Time to start the next chapter! Woo-hoo! Can you tell I'm trying to be overly excited!

Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine. How many times do I have to say it? (...) 32 more times? Hoo boy.

LAST TIME:
DAICHI: We got to the top of the mountain, but we didn't find anything to give us a clue to our next move. Well, unless you count Gennai, who invited us to his house for a chat. We learned a bit more about our mission, to destroy the force that brought the Digi-Agents together in the first place. We also learned that the Groundramon incident was just a bad shock to Dracomon's psyche, as well as why he Digivolves the way he does: in other words, perfectly normal. Before we left, Gennai gave us a couple things: a Blue Card for me, and a Golden Digi-Egg for Isamu. Then Gennai, uh... showed us out.

Chapter 16
Trick

There was barely any time to register what had just happened. One second, everyone was seated on the floor of Gennai's home; the next, that same floor had lowered itself at a speed that, if it were any faster, would probably have left the Digi-Destined freefalling. When it finally stopped, everyone found themselves near the base of the mountain.

"'Hold on tight,' huh?" Dracomon said as they got up. "I can see why he doesn't get a lot of visitors."

"You know," Daichi said, "the least Gennai could have done is put us at this flower field."

"The Flower Fields aren't just any normal fields," Wormmon said. "They're a large expanse of grasslands with flowers that go on for miles."

"Can't be that hard to confuse," Isamu said. "You wouldn't happen to know where the place is, would you?"

Wormmon thought for a second. "Well, I think if we just head straight that way…" he pointed behind them, "we should get there within a couple days."

"A couple days is better than none," Daichi said. "If Gennai wants us to go there, there must be something important."

"Then let's go, already," Dracomon said.

The group traveled for about half the day, stopping only to eat and rest. The trip had been relatively quiet; only the sounds of peaceful Digimon kept them company. Eventually the group came to a small clearing. Realizing their presence would not go unnoticed by any malevolent Digimon, they attempted to walk to the other side as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Halt, Digi-Desitined!" a light, masculine voice called out. "You have now stepped into my domain."

Everyone stopped and looked around for the source of the voice. "Who are you?" Daichi called.

"And where are you?" Dracomon added.

"I am the most powerful Digi-Agent you will ever face," the voice said, "as well as the last. No minions to face first; I don't believe in having others do my dirty work for me, especially when I'm more than capable."

"That's what the others tried to do," Isamu pointed out. "Your little club is now short two Agents."

"Well, you know what they say," the voice said, "the third time is the charm. And this charm goes by the name…" Suddenly, something jumped down from the trees surrounding the clearing. Its body looked like a hand-made doll, white fabric stitched together, with a green cape behind it. Its head was the most interesting feature: a pumpkin with a face carved into it and an axe stuck into it, splitting the stem. Its eyes glowed yellow. "Pumpkinmon!" The Digimon struck a battle pose as the Digi-Destined looked at it. Everyone noticed one thing that separated it from the other Agents they faced; it was about as tall as the boys' waists.

Everyone immediately started laughing almost hysterically. "Yeah?" Dracomon started. "Well, what happened? Did he call in sick?"

"Let us know when the comedy routine's over," Isamu said through his laughter.

"Are you saying that I'm not powerful?" Pumpkinmon asked indignantly.

"Well, let's face it," Daichi said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Small and shrimpy, not to mention loud-mouthed, doesn't exactly scream, 'fear me.' I bet Hyogamon could've beat you by just lightly touching you with his icicles."

"Still," Wormmon said, attempting to regain control of himself, "we should take him seriously, especially if he really is a Digi-Agent."

"Glad to see someone gets it," Pumpkinmon said with his arms crossed.

"Don't get used to it," Wormmon replied. "I still think this is going to be easy."

"I'll even show you how easy," Dracomon said: "one move." He flew toward Pumpkinmon. "Dragon Breath!" Pumpkinmon stood there and simply held his hand up to the flame-like substance. The attack hit, but it divided from the hand it two directions. When it stopped, Pumpkinmon was unharmed. "What!" Dracomon yelled in surprise.

"My turn," Pumpkinmon said. "Pumpkin Squash!" He raised his hands and a ball of energy formed between them. Out of this energy flew two small pumpkins, both of which hit Dracomon; he was blown back to one of the trees almost ten feet away.

Everyone else turned to look at the fallen dragon Digimon, amazed at the distance one attack could make. Wormmon turned to face Pumpkinmon. "I got this. Silk Thread!" He shot out a line of string and wrapped it below Pumpkinmon's head. Pumpkinmon grabbed the string and pulled. Wormmon was lifted upward on the other end and came down with a crash.

