I do not own Digimon or Sailor Moon. They belong to their respective creators and not me. Anyone who believes otherwise needs to get their facts straight or else there are going to be legal problems. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the fic.
Legendary Celestial Warriors
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 7: Grumblemon Shakes Things Up
Rini was currently walking to school, hoping to get their before the first bell rang. The morning had been its usual war between herself and Serena over bathroom rights and the food on the breakfast table. Rini still held some slight irritation over how it went. Serena was yelling and screaming the whole time about being late and needing to get through her routine fast. Rini personally figured that if the meatball-head would just wake up earlier instead of hitting the snooze button on her alarm then there wouldn't be this problem which turned the household into a war zone on a regular basis.
Rini kicked a can before she decided that it wasn't worth getting upset over. She let her mind wander from her battle with Serena over to the latest crisis and the apparent allies that were coming in to save them. The Legendary Warriors had hit a count of seven and Rini was personally getting excited about meeting the next ones. She was especially excited about meeting the Warrior of Darkness. Hotaru had described him to be 'so cool' and 'very friendly'. Mina had teased the young Scout about having a crush on the latest warrior. Hotaru had blushed madly at the accusation, which made a number of the older Scouts break out into giggles.
"I wonder if they have warriors-in-training that I can team up with," Rini wondered silently to herself.
That single line of thought made Rini start daydreaming about the adventures she and her Digimon partner would get into for the sake of love and justice. She could just see all the kinds of foes they would fight and what good friends she and her Digimon would be.
As Rini was walking along on her path to school, she passed by one of the numerous alleys that littered the district. As she was walking past, the sounds of cans banging against each other caught her attention. She gazed into the alley with curiosity, but she only saw an overturned trashcan. It appeared that nothing was there, but for some reason that didn't sit too well with Rini as she gazed into the shadowed alley.
While Rini was gazing into the dark alley, she didn't notice that she herself was being watched from above. This observer was sitting inside of a tree that was one of many that lined some roads in Juuban in an effort to make the area a little more greener. The observer could see somewhat deeper into the alley than Rini could, and it was seeing something it didn't like.
"Hello?" asked Rini as she took a tentative step forward into the alley. "Is anyone there?"
She was only met with silence from the alley. She tried to peer closer into the alley, but some of the darkness was blocking her view. The observer on the other hand reached behind his back and gripped something that he kept attached to his back. He had a feeling that he was going to be needing it pretty soon.
"Hello?" Rini called a second time. "I know you're there!"
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh!" two voices began chuckling in the darkness.
Rini began to tremble. This was beginning to feel like something that usually happened in some of those scary movies that she sometimes got a glimpse of at the movie stores. She could just imagine some kind of weird and creepy creature waiting to gobble her up. She began to hear something shaking in the darkness as it moved. Rini was pretty sure that something was going to happen pretty soon.
"HYAH!" a voice suddenly cried out.
Rini suddenly stiffened as something whizzed right past her. She didn't get a good look at it before it vanished into the darkness that coated the alley. As soon as it vanished though, she heard a sharp cry of pain before several crashes. Rini blinked in confusion and turned slightly to see where the object had come from, but before she could, another something whizzed past her and into the alley. More crashing sounds echoed from the shadows before it all went silent again.
"Darn," a male voice rumbled from the alley. "Missed them."
From the shadows of the alley, a boy who looked Rini's age stepped out and into the light. He had slightly tanned skin and dark hair which was a little long, but kept in a ponytail that hung at the side of his head. A weird thing about him was that he had blue triangle markings painted on his cheeks. He was wearing a school uniform for boys with the jacket open to reveal a white shirt underneath and a necklace that had bird feathers tied into it.
"Um...what did you miss?" Rini asked curiously.
"Dunno," the boy shrugged. "But next time, don't just stand there when you think something is there. I might not be able to throw around you."
"What?!" Rini huffed, immediately getting angry. Of all the nerve! She was just asking what he thought it might have been and he was giving her attitude! Well, if he was expecting thanks then he might as well forget it now. "I didn't ask you to help! I could have taken care of it myself!"
"Yeah right!" the boy laughed. "You city people can barely do anything yourselves without machines helping you!"
"Oh yeah?!" Rini frowned.
"Yeah!" the boy nodded.
Both youths just continued to glare at each other for a moment. They both then turned their backs to each other in a huff. The boy didn't even turn back to Rini before he stomped away from the pink-haired girl. Rini huffed for a moment before she turned her gaze back to the alley. Of course, that was before something on the ground caught her attention. She looked at the ground and found herself looking at several pink hairs that were littered on the concrete. Her eyes widened as she realized that they were hairs from her head. That boy's boomerang had chopped off some of her hair!
"That jerk!" she cried. "I can't believe he chopped my hair!"
--
In the darkness of another back alley, two figures were hiding out. One of them was keeping an eye out while the other was writhing in pain and holding his face. They had bits and pieces of garbage stuck to them, which led one to believe they were in one heck of a hurry to get away.
"Oh man!" the writhing figure groaned. One could see that his face was dealt a rather nasty bump that was swelling up on his face. The throbbing from the blow was not helping his attitude. "I thought we had her! Where'd that kid come from?!"
"Don't ask me! I was just as surprised as you were!" the lookout shot back. While he didn't take a hit like his partner had, the whining he was being forced to listen to just because of a bump on the head was not helping his attitude either.
"Arrgh!" the writhing figure groaned. So far their plan to get the Sailor Scouts out of the way was off to a floundering start. "Just what was that thing made of? It hurts like heck! I didn't think a kid could throw that hard!"
"What are we going to do?" asked the lookout. "We were supposed to get all of them! If we screw this up we might as well throw ourselves to the Legendary Warriors! Daemon will have our hides for screwing this up!"
"Calm down. We'll just get the others first," the writhing one replied after a moment of thinking. It was harder than usual since he was suffering from a headache thanks to the brat who had hit him in the head with that boomerang. "We can always get her later. She didn't see us so there's not much she can do about it."
"Okay. You've got a point!" the lookout grinned with crooked teeth. "Let's do it!"
