14. Breaking Walls

The monster's roar echoed around the cavern.
KoKabuterimon scrambled to get away from it and rejoined Charlie and Kumomon.
"Still think I was joking?" Gomamon called from the pool where only his head was visible. His fish friends were closely gathered around him.
"Okay, we believe you! Now what do we do?" Charlie called back while keeping her eyes on the thing before them.
"How should I know? My advice was to stay away from this tunnel, but clearly you knew better!"
It was hard to make out the monster's actual shape. It's outline was blurred and it's colouring seemed to blend in with the blues and blacks of the cavern walls. The one feature that stood out was it's staring yellow eyes that were intently focused on the small group before it.
Charlie noticed that it hadn't made any move to attack yet. She leaned down and spoke to the digimon in a whisper.
"This is it's den. Maybe if we move slowly to the exit, it'll let us go."
"That's a big maybe!" KoKabuterimon hissed back.
"D-Do you have a better i-idea?" Kumomon was already inching towards the opening leading back to the tunnel.
Letting out a low groan, KoKabuterimon followed her and Charlie.
Just as they reached the opening, the monster's eyes blurred as it moved swiftly towards them.
KoKabuterimon quickly put himself in front of his companions.
"Beetle Lariat!"
He lunged forward, striking with his forelegs. Despite the speed of his punches, none of them were able to connect. It was like he was attacking shadows.
Something struck from the darkness, sending KoKabuterimon skidding back on his shell.
"Shock Spit!"
Several splats indicated that Kumomon's attacks managed to find their mark but, instead of a cry of pain, the monster simply gave an annoyed grunt.
"W-Well, there goes m-my use in this f-fight."
As she took a step back, Charlie heard a small squelching sound by her feet. Looking down, she saw that she had stepped on a lightshroom that must've slipped out of her hoodie. Even while squashed, the small fungus still gave off a green glow.
An idea popped into Charlie's head.
"Kumomon, use your attack again!"
"B-But it doesn't do a-anything!"
"It's sticky, isn't it?" Charlie held out a handful of lightshrooms.
Kumomon's eyes widened as she realised what Charlie's plan was. She turned around and started spitting wads of webbing, one after the other, at the hulking shadow before them. At the same time, Charlie began throwing lightshrooms.
The webbing caught the lightshrooms and stuck them to the monster. Their green glow began to light up it's features. Even the ones that the monster dodged became adhered to the cavern wall and cast their glow upon the beast.
Within moments, there was no more darkness to hide in, and the identity of their foe was revealed to Charlie and Kumomon.
"I-It's a BlackGreymon!" Kumomon exclaimed.
The digimon stood before them resembled a theropod dinosaur; standing on two muscular legs and possessing a powerful looking tail. It's skin was blue with black stripes, which Charlie figured was what helped it blend into the darkness, remembering Kartik's comment about tiger stripes.
It's most distinctive feature was the black carapace covering it's head like a helmet. A pair of long horns stuck out of either side, giving the digimon a devilish outline, while a third was mounted on it's nose like a rhino. It's eyes glared out at them through a pair of openings.
"O-Okay; now what?"
"Huh?" Charlie looked down at Kumomon.
"W-What's the next part of your p-plan?"
"That was my plan!"
"Are you s-serious?!"
"Well, at least now we know what we're up against!"
"Oh, f-fantastic! Now we can see what's g-going to kill us! What an im-improvement!"
Kumomon's rant was cut off by a roar from BlackGreymon. It opened it's mouth wide, showing blue flames building up at the back of it's throat.
"Move!"
Charlie and Kumomon ran screaming as a stream of cerulean fire shot out at them. KoKabuterimon had just gotten to his feet, only to throw himself back to the ground as the fire went over his head, making the tip of his horn start to smoke.
"Again with the fire!" Charlie yelled as BlackGreymon began to chase her and Kumomon around the pool. "You guys really need Ember the fox!"
Licks of flame caught the large pile of dried algae, which quickly caught alight and started to release smoke into the cavern.
BlackGreymon stopped in surprise as the thick vapours billowed over him and the ones he was chasing. His eyes and throat started stinging and he doubled over as hacking coughs shook his body.
"Cas concret!" Charlie pulled the front of her hoodie up over her nose and picked up a sputtering Kumomon. She took off her hat and pressed it to the spider's face to block the smoke.
"Human! Koff! Where are you?!" KoKabuterimon's voice was muffled by the smoke, but Charlie could make out his figure in the gloom.
She ran over to him and grabbed one of his lower arms. His higher ones were held over his face, and his eyes were watering.
"Stay close! Koff! I'll find the exit!"
Charlie could only nod as her own throat was starting to sting.
KoKabuterimon placed a hand against the wall and followed it to the left, knowing they'd eventually come to the opening that would take them back into the tunnel. Just as he was starting to feel the air move around him, BlackGreymon came charging through the murk straight towards them.
KoKabuterimon turned and pulled Charlie close to him. He crouched down with his shell facing the oncoming Champion.
"Giant Water Current!"
A wave of water rolled through the smoke, dousing the burning algae and knocking everyone off of their feet.
KoKabuterimon found himself on his back again, holding Charlie against his chest. She in turn still had a hold on Kumomon, who was the driest of the three.
Kumomon took Charlie's hat away from her face and looked up to see Gomamon standing near the edge of the pool with one of his flippers outstretched.
"Y-You couldn't have d-done that sooner?"
"I had to get my friends to safety!" Gomamon gestured to the pool, which was now absent of fish. "Now you guys should do the same!"
"He's right! Help me up, so we can get out of here!" KoKabuterimon held out a foreleg to Charlie.
The girl hopped off of him and put Kumomon in her hood. She grabbed KoKabuterimon's claw and started to pull him up. A rumbling growl caught her attention.
BlackGreymon was pushing himself upright; or rather, he was trying to but his feet kept slipping on the stone floor. The water had rendered it smooth and slick. A small stream of water was running out of the cavern and into the tunnel.
Another idea popped into Charlie's head.
"Hey, Gomamon!" She ignored the sound of protest from KoKabuterimon as she let him fall back onto his shell. "Can you do that again, but bigger?"

