Turuiemon dodged another attack from Kokatorimon and hid behind a dune. The bird Digimon had done a good job keeping her at bay, rendering her useless. Any time she tried rushing them, they would use their Petra Fire attack, forcing her to move back to avoid being turned into stone. If she couldn't beat Kokatorimon, then she couldn't help Gargomon.
Gargomon, who you could say is her brother, was left to fight Deltamon alone. She was fine with him fighting the three-headed beast because he was there to keep Strikedramon from killing himself. But now that Strikedramon was fighting DarkTyrannomon, she wanted to help Gargomon as soon as possible. But she couldn't because her opponent was being a pest.
She knew they were scared of her. Every time she rushed him, she could see the fear in their eyes before they used their attack. She knew that if she could get one good hit in, the fight would be over. She just needed one opening.
"What's the plan?" Turuiemon heard an Apemon say beside her.
Not all the Apemon had been defeated or turned to stone. The ones that were seriously hurt took care of and protected the babies that de-digivoled from Greymon. The rest that could stand without any assistance tried to help out in any way they could. It was thoughtful, but they were more of a hindrance than help.
They were another reason why she couldn't attack Kokatorimon. She didn't want a stray beam to hit one of them and turn them into stone. She couldn't send them away to help her friends because she knew she would be sending them off to die. It was why they all came to help her because Kokatorimon was the least deadly.
"I just need to get close enough to use my Tokaku Tessou," she told them.
That was as far as she had come up with for a plan. She still had no idea how to get close to Kokatorimon. Rushing at them has been nothing but fruitless, and there was no way for her to take them by surprise. So all that's left is to wait for an opening to present itself.
"May we try to help?" An Apemon asked.
Turuiemon thought about sending them away to get Stingmon to come and distract the bird Digimon, but she saw him helping Gargomon fight Deltamon. She was glad Gargomon wasn't fighting alone, but now she was stuck in a rut. It was going to take a long time to beat that thing, even with Strikedramon's help after he beats DarkTyrannomon, and she didn't have time to sit around doing nothing. She couldn't risk Kokatorimon going to help out its comrades, or worse, attack TK, Ken, and Ryo.
All she needed was an opening.
Turuiemon tried clearing her head. Willis had taught her that when she's planning something or getting overwhelmed, it is always best to pause for a minute and clear her head. It was great advice and had never failed her before. She closed her eyes, took some deep breaths, and started listing out what she knew about the situation.
Kokatorimon was a champion-level Digimon that was made up of in-training and rookie-level Digimon. Even though they digivolved through a different method than her, they were still a champion, just like her. They have an attack that could turn Digimon into stone if it hits. That attack was preventing her from getting close.
The source of Kokatorimon's attack came from their eyes. Since there weren't many places to hide, Turuiemon was always in their line of sight. The only way she'd be able to defeat Kokatorimon is if she took out their eyes, but how could she do that? She didn't have anything to blind the bird Digimon.
"STRIKE FANG!"
A large gust of wind appeared from Strikedramon's attack. It caused the sand to fly through the air, causing Turuiemon to cover her mouth with her bandana. She had to squint and shield her eyes to prevent sand from flying into them.
"Can't Strikedramon be careful? All this sand is making it hard to see…!"
Turuiemon started digging her weapons into the sand and watched it fall in front of her eyes. She couldn't see through it.
"Turuiemon, are you OK?" Apemon asked while wiping the sand off of his face. She didn't respond. She finally had a plan, and she wasn't going to waste another second.
She emerged from her hiding spot with her Tokaku Kessou drawn. She picked the perfect time to attack because she caught Kokatorimon off guard, who had gotten tired of waiting and was moving on to help one of their allies. She kept her feet moving fast, and her steps light so as not to sink into the ground. By the time Kokatorimon realized what was happening, it was too late for them.
Turuiemon had one of her Tokaku Kessou in the ground and flung a big clump of sand into Kokatorimon's eyes. They let out a cry as they tried, with a failing effort, to wipe the sand out of their eyes. Turuiemon wore a victorious smirk under her mask, knowing the fight was over.
