Adam walked into the school compound, deep in thoughts. He didn't need to look at his wristwatch to know that he was very early this day. The sky was still quite dark and the air cool, but Adam didn't mind being at school earlier than usual. His sister was needed at the main branch of the IT Corporation – where she served as a system analyst – instead of the smaller branch in town where she usually worked. The main branch was located at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and Alisha wanted to beat the early traffic to avoid being late as the nation capital was quite infamous for its traffic jams during the mornings and the evenings. As his sister was the one who sent him to school, Adam too, had to be up earlier than usual that day.
Feeling the sensation of yawning coming by, Adam quickly covered his mouth as he entered the school canteen. The school canteen's vendors were seen setting up their stalls and preparing meals for those who hadn't had breakfast yet before coming to school, Adam included. After scanning through the limited selections, Adam settled in for his favorite meal – the nasi lemak – and went towards an empty table so that he could have his meal uninterrupted.
Yawning again, Adam considered whether he should be buying coffee or not. He considered himself quite young to be drinking coffee, unlike his sister who seemed to be relying on coffee every morning. But then again, he couldn't get enough sleep the night before.
"Stupid nightmare," Adam muttered to himself as he decided that a cup of coffee would be good for him if he wanted to be alert that day. A bad dream the previous night had rendered him sleepless for the rest of the night, and now he was sporting dark bags under his eyes. He went over to the drinks stall and asked for a cup of iced coffee. Appreciating the quietness around him, with the only noises came from urgent whispers from two students sitting at the table behind him, trying to finish their uncompleted homework and the silent chatters of a group of girls two tables in front of Adam's. He then spent the next ten minutes thinking over what had happened the previous three days.
Nothing much had happened, actually. Three days had passed since the incident involving a 180-degree change in Gayathri's persona. Gayathri was left with the memory of her being mean to Liu Ying and Adam intact, and she couldn't believe herself to be able to even act such ways. Liu Ying and Adam had assured Gayathri that they didn't blame her for what had happened, and Adam's story about Sorcerymon admitting the whole thing to him relieved Gayathri from the burden of carrying the blame.
However, for the next two days following that day, both female DigiWira had come down with a flu. Gayathri wisely took two days off from school in order to rest and recover, but Liu Ying had insisted in going to school in order not to miss any lesson. As a result, Gayathri had gotten better after resting at home and was able to attend school the previous day, while Liu Ying's flu had only worsened and she had to take a couple of days off from school and any DigiWira duties. She was absent the previous day and Adam didn't expect to see her until the day after tomorrow, according to the first DigiWira herself.
Things had gotten quiet for the last three days, which was good for the recovering Liu Ying and Gayathri, but for Adam who remained hale and hearty, it started to make him wonder. Ever since he was appointed as DigiWira following his finding of the White DigiSphere, the past one week had been somewhat interesting for the thirteen-year-old. His teammates had mentioned that things had gotten more intense ever since Adam joined them. When he mentioned this to Gayathri, the girl merely scoffed and told Adam to just enjoy their days off.
"Hmm…maybe I should visit Wizardmon again today? It's been three days, and he did say that Patamon and I can come and meet him anytime," Adam said to himself as he used a fork to jab at the remaining slices of cucumber, which he didn't eat as he thought that it had tasted somewhat bitter that day. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, pushed the otherwise-empty plate sideways, and finished up his coffee. "I have to ask Patamon about this…maybe I should've brought him to school today."
It was the bat-pig who had insisted on being left at home, and he had been staying home for the past two days whenever Adam was at school. His main reason was to get accustomed to 'Earthly stuffs' as he had put it in, but the previous day Adam had returned to find Patamon watching some soap operas in the television. But actually Patamon had come up with one very good rationale from his list of reasons why Adam should left him at the house instead of bringing him over to school.
"The school's computer lab is rather boring." While Patamon liked being around Shaomon and Floramon, but he rather detest having to hide in Jackie's office the whole time.
"I learn many things from watching the television." Patamon had proven himself to know things happening in the country, ranging from the weather forecast, current political issues, what was on the movie theaters, various TV programs and many other things which were alien to Adam himself.
"I love those Thai/Japanese/Korean/Indonesian/Malaysian dramas!" The previous day Adam found Patamon holding a wet tissue in his palm and a bundle of used tissue on the couch.
"You were adorable when you were a baby." Adam could only sweatdrop upon hearing this particular comment.
"I learned how to use the microwave today." Adam had considered installing a lock on the refrigerator after finding three empty boxes of instant pizzas in the trash bin, and a messy kitchen. Even Adam couldn't finish three boxes of pizzas in one go; his sister would surely wonder what had happened to the pizzas. But on the plus side, now Adam could ask his partner to prepare frozen nuggets or pizzas for him to have after school.
