Sorcerymon and Shutumon stood in awe in front of a large, intimidating rock statue. It was a demonic-looking statue that stood nearly nine meters in height; one that depicted a lanky humanoid figure, with two horns jutting out from the sides of its face, long arms and a massive pair of wings which extended all the way down to its ankle. Against the pale moonlight emitted by the semi-spherical yellow orb shining against the dark sky above, the humanoid statue glistened with a mixture of dark blue and gray.
"Even while imprisoned, he still scares me," Sorcerymon confessed, and cast a wary look on his companion. "You sure you want to release him?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Shutumon snapped irritably.
Something that sounded like a twig being stepped upon, and snapped to half, was heard all of a sudden. It came from their backs and sounded not so far away. The sound was audible enough, made even more obvious to the quietness of the night. However, both digimon could've sworn that they had not heard anyone following them, but a twig would not snap to half on its own. Somebody must have stepped on them by accident.
Quickly, the two digimon whirled around, with Sorcerymon pointing his staff towards whoever that was behind them while Shutumon braced herself to attack. They immediately calmed down upon setting eyes with a tall human in black, whose hair glistened against the pale moonlight. Beside the human was an orange miniature tyrannosaurus rex.
"Oh, it's just you," Shutumon groaned, and lowered her arm. Sorcerymon visibly relaxed.
"Oh, it's just me," JD Kamaruzaman mimicked, with a lopsided grin. With no DigiWira around, he had decided to forego his mask and cape, and now stood only in his black, red accented uniform. "Gee, that makes me feel so wanted."
"Shouldn't you be in your world by now?" Sorcerymon inquired warily. He knew that JD couldn't harm him but, still, the Red ShadoWira had that seemingly imposing aura emanating around him. His slight apprehension however was understandable; it was just earlier that afternoon that the two ShadoWira had been given the ability to merge with their Digimon partners to form fully-fledged ultimate-level Digimon. In truth, both Sorcerymon and Shutumon were slightly put off with Karatenmon for granting the ShadoWira that ability – they would've given anything to be able to digivolve into Ultimates. Yet, they had no say in this matter, and even SkullSatamon had granted Karatenmon the permission to proceed with bestowing the ShadoWira with the Shadow Access ability.
JD ran his hand over his straight, uncombed hair, which looked somewhat wet – like he had just taken a shower prior his trip to the Digital World. He shrugged upon hearing Sorcerymon's question. "Nah, it's boring at home and I can't sleep. So what are you guys up to?"
"Nothing that concerns you," Shutumon snapped. She crossed her arms and glared at the ShadoWira, who was waltzing towards her without a care of the world.
"Heh. What's with the hostility? I thought we're in the same team?" JD grinned. "Oh…I know! You two are jealous!" he declared, pointing a gloved finger towards the bird-woman.
Shutumon huffed. "Humph. What's there to be jealous about?"
"Oh, let me guess. How about…I can become an Ultimate and you two can't?" JD laughed loudly.
Neither Shutumon nor Sorcerymon replied to the bold ShadoWira's statement. They merely glared at him quietly.
"Ok, ok…enough about my nifty power-up. What are you guys up to? Are you gonna free some badass Digimon? I know that's one freaky-looking guy… kinda look like a devil, if you ask me, with those huge wings, claws, horns and all."
It dawned upon the Digimon duo that they won't be able to make the Red ShadoWira go away. They might as well just entertain his questions.
"Well, this is IceDevimon. He's a champion-level, virus type, fallen angel Digimon," Sorcerymon explained.
JD snorted. "Only a champion? Heh…I could take him down. I thought that he's an Ultimate."
Shutumon laughed vindictively. "Shows just how much you know. This IceDevimon isn't just any Champion; his power rivals many ultimate-level Digimon. Demonic and angelic Digimon have that kind of specialty – they usually are more powerful than any other Digimon types, despite them being the same level as the said demon or angel. This IceDevimon is even more unique – not only he's a demon-type; he also commands the power of ice! He could give any of you ShadoWira a good fight."
"Really?" JD didn't look like he believed Shutumon, but he didn't say anything more. "So, being all high and powerful as you say he was, what made him got captured?"
"As far as I know, IceDevimon was entombed by Grademon after he'd frozen the whole village of fire-type Digimon. Grademon couldn't keep him down using his own power, so he got himself an upgrade from the holy powers of the White DigiSphere and used it against IceDevimon. The power of light is always a bane to dark Digimon such as IceDevimon, weakening him enough before sentencing him into a life-long entombment," Sorcerymon explained.
JD didn't say anything, but his mind was processing what Sorcerymon had just mentioned; he was particularly interested in how IceDevimon was captured.
'It's lucky for me that I have the White DigiSphere in my possession,' the blonde thought silently. 'This could prove very useful for me. I could use the holy power of the White DigiSphere to increase my chance against any demon types…and I think I know two of them demon types…' he smirked.
"Well, why do you want to free this guy, then?" JD asked.
"Why?" Shutumon's eyes nearly bulged out upon hearing the inquiry. She looked at JD, as if JD had asked her the stupidest question ever. "Why…it's for us to use against the DigiWira, of course!"
"Duh," Sorcerymon added, rolling his emerald-green eyes.
"Yeah, I know what your plan is. But, what guarantee do you have that this IceDevimon would follow your orders? From the way you explained his history to me, sounds like this guy's pretty wild. He won't want to follow the orders from two dweebs such as you two."
"Dweebs?" Shutumon nearly shrieked upon hearing the insult coming from the human. "Why…why…I'll show you!"
Sorcerymon pointed his staff towards JD. "You take that back! Nobody call us dweebs and get away with it."
"Always a first time for everything," JD said, voice full of challenge. He turned his palm up and generated a sphere of flames, his chiseled features bathing in the warm glow. Despite the fact that the Red ShadoWira was grinning, there was no mistaking the dangerous glint exhibited by his hazel eyes. "Wanna make something out of it?"
"You think you're so hot now that you've got the Shadow Access power," Shutumon continued with a withering tone. Her light aquamarine eyes flashed with anger.
JD wiggled his straight, light brown eyebrows twice, and smirked as he caused the fireball on his palm to die down. "Yup, I know that I'm hot. But thanks for pointing that out. It's good to hear it every now and then, kinda like a boost to my ego." He chuckled and turned his back from the two Digimon, his hand lightly touching the head of his rookie-level partner. "Come, Agumon."