Both of them let out a brief chuckle before they leaped away. The only trace of their presence were the bits and pieces of garbage that fell from the sky and splattered on the ground. People would look up and wonder where it came from, but they would eventually shrug their shoulders and figure the wind brought it there.
--
Raye was finishing with her morning rituals as she prepared to head out for the day. She had to take some time to brush her hair since it was so long but she made time for it. After eating some breakfast and saying goodbye to her grandfather, she was out the door and jogging across the grounds to get to the stairs. It was sort of her morning workout routine that she did to keep in shape.
She had tried some late night readings, but Daemon was proving to be a slippery enemy. Since the last Digimon which had attacked had gotten away from the Outers, she had attempted to find out where this Digimon had escaped to, but it was proving just as slippery as Daemon himself. The Legendary Warriors were definitely a big help, but it would be a little better if they would actually stick around long enough to actually learn about them. She tried to collect some kind of reading to see how important the warriors were going to play a role, but all she got were the symbols of the planets constantly switching with the symbols of the Legendary Warriors that Bokomon had shown them. Raye was beginning to wonder if she was going to get answers at all.
"Heh he he he he he he!" a quiet snickering suddenly appeared.
Raye stopped in her tracks, coming out of her inner reflection. She was sure that the temple didn't have any visitors yet because it was still early in the morning. Chad wasn't even due to get up yet so just what was making that snickering sound?
"Okay, who's out there?" Raye called out to the source of the voice.
"Heh he he he he he he!" was her only reply.
Feeling that something was up, Raye began to take slow steps toward the entrance of the temple grounds. She kept her eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. The temple was a fairly open area so she was able to see a pretty good distance in all directions. The laughing she heard was relatively close so there was no way she wouldn't be able to see who was making it. Her initial search proved empty so, she began to consider if this whole snickering business hadn't been cooked up by some pranksters with too much time on their hands. That is, until she got to the gate anyway.
"Garbage Dump!" two voices suddenly roared.
That was when Raye suddenly found herself up to her knees in a pile of trash. Various cans, old boots, fruit peelings, and Kami-sama knew what else. All of it was piled up at her feet and she could feel it in her clothes. A lot of it had been caught up in her hair and was now stuck. Her face was the perfect portrait of shock. Whatever she had been expecting, this had not been it. Raye began to tremble slightly before shaking more violently. Finally, she just couldn't hold it in anymore.
"EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Heh he he he he he!" two voices snickered at their handiwork.
--
Rini blinked as she sat down at her desk. She could have sworn that she had heard Raye just a second ago. Looking out the window, she didn't see any sign of her friend. Shrugging it off as a trick of the mind, she turned her attention to the front of the room. The teacher was calling everyone to attention as she began to speak.
"Everyone," she called. "Pay attention please. We have a new student joining us today. His family has been off in Australia until now so let's give a big hello to Ikuto Noguchi."
The door slid open and Rini had to stifle a gasp when she saw the boy from before stepping into the classroom. He didn't look very comfortable at the moment with everyone's eyes watching him as he moved to the front of the room.
"Ikuto," the teacher spoke up. "Why don't you say a few words about yourself?"
"My name is Ikuto," the boy spoke. His voice was even, but Rini could tell that he didn't want to be there. "I'm good with a boomerang and I can speak English."
He didn't say much more than that so the teacher just sent him to an empty seat. It just so happened that this seat was placed right next to Rini. She glanced at the new boy and she remembered that she was still a little upset with him. He had chopped off some of her hair and made it slightly uneven. When she had gotten over her anger though, she suddenly began to wonder about him. How did he get good with a boomerang and what did he see when he threw it into the alley that he leaped into?
Ikuto idly noticed that Rini was gazing at him. Frowning slightly, he decided to see just what her problem was, "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing!" Rini frowned as she looked back to the front. She then added as an afterthought, "You ruined my hair."
"What are you talking about?" Ikuto frowned. He was looking at her like she was either crazy, or a major annoyance. "It's still pink and it's still long. It still looks goofy too."
"What?!" Rini growled quietly. "Hey, my hair's naturally pink and curly!"
"Your bad luck then," Ikuto shrugged with a sigh as he settled into his seat.
Rini 'humphed' and looked to the front as well. It was going to be a long day if she had to deal with the rude and wild-looking boy. She didn't need this on top of her morning.
--
The day continued on for everyone and at the junior high, Serena, Amy, and Lita were all having lunch in one of their regular spots again. The topic of the day was either boys, Digimon, or the Legendary Warriors.
"How many of those guys are left anyway?" Serena asked curiously.
"Well," Amy replied after thinking for a moment. "With what Haruka, Michelle, and Hotaru told us, the Warrior of Darkness has made his appearance."
"I bet he was good looking," Lita commented with a giggle. "Little Hotaru blushed so much when we asked. It was pretty cute."
"Haruka said that he wasn't what they were expecting," Amy admitted. "She really didn't go into specifics about what he looked like. At least, Hotaru thinks that he is handsome."
"You have your own Legendary Warrior anyway, Lita," Serena added. "Why are you curious about Hotaru's partner? You've got that beefcake Beetlemon"
"I'm just curious," Lita shrugged, defending herself. "No one says I can't ask about the other Warriors. Besides, except for Agunimon and Lobomon, we've only seen each warrior only once."
"True," Amy nodded. "As of right now though, the only warriors left are Grumblemon, Arbormon, Mercurymon, and Ranamon if I remember correctly."
"Earth, wood, metal, and water," Lita commented. "I wonder who is going to be partnered with them."
The girls just continued going into speculation on which Scout would get which Warrior. There were some theories but no one had any real proof to back them up with. Some were a little more obvious than others, but without proof they couldn't confirm those theories. While they were talking though, Lita began to hear something odd.
"Heh he he he he he he," someone snickered. She could hear it faintly, but she had no idea where it had come from.
"Huh?" she blinked, turning so she could hear better. "What was that?"
"What is it Lita?" asked Serena.
"I thought I heard something," the tall brunette replied. The other girls fell silent for a moment to see if what Lita was saying was true. After a few moments of listening, the girls heard nothing beyond the normal sounds that came from the usual happenings in a schoolyard.
