Sounds of explosions were heard in the background as a warrior in golden armor streaked past the thick smokes. Glitters of pink light emitted out from his eyes as he ran past the smoke with lightning speed. Using his swords, he cut through the boulders that rained from the darkened sky, slashing them into pieces with one clean strike. With a grunt he sped through the stone debris, ignoring the stones slamming against his damaged armor. Every once in a while he glanced back, as if he was being pursued by somebody. The billowing blue cape he was wearing, shredded over the edges, blocked him from seeing clearly, but what he could see unnerved him.

"GET HIM!" a loud commanding voice echoed.

All of a sudden the warrior found himself surrounded by a flock of purple-feathered avian warriors, with thick legs which ended with formidable-looking crimson talons and winged arms. The creatures were lightly armored over the torso and shoulders and their faces were expressionless. There were six of them, and they had cornered the golden-armored warrior in all possible directions. Their shining light-blue eyes observed the warrior with a way akin to vultures eyeing their dying prey, ready to strike at any moment's notice.

The smoky air above rippled as purple smokes erupted from the ripple, and a figure stepped out from the rift. Another avian warrior appeared, but with his darker feathers, crow-shaped helmet and twin blades, this newcomer looked even more fearsome than the half-dozen bird warriors below him. His eyes shone with dark red, and beneath the crow helmet the lower half of a human face could be seen, grinning maliciously over the sight of the surrounded warrior. A dark aura seemed to emanate all over him.

"There is no escape this time, Grademon," the newcomer said with an evil tone. "You are surrounded."

"Karatenmon," the golden-armored warrior, Grademon, said hatefully, recognizing the newcomer just by hearing his voice. He quickly held up his weapons – a pair of gleaming ivory swords. His voice was deep and heroic, compared to the dark voice which his opponent possessed. Similar to the dark avian warrior, Grademon too possessed twin swords, and he raised them up to protect himself. Cocking his pronged helmeted head upward, his blue eyes shone with determination as he gave Karatenmon a piercing glare. "Let's settle this."

"Oh, but you are weakened," Karatenmon said darkly. "There is no use for you to fight even further. Your precious DigiSpheres are now under my command."

With a flick of his hand, two glowing spheres materialized from out of nowhere, and hovered above Karatenmon's right palm. One shone with brilliant red, and the other glimmered with calm blue. The blue sphere then jumped onto Karatenmon's left palm as the red sphere began to ignite with flames. Swirls of water then appeared from the blue sphere as Karatenmon began to cackle maniacally.

"The powers of fire and water," he said with amazement. "Now, they are mine!"

"They are not yours to control!" Grademon yelled, and jumped up. His eyes glimmered with yellowish light, and suddenly the warrior gained momentum and shot up, reaching the level where Karatenmon was hovering. "You can never wield the Red and Blue DigiSpheres. I created them with the ability for them to choose their own wielders! They will never obey your commands! It is futile for you to force their powers out."

And with that said, the flames on the red sphere died out while the swirls of water generated from the blue sphere evaporated into thin air. Both spheres then began to vibrate wildly and shot out from Karatenmon's palms, heading towards Grademon.

"And now they shall return to their creator once again!" Grademon exclaimed triumphantly. Quickly he transferred the sword held with his right hand onto his left hand, freeing the hand in order to grab the two spheres which were heading his way. "Return to me, DigiSpheres!"

"Oh, no, they won't!" Karatenmon shouted, and waved his twin blades forward. Two sickle-shaped purple energy bolts shot out from the blades and struck the two spheres, surrounding them with a spherical energy barrier. The red and blue spheres attempted to resist the dark sphere which was containing them, by slamming against the inner walls of the barrier, but they couldn't penetrate it. The dark sphere then rotated with top speed and vanished out of sight.

Grademon was shocked. "What did you do to the Red and Blue DigiSpheres?" he demanded.

"Kept for safekeeping," Karatenmon said airily, and laughed. "I have expected you to come up with such trick, Grademon. After all, your mentor was also my teacher some time ago. Apparently that old coot did not teach you well enough for you to face your crafty senior."

"Don't insult Wizardmon!" Grademon growled angrily.

Karatenmon merely shrugged, not at all perturbed with his opponent's warning. His twin blades then vanished as he crossed his arms over his lightly armored chest. He fixed his eyes onto Grademon, and snickered insultingly. "I shall find a way to make the Red and Blue DigiSpheres obey me, one way or the other. If I cannot be in command of them, then I shall find the ones destined to wield those spheres, and control them!"

Grademon was immediately taken aback with Karatenmon's declaration. "Not if I can help it!" he exclaimed, and charged towards the dark warrior, with both blades thrust forward.

Karatenmon jumped towards the sky and stepped onto the glittering ivory blades wielded by his opponent. He used the swords as a stepping stone for him to approach Grademon, and delivered a powerful kick onto the golden warrior's helmeted face, before slapping him with his thick black wings. When Grademon plummeted towards the ground, Karatenmon expanded his wings, and shot out powerful projectiles in shape of feathers, but with the deadly precision of gun bullets, towards the fallen warrior. The feather bullets slammed onto Grademon's armor and cape, surprisingly damaging the armor even more and tore the already-shredded cape into tiny bits.

"Harpymon, attack him!" Karatenmon commanded the half-dozen bird warriors below. "Take no prisoner!"

Grademon's eyes shone with yellow light and once again he managed to steady himself, while still in mid-air. However, he was weakened and realized that he couldn't fight Karatenmon and his Harpymon foot soldiers. Looking around, the warrior saw that he was going to be overpowered soon. The Harpymon were beginning to spread out their arm-wings, flying towards him with every intention to finish him off, like vultures hungry to devour their preys.

"We shall fight again another day, Karatenmon!" Grademon declared, as white glitters began to replace the yellow lights within his eyes.

