Wira Digital

by Alforce Zero

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

49. Movie Arc V: Recapturing Digital Access

"We really should have convinced Ophanimon to come here too," JD muttered to Manny who was sitting beside him. His eyes then trailed to two faces that were slumbering peacefully; definitely a rare sight that he was sorely tempted to catch this on camera, if it wasn't for the fact that his camera phone had been destroyed months ago. He was sitting with his arms propped firmly on the grounds to support his body weight, and had his two legs stretched out, his thighs now serving as pillows for two DigiWira – Adam occupying the left, Liu Ying the right. A smirk formed on his face as he wondered what would their reaction be when they wake up, for it was his idea for them to be placed in such positions. After all, he couldn't leave them to lie around the hard jungle grounds, not when they appeared to be injured. Adam probably would not mind much; they were after all cousins, almost brothers. Liu Ying however probably would have something to say about this.

"Why?" Manny asked, shifting his body slightly against the tree he was leaning back on, careful not to drop the sleeping Gayathri's head from his left shoulder. He looked around the small shadowy clearing, which was illuminated by a small campfire made by Jebat earlier. His eyes fell on Teja and Lekir, both still unconscious, although Jackie and Gayathri had tended to the wounds on their heads earlier as best as they could. Kasturi was comforted by Lekiu; his dislocated shoulder now had been bandaged. Tuah, still awake, was chatting with Jebat at the corner of the clearing – Jebat seemed to be suggesting something which Tuah did not seem to like. Rosemon and D'Arcmon were standing alertly not far from the crowd. The five Rookie Digimon huddled close to the fire; Agumon and Penguinmon leaning on each other's backs, Patamon sleeping on Agumon's head, Labramon and Floramon sprawled beside them. Jackie was lying on top of a massive tree branch above them, idly playing with his light-saber's hilt, occasionally forming the blade before making it disappear. The sounds of river flowing was heard, although they could not see the river they knew it was close by.

"She's got healing powers," JD answered. "She could easily heal them." He recollected silently of what had happened just a couple of hours before.

After managing to fend off Z'dGarurumon, Satriamon and Samudramon were about to dedigivolve, but soon decided against it when one of the boys – Hang Tuah – had asked for their helps in moving the unconscious ones to the jungles of Mount Ledang. During the course of the battle with the cybernetic wolf, Adam, Liu Ying and their partners had also fallen unconscious, and the reason became apparent not too long after – both had been knocked by stone rubbles on the back of their heads. Him being the largest, Satriamon easily lifted Adam, Liu Ying, the boy known as Lekir and the princess Tun Teja with his arms and led by Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat, they all scaled the base of the mountain, heading to a place close to the river so that they could clean up the wounds of their fallen friends. There, while resting, JD and Manny were briefed by Gayathri and the locals of what had happened throughout the day. Two hours passed and after the initial shock of having been revealed that they were during the time of the Malaccan Sultanate and that their companies were, in the future, the famous five Hang brothers, had gone off, JD and Manny had settled down somewhat comfortably with the three sleeping DigiWira, the original trio of DigiWira obviously strained to the limit.

Now observing with mild interest as how the shadows of the canopy of leaves fell on the clearing, Manny cleared his throat before replying to JD: "Ophanimon thought that she'd better remain in the future…I mean, in our time, should any of the other Darkshadow Brethren decide to attack our world." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as something came to his mind. "What about Salamon and Gatomon? They healed Adam's broken arm," he pointed out.

"Somehow they have taken a liking for Kak Lisha and are currently staying with her at the hospital," JD said with a small smile. "Gatomon, especially, seems quite attached to her. Dunno about Salamon though, maybe he sticks around because of Gatomon." He shrugged. "It didn't really come to my mind to bring them."

"We didn't expect this to happen," Manny murmured.

JD nodded, whilst staring at a small wound on his cousin's head. It was not obvious as Adam's dark hair had covered it, but when JD ran a finger on where he knew where the wound was, he could feel it: an accumulation of dried blood with the size of a fifty-cent Malaysian coin. Similarly, on Liu Ying's left temple there was a gash the size of the little finger, but it was not as bad as Adam. And the DigiWira's conditions could not be compared to the wounds on Teja and Lekir's foreheads – Kasturi and Lekiu were forced to tear off a portion of the lower part of their shirts to stop the bleeding on their friends' wounds before wrapping them with the band of cloths they had formerly tied around their foreheads. Jackie had used a portion of his monk robe to make a bandage for Kasturi's dislocated shoulder, but otherwise Kasturi did not suffer any other kind of injuries.

Hang Jebat was now sitting behind Tuah, who was sitting in a meditative, lotus-style position. He then placed his hands on Tuah's back, and all of as sudden both of them glowed with crimson and navy aura. This immediately garnered interest from everyone who was still awake, as they watched the dark blue glow from Jebat slowly seeping into Tuah's body. For a while, Tuah's face contorted and he let out gasps in pain, looking like he was going to vomit. Jebat in the meantime, did not appear to be troubled.

With a loud grunt, Jebat suddenly pushed both hands forcefully on Tuah's back, and Tuah shouted, breaking the silence of the night. While at it, he had spat out a thick gooey dark substance out, and it spattered on the ground before him. Tuah then let out a relieved sigh, and was inhaling and exhaling rapidly, sweats profusely pouring out from all over his body. He rubbed his chest, and appeared pained no longer. He gave Jebat a grateful smile, in which the other boy replied with a curt nod, before his eyes fell on Adam and Liu Ying. He looked at them thoughtfully, his expression unreadable, before his attention shifted to JD and Manny, who by then realized that the thing Tuah had spat out was actually blood.

"I think Adam and Miss Chang are suffering the same internal injuries like I have had," Tuah said, looking directly towards JD. "I saw, with my own eyes, stones blasting onto their backs when that metallic beast creature caused the standing stones to explode. The same thing has happened to me. And there was blood coming out from their mouths, do you remember?"

JD nodded stiffly, remembering it well, for he had been the one who cleaned up the blood from their mouths. However he did not say anything; everything was happening too fast and too strange for him to comprehend.

"What I'm trying to say is that," Tuah continued, "our Silat master, Tuk Guru Adiputra, has taught us how to channel our spiritual energy into others to aid the other person's recovery process. It can speed up the body's natural healing process, as long as it's not broken bones or anything so severe," he said with a strained smile. "It was how Jebat has healed me. I think you've witnessed it just now? You should probably let us try to heal them, as how Jebat has done to me."

"Don't you have doctors for this kind of thing?" JD asked after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Doctors?" Tuah and Jebat looked at each other, then at them, with confusion.

"Medicine men," clarified Lekiu as he stood up from where he was resting; Kasturi was already asleep. "You did mean that now, didn't you?" he asked the two DigiWira, apparently unsure of his previous assumption. JD and Manny noticed that somehow, Lekiu was trying his hardest not to look at either Tuah or Jebat.

"Yes. Medicine men, witchdoctors, whatever…" JD muttered.

"Not anywhere close," Tuah answered. "It would take a day if we're going to Tuk Guru Adiputra's house. Who knows what would happen if we wait that long."

"We're your best bet here," Jebat said, earning a scornful scoff from Lekiu. He ignored it. "Adam and the girl there can't wait that long. They might appear to be sleeping now, but wait any longer and they might not wake up. Do you want that to happen?" he challenged.

"Impossible!" JD and Manny exclaimed, but upon seeing that Jebat and Tuah did not waver from their claims, they realized that the two warriors were speaking the truth. This was further proven when Adam and Liu Ying both let out a soft cough and blood trickled from the sides of their mouths.

"That's it," Tuah said and went towards Adam. "They are definitely injured. I will take Adam. Jebat, you…"

"Not so fast, brother," Jebat countered. "You are still recovering. You cannot channel your energy out just yet. Maybe after an hour or so, but certainly not now." His eyes shifted on Lekiu. "You, however, are not injured. You will do it, to that girl. I will use my energy to heal Adam."

Lekiu was shocked at Jebat's order towards him. The animosity he was feeling for the two older teens was forgotten, he now looked somewhat afraid, for his late Silat master had not taught him and his fellow disciple brothers about how to heal oneself or others after sustaining the injury. Such healing art existed; he had seen Tuk Guru Adiwira trying to purge the poison out of his body with his meditative skill. Was it the same thing? Lekiu did not dare to take that chance; he did not want to toy with another human's life. Especially not to Liu Ying. "But…I don't know how to heal… we were not trained..."

Jebat blinked. He then took out his keris, and with one swift gesture he lit it with glowing deep red aura. "Can you do this?"

"I…yes, I can." 'Is it the same thing?' Lekiu wondered silently.

"It's the same thing," Jebat said, confirming Lekiu's thoughts. "The only difference is that you're now channeling your energy to other people instead of your keris. Got it?"

