Chapter Nine

Hikari, Eugene, and Bethany walked out of the portal together. "We're still in Japan. I didn't have a portal ready to go to the US, but Warraptormon can get us there in no time," said Eugene.

"It's been a while since I've seen the two of you. Almost like old times," replied Hikari.

"We're lucky that the digicursed first attack at night. Otherwise, we'd be in a world of trouble."

"So, where is Warraptormon now?"

"…Somewhere in the sky."

"So in other words, you don't know."

"But I can call him."

"You're going to use that flute of yours to call him, aren't you."

"Yup."

"I'll go ahead and plug my ears."

Eugene pulled out the flute he had put in his pocket and put it together. He positioned his fingers to play the highest note possible, and blew as hard as he could. The note screamed through the air for about five or six seconds, then he stopped and waited. Soon afterwards, Warraptormon flew up to them. "You called?" he said.

"Warraptormon, we need to head back to America," responded Eugene.

"Alright, hop on." Warraptormon looked over to Hikari. "It's been a long time since I saw you last, Hikari. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. But for now we should concentrate on getting the rest of the digipure," replied Hikari as she climbed on his back.

Eugene looked around, as if searching for something. "She should be here by now…" he said to himself.

"Who?" asked Hikari.

"Fairymon. She's Beth's digimon. She should have been nearby."

"Maybe something happened."

"I hope not."

"Eugene, I can search for her from the air," said Warraptormon.

"Then let's do that," responded Eugene as he climbed on Warraptormon's back.

Warraptormon lifted higher off of the ground and searched the surface below for Fairymon. In the distance they could hear a car alarm going off, but only a short while before it disappeared. That's when they spotted her. She was lying on the ground, motionless, with nothing else around.

"Something's not right…" said Hikari.

"Fairymon!" yelled Eugene. Warraptormon started his descent.

"GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S A TRAP!" screamed Fairymon in response. It was too late.

"Grav Beam!" cried a voice as a black beam struck Warraptormon. Almost instantly he was on the ground, unable to get up.

"Warraptormon! The attacks are of the same element as Fairymon's! Don't waste your energy trying to get up! Let it wear off!" cautioned Eugene.

"What element are Fairymon's attacks?" asked Hikari.

"Fairymon uses gravity to bind the enemy. Almost useless on its own, but when paired with an offensive digimon, it can be devastating."

A figure walked out of the shadows. It was that of a young man of about 20 with long, flowing, black hair. Behind him was another, that of a cybernymphmon, a mega-level cyborg digimon. "Good work. Now they are without digimon. They should be easier to deal with," said the man. "Mori. Akurei. Get over here."

To his right stepped a girl, about 18, with very long dark green hair. With her was a viledryadmon, a mega-level digimon that resembled a toxic, withered rosemon. To his left came another girl, about 19 in age, with medium length pale blue hair with white tips. Behind her was a poltergeismon, another mega-level digimon, the digivolved form of a phantomon.

"They expect us to go up against three mega-level digimon without the aid of our digimon. How many of these have we taken on before at once?" asked Hikari to Eugene.

"I don't know, about five or six a piece?" he responded.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"We are well aware of how strong you two are. To you, and to a few of us, megas are easy. We weren't planning on coming unprepared," said the boy.

"Your orders, Yahi?" asked Cybernymphmon.

"All of you, digivolve to your giga-level stages."

As the digimon digivolved, Hikari got a look of fear in her eyes. It had been a long time since she had seen a giga, and she knew the extent of their power. Eugene concentrated and returned to his acidic state, then grabbed his crystal.

"Are you crazy? We can't fight giga-level digimon!" she said to Eugene.

"With brute strength, no. But once a digimon gets metal, it keeps metal. Or have you forgotten that simple rule?" responded Eugene.

"There are exceptions to every rule, or have you forgotten that? Besides, our strategies against gigas without our digimon are worthless!"

"You seem to have forgotten something else." Eugene formed a ball of acid in his left hand, while the crystal in his right hand turned into a greatsword.

"Oh, right. I didn't know you could do that. What about the other two?"

