Intelligence
By: Theodore 'Blitz' Leung
Disclaimer: All Digimon and their characters (except for those introduced in this fic/series) do NOT belong to me. I do not have permission to use their characters, but it's a FanFic, so, who cares? =) This story line belongs to me and me alone. Please ask for permission if you wish to use it. Thanks. Now let's get onto reading!
Two Crests found...and still no signs of our other two companions.
It's already been a day since our 'crash landing' onto File Island. In that one day, anything could have happened to our companions. They could be injured, starving, or maybe...even dead...
I wish not to dwell on such thoughts. We will find them when we will...as when we will find the other four Crests that need to be found.
~Diary of Tiberius 'GTK' Hartz, fourth Generation Digi-Destined
* * * * * *
"You want me to kick them awake?" Marc asked Tiberius. The other Digi-Destined shook his head.
"But the looks of the dirt tracks and messed up clothing, they ran into something out there last night," Tiberius observed. The two looked down at K.H. and Kinoumon, the two were still soundly asleep despite it being almost noon.
"I wonder what though," Marc spoke aloud, stretching his arms. "I know, let's get Lepumon and Xemon to play in here for a bit. With the breakfast they got, they seemed to be caffeine high." Tiberius chuckled, making way towards the kitchen, where they left their Digimon. Marc would followed behind if K.H. hadn't rolled over. The sleeper's right arm flew lazily over the edge of the bed, his Digivice gripped tightly in his hand. Marc knelt down and saw an interesting symbol on the Digivice.
"Hey, Tibbs, take a look at this," Marc shouted out across the room. Not ever those loud words was enough to disturb the sleep of the Human and Digimon on the bed. Tiberius quickly entered back into the room. He blinked once, then knelt down beside Marc. He saw the wisp like symbol as well.
"It must be a Crest..." Tiberius commented, pulling out his Digivice.
"Which one?" Marc asked, a bit impatient.
"I'm getting to that," Tiberius responded harshly, finally getting a good grip on his Digivice. Quickly, he scanned the new item, the data was quickly outputted on the screen.
"The Crest of Spirit," Tiberius spoke out, replacing the Digivice into his pocket. "An Infinity Crest, definitely."
"Which makes us even more curious about what K.H. did last night," Marc responded, standing up. Tiberius stood up as well, their gaze fell onto the two sleeping figures.
"We'll ask when they get up," Tiberius told Marc. "They must have had some crazy adventure in that short shift time they had." Marc nodded in agreement, the two departing with their consensus.
* * * * * *
Xemon and Lepumon tumbled around once more, again hyper active with the strange food they ate for lunch. Tiberius and Marc just watched their Digimon play around from the table, smiling lightly at the sight.
"It's already two and you guys didn't wake me?" K.H. asked sleepily, stepping into the room. Kinoumon followed behind with the same tired expression on his face.
"Well, they way you looked in your sleep, all beaten up, as well as that interesting new Crest you got, we decided you deserved a lot more rest," Marc replied, taking a sip from his drink. The boy wasn't sure what was in the contents of the cup, but it seemed like the equivalent of Coke.
"What do you mean?" K.H. questioned, yawning once and plopping down at the table. Marc slid a plate towards the half-awake boy. On it was a hamburger. K.H. looked down, lifted the top bun off. "Ketchup, relish, onions, how convenient," K.H. spoke tiredly. He tore the burger in half as Kinoumon leaped onto the table, took one half then slid the plate to his Digimon. Kinoumon nodded in thanks and started to dig in.
"Well...as Marc explained the facts...we suspect you did something crazy out there last night on your shift," Tiberius tried to reason. He wasn't sure if his logic got through to the half sleeping Digi-Destined who was currently eating a supposed hamburger.
"Crazy?" K.H. asked, swallowing part of the burger. "Oh yeah...me and Kinoumon ran into a crazy soul sucking Digimon on our shift...decided it was best to stop that tyranical act, and...with a little help of that Crest you mentioned, Kinoumon hit Infinity." K.H. spoke so casually about it, as though it was of no importance. Both Marc and Tiberius unconsciously agreed: K.H. wasn't awake enough to have a clear mind.
