Lilithmon smirked, glancing at the moon of the human's world. It was beautiful, and a portion of it was obscured by darkness.

"Savor your current victory, Wira Digital," said Lilithmon silently. "You won't be able to feel happy again when one of you is gone. All thanks to me."

Lilithmon snapped her fingers and a dark blue portal materialized before her. Having learned the Gateway technique alongside the Shield of Waja, she was now able to move between the human world and the Digital World without having to rely on any Digiport. The Gateway technique was somewhat instable and would usually require a very strong power to level control over it so that it would not cause anyone entering the portal to be led to undesired places. Lucemon had learned it effortlessly while they were Ultimates, and now, she could do so too, despite having to be in Mega form to execute it.

Before she could enter the portal though, another portal opened and Lucemon stepped out from it. "Fancy seeing you here," said Lucemon, not the least bit surprised.

"I could say the same thing about you. What brings you here?"

"The Master instructs me to keep close tab on Adam's powers," said Lucemon.

Lilithmon frowned. "Why? All he has is teleportation and feeling other people's emotions. You mentioned his psychic power not being a threat."

"They have grown quite recently. You see, the Master and I have been training the boy to utilize his powers better."

This news surprised her. "For what purpose?" she asked suspiciously.

"The Master believes that if trained, Aldiyamon will regain the power he has exhibited before: the power of combustion, down to the molecular level."

"Really?"

"The boy has displayed several arrays of power evolutions, both empathy and teleportation, just after three days of trainings," said Lucemon, his tone contained a hint of worry. "Earlier this day I have discovered that there's more to his powers than he'd ever known. By tapping his mind I have encountered an empathic window, and with it I am able to determine his current state of power."

"And?" She had never heard of an empathic window, but didn't bother asking.

"Clearly you don't understand," said Lucemon, obviously having picked up her thoughts. "Let's simplify the situation by imagining a windstorm taking place, and you are inside a house with one window. The window is a quarter opened. What would you expect to feel from the barely-opened window?"

"Gusts of the winds and a little bit chilly," said Lilithmon, irritated. "Lucemon, you don't have to simplify it to an In-training's level! What do you take me for?"

"For simplicity's sake, for you and me as well; I have no intention of undermining your intellect." Lucemon chuckled. "Alright. What do you expect if this window is fully opened?"

Lilithmon raised an eyebrow but went along. "The windstorm would wreck havoc inside the house, probably tearing the house apart from the inside."

"Precisely. Now, young Adam's current power is like the first situation I have explained. And thus, Aldiyamon's current power, as you have termed, is like the gusts of winds and a little bit chilly…"

She began to see what Lucemon was trying to say. "You mean…"

"Yes. His power is merely at its preliminary level, and with it he has already able to achieve many great feats. Today alone, he has regained the lost combustion power despite lacking control over it. The Master and I are going to train him to fully control this power by the time your Blight of Bastet would take full effect on JD once and for all. The Master wants Adam, as Aldiyamon, to gain enough power to shatter the Shield of Waja surrounding his Horror Hall."

"Why the precise timing?" asked Lilithmon.

Lucemon smiled. "Oh, because we have insinuated to him that with his evolved power he might be able to 'vanquish' your curse off his dear friend."

"And he believes it?" snorted Lilithmon. She relaxed a little; there was no other cure for the Blight of Bastet other than a transfer out of sacrifice.

"Apparently yes. Which brings me here: to further examine this empathic window of his. I want to learn of how to manipulate this window. To make the window's opening bigger or smaller at will. Adam couldn't be in the Digital World all the time without rousing suspicions from his teammates, so I have to take the effort to come here instead."

"The bigger the opening is, the more emotions he would feel, and the stronger his combustion power would become, am I correct?"

"You're certainly no In-training," said Lucemon.

Lilithmon waved the sarcastic reply away. "And you want to be able to manipulate this…window, so that after Adam has somehow discovered your trick, you would be able to lower this window to prevent Adam from channeling his empathic power into his combustion. He won't be a threat to us if you can control that empathic window of his."

"Your intellect is definitely almost the match of my own," said Lucemon, in his way of agreeing to a person without actually saying so. "It might take some work in trying to raise the window myself. We need a situation that puts Adam in a psychological duress that his empathic window would be raised."

"How about our recent guests?" Lilithmon suggested with a sinister grin. "They have been in the catacombs of our pyramid for too long already."

Lucemon considered it, before nodding. "Yes, yes…it's about time the Four Terrors terrorize the human's world, don't you think?"

"Exactly. Their powers are at the level of ours, which will definitely put the Wira Digital and their friends in quite a fix. That'll give the little white kitten all that psychological duress he needs." She grinned. "I even like the sound of that as we speak. Can we do it now?"

"Not yet," said Lucemon. "Adam is already exhausted. Let him have a full night rest, and surprise all of them tomorrow."

xxx

xxx

WIRA DIGITAL

Chapter 70 – Out of Control, Part I

xxx

xxx

Despite feeling a bit weary from the previous day's psychic training, Adam cycled out of the apartment grounds towards the street. He made a right turn and started pedaling the bike faster towards school's direction. He noticed however, that despite it being seven in the morning the main roads seemed somewhat deserted. There were vehicles but they moved along the roads smoothly; usually at this time of the morning it was a rush hour as people drove out of the housing area to go to work at the adjacent Shah Alam or the metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, among other places.

