Hey everybody! I'm back in action and more importantly, so is Twilight Chronicles. I know it's been a week or two since the last update, but the problem has been fixed and its time to get on with the show. Prepare yourself for Chapter Five and post your review afterwards. I haven't seen any reviews for Chapter Four, so start posting! Thanks.
Digimon: Twilight Chronicles
Chapter Five (The Sands of Time)
"I put enough supplies in there to last you six for two months." explained Okonomon as she helped Kai strap on his travel pack. It looked like the packs would cause the tamers to collapse the moment they tried to walk. However, despite their appearances, the packs were fairly light. It's true that Okonomon had packed enough supplies, including food, tents, and clothes, to last the whole of two months, but the tamers were exceptionally strong. Ariana picked hers up with ease as did the two boys. "If I don't say goodbye now then I'll get all emotional later, so give me some hugs before I go."
"Yes ma'am." replied Ariana, giving the female digimon caretaker a hug. The past days while the tamers were in town, Okonomon had gotten somewhat attached to them. So much, that now she was crying as she embraced each of them. "I hope to see you sometime again." Ariana told the Okonomon as they released from their embrace. The digimon then proceeded to hug Jamie and Kai. The digimon counterparts were the last ones to be embraced.
Cowboymon tipped his hat at the tamers and shook their hands firmly. "Ya'll'll be passing through the Western Dunes so you'll have to be careful. Not a lot of digimon care to trek in them parts 'cause o' them frequent sandstorms. If you manage to get through there, then ya'll be on your own. Just do your best not to stop in 'em." The tamers turned to leave and Cowboymon waved them off with a quote that reminded Jamie all too much of the Beverly Hillbillies. "Ya'll come back now, you hear?"
The whole town had come to see the digidestined off. They all cheered and waved until fifteen or twenty minutes later when the travelers disappeared beyond the horizon.
Half a day into their journey through the dunes, the group was exhausted. Though his throat was completely parched from the scorching heat, Kai still managed to squeak something. "I think we oughta rest." he suggested.
"Didn't you hear Cowboymon?" Jamie scolded him. "He said not to stop in the dunes. I think that it would be best for all of us if we just kept moving on." He turned to the others. "What do you think, Ariana?" The girl informed him that she wasn't getting in on it, and they would have to come to a decision by themselves. After arguing for a while, they agreed to take a fifteen minute break. Originally, it was twenty-five, but Jamie wanted five. Kai dropped it down to twenty and Jamie raised his to ten. Finally, the two agreed to settle on fifteen minutes of rest.
Ariana plopped her bag down onto the ground and sat next to it. Tierramon curled up on her lap, and yawned about the heat. Then she closed her eyes. Jamie witnessed this and spoke up. "You know, I heard that you aren't supposed to sleep when it is this hot outside. Something about it being the onset of a heat stroke."
Kai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I heard that one, too."
Ariana acknowledged their advice and shook Tierramon. "Tierramon, you can't go to sleep right here. You could easily have a heat stroke." Tierramon stretched and rose to her feet. She flicked her tail and leaped to the steaming hot sand. "I'm sorry, Tierramon, but I don't want you to get hurt or anything like that."
Tierramon smiled. "I understand. And I'd much rather get hurt in battle than is some desert sleeping. I apologize." She rubbed up against Ariana and purred. Ariana placed her hand on her digimon partner and scratched behind the cat's ear.
"You didn't do anything, so don't apologize to me."
Fifteen minutes later, the tamers and their digimon rose and were continuing through the Western Dunes. It seemed to grow hotter as they continued through the desert and more than once, they stopped to get a drink of water from the supplies that Okonomon had packed. A few hours into their journey, the first canteen was empty. It had managed to keep the six travelers hydrated, but could no longer serve its purpose.
After another hour or so, a raging sandstorm had kicked up. The tamers were caught unaware and began to worry. "Guys, I just want you to know that if we die out here, I leave all my cards to Jamie." Kai said as he tried to lighten the tense mood that had set in. "And I want to know that all my TV dinners go to Panthurmon. I know that none of this will hold up in a court of law because it's not in a written will, but I hope that you know it's the thought that counts." The rest of the group let out half-hearted chuckles. Apparently, they were trying to keep each other's spirits up as well.
"Same here." Jamie answered. "Except my TV dinners go to Swiftarimon."
