Wira Digital Chapter 13: Yin and Yang, a digimon fanfic

It was Monday, early in the morning. 6.15 a.m. to be exact.

Inside a rather spacious, dimly-lit, square-shaped room, a figure was sitting on a queen-sized bed. The room's lamp was not lit, and the only source of light came from the window across the right side of the bed. The light illuminated the silhouette of the one on the bed, who was leaning his back against the wooden railing, and had his legs stretched forward. The blankets were thrown to the sides, signing that the bed had been slept off, but not yet being made.

The one on the bed was clearly a male, and in the dark room it was impossible to make out his features. The scanty light was enough to reveal that he was currently, despite the coolness of the room due to the air-conditioner, wearing nothing more than a black pair of shorts. His face was hidden, indiscernible in darkness. His toned right arm was revealed to have a thin, nearly three inches long scar. The scar looked healed, but somewhat fresh.

He was currently inspecting a contraption he was holding. He pressed on one button, and the device let out a holographic image of a glittering white sphere.

The White DigiSphere.

Another press of the button revealed another holographic image – this time it was a small gemstone, not as burnished as the White DigiSphere, but shining nonetheless.

The Ivory Gem.

What does this Ivory Gem do? He wondered, examining the rough edges of the gem, taking note of the gem's smooth surface. Looks like the gem has been cut into two. Where's the other half?

He pressed another button, and the image of the Ivory Gem vanished. The screen flashed with light as details were displayed. He peered closer to the screen and read the details lazily. He had read them before, the previous night, but as he had nothing else to do, he reread them again. The text was displayed in gray-white digitized letterings against a black background.

DigiWira: Adam Ariff

DigiSphere: White – Light

Digital Abilities – Teleportation / Teleportation-Summoning

Digimon Partner: Tokomon (In-training) / Patamon (Rookie) / Centarumon (Champion) / Sagittarimon (Armored Champion) / Black Knightmon (Corrupted Ultimate)

How the hell did HE, out of all DigiWira, manage to unlock an independent Ultimate-level Digivolution? He pondered silently, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. It simply didn't make any sense to him. He's the newest one, the least experienced – yet his partner is the one who Digivolved to Ultimate first. Even our Digimon partners couldn't achieve Ultimate form without DNA Digivolution. Who cares if his partner is corrupted? An Ultimate is an Ultimate.

Then there's his power… he continued silently, reading Adam's Digital Abilities over and over again. He had seen the boy's power the previous day, and it didn't impress him the slightest. But what SkullSatamon had told Adam unnerved him.

"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."

The words of SkullSatamon echoed in his mind many times the previous day (the underlined words in particular) and it had been the reason for his lack of sleep that night. What did SkullSatamon see in him, exactly? He couldn't even pick his own fight…wait, that's not exactly true. He did pack quite a punch… As he thought about that, a brief smile flashed on his face as his hand went up towards his right chest side, where he had been punched by Adam that late Saturday night. Not exactly painful, but quite surprising…

But what about his power? What about it that makes it so fascinating? What makes it destructive?

This Grademon guy; he's supposed to be very powerful. He's the one who imprisoned SkullSatamon, thank goodness for that. I don't think I can stand the smell of his decaying bones…even with the barrier up the smell's already nauseating enough. But Adam…corrupted fully, and he'll have the power which will eclipse even Grademon?

Inconceivable. He's just a mere boy.

And that boy didn't even have a clue, judging from his reaction yesterday. No clue at all.

Leader of the ShadoWira? Pah. My fire power can easily kill him.

Bullshit, he thought finally. Utter crap. How can the power of teleportation can be harmful to any of us? He thought, as his left hand traced a scar on his exposed right arm, right above the elbow, along the triceps. Damn, he cursed silently. That's how the power of teleportation can be harmful. Out of the blue, he just teleported Karatenmon's sword and used it against me! That little brat! But still, that doesn't prove that Adam is that powerful. Just what did SkullSatamon see in him?

Pah. Maybe that decrepit ol' demon was just saying that. Senile, after three centuries of imprisonment. Confinement could do that to anyone, right? He was after the teleportation power simply to escape that barrier around his decrepit ol' castle.

That had to be it.

With that settled, the Red ShadoWira was satisfied. Within the darkness, flashes of crimson were seen, presumably coming from his eyes. The flashes of light however were gone just as soon as he blinked his eyes, and everything was dark again. He then let out a brief chuckle, before getting up and walking over to his study table, where a desktop system was placed. He placed Adam's D-Terminal right beside his own, which was beside the monitor, before picking up the towel he had placed on the chair in front of the table. Then, he turned around to look at the time.

The digital clock placed on the bedside table displayed the time in red numbers, against black background.

6.30 a.m.

Time to get ready for school.

xxx

WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 13 – Yin and Yang

xxx

The time was 6.45 a.m. and Adam was already awake.

Not only that, he was already in front of the computer, browsing the internet idly after his sister had stepped out. Until the bruise on his face faded, Alisha wanted Adam to remain at home, which Adam obeyed gladly. He too was not keen of having his bruised face – a souvenir from the Red ShadoWira – displayed to all, especially on a Monday where the school would be having its weekly assembly. It would simply rouse suspicion.

At the kitchen, the rice cooker was cooking some nasi lemak that Alisha had prepared before going out. There were many leftovers from the day before which were now stored in the refrigerator to avoid the remaining condiments from being spoiled, and Adam simply would need to reheat them to eat with the rice for breakfast. To pass some time, he decided to surf the net instead of taking a shower.

Well, it wasn't everyday that he was allowed to stay at home, and he would take the opportunity to relax. After all, he had brushed his teeth, he had performed his morning prayer, and Tokomon was still asleep. The TV had nothing interesting on, and Adam didn't want to watch any movies until after he had showered. And he'd have that shower after he had his breakfast. And just to be cheeky, he had mentioned all of what he had intended to do to his sister as he was sending her off to the door.

Alisha shrugged, saying that Adam could do whatever he wanted to do, only on one condition.

He was to remain at home. That meant not only no school, but also no Digital World activity as well for the day.

Adam would have insisted that he was needed at the Digital World, but his sister (having seen her brother's injuries by accident the previous day, although Adam didn't realize about it) had pointed out that Adam would need his rest. Until he had healed, he would remain at home. And besides, there was no use going to the Digital World if Tokomon wasn't up to it. The Digimon was still very weak from the previous day's battle, which had drained a lot out of him.

Adam knew that Tokomon wasn't kidding; it was the first time he had seen his partner de-Digivolving all the way into in-training level. Usually, his partner retained his rookie form while at the human world. Not only that, the fact that his partner spent nearly the whole Sunday sleeping also unnerved him.

Speaking of Tokomon, Adam's mind reeled back to the conversation he had with his de-Digivolved partner, last night, before they went to sleep.

/Flashback/

"Adam, I'm really, really sorry," Tokomon said profusely, as Adam settled in his bed right beside him. It was 9.30 in the night, way too early for Adam's usual bedtime, but the boy had been so tired that he didn't want to do anything else other than retire for the night. The boy had switched off the lights, but some lights came through the window, dimly illuminating the room.

"What for, Tokomon?"

"Earlier today, I've…Dark Digivolved into Black Knightmon. I've put everyone's lives in danger. Yours, the other DigiWira, Youkomon, Fairymon…"

Adam grimaced, recollecting the event occurring at the Shadow Realm that very morning. True, his partner had Dark Digivolved. And according to TobuCatmon and Labramon, back at the Forest Sanctum, after the battle and with much coaxing from the DigiWira, the DigiWira were told that Dark Digivolution was something that shouldn't be attempted by any Digimon, as it would cause the Digimon to be corrupted by it permanently upon its first kill.

It was lucky that Black Knightmon didn't delete any Digimon, although he had nearly done so to the partners of the ShadoWira.

"It wasn't your fault, Tokomon," he assured, patting the little Digimon gently.

"But I succumbed to my anger, Adam. I've put everyone's lives in danger," Tokomon said with a disheartened tone. "I knew the repercussion of Dark Digivolution, but still, I let it get me."

Adam sighed as he placed his head on the pillow. He turned sideways, and bore his gray eyes on the in-training's black, button eyes.

"Tokomon, let's put it this way. If you didn't become Black Knightmon, how do you think today's event would turn out?"