But the boy had to agree when Patamon pointed out this particular reason to him. "That friend of yours…Hakim, right? He is going to wonder why you're always running off after school and told him to go back home alone, as usually you would be following him back. Yesterday when you left me home, I've made a calculation. See…your school ends at 1.10p.m., and you're back here at around 1.20 to 1.30p.m the latest. So just leave me home, and should anything happen to the Digital World, just follow Hakim back home as you usually do, and when you reach home we can go to the Digital World together."
His partner was right. However Adam really was grateful that Hakim was not one who enjoyed prying on other people's lives. However Adam could see that his best friend had been wondering about what Adam had been doing for the past one week. They were close, and Hakim was Adam's first friend when Adam was transferred to the school. And usually, Hakim didn't hesitate to share any secret with Adam, and vice-versa. The DigiWira then realized that he had been rather tight-lipped with Hakim whenever the subject of him running off after school was brought up. Patamon was right about this. Any best friend would be suspicious when his friend was doing whatever Adam was doing.
"I wonder what Liu Ying would think about this?" Adam wondered; the first DigiWira of the team was the one who came up with the idea of bringing their partners to school in order not to waste any valuable time whenever they were needed at the Digital World.
However, before Adam could ponder about this any further, he spotted Hakim arriving at the school gate. Quickly he grabbed his bag and went to greet his best friend, but as he was walking he could see that something was wrong with Hakim. The other boy looked somewhat downcast, judging by the lack of jovial expression which usually was reflected from his face. Hakim was usually a cheerful person, sometimes Adam suspected that it was his merry manner was what that had made them clicked together as friends in the first place. Adam increased his pace towards his best friend, intending to ask Hakim immediately of what was troubling him.
"Salam, Hakim!" Adam quickly greeted his friend with a broad smile. "What's on your mind?"
Hakim saw Adam and seemed to consider how to reply to his friends greeting. The slightly plump boy studied Adam's face for a moment, which unnerved Adam for a moment. Adam thought that Hakim seemed torn between to reply or not to reply to Adam's greeting. This surprised Adam; usually Hakim was quick with the greetings. Besides Adam had greeted him with a salutation which merit a compulsory reply from the one who received it.
"Salam to you as well," finally the songkok-wearing boy said, with a rushed tone. "I'll see you in class."
With that Hakim immediately walked past Adam, rushing towards their classroom. Adam looked over Hakim's retreating figure with stupefaction; there certainly was no need to rush, the school bell won't be ringing for the next fifteen minutes. And Hakim somehow lacked his usual warmness.
"What's up with him?" Adam wondered, and trotted towards the classroom as well, making a mental note to ask Hakim about this.
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 06 – Looming Trouble
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"Hakim, do you know how to calculate this one?" Adam whispered towards Hakim during their math period. It was an easy problem actually, but Adam couldn't come up with any conversation topic, and Mrs. Elena Kwan, their math teacher, usually did not allow any conversation in her class. However, strict as she was, she had finished teaching the syllabus of the day and the class still had ten minutes to go before the period ended, and recess would follow. Trying to be somewhat lenient that day, the strict teacher allowed the class to talk, but only about the lesson and in silence as she was correcting the previous day's homework.
Hakim looked over the equation for a moment before wordlessly wrote down the equation on a free space in Adam's textbook with a pencil as Adam looked over. Usually Hakim would explain the methods of solving the equation to him rather than writing them down. This puzzled Adam even further. What could be troubling his friend so deeply and Adam knew for a fact that it wasn't just towards him that Hakim was acting strangely; it seemed that Hakim was distant to nearly everyone in class. At least, Adam thought, now he was sure that it wasn't for anything that he had done. Adam tried to think of any reason anyway.
'Birthday? No…his is in August. Maybe he's sick? He looks healthy to me, but that's a possibility. Trouble back home? I really don't think so. His parents and big brothers and sisters are very nice. Maybe just a small fight? No…couldn't be. A disagreement won't make Hakim to be like this.'
"Hello, earth to Adam?"
Adam looked up, only to find Gayathri standing beside his table. The class seemed to be half-empty and Adam was surprised to see that Hakim was no longer beside him. "Huh?"
"You seemed to be deep in thought," the girl said. "No need to explain though, we all think that Hakim is acting a little bit strange today. We're planning to ask you about it, but it seems that you yourself are in the dark about this."
Adam nodded slowly. "I've never seen him like this, actually."
Gayathri patted her fellow DigiWira's shoulder. "Hmm…everyone has his 'down' day. I'm quite lucky that I could say that three days ago was just not my day." Gayathri had fallen into Sorcerymon's abhorrence spell and had acted unlike her usual self that day.
Adam seemed to consider what Gayathri had just said. "You don't think…maybe…?"
