Hello everyone. People who follow me on deviantART will know what has happened recently. I hope it hasn't affected this chapter too much. Some of you may realise it is similar to one of the Data Squad episodes (don't want to say too much to give away the chapter) but I had this sort of idea for a chapter for a long time now even before the Data Squad episode came out, and when I did watch that episode and saw what Digimon appeared in it, I thought he would be perfect for this chapter if that makes sense XD
Aldamonburst: I never looked at Diatrymon. He looks very cool, I might try and work him into the story somehow.
Sync The Dragon Tempest: Yeah, I've always liked Peckmon when he first appeared on Data Squad.
Azn-tin-shuffle-pro349: I haven't really thought about what Hawkmon's voice might be like. I have thought about a few of the kids. Like Dawn's voice would be a tomboyish one with a boyish sound to it, Stacey's would sound a bit like Rika's.
FFnetfanHANNAH: Yeah, I think Yolei would go a little crazy if she found out lol and yeah I think the others will be hearing about it, I don't think Katie would be able not to tell her brother.
WhiteWolfPrincess95: Yeah Katie will be getting involved more now ^^ and I'm really sorry I haven't reviewed your stories lately. Things have come up at home lately so I'm really behind on stuff, especially on here.
Wolfgirl: Thanks ^^ I'm glad you like my story. That's a really good idea but unfortunately I've already planned out the story. Do you write fanfics? Maybe you could use that idea for a separate story. It's a really good idea and it would be a shame to waste it :)
Sabaku966Ishida: Thanks. There's already a chapter with MJ but there will be more of her to come.
09Stewie'sHenchwoman09: Thanks :) Oops that must have been a mistake in chapter 6 XD It was supposed to be female.
Marril96: Patamon's male. I don't know why I put Swanmon as female when it was supposed to be meal, must have just subconsciously wrote it as Swanmon's female in Frontier XD
TaioraloveMary: I never found Piddomon when I was searching for a champion form of Patamon. Out of the ones I did find Swanmon was the best that fitted. He will digivolve into something better when he reaches ultimate.
Tamermary5: I've checked him out and he is cool. Unfortunately I never found him when I was looking up a champion for Patamon.
Daikari4ever: well it has been 25 years since they last saw him. Plus the only clue is that he's called the Undead King, which he was only referred to in the prophecy in 01. Maybe that part has slipped their minds since then XD
Choasmon: yeah Willis' kids will be appearing in the story at some point. I could make them twins.
Crestofdreams: I added warp into the DNA digivolve because SnowAgumon needs to bypass champion to become ultimate. Dan and the others will be getting their own crests, which will be revealed very soon :)
AngelofDarkness: yeah good choice for Kazemon :D
No Name: Thank you very much :) At the moment 54 chapters are planned.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed. Sorry again I couldn't answer all of them, there was a lot again XD
Digimon Season 2.5 "Adventure 03"
Episode 26: "Welcome to My Nightmare"
.:Unknown Location, File Island, Digital World:.
It was dark all around. Not a spec of light could be seen. Nothing could be heard either. It was like being in the middle of nothingness. But that soon changed as suddenly, through the darkness, a pair of dark blood red eyes were glowing. They narrowed, as if the owner of the eyes was glaring. There was a low raspy sound as the owner of the eyes breathed deeply and slowly.
"The Undead King made a grave mistake casting me aside." His voice was low and chilling. "Me, a natural carrier of the X Antibody and he overlooks me as if I were a rookie Digimon. I'll show him. I'll prove to him I am a worthy asset to his army and showcase my amazing powers. I'll capture those DigiDestined, destroy them and then he'll be begging me to come back."
He cackled sinisterly and shot a bolt of energy, which resembled lightning, up into the darkness above. It lit the area for a split second but his appearance remained unseen…..
.:Kamiya Apartment, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
Sora was stood in the kitchen at the sink washing a few dishes with the noise of the television in the background from the living room. She was wearing her pale yellow apron that was loosely tied around her waist. She finished scrubbing the large dinner plate before carefully placing it on the rack to dry.
She didn't hear the front door open as Tai walked in back from work. He threw his jacket over the back of the sofa and placed his briefcase on the floor. He spotted his wife at the sink and quietly snuck in the kitchen and crept up behind her before gently wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. "Hey gorgeous." He said softly in her ear.
Sora jumped a little and sighed before giggling. "Honey, you gave me a fright." She glanced at him before continuing with the dishes. "How was work?"
"Not bad. Can't wait for dinner though, I'm starving." He replied pecking her cheek before he moved down and slowly began kissing her neck playfully.
"Tai, that tickles." His wife giggled.
"Oh does it?" Tai grinned devilishly before he pulled her closer and continued to kiss her neck.
Sora's giggles turned into laughing as she dropped the cup she had in the bowl of soapy water and turned away from the sink with Tai still kissing at her neck. "Honey-" she suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
Tai was about to plant another kiss on her neck when he glanced up and stopped, his mouth about an inch away from his wife's neck. Standing in the entrance to the kitchen was Dawn and Agumon. Dawn had an embarrassed and grossed out look on her face as she looked up at her parents.