-

Tigremon's legs had disappeared halfway into the gray dirt surrounding her and Tarumon.
Her chin was on her chest as she tried to grab the wires binding them with her teeth, but all she'd accomplished so far was giving herself a stiff neck.
"Grrrr! Hey, Tarumon! Can you give me some slack or something?"
There was no response.
"Tarumon? This is a bad time to take a nap."
A sad sigh was her answer.
"Oh jeez!" Tigremon rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're giving up?"
"What else can we do? We're not getting out of this one."
"Not with that attitude! Now come on! Our humans need us. File City needs us. Where's that bossy 'Here's what we're gonna do.' talk?"
"... I'm not bossy."
"Oh please! You've been telling me what to do since we met! Every time I came up with an idea, you found a reason to shoot it down!"
"Only because your ideas always consist of attacking the problem head on!"
"Well, that's all I can do!" Tigremon would've lashed her tail if it wasn't already stuck in the ground. "I can't cook or navigate maps like you can. I don't know how to find fake trees or hidden tunnels like Kumomon. All I can do is digivolve and fight, and I can't even do that now!"
Her stomach growled as if to emphasise her point.
Tarumon tilted his head up and looked at the blank white void above them.
"Do you remember when we had a sky?" He asked.
"Hm? No. I was still a Baby-Level when it disappeared."
"I was an In-Training. I remember Ganimon, well Pukamon back then, and I would love to watch the clouds. We'd look for shapes in them, wonder if you could bounce on them, imagine what they tasted like..."
Tarumon couldn't help smiling at the happy memories. Then his face fell as he continued.
"Then one day, as we were coming out of the schoolhouse; the sky started to glitch. I remember these large bands of static cutting through the clouds like lightning. We were so scared we fled back inside and hid under the desks.
There was no noise so we didn't know how long it went on. We just stayed there until our teacher came to get us. When we came out, the sky was just gone.
Our teacher later told us that there was nothing to worry about. Yggdrasil was just clearing up some space. But ever since then, things just felt wrong.
We've always known that our world was born from the Physical World. It had never bothered me before. But after the sky disappeared, everything started to feel... fake; like it was all just a copy.
When Babamon asked for volunteers to go to the Physical World, I saw it as a chance to allay those feelings for good. But when I got there; I only saw just how right I was. Everything felt more... smelled more... tasted more... Real."
Tigremon waited in silence for Tarumon to continue but he had gone quiet.
"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.
"Because I don't want you to die thinking you're worse than me." There was a definite hitch in his voice as he answered. "Right now, you're thinking about protecting our humans and saving File City. All I can think of is how I'm never going to get to see the real world again. Fighting may be all you can do, but at least you're willing to fight for this world. I just want to get away from it."
There was a moment of quiet between the two before Tigremon broke it with some soft noises. To Tarumon's outrage he realised she was laughing.
"Hey! What's so funny?!"
"You're seriously having a crisis about wanting to see the Physical World again? You were there for, like, a day and the world wasn't falling apart. Of course you'd prefer if there! It's a textbook 'grass is always greener' deal."
"Well, what about you? You were all 'I can't do anything' and I didn't laugh at you!"
"That's different. I'm legitimately useless. You're just overblowing a minor character flaw."
Tarumon shook his head but couldn't help but chuckle at Tigremon's obstinance.
"Well, I don't think you're useless." He said.
"Yeah? Well, I don't really think you're bossy. At least, not all the time."
Tarumon let out a sigh. The hopeless dread that had been weighing him down seemed to have dissipated.
"It actually felt good getting all that off my chest. I'd say we should do this again but, well..." He looked down at his legs, which had mostly disappeared into the ground.
"Hey, don't count us out yet. Charlie and Kumomon may still come through for us."
"But even if they get here in time; they're no match for Birdramon."
"You never know. They might just surprise us."