Oh yeah, he thought, cycling past a white van parked by the apartment compound's exit. Kak Lisha mentioned yesterday about some people evacuating Subang Jaya to a safer place after the incident with Leviamon and Beelzemon last Friday. It was in the news… He cast a look towards the road again. I just didn't realize that it had affected the other people this seriously.

Adam nevertheless knew just how much damage the two Demon Lords had caused to his hometown. The municipal council building which where the town officials work, as well as the nearby, usually-bustling business center of Taipan, as well as the houses around the area, had all been at the receiving ends of the brutal onslaughts of the villains. He suspected that there were deaths too, but how many he didn't know for sure. With JD's life hanging on the line and his own training to stop it from happening, Adam hadn't thought of asking. He also thought that it might be better if he didn't know about it. Both his sister and Abu had refrained from telling him about it, and Adam wasn't keen on reading newspapers.

He sighed as the destroyed business center and municipal council came into view. The damage was too great and despite the reparation work had commenced Adam knew that it would be a while before the town would be returned to its former glory. The same applied to the KLCC Park and the buildings surrounding it. No doubt millions of Malaysian Ringgit would need to be invested for this matter.

The others have beaten the Shaman General yesterday, thought Adam. At least it didn't happen here. He halted, eyeing the damaged main road that led to an even heavily-damaged T-junction. No doubt the others will be waiting to interrogate me at school today. I wanted to tell them, but they'll only stop me. Especially Josh…he won't like it one bit. I hope they'll buy the explanation I've thought about last night.

Adam heard a soft screeching sound of a halting vehicle behind him, and turned around. It was a white van. Wait. Isn't this the van that I cycled past, back at the apartment compound's exit? The passenger door slid open and a very familiar woman in crisp red business suit hopped out. A shining handbag was clasped in between her right arm and body. Adam groaned. Oh no. Not her again.

"Good morning, Adam," greeted Rita Kaur cordially, a wide smile plastered on her face as she ran a hand to smoothen her hair. From the looks of her, Adam thought she must have spent the night inside the van. "I'm glad that we've managed to catch up with you. If it weren't for Chia sleeping, we would have offered to take you to school today…in an exchange of an interview, of course."

Chia, whom Adam recognized being Rita's cameraman, came out from the driver seat with a videocamera hoisted on his left shoulder. He cast a wary look around, which made Adam want to snicker. No doubt the wiry-haired man was afraid of JD, for JD had damaged his videocamera twice. Once, when they were harassing Liu Ying and the other time when they were harassing him.

"Me?" asked Adam with a skeptical tone. "What do you possibly want to know from me?"

"I've noticed things," said Rita, her sugary tone never faltered. "You seemed to be there in every place which had experienced Digimon attack. Somehow you were there by the mosque where that feline monster attacked…"

"I was there for Friday prayers," said Adam calmly.

"Of course," said Rita. "But why, instead of seeking cover inside the mosque where it was safer, you'd be at the park where the battle between the two Digimon took place?"

Adam frowned. "I was running late. And the park was a shortcut to get to the mosque faster."

"And you were just curious of what was going on?" asked Rita.

"Perhaps," said Adam carefully.

"And somehow that cat lady spotted you and diverted Satriamon's attack towards you?"

"I think that was what happened."

"It must be quite a horrible experience for you. I would've said that back at the hospital, before your cousin and the doctor ordered us to go away," said Rita in a tone that Adam thought sounded curiously like false sympathy. If Rita thought that she could fool Adam, she was mistaken. He could easily read Rita's emotions now, and what he had found was somewhat troubling. There was...hunger? Determination? His imagination had provided him with an image of a vulture, circling its dying prey, waiting for it to die before devouring it.

"I thank you for your concern," said Adam, returning Rita's false sympathy with well-acted politeness. He swung his arm lightly. "But as you can see it's healed now. So…it's cool."

"That's pretty fast healing for a fracture," pointed out Rita. "Usually it would take about four to six weeks for bones to mend. In your case…it seemed that it had healed overnight. And the strangest thing was, when we checked back with the hospital…they said that you were there because of a mild…dislocation." Her eyebrow arched up. "Dislocation doesn't need those thick casts you were in that day."

Adam tried hiding his worry. Salamon and Gatomon had healed his arm too perfectly that night. It had stumped the medical personnel, until Jackie had intervened and modified the memories of those who were involved with his case, with the exception of Dr. Abu who had to provide an alternate diagnosis from him. It was better if he acted that he didn't know anything about this, and alert Jackie to the fact that there were still people remembering the details about his accident.

"The people we interviewed, Miss Kaur," said Chia breathlessly, "they said that there was quite an amount of blood at the park, where he was attacked that day."

"Yes," said Rita. "Curious, isn't it, how a mild dislocation can produce that much blood?"