"Well, you can fill us in on the details when you're more awake," Marc reasoned, standing up. Tiberius nodded in agreement, though he didn't stand. Marc decided to head for the entrance of the cave they currently stayed in. He wanted some fresh air in comparison to the slightly damp, musty, and stuffy air inside the cave.
K.H. blinked once, a bit confused, shrugged, then continued to chow on the lunch. Tiberius shook his head, disappointed in K.H.'s dullness, then headed to the counter to grab some more drink that resembled Coke.
* * * * * *
Xemon watched the entrance to the small abode with great concern. Marc left three hours ago and he never returned. He blinked once, then twice, then again, wondering what he should do.
"Worried?" Tiberius asked, stepping beside the Digimon. Xemon sighed, then turned to face Tiberius. Standing by his side was Lepumon, and behind them was the pair of K.H. and Kinoumon.
"Should I be?" Xemon asked, sounding brave, though the other four saw past the attempted deception.
"We all are worried," Lepumon answered. He was about to continue, until both Tiberius' and K.H.'s Digivice went off, indicating a Digi-Destined a few feet in front of them all. Eyes fell onto the door, seeing no one.
"The Digivices are malfunctioning?" K.H. asked aloud, pretty sure his eye sight was still good and he didn't see anything. The others exchanged glances, also with the same problem.
"Marc!!" Xemon shouted out. Once more, eyes fell onto the door. Surprise spawned from the group, a faded form of Marc shown before them. "MARC!" Xemon shouted again, rushing forward.
"Xemon, wait!" Tiberius shouted, chasing after the Digimon.
* * * * * *
Marc blinked once, unsure of his current location. All he saw was a fluctuation of multiple colours around him mostly blue, red, and yellow. A hard and large force against his backed shattered his train of though, forcing him to fall flat onto the ground.
"Marc!" he heard Xemon shout. The Digi-Destined quickly turned around, seeing Xemon standing with the background of kaleidoscope like colours swirling. Tiberius, Lepumon, K.H. and Kinoumon joined them, breaking through the kaleidoscope wall. "I was so worried about you!" Xemon exclaimed, hugging Marc tightly.
"Worried...?" Marc questioned, slowly wrapping a hand around his Digimon partner. "Worried about what?"
"You were gone for three hours," K.H. informed the other Digi-Destined. "We were all worried about you."
"Three...hours...?" Marc asked, wondering whether his friends were crazy or something. He checked his watch. "It's only been a second or so..."
"A second?!" Tiberius exclaimed, checking his watch. "Err...well, that might explain something. We're in an ADT time zone now..."
"ADT?" K.H. inquired, checking his own watch. "But weren't we on the DWT time zone?"
"Were...not anymore..." Marc replied, comparing this time zone to DWT. The two zones moved exactly at the same speed.
"Well, wherever we are..." Tiberius spoke, lowering his arm and looking around. "And if Marc is true in his fact of one second was three hours, then...what ever brought us here...somehow synchronised time with the Digital World."
"How observant," a voice echoed across the plane. Everyone glanced around trying to find the source, but their search led to finding nothing. "I sped up time so I wouldn't have to wait as long for your companions to appear. I changed it back when all of you were present."
"All of us..." Marc muttered, blinking. "Do you mean Tao and Shas are here?!" he shouted out, quickly getting to his feet. He slammed face first into the wall of colour.
"Tsh...how brash," the voice told them. "Unfortunately, no, though I believe they are safe. There is a person, however, that I wish to speak with right now in your party."
"And who's that?!" Marc shouted out angrily. He was disgusted that they still don't have a trace of their friends.
"If there are three birds in a tree, and you shot one, how many birds would be left?" the voice asked, ignoring the previous question.
"What?!" came the reply from K.H., Marc, and the three Digimon, taken aback with the sudden riddle.
"None," Tiberius replied calmly. "The resulting shot would scare away the other two birds."
"Mmm..." the voice hummed, 'nodding'. "Very good. Your group may proceed." With those words, part of the wall in front of them 'melted' away, revealing a dark passage.
"And are we going to go?" Xemon asked, looking up at his partner.
"Why not, we got nothing to lose," Tiberius responded, still calm. He proceeded forward, trailed by Lepumon. The other four followed behind, single file.
