After the transmission between SkullSatamon and Karatenmon was cut off, footsteps were heard coming from Karatenmon's back. The avian dark warrior turned around and saw two human figures approaching the stone podium where he was standing. Their movements weren't conspicuous, and any other Digimon wouldn't notice their presences until the two of them were directly in front of their eyes, but Karatenmon possessed good hearing as well as sharp eyes. His yellow eyes observed his new guests with mirth reflected from his eyes.
"Welcome back, ShadoWira."
The humans referred by Karatenmon as the ShadoWira wore outfits identical in pattern to the DigiWira, but with notable differences. For starters, instead of gray they were black. Similar to the DigiWira's uniforms, their uniform too had color accents. One of the human's uniform had two shades of red – bright red and crimson – accents on his uniform, while the other had two shades of blue – sky blue and navy – on his. But what stood out the most was the gleaming metallic bat insignias they had attached on the middle of their belts, the same symbol which SkullSatamon had on his forehead.
"I trust the training has gone well?" Karatenmon inquired.
"Define well," the ShadoWira with red-accented uniform said with a challenging tone in his voice. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms against his chest. Beside him, Agumon was standing motionlessly; his eyes had a glazed look. "If you mean that whether the two of us able to trash about those rookies as well…then yes, the training has gone well." The Red ShadoWira laughed. "Those Black Biyomon were no challenge to us."
Karatenmon, as a General in rank, usually would command reverence from his allies, except SkullSatamon whom he served as a subject, but he decided that the ShadoWira were also exceptions. He knew that despite the lack of humbleness shown by the Red ShadoWira, he was still, and would continue be, loyal to him. He had taken measures to ensure that the Red and Blue ShadoWira, whom he had recruited into his services, to never stray from his command. He decided to simply ignore the lack of respect the Red ShadoWira had on him.
"Those Black Biyomon are not very strong, considering the special powers you have received," Karatenmon remarked indifferently. While he was pleased with the development achieved by the ShadoWira, as the Black Biyomon were still dangerous if they were to attack a human in a flock, but he felt that from time to time he had to establish the fact that he, Karatenmon, was in control and the one with the authority, and the ShadoWira his minions. Praising them for a small development would only boost their ego, so Karatenmon refrained from doing so. Not that it was difficult for him doing so either, as Karatenmon wasn't one who would give complements easily. "I shall arrange to have you train with some of the tougher rookies. We shall see whether Shutumon and Sorcerymon could capture some decent opponents for the two of you. If you are able to defeat them, then you are ready to start your real training with Champion-level Digimon. It is during that time too, that you will make your grand entrance in front of the DigiWira."
The Red ShadoWira snorted derisively. "The DigiWira don't even have any special power. Blue and I can easily take care of them right now."
"It is curious that they do not possess special powers," Karatenmon agreed. "But it would not do to underestimate them. Your partners, for instance, are defeated by theirs today."
"That's because you've made us train with those birds instead of being with our partners," the Red ShadoWira shot back. "If we're with them today, those DigiWira won't stand a chance."
"Perhaps," Karatenmon said mildly. He observed Agumon and Penguinmon, who upon realizing that they were being gazed upon immediately lowered their own gazes onto the dark ground. "They were merely sent to East Lake City so that I could compare their powers with the DigiWira partners' powers. Both Flarelizamon and Depthmon could hold their own on a one-on-one, but the DigiWira have the advantage in numbers, which is why your partners are defeated today."
"So what are we going to do about that?" the Blue ShadoWira spoke up.
Karatenmon shifted his attentions from the Digimon to the other ShadoWira. In comparison, the Red ShadoWira was the more vocal of the two, while the Blue ShadoWira was the quieter one.
"You two, as I have said earlier, are going to continue with your trainings. You are to come here everyday to train for two days. By the end of the second day I expect you to be able to beat any Rookie, and we can proceed with you holding your own against champion level Digimon. Your powers have just been awakened, and thus, are not completely stable and rather limited. And since your special powers are inaccessible in your home world, you will need to train with them here. The Cave of Solitude is a perfect ground for you to learn using your powers, wielding them by all means necessary.
"In the meantime, your partners too shall need additional help to counter the three partners of the DigiWira. They have more battle experience than Flarelizamon and Depthmon, which also gives them the absolute advantage." Karatenmon paused for a moment, studying Agumon and Penguinmon intently with his sharp eyes. His attention then shifted to the ShadoWira, who were both meeting his gaze directly. His eyes glinted as an idea came to him, but at the moment he didn't feel like sharing it with the ShadoWira. "I will need to think of this deeply."
The Red ShadoWira gave a derisive snort upon hearing it. "Well, maybe instead of sending us, you can go and battle the DigiWira yourself. After all, you're an Ultimate."
"Oh believe me when I say I shall fight them, but only when the right moment has arrived. Rest assured however that I am powerful enough to annihilate the DigiWira right now, but the Master is very precise with his plan. He wants the downfall of the DigiWira to be in the hands of his own ShadoWira, and we will carry out his plan," Karatenmon answered darkly. The dark avian warrior then stared coldly at the ShadoWira and held his head up high. For the first time, the ShadoWira could see a very human facial feature on the general. They could see a pale-skinned face underneath the crow-shaped helmet, and a sinister-looking mouth. "I can fight them, but it will be down to the two of you, and your partners, to complete the given task."
"Why is it that the Master wants us to finish off the DigiWira?" the Red ShadoWira asked. The Blue ShadoWira too, bore his eyes at Karatenmon curiously, wanting to know the answer as well.
"It is not your place to question the Master's intention," Karatenmon replied coolly.
"Fine. Whatever," the Red ShadoWira snapped irritably. "If you don't know the answer, that's fine. Just say that you don't know. No need to bite my head off." He waved both his hands up to further emphasize his annoyance with Karatenmon's answer. "It's getting late. I'm outta here."
"You two are excused, but your partners are not," Karatenmon instructed. "Leave them here; I have a plan for them."