Tokomon thought about it. If he hadn't Dark Digivolved, Reichmon would once again overpower the DigiWira partners. With Reichmon winning, the ShadoWira would also be triumphant against the DigiWira. The evil forces of SkullSatamon would win the battle instantly – other than the ShadoWira and Reichmon, there was Karatenmon, who was the Dark Mage General and one of SkullSatamon's generals. There were also the Harpymon. Not forgetting, Sorcerymon and Shutumon.

Without Black Knightmon, Adam wouldn't be able to be rescued. It was his appearance that had caused the Red ShadoWira to lose his hold on Adam, enabling Adam to escape.

Tokomon shivered. Without his Dark Ultimate form, he wouldn't be able to have Adam lying beside him at all.

But still…

"Tokomon," Adam began, "If you need someone to put blame upon, put it on me."

The button-eyes belonging to the in-training Digimon shot wide. "Adam, no! No way. I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Adam asked back. "If I was careful not to get myself captured at the Green Meadow Village, I wouldn't need any rescuing at all. I won't get kidnapped, my D-Terminal wouldn't get stolen by the Red ShadoWira, you wouldn't have Dark Digivolved, Liu Ying and Gayathri wouldn't have to go all the way to the Forest Sanctum to rescue me…"

"You couldn't help it. We saw how you were captured. There's no way you could escape those dirty ShadoWira. Don't blame yourself."

"See?" Adam smiled gently. "We can turn this into one major guilt-fest if we let this go on and on. My opinion; what's past is past."

"But," Tokomon said, still downcast. He looked up at his human partner, with tears forming at the brims of his small eyes. "I don't know whether I can Digivolve again. I'm just…too scared now. I kept seeing Black Knightmon in my head. I...I don't know. There's still this creepiness I feel inside of me, the same feeling I have when I was Black Knightmon. I can't risk Digivolving again; I don't want to become Black Knightmon again, Adam. I don't want to place you all in danger anymore."

Adam was dumbfounded; he didn't know how to response to this. Tokomon was looking so depressed and dejected, his confidence lost. It was so unlike him. As Centarumon, when they had first met, the centaur had proven to be a courageous protector of the Green Meadow Village. As Sagittarimon, partner to a DigiWira, he had helped hamper the evil plans of their archenemies. As Patamon, he possessed knowledge and wit which belied his physical outlook. To see him now, as a small in-training, afraid and crestfallen, caused Adam to share his pain.

Adam didn't want to pressure his partner into Digivolving when Tokomon had just stated that he was afraid in doing so.

But, what if they were needed by the other DigiWira?

The ShadoWira were very strong enemies, and the girls' partners couldn't achieve ultimate level. Powers alone, Adam believed both Liu Ying and Gayathri could hold themselves well against the ShadoWira, but if the ShadoWira unleashed Reichmon, all would be lost.

Tokomon was shivering again, and Adam didn't have the heart to point out what he was thinking to his partner. He quickly pushed his thoughts away, and pulled Tokomon close to him.

"I owe you my life today, Tokomon. Thank you, partner," he said softly. Tokomon was about to reply, but Adam placed a finger on his mouth, effectively blocking the in-training from speaking. He smiled gently and closed his eyes. "Go to sleep, Tokomon. We'll think about this tomorrow."

/End Flashback/

It was now 7.00 in the morning, and as he stared at the computer, his Digivice on top of the computer table (Alisha had wanted to inspect the Digivice the previous day, and Adam had neglected to take it back to his room before going to bed) blinked. A message box suddenly popped out on the screen.

It was the same thing that had happened, Adam remembered, three weeks ago, when TobuCatmon first contacted him to become a DigiWira.

Eagerly, Adam leaned forward and read the message that was typed in the opened window.

Adam, this is TobuCatmon. I have been expecting you to log on the internet this morning, as you have informed me yesterday that you might be staying at home for a while, at least until the bruise on your face is healed. Without your D-Terminal, we can't contact you directly, so here's what I need you to do.

1. Download a chatting client – either Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger. For your information, both Liu Ying and Gayathri used Yahoo Messenger before the D-Terminal's appearances. It was how I contacted them whenever there was trouble in the Digital World, before you came along.

2. Install this program WHILE you are installing Yahoo Messenger.

3. If everything goes well, when Yahoo Messenger has been installed on your computer, you should be seeing my name – TobuCatmon – in your friends' list. I will be appearing as 'Online'. Just click on my name, and we can converse. Just give me a 'Buzz' and I will reply to you shortly.

4. If you don't see my name, it means that the installation didn't go perfectly. In that case, uninstall both programs – go to the Add/Remove section to do so – and reinstall the two programs again simultaneously.

"Kak Lisha won't like this," Adam murmured, but then shrugged. "But since I've got nothing else to do today, why not? It's not like I'll be chatting with people I don't know."

Adam took notice of another small box popping out from out of nowhere on the screen, prompting him to begin installing the program that was embedded on it. Remembering TobuCatmon's instruction, Adam opened the Yahoo! Search engine webpage, and found the link to download the chatting client program. He followed TobuCatmon's instruction and installed both programs simultaneously.

After a few minutes, the Yahoo Messenger program was loaded and Adam saw TobuCatmon's name on top of his list.

"Be right back?" Adam pondered, sweat-dropping upon noticing the feline Digimon's status. He gave a 'buzz' to TobuCatmon, and leaned back against his chair, waiting.

No reply came after two minutes had passed, and Adam grew restless. He didn't know what else to do, but his eyes then trailed on the icon that said 'Send a Message'. An idea crossed his mind; there was something he'd been meaning to do, but due to his capture by the ShadoWira, he was unable to do so. His thoughts reeled back to the latest Computer Club meeting last Saturday, and what he had discovered after the club's meeting.

"I forgot to notify J.D. Kamaruzaman about the birthday messages he'd gotten from his friends," he said loudly, and began thinking of J.D.'s username.

Recalling quickly of the said teen's username, Adam began typing a message after entering the recipient's username. He decided not to add the teen in his list yet – he didn't even know much about the mixed-blood teenager in the first place – but he figured that it was J.D.'s birthday last Saturday, and it would be a shame if the teen didn't get the wishes that were meant for him.

"Even though he could be a jerk sometimes, but…here goes," Adam muttered, and typed out the message.

"Hey. Hmm…this is Adam Ariff. From the Computer Club, if you don't remember. Anyway, you didn't log off from your YM and MySpace properly when you got out from the class, and Mr. Chan told me to do it for you. But when I was about to log you off, several birthday wishes came for you. I thought that you should know about this, but since you won't be able to know about those messages when you open your YM at your home, I figured that I'd drop you a message telling you about it."

Realizing that he was two days late in doing so, Adam added one more sentence in his message.

"Sorry for the lateness though; I would've sent this message on Saturday, but-"

But what? Adam wondered. But I was kidnapped by two murderous guys I don't know, and one of them seems to want my head, so that's why I couldn't send you this message earlier. While at it, would you believe it if I say that I was taken to a strange world with out-of-this-world creatures? I guess not.

If it weren't for the grimness of the situation he had experienced the day before, Adam would have laughed off the silly thought he was thinking. There was no way he would include that on a message he was sending to somebody he didn't even know. J.D. would think that he was crazy, or worse, yet another person who was desperate to become his friend. Despite the blond teen's bad-boy status at school, there was no denying that many people, girls and guys alike, were curious of the teen and would like to get to know him, but many were turned off instantly due to the teen's tough-guy behavior and his tendency to get into trouble.

Adam scoffed; he wasn't one of those persons though. He was curious too, yes, but certainly not desperate. Having J.D. joining him and Liu Ying at the Computer Club was more than he could handle, although he couldn't deny that he was slightly amused of how Liu Ying reacted to the teen.

The senior DigiWira simply loathed having the mixed-blood teen at their table.

Composing his thought once again, Adam thought up of how to continue the message. He decided that the best way was to be vague.

"but something came up, and I was only able to do so today."

"These should be enough," Adam murmured, and was about to hit the 'SEND' button when something crossed his mind. He wondered whether he should put it into words or not, as he was curious about it. Oh, and by the way, I was curious of how you know Hakim…I don't remember you two being friends at all at school. "Nah, that's not my business," Adam decided. "But, maybe I can include this."

"Oh, and by the way, Happy belated 16th Birthday."

Oh. And how come you're 16? Shouldn't you be 15? Hmm…once again, not my business. Don't be nosy, Adam. Remember what curiosity did to you. He shivered, recollecting the event happening between him and the Red ShadoWira when they first faced each other off at the Megalith Coliseum. Due to his slightly curious nature, he had let himself becoming vulnerable to the Red ShadoWira. It was thanks to his teleportation power that he managed to escape the perilous predicament.