"Gauntlet Cla—!"
Before Turuiemon could finish calling out her attack, Kokatorimon shot their tail feathers at her. Turuiemon dived to the side to avoid the projectiles. This allowed Kokatorimon to wipe some of the sand from their eyes. They could see again, but they had to squint because there were still some grains of sand trapped in their eyes.
Turuiemon quickly hopped to her feet and got ready to run. If Kokatorimon could see, then that meant their Petra Fire attack was coming.
Kokatorimon did shoot their signature attack, but the beams were scattered. One of the beams almost hit Gargomon, but Stingmon warned him in time. Somehow, her plan made Kokatorimon more dangerous to those around her. She needed to beat them now before one of her friends got turned into stone.
She tried her original plan again. She rushed at Kokatorimon and flung another clump of sand at their face. This time, Kokatorimon shielded their face with their wing, but Turuiemon didn't stop running. Kokatorimon wouldn't have tail feathers for a while, so she didn't have to worry about any flying projectiles.
She did a flying spin kick to knock their feathers away from their face. She was about to stab one of her claws into the bird Digimon's face, but they blocked her attack with their other wing. They pushed her away, and she noticed one of Kokatorimon's feathers had a shiny gleam. They also wore a cocky smirk and beckoned her to come at them with their free wing.
"Guess you weren't as scared of me as I thought," Turuiemon quietly mumbled to herself.
Kokatorimon's newfound confidence took her off guard, but she wouldn't run. She got in a fighter's stance and controlled her breathing. She brandished her weapons, and Kokatorimon did the same. She wondered why they hadn't tried turning her into stone, but after seeing the beams shooting in random directions, she assumed that they wanted to wait until she was close for a direct hit.
She ran at Kokatorimon again. The bird Digimon smirked when they saw her coming, but quickly covered their eyes when they saw Turuiemon launch another clump of sand. She tried to use that small window to attack, but Kokatorimon batted her away with their wing. She maintained her footing, but she felt Kokatorimon's eyes on her.
She ran at Kokatorimon before they could use their attack. She was tired of being on the defensive. She wanted to end the fight and do it now.
Turuiemon launched two more clumps of sand at Kokatorimon, and they used their wing to block it, but that's what she wanted. She leaped into the air and delivered a devastating dropkick that knocked Kokatorimon to the ground. She did a kip up and instantly got on top of the bird Digimon. She was about to deliver the final blow, but she saw Kokatorimon's eyes glowing.
Thinking fast, she stomped her foot onto their face. The glow stopped, and her opponent appeared dazed. Not wasting another second, Turuiemon readied her claws to put an end to her opponent.
"Gauntlet Claw!"
She made a quick slash through Kokatorimon's chest, and the bird Digimon was covered in a bright light, signaling their end. When the light disappeared, all that was left of Kokatorimon were Yokomon and Biyomon. Turuiemon collapsed to her knees as exhaustion had finally caught up to her. She didn't even mind the Apemon running over her to get to the baby Digimon.
"Are you feeling alright?" One of the Apemon asked her.
"I just need a second, or ten to catch my breath."
She had noticed that all the Apemon that were turned into stone had returned back to normal and were taking care of the baby Digimon. She smiled, knowing that they were in safe hands. She slowly got up and painstakingly walked to help her brother. She didn't get far before falling to her knees.
"You don't have to push yourself. Let us help you," Apemon pleaded with her. They helped her to her feet, and she thanked the monkey Digimon, but she wasn't going to let them join the fight.
"Thanks, but we came to help you take down Rosemon," she said before pulling up her mask. She then hopped in place to psych herself up. "Besides, someone has to look after the children."
She hopped off before Apemon could respond. She only had one thing on her mind, and that was to help Gargomon.
DarkTyrannomon didn't look winded in the slightest no matter how many times Strikedramon hit him. It was as if they were mocking him, calling him weak for not hurting them. It was adding to his ever growing rage.
