Hiya guys~
Sooo… You guys remember that promise I made that I wouldn't wait another 5 months to upload a new chapter? Yeah… Me neither apparently.
My bad... I really need to get back to using that schedule I made ^^"
Anyways~! Happy Pride month everyone! And to anyone planning to use this time to come out, good luck~
Well, hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: Never have I ever owned Digimon Frontier or any of its characters *doesn't put one finger down*. Never have I ever owned Sophia, Sonamon and Vibramon, any and all plot changes, and any character that isn't mentioned on the Wiki page. *Puts one finger down* Is that how the game's played? ...Whatever.
True to Whamon's words, the gang arrived at the island soon after their argume- discussion. The subject of the previous humans, the previous warriors if their assumptions were correct, still lay heavily on their mind. It'd have to be pushed back, though. They were here!
After saying their goodbye's and thank you's to Whamon as the giant digimon left, they were kind of left standing there. On an island. With possibly no way of getting off…
"So… There he goes." Koji remarked, reluctantly watching their (possibly) only ride leave.
Takuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Nice of you to point out the obvious." Though he had to agree it was inconvenient, they really shouldn't keep Whamon from his home any longer than he already had been.
So now they were left wondering what they were gonna do now. Explore the island seemed like the most logical option, of course.
But why do that in such gloomy moods? At least, that's Zoe figured. "Don't be such boys~!" she exclaimed joyfully while running up the rocks.
"My dear Zoe, what has gotten into you?" Bokomon asked. Confused about the girl's sudden burst of joy.
As answer she just pulled out her D-Tector. "You can't blame a girl for feeling good on such a beautiful day. Especially a girl who has her Spirit back."
"And let us not forget who has a Beast Spirit now." JP reminded everyone, equally joyful.
"Let's hear it for JP, the princely Beast of thunder!" Zoe made an exaggerated gesture to said boy.
JP in return bowed all 'princely' to Zoe. "And Zoe, princess of the summer breeze."
"And Takuya, king of 'I'm gonna be sick'!" Takuya looked around from where he was standing. There wasn't much to see, though. Mostly just boulders and water and some trees higher up. "Anyway, since we're here we might as well take a look around."
All in agreement they left the shore and went a little higher up and began to explore. They walked among the trees that looked surprisingly similar to the palm trees in the human world, except the fruits growing on them were purple and not at all similar to coconuts.
After a few minutes of walking JP made an astute observation. "You know, I can't help but notice that it's summer and we're at a beach." Really? You don't say!
"I noticed that." Zoe giggled.
"How could I not notice?" Sophia muttered irritably, tying her jacket around her waist. Too hot for long sleeves, thank you.
Tommy grinned up at them. "You know what that means."
"Summer vacation!"
"The waves!" "Shell hunting~" "Lot's of sunshine!"
"Yeah! Put it all together and whadda ya got? The beach, baby!" He propped his foot on a rock, posing in front of the sea with a biggest grin on his face.
Sophia snorted. "I think you forgot to add the sand to that equation. No beach without sand, dude."
While the others continued their little banter on summer vacation, Koichi couldn't find himself to enjoy it too much. His mind was on the conversation he had in Whamon, the one he held in private, away from everyone else.
~Flashback~
Koichi watched as his friends and brother went to the edge of Whamon's mouth, watching the island getting closer. He was gonna join them when a sound from his pocket caught his attention.
"H-hello?"
"H-huh?" Koichi looked around, but found nothing. The sound seemed to come from his pocket, but the only thing there was… His D-Tector! Of course! He quickly grabbed it from his pocket, eyeing the strange symbol on the screen. "A symbol…" That meant someone was calling him. "Hello?" he finally responded back.
"Is Sophia there?" the voice on the other end of the line asked. "I need to talk to her."
He winced a little, looking up to the roof of Whamon's mouth. Sophia was still sitting outside and she didn't seem to be in the best mood. Best not to disturb her… "Sorry, not right now." he told the girl. "But who exactly is this? I mean, other than a Legendary warrior."
"My name is Rosalie. Rosalie Daneven." Daneven?! "A-are you sure Sophia isn't nearby."
Koichi shook his head, even though the girl couldn't see it. "Not right now." he replied. "But I know she must be worried about you." she has to be if this Rosalie is who he thinks she is. "Where are you?" At least he should try to ease her inevitable worry.
