AN: Again, I would like to thank all those who reviewed. Your reviews are encouraging regardless of how little you say.
News media outlets from around the world had gone crazy the day after, at least according to Yushima Hiroshi. They were all reporting about the creatures as if it were new news, not realizing that they were the same 'creatures' that attacked five years ago.
"They do not even know they are reliving what already happened," the old fisherman said, reeling in his lure. "I wonder how long it will take before they reinstate the old DATS team. I better get going, just in case they need someone with my experiences."
Dressed in some raggedy fishing vest and matching hat, Yushima gathered his equipment and belongings and left his current location. But as he was leaving the bridge, where he was fishing, the news report coming from a nearby television caught his attention.
"In national news," said the television reporter, "Director Hashiba refused to comment on the so called Digimon. For those who don't remember, he has denied that the government had anything to do with those events, five years ago.. When asked whether people should be scared, he refused to answer. Our reporters are standing outside his office hoping to get more but, until then, we have no idea what is going on."
So Hashiba somehow managed to keep his job. I do wonder whether he will have some sort of opposition to the reformation of DATS. Now I know they will need my help handling him.
"In world news," continued the reporter, "the other two confirmed attacks happened in a newly built military base in the states and a newly built research lab in Central Europe. It appears that all were attacked roughly at the same time, with death and destruction following suit."
Ignoring the rest of the report, Yushima went his way, but not before going to a nearby store and purchasing something to drink. "Give me a bottle of something that lies between your weakest and your strongest!"
"Aniki, do you think we can take a rest?" Agumon was not pleased with his partner's unwillingness to rest. They had spent the previous day looking for the digivice and, since starting their search, they had made no progress; Agumon knew that they were nowhere near finding it.
"Come on, Agumon!" Though one would think Masaru would be angry about having to search for his digivice, he seemed far more determined in searching than he had in fighting the last batch of digimon they handled. "Think of it as a challenged. Our goal is to find it before sundown. What do you say, Agumon?"
"But can we take a break? Or can we at least fight some digimon to get the adrenaline pumpin'?"
"Agumon, do you even have adrenaline in your body? Plus, all the digimon around here are lightweights, not even worth hurting my knuckles over. By the way, what do you think is happening with the Royal Knights? Do you think that instead of searching we should be trying to see what's happening?'
"But we don't really know what exactly happened. We might be walking into a death trap without some form of defending ourselves."
"Agumon! Are you saying that I can't handle them?"
"No offense, Aniki, but not even you would be able to handle all of them at the same time. Our best bet of taking them down would be to find the digivice." Agumon looked out at the forest, which appeared to go on forever. "Regardless of how boring it might get."
"Then lets get searching! Come on, Agumon, get off your ass and let's start searching!"
"But can we eat first, Aniki?'
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have something..."
"Aniki!" Agumon interrupted, pushing Masaru down.
"Agumon, what was that for?" Masaru then looked up and saw. "Oh."
A large ninja shuriken had struck the tree they were looking at. Masaru guessed that it had been aimed in his direction.
"Are you okay, Aniki?"
Rather than answering the question, Masaru got back up and, rather than trying to find his assailant, he instead decided to call them out. "Hey! What kind of person attacks a man when his back is turned!?"
With the way he had shouted, Agumon was certain that every digimon within proximity had heard.
"Why are you two here, trespassing on this land?" Asked a voice.
"Hey! Why don't you show your face so I can kick your ass!?"
"Do you think I'm scared by the threats from some hooligan? Plus, I doubt you would be able to, as you say it, kick all of our asses."
"The more the happier!" Masaru said punching his open palm. "Right, Agumon?"
"I think you mean the more the merrier, Aniki."
"That too."
"Foolish fools." Came the voice. "You will die a million deaths for your insolence."
"Now who's the one making treats? Alright, Agumon, let's show these guys our true power."
"Choose your weapon, fool." Hearing that voice, Masaru was getting annoyed with it.
"I choose my fist," he responded confidently, moving his arms up to defend his head.
"Then die with your pride."
That is when they began hearing several footsteps around them. Knowing that they were surrounded they faced back-to-back, hoping they would not be taken by surprised. Anticipating the attack, Masaru was not surprised when something jumped out from his side. Though he could not make out what it was, exactly, he managed to see just enough to know when to attack. When it got close enough Masaru threw a punch that collided with the intended target, sending it flying towards some bushes.
