Disclaimer: All Anime Characters and concepts are the property of their
respective creators. The same is true of any references that might be
applied in this fanfiction. This is strictly a work of fanfiction and is
by no means meant to be taken literally.
Spoiler Warning: This fanfiction will definately include spoilers of events and characters that appear later on in these Anime Titles. Technically these characters have already appeared, they just haven't appeared in the English version of the series.
Author's Notes: I'd like to thank Shiva, Thorn, Sakura Joy, and Lady Yami for their reviews so far. I have fun writing this series, but it's even better when I find out other people enjoy reading it. Anyways, on with the show!
------Blast From the Past------
*~*~*~* Dream Sequence *~*~*~*
"Gah!" shouted a younger looking version of Crystal. She was running through a forest as something caused the area behind her to erupt into a blaze of white fire. She tripped over something and a burst of white flames showered down on her.
"No, Crystal!" shouted a voice.
*~*~*~* Present *~*~*~*
Crystal sat up on her futon in a cold sweat. It was the fifth night in a row that the same dream had caused her to do this. She rubbed her arm across her forehead to wipe away the sweat and crawled out from under her odd assortment of blankets.
"The voice in the dream sounds so familiar," mumbled Crystal to herself as she grabbed a change of clothes from her dresser and headed down the hallway towards the bathroom to take a shower.
It was around 4:30 in the morning, but Crystal really didn't feel like going back to sleep after having that dream again. She yawned tiredly as she turned on the water for her shower, setting her change of clothes on the bathroom counter.
*-*-*-*
"Crystal, maybe you should stay home today," said Zapmon sounding a little worried.
Crystal shrugged, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the living room floor. She was positioned directly underneath the hole that Lip had left when he had crashed through the ceiling.
"I'm fine. A few hours of missed sleep aren't going to kill me."
"It doesn't matter anyway, the news report already said that Furinkan was knocked down by a Giant Monster again."
"I'm not staying here."
"Where do you plan on going?"
"It doesn't matter as long as it gets me outside."
"Are you always this stubborn?"
Crystal shrugged again, "That all depends on how you define always."
Zapmon sweatdropped.
A beeping noise started coming from the D-storm Digivice that was located in Crystal's pocket, so she took it out and looked at the screen. An icon indicating a new e-mail message was flashing on it, so Crystal pushed the button that she had determined to be the "select" button and a message popped up on a projected screen above the actual Digivice monitor.
*~*~*~* The Message *~*~*~*
To Crystal of the Digidestined,
I have recieved word that your tag and crest has been located near the ruins of Spiral Mountain. I would suggest you go there right away and retrieve these items before they fall into the wrong hands. That is all for now.
--Slashmon
*~*~*~* End Message *~*~*~*
"Well, if Slashmon's the one telling us to go, we better go and quick," stated Zapmon sounding desperate.
Crystal nodded as the second screen that had appeared on the D-storm suddenly vanished along with the e-mail message.
"One question, how do we get to this Spiral Mountain place?" asked Crystal.
Zapmon facevaulted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A young team of warriors headed towards where Furinkan High School had been standing the day before. This team consisted of Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, Ryoga and Shiva aiming to investigate the rumors of the Giant Monster. Shiva had made it clear that the only reason he intended to come was to fight the monster if it proved to be real.
"It's really quiet when there isn't anyone at the school," said Akane.
Ranma smirked, "Are ya scared?"
"Not at all," replied Akane.
"Ran-chan, do you think we can really get to the bottom of this?" asked Ukyo.
"Sure we can," said Ranma. "Monsters don't stand a chance against the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts."
Ukyo asked, "Do you really think you're ready to take on a Giant Monster?"
"If he can't, I will," stated Shiva. It should be noted that prior to his training trip, Shiva had always been wearing a white Gi, but since he came back he has switched to wearing a black Gi.
"Ryoga, we're not going on one of your little side trips," said Ranma.
Ryoga sweatdropped and managed to catch up with the group.
"We're almost there," said Ranma cracking his knuckles.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Crystal took her first steps into the Digital Forest. It was like any ordinary forest, except that she was reasonably certain most of these plants did not exist on Earth. Since Zapmon wasn't worried, Crystal decided the area was probably safe.
"We'll get to the ruins of Spiral Mountain faster if you Armor Digivolve me," said Zapmon.
Crystal blinked, "Do what?"
"Do you see an egg-like icon on the D-storm monitor?" asked Zapmon.
Crystal removed the D-storm from her pocket and observed the screen carefully. There was definately an egg-like icon on the screen, so she nodded.
"Alright, just say Digi-Armor Energize and the rest is automatic," stated Zapmon.
Crystal asked, "How come I didn't notice that icon before?"
"Cause I didn't tell you about it," replied Zapmon.
Crystal nodded, "Alright, I think I get it then."
"Then say the words," said Zapmon impatiently.
Crystal held out the D-storm and decided to shout the words for dramatic effect, "Digi-Armor Energize!"
This resulted in a beam of silver light shooting from the digivice, along with some sort of glowing, round object. These connected with Zapmon's body and she was engulfed in a bright silver light.
"Zapmon Armor Digivolve To..." Zapmon started as the transformation of evolution began to take place.