The two reporters were giving him the creeps now. They were like vultures now ready to strike their dying preys. They are on to something, Adam decided.

He however shrugged. "Maybe it's one of their bloods. It was a fierce battle, I think."

"Of course it was," nodded Rita, her very red painted lips still smiling, "so fierce that Satriamon actually had help that day. Aldiyamon was around as well. Details were hazy here, but somehow Aldiyamon was not around when the battle was over. The other Wira Digital arrived, but I think with Aldiyamon's teleportation power they could have taken you towards the hospital faster."

"I don't blame him," said Adam, feeling odd for defending himself for not doing something for himself. "Maybe there was trouble someplace else and he…teleported there."

"Do you really think so?" asked Rita, pursing her lips slightly as she arched an eyebrow.

"That's my assumption anyway," said Adam. "I was unconscious at the time. I wouldn't know for sure."

"I think we both know that that so-called assumption of yours is false, Adam," said Rita sweetly.

Adam narrowed his eyes. It was better for him to stop talking with them now than risk Rita digging in for confirmation of her theories. She sounded so confident in rebuffing his theory, Adam knew he must not respond in a way that she would expect.

"Yeah, it could be wrong," he said with a light tone. "I still don't see the point of interviewing me about this. Shouldn't you be interviewing the Wira Digital instead?"

"Oh I don't know," said Rita. "It seems to me that the Wira Digital are somewhat involved with you and your friends. Take that Chang Liu Ying girl for example. She got kidnapped and instantly the Wira Digital involved themselves in the matter."

"I thought there was Digimon involved? Something…fox-like, if I'm not mistaken?" asked Adam, feigning ignorance.

"Precisely," said Rita, her smile turned to a grin. "Why must the Digimon involved themselves with human crimes?"

Adam knew then that he was trapped. He didn't like Rita's expression, or the triumphant feeling he had picked with his empathic radar.

"And it was pretty strange too," continued Rita, "When evil Digimon targeted Gayathri Nadarajah's house and killed one of her friends who happened to be there with her. It seemed so much like coordinated attacks, all of these."

Rita's inquiry was getting dangerously more and more specific. By saying Gayathri's name, she had singled her out as the Digimon's main target. It was Bel who was murdered by Astamon; to most people they would have thought that either Bel was caught in the midst of the battle or to the more suspicious ones, Bel would appear as the generals' target.

"And, let's see," said Rita, pretending to rub her sharp chin. "Ah, yes. The battle at KLCC Park. Did you know that I happened to come across your sister and her boyfriend that night, outside the park?" She nodded towards Chia, who briskly switched on the videocamera and pointed it towards Adam, much to Adam's annoyance. "There was an explosion of light. A white bird…a phoenix, to be precise, emerged alongside a scream of a boy…and I heard your sister said as she stared at the phoenix, and I quote: Adam, everyone, please be alright."

Stunned, Adam couldn't even speak, as Rita turned towards the videocamera. "Are you getting this Chia?"

"Recording," said Chia, flashing a thumb-up.

"So you are Aldiyamon, obviously," said Rita. "When the puzzle pieces are put together, it makes sense. Aldiyamon and Satriamon fought the cat creature, and that cat had caused Satriamon to injure Aldiyamon. That's why Aldiyamon was nowhere around the area, and poor boy Adam was left injured, arm mangled. Yes…And you're healed so quickly probably because of your Digimon friends' interventions. I don't doubt that some of them have healing powers."

Adam tried to appear unbothered. As long as the reporters had no proof…

"And when Chang Liu Ying is kidnapped, only four Wira Digital appeared around the Batu Caves temple: Aldiyamon, Puspamon, Satriamon and Samudramon. Chang Liu Ying is definitely Xianamon. That's why Digimon were involved in her kidnapping, and why the Wira Digital interfered when the police could have handled the case, if it was a normal, boring kidnapping."

"When the Digimon killed Belinda Foo, Puspamon was the one who fought back. Belinda's best friends were Gayathri Nadarajah and Wardina Fadlullah. And to my knowledge of Tamil language, the word Pushpa means flower, and it seems more fitting if Gayathri is Puspamon instead of Wardina."

Nevertheless, the reporters could pursue them forever if Rita disclosed her theories to public. Their identities were in danger.

Rita's eyes gleamed with excitement. "And several pupils from your school mentioned that you are always in a group of five. You, Liu Ying and Gayathri, and the other two being Emmanuel Abah and Joshua Daniel Kamaruzaman bin Johan Awaludin, more known as Manny and JD. Manny seems quiet, calm as the water…he's definitely Samudramon. While that raging bull cousin of yours has a temper like fire, which means that he is Satriamon." She stopped talking and gazed towards Adam. "Have I been wrong so far?"

Adam controlled his feelings so that they would not show on his face. "Me? Wira Digital?" he asked, and let out a chuckle. "Who would have thought?"

"Say it to the camera, Adam, and we will leave you. We reporters just want a huge story," said Rita, beckoning towards the videocamera.

"Say what?"

"That you're Aldiyamon."

