Chapter Five

The Mysterious Town!

"You have to be joking!" Gomamon insisted. "You're just one rookie!"

"Perhaps." The Floramon replied snidely. 'But I have been trained to perfection by my mentor!" Floramon suddenly lapped foreword and sent Terriermon flying into a nearby a tree with a powerful kick.

"Fast huh?" Terriermon picked himself up fixed the flower digimon with a glare. "Well dodge this! Bunny Blast!" A small stream of fireballs exited the rookies' mouth and headed towards Floramon. The flower simply jumped out of the way and raced towards the dog digimon and hit him with an upper cut right on the chin, hard.

"Marching Fishes!" Floramon want skidding as a wall of fish slammed into his back.

"Clever seal, but not clever enough!" Floramon jump to his feet and ran at Gomamon slamming into the Digimon. "Using your finishing attacks so soon? Sloppy I'd expect you to at lest use you secondaries first, after all raw power alone doesn't win battles."

"Sticky Net!" The tiny net caught Floramon on his right arm and pinned him to a tree.

"Well at lest that attack has a use outside of inflicting damage. So you're getting better."

"Thank you." Wormmon replied as he slithered into view, followed by some very angry looking Terriermon and Gomamon.

"Sloppy huh?" Gomamon asked. "Sloppy this! Claw Attack!"

As the attack made contact with the undefended digimon Floramon's mouth twisted into a grin. "Thank you. Sweet scent!" Using his recently freed right hand the flower sent a point blank shot of paralyzing powder at the trio of Digimon.

"Digi-Modify! Hyper speed activate!"

"What!" Floramon staggered for a second as at the last second Terriermon gained a huge boost in speed and cleared his attack, Gomamon and Wormmon were not so lucky. "Well I'll take what I can get. Stamen Rope!" The stamens from each of Floramon's hands lashed out and warped around Gomamon and Wormmon's throats, and begin to tighten. "This is how you use a finishing move. Now die!"

"Bunny Blast!" The fireballs hit Floramon square on his stamens forcing him to pull them back. "Forget about me!" Terriermon shouted.

"No puppy I did not, I'd just figured you 'd have the curtsy to let me complete my mission." With that Floramon started running towards Terriermon with a fist pulled back, ready to punch.

"Not this time! Digivolution Activate!" Henry shouted as he, Ken, and Joe ran towards the battle. Joe and Ken were both were looking at Henry strangely.

Terriermon was engulfed in a bright light and emerged a second latter. Only now was man sized and buffer with a pair of jeans and instead of hands he had two large machine guns. "Gargomon!" Gargomon effortlessly moved one of his arms to block the oncoming Digimon's punch.

Floramon jumped back looked at the new from before him. "Digivolution? My aren't we lucky! I suppose this does even the odds somewhat, so let me," Floramon kicked off the ground and starts a flying kick towards Gargomon. "be the first wish you a happy birthday!" The kick makes contact but doesn't send Gargomon flying as before, instead it only pushed him back a few feet.

"Don't know what you mean, don't care!" Gargomon ran towards the smaller Digimon, his right "hand" glowing. "Bunny Pummel!" The powered up punch hit Floramon dead on and sent him flying a few feet into the air

Slowly Floramon picked himself up, the place he'd been hit was smoldering. "Much better!" His eyes narrow. "But as I said power alone will not win this fight!" Once again the flower launched himself at his opponent a fist ready to strike. Once again Gargomon blocked. "So predictable." Floramon muttered and used his free hand to hit him square in the chest.

"Uff!" Gargomon skidded back a few feet, his right hand on the spot he was hit, trying to get his breath back. "Cheap, shot." He huffed.

Floramon smirked. "All's fair in love and war. Sweet scent!"

"Digi-Modify! Brave Shield Activate!" A large golden hexagonal shield with the crest of courage adorned on it appeared in front of Gargomon, blocking Floramon's attack.

"How!" Floramon gasp. "What, that noise…" Floramon twirled his head in the direction of Henry and the others. "A human! Well, well, well this should make it instructing! Let us see how well he trained you! His training skills against my mentor's!" Floramon slid towards Gargomon and with a swap kicked his legs out from under him, sending the dog falling to the ground. Floramon quickly jumped upright still smirking.

"Nimble little minx isn't he?" Gargomon mumbled.

Floramon stretched both his arms in the air. "Rain of Pollen!" Blasts of pollen filled the air and then slowly begin to descend. As it hits the raising Gargomon he immediately slumps back down.

"What? Gargomon get up!" Henry called to partner.

"Why bother." Moaned the prone Digimon. "He'll win in the end anyway."

"It's the pollen!" Ken suddenly shouted. "It saps a digimon's will to fight!"

"Have anything in your bag tricks for that one?" Joe asked worriedly.