"I…I suppose so." 'I can't believe I'm taking instructions from this arrogant prick. But…for Liu Ying…'

JD and Manny watched with mounting anxiety as Tuah lifted Adam's sleeping body and maintained it in a sitting position, lotus style. Jebat settled to sit behind Adam and placed both palms on the DigiWira's back. His body burst with crimson aura and he fell into a trance, breathing deeply in and out slowly as he moved his hands around the boy's back. Adam, still unconscious, was groaning softly. In the meantime, JD helped maintaining Liu Ying's body in a sitting position, and Lekiu gulped nervously as he sat behind Liu Ying, hesitating and blushing furiously of the notion of going to touch the girl. He then mirrored Jebat's actions and with an encouragement from Tuah (and a warning glare from JD) Lekiu began calling out his inner energy and channeled them to his hands. He glimmered with yellow aura and placed his hands on Liu Ying's back, transferring his energy to the girl. Before long, Adam let out a pained gasp and spat out a fist-sized coagulated dark blood, and plopped onto Jebat's body lifelessly. Jebat ceased to glow instantly, his concentration broken by the contact.

"He's going to be alright," Jebat said to JD, somewhat out of breath, as Tuah removed Adam from him. "I did my best. Don't look too scared, your cousin-brother is sleeping." He cast a look on Lekiu, who seemed to be facing a slight difficulty in doing the same thing to Liu Ying. Jebat would catch Lekiu frowning, gasping, and at times grunting loudly. 'This is his first time. It's going to strain him…' Jebat himself was feeling very strained, after healing Tuah and Adam, but he was properly trained with this. 'I've made a cruel comment towards him and his fellow disciple brothers last year. I owe him this…' Ignoring his own fatigue, Jebat crawled silently behind Lekiu, who did not seem to notice him. He placed one palm on Lekiu's back and allowed a portion of his remaining energy to flow inside Lekiu. Lekiu let out a yelp, feeling a burst of power inside of him which then was transferred into Liu Ying's body. As a result, Liu Ying gasped and vomited out coagulated blood. JD quickly lifted Liu Ying, who looked severely weakened, and laid her beside Adam's prone body.

'He…helped me?' Lekiu could not believe that Jebat had actually lent him a part of his own energy to make the final push for Liu Ying to spit out the coagulated blood. He had to admit, without Jebat's help he would not be able to heal Liu Ying – he lacked the training and his inner energy was not as developed, nor as abundant, as Jebat's. Without a word, Jebat slowly got back up to his feet and swayed slightly, before Tuah caught him. Together the two Hang brothers went to the nearest tree and sat down there, not noticing Lekiu staring at them in wonder.

JD took off the outer jacket of his DigiWira uniform and slid it underneath Adam and Liu Ying's heads. Seeing how Jebat and Lekiu had managed to ease the conditions of his friends made him thought of something. He caught Manny looking at him meaningfully; Manny seemed to be thinking what he was thinking, for he gave him an encouraging nod. Placing a hand on his heart, JD looked around. Adam and Liu Ying were unconscious, and Gayathri was still sleeping. Jackie, to his relief, was also sleeping. Rosemon and D'Arcmon had dozed off as well, but he did not worry about them, for they were also in the secret. He made up his mind, seeing this as probably his one shot to get rid of Persiamon's Blight of Bastet curse tattoo.

"Hey…umm…" JD said when he was by Tuah and Jebat. The two warriors-to-be looked up at him inquiringly, Jebat half-dozing while Tuah still alert. He wondered whether he should be bothering them about this, but decided that maybe he would just ask them about it. "Can I talk to you guys? In private?"

Manny watched JD, Tuah and Jebat's retreating backs as they walked off from the clearing, until shadows engulfed their whole profiles, before sighing resolutely, 'JD…'

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WIRA DIGITAL: The Movie – Part V

Chapter 49 – Recapturing Digital Access

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"A curse tattoo?" Tuah and Jebat stared at the menacing black cat tattoo on JD's chest. They had already settled beside the river, where the winds breezed softly and even without fire, the area was amply illuminated by the moon and the stars. "And it has been causing pain to you?" Tuah inquired further. JD had explained his condition to them, and out of respect for the DigiWira who had saved them from harm earlier, and that this blonde-haired young man before them was a family of Adam's, they felt compelled to help him to the best of their abilities. Besides, their Silat master had told them time and time again, to extend help to anyone who was in need of it, as long as it was not something bad.

"Only when I exert myself too much," JD said, placing his red shirt on his lap. "So far it usually happens when I'm Satriamon…you know, my Wira Digital form you saw earlier?"

Tuah and Jebat nodded. "This reminds me of Teja's story about the other guys…their Silat master was given a poisonous blow by a mad man and after a while he…" Jebat's voice trailed off as he threw JD an apologetic look. JD shook his head unsmilingly. "Apologies, friend," Jebat said, and took a deep breath as he looked at Tuah. "You've rested enough, brother?"

"Yes. Let's do it. You rest, Jebat, I think I can handle it now," Tuah said. Jebat looked like he wanted to counter Tuah, but a look from Tuah made him thought otherwise.

"Fine. Don't overexert yourself." Jebat skulked towards a large stone over the flowing river, and sat there.

"The one's given me this damn thing is pretty powerful," JD cautioned, as Tuah moved to sit behind him.

Tuah placed his hands on JD's back. "Just try to relax, friend. I'm going to let my energy flow inside of you, for me to determine of how severe this tattoo is…"

"I've told you, it's gonna kill me in a month," JD said.

"I know. I'm just explaining what I'm doing. Anyway, when I'm channeling my energy to you, I will sense what you are sensing, and more, so it will be much easier for me if you loosen up a bit," Tuah said, and began to meditate. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, before slowly exhaling the air out. His hands began to glimmer with navy blue aura, and then his body too glowed. Foreign sensations swam inside of him and slowly he began to decipher them out. He had purposely neglected to tell JD that while doing this, he would have access to JD's thoughts; something JD might want to keep as private. In short, it would give him a temporary telepathic rapport with the one he was going to heal – something which Jebat and his Silat master lacked. Tuk Guru Adiputra had commented that this was a special ability of Tuah which was unique to only him – it would make him an excellent healer as much as a fighter. JD might not want to proceed with this if he was made known of this fact, but Tuah sensed that this tattoo was nothing ordinary. Sure, he had seen many of the foreign traders bearing strange drawings on their bodies and arms, but this was different. He had sensed something evil radiating from it.

Jebat saw that Tuah was now concentrating deeply in trying to help their new friend. He crept to the river and washed his face, wanting to be fully alert. When Tuah was healing another, he could not be disturbed. That was the downside of Tuah's unique ability; when he was spiritually in-tune with the one he was healing, he was actually jeopardizing not only his life, but the one he was healing, should his concentration be broken abruptly. It could internally injure both of them, which was why when Tuah was healing another, Jebat would always be the one guarding his disciple brother's safety. He hated to admit it, but when it came to healing, Tuah was the better one although they were even in combative skills. It was the main reason why he chose to heal Tuah first – Tuah could then heal the others who needed it.

He heard the sound of a stick cracking and instantly took out his keris as his eyes darted towards the direction of the sound. "You," he said softly, and held his index finger in front of his lips to tell the newcomer to keep quiet. It was the other boy who came with this pale-haired cousin of Adam's. "Don't make any sudden move. Don't startle Tuah. If you want to come here, do it quietly," he instructed as he slid his keris back behind his belt. From the corner of his eyes, he saw that Tuah was undisturbed, and heaved a relieved sigh.

Manny was somewhat surprised at Jebat's edginess. "What's going on?"

"Tuah is trying to heal your friend, and he can't have his concentration broken when he's doing this," Jebat said quickly. "Not until the whole thing's done with. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to know…whether I can be of any help," Manny said. "I know about JD's condition, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Jebat nodded grimly. "Well, you can help me watch out for Tuah and JD. They can't be disturbed, and I have to admit after healing Adam and helping Lekiu heal that girl, I'm feeling weary."

"Alright." Manny slowly walked by Jebat and watched as Tuah's face etched into a deep frown and he hunched slightly, as if wanting to push JD. JD's body flexed outward slightly and he let out a gasp, but still had his eyes closed. He did not seem to notice Manny at all; his face and body were sweating profusely. Occasionally fire ignited out from many corners of JD's body, but the blue aura from Tuah drowned it instantly, so nobody was harmed. Then JD writhed in pain, and roared as he tried pulling his body away, but Tuah's hands were firmly glued on his back. A deep frown was etched in between Tuah's eyebrows and he relaxed, and in turn JD stopped screaming, but he was panting exhaustedly. However, the procedure seemed to be not over yet. Tuah seemed to withdraw his energy for a while, this was evident from the way the aura was diminishing, but with a grunt he once more flared with a myriad of blue aura and let the aura flow into JD's body. This time, JD seemed to be somewhat relaxed, his body no longer as rigid as it had been earlier. Manny's eyes widened when he saw the blue glow from Tuah gradually was transferred to JD, closing in on his heart where the tattoo was as it was diminishing elsewhere. Then the light died down, and the cat tattoo on JD's chest was coated with glimmering blue outline.