The couple slowly separated and Tai stood up straight and casually loosened his tie. "Uhhhh… hey kiddo, how was school?" he asked as he turned and headed for the fridge-freezer. He took the orange juice out of the fridge and began drinking it from the carton.
Sora removed her apron and hung it up on the hook. She turned around and immediately put her hands on her hips. "Tai don't drink out of the carton."
Dawn walked past her mother and father and took out a small plate from the open fridge, which had one last rice ball on it. "Remind me not to have orange juice tomorrow morning."
But, as quick as a flash Agumon swiped the rice ball off the plate before Dawn had chance to take it.
"Hey, Agumon! That was mine!" Dawn exclaimed spinning round to face him.
"Hey you snooze you lose." her Digimon replied before popping the rice ball into his mouth and eating it whole not giving Dawn a chance to snatch it back.
Dawn growled and slammed the empty plate down on the kitchen counter. "You knew I wanted that last rice ball."
"Hey I was hungry. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast since a certain someone scoffed their entire lunch and didn't share." Agumon retorted.
"You took Agumon to school?" Tai questioned his daughter as both he and Sora gave her a stern look.
"You need to skip a few lunches Agumon." Dawn snapped, completely ignoring her parents.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means if you eat anymore soon you won't be able to fit through the front door."
"Take that back!"
"No!"
Agumon huffed and crossed his arms. "Well then, the next time you go to the Digital World you can fight the Digimon all by yourself because I won't be going."
"That's fine with me. I don't need you."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
The human and Digimon both turned their backs on each other with Dawn storming out of the apartment slamming the front door behind her. Tai and Sora both glanced at each other, unsure what to say.
.:Izzy's Research Lab, Minato, Tokyo:.
The peaceful evening sky was soon interrupted as clouds began to form over the research building in a circular motion. A small bout of thunder rumbled quietly before there was a sudden flash of light and a small lightning bolt surged through the sky and struck the aerial that was situated on the top of the building.
The energy current surged down the aerial and through the electrical wires of Izzy's laboratory before entering the computer system and as quick as a flash it disabled the Digimon detection signal.
A few moments later, unaware of what had just happened, Izzy and Haruhiko walked into the room with a cup of coffee each. They both sat down at their computers and began checking over the Digital World's and Tokyo's data and activity.
"Things have been very quiet lately. There haven't been many Digimon sightings here since Seadramon X last week." Haruhiko commented before taking a sip of his coffee.
Izzy nodded in agreement. "I sent a message to some of our old Digimon friends to spread the word about the Digital Splits and tell others not to go near them. At first the Digimon must have been curious to what they were and touched them, transporting them to Tokyo but now I think they know to stay well clear of them." He explained as he typed away on his keyboard. "There has been the odd Digimon slipping through them accidentally but Tentomon and I soon sent them home."
Haruhiko glanced to his right at the big plasma screen that was the Digimon detection system. It showed a map of the Tokyo area, which was the only area it covered. Any Digimon outside that area would go by undetected. To Haruhiko and Izzy, the system was on, but unknown to them it was disabled. "I'm surprised the Undead King has not sent anymore X Digimon to attack the city."
Izzy sighed looking up from his screen. "That doesn't mean it's a good sign." He replied. "He may be planning something big and he's focusing his full attention on that right now." He looked back down at the screen. "Remember he captured all those Digimon from File City. Just because he hasn't sent one out to attack us doesn't mean we're out of the woods. I suggest we keep our guard up from now on and be prepared for almost anything to happen…."
.:Odaiba Beach, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
After almost an hour after storming out of the apartment, Dawn was now wandering along the edge of the shore, the gentle waves crashing against the sand and almost touching her feet. In her hand was a small pile of pebbles and every few seconds she would hurl one into the water.
Up ahead was a discarded soccer ball, which was rolling along the sand slightly in the breeze. Dawn dropped the pebbles and ran up to the ball and with one powerful kick, sent it flying high up into the air and it landed with a splash on top of the water. It bobbed up and down as it began to float away from the shore.
Dawn sighed and watched it for a few moments before kicking the sand with her foot. "Stupid Agumon." she muttered under her breath. She shoved her hands in her shorts pockets and turned to continue walking down the beach.
"Dawn?"
Dawn turned around at the sound of her name. "Huh? Margaret? What are you doing out here?" she asked.
Margaret walked up to her cousin and looked up at the sunset. "Whenever there was a night like this my father would bring me here to watch it. So whenever there is a sunset I always come out here." She paused before looking back at her cousin. "What are you doing out here?"
"I had a stupid fight with Agumon." The Kamiya girl muttered under her breath.
Margaret giggled.
"It's not funny Maggie! He ate the last rice ball."
This just caused Margaret to laugh even more. "You argued over a rice ball? That really is silly."
"Hey he always swipes the last of everything!" Dawn almost snapped. "Last week he swiped the last piece of pie, the week before that he ate the last bit of ice cream and-"
"Something else on your mind?" Margaret interrupted. "You and Agumon rarely fight."
Dawn sighed and looked down at the sand. "Maybe….. Maybe it's Stacey." she muttered under her breath.
"Huh? But I thought everything was okay with you two?" Margaret asked a little puzzled.
"I said it was a start. I didn't say everything was forgiven and we're 'best friends'. I might have saved her from those bullies the other day but I'm still a little cautious about her coming back so suddenly. It'll take more than a few words to convince me she's back on our side."