Brilliant orbs of pure golden light began to emanate from his body, surrounding and circling around him from the tip of his pronged helmet until the end of his golden boots. With a flash of white and golden light, the last thing Grademon could hear was the confused squawks and screeches of the Harpymon, followed by Karatenmon's frustrated yell, when his surroundings shifted from the smoky environment into a wide clearing within a lush green forest. The orbs of light vanished as Grademon stepped onto the marble floors of the clearing. Grademon's knees buckled slightly and he collapsed onto the marble floors with a loud crash, immediately attracting the attention of a smaller humanoid figure in purple cape and hat.

"Grademon!" the figure exclaimed, turning around immediately to face the fallen warrior.

"Wizardmon…" Grademon said weakly, as the purple-caped figure rushed towards him. From the corner of his eyes, Grademon could see the wooden sun staff belonged to the wizard, hovering in mid air. The staff was emitting bolts of thunder towards three spheres which were orbiting around it.

"What happened?" Wizardmon inquired, with great concern evident in his wizened voice. "You are gravely hurt! Sit and I shall heal you."

Grademon obeyed the wizard's command and allowed the elder Digimon to assist him to sit up. Wizardmon cast a look over the three spheres which were orbiting around his wooden staff before returning his gaze towards Grademon. He made a few gestures with his palms and read an incantation softly before placing one palm on Grademon's armored chest, and the other palm on Grademon's left thigh. Cool orange aura was emitted by Wizardmon's palm and slowly, Grademon began to heal.

"The other DigiSpheres…how are they progressing?" Grademon inquired urgently. His voice was still weak, but not as weak as before.

"Two of them are almost ready," Wizardmon replied. "One has been infused with the power of wind, and the other with the power of magic. The elements of nature and earth are still free; I am planning to infuse both of them into the third, unoccupied DigiSphere as the two elements are nearly similar in terms of power. I shall have to find two other elements which will compliment the powers of magic and wind later. I am thinking of the elements of ice and light…"

"We will need to change our original plan," Grademon interrupted. "Karatenmon has seized the Red and Blue DigiSpheres, and has placed them in his control."

"What!" Wizardmon exclaimed, shocked. "And you did not manage to recover them back?"

"I am only one mon," Grademon said grimly. "All of our allies have been defeated by SkullSatamon and his evil minions."

"Oh, my stars…" Wizardmon said, removing his hands slowly from Grademon. "This development is seriously not in our favor. The DigiSpheres are our last resort in order to combat SkullSatamon's evil forces. And what is more troubling is the fact that the Red and Blue DigiSpheres are our first creations, and are the most forceful, with the elements of fire, water, darkness and thunder infused within them."

Grademon nodded. "That is why we will need to change our original plan. Wizardmon, what other elements do we have in our possession right now? Other than nature and earth?"

"None," Wizardmon answered. "I'm planning to seek out the elements of ice and light from Digimon that bear those elements."

Grademon did some quick thinking, observing the three clear DigiSpheres which were still being powered up by Wizardmon's sun staff. "Infuse the elements of nature and earth within the same two DigiSpheres that already housed the elements of magic and wind. They will serve as secondary elements to magic and wind, similar to the elements of darkness and thunder being the secondary elements to fire and water."

Cocking his head sideways, towards the direction of the three DigiSpheres, Grademon lifted his right arm up. "HAA!" he breathed out loudly, and from his eyes, three beams of yellow, pink and white light shot out continuously. Each beam hit a DigiSphere and gave the DigiSphere the same color as the beam which had hit it. The energy bolts from Wizardmon's staff died down as the three DigiSpheres approached Grademon, and landed on his palms.

Wizardmon gazed down onto the White, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres, and nodded.

"Very well, Grademon. It shall be done," he said, and took the yellow and pink spheres. "The Yellow DigiSphere shall contain the powers of magic and earth, while the Pink DigiSphere shall house the powers of wind and nature. But what of the White DigiSphere? It has no element at all."

"Each DigiSphere can contain two elements," Grademon said, gazing at the White DigiSphere. "But the situation has changed. The Red and Blue DigiSpheres have been taken to the dark side, with the Red DigiSphere being more vulnerable than Blue, having had the element of darkness within it as well. SkullSatamon and Karatenmon will waste no time to use their own evil powers to corrupt the lost two spheres and their future wielders." He closed his palm, with the White DigiSphere within it.

"What are you going to do with the White DigiSphere?" Wizardmon inquired.

Grademon opened his palm again and the White DigiSphere rose from his hand. "I shall go to the Lost Mountain and seek the sacred lady Ophanimon to obtain the element of light from her."

Wizardmon's eyes widened. "But…the journey to the Lost Mountain is treacherous! And there is no guarantee that the sacred lady will agree to assist you. Besides, the Lost Mountain only appears once every one hundred years! It will not appear until…" Wizardmon made some mental calculations, opening and closing his fingers one by one alternately. Finally, he returned his gaze towards his pupil, now the Digital World's greatest champion. "…until three days from now, during the alignment of the three moons of the Digital World."

"Precisely," Grademon said. "Luckily, time is at our side. Three days are enough for me to heal."

Wizardmon grimaced, and didn't bother to hide his feeling from Grademon. "But, there is still no guarantee for the sacred lady to help you. You know, and I know, that the lady is very eccentric and indifferent to the goings-on of our world," he pointed out earnestly. "Surely you can seek out any other light-powered or angel Digimon to obtain the element of light? There is Lobomon, the healer of the West City of Light, or Angemon from the Radiant Village. Or even from the powerful duo MagnaAngemon and Angewomon who are currently leading the rebellion against Phelesmon, another general of SkullSatamon. And what about the White DigiSphere's second element? What element would it be?"