JD opened his eyes, feeling cold of a sudden, as the soft breezes of the nearby river came across his sweat-drenched body. He was somewhat disappointed to see the cat tattoo still intact, but wondered about what Tuah had actually had done. He still could feel the tattoo, but there was also something soothing accompanying it. It was like someone had lightly coated the tattoo with a layer of mint.

"I did the best I could, friend," Tuah said, his tone suggested that he was sorry. "I did feel something poisonous inside of you, close to your heart, but unfortunately I couldn't purge it out. However I managed to contain it." He beckoned towards the tattoo. "It will not be causing you pain for the time being, I hope. Perhaps someone with a more potent healing power is able to vanquish the tattoo, or the one who gave you the tattoo in the first place…"

"I doubt that rotten alleycat bitch is going to do that," JD snorted as he pulled on his shirt back. "But thank you, Tuah. At least, I'm not going to suffer during this last one month…" his tone was somewhat bitter. Manny made a protesting sound, but JD ignored him, his attention fully on Tuah and Jebat. "I must ask you two to not tell this to the others."

"I understand, friend," Tuah said softly, vividly recalling several mental images he had managed to get from JD when he was healing him. From the images, he realized that JD, despite his outward uncaring and brash appearances, truly cared for his fellow teammates and family. He did not want anybody to worry, not when they have a bigger battle against the forces of evil to worry about. If he revealed that he was going to die than the other warriors' focus would deteriorate – they would not be able to fight efficiently. And Adam, JD's cousin, would be affected the most; JD was particularly adamant that Adam should not know about this. Tuah had sensed a lingering guilt inside of JD, which was directed towards Adam, although he could not discern exactly why the feeling was there. He also had picked up a strong feeling also directed towards Adam but this he was perfectly familiar with, for it was the same feeling he and Jebat had. 'Brotherly love,' Tuah thought. 'And there's also a different kind of love present inside of him, directed…to that Chinese maiden...but he's wondering whether it's reciprocated or not?' He shook his head. 'This is why I hate healing people…but it could not be helped,' Tuah thought, feeling as if he had invaded JD's privacy without the blonde boy's knowing. He shook those thoughts off, but was able to come into conclusion that he was keeping this a secret to not hurt the ones he cared the most. It was valiant, but how could one live with the knowledge that he was going to die just a month later? It was not fair; his fair-haired friend here was still young, only a year older than him. He was a warrior, and apparently a very strong one, based on how he had attacked the metallic beast earlier. 'Satriamon…a satria is a warrior in Malay. Though JD does not look like us, he truly deserves the title.'

"You alright, Tuah?" Jebat asked, concerned. He knew exactly what was going on with his disciple-brother. After healing someone, it would take Tuah a while to gather himself as he sorted out the emotions he had picked up and the thoughts he had experienced from the one he had healed.

"He doesn't deserve this," Tuah croaked softly, out of from the DigiWira's earshot.

Jebat nodded grimly. "I know. But you've tried your best. You cannot save everyone, brother." Tuah still looked glum, and Jebat sighed. "Remember what Tuk Guru Adiputra told us? Try our best to heal whoever that needs it, but sometimes there are things which are just simply out of our capability. You have done your absolute best. It's time for you to let the Almighty decides of his fate. And besides," Jebat purposely let his sentence hang, to rouse Tuah's curiosity, "at the very least, you've stopped him from the bouts of pain he was experiencing. That has to count for something, right?" Jebat was rewarded with a weak smile from Tuah, and together they headed back to the camp fire, following Manny and JD closely.

"JD, wait up!" Manny caught by JD's side, noticing the blonde looking troubled. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," JD muttered dismissively. He did not feel like talking. He had his hopes that somehow the cursed tattoo could be removed, and now he was disappointed more than ever. 'The only difference is that I won't feel the pain anymore, until my time is up. How comforting. But I suppose Hang Tuah has done all he could…' He let out a frustrated sigh, which to Manny was a cue that he was not in the moods for talking. Silently he settled back at where he was sitting, gently repositioned himself so that once again Adam's and Liu Ying's heads resting on his thighs as he leaned back to the tree trunk. It took him a while before he felt sleep taking over him.

'I understand why you've chosen to do what you are doing now,' Manny thought as he sat quietly beside Gayathri, who while sleeping, had seemed to sense a familiar comforting presence as her head plopped down gently at the crook of Manny's neck. He smiled a bit, before forlorn took over him once more. 'I'll try finding out ways to help you,' he promised silently. 'That much I can do to help you, my friend.' With that, Manny too closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

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Morning came by fairly quick, and the DigiWira and their friends were now awake and were getting themselves acquainted. Tuah and Jebat had managed to catch some fishes from the river, and now everyone was sitting in a circle as they waited eagerly for the fishes to finish cooking. It occurred to all of them that not one of them had a decent meal the previous night, which made their hunger even more prominent. Rosemon had easily distinguished some of the edible wild fruits which so happen grew inside the lush mountain, but everyone (except for her and Floramon) only took several nibbles of the fruits before deciding that the fishes looked to be the tastier of the dishes. So they waited, and to pass up the time they had gotten themselves acquainted with one another.

Out of all the people, Lekiu appeared to be the most tired of all, and he was now leaning weakly against Lekir who looked as he usually did, except a bit paler. Lekiu had spent his energy trying to heal Lekir and Teja, but had overexerted himself in the process. Tuah and Jebat however had assured them that nothing other than a good meal and rest were what Lekiu needed. Kasturi, Lekir and Teja were surprised to see that while Lekiu was the most vocal in voicing his hatred towards Tuah and Jebat, now he seemed to be able to tolerate them the most. It had struck them as strange, and Lekiu did not seem to have bothered in giving full accounts of what had happened the previous night. There still seemed to be awkwardness on Lekiu's behalf, but the two Hang brothers were perfectly genial not only to Lekiu, but to Lekir and Kasturi as well.

In the meantime, the DigiWira had gotten reacquainted after a brief awkward moment between Liu Ying and JD, mostly on the raven-haired girl's part, because she had found herself using JD's thigh as her pillow while she was sleeping. She was now blushing furiously while JD merely snickered, obviously amused of her reaction. Adam, Manny and Gayathri merely observed from the sideways with mild amusement. This exchange however was obviously interesting for their friends of the past, who had obviously never seen five people who were remarkably different from each other getting along as well as the five DigiWira. Out of all five of them, Adam and Manny could easily pass off as local boys, and the girls Liu Ying and Gayathri were distinguishable as they had seen traders from China and India quite a few times, but JD who had Caucasian features was very unique to them, for it was the time when the European traders had just gotten to know about the kingdom of Malacca. What was even more unique to them was when Adam told them that JD was a family of his, related by having the same paternal great-grandparents.

As everyone collected the roasted fishes one by one, the awkwardness between them had slowly broken as they ate their breakfasts. To Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri's delights, the two Hang brothers and the princess's three guards were starting to get along. Although somewhat begrudgingly, but it was a good start. The elder Tuah and Jebat seemed to be the one who had taken the initiative to start the friendship.

"Lekiu, Kasturi, Lekir," Tuah began, calling for the attentions of their younger disciple brothers (them being the disciples of the brother of their Silat master made them almost equivalent as their own fellow disciples, if they had them). "Last year, after we dueled against each other, I suppose we have said some terrible things…"

"I have said some terrible things," Jebat interjected, giving Tuah a sharp knowing look. Tuah nodded, beckoning for him to continue on. Jebat fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable of so many pairs of eyes observing him intently. "I've said some horrible things. I didn't know what I was saying, and about your history, so I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry." He held out his hand to the younger boy in yellow, feeling that perhaps Lekiu was the more forgiving one, after what had happened the previous night.

Lekiu, Kasturi and Lekir looked at each other. Lekiu was reminded of how Jebat had helped showing the way for him to heal Liu Ying's injury, which eventually made him able to heal Teja's and Lekir's injuries as well. He was grateful for that, and while Jebat's comment to him still stung him rather deeply, there was no point in having grudges. He looked at Lekir, who nodded at him encouragingly, and at Kasturi who after a moment of thinking, also gave him the nod. "You didn't know, how could you have known?" Lekiu said and took Jebat's hand, his tone and action somewhat stiff, but slowly it melted into a smile after a long exhale. "Just…don't let it happen again."