Zapmon's physical shape changed to something remarkably similar to that of Raidramon's. The color pattern was noticeably different in the sense that part of the new Digimon's body that was covered by the armor, where Raidramon would have been blue, was the same black color as Zapmon's scales had been along with the same silver and gold stripe pattern. The new Digimon also had Zapmon's emerald green eyes. The armor that would have been black was white and the Digimon's claws were silver. Where there would normally have been the symbol for Friendship, there was a mark that looked like a silver shooting star.
The new Digimon shouted, "Lightningmon, Defender of Time and Space!"
Crystal stepped back in wonder, "That was a cool transformation."
"I've got some even better ones that can be unlocked by that crest we're going to pick up," said Lightningmon. "Climb on."
Crystal got onto Lightningmon's back easily enough, but once the armored Digimon started darting through the forest, she decided to hang onto one of the spikes that was conveniently sticking out of Lightningmon's back, somewhere between the her shoulder-blades.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What the hell is a trap doing in here?!" exclaimed Ranma.
He, Ryoga, Akane and Ukyo were dangling from the ceiling of the gym in what appeared to be an old fishing net. Shiva had stopped walking a few seconds early and had managed to avoid getting caught in the otherwise, rediculously obvious trap.
"If it isn't the true identities of the Giant Monster," said a voice that sounded to Ranma, annoyingly like Kuno.
Ranma tried to twist around to glare at Kuno, but found himself face to shoe with Ryoga's foot. Upon seeing his beloved Akane, Kuno instantly lowered the net.
"Might I ask what all of you are doing here on a day like today?" asked Kuno.
Ranma said, "We're obviously looking for the Giant Monster we've been hearing so much about."
"It's useless," stated Kuno. "I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan have searched these grounds up and down, and there is no sign of any monster."
Ukyo folded her arms in front of her, "This is very strange."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome was making her way towards the well, ready to head back to the Feudal Era when something very big appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She didn't get a very good look at the creature until after it had appeared in front of her and snatched away the container with the Shikon Fragments in it.
What she saw flying off into the distance looked like a giant, flying squirrel. It had to have been at least twenty feet tall. It appeared to be holding something in one of its massive fore-paws.
"Uh-oh," muttered Kagome.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lightningmon skidded to a halt at what definately looked like the ruins of Spiral Mountain. The area was dark and gloomy looking, but any traces of evil Digimon had definately been cleared out long ago. Crystal slipped down from Lightningmon's back and started looking around for the tag and crest that Slashmon had mentioned in his e-mail.
Lightningmon shrunk back into Zapmon, which caused the round object that had struck her with the beam of light to shoot back into Crystal's D-storm. Zapmon decided to help Crystal look around the area for the tag and crest in question.
"Are you looking for this?" asked a cloaked figure who seemed to have a appeared from behind a severely damaged stone wall. In a human looking, clawed hand, the figure was holding what looked to be a tag and crest. The symbol on crest was the same image of a silver shooting star that had been on Lightningmon's armor.
"Who are you?!" demanded Zapmon clenching her fists.
The cloaked figure cackled menacingly which caused Crystal to shudder. The figure basically looked like Daemon, aside from the fact that the cloak was black instead of red. The skellital, metallic wings that were sticking out of his back, glinting a strange shade of red were not helping with the creepiness factor. Upon further inspection of the cloaked face, glowing, blood red eyes were staring intently on the girl who was now standing there shivering violently as though she had been an ordinary girl who had just seen a ghost.
In his other hand, the cloaked figure, who by this time was obviously an evil Digimon, was holding a golden staff in his free hand. The staff ended in a red hazard symbol that seemed to promise great pain to anyone that irritated its carrier.
Zapmon shouted again, "Who are you?!"
"Warmon..." stammered Crystal as a partial memory seemed to kick in.
Warmon probably would have been sneering at her if he hadn't been wearing that annoying hood over his face. He stuffed the tag and crest into a pouch within his cloak and waved dismissively at Crystal and Zapmon, "You two are hardly worth my time, although I am curious as to how Crystal has been able to get at those blocked memories of her brother."
"My brother?" Crystal was done shivering and was now attempting to glare at Warmon. "What did you do to my family?!"
Warmon cackled again, "I did nothing to them, as your true memories would let you know. However, I'd rather not let you have those back...and I really should rid you of these pesky memories of that brother of yours...those really were the hardest to block and I am rather surprised you were able to find them again, but I really can't have to messing up my plans."
"Your plans?! You're the one who practically destroyed my life!" exclaimed Crystal clenching her fists angrilly.
Warmon waved his hand again, "What does the life of a pathetic little half- breed like you matter to me anyway? When I destroy this world and the one you live in, you'll die anyway."
~He must have been afraid of the kind of power I have...~ Crystal thought to herself. ~That might be why he changed my memories...he didn't want me to become strong enough to ruin his so-call plans.~
"Enough talk," growled Crystal. "Zapmon, are you ready?"
Zapmon nodded and began to glow along with the bright light that was shining from the D-storm in Crystal's pocket.
"We've got to get that crest back," stated Crystal.
"Zapmon Digivolve To..." Zapmon began the evolution process.
Zapmon's form changed into a form that looked very similar to Ex Veemon. She still maintained her black scales with the silver and gold stripe pattern. Her eyes were still the same emerald green and her claws had become an even more brilliant silver color. The wings that appeared on her back were a bright golden color.
