Gordianus: Okay, after extensive searches through the archives, I have made a list of all the people I could think of who might want revenge against Ri2 for writing their defeat or humiliation: Vari the Fairy, Ganondorf, Majora, Dib, Emperor Bog, Snively, Sonic, Project Satan, Metal Shadow, Sauron/Oblivion, GUN, Dr. Robotnik, LadyDemon, Terriermon and Janyu Wong, and Arukenimon and Mummymon.
BWG: (Whistles.) That's a lot of suspects.
Gordianus: Unfortunately, nine of them are dead, four are imprisoned, one is reprogrammed, one has been erased from existence, and the remaining two have been on vacation with their family for the last month. All of the suspects have an alibi.
BWG: So we're back to square one. We have no idea who might have done it.
Gordianus: Not necessarily. I also discovered signs of Numemon slime trail residue around the house.
BWG: Ew. He brought in a Numemon?
Gordianus: He may have been desperate for companionship. Since there are no signs of breaking and entering, the letter you found was typed, and the Numemon is absent, I suspect the Numemon may have attacked the author, typed out a hasty and slightly shabby note on the computer, then left the house with his captive in tow.
BWG: That's a good theory, but Numemon are too weak to defeat anybody in battle. Ri2 may be a bit of a wimp, but even he could survive getting attacked by a Numemon.
Gordianus: Good point. Also, I see no slime trails anywhere near any of the house's exits, meaning it couldn't have left the house at any point or unlocked a door or window to let somebody in. However, there is quite a deal of residue in the computer room and on the computer itself. Perhaps the Numemon was working for someone much more dangerous than it was, and let the kidnapper into the house through the use of a Digiport opened from the author's computer, and they both left through the same port with the author.
BWG: Brilliant! Let's check out the computer, we may be able to figure out where the port they used led!
(Both leave for the computer room.)
Guilmon and Grani descended through the water in a golden column of light. Guilmon had held his breath as they began to sink, and was starting to suffocate from lack of oxygen. Terrified that he would drown if he let his only breath of air out, Guilmon continued to hold his breath even as his face started to change colors. When a Tylomon darted past their column suddenly, Guilmon was so startled that he let his breath go. He gasped, clutching his throat in anticipation of the choking death awaiting him…and realized that there was air in the column. He blinked. Grani laughed. "What, did you think that the gods would have put a bridge leading from the surface to the bottom of the ocean without making sure there would be air in it? Come on, they're not that callous!"
Guilmon blushed from embarrassment, which was of course impossible to see due to his skin color. At that moment, they passed through a shimmering layer of magic encompassing a huge area of the sea. "What was that?" Guilmon said, surprised.
"When the King of Shinjuku prayed for the gods to destroy the country, they were somewhat lenient. Instead of COMPLETELY destroying Shinjuku, they cast a spell over the land to keep the waters from the great flood out and to keep Lucemon in. They also cast a spell that became tied in with the weapon we are about to collect, so the country would be frozen in time until one such as you came to get it. I'm not sure how Lucemon managed to break out of the time freeze, but I suspect he managed to partition a part of his mind away when the spell activated so that he could remain somewhat active. It must have taken him a long time, but he was able to use the part of his mind that wasn't frozen to activate the Catalyst of Power and break free from the spell. I imagine it must have taken him even longer to find a way out of the spell the gods placed to keep the waters out, and still longer to get to the surface and establish the power base he has now. In any case, that thing we just passed through was the spell." Grani looked down. "Guilmon, I think you should look down. We've arrived."
Guilmon looked down. And he almost fainted. Stretching beneath him, as far as the eye could see, was a tremendous city. It was built from metal and steel, resulting in buildings higher than the mountain on Dragon Roost Island. There were streets crisscrossing the entire city, with strange metal vehicles sitting idle all over the place. There were great areas were there were no buildings, parks that were so full of trees that RedWoodmon would have wept in envy at the sight of so many plants. But there were two, no, three things that marred its beauty. First, the place was completely empty. There were no Digimon bustling about the streets, no children playing in the great parks. There was no life at all. Second, there was no color. The entire city was in monochrome, a single shade of gray. Finally, from one of the bigger parks, a great black tower rose from the ground, a dwarf among giants in comparison with the other buildings, but ominous nonetheless. "Grani's what's that tower?" asked Guilmon.
Grani looked. He frowned. "That shouldn't be there…Lucemon probably had something to do with that. He must have built it while he was stuck down here, after he had broken out of the time freeze. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some portal or something in there leading back to the surface. If there's any place he could have used to escape from here, it would be that tower."
