Ryu's POV:

"Ryu! Are you okay?" Strikemon practically yelled.

"I guess so…" I said as I got to my feet. "My arm seems to work at least, so I'm not going to complain."

"What, no one's gonna introduce me? I'm hurt." Another humanoid digimon stepped out from behind a few trees. "Well, anyway, I'm Tharos. An old friend of Aidan's. Or more precisely, I saved his butt more times than I care to remember."

"You trying to pick a fight old man?" Strikemon…Aidan? snapped.

" 'Old man'? Are you kidding me? I'm not that much older than you." Tharos replied with a grin. "Of course if I'm an 'old man' what would that make you? A hatchling?"

"Grrrr…."

"Hey, don't go getting all mad at me. You started it."

"Err….Not to interrupt or anything, but what happened while I was out?"

"You want my version or his version?" Tharos asked smugly.

"Err…what's the difference?"

"His version won't include him blowing himself up."

"Tharos!"

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" He asked innocently.

"Yes!"

"Sorry."

"Yeah, sure."

"Umm…back to my question…?" Jeez…old married couple…

"Not all that much. Tharos and I took care of the forest, so once you're ready, we can go."

"Tharos, why are you coming with us?"

"Is there any reason I shouldn't? Admit it, you like my company. Besides, you could use someone with a little more fighting experience than you've got."

"Ryu? Do we really have to keep this guy around?"

"Well, there's no real way to MAKE him go away if he doesn't want to." I replied.

"Got that right!" Tharos interjected.

"Besides, given what we're doing, a little extra help couldn't hurt."

"I guess so..." Aidan said reluctantly. "But...why him!?"

Unknown POV:

"This was most certainly unforeseen. I was not expecting him to be here."

"Adjustments will have to be made. What say we activate three?"

"Two to keep him busy and one for the pair? What would you suggest?"

"Well, there aren't many powerful digimon from the ice region, so one Icedevimon and two Frigimon."

"Seems reasonable. The two young ones can already go champion, and the other's abilities put him somewhere between a high champion and a low ultimate. But let's make things interesting. Let me summon my Icedevimon. The pair can take on the Frigimon."

Ryu's POV:

"Looks like it's going to start snowing soon." Tharos remarked about half an hour into the frozen area.

"Really?" I looked up and saw only a few dark clouds. "It doesn't look all that bad."

"Fine. Don't listen to me even though I've spent a lot of time in this particular area."

"Okay, okay, I believe you! What do you suggest we do?"

"Nothing." he said with a chuckle. "We'll be fine. I was just letting you know what'll happen."

"Oh."

"Hey Ryu," Strikemon, no...Aidan called from the rear.

"Yeah?" I responded, pausing for a moment to let him catch up. I'm gonna have to ask him for an explanation sooner or later…

"What do you think we'll be up against this time?"

"You tell me. It's not like I know much about this place. I just hope it isn't a bug." I replied dryly.

"Maybe a Frigimon? Or a Mojyamon? They're both at home in the cold."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Like I said, I'm not really from around here."

By the time we were even near where the map said the statue was, the relatively sunny day had become a blizzard.

"Damn it! Maybe we should just find a place to sit out the snow." I yelled against the wind.

"Won't work! You'd be waiting for days!" Tharos yelled back. "Besides, it's not like you're COLD or anything!"

I blinked. He's right. By all rights, my tail should have frozen off by now...Wow. I guess there are some perks to being a digimon...or at least, whatever I am. I mean, I could feel that it was cold, but it wasn't altogether unpleasant. At least I was in no danger of getting frostbite or something.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's right" Aidan yelled a moment later. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get out of here!"

So, following the advice of the two true digimon, I kept pushing my way through the snow.

"We should be pretty close now!" I bellowed.

"OKAY!" The other two roared back.

Two steps further, I stepped into a large dome...or something. In the center lay the statue, but for almost one hundred meters all around there was no snow. Looking up, I saw a faintly glowing dome that kept all the snow out.

"Whoa!"

"Never knew about THIS!"

The other two who had been only a few steps back entered the dome as well.

"Well, it's about time you three got here." A pair of massive cloaked figures stepped out from behind the statue. "Are you ready for the third round?" The shorter said in a distinctly female voice.

"Do we really have a choice?" I muttered.

"No."

"Well then, let's get started." Tharos said from the rear. "I've been bored recetly."

"As you wish." she said. "Round three begins...now."

The moment the last word was said, the ground began to shake, and three figures emerged from the ground.

"An Icedevimon and two Frigimon? This won't take long." Tharos said. "Okay then, I'll take the ugly one. The Frigimon are yours."

