Wow, it's been a while since I've had the time to catch up on this story. I'm sorry for the long delay but I've needed time to catch up on my D-Fusion series. Now, I offer Chapter twenty-eight of the Pharaohmon series. Since it's been a year I've started this series, let's call this chapter the first year anniversary special.
So, what do you say we get started? I know I'm ready to get this chapter over with. With that said, enjoy the read!
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The Wong Family Reunion! Brimstone Goes All Out!
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As everyone was starting to settle down over the grief of their loved ones, the announcement speakers started to come on. Lillymon's voice was heard throughout the arena to inform everyone about the next set of matches.
"May I have your attention please? We've already picked out set of matches! For our Duel tournament, Henry Wong will duel against Mai Valentine! The battle royale match will consist of the following participants: Fairymon, Kurama, Brimstone and Ranamon! All announced combatants and duelists, report to the battle arena!"
Fairymon and Ranamon nod to each other as they walked out the door.
"Fairymon! Ranamon!" Blitzmon calls out to the girls. "Give 'em hell! Please, let one of you pull through."
"Don't worry. This match is ours," Fairymon said.
"You forget sugah, I'm in this match too. If it comes down to us, I'm not going to hold back."
"Bring it on sista!"
Henry takes his card deck and gives a prayer for Rapidmon.
"Wish me luck, buddy."
"Good luck, Henry," Takato said. "We're pulling for you."
"Mai's not an easy opponent, Henry. Trust me. I know how she duels," Yugi warned Henry.
"Hey, don't worry about me. Terriermon's on my side despite his condition. Well, I'm off..."
Henry walks out the door and heads off towards the aisle leading to the entranceway. He suddenly makes a stop and finds Ranamon walking down with Fairymon.
"It's her..."
"Oh? Hey, you! Good luck with your duel!" Ranamon said to Henry.
"Thanks..."
Ranamon flashes a thumbs up to Henry before departing through the entranceway. That signal alone had caught Henry by surprise yet he had a feeling that he knew Ranamon.
"Ranamon... Could you possibly be... her...? My sis... All right, it's time I get tough. This one's for you, Terriermon."
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Darkest reaches of the stadium
Deep within a dark, heated room, a tall and armored individual arose after undergoing a twenty-four hour meditation period. Brimstone arises and lets out a deep growl.
"It is time..."
With that in mind, Brimstone sets out through the door and starts his path to the aisle to lead him to the entranceway.
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Lobby area
After hearing the announcement for the next match, Kurama sits up from his seat and started walking down towards the aisle way.
"Hey, Kurama. Kick some ass out there," Yusuke said.
"Brimstone's in there. You think you can take him?" Kuwabara asked with concern.
"We'll see. All I can do now is test how strong he's gotten since our last confrontation."
"We'll be cheering for you, Kurama," Botan said. "In fact, we'll be out in the audience stands when the match starts."
Kurama gives a nod to his team and walks down towards the aisle. He stopped as soon as he saw Hiei leaning against a wall.
"Hiei..."
"Don't you die."
"If you were in my position, I'd say likewise."
After giving his final word to Hiei, the half-demon starts his walk down the aisle way. Kurama was dead set to settling his differences with the flame titan, but he would also have to deal with Ranamon and Fairymon at the same time.
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Phoenix Arena
The crowds were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the four combatants to take part in the battle royale. Amongst them, Bokomon and Neemon waved around a poster board reading: Fairymon! We love you!
"Go, Fairymon! We're rooting for you!" Bokomon cheered.
"Yay! Go, Fairymon and Ranamon, too!" shouted Neemon. "Um, are we still able to cheer Ranamon?"
"Of course, you dolt! She has converted back to the light. In fact, a human girl has taken the spirit of water to harness Ranamon's powers."
"Oh... Then, what about the other two?"
"Not too sure, but I hear this Brimstone fellow is one powerful fiend. I don't have information on this Kurama."
"Looky! They're coming out!"
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious."
The first combatant to emerge through the entranceway was the red-haired fox demon Kurama. The digimon crowd stood on their feet and reacted positively for him. Even the female crowds were starting to take notice of him.
"Oh, my! Take a look at that hunk of a human! Are you sure he isn't a digimon?" an Angewomon cried out.
"I don't know, but I really don't care!" a Biyomon squawked.
"I have to agree with these awe struck girls!" Lillymon announced. "This human is quite the looker! Anyway, I should get back to my job! This is the third battle royale bout! Allow me to introduce the first of the four combatants! Please welcome, Kurama!"
Kurama steps forward into the ring and observes the crowded stadium. He lets out a sigh before walking towards an edge to wait out on his three opponents.
"Three opponents. Brimstone is amongst them. I must keep my focus on the monster and let the other two resolve their issues. The real question is to reawaken Yoko Kurama back into existence. I may require him if I hope of defeating Brimstone. Even with the preparations prior to the event, I'm afraid my plants will not be enough to penetrate his fire barrier."
Also looking on from beyond the crowd stands were Kurama's fellow spirit detectives. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan were calling out for the patient fox demon. However, Hiei remained quiet as he ever will be and was anxious to see how much Kurama has improved.
"Ok, Kurama. Let's just see how much you've improved for this whole week. Will it be enough? If you can't do it, then Brimstone is all mine. Even if I have to run rampant this tournament event myself..."
"Now, we're set to introduce our next combatants! Next up to walk through the entranceway represents Pharaohmon's cause! It's Brimstone!"
With that said, the fiery-based armor demon busted his way through the entranceway while destroying it in the process. He slowly walks through with a powerful inferno aura jolting around his magnificent form. Brimstone makes eye contact with the ring and nods his head accordingly. He was pleased to see Kurama as the first individual to step forward.
"Oh my! I wouldn't want to be a backstage technician after a freak accident like that!" Lillymon exclaimed. "Brimstone makes his grand entrance! Just how like the new lady's man, to take the fiery behemoth? I know I wouldn't want to be in Kurama's shoes! Then again, he might have a chance when our other two combatants show up!"
Brimstone stops short and examines Kurama with careful consideration. The beast was heard chuckling to himself and Kurama was the first to realize this.
"Good boy. I see you've used the time to prepare. Let's just hope you have sharpened up on those skills. Tell me, do you think your friend can save you?"
"That depends, demon. I might need him or there's a chance I will not require his assistance."
"Suit yourself. Either way, the result shall remain the same. I will crush you as another casualty on Pharaohmon's conquest for power. He shall reign supreme as this event closes."
"You have high hopes for your lord, Brimstone. But, only we can determine our future destinies. Right now you should be more concerned about the result of this match."
"Hmph, whatever you say."
With Brimstone stepping into the ring, his fiery aura sets off a rising temperature within the stadium. The crowds were feeling the scorching effects and hoped that the beast will lower his aura.
"Hey! Who turned up the heat in this chicken coup?!" a Kokatrimon shrieked.
"I know everyone here is getting roasted by the heat of this stadium, but as a professional announcer, I'm going to stay to continue my dedication to my adoring fans!" Lillymon continued on. "Etemon! Well, looks like he hasn't gotten back from his coffee break. So, I'll go on with the entrants. Next, we have two of the legendary warriors! Digimon men! Put your hands together for the arrival of the lovely duo! First, we have the Warrior of the Mighty Winds, Fairymon!"
The massive male digimon crowds were cheering heavily for the arrival of the lovely Fairymon. Agunimon leaped out from out of the crowd and whistled out to her.
"Yeah! You go, girl!" Agunimon cheered madly. "Don't you guys even think about looking at her in any way. I've got my eyes on you!"
"Um, Agunimon? Why not try and control yourself?" Blitzmon sighed. "We're still grieving over Tomoki."
"Look, we have to continue on. Tomoki would want us to do the same," the flame warrior spoke.
"He's right," Omegamon stated. "We will find a way to restore Tomoki and the Tamers' friend. If it comes down to one us facing Basilikmon, then Tomoki will be avenged."
The spirit warriors nodded accordingly in agreement with Omegamon. They shifted their focus back on the stadium floor.
"Ah, my adoring fans!" Fairymon calls out to the cheering crowd.
"Now to introduce our final combatant! Ladies and gentlemon! Here comes the lovely Ranamon!" Lillymon announced.
"Hold it right there, sugah!" Ranamon cried out through the microphone. "You think these fans are here to support you? Honey, they came only for one reason and that's to see me."
"Wow, looks like we got ourselves a situation between two fellow spirit warriors," Lillymon said. "Etemon! Coffee break time is over! We need you out here to officially declare the start to our matches."
Ranamon rushed towards the ring and flipped onto the middle stage. She throws the microphone down and points out towards Fairymon. Both Kurama and Brimstone waited patiently for the pair to clear away from each other.
"Hey! You two are supposed to be on the same page!" Neemon calls out. "Hey, Bokomon? Tell me why they're fighting again?"
"Because, it's the sport of competition. Haven't you figured it out by now, ? You mean they have to fight each other?"
"Yes! That's right! Now pay attention and watch."
With all four combatants in the ring, the crowds were getting riled up for the bout to start. Etemon came running out from the broken down entranceway. He looked across and immediately fled towards the stadium arena.
"Well, we know where our loyalties lie, don't we?"
"Sorry, Lillymon, but I had to get my daily dose of ol' digi-coffee. Can't have an announcer doze off on the job!"
"Well, I can hardly blame you for that. Now, we can get the show on the road. Etemon, we're moving on to announce the combatants. Next up, the competitors for the third match of our Duelist Tournament! Please welcome, the first of the two duelists, Henry Wong!"
Emerging out through the devastated entrance, Henry walks across the aisle. His sad demeanor was replaced by confidence. The digimon crowd reacted loudly for the boy, especially his fellow Tamers within the crowd stands.
"Go, Henry! You can do it!" Jeri cheered.
"Kick some butt out there!" exclaimed Takato.
"I hope Henry has his act together because Mai isn't going to be easy," Tea said.
"Well, either way, this is going to be quite a match," Joey replied.
"Poor Henry. He still has to be upset about what happened to Terriermon," Guilmon said. "I know I would be too."
"He's going to need to overlook that now," Yugi spoke. "If he lets his emotions get the best of him, then he won't stand a chance with a veteran like Mai. She plays to win."
"Oh, big brother," Suzie muttered. "You can do it..."
Himura looks over towards the dueling dome once Henry entered inside. He realized that soon he would have to duel Nemesis and that time could happen anytime soon.
"Yui... I promise I'll free you of Pharaohmon's curse. I won't let anything separate our bond."
As soon as he turned away, he took out a card that read Guardian Airtos. This was Yui's favorite card and Himura hopes to use it in his duel against Nemesis. Perhaps it would be the only solution in freeing Yui out of the mistress' body.
"Himura... The matches are about to start," Inumon said to his friend.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me."
"Hey, it's going to be all right. You're going to win your duel. I just know you will."
"I hope so..."
"Don't hope. Know that you can."
"I will."
"Now that's the spirit. Now if you'll excuse me..."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to cool off somewhere. I'm still pretty upset about what Basilikmon did to Terriermon and Chakkoumon. I feel I owe to them."
"I thought Seadramon was supposed to find you."
"I'm meeting him out in the lobbies. He told me to meet him there."
"Well, do go and talk to him, Inumon. You need to get this mess straightened out."
"You're right. In the meantime, you go watch the matches and fill me in on the results when I get back."
"I will!"
With Inumon departing to find Seadramon, Himura walks back to his group to view the upcoming matches. Henry had just been announced and Mai was set to be called out to the ring.
"Have the matches started yet?" Himura asked.
"Not just yet, but Mai should be coming out any time soon," Kazu replied.
"Wow, first Takato and now Henry. It must be great to challenge against famous duelists!" Kenta chuckled in delight.
"Um, yeah. It is great, isn't it?" Himura faked a laugh.
"Hey! Here she comes, guys!" Joey calls to the group. "Mai! Over here!"
The blonde-haired beauty looks out and finds the team waving towards her direction. Joey was the one person that stood out the most amongst them, even though he nearly fell out of the crowd stands. She acknowledged them and gives them a wave.
"Dim-wit, you still haven't changed..." Mai chuckled. "Now, let's get this over with. It's been a while since I've entered another tournament. This kid doesn't look too tough, but Yugi's friends trained him. I better not overlook him."
"Stepping on forward to duel with Henry is a rather attractive young lady. Give it up for Mai Valentine!" Lillymon announced.
"Wow, she's like a dream come true," Etemon said with a blush covering his face.
"So, who do you think will win, Yug?"
"Not sure, Joey. Mai's a veteran in the game, but we've been teaching Henry. Who knows what kind of strong deck he's been building just in one week alone. My grandpa and I have helped to build some really strong decks for the Tamers."
