Digimon: The Digital Keepers Saga Chapter 17: Snake In The Grass, a digimon fanfic

"Penguinmon and I have been searching the desert for Greedmon's hideaway, but we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Turns out these huge towers are showing up everywhere, and they're turning everything dark and evil. Ken and Davis weren't too far away from us, but they had problems of their own. Thanks to Gluttonymon, Wormmon now knows that he used to be bad, and now Ken's dark core has made his battle gear go absolutely berserk. Now we're all distraught, and hoping that everyone else is having more luck than we are!"

-Jun

DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA

Book Seventeen: "Snake In The Grass"

When morning came, Davis and Veemon were the first to rise, followed shortly by Jun and Penguinmon. For a few moments, they all seemed refreshed and excited to go about their business, but then Penguinmon turned to Wormmon, who slept peacefully on one of Gaiamon's uproots next to Ken, who was still out cold.

"Boy," Davis muttered, "Those two sure had it rough yesterday." "I know," nodded Jun; "I wonder if Ken's gonna wake up today. Should we try?" "Nah," disagreed her little partner; "He may need his sleep. Besides, we gotta get back on our track to find out where Greedmon's keeping our Crest of Humility."

"I know where it is," whispered the tree nearby; all eyes turned to the woman whose face appeared through the green bark of the tree. Gaiamon said calmly, "There is a dark Power Spine that lies deep within the west ocean. My sister, Oceanamon, has spotted it herself. She claims to have seen Greedmon floating about there; we're guessing that this is his territory."

"…Underwater?" gulped Jun; "But… How're we gonna get to it?" Penguinmon smiled to her, "Don't worry Jun; I'm an expert when it comes to water!" "You're gonna need all the help you can get," Davis added; "I'll look for the others and see if they can help."

Veemon then gasped, "But wait! …What about Ken and Wormmon?" Gaiamon gave him a smile, "Don't worry; I'll watch over the both of them. You children go fulfill your destinies." "Right," nodded the siblings. Not long after that brief talk, they were off.

While morning was still upon them, Cody, Mimi and their digimon had taken shelter for the night in another lush-green paradise, called The Great Gardens. They didn't know it at the time, but this was one if Gaiamon's most special of continents.

The heroes were resting beneath a giant rose bush, one tall enough to be a tree, and since it rained that night, the following morning brought oversized raindrops that came dripping down from the oversized pink roses.

Cody was the first to get one- right in the nose. He awoke alarmed, coughing and beating his chest as if he nearly drowned. Then his partner, Armadillomon, got splashed in the head by a series of raindrops. "I'm up! I'm up!" he shouted as he launched to his feet.

The girls, Mimi and Palmon, were awakened by the boys' gestures. Peacefully, they yawned and stretched while the boys shook themselves dry of the rain. "Morning," smiled Mimi sweetly; "Morning," coughed Cody in reply.

Lazily, Mimi leaned back against the base of the giant bush and sighed, "Isn't this garden beautiful? I'd like to stay here awhile longer." Palmon nodded, "We've got a lotta ground to cover; why don't we do a little exploring here?" But Cody began to protest, "We're supposed to stay together as a group; Tai and Matt said so."

Mimi frowned, "Tai and Matt aren't here anymore; and besides, I like it here." "Me too!" exclaimed Palmon, as she started dancing around the randomly falling pollen; "I feel like I was born here." Again, Cody protested; "You girls can get lost in this place; it's like a forest of oversized plants."

Armadillomon knew better than his partner that Mimi and Palmon were in their element, so he nudged Cody's leg and purred, "It's okay, Cody." "Huh?" Cody blinked, and Armadillomon smiled, "The girls will be fine here. You n' me should head for the beach, where all the cities are."

Despite his age, Cody was always one to be a little too careful; but for some reason, he didn't feel like arguing with his digimon partner. He could tell by the tone in Armadillomon's voice that he knew what the girls were doing.

So, he sighed, "Okay…" But then he turned to Mimi and Palmon and said, "Just make sure you'll be careful. And call us with your digivice if you need us." "Okay," nodded the girls.

So the deal was made; Cody and Armadillomon parted ways with Mimi and Palmon. The boys headed east while the girls continued south, down the path that would take them deeper into the forest.

(Begin Gloria Estefan's "I Just Wanna Be Happy")

"Welcome to the Great Gardens, a sanctuary for all earthy digimon, courtesy of Gaiamon, Keeper of the Digital Land!"

This was the greeting Mimi and Palmon have received by a Veggiemon, as they entered the heart of the gardens. Here, it was more than a paradise- it was the home and playground of many various digimon.

Most of these creatures were plants, rocks, reptiles and amphibians; each one was meant to live in a place where the weather was always warm and the land was abundant with fresh water and green surroundings.

But Mimi and Palmon have seen more than that here- there was music, dancing, and endless games around every corner. It wouldn't be long before the two explorers would fall head first into the fun.

