DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Berserker

Wednesday 10th November - 10:01am

Digital World, Desert Level

"I hate the desert…" Kazu complained as he adjusted his visor.

"We know," Terriermon replied in an annoyed tone. "You already told us about thirty times!"

"Probably more, actually, if you count all of the moaning from the last time we were here," Ryo sighed and rolled his eyes with a grin. "I've never been so glad for the fact that Guardromon's engines are so loud…"

"So why can we still hear him now?" Rika asked, prompting a giggle from Jeri.

"He figured out we couldn't hear him after a few days, so he started talking even louder…" the brunette laughed with a doe-eyed look over at Kenta, who was riding on Guardromon alongside his loud-mouthed best friend.

"Oh, for the love of…look, if I Digivolve Renamon to Kyubimon, I can ride her and you can ask Kenta if he wants to join you on Leomon. That okay with you two?" the redhead asked with an annoyed frown.

"Fine by me," Leomon replied, his Tamer opting for a less restrained response.

"Really? Thanks, Rika!" Jeri cheered and was about to hug the slightly-taller girl, but was stopped by an angry glare.

"It's not that big a deal…anyone else would think you were in love with the guy," Rika muttered with a knowing smirk, chuckling at her friend's embarrassed blush. Wow, she isn't even trying to deny it any more… "Besides, I'm doing it for his sake. Even I'm not cruel enough to wish Kazu's company on anybody."

As the redhead glanced over at her partner (who was balanced perfectly behind Cam on Gaogamon's back) and began to reach out with her mind, she noticed the kitsune stiffen suddenly, her fur standing on end. When Growlmon and Cyberdramon started to growl a second later, her suspicions were confirmed.

"I smell Digimon…lots of them!" Growlmon snarled as his Tamer quickly climbed off of his back.

"Uh, how many is lots?" Takato asked nervously and glanced around at the surrounding area.

"This many!" a deep, bestial voice roared and the Tamers and Digimon turned to see five vicious-looking dinosaurs that looked similar to a T-Rex or Allosaurus emerging from behind a particularly large rock spire. The dinosaurs were slightly smaller than Growlmon and had leathery green skin and a pair of red- and black-striped tusks emerging from their backs. Each of them was being ridden by six green-skinned humanoid Digimon with long, ape-like arms and a shock of orange hair. Those Tamers who did not recognize the newcomers quickly pulled out their D-Arcs and scanned them as the enormous lizards began stomping towards them at high speed.

Name: Goblimon

Level: Rookie

Attribute: Virus

Special Attacks:

Gobli Bomb

Gobli Strike

Name: Tuskmon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Virus

Special Attacks:

Horn Buster

"For the Sovereign!" one of the Goblimon shrieked in a high-pitched voice, brandishing its club at the humans. "Kill the abominations!"

"This is gonna be fun!" Terriermon chuckled as he leapt from his Tamer's head.

"Terriermon…" Henry scolded his partner as he drew a card from the holder on his belt, raising it to his D-Arc as it flashed blue. "Digi-Modi-"

"Desolation Claw!"

The boy yelped in shock as Terriermon leapt into the air and headbutted him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground just as a trio of shimmering blue energy waves soared dangerously close to where his head had been. The attack slammed into the legs of the lead Tuskmon, causing it to fall flat on its face and send the Goblimon on its back flying through the air. The little green Digimon hit the ground hard, one of them slamming face-first into a rock and being deleted instantly.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Terriermon turned and shrieked at Cyberdramon. "You nearly hit Henry! Are you INSANE?"

The dragon's only reply was a snarled "Cyber Nail!" as he leapt into the air and soared towards the fallen dinosaur with outstretched talons. The Tuskmon's skull was sliced into several bloody fragments by the dragon's razor-sharp claws and the mauled body disintegrated into data a second later. Cyberdramon let out a savage roar and leapt at the next Tuskmon, tackling it to the ground and slashing at it wildly with his teeth and claws. The Goblimon riding the dinosaur quickly leapt off of its back and surrounded Cyberdramon, who ignored their spears and clubs even as they bit into his flesh and drew digital blood.