Agumon nodded and trotted along to his human partner. Shutumon and Sorcerymon watched the ShadoWira's retreating back, seething angrily.
"He's got some nerve," Sorcerymon muttered, when JD and Agumon were no longer in sight.
"Well, let's show him!" Shutumon said. "Free IceDevimon; and sic him to that JD and his Agumon first before making him go for the DigiWira."
Sorcerymon nodded, and pointed his white staff towards the demonic statue. The staff emitted a soft white glow as the boyish wizard chanted, "Fallen Digimon of long before, with my magic you shall rise once more! HIYYAAH!"
The staff let out a bolt of white sphere which came into contact with the statue. An explosion resulted and as the statue began to crumble, Sorcerymon and Shutumon watched with anticipation as the one imprisoned within the statue began to move his arms and wiggled his wings. It was revealed that the Digimon was all white, but looked nowhere holy, which the color white was so often associated with. Instead, IceDevimon radiated with an aura of pure evil.
"It's good to be free," he said icily, and his crimson eyes fell onto the two smaller Digimon in front of him. He said nothing, but looked at them inquiringly.
"IceDevimon, we've freed you," Shutumon said with a commanding tone. "And for your first task…go find that JD and his partner, and teach him a lesson."
"You freed me?" IceDevimon asked. His thin lips, which were set against a very pale bluish skin, curled into a smile, exhibiting his sharp fangs at the sides of his mouth. "Then allow me to show a token of my gratitude…Zero Freeze!!"
Spreading his wings wide, IceDevimon released a blizzard of subzero cold air with one flap of his wings directly towards Shutumon and Sorcerymon. The temperature around Shutumon and Sorcerymon dropped instantly and they felt their bodies being immobilized by an unseen force. Thick coat of ice began to form on their feet, and the ice radiated upwards at an alarming speed. Before long, the two Digimon were fully imprisoned inside a thick hoarfrost formation. Even the ground, stones and shrubs around them were also frozen solid.
"It's good to see that I haven't lost my icy touch after all those years of imprisoned," the demon said, and smiled coldly.
Suddenly, IceDevimon felt a searing heat coming from the sky, coupled with a sound which resembled a burning forest. He turned around and saw a large fireball streaking towards him. He smirked and whirled his body around quickly, readying to freeze the fireball. However, to his astonishment the fireball landed slowly on the ground and IceDevimon saw a magma-like humanoid took form from the fireball. The flames died away slowly and IceDevimon found himself standing face to face with a Digimon armored in red.
"And who might you be?" IceDevimon asked haughtily; he wasn't intimidated at all with the fiery Digimon.
"The name's Satriamon," the red-armored Digimon answered, with an equally proud tone. "I've a proposition for you."
"I don't make deals," IceDevimon said, and raised his long right arm. From his palm a jet of arrow-shaped icicles escaped, their sharp points could easily end any life being that stood their ways.
Satriamon snorted and released a powerful torrent of fire from his left hand. His flames easily melted the icy projectiles before they too died down due to the cold air generated from IceDevimon's attack. The fiery knight Digimon was immediately aware that Sorcerymon and Shutumon hadn't been lying when they described IceDevimon as being much more powerful than any average champion Digimon. This champion Digimon was able to cancel out his attack, despite Satriamon being an ultimate level Digimon.
"Then again, it won't hurt to just listen to this proposition of yours," IceDevimon said with a simper. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was impressed with Satriamon's prowess, and it showed from the look of his eyes.
Satriamon grinned. "Then listen closely."
xxx
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Help us…we need your assistance. Our world is in grave danger!
He sat there, eyes transfixed on the laptop's screen. 'How's this possible?' he thought. 'I haven't got the internet connected yet.'
There was a chatting window that was opened as soon as Windows had finished loading. Confused, he looked at the telephone cable, which he hadn't connected to the laptop's modem receiver yet. The opened window resembled the chat client that he had so often used before, and it baffled him that the window had opened.
'I just got this laptop this afternoon…' he thought, observing the pristine white laptop. 'This is the first time I've switched it on…'
The message window was blinking, as if trying to draw his attention back to it.
You have been chosen. We need you. Are you willing to help?
"Sure, I'd love to," he muttered uncertainly. "The only problem is, I don't even know to whom I'm speaking with."
Type YES if you agree to help us.
He shrugged…and typed 'yes' as the message had implored. The screen flashed with calm blue light, and he suddenly felt as if his body became lighter. His vision was fully blinded, and he felt a sensation of being lifted off his chair, and…no matter how odd it sounded…he felt as if he was being sucked into the laptop's screen.
Not knowing what else to do, he screamed…
Then, at a different time but at the same place, his scream died out as he opened his eyes, before bolting up from his bed. Despite the air-conditioned room, he was sweating profusely. His hair, no longer gelled, was plastered on his head. The loose blue tank top he wore to bed felt damp against his body. His chest heaved up and down slowly as he looked around his darkened bedroom with a slight confusion. He felt his temples throbbing, and proceeded to massage them with his hands.
The throbbing only grew more intense, eliciting a soft groan from the burly boy. However, soft green glow began to emanate from his russet eyes, and the throbbing slowly diminished.
When the aching sensation dulled gradually, Manny no longer remembered what he had dreamt about, and smiled as he lowered his body back onto his bed. He closed his eyes and willed himself back to sleep, as it was way too early to wake up yet.
xxx
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WIRA DIGITAL
- ShadoWira Unveiled, Part II –
Chapter 17 – True Blue
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"What do you mean; you're not coming back tonight? I thought your flight back here will be tonight…well, London's night time," Gayathri said exasperatedly towards the phone. She was sitting at the cushioned wooden chair beside the table where the house phone was placed.
"Honey, there's something more that we have to do here. The business is not finished yet, so we were forced to extend stay," a woman's voice, easily identified as Mrs. Nadarajah's, was heard over the phone speaker.
Gayathri sighed and looked at the faces of Mak Mirah and Anding, who were sitting at the sofa in front of the phone table. The elderly cook and the young man were listening to the conversation between mother and daughter, as Mrs. Nadarajah had indicated that she had wanted to speak to all three of them earlier.
"Ok… so when are you two coming back?" Gayathri asked.