"Attack my partner and call me a weakling? Let's see how smug you'll be after I rip out your teeth!" Strikedramon growled.
DarkTyrannomon cocked their head to the side, confused about what their opponent was mumbling about. They didn't have to wait long to figure it out because Strikedramon lunged at them. He was engulfed in flames, but DarkTyrannomon made quick work of him by swatting him away with his tail. They then followed it up with a sea of flames that swallowed Strikedramon.
Strikedramon groaned as he escaped the fire. He breathed heavily as he tried to get back to his feet. His pants were charred, and his skin had darkened. He was in so much pain.
It was going to get worse because DarkTyrannomon towered over him and was about to step on him. Thinking quickly, Strikedramon put his claws up, making DarkTyrannomon step on them. The dark dinosaur backed off. They weren't putting any pressure on the injured foot, giving Strikedramon the perfect target to attack.
He dove at the injured limb and dug his claws into DarkTyrannomon's foot. The dark dinosaur made a painful roar as they tried to kick Strikedramon off of them. Strikedramon kept one of his claws deep in DarkTyrannomon's foot to keep him latch onto the beast.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING RID OF ME THAT EASILY!" Strikedramon yelled.
He then started to scale up DarkTyrannomon's leg, jabbing his claws as deep as he could along the way. DarkTyrannomon tried to shake him off, but that only made Strikedramon angrier. His armor turned into a smoldering red by the time he reached their stomach. DarkTyrannomon tried using their claws, but Strikedramon easily swatted them away. Nothing was going to stop him.
His armor plates were creating tiny flames the closer he got to DarkTyrannomon's head. The beast did everything in their power to knock him off, but his hold was too strong. Strikedramon was going to keep riddling DarkTyrannomon with holes until they revert back or until he stabbed the dinosaur between the eyes.
Suddenly, Strikedramon felt the temperature rising. He didn't know why at first because he wasn't able to feel the heat from his armor plates. It wasn't until he looked and saw huge flames in DarkTyrannomon's clenched jaws. They were going to roast him, even if it meant they got caught in the fire.
Not wanting to be set ablaze again, Strikedramon pulled his claw out of DarkTyrannomon and jumped away. What Strikedramon didn't notice when he pulled his claw out of DarkTyrannomon, the dark dinosaur had turned their body. As he was falling, Strikedramon was blinded by a light shining in his eye. It was then he noticed DarkTyrannomon's steel tail barreling at him.
With no place to run, Strikedramon curled into a ball to defend himself. DarkTyrannomon's tail hit him with a loud crack and sent him flying through the air. He bounced off the ground a few times, each one more painful than the last, and crashed into the dune the boys were hiding behind. When he thought things couldn't get worse, DarkTyrannomon had also shot a wave of fire, causing him to let out a guttural yell when it hit him.
It was far worse than the last time he was hit by DarkTyrannomon's attack. He thought he heard someone calling out his name, but the pain numbed all of his senses. The pain was so much he couldn't move. He thought he was going to die until he felt someone fly him out of the fire.
By the time he touched down, some of his senses were coming back to him. He could feel his body shake, but he felt numb. He could hear some sounds, but they were a jumbled mess. He could see, but his vision was so blurry everything mixed together.
"...ngmon, go… nomon!" Strikedramon managed to hear someone yell. He felt someone putting their hands on him, trying to pull him somewhere. He would usually try to fight back, but his body wouldn't allow him.
"...amon! Str…! Strike…!" Their voice was getting more audible as his vision started to clear. They looked and sounded familiar.
"I saw… move!" He heard someone out of view. They sounded familiar, too, but he cared more about the person in front of him.
"Strikedr… speak to…" Each passing second, things were becoming clearer. He was able to make out some features of the person in front of him. Their spiky brown hair and worried expression were things he could easily see.
He tried to sit up to see more, but the pain made it so hard to move. He let out a pained groan, and the person lightly pushed them down.
"Save your stren…" They said. Strikedramon complied, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. The pain was slowly returning, and every sudden movement made it worse tenfold.