"Damn it Akiyama!" Rika snarled and glared at the older Tamer. "If you don't get him under control right now, he's gonna attack us next!"

"I can't," Ryo moaned and shook his head. "He's gone berserk."

"Use a Rock Armour card!" Henry suggested desperately.

"That'll just make him worse!"

"What do we do?" Kazu asked, his fear obvious in his voice.

"I have a plan," Takato began, his voice surprisingly calm. "Taomon and WarGrowlmon can get Cyberdramon under control, the rest of you take out the real enemy. Got it?"

"Sounds like a plan, Gogglehead," Rika replied and drew a card from the holder on her belt, her fellow Tamers (with the exception of Ryo, Kenta and Jeri) doing the same.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon Matrix Digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!"

"Renamon Matrix Digivolve to…Taomon!"

"Terriermon Matrix Digivolve to…Rapidmon!"

"Gaomon Matrix Digivolve to…MachGaogamon!"

"Guardromon Matrix Digivolve to…Andromon!"

"Let's kick some ass!" Kazu shouted and punched the air as his robotic partner charged at the remaining Tuskmon, who had turned and were making their way towards Cyberdramon.

"Go get 'em, Leomon!" Jeri cheered and readied a card as Leomon ran after the android, drawing his sword with a flourish.

"Gatling Attack!" Andromon called as a pair of panels on his chest opened, two missiles rocketing out from the hidden compartment and arcing towards one of the Tuskmon.

The dinosaur roared in anger as a pair of machine guns attached to the missiles opened fire, a hail of bullets slamming into its leathery hide and throwing two of the Goblimon riders from its back in a spray of digital blood. Suddenly, the colossal lizard span with surprising speed, using its tail to swat the missiles to the ground and detonate them. As soon as the saurian turned its back on her partner, Jeri swiped the card she had drawn earlier.

"Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"

Leomon charged forward, lashing out with his broadsword at his opponent's right leg and cutting a deep wound just behind the knee. The Tuskmon roared again and fell to one knee as it tried to kick at its attacker, only for the leonine warrior to leap back and dodge the attack.

"Now, Andromon!" Leomon shouted as the saurian's four surviving riders leapt from its back and began to run towards him.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon cried, a long energy blade emerging from his arm as he leapt at his vulnerable enemy and sliced clean through its chest with one slash of his arm. "Take that, you vile-"

"Horn Buster!" a voice roared, interrupting the robot's ranting as a pair of red laser beams slammed into his back and knocked him to the ground. "Dinner time…"

"Not so fast! Howling Cannon!" MachGaogamon snarled and fired his sonic cannon as the attacking Tuskmon began to lumber towards the fallen android. The enormous lizard toppled over sideways, throwing its passengers to the ground as it landed with a sickening crack on top of a small boulder. The wolf-man fired up his jet engines with a vicious grin, shouting over their deafening scream as he thundered towards the fallen dinosaur. "Winning Knuckles!"

The Tuskmon shrieked as the cybernetic fist tore straight through its head, crushing its skull and reducing its body to data. MachGaogamon let out a grunt of surprise as his fist slammed into the ground, getting momentarily stuck in the sand. The fallen dinosaur's Goblimon riders - who had, unfortunately, all survived their fall - scrambled towards the immobilized wolf with their weapons drawn, making manic gibbering noises in anticipation of the kill.

"Heeeerrre's Bunny! Miracle Missile!" a cheerful voice cheered as a barrage of rockets slammed into the ground around the six goblins, kicking up a storm of fire and shrapnel and reducing the unfortunate Digimon to data. "Who da mon? Who da MON?"

"Horn Buster!" the Tuskmon cried in desperation as Cyberdramon leapt at it again, the twin laser beams erupting from its tusks and flying straight over the feral Digimon's head.

