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.

15. Day of the Flowers

Liu Ying stood warily from a distance as she witnessed Youkomon facing off a recent threat of the Digital World.

The said threat was a lithe mechanical avian digimon standing at eight-feet tall, clad from head to toe with blue metallic armor. The facial armor was curved towards the front, downward, with its end crafted to bear the shape of a bird's beak. On each side of its metallic face, shimmering red glows were emitted from the slits which were done to expose its eyes. The body armor was also smoothly designed, with two different shades of blue – sky blue, and dark blue. The armor which covered its thighs were also patterned the same way as the body, but the lower leg's armor as well as the armors donning the creature's upper extremities were different. They had a rougher quality; the armors protecting its shins and knees were pointier in shape, while spikes protruded from the sidelines of the arms. From underneath the spikes there were rectangular slits, and from those slits semi-transparent, yet hard, 'feathers' protruded from them. These 'feathers' exuded a myriad shades of aura.

This digimon was called Peacockmon, an armor-level digimon. The Armored Champion had been demolishing a small colony of rookies and in-trainings which were unable to defend themselves against it, before the duo representing the Yellow DigiSphere turned up to stop it.

"Where are they?" Liu Ying grumbled nervously as she looked around. Her face was slightly sweaty; the afternoon heat was searing, and she had been warding off any stray attacks from the Peacockmon with her telekinetic power for the last thirty minutes. Behind her was the Elecmon with two different color schemes – one was the regular red with purple stripes, the other was purple with yellow stripes – and an assortment of in-training digimon, all cowering in fear as they watched the battle, and the destruction of their colony.

"Rainbow Flapping!"

The female DigiWira watched as Peacockmon's transparent 'feathers' shone with bright blue aura. The machine digimon flapped its mechanical wings, letting out a multicolored energy wave towards Youkomon. The midnight-blue furred fox digimon leaped from her feet and blazed with striking red flames, which instantly took form of a roaring draconic specter. Youkomon's Dragon Wheel attack rammed against the wave of rainbow, diminishing it into specks of data particles.

"Insolent whelp! I will not be made a fool of like this!" Peacockmon squawked with a raven-like voice. The shrill voice indicated immediately that Peacockmon was a 'he'.

"It is not my fault that your attack is not unstoppable," Youkomon replied evenly as the red flames evaporated from her body as soon as she landed back on her feet.

"How dare you! You haven't tasted my true power!" Peacockmon shouted. He pointed one wing towards the kitsune, his eyes glinting madly as he summoned, "Peahen Assistance!"

Immediately, three of Peacockmon's transparent 'feathers' shot out from the slits of his wings, and transformed into smaller, plainer-looking versions of the Armored Champion digimon. They stood at merely four-foot high, and were much simpler in design as compared to Peacockmon. Their armors were of two shades of brown, and they lacked the fearsome-looking wings of Peacockmon. Their wings were shorter with stubbed, yet sharp, orange claws embedded towards the end of the tips of the feathers. Their feet also ended with talons of orange color. And lastly, they didn't look solid – they were semitransparent and looked only about eighty-percent solid.

"Attack her, my peahens!" Peacockmon commanded loudly.

The semitransparent peahens obeyed Peacockmon's command and rushed towards their target – Youkomon. Youkomon managed to evade two peahens by simply rolling away, but she was caught off guard when she collided with the third peahen. To both her and Liu Ying's surprise, upon collision with the peahen, the peahen exploded soundly. The explosion was not the same as the one resulted in a digimon being deleted – this was a true explosion, with flames ignited and smokes ensuing.

From the sheer force of the explosion, Youkomon was thrown off her footings. She sailed into the air, and landed loudly on her back with a thud. Her visions were a blur; she could see the other two peahens zooming towards her, with the intention of colliding with her. Quickly she attempted to stand back up on her feet, but her back knees wobbled weakly and she stumped back onto the ground. The exploded peahen had collided with her on the back as Youkomon was rolling away to escape the first two peahens, thus injuring her back legs.

"YOUKOMON!"

Liu Ying rushed forward towards her injured partner, and flicked her arms forcefully. The two peahens were immediately thrown away, colliding into each other and exploded, much to the displeasure of Peacockmon. The DigiWira however couldn't care less; she knelt beside her digimon partner and quickly inspected the wounds. She coiled slightly upon seeing that Youkomon had suffered physical injury on her hind legs – a portion of her blue furs were scraped, revealing gashes underneath the furs. Clear liquid was oozing out from it.

"Youkomon, are you alright?" Liu Ying asked concernedly.

Youkomon didn't nod or shake her head. She merely gazed onto Liu Ying's eyes. "Liu Ying, has Gayathri or Adam reply to the call? Are they on their way here?"

"I don't know," Liu Ying answered distractedly; she couldn't tear her gaze away from the wounds on Youkomon's legs. "They should have been here by now. We've been battling Peacockmon for more than half an hour," she trailed. "It's not like them at all. Where could they be?" she babbled nervously. "We could really use their help."

Youkomon narrowed her eyes slightly; Liu Ying was normally calm and collected, but the kitsune had seen this kind of behavior in her human partner before. It was something Liu Ying didn't demonstrate often. The champion digimon remembered exactly when was the last time she had seen Liu Ying in a nervous wreck like this – it was during their second adventure, and they were up against a viral champion digimon called Kuwagamon. The insect digimon had injured Youkomon with its pincers, and Liu Ying was scared out of her wits. Luckily, Youkomon was able to initiate the Dragon Wheel attack which incinerated Kuwagamon instantly.

It didn't bode well to the kitsune digimon at all to see Liu Ying like this. She knew that she had to end the battle quickly.

"Liu Ying, I may not be able to move right now," the champion vixen began steadily, "but I have an idea of how to end this. But I will need you to guard my body."

Liu Ying calmed down slowly upon seeing her partner speaking. "You mean…?"

Youkomon nodded; one of the qualities she admired on her human partner was her ability to grasp quickly anything that was presented to her. It came with her experience as being the longest-running DigiWira out of the three DigiWira. She closed her eyes slowly and her body glimmered with yellow aura.

Liu Ying recognized immediately what her partner was intending to do – she was summoning her newest ability, the astral projection. She immediately pushed herself back on her feet, guarding the now-unconscious body of Youkomon as she saw Peacockmon waving his arms furiously. The armored peacock digimon had sent out more semitransparent 'feathers' out from their slits on his metallic wings. Seven peahens materialized when the 'feathers' landed on the ground. Seeing this, Liu Ying quickly assumed a ready stance, sensing a presence of something glowing with bright golden yellow light appearing behind her.

"Charge, my peahens!" Peacockmon commanded. "Destroy them!"

"Oh, that is so cliché," Liu Ying muttered, as her confidence returned to her. With a smirk, she flicked her arm towards one charging peahen, sending it flying towards the peahen behind its back. The unlucky peahens instantly exploded loudly into flames, smokes and data particles upon crashing each other, much to the chagrin of Peacockmon. The remaining five peahens saw this and immediately scrambled away from Liu Ying, recognizing the dangerousness of them being near the girl.

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

From behind Liu Ying, nine blue fireballs sailed past her head and hit the remaining five peahens. The peahens instantly suffered the same fate as their fallen comrades when they too, exploded.

Peacockmon looked on nervously as he saw the teenage girl approaching him with a stern look plastered on her face. Behind her, a magnificent, glowing golden-furred version of the fox he had been fighting with stood at an impressive nine-foot height. His peahens destroyed effortlessly by the duo, leaving him with his other two attacks. At this moment, the warnings given by Shutumon and Sorcerymon when they had set him free from his entombment echoed in his mind.

"You might be facing with only one pair of DigiWira, but don't underestimate them," Shutumon had cautioned.

"Yeah, because they are the ones who have destroyed many of us before!" Sorcerymon added with a huff. "They're the most experienced ones. Trust me, don't look down on them."

"HAH! What could one girl and one dog do to me?" Peacockmon had retorted boastfully. "I've defeated many who dare stand in my way with my glorious Rainbow Flapping, many stronger digimon fell to the might of my dear peahens, and I've even managed to slash one of Grademon's swords with my Strelizia!"

"Might I remind you that the sword you've slashed with your Stre-whatever-its-name-is isn't Grademon's true sword! He just borrowed that from one Leomon blacksmith as the lion fixed his true, made-out of-Chrome Digizoid swords!" Shutumon had shot back severely, irritated of his boastings.

"No difference," Peacockmon had replied back airily. "I'm fully confident of what my Strelizia could do."

"It's your funeral," he had heard Sorcerymon muttered as he bid his farewell to the servants of SkullSatamon, earlier that day.

And now, Peacockmon had wished that he didn't underestimate the duo. He tried to look for any way for him to win the battle. He was wary of the girl, whose power to throw anything with a mere flick of her hands, could easily toss him away should he attempted to charge towards her. Then there was also the glowing fox to consider. Then, his eyes fell onto the limp body of the midnight-blue furred fox, who was sprawled behind the girl. It looked like she was unconscious, and the girl was protecting her.

What happened to her? Peacockmon wondered. My peahens' explosion isn't fatal, that I know for sure. I just like to pretend that they are, sometimes, just to scare off enemies. She just fell limp and…died? No, if she's dead then she'd get deleted. Then there's the glowing fox that look just like her, but with different color schemes. Something is not right here, and I bet the KO-ed fox holds the key. The girl seems to not want to leave the fox's side. Maybe if I…

Peacockmon extended both the metallic skeletons of his wings to his sides, and they glowed with crimson aura.

Luck favors the bold, Peacockmon decided with a smirk from its beak. The gold fox doesn't look real – she's just like my peahens! And I know that if I were to be destroyed then my peahens won't make it as well. Maybe it's the same way with these guys.

Peacockmon knew instantly what he should do. With that decided, he slinked forward slyly, eyes watching the unconscious fox. He repeated what he had thought over and over again, and soon grew to believe it. He leaped off his feet and zoomed towards the girl first – she was protecting the fox, and therefore, she had to be eliminated first.

"Strelizia!" he shouted, and swung forward one wing towards the girl, who now stood merely six meters away from him.

Liu Ying gasped in shock and held both arms forward, generating a pale yellow telekinetic barrier in front of her just in time before the crimson energy blade crashed onto her hands. The energy blade sizzled with electricity and Liu Ying felt her arms vibrating. The power from the energy blade was too strong; Liu Ying felt her hands burning as the yellow aura emanating from her hands and arms became more and more vibrant. Then, something seemed to push her body forward, and the yellow aura from her hands accumulated into a yellow energy wave which sent Peacockmon flying back to where he had once stood.

"What is this!" Peacockmon gaped in shock. He had fallen on his back with a loud crash, and now struggled to get back on his feet. "How could a mere girl deflect my attack? This is impossible!"

However, he smirked when he saw the human girl fell on her knees onto the ground, right in front of the blue fox. Apparently, she was direly weakened from the attack she had deflected back to him. Looking down to his armor, Peacockmon was more pleased to find out that the energy wave did nothing to damage his armored body. Some of the blue colors had given out, revealing the metallic patina underneath on various parts of the armors, but otherwise, Peacockmon didn't suffer any bodily damage. The favor was still on his side.

"Victory is still at my side," Peacockmon declared softly, and re-summoned his crimson blades.

On the other hand, Youkomon had seen what Peacockmon was trying to do, and it infuriated her. She had seen him eyeing her physical body, and had attacked Liu Ying in order to reach to it. Apparently he was not aware that Liu Ying was more than able to protect herself, but seeing that Liu Ying had fallen in the process made her realize that it was impertinent that she ended this as soon as possible. Her whole astral-projected Yang body flared with bluish white flames, and she leaped across the demolished colony of the Elecmon species.