"You want me to lie so that you get your huge story?" Adam thought it was ironic, since he was lying. Half-lying, he thought, because he alone did not form Aldiyamon.

"Now, now, Adam, we all know that that's not a lie. Or do I have to show you that I have more proof?"

"What proof?"

"Let's just say," Rita said coyly, "that when you and your cousin made that ridiculous sworn brother oath, you weren't alone, and you were…filmed."

"What?" Adam frowned as anger began to rise from within. "You have no right to do that!"

"So JD only has one more week to live," said Rita, ignoring Adam's anger. "My deepest condolence, whatever the reason is. But you see, ever since that day when your sister let slip of the fact that night that you're somehow related to the event that was going on at the KLCC park that night, the two of us have done some researches about you. And we've found lots of interesting facts. It's amazing that once we know who and what to look for, it becomes so easy for us to trace the Wira Digital's identities to you five."

Adam calmed his emotion to allow himself to think rationally. "So you've seen us," he said, waving away what Rita had just said to him. "What we talked about that night had nothing to do with Digimon."

"True," said Rita. "That's just me trying to provoke you. If you're like that big brother of yours, you'd have let it slip already. Very good. But perhaps something you did after poor Belinda Foo's burial is proof enough that you, at least, is indeed Aldiyamon?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Rita smiled. "Didn't you teleport the flowers from Gayathri and Wardina's hands towards Belinda's grave?"

Adam was shocked. He had thought that the grave was deserted, save for the ones who knew about them.

"You messed up," said Rita triumphantly. "And we caught it on tape! And as far as I recall, teleportation in shower of white light sparkles is Aldiyamon's trademark?"

"Oh, we got him now, Miss Kaur," said Chia gleefully.

Adam shot a look at him, and narrowed his eyes. If he could just summon the videocamera away...

And to his shock, swirls of light orbs coated the videocamera despite him not actually summoning it. Rita and Chia both exclaimed in surprise, before the videocamera exploded before Chia's face. It was lucky that the cameraman was fast enough to pull his face away from the videocamera before it exploded, or else he would have been injured. The explosion also wasn't total, but was enough to wreck the equipment beyond repair. The horrified cameraman dropped the damaged videocamera and backed away, his face paled.

"Calm down, Chia. Just get the spare videocamera," said Rita, unfazed by the mild explosion, her dark eyes still on Adam. "You messed up, Adam," she said smoothly, and opened her handbag, taking out a small videocassette recorder. "And I got it on camera."

Adam however wasn't listening anymore. He caught glimpses of emotions, but couldn't point out exactly whose. They were even more well-defined than before; he could hear the sound of babies crying, mothers scolding their children, people arguing at the top of their lungs, fear from the cameraman whose videocamera Adam had just wrecked and a sense of victory from Rita. The emotions were too strong; Adam would need to channel them out soon before they overwhelm him.

"Get away from here now!" snapped Adam, glaring at Rita's videocamera.

Rita however was adamant. "Not until you tell us what you really are. Are you really a boy, or a Digimon?"

Adam pressed his throbbing forehead. "Fine," he said quickly. He would have to make them go away as soon as possible to avoid harming them. "I'm a DigiWira, a DigiDestined partnered with a Digimon. Together we form Aldiyamon."

"So you really are Aldiyamon!" said Rita gleefully. "How do you feel about the lives you have failed to safe? The death counts during the KLCC Park event and the one here are rather high…"

"STOP IT!!"

The mention of the deaths caused the emotions to surge forward, way beyond Adam's control. The van's glass windows shattered first. Then the portable videocamera Rita was holding combusted into broken pieces of metal and electronics. The front side of the van too suffered the onslaught of his explosive power. The shockwave from the explosion sent Chia flying; he crashed down head-first of the hard tarred road and was knocked out cold instantly. Seeing that, Rita screamed and scrambled towards the cameraman, before the middle part of the van exploded and its sliding door went flying towards her. The broad surface slammed her from the sides and she fell, the door burying her.

Adam saw all these with horror. He watched as flames burned the van, smokes rising towards the sky, and the odd sensation of satisfaction as the emotions subsided. He was in control once again, but the damage had been done. His eyes widened, taking in the destruction he had caused, staring at the reporters' unmoving bodies.

People began to emerge from their houses, gasping upon the sight of the burning van as Adam tried pushing the dismantled door from Rita's unmoving body. Two men appeared by his side and helped him moving it with more ease, while a woman checked on Chia's vital status. Scared, Adam backed away and nearly jumped when someone caught his shoulders.

"Kid, what happened?" It was a man with a dark mustache. Behind him were several others. "We heard explosions."

"Isn't that Rita Kaur, the anchorwoman?" said a woman with long plaited hair. She darted past them, kneeling beside Rita and checked her pulse. She nodded. "She's still alive." She gave Rita a look-over. "She's out cold, that's all. Luckily the broad side of the door knocked her."

"Same here for this guy," said the woman who was checking Chia's condition earlier. "Somebody call an ambulance and the police!"