"I'm at a Burgermon village." That…doesn't ring any bells. "Though I'm thinking of moving soon. Which will be hard without my Spirits…"
"What?" That didn't sound like something she wanted to say.
"D-don't tell her that! I'm safe." He heard her taking a breath on the other side. "Please don't tell Sophia. She'll just worry herself sick." That's true. But wouldn't all siblings?
Koichi sighed. Although, he didn't like it, he would keep this quiet. "A-alright… If you think about traveling then please be safe."
"I wi-… G-…bye."
~Back to the present~
After that all he heard was static. She must've hung up. Koichi sighed, looking over at Sophia. He did not like keeping this quiet. He would need to tell her that her sister, at least he guessed it was her sister based on her last name, was in the digital world. Not only that, but she was here without Spirit protection.
First things first. He was gonna tell Sophia today. "Koichi?" Speaking of the devil. "Earth to Koichi, do you copy?"
Koichi chuckled. "I hear you."
"Welcome back." Sophia smiled. "Everyone went to the beach house. Come on." She pulled him along to where the others were waiting for the two of them.
Koji gave his brother a questioning look, to which he smiled, trying to reassure him. It didn't quite seem to work. 'I'll tell you later' he mouthed. That seemed to put Koji's mind to rest.
They stood outside the beach house for a while, observing it. There didn't seem to be anyone around and all the signs were written in digi-language, which was no surprise.
Zoe put her hands on her hips, not at all minding the discovery of the beach house. "What's summer vacation without a beach house?"
Koji, however, was skeptical as always. "This is a little too convenient."
"I don't know about that, but it sure looks awfully comfortable." Tommy said.
Before any further arguments could be made, four figures came running out of the beach house all shouting their welcomes. These toucan-like digimon had the fitting name, Toucanmon, according to Bokomon.
"Honored guests, we welcome you to Toucan paradise." The Toucanmon with the bandanna around his neck bowed to them in some exaggerated manner.
"Thank you, mister Toucanmon." Tommy said, not sure how to react. He never had anyone greeting and welcoming them with this much…enthusiasm? Is that the right word for this behavior? "We're honored you're honored."
Koji scoffed. "Yeah, we're honored, but we're broke."
There was a small pause between the two parties, before the Toucanmon wearing an apron jumped up. "Oh, please. What's a few Digi-shackles among friends?" Is that was the digi-world's currency is called? "And it just so happens that today everything is on the house. By which I mean free, not served on the roof." he practically shouted before bowing the same way the first Toucanmon did. Speaking off, he never did rise from that position…
Bokomon was a little put off by their behavior. "We know what it means." He said, uncomfortably scooting away from the bird-digimon.
"Yeah, and that doesn't seem like a very smart business plan…" Sophia muttered. I mean, really? A day where everything is free? Digimon would only be coming on that day and drive you out of business.
The Toucanmon with the chef's hat panicked. "We just meant that you're our 100th customers, so everything is free for you today!" he…she? …They explained fluttering up and down in a panicked state. "Sorry! So sorry! It was just a small joke! Very small!"
"It's okay." Tommy tried and failed to reassure the digimon.
The last Toucanmon with the safari hat finally spoke up, just as panicked as the one with the chef's hat. "No, no, no! We are humiliated! There's absolutely nothing we won't do to make it up to you."
Nothing they won't do? And everything was free? Sounds like music to their ears! "Wow, really?" JP asked. He needed to be sure.
All Toucanmon jumped up from their bow (finally) and all fluttered around, nodding like crazy. "Really, really, really! Double really!"
The gang followed the Toucanmon inside and watched how the digimon immediately set up a table. The ones with the chef's hat went to the back, where the kitchen was, and was pumping out food like no tomorrow. The guys wearing the apron and bandanna took the food to the table, where the Toucanmon with the safari hat had been laying down cutlery and glasses of water.
They finished in no time, allowing the gang to sit and chow down. It was amazing! Everything tasted like what it looked like and not 'meat flavoured rabbit food' like JP pointed out. But even if everything seemed nice and friendly, Koji remained on guard. He had a feeling these Toucanmon weren't trustworthy, and it was bothering him that everyone else seemed to trust them so easily.
