I am so sorry everyone for the whole year of hiatus for this story! But I am back, reinspired and will try to get these chapters out much faster than before! Especially since this guy is almost to 10k words! (9.5k but eh who's counting) Hope you all enjoy this and I want to thank my friend SilverfangDancer9800 on youtube who brought my story to the attention of Digimon fans who had yet to know of it! Please read and review and please favorite this piece of work from the heart and from my favorite franchise of all time Digimon!

And if you have time check out Silverfangdancer9800 for his reactions and dance videos on youtube! And my friend Storm VII on youtube for his gaming content, and on fanfiction for his Blazeblue fics involving Ragna the Bloodedge! They both make fun videos! And Storm VII makes amazing stories!

The 7th war

Chapter 18: The Next Leg of the Journey

Lava Ridge: Exit arch

We find our Heroes having just left the Lava ridge zone Dragon camp with the new lord promising that no wild Digimon would impede their journey out of the territory, with that promise in hand, their gear packed up, and new food given to them to help replenish their reserves the group heads off to the next zone to hopefully reach the castle of HolyAngemon soon and join his army of Tamers to fight against the 7 Vices army. They are exiting the Zone as they finish going through the arch gate that allows travel between each Zone and notice they are in a new area. The area seems to have some vegetation and trees here and there with some tall grass and bushes, this reminds Seth and Klein of the savanna from Earth but with twice as many trees and more small valleys and foothills dotting the landscape. They continue their path as each member of this party keep an eye out and let their thoughts wander and think about their own training to this point.

Agumon was feeling pumped and ready after some sparring matches against various champion types in both his Greymon form and his GeoGreymon form as he hasn't had much use in that one yet. He was even doing shadow boxing with his claws tucked in against his arms to prepare for even more sparring later with his friends. He was so into it he stumbled on a rock in the party's path and hopped a bit while flailing his arms. This resulted in him landing on his right foot with his left arm turning to the front still as a fist and him feeling the power from the blow even if it was an accident. Agumon looked at his body and felt it out with some twists and stances he used instinctively to try and get a feel for what he did and how he did it. As he did he was starting to feel out what it was that allowed him that powerful punch and starts to smirk to himself as he starts to do proper hip and shoulder rotation into each punch he is performing with his shadow boxing.

Biyomon was enjoying being able to fly in the sky with both forms but both brought their own layer of fun for her to enjoy. Birdramon obviously being able to fly and throw fireballs around like she owned the skies. But Saberdramon for the shadow teleportation abilities she had, and Biyomon couldn't help but feel like being Saberdramon would have helped her spying job at the 7 Vices headquarters so much more easily. When she thought back to that her mind blanks a bit as she remembers some of the horrible experiments they were doing to their own soldiers and shudders. But as she sees Agumon stumble her attention is taken as she sees him take note of his landing and starts to train and practice even as they are merely walking along the path to the next Zone of the island. She thinks harder at what she was meant to do to help the group out and decides to redo some basics from her training as a cadet, and begins to zip back and forth in the sky doing strafes, banking left and right, and checking on her dodge rolls.

Kotemon was mostly humming to himself as he enjoyed walking with his new friends and his Tamer Klein as he and Seth talked about the best route from here to get to the castle. He was also enjoying having such strong allies helping him train in his Dinohyumon form when needed. As he looked over the Digimon after seeing Seth and Klein in a discussion he notices Agumon training as he power walks with shadow boxing to keep his skills ready and Biyomon doing aerial maneuvers in the sky to keep her movements sharp. Kotemon looks down to his own weapon a Shinai (Bamboo sword) and draws it and starts doing lunging steps as he brings it down in horizontal, diagonal, and vertical slashes with each step, even going on to do blocks and spin slashes to keep his awareness and balance trained.

Klein and Seth are doing their best to plan out their route to head to the palace coming up. They are looking over the 3D map again after seeing they are about to enter the Dragons Pass, a place full of Dragon type digimon similar to Agumon and his other forms but with more flight involved than others. They gulp as they realize that the only ones who would be effective against flying enemies are Biyomon and Agumon in either Rookie form or Champion form as neither Kotemon nor his evolved form Dinohyumon have any reliable long range attacks. They would need to stop before entering the valley like pass to plan ahead and figure out a way to help Kotemon do better against these upcoming enemies.

Klein voices his concern first, "We need to stop and consider possible solutions here Seth, Kotemon just doesn't have much in the way of anti aerial attacks at the moment."

Seth nods sadly as he too thinks on this problem, "I know. Biyomon flies and so do both her forms, Agumon is ground based but has a lot of options for long ranged attacks in either form, but for Kotemon he only… has his… one… form..."

Seth quickly looks back at Kotemon who is currently jumping and spin slashing midair before coming down right as Agumon came up next to him with a jab out to do his next boxing movement. The shinai meets clawed fist and the two Rookies look at each other with a competitive smirk and begin to play fight as a friendly spar for practice.

Seth looks back to Klein as Klein shrugs at him wondering what he has thought of, "What's with that look Seth? Something wrong with our Digimon?"

Seth chuckles before answering, "No! We just didn't think about our own words! Think about it Klein! Biyomon and Agumon both have second forms! So this means there is a good chance that Kotemon..!" Klein gasps with understanding, "Might have a second form as well! Nice!… How do we bring it out?"