But if Liu Ying sees this, she'd be yelling in my ears, Adam thought with a grin, and hit the 'SEND' button. I wonder why Liu Ying hates having J.D. around, anyway. Maybe I'll ask her later.

'BUZZ!'

A chat-box appeared, and Adam saw that TobuCatmon's status had changed from 'Be Right Back' to 'Online'.

xxx

It was 7.05 a.m. at USJ 2 National Secondary School, and teenagers in school uniforms were bustling about. There were still twenty five minutes before the weekly assembly would begin, but many had gathered at the open-air assembly hall to avoid having to rush about when the school bell rang. Some were sitting at the canteen, discussing about their weekends' activities, or doing their homework, or having breakfast. Some students stood by the corridors, or sitting on the plain cemented floor of the hall, enjoying the cool morning air and the not-so-warm morning sunshine, as they observed the prefects arranging some chairs for the principal, vice-principal and the other teachers to sit on, right in front of the hall, in one straight line. A prefect was testing the microphone on the hall's podium, to make sure that it was working, while three other were tying the Malaysian flag, the Selangor state flag and the school's official flag on three flagpoles.

Near the gates, most of the school pupils who gathered there were males, who would sit by the benches and artificial fountains in groups and just chatting idly. Occasionally, hearty laughs were heard from the more boisterous of the guys, while the quieter ones would simply smile. Yet, a sight of a woman made them stopped their conversation instantly; their eyes trailed the unfamiliar woman in peach-colored baju kurung and headscarf as she walked into the school, oblivious to the attention she was garnering from many of the school's male students.

All of them were thinking along the same lines.

"Wow! She's so stunning!"

"What a knockout!"

"Is she a new teacher?"

"Man, I'd give anything for her to teach my class, instead of boring ol' Gurmit Singh/Elena Kwan/Rohana Jalil!"

"Is she married or single?"

"Beautiful as a fairy, personified!"

"I think I'm in love…"

She paused after walking past one of the school's artificial fountain, which was built right by the school canteen. Her gray eyes scanned the whole school, unsure of where she was going, or where she could find the one she was looking for. Turning around, she saw several school pupils and contemplated whether to ask them about the computer instructor, but decided that it would be better for her to ask the school prefects instead. The prefects were easily identifiable with their green uniform.

She then heard a single wolf-whistle coming from a group of male students who were sitting along the benches near the gate, followed by rowdy laughter from a couple of students, from the way they sounded. Grimacing, her eyes fell on a group of guys, but one stood out from the rest easily with his taller built, chiseled good-looking face and messy dirty blond hair.

To her surprise, the blond student grinned lopsidedly and gave her a wink. These were followed by a laugh and a slap on the back by the ones sitting on his sides.

Kids these days! Alisha Ariff groaned irritably and shifted her gaze away to hide her reddening cheeks.

"Umm…miss? Can I help you?" a feminine voice inquired from her side, causing her to start slightly.

Alisha turned to her side, and saw a familiar face. It was a prefect; a girl, with long black hair tied neatly with a yellow headband. But what made Alisha gladder was the fact that this particular prefect was familiar; she had seen her before.

"Chang…Liu Ying?" she inquired, although she needn't to; the prefect's name was emblazoned on the name-tag she had pinned on her dark green tie.

The prefect girl observed the woman quietly before nodding. She was thinking that the woman's gray eyes were rather familiar. She hadn't seen the woman before, but she was sure that she had seen an identical pair of gray eyes before, belonging to a particular good friend of hers.

"Yes. I saw that you were looking around, and was wondering whether you needed to get to somewhere," Liu Ying said steadily, as something clicked in her head. She has Adam's eyes; could she be related to him in any way? His older sister, maybe?

"Actually, I was looking for the school's computer instructor, Mr. Jackie Chan," Alisha clarified, and smiled. "But it's a good thing I ran into you first. You're a friend of Adam."

"I am," Liu Ying said, curious of the older woman in front of her. She then shot an annoyed look at the group of boys across the road, who were laughing and talking loudly, her glare seemed to be fixed on the student sitting at the center of the benches – the teen with the blond hair. They became silent for a moment, but to Liu Ying's utmost annoyance, the blond teen then winked at her and grinned so widely that his face seemed to almost split up in two. With a low huff, she returned her gaze to the woman.

"And you're also a DigiWira," Alisha said with a hushed, knowing voice. She gazed into Liu Ying's dark irises intently, and had to admire the girl's ability to conceal her surprise upon the revelation and the way she was handling the attention from the noisy boys at the benches.

Liu Ying smiled. "You must be Adam's older sister," she said. "It's so nice to meet you. I take it that Adam has told you about him being a DigiWira?"

"Actually, it was Mr. Chan…Jackie, who told me," Alisha confided. "And my name is Alisha; since you're Adam's friend you can call me Kak Lisha."

Liu Ying nodded. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Kak Lisha. Let me take you to the computer classroom. Jackie is always there, although I think he'll be down here in the assembly hall soon – today's the weekly assembly – but maybe we can still catch him at the computer room. And…" She shot a glare once again at the rowdy male teens, who were all staring back at the beautiful woman she was talking to. "…excuse them, please. They simply don't know how to behave…"

"Don't worry about it," Alisha said evenly. "I've seen similar stuff from my days at school. Some things never change."

"If you don't mind me asking, Kak Lisha," Liu Ying began as she guided Alisha through the crowd of students, until they reached the corridors. The corridors were rather empty, except for one and two students walking about. This enabled Liu Ying to speak more freely with the older woman. "What brings you here, Kak Lisha? I don't see Adam with you, though."

"Oh, Adam's resting at home," Alisha replied. "I want him to heal first before resuming his school. Kidnapping is a tough ordeal to handle, and there's that horrible bruise on his face…Can you help him catch up with his schoolwork when he returns to school?"

"I'll be happy too, but I think that's Gayathri's department," Liu Ying explained.

"Gayathri Nadarajah? She's a DigiWira too, right?" Alisha inquired, remembering that Jackie had mentioned about the other girl as well.

"Yes, and she's also Adam's classmate." Liu Ying looked around her. "I don't see her around yet; maybe she's still on her way here."

Alisha nodded. "It's alright. Before I forget, I'd really like to thank you and Gayathri for saving Adam yesterday," she said softly, as they reached a particularly empty corridor. They took a flight of stairs and reached the second level, and Liu Ying guided Alisha towards the computer room. "I don't know what would happen if…"

"Don't worry about it, Kak Lisha," Liu Ying assured. "If it were me or Gayathri who was kidnapped, Adam would've done the same thing."

Alisha beamed proudly. "Yes…he would," she said, halting as Liu Ying stopped by a dark tinted door. The sign on the door read 'Computer Classroom'. She watched as Liu Ying opened the door and followed her in. Immediately, she saw Jackie sitting by the table. The brown-haired man was just putting on a dark blue tie.

"Jackie, we have a visitor," Liu Ying announced.

Jackie turned sideways and nodded a greeting towards Liu Ying before his eyes registered on their guest. "Oh. Miss Alisha," he greeted smilingly. "To what do I owe you the pleasure?"

Looking around the spacious, air-conditioned, yet empty classroom, Alisha inhaled deeply before stating her intention.

"Good morning, Jackie," she said, and began explaining her intention to Jackie and Liu Ying.

xxx

The avian woman Digimon looked at the area around her silently. Large, red stony mountains were what she could see, their peaks stretching up towards the clouds. A gust of wind blew down from the clouds, making the environment rather chilly, especially for one as scantily clad as her. However, it was lucky for her that her feathers protected her from the cold. She looked up the clouds, seemingly trying to make a mental calculation of where she was at.

"He should be around here, somewhere," Shutumon remarked to her companion, whose height merely reached her shoulders. She looked down at the wizardly Digimon. "Well?"

"I don't know, Shutumon," Sorcerymon admitted, waving his white staff to the right, and to the left, then to the right once again. "No reaction from the staff."

"Are you sure it's working?" Shutumon demanded. "He's here, I know it. I just don't know where, exactly."

"Sure I'm sure," Sorcerymon said indignantly. Then, right on time, his staff vibrated. "There! You're right, Shutumon. He's here." He pointed his staff towards his right, extending the staff farther. The staff vibrated more intensely. "This way, Shutumon; come on!"

