Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or Soul Reaver in any way shape or form so
don't get upset. The previous chapters have the things you should know so
don't ask me about them again.
'__________________________________________________________________
"Ugh! I had forgotten how slow walking was," Kari said exasperatingly as she moved across the digital landscape. TK was a few paces behind her with Ken and Davis, the latter two boys had been having some trouble keeping up.
" What's with you two?" Davis gasped, " don't you two ever get tired?"
"No," TK and Kari replied simultaneously as they continued walking. They had been walking for almost two days strait and despite their training Ken and Davis lacked the unnatural stamina of the other less alive digidestined. It had been agreed that the digimon would conserve their energy for battle. Mimi's domain was less that two miles away now and the landscape slowly changed from grassland to forest as they walked. The digimon were being carried so they could conserve their energies and not slow down the group. They had not seen any of other digimon as of yet.
" Where are all of the Digimon?" Patamon asked causing everyone to turn to him.
"What? It was an honest question."
" Well this is the first you've spoken since being reformatted," Ken said simply. "I was starting to doubt the state of your mind myself."
" Patamon is fine," TK said curtly, " he couldn't reformat because I was dead, a little shock is to be expected after three years of non- existence. It's like a computer that has been offline for a really long time; it takes a little while to get back up to speed. There are no digimon because Mimi's minions have cleared the area of all resources and intruders, all who are not dead won't come here." Patamon nodded at the response and went on riding TK's head in silence. Soon they found themselves at the threshold of /the woods that marked Mimi's territory. Gigantic sequoias lined the perimeter making an organic barricade. Almost all light was blocked out within the trees and the shadows had an ominous presence.
" This was once a glorious Eden filled with all types of flowers and fruit," Kari said her voice devoid of all emotion. " However the gravity of what she had become soon drove Mimi mad and her paradise has become a place of shadows and insanity. We should be careful, she has many servants." Kari promptly walked into the tree with Gatomon in tow her tail ring glinting in the gloom. TK and the other were quick to follow as to not be left behind in the woods, as they walked on glowing eyes watched menacingly from the shadows.
Kari was the only one who seemed to know where she was going and the boys kept up as best they could as she trouped through knee high shrubbery. The inner forest was made up of smaller trees and thick brambles that cut and clawed at every step. The canopy kept everything in perpetual twilight, creatures rustled in the leaves but no birds sang. There were still no digimon for quite some time, occasionally a Chumon would see them and scurry into the underbrush, but there were no guards. The first sign of resistance came when they came to a large clearing covered in emerald green clovers, a large bolder was half buried in the Earth and the canopy temporarily ended, letting the sun in.
" Can we rest for a little while? Some of us actually have limits," Davis said gasping for air, in fact everyone save for TK and Kari was exhausted.
" Well." Kari said considering the offer, " I guess we could take a five minute break" the group promptly collapsed from exhaustion. TK and Kari looked at each other for a moment before shrugging and examining their surroundings, TK started walking around the perimeter while Kari simply wandered. Davis was napping on his back and started snoring, Ken promptly elbowed him in the ribs to make him turn over. Kari had moved to the far side of the boulder and giggled to herself as she saw the group.
Davis, now on his side, was resting on Ken's stomach, V-mon and Wormmon were curled into a blue and green ball with Gatomon curled up in the center and Patamon perched on top. Her smile quickly dissipated as she saw something written on the far side of the stone. As Kari bent to check the writing TK sensed something moving in the shadows, darting his eyes quickly across the area he had started to hone in on what had moved when a gasp from Kari grabbed his attention.
Kari stared at the words written in unchanging stone. "Here Lies Pixiemon A Great Warrior Who Could Not Change His Fate And Neither Can You Prepare to Die Trespasser "
She quickly looked around the clearing for any sign of an attack, she saw something moving near TK, but he was facing her. " TK LOOK OUT!" She shouted alerting everyone in the clearing as TK jumped to avoid a pair of branch like arms that reached for him.
