Early Sunday morning, JD saw that reconstruction work was already taking place at the hospital compound. It was barely nine; he wondered whether Adam had gotten up or not from his sleep. The boy could be a deep sleeper if he wanted, and with the painkillers he was taking, maybe it would be a while before JD would be able to talk with him. He shrugged; not that he minded. He had nothing else to do, and didn't feel like doing anything other than keeping his cousin company. The other DigiWira already had plans for the weekend.
Not bothering to knock, he opened the door to Adam's ward and saw that it was quite lively inside. He first saw Alisha in her wheelchair and a glimpse of what looked like a doctor's white coat just by the wall, indicating that Adam's doctor was also there.
"Josh!" Alisha greeted him warmly upon noticing him enter. She looked very happy. "You wouldn't believe what has happened! It's a miracle!"
"Hey, Kak Lisha." Frowning slightly, JD walked inside and his eyes widened upon seeing Adam sitting on the bed. Not that it was a strange sight, but what was odd was the fact that instead of donning the hospital gown, Adam was dressed casually in a white and burgundy T-shirt and a pair of khakis. His eyes ran on the boy's hand as the boy turned to meet him, and he let out a soft gasp upon seeing Adam's right arm.
"You're here!" Adam's excited voice mirrored his sister, his made more radiant with his beaming expression. And JD could see exactly why Adam was so happy.
Adam's right arm was no longer bandaged. In fact, it bore no trace of any injury at all. JD had expected to see a bruise or an ugly stitch mark or a huge scar disfiguring Adam's arm, but there was not even a blemish there. Right now, as he greeted JD Adam was moving his arm as per to Dr. Abu's instructions, flexing and extending it before moving it left and right. JD was speechless before he managed to croak out in disbelief, "Adam, your arm! It…it…it's healed?"
"Isn't it great?" Adam asked grinningly. "I woke up and suddenly I can move my arm again and the plasters and bandages were on the floor. Someone must've removed it when I was sleeping, but that doesn't explain the arm…" He eyed the doctor curiously.
Dr. Abu didn't respond; he merely palpated Adam's arm with a faraway expression on his face. Every now and then he eyed the three plush toys Adam had with him with a curious gaze, but he didn't mention anything. Then he blinked once, noticing Adam's gaze upon him. "Feel any pain?" he asked.
"No…odd, isn't it? But a good odd," Adam said, and there was no hiding the elatedness he was feeling now. "I just wish I know who did this to me. I really owe them."
"You don't know how your arm got healed?" JD asked as he sat by Adam.
Adam shook his head. "No idea whatsoever. But you know what they say…if it's not broken don't fix it." His grin faltered. "Yuck…bad pun, sorry." He then grasped JD's hand and leaned over him. "Now you don't have to feel bad whenever I'm in pain, because I won't be," he whispered, only audible to JD.
JD smiled slightly. "Your arm's the one which got injured and you're worried about me?"
Adam shrugged. "I just don't like seeing you so bummed out like you did yesterday. It made me feel bad…"
Hearing Adam said that made JD ran a hand subconsciously on his left chest. To Adam, it might be interpreted as JD displaying a mock-touched feeling, that with the smile-smirk on his face. But in all actuality JD had been contemplating telling Adam about the tattoo Persiamon had given him. But now, seeing Adam healed and happy JD didn't want to ruin the occasion. He didn't want to worry his cousin and the other DigiWira, despite deeply troubled by this himself. Noticing that Adam would definitely be discharged, JD made a mental note to always keep his shirt on while in his cousin's presence. TobuCatmon and the ladies of the Lost Mountain had promised to try looking for more information about this tattoo, and until he knew more about it he didn't want to worry Adam and the others.
He reflected on what had happened earlier, at the Forest Sanctum.
(Flashback)
JD kept a brave front, despite the unnerving feeling he had as TobuCatmon and Ophanimon inspected the black cat tattoo on his chest, with Rosemon and D'Arcmon hovering behind the aforementioned Digimon to get a good look on it. He'd come to the Forest Sanctum upon Agumon's advice – since the tattoo was inflicted by a Digimon perhaps another Digimon would know how to remove it. TobuCatmon was now applying his healing potion on the tattoo, but nothing happened.
"Strange. The wounds the DigiWira have sustained in earlier battles are easily healed with this potion," TobuCatmon murmured, frowning.
JD flexed his right arm. "Yeah, I hear ya. Adam used that potion on me too, to remove the scar I got from him," he said with a small smile, remembering how his cousin had struggled to put the potion while he was apparently sleeping. Pitying his cousin's incessant request for him to get that scar removed, he had pretended to sleep when Adam put the healing ointment on his arm.
"Let me try my healing power." Ophanimon placed her palm on the tattoo and it glimmered with soft green light as the celestial being let out a soft exhale. She began summoning her healing power; all Mega-level angels had healing abilities and a potent one at that. If the tattoo was a sign of an ailment, her power would remove it.
JD felt warm and comforted, before suddenly a sharp pain rose from inside his body. "AGH!!"
Ophanimon gasped as suddenly an invisible force flung her across the sanctum, throwing her against a tree. The tree snapped into half upon the collision; Ophanimon's armors were heavy. Rosemon and D'Arcmon immediately went to their mistress-cum-friend and helped her up.
"Josh!" Agumon quickly scurried beside his DigiWira partner. "Are you ok?"
JD groaned as he clutched his chest, but the pain subsided as instantly as it had appeared. But the pain was sharp, stab-like, and it had caused him to lose his breath for a moment. "Whoa…what the hell was that?" he asked with a hoarse whispery voice, breathing in and out deeply as sweat trickled down his face. He looked down and saw the cat tattoo's eyes glowing blood red before subsiding into their former crimson color. Hearing a whimper, he gave Agumon a slight smile to assure the frightened dino that he was alright. The Rookie didn't look convinced but he nodded in return.
"The tattoo repelled my healing power," Ophanimon said with disbelief as she approached JD and TobuCatmon. "That is… unnerving." She stood still for a moment, as if thinking about something as she stared at the tattoo. "What is its purpose if it can't be removed?" she wondered, and shifted her attention towards D'Arcmon.
The tanned angel nodded, understanding Ophanimon's gesture. She went to JD and tentatively held her hand just an inch away from the tattoo. Her blue eyes met JD's questioning hazels. "I have limited clairvoyance ability which I practice every now and then. Maybe I can see something in the near future about this tattoo, if you will let me."
JD shrugged. The pain had gone but he braced himself in case it returned. He was also curious about the tattoo. "Knock yourself out."
"Excuse me?" D'Arcmon's mouth twitched. "Why would I want to knock myself out?"
"No, that's not what I meant." JD laughed upon seeing the angel's dumbfounded look. "It's a term of expression meaning 'go ahead, do what you want with me'." He stifled his laughter upon the definition, which could easily be misinterpreted although he hadn't thought of it at all. Sure, Ophanimon was ethereally beautiful, D'Arcmon was pretty stunning and Rosemon defined the word babelicious, but he knew his limits. Besides, his mind was totally fixed on the mystery about the cat tattoo.
