Chapter 39: The Tournament Begins

The day had come.

The arena was an enclosed stadium, with lamps across the ceiling and projector screens across the wall. A huge tree stump lay at the center of the arena; shaped like a stage, it had two staircases on the opposing sides. Each of them had a straightforward path that led to a double door.

Tasuku sat on the frontmost seat of the arena, with Guy in his Blitzmon form and HerakleKabuterimon beside him. Unfortunately, Searchmon sat so far from them; although they'd just met and not talked much, partly because the silver beetle didn't even go to the theater last night, Tasuku felt like the gang wasn't complete without it. Guy likely felt the same, since he had known Searchmon longer.

On the center of the tree stump Tentomon stood, showered by spotlights, with a microphone in one hand and a piece of paper in another. "Humans and gentlemon," it said into the mic, "welcome to the 147th Beetle Tournament! I, Tentomon, will be your emcee today!"

"Gentle...mon?" Guy asked.

"That's how we address ourselves during big events," HerakleKabuterimon whispered.

"For starters, we will have an opening speech from our mayor, Sir Kongoumon!" Tentomon said.

Kongoumon, sitting at the dais on the other side of the arena, stood up and walked towards the stage. For an Armor-level Digimon, this guy sure had the presence. It had to be the crimson eyes, the perpetual frown, and the stout build, Tasuku thought.

After taking the mic from Tentomon, Kongoumon cleared its throat; the spotlights moved to the rotund golden beetle. "Humans and gentlemon, thank you for coming to this special event of Beetle Land. The Beetle Tournament was created by TyrantKabuterimon, our mayor over a decade ago, as an outlet for the battle-hungry inhabitants of Beetle Land."

HerakleKabuterimon chuckled. "Here it goes again. The opening speech is always about the history of the Beetle Tournament."

"It is interesting though," Guy muttered.

"Indeed," Tasuku added. This world had so much story compared to Digimon World; should Tasuku replay the game after the journey, he couldn't possibly see it the same way again.

"The Beetle Tournament is always held on the 22nd of the month as the very first one happened on said date, on the 5th month of the year."

Guy smiled. "It is merely a week away from Citronia's birthday."

Ah, good ol' Guy. Always remembering his dear friend. Sometimes Tasuku wanted to ask if Guy also remembered the entire Winter Troupe that way, but it'd sound awkward, wouldn't it?

"As per the tradition, the winner of the tourney will receive the Beetle Pearl. It is merely a beetle-shaped metal sphere, but its value comes from the struggle you go through to earn it. According to TyrantKabuterimon, it is most enjoyable when you can show off your collection of Beetle Pearls while telling the stories of your greatest fights."

"Collection of Beetle Pearls?" Guy looked at HerakleKabuterimon. "Since you are an undefeated champion for years, you have a lot of them?"

"Of course. Each of them contains an epic tale of my battle."

Both Tasuku and Guy nodded. Although Jijimon only needed one Beetle Pearl to conjure a portal back to the real world, they couldn't possibly ask HerakleKabuterimon for one; each of them sounded equally precious to the beetle.

"Without further ado, let the 147th Beetle Tournament commence! Will HerakleKabuterimon continue its winning streak, or will our new challenger end it?" Kongoumon shouted, and the audience erupted into loud cheers and applause.

HerakleKabuterimon laughed. "Man, show some respect to our opponents, Sir Kongoumon! Even if they're just Perfect Digimon, they're still trying their best!"

Once Kongoumon handed the mic over to Tentomon and returned to its dais, the spotlights shone upon Tentomon again. "That's all from Sir Kongoumon," the ladybug Digimon said. "Next, enjoy a performance by the Gokimon Orchestra!"

The spotlight moved to highlight a group of roach Digimon across Kongoumon's dais. They held their instruments like pro musicians, and the way they left their wings open made them look as if they were wearing tailcoats. The conductor Gokimon especially looked refined while holding the baton with its arms raised.