"Cyber Nail!" the dragon roared as he leapt at the dinosaur and punched his left claw straight through its chest, lashing out with his right claw and decapitating it a second later. The berserk Digimon let out a growl of irritation as six Goblimon that didn't even come up to his waist surrounded him and began lashing out with their crude weapons. He leapt back and, with a single snarl of "Desolation Claw!", shredded all six of his opponents.

"Cyberdramon," a calm female voice called out to the dragon and he span, growling when he recognized Taomon. "Calm down, Cyberdramon - it is only me. I am not your enemy."

"Desolation Claw!" was his only reply, the wave of energy crashing into a hastily-erected shield as he leapt at his vulpine opponent.

"Atomic Blaster!" a new voice roared and a pair of thick, red energy beams slammed into the draconic berserker's left shoulder, sending him flying sideways into a twenty-foot high rock pillar. "Leave scary Rika's scary Renamon…I mean scary Taomon alone!"

"Could you please stop calling us that?" Rika's annoyed voice called out, making WarGrowlmon wince.

"Cyber Nail!" Cyberdramon snarled, taking advantage of his prey's distraction to launch a surprise attack.

"Gah!" the robotic dinosaur yelped and brought his arm-blades up to parry the attack, grabbing his draconic opponent's clawed hands with his own metal talons to prevent another attack. "Takatomon…"

"I know, boy - Digi-Modify! Strength activate!" Takato replied, slashing a card as he saw that his partner was losing his grappling match.

"That's better! Sc-…I mean…Taomon, now!"

"Thousand Spells!" the kitsune called, firing dozens of little red spell papers at the dragon's back. The papers mostly embedded themselves in Cyberdramon's wings, each paper glowing white as a thread of white energy connected it to the adjacent spell papers. Within seconds, a web of energy had formed around the dragon's four wings - a web that suddenly constricted, pulling the wings together and immobilizing them.

"Going up!" WarGrowlmon chuckled, the Vernier engine on his back screaming as it cycled up to full power and launched both him and Cyberdramon into the air. When they were about a hundred metres up, the cyborg released his grip on his opponent and kicked him in the chest, sending the dragon crashing towards the ground. Unable to move his wings, Cyberdramon merely roared with rage as he slammed head-first into the ground and was knocked out cold.

"Heh, that wasn't too bad…" Takato grinned as he glanced around, seeing that their friends had just finished mopping up the last of the Goblimon and Tuskmon. MarineAngemon was busy tending to some small wounds that had been sustained by Andromon and Leomon with his heart-shaped healing bubbles, while Rapidmon and MachGaogamon were having a minor argument as they de-Digivolved to their Rookie forms.

Rika's furious glare as she stomped towards Ryo showed that she obviously didn't share the boy's good mood.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Rika shouted and poked Ryo angrily in the chest. "You told me you had that…monster under control!"

"Rika, you know it's not his fault…" Jeri started to say, but was completely ignored by the girl.

Despite the serious situation, Cam had to suppress a laugh as the redhead squared off against the much-taller Tamer. Out of the whole group, only Cam himself was taller than Ryo and Rika had to reach up to about the level of her chin to reach his chest.

"I'm sorry!" the brown-haired boy apologized with an ashamed look. "I thought I did, but…we haven't had a Bio-emergence since we got back to Japan and he was getting a little crazy."

"So why didn't you go on one of your little hunting trips to the Digital World, huh?" the girl demanded, clenching her fists as she glared into his eyes. "You always seemed to enjoy wandering off back when I was in Japan."

"Okay, just what the hell is going on?" Kazu asked with a bewildered frown, glancing quickly from Jeri to Rika to Ryo and back again. "I'm obviously missing out on something here."

"Maybe we should keep our noses out…" Kenta suggested nervously.

