Wira Digital

by Alforce Zero

The story of the Malaysian Digidestined, chosen by an ancient warrior to wield his mystical DigiSpheres to combat the forces of evil that transpired in the Digital World.

12. Light Amidst Shadow

The sound of the crickets and the calm fountain water, coupled with a conversation between TobuCatmon and Gayathri, was what Liu Ying heard first as she opened her eyes slowly. The girl winced as the light invaded her eyes, and immediately flung her hand in front of her face to block it. A loud crash ensued and Liu Ying's body jerked slightly upwards. Instantly the conversation she was hearing died out, and she tentatively lowered her arm. Carefully, she opened her eyes slowly, glad that her eyes were adjusting to the brightness of the Forest Sanctum.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Gayathri said, but Liu Ying noticed hollowness in her voice. Her expressive eyes were reflecting something which looked like…anxiety? Realizing that the raven-haired girl was observing her eyes, she averted her eyes onto a half-broken chair, which lay atop the roots of a tree growing just around the corner of the sanctum. No doubt, that was the stool which Liu Ying had inadvertently threw with a flick of her hand while she was waking up.

"How long was I out?" Liu Ying asked as she massaged her temple. It ached, but it was nothing serious.

The curly-haired DigiWira seemed to be doing a mental calculation before returning her gaze to her teammate. "You were out like light for almost three hours," she replied, and instantly grimaced as a gruff snort was heard coming from somewhere around the corner. Gayathri winced and lowered her gaze. "Pun not intended, really. Sorry, Centarumon."

Confused, Liu Ying looked around the marble-stoned Forest Sanctum, taking in the presence of Gayathri, a very worried TobuCatmon, Floramon and Labramon, and standing at the corner of the Forest Sanctum with his arms crossed against his chest, Centarumon. A flash of memory flooded her mind, of a Centarumon approaching her as she was about to lose consciousness at Green Meadow Village. Then something occurred to her when she noticed that there were one person and one Digimon missing.

"Gayathri…where are Adam and Patamon?"

"That's Patamon," Gayathri answered, pointing towards Centarumon.

"Huh?" Liu Ying returned her gaze towards Centarumon. "But I thought…" she paused, remembering their first encounter with this particular Centarumon. "Oh…" she said, realizing that somehow, Adam's partner had Digivolved into his former Champion mode. They had seen Centarumon during the time when Adam first became a DigiWira. His D3 Digivice and the White DigiSphere had caused Centarumon to unlock a stronger form in Sagittarimon. "But where's Adam?" she asked.

"That's what we all would like to know too," Gayathri said softly. "Adam's missing."

"What? But how?"

Gayathri shook her head worriedly. "I don't know. None of us do…but we do know for sure that Adam didn't go off wandering around on his own, because he was injured by a Harpymon. Centarumon took him to rest by the village's gate, and gave him a sphere from his body. When he returned for Adam, only the sphere was around, lying just inches from the gate."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Gayathri gave out a sigh and hugged her knees to herself. Liu Ying took the time to analyze what Gayathri had informed her.

"Sounds like Adam have been kidnapped," she finally deduced.

"I thought that, too," Gayathri concurred.

"Everyone," TobuCatmon called out. He was floating by the sun staff, which stood erect beside the pentagonal table at the center of the sanctum. Right now, the mystical staff which formerly belonged to the deceased Wizardmon was glowing. "There is something all of you should see. Please observe the sun staff. It's about Adam."

Instantly, the DigiWira girls whipped their attentions towards the sun staff. The smaller Digimon all huddled on the floor, while Centarumon, his attention piqued by the mere mention of his DigiWira partner, leaped from where he was standing, landing merely a few inches away from Floramon and Labramon, who had to jump away to avoid meeting the centaur's formidable hooves. Labramon let out a bark, marking her disapproval, while Floramon narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but Centarumon didn't seem to care.

"Adam!" he said, upon witnessing his partner on the sun staff.

On the staff, Adam was shown, being surrounded by mists which seemed to be concentrated around him. He was looking around, confused, when a caped, hooded figure in black emerged from the mists. The crimson and red outlines of the figure's outfit were instantly recognizable.

"The Red ShadoWira!" both Liu Ying and Gayathri gasped. Centarumon growled in anger, knowing that the Red ShadoWira had attempted on his partner's life twice just the day before.

Everyone watched as the Red ShadoWira seized Adam from the back, and after a brief struggle they saw the boy limped. The Red ShadoWira then hoisted the unconscious wielder of the White DigiSphere on his shoulder as another figure in black outfit with blue and navy accents joined him. The two ShadoWira exchanged a brief conversation before the mists dissipated, and the air near them rippled. The ShadoWira then entered the portal and vanished out of sight. The sun staff too, died out after displaying the disappearance of the male DigiWira.

"Your suspicions are correct," TobuCatmon said worriedly.

"Is this what you're trying to keep from us, TobuCatmon?" Centarumon demanded loudly. Upon seeing TobuCatmon's inquiring eyes, and the confused looks exchanged by the two DigiWira girls, he huffed loudly. "Don't play dumb with me. Adam has confided in me yesterday, saying that you kept on looking at him whenever the subject of special powers, and the reason why you've kept it from the DigiWira, came up. And I've seen the way you intercepted his attempts of asking about it yesterday – I wasn't unconscious like Labramon and Floramon. Is this the reason? Because I can see from the look on your face now that this is what you're so worried about!"

"I've suspected this would happen," TobuCatmon said evenly. "I didn't know for sure."

"Where are those two evil brats are taking Adam?" Centarumon asked. "TobuCatmon, tell me! I have to rescue Adam."

TobuCatmon sighed. "I believe the ShadoWira, being Karatenmon's underlings; have taken Adam to the Black Peak Mountain, located beyond the border of the Shadow Realm and the Recycle Swamp. Inside the Black Peak Mountain lies the Cave of Solitude, where Karatenmon dwells. It was his base of operation three hundred years ago, during the war between Grademon and SkullSatamon. I believe he still considers the dark caverns home."

"I'll go there instantly!" Centarumon declared.

"Centarumon, wait," TobuCatmon instructed. "Do not be rash. You won't be able to save Adam if you act like this. We need a strategy."

"Adam is in danger!" the brown-furred centaur bellowed angrily. "Do you think I'm going to just sit around here, when my partner is probably being tortured by Karatenmon and those two ShadoWira monsters?"

"It will do Adam no good if you ended up getting captured as well," Labramon snapped evenly.

Centarumon was about to retort back to the canine Digimon's remark when their feline mentor intervened.

"Centarumon, please, calm down. I understand your feelings, but we have to plan carefully our strategy in order to successfully rescue Adam. The Cave of Solitude is impregnable, and Karatenmon probably has hordes of those Harpymon guarding its entrance alone. Then there are the ShadoWira and Reichmon to consider."

Centarumon grunted, but realized that TobuCatmon had pointed out a valid reasoning. Grudgingly, he nodded in agreement.

Gayathri snapped her fingers. "Can't Adam teleport out of the caves? He is the one with the power to teleport," she said hopefully.

TobuCatmon shook his head, to the girls' dismay. "It might be possible, but I don't think it's going to be easy. Adam's teleportation power is still fairly limited, as demonstrated earlier when he attempted to teleport to Green Meadow Village with you two, and I believe Karatenmon, being a dark wizard Digimon, has placed many dark enchantments within the caves to render Adam's light-based power useless." Adam had tried to teleport along with Liu Ying and Gayathri to the village, but had found out that not only he couldn't do so but his teleportation skill could not even be initiated when somebody else was holding on to him. Strangely however, he could do so with one or two Digimon. TobuCatmon had deduced that this could be due to the fact that rookie Digimon were smaller in size, as in computer-size, as compared to humans and higher-level Digimon.

"Limited? But both of our powers evolved today," Gayathri pointed out. Liu Ying shot her a confused look, which the girl caught immediately. "While you were sleeping, I talked to TobuCatmon about our powers, because something strange happened earlier when I was almost being attacked by two Harpymon," she explained.

"What happened?"

"Well, I fell, and the Harpymon were going to attack me. I didn't know what else to do, so I just screamed…and screamed…and screamed!"

"I'm not sure I get what you mean," Liu Ying said, frowning and wondering why Gayathri was repeating herself.

"Gayathri has developed another special ability," TobuCatmon clarified, and Gayathri beamed. "The supersonic scream, to compliment her super speed."

"I screamed so loud, even the Harpymon couldn't stand it…and they are the ones with the screaming powers," Gayathri said excitedly. She was making some movements with her hands as she explained this, emphasizing her delight of the awakening of her new power. "It's a weird power, though, but I like it. An attack power of my own."

"You too, Liu Ying, have developed your telekinetic power today," TobuCatmon pointed out. "But while Gayathri's power evolved in a different way, your power simply grows stronger. Formerly you were able to erect simple energy shield to block an attack, as well as moving objects with your mind. Your power evolves by combining those two abilities into one…the energy shield you have generated gathers power from the attack you are blocking, then deflects the gathered power back towards the offender."

Liu Ying nodded, still weak from the aftermath of the battle she had with the Harpymon. She was happy of the progress her telekinesis power had taken on such short time, but right now, she was too drained to think about it even further. Besides, she was also worried about Adam. Apparently these factors were reflected on her fair face, as TobuCatmon had correctly translated it into his next statement.

"But apparently, using the evolved form of your power seems to drain you greatly, so I advise against using it unless it is really necessary," the feline Digimon cautioned.

"Ok," Liu Ying agreed. "How is it possible for our powers to evolve so quickly? We just got them yesterday," she inquired curiously.

TobuCatmon thought for a moment for an answer. "I believe that your special powers are activated along with the DigiSpheres. You have been a DigiWira for more than six months, which means that your power, while still being bound until yesterday, have already been activated for six months. The same applies to Gayathri, whose power has been active for three months and Adam's for three weeks."

"Does that mean that Adam's power will not evolve anytime soon?" Gayathri asked worriedly. "Cause he'll need it, more than we do, more than ever."

"That may not be the case, Gayathri," TobuCatmon answered. "Your powers evolved due to natural course of time. Remember that the ShadoWira have just appeared as well…I believe the Red and Blue DigiSpheres found their wielders after the White DigiSphere bonded with Adam, because it was during that time too when Karatenmon was released from his entombment. Yet as you can see, the ShadoWira's fire and water powers have reached a fearsome level…probably due to vigorous training Karatenmon has placed upon them."

"So you are saying that the DigiWira's powers evolve in the same manner for Digimon to Digivolve?" Labramon inquired, trying to translate TobuCatmon's explanation into simpler words, for her and Floramon's sake, if not for their human partners. She did so upon seeing a dazed look on Floramon's face.

"Exactly!" TobuCatmon concurred loudly. "Exactly. Labramon is correct. Digimon usually Digivolve naturally after reaching certain power and experience level or aided by the power from their human partners, or during great need, such as when they or their partners are faced with great peril." TobuCatmon gulped slightly as his eyes darted momentarily to Centarumon. "It's also known for Digimon to Digivolve due to rage…but I personally have not seen one," he finished.

"So Adam still has a chance," Gayathri said hopefully. She was glad to see that the feline Digimon nodded his head, agreeing to her statement.

