Digimon: Digital Defenders

Episode 2: New Allies? Casey and Bearmon!

"So what do we do now?" asked Chandler, after a long period of silence, standing at the edge of the cliff with Meilin and Flowamon. Standing before them was a lush green forest, with trees so tall; they almost touched the blue sky.

"What do you think? We go down!" snapped Meilin in response, which made Chandler flinch.

"Heh, sorry." Chandler apologized for the dumb question.

Meilin nodded at Flowamon, and Flowamon nodded back. The little flower Digimon plucked a petal from her head and gently threw it off the cliff. The petal then glowed a bright yellow, and grew into a large white petal, which floated in midair above the forest. The petal stood right next to the edge of the cliff.

"Thanks Flowamon!" Meilin thanked Flowamon with a smile, which made Flowamon's face grow red with embarrassment.

"It…It was nothing." Said Flowamon modestly. Meilin carefully stepped off the cliff onto the large white petal, and sat down. Flowamon followed, floating onto the petal. They both turned to look at Chandler.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hop on." Commanded Meilin.

"Oh, sorry. Here I come!" yelled Chandler, as he walked back a couple of steps, and ran towards the edge of the cliff.

"No! Wait!" Meilin yelled at Chandler, but it was already too late. He jumped of the cliff and directly onto the petal. Suddenly, the petal gave way under their weight, and they were sent falling toward the ground, screaming loudly.

"You idiot! You were supposed to step on gently!" Meilin yelled at Chandler.

"Sorry!" apologized Chandler, as they hurtled towards the ground. The petal hit the slope of the cliff and began to slide down like a sled on snow. The group of three held onto the petal with all their strength, and continued to scream.

"Hey, this is pretty fun!" yelled Chandler with delight, as they continued to slide with tremendous speed. Meilin gave a sigh. They continued to slide towards the ledge at the bottom of the cliff.

"Brace yourselves…" warned Flowamon.

In an instant, they flew off the ledge, and hit the ground with a crash. The result of the crash left the three entangled in a pile of arms and legs, with Chandler unfortunately at the bottom.

"Ugh" moaned Meilin as her and Flowamon got off of Chandler, who was dizzy from being crushed by the two. Meilin brushed the dirt off her yellow overalls.

"Sorry." Flowamon apologized sheepishly.

"It's not your fault." She replied, giving a quick glare at Chandler, who was sitting up rubbing his head. He caught Meilin's eyes, and gulped.

"S-Sorry?" He answered with weak smile.

"You!" She exclaimed angrily.

Instantly, she dashed at him, and yanked him up by the collar of his shirt. Ignoring Chandler's yelling and pleading, she spun him around by his collar and threw him face first into the nearest tree trunk. Chandler slid down the trunk, and slumped to the ground twitching in pain. Flowamon gave a small giggle. Meilin grunted, and she and Flowamon continued on their way. But, little did the group of travelers know, a cluster of eyes watched the event, and soon dissapeared amongst the trees.

"So, how long is going to be before we arrive at the village?" asked Chandler.

"Who knows, this forest is pretty big. It could take about six hours at the most, That's if we stay on track."

"Six hours!" Chandler replied miserably.

"Six hours." Flowamon confirmed.

The tall trees shaded the entire forest, with little cracks of sunlight peeking through their green leaves and long branches. Trees after trees were all that surrounded them. The buzzing of insects and the chirping of birds could be heard. The sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching on the dirt floor under the group's feet filled the air.

Meilin felt a tug on her overalls. She looked down to see a green leaf of a hand tugging her. It was Flowamon.

"Meilin. I'm a bit tired. May we please take a rest?" asked Flowamon. Meilin thought for a moment, then responded.

"Well, I don't know how you can get tired from floating, but, sure, why not?" said Meilin, which made Flowamon smile.

The group traveled onward, until they came into clearing. In the clearing, was a large, flat stone, with it's bottom covered in moss. A ray of light shone down upon it like a spotlight.

"We can rest there." Said Meilin, pointing at the rock. Flowamon quickly floated to the stone and sat down.

"This looks like the brightest part of the forest." commented Flowamon, while basking in the sunlight.

"It sure looks like it. Come on, Chandler." Meilin beckoned to Chandler, who miserably followed behind. Hearing the "rest" snapped Chandler out of his miserable state.

"Finally! A rest spot!" he exclaimed, rushing to the stone to sit.

"You know, fighting takes a lot out of you. I thought we'd never stop." Said Chandler, sitting down.