"Did I miss something?" Isamu asked rhetorically. "How does that little pipsqueak…?"

Daichi took out his D-Power to see if he could find answers. When Pumpkinmon's picture came up, he said, "Uh, I think we may have underestimated him. It says here that Pumpkinmon's actually at the ultimate level."

"You're kidding me," Isamu said. Daichi just looked at him. "Alright, no big deal," Isamu said. "It's not like we can't get to the ultimate level." He took out his D-3 and Daichi pulled out a Digivice card. The two Digimon stood up, ready for action.

Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!

Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate! Dracomon Digivolve to… Coredramon Green!

"Now," Isamu yelled, "Crest Digivolve!" The crest glowed and the light shot into the D-3, which then shot out to Stingmon.

Stingmon Crest Digivolve to… JewelBeemon!

Daichi realized that in his green form, Coredramon would turn into Groundramon once more. "How about it, Coredramon?" he asked. "Think you can handle it this time?"

"I've been working at getting the right mindset," Coredramon said.

Daichi's crest materialized into the crest card. He brought the card to the card reader and said, "Then let's do it! Crest Digivolution, activate!"

Coredramon Crest Digivolve to… Groundramon!

As Groundramon came into full view, Daichi asked cautiously, "How you feeling?"

Groundramon growled. "Ready to make some pumpkin pie."

"A little dark, perhaps," Daichi said to himself, "but I think he's in control. No one could quip like that."

"I agree," JewelBeemon added. "Thank goodness," he whispered to himself.

Pumpkinmon observed his situation. "Hmm, let's see. Two of you against little ol' me. Doesn't seem fair. If you want, I could hold off on destroying you until you find a third partner." It was not lost on anyone that this was an insult.

Groundramon wasted no time in making the first move. "Scrapless Claw!" He dug his deformed wings into the earth and started flinging it at Pumpkinmon. The little Digimon dodged everything that was thrown, much to Groundramon's chagrin.

JewelBeemon decided to attack. "Spike Buster!" He fired the star shaped energy shots at high speed. "Pumpkin Squash!" Pumpkinmon released his pumpkins so that they met with the blasts.

Daichi pulled out one of his cards. "Digi-Modify! Devidramon Crimson Claw, activate!" Groundramon's wings began to glow in a dark aura. "Crimson Claw!" The energy shot out shaped like a hand and grabbed Pumpkinmon by the waist. Groundramon lifted his enemy so that he was higher than himself.

"I'll take it from here," JewelBeemon said. He held his javelin in a throwing position. "Javelin, FLY!" The weapon flew towards Pumpkinmon, ready to finish the battle.

"Ooh, not friendly," Pumpkinmon said. Using his still free hands, he grabbed the axe on his head and brought it down as the javelin came next to him. The star-like point shattered and the staff itself disappeared. Everyone, save Pumpkinmon, was shocked.

"But how…?" JewelBeemon asked.

Daichi brought up the analyzer again. He found the answer and relayed it to everyone. "He's a data type. In the card game, data has the advantage over vaccine."

"And he destroyed the javelin," Isamu surmised, "because their weapons have the same attributes as they do."

"Looks like you guys are finally starting to get it," Pumpkinmon boasted. "No one can beat me." He threw his axe at Groundramon and it hit him between the wings. Groundramon screamed in pain and inadvertently let go of Pumpkinmon. He landed on the ground smoothly, caught his axe as it returned to him, and placed it back on his head, all without losing his composure.

"Well, this has been fun and all," Pumpkinmon said, "but I think it's time we said, 'Fare thee well.' Of course, I don't think that would work out for you. The whole 'faring well' part, I mean." He raised his hands and a large, orange mass of energy appeared over him, taking the predictable appearance of a pumpkin. "Trick-or-Treat!" He threw his arms down, bringing the pumpkin with them.

Daichi quickly pulled out a card. "Digi-Modify! Ground Seventh, activate!" Groundramon, with the strength he had, started digging into the ground. Soon the energy pumpkin seemingly landed on the Digi-Destined and a huge explosion occurred.

When the dust settled, Pumpkinmon looked around. The only thing he could see was a large crater in the forest floor; any sign of Groundramon digging a hole had vanished. "Yes! I came, I saw, I conquered the Digi-Destined. And now, me and my fellow agents will conquer the world!"

Does this really mean the Digi-Destined are...? And how was Pumpkin able to topple two ultimates like that? Let's just hope there's another episode of Digimon: Digital Monsters to give us answers.

Believe it or not, I was actually surprised myself to learn that Pumpkinmon was an ultimate. I mean, how many of us watching Digimon: Adventure believed he was a rookie like Gotsumon? Ah well, live and learn, right?

This is CF, signing out.