First, they danced with the Floramon and Gotsumon, to the beat of a full-out digimon band. Gekomon and Shogungekomon blasted their trumpets, while Veggiemon and Red Veggiemon banged bongo-sized mushrooms (and at one point, a poor little Mushroomon was mistaken for one).

And it didn't stop there…

Wanna midnight rendezvous

Wanna give my love to you

Wanna make my dreams come true-

I just wanna be happy!

Wanna dance the whole night through

Wanna smell the flowers too

Wanna feel like lovers do-

I just wanna be happy!

At one point, Mimi decided to swing and slide through the trees like a femme Tarzan, while Palmon parachuted from atop the towering trees with a troop of Mushrommon, just for fun.

Later, the girls joined in a game of polo, riding Kiwimon. Then later, they played leapfrog with a gang of Betamon, with bubbling Bukamon in the background.

Come dancing, 'cause I feel good inside

I got the feelin' that money just can't buy

I may be dreamin', or is it my reality? Oh-oh,

I'm a believer, and I believe I'm free

I can be happy because I want to be

Don't need nobody to say what's right or wrong for me

Wanna midnight rendezvous

Wanna give my love to you

Wanna make my dreams come true-

I just wanna be happy!

Wanna dance the whole night through

Wanna smell the flowers too

Wanna feel like lovers do-

I just wanna be happy!

The girls kept playing around with the residents of the Great Gardens; a team of Cherrymon had joined to create their own version of a Ferris wheel, and nearby some Woodmon had built themselves up to be a jungle gym for little Rookies.

I'm movin' to where I wanna go

Feelin' the rhythm, letting my body flow

Made a decision to control my destiny. Oh-oh,

Don't wanna sit back, watchin' life pass me by

I wanna get up, you know I gotta fly

Won't ever give up till I'm happy, joyous, and free!

Wanna midnight rendezvous

Wanna give my love to you

Wanna make my dreams come true-

I just wanna be happy!

Wanna dance the whole night through

Wanna smell the flowers too

Wanna feel like lovers do-

I just wanna be happy!

Later, Palmon swung from a tree hard enough to dive right into a huge lake, full of fishy creatures like Dolphmon. They too danced the day away, underwater, and Palmon soon became part of their self-made fountain.

Hey! …Hey!

(Wanna midnight) Hey!

While Palmon was over by the lake, Mimi was nearby, jumping onto a giant sunflower. The sunflower was connected to a giant flower-made merry-go-round, which was piloted by a Blossomon, and with the human rode along all other kinds of flowery digimon.

I just wanna be…

Happy, joyous and free!

Of course, things did get a little complicated at this point; Palmon became distracted by a playful Red Veggiemon, who decided to spin her like a top after coiling her in its vines.

While Mimi's Palmon spun off, Mimi herself jumped off the merry-go-round to be welcomed by a familiar leafy hand. Mimi was so caught up in her enjoyment that she overlooked the fact that this Palmon beside her had a purple flower on her head instead of a pink one, and that the green in her stem-like flesh was a darker tone.

Wanna midnight rendezvous

Wanna give my love to you

Wanna make my dreams come true-

I just wanna be happy!

Wanna dance the whole night through

Wanna smell the flowers too

Wanna feel like lovers do-

I just wanna be happy!

The little Rookie then led her away, deeper into the forest, and by the time the other Palmon woke up from her dizzy spell, her human friend was gone.

(Song ends)

It took her a little while to notice it, but once she looked around and started calling, "Mimi? …Mimi?" no one responded.

The party had ended within the hours, but Mimi still had it locked inside her head as she and her comrade traveled deeper into the woods. As they did so, the scene got darker and darker, but that was because the trees were starting to shut out the sunlight.

In this deep shade, Mimi couldn't tell that her little traveling friend had a much different shade as her true Palmon.

"Boy, I'm so glad we decided to stick around here, Palmon!" she cheered; "I feel like I could stay in this Great Garden forever." "…You could, you know," replied the little Rookie. Mimi replied with a giggle, "Don't be silly. We still have a lot of fighting to do, don't we?"

The little Rookie commented, "Well, to be brutally honest with you, Mimi, I never really did like fighting."

Mimi turned her attention to the tree branches above her, and sighed, "…I don't like fighting either. I wish we could all just party like you and I did a while ago. Wouldn't it be nice if we had the chance to invite all our friends to that party?" The little Rookie gave her a nod, "Yes, that would have been fun…"

They continued on the road they were on, though there really was no road at all, and eventually there were less and less signs of life. For a garden, this was becoming slightly treacherous, but Mimi was still in high spirits.

They kept their little chat going, as Mimi smiled, "I remember Gaiamon saying something like, the digital world was meant to be a paradise. Well, while we're here, it really is looking like one. Doesn't it?" "Yes," nodded the little Rookie. Mimi went on by saying, "You'd almost forget that there were scary Sin digimon trying to destroy it all." "Yes," the Rookie nodded again; "It is a shame, isn't it?" Mimi sighed in reply, "Hmm… I almost would like to forget all about that…"

Then Mimi decided to sit on a tree's uproots to rest; her traveling friend sat down nearby, on a patch of grass.