"Oh." D'Arcmon placed her palm on the tattoo and closed her eyes. Her palm let out a yellow aura as she exhaled softly. She had a serene expression on her face before it suddenly was marred by a twitch of her mouth, followed by a gasp and through her visor JD could see that she was closing her eyes tightly, as if in severe pain. Another sharp gasp ensued and D'Arcmon's hand flung away from JD's chest and she opened her eyes. Everyone in the sanctum could see that she'd gotten visions of the near future, and how much she was bothered about them.
JD crossed his arms and frowned. "What did you see? Looks like it's bothering you a lot."
D'Arcmon returned his gaze. "I saw you…" She lowered her eyes and gathered her breath. Then she raised her eyes up once again. "You're in very severe pain…it was horrible," she finished softly before turning her eyes away. "And I also saw the Virago General, laughing. She sounded satisfied…vicious…and I saw nothing more."
Everyone was stunned, while the confident spark from JD's eyes vanished. He didn't even notice D'Arcmon walking away and Rosemon now stood before him. When he registered the appearance of the very well-endowed female, he felt a mild burn on his cheeks as he vainly tried to remove his eyes away from staring at the flower woman's body. 'Damnit. Why the hell am I blushing?'
"Looks like someone likes what he's seeing," Rosemon teased with a grin, primarily to assuage the tenseness all over the sanctum due to D'Arcmon's discovery. She had something she needed to do to confirm D'Arcmon's visions and if it proved her suspicions…
"Wanna touch the tattoo too?" JD asked with a challenging tone to dissuade Rosemon's witty remark.
Rosemon shook her head and flicked her palm. A dark pink rose bloomed out of thin air above her palm, and with another flick the rose flew towards the tattoo and attached itself on JD's chest. The pink rose blackened instantly and wilted before dissolving into data particles.
(End Flashback)
JD snapped out of his thoughts when Dr. Abu sighed. "There's no medical evidence which could explain Adam's rapid recovery. But…" He eyed Adam and JD, and then the three 'puppets'. His dark eyes lingered particularly at the three Rookies. "I have witnessed a very interesting occurrence taking place in this room the previous night, and I think that's the reason why your arm is healed completely, Adam. Before that, however, I'm going to take a wild guess here."
Adam and JD exchanged glances and Adam gasped when Dr. Abu leaned over him and picked Salamon, who was the closest to him. He brought the 'puppet' to him and momentarily examined the beige puppy Digimon by palpating him all over, just as he had palpated Adam's arm. Not much later, Salamon burst out in a fit of giggles and the two DigiWira sweatdropped. Alisha gasped and looked at the DigiWira with a panicked expression.
"Digimon?" Dr. Abu asked the two DigiWira as he held the giggling Salamon.
"Busted," JD said to Adam and Alisha. "I knew the puppet act doesn't work that well." Patamon and Gatomon blinked.
"It had worked well enough," Patamon huffed. "And if Salamon didn't laugh, it would still work."
"Yeah! Salamon sucks…" Gatomon murmured, causing everyone to sweatdrop.
"Am not!" Salamon huffed. "Doctor tickles me!"
Adam elbowed JD lightly. "Your fault, Josh. She's taken your way of speaking."
Dr. Abu stared at the Digimon with a fazed expression. Never in his life had he seen talking kitten, puppy and guinea pig. He massaged his temples with a sigh. "And since Aldiyamon did not appear yesterday, I'm guessing that Adam is Aldiyamon?" He gazed at his patient.
"Patamon and I," Adam amended. "We form Aldiyamon together."
Dr. Abu took a moment to register that fact in. It was difficult to grasp so he decided to take the information in stride. He then took in JD's dirty-blonde hair, deep red T-shirt and black jeans. The same color scheme applied to one Wira Digital. "You're Satriamon, no doubt."
"Bingo." JD didn't feel like commenting much. He'd let his cousins handle this.
The doctor turned to look at Alisha. "You know about this?"
"I also found out by accident. Then I became their mentor, sort of…" Alisha briefed Dr. Abu about the DigiWira and Digimon, keeping her explanation short and to the point.
"I see," Dr. Abu said about five minutes later. "But, Adam…" He looked at the young boy who was going to be discharged, finding it somewhat hard to believe that this innocent-looking boy was actually a warrior. He was still having trouble digesting the load of information he was now getting, but he needed to ask one question to see whether the 'miracle' which had happened to Adam had something to do with the powers he allegedly have. "Do you happen to have any healing power which would have aided you with your rapid recovery?"
Adam shook his head. "Not that I know of. My power is teleportation. Stethoscope." The stethoscope which was hanging from Dr. Abu's shoulder vanished, and reappeared in Adam's hand. The young doctor gave a surprised exclamation and Adam grinned as he returned the stethoscope where he had summoned it from. "Patamon, any idea?"
Patamon frowned. He felt that he had something to tell Adam and the others, but somehow his memory was failing him. He just remembered seeing lights, and then nothing. It was odd; Patamon knew he was not one who would easily forget something, especially something this important. His eyes lingered at Salamon and Gatomon, feeling that they somehow had something to do with this. 'But it can't be them. They don't even speak that well yet.' He shook his head.
Dr. Abu sighed and shook his head, trying to ward off the shock he'd felt upon the discovery. "I'll figure out something to tell the other doctors and nurses about your discharge being earlier then scheduled. My best bet for now is that your uncle and aunt want to refer you to another hospital, although that too sounds quite odd, but the doctors and nurses will buy that. Your uncle and aunt do know about your involvement with Digimon?"
"Of course," JD answered on Adam's behalf. "We have four always-hungry Digimon at our houses now; it would be hard to explain where the foods have gone."
Dr. Abu then realized that he was still holding Salamon and balked, releasing the puppy. "Oh God, I've been holding a dog…"
"Actually Salamon is a Digimon, not a dog. A Digimon with a puppy form to be precise," Adam explained, remembering his own qualm pertaining to Labramon when he first became DigiWira. He'd gotten over it fairly quickly after realizing the differences. "I think it's perfectly acceptable for us to touch him."
Dr. Abu considered it and took Salamon once again. The Digimon giggled before licking the doctor on his cheek. The doctor grimaced, but looked mildly amused at the same time.
"Will you keep this as a secret, doctor?" Adam requested. "It's really important for us."
"Of course," Dr. Abu nodded. "I understand. Anyway…" He returned Salamon back to Adam and smiled. "I think you're all set to go home now…preferably now, with the nurses going for a lunch break. The fewer questions we rouse because of your early recovery, the better."
"Now that we got that settled…" JD took out a shining silver and gold device from his jeans pocket. He saw Dr. Abu blink and suppressed a grin; the Juara Digivice looked extremely valuable, not to mention expensive with its gold and silver finishing. He gave it to Adam. "I believe this belongs to you."
Adam took it and looked at JD inquiringly. "Did it help you? I thought…"
"I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for this," JD cut in with a soft squeeze on Adam's shoulder. "Thanks, kiddo. I really owe you one."
"Glad to hear that…" Adam murmured. Then a grin lit up his face. "How about you settle it on our way back? I'm thinking….Banana Split with Pralines and Cream, and Cookies and Cream flavors, with caramel and chocolate toppings."
