Chapter Twenty-One

Chikyuu and Her Might

            "So…" Lina said darkly. "This is the Undead Sea…"

            "I dare not enter it," said Whamon. "It's not a place Digimon—or humans, even—are safe in. Its waters are legendary for killing thousands."

            Josh squinted at the horizon. "We're not going to die. But you don't have to go on if you don't want to, Whamon."

            "That's right," Gabumon agreed. "You can go back home now."

            A jet of water shot upwards from Whamon's blowhole. "No. I am going to bring you to Chikyuu, and I shall await your return at the beach."

            Sytamon nodded. "Thanks."

            Whamon swam through the murky, jet-black waters of the Undead Sea. He dared not even open his mouth for a lunch of the strange, semi-transparent fish. So, he swam onwards, never slowing or halting, until nightfall, when the island of Chikyuu was visible.

            Whamon slowed as the beach came into sight. He set off another stream of water, effectively waking up the Tamers. They jumped from his back and landed on the soft, fine sand.

            "This place…it looks like paradise…" Riku observed.

            "Remember what Jijimon said?" Jessie retorted. "This place is shrouded in innocence…in deception."

            Lina adjusted her goggles. "Well. Let's go."

            "I don't think leaving now is such a good idea," Terriermon said uneasily. "Don't you think islands shrouded in deception would appear safe at night, but in reality, there would be evil monsters lurking about?"

            "You're absolutely correct," said a voice. The Tamers and their Digimon turned to see a being leaning against a tree, two red eyes glowing ominously. It was mostly concealed in darkness, but what moonlight hit it only accentuated that it was big, muscular, and dragon-ish.

            "Who are you?" Riki demanded, fists clenched.

            "You need not know my name just yet. I am simply a messenger to a greater being far superior than I. So here is the message: welcome."

            "Welcome? That's it?" asked Tetramon skeptically.

            The shadow continued: "Welcome, Tamers of legend, to Chikyuu Island. I'm not going to tell you where I am or why I'm here. But you know what, Tamers? You're not looked upon well here. You, in the eye of my superior, are nothing but poor excuses."

            That got them indignant. "Poor excuses!?" Mikara screamed. "We defeated Satanmon and VileDevimon, for cryin' out loud!"

            The being smirked. "Oh, sure, you defeated them…the weakest of the evils! Now, let me tell you this: you are currently poor excuses, but if you prove yourselves in four tests that Chikyuu herself will force you to undertake, my superior might think otherwise of you. So tell me, Tamers, do you accept the challenge?" It sneered. "Or are you too cowardly, too comfortable with knowing you destroyed expendable pawns such as Satanmon and VileDevimon that you will not accept such a test from my superior?"

            Daiki snapped. "I've had enough of you and your shit! Tetramon!"

            "Right! Tetra Blast!" White energy shaped like a spire escaped Tetramon's mouth and sped towards the shadow. The spire went through the being and hit the tree behind it, making the tree explode.

            "Tsk, tsk, tsk…" the being mock-scolded them. "What a pathetic Digimon, wasting time and energy just to destroy a tree…in an attempt to destroy me."

            "It's…a hologram!" David suddenly exclaimed.

            "A wha…?" asked Wormmon.

            "A hologram! It's not actually here. It's…remarkable technology…"

            Lina smacked her brother upside the head. "Now's not the time to marvel at evil's technological advancements, okay!?"

            "Whatever."

            Morglormon glared at the being. "What's the first challenge?"

            The being smirked some more. "That…" It tilted its head to the depths of the island. "…is for you to decide." And it vanished.

            "That was extremely disturbing," said Riley after a moment of silence.

            "You said it," Patamon squeaked.

            "So…" said Riki slowly, "what are the four tests?"

            Josh piped up. "Deception is one, because remember? This island is full of deception."

            "Right, okay."

            Gabumon watched the ocean lap at the beach. "I'm thinking water. This is an island, right?"

            Riku groaned. "Not more water!"

            Mikara shook her head. "This is crazy. I mean…THIS IS INSANE!"

            David turned to Jessie. "Do you recognize that Digimon? The one in the hologram?"

