FROM THE DEPTHS

Part 14: Have Faith, Metal Panthramon

"I think we've been here before, Cheetamon," Zack noted quietly as he glanced around at the surrounding trees with a wary look on his face. It had been a few days now since they drifted away from Mamemon City. Zack and Cheetamon had been wandering around ever since they escaped from that bubble.

"I think you're right, Zack," Cheetamon agreed. "That tree does look very familiar. Then again, it looks like all the other trees in this forest."

"It's official, Cheetamon. We're lost," Zack retorted under his breath as he sat down and leaned his back against a nearby tree.

"What about that thing over there? That doesn't look like a tree to me, Zack," Cheetamon announced, pointing at a tall figure that had mysteriously appeared in the cluster of trees, with its back towards them. Zack followed his Digimon's gaze, his face paling slightly as he eyed the creature that Cheetamon was pointing at.

"That is definitely not a tree, Cheetamon. It looks like a Digimon, a really big Digimon! It's probably not very friendly, either," Zack muttered nervously as he slowly stood up, gulping nervously as he stared at the tall Digimon.

Just then, the strange Digimon suddenly turned around and stared menacingly at Zack and Cheetamon with its glowing pale blue eyes.

"I think now would be a good time to get out of here!" Zack shouted as he quickly turned around and ran away from the Digimon.

"Zack! Hold on!" Cheetamon shouted. The small Digimon gave one look at the other, much taller Digimon and chuckled nervously before he turned around and ran away as well.

"Hey, Zack! Wait for me!" Cheetamon soon caught up with his human partner, who had a good head ahead of him.

"Did we…lose that…thing?" Zack panted as he continued running.

"I don't…know, Zack," Cheetamon gasped as he looked over his shoulder. He gasped loudly when he saw that the mysterious Digimon was indeed following them and was slowly getting closer to them.

"Oh, yeah! He's definitely following us!" Cheetamon shouted.

"Oh, man! What are we gonna do? SOMEBODY HELP US!" Zack shouted at the top of his lungs, silently hoping that someone would hear him…

"Hello! Is there anyone out there?" Izzy shouted as he walked down the small trail in the forest, with Motimon hopping alongside him.

"Do you think we'll find anyone today, Izzy?" Motimon asked curiously. "We haven't seen any of our friends for days!"

"I know, Motimon," Izzy muttered out loud as he studied the digivice in his hand. "Don't worry, we'll find them. We've been through worse odds than this." Suddenly, the digivice started to beep as a red dot appeared on the tiny screen.

"Hold on a nanosecond. I'm picking up a strong reading coming from that direction!" Izzy announced as he pointed at a large mass of brush in front of him and Motimon. Just then, some rustling noises were heard from right behind the bushes.

"W-What was that?" Motimon asked a bit nervously.

"Looks like we'll soon find out," Izzy muttered out loud when he saw the brush moving slightly. A few moments later, a familiar girl dressed in a pink cowgirl's dress with a light pink hat stepped out of the bushes, followed by her plant-type Digimon.

"Mimi! Palmon!" Izzy exclaimed happily.

"Izzy! I'm so happy to see you! I thought that I would have to wander around in this forest all by myself, and all in my brand new dress!" Mimi whined as she wriggled around a bit in disgust.

"But, Mimi, I thought you said that you got that dress a few weeks ago?" Palmon asked curiously.

Before Mimi got the chance to answer Palmon's question, the silence was suddenly shattered by a familiar voice screaming, "SOMEBODY HELP US!"

"Hey, that sounded like Zack!" Palmon announced. At that very moment, Izzy and Mimi looked up at the surrounding forest and could barely make out two figures running towards them.

"That is Zack and Cheetamon," Izzy realized when he recognized the two figures. Suddenly, to Izzy and Mimi's surprise, Zack and Cheetamon ran right past them without a second look.

"Hey! What's your hurry?" Mimi shouted loudly.

"Huh?" Zack gasped as he quickly skidded to a stop. Not being able to stop himself in time, Cheetamon ended up crashing into Zack, knocking them both to the ground.