-

"Remember when I said I don't hate humans? I've changed my mind!"
"Stay still, Terimon. You're gonna tip us over."
"That's not my name!"
KoKabuterimon had already experienced some surprising things in the past week. But being used as a toboggan by a human had immediately shot to the top of that list.
He was on his shell, sliding along the slick wet floor of the tunnel with Charlie, Kumomon and Gomamon holding on to his chest and stomach.
Gomamon had launched them out of the cavern on a giant wave of water, and was currently keeping them going with smaller waves summoned with sweeps of his flippers. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Right bend coming up!" He called out.
Charlie and Kumomon leaned to the right, tilting KoKabuterimon to curve around the turn in the tunnel.
"I h-have to admit, this b-beats walking."
Kumomon couldn't help the cheerful tone in her voice. Speeding along like this was much more her pace; and it was a considerably smoother ride than Smilomon had been.
"Work smarter, not harder, right?" Charlie grinned down at her.
A roar sounded out behind them, and they turned to see BlackGreymon charging around the bend after them.
"Uh, oh. Someone found his sea legs." Said Charlie.
BlackGreymon stamped the ground, digging the claws of his feet into the tunnel floor to keep himself from slipping. His arms were held out on either side of him, gripping the walls for extra support. Gradually, he began to close the distance to his prey.
"M-Must go faster! Must go f-faster!" Kumomon tapped Gomamon on the back.
"I'm doing my best! The water's thinning out!" He snapped back.
"Here!" Charlie picked Kumomon up and put her in her hood facing BlackGreymon. "You're our rear gunner!"
Kumomon stared wide-eyed at the approaching digimon, particularly his large sharp teeth. She began to draw her legs in, instinctively making herself look smaller.
"You've got this, buddy!"
The confidence in Charlie's voice sent a shock through Kumomon's body. How could this human have faith in her? Couldn't she see how weak she was? Another feeling swelled in Kumomon's mind; this one even more surprising.
She didn't want to let Charlie down.
"Shock Spit!"
The sparking wad of webbing hit BlackGreymon in the chest. To Kumomon's astonishment, he seized up and let out a cry of pain. It wasn't enough to stop him completely, but he stumbled for a few steps before straightening up again.
"Shock Spit!"
The next shot hit him in the stomach. He actually halted this time, desperately swiping the electrified goop off of him before resuming the chase.
Kumomon noticed he wasn't running as fast as before. It was as if he was wary of getting too close to them. Too close to her.
The knowledge that a Champion Level digimon was actually afraid of her filled Kumomon with a feeling she couldn't remember having experienced before - pride.
"We're coming up to the exit!" Gomamon called out.
Charlie held her arms up and gave a triumphant cheer, and Kumomon happily joined her.
That was when it happened.
BlackGreymon was so focused on watching for Kumomon's next attack, he didn't notice the jagged rocks protruding from the floor until he tripped over them.
At the same time, the thinning of the water covering the floor caused KoKabuterimon to slow down, bringing him and his passengers within range of BlackGreymon's falling form.
BlackGreymon fell forward, colliding with the group and sending them scattering like bowling pins.
Kumomon flailed her legs helplessly as she flew towards the tunnel wall. Just before impact, she felt something loop around her body and her sight was obstructed by a dark shape folding around her.