With that said, the disciples of Adiputra and Adiwira shook hands, the animosity which usually clouded around them slowly evaporated just as the morning sunshine poured through the canopies of leaves over them, giving that moment a somewhat majestic feel which awed the DigiWira and their partners.

"You know, I think we've just become a part of a legendary history," Adam whispered excitedly to Liu Ying and Gayathri.

Liu Ying and Gayathri thought about it for a moment, before astounded looks passed their faces. "Wow, I think you're right!" Liu Ying said softly. "I wondered what would happen if we didn't show up here? Would they meet and make up? After all…"

"Don't worry about it, Liu Ying," Gayathri said easily. "You're going to give yourself a headache."

JD and Manny exchanged glances and nodded, smiling slightly although the smiles looked somewhat strained, forced. This however went unnoticed by the others who were unaware of what had happened the previous day. JD was better than Manny in keeping a straight face when the other DigiWira glanced at them. Teja smiled while holding the long sleeves of her peasant robes close to her eyes, glad that the enmity between her friends and their fellow disciples had been resolved.

Jackie went to stand between Adam and Gayathri and placed his hands on their shoulders. He bent down close to their eyes and grinned. "This can't go in your assignment reports, you know," he said, careful to keep his tone out of the others' hearings. "I've done some research, and this event has never been recorded in any literature sources."

"Aww….Jackie!" Adam and Gayathri protested.

Jackie smiled and patted their shoulders before beckoning for the DigiWira to sit around him. Their friends from this era, upon seeing that they were about to discuss something, decided that they had better join their friends from the future. All eleven teenagers and seven Digimon gathered around Jackie, each having their own fish with the exception of Rosemon and Floramon who had declined eating meats.

"Back in the future, we managed to get a visual of you three on the Forest Sanctum's sun staff," Jackie began and fixed his attentions towards Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri, "and it showed that you three could not Digital Access with your partners, or even digivolving your partners."

"Patamon could digivolve independently into Centarumon," Adam supplied. "He's already able to do so before meeting me, I guess that's why he could do so."

"That's strange," Agumon commented. "I thought…with Patamon having been…you know, deleted once," he said the last two words in a very low whisper.

"What about it?" Patamon asked, not bothered the least as he nibbled on his fish. "By the way, Tuah, Jebat, this fish is delicious!" he said, and the two boys grinned at him, although from their faces it was clear that they were both thinking that it was still strange for them to be complimented by a larger-than-life guinea pig.

"I just thought that…well…your data would have been reconfigured in order to enable you to be reborn," Agumon said weakly.

"That's not really too strange," Adam said. "Since Patamon remembers me right after he hatched from his DigiEgg, I suppose he retains all things he had before we got deleted…" Having just realized what he had said, Adam made a face, before shaking it off with a shrug. "I think that's why he still could digivolve to Centarumon whenever he wants to." Patamon nodded, not bothering to add anything as he was thoroughly enjoying his roasted fish.

"But how's that explain Lilymon?" Gayathri asked. "We tried Digital Accessing and normal Digivolution both, but both Labramon and Floramon couldn't digivolve then. Then all of a sudden, they became Lilymon and easily wiped out those horrible werewolves." By this time, nobody missed the confounded looks on the teens from this era, who evidently had very little inkling of what the DigiWira were currently discussing, but it could not be helped. Even if they asked for the DigiWira to clarify about this even further, they would still end up not understanding it, so they might as well just listen and gather what they could.

"Labramon, remember how our partners just burst with lights, and they washed over us, and all of a sudden we became Lilymon?" Floramon countered, and looked at her partner questioningly. "What do you think happened that time, Gayathri?"

Gayathri and Liu Ying exchanged odd looks. "I don't know, really," Gayathri admitted. "But I'm sure glad it happened when it did."

"It was one of those things that we learn not to question about, since it benefited us," Liu Ying muttered slowly.

This revelation however brought back a familiar memory to Adam, JD, Patamon and Agumon. JD nudged Adam on the shoulder before looking at the girls. "Well, I'm not sure whether Adam here remembers it or not, but when we were in the Dark Ocean, fighting and were losing against that octopus-head Dragomon, Adam somehow did this freaky light show," Adam grimaced at this, which did not go unnoticed by JD – he was simply teasing his cousin – and he continued, "which energized Patamon to become Sagittarimon Radiant Mode, and me and Agumon, already so tired, suddenly gained power to become Satriamon again. And…" He gave Adam a long look, as if trying to put two and two together. "When even as Satriamon and Sagittarimon we couldn't beat Dragomon, Adam once again let out more white light, but this time it didn't energize us, but instead powered them up." JD scratched his chin, remembering the ghostly apparition that hovered behind Adam and Sagittarimon that day. "And I think I saw Aldiyamon's shadow somewhere back there…"

Adam scratched his head. "I don't remember that," he said. "Are you sure you were not seeing things, Josh?"

JD returned Adam's query by making a mock-ugly face at him before turning towards the others. "Anyway, this shadow, along with Adam and Sagittarimon, blasted Dragomon with all they got and in the process knocked us out. When we were awake, we were back at the Megalith Coliseum," JD finished. He had not given these details to anyone other than Adam and Patamon, who seemed to not remember it. The more he thought of it, the more it made sense to him. Who else could teleport all of them out from the Dark Ocean other than Aldiyamon? But then…Adam and Patamon had not achieved their Wira Digital mode yet during that time. JD grunted softly; this was all too confusing, he thought.

"Makes sense to me," Patamon chirped, ironically contradicting JD.

"In any case, I'm just glad that it happened when it did," Adam murmured. "Who knows what would happen if it didn't happen?" He shivered upon the thought of Dragomon, who to him was just as bad as SkullSatamon.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Gayathri said, before clapping her hands once and let out an excited shriek. "I've just thought of something. Manny, Liu Ying….remember our fight with that Lilamon? That time Floramon and I still couldn't Digital Access, and it was also that time when JD and Adam were at that Dark Ocean place. We were losing against Lilamon…but then there was this white light shooting down from the sky, and upon us."

"Samudramon and Xianamon were reenergized…" Manny said, beginning to see where Gayathri was heading.

"And you and Floramon were powered enough to become Puspamon for the first time!" Liu Ying continued as she observed Adam thoughtfully. "If JD's sure of what he saw…"

"I am sure of what I saw," JD stressed out.

"…then, it is definitely the same thing….what we did last night to power our partners to become Lilymon," Liu Ying finished.

"The powers within you," Labramon said. "The Digivices did not work yesterday, so it must have come from you."

"Anyway," Jackie said, trying to bring everyone back to their current question, "TobuCatmon suspected that the reason you could not Digital Access, or normally digivolving the partners is because somehow, Lucemon has inhibited the powers of your Juara Digivices."

"Lucemon?" The first three DigiWira asked simultaneously. "But, we haven't seen Lucemon anywhere," Adam said, looking at the girls for confirmation, in which they nodded.

"Lucemon was the one responsible to unleash the Wolfsbanes in the first place," Rosemon informed. "The lady Ophanimon and the two of us managed to intercept Lucemon earlier yesterday morning when he was going to the Macabre Glades where Grademon had them entombed three hundred years ago."

"Unfortunately, we were no match for him and had to retreat," D'Arcmon continued with a low annoyed grunt.

"So you see," Jackie said, "since Lucemon is the one who released the werewolves and has somehow sent them and you guys here in this era, it's logical to think that he's also the one who has inhibited your Juara Digivices, probably with some kind of dark power."

"Really? I thought we can't digivolve simply because here, five hundred years from our time, there's no telecommunication technology yet," Liu Ying said, "because according to Koushirou Izumi, the Digital World is born when our world came up with the first computer. So here, in the 1500s…" Her voice trailed off, having lost of what she had wanted to say earlier, out of interest on hearing what Jackie had wanted to say instead.

"That's a sound theory, Liu Ying," Jackie said. "I did point that out to TobuCatmon, but he believes that the bond between you and your DigiSpheres can stand the test of time. Without anyone's interference, you should be able to Digital Access. That's why he thinks Lucemon's behind this."

"Come to think of it," Gayathri said as she remembered an unusual occurrence taking place when they attempted to Digital Access the previous day, "something odd happened when we tried to Digital Access. Don't you remember it, Liu Ying? Our Digivices let out this strange purple symbol…"

"Hey, the same thing happened to mine when I tried to Digital Access," Adam said. "Strange purple symbol and this kinda dark glow."

"Yes, I do remember that happening to ours yesterday," Liu Ying agreed.

"This proves TobuCatmon's theory to be right," Jackie concluded. "Those, I presume, are not usual occurrences to your Digivices?"

"Yeah, they're not," Adam said.

"So what should we do in order for us to be able to Digital Access again?" Patamon asked worriedly.

