The digidestined and their Digimon companions barely escaped the corrupted legendary warriors by riding a Trailmon. However, their escape was not without casualty, for Sorcerimon stayed behind to buy them time. The Trailmon sped through the underwater tunnel with Takuya and Koji holding onto its sides while the rest struggled to sit straight.
"Hey bud, could you possibly go any faster?" Koji sarcastically asked, a hand holding on to his bandana.
"No problem," Trailmon replied, briefly giving Koji a side glance. "Just hang on to your bandana."
"Koji!"
"What?"
Trailmon began to increase its speed, making its sharp turns even sharper. Michael and Zoe protectively held their respective digi-eggs while Angewomon had her arms wrapped around them. The blond boy's eyes looked down to check his digi-egg after every turn to make sure it was alright.
"I was being sarcastic!" Koji shouted when another turn almost made him collide with the glass tunnel.
"Zoe, is everyone okay back there?" Takuya called out to the blonde girl in the car behind him. "What about the digi-eggs, Michael?"
"We've all been better!" Zoe replied, slightly tightening her grip on Seraphimon's digi-egg with Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon nearby.
"They're fine, Takuya!" Michael added, Guardiamon's digi-egg wrapped in his vest for added protection. "But I'm not sure for how much longer!"
"One way is fun, the other way we're done." Trailmon said as two different paths came into view.
"Oh man, there's two of them!" Koji said, getting Takuya's attention from their friends. "How do you tell which is the right way?"
"Don't know," Trailmon replied. "The direction of the trails is up to the rails." Once it said that, the track switched from left to right. "We're on the right track now!"
"Well, at least it's a little bit smoother here." Takuya commented when he saw that it was now a straight path.
"Thank goodness." Michael sighed in relief when the sharp turns ended. He removed his vest from Guardiamon's digi-egg and lightly rubbed it. "Any more and I was afraid we'd be having scrambled digi-eggs."
"Do not worry." Angewomon said, releasing the two blond humans from her grip. "I will make sure that both of you are safe."
"Thanks Angewomon, that's reassuring to hear." Michael gave the angel digimon a grateful smile before looking at Seraphimon's digi-egg in Zoe's arms. His thoughts wandered to their encounter with the corrupt warriors, more specifically, Ranamon. 'Is she the same one that went to Mikemon's village?'
"May I have a word?" Michael was brought out of his thoughts by Bokomon's voice and saw him in front of Zoe. "I want you to give me Seraphimon's egg, I'll take care of it now." His words got confused looks from Zow and Tommy as he took the digi-egg from Zoe. "I'm sorry, but I happen to know more about its special needs."
"Special needs?" Zoe asked as Bokomon stuffed Seraphimon's digi-egg into his belly-band. "Like what?"
"It must be protected and nurtured by someone with life experience." Bokomon replied as he got the digi-egg into his belly-band.
"Have you been a mommy before?" Neemon asked in confusion.
"You sure look like one." Tommy commented as he reached to touch the digi-egg.
"Hands off, bub!" Bokomon slapped Tommy's hand away and held the digi-egg protectively. "We must wash our hands before touching the egg. Honestly, what were you thinking, you might get germs on him." He then had a slight blush as he smiled down at the digi-egg. "Don't worry baby, mama will keep you safe from them."
"You might as well be a seahorse, Bokomon." Michael said, sweat dropping at the bookkeeper's behavior. The blond's remark got him curious looks from both humans and Digimon alike. "The father seahorse is the one that carries and gives birth to the babies."
Before anyone could comment, the ride began to get rough again and Angewomon quickly held onto Michael. The blond boy wrapped his vest around Guardiamon's digi-egg again while Bokomon told Seraphimon's digi-egg that he's got it. He could hear Takuya say something but couldn't make it out with the sound of rushing water penetrating his ears. The shaking suddenly stopped much to the confusion of everyone inside the car. Michael peeked out and screamed in panic when he saw that some of the track was missing and were plummeting down towards the other end of the tracks.
"This is definitely not good for the baby!" Bokomon shouted as he saw the same thing as Michael.
"I always say, one good track deserves another." Trailmon said, laughing at his own joke and connecting with the track below before slowing to a stop. "End of the line and all is fine."
"You call this fine?" Michael groaned, inspecting Guardiamon's digi-egg and sighed in relief when he found no cracks. "We just can't catch a break today."
"Tell me about it." J.P. said in agreement, jumping out of Trailmon before helping Bokomon and Neemon off.
"At least we have a head start." Angewomon said, taking Guardiamon's digi-egg from Michael as he put his vest back on. She helped Zoe off before getting off herself followed by Michael.