Unknown to them, Stacey had been listening to their conversation. She had been sat underneath a tree with Gabumon and SnowAgumon also enjoying the sunset when she overheard the two girls talking. She sighed and turned back round so she was out of their view and placed her earphones in her ears, turning her portable music player on.
"Or do you just feel threatened because there is someone else joining the team who has just a big of an ego as you?"
"What?" Dawn demanded turning to face her cousin.
"C'mon, Stacey may be a bit of a loner. But she speaks her mind."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Dawn grumbled, shuffling the sand with her feet.
"It means, decisions you make in the future as the leader of this team aren't going to go by as smoothly if Stacey has an opposite of opinion about it. She'll challenge you over them and sometimes you might not get your own way." Margaret explained.
Dawn huffed and gave the sand one last kick before staring out at the bay. The soccer ball was merely a speck in the distance now as it floated further away from the shore. "Whatever." she grumbled.
Margaret sighed and took a step closer to her younger cousin. "Hey, how about you come back to my place and have dinner? Mom's making ramen." she said in an attempt to cheer the Kamiya girl up.
"Yeah… okay. Dad's cooking tonight and his food is terrible." Dawn replied, causing Margaret to giggle.
The two girls turned and began to walk away from the edge of the water. But as they did, something thumped Dawn really hard on the back of the head. She stumbled forward and spun round angrily, her fists clenched.
"Hey! What's the-" But she stopped when she saw no one was behind her. Her eyes fell down to the abandoned soccer ball that she had earlier kicked in to the bay that was now resting a few meters away from her on the sand. "What the…..…?"
"What's wrong?" Margaret asked as she came to a halt and looked back at Dawn.
Before Dawn could answer, the ground began to tremble beneath their feet and the water began to ripple before bubbling aggressively and spilling onto the sand getting the girls' shoes wet.
"W-what's going on?" Margaret gulped as Dawn slowly began to back away from the water, standing next to her cousin.
Suddenly, there was a tremendous blast as something burst out from underneath the water and the two DigiDestined were soaked from the water that sprayed across the beach.
Margaret screamed and clutched onto her cousin's arm cringing in fear as they both staggered backwards.
The blast had alerted Stacey, Gabumon and SnowAgumon and the three of them were all peeking out from behind the tree, all wide eyed.
Once the water had stopped falling, Dawn, dripping wet, slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see a Digimon that somewhat resembled the grim reaper staring down at them.
"Hello DigiDestined…." It spoke chillingly with a deathly grin as he raised his head up, revealing his skull face underneath the hood of his cloak.
Margaret's brown eyes widened in fear and she screamed once more. "Who is that?"
The Digimon chuckled to himself as he remained floating above the water. "I am MetalPhantomon. An ultimate Digimon who feeds off others misery and fears."
Dawn growled and quickly unclipped her digivice. "Okay Agumon, get ready to-" she suddenly stopped when she realised Agumon wasn't with her this time. "Ah great…." She mumbled as she clipped her digivice loosely to her belt.
MetalPhantomon grinned as he raised his scythe a little. "And now that I have found you DigiDestined, I will transport you back to the Digital World where I will dispose of your existence and earn my rightful place in the Undead King's army."
"Run Margaret!" Dawn yelled.
The two girls quickly turned and began to sprint towards the exit of the beach. But as Dawn spun round her D-Power fell from her belt and hit the sand. She skidded to a halt and turned back round. "My digivice!"
But before Dawn had chance to retrieve it, MetalPhantomon pointed his scythe directly at her and a bolt of lightning surged out from the tip and struck Dawn's body. "Yah!" A split second later, Dawn was gone.
"Dawn!" Margaret screamed in horror as her cousin disappeared from sight. She glared up at the demon Digimon through her tear filled eyes. "What have you done with her?"
MetalPhantomon chuckled again. "She is back in the Digital World in my lair… and you will be soon joining her." he stated before releasing another bolt of lightning from his scythe causing Margaret to also disappear before the young girl had chance to scream.
Stacey's blue eyes widened in disbelief. She slipped back behind the tree and shook her head and blinked a few times to see if what she had witnessed was true.
"What….. just happened?" Gabumon asked quietly.
"I have no idea." Stacey replied before slowly peering out behind the tree trunk once more. She crawled forward slightly but her knee pressed down on a twig and it snapped under her weight. She suddenly gasped and hid back behind the tree as MetalPhantomon spun round in their direction.
Stacey and her two Digimon partners remained completely still and held their breath.
MetalPhantomon stared at the tree before turning slightly to the right. He wasn't facing it but he was staring at it from the corner of his eyes as SnowAgumon bravely stuck his head out from behind the tree trunk.
"It's okay." SnowAgumon whispered as he moved back out of sight. "I don't think he noticed."
But suddenly, the tree exploded above them and Stacey, Gabumon and SnowAgumon threw themselves to the ground. Burning twigs and leaves fell around them before a dark shadow loomed over.
Stacey slowly pushed herself up off the ground and turned to look up at MetalPhantomon who was hovering over them, his scythe gripped in both hands.
He chuckled. "Oh goodie. More DigiDestined." He pointed his scythe down until it was inches away from Stacey's face. "I'm going to be having a busy night tonight."