Seth stops and thinks, "Well when it came to Biyomon and Agumon we figured out that the emotions we put into the evolution affect what appears. For Agumon's two forms, Greymon is the protector type while his Geogreymon form is from the will to fight and achieve victory without holding back our team. For Biyomon's forms, Birdramon comes out when she wants to protect her family, us in that case, and Saberdramon is when she wants to strike at her opponents harder and faster than before with more efficiency. What is the emotion between you and Kotemon when you want him to evolve into Dinohyumon?"

Klein nods and thinks on his own emotions when he and Kotemon evolve him then looks to his partner. Kotemon thinks as well and then locks eyes with Klein as they both look to Seth and as one say, "When we want to defeat the enemy in front of us."

Seth deadpans and simply answers with a raised eyebrow, "You don't say? Well we have the urge to fight down at least, which means you have your attacker form all settled, the trick is now to figure out your protector form. Based on what we know so far Biyomon and Agumon each have an Attacker and Protector form. But we need to figure out your Protector form." Seth crouches down to Kotemon and asks, "Kotemon instead of thinking about fighting a strong foe with Klein, can you try picturing defending or protecting Klein from the strong foe instead?"

Kotemon thinks with a "hmmmm" then looks up to Klein as Klein grins at him in confidence that Kotemon can figure it out. Kotemon closes his eyes and pictures Klein about to be attacked by a giant fireball and feels a surge of energy and the urge to protect him but it ends soon after as Kotemon gasps and opens his eyes. He quickly glances at both Tamers as they were both looking to him in concern for the sudden gasp. "I pictured it! Klein you were in trouble! And I wanted to protect you from the attack, so I felt a huge surge of energy in me to try and get in front of you and take the attack for you so that you didn't get hurt!"

Klein hugs his friend with a, "Aw thanks man! I appreciate it! But wait if that was the case, then why didn't you Digivolve? Isn't that feeling the way to unlock a Protector form? What's missing?"

Seth looks to Klein with a wondering glance and a hand under his chin in a fist while his other arm acts as a shelf to rest his elbow on, "Maybe it's because you didn't have the same mindset? Remember I told you the emotions of the Digimon to turn into each one, but the feeling can't be one sided, if you don't feel it along with your Digimon then the energy is wasted and the Digivolution doesn't happen. You need to feel the same emotions and desires as Kotemon, but this time directed at your Digimon while he directs his emotions towards you. Do you understand Klein?"

Klein and Kotemon both nod from that explanation and then look at each other before closing their eyes and thinking of the other in peril. Klein sees Kotemon and watches as an enemy launches a huge energy attack at his partner making it seem like Kotemon is about to die when Klein imagines diving in and pushing Kotemon out of the way taking the attack for his partner. Kotemon is imagining going in front of Klein to use his own body as a shield for his friend to survive a large energy wave attack coming for them both. With this mutual desire to protect each other burning bright Klein's Digivice glows brightly and launches a stream of data at Kotemon encasing him in a Digivolution egg of 1's and 0's. Inside they hear Kotemon yell out, "Kotemon! Digivolve to…! Gladimon (Guardian mode)!"

Once the egg finishes glowing it breaks apart revealing a Digimon only slightly taller than Kotemon topping out at 4'5" just below Klein's chest. It has a round body covered in armor with an orange knights plume coming out the top of its helmet, with leather armor reinforcing its plate mail underneath. It has a 3 ft arming sword in its right gauntlet and a tower shield that is reaching 5ft tall in its left gauntlet. Its main metallic armor is a nice steel like shine and its leather armor is a rich brown similar to wood. It's eyes are no longer yellow glowing orbs in its helmet, instead it has green eyes with pupils in them. His sabatons are heavy but flexible as they have small claw like attachments to their front to help the Shielder grip the ground beneath them.

Gladimon makes a heroic pose with his sword out to the side and his shield covering his front partially similar to a spartan stance with their spear out and ready to fight with. He then stops as he glances at his new form and then back to Klein with a worried look in his eyes, "Um? Is this right? This feels barely better than my 3ft tall Kotemon form. But I do feel more powerful now. How do my stats look Klein?"

Klein who was standing slack jawed at Gladimon's new form shakes himself out of his stupor and refocuses on the task at hand. Bringing out his Digivice and navigating to his Digimon stats page he sees Gladimon's new stats are much better than Kotemon's were with them being multiplied by 1.5 times, but the shocking thing was his HP and Defense stats more than doubled! Almost as far as 2.5 times their Rookie amounts. He looks to Gladimon and the group as his jaw looks unhinged at this point making them worried at what he found.

Klein gulps and explains, "Well good news is your stats all went up by 1.5 times." Gladimon nods his head and puts his sword arm on his hips in pride at that increase, while Agumon pats him on the back in congratulations, Biyomon wow's at this while Seth is immediately thinking of ways to use this new information for their future battles moving forward. Klein continues, "But your HP and Defense stats both increased by nearly 2.5 times now! You are basically a walking bunker at this point! And I also got two new cards to try out with you." Gladimon's eyes widen at this and his arms go limp at this information with his sword and shield falling a clang on the ground next to him. Agumon's eyes threaten to pop out of his head, while Biyomon barely remembered to keep flapping her wings to avoid crashing to the ground from the shocking news, Seth also goes slack jawed for a moment before he grins at this great turn of events.