" Trespassers," several voices called from the shadows, " you will share his grave." About a half dozen Woodmon and Veggiemon appeared out of the shadows and surrounded the group. " Our orders are clear, all that come to this clearing must never leave it" One of the Woodmon stated as he took a step forward. TK grasped his new D-3 but Davis stopped his hand.
" Let us handle this," he said with a smirk, " digi-armor."
" We can't use our armor forms anymore remember?" Ken said with a sigh, " Let's do this the old fashioned way. Digivolve! "
" Wormmon digivolve to. Stingmon!" Wormmon became a large green humanoid insect with vicious looking claws.
" V-mon digivolve to.XV-mon!" V-mon became a humanoid dragon with large white wings and a gray X on his chest. " Bring it on!" XV-mon shouted as he charged a group of Woodmon. " XV-Punch!" The blue Dragon called out his attack as it plowed through the wooden champions, his insectoid counterpart was similarly wreaking havoc with his Striking Finish. TK watched with silent appraisal as the forces were quickly stomped out; Kari, however, had not taken her eyes off of the tombstone. The sounds of battle quickly died down as the weaker champions were deleted one by one, TK turned from the battle and walked over to Kari, whose eyes were filling with tears.
" Kari what's." he froze as he read the tombstone over her shoulder, his gaze once again hardened. " How could they?" he said in a whisper, " after all of his help how could they?" two tears made their way down the boys cheeks before he forced them to stop.
" Who was Pixiemon?" Davis asked, the battle had ended and he and Ken had both walked up to the stone.
" He was a digimon, an ultimate, he trained us in the digital world and later he protected us from the Dark Masters when we first came back to the digital world. They killed him the first time, but he should have been reconfigured." Kari said with a slightly wavering voice.
" But digimon don't die, why would anyone put up a grave at all?" Ken asked running a hand along the words.
"There are some ways to prevent a digimon's rebirth, you can create a barrier like we tried to do, you can kill it's partner at the same time, or you can destroy it's egg while it's in primary village." TK spoke this time, his voice was cold, " There isn't a barrier, and Pixiemon didn't have a partner, so his egg must be buried here. I don't know why it was done but we'll make Mimi give us an answer."
"How can you not know?" Davis asked, his eyes full of confusion, " I thought you were part of the oracle, able to see what went on in the digital world."
" That was true at first, but Tai's corruption soon blocked the oracles powers making us blind to the outside world." Kari turned her head back toward Mimi's castle, " it's not that much further, we should get going." The child of light began walking into the woods without looking to see if the others would follow, Gatomon walked wordlessly behind her as she headed into the gloom.
" What happened to resting?" Davis sighed as he started off after Kari with the others right behind, TK was the last to leave after offering a one last glance at the resting-place of a friend. They continued on without anymore sign of resistance though they all felt a sense of unease. Beyond their sight a pair of yellow eyes glowed with a savage intelligence, it moved quickly through the trees as it followed the children's progress. ________________________________________________________________________
Kari finally consented to rest after night fell they set up camp in a small thicket surrounded by thick dry bushes. Davis tried to set up a watch but Kari said no.
" We need to replenish our energies for the fight ahead, we will rest in the spiritual realm for the night and stand guard over the both of you." The jogress partners gave her puzzled looks so she elaborated, " Fighting, even with our digimon at the champion level, is going to take a lot of power in the realm of the spirits the two of us can hunt shades and lost souls for energy. When we have enough we will return to this realm."
" If you're leaving how do you plan to watch us?" Davis asked with a large yawn.