Elsewhere across the crowd stands, Ryo and Cyberdramon had kept a far distance from the team. This was because he wasn't going to allow anyone to distract him before his big match with Rika. He had hoped to duel with Rika sometime again. This was his chance to prove who the superior duelist was.
On the other hand, Seto Kaiba kept distant because he didn't want anything to do with Yugi's group. He was greatly disappointed that he would end up dueling Jeri in the first round. He felt Jeri was nothing more than a rookie and a complete waste of his time despite the slap he received from her. Mokuba stayed close to his brother despite experiencing the excitement of the duels taking place.
"Hey, Seto. You're not feeling down about dueling against a rookie, are you?"
"To be honest, I was expecting a duel with someone with experience. Embarrassing Wheeler again would have been better than the brat I'm dueling with."
"Well, we won't know how good she really is. After all, she and her friends were training with Yugi."
"Still a complete waste of my time. This Henry kid won't last in his duel. I can guarantee it."
"Go, Henwy!" Suzie cheered for her elder sibling.
Ranamon looks across at Henry inside the duel dome and smiles with delight.
"All right, bro. Let's win our matches. Time to make Suzie proud of us."
"Now! Duelists! Competitors! Take your places!" Etemon announced. "We're getting set for the third set of our first round matches!"
While the four competitors stood at each ring corner, Mai entered the duel dome. Henry was inside awaiting the arrival of the female veteran duelist. The duelists shuffled their respective decks and placed them into their cardholders within their duel disks.
"Kid, just because this is your first tournament duel that doesn't mean I'm going easy on you. Got that?"
"I don't expect you to. I'd like a really challenging duel from you, Mai. I've heard so much about you."
"Ha, I see my reputation proceeds me. Well, I just hope you've got your game face on."
"This one's for Terriermon."
"Duelists! Take your positions! Are you ready?!"
"SET!"
With that said, Etemon raises a hand signal to allow the duel dome to close it's doorways tightly. The structure was slowly being risen up towards the arena's ceiling platform. The digimon audience gazed up to watch the dome structure being elevated up into the ceiling level. It was floating up at a great altitude. Meanwhile, inside the dome, Mai and Henry were prepared to get their duel underway.
"May the best duelist win," Henry said.
"Whatever you say, kid."
"The dome has been raised! Like the past two duels, these two will now be transported into a different section of the Digital World. Our good colleague, Etemon, has determined that they will be dueling in the underwater city of Hydropolis."
As Lillymon finished her announcement, Mai and Henry saw themselves being swallowed through a bright light aura. Both screamed out once their bodies were immediately being digitized. They were being sent into the underwater city of Hydropolis. It was same area where Henry and Takato met with the Divermon on their first adventure to find Mizuno AKA Shibumi.
"As you should know, ladies and gentlemon! Once the duel has concluded, the two duelists will be sent back within the dome and the structure will be lowered! For those of you anxious to watch the duel, our media colleagues will have it covered from Hydropolis on the big screen. Now on with the battle royale match! Etemon, back to you!"
"Thanks, Lillymon! Our combatants look ready to go! Well, at least two of them are. The other two have been waiting patiently. Kurama, Brimstone, Ranamon and Lillymon are ready!"
"I'd say the same for the duelists."
"By the official authority of myself, let the third round bouts begin!"
As soon as Etemon made the official start, two of the four competitors entered the center first with fiery wills. Lillymon and Ranamon quickly got into each other's faces.
"Girlfriend! I'm taking this match whether you like it or not!" Lillymon screamed.
"Well, you'll just have to go through me first, honey!" retorted Ranamon. "I'm not as easy as I used to be!"
"Good, now I can expect a good match out of you then. Maybe then, I can level up to my A-Hybrid."
"Wha...? You have an A-Hybrid? I wasn't around to see you pull it off. Mind demonstrating that for me?"
"When the time comes, you'll see."
"Um, excuse me, ladies, but shouldn't we get started on our match?" Kurama asked kindly.
"Not yet!" the females snapped.
"Just asking politely..."
"Forget them, Kurama. You're fight is with me," Brimstone spoke. "C'mon, let's see what you can offer to the table."
"Very well..."
Kurama reaches down into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful, red rose. He waves it around and allows its petals to float all around him. These petals were not anything out of the ordinary. One touch from these can easily cut through skin. Just imagine being bombarded with razor-tipped petals at once. This was exactly one of Kurama's most deadly techniques. However, Brimstone wasn't exactly impressed with the rose petal display.
"Wow, just look at that, my fellow digi-peeps!" Lillymon said. "Kurama is showing us a little display of rose petals. How gorgeous... As a flower myself, I can appreciate this. Oh, my heart is beating fast... I think all of us ladies would like to get to know this Kurama guy better. I know I would."
Brimstone steps forward and allows the rose petals to burn over his heat barrier. Not a single petal managed to penetrate through, which didn't suite well for the fox.
"Kurama. Can you get serious? I'm not here to see you play with your little roses. If I wanted to, I could simply just burn you alive and get it over with. However, I want to see your full capabilities. I'd like another chance to meet your friend, Yoko."
"Trust me. You'll see him soon enough. You'll get to know him even better in the after life."
"Nice idle threats, but you will need to defeat me. You have no chance of penetrating through my heat barrier."
Brimstone steps forward and quickly dashes out to the right side. While dashing, the fiery beast left a trial of flames. Kurama looks across and watches the flame trail just inches away from where he was standing. The scorching flames were immediately extinguishing the rose petals.
"My petals will not have a chance to penetrate through his barrier. He must have a weakness. I can perhaps ask of him to remove his armor. He seems to rely on it to maintain his heat barrier. Otherwise, I will not have a chance of weakening a near invincible enemy."
Fairymon takes to the air while Ranamon attempted numerous leaps to snatch her. The water warrior had enough of Fairymon's playtime and claps her hands together.
"Fine! If that's the way you to play, then I can play even dirtier. Drainin' Rain!"
Following Ranamon's command, several dark clouds materialized over Fairymon. She immediately snapped her fingers and brought forth an array of rainwater down pouring over where Fairymon was positioned.
"How do you like that, honey? I'm stopping you at your tracks!"
"Ugh, that was cheap!" Fairymon cried out as the rainwater poured down upon her.
"Ranamon decides to give Fairymon a bath with that rainwater!" Lillymon announced. "Fairymon must stink."
The wind warrior plummets to the arena floor while coughing out the water. Ranamon dashed forward and struck Fairymon down with a dropkick to her face.
"Damn, she's taking this very seriously," Fairymon thought.
Ranamon quickly applied a headlock on Fairymon and starts squeezing out the fairy's oxygen. She gags for oxygen while struggling to break the release grip.
"Aw, what's the matter? Can't breathe?"
"You're taking this too far..."
"Of course. This is competition. We may be allies but that doesn't mean we have to go easy on one another. Besides, Omegamon wants us at our top peak if we hope to save those two."
"You... mean Tomoki and Rapidmon?"
"That's right. If either of us has to compete against Basilikmon in the next round, we have to be in our best shape. Basilikmon is at a different level than any of us warriors. You and I know full well that we can't spirit evolve into megas."
"I know... But Takuya... and Kouji can..."
"How do you know they will even face Basilikmon? They just might compete against each other. There are no friends to depend on once you are in competition..."
"But..."
"Wake up and smell reality, honey. This isn't some happy fairyland where you have wishes granted to you. You can't wish away Basilikmon or his stone effects. Pharaohmon's tournament will prove to be very unpredictable. This is exactly what Omegamon has been telling us from that start. Haven't you been paying attention?"
"I see..."
"Now, get tough and fight me like am I your worst enemy. Otherwise, we won't be ready for Basilikmon or anyone of Pharaohmon's goons."
"Don't have to tell me that twice... HA!!"
Fairymon throws Ranamon off by shooting off a powerful gust of wind from her wings. The water warrior is sent skidding across the ring.
"And what a counter by Fairymon! I thought for sure she had passed out from Ranamon's grip!"
"I'm alive and well. Let's go, Ranamon! I know what I must do! I'm going to kick your butt, girlfriend!"
Ranamon sits up from the floor and gives an approving nod.
"Now, that's more like it."
Meanwhile, Kurama finally ceased his rose petal attacks and stood his ground immediately. The armored flame beast stopped short. He began to question the fox's motives. The crowd were simply dazzled by the rose display performed by Kurama but still wondered whether Kurama has any other techniques at his disposal.
"Ok, now we have ourselves a stare down with Kurama and Brimstone. We've just seen a marvelous rose petal display, but what other kind of talents does Kurama have?"
"Why stop, Kurama? Are you up to no good?"
"First, I have a question."
"What's that?"
"Do you require that armored suit? Because it does provide the best form of defense with the heat barriers."
"Yes, but it actually protects my enemies from myself."
"Elaborate."
"My powers are far too radical for even the strongest of warriors to comprehend. All of my power is conserved through the armor alone. If I remove it, there's no guarantee that I'll maintain even the slightest of my composure."
"Then, I would like to ask you to remove your armor. I wouldn't exactly call it fair if you were to resort to such a defense. Are you actually afraid of what I can really do?"
Suddenly, Brimstone was growing a keen interest to what exactly Kurama was trying to comprehend. The fox was literally asking the beast to remove his armor and fight fairly. Brimstone was beginning to have second thoughts and tilted his head to the side.
"Interesting. A mortal actually has the gull to ask me to remove my armor? Are you actually asking to write your own death warrant? You don't realize that you're making a mistake."
"I'm serious. I won't die as easily you say. Now, I ask you to remove your armor and show me your true self. What kind of monster lurks behind the mask?"
Back within the audience stands, Yusuke and his group had kept their careful eye on the battle royale. Hiei was the only one who can keep up with their conversation.
"Hey, just what exactly are they talking about?" Kuwabara wondered.
"Like how should I know? I don't have keen ears," Yusuke replied. "I can even barely see their lips moving from this position. Hey, freaks down in front! Let us through!"
"If you two would keep your mouths shut, then I can explain it to you thoroughly," Hiei grunted.
"Okay, then. What exactly are they conversing about?" Botan asked the demon.
"Kurama is asking Brimstone to remove his armor."
"What?! Is he crazy?! Brimstone's one tough guy, but I can't imagine him without armor," Kuwabara said.
"Hey, the less armor then the better," said Yusuke. "Kurama can attack him without worrying about a heat barrier, right?"
"You're missing the point. Brimstone can still create a heat barrier but he needs the armor to amplify it," Hiei stated. "Without his armor, then Kurama just might have a chance. But that's the key word. Might"
"For our sake, let us hope he manages to pull through," replied Botan. "Go, Kurama! Keep using those psychological games!"
"Kurama. At this point, you know this might very well backfire. It's all on you," Hiei said in thought.
The spirit warriors were showing their support for their fellow warriors. Omegamon was glad to see that Ranamon had 'awakened' Fairymon to show more aggression.
"Yes, this is exactly what they should be doing," Omegamon said. "Izumi needed the wake up call."
"If we hope to defeat Basilikmon, then we should be prepared for the worst," Agunimon said. "It's the only way if either one of us faces Basilikmon. Though, I just hope neither one of those girls has to go through with it. I'd rather kill Basilikmon myself for what he's done to Tomoki and that Rapidmon guy."
"We'll have our chance, Agunimon," Wolfmon assured his friend.
"Omegamon. Why exactly did you let Mercuremon, Arbormon and Grottomon leave with your permission?" Loweemon asked.
"They had their own mission. Since they were not taking part in the tournament, I let them go. Arbormon even asked me before we came to the Digital World. He's been keeping a close eye on the women warriors known as the Sailors."
"I see. That's very noble of him."
"Yes, but they have their own issues to solve with those ladies. We have to stay to support each other in the matches and hope for Pharaohmon's eventual downfall. I have faith we will come out victorious."
"I hope so, Omegamon," replied Agunimon. "For Tomoki's sake..."
"With our battle royale progressing on, let us move on with the third match of our duelist tournament! Floramon! Take it away, girlfriend! It's your call!" Lillymon announced.
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Digital World Section 89-2A. Hydropolis
The area was basically like any underwater city. There were many rings of tubes surrounding many sections of the city. These tubes allowed for anyone to cross through from one city area to the next. Anyone who doesn't have gills of the sort would have to require crossing through these tubes. The cities were completely covered by domes and protected from the incoming outside water. These underwater dome cities teemed with life and activities. Even the outside marine environment was heavily populated. It was said that these underwater dome inhabitants built the colonies since their former land homes were devastated by previous natural disasters.
