I'm back. Sorry I didn't post in a while, I had terrible Writer's Block. And adding insult to injury, the computer that I had the original version of this chapter broke. So I got a new computer and had to start from scratch. Hope this one's good.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Sonic, or anything else except Gear, Frost, Roki, Yume, and Theta

Chapter 13: Harvest part 1: Training

It was near midnight, just hours after the group's fight with the foxgirl assassin, Evelyn. While most of the group went to their room, the girls decided to go to the village's bathhouse. The baths were one of few buildings in the village to be built on the ground, just like Madam Seral's tower. There was an attendant that ran the house, but she left for the night and left it open. Inside, there were two sides: a girls' side and a boys' side.

The teens went to their respective side and exchanged their clothes for towels in the lockers. The springs, unlike the buildings, which were made of wood, was made of stone. Hot water flowed to it through the mouths of stone serpentine dragons. The night starry sky made the springs shine brightly. Both girls dipped into the bath, the steaming hot water relaxing their aching muscles, Izumi's needing it more because of the more fighting she was in. After minutes of soaking in silence, Izumi started to notice Roki. Though she was thirteen, she already had her womanly curves in. She could also notice that the blue-haired teen developed early, as her breasts seemed to be at least c-cup, which was bigger than the blonde's a-cup. Before she was caught staring, she cleared her mind of all thoughts coughed in order to break the silence.

"So…" the blonde started, "how long have you known Koji?"

"Oh. I've known him since I moved to Shibuya three years ago." The multi-colored eyed teen answered. "He wasn't so much of a jerk as he is now however."

This caught Izumi off guard. She actually thought she was the only foreigner in the group, not including them being in Mobius. She wondered if she had to face the challenges she did.

"Where exactly did you live before moving here Roki?" the light spirit holder asked with concern in her voice.

"I lived in America, Miami, Florida to be exact. Mind you, I learned Japanese before I learned English. What about you Izumi?"

"Actually, I was in Italy when I was nine, but moved back to Japan when about a year ago. I managed to learn Italian well too."

Roki half-heartedly sighed as she grabbed a small bucket from the side of the bath and filled it with water. She then let it fall down to her long azure hair and her chest. The warm water sending shivers down her spine. As she put the bucket back, Izumi noticed something on her back. On the middle of her back is a tattoo of the number six. Around the tattoo, the skin was red and looked like it's been infected, much like the claw marks the blonde used to have on her back thanks to Madam Seral's healing. She sighed and looked at the moon to clear her mind. The moon was a little bigger than the moon on Earth. Not only that it was more yellow than white. She still wished she was back on Earth, but there were other things she wanted to leave behind.

Flashback

Izumi lay down on her bed in a fetal position crying. She just got home after being beaten by her fellow female students and called a putana, a whore. Her heart hurt more than the bruises and scrapes she received from the girls. Her so-called boyfriend that she thought loved her turned out to be a liar and a betrayer. She kept thinking that it was her fault. That she caused her parents to fight and her father leaving to Italy with her, her mother keeping her sister Asuka, who was three years the blonde's junior. She was sad leaving her little sister in Japan, but she had to nonetheless.

She had enough of crying and blaming herself over everything. She got up from her bed, not caring anymore that she was just in her underwear. She walked wobbly out of her poster shredded room and into the kitchen. The kitchen was a simple one. It had a crystal white floor, a sink with a fake granite countertop, and solid white refrigerator. The table in the middle of the kitchen sat at least four people, but the only ones that use the table was her since her father was either always at work until late at night.

She looked through one of the drawers in the counter and found what she has been looking for. She found a butcher knife. It was dull because of too much use and was losing its luster. She took the knife in hand and went to her room. The teen then sat at bed, positioning the blade right at her throat. Her eyes tightened shut, her hand was shaking, her face teeming with sweat. She sighed and set down the knife. She knew that she was depressed, but suicide won't answer the question. She wiped the dried tears from her emerald eyes. She looked down at her hands and felt low. Lower than she has ever felt. As of right now, the Izumi she once knew was gone. She was hollow. An empty shell.