"Kid?" The mustached man asked again. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know…" stuttered Adam, his breathing ragged. "The van…I was just…"

"Relax." The man pressed his shoulder. "Take a deep breath."

"The kid's badly shaken," said a woman from behind him; Adam didn't bother to turn back. "Why don't you take him back to our house and give him something to drink?"

"No, that's ok…" He looked around for his bike, spotting it left lying on the road. "I have to go to school."

"Are you sure?" asked the mustached man. "You're not injured?"

Adam shook his head. "I was just about to turn towards the main road when it happened," he lied quickly, "I heard it stopping, then the explosions…" He bit his lip, taking in a deep breath to stop panicking. For all he knew, panicking might trigger the explosions again. "I'm fine. I hope they're going to be fine too."

He quickly took his bike and cycled towards school, eyes moistened upon thinking of how close he had come to killing the two reporters with his uncontrollable powers.

xxx

xxx

Lucemon recalled his psychic web as he opened his eyes. He had been in tune with Adam's mind ever since the boy had woken up that day, but was careful to be absolutely discreet. Adam could easily detect his presence if he directed even a single thought towards him. Yet even without that, he had sensed Adam's mind waves becoming somewhat erratic. He recognized the pattern; he had sensed it every time he had managed to irk the boy back during their training at the Shadow Realm.

Something must have bothered him greatly. And he hadn't even called in the Four Terrors yet.

Steadying himself in his floating-meditating posture amidst the clouds, Lucemon visited the astral plane where the empathic window stood.

The window had been raised again. It was now half opened.

Extending his astral self's hand forward, Lucemon walked up the pedestal and attempted to push the window down. He wasn't surprised to find that it wouldn't budge; it wasn't the first time he had done so. He was however worried; he was supposed to find a way to manipulate the window, so that it could be opened and closed at his will.

Suddenly the window slid down at its own accord. Lucemon stared with surprise as it slid slowly, before stopping at its former place.

The opening was now a quarter to the whole window again.

xxx

xxx

The bell rang. The main gate began to close, admitting the lasts of the school pupils, as five particular people watched from the school's artificial fountain.

"I can't believe Adam is missing school today," grumbled JD. "It's not like him to miss school on purpose."

"Lots of people aren't going to be around today," said Manny. "Nearly fifteen people from our class alone won't be coming for the time being."

"Ten from my class," said Gayathri. "I didn't expect Adam to not come as well."

"People are evacuating the town after Friday's attack," murmured Dina. "My family's been thinking of going to my uncle's at Putrajaya…but there's no final word about it yet."

"Adam's never mentioned of going anywhere," said JD.

Liu Ying cast a look at the gate; an out of habit after being assigned to detain the tardy people far too many times. She didn't have prefect duty this morning however. "You guys better go line up now. The assembly's going to start and I heard the principal is going to be giving an important announcement." Her eyes narrowed suddenly. She saw Adam approaching and the gate was going to close, which would make Adam the first late person for this day. He seemed distressed. His hair was in disarray and his white shirt seemed a bit gray, as if marred by smoke. It looked like he had run into some trouble on his way to school. He didn't need to be late to school too.

She quietly pointed one hand towards the sliding gate and stopped it from being pushed, allowing Adam to dismount his bike and walk in through the remaining space. The guard who was closing the gate seemed somewhat bewildered, prompting Liu Ying to quickly stop applying her power on the gate.This will be the first and last time I use my power like this, she thought grimly, ready to approach Adam. He does look like he needed that intervention though…

Suddenly, she saw Adam swaying. His grasp on his bike slipped, and the bike fell onto the road. And without warning, he too collapsed.

"Adam!!" Liu Ying quickly sprinted towards the fallen boy, and her scream had attracted the other DigiWira who were going to join the assembly. Instantly they turned around, saw what had happened and ran towards her. "He came in just before the gate closes," she quickly said, "but suddenly he just…collapsed."

"Damn it, MOVE!!" yelled JD towards several prefects who were surrounding Adam. All except Liu Ying complied, allowing JD to kneel beside Adam. He checked for Adam's carotid pulse by the neck, looking a bit relieved when he seemed to have found it. Then he cradled the boy and stood up. "What happened to you?" he murmured. Adam was unresponsive.

"JD. Infirmary, now," said Liu Ying firmly, tugging at his sleeve.

"It's like deja-vu all over again," muttered Gayathri as she took Adam's schoolbag, while Manny took his bike towards the bike shed. Liu Ying looked at her questioningly as they followed JD towards the infirmary. "Remember? We…well, as Puspamon and Samudramon, came to school half-conscious and injured after our first battle with Astamon."

Liu Ying nodded and glanced towards Dina, who looked pale. "Dina, go get Jackie," she instructed, to distract the other girl from being too worried. "Whatever happened, we can be sure that it is Digimon related." Dina gave a meek nod and parted ways with them.

The assembly had stopped and everyone stared as them as they went towards the infirmary, which was inconveniently located right at the ground floor, opposite the assembly ground. JD turned away from them, grunting slightly as he shifted Adam's weight on his arms while Liu Ying avoided the questioning looks from the others. It seemed that the principal had been responsible to call for the halt; she was now stepping down from the podium and walked towards them.