Liu Ying still looked a little bit dazed. "What happened after I passed out? How was the village?"

"Unsalvageable," Centarumon said solemnly. He seemed to have calmed down considerably, after listening to TobuCatmon's explanation. "Those wretched Harpymon…the villagers would have to build a new village from scratch. Luckily we won't be seeing any of those birdbrains for the time being."

"What do you mean?" Liu Ying inquired.

Gayathri gulped as Centarumon huffed. "Well, uh…you nearly deleted one Harpymon today…Centarumon just finished the job for you. The other Harpymon attempted to attack you, but Centarumon took care of that too. I gave two Harpymon a blast of my supersonic screams…they were knocked out but they managed to escape. Then after finding out that Adam is missing… Centarumon deleted another Harpymon as the white one escaped."

Liu Ying shuddered as she looked at Centarumon, finding it difficult for the centaur standing in front of her right now was the same, lovable Patamon she had grown to know for the past three weeks. The apparent danger his partner was facing was driving the centaur to the edge, she observed. We need to save Adam as quickly as possible, if not for Adam's sake it's for Centarumon's sake. We can't have him going berserk like that, she thought grimly. Or else he'd…

"What should we do now, TobuCatmon?" Gayathri suddenly asked, drawing Liu Ying's attention before she could end her thoughts. "It's already evening. Adam's sister would be very worried if Adam doesn't return home today. I bet Adam still hasn't told her about him being a DigiWira, and about Digimon. Centarumon?"

"You're right, Liu Ying," Centarumon admitted gruffly. "He still couldn't find the time to tell her yet."

"There's nothing you can do right now, girls," TobuCatmon said sadly. "Both of you are still weakened from your fight with the Harpymon. You shall need rest if you are going to rescue Adam. Labramon and Floramon will be able to help you and Centarumon tomorrow. I will try to figure out the best way for us to save Adam tonight."

"But…Adam's sister would report Adam as missing to the police," Liu Ying pointed out. "It would make things even more complicated."

TobuCatmon sighed. "As of now, I believe your computer instructor – Jackie – is breaking the news to Adam's sister."

"Jackie? How does Jackie know about this? We haven't told him anything yet," Liu Ying wondered loudly.

"TobuCatmon contacted Jackie via the sun staff," Gayathri supplied. "He didn't look surprised much, Jackie, I mean…he just says ok and logged off."

"Oh…" Liu Ying said, not interested to think about Jackie's lack of surprise when Adam was in captive of the bad guys. "But I'll feel so bad about having to leave Adam in the hands of Karatenmon and the ShadoWira. I doubt I can sleep well tonight. Who knows what they're doing to him. I can't imagine…we'll be going home, and Adam is kidnapped, probably imprisoned." She didn't realize that she was now babbling, out of concern for her fellow DigiWira, but nobody pointed this out to her. It just showed them how much she cared for the leader, as a good friend to another.

"Me too," Gayathri said glumly, her brown eyes brimmed with what looked like early formations of tears. "Poor Adam. If only we're strong enough now…"

"Conserve your powers!" Centarumon snapped loudly without warning, causing the girls to shudder. They had never heard the centaur to sound so stern and solemn like that. TobuCatmon, Labramon and Floramon glared at the large centaur for shouting at the girls, but the girls both shook their heads slowly. They couldn't blame Centarumon for feeling extremely agitated; as much as they were worried about their leader, the centaur shared a special bond with Adam, and thus, his worry was a degree higher than theirs. The girls nodded as they collected their partners hesitantly, heading towards the television on the table. They cast one last look on the centaur, which would be staying at the Forest Sanctum until they managed to recover Adam.

The centaur's eyes flashed crimson. "Save your strengths, girls," he said again, with a calmer tone which sounded slightly apologetic. "We'll need it tomorrow, to rescue Adam."

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WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 12 – Light Amidst Shadow

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"Adam?" called a woman's voice as she entered the empty apartment. She scanned the darkened apartment, wondering why her brother didn't bother to switch on the lights as it was almost dark, as she removed the sandals she was wearing with her feet before closing the door. Her one hand was carrying a large green plastic bag, which contained the grocery items she had bought for the week, while her other hand set down a smaller white packet bag, containing the dinner for her and her little brother.

Is he asleep? Alisha Ariff wondered as she set both bags on the kitchen table, before proceeding to remove the elegantly-styled yellow headscarf she was wearing, and let her long dark locks cascaded down her shoulders. She switched on the light, letting the dark apartment being illuminated by the ceiling lamps before heading towards her brother's bedroom. The door was closed, and Alisha tapped it gently before opening the door. The room was empty – the bed was made, as she had seen early in the morning before she sent her brother to school. Nothing seemed to have changed position, except for the new orange plush toy Alisha had seen in her brother's room – the large guinea pig toy wasn't on the cupboard as it usually was.

Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, right above the television, the young woman sighed. "It's almost dusk…maybe he's out playing or at Hakim's house," she murmured, and decided to unload the grocery items and kept them in the fridge or the cupboard. It was what Adam would usually do on the Saturdays when Alisha had to go to work, and so she wasn't worried. Adam could take care of himself just fine. And he's going to be fourteen at the end of the year, Alisha thought pensively, as her gray eyes set on a framed picture on the telephone table.

It was a picture of five people – two adults and three children. On the left-side corner of the picture was a tall man with thick black moustache, wearing a blue shirt and dark pants. He was flanked on the left by a teenager aged about thirteen or fourteen, who looked almost like Adam, with the exception of the boy's much tanned skin, sturdier built, short wavy dark hair and brown eyes. The teen was grinning, wearing similar attire to the man beside him. Sitting on the chair in the middle of the picture was a plump woman, with a pleasant smile, fair skin and wearing a matching light blue, floral-patterned baju kurung and a simple blue headscarf which covered half of her upper body and shoulders. Standing behind the woman was a slightly younger Alisha, wearing a baju kurung as well, but without the floral pattern as the woman sitting on the chair. In the picture Alisha wasn't wearing a headscarf, and her dark hair, slightly tinted with lighter highlights, was straightened down to just below her shoulder. And finally, standing beside Alisha was a boy who was unmistakably a younger Adam, who looked about ten to eleven years old, wearing the same-colored shirt and pants the man and the other boy in the picture was wearing, smiling for the camera.

"Adam's almost as old as Aizad now before…" Alisha murmured, running her finger on the latter-mentioned boy in the picture. "How time flies."

Suddenly the doorbell rang twice, and Alisha immediately was snapped back from her slight reverie. She wondered who could that be; it was nearing dusk and she wasn't expecting anyone, and Adam would usually open the door without ringing the bell. She darted towards the door and peered through the peeking hole to see who was at the other side of the door, and saw a man she didn't recognize. He had somewhat spiky, swept back brown hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a white buttoned-down shirt and ebony brown pants. His left hand was holding a black leather laptop briefcase.

"Who is it?" she called out tentatively, hoping that the visitor was not a salesman. What salesman would come to her doorstep at this hour?

"Miss Alisha, I'm Mr. Jackie Chan…Adam's computer club instructor," the man at the other side of the door answered. "I'm here about Adam."

Feeling that her heart had skipped a beat, Alisha reached for a simpler pink headscarf she had hung near the door and adjusted her long hair before putting it on. She then opened the door.

"Adam?" she asked worriedly. "Has something happened to him?" she asked quickly. "Mr…Chan?" she asked tentatively, wondering briefly how the man in front of her had gotten the same name as the famous movie star who went with the same name and surname.

The look on the handsome man's face was steady as he nodded, yet Alisha could detect hesitation reflected from his shining blue eyes. Those eyes seemed to exude wisdom unbefitting the youthful look of the man's face.

"Jackie, please," Jackie said politely. "This could take a while. May I come in, miss?"

"I afraid not," Alisha answered. "I'm sorry, but there isn't anybody else home, and it would be improper. But…you said that this is about Adam…"

Jackie almost smacked his forehead, forgetting about the custom and the inappropriateness of his request. "I'm sorry. I totally forgot about it. Yes, it's about Adam, and there are a few things that I need to tell you as well. And I prefer if it's done away from other people's presence, as this is something not all people could comprehend."

Alisha hesitated for a moment. It was not like her to accept a request from a stranger, even for a conversation. She had dated once, while she was attending university, although it didn't work out. And she had a few male friends, acquaintances and colleagues, but this was a stranger. There were few times that she would let men she didn't know into the house, but they were usually the plumber, or the gas seller, or the electrician, but during those times Adam was always with her. This man in front of her was a stranger, and his statements were giving Alisha the creeps, yet she could feel that he could be trusted, and he seemed to be genuinely concerned about Adam.

"How do I know for sure that you're here about my brother?" Alisha asked finally; she had to be sure, a woman couldn't be too careful. Adam had told her about him joining the computer club, but he never really mentioned about the teacher. The stranger in front of her could be anyone.

Jackie smiled faintly, understanding the woman's vacillation. But the situation was urgent and he needed to tell Adam's older sister about Adam's current predicament.

"Miss, I can't prove it to you out here, and I just knew your brother for three weeks," Jackie said urgently. "But…you can leave the door open if you want."

Alisha then recalled Adam telling her three weeks ago that he was going to join the computer club. It was a rather weak evidence, but it was all she had going for now, until she heard the man's explanation. Nodding, she stepped aside and let Jackie into the apartment, and left the door open. As Jackie headed to the living room, Alisha went to get a glass of juice for the visitor. She took the drink to the living room and saw Jackie setting up the laptop on the living room table.

"It's the quickest way of explaining what is going on," Jackie said, upon noticing Alisha's questioning look, and accepted the drink he was offered gratefully.

Thinking that her guest was slightly weird, Alisha remained silent and watched as Jackie loaded a program on the computer. Instantly, lights shot out from the laptop's monitor and to Alisha's utmost surprise, a hologram of Adam and two girls appeared. They were wearing identical dark gray suits, with white, yellow and pink accents – Adam's suit lacked the skirt which the girls had. And to her surprise, she recognized Adam's weird new plush toy flying around the three teenagers, and there was a large dog standing beside the girl with straight black hair, and a peculiar flowery creature that looked very much alive.

But that wasn't the end of the strange things Alisha was seeing, but her mind reeled to the first strange thing she had witnessed. She was a system analyst and she kept herself up to date with the ever-growing information technology, but she had never seen a laptop which could project holograms. Even with the aid of a projector, a laptop couldn't produce real three dimensional holograms such as the ones she was witnessing right now.

"What's going on?" she asked, bewildered as she took a seat on the two-seater black leather sofa adjacent to the three-sitter sofa which Jackie was occupying at the moment.

"Miss, you probably won't going to believe what I was about to tell you, but please bear with me until the end of my explanation," Jackie said quickly. "Firstly, you should know that your brother, Mohammed Adam bin Ahmad Ariff, along with Chang Liu Ying and Gayathri d/o Nadarajah, are DigiDestined – which is a select group of chosen children destined to protect the Digital World – home to the digital monsters known as Digimon created by the data from the computers of the human world. The Malaysian DigiDestined team are given the code-name DigiWira, which set them apart from various DigiDestined team around the globe.