"Dragon Wheel!"

She transformed into a powerful, ice-blue colored draconic specter, much larger than the one she generated when she was in her physical body. She felt more power coursing through her ghostly body as she slithered towards the Armored Champion digimon, who was ready to intercept her with his blades. She didn't even faze when she saw that Peacockmon was going to jump off his feet for a counter attack. For all she knew, she could defeat him.

Seeing that the spectral dragon was approaching, Peacockmon charged towards her, attempting to slash the dragon into many astral pieces. He was confident that he could win, and quenched any sense of doubt that was flickering deep in his heart.

The two digimon collided in midair, and there was a bright flash of light ensued. A deafening, primeval draconic roar was heard echoing the surrounding, followed by a defeated yell which sounded very much like a raven. The sound of a digimon combusted into data particles then followed before finally the light, which had caused Liu Ying, the Elecmon and their in-training forms to close their eyes, subsided. A second later, everyone began to open/uncover their eyes and looked around the quiet surrounding of the demolished village of the Elecmon.

"Youkomon?" Liu Ying called, seeing that there was no trace of the astral-Youkomon or Peacockmon anywhere. Nervous, she got back up on her feet and was about to sprint forward, when…

"Easy, Liu Ying," a weak whisper said, causing Liu Ying to stop dead on her track. "I am fine. A little bit weak, but fine nonetheless. And I am glad to say that Peacockmon is not as fortunate. He did not survive the attack."

Liu Ying felt relieved as she spun around, and saw Youkomon's eyes fluttered open. The blue kitsune then glowed with pale yellow light as she reverted into Labramon…then went another step down as Labramon shrunk smaller, turning into Shaomon.

The black-haired DigiWira bent down to pick up her in-training partner digimon, and held her close to her body. "Once again, we did it, Shaomon." She looked around the colony – or what remained of it – and her joyous mood dampened considerably. "But it's too bad that we couldn't say the same thing about the colony."

Meanwhile…

Gayathri sat down on the soft sofa, her eyes landed at the little girl who was sitting beside her. Debbie Abah was watching the television while holding a cup of ice-creams on her left hand. She was watching cartoons and was laughing at the antics of the characters of the cartoon. She didn't seem to realize that Gayathri was watching her, which suit Gayathri just fine. The dark-skinned girl was content on watching the little girl silently.

I wish I have a little sister, she thought wistfully.

She cocked her head back towards the dining table, where Manny and Debbie's mother – Kimberly (or Aunty Kim) – was gathering the remaining dishes to be sent to the kitchen. Gayathri had helped bringing some plates to the sink, but was immediately ushered by Aunty Kim to the living room to rest after a hefty homemade lunch, which consisted of a very delicious chicken casserole with salads and mashed potatoes. Manny had claimed that these were the family's secret recipe, brought down from his mother's side of the family.

I wish Mother can cook like that, Gayathri thought silently. Her mother was a very busy businesswoman and a corporate lady; she simply didn't have the time to cook. But Gayathri knew that her mother – and father – both loved her dearly, and quenched that thought instantly.

"Are you sure you don't need my help, Aunty Kim?" she inquired. "It's no problem, really."

"Oh no, Gayathri, you sit there with Debbie and we'll wait for Manny to finish making his secret milkshakes," Aunty Kim said warmly.

And as if on cue, the loud burring sound of a blender emanated from the kitchen.

Gayathri smiled and settled back to the sofa she was sitting. Her eyes looked around the living room for her small pink handbag – where she had kept some money, her house keys, and her cell phone and not to forget her D-3 Digivice and D-Terminal. She had thought that she had placed it on the three-sitter sofa when she had arrived at Manny's house, but now she couldn't find it there.

"Debbie…have you seen my handbag?" she asked the maroon-brown-haired girl sitting beside her.

Debbie turned her attention to Gayathri and her doe-like eyes reflected the fact that she was thinking about what Gayathri had just asked her. She rubbed her chin slowly, before she blinked and smiled to the older girl. "Um…is it pink?" she inquired thoughtfully. "And this big…?" The pony-tailed girl made a notion with her hands, turning the palms sideways facing each other and about a half-a-meter apart.

"That's it," Gayathri said encouragingly. "Do you know where it is? I think I've put it on the sofa…but now I couldn't find it."

"I think Abang put it on the table over there, near the foyer," the six-year-old girl said. "He said that someone might accidentally sit on it, so he's moving it there so that you can get it when you are on your way out. Are you leaving now, Kak Gayathri? It's only four o'clock…we still haven't watched 'MULAN II' Abang had bought yesterday…"

Gayathri smiled over hearing the honorary 'older sister' title Debbie had bestowed upon her. "No…not yet. I just thought of checking my handphone, that's all. You sit here while I'll go check. I'll be back in a minute, ok?"

"Oh…ok," Debbie said, nodding her head cutely as Gayathri made her way towards the foyer. She then resumed her attention to the television.

The foyer was located just by the living room, but it was covered by a large wooden cupboard which housed a collection of Aunty Kim's china set. There was a mirror hung on the wall, and on the handsome wooden table under the mirror, where a small pot of bonsai was placed on the center, was Gayathri's pink handbag, just beside the bonsai pot. The table was just adjacent to the shoe-rack, which in turn, was adjacent to the door.

"How thoughtful of Manny," Gayathri smiled. "There's no way I'd be able to forget to take my handbag when it is here, all pink against the dark brown wood and white walls."

She dug into her handbag and retrieved her handphone first. She saw that she had a few messages – but they turned out to be some forwarded jokes from Belinda and Dina, and a message from Anding, saying that he and Mak Mirah would be stepping out of the house for a while to buy some kuih from the stalls by the gas station. The last message came about thirty minutes before, and was from Anding, so Gayathri had no doubt that he and his mother were already out of the house by now.

Gayathri then took out her D-Terminal, and paled instantly upon opening the cover of the device. She saw that she'd gotten two messages, one from TobuCatmon, and the other from Liu Ying.

One, sent about an hour ago, read: There's trouble in the Digital World, DigiWira, and you are needed. Please hurry. Signed, TobuCatmon.

The second message was longer, and sent only about ten minutes before. It read: Don't bother coming, it's taken care of. Where WERE you anyway? I understand Adam's being a no-show because his D-Terminal is with that Red ShadoWira (although knowing that, Adam SHOULD be watching out for any message from his YM)…but YOU? You better have a good explanation for this; we could have used your help! Signed, Liu Ying.

"She sounds mad," Gayathri whispered. There was no way she could hear her D-Terminal all the way from the dining area, with her handbag at the foyer.

But, as she was about to reply to Liu Ying's message, the sound of footsteps coming to the foyer made her stash the D-Terminal hastily back into her handbag. Less than a second later, Manny appeared at the entrance of the living room, holding two big glasses of vanilla milkshake with his hands. He peered curiously at her.

"Umm…milkshakes' ready," he said, grinning. "Hope you like vanilla."

And at the same time…

"I can't believe that I've won," Adam murmured in awe as he sat down on a wooden bench. He placed his badminton racket beside him and took a gulp of the mineral water he had brought.

"Why not?" JD asked, standing in front of the bench where Adam was sitting. He took the bottle of mineral water and downed a large gulp of the refreshingly cold water.

Adam scowled slightly upon seeing the three-quarter empty bottle which the blonde teen returned to him. He immediately finished up the remaining of the water; it was a warm day and after several games of badminton they were in dire need of water. "Well, it's just that I've heard that you're good in many sports."

"Good in sports, huh?" JD repeated with a smirk. "How about academically; what have you heard about me in that aspect?"

Adam sweatdropped. "Uhh…"

JD raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, huh? So are you saying that I'm just a dumb jock?"

"I didn't say that." Before, when he didn't know the blond teen, Adam would have cowered upon hearing the question coming from the bigger teen. However, his previous day's encounter with JD proved to be a pleasant rendezvous to him, if not somewhat amusing – with the end result of him getting too stuffed to move that he didn't even bother to have breakfast come morning. This caused Adam to have a different opinion on JD, and he no longer felt threatened by the older teen's imposing ways.

Hearing the reply, JD shrugged. "Eh…maybe I'm not that good in badminton."

JD grinned as he plopped down on the cemented badminton court, which was right in front of the bench where Adam was sitting. He outstretched his legs forward and had his dark red racket balanced on his thighs. He then looked at Adam and wiped his sweaty face with the sleeve of his red cotton shirt, and grinned at the younger boy cockily.

"Or…maybe I have let you won!"

Adam laughed. "Well, maybe… as if!"

Well, trust me kid, if I just put half my effort on that game, you won't stand a chance, JD thought silently, with his lopsided grin plastered on his face. He looked at his watch. 4 o'clock…the Yellow DigiWira should've finished off that Peacockmon by now. That birdbrain didn't look too tough at all… not with her partner's new power-up. But she should really be mad with Pink and White by now. Heh, heh, it's a good thing I've managed to pry Adam away from his house… and sources say that the Pink DigiWira is preoccupied on her own...

xxx

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WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 15 – Day of the Flowers

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"Where were you two yesterday?" Liu Ying questioned crossly. She was standing, and glaring at the two persons who were sitting in front of her with a piercing look.

Upon reaching the school that Friday morning, Liu Ying had attempted to look for Adam and Gayathri, as none of them had filled her in with what that kept them preoccupied from going to the Digital World the previous day. However, she had been asked by one teacher to monitor the school gate for any late students, as the prefect who was assigned for the duty was absent. She tried looking for the other two DigiWira again, but was once again hampered by another duty to help maintain the order at the canteen.

And so, she had seized the opportunity to seize both her teammates right after the school bell rang. The bewildered looks given by Gayathri's best friends Dina and Belinda, as well as Adam's best friend Hakim, were pointedly ignored by the prefect as she dragged them both to the computer room, and sat them down. Jackie too, was curious of the sudden commotion, but had chosen wisely not to interfere; he was absorbed with some work he was doing on the computer.

"I was at Manny's house," Gayathri replied with a sheepish grin. "I think I've forgotten to tell you…sorry about that."

"I was out…for a game of badminton," Adam explained, and raised both hands up. "But I did wait in front of the computer, for nearly a couple of hours, honest! You can ask TobuCatmon; he saw me online. Then JD came and asked me to play badminton with him at the badminton court in my apartment compound."

"JD?" Liu Ying repeated questioningly. "As in, Joshua Daniel Kamaruzaman? I didn't know that you two are friends?"

Gayathri immediately turned her head sideways, meeting the gray irises of her classmate-cum-teammate. "You are?" she asked, with a penchant tone. "Since when?"

Upon meeting the questioning stares from his fellow DigiWira, Adam sweatdropped and cringed at the same time. "Uhh…since Monday. Wait a minute; I didn't know that JD's full name is…"

"Not the point," Liu Ying immediately countered. She sat on the chair opposite Adam's and Gayathri's and crossed her arms. "Well, it doesn't matter whether you two are friends, but he sure has an impeccable sense of timing! If he weren't there to ask you for that badminton game, then perhaps you'd be able to help me! Never mind, you're forgiven."

Adam looked visibly relaxed, and looked at the clocked. He raised his hand. "Well, if I'm forgiven, then can I go now? It's fifteen minutes to 1.00 and today's Friday and I need…"

"Fine, fine, you can go," Liu Ying waved her hands. "But you better be around the computer today! Or else…"

"Don't worry!" Adam slung his schoolbag on his shoulders and sprinted out of the classroom. He paused upon exiting the classroom, and looked back at Liu Ying with a small grin. "Well, you know, I do have a quota for using the computer everyday. Maybe if you talk about this with Kak Lisha…"

"Adam, you're going to be late for your Friday prayers!" Liu Ying said irritably, through gritted teeth. "Just go already while I interrogate Gayathri."

