(Gordianus and BWG approach an apartment door. Gordianus knocks on it. The door opens, and a woman's head pokes out.)

Woman: Hello?

Gordianus: Greetings, ma'am. Is this the Akiyama residence?

Woman: Yes.

Gordianus: Would your son and his partner happen to be here at the moment? We have a few questions for them.

Woman: Oh, they're not in right now. They went out to play with some new friend of theirs.

BWG: Well that's a shame. Perhaps we should come back later.

Gordianus: Not so fast. Where were they at 7:00 PM on the 30th of August?

Woman: Well, I'm not really sure…I think that they went out.

(BWG and Gordianus exchange glances.)

Gordianus: Mrs. Akiyama, do you think you could tell us where your sons go to play with this friend of theirs?

Woman: Oh, I think they get together in an abandoned warehouse near the edge of Kyushu district.

Gordianus: I see. Thank you for your time, ma'am. We'll just be going now.

Woman: Sayonara. (Closes door.)

Gordianus: Let's go BlackWarGreymon. We've got business in Kyushu! (They depart.)

Guilmon landed on a stone platform rising from an abyss. A ledge and a door were on the wall directly across from him. Biyomon was waiting at the edge of the platform. She didn't look too happy. "I suggest you be on your guard, Guilmon. The temple is full of monsters."

Guilmon looked around. "This room seems to be clean. Where did the monsters come from? Are they Lucemon's doing?"

"No, Lucemon cannot step foot in this ancient temple. They sprang up because there's been nobody around to spray the place with monster repellent for over a thousand years."

"…Oh."

"We have to get to the sacred chamber of the temple so we can recharge the Invincible. I can only do it halfway though, the new Wind Sage will be able to completely restore the sword after you find him."

"There wouldn't happen to be a horrible monster lurking about the sacred chamber, would there?"

She smiled. "Why yes, how did you know?"

Guilmon groaned. "Figures. Well, lead the way, Earth Sage." Biyomon flew across the chasm to the ledge. Guilmon glided across using his leaf, and they went through the door.

They were in a small hallway leading into a massive chamber with stairs going up to a dead end along the wall, several pillars of varying heights, a barred door, and a few Fugamon. Guilmon defeated the ogres, then approached the door. "How do we open this thing?" he asked.

Biyomon looked up at a pair of pillars standing in the center of the room, towering above everything else. She ran for the staircase. Guilmon went after her, climbing to the top of the stairs so that they were just below the closest of the really tall pillars. Now that they were high up, Guilmon could see each pillar had a switch. "Okay, we have to hit those switches. And I'm guessing they're pressure switches, right?"

Biyomon nodded. "Both switches must be pressed down at the same time to open the door."

"Great. You can fly over to either of them, but they're too tall for me to glide to."

"Not a problem." She jumped onto Guilmon's shoulders and grabbed on with her claws. "Don't struggle, I'm going to carry you over to the pillar." She started flapping her wings with extra gusto, managing to lift Guilmon into the air and drop him onto the top of the pillar.

He winced as he hit the pillar top hard. "Did you have to drop me so hard?" he asked angrily.

"Well excuse me, but you're not the one who had to carry a hundred and twenty pound Digimon!" she retorted.

"I'll have you know that I weigh exactly ninety-seven pounds…or at least I did when I checked last year. Maybe I have been putting on a little too much weight." He admitted, patting his stomach.

"Well, put that weight to good use and activate that switch!" Guilmon stepped on the switch. Biyomon flew over to the other pillar and activated the second switch, causing the bars over the door to retract. They dropped to the ground and went through the door.