Aside from Jackie, the principle Khadijah Basri was the only other school staff who knew about them being DigiWira.

"What's happened to Adam?" the middle-aged woman asked quietly.

"We don't know yet," JD merely grunted.

"Can you excuse us from the assembly?" Liu Ying requested, as Jackie and Dina walked past the whispering students.

"There won't be an assembly," said Principle Khadijah grimly. "I was going to announce that the school is permitted to have a one week holiday effective today. The town is deemed as a major target for Digimon attacks as of late, with Friday's attack being the last straw. The town council has announced yesterday that it would be best if the residents evacuate the town temporarily, until the Wira Digital can give an assurance that there won't be any attack to the town again."

"We don't know about that yet," said Liu Ying. "What we do know is that there are at least three more evil Digimon that we have yet to beat. They are the strongest ones yet."

The principle nodded, as a student opened the door to the infirmary. JD stormed past the student, and with a nod from the principle, the other DigiWira and Jackie followed. JD placed Adam on the nearest bed and Jackie knelt by the bedside, placing a hand a couple of inches over Adam's forehead. It was a method the DigiWira had seen Jackie used to alter the memory of other people who had somehow known of their identities as the Wira Digital, or just came close to knowing. As a digital human, Jackie possessed limited psychic powers, which he had used to alter memories.

"His mind is…chaotic," said Jackie after a minute, retracting his hand away as he stood up.

"Chaotic? What the hell does that mean?" demanded JD.

"It means," said Jackie, not bothering to reprimand JD for his choice of words - his cover as a school teacher demanded him to do so, "that his empathic power has gone wayward, beyond his control." He closed his eyes once again and placed a hand on each side of Adam's head. Acknowledging the DigiWira's questioning looks, he explained, "My mind-reading capability is pretty limited, but with close contact I might just be able to know exactly what had happened to him."

"I know of a quicker way." JD lightly patted each of Adam's trousers pocket before taking out Adam's Juara Digivice from the left pocket. "Patamon, Access."

Patamon instantly materialized, and instantly he looked aghast upon the sight of an unconscious Adam. "Oh no…"

"What happened to him, Patamon?" JD made a motion for Patamon to perch on his outstretched hand.

"He was on his way to school before someone stopped him in the middle of a journey," began Patamon, obeying JD's wish. "It was a woman, and she was at least with another person."

"It's not a Digimon?" asked JD.

Patamon shook his head. "No. I would have known if it was. It was human, more than one."

"The woman, do you know who she is?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounded like she is a reporter," said Patamon, frowning. "I didn't catch her name."

"A reporter?" Liu Ying asked. "Could it be…?"

"That nosy Rita Kaur?" JD snorted. "Yeah, I bet it was her. She didn't look too happy when I chased her out of Adam's ward that day."

"She didn't look too happy when you wrecked her cameraman's videocam either," Liu Ying reminded.

"But what would she want with Adam?" Manny asked. "And what could she have done to make Adam end up like this?"

Patamon looked fearful. "She asked Adam a lot of questions, and made it quite clear that she knew Adam has powers and that he is Aldiyamon."

Surprised murmurs dominated the room. "Guys, let him finish," said JD curtly. "Go ahead, Patamon."

"She's been snooping around, and apparently have been following you guys. She was suspicious that Adam got healed so quickly, and finally after Adam dodged all of her questions she finally said that she'd caught Adam using his powers on tape during Bel's burial, and forced Adam to admit that he's Aldiyamon. And…" He became quiet, the fearful look on his face however remained.

"And what?" asked Gayathri.

"Adam lost control," whispered Patamon. "I could feel it. She was pressuring Adam into admitting, and his power has been unstable as of late, since that…that combustion power appeared."

"Combustion power?" The DigiWira all asked at once.

"Since when does Adam have combustion power?" Liu Ying reiterated.

"It's the evolved form of his teleportation power," said Patamon. "He…blows stuffs up when he's stressed or mad, purely by accident. He can't even teleport now without risking exploding stuffs. And today, the reporters were cornering him, making him lose control of that power…"

"Oh no…" Liu Ying whispered. Gayathri and Dina both paled, Manny's eyes widened and JD balled his hand into a fist in frustration.

Patamon sighed and landed beside his partner's unmoving body. "I don't know what had happened, but somehow Adam had accidentally injured the reporters when he lost control of his power."

"Man…" JD was about to continue, but was interrupted when Jackie let out a loud grunt. The digital man was standing up, frowning.

"I couldn't get much, but what I do know now is that Adam had accidentally combusted the videocamera from the cameraman when he tried summoning it. The reporter was indeed Rita Kaur, and she had caught Adam using his power on another secret videocamera hidden inside her handbag. Then she'd made remarks of the deaths of several people due to the battles, and that had overwhelmed Adam so much that it triggered his power….and the van exploded. The cameraman was sent flying due to the shockwave from the explosion, and was knocked out cold. The van's door flew out towards Rita and slammed her onto the ground. She was knocked out as well."