"Deal."
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 44 – Water You Thinking?
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With a relieved sigh Gayathri plopped down on a seat at the A&W restaurant, placing the shopping bag she had beside her. She watched with a grin as Dina and Bel sat in front of her and Liu Ying beside her. Inwardly she grinned; her main motive this day was to get Liu Ying to know her two best friends. Of course, Liu Ying already knew Dina as they were classmates and she had been Bel's classmate the previous year. But now, since her two best friends now knew the fact that she and Liu Ying were DigiWira, it would be best for the four of them to become best friends. Liu Ying had previously declined to join them, not wanting to intrude but Gayathri had been very insistent. Dina was glad that Liu Ying would be joining them, but Bel had her reservations – particularly because she had been reprimanded by the prefect quite often at school. But seeing as that was her fault and Liu Ying was only doing her job, Bel had relented.
Three hours later, Gayathri now saw that she had made the right decision. The four of them were having fun shopping or window shopping at Sunway Pyramid. They were now at A&W because the fast food restaurant was located beside the cinemas, and that was their next plan after having a quick lunch.
She'd wanted to integrate Liu Ying in her circle of best friends for quite a while, but it would have been awkward when Dina and Bel were in the dark about them being DigiWira. Liu Ying and she had shared quite an adventure as the first two DigiWira and they had grown close despite having their differences when Gayathri first joined the team.
"So you and Gaya are actually the most senior DigiWira?" Dina asked as she pulled an onion-ring and dipped it with ketchup before munching it.
"Uh-huh," Liu Ying said and sipped some rootbeer from the straw. "I became one about eight months ago, and Gayathri joined me three months later, about a couple of weeks before school closed last year."
"So you have the most experience," Dina said with a smile.
"You could say that," Liu Ying confirmed, and turned towards the tomboyish girl beside Dina. "Um, Belinda…I kind of noticed that you seem to have a question for me from the way you're staring at me for the past…I don't know…three hours?"
"Two and a half, actually," Gayathri clarified. "The first half an hour she had spent staring at that one really cute guy working at the Top Shop." She giggled upon being the receiving end of Belinda's glare. "Well, it's true girl. Why don't you just ask her, now that she's with us?"
Liu Ying raised an eyebrow curiously.
"I just want to know what kind of relationship you and JD Kamaruzaman have at this moment," Bel blurted out and shot an annoyed look towards Gayathri.
Liu Ying choked on her rootbeer upon hearing the question. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Okay…that was unexpected," Liu Ying said and propped her chin with her right hand. "Friends and teammates pretty much cover it," she said finally.
Belinda looked unsatisfied. "Rumor has it that you two were enemies. And it was kind of obvious."
"Did it really?" Liu Ying smiled slightly. "Well, it was a totally misunderstanding on my part, actually…but JD wasn't without the blame too." She let her sentence hung, thinking of her and JD's misadventures at Arachnemon's cavern of spiders before the fiasco with the Puaka Generals. They had become friends then, after JD gave her the explanation about what had actually set off their one-sided – on Liu Ying's part – bitter enmity. She hadn't known of JD's true intention then, but when she realized the true meaning behind JD's behavior at her when they first met, her impression towards the rugged blonde had changed.
"You know, JD never really gave that story… the one he'd promised us when he and Adam got out from that Dark Ocean place," Gayathri pondered. She grinned at Liu Ying. "How about you give us the story, right here and right now?"
"Hmm?" Liu Ying considered Gayathri's request, and the curious look Dina had, and the hungry-for-gossip look from Bel before shrugging. "Well…alright."
"That is so SWEET!" Gayathri gushed dreamily after Liu Ying finished the story. "So romantic! Like in the movies…"
"Oh, stop it, you," Liu Ying said with a blush.
"But it's true," Dina said with a smile. "I never thought of JD as that kind of guy. He usually was so dark and brooding at school - and he'd caused troubles quite a lot of times with the school. But all that seemed to stop when…" The demure girl thought of it before continuing, "When news got out that he and Adam are actually cousins. Now that's another surprise that got the school talking. He was so…well…protective, to Adam. He went ballistic when those reporters invaded Adam's ward yesterday."
"That was hilarious," Gayathri agreed. "But it's true; those two really are like a pair of big brother and little brother. And put Manny with them and they become guy versions of us!"
Liu Ying and Dina giggled at that remark, but Belinda had a crestfallen look on her face. "Oh man…I should have known that I have no chance with JD," she said sadly.
"I told you," Dina deadpanned. "He has his eyes on Liu Ying."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Liu Ying flailed her hands. "JD and I are just friends, ok?"
"Are you blind?" Belinda grunted. "Dina's right. His eyes are on you, definitely. Your story confirms it. He never did that with the other girls, not even those he had dated before. Granted…it wasn't him who seek out those girls, they were the ones who threw themselves at him." Bel sighed. "Luckily I never did that. Ah…never mind." The sporty girl grinned again and the others sweatdropped at her rapid change of emotions. She took out her cell phone and sighed dreamily. "Well, at least I have this pic of JD I managed to snap... when we all appeared in his room…"
"You didn't!" Gayathri said, horrified.
"I can't believe you did that!" Dina said.
Bel shrugged. "It was purely an act based on instinct." Gayathri and Dina rolled their eyes.
"What did you do, Belinda?" Liu Ying asked, confused. She had been absent that day when Dina and Bel were made known of the DigiWira's identities. Bel showed her the picture and Liu Ying only looked at it for a second before looking back at Belinda oddly. "You're weird," she deadpanned.
"Oh, come now," Bel said with a sly grin. "You must agree with me that he's the definition of the word 'hunk'. If you want I can always send this to you."
"Ah, no thanks. If you want we can always arrange another trip to Sunway Lagoon. Then you can stare at JD in this state of attire all day," Liu Ying countered calmly.
"Another?" Bel yelped at the revelation. She stared at Liu Ying. "Man, I am so jealous of you now! If you're not a DigiWira or Gaya's friend or my friend now, you'd be my enemy now."
Liu Ying merely shook her head. "JD and I are friends," she insisted again. She was blushing, and she didn't know why. And she wondered why she had to insist to these three girls that she and JD were friends instead of a couple.
"Keep telling that to yourself, girl," Gayathri giggled. "Good girls always seem to attract bad boys."
"Nu-uh," Dina said with a conspiratorial smile, feeling that she should help her classmate now instead of her friends. Liu Ying was pretty much outnumbered here and Dina had just the right thing to say that would even up the odds. "Manny is not a bad boy and heavens forbid you're a bad girl, Gaya." She grinned when Gayathri choked on her burger.
"And speaking of Manny…isn't that him?" Bel pointed outside the restaurant.
"Where?" Gayathri turned around – she and Liu Ying had their backs facing outside the restaurant. Liu Ying followed suit, and the four of them saw Manny walking towards the cinema, hand-in-hand with a shorter girl with long straight and silky light brown hair that almost reached the small of her back. The two of them were chatting animatedly as they headed to the cinema, completely oblivious to the fact that four sets of eyes were watching them. "Who's that girl?" Gayathri wondered, taking in the girl's appearance. The girl had a skin tone almost similar to Manny, and was dressed in a violet top and a jeans-short. She frowned when the girl laughed at something Manny was saying.
