It seemed like all was lost as the first words of the chant left Novice's lips, "Restriction 666 restored."
"What?" Lilithmon questioned in shock, "Restored!?"
"Restored?" Everyone else questioned in unison.
"What does that mean," Iori asked readying to evolve Armadimon.
"Closing the Purgatory Gate and sealing the Lunar Lock." Novice continued, this time smiling even with his heart-shaped pupils.
"NO!" Lilithmon cried out in distress, recognizing that chant all too well.
"Code Crown of Lust: Full Seal!" And with that, Lilithmon glowed poison green before her power was being absorbed into the digivice. Honestly, it looked like she was being stripped of her form as Lilithmon. And all that remained was BlackGatomon.
No one had time to question what happened before the room's ceiling blasted open, allowing entry to a huge sword that pierced the area where Black's head used to be as Lilithmon.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Novice shouted out at the intruders, "GET OUT OF MY LAIR!"
"Where is Lilithmon!" the stranger demanded. He resembled Omegamon, except he was wearing a dark grey, slightly tattered cape. And this one's right arm looked like a golden variation of MetalGarurumon, while the left arm looked like some kind of metallic red dragon head with a yellow horn. Also from the golden head, came a black and golden sword that pierced the area where Lilithmon used to be at.
"...Omegamon Alter-S," Black said in fear, which didn't last long before the black feline found herself in a cat carrier that seemed too small for her.
"I'm dealing with you later," Novice said, before turning his pupils to normal by blinking his eyes once. "As for you, what's the big idea of you busting into my home and wrecking this room while putting the Children in danger!" At the last part Novice pointed towards the Children who had taken a healthy distance from the enormous digimon.
"B-but you were under Lilithmon's control," the digimon called Omegamon Alter-S said in confusion.
"It's called ACTING you idiot!" Novice roared at the knight, "You know, as in pretending, not actually being. MENIKÖ KAALIIN!?(Did it go into the cabbage[head])"
"Now don't you-" The knight was interrupted by him glowing before separating into four different digimon. Two of which were WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The other two were unknown to the Children and their digimon.
"Wargreymon, MetalGarurumon, KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon," said a new person who arrived through the opening the four did as Omegamon Alter-S. "Wait outside this room, I will handle this," the person told them. The person was a brown haired man wearing an intricate silver armor.
"Understood," the blue wolf that was probably MagnaGarurumon said and the four digimon left the room.
Which led to... "Swift... Is there a reason you busted through the dimensional barriers I set up around my lair," Novice asked, sounding a bit more polite.
"Yes, the last batch of surveillance you had sent showed you under Lilithmon's control," Swift said in a serious tone, "Do you have any idea how much those four and I freaked out?"
"I was acting," Novice said, now sounding highly exasperated, "I had everything under control."
"...Well you could've warned me about that," Swift said, crossing his arms as he spoke up.
"...Maybe I could've added a better message than 'please don't freak out'," Novice admitted.
"Yes you could've," Swift said with a small sigh before smiling," I'm just glad you're okay, rookie."
"Thanks, but now I'm going to have to do some repairs," Novice said before raising his hand towards the hole on the roof and then all the debris that fell from the ruined ceiling reattached to the hole. And then the cracks in it disappeared, resulting in the roof looking like it was never broken in the first place.
"What's going on, here," Miyako was the first to ask, earning the two's attention.
"Oh, right," Novice said as he pointed towards Swift, "Everyone, meet Swift, the author of the book I've had you read."
"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted in unison.
"Hello, Children," Swift said while waving at everyone with a smile, "And hello to all the digimon here too." That last one was directed at all the partner digimon.
After proper introductions from everyone. Mostly out of courtesy, because Swift already knew everyone just as well as Novice does. If not better.
Of course, the Children also asked questions about why Swift did any of this. While Swift didn't give any definitive answer, he did say they might learn something in the end.
Then Mimi asked about Frigimon's story, but Swift only said that it will be explained in later chapters. And while it wasn't an answer any of them liked, they understood.
"You sure you don't need me to fix your barriers," Swift asked Novice, preparing to leave.
"Nah, I'm good," Novice replied with a shrug, "Besides, I doubt my inner perfectionist would allow me to rely on someone else with this."
"Suit yourself," Swift replied with a smile, "I guess I shall take my leave now."
Novice snapped his fingers. "I would appreciate if you left through the gateroom, which is why I made signs to guide you there," Novice spoke up.
"Thanks," Swift said before moving towards the door. But then he turned towards the Children and their digimon. "It was nice meeting all of you in person," Swift said with a friendly smile, before turning his gaze to Mimi, "And Mimi, I hope my next daughter will grow up to be as awesome as you."
"What!?" Mimi called out, blushing in embarrassment. With that, Swift made a swift exit.
With that, Novice allowed himself to sigh, "Guess I'll call Minervamon here to do the next reading. Then I'll have to go and rework my dimensional barriers. And then..." At this part, Novice turned towards imprisoned Black who had been quiet this whole time. "...I'll deal with you." The dark tone sent shivers into everyone's spines, including Black herself. "But until then, it's solitary confinement for you," Novice added before the floor opened to let the cage fall to who knows where before closing.
"...Is it secure, where ever you sent her to," Ophanimon asked.
"Of course it is," Novice said almost dismissively.
After few moments, Minervamon entered the room and was explained what happened. Of course, Novice got an earful about how his little act was reckless and not to mention how much he had scared everyone. Novice apologized, before leaving the room to go and fix the dimensional barriers, and make them sturdy enough to withstand ZeedMilleniumon.
A boast that made Ophanimon and Minervamon laugh, much to Novice's embarrassment.