The duo walked briskly towards the stone mountains, with Sorcerymon in the lead. They reached the foot of the mountains, and saw that there were next to no footholds, marks or potholes at all. It would be impossible for anybody to climb the mountain, and the vibration grew more intense as Sorcerymon hoisted his staff up. It signed that whoever they were looking for, he was somewhere above the mountain, and they would need to climb it. It was lucky that both of them were able to fly.

"Come on. Fly!" Shutumon spread her avian wings, and took flight with a graceful leap towards the air.

Sorcerymon waved his staff, and magically levitated from the ground. Waving his staff a little, he gained control of the levitation and wielded it to follow his companion.

The duo flew up for nearly a hundred meters, before they arrived at a small entrance of a cave. The entrance was big enough for both of them to enter. They walked into the cave warily, with the light projected from Sorcerymon's vibrating staff guiding them. After several minutes of walking, they reached what seemed to be the end of the cave.

"We've found it!" Shutumon said, running her hands against a large rocky statue, which looked oddly familiar to Sorcerymon.

"Uhh, Shutumon? You sure this is it? Y'know, he does look a lot like…"

"I'm sure! Come on, say out that spell already. I bet he's stronger than her! Besides, the Master didn't really say specifically what Digimon we could send to the DigiWira now, did he? He just say that it's up to us to make sure that whoever we decided to send, that Digimon had better be able to do the job. And I'm sure that our imprisoned friend here is more than able to do so."

"How can you be so sure?" Sorcerymon asked skeptically.

Shutumon's blue eyes glinted in the midst of the darkness of the cave. "Well, I for once, have gotten information that in the human world today; the one with the White DigiSphere didn't show up to school. And the one with the Pink DigiSphere would be preoccupied with something after school; there's no way she could be in the Digital World today. Only that girl with the Yellow DigiSphere will be around. It's a perfect opportunity for us to strike her and that partner of hers."

"Why can't Karatenmon or the ShadoWira do the job? After all, the Master likes them better than us," Sorcerymon said grumpily.

Shutumon smacked Sorcerymon's head with her balled knuckle, sending the wizard Digimon's hat flying. "Would you listen to yourself? Now's the time we can prove our worthiness to the Master! The general is currently meditating to heal his injury, the ShadoWira and their partners are down for the count…well, the Blue ShadoWira isn't, but he couldn't fight the DigiWira without that penguin partner of his. Lucky for us, that didn't mean that he's of no use to us. He's the one who gave us all the information about the DigiWira."

"But why attack the Yellow DigiWira? I thought you have a grudge against the Pink DigiWira's Fairymon?" Sorcerymon asked, rubbing the sore spot on his head where he'd been pummeled.

"I am, but the pink pair isn't going to be around today, so I figure I'll start with the yellow duo first," Shutumon replied easily. "No big deal."

"Ok, Shutumon, if you say so." Sorcerymon pointed his staff towards the statue and chanted loudly, "Fallen Digimon of long before, with my magic you shall rise once more, IYYAH!"

A beam of white and blue light streamed out from Sorcerymon's staff and enveloped the statue. Slowly, the stones crumbled down noisily before exploding. Shutumon used her power over the wind to divert the stones from hitting her and Sorcerymon, and watched as a glowing silver creature stepped out from the cloud of dust generated from the explosion.

It was a magnificent creature – a quadrupled vulpine Digimon, with glittering silver furs and nine tails. Each tip of his tails was burning with orange flame. His eyes were burning red, sharp and watchful. He was walking with fluid and grace. And he stood nearly twice Shutumon's height.

"Welcome back, Kyuubimon," Shutumon said.

"Ah, Shutumon," Kyuubimon replied back with a drawling, masculine voice. He was talking with an airy tone, as if nothing in the world could call out for his interest. Yet, he seemed to have his attention fixed on the avian woman. "Dear friend. Thank you for releasing me from my entombment."

"Well, I'm glad that you still remembered our friendship," Shutumon said, as Kyuubimon approached her. She patted the vulpine Digimon's muzzle twice.

"You two seem to go way back," Sorcerymon said sulkily.

Shutumon winked. "What's the matter, jealous?"

"No, but you took the credit. I was the one who freed Kyuubimon, y'know."

Kyuubimon shifted his attention towards Sorcerymon. His shadow loomed against the small child-like wizard, who cowered in fear upon meeting the gaze of the regal nine-tailed fox. Kyuubimon was observing the shivering wizard with a curious expression on his face.

"Ah, Shutumon…but who is this little fellow who claimed that he has released me?"

"Little?" Sorcerymon yelped indignantly, but Shutumon immediately blocked his mouth firmly with her palm.

"Kyuubimon, this is Sorcerymon. Also a friend and it's true, he released you, but I was the one who took him here."

"Ah, really? Then, I owe you both a favor. Come now, Sorcerymon, there's no need for that silliness gesture of fear. Any friend of Shutumon is a friend of mine. Come, Shutumon. Name me the favor that I must return to you, and I shall do it in the most satisfactory way possible."

"I'll take your word for it," Shutumon murmured, and poked at Sorcerymon. "Show him the yellow duo."

Sorcerymon wordlessly waved his staff, and projected an image of Liu Ying and Labramon from it. It was a scene from the battle between the DigiWira and Lynxmon. Kyuubimon looked at the image projection curiously, and his eyes widened upon witnessing Labramon Digivolving into someone like him, but with midnight blue fur instead of silver. The flames on her nine tails were crimson red as opposed to his orange flames.

"Ah, but who is this doppelganger of mine, Shutumon? It is very, very curious. Not to mention, very ugly too."

"This ugly doppelganger of yours is called Youkomon, and she's been a thorn on the side of evil for quite some time now. So, Kyuubimon…" Shutumon's eyes glinted evilly. "I have an easy task for you. Destroy this Youkomon, and her human partner too while you're at it. The Master will surely reward you greatly should you be successful!"

"Ah, consider it done, Shutumon. The Digital World would be too crowded with two kitsune Digimon roaming around now, wouldn't it?"

xxx

Gayathri leaned back against the passenger's seat, and waited patiently as Anding and her parents got into the car. The family's driver had already started on the car, and Gayathri, knowing that there was nothing more that she could do after placing her father's laptop briefcase at the back seat, settled on her seat. She ran a hand on her plaited hair, inspecting it idly, wondering whether the ribbon she had used matched the pink top she was wearing.

From the rearview mirror, she could see Anding dragging a big travel baggage, and placed it into the car's baggage compartment. He then put in small hand-luggage Gayathri's mother was carrying into the luggage compartment as well before closing it. After that, the twenty-five year old man bustled forward and opened the backseat door for his employers – Gayathri's mother and father – and closed it after they had gotten in. He then promptly got in the driver's seat.

"Are you sure that's everything, dear?" asked a slightly ringing female voice. This was Vanitha, Gayathri's mother. She was a forty one years old businesswoman, and had stylish short hair the same color as Gayathri. Her hair was straightened and she had a very pleasant face, but strict looking eyes. Her skin tone was the same as Gayathri; it didn't take a wild guess to see that Gayathri had inherited most of her mother's features, with one exception. Vanitha's eyes were dark brown, while Gayathri's were a lighter shade of brown. She was dressed in businesswoman attire – a blue suit and skirt which reached her knees.

"That should be everything. We'll only be going for a week to UK, dear," answered a firm, business-like voice. This was Nadarajah, Gayathri's father. He was a successful corporate businessman and owned a famous telecommunications company at Putrajaya. His skin tone was considerably darker than his wife and daughter, but his eyes were light brown which his daughter inherited. His curly, black hair was cropped short and showed signs of aging by the gray hairs over the temples. He was dressed in a smart blazer suit. "What's most important is that I've already have our passports, our flight tickets and the important documents. Anything else we might forget, we can get it at UK."

"If you say so, dear," Mrs. Vanitha (or Mrs. Nadarajah, as she will be referred in future) replied.

Gayathri chuckled and turned her head around, watching her parents. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Relax, you two. It's not like this is your first time going on a business trip."

"Our daughter has a point," Mr. Nadarajah said with a smile. He leaned forward and tapped the driver's shoulder lightly. "Anding, you may drive now, but there's no need to rush; our flight is on 6.00 in the evening. and now it's only 2.30 p.m. We only need to be at the airport at around 4.00 o'clock, and there's plenty time for that."

"Will do, sir," Anding replied, and shifted the gear of the car from 'P' to 'R'. He began maneuvering the steering wheel as Gayathri watched him with apparent interest.