They found themselves in a chamber with a beam of sunlight coming through a hole in the ceiling and a barred door on the other side of the room. At least a dozen Numemon of all different colors dropped down from the ceiling and started slithering towards them. Biyomon started to open her mouth. "Don't tell me, I have to kill all the Numemon to open the door, right?" She nodded. "Hang on." He started hacking and slashing his way through the slugs. Most of them were killed easily, but he was astonished when he saw that no matter what he did to a new variety of black Numemon, they always pulled their data back together! "Why won't you die?" he said frantically, slashing at the same slug again and again. The Numemon pulled itself together and lunged at Guilmon. Before the Numemon could strike a beam of light shot out and hit it, turning the slug to stone. Guilmon blinked and saw that Biyomon was standing in the beam of sunlight. She had pulled off her well-polished harp and was using it to reflect light around the room, striking the rest of the dark Numemon.

"The black Numemon cannot be killed until they have been paralyzed by sunlight! Shatter them before they can recover!" she cried at him.

Guilmon quickly smashed the petrified slugs to pieces before they could turn back into slime. The bars on the door retracted, allowing them to continue. "Thanks for the save, Biyomon."

"It was nothing. Just remember that many of the monsters you will find in this temple do not like the sunlight. If you can shine it into their faces, you will have little trouble defeating them." Biyomon said as she placed the harp on her back.

"I'll try to remember that." They went into the next room. It was a large rectangular chamber with a sunken floor covered in a strange blue mist. Looming over the mist was a hideous grinning statue with a pair of strange plaques depicting suns for eyes. A pair of sunbeams shone down from the ceiling. "What's that stuff?" asked Guilmon, pointing to the mist.

"That is a corrupted program. If you get any of it on you, you'll be temporarily cursed and won't be able to draw a weapon until the curse wears off or you step into the sunlight. Sunlight destroys the corruption." She said. She walked into one of the sunbeams, pulled of her harp, and reflected light into one of the statues big eyes. After a few seconds, the plaque started glowing and rays of light started circling the disk. "Guilmon, do you think you could reflect light into the other switch from that other sunbeam?"

"Uh…with what?"

"What do you mean, 'with what?'"

"I don't have anything reflective!"

"What about the Invincible?"

Guilmon pulled out the magic sword, which was emitting a faint white glow. "How am I supposed to use something that glows to reflect light?!"

"…Good point. We need to get you a mirror." She moved her reflected sunbeam away from the eye, causing the plaque to dim and go out. She pointed her harp at the cursed ground, burning away some of the mist and revealing a plunger switch. "Hit that switch, it'll open the way to a mirror you can use." Guilmon pulled out his hammer, ran down to the switch, and slammed it into the ground. A door opened up on the side wall. Biyomon waited to put away the mirror until Guilmon was safely out of the corruption, then they went through the door.

They were in a large room with a platform rising from the ground on the right side of the room. A barred door and a large block stood on the platform. A few red curtains hung on the walls, and there was an assortment of Numemon gathered around a pair of pressure switches in the middle of the room. Guilmon was able to kill most of the slugs, but he found himself up against a group of black ones very quickly. "Biyomon, there's no light in here! What do we do?"

Biyomon looked at the curtains. "Guilmon, burn down the curtains!"

Guilmon sidestepped one of the black Numemon as it lunged at him, and formed a fireball in his mouth. He spat the Pyro Sphere at a curtain, burning it away and revealing a hollow cavity. "There's nothing there!"

"Try the other one!" Guilmon ran away from the slugs and spat another fireball. This time, when the curtain burned away a sunbeam shot out from behind it, illuminating the center of the room. Biyomon ran into the light and used her reflective harp to petrify the slugs. Biyomon saw Guilmon was about to smash the Numemon and shouted. "Guilmon, don't! We need those Numemon to hold down the switches!"

Guilmon stopped. "Oh. Okay." He picked up one of the stone Numemon and dropped it on a switch, and did the same to the second switch. A section of the platform lowered to the ground, forming a staircase. Guilmon noticed the stone Numemon were starting to wiggle. "I think they're reviving, let's move!" They ran up the stairs just before the Numemon changed back to normal, causing the staircase to elevate itself again. "Just made it. What now?"

She pointed to the block. "You need to push that block off the ledge to open the door."