"Ok, ok…bye! Good luck Gayathri!" Adam called out, causing the girls to sweatdrop.

"Now, about you," Liu Ying said slowly to Gayathri. She raised an eyebrow. "Well? Start explaining."

"What if I tell you that I have a swell time at Manny's house…and I've lost track of time?" Gayathri inquired hopefully. Seeing that Liu Ying wasn't budging, she sighed and decided to apologize. "I'm really, really sorry…but my handbag is placed so far from the dining table. Even if it's beeping I wouldn't be able to hear it. Not with Debbie's cartoons blaring over the home theater system Manny's family has."

"Debbie?" Liu Ying asked, unfamiliar with the name.

"Manny's six years old little sister; she's so adorable," Gayathri gushed. "You'll like her too, whenever you see her."

Liu Ying's curled thin lips broke into a small smile ever so slightly, and her stern façade crumbled upon seeing Gayathri's facial expression. The dark-skinned girl with her brown hair done in two plaits was positively beaming – Liu Ying didn't have the heart to scold the girl for not being able to show up for DigiWira duty the previous day. It was very obvious that Gayathri really liked Manny and his family, and Liu Ying couldn't find any reason for Gayathri not to like Manny.

Emmanuel Abah had been her classmate for only a little less than three weeks, but already he had friends surrounding him. Most of her classmates had never even been to the Land below the Wind, and were curious of him being a native there. Then there was his slightly different accent, which added more to the people's curiousness. And many girls were wondering whether Manny was currently single, or had someone special back at Sabah. They were however disappointed when news had it that Manny and Gayathri were neighbors and were obviously into each other, despite no special declarations were made from neither Gayathri nor Manny. The former would evade the question, while the latter was simply too courteous to say no.

Yet, it was Liu Ying (and to certain extent, Adam) who knew how much Gayathri liked Manny exactly. After all, her fondness of the Sabahan boy was what had caused her to fall prey of the effect of the abhorrence spell cast by Sorcerymon not too long ago. It was lucky that Adam had managed to get the antidote from the late Wizardmon, and the spell was broken. Sometimes, Liu Ying would find it amusing that the cause of the spell was the fact that Gayathri had thought Liu Ying to have her eyes set on Manny. Yes, she liked Manny – but as a friend and classmate, and pretty much the same way she liked Adam as a friend and fellow teammate – but nothing more. She didn't want to get herself involved in what the teachers would term as the 'monkey-love', if roughly translated from the Malay language, or 'teenage love', which was the more appropriate translation for it.

"What are you thinking?" Gayathri asked curiously; her fellow teammate was suddenly very silent.

"Nothing much, really," Liu Ying said. She smiled slightly and said, "Ok, look. I won't ask you to stop seeing Manny or anything…but make sure that whenever you do so, you have your D-Terminal right beside you, so that you can bolt whenever you are needed."

Gayathri smiled embarrassedly. "Ok, ok. Fine. But…just you wait whenever you're the one who has found somebody. Then perhaps you'd end up like me, if not worse!"

Liu Ying scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please. If I want to start seeing someone, I'll wait until I have finished school." Her shoulders then slouched slightly. "It's not that as if people are interested in me now anyway," she slipped up, before her eyes widened and her hands shot in front of her mouth.

"AHA!" Gayathri grinned widely. "What's this I hear? Oh no…Liu Ying, you really have no idea how many people are interested in you right now!"

"What—" Liu Ying's fair cheeks colored visibly with light pink tint. "Not funny, Gayathri."

"I'm serious. I've heard news, and some gossips…"

"You always listen to gossip," Liu Ying accused.

"Whatever. Anyway, words have it that…well, our class monitor, for starters. You know David Liew, right?" Gayathri inquired dramatically.

"Yes, I know him. We're in Tae-Kwan-Do together, why?" Liu Ying asked back. Her black eyes then narrowed. "Don't tell me…"

"Yup. And you know…ok, if he knows I've spilled the beans to you, he'll probably write my name as the noisiest person in class whenever the teachers are not in class as a way of revenge, so don't go telling him about this, ok? Or…just don't tell them that I'm the one who tell you this…well, ok, remember the chocolate dedication that you've got from one secret admirer last Valentine's Day? I'll give you one guess from who the chocolate actually comes from."

"No way," Liu Ying moaned. She remembered the event well. It was during a Math lesson when three girls came by the door – the Leo Club members who organized the chocolate dedications – to pass the dedications to the ones in her class. She hadn't been bothered to look up from her book, until Millie who sat beside her nudged her, saying that she'd received a dedication. After the Leo girls left, everyone – including the Math teacher Mrs. Elena Kwan – had been giving her odd looks. Some of her classmates had begun teasing her when the sender of the dedication had simply signed the dedication as one secret admirer.

And it had only been about more than two weeks since Valentine's Day…some of the girls still asked her about the mysterious secret admirer.

"Way," Gayathri persisted with a wide grin. "And what's wrong with David anyway? He's cute, he's tall, he's good with words, he's a soccer player, and he's good in academics too. Well, except History…he hates that subject."

"And how do you know all this?" Liu Ying demanded.

"Don't you know? I've been his classmates since last year," Gayathri informed her fellow DigiWira. Her brown eyes lighted up instantly, signaling that she was not finished with the news yet. "And, apparently David is not the only one who has his eyes on you. Based on what I have seen at our Computer Club meetings – it's rather clear that JD Kamaruzaman also seems to like you. He gives you these winks and looks whenever you're not looking…"

"Oh please, anyone but him," Liu Ying rolled her eyes. "Did you know that he even wink at Kak Lisha when she was here last Monday?"

"NO!" Gayathri's gasped loudly, her already-wide eyes widened to emphasize her surprise; she wasn't aware of this new gossip at all. "Really?"

"Hmmph," Liu Ying said irritably. Suddenly a thoughtful look swept past her face and lingered there for a moment. "Wait a minute. When did Adam say about him and JD becoming friends?"

Gayathri rubbed her left cheek, thinking. "Monday. Why?"

"Kak Lisha came to our school on Monday. Then suddenly, Adam and JD become friends."

"That is weird," the plaited-haired girl agreed. "You're thinking that JD befriends Adam because he is interested to get to know Kak Lisha?"

"I know…it's exaggerating…and besides, Kak Lisha is seven years older than JD."

Gayathri nodded. "You're right Liu Ying; that's way too exaggerating. But it's not too weird, if you think about it. Seven years gap is not that long of an age gap; I've heard news of a man and a woman with far larger age gap getting married, and they are happy. By the way, my mom is older than my dad for about one year, but that's not the point. The point is, you making this piece of gossip? And here I thought I'm the one who love to gossip."

"I'm NOT gossiping!" Liu Ying said hotly. Her cheeks flushed even pinker.

"Sure…you sounded just like the newspaper media," Gayathri rolled her eyes, and laughed.

Liu Ying merely scowled at the comment and huffed. "I still think that something doesn't bode well with this. JD doesn't strike me as the one who'd go and befriend people like that. And Adam told us that it was JD who came by the apartment complex where he's staying and asked him to join him for badminton. Besides, since when does he play badminton anyway? Isn't he a basketball player? How come suddenly he shows up at Adam's place and asks Adam to play badminton, which both of us know, is Adam's favorite sports?"

"Wow, what in-depth analysis!" Gayathri said with a wide grin. "Cool down, girl. Firstly, yesterday's not Adam's first meet with JD. I recalled Adam telling Hakim in class of how he'd met JD at a shop and JD paid for Adam the drink Adam was holding simply because the shopkeeper was short of change. Then they went to Canai and Such over Taipan and JD gave him a treat…simply because Adam had wished him a belated happy birthday. Adam ended up being forced to eat much more than he could take."

Liu Ying frowned. "Is that so? Wow…that is strange," she commented.

"Now that you've mentioned it…" Gayathri rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "…yeah, that is weird, right? For once, JD sounds almost decent."

"My thoughts exactly," Liu Ying concurred. "Why with Adam, though? Why not celebrate with those gang-members of his – Kenny, Megat, and Samy? At least that won't sound weird."

"Maybe because they don't know when his birthday is?" Gayathri suggested. "Adam did mention last Saturday that it was JD's sixteenth birthday, remember? And he knew about that when he saw JD's MySpace webpage. To me, JD doesn't seem to be the one who'd broadcast his birthday verbally."

"Ok. That may be it. But I still think there's something strange about this," Liu Ying said; her eyes reflecting her dissatisfaction of not being able to figure out what was going on. She then shrugged. "I may be overreacting, though. Adam has the right to befriend anyone he likes…even JD. Hmm…how come you know about their trip to that mamak café, Gayathri?"

Gayathri grinned as she tapped her ears lightly. "I have antennas built inside my ears for the latest gossips. But seriously, it's because Adam is sitting in front of me. He was trying, without fail, to engage Hakim into a conversation – and I think Adam had meant for the story about him and JD as a joke as when I think about it again, it is rather funny. I can't imagine the somewhat scrawny Adam getting stuffed…anyway, not the point. But Hakim didn't look too happy upon hearing Adam's story, though. He just remained quiet, or quieter…that boy is strange lately."

Liu Ying merely listened to her talkative friend with a smile. Sometimes she wondered how, of all people, she had ended up with Gayathri as her teammate, before Adam showed up. They were exactly each other's opposites. She wasn't talkative, while Gayathri could be considered a chatterbox. Liu Ying's fashion sense was simple, while Gayathri's was more posh and sophisticated. She could list many more differences that set them apart, but all of them weren't important as, in the end, they were good friends and a team. That was the most essential thing of all.

Then her eyes saw the time at the clock, and realized that it had just past one o'clock.

"Aren't you usually home by now?" Liu Ying asked, careful not to let her tone sounded as if she wanted Gayathri to go away. On the contrary, she liked having her friend here.

"Nope. Not today," Gayathri said smilingly. "I feel guilty of not being able to help you yesterday, and I should have known better than to abandon my D-3 and D-Terminal. So today, I'm gonna spend some time around the computer room with you and Jackie; see whatever that I could do to make up for yesterday. I've told Anding to pick me up at three as he needs to be around his college until noon, and probably he's going to go for his Friday prayer at the mosque near his college instead of the one around here, so we'll have…" Gayathri's brown eyes glanced at the analogue clock hung above the entrance to Jackie's office in the computer room. "…three hours, at our disposal. So what should we do?"

Liu Ying smiled. "Well…we can start by going to the canteen and buy some foods for our partners inside Jackie's office. I think both of them are asleep for now, but knowing them, they'll be hungry by the time they are awake. I hope there's still some banana fritters at the canteen…Shaomon can get pretty grumpy without her banana fritters."

xxx

xxx

"KARATENMON!"

The dark avian warrior opened his eyes, and saw an apparition of a skull hovering in front of him, emanating pale yellow light all around the skull. The pale light didn't manage to illuminate the whole darkened surrounding of the Cave of Solitude, but it was enough for Karatenmon to fully recognize who had called upon him. He immediately stood up straight, fresh out of his meditation, and bowed grandly in front of the ghastly phantom.

"Master SkullSatamon! To what do I owe the honors?"

"My patience is growing thin, Karatenmon!" SkullSatamon exclaimed; his eyes flashing dangerously scarlet. "Five days have passed without any progress, other than Shutumon and Sorcerymon's two times attempts on attacking the DigiWira with the Yellow DigiSphere. Both of those attempts failed. Until when do I have to witness failure after failure?"

