"...Will Ken be alright," Miyako wondered in worry. After explaining the basics of the situation to Osamu, which the boy was understandily skeptic about, he and Ken were ushered outside for a private talk. Only Wormmon was allowed to join them.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Daisuke said confidently. Even though he says that, Ken was sobbing moments before the door closed. Then again... the frizzy haired boy knew that he would probably feel the same if he were in Ken's shoes.
It also didn't help that Novice had disappeared somewhere. Something about a call he had to make. Black only shrugged and said he would be back soon. Probably.
"Phew, now that that's done," Novice said as he appeared in the reading room again and flopped down on his seat, "So, what did I miss?"
The Children and their digimon gave him an annoyed look.
"Ken is having an emotional reunion with his long dead brother, and you're acting as if everything is all rainbows and sunshine!?" Miyako almost screeched in indignation.
The Overseer cowered a little at the shout. "...Sorry. It's just that I have faith in Ken coming out of this for the better." Novice explained.
For some reason, no one was convinced about his words. But before anyone could call out on it, the door opened, allowing Ken and Osamu entry. Ken looked very relieved about something.
"...Ken told me all about you guys," Osamu said, addressing the Children. Then the older Ichijouji bowed deeply, "Thank you for helping him."
That earned surprised looks out of everyone.
"Ken, did you tell him," Daisuke asked, figuring out the most likely thing Osamu could've meant.
"Yes," Ken said with a small smile, "...I told him about when I was the Digimon Emperor."
"I can't help but feel like I was partly responsible for it," Osamu said, giving his brother an apologetic look.
"Osamu, it wasn't your fault," Ken said, trying to put his hand on Osamu's shoulder, but the appendage phased through.
Osamu frowned at the phenomenon, but he still appreciated the gesture, "If I hadn't left you with such words then maybe none of this would've happened."
"You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't have known would've happened," Novice said as he pointed his palm towards Osamu, before dark energy started swirling in his hand. "Ken, try touching Osamu again," the Overseer then said.
That prompted everyone to look at Osamu who now looked solid instead of see-through. Ken hesitated for an instant before he reached out again, Osamu doing the same. And this time, their hands met, not phasing through each other. Which meant that the Ichijouji brothers could hug each other, which is exactly what they did.
"You better say your goodbyes quickly, because my spell won't last much longer," Novice warned earning alarmed looks out of everyone.
"What?" Ken questioned in disbelief, having broken the hug. "Can't you just bring Osamu completely back to life?" The Chosen of Kindness didn't want to believe that his long dead brother would just leave him again.
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Novice said with a sad look.
"Why not!?" Miyako almost screamed, "Is there some stupid law among Overseers that stops you!? Or are you just that selfish!?"
"MIYAKO INOUE!" That shout made everyone flinch. Which was made even scarier for them when Novice got out of his seat and gave the poor girl a very angry look. "Breaching dimensional barriers between worlds and breaching the boundary between life and death are two different things. I have no power to bring people back to life. If I did, don't you think I would've resurrected my family?"
That made everyone in the room recoil a little.
"...The bombings to your home," Koshiro said, remembering something Novice said.
"He had a sister," Hikari added, emphasizing the "had" part.
And now, Miyako felt really, really bad about going off like that. "...I'm sorry," the girl said meekly.
"It's alright," Novice said as he sat back down, somehow not losing his spell that kept Osamu solid. Then he turned towards Ken with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Ken, but all I can do is allow you to talk to him one last time."
"...You could've said it before," Ken said in disappointment before turning to Osamu. "I guess... I have to say goodbye to you anyway," Ken said with a sad smile.
"...I guess this was too good to be true," Osamu also said with a sad smile, "But at least now... my final words won't be hateful."
"...Osamu," Ken sounded out.
With that, Osamu turned towards everyone, "I wish I had more time to get to know you all, but... I guess all I can ask is, please take care of Ken for me." That last plea was accompanied with a bow.
"Don't worry, we won't let you down," Daisuke said with a confident grin, despite worrying about Ken. Everyone else gave various signs of agreement, which made Osamu smile.
Then the older Ichijouji turned towards his younger brother who was now the same age. It was kind of weird for the ghost boy. "Ken... can you tell mom and dad that I don't blame them for anything," Osamu asked Ken.
"...I will," Ken replied.
"...And Ken... I'll always love you... little brother," Osamu said as he wrapped his younger brother in a hug one more time.
"...I love you too... big brother," Ken said, desperately trying to hold a smile. After all, it would be better to see his older brother off with a smile. And then, Osamu's body began to fade, until there was only air in Ken's grasp. "...Goodbye, Osamu," Ken was able to say just before Osamu's presence completely vanished.
"...Ken," Novice sounded out, "We can take a break if you want."
"...Yes please," Ken said, finally letting the tears fall out.
During the next hour, everyone did their best to either comfort or otherwise talk to Ken. However, it became clear pretty soon that Ken wasn't depressed. If anything he was happy that the last exchange with him and Osamu was a happy one.
