Me: Here I am, reporting from LA!

BWG: This place stinks. Can we go home?

Me: Will you just STOP IT with the negativity?!

BWG: What? This place does stink!

Me:

Grani had described Greatfish Isle as a veritable paradise, a beautiful green isle shaped like the fish it was named for. What they found when they got there was a shattered hunk of land mostly sunken into the ocean and covered in an endless storm. Oh, and it smelled like fish. Guilmon looked at the island with a raised eyebrow. "Wow, I thought you were exaggerating when you described this place as a paradise, but I had no idea that it was really this bad!" said Guilmon.

Grani's jaw dropped. "Impossible! The island couldn't possibly have gotten this bad so quickly! Unlessunless Lucemon is gathering power more quickly than we imagined!"

Guilmon blinked. "Wait, you mean that Lucemon did all this?"

"Of course, who else?"

"Why?"

Grani started looking worried. "He must know that we've been to the other spirits and received the Pearls! He must have attacked this island to prevent us from getting the last Pearl and finding the one weapon that can defeat him! If he managed to slay the Water Spirit AnglerWhamon, then we're all doomed!"

"I don't think you need to worry about that!" said a familiar voice from nearby.

Guilmon and Grani looked around and saw Silphymon flying alongside them! "Silphymon!" Guilmon cried out happily.

"Hey Guilmon. Is this the flying dragon/boat/horse you were talking about?" asked the Animal.

"Yep! His name's Grani!"

"Huh. Doesn't look much like a horse to me." Said Silphymon.

"I'm only a horse in name, to tell the truth. I was named after Grani, the horse of a hero on Earth named Siegfried."

"Oh."

"Silphymon, what was that you were saying about not having to worry?' asked Guilmon.

"Huh? Oh, right, that. Skydramon saw a large army sailing towards this island, and sent a warning to her brother, the Spirit who lives here. AnglerWhamon was able to escape before the army arrived and destroyed the island. He fled to a place I think you will find most familiar, Guilmon. The great whale has hid himself on Outset Island!"

Guilmon nearly fell off of Grani's back. "No way!"

"Way! He's sealed himself up in a cave behind a solid stone wall on the back of the island. After he was safe, Skydramon sent me to find you and tell you the news. Unfortunately, nobody had any idea where you were, so I just flew around until I ran into those pirate friends of yours on Windfall Island just this afternoon!"

Guilmon blinked. "You ran into the pirates?"

"Yeah, I thought they might have some correspondence with you, so I told them to tell you that Greatfish Island had been destroyed, AnglerWhamon was hiding on Outset Island and that he was saving the sacred Ophanimon's Pearl for you, and that the wall he's hiding behind could only be breached by explosives or an attack from a Mega-level Digimon! They seemed really happy to hear this, and said they would tell you right away! But I guess you never got their message, since you're here instead of Outset. Oh well!"

Grani's eyes bulged. "Um, thank you for taking the time to find us, Silphymon. We should probably get going now, so bye!" He said quickly as he fired up his engines and rocketed away at top speed.

Silphymon frowned. "Hey guys, you're going the wrong way! You're heading straight for Windfall! Guys? Guys?" he yelled after them.

"Grani, what's wrong? Where are we going? Outset's in the other direction!" Guilmon yelled over the sound of thunder.

"Guilmon, Silphymon just told a bunch of greedy pirates exactly where and how they can find a priceless holy artifact! What do you think is wrong?!"

Guilmon's eyes widened. "Th-they can't take the Pearl! We need it to stop Lucemon!"

"Yes, but they don't know that!"

"We've got to find them before they get to Outset! If I could talk to Renamon, maybe I could-"

Grani snorted. "Get real, kid! If there's one thing I've learned from all my years on the sea, it's this: never stand between pirates and their treasure. You'll always lose your life."

"But Renamon's my friend"

Grani sighed. "That may be so, but she's also a friend who happens to be after the same treasure as we are, so we'll just have to beat her to it. Fortunately, I have an idea of how to do just that!"