" The spiritual realm is a shadow of this one, we won't be able to see your bodies but we can see your souls and protect them from others. Don't worry we'll be able to sense an enemy before it knows we're here." Davis had already fallen asleep and had therefore missed the last part Ken mumbled thanks before drifting off himself. Kari shook her head and turned to her companion, "You go I'll watch around here for now, but please go out a little ways; I don't want you to eat a friend." Tk nodded before fading from sight completely, and leaving Kari alone with her thoughts. The creature with the yellow eyes saw the boy vanish and fled back to its master before the spirit could sense him. Upon its arrival a figure in black turned to greet the large creature.
" What's wrong? You're back early."
"Ghost.boy" the creature replied in a growl, "Boy.vanish. feed. souls."
" A wraith?" The figure's voice grew concerned, "I'm not sure we can handle this." Suddenly a vine sprung up from the ground, four flowers burst from it, green, violet, pink, and orange, the flowers then wilted and fell to the earth. " Yes my lady," the figure said, seeming to speak to the woods themselves. He turned back to the creature and his tone was hard, " You heard the lady's orders, follow them and we'll join you at dawn. You do know what happens then?"
The creature seemed to smile, " Destroy," it said softly as it returned to the canopy, once again one with the shadows. ____________________________________________________________________
The boys woke at dawn to the sight of a small fire and a steaming pot, TK was stirring gently and Kari was nowhere to be seen. It was still cold out and Davis shivered and grumbled as Ken got up to examine the pot.
" Where'd this come from?" Ken asked sleepily.
" It's a kind of tea made from some herbs around here, it should give you some energy for today,"
" I was talking about the pot," Ken replied, eyeing the blond warily, " We didn't bring anything with us."
The blond was unperturbed, " it's the digital world, I found it on the ground nearby and I washed it out in a stream, there's some cups over there if you're interested." Ken accepted the explanation and the invitation as he grabbed one of the thick mugs and grabbed himself a cup of the brew. The mixture was a reddish brown and had bits of leaves floating in it, he eyed it warily and took a sip; the effect was amazing, it was like his entire body was filled with warmth and energy, it faded after a moment causing Ken to return to his cup. Unable to stay warm on his own Davis got to his feet groggily and grabbed a cup before asking what it was, his eyes shot open after his first gulp however and he was soon enjoying it beside Ken. Kari faded into existence behind the two boys looking quite refreshed, noticing them sitting around the fire she sat with them enjoying the warmth. Their bonding moment didn't last, however as V-mon let out a loud yelp, waking the other digimon and causing their partners to jump.
" What is it?" Davis asked grumpily, he had nearly spilt his drink in his lap and Kari had been sitting next to him. " This had better be good."
" There was something watching us, it had yellow eyes, I saw it in the trees," the small dragon insisted. Kari walked to where he was pointing and looked around, then she vanished again for a few moments before rematerializing on the other side of the thicket.
" There was something here," she stated, her eyes still searching, " but it got away too fast, whatever it is it's in it's element." She paused for a moment, still thinking, " nothing to do now but keep moving."
They walked on in silence constantly looking over their shoulders until the wood parted and Mimi's fortress stood before them. It was shaped like a rose and seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. The structure was made of rose quartz and surrounded by a massive wall of vines and thorns. The massive flora was woven into a barrier more than fifty feet high, the vines were green and moving like a giant mass of snakes. The gate was made of thick stone and had four hollow slots carved into it. To the left and right of the gates stood statues of a lion and a monster, there was an inscription on the door. "Those who seek the Garden Queen Should head home in disgrace Better that than suffer The trials one must face Both the Hunters you must defeat They test if thou art strong Then the guardians will test If thy quest is wrong Only then shall the gate open Like a flower soon to bloom Then ye shall find the Garden Queen And this Tower shall be your tomb"
"The Hunter's and the Guardian's?" Davis said quizzically, " well, if what we've faced so far is any indication this should be a piece of cake."
" Somehow I doubt that," A voice said from behind them, all turned to face a boy dressed in black from head to toe his hair was a paler blond than TK's and his eyes were blue as well. There was a digivice at his hip and a small green and white digimon, with small horns and large ears, at his feet. " We are the hunters and we're here to ensure you go no further." Davis looked at the digimon at his feet and snickered, "What's so funny?"