After a good 30 minutes of both eating and taking, they'd finished…what was this? Lunch or dinner? Linner…? Dinch…? Whichever it was, it was finished. They gave their thanks to the chefs, giving some more comments before Takuya decided it was about time to split. This didn't seem to sit well with the Toucanmon, who reacted shocked and a little panicked.
"We've imposed enough on you already." Zoe told them. Don't misunderstand, she was grateful for their generosity, but they couldn't possibly ask for more.
Apparently the Toucanmon thought differently. "Go on, impose!" "Please, we're begging you here. Impose already!"
Err… What? "Thanks, but we're stuffed as ticks." Takuya told them, a little taken aback by their insistence to keep them here.
"But you're growing kids. It won't be long before you're hungry again. What kind of folks would we be if we let you leave without supper?" Ah, so this was lunch then.
"Supper? Are you nuts?" Wait, don't answer that. "I won't be hungry for hours. I might never eat again!" That's a little exaggerated, Taky.
"Please, this is all really kind of you, but couldn't. You've been so kind already." Koichi kindly told them. This whole situation was getting odd.
But the Toucanmon were stubborn. "You say that now, but after being in the sun…" The one with the apron went to the back, right next to the kitchen where a big, white curtain was. "I'm sure you will agree with me. And might I suggest you take advantage of out super value summer special!"
He pulled the rope, opening the curtain to reveal a section with swimsuits and trunks, floaties, tubes, flippers and a water mat! This was awesome! The kids hardly even heard the Toucanmon telling them it was free rental stuff.
Everyone quickly grabbed what they needed and went out back to the changing rooms. Luckily the indecisive Zoe was told there were more swimming suits in the changing rooms, so she didn't end up hauling 50 suits there.
"It's a little strange how badly they wanna keep us here, isn't it?" Sophia asked Koichi, both of them walking in the back away from prying ears.
Koichi nodded. "A little, yes."
"I don't trust them… I'm keeping my D-Tector close, just in case." The brunette clutched the device through her pants.
This surprised Koichi a little. "They can't be that bad." he told her. "Sure, I sense some darkness in them, but it's no more then an average digimon…"
"Still…"
Koichi smiled in understanding. It's hard to imagine something happening to your D-Tector and Spirits. Better safe than sorry. "Sophia, I need to tell you somethi-"
"Sophia! Come on! This door is not gonna open until I'm dressed!" Zoe called from the changing rooms.
The brunette sighed. "Better go, or I'm locked out." she said. "See ya in a bit, Ichi."
Koichi blinked when she left. Ichi? That's… That's new. What isn't new was people interrupting him whenever he tried to talk. Seriously did something hate him finishing sentences or something? (Sorry, Koichi~~)
Meanwhile, Zoe shut the door immediately after Sophia walked in and gave her the most smug look ever. "What?" the brunette asked.
"Ichi?" Zoe questioned. Sophia's blush was answer enough, but she pushed on. "You seem awfully close lately~ No, not even lately~ Something you want to tell me?" Zoe was walking circles around the girl while talking, the smug, all-knowing look never leaving her face.
"Want to tell? No, not really." was Sophia's answer. "We're friends. Am I not allowed to be close to boys?"
Zoe giggled, leaning in closely with that smug smile. "Just friends? That blush says otherwise~ You liiiiike him~~"
Sophia ignored her, opting to instead get dressed in her swimsuit. It was a violet one-piece that she really liked. While Sophia got dressed and Zoe skimmed through her options, they heard a muffled scream coming from the boy's room. 'Wait? Bro?! What?!' It sounded like Takuya.
Sophia snickered. "Maybe Taky finally found out Koji and Koichi are related."
Fighting back a smirk, Zoe glanced at her. "Why is that a surprise?" she asked. "I thought it was obvious."
"It is, but Koji didn't know either. Something about being separated when they were young. You'd have to ask Koichi, it's not my story to tell." Sophia explained.
"Don't you mean: 'Ask Ichi'?"
"I will punch you." Soph grumbled. "Anyways, I'm done. See ya at the beach."
Zoe looked up from her swimsuit searching to see Sophia leave with her D-Tector. "You know you can leave it here, right? The D-Tector I mean."