"Palmon?"

"…Yes?"

"Do you think we'll ever get a chance to have fun around here again? I'm already missing the dancing and the game playing. I always feel like we come to this world just to do battle with something evil."

"…We could just… quit."

"What!?" Mimi gasped; she nearly lost her balance on the uproots; "What do you mean quit?"

The little Rookie rolled her beady eyes; "Okay, maybe not quit-quit… I'm just saying, maybe you and I could just… think this over a little bit."

"Okay… Think over what?"

"Fighting… If you don't feel like your heart's in it, then why do you do it?"

"…I do it because I have to."

"And who says you have to?"

This was beginning to feel like a strange conversation; Palmon never talked like this! More strangely, the little Rookie was now laid back with her head against a tree trunk, closing her eyes in a very peaceful manner.

But Mimi wasn't in the mood to get into a harsh fight with her friend, so she calmly replied with, "Destiny tell me I do." Then the little Rookie smiled, "…So you follow what everybody else says; that you're supposed to fight evil even when you don't really want to."

"…Well-"

"Do you really want to fight, or would you rather enjoy what little amount of youth you have left?"

"……"

"I'm just asking hypothetically, Mimi."

"Oh! …Heh, you sounded really serious… Uhh… Okay, hypothetically, if I really had a choice… I would choose not to fight."

It was settled then; the little Rookie resumed her state of peacefulness and replied, "That's all I wanted to know…"

"Mimi-i-i-i-i…! Mi-miiiiiii!" howled the worried Palmon, as she ventured deeper and deeper into the woods. Never before had she been separated from her human partner in the digital world for so long. It was beginning to scare Palmon, thinking that Mimi was all alone and lost in a forest that was quickly losing light thanks to the surrounding trees.

But then, she heard a very familiar voice in the distance. She followed it, and it led her to an open grassland. In this grassland stood a Rookie digimon that she never expected to run into again…

"So's then I said to the Cherrymon, 'That's not a toss salad!'" joked Veemon; laughing at his joke was a small group of Upamon, who were the only ones there to get the whole joke. "But seriously," said Veemon; "watch this!" He then showed off his agility by balancing himself on his arms, and then on one hand. The Upamon were amazed and cheered him. "Do it again!" one of them cheered.

"…Veemon?" Palmon gapped; she couldn't believe her eyes; was this Davis's Veemon? She was about to find out.

She approached him while he was beginning to juggle the Upamon while balancing himself on his tail. "Veemon!" boomed Palmon's voice; he reacted with a "Yipe!" and accidentally dropped the bouncy trainees. He then turned to the plant-like Rookie and smiled, "Hey there!"

Palmon blinked, "Veemon, what're you doing here? I thought you were with Davis!" The little blue Rookie paused and blinked, "…No?" Palmon went on by guessing, "Oh no. Did you two get lost in this jungle too?" Veemon just gave her a silly smile, "Hyeah, it is a big place, isn't it? Hey! Wanna see me chop a log in half with just my teeth?"

"Uh, no. We don't have a lot of-"

"I can do it! Watch!" There just happened to be a log nearby, and Veemon was all too happy to show off his brute force on it.

But Palmon grabbed his arm and said, "Come on, we gotta find Davis and Mimi! They could be in danger." Veemon just smiled again, "Nah! This place is safe; we can do whatever we want here. Did you see that party over by the lake?"

"Yeah, I was just-"

"They do that stuff every week! It's awesome!"

"…You mean you've been here before?"

"…You haven't?"

"……"

"Look, it'll just take a second!" Veemon then went back to heading for the log that he so joyfully wanted to break in two with his bare teeth. But Palmon grabbed him again and frowned, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time! I wanna find Mimi before something bad does happen."

"Okay, okay," Veemon sighed; "Where is she?" "That's what I wanna know!" Palmon replied aggressively, waving her leafy arms in the air with frustration. "Relax, toots," Veemon responded nonchalantly; "You're lucky you ran into me; I'm the bravest, baddest digimon in the jungle! Leave it to me; I'll find yer friend… Missy?"

"Mimi!"

"Right, got it."

With that, Veemon led the duo in the direction he knew for sure was the way to Mimi. Palmon followed, but was beginning to feel very suspicious about this Veemon.

…For one thing, he called her, "Toots?"

The evening came faster than Mimi had anticipated, and she and her traveling companion found themselves wandering into a very dark area of the gardens.

"Boy," observed the human, "it sure is getting dark around here." "Yeah," agreed the little Rookie beside her; "I'm sure we'll reach our destination soon though." Mimi wondered, "Which destination is that?" The little Palmon look-alike smiled, "Oh, you'll see… It's a very special part of the gardens; a place you'll never forget."