"Well, I don't have to worry about my TV dinners." responded Ariana.
"Yeah," Jamie joked, "Swiftarimon already ate them all."
"Did not!" Swiftarimon argued.
The tamers chuckled. Jamie looked down at the cheetah-like digimon in his arms. "Relax, Swiftari. It's a joke. It's what we humans say in order to lighten the mood. To make people laugh and feel happy. Do you understand?" Swiftarimon looked up at him blankly and blinked.
"I'm not an idiot. I know what a joke is. I was joking." The cat responded.
"That's what they all say." replied Kai Tenrio.
"Honestly." said Swiftarimon, defending himself. They all chuckled again.
Six hours into their trip through the desert, they were exhausted. "You know, I think they lied to us when they said that the desert was a shortcut. I have a mind to turn around right now and go back to give them a piece of my mind." Ariana had become exhausted from the trip and had resorted to being paranoid of every bump and crash that occurred the travelers. "What do you guys think about that?"
"I think it'll be a long trip back." grumbled Kai.
"Same here." said his counterpart.
Kai looked over at Jamie. "What are you doing, J?"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me, J?"
"Let's see... You've told me thirteen times since we left the real world and five times since we left Dune City. Let me think this through. Tell me seven more times and then I'll stop. Deal?"
"Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' There, seven times, as we agreed. Now don't call me 'J' ever again. I hate being called that."
"Are you going to answer me?"
"What'd you ask?"
"Why are you putting the goggles on?"
"Because my best friend in the entire world gave them to me and I absolutely looovveee them! Is that a satisfying answer for his highness?" Jamie snapped at the blond-haired Tenrio.
Panthurmon and Swiftarimon were the first ones to speak up. "Hey, guys! Chill out. There's no reason to yell at each other." Swiftarimon said. "It's just because of the heat out here that we're yelling at each other." Panthurmon told the two male tamers. After some inaudible words, the two boys stopped bickering and continued through the desert. Swiftarimon whispered to Panthurmon and Tierramon. "I think the heat is getting to them. We need to figure something out very fast or they might get hurt...or worse."
Unexpectedly, the ground began to shake and the sandstorm grew worse. "Guys, stick with me! I can see through all of this." Before the bickering between the two boys, Jamie had strapped on his trusty goggles. He had thought they were kind of lame at first, but now that he was presented with a situation where he could use them, he believed that they were actually pretty handy. Rather than getting sand in his eyes, his vision was pretty extraordinary considering the given situation. A few more minutes passed before Jamie spoke again. "Hold on a little longer guys. I think I see something up ahead!"
"What is it?" Ariana squinted her eyes in an attempt to see what was ahead.
Kai threw his hands over her eyes. "Don't open your eyes! Sand will get in them and mess them up. Just trust Jamie. He hasn't let us down at all in the past week." Ariana replaced Kai's hand with her own. With their free hands, the tamers followed their newfound leader. After an additional fifteen minutes, which was added to the day they had already spent walking, they reached the edge of the desert area. The sandstorm subsided almost immediately. The tamers removed their eyewear and surveyed the land. The orange sun drifted below the horizon behind them. "Is it almost nighttime already?"
Ariana gazed at the twilight for a moment. "Does it look like this every night?"
She turned to the leader at her right. He simply grinned and, without an answer, turned back to survey the large structure in front of them. It was huge. No. That was the understatement of the year. It was larger than gargantuan. It appeared similar to the enormous Aztec temples built in a country that Jamie had only read about in geography books. Unfortunately, Jamie couldn't remember the name of that country. (He had made a "C" in his last semester of geography.) Ariana turned around and saw the pyramid-like temple towering over their small party. The final word that was heard from her mouth was something that she repeated over and over for five minutes. It was simply, "Wow!"
"You betcha!" stated Panthurmon. "Welcome to the long-lost Desert Temple!"
"Long-lost? Does that mean...?" Kai dropped his eyes down to his partner.
"Yep." the panther interrupted. "We've just found a myth."
Ariana was the first to notice. "Umm...guys? Is it me or did a sandstorm that's been raging for the past eight hours instantly stop the moment we got here? I mean it could just be some sort of coincidence, but this is the digital world and..."
Kai finished her sentence. "There's no such thing in the digital world."
Jamie bent down to Swiftarimon's level. "Check it out, buddy."