"SCREW THAT!" Terriermon exclaimed and glared at the unconscious Cyberdramon. "That wackjob nearly took Henry's head off and then he tried to munch on Taomon and WarGrowlmon! We deserve an answer!"

"He's right," Ryo agreed with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I was gonna tell you about this beforehand…actually, I assumed Rika had already told you about it."

"Screw you, Akiyama - I keep my promises!" the redhead spat.

"Right, sorry…" the boy winced and sighed again. "Cyberdramon isn't like other Digimon. He's a little…unstable. When he fights, he sometimes finds it hard not to…well, go nuts and start killing everything in sight. It gets really bad when he hasn't had a fight in a while - when that happens I usually take him to the Digital World and kind of…let him loose. He gets into a few fights, blows off some steam, then he's okay again. Actually, I was planning on coming to the Digital World this week, but when I heard about Rika's sister…" he finished with a shrug.

"So…why do Rika and Jeri know about this and not us?" Kazu asked with a slightly hurt look.

"We were there when Cyberdramon went berserk one day," Jeri said quickly, glancing nervously at Rika and Ryo.

"Right…" the redhead agreed hesitantly. "We had to help take him down before he got anybody hurt."

"And I didn't tell you guys because…well, if I had a choice then nobody would know about this," Ryo finished with a sheepish grin.

"So…Rika, what did you mean when you said 'I keep my promises'?" Takato asked with a puzzled frown.

"You have a brain, Goggles - work it out!" she moaned and shook her head in exasperation. "He made me promise not to tell anyone about his partner's little rampages."

"Oh, right…guess I should have picked up on that…" the goggle-wearing Tamer chuckled. "So, what do we do now? I mean, we can't really just carry him all the way through the desert, can we?"

"We won't have to," Kenta shook his head and pointed at his pink, fairy-like partner who was currently flying in circles around his head. "MarineAngemon can wake him up no problem."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Henry asked with a wary look at the dragon who had almost killed him.

"Nope," Ryo replied with a grin. "MarineAngemon's healing bubbles are full of positive energy that will stop him from going berserk again for a while. When he wakes up, he'll be back to normal, I promise."

"What exactly is normal for that guy?" Cam asked with a frown.

"Moody, anti-social, violent…" Ryo ticked off on his fingers.

"Basically, he's a better-looking version of Rika!" Kazu joked, earning himself a vicious glare from the redhead.

"Oh, I'm going to make you bleed for that one…"

Seven hours (and a quick snack break for Kazu) later, the Tamers reached the foot of the mountain range they had spotted the previous day. Finding another empty cave a few dozen metres up the rocky slope, they decided to stop early and rest for the night to avoid any chance of being caught out on the mountainside at nightfall.

"Man, that took forever," Cam complained and slumped against the cave wall. "Two whole days just to reach these mountains…"

"Would you rather have walked?" Gaomon asked with a mock glare as he sat down beside his Tamer.

"That's not what I meant. I mean that if it took us two days just to get to these mountains and we haven't even found the portal to the next level yet, then…"

"He has a point," Rika agreed reluctantly as she sat down next to Takato on the opposite side of the cave. "There's no way we're gonna be able to get all the way to the Sovereign level and back again in just two weeks. We need a faster way to travel."

"I do not know of any way to traverse this world any quicker than doing so on foot," Gaomon sighed and shook his head.

"Nor do I," Renamon added from her vantage point outside.

"Well, you said that Ryo spends a lot of time in the Digital World, right? Why don't we ask him?" Takato suggested, wincing as Rika fixed him with a glare.

"He'd have mentioned it before now if he knew anything, Goggles," the redhead growled and clenched her fists. "Besides, I'd rather chew my own arm off than accept advice from that stupid, arrogant, useless piece o-"

"You forgot handsome," Ryo interrupted with his trademark dazzling smile from the mouth of the cave. "And you're right - there's no way for us to get there any faster. The only organized transport system in the Digital World is on the Hub level, and we're not even going anywhere near there."