Meilin walked to the stone and took a seat, right next to Flowamon, who was relaxing, relieved to take a break. She took off her glasses, and polished them with a cloth from her pocket, then put them back on. She took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. It was pretty peaceful, until her peace was interrupted when Chandler asked her a question.

"Say, are we the only humans here in the Digital World?" he asked. She pondered for a moment and spoke.

"Well, actually--" Meilin was interrupted again by a blipping sound. She dug into her pocket, and pulled out her yellow and pale green D-Stryke. The screen lit up and projected a map. Flowamon got up looked into the map with Meilin. The map was gray, with a faint out line of the area. In a cluster, there were two yellow dots and a red dot together. They looked up on the map, to see a blue dot making the blipping noise. The blue dot was moving closer to the other three dots.

"A blue dot? Could it be?" Meilin asked Flowamon. Flowamon gave a shrug of her leaves.

"'Could it be' what?" asked Chandler, sitting up and paying attention to their conversation, confused.

Out of nowhere, a black and white soccer ball rolled out from a cluster of trees towards Meilin, which came to a halt by tapping against her shoe.

/A soccer ball?/ She thought to herself. Something was familiar about the ball that gave her an idea about its owner.

The group heard a noise beyond the trees, which sounded like panting. Chandler instantly got up and became alert.

"Something's coming!" said Chandler apprehensively, turning his attention to a rustling bush.

"D-Stryke--!" yelled Chandler, pulling out his device, but was stopped by Meilin.

"Wait! It's ok." Meilin reassured Chandler, finally figuring out who it was.

From out of the bushes, ran another little creature, around the size of Flowamon, but a tad bigger. It was short, and wore a blue baseball cap worn backwards. The cap had the word "BEARS" printed on it. Two little ears poked out of both sides of its cap. The darkness of the forest made it grayish-brown fur appear even darker. It had blue, belt like bands tied around its arms, with a larger one around its body like a sash. The Digimon finally came to a halt, panting out of exhaustion.

"Hi Bearmon." Greeted a shy Flowamon. Bearmon looked up to spot the source of the voice. He spotted the familiar group and gave a large grin.

"Hey guys!" yelled Bearmon, running up to them. Judging from its boyish voice, it appeared to be a male Digimon.

"Have any of you seen my ball?" he asked, scanning the area for his ball.

"Here you go." Said Meilin, picking up the ball and handing it to him.

"Ah! Thanks!" said Bearmon, as he thanked Meilin with wide eyes. He took off his blue cap, to reveal a lock of grayish-brown fur on his head, that resembled a bang of actual hair. He took the large soccer ball, pushing it into his smaller cap, and it disappeared without a trace. Without him noticing, Chandler was watching the whole event.

"Amazing." said Chandler, astounded, catching Bearmon's attention.

"Hey, who's that?" Bearmon asked, pointing a claw at Chandler.

"Oh, that's Chandler," pointed out Flowamon with a blush. "He's new."

"Oh, hi!" Bearmon greeted Chandler with a wave of his paw.

Chandler's eyes grew wide with excitement as Bearmon talked. Bearmon was a bit intimidated, so he took a step back.

"He's...so...cute!" yelled Chandler.

"What?" asked a dumbfounded Bearmon, with his jaw hanging.

Instantly, Chandler dashed at Bearmon and snatched him up, squeezing him with a big hug, rubbing his cheek against Bearmon's.

"Awwww! He's just like a fluffy teddy bear!" said Chandler smiling, still continuing his glomping assault on Bearmon.

"It's nice to meet you and all, but I can't breathe!" complained Bearmon, finally breaking free from Chandler's grasp, starting to run away from Chandler.

"Hey! Wait!" yelled Chandler, chasing after Bearmon.

"A guy who likes cute things. Weird." Meilin commented, watching Chandler chase Bearmon around the area. Flowamon giggled at Bearmon's predicament.

"You're so adorable! I could just eat you up!" said Chandler, still chasing Bearmon down.

/Eat me!/ Bearmon thought to himself, frightened.

"Help!" Bearmon yelled, his voice echoing throughout the forest. Suddenly, there was a rustle in a nearby tree. Out of nowhere, a figure jumped out of tree, like a shadow, and intercepted Chandler's chase, by jumping in front of him and punching him in the stomach. Chandler stumbled back and fell to the floor, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Chandler!" yelled Meilin, running to Chandler's aid, with Flowamon floating behind.

"Casey! That wasn't necessary!" said Meilin looking at the figure standing before them.