"Of course not!" Gayathri snorted. She leaned closer towards Adam and dropped her tone. "First of all, Hakim is not at the Digital World with us, and secondly and most importantly, Hakim is not even a DigiWira! There's no way that he could've fallen into Sorcerymon's spell. Oooh, just wait till I get my hands on that excuse-of-a-magician, I'll sic Fairymon to him and…"
"Ok, ok," Adam laughed. "I get your point."
Gayathri realized that she had drawled, and smiled back. "Ok then. Just remember that everyone has his moments…and this might just be Hakim's. Just be supportive of him, maybe he'll tell you what's the problem, and you can help him. Ok?"
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Adam nodded. He got up from his seat.
"So, I guess I'll see you after recess then," Gayathri said, and walked away from Adam's table. However, after a couple of steps away she paused and turned back to face her classmate and teammate. "You know, you can always join me and the girls if you want, I'm sure Dina would love that, heh heh," Gayathri said with a wink. Seeing the boy blush a little, Gayathri had to suppress her laugh, "Ok, bad idea. It will be awkward, so scratch that, but the offer still stands if you want. Or, maybe you can join Manny?"
"You talk as if I don't have any other friends except Hakim and you," Adam said with a mock-frown.
"Ha ha," Gayathri said sarcastically. "Fine, I'm sure that you can manage being Hakim-less for one day, so I'll see you later then. But really, yesterday when Manny and I were accompanying his little sister at the playground, we talked for a while and you came up."
"Huh? I wasn't even at the playground yesterday. I was at home."
"No, silly…I mean, we talked for a while about the computer club meeting last Saturday, and Manny was telling me about you and him being interested in all things computer," Gayathri paused, seemingly to think whether she had managed to get her point straight. She then shook her head slightly. "Or whatever. He's looking forward to meet you again and discuss more about it."
"Oh," Adam said with a smile, remembering his conversation with Emmanuel Abah, Liu Ying's new classmate from Sabah and Gayathri's neighbor. It was strange that three days ago, it was about the Sabahan boy that got Gayathri and Liu Ying fighting, although the boy was not at fault at all. In fact, it was no one's fault but Sorcerymon's. Adam smiled back towards Gayathri and nodded. "Sure, you tell Manny that I'd love to meet him again and continue our discussion about how to make our own websites."
"I will." Gayathri then quickly walked out from the classroom to meet her friends, while Adam took his time. He had his breakfast already in the morning, so he didn't feel like eating anymore. However he did feel that he needed some fresh air and a trip to the toilet, so he quickly walked out from the classroom as well, and into an empty hallway. Most students had already gone to the canteen, the library, the toilet or anywhere else than the classrooms.
Walking towards the toilet, Adam enjoyed the calmness of the deserted hallways. The hallways were also shielded by the sun by the school's blocks, which made them a cool, shady place to be in the fairly warm morning. Distinct noises were heard from the canteen but that didn't disrupt the coolness and quietness of the hallways. However, Adam suddenly felt that something was slightly off with the hallways. He paused for a while and looked around. There was no one around. Shrugging, he took a few steps and again, the fine hairs on his neck stood up. Adam tried to regard this as a reaction to the sudden coolness of the hallway, as he had been walking under direct sunlight earlier. Adam ran his hand over the hairs before resuming his walk again, but there was no mistaking the sudden creepiness that seemed to come out of nowhere. The hallway he was at was fairly dark, but Adam wasn't one who was afraid of the dark.
So why, all of a sudden, the hallways spooked him? Adam looked around again, trying to determine what exactly was bothering him. He found nothing…but a stranger sensation arose.
It felt as if somebody was watching him.
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"Ha-ha-ha-ha….CCCHHHEEEWW! Ugh…stupid cold!"
Liu Ying was lying down on the sofa, with a half-emptied box of tissue beside her. It was her second day for her to be out of school, and it was upon the doctor's orders that she remained at home until her cold subsided, which didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. After the battle with the under-a-spell Gayathri and Fairymon, both Gayathri and Liu Ying got a cold, probably induced by the coldness of the rains and storms caused by Fairymon. However Liu Ying had not let the cold, which she had deemed as minor, to hamper her from going to school. It was until she got feverish that her mother and grandfather decided that it was best for Liu Ying to remain home. Her mother had taken her to see the doctor at a clinic nearby the hair-salon business she owned, and the doctor had agreed that Liu Ying needed to stay at home until she was at the pink of health once again.
"No going to school, and certainly no going to that…Digital World," her mother had reminded her earlier in the morning before she stepped out to work.
Liu Ying groaned once again as she felt a tickling sensation inside her nostrils. Once more, she sneezed and wiped her nose with a tissue. The waste basket was conveniently left beside the sofa where she was lying down, courtesy of her little brother Liu Meng, who was currently out with her grandfather on some errands at a grocery store a couple of blocks away from their house. Shaomon was somewhere in the house, Liu Ying knew, probably still eating the banana fritters Grandfather Chang had gotten her from the nearby stall.