"As DigiDestined, the chosen three are partnered with Digimon partners. Adam is partnered with Patamon; Liu Ying finds partnership with Labramon while Gayathri's partner is called Floramon. Wielding the devices known as the D3 Digivices and the mystical spheres known as the DigiSpheres, the DigiWira have the ability to travel back and forth between two worlds via the computers, and to evolve their Digimon partners into higher, more powerful levels to combat the growing evil of the south-eastern part of the Digital World, which they are chosen to protect."

The holograms of the DigiWira were shown to direct the Digivices towards their partner Digimon, who were bathed in white, yellow and pink lights. Alisha's eyes widened when she saw the three small, docile-looking Digimon emerged out from the lights as a fearsome armored centaur, an elegant nine-tailed fox and a very feminine-looking sprite.

"Mentored by a wise Digimon called TobuCatmon, the DigiWira learn about the evil which are threatening the safety of the Digital World – the dark forces of SkullSatamon, who was imprisoned by the exalted warrior Grademon three hundred digital years ago. In our world's time, I am not sure exactly when the battle between Grademon and SkullSatamon took place, but the time settings for our world and the Digital World paralleled each other when the Japanese DigiDestined team defeated the Dark Masters and Apocalymon in 1999. Prior to that, time in the Digital World ran much faster compared with this world."

Alisha couldn't make sense of what Jackie was telling her; she was too surprised on her own but she knew that if she kept silence Jackie would continue on explaining, and she would know about Adam eventually. The holograms of Adam and his friends vanished, replaced by a visage of a frightful skeletal demonic figure which caused Alisha to wince. She guessed that this was probably the one called SkullSatamon. On one side of the skeletal being was a short, white-attired human with pale skin and holding a white staff and on the other side was a bird-woman hybrid.

"Right now, SkullSatamon depends on his lackeys – Sorcerymon and Shutumon – to initiate his master plan and to free his entombed generals. The first general has been released from his entombment – the Mage General Karatenmon. Before that, he could only rely on his lackeys to persuade wild Digimon to attack villages and cities of the Digital World, but thanks to the DigiWira the threats were all eliminated easily. But the rise of Karatenmon marks a dangerous time for the DigiWira, for SkullSatamon has chosen the perfect general to be awakened. Karatenmon possessed the same artifacts the DigiWira have – the DigiSpheres he had stolen a long time ago from the creator of the five DigiSpheres, Grademon. Using the two stolen DigiSpheres Karatenmon has called forth two humans to wield their powers, becoming the evil counterparts of the DigiWira known as the ShadoWira."

An image of a formidable black-feathered avian warrior materialized on the hologram, followed by two humans draped in suits similar to the DigiWira, only that they were black, with red and blue linings. The humans wore white masks, had glowing green eyes, and in addition to their suits were black hooded capes.

"The appearances of the ShadoWira brought force the hidden powers of the DigiWira, when both ShadoWira are revealed to possess the power to command fire and water at will. Your brother receives the gift of teleportation; Liu Ying is bestowed with telekinesis while Gayathri gets the ability of super speed."

The holographic images of the three DigiWira and the two ShadoWira were seen demonstrating their special powers. Alisha couldn't believe her eyes upon seeing her little brother disappearing in brilliant orbs of white light, before reappearing again. The other DigiWira and the ShadoWira were also displaying their own powers, but Alisha had her eyes solely fixed on her brother. It was almost unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact that she was witnessing this with her own eyes.

"Right now," Jackie said after taking a sip of the glass of apple juice offered to him, "we have a pressing matter in our hand. Your brother has been captured by the ShadoWira earlier this day."

"What?" Alisha gasped; her face stricken with surprise and grief as Jackie's words registered fully in his mind. "Captured? You mean kidnapped?"

"Yes," Jackie said solemnly. "The other DigiWira and their mentor are doing what they could to find Adam, and I've been given the task to inform you about this. It seems that he has yet to tell you about this, right?"

"Adam's never told me about him being a Digi…Wira," Alisha said slowly. "I wonder why…he could just come up to me and tell me."

"Would you believe him if he told you?"

"I would have," Alisha insisted; her face fell. She took a deep breath before continuing, "I might not at first, but if he just told me that his plush toy is actually alive, I would have believed him completely." Alisha slowly slumped back and buried her face inside her palms. "It's because I'm too busy working," she said to herself despairingly, and Jackie could hear the woman stifling a sob. "I didn't have enough time….he had to fend for himself….my little brother…" were the words which Jackie heard escaping from Alisha, in between sobs. She then tried to regain her composure, and raised her face up. Her face was botched with smeared make-ups, and she was crying silently. "Do…do they ask for ransom?" she choked out. "I'd give anything!"

"No," Jackie replied slowly. "It's nothing that you could give."

"No? Then, what would they do to him?" Alisha asked quickly. Several possibilities crossed her minds, and each sent the shivers down her spine. She was reminded of some of the kidnapping news she had come across on the news and the newspapers, and almost none of them were found. But that happened in this world, nothing out of the ordinary was involved. Her brother's kidnapping however was linked with something digital.

"They won't harm him," Jackie promised earnestly; he hated to see how his news had caused grieve upon the beautiful young woman sitting opposite him. "I don't know for sure why Adam was targeted instead of Liu Ying or Gayathri, but I suspect it must have something to do with the awakening of their special powers yesterday. If that's the case, then they couldn't risk harming him. Your brother is alive, and tomorrow the other two DigiWira, along with the three partner Digimon, will go to the place where Karatenmon dwells to rescue Adam."

"Tomorrow?" Alisha asked loudly, her voice broken. "Tomorrow might be too late. Can't they do it today?"

"Miss," Jackie said gently. "The girls are completely drained after a long battle with Karatenmon's foot soldiers earlier today. It turned out that the battle was simply a diversion to lure Adam out. They won't stand a chance against Karatenmon and the ShadoWira should they go today. The girls' partners have almost recovered from their battle with the ShadoWira's partners yesterday, and give them a good night rest and they might be able to save Adam tomorrow. Adam's own partner, Centarumon, is currently staying at the Digital World, ready at any moment's notice to save your brother. Do trust me when I tell you that Centarumon would do whatever it takes to recover Adam from the evil forces. The same is true for the girls and their partners – they are totally dedicated in looking out for each other."

Alisha considered Jackie's words and the man realized that she understood what he had told her. However, just by understanding him didn't make Alisha to be able to accept it. Her face harbored an unsatisfied look, coupled with worry.

"Can't the police go and save my brother?" Alisha asked with a sob.

"Miss…the police forces in our world have no way of accessing the Digital World. Even if they do, without partner Digimon they won't stand a chance against the wild Digimon, much less Karatenmon and the ShadoWira. No weapons from the human world could beat the extraordinary powers wielded by the Digimon. Liu Ying, Gayathri and their partners, along with Adam's own Digimon companion, are our current best bet to save Adam."

For a moment, there was a passing silent between Jackie and Alisha. The woman dried her tears as the man switched off his laptop and stored it inside his leather briefcase.

"What…what can I do?" Alisha asked desperately, seeing that her guest was leaving. "How can I help my brother? Just tell me anything…I'll…I'll do it!"

Jackie's face was grave, his eyes serious as he stood up. As he walked towards the door, Alisha got up from her seat and tailed him from behind, eagerly waiting for an answer from him. Frankly, Jackie didn't know what Alisha could do. His eyes darted around the apartment, cozy and decently furnished, until his eyes set on a decorative scripture in gold letterings against a black background, framed and hung on top of an otherwise empty wall space. Jackie couldn't read the scripture, but knew what language it was written, and that gave him an idea.

"Pray for your brother's safety, Miss Alisha," he said softly, looking at the woman from his shoulders. "Pray for his safe return. That much is what you can do for now. And…leave the computer on."

Jackie walked out from the apartment and just as the door was closing, he could hear Adam's older sister sobbing once again. Sighing, he closed the door tight.

xxx

xxx

At first, everything was dark. He felt cold, and attempted to reach out for a blanket for warmth. Yet he couldn't find the desired blanket. As his senses returned to him, he realized that he was currently lying down on a hard, cold, rough surface. Shivering, he shot up and looked around in bewilderment.

"Where am I?"

Adam pressed his slightly aching head as he looked around in bewilderment. It was nearly pitch black, and the only source of light came from the barred square window on what appeared to be a door of the chamber where he was in. He attempted to stand up, wincing in pain as the wounds on his shoulders and arms were still unhealed. A sense of heaviness came from his right ankle, and using his hands Adam traced something ring-shaped and metallic, shackled onto his right ankle. Heavy chains were connected from the shackle to the wall.

Searching his memory banks, Adam recalled the fight at Green Meadow Village. He remembered staying alone before peculiar mists surrounded him. Someone clutched him from behind and knocked him out with weird-smelling substance. Everything else after that were blurred…Adam remembered being hoisted up and placed onto a shoulder, and a familiar laugh.

"The Red ShadoWira," he whispered, as comprehension dawned to him. The laughter that belonged to the Red ShadoWira could still be vividly heard in his mind. "I'm captured," he realized. Looking around, he registered the confinement he was placed in. "I'm imprisoned."

A wave of panic and fear seared up his spine as he did the first thing that came to his mind – attempt to teleport out. Summoning his power, Adam focused his thought to teleport out of the prison cell he was in. He felt the familiar sense of warmth emanating from within his body, and small sparkles of white orbs of light began to appear…before suddenly they disappeared.

"Huh? Why—"

Confused, Adam attempted to summon his power again; he knew that he was strong enough to teleport. White glitters materialized from his body, but they vanished just as soon as they appeared. The boy then noticed a faint glow released by the shackle and the chains which was confining him – they were glimmering with eerie purple glow.

"Save your strength, White DigiWira!" a voice called out from outside the door. "Those chains and shackle are able to resist your power. Not to mention, the whole Cave of Solitude is guarded with anti-spells to block you from using your power."

Adam's face shot up as a loud creak echoed the small chamber as the door began to open. He saw a human figure standing over the doorway, with one hand placed on the door and the other on his left-side hip. One quick look on the human and Adam recognized him instantly; no one else wore black uniform with red accents.

"You," Adam whispered hoarsely.

"Me," the Red ShadoWira said mockingly. He sauntered inside the prison cell and pulled the door back in, leaving it slightly ajar. Faint light permeated through the small opened space, and the barred windowsill, enough for both of them to get a good glimpse of each other, and of the gloomy cell.

For a moment, there was a brief silence as the good and bad DigiWira stared at each other. From where he was sprawled, Adam's whole body was loomed with the Red ShadoWira's shadow. The deathly silence unnerved the DigiWira; the glowing green eyes of the Red ShadoWira seemed to bore onto him. Yet the boy, for the first time, wasn't overwhelmed by fear as he had previously for the ShadoWira. The fear was there, but so was a new feeling.

Anger.

"What do you want from me?" Adam demanded. He could never make his voice as stern as Liu Ying, but at this moment, he was surprised of the austerity he was hearing from his own voice. Adam was always known by his friends to be a laid-back, mild-mannered boy.

However, the Red ShadoWira wasn't intimidated. He simply straightened his back, and crossed his arms against his chest. "It doesn't matter what I want; the master has plans for you. I'm simply doing what was expected of me – to capture you."