After that hour, Novice had a smile at the sight of Ken. While the Chosen of kindness was already on his way to recovery after the incident with BelialMyotismon, now he truly understood that he never had anything to feel guilty about with Osamu's death.
Now, the Children and their digimon were once again in the reading room.
"You recovered pretty quickly," Novice said with a small smile.
"...There's no real reason for me to be sad. Osamu and I parted in good terms now... And I'm just happy that he didn't die hating me," Ken explained, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Well said," Novice said with a proud look, "So then, shall we continue?"
"Yeah," Ken said simply while hugging Wormmon. The caterpillar digimon had been doing his best to help his partner with his mere presence. Which to Ken, was more than enough.
"Alright, Daisuke you're up," Novice said and the book floated towards the surprised frizzy haired boy.
"Ooohhh, my turn huh," Daisuke said, clearly eager to read this as he opened the book.
Scarred Dragon! Veedramon!
This time, the title card showed a silhouette of Veedramon.
The group continued to make their way towards Infinity Mountain, the Hive now no longer in sight as they went through a rocky pass. "The temperature is dropping, isn't it?" Tentomon said with a light shiver.
"Guess it really is cause we're getting close to the mountain," Weiss frowned slightly.
"Hopefully it doesn't get too bad though," Pyrrha frowned.
"Let's be glad we have the pouch Azure gave us, so we're set for supplies even if we get to an area where we can't find food," Gyro sighed. "I've got a few heaters in here too, so camping shouldn't be too bad."
"...Lucky them," Jo grumbled a little, remembering how most of the things he pointed out went to deaf ears.
"...Are you trying to become a host worthy of Leviamon," Black joked, earning confused looks from the Children. "Leviamon is another Demon Lord, and the carrier of the Code Crown of Envy." The black feline explained.
Jo lost all color from his face at the thought.
"Black," Novice said in a warning tone.
"Yeah, we should really thank your brother when we get back," Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Still, we should be careful. This pass seems like it'll be slippery to get through," Palmon said, noting some of the snow on the ledges.
"I remember Taichi suggesting snowball fight," Takeru commented with a slight chuckle at the memory.
"Maybe I could melt it off?" Agumon suggested, already prepping a flame in his mouth.
"Nope!" Gyro quickly said as he clamped Agumon's jaw shut, the flame going off inside his mouth, making smoke come out his nostrils a moment later "You might cause a landslide down below for all we know, let's not take any risks."
Agumon's eyes widened, and he quickly nodded, albeit with a few tears escaping his eyes cause even if Gyro had done it for a good reason...it still hurt. "Sorry buddy," Gyro said apologetically.
The Children couldn't help laughing at Gryo's Agumon's misery. But their Agumon seemed to be pouting at the laughs at his other's expense.
"But maybe we could still try and see what's ahead," Yang suggested.
"Leave that to us," Biyomon said, as she and Tentomon flew upward to act as scouts. They weren't gone long, as they frantically came back, looking VERY worried.
"That can't be good," Biyomon commented.
"I don't like that look." Pierce said as he watched their faces, even Tentomon was able to have some expression on his face, surprising for an insect honestly.
"We just saw a huge amount of Black Gears, all coming from Mount Infinity, they seemed to be flying out of a temple at the top of the mountain." Tentomon quickly explained.
"We never saw that," Taichi said before realizing something, "...If we had done the same, could we have also seen the gears that took over the island?"
"...Why didn't we think of that," Koshiro lamented.
"Because we didn't know there was an evil digimon trying to kill us," Yamato answered the rhetorical question.
"That's… really, REALLY not a good sign." Jaune said, swallowing nervously.
"I'll say, hopefully those gears don't find any other Digimon to infect." Gomamon frowned in worry.
"Those gears are probably the ones that infect the File Island itself," Sora commented.
"Yeah, but some of them found digimon to infect," Biyomon added in.
"With our luck, they likely will." Blake said with a sigh, before looking back at everyone "Though this probably means that whoever is making these gears is on top of the mountain."
"We have to stop him." Patamon said with a determined nod.
"Oh yeah! Time to go and kick some butt!" Veemon said, pumping his fists.
"What he said," Veemon commented, looking forward to the beatdown his other would bring.
"You won't see me disagree with that idea." Gabumon added, rolling his shoulders for emphasis.
"Let's go break their legs!" Nora almost shouted with a grin.
"For once I agree with her," Gatomon commented.
"I like that plan!" Salamon grinned in agreement.
"Okay everyone, looks like we're in agreement. We need to get to the mountain as soon as possible, and put a stop to whoever is making these things," Gyro said, earning nods of agreement from them all. "But at the same time I think we can all agree that that doesn't mean we should rush through and possibly end up falling to our dooms in the hurry."
"Yeah, it's a long way down," Hawkmon commented, the screen having showed briefly the long fall.
"Yeaaah, that'd definitely help," Blake deadpanned. "We can't really help anyone if we're a broken pile of bones at the bottom of a cliff."