"Oh, I love this part a lot!" HerakleKabuterimon exclaimed, only to receive a hush from the surrounding insect Digimon.

The conductor Gokimon moved its arms, and the music began.

From the first explosive beat of the drums, Tasuku had a hunch that he knew the song. The following melody, rich and harmonious, confirmed his guess.

"Butterfly…" he muttered, his heart feeling so warm and painful that he almost teared up. It'd been about two decades! Man, he'd never forget the epicness of Patamon evolving into Angemon for the very first time!

The energetic song made its way to Tasuku's ears and heart; the further the song progressed, the more his heart ached. Once it reached the chorus, Tasuku remembered the Chosen Children waving their hands at their Digimon partners as the tram carried them back to the real world. The distance between the humans and the Digimon grew bigger and bigger… And then there was Mimi's hat flying across the sky... He could no longer hold back his tears!

"Takato, why are you crying?" Guy asked from beside him.

HerakleKabuterimon chuckled. "Moved by the song?"

Wiping the tears off his eyes with his sleeves, Tasuku nodded. Okay, at least this was Guy and not anyone else.

"It is a nice song indeed," Guy replied; although his helmet left only his eyes visible, Tasuku could sense a smile behind it. "It feels very energetic and optimistic, yet I sense something bittersweet in it."

Tasuku felt like hugging Guy tightly for understanding instead of teasing him.

"You're right on the mark!" HerakleKabuterimon said. "Digimon Adventure tells a beautiful story of seven human kids and their Digimon partners in Digital World. It ends with-"

Tasuku shoved a hand against HerakleKabuterimon's mouth. "No spoilers. Guy hasn't watched it." And yes, Tasuku had already suffered enough from remembering the ending.

HerakleKabuterimon pulled away. "Oh, is that so? We should have a Digimon Adventure marathon then. I have a complete set of the DVD."

"I don't think it's happening anytime soon, but when we finally have the time, mind if we bring four more guests along?" Tasuku asked with a smile. His troupe mates should all watch Digimon Adventure; despite their average age, they were all a child at heart and could still grow like the kids in the show.

"No problemo. Just come to my house whenever you're ready for the marathon."

"Got it."

The music had reached the last chorus before Tasuku knew it. Tentomon approached them.

"HerakleKabuterimon, Blitzmon, it's about time!" the ladybug Digimon said. "Head to the briefing room now."

"Gotcha!" HerakleKabuterimon stood up.

Just as Guy rose from his seat and prepared to leave with the insect Digimon, Tasuku smiled at him. "Guy, I believe in you." Huh? Was that all? Unfortunately, Tasuku couldn't think of something fancier than that.

"You can trust me."

Once again, Tasuku could see a smile behind Guy's helmet. His comrade had grown, much to his delight.

By the time the performance ended, HerakleKabuterimon and Guy had entered the briefing room on the other side of the arena. Tentomon had returned to the center of the stage along with the spotlights.

Looking at the piece of paper in its hand, it spoke into the mic, "And now, humans and gentlemon, onto the main event! Before the match begins, please have a look at the projector screens on the wall."

A single-elimination bracket appeared on the projector screens. It featured a pixelated image of each participant, just like how the bracket in Digimon World arenas looked; however, unlike in the game, it typed out everyone's names as well. How convenient.

"As you can see, we have one Ultimate-level participant, two Perfect-level participants, and one unclassified participant - a new challenger," Tentomon explained. "Of course, we all know everyone is excited to see a showdown between HerakleKabuterimon and Blitzmon, but before that, there will be a match to test how strong our new challenger is."

As the crowd cheered, Tasuku smiled broadly. Guy would face Dinobeemon first, huh? This Perfect-level Digimon shouldn't be a big problem; heck, Guy might even beat HerakleKabuterimon. The match had a time limit of two minutes, a reason why Guy had decided to fight as Blitzmon; with Blitzmon's mobility, Guy would have a good chance of dodging HerakleKabuterimon's attacks and winning by decision.