"I know." Sophia clutched the device tighter. "But I'd feel more comfortable just keeping it with me." She shut the door behind her before Zoe could make any more arguments. There was no way she was gonna let Toucanmon get Sonamon and Vibramon. No way, no how!
She clipped the D-Tector to her swimsuit for the time being as she walked to the front. After quickly picking a pair of goggles for under water, she handed the D-Tector to Bokomon. He could keep better watch over it than her if she was in the water. And she wasn't the only one, it seemed. There was a familiar black D-Tector already on the chair Bokomon lay on.
Shrugging it off, she ran into the water. They were never gonna get this chance again, so might as well enjoy it, right?
Though, guilt was gnawing on her, she'd have to let this happen. Can't meddle with events too much, right? That's what all those movies taught, right? …Right… A splash of water to the face brought the brunette out of her guilt-ridden thoughts, bringing her attention to the grinning Takuya.
"What are you doing sitting still like that? Have some fun, would ya." he grinned, quickly swimming away before the girl could take her revenge.
And, oh… Revenge she would get. Putting on her under-water goggles, she dove under water, making a bee-line for the leader. When he came to a stand still, she grabbed his legs and pulled him underwater with her.
After the startle it gave him, Takuya broke the surface again coughing, only to be met with a splash of water to the face, much like what he did to Sophia.
Said girl was happily floating next to Koji with a telling smirk on her face.
"Was that all?" he challenged her.
"I could've easily made you go you skinny dipping, so don't push your luck." she replied casually.
Takuya did decide to push his luck by again spraying her with water, but it mostly hit Koji, which he now realized was planned, and it wasn't effective on Sophia because she was still wearing the goggles. Though, the fun only just got started as a water-fight began between Takuya, Koji and Sophia. Koichi and Tommy also got pulled in it eventually, though JP refused to participate. He'd much rather relax on his water mat.
Unfortunately relaxation was soon cut short by the loud screech of Zoe. Everyone immediately got out of the water and ran to the dressing rooms. Whatever made Zoe scream like that was bound to be no good. Without thinking, Takuya and JP ran inside, immediately asking what was wrong, but were stunned into silence by the view in front of them.
Zoe…Zoe was na-
If her new, even louder screams didn't snap the boys out of their trance, the multiple projectile objects sure did. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"
They did 'get out', but not without some bruises. The group decided it would be better to wait outside until Zoe was dressed and ready. Meanwhile the boys (and girl) would just…sit there, I guess.
While waiting, JP couldn't help but notice Takuya glancing at the twins. It confused him. "Um… Takuya? Why are you staring at Koji and Koichi like they stole your last cookie?"
Takuya crossed his arms. "I just can't believe they're brothers." he mumbled.
Ah, so it was about that. "Why is it so hard to believe? I mean, they're practically identical."
"You just don't understand." Was Takuya's response. "Sophia, did you know?" 'Please say no. You were there on Toy Island. You heard what Koji said back then.'
Sophia smiled sheepishly. "Wish I could say no, Takuya. Koichi told me on the first day here." she said.
"So I really was the only one?" he asked in disbelief, before wincing and going back to clutching his throbbing jaw. Man! Zoe could throw! And it was just a clothes basket that hit him.
Speaking of the devil. Zoe had finally gotten all dressed, immediately apologizing to the two boys.
"So? What happened? Why did you scream before?" Leave it to Koji to immediately get to the point. Though, to be fair, he did actually sound kinda concerned.
Remembering what happened a few minutes ago, Zoe glanced back and forth between the 5 boys. "Because someone's a peeping tom!"
Naturally, JP was picked as the most likely suspect. His obvious crush on Zoe, all the flirtatious remarks and moves he made on the girl. It was only logic that he'd be the one spying on Zoe undressing. Though…
"Come on guys, it couldn't have been JP." Tommy said. Yeah, he did think it was him a moment ago, but that was before he remembered something. "He was swimming with us the while time, remember?"
Oh yeah…
"I forgot." the accusing boys and digimon said in chorus. Only Koichi apologized for his, albeit short, accusation.
"We all have the same alibi." Koji mused.
That didn't make sense. "Then by process of elimination, it was no one?" Bokomon questioned.
"Are you calling Zoe a liar?" JP snapped, still a bit pissed from being everyone's suspect.
"Nah, of course not JP." Takuya tried to calm him down as he got up from the floor. "It's obvious we're not alone here."