Klein notices the grin and begins to feel a bit concerned at this reaction from his human friend, "What's with that look Seth? What do you have planned for my friend?"

Seth chuckles as he looks at the Digimon, they ion turn look to him wondering what he had thought of, "Well let's think of it like this, I am happy we have a nice party group now! Gladimon as the vanguard tank unit to absorb blows and deal them back when needed, Geogreymon as our DPS (Damage per second for non gamers) dealer, then Saberdramon as our aerial support and hit and runner unit. And even if we switch things up we can adjust to Greymon as vanguard tank, Dinohyumon as the DPS dealer, and Birdramon can be long range support instead of hit and run support. What do you think?"

Klein looks to the group as the Digimon excitedly chat among themselves at the possible formations mentioned, he nods in understanding before looking at the two new cards he mentioned before. Klein this time gets a grin, "And I know with these two cards helping we will get an even better combo going for this, especially if we can exchange the cards to each other!" A pause comes over them both, "Wait… can we exchange cards?"

Seth raises a hand with a finger raised before stopping, looking confused for a moment at a loss for words, then looks up in his Digivice and finds a card trading system inside, a 'well look at that' look comes over his face s he answers, "Yeeeeup looks like we can, and we just never thought to look it up due to all the fighting we have been doing without actually looking through our Digivices for any new info since we are working together now. Man the things a second perspective does to people and helps with ideas. Nice work Klein now we can reorganize our decks to optimize them for each form we use in battle."

Klein chuckles while scratching the back of his head and starts to help Seth set up a small camp fire to get some lunch going, while the Digimon keep talking with each other. "Man Gladimon you are durable looking right now! You feeling okay?" Agumon asks the stout knight Digimon. "Well it takes some getting used to as my body is now more of an orb but I'll train and get used to it eventually, but what about you guys? Do those formations Seth talked about sound fair to you two?"

Biyomon hums at it and thinks deeply, "Well it does sound good to me, but we also need to consider how one of you will always be the tank while I am basically out of harms way, I feel… slightly guilty with that thought in mind." Biyomon then looks towards the ground with a concerned and guilty look in her eyes as she considers how she will only be supporting her friends while they risk their lives on the front line.

Agumon looks at her while Gladimon is trying to reassure her about how he doesn't mind, adopting a more confident and friendly smile he comes over to Biyomon and places his claw on her shoulder. When she looks at him he smiles at her with eyes closed in a reassuring way, "Don't worry Biyo, Gladimon and I won't let anything happen to you, especially when I am the tanker I'll make sure you don't get hit at all and keep you safe!"

Gladimon glances at him as he finishes while Biyomon smiles sweetly at him in thanks and Agumon's brain finally catches up to how he phrased that part of his wording. His eyes snap open, his cheeks color and darken, and his looks away from Biyomon in embarrassment, before sweating and stuttering out, "B-b-but I wo-wo-would do that f-f-for any of our fr-fr-friends you know? I mean, I-I-I won't be only focusing on y-y-you due to my feelings! I mean! My feelings of… uh uh w-w-well I mean I can uh..." Biyomon giggles at his rambling before hugging him and nuzzling the side of his head gently with her beak and cheek of feathers rubbing gently against his as she whispers in his ear, "I appreciate it Agu, you're a nice dino and I like you for it."

Biyomon blushes herself before leaving a quick peck on his cheek in thanks for him being him and then flies into a nearby tree while turning her body and face away from the others. Gladimon looks on both of his friends happy they are starting to like each other in that way before noticing Agumon hasn't moved from his spot since the hug, nuzzle, and kiss. Leaning forward to see his face he sees Agumon is no longer Orange colored, but he is now a bright cherry red and his eyes are now swirls as his brain is trying to process what just happened. He eventually let's out an "EEP!" and faints from pure happiness, Gladimon panics and starts to try and gently shake Agumon awake while missing how Biyomon in her tree is also acting differently.

Biyomon is currently also red but a softer amount as she is covering her face with her wings going, ooooooh I can't believe I did that! But… she looks back at the fainted Dino being resuscitated by the knight Digimon with a few shakes as he is still out of it. Biyomon turns to face away again with a smile on her beak, I can't say I didn't like it… It might be a bit rushed, but I wouldn't mind courting him and seeing if we could become mates in the future. Oh no! What if Seth says teammates shouldn't date! What will Lord Sorcerymon say?! What if Lord Seraphimon doesn't approve?! I'll need ot ask their permission! AAAAAAAAAHH!

Meanwhile Seth is looking over both his partners seeing one passed out while slowly coming back with the help of Gladimon, and the other one in a tree lost in her thoughts as she seems to be panicking as she shakes her head side to side in a fluster. He sighs and thinks to himself, ah I love these two, they are such good friends, and at this rate, maybe more. I would support them if they decide to date, after all they seem to have good chemistry.

He heads back over to Klein to check on the camp they have set up temporarily for lunch and watches as Klein is still working on a stew to help fill everyone's stomachs. As Klein is cooking Seth looks back at the others before coming up with a plan to work on an appetite. He summons his leather sparring armor and his iron blunt sword with a kite shield out and heads over to the Digimon. Klein notices Seth heading back towards the Digimon and is about to ask why before seeing the gear Seth calls out and smiles knowing that their appetites are about to shoot up from some much needed training. Walking back to the others Seth activates his Digivice sparring arena function and coats the surrounding area with the dome of energy to prevent lasting damage or deaths. He sends it out to cover 120ft diameter to give them and their champion forms plenty of space to practice. Seth calls out to the others once everything is set up, "Hey everyone, how about a quick round of sparring before lunch to help Gladimon get used to his new form before he runs out of energy and reverts back to Kotemon?"

