"Our group found its way into a paradise called The Great Gardens; Palmon and I decided to check it out while Cody and Armadillomon went on. When I got lost, I thought I met up with Palmon again, but it turned out to be a minion of the evil Envymon. Palmon thought she had run into Davis's Veemon, but then he digivolved to Veedramon. Long story short, we all teamed up and found a way to shut down Envymon's Power Spine! I can't wait to tell the others."
-Mimi
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Eighteen: "From Hero To Zero"
Kellen called it Limbo; anyone else would call it the other side of reality, or even The Twilight Zone. Whatever it was, it was there, and that's where Gennai and Daru- two preservers of the digital world- conducted their battle.
Each was armed with a sword that was made entirely of magical data; Gennai's was glowing white while Daru's was glowing blue.
They chased each other through a gravity-free atmosphere that was mostly dark, but had shown occasional bitmaps of computer codes in ones and zeros. They also raced past strange whirlpools of data streams that could have gone on forever, which represented their own pathway to an alter reality.
If Gennai and Daru were to pass through one, they could be considered gone- on their way to the next realm. But they couldn't risk it; this was a personal match that had to be settled once and for all.
Their swords clashed like lightning bolts, causing some of their power to ricochet off each other; this was risky, for any damage they could have made to the portal gates could have effected those realities in a tragic way.
The two young men were so focused in their battle, that neither of them noticed the strangest phenomenon going on miles below them. It looked like a white hole; a gravitational portal that somehow drew all of the reality gates together, like planets revolving around a sun.
But the duel was paused at one point; Gennai paused to notice yet another strange occurrence going on. Two reality gates, both represented as infinite whirlpools of data streams, were moving dangerously close together.
One of them seemed to be the largest gate of all, like the ultimate gate or something. The one being drawn closest to it was smaller, but just as beautiful to the eyes. Gennai watched closely as ever so gracefully, the two whirlpools collided, and became one.
"…A dimension rift," he muttered in observance. He was right; those two gates now became one gate to a world that would become even bigger than before. Never before had Gennai witnessed such a beautiful sight, but it was soon interrupted by a charge from his evil counterpart, Daru.
He came from the left, and shoved Gennai far away from the giant dimension gate, causing the battle to resume once again.
It seemed as though like the length of these dimension gates, this battle could have gone on forever.
Envymon had finally found her way back home to her realm of darkness, but it was a long and difficult journey. She was still badly wounded from Mimi's Sincerity data stream that blasted its way through the Sin's body; it was her own fault of course, she deliberately tried to block Mimi from reversing the flow of the core data. But oh, how she wanted revenge; it ached inside her, almost as painfully as the sting in her chest.
But then, after pulling herself into the main hall of her Master's fortress, she collapsed. She nearly passed out, when she heard the peaceful sound of a familiar voice; "Sister!" It was Greedmon, another Sin who, like her, assumed the form of a serpent.
In his own shadow form, he crawled out of the darkness and scooped up Envymon in his arms. "…What happened to you?" he asked in a surprisingly friendly tone. Envymon moaned, "Uhh… That Mimi brat… Sh-she did this to me…"
Pain-stricken, Envymon clasped onto her chest, which Greedmon could see it had a visible scar. His green eyes narrowed, "Those little punks… They'll pay for this, mark my words." His "sister," as he so affectionately called her, added weakly, "I… I tried to… weaken her spirit… I underestimated her."
Greedmon then nodded, "It's alright. I've already picked out another weakling- the weakest of the pack, in fact. …I'll use him to get back at that little… Mimi brat."
This seemed to have comforted Envymon; she knew she could count on her brother to even the score. So she smiled and let him carry her to a place where she could rest.
There was, in fact, a weak-spirited member of the Digi-Destined, and it was Joe. He was the oldest of the humans, and well on his way to becoming a successful doctor in the months to come. But something was eating him, ever since he was called to duty in the digital world, and he didn't realize just how deeply it was affecting him.
But somehow, Greedmon knew, and he was about to take advantage of it.
That afternoon started out peacefully; Joe watched on the beach as Gommamon played with a few crustacean digimon in the water; there was even a friendly Ebidramon who allowed the little Rookies to jump off from his tail into the water, in a contest to see which of them could make the most creative dive, or the biggest splash.
Nearby, on a pier, sat Izzy and Tentomon; Tentomon watched curiously as Izzy, like always, buried his thoughts into his computer laptop. Connected to it was his digivice; he was downloading something off his computer.
"Izzy," buzzed Tentomon, "why do you always have to be uploading or downloading or side-loading from your computer? It's a beautiful day; let's go have some fun." His human partner, while his eyes were glued to his computer screen, gave a smile, "I'm sorry, Tentomon; if you wanna go play with the others, then be my guest."
The little insect replied, "Actually, I was asking on your behalf. As much as I usually enjoy watching you act inquisitive, you just don't seem like you're having fun around here." Izzy disagreed, "Believe it or not, Tentomon, I have much more fun when I'm on my computer. Call it a hobby, or something."
"It seems to me there's a very fine line between hobbies and obsessions," sighed the little insect.