Anyway, now the gang had sat down so that Minervamon could read... Although Mimi was still a little flustered about Swift hoping his next daughter to grow up as awesome as her.
The Guardian, Centarumon!
"So it's Mimi and I this time," Koshiro commented.
Weiss grit her teeth as she and Tentomon hung on for dear life on the bed they'd been sent flying in soared through the night sky. As it was all they could see was water with a number of fragments of land that had once been File Island, the heiress clinging onto the flying piece of wood and praying to whatever deity was listening that they NOT fall into the water. Fortunately, it seemed they were in a good mood, as it wasn't long before the bed started to lose altitude...headed for one of the larger island fragments...albeit at an angle that would be...bad if they landed directly. "Hang on!" she told her partner, as timing it right, she created a glyph to slow down the bed a little, and eventually one that managed to stop the bed before it hit the ground, allowing both of them to get off, before she let the bed drop to the ground.
"That was pretty good," Koshiro admitted.
"Yeah," Yamato added in.
"It's a good thing your powers are so versatile. I don't want to think what would have happened if we had hit the ground without some way to slow down," Tentomon breathed a small sigh of relief. He always did find the abilities that the humans called 'semblance' to be rather interesting, even if he focused mainly on how they could help everyone get out of danger alive.
"...Is there any way we could have a semblance," Daisuke asked pleadingly.
"You'll have to ask Novice for that," Minervamon spoke up.
"Indeed, though I still have some amount of training needed with them at the moment, there's a few aspects of it I haven't mastered yet." Weiss sighed as she looked around for any signs of life in the forest they had landed on.
The strange thing about the forest was that it seemed somewhat prehistoric, like what scientists assumed the world was like before humans came into the picture.
"I wonder where we landed?" Weiss mused as she kept an eye out for anything out of place in the area.
"Was this where you landed Koshiro," Taichi asked the Chosen of Knowledge.
"Looks that way," Koshiro admitted.
"I'm not quite sure, but I do believe this is the Ancient Dino Region, lots of ruins around here, and a few dinosaur Digimon." Tentomon said as he buzzed around.
"Ruins, huh?" Weiss frowned a little. "You know, ever since Andromon's Factory, I've been wondering a lot about where things in this world came from. I know they're supposed to be made from data, but some of these things...they're too precise. This isn't some random occurrence…" she mused.
"...I did have similar thoughts," Koshiro admitted.
"Do you think the ruins might hold some answers?" Tentomon asked. He knew her well enough to have an idea of what she was thinking.
"Perhaps. At any rate, we shouldn't stay out here in the open like this. The last thing we want is to run into either a hostile, or black gear infected Digimon while we're separated from the others," Weiss said.
"Good idea, and while we're at it, let's find something to eat too. I still can't believe all that food we had was an illusion…" Tentomon said.
"...We did find something to eat before arriving at the ruins," Tentomon commented.
"Yeah…" Weiss nodded slowly, idly holding her own stomach. The feeling of it suddenly going empty...it wasn't pleasant at all "It certainly doesn't help that Gyro and Pierce were the ones holding onto all the food."
"Okay, that's bad," Miyako commented.
"Maybe when you get back home, you can ask their brother about making pouches for the rest of you." Tentomon suggested.
"Great idea," Agumon commented, "It would've been useful if we had something like that."
"I'm sure it would've been," Ophanimon said, having decided to stay for a while.
"I think I will, it would certainly help in case we get separated again." she agreed to the idea with a nod.
Meanwhile, on another nearby island fragment, another bed was about to crash land, though the passengers had jumped off before it hit the ground.
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon called out as she used her vines to grapple onto a nearby tree and pull her and Ruby towards it, allowing both of them to land on some branches, while the bed crashed into the ground.
"I guess it's Ruby," Mimi commented, wondering how the youngest of the ten would deal with what she had to.
"That was a close one. Thanks, Palmon," Ruby said breathing a sigh of relief.
"No problem, Ruby," Palmon smiled as she lowered them to the ground.
"Still though…" Ruby frowned, looking at Infinity Mountain that was steadily getting farther away. "We've really gotten into a bad position now, huh?"
"Yeah, the island is in pieces, and everyone went flying." Palmon frowned as she crossed her arms.
"I hope their all ok." Ruby said with a sigh.
"I'm sure they will be, don't worry Ruby." Palmon reassured her partner with a smile.
"...She's taking this better than I did," Mimi admitted, sounding a little ashamed of herself.
"It's okay, you couldn't have been that much worse off," Sora said supportively.
Koshiro kept his mouth shut.
Ruby nodded with her own smile after a moment, before looking around "It's pretty late, we won't be able to do much until morning."
"What can we do though? It's not like we can just fall asleep unguarded." Palmon asked her with a tilt of her head.
Ruby hummed in thought, looking towards the bed that had crashed, and then at the surrounding trees, smiling after a minute "I think I have an idea."
What that idea was actually impressed Palmon once Ruby was done setting it up.
She'd broken the bed into smaller pieces, and with the blankets, had set it up at the base of tree, while covering the outer blanket with mud and leaves to make it look more natural, and thus, they had a small hiding hole at the base of the tree to sleep through the rest of the night.
"That's a good idea," Koshiro commented, before smacking himself, "And I slept in the open."
Which earned looks that said, "Seriously?"
Although they were both hungry, the two of them managed to sleep through the rest of the night without interruptions. The next day couldn't have come fast enough as far as they were concerned, but eventually light began to peek through their hiding spot, letting them know it was time to wake up.
"Its morning," Ruby yawned.
"So hungry, at least we managed to sleep." Palmon muttered as they crawled out of their hiding spot.