"Shaomon?" Liu Ying called out tentatively, and winced slightly at the hoarseness of her voice. She had a sore throat as well.
A plopping sound was heard from the kitchen, and Liu Ying raised her head slightly and peered towards the dry kitchen where the dining table was at. The small figure of puppy-like Shaomon appeared from below the table, and Liu Ying's eyes were still sharp enough to notice the oil traces on the furs around Shaomon's mouth.
"Yes, Liu Ying?" Shaomon replied. "I was eating the banana fritters your grandfather had bought for me."
"For us," Liu Ying corrected her Digimon partner with a slight smile.
"No, only for me," Shaomon insisted with a small frown, which didn't really go well with her very cute puppy features. "You have a sore throat, so there will be nothing oily for you."
"Oh…" Liu Ying said with a resigned tone and plopped her head down once again. She sighed. "I really hate getting sick. What if something happens in the Digital World?"
"There has been no strange activity in the Digital World for three days now," Shaomon said thoughtfully. "Do not worry yourself incessantly, and take this as an opportunity for you to recover. Besides, I am sure that Adam, Gayathri and their partners can handle any enemy attack on their own."
"I hope so…But did you notice that the enemies seem to get stronger ever since Adam joined the team? Deltamon, Lynxmon, Cockatrimon…three of us were needed to take care of each one of them," Liu Ying insisted, thinking about the Digimon they had faced for the past one week. "And with Shutumon and Sorcerymon in the picture, things seem to be getting much more dangerous. Shutumon seems to be as strong as Fairymon, and Fairymon is absolutely powerful when she is unrestrained. Sorcerymon…well, he certainly doesn't seem to be dangerous at first sight, but his spells really had given us a hard time."
"I do notice…which makes it imperative for you to recover as soon as possible," Shaomon pointed out. "I draw my strength from you to Digivolve, not just from the D3 Digivice and the Yellow DigiSphere. However I am certainly not pressuring you to get better. We shall wait until you have fully recovered before setting out to the Digital World if there is any trouble."
The raven-haired DigiWira nodded, as what Shaomon had just said was absolutely true. She settled her head back on the fluffy cushion she had used as a pillow and sighed deeply. Shaomon decided that what her human partner really needed at the moment was a company and decided to remain with Liu Ying, at least until the girl was asleep. However just as Shaomon was about to settle down, Liu Ying's body jerked up.
"There are some things else I've been thinking about…" Liu Ying said.
"Do share it with me," Shaomon said with interest. She stood back on her tiny paws.
"After Adam joined the DigiWira team, we know a lot more of the enemy," Liu Ying began, and paused, trying to organize the sudden rush of ideas she was having into proper sentences. "We know that the head honcho of all the bad guys we have faced, and are about to face in future, is a Digimon called SkullSatamon. And we now see quite a lot more of Sorcerymon and Shutumon, and they seem to be serving one master, who is SkullSatamon. And last but not least, our enemies had gotten more and more powerful as of late."
"What you have said are all true," Shaomon said. "Please continue."
"I'm getting on that," Liu Ying said, as her face harbored a worried expression. "It seems to me, that perhaps we shouldn't really be glad of the three days break. Maybe our enemies are simply bidding their time, preparing for a much grander attack upon us. Perhaps they are just waiting for us to let our guards down." Liu Ying had been thinking of all these since the previous day, when she had all the time to herself and nothing much to be done. She had the same feeling prior to Adam's inclusion into the DigiWira team. Although she didn't expect another teammate, she had been correct about the enemy being more dangerous than ever.
Shaomon too, thought about what her partner had just said. She had no reason to contradict Liu Ying's ideas, as her partner was a sensible person and known for her cautiousness and sensibility. And it did seem like Liu Ying had thought about this for quite a while; her ideas didn't sound like one that came out at a spur of the moment.
"You are most probably right," Shaomon said. "Which makes it much more important for you to recover, and be prepared."
"I better inform Gayathri and Adam about this," Liu Ying decided, and glanced up at the clock hung on the living room's wall. "It's almost the end of the recess break, so I'll wait until the end of the school day and send them a message via the D-Terminals."
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"Are you coming, Adam?" Hakim asked, after the school bell rang signing the end of the school day. His tone was low, somewhat resigned, coupled with what Adam thought was a hint of anxiety as well. However, throughout the whole day Hakim had been really quiet, only talking when he was talked to or when a direct question was posed towards him. He didn't initiate any conversation with Adam or any of his other classmates. Adam wasn't going to complain about the way Hakim spoke towards him, not when Hakim seemed to be warming up to him. Perhaps something was troubling Hakim and he was ready to share it with Adam.
"Home, you mean? Of course," Adam said brightly and grinned, hoping to draw out a smile from his best friend. His effort however was fruitless, but Adam wasn't undeterred.
