyomon and Tentomon began to nibble at some of their own. Izzy grabbed one and examined it curiously.
'I wonder how these even work.'
Sora gave a short laugh. 'Come on, Izzy, just eat it.'
Matt just nodded silently and tried one, and grinned in surprise.
'Huh. It tastes like steak!'
Quetzalmon hummed with amusement. 'Those are Coredramon's particular favourites.'
Sora took a bite of one, and grimaced slightly. 'Mine's... some sort of fish, I think. How are you supposed to tell what flavour it is?'
Gabumon glanced at them with astonishment. 'Can't you tell by how they smell?'
Izzy moved closer and sniffed his, but just shook his head. 'Not at all. We must have a poor sense of smell compared to most digimon.'
Tentomon looked up at Quetzalmon. 'So... you live here with Coredramon?'
'Yes, we do.'
'Where did you come from, anyway? Baromon told us that Coredramon found you.'
Quetzalmon frowned sadly as she turned her head away slightly. 'I was fleeing from my birthplace.'
'Where is that, if you don't mind us asking?' Sora inquired gently.
'Cloud Sanctuary. It actually has many connecting lands up there... and it was quite beautiful.'
She seemed to exhale, making a noise like a distant gust of wind. 'I had arguments with some of the other angels over our dealings with some dark digimon. Specifically, with a small group of Ghoulmon that had emerged briefly from a dark gate, right below us.'
The Digidestined tensed. 'Ghoulmon?' Matt affirmed. 'We've had to deal with them before... in the Continent of Darkness.'
Quetzalmon gave him a troubled gaze. 'I assume you had to destroy them?'
'Well... yes.' Matt responded apologetically. 'The ones we found were under the control of Barbamon, one of the demon lords.'
Quetzalmon exhaled again. 'It seems none know much about them.'
'Do you?' Biyomon asked.
Quetzalmon shook her head. 'Not as much as I'd like. But I actually found one of them, and spoke to them. That's why I was cast out.'
'Really?!' Izzy sounded excited. 'What did it say? It didn't attack you?'
'No... it told me it only wanted to find more about the surface world. This one was... curious. It was also a different colour to all the other Ghoulmon that were reported by the angels.'
'Weren't you at all scared?' Tentomon asked fearfully. 'Ghoulmon are mega level, and quite powerful. It could have destroyed you if you went near it.'
'I was careful. At first. But after watching for a while, I thought it would be safe, seeing as all it did was wander about, and stop to study every object it could find.'
'What did you talk about, exactly?'
'It simply asked me many questions about this world. I avoided talking about my home, though... I know that these Ghoulmon came from digimon who were fallen angels. They could have been plotting to attack the angel digimon... at least, that's what I was raised to believe. I wanted to leave quickly, though, and the Ghoulmon simply thanked me and let me go. And... that wasn't the last time I saw it.'
'What exactly does this have to do with you being exiled?' Matt asked. 'Did you just keep it a secret or something?'
Quetzalmon nodded. 'I didn't tell any of the other angel digimon immediately. I know they hate all Ghoulmon, and anything that lives in the Dark Area. They try to stay as far away from them as possible. And if they found out I was talking to one of them, they would become suspicious of me.'
'So... did you two keep talking after that?'
'Yes... and I was intrigued. This Ghoulmon was completely different from what I was raised to believe about them. However, before I could learn anything about their own culture, Dominimon confronted me. He accused me of consorting with them, and he had his Chirinmon guards capture me and interrogate me. They were... not gentle.'
Studying her anguished expression, Sora frowned regretfully. 'Sorry, Quetzalmon... you... don't have to continue, if you don't want to.'
Quetzalmon closed her eyes for a moment, before gradually uncoiling her body towards the staircase. 'I'll... fetch Coredramon now...'
They all blinked in surprise as she left up the stairs abruptly, and glanced towards each other uncertainly. Izzy grimaced apologetically.
'Maybe we shouldn't have asked so many questions...'
Tentomon shook his head. 'It was useful information, Izzy. If only we could find that Ghoulmon as well... if they aren't all dangerous, they could help us.'
Gabumon shook his head doubtfully. 'We'd have to go searching around again... and that's just based off what Quetzalmon told us. We'd need more information about the Dark Area before we could even start.'