Ophanimon had a thoughtful look. "You know... I remember Swift saying something about the girls sleeping in death traps in canon timeline." the Divine Mother said, sounding mildly concerned.
"What kind of death traps," Palmon asked with a head tilt.
"...You better ask Novice whenever he decides to arrive," Ophanimon said.
No sooner had she said that, did Novice return to the room, looking mildly exhausted. "That should be good enough to keep any typical Ultimate away," The novice Overseer said as he glanced at everyone. "So, what did I miss?"
"...That was fast," Minervamon said in surprise.
"I need to work on the designs again, but I can do that here," Novice explained as he flopped himself back into his chair. "But again, what did I miss, " he asked again.
"Ruby and Palmon woke up on their island," Mimi was the first to speak up
"Oh, so not much yet," Novice said with a sigh of relief, "I didn't miss Mimi getting shamed."
"Wait what!?" The second generation and most of the first generation sounded out in unison.
Making Mimi curl on herself in shame of her memory.
"Just keep reading," Novice said quickly before anyone could accuse him of anything yet.
"Let's start by trying to find breakfast." Ruby said as she stretched out her body, having slept in a bit of an awkward position.
The two went through the forest in search for food, before finally… "Over there!" Ruby said, pointing at a tree. "Those bananas right there!"
"...I hate this," Mimi commented, remembering how those bananas are nothing but peels.
"Bananas?" Palmon blinked...in a way that made it clear she had no idea what her partner was talking about.
Ruby turned to her with a raised eyebrow "You don't know what a banana is?"
"I've never seen one," Palmon defended herself from the weird stares.
Palmon shook her head "I've never seen one."
"Oh, an echo," Tentomon said with a small snicker, which earned him a whiplash from Poison Ivy.
"Yet you knew what meat apples and diginoir was?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.
Palmon simply shrugged, not having a viable answer to that.
"...We stopped questioning that," Takeru commented, even though he was probably the only one who didn't question much to begin with.
Ruby shrugged as well after a moment, before Palmon grabbed the bunch of bananas hanging from the tree and handed them to Ruby, who quickly grabbed one and peeled it open, being somewhat confused as she kept peeling and peeling… and then the banana ended up being empty. "Huh?" she blinked.
"Same as me then," Mimi commented, having some relief at the fact that Ruby wasn't much luckier.
"These are pretty good," Palmon said, to which Ruby looked at her partner...and realized she was literally eating it peel and all.
"Yeah, they were," Palmon agreed with her other.
"...normally I wouldn't do this but…" Ruby sighed resignedly, not really liking this, but the hunger pangs were more important to her at this moment, and started eating one of the 'bananas' peel included. "Huh...you're right, they're not bad," she blinked as she ate. After the two ate the entire bunch, they continued on their way.
"...WHAT!?" Mimi screeched in disbelief.
"...Guess you weren't hungry enough," Novice teased with a grin, earning a murderous glare. It was funny how the adult human in the room cowered at the glare from a girl that wasn't even in high school yet.
"Do you think any of the others landed around here?" Palmon asked.
"I hope so…" Ruby sighed, worried for her friends. However, her musings were cut short, as an explosion happened not far away.
"What was that," Miyako asked, giving the Chosen of Purity a worried look.
"...I don't know. Nothing exploded when I was out there," Mimi said, getting worried about what difference was about to occur.
"I have a feeling we're in for an aneurysm." Palmon said dryly as the two walked towards the explosion. True enough, they found...okay, the best way they could describe it was a Digimon shaped like a yellow turd with arms, with a small pink mouse hanging on to its head, and in its hand was a familiar looking rapier.
"...Oh, great. Those two," Palmon grumbled, remembering how they were pelted with poop by those two.
"You know them," Hawkmon asked out of curiosity.
"Unfortunately," Mimi said in a tone that indicated that she did NOT want to talk about it.
"Yeah...I think you may be right…" was all Ruby could say at the sight of a pair of Digimon...who honestly looked dumb as bricks, playing around with Myrtenaster.
"Should I…?" Palmon trailed off, raising her claws a bit.
"Yeah, best to get it back before they end up breaking it even more." Ruby said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "On my signal, you grab Weiss's weapon, and then we run," Ruby said.
"...Will they be able to do that," Ken asked Novice.
"With Ruby's semblance, probably," Novice shrugged.
"Wait, that belongs to Weiss?" Palmon blinked. "Right, all the more reason to get it then."
"On three. One...two...three!" Ruby shouted, and Palmon lashed out with Poison Ivy, wrapping around Myrtenaster, pulling it out of the yellow Digimon's grasp much to their surprise. Ruby didn't waste time, wrapping her arms around Palmon, and using her semblance to zip away from the scene before the two Digimon could even register what happened.
When Ruby stopped, she did so suddenly as she reached the edge of the island, peering down into the water, before looking across and seeing a whole other island there.
"Wow, she almost ran off the cliff," Taichi commented, which earned laughter out of Novice.
"What's wrong with you," Minervamon asked, not seeing what was so funny. And neither did anyone else.
"That would've been embarrassing way to go," Novice said, wiping a tear of mirth away. "Wouldn't you agree Bla- Oh... right," Novice sighed at the last part, remembering what he did to the black feline.
"...You did the right thing," Ophanimon said supportively.
"That's not the issue here," Novice retorted with a tired sigh, "Part of me truly hoped she had given up."
"...Maybe after this, Black might finally stop plotting," Sora said in an attempt to console the Overseer.
"...Thank you," Novice said with a small smile.
"Whoa! That was close," Palmon gulped, the weapon firmly in her grasp.