The force of hitting the wall still rattled her, and it took a minute for her to get her bearings.
She lifted the thing wrapped around her, quickly realising it was Charlie's arm. The girl was laying against the wall with her eyes closed and her body curled around Kumomon.
Hopping to the floor, Kumomon shook Charlie's shoulder.
"C-Come on, Charlie! We're a-almost to the exit!"
Looking back, Kumomon could see BlackGreymon slowly getting to his feet. Gomamon was pushing KoKabuterimon back upright. She went back to rousing Charlie.
"Come on! B-Before BlackGreymon gets -"
She stopped as something dripped onto her leg. She stared at the dark red liquid which was quickly joined by another drop. Looking up, she could see a dark stain on the rim of Charlie's hat, through which another drop squeezed out.
Kumomon reached up and pushed Charlie's hat away from her forehead. She almost cried out at what she saw.
A long jagged gash split the skin above Charlie's eye. Out of it ran the crimson liquid in a small steady stream down the side of her face.
Kumomon was no expert on the human body, but she knew enough to see that Charlie was seriously hurt.
She skittered around in a panic, looking for something or someone to help. A roar drew her attention back BlackGreymon. He was looming menacingly over KoKabuterimon, who was standing protectively in front of Gomamon.
Kumomon was stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do, until a thought popped into her head.
The exit was right behind her. With her speed, she could be out of there before BlackGreymon even noticed her. It wasn't like she could do anymore good here. She'd tried to help! No one could say she hadn't! And it wasn't like anyone would know. Everyone here would be... Charlie would be...
A groan caught her attention and, before she knew it, she was at Charlie's side.
An eye opened and Charlie looked down at Kumomon.
"Hey, Kumomon." Her voice was shaking and she took a breath before continuing. "Didn't know you had a twin."
Charlie's mouth formed a grin, but her unfocused eyes sent a cold feeling through Kumomon. She desperately wrapped her front legs around the girl's hand.
"P-Please, Charlie. G-Get up. I..."
The words caught in her throat. Every impulse in her mind and body told her to turn and run, but she held on. With the greatest effort Kumomon had ever mustered, she raised her head and looked into her human's eyes.
"I don't want you to die!"
A white flash lit up Kumomon's legs where they gripped Charlie's hand. Before her eyes, the light converged into a ball that morphed into an oval shape before dissipating. Left behind was a familiar white device with a band of silvery gray around the edge.
Charlie's fingers seemed to automatically grip the device. Her eyes refocused and she sat up with a gasp.
"Bon sang! What a rush! - Ow!" She raised a hand to her bleeding forehead. "Well, if I'm in pain then I'm not dead, so that's a plus."
She noticed the device gripped in her hand.
"No way..." Her face lit up with a beaming smile. "Ha, ha! Awesome!"
"Whoooa!"
KoKabuterimon landed on the ground a few feet from them. BlackGreymon lowered his tail which he had used to swat the blue beetle away. Now he turned his attention to a trembling Gomamon.
"Oh, no you don't!" Charlie made to get up, but was halted by Kumomon's leg gripping her arm.
"Stay back, Charlie." Kumomon's voice was strong and clear. "I've got this."
She walked past KoKabuterimon, who was pushing himself upright.
"Please look after Charlie." She said to him before making a mighty jump that put her between Gomamon and his attacker.
The screen on Charlie's device lit up. She grinned and looked over at Kumomon.
"Go get 'em, buddy."