Grademon shook his head. "The ones you have stated are excellent choices, but you are forgetting one other important thing. Each of them has their own responsibility for the people they are serving. Taking their powers will only result in the ones they are protecting to be vulnerable against the evil forces."

"But…"

"And there will be no compromising for the White DigiSphere, as well as there will be no secondary element for it," Grademon immediately countered, before his mentor could argue about his opinion. The golden warrior's voice was firm and stern that Wizardmon, whose mouth was partially opened as he was about to protest, closed his mouth. His green eyes however, looked at Grademon inquiringly, urging the warrior to continue.

Grademon saw his mentor's eyes and resumed his explanation. "I want the White DigiSphere to be infused purely with the element of light from the strongest source possible. Ophanimon, eccentric and indifferent as she may be, is a Mega Digimon, and thus is far stronger than me, SkullSatamon, Karatenmon and all the noble warriors you have mentioned. With her power, the White DigiSphere shall be the key for us to regain the lost spheres, as well as neutralizing the evil influence that has been placed within them."

"But there is still the pressing matter of how are you going to convince Ophanimon to help you," Wizardmon said.

Grademon's ice-blue eyes blazed with determination. "I will do whatever it takes to acquire her assistance."

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WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 10 – Unbound

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"So, what happened?" Adam asked eagerly. "Did Grademon manage to get this…Ophanimon's, help?"

TobuCatmon observed the excited look on Adam's face, his blue eyes looking worried. He had just concluded regaling the tales of the DigiSpheres' creation a long time ago to the three DigiWira. Something bothered him, but looking at the earnestness of the wielder of the White DigiSphere's face, he couldn't help but to smile.

"Oh, he did. It wasn't easy, but he managed to convince the sacred lady Ophanimon to help him," TobuCatmon answered finally.

"But…?" Liu Ying asked, raising her thin eyebrow.

TobuCatmon turned his attention towards the wielder of the Yellow DigiSphere. "What makes you think that there is a 'but'?"

"I don't know, but I do know that there is a 'but'," the senior DigiWira answered simply.

"And you're right," TobuCatmon said. "Although Grademon was successful and the White DigiSphere is infused fully with the power of light, the forces of evil were still too strong for him to handle. He never managed to recover the lost Red and Blue DigiSpheres from Karatenmon, whom during a combat with Wizardmon, was sentenced into stone imprisonment by the wizard. And yes, Adam, if you are wondering…" TobuCatmon returned his gaze towards the male DigiWira. "This Wizardmon is the same Wizardmon you have met before, and who has fallen victim to Karatenmon's treachery. It seemed that Karatenmon had personally deleted Wizardmon out of spite, since it was his old mentor who had imprisoned him."

Adam merely nodded his head sadly. Images of the old wizard flashed by his mind temporarily – it was Wizardmon who had helped him against Sorcerymon, and he also had given Adam the antidote to Sorcerymon's abhorrence spell over Gayathri and Floramon – before Gayathri's voice brought his attention back to the real world. Yet he found himself somewhat unable to concentrate as his mind was still on the kindred wizard.

"Back to the lost DigiSpheres," the curly-haired DigiWira said as she fingered the ends of her hair. "Now they've found their wielders, just like ours found us?"

"You are correct, Gayathri," TobuCatmon said. "Apparently, the ShadoWira are the ones destined to wield the Red and Blue DigiSpheres, just as the three of you are chosen to wield your own." He gazed at the three DigiWira with an unfathomable look, his blue eyes shifted from Gayathri to Liu Ying before lingering on Adam for a while. Then he cleared his throat, seeing that the boy to be still somewhat distracted – he knew that the boy's mind was still on the late Wizardmon. When Adam finally looked up, the gloomy look on his face slowly passing, TobuCatmon said, "Release your DigiSpheres from your D-Terminals, please. I will now explain about the special powers you now possess."

The gloominess in Adam's gray eyes was instantly replaced with enthusiasm and he eagerly did what TobuCatmon had suggested. Liu Ying and Gayathri looked at each other, and shrugged, before they too heeded their mentor's instruction. Pressing the buttons on their D-Terminals, the digitized DigiSpheres materialized from the devices and hovered in front of their respective DigiWira, who were sitting in a triangular position with TobuCatmon sitting in the middle of the triangle. The three DigiSpheres then projected a beam of light towards the center of the triangle in accordance to their color. When the three beams met, just above TobuCatmon's head, a hologram of a heroic-looking warrior in pure golden armor, wearing a three-pronged helmet, a flowing cape and wielding two swords, was produced.

"This is Grademon," TobuCatmon explained. This was ensued by a series of 'Oooh' from the DigiWira. "It is from him that you receive your powers, as Grademon has placed each of his power in his five mystical DigiSpheres, to be inherited by the spheres' future wielders in their quest to aid their Digimon partners against the evilness of SkullSatamon. Originally however, Grademon didn't possess those powers; but felt the need to gain several extra powers as he was facing the greatest evil known to the Digital World at the moment. He sought out several masters from the vast regions of the Digital World in order to do so, and eventually met them and becoming their pupil. Each master granted him with one skill."

An image of a masked, muscular, humanoid Digimon with a black body and four arms appeared beside Grademon. They were standing at equal height, but the black-skinned Digimon were bulkier in size, yet clothed little in comparison to the fully-armored Grademon. The two holograms sparred with each other, with the quadra-armed Digimon firing streams of fire one after another towards Grademon, who to the DigiWira's surprise, was blocking the Digimon's fire attacks with streams of fire generated from his own palm.

"From Asuramon, master of fire, Grademon received the power to control fire," TobuCatmon explained.

"Asura?" Gayathri said, surprised. "That's one of the Gods in Hindu myth."

"Power of fire?" Adam wondered audibly, at about the same time Gayathri was mentioning about Asuramon. "The Red ShadoWira…?"