"Izzy! Mimi! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Zack exclaimed as he and Cheetamon quickly got up. "We gotta get out of here now!"

"What for?" Izzy asked curiously.

"There's this really big Digimon after us!" Cheetamon quickly explained.

"You forgot to mention scary to that description, Cheetamon!" Zack pointed out. Suddenly, the three Digi-Destined kids and their Digimon could clearly hear loud footsteps crashing through the forest, heading right for them.

"That doesn't sound very friendly to me!" Mimi gasped loudly.

"I definitely agree with you, Mimi!" Izzy admitted.

"Don't worry! We'll take care of that big bully!" Motimon announced as he hopped forward. "Motimon digivolve to…Tentomon."

"Get ready, everyone. Here he comes!" Cheetamon announced as the footsteps drew closer. Tentomon and Palmon nodded in agreement as they stood ready to fight the mysterious enemy. The three Digimon soon saw the Digimon's silhouette appear within the trees.

"What?" Palmon and Tentomon gasped simultaneously.

"Huh?" Mimi and Izzy gasped.

"What's wrong with them? Why aren't they attacking?" Zack asked suspiciously.

"It's okay, Zack. It's just Andromon," Izzy explained as the tall android-type Digimon stepped out into the light.

"Andromon?" Zack and Cheetamon exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yeah, Zack. We met him a long time when we first came to File Island," Mimi revealed as she remembered the first time that she and her friends met the android-type Digimon. "Andromon was living in this old factory where he attacked us, but it wasn't his fault because he had one of those icky black gears stuck inside of him."

"And he also helped us in the defeat of the most difficult Dark Master we had to face, Piedmon," Izzy added.

"So, the stories are true. You have returned to the Digiworld," Andromon muttered out loud.

"It's good to see you again, Andromon," Izzy confessed.

"Good to see you again, too, Izzy and Mimi," Andromon admitted. He then turned his attention to Zack and Cheetamon. "I must apologize for frightening you two. I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't know that you were one of the Digi-Destined," Andromon apologized sincerely.

"It's no big deal, Andromon," Zack replied.

"I have heard that there were four new children joining the eight original Digi-Destined, but I wasn't certain if that was true, until now," Andromon confessed.

"Yeah, it sure is, Andromon. I'm Zack, and this is my pal, Cheetamon," Zack introduced himself and his Digimon.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Andromon admitted.

"This is so great, running into old friends," Mimi confessed happily.

"It most certainly is," Izzy agreed.

"I must admit, it's good to see you two again as well, but I strongly suggest that we keep moving," Andromon announced.

"What for, Andromon?" Cheetamon asked curiously.

"I've recently received word that Megadramon has been spotted in the immediate area. He works for Armaggedamon and is searching for you and your friends as we speak," Andromon explained.

"Uh-oh! That's not good!" Tentomon reluctantly admitted.

"Who's this Megadramon?" Zack asked curiously, although deep inside, he didn't really want to hear the answer.

"Megadramon…now why does that name sound so familiar?" Mimi wondered out loud.

"I can explain that for you, Mimi. He was one of the two Digimon we came up against before defeating Machinedramon. You weren't there because, at the time, you, Joe, and Matt were separated from the rest of the group," Izzy explained as he recalled the events of that day. "From what I remember, Megadramon was as equally dangerous as Machinedramon, despite the fact that Machinedramon was a level higher than Megadramon."

"If that's the case, then we should do what Andromon said and keep moving," Zack confessed a bit nervously. Just then, a loud roar interrupted the silence of the surrounding forest.

"I'm afraid we won't get the opportunity, Zack! Look!" Izzy shouted as he pointed up at the sky.

Zack and Cheetamon both looked up and gasped loudly when they saw the huge Digimon flying high in the sky. The flying Digimon looked very much like Metal Greymon; only it had a long serpent-like tail instead of two legs and no noticeable stripes on his body. Megadramon's purple wings were much larger than Metal Greymon's wings, and his long hair poking out of the back of his metal helmet was also purple. He also had two large cannons on both arms, each with three large metal claws extending from them.