Guilmon did so. The door opened, and they went to the next room. It was a long hallway with a ledge and a barred door at the back of the chamber. A pair of blocks sat on the floor, one of which had a large Elephantmon statue sitting on it. A yellow spiral symbol was painted on the statue's head. A strange dark hole moved around the floor, a long and windy purple arm sticking out of it. "What's that thing?"

"It's a Creep Hand, a monster that pulls victims into the floor and tosses them out somewhere else. I would recommend killing it from a distance or attacking it when it tries to grab you from up close." Biyomon informed him.

"Doesn't look so tough." Said Guilmon. He took out the Berenjena and wiped out the moving hand with a few shots. He noticed an indentation near the first block, and guessed he was supposed to push it in. When he did so, a beam of sunlight shone down from the ceiling. Biyomon stepped into the light, took off her harp, and used it to reflect sunlight onto the statue atop the second block. To Guilmon's surprise, the statue exploded in a shower of dust! "Why'd that happen?"

"The symbol on the statue's forehead indicated that it could be destroyed by sunlight. Whenever you see something with that symbol on it, reflect light onto it. You never know what you might find." To demonstrate, she reflected light onto a section of wall with the same spiral symbol. It exploded, revealing a treasure chest.

Guilmon opened the chest. "Whoa, 80 bits!"

"You can keep them. Push that other block to the ledge so we can get out of here." Guilmon pushed the block to the ledge. This caused the bars on the door to retract, allowing them to exit.

The next room was a large chamber with a high ledge that had a sunbeam on it and a spiral marking on the wall beneath it. There were also a large number of Fugamon. Guilmon killed the Fugamon but was stymied when a bunch of Bakemon appeared. They were ghostly sheets that carried solid lanterns and could not be harmed by physical attacks due to their transparent state. Guilmon deflected a Bakemon's charge with his shield, noticing that it had a spiral symbol painted on its face. "Biyomon, get me some light!" he yelled.

Biyomon flew up to the ledge and used her harp to reflect sunlight onto the ghosts. They shielded their eyes from the light, howling in pain as they solidified. "Guilmon, they're vulnerable now! Finish them!" Guilmon made quick work of the evil ghosts, eliminating all the enemies in the room and causing a nearby section of wall to lower, revealing a staircase.

Guilmon grinned at Biyomon. "Thanks for the light. I don't suppose you can get rid of this marked wall down here, do you?"

Biyomon shook her head. "You'll need to get the mirror for that. It's just up those stairs. I'll wait here for you to return."

Guilmon headed up the newly revealed stairs and went through the door at the top. He was in a big room with three alcoves in the back corners. Two of them contained stone sarcophagi, while the one in the middle was too high to reach. As Guilmon walked further into the room, bars slammed down over the door behind him. "That's not good," he muttered. The ground shook and a SkullSatamon burst out of the floor. "That's really not good." Said Guilmon.

The large red skeleton started towards Guilmon, dragging its heavy staff alongside it. Guilmon drew the Invincible and waited for the skeleton to attack…and waited…and waited…and waited…"Geez, who knew the undead were this slow?" Guilmon said in disgust. He had been waiting for five minutes and the skeleton had only moved three feet closer! Impatient, he charged towards the undead demon. He was very surprised when SkullSatamon spun around, swinging its staff right for Guilmon's head! Guilmon ducked, and the skeleton's momentum caused it to fall over. Guilmon sweatdropped. "This is pathetic." He grumbled. He pulled out a bomb, set the timer, and shoved it into SkullSatamon's belt. The skeleton got an "oh shit" expression on its face right before the bomb exploded, breaking SkullSatamon in two. Guilmon was startled to see that the monster was still alive! The legs got up and started running away, while the torso picked itself up and began walking away on its hands! Guilmon blinked. "Okay…" He ran after the lower body and slashed at the legs with his sword. The body fell apart, scattering bones all over the floor. Guilmon then ran after the upper half of the body, which frantically tried to crawl away as fast as it could. Guilmon leaped in the air and smashed into the skeleton with a devastating jump attack, shattering the upper body to pieces. The black orb that was inside SkullSatamon's rib cage tumbled out and started bouncing away. Guilmon threw his boomerang at it, stunning the dark sphere. He ran towards the immobile ball and stabbed the Invincible right into its core. The orb and all the bones exploded in a shatter of data, which Guilmon collected.