"Dear Monty you're morbid." Pierce said dryly.
"Yeah," Iori agreed, shivering at the thought.
"She's not wrong though." Ren agreed with Blake.
"Could have worded it better if you ask me." Wormmon muttered, trying to banish the mental image THAT gave him.
Some of the Children and their digimon were trying to do the same.
Blake shrugged slightly at that, but ultimately they all agreed that they needed to keep going.
The trek through the pass was...slower than they'd like. The colder climate and higher altitude meant that snow was a problem, and on top of that, they had to carefully maneuver through some of the tighter passages. To make matters worse…
"An earthquake? Now?!" Pyrrha said incredulously as they all grabbed hold of something when the ground started to shake.
"It's not an Earthquake! It's…" Gabumon said, right as a large tortoise-like Digimon fell over a ledge overhead down to the ground below.
"...Was that a Tortomon," Daisuke commented out loud.
"Don't tell us. Territorial Digimon live on this pass, don't they?" Ren sighed.
"Yeah, Tortomon," Wormmon nodded.
"Ooooh, joy," Veemon complained.
"What's with you," Gabumon asked Veemon.
"...Daisuke and I had bad experience with a Tortomon," the blue dinosaur explained.
"...so let me get this straight? We're on a pass that is narrow and treacherous as is...and on top of the fact that we're headed straight to whatever maniac has been making the Black Gears, we also have to worry about a group of overgrown tortoises fighting over territory that can cause the area to have small earthquakes?" Weiss said, her voice calm. Too calm.
"Uh….pretty much?" Tentomon gulped.
"...is anyone else in the mood for turtle soup?" Weiss asked, her voice frigid.
That earned laughs out of the Children and the digimon. Although they sounded a little nervous.
"Well… I hope none of you guys have a turtle like evolution down the road." Gyro said as he glanced at all the Digimon.
All eyes turned to Gomamon at that.
"...What!?" the seal digimon cried out.
"She can't be mad for THAT long...right?" Gomamon said sounding a little nervous.
"And now you just jinxed us," Veemon deadpanned, earning a nervous chuckle from the aquatic Digimon.
"...I don't think Weiss could even harm Zudomon," Jo said, sounding very confident.
"Let's just keep moving and keep a lookout for any other of those Tortomon." Pyrrha said with a sigh. Something they all agreed on.
The path was...it was honestly a mix of more dangerous yet more boring, compared to what they'd been through so far. Dangerous was due to the less than stable terrain, boring due to how lacking in life this area was compared to the others before it.
"...I'm not sure if that makes sense," Armadimon said, clearly confused.
"This is is honestly a little tedious," Ruby sighed as they were once again pressed against the cliff walls, carefully inching across while every now and then a few rocks they bumped against fell down to the ravine below. "Though there's a lot of incentive to do it right…."
"Yeah," Mimi found herself agreeing with Ruby, clutching Palmon a little tighter as she did. The cliffside they traversed now seemed a lot less safe than she previously remembered.
"Yeah...even I wouldn't do anything crazy right now," Nora nodded with a light gulp.
For once, Gatomon chose not to comment.
"Let's be sure to pass this way quickly then," Pyrrha said quickly.
"Sometimes I hate having a long tail." Veemon said as he was pushing his stomach flat against the cliff while having to grab onto his tail so it didn't balance him backwards.
"...I don't understand why Veemon doesn't just tuck it between his legs," Black said in dead-pan.
"...My tail doesn't bend that way," Veemon admitted in embarrassment.
"I think we're gonna be good for now though." Pierce said, looking towards the top of where they were walking.
"Why is that?" Blake asked.
"Its to do with my Semblance," Pierce said simply.
That reminded everyone, they have yet to find out what Pierce's semblance is.
"That reminds me, what IS your semblance anyway?" Yang asked, turning her head to her fellow blonde, figuring now was as good a time as any.
Pierce looked at her "Well-" and before he could really start speaking, they all heard the sound of an angry screech, as they turned...and saw what looked like nothing short of a black demonic dragon in the air.
"A Devidramon!? Now!?" Daisuke and Veemon cried out in unison.
"Ok, what the HELL is that?" Jaune asked, staring at the nightmarish creature with a twitching eyebrow.
"That's Devidramon, and it's a really angry Digimon." Agumon said in worry.
Digimon Analyzer: Devidramon.
Devidramon. Virus Type. An Adult Level Evil Dragon Digimon. Known as the Many-Eyed Demon, it was born in the depths of the Dark Area. Its body is perfect for battle, with its long clawed limbs and its tail that can split open into several more claws, it strikes down its opponents as they cower in fear in front of it. Its special attack is Crimson Nail, cutting the enemy to pieces with it's blood red claws.
"Ya know, that thing looks a LOT like a Grimm...only without the white bone armor," Gyro idly pointed out...looking surprisingly calm right now.
"Yeah, it does," Pierce nodded in agreement.
"...Did those two just lose it," Takeru asked, in disbelief at Gyro and Pierce being so calm.