"My fist followed up with those threats! What do you have to say about that!?"
He noticed that his digisoul had activated. He also noticed that there were some pieces of broken metal lying below where he had made the punch. Letting his guard down, something that was too fast for the eye to see launched itself at Masaru.
"Baby Flame!" Shooting out a small fire burst, Agumon managed to knock out the digimon responsible for the attack.
"Thanks, Agumon." Looking down at the fallen opponent, Masaru saw that it was a large, round, purple-cloaked digimon that looked like a ninja. "Who is this clown, Agumon?"
"That's Kougamon, a data mutant type digimon who fights using the Kouga style of ninjutsu."
"Now let's see who his friend is." Going to where the other digimon had been knocked out, he saw a similar looking digimon only in red. Picking him up, he threw the red ninja near his comrade.
"Let me guess, RedKougamon?"
"No. That's Igamon, another data mutant type digimon who fights using the Iga style of ninjutsu."
"Now which one of you was it that called me a fool?"
"Screw you!" said Kougamon
"Yeah! Screw you!" joined Igamon.
Masaru immieadtly noticed something that told him that his fight wasn't over. "Wait, neither one of you have that voice I heard.
"Excellent observation."
Turning around, Masaru saw another attacker about to strike with a sword. Having enough time to defend, he threw a punch that collided with the digimon's sword.
"And just who might you be?" asked Masaru seeing the attacker in plain sight.
"The name's Musyamon, though I doubt you'd live long enough to care." He was still trying to push his sword against Masaru's fist but had no luck.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't really care. Just think it's consider rude to not ask for the name of the one whose ass you're about to kick." As both jumped back, Masaru was able to fully make out his opponent. He had the appearance of a samurai, with red armor covering his body. He wielded a large sword that Masaru knew would be his main attack. "And just to let you know who is about to kick your ass, just call me Daimon Masaru, self proclaimed defender of the digital world."
"Daimon?" asked a confused Musyamon. "Never heard of your type before."
"I'm a human, you bastard!"
"Wait, are you the Daimon Masaru?"
"Damn right!"
"The one who, with his fist defeated, Yggdrasil?"
"I had some help from my friends, but yeah."
"The one who breaks up scuffles when one group of digimon fights another?"
"You guessed it."
"Well then it seems that your legend surpasses the real deal, because you look like a chump to me."
"What did you call me!?" shouted Masaru.
"You heard me, a chump. You probably got lucky during your fight with Yggdrasil."
"That's it! Okay pal, I can take being attacked from behind; I can even take almost dying because of it. But don't you ever deny my victory!"
Charging in swiftly, Masaru managed to get through Musyamon's defenses and land a punch directly on his head, sending the samurai digimon flying. Hitting a tree, Musyamon was sent through it, causing Masaru to start celebrating.
"You see that, Agumon? This is why these lightweights bore me. They have all this talk about killing, and then I take them out with one punch."
"Aniki..." responded Agumon pointing to where Musyamon had been.
Turning around, Masaru saw that the samurai digimon was not out yet; he actually looked angry and serious now.
"You think you're funny, don't you?"
"Enough with the small talk. Came at me!"
"Prepare to die!" Musyamon shouted, charging in.
Once again Musyamon was found with Masaru's fist connecting to his head. Being knocked out again, Musyamon just looked at Masaru with detestation.
"So you wanna go for a third round?" asked Masaru.
"Shut up!"
"You're not even worth my time! Come one, Agumon. We've wasted enough time with these guys. We need to find the digivice before sundown." Turning his back on Musyamon Masaru walked towards Agumon, leaving himself opened once again.
"Baby flame!"
Turing around, Masaru saw that Musyamon had attempted to attack him. Luckily for him, Agumon had struck him before he was able to land the attack.
"Attacking someone when his back is turned, that is very cowardly." Masaru looked displeased with the digimon. Picking him up, he threw him next to Kougamon and Igamon. "Now, what should I do with you three cowards?"
To Masaru and Agumon's surprised the three digimon got on their knees and began begging.
"Please, don't hurt us!"
"Yeah, if we had known who you were we would not have attacked."
"If you must hurt somebody then punish me," said Musyamon. "It was my order, so don't punish them for my insolence."