He jumped when he heard a rumbling noise, and saw that both of the stone sarcophagi were opening up, allowing two more SkullSatamon to come out! Guilmon dealt with him as he had the first one, clearing the room of all enemies. A section of floor lifted up into stairs, allowing access to the high alcove at the back of the room. Also, a hole in the ceiling opened, allowing a ray of sunshine in. With the new light, Guilmon saw the door was still barred, but a sun plaque had appeared over it. He needed to reflect light to it somehow. He climbed up the new stairs to the alcove and found a treasure chest. Could this be the mirror Biyomon told me to find? He wondered. He opened the chest. A cloud of data flew out and went into his shield, which started to glow. Guilmon pulled his shield off in time to see it transform into an extremely well polished round shield with the Catalyst symbol in its center. The word AEGIS was scrawled on the back of the shield. Guilmon looked at the front of the shield and was pleased to see his face in it. This was what he was looking for! He ran into the sunbeam and pulled off his shield. The well-polished shield reflected the light, sending it all over the room. He pointed the shield towards the plaque over the door. The sun symbol lit up and the door opened, allowing Guilmon to exit the room.

Biyomon was waiting for him. "I see you found the magical Aegis shield. It's a lot stronger than your old shield, and it'll reflect sunlight wherever you want it to."

"I already figured that out. I think we can use this to get rid of that wall over there. Get in the sunlight and shine some rays at me with your harp." Biyomon flew back up to the ledge and sent a sunbeam down at Guilmon. He took off the Aegis and used it to reflect the light at the spiral symbol on the wall. It exploded, revealing a secret passageway.

Biyomon hopped down. "This passage will take us back to the big statue chamber. Now that you have the Aegis, we can proceed deeper into the temple."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" They entered the passage.

Returning to the statue chamber, Biyomon and Guilmon stood in the sunlight, took off their reflective items, and shined light into the statue's eyes. They lit up with a flash, burning away the corruption on the floor and causing a section of the floor to collapse into a set of downward stairs. They went down the stairs and through a doorway, went down another long and winding staircase, and came to a rope bridge spanning an abyss. A pair of Skullmon flew about, but they were surrounded in blue fire instead of red. "I don't think you want to get hit by those flames," said Biyomon. "The blue fire is the same as the corruption. You won't be able to draw any weapons for a few minutes or until you find some sunlight."

"Then I won't get hit." Said Guilmon. He opened his mouth and spat an ice ball at one of the Skullmon, extinguishing its fire and causing it to fall into the abyss. He did the same to the second skull, then safely crossed the bridge with Biyomon.

Blocking their path on the other side was a giant slab like the one that had been blocking the entrance to the temple. Biyomon took out her harp. "Guilmon, please play the Earth God's Lyric." Guilmon took out the Wind Waker and conducted the Lyric for Biyomon. Their combined songs caused the slab to crumble to pieces, revealing a doorway.

The next chamber had a single beam of light shining on a spot near the entrance. A giant mirror set in a large stone Scorpiomon sat at the back of the room, angled towards a giant Elephantmon statue on the wall. A couple of strange Digimon sat at the bases of a pair of statues near the sunbeam. "What are those Digimon sitting on the floor?" asked Guilmon.

"They are called Mortmon. They are zombies that use their Death Scream to freeze prey in their tracks so they can drain your life. They are invulnerable when they're sitting down, but can be killed once they get up." Stated Biyomon. "They also don't like sunlight."

Guilmon nodded. "Okay. I'll distract the zombies so you can get to the sunbeam and shine some light at them. I'll finish them off while they're stunned." She nodded, showing her understanding. Guilmon ran in between the zombies. The Mortmon grunted and got up. The reptile led the zombies away from the entrance, allowing Biyomon to get to the light. As Guilmon was backing away, one of the Mortmon opened its mouth and let out a horrible scream. Guilmon suddenly found he couldn't move a muscle! He struggled to move away as the Mortmon came closer…closer…closer…and then they both screeched as Biyomon shone light at them, breaking their spell. Guilmon drew the Invincible and slew the zombies with a few blows. He frowned at the pink bird. "Did you have to cut it so close?" he asked as he entered the light.

