After walking for several minutes in silence at a good pace, Izzy, who had been monitoring their progress through the forest on his computer, said, "We've got maybe . . . ten more miles to go."
"We're getting no where fast like this!" Sora said. She turned to the small pink bird Digimon trotting after her. "Biyomon, can you Digivolve and fly us there?"
"Sure Sora! Consider it done!" Biyomon spread her small wings and flew up, making a subtle Digivolve to Birdramon as she went. Birdramon soared up into the sky, banked, and drifted back down, her huge red wings open like parachutes. "Climb on, everyone." She said, as she landed feet first on the ground. Tai, Sora, and Agumon climbed up on one of her tree-trunk sized legs, while Kari, Gatomon, Izzy and Tentomon climbed up on the other.
Birdramon tucked her large wings back along her sides, and then leapt up into the air like a rabbit. She opened her large wings, soared up above the tall tree tops, and leveled out at perhaps a mile up, and started flapping, keeping her legs outstretched beneath her, which is an un-birdlike trait, as birds tuck their legs against their bodies to make themselves as streamline as possible.
They traveled like this for a few minutes, until Birdramon saw something far below. "Is that what we're looking for?" she asked.
Izzy consulted his computer, and then looked down towards the ground, squinting to see what Birdramon's great eyes had seen. "I see it! That's it, Birdramon! Take us down!" Birdramon swooped down gently, once more using her great wings as large parachutes. They landed without mishap, in a small but concealing grove of trees, and as Izzy determined where they were, Birdramon shrank back down to Biyomon.
Tai pushed some low branches out of the way, and peered out past the small forest that they were in. Directly in front of him, perhaps ten yards, was a large, incredibly old looking mansion. It could have been a haunted house, except for the fact that one did not become scared by looking at it, nor did the notion of the house being haunted even register in the mind.
However, two Ultimate Digimon were standing guard in front of the old house, and when Izzy spotted them, both their pictures appeared on his computer screen. The one that looked like a huge woolly mammoth with a metal faceplate covering his eyes was called Mammothmon, and the other, a Triceratops which appeared to be able to stand on it's hind legs, called Triceramon.
"What are we going to do about them?" Sora asked.
"We've got to get past them. We don't want Kronosmon to be expecting us. Is there any other way into that mansion, Izzy?" Tai asked.
"Let me see." He scrutinized the map more closely, and then said, "Yes. But we would have to completely circle the mansion to the back without being seen."
"Let's do it. Gatomon, you lead the way."
"Of course. After all, we cats are known for our ability to walk without a sound." Gatomon lead the way, out of the small ring of trees, into a larger but less dense forest. They traveled as far away from the two Ultimates as they could, but they could not stop Kari from accidentally stepping on a stick and making it crack.
"What was that?" Triceramon yelled in a deep craggy voice.
"Someone is in the forest." Mammothmon said, in a deeper voice that suggested he had a bad cold.
"Well, you know what our orders are. No one bothers Lord Kronosmon!"
"Now what do we do Tai?" Izzy asked. He folded his computer, ready for a battle.
"We have no choice. We'll save WarGreymon and Phoenixmon for later. We need Angewoman and MegaKabuterimon now!"
"Tentomon Digivolve to . . . . Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon Digivolve to . . . MegaKabuterimon!"
"Gatomon Digivolve to . . . . Angewoman!"
MegaKabuterimon flew up high, erupting from the covering of trees like a cannon ball, with Angewoman weaving gracefully, dodging the falling debris of shredded tree.
"There!" Triceramon pointed at MegaKabuterimon and Angewoman, who were rapidly closing in on them. "Tri-Horn Attack!" Three horns of energy erupted from Triceramon's large head and streaked like guided missiles towards the airborne pair. Angewoman easily dodged, and MegaKabuterimon took the hit, barely affected.
"My turn!" he announced, in his deep bass like voice. "Horn Buster!" He slammed into both of the two opposing Ultimates at once, sending them both reeling. Mammothmon got to his feet first, and—
"Tusk Crusher!" Mammothmon returned MegaKabuterimon's blow with interest, sending the other Digimon back into orbit.
"Tri-Horn Attack!" This time Triceramon's attack had some effect, and knocked MegaKabuterimon spinning, causing him to crash into a grove of trees.
"Celestial Arrow!" A pure energy arrow streaked from Angewoman's bow and struck Triceramon head on, knocking him back.