"How?"

"There is a bomb shop on Windfall Island. If you can get some bombs, I will be able to scan their data and use it to construct some heavy-duty weapons of my own which will be strong enough to blast through that wall Silphymon mentioned!"

"That's great!"

"Of course, the pirates will probably be trying to do the same thing to equip their ships with cannons"

"That's bad."

"But fear not, I'm sure you'll find a way to procure some bombs for our cause!"

"How?"

"What're you asking me for? It's your job to figure that out, not mine!"

At maximum speed, they reached Windfall in about an hour. Oddly, the entire sea seemed to be trapped in the same awful storm as Greatfish Island had been in, with no end in sight. Grani dropped into the water and anchored himself at the dock. "Okay Guilmon, the bomb shop is that building jutting out on the edge of that cliff. I saw the pirate ship anchored on the other side of the island, which means they haven't left yet. Let's hope you don't run into them. Godspeed."

Guilmon nodded and ran over to the Bomb Shop. A few pulls on the doorknob showed him that the door was locked. He needed to find an alternative entrance. He suddenly recalled finding a ledge behind the Bomb Shop. He couldn't remember if there was a back door, but he had been too busy playing hide and seek to look the last time. He decided to check it out. He sidled along the ledge to the back of the shop and looked around. To his disappointment, there was no back door. There was, however, an ivy-covered wall leading to a tunnel neat the roof! Guilmon quickly climbed up the ivy and crawled into the tunnel.

He came out inside the Bomb Shop, up in the rafters. He looked down and saw Renamon. There were also a bunch of pirates and the tied up shopkeeper BomberNanimon, but Renamon was the person Guilmon focused on first. Most of the pirates were carrying large crates, no doubt filled with bombs. Renamon gave a pleased nod to her crew, then turned to the helpless shopkeeper. "I hope you don't mind that we're taking all your merchandise. But if we're going to be blasting apart any stone walls or assaulting the Forsaken Fortress, we'll need plenty of heavy weaponry. Don't worry, we'll repay you for the gift of these bombs. With your life!" At that, the other pirates laughed. Renamon turned back to her crew. "Okay men, let's move out! Once we get these babies on board, we sail for Outset!" Bokomon elbowed Monzaemon. He coughed, getting Renamon's attention. "Yes Monzaemon?"

The teddy bear gave her a sheepish grin. "Well, uh, Miss Renamon, it's kinda like this. The guys and I are kind of tired and were wondering if we could, you know, wait until morning to set sail. I mean, the weather's really bad right now, and it might be a good idea if we waited until things got better to leave for Outset, right?"

Renamon raised an eyebrow. "This is just an excuse for you all to have a night on the town and get horribly drunk, isn't it?' None of the pirates met her gaze. She sighed. "Look, you all heard about what happened to Greatfish Island! We can't let the same thing happen to the rest of the world, can we? If we take the Pearl before Lucemon's forces can get to AnglerWhamon, then we can save the lives of all those people on Outset, and maybe everyone else in the Great Sea as well! Every second we dally is another second that-" At that moment, Renamon stopped abruptly, her eyes looking into the rafters. Guilmon's heart stopped. She had seen him. He could feel it. Any second now, she'd be yelling at her crew to pull him down and tear him to pieces. He was completely surprised when she turned back to face the pirates. "On second thought, the weather is a bit frightful. We can't save the world if we go down in a shipwreck, can we? Take all the bombs back to the ship, and then we can head into Windfall for a night on the town. How does that sound?" There was a great cheer from most of the pirates as they rushed out of the shop, bombs in tow. The only ones left were Renamon, Bokomon, and Monzaemon. As Bokomon and Monzaemon exchanged glances, surprised that they had actually been able to change her mind, Renamon looked up into the rafters and winked at Guilmon. Then she left. Guilmon's heart fluttered and he almost fell out of the rafters.

Bokomon slapped Monzaemon on the back, causing the bear to drop his crate. "Great job! You actually convinced her to give us a night off!"