Agumon finishes recovering from his happiness high and jumps back to his feet excited for a match, Biyomon finishes her panic as well and flies down to be next to Agumon with a determined look in her eyes, Gladimon readies his sword and shield with an expectant look in his eyes as well. Right as Seth is about to prepare the teams Agumon and Biyomon notice how close they are before looking back at Seth with some blushes on their cheeks, Seth notices this and grins a bit while thinking about their formation.

"Alright Gladimon and I will team up against Biyomon and Agumon, one tank and one supporter per team this way, the fighting stops from either us hitting the 10 minute time limit per round, or when one of our team mates is down for the count under the sparring domes false life counter. Deal?"

The Digimon all cheer a loud "Yeah!" In agreement and pair up. Gladimon prepares himself with his shield in front and Seth covering his left flank while Gladimon's sword arm covers his right flank. Agumon readies himself in a basic boxing stance with Biyomon a few feet behind him ready to launch herself up into the sky as his air support and both teams stand ready and waiting for the 10 second countdown to finish.

10… both parties loosen themselves up

9… Biyomon flexes her wings

8… Seth and Gladimon adjust their grips on their blades

7… Agumon adjusts his stance

6… Sweat starts to bead on Seth's brow

5… Biyomon crouches ready to launch into the sky

4… Agumon tenses his legs ready to charge

3… Gladimon tenses his legs ready to shield bash

2… Seth glances between all three Digimon

1… everyone readies for the buzzer

"BUUUUUUUZZZZZZ!"

(Cue Tenka Fubu Kishuu)

Agumon and Gladimon immediately launch at each other while Seth strafes to the side to come at Agumon's flank.

Biyomon's launch allows her to fly over towards Seth and interrupt his charge to the flanking side by launching her feathers at him. Seth notices just in time and leaps with a rolling dodge using his shield as a flip board to leap around and forward away from the barrage of feathers and as Biyomon stalls in the air from her attack to change direction and go back to support Agumon, Seth leaps up with his sword on the ground as he throws out some throwing daggers at Biyomon causing her to squawk in shock and try to dive dodge away from the flying blades. Seth chuckles at her response and lands to grab his sword with a duck as Biyomon dives at his head in retaliation to his attack. Seth pops up in a proper stance again smirking at her with his shield up as Biyomon pouts and readies her next move.

While this all happens on the side, Gladimon and Agumon met in the middle of their charges with Gladimon's shield meeting Agumon's fist in a loud clang that causes a small shock wave to erupt between them. Gladimon manages to hang on from the force of the wave, but Agumon is launched back about 10 feet before he can land safely and look up to Gladimon in shock at the power he now wields. Agumon grins and charges again, Gladimon readies his shield to intercept the Dino but right as he goes for another shield bash Agumon gathers his strength and jumps up over Gladimon's shield. The knight looks up at Agumon in surprise and tries to re-angle his shield but Agumon launches a "Pepper breath!" At him hitting the knight square in the body leaving a small scorch mark on his breastplate. As he lands he glances up to see the damage he caused only for his growing grin to fall as he sees Gladimon looks to him with barely and reaction to the fireball attack except for a slight wince from the heat. 'You're goin gto need to do better than that my friend! Remember my defense is more than twice what it was as Kotemon now!" Gladimon readies his sword this time for an offensive move as Agumon prepares himself for the counter attack, "Thanks for the reminder! Now let's go!"

Back with Seth and Biyomon, the two are locked in a heated battle, quite literally. Biyomon is shooting her Spiral Twister over and over trying to box Seth in as he dodges left and right trying to escape the flames and avoiding the possible rings of flames she keep trying to draw around him to limit his movements. Seth keeps trying to think of a way to reach her as she keeps out of range of his sword and manages to dodge any thrown weapon he uses at her. Man Biyomon is really keeping things tense, she can't hit me easily, and I can't even reach her, the only thing I can possibly think of is trying to jump up to her… somehow, or try and drag her down here. But a net won't do, I don't have any throwing weapon that can reliably hit her wings to knock her down and I am running out of running space here!

Seth finishes the thought as he rolls again to his left and notices he is almost against the dome arenas wall and sees his options of escape are limited as many avenues of escape are currently on fire. Biyomon smirks and gets ready to hit Seth dead on as he rushes to think of a way to get the bird. Dang it she just strings me along no matter what I d- THAT'S IT! Seth grabs out a throwing knife that is long and thin meant for piercing attacks and ties a thin but powerful fishing line around it. Spinning it a few times as Biyomon heats up he manages to roll forward into one of the remaining avenues of escape left open to him as Biyomon fires. The flames just barely scorch the back and legs of Seth as he tucks and rolls forward into a crouch where he then throws his knife at Biyomon while her attack is still going. Seeing the incoming projectile she flies below it and smirks at Seth for trying that again until she feels something on her wing as she is flapping to keep airborne. She looks ot her right wing and sees a bright silver thread that she sees is tied to the knife and is currently being tangled up into her claws. She quickly looks back at Seth in a panic and notices him smirking at her with the other end of the thread in his hands. A quick uh oh passes through her mind before she is pulled roughly down to the ground by Seth.

