The remaining DigiDestined and the digimon set out to find Mimi and Sora. No one was very hopeful. Only two digimon were able to digivolve—Gomamon and Tentomon. Perromon was powerful and Caniinya would do whatever they wanted, but that meant only four digimon. Izzy, Joe, and the five other digimon would only be in the way in a big fight. But each was determined to help in some way.
They didn't have any idea where to look, so they headed off to the pavilion to look for clues. At first they found nothing. Then they noticed pans and cold food; two bitten black apples lay on the floor. They finally came to a conclusion: Mimi and Sora had come and cooked something to eat. Someone or something came and gave them the apples. They ate the apples. They must have lost consciousness then, because in the dirt were prints of tiny creatures and two long marks, like something being dragged. Excited but filled with nervous anticipation, they set off following the marks.
They came at last to a huge cliff. The tracks led right into it. But Izzy noticed some odd scuffling prints, like someone had been searching. With carefully coordinated steps, he traced what the other had done and at long last decided he knew what to do.
As the others watched in awe, he placed his hand on a part of rock and pushed. All of them, even Izzy, gaped as a giant hole slid open. Izzy looked at Joe. Joe looked at Izzy. Both looked at Perromon. Perromon looked at Biyomon, Gabumon, Gomamon, Palmon, Tentomon, Patamon, and Gatomon. Everyone shrugged. Caniinya, realizing they weren't getting anywhere, walked into the cave. Each one looked around at the others. Joe sighed and followed Caniinya. One by one, they filed into the hole and down a long tunnel.
Caniinya recognized this place and, on orders from Perromon, showed them how to find the torch, light it, and open the door on the far side of the tunnel.
When the door slid open, they saw that they were in a stone corridor. Along each side of the corridor were stone doors inlaid with metal bars. There were no windows and the doors were too thick to hear through. Gabumon voiced what they were all thinking.
"How do we know which one has Sora and Mimi? It would take forever to open each of these!"
No one answered. But no one had too, for a moment later a loud cackling laugh echoed through the hall. In a brilliant flash of light, they felt wind whipping by, saw a flurry of color, felt soft sand sliding through the fingers/paws, smelled sweet roses and rotten garbage. The light subsided and they realized they were not in a stone hall, but in a small chamber.
The walls were gold with silver hangings, curtains, tassels, and strings. A rich embroidered maroon carpet padded the floor. There was no furniture in the room, but it was obvious that they would be here a while. They saw no visible door, and when they pulled open the curtains by tugging the strings, they saw that they were at least ten stories up and they were in a cold place. Snow blew fretfully and ice coated the panes.
The group gathered in the center of the room to discuss.
"Well," said Izzy, opening his laptop, "I have connection. I can reach the Internet, but not the DigiConNetwork."
"So?" asked Gomamon. "What's that mean?"
"It means," replied Izzy, "that I can send e-mail to the real world but not to anyone in this world."
Joe slumped. "So no help then," he said. "Anyone who could lend us a hand is here"—"Or dead," muttered Gatomon—"so we're on our own."
Caniinya looked up, smiling. "Not entirely." Perromon seemed confused. Izzy murmured something to him and Perromon quickly relayed this. The Chengkomon laughed openly and proceeded to explain her plan.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Satisfied, Aviara took off from Infinite Mountain. In the distance, she spied the remains of Spiral Mountain. With a large package clutched in her claws and a bag dangling from her hands, she flew somewhat jerkily to Spiral Mountain. She landed on the mountain and released the bag. She opened it and unceremoniously dumped out Vademon. He picked himself up and dusted himself off. Glaring at Aviara, he suddenly reached for the package. Laughing, Aviara leaped into the air, holding the parcel just out of his reach. Infuriated, he ran across the top of the mountain and suddenly fell short. Looming out of a dark building were Puppetmon, Piedmon, Gigamon, and Seadramon. They leered at him as he scrambled backward. They were uglier than VenoMyotismon! Aviara dove down in front of him and handed the packet to Piedmon. Smirking at Vademon, he ripped it open and let the wrapping fall. In his hands was a digivices, swirled with pink, green, blue, and gray. Chuckling softly, he pocketed it and glanced at Vademon.
Aviara, noticing the glance, nodded agreeably. Screaming, Vademon clambered back. Seadramon shot forward and wrapped his neck around Vademon. He pulled him back and dumped him Gigamon. Puppetmon leapt up and slammed a foot on Vademon. Shrieking horribly, Vademon struggled to get away. But Gigamon turned and walked back in, followed by Seadramon. Piedmon grinned at Aviara.