"Correct, Adam and Gayathri," TobuCatmon nodded.

The hologram of Asuramon vanished, and was replaced with a blonde mermaid with a sleek black tail, wielding a golden trident. The mermaid and Grademon were exchanging water blasts one after another, sparring in a similar fashion shown between Grademon and Asuramon earlier.

"From the mistress of the ocean, Mermaidmon, Grademon is bestowed the ability to control water," TobuCatmon informed.

"The Blue ShadoWira…" Liu Ying stated, more towards herself than to the others, as she recollected the event of her encounter with the evil DigiWira.

Mermaidmon's image was then replaced with a hologram of a poised Digimon, who was a humanoid yellow-furred fox Digimon in a Taoist garb. The Digimon had a stern face, sharp ice blue eyes which reminded all of them of Youkomon, and wielded, out of all kinds of weapons, a giant paintbrush. However the priestess Digimon and Grademon seemed to be evenly matched in a battle of minds, with Grademon throwing various weaponries to the priestess by just flicking his arms, and his opponent resisting the objects thrown to her by merely flicking her palms.

"With guidance from the mistress of magic, Taomon, Grademon learned how to move objects with his mind," TobuCatmon said.

Liu Ying was snapped out of her brief reverie, and realized that this was the source of her new-found gift.

Taomon's image vanished and a visor-wearing bird-man appeared in her place. He was a muscular Digimon with avian qualities displayed by his lower extremities – which was thick and brown-feathered, and ended with yellow and magenta talons. His upper body however was humanlike, protected by a white leather suit and further armored with a metallic plate. His arms were thick as well, with large white feathers jutting out from the arms. The DigiWira saw Grademon racing with the Digimon, first in running, later by flying.

"Thanks to the master of air, Silphymon, Grademon's speed was greatly enhanced," TobuCatmon told them.

Gayathri placed a hand on her chest and beamed, recollecting how she had narrowly escaped Reichmon's attack, back at the Megalith Coliseum. Silphymon's hologram dissipated as well, and in his place appeared a very familiar looking mage Digimon.

"That's Wizardmon!" Patamon, who was resting on Adam's head, gasped.

"Indeed," TobuCatmon said, nodding. "Although Grademon has learned four powerful skills from Asuramon, Mermaidmon, Taomon and Silphymon, his greatest skill is bestowed upon him by his own mentor. Observe."

The DigiWira then saw the projected images of Wizardmon and Grademon on a vast empty field. Wizardmon waved his staff and blinked out of sight, and reappeared about a hundred meters away from where he had stood. He waved his staff again, and disappeared again before reappearing in front of Grademon. Grademon tried to follow his mentor's movement, but instead of blinking out of sight like the wizard had done, the ability imparted to him manifested in a slightly different way. His armored body glimmered and orbs of golden light were emitted from it, surrounding the golden warrior. The orbs then vanished with Grademon consumed within them, before rematerializing a distance away with Grademon within them.

"And from Wizardmon, Grademon learns the rare art of teleportation," TobuCatmon concluded as the holograms vanished.

"He teleports differently from how Wizardmon had taught him," Adam pointed out. "I think I teleported the same way Grademon did. Only the colors seem to be different."

TobuCatmon nodded, smiling slightly. "Strange, isn't it? In my opinion it was simply due to the fact that Grademon didn't want to teleport the same manner his mentor did, thus the ability manifested in a slightly different, but still very much effective, way. It was said that Grademon did have a rebellious streak within him."

The DigiWira laughed upon hearing this explanation. Liu Ying was the first who stopped laughing – she was only chuckling lightly, while Adam and Gayathri were the ones laughing – and cleared her throat slightly to attract the attentions of her fellow DigiWira as she ran a finger into her wet, but clean, straight jet-black hair.

"So now, I have the power to move object with my mind?" she inquired.

"Apparently, yes," TobuCatmon nodded.

Liu Ying looked around the Forest Sanctum and spotted a small stone lying just outside the marbled floor. Frowning, she attempted to move the stone by willing her mind to stir it. Nothing happened – the stone won't even budge from its place. She then raised her palm and turned it horizontally, and tried to move it by moving her palm upward. Still, nothing happened. Annoyed, she flicked her hand and the stone flew away, colliding against a tree.

"And apparently, a lot of training is still required before you can truly master this ability," TobuCatmon said, sweatdropping. He then turned to face Adam and Gayathri, who seemed about to attempt with their own special powers. "The same applies to the two of you as well. The three of you need trainings."

The DigiWira nodded. "So, Liu Ying has telekinesis, Gayathri has super speed, and I have teleportation?" Adam clarified.

TobuCatmon pondered about Adam's statement for a moment. "Telekinesis…is that the same word which applies to the power of moving object with the power of the mind?" he inquired.

Adam sweatdropped. "Uh…yeah, that's how it is said in those comic books I've read. And…" the boy's expression turned slightly grim. "The ShadoWira are pyrokinetic and hydrokinetic?"

"I'm sorry, but I have never heard of such words before," TobuCatmon said apologetically. "But I think you are right. The words pyro and hydro do relate to fire and water, so yes, the ShadoWira have been given the power to manipulate, or even generate, fire and water at will. Yes…" TobuCatmon inhaled deeply before continuing, "Grademon's five special abilities are then transferred to the five DigiSpheres he has created in order to give their future wielders the same abilities as well. The Red and Blue DigiSpheres were taken soon after the powers of fire and water were bestowed to them, and the remaining DigiSpheres were given the other remaining powers prior to Grademon's trip to seek out the element of light from Ophanimon of the Lost Mountain. The three DigiSpheres are then kept within the safety of the Forest Sanctum, where no evil can penetrate."

