It was nightfall and everything was dark in the plains of the Digital World. The sky was cloudless and the digital moons graced the dark land below it with their soothing lights, reflected most probably by the digital sun that was temporarily hidden from sight. Most of the Digimon had already retired for the day, probably after a full day of toil and sweat, or of adventures.
Most being the keyword here, which did not apply to two particular Digimon, who were walking in the middle of a ravine surrounded by tall stony hills.
"How much further?" a tired male voice called out. "My feet are killing me!"
"Don't rush me," a female voice snapped back irritably. "Besides, you can fly! Why should you complain?"
"Why don't we both fly then? It'll be faster."
"No. We might miss it with all the darkness. It's better if we walk."
"But we've been walking for days… are you sure it's even out here?"
From the darkness, with the aid of light being the pale moonlight, two figures were seen walking in the midst of the night. It was difficult to see their detailed profiles, but one could make out a lanky humanoid Digimon, with a pair of wings growing out its back. It had the most peculiarly shaped hair; it seemed to grow out from the sides of the head upwards, forming what looked like a second pair of smaller wing. This Digimon was leading the duo; it was followed by another shorter humanoid Digimon. The short Digimon was wearing a cape and a wizard-shaped hat, and was holding a staff.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" the male voice, coming from the shorter Digimon, asked again, whiningly.
"Stop asking, will you? I remember it clearly; it was sealed around here," his companion snapped. "I saw the little cat sealed it with some hocus-pocus trick; something I hoped you might be able to unlock! Now come on, the statue has to be here somewhere."
"You sure your memory's not failing you?" the male said hopefully.
His companion abruptly stopped and turned around. "My memory is sharper than any sharpest blades!" she said shrilly.
"Well, you know they say that and your looks is the first thing to go with age," the male reasoned slowly as he leaned over the stony walls of the gorge. He let out a yelp when his back touched the stony wall; the wall had a very uneven, rough surface with pointed tips erupting all over the surface.
The female let out a loud snort. "Why you little….hey! We've found it! Sorcerymon, look!" she said excitedly, pointing towards the male's back. "I can't believe it; we would have missed it if you didn't act up like a bratty baby Digimon."
"Really? Eh…HEY!" the male, Sorcerymon, cried indignantly. He turned around and saw that the wall was actually a large statue instead of a rocky hill. "Uh…what is it, Shutumon?"
The statue was that of a quadrupled beast, its feature was unclear as it was hidden in the shadows. It stood almost three times taller than Sorcerymon.
"This is it," the female, Shutumon, said with satisfaction. "Quick, Sorcerymon, do your stuff. Free it from its stony imprisonment."
"Right," Sorcerymon said giddily and pointed his staff towards the statue. "And here goes nothing. Fallen Digimon of long before, with my magic you shall rise once more, IYYAH!"
A white beam of light was shot from Sorcerymon's staff directly towards the statue. An explosion resulted, and the statue began to glow. Slowly, Shutumon and Sorcerymon could see bright red fire began to flicker from around the statue. The flames grew more intense and enveloped the statue. A loud feline roar soon echoed all over the valley before the flames dissipated slightly, revealing in place of the statue, a burning giant wildcat now stood. It had a feral look in its eyes as it looked down to Shutumon and Sorcerymon.
Sorcerymon was ecstatic. "Why…it works! My magic works!"
Shutumon snorted and ignored him, turning to the burning cat. "Welcome back, Lynxmon," she said silkily. "Remember what's happened to you?"
The fiery cat, Lynxmon, growled menacingly. "Yes…" it said, with a scratchy male voice. "The girl with the fox…I remember them alright… I have a score to settle with them. They shall PAY!"
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 02 – No Longer Alone
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The sky was still dark when fourteen-years-old Chang Liu Ying stepped out from the door of her house. She inhaled a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air and the coolness of the early morning. Some indistinct sounds of vehicles were heard from the main road not very far from her house.
It was still very early in the morning, but Liu Ying had already seen a couple of cars went past her house, probably wanting to avoid the traffic jam that would happen after seven in the morning. The township of USJ Subang Jaya was quite notorious with its early morning and evening's traffic jams, with its residence heading to work at various establishments around town, or somewhere outside town, at the metropolitan Kuala Lumpur or the state's capital, Shah Alam.
"It is still early, Ying," a wizened voice said from her back. The girl turned, seeing her balding grandfather approaching, holding a toddler's hand. "It's only 6.45 and the school is not far. Why don't you go back in, and wait for your mother to come down and prepare breakfast?"
Liu Ying grimaced. "I can't grandpa; I'm on duty this whole week. I need to be at school before seven. I've already informed mama that I'm going now."
"Have you eaten?" Grandpa Chang asked. "You know that breakfast…"
"…is the most important meal of the day," Liu Ying continued, smiling slightly. "I know grandpa, don't worry. I've taken a glass of milk, and I'll get something from the school canteen to eat. You don't have to worry, grandpa."
"Until Meng is old enough to be the man of the house, I shall do the worrying for the family," Grandpa Chang said, smiling back at his granddaughter while looking fondly at the tot he was holding, who was looking up at Liu Ying curiously. The little boy was Liu Ying's five-year-old younger brother, Chang Liu Meng.
"Can Shaomon stay at home and play with me?" he asked Liu Ying hopefully.
"No, I'm bringing her with me today," Liu Ying said and ruffled the toddler's short, straight hair. "Besides, you're going to kindergarten as well the whole morning. By the time you got back, you'll just have to wait a little while longer before I get back, and then we'll play with Shaomon together."
"You talk about me as if I'm a stuffed toy," a muffled voice complained from inside Liu Ying's schoolbag.