"Good. Let's go," Hakim replied. He lifted his bag and made his way towards the door, but this time around he didn't move quickly as if waiting for Adam to join him.
Adam glanced towards Gayathri, who smiled and nodded encouragingly towards him and made a shooing motion with her hands. The male DigiWira quickly caught up with Hakim and the two walked down the stairs. Upon entering the hallways, now full of students rushing about to go home, Adam was reminded of the creepy sensation he had felt while he was there alone earlier. Adam just made a quick look-around before realizing that Hakim was watching him. The boy however didn't inquire anything but there was a questioning look on his face.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just…so full of people going here and there," Adam supplied. There was no need for Adam to elaborate to Hakim about his experience at the hallways, as it might had been his own imagination.
Hakim observed his friend for a moment before looking satisfied and beckoned for them to head towards the school gate. Adam thought that Hakim seemed more curious than he had been before, but immediately brushed off that thought, as he had been acting suspicious lately.
Outside the gate, they made their way towards a metallic blue Aeroback Proton Iswara, the car which belonged to Hakim's family. It was their usual routine after school for the past one year – Hakim's mother would pick up both of them from school, and would drop Adam at a junction near the apartment complex where Adam lived before heading towards their own house. The previous year, Adam would usually take the school bus to return home. After a week of befriending Hakim, the boy had insisted that Adam to hitch a ride with him back home, and his mother also had agreed with the arrangement, and even called up Alisha to assure her that it was no trouble for Adam to follow them back.
"Salam, aunty," Adam greeted Halimah Mokhtar, Hakim's mother as he entered the backseat.
Mrs. Halimah, a forty-year-old housewife, clad in a simple plain green headscarf, a large white T-shirt and black pants, smiled towards her son's friend and returned the greeting before averting her sight towards Hakim. Immediately from the way Hakim and his mother exchanged their greetings, Adam saw the strain in their conversation. Hakim's greeting lacked the usual warmness, which made Adam wonder whether Hakim's personal problem actually stemmed from home. However it was not his place to pry over another family's going-on, so he just leaned back and listened to the radio deejay's antiques, which he found less than amusing.
The whole trip back was a rather silent one, which Adam found to be absolutely odd. He had never seen Hakim fight with his family before, and as far as Adam remembered both of Hakim's parents were very warm individuals who loved their three sons and two daughters dearly. Hakim would usually tell his mother about his day, and today was the first time Adam had seen Hakim seemed to avoid a conversation with his mother. Seeing this, Adam's heart ached a little, but he immediately averted his thoughts to what would he be doing later.
"I'm home!" Adam announced as he opened the door to his apartment. Immediately the sound of a woman crying dramatically reached Adam's ears, causing Adam to cringe slightly. However he was immediately made aware that the cries actually had come from the television set inside the apartment, which was switched on.
"Oh. Hey Adam, welcome home. Your lunch is on the dinner table!" Patamon called out from the sofa.
"Really? Thanks!" Adam said delightedly.
"Shhh. She's about to confess her love to her boyfriend!" Patamon said, beckoning towards the television.
Adam shook his head amusedly when he saw that Patamon was totally engrossed in yet another soap drama which Adam didn't really bother to know what it was all about. On the table Patamon had prepared several chicken nuggets and two slices of pizza. They were still rather warm so Adam just dropped his bag and began eating his lunch, thinking of teaching Patamon on how to prepare sandwiches in future. He then did his after school routine – which consisted of showering, afternoon prayer and completing his homework. While doing homework he received a message from Liu Ying about being on guard of future dangerous threats of the Digital World, and replied back, assuring his fellow DigiWira that he would heed her advice. Two hours later, Adam had finished his homework and found Patamon already waiting up for him, his favorite dramas had long since finished and he had already caught up with the latest current news which the TV aired every one hour.
"Ready for our digital trip, Patamon?" Adam asked as he closed his Malay language studies textbook.
Patamon's blue eyes widened with delight. "Of course! Going anyplace special? I don't think there's any threat today."
"Oh, I'm thinking that we could visit Wizardmon today," Adam replied, already looking forward in meeting the old sage again.
Patamon immediately squealed his agreement, and a couple of minutes later they were already in the Forest Sanctum of the Digital World.
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TobuCatmon had immediately given his permission for Adam and Patamon to meet Wizardmon, and had even asked them to extend his regards to the old wizard. Before setting out to the mountains Adam had inquired the mentor of the DigiWira about any strange thing happening for the past three days. TobuCatmon had mentioned that he had not heard of any news, but ever since his messenger Agumon was captured by Aquilamon it was rather difficult for him to detect any mishap at all. He also had expressed his concern that the calmness of the past three days was rather uncomforting.