"Of course I'm going to hurt you!" Masaru responded. "What you three did is nothing short of cowardly. I am a real man; I never fight somebody whose back is..."
"No! Please don't scold us!" begged Musyamon.
"We do not wish to bring disgrace on us," continued Igamon.
Kougamon also interrupted. "Yeah! We can't afford to have our reputation destroyed."
Masaru and Agumon did not know what to do or how to respond, as evident by the expression on their faces. Not sure of himself both Masaru and Agumon decided it would be best to just leave, and just pretend that their little encounter never happened. Attempting to leave they were soon stopped by the three digimon.
"Please," said a teary eyed Musyamon, "don't tell anyone we fight in such a cowardly fashion. People just don't understand that a ninja has to do things in stealth, it's just out style."
"Let go of me," said Masaru.
"But if we let you go..." began Kougamon.
"...You'll just tell everyone you beat us with a single punch," finished Igamon.
"Don't worry," Masaru said, "I don't go around telling people I beat a bunch of ninjas in training."
"Please!" Musyamon had now won Masaru's pity, something that occurred rarely. "We promise to do whatever you want that is within reason, if you don't tell everyone how easily you defeated us."
"Anything I say, huh. Come here, Agumon." Squatting next to Agumon, Masaru was about to tell his partner his plan. "I have an idea, Agumon. We have a whole forest to search and it will take us forever to look by ourselves. You thinking what I'm thinking?'
"Use those three to help us search?" Responded Agumon.
"Exactly. It might still take us a while seeing as we'll only be five, but we'll definitely find it a lot faster." Masaru got up and turned around to face the three digimon, who were now looking at the ground worshiping him. "Okay! You guys want to be useful to the great Masaru-sama? Then you will help me find what I seek!"
"We would kill a perfect level digimon for you, just as long as you don't tell everyone."
"Just what I like to hear! I need help trying to find something that fell out of my hands. The item is really small and colored orange. Our mission will be to find it before sundown, it that clear?"
"Yes sir!" the three of them responded.
Musyamon got up and approached Masaru. "If you will, sir, I think I can make this search go a lot faster."
"How so?" asked Masaru.
Musyamon put a two of his fingers in his mouth and began to whistle. Within a few seconds a small army of Igamon and Kougamon, divided about equally, surrounded the area they were standing in. "I'm certain that with all my troops searching the area we will find what you seek. Troops commence the search!"
"Yes sir!" came an uproar caused by all of them moving out.
Upon seeing all the ninja digimon helping them search, Agumon and Masaru were dumbstruck. Not only had they been surrounded, but, for whatever reason, Musyamon had refused to have all of them attack Masaru and Agumon.
"Aniki, do you think we should be worried?" asked a concerned Agumon.
"I don't think so, Agumon." Responded a confident Masaru.
"What makes you say that?"
"Though they used dirty tactics to try and win, we still defeated them. These guys, they care enough about their honor and reputation to not want it ruined by a single fight. If they were to win by having all of them attack at once, then there would be no honor in that. I know they didn't mean to attack us from behind, but I know for certain that they will not attack us."
"Well, Aniki, if that is what you believe then I will stick with it."
"Right! Now let's help these guys look."
"Right!"
Finding a path through the forest Takato and Guilmon felt relieved that they did not have to navigate through it with no guide. It was a quite path that, though looked like it was used constantly, seemed empty at the moment. However, the quite and tranquil forest was about to be interrupted.
"Takato, I'm hungry."
Takato knew his partner well. Over the years he had gotten use to the red dinosaur's ability to be hungry soon after a big meal. But this time was different. They had barely eaten in the morning, and that had been a couple of hours ago. Though he too was hungry, he knew he could suppress it.
But he was lying to himself. It was not that he could suppress it that was preventing him from complaining about having an empty stomach, but he was too worried about being stuck in another world to care about the state of his stomach. To make matters worst he still had not mastered the new ability to evolve, meaning an attack from a high level digimon could mean the end for them. But what struck Takato the worst was that Guilmon did not realize the predicament they were in, which explained why he was still worried about the small stuff. But Takato was okay with it after all, one of them needed to be optimistic. For all Takato knew, they might be stuck in the strange world for a while.
"Okay, Guilmon." Takato decided that if they were going to get out alive, Guilmon would have to be at full strength. If that meant going out of his way to making sure he stayed happy and full then so be it. "First sign of a fruit tree we'll stop to eat, and stock up while we're at it. Now where is the nearest fruit tree?"