"I trust the invasion is going well?" he asked.
"Of course," replied Aviara. "I hope the gift will assist you in making Lord Gasudramon's campaign successful."
Piedmon laughed. "I will have fun doing it, do not worry of that."
Pleased, Aviara jumped off the mountain, spread her wings, and glided away. Piedmon eyed his new "toy" happily. With this, he could destroy the remaining DigiDestined, as they once destroyed him…
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Without warning, a hole appeared in the middle of the room. It began to expand. Digimon and human scrambled towards the edges of the chamber, trying to avoid it.
"Where are they?" cried Izzy as he tripped and stumbled on a bit of carpet.
"I don't know!" exclaimed Caniinya, watching Tentomon push Izzy back away from the gaping hole. "They should've been here three minutes ago!"
"They're LATE!" Joe bellowed. Palmon and Gatomon began to climb up the curtains as the edge of the hole advanced. Tentomon, Biyomon, and Patamon flew above it, diving in to help the others climb things. The digimon were able to perch on the curtains and curtain rods, but Izzy and Joe could not. They were too heavy.
Izzy scrambled onto a windowsill and gripped the sides of the indent. There was about a foot of space left between the wall and the hole. Joe was balancing on two perpendicular curtain rods, hands clutching the lights above him. As the hole grew, Izzy glanced behind him. Dark shapes were looming near. With a shriek, Izzy realized what they were, and jumped clear as five forms burst through the window. Izzy screamed as he fell into the maw—and abruptly stopped. Izzy was holding tight to his backpack. He buzzed to a different sill and deposited Izzy on it.
"Ahh!" cried Gomamon as the curtain he was clutching began to rip. His efforts only worsened it, because of his huge claws. He fell backwards into the hole, which had taken up the entire room.
"Gomamon!" cried Tentomon, grabbing him. But he was too tired. His wing motion died out and they both fell, screaming, into the hole.
"No!" cried Izzy and Joe at the same time, leaning towards it. Suddenly winged figures caught them. Looking up, they saw Chengkomon holding them. There were five; two were holding Izzy and Joe, one was holding Caniinya, and the remaining two had Gatomon, Palmon, and Gabumon clinging to them. Patamon and Biyomon were flying, supporting Perromon. The Chengkomon and the flying DestinedDigi's flew out the window and deposited everyone in the snow.
For the first time, Joe got a good look at everyone. The five winged Chengkomon were all different but resembled each other in that they had wings and talons.
One had reddish wings and brown hair and a brown tight-fitting suit that covered his whole body. The one next to him was smaller, a light brown-tan, and her wings were streaked with silver-gray. The other small Chengkomon was brown all over but her dress was red. The largest was brown, white, and gray, and had red hair. The last was slightly smaller and was completely black with cunning eyes.
"Red-tailed hawk, song sparrow, robin, woodpecker, and raven!" Izzy exclaimed. They looked highly offended. The crow opened his mouth.
"Excuse me, but I'm Worcen, not Raven! And these, whom you referred to incorrectly, are Kwader, Worrapsi, Nibora, and Kepdoo!"
Palmon stared, not noticing the cold. "Aren't Chengkomon evil?" she blurted out. Gabumon stiffened but Kepdoo, the "woodpecker," laughed.
"So we are," he chuckled. "Why should you not think that?"
Biyomon scoffed. "Because you just saved us!" It was Kwader's turn to laugh.
"We did not save you!" he cried. "We were acting on orders!" It was obvious they didn't understand, so Nibora elaborated.
"That hole was not intended for you," she said mockingly. "It was for the only ones who were a threat: Gomamon and Tentomon. They are the only ones capable of digivolving." She paused. "Rather, WERE the only ones capable of digivolving." She chortled and continued. "Caniinya cleverly made you believe we were here to rescue you so you wouldn't resist by claiming we would save you. Her "plan" to free you was the Dark Dragon's plan to capture you. Now the only dangers to us are dead, and you are all prisoners of our Master, ruler of the Digiworld." She smirked, obviously thinking her Lord was quite clever.
Perromon, however, did not. "Caniinya mine!" he protested. Caniinya slapped him from behind, sending him sprawling across the snow.
"No," she said indignantly, "I was "yours" only for a short while. Then my Master freed me so I could continue to do his bidding." She smiled happily, but there was an evil glint in her eyes.