Karatenmon's face was steady, despite the harsh guttural tone from the ultimate-level demon. He had expected this coming from SkullSatamon, and was ready with the answer.

"Please be patient, my liege," he said steadily. "Throughout this week, I have been monitoring the progress of the ShadoWira's plan; the one they are referring to as their mind games. They attempt to gain the trust and confidence of the DigiWira while in the human world, and shatter those trusts in order to emotionally weaken the DigiWira. So far, I am elated to say that the DigiWira with the White and Pink DigiSpheres have fallen prey to this mind game."

"Only the child of light and the girl with the super speed?" SkullSatamon questioned, with a curious tone. "What of the other girl?"

"I have not received report from the ShadoWira pertaining to that, master, but apparently, the DigiWira with the Yellow DigiSphere is not affected by the mind game. The ShadoWira have ordered Shutumon and Sorcerymon to take care of her instead. They were supposed to weaken the girl and that partner of hers."

"But they've failed! The only thing those two have been doing is giving the girl's partner an extra power-up!" SkullSatamon exclaimed angrily.

"That is something we did not foresee," Karatenmon assured. "However, I can assure you that nothing similar will happen in the future."

"I don't want to hear empty promises, Karatenmon!" SkullSatamon bellowed, his eyes flashing dangerously with crimson light. "What I want to see is progress! Time and time again the DigiWira have proven to be victorious against many of my entombed servants. At this rate, I shall be losing all my servants come the next full moon. Stop sending some mindless lower minions, Karatenmon, and take action in your own hands. That way at least I can be assured of the victory of the side of evil. You are a general, Karatenmon; it's time that you prove your worthiness of the title I have bestowed upon you three centuries ago!"

Karatenmon was taken aback by the direct order from the dark master. He blinked momentarily, before regaining his composure once more.

"I assure you, my lord, that I will take matters in my own hand, when the perfect time comes."

"And when will that perfect time be?" SkullSatamon asked, with a sneering sound coming from his hoarse, old voice.

"Soon, my master; during the coming of the digital solar eclipse," Karatenmon explained raptly. "That will be only four days from now. In the meantime, my master, I have a fine plan that will destroy the DigiWira once and for all. The ShadoWira's mind games will be put to rest as I have discovered a new, hidden power within their DigiSpheres. These powers are magnificent; far greater than the special powers which the ShadoWira and the DigiWira have been given one week ago. They are nothing like we have seen before."

SkullSatamon looked only mildly interested upon hearing this. "And how can you be certain that these powers will not be possessed by the DigiWira as well? You've thought before that the special powers of the Red and Blue DigiSpheres are unique to those two DigiSpheres only; but it turned out that the other three DigiSpheres also possessed these powers."

"I do not know for sure whether the White, Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres also posses similar powers, but I think that it will be most likely. However, we shall have to take advantage of the time. We have discovered these powers – the DigiWira have not. I have used my power to fully unlock these powers for the ShadoWira, and they shall use it to destroy the DigiWira once and for all. Then we shall procure their DigiSpheres, and with the five DigiSpheres in our possession, you will be freed from your entombment!"

SkullSatamon listened to Karatenmon's words silently. He cleared his throat gruffly before replying, "And what is this power you're talking about, Karatenmon? Am I familiar with it?"

"I do not think so, master. It appears that these powers are developed without our knowledge three centuries ago. Grademon had never demonstrated these powers, unlike the special powers he was given by the four elemental masters and that ex-teacher of mine. I believe these powers are developed solely to be used by the wielders of the DigiSpheres. These powers were meant to be used against the forces of evil, but fortunately I was able to taint these powers with darkness. They will be used against the forces of good instead. I call these powers the Shadow Access."

The skeletal demon nodded curtly. "Excellent. See to it that I won't be disappointed, Karatenmon. Or there will be hell to pay for that!"

Karatenmon lowered his gaze to the ground. "I will not fail, master. And neither will the ShadoWira. We shall assemble all of our troops and launch a full-scale attack tomorrow afternoon!"

"Very well. And, one more thing…" SkullSatamon said thoughtfully.

"Yes, master?"

"Do whatever you want with the female DigiWira, but I want Adam to be alive. I still desire his power of teleportation. Like I have said, I foresee great potential in his power. His teleportation power shall aid me greatly in the destruction of the Digital World. I have however, absolutely no interest in the other DigiWira, or the ShadoWira, when they have reached the limit of their usefulness. Make sure that everything is done according to what we have planned before."

Karatenmon nodded and smirked evilly. "It shall be done. The ShadoWira are expandable. The new powers I have discovered for them will stretch their abilities and usefulness to the very limit. Perhaps, if we are lucky, both the DigiWira and the ShadoWira will end up destroying each other. It will pave way for your quest for the domination of the Digital World."

"Don't forget what I have said about the child of light," SkullSatamon reminded his general.

"I will not, master."

"Very well. And, since this master plan of yours is set to begin tomorrow…what is there for those humans today? I don't plan on seeing the Digital World idle today."

The blue eyes of Karatenmon glinted with malice. "It has been a long while since the DigiWira battled Reichmon and the Harpymon. I shall send them today to entertain those teenagers. Besides, I plan on witnessing just how far the DigiWira are on par with the ShadoWira, pertaining to their special abilities, before bestowing them with the Shadow Access powers. It will be an interesting day, I believe."

"It had better be!" SkullSatamon bellowed, and the ghostly apparition vanished from the Cave of Solitude.

xxx

xxx

"How about today, we play basketball?" JD suggested. He was balancing the brown basketball skillfully on two fingers, with his left hand preventing the basketball from falling.

"Basketball?" Adam inquired doubtfully. "I don't know…I've never played basketball before."

It was Friday afternoon, and after staying in front of the computer for an hour and half, Adam found JD to be online. The blonde had asked whether Adam would like to play basketball, and that he was already by the basketball court inside the compound of Arcadia Apartment where Adam was staying. Adam was surprised to see that JD could be at the compound already and still talking to him online; and JD had informed him that he was online via his cell phone. Adam then found out that he could do the same thing with his own cell phone (despite his model being simpler compared to JD's very modern one, although both phones were of the same brand). The older teen then transferred the necessary program via the Bluetooth technology into the younger teen's cell phone, and Adam was enthralled to be able to still be online, while enjoying himself as well.

It couldn't be any more perfect; as he would be on alert if he was needed at the Digital World. And so far, no message came from TobuCatmon at all.

"Never played basketball?" JD asked, smirking as he dribbled the basketball expertly. He then caught the ball and spun the ball on his fingers once again. "Then you've missed out a lot of things! C'mon; try it, you'll love it. I can coach you."

"Really?" Adam asked. "That's very nice of you."

JD flipped his hand sideways and let the spinning basketball fell onto his palm, and held the ball against the sides of his body. His right palm was erected and his smirk vanished, replaced by a lopsided grin which Adam had begun to grow accustomed in seeing. Both of his eyebrows were raised, apparently surprised of hearing Adam's comment.

"Nope. I'm not nice. I'm coaching you so that it'll be a fair game when we play against each other, and I won't feel bad when I beat you!"

"That's not fair," Adam said with a low tone. "Even if I know how to play basketball…you are the one with more experience."

"Ok, ok, maybe I'll let you win once or twice, but that's it. Now c'mon, let's start with the basics…"

Suddenly, a loud bass music blared from the bench. It came from JD's slick black-and-orange cell phone, which had a good surround sound that the whole court was able to enjoy the music momentarily. JD threw the ball towards Adam, who caught it, and jogged towards the bench. He retrieved his phone and saw that he had gotten a message.

"Ah, looks like we have to reschedule basketball, Adam," JD said, with a tone that sounded like a feigned irritation.

"You're needed back home?" Adam inquired, approaching the taller teen.

"Sounds like it. Listen, we'll find another time for our game. I really have to go." JD collected his bag and waved his hand to the younger teen before bolting off towards the gate.

Adam watched JD's retreating figure with mild curiosity. Then he realized that JD had forgotten to take his basketball along with him in his rush to go back home. Seeing that JD had already too far away for him to catch up with, Adam decided that he would inform JD about it later tonight, now that he was able to open Yahoo Messenger by his cell phone. He then wondered what could be wrong, for JD to rush off all of a sudden.

"Weird," Adam muttered, shaking his head.

Then, his cell phone let out a chiming sound, signaling that he had received a message from somebody. Quickly he retrieved his cell phone and read the message, noticing immediately that it was from TobuCatmon, saying that he and the other DigiWira were needed in the Digital World pronto.

"Well, maybe not that weird, I guess," Adam murmured, thinking that even if JD didn't need to rush off, it would be Adam who would cancel their basketball session that day. He shrugged. "Well, everyone has their emergencies. I better get going. Hopefully Patamon is up for some digivolving today."

After a late night supper the previous night, Tokomon had digivolved back into his rookie form Patamon, right in front of the astonished Alisha and Adam. Despite regaining his stronger form, Patamon still expressed his doubt to digivolve to champion or armored-champion level – fearing that he would once again turn into Black Knightmon. Adam had no idea of what to reply to the worried Rookie, but Alisha had wisely said for Patamon to 'cross the bridge when he gets there'. That calmed Patamon considerably before they all turned in for the night.

As Adam jogged back to his apartment block, he failed to notice that from the corner of the opposite block, someone was watching him. That someone was one person that Adam knew well, with blonde hair and strapping figure. He chuckled darkly upon seeing Adam climbing up the stairs to reach his apartment, which was in the second floor.

"Heh, heh, see you later, Adam. You're in for a surprise," JD said, his eyes glinting red as he pointed his black-and-red D-3 towards his black-and-orange cell phone. "DigiPort Open!"

xxx

xxx

It took ten minutes for the DigiWira to regroup at Forest Sanctum, but TobuCatmon was glad to see that everyone showed up this time around, for the threat of that day was too dire for only one or two pairs of DigiWira to handle alone.

"Please observe the sun staff, DigiWira," the feline mentor beckoned quickly, as soon as Gayathri and Floramon – being the last pair to arrive – came out from the TV in the sanctum.

The three teenagers and their partners gathered in front of the glowing sun staff, and saw something that made their blood boil. Shown on the sun part of the staff was a scene of mass destruction, which took place inside a colorful forest with tall, thick trunks and full canopies of leaves. A flock of humanoid avian digimon was seen attacking a shinobi-like digimon in white, who was defending a group of smaller digimon of nature variety. The scene spanned out and the DigiWira saw that the battle between the avian warriors and the shinobi was taking place on top of a rounded colony built around a very large tree.

"That's the Harpymon!" Adam announced; his eyes widened as he remembered his encounter with Karatenmon's personal foot-soldiers. The memory caused him to flinch; he had been injured by an attack sent by the Harpymon with white feathers during the battle at the Green Meadow Village, nearly a week before. The said Harpymon could now be now leading the attack against the samurai digimon, who seemed quite adept in defending himself.

"Yes. I have received a visual transmission from Shurimon, leader of the Evergreen Village, a colony located on top of the trees of the Evergreen Forest, which is two miles to the south of the Forest Sanctum," TobuCatmon explained worriedly. "You can see what's happening there as we speak, but I'm afraid that is not our entire problem."

The pale-purple furred feline beckoned to the sun staff once again. The scene in the staff expanded to another side of the tree villages, where another fight took place. That part of the village looked even more ravaged than the ones attacked by the Harpymon. Houses were burning with eerie green flames, and stray thunderbolts were shot everyone, paralyzing the stronger of the villagers while wiping out the weaker ones completely. The thunderbolts were seen coming from the ground below, and the scene shifted from the tree villages to the grounds. There, the DigiWira gasped upon setting sight on a familiar enemy – a dark knight with a lion-like face, who was battling a moving tree that had a face resembling an elderly man.