"Hmph. Serve 'em right. Bloody busybodies," growled JD.

"Where are you going, Jackie?" asked Gayathri, when Jackie made his way towards the door.

"The hospital," said Jackie. "I have to go there and erase their memories about this before they wake up."

"Erase their memories?"

They saw Principal Khadijah stood by the door, a shocked expression on her face. She had closed the doors behind her.

"It's for safety measures, principal," said Jackie. "I only have to erase the memories of those deemed unworthy to maintain the DigiWira's secrets. Rest assured, I won't do it on you."

Principal Khadijah took a moment to process it before she nodded, allowing Jackie to pass through the doors. "How is Adam?"

"He's in great strain. It's best if he rest here," said Jackie. "I'll contact his sister while on my way to the hospital." He closed the doors, as the students were now crowding outside the infirmary.

"I've dismissed the students to go back home," said Principal Khadijah. "But it will be a while until the school compound would be empty."

"Principal! Principal!"

Students were knocking the infirmary's door urgently. Principal Khadijah frowned, and opened the door. "What is it?"

"The sky!" said a boy whose height surpassed her by almost a foot. "Look!"

Curious, the other DigiWira sans JD followed the principal and looked up. Swirls of dark blue clouds emerged from out of nowhere, blocking the clear morning sky. Winds began to pick up, and it wasn't just the area over the school that was affected. The entire neighborhood was affected…and the entire town.

"Something evil's coming?" murmured Gayathri, feeling the winds as they blew towards them. Then she looked around, appearing confused. "Who said that?"

"Said what?" Manny asked.

Gayathri frowned. "Didn't you hear it? I hear some…girl, I think, saying that something bad is coming. Monsters. Dark creatures…."

Manny and Liu Ying frowned. "I don't hear anything other than the winds," said Manny.

Gayathri frowned too. She could have sworn that she had heard someone whispering to her ears a message. It was a breezy voice, female, light as the wind. She could feel the winds blowing against her face, but at the same time she could also hear voices whispering in her ears. Now she could hear not only the breezy female voice as the winds swirled lightly around her, but also a strong masculine voice as the winds picked up. The male was now talking to her, and Gayathri found his voice to be much clearer than the female's. "Be warned…fair maiden of…the winds?" She repeated the male's voice, making her confused more than ever. "You…and…." She tried following him, but the clouds thundered loudly that his voice was drowned by it.

"In danger," she finished, having caught that last word from him before the voices were gone, just as the winds dissipated.

"Who were you talking to?" asked Liu Ying, her expression odd.

"You didn't hear the voices?" whispered Gayathri urgently. "There was a guy and a girl. They were talking to me."

"The only thing I heard was the winds," Liu Ying whispered back.

"Could it be," Manny said slowly, "that you can understand winds now, Gayathri? After all one of your elements is wind."

"You mean, like a new power?" asked Gayathri. "What kind of power is that?"

"Assuming that it's true," said Manny, "were you repeating what the…uh…winds…were telling you?"

"I suppose."

"Then it's fair to assume that the winds had given you a message," said Manny.

Gayathri thought about it and recalled the time when Puspamon was flying towards her hometown, having heard of Leviamon and Beelzemon attacking. She had heard Samudramon calling for her, despite still being miles away from the victimized town. When she was closer, she had heard her friends too. Every time she'd heard them, it was when a gust of wind blew upon her.

Gayathri realized that Manny was probably right. It was certainly a strange power, to be able to understand winds. But if it was so, then the winds had warned her of an impending danger.

"If that's so, then the winds had just told me to be prepared for danger," said Gayathri.

"This isn't good," said Liu Ying. "There are still too many students in the school."

"The three of us should Juara Access now before anybody attacks," suggested Manny. "JD can stay with Adam."

"I'm going with you," said Dina, who had just exited the infirmary. "Rosemon can help."

Liu Ying simply nodded. The DigiWira quickly searched for a secluded spot, but with students running around in panic it was somewhat difficult to find one without risking being exposed by the other students. Finally they took the stairs, went to the topmost level of the school building, and were relieved to find it deserted. From there, to avoid crashing down the top floor due to their sizes as Megas, Liu Ying levitated Gayathri and Dina towards the roof, followed by Manny, before she herself went up there.

"That's a really nifty trick," said Gayathri.

"Yeah, I saw her and JD practically flying up from a practically bottomless abyss yesterday," said Manny.

Liu Ying shot Manny a look, before they released their Digimon partners from their Digivices.

Juara Access Digivolution, HAAAA!!

Lalamon warp-digivolve to…Rosemon!!

The three Juara Modes and Rosemon (Burst Mode) headed back towards the assembly ground, but before the students could marvel at their appearances, the sky boomed once again. This time around, four streaks of dark blue energy streaked from the sky, landing in four different places around the school. Apparitions of beings that stood taller than the school buildings began to appear from the blue aura, followed by wisps of dark aura radiating about them, and sinister chuckling which seemed to come from the largest apparition.

They felt a sweeping force that pushed them back, at the same time dismantling some of the roofs as the dark aura left the four beings, now made apparent in all their ghastly glory.