They were interrupted by a sudden jolt of the entire building as it shook. Then, a large dragon digimon flew down through a camouflaged hole in the ceiling, disguised by the same textures on the walls. Tentomon couldn't help but yelp at his sudden appearance, as well as his fierce expression.
As Coredramon landed in front of them heavily, he scanned the small group with critical red eyes. 'These are the Digidestined? It's quite hard to believe ones so small could stand a chance against Alphamon and his lackeys.'
Coredramon was a Dragon digimon through and through, with a thick hide of blue scales covering most of his body. His limbs were long and thick with muscle, with three long claws on every hand and foot. Two moderate-sized wings protruded from his back, with thin brown membranes between each blue appendage. The wings didn't look particularly suited for flying. His large jaws were lined with sharp fangs, and several red horns jutted from his scalp, two of them being three-pronged, along with one large one between his nostrils. While he was studying them, Biyomon couldn't help but admire his body before he spoke again.
'Good thing you respond quickly, or I would have written you off as incompetent. I assume you are here to investigate the Knightmon presence?'
Matt and Sora nodded, while Izzy raised an eyebrow. 'It sounds like more than just rumours to you.'
Coredramon nodded firmly. 'Correct. I for one, am convinced that they are plotting to attack my village. They must be destroyed.'
Sora looked shocked at his accusation. 'Do you have any proof of that? No offense, but it sounds like you're jumping to conclusions.'
Coredramon snorted angrily, causing her to flinch slightly. They relaxed a little when Quetzalmon's soft chime rung as she came down through the stairwell, eyeing Coredramon with disapproval.
'Come now, Coredramon, we won't gain anything by causing friction with the Digidestined. They are here to help, remember?'
Coredramon glanced sidewards as she coiled next to him, and his visage softened considerably before he addressed them again.
'I... apologise, Digidestined, but it's hard for me to find any proof of their intent at all, and even Baromon is doubtful that my claims are true. But I've got a hunch that they are out there, and that they'll attack this village, or others nearby, sooner or later.'
'So what makes you think the village is in danger?' Izzy asked. 'Surely you must have found something linking to the Knightmon.'
Coredramon nodded reluctantly. 'I really have only one lead... up on those hills, just before the forest. I can't really describe it... I would have to take you there myself. And if the Knightmon are around, I want to see to it that they're defeated.'
Quetzalmon was suddenly silent, but eyed him worriedly. 'I do wish you weren't so eager to charge into battle again...'
Coredramon simply growled softly in response. 'I've been sitting up here for too long already, Quetzalmon. I'm tired of waiting for those machines to attack - and I have to put my claws into something!' He clenched his claws tensely, staring at them, before looking up at her. 'And don't ask me to wait for them to hurt you, either.'
Gabumon studied Coredramon with approval. 'I understand wanting to protect your own people, but can you handle Knightmon? What level are you, anyway? We should be able to handle ourselves, but what about you?'
For the first time, Coredramon smiled. 'I can handle myself, don't you worry. You won't be acting as bodyguards for me or anything. Don't think, even for a minute, that I will be a burden.'
Without waiting for them to get up, Coredramon strode towards the entrance, only to stop when Quetzalmon touched his shoulder with her tail.
'Be careful, Coredramon. If your suspicions are correct, these aren't normal Knightmon.' She glanced towards the Digidestined pleadingly. 'Keep him safe.'
They all nodded encouragingly. 'We will.' Matt stated shortly, before Coredramon continued and began to lead them out the house and up through the north gate.
Coredramon stopped outside the gates to gaze up at the mountain range, seemingly admiring the view, before turning around and eyeing the digimon.
'How many of you can take a flying form?' He asked suddenly.
Tentomon and Biyomon glanced at each other quickly. 'We can digivolve to Birdramon and Kabuterimon...' Biyomon spoke up, before looking at Gabumon uncertainly. 'But what about you, Gabumon? Should one of us just carry the rest?'
Coredramon shrugged indifferently. 'I don't see why not.' He narrowed his eyes slightly. 'But I'm not carrying anyone, before you ask.'
Gabumon blinked curiously. 'Why not?'
'Because I'm not a pack mule, that's why. I am a pure dragon digimon; and I wouldn't submit to such a menial role.'
Gabumon only looked up at him with confusion before Sora and Izzy got out their digivices.
Biyomon digivolve to... Birdramon.
Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon.