"Uh...sure. Ryu, you ready?"

"I guess. I'll take the one on the left."

"That leaves me the one on the right. Okay then. Let's get it started! Pyro bomb!"

"Strike claw!"

"Sub Zero Ice Punch!"

"Yow, that's COLD!" I yelped as my tail didn't quite dodge with the rest of me.

Tharos' POV:

That's no ordinary Icedevimon. I thought after my fifth attack didn't hurt it. "Strike Claw!" I launched my robotic claw out again, and as before, pulled it back having done no damage. "You know what? Beating you could be kind of fun. I haven't had cause to pull out the heavy artillery in a long time." With a small grin, I brought the weapons in my right arm online. "Let's see how you like this! Tri shock cannon!" The claws flipped back to reveal three gun barrels, and I fired a series of high explosive rounds into the Icedevimon's chest.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Didn't work, I see." I said out loud as I leapt back to avoid its claws. "Well, there are other weapons. Shooting star!" Two panels in the sides of my arm opened up and a pair of rockets leapt out and smashed into Icedevimon's midsection, staggering it.

It got to its feet again and took a step towards me.

"Still not ready to give up? Oh well. I'm going to win anyway, may as well do it in style." Taking a deep breath, I collected my energy and let it surge throughout my body as I evolved.

As a Cyberdramon, I figured I had enough power to just blow it away, and even if I didn't, the extra power could be used to activate the…never mind.

"You took my attacks pretty well when I was a champion, now let's see how you deal with an ultimate! Desolation claw!" It dodged that blast, but left a momentary opening. In a heartbeat, I was behind it, and I drove my claws straight through its body, and ripped it apart.

"Phew, that was almost a challenge." I said, turning toward the other two.

In that instant, I was struck hard from behind and almost fell. Spinning around, I saw not one, but two Icedevimon. "I see. So, that's how it's going to be played? This'll be a lot of fun."

Five minutes later, my confidence was beginning to wane. The one Icedevimon had now become ten. Every time I took one down, two more came back. "Ugh!" I deflected a Frost Claw with my robotic arm, and used my other to deliver a punch that sent it flying. "Well, it seems like I have no choice but to use it."

Since I was no longer in my Strikedramon form, the bionic limb had reconfigured itself, now matching my Cyberdramon arm. However, despite losing access to all but one of the weapons I had as a Strikedramon, this configuration opened up whole new possibilities, as well as increasing the power of that one weapon several times.

After activating the power storage unit, I rushed in towards the Icedevimon-not to defeat them, but instead, to keep them occupied for the few minutes that the cannon needed to charge.

Three minutes later, I jumped away from the Icedevimon and landed just as a ping sounded to inform me that the charge had reached 100. As they turned toward me again, I raised my arm and readied the cannon.

My hand flipped up, and from the hole where it was, a cannon barrel emerged.

"Wave Cannon…Fire!" A thick beam lanced out from the cannon and smashed through all ten Icedevimon, leaving nothing behind.

Panting, I closed the cannon and dropped to my knees. I've forgotten what a strain it is to fire that thing. "Heh, may as well see if those two need any help."

Straightening, I looked toward where Ryu and Aidan were fighting, and saw the pair of Blazedramon finish of their opponents almost simultaneously.

"Everyone okay?" I called out.

"Yeah. I managed to melt most of the ice off with my last attack." Ryu said.

"Same here. Fire beats ice any day."

"Glad to hear it." I said, and devolved.

"Hey Tharos, I never knew you could do that though." Aidan said after they had both devolved.

"Feh. Just because I don't doesn't mean I can't. It's easier to sneak around if you're smaller."

"Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh.'" I replied dryly. "Hey, you, Ryu. You came here for that thing, right? Take it already."

"What? Oh, right." He flew up to the top of the statue and grabbed the orb.

"So, you guys want to try to make it out of this place in the couple hours of day that we have left?" I asked.

"Walk...through a blizzard..."

"I figured as much. Well then, I've got a little spot where we can hole up for the night. Follow me."

Unknown POV:

"Well, I suppose it's time that we reported back."

"They have retrieved the three gatespheres, they are safe, and they were fairly tested. All mission parameters have been met."

"Then it's time to go."

"Then let's go."

With that said, the two of us headed toward Infinity Mountain, and the hidden chambers below.

A/N: Yay! I finished another chapter in record time! :P I hope you people enjoy my work. I've already started writing the next chapter, so it shouldn't be more than a few weeks till I update again.

Ryu: Famous last words.

….Shaddap. Any more comments and I'll send you to the bugs.

Ryu: Noooo…..

REVIEW DAMMIT!!!!!