"The Death Scream only lasts for a few seconds. You would have been able to move away before the zombies could get you, even if I hadn't used the light." She said.

"Well you could have told me that beforehand!" Guilmon pulled off the Aegis and used it to reflect light at the mirror. It bounced off and struck the statue, destroying it and revealing a door. "We go in there?" She nodded. "Let's move."

The next room was a corridor leading to a small antechamber. The floor between them and the antechamber was covered in corruption, and a pair of Creep Hands were lurking about. Only one of them, the one closest to the duo, had its hand out of the hole in the floor. Guilmon killed it with the Berenjena, then looked at Biyomon. "I have to cross the floor, don't I?"

She nodded. "Watch out for the other Creep Hand. It won't come out until you are close to it."

"That's kind of what I figured." He muttered. He waded into the cursed mist. He instantly felt woozy and had to focus to keep himself from falling over. Biyomon hadn't been kidding when she called this stuff corruption! Guilmon managed to make his way down the corridor, just missing the Creep Hand, and got out into the uncorrupted antechamber. He staggered towards a conveniently placed sunbeam and felt instant relief as the light purged all trace of the corruption from him. Now that he was able to focus better, he saw that the beam was in front of a large mirror sitting in a track. It could probably be moved. He pulled the mirror along the track, stopping when it was in the light. The mirror reflected the sunlight towards a spiral-marked wall Guilmon hadn't noticed before, destroying it and continuing onward into a new room. Guilmon walked back to the edge of the corruption and blasted the Creep Hand. "It's safe to come over!" He yelled down the corridor. Biyomon flew over, and they entered the next room.

It was a very simple chamber with a giant Elephantmon statue sitting in an alcove just to the left of where the reflected sunbeam hit the wall. A Bakemon spun out of thin air and flew towards them. The ghost stupidly charged right into the light, solidifying itself and giving Guilmon the opportunity to kill it. He then tried to use the Aegis to deflect light at the statue, but the angle was all wrong. Biyomon spoke up. "I have an idea, stand in front of the statue and I'll reflect some light over to you. You can bounce it towards the statue with the Aegis."

"Good idea." Guilmon stood in front of the statue and aimed the shield at it. Biyomon reflected light with her harp, which bounced off the Aegis and struck the statue, destroying it and revealing a doorway.

They went through the door and came to a long sarcophagus-line corridor ending in another stone slab. Biyomon grabbed Guilmon by the arm. "Be careful. I sense several monsters in the sarcophagi."

He shook her off. "I'll handle them." He ran down the corridor, causing each sarcophagus to open as he approached. Most of them were empty, but a few of them contained Numemon, a few Mortmon, and a SkullSatamon. Guilmon killed the monsters, and then the duo approached the slab. Guilmon pulled out the Wind Waker and conducted the Earth God's Lyric while Biyomon played it on her harp. The slab crumbled, revealing a door. They went through it.

The heroes were now at the beginning of a long staircase going down the sides of a deep pit. They carefully descended into the pit and went through the door at the bottom of the stairs, entering a tremendous room with a huge pillar with a switch on it in the center. Giant mirrors sat around the room on tracks, and there were dozens of spiral-marked walls and Elephantmon statues all over the place. There were also several small pedestals, switches, and a statue at the back of the room with two sun plaques for eyes. Guilmon looked around the room. "Is this the sacred chamber?"

Biyomon shook her head. "Actually, this is possibly the most fiendish puzzle chamber in any of the ancient temples. The ancient architects of this temple decided it would be funny if they created an insanely complex puzzle in the room right before the entrance to the sacred chamber. Most of those architects were bitter people who had no love lives."