"I'll look," responded Guilmon beginning to sniff out some sort of food. After about a few minutes of sniffing around he finally caught something. "I smell food, Takato."
"Great! Let's go and... Wait, Guilmon! Don't go running off like that." Catching up to his partner, the two ran towards the unidentified source of food. Continuing on their chase they soon found themselves leaving the set path and while this got Takato worried, he knew that it would in their best interest to get something to eat. "Are we almost there, Guilmon?"
"It's over that bush."
Reaching it, they were surprised to see three digimon attacking somebody. Two of the ones that were attacking were short, green, plan digimon with a flower growing on top of their heads. The one being attacked was about the same size as the other two and had the appearance of several rocks put together. The one attacking was a large insect like firefly looking digimon. "Guilmon, who are those digimon?"
"Those two are Alraumon," said Guilmon pointing to the green ones. "The one being attacked is Gotsumon, and I'm not to sure who the other one is."
"Let me check the digivice," Takato said taking it out. "Yanmamon, an insect data type digimon. Oh, and get this, he's an adult. We need to find a way to rescue that Gotsumon before those three digimon do something to him."
"Wait, Takato, they're telling him something."
Listening in, they were able to make out what they were saying.
"What exactly happened to Mercurimon?" asked Yanmamon.
"I'm telling you, I don't know who you're talking about. Please, I did nothing to you, let me go."
"Don't lie to us, Gotsumon! You were one of his most trusted servants, I'm sure you would know what exactly happened to Mercurimon."
"But I don't even know who Mercurimon is. You have to believe me."
"Quit lying to us!" Yanmamon had lost his patience. He turned to the two Alraumon and gave them an order. "You two, hold him over a cliff until he is willing to talk."
"Right."
Approaching the rock digimon, Takato knew that they had to go in now and save him, regardless if the odds were stacked against their favor. Getting out of their hiding place, both tamer and partner rushed in hoping to save Gotsumon.
"Hey!" screamed Takato. "Leave the poor guy alone."
"A human?" said a shocked Yanmamon. "Both of you forget about the stupid follower, we just found ourselves a price worth catching."
"Nemesis ivy," screamed out both of the Alraumon. Screaming out their arms, vines stretched out from their hands and attempted to entangle the two foreigners.
However, being the battle ready digimon that he was, Guilmon opened his mouth and shot out a fireball, managing to hit one of the Alraumon directly. Knocking it out, Guilmon was caught of guard when the other Alraumon managed to tangle him.
"Guilmon!" screamed Takato.
"Takato... Please, stay back." Seeing that his partner stayed behind, Guilmon dashed forward managing to take Alraumon along. Running faster, he stopped instantly causing the Alraumon to be sent flying forward. As the airborne digimon neared Guilmon, the red dinosaur ducked seconds before the airborne digimon hit him and kicked up just as Alraumon passed above him. The resulting action sent the plant digimon flying high, making him let go of Guilmon in the process. When he finally landed in the ground, it was obvious he was knocked out.
"Guilmon, behind you!" screamed Takato as the other Alraumon began attacking him. But it was to late. When Guilmon turned around, Alraumon managed to whip him across the face.
The attack barely hurt Guilmon, which put Alraumon in a compromising position. Shooting another fireball Guilmon landed the attack right in the face of Alraumon, throwing the plant digimon back. Seeing that Alraumon was still not down, Guilmon charged in as his claw began glowing. Before Alraumon even had a chance to stand up Guilmon struck the plant digimon right through the chest, causing the plant digimon to reform back into a digitama.
"Good job, Guilmon."
"But Takato, now I'm more hungry than before."
"Tell me, red one," began Yanmamon, "why is it that you side with the human?"
"Because Takato is my friend, silly."
"Well that's the dumbest reason ever. Tell me the real reason."
"Um, because he is my friend."
"Supposedly humans have the power to empower digimon. If you wish to leave here alive, the you will show me."
"Guilmon," interrupted Takato, "we don't need to prove anything to him."
"So those stories are just lies, then. Digimon who serve humans only do it out of enslavement."