"Why are you two so calm?!" Jaune all but demanded, as true enough, the Devidramon let out another angry roar, and came barreling towards them, and knocking them off the ledge to their doom...or that would have been the case if not for the sound of something cracking above them, causing them to look up and see a boulder detach from the cliff face, and actually hitting the Devidramon square on the head RIGHT as it was about to get them, causing it to stop in mid-air almost comically...before it soon fell to the darkness below along with the boulder.
A long moment of silence came from the Children, before Agumon started snickering. Then Taichi started snickering, and one by one all the Children and their digimon snickered before full on laughing at the poor demonic dragon.
"And THAT Jaune, is why we were so calm." Gyro said simply, as everyone else minus Pierce were trying to understand what had just happened. Eventually…
"Wow...we really got lucky there, huh?" was all Veemon could say. At that point, the two brothers burst out laughing. "...was it something I said?"
That was what everyone else was thinking. Hoping that there was an explanation.
"Nah, nothing like that. You just summed up my Semblance is all." he gave everyone a few moments, seeing the dawning understanding on their faces. "Before anyone says anything, no, I DON'T have any real control over it, but the bottom line is the more dangerous the situation, the more likely it is to work, making me a living good luck charm," Pierce said.
"...Okay, that is the single most useful ability I have ever heard," Gabumon commented.
"That's a rather unique semblance." Ren noted, used to seeing semblances that people could activate with a thought, or that would trigger in certain cases, like Nora's own boosting semblance that powered her up when hit with electricity.
"Yeah, well… there's a good reason I ended up having good luck as a semblance, but that's for another time." Pierce said with a shrug.
All eyes fell on Novice.
"It will be explained, don't worry," Novice said with a small smile.
"Agreed, this isn't really the time to be swapping stories," Weiss nodded. "Though it IS comforting to know we literally have luck on our side."
"Don't think my Semblance is a magic pill. It DOES run out, and when it does, I usually have crap happen. Nothing life threatening, but enough to make it really annoying for me," Pierce said, before suddenly having a pile of snow fall on top of him, covering his head "Like that." he said, his voice muffled.
That sudden snowfall earned more laughs out of everyone.
"Still a pretty useful Semblance if you ask me," Yang said.
"Oh yeah, it saved our asses pretty often when we were training against actual Grimm." Gyro said as they finally reached a wider passage.
"Huh...I DID think it was really lucky that I accidentally made that Deathstalker cut its own claw off...guess this explains that," Jaune mused.
"Pretty much, yeah," Pierce chuckled as he removed the snow from his head. "Unfortunately I don't think it can help us with our soon to be next problem," he added, pointing up at the sky which was growing darker.
"Of course it's growing dark," Jo sighed.
"Guess we have to camp here…" Patamon said glumly. None of them were looking forward to needing to sleep in this place.
And then the wind picked up.
"Maybe not here specifically." Blake added, making sure her bow didn't get blown away.
"Definitely not," Mimi commented with a light shiver at the memory.
"Time to look for a cave!" Nora said as she pumped her fists.
"We're probably gonna get a snowstorm soon." Ruby said as they all started walking again.
"That would be wonderful," Miyako snarked.
"Then we'd better hurry even more," Pyrrha said, forcing them to keep moving, and fortunately, they found what they were looking for. "This will do well," she said, referring to the small cave they found. It wasn't too big, but it was still big enough to fit all of them inside and still have decent room. It also didn't seem to be connected to any other caves, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about any unpleasant surprises from inside the caves, and as an added bonus, the entrance was covered by a rock shelf above, meaning that even if it did snow, they'd be less likely to get some snow coming into the cave. The group immediately went to work, taking out some firewood they still had stored and quickly started a fire in the middle of the cave to avoid exposing it to the elements, while still giving room for the smoke to waft out, as well as avoid having to 'fight' with the fire for oxygen, and to allow the heat to permeate the cave, keeping them all warm. Once everything was set, they took out some of the supplies they'd gathered along the way, including the last of the Meat Apples they had packed, and a few of the mushrooms they'd hung on to from when they were at the lake with the tram. While it was no 5 star hotel, dinner was a rather enjoyable affair, mainly due to the good company they had.
"...I know I shouldn't feel jealous, but that's kind of impossible," Jo said, still wary of "being a worthy host for Leviamon".
"You're not the only one," Taichi added with a grumble.
After dinner was done, the group was entertaining themselves with a number of ways. Inevitably, it also lead to scary stories...something the twins had PLENTY of that would scare even those from Remnant. The internet was truly a terrifying place.
"...Can we skip this part," Biyomon asked in slight fear.
"Nope," Novice said with a grin, besides the twins had nothing on the thing from Novice's childhood that still scares him. Even with the therapy.