"Probably about three to four days from now," Mrs. Nadarajah replied from the other side of the phone, inside her hotel room at Central London. "Honey, you sound tired and it's morning there; have you eaten your breakfast already? I think it's about ten o'clock right now, right?"
Gayathri groaned inaudibly and eyed her plate of barely-touched roti canai topped with curry gravy and dhal. "I'm eating right now," she replied, ignoring the disapproving look from Mak Mirah. For the last one hour, the dark-skinned girl had only eaten two bites of the roti canai before she decided that she'd had enough breakfast. Apart from that she had only drank a cup of Milo.
"Ok then; I won't bother you. I'm going to bed now. See you soon, honey, I love you."
"Love you too, Amma. Send Appa my regards," Gayathri replied, and heard a reply from her mother before there was a 'click' sound.
"Will you eat the rest of your roti canai?" Anding asked, pointing towards the unfinished meal on Gayathri's plate.
"No…do you want it?" Gayathri offered.
"Nope. I've already had two roti canai and one roti telur just now," Anding declined, rubbing the beard stubs on his chin lightly. "You should finish it though; they're tasty. It was lucky that I managed to buy them early this morning, before the stall got too crowded. Pak Mat's roti canai is the best."
Gayathri listened to Anding with a small envy; she really wanted to eat the roti canai, but a part of her was stopping her from finishing up the meal. She had been limiting herself to eating small portions of her meals ever since Friday, after the battle with the ShadoWira. The Blue ShadoWira's comment about her being fat really stung her, and that same night she had decided to start dieting and exercising in order to lose some weight. Her meals were changed instantly – she had decided that she would not eat rice anymore, and decided to eat a lot of fruits instead as she didn't really like eating salads. Throughout the previous day, her meals had been only fruits, yogurts, milk and some plain water. Gayathri didn't like the diet regime, but she had seen its effect the previous night, and had been positively enthralled. She had lost one kilogram from her weight.
"I think this whole dieting thing is nonsense," Mak Mirah commented, concern laced in her elderly voice. She was a rather stout woman, and her face had a bubbly look on it. She looked younger than her fifty-six years of age. Her graying hair was done in a bun. She was wearing a purple baju kurung, a light pattern going over it, and a deep blue kain batik.
"I just want to lose some weight, that's all," Gayathri assured the family cook. Mak Mirah had been like a second mother to her, she had no secrets from the elderly woman. Even her own mother didn't know about her being a DigiWira, and Mak Mirah had known about it ever since the day Gayathri was first called to the Digital World.
"Exercising is fine," Mak Mirah replied. "But…at least take some heavy meals during breakfast or afternoon, and for dinner you can have only fruits and yogurts. The day's meals give you energy."
"I've lost one kilogram," Gayathri diverted, with a small smile. "So my diet is working. I'm going to lose four more kilograms before I touch rice again."
Anding, who was leaning against the sofa, shook his head slowly. He fixed his dark brown eyes into Gayathri's lighter brown irises. "I hope you're not doing this whole dieting thing the wrong way, like puking out your food after eating them. You barely ate these couple of days, the last thing you'd need is to throw up three times per day…"
"I'm not bulimic!" Gayathri exclaimed indignantly.
"Or end up being an anorexic," the black-haired man finished. "Really, Gayathri; whoever told you to lose weight should just go date a lamp pole with a skirt on. Personally, I like women with some curves…" he grinned. Then, something crossed his mind and a sly grin was fixed on his unshaven face. "Wait a minute; all this dieting…it's not to impress that Emmanuel boy now, isn't it?"
"What? No!" Gayathri yelped, blushing slightly. "I'm doing this for myself."
Both Mak Mirah and Anding exchanged looks between each other. "Well, as long as you know what you're doing. But you should at least eat something solid…at least finish up the roti canai," Mak Mirah advised. "And I'll fix you some chicken sandwiches with tomatoes and salads, if you want, for lunch."
Gayathri beamed. "You're the best, Mak Mirah. But I think I've had enough of roti canai for now…however I'm looking forward for those chicken sandwiches." She stood up and smoothes out the creases of her light pink T-shirt and black pair of shorts. "I'm going out for a while, just for a walk around the neighborhood. It's not that hot now."
"Where's your Digimon?" Anding inquired, adjusting the short sleeves of his dark green, form-fitting T-shirt that nicely contrasted his faded blue jeans. "Haven't seen her this morning."
"Tanemon is at the backyard," Mak Mirah answered. "She's enjoying the sunlight and the soil…says that she's doing photo…err, photosyn-…"
"Photosynthesis," Gayathri finished. "Let her have her 'meals'. I'm just gonna step out for a while to check out a new function of my D-3 Digivice…the thing that I use to go to the Digital World," Gayathri clarified, upon seeing Mak Mirah's blank expression.
"Well, just come back for lunch," Mak Mirah said, and stood up. "I'm going to wash the dishes."
"And I have some major test tomorrow that I need to study for," Anding sighed, and rose up from the sofa when his mother did. Anding made his way towards the back of the house, where his room was located, right beside his mother's room.
Gayathri went outside her house and took out her D-3 Digivice. A worried expression laced her face as she adjusted several stray strands of her brown curls, tucking them behind her ears. The result of her investigation yesterday was played out in her mind as she stepped outside the gate.
After watching Manny and Debbie washing their father's car the previous evening, Gayathri had set out to encircle the lane where her house was situated, and the lanes behind her house. Unfortunately for her, there was not one other male teenager other than Manny who lived around the nearby vicinity. There were a couple of rowdy boys living at the house right behind Manny's house, but Gayathri had instantly ruled them both out as being ShadoWira…as they were even younger than Debbie.
She had ruled everyone out the previous day, with the exception of two persons. The first was Anding, but Gayathri found that extremely hard to believe as the times of the Blue ShadoWira's appearances clashed with Anding's work and college schedules.
The other person was Manny; and Gayathri had tried her hardest to cross him off her list.
'He's too sweet,' Gayathri mused silently as she eyed her D-3. Granted, there was only one pink dot displayed on the screen, as opposed to the pink and blue dots that seemed almost next to each other just the previous day's evening. 'Hmm…the signal's gone.' She was now standing in front of Manny's house, and saw that the gate was locked and no sign of the family's main car – the black Honda Accord. However Gayathri knew perfectly where the Sabahan family were at right then; it was Sunday morning and usually the family would attend the church located somewhere in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. They usually would be back only during the afternoon.