The minute she crashes face down into the ground, Seth draws his blade and shield to use on her. Biyomon is getting up slowly from the crash landing right as she feels a weight on her back where Seth is straddling her and pinning her wings down with his knees and uses his sword and shield as a neck vice on her from both sides effectively trapping her and leaving her unable to use any attacks she knows. She struggles for a bit before feeling the blade and shield edge get tighter against her neck and then lays still with a sigh escaping her, "Guess I lose huh?" Seth nods at her before remembering from her position and his position that she couldn't see the motion. "Yep you did, and I would bring you out of bounds but at this point I am too tired and singed to do anything else. You really did a number on me keeping me dodging and unable to counter attack for most of the fight. Nice work Biyomon! Just keep in mind to watch for any trick shots from foes trying to hit you with projectiles in the future okay?"

(Pause Music)

Biyomon nods as best she can before Seth rolls off her with his sword and shield in hand to remove from her vice prison. They help each other up and get to their feet before heading to the dome of energy. When they reach it Seth activates a key function of his Digivice to open a small doorway for the two, allowing them to leave the arena barrier. They then go to sit down beneath a tree nearby to watch the two powerhouse tanks go at each other even more. As the pair sit down they both groan feeling their bodies ache from the strain and adrenaline from the spar hitting them. Seth from the light burning sensation all over, and Biyomon from her wings being overworked and her throat being parched from all the flame attacks she used. They even bring out some water bottles to drink from and refocus their gaze into the dome to enjoy the rest of the match while Klein comes over with the stew done to hand them a bowl each, Klein sits down to join them in their rest with his own bowl and bottle of water. And with the stage set and the audience ready, the main two fighters of the group continue their match.

(Resume Music)

With Agumon and Gladimon, the two are currently at a stalemate in their fight. Gladimon tries to strike Agumon with a series of slashes but Agumon manages to dodge, roll, duck, and weave around them all with his smaller size assisting him. As Gladimon goes for another slash attack Agumon manages to catch the blade and launches a "Spitfire Blast!" Right into Gladimon's unprotected side, this leaves a black scorch mark on him now and make Gladimon actually recoil in pain and grimace with closed eyes as he rears back his body from the surprise attack. Agumon immediately goes to try for another one while Gladimon is reeling from the blow. But right as he gets around the shield and charges up his attack, Gladimon opens his eyes suddenly and swings his shield not at Agumon but right into the path of the attack. As Agumon was already charged up he had to either launch the attack or bite down on it and risk damaging his own mouth so he doubled down and shot his attack.

The gout of flames went right at Gladimon's shield and Agumon hears, "Guardians shield of Reflection!" He sees Gladimon's tower shield get a mirror like shine to it as the Spitfire Blast slams into the shield, but Agumon gapes in shock as his flames don't explode against it, but instead are absorbed bit by bit into the shields surface. Soon the flames are all gone and the shield now has a red glow to it as inside the mirror like shine are flames dancing like a video on a phone screen. Soon Gladimon looks to Agumon and turns his shield to the fire spitting dino and says, "Release!" right after that command the flames are sent back out towards Agumon. Agumon sweats as his flames are the same strength but are flying back towards him twice as fast now! He does a hasty dodge roll out of the way, but still gets cooked along his back a bit as he finished the roll. He looks towards Gladimon who is charging full tilt towards him with his sword ready, Agumon goes for a Pepper breath attack to try and blind him so he can flank the knight, but Gladimon reveals another trick he had up his sleeve.

With a swing of his blade he calls out, "Knight's wave slash!" He brings his blade down vertically in front of himself and out shoots a 7ft tall blade of energy that shoots out quickly towards Agumon and his attacking fireball. The fireball is swiftly cut in two and Agumon in his shock can't dodge in time leaving him hit dead on by the blades energy. After hitting the dino the energy finishes its attack and leaves a cut through the ground up to 30ft away from Gladimon. With a huff of satisfaction the round knight approaches the fallen dino and prepares his next attack in case Agumon gets up from his prone position of lying on his front with his head turned to the side as Gladimon near him from the top of his horizontal skull.

(End music)

Agumon struggles to get up as the attack knocked out at least 25% of his HP and as he manages to raise his head and get to his knees he sees a sword point a mere inch from his snout as Gladimon gives him one simple command. "Yield" As Agumon thinks through it he notices the sword slightly glowing and Gladimon's shield also off the ground ready to slam into him at the slightest movement of his body. Sighing at the checkmate he finds himself in Agumon looks up to the knight and nods with a resigned sigh.

"Yeah I give, I can't do anything without my backup from this position, so it goes to you and Seth for a victory." At his surrender the arena dome disappears and goes back as data into the Digivice for recharging. Agumon sighs in frustration at his loss as Gladimon reverts back to Kotemon. Kotemon chuckles at seeing Agumon pouting and goes to help him up from the ground while asking him, "You okay Agumon? I didn't hurt you too badly did I?" Agumon looks to the sleeved hand and sighs again but this time with a sad smile on his face, "No you didn't, sorry for worrying you it's mostly my pride that got injured so badly. I thought I could take you since you looked so slow in that form. And for the most part I was right. I could run circles around you. But it didn't amount to much since I couldn't land any good blows against you. My fists clanged uselessly against you, my fire hurt you but only left scorch marks at best. I was so focused on trying to beat you that I didn't see the signs that I wasn't wearing you down fast enough until it was too late."