"She's quite pretty," Bel remarked. The girl with Manny turned sideways, giving them a good look at her face. "Okay, I take that back. She's totally ravishing! How did she take care of her hair? They're so lovely. But I've never seen her at school before."
"Maybe she goes to other school in Subang Jaya," Dina murmured, eyes never leaving Manny and his female companion. "They look pretty close though. Manny's usually very shy in class and also rather quiet…but whoever that girl is, he is comfortable with her obviously."
Liu Ying snorted and turned back towards her tray of meals. "It does not matter who Manny decides to go out with. I'm sure there's a good explanation and maybe he'll tell us about it if we ask him tomorrow." She proceeded by eating her chicken nuggets, while Bel and Dina stared at her incredulously. "What?"
"Aren't you curious about who that girl is?" Bel asked.
"A bit, but it's not bothering me," Liu Ying said and took another bite of her nugget. She glanced sideways and saw Gayathri still staring outside. "Looks like someone is seeing more green than pink," she remarked and tapped her fellow DigiWira on the shoulder.
That comment pulled Gayathri's attention back to the table. "I'm not jealous!" she huffed indignantly. She decided to prove her point by reaching for an onion ring. But the other girls saw that she was bothered greatly, as she fiddled with the onion ring instead of eating it. Her eyes had a faraway look. "Is that his girlfriend?" she murmured softly. "Manny never told me about going out with anyone."
"Umm…you guys aren't exactly a couple," Dina pointed out. "Look, Gaya, maybe that's only a friend of his."
"Yeah, right. They are holding hands," Bel snorted.
Dina elbowed her. "Not helping," she hissed.
Liu Ying rolled her eyes and cast another look outside. She saw Manny and the girl were looking at the TV screens hung by the cinema's entrance, probably scanning on the movies the cinema would air this day. She turned towards Gayathri. "If it's bothering you so much, go ask them."
"I'm not just going to march there and ask them about this! Manny might think I'm following him!" Gayathri said shrilly.
"Ever heard of the word 'coincidence'?" Liu Ying asked back. "It's obviously bothering you so…" She pushed Gayathri from her seat. "Go ask."
Gayathri was about to retort before she shut her mouth again. She looked at her best friends for help, and sweatdropped upon seeing them making shooing gestures at her while nodding vigorously with wide grins on their faces. She sighed and exited slowly from the restaurant.
"Jealous?" Bel asked Dina and Liu Ying and jerked her eyebrows up inquiringly, pointing towards Gayathri.
"So jealous," Dina said and sipped her rootbeer. Liu Ying shook her head and continued eating her burger.
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Inside the dark hall of Onyx Pyramid, Persiamon and Doumon were sitting in lotus position, with Persiamon having her hands held in a meditative pose. She had her eyes closed and her body radiated crimson aura. Doumon was behind her, and had both hands placed on the feline's back. He was frowning, his icy eyes set as purple aura rippled from his hands. The two auras mixed with each other before Persiamon let out a painful grunt. Doumon grunted too but it was more out of concentration. Then he let out a loud 'HAA!' and gave Persiamon's body a slight push. Persiamon yelled and spat out some blood which spattered on the floor in front of her.
"That's the last of the clogged blood in your system, I hope," the Shaman General remarked as he lowered his hands from his fellow general. "You should stay out from any fight for about three to four days. That combo attack Satriamon had given you proved to be more damaging than the both of us had thought it would. Only a Mega-class attack can injure you this deeply and internally."
Persiamon smirked as she wiped the remains of blood from her mouth, and put on her veil. "Well, I did have my last say so it doesn't matter. I might have lost yesterday, but in the end I'll be the one laughing victoriously."
"Might I inquire, dear Persiamon, of what dastardly plan you have in mind?" Doumon asked as he got up from the floor. He offered a paw towards Persiamon and the Virago General accepted it.
"Patience, Doumon. It's not yet time to let the cat out of the bag," Persiamon said sinisterly.
A bright flash of blue and orange invaded the halls of Onyx Pyramid, drawing the two generals' attentions. They stepped out and saw Lucemon at the bottom of the stairs of the step pyramid, and in front of him were Devidramon, Devimon and a massive mechanical tortoise standing on its hind legs, with cannons as its hands. Lucemon seemed to have sensed their presences before he looked up. "Ah, Persiamon, Doumon…come down here. What do you think of this Mega Digimon?" The Hellion General gestured towards the metallic tortoise, who stared at them with eyes of different color; the left side was blue while the right side orange.
"I don't think I've seen the likes of him before," Persiamon noted.
"Well, me neither," Lucemon said. "This, my fellow Generals, is JumboGamemon. After a huge battle yesterday, it's a perfect opportunity for us to strike them while they are recovering. With a Mega in our hands and Aldiyamon still down for the count, the remaining four Wira Digital will not stand a chance."
"Don't be too sure," Devimon – the Champion form of Phelesmon – snorted.
"We've formed Gulfmon – also a Mega, I might add – but those Wira Digital trashed us. That angel boy especially," Devidramon, formerly Mephistomon, added with distaste. "Those pesky brats can deliver a Mega-class blow when pushed."
"That's exactly why I'm sending a Mega now to battle those snotty children," Lucemon pointed out. "And the five Wira Digital were at full power while you two had been soundly defeated by that 'angel boy' prior to that last battle. And…you're forgetting the fact that thanks to Persiamon, Aldiyamon is now on a very long holiday."
Persiamon smirked at the comment and saw the expressions on the Puaka Generals' faces darkening. "Now, now, boys…I still, until now, admire your efforts in bringing down the boy with the White DigiSphere. That is definitely a classic. I actually was inspired by that when I made Satriamon injure Aldiyamon, so kudos to you two as well. I however take full credit of the inevitable fate Satriamon is going to face." She let her words ended mysteriously, and by now her fellow generals had given up asking her what was on her mind. She would answer it in an evasive fashion and a sinister smile. Whatever she had in mind, it was bad and the other generals knew that her target would not be able to escape it, try as hard as they might.
Doumon looked around. "I don't see Shawujinmon and Astamon anywhere."
"Oh, they're around, closer than you might think," Lucemon said with a sneer. Devidramon and Devimon snorted while Persiamon and Doumon looked confused. "No matter," the half-angel-half-demon said. He clapped his hands and generated black and white aura from them. Then he shot the energies towards a distance in forms of black and white beams of light, watching with mild interest as the two beams collided and caused an explosion. A dimensional rift resulted and they could see faint outlines of a city within the tear.
Lucemon had opened a Digiport between the Digital and the human worlds. "Go," he instructed JumboGamemon. "Take no prisoners."
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" 'Hi Manny, what a coincidence! I didn't know you would be here. Who's your friend?' " Gayathri murmured, and shook her head. "No, not good. Too obvious. How about I just bump into him? No, no…that has happened before. Maybe I should just call his cell phone and ask him where he is…." As she murmured that to herself, her steps gradually became slow as she almost approached Manny and his friend. Gayathri stopped and hid herself behind an artificial tree placed nearby, thankful that it was big enough to conceal her as Manny suddenly turned around. She held her breath – they were so close that if Manny just decided to have a look of what behind tree he would see Gayathri there. Luckily, Manny had no reason to do so.