Then he heard some cheering. He wanted to see what happened, but the pain wouldn't let him. All he could do was hear what they were saying to figure out what happened.
"Good job, Sting…!" Cheered another familiar voice. It sounded different from the person in front of him and the person out of his sight.
"Go help… We'll take… dramon," said the other voice.
He was able to catch a glimpse of something flying overhead. They also looked familiar, and he assumed that they were the one to get him out of the fire. He was then carried into a shaded area. There, he was able to see more clearly who was helping him.
"Ryo…?" He managed to say. His partner nodded and put on a fake smile that anyone could see.
"Hey, buddy. You had me worried for a second."
Strikedramon could feel himself growing weaker by the second. The pain was starting to become too much for him. He tried to hide it by looking for DarkTyrannomon.
"What happened to DarkTyrannomon?"
"Stingmon beat him," Ken answered. "You softened them up for him to take them out with one strike."
"That's good…" Strikedramon said before the pain became too much for him to handle. His whole body shook as he breathed sporadically. Ryo and the others started to panic. They had no medical supplies to help him.
Ryo tried using his Digivice. He shoved it in his partner's face, waved it around, and even pushed the buttons to see if anything worked. It didn't, and he turned to TK with pleading eyes.
"Try using yours. Maybe it'll do something."
TK tapped at his screen. Multiple things showed up, and he had no idea what any of them did. Due to the circumstances they were in, he had no time to study his new Digivice. He had no way to help.
Ryo tried his Digivice again, but he was too late. Strikedramon was cast in a bright light and started to shrink. He was able to see Monodramon's body in the light, but his partner continued to shrink. The light didn't fade until what was formally Strikedramon had turned into a small water drop shaped Digimon. He had two fins and was mostly blue with a few yellow colored designs.
"What happened to him? Who is this?" Ryo asked in a panicked voice. The small Digimon was out cold, but Ryo could see it wasn't in pain.
It was then TK's Digivice finally did something. The screen turned on, and a holographic picture of the Digimon popped out. It held all the information of the Digimon and its name.
"Hopmon, he's Monodramon's in-training form," TK answered, reading off of the hologram. "Strikedramon must've been in so much pain and used up a lot of energy to revert back to this form."
Ryo scooped up his partner and held him close to his chest. He didn't feel Hopmon stir, but he did feel awful.
"Chloe, I thought we talked about this!" Willis cried out to his friend. She took his promise too literally when he said they'd search every room as fast as they could. She wouldn't even slow down for Penguinmon, who Willis had to carry so the little Digimon could keep up.
He will admit that they were getting through the rooms in record time, but they weren't being efficient. He didn't know if they were missing something that could help them beat Rosemon or tell them where Catherine was. He even thought about tackling Chloe again to slow her down, but he didn't think he could get away with it for a second time. He did hope they find anything related to Catherine's whereabouts because he doesn't want to know what will happen if they go through the whole base and find nothing.
Chloe had finally slowed down. He wondered what caused it, but when he caught up to her, he understood why. Chloe had found Rosemon's dungeon. It was dark and cold, and Willis could see some of the cell doors were ajar.
"This must've been where she kept all her prisoners and babies," Penguinmon said before shuddering. "How could she keep them in a place like this?"
"Do you think there are still any Digimon in here?" Willis asked.
Chloe didn't answer him, but she did walk down the dungeon corridor, and Willis followed her. All of the cells were empty but had signs of life. Willis called out for any Digimon that were still imprisoned but heard nothing.
"I guess Rosemon must've taken them all," Willis said. Chloe gave him a frustrated groan.
"Then that means Catherine isn't here."
Willis grabbed her arm before she ran out. He wasn't going to allow her to ignore the dungeon.
"She might not be, but Rosemon must've kept her and Rosemon locked up here. There might be something in here that can help us find her," Willis told her.
Chloe glared defiantly at him for a moment before yanking her arm back with a huff. She didn't instantly run away when she broke free of his hold, which told him she was going to humor him at least. Now, they needed to find the cell that might have held Catherine and Floramon before Chloe became impatient and run off.