'Wait a minute…that day when we rescued Adam at the Shadow Realm, it was on a Sunday. And the Blue ShadoWira was there as well…if he's Manny, then…there's no way the Blue ShadoWira could be at the Digital World that time when he was supposed to be at the church.'
However, Gayathri didn't feel any slight assurance at all with her reasoning.
Rather, her inner feeling told her to trust her heart.
And somehow, no matter how hard she tried not to believe it…there was no mistaking the signals she had gotten the previous day. When she was at the shrubbery just outside Manny's house, the D-3's scanning range had been set to the most minimum range, and the blue and pink dots had been practically next to each other.
Gayathri yawned; thinking about Manny as the Blue ShadoWira had bothered her greatly that she couldn't get a proper sleep at all yesterday's night. Images of the built boy kept invading her mind throughout the night. Her only console to her inner turmoil was the fact that she was not entirely sure about it yet.
An encounter with Manny several days before played in her mind. She was rollerblading, he was jogging. They had collided into each other. Manny then had complained of having back pain. At first, Gayathri had thought that the pain had been due to the fact that the collision had caused Manny to fall flat on his back, and Gayathri on him. Now, she was not so sure.
She remembered Liu Ying mentioning that she had thrown the Blue ShadoWira with her telekinetic powers, during the battle at the underground maze at the Megalith Coliseum. The Blue ShadoWira had been sent flying, crashing on his back against a massive stone formation. That had incapacitated the Blue ShadoWira for the rest of the battle.
'It's a match,' Gayathri thought with a shiver. 'Then there's that lunch at his house…'
She recalled Debbie telling her that Manny had been the one who shifted her handbag from the living room of his house to the table placed at the foyer…there nobody would hear should her phone or D-Terminal beeping. At first, she had merely thought that Manny was being really considerate, but now...what if it was done to avoid her from hearing the calls from her fellow DigiWira?
'Manny claimed that it was Aunty Kim who'd asked me to join in their lunches, but Aunty Kim told me instead that Manny was the one who asked whether I could come…' Gayathri remembered, her pretty face fixed on a glum frown. Her heart sank when she realized that there was a high chance that there was a hidden motive underneath the invitation. That day had been the day when the DigiWira first met the ShadoWira's partners, at East Lake City. Liu Ying and Adam had their hands full battling Flarelizamon and Depthmon without her. Gayathri felt a chill crept down her spine. 'Can it really be that Manny asked me for those two lunch dates simply to keep me away from helping out Liu Ying and Adam?'
Feeling slightly tired, Gayathri then decided to go home. 'I need to sleep this off. Maybe I can think about this more clearly after a nap.'
xxx
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"Hmm…that's weird," Adam said, as his sister turned the car around the familiar neighborhood close to their apartment.
"What's weird?" Alisha questioned, her eyes fixed forward on the road.
Adam pressed a button on his D-3 Digivice. "I can't get a lock on the Red ShadoWira's Digivice signal, but yesterday when we were here, the signal could be seen…somewhere around that house." The thirteen-year-old pointed towards a semi-detached beige house with dark brown roof and dark tinted windows. Alisha slowed down the car, and saw that once more, no car was parked in the house's driveway. But judging from the garden, where the plants looked like they had just been watered, it looked like somebody was there not too long ago.
"You sure this is the house, Adam?" Alisha asked warily. "Looks like no one's home."
"I'm sure. We've been here yesterday, and the red signal was here," Adam answered. "But now…it's not."
"Well, that could mean that either the Red ShadoWira has destroyed his Digivice, which is pretty much unlikely, or he's now at the Digital World," Alisha pointed out.
"Second option sounds more logical," Patamon quipped from the backseat.
Adam nodded. "Well, if that's so, then there's no use for us being here anymore. I'm gonna call Liu Ying."
He took out his light gray cell phone and used the quick-dial function to reach Liu Ying. Seconds later the girl picked up the phone.
"Let me guess…the Red ShadoWira's signal isn't anywhere near his house?" came Liu Ying's slightly impatient voice; she hadn't bothered to start with a 'Hello' as well.
"Hello to you too," Adam said with a smirk. "Yup. And looks like no one's home. Maybe he's at the Digital World."
"Maybe. And the Blue ShadoWira's signal seems to be coming from somewhere in the middle of KL. I can't pinpoint exactly where, but it looks impossible for us to track him. We'll just have to wait for him to come back to Subang later," Liu Ying replied.
"Has Gayathri mentioned anything from her search yesterday?" Adam asked.
"She has…but her reply baffled me slightly. She didn't answer my question directly last night; I asked her whether she had found the Blue ShadoWira's signal or not. She just said that she'd take care of it. Weird, right?"
"Yeah. Well, we saw the blue signal yesterday; it was somewhere around her place. Maybe she was doing some investigation on her own…"
"Adam…" Liu Ying's tone was slightly dry.
"Yeah…it could be any of her neighbors, or anyone she knows around the neighborhood."
"Wait a minute…" Liu Ying suddenly sounded interested with what Adam had just said. "Did you say her neighbor?"
"I did."
Liu Ying was silent at the other end of the line. Adam waited for another few seconds before resuming, "Hello? You still there?"
"I am. It's just…well, it's somewhat improbable, and maybe a coincidence…I need to go home now to check on something. I'll get back to you later, ok?"
"Uh…ok. Kak Lisha and I are about to go to Subang Parade for lunch anyway," Adam replied, somewhat befuddled with his friend's reply.
"Ok. We'll wait until the blue signal shows up."
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!
A dry chuckle was heard from the other end of the line. "Looks like your trip to Subang Parade and my trip home will need to be rescheduled. I'll contact Gayathri. See you in the Digital World."
With that, the line was disconnected. Adam kept his phone inside his jeans pocket and looked at his sister.
"We can go to Subang Parade after you do your stuff," Alisha assured, and steered the car back to the lane that directed them back to their apartment complex.
xxx
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The three DigiWira shivered as they walked in silence across the thick forest that housed the Forest Sanctum, noticing that somehow the air grew colder as they walked further away from the sanctum. Nobody mentioned anything, but their eyes widened in surprise as they reached the end of the forest.
"It's…snowing?" Adam said, puzzled, as he saw Green Meadow; no longer really a green meadow.