"Bethany can take care of the plant, you should keep the spirit busy until Fairymon and Warraptormon are free."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Evade like there's no tomorrow."

"Are you done talking, because I would like to go on to the part where you die," commented Yahi. Behind him stood Armornymphmon, Venomdryadmon, and Reapermon. "And don't think that we can't join in, too." Yahi grabbed a black crystal, which turned into a dai-katana. Mori, the girl with green hair, grabbed hers, which turned into a rapier. The other girl, Akurei, turned her crystal into a scythe.

"Now would be a good time for you to use the Staff of Light," Eugene told Hikari.

"The what?"

"The crystal around your neck."

Hikari grabbed the shard around her neck, which turned into an ordinary looking staff. Immediately the digicursed and their digimon attacked. Eugene outstretched his arm toward Armornymphmon and yelled "Acid Spear!" Seemingly out of thin air, several spear-shaped forms of acid materialized and threw themselves at Armornymphmon, tearing through its metal shell like a knife into butter. "Bethany!" he called out. "Fun time! Your target is Venomdryadmon!" Again, Bethany entered her "rage mode." Her hair changed to a blood red, her eyes went fiery, she uttered a maniacal laugh, and charged at her enemy. By this time, Hikari was barely dodging in and out of Reapermon's incessant attacks. She caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye and raised her staff to parry. Akurei's Rude Scythe stopped dead in its tracks as Hikari's staff blocked her attack. Hikari was beginning to see why the weapons were needed, and dove out of the way of Reapermon's attack.

"Eugene, how much longer until they are able to get up?" Hikari pleaded.

"Hold out a little while longer!" he responded. He turned back to Armornymphmon and gripped his sword tight. "Citrus! Fruit!" he cried. Two small elemental creatures appeared, and together, with Eugene, rushed at Armornymphmon. The blow they delivered dissolved a large piece of its armor, after which the creatures stayed by Eugene's side at the ready, as if waiting for something. It was getting harder and harder for Hikari keep evading. Now Mori and Yahi had joined in the fray against her. It wasn't long before she tripped. Reapermon, Akurei, Mori, and Yahi reared for the attack. "Acetic!" cried Eugene. Another creature appeared and wrapped Eugene and Hikari in a protective wall of acid. The attacks intended for Hikari fell short as the metal from their weapons dissolved upon contact with the wall. Meanwhile, Bethany was having the time of her life taking out Venomdryadmon, who had by now reverted to Viledryadmon. Eugene turned to Reapermon. "Sour!" he yelled. Yet another creature appeared and flung itself at Reapermon, which then fell to one knee. Eugene ran to the center of the fray, now with four of the creatures by his side. "Athena!" he shouted. "Great Greek goddess of Logic and Wisdom! I summon thee! Come forth and smite my foes! Wreak havoc upon them and show them your awesome might!"

A bright light flashed in the sky. Yahi and the other digicursed struggled, but could not move. Eugene grabbed Hikari and ran to the safety of a nearby building. The light sparkled, then condensed to a small ball. The ball of light then proceeded to explode. What was left was a beautiful, armored, grey-eyed woman with a large spear. She pointed the spear down and drew it up slowly with both hands. As the spear went up, bright energy surged at its tip, drawing together in an orb. The woman thrust the spear downwards a small ways, and the orb of energy shot from the spear. Upon impact with the surface, the orb produced a tremendous explosion of energy, smashing into the digicursed and their digimon. With that, the woman vanished. In the wake of the attack, the digicursed's digimon had reverted to ultimate-level or lower, and the digicursed lay on the ground, struggling to get up. At that same moment, Warraptormon and Fairymon were released from the gravity binding them down.

"Let's go," said Eugene. Eugene and Hikari bolted to Warraptormon. "Bethany! Come!" Following her master's orders, Bethany came to Eugene's side. Together, Eugene, Hikari, Fairymon, and Bethany climbed onto Warraptormon's back.

"Don't let them get away!" cried Yahi, but it was too late. Warraptormon had taken off towards America.