Liu Ying and her brother laughed, but Grandpa Chang had a concerned look on his face.
"Do you think it's about time you tell your mother about Shaomon?" he asked quietly. "She needs to know too, and I think she would rather know about Shaomon from you, rather than finding out by accident, like I did." He chuckled quietly upon recalling how he had seen what supposed to be Liu Ying's stuffed toy moving about over his granddaughter's bed, unaware of being watched by the elderly man.
"I don't know…she already has a lot of thing to worry about," Liu Ying said thoughtfully. "I know I'll tell her someday."
"Good," Grandpa Chang said. "Alright then, be careful while walking to school."
"I will."
Liu Ying wore her white snickers before adjusting her school prefect uniform and tie before walking out the gate. She turned left where at the end of the road, the primary school was there. She waved at her little brother and began to take brisk steps towards the school. Upon reaching the school gate, she saw a silver Perodua Kembara slowing down as it reached the gate, and after a few seconds a boy Liu Ying recognized stepped out from the passenger's seat door. This was a boy whom Liu Ying had caught for coming late to school on Monday, and more importantly, her new teammate.
"Hey, Liu Ying!" the boy greeted her warmly. As soon as the boy reached the school gate, the Kembara let out a soft honk and drove away from the school.
"Hi, Adam. You're early today," Liu Ying answered calmly, noting that whatever the reason was, Adam seemed to be excited about something. His dark grey eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth, "You seem to be a little bit…excited."
"Good morning Adam!" a muffled voice came from Liu Ying's schoolbag.
"I am…uh…did I just hear Labramon?"
"Yes. Anyway, care to tell why you're so happy this early in the morning? Usually students look rather bummed this early."
"Well, you see…it's last night. Patamon came to my house!" Adam said excitedly.
"Really?" Liu Ying said, raising her eyebrow in interest. It had been two days since their battle with Deltamon, and Patamon, still in his Digivolved form, had opted to stay back to help rebuilding his village and to appoint a new village leader.
"Yeah. It was midnight, and luckily my sister had already gone to bed. I was sleeping too when my D3 beeped like crazy! I didn't know what happened but I decided…well, since I was up, might as well get myself a glass of water. Then I walked to the kitchen when I saw Patamon flying around the living room. I was so surprised and I called out for him…he was shocked as well and got himself knocked on the ceiling fan!"
Liu Ying smiled slightly. "I can imagine. Poor Patamon." She glanced at Adam's schoolbag. "Did you bring him with you?"
"Uh…I didn't think about it actually. I left him alone at home…hopefully he'll be ok," Adam said, scratching his chin. "He's too big anyway to be cramped in with all my books. Speaking of which…how did you put Labramon in your bag? I remember her being bigger than the bag."
"Didn't Patamon dedigivolve after coming to your house?" Liu Ying asked curiously.
"Dedigivolve?" Adam crunched his face in confusion.
"Regress to a smaller form?" Liu Ying reiterated, remembering that Adam was new.
"Oh. Nope. Last time I looked at him, he's still that orange hamster with bat wings," the boy replied jokingly.
"That's strange; Labramon dedigivolved into her In-training form, Shaomon, whenever she is here. She's a lot smaller in that form, I can easily place her in my bag."
"Well, maybe we ought to ask TobuCatmon about this whenever we go to the Digital World," Adam suggested.
Liu Ying nodded. "I agree. Anyway, Adam, I need to go and put my bag in my class now, and get something to eat. You see, I'm on duty this whole week."
Adam nodded. "Well, see you after school then. Ooh…I can't wait to tell Gayathri about this."
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After the school bell rang, Liu Ying calmly waited for the other students to exit the Form Two Beta (2B) classroom. As she waited, she wrote some notes in a small notebook, making reminders of what the teachers wanted for the next day and the lists of homework that needed to be done. There was no point of rushing anyway as her house was nearby. Some of her classmates lived far away came to school by bus, hence their hurry to avoid being left out by the bus.
"Uh…Liu Ying? Do you mind reminding me what we needed to do for English?" a voice asked softly from the side.
Liu Ying looked up to the one asking; she was a classmate of hers and one of Gayathri's close friends. The girl was smiling at Liu Ying, somewhat awkwardly.
"Not at all, Dina," she said, and checked her notebook. "Ok, Mr. Rahman told us to copy out and do the exercises on page fifteen from the textbook, into our exercise book. That's all."
"Thanks," Wardina Fadlullah replied gratefully. "I really should start making notes like you, Liu Ying. That way I won't forget which exercise to do."
"Well, it's never too late to start," Liu Ying said with a small smile.
Wardina nodded and smiled back. "Thanks again. See you tomorrow."
"Bye." Liu Ying said and watched the girl exited the room before she got up from her own seat. "Shaomon?" she called tentatively. "The coast is clear."
A loud relieved sound was heard coming from inside her bag. "Finally." A small spherical Digimon with brown fur crept out from the bag. Liu Ying frowned upon seeing that the small Digimon's mouth had some remains of food. "I love that fried banana fritters you got for me; they were very delicious! Can you get me some more of that tomorrow during your recess time?"
"Sure," Liu Ying said, before something inside her skirt pocket vibrated. "Uh oh…"
Shaomon suddenly looked more alert. "Trouble in the Digital World," she said, more a statement than a question.
"You got it," the willowy girl replied. "C'mon, get in the bag. We need to alert Adam and Gayathri, and go to the computer room."