"That was one of the three rooms you must travel through. You must overcome the challenge set before you in the next two rooms to proceed," the voice told them as they proceeded through the dark passageway. The bright light at the end of the corridor guided them. "And just a final note, your Digimon can not Digivolve in here, so do not bother trying."
"Just what are you trying to prove?" K.H. asked the walls around them.
"Stay calm and concentrate, we'll need it," Tiberius answered, walking a bit faster.
"Do you get the feeling Tibbs isn't telling us something?" Marc asked the Digi-Destined in front of him when Tiberius was sufficiently away.
"Sort of, but I trust him..." K.H. answered, picking up the pace. He didn't want to be left behind in this dark corridor. Marc and the two Digimon followed suit.
* * * * * *
"Where are we?" Marc asked, looking around. Before them was a small field with a small river going through it. The field was confined within some more kaleidoscope like walls around. There was a dock on each side of the river, their side having a boat that could carry three. On the other side was the passageway out, similar to the dark passageway they just went through. Their entrance, however, disintegrated when they entered.
"Guess we have to make it to the other side," K.H. assessed, his eyes turning downstream. The river flowed into a black section that he wished not to know about.
"Is this supposed to be a challenge then?" Marc asked sarcastically. He made his way towards the boat. Tiberius quickly placed a hand on Marc's shoulder, halting him completely. On that split second, machine gun fire ripped across the area where Marc would have stepped on, across the dock and into the water. The water sizzled, a small grey glob floating to the surface.
"Sentry gun," Tiberius spoke, pointing towards the nearby ceiling corner. As told, a sentry with a pair of chain guns were hanging on the ceiling. "Must be on sensors so that if will go off when someone steps close to that line of fire, quite accurate to, since it wasn't even close to skimming you. And by the looks of the water, it seems to be an acid that burns everything but 'nature', being wood and the mud and grass we stand on, hence the melted bullet."
"Well, we can't swim then..." Marc replied, though he was surprised at Tiberius' analyses.
"And by the bullet holes in the ground, the sentry's arc of fire goes right across the dock," K.H. continued, checking out the bullet holes.
"In other words, we have a predicament," Lepumon concluded, checking out the sentry gun again. It didn't move at all, continuing the watch that little passageway on the docks with murderous intent.
"Yeah, that'll sum it up," Tiberius agreed, kneeling down and thinking up a solution. His gaze followed up the path of bullet holes back to the sentry gun. A blinking red light caught his attention. Testing out a quick theory, he took a penny from his pocket and flipped it into the firing arc. The currency was promptly shot to pieces, leaving a very bent up coin on the dock.
"Lepumon, hit that sentry gun, will ya?" Tiberius requested of his Digimon. Lepumon wasn't sure what it would achieve, but did so anyway.
"SOLAR SPARKLER!"
The golden beam smashed against the sentry gun. Though not making it budge, Tiberius noted the blinking light getting disabled temporarily. With the short moment he had, he tossed another penny into the arc of fire.
Nothing happened to it.
"No problem, our Digimon's attacks will disable the sentry gun for a few moments, allowing us enough time to get onto the boat," Tiberius informed his group, standing back up. He looked back at the other side of the river, then towards the ceiling corner over there. "Just watch out for that sentry gun as well." As told, there was another sentry gun hanging out at the other side.
"Alright, let's move out!" Tiberius commanded, Lepumon promptly smashing the sentry again with an attack. Of course all it did was disable the sentry, though that's all Lepumon had to do. The rest was really quite simple.
* * * * * *
Lepumon blasted the sentry gun one last time, allowing a brief distraction for Tiberius, Marc, and Xemon to cross the trap without it being lethal.
"I don't care what you say, that sentry gun really freaks me out!" Xemon protested, exhaling deeply upon clearing the gun.
"Yeah, well it's over now, so don't worry," Marc spoke, equally as spooked, but not showing it. His gaze fell onto the sentry gun at the corner, the soft flickering red light that was usually on was now off.
"No use concentrating on such trivial matters now, we got to get moving," Tiberius told them all, heading into the next passageway. Lepumon followed close behind, though the other two Digi-Destined and their Digimon weren't as quick to move.
"Is it me, or does he seem to be quite anxious to get this done?" K.H. asked the other Human. Marc shrugged, entering the dark passageway that lead to their next room.