.:Kamiya Apartment, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
Agumon slowly trudged out of Dawn's bedroom his head hung low. He sighed and looked around the apartment. Tai was sat on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. He had the TV remote in one hand and a can of soda in the other. Agumon and Biyomon were setting the table for dinner but there was no sign of Dawn.
He walked over to the edge of the sofa and looked up at Tai. "Is Dawn still not home?" he asked.
Tai shook his head, not taking his eyes off his sports programme. "No. Don't worry about it buddy. She's only been gone an hour. Give her chance to cool off and she'll be back."
"Yeah, and when she does there is a last piece of fruit pie you two can fight over after dinner." The older Agumon joked from the dining table.
Tai shot a glare at his partner. "That's not funny Agumon."
At this point Sora walked out of their bedroom wearing her bathrobe and her hair was wrapped in a towel. "Tai, has your digivice been going off? I just stepped out of the shower and I could have sworn I heard mine bleeping. But before I got to it, it had stopped." She said as she held up her digivice.
"Your digivice wouldn't stop bleeping if there was a Digimon here. A Digimon wouldn't just suddenly disappear and go off the radar."
"Still… maybe we should check the area just to be safe." The bearer of Love suggested.
"You're probably hearing stuff Sor'." Tai replied before he took a sip of his soda. "Besides if there was a Digimon Izzy will have tracked it down. He'll let us know if something's up."
"Hmmm… I guess so." Sora murmured as she looked down at her digivice again.
Her daughter's Agumon walked past her and grabbed his small dark blue jacket off the coat rack. "I'm gonna go find Dawn."
"Do you know where she'll be?" Biyomon asked as she placed the last plate down on the table.
Agumon nodded. "Yeah. She usually goes to the beach when she's hot headed over something." he replied before leaving the apartment.
.:MetalPhantomon's Lair, File Island, Digital World:.
Stacey moaned and slowly opened her eyes, shifting uncomfortably. "Huh?" She murmured. Her eyes were open but she still couldn't see anything. Everywhere was dark. That's when it hit her that she felt weightless as if she wasn't lying down or standing up. "G-Gabumon?" she stuttered quietly.
"Stacey?" his voice replied from what sounded like behind her. "Where are you?"
"I don't know… where are you?" she asked, looking around. Although it made no difference where she looked as everything was just black. "SnowAgumon?" she called out.
"Stacey…. I think I've gone blind…" his meekly voice responded. He sounded as if he was to the left of her.
But then, a faint light appeared in the distance, which slowly began to grow bigger when suddenly there was a blinding flash that lit up the entire area. Stacey and her two Digimon shielded their eyes until the light faded.
Stacey opened her eyes and looked around. There was now a little light in the area as well as her eyes adjusting to the darkness. They were just floating. It was like being in space except there were no stars or planets, just darkness. She turned around and gasped when she spotted Dawn and Margaret. They were both just floating in mid-air and slouched over, seemingly unconscious.
Gabumon and SnowAgumon both gasped. "Are they okay?" the snow Digimon asked.
Stacey moved her legs and arms trying to move through the air. First she tried walking and then as if she was swimming but she couldn't move.
"I wouldn't waste your energy DigiDestined."
Stacey, Gabumon and SnowAgumon whirled round after hearing the demon Digimon's voice. He chuckled and slowly appeared through the darkness holding his scythe in both hands. "What have you done to them?" the Ishida girl demanded clenching her fists.
"I have merely trapped them inside their own minds." MetalPhantomon replied grinning sinisterly. "They are now under my spell and trapped in their worst nightmares. The only thing that can break them free is if these chains are destroyed."
Stacey looked to see two silver chains slowly appear around Dawn and Margaret's waist. The other end of the chains was being held in MetalPhantomon's right hand. She gasped quietly and turned to face the two girls. Their faces were twitching with discomfort as MetalPhantomon's spell ravaged their minds…..
Margaret's Nightmare….
The darkness around Margaret faded and she looked around to see she was stood in the corner of a dimly lit room. She choked back a sob as she began to remember exactly what room this was.
The furniture and equipment began to appear and the all too familiar hospital smell began to enter Margaret's nose. "N-no…" she stuttered under her breath.
As the room slowly began to complete its transformation, Margaret cast her gaze to the other side of the room. There in the middle against the wall was a single bed with white sheets. Either side were two chairs, a small cupboard and a heart monitor machine.
But Margaret looked past all that to the figure that was lying motionless under the sheets. "Daddy…." She murmured under her breath. She ran forward to his bedside with tears streaming down her face. "Daddy wake up." She spoke softly looking down at him. It looked like he was just sleeping peacefully. But Margaret knew he wasn't. His pale face was covered in deep cuts.
This was just how she remembered, except when she was six she just thought her father was asleep and didn't really understand the concept of death. Now at eleven she fully understood and it began to hurt even more as she relived that evening she and her mother entered this room.
Margaret suddenly gasped and spun round as she heard sobbing behind her. At the other side of the room was her mother who was sobbing uncontrollably and being comforted by her uncle who had his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Mom…." Margaret whimpered as she left her father's bedside and slowly walked over to her mother and uncle. "Mom… I'm here."