"Yeah, but not for long." Koji said as he and Takuya jumped off Trailmon. He looked back the way they came with narrowed eyes. "We better keep moving if we want to lose them."
"I'm with you on that." Takuya nodded in agreement while Angewomon returned Guardiamon's digi-egg to Michael.
"Happy trails." Trailmon said as it began to travel backwards along the tracks while the digidestined wave it farewell.
"That's pretty scary," Tommy said as he watched the Trailmon go backwards. "He's going backwards all the way home."
"I just hope he'll be alright." Michael said, a worried look on his face as he adjusted his hold on Guardiamon's digi-egg. "After all, he's heading back where Grumblemon and the others are."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Takuya placed a reassuring hand on his childhood friend's shoulder. "They're after us, so they'll leave him alone when they see we aren't with him anymore."
"I hope you're right, Takuya." Michael cast one more worried look towards the direction Trailmon left. He and the rest of the group then ran down the tunnel that they hope leads to the outside world.
While they ran, Michael's thought kept going back to what happened to Seraphimon. The blond felt responsible because he wasn't able to warn the celestial digimon sooner. He saw what Mercurymon was capable of, but he was too slow to get Seraphimon out of the way. Even if he did, he and the others would have been hit instead. No matter how much he thought about it, Michael couldn't find a way to avoid either situation.
"Hey everybody, there's an opening up ahead!" Takuya's voice brought Michael out of his thoughts to see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Yeah," Koji nodded in agreement when he saw the light as well. "Let's just hope it gets us outside."
When they reached the end of the tunnel, the digidestined and their Digimon companions were disappointed by what they saw. The end of the tunnel was over a giant cavern supported by stone pillars and a lake.
"This doesn't look like outside to me." J.P. complained, hanging his head at the fact they did all that running for nothing. "Does this look like outside to you?"
"Well, duh." Zoe replied, just as disappointed while Angewomon pulled her into a comforting side hug. "It's an underground cavern."
"Seriously?" Michael groaned, dropping to his knees and looking over his shoulder to check the tunnel behind them. "What did we do to deserve such rotten luck?"
"Where's the exit?" Takuya looked around the cavern with his eyes, hoping to find a passage they overlooked.
"Must be one somewhere." Koji replied as he and Takuya ran down to find a possible exit.
"Hey, wait for me!" Tommy called out as he, Bokomon, and Neemon ran after them. "If Grumblemon finds us down here, we'll be in big trouble!"
"Let him find us." J.P. said, putting on a brave face when he thought back to how he stole Zoe's spirit. "I'm not afraid of that stupid runt."
"Wow, are you trying to impress me with a show of courage, J.P.?" Zoe asked with a teasing tone in her voice.
"I'm not trying to show anything, give me a break, will ya?" J.P.'s words surprised the blonde girl as he turned to face her with a serious look on his face. "Grumblemon stole your spirit and I want to get it back, it's as simple as that." Zoe was at a loss for words for a moment by J.P.'s sudden air of confidence. "Maybe we should turn back and fight him and get this over with!"
"Do you really mean that?" Zoe asked, her cheeks feeling slightly warm.
"Yeah, you better believe it." J.P. nodded his head to show how serious he was.
Zoe just stared at J.P. before holding her face with a hand. "Well, it's your funeral."
J.P. whimpered at the blonde girl's words, his confidence deflating faster than a blown car tire. "Can I change my mind?"
"Better luck next time." Michael patted J.P. on the shoulder sympathetically before looking at Angewomon. "Do you think you can find an exit in the air, Angewomon?"
"It's certainly worth a try." Angewomon replied, spreading her wings and taking flight to search the cavern.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to dip my feet in the water over there." Michael said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other before walking down the natural trail. "After all that running, my feet feel like they're on fire right now."
The blond boy gently rubbed Guardiamon's digi-egg while humming his lullaby as the other continued to search for an exit. He wanted to help look, but he knew his limits and couldn't continue to stand much longer before he collapsed. Once he reached the lake in the cavern, Michael carefully set Guardiamon's digi-egg down and removed his shoes and socks. He picked up the digi-egg and lowered his feet into the water. Michael sighed of the cold water as he sat on the edge of the lake.
"Doesn't seem to be any give at all." Koji said, tapping on the cavern walls with Takuya feeling around for a possible hidden door. "These walls are made out of solid rock."
"Yeah, this stupid cave is a deadend." Takuya said, pulling away from the wall and holding up a clenched fist in frustration. "Beans."