"Cherrymon protects the lower grounds of the Evergreen Forest, and right now, he's defending the colony below from Reichmon," TobuCatmon said sadly. "I'm afraid that although Cherrymon is an ultimate level digimon, he is rather old and doesn't stand a chance against the might of Reichmon. Cherrymon is not a fighter, but he is a wise digimon and has a limited telepathic power which is in tune with the nature and earth. His skill is no match for Reichmon."

"He doesn't seem to even defending himself," Patamon said shrilly, as he watched the battle between the two Ultimates. Reichmon seemed to be gaining the upper hand, while Cherrymon was in dire need of backup.

"If Reichmon's there, then that means…" Liu Ying's voice trailed off as she watched Reichmon knocking Cherrymon away with one swift kick on the face.

"…the ShadoWira are there too," Gayathri finished, her hand clutching Floramon's petals tight.

"We have to go there," Adam said firmly. His gray eyes trailed the battle scenes wildly; he seemed to be anxious about something. His anxiety was clearly shown on his face. "The Red ShadoWira is there, although we haven't seen him yet. I must take back my D-Terminal from him. We haven't seen him all week; this is the best chance I've got to take back my DigiSphere and the Ivory Gem." The dark-haired boy then looked up to Patamon, who was perched on top of his head. "Patamon, are you ready to fight today?"

"I will try my best, Adam," Patamon assured. His blue eyes twinkled with renewed confidence as he added, "I'm willing to fight if you want me to."

"Then let's do it!" Adam's hand formed a fist as he turned to face his fellow DigiWira. "Let's go guys…"

Suddenly, before he could finish his words, swirls of brilliant white orbs enveloped him and Patamon wholly, and a split second later they both vanished out of sight. The echoes of Adam's remaining words were heard, but couldn't be discerned at all.

The two DigiWira and their partners blinked upon Adam's and Patamon's sudden disappearances.

"That…was quick," Labramon commented dryly.

"Uh…did Adam just teleport out of here?" Gayathri wondered.

"Seems like it…look! There he is!" Liu Ying said, pointing towards the sun staff.

Both DigiWira saw how Adam suddenly appeared on the tree village, right before a confused Shurimon. The Harpymon halted their attacks immediately, surprised of the sudden appearances of the DigiWira. Adam however didn't waste any time in whipping out his D-3 Digivice. Patamon digivolved instantly into Sagittarimon, and was poised for battle. Sagittarimon then was seen shooting his Judgment Arrow onto one purple-feathered Harpymon, which when combined with Shurimon's shuriken attack, caused the victimized Harpymon to explode into data particles.

"We better go there now," Liu Ying decided. "Adam can't handle the Harpymon, Reichmon and the ShadoWira on his own. He'll need our help."

xxx

xxx

"One down, three to go!" Adam cheered happily when he saw Sagittarimon and Shurimon's combined technique managed to take down one Harpymon. He didn't feel sorry for deleting the digimon; for all he knew, the Harpymon was destroying a village which was home to innocent digimon. The Harpymon had also destroyed the once-prosperous Green Meadow Village.

"That's for the Green Meadow Village!" Sagittarimon roared, and took aim, this time aiming for the white Harpymon. "And this one…is for injuring Adam! Judgment Arrow!"

The remaining three Harpymon, after seeing the fate which had befallen their fellow warrior, quickly gathered together and emitted loud, banshee-like screams which immediately destroyed Sagittarimon's arrow. The shockwave also managed to push Sagittarimon, Shurimon, Adam and many rookie digimon who were cowering behind the three of them, lifting them off their feet and crashing them against the wooden walls of the tree villages.

One rookie who resembled a mushroom was thrown against the railing. The little digimon screamed at the top of its lungs, pleading to be saved as it plummeted down towards the ground.

The others quickly got back up to their feet upon hearing the heart-wrenching cry. They had all fallen onto each other, dog-piling one another, with Shurimon and Adam being on top, and Sagittarimon at the bottom, with the other rookies in between them. Adam easily slid down the dog-pile and rolled onto the wooden floor before getting back up on his feet, with Shurimon springing down from the pile using his extendable extremities.

"Mushroomon!" Shurimon screamed agitatedly. "Oh no! There's no way he could survive that!"

"Not if I can help it!" Adam said and rushed towards the railing. Shurimon could be heard yelling in fear that the DigiWira would attempt to jump past the rails to save the Mushroomon. However Adam had no such intention. He merely grabbed hold on the wooden rails and thrust his body forward while maintaining even footing on the floors. His eyes saw the falling Mushroomon, who was already ten meters away from the village. The boy thrust his right hand forward, and bellowed, "Mushroomon!"

To the astonishment of Shurimon and the other villagers, swirls of light could be seen emanating from the boy's outstretched hand, and Mushroomon materialized there, still screaming for his life. The little rookie then blinked, seeing that he was now safe in Adam's arms, before breaking down into grateful sobs.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you…"

"Incredible!" Shurimon praised. He turned towards Sagittarimon, who had just begun to regain his standing. He was surprised greatly when the boy and a Patamon suddenly materialized in front of him just as he was battling the Harpymon. He had been even more taken aback when the boy digivolved the Patamon into a much larger Sagittarimon. And now, Shurimon realized that the DigiWira pair could be their only hope to save the village from the raging harpies. "Your partner has a unique power, Sagittarimon!"

Sagittarimon beamed as his eyes trailed Adam's movement, proud of hearing Shurimon's compliment for his partner. He made sure that the Harpymon would not take that chance to attack Adam, his arrow ready by his crimson bow just in case they would do so.

Adam immediately placed the crying Mushroomon amongst the other rookie digimon, who had quickly clamored around him, begging for Adam to save their villages.

"I'll do anything I can," Adam promised the rookies, which consisted of three Mushroomon (including the one Adam had just rescued), two Palmon, two Gotsumon, one Armadillomon, one Salamon, and three Gabumon.

Sagittarimon and Shurimon approached Adam and the rookies. Shurimon's sharp yellow eyes, hidden underneath his facial covers, glinted with will. He looked up at the hovering three Harpymon, who were watching them, wary of Sagittarimon's ready arrow.

"Let's finish this!" Shurimon exclaimed, and took out his large shuriken which formerly was attached to his back. He took aim to the nearest Harpymon, and exclaimed, "Double Stars!"

As Shurimon's shuriken spun with top speed towards the Harpymon, Sagittarimon decided to contribute to the attack. He couldn't utilize his Meteor Gallop attack, as the force from the attack could crumble the tree village instantly. Instead, he took another aim with his arrow and shot a sparkling Judgment Arrow.

The Harpymon however were speedy enough to evade both the arrow and the shuriken. To everyone's horror, the white-feathered Harpymon managed to seize Shurimon's shuriken, and threw it forcefully towards Adam and the rookies. The shuriken spun with top speed; there was no way for them to escape in time.

"Oh no!" the rookie digimon wailed. "HELP!"

Adam nervously thrust his arm forward; attempting to teleport the dangerously-close shuriken away before it could scrape his neck. "Uhh…star-weapon thingy!" He then held his breath, not daring to believe that his attempt would work.

But fortunately for him and the rookies, it worked! Swirls of bright orbs of light materialized all around the spinning shuriken and enveloped it wholly. Everyone gasped as the shuriken vanished – and screamed when the shuriken appeared again, exactly at the spot where it disappeared! However…there was something different of the way it was moving.

"Look! The shuriken's changing its direction – it's now heading towards the Harpymon!" Shurimon exclaimed.

Shuriken! Adam thought with a weak grin. So that's how it is called! Gotta remember that!

Everything just happened within the course of two seconds; one moment the shuriken was heading to Adam and the rookie digimon, and the next moment, Adam's teleportation power had shifted its direction – making it spinning at lightning speed back towards the Harpymon. The avian warriors didn't even have time to budge as the attack was totally unexpected. The large shuriken rammed against all three Harpymon, grazing them mercilessly on various parts of their bodies before moving past them towards a tree trunk. One of its sharp points was stuck inside the thick trunk, forcing the five-edged weapon into a complete halt.

All three Harpymon were instantly injured by the shuriken. It was an achievement neither of them had expected to achieve.

"Way to go, Adam!" Sagittarimon announced proudly, and took aim with his arrow towards the screaming Harpymon. "Judgment Arrow!"

Adam watched as the lightning arrow sailed with top speed towards the Harpymon, with only ten meters distance left before it would strike through one of the purple Harpymon's chest. Suddenly, Adam felt his knees buckling and stumbled onto the wooden floor of the village with a loud thud. His body began to emit faint white light, and despite feeling completely healthy, especially after four days of total rest, Adam felt an overwhelming draining sensation coming from every inches of his body.

"DigiWira!" the rookies gasped (they didn't know Adam's name) and all of them helped support him back up instantly.

Adam couldn't reply; his eyes were transfixed on a sudden turn of event that was happening, which didn't favor them at all. Sagittarimon's arrow suddenly burst into data particles before reaching its intended targets, and the Armored Champion himself was enveloped with pale white light as he regressed back to Patamon. Looking down at his own body, Adam realized that he was still glowing…and with every second passed, he became weaker.

A snide laugh was heard, followed by a lazy clapping, which came from the shadowy part of the tree village. Everyone turned their attentions there, and saw a human figure emerging from the shadows. The human was wearing black uniform, complete with hooded capes. His face was covered by white mask which gave him a permanent emotionless look. His eyes shone with a sinister green aura, and the red accents on his uniform were instantly recognizable. It was he who was clapping, and he stopped walking upon reaching the shadow-less area, keeping his distance from his adversaries.

"Heh, heh…as I have expected, without your White DigiSphere your powers will be fairly limited," the Red ShadoWira commented mildly.

"YOU!" Adam exclaimed, seething. He immediately thrust his hand forward and summoned, "D-Terminal!"

Nothing happened. No bright orbs of light, and no D-Terminal. Adam's outstretched hand then limped down onto one of the Gabumon's head.

"Nope. Nada. Zilch. Nothing happened," the Red ShadoWira said teasingly. He let out another chuckle before continuing, "You've exerted a lot of your powers during our last encounter at the Shadow Realm, Adam. And you have used the remaining of your teleportation power here. I've been watching you. Heh, heh, without the White DigiSphere…you're helpless! You and that guinea pig partner of yours! I have to admit that I didn't expect him to suffer the side effects of you losing the White DigiSphere too…apparently this is my lucky day!"

Patamon, who still felt as if he had some powers within him, was confused of the true cause of his de-digivolution. Usually, with the amount of energy inside him now, he could maintain his Armored Champion form for at least an hour more. But if what the Red ShadoWira had just said was true, then as long as the White DigiSphere was under the Red ShadoWira, he couldn't access his stronger champion mode and Adam couldn't use his powers.

But, Patamon silently thanked his lucky stars because he had an alternate champion form. This champion form was achieved by him independently, a long time before he had met Adam. That power could not be taken away from him.

He was only afraid of the consequences of this digivolution, but there was no other way. Patamon silently hoped that he would not go too far this time.

"Patamon….Digivolve to….Centarumon!"

Centarumon was weaker compared to Sagittarimon, but he was way better than Patamon. With a glint coming from his brown eyes from the back of his metallic helmet, the brown centaur affixed his cannons solely towards the Red ShadoWira.