Flashback end

Izumi was stuck in her daydream until she was suddenly jerked her way out of it by Roki. She noticed that Yume has sat down on the bucket Roki used before. They both looked at the blonde with remorse. She felt something falling down her cheeks. She was crying.

"What happened Izumi? Why are you crying?" the blue haired girl ask in concern.

"I don't know…" she answered as she wiped the tears out of her emerald eyes. "I just…don't know." as she said that, Yume felt down, seeing her mistress cry was something she never saw in her life. It was tearing her apart like an atom splitter.

J.P. was in his room playing poker with Gear. He had a smirk parched on his face. Gear, on the other hand, just had a simple blank look. She seemed laid-back while the tubby teen's was more of a stressed one. Probably because he had been losing every single hand since he and the android started playing. But this hand was going to be different. This one was going to be his best hand. This one would be the one to break her record. It was time that they would have to reveal their hands.

"You can't beat this!" J.P said as he set down his hand, revealing an eight, seven, six, five, and four. All of them spades. "Straight flush. I'd like to see you beat that." Gear could only giggle at teen's arrogance.

"Well, I don't know if this beats it but…" the violet haired android said as she put down her cards. The cards revealed were an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of diamonds. This made J.P. nearly have a heart attack.

"What the hell? That's the sixteenth hand in a row!" the teen exclaimed. "I'm glad this wasn't strip poker or I'll be the one without clothes." he then chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "You should go pro."

"Emerl said that a great warrior shouldn't have such weaknesses like gambling." Gear explained.

"I see your point." J.P then sighed. "I don't have to worry about that until I get my own spirit."

"I'm sure you'll get it soon. I just hope it's a monkey! Monkeys are great!"

J.P let out a laugh. "It wouldn't matter to me if I had a chicken. I just want to feel like one of the heroes." he looked down at the deck of cards with a sign of envy, but put on a mask of his usual happy self. "Another game?"

Late in the night, Takuya, Tommy, and Koji were at the riverside of the forest with Emerl. He had told them that they needed to train a bit more just in case they meet more of Lord Metallic's personal army. This time, the robot is not going to hold back.

"I called you three over because of one thing: teaming up. A team here consists of a speed type, power type, and a flight type." the robot wisely explained, "When these three things combine perfectly, they create a giant spike in energy. With it, they can release it in a matter called a Team Blast."

"Okay. Then what the hell are we here for?" The goggle boy annoyingly inquired. "In case you forgot, Koji and I aren't really the best of friends."

"Fuck you!" the long-haired teen spat back at Takuya

"Because. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were one of the strongest teams, if not the strongest in Mobius." the bot advocated, "That's why we have to get you three ready to work as a three-man team before we get to Metal City."

"So what's the first lesson?" the youngest teammate asked

"Your first test is to try to stand your ground against me." Emerl's hand then had a hilt. He gripped tightly as a violet light protracted from it to form a saber. "I failed …well purposely didn't tell you that I was built with a special ability known as Skill Copy. I can copy someone's skill and utilize it in battle."

"This will be tough." Takuya started, "But let's show him what we can do."

As he said this, all three of their D-Tectors beeped as a massive light immersed them. As it dimmed, their respective heroes appeared. Sonic was the first to try to fight Emerl. He drew his blade from his gauntlet and sped towards the robot. In a storm of sparks, both swords conflicted with each other. Their strength was even, a dead draw. The blue hedgehog severed the clash and retreated as he tried to recover.

"What the hell? When I was fighting him it felt like…"

"…you were fighting yourself?" the bot abruptly interrupted. "It's just so happens that I am using your current skill at the moment. The task is to work as a team. Not stand-alone."