/Casey?/ thought Chandler as he pulled himself together. He looked up to identify his assailant. The figure that stood before them was a tall, white female. She had very long, dark brown hair, tied in a ponytail, which stretched down her back, and down to her blue jeans. She wore a white, long sleeved baseball shirt that had blue sleeves, which reached a little past her elbows. She wore a backwards baseball cap similar to Bearmon's, with a long bang of hair that stuck out of the opening.

"He had it coming." Said the girl, shrugging. Her voice had a mature and serious tone to it. Chandler spotted Bearmon, who was hiding behind her legs.

"Heh, I'm sorry. I kind of have a weakness for cute things." Apologized Chandler.

"But, I've never met a girl who could throw a punch so strong." He complimented.

"Mmhmm!" hummed Bearmon, nodding in agreement, and stepping from behind Casey's legs.

"No one can beat Casey! She's the best!" said Bearmon admiringly, looking up at Casey.

"Hmm." Casey responded with a smirk.

Finally getting up from the ground, Chandler put out his hand for Casey to shake.

"Hi, I'm Chandler." Greeted Chandler with a large grin. Casey simply looked down at his hand, and turned away from him. Chandler stood there, jaws wide open, as Casey left him to sit on the stone.

"So, what brings you here?" Casey asked Meilin, with a friendlier voice tone.

"Well, we were heading past the canyon, to the next village for supplies, when we found Chandler. You know, the new Digidestined recruit I told you about?"

Casey shot a glance at Chandler, who was staring off into space. Chandler noticed Casey, and gave a small wave of his hand.

"So he's a Digidestined, just like you and Casey?" asked Bearmon.

"Humph, that's hard to believe. Why did you bring him here?" Retorted Casey.

"I think he is. He has a D-Stryke just like you guys." Flowamon added in, blushing.

"Oh yeah." said Chandler, digging through his pockets, and finally pulling out a familiar device, and showing it to the group.

"He also defeated a possessed Golemon." Flowamon continued the conversation.

"Oh please, It probably went easy on him." Said Casey, continuing her insulting.

"Hey, it was rather difficult." Broke in Chandler, trying to defend himself.

"Okay, so you have a D-Stryke. Where's your partner?" asked Casey, returning to her less friendly voice tone.

"Partner? I...don't have one." Said Chandler, looking at the ground.

"Then it's obvious. You're not a Digidestined." Explained Casey.

"I am too!" Chandler shot back, with an arising anger in his voice. He didn't know why Casey was being so mean to him.

"But…" Flowamon interrupted, and having the whole group pay attention to her. Flowamon blushed timidly.

"But… if he's not a Digidestined, then why would he be chosen? Why would he have a D-Stryke?" Flowamon continued, but instantly quieted down.

"It was a mistake. He's nothing more than an inexperienced kid, who doesn't know what he's doing, or about the danger we're facing." Said Casey, cold-heartedly.

"That's not true!" Chandler shot back again, more angry this time. With a grunt, he turned away from the group, running deeper into the forest.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Bearmon yelled after Chandler, until Chandler disappeared into the field of bushes and trees.

"Casey!" Meilin snapped at Casey. "That was uncalled for! I'm going after him." Said Meilin, picking up her laptop bag.

"Wait, let him go. He'll be back." said Casey, with confidence in her words, stopping Meilin from leaving.

"I hope you're right." said Meilin, worried.

Once again, the pair of clustered eyes observed the argument, and in a flash, disappeared amongst the trees.

/I deserve to be here just as much as her!/ thought an upset Chandler, blowing off steam, while running through the woods. Chandler finally stopped running, to catch his breath. He spotted a tree stump, and sat down, panting. He pulled himself together, took out his red and black D-Stryke.

/What does she know? She had no right insulting me like that./ thought Chandler, debating with himself.

/But still…I have to be here for a reason./ thought Chandler, getting up from the stump, putting his D-Stryke back in his pocket. Suddenly, Chandler heard a rustling in the trees.

"Who's there!" yelled Chandler, looking up into the trees. He spotted nothing but branches and leaves.

Getting scared, he backed up against the nearest tree trunk. He began to hear a raspy, heavy breathing from above. He looked up, to see a monster standing above him. It was a large, monstrous spider, with black bristly skin. It's face was yellow, with cluster of nine green eyes, and two large horns protruding out of both sides of it's head. It's large, sharp and slimy fangs drooled saliva on Chandler's shoulder.

"B-B-Bug…" stuttered Chandler, frozen with fear. The large spider cackled, and snatched up Chandler in a flash, who finally let out a scream. Overwhelmed with fear, Chandler passed out. Instantly, the two disappeared amidst the trees.

"AAAAH!" a girly shriek echoed throughout the forest.