"Freezing Breath!" An ice cold stream of energy slammed into Angewoman, knocking her far back into the trees. MegaKabuterimon rose up, and caught her, cushioning her blow. "Let's do it together, MegaKabuterimon." She said, after she regained her balance in the air.
"Horn Buster!" A bolt of energy leapt from MegaKabuterimon's massive horn.
"Celestial Arrow!" Another energy-forged arrow, flew straight and true from the bow.
Both attacks struck the massive Mammothmon head on, before he could dodge. He gave a yell of pain and surprise, and then disappeared into small fragments that were borne away by the wind.
"Mega Dash!" Triceramon launched himself, headfirst, straight for Angewoman, with all the power of a Mac truck in his massive, armored body. MegaKabuterimon flew up, directly in Triceramon's path, and Triceramon slammed into MegaKabuterimon's shell, which had the effect of slamming into a brick wall, and Triceramon was knocked head over heels.
As he climbed to his feet, MegaKabuterimon hit him like a linebacker, knocking him back into the old mansion. He went clear through the outer wall, and landed several feet inside, among a shower of wood chips.
"You want to have the honors?" MegaKabuterimon asked Angewoman, as he joined her in her lofty seat in the sky.
"Allow me to save you the trouble!" a voice came out, loud and terrifying, from the middle of the old mansion. As if lifted by some unseen force, Triceramon appeared to levitate in midair, and then come flying back through the mansion's outer walls, creating yet another hole. Triceramon slammed headfirst into the ground, and slowly got up and stared back at the old mansion.
"My Lord Kronosmon, I am—"
"Silence! Fool! You cannot even handle a group of upstart Digidestined and their fool Digimon!" There was a blur in the air, a kind of black distortion, next to Triceramon, who had gone rigid, and another Digimon popped into view. He was short, only five feet high, but appeared to be constructed out of a clock. The numbers on the face were twisted and black, and the hands were a twisted mess. His eyes blazed out from either side of the '12', and his actual hands sprouted out from the sides of numbers '3' and '9'.
"I have no use for fools like you! Hand of Time!" He thrust out his hand, glowing with a charcoal black light, and it appeared to shoot out a beam that ripped apart the very fabric of the air around them. Triceramon screamed, energy exploded from within him, and in seconds, he was gone, reduced to a small, black Digi Egg.
Kronosmon picked up the egg and placed it in an unseen pocket without a second thought. He then turned to look at Angewoman and MegaKabuterimon, both hovering overhead. "Do you fools actually think to beat me? Give it a go, then, if you must." Although his voice was thick and hard, there was a hint of British to it.
"Horn Buster!"
"Celestial Arrow!"
Both attacks streamed straight for Kronosmon, but he ignored them. "You have resiliency, I'll give you that much! Hand of Time!" The same evil beam of energy lanced out, engulfing MegaKabuterimon and Angewoman as one. They cried out, and dropped lifeless to the ground. Their internal energies burst out from within them, and they devolved to their In-Training states of Motimon and Nyaromon.
As the in-training Digimon scurried back to their humans, Tai stepped angrily out of hiding. "You just made a serious mistake, Time-head! Agumon!" Agumon came running out of hiding, and leapt into the energy steam pouring out of Tai's Digivice.
"Agumon warp Digivolved to . . . . . WarGreymon!"
The armored, Mega form of Agumon stood tall as he faced off with Kronosmon, one of the Dark Alliance. Tai ran back to where the others were still hiding and watching. "Biyo, get ready to warp Digivolve." Sora warned.
"Take care of him, Tai." Kari said, as she cuddled Nyaromon.
"Terra Force!" WarGreymon turned into a spinning top, so he became nothing but a red blur, and then launched himself out at Kronosmon, horizontally, claws first.
He slammed into Kronosmon, knocking him back the into the old mansion, through one of the holes that Triceramon had created. He actually laughed as he climbed to his feet. "Is that the best you have? Hand of Time!" The black beam launched straight for WarGreymon, but he swung out his armored claws, knocking the blast away.
"Impressive." Kronosmon laughed, as he came towards WarGreymon. "But I'm afraid your time is up. Spinning Gears!" The entire front of the clock face slit open down the middle and opened outward, revealing a black void within. Three large, black shining gears flew out of the black abyss and came hurtling at WarGreymon. He managed to knock two of them off course, but the third caught him solidly in the chest, knocking him back several feet.
"Biyo—" Sora began, but Biyomon was already getting airborne.
"Biyomon warp Digivolved to . . . . Phoenixmon!" The huge bird shot out through a narrow opening in the boughs of the trees, no even pausing as she sent a shower of snapped branches raining down upon the ground.