* * * * * *
The trio of Digimon and the trio of Digi-Destined entered the room, similar in the aspect that it was grassy with those kaleidoscope like walls surrounding the room. The room was significantly larger then the previous. A small lake sat in the middle of the room, and in the middle of the lake was an island. On the island was a tall, leafless tree and the passageway to the next area. On the mainland was a small forest, though there was enough opening for the Digi-Destined and Digimon to assess the situation. They approached the lakeside, not wanting to test the 'acidity' of the water.
"I take it we don't want to touch that," Marc spoke out, stepping closer to the edge. Tiberius glanced back at the Digi-Destined, took another penny from his pants, then flipped it into the air. It landed in the water with a resounding 'plop', followed by a hissing and sizzling sound with steam coming out of the water.
"Take that as a yes," K.H. replied for Tiberius, looking around. "There has to be something we can use to help us pass this..." he muttered.
"You mean this?" Xemon asked, holding up a pile of rope with his fist. On the ground beside him was another roll of rope.
"Rope is nice, but how do you propose we use this rope?" Kinoumon inquired, slightly sarcastic, adopted from his companion.
"Err...fly?" Xemon suggested half jokingly. Kinoumon shook his head lightly, disappointed in his companion.
"And ideas?" Lepumon asked his partner. Tiberius knelt down, concentrating on the trees around him, then the rope, then the tree on the island.
"I'm working on it..." Tiberius whispered as his response, his gaze turning between the three. His eyes fell onto the rope, then towards the forestry around them, then to the tree. Finally, he concentrated on the lake before them, then snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he exclaimed, quickly standing up and getting the long strand of rope he needed for this job. Quickly, he tied the rope around the tree, about his eye level, making sure the knot was nice and tight.
"Marc, please do the same with the other amount of rope, just near the base of the tree, and then follow me, and make sure you don't burn the rope!" Tiberius quickly explained, holding the rope tightly and running around the circumference of the lake. Marc didn't argue, though he was a bit dubious about the results of such a trip.
* * * * * *
Marc tied the rope down, finally seeing the finished product of their work. With the fact two strands of rope ran around the lake, eventually, the stretching across the lake, catching against the tree, and then going back around. In the end, it resulted in the rope wrapping around the tree on the island and then back to its starting point. The upper rope provided hand grips while the lower pair of rope proved to be their steps. The Digimon just hung onto their partner as they treaded across, one false step meaning doom.
There was more then one sigh of relief when they crossed over their partially stable bridge. Tiberius, however, regained his composure quickly, as did Lepumon.
"Very good, I would have expected no less," the voice boomed out before Tiberius and Lepumon reached the door. "You're two companions and their Digimon can wait outside." With those words, and without any protest fast enough, Marc, Xemon, K.H., and Kinoumon just disappeared from existence.
"Hey, what did you do with them!?" Tiberius shouted, ready to pounce on anything.
"Just sent them back to the Digital World. Do not worry, they are safe," the voice told Tiberius and his Digimon. "Please proceed, we will have much to talk about." Tiberius cursed under his breath, nodding to Lepumon and continuing into the dark passage and down a long flight of stairs.
* * * * * *
The trek down the stairs was short, leading into another chamber with the familiar kaleidoscope like colours flailing in the walls. Lepumon halted beside Tiberius' foot, the two watching a jester like figure at the centre of this arena like room. The jester wore the usual attire, light blue with white pain over his face. The emerald eyes were seen, a small tear drawn under his left eye. The Digimon jester was probably no taller then Tiberius himself.
"It is good to see you in person, Tiberius," the jester told them. "My name is Tersejmon, an Infinity level Digimon, and, as you probably can tell, I control this small realm."
"Well, seeing what you have done so far...I'm not really surprised," Tiberius spoke aloud. Tersejmon giggled softly, stepping forward.
"I'll be direct," the Digimon spoke, stepping closer. "You think fast and quickly, quite a nice mind you have there. I want to help you..."
"Help him?" Lepumon questioned defensively. "How?"
"Oh...just by..." the Digimon paused for a short period of time, grinning under his white makeup. "Taking your mind!" A sharp pain pierced Tiberius' mind, forcing a loud scream from his system.