Another plus to this richly, populated home was the lack of pollution. Plenty of food was available within the marine environment to last the underwater city many generations.
Inside one of the massively built dome cities, Mai and Henry found themselves in the middle of one particular city. Luckily they were in a dome and were able to breathe freely. At one point, they could have breathed within the water. However, overtime, the digital oceans took away that ability for non-digital beings to breathe underwater. The laws and physics of the digital world changed ever since the D-Reaper was destroyed.
"Wow, I never thought I'd be here again," Henry said.
"Look! It's him! The one with the Terriermon!" A Divermon calls out.
"Hey! I recognize you! You're that Divermon. How's it going?"
"Nothing's changed, but it's good to see you again. How's Terriermon?"
The boy remained frozen in place while not saying a word about his partner.
"Did something happen?"
"I'll explain later, Divermon. I have a duel to compete in."
"Oooo! A duel?! Ha, this should be great! We're all here rooting for you!"
"Thanks, Divermon. Now, are you ready, Mai?"
"Well I was going to take a nap, but yeah. I'm ready. I hope your friends here are ready to see you lose."
"I won't lose."
Suddenly, from out of the crowd, Floramon walked through and stood between the two duelists. She calls forth an Otamamon to record the sight of the duel.
"All right, fight fans! We're down live at Hydropolis to bring you the third match of our Duelist tournament! Mai and Henry are ready to get this duel started. I know I'm anxious to see what the kid can do with a veteran duelist. Are you two duelists ready? Set your duel disks! Ready..."
Both duelists activated their duel disks and their life points were now both set at 8000 each.
Life Points
Henry: 8000
Mai: 8000
"Set and begin!!"
"DUEL!!"
Henry and Mai each picked out five cards from the top of their decks.
"All right," Henry said, drawing a card, "I go first."
"Whatever happened to ladies first, kid? Oh well... Go ahead."
"Now, I start off by setting one card face down in defense mode. I end my turn."
"Is that all you've got on your first try? Well, I'm a little disappointed. Ok, my move. Oh, what do you know? I have a monster ready to take out your facedown card. I bring forth my Harpie's Brother. He's set in attack mode."
Harpies' Brother
1800/600/4 stars
Mai quickly brings forth a face up card to reveal a man with red wings, brown hair and an expressionless face.
"Now, Harpie's Brother! Attack his facedown card!"
The male Harpie flies forward and claws away at the facedown card, which revealed a vicious purple dragon. It was the Koumori Dragon.
Koumori Dragon
1500/1200/4 stars
Despite the attack on Koumori, Henry's monster was in defense mode and did not inflict any damage on his life points. Now Mai set down a facedown card, which could be either a trap or magic card.
"I set this card facedown and end my turn. Your turn, kid."
Henry drew one card from his deck, placed it in his hand, and pulled out the card next to it, placing it in one of the slots on the Duel Disk.
"Now, I activate my Change of Heart card! With this, I can select and control one opposing monster on the field. Since there's only one monster, looks like your Harpie's Brother is mine for one turn."
"Sneaky little guy. You just had to go and take my Harpie's Brother. But don't think you can pull that off again!"
As soon as Harpie's Brother moved to Henry's side, the boy casts the monster out of the field.
"I sacrifice your Harpie's Brother to summon forth my Total Defense Shogun!"
In place of Harpie's Brother was a warrior in a flowing red cape. He has three swords attached to his back.
Total Defense Shogun
1550/2500/6 stars
"You sacrifice my Harpie's Brother for that shogun?!"
"Yeah, but notice that it's an effect monster. When this one is summoned, it is automatically placed on the field in a face up defense position."
"Yeah, I can already see that."
"But, here's the catch. He can attack without even shifting to a face up attack position. So, you know what that means."
"Oh no! He can attack?!"
"That's right. I'm surprised a veteran like yourself wouldn't even know about this kind of monster. You haven't been doing your homework lately."
"No, it's because I haven't been myself lately. How dare he talk down to me like that? That was a rookie mistake on my part."
"Pay attention, Mai! Now I equip Dragonic Attack to my Total Defense Shogun. This increases my Shogun's attack and defense points by 500. Plus, I can treat this as a Dragon Type. With that said, my Shogun can attack you directly! Say goodbye to a chunk of your life points!"
Total Defense Shogun
Attack points: 2050 (1550 500)
The Total Defense Shogun charges forward and slashes across Mai. She is immediately thrown off her feet by the force of the attack. She sits up slowly with a rather expressionless glare. She was also shocked that a rookie has taken advantage of her immediately at the start of the duel. The result was 2050 being subtracted from her 8000 life points.
Mai
Life points: 5950
"I can't believe this... What's wrong with me? Have I lost my edge? No, I can't lose to this rookie. I lost to Joey and that was more than I can stand, but he's now an accomplished duelist. This kid just started... Ugh, no! I won't lose!"
"Yay! Go! You've got her on the run!" the aquatic city digimon cheered on.
"Ok, Mai! That ends my turn! Go! It's your move..."
Mai sits up from the floor and quickly draws out another card. She has a hand of five cards at her disposal. She must make an immediate comeback now before she goes down in defeat rather quickly.
"All right! Here goes! I first summon one of my favorites! Cyber Harpie!"
Now being summoned was a favorite of Mai's, the Cyber Harpie. It was the equivalent of a Harpie Lady pre-equipped with the Cyber Shield.
Cyber Harpie
1800/1300/4 star
"I'll treat this card as any one of my ordinary Harpie Ladies. And since she's considered a Harpie, I can play Elegant Egotist! If you're not familiar with this, when I have at least one or more Harpie Lady cards on the field, I can Special Summon one Harpie Lady or Harpie Lady Sisters from my hand or deck. Since I have them in my deck, guess what?"
"You'll special summon them now?"
"Bingo, kid! You're brighter than I thought. Now I'll bring forth my Harpie Lady Sisters face up in defense mode out of my hand!"
Now joining Cyber Harpie were three more Harpies. One had long, pink hair; another had short, orange hair; the third had spiky, blue hair.
"How do you like them, Henry? They're sisters and are willing to risk their lives to save each other when need be. But, my turn is not finished. Now I activate my facedown card on the field. It's called Raigeki."
The facedown card was revealed to be the exact card that Mai mentioned.
"What does that do?"
"Simple. It destroys my opponent's monsters on the field. So, say adios to your Shogun!"
"No! My Shogun!"
As the card's effects destroyed Henry's Total Defense Shogun, Henry was left wide open for attack. The veteran took advantage of the boy and sends out her Cyber Harpie.
"Now to return the favor, kid. Cyber Harpie! Attack his life points directly!"
The winged female flew across to Henry's side field and swoops down on him as if he were live prey. She strikes down on Henry and inflicts 1800 points of damage.
Henry
Life points: 6200
"How does it feel to be the side of the whipping stick, kid? Now you know how I felt when I first dueled. It's not easy."
"Yeah, but I still have more life points than you."
"Doesn't matter whose life points are higher... Anyway, I end my turn there. What now?"
"This."
Henry pulls out a card from his deck and places it into his hand. He has a total of four cards in hand. He holds out the Monster Reborn card.
"I use Monster Reborn to bring back a monster from the graveyard! Now I plan on special summoning a monster you just destroyed. Allow me to reintroduce you to my Total Defense Shogun!"
With that said, Henry special summons his Total Defense Shogun in his face up defense position.
"I end my turn, Mai."
"Not bad, Henry. You made good use of that card. Now, it's my move. Better pray I don't have anything else to take another chunk out of your life points."
Mai takes another card from her deck and puts out it on the field. It is a facedown defense position.
"Hmm... I don't have anything to destroy your Shogun, so I place this facedown in defense. Then, I shift my Cyber Harpie face up in defense. There, that ends my turn."
Henry takes a card from the deck and puts it into his hand. He was set to send his Shogun back to battle.
"Now, I'll use my revived Total Defense Shogun to attack your Cyber Harpie!"
The Shogun springs forward into action and slashes through the Cyber Harpie. Mai looks on in surprise to see her own beloved monster destroyed, but sighed when she knew it was in defense.
"I don't lose any life points, kid. But I won't forget what you've done. My Cyber Harpie is gone, but I won't go down that easily. I take it that you've ended your turn?"
"Of course."
"Fine, then. I set another monster face down and I activate my Swords of Revealing Light!"
As soon as she said that, a stack of golden swords fell down from the dome top and lined themselves around Henry's side of the field. The digimon crowds were awe struck by the swords' brilliant magnificence.
"What does this do?"
"The Swords of Revealing Light prevent you from attacking for three whole turns."
"So, you're slowing me down?"
"Exactly."
"Fine, I'll think of a way to turn this around."
"That's some fire you have there, kid. I end my turn."
As Mai announced her turn end, Henry draws a card to his hand. He then takes out a card and has a grin on his face.
"Don't mind me asking, but why are you smiling?"
"I've found a way through your swords! Behold!"
Henry holds out a card known as Mystical Space Typhoon. The veteran gasped in shock at the card. She obviously knew about its effects.
"I take it you know this card. With this, I can destroy any trap or magic card played on the field. I see you are using the Sword of Revealing Light. I'll activate my card to take out your swords! So much for your plan to make me wait it out."
Mai gasped as she witnessed the swords quickly dissolving away. The rookie duelist had once again outdone her.
"But my turn doesn't end from there. I'll send my Shogun to attack your facedown card!"
The Shogun charges forward and slashes through Mai's facedown card. It was a monster known as Skull Red Bird. It looks like a majestic red bird with golden wings.
Skull Red Bird
1550/1400/4 stars
"There goes your bird."
"It does no damage to my life points. So, I'm safe."
"For now. I end my turn there."
Mai takes another card from her deck and places it on her disk. It was in a facedown defense position.
"I place this card facedown in defense mode. I don't have anything else worth playing. I end my turn."
"Wow, is that all you've got? You call yourself a veteran, but I'm actually making you scramble through every card in your deck. What's the matter?"
"It's none of your concern, Henry. Let's just stick with the duel!"
"Feisty, aren't we? Anyway, you're right. I'll start off my turn my summoning this! The Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1!"
Now being summoned to the play field was a light blue dragon.
Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1
1400/1200/4 stars
"Now, my Guardian Dragon! Attack her facedown defense card on the left side of her field!"
The Winged Dragon swoops across to Mai's side of the field and blasts away her facedown card. It was revealed as another monster and this time it was a blue hawk with long, flowing tail feathers. It was called Faith Bird.
Faith Bird
1500/1100/4 stars
Faith Bird was taken away by the dragon's attack, but again did not damage Mai's life points. Her monster was in defense mode.
"Your lucky those monsters were in defense mode. Otherwise, your life points would be dropping like a dead fly. You're dragging this out."
"No..."
"Then, what's the problem?"
"Fine, then. My turn isn't over just to let you know. You have another facedown defense card on the field. I'll send my Shogun to dispose of it! Go my Total Defense Shogun!"
The Shogun once again springs into action and slashes across Mai's second facedown defense card. It's a red and white jar with a one-eyed face emerging from out of the opening. The card is revealed to be the Morphing Jar #2.
"Another defense monster? You're really off your game, Mai."
"But it has an effect to it, Henry. Since you destroyed it, we return all of our monsters on the field back to our decks and shuffle them."
"Ah! You mean..."
"Your Dragon and Shogun are gone, but so are my Harpies. That's not all. We then pick up cards until we have the same number of monster cards that were returned to each deck. Then we can special summon any level four monster or lower monster that was picked up in facedown defense. All other cards are to be discarded."
"Darn..."
"Yes, it's a shame isn't it? But they ought to come back sometime, right? Anyway, time to shuffle our decks."
With that said, Mai sends her Harpie Lady's Sisters to her deck and shuffles. She picks up a magic card known as Rising Air Current and discards it. Followed by that, Mai picks up Harpie Lady's Sisters card and discards that one. Meanwhile, Henry sends his Total Defense Shogun and Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1 to his deck. He shuffles them through his deck. He picks up one card and it is the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1. He special summons it in a facedown defense position. He then picked up another card. It was called the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2. This one was similar in appearance to #1 but it was pink. Its stats were also different. He special summons it onto the field in a facedown defense position.
Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2
1400/1200/4 stars
"That ends my turn, Mai."
"Hmm, he just set two facedown defense cards after he attacked my Morphing Jar. What kind of monsters could he be hiding? I'll have to see for myself, but what if they are effect monsters? I'll just have to take that risk."
Mai takes a card from her deck and chuckles to herself. She seemed really delighted to see this card once again. In fact, she was ready to play it.
"Now, I summon another Cyber Harpie! That spells bad news for you, kid."