And that's when Tentomon finally noticed what Izzy had been downloading from his computer onto his digivice: a virtual map of the digital world. Tentomon then had to ask, "Uh, Izzy? Why are you downloading the virtual map?" Izzy replied, "Oh, I'm making copies of the map and then I'm going to send them out to everybody's digivices. This way everybody will know where they're going, and no one will get lost." "Oh, wow! You're so smart, Izzy," Tentomon complimented. Izzy blushed, "Aw, stop…"
Then Izzy took a longer look at the virtual map, and muttered, "Interesting…" He then brushed the keypad of his computer to look up a copy of the earliest virtual map of the digital world that he had. He thought aloud, "I know that time moves slowly in the digital world, but how slowly I wasn't sure…
"Look at this, Tentomon; comparing the two maps of the digital world, you can see that the land is now merging into a Pangea."
"Pan-whata?"
"Pangea; one mega continent. In evolution, it takes about fifty million years for sea levels to rise and fall in certain areas, and that's what makes the continents look the way they do. Now, from what I understand, it takes three to four years for the digital world's gravitational pull to collide with Earth; that would explain why we keep getting sent back here every three to four years."
"I guess…"
"But according to these maps, the digital world seems to be spinning at a pace far beyond what I first anticipated. Either it's getting faster by the minute… or maybe the Keepers are doing this on purpose."
Tentomon scratched his head, "I'm sorry, Izzy; I wish I was as smart as you. I don't think I followed all of that." "It's okay," Izzy smiled; "Most people can't keep up with me…
"But I was just going over in my head what Gaiamon had said the other night, when we first got our battle gear. She tried to explain why we had to have our Crests upgraded.
"I'm guessing that she and her sisters are purposely speeding up evolutionary time in this world, just so that our evolutions could be at their strongest. That explains why all of you could all become Megas now, and why the guys and I can become warriors…"
Izzy then leaned back and scratched his chin as he muttered, "But that still doesn't explain why Primary Village is missing." This was quickly becoming a concern to the young man; he thought, "Primary Village is the one place where digimon could be reborn… If we can't find it, then what'll happen to our digimon if they…" He couldn't bear to finish that thought.
He didn't have to; a sudden change in the virtual map was showing itself on Izzy's laptop. He gasped, "Wah! Something's happening!" "What? What??" Tentomon buzzed, as he fluttered around Izzy frantically. The two of them witnesses the icon of a tall tower on a spot on the map, which was, ironically, near their spot. The icon was blinking, and showing signs that the area around it was changing in color.
Izzy blinked, "It must be one of those Power Spines."
Tentomon gulped, "W-what are those?" Izzy replied, "I got a message from Davis earlier this morning; he said that they found a dark tower in a desert that turned everything dark. This one's near us, and it looks like it's been activated." Tentomon nodded, "I see, so we've gotta go check it out, right?" "Right," Izzy nodded back.
Izzy then waved to his nearby friends, "Hey, Joe! Gommamon! We've got work to do!" Gommamon popped his little head out of the water long enough to hear this, and he gasped, "Okay!" He then said his goodbyes to his new aquatic friends, and beached himself as quickly as possible.
Joe was already getting up and brushing the sand off his pants by the time Gommamon reached him; "Come on, Joe!" cheered the little seal; "I can't wait to digivolve to Mega again." His friend smiled to him, "I'm glad you're ready for the challenge." He ended it at that, and soon afterwards the four heroes took off to the East, in the direction of Coral Town.
Meanwhile, in the deepest depths of the ocean, Greedmon was already assembling his army of aquatic behemoths. "Go, my minions!" his voice growled, "Go and find Sea City, and tear it apart! Leave none alive…"
As if they were entranced by a spell, powerhouses like Gesomon, MegaSeadramon, Ebidramon, and many more, obeyed the Sin's command. They knew better than anyone the way to Sea City, and they headed straight for it.
Sea City; like Gaiamon's Great Gardens, this was the newest edition to Oceanamon's realm, where all digimon who were welcome could all enjoy a life of peace and luxury. And the Keeper of the Seas made extra sure that it would be untouched by outsiders, by making it completely underwater.
Yes, Sea City was just like that of a modern Atlantis… only it was shielded by a glass orb that helped keep in breathable air.
Oceanamon herself, in her mermaid form, had been guarding it personally by swimming around it for miles at a time. It wouldn't belong before she would be greeted by a Whamon, which was carrying precious cargo in its mouth. She gave him the "OK," and off it went to the base portal of the city.
Inside the base of the city was a drop-off terminal, like a subway station only there was a great lake instead of railroad tracks. Emerging from the lake was Whamon, and once beached, it opened its mouth to let out all of its passengers.
Two of these passengers were Cody and Armadillomon, who discovered the city thanks in large part to helpful digimon that they had met on their way from The Great Gardens.
Once they had surfaced to the mail level of Sea City, the two travelers were breath-taken by its beauty. This city was the largest that they had yet seen, but it didn't take the travelers long to discover something interesting.
It was in a special gym, near a food court, in which experienced digimon could duel each other in hopes to become stronger, faster and more agile. Armadillomon practically dragged Cody here, to see if he could upgrade his own skills.
Armadillomon never felt more eager to exercise; it scared Cody a little, knowing that despite his digimon's hard shell, he could get hurt by even a low-level Champion.
"I wanna test out my skills as a fighter," bragged the twang-talking armadillo. "Just be careful," warned his human partner; "I don't wanna see you get hurt." Armadillomon smiled; "Relax, Cody; what could possibly happen here?"
