Chapter Three

Welcome to the Digital World

"Bunny Blast!"

A sudden burst of superheated green energy rocketed through the air and struck the ground forcefully, leaving only a few strands of charred grass. The little green-and-white bunny clenched his tiny fists and scanned the area. A field of tall grass stretched as far as the eye could see on one side, and on the other was located a narrow stream. The rabbit Digimon's eyes narrowed. Where'd he go?

"Terriermon!" shouted Talia, pointing into the sky. "It's in the air!"

Terriermon glanced up just in time to see his opponent, a green amphibious creature with an orange fin on its head and a claw on each foot, hurtling downward at him. The little bunny leaped away just in time, showing off his impressive agility, despite being of small size.

Talia looked down at her Digivice. 'Betamon. Rookie level. Virus attribute. Amphibian type. Threat level: Low.'

The ten-year-old girl fell backwards into the tall grass and simply stared as her Digimon friend proceeded to duke it out with his amphibious adversary. The little bunny Digimon was having no trouble keeping his distance, for he had superior speed on land as well as in air. The larger, green creature, Betamon, was obviously growing frustrated. It had already tried unsuccessfully to dispatch its large-eared opponent with its physical prowess, but apparently that just wasn't going to do the trick.

It stopped, planted its feet firmly in the dirt, and growled, "Electric Shock..."

Suddenly, a burst of electrical energy pierced the sky, and struck Terriermon with such force that it blew the little Digimon several yards away. Terriermon rolled to a stop and struggled to his feet. His beady black eyes fixed on the Betamon, who was closing in on Talia.

"Beta Slugger!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Terriermon exclaimed, summoning all of the strength he could muster into his tiny mouth. "Bunny Blast!"

The attack crashed into Betamon's side, knocking the amphibious Digimon to the ground. The creature groaned, twitched, and then shut its eyes, just before erupting into a cloud of data. The Betamon had met its demise.

Talia, panting, glanced over at her partner, who had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. "I...I don't think I like this place very much."

"You and me both..." Terriermon murmured, clutching his aching head, "...I'm starting to think this whole getting-sucked-into-a-mysterious-whirlpool-thing was not in my best interest."

******

Jack slumped against the trunk of a huge tree, panting breathlessly. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. "Great...I've been here three minutes and I'm already tired of this place!"

Gomamon peered around the side of the tree-trunk, and then glanced back at his human friend. "All's clear, Jack...no sign of that freaky-bug-thing."

A sudden rustling in the branches above caught their attentions. Jack leaped to his feet and stared up into the tree, where he found a girl, about his age, seated atop a branch. The girl's stormy gray eyes were fixed on Jack's brown ones. A smile formed on her lips.

"Well, hello there," she said, hopping down from her perch and extending a hand to her new acquaintance, "my name's Jasmine Strachan...Strachan-Taylor, actually."

Jack raised an eyebrow. Glancing down at her hand and then back up at her, he murmured, "Uh...the name's Jack...Jack Baker. Just Baker."

A moment later, there was another form to make its way out of the tree...this one in a less-than-graceful manner. Salamon, Jasmine's puppy-like Digimon, fell into her partner's arms.

"Oof!" exclaimed the little Digimon.

Jasmine looked at Jack again. "Are you guys hiding from the Mothmon too?"

"Is that what that was?" Jack inquired, his eyes warily inspecting their surroundings for any signs of their pursuer.

"Yup," Jazzy replied, holding up her Digivice. It read, 'Mothmon. Champion level. Data attribute. Insectoid type. Threat level: Medium.'

"Okay...let's get out of here before it finds us then..."

Gomamon grimaced. "Uh...guys? I think it's a little too late for that."

"Multiple Blaster!" shouted a voice that sounded almost like a voiced-over recording. Dozens of bullets whizzed by the tree and left several charred spots on the ground just a few feet from where the two children stood. Jack and Jazzy threw their arms up to shield their faces from the debris. Just moments later, they caught sight of their attacker.

It was a moth-like creature, about the size of Jack, whose body was green and yellow. Its large brown wings were decorated with strange symbols and a layer of toxic dust. To add to this oddity, a gatling gun grew out of its abdomen, from which it launched its most deadly attacks.

The Mothmon swooped low, terrorizing Jack and Jazzy with its four arms. Salamon leaped out of her human partner's arms and latched onto the bug with her teeth, provoking a pained cry from the insect. The Mothmon shook her off, and then spun around, aiming its ranged weapon at the two humans. "Multiple Blaster!"

"Bubble Barrier!" Gomamon jumped in front of Jack and Jazzy, and blew with all his might. A single bubble formed, and then enlarged, shielding the three of them from the attack. The bullets ricocheted off the bubble's surface, and caused no harm.