Digivolution

Thin beams of light shot out of Kumomon's body. Her form shuddered and began to stretch.

Kumomon digivolve to...

Her skin burst as her legs lengthened to three times their original size. The gray wireframe of her body expanded and her small fangs grew into two large chelicerae. A new layer of skin spread over her, completing the transformation.

Saltimon

Saltimon was significantly bigger than Kumomon, but still only half the size of BlackGreymon. Her proportions now resembled that of a wolf spider with her long legs spread out around her. Her hair retained it's gray colouring but the silver markings had spread to cover her head as well as her legs and back.
BlackGreymon stared at her in surprise for a moment before seeming to collect himself and giving a threatening roar. Saltimon lifted her chelicerae and responded with a shrieking hiss.
The two digimon charged at each other, meeting in a fierce grapple. Saltimon jumped and wrapped her legs around her opponent's neck. She lunged for his eye with her fangs. BlackGreymon managed to grab her chelicerae before she could strike and struggled to pry her off of him.
He slammed Saltimon repeatedly against the tunnel wall, causing rocks to rain down from the ceiling. When her grip finally loosened, he turned and threw her to the opposite side of the tunnel where she hit the wall and crumpled into a heap.
"Kumo - I mean, Saltimon! Get up!"
Charlie tried to clamber to her feet but a wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to fall forward. She was caught by KoKabuterimon who lay her back down.
"Take it easy. You're hurt." He gently gripped her shoulder. "Trust in your partner."
BlackGreymon slowly approached Saltimon eyeing her body for any movement. Seemingly satisfied that she was down, he turned his attention back to the rest of the group.
At that moment, a lid seemed to slide open on Saltimon's back. Out of the opening poked what looked like a gun barrel. Saltimon raised her head and aimed her weapon at BlackGreymon's back.
"Spark Cannon!"
A glowing cannonball-sized gob of webbing shot out of the barrel. As it flew through the air, it opened up into a web-shaped net sparking with electricity.
It landed on BlackGreymon's back and sent bolts of light dancing along his body. He seized up; his muscles locked in place as a shriek of pain escaped his clenched teeth.
Saltimon sprang forward and wrapped her legs around his shoulders and chest from behind. The silver lines along her body began to glow and tiny arcs of electricity ran along them. The rocks and dust around them started to float in the air.
"No way..." KoKabuterimon's eyes brightened with surprise as he watched the two combatants rise off the ground.
"Looks like you've got some competition, Master of Thunder." Charlie smiled proudly at Saltimon's show of power.
BlackGreymon thrashed in the air; his muscles having recovered their mobility. His efforts were useless in dislodging Saltimon and he now found himself facing the ground with the spider on top of him.
Saltimon lifted her head up and raised her chelicerae, ready to plunge her fangs into his neck. At that moment, BlackGreymon opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of fire, sending them both rocketing to the ceiling.
Saltimon was slammed between the tunnel roof and her opponent, but their ascent didn't stop there.
The loose data tumbled away as the Champions disappeared upward, causing the tunnel walls to start crumbling.
"Uh, oh! Time to go!" Gomamon started scrambling down the tunnel, in the direction of the exit.
"What about Saltimon?" Charlie stared up at the massive hole in the ceiling, hoping her partner would re-emerge.
"We'll have to meet her outside! Let's go!" KoKabuterimon scooped Charlie up and ran after Gomamon as the tunnel caved in behind them.