"I do not see any other tunnels we could take." Angewomon reported, descending to stand beside Michael. "It would appear that we are trapped here."
"Guess we gotta go back." Tommy said, looking up to Zoe who was feeling along the wall like Takuya.
"That's what I was saying." J.P. said, resting his hands against his hip.
"I wonder if we passed an exit somewhere back in the tunnels." Zoe said thoughtfully as she faced the others. "It's worth a try."
"I don't think so." Michael said, looking over his shoulder as he continued to rub Guardiamon's digi-egg. "The tunnel was straight, and I didn't see any others when we were running."
"Hm?" Angewomon looked down at the lake when she heard a peculiar sound. She saw that the water began to rise. "Michael, watch out!" She quickly grabbed the blond boy and took to the air just as a spout of water shot out of the lake. It struck Tommy and J.P., slamming them into the cavern wall.
"Tommy!" The humans and Digimon called out worriedly.
"I don't feel so good, J.P." Tommy said weakly while J.P. held his aching head.
"Jeez, are you alright little man?" J.P. asked as he held the little boy in his arms when he realized something. "Hey, how come nobody yelled out my name?"
The water began to slowly rise up into a pillar as the humans and Digimon watched nervously. The water soon dispersed to reveal a giant digimon that resembled a sperm whale. It has a brown shell on its head and back with visible spinal cord and ribs. Its eyes have degenerated and it has cables in place of them. It has three pairs of fins with the dorsal fins being the largest.
"What Digimon is that?" Michael asked, eyes wide at the size of the whale Digimon.
"What's Whamon doing down here?" Bokomon asked himself, wondering how a giant Digimon like Whamon could have ended up in an underground cavern. "He lives in the ocean."
"Who is Whamon?" Zoe asked as the whale digimon began to thrash around in the water.
"He's a whale digimon." Bokomon replied, watching Whamon dive into the water before surfacing again. "And he seems to be quite out of his element."
"I can't stand it anymore!" Whamon shouted as he continued to trash about. "Do you hear me, I can't stand it!"
"He's ordinarily a gentle digimon." Bokomon continued, placing his arms protectively against Seraphimon's digi-egg. "Something really must be upsetting him."
"I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home!" Whamon cried, his thrashing beginning to affect the cavern as it started to shake.
"If he keeps this up the cavern will collapse!" Michael said when he saw the stone pillars near Whamon beginning to crack.
"We gotta stop him!" Koji shouted, pulling out his D-tector with Michael doing the same after Angewomon set him down and handed her Guardiamon's digi-egg.
"Um, alright." Takuya said nervously as he too pulled out his D-tector. "I'm ready to go when you are!"
"Execute!" The three boys formed rings of data around their hands and swiped them against their respective D-tectors. "Spirit Evolution!" They were then surrounded in cocoons of data and in their place were Agunimon, Lobomon, and Saintmon. Agunimon and Lobomon both jumped onto Whamon's back while Saintmon circled around them in case they needed air support.
"Alright, big guy, just calm down." Lobomon ordered, struggling to not be thrown off.
"Yeah, what is the matter with you?" Agunimon asked, also trying to stay on top of the trashing whale digimon.
"Leave me alone!" Whamon shouted, his thrashing getting worse as he tried to get the two legendary warriors off his back.
"We only want to help!" Saintmon flew in front of Whamon and held up his hands in a placating manner. "Whamon, do what I do." Saintmon slowly took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You try, it'll help you calm down."
Saintmon repeated the breathing exercise and Whamon joined in with his breathing being slightly faster. The whale digimon's breathing slightly got slower as it started to match Saintmon's breathing. After two minutes, Whamon stopped thrashing around and seemed to have calmed down a little.
"There, you see?" Saintmon gestured to the warriors of fire and light and they both nodded before jumping off Whamon's back. "Have you calmed down now, Whamon?"
"You seem to be feeling a little bit better, Whamon." Zoe said as she and the rest of their group approached the whale digimon. "Can you tell us why you were so upset?"
"Oh, I hate this place." Whamon whimpered, raising his head to look up at the ceiling of the cavern. "I just wanna go back to my home, in the ocean."
"How did you end up here, Whamon?" Saintmon asked, wondering how the whale digimon got trapped in the cavern.
"It all happened so suddenly." Whamon replied as he recalled everything that happened to him. "Until very recently, I was swimming happy and free under the sea, not a care in the world." He shook his head at the memory. "Then, one day, I saw these delicious looking glowing plants. I couldn't help myself, I decided to take a little nibble. Oh they were good." Tears started running down his face and Saintmon had a good idea why. "All of a sudden, I was pulled by a strong current and the next thing I knew, I was stuck in this place with no way out!"