"Yeah, good thing they didn't even see us move." Ruby said with a sigh as she let Palmon back down on the ground, before accepting Myrtenaster from her and looking it over, wincing a bit "Oh yeah, this bad, looks like those two ended up melting one or two of the chambers when they were messing around with it, doesn't help that the mechanism to open it seems rusted in place. Weiss is NOT going to like this."
"...I wonder if she'll release icy fury again," Tentomon wondered, remembering how he was afraid for his other before Weiss met him.
"But what do we do now?" Palmon asked.
Ruby looked around...and saw something in the forest on the other island. "There! I see something on the other island. Maybe the others might be there."
"Are you sure?" Palmon blinked at that.
"No, but it's our best shot," Ruby said.
"...Those two at least told us about where Koshiro and Tentomon were at," Mimi grumbled, barely audible to everyone.
"Alright, let's try it," Palmon nodded, before using Poison Ivy to pull them both across.
Meanwhile, Weiss and Tentomon had entered the ruins.
"So we're back with Weiss," Iori commented.
Before reaching it though, Weiss had been surprised to find two weapons outside, Ruby's Crescent Rose, with the barrel of the gun melted shut and the blade of the scythe dulled, though thankfully it could still be put in it's compact mode, and Blake's Gambol Shroud, the blade of the katana being destroyed for the most part with only the cleaver still being usable, while the gun was now empty of all bullets, the ribbon was intact though, so she was carrying the weapon with it attached around her torso.
Novice started smirking at the possible reactions the Children and their digimon might have soon enough.
"You know, I'm not surprised by this point." Weiss said with a sigh as she saw the large Black Gear spinning in a corner of the first room of the ruins.
"...Did you try to destroy it," Yamato asked Koshiro who looked a little embarrassed.
"...I did try, but I couldn't even damage it," Tentomon admitted.
"Well, why don't we focus on something else instead." Tentomon suggested, Weiss nodding in agreement as she started looking around the room, not even uttering a word when she saw a power outlet in a tree root.
Eventually, she got to the walls, humming in thought as she looked at the same symbols that had been in the factory "I wonder if I'd be able to figure these out if I study them enough?" she mused.
"Koshiro had the same idea," Tentomon commented.
"Should we be looking for the others though?" Tentomon said in a bit of worry.
"I'm not worried, we're all strong in our own rights, and we all know when it's best to run, besides, if anything truly dangerous happens, I'm sure their partners will evolved to protect them." Weiss explained as she pulled out her scroll and started up her recently finished analysis program, putting it together with the data she had accumulated in the factory, though it did take a few days.
"...Sounds like Weiss was a little more considerate than Koshiro was," Mimi commented without any real heat in her words.
"Says the one who acted like a spoiled brat," Novice said with a grin.
Which earned questioning looks towards poor Mimi. And judging how she looked like she wanted the couch to devour her, Novice hit nail in the head.
"That so?" Tentomon said plainly. He knew his partner could get very into it when she found something that interested her.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them. But these characters may just be hiding a secret that may help us. There's just so much we don't actually know about this world, the Digivices, and possibly why we were brought here," Weiss explained. "It may be a long shot, but it is one I'd like to try."
"I suppose when you put it like that, it does make sense." Tentomon said as he crossed his claws together.
"...I wish I had thought of that at the time," Mimi muttered.
"Well to be fair..." Novice started before trailing off.
"...Yes." Mimi sounded like she was begging to hear something.
"...I got nothing," Novice said, face palming at his pathetic attempt.
While their host was lamenting at his lack of people skills, Sora had put a supportive hand on Mimi's shoulder. Something the pink haired girl appreciated.
Weiss nodded lightly before she went to work, compiling the characters and data on the walls. It wasn't long before she became fully focused in what she was doing, so much so she barely noticed the two new figures walking into the ruins and were soon in the room she was in.
And then she was startled out of her concentration when she heard a quick but sharp whistle blow, whirling around to see Ruby pulling her whistle out of her mouth with a mildly annoyed look "Well that took a while."
"What?" Hikari questioned.
"Wait, what? When you did you get here?" Weiss asked, the whistle forgotten due to reuniting with a member of their group.
"About half an hour or so, give or take a few minutes." Ruby said with a shrug "I tried a lot of things to get your attention but you were REALLY focused on that thing."
"...Just like Koshiro was ignoring me back then," Mimi said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry," Koshiro apologized, "I really didn't consider your feelings back then."
"It's okay... I wasn't much better... a lot of times," Mimi admitted, once again looking ashamed of herself.
"Mimi," Novice started, but no one had faith in him saying the right thing now, "You may have acted like a spoiled brat. You may have whined more than the others. But no matter how much you cried, no matter how much you whined, you always came through in the end." Only for them to be surprised at something that sounded very genuine.
"...Thanks," Mimi said, feeling a lot better for herself.
Then the Overseer's smile widened, "Speaking of which, out of all of you Children, Mimi is Swift's favorite because of her personality."
"...Oh," Mimi sounded out, now sounding much more flattered about when Swift hoped that his next daughter would grow up to be like her."
Weiss had the decency to blush at that. "Ah...right...I apologize," she said.
"No problem. Though...what WERE you doing?" Ruby asked.
"See the characters on these walls? They're the same type as the ones I found inside Andromon's Factory," Weiss explained. "I think if I decipher this code then maybe, just maybe, we might uncover some kind of secret. Something that might even be useful to defeat Devimon," Weiss said.
"...That sounds useful," Veemon commented.
"It wasn't anything that convienient," Koshiro admitted, "But we did get something out of all that."
"Huh… that's pretty cool. Got anything good so far?" Ruby asked, feeling a bit curious.
"Nothing yet, but I think I may be close to cracking it." Weiss told her, looking back down on her screen for a moment.