But Kari didn't respond. She just remained in her brother's arms sobbing into his chest.
"Mom?" Margaret stretched out her hand to touch her mother's. But as she did it past right through as if Margaret was a ghost. She took in a sharp breath and took a step back, staring at her hand that had passed through her mothers.
"W-what's going on? Mom!" she cried out as tears began to fall from her eyes. "Mom, can you hear me?"
But then her mother and uncle slowly began to fade away from in front of her.
"No! Mom, don't go! You can't leave me too!" Margaret cried almost hysterically. She sprung forward to hug her but she ended up stumbling right through her mother's fading figure. Margaret spun round, tears streaming down her face. "Mom! Uncle Tai! Come back, don't leave!"
She made one last attempt to stop them but as she staggered forward her mother and uncle disappeared completely and she fell to the floor on her knees as the room began to fill with darkness once more….
Dawn's Nightmare….
Dawn was stood in the middle of a room, which was surrounded by flames and falling debris. She yelped and jumped to the side as a chunk of the ceiling caved in, almost hitting her.
"So we meet again." A familiar voice sniggered.
Dawn's brown eyes grew wide with disbelief and she slowly turned around to be met with the dark silhouette of Datamon. "No…. no way…"
Datamon's shadow moved around the room going up walls and floating across the ceiling. "This time there is no one here to save you." He cackled.
"N-no… you're dead….. You're not real!" the Kamiya girl cried out trying to act brave.
Datamon's laugh echoed around her making it impossible for her to pinpoint his location. She looked in every direction possible as she turned on the spot searching for him.
"Agumon!" Dawn yelled.
Datamon's chuckle was right up against her right ear, causing her to flinch. "Go ahead, scream all you want." His voice then moved to her left ear, sending shivers down her spine. "He can't hear you." Then his laugh continued to move around the room, sometimes far away and sometimes right up close to her.
Dawn saw the metal pipe lying on the floor in front of her. She quickly bent down and picked it up and swung it as hard as she could at Datamon's shadow. But it just past right through him.
"Wha-what?" Dawn tried again swinging the pipe at him, but as before it just went right through. She began to grow annoyed and swung the pipe every time she caught a glimpse of him. But he just carried on laughing at her.
"A-arghhhh!" Dawn dropped the metal pipe and let out a frustrated cry and collapsed to her knees, covering both her ears with her hands in an attempt block out the robot Digimon's voice but it just became louder as the flames closed in around her…..
MetalPhantomon's smile grew bigger as he watched the two girls whimper and cringe in their sleep. "I say your friends don't have very long left before their nightmares completely drain them of their life force."
SnowAgumon growled showing his claws. "You'll never get away with this."
"I already have. I doubt two rookies are going to destroy me and no one knows you are here. So I must say I've pretty much won this battle. It'll make the Undead King's job in taking over the Digital World so much easier." MetalPhantomon explained. He then pointed his scythe at Stacey. "And now that all is left is for me to cast you under my spell and destroy your two little pets."
"I don't think so, Blue Blaster!" Gabumon lunged forward and released his icy blue flame attack. It struck MetalPhantomon's ribcage but broke apart, not even making a scratch on his body.
MetalPhantomon chuckled amusingly. "Is that your best shot?"
Gabumon snarled under his breath. "Stacey I have to digivolve to Garurumon." he said, glancing at his human partner.
"Right." Stacey nodded. She grasped her digivice and was about to unclip it from her belt but suddenly stopped when something dawned upon her. "Wait…. I don't have my ring…" she murmured.
.:Odaiba Beach, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
"Dawn? Hey Dawn you out here?" Agumon called as he wandered along the beach. He stopped walking and looked around the deserted shore. Even though it was a beautiful evening and the sun was still peeking out in the horizon, there was no one else on the beach.
"Hmmm…" the little rookie pondered. "Where could she be? She always comes here." He said to himself. He sighed and continued walking along the beach, heading towards the Fuji TV Station.
Just then, something caught Agumon's eye. Something was shimmering in the slowly disappearing sunlight. The reptile Digimon jogged forward towards it. He gasped. "It's Dawn's digivice!" He bent down and picked it up before scanning the area for any sign of his human partner. "Dawn?"
But still there was no one around. Agumon gulped and looked down at the orange D-Power. "This doesn't look good."
.:MetalPhantomon's Lair, File Island, Digital World:.
Stacey continued to stare at the blank screen on her digivice. She had no idea how to activate her Digital Ring. The two rings she had received with her crest were useless if Gabumon couldn't digivolve to Garurumon.
"Having a little trouble are we?" MetalPhantomon mocked.
Stacey glared up at him, still clutching her digivice. She didn't want to show any signs of emotion that would give away her fears and allow MetalPhantomon to cast his spell over her. She continued to glare up at him before she grunted in frustration. "This is stupid." she muttered looking down at her digivice again. "If I can't get Gabumon to digivolve to Garurumon I can't help them." She sighed. "This is going to go down well with their regained trust in me." She added sarcastically.
MetalPhantomon chuckled. "Ah yes, I am beginning to see your weakness now. You are afraid of failing. You are afraid if you fail then your friends will not regain their full trust they once had in you and you are afraid you will end up alone once more."
Stacey gave him a fixed stare and shook her head. "No…."