"That much I've figured," Adam muttered, feeling his confidence growing. Then he halted; something about the words chosen by the Red ShadoWira when he was answering Adam's inquiry bugged the dark haired boy slightly. "What do you mean…it doesn't matter what you want?" he asked suspiciously.

The Red ShadoWira let out a brief chuckle before looming closer to the chained boy. "Given my way, I'd finish what I've started," he said darkly, and laughed.

Adam's gray eyes widened, realizing that the Red ShadoWira was hinting on destroying him, a task he had failed twice during their first encounter the previous day. As the ShadoWira laughed at him mockingly, Adam realized that being angry wouldn't solve anything. He had to find out why the Red ShadoWira was personally targeting him. Taking a deep breath, Adam willed the silent anger he was feeling to go away, or at least buried deep in his mind for the time being, and focused his attention to the Red ShadoWira. The villainous DigiDestined was being rather conversational, and Adam wanted to get as many answers as he could from him, while he still had the chance.

"Why?" he finally asked.

The Red ShadoWira's laugh faltered. "Why?" he repeated. "Hmm…why indeed." He whipped out a D-Terminal, a black terminal with glistening crimson accents, from its compartment, and released the holographic image of a red sphere. "The Red DigiSphere… with the elements of fire and darkness in it. The White DigiSphere…" To Adam's surprise, the Red ShadoWira took out Adam's own pale blue and silvery white D-Terminal from his back, and called forth the image of the said white sphere. "…is purely infused with the element of light. Darkness is threatened with the presence of light, and so, the light will simply have to be…extinguished."

"Not if the fire in your dark heart is extinguished first!" Adam snapped quickly in response, wriggling his chained feet in an attempt to break free. The Red ShadoWira had just said that he was intent on destroying Adam, simply because of the elements of their DigiSpheres. Adam couldn't accept it.

"Brave words coming from one with a threat of a kitten," the Red ShadoWira mocked, and pocketed both D-Terminals inside the compartment built for the said devices.

"Give back my D-Terminal! It's not yours!" Adam exclaimed. He stood up quickly and attempted to seize his D-Terminal, but failed as he couldn't even reach the door where the ShadoWira was standing. The Red ShadoWira shook his head and approached the chained DigiWira, until he was merely inches away within Adam's grasp, as if daring Adam to try and take the stored D-Terminals from him. Adam's fingers however barely touched his body, causing the ShadoWira to snicker.

"I don't think so. I'd like to keep a souvenir from you, as a token to remember you by, before the master disposes you after he gets what he wants," the Red ShadoWira said. He leaned forward and mockingly patted his right cheek twice before guffawing gloatingly. "Now just be a good boy, like you usually are, and stay quiet."

Seething, Adam balled his right hand into a fist and struck a punch onto the Red ShadoWira's chest. Surprised over the violent reaction from the boy, which was unlike him, the Red ShadoWira grunted before he retaliated by roughly shoving Adam onto the floor. The boy cried out in pain as he fell on the sides of his body, further aggravating the wounds he had sustained from the Harpymon earlier that day. Flames erupted from the Red ShadoWira's palms and he pointed one palm towards the fallen DigiWira. Adam's eyes widened, now dreading the impending doom he was about to face should the ShadoWira decided to finish him off once and for all.

"I could incinerate you now," the Red ShadoWira said vehemently. "You know that, do you?"

To Adam's surprise, the flames on the ShadoWira's palms died out. The Red ShadoWira lowered his palms, and touched the spot where Adam had punched him, laughing softly. "But, maybe some other time. I'd really like to see what the master has in store for you. I know what he wants, but seeing is believing, they say." Laughing, the Red ShadoWira made his way towards the door. Before exiting he glanced back at Adam.

"Oh, and just so you know, I also have your D3 in my possession," he revealed, and took out Adam's Digivice from within his mantle. He seemed settled to want to spite Adam for the time being. Alarmed, Adam realized that in his brief anger and panic, he didn't realize the absence of the devices from the belt he was wearing. They must have been taken away from him while he was unconscious. And there was no way for him to retrieve those devices from the Red ShadoWira. Without them, Adam could not make Patamon Digivolve.

"You'll never get away with this!" Adam shouted.

The Red ShadoWira stopped laughing and his eyes flashed greener than before. "Really? But…I'm not the one who's chained by the walls!" He roared with a contemptuous chortle and closed the prison door after exiting it, and Adam sighed in despair upon hearing the sound of the door being locked. The Red ShadoWira's laughter echoed all over the area outside the prison door, growing fainter and fainter before deathly quietness prevailed the inner sides of the Black Peak Mountain. Adam leaned against the wall, and pulled his knees close to his face. He looked over the gloomy prison cell he was in, and sighed despairingly.

"What am I going to do?"

xxx

xxx

Adam didn't remember how long he had slept before he felt his body being shook up violently. As he opened his eyes he saw the Red ShadoWira hoisting up to his feet, and gasped. The said ShadoWira didn't bother to be subtle with his action, and he didn't seem to care less of the fact that Adam was currently injured. Down at his feet, the Blue ShadoWira was quietly undoing the shackle which was what keeping him from moving.

"Try any funny moves and it'll be the end of you," the Red ShadoWira warned, as the Blue ShadoWira stood up. "Open the portal," he instructed to his fellow companion.

Silently, the Blue ShadoWira waved his hand slightly and the air in front of them rippled. Adam watched with his still bleary eyes as the Blue ShadoWira entered the portal, disappearing out of sight. The Red ShadoWira shoved him towards the portal, and Adam felt as if he was being sucked in – it was like entering a DigiPort. The surroundings around him changed gradually as the Red ShadoWira pushed him from the back, from the dark cell prison, into a wide arid region with cracked grounds and dark reddish brown clouds covering the sky. Thunders rumbled all over, and Adam's eyes widened upon the gruesome sight in front of him.

"Greetings, young Adam," said a hulking demonic skeletal figure, from behind what looked like an invisible force-field. This being had a dark, menacing voice which sounded slightly scratchy, but evil nonetheless. Behind the demon was a mountain, with a horrific-looking bastion perched on top of it. The mere sight of the bastion caused Adam to shiver – it was patented as a large skull. "I have been expecting you. You don't look too well, but I suppose the fact that you are here after all will have to do. A task done well, ShadoWira."

From the sight of the monstrosity, Adam immediately guessed that this was the one Grademon had been opposing three centuries ago. This monstrous Digimon was speaking with a breathy, hoarse, old-sounding voice which was laced with spite in every sentence.

"Skull…SkullSatamon!" he gasped, feeling his knees buckling. Never in his life had he imagined that he would be facing a demon, and nothing had prepared him for this today. He would've fallen onto the ground if it wasn't for the fact that the ShadoWira were both flanking him on both sides.

"Indeed. I'm glad that we could skip the introductions, as I have known you, and you me," SkullSatamon rasped throatily.

Adam gulped as he dared himself to look around. He could see Sorcerymon and Shutumon, standing in front of a flock of four Harpymon – three purple, one white. Then, to his horror, he could see Reichmon, standing silently somewhere farther from the rest of the evil Digimon. Should Adam be able to break free from the ShadoWira's holds, Reichmon was there to prevent him from escaping. And there was another Digimon he didn't recognize – but could guess easily. He knew the names of the villains, and there was only one more name that Adam needed to put a face on.

Karatenmon, Adam thought with a shudder, remembering TobuCatmon's story. The avian warrior was not looking at him; his attention was solely fixed on SkullSatamon. Even so, Adam couldn't help but to feel scared, as he remembered what exactly Karatenmon had done in the story. He's the one who stole the Red and Blue DigiSpheres from Grademon.

"I expect you have been made aware of the reason of you being in my audience this fine morning," SkullSatamon continued.

Adam stood silently, feeling uncomfortable as the Red and Blue ShadoWira were both holding his arms too tightly. He squirmed a little, and by looking around once more he realized one thing.

"There is no escape, young Adam," SkullSatamon said softly, exactly mirroring Adam's thought. "It seems that you're not aware yet of the reason I want you here. But no matter, I shall enlighten you." SkullSatamon laughed upon the pun he had made on Adam's attribute, yet Adam could see no humor from it. Then, fixing his eyeless eye sockets onto the boy, he resumed, "You see, Adam. There's a barrier surrounding my Horror Hall, and it's impenetrable from both outside and inside. Nobody could come in and out, no thanks to that accursed Grademon and his mentor Wizardmon. For three hundred years I am imprisoned in my own home, with my generals and minions entombed. Luckily, luck has it be that fate has made me cross path with you…" A malicious chuckle escaped the demon's bony mouth. "The power of teleportation…exactly what I need to escape my centuries-long imprisonment."

Instantly, Adam's thought was brought back to TobuCatmon's evasiveness behavior the day before. He now realized that this was probably the reason why the feline mentor kept on giving him worried looks whenever the subject of the DigiWira's special powers was brought up.

"However, I should make you aware of one thing, dear boy," SkullSatamon said, in a tone that was made to cause wonder on the one spoken to, that Adam couldn't help but speculate what exactly was on the demon's mind. To Adam, it seemed as if having his power taken away from him wasn't what he should be worried about. Although to the captured DigiWira, having his power taken away from would diminish out all the possibilities for him to escape.

"By forcing your power out of you, my child of light," SkullSatamon began, this time adopting a creepier tone, "it would spell out your doom. You will cease to exist, once your power is fully forced out of your body! As far as I am made aware of, my mage general's power-transferring spell is fatal to the one whose power is taken away from. I am glad however that no repercussions would befall the one who is taking the power, so I guess I shouldn't have worried too much now, should I?"

Adam's gray eyes widened in surprise, and he unwittingly let out a loud gasp. I'd be killed? And SkullSatamon was acting like he didn't care that Adam would die; he simply had Adam's power in his mind. Adam's eyes began to burn, out of shock and grief.

"But…but…I'd die!" Adam managed to choke out, finally.

SkullSatamon leaned closer to the barrier, his eyeless eye sockets glinted darkly. "So?"

Adam felt weak all of a sudden; it seemed that nothing he could do would make SkullSatamon spare his life. His heart was beating wildly that Adam believed that his chest would explode anytime soon. But then again, it wasn't any different from the other fate he was going to face. From his eyes, Adam could feel a tear almost trickling out from the brim, but he was determined not to show any sign of weakness in front of his enemies.

"But of course, child, I'm always ready for a bargain," SkullSatamon said lightly. "You can still keep your power, and your life, if…"

Adam looked up hopefully, ready to listen but knew instantly that whatever SkullSatamon was about to suggest, it would be something Adam won't be able to agree for. After all, you don't make deals with the devils, and SkullSatamon fit the bill as a devil. But, there was no harm in asking now, was it not?

"If what?"

SkullSatamon leaned his skull-head closer, examining Adam's face. "If you serve me, Adam. Become my loyal subordinate and I shall make you the leader of the ShadoWira!" he declared. "The White ShadoWira…it does have a nice ring to it, don't you think so, Adam?"

Adam could hear a soft snarl coming from the Red ShadoWira, and winced as the grasp on his right arm tightened. His right arm felt almost numb. On his left, the Blue ShadoWira seemed not to care at all. Adam turned his attention back to SkullSatamon, and tried his best to fix a determined look on his face, despite the real fact that he was still scared out of his wits. Adam supposed that the Red ShadoWira had nothing to worry about – Adam would never accept SkullSatamon's offer.