"Zapdramon!" shouted the Champion form of Zapmon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Kagome's seriously late," grumbled Inuyasha.
Shippo asked, "Does that mean you're going to get her?"
"She isn't normally this late," noted Miroku.
"Fine, I'll go," said Inuyasha.
*-*-*-*
Inuyasha was headed in the general direction of Furinkan High School, although he himself wasn't entirely sure why Kagome had gone there instead of coming back to the Feudal Era like she said she would. That was around when he caught the scent of what could have only been some kind of demon. If Kagome was following it, that could only mean one thing.
"Dammit!" cursed Inuyasha.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"That is a very big flying squirrel," shouted Ranma as he dodged a massive paw swooping towards his head.
Shiva was casually leaning against the remains of a wall, waiting for Ranma to call it quits so he would get a chance to fight. Lip had shown up at some point and was casually leaning against another wall that happened to be facing Shiva. Lip was casually glaring at Shiva while Ranma was running for his life.
Ukyo hurled a barrage of spatulas at the monstrous flying squirrel, but they only bounced off of its armor-like fur.
"I tried," said Ukyo as she joined Akane in hiding behind a row of bushes.
Ryoga struck the ground with his fist, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" causing the ground to shatter from beneath the massive flying squirrel, while Ranma jumped into the safety of a nearby tree.
[Breaking Point]
While the demonic flying squirrel lost its balance and toppled into Ryoga's small canyon, Ranma and Ryoga jumped into the air and cupped there hands in a ready-to-blast position.
Ranma shouted, "Moukou Takabisha!" unleashing his specialty, confidence blast. The burst of energy gave off a blue-green color as it was released.
[Pride of the Fierce Tiger]
Ryoga shouted, "Shishi Houkoudan!" unleashing his specialty, heavy-hearted blast. The burst of energy gave off a redish-orange color as it was released.
[Lion's Roar Projectile]
The two powerful blasts of energy combined, becoming very similar to Shiva's special attack. This was followed by the new blast crashing down on the demonic flying squirrel, which roared more out of anger than pain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Sakujo Shougaibutsu!" shouted Warmon as he launched a data distortion field at Zapdramon, who had been coming in for her own attack.
[Obstacle Delete]
The blast knocked Zapdramon to the ground and caused her data to start destabilizing. Crystal growled in anger at see one of her newest friends being struck down by the monstrous Warmon. Her fingernails extended into claws and her ears became pointed. She felt ready to fight.
Warmon waved his staff at Crystal, "Tezawari no Hakai!" and launched a massive wave of negative energy at her. Crystal was sent sprawling backwards by the blast as cuts formed on her arms.
[Touch of Destruction]
Crystal recovered quickly and rushed at Warmon, aiming her claws for a very specific part of Warmon's cloak, "Tsume Gin!" and struck paydirt as her claws ripped through the cloak and her hand wrapped around the tag and crest.
[Claws of Silver]
Warmon's claws slashed across Crystal's midsection, "Akuma Utsu!" and Crystal dropped heavily to the ground.
[Devil Strike]
Crystal rose to her feet and slipped the tag and crest around her neck. She gave Warmon a weak smile, "You're going to be sorry for messing with my friend." Then she passed out as the crest began to glow silver.
Zapdramon's data restabilized she she began to glow with the same silver light as Crystal's crest, "Zapdramon Digivolve To..."
The hand and lower part of Zapdramon's right arm transformed into a metallic blaster cannon. The upper left section of her face, over her left eye was covered by a metallic half-mask. She also increased in size slightly.
The Ultimate form of Zapdramon shouted, "Sparkmon!"
Sparkmon aimed her cannon at Warmon and shouted, "Projectile Sphere!" unleashing a sphere of fire and lightning energy on Warmon.
Warmon was knocked back by the blast and proceeded to vanish into thin air. Sparkmon glowed for a second and shrunk back down into Zapmon. The dragon- like monster ran over to the fallen form of Crystal, who was still in her semi-transformed state.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ranma and Ryoga dove behind a row of trash cans as the giant flying squirrel swiped at them once again. It could have been that the imaginations of the people who were watching this were starting to play tricks on them, or the squirrel was actually starting to grow larger and more fierce looking.
"Kaze no Kizu!" shouted the familiar voice of Inuyasha as several waves of energy shot off of the transformed Tetsusaiga and cut clean through the demonic flying squirrel. He swung again and the giant flying squirrel was reduced to a fine dust, the container with the Shikon Fragments in the middle of the mess.
[Cutting Wind, Windscar]
Shiva sighed, "I didn't even get to fight."
"Do you want to fight?" asked Lip cracking his knuckles.
Ukyo came out of hiding behind the row of bushes, "Chill out you two."
"At least we finally defeated the so-called Giant Monster that has been attacking Furinkan," said Akane.
Ranma came out from behind the row of trash cans. He looked the worst for wear, probably because he had been fighting from the start and had managed to take the most hits, regardless of his speed. Ranma looked around, "Alright, what happened to Kuno?"
"I think he left when things started looking too dangerous," said Ryoga as he also came out from behind the row of trash cans.