"Come on, Manny; let's go to the cinema now. I've booked tickets for us and its ten minutes before the movie's going to start," Gayathri heard the girl said, and had to suppress a scowl. 'They're watching a movie together?' she thought.
"Oh? What movie?" Manny asked with interest.
"Madagascar," the girl replied. "A friend of mine recommended it to me last night."
"Aha, you still love watching cartoon…" There was a teasing tone in Manny's voice, which Gayathri rarely heard.
"Oh, come of it!" The girl playfully shoved Manny, and Gayathri suppressed the urge to gag. "You're no better! Debbie told me you yourself like watching cartoon series. Sometimes way too much, she said."
'This girl knows Debbie too? And from the way she speaks of her, it sounds like Debbie also is used to her,' Gayathri thought.
"I watch anime. There's a difference," Manny said defensively.
"As far as I know, anime is Japanese animation. A cartoon is an animation," the girl deadpanned.
"I watch serious anime," Manny insisted stubbornly. Gayathri had never heard Manny spoke that way – it suggested that Manny and this girl were very close. Her suspicion was confirmed – and her eyes bulged in disbelief – when the girl laid her head on Manny's shoulder and giggled. 'Oh, what a flirt!' Gayathri thought, and couldn't help but to feel dejected. 'This girl is obviously his girlfriend then.'
Gayathri quickly stepped back as Manny and the girl stood up and headed towards the cinema, not wanting to be seen by them. At first she thought of going back to the restaurant and sulk, but something drove her towards the cinema instead. She felt her friends' eyes boring towards her and refused to make eye contact with them. She ended up at the ticket counter and without really knowing what she was doing, purchased the ticket to watch Shrek 2 as well. She saw Manny and the girl already had gotten their tickets and they were now buying some caramel popcorns and drinks. Gayathri didn't feel like getting some, having just eaten, and hid behind a burly old man as she went towards the movie theater. She could hear Manny and the girl talking animatedly and giggling, and strained to hear what they were talking about. She must have leaned too close to the old man in front of her, because he suddenly turned around and stared at her curiously.
"Young lady, what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Gayathri flushed and bowed her head while trying to think of an excuse. "Sorry, it's just…" However she was stopped short when her Digivice beeped loudly. She was about to thank her lucky stars for the perfect timing, before hearing another beep nearby – obviously from Manny's Digivice. She blushed furiously when Manny whirled around, eyes widened upon seeing her. Embarrassed of having been caught, Gayathri immediately ran off, ignoring Manny calling her name as she ran all the way back to the restaurant where Liu Ying was seen reading something on her D-Terminal with Dina and Bel peering over the device. They looked up and saw Gayathri.
"Gaya! How was it? Did you find out anything about that girl?" Dina asked.
Bel added, "She's not your boyfriend's girlfriend number two, isn't she? Because Manny doesn't strike me as a player…"
"No time for gossips, you two," Liu Ying interrupted the girls. "Evil Digimon is on the loose and it's actually just outside. We better get moving."
Gayathri sighed and nodded. The two DigiWira exited the restaurant, but they were in a rush that they instantly bumped into someone that was just about to enter the restaurant. Hadn't it been for that someone's sturdy figure the three of them would have fell onto the floor. It was also that someone who quickly held Liu Ying and Gayathri on the shoulders, steadying them from falling. The girls saw that this someone was somebody they knew.
It was Manny.
The boy saw the four girls and his face lit up with recognition. He realized that the four of them were here together, probably going shopping. Dina and Bel waved at him, Liu Ying looked like she was in a rush, which was perfectly understandable, but what he was confused about was how disheartened Gayathri looked.
"Manny! Good, you're here too," Liu Ying said. "Come on, there's a Digimon attack outside the Pyramid," she said. And as if in cue, the whole building shook slightly. Shrieks were heard coming from the concourse level, followed by the sound of what seemed like water rushing about. The DigiWira went towards the nearby railing and peered down, gasping upon seeing the concourse level flooded. Some people floated around, as well as various merchandises and chairs and tables that came from the cafes on that floor.
"What's going on here?" Gayathri gasped, eyes widened in shock as she watched several people caught by the pouring water. The lights suddenly died out, blanketing them in darkness, rousing more panic. Several people gasped loudly in horror and gasped again, now in relief, when the generator-powered lamps set in, faintly illuminating the shopping complex. The water now looked black and much more terrifying. Thunders were heard rumbling loudly outside. "Who could've caused this?" she wondered.
"With all these water, I can't think of any other Digimon other than him," Liu Ying said and gave Manny a long look.
"Shawujinmon," Manny caught on instantly. "But we've just beaten him yesterday…"
"Persiamon was the only one who got severely trashed yesterday by Satriamon. The other Darkshadow Brethren generals can recover quickly," Liu Ying pointed out.
"Where's your friend?" Gayathri asked Manny somewhat suddenly and crossly. "Surely you didn't leave her on her own?" She crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Umm…I told Kak Maya that I saw someone I know and I'd be back," Manny said, giving Gayathri a perplexed look. She was behaving quite oddly and Manny couldn't place the reason, but somehow he had the feeling that he was the reason. He nervously ran a hand on his spiked hair. But he then saw Gayathri's face changed, as well as the other three girls who had been listening. They seemed visibly surprised.
"Kak Maya?" Gayathri gulped; Manny had referred to the girl he was seen together with the honorific elder sister prefix. If he was going out with this Maya, he wouldn't call her older sister, she thought.
Manny nodded, and a fleeting thought about what this all was about started to dawn upon him. For Gayathri's sake, he fought not to laugh. "Kak Maya used to be my neighbor when I was at Sabah, but she's now a third year student at Multimedia University," he clarified and gave Gayathri a reassuring smile. "Kak Maya used to babysit me when I was younger so she's like an older sister to me and Debbie both. When she heard that I've moved to Subang she called me up and we arranged to meet today. Before today it's been almost four years since I last saw Kak Maya." He gave Gayathri a lengthy explanation just to clear things up with her, not wanting to jeopardize his budding friendship with her because of a small misunderstanding.
Gayathri felt like burying herself. She didn't know what to say. For a while she kept her eyes on the flooding concourse floor, her ears not hearing the panicked shrieks and her eyes not seeing the increasing water and the frightened people. Why had she jumped into a conclusion so quickly? And why had she become so jealous of that girl before? It wasn't that Manny was officially her boyfriend or anything, despite the countless teasing her friends threw at her about that. She was so embarrassed and ashamed she couldn't bear to look at Manny now.
Manny looked around the dark shopping complex. "I'm kinda glad the power's out," he said, changing the subject. "Kak Maya doesn't know about us, so this way I can say that I lost my way in the dark after we take care of the evil Digimon outside." He gave Gayathri a kind look, trying to ease the discomfort she was obviously feeling. The girl was practically avoiding his gaze and even with the scanty amount of light and Gayathri's dark complexion, Manny could see that the girl was blushing.