"I wasn't even expecting you to use another! I thought I destroyed it!"
"It's a different card, kid. You don't know me very well. I'm the expert on the Harpies. Now, my Cyber Harpie! Attack his facedown card!"
The Cyber Harpie swoops forward and strikes down on the first facedown defense card. It was revealed as the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1. Once it was wiped out from the field, the Cyber Harpie returned to Mai's side.
"How do you like that? There, I end my turn."
"Wow, that didn't do any damage to my life points. We're both pretty much going on the defensive. I guess we sort of think alike."
"Whatever... Just make your move."
Henry takes a card and adds it to his hand. He knew exactly what he was going to do. First, he sets his sights on his second facedown card.
"Now, I'll sacrifice my other facedown defense card. By the way, it was a Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2! By sacrificing it, I bring forth the Curse of Dragon!"
Appearing before Henry was a yellow dragon in place of the facedown dragon.
Curse of Dragon
2000/1500/5 stars
"Now, I'll equip this card called Dragon's Treasure. It increase my dragon's attack and defense points by 300."
Curse of Dragon
2300/1800
"I'll send it to attack your Cyber Harpie! Go, Curse of Dragon!"
The dragon shoots out a spat fire blast aimed directly at Cyber Harpie, which destroyed her in the process. Mai watched as her life points dropped 500 points less.
Mai
Life points: 5450
"No! How could I be losing life points to this kid?!"
"I'm not easy competition, am I? Joey told me you were tough against the competition, but I'm not getting any. I guess Joey was lying."
"No... This isn't my best! I'm..."
"Mai, what's wrong?"
"I haven't myself since Battle City. Even you wouldn't understand. No one will ever know the suffering I had to endure. I still need time to some more soul searching..."
"Mai?"
"My turn just ended. It's your turn."
Mai lets out a sigh and draws another card from her deck. Her smile widened as she summons the card onto the field. Suddenly, Henry watched as his monsters were being sucked away into a dark hole.
"What was that?!"
"It's called the Dark Hole. As I just demonstrated, all monsters are destroyed on both sides of the field. Since I don't have any monsters, your monsters just went bye-bye."
"Desperate move on your part."
"Shut up! I end my turn. Make your move, kid."
Henry takes one card out of his deck and adds it to his hand. He takes two and places them facedown on the field. The boy ends his turn. Mai was up to draw another card from her deck and sets it on the field facedown. She declares an end to her turn. Henry was up to duel again and takes a card from his deck. He sets one onto the field facedown. After ending his turn, Mai takes a card from her deck and puts it in her hand. Now, she was ready to activate one of her cards.
"Now! I activate a field magic card! Take a look closely, sweety. My Rising Air Current! With this, I can increase the attack points of all Wind monsters by 500 but I have to decrease their defense by 400. I end my turn there."
Henry draws a card from his deck, puts it into his hand and ends his turn. After that, Mai draws a card and ends her turn. After that, both Henry and Mai repeat the same process a second time. Once Mai finished her turn, Henry draws another card and sets one facedown on the field. Finally, Mai draws a card and quickly activates a card.
"Time to put an end to this back and forth routine! I activate this card! It's called the Harpie's Feather Duster!"
"What was that do?!"
"It destroys all opponent's magic and trap cards on the field. So, that means your facedown cards are gone."
Henry witnessed as the Harpie's Feather Duster blew away his facedown cards.
"That ends my turn. It's your turn, kid."
"I'll show you what this kid can do. Now..."
Henry takes a card from his deck and adds it to his deck. He pulls out a card and summons another Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2.
"Looks like I have another Winged Dragon #2 in my deck. Not only that, but it's a Wind attribute monster as well, so I get an extra 500 attack points, thanks to your Rising Air Current. Now, I'll send it to attack your life points directly!"
Mai gasped as she realized that she had no monsters on her side to protect her. The winged beast blasted around Mai and took away 1700 of her life points.
Mai
Life points: 3750
"No... How could I let him attack me like that?!"
"I end my turn, Mai. It's your move."
"I'll just draw a card to my hand. I end my turn there."
"Are you running low on cards? You're simply reeling back. You don't have anything else to offer? This is my first official match and I'm already causing you enough problems as it is. You are a veteran who took part in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, am I right?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm just wondering why you haven't been going all out. Joey even told me you are one of the greatest duelists. This just doesn't seem like I'm dueling one of the greatest."
"I am great..."
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you seem to have lost your edge."
"He's right. I have... Ever since my loss at Battle City... Marik. He won't go away. Why? Why do you keep haunting me?! Damn you!"
"It's my turn, Mai. Since you have no monsters or facedown card, I can attack your life points directly, again!"
By his command, the Winged Dragon flew across and fires another blast directly to where Mai was standing. The force threw her off her feet and caused her to fall back. Another 1700 points was subtracted from Mai's life points. She was couldn't believe a rookie was not only out dueling her but destroying nearly all of her life points.
Mai
Life points: 2050
"Mai. I end my turn. It's your move."
As Mai rose to her feet, she takes another card and adds it to her hand. There wasn't a single card that was of any use to her. Deep emotions and painful memories of Marik's torturous games were weighing down on her self-confidence. The same passion she once had was diminishing by each turn. Every shred of pride was dissolving.
"I place one card facedown in defense. I end my turn, Henry..."
"If you say so..."
Henry takes another card from his deck and puts it into his hand. He takes out a card and immediately brings forth a monster to the field.
"I now summon the Fairy Dragon!"
Flying above Henry was a winged green snake.
Fairy Dragon
1100/1200/4 stars
"I'll send my Fairy Dragon to attack your facedown defense card!"
Fairy Dragon springs forward and spits a fire blast to destroy the facedown card. It was revealed to be swarm of pink-purple bats with blue ears.
Dark Bat
1000/1000/3 star
Once Dark Bat was destroyed, Henry called back his Fairy Dragon and gives a nod to his Winged Dragon.
"Now, I'll send my Winged Dragon to once again attack your life points directly!"
By Henry's command, the Winged Dragon cries across and blasts another 1700 of Mai's life points. Mai screamed out as she was pushed away by the blast impact. She falls back and gasped to watch her life points plummet to near zero.
Mai
Life points: 350
"NOO!!"
"I end my turn, Mai. Now, get up and let's continue the duel."
"Wow! That Henry kid is great!" a Crabmon said.
"Go, Henry! We're behind you all the way!" Divermon exclaimed.
Mai's eyes were flooded with tears as she started to tear up. However, she whimpered softly.
"What's happened to me...? What I have become...? I'm not at the top of my game. This kid is actually going to defeat me? If I lose, my reputation will go down the drain. Battle City has definitely changed me for the worse. What can I do to bounce back from this slump? This is pathetic... I'm pathetic!"
"Mai...? It's your move."
"Um, Miss Valentine? We're waiting for your next move," Floramon said. "Miss...?"
"Mai Valentine. What are you going to do?! You can't get all soft now... I won't allow it!"
"Mai..." Henry muttered. "Something's wrong and she's not telling me something."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix Arena
The crowds were enjoying the battle royale, which was still in session. However, the vast majority were shocked by the turn of events of the duel. Mai Valentine, the veteran, was on the verge of losing the duel with Henry Wong.
Amongst the Tamers and the Duelists, there was a mixed reaction. Suzie and Lopmon were happy for the efforts of Henry's dueling action. Joey, on the other hand, was feeling remorse for Mai.
"Wow! What a shocking turn of events! We've been told about Mai's incredible dueling career," Lillymon announced. "She's known to be one of the world's greatest duelists, but she has been brought to her knees by the rookie Henry Wong! Just what can Mai do to rebound from her slump. Her life points are at 350 as opposed to Henry's 6200."
"Mai, oh no... What just happened?!" Joey said with concern. "The Mai I know wouldn't be losing this badly. This should have been a close duel."
"Her spirit must be crushed," Yugi replied. "She still must be reeling from the effects of Marik's mind games."
"Poor, Mai," Tea said. "But, wow, look at Henry go."
"We've trained him hard, but we didn't think he'd bring even Mai to her knees," Joey continued on.
"To think a long-time duelist like Mai would be losing to our Henry," Takato said. "Rika, what do you think?"
"Rika?"
"I understand how she feels."
"What?"
"Before I lost to Ryo, I was considered one of the city's greatest digimon card gamers. I had no equal and glamorized each victory. Unfortunately, my first loss came at the hands of Ryo. I was crushed and was on the verge of a slump. I barely managed to bounce back by the next tournament."
"You said..."
"But, you don't know how it feels to take a big loss and undergo a slump. I thought I was never going to be the gamer I used to be. Whoever did this to Mai might have succeeded in crushing her spirit. But, I managed to bounce back from my loss. Mai needs to do the same. She will need to win if she hopes to regain that fire again."
"Even at the expense of our friend, Henry?"
"Whatever it takes to win. Yes, even if Henry has to be defeated."
"But there has to be another way," Guilmon said.
"There is no other way," replied Renamon. "They will play to win. Only one of them will advance."
"I just wish Mai can manage to find her fire passion," Rika stated. "I may not know her personally, but I can definitely relate."
"But at the expense of Henry? Does Rika even know what she's talking about? Our friend is out there dueling his best. This has to be tough for Mai," Takato thought.
"Either way, we'll still have a winner," Tristan said.
"Idiot! Don't you even have any consideration for Mai?!" Tea snapped.
"Um, sorry! But whom can I really cheer for? They're both friends."
"I have a feeling Mai will bounce back from this," Yugi said. "It's not like her to be at the losing end."
"Yugi..."
"Joey. I know how much you care for her. Trust me. It's not over for her."
"I hope your right, Yug. I'd like to see her duel her hardest and give a good match to Henry."
"Seto. What do you think about this?" Mokuba asked his brother.
"I don't know what's happened with Mai Valentine, but this is pathetic. She's letting that rookie get the best of her. She's gone from being one of the world's top duelists to a has-been. I guess she's gone soft since being friends with Wheeler. Hmph..."
"Hey, you keep your mouth shut, Kaiba!"
"Why? At this rate, she'll become a second-rate duelist like you. If she were smart, she'd leave your dweeb group and go off on her own."
"You don't know a damn thing about her, Kaiba!"
"Joey. Let it go," Yugi said as he restrained his friend.
"Let me at him! He'll never understand a girl's feelings!"
"Do you even know how a girl feels?" Tea muttered.
"Um... Well..."
"I rest my case."
"Just watch, she'll come around and we'll have ourselves an interesting duel. What she needs to do is regain that fire again," Yugi said.
Back in the battle royale ring, Ranamon was maneuvering away from each blow delivered by Fairymon. The water warrior listened to the announcements about Henry's sudden dominance over Mai.
"Way to go, bro. Keep it up and you'll win the match. I'll do my best to turn this match around. First things first... I'll have to go through Fairymon and those two other."
"Where are you looking at, Ranamon?! Take this!"
Fairymon spins back and delivers a crescent kick towards Ranamon. The kick slams against Ranamon's gut, which was enough to send her sailing across the floor. The water warrior flips back on her feet and steps into a fighting posture.
"I say. You're getting more aggressive, Fairymon. That's good. Now, what do you say we turn this up a notch, honey?"
"Beast mode?"
"Bingo. Now, c'mon. Our adoring fans are waiting..."
"What you want, you shall receive. EXECUTE!! SLIDE EVOLUTION!!"
"EXECUTE!! SLIDE EVOLUTION!!"
"Shutumon!"
"Calmaramon!"
The digimon crowd looked on as the warriors transformed into their stronger, beast forms. The male crowds were whistling out towards Shutumon.
"Well, you can throw all bets out the window! It's the battle between beasts! Ranamon has become Calmaramon and Fairymon has evolved into Shutumon!" Lillymon announced. "These men in our audience are going crazy for Shutumon. But, c'mon, I've got a better figure than these two!"
Meanwhile, across the ring, Brimstone lowered his battle aura and slowly started to remove his armbands. Kurama stood his ground while his adversary slowly removed his armored garments.
"You're the only individual in many eons that has asked of me to reveal my true self. I shall gladly oblige... I just hope you will provide me with my greatest challenge."
Once removing his chest and knee armor, Brimstone was down to only his helmet and facemask. Each weighted armor buried through the ground with tremendous weight and force. He removes his helmet/facemask to reveal his true face. His eyes were green and a deep scar was exposed around his right eye. Long, black hair flowed alongside his back and shoulders. The muscles on his body slightly increased with the armor removed.
"Ahh, it feels much better without that armor. As you can see, this is my true self. You would think I'd be badly burnt, but it's my talent as a higher-level digimon to perfect the heat barrier. Only few have ever accomplished."