"He ran, never once looking back, too terrified of what he saw, kept seeing at the edge of his vision. He just had to find that last page, it had to be his ticket to freedom. Then, as if the heavens were laughing at him, he tripped, falling onto the dirt below. Quickly, he scrambled to hit feet, only to freeze in fear at what he saw. A simple pair of shoes, but as his eyes kept trailing up, he knew it was the end, as his eyes finally reached the face of the tall figure… except he had no face. It was the last thing he would ever see." Pierce finished the tale, a smirk on his face as he saw that everyone was huddled up together, although he had to try and not to laugh as Gyro was in the middle of the group huddle, his cheeks red as Ruby was basically in his lap.
"...Slenderman?" Ken asked in fear, surprising Novice.
"I'm surprised you know of him," the Overseer commented.
"...I heard some of the kids in my school talking about it," Ken admitted.
"S-so...if we ran into this guy...we're already dead?" Agumon asked, shaking like a leaf.
"Your only chance at survival is finding the 8 pages, if you can't… you stand no chance." Pierce said with a very convincing evil grin.
The group shook again as they were huddled up, Gyro freezing as Ruby suddenly hugged him, and Pierce's grin almost wavered at his brother's situation.
Almost.
"Why is Pierce so cruel to his brother," Hikari asked in disapproval.
"It's not just brothers that can be annoying pests," Novice said with a knowing look.
"Speaking from personal experience?" Taichi asked with a grin.
"Yes." Was the dead-pan reply.
"C-Come on guys, you're all being silly," Veemon said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, Slenderman isn't real…right?"
Pierce shrugged "You never know." apparently the world decided to help him as the wind started howling, the group shaking even more.
"Okay, I think that's enough scary stories for tonight," Gyro said with a slight sigh. "You all look like you won't be able to sleep for a week if we continue."
Mimi raised her hand awkwardly.
"Yes, Mimi," Novice said with a smile.
"...Is there a world where Slenderman is real," Mimi asked in fear. Now that Mimi asked that, everyone else had various scary thoughts about him.
"...I wouldn't be surprised if there was," Novice said seriously, before having a thoughtful look, "Although... I heard that Swift and the others fought against something that they called 'Slenderman rip off'. That was before I met him."
"...Did he win," Iori asked, trying to not look as scared as he felt.
"Of course he did," Novice said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Everyone nodded in agreement, lying down to sleep in blankets made of leaves and Wormmon's webbing.
Gyro gave Pierce a look as he sat next to Agumon on his blanket "You're a freaking jackass sometimes, you know that?" he said dryly, to which Pierce simply grinned before lying down next to Veemon.
"But ya love me anyways, bro," Pierce said unrepentantly, chuckling at the light glare he got. It would be a cold night, but ultimately one they all made through just fine...even if every now and then someone woke up thanks to a random noise.
No one was surprised at someone waking up.
The following day soon came, the snowstorm finally gone, and as the sun rose over the horizon…
"Gooooood mooooooooooorniiiiiiiiiing!"
Everyone covered their ears as the speakers were very loud for this one instant.
And then a loud crashing sound was heard.
Everyone turned to glare at Novice who somehow had a pair of ear muffs and an evil grin.
"...Forget Pierce, you're a jack ass," Black complained, nursing her abused ears.
The Children and their digimon were inclined to agree.
Back in the cave, Gyro was dusting his hands off after embedding his brother in the cave's wall, everyone waking up and being very clearly tired.
"You know you were asking for that one, right?" Veemon yawned.
"As is someone else," Veemon commented, still glaring at Novice.
"Seriously, after THAT story, we could barely sleep…" Salamon nodded in agreement.
"I kept seeing Slenderman instead of Grimm like I normally do," Nora added.
"Pfft, there are scarier things than Slenderman out there," Novice scoffed.
But everyone felt too annoyed to pay him any mind.
"Yeah, I think it's safe to say we aren't telling scary stories anymore." Gyro said with a sigh as he started walking out of the cave, the others following him while Yang dragged Pierce by the back of his jacket.
"Good news. The weather is much clearer today than it was yesterday," Pyrrha said as she shielded her eyes a little from the glare of the light.
"That's good to know," Gabumon nodded.
"How far are we anyway?" Ruby asked.
"Judging by the map...we're a little over half way through. As long as nothing big happens, we should be able to make it through by midday," Weiss answered.
"...I doubt they are able to keep to that," Wormmon commented.
"So basically plan to get out of here later than that, right?" Jaune sighed. They'd already heard this song and dance enough times.
"That's a safe assumption, yes," Weiss nodded with a sigh.
"I really hope we manage to get an actual schedule one of these days." Ruby said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Not likely," Yamato commented.
"We'll have to take care of whoever's making the Black Gears first." Palmon said.
"Still though...can't help but wonder what kind of sicko is making these things," Gyro frowned, his mind already entertaining all kinds of scenarios with whoever was responsible for all this.
"...It's black, red-eyed and is very evil," Patamon commented, earning some chuckles at the way he said that.
"Whoever they are, we'll just have to beat them when we find them," Salamon said.
"I'll roast them for sure, I've been trying to figure out how to evolve without you having to be in danger, and I think I'm getting there." Agumon assured his partner.