"Beak of Power!" She shot down, straight for Kronosmon, her beak shining like a beacon of celestial light. The impact knocked Kronosmon back, and as he slammed into the ground, he dug a furrow into it. He climbed out of it, laughing still to himself. He limped towards them, and—
"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated a huge red ball of energy easily as big as he was, and sent it flying straight for Kronosmon. He was knocked back yet again, and when he landed, he was singed and smoking. He climbed slowly to his feet, still laughing.
"What's so funny, Time-head?" WarGreymon growled from under his armor.
"Fools! I control time totally!" he laughed out loud. "Time Warp!" A blackness seemed to leap from his clenched fists and encircle him. To the others, it appeared that he dulled, faded almost to invisibility, but then came back, and when he did, all signs of any kind of battle were gone.
Izzy, who had brought up a picture of Kronosmon on his computer screen said, "He's right! Whatever damage WarGreymon and Phoenixmon do to him, he'll just reverse time as if it had never happened!" Tai scowled, but said nothing as he turned back to the battle.
"Spinning Gears!" His clock-face opened yet again, and six spinning black circles of dark light erupted from the black void within, and shot straight for the two defending Megas.
WarGreymon tried to block again, but the full force of the spinning gears slammed into him, knocking him clear through a tall thick tree that appeared to be an oak. He landed several feet on the other side, and struggled to get up. Tai was about to run to help him, but Sora held him back.
Phoenixmon managed to dodge the spinning gears, but could not counter-attack, as Kronosmon had launched yet another volley of the spinning gears.
"Giga Cannon!" a large yellow ball of energy high over from the other side of the mansion and slammed into the spinning gears, turning them into dust.
All the Digidestined did a double-take. They had heard and seen that attack before, but the evil Digimon that had that attack was destroyed long ago!
"That sounds like—" Kari started, but they all finished at the same time, "Machinedramon!"
Indeed it was Machinedramon, one of the Dark Masters who they thought had been defeated before the time that came to be known as 'The Fall of the Dark Masters,' when Piedmon had been defeated by the might of MagnaAngemon, with the help of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
There was a low rush of powerful engines, as Machinedramon touched down, with the aid of rockets build into his feet and back, very close to where WarGreymon and Phoenixmon now were. He turned to look at the other two good Megas, twisting his metal, snakelike head around and stared at them with all the expression a robot can have. "You aren't the ones I have come to destroy," he said, in a deep yet monochromatic voice.
"Hmmm. Machinedramon. One of the Dark Master fools, I believe." Kronosmon said. "No matter. Even if all the Dark Masters were here, you would still fall before me! Hand of Time!" the black attack sprung forth, but before anyone could react—
"Trump Sword!" Three small, expertly thrown swords flew out of nowhere, slamming into his attack and causing it to dissipate almost in the same instant.
"What?" Kronosmon looked in the direction that the swords had come from, which appeared to be from the heart of the mansion. A low, sinister laugh erupted from the darkness inside, one that was all too familiar to the Digidestined.
"Isn't that—" Sora started.
"Piedmon." Tai muttered, gritting his teeth so hard he thought they would crack.
The tall, brightly clothed clown Digimon, the most powerful and deadly of all the Dark Masters, and up until the arrival of the Dark Alliance, the most powerful Mega Digimon in the Digiworld, stepped out from the mansion. His wide shoulders were slumped, his head slightly down, and he stared directly at Kronosmon, his eyes like twin beacons of piercing evil that could not be ignored or diverted. He laughed again, between his clenched teeth, sounding almost like a mad clown. Kronosmon, in spite of himself, took a few steps back, and avoided looking directly at the on coming Dark Master.
"Two of the Dark Masters. This will be even easier." Kronosmon said, careful not to allow any of his doubt show in his voice.
"Dragon Fire!" Machinedramon raised up one of his metallic arms, and an explosion of energy erupted from it, engulfing Kronosmon, throwing him back.
"As much as if pains me to do this," Piedmon said, as he turned to WarGreymon and Phoenixmon, "Let's wrap this up quick in a nice package deal." He turned back to Kronosmon and fluidly drawing his swords, threw them straight at Kronosmon. "Trump Sword!"
"Spinning Gears!" Three gears erupted from the inside of Kronosmon, destroying each of the three swords as they hit.
Tai glanced sidelong at Sora. "Should we trust them?" She smiled back, leaned forward, and kissed him lightly. "For now."