Koji gave him a deadpanned glance. "Of course we're not alone, Einstein. Did you forget the Toucanmon?"
"Pretty hard to forget, with how they pretty much refused to let us leave." Sophia added to the suspicion.
That was more than enough to go and search the beach house. Even without looking much, it was obvious the place was deserted. The hats and apron the Toucanmon were wearing were strewn about. It was, like Takuya said, pretty suspicious.
Pretty suspicious indeed, Koji mused. Why would the Toucanmon leave them to their own devices after begging them to stay so much? And they disappeared after Zoe screamed, only adding to the suspicion. Maybe they should Spirit evolve and search for them.
He felt around for his D-Tector for a bit, before remembering he'd left it in the dressing room. Wait!
"Guys… You might wanna take a look at this."
All eyes turned to the wind chime in Sophia's hand. The paper had a picture of Ranamon. The Toucanmon had a chime with Ranamon's picture?
"Oh no!" Koji sprinted towards the dressing rooms, not caring if anyone else followed him. He was almost 90% certain of what was going on, and there was just one thing he had to know before he could make it 100%.
He threw the doors open, ignoring Takuya's shout as he barely managed to avoid being hit with it, and ripped the basket from its shelf.
The boys caught on to what Koji was doing and immediately searched through their own baskets. As unfortunately expected, their D-Tectors were gone as well. The bird boys tricked them! They nicked the D-Tectors when they went swimming. That's why they didn't want the gang to leave!
"This is awful!" Takuya voiced what they all were thinking.
"This goes well beyond awful, young man." Bokomon scolded him, as well as the others while he was at it. "How could you let those Toucanmon trick you like that?"
"Stop it! They fooled all of us." Koji retorted.
Koichi lay a hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "We need to go after them. They couldn't have gotten far."
Koji nodded. "If we hurry we might catch up to them."
"Right!" Without thinking, Takuya and JP took their swimsuits off, only remembering the girls when they heard two squeaks. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
The girls quickly fled and checked their own stuff. Who knows, maybe the Toucanmon came back while they were searching the beach house to steal the other D-Tectors.
"Mine is still here." Zoe announced. "How about yours?"
Sophia waved her D-Tector. "Took it with me when we heard you screaming."
"Good, then you'd better get changed. I'll wait outside."
A little under 10 minutes later, the gang was all dressed and ready to go after the thieves. Koichi luckily still had his D-Tector, since he grabbed it on his way to the dressing rooms as well. Now they just needed to find the Toucanmon, which admittedly wasn't hard. They left clear footprints in the sand. Sucks to be them.
"-Ranamon the ravishing~~!"
It was them! They were just up this dune. And…and tey were singing about Ranamon? This was it, soon they would have their D-Tectors back. Takuya could already see their head-crests.
"Alright! Hold it right there you thieves!" he called out. "Just what do you mean 'Ranamon the ravishing'?! Huh?!"
"Give our D-Tectors back to us right now!" Koji demanded. There was no way those ugly birds were taking Lobomon and KendoGarurumon from him!
"No way, no how!" Toucanmon tauntingly showed off the white and blue D-Tector he held, much to Koji's frustration. "These little babies are our ticket to a date with Ranamon."
So… They were fanboys, huh? Must be with all the merch they're wearing.
"Please! A drunk Gekomon has a bigger chance getting a side-glance from Ranamon than you guys have of getting heard! And that is with your chances combined!" Sophia mockingly taunted them.
"Take it from me, you guys are delusional! Now give them back!" JP growled. And…did he just take himself as an example of being delusional? Ouch?
The Toucanmon refused to believe any of them though, too caught up in their fantasies of Ranamon going on a date with them. "You can't make us! Now scram!"
"Maybe we should scram…" One of them said, which reminded the others that, not only are they outnumbered, but they didn't take all the D-Tectors. Three of them could still kick their ass and ruin their date chances.
But they also had D-Tectors now… Oh yes. They knew exactly what to do… "Scramming!"
So the chase continued. And man! Those stupid birds were fast! Sooner or later they were gonna get the slip. The gang was soon interrupted when they noticed several spurts of water bursting from the ocean.
Takuya stopped, first to notice it. "That doesn't look good." he said, seconds before Ranamon rose from the water on a pillar of water, six more surrounding her.