"You're not the only one." Biyomon added with a smile.
"We're all trying to figure it out." Wormmon said with a nod.
"Even us ones that haven't evolved yet." Gomamon said.
"Don't be afraid to share what you figure out though." Tentomon said with a chuckle.
"...How did you guys figure it out anyway," Iori felt the need to ask all the digimon.
The answer was a long bout of silence as the digimon started thinking very hard. "...I don't know," Agumon was finally the first to say.
"I just... one day learned to evolve when I needed," Tentomon commented.
"Same here," Biyomon commented.
"Likewise," Palmon added in.
The rest also gave various confirmations.
"Definitely," Agumon nodded. They would need all the help they could get for what would not doubt be a big fight. Anyone who could create or at least control, something like the black gears would no doubt have some serious power.
"And when we do fight them. We'll do it. Together," Gabumon grinned.
"...Let's hope ten digimon can change the outcome here," Yamato commented before giving a meaningful look to Takeru.
"Damn straight," Pierce said with a grin after he got up, one they all shared. Even if they'd been taken to this world against their wills, they weren't about to leave it to the hands of whatever maniac was behind the gears.
"Well, let's get going then. We've still got a good deal of ground to cover," Gyro grinned as they continued on their way.
The path through the pass was just as treacherous as the previous day, the trail needing them to climb a few sections here and there aside from navigating the tighter paths, and avoiding the steep drops dotted through it. However, at the same time, they were met with more life as they got closer to their destination. Making their homes in a number of spots and ledges were several Digimon here and there, of as many varieties as they'd expect. Some Digimon appeared to be literally made of rocks, some of them were avians, and even a few reptiles, all having adapted to live in the environment.
"...I don't remember seeing any digimon around Mt Infinity," Koshiro commented.
"...Maybe there weren't digimon that wanted to be in what was essentially Devimon's back-yard," Biyomon suggested.
"Good theory," Novice commented.
"Is that a blue Greymon?" Gyro idly noticed as he saw a more slim and battle oriented version of Greymon with a more armored helmet and a bayonet on the tip of it's tail, it's stripes being orange in color.
"What type of Greymon is that," Agumon commented.
"Oh yeah, that's BattleGreymon, their more of a warrior than the other Greymon variations are." Agumon explained simply.
"Oh." Agumon said sheepishly.
"Wait, there are other versions of Greymon?" Gyro asked in surprise.
"That's right, what Agumon said the other day wasn't that far off, as his evolution line has the most variations in existence, for example, there exists a virus version of the normal Greymon simply called BlackGreymon, and a more robust version called GeoGreymon." Tentomon explained.
Everyone turned towards Novice with a questioning look.
"Yes, GeoGreymon is a thing," the Overseer commented, before smiling, "Actually, the BlackAgumon line does evolve into BlackWarGreymon."
That soured the mood a little as they all remembered BlackWarGreymon.
"There sure are a lot of variants of the same Digimon," Ruby couldn't help but say.
"You get used to it," Palmon shrugged.
"Surprisingly," Daisuke commented.
"There's even a black version of Birdramon called Saberdramon." Biyomon added idly.
"Any other variants of your evolutions out there?" Yang asked while also trying to picture Birdramon with black fire on her body.
Sora gave her partner a questioning look.
"Yes, Saberdramon is real," Biyomon said simply.
"Well, there's a BlackGarurumon out there, self explanatory really, and there's a Digimon called Gururumon, which looks a lot like Garurumon, but it's fur is darker." Gabumon said with a shrug.
"And then there's a BlackGatomon, and a Digimon called Mikemon, but it has orange, black and white fur." Salamon said with a paw on her chin from atop Nora's head.
"Like a calico cat?" Hikari commented, not having heard of Mikemon.
"Oh, like a calico cat then." Nora said with a blink.
"Oh, an echo," Taichi said teasingly, earning an embarrassed blush from Hikari.
Salamon thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Huh...that's pretty interesting actually," Weiss mused. "Could be an interesting idea to try and understand what causes the variants."
"After we get back to Remnant, right?" Pyrrha chuckled.
"Naturally," Weiss nodded.
"...Maybe I should also study that," Koshiro thought aloud.
However, before any of them could get any further in their conversation, the pass was wracked with a massive tremor. "Great...3 guesses what that is," Yang sighed, and on cue, a section of the pathway ahead exploded, revealing a Tortomon.
Digimon Analyzer: Tortomon
Tortomon. Vaccine Type. An Adult Level Reptile Digimon. A territorial Digimon who is usually rather calm, similar to Monochromon. It's shell is made from the toughest stones, and it eats minerals to make it even harder. Its special attack is Shell Phalanx, the spikes on it's shell glowing before being launched at its opponent while new ones quickly grow in place.
"It gets even better. Look at what's just under its shell," Ren sighed, pointing at the Black Gear embedded into it.
"Oh, great, this thing again," Daisuke sighed aloud.
"Is there a story here," Mimi asked the second generation.