"Tiberius?!" Lepumon cried out, surprised with the change of visage from the Digimon. "You're going down!" the Rookie Digimon shouted out, Tiberius' Digivice reacting on its own.
"Lepumon...Warp Digivolve to...Avengemon!"
The Mega level Digimon charged forward, blade slashing. Tersejmon broke his hold over Tiberius to dodge. Tiberius glanced up slowly, only to be hit again with two pangs of pain in his mind. Avengemon glanced back, tightened his grip on the blade, and dashed to where Tersejmon landed, slashing madly again. Once more, the Digimon dodged, three pangs entering Tiberius' mind now.
His screams halted, his thoughts shattering into a million pieces. He was alone, in the dark. Before him, fire twirled around him, lightning surrounded him, water splashed over him. The fire collected into one ball, sailing at eye level a few inches away from Tiberius. The water quickly overcame it, and just as quickly lightning struck the water, and on that strike, fire wrapped around the lightning bolt. All those actions paused, forming a collage of three elements. Tiberius blinked once.
When the mind is gnawed at and shatter, Intelligence shall show the path.
Tiberius collected his Digivice and raised it towards the image. Slowly, it downloaded. The Digi-Destined knew the Crest, he read it in his analyser.
"The Crest of Intelligence," he muttered, glancing up at the battle. Tersejmon paid no heed to Tiberius anymore, just went and pounded Avengemon with all his might.
"JES ORB!"
A blast of sapphire energy crashed from the ground and slammed into Avengemon, knocking him back.
"Avengemon, time to fight back!" Tiberius shouted, raising his Digivice. "Digivolve!" The new Crest shined with power, engulfing Avengemon.
"Avengemon...Infinity Digivolve to..."
Avengemon raised his blade upwards, a bolt of lightning striking the tip. In a flash, his armour fluctuated with energy. The sword and hand became one, the blade growing larger. His left hand began to morph as well, changing into a large shield. At the tip of the bottom of shield grew another blade, slightly smaller then his new right arm. The shield was painted red and silver with white streaks. The armour began to reform too, now showing a red crest that resembled something Roman on the chest plate. The new Digimon spread his arms out, sprouting large steel feather like wings from his back. At the same time, a segmented tail shot out, swinging around.
"Titanimon!"
"BLADE SIEGE!"
Titanimon wasted no time in his new form, getting right down to business. He flapped his wings back, directing the tips of his feathers towards Tersejmon. In that split second, a dozen sharp titanium feathers soared towards the Jester. The nimble Digimon was able to evade easily though, leaping into the sky.
"JES ORB!"
"QUASAR BLADE!"
The sapphire energy crashed against the raised left shield of the Digimon. It did little to the defensive apparatus as the shield collected energy to use. In three seconds Titanimon raised his right blade arm, pointing it towards Tersejmon, the jester still soaring through the sky. Energy transferred from the shield into the right blade, the weapon glowing crimson for a moment. In the next moment, the beam of crimson energy erupted forward, engulfing the humanoid figure of the jester completely. Tersejmon fell through the beam, though the damage was dealt. The Digimon huffed, angered.
"JES ORB!"
He fired yet another sapphire energy burst. Titanimon, deciding to finish this, dashed forward, gliding on his wings. He deflected the attack away with his shield, then spread his arms out and backwards.
"ULTIMATE SWORD!"
Both blades glowed with crimson energy, much like the Quasar Blade attack. Tersejmon stepped back once, fear clear in his eyes.
Titanimon slashed across once with his left blade, slashing upwards with his right, then skidded to a halt. Tersejmon's eyes went wide, his body falling apart under the power of six slashes. Each single slash was actually three consecutive attacks, causing triple the pain.
"Damn...it...." Tersejmon cursed, slipping into sixteen different parts before becoming data.
* * * * * *
"He's been gone a long time..." Kinoumon muttered, watching the space that took them to the alternate dimension in the first place. There was silence, followed by wide eyes, then cheers of delight as Tiberius and Lepumon slowly faded back into existence.
"Miss me?" Tiberius asked, grinning. On his Digivice was the lightning striking water that engulfed fire that surrounded lightning. The Crest of Intelligence – the third Infinity Crest to be revealed.
Fin
Completed: 05/04/01