But, her thoughts were somewhere else.

Adam had been absent at school that day, but she was surprised to see that it was Adam's sister who had come to their school to meet them personally. She liked Alisha Ariff instantly and was surprised that she knew so much already about the Digimon and the Digital World. However, she was surprised to hear her request, which she had voiced during their brief meeting at recess time that day. Her minds recollected the meeting she had with Liu Ying, Jackie and Alisha during their recess time.

She had gotten to know not just about Adam's sister, but also a great deal more.

/Flashback/

"I'd like to be of help, in any way possible," Alisha said, after introductions were made between her and Gayathri. Gayathri had inquired of what had brought the woman here.

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"I told Adam yesterday that I want to be of help, kind of like what you're doing for the kids now, Jackie," Alisha said briskly. "Mentoring, and more, I hope."

Liu Ying and Gayathri exchanged sideways glances; careful not to make it noticeable to the woman and the computer instructor. Of course, even they had no idea of Jackie's involvement with the sun staff, and Gayathri had only seen Jackie communicating with TobuCatmon once.

However, Jackie seemed to be considering Alisha's request. He leaned back against his chair, and rubbed his chin.

Then, he smiled. It seemed that he had made up his mind.

"What exactly do you do for a living, Alisha?" Jackie inquired. They had immediately got into referring themselves by first-name basis, sans the formalities of Miss and Mister.

"I'm a system analyst," Alisha answered promptly. "I graduated from University of Malaya with Bachelor of Science, in Information Technology and Software Engineering."

Jackie nodded. "So you know your stuffs about all things IT, I presume?"

"Of course."

"Ok, maybe we can arrange something for you to do. Girls," Jackie called out for Liu Ying and Gayathri. "There's something I'd like to show you. Come over here to the computer. You too, Alisha."

The girls and the twenty-three years old woman peered closer to the computer Jackie was using, as the blue-eyed man began clicking on his electronic optical mouse. He launched a graphic editor program and opened a file titled 'DigiWira uniform'. To the girls' surprise, the file displayed three sets of familiar-looking uniforms – gray uniforms with three different accents.

"Hey, that's our uniforms," Gayathri pointed out to a smiling Jackie.

"You created it?" Liu Ying asked incredulously.

Alisha shifted her gaze from the girls to the computer instructor with a slightly bemused look.

"Yup. What do you think?" Jackie asked proudly.

"Chic!" Gayathri exclaimed.

"Somewhat ridiculous," Liu Ying muttered.

Jackie sweat-dropped and shifted his gaze towards the computer screen. "Well, everyone's a critic. Anyway, when you first told me about you becoming a DigiWira, Liu Ying, I was feeling the same way as Alisha here. I wanted to help more. But for months, I couldn't do much, and it frustrated me. Liu Ying was in the Digital World on her own, only with her partner, and she was doing what normal girls her age wouldn't even dream of doing. She was in a war, and I couldn't help much. My worry only increased when Gayathri and Tanemon joined you and Shaomon.

"Then, I found out how the two of you communicated with TobuCatmon before the D-Terminals came to you, and I decided to do the same. I downloaded Yahoo Messenger, and added TobuCatmon after asking Liu Ying of his username. How he'd managed to get a Yahoo account was beyond me, but I soon learned that that little kitty has his ways of doing so. We conversed from time to time via the chatting client, and I was kept up to date of your adventures.

"Three weeks ago, Adam came into the picture, and TobuCatmon announced to me that the team was complete. So, I thought at that time, with the team completed…why not design a set of uniform for you three? It didn't take me much effort, and I was able to send the designs to TobuCatmon. The designs were digitized by the mystical attribute of the Digital World and your Digivices, and they became your uniforms.

"But then, something mysterious happened…" Jackie paused and gazed intently to his audience.

"What's that?" Liu Ying asked.

"About a week and a half after you guys got your uniform, I was here doing some work when I was called for an emergency meeting between the teachers and the principle. I left my computer on after closing all programs, and locked the door. When I came back, the door was already unlocked, but no one was in the computer room. And somebody had opened the DigiWira Uniform file, but had neglected to close the file. When I asked at the main office whether anybody had come to request for the keys to the computer classroom, Mrs. Asiah Jafar, the clerk there, said that nobody did. It freaked me out slightly that the lock to the computer classroom had been easily picked open, and somebody in this school probably knew about you three.

"The timing was impeccable, though. A couple of weeks passed and I heard nothing about anybody mentioning the uniform…until the appearance of the ShadoWira."

Gayathri's eyes widened. "So that's why they have the same uniforms as ours!"

"No wonder," Liu Ying said softly.

"That means that one of the ShadoWira had broken into here, and probably copied the file," Alisha deduced.

"Right," Jackie said.

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" Liu Ying asked.

"Back then, you weren't supposed to know of my involvement," Jackie said evasively. "I was planning to help you from the background. Y'know, like those shows where they have this invisible mentor who guides them silently, and gives them help whenever they need it?"

"I must have missed that show," Liu Ying muttered, but decided not to press the issue anymore.

Apparently, Gayathri was thinking along the same lines, as she too kept her silence.

Jackie cracked his knuckles and smiled at his female guests. "Anyway, I probably should sue the ShadoWira for breach of copyright! That design was hundred-percent original creation of Jackie Chan Wai Lung!" he cracked. This did the trick, and the tensed look on Liu Ying and Gayathri dissipated. Alisha merely smiled. "Ok, that aside. There's another thing I've created, after TobuCatmon's messenger was kidnapped by Karatenmon."

He opened another program, which looked more complex to the DigiWira. Alisha however seemed to recognize it, and told the girls that the program required sound knowledge in information technology in order to be able to use it fully. It involved the usage of several programming languages combined with a graphic editor. Usually it was used to design complex simulations. She had never used it, but had read about it. Then, Jackie called them to look at a blueprint of what looked like a wooden stick with a sunflower-shaped end.

"That's the sun staff!" Liu Ying exclaimed, surprised. "You designed it too?"

"Actually, I only improvised it. TobuCatmon sent me the staff after Adam brought it back from Wizardmon's destroyed home, asking me whether there was anything I could do to salvage it. I did what I could, and presto! What you get is a staff, with the ability to give you some insight of troubles happening in the Digital World. Wizardmon has placed many enchantments in the staff, but those spells were translated as programming language, and I was able to tweak the language a little, and did some editing here and there…"

"I wonder what else you're keeping from us," Gayathri said suspiciously.

Jackie grinned. "For a moment, that's all you're getting. I don't have many secrets left in me."

Gayathri nodded, Liu Ying looked somewhat skeptical, but Alisha didn't seem to think that Jackie was being entirely truthful, judging from the suspicious expression on her face. But, Gayathri then saw the time and gasped.

"It's almost end of recess time! I could never go to the canteen and buy any food now…"

"Here, Gayathri," Alisha said kindly, and passed her a pack of banana fritters. "I bought three packets just now, and Shaomon had taken one. I've eaten one, and there's this one, the last one. I'm already full. You can have it."

"You're my best friend, Kak Lisha," Gayathri said gratefully and took the packet.

"Jackie," Liu Ying said, shaking her head as she observed her hungry friend eating the banana fritters. "Now that you've shown us that you're able to help us, can you design something to help us find Adam's D-Terminal? We couldn't retrieve it yesterday from the Red ShadoWira."

"I could, maybe," Jackie nodded. "I'll need your Digivice and D-Terminal for that. Maybe I can include the Digital-Detect-Discover program in your D3s into the D-Terminals, enabling them to track other D-Terminals the same way the Digivices can detect other Digivices. But retrieving it would be rather tricky – when Adam's back in shape, he should use his new Teleportation ability to summon back his D-Terminal, whenever he and the Red ShadoWira meet face to face once more."

"I'll help," Alisha offered. "Just show me some of the basic stuff; I can deal with the programming, but I'm not familiar with the Digivices or the D-Terminals."

"Shouldn't you go to work?" Jackie inquired.

"I took the day off."

"Then welcome onboard," Jackie said warmly. "The kids are called DigiWira; maybe we ought to call ourselves the DigiMentors."

Alisha sweat-dropped. "Uhh…I think mentors will do just fine."

The brown-haired man shrugged easily. "Whichever suits you fine. Anyway, I think with two of us here we can do the job a lot quicker. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours; all we need to do is copy the program from the Digivices and paste it in the D-Terminals. Maybe after school, you two can go to the Digital World and test it out?" He ended, and looked at the two DigiWira girls, expecting an answer from them.

