The tamers travelled till they reached place surrounded by ravines. Ryo went up to the edge, looked down and yelled, "Qinglongmon, Baihumon, Xuanwumon, Zhuqiamon! Are you there?" For a few minutes there was silence. He called out once more and waited. Still no response.
"Maybe they're not here?" said Terriermon. "They might have gone elsewhere to have a council meeting or something."
"Terriermon, this is no time to be joking," chided Jian.
"This is strange," answered Ryo, walking back towards the others. "The Sovereigns are usually around here. Something must have happened." Just as he said those words, the ground shook. From the ravine emerged a pair of flame-coloured wings. Zhuqiamon appeared from deep ravine and he wasn't exactly cheerful. Not that he was happy digimon to begin with, but he seemed grumpier than usual. Slowly, another digimon, one with two heads and large tree on its back emerged.
"Zhuqiamon, Xuanwumon (Ebonwumon) er... how have you been?" asked Ryo, a little intimidated by the presence of the two Sovereigns.
"Is this really the time for pleasantries?" snapped Ruki.
Zhuqiamon might have glared at her but no one would know since he was already looking like a thunderous cloud. "Why are you tamers here?" he asked, in a booming voice.
"A few strange things happened in the real world. We were wondering if you knew anything about it," said Takato.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" he bellowed.
"Calm down, Zhuqiamon. Let us hear what they have to say," said the tortoise digimon, speaking for the first time. "Go on, boy," he said urging the gogglehead to continue. The phoenix merely hmphed.
A scared Takato, plucked up his courage and began explaining all that had occurred. "So, have there been any strange occurrences in the digital world as well?" he asked, once he was done explaining. The tortoise digimon quietly took in all that was said and remained silent while he thought.
"Indeed, the digital world seems to heading towards doom. Dark forces, the likes of which we have faced once before, have arisen again. Normally, this shouldn't be a problem but..." He trailed off.
"What is it, Xuanwumon?" pressed Jian.
"Qinglongmon (Azulongmon) has been missing for a while now. No matter how long we searched, we could not find him," he said, gravely.
The tamers gasped in shock. "W-What do you mean?" asked Takato. "S-Surely, he can't be that hard to find, given that he's a large blue dragon, one of the holy beasts and all..."
The great turtle merely shook his head while the phoenix glared at them, more irritated than ever.
"Why are we telling these children about it?" argued Zhuqiamon. "It's not like they can help us! Rather, they will be the ones to destroy us. I don't see why we ought to let them live!"
The tamers were shocked by his words. The phoenix looked like he'd hurl an array of flames at them. Cyberdramon growled and Ryo readied his D-ark. "Now, now calm down. We mustn't be hasty," said Xuanwumon. The turtle digimon turned to the tamers. "Now then where do I even begin? You all might want to sit down. This will be quite a long tale." The tamers did as they were told and Xuanwumon began his long narration.
*flashback*
A month ago, the sovereigns were having their usual yearly meeting. The digital world was safe and not much had changed. The other younger digimon steered clear of the Holy Beasts so as to not get in their way (basically they didn't want a certain phoenix to fry them). The four beasts sat in silence as if they were communicating through the mind. Their eyes were stared fixedly on the old dragon. He looked like he was about to say something but pursed his lips instead wondering how he would relay the information he received. The silence went on for quite a while until Zhuqiamon shattered the quietness and uneasiness with his booming voice, "Qinglongmon! If you have nothing to say, then why did you ask us to gather? We have better things to do you know!"
"Sorry, Zhuqiamon... It's just that this matter is very serious indeed. I'm not sure how to put this in words," started Qinglongmon, rather gloomily.
"Well, out with it! We don't have all day!"
"He's right. Tell us, what it that troubles you so?" asked Xuanwumon.
Qinglongmon took a deep breath and said in a quiet, grim voice, "He's back. The digimon we have been fearing seems to have found a way to revive himself yet again."
"Huh? You're not making much sense! What do you-" Baihumon stopped mid-sentence as realization dawned on him. "Y-You don't mean...But that's impossible!"
"It is hard to believe I know I saw signs of him myself. He seems to have gathered some rather powerful allies. We don't have much time. We need to do something about him," said Qinglongmon.
"I'll go. Just tell me where that bastard is and I'll kill him once and for all!" growled the phoenix digimon, it's red wings glowing crimson.
"Don't be hasty, Zhuqiamon," cautioned Xuanwumon. "If it's really him then we have to take all measures possible. The safety of the digital world will depend on our actions."
"So, what are we going to do? Ask the tamers to help or defeat him ourselves?" asked Baihumon, scraping the ground with his paws as if waiting to fight.
"That is the difficult part. I'd rather we solve it on our own however, we will need that child's help yet again as he is the only one that can stop that vile creature," said Qinglongmon. "However...it would seem that the evil one has more in store for us."
"What do you mean?" asked Zhuqiamon.
"I received an encrypted message from an unknown source. According to that, a tamer will be used as a double edged sword. In fact it maybe even better to consider all the tamers as our enemy," said Qinglongmon.
"Then we'll just kill them all! Besides, as long as the one tamer exists so does that thing. By killing that tamer, the evil digimon should also disappear!" declared Zhuqiamon. His flapped his wings so hard that it looked like he was going to stir up up a firestorm.