Shaomon did as she was told. Liu Ying held her schoolbag with one hand and rushed out of the classroom. She could see Gayathri, with her two friends Belinda Foo and Wardina, and she had a slightly troubled look on her face, one of her hand was touching the left pocket of her light blue pinafore skirt. Her large eyes met Liu Ying's, and immediately Liu Ying knew that Gayathri too, knew about what was going on. She mouthed the word 'computer room' silently, and Gayathri made a slight nod, albeit hesitantly.
The only thing the prefect needed to know was if Adam, the junior of the three DigiWira, knew about it as well. And as if on cue, she saw Adam and his best friend whom Liu Ying did not know his name, walked out from the Form 2A classroom, talking with each other animatedly.
"Looks like he doesn't even have a clue," Liu Ying sighed, and quickly approached Adam. As she went past Gayathri and her two friends, she could hear Gayathri making excuses to her friends.
"Oh…hey, Liu Ying!" Adam greeted, while his best friend merely observed Liu Ying with slight apprehension, probably thinking what would the assistant head prefect want with his friend. Liu Ying ignored him and looked at Adam seriously.
"Adam, we need to talk, now. It's urgent."
"Oh," Adam said, surprised. He looked at Hakim, who had a puzzled expression on his face, and back at Liu Ying. "Sure. And Hakim…" he looked at his best friend. "…why don't you go ahead? I'll catch up with you shortly."
"Ok…" Hakim said apprehensively. "I'll wait by the school gate."
Liu Ying waited until Hakim was out of earshot before taking out her D3, which was glowing with faint yellow light.
"We're needed in the Digital World, now!"
Adam's eyes widened and he smacked his forehead. "Oh no! I've left my D3 and DigiSphere with Patamon at home."
Liu Ying felt like scolding Adam for not bringing his partner and Digivice to school, but instead she inhaled her breath deeply. He's still new. "That's ok. When you get home, use your computer to go to the Digital World. Point your D3 towards the monitor and said Digiport Open, got it?"
"Yeah, got it," Adam said slowly. "Sorry. I'll get going now."
As Adam ran off from her, Liu Ying saw Gayathri walked towards her nervously.
"Uh…I've left Tanemon at home," she said sheepishly. "Can I catch up with you later?"
Liu Ying snorted. "Not you too! Adam's even forgotten to bring his D3! But I didn't expect you, a DigiWira of three months, to forget about this as well!"
"Sorry, sorry…" Gayathri said apologetically. "I'll go home as quick as I could; don't worry, when pushed Anding can drive really fast! I'll get home in ten minutes!"
"Make that five!" Liu Ying barked as Gayathri waved at her from afar. The girl snorted again. "This is just peachy."
"Do not worry Liu Ying," Shaomon said consolingly from within her DigiWira partner's schoolbag. "We have been a team for three months before Gayathri and Floramon joined us. Surely we can at least hold off whatever threat there is, until Gayathri and Adam are able to join us."
"You're right, Shaomon," Liu Ying said, regaining control of her anger. "Come on, let's go."
Liu Ying quickly ran off towards the computer room, located on the second floor of Block D of the school, which was built the farthest from the current block she was at. She did not even bother to knock the door of the computer room; instead she just pushed the dark-tinted glass door open, and sighed in relief upon seeing that the air-conditioned computer room was empty, save for a man who was sitting behind the table marked 'Administrator'.
"Mr. Chan, there's trouble in the Digital World," Liu Ying panted, trying to catch her breath as she put down her schoolbag on the floor, and let Shaomon out from it.
The man, Mr. Chan, nodded and stood up from his seat. He was a handsome man with tanned skin and spiky brown hair. He was dressed in a neat button-up pair of white shirt, light brown khaki pants, and shining brown leather shoes. He worked as the computer instructor and teacher for the students of the school, as well as the adviser for the school's computer club. He was one of the popular teachers in the school, if not the most, especially among the schoolgirls and single female teachers.
"Are you alone?" he asked, his concern was evidently reflected in his cerulean eyes. "Where's Gayathri? And the new recruit…what's his name…oh yeah, Adam?"
"They went home to get their partners," Liu Ying said as she scanned the computers inside the room. "Which one of all these computers is switched on?"
"You can use the administrator's one," the computer teacher offered. "I won't be having any class anymore today, that's why all the other computers are switched off."
Liu Ying nodded gratefully and carried Shaomon with her hand while pointing her D3 towards Mr. Chan's computer with the other.
Apart from the other DigiWira, her grandfather and little brother, the only other person who knew about Liu Ying being a DigiWira, and Digimon in general, was Mr. Jackie Chan. In fact, the instructor was the first other human to know of Liu Ying being a DigiWira, being the one who had witnessed the girl being sucked into the computer monitor mysteriously, and coming out from it nearly four hours later with a small, brown-furred puppy. Liu Ying had a tough time explaining to the teacher, but Mr. Chan did not question her at all, apparently believing her completely after seeing with his own eyes a girl going in and out the monitor. To her relief the teacher was also supportive of her, helping her in a way a teacher could – giving advice and encouragement, despite he himself appearing not to understand what Liu Ying was doing. Shaomon was introduced to him, and later, when Gayathri joined the team, she too was introduced to the teacher.
"Digiport Open!"
A bright light erupted from the computer monitor, and Liu Ying felt a mysterious force pulling her into the computer monitor. She however, had experienced this many times before, now it was like a second nature to her. She did not resist at all, and felt her body growing lighter as her feet hovered above the floor. Her surroundings dimmed, covered by the brightness of the light, and Liu Ying closed her eyes.
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When Liu Ying opened her eyes once again, the first thing she noticed instantly was not her surroundings like usually, but that her outfit had changed completely into a different set of attires. Before arriving at the Digital World, she was wearing the school prefect uniform – light green long sleeved shirt, knee-length olive green skirt, a tie the same color as her skirt and a pair of white socks and shoes.