Izzy ran to Perromon and picked him up. He turned to Caniinya, angry.
"You have no right to do that!" he yelled furiously.
"So?" taunted Caniinya, her fangs flashing dangerously.
"Why, I outta—" Izzy charged Caniinya, Perromon in his arms, but a leg stuck out from the side tripped him and he fell face-first into the snow. Perromon had fortunately ended up on Izzy's side and not beneath him. But he felt someone picking him up.
He lifted his head and spat out snow. "Put him down!" he cried, seeing Worcen dangling the dog by his tail.
"Alright," he said, his eyes mischievous. With a backhand gesture, he sent Perromon flying through the air to smack, hard, into the building they had left. All the Chengkomon laughed; no wait, only five were laughing. Looking around, Joe noticed the little song sparrow digimon, Worrapsi. She was standing a ways away from them, her head down. As Perromon fell into unconsciousness, Joe noticed a tear streaked across her face. Persistently he tried to look closer, but suddenly Worrapsi looked up, and noticed his stares. She hardened her features immediately, but her eyes were soft and wet.
Joe went reeling forward. Laughter rang in his ears. He put a hand to a sore spot on the back of his head. He winced as he touched it and he heard laughter again. Something sharp and painful cut into his back like a whip and he fell forward. His hair was grabbed and he was cruelly yanked up by it. He let out a cry of agony as he was pulled to his feet.
The Chengkomon gathered around and grabbed the digimon and the humans again. They flew off. There was no resistance.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Surveying the last remaining "resistance" from the silvery ball, Gasudramon chuckled quietly. He knew they had given in. He had thought of simply banishing them to the "Real World", as it was called, but knew that was not enough. Gennai, the fool, would bring them back as always. No, he had to be sure they were gone for good. And he knew how to do that. Certainly he could simply use his Dark Annihilation and do them off in an instant, but that was too simple, to quick, for the Dragon's tastes. It would be much more dramatic if they were killed by one they though of as a friend…
Gasudramon snapped his claws and Tabira hopped into the room, her long ears drooping in respect, but she couldn't keep the bounce out of her step. She prostrated before her master and awaited his command.
"Bring out the Lion," he ordered, "and take him to the Coliseum. Take the DigiDestined and their friend in first and leave them their for a few minutes. Then allow him whatever entrance he may choose."
Tabira nodded and skipped out of the room. She went immediately down a long hall and stepped into a tiny room. The doors slid shut behind her. This was an invention of Felina's—Tabira knew it was safe but was always nervous.
She turned around and pressed a switch on the wall. A second later, there was a dreadful lurch and she felt herself dropping at an alarming rate. The room slowed and with a ^Bing^ the doors slid open. She leaped out of the room and bounded down a dark hall. She slipped into a room to the side and proceeded to a door. She opened it and whistled shrilly. A huge dark creature loomed out of the shadows. She turned and pranced back the way she'd come. The shape followed her, all the way up the tiny room (Felina called it a jump-start) and through many rooms and corridors until she came to another small room. On the opposite side was an opening. Tabira repeated Gasudramon's instructions out loud and left.
Now she hopped in a semi-circle, through a curving hall. She came to a room identical to the one she'd left the creature in, but reversed like a mirror. There was a pitiful assortment of creatures in it. She peeked in through the window first. Two of the beasts were very tall, taller than Tabira, and they looked almost identical to each other. One had spiked red-brown hair and possessed a green bag on his back. He was sitting on the floor and moving his fingers quickly on some kind of board.
The other had short navy-blue hair that seemed combed forward. He was staring into space.
Scattered around the room were a Perromon and the legendary Gabumon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Biyomon.
Tabira was nervous. She had heard so much about these…although the other Digimon had assured her that they couldn't digivolve without their digipartners, she wasn't so sure. They'd done an awful lot that had seemed impossible. They'd beaten VenoMyotismon, Devimon, and even all the Dark Masters.
Timidly, she opened the door. Everyone looked up at her. Sweating from ear to furry foot, she stepped into the room, for once not bouncing.
"Er-" she mumbled, "you're supposed to—to go out now—into the coliseum…'cuz Gasudramon says ya haftoo…" Even to her it sounded bad.
The one with brown-red hair glanced at her, seemingly uninterested. The blue-haired human looked at him. She saw a flicker in his eye. The digimon looked anxious and began to move away from her.
"No!" she cried and jumped forward.