"Oh, boy! That Digimon's got bad news written all over it!" Zack muttered out loud.

"Looks like he's flying right past us, Zack. I don't think he even saw us," Cheetamon reassured his human partner.

Suddenly, Megadramon swooped down towards the three Digi-Destined kids and the four Digimon, and fired one of his cannons at them, shooting out a powerful blast of flames.

"Watch it!" Izzy shouted as he, Tentomon, Mimi, Palmon, Zack, Cheetamon, and Andromon quickly ducked behind the surrounding trees, barely avoiding the fiery blast.

"Looks like you're wrong, Cheetamon. Megadramon did see us," Zack remarked.

"We'll take care of that bully!" Tentomon boasted as he came out of hiding, along with Palmon. "Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!"

"Hey, don't forget me!" Cheetamon shouted as he also came out of hiding. "Cheetamon digivolve to…Panthramon!"

"I'll help, too!" Andromon added as he and the three Champion Digimon stood ready to attack Megadramon.

"How's about some Needle Spray!" Togemon shouted as she fired several needles up in the air at the flying Ultimate Digimon.

Megadramon groaned slightly out of pain as the multiple sharp needles struck him all over his body. As soon as he recovered, Megadramon flew higher in the air in order to avoid another attack from Togemon.

"Now it's my turn!" Kabuterimon announced as he took off after Megadramon. "Electro Shocker!"

The large ball of electricity struck Megadramon in the back, directly in between his wings. Megadramon roared loudly as he plummeted down to the ground. Before he ended up crashing into the ground, Megadramon quickly flapped his wings and glided over the surface of the ground by just a couple of feet, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process.

"Aww, man!" Zack complained as he, Izzy, and Mimi violently coughed from the thick cloud of dust surrounding them.

"Hold on, everyone!" Togemon instructed as she rapidly spun around like a top, causing the dust to gather into a miniature tornado and disperse up in the sky.

"Togemon, look out!" Mimi gasped loudly when she saw Megadramon swooping down to attack the huge cactus-type Digimon.

"I got him! Razor Claw!" Panthramon shouted as he leapt up in the air towards Megadramon, with his long razor sharp claws extended. Before Panthramon could reach him, Megadramon fired two fiery blasts from both of his cannons, engulfing Panthramon in a giant ball of fire.

"Panthramon!" Zack shouted as he watched his Digimon plummet to the ground, his black fur singed from Megadramon's fiery attack. He quickly ran to Panthramon's side.

"Panthramon, speak to me! Are you all right?"

"I've been better," Panthramon growled as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at his human partner.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon shouted as his right hand turned into a large black spike. Andromon quickly fired a blast of light indigo-colored energy from the spike up at Megadramon. Through some fancy flying maneuvers, Megadramon managed to avoid Andromon's attack.

"Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon shouted as he fired another ball of electricity at the evil flying Digimon. Megadramon quickly turned around and fired both arm cannons at the incoming ball of electricity, completely disintegrating Kabuterimon's attack.

"This Megadramon is putting up a pretty good fight," Izzy muttered a bit worriedly. "I'm not certain that we can defeat him."

"I'll get that flying lizard!" Panthramon announced as he struggled to stand up, but ended up falling back down.

"Panthramon, don't! You're still weak from that last hit!" Zack pleaded.

"But, Zack…they need my help!" Panthramon argued. Zack looked up and saw that Togemon and Kabuterimon were indeed showing signs of fatigue.

"Gatling Attack!" Andromon shouted as his steel chest plates opened up and fired two identical orange missiles at Megadramon. Before the missiles reached him, Megadramon quickly spun around in the air and, using his tail like a whip, knocked the missiles away from him.

"Mimi! Izzy! Look out!" Zack shouted when he realized that both missiles were making a beeline towards his two friends.

"Ahh!" Mimi and Izzy gasped simultaneously when they saw the two huge missiles heading straight at them.