"I don't hear anything," Amy commented.
"I guess I was hearing things," Lita sighed as she turned back to her friends. "It could have been anything."
"Yard Sale Bomb!" two voices suddenly roared.
There was a huge crash next to the girls which caused Serena to scream loudly in fright. Everyone looked to where the impact had been. When the dust cleared they were all shocked to see a crushed piano in the centre of the crater.
"Where did that come from!?" Serena squeaked.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" the twin voices shouted again.
Lita noticed a shadow had appeared over her and her friends, causing her to look up. When she saw what was coming her eyes widened in surprise and shock.
"Look out!" she cried as she pushed her friends out of the way before a large sofa crashed onto the spot where they used to be.
"What is going on?" Amy asked as she got a look at the piece of furniture which had almost crushed them.
"Do you think a plane or something dropped it?" asked Serena.
"That's statistically impossible!" Amy cried out, some shock still running through her. She hadn't even realized that she was shouting. Otherwise she may have been blushing crimson at being so loud.
"Forget the statistics!" Lita cried as she helped her friends up. "We'd better run!"
"Yard Sale Bomb!" was shouted again before a large washing machine crashed to the ground as the girls started running for the doors of the school
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
BOOM! A dryer fell from the sky.
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
CRASH! A large cabinet filled with china plates hit the dirt behind the girls.
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
CLANG! A kitchen sink made a hollow noise as it made impact.
"WAAAAAAAAGH!" Serena cried as she and her friends dove inside of the school. Their breathing was heavy from the adrenaline from the near-death experience. Serena voiced the question everyone had on their mind. "What's going on?!"
The dust finally settled as the sink stopped ringing from the impact. The other students started circling the objects, wondering if a plane flying overhead really had lost its cargo or something. No one heard the soft snickering as the true perpetrators of the crime admired their handiwork. One of the trees rustled as two dark objects flew from the branches and out into the city.
--
Rini sat in the schoolyard eating her lunch that Ikuko had made for her. She felt a little bit in a huff still over what happened that morning. Looking over to the one who caused the damage, she saw Ikuto eating his lunch, fumbling with the chopsticks he had been given. He tried to put some in his mouth but the chopsticks slipped and the food dropped to the ground.
"Grrr!" Ikuto growled. "Stupid hunks of wood!"
Rini felt a little satisfaction that the new boy was getting irritated at something. It was further pleasing to see him so annoyed at the attention he was getting. He was trying to eat up in a tree since a bunch of girls were at the base, asking him if he'd like to share with them. With him hanging out in a tree that was in the middle of the schoolyard and the girls flocking to the bottom, he had no way of getting down. Well, she thought that he didn't.
Ikuto had finally had enough with the girls trying to get his attention. He packed up his belongings and slipped them into his backpack. When everything was secured, he gave a mighty leap and flipped right over his crowd of adoring fans. Rini and the other girls could only watch and stare as he did this amazing feat. Ikuto seemed to move so gracefully as he jumped before landing on the ground. With his landing done safely, he made a dash away from the crowds so he could find someplace else to eat.
Rini could only blink in amazement at what she had seen. Just what was this guy? The fan club didn't seem to care. They all broke into girlish screams as they tried to follow him. They seemed pretty eager to get to know him even more than ever. When Rini's shock had worn off, she slumped into a huff. Just how was she going to get any payback when he was able to throw boomerangs and leap around like a pro?
It just wasn't fair.
--
Haruka and Michelle were going down the streets in Haruka's car. They had gotten the day off so they decided to just enjoy some time together on the road after they got Hotaru to school. Haruka was as calm as ever with Michelle leaning comfortably on her shoulder. It was times like this that the couple enjoyed. In here, they weren't Sailor Scouts, they didn't have to worry about Digimon or Daemon, and they didn't have to help ensure Crystal Tokyo. Right now, they were Haruka Tennoh and Michelle Kaioh. They were young, in love, and they liked it like that.
"So, feel like getting something to eat?" asked Haruka.
"Hmm," Michelle sighed happily. "Maybe in a minute or so."
"Sounds fair," Haruka nodded as they came to a red traffic light.
As they were waiting for the light to change, Michelle started hearing something. It sounded a little like a shuffling sound. At first she had assumed it to be the car, but after being with Haruka for so long she learned to recognize what sounds a car made when it was working at less than one-hundred percent. Haruka herself was too busy concentrating on the road so she probably wouldn't have noticed it unless the car had made the sounds. Concentrating on the sounds she was hearing, Michelle strained to understand what they were.
"Heh heh heh heh heh," someone...or something laughed.
Michelle suddenly felt herself stiffen in alert. In her experiences, whenever something laughed like that it was never a good thing for those involved. She quickly sat up straight to take a quick look around her to try and find what was making those sounds.
"Michelle?" asked Haruka in concern. "What is it?"
"I heard-" Michelle began before she was cut off.
"Garbage Dump!" a pair of voices cried out loudly.
The lovers in the car suddenly found themselves caught in a sudden downpour of trash and other bits of garbage. Both young women were caught completely by surprise by the downpour and were unable to say anything. The entire interior of the vehicle was filled to the brim while Haruka and Michelle were buried up to their shoulders in trash. Michelle could feel the various bits of waste trapped in her hair. For once, she felt envious of Haruka's shorter hair. No trash had been able to get in hers. Well, not the very big pieces anyway. The Scout of Neptune knew she had a long shower ahead of her. Haruka, on the other hand had an eye twitching like crazy. It was obvious that she was VERY displeased with what had happened.
"Michelle," she spoke calmly. "Please correct me, but did someone just pour a ton of garbage into my car and on us?"
"Yes they did," Michelle replied while picking a banana peel out of her hair.
"I see," Haruka nodded. "Then someone is going to die for this."
"Yes they will," Michelle agreed. She of all people knew that you didn't mess with Haruka's car or the people she loved unless you wanted a slow and painful death. It was also a well known fact that one didn't mess with Michelle Kaioh when she was on a date with her lover unless they wished to share a similar fate.