"Well… I'm gonna play on my scroll while you do that I guess." Ruby said with a shrug, before sitting down next to a wall that didn't have any writing on it and pulling out her own scroll, lowering the volume, and starting up a random game, Palmon and Tentomon leaning over to watch.
"...At least Ruby had something to do," Mimi sighed.
"You were miserable, hungry and just a moment ago got away from some creeps," Novice pointed out.
Weiss shook her head with an amused smile before she returned to her analysis. The process took a while, something that thankfully the others didn't bother her about, and eventually she finished compiling the data however... "The data's incomplete…" she said, catching their attention.
"Huh?" Came out of Tentomon and Koshiro.
"Incomplete how?" Ruby asked as she went over to Weiss.
"As in because some of the characters on the wall are missing I don't have all the information needed." Weiss said with a sigh.
"Well… maybe I could head deeper in and take pictures? I mean, there's probably more of this stuff deeper in the ruins right?" Ruby suggested.
"...I don't think that's a good idea," Tentomon spoke up.
"Why is that," Iori asked.
But it was Koshiro who answered, "That place is a maze."
"That… could certainly help." Weiss mulled over the thought, eventually nodding "Alright, but before you go, here, I'm pretty sure this belongs to you." she said as she pulled the folded up Crescent Rose into Ruby's view, and a second later Ruby was clutching it to herself as she looked it over frantically.
"It was damaged when I found it," Weiss sighed, but Ruby didn't hear her, clearly fussing too much over 'her baby'.
"...Baby?" Gatomon asked with an incredulous look.
"Yup." Novice said with a cheeky grin.
The other three sweat dropped at the weapon loving girl, before Palmon took Myrtenaster off of Ruby's belt and gave it to Weiss. "We found this earlier too, but it was like this when we found it."
Weiss accepted her weapon, before inspecting it, scowling when she saw the state of the barrel "This is recent."
"She can tell that," Ken wondered.
"She must've worked with that weapon for a while," Minervamon said, "After all, a great warrior knows their weapon."
"Yeah, a pair of idiots got their hands on it and started playing around with it." Palmon told her dryly.
"I see…" Weiss frowned. "At any rate, thank you for returning this," she said with a slight nod as she hooked her weapon on her belt again.
"Do you think Ruby is gonna be okay?" Tentomon asked, looking at the frantic girl. He got his answer when Ruby suddenly stopped, before walking towards them.
"Uh...Ruby? Are you okay?" Palmon asked, a little worried at the expression on her face.
That's what the others are worried about too.
"I'm gonna kick that devil bastard's ass." Ruby said coldly as she glared at the Black Gear in the corner.
"Whoa!" Came out of everyone, not expecting Ruby to use that kind of language.
Even Ophanimon looked worried.
Everyone stared at her silently for several moments, before Weiss finally spoke "Did you just swear?"
"Nobody touches my baby! NOBODY!" Ruby shouted as she pointed towards the ceiling.
"...Does she really love her weapon that much," Palmon asked in worry.
Novice had a cheeky grin at the question, "Why yes she does. In fact, I've been watching over a world where Ruby gets married to a weapon. And has a kid with it."
"WHAT!?" Everyone cried out in unison, although Ophanimon and Minervamon looked like they didn't believe him.
"How does that work," Jo asked frantically at several impossibilities of that statement.
"Ruby's love for weapons surpasses common sense," Novice spoke, having a very hard time keeping a straight face. But as the Children and their digimon gaped at the thought of marrying a weapon, Novice caved in and burst into laughter. "I'm sorry I just... couldn't resist," the Overseer said through his laughter. "The weapon in question is a living one, and them getting married is still just a possibility... For now," Novice explained, having an evil grin at the last part.
The Children decided not to question further, lest they risk their brains melting.
The three of them were inching away a little from the silver eyed girl at that statement, before nodding a little. Either way, they could all agree that that monster had to be stopped. "So uh...what do we do about the data?" Palmon asked, changing the subject.
"Please do," Armadimon said, clutching his head like he was in pain.
"Uh… right." Weiss said as she shook her head and turned her head back to her scroll "Ruby, if you can actually find more characters like these and send me pictures of them, I think I should be able to decode the information here."
"If it makes us get to that devil bastard faster, then you got it!" Ruby shouted, before she was gone deeper into the ruins with a flash, kicking up a dust cloud as she heard a surprised noise, figuring it was from Palmon being dragged off, she turned back to her scroll, only to stop as she heard the voice that was next to her.
"Well… this is a problem." Palmon said as the dust cloud finally fell down while Weiss turned to her, before she groaned into her hands.
Aside from hearing Ruby swear again, the Children face-palmed at Ruby apparantly taking Tentomon by accident.
Although Mimi hid her face with her hands, remembering how she got in there.
Ruby didn't even realize her mistake till she was well into the ruins, having used her Semblance to zip through, and finding a few small sections with more characters, taking a picture. "Think this should be enough, Palmon?" she asked.
"I think so, but I'm not Palmon," came a notable male voice.
"She really did it," Yamato commented, and then he couldn't help but laugh.
She blinked, before slowly turning...to see Tentomon looking dizzy, not being used to her fast speed. That's when it hit her what she'd done. "Uhh...oops?" she said awkwardly.
And it was at this moment that most of the Children and their digimon started laughing. The exceptions being Mimi, Palmon, Koshiro and Tentomon. Those four just looked embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry," Hikari called out even as she was laughing at something she knew she probably shouldn't.
"Please send the pictures to Weiss while I try to remember which way is up." Tentomon said as he clutched his head to try and stop the spinning.
"...I don't know which is worse," Tentomon commented, comparing his situation at the time with his other.
"Neither do I," Palmon added in.