"Maybe…" Henry considered "I've got it! Digi-modify! Even Steven Activate!" Henry shouted as he swiped a card through his D-power. A bright light started to emanate from Gargomon, and quickly exploded outward covering the whole battlefield.

"Now that's more like it!" Gargomon shouted as he got to his feet.

"You're telling me!" Gomamon added truing to face Floramon. "Joe!"

"Right!" Joe held up his digievice.

"Gomamon digivolve to…" Gomamon was encompassed by a bright light and begin to grow. His fur became thick and shaggy, and a single large horn appeared on his head. "Ikkakumon!"

"Let's join in Wormmon." Ken called to his partner.

"Right Ken Wormmon digivolve to…" As the Digimon was once again covered in a simmering light the tiny worm morphed into a slim, tell humanoid with its insect like face almost seeming out of place. "Stingmon!"

"Drat!" Floramon hissed under his breath. "It matters not! I have my mission, and I will complete it!" Floramon began a head first charge towards Ikkakumon.

Floramon swiped at Ikkakumon landing a small punch, but Ikkakumon butted him away. "Curse you, die!" Floramon leaped into a nearby tree and pushed off it head butting Stingmon. Stingmon shook his head, disoriented from the hit only to have Floramon use him as a pole to push off of heading towards Ikkakumon. The force of Floramon kicking off of him sent Stingmon crashing into a tree. "Stamen Rope!"

A single stamen shot out of Floramon and warped tightly around Ikkakumon's neck. As his air was cut off Ikkakumon begins to franticly claw at the plant's rope. "Ukk!…"

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon dived in and in one deadly move cut off Floramon's stamen. Ikkakumon gave a heavy sigh and slummed to the ground receding back into Gomamon.

"ARRG!" Floramon screamed as data leaked from the inside of his right hand, were his stamen had been. "RRR… Stamen Rope!" once again a single stamen lashed out from the Rookie, this time from his left hand and this time at Stingmon.

"Gargo Laser!" thousands of tiny green pellets swarmed out of Gargomon gun hand and bombarded the Rookies' left hand, and it and the stamen exploded into data under the barrage in seconds.

"YAAAAARG!" Floramon yells echoed across the forest as he clutched his left arm as data poured out of it. Stingmon fell foreword and de-digivolved to wormmon, while Gargomon advanced confidently towards the battered Rookie before him. "You'll pay for this!" Floramon suddenly leaped up and smacked Gargomon with his still "bleeding" left arm, and kicked him in the chest. Gargomon caught by surprise want flying backwards and slammed into the ground turning back into Terriermon as he did. Floramon fell to his knees, huffing, his strength all but gone. "If…I, must…Die, than, I take…one of…you, with…me!" Using his right hand Floramon garbs wormmon's head and begins to squeeze.

"Iron Drill Activate!"

A large drill appears on Terriermon's horn and begins to rotate at high speeds. Still rotating it blasts off from Terriermon's head and slams into Floramon's back, piercing the digimon all the way through. But even with the gaping hole in its abdomen spewing data the flower continued to apply pressure to the straggling worm in its grasp.

"Darn it! Maybe this will work, Metal Attack Activate!"

Terriermon's hand turns into metal and the small vaccine Digimon charges froward well throwing all his force into a mighty punch to the flower's head. A second pass and slowly Floramon's hand falls to his side releasing Wormmon. Cracks from in his head, and data trickles out of them. "I congratulate you puppy." He wheezes. "You have won, but as I said power did not win this battle." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "But neither was it skill as I had though it would be. No, numbers won this fight." The flower gives a last sigh and collapse forward before exploding into data and dispersing.

"Its, its over." Joe breathed from beside Gomamon.

"But all that trouble over a single Rookie…" Ken moaned cradling wormmon

"This really is a New World…" Henry added walking over to the exhausted Terriermon.

A screen full of ones and zeros appears before Demi Devimon. "What isthis master?"

"The Floramon's data. He was a powerful Digimon for a Rookie nearing completion of his training, I may have use of him, or his data."

"How are you feeling Terriermon?" Henry asked the small Digimon slumped around his neck.

"Moumantai…" The dog digimon managed to moan before his head flopped back down.

"So why didn't think of that light show trick earlier? Like when we were first paralyzed!" Gomamon quips from Joe's arms.

"Yeah, how did you do those things?" Ken asks.

"It's my D-Power." Henry held up his D-Power. "It allows a Digimon's partner t slash cards from the card game to help them."

"Card game?" Both Ken and Joe looked at Henry with interest.

"Yeah, outside of the TV show there is also video games and the card game.

"Really! Do you have a card of me?" Gomamon jumped in.

"Sure." Henry started to shuffle through his deck. "Ah here it is." He held it towards Gomamon.