Jackie smiled pensively. "Well, there's only one way of proving whether Lucemon's behind this or not. TobuCatmon said that Lucemon possesses the only artifact which can inhibit the Ivory Gem, which power is now imbued in your five Juara Digivices. The Obsidian Gem; the Ivory Gem's dark twin." He paused, allowing a moment for the DigiWira to recover from the surprise. This was a fact that even JD and Manny were not aware of. "If Lucemon has used the Obsidian Gem to inhibit the Ivory Gem's power in three Juara Digivices, then our only hope to lift it is by using the remaining two Digivices which are not touched by the Obsidian Gem's power. JD, Manny, hold out your Digivices. Adam, Liu Ying, Gayathri, point your Digivices towards JD and Manny's."

The DigiWira followed their mentor's advice and soon JD and Manny's Digivices let out red and blue aura, before they sparked brighter and washed over the other three Digivices. As if affected by the lights, the three Digivices shook wildly before simultaneously they released purple aura which reeked with malignancy, before a strange symbol of even a darker shade of purple was released. It hovered over the air before the purple lights completely consumed the red and blue lights, and blasted upon JD and Manny, throwing them onto the ground on their backs.

"JD! Manny!" the three DigiWira gasped in shock, but soon found out that their fellow DigiWira were unharmed.

"What the hell happened?" JD demanded as he got up from his feet. He calmed slightly upon noticing the worried looks on his friends' faces. "I'm ok. Just shocked, that's all. Manny?"

"That was shocking," Manny said as he picked up his Digivice, which had fallen out of his grasp when he was thrown off by the malignant purple light which remained hovering around the three infected Digivices. "No harm done," he assured the DigiWira, while rubbing his sore back. "Just a bit sore in the back," he admitted.

"Should we try again?" JD asked.

"I think…wait," Jackie said, his brows suddenly furrowed in concentration. "Quiet, everyone," he shushed, when the teens were about to ask him of what was going on. Soon, the answer became evident – everyone heard faint sounds of men shouting out something indiscernible, accompanied by sounds of feet thumping the ground, and more cries.

"I'll have a look." Rosemon soared towards the canopies, which with a flick of her hands, opened a way for her to reach to the skies. Not too long after she descended back down. "Men…about fifty of them I think…they're about to enter the forests lining the base of this mountain!" she said in a rush. "They are shouting out 'witches'…"

"Oh, no!" Teja exclaimed. "How…why….I've told those guards to back off! They have deliberately disobeyed my order! Why I ought to…" The princess was about to leave them, intending on giving the intruding locals a piece of her mind, but was immediately stopped by her brother-like friends.

"Teja, don't!" Kasturi said. "There are fifty of them! From the sounds of it they seemed determined to get to us."

"All the more reason for me to go and put a stop to it! They won't dare to disobey me…"

"Umm…I thought they've already did?" Lekir pointed out, when the men's cries became more prominent.

"They are coming for us," Liu Ying said grimly, upon noticing blank looks on the DigiWira boys, their partners, and Jackie, as well as Tuah and Jebat. She quickly recounted their experience with the angered crowd of people at the town square the previous day, and about the nobleman who had instigated the rumor about them being witches. "Rosemon, did you by any chance see a blonde-haired man out there?" she asked, trying to determine whether Baron Lucifer was indeed behind this.

"I see one over there," Rosemon simply said and pointed towards JD, much to everyone's brief amusement. "But, seriously speaking, yes, I think I did see one man…bigger and muscular than the other men, quite handsome actually, and dressed rather….should I say, snobbishly? Like he's an aristocrat or something…"

"That would be him alright," Gayathri said.

"How dare he?" Teja fumed. "You know what, I am going to march to this Baron Lucifer and am going to tell him to stop with this malicious lies about you being witches!"

"If you're going, then I'm with you," Lekiu announced quickly.

"No, Teja, Lekiu," Liu Ying said. "We can't ask you to protect us any more…you've done so much for us already, to the point of endangering your lives."

"You didn't even ask us to protect you, remember?" Teja said. "We did it on our own."

"She's right," Lekiu said, now joined by Kasturi and Lekir on his sides. He took a look at Kasturi and shook his head. "Now, Kasturi, what are you going to do with that dislocated arm of yours? Stay back here, with…umm….elder brothers Tuah and Jebat." Lekir looked at him admiringly, happy to know that Lekiu had indeed let go of his grudge for Tuah and Jebat if he was willing to address them such a way. Kasturi was about to protest, before Tuah and Jebat both laughed.

"What? Lekiu, if you think we're going to just stand here idly while you have fun, then you're seriously mistaken," Tuah said with a grin and jerked his eyebrows at Jebat.

"Of course. Somebody's got to watch your backs, at the very least," Jebat said with humor in his voice. At first, Lekiu looked somewhat affronted – Jebat had seemed to have belittled them once again before the boy in crimson and black raised both hands. "Don't take that personally, you three…Tuah and I always say stuffs like that without really meaning it. Take it easy, alright?"

"Now, wait just a minute, you all!" Gayathri said exasperatedly. "We can't have you fighting your own people!"

"If they're too stubborn to listen to the princess, then they'll deserve some smacking like how we do to exceptionally stubborn mules," Jebat said.

"You know," Rosemon said suddenly, her tone showing that she had gotten some ideas of her own. "I think that all of you should just stay here where it's safe and let me handle this." Sensing that rounds of protest coming, the beautiful womanly Digimon held up her hand, and smiled impishly. "I'm most in tune with nature, and I can manipulate everything in this forest to do my bidding," she explained. "I'll get the message through to them – back off or…" with another grin she whipped a tree with the vines hanging down her arms.

Everyone sweatdropped at her very suggestive comment. "Rosemon, they're not Digimon," Adam reminded the Mega Digimon. "Don't harm them."

Rosemon chuckled. "Oh, don't worry Adam. I'm just gonna have some fun. If my subtle messages fail to discourage them, I'll just do what I did to discourage you, back at the Lost Mountain." Adam turned bright red at this comment, and Rosemon walked away from the crowd. "I'm off now. Wish me luck!"

xxx

xxx

In the meantime, almost fifty men were marching towards the forests lining the base of Mount Ledang. All of them carried some sort of weapons – keris and parang, which were two different forms of daggers, some carried staffs and others had woods of varying shapes and sizes. They were led by an aristocratic man whom they believed to be acting on their best behalf. Little did they know that this man, Baron Lucifer, was a Digimon in disguise, a Digimon from five hundred years in the future known as Lucemon, enemy of their country's protectors.

'Everything is going on perfectly! I wonder why did I not procure the nine spells of the Nine Negations Dark Arts sooner?' Baron Lucifer, or Lucemon, thought with glee. 'So far, I have managed to master four out of nine forbidden arts. The time manipulation spell seems to need more works, but the will-bending spell works beautifully, as well as the glamour spell. The dark psychic spell enhances my own psychic power, which I cannot wait to test against those loathsome heirs of Grademon. Speaking of which…'

Lucemon wondered how it was possible for the other two DigiWira and their companions managed to time-travel as well. It was practically impossible to invoke another time manipulation spell without using the Nine Negations Dark Arts, unless there was other method which he was alien of. Nevertheless, he needed not to be bothered about it. Had he not already suppressed the Digivolution powers of the three DigiWira's Digivices with the Obsidian Gem? Z'dGarurumon could easily defeat two Wira Digital, a Mega with the power of an Ultimate, and a normal Champion. He had certainly thought out his plan well; upon realizing that Satriamon's and Samudramon's newest finale attacks stemmed from the help of their three teammates, by orchestrating the absence of Aldiyamon, Xianamon and Puspamon, Satriamon could not unleash the Mega-class Firestorm Slasher which required Aldiyamon's Heavenstar Gladius for it to be executed, and Samudramon could not perform the Rolling Thunder Hurricane for it necessitated him to be teamed up with Puspamon. And as for Xianamon, he needn't worry about having two magical-powered Digimon who could release another Mega-class attack. Z'dGarurumon would be unstoppable, especially when Lucemon had educated him of the real powers the remaining Wira Digital and their friends had.

He turned around impressively to address the men he had placed under the spell. "My fellow men! We have arrived on Mount Ledang, where the witches have taken sanctuary! Be caution, fellow men, for they are now joined with fellow practitioners of the dark arts to amplify their own threats! We will have to fight at our best!"

"We'll kill those witches!" one man declared with a loud voice which contradicted his vacant expression. The other men roared in response with spirit, and Lucemon, in his human guise as Baron Lucifer, smiled and beckoned for them to enter the forests.

No sooner than they had stepped their feet inside the forest, vines rained down from the canopies above and whacked them wildly, causing an immediate fearful and confused uproar amongst the men. The strikes were harmless, but done repeatedly they inflicted pain towards the men.