"Here we go again." Agunimon muttered as Whamon began to cry again and a fountain of tears poured out of his eyes.
"You don't have to be such a big crybaby." Lobomon added, his patience slowly whittling away.
"Can you guys be anymore unsympathetic?" Saintmon smacked his fellow legendary warriors in the back of their heads before flying up to Whamon and rubbing his head in a comforting manner. "There, there, don't cry, Whamon."
"He's sure losing a lot of water, is that normal?" Neemon asked curiously as he watched Whamon cry.
"No idea." Bokomon replied, unsure of what to do.
"This is embarrassing." J.P. said while Tommy supported him. "Does he really think all that blubbering is gonna help him?"
He then grunted in pain as he held his abdomen and Tommy gave him a look of concern. "Hey, are you okay, J.P.?"
"I'll be fine once I get this pain to go away."
"An-and it's all my fault you guys got hurt!" Whamon's cried harder in guilt of hurting someone. "I'm so sorry!"
"You're forgiven, alright?"
"Well, at least you have some company now." Zoe pointed out, taking control of the situation as Saintmon continued to console with the whale digimon. "We're stuck here too, maybe with your help we can figure a way to escape."
"Huh?" Whamon stopped crying when he heard the blonde girl's words and grew excited. "Okay!"
"There we go." Saintmon smiled while the rest of the group nearly fell over at how fast the whale digimon's mood changed. Whamon began to scream as the water level in the lake got lower and lower until it was gone. 'Whamon!"
"Now that is not normal." Bokomon commented nervously as the ground burst open and revealed Grumblemon.
"It's Grumblemon!" Saintmon exclaimed, lowering himself to float protectively in front of their other human and digimon companions.
"No where hide now." Grumblemon snickered, grinning up at the digidestined and their Digimon companions. "Me so glad we see each other again, only this time me steal your spirits good!"
"You're an annoying little gnome, you know that?" Lobomon said, a hand hovering over his saber handle.
"Yeah, what he said." Agunimon added, standing beside Saintmon to protect their friends. "Oh, and by the way, you're not stealing anything from anyone ever again!"
"That goes for your comrades too." Saintmon said, his wings glowing slightly in preparation for a tough battle ahead of them. "We're not afraid of you anymore, Grumblemon!"
"You will be." Grumblemon took out a small vile and popped the cork out. He swung the vile, spreading a pinkish red sand. "Looky look." The group of humans and digimon watched as orange circles formed on the walls and ceiling of the cavern. "You may taken Gigasmon spirit, but me have other powers!" He held up a clenched fist as the warriors of fire, light, and truth circled around their friends. "You no can beat me, your spirits be mine!" Golemon began to emerge from where the circles were placed. "Me first to find you, so Mercurymon and others no will have you now, it too late for them! Meet my new friends, get them!"
"Agumon digivolve to Greymon!"
"Let's turn these rocks into pebbles." Agunimon looked at Lobomon and Saintmon in time to see them nodded in agreement before jumping into action. "Pyro Tornado!" Agunimon spun rapidly, creating a twister of fire and kicked four Golemon at once, disintegrating them.
"Horn Impulse!" Greymon lowered his head and rammed into the Golemon, causing them to crumble into pieces.
"Lobo Kendo!" Lobomon pulled out a handle and formed his saber of light before slashing at every Golemon he passed. Like the ones that faced Agunimon, they too disintegrated after being cut in half.
"Sacred Cascade!" Saintmon spread out his wings and began to fire rapidly as he flew over the Golemon.
"Excuse me!" Bokomon called out as he and the rest of their group slowly backed away from the approaching Golemon. "Gentlemen, we could use some assistance over here!"
"Be right there!" Agunimon destroyed another Golemon before running over to help his friends.
"We're on the way!" Lobomon slashed a Golemon that attempted a sneak attack before he too ran over to help.
Suddenly, a pair of hands attached to cables grabbed them by the back of their necks and pulled them back. Saintmon followed the cables to see Arbormon at the entrance and held Agunimon and Lobomon in place.
"Intervention is always the best medicine, right?"
"Let them go!" Saintmon dove straight towards Arbormon. He however, didn't see the Golemon over him and they both struck the ground with Golemon sitting on top of Saintmon.
"Hey, let go!" J.P. ran to help only to stop and hold abdomen in pain again.
"No, you can't fight in this condition!" Zoe said as she and Tommy tried to support him.