"Chandler!" said Flowamon instantly. The rest of the group suddenly became alert.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him go!" said Meilin, picking up her bag, and running off into the forest, with Flowamon floating behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" yelled Bearmon, running after the two.

"He screams like a girl? Well, isn't he a prize." Casey said sarcastically, shaking her head and smirking. She then started running behind the others, into the forest.

Coming back into consciousness, Chandler looked around his surroundings, to notice everything upside-down. He tried yelling for help, but his voice was muffled. He looked up at his body, to see it wholly tied up with spider webs, hanging him upside-down, from his feet, up to his mouth. He was stuck on a giant spider web, supported by two long trees. He struggled to move, but it was no use. Suddenly, a large figured stood in front of him. It was the large spider monster who kidnapped him. It's face was right in front of his, and it began to speak.

"Hello dear, well aren't you looking delicious today!" it said, snarling with a raspy, female voice. It's horrible breath made Chandler's eyes water, and made him gag on the stench. He started thrashing his body around, trying to get loose, but instead his red and black D-Stryke slipped out of his pocket, and out of the spider webs, falling ground. His D-Stryke lit up, and projected the familiar information screen, which showed a picture of the spider monster and read:

Dokugumon
Champion Level
Attribute: Virus
Attacks: Poison Thread, Poison Cobweb

"It's no use, my dear. You're trapped!" she spoke again. She then looked at the ground and noticed Chandler's D-Stryke. Chandler let out another muffled yell.

"Oh, you won't be needing this." said Dokugumon, kicking Chandler's D-Stryke away from him, with one of it's eight legs.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready for dinner. We're having human!" Dokugumon cackled, leaping into the trees.

Taking a sigh of relief at Dokugumon's exit, Chandler started thinking.

/I'm going to get eaten! Look what I've got myself into now! I wish Meilin and the other were here right now./

Suddenly, Chandler had a flashback of when he got angry at Casey, and ran into the forest.

/I acted like a complete brat! Maybe she was right, I am just an inexperienced kid with no knowledge of what's going on, But.../ thought Chandler, and had another flashback. He noticed how Casey was acting so calm and smug during their argument.

/Wait a second! She was testing me! She was seeing how I would react!/ realizing this, he looked down, well, up, in shame and embarrassment.

Running through the forest, Meilin, Flowamon, Bearmon and Casey stopped to catch their breath. Meilin pulled out her D-Stryke, and the map projected from the screen. There were two yellow dots, and two blue dots clustered together. A single red dot stood still, but was quite a distance away from them.

"He's nearby, but he's not moving." Meilin announced to the group.

"Not moving? Could he be…" said Flowamon, with a tone of concern rising in her voice.

"No way. We've got to keep moving!" said Bearmon, reassuring Flowamon. Flowamon and Meilin both nodded, and the two started running, while Flowamon floated.

"Why are you so hung up over him?" asked Casey, who stood still, with her arms folded, stopping the three from going. Meilin and the others turned around.

"Why? You know why. Because we need him. We need all the help we can get to defeat Pharaohmon." she responded with a serious tone.

"But now, he needs our help." said Flowamon, blushing.

"Come on Casey, you have to help. You're the best, remember?" said Bearmon, trying to persuade Casey. Casey sighed in response.

"Fine. If he's that important to you." said Casey. Meilin, Flowamon and Bearmon all gave a smiling nod, and they continued running.

Branches and leaves brushed past the group as they ran deeper into the forest. Finally, they saw an opening in the trees, and entered into another clearing. The clearing was completely empty, until they spotted Chandler, stuck on a gigantic spider web, wrapped up in white webs.

"There he is!" pointed out Bearmon. The group ran up to the tied up Chandler, who was yelling with a muffled voice, nodding his head in their direction.

"What?" asked Bearmon, puzzled.

"Get away from my meal!" a voice snarled from above. It was Dokugumon, who jumped down from the trees behind them. The group turned around to face the beast.

"It's a Dokugumon!" Flowamon identified the large spider Digimon.

"Ooh, more humans and Digimon! I'm going to have feast tonight!" said Dokugumon, cackling again.

"Hmph, so you want a fight?" said Casey, pulling a D-Stryke out of her pocket. Casey's D-Stryke resembled both Chandler's and Meilin's, but hers had a blue cover, with a dark silver gripped handle. She nodded at Meilin, who nodded in return, pulling out her D-Stryke.

"D-Stryke! Activate!" yelled the two girls in unison. With those words, Casey's D-Stryke shined blue, and Meilin's D-Stryke shined yellow. Casey's D-Stryke split into two, and formed two magnums (guns) made entirely out of blue light.