The ShadoWira left their partners behind obligingly and walked out of the dark Cave of Solitude, the place where Karatenmon dwelled. A flash of bright light from outside the cavern where Karatenmon was at told him that the ShadoWira had opened the digital gateway back to their home world. Within a few seconds, the light was quick to die out, leaving the cave dark and quiet as it was before.
"Insufferable insects," Karatenmon muttered scornfully.
Hours later, over the Forest Sanctum, TobuCatmon was already sleeping. It was past midnight, and there was nothing much that the mentor of the DigiWira could do at this hour. However, judging by him tossing and turning over the large stuffed cushion he was sleeping on, the bat-cat hybrid was having an uneasy sleep. Occasionally he'd let out a grunt, and turned his head sideways, then above, then sideways again.
Underneath the floor mat, a faint glow suddenly was emitted from whatever that was under the mat. Being rather thin and with many gaps in between the rattan strands that constituted the mat, the light escaped through the gaps in between the strands, as well as through the thin strands. The Forest Sanctum, formerly dark with only the moon's pale light as its source of illumination, was suddenly brightly lit with a myriad of light.
Viewed from above, one could see five circles of light glowing brightly with five different colors. White, yellow, pink, blue and red circles of light were glimmering, and the five circles were positioned to form a shape of a pentagon. Neon green lines began to form between the circles, connecting one circle to another, until finally forming a five-pointed star shimmering in green light. Then, an orange circular line began to form outside the five-pointed star, containing all the circles and the green lines within, before lastly another orange circular line formed about five inches away from the first orange line.
The flashes of multicolor lights managed to awaken TobuCatmon from his slumber. The champion level Digimon immediately saw what was happening and leapt from the table where he was sleeping at. His blue eyes widened in surprise as he saw what was happening. As he was observing the unnatural phenomena occurring right in front of his own very eyes, several Digital World alphabetic characters began to form within the gap between the two orange circular lines. Nothing changed thereafter, and for a brief few seconds TobuCatmon read the digital alphabets silently. A look of full-comprehension crossed his face just a second before the lights died down gradually. The orange circles were gone first, followed by the green lines before finally the white, yellow and pink circles dimmed to nothingness. The red and blue circles however, continued glowing for another few seconds before their colors turned to dark violet, lined with black. The circles afterward dimmed as well, and the Forest Sanctum was dark once again, with the moon as its sole source of light. No trace of the strange occurring earlier was seen.
But it was not the end of strange happenings in the Forest Sanctum. A floor's stone slab nearby the sanctum's artificial fountain suddenly rumbled before it was lifted by unseen forces. It rose higher and higher, before a shining white stone hovered out from underneath. The stone had three small orbs of light with three different colors orbiting around it. TobuCatmon inhaled his breath deeply as the glimmering white stone approached him slowly. TobuCatmon stretched out one paw when the stone was within his reach. Then, as if the unseen force which had made it moved earlier gone, the stone plopped down lifelessly on TobuCatmon's outstretched paw.
"Could it be?" he wondered. "Is it time?"
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 08 – Enter the ShadoWira, Part I
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Prepare for your destruction, DigiWira. Mistakes won't happen again. This time, we will be the victors.
"Did you get this message too, Liu Ying?" Gayathri inquired with a worried tone. It was recess time on Friday, three days after their last battle at the Digital World. The corridors were bustling with rowdy students who were glad of the break they had gotten after two hours of studying. The pretty dark-skinned girl was no exception, but the message she had gotten on her D-Terminal dampened the mood slightly. Her classmate and fellow DigiWira, Adam, had also received the message although he didn't notice it at first until Gayathri had shown hers to him.
Right now, she was showing the message to Liu Ying, whom she had immediately found after exiting her classroom. Their classrooms were located side by side, and thus it wasn't difficult for Gayathri to catch on with the prefect. Upon finding the willowy girl Gayathri had whisked her aside to the corridor and waited momentarily until most students had cleared away before showing her D-Terminal to the most senior DigiWira.
Liu Ying only looked at the D-Terminal's rectangular screen for a brief second before she nodded grimly. "I get this message too, and it nearly caused trouble for me," Liu Ying said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "I got it during History lesson, and the beeping had attracted Mr. Gurmit Singh's attention instantly. Luckily he was in a good mood and just let me off with a warning to switch-off my 'handphone'. I've been getting glances from my classmates for getting scolded."
"Yikes," Gayathri said, surprised. "Didn't you activate its silent mode before class?"
"I forgot," Liu Ying admitted grudgingly. "After three days of peace, I should know better to expect that the peacefulness would last, but I guess I got too comfy for my own good." Gayathri tried not to smile, but Liu Ying usually was so well-coordinated and somewhat a no-nonsense perfectionist. It wasn't often for her to see her fellow teammate this flustered. Her mind then was brought back to the threatening message they had gotten.
"So who do you think sent this message?" she asked. "It can't be TobuCatmon."
"I don't know, and I don't think it's TobuCatmon either…but who else have access to the D-Terminal's messaging system? It's only the three of us and TobuCatmon. This message doesn't contain the sender's identity." Liu Ying handed the pink D-Terminal back to Gayathri and took out her own yellow D-Terminal from her skirt pocket. She was about to flip open the device when it vibrated – signaling another message being received. Precisely a couple of seconds after, Gayathri's D-Terminal too vibrated. Immediately they read the new message, and frowned.
Meet us at the Megalith Coliseum at four o'clock today. If you're late, the village nearby the coliseum will be obliterated.
"Whoever sent us these messages must have a grudge against us," Gayathri remarked.
Liu Ying nodded her head in agreement. "The first message confirms that pretty much. It seems that we've beaten this guy…"
"Guys," Gayathri corrected. "They're referring themselves as 'we' in the first message, and 'us' in the second one."
"These guys…" Liu Ying amended her sentence. "We've beaten them before, and now they want some sort of a rematch. Talk about sore losers."
"Well, I could think of a few Digimon who'd have a grudge against us," Gayathri surmised. She held up two fingers. "Shutumon and Sorcerymon, for once." As she said each name, she lowered one finger. "What do you think?"