Mimi was slightly puzzled by the fact that Palmon seemed to know her way around this place, when earlier she was given the impression that neither Palmon nor herself have ever seen this place before. But she didn't feel like arguing, and smiled, "…Well, okay. I hope you know where you're going." "I sure do," led the little Rookie.

Sure enough, the little Rookie found an opening in the brush, and pushed her way out into a wide open grassland. Mimi had then gotten her first chance to see the sky in a while, but when she saw it, she was shocked to see just how black it was. Despite its blackness, there didn't seem to be any clouds in the sky, and that puzzled her even more.

Things got even creepier when she noticed just how gray and dismal the area looked; it was a complete contrast as to what she had seen much earlier. In fact, Mimi was convinced that they had found themselves outside of the gardens; surely this gray wasteland wasn't the same place.

"…Palmon…" she muttered fearfully, "Where are we?" "Palmon" didn't respond; instead, she walked onward, coaxing Mimi to follow her even further.

They took their time to pass through the marsh, where oversized weeds painted the terrain. As she followed her traveling friend, Mimi kept her eye on the sky, waiting to see if she could find a patch of sunlight peering behind the darkness… but to no avail.

Not long after they passed through the marsh, Mimi finally discovered why everything looked so dark and gloomy. Just several miles ahead of them stood what looked like a vine-wrapped temple, but in fact, it was a Power Spine. "What is that?" Mimi blinked; the little Rookie replied, "That, my friend, is a Power Spine; one of seven. There's at least one on every continent of the digital world."

Mimi paused, staring at the dark tower in awe; "Come on," said the little Rookie, "let's get closer."

When they did, they could see that the Spine was surrounded by trees, entrances to a deep, dark forest, which looked like the jaws of an open mouth. The bottom half of the dark tower was draped in weeds and vines, but nothing was truly green. Instead, what should have been light green was more like gray and muddled tones of brown and emerald green.

"This place gives me the creeps," Mimi muttered, as she huddled herself at the close-up sight of the dark fortress. "Nonsense," smiled the little Rookie, "Soon enough, it'll feel like home here. Just watch."

Mimi waited, and then she heard the scariest sound ever; the sound of something big snaking through the tall grass. She gasped, "Ahh! What's that?" Paranoid, she twirled her head around from all sides to see if she could spot whatever was creeping their way. But by the time it got there, she didn't see it coming, for it reared its ugly three heads to them from behind the dark tower.

H-SSSSS-sss-s-s-s!

Mimi let out a scream, knowing full well what the sound of a hissing snake was. But to further scare her, she turned around and saw that a giant blackish-green hydra had made its way into their sight.

Its three heads looked primarily like that of a normal constrictor, but as an addition, it also had wild flowing hair on each head. Mimi started shaking at the sight of the beast; "What… w-what IS that?" she stuttered. The snake replied by uncoiling herself from the tower and gazed directly at the human girl with her golden, piercing eyes. "I am Envymon," she declared darkly.

Mimi jumped out of her skin; she was aware that the Sin Digimon were vicious, but she never thought one would be THIS big, or THIS scary! Envymon's snake-like body seemed to have gone on forever; her tail was nowhere in sight. How she ever hid herself from the heroes up until now would forever remain a mystery.

The three-headed snake then hissed again; this time, in a calmer tone, "Welcome to my new playground, Mimi…"

"…Y-your playground?"

"That's-s-s right. I've claimed this land, and all digimon that live in it, my own realm. Here, my shadow will loom over the Great Gardens forever!"

Mimi paused to observe the decay and corruption that was already taking over the land; "No, you can't!" she gasped; "…Look what you're doing to this place! It's horrible…"

"My servants don't seem to mind it. Isn't that right… Aruraumon?"

Mimi's eyes blinked in shock, as she turned to the Palmon look-alike, who coyly waved back at her. All at once, it became clear to her; "You… She was working for you all along!"

"That's right," sighed the giant snake, as she leaned in closer to Mimi; "And soon, all plant-type digimon will follow me… And just what do you plan on doing about it?" Mimi balled her fists and boldly replied, "I'm going to fight you, that's what!" The giant hydra just smiled and giggled softly, "Please… You've made it clear to my little servant that you don't have any fight in you."

"That's a lie!" Mimi shouted, but Envymon didn't believe it. She hissed, "You never wanted to be a warrior, Mimi, not even from the very beginning. Oh, I've looked up your info; I know how you prefer clothes and makeup over battling evil forces."

"But I do it anyway," argued the human, "because it's my destiny."

"Destiny?" blinked the giant snake; "Don't you humans realize that destiny lies within your own hands?"

"…What?"

"Think about it, my dear. If you knew you had a choice to either become a Digi-Destined, or simple live out your life as a normal human, you would have simply chosen the latter. Am I not right?"

"…If I had a choice-"

"But you do…" grinned the giant snake; "If you really want to leave and go home, I'll let you. Just turn around and walk straight back from where you came. I promise I won't chase you."

Mimi took a moment to let what Envymon had said sink in. She knew she couldn't trust this snake, but she also knew that without Palmon, she was in serious trouble.