--
Rini heaved out a sigh as she continued to eat away at her sundae. School had ended a while ago so she was free to do what she wanted. She was currently at her favorite ice cream shop, chowing down on her usual order. She wasn't alone either. She had met up with Hotaru along the way. She was bringing Bokomon and Neemon to the same shop so they could taste it. Hotaru was also hoping to run into Rini so she could hear the strange story she had.
"WHAT?!" Rini cried in absolute shock. "Michelle and Haruka were covered in trash?"
"Yeah," Hotaru nodded. "When I got home from school, Haruka-papa and Michelle-mama were covered in trash. Michelle-mama was heading for the shower while Haruka-papa was already trying to clean up the car. It was filled with trash."
"Yucky!" Neemon quipped as he dug into his sundae. He was in a large sweater which hid his body and a baseball hat which hid his face.
"Yes, it is odd," Bokomon agreed. He was donned in a hoodie sweater to hide his features. "Who would do such a cruel thing? Besides, I don't think Haruka will rest until her car is clean and those who did it pay for it."
"Yeah," Hotaru agreed. "Haruka-papa really wasn't happy about what happened. I haven't seen her that angry in a long time."
"Hmm," Rini pondered. "Serena was really freaked out when I got home from school. She kept jabbering about furniture falling out of the sky or something. I don't know what was wrong with her, but she was definitely acting weirder than normal."
"I heard Raye today," Neemon spoke up. "I didn't know she could yell so loud!"
"Ugh," Bokomon sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? You didn't hear Raye screaming bloody murder. You only think you did."
"But I did!" Neemon insisted.
"I guess we're all having a weird day," Rini mumbled. "I wonder why."
"Gangway!!" a new voice shouted loudly.
Rini and Hotaru both looked to see who was coming and almost got plowed over by Ikuto as he ducked under their table to hide. Before Rini and Hotaru could even begin to feel some kind of negative emotion about this sudden move, a group of fangirls came running past the ice cream shop, squealing for Ikuto. Rini recognized them all from school. When they were around the corner, Ikuto came out from under the table.
"Whew," he sighed while turning to the four friends. "Thanks. I owe you one."
"Ha!" Rini snorted. "You owe us way more than one! I'll bet you peeked up our skirts, didn't you?"
"What kind of guy do you take me for?!" Ikuto asked angrily, getting into Rini's face.
"Well, what kind of guy would leap under a table out of the blue anyway?" Rini pressed.
"One running from fangirls, that's who!" Ikuto retorted. "I've got too many girls chasing me as it is! Why would I be chasing other girls?"
While the two were fighting, Hotaru, Bokomon, and Neemon were watching with interest. To them, it was almost like seeing Serena and Rini arguing with each other. It seemed that Rini had found someone new to argue with.
"Wow," Hotaru blinked. "You two must really like each other."
Ikuto and Rini both stopped dead in their arguments. Their heads looked to Hotaru with looks of disbelief etched on their faces. Everything was silent for a moment as the two attempted to get their minds back on track after the shock of the statement that was just said. Silence continued for a moment before both Rini and Ikuto started talking again.
"Hotaru!" Rini cried. "How could you think I like this guy? He's nothing but a humongous jerk!"
"Why would I like a pink-haired wacko like her?" Ikuto frowned while pointing at Rini. "All she's done since we met is shout at me and blame me for her problems!"
"I don't blame you for all my problems!" Rini denied. "I only blame you for things that are your fault! Like my hair! You chopped off a bunch of my hair with that boomerang of yours!"
"So what if I did?" Ikuto growled, rounding on Rini. "It wasn't as if I was aiming at you or something! Besides, I don't see a difference!"
"Then you don't see the effort I put into making my hair look nice!" Rini shouted back. "I suppose you wouldn't know about that since you go around with that weird paint on your face!"
"Hey!" Ikuto snapped, his eyes growing hard. "These marks symbolize my tribe, okay! You can insult me all you like but, never. Insult. My. Tribe!"
Rini was effectively quieted when she saw the look in Ikuto's eyes. Hotaru saw it as well and she began to get the feeling that Rini may have said something that she shouldn't have. Bokomon was watching the conversation with some interest while Neemon was still digging into his ice cream.
Ikuto just heaved another breath before he stomped off. Rini watched him go and suddenly got the feeling that she may have really hurt his feelings with that last outburst. The last time they had argued, they just it was just that, arguing. This time she may have insulted something really important to the new boy. Rini immediately started feeling guilty about what she had said.
"Maybe you should go apologize?" asked Hotaru.
"I suggest you should," Bokomon agreed. "He didn't look particularly pleased with that last comment you made."
"Yeah, maybe I should." Rini nodded. She was used to fighting with Serena all the time so arguing was nothing new to her. Neither of them went out of their way to try and make the other feel miserable in some way. Right now, she started feeling that an apology would be a pretty good idea. "Okay! C'mon guys!"
Hotaru nodded with a smile as she and Rini both grabbed Bokomon and Neemon before running in the direction that Ikuto had gone.
--
At the Gates of Time, Sailor Pluto was trying to find the source of the disturbances which had been following the other Scouts everywhere. She had been somewhat amused to see Haruka and Michelle return home covered in trash, but it was still something worrisome. Raye had called and told her that someone had hit her with a huge pile of trash as well. Amy had called later saying that she and the others were almost crushed by a series of falling furniture.
"The only question is was it a youma, or a Digimon?" Pluto asked herself as she continued to gaze into the Gates of Time.
She still hadn't been able to get even the smallest bit of information on Daemon. If he was strong enough to keep the Gates of Time from finding him, then he was definitely someone to be wary of. She had likewise tried to search out any kind of clue on the remaining Legendary Warriors, but that had likewise come up with nothing. The Legendary Warriors had never set foot inside this universe so she couldn't really expect anything to be found about them. Since they weren't part of this universe, the Gates were having a somewhat difficult time in following them. After a while she decided to leave that project for a later time. She then shifted the focus of the Gates of Time onto the future princess and her young charge Hotaru. She felt a twinge of amusement when she spied the boy hide under their table. Of course, that amusement faded when she saw the boy and Small Lady get into an argument.
"Oh, Small Lady," Pluto sighed. "Your mother sent you here to make friends, not get in fights."