"If you think you're going to beat me, with a little bunny you've gone off the deep end." The boy shot him a death glare before grabbing his digivice.
" No one insults me, not even Tai's little prodigy, Terriermon digivolve!"
" Terriermon digivolve to.Gargomon!" The little green "bunny" was now about four feet tall with blue jeans and a menacing pair of gun arms. The boy smiled and shouted to Davis.
"Check your analyzer goggle boy." Davis growled and checked the screen
" Gargomon champion level, referred to as the 'gun bunny' his Gargo Laser and Bunny Pummel will leave opponents seeing stars."
" So you got a bigger bunny? I'll show you a real champion, do it V- mon!"
" V-mon digivolve to. XV-mon!" The blue dragon faced the smaller champion with a steely gaze. XV-mon leapt into the air crossing his arms as he charged an attack " V-laser!" he shouted as the bolt of energy flew toward the bunny that quickly countered.
" Gargo Laser!" the two attacks met in the air and canceled one another out. The battle was far from over as the digimon traded blows. As the battle waged on Ken digivolved Wormmon and waited for an opening; XV- mon saw his other partner on the sidelines and quickly let loose with another "V-Laser" forcing Gargomon to dodge and leave his midsection open. Stingmon didn't waste an instant as he charged in with his blade drawn.
"Spiking." Stingmon was unable to finish the attack, for as soon as he got within range of the opponent another threat showed itself with a massive force.
" Cable Crusher!" A large paw flew from the trees and slammed Stingmon into the ground, the creature with the yellow eyes emerged into the daylight. It was large like a bear and had large spikes growing out of it's head and back, it's head, which was small compared to the rest of it, was topped with a small metal helmet. It retracted itbs large paw and took an aggressive stance in front of the boy in black.
" This is Endigomon, my other digimon and Terriermon's twin brother, my name is Willis, and it's time for you to die." Willis did a small bow and snapped his fingers, Endigomon turned around and extended its torso as gun barrels came from its back, Gargomon raised his guns.
" Koko Crusher!"
" Gargo Laser!" The attacks pelted the two champions for a few moments before both took to the air and the remaining projectiles struck the two statues. Diving in, the Jogress digimon went on the offensive and forced twins into a physical fight. As they battled, the damaged statues began to crumble light poured from the cracks and two figures emerged.
"Ha!" Willis shouted in triumph, " You are truly doomed now, the Guardians have awakened, Leomon, Ogremon, help me destroy them!" The two digimon shook the last bits of stone from themselves and faced the children of hope and light.
" Well it looks like we finally get some action," Gatomon said speaking for the first time, her tail ring glinting in the sun.
" Finally! I was getting bored watching the others get all of the fun." Patamon agreed as he began to glow. "Patamon digivolve to.Angemon!" The six-winged angel was dressed in white and blue, a helmet covered his eyes and he held a golden staff in his hands. " I don't know why you've decided to fight with evil once again Ogremon, but you are a threat to TK so I must defeat you."
" Fellow felines shouldn't fight, but I have a job to do Leomon" Gatomon said as she brandished her claws. Both of the Digimon faced the Guardians with resolve, and the second half of the battle began. _____________________________________________________________________
Well Kari and TK have finally joined the fray and it seems like their digimon are back to normal, but will they be able to take on the powerful champions they now face? And what about Gatomon's tail ring? will it interfere with the Jogress?
Next Time: Face Off: Mimi the Mad Lady of the Lilies The group enters the fortress of Mimi and they quickly find themselves facing the "Stem Fatale" digimon of Mimi, Lilymon. Lilymon has them beat in experience and half way through the battle they discover a deadly handicap, what will happen to our heroes as they seek the fallen crest of Sincerity.