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"Damn it, Karatenmon!" the Red ShadoWira bellowed as soon as he stepped out of the portal. "You told us those DigiWira have no special powers! Well guess what? They do!"

Karatenmon observed the ShadoWira coolly, albeit slightly irritated over the Red ShadoWira's outburst. However he too was as surprised as the ShadoWira over the outcome of the battle today; he too hadn't expected that Grademon's other three powers would be reawakened by the three DigiWira just as when the ShadoWira were about to defeat them once and for all.

"I too, have not anticipated this to happen," he said icily. Glaring at the Red ShadoWira, he pointed his index finger towards the human. "And you will do well to remember your place."

The Red ShadoWira stood still, staring at the pointed finger uncertainly. He wasn't sure whether Karatenmon was simply warning him, or would actually attack him. There was a chilling frostiness in the way he was being addressed by the ultimate Digimon, and he knew that it would be as easy as a flick of a palm for the Digimon to destroy him. The Red ShadoWira decided not to risk it as he wouldn't be able to win, so he took a step back with a loud snort and leaned against the wall.

"What do you mean?" the Blue ShadoWira spoke up. "You didn't see this coming too, did you?"

"As far as I know, Grademon has imparted his abilities to control fire and water into your Red and Blue DigiSpheres," Karatenmon answered. "And I am aware that in order to counter the Red and Blue DigiSpheres, Grademon has created another three DigiSpheres – namely the White, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres – but I do not know that he had also included his other powers into them as well, which apparently was what he had done. I have however seen Grademon demonstrating his powers during our last encounter. But you still have the advantage against the DigiWira."

"The DNA Digivolution works perfectly. Reichmon's trashed their partners," the Red ShadoWira said cockily.

"And the DigiWira trashed you," Karatenmon retorted, attempting to deflate the arrogance evident from the Red ShadoWira.

"But they too weren't faring so well; they had to run away as their partners are all knocked out," the Red ShadoWira shot back smartly.

Karatenmon snorted. "In short, the two teams are still evenly matched. And soon, the DigiWira will also be able to tap further into the DigiSpheres' hidden powers and possibly, also unlock the DNA Digivolution for their partners. This will not do; I have groomed you to be more superior to the DigiWira, not on par with them. But there is nothing you can do now. For now, you shall return to your home world and rest."

He made a dismissing gesture towards the Red ShadoWira, who simply turned his back against the dark avian warrior and stalked away outside the main cave. A flash of light ensued from outside the main chamber of the Cave of Solitude before silence once again prevailed. Karatenmon then shifted his attention towards the Blue ShadoWira, who was still standing at an odd posture. He narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue in a manner that seemed to be mocking the Blue ShadoWira.

"I shall heal you, but it is not done out of pity," Karatenmon said with a tone that mirrored his words exactly. "Rather, the last thing I want to happen is for the DigiWira to be able to exactly pinpoint your secret identities when you two are around the school tomorrow."

"Win-win for both of us," the Blue ShadoWira murmured uncaringly.

Karatenmon waved his right arm while chanting a mantra in a foreign language. A purple wave of light was released by his hand and collided with the Blue ShadoWira. Immediately the Blue ShadoWira's body jolted up straight, no longer forced to be in an odd posture where the pain he was feeling would be at its least. The wave soon dissipated and the Blue ShadoWira nodded towards Karatenmon.

"Thanks, General," he said simply. If he was grateful towards the General for healing him, it didn't show in his voice's tone.

Karatenmon nodded curtly; he didn't really care whether the ShadoWira were polite or rude towards him, as long as they served their purposes for him and for the master. "Return to your home now, and remember not to attract the attentions of the three DigiWira while you are at school. Do not give them any reason to suspect you. And keep an eye on your fellow ShadoWira partner. His brashness would ruin my future plan."

"Don't worry, I know how to handle Red," the Blue ShadoWira answered. "After all, only water can keep raging fire in check."

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For a moment, the DigiWira were all silent. They were processing the barrages of new information they had just been given, and coupled with the slight fatigue they were feeling as an aftermath from their battle with the ShadoWira earlier, all of them were ready to call it a day and return to their home world. But…

"But there's something I still am not getting about our special powers, TobuCatmon," Liu Ying said.

TobuCatmon looked at the tallest DigiWira knowingly. "You want to know why your powers haven't appeared to you before." It was more of a statement than an inquiry.

Liu Ying's questioning look turned into a scowl. "Are you psychic, by any chance?"

"No," TobuCatmon answered. His face turned apologetic as he resumed with his answer, "Actually, the reason is…before this, your powers have been bound. I have just released the bindings over them today, when I saw that you'd need those powers to face the ShadoWira."

"What?" all three DigiWira cried out. "Why'd you do that?" Gayathri continued.

TobuCatmon looked apologetic and for a moment, his gaze fell onto Adam. When Adam's gray eyes met his blue orbs, TobuCatmon shifted his attention away. "Please believe me when I say that I have my reason, and it is done solely for your own safety," he finally said to the three DigiWira, but Adam could have sworn that he saw the champion level Digimon was looking at him from the corner of his blue eyes.

"But… we could've used those powers before!" Liu Ying snapped. "I could think of many situations which with this power to move object with my mind, would aid me and Labramon greatly. Especially when we were the only team before Gayathri and Adam became DigiWira as well."

"And yet, you've prevailed again and again, even without your special power," TobuCatmon said calmly; he had expected this kind of reaction from the DigiWira when he first decided to bind their powers into the Ivory Gem before Liu Ying became a DigiWira. "Your special powers were bound inside a special gem called the Ivory Gem, but they couldn't be taken away from their destined wielders forever. When the time when they were greatly needed came, they would eventually overpower the binding enchantment placed upon them and would seek out their masters."

"As they did today," Adam said, shivering when he remembered when exactly his power came to him. "And just in the nick of time, too."