"Izzy, hold on! I'm coming!" Kabuterimon shouted as he quickly dove down to the ground and landed next to Togemon, who was also acting as a shield for Mimi and Izzy.

"Togemon, be careful!" Mimi pleaded.

Both Togemon and Kabuterimon held their ground as the missiles collided with them, exploding on contact.

"AHH!" Mimi and Izzy screamed as the force of the explosion knocked them back a few feet. The two kids quickly looked up and gasped loudly out of shock when they saw Tentomon and Palmon lying on the ground, both out like lights.

"Tentomon!" Izzy shouted as he and Mimi ran to their Digimon's side.

"Palmon, please speak to me!" Mimi pleaded as she held Palmon in her lap.

"Aww, man! Looks like Tentomon and Palmon are out for the count!" Zack realized.

"Now it's my turn to get back in the ring and knock out Megadramon!" Panthramon growled as he once again tried to get back up.

"But, Panthramon, you might get hurt again, or worse," Zack started to protest.

"I have no choice, Zack. Besides Andromon, I'm the only one left," Panthramon pointed out as he managed to stand up.

"I don't know about this…" Zack trailed off worriedly.

"Zack, remember what I told you a long time ago when we fought Metal Shellmon?" Panthramon asked. "I told you that you just needed to have a little faith in me. Don't start doubting me now, Zack."

"You're right, Panthramon," Zack admitted. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you for a second. If I don't have faith in my own Digimon, then there would be no point in me being here in the first place. I promise that I'll never lose faith in you again, Panthramon."

Suddenly, Zack felt a strange vibration coming from his pocket. He looked down and gasped loudly when he saw his crest glowing right through his T-shirt, radiating a cerulean blue glow. Out of curiosity, he took out his digivice and saw that it was vibrating like crazy and had changed in color from white to cerulean blue.

"What's going on?" Zack asked himself as he looked up at Panthramon. He gasped loudly when he saw that his Digimon was bathed in a white light. Zack shielded his eyes with his arm and stepped back as the white light completely engulfed Panthramon.

"Panthramon digivolve to…Metal Panthramon!"

"Whoa!" Zack gasped slowly out of astonishment as he stared at the newly evolved Digimon standing on his hind legs, who was well over double the size of Panthramon.

All four of Metal Panthramon's legs were completely metal, almost robotic looking, with the gold bracelets now fused to his front paws. Metal Panthramon also had a red metal plate covering the top of his head where the red gem used to be. In addition, Metal Panthramon had many metal plates scattered along the back of his neck, down his back, and on his tail, and a pair of long silver-embossed sword blades protruding from his back, along with a large metal jet pack.

"What just happened here?" Zack asked out loud as Izzy, Tentomon, Mimi, and Palmon joined him.

"Congratulations, Zack. Your Digimon has just digivolved to the next level," Izzy explained as he sat down and opened up his laptop.

"What are you doing, Izzy?" Zack asked curiously as he turned around.

"I'm checking out your newly evolved Digimon on my Digimon Analyzer," Izzy explained as he typed away on his laptop. "Here he is! Metal Panthramon: the Ultimate level of Cheetamon. He has the ability to fly, courtesy of a jet pack attached to his back. Metal Panthramon's Ultimate attack is Panthra Blast, a powerful blast that generates over one million mega volts of electricity!"

"A million mega volts, Izzy? Oh, boy! Megadramon's gonna get a real charge out of that!" Zack remarked.

The three Digi-Destined kids looked up at Metal Panthramon as his jet pack fired up and he rose up in the air towards Megadramon. The flying Digimon growled angrily as he fired fiery blasts from both arm cannons at Metal Panthramon.

"Look out, Metal Panthramon!" Zack shouted as the flames engulfed his Digimon. To everyone's surprise, Metal Panthramon came out of the ball of fire without a scratch on him. He tried to punch Megadramon, but he missed and flew past the evil Digimon.

"Andromon, we'll attack together. Are you ready?" Metal Panthramon asked as he quickly turned around.