"What trickery is this?" a man decried in panic and waved his parang haphazardly. His action effectively cut some of the vines heading his way. Seeing his actions, the other man followed suits and unsheathed their weapons. To their surprise, the vines, as if having minds of their own, began snaking around the outstretched weapons and snatched them away. Wild fruits and nuts rained down and knocked several men over their heads. The men screamed and began to run about, but tree roots were suddenly uplifted from the grounds and the men, not seeing them, had their legs caught on those roots and fell onto the earth.

"It's the witches! They must have known we're here and are trying to make us leave the forests!" one man shouted as he kicked off a root, but yelped when the thick root didn't seem to be affected and he instead was shivering in pain, as fruits and vines rained on him and the men around him. One particularly lively vine spun around the air and struck the butts of five men all at once, causing them to jump before doubling over excruciatingly whilst clutching their sore butts.

"Such devilish power! They are manipulating the nature against us!" another man deplored, and used his lance to prod the roots. In return, the root lashed at him and forced him to drop his lance before it slammed upon the long weapon, snapping it into half. The man panicked and screamed before the root struck him over the guts, sending him flying against two other men, knocking all of them over towards a tree before more wild fruits showered over their heads.

'This is certainly odd,' Lucemon thought as he remained still amidst the running men. His body was letting out an indiscernible aura which repelled any advances made on him by the vines, fruits or roots. 'The DigiWira can't be the one controlling this. I'm betting that the Rosemon's behind this.' He grinned wickedly and his eyes flashed with bright white light. All the men who had become prey to the nature's fury instantly stood back up on their feet, their eyes too shining white. Lucemon's grin became wider as he focused his telepathic power to get a reading of any energy signature which did not belong to the men. 'Gotcha,' he thought and aimed a hand towards a particularly thick tree a hundred meters away from him, which had wild shrubs growing all around it – anyone could have hid behind the tree trunk and shrubs and nobody would notice. The air rippled before his outstretched hand before with a calm grunt he released invisible energy waves towards the tree.

A feminine scream was heard while the tree remained intact. Rosemon sprawled out from the shrubs, steadying herself by having one hand firmly grasping the barks of the tree trunk as she stared with disbelief towards Lucemon, not recognizing him while in his human guise. "Who…who are you?" she sputtered anxiously, not having a good feeling about what she was about to hear.

Lucemon smirked. "Men, this witch is the one who has been using the forests to attack you earlier," he declared with glee. "Now, what do you suppose we do with her?"

"Witch! You will be stopped, at all cost!" one man exclaimed and advanced towards her.

"Your treachery ends here!" another deplored and grabbed his keris from the ground.

"Yes, men…attack her," Lucemon goaded the men. "Kill her and save your glorious kingdom from her witchery!"

Rosemon noticed how the crowd of men seemed to be obeying the aristocrat and caught the weird, vacant looks on their faces which did not suit the vigor in their voices. Ten men, all nearly as tall as her, advanced, picking back their weapons from the ground as they advanced towards her. Rosemon did not want to hurt them, for they were humans, but they were threatening her. 'What a disadvantage! I can't fight them, my power can easily kill them. I have to let the DigiWira handle this.'

"I'd love to stay, boys, but I can't. Roses Rapier!" Rosemon slammed her elongated vine-rapier onto the ground, causing stones and soils to explode over the men's faces, momentarily distracting them. Taking advantage of the situation, she leaped towards the canopies, intent on leaving, but in her rush to escape she did not notice the aristocratic man also leaping towards the air with impossible grace and fluidity, before launching a sound kick over her torso. She screamed in surprise, and saw a familiar, wicked grin gracing the nobleman's face. She had seen this grin before, before all of a sudden she saw several identifiable features. Burnish hair, ice blue eyes, pale skin and a wicked grin…it couldn't be him now, could it?

"You're not escaping me again, woman," the nobleman said, and attempted to strike her with his glowing palm.

Not going to be attacked again by this man, Rosemon made an agile back flip and countered Lucemon's palm with her high-heeled sole, and used the force from the palm to propel her away from the man. She detected a malignant dark power lingering over this man, and realized what she could do to confirm her suspicion. She waved one of her arm in a whipping gesture. 'Thorn Whip!'

The vines spiraled around the nobleman and wrapped tight around him. An energy heart flashed over the man and Rosemon gasped when the man transformed into an angel-demon hybrid that she knew only too well. "Lucemon!" she gasped, and a panicked rush coursed all over her body – Lucemon was too powerful for her. Instantly, she summoned: "Forbidden Temptation!!"

The energy blasts slammed upon Lucemon, but did not cause him harm, for he, ironically was the opposite of Rosemon – he was an Ultimate with powers of a Mega. But he soon realized that hurting him was not Rosemon's primary agenda – she had only used the attack for distraction, as when the blast was fully intercepted, Lucemon could not see Rosemon anywhere. He hovered in midair, his disguise now broken, but the men did not seem to take notice of his angel-devil form. He quickly transformed back into his Baron Lucifer guise and descended on the ground.

"Quickly, men. The witches are here. We shall find them soon enough." With a grin, he tracked Z'dGarurumon telepathically. 'I'll have him battle the Wira Digital first. There's no reason why I should get down and dirty, when I have Z'dGarurumon and these unsuspecting fools at my disposal…'

xxx

xxx

Rosemon burst through the thickets towards the gathered DigiWira, Digimon and the teens from the era, looking absolutely panicked. Behind her, roars of men echoed all over the forest, causing panic to the birds as they flew up through the canopies to avoid the scuffle.

"They're coming!" she gasped, landing directly in front of the DigiWira. "And Lucemon is there, in disguise of this man in noble outfit I've told you about!"

"Baron Lucifer?" Teja, Liu Ying and Gayathri said simultaneously. "He's Lucemon?" Liu Ying and Gayathri chorused in disbelief, while at the same time Teja asked, "Who is Lucemon?"

The cries of men got louder, signaling that they were approaching. The DigiWira and friends had established camp not far from the base, near the river which flowed from top of the mountain.

"Lucemon is one of our enemies back in the future," Liu Ying explained quickly.

"And not just any ordinary enemy…he's supposed to be the leader of our enemies," Adam added. "What's he doing here? The other Darkshadows are already a pain to fight with…and we still can't Digital Access…"

"I blasted him with my Forbidden Temptation, but I don't know whether it'd affect Lucemon," Rosemon said. "When I realized that it was him, I knew immediately that I wasn't his match. I had to come back here to warn you all; my attack might have not been at its best."

"He beat you, D'Arcmon and Ophanimon all at once," JD muttered, hands balled into fists. "I don't think it would be any different if you attack him full-force." He noticed Rosemon scowled at him for his blatant remark, and shrugged. "Well, it's true."

"WITCHES!!!"

A couple of Malaccan men had reached their camp, and upon seeing the twelve human and seven Digimon, they shrieked, "The witches are here!!"

"I really hate it when they call us that," Gayathri said angrily, as more and more men showed up from all directions.

"I'll try to talk them out of this. Maybe they will listen to me," Teja said and marched towards one of the nearest men. "By order of the princess, I command you to…" Teja gasped when three men pointed their lances towards her, but a figure in dark blue stepped beside her and kicked off those lances.

"I don't think they are in any negotiation mood now, princess," Tuah muttered, keris unsheathed.

"How dare they?" Teja said, shocked at those men's reactions. "Do they not know who I am?" She got her answers when the men snarled back at her, instead of acts of reverence which she was expecting from them.

"Princess, I think it's best if you let us protect you," Tuah said, his eyes not leaving the men who had threatened the princess's safety. He thought that there was something strange from the way they looked – they had a somewhat dazed expression, but he must not let this fooled him. They had just attempted to hurt the princess, and he wouldn't have that. "Stay with Kasturi, and the four of us will cover you."

Lekiu and Lekir blinked; the way Tuah had just addressed them, it was as if he had considered them as his direct disciple brothers. But neither of the cousins could admit that, now that they had heard it coming from Tuah, that they did not like it. Jebat grinned and patted the shoulders of the cousins. "Come on, you two. Get your keris out. Looks like there's a battle going to happen," he said. Teja saw this, and for a moment had forgotten the situation they were in; she was happy to see the boys getting along, and found herself agreeing to Tuah's suggestion. She went to Kasturi, and the other boys circled around them, providing protection.

Jackie assumed a fighting stance as well, much to the surprise of the DigiWira. Rosemon and D'Arcmon readied themselves with their vine-whips and swords. The five Rookie Digimon tensed – if their opponents were these humans, they would have to fight them as Rookies lest they accidentally inflicted fatal injuries upon them if they were in their higher forms (not that Labramon and Floramon had any other choice). And finally the five DigiWira prepared to execute their special powers as well.