"Nova Force!" WarGreymon, having reached full strength again after a short rest, generated yet another vast sphere of reddish energy, and lobbed it overhand at Kronosmon, like an overhead pass.
"Hand of Time!" The black energies erupted from Kronosmon, and slammed into the ball of energy, causing both energy projectiles to vanish upon impact.
"I grow tired of your performance, Kronosmon!" Piedmon said. "Clown Trick!" he gestured outwards from the ground, causing rocks to rise up from the ground and slam repeatedly into Kronosmon, forcing him back.
"Giga Cannon!" Repeating bursts of energy slammed into Kronosmon, sending him to his knees. He rose, and laughed at them all.
"Think I'm a clown?" Piedmon demanded. Who was this Digimon to laugh at the most powerful of all of the Dark Masters? "Clown Trick!" he extended his right hand, and a powerful, concentrated burst of solidified wind energy slammed into Kronosmon. He staggered around a bit, but still did not fall. Instead—
"Time Warp!" All of the damage that Kronosmon had taken disappeared, as the laws of physics were violated and time reversed itself.
As the seemingly endless battle toiled on further around them, Izzy sat at his computer, typing fast and thinking faster. He had called up MagnaAngemon's file up on the computer, and was examining the attack called 'Gate of Destiny.' Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Of course! The Gate of Destiny did not destroy Piedmon, only imprisoned him! So when the Digiworld reconfigured itself, he was released, and the other Dark Masters were re-created!" In his excitement, he did not notice his crest glowing with celestial light, nor did the small pink Digimon at his shoulder. The energies from the Digivice overflowed their cache, like an river overflowing it's banks, and the energy washed over Motimon.
"Motimon Digivolved to . . . . Tentomon."
The surge of power became even stronger, and the energy hit Tentomon like a shot.
"Tentomon warp Digivolved to . . . . HerculesKabuterimon!"
HerculesKabuterimon stood, a tall yellow Hercules beetle with red slashes on his body. He had a pair of huge mandibles on his head, two wings, two stout legs, and four arms.
"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, as HerculesKabuterimon's picture appeared on his computer screen. "Tentomon's Mega form!"
HerculesKabuterimon leapt up into the air, on wings that looked far too small and frail to lift anything of his size, and slashed clean through a tree with one snap of his mandibles, and flew up high into the sky.
The other Mega Digimon heard the commotion that HerculesKabuterimon's giant wings made, and they looked up. "Another Mega Digimon? It appears that there are far too many of those in this accursed Digiworld!" Kronosmon said. "I've had just about enough of this. Hand of Time!" he shot out yet another of his black attacks, and it lanced straight for Phoenixmon. Since she had only just reached Mega level and was not experienced, the attack hit her, she grew dark, and then devolved back to Biyomon.
"Biyomon!" Sora yelled, as she jumped to her feet and ran out into the battlefield to help her friend.
"Spinning Gears!" Three spinning black disc-shaped gears erupted from the inside of Kronosmon and shot straight for Sora, who was knelt over her down Digimon.
WarGreymon leapt, and just managed to get in front of Sora, taking the full force of the attack that was meant for her. He was thrown at least a dozen yards, and when he tried to get up, he was bathed in a sickly yellow light and devolved to Agumon, who lay there groaning like he had eaten too much.
As Tai and Sora ran back into the relative safety of the woods, helping their injured Digimon, Piedmon turned again back to the still outnumbered Kronosmon. "As much as I would like to commemorate you for such a deed, you have tried to take over this world which was once rightfully mine! Trump Sword!" Three swords were thrown, and slammed into Kronosmon, rocking him back.
"Giga Cannon!" Repeat explosions of energy projectiles slammed into Kronosmon, pounding into the ground. He rose up—
"Time Warp!" All the damage that he had taken instantly vanished.
"Your time traveling days are over!" HerculesKabuterimon announced in an odd voice that had a hollow echo to it, as if someone speaking through a can. He shot down from his seat in the sky, his wings creating winds more powerful than most helicopters.
"Spinning Gears!" the black gears flew like arrows from an archer's bow, and slammed full-force into HerculesKabuterimon, but he appeared not to feel the blow.
"Giga Scissor Claw!"
HerculesKabuterimon's large, razor sharp mandibles, glowing with an eerie yellow light, slashed out at Kronosmon several times in rapid succession, each snap of the glowing mandibles cutting into Kronosmon yet again, until he was lacerated all over with glowing slashes.