"Got it." replied the cat, zipping away towards the temple.
"Go with him, Panthurmon."
"Yes sir!" Panthurmon jogged after the cheetah.
Tierramon started after the other two cats, but Jamie stopped her. "Let them go. We need someone to stay here in case something happens. Do you have a problem with that?" Jamie looked down at the pink and white cat. The female cat nodded and Jamie dropped his arm. All four of them fell silent. They watched until the cheetah and panther digimon fell from their vision. "Okay, let's go."
"Go?" Kai asked. "Go where."
"To the temple. Where else?"
"So what was the point in sending our digimon?"
"I saw it on TV one time. It's called a 'scouting party'."
"Oh yeah. I think I saw that one."
"Can we stop talking about war tactics and figure out where we are?"
A guttural voice spoke from behind them. "Welcome to hell."
The tamers turned and saw an eight-foot tall beast with four legs standing before them. It appeared to be made of sand and was in the shape of a wolf. It had red eyes that peered out of the dark holes that were situated where eyes would be. Tierramon stood at the ready. "Who are you?" questioned Jamie.
"I am Desertmon." Kai's D-Ring agreed with the digimon.
Desertmon – A Champion digimon capable of blending in with its desert habitat. It's Barren Claw and Desert Crunch attacks will easily leave you with dry mouth.
Tierramon growled at the digimon. "How cute. Such passion for one so weak. I will tell you once. Leave my domain and never return. If you follow my wishes, I may let you live. If not, then I can delete you right now."
Tierramon continued to growl. "Stay away from us."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll delete you myself." the pink cat replied.
Desertmon melted and became one with the sand. The group of four looked around. Then it rose up behind Tierramon. "Tierramon, behind you!" her tamer cried. Too late. The sandy claw came down and impacted with the cat. She flew backwards and slammed into the ground. Luckily, the soft sand broke her fall. She flipped to her feet and charged Desertmon. "Tierramon, Tierra Cannon!" The pink cat opened her mouth and shot off a pink beam at the overgrown sand beast. It impacted and the beast melted back into the ground. "Tierramon. Be on your guard! Use Tierra Shield."
The female digimon summoned a digital "bubble" in order to protect herself from the imminent attack. It was a good thing she did. Desertmon emerged from the sand and used his Desert Crunch to attack Tierramon with a powerful bite created from collapsing teeth of sand. The full force of the attack was enough to bust Tierramon's shield. She dodged the collapsing sand in time to retaliate with her Tierra Cannon. The pink beam cannon launched towards the desert beast and impacted once again. Regrettably, the beast vanished into the earth again.
"How are we supposed to beat this thing?" Kai spat.
"Like this." Ariana withdrew her D-Ring. "Please work." she whispered.
"What are you doing?" Kai asked.
"D-Ring activate! Enable digivolve!" Her D-Ring beeped twice and light pierced the air. The beam shot outwards towards Tierramon. It engulfed the pink cat and a moment later, a large regal cat stood in her place. Her tail had grown outward and appeared to be that of a Persian cat...a really big Persian. Her whiskers had grown, and her blue eyes pierced to the core of one's heart. Her fur was still a checkered mix of pink and white, and she still stood on all fours. A beautiful collar had appeared around her neck and her fur swayed majestically in the wind. Ariana glanced at her digimon in disbelief. "It...worked." she managed to gasp. She held her digivice up in order to analyze her Champion-level counterpart.
Tianamon – Tierramon's Champion-form. Don't take this pink cat lightly because she's no kitten. Her Hydroponics Kick and Bubble Rain attacks will leave even the most formidable foe with a dampened spirit.
"I didn't know it was possible to force digivolution." Jamie stated. "I thought the bond between tamer and digimon caused the change. How did it happen then?" Jamie's eyes made contact with his D-Ring. "It must be our D-Rings."
"You think?" Kai asked.
There must be more to these things than meets the eye. Jamie thought.
"Tianamon! Use Bubble Rain!" Ariana cried.
A few feet behind the female tamer, Kai leaned over to Jamie. "What good will that do?" he asked their googlebearing leader. "That's just a little bit of rain."