She then heard Small Lady make her comment about the boy's facial paint, which Pluto could recall from being part of an Australian Native tribe. The boy seemed to grow cold before making his last words and charging off. Small Lady and Hotaru were still and chatted for a moment before them, and their two Digimon friends, went running after the boy.
Sailor Pluto smiled at the sight. Despite some of her faults, Rini was a kind girl. She silently wished her future princess luck before preparing to leave the Gates for the night. Before she could, she caught a hint of movement in the corner of the Gates. She turned to see what it was and saw two blurs that reminded her of the way air looked while it was heated. Her eyes widened when she realized what they were.
"Daemon's men!" she gasped. "Small Lady! Hotaru!"
With a wave of her staff Sailor Pluto teleported from the Gates. She only hoped that she would be in time.
--
Rini, Hotaru, Bokomon and Neemon ran as fast as they could to try and catch up with Ikuto. They all realized very quickly that Ikuto could run very fast when he wanted to. It wasn't too long before Hotaru's inherent weakness caught up with her and she had to stop to catch her breath.
"I think we lost him," Hotaru gasped between breaths.
"Shoot!" Rini frowned sadly. "Now I'm going to feel bad all night now."
"You can still talk to him tomorrow, can't you?" asked Bokomon.
"Yeah," Rini sighed. "But he looked really upset with what I said. I didn't know that those marks meant so much to him. I just want to apologize now."
The small girl from the future could only look in the direction which Ikuto had gone. As bad as she felt about what she said, she knew that there was no way that she was going to catch him now. She resigned herself to having to apologize at school. Maybe he would have cooled down by then and be a little more sociable. It was her only hope at the moment. Heaving a sad sigh, Rini turned back to her friends.
"Heh heh heh heh heh!" two voices began to chuckle darkly.
Rini froze on the spot and Hotaru started looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. After a couple of minutes, they couldn't find any kind of source for the voice. It was as if it had come out of nowhere.
"Did you guys hear that?" Hotaru asked the two Digimon standing nearby.
"I'm afraid I did," Bokomon nodded. Neemon was quivering, fearful of the tone in the chuckling.
"Okay! Who's out there?" Rini called into the open air. "Come on out!"
"You heard the lady!" one of the mysterious voices chuckled.
"Ask and you shall receive!" the second agreed.
"Garbage Dump!" both voices cried as one.
"Look out!" Bokomon suddenly cried. Both the young girls looked straight up in the direction that Bokomon was pointing in a near-panic. Both Rini and Hotaru's eyes widened as they witnessed a large amount of trash falling from the sky, aiming to fall right on them.
"Ahhh!" Both girls cried as they scrambled to get out of the way. Rini had grabbed Neemon while Hotaru clutched Bokomon while they got out of the way. The trash came down with a large splat. The four friends managed to avoid getting hit with the majority of the filth. A few peach pits got on their shoes but that was all that hit them.
"Whew," both girls sighed in relief.
"Wow!" Neemon gaped. "I didn't know trash fell from the sky in the human world!"
"It doesn't, you moron!" Bokomon shouted.
"How does this happen?" Hotaru blinked.
"Do you think it's a Digimon?" asked Rini.
Everything was silent as the few people still around gaped at the large pile of trash which had fallen out of the sky. At first, it seemed that whatever had made the filth fall from the sky had left. Things remained relatively quiet for a while before those voices began talking again.
"Shoot!" the first groaned. "How could we miss?!"
"Maybe if you wouldn't shoot so close to my attacks we could have gotten them!" shouted the second.
"Shut up!" barked the first. "Your aim is just horrible! I would have gotten them if your attack hadn't gotten in my way!"
Rini, Hotaru, Bokomon, and Neemon all listened in confusion at the bickering that was going on between their two attackers. It reminded Rini of the way that she and Serena would be at each other's throats at times. A part of her mind idly wondered if their attackers weren't related in some way. As the two girls and two Digimon continued to listen in confused silence, the two attackers continued to bicker.
"Fine!" the first voice relented. "Let's just say we missed and try to crush them again."
"Works for me!" the second voice laughed.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" both voices cried.
Both Hotaru and Rini looked up again, expecting more trash to come falling down on them again. Well, they were half-right. Something did start falling down from the sky. Instead of trash though, a large fridge and a bathtub came falling down from the sky, aimed to crush the two young girls and their Digimon friends.
"RUN!" Bokomon cried in panic.
Rini and Hotaru agreed easily. Grabbing their Digimon friends, they started running again.
"After them!" the first voice shouted.
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
WHAM! A freezer came crashing to the ground.
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
WUMP! A large table smashed against the sidewalk.
"Yard Sale Bomb!"
CRASH! A china cabinet hit the ground.
"Wheeee!" Neemon cheered as he and their friends were running. He didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation they were in.
No one was really in the mood to correct Neemon's little misunderstanding of the situation. They were too busy running for their lives and trying to avoid being crushed by falling furniture. Each piece was as heavy as the last and equally fatal if they managed to hit their target.
It wasn't very long before Hotaru was beginning to feel the effects of her weak constitution. She was panting deeply and was slowly falling behind. Rini dared to look back and saw what was happening to her friend.
"Hotaru!" Rini cried as she grasped her friend's hand. They couldn't afford to run any farther or else Hotaru's constitution was going to eventually do her in. Looking around frantically, she spied a narrow passage between two buildings which was definitely too narrow for any large pieces of furniture to fit through from above. "This way!"
Rini dragged Hotaru through the alley just as a refrigerators smashed onto the sidewalk where they were standing a moment ago. The two girls squeezed past old garbage bags and splashed through puddles created by condensation. The alley eventually opened up into an empty lot which had some old construction materials laying around.
"Did we lose them?" Bokomon gasped as he tried to calm himself down.
"You wish!" one of the two voices laughed. The four friends could tell that the voice was directly behind them.
There were two shapes coming out of the alley. The shadows were keeping any real features hidden, but they were hunched over and close to the ground. A pair of antennae could be seen coming out of their heads.
"Nowhere left to run!" the second voice added.
"Time for extermination!" both figures spoke together before they leaped at the four friends in a blur of motion.