Now to her surprise, she was now wearing a pair of gray uniform; consisting of a V-necked, zip-up, long-sleeved jacket-like top and pants. She felt comfortable wearing it, as it was neither too tight nor too loose, as if custom made to suit her. Along her shoulders and arms, the sleeve was half-yellow, with black linings. Part of her upper chest was also yellow, lined with black. The collar was also black and was joined to the black linings over the shoulder and sleeves. Her top was secured by a black leather belt, with pouch-like compartments with gleaming metallic buttons to secure the contents. Her D3 was stored in the single compartment at the right, and her Yellow DigiSphere at the left. Beside the compartment for her DigiSphere, another compartment housing a PDA-like device she had never seen before was placed. Under the belt, her top extended down to half her thigh, forming what looked like a skirt, with yellow and black stripes lining the bottom. The skirt was cut at both sides up till an inch away from the belt; seemingly to make walking a lot easier for her and to give the whole assemble a feminine look. Her pants too, had black linings along the outer sides, and the ends of the pants were tucked in a pair of shining black boots which extended until below her knee. The boot had a yellow line decorating the upper border of the boots. And finally to complete her assemble, her long, straight black hair was pushed to the back and secured with a yellow headband, with some strands escaped freely over her forehead.
"Ying, those are a very nice outfit!" Labramon commented sincerely. "It suits you. You look very pretty."
"You liked it?" Liu Ying asked incredulously as she studied her outfit for a moment. She frowned; the outfit was not quite her liking. "I think I look like a spaceship crew in Star Trek," she mumbled. "Who designed this must be a fan… I rather wear my prefect uniform."
Labramon shrugged and began observing their surrounding. She frowned; the environment was strangely familiar. They were currently inside a valley, walled by stone hills. A TV set was placed somewhere near them. Her ears shot up as she felt a sense of forbidding danger looming.
"Labramon? Don't you think this place look awfully familiar," Liu Ying said with a low tone. A memory came flitting in her mind, causing her to shiver. "Could it be?"
A loud feline roar suddenly echoed all over the valley. Both Liu Ying and Labramon paled; the roar was also very familiar. The roar seemed to be coming from above. Slowly, they looked up and gasped loudly.
Perched on top of one of the stone hill was a large wildcat with flames burning all over its body. It looked down at them with a pair of menacing eyes, as if readying for a kill. All the time, it was growling softly, and maliciously.
"It's Lynxmon!" Liu Ying cried in shock. Her knees felt weak suddenly. "But…I thought…TobuCatmon has sealed him?"
Lynxmon let out a loud roar before jumping down, landing on its feet just several meters away from the duo.
"You really don't think your friend's spell could hold me for long now, do you?" Lynxmon spat. "I have returned, and I have a vengeance to settle with both of you! But first…" Lynxmon turned his attention towards the TV set near him, and crushed it with its paws. "Now, there will be no interruption. Prepare to die, DigiWira!"
Liu Ying took out her D3 Digivice from her new belt. Her hand was trembling. "Do…do it, Labramon. F-Finish what we've started."
"Labramon…Digivolve to……Youkomon!"
"Liu Ying, take cover, quickly!" Youkomon ordered. "I shall handle him!"
The girl didn't need to be told twice. Quickly she sprinted towards the grey stone walls, trying to find somewhere to hide. Unfortunately the walls were all flat, without any large crack or opening for her to hide. Liu Ying had to run as far as she could, but at the same time, the sounds of a battle had begun, and she could not help herself from turning around.
"Fox Tail Inferno!"
Youkomon had initiated the attack by firing nine fireballs from her tails. However the fireballs were consumed easily by Lynxmon's flaming body. The wildcat laughed loudly as Youkomon attempted an attack again, only to find it was in vain. Her fireballs had no effect on Lynxmon's intense burning flames.
"Now let me show you a real fire attack, foxy!" Lynxmon declared. The flames on his mane burned more intensely, spitting out fires haphazardly. "Thermal Mane!"
Youkomon jumped from the ground, causing Lynxmon's attack to miss its target. While in midair she curled her body forward, and morphed into a flaming red dragon specter. She let out a feral a roar which did not sound like her at all. The dragon's roar was echoing and bestial, compared to her elegant feminine voice.
"Dragon Wheel!" Youkomon blasted off towards Lynxmon. Lynxmon attempted to resist her attack, but Youkomon was able to push the fire cat back.
Lynxmon snarled and raised his paw, slapping the dragon specter forcefully. Instantly the dragon morphed back into Youkomon and was thrown towards the stone walls with a loud crash before limping on the grounds. Lynxmon roared in triumph and approached the limped fox, and snarled again maliciously.
"Wind Nail Rush!" Lynxmon rushed towards Youkomon and slashed his claws repeatedly towards the blue-furred fox.
Youkomon attempted to avoid the attack by rolling away, but her tails and posterior part of body had caught in the vicious flurry of slashes. She cried in pain, the pain was too much for her to resist. With another kick at the gut, Youkomon was sent flying once again and crashed onto the opposite stone walls. She grew weak and devolved back into a bruised and battered Labramon.
"No! Labramon!" Liu Ying cried, and rushed towards her fallen partner. "Not again…" she said, as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. "Gayathri…Adam… please hurry…" She nearly fell when she stopped abruptly at her partner.
"Liu Ying…I'm sorry…" Labramon wheezed. "I failed you, again…"
"Aha! I haven't forgotten about the DigiWira either!" Lynxmon exclaimed. "I shall kill you both," he said evilly. "Goodbye…and good riddance!"