"Uhh…I don't think I can make it today," Gayathri said regretfully, as she finished up the last of the banana fritters. She rose up from her seat and threw the empty plastic packet into the waste basket right beside Jackie's table, before taking her place again. "Today I'm supposed to tag along with Anding to send my parents to KLIA today; my folks are going on a business trip to UK this evening. Probably to their 1100th honeymoon too, while they're at it," she added, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. That's ok, Gayathri. I can go to the Digital World by myself today; hopefully there's no trouble there today," Liu Ying assured. She glanced towards the gray-eyed woman sitting next to her. "Kak Lisha, how about Adam? Is he ok?"

"My brother's fine, actually, but I don't think his partner is. Adam mentioned to me this morning about his partner being afraid to evolve…Digivolve," she amended.

"Dark Digivolution could cause a lot of trauma for the Digimon who has experienced it, and retained his state of mind to tell another about it," Shaomon, who had been sitting on Liu Ying's thigh silently for the past fifteen minutes, commented. "We're lucky that Tokomon managed to snap out of it."

Liu Ying nodded silently. "So I guess it's just me and Shaomon then, today."

"Call me if you need me," Gayathri said earnestly. "I don't think we'll be at the airport for a long time. Probably to just send my folks at the check-in counter and I'll get something to eat after they've gone to passport control area. If you need me, Anding can take me home in a jiffy."

/End Flashback/

Gayathri traced the outlines of her D-Terminal, which she had placed inside her jeans pocket, anxiously. Liu Ying should have been in the Digital World by now, and there was no news from her. Looking out at the palm trees that grew alongside the highway towards the airport, Gayathri sighed softly and leaned back to her chair. Her parents were chatting animatedly of what they were planning to do after arriving at the United Kingdom from the backseat, while Anding's attention was too focused on the road for Gayathri to talk to him.

Not that she wanted to; not so much, anyway. She'd kept the black-haired man updated almost everyday of her exploits at the Digital World. Anding was always so interested in hearing her story; Gayathri had never gotten tired to tell him anything. She guessed that it was a good thing that at least someone in her house knew about her being DigiWira.

But now, she was worried. She didn't know why; her D-Terminal wasn't even beeping, but she had a sinking feeling that something was up at the Digital World.

She hoped that there would be no trouble.

And if there would be, hopefully that it was something that Liu Ying and Labramon could take care of on their own.

xxx

Bored, Adam looked at the clock, which showed the time: 2.30 p.m.

"No school, no Digital World, nothing's on TV except those boring soaps," he muttered. "And Tokomon's still asleep. He'll miss out all his favorite soaps. Poor little guy."

His eyes fell on the rack of DVDs his sister had bought a long time ago. His interest piqued immediately as he began browsing the titles. He found one that caught his eyes instantly.

"Cool! The Shutter!" (A Thai horror movie)

The boy immediately switched off all lights, effectively causing the apartment to become very dark. He then went to the freezer and took out a small box of ice-cream. Using a big spoon he dug out several scoops of the vanilla ice-creams and put them inside a big mug. Then he stored the ice-cream back inside the freezer and gingerly went back to the living room.

Grinning, he placed the DVD inside the player. "No school, no homework…" The title screen appeared on the TV. He immediately got settled on the sofa, with his big mug of ice-cream in tow, and used the remote control to navigate the movie's menu.

Something crossed his mind, which made his grin faltered. A creepy sensation which went away as suddenly as it had appeared.

Is everything ok at the Digital World? He wondered silently. I hope so.

xxx

Liu Ying pointed her D-Terminal forward, towards the direction of the Shadow Realm, and pressed a button on the device.

Nothing. No reaction from the device at all.

She was at the Green Meadow – no way would she venture near the dark home of SkullSatamon ever again without backup – but as the device had been modified to match the ability of the D3 Digivice, she could stand at the lush green field and her device would be able to detect any D-Terminal signal coming from anywhere within a hundred mile radius. It was the current maximum setting of the range the D-Terminal was able to scan, and it was enough. The Shadow Realm was only approximately fifty miles from the Forest Sanctum.

The raven-haired girl peered to the screen, making sure that she had gotten all the settings correct. Jackie, with help of Adam's sister Alisha, had already finished installing the program Digital-Detect-Discover on her D-Terminal when the school bell rung, and she had immediately go to the Digital World to begin testing the device, as well as trying to detect the signal which would point her towards Adam's stolen D-Terminal.

It had been an hour, and she'd gotten no reaction from the D-Terminal. Sighing, she pressed another button on the device, and begun typing a message for Jackie and Alisha.

"No signal from Adam's D-Terminal at all. Not even from the Shadow Realm, and I've checked everywhere – even the Megalith Coliseum, the East Lake City and the destroyed Green Meadow Village. The Red ShadoWira probably has the device with him back at our world."

"Should we be going now, Liu Ying?" Labramon inquired, looking up at her human partner. "It has been nearly an hour."

"I guess we better," Liu Ying replied. "Let's head back to the Forest Sanctum now, shall we?"

The duo of magical and earth began making their way towards the Forest Sanctum, which was somewhat nearby. They didn't rush themselves; there was no other Digimon in sight. The weather was slightly windy, with cumulus clouds hovering over the sky. But it felt nice. Liu Ying enjoyed the freshness of the air of the Digital World, compared to the one back home. It was the reason why she didn't really mind going to the Digital World to test out the new function of the D-Terminal, as it gave her the opportunity to escape the real world for the time being.

All of a sudden, she noticed that her partner tensed. Labramon had stopped walking, and was looking around her anxiously. Her beige furs were standing at their ends.

"Labramon?"

"Liu Ying, I am detecting a strange presence from around here," the rookie level Labrador said quietly. "But I cannot determine exactly where."

"Really?" Liu Ying said, but she needn't to. Her partner's sensitive sense was reliable. If she said that they should be wary, then Liu Ying knew that it was best for her to follow the dog's advice.

Suddenly, a hundred meters away from them, right by the lake, the air rippled. A Digimon materialized from the ripple, whose appearance caused surprise to both Liu Ying and Labramon. To Labramon, it was like looking in a mirror; the approaching bestial Digimon looked almost like her when she was in her champion form, save for its silver furs and orange flames. Otherwise, one could say that Youkomon had a twin sibling.

"Labramon, does Youkomon have a twin brother or sister that I don't know about?" Liu Ying asked her partner nervously as the nine-tailed fox approached them slowly.

"I really do not think so," Labramon replied. "But what I do know is that this newcomer here…its intention is not good."

"He's really big now, isn't he? You're only at the level of his chest when you're Youkomon."

"Not the point, Liu Ying. I think you better prepare to give me a power boost!"

The silver fox creature was easily three meters tall, and his outspread burning nine tails gave him a fearsome aura. His eyes were glinting with malice. He stopped walking when he was only about fifty meters from where the duo was standing and peered at them curiously.

"Ah, but are you not the DigiWira and her partner that I've been ordered to destroy?" he inquired with an excruciatingly polite tone. "Ah, but first! Greetings are in order. I'm called Kyuubimon!"

Despite the strange courtesy displayed by Kyuubimon, Liu Ying's alarm was set off immediately upon hearing Kyuubimon's inquiry. She immediately took out her D3 Digivice and pointed it towards Labramon, who was ready for action.

"Labramon…Digivolve to……YOUKOMON!"

"Destroy us? Not until you can get pass me!" Youkomon declared derisively. "Just who are you?"

"Ah, but I thought I've already introduced myself? Perhaps you require a longer introduction? Very well," Kyuubimon said calmly. "I am Kyuubimon; vaccine type, champion level bewitching beast Digimon. I incinerate my enemies with my Fox Flame Dragon attack and if it's not enough, they shall suffer the wrath of my Demon Fireball!"

Liu Ying and Youkomon sweatdropped upon hearing the lengthy introduction. This was not what they have expected.

"What do you want from us?" Youkomon demanded.

"Ah, but you are one curious little vixen now, aren't you? It's simple, actually. A dear friend of mine, Shutumon, has released me from my three centuries long entombment. To repay her favor, she's asked me to destroy you. So here I am." Kyuubimon spoke with such a calm manner, that one who didn't understand what he was saying might think that this Digimon was friendly. Yet, one look into the fox's crimson eyes would easily tell them otherwise.