"The 'Hub' level?" Gaomon asked with a confused frown. "I have never heard of that place. What is it like?"

"It's a mix of mountains, forests and fields - basically, it's a lot like Japan," the boy explained. "The Hub is where most of the main cities in the Digital World are. You've got the New Olympus Republic in the north-east, Digital City in the west, Gear in the south, plus a bunch of smaller towns scattered around."

"Gee, thanks for the geography lesson," Rika muttered sarcastically. "And why exactly are we avoiding this place?"

"Zhuqiaomon's spies are everywhere in the cities. Plus, I know a shortcut that bypasses the Hub and should get us to the Sovereign level a lot faster."

"How long 'til we get there?" Guilmon asked as he momentarily stopped trying to steal food from his Tamer's backpack.

"About another week, probably more like eight days."

"That doesn't leave us enough time to get back to the Ark," Cam pointed out, doing the maths in his head. "We'd only have five or six days to get back to the desert."

"If only those D-Comms worked…"

"Uh, what's a D-Comm?" Takato asked the taller boy.

"Oh, it's this communications device that Yamaki designed for us. They're not very reliable - we only managed to get through to HYPNOS twice using them the last time we were here, and one time half the message got lost in transit."

"Yeah," Kazu agreed as he and Henry walked over from the back of the cave, Terriermon riding atop the blue-haired boy's head. "That blonde chick…I think her name was Sally or something…yeah, I think she said that the D-Comm's transmitter wasn't strong enough to break through the interdimensionable barriers."

"I'm pretty sure her name was Tally," Jeri called as she, Kenta and Leomon entered the cave, the lion having to stoop to enter. "We've checked around, by the way. There are only a few Digimon anywhere near here, and according to Leomon, none of them were dangerous to us."

"Yeah," Kenta nodded in agreement. "By the way, I was just thinking…maybe we should check out one of the cities. We might be able to find some parts to upgrade the D-Comms so we could get through to Hypnos and maybe ask them to hold back the Ark until we're ready for it."

"I doubt it," Kazu replied and shook his head. "Yamaki said that there was no way to make a strong enough transmitter that small without breaking the laws of physics."

"Uh, HELLO?" Terriermon shouted in an exasperated tone. "Remember what my main mon G said? We're in the Digital World! Laws of physics don't apply here."

"Oddly enough, the rabbit is right," Gaomon snorted and shot a glare at the loudmouthed Digimon. "But please don't ever call me your 'main mon G' again."

"I dunno," Ryo said cautiously. "There's still the problem of Zhuqiaomon's spies. They'll be on the lookout for any humans or any Digimon who are known to have a Tamer."

"And I don't know if we can spare the time - I don't wanna leave Steph and the others in the Devas' hands any longer than we have to," Cam pointed out, Henry, Gaomon and Rika quickly agreeing with him.

"Rescuing them a day or two early isn't going to be much use if we miss the Ark," Leomon sighed with a worried look. "We could be stuck here for another week while HYPNOS prepares a new one, and Zhuqiaomon would easily be able to track us down in that time."

"I have an idea," Takato called out as things quickly started to degenerate into a full-scale argument. "Why don't we split up? One group goes to one of the cities, the other takes Ryo's shortcut and scouts out the Sovereign level. That way, if some of us do get captured by Zhuqiaomon's spies in the city, the other group will be able to rescue them and hopefully find out where the girls are being kept."

"I dunno…it still feels like we'd be wasting time…" Henry frowned. "I mean, the group that went to the Sovereign level would be stuck around for days waiting for the other group."

"Actually, it's not a bad plan," Ryo contradicted him with a grin. "Even if we all went straight to the Sovereign level together, we'd probably have to spend a couple of days searching for Zhuqiaomon's prison. It's a pretty big area with a lot of hidden bases and stuff. If we did it Takato's way, half of us would be able to get stuff done in the city while the other half looked for the prison. When the groups join back up we should be able to launch our rescue mission almost immediately."