Yet, with a stroke of good luck, before Lynxmon could attack even further, a violent hurricane made out of pink energy came from the sky. It sent Lynxmon trampling backwards. He got up snarled angrily as he saw a fairy descended down from the sky.
"Back off, you bad kitty cat!" the fairy exclaimed dramatically. "Or suffer Fairymon's fury!"
"Shut your trap, wench!" Lynxmon snarled, as the earth shook slightly. "How dare you interrupt me…you shall suffer the same fate as the fox. Thermal…"
"Judgment Arrow!"
Before Lynxmon could finish, an arrow of crackling electricity came rocketing at top speed from the direction opposite him. He had to forfeit his attack and crouch onto the ground, avoiding the arrow narrowly. The arrow shot past his head, grazing the flames that were burning all over his body before hitting the stone walls. The stone walls exploded, sending dust and stones falling down towards Lynxmon. Lynxmon let out a loud yelp and jumped away, only to be blasted with Fairymon's pink tornado.
"Tsk, tsk…I should bring some soap with me…" Fairymon said coolly. "…so that I can clean your foul, besmirched mouth. Ah well, I guess another pink tornado will do."
With that, Fairymon sent another wave of wind, but not directly attacking him. Instead the winds lifted some broken stones from the walls and the dusts, which Fairymon then used to obscure Lynxmon's eyesight. Some of the dusts entered Lynxmon's eyes while some began to extinguish the flames on his body. The wildcat let out a piercing roar in pain as he tried to force the dusts out of his eyes. He closed his eyes tightly and cursed under his breath, He was defeated.
"This isn't over!" he yelled. "I will return to finish the job! Mark my words."
With that, Lynxmon ran off as fast as his feet could take him. After he vanished, Fairymon summoned her power of winds to clear out all the dusts and stones around the vicinity, just to see Sagittarimon approaching, with Adam and Gayathri riding on him. Liu Ying was crying over Labramon's now-unconscious forms as Fairymon landed slowly beside them.
"We're too late," Adam said, sliding down the side of Sagittarimon. He then helped Gayathri down. "Liu Ying, we're so sorry…"
Liu Ying looked up and both Adam and Gayathri were surprised to see the usually cool girl with tears streaking down her face.
"Labramon…she's hurt really bad, I couldn't do anything…"
Gayathri knelt beside Liu Ying and hugged her. "Shhh…she'll be ok, Liu Ying," she said comfortingly.
Adam looked around the valley, trying to look for Labramon's assailant. He didn't see anyone, so he turned to his large partner. "Sagittarimon, do you think you can track down whoever that caused Labramon to be like this?"
"I can, but I think it would be better if we return back to Forest Sanctum. Labramon needs to be healed. After that we can pursue the enemy Digimon."
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Over at the Forest Sanctum, while TobuCatmon tended to Labramon, Liu Ying was sitting on a stone over one corner, brooding. She was no longer crying, but it was evident that she was deeply worried about her Digimon partner, judging by the way she kept shooting glances towards where TobuCatmon and Labramon were at.
Adam and Gayathri were leaning against the walls of the opposite sides of the sanctum, watching Liu Ying intently. They were wearing the same outfit like Liu Ying, with the only difference being the color in Gayathri's case. Wherever on Liu Ying's outfit was yellow, on Gayathri's they were pink. Adam's outfit however, while bearing some resemblance to the girls' outfit, had a masculine look on it. That meaning his outfit lacked a skirt, and his top did not have a zip. The zip was replaced by buttons reaching up below the black collar, with a strap covering the buttons. The color on Adam's outfit was very pale grey, nearing white.
Looking at each other tentatively, both of them then approached their friend.
"Liu Ying, don't worry," Adam assured her. "Labramon will be ok…and then, we'll handle her attacker together."
Liu Ying nodded forlornly and cast a look at the table where TobuCatmon was treating Labramon.
"That Lynxmon was the first evil Digimon Labramon and I have to face," Liu Ying said softly.
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(Flashback)
"It all began six months ago…I was still in Form One then…"
A school-uniformed Liu Ying was walking around the Forest Sanctum, looking confused and amazed at the same time. It was her first time being at the place. She didn't know what to think. "Where am I?"
"Welcome Liu Ying," greeted a voice, coming from one of the trees around the sanctum. "You're at the Forest Sanctum."
"Huh? Who said that?" Liu Ying asked, looking around wildly until she saw a violet cat perched on a branch of one of the many trees around the Forest Sanctum. "Wait…a Cheshire Cat? This is like Alice in Wonderland…" she said in disbelief. "Am I dreaming?"
"No, you're as awake as I am. And I am not what you called the Cheshire cat, nor do I have any idea of what that cat is," the cat said pleasantly. "I am known as TobuCatmon, and I am the guardian of the Forest Sanctum."
"Tobu…what?" Liu Ying said in confusion.
The cat known as TobuCatmon glided down the branch and hovered over Liu Ying's eye level. He smiled.
"You are now in the Digital World, world of Digimon. Not all children have the privilege of being here; you should feel lucky. You have been chosen by the Yellow DigiSphere to fight against evil Digimon that threaten the peace and tranquility of the Digital World."
"Wait a minute," Liu Ying said skeptically. "I've never heard of Digimon before. What do you mean, fighting evil Digimon? This isn't what I expected when I pressed the Enter button. Are you the one who contacted me?"
"Yes, I did," TobuCatmon said.
"So you were specifically targeting me!" she accused.
"No, I was merely choosing the one who have in possession the Yellow DigiSphere. And that person is you, Liu Ying."
Liu Ying took out the Yellow DigiSphere from her pocket and examined it. "And here I thought it was just a big marble. No wonder the shop owner looked puzzled when I wanted to pay for this. I was getting this for my little brother actually."