"R-right." Ruby said, a bit of an embarrassed blush on her cheeks at her mistake before sending the pictures to her white haired friend.
Several moments later, and Ruby jumped a bit when she heard Weiss's voice almost reverberate through the walls "Oh thank Oum I finished it, now I just need to call her."
"No need for that," Mimi commented in an attempt of a quip.
"Uh… you mean you aren't talking to me on my scroll?" Ruby said towards the walls, as she swore she could almost hear the pause from Weiss.
"... You heard that?" Weiss said in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm kind of as surprised as you are though." Ruby said as she scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"How did it work for you two," Jo asked out of curiosity.
"I was able to complete the map, then I clicked on the glowing dot on it. Then I heard Mimi's voice," Koshiro explained. "Then I put on my headset so I could talk to her."
"And I was so relieved when you did," Mimi said, giving the Chosen of Knowledge a grateful smile. Which made him blush a little.
"...I had a feeling something might happen between those two eventually," Novice thought with a small smile. However, he decided to let everything play out naturally the moment he accepted Swift's request, so he won't meddle with possible love affairs. Even if he wanted to do that so badly. "Let's see how things turn out."
"Well...at any rate, that data you sent me allowed me to synthesize a map of the ruins. You're in the middle of a labyrinth, but don't worry. I'll guide you," Weiss said.
"Right. Lead the way," Ruby nodded. The next minutes had Ruby following Weiss's directions as they navigated through the ruins.
"Just like Koshiro guided me," Mimi commented.
"The next areas seem to have traps. Be careful. I'll inform you what traps are coming," Weiss said.
"Right," Ruby nodded...before chuckling. "You know...this honestly feels almost like one of those adventure movies."
"Perhaps," Weiss admitted with a light chuckle. "But keep in mind, there's no script here."
"Well, that's what improv is for." Ruby said with a shrug as she grinned a bit.
"Except wrong kind of improv gets you killed here," Tentomon commented, remembering the pitfall Mimi would've fallen into if Koshiro hadn't warned her.
"Now then, you're about to enter a small room, the floor of most of the room is fake, so make sure to stay on the edges." Weiss told her, and Ruby made a small sound of confirmation that she heard her as she stepped into the room Weiss mentioned, tapping her foot on the floor curiously only to pale a bit as it crumbled away, leaving just the edges intact.
"...Yeah, I could've fallen in if Koshiro hadn't warned me," Mimi admitted.
Ruby swallowed nervously before pressing herself flush against the wall while Tentomon hovered behind her as he followed.
After getting past that room, the two continued on until they reached a cross intersection, looking around "So, where to next?" Tentomon called out, waiting for his partner to answer.
There was silence for a few moments "I think someone's following the two of you, there's another dot on the map right now and it's almost at the room you just left."
"...Is that Centarumon," Hawkmon asked, seeing as the title card mentioned him.
"Probably," Palmon replied.
"Actually...I think they're already here," Ruby said a little nervously, as whoever was following them soon came into view. The Digimon was a large centaur-like creature, with a metal helmet that seemed to have a cycloptic eye, though it was hard to tell from the red dot. His body was predominantly brown, though there were these bizarre purple...bulbs...growing on his body, with some mechanical parts especially on his arms, making him seem like some kind of cyborg.
"Yep, it's him," Palmon confirmed.
"Isn't that Centarumon?" Tentomon said in surprise.
"I just said that," Palmon said in mild annoyance, earning snorts of laughter out of everyone.
Digimon Analyzer: Centarumon
Centarumon. Data Type. An Adult Level Beast Man Digimon. A stoic guardian, Centarumon is not the kind to let others get past him easily. With the exhaust pipes on his back, he can easily overtake most landbound Digimon, though this does have the disadvantage of making it nearly impossible for him to turn, especially in tight spaces. His special attack is Hunting Cannon, firing a yellow beam of energy from the cannon in his right hand.
"And he doesn't look friendly," Ruby gulped, taking out her Digivice, and true enough, a black dot appeared on the radar. "Yep, he's infected!" she confirmed.
"Of course he is," Gatomon commented.
"Of course he is," Weiss sighed. "Ruby, I need you to listen to my instructions carefully. I'll try to lead you to a spot that has some open space. When you get there, hold him off till we can reach you and Tentomon!" she ordered.
Snorts of laughter came from Gatomon using nearly the same tone as Weiss did.
"Got it! Just tell me where to go," Ruby nodded as she and Tentomon did an about face and ran away, Centarumon easily getting through the gap thanks to the vents on his back.
The twists and turns that Weiss sent them on were at least good enough to stop Centarumon from reaching his full speed, and the traps they avoided were also good to make him slow down a bit, giving them a better chance to run away. Following Weiss's directions, they soon found themselves in a large empty room. "We're in position, Weiss!" Ruby reported.
"What position," Miyako cried out, seeing as the room only had one exit.
"Good. Hold him off until we get there!" was the reply she got, before the line went dead.
"...You could've told me that, before you cut the line," Mimi said while giving Koshiro a pointed look, "I thought you abandoned me."
"Sorry," Koshiro apologized.
"So...how do we do that?" Tentomon asked the rather obvious question.
Ruby paused for a moment, before realising the problem "Oh yeah, you probably can't evolve with my Digivice huh?"
"I don't believe I can, I would need Weiss to be close by." Tentomon answered, just as they heard Centarumon's hooves sounding off in the tunnel, getting steadily louder
As much as Tentomon wanted to point out Mimi wanting the impossible from him at the time, he wasn't sure the girl would be very... agreeable to hear that.
"Right, and Crescent Rose's nozzle was busted up enough I can't shoot at him, though if I could just get a whetstone I could work on the blade." Ruby started and slowly mumbled off as she thought about how to fix back up her weapon.