"Shutumon has a grudge against your partner, not mine or Adam's. Sorcerymon might have a grudge on Adam and Patamon both, based on what I've heard from Adam," Liu Ying pointed out before shaking her head. "But seriously, I don't think it's them. I'm thinking of our most recent encounters…Flarelizamon and Depthmon. We've beaten them but they swore that we'll meet them again, remember?"
"Of course!" Gayathri exclaimed in realization. "It has to be them. 'Mistakes won't happen again'…it fits the bill perfectly."
"What I don't get is how on earth did they manage to convey these messages to us?" Liu Ying wondered.
"Beats me," Gayathri said, shrugging.
"Looks like we'll be busy today," Liu Ying said. "Thankfully it's Friday, and the clubs and society meetings for tomorrow are cancelled." The raven-haired girl then decided to change the topic of their conversation. "Anyway, where is Adam? We should let him know about this."
"I'll tell him," Gayathri volunteered, raising her right hand up slightly to emphasize her willingness. "I think he's with Hakim right now at the canteen. You know, his best friend? Anyway that boy has been acting rather strange lately and Adam is determined to find out why. It's been going on since last week."
Liu Ying nodded but didn't offer any input, as she barely knew Hakim. She had other things in mind. "I'm sure Adam gets the messages as well, but tell him that we'll meet at TobuCatmon's around three in the afternoon. That way we can reach Megalith Coliseum within forty-five minutes from the Forest Sanctum."
"You know where Megalith Coliseum is?" Gayathri asked.
The wielder of the Yellow DigiSphere nodded. "Youkomon and I passed there once while pursuing a rogue Tortomon. It was our sixth assignment, and about two weeks before you became DigiWira as well," Liu Ying explained. "It's a beautiful place and has a slight resemblance to the coliseum at Rome. However we've never gotten around visiting it. If a battle is going to occur there, we better make sure that we don't end up wrecking the place either, as it would be a terrible shame for such a unique place to be destroyed."
"You can tell that to Flarelizamon and Depthmon," Gayathri said, making a face. She looked at her watch. "Well, recess is still on for another ten minutes, so I'll be going to the canteen to grab a bite. Where are you going? If you're heading to the canteen too, we can go there together."
"No, but thanks," Liu Ying declined. "There's a book I need to return to the library and since we're going to be busy this afternoon I think I better return the book now instead."
The DigiWira girls soon parted ways. As soon as the girls were out of side, someone stepped out from an empty classroom nearby the corridor where the girls had their conversation. It was a teenage male student, and his presence was undetected by the DigiWira. He had been listening to their conversation, and let out a snicker as he placed a device resembling a D-Terminal into his trousers pocket.
"See you soon, DigiWira."
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"We're here," Liu Ying said softly about five and a half hours later. Youkomon slowly skidded into a halt several meters from the Megalith Coliseum, and looked back for her fellow partners. Not far from where the duo was at, they could see a draconic centaur approaching in top speed, followed closely by a beautiful sprite gliding across the air spiritedly. Sagittarimon stopped just beside the nine-tailed fox, with Adam and Gayathri in tow, and Fairymon descended from the sky gracefully. The DigiWira then dismounted the Digimon and took a closer look on the wondrous monumental building in front of her.
"You were right, Liu Ying," Gayathri said breathlessly, walking beside the taller girl as her doe eyes taking in every features of the Megalith Coliseum. "This building is magnificent!"
"Wow," Adam simply remarked. His gray eyes sparkled with delight. "I should've brought my sister's digital camera along – I don't need to go to Rome now! I never knew the Digital World has an almost the same kind of building." He walked past the girls to touch the coliseum's wall, and ran his hand through the cracked stone bricks that constituted the wall of the gray-black coliseum. "This is amazing…too bad we're here for another mission."
The Megalith Coliseum was an elliptical building measuring nearly four times the size of a normal soccer field. A glance from the outside would reveal that the coliseum had three levels, and each level had arches constructed, with each arch almost equal in size with the other, though inconsistencies were rather notable even by first glance. Yet those inconsistencies did nothing to hamper the overall beauty of the old structure. The arches on the ground level of the coliseum were blocked with the exception of some, which formed the entrances. The entrances were large enough to accommodate Sagittarimon, as tested when the DigiWira chose one entrance to get inside the coliseum.
Through the entrance they were led to the inner side of the coliseum by a hallway, with sunlight streaming in from both the hallway's ends to provide adequate illumination for the DigiWira to walk. There was nothing remarkable with the hallway except for the green mosses that grew in between the stones. The air was slightly stuffy, due to the constricted space, and had the smell of an old, deserted building coupled with what the DigiWira presumed to be the smell emitted by the mosses.
"WOW!" Adam whispered loudly, full of admiration, as he exited the hallway. The boy paused to bask in the breathtaking interior view of the coliseum, nearly forgetting that others were still walking behind him. This caused the girls to accidentally bump on him.
"Adam!" Liu Ying and Gayathri simultaneously cried out.
"Sorry! But look. Isn't it amazing?" Adam smiled sheepishly and scooted further, turned around and spread both his arms wide. "I really SHOULD have brought the digital camera."
Upon exiting the hallway, the DigiWira were given the wonderful interior view of the coliseum. The hallway they had just exited was connected with an onyx stone bridge, which linked the hallway to a sandy arena. The arena itself was about the size of one soccer field, and had wooden floors but the floors were then covered by sands. On either sides of the black bridge was an underground labyrinth, with unique stone formations sticking out from the grassy ground below. The stone peaks were rather flat, enough for Sagittarimon to stand on without struggle, and didn't quite reach the level of the bridge, but the depth of the labyrinth was rather deep. Sagittarimon and Youkomon could jump down into the maze without getting themselves hurt, but it was high enough to cause injury to any human who attempted to do so.
"It's amazing alright, but don't forget that we have a death threat imposed on us," Liu Ying stated grimly. "We should not lower our guards."