"This DigiSphere belongs to you," TobuCatmon insisted. "It holds great power; you must keep it with you. And now, let us come to find your Digimon partner."
"A partner? Why would I need a partner?"
"Why…to fight the evil Digimon, you would need a Digimon partner. That's what being a DigiWira is all about. A chosen child partnered with Digimon, and together they shall fight any evil that come to foil the peace of the Digital World."
Liu Ying nearly choked upon hearing it. "DigiWira? Oh, no, no, no, no….I haven't even said yes yet!"
TobuCatmon smiled. "Yet? Does that mean you will consider it?" He however, looked too confident that it unnerved Liu Ying.
"So…let's say if I say yes…" she finally relented, "…so we look for my…uh…partner, now?"
"If you insist," TobuCatmon said smilingly. "The best place to look now is perhaps outside the jungle that surrounds this holy stronghold. Hang on; let me get something to ensure our safe journey here."
"TobuCatmon and I then set off to look for my partner Digimon, and it took us the better half of the afternoon before we reached the Stone Valley when we saw a Labrador running at top speed, seemingly deathly afraid of something. The reason soon became apparent when Lynxmon appeared, chasing it."
"TobuCatmon, we need to help that dog," Liu Ying insisted worriedly.
The cat observed the situation for a while, and upon seeing the Labrador being in grave danger, he agreed. "Alright, child. But be warned; I'm not exactly a combat-type Digimon. I can only hold myself against Digimon such as that Lynxmon for a short time. But, I hope this will be worth it…I will distract that beast, and you go and save that Labramon."
"Labramon?"
"That dog!"
"Oh…"
Together, Liu Ying and TobuCatmon called out for Lynxmon's attention. Lynxmon saw TobuCatmon and turned his attention to face the flying cat. TobuCatmon flew high, making sure that Lynxmon would not be able to reach him. While Lynxmon was distracted, Liu Ying immediately went to retrieve the shivering Labramon, who had stopped running due to extreme tiredness.
However, her action did not go unnoticed.
"Oho! I've thought that something fishy has been going on!" Lynxmon boomed all of a sudden, turning his attention back to Labramon when he could not reach TobuCatmon. "Well what do you know? A child! A human! I, Lynxmon, shall destroy you both before setting my claws on that fat flying cat!"
"No!" both Liu Ying and Labramon cried out.
Labramon immediately jumped in front of Liu Ying. "Retrieve Bark!" she howled, sending supersonic blast from her mouth towards the burning wildcat, only to have it absorbed by the flames erupting on his body.
Liu Ying closed her eyes in fear before suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the Yellow DigiSphere she was carrying. A strange device appeared on her palm; it was white with yellow linings, and had a digital screen with few buttons beside it. The device let out another flash of yellow light, which was absorbed by the unassuming Labramon, propelling her into her next stage of evolution. Liu Ying watched in a mixed feeling of awe and nervousness as Labramon became bigger and bigger, her body gaining more lithe curves as nine bushy tails sprouted from her behind. Her beige fur began to take a shade of blue. From a dog, Labramon had morphed into a fox. A nine-tailed fox with flames burning at the tips of her tails. And her name was Youkomon, the bewitching beast Digimon!
Youkomon and Lynxmon began grappling with each other ferociously, slapping and kicking in a cat-VS-dog fight. Snarls and barks were exchanged, and blood was spilled. All the while, Liu Ying watched the whole battle, fear gripping her with every second passed. The battle was too grisly for her; having never watched such fight before. It was a battle to the death, and Liu Ying's young mind could not take it.
Without even realizing it, the girl fainted out of pure terror.
When she woke up, Liu Ying was back at the Forest Sanctum. TobuCatmon was hovering above her, and beside her was Labramon, injured, but alive.
"I'm so sorry child," TobuCatmon apologized. "I have forgotten that you are still a child, not a Digimon."
"TobuCatmon? Labramon?" Liu Ying asked, dazed before memories of the battle between Youkomon and Lynxmon returned to her mind. She gasped. "What happened?"
"When you fainted, I have to use a special magic to seal Lynxmon, unable to delete it myself," TobuCatmon answered. "Your partner was too gravely injured…but she survived, and has already been cured with special healing herbs from the trees around this sanctum."
"My…partner?" Liu Ying asked, still not fully grasping the whole situation. She turned to face Labramon. "You mean…"
"Yes, apparently destiny has bound us together, partner," Labramon said. "And it is an honor to be a partner of a DigiWira. May I know your name, child?"
"Liu Ying."
"Liu Ying," Labramon repeated. "Liu Ying and Labramon; I like the sound of that."
"But…I don't fit to be your partner. I'm not strong…I've fainted in the battle."
"You are strong, Liu Ying," Labramon assured. "Your compassion and determination to save me enabled me to Digivolve into my Champion form – Youkomon. It was with your power that it was possible for me to Digivolve. I could not have done that on my own."
"Really? You really would like me to be your partner?"
"I am certain. No regrets."
"Excellent!" TobuCatmon exclaimed happily. "The first DigiWira is born! But be forewarned, Liu Ying, Labramon. Dark time lies ahead. The summoning of the DigiWira signs the terrible fact that darkness has begun to emerge. You two will have to lean to each other for support. Do not worry though…with time you will gain the necessary experience and your powers and confidence will increase. There will be many evil Digimon you two will have to eradicate. Only by working together as a pair, as one, you will able to achieve greatness."
Liu Ying nodded. "I'm not sure I understand all of that, TobuCatmon…but I will try my best. That thing with Lynxmon…I'll make sure it won't happen again."