Youkomon took her stance, and Liu Ying slowly backed away.

"Let's commence with the battle now, shall we?" Kyuubimon said, and raised his tails up. The orange flames on his tails instantly blazed; the flames rose higher and higher until a nine-headed fiery dragon specter materialized from the flames. It roared with a deafening cry before snaking its way towards Youkomon. It was a fearsome sight to behold, and the usually poised Youkomon was flustered by the degree of power the nine-headed dragon specter was exhibiting.

She didn't know whether she could match Kyuubimon's power.

"Youkomon, look out!" Liu Ying shouted worriedly. She quickly raised her hand and activated her telekinetic energy barrier to prevent herself from the attack.

Youkomon immediately launched nine fireballs to counter the nine-headed dragon that was coming her way, but the dragon simply opened its nine mouths and swallowed the nine energy balls that shot its way. Shocked, the midnight blue fox had to resort to her more powerful attack, and transformed herself into a roaring dragon specter. She launched herself towards the incoming nine-headed dragon, summoning all her power and might to fight Kyuubimon's dragon specter.

Within the flames, she didn't notice the Yin and Yang symbol emblazoned on her four limbs glowing. The darker half of the symbol was radiating with yellow light.

Youkomon streaked towards Kyuubimon, and collided with one of the nine heads. To her delight, the head which she had collided with dissipated into a puff of smokes as she sailed towards Kyuubimon, who was looking at her with a calm expression. Ignoring the look, Youkomon knew what was to be done. She simply needed to ram herself through the nine heads (now eight heads) of the dragon in order to counter the attack.

She couldn't believe that it was that simple.

"Ah, Youkomon. In your hurry to counter-attack me, you have neglected your own partner!" Kyuubimon announced gleefully.

Youkomon was shocked and turned her head around. True enough, Kyuubimon's eight-headed dragon was now approaching Liu Ying. Liu Ying was having her arms raised; Youkomon knew that she was attempting to defend herself, and calmed down slightly. She raced towards the eight-headed dragon as quickly as she could as the dragon rammed into Liu Ying. Turning around, she saw the mildly surprised expression on Kyuubimon's face when he witnessed that a yellow energy barrier was shielding Liu Ying from his dragons.

"Ah, but this is unexpected. Shutumon has neglected to inform me that the child also has powers," he muttered. "But no matter; I love a challenge!"

Youkomon panicked upon hearing Liu Ying screaming; the attack was too much for her to handle! The yellow barrier was dissipating instead of absorbing the energy – Liu Ying was not strong enough to deal with Kyuubimon, who looked like a seasoned fighter. She increased her pace and paled upon seeing Liu Ying being thrown away, the barrier she had erected simply was consumed by the raging eight-headed dragons.

I won't make it in time! Youkomon realized. But I have to try…for Liu Ying! Hold on, I am coming!

She raced towards Liu Ying as the eight-headed dragon streaked towards the fallen DigiWira. But even with the fastest speed she could muster, Youkomon realized that it was futile. She was not going to make it in time! It was only her determination that pushed her to not give up, and continue running as fast as she could.

The dragon inched its way closer to the beaten DigiWira, threatening to burn her with its eight fiery heads. They had already opened their mouths, and their fiery tongues slithered out. Each tongue had two points, and each point was laced with inferno.

While she was running, Youkomon didn't notice that the yellow light that was glowing on the darker half of the Yin-Yang symbols on her body began to shift to the lighter half. Her silent determination was fueling energy to the Yin and Yang symbol, without her aware of it. When the white portions of the symbols were glowing with yellow light, Youkomon found herself bathed with dazzling yellow light as something unexpected happened.

Youkomon didn't know how, but her body suddenly seemed to cease functioning. She seemed to have halted in midway, but she could still see herself rushing, now with greater speed, to aid her fallen DigiWira partner. The environment shifted around her in top speed, but she felt no wind slamming against her face or the sense of her feet hitting the ground. All her sensations were gone, but she continued on running. Looking back, she was surprised to see her body, eyes closed and head limped, hanging in midair on stasis. Her body was not moving, but she was moving…she found herself magically in front of Liu Ying now, and was glowing with brilliant yellow light.

"Ah, what trickery is this?" Kyuubimon demanded, looking frazzled for the first time.

Formerly, Youkomon knew that she stood merely as high as Kyuubimon's shoulders, but now, she found herself standing at equal heights with the silver kitsune. Everything around her became smaller all of a sudden. Looking down, she was surprised to find that her furs were no longer midnight blue; instead they were shining yellow as gold. The tubes she had coalescing around her neck were white with red lines, instead of white with blue lines. Icy blue flames seemed to be radiating all over her body.

Seeing the approaching eight-headed dragon, Youkomon lifted her nine tails solemnly and channeled all her might to it. Her whole body blazed with blue fire, strangely cold and hot at the same time. Her energy was dispersed equally to the tips of her nine tails, and blue flaming orbs were formed.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

The blue fiery orbs were launched with one forceful swish of her tails, and Youkomon saw nine orbs sailed past her. Each orb slammed against a dragon head, effectively neutralizing it. The two attacks seemed to be canceling each other, signing the fact that Youkomon now possessed the same firepower as her opponent; but she had one advantage. The dragons had only eight heads, she had blasted nine fire orbs. Eight orbs were used to neutralize the dragon, and Youkomon saw as the ninth fire orb went straight towards Kyuubimon's head.

Kyuubimon had no time to evade the single orb, which was as big as the size of his head; his energy was siphoned towards the dragon he had projected from his tail. Thus, he was transfixed on where he was standing. He struggled to redirect his energy back to his body after witnessing the cancellation of his technique, but it was too late. The single azure orb collided against his head, directly between his eyes, directly on the Yin and Yang symbol.

CRAACCKK!

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The loud, sickening sound of a cracking skull was heard, and with one loud yell, Kyuubimon combusted into millions bit of data particles. His silver data particles were dispersed all over the lush greenery of the paddock, which didn't suffer much from the brief battle between the two kitsunes.

"He starts his every sentence with an Ah, and his life also ended with an Ah," Youkomon, the glittering yellow-furred version, spoke softly with a bemused tone.

"Youkomon?"

The glowing apparition of the bigger, yellow-furred, Youkomon turned around and saw her human partner beginning to stand on her feet. She was struggling, but she didn't seem to need any help. She was bewildered beyond belief as she looked up to her towering partner.

"What happened, Youkomon?"

Youkomon looked down at her own body – the midnight-blue furred one, which hung on stasis not very far away from where she was currently at – and shrugged. She didn't know the answer; she herself was having a hard time comprehending what had just happened to her. Her mind reflected the battle she had with Kyuubimon, and was struck by the fact that it was perhaps her shortest battle she had ever had for the last five months (The first one month's battle had been easy, but at that time she wasn't as experienced as she was right now).

"I am not sure, Liu Ying," she finally replied.

As soon as she had said that, she felt as if her body was dissipating. Her solid body began to become spirit-like; transparent and weightless. Her icy blue eyes saw that her stasis body – the blue-furred one – now glimmering with yellow light. Looking down, she could see the grasses through her transparent body.

"Youkomon, what's going on? Why are you…transparent?"

A panicked cry from Liu Ying was heard, but Youkomon couldn't do anything. Not knowing what else to do, she closed her eyes.

And when she opened her eyes again, everything looked…normal. The stones, the trees, the lake, the village not so far away…all looked as if they were the right size. Looking down, she saw that her fur was once again, midnight blue. She felt a drain in her power, and experienced the familiar sensation of de-Digivolution. There was nothing to worry about; everything around her became nothing but yellow lights.

When the light was gone, everything around her looked a lot bigger than they usually were.

"SHAOMON!" Liu Ying cried in relief, and picked up the little in-training Digimon. She held the little puppy close to her body, looking very, very relieved. "You're alright!"

No wonder, Shaomon thought, feeling a lot sleepier than before. I have regressed all the way to in-training level.

"What was that all about, Shaomon?" the DigiWira asked again.

"No…idea," Shaomon replied sleepily, and dozed off instantly in Liu Ying's arms.

BEEP BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Securing Shaomon with one arm, Liu Ying used her free hand to retrieve her D-Terminal. She flipped open the cover, and saw a message from TobuCatmon.

"Congratulations on winning the fight, you two! I've watched the battle from the sun staff, and I think I know what's going on. Go to the details of yourself, partner and DigiSphere, which you have seen before and you will see a link from Youkomon's name."