Guilmon had heard enough. Charging in, he attempted to take Yanmamon by surprised. But before he reached the insect digimon, Yanmamon disappeared and appeared in back of Guilmon, leaving him right open for an attack. Using his claws, Yanmamon jabbed directly at Guilmon's chest just as the red digimon turned around. Though it was a direct hit, Guilmon was not down yet and was willing to continue fighting.
"Come on, red one," he began. "If you want to defeat me, you'll need more power then that. Use you partner to help you evolve."
Attempting to hit the insect digimon, Guilmon once again made his claws glow and struck where Yanmamon was. But the insect digimon was too fast, easily dodging the attack. Once again appearing in back of Guilmon Yanmamon attacked him in the back.
"Guilmon!" Takato attempted to run towards his fallen partner, only to have Yanmamon stop him in his tracks. "Get out of my way."
"Or what? You want to help him? Then make him evolve."
Takato looked behind the insect digimon and saw that Guilmon got up, barely. "Takato, do it."
"Okay. Digisoul charge!" Takato put his free hand on top of his digivice, putting all of his focus on summoning his digisoul. "Overdrive!"
He could clearly see his white aura surrounding his hand and knew that Guilmon would soon evolve. But sadly, there was no Dukemon to save the day; his attempt at evolving did not pay off.
"Pathetic," said Yanmamon. "You will both die now." As Yanmamon began laughing, Guilmon, Takato, and Yanmamon were surprised when Gotsumon tackled the insect digimon, knocking him down.
"Get out of here," Gotsumon said to Takato.
"So the coward decides to fight back," responded Yanmamon, now appearing madder than ever. "You will be the first to die!"
As quickly as sound travels, so did Yanmamon. But as Gotsumon stepped back not knowing what to do, he tripped on a small rock allowing him to dodge the charge accidentally. Flying above Yanmamon was surprised when Gotsumon was still alive.
"So you think you're pretty fast, do ya?" Once again, Yanmamon attempted to take down Gotsumon by charging in. But to his surprise, Guilmon stepped in front of him and shot out a fireball at Yanmamon. Due to his reckless charge, Yanmamon could do nothing to dodge it and took the attack head on. But he still kept charging. When both digimon realized that that he was still going to attack them, they both jumped out of the way avoiding the attack.
"Do you think we can take him?" asked Gotsumon.
"Yeah!" said an enthusiastic Guilmon. "Let's go."
As both stood up, they charged at the adult digimon without much strategy in mind. Of course, their actions brought amusement to Yanmamon.
"You two must have a death wish." Traveling fast, Yanmamon began attacking them from all directions. Attacking Guilmon first he first struck him from the right, then the left, then from above, and from every side he left open. Once Guilmon regained his composure, Yanmamon moved over to Gotsumon and attacked him in a similar fashion. When either one appeared to be ready for a counter attack, Yanmamon switched to the other, thus avoiding injury. "You cannot win."
At the moment, Yanmamon seemed unstoppable. Not only was he faster than them, but he was a level higher. But Guilmon knew that Yanmamon had to be defeated, regardless of the odds. Looking to his right, he saw that Gotsumon was worn out and would probably not be fighting anymore. Knowing he would be fighting alone Guilmon charged in recklessly, hoping to end the fight immediately.
"You are to slow," screamed Yanmamon. Rather than waiting for his opponent, Yanmamon dashed towards Guilmon and began attacking him using the same pattern.
With every blow he received Guilmon felt his energy being sapped away. When the exhaustion finally hit him Guilmon feel to the ground, but not before Yanmamon delivered a few more blows.
"No, Guilmon!" Attempting to reach his digimon Takato ran to where his partner was lying. But Yanmamon had other plans for the boy. Deciding that it was the human's turn next the insect digimon was about to go after him only to find that there was something holding his leg, preventing him from moving.
"Huh, what? Gotsumon? What do you think you're doing?" Yanmamon was taken by surprised.
"I'm not going to just stay there while you kill them," said Gotsumon.
"Then you shall die first!" With that, Yanmamon flew towards Gotsumon and tackled him. Knocking Gotsumon down Yanmamon flew up and prepared to dive down.
Takato knew he had to do something. But as he ran towards Gotsumon Yanmamon, seeing him trying to intervene, went after Takato rather than Gotsumon. When Takato saw that Yanmamon was going after him his body froze leaving, him open for his attack. However, Gotsumon was close enough that he was able to push Takato out of the way, putting the rock digimon in the pathway of Yanmamon.