Guilmon shuddered. That black tower felt absolutely and completely…wrong. He looked away from the tower and saw they were moving down towards a plaza in front of a mammoth building with two towers. "What's that?"
"That is the Metropolitan Government Building. It was the heart of Shinjuku, the seat of government and home to the Royal Family. It is also our destination." They finally landed at the base of the column, in the middle of the plaza. Guilmon noticed that from the edge of the plaza, the entire building was surrounded by an extremely tall wall of energy that went all the way to the shimmering veil that separated the water above from the city below, preventing anyone from flying over it. Grani noticed the wall as well. "That force field is no doubt Lucemon's doing as well. He doesn't want anyone claiming the weapon that can defeat him, so he sealed off the entire building to keep us from getting in. Good thing he didn't count on us entering from above!" Grani nodded in the direction of the building's front doors. "Enter, Guilmon. The weapon we seek lies within."
Guilmon hopped off of Grani's back. "This shouldn't take long. See you soon, Grani." He ran across the plaza and entered the building.
Inside the Government Building, Guilmon found himself at the entrance of a great lobby, with a short set of broad stairs leading up into a big open area littered with shrubbery and benches. There was a large Catalyst symbol etched into the floor, with a beautiful fountain forming the middle triangle. At the back of the room was a great statue of what could only be Susanoomon, wielding his great sword and looking triumphant. On either side of Susanoomon was a portrait. The portrait on the left depicted an extremely attractive Digimon that could only be the Princess Kuzuhamon, surrounded by a bunch of oddly familiar-looking courtiers. The portrait on the right had been ripped out, with no indication of who had once been held within its frame. To the side of each portrait was a strange metal door set in the wall, with a panel marked with buttons next to it. Much of the room was damaged, but there was no sign of whoever or whatever had done it.
Guilmon approached the statue of Susanoomon, feeling drawn to it somehow. He stared up at the ancient hero in awe and reverence for a few minutes, then wondered what he was supposed to do next. As if on cue, his magic pebble started glowing. Guilmon pulled it out. An unfamiliar voice said, "Waker of Winds, take the door on your left to meet your destiny." The pebble stopped glowing before Guilmon could ask who the strange person was. He shrugged and went over to the metal door. He soon found it had no knob or hinges, so how did it open? He tried hitting it with his sword. He threw his boomerang at it. He tried to use the grappling hook to pull the door open. He fired the Berenjena at it. He even tried to blast it open with a bomb! Frustrated at his failure, he leaned against the wall, accidentally hitting one of the buttons with his back. There was a dinging noise, and the door slid open. Surprised, Guilmon went inside and found he was in a small room with mirrors lining the walls, some strange light fixture hanging from the ceiling, and a panel to the side of the door with a couple of hundred buttons on it. Curious, Guilmon looked at the buttons and saw they were all labeled in some language he couldn't understand, probably Japanese. He shrugged and punched the button at the very top-right corner of the panel. The door slammed shut, and the room started moving. Panicking, Guilmon screamed and started banging on the door, trying to get it open. After he had repeated all of his previous efforts to open the door with the same amount of success, he gave up and slumped against the wall. The room had steadied a little, and Guilmon got the odd feeling he was moving up. A strange dial of sorts above the door seemed to be telling him the same thing, slowly moving from the left to the right, briefly highlighting the same weird numbers that were on the panel as it moved along. He watched the hand of the dial in anticipation. After several minutes, the hand finally reached the last number. There was a ding, and the doors opened onto a room completely different to the one Guilmon had started in. Guilmon looked around in awe at the chamber as he stepped out of the moving room.
The chamber was a tall, wide cylinder with strange desks and machinery all over the place. A huge platform rose from the middle of the room, supported over an area with even more complex machinery. The walls of the room were lined with great panels that looked like stained glass, yet did not show the outside world. Each panel had a different Digimon, six in all, with a circle containing a peculiar symbol on each panel. The Digimon were the ancient Sages who had helped Susanoomon and Kuzuhamon defeat Lucemon centuries ago; Jijimon, Sage of Light; Palmon, Sage of Forest; Golemon, Sage of Fire; Ranamon, Sage of Water; Zephyrmon, Sage of Spirit; and LadyDevimon, Sage of Shadow. The six Sages gazed down onto the big platform from their wall panels, focusing their eyes on an object in the center of it. Guilmon climbed up the stairs to get a better look at the platform. In the center of the platform was a big metal knob with two long, multi-jointed metal arms growing from it. Each arm ended in a chair with control panels set into the armrests. The arms were currently lying flush with the floor, dormant. Something was jutting from the top of the knob, something that gleamed in the light shining down from a hole in the ceiling. As Guilmon walked towards the knob, trying to see what was in it, he noticed that the top of the platform had been carved with the figures of dozens of Digimon, all of which were bowing down to the middle of the room. Whatever that thing is, it must be really important! He thought. He walked into the light focused on the platform. When he saw what was jutting from the top of the metal knob, he took a sharp intake of breath at the sight of it.