-

"Hey! I know you can hear me! Get them down from there!"
Shinyu shook the bars of the cage as he yelled at Birdramon.
The avian digimon was sitting next to her prisoners. Her eyes were focused on the tunnel opening. She paid no heed to the boy's increasingly desperate shouts.
"You can't let them die! This isn't gaining you anything! It's just cruel!"
Kartik had his arms wrapped around his bag. He could feel Relemon shaking inside and hear her quiet sobbing. It was taking a lot of self control not to burst into tears himself.
The tall boulder that Tarumon and Tigremon were tied to was almost out of sight. Their friends were moments away from being buried alive and all they could do was sit and watch it happen.
The most frustrating part was that they had the key to the cage in their possession but, so long as Birdramon was close by, they couldn't use it. She'd recapture them in no time and they'd lose their one chance to escape.
Kartik was considering just giving Birdramon the key and promising that they wouldn't attempt any escape if she spared their friends. Just as he was about to suggest the idea to Shinyu, his attention was caught by a clattering sound.
Some cracks had appeared in the canyon wall. Rocks began to loosen and fall. A faint rumbling could be felt in the ground that gradually grew stronger.
At the top of the canyon wall, Tigremon had her head tilted up. The gray soil of the wasteland had reached her neck and was steadily rising. She could no longer move her limbs.
Tarumon was in the same position. He fought to keep the panic out of his voice as he called to Tigremon.
"I enjoyed travelling with you, Tigremon. It's too bad it had to end so soon."
"Yeah, it's been real." Tigremon blew some dirt away from the corner of her mouth. "Let's meet up again next time around. We'll even go get our humans."
"Good idea." Tarumon tried not to imagine the possibility of their digicores staying trapped under the wastelands forever. "We'll find another gate and bring them back here. If at first you don't succeed..."
There was no reply. Both digimon had disappeared into the ground.
The ground then exploded as a flailing BlackGreymon rocketed into the air with a screaming Saltimon clinging to his back.
Tigremon and Tarumon found themselves in freefall. The rock they had been tied to was smashed to pieces which flew through the air around them. They each grabbed the closest solid object, which turned out to be BlackGreymon's horns.
The dinosaur digimon landed with an oof on the gray soil. Saltimon opened one of her six eyes and sprang up in surprise.
"Tigremon? Tarumon?"
"Kumomon?" The Rookies stared at her as they each hung from a black horn.
"Actually, my name's now Salti -"
She was interrupted by the ground shaking beneath BlackGreymon. The land he was laying on broke off into a slab that careened down the canyon wall like a sled; taking it's screaming passengers with it.
(A moment earlier.)
"What is going on up there?"
Birdramon stood up staring at the dust cloud that had suddenly formed on top of the canyon wall. She cocked her head at the sight of a BlackGreymon flying up into the air, only to come crashing down in the wasteland.
"Make way!"
She turned back to the tunnel opening to see a Gomamon speedily bounding out. Behind him was the missing human being carried by a familiar looking digimon.
"KoKabuterimon?"
Before Birdramon could call out to her reverted comrade, a cloud of dust came shooting out of the tunnel, hiding them from her sight. At the same time, the canyon wall began to crumble and the sound of screaming sounded from the top.
Looking up, Birdramon's jaw dropped at the sight of BlackGreymon sliding down the wall on a slab of stone with an unfamiliar spider digimon on his back and the two Rookies clinging to his horns. All four of them were screaming.
Birdramon lifted her wings and flew out of the path of the incoming quartet; remembering at the last moment to grab the cage and take it with her.
The slab of rock crashed into the ground, throwing up a veil of dust and debris. When it cleared, the wall of the canyon had all but collapsed. It looked as if some giant digimon had carved a chunk out of it with their claw.
BlackGreymon was lying dazed on his stomach. Tigremon and Tarumon were still holding onto his horns seemingly frozen in shock. Saltimon tumbled from his back and tottered around; her eight legs each moving in different directions.
Birdramon put down the cage and landed in front of Saltimon. Looking closely at her, Birdramon remembered a spider digimon being mentioned as one of the escaped Rookies.
"Another digivolution." These digimon were indeed growing stronger thanks to their humans. They couldn't be left alone. She should've finished off the other two when she'd had the chance. Fortunately, they were all gathered in one place now, so she could correct that mistake.
Saltimon's spinning eyes finally came back into focus, just in time to see Birdramon soar up into the air above her. She spread her wings and the fire coating her feathers burned brighter. She was about to launch her deadly attack.