"Wow...that's a pretty strong bubble," Jack commented.

"Heh...I know, right?" Gomamon said, grinning.

Meanwhile, the Mothmon was readying its gatling gun for a second assault. Quite suddenly, however, it was caught in Salamon's devious attack. "Sledge Crash!"

The little Digimon had used a tree-trunk to push off, and then careened through the air at her opponent. She struck the Mothmon in the stomach with a fierce head-butt, and sent it reeling through the air. The Mothmon crashed to the ground in a heap. Lifting its head weakly, the Digimon peered around. Its bug-like eyes fixed on a quickly approaching figure...

"Surfer Dive!" shouted Gomamon, as he hurtled towards his opponent. The little seal Digimon slammed into Mothmon, knocking the insectoid Digimon back even further. Gomamon somersaulted through the air and landed nimbly on the ground, chuckling. "Heheh...not so tough when we fight you close up, are ya?! Sharp Edge!"

With a ferocious slash, Gomamon raked his claws across the Mothmon's face, bringing forth an explosion of data particles that drifted into the air. Gomamon, grinning, looked over his shoulder at Jack, Jasmine, and Salamon. "Heh...where to now, guys?"

******

"So this is the Digital World...somehow I thought it would be...warmer."

Keith scanned the perimeter of his current location like a hawk. Tall, snowy hills surrounded him on every side, and a thick slush covered the ground. It was a good thing he had been wearing warmer clothes when he was abducted. Glancing around, his eyes fixed on an approaching figure. It was reptilian in form, but wore the cloak of a striped wolf. A single horn protruded from the top of its head, and a tail poked out from beneath the fur coat.

"Gabumon," Keith said, as the Digimon approached, "what did you find?"

Gabumon looked up at Keith with his red eyes and replied, "There are some Digimon battling over there...and another human."

Keith raised an eyebrow. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his Digivice. He pressed a button, and the screen flashed. 'PawnChessmon. Rookie level. Virus attribute. Puppet type. Threat level: None.'

Keith pressed another button. This time, new information appeared on the screen. 'Mojyamon. Champion level. Vaccine attribute. Rare Animal type. Threat level: Medium.'

"Interesting...let's go check it out."

******

"In the name of the King, I order you to stand down!"

"Um...Calliburn...I don't think he's listening," Arthur said, gripping the hilt of his sword. Calliburn stood in front of his human partner, with his shield raised. Their opponent was approaching fast, wielding a large bone of some kind.

It had the appearance of a small yeti-creature, and was covered in a thick coat of white fur. Its mouth hung open wide, revealing a row of sharp teeth. A roar escaped its throat, causing Calliburn to shake in his armor.

The little soldier Digimon pointed his spear at the oncoming enemy. "Master Arthur, I highly suggest that now would be a good time for you to get out of here."

Arthur shook his head and lifted his sword higher. "No way, Calliburn. I will be at your side, as always! Huzzah!"

The yeti-creature leaped into the air, bellowing ferociously. Calliburn took a step back. "Then...be at my side as I run away!"

"What? Real knights never flee in the face of danger, Calliburn!" Arthur exclaimed, readying his weapon.

Calliburn lifted his shield higher. "Well, then it's a good thing neither of us are real knights..."

By now, the Mojyamon was upon them. It brought its large bone-weapon down on Calliburn's weapon. The soldier Digimon deflected the blow, and then stabbed at the furry enemy with his spear, exclaiming, "Pawn Spear!"

The white, furry Digimon jerked away from the attack, and roared, "Bone Boomerang!"

With a swing of its arm, the beast let its bone spin through the air at the boy and his Digimon partner. Calliburn lifted his shield, and followed the Mojyamon's example, letting it fly through the air like a boomerang. "Pawn Buckler!"

The shield and bone collided, and both clattered to the ground. Calliburn and Arthur rushed forward, brandishing their weapons against their now-weaponless opponent. The Mojyamon bellowed something unintelligible, and then lifted its arms. Within seconds, the moisture in the air had frozen, and a huge icicle fell into the beast's hands. Grinning, the Mojyamon shouted, "Ice Cloud!"

The icicle hurtled through the air at Arthur and Calliburn. They stopped dead in their tracks, knowing that if they were hit by that...then they'd be in a lot of pain. Suddenly, a blur streaked through the air, exclaiming, "Horn Attack!"

Gabumon's horn destroyed the icicle on impact, and, in midair, the reptile Digimon turned and let loose a stream of blue fire at Mojyamon. "Blue Blaster!"