"Gotsumon!" screamed Takato realizing that a strange digimon was about to die for him. Before Yanmamon struck him, Gotsumon's body began glowing causing Takato to shield his eyes. Before the light faded, Yanmamon collided with Gotsumon, but was sent back instead.
"What's happening?" asked Yanmamon. When the light cleared, Gotsumon appeared, only he was in a different color. Rather than being a gray color like a rock, his body tone was now a very light blue mixed with white.
Gotsumon looked down at his body and looked quite surprise with what had happened. "What happened to me!?" he shouted.
Wanting to make sure that this was an evolution, Takato took out his digivice to see. "Icemon, adult level data digimon. Wait, adult level? Icemon!" Takato called out to the newly evolved Gotsumon.
"Icemon?" he responded not knowing he had evolved.
"You can take him, you're both the same level.
"But... I don't feel different."
Yanmamon, knowing he would not have it as easy, decided he would kill him off now. "You think you can win just because you evolved? You will die now!"
Watching Yanmamon charge in, Icemon felt energy gathering around his arms. Before Yanmamon reached, Icemon extended his arms out and fired his attack. "Ice ball bomb!" As a large ice ball left his hands, Yanmamon meet head on with it causing his whole body to be incased in ice. Crashing hard on the floor, the ice surrounding his body cracked causing the rest of Yanmamon's body to be reformatted into data. Eventually all the broken pieces of data turned into Yanmamon's digitama.
"Guilmon!" Takato wasted no time running to his partner realizing that they had won the fight. "Guilmon, you okay?"
Hearing his partner's voice, Guilmon managed to open his eyes. "Takato... I told you I was hungry."
"You're okay." Takato was pleased that he suffered no serious injury. Remembering about Gotsumon, he decided to thank him. "Funny, we came here trying to save you and you were the one who ended up saving us."
"But if it wasn't for you," responded Icemon, "they would have thrown me off the cliff. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to me, would you?"
Takato was shocked with the question. "I think you evolved."
"Really!? Ha! I've been waiting for this to happen, though I kind of wished my form would have changed like Agumon's. Speaking of which, did Masaru and Agumon give you the digivice?"
"Masaru?" Takato was confused. "Are there other humans in the digital world?"
"Just Masaru, though it will be hard finding him. You see, while he is a great fighter, he has a tendency to go where trouble is brewing. I noticed that you were not able to evolve, though."
"Yeah. So far, we've only done it once since we got here. We need to find a way to control it unless we want what happened here to happen again."
"Then you should go find Masaru, he is probably the most knowledgeable about using digisoul."
"Digisoul? That is what I was able to summon when Guilmon evolved. I wonder if this Masaru can help me. You wouldn't happen to know where he is at, would you."
"I'm sorry, but no. I can accompany you, if you want. It has been a while since I talked to him and it would be nice to see Agumon again."
"That'd be great. But, uh, you wouldn't happen to have some food on you? Guilmon can get kind of hungry."
"I think we can swim across it, V-mon."
Daisuke was feeling rather optimistic. In front of them was a raging river that was blocking them from going further. It was rather wide for a river and, in V-mon's opinion, seemed more like a lake. But nature, or in this case the digital world, was not going to stop the maroon haired boy stopping there.
"We could just turn around, Daisuke."
"But we have traveled so far. That would mean we would be getting further and further from our goal."
"But you just picked a random direction and began walking that way."
"So?"
"So? Why would you want to continue going in a direction where we have no idea it leads to somewhere?"
"Because the river is blocking it."
V-mon was astounded by his partner's logic. "Huh?"
"This world doesn't quite feel like the digital world, right?"
"Right."
"And many of the trees, water, and plants look all pixilated, right?"
V-mon nodded his head. "Uh-huh."
"Now what kind of places has all that plus digital monsters that we might have to fight?"
V-mon knew the answer, but he didn't want to quite answer it. Knowing Daisuke would not continue in his explanation, he decided to answer. "A video game?"
"Exactly! Though an RPG video game to be more precise."
"So what does this have to do with us going through the river?"
"Well, in every one of those games the next destination is always blocked by some sort of river or rock. I'm sure that there is something across it."
V-mon knew that they were not going to end up anywhere by crossing the river, but since he was bored of traveling around doing nothing he decided it would be best to follow through with Daisuke's plan. "Okay, I'm in."