Inuyasha put the Tetsusaiga away. Kagome finally ran onto the scene, looking a little tired from her trip to Furinkan, but she did manage to get to the container with the Shikon Fragments before Inuyasha did. Inuyasha decided to shrug this off as something else decided to bother him.
"Why is the scent of Crystal's blood coming from that direction?" asked Inuyasha pointing in the general direction of Crystal's apartment.
Shiva sniffed the air. He might not have had demonic senses, but his were extremely close in comparison. Shiva blinked, "That does smell like her...she's injured?!"
*-*-*-*
The assembled group entered Crystal's apartment in the following order:
Inuyasha, with Kagome on his back, came through the large hole in the roof. At the same time, Shiva and Ranma who were moving at exactly the same speed managed to get stuck in the doorless doorway. This was followed by Ryoga crashing into Shiva and Ranma like some kind of tank, knocking them into the apartment as he entered it himself. Ukyo and Akane brought up the rear and Lip was nowhere to be seen.
Crystal was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. There was a first aid kit on the table and Crystal was attempting to put the bandages on herself. By this time she was back to her old self, although she was definately injured.
"I tried to help, but she simply won't let me," muttered Zapmon from her spot on the couch.
Ukyo said, "You've got a lot to learn. Crystal doesn't listen to anyone."
Crystal was actually more or less finished applying the bandages. It was just the small matter of putting the ones around her left arm. Since she was left handed, working mostly with her right arm was reasonably difficult.
Kagome walked, "You want me to get that for you?"
Crystal looked up from her handy work and shrugged, "I suppose."
While Crystal was still being bandaged up, Zapmon explained what happened. Shiva mentioned the demonic flying squirrel.
Crystal got to her feet, wincing slightly, but making an effort not to reveal her pain, "It sounds like all of this calls for a celebration of some kind. I hear there's a new buffet in town."
"Don't they ever learn?" Shiva wondered aloud.
*-*-*-*
Akane and Ukyo had enough sense to know that they definately did not want to see the combination of Ranma, Ryoga and Shiva eating, combined with the fact that Inuyasha, Crystal and Zapmon probably weren't much better. Kagome herself didn't have a clue what she was getting into when she agreed to go to this new buffet with the group.
Ranma, Ryoga and Shiva all took positions at different places along the buffet line and started eating at an inhuman pace, occassionally snatching food from each other. Crystal had a sense of mind to take what she wanted and take a place at a nearby table in case she wanted to attempt getting more. After watching for about a minute, Kagome decided to follow Crystal's example. Since there seemed to be a shortage on pizza, Zapmon had taken a spot at the dessert bar, along with Pichu [when he wasn't snatching food from Shiva] who had somehow ended up following the group into the buffet.
Inuyasha also managed to get mixed up in the craziness that was going on along the buffet line. A few minutes later Lip was in on the action, along with his Saiya-jin eating habbits.
At first the manager of the buffet had been struggling to keep up with how fast everything was being eaten. By this point, he was in the background attempting to hang himself. This attempted failed and the manager was relieved to see that the odd assortment of characters left the buffet.
*-*-*-*
"That was good," said Ranma.
"I'm still hungry," said Shiva.
Crystal said, "Ramen."
"I was going to say that," said Inuyasha.
"I'm not sure why I said it," sweatdropped Crystal.
Kagome said, "I am going home."
"Let's drop by the Neko-Hanten," suggested Shiva.
Inuyasha remembered that name from somewhere, "Isn't that the ramen place?"
"Yes," confirmed Kagome.
"Can I go too?" asked Inuyasha.
Kagome said, "I don't know. If I'm not around, who's going to keep you under control?"
"I can handle that," replied Crystal.
"How do you plan to do that?" asked Kagome.
Crystal shrugged, "After all, I am the one that will be paying for the ramen."
Inuyasha nodded absently.
"Crystal, weren't you injured?" asked Zapmon.
Crystal shrugged again and removed the bandages from her arms, tossing the bandages into a nearby trash can.
Zapmon gasped, "Those scratches are practically gone already!"
"And by morning I'll be perfectly fine," said Crystal. "I told you not to worry."
*-*-*-*
Ranma, Crystal, Shiva, Lip and Inuyasha entered the Neko-Hanten. Zapmon and Pichu had headed back to Crystal's apartment for the night. Ryoga had managed to wander off.
"What do you mean I have to pay for my own ramen?!" demanded Ranma and Lip.
Crystal sighed, "I said I'd cover for Shiva and Inuyasha, not you two."
Lip smirked, "How's this Ranma, we'll fight and the loser pays for both orders of ramen?"
"Alright," said Ranma. "You're on."
The two of them started fighting. Shampoo decided to step in and assist Ranma, which resulted in her getting the wind knocked out of her by one of Lip's punches. This was followed a few minutes later by Ranma crashing through one of the walls, flying outside in an unconscious heap.
"Uh-oh," said Crystal.
Shampoo regained consciousness, took in the scene at hand, and latched onto Lip's arm.
"What's going on?" asked Lip sounding slightly confused.
Shiva was attempting to hold back his laughter as he explained the situation to Lip, "Shampoo is an Amazon, which means that in beating her, you've ensured that she is going to try everything possible to make you her husband."
Lip probably would have facevaulted, if not for the purple-haired Amazon clinging to his arm.
"If it weren't for everything that has happened recently, I might have been surprised," said Crystal shaking her head.