And that's when they heard a series of sounds: the FLOP! of someone big crashing onto a wrestling mat, a DING-DING-DING! of a bell, and a loud roar of cheers. Curiously, Cody and Armadillomon ventured towards what was obviously a wrestling corner. There, to their amazement, they saw a Triceramon being picked up off the wrestling mat. Triceramon were big, and heavy; whoever threw him down must have been tremendous! …Or so Cody and his digimon thought.
That's when they hears the referee, an Andromon, announce, "Winner, and still champion of the Digimon Wrestling League, Veedramon Zero!"
"Veedramon?" blinked Cody and Armadillomon in unison. Indeed, the great Triceramon was beaten by a digimon half its size; a Veedramon, who at first glance looked like he had gone beyond his expiration date. While most Veedramon were pudgy in the middle, it was really made up of sheer bulk.
Not this one; it looked as flabby and flexible as the belly of a forty-something bar hopper. And his face donned a criss-cross scar that hung over his left eye; he could still see through it, but how well remained a mystery. There were some other scars on his body, but the one on his face seemed to be the deepest and most prominent.
It seemed that this digimon had seen one battle too many, yet here he was, standing in victory over a mega-ton Triceramon. Cody and Armadillomon were floored with shock.
As the old-looking Champion graced the wrestling square with his highly-coveted belt, he started to chide the audience, "Come on; is this a day camp or a gym!? Where are all the STRONG digimon out there? …Alright! I will challenge anybody who thinks they can take me. Right now! Come on, let's go."
He kept on begging for a new challenger, but no one seemed to want to give it a try. But then, a little yellow armadillo started to crawl up the ropes of the wrestling mat. "Armadillomon!" Cody snapped as he grabbed his partner's tail; "What are you doing!?" The little Rookie smiled, "I wanna challenge him."
Still blasted by the fact that this overweight beast floored a Triceramon, Cody gasped, "No, you don't! You don't know how strong he is." The little digimon argued calmly, "Now, calm down Cody. I just wanna see if I can take him… Come on, one match. It's all I ask."
Cody could see in his partner's eyes that he was ready for a challenge, so he finally gave in; "Alright," he said, "one match… But please be careful." "Don't worry," Armadillomon replied, and into the fray he went.
Upon seeing his new challenger, Veedramon Zero smiled, "Well! What have we here, a little baby?" Perhaps he was joking, or accidentally overlooked his challenge, but Zero then went on to ask, "Hey, who left their baby on the mat? Somebody come pick him up, before he gets hurt!" Armadillomon took it as an insult and narrowed his eyes; "I'm no baby, I'm your new challenger. Name's Armadillomon."
Zero then started to laugh, "And I'm Zero… But I got a feeling that in about five seconds, we're gonna have to switch names."
DING! –The bell was rung, and the digimon that sounded it ran for cover immediately afterwards.
"ARMADILLOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO….. ANKYLOMON!"
Zero smiled, "Well, that's more like it!" "I'm glad you're impressed," smiled the challenger, but Zero replied, "You haven't impressed my yet, newbie!" and with that, he charged.
They slammed into each other like sumo wrestlers, grabbing each other's claws and pushing and shoving until one of them made a new move. And Ankylomon did just that with, "TAIL HAMMER!" This attack from behind would have clobbered Zero, had he not jumped out of the way in time. Cody gasped in awe, seeing just so fast Zero moved.
Ankylomon tried it again, "TAIL HAMMER!" but this one was actually caught by Zero, and with his left claw only. He then made a quick jab at Ankylomon's face, but since he was four-legged, he dodged the jab by throwing himself back on all fours.
This dodging of attacks went on for a while, and Cody was softly cheering all the way, but then Zero discovered the dinosaur's weakness: his belly. He waited until Ankylomon tried out his "Tail Hammer" attack again, and when he did, not only did Zero catch it, but this time he held onto it, and with his mighty strength he used Ankylomon's tail as a pan handle and twisted him clear on his back.
"Oh no!" gasped Cody; he watched in shock as his partner was quickly being caught in a headlock. Slowly, Ankylomon was losing oxygen; Cody finally leaned up in his corner like a coach and screamed, "Ankylomon! Get up!!"
This voice sent a chilling vibe into Zero's ear and through his brain; he knew the voice of a human when he heard it. Stunned, he stopped moving altogether, and with big puppy dog eyes, he looked through the audience, wondering where that voice came from. He was completely distracted by the surge of images from his past, about his original human partner, floating in his mind.
Then-
WHAM!
Ankylomon took him completely by surprise, throwing himself and Zero onto the mat's floor. The audience was astonished by this play; this was the one and only time anyone had gotten Zero knocked onto the floor; they roared in jubilation for Ankylomon. Then the dinosaur took in his second wind and pinned the Veedramon.
Andromon, the referee, came over and started counting: "One… Two… Three…" But as he continued to count to ten, Ankylomon noticed the dazed look in Zero's eyes; he was out cold. The yellow dinosaur had suddenly felt pity; he wanted to win, but he never meant to knock this guy out, and not when the big lug didn't see it coming. He thought himself a cheater and felt dishonored, so right before the ref said "Ten," Ankylomon released Zero and announced humbly, "I quit."
The audience howled in an appalled tone; "You… what?" gasped the Andromon ref. Ankylomon explained, "I call this a draw; I wouldn't have won if he was distracted… Whaddya say, ref?" The Andromon was puzzled, but then he agreed with the dinosaur, "Alright, this match is a draw."