"Oh dear, it's Ranamon!" Bokomon exclaimed in worry. He quickly pulled out his book, ignoring Ranamon greeting them. "She's the warrior of water and very evil!"
Takuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, of course she is!"
Sophia, however, did not resist that urge. "Did you forget we already met?" she asked the gnome-digimon. "Pretty hard to forget with how we got our butts handed to us…" she muttered lowly.
"She sure has lousy timing." Koji scoffed, his hand felt around his pocket on instinct and he growled when he remembered who had his D-Tector.
"What a pleasant surprise~ I have so looked forward to seeing y'all again." Ranamon said in the most fake sincerity ever. "I'd hoped to have my beast spirit to show you first, but everything happens for a reason. We can't have everything. Just be good little children and hand over your spirits." Ha! Joke's on her! Even if they wanted to hand them over, they couldn't. "I'd love to stay and chat, but frankly you'd bore me to tears." …Rude… "Now, how's that sound?"
Zoe stepped up to her, unafraid. "Sounds stupid to me."
Normally, everyone would have agreed with that answer, but not right now. Not without their D-Tectors. They couldn't even attempt to fight Ranamon right now!
Zoe kept standing confident, not looking away from the water warrior. "I'll handle her." This, of course, caused some protest on JP's part. "Don't worry, JP. I'll take care of her in no time."
"Goody, goody~ This is gonna be a treat!" Ranamon grinned.
The two pillars of water quickly turned into cyclones, turning and twisting around Ranamon like a protective tornado. It caused a strong wind that the warriors had a hard time standing upright in.
"This is very very bad." Bokomon fretted as he read from his book. "As long as she's near water her offensive powers exponentially enhance."
"I'm guessing that's a bad thing?" Neemon asked, not really understanding what his friend just said.
Sophia rolled her eyes. "He means: Near water she gets stronger."
Neemon shuddered, finally understanding. "Ooh! That is bad!"
"I just said that! Didn't I just say that?!" "I dunno." Those two…
Zoe still glared at the evil warrior. "Water woman sure has a nasty temper." Attacking her and her friends when more than half was defenseless? Coward's move! She ignored JP's calls of concern again. 'You can't. You can't.' Of course she can! "Look, I haven't been able to Spirit evolve. I need to make up for lost time!" She would prove it with the help of Kazemon.
"I've never felt this helpless before."
A pang of sadness went through her. She knew exactly how JP was feeling… Which is exactly why she was going to do this! No one should feel helpless like that again. It was a nightmare when she lost her Spirits, she wasn't about to let her friends feel the same for as long as she had. Not if she could help it!
"Just leave it to me!" She grabbed her D-Tector, smiling at the familiar weight in her hand. It has been too long since she spoke these words. "EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION! …KAZEMON!"
As soon as Kazemon arrived on the battlefield, the cyclones stopped. Ranamon wasn't about to give a power boost to her enemy.
"Sugah, do you think you can take me on alone?" the water witch taunted with a smug grin on her face. She was in her element after all. There's no way this little fairy can beat her.
Kazemon thought differently. "That's a silly question. Of course I can, sugah."
"So now you're gonna mock me?" Ranamon snapped.
Kazemon gave a sly smirk. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'd rather fight!" she yelled, throwing a punch.
Unfortunately it was quickly put on halt by a fast rising water pillar. Kazemon flew back to try and avoid it, but Ranamon send it to follow the fairy-digimon. While fleeing from the funnels, they split in two and dove for Kazemon. She managed to dodge them, but the funnels still followed her from under the water. They emerged again, but this time Kazemon was close to a cliff. This time she had a plan and when she came close to the cliff, she flew up which caused the cyclones to crash into the cliff-side, turning it back to regular non-controlled water.
Down on the beach, the boys (and girl) were too caught up in Kazemon's fight to realize the Toucanmon had gotten away. Koji hated this feeling of uselessness and kept instinctively reaching for the D-Tector he no longer had. After a while of doing so, Koichi caught on to what he was doing and immediately remembered the feathered thieves.
He looked around in an instant, frowning when he realized they weren't there. "The Toucanmon got away!" he informed the others, who immediately snapped out of whatever trance the fight put them under and looked around.
"Oh man! Those feathered fanboys got the slip on us!" Takuya groaned.