Inuyasha just continued to eat his ramen.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So Ends Another Day...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Wow, that turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be.
Spoiler Warning: This fanfiction will definately include spoilers of events and characters that appear later on in these Anime Titles. Technically these characters have already appeared, they just haven't appeared in the English version of the series.
Author's Notes: I'd like to thank Shiva, Thorn, Sakura Joy, and Lady Yami for their reviews so far. I have fun writing this series, but it's even better when I find out other people enjoy reading it. Anyways, on with the show!
------Blast From the Past------
*~*~*~* Dream Sequence *~*~*~*
"Gah!" shouted a younger looking version of Crystal. She was running through a forest as something caused the area behind her to erupt into a blaze of white fire. She tripped over something and a burst of white flames showered down on her.
"No, Crystal!" shouted a voice.
*~*~*~* Present *~*~*~*
Crystal sat up on her futon in a cold sweat. It was the fifth night in a row that the same dream had caused her to do this. She rubbed her arm across her forehead to wipe away the sweat and crawled out from under her odd assortment of blankets.
"The voice in the dream sounds so familiar," mumbled Crystal to herself as she grabbed a change of clothes from her dresser and headed down the hallway towards the bathroom to take a shower.
It was around 4:30 in the morning, but Crystal really didn't feel like going back to sleep after having that dream again. She yawned tiredly as she turned on the water for her shower, setting her change of clothes on the bathroom counter.
*-*-*-*
"Crystal, maybe you should stay home today," said Zapmon sounding a little worried.
Crystal shrugged, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the living room floor. She was positioned directly underneath the hole that Lip had left when he had crashed through the ceiling.
"I'm fine. A few hours of missed sleep aren't going to kill me."
"It doesn't matter anyway, the news report already said that Furinkan was knocked down by a Giant Monster again."
"I'm not staying here."
"Where do you plan on going?"
"It doesn't matter as long as it gets me outside."
"Are you always this stubborn?"
Crystal shrugged again, "That all depends on how you define always."
Zapmon sweatdropped.
A beeping noise started coming from the D-storm Digivice that was located in Crystal's pocket, so she took it out and looked at the screen. An icon indicating a new e-mail message was flashing on it, so Crystal pushed the button that she had determined to be the "select" button and a message popped up on a projected screen above the actual Digivice monitor.
*~*~*~* The Message *~*~*~*
To Crystal of the Digidestined,
I have recieved word that your tag and crest has been located near the ruins of Spiral Mountain. I would suggest you go there right away and retrieve these items before they fall into the wrong hands. That is all for now.
--Slashmon
*~*~*~* End Message *~*~*~*
"Well, if Slashmon's the one telling us to go, we better go and quick," stated Zapmon sounding desperate.
Crystal nodded as the second screen that had appeared on the D-storm suddenly vanished along with the e-mail message.
"One question, how do we get to this Spiral Mountain place?" asked Crystal.
Zapmon facevaulted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A young team of warriors headed towards where Furinkan High School had been standing the day before. This team consisted of Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, Ryoga and Shiva aiming to investigate the rumors of the Giant Monster. Shiva had made it clear that the only reason he intended to come was to fight the monster if it proved to be real.
"It's really quiet when there isn't anyone at the school," said Akane.
Ranma smirked, "Are ya scared?"
"Not at all," replied Akane.
"Ran-chan, do you think we can really get to the bottom of this?" asked Ukyo.
"Sure we can," said Ranma. "Monsters don't stand a chance against the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts."
Ukyo asked, "Do you really think you're ready to take on a Giant Monster?"
"If he can't, I will," stated Shiva. It should be noted that prior to his training trip, Shiva had always been wearing a white Gi, but since he came back he has switched to wearing a black Gi.
"Ryoga, we're not going on one of your little side trips," said Ranma.
Ryoga sweatdropped and managed to catch up with the group.
"We're almost there," said Ranma cracking his knuckles.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Crystal took her first steps into the Digital Forest. It was like any ordinary forest, except that she was reasonably certain most of these plants did not exist on Earth. Since Zapmon wasn't worried, Crystal decided the area was probably safe.
"We'll get to the ruins of Spiral Mountain faster if you Armor Digivolve me," said Zapmon.
Crystal blinked, "Do what?"
"Do you see an egg-like icon on the D-storm monitor?" asked Zapmon.
Crystal removed the D-storm from her pocket and observed the screen carefully. There was definately an egg-like icon on the screen, so she nodded.
"Alright, just say Digi-Armor Energize and the rest is automatic," stated Zapmon.
Crystal asked, "How come I didn't notice that icon before?"
"Cause I didn't tell you about it," replied Zapmon.
Crystal nodded, "Alright, I think I get it then."
"Then say the words," said Zapmon impatiently.
Crystal held out the D-storm and decided to shout the words for dramatic effect, "Digi-Armor Energize!"
This resulted in a beam of silver light shooting from the digivice, along with some sort of glowing, round object. These connected with Zapmon's body and she was engulfed in a bright silver light.
"Zapmon Armor Digivolve To..." Zapmon started as the transformation of evolution began to take place.