By becoming a ShadoWira would mean that Adam would have to fight his own friends – Liu Ying and Gayathri – and he despised the mere thought of it.

"Think about it, Adam," SkullSatamon persuaded with his guttural voice. "Accept my offer, and I will make your power evolve rapidly. You can see how strong the ShadoWira are now, despite the shorter time they have spent being ShadoWira. You too, are new…yet I see so much potential to your power. I can make it grow to a deadly proportion. You might think of your power merely as only a way for you to transport yourself away from harm… but join me, be my spawn of evil, and I will make your power the most destructive of all! Nothing can ever stand in your way – not the other DigiWira, not even the ShadoWira, even Grademon will pale in comparison to you!"

That's it, Adam thought bitterly. He wants to make me his killing machine. Adam choked out a sob; ignoring the pain he was feeling from where the Red ShadoWira was clutching him. A tear trickled down his right cheek and he quickly looked down, staring at the dry earth. He didn't want SkullSatamon to see it as a sign of weakness on his part, although there was no point in hiding. I can escape, but the only way I can do so is by serving SkullSatamon. I doubt that it would go well…I'd be condemned for all eternity if I say yes…I cannot be selfish… I mustn't. He raised his head once again when the single tear dropped between the cracks on the desiccated ground, and gave SkullSatamon a defiant look. God help me…

"I will never serve you!" Adam declared loudly. "I'll never serve evil! Not now, not ever!"

"As I've expected," SkullSatamon replied with a bored tone. "In that case, I have no use of you, except for your teleportation power. Karatenmon, begin the power transfer spell!"

"With pleasure, my liege," Karatenmon bowed slightly, and beckoned for the ShadoWira to release Adam.

Adam took this moment's opportunity to escape, but suddenly felt his body froze as he was about to raise his right leg, ready to make a run for it. He was now immobilized. His heart thumped faster as he realized what he was about to face, and attempted to summon his teleportation power. Similar to his experience the previous night, while he was imprisoned, faint sparkles of white light orbs appeared out from his body, before vanishing again. His power was inhibited by Karatenmon's spell.

Karatenmon began chanting something in a dark, strange language. He pointed one feathery arm towards Adam, and the other towards SkullSatamon. Both arms then emitted dark purple glow, and purple beams were emitted towards Adam and SkullSatamon. Adam yelled out in pain as he felt something being sucked out from within him, feeling weaker than ever. Another beam, heading towards SkullSatamon, made its way towards the barrier which stood between SkullSatamon and the outside world…

"Yes…finally, after three long centuries," SkullSatamon rasped in anticipation.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The barrier suddenly crackled viciously with electricity and a thunderbolt struck Karatenmon squarely on his armored chest, throwing him off his feet and sending him flying. Similarly, another thunderbolt zapped SkullSatamon, causing the dark master to growl in pain, but with a wave of his staff the thunderbolt vanished, engulfed within the dark aura emitted from his staff. No thunderbolt however appeared to struck Adam.

The boy suddenly felt his body was set free from the immobilizing spell Karatenmon had placed on him. He could move his limbs again, and without thinking, he activated his teleportation powers and vanished in magnificent swirls of bright white light orbs.

"Do not let the boy escape!" SkullSatamon bellowed. "Seize him!"

Adam reappeared again about several meters away from where he had stood before. To his horror, the ShadoWira and the other evil Digimon were already on their way to seize him, with the Red ShadoWira on the lead. Reichmon, Sorcerymon, Shutumon, and the Harpymon – all of them were currently after him. Adam didn't think that he could teleport away in time – the Red ShadoWira was nearly within three arms' length.

I need something to defend myself, Adam thought desperately, and closed his eyes. Anything! Please…any weapon would do…

As if his silent prayer had been answered, swirls of white orbs began to envelop both his right and left hands. The hands were brought together closely and to Adam's amazement when he opened his eyes, a blade began to appear within his grasp. It was a thin sword, but slightly heavy that it required Adam to hold it with both hands. The sword had a black handle and shining metallic blade about a little bit more than an inch wide, and nearly twice Adam's arm length.

"Curse it! How dare the boy teleports my sword to him!" Adam heard Karatenmon yelling angrily. "Seize him, ShadoWira!"

Adam heard a rough roar incoming, and without thinking he swung the sword forward.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

To his horror, he had accidentally grazed the blade onto the Red ShadoWira's arm, right above the elbow and upwards along the triceps. A thin red line was formed through the black sleeve of the ShadoWira, causing blood to drip instantly. The ShadoWira screamed in pain and clutched his wounded arm as Adam stood by, transfixed; his eyes widened upon the sight of blood soaking up the sleeve of the Red ShadoWira's uniform. Luckily, it was only a superficial wound, but before he could do anything else he saw the Red ShadoWira raising his uninjured arm, and with a loud guttural grunt he struck Adam hard on the face using the back of his forearm. The smaller boy was knocked onto the ground, and a blast of concentrated water jet pushed the sword out of his grasp. The boy felt something trickled out of his nasal cavity, and wiped it with his hand – only to see dark scarlet blood smearing his soiled hand.

The Red ShadoWira loomed onto Adam, his good hand was holding on to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. He was staggering a little, no doubt a little bit fatigued from the loss of blood. The Blue ShadoWira and the other Digimon paused a meter away behind the Red ShadoWira, observing with anticipation as the evil ShadoWira was about to finish the bearer of light once and for all.

"I'll teach you a lesson, you little brat!" the Red ShadoWira declared venomously, and raised his bloody hand up. Flames flared from the hand, and combined with the blood on the palm, a faint rusty smell was emitted. "Say goodbye, Adam!" he said with pure malice, and began to lower his palm. He was too transfixed on the boy that he didn't notice a group of Digimon appearing at the border of the Shadow Realm. Either he didn't notice, or he simply didn't care, as the newcomers were shouting out demands for him to stay away from Adam.

"Hunting Cannon!" a loud cry was heard, and the earth rumbled as from a distance, a brown centaur galloped towards them, cannon hoisted up and ready to attack. A yellow thunderbolt streaked out from the centaur's cannon and sailed past the dry grounds, with its target being the ShadoWira that was attempting to harm Adam.

"Reichmon! Block the attack!" the Red ShadoWira growled quickly as he was forced to cancel his attack in order to evade the incoming blast.

Obediently, Reichmon lowered his black spear just in time, as it was struck by the thunderbolt instead of the targeted ShadoWira. Any delay and the bolt would've hit the Red ShadoWira. The thunderbolt shook the spear slightly, but it took more than an attack from a champion Digimon to stagger Reichmon. The ultimate Digimon spun his spear once and the thunderbolt was redirected onto the dry earth, causing an explosion of dusts and soils which rained on everybody.

"Centarumon!" Adam called out weakly, trying to raise his body from the ground.

"Adam!" the centaur replied loudly as he was about to arrive to his partner's aid. However, before he could do so he was intercepted by Reichmon, who stood in his way to reach for Adam. "Make way!" he demanded, pointing his cannon onto the ultimate Digimon's body. "I'm warning you!"

The black-armored warrior didn't budge. He only spun his spear and the green flames emitted from the spear grazed Centarumon's chest, throwing the champion Digimon away. The centaur landed merely a foot away from his approaching comrades. He immediately attempted to stand back on his feet as Youkomon approached him, standing on his right side. Fairymon in the meantime, landed from the air above to the centaur's left side. And finally, two girls walked past Centarumon and their partners, before standing in front of the three Digimon.

The DigiWira had arrived.

"Don't anybody move!" the Red ShadoWira warned loudly. "Or else, your precious leader will be gone!"

Liu Ying and Gayathri saw that the Red ShadoWira had seized their friend, head-locking the boy with his bleeding arm. His free arm was pointed towards Adam's face. The girls gasped; Adam could be incinerated by the Red ShadoWira's deadly flames instantly, due to his close proximity with the ShadoWira. Their hearts nearly broke upon seeing the condition their leader was in – bruised on the face, nose bleeding, filthy all over and looked absolutely drained. He looked helpless.

However they could see that Adam didn't go down without a fight when they saw the Red ShadoWira's bleeding arm. Despite that, Adam had been overpowered.

"If you hurt him, I will hunt you down!" Liu Ying said severely.

"How touching," the Red ShadoWira snickered. "Pah! I'm not afraid of you, girly!"

"MONSTER!" Centarumon bellowed angrily. His body shook in rage upon seeing the dangerous predicament his partner was in. "LET ADAM GO, OR I…"

"Centarumon, control yourself," Youkomon said worriedly. Her blue furs stood up, sensing something malicious emanating from Centarumon. Her sharp eyes detected strange energy vibes originating from the centaur, and it caused her to let out an involuntary growl as she stepped away from the enraged centaur. "Centarumon, do not let your anger consume you!" she said sternly.

"CAN IT, FOX!" growled Centarumon, with a deep, thunderous voice which caused Youkomon to be taken aback. Never had she heard her fellow partner Digimon talk in this kind of manner. Youkomon knew that Centarumon needed to be restrained. Throughout the previous day she had seen Centarumon's anger, a completely different personality from when he was with Adam. And there was the fact that somehow, even without his partner near him; Centarumon was able to hold on to his champion mode. Youkomon could guess what was about to come, and knew that Centarumon must not be allowed to go on further with what he was about to attempt.

However, there was no restraining Centarumon this time around. He was enraged, that was a surety. His human partner was in dire threat, and if he didn't do something Adam would not see the light of the day again. His body shook even more violently and from within his visor, his eyes flashed crimson continuously as black aura began to coat his half horse, half man body. Something within him snapped out of control, and Centarumon allowed it to take control of his body.

If it means that I can save Adam, then so be it!

"CENTARUMON…."

"Centarumon, don't do it!" Fairymon cried shrilly. She had heard about the Digivolution Centarumon was undergoing, and knew that it was not natural, and that it was very, very dangerous. She also knew that there was no stopping Centarumon, and was forced to fly away near the DigiWira to make sure that they were not harmed.

A dark gray energy beam swirled around the centaur's body as smokes rippled out from the earth. Thunders rumbled across the cloudy sky above as chilling winds erupted from the clouds. The smokes and the winds all spun around Centarumon's body, obscuring him out of sight. A menacing growl was all everyone could hear coming from Centarumon. This unnatural phenomenon seemed to give the Shadow Realm a higher degree of eeriness.

Karatenmon, beginning to regain his composure from the backfired spell he had attempted earlier, quietly rose from the ground. He decided that it was best to stay out of sight for the time being, and observe the sudden turn-around of events. The dark avian warrior was weakened from the thunderbolt that resulted from the collision of spells between his power transfer spell and Grademon's impenetrable barrier.

The Red ShadoWira stood with Adam in his clutch, transfixed of the sudden turn of event in front of him. He didn't know why, but he could sense a focused amount of darkness coming from the partner of the DigiWira with the power of light. It didn't bode well, and caused him to wonder. Nevertheless, he kept a firm grasp on the boy he was holding.