A/N: I know I use Japanese terms and names sometimes and American ones other times but that is just a matter of preference please review.
'__________________________________________________________________
"Ugh! I had forgotten how slow walking was," Kari said exasperatingly as she moved across the digital landscape. TK was a few paces behind her with Ken and Davis, the latter two boys had been having some trouble keeping up.
" What's with you two?" Davis gasped, " don't you two ever get tired?"
"No," TK and Kari replied simultaneously as they continued walking. They had been walking for almost two days strait and despite their training Ken and Davis lacked the unnatural stamina of the other less alive digidestined. It had been agreed that the digimon would conserve their energy for battle. Mimi's domain was less that two miles away now and the landscape slowly changed from grassland to forest as they walked. The digimon were being carried so they could conserve their energies and not slow down the group. They had not seen any of other digimon as of yet.
" Where are all of the Digimon?" Patamon asked causing everyone to turn to him.
"What? It was an honest question."
" Well this is the first you've spoken since being reformatted," Ken said simply. "I was starting to doubt the state of your mind myself."
" Patamon is fine," TK said curtly, " he couldn't reformat because I was dead, a little shock is to be expected after three years of non- existence. It's like a computer that has been offline for a really long time; it takes a little while to get back up to speed. There are no digimon because Mimi's minions have cleared the area of all resources and intruders, all who are not dead won't come here." Patamon nodded at the response and went on riding TK's head in silence. Soon they found themselves at the threshold of /the woods that marked Mimi's territory. Gigantic sequoias lined the perimeter making an organic barricade. Almost all light was blocked out within the trees and the shadows had an ominous presence.
" This was once a glorious Eden filled with all types of flowers and fruit," Kari said her voice devoid of all emotion. " However the gravity of what she had become soon drove Mimi mad and her paradise has become a place of shadows and insanity. We should be careful, she has many servants." Kari promptly walked into the tree with Gatomon in tow her tail ring glinting in the gloom. TK and the other were quick to follow as to not be left behind in the woods, as they walked on glowing eyes watched menacingly from the shadows.
Kari was the only one who seemed to know where she was going and the boys kept up as best they could as she trouped through knee high shrubbery. The inner forest was made up of smaller trees and thick brambles that cut and clawed at every step. The canopy kept everything in perpetual twilight, creatures rustled in the leaves but no birds sang. There were still no digimon for quite some time, occasionally a Chumon would see them and scurry into the underbrush, but there were no guards. The first sign of resistance came when they came to a large clearing covered in emerald green clovers, a large bolder was half buried in the Earth and the canopy temporarily ended, letting the sun in.
" Can we rest for a little while? Some of us actually have limits," Davis said gasping for air, in fact everyone save for TK and Kari was exhausted.
" Well." Kari said considering the offer, " I guess we could take a five minute break" the group promptly collapsed from exhaustion. TK and Kari looked at each other for a moment before shrugging and examining their surroundings, TK started walking around the perimeter while Kari simply wandered. Davis was napping on his back and started snoring, Ken promptly elbowed him in the ribs to make him turn over. Kari had moved to the far side of the boulder and giggled to herself as she saw the group.
Davis, now on his side, was resting on Ken's stomach, V-mon and Wormmon were curled into a blue and green ball with Gatomon curled up in the center and Patamon perched on top. Her smile quickly dissipated as she saw something written on the far side of the stone. As Kari bent to check the writing TK sensed something moving in the shadows, darting his eyes quickly across the area he had started to hone in on what had moved when a gasp from Kari grabbed his attention.
Kari stared at the words written in unchanging stone. "Here Lies Pixiemon A Great Warrior Who Could Not Change His Fate And Neither Can You Prepare to Die Trespasser "
She quickly looked around the clearing for any sign of an attack, she saw something moving near TK, but he was facing her. " TK LOOK OUT!" She shouted alerting everyone in the clearing as TK jumped to avoid a pair of branch like arms that reached for him.