So she waited for Envymon to speak again, and she did: "Go on, Mimi! Leave this place… Let the others try to save it; you know you're not as strong as they are…" Mimi stood her ground, which made the snake's iron scales crawl; she hissed again, "I suppose you want a test then. …Fine. Aruraumon! GO!"

The Palmon look-alike then jumped in the air and digivolved:

"ARURAUMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO…… BLOSSOMON!"

In a heartbeat, the once innocent-looking plant creature had now become a vicious, giant flower with a set of sharp-toothed flytraps for arms. Quickly, the ultimate launched its vines at Mimi and grabbed her digivice and battle crest before she could even scream.

When she realized what had happened, Mimi shouted, "NO! Give them back!" "It's too late," Envymon replied; "You are all alone now, Mimi. No friends, no way of defending yourself, and absolutely no hope…. So, what are you waiting for?" "Huh?" blinked Mimi; Envymon then grinned, "Now is your chance, child. Run away, and forget that this ever happened…"

In the distance, Palmon could see the top of the giant Power Spine. She gasped, "What is that?" Veemon, who had been following her, saw it and gulped, "I don't think it's something I could bench-press."

Palmon then narrowed her eyes at the sight; "If my guess is right, then that thing's going to lead us to Mimi. Come on!" As he followed the pace-quickened Palmon, Veemon huffed, "Wait!… I… gotta… check my pulse first!"

Mimi knew what Envymon's plan was now: to single her out and convince her that she had no way of beating this wretched beast. But while the odds were against her, and her heart was racing at a pace that she couldn't keep up with, still she stood her ground. She paused to breathe, so that she could slowly begin to ignore her fear of snakes and all things that were icky.

Then, she found the courage to say, "Listen, Envymon. I've seen a lot of horrible things happen in this digital world. I've seen good digimon die, and ugly monsters like you run around like crazy. And, I'll bet that you're not even the worst of your group. But I've still got Palmon, and I'm NOT going to give up on her! There's just no way I'm gonna leave and let her get kicked around by creeps like you… So drop the act, because this is one Digi-Destined you can't lie to!"

Envymon grew weary of the human's resistance to her influence, so she decided to form Plan B: "Blossomon… Finish her."

Mimi was helpless to fight off the giant flower beast, who quickly scooped up the human into her powerful grip…

By simply following the path of darkness, Palmon led Veemon all the way to the place where the giant Power Spine stood amidst the trees and grassland. There, they both took a good look at the winding body of a giant hydra-like creature.

Taken back by surprise, Palmon gasped, "Ahh! I've never seen a digimon like that!" For once, Veemon used his brain and guessed, "…I don't think that is a digimon." Then, they saw the creature's winding heads rise to the sky; "It's gotta be… a Sin Digimon!" Palmon exclaimed.

To Palmon's horror, it seemed as though Envymon heard her voice, and reacted by moving her endless body so that Palmon could see that her human partner was in Blossomon's grip. "HELP! PALMON, HELP ME!" screamed Mimi. Palmon reacted just as Envymon wanted her too; "MIMI!" With that, she dashed off, towards the flower beast.

"PALMON, DIGIVOLVE TO……….. TOGEMON!"

In a flash, Togemon's gloved hands pounded on Blossomon's side, making the creature lose its grip of Mimi's digivice and battle crest. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to free Mimi herself.

That's when Togemon called out her reinforcements: "Veemon! Help us!!" Her friend responded; he took a running leap out of his hiding place and found his way near the human's digivice. Instinctively, it unleashed a data stream, which embraced the little blue Rookie. And that's when it happened.

"VEEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO………….. VEEDRAMON!"

There was a long pause from all sides; even Envymon was taken by surprise. "…Veedramon?" was their only response.

------------ Digimon Card: VEEDRAMON ------------

Level: Champion

Attribute: Vaccine

Type: Mythical

"Okay, fine; I'm not as cute as Ex-Veemon, but I can kick this iron tail just as hard as any Champion would!"

-Veedramon

------------------------

This was definitely not Ex-Veemon; he was wingless, darker in blue tone, and had even longer horns and claws than the Champion form of Veemon that she knew.

Togemon looked upon her newly evolved friend and sighed; "Heh… If there were any doubts before about this being Davis' Veemon, now they're confirmed."

But it didn't matter; Veedramon evened the odds a bit against Blossomon, and with his brute strength, he and Togemon gave Blossomon a powerful squeeze, which finally caused the Ultimate to let go of the human.

"Mimi," gasped the giant cactus that was Togemon; she jumped down to Mimi's side and gently picked her up with her gloved hands. "Are you alright?" she asked; Mimi gave her a nod, "Yeah, I'm fine…"

Then the human looked to an angered Envymon, and gasped, "Togemon, that's Envymon. You gotta stop her, before she turns this whole place into a nightmare!" "Right," nodded her partner; Togemon then put Mimi down, and digivolved.

"TOGEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO……. LILYMON!"