Liu Ying shook her head, pitying her friend's predicament because of a small misunderstanding. She cleared her throat, attracting both Gayathri's and Manny's attentions. "Manny's right, Gayathri. Come on. I think we better move out now."
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Outside Sunway Pyramid was a watery chaos. A heavy downpour rained from the dark clouds that hovered above the vicinity for the past one hour but everyone could see that it wasn't a natural occurrence, for the water had rapidly risen to a dangerous level. It was a rainstorm, with strong winds and rumbling thunder. Floating vehicles scattered about and collided with one another. People were seen struggling to get to safety, amidst screams and cries. Some of the more unfortunate ones sunk underwater or collided with the abandoned vehicles while others successfully climbed up the sphinx statue or the monorail tracks, temporarily safe. But apparently with the rain didn't show any sign of stopping, the flood would only worsen; the people would only be safe temporarily. Dark murky water poured out in between buildings around the shopping complex like waterfalls, uprooting nearby trees.
Samudramon, Xianamon and Puspamon emerged from the shopping complex and they were instantly drenched. Momentarily fazed with the threat they were facing, they quickly snapped out of it and got to work. Samudramon utilized his hydrokinesis ability to its fullest and wielded the waters so that it would transport the people who were currently drowning to safety, as Xianamon and Puspamon flew above the flood, grabbing hold on anyone they managed to spot needing help. When they realized they were getting shorthanded, they utilized their powers of telekinesis and wind to transport the people to safety.
"Help!" cried a weak male voice. The girls turned around and saw a hand thrust up from the water, before slowly falling into the depths.
"I can't swim!" Puspamon said in panic.
"I can. I'll go!" Without wasting time Xianamon jumped into the water. It was lucky that Liu Ying knew how to swim; Xianamon could benefit from this skill now. She searched around for the man underwater, and had found not one or two, but TEN people needing her help. The water was rather deep at nearly two meters tall – people could get drowned easily if they panicked or lost their orientation. She utilized her telekinetic power and raised them up.
Once the victims were over the surface, Puspamon used her wind power to pull them off the water and took them to safety. They continued working like that for the next ten minutes, successfully rescuing almost about twenty more people. Suddenly, pellets in form of water bullets rained their way, and they were forced to deflect those water projectiles instead.
Seeing that, Samudramon increased his water-controlling power and managed to part the raging water, forming a straight path that led to the entrance of the shopping complex. Drenched people plopped onto the path, and after realizing what was going on they got back on their feet and started moving towards safety.
'No doubt Shawujinmon is behind this,' Samudramon thought with gritted teeth as he kept the water parted, watching as the people got to safety while Xianamon and Puspamon warded off some stray vehicles which were about to fall through the path. All of a sudden water pellets rained upon the path once again, seemingly from the sky. They struck Xianamon and Puspamon on the back and threw them into the water. Samudramon gasped. 'I never knew Shawujinmon to have this kind of power. It's terrifying. This is even worse than the attack at Sunway Lagoon. He's gotten powerful so quickly, I doubt I can beat him as I did before,' the merman assessed silently and looked around. 'But where is he?'
A thunderous roar ensued, as if on cue, coming from the back of the shopping complex. The Wira Digital saw a monstrous mechanical tortoise standing on its hind legs, with red body and green extremities. Its 'hands', or front legs, were cannons, and it possessed a long heavy tail. The tortoise was a machine, judging from its metallic body all over. Its eyes were glistening crimson. Towering over the shopping complex, this Digimon truly looked formidable.
"That's not Shawujinmon!" Penguinmon exclaimed in surprise from within Samudramon. "That's one heck of a mean-machine!"
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: DIGIMON ANALYZER :
Name: JumboGamemon
Attributes: Mega level, Data type
Attacks:
Megaton Hydro Laser – JumboGamemon releases a powerful high-pressurized stream of water from its mouth which can cut through anything.
Jumbo Jetter – JumboGamemon hides in his shell and lets out cannons in place of its head and extremities before spinning rapidly towards its enemy while firing out multiple assault beams.
xxx
"A Mega Digimon?" Puspamon gasped, wincing when JumboGamemon roared once again. The shockwave from its shout was enough to cause the earth to tremble. "The only other Mega Digimon we've faced so far is Gulfmon and he was extremely hard to beat!"
"It took all five of us firing our attacks one after another to defeat Gulfmon," Xianamon said, remembering the battle with the DNA Digivolved Puaka Generals more than a month ago. "We've exhausted all our powers then, and Aldiyamon's Final Purification was what that had beaten Gulfmon once and for all. But now with Adam down, the odds do not look too good."
"Did someone mention me?" said a disembodied, yet warmly familiar voice.
Swirls of white light blinded Puspamon and Xianamon momentarily before Aldiyamon emerged within it. The white knight was supporting Satriamon with both hands as he steadied himself in midair, flapping his eight silver wings to keep himself afloat. Seeing the girls' astounded face, he grinned. "Yeah, my arm's healed but no time to explain. We saw the attack while on our way home from the hospital, and here we are."
"Damnit, why does it have to rain?" Satriamon grumbled. "I can't use my fire attacks with these heavy rains!" As a flame-based Digimon, he was at a severe disadvantage. His attacks would easily be nullified with all the waters all around them. "Lower me down, kiddo. The water's only at my waist level at most and I don't want you straining your arm too much." At eight feet tall Satriamon was the largest of all five Wira Digital; the flood waters wouldn't drown him.
JumboGamemon saw that his adversaries were now with him and let out another thunderous roar.
"Do all of the roaring really necessary?" Satriamon cracked. That only caused the metallic Mega to roar again angrily, and the shockwave from that roar broke all glasses in the nearby vicinity and caused the waters to rage. JumboGamemon's eyes flashed blue and five water pillars emerged.
"Uh oh," Aldiyamon said, and summoned his sword. "Heavenstar Gladius!"
"Duo Focus." Xianamon let out her clone.
"I'll see what I can do about those water pillars, but I need you guys to distract him," Samudramon said.
"Ok then. Satriamon can cover your back." Aldiyamon then beckoned for Xianamon and Puspamon. "The three of us will attack JumboGamemon."
The flight-capable Wira Digital then charged towards JumboGamemon amidst the pelting rain. JumboGamemon saw them coming and directed the water pillars towards the heroes but they narrowly avoided a couple of water pillars by flying around them. While able to fly, both Aldiyamon and Puspamon had their wings drenched by the rain, restricting their flights. Soon they became too heavy for the two Wira Digital and they were forced to stop, but above them the two Xianamon, being wingless, were still agile – they had also utilized their telekinetic barrier to block the rain as they zipped towards JumboGamemon seemingly without difficulty, staffs pointed towards the offender.
"Diamond World Mandala!"
"Matrix World Mandala!"
The two magical attacks slammed upon JumboGamemon, but they didn't have any effect on the mechanical Mega other than making him angrier. JumboGamemon waved his arms and the water pillars started moving towards the sorceresses, threatening to consume them. However the pillars suddenly reverted back into splashes of water, saving the Xianamon from being drowned.
"Samudramon did it!" Aldiyamon said to Puspamon. "Come on; let's attack him together!"