Guilmon frowned. "What do we do? If the puzzle's really that hard…"

Biyomon didn't look too worried. "You forget, as Sage of Earth I know everything about this temple. Follow my instructions, and we'll solve this thing in no time."

One hour later…

"'Follow my instructions, and we'll solve this thing in no time!'" Guilmon said sarcastically as he stepped onto a pedestal in front of the big statue.

"I told you not to hit the switch that would let all of those black Numemon and SkullSatamon into the room!" Biyomon said angrily as she stepped onto another pedestal.

"When you said not to hit the switch on the left, I didn't know you meant your left!" he yelled back at her.

They pulled off their harp and shield and reflected sunlight into the eyes of the statue. As the sun plaques lit up, the floor beneath the statue collapsed into a staircase leading downwards.

Guilmon and Biyomon went down the stairs, through a door, and came into a small chamber with a very big door at the end. The door had a horned skull above it and was framed by spiked pillars. A pair of blue Skullmon and a Knightmon were waiting for the heroes. Guilmon killed them, then approached the door. It was held shut by an eyeball lock. He groaned. "Oh no, don't tell me we missed a treasure chest somewhere!"

Biyomon shook her head. "No, this lock can be opened with my Sage powers." She touched the lock, and it disintegrated.

Guilmon stared at her in disbelief. "You have no idea how useful it would have been if you could have done that back at Dragon Roost Cavern. Is this the entrance to the sacred room?"

She nodded. "Behind this door is the place where I can help you recharge the Invincible. However, you must first slay the monster haunting the chamber. I may not enter until the beast is defeated."

Guilmon sighed. "Figures. I'm going in. Wish me luck."

"If I wish you luck, wouldn't that imply that you needed it?"

He chuckled. "Good point. Never mind then." He went through the door.

The sacred chamber was a towering room with walls covered in spikes. A few beams of sunlight shone down around the perimeter of the room. The floor of the chamber had the crest of Shinjuku-an eagle with the Catalyst for a head-done in mosaic. Over a dozen Bakemon were dancing around a large lantern when Guilmon came in, surprising them. The ghosts clustered together, looking worried. A giant ghostly witch's hat appeared in the center of the room. The Bakemon quickly flew into the hat, and a ghostly figure started to take form beneath the large headwear. It looked like a giant Bakemon with the spiral symbol on its chest, and the giant witch hat too. The creature was a rare form of ghost called a Soulmon, and although it was only at the Champion level, it was very dangerous if encountered in a place with no light. Fortunately, there were a couple of sunbeams just lying about, waiting to be used.

As the giant ghost picked up its lantern and started floating towards him, Guilmon ran into a sunbeam and pulled off the Aegis, reflecting sunlight at Soulmon. The ghost yelped and dropped its lantern as it solidified, shielding its eyes from the light. Guilmon ran over to the ghost and grabbed one of the tattered corners of the ghost's sheet body. He used his Holy Ring-enhanced strength to start spinning Soulmon around and around before throwing him into the spiked wall. The ghost exploded on contact with the spikes, reforming into the fourteen original Bakemon. Guilmon ran over to the Bakemon as they started dancing away from him, slashing at the ghosts with the Invincible whenever he could catch up to one. The ghosts were surprisingly fast and Guilmon was only able to kill two Bakemon before the rest regrouped around the witch hat and turned back into Soulmon.

When the ghost bent over to pick up its lantern, Guilmon made a break for the nearest patch of sunlight. Soulmon noticed this, growled, and took a deep breath. He exhaled with astounding force, creating a gust of wind that sent Guilmon flying right at the spiky wall! The reptile managed to flip over, using his shield to protect himself from the deadly spikes as he collided with the wall. As he fell to the ground, Soulmon started shaking his lantern, throwing out several fireballs. Guilmon dodged the flames and rushed into the closest sunbeam, using the Aegis to direct light at Soulmon. When the startled ghost solidified, Guilmon grabbed the monster's sheet, spun him around, and threw him into the spiked wall. The giant ghost exploded into twelve Bakemon and started running away. Guilmon gave chase, eliminating three ghosts this time before Soulmon reformed. Five down, only nine to go. He though to himself.