"She's right!" Bokomon said, but he was no longer beside Neemon and nowhere to be seen. "The best thing we can do is hide!"
"Hey, good hiding, you're invisible."
"Over here, brainiac."
Neemon followed the voice and his eyes bulged when he saw Bokomon hiding behind a rock. "Wow, you're pretty fast too."
"You meathead!" Bokomon shouted from behind his hiding spot. "The only reason I'm hiding is because I have to protect Seraphimon's egg!"
"Mhmm." Neemon gave Bokomon an unconvinced look.
"I refuse to just hide and give up." J.P. said, trying and failing to fight through the pain.
"J.P., you're too badly hurt right now." Tommy said worriedly as J.P. continued to hold his abdomen. "Agunimon, Lobomon, and Saintmon will think of something, we have to trust them."
"Come on Zoe, think." Zoe said to herself getting J.P.'s attention as she pulled out her D-tector and stared at the screen. "Oh, if only I can spirit evolve."
"Come here!" Arbormon gave a powerful tug, pulling Agunimon and Lobomon onto their backs before releasing them. "How about a little dance?" He then began to continuously punch them, not giving them time to counterattack. "Dance, come on, dance!"
"Knock it off!" Saintmon struggled to get the Golemon off him, but it was too heavy and his wings were pinned down.
"They on ropes now, Arbormon!" Grumblemon turned to watch Arbormon pummel the two digidestined. "Keep going!"
"Youse guys are very graceful."Arbormon continued to pummel Agunimon and Lobomon until they were on their knees and their fractal code appeared.
"Don't stop, me can smell spirits!" Grumblemon smirked at the sight as Saintmon's fractal code also appeared. "Hurry up and get for me!"
"I don't know for how long they can keep this up." Tommy said nervously as J.P. started to walk towards Grumblemon. "J.P., what are you doing?"
"Tommy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going in, you watch out for Zoe."
"He's lost it!" Zoe couldn't believe what J.P. was saying as Angewomon wrapped her wings around Guardiamon's digiegg and the blonde girl.
"Yeah, he can't stop them!"
"That it biggy boy, spirit evolve, fight me!" Grumblemon cackled when he saw the contition the warrior of thunder was in. "Or is you too weak?"
"He's just egging you on, get out of there!" Bokomon shouted from his hiding spot before ducking behind it again.
"Don't be an idiot, J.P.!" Saintmon tried once more to force Golemon off of him by punching it.
"I'm not going to let him win." J.P. said, not willing to back down as he stared the warrior of earth in the eyes. "I won't stand here and let Grumblemon hurt my friends."
"I'm with ya!" Tommy said as he stepped forward to stand beside J.P.
"Are you sure?"
"Uh-huh."
"Execute!" The two boys formed rings of data around their hands and swiped them against their respective D-tectors. "Spirit Evolution!" They were then surrounded in cocoons of data and in their place were Beetlemon and Kumamon.
"Go Golemon!" Grumblemon ordered and the rock Digimon advanced forward.
"You ready to rock these blockheads?" Beetlemon asked, getting a nod from Kumamon before raising a fist sparking with electricity. "Thunder Fist!" He punched the ground and the electricity traveled along the ground and electrocuted the Golemon.
"Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon took a deep breath before blowing cold wind that instantly froze the Golemon solid and shattered.
"I'm tired of playing with you." Beetlemon growled out as his hands crackle with electricity before jumping up and clasping his hands over his head. "I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done!"
"You kidding, right?"
"Thunder Fist!"
"Sulfur Plume!" Golemon opened its mouth and fired superheated gases at Beetlemon. The attack knocked Beetlemon back and he reverted back to his human form.
"Weak human." Grumblemon reached into Golemon's back and pulled out his hammer. "Fighting you, I not even work up sweat!" Grumblemon looked over his shoulder where Arbormon resumed his pummeling. "Arbormon, take care them while me get spirit!"
"Not on my watch." Saintmon growled out as he finally freed himself from Golemon and disintegrated it. He kicked Arbormon's hands away from Agunimon and Lobomon before looking at his fellow warriors. "Agunimon, Lobomon, let's attack him together."
"Great Idea, Saintmon." Agunimon nodded in agreement as both he and Lobomon got to their feet. "Pyro Darts!" He brought his gauntlet up and threw small bits of fire at Arbormon.
"Howling Laser!" Lobomon gathers energy to the weapon on its left wrist, and releases it in a burst of light energy.
Saintmon's wings started to glow as he spread them out to their full length. He raised his hands over his head and energy left his wings to form an orb of light between his hands. "Holy Energy Wave!"