"A little bit of rain can become a lot of water. Take a day at the beach for example. When the tide comes in, it causes the sand you used to build your castle to become weak and your sand castle can no longer hold itself up. It collapses and you're forced to start all over again. She's planning to soak the area and expose Desertmon. If she can do that, Tianamon can use her Hydroponics Kick to soak the him. If it doesn't destroy him, it'll at least distract him long enough for us to escape." Jamie explained.
"Oh."
He was right. Tianamon let out her Bubble Rain attack as planned and the bubbles came crashing down into the earth around them. It caused the earth to become drenched and Desertmon was exposed. He returned to his wolf-like form and Tianamon immediately charged the beast. She leaped into the air and came crashing down with her Hydroponics Kick. Her damp kick impacted with the beast and the sand digimon was paralyzed. Ariana withdrew her D-Ring. "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" The beam shot out and like the times before, reverted the enemy to its digiegg form and sent it away to Primary Village. "Maybe they can fix its corrupt data." Ariana said as she clipped her D-Ring to her belt. Tianamon approached the group and Ariana petted her.
"Anyone need a ride to a long-lost pyramid in the middle of a barren wasteland?"
They climbed onto Tianamon's back and the large Persian cat lurched forward. The wind beat against their faces as they rode towards the large pyramid. Five minutes later, they stood at the foot of its steps. Tianamon de-digivolved into Tierramon and together, the four climbed the stairs. They met Panthurmon at the top. He was kneeling against one of the pyramid's walls, trying to catch his breath. "That cheetah is just way too fast for me." Kai's partner stated. Now that the group had caught up with him, Panthurmon de-digivolved into Emon, his in-training form. "That feels a lot better." the whiskered one sighed.
The tamers informed him of what happened after the two cats had left. "I knew I shouldn't have left!" Emon exclaimed. "I had the strange feeling that something would happen, but I didn't know what." He gazed over at Tierramon who had reverted back to her in-training form as well, in order to conserve her energy. "But I guess you had it all under control, huh, Caliemon?"
The small pink fluff smiled in agreement. "That'll teach them to mess with girls."
"Yeah. I guess so." Emon replied. "What do you think, Kai?"
"Sure. I'll go with that." Kai shrugged. "What about you, Jamie?"
Jamie had fallen behind the group. He was fiddling with his D-Ring.
"Jamie? Jamie?"
Jamie snapped to attention. "Huh?"
"You still messing with that thing, dude? You need to take a break."
"I'm just looking for Swiftarimon. It's been almost an hour and nothing."
"Check the D-Ring's map."
"I've already tried that. I can't seem to pick up his signature. I'm reading something else though. It seems like another D-Ring is around here. And if another D-Ring is here, then that means someone must own that D-Ring. Which means we have another tamer here in the digital world with us." He flipped back to the map screen. He gawked at the blip on the screen indicating the presence of a fourth D-Ring digivice. "I hope whoever owns the D-Ring is a nice guy. I can't imagine another battle without Swiftarimon." He reattached the D-Ring to his belt and together, the group of five entered a chamber that was void of all light.
"Dude, it's way dark in here." Jamie stated
"Thanks for the information, Captain Obvious." Kai avowed. He reached into his card holder and extracted a card. "Perfect. Card Slash!" He slashed the card through his D-Ring and the room instantly lit up. "And God said, 'Let there be light'."
"What card did you use?"
"Your Shining Light card."
"Figures. I trade one of my rarest cards for his blue card and he still gets a digimon." Jamie stated to no one in particular. "You get lucky an awful lot, don't you, Tenrio?"
"I have my days."
"Guys, let's focus. We're here to find Swiftarimon and in the process, investigate the temple. Whatever information we can gather about this place just might help us in the future." Ariana fell silent. In front of the tamers was a large gap in the walkway. It covered a decent length, and below that was a straight-vertical drop into a pit where the floor was not at all visible. "That must be at least a twenty-foot gap with a two-thousand foot drop." Ariana gaped.
"Swiftarimon must've jumped it." Jamie stated. He looked down. "Or he fell."
"Nah, I went the other way around, but that turned out to be a dead end." The group turned around to observe the familiar voice. It was, of course, Swiftarimon. At last, after about an hour and fifteen minutes, the entire group was reunited. The cheetah gave a huge grin and leaped into Jamie's arms. "Jamie!" Jamie caught him and held him close. "Were you guys okay? I sensed a digimon after I left, but I was too far away to do anything. Well, that. And I was lost." Swiftarimon's demeanor was that of trepidation.