"I don't see him anywhere," Liu Ying said warily, scanning the crowd of almost fifty men around them.

"Be mindful, DigiWira," Rosemon said. "Lucemon could be any of these men."

The Malaccan men, who unbeknownst to the DigiWira were also acting under Lucemon, all took out their weapons – keris, parang, wooden clubs, lances, and one of them shouted: "Attack these heathen witches and their cohorts and their strange otherworldly beasts! Stop them from spreading evil to our kingdom!" They advanced towards the DigiWira and their friends.

"Otherworldly beasts? I resent that!" Floramon said angrily. "They obviously know nothing about beauty," she mumbled.

"We're not witches!" Gayathri shouted. "You've been deceived by that Baron Lucifer! He's not even a human! In fact, if you're looking for otherworldly beast, then he definitely fits the bill!"

"Lies! All lies, witches!" the men screamed back, and charged towards the teens. They dispersed into several groups and began to attack the teens.

"I hate to fight you all," Jebat said, but his simpers betrayed his words, "Oh, who am I kidding? If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're going to get! Come, brother!"

"I'm right behind you."

Tuah and Jebat double-teamed against four men who had charged towards them. Two men swept their lances towards Tuah, but the teen expertly dodged the lances before tackling one of them by surprise. In the process he seized one lance and used it to knock the other lance off the man's hands. With a smirk he spun the lance and thumped the dull end of the lance against another man's body. Jebat moved forward and delivered a well-aimed punch on the man's face. With two men down, they had another two to go.

Lekiu and Lekir found themselves cornered by four men, all wielding woods as their choice of weapons. Lekiu bent down and joined his hands together and hoisted Lekir towards the air. Lekir stepped on one man's shoulders and exerted a downward force upon them before leaping towards the second man, delivering a sound kick on the face. Lekiu charged by sidestepping the third man, allowing Lekir to kick the man on the chest as he used his keris to counter the fourth man's parang. The two daggers clanged against one another, causing a high-pitched sound, and a battle of strength ensued between Lekiu and the man who was taller than he was. Then somebody had struck the man's arm with firewood, causing him to yell out of pain and anger, before the same firewood was slammed onto his chest, knocking him out cold. Lekiu turned around, and saw Kasturi grinning, the princess behind him.

"Thank you, Kasturi! I owe you one!" Lekiu said.

"Nothing to it," Kasturi said. "Oww…my arm…"

"You should be resting!" Teja said.

"Kasturi, Teja, go hide behind that bushes. Lekiu and I will cover you," Lekir said. The four friends retreated from the battle scenes when after a quick assessment, they saw that the other Malaccan men already had chosen their opponents. Nobody even attacked them as they made a way to safety.

Three men charged towards Jackie, but yelped in shock when their blades were sliced by Jackie's glowing laser rapier almost as if he was tearing papers. "Hiyya!!" Jackie screamed, throwing his laser rapier upwards and demonstrated several kung-fu movements, to the men's horror. When he was done, he caught back the laser rapier and brandished it towards the three men with his face contorting menacingly. His left hand was outstretched towards the men, and he wiggled his fingers in a come-here gesture. Jackie chuckled as the men backed away, but let out a semi-translucent energy sphere from his hand at the same time. It knocked out the three men towards a tree, for Jackie feared that if he let them go they would harm the others. He looked around him, counting on how many men had they taken cared off. "Eleven down, thirty-nine to go."

Four men attempted to surround Rosemon, but the flower woman merely laughed. "My, you boys are forward," she smirked, and grabbed two men closest to her firmly on their shoulders. "Oh all right, one dance, and that's it!" Planting the high pointed heels of her boots firmly into the ground, she spun around speedily and carried the men she had grabbed along with it. As she spun, she used the men to knock away the other two before letting them go. All four men sailed across the constricted battlefield and knocked their heads upon a particularly massive tree trunk. "Now that's what I call using your heads," she chuckled, and ceased spinning.

D'Arcmon with her twin swords tackled four armed men at once, easily forcing them to drop their weapons before knocking them away without breaking a sweat. She tilted her head towards Jackie – having heard what Jackie had commented, and perfectly aware of how many men Rosemon and her had knocked out, she said with a proud smile, "Make that nineteen down, thirty-one to go, Jackie." Jackie flashed the golden-winged angel a thumbs-up.

"Endless Slaps!" Penguinmon leaped towards a man and gleefully slapped him with his flippers. The unfortunate man howled in pain, cheeks swollen as he was knocked out. "Okay, who wants more?" he said, eyes darting towards the battlefield to look for Manny. He wanted to get to his DigiWira, but another man with a row of uneven teeth blocked his path.

"You make a fine dinner, birdie," he said and swung his parang menacingly.

Penguinmon snorted. "I think not, buster!" The Rookie Digimon leaped to avoid the man when the man slashed the weapon towards him, and nipped the man on the shoulder with his beak. Penguinmon did not even care that the man was injured by his sharp beak which dug through the man's clothe and skin; he swung away without a care and slapped the man on the butt, causing him to jump in surprise before landing facedown. "Hmph! Dinner my butt!" Penguinmon then trotted away to look for Manny, who was leading four men towards the nearby river when he last saw his partner.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon's fireball caught on one man's firewood, instantly igniting it with fire. The man yelped in surprise and let it go, and Agumon wondered what he should do next. He stared at the man, and brandished his foreboding claws and displayed his sharp rows of fangs. The man turned blue in fear and ran off for his own dear life, and Agumon shook his head as his eyes fell on JD, who was snarling as he kicked away one man, who was sent flying towards another man who so happened to be standing at the same path. The Rookie dino sighed in admiration; his partner was certainly awesome, in his opinion. Then he saw a shadow loomed over him and quickly turned around – a dark man was about to slice him into half with his formidable parang. Acting out of surprise Agumon blasted a fireball towards the man, and it caught the man's shirt and instantly ignited the shirt to flames. The man shrieked and rolled over the ground, desperately wanting to put off the flames.

"Retrieve Bark!!!" Labramon's howl disoriented two men who were charging towards her. Beside her, Floramon made a spin and sprayed three men with her Rain of Pollens technique, causing an unstoppable sneezing fit to ensue. Above them, Patamon sailed the air with a gleeful laugh and delivered a Boom Bubble which hit one man's face. Labramon saw two men incoming behind the unassuming Patamon and was about to warn him before someone grabbed her from the back.

"I'll kill you, filthy mutt of the witches!" her captor snarled. Labramon wiggled to break free, but when it failed she had no choice but to bit her captor's hand, digging her teeth as deep as she could until the man was forced to let go – she was practically dangling down the man's arm as he jumped and shrieked in pain. Floramon pulled her off the man's hand before spraying the man with her allergy-inducing pollens.

"That was too close," Labramon sighed. "Thank you, Floramon."

"Always happy to help!" Floramon said, before she saw Patamon being slammed onto the ground. A row of laughter followed, and they saw a man wielding a sturdy wooden club stepped forward. Another man followed his lead, all raising their wooden clubs to attack Patamon, Floramon and Labramon, who began to feel intimidated by the bigger men.

"Cheap shot," Patamon said angrily, and with a flash he digivolved into Centarumon, with Floramon and Labramon on his horseback. He pointed his cannon towards the men, who cowered at the sight of the impressive half-man half-horse. "This thing's loaded!" Centarumon said. "And I'm going to let you have it!"

The two men screamed and ran off as far as their legs could take them. Centarumon, Floramon and Labramon laughed at the men's reaction.

In the meantime, Adam found himself cornered at three sides by three men, all wielding keris. "Oh dear…there are three of you and one of me," he said sarcastically. "What's a boy to do?" he asked with a despairing tone. The men, upon hearing his defeated statement, charged towards him simultaneously. Adam shook his head and teleported away, causing the three men colliding into each other. He reappeared not to far from them, and laughed upon seeing the men's astounded faces. "Okay, let's see….you, you, and you," he said, teleporting each of his attackers away and raised his arm towards a moderate-sized branch. With a smirk, he flicked his hand, and the three men reappeared on the branch. The branch, obviously not too sturdy to support the weight of three men, began to crack. The men shrieked fearfully, and the branch snapped, causing the men to plummet towards the ground, landing in a pile.

"Nice one, Adam," JD called out as he avoided a man with keris who attempted to slash him. Then he delivered a solid punch on the man's nose, and heard a faint crack. "Broken nose? Hmm…it's been a while since I last broken once," JD said uncaringly as the man howled in pain, blood pouring out of his injured nose. "Now get the hell out of my sight!" he said, warily placing his hand on his chest. 'No pain on the heart, after a fight. Looks like whatever Tuah's done last night, it's working.' That invigorated JD's spirit for a while and he attacked another pursuer by punching him on the gut – his stature and strength definitely gave him an edge in physical fighting, especially when he was one of three tallest people around there (the other two being Jackie and Rosemon).