The Red ShadoWira gasped softly, but quickly regained his composure. He raised his arm in self-defense, wary of the fifteen pairs of eyes glaring at him. The twelve rookies whom had all surrounded Adam protectively didn't concern him – he could beat them easily with his firepower. Adam was powerless. The armored shinobi and Adam's centaur partner however were stronger; one on one, the Red ShadoWira could give either Shurimon or Centarumon a good match, but what if both champions decided to gang up on him?

And he had to be extra careful with Centarumon around. The centaur had displayed the capability to digivolve one step higher, into an uncontrollable Black Knightmon. If he laid a hand on Adam, Centarumon would snap.

"Heh," he snorted. "It's lucky that you have friends around you, Adam. Which reminds me…where are your two pretty friends?"

"Not your concern," Adam hissed back; his gray eyes flashed as he struggled to stand up.

A loud commotion suddenly was heard coming from the ground which was almost a kilometer down below. The Red ShadoWira chuckled and took a few steps back.

"Know what, Adam? That's probably them now. I think I'll go down to have some fun. Ciao!"

A ripple of air emerged out of nowhere from the Red ShadoWira's back. The Red ShadoWira turned around grandly and entered the portal, and vanished instantly.

xxx

xxx

"Blazing Spear!"

With a wave of his black spear, Reichmon sent another jet of eerie green flames onto his opponent, the wizened Cherrymon. The ultimate nature digimon was no match for Reichmon's fearsome powers, and with his current position – he had been sent falling on his back earlier with a kick on his head – he could no longer defend himself. The violent fire attack engulfed Cherrymon wholly, and if it weren't for the fact that Cherrymon was an ultimate digimon, he would have gotten himself deleted there and then.

"Fire again!" a voice commanded from the shadows.

Reichmon waved his spear once more, and this time around, there seemed to be no escape for Cherrymon.

Fortunately, just as the fiery gryphon technique was about to burn Cherrymon, a pink hurricane wave appeared from a distance. It diverted the fiery gryphon, changing its course away from the helpless Cherrymon. Instead, the attack burned a tree with a thick trunk.

A flash of pink light zipped into the battle scene and changed into the form of a female human with gray suits and hair done in two plaits. It was Gayathri; after Adam had accidentally teleported away from the Forest Sanctum, she and Liu Ying immediately made haste to the Evergreen Forest as well. The distance was far enough on human foot, but Gayathri had the power of super speed at her disposal. While Liu Ying had chosen to ride on Youkomon, Gayathri and Fairymon had taken turns to give each other a boost to reach Evergreen Forest. At first, Fairymon carried Gayathri, and used her power of the winds to propel her speed. After covering one mile, Gayathri chose to use her super speed and together they reached Evergreen Forest within less than an hour.

"Probably another thirty minutes before Liu Ying and Youkomon would be here," Gayathri said thoughtfully.

"Well, well, well…how nice for you to finally join in the party."

The low voice coming from the shadows startled Gayathri to the point that it caused her to yelp loudly. She spun around, and met face to face with someone who was dressed in black suits with two accents of blue lining his uniform. His face was hidden by the mask, and a hood covered his head. He was standing merely two meters away from Gayathri, who immediately took a few steps away from the villain in defense.

"Blue ShadoWira!"

"We've met, so let's not waste anymore time now, shall we?" the Blue ShadoWira said with a monotonous voice. He spun both arms slowly, and jets of water began to swirl around his palms.

Gayathri gasped when she saw the water jets streaming around the Blue ShadoWira's arms. The green lights in the Blue ShadoWira's eyes flashed seriously as the water seemed to become more and more concentrated around the villain's palms. He then made a side movement to the right, bringing his left palm below his erected right palm. The waters all began to concentrate into a blue sphere, and with a loud grunt the Blue ShadoWira pushed his hands forward and sent the sphere of concentrated water towards Gayathri.

Gayathri closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, before letting out an earsplitting scream. Pink spiraling waves were emitted from her opened mouth along with a banshee-like shriek.

The blue sphere and the pink energy wave collided into each other, and for a moment there was a standstill between Gayathri and the Blue ShadoWira. Both humans steadied their footings before the attacks finally were rebounded back onto their originators, with the Blue ShadoWira giving way first as he felt the intense need to cover his ears to protect his hearing from being damaged by Gayathri's supersonic scream. He was instantly thrown against a nearby tree, while Gayathri fell onto her back on the soft soil of the Evergreen Forest.

A loud laugh was then heard, and the Red ShadoWira stepped out from the shadows, right beside the Blue ShadoWira who was standing back up on his feet.

"The girl just screams her lung off and you were sent tumbling?" he asked the Blue ShadoWira sarcastically. "Shame."

"Shut up. I'd like to see you try her."

"With pleasure…never thought I'd hear that from you."

However, before the Red ShadoWira could attack Gayathri, a small pink hurricane was blasted onto him and he was sent crashing onto the same tree the Blue ShadoWira had collided with not too long ago. Looking up, all three humans saw Fairymon, her right arm extended and her hand balled into a fist, save for the index finger.

"Don't even think about it," Fairymon snapped angrily.

It was actually considered unethical for a digimon to attack a human, but Fairymon couldn't care less. The ShadoWira were endangering her partner's life, and she, as a digimon partner, had the obligation to do whatever it took her to defend Gayathri. However, she had only sent a reduced form of her Hurricane Wave as she didn't have the intention to kill the ShadoWira.

The Red ShadoWira snorted as he stood back on his feet. "You've just make this personal, slut!" he spat, and sent a torrent of fire towards the hovering sprite of the wind.

"My, my, your mouth needs washing!" Fairymon declared gleefully and deflected the flames effortlessly with another dose of her Hurricane Wave. The flames were redirected to the Blue ShadoWira, who quickly released a jet of water to nullify the fiery attack.

The Red ShadoWira cursed colorfully and was about to send another flame torrent to the beautiful fairy, when a loud shriek sent him tumbling down once again. He saw Gayathri already back up on her feet, her large eyes focused on both ShadoWira with a glare.

"Shut your trap, Pink DigiWira. All these screaming won't get you anywhere," the Red ShadoWira said spitefully. "Open your mouth again and I won't tell you what I've done to Adam…"

Gayathri was taken aback by the sudden threat concerning her fellow teammate. Her eyes narrowed as she gave a suspicious look to the taller ShadoWira. "What have you done to Adam?"

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about him," the Red ShadoWira said tauntingly as he hoisted himself back up. "You're only going to give yourself premature wrinkles and white hairs." He then wiped the soil off his black uniform and leaned against the tree trunk, arms crossed against his chest. "Why worry about him when you have two guys right here to think about?"

The Blue ShadoWira snorted, but didn't say anything. He merely cast a sideway glance to the Red ShadoWira, his green eyes flashed vibrantly for a moment before returning to their usual glow.

"Your friend is fine…but he won't be much help to you and the other DigiWira," the Red ShadoWira continued with a bored tone, ignoring the look the Blue ShadoWira was giving him. "He's lucky though to be partnered to a strong digimon. If that centaur wasn't around him all the time, well…" he didn't say anything else, but made a slicing motion over his neck.

Gayathri seethed angrily. "You won't get away with this, you evil…evil…"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that line," the Red ShadoWira said, and looked around. "Where's that feisty teammate of yours I wonder? The Yellow DigiWira? She'll miss the show if she's late…oh yeah, did I forget to tell you about the show? Well, it's a new show actually…I think I'll call it 'Beauties and the Beast'...staring you, your partner, and our DNA-digivolved partners. Only in this story, the 'Beast' kills the beauties. Heh, heh… REICHMON! Begin the show!"

Reichmon gave a loud lion-like growl and advanced towards Fairymon and Gayathri, his spear ready to attack.

"Gayathri, stand back!" Fairymon ordered. She pointed one palm towards Reichmon, and prepared herself to attack.

Reichmon sent a roaring fire gryphon towards his enemies with a swish of his spear. The gryphon illuminated the entire forest with eerie green light, which made the darkened surrounding of the forest somewhat frightful. The gryphon sailed towards the air towards Fairymon; its fiery wings spread wide and burning everything it came into contact with. Trees that stood in the way of the gryphon were instantly caught into flames.

Fairymon immediately released a focused Hurricane Wave. She knew she wasn't able to take it on fully, so she would have to settle with deflecting them…towards the ShadoWira.

"Damn it! Not to us!" the Red ShadoWira roared. He released a jet of red-orange flames to counter the fiery gryphon, but his attack was simply absorbed by the stronger attack.

The Blue ShadoWira then countered the attack with his water streams, but he wasn't strong enough to counter an attack from an Ultimate. "Reichmon! Summon it back, NOW!" he ordered.

Reichmon immediately obeyed the Blue ShadoWira's command. He waved his staff, and Fairymon found herself at the receiving end of the gryphon once more. This time, she couldn't resort to divert the attack any more, and had to fly away for her life.

Luckily for her, help came by at the most unexpected time.

A blazing dragon made purely out of red fire streaked towards the forest and rammed onto the gryphon heads on. The gryphon was driven away from its intended target once again while the red dragon crashed onto the ground, changing back into a blue-furred, nine-tailed fox.

"Youkomon!" Fairymon shouted gladly. "Thanks for the help!"

The kitsune merely nod her reply, and focused her attention towards the open clearing where she was at right now. Trees were burning around her, sending smokes everywhere. Fairymon hovered in the middle of the clearing, with Reichmon standing on the ground below. A living tree – Cherrymon – was on its back, struggling in vain to get back up. Gayathri was somewhere at the corner of the clearing, with both ShadoWira not too far from her. And finally there was the spectral gryphon, still hovering over the clearing, not too far from Fairymon.

"Let's double team him, Youkomon!" Fairymon announced.

"I am ready." Youkomon moved closer to Fairymon, who had begun to summon more power from her surrounding to generate a supercharged Hurricane Wave.

A roaring pink tornado soon was formed all around Fairymon. Youkomon then wasted no time and fueled the tornado with her Fox Tail Inferno. The pink tornado became reddish pink, and flickered with blazing fire.

"Hurricane Inferno!"

Fairymon and Youkomon then willed the fiery windstorm towards the green fiery gryphon. There was a standstill between the two fire attacks before a loud explosion ensued and both attacks cancelled out each other. Reichmon was thrown onto the fallen Cherrymon, while the DigiWira partners were thrown off their footing towards the nearest tree.

"This is getting interesting," the Red ShadoWira commented. He fixed his attention towards Gayathri. "Well, pinky, it's time we finish you off once and for all!"

However before he could raise his hand up, the Red ShadoWira was thrown onto the ground by an invisible force, which knocked him from the back.

"I don't think so. Back off from her!" Liu Ying said venomously as she emerged from the tall bushes nearby. She stood by Gayathri and eyed the Red ShadoWira.

But then, a forceful jet of water knocked both girls from the back and sent them falling face on onto the ground.

"Should've watched your backs," the Blue ShadoWira said snidely.

"Why you…" Gayathri turned around quickly and let out a shriek, which blasted the Blue ShadoWira onto the ground as well.

"Warn me the next time you do that, Gayathri!" Liu Ying said with a wince; both of her ears were closed tight with her palms. She immediately stood back on her feet, but immediately found herself being grabbed on both hands from behind.

"Gotcha!" the Red ShadoWira said triumphantly as he pulled Liu Ying close to his body, seizing the girl firmly over the wrists.

Liu Ying's face colored considerably; she had never been this close with a guy before. Then her sense kicked in and she gritted her teeth angrily. She did the only thing she could think of, and that was stomping onto the Red ShadoWira's feet with enough force. The Red ShadoWira let out a grunt and his grip on her loosened. Liu Ying took the chance to turn around and kneed the Red ShadoWira over the gut.