Instead, the surrounding was absolutely dreary: the sky was gray, with dark clouds that let down snow; the paddock was piled with thick, knee-deep snow; the lake in the middle of the wide meadow was frozen solid. It was so cold that even the protective suits worn by the three DigiWira couldn't completely shield them from the freezing environment, although they did help with keeping out some of the cold; the DigiWira felt as if they were inside a very chilly air-conditioned room.
In the middle of the snow-covered meadow, a hulking figure in white stood. It looked like a devil, with its huge tattered wings, horns and gleaming crimson eyes. The Digimon was a lanky humanoid and there was a symbol of an orange bat on his chest. Its lower half of the face, uncovered by the mask on his head, revealed skin so pale that it could be mistaken as the leathery white clothing that covered the rest of its body. Its claws, falling down to his ankles, looked ready to tear bodies apart.
At the moment, it was having its winged back facing them. The Digimon didn't seem to be aware of the DigiWira's presence.
"Who's that?" Liu Ying wondered.
Labramon growled silently. Her beige fur stood on its ends. She could sense an aura of danger coming from the Digimon in white. "That is an IceDevimon, and he is absolutely dangerous. We best digivolve."
The DigiWira heeded Labramon's advice and Youkomon, Fairymon and Centarumon replaced Labramon, Floramon and Patamon. The champion Digimon immediately worked on paving their ways through the knee-deep snow in front of the forest. Fairymon's wind power proved to be most useful – her Hurricane Wave immediately paved a clear way for the DigiWira to walk forward. The heat generated from Youkomon's flaming tails melted some of the snow, while Centarumon had to rely on his strength alone to further clear the snow away from the path.
The commotion they had created attracted IceDevimon's attention. The icy demon turned around and smirked.
"Finally; I was wondering when you would show up," he said with a sneering voice. However, his eyes were not fixed at the three champion Digimon in front of him.
Rather, they were solely fixed on the DigiWira. His pale lips curled into a wicked smirk, and he unfurled his large wings and took flight. With one blast of cold air, he managed to knock Centarumon and Youkomon away into the thick snows. Fairymon however managed to counter attack with a blast of pink hurricane, which cancelled out the cold airwave directed her way. IceDevimon sneered and released a blast of arrow-shaped projectiles from his wings, which impaled Fairymon and devolved her into Floramon instantly. The rookie plant-reptile plopped into the thick snow and was nowhere to be seen, as IceDevimon had once again released a cold wind that buried the rookie Digimon deep into the snows.
"Floramon!" Gayathri cried.
"Heh. This is too easy," IceDevimon sneered. "One down, two to go."
Suddenly, from the place where Youkomon had fallen, the snow melted as heat began to emanate. IceDevimon scowled in disdain and turned around, only to see a blazing spectral dragon snaked across the sky towards him. Not intimidated the slightest, IceDevimon raised his long arm; his claws glinted, reflecting the light from the flaming dragon.
"Frost Claw!!"
When the flaming dragon was near enough, IceDevimon delivered a forceful swipe with his claws against the specter. To the DigiWira's horror, the flaming specter instantly froze into a large, thick mould of ice. Youkomon was stuck in her spectral form within the ice, and was not able to break free. The massive ice structure was plummeted onto the paved ground, landed with a loud crashing explosion as sending splinters of ice flew over the frostbitten-meadow. A pale mote of yellow light escaped the explosion and took form into Labramon, who was shivering with violent ferocity. Her face was slightly blue, and frost lined her eyes and mouth.
IceDevimon had defeated both Fairymon and Youkomon within the course of five minutes, seemingly without much effort. He then eyed the remaining champion Digimon of good with surety of his victory. He however kept his distance, and watched as the DigiWira girls immediately went to retrieve their defeated partners.
After retrieving Labramon, Liu Ying waved her hands and sent some snows flying, intending to help Gayathri retrieve Floramon. With her telekinetic power, she managed to unearth Floramon, whose once green scales were now a sickly shade of blue. The rookie floral Digimon was already unconscious; the cold too severe for her to handle, a miracle that she could still sustain her rookie form.
Adam looked at Centarumon with worry. The centaur Digimon was strong, but there was no way that he could beat IceDevimon. The enemy had the advantage of flying, for once, and he also commanded the power of ice. Youkomon and Fairymon were beaten easily, and Adam had no doubt that Centarumon wouldn't last long against IceDevimon.
He knew what he had to do; what Centarumon needed was a power up. Adam would have to sacrifice his recently recharged teleportation power in order to ascend Centarumon to Sagittarimon, who as an Armored Champion, would stand a better chance against IceDevimon. He quickly raised his D-3 Digivice and felt his power being channeled into the Digivice. As he grew weaker, the Digivice began to emit a bright white aura.
Centarumon suddenly felt his body being fueled with additional power. Looking sideways, he saw what his human partner was doing, and was slightly touched. He knew how much regaining the teleportation power meant to Adam, yet the boy was ready to sacrifice it in order to power him up. His whole body began to glimmer with white light as he was propelled to a new height, as waves of onyx, ivory and crimson began to appear all around him. Blue scales began to replace brown furs and crimson armor with yellow and orange flame designs began to form on his torso. He attained dragon-like qualities as a large crimson bow began to appear within his hands.
Centarumon had become Sagittarimon.
"Thank you, Adam," Sagittarimon whispered, and fixed an arrow onto the bow's string. "Judgment Arrow!"
The arrow streaked towards IceDevimon with a speed rivaling a lightning, and pierced IceDevimon's shoulder before the icy demon could react. Clear blue liquid began to flow out from the demon's injured shoulder, but IceDevimon merely let out a sickening smile as he pointed one clawed finger towards the wound…and froze the gash.
Sagittarimon gasped, but what was more surprising was the fact that IceDevimon seemed to back off from him.
"Until later," he bade his farewell as the air behind him rippled. He took a few steps back and was sucked into the opened portal.
When IceDevimon vanished, the clouds began to clear away, revealing the bright sky. Rays of sunlight began to appear, streaking down from the cloudless part of the sky. The snow melted at rapid speed, flooding the meadow with frigid water. A cracking sound was heard as the ice-covered lake began to unfreeze. The air gradually became warm; it was a pleasant change from the chilling air that befitted the north or south poles.
"What was that all about?" Sagittarimon wondered, as he devolved back to Patamon, sensing no more danger.