"Hmmm, I never thought about it that way…" Henry mumbled and looked thoughtful before he nodded once sharply. "Alright, I say we go for it. Anybody else?"

The rest of the Tamers and Digimon unanimously agreed to the plan, causing Rika to smirk and chuckle at Takato. "Whoa, two good plans in one day…looks like you're finally growing into those goggles."

"Hehe…so, who goes with which group?" Takato asked, shuffling uncomfortably at the compliment.

"I can tell you guys how to find the shortcut, but I'll definitely need to go to the city," Ryo replied with a small grin. "I'm the only one here who's ever been and only I know who we can trust to upgrade the D-Comms."

"I'm going with Ryo!" Kazu shouted quickly and leapt to his idol's side, the taller boy sighing in defeat.

"Me, too," Rika added in a much calmer voice, frowning at the identical look of surprise written across all of her friends' faces (even Renamon's, though only Rika herself noticed it). "If you think I'm letting that psycho out of my sight…" she growled and pointed to the two large shadows stood just outside the cave entrance.

"Hey, what did Guardromon ever do to you?" Kazu asked with a glare at the redhead, who glared right back at the boy until he looked away.

"Not Guardromon, you moron - I meant Cyberdramon!"

"Oh…that makes more sense…"

Eventually, they decided that Kazu, Ryo, Rika, Takato and their partners would go to the Hub Level, while everyone else would take Ryo's shortcut through the Mountain level. The group wouldn't be splitting up, however, until they reached the Forest level in about five days. Until then, they were all stuck with each other.

Digital World, Sovereign Level – 11:32p.m.

"Get up," a voice snarled, waking Steph from her uncomfortable sleep.

"Wh…what?" she mumbled, trying not to wake Sam or Suzie as she climbed to her feet. "Is it morning already?"

"No," the voice spat and the blonde-haired girl looked up groggily to see the familiar bulldog-like form of Caturamon, a large key dangling from his jaws. "The master has demanded your presence. There's somebody he wants you to…get acquainted with."

Steph frowned at the Deva's tone. He had said those last words as if they offended him.

"Who is it?"

"Wait and find out," Caturamon replied, his voice dripping with boredom and contempt.

"Well…I'm not going!" the girl declared, trying to stop her legs and voice from trembling with fear.

"Then I'll kill the little ones."

Steph froze, shocked as much by her jailor's casual tone as his words. With a quiet whimper, she tiptoed quietly towards the cell door as Caturamon inserted the key and unlocked it in a surprising display of oral dexterity.

"This way, vermin…"

Caturamon led the girl down a series of featureless corridors, eventually taking her through a pair of thick iron doors and out into the open air. Steph blinked and looked around, her eyes already adjusted to the night's darkness thanks to the gloom of her underground prison.

They were stood in the middle of what looked like a ruined Roman Colosseum, at the edge of a wide, circular area of flat ground surrounded by a ring of tiered seats. All of the seats were empty, giving the amphitheatre a tense, almost-unnatural atmosphere. Stood at the centre of the arena was a Digimon that looked surprisingly at home in his archaic surroundings.

I guess this is the 'Bull' Deva... Steph thought idly as she looked over the enormous creature. It was about ten or eleven feet tall and its lower body had the basic shape of a black bull, the only exception being the two thick, black claws that replaced its hooves. An intricate series of golden markings adorned the upper half of each of its legs, while the lower halves were sheathed in gold-etched armour made of a blood-red metal. Protruding from where a normal bull's head would be was a muscular, black-skinned humanoid torso topped with a three-horned bull's head. The humanoid half's chest, shoulders and forearms were clad in the same red armour as the bestial half's legs, with an extra plate covering the humanoid half's groin. Tied around the bull's waist was a violet sash, from which hung a pair of scabbarded, straight-bladed swords with ornate gold handles. As the girl's eyes fell upon the weapons she felt a shock of fear run through her.