Kronosmon gasped and tried to move, but when he did, his body appeared to literally slide and phase apart at the glowing lacerations, and each part dissolve into nothing. He let out a last yell of enraged surprised, and the last part of his sliced and diced body dissolved into nothingness.
HerculesKabuterimon then set down firmly on the ground and looked at Piedmon and Machinedramon expectantly.
"Well, there's something you don't see everyday." Piedmon said.
Tai, Izzy, Sora, and Kari came running out of the forest with their Digimon. "What do you want, Piedmon?" Tai asked. Agumon stood, ready to warp Digivolve at moment's notice.
Piedmon laughed to himself when he looked at these children challenging him, yet he remembered the humiliating defeat he had suffered at their hands. "I have come to reclaim what was mine before you—" he stopped, before he would get too angry, and change his mind. He was going to enlist the help of the Digidestined, and once the Dark Alliance was overthrown, he would personally destroy the Digidestined once and for all.
"The Digiworld was never yours!" Tai said.
"Foolish little Digidestined. Do you think Gennai will allow you to rule the Digiworld? Once the Dark Alliance is gone, he will rule it, and have no further use for you or your Digimon, and so get rid of you."
Tai stopped. He had never thought of what would happen if they defeated the Dark Alliance.
"Tai, don't listen to him!" Sora yelled.
"Afraid of the truth, little girl?" Piedmon laughed. He had detected the doubt in Sora's mind, and knew his plan would work. Little children are so naïve, they believe anything you tell them. "Ask Gennai if you don't believe me! If you help me defeat the Dark Alliance, I will split the Digiworld in half. One half will be controlled by the Dark Masters, while the other will be left alone. Is it a deal?" he asked, sticking out his right hand.
Tai glanced at the others. It appeared that they were unsure of what to do, and Tai reasoned that they needed all the help they could get, and if this turned out to be a trick, they could just have MagnaAngemon defeat him again. Still, this would be like dealing with the devil, or playing Russian Roulette. They would have to keep an eye on the Dark Masters from now on. Tai gingerly stuck out his hand and shook with Piedmon.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" Sora asked. She kept her eyes on Tai, but it was obvious there was no way she would ever trust Piedmon. They might be temporary allies, but it was truly a dark Alliance, one that was never made to be, regardless of the situation.
Over a dozen miles away . . . .
The other four Digidestined had at last reached Phobiamon's hideout, with turned out to be a large cave, blacker than black, even in the beginning of the cave. T.K. had brought along a small plastic flashlight that he had gotten as a trinket in a box of cereal, and that gave off a little light, reduced even more in the unnatural darkness.
In the darkness, Mimi shivered, but not because of the cold. This is an ideal place for a creep like Phobiamon, she thought, as the group trudged on a narrow, rocky path which seemed to get darker and more foreboding with every passing moment. She wished she had never heard about Digimon, had never gone on that stupid summer camp. She wanted to be in the warm sunshine on the beach. She wanted to be shopping in the wonderfully air conditioned mall, but instead she was here, trudging through some dark, smelly cave—She got so mad she wanted to kick something, but the only thing available was the solid rock wall on either side, and she would only hurt her foot in the process, and end up getting even angrier.
The others were feeling much of the same way. The darkness and chill were certainly not helping their moods along in any way, and the fact that they were going on to meet what could be their destruction was also hovering over their heads like a two ton weight on a tiny thread, ready to snap at any moment.
They traveled along like this for what seemed like hours to them, but in reality it was only ten minutes, when Matt, who was at the head of the line, stopped suddenly, causing Gabumon, who had the vision of candy dancing in his head, to almost bump into him. He strained his eyes in the weak light, shining the small light from the plastic flashlight as well as he could.
He turned back to the others, and spoke in a whisper. "I think we've come into some kind of large cavern."
"Well, what do we do now?" Mimi asked, her voice barely a whisper.
There was a sudden high pitched laughter overhead, as lights suddenly snapped on. They recoiled from the sudden explosion of light, and when they could see, it appeared that they were in a large rocky cavern, with large torches set in brackets on the walls every few feet.
They looked up to where the light had come from, and saw Phobiamon, standing there atop a large, narrow rock platform, holding his misshapen staff and grinning madly down at them. "Why it's the Digidestined brats!" he said in a high pitched whine, sounding like a little kid. "So you have found my little hidey-hole. Goodie! Now we can have all sorts of fun before I destroy you all!" his wild, crazy voice had the distinction of Cockney to it.