Sonic let out a growl as he looked towards Tails and Knuckles. Knuckles took a shot at it. He rushed at the robot and stated to let the punches fly. Dozens of punches were flying at blinding speed and it was hard to dodge them in general. But Emerl were dodging them like they were as slow as a turtle. The machine let out a chuckle as the punches started slowing down.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he asked as the sword in his hand disappeared and the now empty fist was submerged in flames. "Well learning comes with some pain. FLARE GRENADE!" the fist slammed the echidna in the stomach, which caused an explosion that sent the Spirit of Flame towards the others.

"What the fuck? I got hit with my own attack!"

"Guys we have to hit him altogether." Tommy recalled. "Lets all hit him with a combined attack. He can't block all three."

They all looked at Emerl as the plan was formed. Sonic rolled into a ball and spun at high speed as Knuckles charged his fist with fire. Tails however transmuted his data chip into an XM-29 assault rifle as particles started forming into a ball of energy until it was twice the size of his head. As he released the ball, Sonic Spindashed at it. Both attacks collided with each other. Their forces sparking high amount of electricity. As they continued to collide, the Spirit of Earth was slowly being absorbed like water and paper towels. The absorption caused the ball to be faster than both attacks combined.

It was Knuckles' turn to pitch in the attack. The brawny echidna pulled back his blazing fist and launched it at the double hitter and the explosion of the attack strengthened it greatly. The ball was now sheltered in inferno and was sent hurling towards Emerl. As a defensive measure, the robot made his arms move in front of his head. The attack collided with his hands at an incredible force. So powerful, even in Knuckles' skill form, it was hard even to stand his ground. He was slipping and it was getting as heavy as a wrecking ball. Through pure force alone, the robots arms suddenly disintegrated and he was hit by the full-on attack. The hit was like a meteor that was thrown by the fastest pitcher in the known universe. He fell to the ground with a crunch and the sound of metal scraping rocks was audible through the area. Sonic emerged from the smoke and looked around. He has just felt like he had gulped down 20 energy drinks at once. He ran to the others as they were surprised too.

"Guys," Sonic shouted, "that was amazing! Downright awesome if I could say so!"

"Considering the combined forces of our attacks, it was naturally certain it would work." Tails replied as Knuckles let off a scoff.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that was pretty fucking awesome."

Then they stop their cheering as they noticed Emerl, mangled and heavily damaged. It looked like it was too powerful for him to handle. As they all went to his side, they thought he was going to shut down, but a heavenly light shined around him. Out of thin air, nuts, bolts, and metal were appearing as if they were there from the start. All the materialized pieces were put in place of the robot's missing or damaged pieces. The light then faded and Emerl got up like nothing really happened.

"That was a very strong attack. Even with Knuckles' skill form, I couldn't defend myself." he praised as all three of them were giving him confusing looks.

"What the hell?" Takuya asked. "How the hell did you heal yourself."

"Oh that. Like I said before, I can copy skills. I copied some skills of robots that could heal themselves using an ability called Self Sustain. Now, we should all go back to the village. Madam Seral will be expecting you all in her temple first thing in the morning."

As the three started to walk, Emerl froze in his tracks. He was shaking, which was uncommon for a robot. If he had a face, it would have a visage of something terrible. He looked to the sky and noticed the thing that gave him the feeling. It was an airship in the shape of a stingray. The ship itself was colored black to match the night, but the moon shined some pieces of it in the dusk sky.

"I suggest we run to the village." He said as he started to run. "Now!"

The other followed him, but they were soon cut off by four robots. They were tall, around six feet, and seemed to look like a humanoid, if its metal wasn't colored silver. All them had a blaster in the shape of an M-16 and swords on their backs. One of them, possibly the leader, came up with his weapon aimed.

"Stop there, spirit holders." The metallic assailant said in a deep computerized voice. "By orders of Lord Metallic, you shall be slain."

What will happen to the heroes now? Are these the robots that was part of the raid issued by Frost? Find out in the next eciting chapter of What time Will Tell!

Please R&R

-Galesonic