"It's like the calm prior to a storm. But I suppose I'm being such an old coot that I am. Perhaps there is nothing to worry about at all," TobuCatmon had said.
Thinking of what Liu Ying had said in her message, Adam thought that perhaps TobuCatmon's worries had their reason. After all both TobuCatmon and Liu Ying were the more experienced ones in their team. "Don't worry, TobuCatmon. Patamon and I will keep on a lookout for anything that requires some DigiWira intervention," Adam then promised his mentor to ease his mentor's anxiety.
And now, about an hour after setting out towards the mountainous region on Sagittarimon, Adam had reached the domain where Wizardmon lived. The view was breathtaking as ever, but along their journey Adam couldn't shake off a sensation that the two of them were currently being watched. Strangely it was the same feeling he had felt while at school, while at the deserted hallway. It was the exactly same uncanny feeling. Yet, there was no one around the nearby vicinity except for some occasional wild Digimon they had come across while on their journey. Based on what Sagittarimon had said about those Digimon, Adam didn't think that any of the wild Digimon could be the one causing him to have all these creepy sensations. He didn't mention this to Sagittarimon as he didn't want to hamper Sagittarimon from his task of bringing both of them to Wizardmon's home as quickly as the draconic centaur could muster. Perhaps he was imagining things, Adam thought.
"We're here!" Sagittarimon announced. "Safe and sound."
Adam slid down from his massive partner, and just as his feet touched the ground the large dark centaur glowed with white light and regressed to his lovable flying guinea pig form. Patamon plopped himself onto Adam's head, taking the opportunity to rest for a while as Adam began making his way into the forest. Suddenly, the boy felt his partner stiffened, his paws gripped the four sides of his head tightly. It was not painful, but it showed that something was bothering Patamon greatly.
"Something wrong, Patamon?" Adam asked.
Patamon released his grip and flapped his wings. Floating in front of Adam's head, Patamon scanned the whole area with a frown etched on his adorable features.
"I feel…something very…dark and sinister nearby," finally Patamon said slowly. "I can't explain it, but I can somewhat sense it. This…feeling is giving me goose-bumps all over my body." Adam could see that the fine orange furs on Patamon were all erected.
"You too?" Adam asked. "I thought I am the only one who's been feeling strange all day."
"What do you mean? I only feel this…vibe, right now, while we're near the forest," Patamon said, bewildered. "It has the word DANGER radiating all over."
"Oh..." Adam let his reply hang as he scanned around the lush forest thoughtfully; trying to sense what Patamon had told him. He then realized what his partner had meant. The forest was deathly quiet and the air seemed somewhat still. They continued walking, hoping to meet Wizardmon as soon as possible. Perhaps the old wizard could provide a sensible explanation for what they were feeling. As they were reaching Wizardmon's home near the river, both human and Digimon could detect a faint reek, its presence was irritating to the both of them. However, while Adam only complained of the odor, Patamon's eyes widened with realization. He recognized the smell.
"Dark magic!" Patamon gasped. "But…surely Wizardmon…"
"Dark magic?" Adam questioned, his brows furrowed. "Is that the same as black magic? Because if it is, Wizardmon can't be the one who caused it. I'm sure of it. Those who practice black magic are evil, and Wizardmon certainly didn't look like a black magic practitioner to me. Sorcerymon on the other hand…I won't put it past him to be a likely candidate."
"I agree with you, and yes, dark magic does fall into the same category as black magic in some retrospect, and only evil sorcerers can practice such dark arts. Wizardmon is certainly not evil, which makes me puzzled as this putrid stench seems to be radiating from the direction of his house."
"Let's go there and check it out," Adam said, and covered his nose and mouth with his palm. The two of them hastened their pace and flight towards the river, and gasped loudly in disbelief upon what they saw in front of their eyes.
Where Wizardmon's wooden house once stood, in its place was a pile of broken, blackened woods, which seemed to be burnt out halfway before the river washed down the flames. The woods, once dull brown and used as materials of the house, they were now ash black and completely unusable. It was like Wizardmon's house had caught fire, somehow.
"Come on, we have to find Wizardmon. Maybe he's under these piles of woods!" Adam gasped, quickly began extracting some woods from the pile. The woods felt cool, meaning that if the house had caught fire, it didn't happen recently. Adam paused, thinking that if the fire had occurred two or three days back, even if Wizardmon had survived back then, there was only a slim chance that the wizened old wizard still managed to survive until today. And if Wizardmon didn't survive the accident, they could no longer find his body, as a dead Digimon's body would split into data particles instead of being intact.
Seeing that Adam had paused, Patamon used his Boom Bubble technique, which delivered more force. The technique, used repeatedly, managed to blast away the piles of woods but there was no sign of Wizardmon at all. However, at the bottom of the pile, one piece of wood caught Adam's attention. It was not black as the other woods, and both Adam and Patamon had seen Wizardmon using it when they had first, and apparently, last, met.