"Certainly, Metal Panthramon. Lightning Blade!" Andromon shouted as he fired another blast of light indigo-colored energy at Megadramon.

"Panthra Blast!" Metal Panthramon shouted as he held his robotic paws together in front of him.

The gold bracelets on Metal Panthramon's wrists started to glow bright yellow as a large ball of electricity started to gather in his paws. Once the ball of electricity was the size of a beach ball, Metal Panthramon fired a powerful blast of electricity at Megadramon. The flying Digimon emitted a loud, pain-filled screech as both Andromon and Metal Panthramon's attacks struck him hard, causing him to disintegrate.

"Wahoo! Way to go, Metal Panthramon!" Zack cheered loudly as Metal Panthramon landed back on the ground. Metal Panthramon turned around and joined Zack, Izzy, Tentomon, Mimi, Palmon, and Andromon.

"I couldn't have done it without your help, Zack," Metal Panthramon growled softly with a smile.

Suddenly, a white light completely engulfed Metal Panthramon, causing him to shrink. When Zack eventually opened his eyes, he saw Cubmon sitting where Metal Panthramon once stood.

"Cubmon, are you okay?" Zack asked out of concern as he scooped up the little Digimon in his arms.

"Yeah, I'm all right, Zack. Just a little tired," Cubmon replied with a long yawn.

"Guess I can't blame you for being tired, Cubmon. You put up quite a fight there, little guy," Zack openly confessed.

"That was quite exceptional, Zack," Izzy agreed.

"So, what do we do now?" Mimi asked curiously.

"We go look for our friends now, that's what, Mimi," Zack announced, catching Izzy and Mimi by surprise.

"You know, I believe this is the first time since we've been here that you referred to us as your friends, Zack," Izzy pointed out.

"Yeah, well…I guess I'm learning to like you guys," Zack reluctantly admitted with a nervous chuckle.

"If you wish, I can join you until you find more of your friends," Andromon offered.

"That would be great!" Mimi gushed out.

"Thanks, Andromon," Palmon admitted.

"We could definitely use the company," Izzy added as the group of seven started heading deeper into the dense forest…

"WHAT? I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Armaggedamon screamed angrily, his eyes glowing a bright fiery red. He had just witnessed the destruction of Megadramon via the monitor in his headquarters.

Armaggedamon soon calmed down after a few moments had passed. He glared around at the Digimon gathered in the hallway in front of him. "In a way, Megadramon was lucky. If he had returned here empty handed, I would have destroyed him myself! The Digimon are growing more powerful with each passing day. Two of the four new Digimon have already reached Ultimate level. We cannot allow them to gain more power! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord Armaggedamon!" the Digimon in the dark hallway agreed simultaneously as they all nodded their heads in agreement.

"With Houdinimon in hiding, and two of my loyal servants destroyed, I need to get on those meddlesome children before they reunite. But how? Hmm…" Armaggedamon murmured thoughtfully to himself as a plan slowly formulated in his head. He turned his attention to a massive crimson red-winged Digimon in the back of the hallway.

The Digimon that Armaggedamon had his eye on had a blue head, ears, and tail, off-white arms, legs, and stomach, with the exception of a blue V on its stomach. It also had long gray claws protruding from its fingers and toes, long gray spikes protruding from its elbows, a pair of gray shoulder plates covering its shoulders, a gray snout with a long horn, and a pair of long dark gray horns protruding from the back of its head.

"Aeroveedramon, come here!" Armaggedamon commanded.

"Yes, Lord Armaggedamon," Aeroveedramon replied as he walked down the hall to Armaggedamon's throne, his thundering footsteps causing the room to vibrate slightly.

"What do you need me to do for you, Lord Armaggedamon?" Aeroveedramon asked as he knelt down and bowed respectively to Armaggedamon.

"I need you to go to Mamemon City immediately and get the Mamemon Brothers for me, Aeroveedramon. Bring them here at once!" Armaggedamon ordered.

"Right away, Lord Armaggedamon. Consider it done," Aeroveedramon agreed as he turned around and headed back down the hall…TO BE CONTINUED