Gabumon got up with Izzy on Kabuterimon while Matt cautiously followed Sora onto one of Birdramon's large claws and held on tight. Seeing that they were ready, Coredramon spread his wings and took off with surprising speed, and Birdramon and Kabuterimon struggled to catch up until they flew at a steady pace.
The cool breeze felt pleasant as they flew over the steep slopes; the grass began to disappear and thinner shrubs and mountain flowers began to coat the slopes. The snow-covered trees gradually became thicker as they walked, but Coredramon seemed to know the way.
Izzy shivered slightly as the breeze became stronger. 'I should have brought a jacket... even though it's not that cold for a mountain...'
Sora sighed and got out a scarf from her handbag. 'Here, Izzy. I knew there were mountains around here, so I packed it... just in case.' She frowned slightly. 'I would have thought you'd done some research, like you usually do.'
Izzy grimaced with embarrassment. 'Not for practical things, I guess...'
Kabuterimon glanced towards Coredramon questioningly. 'Excuse me, Coredramon, sir? Exactly how far is this lead?'
Coredramon didn't answer, as they soon saw the ground levelling out into a large plateau below them one on of the larger mountain peaks. Coredramon slowed down in mid-air and prepared to descend.
'We are here.'
From the large landing area, they circled around the wide, relatively flat peak, with only one thick spire blocking their way. After degenerating and walking around the spire, Gabumon and Biyomon gasped at the sight.
'This... this is...'
The ground in front of them was completely different to the that of the surrounding snowy dirt. It was covered in tiny purple squares that looked to be made of translucent metal, and they seemed to flash in a wave motion periodically. Instead of BlackWarGreymon's silhouette, however, a strange symbol covered it instead. The symbol was a three pronged set of lines in pairs, with a single thicker line in a wide "V" shape between the left and right prongs.
Matt, Sora and Izzy only studied it, confused at their partners' reactions. 'What is it, Gabumon?' Matt asked. Gabumon looked up at him, seemingly remembering something.
'It's where... BlackWarGreymon's seal was...'
They looked back towards the seal with interest and slight sadness. After a while, Biyomon spoke softly.
'It's not the same anymore. BlackWarGreymon's seal is gone... but we already knew that.' She frowned, suddenly frightened. 'What bothers me is that another seal has replaced his. What is it? And why does it make me cringe when I look at it?'
Gabumon grinded his teeth a little. 'I know what you mean. It makes me feel so tense, like we'll be attacked any second...'
Coredramon frowned and looked around cautiously. 'Something's not right. We're not alone... but it doesn't feel like digimon... something unnatural...'
Izzy frowned before getting out his digivice for readings. 'You sure? My digivice doesn't detect anything... wait...'
He frowned as he began to press some buttons, but the digivice was unresponsive. Matt glanced at him in alarm.
'What's wrong, Izzy?'
'My digivice isn't even picking up this area at all! It's like my scanning system has been jammed... and I have no idea when it started...'
The digimon instinctively formed a circle around the humans, knowing they were vulnerable in such limited space. Coredramon hissed as he heard faint metal scraping from the spire.
'Digivolve, quickly! They might not give you a chance!'
Biyomon warp digivolve to... Gryphonmon!
Gabumon warp digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!
Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!
Kabuterimon digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!
Coredramon digivolve to... Wingdramon!
The humans stared up at the larger dragon digimon hovering in the air above them. 'He can digivolve?' Sora exclaimed in wonder.
Wingdramon had much larger wings than Coredramon, and didn't seem to need to flap them at all to remain in the air. His tail was long and thick, ending in a thin black tip. He had an extra pair of fins below his wings, and carried a large white lance on his back. His head was covered in a white bony plate, and had two red horns on his nose along with larger and longer branched orange horns at the back. His chest was covered with a similar bony plate to his head, with faint blue and red markings.
They looked towards the spire as it began to move. They heard metal footsteps from behind it. Izzy quickly guessed there was a concealed door in the spire.
Instead of seeing them round the corner, they heard unsheathing of weapons, quickly followed by a low slashing. They were alarmed when the rock started to crumble, and the spire began to topple towards them.
'Move!'
The digimon swiped their partners and leapt out of the way on either side as the spire came crashing down. Wingdramon, however, remained in the air and aligned himself directly in front of the spire.
'Wing Blast!'