"But it looks like they left us a nice trail to follow." Sophia smirked, pointing at the footprints in the sand.
Takuya nodded. "Then let's follow them!"
"Hold on! We can't just leave Zoe behind like that." JP argued.
"But we can't let the Toucanmon get away with our D-Tectors either!" Takuya tried to reason. "I don't wanna leave Zoe behind either, but she's got her Spirit. We don't."
While this exchange went on, Koichi was already following the footprints. It wasn't something he'd normally do without at least informing the others, but this time it was different. Something… Something felt different. Good different, but still. He needed to go there.
"Koichi?" Sophia called his name, snapping him out of his trance. Looking back, he saw that he'd already walked quite a distance. "Finally with us again? I called you 3 times already."
"Really? I'm sorry, it's just…" He looked ahead towards where the footprints were headed. "I felt something. It's just…pulling me there. I can't explain it."
Sophia seemed to take what he said into consideration. "Good something or bad something?"
"Good."
"Then let's go!" Sophia took his arm and sprinted ahead of him.
She waited until Koichi felt the 'something' again and let him guide her there once he did. They ended up on the borderline between the beach and the woods. Toucanmon's footprints had disappeared by now, they already had back where they'd dropped their Ranamon merch. They probably flew off not long after dropping everything, but Koichi kept leading Sophia towards the 'something'.
"Are you sure it's here?" Sophia asked, anxious since she was not familiar with the woods here at all. Then again, neither was Koichi….
The navy-haired boy nodded, grabbing her hand and leading her into the woods. It wasn't long until they heard sounds coming from around them. It slightly unnerved them, especially when they couldn't find the source. They kept walking, stepping over high protruding roots and ducking under low hanging branches, until they saw what looked to be a clearing.
The duo took a few steps towards it, but were quickly blocked by a horde of green, monkey-like digimon. They all aimed a slingshot with some sort of projectile at the humans.
"Trespassers!" They called out.
Koichi and Sophia slowly back down, but the digimon refused to let them move. One of the digimon without a weapon aimed at them stepped closer. "You trespassers! What you doing here?" it asked in a childlike voice.
"We didn't realize we were trespassing." Koichi tried to reason with them. "We don't mean any harm."
"That no answer." the monkey said as the armed ones pulled their slingshots tighter. "Now answer! Why you here?"
They were about to answer, when another, somehow younger looking digimon stepped closer. The little monkey, much to the confusion of its pack, sniffed the warriors up and down, even going so far as to climb them like some sort of toy.
"Monmon warriors, stop!" it called out to its pack once it was done sniffing. "These warriors of sound and dark."
Murmurs came from the group upon hearing that information. The leader stepped closer and sniffed as well. Eyes widened when he realized the other Monmon was right. He grabbed Koichi by his pants and began pulling him towards the clearing. Other Monmon followed his example and soon the human duo found themselves in the clearing.
It held a bunch of Monmon statues, each showing a different emotion. It kind of reminded them of Easter Island back in the human world.
"We tasked to protect dark Spirit." the leader Monmon said. "Many digimon want to steal. We not let them." That was…dark. Especially considering how much they look and sound like children. "You take. It yours." He looked at Koichi.
"Dark spirit? You mean my Beast Spirit?" he asked, gaining a nod from the Monmon.
Koichi smiled as he looked around. He glanced over the statues, wondering if his Beast Spirit may be around one of them. When he caught sight of the neutral, almost emotionless statue right in the middle, he froze. His eyes glazed over with a dark fog as he walked over to it. He reached forward, placing his hand on the belly of the statue. Immediately it burst open like it was made of paper, startling the Monmon to the point of fleeing.
The Beast Spirit floated in front of Koichi. Snatching the D-tector from his pocket, he pointed it to the Spirit and it, as usual, got absorbed into the device.
"EXECUTE! BEAST SPIRIT EVOLUTION! …JAGERLOWEMON!"
Sophia quickly hid behind a tree, not expecting the sudden evolution. She hoped he'd have control over his Spirit and that the hiding was unnecessary, but that hope was quickly dashed when she heard a growl. Her heart sank when she heard the beastly growl. He had no control. Sure enough, when she peeked around the tree, his eyes were fogged over, which could only mean the Spirit was the one in control.