"It's okay. We were attacked by a Desertmon, but Tierramon took care of him."
"Yep! I digivolved and took care of that overgrown sand wolf!"
"You digivolved?" Swiftarimon inquired. "Good for you!"
Ariana turned back to the task at hand. "So how do we get across?"
"I don't know." Kai shrugged.
"I know how to cross!" Swiftarimon said. "Follow me."
The small cheetah led them back the way they came, but this time, instead of exiting, he led them down a small pathway that the humans could barely squeeze through. It was kind of similar to a cavern pathway. "Swiftarimon," Jamie stated, "Are you sure this path was meant for people our size? I mean, couldn't you at least have found another way through. Something bigger, maybe?"
"Sorry, Jamie. This is the only way I saw to get through. I was afraid to go by myself though. I didn't know what awaited me on the other side." Swiftarimon and the digimon scuffled their way down the path as the tamers pressed their way through. "I'm sure that it isn't that long of a path. Besides, even if it is, at least it'll be an adventure. Right?" The cheetah-like digimon glanced back at the tamers. He appeared to be inquiring his human counterpart, Jamie.
"I guess that you're right, Swiftarimon."
"Well, in my opinion, I've had enough adventures to last me a lifetime." Kai said.
"Well as soon as you figure out how to get us back home then we'll end this adventure." Jamie told him.
"Hey, guys." Swiftarimon called. "We're here."
The tamers squeezed their way through the final leg of the temple pathway. They looked back at the mouth of the entryway which didn't even appear to be able to fit them. They had emerged on the other side of the pit, and were about ten feet away from another doorway. The door was adorned with gold, silver, and copper emblems. There was also gems encrusted into the face of the door and various symbols were painted onto it as well. The group approached it and tried to get it to budge. Jamie pressed his whole body against the door, but he was unable to get it to open. Kai did the same, but he was unable to open it as well. Ariana looked at them as the two boys pushed against the door without ceasing. "What about the Hack program?" she asked. She grabbed her digivice and flipped it to the Hack option. She aimed her D-Ring at the door and cried, "Program Hack engage!" The beam shot out of her D-Ring and impacted the wall, but to no avail. She disengaged the program and Kai decided to try.
"I'll show you how a man does it. Program Hack engage!" The beam shot out of his D-Ring, but once again nothing happened. Kai flipped off his D-Ring and strapped it to his waist once again. Jamie extracted his and did the same. A third beam shot out and impacted the door. However, like with the previous two tamers, nothing happened. "So much for your plan." Kai told Ariana. "Not even our fearless leader could open it."
"What if we all tried together." she suggested. "Like back at the temple."
"Good idea."
The three activated their D-Ring's and initiated the Hack program. They launched the beams and immediately, the three streaks of light intertwined and impacted the 'locked' door with such a force that the tamers were thrown backwards. They collapsed and the D-Rings dropped to the ground. The data that was the door instantaneously collapsed and the door 'opened.' In actuality, the door simply disappeared. The digimon raced over to their tamers and tried to awaken them. However, they tried with no such happening. The tamers had been knocked unconscious.
"Why do you think you can win, Jamie?"
"Because I have faith."
"Faith gets you nowhere here. It does not exist in the digital world."
"Then I will create it."
"Then you will fail."
"Jamie. Wake up. Wake up!" Swiftarimon nudged his tamer, and finally, Jamie Gotaki rose. He seemed groggy. He didn't know where he was. Next to them, Panthurmon and Tierramon managed to awaken their human counterparts. Kai woke up with a sarcastic remark as always and Ariana woke up without saying a word. She simply hugged her partner. "I'm glad you guys are okay." Swiftarimon sighed with relief.
"Where are we?" Jamie asked again.
"We're still in the temple. After you guys hacked the door, you collapsed."
"We've been trying for four hours to wake you up."
"Did we get the door open?" the three humans asked in unison as they rose.
"Yeah." Panthurmon responded.
"Then lets go." Kai pronounced as he dusted himself off.
"Hold on." Jamie commanded as he grabbed Kai by the arm. "Are you sure about this?"
"Uh...yeah. I mean, I guess. It's okay with you, right, leader?"
"If Ariana's in?" Jamie answered as he turned to Ariana.
"I'm not going to be outdone by a couple boys." she smiled.
"Then let's go." Kai repeated.