Zapmon's physical shape changed to something remarkably similar to that of Raidramon's. The color pattern was noticeably different in the sense that part of the new Digimon's body that was covered by the armor, where Raidramon would have been blue, was the same black color as Zapmon's scales had been along with the same silver and gold stripe pattern. The new Digimon also had Zapmon's emerald green eyes. The armor that would have been black was white and the Digimon's claws were silver. Where there would normally have been the symbol for Friendship, there was a mark that looked like a silver shooting star.
The new Digimon shouted, "Lightningmon, Defender of Time and Space!"
Crystal stepped back in wonder, "That was a cool transformation."
"I've got some even better ones that can be unlocked by that crest we're going to pick up," said Lightningmon. "Climb on."
Crystal got onto Lightningmon's back easily enough, but once the armored Digimon started darting through the forest, she decided to hang onto one of the spikes that was conveniently sticking out of Lightningmon's back, somewhere between the her shoulder-blades.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What the hell is a trap doing in here?!" exclaimed Ranma.
He, Ryoga, Akane and Ukyo were dangling from the ceiling of the gym in what appeared to be an old fishing net. Shiva had stopped walking a few seconds early and had managed to avoid getting caught in the otherwise, rediculously obvious trap.
"If it isn't the true identities of the Giant Monster," said a voice that sounded to Ranma, annoyingly like Kuno.
Ranma tried to twist around to glare at Kuno, but found himself face to shoe with Ryoga's foot. Upon seeing his beloved Akane, Kuno instantly lowered the net.
"Might I ask what all of you are doing here on a day like today?" asked Kuno.
Ranma said, "We're obviously looking for the Giant Monster we've been hearing so much about."
"It's useless," stated Kuno. "I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan have searched these grounds up and down, and there is no sign of any monster."
Ukyo folded her arms in front of her, "This is very strange."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome was making her way towards the well, ready to head back to the Feudal Era when something very big appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She didn't get a very good look at the creature until after it had appeared in front of her and snatched away the container with the Shikon Fragments in it.
What she saw flying off into the distance looked like a giant, flying squirrel. It had to have been at least twenty feet tall. It appeared to be holding something in one of its massive fore-paws.
"Uh-oh," muttered Kagome.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lightningmon skidded to a halt at what definately looked like the ruins of Spiral Mountain. The area was dark and gloomy looking, but any traces of evil Digimon had definately been cleared out long ago. Crystal slipped down from Lightningmon's back and started looking around for the tag and crest that Slashmon had mentioned in his e-mail.
Lightningmon shrunk back into Zapmon, which caused the round object that had struck her with the beam of light to shoot back into Crystal's D-storm. Zapmon decided to help Crystal look around the area for the tag and crest in question.
"Are you looking for this?" asked a cloaked figure who seemed to have a appeared from behind a severely damaged stone wall. In a human looking, clawed hand, the figure was holding what looked to be a tag and crest. The symbol on crest was the same image of a silver shooting star that had been on Lightningmon's armor.
"Who are you?!" demanded Zapmon clenching her fists.
The cloaked figure cackled menacingly which caused Crystal to shudder. The figure basically looked like Daemon, aside from the fact that the cloak was black instead of red. The skellital, metallic wings that were sticking out of his back, glinting a strange shade of red were not helping with the creepiness factor. Upon further inspection of the cloaked face, glowing, blood red eyes were staring intently on the girl who was now standing there shivering violently as though she had been an ordinary girl who had just seen a ghost.
In his other hand, the cloaked figure, who by this time was obviously an evil Digimon, was holding a golden staff in his free hand. The staff ended in a red hazard symbol that seemed to promise great pain to anyone that irritated its carrier.
Zapmon shouted again, "Who are you?!"
"Warmon..." stammered Crystal as a partial memory seemed to kick in.
Warmon probably would have been sneering at her if he hadn't been wearing that annoying hood over his face. He stuffed the tag and crest into a pouch within his cloak and waved dismissively at Crystal and Zapmon, "You two are hardly worth my time, although I am curious as to how Crystal has been able to get at those blocked memories of her brother."
"My brother?" Crystal was done shivering and was now attempting to glare at Warmon. "What did you do to my family?!"
Warmon cackled again, "I did nothing to them, as your true memories would let you know. However, I'd rather not let you have those back...and I really should rid you of these pesky memories of that brother of yours...those really were the hardest to block and I am rather surprised you were able to find them again, but I really can't have to messing up my plans."
"Your plans?! You're the one who practically destroyed my life!" exclaimed Crystal clenching her fists angrilly.
Warmon waved his hand again, "What does the life of a pathetic little half- breed like you matter to me anyway? When I destroy this world and the one you live in, you'll die anyway."
~He must have been afraid of the kind of power I have...~ Crystal thought to herself. ~That might be why he changed my memories...he didn't want me to become strong enough to ruin his so-call plans.~
"Enough talk," growled Crystal. "Zapmon, are you ready?"
Zapmon nodded and began to glow along with the bright light that was shining from the D-storm in Crystal's pocket.
"We've got to get that crest back," stated Crystal.
"Zapmon Digivolve To..." Zapmon began the evolution process.
Zapmon's form changed into a form that looked very similar to Ex Veemon. She still maintained her black scales with the silver and gold stripe pattern. Her eyes were still the same emerald green and her claws had become an even more brilliant silver color. The wings that appeared on her back were a bright golden color.