"You're a digimon?"
"Naturally, I am a Magmusmon, but I was given the name title Brimstone to separate myself from those weak digimon. I am far above any normal digital being. I never thought I would find any humans with such great power until I met you and those comrades of yours."
"It'll be interesting to test my techniques on you, Brimstone. I just didn't think I would ever need to become Yoko."
"The honor is mine... Now, let's get this over with. I've given you what you've wanted. Now, it's time to return to favor."
"I'm afraid Yoko can only emerge only I need him best. Now, isn't the time. I've nearly perfected my best techniques to defeat you myself."
"Hmph, how disappointing. I was hoping you would reveal Yoko once again. Fine, if you chose to fight me as whom you are now, then so be it. Pharaohmon's watching us. So he expects us to fight to the very end. Either one of us wins or we both end up as co-winners. Either way, you won't make it out of here alive."
"Naturally, I'd say the same."
Brimstone quickly puts up an aura and charges forward. He throws out a flaming fist across the ring, which Kurama was able to dodge. The fox found himself as a wide open and noticed Brimstone towering over him. The armored beast moved so fast that even Kurama couldn't keep up with him.
"Ah, no! Move, Kurama!" Yusuke exclaimed out from the crowd.
"He's not going to make it!" Kuwabara said.
Hiei kept his eye on Brimstone's movements and Kurama's standing position. Suddenly, he saw Kurama quickly vanish from sight.
"Kurama's maneuvers are quite delicate and fast. Even Brimstone was unable to keep up with his movement. You've improved."
"Impressive..."
Brimstone stops in place and doesn't even bother to find out that Kurama was already behind him.
"Are my eyes deceiving or did I just see Kurama move around Brimstone?" Lillymon announced. "I need to have my eyes checked."
"That was quite impressive, Kurama. You moved so fast. I can see you've improved," Brimstone spoke. "But, can you dodge these?!"
With that said, Brimstone fires away a rapid array of fire blasts with one hand. Kurama swiftly moves away from the fire blasts. Suddenly, some of the blasts were directly being aimed for both Calmaramon and Shutumon.
"Ladies! Look out!" Kurama warns the spirit warriors.
"What?! Oh, no! Heads up, Shutumon!"
"ACK!"
Calmaramon ducks under from the blasts before she was roasted into fried calamari. Shutumon maneuvered away from the shots and blew them away with her Hurricane Hail winds. The audience became awe struck once again by the display of maneuvers from the four competitors.
"That was a close one!" Shutumon cried out. "Calmaramon, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but dang-nabit! That creep tried to fry me! What do you say we take out our frustrations out on him?"
"Sounds like a plan to me."
Before either one of the females headed out, Kurama puts a hand out to prevent them from interfering.
"Stay back, ladies. This is my fight."
"No offense, but what could you do to stop him? Shutumon wondered.
"I'll do what I can, but you two need to stay aside. I have no issues with you, but this monster has been anticipating me for a long time."
"Well, ok. But if you end up roast beef, we're going in," Calmaramon said. "Shutumon. In the meantime, we'll finish off where we left off."
"Right! Let's go, girl!"
Kurama shifts his focuses directly back on Brimstone. The red-haired demon fox charges forward and throws out a Rose Whip. The beast catches the rose whip and easily incinerates it with a single grip. Kurama ducks under a throw fist and slides under Brimstone's legs to collect the ashes from his burnt vine whip. He waved his hands over the ashes and blows it across Brimstone's face. He growls angrily once the ashes blinded his eyes. It seemed as though Kurama had planted an object into the ashes.
"What did you just do?!"
"Simply blew ashes to render you blind temporarily."
"Fool... I can still sense your ki and movement vibrations. You still don't have a chance."
"We'll see once you realize the truth behind my strategy."
"Do, tell..."
"Wait patiently and you shall see."
Brimstone had heard enough of Kurama's voice and a blade materialized in his right hand. He phases out and reappears above Kurama. He tosses down the blade and barely manages to nick Kurama. The blade slid past Kurama's face and inflicted a deepening gasp on his right cheek. A drop of blood emerged out of the deep cut. Brimstone quickly picked up on the demon's scent.
"I can smell the blood on you, demon! You can't get past my strong sense of smell."
Another weapon materialized in Brimstone's grip and this time it was an axe hammer pair. He takes the two weapons and tosses one across at Kurama. The fox demon quickly maneuvers from the axe. The flying axe sails across the arena and plows through a wall.
"Brimstone's creating weapons from his bare hands!" Lillymon announced. "I'm loving this action-packed match! You can only find excitement like this only in the tournaments here in Phoenix Arena!"
"Now, this is what I'm talking about!" cheered a group of Minotaurmon.
"These fans are going crazy! Here comes Brimstone and he looks ready to take Kurama's head off!"
With Lillymon continuously announcing, Brimstone slams his axe across and barely manages to cut down Kurama. The fox demon appears behind Brimstone and taps him on the shoulder. The beast turns to find Kurama's hand held out in front of Brimstone's face.
"Ever wondered what I planted in the ashes? Well, you're about to find out."
Suddenly, Brimstone's eyes were swelling and out emerged a pair of flowers through his eyes. He lets out a loud roar and thrashed around.
"What the hell did you just do to my eyes?! Answer me!!"
"I planted seeds through the ashes while germinating water through tiny containers in my hands. The seeds were able to manifest in your eyes and grew quite extraordinarily."
"But, you've rendered me blind!"
"Contrary, you've told me you can still pick up on my vibrations."
"That's right. I don't need eye sight to keep up with my opponent. The training I've taken has helped me to abandon the use of the sense of sight. Your attempts were still futile."
"Well, you learn something new everyday. Brimstone, I've proven that the brain can outwit the brawn. You've proven to be quite the muscle and you were just outmaneuvered with an individual with a superior intellect. What do you say you give up now...? Your cause for Pharaohmon is completely unnecessary. In the end, your services will no longer matter to him."
"I know..."
"Then, why must you continue serving him?"
"Because of Felinismon. She asked for my cooperation. Originally I was against Pharaohmon's cause, but I work for him only to find a challenger that can defeat me. Whether they are superior in strength or intellect, it doesn't matter. Kurama. You've proven to be superior to be in intellect. Though, I am still disappointed I've never had the chance to battle Yoko Kurama in a rematch..."
"Would you really want to in your current state?"
"It doesn't matter..."
"Sorry, but Yoko doesn't wish to come out at this time. My job here is done, Brimstone. Maybe one day, we shall commence. What do you say?"
"I'd like that..."
"Brush up on your skills a little more and we'll meet again."
As Kurama walks away from the wounded Brimstone, Calmaramon and Shutumon took advantage of the situation.
"Now is our chance, Shutumon!" Calmaramon exclaimed. "We can eliminate him before he has a chance to recover!"
"Then, it will be down to three of us!"
Suddenly, Brimstone turns around and makes contact with the charging beast warriors. They first questioned his motives until Brimstone held out his hands.
"Kurama has proven his intellect superiority over me. I've lost this match, but I shall keep my pride. You two have your chance of eliminating me. I know I must train more in hopes of facing Kurama one day."
Kurama stands at a corner of the ring. He gives a nod to Brimstone and smiled.
"Yes..."
"Allow me to start things off!" Calmaramon exclaimed. "SLIDE EVOLUTION! Ranamon!"
The water warrior puts her hands up and creates an array of rain clouds. Her rainwater down poured Brimstone.
"Draining Rain!!"
"Now, allow me to finish things off! Hurricance Hail!"
Shutumon sends out a powerful gust of wind, which sends Brimstone out of the ring. The girls were quite surprised that Brimstone was taken out rather easily. However, Kurama knew better. Brimstone only wanted a fight with Kurama and was defeated rather strangely. The beast was laid outside of the ring. Etemon saw this and immediately started to count him out.
"I'll take the count since Brimstone has been taken out of the ring! One! Two! Three!"
"Brimstone you deliberately allowed yourself to be defeated by those two girls in order to save yourself. I shall keep my word on a rematch. Hopefully, by then, we will be strong enough to contend with each other's power. But today, I've proven to be superior without Yoko. Perhaps, I will need him if I were to face Pharaohmon himself or any of the other digimon."
"Four! Five! Six!"
"Well, that was sure easy," Ranamon said. "Hey, Shutumon! Looks like we can finish our fight since only one of those guys are left."
"Fine, let's settle this! EXECUTE! SLIDE EVOLUTION! Fairymon!"
"Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten!"
Etemon gives a hand signal to officially declare Brimstone to first to be eliminated.
"And what do you know?! In the biggest upset of the evening, the heavily favored Brimstone was just eliminated by the girl pair! However, you can give an assist to Kurama's magnificent plant powers. What an upset!" Lillymon announced. "We're down to three competitors! Fairymon, Ranamon and Kurama! However, it seems the girls are going to finish where they left off and Kurama is staying out of it. Smart strategy by Kurama. Not only is he a cutie but a strategist. Smarts and cuteness all wrapped up into one. I love that in a man!"
"Wow! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Agunimon cheered. "Those girls really have improved!"
"I believe only one of those girls will advance," Omegamon said. "That Kurama fellow is staying out of this catfight. May the best woman win."
"Go Izumi!" Blitzmon exclaimed.
With the male crowd deliberately behind them, Ranamon and Lillymon circled each other like predators. Kurama remained at his exact spot and looked across to find Brimstone sitting up. He gets up and walks off towards the entranceway.
"Brimstone."
"We will meet again. I promise to bring you Yoko again."
"Good, I'll be looking forward to it."
As Brimstone walks out towards the entranceway, Kurama sighs to himself. He shifts his focus on the two ladies. Felinismon looks down at the departing Brimstone.
"Brimstone... So you've finally found your worthy adversary. Good, I'm happy for you."
"Felinismon. Did you just say something?" Jeri asked.
"Just talking to myself. Don't worry about it. It's nothing important."
Meanwhile, back inside the ring, the girls listened as the crowds chanted their names. Ranamon gets the crowd riled up as she blew kisses to them. The same applied for Fairymon.
"Oh, look! They're chanting for my name, honey!"
"I don't think so, Ranamon! These fans love me!"
"We'll just see who the better woman is now, won't we?! Let's settle this the old fashioned way!"
"You got it, sugah!" Fairymon mocked the water warrior.
As soon as they finished insulting each other, the female warriors charged against each other. Fairymon attempts a spinning kick to take Ranamon down. But, the Warrior of Water managed to bend back to avoid contact with the kick. Ranamon flipped backwards. Fairymon throws her hands forward to unleash a tornado-like attack to knock Ranamon off her feet.
"Hurricane Wave!!"
As Fairymon throws another, Ranamon slides away from where laying position. She leaps up and dives towards Fairymon's legs. Ranamon knocks Fairymon off her feet with a leg sweep.
"These two ladies just won't keep their hands off each other!" Lillymon announced. "By the way, I'm picking up a report from my good colleague, Floramon, that Mai Valentine is back on her feet and ready to continue the duel. It's a good thing she didn't forfeit or we'd be greatly disappointed."
This sprung good news amongst Yugi's crew and the Tamers. Now their two friends would have the chance to finish the duel.
"Good! Mai's still willing to continue!" Joey said. "I knew Mai would find the courage to!"
"Just don't lose hope," replied Yugi. "I told you."
"Now we'll get a decisive winner," Takato stated. "But with only 350 life points, how can she hope to win?"
"Just and wait and see, I nearly lost a match after losing to Ryo. She'll pull through. Wait and see..."
With all spectators looking towards the big screen, Ranamon was slightly distracted. She saw Henry on the big screen ready to finish his duel with Mai.
"C'mon, bro. You're close to victory as I am. We're so close."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Digital World Section 89-2A. Hydropolis
"We're back with more live coverage of the third round duel between Mai Valentine and Henry Wong!" Floramon announced. "Mai is back on her feet to complete the duel. With only 350 life points, what can she hope to do to turn this whole match around? We'll have to see and find out. Back to the match itself!"
Mai was back on her feet with her 'game face' back on. She had quite a turn around after a spiritual advice of each of her new friends encouraged her to continue on, including one from Joey Wheeler himself.
"Thanks again for being a friend, Joey. If you're crying about me now, then think again. I'm turning his match back to my favor. Henry, you better have some lucky charms because your luck is about to run out, kiddo."
"So, are you still willing to continue?"
"More than willing, Henry. I promise that I'll be turning this duel back around. Now, it's my move!"
With that said, the female duelist drew a card from her deck and added it to her hand. A smile crept across her face as she drew a card she was hoping to draw.
"So, why the smile? Did you get something worthwhile for once?"