Surely, in her Ultimate form, Lilymon could put up a great fight against a Sin. In this form, as opposed to her earlier one, was faster, more agile, and could fly. But try as she could, she just couldn't cut down Envymon's size.

Envymon's snaky body seemed to go on forever, and worse yet, she was moving faster. After a while, Lilymon couldn't even target an attack on Envymon's body, because the Sin just kept moving like quicksilver.

"FLOWER CANNON!"

It was no use; no matter what she tried, Lilymon just couldn't penetrate Envymon's heavily armored body. The Sin just laughed at the Ultimate's attempts, and watched carefully as Lilymon started to slow down.

Quickly, Envymon took advantage of this, and lashed out her whip-like tail on Lilymon each time the heroine tried to make a landing. Tree branches were sliced; rocks were flattened; grass flew everywhere. Then, out of nowhere, the Sin attacked:

"SINISTER STRIKE!"

This attack launched a spray of venomous fangs from all of Envymon's heads, all of which were directed at the surprised Lilymon. The Ultimate tried to dodge them all, but as fast as she was, she couldn't evade one or two fang darts. She took one in the leg and another in the arm; she paused in mid air, stunned.

"Oh, no," Mimi gasped; "Even if I could help her digivolve, she's getting too weak…" She was right; Lilymon's slowing down meant that she was losing power. "HEY!" shouted the manly voice of Veedramon from out of nowhere. He approached Envymon from behind and growled, "That's no way to treat a lady!"

Envymon just hissed, which agitated the bulky Champion.

"V-NOVA BLAST!" he launched; it wasn't enough to stun the giant snake, but it was bright enough to at least stun her eyes. Lilymon and Mimi both watched in awe as their new friend went straight for Envymon's heads, and lashed at them with lightning-fast velocity. "Wow!" blinked Mimi; "For a Champion, he's really good!" Lilymon nearby smiled, "He must have been a Rookie for so long, his experience level must have increased."

Indeed, Veedramon was beginning to give Envymon's multi heads a run for their money, but she bounced back by calling out, "BLOSSOMON!" Now the odds were against them, as the evil Ultimate came jumping out and tackled Veedramon in mid-air.

Despite his newfound strength, Veedramon had as much a chance at beating an Ultimate as any Champion would. But he gave it his all by wrestling and tussling with Blossomon left and right.

While Veedramon was occupied, Envymon was now able to focus her attention back on Lilymon. But now Lilymon was getting her second wind; "FLOWER CANNON!" she roared, and a burst of energy came launching out from Lilymon's weapon to Envymon's middle head.

This took the Sin by surprise, but she was all too happy to retaliate with, "EYES OF THE BEHOLDER!" This attack was easier for Lilymon to dodge, but she wasn't counting on Envymon's massive tail to trip her up from behind.

Quickly, Envymon wrapped her steel-plated coils around her enemy and started to slowly squeeze the life out of her. Nearby, Mimi started to panic and hollered, "Stop it! Let her go!" The Sin cocked one of her snaky heads to the young lady and hissed, "Oh, and what are you going to do about it? Would you dare put on your battle gear and fight me?"

Mimi gasped for air, as all at once her fear came rushing back into her blood. She froze; Envymon laughed, "Ha, I knew it. You're too scared to fight; you've always been that way, haven't you, Mimi?"

Much to Lilymon's annoyance, the Sin went on chiding the human; "You know, you were never really worthy of becoming a Digi-Destined. You're far more concerned with shopping, and flirting with boys, and all other kinds of teen problems. Gaiamon was wrong to make you one of the warriors; you don't have any fight in you?"

The human was still frozen, so the Sin went on, "Admit it. You're not fit for this destiny. You might as well go home, before I finish you off!"

"That's enough!!" shouted the nearly strangled Lilymon, as she used what was left of her strength to resist getting choked in Envymon's grip. "Mimi," she pleaded, "don't listen to her! She's just trying to trick you into running away! …Come on, I know you better than anybody. You ARE a warrior; you just have to believe in yours—AUGH!"

Envymon's grip was tightening, and it came to the point where Lilymon couldn't speak anymore. "NO!" gasped the human; she fought back tears as she screamed to the giant snake, "Leave her alone!"

Envymon wasn't going to listen to her, but someone was about to turn the tide. Veedramon, still enthralled with a high level of experience, found the strength to lift Blossomon over his head, and tossed her to Envymon's center head.

She didn't see it coming, so Envymon took the full hit; "AUGH!" she roared in frustration. This led up to the loss of her grip on Lilymon; once freed, Lilymon was weakened enough to di-digivolve back into her In-Training form...