"That is where you are mistaken, my friend," said the dragon. "We need that very tamer to destroy the digimon. If that tamer isn't there, the evil one will just take over the digital world. Though we say that one cannot exist without the other, killing the tamer will not help. That one has the power to transcend time. He will mostly find another world where the tamer exists. "
"So what do you propose we do?"
"We need to get at least that tamer to remain on our side, right?" suggested Xuanwumon. "In that sense, it might be better have all the other tamers as well on our side. If only one of them is to betray us, the others will surely be our allies."
"Agreed," said Qinglongmon. "It's only the tamers and chosen children (digi-destined) who can save our digital world from crisis. Even if we have the power, we cannot interfere entirely in these battles. After all, the only things we can do is to keep the darkness at bay or boost the powers of the partnered digimons."
"True. But Why can't we keep that one tamer and kill the others?" argued Zhuqiamon. "Surely, this tamer isn't the betrayer."
"No, that tamer isn't. The betrayer is someone else. However, if we harm the other tamers, the chosen one will possibly not help us either. So, this is the only choice we have," explained the blue dragon. "Besides, I believe in the tamers."
"But if one of them will betray the others eventually, isn't it better to eliminate the seed before it buds?" argued the phoenix.
"That maybe so. But that also means we will be playing right into the enemy's hands. The enemy wants us to destroy the tamers. However, we cannot do that. As Qinglongmon said, our powers are limited even if we are the Sovereigns," stated Xuanwumon.
"So, what do we do now? Send a message to the tamers?" asked Baihumon.
"No. We still don't have much data on the enemy right now. And the digital world doesn't seem to be in trouble...yet" The dragon stressed on the last word. "I'll go and see if I can get any more information. If I don't return in a few days, get the tamers help to protect the digital world."
The others agreed though the phoenix grunted in pure displeasure. They watched as Qinglongmon disappeared into the horizon. When he didn't comeback even after a week, the holy beasts were about to ping the tamers, when a sudden black and white blast appeared, followed by an army of all too familiar enemies. While the beasts tried to keep everything at bay,the chaos only increased. Baihumon went in search of the blue dragon while the other two remained to protect the innocent digimon. Just when they thought things would get worse, the fighting suddenly ceased.
The remaining sovereigns assumed the white tiger to have prevailed and hence the peace. However, when even he didn't return, they knew that this was only the calm before the storm. As they contemplated what to do, the turtle and phoenix spotted a dark scarecrow digimon. Though this digimon normally neither spoke nor did anything but look, this one had crazed red eyes and it's colour was like that of Devimon. When it hopped up to them, Zhuqiamon and Xuanwumon watched it with guarded eyes. The next second, the digimon popped like a balloon filled with confetti and the strange message was heard. It was the very same one that the tamers heard. The two holy beasts were shocked and contemplated their next course of action. Two days later, the tamers appeared.
*end of flashback*
The tamers took in all the information. "So, basically there's a digimon possibly more powerful than the sovereigns that has captured or finished two holy beasts," concluded Ruki."And-"
"If any of the two sovereigns were killed, then we'd the digital world would have become unstable and things would have been a much more dire," interrupted Xuanwumon. "No, I think it's safe to assume the two were captured."
"I see. So we have two captured sovereigns, an all to peaceful digital world which is eerie in itself and we have a digimon that has transcended time itself and wants to ensure the digital world remains in darkness," summed up Ruki.
"Let's not forget about the possibility that one of us might also be a traitor," added Jian. "Ah, you mentioned something about chosen children. Who are they?"
"They are children partnered with digimon just like you. However, they don't use cards," answered the turtle.
"Then how do the digivolve their digimon?" asked Ruki.
"That you will know when you meet them. If you ever meet them." At this, the phoenix snorted.
"Okay... And what about this certain tamer that you Sovereigns spoke about? The one whose existence is tied to the evil digimon," continued Jian.
"He's been with you all this while," answered Xuanwumon. The tamers looked at each other in confusion until he pointed one toe towards the said tamer. All eyes were on Ryo. The cerulean-eyed boy looked even more bewildered. "M-Me? I… I don't understand….." he said, startled.
"Your memory has been tampered with," stated Xuanwumon. "But it is something only you can unlock. We can't help you there."
"My memory… tampered?" said Ryo. His head began to feel heavy again. "I…I.."
"Don't force yourself Ryo. This is our battle as well!" comforted Takato, placing an arm on the older tamer's shoulder.
"He's right Ryo. No matter what we'll all fight by your side!" added Hirokazu, slapping him on his back.
"You guys…" Ryo looked at the bright faces of his friends and nodded. "What should we do? Where do we start?" he asked the Sovereigns.
"By searching and freeing the other two Sovereigns. There is a cave ahead of here with a prophecy written. Deciphering it, might give you clues on the captured Sovereigns whereabouts," said Xuanwumon. "Good luck, tamers." Zhuqiamon hmphed. He muttered something that sounded like "Faster to kill them all, if you ask me."
"Alright. Now that we have a lead, let's go!" said Takato, enthusiastically. He had hardly taken a step forward when Jian stopped him.
"Wait, Takato. How about we split up into two groups?" he suggested. "One group stays with the Sovereigns to prot- I mean act as their first line of defence." He eyed the phoenix cautiously. "The second group will investigate the cave and look for more leads about the enemy."
"Good idea, Jian," said Takato. "But how do we decide who is in which group?"
"I have an idea," suggested Juri.
A/N: Using the Japanese names for the four Sovereigns. The reason why I'm using the term Sovereigns instead of the four holy beats is because it's easier to use :P