"Yeah! Now, how do we cross?" As the two looked around, they knew they would need a ferry. Looking at the trees Daisuke had a plan. "Let's build a raft!"
"Do you know how?"
"Of course I do. Remember that time we saved Gomamon from the Kaiser? That was my idea."
"But what about rope? We are going to need it to keep the wood together."
"We'll use vines. See, V-mon, we can do this."
"Okay." Looking at a tree, V-mon ran forward with increasing velocity. "V-mon head!" Colliding head first with the three, to Daisuke and V-mon's surprise, V-mon managed to break the tree with one blow.
"Wow! V-mon, you got strong."
"I don't think it was me, but I think the tree was fake."
"So is everything in this world."
"But this appeared to be more of a switch than anything else."
"Well a switch needs to activate something, so what does this one do?"
V-mon brought Daisuke to his level and pointed towards the river. "That."
From the river, there was now a small boat with someone guiding it to where they were. Though the water appeared to be able to push rocks across quite easily, the boat was having an easy time traveling through the waves. When it finally reached them Daisuke and V-mon were able to make out the ferryman. He was dressed as a wizard that was mostly colored light blue and covered his mouth with part of his cape.
"Daisuke that's Sorcerymon, and adult digimon who is a counterpart to Wizarmon."
"Wizarmon, eh. Well, let's see if we can hitch a ride. Hey, buddy, do you think we can get a ride across to the village?" The Sorcerymon did not respond. Instead, he extended his hand out to them, palm open. "Thanks!" Daisuke said, as he was about to get on.
However, Sorcerymon stopped him before he could get on. "Pay."
"This isn't for free?" Asked Daisuke.
"No. Pay."
Daisuke realized that he had left his wallet in his locker along with his school uniform. Since that was where he kept his money, Daisuke had nothing on him. "How about we start a tab?"
"No ride."
"Wait." As Sorcerymon was about to leave he stopped when he saw somebody approaching. As a small turtle-like digimon approached, the newcomer threw a small circular object to Daisuke and V-mon, and handed one to Sorcerymon. Inspecting what he received, Sorcerymon let the small digimon pass and once again extended his open hand to Daisuke and V-mon. Once they realized what had happened, they gave the circular objects to Sorcerymon and entered the boat.
"Thanks for the bail," Daisuke said as he sat across the small digimon. Upon closer inspecting, Daisuke saw that he did not look like a turtle but instead bore a resemblance to a computer mouse. "So what's you name?" When Daisuke attempted to talk to him, the computer mouse digimon retreated into his shell, hiding his head. "What did I do wrong?"
"It's not your fault, he is just shy. And his name is Kamemon," answered Sorcerymon.
"Is that so."
The ride across the river was quite a tranquil one, considering that the water looked like it was about to knock them out at any second. After several minutes of traveling, they reached the other side and discover that there was a village.
"Wow!" said both Daisuke and V-mon in amazement.
They had every reason to be amazed at what they saw. The village appeared to be carved into the trees themselves, which were a bright green. Other parts of the village were carved into the cliffs that all seem to have the same height. The sky above was cleared and the surrounding water was quite calm compare to how it was not too far from there. There were several waterfalls that seemed to come from nowhere and appeared to somehow supply themselves with an unlimited amount of water.
"And you didn't believe me about there being something across the river," said Daisuke to V-mon. As they were exploring the city, Daisuke could not help but feel like every digimon's eyes were on him. It was not bothering him too much, but he could not help but feel a bit bothered by it. "I wonder why they are staring at us like that?"
"Hey, where did Kamemon go?" asked V-mon.
Looking down, Daisuke saw that Kamemon was gone. "Hey, Kamemon, where did you go?" Not seeing him among the crowd, whom were now staring at him more, Daisuke decided that he would have to look for him. "Hey, have you seen a small turtle computer mouse looking digimon around?" asked Daisuke to a nearby Snimon. Without answering, the digimon flew away leaving Daisuke looking even more confused. "Hey! Comeback."
"Maybe you came on too strong, Daisuke."
Walking to another nearby digimon, a similar reaction occurred, with the digimon running away. Daisuke tried this many times, and received the same response he did the first time. "Hey, what's wrong with you people? Can a guy get some help trying to find someone?" The rest of the surrounding digimon looked scared of Daisuke. "There is no need to be scared of me," he said taking out his digivice, "I have a digivice."