"Tanemon," gasped Mimi, as she ran to her little friend's side. She picked up the little digimon in her arms like she was a toy and started cuddling her. With tears now streaming down her face, Mimi started to sob, "…I'm sorry… I never wanted this to happen. I wanted to stop her… Tanemon?" "Uhh," cooed the weakened digimon; her eyes fluttered open, and when she looked into the glossy eyes of her human partner, she smiled, "Mimi…"

Mimi paused to see that Veedramon was keeping Envymon busy at the moment, so she then turned back to her partner and frowned, "We've gotta get out of here, now." "But we can't," disagreed Tanemon in a weak voice; "We've gotta finish what we started. We gotta destroy her Power Spine, before..." The weakened trainee then had to take a breath.

Mimi shook her head in disbelief, "I can't do it… I'm not strong enough. I… I don't-" "I… believe in you," murmured Tanemon. Surprised by this comment, Mimi let out a small gasp. Again, the little trainee smiled, "You've got me now; our bond is strong enough to beat Envymon. I know it is… You just gotta believe it too…"

What other choice did she have? Mimi knew that if she tried to run for it, Envymon would soon find and attack them anyway. And aside from that, Veedramon was now getting pummeled by the giant Sin. Mimi took a moment to breathe, and then after looking deeply into her partner's beady eyes, she slowly started to nod, "…You're right… We've got to try."

While Envymon was enjoying watching Veedramon squirm in her grip, Mimi placed Tanemon on her shoulder and coaxed her to hold on tight. Then, just as they caught the attention of Envymon, Mimi began to evolve.

(Begin original song "No Way Out." Think of it's overall rhythm- and mostly its chorus- to be reminiscent of Gravity Kills' "Enough")

------------ Vision: Digi-Volution: Battle Gear ------------

(As the others have in the past, Mimi's crest opens up a portal of light green data. She jumps through, passes through an image of Rosemon, and lets the image transform into her new outfit. When finished, she "lands" and strikes a pose.)

"Mimi Tachikawa, Battle Gar Digivolve, based on….. ROSEMON!"

------------ End Vision ------------

"Oh no, you don't!" hissed the giant snake; she launched at the heroes like lightning, but Mimi proved to be too fast for her. With Tanemon safely attached to her shoulder line, Mimi ran up and down Envymon's coiled body, and each time the Sin attacked with her spray of fangs, she countered them with an equally sharp launch of "Razor Petals."

I should have known this would be

Unlike anything I've seen before

Too late now; can't go back

Now I'm running and I'm hiding

I'd like to go back, to where I started

That's when I learn…

(There's no way out) I cannot take this

(There's no way out) There's just no end in sight

(There's no way out) I'd take this better, but in fact

There's no way out!

In her battle gear, Mimi was more acrobatic than a cat could ever wish to be. She jumped over and across Envymon's snaky form like a flea on a dog.

Over and over again, the multi-headed beast launched her fangs at her enemy, but Mimi was ready with both rose petals as sharp as knives, and a vine-like whip that could just about scrape the snake's iron scales. The more Mimi escaped her attacks, the more frustrated Envymon became.

No, this is wrong; I'm not who

Should be running to the exit door

But I can't stop myself

There's just too much doubt inside me

Why'd they choose me if I'm so disheartened?

I should have known…

(There's no way out) I cannot take this

(There's no way out) There's just no end in sight

(There's no way out) I'd take this better, but in fact

(There's no way out) I'm feeling desperate

(There's no way out) No choice left but to fight

(There's no way out) There's no point left in turning back;

There's no way out!

Their scuffle led to Mimi scaling all the way to the top of Envymon's Power Spine. There, she could see just how far the darkness had crept across the land.

Horrified, she gasped to Tanemon, "We have to stop this… But how do we reverse the Power Spine's effect without breaking it?" Tanemon thought fast and replied, "We should get it from the inside!"

Mimi took her advice, and entered the Spine through the nearest entrance.

Envymon saw this and gasped in shock, "…No! I can't let them do this!" With that, she reverted back into her shadowy form- it was much smaller than her true physical form, but it was enough to course through the tower's halls like the wind.

(The song continues)

Mimi and Tanemon made it to the center of the tower before Envymon, but they knew they had to act fast. Frantic, Mimi looked around and wondered, "Okay… Here we are. Now what do we do?" "Mimi," muttered the trainee, as she pointed to the great data stream that whirled around the center of the room.

Mimi looked at it as well, and could see the direction in which the stream was flowing: upward.

I came back to finish what I've started

Now I have learned…

Then, as if something in her heart was pointing to it, Mimi reached for her battle crest. She noticed that the symbol of Sincerity itself was starting to glow. Filled with a newfound confidence, Mimi declared, "That's it! The power is in my crest-"

WHOOSH! –Envymon came rushing in like a dark torrent, bearing her fangs at her enemies, coaxing them to fly out of the way.

(There's no way out) There's just no end in sight

(There's no way out) I'd take this better, but in fact

(There's no way out) I'm feeling desperate

(There's no way out) No choice left but to fight

(There's no way out) There's no point left in turning back;

There's no way out…

Envymon started to chase her enemies around and around the room; soon enough they realized that there was no flooring in the center on this room, and so the heroes had the freedom to fly through all of the tower's endless floors. Upward and downward the flew, avoiding Envymon at all costs.