"Heh, heh…nice attempt, DigiWira!" the Red ShadoWira grunted, rubbing his abdomen where Liu Ying had kneed him. "Let's see just how much you deserve your black belt in Tae-Kwan-Do."

The raven-haired DigiWira was slightly taken aback by the comment, but immediately positioned herself in a defensive stance, ready to attack. Her eyes narrowed as she observed the Red ShadoWira performing a stance as well, but it was nothing she was familiar with. He rocked back and forth and opened his feet to a shoulder-length width. Then he let out a roar and charged towards Liu Ying, before lowering his body and delivered an unexpected sweep onto Liu Ying's feet, sending the girl falling.

"How do you like that?" the Red ShadoWira asked smugly. "Bet you didn't even know that move."

Liu Ying seethed and made a flicking motion towards the Red ShadoWira, but to her surprise the Red ShadoWira was quick enough to dodge his way out of the path of her outgoing telekinetic attack. He made a back flip skillfully before performing a cartwheel sideways, successfully evading the attack.

"You're just not fast enough against a Capoeirista!" the Red ShadoWira boasted.

The villain's words clicked into Liu Ying's mind. "So you know Capoiera, so what?" she asked, lowering her gaze onto the ground. She found a stone the size of a brick, and smiled. Turning her attention back towards the Red ShadoWira, she decided to lower the villain's guard down first. "Your skills aren't exactly good enough for you to counter…THIS!" She immediately flicked her palm towards the stone, sending it flying directly towards the Red ShadoWira's chest.

"OOOFF!"

The suddenness of the attack took the Red ShadoWira by surprise. He felt an intense sting on his chest, where the large stone had hit him. However, he was in a stance which offered him the greatest balance, thus he didn't fall from the attack.

"You're good, I give you that," the Red ShadoWira sneered. "But not good enough against…THIS!" Mercilessly he released a powerful torrent of flames, not caring at all if his attack would incinerate the willowy girl into smithereens.

"Luckily for me, I still have one more trick up my sleeve," Liu Ying retorted, and erected her telekinetic barrier. She may not be able to handle an attack from a digimon stronger than rookie level, but she could certainly handle an attack from another fellow human. A yellow energy barrier was formed on her outstretched hand, protecting her from the flames.

As the Red ShadoWira and Liu Ying faced each other, Gayathri found herself being eyed by a silent Blue ShadoWira. Both of them had gotten up to their feet, and were momentarily distracted by the duel between the other ShadoWira and DigiWira, before realizing that they too had an unfinished business.

"Don't you know that it's rude to stare?" she said with a huff.

"Whoever says that I'm staring?" the Blue ShadoWira countered mildly. "What's there to stare at anyway? You may be pretty, but you're not that pretty. Don't let it get over your head. Come to think of it...you're rather fat. You should think of dieting."

Gayathri's cheeks flushed upon hearing the comment, and she readied herself against the Blue ShadoWira.

"How are we going to fight each other, I wonder? Our attacks cancel each other, and it won't be fair for me to use a martial art skill against you. I know for a fact that you don't know any martial art," the Blue ShadoWira said with a calm tone.

"Since when do you guys fight fair anyway?" Gayathri said bitterly. Then, her eyes narrowed and she let out a smirk. "How about we fight like this…now you see me…" Gayathri then zipped away, deploying her super speed technique to move out of the Blue ShadoWira's sight in a flash. "Now you don't!" she taunted, but the direction of her voice couldn't be discerned.

All the Blue ShadoWira could see now was several streaks of pink light moving around him in a circular motion. Gayathri couldn't be seen clearly as she was moving too rapidly for his eyes. The Blue ShadoWira then shook her head, shrugging disinterestedly.

"Child's game," he muttered. He raised his arms to the sides, and instantly mist began to form around him. The mist thickened and soon, the whole area where he assumed Gayathri was still in was enveloped by mist. He chuckled when he heard the zipping sound generated by Gayathri's super speed technique gradually became less and less visible. He knew that Gayathri would stop running if she couldn't even see her surrounding, to avoid herself from colliding with any trees. The clearing was too narrow for her to run around aimlessly.

"Fine," Gayathri said dejectedly, and the mist vanished in a flash. "But let me ask you one thing, Blue ShadoWira. I hope you'll give this a thought."

The Blue ShadoWira chuckled darkly. "What's that? I'll answer that if I feel like answering it."

Gayathri took a deep breath. "Why are you dong this?"

In the meantime, Liu Ying too, was wondering the same thing as she held on to her telekinetic barrier as the Red ShadoWira relentlessly blasted his fire torrents towards the girl with no sign of him stopping. The DigiWira managed to hold on; the force that was sent to her was strong, but the Red ShadoWira was still a human. Unlike the attack sent by the Harpymon on the battle at the Green Meadow Village, this attack she could handle, at least for the time being.

However, she grew tired of just defending herself after ten minutes of doing so. It was then she felt the familiar burning sensation on her arms, signing the accumulated power she had managed to gather from the Red ShadoWira's attack. Braving herself, she decided to try and use the accumulated power now, before they became too strong for her too handle. She willed her hands backward, feeling the sensation of guiding something which was unseen with her hands, before pushing her hands forward once more.

Liu Ying's attempt worked gloriously; a glittering yellow wave of light was released and knocked the Red ShadoWira off his feet. The villain was sent rolling on the ground several times by the DigiWira's telekinetic deflector ability. However, the attack didn't cause any physical damage onto him – the injuries he had sustained were merely bruises due to rolling on some stones that were scattered around the forest ground.

The Red ShadoWira got back up on his feet and chuckled. "You're strong, Yellow DigiWira. Too bad I can't say the same thing about the White DigiWira." He then let out a laugh.

"What…what did you mean by that?" Liu Ying quickly asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, you're just the same as the Pink DigiWira; stop worrying already. Adam isn't dead if that's what you're afraid of. His partner is there to protect him, as well as some bunch of riff raffs. No big deal. My biggest achievement is the fact that he can no longer utilize his teleportation power now!"

"What? How's that possible!"

The Red ShadoWira cast a glance towards the Blue ShadoWira, who stood out of the earshot of the conversation he was having with Liu Ying, before turning his attention back to the girl. "You know why. Didn't you remember that I have Adam's White DigiSphere with me? Heh, heh…apparently by taking the DigiSphere away, not only Adam loses his power, but that guinea pig of his cannot digivolve to that dragon centaur thing…he has to resort to the regular centaur form instead! And, don't even think of trying to confiscate the DigiSphere from me…although I'd love to let you try, if you want, I don't think I'd mind having a girl check me out…but the DigiSphere is not with me so don't waste your time."

Liu Ying's cheek colored a little, but something crossed her mind. She eyed the Red ShadoWira suspiciously, sensing something oddly familiar coming from the villain. There was his way of talking, for once, and if she wasn't mistaken…the villain was actually flirting with her with his last sentence.

"Heh, heh, I see that you're getting something now…" the Red ShadoWira crossed his arms. "You're thinking too hard; that's not really a good pastime now."

"Why are you doing this?" Liu Ying asked; a horrible suspicion dawned into her. She would just have to prove it.

However, both the ShadoWira and the DigiWira were interrupted by a scream that sounded just like Fairymon's, followed by a loud demand coming from Youkomon. The four of them immediately turned their attentions towards their Digimon…and saw that Reichmon had rose back on his feet. He was clutching Cherrymon just under his face, and Cherrymon seemed to be in deep pain. His other hand was holding his spear, and he was pointing the spear towards Cherrymon's face.

"Excellent, Reichmon! DO IT!" the Red ShadoWira said elatedly. "Do the deed! Show those DigiWira partners what you're made of!"

Reichmon tightened his grip onto Cherrymon, who wiggled helplessly against the dark knight. He attempted to pelt Reichmon with his cherries but those attacks simply rebounded against the knight's thick armor without causing any real damage at all. The wizened tree's eyes looked around helplessly; he knew that his time was up. His eyes landed on Fairymon and Youkomon, who both looked horrified of his impending doom. He saw Fairymon was about to strike towards Reichmon, and Youkomon was crouched down with her tails up, each tip blazed with red flames. He felt at peace – his deletion would not go un-avenged.

But there was something that he needed to tell the DigiWira partners before he died. It was something important.

Upon facing Reichmon, Cherrymon had noticed that something was off with the knight digimon. He had sensed a shroud of darkness, which didn't seem to bode well with Reichmon, who despite his dark armors bore the appearance of a noble digimon. His years of staying in the forest and meditating, coupled with his less-developed telepathic ability, had made him in tune with the earth and nature. He had attempted to access Reichmon's mind prior to their battle, to learn of the dark warrior's reason for infiltrating the forest. He had gotten visions which horrified him, and he had received scrambled thoughts from Reichmon. He knew then, that Reichmon was not purely evil…but was manipulated so thoroughly that he had lost his sense of judgment.

"DigiWira…partners!" he managed to choke out, causing both female digimon to halt momentarily. "My time…is almost…up! I sense…confusion…in them. The humans….and this darkened warrior, they…are not…themselves. Something…is…controlling them! They are…not doing this…with their…own…will. Let my power…help you…guide them…back…to the right path!"

"Cherrymon, hang on! We'll save you!" Fairymon said shrilly.

"There is…no hope…for me. I have seen…frightening visions…but…it is my wish, that… this dark warrior…to be saved," Cherrymon choked out. "I cannot…do it…but with my skills…and power…you two…perhaps…will be able…to do it…for me!"

Youkomon frowned; what Cherrymon had just said unnerved her. It was as if Cherrymon wasn't blaming Reichmon for going to kill him.

Reichmon however, harbored no such remorse, and with one strike of his spear he deleted Cherrymon mercilessly. The tree digimon's data particles shimmering green and coalesced into the air as Cherrymon's last parting words echoed softly over the air.

"NOO!" Gayathri screamed. She looked at the Blue ShadoWira. "Don't do this! See what Reichmon has done!"

She didn't realize that her D-Terminal began to beep intensely.

Liu Ying stared hard at the Red ShadoWira. "Why are you doing this? TELL US! You're humans too, why are you working against us! You've done nothing but to cause us trouble from the moment you came into the picture!"

Something similar was happening to Liu Ying's D-Terminal, but she too, was too focused on the Red ShadoWira to notice it.

Both the Red and the Blue ShadoWira shrugged. "You're good, we're bad…do the math, why don't you?" the Red ShadoWira sneered.

"You're supposed to be good at it," the Blue ShadoWira added monotonously.

The data particles that came from Cherrymon shimmered and began to coalesce around Youkomon and Fairymon. Cherrymon's parting words could be heard, but they no longer echoed all around them. Instead, they now echoed inside of their minds. Visions flashed past their eyes – one by one at rapid speed. Both digimon recoiled in pain; Fairymon was clutching her head, screaming shrilly, while Youkomon froze while in semi-crouching position, her eyes closed tight.

"What's happening to them?" Gayathri wondered nervously.

"LIKE I CARE!" the Red ShadoWira said with a laugh. "They're in pain! Reichmon, finish them off at one go, NOW!"

All of a sudden, the girls' D-Terminals both let out streaks of yellow and pink, which coalesced with each other before forming one bigger, pure green light. The green beam of light hit Youkomon and Fairymon as Cherrymon's data particles began to float towards the sky. The two female digimon then relaxed; their minds now at peace, and their bodies invigorated by the green beam that came from their partners' D-Terminals. They could sense it – it was the power of the Yellow and Pink DigiSpheres…combined!