A beam of light was released from the orb and merged with Agunimon and Lobomon's attacks. Arbormon watched as the combined attack sped towards him in shocked surprise. When the attack connected, it caused an explosion, creating a large cloud of debris. Nothing could be seen within the debris cloud as the three warriors watched it anxiously.
"Did we get him?" Agunimon asked, not taking his eyes off the smoke cloud in front of them.
"I think so." Saintmon said, his voice filled with uncertainty.
"All three of us attacked at the same time." Lobomon added, raising his blaster in case Arbormon did survive the attack. "That guy's history."
"You three think you've won," Arbormon said as the smoke cleared, shocking the three that he was completely unharmed. "but I think that Grumblemon ain't the only one that that has a beast spirit right?" Arbormon started to get surrounded by a cocoon of data just as "Arbormon Slide Evolution!" The cocoon dispersed and in Arbormon's place was a gecko looking Digimon made of wood. It has green moss on it's back and three pairs of wooden spikes. Its three toes and mane were burgundy colored leaves. "Petaldramon!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Saintmon exclaimed as he looked up the beast of wood. "Not only is he alright, he just made things harder!"
"Seismic Sledge!" Grumblemon jumped off Golemon and held his hammer over his head as he aimed for J.P.
"Blasting Spout!" A torrent of water suddenly slammed Grumblemon in the back and into the wall past the humans. Once the water dispersed, a totem that resembled a beetle-shaped tank lowered itself in front of J.P.
"I can't believe it." J.P. looked on with awe as the totem continued its descent. "A beast spirit."
Grumblemon pulled himself out of the wall and looked towards the beast spirit. "No fair, that spirit mine!"
"So that's what it was." Whamon commented when he saw the spirit. "It did taste a little gamey for a plant."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here." Saintmon said, watching the beast spirit along with Agunimon, Lobomon, and Petaldramon. "But I think that's J.P.'s."
"I think you might be right." Agunimon nodded in agreement when he saw the spirit's eyes flash yellow for a moment.
"You can't have spirit!" Grumblemon shouted, jumping off the wall and reaching for the beast spirit. "It's mine, mine, mine, mine!"
"Not today!" J.P. pulled out his D-tector and pointed it at the beast spirit. "It's my turn to play!" A beam of light struck the beast spirit, pulling it towards the D-tector making Grumblemon fall to the ground. J.P. tightened his grip on his D-tector before bringing up his left hand as it got surrounded by numerous rings of code, turned his back for a moment, then swiped it over his D-tector. "Execute!" When J.P.'s fully swiped over his D-tector the code from his hand started to surround him. " Beast Spirit Evolution!" Lightning rained down over J.P. as blue and yellow armor with beetle-like traits appeared over him. The armor positioned itself on screens of data that came closer to J.P. and in his place was beetle-like tank digimon whose entire body is covered in armor, with treads instead of legs, cannons on the ends of its arms, and its horn is a large turret and landed on a platform. "MetalKabuterimon!"
"Oh my, it's the legendary beast warrior of thunder!" Bokomon exclaimed once the evolution was completed.
"Molto bene." Zoe said softly as MetalKabuterimon stood in front of her, Tommy, Angewomon, Bokomon, and Neemon. "J.P. turned into him?"
"That appearance is somewhat nostalgic." Angewomon said softly to herself as she stared at the back of the beast warrior of thunder.
*Flashback*
Guardiamon and Angewomon stood at the foot of a large mountain and stared up at the peak. Standing behind them is a quadruped digimon that appears to be a mish-mash of both Agunimon and BurningGreymon. Its form contains physical features from the human and beast digimon of flame. It has BurningGreymon's face, torso, legs, and flaming wings. Then it has Agunimon's shoulder guards, arms and feet to form its front limbs, and it has Agunimon's long spiky hair. What appears to be BurningGreymon's blasters are attached to both sides of its body.
"My lord, if I may be so bold?" Angewomon inquired, watching the thunderclouds that circled around the mountain's peak.
"What is it, Angewomon?" Guardiamon adjusted his robes before looking up at the mountain again.
"Are you sure you want to personally recruit the digimon said to live on this mountain?" Angewomon asked, jumping back when a bolt of lightning struck where she was previously standing. "You do not need to endanger yourself like this, I am more than capable of doing it for you."
"I am sure." Guardiamon nodded, looking over his shoulder to give a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I have appointed my Big Buddy as the leader."