"You're right. Sorry," Adam said quickly. He then looked around the spectators sitting places, his eyes still glazed with an awed look. "Nevertheless, when we're done with whomever that have send us the message, I'm so gonna come back here and take some pic…" Roars of thunder suddenly blared across the clear sky, causing the boy to start in surprise. "Thunder?" he wondered, rubbing his dark hair as he looked up the clear sky. "But the sky's clear and..."
The clear blue sky suddenly darkened into different shades of purple and rumbled with thunder once more. The thunder was first preceded by lightning which streaked across the darkening sky. The warm air suddenly dropped a few degrees as winds started blowing from out of nowhere, making the environment somewhat chilly. Clouds began to materialize, blocking the sun from shining its light to the Digital World below.
"What's going on?" Liu Ying exclaimed, looking around her nervously. "This isn't normal."
"Guys, look at the arena!" Adam beckoned with a quivering voice.
The air over the arena suddenly rippled as two figures stepped out from nowhere. Their appearances shocked the DigiWira as they were evidently humans. What surprised them even more was the fact that the two humans wore uniforms with design patterns similar to their own, but the color schemes were different. In fact, it looked like their uniforms were the exact copies of Adam's own DigiWira uniform, since both of them were clearly males. While Adam's uniform was gray, with white color accent and black lines, their uniforms were mainly black.
One of them had his black uniform with red accent lined with crimson, while the other had azure blue accented uniform lined with navy. In addition to their uniforms was the fact that they wore black hooded capes, with the hoods over their heads. Their faces were concealed with ivory masks, patterned to resemble skulls, giving them a gruesome appearance. The eye parts were glowing with green light, blocking their real eyes from view. And finally, their belt each had a metallic insignia of a bat clipped on the middle.
The ShadoWira had appeared.
The air behind the ShadoWira then rippled once again, and two bigger figures stepped out. The DigiWira and their partners immediately recognized their previously-fought-and-won foes, Flarelizamon and Depthmon. Flarelizamon stood behind the ShadoWira with the red accents, while Depthmon hovered silently behind the ShadoWira with the blue accents. Both had their eyes and visor shining with red hue. Together, the humans and Digimon looked formidable and the ShadoWira's ghastly masks alone were enough to shake the DigiWira's confidence.
For a moment, there was a nerve-wrecking standstill between the DigiWira and the ShadoWira. The DigiWira stared towards the ShadoWira with mixed feelings of disbelief, shock, and increasing fear. Gayathri had turned pale upon the sight of the ShadoWira, her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Liu Ying, being the most composed of the three, took a deep breath as her eyes never left the ShadoWira. Adam, being the leader, but also the most junior member of the DigiWira, stood very still, sweat trickling down the sides of his face. He stepped forward and positioned himself in the middle, with Liu Ying on his right and Gayathri on his left. Their partners stood behind them, mirroring the positions of the DigiWira. Upon the sight of Flarelizamon and Depthmon, they had readied themselves instantly with their respective attacks.
"Who are they?" Gayathri whispered urgently to her friends. Her hand reached out and grasped Adam's right shoulder. "Adam? Liu Ying?"
The Red ShadoWira barked out a harsh laugh. "Who are we? We're your worst nightmare!" Then, without any warning, he thrust his right arm forward, palm erected and all five fingers spread out. Making a circular motion with the stretched arm, the DigiWira gasped as red aura began to form, followed by sparks of flames. He pulled the outstretched arm back a little, igniting the small flames into wild fire, and pushed his arm forward once again. With this motion his palm was set ablaze and a stream of raging fire streaked past the onyx bridge, and towards the DigiWira.
"Duck!" Adam yelled, and pushed both Liu Ying and Gayathri onto the ground. Sagittarimon leapt past the DigiWira and countered the fire streak with his Meteor Gallop. Three meteorites shot out from his hooves and sailed across the bridge, meeting the fire stream in midcourse. Upon collision the fire stream vanished, while the meteorites streaked towards the ShadoWira and the Digimon behind them.
The Blue ShadoWira stepped forward and copied the movement made by the Red ShadoWira earlier. Bubbles of water began to form on his palm, and he then released a powerful jet of water blast towards the incoming meteorites. Some of the flames blazing on the meteorites were extinguished, but it was soon proved that the Blue ShadoWira's attempt was not strong enough to counter Sagittarimon's attack. But then, Depthmon glided in front of the Blue ShadoWira, and released a much more powerful torrent of water blast against the meteorites. This time around, the two attacks managed to cancel each other out.
"They have special powers?" Adam exclaimed disbelievingly as he pulled himself up. He then offered a hand for Gayathri, who took it, and helped her up, while Liu Ying got back to her feet on her own. Grimacing, he cast the most senior DigiWira a questioning look. "How's that possible? How can they have special powers?" he asked in a rush.
Liu Ying's expression answered Adam's question instantly before she could express herself verbally. She looked as totally in the dark as Adam and Gayathri were. "I don't know, Adam. I've never encountered humans with special powers before. It's always just the Digimon."
"Could they be Digimon with a very human look?" Gayathri asked as she took a few steps back.
The Red ShadoWira scoffed loudly. "HAH! Digimon? Oh hell, no! We're humans as well, and guess what…? We're also DigiWira! Only difference is that we serve the dark side, thus we are called the ShadoWira!" Upon meeting the DigiWira's unbelieving gazes, the Red ShadoWira laughed scornfully and removed the metallic bat on his belt. Behind the bat, attached in the middle, was a black D3 with red accents. The Red ShadoWira removed the D3 and held it up high for the DigiWira to see. "There! Proof enough for you?" He then placed the bat back on his belt while his palm still clutching the red and black D3. While doing so he made a gesture with his head towards the Blue ShadoWira, whom upon seeing it, also took out his D3 Digivice – which was also black, but with blue accents.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot…these two Digimon," the Red ShadoWira pointed at Flarelizamon and Depthmon. "They're our partners."
The revelation was something the DigiWira had guessed when the ShadoWira revealed their D3 Digivices, but still, the fact that they had expected to hear the two Digimon being their partners didn't make it less-surprising for the three DigiWira.