"Zapdramon!" shouted the Champion form of Zapmon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Kagome's seriously late," grumbled Inuyasha.
Shippo asked, "Does that mean you're going to get her?"
"She isn't normally this late," noted Miroku.
"Fine, I'll go," said Inuyasha.
*-*-*-*
Inuyasha was headed in the general direction of Furinkan High School, although he himself wasn't entirely sure why Kagome had gone there instead of coming back to the Feudal Era like she said she would. That was around when he caught the scent of what could have only been some kind of demon. If Kagome was following it, that could only mean one thing.
"Dammit!" cursed Inuyasha.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"That is a very big flying squirrel," shouted Ranma as he dodged a massive paw swooping towards his head.
Shiva was casually leaning against the remains of a wall, waiting for Ranma to call it quits so he would get a chance to fight. Lip had shown up at some point and was casually leaning against another wall that happened to be facing Shiva. Lip was casually glaring at Shiva while Ranma was running for his life.
Ukyo hurled a barrage of spatulas at the monstrous flying squirrel, but they only bounced off of its armor-like fur.
"I tried," said Ukyo as she joined Akane in hiding behind a row of bushes.
Ryoga struck the ground with his fist, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" causing the ground to shatter from beneath the massive flying squirrel, while Ranma jumped into the safety of a nearby tree.
[Breaking Point]
While the demonic flying squirrel lost its balance and toppled into Ryoga's small canyon, Ranma and Ryoga jumped into the air and cupped there hands in a ready-to-blast position.
Ranma shouted, "Moukou Takabisha!" unleashing his specialty, confidence blast. The burst of energy gave off a blue-green color as it was released.
[Pride of the Fierce Tiger]
Ryoga shouted, "Shishi Houkoudan!" unleashing his specialty, heavy-hearted blast. The burst of energy gave off a redish-orange color as it was released.
[Lion's Roar Projectile]
The two powerful blasts of energy combined, becoming very similar to Shiva's special attack. This was followed by the new blast crashing down on the demonic flying squirrel, which roared more out of anger than pain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Sakujo Shougaibutsu!" shouted Warmon as he launched a data distortion field at Zapdramon, who had been coming in for her own attack.
[Obstacle Delete]
The blast knocked Zapdramon to the ground and caused her data to start destabilizing. Crystal growled in anger at see one of her newest friends being struck down by the monstrous Warmon. Her fingernails extended into claws and her ears became pointed. She felt ready to fight.
Warmon waved his staff at Crystal, "Tezawari no Hakai!" and launched a massive wave of negative energy at her. Crystal was sent sprawling backwards by the blast as cuts formed on her arms.
[Touch of Destruction]
Crystal recovered quickly and rushed at Warmon, aiming her claws for a very specific part of Warmon's cloak, "Tsume Gin!" and struck paydirt as her claws ripped through the cloak and her hand wrapped around the tag and crest.
[Claws of Silver]
Warmon's claws slashed across Crystal's midsection, "Akuma Utsu!" and Crystal dropped heavily to the ground.
[Devil Strike]
Crystal rose to her feet and slipped the tag and crest around her neck. She gave Warmon a weak smile, "You're going to be sorry for messing with my friend." Then she passed out as the crest began to glow silver.
Zapdramon's data restabilized she she began to glow with the same silver light as Crystal's crest, "Zapdramon Digivolve To..."
The hand and lower part of Zapdramon's right arm transformed into a metallic blaster cannon. The upper left section of her face, over her left eye was covered by a metallic half-mask. She also increased in size slightly.
The Ultimate form of Zapdramon shouted, "Sparkmon!"
Sparkmon aimed her cannon at Warmon and shouted, "Projectile Sphere!" unleashing a sphere of fire and lightning energy on Warmon.
Warmon was knocked back by the blast and proceeded to vanish into thin air. Sparkmon glowed for a second and shrunk back down into Zapmon. The dragon- like monster ran over to the fallen form of Crystal, who was still in her semi-transformed state.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ranma and Ryoga dove behind a row of trash cans as the giant flying squirrel swiped at them once again. It could have been that the imaginations of the people who were watching this were starting to play tricks on them, or the squirrel was actually starting to grow larger and more fierce looking.
"Kaze no Kizu!" shouted the familiar voice of Inuyasha as several waves of energy shot off of the transformed Tetsusaiga and cut clean through the demonic flying squirrel. He swung again and the giant flying squirrel was reduced to a fine dust, the container with the Shikon Fragments in the middle of the mess.
[Cutting Wind, Windscar]
Shiva sighed, "I didn't even get to fight."
"Do you want to fight?" asked Lip cracking his knuckles.
Ukyo came out of hiding behind the row of bushes, "Chill out you two."
"At least we finally defeated the so-called Giant Monster that has been attacking Furinkan," said Akane.
Ranma came out from behind the row of trash cans. He looked the worst for wear, probably because he had been fighting from the start and had managed to take the most hits, regardless of his speed. Ranma looked around, "Alright, what happened to Kuno?"
"I think he left when things started looking too dangerous," said Ryoga as he also came out from behind the row of trash cans.
Inuyasha put the Tetsusaiga away. Kagome finally ran onto the scene, looking a little tired from her trip to Furinkan, but she did manage to get to the container with the Shikon Fragments before Inuyasha did. Inuyasha decided to shrug this off as something else decided to bother him.