The audience didn't seem too happy with this, as they started booing and hissing at whom they wanted to see win. Ankylomon wasn't flinched by the heckling, and so he and Cody both helped Zero to sit up. The big Veedramon started coughing his way back to consciousness.
When he finally came to, he looked around in a stunned attitude, and then he found himself staring into the dark eyes of a young boy. His heart stopped; "…Ta- ….Ta- …chi?"
The little boy blinked, "…What did you say?"
The Veedramon then shook his head, feeling one-hundred percent better, and gasped, "Oh! …You're a human!" Cody smiled, "Yes, I'm human. My name is Cody, and this is my digimon partner, Ankylomon. We're Digi-Destined." Puzzled, Zero blinked, "Digi- …Destined?" "Yes," nodded the young boy.
Then Ankylomon smiled to his dueling opponent, "Hey, I'm sorry I hurt you back there. I guess I wanted to win so bad, I was willing to make it an unfair fight." Then Zero shook his head, "No… No, you did the right thing… It was my fault. I let…"
He then looked back to Cody with a look of nostalgia in his eyes; "I let it get in the way…" He didn't speak another word; with a heavy heart, the reigning champion wrestler descended from the mat, and into the crowd of various digimon.
All the while, Cody and Ankylomon watched, awestruck.
Izzy had come to Coral Town by means of Kabuterrimon, the Champion form of Tentomon. Joe soon followed by being carried by the fast-swimming Ikkakumon, the Champion form of Gommamon.
What they saw upon their arrival was shocking; darkness everywhere, and all of the digimon that lived in the town were now rioting in the streets like mad. Izzy and Kabuterrimon observed the chaos from the sky; "…What is going on here?" blurted the giant insect; "What's gotten into all these digimon?" Izzy looked up, and saw the dark tower for himself; he narrowed his eyes, "It's the Power Spine. It's bringing out the dark side of everyone."
"It won't effect us, will it?" asked Kabuterrimon. Izzy replied, "I'm not sure… But I don't want to find out. Let's go!" As he said this, he held out his battle crest.
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Battle Gear ------------
(As before, Izzy goes through a similar battle gear evolving, but his data stream is purple to match his Crest of Knowledge's shade, and he passes through an image of Mega Kabuterrimon.)
"Koushiro Izumi, Battle Gear Digivolve, based on….. MEGA KABUTERRIMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
There they stood side by side, the giant Champion, and his armor-suited partner. They still weren't sure what they had to do, for Davis's message they had received that morning seemed vague. But then Izzy had a plan; "First, let's get these digimon out of here, before they go even crazier." "Right," nodded Kabuterrimon.
Very carefully, they tried to break up all of the fights between the various digimon that were fighting over stolen goods, or territory invasions, and other petty disputes. "It's okay, calm down," repeated Kabuterrimon to any who seemed to be listening. But none of the coaxing provided by the heroes was enough to appease the masses, so they had no choice but to carry them away, whether they wanted to or not.
And many of them did not want to move at all; "Lemmie go! Let GO!" they would shout, as Izzy or Kabuterrimon would try to scoop them into their arms. The mad-driven digimon would struggle and bite them, and then it just became too much for them to handle.
"KABUTERRIMON, DIGIVOLVE TO…. MEGA KABUTERRIMON!"
Now Izzy's digimon partner was bigger, and stronger. He cleverly placed as many small digimon as he could onto the interior of his shell, and then he would make a run for it.
Izzy, meanwhile, had no choice but to drive the digimon away by means of waving his new weapon, the electric staff, at them. He even commented at one point, "Teddy Roosevelt was right; 'Speak softly, and carry a big stick!'"
All of this seemed to be going well… but there was something missing. Actually, two were missing.
Joe decided to get a better look at the strange Power Spine that had shown up in Coral Town; Ikkakumon beached himself on shore, then di-digivolved back to Gommamon. The little seal looked up at his partner and asked, "Joe, why are we here? We should be helping Izzy and Kabuterrimon." But Joe couldn't take his eyes off the Power Spine; "They'll be fine," he replied; "I just wanna get a closer look at this tower."
Gommamon drooped his ears in concern; "I don't like it one bit. It kinda scares me." "It scares me too," Joe admitted, "but we can't just sit here and wait for it to go away. I wanna see what it does." Joe started walking, but then Gommamon tried to stop him by saying, "Wait, Joe! W-we should wait until Izzy gets more info from Davis."
Joe did stop, but he didn't turn around to his friend. He couldn't move at all, because something in his heart kept daring him to press on. He just said, "…I can't wait that long…" Then he found the strength to take another step, and before he knew it, he was off.
Gommamon grew all the more concerned; he knew that Joe knew better than to leap before looking. Still, he couldn't abandon him; "…J-Joe? Wait! Wait for me!" With that, the little white seal hopped along to catch up with Joe.
About that same time, Cody and Armadillomon had accidentally discovered one of Veedramon Zero's favorite hangout places; they found him in a small diner where he could sit in a dark corner, unnoticed by anyone else, except them.
Cody approached him first, just as the big blue and white dragon-like Champion was beginning to sip his drink; "Excuse me?" he peeped. Taken only slightly by surprise, Zero lifted his beak from his cup, showing a little milk-like substance by his lips; "Oh," he gulped; "…It's you again."
"We're not disturbing you, are we?" Cody frowned; "we" indicated himself and the shy little digimon behind him. Zero looked at the two of them individually, and smiled, "No, you're not… What's your name again?" "Cody," replied the young boy. "Have a seat," invited Zero, motioning towards the empty chair opposite of his.