"They have D3 Digivices and Digimon partners," Adam said disbelievingly.
"Which technically make them DigiWira just like us," Liu Ying continued, with a tone sounding as if she didn't approve.
"Oh will you just stop with the not-believing mumbo-jumbo already!" the Red ShadoWira snapped at them.
"I've never expected evil DigiWira," Gayathri retorted weakly. The truth was, she was beginning to feel afraid of the two ShadoWira. They had powers that the DigiWira didn't have, which made them absolutely very dangerous. It was clear that the ShadoWira were evil, as the Red ShadoWira had declared it himself. She cast a desperate look at Adam, who met her gaze. There was something else that they needed to know about the ShadoWira.
"What do you want from us?" Adam asked.
"What—didn't you get the memo?" the Red ShadoWira said in mock-surprise. "I was the one who sent you the messages. What does that tell you?"
"Pretty much what I've already figured out," Liu Ying shot back in a rush of annoyance.
"Ahh…so you do know what's up next?" the Red ShadoWira asked. Despite him wearing a mask, the DigiWira could've sworn that he was at the moment grinning at them maliciously. The way his inquiry ended sounded just like it.
"We've beaten Flarelizamon and Depthmon once, and we can do so again!" Sagittarimon declared. He took out one arrow from the holster and began taking aim towards the enemies.
The Red ShadoWira shrugged. "I've no intention to let you fight Flarelizamon and Depthmon. What's the use? You've beaten them once." He let out a snicker as his D3 shimmered with eerie black and crimson auras. He pointed his shimmering D3 towards Flarelizamon. The Blue ShadoWira followed suit by hoisting his D3 towards Depthmon, and the D3 began to glow with black and blue auras. Waves of black aura were released from the Red ShadoWira's D3, while flickers of electricity sparked out from the Blue ShadoWira's D3.
With a roar of thunder following a flash of lightning, the sky suddenly became cloudier and the sun was completely blocked, voiding the Megalith Coliseum of sunlight. The coliseum was instantly blanketed by unnatural darkness, and the DigiWira could hardly see a thing. To add to the frightful setting, smokes began to rise from the labyrinth below, and covered the entire arena. The dark clouds above flashed with yellow light as thunder rumbled.
The smokes then began to dissipate, and the ShadoWira emerged. Behind them, a hulking humanoid figure began to step out from the smokes. The DigiWira couldn't make out the figure's profile as it was so dark inside the coliseum, they could barely see each other. It was like a moonless night. The clouds flashed with lightning once more and the DigiWira saw a sight that made their blood ran cold – the figure had stepped out from the smokes fully, giving them an opportunity to witness its profile.
It was a fearsome warrior Digimon, standing twice the height of the ShadoWira, completely draped in thick, gleaming multi-layer obsidian armor. The Digimon had a fierce black leathery face, with shining crimson eyes and a complete set of sharp teeth which seemed to be permanently bared. He had no hair, but dark yellow triangular metal plates grew from his head, from the temple up to the scalp. His armor was completely black with golden accents lining each armor parts for the main body, shoulders, arms and forearms, hip region and thighs. The boots were polished gold, with claw-shaped ends. Shining blood-red sphere adorned the center of his body armor, and soft blue sphere was fixed at the center of the armor protecting his crotch. He was wielding a spear, which had a black handle and a metallic blade. And finally, two pairs of metallic golden wings shot out from his back, and spread out wide.
"Meet Reichmon, our DNA Digivolved partners!" the Red ShadoWira exclaimed. "DigiWira, you're doomed!"
Reichmon raised his spear towards the darkened cosmos and instantly, a lightning bolt plummeted down from the sky and struck the spear. The blade was instantly illuminated with electric sparks, and with a forward thrust of the spear, Reichmon redirected the lightning bolt towards the unsuspecting DigiWira.
"Look out!" Sagittarimon shouted, and fired his lightning-based arrow to counter the incoming thunderbolt. "Judgment Arrow!"
However, as the Judgment Arrow collided with the thunderbolt, it was revealed that Sagittarimon's attack was no match to the strength of the thunderbolt. The arrow combusted but the thunderbolt continued streaking its way towards the DigiWira. Seeing the impending danger the DigiWira immediately made a run for it, but the thunderbolt was quicker. It grazed Sagittarimon's arm before striking the stone grounds merely a meter away from the running DigiWira, causing an explosion. The momentum sent the DigiWira and their partners flying, while Sagittarimon had injured his arm.
Fairymon immediately stabilized her body, being most adapted to the currents of the wind, and glided back to catch Gayathri and Liu Ying by their arms just seconds before they collided with the wall. She hovered in midair as smokes and debris from Reichmon's attack filled the ground below. In the meantime the lither Youkomon sped forward and used her paws to capture Adam, and pinned him towards the ground. The bewitching beast rolled on her back before reaching the concrete stone floor to avoid Adam from being crashed heads-on onto the floor, as it would hurt the boy gravely. She then spun sideways and released her clutch, allowing Adam to stand back on his feet.
"Youkomon, thanks," Adam said gratefully. "You saved my life."
"Think nothing of it, Adam. It is my obligation to protect all DigiWira, not just my partner," Youkomon replied hurriedly. Her sharp ice-blue eyes were scanning her surrounding with one quick glance. She then saw Sagittarimon; the centaur's body was in an odd angle. "Besides, your partner is injured due to the thunderbolt," she informed Adam.
"What!" Adam cried out. He then saw Sagittarimon as well; who looked relieved upon seeing Adam was safe. He was clutching his injured arm with his good arm. "Sagittarimon!"
"Adam, stay back with the girls," Sagittarimon cautioned immediately. "It's not safe!"