            Jessie and Terriermon looked at each other. "Nope," they said at the same time.

            Sighing, Lina sat down. "We might as well rest here for tonight," she said. "I don't wanna get caught in one of those tests and not realize it."

*          *          *

            "They've come."

            "Good. Do you recall the old mining tunnel near the Chikyuu beach?"

            "Yes. It's rumored to have shaky foundations, and that many Digimon and humans were buried alive there."

            "I know."

            "Is that where they must go next?"

            "Yes."

*          *          *

            The next day, the Tamers trudged into the forest. They were alert and wary, not wanting to come across anything that might lead them astray. They walked like that for thirty minutes before relaxing a bit. Chikyuu hadn't done anything horrible yet.

            Then…

            "Help me!" screamed a voice.

            "What was that?" Josh cried, grabbing Mikara's sleeve.

            "It sounded like a Salamon," said Terriermon, one ear standing up.

            "Help! Help me!" the voice cried again.

            Lina ran off. "Come on! We have to help it!"

            Compass ran after her, and everyone else followed. "Wait for us!"

            After a moment of running, Compass yelped in surprise as Lina suddenly appeared in her line of vision. She abruptly stopped running, almost bumping into her friend. But at that moment, everyone else rammed into her, and they all fell in a heap on the ground.

            "Hey! Watch it!"

            "Owwww!!! My ear! Someone's on my ear!"

            "Daiki, you're heavy! Get offa me!"

            "Why did we stop?"

            Tetramon wriggled out of the heap and landed flat on his face. "Whew…I'm outta there…" He stood up and found himself staring at a pained expression on the face of a Salamon.

            "Help…please…" she whimpered. A huge log pinned her left hind leg to the ground.

            Tetramon turned to Daiki. "I need to digivolve! Use a card!"

            Daiki pulled his arms free and slashed a card through his D-Force. "Digi Modify! Digivolution activate!"

            "Tetramon digivolve to…Chagremon!" The huge wolf rammed the log with his shoulder, and it rolled off the Salamon.

            The minute Digimon jumped up and beamed at Chagremon. "Thankies! Bye-bye now!" And she zoomed off into the dark tunnel that was suddenly in front of them.

            "What's this?" asked Riley, peering into the tunnel.

            Terriermon sniffed the air. "It smells…like a mine."

            Daiki piped up. "I have a question. Why is it that that little Salamon could run into the mine when a big log was on its leg?" There was a moment of silence. "Something smells fishy about it, and I'm going to find out. Come on, Chagremon."

            The Champion-level Digimon followed his Tamer into the depths of the tunnel.

            "Wait! Daiki!" Riki exclaimed, running after his brother with Vipomon at his heels.

            Everyone stared at each other for a moment before running into the mine after the two boys and their Digimon.

*          *          *

            Patamon squirmed in Josh's arms. "We've been walking a long time. Don't you think we should…I don't know…turn back?"

            "What if we're almost there?" asked Jessie. "Then we can't turn back.

            "It's so dark in here," Petalmon observed, looking around at the blackness. "It's a good thing you've got your flashlight, right, Riku?"

            Her Tamer nodded. "That's right." She was in the lead with the flashlight out in front of her.

            Sytamon stopped. "Wait."

            "What?" asked Lina, stopping and looking at her friend. "What is it?"

            "I hear something…and I feel something…"

            "Like what?"

            "Something bad's gonna happen…"

            There was a sudden rumbling, and David sneezed as a cloud of dirt and dust fell on his head. The rumbling grew louder until everyone understood what was happening: a cave-in.

            "Let's get outta here!" Mikara screamed, and they all ran. The dirt and rocks above them fell heavily, but that did not stop them. They ran and ran and ran until the earth overtook them.

            And then all was quiet once more.

*          *          *

Author's Note: Don't worry—no one died. And for those of you who contributed characters to this fanfic, I'll need your emails them just one more time (sorry; my computer got reformatted and I lost them). Actually, I don't need them, but fellow author Senashenta does. I'll inform you why when this fanfic is over. :)