"Ruby…. RUBY!" Tentomon shouted, getting back her attention "We need to keep him occupied, remember?"
Despite the serious situation, everyone, including Mimi, laughed at Ruby's distraction.
"Right, sorry." she said sheepishly, before grabbing Crescent Rose and activating it with a flourish. "You distract him with some lightning, I'll keep him off balance," she said. "That should hold him off long enough."
"Okay, let's do that," Tentomon nodded as he flew up. "Petit Thunder!" he called out as he fired his attack at Centarumon, though it didn't cause any notable damage, it did do its intended goal, which was to draw his attention.
Ruby however, dashed forward using her semblance, and started peppering the Digimon's legs with strikes from the dulled Crescent Rose, forcing Centarumon to divide his attention between dealing with the insect shooting lightning in his face, and the blur taking pot shots at his legs.
"Smart plan," Minervamon commented with an excited grin, "While they can't take him down like that, they can probably last long enough for Weiss and Palmon arriving."
Although at that moment, Wormmon gave Mimi a worried look, "How did you and Tentomon escape?"
"Just let Minervamon read," Mimi said, wondering if it will happen the same way.
Centarumon growled, even firing his special move a few times, but despite that, he failed to hit either of them, while they were keeping him somewhat off balance.
And on the outside of the wall, Weiss and Palmon were certainly thankful that most of Centarumon's shots were breaking up the wall, making their own job easier.
"Oh, that's how," Wormmon commented.
"I probably could've broken through easily as Digmon," Armadimon boasted.
"Yeah, but you weren't there," Iori pointed out dryly, raining on his partner's parade.
And mere moments later, the wall collapsed, Ruby not even being need to be told as she sped outside, grabbing Tentomon on the way as the four regrouped while Centarumon followed them.
"Good to have you back Palmon." Ruby said as she glanced at her partner with a smile.
"It'll be a good moment once we get that gear out of him." Palmon said with a slight grin.
"Well then everyone, I think its about time we put an end to this farce," Weiss said.
"Right!" everyone nodded, as Weiss and Ruby's Digivices began to glow.
And here we go," Daisuke commented with an excited grin.
(Play Brave Heart)
"Palmon, Evolution! Togemon!"
"Tentomon, Evolution! Kabuterimon!"
With the burst of light, the two Digimon evolved, standing tall before Centarumon. The controlled Digimon however didn't seem phased, as he turned his arm into its cannon mode and aimed.
"At least they managed to get outside first," Koshiro commented as he remembered almost getting stung by Togemon's body.
That earned several winces of sympathy out of everyone.
"...You didn't get hurt did you," Biyomon asked in worry.
"No, things just got a little... uncomfortable for a moment," Mimi replied for the both of them.
"Not this time," Kabuterimon said as he charged up. "Mega Blaster!" he fired his attack, meeting Centarumon's attack, causing an explosion, though he timed it so it was nearer to Centarumon, causing him to stumble back...and leaving him open to Togemon who landed a haymaker to his head, before following up with a rapid series of punches to his torso, ending it with a strong punch that pushed him back into the ruins.
"YES!" Minervamon cried out, startling everyone.
"She likes a good fight," Novice explained quickly while giving the warrior digimon an amused look.
"Nowhere to run or hide. Let's end this now," Togemon said.
"Agreed," Kabuterimon said, before they both charged up their attacks.
"Needles Spray!"
"Mega Blaster!"
The two attacks were launched at the still dazed Centarumon, and as such, he couldn't evade as both attacks hit him dead on, the Digimon shouting in pain, before the Black Gear in his back was violently launched out, causing it to shatter against the wall, leaving Centarumon to slump to the ground, defeated.
"Take that!" Minervamon cheered again, causing Ophanimon to shake her head a little.
"Okay, the Black Gear is gone. He should be back to his senses now," Weiss confirmed, checking her Digivice, as Kabuterimon and Togemon reverted to their child forms.
(Song end)
Centarumon groaned, slowly getting back to his feet "What was I…?" he muttered, before his eye fell on the two humans, specifically, the Digivices in their hands, as he gasped "You… you're the Chosen Children."
"Ok, how many Digimon know about that?" Ruby muttered in confusion.
"Leomon, Centarumon and Devimon to my knowledge," Novice answered, "Though that's just File Island."
Weiss shrugged at her, before turning her attention to Centarumon "You were under the control of a Black Gear, it made you attack us."
Centarumon nodded "I see, I'm ashamed that Devimon was able to get to me."
"It's not his fault," Takeru commented, "THe only one at fault is Devimon."
"Well said," Novice said while clapping in approval.
"Devimon… that's the guy with horns and wings in black, right?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A simplified description, but yes, that's him." Centarumon nodded "Most likely he placed me under his control in the event you came here, to prevent me from revealing information about the Digivices to you."
"So he was the one you got that information from," Jo commented.
"...We never told you?" Koshiro sounded out.
"No you didn't." Everyone except Mimi and Palmon said in unison.
"More information on them would certainly come in handy." Tentomon said.
Getting back on his feet, Centarumon nodded. "Follow me," he said simply before leading them to another section of the ruins. There, on the wall, was a picture that was the spitting image of the Digivices.
"That looks like a shrine of some kind," Miyako commented in slight awe.
"Long ago, the great Server that watches over the Digital World informed the Digimon of the past, telling them that one day, champions would arrive from another world, carrying with them objects known as Digivices, holy devices capable of inducing a sudden evolution in a Digimon, and, capable of evolving themselves, into forms more suited to channel their holy powers." Centarumon explained as the two humans looked at their Digivices.