Youkomon assessed their chances, and looked down at the underground labyrinth. She then saw Fairymon landing close to her, with the two girls in tow. An idea came to her and she looked back at Adam. "Adam, Sagittarimon is right. The situation here is much too precarious for you to be around. Reichmon is the result of the DNA Digivolution between Flarelizamon and Depthmon, who are both Champion and Champion-Armor level Digimon, which makes Reichmon an Ultimate Digimon. An Ultimate is a very dangerous and formidable opponent – even I do not know whether the three of us could match his power. You and the girls will need to retreat to a safer place."
Adam nodded. "Ok, Youkomon. You're right. What should we do?"
xxx
xxx
"The sun staff works," said a man softly as he leaned back against his chair, watching the computer monitor in front of him. On the desktop, aside from a clutter of file shortcuts there was an opened window, taking up about a quarter of the monitor's fifteen inches display. The man frowned as he observed the window, which was a window of a multimedia player. The player was currently showing a battle – the battle which was the DigiWira currently engaged in with the ShadoWira. The man frowned, his blue eyes widened as he watched the ShadoWira demonstrating their powers towards the DigiWira.
Another smaller window popped out suddenly. "Jackie," a voice called out from the speakers, and a lilac-furred cat with purple bat wings appeared within the window.
"TobuCatmon," Jackie acknowledged. He didn't seem surprised at all with the sudden appearance of the DigiWira's mentor. "Are you watching the battle?"
"I am, thanks to the sun-staff which you have repaired and improved. Jackie, I'm worried about the DigiWira," TobuCatmon confessed fearfully. "It seems that the dark side has decided to fight the DigiWira with their own team of DigiWira. I have expected before that the Lost DigiSpheres will come into the picture, but what I didn't expect is that Karatenmon and SkullSatamon managed to find two suitable humans to wield those DigiSpheres."
"Didn't you tell me before that it's not up to us to choose who to wield the DigiSpheres?" Jackie inquired. "Rather, it's the DigiSpheres that choose their wielders."
TobuCatmon replied with a weak nod. "I did tell you that. However, I am also shocked, as the chances of the dark side to find two suitable humans for the Lost DigiSpheres were very slim."
"And so were the chances for the White, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres to find their wielders," Jackie pointed out. "But they've found Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri." He resumed watching the battle displayed within the larger window. He saw the ShadoWira raising their D3 Digivices towards their Digimon partners, and a transformation began to take place. "Wait a minute. Don't tell me…" He huffed when Reichmon stepped in the picture. "Blast! How did they manage to unlock the DNA Digivolution powers so quickly?"
"While DNA Digivolution can be called forth just by possessing the D3 Digivices, I believe Reichmon's appearance is also made possible by tapping in the Lost DigiSpheres' powers," TobuCatmon explained. "And the same is true for the reason why the ShadoWira possess special powers."
"Then why the DigiWira don't have any kind of special powers?" Jackie questioned instantly. There was a frustrated tone in his voice. He harbored a pointed look towards the opened window.
At the Forest Sanctum, TobuCatmon hesitated for a moment, until he saw Jackie's blue eyes turned cold as they were fixed upon him, via half of the sun-staff's display part. The other half was showing him the battle happening at the Megalith Coliseum at the moment. Several seconds passed in painful silence as the mentor of the DigiWira shifted his gaze to the white stone which had appeared the previous night. It was still shining, and the orbs of white, yellow and pink were still seen orbiting the stone. He then returned his gaze back to the sun-staff, where Jackie was still staring at him questioningly.
"It's my fault they don't have powers," TobuCatmon said softly. "Before Liu Ying was chosen to become a DigiWira, I have bound the ability for the DigiSpheres to give their wielders additional powers into the Ivory Gem, and have kept the gem for safekeeping until the right moment."
"What? Why did you do THAT for?" Jackie was practically shouting, and his digitized voice echoed all over the Forest Sanctum.
"I've thought that it would be too dangerous for the DigiWira to have powers of their own, when they are unfamiliar with the Digital World concept when they were first chosen by the DigiSpheres," TobuCatmon answered weakly. "So far, they have never required the powers…"
"Well, with the ShadoWira appearing in the picture and with special powers, I wonder when the DigiWira will need their special powers." Jackie said sarcastically. The computer instructor then breathed slowly to calm himself down. It would be no good for him to get mad of TobuCatmon, whose initial intention was just for the DigiWira's safeties. "TobuCatmon," he began again with a calmer voice. "I'm not too familiar with the DigiSpheres and how far their powers are, but I do know that the DigiWira will be able to control their powers. Liu Ying has been a DigiWira for six months, Gayathri has been one for two months, while Adam…well, he might be new, but it's been two weeks since he received his White DigiSphere. I believe they're more than able to control what special powers they're bound to get," Jackie pointed out. "And if they don't, we're obligated to teach them. You are their mentor, and I've been assigned to watch over the protectors of this part of the Digital World."
"You and I have the same opinion," TobuCatmon said with a weak smile. "And apparently, so is the Ivory Gem."
"You mean…?"
"Yes. I have placed a spell on the Ivory Gem, to only appear before me when the time is absolutely necessary for me to unbind the special powers associated with the White, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres," TobuCatmon explained, once again looking at the white stone. "That time has come. The Ivory Gem has appeared to me last night."
xxx
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The ShadoWira observed as the DigiWira huddled near the nine-tailed fox and the butterfly woman, seemingly up to something. Sagittarimon, who was injured on his left arm, was standing guard. The centaur was obviously resisting his pain as he raised his injured arm, which was the arm he used to hold his bow. His right arm was fixing the arrow on the bow, but the ShadoWira could see the bow shaking, or rather, the injured arm shaking.
"The centaur would be easy to beat," the Blue ShadoWira noted. "He's injured. Reichmon can easily take him down."
"Right. But what are those DigiWira up to?" the Red ShadoWira asked, making a gesture towards their opponents with a slight movement of his head. He snickered. "I'm tired of waiting. Reichmon, attack them!"
"Wait," the Blue ShadoWira instructed. "Look at that fairy. She's attempting to escape with one of the DigiWira."
The Red ShadoWira followed the Blue ShadoWira's gesture and saw Fairymon carrying Adam in her arms the way a mother cradled her baby as she was making a beeline towards the entrance which they had used to enter the coliseum earlier.