And finally, SkullSatamon, watching from his confinement, was amazed of how the partner of the DigiWira of Light succumbed into the power of darkness. His decaying bony mouth formed a smile and he eagerly awaited the outcome of the event. So, the boy has resisted me with all his heart, but ironically, it is his partner who's given in to darkness. They are indeed, the most interesting pair of all. I shall have to observe them even more closely in future…

"…DARK DIGIVOLVE…"

"Liu Ying, Gayathri, move away from Centarumon, NOW!" Youkomon shouted anxiously. "Move!"

Centarumon's whole body began to shine with unholy green and gray lights, and his body expanded nearly twice as large. The posterior half of the palomino part of his body began to disappear into data particles, while the anterior half intact was left intact, forming a fully humanoid figure draped in black light. All the while, his eyes let out crimson glows one after another. The data particles generated from the disintegrated half of his body spun around his remaining one, and transformed into heavyset metallic armor that began to drape his newly-formed human body from head to toe. The new steel armor gave him the appearance of a bulky, medieval knight from the old European era.

Heeding Youkomon's warning, Gayathri seized Liu Ying's arm and darted away from Centarumon with her lightning speed. Fairymon trailed the two girls from the air.

"…TO…"

The armors on Centarumon's new body took on a jet-black hue, even blacker than Reichmon's dark armor. The blackness of his armor was offset by the pale, sickly green linings on the sides of the armors. A massive onyx sword materialized on the knightly Digimon's right hand, and seconds later an equally-massive shield with similar dark shades appeared on the knight's left arm. Both weapons glistened when lightning struck the cloudy sky above. The knight slammed the blade of his sword onto the ground, causing a terrible earthquake which caused everyone around him, good or bad, friends or foes, to lose their footings. All of them, with the exception of Reichmon, Fairymon and Youkomon, fell onto the dry, cracking grounds. The knight then raised his sword up towards the sky and a thunderbolt streaked down from the darkened heavens, striking the tip of the sword's blade. The thunderbolt then began energizing the sword.

Swinging the sword mightily, the Digivolution process was complete. Lightning struck the barren earth behind him, causing another round of explosion of earth and rubble. The sparks from the explosion were reflected on his completely obsidian armor, glinting with malice. Centarumon had Digivolved, into a mighty ultimate level Digimon, who went by the name of…

"… BLACK KNIGHTMON!"

Adam wriggled free from the Red ShadoWira's clutch as his grip loosened when Black Knightmon caused the sudden earthquake. The Red ShadoWira had fallen on his back, taking Adam down with him. The pain caused by the wound on his right arm was aggravated even more, and Adam took this crucial chance to free himself from the villainous ShadoWira. When he was out of the ShadoWira's clutch, Adam let his power do the rest of the running, and teleported right towards Gayathri and Liu Ying.

"Black…Knightmon?" he breathed out disbelievingly. "No…"

"He must not be allowed to delete any Digimon!" Youkomon exclaimed anxiously, "because if he does, then he will remain as Black Knightmon forever. He will never return to being good. He will cease to forget about his former life, and turns into a vicious, bloodthirsty Digimon."

Adam slumped onto the ground, still conscious. He was supported to a sitting position by his fellow teammates. The boy frowned in despair upon witnessing his partner, formerly the adorable Patamon, the courageous Centarumon and the noble Sagittarimon, now as the ferocious Black Knightmon. What Youkomon had just said only served to deepen his pain. He could lose his dear partner today, and it was all because of his partner's extreme care for him.

Black Knightmon charged towards Reichmon, and blocked the DNA warrior's spear with his massive sturdy shield. A loud clang was heard as the spear collided with the unbreakable shield. With speed belying his bulky form, Black Knightmon raised his sword towards the heavens and allowed a thunderbolt to strike the sword. Using the accumulated energy gathered by the sword, he slammed it onto Reichmon, who attempted to block it with his spear. There was a brief standoff between the two dark knights, both looked to be evenly matched, before Black Knightmon withdrew his sword, and raised his shield up to block Reichmon's spear. Then, he swung his sword forcefully and the added momentum caused the sword to flicker to life, charged with raging electricity. A flash of crimson was emitted from the visor of the knight.

"Berserk Sword!" he growled, and slammed his sword once more towards Reichmon after lowering his shield. This time around, the sword sliced Reichmon's spear into half before colliding with the silent knight's armored chest. The sword hit the gleaming scarlet stone embedded on Reichmon's armor, and the electric charge from Black Knightmon's sword electrocuted Reichmon severely. The DNA warrior let out an anguished pain, but Black Knightmon simply growled menacingly and transferred more power on his sword. He wasn't going to let this chance to finish off Reichmon, who had caused the defeat of the DigiWira partners the previous day, to go wasted.

By destroying Reichmon, Black Knightmon would permanently reduce the threat of the ShadoWira. And those two humans, even with their powers, could never match his ultimate-level might. In the end, Black Knightmon was doing the DigiWira a favor.

In the meantime, all the evil Digimon hesitated, not knowing what to do. Sorcerymon and Shutumon wisely retreated to the background, knowing that they didn't even stand a chance against Black Knightmon. Attempting to attack the raging Black Knightmon would spell their own doom, and the duo loved their lives still. They were aware of the angry, disapproving hisses they were hearing from their master right inside the Horror Hall, but right now, their fear of Black Knightmon far surpassed that of SkullSatamon.

The Blue ShadoWira merely stood up, transfixed, close to the Red ShadoWira, who was too injured now to attempt anything. The White DigiWira had surprised him when he managed to call forth one of Karatenmon's twin swords and attacked the Red ShadoWira with it. And now, his partner had Dark Digivolved into an ultimate Digimon independently, while the ShadoWira had to merge their partners in order to obtain an ultimate Digimon. It didn't take the Blue ShadoWira long to figure out that they were once again outmatched by the DigiWira.

When he could not stand it any longer, Reichmon screamed loudly as his body glowed with red and blue aura. He had lost control of the DNA Digivolution power, and felt his body breaking into half. An explosion of lights ensued, causing Black Knightmon to jerk backwards. He raised his shield to protect his vision, waiting for the lights to die down. What he then saw after the lights dissipated was not Reichmon, but two unconscious rookie Digimon rolling helplessly on the dry cracked ground. An Agumon and a Penguinmon. Both looked heavily battered and too weak to fight any more. Black Knightmon let out a satisfied, dark chortle as he raised his sword to finish off the two rookies once and for all.

"I'll rid you two off once and for all, rendering your evil partners harmless to my friends!" Black Knightmon declared menacingly. "Berserk…"

"Black Knightmon, NO!" Adam cried out, causing the ultimate Digimon to halt instantly. "Don't do it, please. Don't delete them…"

"Adam…?" Black Knightmon said, his voice broken. He could not understand why his partner was stopping him. "Why?" Wasn't he doing them a favor?

"Black Knightmon, do not succumb to your anger anymore," Youkomon insisted. "Adam is safe. Look. He is safe and sound."

Adam is safe? Black Knightmon wondered. Isn't that what matters most? Yes…NO! NO! These evil villains will seek to harm Adam and his friends again. I have to finish them off once and for all. The Digital World has no use of the evil ShadoWira.

"Black Knightmon, this is not the way," Youkomon insisted again, somewhat pleading this time around. The blue-furred kitsune approached the black knight with apprehension, but knew that she was getting through him. However she also knew that by placing herself near the unpredictable Black Knightmon, she would be at risk of getting attacked by the darkened warrior. She decided to take that risk, and stepped forward. "Once you have done the deed, there is NO turning back. You must not delete, not while you are in your Dark Digivolved state. The process will then be irreversible, and you will lose Adam forever! You will forget about Adam completely, and you might even try to delete him in future. Your mind will be fully clouded by darkness, and you will be no better than these evil Digimon you are trying to delete."

"Please, Black Knightmon, come back to us," Fairymon continued. "You can delete them while you're Sagittarimon or Centarumon…" she halted when Youkomon glared at her icily.

Lose Adam forever? Black Knightmon thought, and lowered his sword slowly. He looked around in hesitation. The maddening crimson glow within his visor vanished, revealing a pair of brown eyes. I don't want that. I don't want to lose Adam…

"Pathetic!" cackled a maniacal voice. "You should have finished them off while you have the chance. Unfortunately, now you never will encounter such chance! Ballistic Feathers!"

Suddenly, rains of dark energy projectiles rained onto Black Knightmon from the sky. Looking up, the DigiWira saw Karatenmon, seizing the opportunity to assail Black Knightmon with his special attack. Despite being heavily armored, somehow the projectiles managed to penetrate the armor and injured Black Knightmon from within. Not long after, Black Knightmon collapsed onto the ground with a loud clanking sound. His body glimmered with white light and the massive knight was reduced, becoming smaller and smaller in an alarming rate. When the light diminished, Black Knightmon was no more. In his place was not Centarumon or Patamon, but a smaller, white Digimon with four stubby feet, black button eyes and long, ribbon-like ears.

"That is Tokomon," Youkomon said, recognizing the Digimon instantly. "Patamon's in-training form."

"He's going to be done for if we don't do something!" Gayathri screamed. "He's so little."

Adam was reminded of how he had teleported Karatenmon's sword to him earlier, and immediately decided to try it out again. He outstretched his right arm quickly, wanting to test out the new form of his teleportation power. At first nothing happened, and Adam grew anxious. He didn't know how to activate his power. Seeing his partner being attacked, his heart quenched in pain and he immediately cried out his partner's name despairingly. "Tokomon!"

To the DigiWira girls' amazement, Tokomon, who could barely survive any more of Karatenmon's attacks, was suddenly enveloped with bright orbs of light before disappearing out of sight. Seconds later the Digimon reappeared on Adam's hand, unconscious and heavily injured, but still alive. He was breathing slowly and weakly. Adam slumped onto the ground feebly – he was already very weak, and he had not eaten since the previous day's afternoon. Besides that he had stretched out his powers to the limit. Not to mention that he was also injured.

"We need to get you two to the Forest Sanctum, and we have got to do it fast!" Liu Ying realized as she inspected Adam's shoulder, arm and waist. "Your wounds are going to be infected."

"Follow the plan TobuCatmon has devised this morning," Youkomon instructed.

"What plan?" Adam croaked.

"Come on, Adam," Gayathri offered, and helped Adam up. She slung Adam's left arm across the back of her neck, positioning his hand onto her left shoulder. Her right arm then moved past Adam's back, and was secured onto Adam's right waist. The boy looked visibly uncomfortable, but didn't say anything as he held Tokomon close to him.

"But, that'll leave only Liu Ying, Youkomon and Fairymon against the bad guys," Adam protested. "We have to stick together to fight them all."

"Adam, don't worry about us. The Red ShadoWira and Reichmon are both down for the count," Liu Ying pointed out. "I'm sure Youkomon and Fairymon will be able to handle those Harpymon, and I can defend myself against the Blue ShadoWira. Sorcerymon and Shutumon don't seem to want to take part in the battle. The only problem is Karatenmon…"

"Wait," Adam requested, and pointed towards the fallen Red ShadoWira, who had already stood back up on his feet. "My D3 and D-Terminals…they're with him."

"Can you teleport them here?" Gayathri inquired, preparing to make a run for it. "We're certainly not going to go to him, that's for sure."

"I can try," Adam said, and spread his right fingers wide. "D3! D-Terminal!"