The rookie mammal Digimon then went towards his partner, noticing the drained look on Adam's face. Adam held his hand towards Patamon, and the rookie heard the dark-haired boy whispering his name. He was attempting to teleport Patamon towards him, but nothing happened. A saddened look washed over his face, but that look vanished immediately when he noticed Patamon staring at him.
As the DigiWira headed back to the Forest Sanctum, a humanoid figure in red armor stepped out from the ruins of the Green Meadow Village. He had been watching the battle, and was satisfied with the outcome. The air beside him rippled and the tall figure of IceDevimon stepped out from the portal.
"The plan is set," Satriamon said with satisfaction. "Nice work, IceDevimon. Adam no longer has his power…again, and the girls' partners are weakened."
"Why, if I may ask, was I not allowed to finish those pesky kids off when I have the chance?" IceDevimon asked.
Satriamon gave his icy companion a lopsided grin. "Orders from the higher-up; Karatenmon said not to destroy them before the solar eclipse, which will happen in a couple of days. He wants to claim that glory for his own, I suppose. But in the meantime that doesn't mean that we can't play around with the DigiWira. I just want to mess with 'em for a while."
xxx
xxx
He found himself inside a dark area with scarce amount of light, which radiated with a sickly green glow from a floating orb. Judging from the narrowness of the roof and walls, which were all made by stone, he assumed that he was inside a cave. The air was cool, somewhat chilly, and yet stagnant. There was an odor permeating all over the cave, which smelt musky. The surrounding was so quiet that it was frightening; one could even hear the sound of a drop of water onto the ground.
"Where am I?" he wondered. One moment he was in his room, then something had caused him to be sucked into the laptop monitor…no matter how odd THAT had sounded, it was true. He had just experienced it. From the looks of it, he was nowhere near his house right now.
A sound of footsteps suddenly could be heard – they were steady, unrushed, as if the one who was walking had all the time in the world.
He turned around; the footsteps seemed to be coming from his back. He saw, within the darkness – as his eyes had begun to adjust to the lack of light – that there was actually an arched entrance amongst the walls. The footsteps sound had stopped, and he saw a figure standing right by the arched entrance.
"Welcome, Emmanuel," the newcomer greeted with a deep, majestic, yet somewhat dark, voice. "I have been expecting you. There is no need to speak, we have an emergency. Behold…"
Manny's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the physical appearances of the one who had greeted him – it looked and sounded like a masculine humanoid. Yet, it didn't look completely human; after all, what human had bird-like wings jutting out from his back? The stranger was lightly armored, and wore a helmet that bore the shape of a bird's head, complete with a beak. It was hard to see the newcomer's profile in detail due to the lack of light, but what attracted Manny's attention the most was the fact that the stranger's eyes were glowing unnaturally red.
All in all, it was a strange and frightful sight to behold. Manny couldn't find his voice to reply to the avian warrior's greetings, and instead, followed the dark creature's gesture towards the floating orb. The orb blinked with a yellow light before, to Manny's surprise, showing a battle of…creatures? All his life, Manny had never seen such creatures. He witnessed three creatures…one of them a flying butterfly-female human hybrid, the other a blue-furred fox with nine tails, and the third – the largest of the three – was a centaur in red armor, as they ganged up against a wildcat-like creature with flames erupting all over its body.
"Lately, the Digital World has fallen prey to a trio of hoodlums who terrorize innocent Digimon at their leisure," the avian warrior spoke quietly, with a sad tone. Manny turned to face him, bewildered of the warrior's glinting eyes, which began to adopt a green hue. There was something mesmerizing about the green eyes, yet Manny couldn't put it in place. The warrior merely let out a sigh and kept his eyes on Manny for a moment, before gesturing the boy to resume his attention to the floating orb.
"They appeared one day, and are partnered with three troublemaking Digimon to spread chaos all around the formerly-peaceful Digital World. I have tried to stop them, and have rallied some brave Digimon to fight them with me…but these thugs are exceptionally strong…"
Manny watched as the battle scene shifted into a battle between two feminine-looking creatures…Digimon? That was what the avian warrior had referred these creatures as. Manny recognized one of them as being the fairy-like Digimon from the previous battle, and the other was a lanky female woman with hawk-like wings jutting from her back. They were exchanging flurries of kick, slap and punch…if it weren't for the severity of the battle Manny would have laughed at the catfight he was witnessing. He saw a boyish wizard-like Digimon sprawled on the ground, and presumed that the wizard Digimon was beaten earlier by the 'hoodlums' the avian warrior had mentioned about.
"Day by day, these hooligans have grown stronger and stronger…there are no longer any Digimon that could stand their way. It has come to my attention that in order to beat these humans, I will have to call on for helps from those humans' home world…I will need to rally humans to fight these humans. Will you help me?"
Manny was unsure of what to make of from the offer he was presented with.
"Emmanuel, our world's fate lies in your hand. I have sent out calls for help…you are one out of two who have responded. We do not have much time left…"
Manny knew that he wanted to help. "I can help you…but I don't know how," he said slowly. "I don't even know you."
"My name is Karatenmon, and I am also a Digimon," the avian warrior introduced himself, and gave Manny a bow with his helmeted head. He then raised his head and gave Manny a serious look with his eyes, which glowed with intense neon light. "Emmanuel, we do not have much time. You have responded to my plea of help; I sincerely wish that you are able to stand by my side to eradicate the Digital World from these destructive humans. I trust as a human you know better of how to fight them than I do. They are still young, around your own age, so I believe you will know their strategies. I have no knowledge on how to deal with humans, much more the evil ones such as these three."
Manny gulped; this hadn't been what he had been expecting when he followed his family shifting from his hometown Kota Kinabalu of Sabah to the township of Subang Jaya, Selangor. But Karatenmon seemed sincere in wanting his help, and he would be doing a good deed. Manny had never thought himself a heroic type – he'd avoid a fight if he could – but from what he had seen, his help was greatly needed by the Digimon.
From what he could see in the orb, these threats Karatenmon had mentioned were teenagers: two girls and one boy. Manny couldn't see their faces, as they were a great distance away from the focused battle between the Digimon; it was impossible to identify the faces. The teens were seen making gestures with their hands, and their Digimon partners fully abiding by their partners.
Something inside Manny snapped; he hated violence. He knew what he had to do.
"I'll do what I can, Karatenmon. I'm not sure about this…but you can count on me."