"Run, Adam!" Gayathri screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Go get help!" Liu Ying shouted, gazing hopefully towards the retreating figures of Fairymon and Adam.
"No!" the Red ShadoWira yelled, his voice harsh. "Nobody's going to escape!"
His arm shot up forward and flames began to ignite within his palm. A stream of fire was shot towards Fairymon, who was flying as fast as she could. The sprite of wind turned around and saw the incoming fire stream, which Sagittarimon had avoided narrowly. She saw the girls both dropped down on Youkomon's back, and heaved a relieved sigh.
"Brace yourself, Adam," she instructed. "You might be feeling dizzy after this, but it'll be worth it, I hope."
As she reached the entrance, Fairymon suddenly soared up instead of going into the entrance at top speed, similar to a jet being launched. She flew towards the third level of the spectators' seating area and glided through the many arches of the coliseum, exiting through one while reentering the coliseum using another arch with incredible speed. She successfully evaded the fire stream which was tailing her and scorching everything else that blocked its path from her, until from the corner of her eyes – which despite being covered by a visor – she could see an incoming water stream from the Blue ShadoWira.
"Incoming!" Adam exclaimed as he held on Fairymon's bare shoulder tightly. His cheeks had a fair tint of pink due to the position he was in with Fairymon. Fairymon, who was oblivious of the uncomfortable condition her human friend was in, unwittingly pulled the boy close to her body as she performed a spectacular midair somersault to evade the water stream. Her effort was fruitful – the freezing water stream had instead collided with the blazing fire stream, producing harmless warm steam.
Fairymon smirked in satisfaction as she heard a loud frustrated yell coming from the Red ShadoWira. "Looks like our plan worked, Adam. Look down. Youkomon has taken the girl down to the labyrinth, where they'll be safe."
Adam subconsciously followed Fairymon's instruction; he however had a different reason to turn his head out towards the open air. However, his face paled upon seeing just how high up in the sky there were at. "I think I'm gonna be sick," Adam squeaked as he wiggled slightly; Fairymon was pulling him to her body just a little bit too tightly.
"Adam! Hold still, or you're gonna fall!" Fairymon reprimanded. She then saw Adam's face and felt slightly sorry for the boy. "Hang on. I'm putting you at the topmost level of the spectators' seating; that'll keep you safe and away from the ShadoWira and that big, black-armored guy."
Over the arena, the ShadoWira observed as their attacks collided with each other, with Fairymon left unscathed. "We've been tricked," the Blue ShadoWira stated indifferently, as he lowered his hand. Youkomon was nowhere in sight anymore; no doubt she had gone down into the labyrinth while the two ShadoWira were trying to prevent Fairymon from escaping with Adam.
"Damn!" the Red ShadoWira cursed angrily. The ShadoWira saw Fairymon placing Adam on the top level seating, and instantly the boy vanished within the many stones and seats. The boy's slight frame made it easy for him to hide within the seating. "Blast that flying woman!"
"Cool it," the Blue ShadoWira said calmly. "Screaming won't get you anywhere."
"They've escaped!" the Red ShadoWira retorted back.
"So?" the Blue ShadoWira asked, his tone still maintained the indifferent quality heard with his every spoken word. "We'll just go after them. White is there somewhere at the top level seating, while Yellow and Pink are down there in the underground labyrinth. We can split up and look for them."
The Red ShadoWira considered his counterpart's suggestion and nodded. "You're right," he admitted grudgingly. He then thumped his right fist into his left palm. "I'll go after White; you can go after the girls."
"Whatever," the Blue ShadoWira said. "It makes no difference whether we're together or not, the DigiWira are still without any special power. We can still finish the jobs, while Reichmon can take care of their partners. That centaur's almost down for the count; all we need to worry about are that fairy and the fox. Come on, I know how we can access the underground labyrinth and the second and third level seating areas."
"Right," the Red ShadoWira responded. He then glanced at the towering Reichmon, who was standing still, waiting for his partners' command. "Reichmon…don't hold back. Finish them!" With the command issued, the two ShadoWira then retreated from the arena to begin looking for the DigiWira.
xxx
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Within the darkness of the Cave of Solitude, Karatenmon was watching the intense battle currently happening at the Megalith Coliseum via a magical viewing orb which he had summoned using his dark mystical power. The orb was hovering in midair at the level equal to his eye level. He snickered in satisfaction when he saw the ShadoWira were gaining the advantage, and the DigiWira were forced into hiding.
However, he couldn't concentrate his full attention on the battle, due to constant bickering of two other Digimon who currently were also watching the viewing orb with him.
"I bet that the battle will end with at least one of the DigiWira's Digimon partner being deleted," Sorcerymon predicted. He was leaning against the stone wall, with his staff lying down on the barren cavern ground.
"Yeah? Well, I've no problem with that, as long as the one who's going to be destroyed is that wretched Fairymon!" Shutumon said vehemently as she twiddled with her long fingers. She was sitting on the cave floor in a meditative posture, but she was doing anything else other than meditating. "That'll rid me of one major pain."
"No. I want Sagittarimon destroyed. Or that human partner of his," Sorcerymon countered. "They've wrecked my plan and…"
"QUIET!" Karatenmon bellowed. Shutumon and Sorcerymon immediately ceased their bickering, for fear they had angered the Ultimate. Unexpectedly however, Karatenmon smiled, which unnerved the two champion-levels even more. "Why pick only one to be destroyed? Why one, when we can ensure that ALL of them cease from existence before this day ends!"
"Don't you think that's a tad bit greedy, for wanting all?" Sorcerymon asked, before he could control himself. Without realizing his folly yet, he continued, despite warning looks given by Shutumon. "I always think that we should eliminate our enemy one…by…one…" The white wizard stopped talking upon seeing the general glaring at him with a look that could kill. "Err…or maybe, it'll be easier to wipe them out all at once if possible…"
xxx
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After about fifteen minutes of looking for a place to hide, Adam finally settled in hiding himself at the second level of the coliseum. He thought that with Fairymon dropping him at the topmost level, the ShadoWira would think of searching him there. His slight size proved effective in hiding amongst the big stone benches.