"You better be ready to weep because I just drew Monster Reborn! Guess which monster I'll be using?"
"Oh wow. Maybe another Harpie?"
"Sorry, kiddo, but wrong answer. Let's just see who's behind door number one! I'm special summoning your own Curse of Dragon!"
"What?!"
"That's right and he's coming back in attack position!"
With that said, the Monster Reborn card activates and emerging from out of Mai's side was Henry's own Curse of Dragon.
"Now my Curse of Dragon! Attack his Fairy Dragon!"
The Curse of Dragon shoots out a fire blast and incinerates the Fairy Dragon in the process. Henry looked on as his life points dropped 400 points. However, he merely shrugged his shoulders.
"I only lost 400 of my life points. So what?"
Henry
Life points: 5800
"My turn ends, but the fray is still coming your way."
"That's what you think. I'll draw a card to my hand. Then, I'll set my Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2 in defense mode. That ends my turn."
"Is that all? Geez, you call me desperate? You're now the one whose about to scurry away like a rat. My move..."
Once Mai drew a card to add to her hand, she gives a nod to her newly acquired Curse of Dragon.
"Curse of Dragon attack his Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2!"
Following her command, the Curse of Dragon fires another devastating blast to completely wipe out Henry's Winged Dragon. Since it was in defense mode, no damage was inflicted on Henry's life points.
"My life points weren't affected. What are you trying to prove? I'm close to winning this duel."
"That's a rookie frame of mind and I'm going to take advantage of your senseless mistakes, kid. You know you're reminding me of himself when I was a stupid, rookie duelist. Eventually, I grew and become one of the world's greatest duelists. Maybe one day, if you continue dueling, you'll understand what I'm telling you now. You'll take it to account. Trust me I know you will."
"You think so...?"
"Why not? Now, let's continue our duel."
"It's my move, Mai. I draw a card and place a card facedown in defense mode! That ends my turn."
"Is that all...? Wow, Henry. You're not trying your hardest. Looks like fate is turning back to my side now. Sorry, kiddo, but it's my move now."
After drawing a new card to her hand, Mai sends out her Curse of Dragon to attack Henry's facedown defense card. It was soon revealed as a knight with black and silver armor. The knight also has a blade across his forearm. It was Gearfried the Iron Knight, a favorite of Joey Wheeler. The monster was instantly wiped out. But like the Winged Dragon before it, it was in defense mode and didn't take any damage of Henry's life points.
Gearfried the Iron Knight
1800/1600/4 stars
"Ok, you still haven't taken a chunk of my life points. What are you trying to prove?"
"Patience is a great virtue, Henry. Learn to use it."
"Since you've ended your turn, I make my move. I'll add another card to my hand and discard one extra from out of my hand to the graveyard. That ends my turn."
"No monsters to protect you? You should have used the turn to protect yourself. Another rookie mistake, which I'll gladly correct. Curse of Dragon attack his life points directly!"
The dragon immediately launches a fiery blast towards Henry's direction and takes a chunk out of his former master's life points.
"Ugh! My life points are still a little higher though."
Henry
Life points: 3800
"You keep telling yourself that, kid. I end my turn."
"Fine, I'll draw another card and set one card facedown in defense mode!"
"Ok, you really are trying to drag this out, Henry. But you're playing smart... For now at least."
"I end my turn, Mai."
"Wow, like I haven't figured that out already."
Mai quickly draws a card to his hand and examines her current hand. She summons forth a monster onto the field. Now standing before Mai was a blue and green armadillo with a red gem on its forehead.
"I summon the Prevent Rat!"
Prevent Rat
500/2000/4 star
"Next, I'm sending my Curse of Dragon to attack your facedown card."
Once again, the Curse of Dragon launches an attack on Henry's facedown card. It was exposed as another monster card. This time it was another Koumori Dragon.
"How does it feel being whipped by your own monster? By the way, my turn isn't finished."
"What?"
"That's right. Now, my Prevent Rat! Attack Henry's life points directly!"
Prevent Rat launches itself forward and slams itself into Henry's gut. The boy was sent skidding back while clutching his throbbing gut. He felt tremendous pain from the impact and it also cost him more life points in the process.
Henry
Life points: 3300
"Not so all mighty and powerful, huh? My turn ends there," Mai said.
"No! I have nothing else worthwhile in my hand anymore?! Could Mai be right? Was I simply delaying the inevitable?! I nearly had her when her life points plummeted to 350 and now she's making a comeback! There's nothing else I can do now..."
Henry draws a card and adds it to his deck. He discarded an extra and sends it from his hand to the graveyard. He knew that he had no more powerful cards currently at his disposal. Now, he was wide open for attack and a big target for Mai's monsters.
"I end my turn, Mai..."
Once Mai drew a card from her deck and added it to her hand, she gives a nod towards Henry.
"Henry. I'm sorry, kid, but it's end of the line for you. Your momentum ends here. Now, I summon my Skull Red Bird in attack mode!"
Once the bird was summoned, Henry found himself without any monsters or traps to protect him. All three monsters set their sights on Henry's life points.
"Henry, you gave me a good duel, but it all ends here. You're one of the few to really push me to my limits. I just hope you take the route of a great duelist, but for now you're just another casualty of my wrath. Now my three monsters! Attack at once and destroy the rest of his life points! Skull Red Bird! Prevent Rat! Curse of Dragon! Now!"
As each monster launched their attacks, Henry was caught in their immense combined blast. Their combined attack was 4550 points in total and this spelt the end for Henry. He screamed out once the blast made contact with him and destroyed all of his remaining life points. Once the life points dropped to zero, Henry fell to his knees and was catching his breath. He nearly clenched victory but never managed to capitalize on the chance.
"Henry. I hope you've learned your lesson. It was a rookie mistake for not seizing on the opportunity to destroy my last remaining life points. I took advantage. But you gave me a run for my money. Until then, brush up on your skills, kid."
"Yeah... That was one heck of a duel..."
"Just don't think you're all high and mighty because you nearly beat the great Mai Valentine. Comprende?"
"Sure..."
"Ladies and gents, we have now declared the winner of the third duel match! Making one of the greatest comebacks, Mai Valentine rebounds! She's your winner!" Floramon announced to the camera.
"Wow, that was a great duel! Henry almost won!" Divermon cried. "Oh, Henry! You should have won, but we're still proud!"
"They friends of yours?" Mai asked.
"Heh. Yeah. It's a long story."
"The boy has some interesting pairs of friends. I should open myself more to others."
"Mai. Henry. We're getting ready to be transported back to the arena," Floramon as she introduced them to the doorway.
"Ready to get back to see your friends, Henry?"
"Let's get back. I wonder what's happening in that battle royale match? I have to see if Ranamon's hanging in there."
"Last I heard. She's still in there with Fairymon and Kurama."
"What happened to that Brimstone guy?! I remember he beat the pants off of us!" Henry exclaimed.
"He was the first eliminated," Floramon said. "Those three took him out but it was all done by that cutie Kurama."
"Incredible! I can't believe they took out Brimstone. However, I still need to be convinced if Ranamon is really my sister... Jaarin."
"Shall we get going to watch the match?" Flora asked.
"Let's go."
Mai and Henry made their way through the doorway to be transported back into the virtual dome. Floramon waves out before entering through the doorway to follow them out.
"Ranamon. Here I come."
"Now that I've won, who will be next? Yugi? Kaiba? Another one of Henry's friends? Or even Joey?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix Arena
In a matter of moments, Mai and Henry found themselves back within the duel dome. Floramon had given the signal to the arena staff to lower the dome from the ceiling. Awaiting them away from the battle ring area were the Duelists and the Tamers. Both sides were proud of the efforts put up by both Mai and Henry.
"Your friends look pretty proud for your efforts."
"The same can go for your friends."
Suddenly, Henry turned to notice the battle royale match currently taking place. He watched as Ranamon was washing away Fairymon with another of her Draining Rain techniques.
"Ranamon..."
Once the dome finally stopped, the doorways opened for the duelists to emerge. The Tamers and Duelists went over to praise them both.
"Wow, that was just awesome, Mai! You really turned things around!" Joey praised the female.
"All I needed was a little wake-up call and I'm back on my feet. That kid's impressive, but needs a little more work."
"Congratulations on your victory, Mai," Yugi said.
"Henwy! Aw, you almost won!" Suzie exclaimed.
"Man, if you had won, we would have been on a streak for our side," Takato stated. "But, hey, great effort."
"Thank you, Takato. Really, Mai is right. I need a little work on my deck."
"I knew she would turn things around," Rika said.
"By the way, in case you didn't notice, but that Brimstone guy was eliminated first," Himura reminded Henry.
"I know and I was surprised as you are. That Floramon told me everything. Those spirit warriors really are at a whole different level."
"Speaking of which, we got ourselves a big catfight in the ring," Guilmon said.
"And that Kurama fellow is playing it smart," Kazu said. "I don't blame him. Let the girls fight!"
"Fight! I put ten yen on the chick with the butterfly wings!" Kenta chuckled.
"Twenty yen on the water babe," said Tristan.
"Ugh, this is not a gambling show," Tea sighed.
"Thirty yen on both!" Guardromon said with glee.
"Ranamon... I lost my match, but let's see if you can win yours. You seem to be on the winning track, but like myself don't get too overconfident. That's what eventually cost me the match. Also, I need to be convinced if you really are who I think you are..."
Back inside the ring, Ranamon kept going on the offensive on Fairymon. She maintained her rain clouds to slow Fairymon in the process.
"What's the matter, Fairymon? Can't take the pressure?!"
"No, but I will get out of this predicament! Don't underestimate me, Ranamon!"
"I'm going to advance to the next round, honey! Be sure to come up with some really good cheers while I kick some butt in my next match."
"In... your... dreams!"
With that said, Fairymon felt a new surge of power building up inside of her. The muscles in her body tensed and she became energized with newly gained energy. Ranamon gasped as her adversary started pushing back through her water assault. Fairymon was at last gaining her second wind and preparing to return the favor to the water warrior.
"What?! She went through my water assault?! How can this..."
"Don't overlook me just because I'm a younger kid! I am Fairymon, the Warrior of the Winds!"
Ranamon started walking back once she noticed Fairymon's form being enveloped in a bright aura. The audience looks on with awe at the sudden power-up display by Fairymon. The water warrior wasn't prepared to be intimidated by the younger girl and leaps up to attack.
"Get ready! I'm going to end this now!"
However, just before Ranamon can deliver a flying kick, the aura from Fairymon pushed her away. Fairymon flies forward and delivers an array of vicious kicks. Each blow made their mark on Ranamon. She felt her spirit power weakening.
"Now to top things off!" Fairymon cried out. "Hurricane Wave!!"
"Oh, no!!"
The warrior of wind sends a powerful tornado-like attack. This in turn caught Ranamon and sent her plummeting out of the ring. The Warrior of Water was left sprawled on the ground underneath a pile of rubble.
"No! Ranamon!" Henry cried out from amongst the group.
"Henwy? What's the matter? Do you know her?" Suzie wondered.
"What a maneuver by Fairymon!" Lillymon announced. "She has sent Ranamon plummeting out of the ring! Etemon will proceed to start the count. If she doesn't make it back in before ten, then Fairymon and Kurama will advance to the next round."
As Etemon walked across to where Ranamon lied, he quickly started to count. Fairymon lands at the ring center to catch her breath while Kurama remained standing at a ring corner patiently.
"Ranamon's out of the ring! I'll start the count! One! Two! Three! Four! Five!"
Suddenly, Ranamon was displaying a little life. Her arms started to move around as she started to slowly pull herself up. She caught glimpse of two familiar figures from across the ring. Her vision was blurry until the figures were being revealed as Henry and Suzie. Her younger siblings have come to watch her match and she couldn't be anymore happier.
"Henry... Suzie... I'm glad you came to see my match... Although, I just lost my match... I guess we don't gain any awards for our efforts, Henry... Oh well, at least we gave it our best..."
"Six! Seven!"
Ranamon crawls across the ground to reach out to her brother and sister. Eventually, her body gave out and her arms dropped to the ground. She lets out a deep sigh and lies almost in an unconscious state.
"Eight! Nine!"
Just before Etemon made the final count, Ranamon's form becomes digitized and her true human identity was eventually revealed for all to see. Every digimon gasped at the very sight of Jaarin Wong. However, it was Henry and Suzie who were shocked beyond comprehension.
"Ten! Ranamon's been out past the ten count! Your winners of battle royale #3 are Fairymon and Kurama!"
"Big... sister Jaarin?!" Suzie gasped. "It's big sister, Henwy!"
"I knew Ranamon's scent was familiar," Lopmon said. "Who would have thought?"