"Poison Ivy!"
Tabira found herself wrapped up, unable to move. Looking back, she saw fearfully that Palmon, whom she hadn't seen, had been next to the door out of her sight. She then realized, as Gabumon closed the door with a snap, that the flicker had been a wink. These tricky Digidestined were clever! They'd set her up. She'd fallen victim to a desperate plan. Knowing she would probably be killed or hurt, as she was a hostage, Tabira began to cry.
"What do you want?" she wept. The two humans looked at each other and shifted uncomfortably. They'd obviously expected a fight or defiance. But she had never been like that; Gasudramon had easily overpowered her and he was more aggressive, dominant, and commanding than she. Tabira would have liked to live quietly, away with others like her, but she'd been employed in Gasudramon's force and she was too cowardly to defy him. She knew he would kill her.
But that didn't matter anymore. She was at their mercy, not Gasudramon's. But if she was rescued, she knew she would die for her cowardice and stupidity. She'd allowed herself to be captured; she was a koshinuke, no use to anyone.
Izzy pulled Joe back. Everyone but Palmon, who was holding the Chengkomon, followed. They began a hushed conversation.
"Whattaya think?" asked Izzy. Joe looked perplexed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what should we do? This one seems very timid; not at all like the others."
Gabumon broke in. "She looks like a rabbit Chengkomon. They are very shy and I suspect this one is not happy working for Gasudramon."
"Maybe Gasudramon is forcing the Chengkomon to work for him!" piped up Biyomon. Izzy nodded.
"That's what I was thinking," he replied. "Maybe we can use this to our advantage."
"We can bargain," agreed Joe, nodding. "Offer her freedom in exchange for her help. I bet Gasudramon doesn't care enough to sacrifice us for this one anyway. Probably just an errand runner."
Izzy concurred. He looked up at Gatomon. She laughed for the first time in a long time and walked to the Chengkomon. This would be fun.
"Chengkomon—" "My name is Tabira!" she cried without thinking. She seemed to mentally reprimand herself and a tear flowed out of her eye. Gatomon started again.
"Tabira, we need a little favor."
"Anything, just let me go!" sobbed the Chengkomon.
"Alright. Help us get out of here and we will set you free."
"I shouldn't! I don't have to! I could let you hold me hostage and you would still face Nyuraionmon!" She winced suddenly, and sagged. Gatomon realized she had an advantage.
"A new digimon? Well, how about if we wait till we meet Nyuraionmon, then feed you to him?"
Tabira tearfully shook her head.
"Well; help us then."
Tabira nodded chokingly.
Joe nodded to Izzy and Palmon let Tabira go. She collapsed, shaking. She'd let several secrets slip and now she was betraying her master. But she couldn't go back on her word; Chengkomon were creatures of honor, especially her kind. "Nyuraionmon means 'new lion monster'," she explained. "He—he is…is…" Tabira waved her hand in a frantic gesture, her throat choked up. She couldn't say who he was.
Patamon understood. "Will you go with us to meet him?"
Tabira nodded simply and indicated the door. Gabumon wrenched it open and Tabira followed him out. The others trailed along behind. Everyone but Tabira gasped. The Coliseum! The door slammed shut behind them and Tabira's dry eyes began to well with water. She turned and fled to the edge, obviously knowing this place well. Palmon followed her with her eyes and saw her take a seat in the stands. It seemed this was their fight.
The spread out slightly, their hearts quivering nervously. Without their partners, they were nothing. Izzy took a moment to dwell on this.
It seemed Gasudramon was a future-planning mastermind. They had underestimated him horribly and were paying the consequences. Expecting a pushover idiot like the evil Digimon before, they had instead gotten a cruel, clever, accurate digimon. He had gotten help somehow from all the other evils and used his power to its full potential.
Abruptly there was a loud roar. A black digimon jumped down from a pillar and growled. He was black and gray, walked on two feet, and had a mane. His eyes were startlingly blue to the rest of him. Biyomon shrieked. "Leomon!"
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Shaking
with fright, Tabira sat in the stands, watching what was happening. Nyuraionmon
was there…and when he finished with the Digidestined, he would take her. She
had had authority over him as a messenger of Gasudramon but now he could do
what he wanted with her. She slipped of her seat to hide behind it, leaning
against the bench behind her. Her eyes frantically watching the proceedings,
she worried. What future did she have now?