"I'm mad! Don't rub me the wrong way?" Gomamon looks directly at Henry. "What in the Digi-world is that suppose to mean!"

Henry just shrugged. "I've never been quite able to figure it out myself. It's defiantly one of the worst descriptions I've read."

"Figures, anyway, so 360 attack? How's that, super strong for a rookie right?"

"Actually its about average."

"It's a conspiracy to down play me!" The digimon throws up his flippers. "They want people to think I'm just another Digimon!"

"And that'd be misleading how?" Joe chuckles.

"Very funny Joe."

"I know."

"So what happens if you use another digimon card on your Digimon?" Ken asked moving beside Henry.

"It lets your digimon use the card digimon's attacks."

"Hold up." Joe interrupted. "Does that mean if you swipe a War Greymon card Terriermon would have the power of a Mega?"

"No! There would only be small power boost, it's mostly useful if you want a certain kind of attack." Looking at the blank faces in front of him Henry continued. "Well say you want to cut something Snimon's Twin sickles are real handy."

"Ahh." Ken nodded his head. "Well I think were there." He said pointing towards a wooden wall up ahead.

The group slowly approached an open gate in the wall and peeked in. as Hawkmon had said it has pretty much champion level digimon. "So what do we do?" Joe asked, "If these guys are hostile we'd be in a lot of trouble. Given how much trouble that rookie gave us."

"We could send in one a Digimon, maybe without a human they'd think he was just another Digimon." Henry suggested. "Terriermon still isn't up to it though." He caste a glance at his sleeping partner. "We need someone one who can come across as just another Digimon…" Slowly all eyes fell on Gomamon.

"What!"

"Just another digimon! I can't believe this…" Gomamon muttered to himself as he walked through the town, so far no one was taking any notice of him. Still fuming he entered a small shop, at the counter was a Tuskmon, its eyes staring off into the distance. "Hey shop keep!" The Tuskmon did nothing. "Of all the nerve!" Gomamon jumps up onto the counter and waves his flippers in front of the unmoving dinosaur. "Hey buddy! Customer over here!"

The beast's huge head slowly turns to face Gomamon, its eyes still not focusing on him. "Where're are your parents child?" the digimon then resumed looking straight ahead.

"Child! Way I never!" Gomamon hoped off the counter and heads towards the door. "If you're just going to patronize me than I'm taking my business elsewhere!" The Tuskmon did nothing. "Weirdo."

"So what did you find?" Joe asked Gomamon when he returned a few hours latter.

"A whole lot of nothing!" The rookie cried exasperated. "Everyone in that place were like zombies, and on top of that they all treated me like I was a little kid!"

"So they weren't hostile?" Henry asked cutting to the point.

"I'd hardly call them alive, much less hostile."

"I think I want to see this." Ken suddenly said and took off of the gate.

When the others caught up with Ken and Wormmon he was just standing inside the town, looking at the town's inhabits. "Its just I feared." He breathed quietly.

"What is it?" Henry asked moving forward to see what Ken was seeing.

"I've seen that look before, they're being controlled."

"Hey now that you mention it they do remind me of Digimon under the influence of Black Gears, or Dark Rings…ops." Gomamon quickly covered his mouth. "Sorry."

"No, its okay, the description you gave me it, it, brought back some memories I whish I didn't have." Ken shuffled his feet and looked at the ground.

"It's okay Ken." Joe told the younger Digi-destined reassuringly. "But I do wonder why these guys are acting like this when that Floramon was fine."

"If not somewhat on the aggressive side!" Gomamon adds

"Yes." Joe rolls his eyes.

"Maybe he was one of the head goons, like Ogremon and Devimon." Gomamon points out after a moment of silence.

"Hopefully." Joe says

"Why?"

"Well if their using Rookies to fight us, no matter how powerful the Rookie may be than the guys in charge of this might also be of a low level, maybe even Champions."

"And if that's the case then no matter how powerful the Champions are with Ultimates and Megas we could overwhelm them!" Ken realizes perking up.

"Well we have three Megas…" Joe considers, "How many does your team have Henry?"

"Um, six."

"Six!" Both Joe and Ken stare moths hanging slightly open.

"Yeah, Kenta has a Marine Angemon, Impmon can become Beelzemon, and Takato, Rika, Ryo, and I can Bio-merge with…" Henry stopped, both Ken, and Joe's head had snapped up at the mention of Ryo.

"Did you say Ryo?" Ken asked before Henry could continue.

"Yes…"

"As in Ryo Akiyama?"

"Yes, but how do you…"

Before Henry could finish his question Joe cut him off. "Were going back to the others now." With that the to Digi-Destined turned and left a very confused Tamer wondering what had just happened as he took off after them.