It was a sword. The most beautiful sword Guilmon had ever seen, made from some strange substance that was both metal and crystal, for no metal could possibly be so pure and white, but no crystal could be as hard and sharp as the blade looked to be. Strangely, the sword had an empty spot where it looked like a jewel was supposed to be set, and the usual little things that stuck out from where the hilt and the blade met seemed to be folded back onto the sides of the hilt. Other than that, it was perfect. The magic pebble started glowing again. Guilmon pulled it out. "Guilmon…the sword is your destiny. Listen to the sword, speak it's name…take the weapon of the great Susanoomon to slay evil once more!"
"Wait, who are you? What's the sword's name?" he asked desperately. It was too late; the stone had stopped glowing. Angrily, he put it away. Then he looked at the magnificent sword. "Susanoomon's weapon…" he muttered to himself in disbelief. It all made sense, Susanoomon's weapon had been the greatest of blades, the only weapon capable of slaying Lucemon. It was only fitting that once more it would be used to defeat Lucemon, but this time it would be permanent. But before that could happen, he needed to learn the sword's name so he could pull it out. He walked right up to the sword and frowned. It had said to listen to the sword. How was he supposed to do that? On a whim, he touched the sword's hilt. He recoiled immediately when he heard a voice whispering in his mind. It had been saying a word…Guilmon grabbed the hilt with both hands, closing his eyes in concentration as he tried to listen to the voice of the great blade.
Unbreakable… Indomitable…Unconquerable…
Guilmon's eyes shot open. "INVINCIBLE!" he screamed as he wrenched the sword from the metal knob. There was a hush as the voices in Guilmon's head were silenced. Then, there was a slow rumbling sound as a wave of pure color washed out from the knob, spreading across the room and throughout the entire city, breaking the spell of time that had frozen the city for so long. The Hero's Sword flew out of Guilmon's scabbard and floated next to the Invincible. The huge white sword vaporized, its data flying into the smaller sword. The Hero's Sword glowed and transformed into a smaller version of the Invincible, the perfect size for Guilmon and just as beautiful as before. Smiling, Guilmon put his new weapon into his scabbard and headed back to the small room, ready to leave the building.
Guilmon walked over to Grani. "I got it!" he said, showing Grani the Invincible.
Grani smiled. "I kind of figured that. The wave of color restoring the city to normal time indicated that."
"So where do we go now?" asked Guilmon as he hopped on Grani's back.
"You must return to the Forsaken Fortress. There, you can rescue your sister and end Lucemon's threat once and for all."
Guilmon nodded and looked up at the surface of the ocean far above. Lopmon, I'm coming! And this time, that stupid bird's not gonna stop me! He thought. The two heroes started rising into the column of golden light that had transported them there, leaving the ancient city behind…for now.
BWG: (Disgruntled.) It's no good. The computer's memory has been completely wiped. In fact, everything's gone! This thing is completely useless now!
Gordianus: (Stroking chin.) The kidnapper must have uploaded a virus into the computer that would completely erase it after he made his getaway back to the Digital World.
BWG: Hey look! There's a disk in the floppy drive! Do you think it might have been what got the virus onto the computer?
Gordianus: Let's take a look. (He ejects the disk from the drive, then picks it up with some tongs. He then places it on a table and tries dusting it for fingerprints.) There are no fingerprints on the disk. Whoever inserted it was probably wearing gloves. Too bad leaving the disk behind was the only mistake the kidnapper made.
BWG: Great, so we still have no idea who did this.
Gordianus: Wait a second! There's something written on the label! 'If found, please return to Datamon's Data Depot, 4739 Gear Lane, Full Metal City, Folder Continent.' I think we have a clue!
BWG: Who would be stupid enough to write their address on a disk containing a deadly virus that any detective or cop could use to find the maker of the virus?
Gordianus: The kidnapper was probably in a hurry to get out of the house, so it never occurred to him to take the disk with him because it had incriminating evidence on it. We may have just cashed in on his mistake. I'm heading for Folder. I'll see what I can find out and call you if I learn anything.
BWG: Oh no you don't! If you're going to find Ri2, I'm coming with you! He was kidnapped because I was too big of a jerk to stay with him, so it's my responsibility to rescue him!
Gordianus: (Rolls eyes.) Fine. Let's go! (They leave.)