"Right!" Puspamon blasted the Mega with her laser tulips, but to her surprise the beams were all deflected away when they collided with his metallic torso. Unwilling to give up yet, Puspamon gathered more power and released a shining pink sprite towards him. The powered up Jelita Shocker only managed to push JumboGamemon back slightly before it too disintegrated. "What? My attacks are useless against him!" she gasped in disbelief.
JumboGamemon's eyes flashed red and he stared for a moment at Puspamon. Then he roared and locked on his cannons upon the sprite. "Megaton Hydro Laser!"
Puspamon Sprite-Screamed when two strong blasts of pressurized water were shot towards her, but to no avail; the water blasts were too strong. She tried flying away but JumboGamemon had her locked on – she couldn't escape. Furthermore her semi-translucent wings were very drenched, thus slowing her down. She saw Aldiyamon and the Xianamon tried stopping JumboGamemon but their efforts were in vain as they couldn't match a Mega's power. She released another Jelita Shocker attack but the flowers were drowned by the water beams even before they could let out laser beams of their own. They were approaching her, closer and closer until she could hear their hissings, ready to strike her.
But the attack never came upon her, as a wall of water emerged before her from the flood below. The two water beams slammed upon the barrier and broke through it, but the barrier gave her enough time to escape as it intercepted JumboGamemon's attack. Then she found herself surrounded by orbs of light, and saw an azure thunderbolt struck JumboGamemon from the skies before being teleported to safety by Aldiyamon. 'Samudramon!' She realized, and saw the said Wira Digital emerging from the water in a pillar of water.
Samudramon swung his trident and blasted JumboGamemon with a blue dragon of lightning, which shocked the Mega momentarily. Not allowing the Mega to retaliate he proceeded by slamming multiple thunderbolts all over him, knowing that water techniques were useless against the aquatic Mega. He wanted to shock JumboGamemon but somehow his attack wasn't inflicting much damage upon the Mega. He did manage to scratch JumboGamemon's thick metallic armor with his lightning attacks but they did nothing to slow him down. He saw the two Xianamon gliding above the sky, followed by Aldiyamon. They glimmered with intense gold and white radiance and Samudramon realized what they were going to do.
"They're going to unleash their strongest attacks!" Puspamon gasped as she approached the stunned Samudramon. She could hear Satriamon's grunts as the fiery Wira Digital waded through the flood to get to them.
"Final Purification!" Aldiyamon merged all his techniques into one powerful beam of bluish white light and blasted it straight upon JumboGamemon's chest. It pushed JumboGamemon back, but the attack didn't have the desired effect as it had done to Gulfmon and Yatagaramon. 'JumboGamemon isn't a Virus or a dark type; the Final Purification is a normal Mega attack against him! And it looks like I'm losing power soon…' JumboGamemon was pushed away from the buildings to avoid damaging them.
"Diamond Matrix Mandala!" The two Xianamon fused their most potent magical techniques into a furious wave of rainbow as they blasted JumboGamemon, causing him to lose his balance. The Mega lost his footing and sent a massive tidal wave when he crashed on his back. Several vehicles were flung by the tidal wave towards an apartment close to the battle scene, and Xianamon could only hope that nobody got injured because of that.
But the attacks came with a heavy price, as both Aldiyamon and Xianamon were now out of commission. Their devolved composite forms fell from the sky and were instantly caught by Satriamon. The dragon man growled and released his Dark Rage from his eyes, discharging his energy-destroying lasers upon JumboGamemon when he saw the Mega attempting to get up with much difficulty. It was the only attack he could use that would not be nullified by the rains, and Satriamon hoped that he could weaken JumboGamemon enough for Samudramon and Puspamon to deal with him.
A sharp pain ignited from his chest all of a sudden and Satriamon was forced to stop exerting himself. He felt as if something was clutching his heart and let out a painful moan. Taking a deep breath after another, Satriamon was relieved when the pain gradually disappeared. He brought Adam, Liu Ying and their partners close to his body and waded to safety.
"It's up to us now," Samudramon said to Puspamon. He then cast his eyes towards JumboGamemon, who was attempting to get up once again.
"But what can we do?" Puspamon asked despairingly. "Our power-up attacks don't even lay a dent on his armor. And we don't have Mega-class attacks like Aldiyamon and Xianamon."
"Oy, you two! Quit yakking and do something! That bastard looks super-pissed!" Satriamon roared at them.
Samudramon approached Puspamon and to the fairy's surprise, held her hand. Puspamon whipped her head at the merman and saw him giving her a gentle smile. "Let's do this together." His hand which was holding Puspamon's now emitted azure aura.
Puspamon felt blush creeping up her cheeks, but Samudramon's gesture sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She nodded, and her hand glimmered with pink aura.
Samudramon began to crackle with blue electricity as Puspamon generated pink-shaded winds from her body. The electric bolts spiraled around Samudramon as the winds turned into a tornado around Puspamon. Then the bolts began to radiate towards Puspamon as the hurricane expanded to include Samudramon. Their hands intertwined and their respective weapons appeared within the grasps of their free hands. Guided by pure instinct, they pointed their trident and staff towards JumboGamemon, and the hurricane and the thunderbolts began to merge. Puspamon felt another heartbeat beating in synchrony with her own, and Samudramon experienced the same thing. They sensed their powers combining as the joined hurricane and thunderbolts became bigger and more furious. The two Wira Digital shared a look and smiled as new knowledge filled their minds, telling them what to do.
"With speed of the wind…" Puspamon said. Her staff glittered with pink aura.
"And strength like thunder…" Samudramon continued. His trident crackled with blue thunderbolts.
"Wind and thunder as one," they said together and announced: "ROLLING THUNDER HURRICANE!!"
The thunder-hurricane spiraling around their bodies shot up towards the sky, parting the clouds before absorbing them. The wind instigated a tempest as the clouds parted and thunders rumbled ferociously. The rainstorm ceased immediately and sunshine prevailed, and strangely the water began to evaporate in a blink of the eye until the flood was gone. The Rolling Thunder Hurricane then bent down towards JumboGamemon and blasted upon him, along with streams of blue and pink energy beams spewed forth from Puspamon's and Samudramon's weapons. The whirlwind carried him up in the air with the force of the wind and electrocuted him severely with the thunderbolts as the energy beams shot through him in multiple places. Then the winds let out sharp siren-like screams, threatening to rip him apart as the thunderbolts tore through his armor. With a shriek JumboGamemon exploded into data particles.
"We did it!" Puspamon cried happily. "We beat him!" Overwhelmed with happiness she embraced Samudramon, before realizing what she was doing and let him go, blushing furiously.
Samudramon was also red in the face, but he smiled at Puspamon nonetheless. "We did it together," he said. "It's amazing…" And he realized that they were still in their fused forms. 'The Rolling Thunder Hurricane is evidently a Mega-class attack like the Firestorm Slasher, the Final Purification and the Diamond Matrix Mandala, but it doesn't cause us to devolve. Perhaps it's the benefit of combining our powers into one instead of attacking individually?'
"Hey you guys! Look!" Satriamon pointed towards where JumboGamemon had been.