They walked through the hole in the wall and a single moment later, the door reappeared, trapping them inside the room. Kai turned around and stared at the door. "Great. It looks like we're trapped." He turned back towards the new pathway. "Guess we'll have to look for another way through." Kai looked at Jamie and Ariana. The two agreed with him. Going onwards would be the only choice for them now.
They pressed onward, deeper and deeper into the temple. They reached twists-and-turns, stairs that led upward, stairs that led downward, and more than one dead end every hour or two. They reached chambers with rare treasures that had never before been touched. Jamie and Kai attempted to change that more than once, but Ariana stopped them.
One time they reached a chamber with what appeared to be a coffin. Jamie had compared it to an old movie he had once seen. The movie had starred an archaeologist that discovered an old hidden pyramid buried deep within the Egyptian dunes. He and his crew had descended into the pyramid burial chamber where they discovered the coffin of a mummified pharaoh. When they opened the coffin to see what was inside, they awoke the 10,000 year old mummy that was slumbering inside. They managed to burn the mummy to ashes right as they were escaping the pyramid, but in the process, only the main character and his female assistant escaped. They went on to get married, have children, and tell their tale to their children and later on, their grandchildren. It was one of those 'happily ever after' kind of movies, Jamie had told the group.
Finally, they ascended up some stairs and into a large room. The walls were open from here and they could look out upon the desert that lay below. They were at the very peak of the temple now. The only thing in the room was a large pedestal that appeared to be the size of a large digimon. Bordering the top edge of the open walls and the roof were what appeared to be mirrors, and in the roof above them was a somewhat slanted skylight. "What is this place?" Kai wondered. He approached one of the mirrors and ran his hand over it. Then he repeated, "What is this place?"
"It's the Sacrificial Chamber." Jamie gasped in realization.
"The Sacrificial Chamber? What makes you so sure?"
"Isn't it obvious? The sun beams down and reflects off of the mirrors which them reflect down to the pedestal." He walked over to the pedestal, and knocked on it. It made a metallic sound when his fist came down upon it. "It's made of metal. That means when the sun beams down onto it, it will heat up the metal and anything on it will be roasted. Whoever built this place must have worshipped the sun. That's why it's so open. They were trying to please the sun."
"Worship the sun? Why would they do that?" Ariana inquired.
"In our world, many ancient civilizations did that. It would make sense for the digital world to do so. In fact, I would think that the digital world existed a long time before any sort of technology did on our world."
"So why call it the digital world?"
"It's probably something that the first humans dubbed it when they came here."
"Why would the temple-builders make it so similar to that of ours then?"
"You know how the ancient Greeks worshipped gods such as Apollo?"
"Yeah."
"Well, they probably witnessed a digimon that rode across the sky in a chariot carrying the sun. Digimon escaped into our world three years ago when the stories of the tamers first popped up. They probably escaped into the real world long before then. Well, that would be my theory at least."
"I never thought of it like that before." Kai responded.
"If you think about it for a moment, it makes perfect sense. A fully-sentient world."
"Guys," Ariana said, "I've got a bad feeling about this place. I don't think we should be here."
"Why not?" Kai stated. "We've got the digimon to protect us. What could possibly hap...?" He was cut off by a low rumbling that grew louder and louder. They looked out the temple peak onto the desert below. Another sandstorm had kicked up. It raced towards them at a blinding speed. The tamers had been caught off-guard.
"What could possibly happen, huh?" Jamie glanced at Kai.
"Give me a break." Kai apologized.
"Let's worry about the blame later, boys. Right now we need to get back inside." Tierramon stated.
"Tierramon's right." Ariana avowed.
The two boys nodded and together, the party sprinted towards the door. At that same moment, the entryway vanished and in front of them stood a solid wall. "You have trespassed in the temple of the ancient Sandkinmon. None that have done so may be pardoned. Prepare for your deletion." The voice was raspy and the tamers didn't recognize it.
"He's blocked us in!" Panthurmon exclaimed as he banged his paw against the door.
"What?" Kai inquired as he, Ariana, and Jamie darted over to Panthurmon. "Great! Now we're dead!"