For the first time, Manny saw Karatenmon grinning, and for a brief moment he could've sworn he had sensed something…rotten…about the whole deal. It didn't feel right. But before he realized what was about to happen, his vision was fully obscured by a blinding neon light, which flashed out from Karatenmon's eyes.
Then, everything became black.
Manny's eyes snapped open; both sides of his temples were throbbing again. He pressed them gently with his hand, silently hoping for the pain to go away. When the throbbing pain didn't go, Manny groaned and sat up from his lying position, leaning against the pillows that covered the metallic bars of his bed. He looked down on his crumpled white shirt and brown slacks – he had forgotten to change the clothes he'd worn to go to the church – and realized that he'd been having that headache ever since Friday night. Those episodes of pain however had diminished as instant as it had appeared, but after Saturday the pain arose more often.
Throughout the morning, while at church, he had experienced an intense headache. His parents and sister had wondered what could be wrong, but Manny himself didn't have the answer, although he had a suspicion of the source of the pain. He however had assured his family that there was nothing to be worried about – he had merely said that perhaps it was due to the fact that he'd been staying up late to finish up his homework (which was partially true). His family had the intention to go to Midvalley Megamall after church, and had nearly cancelled if it weren't for Manny to convince his parents to go along with their original plan without him – they had promised Debbie that they would take her there. From the shopping mall, Manny had taken the KTM Commuter train service to go back to Subang Jaya, and had then taken the public cab to go home. As soon as he'd reached his house, he went straight to his room to sleep off the pain.
Now, almost three hours later, he had awoken and saw that it was already entering late afternoon. Looking at his cell phone, Manny saw that he had received an SMS from his parents – they'd be coming home late as Debbie had managed to convince (force) them to take her watch a movie at the cinema.
The throbbing suddenly subsided and a brief flicker of green appeared in his eyes before disappearing. Manny's eyes narrowed slightly, giving him a rather ominous look. His somewhat-arched-shaped, thick eyebrows only added to the feature – they made his gaze piercing.
"Better change my clothes…" Manny muttered and went to change into a loose sleeveless blue jersey and a pair of dark blue track-bottoms as he'd go jogging this day. "But first…"
He opened the drawer to his bedside table and took out his black, blue-rimmed D-3 Digivice. Smiling slightly, he pressed one of the red buttons there, and saw two dots flickering on the screen. One dot was blue, signifying his Digivice, and the other was pink.
"Gayathri," Manny whispered. "Wonder what she's doing right now?" Then, he smirked. "Chances are, she might be going to the park nearby to jog or rollerblade…seems like she's obsessed in losing some weight after the stinging remark from one particular ShadoWira…"
xxx
xxx
At that same precise moment, Gayathri was gazing at her own white, pink-rimmed D-3. She had been doing so for the past three hours, while idly watching the television. In front of her was a plate of unfinished chicken sandwiches that Mak Mirah had made for her. Every now and then, the cook-cum-caretaker would pass by the living room and every time she did so she'd shoot a disdainful look over the unfinished meal.
Still, Gayathri didn't have the appetite. Her heart sank when she saw the blue dot and the pink dot practically located next to each other. It only confirmed her earlier suspicion. She had seen the blue dot coming from the direction that pointed to Kuala Lumpur, gradually reaching Subang Jaya before settling at somewhere near Gayathri. To her knowledge, the Abah family had gone for their Sunday church at one church at Kuala Lumpur – her father had been the one who'd pointed that out as a colleague of his went to the same church.
"Manny…" she said softly, playing with her damp curly hair with one hand while holding the Digivice with the other. She had taken another shower after returning from the Digital World – she was so tired, but was not keen on taking an afternoon nap. Tanemon was in her bedroom asleep, recharging after a tiring battle with IceDevimon earlier.
Her vision suddenly blurred for a brief few seconds, before everything became normal. Gayathri blinked, baffled of what had just happened. Her stomach rumbled softly, and suddenly the sandwich looked very inviting. Gayathri snorted and pushed herself up from the soft sofa. It was a couple of hours before dinner, and Gayathri planned to go for a few rounds of rollerblading at the park nearby her house. However, rollerblading was the last thing she wanted to do – her body was feeling oddly weak, and it was that time of the month – but she willed herself to go at least by the door. The last thing she actually wanted were unburned calories.
With that in mind, Gayathri collected her rollerblading gears from the shoe closet at the driveway, but decided to forego the helmet today. It was somewhat warm outside and her hair was still wet. Besides, she'd be only around the park. She had been rollerblading for quite some time; this would be the only day she wouldn't be wearing her helmet. Nothing could go wrong.
She took the longer stroll to reach the park, and stepped on the paved walkway after reaching there. Not many people were around – she could see some smaller children playing by the sea-saw, the slide and the swings, supervised by their maids. A couple of teenaged girls she didn't know were playing badminton at the court. And somewhere at the wooden bench under a tree, there sat a very familiar figure in blue jersey shirt and black track-bottoms.
"Should I go there?" Gayathri wondered aloud, halting several meters away from the russet-eyed boy who seemed unaware of her being there. He was hunched down, panting slightly. On his left hand was a bottle of water. She took out her Digivice from her pocket, and saw that the blue dot was still somewhere near her house instead of where she was at now. But, it could only mean that if Manny was the Blue ShadoWira, he had simply left his Digivice at his home. "I have to be sure," Gayathri said. "Here goes nothing…"
It was at that precise time; Manny straightened up and saw her standing at the walkway. He smiled upon noticing her, and waved, but didn't make any indication to stand up. Gayathri, somewhat entranced with Manny's smile, waved back weakly and trod her rollerblade-wearing feet against the uneven surfaces of the grassy fields to go by Manny. She kept her Digivice back inside the pocket of her zip-up pink sweatshirt, and plastered a smile on her face.
"Hey, Manny," she greeted when she was by the bench where the boy was sitting down.
"Hi, Gayathri. I didn't expect to meet you here," Manny said, and scooted slightly towards his left, making room for Gayathri to sit down.
Gayathri however, until she was sure that Manny was not her enemy, smiled weakly and remained standing. Her vision blurred again slightly and she nearly lost her balance, but managed to steady herself by widening her feet apart.
"You don't look too well. You should sit down." Manny commented.
Gayathri pressed her left temple and shook her head. "Manny, I need to ask you something. It might sound weird to you…but promise me you'll answer it truthfully?"