Three men attempted to attack Gayathri, but the girl easily avoided them with her super speed. "Hmm…not quick enough," she said whilst zipping past them, avoiding one man's strike with a lance. "Oopsie, you missed me again," she said while avoiding another of her pursuer's strike. "Heh, heh…annoyed yet?"

"Stand still!" the men bellowed.

"Oh, okay," Gayathri said and ceased running. She thumped her foot lightly on the ground below. "If you say so, I won't budge from this very spot." Seeing her standing still, the three men charged towards her, but then Gayathri let out her supersonic scream, blasting three of them into a wild shrub. Four men were thrown into the same shrub, and Gayathri knew exactly who had caused it; Liu Ying had been fighting those four men not too far from her earlier. It appeared that Liu Ying had opted the easy way and used her telekinetic power to send them flying. Her eyes caught Liu Ying's, and the willowy girl gave her a smile which pretty much told Gayathri that she had got things covered. "Now, where's my boyfriend?" she wondered.

Meanwhile, near the river, the four men who had been pursuing Manny were astounded when thick mists formed around them out of the blue. It was strange, considering that the day was bright and sunny, but around them the temperature seemed to have drop several degrees. Their skin felt damp instantly, and their shirts slowly became drenched. The mists seemed to be very concentrated, and the only thing the men could hear was the sound of the water running. The quietness of their surrounding began to lull them into a false security, which was what one particular DigiWira was hoping for.

"Wave bye-bye!" The men looked around for the voice, but had no chance to do so when they were blasted by a stream of high-pressurized water. They lost their footings and crumpled onto the ground as the mists lifted, and the one they were pursuing was revealed to be standing atop a flat rock. Soaked from head to toe, the men could no longer fight effectively, especially when their weapons had already been thrown off their hands when the powerful water blast hit them.

Manny grinned. "Sorry about that," he said, sounding the least bit sorry as the three men vanished in swirls of white orbs of light. Knowing that Adam had caused that, he wondered what was going on and returned to the place where the others were at. He soon got his answer; Adam was teleporting back all the local men and the ones who had been recalled were now being bound by Rosemon's vines. Those who attempted to resist all stopped when Tuah, Jebat or JD punched them on the faces.

"That's the last of them, I think," Adam said as three men – the one who had ran off from Centarumon – reappeared before him. Seeing them, Centarumon caught them with his arms and brought them to Rosemon, and the flower woman bound them to the other fallen men. "Whew. What a day."

"I don't see Lucemon, or Baron Lucifer, or whoever he is, anywhere," Teja said, scrutinizing the faces of all fifty Malaccan men.

"He's out there, somewhere," Liu Ying said.

"So…what do you suppose we do now?" Jebat asked.

As if on cue, an explosion was heard outside the forests lining the mountain's base. The impact of the explosion caused the ground to shook and a familiar howl was heard before another explosion ensued.

"It's Z'dGarurumon!" Adam gasped. "What do we do now?"

"You and the others stay here," JD said. "We'll take care of that overgrown robotic mutt! Obviously he didn't get the hint yesterday."

Digital Access Digivolution! HAAA!!

The five Malaccan teens and the princess gasped in awe as JD and Manny merged with their respective Digimon partners, disappeared in pillars of radiant red flames and soothing blue waves of water, before Satriamon and Samudramon emerged, towering over them. Rosemon and D'Arcmon took flight, and Samudramon propelled himself with a pillar of water and manipulated it to bring him out of the mountain's jungle, while Satriamon shifted into his magma form and soared towards the air. The four Digimon blasted off, leaving the local teens unblinking and the other DigiWira disgruntled and worried.

xxx

xxx

"Oh, goody," Z'dGarurumon snarled as Satriamon, Samudramon, Rosemon and D'Arcmon arrived back at the previous night's battlefield, where broken stones scattered haphazardly all around them. He saw them getting ready to fight, and inwardly he mocked them for even thinking that they could beat him. He had thought that Rosemon and D'Arcmon being the largest threat he would have to face; how pleasantly surprised he was when Lucemon told him that Rosemon only possessed a power of an Ultimate Digimon, while D'Arcmon was only a Champion. He had absolutely nothing to be worried about. "Just the pests I was looking for to eradicate, once and for all."

"I'm gonna make you eat your words," Satriamon retorted, and powered up his supercharged Dragonforce Striker. "Dragonforce Striker, Powered Up Mode!"

"Double-Edged Thunderblades, Powered Up Mode!" Samudramon followed with his lightning-based technique, and observed as his electric-blue dragon of thunder sailed side by side with Satriamon's fiery dragon. The two dragons roared thunderously and slammed upon Z'dGarurumon. An explosion ensued and smokes erupted. "Did we get him?" he said.

"Let's not wait idly to find out." Rosemon spun around as pink aura radiated around her. Her Tifaret jewel glimmered and an energy rose bloomed before her. "Forbidden Temptation!" The rose exploded into waves of fuchsia with rose petals, slamming towards the thick smokes, further adding to the smokes.

D'Arcmon crossed her twin swords, and they shone with golden energy. She uncrossed the swords and a golden scythe-shaped energy resulted. "Battement d'Amor!" The golden scythe slammed upon the smoke-filled Z'dGarurumon, but she gasped when a soft mocking laugh was heard. A sucking sound was heard, similar to a vacuum-cleaner, before the smokes began to dissipate, as if being pulled into a small narrow space which soon was revealed to be Z'dGarurumon's nostrils. "Our attacks…" D'Arcmon gasped, seeing that Z'dGarurumon was unharmed. "They didn't work?"

"Shit!" Satriamon jumped into the air and summoned his Flaming Torch power, zipping towards Z'dGarurumon.

"A fiery one, aren't you?" Z'dGarurumon chuckled and opened his snout. "Cool down a bit. Blow Back Breath!"

Subzero burst of blue vapor was sprayed out from Z'dGarurumon's snout and they caught on Satriamon's fiery comet-like form. To Satriamon's horror the vapor froze him almost immediately, and he found himself trapped in a massive ice block. Inside, Satriamon tried to break free but his attempt had failed; the ice block which was imprisoning him had kept him from

"And now, to take care of all of you at once," Z'dGarurumon said, eyes locked on his remaining foes. Various weaponry compartments on his metallic body were unveiled, all loaded with missiles of various shapes and sizes. His metallic nostrils let out a shimmering ice blue glow which grew brighter and brighter. "Full Metal Blaze!" Chilling lasers spewed forth from his nostrils and struck upon Samudramon as missiles burst out from their compartments, heading towards Rosemon and D'Arcmon who tried in vain to block them by counterattacking, only for the missiles to overpower their attempts. More missiles came their way and there was nothing else they could do.

xxx

xxx

"Oh no…" Adam whispered in horror as he peeked through the wild shrubs that lined the forests that enveloped the base of Mount Ledang. In his hand was his Juara Digivice, which he held despite knowing that the Digivice and its power had been inhibited. "Josh, Manny…."

"They…they've been beaten!" Liu Ying gasped. She too was holding her dysfunctional Digivice close to her heart.

"What should we do?" Gayathri said frantically, looking at her Digivice with tear-brimmed eyes. "We can't digivolve our partners, we can't Digital Access…" Two drops of tears fell on the Juara Digivice.

Patamon, Labramon and Floramon looked down sorrowfully, not daring to see what Z'dGarurumon was going to do to their fallen friends. Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri stared at the battle scene, really wanting to go and help their friends. Adam realized that he could help them by recalling them back, and was about to do so, when…

"Adam, Liu Ying, Gayathri, your hands!" Tuah said with an amazed-shocked voice.

"Look, they're glowing!" Teja added, pointing frantically at their hands where the Digivices were.

The DigiWira, bewildered, look down and saw their Digivices now pulsing with red and blue aura alternately. The menacing purple symbols shone from the Digivices, but were countered by the red and blue aura which became more intense, as if trying their best to overpower the purple symbols. A faint hissing noise resulted, followed briefly by a foul smell which soon evaporated. Then the Digivices escaped their masters' hands and hovered in midair, the red and blue glows diminished gradually, being replaced by white, yellow and pink radiances.

"Amazing!" Jackie said. "The Ivory Gem's powers from JD's and Manny's Digivices must have lingered in your Digivices all this while, trying to quench whatever enchantment Lucemon has placed in them."

"And looks like they've succeeded," Gayathri said excitedly, wiping her tears quickly as she took her Juara Digivice.

"You know what this means…" Liu Ying said as she retrieved her Juara Digivice.

Adam grabbed his Digivice, determination etched on the boy's face. "Let's go."