"Don't worry, Liu Ying. I'm sure that you and Labramon will make an excellent team. Destiny can not be wrong in bonding the two of you as a team. And the enchantment I've placed on Lynxmon will not last forever…but rest assured, by the time he is released again, you will be strong enough to take him down, for good."
(End Flashback)
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xxx
"But TobuCatmon's wrong," Liu Ying said, and buried her face in her palms. "I'm not strong enough, which causes Labramon to be constrained…and Lynxmon seems to be stronger than ever."
It broke Adam and Gayathri's hearts seeing their strong friend to be this shaken up. Adam then knelt in front of Liu Ying.
"That's where you are wrong, Liu Ying," he said gently. Liu Ying looked at him questioningly. "TobuCatmon was right then…you are strong enough now, because now…you're no longer alone. You have us. You have friends now. The two of you needn't fight Lynxmon alone again. We're a team…if Lynxmon messes with one of us, he messes with ALL of us."
"Yeah! Like that old Malay adage - a banana plant won't give fruit twice!" Gayathri exclaimed spiritedly, before she thought about it once again. "Uh…in this case, it won't give fruit thrice. We're gonna beat him for sure this time!"
Liu Ying laughed a little. "You're right, Gayathri…Adam…thank you, you two."
Adam smiled. "Nah…it's the least we could do for you now…seeing that if we're not late, this might not have happened."
Liu Ying thought about it. She then glared at Adam and Gayathri. "Now that I think of it…that's right…if you two…"
"I have good news!" suddenly TobuCatmon announced excitedly, unintentionally interrupting Liu Ying, and to Adam and Gayathri's relief. "Labramon is healed!"
Labramon hopped down from the table, and jiggled her tail excitedly. She then darted towards her partner. Liu Ying was so relieved of having her partner cured back to health, she hugged her partner tightly.
"Ack…not too tight, Liu Ying…"
"Isn't that nice," TobuCatmon said, smiling. "Now, hang on…before you go on to chase Lynxmon, let me take a picture of you three and partners. With those uniforms, you look really like a team! I better take pictures to decorate the sanctum; the walls have been bare for years. Now where did I put that old camera?"
xxx
xxx
"Yes! Run, you puny, pitiful Digimon! Run anywhere you like, Lynxmon can easily catch on!"
Lynxmon, out of frustration of being defeated by the DigiWira, decided to vent out some steam by attacking any Digimon going past his way.
He had encountered a group of Rookie Digimon not very far from Stone Valley. They were the Elecmon, rodent type Digimon.
At first, the Elecmon had attempted to fight off Lynxmon, but the fire cat was simply too strong for them. Yet, Lynxmon did not attempt to delete them; he was merely toying with them. And the Elecmon now knew better than to fight off one that were stronger than them. They opted to run.
"Ah…a game of cat and mouse eh? Well then, I'll give you a thirty seconds head start, just to make this game more challenging! One, two, three…"
"…twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty! Ready or not, here I come!" Lynxmon turned around and scanned the whole area, which was pretty deserted. He began slinking away towards the corners of the valley, almost reaching the valley once more. "Where are you? No use hiding now…Lynxmon can easily smell you mangy rodents and he'll come to eat you off, one by one!"
Whether Lynxmon was aware or not, the Elecmon were hiding nearby, behind piles of stones that resulted from a previous battle Lynxmon had with the DigiWira. Suddenly behind them, a large shadow loomed over them. Squeaking with terror, they turned and saw a large centaur and a beautiful fairy. The fairy held her thumb in front of her mouth – the universal sign of silence – and beckoned for them to board the centaur. The Elecmon, out of fear for Lynxmon, did as they were told and quietly the centaur galloped away.
The faint noises however attracted Lynxmon's sharp senses. "AHA! Don't think you can escape Lynxmon's sharp hearings now…Ahh, it's you."
The fairy Lynxmon had encountered from a previous battle was sitting on one of the larger stone. "Yeah, it's me alright. What's the matter? Being the big bully now aren't you, picking on those smaller than you? How about we resume our previous battle, one you ran away with fear?" She laughed insultingly.
"Why you stupid wench!" Lynxmon growled. "I'll teach you a lesson!"
Lynxmon was about to leap towards Fairymon when the fairy soared towards the air and aimed an arm downward. Strong winds erupted from her hand and when she thrust another hand downward, the large stone was lifted from the ground. With a flick of both hands, the stone was blasted towards Lynxmon, crashing on him, and sending him crashing onto the stone wall.
"Whoops, did I hit too hard?" Fairymon said airily. "My bad. Maybe Sagittarimon would treat you better. Yoo-hoo, Sagittarimon!"
Lynxmon was barely able to lift his head when suddenly the earth rumbled. The flames burning on his body paled considerably upon setting sight on the fearsome-looking Sagittarimon, who was the same size as him, galloping towards him at an incredible speed. Sagittarimon thumped his front hoofs onto the earth, and two energy balls streaked towards Lynxmon like meteorites. This was Sagittarimon's Meteor Gallop attack; both energy balls slammed onto Lynxmon, throwing him towards another stone wall.
"Maybe this will teach you a lesson not to pick up on those weaker than you!" Sagittarimon said nobly. "Youkomon, it's your call!"
"What?" Lynxmon said disbelievingly, following the gazes of Sagittarimon and Fairymon up towards the peak of a stone hill.