Manny looked baffled at the question, but there was a strange twinkle in his russet eyes that seemed to betray his puzzled look.
"What's the question, Gayathri?"
Gayathri wondered how she was going to ask Manny about him being the Blue ShadoWira. She could just inquire about it, but if it was true, then Manny would be able to notice that she was unsure, and could just flat out deny it. Or, she could choose the bolder option and flat out accuse him of being a ShadoWira, pretending that she had known about it already. Then, she could see the boy's reaction and determine from there whether Manny was being truthful or not.
"I know…" Gayathri began, but her vision blurred again. She pressed on her right temple and took a deep breath. Her vision cleared.
Manny cocked his head sideways. "Know what?"
"I know you're the Blue ShadoWira." She fixed a steely gaze into Manny's reddish-brown irises, waiting for his response.
The spiky-haired boy's response was astonishing. The pleasantness on his face was instantly wiped away, replaced by a hardened look that sent a chill down Gayathri's spine. His mouth was fixed in a cold sneer, which was followed by a greenish glint elicited by his eyes. His eyebrows were knotted together into a frown.
The gentle-mannered Manny suddenly was replaced by an ominous-looking stranger. Gayathri recoiled upon seeing the changes, as Manny stood up and sneered at her.
"Well done, Pink DigiWira," he said softly, yet with a menacing undertone. He didn't look surprised at all at Gayathri's revelation. His tone now had same the emotionless sound Gayathri had heard whenever the Blue ShadoWira spoke during their past encounters.
"It is you…" she gasped, both her quivering hands covering her mouth. A dull ache was felt on her forehead, but she ignored it.
"It's me alright," Manny confirmed. "And you should know…that you and your friends are soon to be destroyed."
"I thought…I thought that you're our friend?" Gayathri said as her brown eyes began to tear up.
"You've thought wrong," Manny said coldly. His eyes were now glowing with green light. It was the same green light that Gayathri had seen several times before, obscuring the eyes of the Red and the Blue ShadoWira.
Suddenly, trusting her instinct, Gayathri grabbed hold on Manny's right arm with both her hands. "Manny, let us help you. You're under Karatenmon's spell. We can break it," she pleaded.
For a moment, the DigiWira could see that the green glow inside Manny's irises flickering away, but the ShadoWira shook his head and whisk off his arm away from Gayathri's hold roughly. It caused the girl to stumble onto the grassy ground with a yelp. Manny didn't look as if he cared.
"You have been warned," was all he said to Gayathri, with his index finger pointed warningly towards the girl. He then turned away from the girl and stalked off.
Heartbroken, Gayathri watched Manny's retreating figure, tears cascading down her cheeks. She ignored the dull aching pain coming from her head, as her heart shattered to a thousand pieces by Manny's betrayal, her vision blurred, this time due to the tears that ready to be spilt out from her eyes. She had fallen for the enemy.
Wiping her tears with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, she stood back up, noticing several younger kids watching her curiously. She gave them a weak smile before sliding away towards the main road. Her left hand slowly massaged her aching temples and forehead. She wanted to just go home, and inform Adam and Liu Ying about her discovery. Flashes of images came by her mind, of the times she had spent together with Manny. The boy had looked as if he was genuinely interested with her, from the way he was looking at her.
'For all I know, it could just be that spell which is making him feel that way to me…' Gayathri sobbed silently as she crossed the road.
Too distraught and her mind preoccupied, she didn't hear the screams coming from the little children she had encountered earlier, nor the urgent honks of an approaching vehicle.
xxx
xxx
As Manny walked away, his head throbbed again. This time around, the pain was unlike the ones he had experienced before.
"It's very nice to meet you, Manny…"
It was what Gayathri had said to him when she met him and his family for the first time – during the day when they moved into their new house.
He then saw himself walking around the school compound, with Gayathri beside him. She was giving him a brief tour of the school, as well as introducing him to some of her own friends. Throughout the tour, Manny had found himself torn between paying attention to what she was saying, and paying attention to just her.
The next thing he saw in his mind was his friendly conversation with Liu Ying about their favorite martial arts. He had noticed Gayathri scowling slightly, and that had amused him. Liu Ying ended up being his classmate for the year.
The conversation he had with Adam soon followed. While Liu Ying and him had a common interest in martial arts, Adam and him also had the same interest – computers. It had felt so good to be able to make friends who had the same interests as he at just his second day on a new place.
It had been even better – he realized now – because he had found someone who had caught his attention too, and that happened right on his first day at Peninsular Malaysia. Nobody had caught his attention back at his homeland. There were one or two mild crushes he had harbored to some girls before, but it was different with Gayathri. It felt different.
All the while, his eyes shifted colors from green to russet, to green again, before changing back to their original russet.
Their date to Kenny Rogers was an enjoyable one, despite being 'chaperoned' by his mom and sister. Manny had to admit; at first his intention was to draw Gayathri away from her teammates during a battle, but that intention soon became only a second priority.
Their little 'accident', where Gayathri had collided into him during her usual rollerblading routine, visited his mind. He had seen Gayathri coming, but had purposely not moving out of her way. The collision that resulted had been awkward, but it was also something that he wouldn't want to forget. As he bade her farewell that day, he realized that his attraction to her grew.
The following lunch date was at his house, and while his intentions remained the same…he had savored every moment of it.
The throbbing of his head gradually vanished, and so was the eerie glow in his eyes.
At the same time, an overwhelming feeling of regret suddenly invaded his heart.
Screams of children suddenly snapped him out of his reverie. He turned around, feeling his head – for the first time in weeks – becoming very clear. What he saw however nearly caused his heart to stop beating. Color drained from his face as his eyes were fixed onto the road, where at the same time a loud screeching sound of a halting vehicle pierced his eardrums.
"GAYATHRI!!!"
xxx
xxx
Author's Notes:
First and foremost, thanks to sugarhighnutjob for beta-reading this chapter, and hopefully the subsequent chapters to come. :D
Secondly…uh…nothing, really. Enjoy the chapter!
GLOSSARY:
Amma, Appa – Mother and father respectively, in Indian language.
Midvalley Megamall – Cited as the largest shopping mall in Malaysia.
Roti canai, roti telur – A dish that can be found at Malaysia, Singapore and India. In India it's known as Roti Prata. More information about roti canai at en. /wiki/ Roti(underscore)canai Just remove the spaces and replace the word (underscore) with the appropriate symbol.