"Hey, this cell is still locked," Penguinmon pointed out.
She pointed her flipper at the cell that was close to the back of the dungeon. They quickly got to it and saw that it was still locked. They didn't have to wonder why for long because they saw a hole in the back.
"Do you think this was Catherine's and Florida's cell?" Penguinmon asked.
"Only one way to find out," Chloe said as she pulled out a key.
Willis was going to ask where she found it, but Chloe had opened the door and ran through the hole. Willis sighed and chased after her. It didn't take long to reach her because she had stopped in the middle of the room that the hole led to.
A nursery.
"What the…" Willis voiced.
The room was so well kept. It was the complete opposite of the dungeon. It reminded him of Primary Island with all the toy blocks and cribs.
"Do you think they came through here?" Penguinmon asked, and Chloe nodded.
"They had to. They broke into here and used the stairs to escape," Chloe hypothesized.
She then ran out of the room before Willis could stop her. He picked up Penguinmon and continued their game of chase. He didn't have to guess where she was going.
The trio ran down the stairs. Chloe had a good lead ahead of Willis and Penguinmon. Chloe remained headstrong, but Willis had some concerns the deeper they went.
One of them being why they hadn't seen any floors below the dungeon. There were multiple above it, but they just stopped suddenly. The second was if Catherine and Floramon had escaped Rosemon's base. It was unlikely because Rosemon still had her Digivice, but it was still a possibility.
His biggest concern was them running into a trap. He didn't think they were because Rosemon had all of her soldiers outside, but he still worried. Everything was too easy and convenient. He didn't remember anyone trying to stop them when they snuck in.
Rosemon knew they were coming. It's why she had her soldiers ready, but she had to assume that at least one of them was going to try to get into her base. There weren't any traps or Digimon to stop them. It was all too strange.
They finally reached the bottom, and there was a door waiting for them. Willis assumed it was the exit or led to the exit. They walked in, and all they saw was a dimly lit room, and standing on a small mound was Kiwimon.
"Kiwimon!" Chloe exclaimed.
Willis grabbed her before she could take one step. Something about Kiwimon didn't sit right with him. The way she didn't react to Chloe was concerning.
"Willis what are you—!"
"Look out!"
Willis tackled Chloe to the ground as miniature versions of Kiwimon flew overhead. It was then they noticed Kiwimon's glowing pink eyes.
"She's being controlled by Rosemon!" Willis exclaimed.
Penguinmon didn't waste time getting set in front of them and digivolving into Dolphmon. Even though she was at a disadvantage by being on the land, Willis felt better knowing there was a champion-level Digimon protecting them.
"Don't hurt her, Dolphmon. She's not herself," Chloe pleaded with her partner, and Dolphmon nodded.
Dolphmon then turned her attention to Kiwimon. The bird Digimon left her mound and paced around the room. Since she couldn't move her body well on land, Dolphmon did her best to keep Kiwimon in front of her.
"Kiwimon, snap out of it! It's us," Dolphmon said, trying to break through to her friend.
Kiwimon responded kindly by using her Pummel Peck attack. Dolphmon used her Pulse Blast attack to destroy the tiny Kiwimons. The attacks exploded upon contact, causing sand to fly everywhere.
Dolphmon lost sight of Kiwimon, but she didn't have to look for long. The bird Digimon was in the air above her with one leg reaching for the ceiling. She brought it down right on top of Dolphmon's head.
"Dolphmon!" Chloe screamed.
Dolphmon dug deep within her and perked her head up to send Kiwimon flying. She then shot another Pulse Blast, and it hit its target dead on. Kiwimon landed with a loud thud, causing Chloe to wince.
"Are you OK, Kiwimon?" She asked. Even though Kiwimon was attacking them, she was under Rosemon's control, and she didn't want to hurt her sister's partner.
Kiwimon slowly got up and shook the sand off of her. They could still see her glowing pink eyes. Kiwimon huffed as she glared at them. She was far from being done.