Liu Ying pressed a sequence of buttons on the D-Terminal, and a statistic was displayed on the screen, in yellow digitized letterings against a black background.

DigiWira: Chang Liu Ying

DigiSphere: Yellow – Earth, Magical

Digital Abilities – Telekinesis / Telekinesis-Barrier / Telekinesis-Barrier-Deflector

Digimon Partner: Shaomon (In-training) / Labramon (Rookie) / Youkomon (Champion)

Liu Ying saw that the name Youkomon was underlined and was represented with an orange color instead of yellow, like the rest of the displayed text. TobuCatmon had said that Youkomon's name had now become a link, so she navigated her way through the screen. The arrow pointer became the symbol of a hand, with the index finger extended, when she positioned the pointer on Youkomon's name. She pressed it, and the stats on the screen disappeared.

A new data file was opened, and Liu Ying read the stats eagerly.

Digimon: Youkomon

Attribute: Data

Level: Champion

Techniques: Fox Tail Inferno, Dragon Wheel, Astral Projection

"Astral projection?" Liu Ying wondered, and pressed on the link. New stats were then displayed on the screen of the D-Terminal.

Astral Projection – A unique ability which can be used by the Data version of the Youkomon and Kyuubimon species, and all their Digivolutionary forms, stemmed from their power of Yin and Yang. Vaccine and Viral forms of the species cannot perform this technique. The reason behind this is currently unknown.

This technique manifests upon the Youkomon/Kyuubimon's dire need to be in two places at one time.

Youkomon, a Yin-type, can astral projects its latent Yang mode out of its body whenever the need arises. Similarly, Kyuubimon, a Yang-type, can also astral projects its latent Yin mode out of its body.

While performing this ability, the original body will cease to function, while the astral body will gain additional, but temporary, power boost. The astral body can perform any technique which the original body has mastered. But beware; the original body will be vulnerable to attack, so one should take care not to let its original body predisposed to the enemy, as when the original body is deleted, its astral self will remain trapped in the digital astral plane for eternity.

After performing this technique, a Youkomon or a Kyuubimon will be severely weakened, and will de-Digivolve one level below the usual level they can maintain.

"Will the wonders of the Digital World never end?" Liu Ying wondered wistfully, and smiled. "Let's go home. Gayathri and Adam won't believe this."

xxx

Sorcerymon and Shutumon face-faulted upon watching the result of the battle between Youkomon and Kyuubimon, with Youkomon ended up being the victor. They were hidden from within the cumulus clouds; Shutumon was able to fly, and Sorcerymon used his levitation spell. They had guided Kyuubimon to the Green Meadow Village earlier.

"That…was quick," Sorcerymon commented dryly. "I thought he's supposed to be very powerful?"

"He is!" Shutumon said shrilly. "Or, he was! Did you know that, three hundred years ago, he had caused devastation to one whole city on his own?"

"Did he? Well, it must have been a city of rookies and in-trainings then. It only took that Youkomon, without Sagittarimon and Fairymon, to take care of him today."

"I can't believe this…"

"If you don't mind me asking…how come you two were friends? I didn't know about it at all."

"Well, you were already entombed," Shutumon pointed out. "During those brief time when I was still free, I met Kyuubimon, and helped him massacred a village. He'd been such a gentlemon about it; he'd let me do the honors of demolishing the houses; said that a lady like me should have the chance to flesh out my skills."

Sorcerymon snorted. "Apparently, he was only all-talk. He'd let you do the entire job, because he couldn't do so on his own."

"But I've watched him!" Shutumon insisted. "And you've seen his prowess yourself; that nine dragon head thing was out of this world, don't you think so?"

"Well, maybe he was powerful, but he was past his prime now. Or maybe he was just so full of himself, that's why it was so easy for that Youkomon to beat him to smithereens!"

"I still can't believe it…"

"There, there…" Sorcerymon said consolingly. "We'll find more monsters to set loose for those pesky DigiWira now, won't we? Now, look at there; isn't that the Red ShadoWira?"

"Where?" Shutumon turned her head, following Sorcerymon's gaze direction. Indeed, she then saw a lone figure in black uniform and cape. This time around however, he didn't wear the mask and hood, but from the distance it was hard to discern his face. "What's he doing down there?"

"Dunno. Checking out the Yellow DigiWira, maybe?"

"Oh, that's so sweet! Let's watch them!"

xxx

He was watching the battle from afar, without interfering. The idea of the Yellow DigiWira and her partner being crushed by the Kyuubimon which Sorcerymon and Shutumon had released seemed appealing to him. He was no condition for battle, as his right arm was still sore. The wound still hurt whenever he exerted his right arm.

So, when he came to the Digital World today, it was just to observe the demise of the Yellow DigiWira. Nothing more.

That fox partner of hers has gotten more powerful, he noted, as the giant, golden Youkomon had successfully deleted the opposing Kyuubimon. While nowhere as strong as Reichmon…or Black Knightmon…Champion to Champion, her Digimon's got the edge. Flarelizamon won't last a minute if I sic him to face her. Damn. That's score one to the DigiWira again.

Earlier, he had witnessed the Yellow DigiWira using her D-Terminal to detect the signal coming from any other D-Terminal in the Digital World. It was fortunate for him that he managed to use Karatenmon's dark spell to cloak Adam's D-Terminal as well, making it impossible for being detected. Karatenmon had done the same thing to the ShadoWira's Digivices and D-Terminals, and he was merely using the same brand of power on the D-Terminal he had stolen from the White DigiWira.

Luckily I've managed to spy on their conversation today, during school's recess time. I can't really depend on Blue to do all the spying around the school…but with White skipping school today, school's gotten even more boring than ever. Couldn't make him freak out by tailing him without him knowing. Although…today wasn't a total loss. There was that smokin' hot lady today at school…who'd thought that she's actually White's older sister? Heh heh…

He watched as Liu Ying returned to the deep lush forest where she had come out from earlier, and snickered.

Forest Sanctum. Home to their Digimon mentor, TobuCatmon. The DigiWira's base of operation. Impenetrable by evil. No way can I enter the forest…I might as well go back home for now…I haven't been online on the net for quite a while now.

He took out a black and orange cell phone from the pocket of his black trousers, and pointed his Digivice towards it. "DigiPort Open!"

A flash of light ensued, and his surroundings changed from the green field of the Digital World, to his familiar spacious, somewhat messy, bedroom. His attires had reverted back to his school uniform, which consisted of white short-sleeved button-up shirt, which he had left un-tucked prior to his trip to the Digital World, and earth green pants. As he undid the buttons of his shirt, his free hand switched on the desktop system on his study table. He pulled up the chair and sat on it as he watched the program loaded one by one on the monitor.

Let's do some surfin'…chillin'…killin'….

Activating the internet connection, he watched as the Antivirus program he had installed began to update its files. A peer-to-peer file transfer program was also automatically loaded, and he immediately minimized the window in favor of the chatting client program, which had just begun to connect to the internet.

The Yahoo Messenger program was opened.

And to his surprise, there was an offline message for him – from someone he didn't expect. Clicking on it, a separate window was opened, displaying the full content of the message.

J.D. Kamaruzaman snickered as he ran his hand through his messy, blond hair. Isn't this ironic? I tried to end your life twice in the Digital World, and still, you offer a hand of friendship to me? Of course, you have no idea that I'm the Red ShadoWira now, have you?

He lowered his left hand from his hair to the sore spot on his right arm, tracing the scar Adam had inflicted on him the previous day, with Karatenmon's sword. It was just his luck that Karatenmon's sword wasn't laced with poison or anything lethal. The general had used his power to close up the wound, but he didn't really do a neat job on it. The ugly scar was what had remained from the battle at the Shadow Realm. Superficial as it was, the pain was still around.

Happy birthday to me…from the White DigiWira, he thought bitterly. Not everyday one gets a slash on the arm as a birthday gift. Of course, can't really blame him. Self-defense. I'd have done worse.

A brief flash of crimson emanated from his hazel eyes before it vanished. Then, he smirked as he leaned against the back of his chair; his left hand was now playing with the thin chain necklace he was wearing.

What should I do with you, Adam? He thought sinisterly, contemplating several plans in his mind. Ignore this message? Just reply with a thanks and be done with it?

No…that's no fun.

I know exactly what I should do. Heh heh…

The plan's so demented…I love it!

J.D. pointed the mouse pointer towards where it was displayed 'Add as Friend', and clicked it.