"Hey, it was your idea." Monzaemon said as he picked up his crate again.

"Yes, but you're the one who asked her! You know, I think she likes you. I doubt she would have agreed if anyone else had asked her."

Monzaemon was slowly turning red. "D-don't say things like that!"

"But it's true, isn't it? I really do think she likes you! You two would make a great couple, she's the cleverest and strongest pirate captain of them all, and you're her reliable and loyal first mate! If you two had a child, it would be the Ultimate Pirate!"

Monzaemon was now blushing furiously. "Bokomon, y-you shouldn't even joke about stuff like that man! I mean, if Renamon heard any rumors that I, you know, liked her, I'd be keelhauled faster than you can say Long John Silver three times fast!"

Bokomon laughed. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. Come on, let's drop off these explosives and go out to get horrendously drunk with the others!" They left the shop.

Guilmon waited a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear, (And also repress the strange burning urge he felt to rip Monzaemon's head off) then dropped down from the rafters. He ran over to BomberNanimon and untied him. "Are you okay?"

The old man moaned. "Do I look okay to you?! Those no-good pirates took almost all of my stockpile of bombs! All I have left is this one big bag with at least a hundred small-yield explosives in it behind the counter, and that's not nearly enough to keep my business running! I'm ruined!"

Guilmon immediately tried to pry the pertinent information out of the old man. "You still have some bombs? Could I please have them?"

BomberNanimon suddenly got angry. "What? No way! Those are the only bombs I have left! If you want them, you'll have to get through me first! Explosive Old Man Punch!"

Guilmon ducked to avoid the punch, then knocked out the dangerous old man with the flat of his sword. "Sorry, but I really need them!" he apologized to the unconscious shopkeeper. He looked behind the counter and found the bombs. As he put the bag in his pocket, he felt the magic pebble glow and took it out. "Yeah, what is it Grani?"

"Grani? Who's Grani?"

Guilmon dropped the stone, shocked. "Renamon?!"

"Of course, who else can use this pebble?" Guilmon wisely decided not to answer. "I have to admit Guilmon, I was impressed and a little relieved when I heard you had survived the fall from Forsaken Fortress. You have no idea how surprised I was to see you up in the rafters! I'm starting to think you'll make a great pirate someday."

"You have no how surprised I was when I heard that speech you gave! I thought that you would just take the Pearl and sell it for profit. I didn't know you were going to use it to stop Lucemon! Hell, I didn't even know you were aware Lucemon existed!"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Guilmon."

"And what did you mean when you said you were going to assault the Forsaken Fortress, anyway? I thought it was too dangerous for your ship!"

"It was before. But with our new cannons, we shouldn't have a problem."

"But why are you attacking it in the first place?"

"Reward money. There's a hefty sum of bits being offered to anyone who can rescue the girls being held hostage in Forsaken Fortress, and I intend to collect it!"

Guilmon snorted. "Come on Renamon, after that speech you gave to the pirates, do you really think I'm going to believe that?"

"What? I'm serious! It's not easy to keep a big pirate ship in top condition, you know. We could use the reward money to improve our ship's speed and hull. The fact that I'll also be saving your sister and completely fulfilling my obligation to the Law of the Sea and to you is purely coincidental. Even if I am turning into a bit of a Good Samaritan, I'm a businessperson first and foremost." She paused. "You wouldn't happen to have the other two sacred Pearls, would you?"

"Yes."

"Then I've probably done the right thing by delaying my departure. We're leaving at dawn, so you should have a few hours' head start. Find the Pearl, Guilmon. Use it to stop Lucemon."

Guilmon nodded. "Can I ask you one more question?"

"You just did, but I'll let you ask another."

"How do you know about Lucemon and the Pearls, anyway?"

"I have studied the ancient legends of Shinjuku for most of my life. When I saw the signs indicating Lucemon's revival, I knew I had to do something to stop him. I was actually on my way to find one of the Pearls when that Hououmon snatched me. By some twist of fate-or perhaps destiny-it caused us to meet." She paused again. "And if you must know, I was actually going to take you with us to the Fortress all along. I know what it's like to lose a member of the family. My mother died years ago. I didn't want you to experience the pain of losing your only sister."