TobuCatmon nodded. "I apologize again, DigiWira. But you will see in the future of the reason why I have prevented your powers from bonding with you…although…" his eyes once again fell on Adam, who was starting to realize of the number of times the champion Digimon was looking at him. Although personally I hope that you will not have to see the reason, he added silently.

"In my opinion, TobuCatmon, that's rather weak," Gayathri pointed out. "But…I trust your judgment. You must've your reasons, and the powers did help us in our time of need."

"I appreciate that, Gayathri," TobuCatmon replied. "As I appreciated your honest opinion in this matter. Yours too, Liu Ying." The said girl nodded slowly, realizing that TobuCatmon was indeed sorry for keeping the DigiWira from their powers before. "There is something that you should know though about your special powers."

Liu Ying held her palm up, in a motion as if she was stopping TobuCatmon from speaking any further. "What we need to know is that how is it possible for us, being humans, to be able to get these powers in the first place? I mean, this is something you can only see in storybooks or movies…something fantasy-like. Real humans don't have these abilities; it is nearly impossible to comprehend. I get it that we now have powers, and the DigiSpheres are responsible for it, but how?"

TobuCatmon nodded solemnly. "A very good question, Liu Ying," he commented, and took a deep breath. "It's true that, from where you all come from, humans having special powers are just something mentioned in fairy-tale, which is why your powers won't work in your home world. What you need to know for now that in the Digital World, everything is made up of data, derived from the computers from your home world. The data is further enforced by the hopes and dreams of the people in your home world, which gives the Digital World a rather mystical quality in it as well. The possibilities are endless in the Digital World, and you three have seen varieties of Digimon here that the people in your home world could never comprehend. That is just one of many examples. Take your own partners, for instance. I don't believe that you will find a larger-than-life guinea pig, who talks, or a very eloquent dog, or a hybrid between a plant and an animal."

"That's true," Adam concurred. His face looked somewhat disappointed. "Too bad our powers won't work back home; I could think of many things to do with my power."

"Ah…Adam," TobuCatmon said, his eyes twinkling. "The powers are not to be used selfishly; they come with a heavy responsibility. In the past, DigiDestined are known to be able to lend their support for their partners; lending their inner strength and believes for their Digimon to become more powerful. But that's just how far they are able to do, but for you…you have been given the heavy task of wielding special powers of your own, which I believe is for you to give your partners a helping hand in order to combat SkullSatamon's growing forces of evil. In the past, I was afraid to present you with the burden, which was…why, I've bounded your powers before. I didn't think that you were ready."

The three DigiWira now realized of their mentor's intention, and nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," Liu Ying spoke out. "I understand your reason now."

"It's alright," TobuCatmon said. He looked at the faces of the DigiWira he had mentored, and smiled slightly. "There's one last thing you should know about your powers, though."

"What's that?" Gayathri asked.

"Back when Grademon possessed the five powers, they were at their most preliminary stages before he stored them in the DigiSpheres," TobuCatmon began, choosing his words carefully to make sure that he could make the DigiWira understand what they currently had in their hands. "For three hundred years, the powers waited to be bonded with the future wielders of the DigiSpheres, as Grademon has intended. Now that they have been released and bonded with you three, and the ShadoWira, they will not remain at their early stages for long."

"Huh?" Adam wondered. "What do you mean?"

TobuCatmon's eyes met the boy's gray orbs. "They will evolve," he said slowly. "Your Digimon partners have the ability to Digivolve into higher, more powerful levels. The same is true for your special powers. In time, they will grow. They will not remain as only teleportation, telekinesis, super speed, hydro- and pyrokinesis forever; they will evolve, branch out to many possibilities, trying to reach their fullest potentials." He finished his statement with a grim note.

"Whoa, neat!" Adam exclaimed delightfully, missing out the grimness in TobuCatmon's voice.

Liu Ying however, caught on to their mentor's true meaning. A look of dread was reflected from her shining black eyes. "Adam, I don't think that's true. Don't you see? If the powers are growing, that means that our situation with the ShadoWira has just gotten more dangerous. We've narrowly escaped them today, and we've seen their proficiency with their powers. They've mastered their powers, or at least the basics of their powers, while we…we're just starting out."

"And both ShadoWira get the offensive powers," Gayathri continued glumly, and also with dawning comprehension. She adjusted a stray of curly bangs to the back of her ear before continuing, "and out of three of us, only Liu Ying has an attack power. We…" she looked at Adam with growing trepidation reflected in her large, brown eyes. "Our abilities make us able to run away, but not attacking. When we meet the ShadoWira again, Liu Ying won't be able to handle both ShadoWira on her own for long."

The look of delight on the boy's face was immediately wiped away. He suddenly looked anxious.

"You're right," he whispered as he massaged his temples slowly. "I've escaped the Red ShadoWira twice, and both times, if it weren't for my teleportation power I won't be able to sit here with you guys, knowing all these stuffs about our powers, Grademon and all." Slowly, he pushed back the bangs of his very dark brown hair from his forehead, only for the bangs to once again fall just right above his dark eyebrows when he removed his hand. "I'd be…gone," he said hollowly.

Silence prevailed for a minute, as the DigiWira realized that if it weren't for their powers, they all wouldn't be able to have this conversation at all.

"But…it'd be good if I have at least another power to counterattack the Red ShadoWira's," Adam added with a low tone, but audible enough to be heard by TobuCatmon.

"Yeah," Gayathri agreed. "Don't get me wrong though; I love my new power. But I'd do no good for the team if all I do is running away," she added, referring to her super speed power.

"Adam, Gayathri, do not despair, for your powers have yet to evolve. And I'm sure that you will learn how to fully utilize your current powers in future encounters with the ShadoWira," TobuCatmon consoled. He took a deep breath and his expression became more serious. "I've nearly lost you three today. I must make sure that will never happen again. I will find a way to train you three to master your gifts."