"We don't want to play around with you!" Matt yelled. "Gabumon!" he held out his Digivice over his friend.
"Gabumon warp Digivolved to . . . . MetalGarurumon!" The cybernetic wolf stood looking up at the wildly smirking Phobiamon, growling loudly.
"Come on MetalGarurumon, don't be a stick in the mud! Play with your old friend Phobiamon! Crazy Punch!" A bolt of strange red and black energy leapt from his outstretched hand, and slammed into MetalGarurumon, knocking him back.
"C'mon guys!" Gomamon yelled. "Gomamon Digivolved to . . . Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon Digivolved to . . . . Zudomon!"
"Palmon Digivolved to . . . . Togemon! Togemon Digivolved to . . . . Lillymon!"
"So you want to play too?" Phobiamon asked. "Then join us! Crazy Punch!" The attack slammed into the two Ultimates, knocking them far back into the cavern wall.
"Ice Wolf Claw!" Small hatches opened along MetalGarurumon's cybernetic body and each launched a small missile. These missiles streaked straight for Phobiamon. With a swipe of his odd staff, he knocked them off course, and instead them slammed into the wall behind him, covering the entire wall in a thin layer of ice. "Nope! Try again!" Phobiamon laughed.
"Vulcan's Hammer!"
"Flower Cannon!"
These attacks slammed into Phobiamon, but he totally ignored them. "You're no fun! Only Mega Digimon are fun! Pantaphobia!" He spun his staff over his head, generating incredible energy with each spin. Twin beams of energy finally lanced out, each slamming into Zudomon and Lillymon, causing them to devolve.
T.K. watched as Phobiamon slam MetalGarurumon against the wall again, his wild laughter echoing several times off the walls. Joe and Mimi ran to their fallen Digimon and helped them up. T.K. looked at Patamon sitting on his head, and said, "Patamon, they need your help. They need Angemon!"
"Right!" Patamon lifted off from T.K.'s head, flapping his wings.
"Patamon Digivolved to . . . . Angemon!"
Phobiamon barely glanced at the shimmering angel hovering overhead. "Big deal. An overstuffed toy with wings. What can he do?"
"Hand of Fate!" The incredible golden energy attack lanced from Angemon's outstretched fist, and slammed into Phobiamon with an unregistered amount of force. Phobiamon barely felt the attack. "I grow tired of this game," he said, and raised his staff overhead.
"Metal Wolf Claw!" A searing stream of silver energy leapt from MetalGarurumon's gaping jaws and hit Phobiamon unawares, slamming him into the iced wall behind him. The impact created a small crater, and when he tried to climb out—
"Ice Wolf Claw!" The missiles sprang forth from their silos and slammed full force into the small crater than Phobiamon was it, freezing him to the spot.
"All right!" Joe yelled, and he and Matt slapped five.
"Crazy Punch!"
A burst of energy shattered the casing of ice from within, and Phobiamon jumped out and faced them, all folly gone from his face. "This game has gone on long enough! Pantaphobia!" His spinning staff once more generated incredible energies, which forced MetalGarurumon and Angemon to devolve to their Rookie forms.
"Actually, I think I'm going to like this little game." Phobiamon said, as he came slowly and menacingly towards them. "Riddle me this. What will happen to the Digidestined once their Digimon have been defeated?" he raised his strange black staff overhead and grinned wildly. "You'll find out shortly." The staff came swiping down, generating a surge of energy as it swung towards them. It looked like the end for—
"Puppet Power!" An 'X' shaped hunk of wood came spinning out of nowhere and slammed into the staff as it came down, knocking it out of Phobiamon's grasp.
"What have we here?" Phobiamon said, as he reached for his staff. "More playmates? Come out now and make your destruction fast and painful!"
A figure came slowly from the depths of the shadows into the torch light, but even before he did, the Digidestined knew who it was. Matt, of all of them, knew this Digimon all too well; it was because of him that Matt had left his friends before. Matt had defeated this Digimon with MetalGarurumon's help, but the images of this Digimon still haunted him.
"Puppetmon!" T.K. and Joe gasped.
"The Digidestined are my playmates, Phobiamon. You can't touch them." Puppetmon said, sounding like an upset five year old. The small wooden puppet Digimon, one of the Dark Masters, stepped fully into the light and glared at Phobiamon under his red cap.
"One of the fool Dark Masters! Lord Eldritchmon will be pleased to hear that you are destroyed forever!" Phobiamon said. "Crazy Punch!"