"Daisuke and Veemon were chased by a very angry Tortomon," Hawkmon commented.
"Of course…" Everyone else sighed, not even surprised anymore.
"Well, you guys know the drill. Beat him up till the gear comes out. Let's move people," Pierce shrugged.
"Should I be worried that we've gotten to the point this is a regular occurrence for us...and we haven't even been here for more than a week at most?" Jaune sighed.
"We never got used to it," Mimi said with a sigh.
"Some of us less than others," Taichi pointed out.
"Shut it!"
That was followed by suppressed laughs as no one wanted to be target of Mimi's ire.
"Probably," Nora chuckled.
"Let's try to find a way to flip it onto its back first, than we can have that dawning moment that we're already jaded to this world." Blake told them dryly.
"Right," everyone nodded.
"I think the ones out of us who don't have long range moves should wait until we manage to flip it before jumping into the fray." Gabumon said as he turned to half of the Digimon present.
"Yeah, I think a headbutt would hurt by head more than his." Veemon said as he rubbed his forehead.
Veemon rubbed his own head, remembering a couple times that he hit something harder than his own head.
"First things first, we need to distract him," Agumon said.
"Leave that to us," Biyomon said as she and Patamon flew over him, before peppering him with their attacks, aiming to try and hit the Black Gear, but the gear was better defended than they thought. However, they did gain Tortomon's attention, allowing them to lead him away a little.
"My turn!" Tentomon said as he buzzed upwards and started trying to shock the gear, though trying to curve his attack in the right way was proving rather difficult.
"Okay, so its not THAT easy," Weiss frowned.
"Of course it isn't," Miyako grumbled in annoyance.
"Then try to maneuver around it," Ren said, as Wormmon used his Sticky Nets to try and ensnare Tortomon's limbs, slowing it down a little, but not by much as Tortomon quickly started to move again, retracting into his shell.
"Go for the gear!" Gabumon shouted as he and Agumon tried to shoot the gear, but sadly their attempts fell flat when Tortomon suddenly started spinning in his shell, tearing off any remaining bits of sticky net, while blowing any nearby Digimon away.
"Oh just great, of course he can do THAT move." Gyro said with a groan as he helped Agumon get back up.
"...Right, many turtle bosses can use that move," Daisuke said, remembering a few games he had played.
Right then, Tortomon came out of his shell, the back of it glowing, before the spikes on it were launched towards them.
"Hit the deck!" Jaune shouted as everyone dived down onto the ground, though some were surprised at the sudden attack.
"Oh crap!" Yang shouted with wide eyes as she was caught off guard, having been helping Biyomon get back up.
"...Their auras will protect them, right?" Iori said in worry.
"...Aura does have limits," Novice said cryptically. Remnantians may afford to be more reckless with their auras, but more experienced huntsmen are able to act as if their aura isn't there to help them avoid attacks.
"Get down!" Pierce said as he pushed her and Biyomon down to the ground, leaving him completely open to being hit as he didn't have enough time to move.
"No!" Veemon shouted with wide eyes as he tried to make it in time, he wasn't going to let his partner get hurt!
(Play Brave Heart)
Pierce's Digivice glowed bright as the signal was sent, calling forth the light that released the stream of data once more. "Veemon, Evolution!" Veemon called out as the data flowed into him, before he transformed. "Veedramon!" His body had grown larger, now standing at the same height as Greymon's shoulders, his head taking on a more natural dragonic shape as his long ears turned into a pair of horns on the back of his head, his pointy nose turning into a horn on the tip of his snout, as his frame now looked more muscular, a blue V appearing on his white chest, while scars adorned his body, while the claws on his feet and his now white hands were longer and sharper than before.
The stone spikes flew towards Pierce, but were promptly shattered by a strong tail smashing them into the ground. When he looked up, he saw his now evolved partner standing protectively in front of him. "Veedramon, huh? That's badass, Veemon," he couldn't help but grin.
Veemon kept his mouth shut, but inwardly almost wished that he could become Veedramon instead.
Digimon Analyzer: Veedramon
Veedramon. Vaccine Type. An Adult Level Mythical Dragon Digimon. A powerful Digimon who's roots can be traced back to the ancient Digital World. Even amongst Adult Levels, Veedramon is powerful, his power honed in years of combat, the scars on his body proof of each victory. His special attack is V-Breath Arrow, shooting a powerful arrow shaped heat ray from his mouth.
"Okay, that's interesting," Veemon commented at the analyzers summary.
"Time to get that gear removed," Veedramon growled, and remembering that so far tactics weren't working so well against Tortomon's defenses, decided to go for his favorite trick. Up close and personal. With that in mind, he ran forward, and began grappling with the heavy tortoise using his claws. However, Tortomon wasn't about to just let him do that without a fight, and soon started to push back.
"...Doesn't this look like a sumo match," Armadimon commented.
That question gave everyone a mental image of Tortomon and Veedramon in a sumo ring with the appropriate clothing. It earned lots of laughs.