"Maybe I should hide under the bench? I think I can fit in there quite nicely," he murmured to himself, when an explosion caught his attention. He stalled, wondering what had gone wrong. "What's happening down there?" The boy then looked around, seeing whether it was safe for him to have a brief look down. He wasn't that far from the railing, and should he hear somebody's coming he could just roll under the stone bench nearest to the railing.
"I'll just take a one quick look," Adam decided.
He rushed towards the railing, and had the perfect view of the arena, which was actually the opposite of where he was currently standing. The battle between the Digimon was taking place on the stone bridge. He saw Fairymon flying up to evade being struck by a thunderbolt released by Reichmon's staff. Sagittarimon in the meantime, seemed to be already defeated by the dark ultimate warrior. He was lying on the ground, and his bow was pulverized…Adam could see the blackened bow lying near Sagittarimon, who also had collapsed.
"Sagittarimon's beaten," Adam realized fearfully.
"Blazing Spear!"
Next, Adam saw Reichmon raising his staff towards the dark sky, and realized that Reichmon was about to summon another thunderbolt attack, like the one he had initiated earlier. However, the DigiWira then noticed a difference in the attack. When the lightning struck the spear, the crackles of electricity generated from the staff ignited a blazing flame. And instead of normal-looking flames, like the reddish orange flames produced by the Red ShadoWira, the flames were yellowish green in color, with dark purple aura shimmering from the flames and the spear. Adam had never seen anything like it, and his attention was raptly focused on the battle.
Reichmon swung the spear just as Youkomon initiated her finishing move – the Dragon Wheel. The spear managed to be evaded by Youkomon, who was in her spectral dragon form, and she made way towards the black warrior. However, the flames ignited by Reichmon's spear suddenly set ablaze, the green flames soaring towards the sky and formed a grotesque flying creature, with a body similar to a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
"Gryphon?" Adam said, amazed and fearing for Youkomon's safety at the same time.
The flaming gryphon created by Reichmon's staff roared with a lion-like roar and jumped out from the flames that were blazing from the staff. Being almost twice the size of Youkomon's red dragon spectral form, the green gryphon struck the dragon with its head and flapped its massive spectral wings over the dragon. For a moment, Youkomon attempted to resist Reichmon's gryphon, but being bigger and supplied with more power from the Ultimate Digimon, the gryphon soon overpowered Youkomon, causing her to revert back to her kitsune form.
"Oh no, Youkomon!" Adam whispered.
With one swift motion, Reichmon attempted to deliver a hard kick on Youkomon's head when a gust of pink hurricane steered his leg away from Youkomon. Looking up, the warrior saw Fairymon hovering in midair. He ignored the sprite and made his away towards Youkomon, who attempted a Fox Tail Inferno attack on him. Reichmon saw the incoming nine fireballs blasted from Youkomon's tails, but made no attempt to evade it. Instead, as he leapt forward, his dark gold wings spread upwards before folding down over his torso, thus offering extra protection for his body.
"Defense Shield!"
The nine fireballs bounced off the wing-shield harmlessly. Reichmon then swung his staff forward, generating the same attack he had used before, to finish Youkomon off once and for all.
"Blazing Spear!"
The flaming green gryphon leapt out from Reichmon's staff and enveloped Youkomon fully before the kitsune could evade it. She doubled over as her body was scorched by the shrieking gryphon, and with the green gryphon obscuring her sight Youkomon couldn't see where she was rolling at. Her body felt drained – the gryphon was injuring her internally and externally at the same time. She reached at the side of the bridge and attempted to stop, but it was too late. She had crossed the line…and felt herself plummeting down towards the underground labyrinth.
Adam gasped. "Youkomon's been beaten!" He then set his sight towards the remaining DigiWira partner. With two DigiWira partners down, Reichmon's only opponent now was Fairymon. Adam saw the dark warrior observing Fairymon, who was attempting to launch her trademark hurricane attack onto him. The pink hurricane, which Adam had seen its effectiveness before, collided with Reichmon harmlessly before the warrior used his spear to douse the hurricane with dark energy. He then, to Fairymon and to Adam's surprise, unfolded his metallic wings from his torso and leapt from the bridge.
"He could fly!" Adam said, astonished as he saw Reichmon began chasing after Fairymon. However, his attention was suddenly disrupted when he felt a firm hand grasped on the collar of his uniform from behind, and yanked him back. He let out a gasp as his back collided with a firmer, sturdy body.
"Having fun?" a familiar voice whispered into Adam's right ear, which made the boy's blood ran cold. Turning slowly to his right, he saw the gleaming green eyes and the expressionless masked face of the Red ShadoWira. "Curiosity kills the cat, they say, or more befittingly, kills the foolish DigiWira." The Red ShadoWira turned Adam around violently, causing the boy to yelp in pain of being roughed up, until his hideous masked visage was facing the boy's terrified face.
"Hide and seek has ended kid, and I've played your game. How about now we play mine's?" He then pushed Adam with such a force that the smaller boy fell on his back onto the stone floor.
"AAH!"
Adam felt an intense pain on his back as he tried to raise his body up. However, he stopped dead upon seeing the Red ShadoWira pointing his right palm down, just several inches away from Adam's face. His palm began to emit a red aura, and a spark of flame materialized. The flame grew bigger and bigger before coalescing around the Red ShadoWira's palm.
There was no escape. Behind Adam was the railing, and in front of him was the ruthless Red ShadoWira. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead; the searing heat emitted from the blazing palm of the Red ShadoWira was even hotter than the warmest day Adam had ever experienced.
Adam's gray eyes widened in shock and fear. Could the Red ShadoWira, being a human, was capable of killing? He didn't want to believe that, but with a blazing palm pointed at his face…Adam had never felt much fear in his life.
The Red ShadoWira laughed viciously. "I call this game, 'Burning the DigiWira'."