A curved yellow rod made entirely out of yellow light, shot out of both ends of Meilin's D-Stryke, connected by a shining yellow string, creating an archery bow.

"Flowamon! help Chandler!" Meilin yelled to Flowamon.

"You too, Bearmon!" commanded Casey. Both the two Digimon nodded in response and turned to the tied up Chandler.

"Poison Thread!" yelled Dokugumon, spraying purple, poisonous thread from it's mouth at the two girls. Nearly hitting them, they both jumped out of the way. A poisonous thread hit Meilin's white sneaker, causing a little piece of it to bubble. Meilin observed her nearly melted shoe, and yelled to Casey.

"Casey! Watch out for Dokugumon's thread! It can melt solid objects!" she informed. Casey nodded, and pointed her guns at Dokugumon. She pulled the triggers, and shot two shining blue bullets at Dokugumon. Dokugumon was shot in her face, and stumbled a few steps back. Dokugumon then lunged at Casey, knocking her down with one of her eight legs.

"Oh, you're really asking for it now, lady." said Casey, slowing getting up. Dokugumon was already advancing on Casey. Meilin ran to the side of Dokugumon, and pulled back the yellow string of her bow, causing a shining yellow arrow to materialize between the string and her fingers. She released the string, and shot an arrow directly into Dokugumon's hind, right leg, injuring her, causing her to stumble back in pain.

"Petal Blade!" yelled Flowamon, as she plucked a white petal from her head and threw it at Chandler. The petal shaply and instantly cut through the spider webs around Chandler, like a hot knife, and returned to Flowamon. Chandler was freed, and fell to the floor. Flowamon then used the same petal to cut through the webs binding Chandler. Bearmon then helped him up.

"You guys came for me. Thanks." said a joyous Chandler, getting up on his feet.

"Well, what did you expect? You're our friend now!" said Bearmon, happily.

"I think this belongs to you." said Flowamon, holding out Chandler's D-Stryke, blushing.

"Thanks!" said Chandler, as the three rushed to the battlefield.

"Little Bear Justice Fist!" yelled Bearmon, as he swung his right arm, with closed eyes, charging towards Dokugumon. His fist glowed a light blue as he swung it around. Suddenly, Bearmon tripped on a rock, and fell face first into ground. Wincing, Bearmon tried to hold back tears. Casey gave a sigh of embarrassment.

"My turn! D-Stryke! Activate!" yelled Chandler, as two red blades of light shot out of his D-Stryke, forming a lance. He then leaped at Dokugumon and striked her in her other leg with his lance, causing her to fall. He then raised his lance to strike again.

"Wait! Don't destroy her!" yelled Meilin, stopping his attack.

"Why not?" asked Chandler.

"Look at her eyes! They're not glowing white!" she continued.

"So?" replied Chandler.

"So, she's not possessed, there's no reason to finish her off." explained Meilin.

"You'd be killing an innocent Digimon." said Flowamon.

"Innocent? She tried to eat Chandler!" complained Bearmon, getting up from the ground.

"She's right. Destroying her would be pointless to our cause." said Casey, ending the conversation.

"I'm out of here!" yelled a defeated Dokugumon, getting up and leaping into the trees, scurrying away.

"I did it! Again!" yelled Chandler victoriously. He sat down on the ground in exhaustion. He sighed in relief, and looked up to see a blue magnum pointed at his head. Paralyzed with fear, Chandler only sat there, staring at Casey, who was standing, holding him at gunpoint.

"Look kid, you may have won today, but don't get too cocky. There are bigger and badder Digimon roaming around." said a serious Casey. Meilin, Flowamon, and Bearmon stood there, watching the confrontation. Chandler smiled, and put his hand in front of Casey's gun.

"I know. I'm sorry." apologized Chandler. Casey, surprised by his action, shook her head and smirked.

"You still have a lot to learn." commented Casey, grabbing Chandler's hand and pulling him up to his feet.

"The name's Casey." Casey continued, shaking Chandler's hand. Chandler gave a large smile.

"Hey Look!" said Bearmon, pointing to an opening behind a group of trees.

"It's the entrance to the village!" Flowamon rejoiced.

"Well let's get going!" yelled Meilin, running towards the exit with Flowamon and Bearmon. Casey started running, but turned around to Chandler.

"What are you waiting for? Come on." she beckoned, with another smug expression on her face. Chandler nodded, and followed Casey out of the greenery that was the forest.

Next: Chandler! Find Your Partner!