"Wizardmon's staff," Patamon said as Adam picked up the staff.
Unexpectedly, when the staff was in Adam's firm grasp, it sparked with warm electricity and the sun-shaped end of the staff glimmered with pale yellow light. The rounded part of the staff then rippled slightly in the manner which resembled a surface of calm water being disturbed, before images were shown. The images were moving, similar to a movie. Yet there was no sound at all, so it was like watching a muted movie. The images were also not clear, as there were buzzes of noises, similar to what could be seen in old videotapes, which constantly interrupted the flow of the images.
"What's going on?" Adam said worriedly, but his gray orbs were immediately fixed on the staff when Wizardmon appeared on the staff.
The staff displayed Wizardmon inside his house, which was still intact at the moment. It seemed that the wizard was meditating. Suddenly the door was blasted open by a ray of purple light and an explosion ensued. The force from the blast enveloped Wizardmon after the door exploded, apparently very strong as it threw the wizard against the wooden hall. The attack further cracked the wall, and a second blast created a gaping hole on the wall. The blast had also thrown Wizardmon out and onto the ground, and the old sage fell on his back. Wizardmon struggled hard to raise himself from the ground, but was unfortunately too weak and relied on his staff to stand up straight, the unexpected attack had severely decreased his prowess. Staggering, he was having a cough fit, and was spitting out red liquid – blood – all over his singed attire and cape. His hat was nowhere in sight, and his white-gray hair was covered with soot.
A new figure appeared in the sun-staff – a tall, dark creature resembling a humanoid crow with malicious eyes, wielding twin swords. Exchanges of words were seen happening between the intruder and Wizardmon, and the intruder was seen laughing. The intruder projecting a sinister aura by his mere presence and Wizardmon looked like he was threatened. Yet, the old wizard still had the determined look etched on his face as he struggled to stand up straight, only to be blasted with feather-like projectiles from the avian dark warrior, which slashed his body and extremities. This was followed by a blast of purple energy orb which hit Wizardmon on the body, sending him flying. Finally, the intruder unleashed his twin ivory swords which streaked the air and struck through Wizardmon's flying body. Wizardmon was seen crashing on the ground, and the DigiWira human and partner both gasped when they saw Wizardmon's hand slowly disintegrating into bits of data.
"No!" Adam said despairingly. He had liked the wizard, and now he was watching the death of the wizard via his magical staff. His heart ached with sadness, but Adam shook his head and forced himself to watch what was being displayed by the staff.
Wizardmon's whole body then exploded into data particles and the data flew around the air. The intruder was seen laughing gloatingly and with a wave of his hand, he sent another energy orb towards the wooden hut. Wizardmon's house was seen shaking as the intruder had begun destroying the pillars of the house, which served as the house's foundation. With the pillars gone, the house crumbled on top of the fallen pillars. The intruder, laughing, then generated a large energy orb and sent it towards the house. An explosion ensued and the staff crackled loudly before it died out.
A moment of silence passed before Adam took a sharp deep breath. Patamon gazed at his partner intently, feeling very sad himself and was in a verge of tears before Adam spoke up.
"We…we better tell TobuCatmon and the others about this," Adam said slowly, but resolutely as well. He gripped the staff tightly, intending of bringing the staff to the Forest Sanctum with them, in hope that the staff would once again display Wizardmon's fight to the death. "I…I can't believe that Liu Ying and TobuCatmon are right. How come we didn't get alerted when this happened?" Adam demanded, to no one in particular, but just to vent out his frustration.
"Adam…with Agumon gone, TobuCatmon has no means of knowing what was wrong in the Digital World," Patamon said gently.
"I know that. It's just…I was so looking forward to meet Wizardmon this morning. And now…I…I won't be able to," Adam said sadly. He shuddered slightly as something flashed in his mind, which caused a pang of bitterness in his heart. He closed his eyes shut and began taking deep breaths.
Patamon was absolutely bewildered upon seeing such response being displayed by his human partner. He had never seen Adam like this before. It was as if Adam was taking this not too well, and a little too personally.
"Adam?"
Adam opened his eyes as the shuddering stopped. His expression became stoic, and Patamon was baffled with Adam's sudden change of mood. One moment he was too emotional, and the other, he became…eerily calm? Patamon didn't know what to make of it. This was one side of Adam which Patamon had never seen. He then saw Adam taking out his silver-sky blue D3 Digivice and braced himself as the power of Digivolution coursed through his body, ascending him into his champion-armor form of Sagittarimon.
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As Adam and Sagittarimon raced back to the Forest Sanctum, little did they notice that their every movement was being observed by several pairs of eyes. Those eyes belonged to two humans and two Digimon of exact opposites and of near equal sizes, standing on top of a stone hill not far from the forest where Wizardmon had lived. The humans had been watching Adam and Sagittarimon for a while now, ever since the DigiWira pair had emerged from the forest. The mysterious observers had been following them silently as the DigiWira made their way across the paddock before reaching the bare, rocky area where they had settled.