What soon followed could best be described as a large sumo wrestling fight, as Veedramon and Tortomon fought to push each other back. After a few moments of the stalemate, Tortomon in a surprising show of intelligence reared back, causing Veedramon to move forward a little, before slamming his head forward, pushing the dragon back, and then ramming into him, forcing him back further. However, Veedramon immediately regained his balance, and soon countered, going lower, and managing to grab Tortomon by the bottom of his shell, using it as leverage to start to push him upwards onto his hind legs. Tortomon however wasn't about to just let that happen and tried to fight back, even wildly firing his Shell Phalanx in an attempt to push himself back down. Veedramon growled as he felt the pressure, and decided if Tortomon was going to do it that way, then he'd do the same, as flames began to escape from his mouth.
"...Okay, that looks badass," Agumon commented in mild jealousy.
"V-Breath Arrow!" Veedramon called out as he opened his mouth, sending a high temperature heat ray right into Tortomon, the Digimon crying out in pain as he was pushed back from the force of the blast, and soon landed on his back, leaving him helpless. Taking advantage of the attack that was still happening, Veedramon soon moved his head so that his beam hit the Black Gear, causing the gear to spark and finally shatter.
(Song end)
With the gear destroyed, Veedramon moved over and pushed Tortomon back on his feet, though the large mon was still out cold, before he soon reverted back into Veemon.
"Way to go Veemon!" Pierce grinned as he ran up and clapped his partner on the back.
"Thanks." Veemon said, his voice a bit scratchy, before coughing into his fist "Thanks, woah, using that move makes my throat dry." he said with a sheepish laugh as his voice was back to normal.
"...How come," Veemon questioned, before glancing at Agumon. "Did you ever have that kind of experience?"
"No," Agumon said simply.
"Agumon has always spouted flames, so he was already used to it," Novice said with a grin, which widened as he felt like now was as good time as any to reveal a little tidbit. "By the way, fun fact: There's a digimon manga where instead of Agumon, Taichi had a Veedramon called Zeromaru, Zero for short."
"Say WHAT!?" Taichi and Agumon cried out in unison.
"But... but... Was I not good enough," Agumon said in a heartbroken voice.
"No, no, no. It was just that... the setting in that manga was completely different," Novice explained.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like Agumon felt any better. But he was soon hugged by Taichi, "Agumon, I could never trade you for any other digimon in the universe."
That seemed to cheer the fire lizard as he hugged back.
"...You're a jerk," Mimi said with a glare at Novice, who looked physically hurt.
"Barbaric," Sora added in.
"Meanie." Biyomon and Palmon said in unison.
"Neanderthal." Miyako joined in.
"You're the worst," Hikari finished.
All the while Black was desperately holding back her laughter at her human recoiling at every insult he took. "That's what you get for being socially challenged," the black feline thought finding great pleasure in his suffering.
Minutes later, the group was nearing the end of the mountain trail.
"You sure it was ok to just leave him there." Ruby wondered, referring to Tortomon.
"He'll be fine, he'll probably just think he was napping and ended up sleep walking." Palmon waved off her concerns.
"If he actually does, he must be SOME sleep walker," Patamon laughed.
The Children laughed a little at the thought of Tortomon actually thinking that.
"Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if he really was." Salamon said with an amused grin.
"Well, Tortomon aside, we've reached the end of the pass," Pyrrha said with a smile as true enough, they could see woodlands again, and not far away was Infinity Mountain.
"I know it's a little early, but is anyone else feeling pretty proud that we made it this far?" Jaune couldn't help but ask as they soon entered the woodlands.
"Honestly? I kind of get what you mean, we've already been through a lot in just a few days." Gomamon answered him.
"Chances are we'll end up going through a lot more by the time we get back home." Gyro added.
"...If their adventures are like anything we went through, then probably," Takeru commented.
"First things first, let's deal with the creap on this mountain." Pierce grinned as he punched his open palm.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Veemon grinned, pumping his fist into the air.
With that, the book shut itself. And the Children saw that Novice had buried his face into the armrest of his chair in depression.
"...I think you kids broke him," Black commented as she had gotten on Novice's lap and poked him repeatedly. "Which means..." the black feline had a very evil grin... Which was wiped off when Novice picked her up by the scruff of her neck. "HEY!" Black struggled in the grip.
"I'm here... mourning about being called horrible things, and you dare to take advantage of that," Novice said in a heartbroken tone.
"...Sheesh," Black said now crossing her front paws, "Quit being a drama queen."
"...I hate you," Novice complained as he dropped Black into a large vat of icewater which appeared out of nowhere.
"MMMRRRREEEEEOOOOOWWW!" Black screamed like a cat before practically jumping out of the freezing water and shook herself dry, puffing her fur in the progress. "...You will regret that one of these days," Black growled.
All the while the Children and their digimon were once again wondering if they will be alright with this dynamic duo around.
Black: You know I don't like water in this form, you ass!
Me: I know, that's why I did it.
Black:... I will make you regret this one way or another...*mumble grumble*.