"Pluto Dead Scream!" a mature womanly voice cried.
The two blurs were suddenly assaulted by a large orb of energy which plowed directly into them. They gave off a united cry of pain before the force of the attack sent them both flying into a pile of old gravel, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Puu!" Rini cried in delight.
"Setsuna-mama!" Hotaru cheered.
"We're saved!" Bokomon and Neemon cheered in relief and happiness.
In the direction the attack had come was sailor Pluto herself. She had her staff pointed at the two attackers that were still being hidden by the dust clouds.
"I will not permit you to harm innocent children!" she frowned. "I am the guardian of the past and future, Sailor Pluto!"
"Yeah, yeah," grunted the first figure. "We know who you are. We know who you all are."
"Our boss Daemon was pretty clear in what you all look like," the second figure added.
"Still, now you're in for it," the first figure chuckled.
"For now you face…"
"…The invincible…"
"…The incredible…"
"…ROACHMON BROTHERS!!"
The smoke cleared up to reveal two giant…roaches, striking a pose that was supposed to look either awe-inspiring or intimidating. Both of them really did look like roaches, but they were the size of small cars. Their bodies were long and only had two legs which had black boots. They had arms which had black gloves on them. Both of them had a skull and crossbones painted on them. Both of them had the same face which had big eyes and crooked teeth locked in grins. The only difference that the two had between them was that one had green eyes while the other had blue eyes.
Activate Digimon Analyzer
Roachmon
Roachmon are filthy insect Digimon who just love to wallow in trash. Their Garbage Dump attacks make sure there is plenty to go around while their Yard Sale Bomb makes sure that no one is in any shape to pick it up without their permission.
Now, Sailor Pluto was by far the most experienced and matured of all the Sailor Scouts. Being one since the time of Serenity helped with that. Sailor Pluto, as a personal rule, always remained calm and collected no matter what situation she found herself in.
Of course, even she had her limits.
"Roaches?" She frowned. Her breathing quickened and there was a very slight tremble in her stance. If her hands were not hidden in her gloves then everyone would have seen that her knuckles were white from gripping her staff so tightly. There was a very small twitch in her eyebrow as well, but there were incredibly few people on the planet who could tell.
"Ohh, Puu hates roaches," Rini frowned as she saw the Roachmon appear in front of her.
"She made a weird screeching noise the last time she saw one at home," Hotaru frowned.
With the Roachmon Brothers, they didn't seem to notice Sailor Pluto's distress at the time. What they did know was that she was silent and standing still as they were in their pose.
"Hah!" laughed Green Eyes. "She's stunned! We're so cool!"
"Darn right!" agreed Blue Eyes. "She doesn't know what to do! We rock!"
"Pluto Dead Scream!"
Both Roachmon were met with Sailor Pluto's signature attack coming. The two brothers gave off cries of shock before they leaped to the sides to avoid the attack. The Dead Scream crashed into the pile of gravel, nearly obliterating it.
"Woah!" Green Eyes cried. "That was close."
"What's with her aim?" growled Blue Eyes. "I thought being the oldest one was being the best?"
The four audience members gaped in shock. Rini and Hotaru both knew Pluto to be calm and collected, but seeing her fire off like that was something new. Although, seeing the grim look on her face made both girls become a little bit concerned. Seeing the eldest of them acting this way could not be good.
"I…Hate…Roaches," Setsuna muttered out, trembling slightly more visibly than before.
Both Rini and Hotaru could tell that Pluto was losing her cool. They placed both Bokomon and Neemon behind a dumpster so to keep them safe before they stepped into the open.
"Saturn Planet Power!"
"Moon Prism Power!"
Both Rini and Hotaru were surrounded by the power of their transformations. The two girls quickly transformed before they appeared as Sailor Mini-moon and Sailor Saturn.
"Let's go!" Mini-Moon cried before both she and Saturn went forward to help their fellow Scout against the two Roachmon.
--
Ikuto sat on a street corner silently fuming at what the pink-haired girl had said to him. The marks on his face were a point of pride to him. They were a symbol of his tribe. His family was always traveling all over the world and the last country they were in was Australia. He had gotten lost while they were in the outback and was found by some of the natives. He had spent a while with them and they officially adopted him by marking his face. He was eventually found, but he was told that he would always be part of the tribe.
As he continued to fume, a sudden explosion caught his attention. He turned to the source and saw that it was several feet away. The people around were already running away from the source with screams and cries of fear. They obviously knew what they were doing since they were in a hot spot of weird stuff.
Ikuto was only in Juuban for a couple of days so he didn't quite know that this sort of thing happened often. He instantly grabbed his boomerang and started running towards the source of the commotion. He had a sneaky feeling that whatever was making the explosions was connected to the weird feeling that he had in that alley in the morning.
It was pretty easy to find his way there. The explosions were going off every so often and they were in the same general area. He dashed up to a corner and sneaked a glance around the corner of a building to see just what the heck was going on.
There was another explosion which kicked up the dust before he could see anything. He coughed a little to get the dust out of his throat, trying to be quiet about it since he didn't want to get caught. As the dust began to clear, he looked to see what was going on.
His eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be two giant roaches fighting against a lady and two girls in weird outfits. He had seen posters with girls like them around the district, but he didn't think they were real. He had thought they were models or something.
"Saturn Silence Glaive Surprise!" the one in purple cried before she launched a purple orb of energy at the giant roaches.
The two roaches opened their wings and immediately flew up into the air. They buzzed around in the air before they looked down on the three girls. They both gave off a bad snicker before raising their arms in the air.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" both roaches cried out.
To Ikuto's complete surprise, a large table fell from the sky. The large piece of furniture was aimed right at the three girls.
"Scatter!" the oldest of the three cried. The table crashed to the ground with a loud crash. Ikuto flinched slightly at the impact. Being hit by something like that would have hurt!
The girl in pink stumbled as a piece of shrapnel from the table struck her leg. Ikuto gasped as he saw her fall. The girl in purple also gave off a cry of concern, but the wild boy wasn't paying too much attention to what she was saying. Of course, the giant roaches noticed her plight as well.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" they both cried out, sending a sofa falling down from the sky at the girl.