Kotemon nods at that observation, "But since you noticed all of that, doesn't that mean you'll know what to look for in the future and be better prepared for it? Just because you lost doesn't mean you won't learn from this and get better from now on. You can use this as a chance to grow more than you have so far!" Agumon stops to look at Kotemon but then chuckles at that with a satisfied smile this time on his muzzle, "Yeah. Yeah! You have a good point mon! Thanks for that insight! I will learn and get better from our spar!"

GROOOOOOOWL!

Both Digimon stop and look down at each others stomachs who let loose such loud growls of hunger from their lack of food, before looking over to the others as they heard small giggles that were turning into actual laughter. Once the others started to laugh both Digimon started to blush at their stomachs honesty from their post sparring energy levels. Though soon both Digimon join the others in laughter.

After the laughter died down Klein got them both big bowls with rice and stew inside and the two hungry Digimon gorged themselves on it barely pausing to swallow or breathe between bites. As they finish gulping down their food they look to Seth and Klein and ask, "Now what?"

Biyomon turns her attention to her human friends as well. Klein looks to Seth for what the next step of their journey is. Seth puts down his bowl to think. We are definitely stronger now and we can handle many threats but we obviously need to finish getting used to these two different forms for the Digimon so they can help in combat. Especially with those moves Gladimon revealed at the end, he's not just a tank, he is a COUNTER tank! Making him more effective as a vanguard than even Greymon who is a reaction tank. Hmmm I think spending a day or two here to train ourselves further and gain more usage out of our different forms will be best.

As he finishes his thoughts he turns to the others and sees them all looking towards him in curiosity. He smirks and tells them, "Let's set up the tents and training gear, we have some practicing to do for our different forms. What do you guys say?" As he asks his friends all look to each other before smiling then turning to Seth with friendly smirks on their faces, "Sounds good/ I'm in/let's train hard!/ As long as there is good food!"

Everyone turns to the dino who said that last part and they see him have the decency to blush at his honesty with how his stomach tends to flare up and motivate him to train harder and eat harder after and before sessions. They all laugh with Agumon blushing hard, but Biyomon comes over and hugs his side in a show of support to tell him she still knows he will train hard with them. Agumon is now blushing for a different reason as he turns his head away from her but with a happy smile on his jaw and Biyomon just giggles at his reaction from that. The others notice but quietly just smile and watch to support their growing relationship.

After breaking up lunch to prepare their campsite, Seth is putting up the punching bag while looking at their holomap, I hope we will make it in time to the palace to help them with whatever they need us for. Agumon and I have just been helping the island as a whole, but according to Klein there is an entire battalion of us out here so the War must be on a bigger continent, and if our training can get us closer to Ultimate form then we need every chance we can get for that to happen. We will unlock them and help out the leaders of the good side in this war to defend this world from the evils of the 7 Vices army.

As they finish preparing their camp and getting ready to train their bodies more they are unaware of a spy watching them from a nearby tree hiding in the branches so he is not seen. It is a DemiDevimon. A small barely 2 ft tall Digimon with bat wings on his sides and a stitched together blue hood covering most of his body/face. He has blue tinted skin and large red claws on his feet, having two claws in front and one in back of each foot, he also has bat fur on the lower half of his body that ends right at the top part of his legs. On his head is a small camera that is focusing on the group and their activities. This is a live feed back to a certain room in the 7 vices building.

7 Vices HQ Generals meeting room

The 7 generals of the 7 vices army are gathered here with their chosen commanders of each faction there to view the holoscreen in front of them all. The live feed from the DemiDevimon spy camera is in front of their meeting room and is showing that they had seen the recent sparring between the Digimon and their human friends. This made some generals scoff at why they should watch such low level battles while other look intrigued at what they saw and heard from the group.

As the spar concludes and the Generals put the feed on silent mode for review later, Barbamon looks to all his fellow generals and asks the main question, "Well my fellow Vices? What do you think of these Tamers and their partners? Do we destroy them? Turn them to our side? Or if nothing else simply delay their arrival to the Main base of our foes so we can finally launch our… Surprise?"

A few hums of thought and a few scoffs of indifference sound out at these questions. As the Generals all think it through Barbamon hopes for a response that aligns with one of his many plans but knows if a majority rules he will need to adjust his plans to accommodate the vote. The first one to speak up is his own right hand man who he trusts as his key General in such choices, Murmukusmon speaks up first among the generals, "I believe turning them to our side will be beneficial not just to us, but to the war effort as a whole. After all they can shift their Digimon's forms apparently so we should grab them and see if these form shifts can be applied to us as megas as well. If they can't then we will at least have found 5 new members to our forces who can change form at will and give them a greater edge over other similar ranked enemies. What say you all?"

He directs his question back across the other Generals and sees they are all still thinking, The next one to speak up is a surprise to Barbamon as this General usually stays quiet until the others have all spoken, ChaosGallantmon stands and raises his jousting lance arm in agreement, "I support Murmukusmon's decision, if we can empower our troops by this method of alternation form evolution, I say we should try it, it will help our forces out in the long run if it works, and if it does not, then like Murmukusmon said, we gain 5 new allies to our ranks who can keep a trick up their sleeve against the others. And if they can't even do that and join us willingly, then we have gaine dsome new training tools for the arena for our true recruits to train against. What say the rest of you?"