"Yeah Angewomon, my Little Buddy knows what he's doing." The quadruped digimon said, his voice sounding like a deeper feral version of Takuya's, before looking down at Guardiamon. "I still do not understand why you are recruiting, little buddy." He tilted his head in confusion as he tried to understand what Guardiamon was thinking. "Do you not already have the Olympus Twelve?"
"They are not for me, AncientGreymon." Guardiamon replied, turned to face AncientGreymon and held his arms out. "I am recruiting warriors who will fight for the Digital World should the need arise."
"I see now." AncientGreymon nodded in understanding as the angel Digimon rose into the air. "As cautious as ever, Little Buddy."
"Of course." Guardiamon flew up towards the mountain, dodging bolts of lightning that began to rain down at him. Once he reached the mountain's peak, he raised his head up to the eye of the clouds. "You who resides in the clouds, I wish to have a word with you!"
Thunder rumbled as lightning sparked in the thunderclouds as a silhouette of a figure was seen within. Descending from the eye of the thunder clouds was a chimeric digimon whose upper body is a humanoid rhinoceros beetle covered in a blue and yellow armor-like exoskeleton with spikes on its shoulders and large falx at the end of its arms. Its head is eyeless and has a yellow crest on top and a long horn that forks at the tip. It has six pairs of yellow wings on its back. Its lower body is a red Stag beetle with six eyes. It has six legs with black thighs. It has white muscle in the torso, the brachium of its arms and its legs.
"Who are you?" AncientBeetlemon asked, looking down at the angel digimon that approached him. "It is dangerous for digimon like you to be near these thunderclouds."
"I am Guardiamon." the angel digimon replied, bowing to the insect digimon as Angewomon and AncientGreymon landed behind him. "From what I hear, you are AncientBeetlemon, who's shell is said to have a hardness rivaling that of Chrome Digizoid, am I correct?"
"I would not go that far." AncientBeetlemon replied, raising an arm and waving it. "I can tell you that not a single mon has broken through it to this day."
"That is impressive indeed." AncientGreymon could see that his little buddy was appraising the insect digimon with his eyes. "I am currently recruiting for capable warriors to help maintain peace and order in the Digital World." The angel digimon gestured to AncientGreymon behind him. "I have appointed AncientGreymon to be the leader of this group." He then held out a hand to AncientBeetlemon. "Are you interested, I am sure you will be a valuable asset with your control over thunder."
"Him, huh?" As AncientBeetlemon heard that, he looked at AncientGreymon and thought about it for a moment. "Well little one, you got yourself a deal." the Ancient Insect said as he shook Guardiamon's hand with one of his falxes.
*End of Flashback*
Angewomon was brought out of her thoughts when Metal Kabuterimon's body crackled with electricity. She could hear low grunts and he shut his eyes tightly and started to thrash around. She knew right away that he was losing control and quickly grabbed Zoe and Tommy before taking to the air with Tommy holding onto Guardiamon's digi-egg.
"Bolo Thunder!" MetalKabuterimon's cannon-like arms began to spin, forming two balls of energy and started to randomly fire.
"Run for your lives!" Bokomon shouted as he and Neemon ran when rubble from the ceiling started to fall from the beast warrior of thunder's attacks.
"He's completely out of control!" Lobomon shouted as MetalKabuterimon fired another Bolo Thunder. "Head for cover!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Saintmon took to the air and held out his hands. "Grab on!" The two warriors jumped up and each grabbed a hand before Saintmon started to fly around the falling rubble. Saintmon looked back to see Petaldramon wasn't chasing after them and instead was being buried by the rubble.
"Let's not be hasty now, friend." Grumblemon said nervously as he backed away from MetalKabuterimon.
"Let's take this battle to the next level. Greymon digivolve!"
"Right! Greymon digivolve to...MetalGreymon!"
"We aren't friends Grumblemon." MetalGreymon growled.
"You don't even understand the meaning of friendship. Ready to finish this MetalGreymon."
"Oh yeah." MetalGreymon nodded in agreement. "Giga Storm!"
He leaned forward so his turret horn was pointing at Grumblemon and Golemon. "Electron Cannon!" He fired an extremely high-speed positron laser, completely destroying Golemon and making Grumblemon's fractal code appear along with the human spirits of earth and wind.
"Way to go J.P.!" Agunimon cheered, happy that his friend finally got a beast spirit and defeated Grumblemon. Angewomon set Zoe and Tommy down and took Guardiamon's digi-egg from the small boy.
"MetalKabuterimon Slide Evolution!" He got surrounded by a cocoon of data before dispersing and in MetalKabuterimon's place was Beetlemon. "Beetlemon!" He approached the defeated Grumblemon and waved his hands and his D-tector appeared in his right hand. "It's back to the egg for you pal!" He pressed the side button and his warrior mark appeared on the screen before swiping it against Grumblemon's fractal code. "Fractal Code Digitize!"