Both Adam and Gayathri nodded, but it was obvious that they were still worried. Liu Ying reached out and held Gayathri's hand comfortingly, while placing another hand on Adam's left shoulder.

"And now, we still have another one important matter to address upon," TobuCatmon said, attempting to draw the DigiWira's attention again. "The ShadoWira."

xxx

xxx

Karatenmon walked brusquely on his own inside the many dark chambers of the Cave of Solitude, navigating his ways with precision despite the darkness. His crimson eyes flashed every now and then, reflecting the fact that he was in a deep thought.

"The master has been very specific," he muttered, and slowed down upon reaching a junction, which led to three ways – straight ahead, left or right. Without even thinking, he made a left turn and reached a narrow stony staircase which spiraled down towards the depth of the cave. The Cave of Solitude was constructed within a stone mountain, and Karatenmon intended to go to the mountain's base. He knew that he needed to be very careful while going down those steps, as the cavern was almost pitch-black and one mistake while taking the step, one could slip across the steps and fell through the empty circular space at the edges of the spiral staircases.

It is however, the shortest way to reach the bottom of the Black Peak, Karatenmon thought, and without hesitation, he jumped from the stairs and quickly expanded his wings. He allowed gravity to take its natural course and felt his body being pulled down towards the base of the mountain. For ten minutes, he plummeted down without even bothering to break his fall, and his eyes gazed on the purple and black stones which constituted the inner part of the Black Peak Mountain, where inside, was built the Cave of Solitude – his dwelling.

Karatenmon recalled the brief conversation he had with SkullSatamon earlier. The master had been watching the battle via the viewing orb Karatenmon had supplied to him, and had seen the awakenings of the DigiWira's powers. He had his eyes on one particular DigiWira, and demanded Karatenmon to see to it that it was done. This brought the dark avian general to where he was at right now, going down the staircases of the Cave of Solitude to reach the prison at the base.

Faint cries were heard coming from below, and Karatenmon realized that he was nearing his destination. He immediately exerted some force in his wings, which flapped once to prevent him from crash-landing on the hard granite ground. He landed gracefully, and grandly, on his two feet, and his eyes fell on two figures that were standing in front of a large, wooden door. From the barred square hole at the middle of the door, cries and pleadings of help were heard.

"General Karatenmon," Sorcerymon and Shutumon both said simultaneously. "As you've ordered, we've found six rookie-level avian Digimon for your evil purposes," Shutumon continued.

"Five Biyomon and a rather feisty Hawkmon," Sorcerymon stated. "Birdramon was so tweaked when more of her students disappeared; luckily Shutumon was able to deal with her."

"Excellent," Karatenmon said, pleased. "You have done well. They will serve me soundly in my next plan."

"Whatever you're planning to do with us, you'll never succeed!" a loud cry came from behind the door.

"I take it that belongs to the Hawkmon you were telling me earlier?" Karatenmon inquired with a smirk.

"Yup, that's her alright," Sorcerymon said, and revealed a gash beside his mouth, formerly hidden by the collars of his white cape. "Scratched me with her sharp wings and talons, but I was able to subdue her in no time," he stated smugly, and tapped the door with his white staff. The door began to open.

"Proud to be able to overpower a rookie," Karatenmon stated with a mild tone. "How quaint."

Sorcerymon blushed upon hearing the comment, while Shutumon let out a whistle as the dark general was being sarcastic.

The sturdy door opened fully to reveal a cramped stone prison, with straws scattered around the floor. Five Biyomon were chained together with a Hawkmon, who was looking up at Karatenmon with a defiant look in her clear blue eyes. Karatenmon could see that among the six new prisoners brought by the two servants of SkullSatamon, the Hawkmon was the one who seemed to receive the most beatings, judging by the number of bruises and scratches on her face and body. The five Biyomon had suffered less abuse, and compared to the Hawkmon they did seem to look weaker. Three of the Biyomon were crying, while the other two were seen comforting their crying friends.

Weak the Biyomon might be, but that is about to change very soon, Karatenmon thought slyly.

"What do you want from us?" the Hawkmon demanded. "What did we ever do to you?"

"Patience, dear Hawkmon," Karatenmon said darkly. "Your purposes shall be revealed very, very soon."

Raising his right hand up, Karatenmon began to chant an incantation in a foreign language as dark clouds began to emanate from his raised hand. The clouds went towards the prisoners and engulfed them fully, and the last thing that could be seen from them was their widened, fearful eyes before the clouds obscured those eyes as well. Their figures were what could be seen from the clouds, black in color and all writhing in pain. Thunderbolts struck them, causing the rookies to let out pained squawks and chirps, which after a couple of minutes, began to turn into hideous shrieks as from the clouds their small bodies began to grow.

"Rise, my foot soldiers!"

From the corner of the small ground-level cavern, hidden within the dark shadows, someone clad in black stepped out silently. The faint light coming from the cracks on the stone walls fell onto his uniform, causing the crimson and red accents on it to glitter slightly, reflecting the shine of the leather material. He observed the transformations of the small avian Digimon into shrieking, mindless humanoid avian warriors with mild interest, and recalled the conversation he'd heard exchanged between Karatenmon and SkullSatamon earlier.

The DigiWira won't know what's gonna hit them, he snickered silently, and retreated back into the shadows.

xxx

xxx

"What about the ShadoWira?" Adam immediately asked, his thought were instantly brought back to his near-fatal encounters with the Red ShadoWira. "What's their deal anyway?"

"Who are they exactly?" Liu Ying inquired, almost simultaneously to Adam's own question.

"And why are they so bent on destroying us? What have we done to irk them anyway?" Gayathri continued.