With the question answered by ChaosGallantmon and the support gained Murmukusmon and Barbamon both nod in thanks to his words and thoughts, with a return nod they all turn to a chuckling individual Piedmon who stands with them. "Now I normally don't support this course of action, but seeing a possible result where they are made into our entertainment should they fail the first act and the encore? Now this is a show I must see tot he end! I support their plan as well! On the condition that we will use them for our training and arena should they fail all other plans for them, understood?"

Barbamon strokes his beard in though but nods nonetheless, he needed the majority vote to support his plan and now he has it, it would be a shame if all this effort resulted in the loss of the two promising Tamers to the arena, but if all other plans fail then it would be the last way the Tamers and their partners would be useful to their army and plans. Barbamon nods with Murmukusmon and ChaosGallantmon following with their own nods, Piedmon smiles at this and begins to plan for the torture of the Tamers in the arena. As 4 generals all agree the next general that stands is an unexpected boon to their vote and the plans they have for the Tamers, Lotusmon. She stands with her snake staff hissing in glee at this plan, "I for one would love to give my efforts in corrupting these Tamers! I want to see how far their Digivice protection goes in response to my magic of brainwashing and evil taint. What say you Lord Barbamon?"

Barbamon strokes his beard but this time in glee, with Lotusmon on board and offering her talents in corruption for their needs they will have a surefire way to the Tamers hearts and minds so that they would be more willing to assist their needs. But right as he is about to announce the vote is ended with a majority in favor of his plan, the most troublesome of his generals stands up, but not in support, he stands in anger and fury.

Chaosdromon roars out loud deafening the guards temporarily outside who are a mere pair of Ogremon's that fall to their knees from the power of the general even through the doors, they look to each other in fear, both glad that they are outside the door and not inside with the crazed mech Digimon. Chaosdromon finishes his roar and then pants a bit for effect as he no longer needs to breathe, but its the principle of the matter. He is about to speak when a seductive and silky smooth voice sounds from across the council seats at him. He looks tot he final General of the 7 Vices and sees Lilithmon looking absolutely bored with his behavior and looks done with this meeting as well. He growls at her and begins his rant.

"You are all weak! Relying on little fleshbags like them! We are already powerful as is! Heck I am technically a more powerful Mega now that I evolved from Machinedramon! Why should we go to the Tamers Digivices if they won't do anything for us? It is stupid! We should just kill them now and be down with it! After all they are raising an army of these brats and we don't need this kind of threat looking back at us! I vote we kill them all!"

The others just sigh in annoyance at their most intellectual yet stupid General, his brains are good but his battle lust from his evolution has gone to his head and he is usually seen on the front lines alongside Murmukusmon and ChaosGallantmon even though he should be in his research lab where his title dictates! Making gear for their troops and improving their chances of taking down the enemy defenses such as barriers and anti siege cannons in the cities they attack. But since he evolved his old calmer demeanor from his Machinedramon days are few and far between, now he is focused on becoming more powerful and showing his dominance over the enemy instead of his projects and own troops that he used to lead fairly. Barbamon is rubbing his temple trying to decide if he should just have the generals beat him up to force him to revert to Machinedramon again but decides against it. Not only would it make him weaker and thus lose a powerful pawn for the front lines, but the paperwork would be a nightmare when it came to reinstating his old form as the general and all that red tape! Seriously whoever made paper work will rue the day he made such a thing.

(Meanwhile the first person to ever make paper, shudders in fear as if he has finally pissed off the wrong person for no reason other than what he invented.)

Barbamon looks to Chaosdromon who is ready to throw down with the others to prove he is right when he slams his cane on the ground to gather everyone's attention. Even the battle junkie Chaosdromon is afraid he overstepped his boundaries, after all Barbamon may be a mage type Mega, but he is the leader of the 7 Vices for a reason a fight would result in him landing some good hits, but would ultimately result in failure. He should know he did the math with a 6.7% chance of him winning and Barbamon losing. It wasn't worth it with those numbers looking at him. So he wisely shut up as Barbamon levels a stern glare at the red mech dino who has the wisdom left to look afraid under such scrutiny. "Chaosdromon, I will not, I repeat WILL NOT endure such behavior in the council chambers. If you disagree with my plan then that is fine, but do not throw a tantrum over it like some young In-Training level! If you keep this up then I will demote you to a mere Sergeant and leave your Captain as the new general! Am I understood!"

Chaosdromon gulps and realizes just how thin the ice he was on now was, he didn't want his captain to take over he was just an Ebemon, a great technician, engineer, and programmer, but a horrible combatant, he would probably lose against 3 Ultimate's, and that was being generous with his current abilities! So he decided to just swallow his arguments and his pride and shut up for the rest of the meeting.

Barbamon looks to Lilithmon and asks, "Any other complaints?" "No lord Barbamon, however I would like to take a swing at torturing them and breaking them physically and mentally should Lotusmon have trouble on her task, but for the most part I am all in support of this plan, after all I have never, 'played' with humans before." she said while licking her lips and her vampire teeth.

The other male generals all shuddered, whenever she 'played' the toy usually never survive and then they had to find her a new plaything the next day or they would be the target of her, 'interests' in her torture chambers.