" Trespassers," several voices called from the shadows, " you will share his grave." About a half dozen Woodmon and Veggiemon appeared out of the shadows and surrounded the group. " Our orders are clear, all that come to this clearing must never leave it" One of the Woodmon stated as he took a step forward. TK grasped his new D-3 but Davis stopped his hand.
" Let us handle this," he said with a smirk, " digi-armor."
" We can't use our armor forms anymore remember?" Ken said with a sigh, " Let's do this the old fashioned way. Digivolve! "
" Wormmon digivolve to. Stingmon!" Wormmon became a large green humanoid insect with vicious looking claws.
" V-mon digivolve to.XV-mon!" V-mon became a humanoid dragon with large white wings and a gray X on his chest. " Bring it on!" XV-mon shouted as he charged a group of Woodmon. " XV-Punch!" The blue Dragon called out his attack as it plowed through the wooden champions, his insectoid counterpart was similarly wreaking havoc with his Striking Finish. TK watched with silent appraisal as the forces were quickly stomped out; Kari, however, had not taken her eyes off of the tombstone. The sounds of battle quickly died down as the weaker champions were deleted one by one, TK turned from the battle and walked over to Kari, whose eyes were filling with tears.
" Kari what's." he froze as he read the tombstone over her shoulder, his gaze once again hardened. " How could they?" he said in a whisper, " after all of his help how could they?" two tears made their way down the boys cheeks before he forced them to stop.
" Who was Pixiemon?" Davis asked, the battle had ended and he and Ken had both walked up to the stone.
" He was a digimon, an ultimate, he trained us in the digital world and later he protected us from the Dark Masters when we first came back to the digital world. They killed him the first time, but he should have been reconfigured." Kari said with a slightly wavering voice.
" But digimon don't die, why would anyone put up a grave at all?" Ken asked running a hand along the words.
"There are some ways to prevent a digimon's rebirth, you can create a barrier like we tried to do, you can kill it's partner at the same time, or you can destroy it's egg while it's in primary village." TK spoke this time, his voice was cold, " There isn't a barrier, and Pixiemon didn't have a partner, so his egg must be buried here. I don't know why it was done but we'll make Mimi give us an answer."
"How can you not know?" Davis asked, his eyes full of confusion, " I thought you were part of the oracle, able to see what went on in the digital world."
" That was true at first, but Tai's corruption soon blocked the oracles powers making us blind to the outside world." Kari turned her head back toward Mimi's castle, " it's not that much further, we should get going." The child of light began walking into the woods without looking to see if the others would follow, Gatomon walked wordlessly behind her as she headed into the gloom.
" What happened to resting?" Davis sighed as he started off after Kari with the others right behind, TK was the last to leave after offering a one last glance at the resting-place of a friend. They continued on without anymore sign of resistance though they all felt a sense of unease. Beyond their sight a pair of yellow eyes glowed with a savage intelligence, it moved quickly through the trees as it followed the children's progress. ________________________________________________________________________
Kari finally consented to rest after night fell they set up camp in a small thicket surrounded by thick dry bushes. Davis tried to set up a watch but Kari said no.
" We need to replenish our energies for the fight ahead, we will rest in the spiritual realm for the night and stand guard over the both of you." The jogress partners gave her puzzled looks so she elaborated, " Fighting, even with our digimon at the champion level, is going to take a lot of power in the realm of the spirits the two of us can hunt shades and lost souls for energy. When we have enough we will return to this realm."
" If you're leaving how do you plan to watch us?" Davis asked with a large yawn.
" The spiritual realm is a shadow of this one, we won't be able to see your bodies but we can see your souls and protect them from others. Don't worry we'll be able to sense an enemy before it knows we're here." Davis had already fallen asleep and had therefore missed the last part Ken mumbled thanks before drifting off himself. Kari shook her head and turned to her companion, "You go I'll watch around here for now, but please go out a little ways; I don't want you to eat a friend." Tk nodded before fading from sight completely, and leaving Kari alone with her thoughts. The creature with the yellow eyes saw the boy vanish and fled back to its master before the spirit could sense him. Upon its arrival a figure in black turned to greet the large creature.