"Why is the scent of Crystal's blood coming from that direction?" asked Inuyasha pointing in the general direction of Crystal's apartment.
Shiva sniffed the air. He might not have had demonic senses, but his were extremely close in comparison. Shiva blinked, "That does smell like her...she's injured?!"
*-*-*-*
The assembled group entered Crystal's apartment in the following order:
Inuyasha, with Kagome on his back, came through the large hole in the roof. At the same time, Shiva and Ranma who were moving at exactly the same speed managed to get stuck in the doorless doorway. This was followed by Ryoga crashing into Shiva and Ranma like some kind of tank, knocking them into the apartment as he entered it himself. Ukyo and Akane brought up the rear and Lip was nowhere to be seen.
Crystal was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. There was a first aid kit on the table and Crystal was attempting to put the bandages on herself. By this time she was back to her old self, although she was definately injured.
"I tried to help, but she simply won't let me," muttered Zapmon from her spot on the couch.
Ukyo said, "You've got a lot to learn. Crystal doesn't listen to anyone."
Crystal was actually more or less finished applying the bandages. It was just the small matter of putting the ones around her left arm. Since she was left handed, working mostly with her right arm was reasonably difficult.
Kagome walked, "You want me to get that for you?"
Crystal looked up from her handy work and shrugged, "I suppose."
While Crystal was still being bandaged up, Zapmon explained what happened. Shiva mentioned the demonic flying squirrel.
Crystal got to her feet, wincing slightly, but making an effort not to reveal her pain, "It sounds like all of this calls for a celebration of some kind. I hear there's a new buffet in town."
"Don't they ever learn?" Shiva wondered aloud.
*-*-*-*
Akane and Ukyo had enough sense to know that they definately did not want to see the combination of Ranma, Ryoga and Shiva eating, combined with the fact that Inuyasha, Crystal and Zapmon probably weren't much better. Kagome herself didn't have a clue what she was getting into when she agreed to go to this new buffet with the group.
Ranma, Ryoga and Shiva all took positions at different places along the buffet line and started eating at an inhuman pace, occassionally snatching food from each other. Crystal had a sense of mind to take what she wanted and take a place at a nearby table in case she wanted to attempt getting more. After watching for about a minute, Kagome decided to follow Crystal's example. Since there seemed to be a shortage on pizza, Zapmon had taken a spot at the dessert bar, along with Pichu [when he wasn't snatching food from Shiva] who had somehow ended up following the group into the buffet.
Inuyasha also managed to get mixed up in the craziness that was going on along the buffet line. A few minutes later Lip was in on the action, along with his Saiya-jin eating habbits.
At first the manager of the buffet had been struggling to keep up with how fast everything was being eaten. By this point, he was in the background attempting to hang himself. This attempted failed and the manager was relieved to see that the odd assortment of characters left the buffet.
*-*-*-*
"That was good," said Ranma.
"I'm still hungry," said Shiva.
Crystal said, "Ramen."
"I was going to say that," said Inuyasha.
"I'm not sure why I said it," sweatdropped Crystal.
Kagome said, "I am going home."
"Let's drop by the Neko-Hanten," suggested Shiva.
Inuyasha remembered that name from somewhere, "Isn't that the ramen place?"
"Yes," confirmed Kagome.
"Can I go too?" asked Inuyasha.
Kagome said, "I don't know. If I'm not around, who's going to keep you under control?"
"I can handle that," replied Crystal.
"How do you plan to do that?" asked Kagome.
Crystal shrugged, "After all, I am the one that will be paying for the ramen."
Inuyasha nodded absently.
"Crystal, weren't you injured?" asked Zapmon.
Crystal shrugged again and removed the bandages from her arms, tossing the bandages into a nearby trash can.
Zapmon gasped, "Those scratches are practically gone already!"
"And by morning I'll be perfectly fine," said Crystal. "I told you not to worry."
*-*-*-*
Ranma, Crystal, Shiva, Lip and Inuyasha entered the Neko-Hanten. Zapmon and Pichu had headed back to Crystal's apartment for the night. Ryoga had managed to wander off.
"What do you mean I have to pay for my own ramen?!" demanded Ranma and Lip.
Crystal sighed, "I said I'd cover for Shiva and Inuyasha, not you two."
Lip smirked, "How's this Ranma, we'll fight and the loser pays for both orders of ramen?"
"Alright," said Ranma. "You're on."
The two of them started fighting. Shampoo decided to step in and assist Ranma, which resulted in her getting the wind knocked out of her by one of Lip's punches. This was followed a few minutes later by Ranma crashing through one of the walls, flying outside in an unconscious heap.
"Uh-oh," said Crystal.
Shampoo regained consciousness, took in the scene at hand, and latched onto Lip's arm.
"What's going on?" asked Lip sounding slightly confused.
Shiva was attempting to hold back his laughter as he explained the situation to Lip, "Shampoo is an Amazon, which means that in beating her, you've ensured that she is going to try everything possible to make you her husband."
Lip probably would have facevaulted, if not for the purple-haired Amazon clinging to his arm.
"If it weren't for everything that has happened recently, I might have been surprised," said Crystal shaking her head.
Inuyasha just continued to eat his ramen.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So Ends Another Day...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Wow, that turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be.