When Soulmon opened its mouth and started inhaling, Guilmon remembered how he had beaten the Arbiter and the living statues. He armed a bomb and threw it into the ghost's mouth. When the explosive detonated, Guilmon was surprised to see Soulmon was undamaged! And then he realized that since the ghost was transparent, it couldn't be harmed at all. He had just wasted a good bomb for nothing. Soulmon grinned at Guilmon and started to inhale again. Thinking quickly, Guilmon drove the Invincible into the floor and held onto it tightly. When Soulmon exhaled, the sword anchored Guilmon, keeping him safe from the wind. When Soulmon ran out of breath, Guilmon tugged the Invincible from the ground and started running for the sunlight. Soulmon started shaking out fireballs again, but when that didn't work, he got a new idea. He held the lantern up to his mouth and blew into it. Instead of putting out the flame, this caused a huge jet of fire to blast out from the lantern. Guilmon jumped back in surprise as the flames blocked off his path, then started moving towards him. He ran into a sunbeam and used the Aegis to block the flames. When Soulmon had to catch his breath, the shield sent a ray of sunlight into his face, solidifying him once more. Guilmon grabbed the ghost and flung him into the spikes, releasing the Bakemon once more.

After killing a measly one Bakemon, the ghosts reformed into Soulmon and got ready to renew the assault. But instead of using its breath attack, as Guilmon expected, Soulmon turned blue and started flying towards him. Guilmon began to run, but Soulmon caught up to him and performed a body slam. Guilmon wasn't damaged, but the woozy feeling and blue vapor surrounding him indicated he had been corrupted. He tried to run for the nearest sunbeam, and found that not only was he unable to draw weapons, but his motor control was messed up too, causing him to stumble about in directions he did not want to go in. Soulmon giggled and started inhaling. Guilmon frantically tried to jab his sword in the ground, but with his arms flailing about and his weapons sealed in their holders he couldn't do a thing. Soulmon exhaled, blowing Guilmon at the wall. It was sheer dumb luck that he just happened to pass through a sunbeam as he was flying away, breaking the ghost's curse and allowing him to get out his shield right before he hit the wall. Angry, Soulmon raised the lantern to his mouth. As Guilmon fell to the floor, he spat a Cryo Sphere at the lantern, extinguishing its flame right before Soulmon could use his flame thrower move. As Soulmon frantically tried to rekindle the flame, Guilmon stepped into the sunbeam and aimed his Aegis shield at the ghost. The sunlight forced Soulmon into solidity once more. Guilmon grabbed the ghost's sheet and flung him into the wall, splitting Soulmon back into the eight Bakemon. Guilmon wasn't going to let them get the best of this time, however. He extended his sword arm and focused his will into the Invincible, causing it to glow bright red. "Hurricane Spin Attack!" he yelled, unleashing his power. He spun around the room in a whirling cyclone of death, shredding through all the Bakemon. The ghosts didn't even get time to scream as they were torn to pieces by his blade. When all the ghosts were gone, Guilmon spun to a stop, panting to catch his breath.

Soulmon's witch hat reappeared, ready to collect the Bakemon. After a moment it twisted around, looking for the ghosts. They weren't there. Guilmon took a step forward. The hat quivered and started floating away. Guilmon ran into a sunbeam and reflected light at the hat, stopping it in its tracks. The hat screamed and faded out of existence forever. Soulmon's lantern exploded, releasing a cloud of data which Guilmon hungrily loaded. The room started to light up, and the central triangle in the floor Catalyst began glowing bright red. The door opened, and Biyomon came in. She looked around the chamber and screwed up her face in disgust. "Ugh, I don't know what those architects were thinking when they built this place. I mean come on, a sacred chamber with spiky walls?"

Guilmon shrugged. "You said they were bitter people with no love lives."

"Good point. I suppose you're ready to get this part of your quest over with?" Guilmon nodded. "Put the Invincible in the center of the mosaic."