Cody politely took the seat, and placed Armadillomon on his lap. Zero paused to see the young boy and the little Rookie together, and he smiled; "…I thought children stopped coming to the digital world long ago... Like it was a fad, or something."
Cody bowed his head and asked, "I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Zero, but when you met us the first time, you acted as though you knew a Digi-Destined from before." Zero shook his head, "They didn't call 'em Digi-Destined back then; no, they were V-Tamers."
"V-Tamers?"
"It's kinda a long story… But yes, I've met a human before… A couple, in fact. Nice kids; kinda hard in the head, but so was I. …Heh-heh, those were the days."
"How long ago, exactly, sir?"
"Let's see… Feels like an age, but it couldn't have been any longer than… twenty, thirty years?"
Cody wasn't exactly sure what to say at this point; this digimon was clearly showing age, but if there truly were human "Tamers" in the past, surely someone would have told him about them.
"Mister-"
"Zero. Please call me Zero."
"Alright, Zero… So, you had a human partner too, huh?"
Zero's eyes started to glisten as if his youth was suddenly renewed, "Oh, he was the best. He was about eight, ten years old. We had to collect five tags, they called 'em; it unlocked a secret domain that only the most powerful digimon could live in. Me and my buddy, we- heh-heh! –we used to do these warm-ups, and kept saying, 'We're gonna make this one-hundred percent!' That was our little motto; 'One-hundred percent.'"
"Oh… Sounds interesting."
Armadillomon smiled, "I could tell by your fighting that you were experienced; you could probably digivolve to Ultimate without even needing a crest!" Zero just stared blankly at the little Rookie for a moment, but then he blinked, "Well, I can go on all day about how strong I was, or used to be, but I'm just curious… What's a cute little boy and a pint-sized Rookie doin' in this place?"
Cody explained, "We're on a mission to help the Digital Keepers." Zero blinked, "…The who?" Cody frowned, "You never heard of them? They're like, the creators of this place." Zero just scratched his head, "I've heard of a god creating the digital world, but… How many are there?"
"Four."
"Four!?"
"Yeah…"
Zero then sighed deeply; "Much has changed…" Cody was hesitant at first, but then he said, "Don't mind me asking, Zero, but I'd like to know more about your adventures."
He was flattered by the comment, but Zero frowned, "Well, it's… been so long, I hardly remember it all… Let's see… I remember my biggest opponent being Demon. He was this big, dark, scary looking guy."
"Demon…? You don't mean… Daemon?"
"Eh, maybe that's his name…"
Now the conversation was getting interesting; "Could this digimon have battled the Keeper of Darkness?" Cody thought to himself. Then, he decided to ask the big question: "Your human partner… What was his name?" Zero smiled, "Ahh, I'll never forget him; he was such a sweet, decent boy. He was like my soul mate in a lot of ways… His name was… Yagami. Taichi Yagami."
The room, it seemed, fell silent. That name sounded so much like Tai's that it wasn't in the least funny. And there was no way on Earth that Tai could have been alive thirty years in the past, unless by some quantum leap in time, but how would that be possible?
These thoughts started to haunt Cody's mind, as Zero finished up his drink. He then stood up and rubbed his belly, "Ahh, that was a nice lunch. Now if you kids'll excuse me, I've got a lot of working out to do. I gotta keep up my reputation n' all. Nice meeting you." He extended his claw, which Armadillomon accepted with, "Much obliged."
As Zero made his way out of the diner, Cody looked down to Armadillomon and said, "Armadillomon… You don't think he knows Tai, do you?" "Our Tai?" blinked the little Rookie. "Yeah?" replied Cody; "It just seemed strange, how his former partner has almost the exact same name."
Armadillomon shrugged, "Maybe it's just coincidence." "Coincidence. Right," Cody though; "Was it coincidence that brought all of us here in the first place?"
He had to drop his thoughts for a moment, to hear the distress beeping coming from his D-3. Immediately, he picked it up and gasped, "My D-3… Someone needs our help, Armadillomon! Let's go!"
Cody launched to his feet, as did his partner, but then they both turned back to Zero, who seemed perplexed at their sudden change in attitude. "Sorry, Zero," Cody frowned, "but we-" "I know, you have to go," said the Veedramon. He added, "It's alright, Cody, You and your digimon go do what you need to."
Once Cody knew that they understood each other, he gave Zero a nod, and led Armadillomon out of the diner.
Zero looked on, with a gleam of curiosity in his eyes.
"Please get here fast, guys!" muttered Izzy, as he and his partner were being overwhelmed with more and more raging mad digimon in Coral Town.
Mega Kabuterrimon had dropped off as many digimon he could at a time to the nearest Trailmon station. There, they would be picked up by a train-like digimon called Trailmon, and taken as far away from the corruptive Power Spine as possible.
When he zipped back to the town's center, where Izzy was, Mega Kabuterrimon frowned, "It's no use, Izzy; we can't handle them all… We might have to fight them." "No," argued the human, "I can't hurt these people. They may be acting crazy, but it's only because of that dark tower." "But we don't know how to destroy it without risking destroying everything in sight," mentioned the huge red Ultimate.
And then, as if fate had guided it their way, a beeping sound came from Izzy's digivice. He picked it up, and with a gasp of relief he realized whose Crest symbol appeared on screen: "It's Mimi!"