"Yes. You are afraid if you cannot make your Digimon advance to the next level your friends will deem you useless and will not allow you back in to the group."
Stacey shut her eyes and shook her head even more trying to shake away the images that were appearing in her head. She tried to open her eyes but it was like they were glued shut. No matter how hard she tried the nightmare images would not go away and it was starting to overpower her.
"Stacey you have to fight it." Gabumon spoke. "Don't let his power trap you in your worst fears."
Stacey's hand grasped tighter around her silver D-Power….
"Don't listen to a word he says. You'll never be alone because you have us who will be always by your side." SnowAgumon added. "He's just trying to scare you with a nightmare. It's not true."
"We're your friends and don't ever forget that."
Her grip on her digivice was getting stronger to the point her fist began to shake almost uncontrollably. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she lifted her head up, glaring at the demon Digimon. "Nice try. But it's not going to work."
"W-what?" MetalPhantomon stammered.
Stacey simply smirked and held up her digivice, which was now holding her new Digital Ring inside the screen. "You were trying to scare me with subconscious memories of my mother leaving me, trying to make me believe that everyone else would eventually leave me if I ever failed or made a mistake. Well it's gonna take a lot more than that to manipulate me. I managed to break free from the Undead King's lies so I can just as easily break free from yours." She turned her back on MetalPhantomon and faced Gabumon. "Digital Ring Release!"
The golden ring burst out from Stacey's silver D-Power and Gabumon stretched out his paw and clutched it tightly…
GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… GARURUMON!"
Stacey then quickly selected the two ultimate rings she had stored in her digivice. "Digital Ring Release!" the two rings appeared and connected together. Stacey took hold of them and slotted them both into her crest around the symbol of Friendship.
"GARURUMON… SNOWAGUMON… DNA WARP DIGIVOLVE TO… ICELEOMON!"
IceLeomon roared and sprung forward and with two quick slashes of his sword he broke the two chains that were holding Dawn and Margaret captive. The chains dissolved into thin air and the two girls were freed from their nightmares.
MetalPhantomon grunted as the two chains disappeared from his grip.
Dawn's eyes sprung open and she jolted up fully awake. "Whah!"
Margaret also jumped awake, still visibly trembling with the nightmare still fresh in her mind. "W-w-what h-happened?" she stuttered. "Where are we?"
"What's going on?" Dawn demanded looking around. She noticed Stacey. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your life." Stacey simply replied.
MetalPhantomon growled clutching his scythe. "You think you have won just because you have freed your pathetic friends from my spell. This is far from over. I'll just simply re-cast my spell on all three of you!" he exclaimed pointing his scythe at the children.
IceLeomon growled and brought his fist back. "You're gonna have to through me first…. Frozen Fury!" he punched his fist forward and released an energy packed blast that struck MetalPhantomon head on.
The demon Digimon was thrown back by the force. He regained his composer, clutching his scythe. "Very well. I'll soon dispose of you anyway."
Dawn glared at him. "If you defeat us it doesn't mean you've won. Our friends will soon find you and kick your butt."
"That is where you are wrong DigiDestined." MetalPhantomon replied. He raised his scythe a little and it began to glow. Dawn's D-terminal suddenly slipped out of her back pocket and floated through the air towards the demon Digimon. "I can easily manipulate your friends into coming here."
"Hey, give that back! What are you doing?" Dawn demanded. She tried to grab it as it floated away from her.
The D-Terminal floated in front of MetalPhantomon and he pointed his scythe at it. The portal computer turned on and a message began to type out on the screen. "I will basically use your computer to send a message to your friends. They will think you are in danger and come rushing to your aid." MetalPhantomon explained. "And once they arrive I will soon dispose of them, just as I will dispose of you now."
"Oh yeah? Well I can easily call on Agumon to help us! All I have to do is-" Dawn suddenly stopped what she was saying when she went to grab her digivice, which wasn't there. "Oh no… I must have dropped it at the beach."
MetalPhantomon chuckled. "Looks like your Digimon won't be able to make it."
.:Takaishi Apartment, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
At TK's apartment, TK, MJ and the Digimon were sat on the sofa eating takeout food whilst watching television. Everything was now packed up in boxes ready for their move in a few days. They were all sat in silent finishing off their meal until MJ's D-Terminal bleeped.
MJ put her chopsticks down and took the portal computer out of her pocket and quickly read the message. After reading it she looked up at her father. "Dad, can I be excused?" she asked politely.
TK paused as he brought the chopsticks up to his mouth. "Uhh sure."
"Thanks." his daughter replied before getting up from the sofa, grabbing Patamon on the way.
.:Motomiya Residence, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
Dan and Veemon were both lying on their stomachs on the floor in front of the television, watching cartoons. Davis had fallen asleep in the armchair, snoring slightly whilst Mika could be heard in the kitchen on the telephone discussing her next reporting job.
The young boy's attention was soon broke from the cartoon when his D-Terminal bleeped beside him. He lazily flipped open the lid and began to read the message. Once he finished he quickly jumped up, signalling Veemon to follow him.
.:Izumi Apartment, Odaiba, Tokyo:.
Jonathon was in his room working on his final piece of homework. Tentomon was sat on his bed next to his D-Terminal when it received the message. "Could you read that Tentomon?" Jonathon asked not taking his eyes off his computer.