He aimed at the midsection of the spire and caused it to split in half, propelling the top section towards the several Knightmon on the other side, and they hastily dodged by backing away with mechanical speed. Before Wingdramon could recover and dodge, they stabbed their swords up at him and electrical surges ejected from the sword tips.
"Lightning Javelin."
Four electric projectiles whistled through the air and struck Wingdramon, causing him to snarl as he was momentarily paralysed and crashed into the side of the plateau before falling.
'Wingdramon!' Sora cried out in alarm, before he quickly responded, as he recovered and began flying up again.
'I'm fine! Just make sure they do not escape!'
The other digimon dropped their partners gently behind a remaining rock from the spire, before moving to engage the Knightmon. MetalGarurumon had leapt towards the group of Knightmon right after their attack, knocking one off the side of the mountain outright as he swiped it with his claws. The remaining three Knightmon quickly put up their shields against Gryphonmon's Solo Roar, though they were blown backwards slightly as the blast impacted and passed through them. While they were immobilised, MetalGarurumon leapt again only for his claws to meet their shields, barely scratching them. Izzy frowned as he poked his head out and examined the shields. The same symbol from the ground was adorned on the shields instead of the usual Crest of Hope. I need to memorise this symbol... it most likely links to Alphamon, and whatever forces he might command.
MegaKabuterimon, MetalGarurumon and Gryphonmon paused as MetalGarurumon gave a low snarl.
'Who are you? Why are you here?'
The Knightmon barely registered any response, instead huddling together silently. After a brief pause, they suddenly ejected more projectiles up at MegaKabuterimon, who was too slow to dodge them, and ended up falling down the cliff side before he managed to right himself.
As Gryphonmon and MetalGarurumon once again engaged, Izzy called out from the behind the rock.
'Remember, try and get at least one of them intact! We still have no idea why they're here!'
Sora looked around, confused. 'Where's Wingdramon? He was right over the side before...'
Despite their attribute advantage, MetalGarurumon and Gryphonmon couldn't penetrate their shield wall. After attacking it with Metal Wolf Claw, MetalGarurumon paused to release his missiles.
'Grace Cross - '
Before he could launch, all three Knightmon turned and fired at him with their electric swords.
'Lightning Javelin.'
He growled with pain as he was paralysed, and two Knightmon brandished their swords, lunging out at him. Gryphonmon responded by speeding towards them, talons outstretched, but the third Knightmon leapt at just the right moment to intercept her with its shield, and she was knocked to the side off the cliff for a moment before flipping and righting herself.
Just before the two Knightmon could attack MetalGarurumon, Wingdramon and MegaKabuterimon suddenly rose up from the right side, launching simultaneous attacks.
'Horn Buster!'
'Wing Blast!'
The two attacks launched the two Knightmon clean off the cliffside, leaving one alone still standing. Gryphonmon and MetalGarumon quickly subdued it by leaping on top of it and removing its sword. After a minute of struggling, the Knightmon was suddenly still, and its eyes dimmed, as if it was powering down. MetalGarurumon glanced at it briefly before getting off, and it didn't power on again.
Gryphonmon sighed with relief before raising her head. 'I think it's safe now...'
She shrieked slightly when the Knightmon began to collapse into separate body parts, with each limb, torso, head and shield ending up scattered about. As the rest of them gathered around, still too wary to degenerate, Izzy scratched his head quizzically.
'Why'd it do that? You guys didn't do that much damage to him...'
Matt gave a low groan. 'Must be to stop us getting any information out of him. What are we supposed to do with this junk?'
Izzy began to approach the pieces curiously, but MetalGarurumon held out a paw to stop him. 'We should separate the pieces in case it tries to re-assemble or something...'
After they moved everything away from the head, Izzy lifted it and began to examine it. Tapping it, he could tell it wasn't hollow. 'Maybe we can get something from this, at least. If there's any information contained, it would be stored in here.'
Wingdramon approached the remains of the spire, degenerating as he did so, and found a large metal blast door leading downwards into the mountain. He hit it a few times to test its thickness, and shook his head as Matt approached him.
'We can't get through this door. Not now, anyway... it would take a fair amount of drilling over many weeks to get through.'
Matt nodded glumly, disappointed they didn't find any concrete leads or information. He followed Coredramon back as the group gathered the remaining body parts of the Knightmon and prepared to depart back to Bastion Village.