"Jaarin!!" Henry cries out.
"Hey, look! It's Henry's sister!" Takato exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that Henry's sister is a legendary warrior?!"
"You learn something new everyday," Rika replied. "Renamon, did you..."
"Yes, but I didn't think you would believe me."
"This is crazy."
"Henry! Hold on!" Takato calls out.
It was too late to even reason with Henry. The boy runs across and kneels by Jaarin's near unconscious form.
"Jaarin! Can you hear me?!"
She opened her eyes to find Henry looming over. Following behind him were Suzie and Lopmon.
"Henry? Suzie? Lopmon? Oh, it's good to see you three again."
"Jaarin! What are you doing here?!"
"To see you, silly. I've wanted to see this Digital World I never had the chance to see. It's such a magnificent place... Uh, ow... My back."
"We'll get you to the infirmary to get treated."
"I'll be fine..."
"But you're hurt."
"Suzie."
"Big sister! You were great out there!"
"Aw, thank you. So, what do you think, Henry? I can digivolve into a digimon. Now, you have more than just Terriermon to protect you."
"Jaarin..."
"I remember the argument mother and father had when you and Suzie went into the Digital World... They were crying and I was helpless to do anything. Big brother and I couldn't do anything at that time... When I was offered a chance to take the spirit of Ranamon, I jumped at the opportunity to fight alongside you and Suzie..."
"Big sister...? You didn't have to..."
"No, Suzie... It was my choice. I can't always resort to hiding at the signs of danger. So, what do you think, Henry? Me fighting alongside Terriermon and Lopmon..."
"...I'm... What we are doing is dangerous."
"I know... I saw what happened to Terriermon. Henry, I promise we will restore him to his silly ol' self."
"I hope so."
"Believe... Now, you think you can give me a hand?"
"Sure..."
"Allow me to help," Fairymon said as she approached the Wong family.
"Oh, how pwetty," Suzie said with glee.
"Don't worry, guys. She's a friend," Jaarin chuckled.
"Your sister is brave," Fairymon said to Henry. "You should be glad to have someone like her to protect you and your little sister."
"I'll give you a hand. Jaarin, what hurts?"
"Just my back. Fairymon... Make sure not to go crazy with your wind powers."
"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself."
"Uh huh. By the way, Henry, that was some sharp dueling until the end."
"Thanks."
"We gave it our best. That's all that matters."
"My big sister is a digimon, too! I have three digimon to protect me!" Suzie giggled.
"Boy, she's really going to be showing off from this day forward," Lopmon sighed.
"That's not going to be the end of it," Henry laughed.
"Henry..."
"Yes, Jaarin?"
"It's time we get the spirit warriors and Tamers to unite. Whatever differences we'll eventually develop, we will need to put them aside. Pharaohmon's power is growing even during this event. We must do everything we can to stop him."
"Right, but let's get you some help first. Ok?"
"Deal."
As Fairymon and the Wong family left for the infirmary, the Tamers were left surprised by the sudden turn of events. It was shocking to find out that Jaarin Wong was the possessor of Ranamon's spirit.
"Well, that was sure unexpected," Takato said. "Guilmon. Looks like the spirit warriors are becoming closer allies as we speak."
"No doubt about it."
"I would assume it would be safe to trust them," Renamon replied. "After all, we have a common enemy. I wonder if Anubimon knows if we should align with the warriors."
"We'll never know until he tells us," said Rika.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We shall be taking a short intermission break before the start of the next matches," Lillymon announced. "In the meantime, be sure to go to the snack bars for our delicate Digi-Squid on a Stick and our popular Frigimon frozen drinks! I know I'm going straight for the snack bar! Until then, it's intermission time!"
Elsewhere, Kurama already departed from the ring and found his group waiting at the entranceway.
"Way to go, Kurama! That was some stunt you pulled!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "But did it have to be in the eyes?"
"So, you didn't give in and produce Yoko?" Hiei asked. "What were you thinking?"
"Brimstone is quite an enigmatic fellow. There's more to him than just a bulky, monstrous exterior. Inside is a man with honor and pride. I couldn't lower myself to kill a man who asked kindly."
"Asked kindly? That looked more like he was ready to take your head off and use it as a trophy," Yusuke said.
"Naturally, he would go for the kill. I managed to overwhelm him with strategy and one whole week was all I needed to prepare. However, what he wanted was a one on one encounter. Those two ladies were interfering with our fight and threw us for a loop. Eventually, we came to agreement to settle our differences on a later day."
"When you do exactly think will be the time to settle your differences?" Botan asked.
"Perhaps later today, tomorrow or even in a few years. We will eventually meet."
"I wouldn't exactly call fighting a blind guy fair. No offense, Kurama," Kuwabara said.
"No need to worry. His body structure is different from a human biology. These digimon have special capabilities that far surpass any normal human. He can read energy just like we can."
"Uh, I don't know about you but my stomach is about to explode," Botan grumbled. "The snack bar is calling out my name!"
"Gee, I wonder if they serve chili dogs or maybe some rice patties."
"Why don't you use your head and check the snack bars, fool?!" Hiei grunted.
"Um, yeah. I was going to do that, Hiei. Geez, you don't have to insult me every time I open my mouth," Kuwabara sighed.
"Ok, children, that's enough," Yusuke chuckled.
"I'm surrounded by fools," Hiei thought.
As Yusuke and his group headed down the hallways, Kurama caught glimpse of Brimstone emerging out of the shadows. The fox demon makes eye contact with the armorless beast.
"What do you say we settle things tomorrow, Kurama?"
"If I happen to lose in the next round, then gladly..."
"If you happen to lose your match, then meet me outside the arena. I will be out training for the rest of the day and I will await you. We'll finally settle our differences and prove which of us is superior."
"It's a done deal... See you then."
Kurama walks away calmly to rejoin his group. They were set to search around every snack bar to pick out the food needed to keep their hunger in check. After all, they left the real world without a decent breakfast and all that time would have taken a toll on their stomachs. This was especially true for Kuwabara and Botan.
The Spirit Detectives weren't the only ones ready to raid the snack bars. Impmon had just snuck a handful of cinnamon buns from out of a pastry bar. He takes a small handful and stuffs them down his mouth.
"Ah! I miss the old digi-cinnamon buns! I've got to get my fills in before my big fight! Can't fight at my hardest on an empty stomach!"
"Hey, Impmon! Culu! Culu!"
"Oh boy..."
The imp digimon turned around to find the white-pastry colored Calumon smiling innocently.
"Can I have one? I haven't eaten all day!"
"Neither have I! I'm the one who has a match and I need my fills to fight at my hardest!"
"Pretty, please?"
"Ugh..."
"PLEASE?!"
"Ah, all right! Here, you go, cream puff!"
Impmon handed Calumon a small handful. Like the hungry little rookie, he swallowed the buns down nearly whole.
"Hey, don't smack your food! That's nasty. Now, let's get out of here before these nosey shop owners decide to lock us away for stealing!"
"You stole these?!"
Impmon fidgeted and placed a hand over Calumon's mouth to prevent him from speaking out.
"Man, I knew I should have tied you down! Let's get going!"
"Mmph! Mmph!"
With that said, Impmon puts Calumon on his back and takes off out of sight. It was a good thing they left quickly since security was on their way to begin their daily routine of guarding the premises.
"Why do I always have to baby sit the creampuff?!"
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Inside a locker room within the arena
There was a television set in place on a table. A bowl of pretzels was being eaten by the marine demon. Marine Devimon was watching a program on the television while taking a handful of delicious pretzels. Just then, Skull Satanmon entered the room and quirked an eyebrow at what his partner was doing.
"Man, wasn't that chick hot?" Marine Devimon asked.
"Oh, yeah. That bird woman was sure fine. Yeah, I'd like to go out with that Shutumon any day if she weren't such a goody-goody."
"No! Not her! That Calmaramon chick was the hottie I was talking about."
"What her?! That's unexpected."
"What? We have different tastes. Everyone loves Shutumon, but no one gives Calmaramon the love!"
"Well, duh! You two are basically marine digimon! You would be made for each other! But, it's too bad she's actually a human."
"Who cares?! So is Shutumon! I'd still ask Calmaramon on a date!"
"Dating with the enemy? Man, wait till I tell everyone about this."
"Go ahead. I don't care. Besides I admit I don't care for Ranamon, but Calmaramon is my dream digi-lady. She's even hotter than both Kuzuhamon and Lady Devimon!"
As soon as he said that, the two ladies came busting through the door. Skull Satanmon turned around and immediately moved away from the ladies' wrath. Kuzuhamon and Lady Devimon both possessed looks that would kill. Marine Devimon turns around and gets melted by both ladies' fists.
"What did you just say?!" hissed Lady Devimon. "How dare you say that wench has more beauty than us?!"
"We're definitely sexier than those two brats!" Kuzuhamon snapped. "If you ever say that again, we're going to send you back to the Dark Area!"
Skull Satanmon sneaks across and looks down at his fallen comrade. The marine demon was seeing nothing but stars.
"Well, Marine Devimon. I hope you learned your lesson. Don't insult the beauty of our two loveliest ladies of the Dark Area."
"Better believe it, bones," muttered Lady Devimon.
"Mommy? Can I have my ice cream?" Marine Devimon blabbered on despite his near unconscious state.
"Oh, I'll give you your ice cream, pal," Kuzuhamon growled.
Skull Satanmon whistled to himself as he started walking out the door. He closes the door behind him and lets out a deep sigh.
"Women. I'll never understand them."
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Pharaohmon's Skybox
The third match didn't turn out well for Pharaohmon's side. Kurama and the two spirit warriors defeated one of his efficient elite. As usual, Pharaohmon remained calm despite the heavy loss from Brimstone. Nemesis enters the room with more glasses of wine.
"My lord. I'm sure you know Brimstone has left the arena."
"He threw the match on his own accord to fight Kurama outside of the tournament."
"But that chalks up as a loss for our side, my lord."
"It makes no difference. Like Bakura, he was expendable. At least we know Marine Devimon and Basilikmon will advance. Have you managed to speak with Brimstone?"
"He's not responding to my calls."
"It's best we leave him. He'll personally deal with Kurama his own way."
"So, do we know what the next of matches will be?" Nemesis asked.
"Yes, but in the meantime, we will wait during this intermission. Plus, there's another concern in the matter. The Senshi are out looking for the sword of the Digital Priestess."
"The Scrabmon ought to take care of those pests."
"They will not be enough. Right now, I will require the assistance of an old loyal servant of my most powerful armies. Scorpionus the Fourteenth."
"Scorpionus?"
"He was amongst my greatest elite generals and the last before the Digital Priestess sealed us away into dormancy. With my dark powers greatly revived, Scorpionus shall be revived to do my bidding while I take part in the tournament."
"Brilliant idea, Lord Pharaohmon."
"Now, Scorpionus!"
Pharaohmon began chanting in a dark, satanic language, which was the exact spell to revive the great Scorpion general. The ancient language was even foreign to Nemesis. The dark lord's hands became coated with mystical, purple energy and he sends it out through the skybox roof directly out into the Digital World itself. Pharaohmon sends the beam across towards the vast desert regions miles from where the Sailor Senshi were battling.
"By my command of your dark lord, Scorpionus awake from your dormancy! Bring forth the destruction of our new enemies, the Sailor Senshi! Bring me victory, my greatest general! For with my power flowing through your body, you shall crush these insects! Arise, Scorpionus!"
Across the vast desert regions of the Digital World
Pharaohmon's magic found the exact spot where Scorpionus' tomb was buried. The magical beam shot down through the sands and pulled a large tomb nearly the size of a bulldozer. The tomb's lid came flying off, which forced a massive creature to emerge. The monster has a large pair of pinchers at the front and a pair of five legs at each side of its body. Golden-armor covered large portions of its exoskeleton. A pair of eyes opened up to reveal blood-red irises. The scorpion monster roars out and blows apart the tomb. Attached on it's back was a long tail with a massive stinger on it's tip. The tail was just as large as an anaconda's body.
"At last, I, Scorpionus, have been awakened from my slumber! But who would revive thy?!"
"It's good to see you have finally awakened. It was I who revived you."
"Lord Pharaohmon? Is that really you, but I thought you were stuck in dormancy?"
"A series of unfortunate events have awakened me from my tomb. I wasn't expected to be revived for another thousand millennia but I've been revived and back in my old body. But, let's move on with more important matters. There are a group of females who have been a thorn in my side. I ask of you to exterminate them."
"Me help you? Shouldn't you be able to handle such a simple task?"