"Let's attack them. Now's a good time, considering that they're alone without their friends to assist them," one of the human spoke up brashly as his eyes trailed the movements of Adam and Sagittarimon. He was standing in front of a hulking, flaming figure of a dragon-like creature standing on two legs. Apart from the upper half of its head, which was covered by metallic helmet molded to fit its head, and its claws, the rest of its body seemed to be made out of burning orange fire.
"I'm sure that I can take down that Sagittarimon. He's not so tough," the fiery dragon added.
The figure next to the dragon was enveloped by a swirling tornado of water which covered its lower torso. At one glance, it looked like a merman – with its head and upper torso resembling a man and its lower body was a gleaming, sleek, gray fish tail. Blue armor covered its body, and extra shoulder-guards the same color of the armor were donned on the shoulders. Metallic gauntlets were worn by the merman on both hands. Its face was hidden by a blue helmet with a white visor; the helmet completely covered the merman's face similar to a scuba-diver's helmet. Orange spiky hair emerged from the back of the helmet.
In front of the merman stood another human, also male and stood at near-equal height compared to the first.
"No, not yet," the second human spoke with a calm tone, completely contrasting his companion's bold demeanor. "We haven't received the order either from the general or the master yet."
"But we have our chance right here, and right now," the first human protested. "Surely the general…"
"No. We don't want to invoke the general or the master's fury, lest we'd suffer the same fate as that Wizardmon," the merman interrupted with an echoic voice. "It's best for us to follow the general's order. Besides, he did say that our time to strike will come very, very soon."
The humans' eyes flashed green as the dragon's eyes and the merman's visor glowed with deep crimson light. They then let out a deep, sinister chortle simultaneously before vanishing out of sight.
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Once they had reached the Forest Sanctum, Adam breathlessly explained the situation to TobuCatmon, who was very shocked to learn of Wizardmon's sudden demise. The DigiWira also gave TobuCatmon the sun-staff, which had belonged to the late Wizardmon. But before Adam could explain what had been shown by the staff, it glowed once again, and repeated the images it had shown Adam and Patamon earlier.
"Oh, no…" TobuCatmon said, turning pale when he saw the intruder responsible for Wizardmon's death. "It is as I have feared. He has escaped as well."
Adam turned towards the bat-cat. "He? Did you know this…murderer, TobuCatmon?"
TobuCatmon nodded. "This Digimon is known as Karatenmon, a powerful dark sorcerer and one of SkullSatamon's generals. He is a very dangerous opponent, Adam, Patamon. I was afraid that this day would come…it appears that you and the other DigiWira will cross path with him soon."
"He's gonna pay for what he had done to Wizardmon," Adam said with determination.
TobuCatmon shook his head. "I'm afraid that is not going to be easy, Adam. Karatenmon wields extraordinary magical powers, and is also a sly and devious Digimon. Many had fell prey to his dark ways a long time ago. And…"
Adam and Patamon waited for TobuCatmon to continue, but their mentor seemed to be loss of words. The wise Digimon seemed absolutely troubled by the turn of events.
"And what, TobuCatmon?" Patamon prompted.
TobuCatmon stared towards the DigiWira pair and sighed. "I have told you not too long ago about ultimate level Digimon, haven't I?"
"Yes, you have," Adam nodded. "You told us that ultimate level Digimon are very powerful. One Ultimate can easily defeat up to five champion level Digimon, but that also depends on the level of experience the Ultimate has."
"You are correct, Adam," TobuCatmon said grimly. "Karatenmon, I'm afraid, is also a very experienced Ultimate, and a seasoned fighter. Not many can defeat Wizardmon, but Karatenmon has done it without too much effort. Adam, Patamon…I fear that the situation has just become more perilous."
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Author's Notes:
Compared to the other Wira Digital chapters, this one is relatively short. But it does convey what I have planned for this chapter. I'm sorry for the lack of replies for the reviews, as I am now on my holiday and have seldom access to the internet (and whenever I am at a wireless hotspot, I didn't have my laptop with me!) But I did read the reviews. Thanks. I do plan on continuing Legends of the DigiDestined and Vengeance, but as I haven't been writing those stories for half a year, so it will take a while. Please bear with me for the time being, ok?
Anyway, Malaysian references are here and there. Proton Iswara is perhaps one of the oldest models of the nation's line of cars – the second one, actually, after Proton Saga. I think I've mentioned about the traffic jams in the second chapter, although perhaps not extensively, so…moving on. The greeting 'Salam' is an abbreviation of a longer version used generally by Malays, or much more specifically, Muslims, upon meeting each other.