In her shadowy form, Envymon couldn't do much harm; however, this was her one and only chance of stopping her enemies from doing what they were sent to do. So she slashed at them desperately, while Mimi and Tanemon frantically searched for a safe spot near the data stream.

Finally, they found it; Envymon had used her snaky body to surround the heroes completely. She hissed, "You're not going anywhere… you're MINE now!!" she was just about to unleash her fangs at them, when Tanemon shouted, "This is it, Mimi! Do it now!" Quickly, Mimi reacted; "Right!"

Mimi held out her battle crest and shouted with all her might: "SINCERITY'S LIGHT, ENERGIZE!"

A green laser beam then shot out of the battle crest, right through Envymon (who was struck most painfully), and straight on into the data stream. Almost instantly, the data stream was converted into a green tone, and started to reverse its flow.

Envymon watched in horror and aggravation, as the data dipped back into the earth's core, in the speed and flow of a waterfall.

There's no way out

There's no way out!

(Song ends)

Eventually, all of the data that was being released from the digital world's core had stopped unearthing itself. Once the effect was done, Mimi's laser beam had stopped, turning her crest back to normal.

The energy blast had not only reversed the Power Spine's effect; it had completely sealed off the burrowing hole it made. Now that it was rendered useless, the Power Spine in all its former glory was completely shut down. It was now a lifeless tower of rock. Mimi and her digimon partner, on the pother hand, never felt stronger.

Now she was back to being Lilymon; she and Mimi descended from the tower, but instead of moving away they instead began to fly above it. Draped around them was now a green halo of light; it was a sign that these two heroes had truly joined forces.

They looked down at the tower below them with their special attacks ready to be launched; "You ready?" asked Lilymon. Mimi, still in her battle gear, smiled, "Let's do it!" They then combined "Flower Cannon" with "Razor Petals," and just like that, the Power Spine was leveled down to nothing. Soon, its remaining debris of solid rock would be deleted, and was no more.

"I don't… believe it," gasped Kellen, as he and Culumon had observed these events from inside their secluded shelter. They watched their digital map, as it showed that a Power Spine had been deleted.

Awestruck, Kellen gave a smile, "Wow… By following their instincts, Mimi and Palmon found a way to disrupt the Power Spine's activity! Now all Mimi has to do is just spread the word…"

Somewhere in a dark corner, a weakened and scarred Envymon had snaked her way into a place that acted as a temporary shelter from the sunlight.

She moaned softly as she held onto her wounded chest, "…s-s-someday… Someday, you little brats.. I'll get even with you…" With that, she painfully crept deeper into the darkness.

Neither Mimi nor Palmon could explain what had happened; all they knew was that together they had completely destroyed Envymon's Power Spine. And they did it all on their own.

Light started to show in the sky again, as The Great Gardens started to slowly reclaim its once lost peacefulness and color. Digimon everywhere rejoiced, as they found their way back into the land that was once dark and forbidding.

Even Aruraumon, a former minion of Envymon, rose from her knocked-out state and looked upon the two heroes, Mimi and Pamon, with a smile. She approached them and took a bow; "I'm sorry," she apologized humbly, "I was only following Envymon's orders because of the Power Spine."

Mimi then nodded with a look of wisdom in her eyes, "I understand now. Those Power Spines aren't just there to mark the Sins' territories; they're also made to turn all digimon to their side, like the control spires of the old days used to." "Yeah," nodded her partner; "But now we know that we gotta get them from the inside." Mimi looked to her true-blue friend and smiled, "And we'll do it together."

"HYEAH!" roared a delighted Veedramon, as he plopped himself down in between Mimi and Palmon. He picked the two of them up and hugged them like they were teddy bears (and to his size, they might as well have been just that); "We all saved the day!" he rejoiced, "And I got this great new body!"

Palmon looked up at him and smiled, despite her feeling of getting squished; "So, you don't mind if we leave you here in a while?" He then put them down and showed off by bragging, "Nah! You girls go on; I got all I need right here. I mean, lookit me! I'm BUFF!" He then flexed his muscles to perhaps impress the locals, or just himself.

Mimi smiled to her partner as Veedramon did this, "So, are you ready to go? We could enjoy this place a little longer," Palmon then said, "Nah, we gotta lot to do yet. Besides, Veedramon will look after the gardens… IF he doesn't topple any trees first." The show-off gave her a coy smile, "Aww, so you do believe I could do it!" Palmon just giggled, "Just make sure you don't knock everything down."

Shortly after that, Mimi and Palmon were to say their goodbyes to their new ally, and move on toward Oceanamon's realm.

This day was especially important to Mimi; not only did she find a way to delete a Power Spine, but she also realized that she had the strength to face her fears and decide for herself what was more important in life- getting what she wanted, or saving the digital world.

Now she knew for sure why Gaiamon had chosen her to be a warrior: she knew that Mimi made the right decisions.

TO BE CONTINUED