"Huh? Evolving themselves," Iori pointed out.
"...Was that what that Keenan boy had," Yamato asked.
"A very good guess," Novice said with a grin, "In fact, the D3s of the youngsters could be considered an evolution too. Including Ken's."
At the mention of his digivice, Ken looked down in shame.
"Ken." Wormmon sounded out.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad," Novice quickly said.
"And those champions are us?" Ruby asked, earning a nod from Centarumon. "That...that's so...COOL!"
"Well...I'm glad you're...enthusiastic…" Centarumon said with a sweat drop.
"I don't know what to think about this honestly." Weiss said with a bemused look on her face.
"It certainly is a lot to take in." Tentomon commented.
"It kind of was for us," Takeru commented, "I didn't even fully understand it at the time." The Chosen of Hope decided to admit.
"Ruby's taking it pretty well though." Palmon muttered to him, causing the two to look at the girl who was still wearing a big smile.
"I suppose it is easy to make her happy," Ophanimon said, probably wanting to have Ruby right here and coddle her.
Centarumon looked at them for a moment, before his attention went to behind them as he saw someone step into the room "Ah, Leomon! I wasn't expecting you."
"Oh, crapbaskets," Agumon complained.
The two humans and two child level Digimon whirled around, seeing the same Digimon that, judging by his eyes, was still under the control of Devimon.
"Watch out! Devimon's still controlling him!" Ruby warned. Too late.
"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon called out, firing his attack, and hitting Centarumon in the chest, sending him skidding back.
Centarumon shook his head as he looked at Leomon "I see, then, I apologise in advance my friend. Hunting Cannon!" he said as he fired right at Leomon's face, disorienting the lion headed Digimon.
"Centarumon defended us too," Mimi commented, feeling grateful towards the centaur digimon for that.
Ruby looked at Leomon, wondering if there was any way to stop him, before thinking back on Centarumon's explanation about the Digivices, looking down at the one in her hand.
"I think we have the same idea." Weiss said, with Ruby nodding in agreement.
With that, the two girls ran up to Leomon and aimed their Digivices right at his face, a light spilling forth from the devices as Leomon recoiled, growling in pain, before quickly turning tail and fleeing.
"We found that out by accident," Mimi admitted, remembering how she just put her bag in front of her face in panic where her digivice was attached to at the time.
The sudden retreat had surprised the girls enough though that they didn't give chase, having expected him to stand his ground.
"It seems Devimon's hold on him is stronger than expected," Centarumon sighed, and they were sure if he didn't have his helmet, he'd have looked sad. "However, that indeed is proof that you both are the legendary champions. Only in the hands of their champions can the Digivice shine so bright. Had he not retreated, I am certain the holy power would have driven out Devimon's evil influence."
"Yeah. He would've been free if we had gone after him," Mimi said, now feeling a little guilty about that.
"Mimi, we just figured out that it would drive Leomon away. We weren't sure it would free him at the time," Koshiro said consolingly.
"I already did know that," Taichi piped up, "But I don't hold it against you two for not figuring that out immediately."
"Still though...sorry we couldn't free Leomon," Ruby apologized, though Centarumon shook his head. "It is alright. In time I am certain you will free him."
"If we could do it, I'm sure they can too," Gomamon said happily.
"But before that, we should find a way to get back to Infinity Mountain," Palmon said, reminding them of their current predicament.
"If the Digivice can do this, I think I know just what we can do," Weiss said. Before long they were in the room with the large Black Gear.
"Yes, this evil power is indeed Devimon's. However, it is beyond my power to remove it," Centarumon nodded.
"Oh, I get it," Ruby nodded, realizing what Weiss had planned as they pulled out there Digivices.
"This could work. Its definitely worth a shot!" Tentomon agreed, as the two pointed their Digivices at the gear. The holy power shot out of the devices, and hit the gear, causing it to be covered in sparks, before it eventually shattered. As if on cue, the earth started to shake.
"Was that how you did it," Iori asked Mimi and Koshiro.
"...No, I kicked it," Mimi said in slight embarrassment. Earning a long bout of silence.
"...You destroyed it with a kick," Gabumon asked in disbelief.
"...No, I kicked it and it started spinning the other way," Mimi said quickly, getting embarrassed by all the stares.
"Mimi, you are AWESOME!" Miyako cheered, making the pink haired girl flustered.
"Did that do it?" Palmon asked.
"Only one way to find out," Ruby and Weiss said at the same time. Quickly getting out of the ruins, they soon saw that indeed, the island fragment they were on was moving back towards Infinity Mountain.
"We'll have to get the info on the Digivices to the others." Weiss said, looking down at the one in her hands.
"Let's just hope their safe for now." Ruby added with a nod.
Before anyone could comment, the book shut itself. Which prompted Novice to get up with a determined look.
"What is it," Minervamon asked, more out of curiosity than worry.
"I think it's time I let him loose, now that Black is serving her time," Novice spoke up before moving out of the room.
"Who are you talking about," Ophanimon asked in suspicion.
"It's a surprise," Novice said with a grin.
"We're not sure we like your surprises after you scared us like that," Sora said in disapproval.
"Sora's right," Gatomon added in.
"Well, too bad. I'm getting him out now," Novice said before being covered by shadows and he was gone.
"Who the heck was he talking about," Yamato demanded in worry.
"...We don't know anymore than you do," Minervamon said, now really worried about who he is.
Me: Well then, time to let you out of here. *Takes a digi-egg out of a stasis field*. Thank you so much Swift. *Uses new and improved digivice to take a blue and yellow crest into it from their containment fields*. I should probably check on Syakomon's pool later.
*Digi-egg cracks*
Me: That was fast.