Needless to say, Guilmon was very confused. "But if you were going to take me all along, then why did you refuse at first?"

"I'm the captain of a crew of rowdy yet somewhat lovable pirates. I have to keep earning their respect or they might stop listening to me. How do you think they'd feel about their captain allowing a civilian to ride on the ship just because he asked? I knew all along about that clause in the Law of the Sea about mistaken kidnapping, and I was counting on Bokomon remembering it at the last minute. Silphymon did make it a bit easier to facilitate the process, I will admit."

Guilmon couldn't help grinning. "Then I was right back at the Fortress, wasn't I? You really aren't as bad as you make yourself out to be."

She laughed. "And just as I said the last time you made that comment, I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Good luck, Guilmon. Time is running out." The pebble stopped glowing. Guilmon put it away, stepped over BomberNanimon, and left the shop.

"Did you get the bombs?" asked Grani.

"Yes." Said Guilmon, holding up the thick bomb bag.

"I saw the pirates leave the shop a little while ago. Did you run into them?"

"They never saw me." Guilmon lied.

"What about Renamon?" Guilmon blinked in surprise. Grani chuckled. "You forget, I can see and hear through the pebble just like she can. It was child's play to intercept your conversation."

"Soyou heard everything?"

"Everything." He said, smiling. He chuckled. "You know, it's refreshing to learn that even after all these long years of existence, I can still make mistakes about people. It reminds me to be humble, you know? You'd be wise to take that lesson to heart."

"Right." Said Guilmon, looking embarrassed that Grani had been listening to his PRIVATE conversation. "So, uh, shall we head for Outset?'

"Sure, unless you'd like to spend more time with your girlfriend."

Guilmon sputtered. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

Grani cracked a grin. "Don't give me that! You like her, don't you?"

"N-no I don't!" Guilmon said, his red skin effectively camouflaging his blush.

Grani rolled his eyes. "Sure you don't." He laughed, then got serious. "Come on, we can argue about this later! We have to get to Outset before it's too late!"

Guilmon nodded. "Right! We can't let anything happen to Outset! It's the only home I've ever had, and I'll die before I let anything happen to it!"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Hang on tight Guilmon, cause we're going full throttle!" Grani's engines ignited, sending the two rocketing southward to Outset.

Me: That was shorter than I expected.

BWG: Why didn't you make it longer?

Me: I don't want to rush things. Outset will be the next chapter.

BWG: Oh. Okay. Not like I care or anything.

Me: (Sighs) Let's take a look at some fanmail.

HVK, good to see you again. Let's see if this cool armor you gave me works! Hey BWG!

BWG: What?

Me: Shape up or I'll use my new and improved thunder powers on you!

BWG: I dare you to try it.

Me: Okay then! BOLT 99! (A gazillion bolts of electricity strike BWG. When the blinding and seizure-inducing flashes of light were gone, BWG stood completely unharmed.) What?! HOW?!

BWG: Fool, my armor is completely insulated! I'm immune to electricity!

Me: Well then, I'll just ask HVK to send me SaberTigermon! As a Hyper level Digimon, he should put you in your place!

BWG: You idiot. There is no such thing as Hyper-level Digimon! There is no level above Mega!

Me: That doesn't stop people from inventing Digimon above Mega!

BWG: Yes, but since I'm a real Digimon, I cannot be harmed by any opponents who are at a mythical level above me. For me, they don't exist.

Me: THAT'S IT!

BWG: ?

Me: I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU! IF YOU CONTINUE TO BEHAVE THIS WAY, THEN I'M KICKING YOU OUT! I DON'T NEED YOUR BAD ATTITUDE AROUND HERE! GO ON, GET OUT!

BWG: Wait, I'm free?

Me: YES!!!!

BWG: Great! I'll just be going now. Bye! (Leaves.)

Me: So long, BlackWarGreymon