"Astamon!" Puspamon gasped disbelievingly.
"And Shawujinmon!" Samudramon exclaimed. "But…how…"
In place of JumboGamemon were now Astamon and Shawujinmon, looking severely beaten-up. They were both shivering, gritting their teeth with hands clutching their bodies, obviously suffering bouts of pain. It dawned to the Wira Digital that they were the ones who had formed JumboGamemon. Before the Wira Digital could say anything more or attack the two villains, a portal opened above the Majin and Kappa Generals and pulled them into it. The enemies had fled.
xxx
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Lucemon saw the whole battle with one glance towards Shawujinmon and Astamon, easily scanning their minds with his psychic power. 'The Wira Digital are very resourceful. They rise up to the occasion when needed. I sent a Mega to them and they repelled it by generating yet another Mega-class attack! Who knows what will happen if I send another Mega Digimon to battle them? It's not an option either – we don't have any Mega Digimon at our disposal. Should I really wait for the Puakas to regain their Ultimate forms?'
"Aldiyamon is there?" Persiamon shrieked in disbelief as Shawujinmon and Astamon recounted their battle with the Wira Digital. "But how? He should be out of commission! His arm was severed by Satriamon!"
"Aldiyamon's arm looked just fine to me," Shawujinmon snorted.
"And what about Satriamon?" Persiamon demanded.
Shawujinmon shrugged and looked at Astamon. The pinstriped-suited demon shrugged. "Not sure. He didn't really take part in the battle. He just stayed there at the sidelines."
"Oh, he did, didn't he?" Persiamon grinned maliciously. She laughed and left the hall for her private chamber, sounding absolutely satisfied. But from where she had gone at, the Puaka Generals stepped in.
"How did our DNA Digivolution ability treat you?" Devidramon asked.
Astamon snorted. "We reached Mega alright…but you never told us the Mega that was formed from the DNA Digivolution would become one mindless brute."
"Didn't want to ruin the fun," Devimon said with a snide smile.
"It was indeed a flawed Digivolution," Devidramon agreed, chuckling at the infuriated Astamon and Shawujinmon. "Gulfmon was strong but he was also a screaming terror."
"We couldn't even speak other than calling out our attacks! And we were so sluggish! I never want to become JumboGamemon again!" Shawujinmon shouted.
'So noisy!' Lucemon thought and left the main hall and walked through the narrow corridor until he reached another spacious chamber. The chamber was filled with books, organized in shelves. Lucemon snorted; he'd seen most of the books a lot of times already. Dusts had caked their surfaces as a result of not being used for three centuries. Shaking his head Lucemon flew up towards the topmost shelf right under the ceiling and randomly took out a very thick book. He idly flipped the pages with mild interest before something caught his eyes. He closed the book to look at the title, wiping the cover with his sleeve.
"The Nine Negations Dark Arts," he read. "This sounds like Doumon's specialty rather than mine, but this is interesting."
He flipped the book back right at the page which had caught his interest in the first place and studied the cursive black handwriting. "Doorway to the Past," he murmured. His ice-blue eyes glinted as a sinister smile formed on his pale face. "Of course…this is perfect!"
xxx
xxx
"Bye, Kak Maya," Gayathri said as she embraced Maya Azrin. She pulled out from the embrace and smiled at the older girl. "It's too bad you have to go right now."
The twenty-year-old woman smiled at Gayathri and Manny. "It's alright. I'm supposed to be back at my university thirty minutes ago, actually. But we can always meet up again later." She gazed at Gayathri with a knowing smile. "Manny's in good hands now, I'd say," she grinned teasingly at Manny. Manny blinked and Maya shook her head as she leaned close to Gayathri. "Be patient," she whispered to Gayathri. "When the time is right, he'll work up the guts to do what I think is long overdue." She stepped into the driver seat of her light red Chevrolet and smiled at Gayathri's blushing face. Closing the door, she waved the two teens goodbye and drove away from the neighborhood as Gayathri and Manny watched the car leave.
"What did she tell you?" Manny asked Gayathri curiously, seeing Gayathri looking embarrassed.
"Um, nothing, really," Gayathri said evasively.
"Oh…" Manny stared at his feet for a moment before looking back at Gayathri. "I'm curious about something."
"What about?"
"Um…Back at the shopping complex, were you following us? The other girls were at the A&W restaurant while you were right behind us." Manny saw Gayathri looking flustered. He smiled. "You were, weren't you?" His tone was gentle, showing that he had no ill feeling about that action.
Gayathri didn't answer, but in her mind thoughts raced as fast as her super-speed ability. 'Don't ask, Manny. Just don't ask…you're embarrassing me. Ask me again and I'll have to bury myself.'
Manny took a deep breath. "We never get to watch that movie we were planning to watch," he said.
"Madagascar?" Gayathri blurted all of a sudden, and then gasped and clasped her mouth in shock. She had just given away the fact that she had been following them. Her ears burned under the warm late afternoon sun as he felt Manny's gaze over her.
"So I was thinking…maybe…you'd want to watch that movie with me?" Manny asked tentatively. His brave front crumbled instantly as he tapped both his index fingers nervously as sweat trickled at the side of his face. Gayathri blinked and gazed at him, and Manny blushed. 'Just give me any answer…'
"Are you asking me out?" Gayathri cursed herself mentally. 'Stupid, Gayathri, stupid! You did not just fish out a declaration from him!'
"Um…" Manny ran a hand over his spiked hair and smiled sheepishly. He could feel himself becoming as red as a tomato, but he decided to be as clear as day. "Yes, I am. That is, if you're free tomorrow after school….actually it was Kak Maya's idea…and the paper showed that the movie is showing at Golden Screen Cinemas at the Summit USJ tomorrow, around three o'clock so it's after school, so I think it's perfectly okay…but of course, of course, you don't have to if you don't want to…"
Gayathri sweatdropped; she had never heard Manny babbling before. "I'd love to, Manny."
"…You probably have homework to do tomorrow afternoon and I….uhh…you do?" Manny blinked.
Gayathri nodded and grinned. Manny returned the grin with a broad smile.
'Finally!' Floramon and Penguinmon thought from within their partners' Juara Digivice.
xxx
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Author's Notes:
This chapter pays tribute to both Power Rangers Ninja Storm and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. Puspamon's 'with speed of the wind' and Samudramon's 'and strength like thunder' are part of Ninja Storm's theme song, while the Rolling Thunder Hurricane is an attack formation in Hurricanger, called forth by GouraiSenpuujin (Thunderstorm Megazord). JumboGamemon is Shawujinmon's natural Mega form; I thought it would be fun to include him. The mystery behind JD's tattoo should be a bit clearer now. The Puaka Generals have taken a slightly active role here, with them featured in conversations (which could only mean one thing…) And finally, Manny and Gayathri is officially a couple!
Coming up next: Wira Digital: The Movie arc. I've planned to make a separate story for this, but decided against it. It's supposedly a special I wanted to feature in conjunction with the 200th review for this story. Now with 191 reviews, it's close enough to my target. Those who read my blog might know the gist of it already, but nothing is spoiled. Lucemon's scene in this chapter has hinted on this already.