Tentomon picked Jonathon's D-Terminal and opened it. "It's from Dawn. She needs our help."
Jonathon rolled his eyes before he continued typing. "What has she got herself into now?" he sighed.
Tentomon read the rest of the message. "She's in trouble. Stacey and Margaret are with her. They're being held captive by a Digimon." he explained. "She's sent us the co-ordinates to their location."
Jonathon spun round in his computer chair. He raised an eyebrow. "That's a little technical for her." he stood up. "What are they doing in the Digital World anyway?" he pondered as he walked over and read the message for himself.
"I have no idea. But we better get there and help them."
.:MetalPhantomon's Lair, File Island, Digital World:.
MetalPhantomon kept hold of Dawn's D-Terminal in his telepathic grip just to the side of him. "Now it will be only a matter of time before your friends arrive to save you… and when they do, I'll be waiting for them."
Dawn growled and clenched her fists, which caused the demon Digimon to chuckle.
"For now though whilst I wait for your friends I will simply destroy you…. Soul Predator!" MetalPhantomon slashed his scythe releasing a barrage of energy waves that swept across the entire lair.
"Ahhhhh!" Dawn, Stacey and Margaret screamed as they were thrown backwards from the force of the attack.
IceLeomon grunted as he fought against it. Once they attack had stopped, he launched his own. "Blizzard Breath!"
MetalPhantomon used his scythe as a shield to bat away the small arctic blast of snow and mini icicles that IceLeomon had released. "Was that supposed to hurt me? I must say it rather tickled."
"Oh I'm just warming up." IceLeomon muttered before he launched himself at the demon Digimon, withdrawing his sword from behind his back.
He swung it around but MetalPhantomon blocked it with his scythe. The two ultimate Digimon then engaged in a battle consisting of just their weapons. IceLeomon swiped his sword from right to left and left to right constantly but every time it was intercepted by MetalPhantomon. He raised his scythe up high to block another attack before he quickly spun it round and dealt a blow to IceLeomon in his abdomen before striking him fast in the face straight afterwards.
The lion Digimon grunted and stumbled back, hunched over in pain and slightly exhausted.
"Had enough?" MetalPhantomon chuckled.
IceLeomon lifted his head up, glaring at him and growled angrily.
.:Wastelands, File Island, Digital World:.
In a quiet and deserted part of File Island, the children and Digimons' screams echoed as they came crash landing in the Digital World. They landed in a heap, a cloud of dust rising into the air from the impact. The sun had almost set in the sky, which was a dark orange colour.
"Urgh…." Dan groaned as he sat up adjusting his goggles. He rubbed his head before looking around. "Where are we?"
Jonathon tried to sit up, but found Tricia was sprawled out across his mid-section. "These are the co-ordinates Dawn gave us."
James got to his feet, dusting the dirt off his jeans. "Maybe she got them wrong. She has got an F in geography." he commented. "Either that or this is just one of her tricks. It was hard enough for me to sneak out and travel to Odaiba, so this better not be a waste of time."
Wormmon scuttled up his partner's body and rested on his shoulder. "Well there is no one around here. It's deserted."
"Can't we track their signals to see exactly where they are?" MJ asked. "They might not be far from here."
"We can." Jonathon replied. "But we can't track Stacey's as we don't have her digivice programme into ours." He added as he got his D-Power out. He pressed a couple of buttons and waited for a few moments.
Palmon X looked around their surroundings. It was just miles and miles of wasteland. "I don't think they're nearby guys. It's too quiet here."
Jonathon sighed and clipped his digivice back on his belt. "You're right. They're not here. Dawn and Margaret's signals are back in Odaiba."
Fernanda gasped quietly. "She tricked us into coming all the way here for nothing? Why would she do that?"
Dan clenched his fists defensively. "Dawn wouldn't do that."
"Oh please, you two are always playing pranks on us." Tricia huffed placing her hands on her hips.
James exhaled slowly and crossed his arms. "I knew this wasn't worth the trip across Rainbow Bridge." He complained. "Well, I'm going home."
"Wait." Tentomon spoke up. "We'll have to go in search of a portal before we can get home."
"What?" all the children except Jonathon exclaimed.
"He's right." Jonathon added, who was now sat on the ground with his laptop open in his lap. "We travelled here based on Dawn's so called location. Which basically means we have landed in the middle of nowhere with no portal here to return home." He explained as he typed away. "We will have to travel to the nearest portal."
"And how do you expect us to do that? We have no idea where the nearest portal is and could spend hours searching for it." James questioned.
Jonathon didn't respond for a few moments as he continued typing. "There!" he spoke up. "Luckily my father installed a programme on here, which can pinpoint any portal in a ten mile radius."
"And?" Veemon asked.
Jonathon studied the map on his screen. "According to this…. There is one south from here… approximately six miles away."
"Six miles?" Tricia screeched in horror.
Dan sighed and looked ahead in the direction they were about to go. "Well, we better start walking."
.:MetalPhantomon's Lair, File Island, Digital World:.
There was a pause in the fight and MetalPhantomon smiled. "I sense your friends have arrived." He said, causing the three girls to tense up. "They fell for that phoney message and now to bring them down into their worst nightmares…" he raised his scythe high above his head preparing to break through the barrier of his lair to reach the other children.