Guilmon walked into the glowing triangle and drove the Invincible into the ground right in the heart of the light. He walked out of the triangle. "Don't tell me, we have to play the Earth God's Lyric again don't we?" She nodded. "Okay. Let's do this." He pulled out the Wind Waker and conducted the Earth God's Lyric. Biyomon started playing the song on her harp. The ghost of Calmaramon appeared next to her, playing the song on her own harp. As the simple tune continued and became more vivid, motes of light started getting sucked into the Invincible, until the sword was shaking with new power. When Biyomon stopped playing and Calmaramon's ghost vanished forevermore into the afterlife, Guilmon walked into the triangle and pulled out the Invincible. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, there was a flash of light and the sides of the sword's hilt flipped out, forming a crosspiece and making it look like a proper sword at last! Sensing his blade was now stronger than before, Guilmon slid the Invincible back into its scabbard. He turned around. "Great job Biyomon! So, how do we get out of here?"

Biyomon didn't meet his eyes. "Guilmon, I'm afraid I can't leave."

"Why not?"

"I need to remain in the temple and continue to pray for the Invincible's power. If I leave this place, the sword will revert to its weaker state and be ineffective against Lucemon. That would doom us all." She said sadly.

Guilmon blinked, shocked. "Oh…oh Biyomon…I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea that taking you here would mean-"

She cut him off. "It's not your fault, Guilmon. It's my destiny to be the Sage of Earth. I must follow that destiny, no matter what the personal cost."

Guilmon scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say. "Is there anything you want me to tell your friends back on Dragon Roost Island?"

She shook her head. "No. Let them speculate at what happened to me. I'd rather they think me dead than trapped somewhere, forever out of their reach." Biyomon finally met Guilmon's eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Let Hawkmon remember me as a mere attendant. Not what I…what we could have been…" she whispered. She stepped away from the floor mosaic. Guilmon tried to call out to his friend, but the triangle beneath his feet gave off a burst of brilliant red light…and then Biyomon was all alone in the Earth Temple.

Gordianus: We're almost there. Keep a sharp eye out, BlackWarGreymon. I wouldn't be surprised if there were guards.

BWG: Gordianus, if the Akiyamas did kidnap Ri2, why? He never did anything bad to them.

Gordianus: Remember the letter you found? It said "I do want revenge for what was done to me," not "I do want revenge for what he did to me." I suspect that Ri2 was kidnapped to assist Ryo and Monodramon in their pursuit for vengeance against the Tamers.

BWG: Hmm…that explains some of the motive. But why Ri2?

Gordianus: Most authors are usually protected by powerful muses or by their own special abilities. Ri2 was extremely vulnerable after you left, since the only muse he could find was a lowly Numemon. And since he was vulnerable, that meant he would be a cinch to kidnap. I doubt it was personal, I'm sure any author would have worked. Well, any author with good grammar and a talent for writing interesting stories anyway.

BWG: Ahh…but how could Ri2 help them get revenge?

Gordianus: I don't know. Maybe they'll force him to put his author powers to evil use by writing a Ryuki and Monodramon/Renamon story where Takato and Guilmon get horrendously bashed and the Akiyamas get all the glory and the girls.

BWG: (Shudders.) The very thought of something like that makes me feel like hurling! Ri2 would never agree to write such a thing!

Gordianus: You'd be surprised what a person will do if they get tortured to the breaking point. Ri2 may very well be forced to write such a story under extreme duress. But it's just a guess, of course.

BWG: (Shudders again) I sincerely hope you're wrong.

Gordianus: (Stops.) Hold it.

BWG: What?

Gordianus: We're being followed.

???: How right you are! The bosses ordered us to deal with any trespassers, and I'd say you fit into that category pretty well!

???: So prepare to face defeat at the hands of the Terrible Two! Muhahahahaha!

Annoying announcer guy: Who are these strange figures? What threat do they pose to our heroes? Find out on the next Digimon, Digital Monsters!

BWG: Hey, didn't I kill you?