"You guys!" came her voice from the communicator part of Izzy's digivice; "-Guys… A-e y-- --ere?" Her voice came out like static, probably from a frequency malfunction caused by the nearby Power Spine. Izzy took a breath and replied, "Mimi! …Mimi, is that you? Come in!" The young lady's voice replied, "Iz-y?"
"Yes, it's me! Where are you?"
"I have t- -ell you s-mething!"
"Speak up; I can't hear you very well…"
"The Power Spine's weakness!"
"…Yes?"
"…Is -- --- -enter o- the ---…."
"Mimi??"
"Uh, Izzy…?"
That was Mega Kabuterrimon talking; he noticed something that he felt Izzy should have seen for himself. "What?" asked the human, in reply to his partner's plea. Then he saw it for himself; coming ashore, not too far from them, was an incredible army of aquatic digimon, all controlled by Greedmon. Izzy saw this and gulped, "…Oh… great…"
Gommamon had a bad feeling in his tiny belly ever since he and Joe entered the darkest part of the small town. There seemed to be no clouds in the sky, and yet there was no sunlight; it seemed summery before, and now a wintry chill filled the air. And the freakiest part of all was that Joe didn't seem to notice, or care.
They approached the tall tower carefully, and observed its strange activities. On each of its four sides were blue-glowing markings of an ancient language, and on the very top was an open hole through which pure data that was drilled from the world's core was pouring out.
Upon seeing this close up, Gommamon gulped, "Mmm… Maybe we should go back, Joe, and uh… wait for the others?" Without looking back at Gommamon, Joe replied, "I've just got a feeling about this place, Gomammon; I have to check it out. Reluctantly, Gommamon followed him.
Unbeknownst to the little seal, a voice was being heard in Joe's head; he didn't seem to be freaked out by it, and that was because it came to him through the influential power of Greedmon.
It said, "Here lies your destiny, Joe Kido. All your life, you wanted to be your own man, a man with control in his life. Well, this is it; this is where you will receive your power. And no one will take it from you."
Joe seemed to listen to this voice, but that was because it was slowly hypnotizing him. That explained why he couldn't resist it, and why he was suddenly acting out of character. Perhaps if Gommamon heard it too, he would have made his friend stop and turn back. But there was no going back now.
Greedmon's influence had finally led Joe to the Power Spine- this was Slothmon's Power Spine, and since he was too lazy to control it himself, Greedmon took this opportunity to control it himself.
Joe stopped himself just a few inches from the nearest tower wall, as Gommamon started shaking with fear; "…O-okay, here it is. Here's that nasty dark tower… Now can we please get out of here?" "No," Joe replied softly yet darkly; "…I'm supposed to be here." As he said this, he stared blankly at the markings on the tower's wall with hazy eyes.
Gommamon, not noticing this change, took a few steps back as Joe moved a little closer to the wall. He reached out his hand, and touched it.
Instantly, a wave of dark energy shot out of the wall like a gust of wind, and whirled all around the human and the digimon. Gommamon screamed and tried to hide his head underneath his flippers, but Joe stood there calmly. He didn't know it, but this was Greedmon's strategy all along, to unleash some of the dark energy of the tower and let it find it way into Joe's mind and heart. This would corrupt him for sure, so Greedmon planned.
When the gust had vanished, he released his hand from the wall, turned to his little partner, and smiled, "Heh… That was cool." The panic-stricken little digimon blinked, "Let's get outta here, Joe! I don't like this one-"
He was interrupted by a set of roars and growls several miles off. The two of them looked in surprise, as a swarm of evil-looking aquatic beasts made their way to shore. Joe's eyes narrowed at them, "It's an army of corrupted sea digimon." The little seal gulped, "Oh boy; I was kinda hoping they were here to join the carnival."
Coral Town was not the only place where Greedmon's army of controlled sea beasts had arrived. Panic-stricken, the citizens of Sea City ran frantically, not knowing where to go. If they were to escape through the launch bases, they would have to get through the gripping tentacles of Gesomon and Octomon; and if they went too close to the city's protective glass barrier, they would meet up with a horde of sea dragons like Waru Seadramon.
Trapped in the base of the city, where they first came, Cody and Armadillomon were among those who tried to escape the city from below. Even as Ankylomon, Cody's partner was not fast enough to swipe at every giant tentacle that came their way.
Cody tried to make a run for it at one point, but he was soon welcomed by a Gesomon's long arm. "Cody!" roared Ankylomon, as he watched from afar, blocked off by an Octomon as Cody was suddenly captured. The young boy struggled, but couldn't escape the Gesomon's grip, and was only several feet away from being drowned…
When out of nowhere, a familiar face leaped with a roar, onto the Gesomon's arm. He sank his worn-yet-still-sharp teeth into the beast's tentacle, and the Gesomon reacted by letting the boy go. "Zero!" Cody gasped, watching this happen. Zero was quick enough to jump as Cody fell out of the Gesomon's grip; Zero caught him, and both of them dropped into the water. But thanks to Zero, they soon became afloat.
"Hurry!" Zero gasped; "Get your partner!" Cody obeyed, "Come on, Ankylomon!" The Champion dove head first into the water, and when he surfaced he had turned back into Armadillomon. Cody scooped him up into his arms, as Zero made a good grip around Cody's torso; he warned them, "Everybody hold your breath!" All three of them did just that; at once they took in a he amount of air, and then down into the water they went.