"No!" Ikuto cried out.
Suddenly, his entire world went white.
--
The crashing of the giant table caused Pluto to order her younger charges out of the way. She wasn't in the best of mental states either. She was deathly afraid of roaches and dealing with two large ones was not helping her nerves at all.
"Augh!" Mini-Moon sudden cry echoed out into the air. The sound caused both Pluto and Saturn to stop in their tracks.
They had turned to see Mini-moon down on the ground. Her boot had a small cut in it and there was a piece of wood sticking out of it. Apparently a piece of the table that the Roachmon brothers had just dropped had hit her.
"Mini-Moon!" Saturn cried in fright.
"Hey! One's down!" Blue Eyes laughed.
"Really?" asked Green eyes. He looked over to where the pink-haired scout was on the ground, trying to get back up again. "Great! Let's take her down!"
The two Roachmon took to the air with a loud buzz. When they were high enough, they both looked back down to the fallen scout with grins.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" the brothers roared before a large sofa began falling from the air, aimed at Mini-Moon.
"Small Lady!" Pluto cried.
"Rini!" Saturn screamed.
As they cried out, their view was engulfed in bright light.
Bokomon and Neemon were hidden safely behind the dumpster that they were placed behind, but they were still worried about their friends. Both of them were shocked to see Rini hurt by the falling table.
"Oh no, Rini!" Bokomon cried.
"Uh-oh!" Neemon gasped.
As the Roachmon brothers took to the air, Bokomon began to tremble. He couldn't control it and he was starting to lose his footing.
"Are you scared too?" asked Neemon.
"N-n-n-no!" Bokomon stuttered in his trembling. "S-s-s-something is h-h-h-happening w-w-w-with m-my b-b-b-book!"
Reaching through his sweater and into his waistband, Bokomon pulled out his book. As soon as it was free of its keeping place, he stopped trembling but the book was shaking as if it were in an earthquake.
"My word!" he gasped as he let it drop to the ground. It hit the ground before it opened itself. The pages fluttered until it was open on the entry for Grumblemon, the Warrior of Earth.
The pages of the book then began to glow before it erupted in a blast of light.
--
Ikuto blinked as he looked around. The world was enveloped in light. It looked as if everything had frozen. Only he was moving while everything looked as if they were statues made of skin and blood rather than stone.
"Huh?" Ikuto blinked as he looked at everything. Even the falling sofa was suspended in midair.
"Ikuto Noguchi," three imperial voices spoke. There was no source to the voices; they seemed to echo from every direction. "You have been chosen."
"Huh?" Ikuto blinked.
Movement suddenly caught his eye over to the side. He found himself looking at a strange brown humanoid with a large nose, long arms, and a long red hat. He had gray armor over his chest with red pants and metal armor over his shoulders, knees, and feet.
"Who or what are you?" Ikuto asked as he looked at the strange gnome. For some reason, he felt a connection with it, a sort of familiar bond. He wasn't afraid. He guessed that what he was looking at was some kind of spirit.
The gnome looked at Ikuto and smiled and the boy smiled back. His tribe had taught him that spirits were sacred and if a spirit had come to him, he knew it was for a special reason. A light began to shine in Ikuto's pocket. He dug his hand into it and pulled out his cell phone. Right before his eyes, his phone morphed into a rectangular device that was grey and red. There were two buttons on it and a blank screen.
Ikuto then approached the gnome and reached forward as the gnome did the same. Their palms touched and all of a sudden the device in his hand let out a bright flash.
The gnome swiftly vanished in a dusty haze before two idols hovered in the air in front of him. The first idol on the right looked like a pile of gray armor with a red hat on the top. The other idol looked like some kind of animal that was light brown with tan markings on it.
Ikuto looked at the two idols and he suddenly knew what he had to do. He held up the device towards the two idols and pressed a button on the side. There was a beam of light which surged from the top of the device that captured the two idols and sucked them into the device. When they entered, a brown symbol appeared on the screen.
"It is time," the three voices spoke.
Ikuto raised his empty hand and watched as a glowing blue ring began to appear around it. Holding both arms out, he brought them together with the ring being scanned by the device.
"Execute!" he cried. "Spirit Evolution! Grumblemon!"
--
The light died and Mini-Moon struggled to get her eyes adjusted to the normal light again. Her leg still hurt, but she had been expecting some kind of weight to hit her since she knew that the Roachmon brothers were launching an attack at her. Since she wasn't feeling anything, she dared to look and see what was happening. What she found made her eyes widen in shock.
Standing in front of her was what she assumed to be some kind of gnome. He seemed a little short and had brown skin with red markings on his face and arms. His nose was huge and he was donned in metallic blue armor with a symbol on his stomach. The symbol was glowing a deep brown color.
His appearance was shocking enough, but the fact that he had caught the falling sofa in his muscular arms made it a double shock.
"You okay?" he asked in a gravelly voice.
"Uh-huh," Mini-Moon nodded dumbly. She was stunned by the act of strength which was being displayed in front of her.
"Good," the gnome nodded. He turned his attention to the Roachmon brothers who were flying in the air.
"Agh!" cried Green Eyes. "Grumblemon!"
"I thought he was destroyed!" added Blue Eyes.
Saturn and Pluto both gasped when they heard the name of the Digimon that had appeared. Bokomon had mentioned that the Warrior of Earth's name was indeed what the Roachmon brothers feared.
"Setsuna-mama," Saturn whispered as she noticed something about her adoptive parent.
"What?" asked Pluto.
"Your ribbon," the younger Scout pointed out.
Setsuna looked to her ribbon and for once in a very long time, she gasped in shock. The centre of her ribbon was glowing a bright black light. If by the previous experiences with Digimon were true, then it seemed that Grumblemon was her partner.
"Ahh! Grumblemon!" Neemon squeaked. "Hide me!"
"Oh don't worry!" Bokomon exclaimed in happiness. "Takuya and the others defeated him and purified his data! We're looking at Grumblemon as how he was meant to be!"
Grumblemon looked at the two Roachmon before he snickered. He clenched the couch he was lifting up and with a mighty roar, he hurled the piece of furniture up at the two insect Digimon.