Once the code was fully scanned, Grumblemon turned into a digi-egg and floated away. The human spirit of earth entered Beetlemon's D-tector and the mark of earth appeared on the screen. The spirit of wind, now free, returned to Zoe's D-tector and the mark of wind appeared on the screen.
"Hey, welcome back!" Zoe smiled, happy to have her spirit back after so long. She then saw J.P. collapsed breathing hard and ran over to him. "J.P., are you alright?"
"Got your spirit back." was all he said in response, a small smile on his face. "At least I did something to make you happy."
"That's so sweet." Zoe's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Thank you J.P., I really mean it."
"Happy day!" Tommy cheered happily.
"Run!" The group looked up curiously to see Takuya, Koji, and Michael running towards them in a panic. "Didn't you hear me?!"
Before anyone could ask what was wrong, a large body of water came crashing down the ceiling. Their screams were drowned out as the cavern was quickly filled with water. When they opened their eyes, the group was in a dark place, unable to see anything.
"Did we die?" Tommy asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
"Uh, I don't think so." Zoe replied, just as uncertain.
"It smells like something did, pee yew!" J.P. said as there was suddenly light and they saw they were inside a mouth.
"Check it out, guys." Michael was the first to reach the edge of the mouth. "It's the ocean!"
"It's Whamon!" The children exclaimed once they realized that the whale digimon saved them.
"I don't know how you saved us, but thank you." Bokomon said gratefully as he adjusted his belly-band with Seraphimon's digi-egg still inside.
"We most certainly appreciate your assistance." Angewomon added, handing Guardiamon's digi-egg back to Michael who began to check for cracks.
"Yeah." Zoe nodded in agreement. "And welcome home, Whamon."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you." Whamon said, just now making Michael wonder how he's talking without moving his mouth. "Without your help, I might have been stuck in that cave forever."
"It was no problem at all." Michael smiled up at the whale digimon. "We would never have left you there like that."
"That's right." Takuya wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulder and the two shared a grin. "My buddy Michael here never lies, so you know what he says is true." The sound of a whistle caught everyone's attention. "Am I going crazy, or did I hear a Trailmon just now?"
"You are not going crazy, Takuya." Angewomon said, pointing to the side and every followed her finger.
The human children couldn't believe what they were seeing. Flying towards them was a Trailmon with wings and jet turbines on each car. The front of the Trailmon had an eagle-like appearance with brown eyes. The Trailmon stopped beside Whamon and the turbines twisted upward to float in place.
"You folks look like you need a ride." Trailmon said, eyeing the group inside Whamon's mouth before its car doors opened. "All those heading for Sky Terminal, all aboard."
"Did you say Sky Terminal?" Michael looked down at Guardiamon's digi-egg before turning his attention to his friends. "What should we do, I already have Guardiamon's digi-egg."
"I think we should go." Takuya said, turning to face his fellow legendary warriors and waved a hand towards the two digi-eggs. "Who knows, maybe we'll find a hint to bring back Seraphimon and Guardiamon."
"And what if we don't?" Koji asked, being the voice of reason in what would most likely be a debate.
"Even if we don't, we might find something useful there." Takuya pointed out before jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at Michael. "Maybe we'll find Michael's beast spirit there."
"Or Zoe's." J.P. added, getting a nod of agreement from the blonde girl.
"That would be advantageous." Bokomon said, crossing his arms and looking down thoughtfully. "If more of you could beast spirit evolve, then our chances of victory would most certainly increase."
"I do know that lord Guardiamon's castle is in the Sky Terminal." Angewomon said, memories of her time serving the angel digimon flooding her mind. "Perhaps he left behind a hint."
"Guess that settles it." Takuya said as he started pushing Michael into the train car. "We're all going to the Sky Terminal, Trailmon!"
"Alright, climb on in." Trailmon said as it got closer to Whamon.
"Bye Whamon, try not to get trapped again." Zoe waved to the whale digimon before climbing into Trailmon followed by the rest of their friends.
"Goodbye my friends." Whamon said, closing his mouth when everyone was inside the train car and the doors closed. "Stay safe and good luck in your travels."
The children and digimon waved goodbye to Whamon as he dived beneath the ocean surface. Trailmon twisted its turbines again and took off into the sky. Michael looked out the window and watched the blue ocean fade into white clouds as he gently rubbed Guardiamon's digi-egg.