"The first match will begin shortly." Tentomon cleared its throat and pointed at the straightforward path between the double door and the staircase. "In the east wing, undefeated since the 105th Beetle Tournament, the warrior poet of Beetle Land, HerakleKabuterimon!"

The spotlights moved to shine upon HerakleKabuterimon, highlighting its sturdy golden shell in all its glory. The pointed ends of the three curved horns on its head sparkled under the illumination.

"Hey, hey, hey!" HerakleKabuterimon waved its arms at the audience. "Slick and sick, bombastic, fantastic, this warrior poet is gonna kick some ass!"

The crowd's cheers and applause thundered across the stadium as the golden beetle made its way towards the stage. Tasuku also found himself clapping his hands, but with a frown. HerakleKabuterimon's pretentious entrance reminded him of Homare's antics; it'd just been about two days, yet he missed them so much. When would Homare ever reply to his letter?

Tentomon pointed at the other path. "In the west wing, the biggest, baddest spider of Beetle Land, Archnemon!"

The spotlights moved to highlight a crimson arachnoid monstrosity. The upper half of its body consisted of a white-haired woman with a pair of horns and clawed hands. It had a spherical abdomen with six legs jutting out of it as the lower half of its body.

"Watch me make history by defeating an Ultimate-level Digimon!" Archnemon shouted.

While the crowd cheered and clapped their hands, they sounded rather unenthusiastic. Tasuku was no better, though he'd partly blame his memory of Digimon Adventure 02 for this. Archnemon made a funny villain with Mummymon in the show, mainly because of how the Chosen Children kicked their asses regularly. They mostly left the fighting to their minions too.

HerakleKabuterimon would certainly obliterate Archnemon in less than a second unless it fooled around.

With the fighters on the stage, Tentomon hopped into the air and flew away from them. "Beetle Arena, activate!"

A metallic net fence shot out of the edge of the stage and made its way to the ceiling, confining the two fighters. A 120-secs timer appeared on the projector screens across the wall. Tasuku couldn't remember anything like this from Digimon World.

"Fight!" Tentomon announced.

Crimson threads shot out of Archnemon's clawed hands and lashed at HerakleKabuterimon. The golden beetle only stood still and laughed; the threads struck its shell and left not even a scratch.

Gritting its teeth, Archnemon willed the threads to wrap themselves around HerakleKabuterimon's body and yanked. The threads snapped, and Archnemon tumbled.

HerakleKabuterimon made a sweeping movement with its four arms and spouted, "Crimson web, world wide web, you are strong but I am stronger!" The crowd roared in excitement.

Tasuku observed HerakleKabuterimon's move closely. This Digimon really was just fooling around, yet the crowd loved it. If it still acted like this when battling Guy, it'd stand no chance; the thought etched a smile on Tasuku's face.

Archnemon rose to its feet and sprang at HerakleKabuterimon, claws shooting wildly at the golden beetle. HerakleKabuterimon cackled while standing strong, its shell completely unscathed. Archnemon's face gradually faded into a maddened look, and the red spider flipped away.

It inhaled and breathed out a rolling cloud of green at HerakleKabuterimon. The golden beetle waved a hand, unfazed by the gas.

"Adieu, au revoir, 'till we meet again!"

In a flash, HerakleKabuterimon charged and drove its middle horn through Archnemon's chest. Golden particles sprayed out of Archnemon's mouth as its eyes widened.

With a swing of its body, HerakleKabuterimon threw Archnemon away. The spider slammed into the fence and slid down limply.

Tentomon began counting to ten, yet Archnemon never rose. It lay there with its eyes closed.

Tasuku gulped, beads of sweat rolling down its temple. HerakleKabuterimon had only used one of its horns to dispatch Archnemon, a Perfect-level Digimon. And it all happened within a split-second.

Would Guy be okay?

JP - Dub names

Archnemon - Arukenimon
Gokimon - Roachmon