"Saltimon!"
Saltimon turned to see KoKabuterimon carrying Charlie in his arms. She was holding her shining device up above her head.
"Go get 'er, buddy!"
Saltimon turned back to face Birdramon. She crouched down; the markings on her legs and body glowing as she gathered energy.
"Meteor W-"
Birdramon's cry caught in her throat as Saltimon shot up into the air; her four front legs pointing forward like an arrow; and struck her in the stomach. Her wings faltered and she struggled to stay in the air.
Saltimon quickly scuttled up Birdramon's body; the tips of her legs burning on the fiery plumage; until she was face-to-face with the avian digimon.
"You're not hurting my friends anymore! Eight Leg Barrage!"
Birdramon's head snapped to the right. Before she could register that Saltimon had struck her, her head snapped to the left, and then the right again. Faster and faster, Saltimon's legs pummelled her opponent until they were a blur. Finally, she brought all eight of them up and slammed them into Birdramon's chest, sending her hurtling to the ground.
Birdramon crashed into the dirt and lay with her wings splayed out, smoking feathers surrounding her.
Saltimon halted her fall just before she hit the ground with a quick anti-gravity field. She hovered for a moment before her body burst into particles, resulting in Kumomon dropping the last couple of feet.
"Th-That was e-exhausting!"
Birdramon hurt all over. Her vision swam as she slowly clambered out of the shallow crater her landing had made. She managed to focus enough to see the two Rookies climb down from BlackGreymon and run to their comrade who had reverted.
She wanted to strike them all down right now, but she didn't have the strength to launch any more attacks. Her best option was to take the two humans she already had and retreat. She'd have to come back for KoKabuterimon later.
She looked over to the cage and her jaw dropped upon seeing that it was empty with the door hanging open. She whipped her head around and spotted the humans running to join the rest of the group. Using her wings to prop her up, Birdramon let out a frustrated screech.
Tigremon was getting a relieved hug from Shinyu. Her ears pricked up at Birdramon's infuriated cry.
"Does she still want to fight?"
She stepped away from Shinyu and stood facing the Champion.
"Y'know, she's pretty beat up." She remarked. "If all us digimon attack together, we may be able to finish her off."
Tarumon and Kumomon gave each other questioning looks, then went to stand beside Tigremon.
"Hold it!"
KoKabuterimon took a step, before realising he still had Charlie in his arms. He set her on her feet next to Kartik, who took her arm over his shoulders.
"You guys win... this time."
He shared a look with Charlie before turning and walking towards Birdramon.
"Bye, Terimon!" Charlie called after him.
He stiffened, but kept walking with a shake of his head.
Birdramon's glare softened as her comrade reached her.
"Come on. Let's get out of here." He placed a claw gently on her muzzle. "You fought well. Now you need to rest."
Birdramon looked like she was about to argue, but then gave a resigned sigh. She stood up stiffly and let KoKabuterimon climb onto her foot. With some slow flaps, she raised herself into the air and flew above the canyon, back towards the grassland.
Everyone watched her go for a minute before letting out a collective sigh of relief and slumping to the ground.
"I can't believe we survived that!" Tarumon exclaimed as Relemon jumped into his arms, squeaking happily.
"It's all thanks to Kumomon!" Tigremon lifted the spider digimon up and started ruffling the bristly hair on her head. "You were amazing!"
Kumomon's legs hung limply from Tigremon's grip.
"P-Please stop. I ache e-everywhere."
"Charlie, you're bleeding!"
Kartik rested her against the canyon wall and fished in his bag for his first aid kit.
"It's not as bad as it looks." Charlie waved a dismissive hand. "It doesn't even hurt that much anymore."
"Even so, we should bandage it up." Kartik spoke firmly as he took her hat off. "I don't know if infections exist in this world, but we shouldn't take any chances."
As Kartik worked, Shinyu approached Charlie.
"Kumomon digivolved." He said. "Does that mean...?"
"Yep!" Charlie held up her device so that everyone could see it. "I guess this means we've got Yggdrasil's approval."
"What exactly happened in there?" Tarumon directed this question to Gomamon, who had come over to join them. "It looks like the whole tunnel collapsed."
Gomamon opened his mouth to reply, when a loud groan sounded from behind him.
"Oh, right." He said, turning around. "That guy."
BlackGreymon picked himself and leaned against the canyon wall. He tilted his head up and opened his eyes. His jaw went slack with surprise as he looked up at the white void above him. Turning to look at the humans and Rookies crouched across from him, he opened his mouth.
"Where'd the sky go?"