In a mockery of how Lynxmon had sneaked up on her and her DigiWira partner earlier, it was Youkomon now who was perched on the peak of one stony hill. The shine glinted from her dark eyes was that of deep fury. Without wasting any more time, Youkomon jumped and released nine fireballs from her tails, making sure that each one would hit the target. Lynxmon rolled on the ground in pain as one fireball after another was blasted onto his head, stomach, chest, gut, butt, back and other parts. The fire on his body was disappearing at an alarming rate until he was only a red-furred lynx, sans fire. Without his fire, Lynxmon felt extremely vulnerable.
And Youkomon knew it too. "It is time to finish this once and for all. Dragon Wheel!"
"Ah! NOOOOOOO!"
The gigantic, burning dragon specter formed from Youkomon's deadliest attack began to coil around his body. Without his flames, there was no way for Lynxmon to cancel out the flaming attack like he did once before. He yelled in pain before his vision blurred, and slowly he felt as if his tail and limbs were detached from his body…followed by the posterior part of his body, and the anterior…before finally all that was left of Lynxmon combusted into million bits of data particles. The red dragon apparition landed on the ground and changed back into Youkomon, before she devolved back into a tired-looking Labramon.
"We did it," she whispered, as Liu Ying came running to retrieve her.
xxx
xxx
It was nearing six o'clock in the evening when Liu Ying arrived at her house. Her grandfather was sitting on a stool at the front porch, reading the newspaper while enjoying the evening's air. Upon setting sight on his granddaughter he frowned. But what worried Liu Ying even further was the fact that her mother's car, a red Proton Wira Aeroback, was parked in front of the gate.
"Your mother is worried about you," Grandpa Chang informed his granddaughter when she entered the gate. "She got back home at four…"
"Ying!" a shrill feminine voice suddenly called out. A woman in her early thirties appeared at the door of the house. She was a stunning woman who would have looked more beautiful if not for the fact that her face harbored premature wrinkles, resulted from her having to be the family's sole breadwinner, after the death of her husband five years before. She had coal-colored eyes and long straight hair which was dyed red, with blonde streaks. "Where have you been, young lady? I was so worried!"
Liu Ying sighed. "Mama, I'm alright. But there is something that I need to tell you. And there's somebody I want you to meet."
xxx
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Back at the Digital World, two figures were flying over the remains of the battle between Lynxmon and the DigiWira. They were the ones from the night before; a lanky bird-woman called Shutumon and a short wizard in white who went by the name Sorcerymon.
"Oh bummer," Sorcerymon said as he scanned the grounds of Stone Valley. "The DigiWira really made good work out of him. I now wonder why you really want to unleash that Lynxmon to the DigiDestined when you know it would be defeated in the end."
"It's because I've run out of monsters to send off," Shutumon snapped.
"HA! At least I've thought of sending that Deltamon to ransack Green Meadow and the village near it," Sorcerymon laughed.
"You call that brilliant? You caused the DigiWira team to gain one more member!" Shutumon shot back. "As if two were not enough!"
"Oh…yeah," Sorcerymon said sullenly. He flew closer to Shutumon. "Don't you miss the old days Shutumon? Back when our master is still around? I really wish that anytime soon…the master would rise back and call us back to work for us again. Nothing could go wrong if the master's around."
"Yeah…the old days," Shutumon sighed. "Three hundred years of aimless wondering are really starting to get to me. All these peace, love, happiness…YUCK!"
Sorcerymon laughed. "Where did the glorious age of darkness go? I'd do anything to have the master calling on us anytime soon!"
"Sorcerymon…"
Sorcerymon stopped slightly, thinking that he had heard someone calling his name. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else other than Shutumon, so he shrugged it off as a figment of his wild imagination. "Now with these goody-two-shoes appearing…the DigiWira and their flashy partners…we're going to need the master to organize us all into his grand army."
"Shutumon…"
"Did you hear that?" Shutumon stopped flying abruptly.
"Hear what?" Sorcerymon asked back.
"I heard someone calling me…" Shutumon said. "The voice sounded really familiar."
"Huh? You too? I thought I was hearing things!" Sorcerymon said.
Suddenly, the air in front of the two Digimon rippled slightly before a semi-transparent image of a black skull materialized out of nowhere. The two Digimon gasped loudly upon staring into the dark hollow eyes of the skull. The skull then opened its mouth and bellowed to them,
"Where have you two been? For three hundred years I have been waiting for you! Return to the Horror Hall at once, you two!"
The apparition was gone as soon as it appeared, but it had delivered the message Sorcerymon and Shutumon were dying to hear.
"Do you hear that, Shutumon?" Sorcerymon asked excitedly.
"This can only mean one thing..," Shutumon said slowly. Then she grabbed her accomplice's hands and together, they shouted,
"OUR MASTER HAS RETURNED!"
Author's Notes:
The second chapter is up, written mostly in Chang Liu Ying's point of view. I am not very familiar with how a girl like Liu Ying thinks, so I wrote her mainly from some observations I've seen in my school friends, as well as characters depicted from TV shows that suit her. Many characters are introduced in this story, many will be important in future. Anyway there are some references to Malaysia that I will have to point out here.
1. USJ Subang Jaya is considered to be one of the largest residence areas in Malaysia, connected to the town of Subang Jaya. Subang Jaya is strategically located between the state capital, Shah Alam, and Malaysia's capital – the metropolis Kuala Lumpur. Selangor is the state where Subang Jaya and Shah Alam are located; it is a state considered to be the most developed, and is situated at the west side of Peninsular Malaysia.
2. Both Perodua and Proton are companies that produce Malaysia's national cars. Perodua Kembara and Proton Wira are some of the types produced.
3. The concept of having Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri to be wearing uniforms while in the Digital World is stemmed from the fact that school goers in Malaysia are required to wear uniforms to go to school. The designs however are based on multiple sources intermixed in one.