Nyuraionmon lifted his head to the brightly glowing moon and roared. Gabumon, Palmon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Biyomon made ready for the fight. Biyomon and Patamon launched themselves into the air, one on each side of Nyuraionmon, and attacked.
"Spiral Twister! Rah!"
"Boom Bubble! Pah!"
Gabumon leaned forward and sent forth a stream of icy blue.
"Blue Blaster!"
Gatomon leapt towards the digimon, claws flashing.
"Lightning Claw!"
Palmon ran behind him and flung out her vines, pinning his arms to his body.
"Poison Ivy!"
Nyuraionmon punched his paws in each direction, breaking free and knocking both Patamon and Biyomon out of the air. Snatching hold of some vines, he yanked them to him and beat Palmon until she was unconscious.
Throughout Gabumon's attack, he spun Palmon above his head by her vines and threw her. She slammed into a pillar and fell to the ground. Patamon and Biyomon rushed to her. Nyuraionmon grabbed some vines and tied Patamon and Biyomon to them. He slung them over a pillar, Palmon hanging limply on one side and Patamon and Biyomon dangling over the other.
He spun around and opened his mouth.
"Sinister Wail!" he snarled. He roared and a dark green puff blew from his mouth and formed into a brown-and-green creature. It cackled and became a bladed wheel. It ran into Gabumon, bringing blood, then became a gray vapor and surrounded him. He fell asleep. The vapor floated to the struggling Patamon and Biyomon and put them to sleep as well. Then it dissipated.
Gatomon had taken advantage of this opening. She leapt onto Nyuraionmon's head and slashed.
"Lightning Claw!"
Nyuraionmon lowered his head quickly and charged at a pillar. Gatomon was crushed between him and the pillar. He drew back.
"Fist of the Shade King!" he bellowed and threw out a punch. A black lion's head emerged and flew swiftly at Gatomon. She ducked and the pillar blew apart.
"Never mess with Champion!" she cried as she dove to the side. Nyuraionmon's eyes went out of focus, confused. Even as Leomon, he hadn't known that Gatomon, looking like a Rookie, was actually a Champion. This truth was confirmed as her powerful Lightning Claw attack bashed his head in. He fell over, a large dent in his skull. His cranium compressed like Gatomon had been, he slipped into unconsciousness.
Joe and Izzy raced to the pillar and paused. All three digimon were well above them. Joe began to climb up Gatomon jumped onto Izzy's head as he climbed. When Joe got too scared to go further, Gatomon jumped like only she can and landed on Joe's shoulder. She hopped onto his head and jumped again. She grabbed a vine just above Palmon and began to climb. Joe and Izzy backed down while Gatomon climbed. She reached the top and gritted her teeth. Then she started to pull up Palmon. When Palmon was perched on top, the vines automatically contracted, most of the strain gone. Gatomon held the short middle of the vines, between Palmon and Patamon & Biyomon, and jumped off the pillar. Joe and Izzy caught them and set them carefully on the ground.
Up in the stands, Tabira watched in amazement. Nyuraionmon—defeated! It was amazing! But her was her chance. She bounded down to the coliseum floor and over to Nyuraionmon. She smacked him a few times. He was injured badly. She looked nervously at the Digidestined; they were immersed in each other and didn't notice her. She bounced frantically to the far door of the coliseum and skipped inside. She turned and pushed a button on the wall. A glass cover popped off and a lever stuck out. She pulled the lever and an alarm sounded; this was Felina's idea and invention. Tabira let out a sigh of relief, for help would be coming soon. She spun as the opposite door flung open and Myotismon entered. He went past her into the coliseum. She heard a shout.
"Grizzly Wing!" There were the flutters and shrieks of many bats.
"Crimson Lightning!" There was a crack like thunder and the screams of the digimon.
Tabira peeked out the door. Myotismon's Crimson Lightning was holding the digimon painfully. The bats from the Grizzly Wing were carrying Izzy and Joe. The Digidestined were born to her door. At the same time an Airdramon was descending, LadyDevimon on board. She dumped Nyuraionmon onto the Airdramon and hopped on behind. The digimon lifted into the air and flew off to heal the dark Lion.
Tabira let out a strangled cry and ducked into a closet as Izzy, Joe, Gatomon, Palmon, Gabumon, Patamon, and Biyomon were carried through the small room. She hid her eyes. She knew what their faces would be saying silently: "You tricked us! You betrayed us! We will be killed because of you!" Tabira couldn't take much more of that. She was a failure to everyone.