"Stop him IceLeomon!" Stacey commanded.
IceLeomon lunged forward and as quick as a flash he flung his sword like a boomerang. It flew through the air and sliced past MetalPhantomon's wrist causing him to drop his scythe before he released his spell. "Argh!"
"Frozen Fury!" IceLeomon didn't give the demon Digimon chance to retaliate as he fired a blast of cold energy from his fist, which sent MetalPhantomon flying backwards through the air. IceLeomon bent down and picked up the scythe and quickly snapped it in half over his knee as if it was as fragile as a toothpick. After he did, the scythe dissolved into thin air completely destroyed.
MetalPhantomon regained his position and snarled loudly. "You will pay for that. That scythe was the source of my power!" he exclaimed lividly.
"Well it's time you had a taste of your own medicine… Welcome to your worst nightmare!" IceLeomon declared before he jumped up, holding his sword high above his head with both hands. He roared as he came down towards the demon Digimon…..
MetalPhantomon's eyes widened as IceLeomon's sword sunk into the red orb that was inside his ribcage. He screamed in agony as his body began to be ripped apart from the inside.
With a triumphant grunt, IceLeomon pulled the sword out of MetalPhantomon's body, causing him even more pain before his body completely disappeared, his scream still echoing across his lair…
Now that MetalPhantomon was destroyed, his lair began to pixelate and disappear slowly.
"W-what's going on now?" Margaret gasped as she looked around frantically.
Before the others could answer, the surroundings suddenly changed and the girls felt themselves falling to the ground in the middle of the wastelands, which was now masked in darkness. Gabumon and SnowAgumon came crashing down beside them in a heap.
Dawn's D-Terminal clattered to the ground just in front of the Kamiya girl. She sat up rubbing her head and groaning before she leaned forward to grab it. But just before she could touch it a large black paw slammed down inches from her hand. "Yahhh!" she yelped and jumped back in fright. She looked up to see a saber-toothed lion towering over her.
Margaret gasped and clutched onto Stacey's arm as they both stepped back, whilst Gabumon and SnowAgumon hugged each other in shock.
The saber-toothed lion lowered his head and looked down at Dawn who was still on the ground, looking back up at him with wide eyes. The Digimon then sighed and stepped to the side of her. "What are you kids doing here after dark? Haven't your parents told you it's dangerous here? Especially at night." he asked, in a some-what friendly voice that took the girls by surprise.
Stacey and Margaret both glanced at each other. "You know our parents?" The Ishida girl spoke up.
"Yes. I am SaberLeomon. I helped your parents in the battles against Devimon and the Dark Masters."
"So… does this mean you're not going to eat us?" SnowAgumon asked meekly as he let go of Gabumon.
"No, of course not." SaberLeomon replied as he walked around them. "But if you don't leave here then another Digimon might if you cross their path." He added a bit more sternly.
Dawn got to her feet dusting the dirt off her clothes. "We didn't plan on coming here. This lousy Digimon MetalPhantomon showed up in our world and managed to kidnap us and bring us to his lair."
SaberLeomon turned around to face Dawn giving her a stern glare. "That 'lousy' Digimon could have easily killed you kids. You should count yourselves lucky you manage to escape. Others haven't been so lucky."
"Ummm… what are you doing out here SaberLeomon?" Margaret asked politely.
"I was trying to track down the Undead King's base. I was in the city when his army of Waspmon attacked and captured hundreds of innocent Digimon. I tried following the train tracks out of the city hoping they would lead me to him but they suddenly came to a stop in these wastelands. I've been wandering around all day in hope of still finding his base." He explained. "But that's not important right now; you kids need to go home."
Dawn picked up her D-Terminal. "How can I? I don't have my digivice." She tried turning it on with no luck. "Great. Looks like this is busted." She groaned placing it back in her pocket.
"I don't have my digivice either. I left mine at home." Margaret added.
SaberLeomon sighed unimpressed. "You call yourselves DigiDestined? You're supposed to carry your digivices with you at all times."
"So what are we going to do now then?" Stacey asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "With no way to contact the others you're stuck here."
"Hey you still have your digivice. You can go back home, get our digivices and bring them back to us." Dawn replied.
Stacey huffed and turned her back on the Kamiya girl. "Some manners wouldn't go a miss. Say please and I might consider it."
Dawn growled and clenched her fists. "Listen, you better get your butt movin' or I'll-"
"Okay, okay you two stop fighting!" SaberLeomon roared silencing the two girls. "Before any of you go home you better come with me. There is something important I need to explain to you. Climb on my back and I'll take you back to Infinity Mountain. You'll be safe up there for the night."
As the girls and Digimon climbed onto the mega Digimon's back, Margaret stopped and looked around. "Wait, what about the others? Didn't MetalPhantomon say they had arrived here?"
Dawn held her hand out to her cousin and helped her up. "His special 'sense' must have got it wrong. They'd be here if they were."
"Yeah… maybe you're right." Margaret sighed as she wrapped her arms around Dawn's waist to support herself.
"Everyone on? Okay, hold on tight." SaberLeomon instructed before he began to sprint away into the distance…..
To be continued….