"Puppet Power!" Puppetmon swung his large metal hammer and deflected the energy blast off of it. "Nobody toys with me!" He tried to control Phobiamon like a marionette, but found that for some strange reason he could not.
"Is that the best you have you little wooden fool?" Phobiamon laughed. "Sense Crusher!" To his dismay, he found that this attack also had no effect on Puppetmon, for a reason that he could not discover. Actually, had they stopped and thought about it, they were both Digimon whose powers focused mainly on mentally affecting or controlling others, so their attacks would not work for this reason.
"Maybe I can't defeat you," Puppetmon said, "But I know someone who can!" He stuck two wooden fingers in his wooden mouth and blew a piercing blast that sounded like a wooden flute.
"Call in all the reinforcements you want!" Phobiamon laughed at the small Digimon at his feet.
"Rrrrrreeeeeaaaggghhh!" Something growled very loudly out of the shadows in the far corner of the cavern. Even before the growl had finished echoing, all the Digidestined knew who it was.
"MetalSeadramon!" they said as one, as the huge, long metallic sea snake appeared to hover, in a coiled up position, into the light. He was at least fifty feet long if he was an inch, and his enormous jaws were another six feet besides. This had been the first of the Dark Masters that the Digidestined had encountered and beaten, thanks largely to the bravery of Whamon, who MetalSeadramon mortally wounded before WarGreymon finished him.
"You're outnumbered here Phobiamon!" MetalSeadramon said in his craggy voice which sounded much like a barroom roughneck.
"That may be so, but you still won't win! Crazy Punch!" He shot a large energy blast for MetalSeadramon. MetalSeadramon instead reared up to half his height, towering over Phobiamon, and energy seemed to gather within a large cannon-like apparatus where his nose would be.
"River of Power!"
A bright blue enormously powerful beam of energy shot out of that apparatus, vaporizing Phobiamon's attack and would have slammed into Phobiamon had he not swung out with his staff, totally deflecting the attack.
"It appears your bark is worse than your bite, fish boy. Sense Crusher!" he brought his staff swinging downwards in a shower of energy. MetalSeadramon recoiled back, surprised at the power of the attack. He blinked, and found that his vision had been cut in half, so he could only see blurred objects.
"Is that all you have? Cheap mind tricks?" he laughed, but was really annoyed that this weak Digimon had such power over him.
"Although we've all had fun, it's time to bring an end to this little game!" Phobiamon said. He whirled his staff overhead and slammed it downwards. "Pantaphobia!" the explosion of energy actually threw the enormous MetalSeadramon clear across the large cavern, and slammed the much smaller Puppetmon into the far wall, not without much pain.
With Phobiamon's crazy laughter ringing in her ears as he advanced upon the seemingly doomed Digidestined, Mimi bowed her head and shut her eyes tight. Oh no, She thought. He will destroy us all, and the Digiworld will truly be gone! What can I do? What?
Two tears escaped from under her eyelids, even though she had commanded herself not to cry, but evidently her tear ducts had not heard the command in time. These tears traveled unmarked down her face and dripped off, landing on the surface of her silent crest. At first, nothing happened, but then a faint glimmer of light could be seen in her Crest of Sincerity, glowing stronger with every passing second. Palmon, who was comforting her friend, did not notice it, nor did any of the others. Phobiamon was too absorbed in his own cleverness and power to notice anything but the destruction of both the Digidestined and the Dark Masters.
Just as her tears had struck the crest, energy from her glowing crest fell slowly, like teardrops, onto Palmon, who still did not take notice. The drops came faster and faster, until—
"Palmon warp Digivolved to . . . . FloraLillymon!"
FloraLillymon stood, easily as tall as Phobiamon did. She appeared to be a sort of wood nymph, a beautiful maiden carved completely out of wood, almost as if she was planted as like that. She had a long braid of golden hair which flowed down her neck like a river of gold, and seemed to go just right with the hues of her wood, which looked like it was the best quality available.
She looks almost like an Ent, Joe thought. He had read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and there was a race that seemed to be made of trees that fit FloraLillymon's description very well.
"What's this?" Phobiamon asked, eyeing FloraLillymon standing before him with evident distaste. "Another Mega Digimon? No matter. You will fall as the rest did! Crazy Punch!" the blast of energy flew for FloraLillymon, but she dodged with nimble grace.
"It's time someone cut into your play time, Phobiamon," she said. Her voice was high and sweet, and one could listen to it for hours without tiring of it.