She knew she couldn't fight him. When the beast was in control, they seemed much stronger than the tamed Beast Spirits the children held. 'But… I…I gotta do something!' She swallowed her anxiety and stepped out of her hiding place, D-Tector in hand. 'This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever done…'
Jagerlowemon immediately spotted her. Growling, he charged at her as soon as he saw the device. Sophia, never taking her eyes of the creature and with shuddering breath, dropped her D-Tector in the sand and kicked it to the side. Jagerlowemon stopped mid-charge, looking at her in confusion.
"Koichi… I'm your friend, remember?" she said softly, slowly walking closer to him. He tensed up, but didn't attack, waiting for the inevitable attack the human would throw. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Koichi." When she reached the warrior, she crouched down and slowly reached for his nose. He again, tensed up, waiting for the strike so he could strike back twice as hard. When she instead softly started petting his nose, he was left confused. "I'm trying to help you… Come back…?"
The Beast Spirit, sensing no more danger, let up. The fog disappeared from Jagerlowemon's eyes as the control went back to Koichi. Sophia hadn't noticed yet and, much to Koichi's embarrassment, was still petting his nose.
"S-Sophia?" he stuttered.
In a flash, Sophia stopped what she was doing and stood up. "Y-you're back! Great!" she stuttered out rushed and blushing as red as Agunimon's armor. "U-uh… L-Let's go get the Toucanmon now!"
She rushed to get her D-Tector, just to get away from that situation. How embarrassing! He caught her petting him! If anyone else had seen that, she'd never live it down! Heck, she was never gonna let herself live this down!
"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION! …SONAMON!"
While Jagerlowmon had armor to cover up his blush, Sonamon didn't have that luxury, so she flew high up to make up for it. In a way it did help their situation, as now she could easily spot the Toucanmon sitting by the sea-cliff. She gestured for Jagerlowemon to follow her and flew over to where she saw them. It was quite a distance flying and running, in fact it seemed to be on the other side of the island to where the Toucan paradise was, but eventually they reached it.
"So, what should we do with these?" One of the Toucanmon asked, looking at the D-Tectors.
"I have an idea." Sonamon said, jumping out from the trees. "How about you give them back to us?" As on cue, Jagerlowemon jumped out from the woods as well.
The Toucanmon quickly jumped up in fright. "How did you find us?!"
Sonamon just gave them a deadpanned stare while pointing at her wings. Still the Toucanmon weren't that easily swayed. They scrambled to get the D-Tectors along with… Is that… Is that a photo of Zoe in the changing rooms?!*
"What is that picture…?" Sonaon asked lowly, suddenly feeling very protective over the girl she calls her friend. "Why. The hell. Do you have. A picture. Of Zoe. In your feathered paws?!"
Jagerlowemon growled as well the moment he noticed it. The Toucanmon seemed to realize their mistake immediately as the one holding the photo scrambled around with it, eventually settling on throwing it away.
But mistakes were already made. Sonamon had already gathered the biggest ball of soundwaves in her hands as she glared daggers at the four.
"SONAR BOOM!" She threw it with all her might at the digimon, sending them flying over the cliff's edge. Luckily for them, they could fly, unfortunately for them, so could Sonamon.
"I dare you to take photos of underage girls like that again! You peeping toms! You scumbags! Get back and fight!" She launched another sonar boom with every sentence she said.
Fortunately for the Toucanmon, they were saved the rampage when a still spinning Calmaramon crashed into Sonamon and send her falling back onto the seaside cliff, de-Spirit evolving upon impact.
Though the crash and the sudden stab on pain in her shoulder didn't stop her from glaring daggers at the retreating backs of the Toucanmon.
"Sophia, are you okay?" Jagerlowemon asked, crouching down next to her.
With a growl she stood up and snatched up the photo. "I'm fine, but let's be glad I'm not the one getting my Beast Spirit today. Because I can assure you I'd be throwing a rampage like Takuya did." She took a deep breath trying to calm her anger. "Let's just get back to the others and tell them the bad news…"
Fun fact: When I first heard Jagerlowemon's name, I thought it was some weird mispronunciation of MegaLowemon.
*In case you didn't notice. In episode 16 there is actually a photo of Zoe in her 'Racecar' swimsuit right under JP and Takuya's D-Tectors.
Thanks for reading!