" What's wrong? You're back early."
"Ghost.boy" the creature replied in a growl, "Boy.vanish. feed. souls."
" A wraith?" The figure's voice grew concerned, "I'm not sure we can handle this." Suddenly a vine sprung up from the ground, four flowers burst from it, green, violet, pink, and orange, the flowers then wilted and fell to the earth. " Yes my lady," the figure said, seeming to speak to the woods themselves. He turned back to the creature and his tone was hard, " You heard the lady's orders, follow them and we'll join you at dawn. You do know what happens then?"
The creature seemed to smile, " Destroy," it said softly as it returned to the canopy, once again one with the shadows. ____________________________________________________________________
The boys woke at dawn to the sight of a small fire and a steaming pot, TK was stirring gently and Kari was nowhere to be seen. It was still cold out and Davis shivered and grumbled as Ken got up to examine the pot.
" Where'd this come from?" Ken asked sleepily.
" It's a kind of tea made from some herbs around here, it should give you some energy for today,"
" I was talking about the pot," Ken replied, eyeing the blond warily, " We didn't bring anything with us."
The blond was unperturbed, " it's the digital world, I found it on the ground nearby and I washed it out in a stream, there's some cups over there if you're interested." Ken accepted the explanation and the invitation as he grabbed one of the thick mugs and grabbed himself a cup of the brew. The mixture was a reddish brown and had bits of leaves floating in it, he eyed it warily and took a sip; the effect was amazing, it was like his entire body was filled with warmth and energy, it faded after a moment causing Ken to return to his cup. Unable to stay warm on his own Davis got to his feet groggily and grabbed a cup before asking what it was, his eyes shot open after his first gulp however and he was soon enjoying it beside Ken. Kari faded into existence behind the two boys looking quite refreshed, noticing them sitting around the fire she sat with them enjoying the warmth. Their bonding moment didn't last, however as V-mon let out a loud yelp, waking the other digimon and causing their partners to jump.
" What is it?" Davis asked grumpily, he had nearly spilt his drink in his lap and Kari had been sitting next to him. " This had better be good."
" There was something watching us, it had yellow eyes, I saw it in the trees," the small dragon insisted. Kari walked to where he was pointing and looked around, then she vanished again for a few moments before rematerializing on the other side of the thicket.
" There was something here," she stated, her eyes still searching, " but it got away too fast, whatever it is it's in it's element." She paused for a moment, still thinking, " nothing to do now but keep moving."
They walked on in silence constantly looking over their shoulders until the wood parted and Mimi's fortress stood before them. It was shaped like a rose and seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. The structure was made of rose quartz and surrounded by a massive wall of vines and thorns. The massive flora was woven into a barrier more than fifty feet high, the vines were green and moving like a giant mass of snakes. The gate was made of thick stone and had four hollow slots carved into it. To the left and right of the gates stood statues of a lion and a monster, there was an inscription on the door. "Those who seek the Garden Queen Should head home in disgrace Better that than suffer The trials one must face Both the Hunters you must defeat They test if thou art strong Then the guardians will test If thy quest is wrong Only then shall the gate open Like a flower soon to bloom Then ye shall find the Garden Queen And this Tower shall be your tomb"
"The Hunter's and the Guardian's?" Davis said quizzically, " well, if what we've faced so far is any indication this should be a piece of cake."
" Somehow I doubt that," A voice said from behind them, all turned to face a boy dressed in black from head to toe his hair was a paler blond than TK's and his eyes were blue as well. There was a digivice at his hip and a small green and white digimon, with small horns and large ears, at his feet. " We are the hunters and we're here to ensure you go no further." Davis looked at the digimon at his feet and snickered, "What's so funny?"