What happened next was beyond Daisuke and V-mon's predictions. All of the surrounding digimon got up and stampeded out of there. But as they left two Knightmon entered the area, though several times much larger than they were used to.
"You are to stop disrupting the peace and tranquility of De tranquillitate animi," said one of the Knightmon. "You are to be taken to the coliseum for your behavior."
"What, for trying to find somebody?
"You are to be taken in for imprisoning a digimon for your personal use and disrupting the public."
"What hell? For disrupting the public? Damn! V-mon, run."
Just like Daisuke commanded, V-mon ran as he was told. They had no trouble avoiding the Knightmon, since their large size prevented them from maneuvering through the town.
"Daisuke, you need to be careful with what you say?"
"But that would be no fun. Where do we go now? Are we in an island or is one side surrounded by water only?"
"Only one way to find out, Daisuke." They decided to run to the other side from where they were. Running through the village, which they guessed was named De tranquillitate animi, they noticed just how long it was. They had been running for several minutes when they saw what they thought was the coliseum.
Rather than being a building like they had in Rome, it was instead more like a bowl, due to it being built below ground. The main entrances were at ground level, but the seats and arena were below. It appeared to be directly carved into the stone it was built on, more likely made without adding something that had never been there. The seats seemed to be part of the ground, though decorated to distinguish them from the pathway. If they had not known that it was there they were suppose to be kept prisoner, they would have actually taken the time to take a detailed tour.
"Let's get out of here, V-mon."
"Right."
Running away from the coliseum, Daisuke knew that he had to think of a plan. He did not know if they were in an island, which would make escape hard as they had no means to pay Sorcerymon. The only thing that he was hoping for was that at least one area was connected to the mainland. He did not know how long he had been running for, but after what seemed like another grueling practice of soccer, he made it to the other side. This side was also surrounded by water.
"Damn it! Do you still have energy, V-mon?"
"Yes."
"Then lets go."
Continuing to run, V-mon had to make sure just how far ahead Daisuke was thinking. "Daisuke, what if we are surrounded by water? Are we just going to hide here or something?"
"If we are on an island, then we'll just beat up Sorcerymon for his ferry. You up for it?"
"Yeah." Responded V-mon, trying to sound reassuring.
They had been running through the edge of what they hoped was not an island. Running, they were losing hope in it having a connection to the mainland. Eventually, though soccer had given Daisuke great endurance, running through and around the city had caused his body to give up on him. When exhaustion hit him completely, he fell to the ground knowing that he was done for.
"Sorry, V-mon. You're going to have to go without me."
V-mon knew that his partner meant well, but he was crazy if he thought he was going to leave him there for dead. "Nonsense, Daisuke. I'll swim across the river while carrying you before I let you die here."
"That's nice, V-mon, but we have to be realistic about this. Leave and go find help."
"But..."
"Trust me. It's the only way."
It was wrong for one of the chosen digimon to leave their human partner like that, regardless if they ordered it or nor. It went against their being; it went against who they were. But he did have a point. V-mon knew that he would not be able to carry Daisuke without both of them getting caught.
"I promise Daisuke, that you will be alright."
Seeing the Knightmon approaching V-mon ran away, leaving his partner behind. When the Knightmon reached Daisuke he did not even put up a fight, as he was too tired. They just carried him away, as V-mon ran away.
Signed: The Two-One-Five
Word Count: 6807
July 17, 2008 1:14 am PT
AN: After eight chapters, the first aspect of the crossover is introduced. I understand that people want Daisuke and Takato to already meet with the Savers cast, but then again so do I. However, reading over some of the previous chapter, I realized that there were not enough elements to consider this story a crossover at the moment. These elements will not end here, though. I have too much plan for them to just meet a few of the supporting characters. Rest assured that the only reason that it is taking a while because I have a nasty habit of taking a while to introduce certain elements.
On a similar note, I also noticed that I'm nit doing the best job working with all the characters. I have Daisuke and V-mon, Takato Guilmon, Masaru and Agumon, the Royal Knights, Touma, and the rest of the cast still in Japan. So of certain chapters feel like they lack some of the characters, then I apologize in advance, as meshing a whole cast together is one of my many weaknesses as a writer.
As always, reviews appreciated.