With a nod of his head, "Agreed we shall all help in this endeavor of bringing the humans to the army, and as such we shall end the meeting here, with a vote of 6 to 1" everyone looks at Chaosdromon with glares of any other complaints he might have. But for some reason he wisely stays silent while sweating a near bucket worth of oil grease sweat. "Murmukusmon and ChaosGallantmon shall remain here with me to go over an appropriate strategy for capturing these humans, Piedmon you and Chaosdromon review our strategy for our strike squad against the Holy Angel Palace, and Lotusmon, Lilithmon both of you prepare our battalions and lead a strike against the frontlines, we need them pressured and unaware of our upcoming plans to engage them on their home turf. Am I understood?"

The generals all nod and bow partially towards him, "Yes sir Lord Barbamon!"

As they all leave Piedmon pats Chaosdromon on the back with a promise that they will make a plan that he can lead the strike force, making the mech perk up and smile at the clown Mega, while Lilithmon and Lotusmon both start a 'girls' talk type of discussion on who will attack which good aligned Mega general from the 7 Virtues army. Once they are all gone The remaining Generals turn to each other and, nod. Barbamon activates some magic symbols and the room is coating in a billowing red aura with some dark areas sealing the windows and doors. Once the room is secure, Murmukusmon asks his question, "What do you need of us lord Barbamon?"

Barbamon sits on his throne once again while motioning the others to do the same, they see his worry lines are active and he is no longer stroking his beard as he usually does when thinking, but instead he is tapping his claws on his staffs skull gem, a tic that shows his nervousness. "I have a worry about this event that brought the humans to our world. While it is something we can deal with, it is concerning as a whole and I worry that the 8 crests of emotion are out there still, somewhere."

Both warrior generals flinch at that news. "But how sir? ChaosGallantmon led the raid on the lab and Piedmon himself used his dark arts to shatter the eggs of the chosen Digimon and their partners crests and Digivices! How can they still exist?"

Barbamon sighs at Murmukusmon's valid point, "Because based on the archives of old the crests are a part of the Digital worlds energy and data itself. If they should be destroyed physically, they will 'Digivolve' to find a way to return to this world in another form. We can't destroy them, we can only delay their use as weapons. So when we send our strike squad to capture these humans, Seth and Klein they are to be put through the scanner we used on the lab to find the crests in the first place. I dare not share this fear or knowledge with any of the others as I know you two from when we were mere champions trying to evolve and raise our army to destroy the light of this world. Can I count of you two with this mission and the troops you send for it?"

Both warriors look to each other then back at Barbamon then nod in confidence and trust with their friend. "Worry not sir, it will be done, trust Murmukusmon and I like you have always done and we shall not fail you." ChaosGallantmon and Murmukusmon then kneel and bow their heads to show their undying loyalty to Barbamon.

Barbamon smirks and then stands, "Very well my friends! Then go forth and capture these fools! We must succeed to turn the tide of the war back to our favor once again!"

Both Generals nod and head out, once they leave the room and the rooms spell is gone, the generals look to each other and begin to walk to their wing of the castle. "Murmukusmon which soldiers will you send?"

Thinking on it Murmukusmon knows they can't send anything stronger than a champion to the island or else the palace of the 7 virtues army would detect them. He then thinks on this possible situation and smiles at his fellow warrior. "I believe we have the perfect two candidates for this mission! They have been training hard! So let's see what we can do with Devimon and CorruptAngemon. I shall gather them and you will gather a squad of 7 champions from your troops to assist them. Agreed?"

ChaosGallantmon thinks on this and nods, "Agreed my friend I will gather a powerful squad of my troops to support them in this endeavor, but may I also suggest one more plan?"

Murmukusmon hums to indicate he is listening, "We should send not 1 squad but also 5 strike squads of about 3 champions each, this way we can have them attack at random times and at random locations to wear the targets down and then capture them when they are truly weakened. Agreed?"

Murmukusmon thinks the plan over and then grins wickedly. I agree my friend! What a plan! And this way their, precious 'formations' will only hold up for so long in th eface of such overwhelming numbers and amount of attacks. By draining their stamina and mental fortitude we will then gain the upper hand and finally put this whole situation to rest! Now to gather the troops and figure out where they are and ambush them at key points on their journey."

With a nod both Generals walk off unknown to them, there was a spy hidden in the shadows, a LadyDevimon peels herself from her shadow walk ability and hums in thought, "So those two will get the mission eh? I better let lady Lilithmon and sir Piedmon know, they may want to… 'donate' some troops to this plan. And I may get 'rewarded' by one of them! Oooooooo I can hardly wait!"

With that and a blush on her face she disappears from the hall.

Meanwhile in a laboratory a certain Wisemon is finishing up his corruption virus experiment and makes a breakthrough. "HAHAHAHAH! Finally! Now let's see if those Tamers and their Digivice's can defend their partners from the super corruption virus I have made! And with the news I heard from lord Piedmon of us getting ready to nab those two who have been a thorn in the side of my 'ally' Devimon, I can take this opportunity to test it in the field."

With that done he readies a device that will launch a dart out with precise aim with the virus ready to be released once it hits and lands into the target. As the whole of the 7 Vices army prepares for a decisive blow to the 7 Virtues army the group of Seth and Klein are blissfully unaware of the danger that is fast approaching them in the form of many evil Digimon and a dangerous plot against them and their friends.