"Yes, but I am hosting an event to prove my superiority over other enemies. Since I have my hands full, I ask of you to wipe these pathetic Sailor Senshi out."
"I see. So, they're humans? It would be an honor to carry out your orders, my lord. My Scorpionites and I will not let you down. We shall spread human blood across the sands of the Digital World."
"It's good to have you fighting on my side again, Scorpionus. I take it you will proceed?"
"Yes, please leave them to me."
"I bid you farewell. Do not fail me."
"Yes, my lord."
Once Pharaohmon discontinued his message, Scorpionus stepped across the sands and uses his own dark magic to summon forth an army of miniature versions of himself, but these scorpion warriors were built like ordinary humans. They were well protected by body armor and carried swords in their right hands. Each one also carried orbs around their necks, which are orbs that contain their own life energy.
"My Scorpionites! We enter another battle after our long dormancy. I can pick up on the scent of the enemies we are hired to kill. Let us hunt down these humans and spread their blood across the sands. Let us make Lord Pharaohmon, proud!"
The Scorpionites let out a battle cry and set off across the sandy landscape. Scorpionus led his army across to follow the scent of the Sailor Senshi. From there, they would replace the Scrabmon and pick up where they left off.
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Elsewhere within the desolate desert land
The Sailor Senshi were quickly putting up a tremendous offensive assault on the Scrabmon. Once remembering about their weak spots, the Senshi used their attacks to target the insects' emeralds to destroy them.
Sailor Mercury leaps into the air and directly blasts away at an incoming Scrabmon.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
The Scrabmon lets out a scream before its body exploded into a shroud of data. Sailor Pluto swung her garnet rod and slams it against another Scrabmon. As another came emerging out of the sand, Pluto prepares an attack to completely vaporize it.
"Dead Scream!"
"Silence Glaive!"
Sailor Saturn slices through a Scrabmon pair using the tip blade of her glaive weapon. Meanwhile, Rei threw out more of her anti-evil seals to keep more Scrabmon at bay. Makoto charges forward and uses some of her martial arts to take down the paralyzed enemies.
"Those spells do come in handy!" Minako exclaimed. "Here I go!"
Minako leaps forward and executes a dropkick to a sealed Scrabmon. Artemis was smart enough to hide inside of Cammy's backpack.
"Oh, there's too many of them!" Cammy screamed. "Artemis, you doing all right in there, Artemis?"
"Ack, we're moving around too much. I'm get motion sickness whenever I'm inside a bag..."
Suddenly, a Scrabmon pops right out of the sand and stands behind Cammy. The girl turns and screams as soon as she made eye contact with the insect. Rei quickly responded to her sibling's cries and moves out to save her.
"Cammy! Hang on!"
"Rei! Hurry!"
"Digital Priestess! Your blood shall be on my hands," the Scrabmon screeched. "Lord Pharaohmon shall reward me! Say goodbye!"
As the monster raised its claws, Cammy closed her eyes. She watched as her life flashed before her eyes, which was an indication that her fate has been sealed. Rei screamed out but was too far off to save her sister.
"CAMMY!!"
Suddenly, the Scrabmon's chest exploded from a blast penetrating through its armor. The insect's corpse fell before exploding into data. Cammy looks up to find the source of the blast. There was a trio of figures landing down onto the battlefield. The Sailor Senshi stopped immediately to gaze on the three mysterious warriors. The trio was revealed to be Mercuremon, Arbormon and Grottomon.
"Thank you! Whoever you are!" Cammy calls out to the trio.
"Wait a second, those guys look familiar," Rei muttered. "Could these guys actually know Agunimon?"
"You are correct," Mercuremon answered.
"We actually know more than just Agunimon," Grottomon said. "We're legendary warriors, too."
"By the way, I was the one who saved you, kid," Arbormon told Cammy. "You ought to thank me."
"Actually, we'd all like to express our gratitude," Sailor Mercury said. "Had Cammy been done in, our mission would have been a waste."
"Yes, thank you very much!" Cammy said with glee.
"It's not a problem, ladies," Grottomon said. "We're just glad we could find you sooner."
"I hear you're searching for the sword of some digital priestess," Arbormon said. "Please, allow us to come and assist you. There's no telling whether those insects will attack again."
"Well, they have been hunting us down since we came here," Makoto said. "I take it you guys are familiar with this place?"
"Well, actually no. This is also our first time," Mercuremon said. "Though we shall assist you in anyway we can."
"How do you aren't just assisting us just to steal the sword for yourselves?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"We give you our word," replied Arbormon.
"Can we really trust these guys? I'm not too sure about this. They could actually be working for Pharaohmon..." Rei thought with suspicion.
"I have no problem with it," Mercury spoke.
"Sailor Mercury, you can be too trustworthy," sighed Minako.
"I agree with Mercury," Pluto said. "However, we must further discuss this in a more negotiable manner. What do you guy, warriors?"
The trio huddled together to discuss their offer for negotiation.
"We should consider it," Grottomon said. "What do you think, Mercuremon?"
"Negotiation is not out of the question."
"You think this is wise, Pluto?" Rei asked.
"I think it is. We have to earn each other's trust. If they are friends of Agunimon, then we should definitely put trust into them."
"Pluto, for our sake, I hope we're making the right decision."
For the time being, the two sides would need to consider a negotiation before setting off to find the sword. They only had a day and a half to find it before the tournament event concludes. However, they would have to endure a tough obstacle coming in their direction. Scorpionus and his army were heading their way to find the Sailor Senshi. The search for the sword will eventually spill into an all-out conflict.
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Infirmary room
Back in the infirmary room, the statues of Rapidmon and Dai Penmon remained in intact. There were other patients being treated. Among these patients were Jaarin Wong and the unconscious Bakura.
Yugi and Tea were inside the room to check on Bakura's status. Lately, the boy remained in the unconscious much like he did during most of Battle City. Fortunately, his condition was not critical. Yugi was very relieved when the doctors informed him.
"Wow, its a good thing Bakura's condition is not too critical," said Tea.
"I know, but the rest they can do is make sure Bakura gets plenty of rest."
"Yeah. C'mon, Yugi. I hear the intermission is going to end. We'll see who's going to be up to duel next."
Yugi gives a nod to Tea and looks back at Bakura.
"Get better soon, Bakura. We're counting on you to defeat that evil spirit. Come back to us."
As the pair left the infirmary, Bakura slowly started to come about and moved his lips. His eyes slowly opened up and he utters a sinister chuckle. The dark half was still completely taking over the boy.
"Ha! Foolish, Yugi. Have you completely forgotten? I left a portion of my evil essence within your Millennium Puzzle. Don't think our conflict is over, because it's far from ever being resolved. I'm closer than you think. Yugi, I shall torment you like never before... Ha. Ha. Ha."
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Deep within the arena
Down within the ground level of the arena, Inumon smashed his fists against a wall. He cursed to himself over the situation with Basilikmon. He blamed himself for Chakkoumon and Terriermon being turned into statues by the snake's dark magic.
"Damn it! How could I let him?! I'm such an idiot! I should have killed him when I had the chance! What are the chances of me ever facing him in the next round? Slim to none! What if one of those legendary warriors face Basilikmon? Of worse, what if Renamon has to fight him? I'm solely responsible for this..."
"Inumon. You know there's no use in beating yourself up like this," Seadramon's voice hissed through the shadows.
"Seadramon. Don't sneak up on me like that."
"My apologies buddy."
"What is it you want, Seadramon? I need some time alone."
"To pound on the wall? C'mon, you know as well as I do that you shouldn't be beating yourself up like this. It's not healthy, plus you heard Anubimon. This is not your fault. Everything that has occurred isn't your fault. Don't worry we will save those two from Basilikmon's spell."
"I hope so. But, what about Kotori? I'll never forgive what that snake has done to your friend."
"Kotori would rather want you to move on with life. I've already told myself that. If you happen to go against Basilikmon in the next round, then it's your chance to finally avenge her"
"I know, but what if I don't get chosen? What if Renamon ends up facing him? I don't want to lose anyone else!"
Seadramon slivers up to Inumon and delivers a painful slap with his tail. The dark canine was in shock over what the snake had just done. However, that was exactly what he needed to 'wake up' from his depression.
"Wake up, Inumon! Have faith! Believe that you'll be the one that faces Basilikmon in the next round! If you give up on faith, you give up on Kotori. You'll give up on Himura and on me. Please, you don't want to give up on us."
Seadramon lowered his head with tears dropping from his eyes. The canine sympathized with his long-term friend.
"Seadramon... You're right. There's no way I can give up. Not especially as far as we've gone. We're here to destroy Basilikmon and rescue Yui. Pharaohmon must pay for his crimes! I haven't lost faith, Seadramon. In fact, once I kill Basilikmon, then Pharaohmon is next on my hit list!"
"Well, I wouldn't..."
"No, I'll go to all lengths just to get positioned into a match with him. He was the one who turned Yui into that monster. Once I defeat Pharaohmon, I'll save the two worlds in the process!"
"Inumon... Yes, believe. Maintain that passion and fire. That's the old Inumon I eventually befriended."
"Shall we get going, Seadramon?"
"Yes! Oh by the way, I forgot to mention..."
"What is it?"
"Um, well..."
Seadramon crawled up to Inumon's ear and whispered softly. Within a matter of moments, the canine lets out a horrifying cry.
"WHAT?! YOU MEAN WITCHMON IS COMING?!"
"Uh, yeah. Our old friend..."
"Oh, boy... She's not an enemy but she's definitely been a troublemaker. How did she know we would be here?"
"Um, word of mouth. She found out about the tournament through Lord Anubimon."
"Oh, no... If there's any one word to describe Witchmon, 'disaster' is one of them. Come on. Let's get back to the others."
"Right."
As the pair left the premises, Lillymon's voice immediately rang out across the speakers throughout the arena.
"Ladies and gents! May I have your attention, please?! The next set of matches will commence shortly! For our duel tournament, Seto Kaiba will duel with Jeri Katou. The battle royale will consist of Loweemon, Duskmon, Piedmon and Wolfmon! All competitors I have announced report to the arena stage! I repeat! Report to the arena stadium!"
"Well, it's show time," said Inumon.
The third round matches have concluded. Mai joins Takato and Yugi in the elite tournament. Kurama and Fairymon advance to take part in the sixteen-warrior tournament. Brimstone has departed hoping for a rematch with the fox demon. Ranamon has finally revealed herself as Jaarin Wong. Henry and Suzie are shocked by Jaarin's decision to become the warrior of water, but have accepted her to help their cause. The fourth round matches are set. Seto Kaiba will duel with Jeri Katou. Can Jeri withstand the might of Kaiba's wrath? Loweemon and Wolfmon will be next to take part in the next battle royale match. Their other opponents are Piedmon and a revived Duskmon. Will Loweemon manage to battle his former dark self, Duskmon? The Sailor Senshi must make amends with Arbormon and his team before Scorpionus arrives with his army? The saga continues...
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(Preview)
Tai: Hi, everyone! Ok, I'm not in this story, but what the hell. I'm the announcer for next preview show. As you know, Seto Kaiba is set to duel with Jeri Katou. Gee, I hope Jeri has an ace up her sleeve to match the former Duelist champion.
Kaiba: This is a joke! I should be dueling a true duelist!
Jeri: Mr. Kaiba, I may be a rookie, but even you shouldn't underestimate me. I just might pull this off.
Rei: Arbormon. You can come along, but don't try anything funny.
Arbormon: That's promise. But what gives? Mercury has placed trust on us, shouldn't you do so, too?
Loweemon: Duskmon, my dark half. So Pharaohmon has decided to use my past against me.
Duskmon: Kouichi. I am you. Please, let us reunite. I am the true warrior of darkness.
Wolfmon: Don't give in, Kouichi!
Piedmon: Sorry, but you have other problems at the moment, Wolfmon. Like me, for instance.
Witchmon: Heeeeeellllloooo! If it isn't my good friends, Inumon and Seadramon!
Rika: Who is this weird little witch?
Inumon: You don't want to find out.
Seadramon: Our old friend, Witchmon, decides to pay us visit, and believe me she's trouble.
Yugi: Wow, just look at Jeri! She's holding her own against Kaiba!
Kaiba: I won't allow myself to be humiliated like this! Never!
Hiei: The next chapter of the Pharaohmon series is entitled...
Return to the Darkside, Duskmon Returns! The Amibition of Duelists, Jeri vs. Kaiba!
Takato: Be sure not to miss out!
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That officially has to be the longest chapter I've written for this series! I guess that's why I call this the one-year anniversary chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry for the delay but I promise the next chapter will be posted sooner! Until then, be sure to check back for any updates. Peace!