Oh, God…they're gonna kill me!

"This is why you called me out here?" the bull spat with a glare at Caturamon. "Majiramon drags me out of bed in the middle of the night to meet some child?"

"Peace, Vajramon," the dog replied with an irritated growl. "I do not like this any more than you do, but it is the will of the almighty Sovereign."

Vajramon snorted derisively at his fellow Deva's words. "Of course…"

"I'll leave you two to...bond…" Caturamon spat and retreated back through the iron doors, slamming them shut behind him.

Steph stood there for over a minute, too paralyzed with fear to move or speak. Eventually Vajramon let out a sigh and began stomping towards her and the girl let out a whimper of fear as he came to a halt less than a metre away.

"Oh, be quiet," he muttered, sounding almost…embarrassed? "I'm not going to kill you."

"You're…you're not?"

"Zhuqiaomon would have my head if I damaged one of his little prizes," the Deva shrugged his massive shoulders. "And besides, I'm not as…irrational as some of my colleagues are…or were…"

Steph blinked in confusion as the bull looked away and a look of poorly-concealed sadness washed over his face. "Wh…what's going on?" she asked tentatively, her voice even quieter than normal. "Why are we here? What do you want with us?"

"You mean Caturamon didn't tell you?" Vajramon frowned and shook his head. "As if Makuramon didn't have enough ammunition…"

"Um…what?"

"Hm? Oh, nevermind."

"Okay…" Steph mumbled, her voice growing in volume along with her confidence. "So, why am I here?"

"To help fulfil the Lord Zhuqiaomon's grand plan!" a high-pitched, manic voice called out and the girl turned to see the monkey-like Digimon who had kidnapped her. "You and your two little friends are to become our Tamers!"

Thursday 11th November – 9:32a.m.

Digital World, Desert Level

"Well…that was easy!" Terriermon chirped as he and the rest of the ragtag group of humans and Digimon stared into the mouth of a swirling green vortex.

"The nose knows," Takato chuckled and patted his saurian partner on the head.

They had started searching for a portal to the next level of the Digital World first thing that morning. Just as Ryo was suggesting that they split up to cover more ground, Guilmon had caught the scent of the portal. The little red dinosaur led them to the base of the mountain they were currently on and into a cave filled with ancient, crumbling pillars. At the far end of the cave was the portal, nestled in a twenty-foot tall stone archway.

"Any idea where it leads?" Rika asked as Henry walked up to the archway and began examining it closely.

"Hmmm…If I'm reading these pictures right, then…" the blue-haired Tamer began and pointed at a series of engravings. "I think it leads to the ocean."

"Sounds right to me," Ryo agreed with a smile. "The Ocean Level is the first stop on one of the routes I have planned out for us. From there, we'll head to the Jungle Level, then th-"

"Enough with the Geography lesson, Akiyama," Rika snorted and rolled her eyes. "Let's just get moving. We're wasting time."

"Hehe," Kazu laughed quietly as he elbowed Kenta in the ribs and whispered in his ear. "I bet she wouldn't have interrupted her precious Gogglehead if he was talking…YOW!"

Rika chuckled evilly as the brown-haired boy rubbed the back of his head where she had punched him. "You really need to learn to whisper quieter…"

"Anyway…" Leomon sighed and shook his head in mock exasperation, fighting to keep a smirk from his muzzle. "Shall we?"

As the group began walking towards the portal, Cam sped up his pace slightly to catch up with Kazu. "Rule of Rika number one," he whispered with a grin. "Never suggest that Rika 'likes' Takato."

"Heh, you think that was bad?" Kenta laughed. "You should have seen what she did when Kazu accused her of going on a date with Ryo…"

"What happened?" Gaomon interjected with a sadistic glint in his eye.

"Let's just say that it would have taken a hundred cleaners a hundred years to get the blood out of my shirt if there'd been anything left of it worth saving…"