"That's FloraLillymon!" Gomamon said to the other Digidestined. "She's the Mega form of Palmon, and is the queen of the forest. She may look pretty, but her 'Petal Storm,' attack is devastating!"
"Forest Strike!" She threw her arms over her head almost gracefully, as in slow motion, it appeared that entire trees appeared in the air above her, and one by one slammed into Phobiamon like a battering ram, each one slamming him back farther than the one before it.
When he had his back to the wall, he grimaced. "I've had enough of this game! Time to join your friends! Panta—" he prepared to bring his staff down, but FloraLillymon stopped him in mid-word.
"Petal Storm!" To the onlookers it appeared that she levitated into the air. She glowed with an incalculable amount of energy, as perfectly formed pink flower petals appeared in the air around her. She then brought her long arms rapidly together in front of her, and the petals that were shimmering like silk around her spun like throwing stars and whizzed straight for Phobiamon, who could not get out of the way in time.
These that went first slammed him into the wall and totally pinned him there so he could not move. Then FloraLillymon gestured again, even more pink petals appeared, and these glowed even brighter than their predecessors. They shot straight at the pinned Phobiamon, almost faster than the eye could follow.
These petals slammed into Phobiamon with almost unimaginable force for things of their size, and Phobiamon was surrounded by a pink aura, as the petals slammed into him again and again. With one final burst of reddish light, he gave one last maniacal laugh, and dissolved totally, until the pink petals were the only thing left to show where he had been defeated.
At once the petals disappeared as well, fading in almost an instant. FloraLillymon devolved as well, shrinking back to her Palmon stage. As Mimi, Joe, and T.K. ran to congratulate Palmon, Matt and Gabumon stood rigid, glaring at Puppetmon and MetalSeadramon, who had regained their composure and stood in the shallow shadows.
"What do you want, Puppetmon?" Matt asked, slanting his eyes upon the small Digimon.
"We want you as our friends! The Dark Alliance is trying to take over the Digiworld, and Piedmon instructed us to find allies."
"Yeah, we help you defeat the Dark Alliance, and then you take over? I don't think so. Forget it." he whirled around and began to look for another exit, when MetalSeadramon spoke. "Do you Digidestined think you can defeat the Dark Alliance by yourselves?"
"We defeated you, didn't we?" Joe said.
"That's besides the point. Without allies, you won't stand a chance. They'll take you apart like a cheap watch."
"We defeated Phobiamon, didn't we?" Mimi yelled.
"He was the warm up for the Eldritchmon. Face it, you think you're good, you're nothing compared to him. You need help."
Matt grimaced and made a fist. He would not help the Dark Masters reclaim the Digiworld for themselves, but what if MetalSeadramon was right? What if they actually needed the Dark Masters to defeat Eldritchmon? Slowly, he lowered his fist and then turned to face the two Dark Masters.
"OK. We'll join you . . . for now." He let the ending hang as a threat in which he did not know if he could fulfill or not. "Do you know another way out of here?"
"But of course." Puppetmon gestured to MetalSeadramon, who reared up and slammed into the rock face opposite the way that the Digidestined had come in, and punched a large hole in it, revealing the outside world. The sun streamed into the relatively dark cavern, causing them to shield their eyes until they got used to the bright sunlight.
There was the large, expansive field in front of them. The two Dark Masters passed out into the outside world from the hole in the wall, not even noticing the way that the four Digidestined were hanging back, watching them warily.
After some help from Palmon's Poison Ivy, they managed to reach the hole in the wall and jump down to the green grass below. "Remember," Matt said quietly. "We don't know if this is a trick or not. We've got to be careful." The Digidestined then ran to catch up with their temporary allies.
In a previously unknown place, at an immeasurable distance . . . .
Eldritchmon was not in a good mood. Already, two of the Dark Alliance had fallen to the might of the Digidestined, and the Dark Masters had resurfaced. True, the members of the Dark Alliance that had been destroyed were the weaker of the five, and the three most powerful still were at the ready.
"My Lord Eldritchmon?" A high-pitched voice came up from behind him. "The Dark Masters have agreed to an alliance with the Digidestined."
Eldritchmon wearily turned, and stared down at the small Digimon. "What of it, Photomon? Even if they manage to make it this far, you know how to deal with them."
"I do." Photomon's eyes gleamed, as he left his lord to his dark thoughts.
Eldritchmon smiled. Let the Digidestined come. He would be ready. Let them gather all the allies they wanted, it would make no difference to him. He had the power, and they did not. Let them come, he would be more than ready . . . . . . .