As if he hadn't impressed them before, now Zero was shocking Cody and Armadillomon with how well, and how fast he could swim. Like a butterfly underwater, he fluttered past all of the raging crustaceans, and zoomed past any sea dragon that dared to chase them.
Sea City was hidden very deep underwater, but Zero's velocity made it so that it only took the three of them a mere three minutes to reach the surface.
When they had surfaced, the three of them gasped and gargled for air desperately. Cody was the first to speak; "…Wow… I didn't know you were that good a swimmer, Zero!" The aged Veedramon smiled, "…Heh… I wasn't always so good… I had to learn from the best first."
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, a Mega Seadramon surfaced right behind them, making the trio scream in terror. Like a speedboat, Zero took off for the shore, which was several miles away. But thanks to his experience, he wouldn't have to get there for long… In fact, thanks to his adrenalin rush mixed with fear of the sea dragon, he was practically running on the water!
From where he stood high in the air, Izzy could see the onslaught of evil sea monsters coming his way, so he begged Mimi via digivice, "Okay, just try to talk very slowly and steadily. …But try to make it fast!"
"Okay," replied Mimi's voice; "It's… basically by using… your battle crest… aim it at the data stream inside… and say, 'Knowledge's light, energize!'"
"That's it?" blinked Izzy; he could hear Mimi's voice say, "Yeah! That—what work-- -or me."
"Prodigious," grinned Izzy; "Thanks, Mimi! I gotta go try that now." And with that, he hung up the communicator's frequency and darted like a lightning bolt towards the Power Spine.
Merely two or three miles away were Joe and Gomammon, who were watching carefully the horde of sea dragons and giant crustaceans coming their way. Joe's heart was filled with a great sense of determination, the kind of determination he wasn't normally given.
As a chilling breeze brushed his hair, his eyes began to darken; he knew what he had to do to put an end to this madness, and he had to do it now. "Gommamon! Warp-digivolve into your Mega form," he commanded. The little seal turned to him with a look of curiosity; "…Joe? Are you sure-" "DO IT!" he suddenly roared.
This tone of voice was something that caught little Gommamon completely off guard, and he nearly fell flat on his back in shock. Then Gommamon collected himself, and with glossy eyes he replied, "…Okay, Joe. You don't have to yell…"
Oceanamon had waited all her life for this moment; she popped her head out of the water to get a glimpse of Gommamon digivolving into her personal favorite digimon. She saw the little seal take a swan dive into the ocean, and her heart skipped a beat as she smiled to herself, "This is it. This is what I've been wanting to see for the longest time; my favorite digimon revealed!"
…But then, Oceanamon was breath-taken, as the once little, innocent Gommamon emerged from the water as a giant, prehistoric behemoth of the deep.
Her eyes fluttered and her jaw dropped, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing; "…Plesiomon? …But, I thought… I designed another Mega form for Joe's Gommamon…"
Izzy, meanwhile, insisted that his own digimon would join in Plesiomon's battle, and so…
"MEGA KABUTERRIMON, DIGIVOLVE TO….. HERCULES KABUTERRIMON!"
Just like that, two giant Megas teamed up to fight off the oncoming corrupted monsters. As they did so, who else would show up on shore, exhausted but otherwise fine, but Veedramon Zero and his two new friends, Cody and Armadillomon! They actually caught a massive tidal wave that was inadvertently caused by the charging Mega Seadramon, and it took them far onto the beaches of Coral Town.
Once he was back on dry land, the aged Veedramon collapsed, and his young friends jumped to their feet. Cody and Armadillomon watched in awe, as they took notice of Hercules Kabuterrimon and Plesiomon at a safe distance. "…Wow," muttered the little armadillo in amazement; "Lookit 'em go."
Indeed, the giant insect took to the Mega Seadramon like a pro sumo wrestler, grabbing it by the neck and throwing it into the air as if it were a javelin, back into the deep sea.
But the battle was only beginning; what seemed like hundreds of crustaceans, fish and sea dragons were already on their way; it was, in fact, the same group that Cody and Armadillomon met with in Sea City.
As much as they wanted to join in the fight, they were pretty tuckered out, due to nearly being crushed by a Gesomon and barely taking a breath from then to where they presently were.
But it turned out that they didn't have to fight, not when Plesiomon was barely warming up.
From where he stood, atop the fallen debris of what used to be a tall building, Joe watched and coached his Mega partner. Though they were distant from each other, their minds were connected; Joe didn't even have to call out his commands in a loud tone… But for effect, he did anyway; "Plesiomon! Get underneath them and go for their bellies!"
The sea monster obeyed; he took a Seadramon by surprise by ducking into the water, and then resurfacing from underneath the enemy. The impact knocked the wind out of the sea dragon, and it was then too weak to go on.
Plesiomon had done other under-handed tricks like this, while Hercules Kabuterrimon used brute force to push back his enemies. He feared using his elemental powers, for he knew in his heart that these creatures he was fighting weren't really evil, but were enslaved by the real enemies.
…But you couldn't tell that to Plesiomon. Joe narrowed his eyes and balled his fists, as he watched in frustration the increasing numbers of charging behemoths. "Plesiomon!" shouted Joe, "Show them what you've got: unleash your Mega attack!" Plesiomon felt that he had no choice but to obey his friend, and assumed his battle stance. Surprised at this, Hercules Kabuterrimon gasped, "Are you crazy?? These digimon aren't that evil!" "You have no choice!" shouted Joe from a distance; "Release your fury, now!" At first, the dinosaur-like Mega felt reluctant, but then a dark haze filled his master's eyes; "DO IT NOW!"