The Red ShadoWira saw what Adam was attempting as he felt a tingling feeling from the back of his leather belt. His good hand shot back and managed to seize his and Adam's D-Terminals, but he couldn't reach Adam's Digivice in time. He could feel that the compartment holding the Digivice becoming lighter, as if emptied in a second. Then he saw swirls of light appearing on Adam's outstretched hand, and the D3 Digivice appeared there.

"SHIT!" he cursed loudly. Seething, he curled his fingers tight on Adam's D-Terminal and calmed himself down. He still had the White DigiSphere and the Ivory Gem in his possession, and apparently, nobody else knew about that. The Blue ShadoWira gave him a strange look, although it wasn't visible from the emotionless mask he had donned on his face.

"What are you so angry about all of a sudden?" the Blue ShadoWira asked curiously.

Nobody should know about this, the Red ShadoWira decided. Not Blue. Not Karatenmon. And, certainly NOT SkullSatamon.

"Nothing," the Red ShadoWira replied, with the most nonchalant tone he could generate to cover up for his anger. He kept his hold on Adam's D-Terminal tight, and was glad for once that he was wearing a mantle. Nobody could see through his mantle. He ignored his bleeding arm and focused on not letting the DigiWira boy reclaim his D-Terminal.

And apparently, he had nothing to worry about. The boy had used the last of his strength on his attempt to seize both his Digivice and D-Terminal. Hadn't the Red ShadoWira been quick enough to grab hold onto the D-Terminal, Adam would have successfully teleported both devices back. Now the boy wouldn't have the strength to attempt another teleportation. It was not a total loss, so the Red ShadoWira snickered silently and watched as Gayathri was about to escape with Adam.

"My D-Terminal!" Adam cried out. "It's still with the Red ShadoWira."

"We'll try to get it back if it's possible," Liu Ying promised. "But you have to go now. Gayathri, move!"

Before Adam could protest, Gayathri grabbed hold on him firmly and began running, taking him along with her. Adam felt as if the winds were pushing them both from behind; his dark hair flapped up and down above his head, and some of the longer bangs were plastered on his forehead. He couldn't see clearly the surroundings, but noticed the rapid changes in the environment. The dark sky began to clear, and gradually rays of warm sunshine bathed him. Adam was glad for the sunshine's presence – he was kept inside a very dark dungeon for the night, and spent nearly the entire morning inside the Shadow Realm. They then climbed a rocky hill, with Gayathri maneuvering both of them with apparent ease, and reached the end of the Shadow Realm. On the other side of the hill, Adam smiled faintly upon the sight of slight greenery, as Gayathri halted to a stop.

"Let me rest for a while, ok?" Gayathri said breathlessly and plopped onto the ground. She stretched her legs forward and massaged her thighs and calves slowly. The girl was catching her breath as she looked back upon the dark region behind her, wondering about Liu Ying.

In the meantime, Liu Ying found herself and her Digimon friends being approached by the Blue ShadoWira and four Harpymon. Above them hovered Karatenmon, who was expanding his wings widely. His eyes had the look that could kill.

"Well, well, well, child," Karatenmon said with malice. "Your friends might have escaped, but you will not!"

"Don't be too sure," Liu Ying said as she mounted Youkomon, grabbing a firm hold onto the fox's fluffy fur. Looks like we're not going to be able to retrieve Adam's D-Terminal now, the girl thought grimly as she looked up to the butterfly woman hovering above them. "Fairymon, do it!"

Fairymon spread out her slender arms wide, collecting as much energy as possible from the winds that were blowing from the clouds. One thing the sprite had learned during her short stint of being brainwashed by Sorcerymon's abhorrence spell was that she could harness the winds around her to energize her own special technique. She could normally generate a forceful enough Hurricane Wave technique without collecting energy from around her, but today was different. Their opponent was not only an ultimate level Digimon, he was also very powerful. She calmed herself down and willed the winds to focus on her. Her arms began to emit pink energy waves as the winds began to focus on her, surrounding her hovering body. The pink waves from her hands infused with the swirling winds, and in a blink of the eyes the swirling winds were transformed into a shrieking tornado!

"Hurricane….WAVE!"

Liu Ying then sensed Youkomon's nine tails being raised, and felt a burning sensation as the tips of the tails burst with red flames. The kitsune bowed her head down a little, and spread out her legs – she seemed to attempt to channel as much power as she could into her attack.

"Fox Tail…INFERNO!"

Nine fireballs were released, and they streaked towards the screaming hurricane before entering them. Fairymon, airborne in the middle of the hurricane, waved her arms and allowed the nine fireballs to merge with the tornado she had created. The fireballs burst and instantly, the Hurricane Wave technique was infused with flames!

Together, Youkomon and Fairymon shouted, "HURRICANE INFERNO!"

With a loud cry, Fairymon released the super-energized combo technique towards the enemies. The Blue ShadoWira was thrown off his feet, colliding with the Red ShadoWira, who yelled out a violent swear as the Blue ShadoWira had accidentally elbowed his wounded arm when they collided. Yet, with a wave of his hands the Blue ShadoWira immediately generated streams of water and soaked both himself and his fellow ShadoWira with the water to avoid getting burned by the amazing technique.

The Harpymon were also blown away, squawking incessantly as the fiery hurricane lifted them off the ground, spinning them around before throwing them all in four different directions. No Harpymon escaped the hurricane unscathed. All of them suffered burning feathers, and were rolling onto the earth madly to quench the flames with dusts and sands.

Karatenmon watched the approaching hurricane warily and channeled his dark energy to counter-attack the Hurricane Inferno. Thousands of feather-shaped projectiles were fired relentlessly onto the pink typhoon, but the pellets were simply absorbed by the flaming windstorm. The feather projectiles crackled with black electricity while within the tornado, and began to weaken the hurricane. Karatenmon then generated an energy sphere, filled with dark energy, and fired exactly where he deemed to be the position of the eye of the storm. The sphere hit the desired target and the hurricane evaporated instantly in a flash of purple and pink lights.

But, the hurricane was not only the one which had vanished, as Karatenmon was about to find out.

The DigiWira and the two partners Digimon were also gone.

xxx

xxx

Following Jackie's last parting instruction; Alisha had left the computer open ever since the previous night. She had been waiting around the living room anxiously, hoping that her brother would be alright. The CPU fan was letting out a louder whirring sound than before, but Alisha didn't care. She didn't manage to ask Jackie why would she have to leave the computer on, but she trusted the computer instructor. Her mind reeled back to what Jackie had told her earlier; even until this day, she couldn't manage to fully grasp all the things which had been revealed to her.

It was difficult enough to comprehend that there was another world existed parallel to the real world. What was more perplexing was the fact that this Digital World was created from the data of the computers worldwide. Alisha considered herself quite an expert with computers, hardware and software alike, and she had a double-degree on Information Technology and Software Engineering from the most prestigious university in Malaysia, but nothing had been said about the Digital World. She attempted on some research on her own the previous night, and with her skills it wasn't difficult for her to find out more about Digimon.

Digimon had been known to appear worldwide during Christmas Eve of the year 2002, with the appearances being concentrated on Odaiba, Japan. A group of children known as the DigiDestined had reclaimed all the Digimon appearing in various locations of the world and returned them back to the Digital World. A huge scale attack ensued in Odaiba, and Alisha managed to trace an image pertaining to the attack. The website was rather hard to find, but Alisha found it to be most informative compared to the major news website she managed to encounter. Clicking the link towards the image, a picture of a massive armored bipedal dragon was shown, towering the buildings around it. The image file was named "ImperialdramonOdaibaBattle2002.jpg" and right now, the image was left opened by a picture manager in Alisha's home computer.

It's no wonder that I hadn't heard about the attack, Alisha mused silently. 2002 was a hard year for us. There was that accident. And I was struggling to finish up my studies as soon as possible, so that I could start work immediately and take care of Adam…

Just thinking about her younger brother being kidnapped caused tears to brim her eyes once again. Faint eye bags were visible under her eyes; she hadn't been able to sleep the night before. She had never imagined that Adam would be kidnapped; not to mention, by otherworldly beings instead of the normal kidnappers. On the table, she eyed a bowl of cereal which was left half-finished, and on the kitchen counter, the dinner for two that she had bought the previous day were left untouched. The groceries she had gotten too were still in their plastic bags.

Please, Adam…come back safely. I can't lose you. You're all I have now. The only family I have…

Suddenly, the monitor flashed with brilliant white light, immediately drawing Alisha's attention. Her eyes widened upon seeing the figure of a teenaged boy materializing, clad in the first aid society's uniform he was wearing the previous day. He was cradling a slumbering white creature which looked like a guinea pig. Gray eyes identical to hers were looking at her, widened with surprise. When the lights died out, Alisha let out a grateful shriek, jumped from the sofa she was sitting on and seized the boy into a hug.

"Adam! Oh, Adam…thank God you're alright!" she cried. "I was so worried when I heard that you're kidnapped. And who's this? Your partner? But he looks different…"

Adam winced slightly, he was still in pain from the wounds he had sustained, but he didn't say a word as his sister continued remarking something rapidly. Adam managed to catch on certain phrases like Jackie, Digimon, Digital World, captured, DigiWira, Patamon, and many other things that his slightly fatigued mind couldn't comprehend for the time being. TobuCatmon had dabbed some herbal medicine onto the wounds, and Gayathri had managed to bandage the wounds on his body and declared that luckily there were no infections sustained by Adam. The wounds would heal, but right now, the pain coming from the wounds were becoming more and more unbearable.

"Ow, ow…Kak Lisha…" he accidentally let out a cry, which prompted Alisha to let go.

"Adam, what's wrong?" she immediately asked as she pulled herself away from her brother. It was then she noticed that Adam was far from alright. His face, slightly bruised on the right side cheek, seemed to be straining to control what looked like pain. "What happened to your face, Adam?" she asked quickly as she guided her brother to the two-sitter sofa. They sat down on the leathery sofa together, side by side.

Adam hesitated for a moment, before deciding to spin the tale. He didn't want to say that a strong punch from the Red ShadoWira was the reason of his bruised face. That would make his older sister worry. Rubbing his face softly with his hand, he smiled, "My face? Well…I got hit by something, how careless of me, heh heh…Should've watched where I was going. See? No pain at all, TobuCatmon's medicine works great!" That was a horrible lie, Adam thought grimly, but kept the smile plastered on his face.

Alisha scrutinized his brother's face. "Are you sure? It's not painful at all now?" She tentatively rubbed her thumb over the bruise.

"Sure I'm sure," Adam said quickly; it was lucky for him that Alisha's touch was gentle – it caused a mild irritation on the bruise, but nothing else. Should she decide to press on the bruise Adam would've jumped out the sofa in response to the pain he'd be feeling. He was relieved when Alisha withdrew her hand away, but she didn't look quite convinced.

"Maybe we should see a doctor," she said uncertainly. The bruise didn't look serious, but it looked odd on her brother's face. Adam wasn't one who would get into a fight.

"No way," Adam said slowly, and exaggeratedly, emphasizing every syllable in great detail and with an overdone tone. "He'd just prescribe me with a cream or something. I can get something more potent for free from TobuCatmon." Well, that is true, at least, Adam thought silently.