"Well, other than beating their partners back at East Lake City," Patamon chimed in thoughtfully from Adam's head.

And as if they too wanted to voice out their questions, the unconscious Labramon and Floramon both grunted softly.

TobuCatmon sighed. "The ShadoWira are also DigiDestined, like the three of you. Possessing the DigiSpheres, they are also effectively DigiWira. As for their identities, they could be anybody from your home world. And with the capes and their masks, it would be impossible to determine their identities. But just be on a lookout for any strange behavior amongst the ones you know; for all we know they could be the ShadoWira."

Adam felt a slight chill upon hearing this. Something came across his mind; something at school which had been bothering him for the past few days. He looked at Liu Ying, who at the same time, was also glancing towards the boy. From the expressions on their faces, it was evident that something similar had crossed their minds. However nobody volunteered to voice out what he or she was currently thinking, which prompted the other DigiWira to speak up.

"Hello? I'm a little lost here?" Gayathri said dramatically, noticing her teammates exchanging odd looks at each other. "What's with the faces?"

"Adam, I've nearly forgotten about that," Liu Ying whispered towards the dark-haired boy. She took out her D3 Digivice from its compartment on her belt and held it within her palms as she addressed Gayathri and TobuCatmon. "About four days ago ago, Adam and I noticed a D3 signal somewhere near us when we were walking to my house from school. But that time, you weren't around Gayathri, and the D3 was at its default close-ranged scale. You were with Manny and his family, which was out of the scale's range. Adam and I were around the park beside the school and the signal appeared somewhere around us, presumably the park. But before we could even realize what was going on, the signal disappeared."

"That's not all. Earlier than that, I've already been getting the feelings that I'm being closely watched while at school," Adam said with a shiver. "At first, I thought that it was just my imagination, but then Liu Ying too felt the…umm…creepy sensation that I've been getting whenever I felt that I was being watched. She felt it too at the same time when we managed to detect a D3 signal."

TobuCatmon registered silently what Adam and Liu Ying had just said in his mind, his eyes looking slightly alarmed. It sounded uncanny, and something immediately clicked within his mind. "Being DigiDestined, means that they ShadoWira too would possess D3 Digivices," he said slowly, trying to organize the sudden rush of thought he was getting. "So it's highly possible that the D3 signal you have seen belonged to one of the ShadoWira. And this also means that at least one out of the two ShadoWira is attending your school."

"Or live nearby the school," Gayathri opinioned.

"Perhaps, but I'd go with my opinion, because Adam has mentioned that he was being watched while at school," TobuCatmon reminded.

"I thought I was being watched," Adam mumbled uncertainly.

"Trust your instinct, Adam," TobuCatmon said encouragingly. "Besides, doesn't Liu Ying also have perceived the same sensation of being watched?"

"Yes, and I'm positively sure about it," Liu Ying said.

"In that case, be on a lookout for the students attending your school, DigiWira. The ShadoWira could be anybody. They could even be your own friends. Do not rule out the possibilities of your close friends to be ShadoWira, because Karatenmon can easily change their original personas into characteristics he desires. But please remember that the ShadoWira might not be acting in accordance to their own free will. They might even be good persons, but Karatenmon's magic is very strong and even powerful Digimon than he had succumbed to his dark magical powers. I implore you not to initiate any battle with the ShadoWira, and only use your powers for defending yourselves."

"Some of us already have defense-only powers," Adam pointed out.

TobuCatmon shook his head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of assistance to you in searching for the ShadoWira's civilian identities while you're at your home world, but perhaps your school teacher – Jackie – could help you with this daunting task."

"You're right, TobuCatmon. We can ask for Jackie's help," Liu Ying agreed. "He knows more students in our school than we do."

"Wait till he hears about our new special powers!" Gayathri exclaimed. "I bet he would be so surprised. Even I'm still having a hard time believing that I actually have a special power."

TobuCatmon's eyes darted on Adam once again when Gayathri mentioned about the special powers, and saw that the boy was suddenly reminded of what he'd wanted to ask to the mentor of the DigiWira. There was no escaping the question this time, with Liu Ying and Gayathri both looking settled to go back to their home world. TobuCatmon had to act fast.

"And…"

"Adam," TobuCatmon countered quickly, flying over the pentagonal wooden table and picked up something from the surface of the simple furniture. He returned to the DigiWira and approached the boy, and held out the item he was holding. It was a small, triangular shaped, lightweight white stone, which glistened with light. "Adam, this is the Ivory Gem. Earlier, I have used this gem's magical attribute to bind the powers of you three within it. Now that your powers have been unleashed, this stone has no use, but I would like it very much if you keep this safe for me, as it will serve you well when the right time comes."

"Thanks, TobuCatmon. I'll keep it safe." Adam gingerly accepted the stone, and examined it. The Ivory Gem had rough surfaces, with the exception of its base, which seemed to be cleanly cut. "It looks like the Ivory Gem's actually a part of a bigger stone. Someone had cut it into half…" he said slowly before whipping out his D-Terminal. Similar to how the device reacted to his White DigiSphere, the Ivory Gem too was digitized and stored inside the D-Terminal as data. "What do you mean it will serve me well when the right time comes?"

TobuCatmon merely gave Adam a mysterious smile. "That will be revealed when the right time comes, Adam."

Adam grimaced; the answer wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. Then, he remembered that he had other thing to ask about.

"Ok. And…"

"Oh, look at the time! It's getting late and you need your rest!" TobuCatmon immediately announced, effectively cutting off the boy's attempt of asking him a question which he was dreading to answer. Adam looked dumbfounded, but the feline was adamant in his decision to spare Adam from the true reason why he had kept the DigiWira from their powers. Instead, he interjected with a tone of finality, "Whenever you are free tomorrow, do come to the Forest Sanctum, and we shall begin your training with your new gifts."