In reaction to Joe's outburst, Plesiomon himself became engulfed in a rage that seemed to have come out of nowhere. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a newfound sense of power, and like his master, it seemed dark. Plesiomon then bowed his head at his on-coming enemies, then roared, "SAD WATER BLAST!!"
A massive torrent of energy, with the force of a deadly hurricane, came spitting out of the mouth of Plesiomon, drowning out almost every enemy-controlled digimon in sight. He had performed this attack once before, but this new one seemed much more powerful.
It was enough to shock even his friends, Hercules Kabuterrimon, and those who stood on the shore.
Actually, one person didn't seemed surprise; in fact, he seemed glad it happened. And that person, of course, was Joe- he was still dazed with a hunger for power, and thanks to it, Plesiomon's attack had become devastatingly deadly.
Shortly after the deadly attack had happened, Izzy had finally found his way to the Power Spine. He first had to fight off enemy-controlled ghost-type digimon like Bakemon and Phantomon, and he especially took care of them with a well-timed "Lightning Javelin," in which case his electric-powered staff became just that, a javelin appearing to be a lightning bolt.
Once inside the Spine, Izzy had become just as enlightened with instinct as Mimi had when she entered the Power Spine of Envymon. All at once, he knew just what to do; he held out his battle crest and aimed it at the whirling data stream and shouted, "KNOWLEDGE'S LIGHT, ENERGIZE!"
A purple flash surged from the crest and into the data stream; instantly, the entire stream, as well as the blue and white data codes that surrounded the inner workings of the walls, copied the same purple glow, and then the stream's flow reversed from upwards to downwards.
Just as it had happened to Envymon's Power Spine earlier that day, Slothmon's Spine was now powering down as the core data stream gravitated itself back into the center of the digital world.
As soon as all of the lights from the tower stopped glowing, killing the life force of the Spine altogether, Hercules Kabuterrimon joined his human friend. "Let's make sure this never happens again!" growled the giant beetle. "I agree," nodded Izzy.
Then the two of them combined energy attacks, and in a great blaze of thunder, the Spine was demolished, and then deleted.
Back in their secret lair, Greedmon and Envymon laughed in victory; normally, the destruction of one of their Power Spines meant defeat, but that was not the reason for their jubilation at all. "Who would have thought Slothmon's Power Spine would be so useful?" snickered a still weakened Envymon. Her darker brother sighed, "Yes; even in its earliest stage, my influence on that Joe fella has already gotten the best of him. I knew he was weak…"
Envymon, who had been resting on what looked like a comfortable couch, then said, "But that still doesn't satisfy my revenge on Mimi." "Patience, dear sister," replied Greedmon; "This is just a taste of what is to come. And if the others are just as successful in this new plan, then not only will you get your revenge, but we be rid of all of those little brats… And we won't even have to lift a finger to do it."
As the sun gently set in the ocean's horizon, Joe and Gommamon sat silently on a hill near the beach. Their thoughts seemed to be lost; Joe's, especially. It was clear that the battle had taken a lot out of Gommamon, but nobody knew just how much it had taken out of Joe.
Meanwhile, Izzy, Cody and their partners were already planning on spending the night in a hotel in town. Izzy was putting his laptop into a new backpack he had bought when he said, "Yeah, it was a really exciting fight, but we probably wouldn't have gotten through it without Mimi's advice. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by her resilience."
Cody smiled, "I hope I get the chance to shut down a Power Spine; I wanna see what it looks like." Izzy smiled to him, "It was pretty prodigious." The younger boy raised an eyebrow, "You know, I've heard you say that about a million times, and I still don't think I know what that means."
The nearby Tentomon then replied, "I don't know what it means either, but I like the sound of it!" Izzy couldn't help but laugh, and neither could Armadillomon.
Then a thought trickled through Cody's mind; "Izzy…" he softly muttered. Izzy heard him and glanced his way; "Yes?" The younger boy replied, "Earlier today, Armadillomon and I met a digimon- a Veedramon, and… Well, it just seemed like… he knows Tai." "Tai?" Izzy blinked; "I don't remember seeing Tai with a Veedramon." Cody added, "His name was Zero, and he called his partner Taichi Yagami… And he said it's been thirty years since he's last seen him."
Izzy paused to let this all sink in, and then he came up with a theory: "Well, time does slow down in the digital world. What seems like thirty years to Zero may only be six to eight years for Taichi. But still, that is a weird coincidence…"
Cody then sighed, "I kinda wish we brought him along. I'd like to get to know him better. He seemed like he had a long story to tell." Izzy nodded, "I'm sure he does, Cody… But we can't worry about that right now…
"Let Zero go his own way; who knows? Maybe we'll see him again soon."
Zero was going his own way; miles away from the heroes already, he was following the track of a Trailmon. From there, the track would take him deep into Gaiamon's jungle realm. And from there, he would continue on a path, which he hoped would lead him to his long lost friend…
"Taichi… I know you're out there," he muttered to himself. "…I will find you, ol' buddy. I swear I will."
TO BE CONTINUED(References for Veedramon Zero and "V-Tamers" came exclusively from )