Alisha was about to protest when she was reminded that her little brother was a part of a triumvirate of protectors of another world. He'd been doing this for weeks; surely he knew better about taking care of himself now. "If you say so, Adam," she sighed.

Adam clasped his sister's hand. "Don't worry about me, Kak Lisha. I'll be fine."

"I know you will," Alisha said, and smiled. "What I'm worried about is what would the neighbors think when they see your bruised face? God forbids they think I'm abusing you!" She nudged her brother's forehead playfully with one finger.

Adam grinned. "Scary thought," he replied. "Maybe you should write me an excuse slip for me to stay at home until my bruise is gone," he said cheekily.

"Don't play smart with me," Alisha scolded. Then, she smiled deviously. "I can think of more effective ways to make the bruise disappear."

"Oh yeah? Name two," Adam challenged, raising two fingers up.

"Ok. How about, I dab on some of my make-up on your face to hide the bruise?"

The dark-haired DigiWira wrinkled his face in disgust, appalled of the idea of his sister putting make-up on his face. "Ewww."

"Or, you go to this TobuCatmon, and get something that will cure the bruise."

"I'll go with option number two," Adam said immediately.

The siblings laughed together of their banters. Adam loved this; it felt normal, and it made him forget of the wounds he had sustained on his body, and about the incident that had led him to it. It was lucky that his civilian clothes were not affected – his DigiWira uniform would really require some major fixing up should they were brought back to the human's world. He was also thankful of TobuCatmon's many healing ointments, which had stopped the bleeding on his body, despite the pain not alleviated completely. Should the wounds still bled, they would stain his white shirt horribly, and there would be no way for Adam to explain that to Alisha.

Then, he noticed Alisha's face growing solemn.

"Adam, what were you thinking? Why didn't you tell me about you being DigiWira? I'd rather found out about this from you than your teacher," she said.

"I…I wanted to tell you, Kak Lisha," Adam answered, which was the truth. "I just…couldn't find the right time. And I was afraid of how you'd react."

Alisha shook her head and had a faraway look on her face.

"Kak Lisha? Is something wrong?" Adam asked nervously. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I was afraid that you'd be, that's why I decided not to tell you before. I was hoping that you wouldn't find out about this too…Don't be mad…"

"I'm not," Alisha cut him off gently. She grasped her brother's hands. "But promise me one thing, please?"

Adam nodded. "Ok."

"I want you to promise to me that there'll be no secret about you being a DigiWira anymore, ok?" Alisha requested urgently. Her eyes twinkled slightly, offsetting her slightly pale skin and her long dark brown locks which cascaded down her shoulders to the half of her back. She smiled slightly. "I will be worried, of course, because I'm your big sister. But I can tell that you like doing this…"

"I am," Adam concurred, nodding his head as emphasis. "What we're doing is important. We can't back off now."

"…so I won't stop you," Alisha finished, and saw her brother beaming. "But, on one condition," she added, wiggling her index finger.

Adam's smiling face faltered slightly. "Umm…what's the condition?"

"I want you to let me help you. I know I might not be a DigiWira, like you and your friends, but surely I can help you with something," Alisha said. "Other than just a moral support, I hope."

"I'm glad that you're ok with this," Adam said, relieved. "I don't know how you can help, though. You're not a DigiWira so you can't go to the Digital World. But maybe you can be like Jackie. Some sort of mentor with tips for us. And…" he grinned. "You can let me play with the computer longer than my two hours per day quota," he added impishly.

"Smart aleck!" Alisha laughed and ruffled her younger brother's hair. She wrinkled her nose slightly when noticing the dusts and the oiliness of her brother's hair, and strained a smile when he heard a loud growl coming from the boy's stomach. "March to the bathroom this instance, little brother, while I fix something for us to eat. It's past three now, and you probably didn't have anything to eat while being…kidnapped." Alisha grimaced slightly upon mentioning about the kidnapping, but apart from his bruised face, Adam looked perfectly fine.

What she didn't know that Adam had asked TobuCatmon and Gayathri to fix him up as best as they could. He had cleaned his face, and washed out the dry blood that had caked in front of his nose – a parting souvenir from the Red ShadoWira. He didn't want to worry his sister, not when his sister was already too vexed about him being kidnapped already. His bruised face was the only thing for now that would concern his sister, and Adam hoped that it stayed that way. The wounds on his shoulder, waist and right arm would be hidden as long as he kept a shirt on his body until they healed naturally.

"Oh, and one other thing…" Adam said, smiling as he pushed his thoughts away. He followed his sister towards the kitchen.

"What's that?" Alisha asked, dumping the previous day's dinner inside the waste basket.

"I'm craving for your homemade nasi lemak," Adam told her, and smiled charmingly. "Can you make it for me?"

"Sure," Alisha said, rolling her eyes. She knew that she didn't make the perfect nasi lemak, but for some reason that was what Adam loved the most out of all her home-cooked meals. Her brother was just being very sweet, in her opinion. "Ok. I can see why not. I was planning to make nasi lemak anyway for quite some time now. Today's as good as any day. Looks like it will be a lunch for three if your partner wakes up soon. Patamon, right? Go ahead and take a shower, and take your time."

"Yeah, but he's Tokomon for now. Better make it a lunch for five," Adam grinned. "I could eat as much as two people, and Tokomon will be able to consume much, much more!" He glanced towards the sofa, where he had placed the sleeping Tokomon on. "So much more," he emphasized with a grin.

"Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me," Alisha said with a mock-grimace, as Adam walked towards the bathroom. She had just solved the puzzle of the mysterious disappearance of a large amount of food items from the fridge and the cabinet – Adam didn't eat much usually, which explained his slight figure.

Suddenly she was reminded of the laundry basket inside the bathroom, which was nearly full. If she didn't do the laundry today, they might not have enough clothes to wear for the following week. She remembered there were three sets of Adam's school uniform in the laundry basket already, and they had to be washed in order for the boy to have enough uniforms to be worn to school on the following week. Quickly, she put down the groceries and headed towards the bathroom, planning to ask Adam to just hand out the laundry basket.

However, she was stopped short as she saw the mirror in the bathroom. The door was still open, and Alisha saw her brother's reflection on the mirror. The teenaged boy had already discarded his shirt and trousers, and a clean white towel was wrapped below his waist as he was brushing his teeth in front of the mirror. From the angle she was standing, it was impossible for her brother to be aware of her watching him. The young woman gasped silently, horrified upon seeing the gashes on Adam's right shoulder, waist and arm.

What happened to you, Adam? Alisha wondered, feeling like almost crying all over again upon the sight of her brother's wounds. They looked bad, but seemed to be already treated. On the sink the young woman could see some used bandages – Adam might have removed them prior to brushing his teeth. How can he act so…normally, with all those wounds? Alisha wondered, leaning against the wall for support. Adam, why didn't you want to tell me about those wounds? she wondered despairingly.

This business he has with this Digital World…could it be the cause of those wounds? Alisha thought. She strained to recall the details Jackie had given her. Their latest threat is with humans as well –what are they called? Anti-DigiWira…oh yes…ShadoWira. They're the ones who have kidnapped Adam for their master. Could a fight between Adam and the ShadoWira cause Adam to sustain these injuries?

It instantly dawned to Alisha that her younger brother was involved with something very serious. She had known it before after Jackie briefed her with the details the previous day, but seeing with her own eyes that her little brother was wounded enforced the knowledge even more into her mind. It caused her to wonder whether she should stop Adam from participating with this DigiWira business anymore.

But he likes doing this; Alisha recalled her brother's exact words. What they are doing is important. And he does seem genuinely happy about becoming a DigiWira. So happy that even though he's hurt, he would go all out in making sure that I won't find out about it. And he keeps on worrying that I'd be worried of him. Maybe he thinks that I won't allow him to go to the Digital World anymore if I'm made aware of these injuries?

Alisha then realized that Adam was only going to be honest to her as long as he knew that whatever he would have to reveal wasn't going to make her worry. He'd keep all the gory parts out, of course, and would give her details that didn't seem to be so major. It was just so like Adam.

I've nearly lost him to the evil Digimon in the Digital World, Alisha thought grimly, as she saw the bathroom door being closed and locked. Seconds later the sound of the showers were heard, and a distinct song being hummed by her brother was heard. He's all I have now… my only family. I don't want him to endanger his life…but he seems so happy. Alisha reflected back on an event occurring a few years ago, and she recalled for the past two weeks, Adam had seemed so spirited and energetic. Alisha didn't have the heart to stop her brother from doing what he enjoyed to do.

As she made her way back to the kitchen, she knew that she needed to do more than just giving tips and moral support to her brother. But what else could she do?

A thought crossed her mind. A crazy notion, which she didn't believe she could come up with, but which might just work.

I'll call up the office first thing tomorrow morning and tell them that I won't be able to make it, she decided promptly. Then, I'll go meet that computer instructor, Jackie Chan. He'll know what to do. And I still am curious of how on earth could his laptop project out holograms from the screen. And besides, there's something slightly off about that man.

Wistfully, Alisha began to scoop some rice from the rice bucket using a plastic cup, and poured the rice into the pot of the electric rice cooker. After placing three cups of rice, she washed the raw rice first before measuring the exact amount of water needed to cook the rice. Next, she added some powdered coconut milk into the pot and stirred the contents evenly. Placing the pot inside the rice cooker, Alisha closed the lid and set the rice cooker to cook the rice.

If Adam's happy becoming a DigiWira, I won't stop him.

But…

I'll watch over him.

xxx

xxx

Author's Notes:

It's been a while since I've done author notes. Mainly it's because of the continuity of the chapters, and author notes would just diminish the effect of the cliffhanger. But this chapter doesn't end with a cliffhanger (at least not a major one) so I can squeeze in some Author Notes.

Black Knightmon is not a canon Digimon, although Knightmon is. Think of Black Knightmon as a corrupted form of Knightmon.

Glossaries (things that I think need some explaining, from Light Amidst Shadow and Unbound)

Baju Kurung – Traditional Malay women attire, suitable to be worn to almost all places and occasions. Despite being a Malay attire, baju kurung is widely accepted by the other races in Malaysia as well.

MySpace, Yahoo Messenger – Somewhat cultural phenomena for mostly youngsters and young adults in Malaysia, and probably the whole world. :D Rather self-explanatory.

Nasi Lemak – Rice cooked with coconut milk. A local Malaysian delicacy enjoyed by all. Is usually served with boiled egg, fried anchovies and fried ground nuts, and chili paste.

Vernacular schools (mentioned in previous chapter) – Schools where most subjects are taught in Chinese or Tamil. They are available both as primary and secondary schools. If one was enrolled in a primary vernacular school, and wishes to further his study in a national secondary school, he is required to undergo one year of intensive study in Malaysian language to ensure that he will be able to grasp on the subjects taught – as most subjects, with the exception of Math, Science subjects, and English language, are taught in Malaysian language. Thus one who has gone to vernacular school before entering Form One would be one year older than his classmates.

In Liu Ying's case, she has attended vernacular primary school prior to going to the national secondary school. That makes her a year older than the rest of her classmates – who being Form Two students, are mostly fourteen or going to be fourteen (like Adam and Gayathri). In certain cases, Form Two students can also be thirteen, but that's another story.