"If you think you're going to beat me, with a little bunny you've gone off the deep end." The boy shot him a death glare before grabbing his digivice.
" No one insults me, not even Tai's little prodigy, Terriermon digivolve!"
" Terriermon digivolve to.Gargomon!" The little green "bunny" was now about four feet tall with blue jeans and a menacing pair of gun arms. The boy smiled and shouted to Davis.
"Check your analyzer goggle boy." Davis growled and checked the screen
" Gargomon champion level, referred to as the 'gun bunny' his Gargo Laser and Bunny Pummel will leave opponents seeing stars."
" So you got a bigger bunny? I'll show you a real champion, do it V- mon!"
" V-mon digivolve to. XV-mon!" The blue dragon faced the smaller champion with a steely gaze. XV-mon leapt into the air crossing his arms as he charged an attack " V-laser!" he shouted as the bolt of energy flew toward the bunny that quickly countered.
" Gargo Laser!" the two attacks met in the air and canceled one another out. The battle was far from over as the digimon traded blows. As the battle waged on Ken digivolved Wormmon and waited for an opening; XV- mon saw his other partner on the sidelines and quickly let loose with another "V-Laser" forcing Gargomon to dodge and leave his midsection open. Stingmon didn't waste an instant as he charged in with his blade drawn.
"Spiking." Stingmon was unable to finish the attack, for as soon as he got within range of the opponent another threat showed itself with a massive force.
" Cable Crusher!" A large paw flew from the trees and slammed Stingmon into the ground, the creature with the yellow eyes emerged into the daylight. It was large like a bear and had large spikes growing out of it's head and back, it's head, which was small compared to the rest of it, was topped with a small metal helmet. It retracted itbs large paw and took an aggressive stance in front of the boy in black.
" This is Endigomon, my other digimon and Terriermon's twin brother, my name is Willis, and it's time for you to die." Willis did a small bow and snapped his fingers, Endigomon turned around and extended its torso as gun barrels came from its back, Gargomon raised his guns.
" Koko Crusher!"
" Gargo Laser!" The attacks pelted the two champions for a few moments before both took to the air and the remaining projectiles struck the two statues. Diving in, the Jogress digimon went on the offensive and forced twins into a physical fight. As they battled, the damaged statues began to crumble light poured from the cracks and two figures emerged.
"Ha!" Willis shouted in triumph, " You are truly doomed now, the Guardians have awakened, Leomon, Ogremon, help me destroy them!" The two digimon shook the last bits of stone from themselves and faced the children of hope and light.
" Well it looks like we finally get some action," Gatomon said speaking for the first time, her tail ring glinting in the sun.
" Finally! I was getting bored watching the others get all of the fun." Patamon agreed as he began to glow. "Patamon digivolve to.Angemon!" The six-winged angel was dressed in white and blue, a helmet covered his eyes and he held a golden staff in his hands. " I don't know why you've decided to fight with evil once again Ogremon, but you are a threat to TK so I must defeat you."
" Fellow felines shouldn't fight, but I have a job to do Leomon" Gatomon said as she brandished her claws. Both of the Digimon faced the Guardians with resolve, and the second half of the battle began. _____________________________________________________________________
Well Kari and TK have finally joined the fray and it seems like their digimon are back to normal, but will they be able to take on the powerful champions they now face? And what about Gatomon's tail ring? will it interfere with the Jogress?
Next Time: Face Off: Mimi the Mad Lady of the Lilies The group enters the fortress of Mimi and they quickly find themselves facing the "Stem Fatale" digimon of Mimi, Lilymon. Lilymon has them beat in experience and half way through the battle they discover a deadly handicap, what will happen to our heroes as they seek the fallen crest of Sincerity.
A/N: I know I use Japanese terms and names sometimes and American ones other times but that is just a matter of preference please review.