The attack struck, and Mojyamon was sent stumbling backwards. Gabumon somersaulted through the air and landed directly in front of Arthur and Calliburn. Glancing over his shoulder at the two, he said, "You really should be more careful. Rushing headlong into battle is not the way to hunt."

Calliburn stood indignantly. "I don't mean to sound rude, good sir...but we weren't hunting the beast. Rather, it was hunting us."

Before Gabumon could reply, Arthur broke in, "And I don't think the hunt is over..."

The Mojyamon rose to its feet and cracked its knuckles. With a howl, it sent another icicle flying in their direction. Calliburn, acting quickly, dove forward to grab his shield, and brought it up just in time, deflecting the icicle. The little Digimon rolled to the left to avoid a downward punch from Mojyamon, and then hopped backwards to avoid a forward thrust from its free fist.

Gabumon and Arthur followed up Calliburn's charge, each striking at their opponent with the various sharp objects in their arsenal: Gabumon with his horn, and Arthur with his sword.

The Mojyamon staggered backwards, clutching several wounded spots, and became subject to another of Gabumon's attacks, "Drill Horn!"

And just like that, the Mojyamon was no more. It exploded into a cloud of data particles. But this time, rather than floating away, they were sucked into Gabumon's body, and absorbed by the Digimon. Arthur stood speechless.

If Calliburn had owned a jaw, it would have dropped. "Do you mean to tell me that all this time I could have absorbed the data of the Digimon we defeated?!"

"Do you mean to tell me that you didn't?" spoke a voice from atop a nearby hill. Arthur and Calliburn stared up at the newcomer. "The name is Spring. Keith Spring."

Arthur grinned and tried to appear as knightly as possible. "Sir Arthur Camotel...at your service!"

******

"You know what, Agurabana?"

"What, Senpai?"

"I'm starting to think that fate hates me."

"Fate doesn't hate you, Senpai. It just likes everybody else more."

Daiki stared at his surroundings. He was in an open field of grass...and surrounded by prehistoric monsters on every side. To his left was a herd of stegosaurus-look-alikes. To his right, a bunch of single-horned, gray dinosaurs. Behind him were a couple of long-necked, horn-headed dinosaurs. And, directly before him, was a bright red, sharp-toothed, razor-clawed, fire-breathing T-rex.

And its gaping jaws were drifting directly in front of him.

"Don't move a muscle...it can't see us if we don't move," Daiki whispered, cowering back in the grass.

"Hey! That's a stereotype!" Agurabana exclaimed, glaring up at his human partner.

"You mean it can see us?!"

"Yep."

Daiki's eyes grew wide. "Then what are we standing here for?! RUN!"

Grabbing Agurabana by the arm, Daiki launched into a full-throttle run. The tyrannosaurus Digimon let out a blood-curdling roar before sprinting after them. The huge red Digimon sent an enormous fireball hurtling at Daiki and Agurabana, and the two just barely dodged it by dropped to the ground. The fireball rocketed over their heads and exploded on one of the single-horned Digimon just a short distance away. The Digimon dropped to the ground and disintegrated into data particles.

With the thundering footsteps of an angry T-rex behind him, and who-knew-how-many other dinosaurs before him, Daiki was beginning to think that his earlier accusation of fate was right.

******

"Well, well, well," spoke a menacing voice from the canopies above. It seemed to echo from everywhere. "What do we have here?"

Jeff and Monodramon scanned the area, but there were no signs of anyone else. Suddenly, a figure materialized directly in front of them. Monodramon yelped and fell back on his hindquarters. Jeff simply stared at the new acquaintance. He had the appearance of a twisted and maniacal clown, dressed in bright colors and wielding two swords, one in each hand. Two more swords jutted out of their sheaths on his back.

He looked rather comical, indeed...but there was something about him that struck Jeff as...terrifying. Perhaps it was the way he spoke...or maybe even the way his eyes were fixed on Jeff hungrily. The boy took a wary step back, and glanced at his Digivice. 'Piedmon. Mega level. Virus attribute. Wizard type. Threat level: Incalculable.'

Piedmon grinned, and let out a maniacal laugh. He sheathed his two swords and lifted one hand in the air. Instantly, the surrounding trees began to take on living form. They developed menacing eyes and terrible mouths, and their branches formed into ferocious arms and claws.

Monodramon leaped to his feet, rushed in front of Jeff, and stood in a battle stance. Jeff's Digivice now had two more doses of information to give, 'Woodmon. Champion level. Virus attribute. Vegetation type. Threat level: Medium.'

The next piece of information read, 'Cherrymon. Ultimate level. Virus attribute. Vegetation type. Threat level: High.'

Piedmon let out another of his menacing laughs and then said, "Welcome to the Digital World, Chosen."