The girls' D-3s then shook violently and let out two different streaks that represented the colors of their DigiSpheres. A pink beam hit Fairymon, and transformed her into a brilliant mote of pink light. Similarly, a yellow beam came into contact with Youkomon and the fox morphed into a glowing yellow orb of light. Both light orbs then soared all the way up to the canopies, illuminating the shady forest with flashes of pink and yellow light.

The occupants of the tree village above were all dazzled by the sudden light show. Shurimon and the rookies were all gathered by the railing, witnessing the strange display of light, wondering what was going on.

Adam and Patamon too were watching from inside one of the wooden house – the infirmary. They were being checked up by a biped yellow-furred ape who was donning a white medical gown and a stethoscope on his neck, who was accompanied by a biped white-furred feline who was wearing a nurse hat.

"It's the girls!" Patamon said excitedly. "I recognize this! This is…"

Loud exclamations were then heard, echoing the whole Evergreen Forest.

"Fairymon…"

"Youkomon…"

"…DNA DIGIVOLVE TO…."

The two motes of light then suddenly plummeted down towards the ground, and with a loud crash entered the earth. Green beams of light were emitted from the ground's many pores, before the center of the forest clearing cracked and a magenta flower bloomed out from the ground. The flower was easily larger than life, and more green beams, mixed with yellow and pink ones, were emitted as the petals of the flower opened.

A winged humanoid figure glowing in green aura then flew out from the flower as the flower vanished. The green aura slowly dissipated, revealing a shapely woman garbed in yellow dress with pink accents. The skirt was designed to bore the shape of the flower petals. She wore green boots and gloves, all of them adorned with flowers with pink petals and a yellow center. Her hairs were made out of green vines which flowed down her back. Her tiara, patterned to look like a tulip, was pink with yellow accents towards the top. The green aura left her face last; revealing an enchantingly beautiful and flawless female face with dark green irises, wearing yellow eye makeup and a glittering pink lipstick.

She then opened her mouth, and spoke with a dual voice which reflected Youkomon's refined manner and Fairymon's headstrong quality. A heroine of earth and nature, she stood elegantly at seven feet high, hovering at the middle of the clearing, emitting out an interesting mixture of yellow, pink and green aura from her body.

"The earth nurtures….the nature blooms… floral maiden LILLYMON!"

"Wow…" Gayathri said in awe. "Lillymon is very beautiful!"

"Incredible!" Liu Ying gasped. "I've never thought that our partners can DNA digivolve!"

The Red ShadoWira snorted. "Pah! She may be a looker, I'd give her that…but still she's no match for Reichmon! Reichmon, finish her off!"

Lillymon looked down at the onlookers, giving a warm smile to her DigiWira partners, and fixed a soulful stare onto the ShadoWira. She noticed a loud roar coming from the back. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a yellow-green fiery gryphon coming towards her.

The elegant dryad twisted her body around and joined her two arms. Her palms faced each other before they morphed into glittering green cannon.

"FLOWER CANNON!"

The cannon emitted out a glowing green sphere and shot the sphere of pure nature and earth energies towards the shrieking gryphon. The cannonball impaled the gryphon's wide-opened mouth and emerged through the back of its head. The fiery gryphon dissipated instantly as the cannonball made its way towards Reichmon. Reichmon attempted to defend himself from the incoming attack by sending a hasty thunderbolt, but the thunderbolt missed the cannonball completely. Lillymon's attack then came into contact with Reichmon and a loud explosion ensued.

"I do not think that this battle should be ended in violence," Lillymon said with a refined manner which rivaled Youkomon's. "Cherrymon's visions have enlightened me. I know what is to be done."

She raised one arm up and pointed her index finger towards the heavens. "FLOWER WREATHS!"

Lillymon then flew all around the clearing, showering everything with pink and yellow flowers. Those flowers exuded a very sweet and refreshing scent. Upon touching the burnt trees, slowly those trees were restored to their previous forms. When the flowers landed on the ground, where it was bare green grasses began to sprout out from the earth, and where it was already grassy, shrubs grew out and flowers blossomed from the shrubs.

However, something different happened when those flowers landed on Reichmon, the ShadoWira and the DigiWira.

Around the ShadoWira and Reichmon, the pink and yellow flowers formed multiple beautiful wreaths of flower which enveloped around them. Simple and weak as they looked, the wreaths proved to be unbreakable when they attempted to break free from them. Black smokes began to emanate around the ShadoWira and Reichmon.

"What the hell is happening!" the Red ShadoWira screamed, and his body burst into raging flames which incinerated all the beautiful flowers that latched onto his body.

The Blue ShadoWira fell onto his knees as more black smokes escaped his body. Seeing this, the Red ShadoWira burned all the flowers on his comrade's body. He looked around wildly and saw that Reichmon was struggling hard. With a loud grunt the Red ShadoWira released a torrent of fire towards Reichmon and burned all the flowers off the warrior's body. Reichmon's body glowed with black aura before he de-digivolved back into unconscious forms of Agumon and Penguinmon.

"This isn't over, DigiWira," the Red ShadoWira said sneeringly. "We'll see each other again soon…very soon. HAHAHAHA!"

The air behind them rippled. The Red ShadoWira then pushed the Blue ShadoWira into the portal, before shoving the unconscious rookie partners of theirs into it as well. He then turned back to face the DigiWira and his eyes flashed dangerously before he entered the portal as well before it closed.

"Yeesh," Gayathri said, wrinkling her nose. "Didn't they realize that Lillymon is actually doing them a favor? The flower wreaths are actually healing all those scratches and bruises I got when battling those ShadoWira."

"Healing flowers," Liu Ying nodded with a smile as she smelled one flower. She then looked up and saw Lillymon descended towards them radiantly. "Lillymon…thanks!"

"You are welcome, my partners," Lillymon nodded smilingly.

Gayathri cocked her head sideways, a finger placed on her chin. "You know, now that I think about it…Lillymon looks a lot like Fairymon…don't you think so, Liu Ying?"

"Maybe," Liu Ying said. "But she gets Youkomon's mannerisms."

"I am both Youkomon and Fairymon, with added powers of nature and earth from the late Cherrymon. A normal Lillymon does not have this appearance," the ethereally beautiful Lillymon explained, the smile didn't leave her beaming face one bit. She looked up and saw the damaged tree village, and her smile faltered, but not gone completely. "Come on, my partners. Let us make our way up to the tree village. The village suffers damage as well, and my healing flowers will restore the village back to its former glory. And…" Lillymon became silent as she looked up at one particular direction on the tree village. "I sense Adam…he shall require my help too, and for quite some time, I think…"

Standing at seven feet tall, Lillymon was taller than any average woman. She then kneeled down in front of the DigiWira and beckoned for each girl to sit on an arm. When they sat, small flower wreaths materialized around their bodies, securing them to Lillymon's arms. The three of them then made their way up and reached the tree village in no time.

She placed Liu Ying and Gayathri on the balcony of the main house, where Shurimon stood. Then, she summoned her flower wreathes once more and gradually restored the village, which had suffered from the onslaught of the ShadoWira and Reichmon. She found the three injured Harpymon, and sensed a dark shroud clouding their minds. Despite them being the villains, Lillymon healed them as well, despite the protests from the villagers.

"They are not inherently evil," Lillymon said plainly. "With my help, they will no longer be."

Black smokes emanated from the Harpymon before they slowly reverted into two Biyomon and one Hawkmon. The three rookie avian digimon woke up and watched their surrounding with awe.

"What happened?" the Hawkmon asked, confused. "I remember being imprisoned inside the Cave of Solitude…then…Karatenmon…then nothing."

"See?" Lillymon said gently. "Give them a second chance. They have no place to go. Their home, the Green Meadow Village, was destroyed…" Lillymon refrained from mentioning that it was the Harpymon who had destroyed the village, for the three rookie avian digimon's sakes. She gave Shurimon a questioning look, for the village leader to consider her request.

Shurimon and the rookies there looked at each other, then at the three birds. The Armored Champion then watched as a Mushroomon, the one who Adam had rescued from falling, approaching the three confused birds.

"Hi! I'm Mushroomon, rookie level, virus type digimon. Although I'm a viral digimon, but don't let it fool you. I'm a peaceful-loving digimon. Wanna be friends?" he asked easily.

Seeing the Mushroomon extending the hand of friendship to the three formerly evil digimon, the other rookies immediately followed suit. Shurimon watched them with mirth glinting from his yellow eyes, and nodded to Lillymon.

"They are not naturally evil, so they are welcomed here," Shurimon said finally.

"Good. Then, there is one last thing I must do," Lillymon said. "Where are Adam and Patamon?"

"Here!" Adam called, walking out from the infirmary which was beside the main house of the village. Patamon was, as usual, perched on his head. His eyes widened upon setting sight on the beautiful fairy. He had his gray jacket slung on his right shoulder, and was wearing a form-fitting white shirt over the gray uniform trousers. "Woah…who's this?" he asked questioningly to his teammates.

"Adam," Lillymon said gently. "You know my pre-digivolved forms. I am their DNA digivolved ultimate form. My name is Lillymon."

"Labramon and Floramon?" Adam said, astonished. He turned his sight towards the girls. "Wow! She looks awesome."

"She easily sent the ShadoWira and that Reichmon running," Gayathri supplied, with a thumbs-up.

"And she has restored the village back to normal," Liu Ying added with a smile. Her face then changed into concern, which was mirrored by Gayathri's face as well. "Adam, how are you? The Red ShadoWira told us some unnerving stuffs…"

Adam's smiling face turned sour. "I'm ok, but I don't have my power anymore," he said glumly. "And Patamon cannot digivolve to Sagittarimon. It was the White DigiSphere which gives him the boost from Centarumon to Sagittarimon…and the sphere gives me my power too. Now that the Red ShadoWira has my DigiSphere, I'm sitting ducks whenever I meet him again."

Everyone became quiet. Liu Ying and Gayathri both gave their male teammate assuring looks, not daring to promise that they would help him recover his D-Terminal back. Without his teleportation power, Adam would be defenseless, and Patamon could only access his normal, weaker champion form.

Lillymon cleared her throat – even her way of doing that was refined, but at present no one would take notice of that. The DigiWira's attentions were immediately fixed on her.

"Before the DNA digivolution took place, I have perceived disturbing images from Cherrymon…"

---

Author's Notes:

A long chapter with two battles, as opposed to the non-battle chapter previously. I've considered splicing this chapter into two separate ones, but then decided against it. Some small editing here and there, and I don't know what else that I could edit out. Perhaps the battle with Peacockmon is a little bit too long…it's actually an excerpt of one of the discarded chapter which I've decided to incorporate into the pre-credit segment of the chapter, adding the new astral projection power as the way to end it.

My main focus for this chapter is of course, the battle between the ShadoWira and the DigiWira girls, and the appearance of Lillymon. Of course, this is a different kind of Lillymon, and I have incorporated some of Rosemon's appearance to her. She is supposedly more womanly than the series' Lillymon. It's true that neither Youkomon nor Fairymon could digivolve into Lillymon, but work with me here. She's vital to the story.

Anyway, no new words in this chapter…except for "Abang" which is Malay for 'big brother'. Similarly, "Kakak" or "Kak" refer to 'older sister'.

Despite its brief mention, Capoiera is not something from Malaysia. It's actually a Brazilian martial art. Recently the martial art is also featured in computer games and films. I just thought of incorporating it as JD/Red ShadoWira's specialty.

Coming up next: The five-part ShadoWira Unveiled which will be the finale for the ShadoWira saga. Like the title suggests, the DigiWira will finally learn the identity of the ShadoWira, and more!