"Ahhh!" the brothers cried as they dove to avoid the projectile that was thrown at them. The couch flew through the air and missed its target. It fell harmlessly to the ground and crashed into a pile of piping.
Grumblemon continued his charge and punched his arm into the dirt as if it was water. His arm came back out holding a large hammer with a spiked head.
"Take this!" he roared as he leaped at Blue Eyes. "Seismic Sledge!"
Grumblemon swung his hammer in an attempt to hit his target. Blue Eyes was quick to dodge, but he was clipped by the attack, which sent the Roachmon sprawling through the air.
"Why you!" Green Eyes growled, "Yard Sale Bomb!"
"Watch out!" Mini-Moon shouted but Grumblemon looked at the falling furniture calmly. He looked back to the ground before he seemed to almost propel himself towards it.
"Jack in the Box!" Grumblemon yelled before he tunneled underground, the furniture missing him.
"Hey, where did he go!?" Green Eyes shouted out in confusion but suddenly a figure erupted from the ground before him and sent him flying with a hit from a hammer. The Green Eyed Roachmon yelled as he was sent sailing through the air, "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" before he slammed into his brother.
"Had enough?" Grumblemon snickered as he landed on the ground again.
"Not even close!" Blue eyes groaned as he and his brother got up again. "Take this! Garbage Dump!"
The Roachmon brothers turned and began letting their shells flap. As the flapping went on, garbage began to fly out at Grumblemon.
"Gross!" the Warrior of Earth growled as he shielded his face from the oncoming filth.
The Roachmon brothers chuckled and took to the air again and looked down at their Legendary Warrior opponent.
"Yard Sale Bomb!" they both roared before a vanity table, complete with a mirror began falling from the sky towards Grumblemon.
As the piece of furniture began falling from the sky, Pluto decided that she had been out of the battle long enough. Grumblemon was pulling himself out of the trash that the Roachmon brothers had practically buried him in so his speed was decreased. The table would hit him easily and despite his bulk, Pluto was sure that he wouldn't come out of the attack unscathed.
As much as she hated the thought, the emerald-haired Scout stepped closer to the battle (and the giant roaches) before she could get proper aim on their weapon of choice.
"Pluto Dead Scream!" she cried as she unleashed the blast of magical energy.
The orb of magical power soared through the air towards the vanity table which was meant for Grumblemon. The Roachmon brothers saw it coming and smirked. Sailor Pluto was so predictable since she didn't want to get near them. Blue Eyes took out an old shoe from his shell and hurled it at the table, changing its position. The Dead Scream made impact with the mirror of the table and was refracted in a new direction. It was now headed for Grumblemon.
"Thanks for the help Pluto!" Blue Eyes laughed.
"Daemon might reward you for this one!" Green eyes chuckled.
Grumblemon looked up as he heard the Roachmon brothers bragging. It didn't escape his notice that Sailor Pluto's attack was flying at him at a rapid pace. It looked like something that he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his hammer out of the pile of trash he was in and reared back, ready to swing the massive weapon.
"Batter up!" he called. "Seismic Sledge!"
Grumblemon swung his weapon with all his might and let the head smash against Pluto's off-course attack. The orb gave off a sound that resembled glass shattering before it was sent soaring back at the vanity.
The orb met against the vanity and the piece of furniture was destroyed on impact. That didn't stop the attack though, it went right on moving. Its target: the Roachmon brothers.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" the two Roachmon cried out before the unexpected reversal made contact with them.
BOOM!!
The sounds of the explosion echoed through he air as the attack hit. Smoke and dust emanated from the epicenter, clouding the air. From the same centre, the charred forms of the Roachmon brothers could be seen falling from the air. The three stunned Scouts and three Digimon in attendance watched as the two insects hit the ground with the force of a meteor.
Both brothers could only give off one last groan before their bodies began to darken and a ring of fractal code appeared around them. Grumblemon leaped forward and pulled out his D-tector, allowing it to prepare for the download of data.
"Time for some pest control!" he chuckled as he pressed a button on the side of his device. "Fractal Code! Digitize!"
The Warrior of Earth swiped his device across the data ring and began to draw it in. The D-tector sucked the data in like a spaghetti noodle and it was soon gone. Thee bodies of the Roachmon brothers quickly reverted into their essence before vanishing.
The air was silent as Grumblemon took a relaxed stance and let his hammer sink back into the ground. Sailor Pluto decided some humility was in order as she stepped forward to the gnomeish-looking warrior.
"Thank-you for your help," she nodded. "It is greatly appreciated."
"Yeah sure," Grumblemon snorted. He gazed at the eldest Scout with a frown on his face. "Next time learn to shoot, would ya? You would have hit me if I didn't have my hammer."
Pluto's eyebrow twitched slightly. She hated being criticized on her abilities, "I wasn't expecting the brothers to use that table like they did."
"More like you were too busy freaking about how they look," Grumblemon said underneath his breath.
"What?" Pluto frowned. "I'll have you know that I was not 'freaking out' as you so put it."
"Yeah right!" Grumblemon laughed. "You were hanging back because you didn't want to get near those guys! Typical."
Pluto could actually feel her frustration growing as she already began saying her comeback. For some reason, she felt like she had stumbled across something familiar. For the life of her though, she couldn't remember exactly what that was.
--Digital World--
Daemon frowned mightily as he got the data from the Roachmon brothers. The Warrior of Earth had made his own comeback. That was not good. If he had returned, then chances were that Arbormon, Mercurymon, and Ranamon were due for their own comebacks. The demonic Digimon had secretly hoped that he would only have to contend with the six Chosen, but it seemed that he was fated to fight against all ten warriors.
"Ah well," he sighed to himself as he brushed the remains of a statue which depicted the Roachmon brothers away. "Although this is unfortunate, I am prepared for it."
Daemon began to chuckle as he summoned a glass of red wine into his hands, "And now we head into overtime."
To Be Continued…
A/N: I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!! Real life and computer problems got in my way.. I hope you guys aren't too angry with me about not updating for so long. Please don't flame me. Remember that I'm only human.
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