The smallest one, if it could be considered small considering that it alone towered the four-storey school buildings, was an egg-shaped cyclopean creature. Its yellow eye blinked upon taking in their sight. Its 'head' was armored in black, with three spikes directed backwards. Under the head armor was a metallic body, with a pair of pallid arms jutting out from the sides and a thick pair of legs at the bottom of its egg-like body. The arms ended with three black claws with yellow eye at the center of its 'hand'. Similarly, the legs too ended with three black claws. To complete the bizarreness of its appearance was a thick pointed tail and a pair of leathery, tattered red wings that seemed too small to support its body.

"Deathmon, Mega level, Virus type," muttered Samudramon, summoning the data from the Digimon Analyzer.

Contrasting Deathmon's appearance was a thin demon in colorful avian-themed armor and a great pair of scarlet wings that were big enough for its body. Its face was masked with a copper manteau, yet giving view of its dark eyes. The manteau had several perforations that connected to the earth green turban that it wore, the turban's shade mirrored by the shawl it had draped around its neck. Copper armors bearing the shapes of bird heads were worn over its torso and shoulders. Around its waist was something that looked like bones, but if it were then this demon had used it as a belt to hold drapes of green clothes, clasped further by copper plates from the outer sides of its thighs. Sickly blue legs emerged under the drapes, ending with metallic boots that were topped by copper kneecaps. A reptilian tail swished back and forth behind it as it stared coldly towards the three Wira Digital.

"Murmuxmon, Mega level, Virus type," whispered Puspamon.

If the two creatures looked deadly enough, nothing could compare them to the other two that surpassed Deathmon and Murmuxmon in terms of height and size. One was humanoid, with thick ivory and purple armors that did nothing to provide it an image of pureness. The face seemed cyanotic, with crimson bat-shaped facemask obscuring the upper half of the face. Scraggly blond hair jutted backwards, hidden by the large purple wings that were erect. The inner sides of the wings were deep red, and seemed to somewhat melting with what looked like blood dripping down from the wings. The shoulder armors were pod-shaped; with red fangs lining the white upper half and purple lower half sides. The chest armor was thick, with a scarlet bat insignia that was almost akin to the insignia SkullSatamon had once bestowed upon Satriamon and Samudramon. The chest gave way to a very thin waist, before triangular-shaped armor was inserted over this demon's pelvic region; the tip pointed forward. The slanted black eyes with yellow beady pupils and the lines of teeth that decorated the sides of the plate armor seemed to suggest that it was actually a head, with the mouth ready to open at any moment notice. The arms and legs were both formidably thick; it could easily brought the entire school to dust with one mere sweep of the arm or a kick of its leg.

The last of the quartet was a dark centaur that seemed to radiate an aura of regality despite its demonic appearance. Compared to its brethren, it was the least armored, but its disposition seemed to suggest that it was the leader of the team of four, thus the strongest of the four. Long sleek burnish hair rippled down its back. Cerulean mask with three points jutting upwards covered its eyes, the mask's shade bluer than its complexion. Its thin body and arms were draped with mahogany brown leather, and the monster was casually crossing its arms over its chest. The furry lower bestial body however looked extremely horrifying; metallic shark-like mouths jutted out from each side of its waist, both wide-opened, showing rows of sharp teeth and curled tongues that ready to snap out. All of its four legs ended with gleaming claws, and curls of blond hair formed its tail. This demonic centaur was smiling; its leathery black wings were in a mid-flapping position that suggested that it was the one who had pushed them away previously.

"Belialvamdemon and GranDracmon," said Xianamon in barely contained fear, "Viral Megas."

"And we're the Four Terrors," GranDracmon added in a pleasant, gentlemanly voice. "Thank you for the introductions, my dear. Now we're not strangers, for we have heard of your exploits."

"The Four Terrors? It can't be!" Rosemon gasped. "Lady Ophanimon had beaten you, all those centuries ago! How can you still be alive?!"

"Beaten us?" Belialvamdemon rasped. "Despite the power bestowed upon her by the Lost Mountain's former guardian, she could not take on the four of us altogether! She merely had created an abyss and imprisoned us there, bounded by her holy powers to prevent our escape."

"Luck has it that she had gotten herself destroyed," said Murmuxmon darkly. "Her deletion paved way for our escape as the enchantment she had placed on us weakened."

"Enough with the small talks," said Deathmon, eyeing the panicked school pupils. His golden eye glinted evilly. "Explosion Eye!"

Author's Notes:

The Four Terrors are all Demon Lords Digimon as well, save for GranDracmon who is a Demon Beast. Their affiliation to the demon lords is the reason why I chose them to be the Four Terrors. Murmuxmon, Deathmon and Belialvamdemon are a given, and for the fourth member I've decided to include GranDracmon. And the reason why I chose the name Belialvamdemon instead of MaloMyotismon is…well…Belialvamdemon sounds much more evil. As for Deathmon instead of Ghoulmon…come on, you know the reason right? It's like choosing Demon/Daemon over Creepymon.