"Not on my watch, Tamer Kai." muttered a voice from behind them. They turned around to see a figure appear from thin air. He was a tall, thin, and slightly muscular teenager with a bag slung across his back. He was wearing a white T-shirt under a blue short-sleeve shirt that he kept unbuttoned and a pair of green cargo pants. Two wristbands could be seen on his arms. The boy wore a pair of black and white sneakers, and he would have appeared quite handsome if it wasn't for the fact that his expression seemed somewhat cold. "Gadomon, hit it!"
A tiger, roughly the size of Swiftarimon, appeared on the edge of the 'windowsill' and stood silently as the sandstorm came ever closer. It was orange and black just like a normal tiger, but it stood on two legs and the fur around his head was shoulder-length and had been braided. It had a large metallic glove that covered the top part of his right claw, and he wore a black bandana around his neck. Jamie whipped out his D-Ring in order to analyze this fourth cat. "Let's see who you guys are."
Gadomon – A Rookie digimon capable of controlling the thunder itself. His Tiger Claw and Silence Breath attacks will render the foe weak, confused, and most of all, defeated.
"Gadomon, prepare to use your Tiger Claw!" the mystery boy commanded.
The tiger digimon lifted his right claw and it began to glow. The sandstorm continued to scream towards them. Jamie stepped next to the mysterious stranger and asked him, "Who are you?" The boy simply continued staring at the oncoming wall of sand. Jamie asked once again. "How did you get to the digital world? Through the Crystal Gate?"
Without turning his head, the boy replied, "You might want to stand back." Almost instantly, the storm impacted. Thousands of grains of sand slammed into them, but as they did, Gadomon swung his claw. The wall of sand was torn in two and the tamers shielded their eyes as the individual streams passed by them. When it was over, they uncovered their eyes and saw a humanoid sandman standing at the base of the temple. It looked up at them and grinned evilly. The mystery tamer and his digimon stepped off the edge of the sill and slid down the side of the temple. Jamie and the others raced over to ledge in order for them to watch the battle that was getting ready to rage below. Ariana grabbed her D-Ring and aimed it at the new digimon. It instantly beeped in response.
Sandkinmon – This Ultimate digimon is as old as the digital world itself. His Sand Wave and Intrusion Dune attacks are nothing to take lightly. It was said that in his time, not even Mega-level digimon could defeat this ancient virus-type.
"Who are you?" Sandkinmon rumbled.
"I'm your worst nightmare." the mysterious tamer responded.
Kai chuckled and Jamie asked him what was so funny. "There's a cliché for you."
"Prepare yourself, beast." Gadomon growled. His claw began to glow again and he launched himself towards the wolf. The sandman seemed unready for this, and was punished with a metallic claw to its face. When the sand returned to its face, Sandkinmon retaliated by collapsing into the sand. Immediately, a giant wall of sand rose from the desert and began racing towards the tiger digimon. Gadomon stood stationary as the digimon's attack drew closer. Sandkinmon's Sand Wave impacted and engulfed Gadomon. The tamers gasped in horror before they heard Gadomon's battle call. The sand bubbled outwards into the air around them and exploded in all directions.
Then the sand controller began laughing. "Don't you get it? I cannot be defeated!"
"We'll see about that." The boy's tamer threatened. "Gadomon. Silence Breath!"
Gadomon opened his mouth and a large bolt of lightning shot out and struck Sandkinmon. Sandkinmon began to chuckle once again. "What a pitiful... Huh? Wha...? What's happening to me?" His sand grain body began to harden and after a few moments, he was entirely paralyzed. "What is going on? What have you done?"
"Goodbye, Sandkinmon." Gadomon said. A moment later, Sandkinmon was literally petrified. The mystery tamer pulled out an obsidian-black D-Ring and initiated its Encryption Mode. A beam of light shot out and impacted the stone statue that was Sandkinmon. The evil digimon's body exploded like a shell, revealing its data. Soon, the data reconfigured itself into a digiegg and then it disappeared.
The pyramid under them began to quake and it fell from under them. It was as if kicking over a sand castle. Jamie, Kai, and Ariana, along with their digimon fell to the earth below. When they opened their eyes, the mystery tamer approached his partner and shot a beam into the air. Seconds later, the sky opened up and a data stream shot down to the earth. The two strangers stepped into the light and were gone. The tamers arose and surveyed the new landscape. No sandstorms rage anymore and they could see to the horizon in every direction. They noticed towards the north, a small town that was centered on the horizon. They had reached the end of the Dunes.