Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't straight up hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy
Humon
-Chapter 23-
-Last Time-
As the dust settled, a warm breeze drifted into the now exposed tunnel while sunlight streamed in, making the group cheer happily. Eager to get out of the hole, the kids and their digimon clambered up the sloped tunnel and emerged to find…
"…A freaking desert!? OH SCREW YOU UNIVERSE!"
-And Now-
"This sucks." Gomamon grumbled as he waddled across the sandy terrain, occasionally stopping to spit out the sand that had gotten in his mouth thanks to him being so low to the ground while sweat poured from his brow.
"Quit complaining so much, it could be a lot worse." Gabumon said as he walked beside the seal digimon who snickered.
"Heh, I guess your right, I could be stuck in Naruto's position right now."
"I heard that!" Naruto yelled from the back of the group, his face bright red but not from the heat.
Given his previous… issues with deserts, Izzy had suggested Naruto shed some layers and carry a chunk of snow to keep him from overheating. At first, Naruto had no issue with this and quickly stripped down to his undies before rolling a giant snowball that he was currently carrying on his back. But, as is the apparent theme for his life, fate decided to put him in the most embarrassing and awkward position it possibly could. In this case, Mimi got embarrassed at the sight of Naruto in his underwear, tripped over a rock due to her distracted state, and somehow ended up face-planting against the whiskered blonde's barely covered groin.
Said girl was currently in the middle of the group with an equally crimson face as steam rose from her ears. Palmon and Sora were doing their best to help calm her down, but it didn't go over very well since all the plant digimon did was keep bringing it up while Sora was almost as flustered.
"How much farther does this desert go? We've been walking for hours." Matt groaned, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Don't worry, according to my readings there should a small oasis about half a kilometer ahead of us." Izzy said, his every trusty computer out and once again hooked up to Naruto. However, as he was typing away a few of the readouts starting fritzing out again. 'Gah, that darn bug again! What the heck is causing it?'
"That's good to hear, my talons are killing me," Biyomon said with a pout, standing directly behind Naruto so that the runoff from the melting ice would splash on her.
"Yeah, no kidding." Tai agreed, wincing slightly every time he had to use his bandaged leg.
"But where are we even going?" T.K. asked tiredly, his breathing slightly ragged.
"Yeah, why did we come out here in the first place? We could have just skirted alongside the blizzard area until we reached a place that wasn't a desert." Joe said before jugging down a bottle of water.
Izzy sighed in annoyance while rubbing his forehead. "I've explained this six times already. I recalibrated my computer to detect the residual data that Tai's crest gives off, thus allowing it to hopefully detect any others within forty kilometers and give us a general area where they are."
"Right, right, and you got a reading coming from this direction. Sorry, heats making it hard to think straight." Joe apologized with a sheepish smile.
"It's fine, just tired of repeating myself."
"Speaking of the crests, have you figured out how I get mine to work?" Tai asked, dangling the tag in front of his face as he stared at the crest held within.
"Nothing conclusive so far, but my best guess would be that it is triggered in the same way that our digimon's previous digivolutions were before." Izzy stated. "Us being in danger and with a lot of energy."
"That does make sense," Sora said, her face a little less red finally.
"Well luckily for us, Etemon will provide all the danger we need, now we just need the energy! Agumon, as soon as we reach that oasis it's chow time!" Tai called, getting a cheer from the lizard digimon.
-With Etemon-
"Ho ho! Where have those blasted kids gone?" The orange ape demanded as he watched two Gazimon type away at a large computer within his trailer.
"We're not sure master, that blizzard has caused the network to completely short out from sector K-9 all the way to M-4." Gazimon #1 said with Gazimon #2 nodding in agreement before both cried out from Etemon bashing their heads together.
"Ah drats, I knew I should have had those insulation covers installed!" He cried dramatically, completely ignoring the whimpering forms of his two underlings. "Ah, and now I'll have to divert ore of my minions to reinstall all that destroyed cable! This will set me back we-WAAH"
Etemon yelled in surprise when his trailer came to a sudden screeching halt, causing him to fall on top of the down Gazimon. Quickly recovering, the orange ape scrambled up to his feet and pulled a large lever that caused an entire side of the trailer to rise open to reveal the Monochromon that was normally hitched to the front was now several yards away unconscious and covered in bruises. "What in tarnation is going on out here?!"
"My apologies good sir," The soft voice of Aidmon said as she stepped out from behind the KO'd digimon with a large envelope in her arms. "I tried to flag you down nicely but your driver here just wouldn't listen. Would you happen to be Etemon the Fabulous Evil Musician?"
Buying into the flattery, Etemon smirked widely and puffed out his chest. "Why yes, yes I am. I see my reputation precedes me. Now how about you tell me why and how a little Aidmon like yourself was able to stop me, and you better make it snappy."
"Oh, the how isn't important right now," Aidmon waved off with a shrug, but if you looked closely you could just make out a slight residual sparkle of red energy inside her button eye. "As for the why, well that should be obvious. I'm here to deliver your fan mail of course!" She said with a mischievous grin while holding out the package.
Natural intrigued, Etemon started to reach out to take the parcel, before his common sense kicked in. "This seems a little off to me. How do I know that that little thing right there isn't some kind of trick and it'll explode the moment I open it or something, uh-huh?"
"Hmm, I know! How about I open it for you?" Aidmon offered.
Thinking about it for a moment, Etemon nodded his head in agreement. "Sounds alright."
Smiling widely, the small nurse digimon tore the top of the envelope open and reached inside before pulling out a piece of paper and a small red crystal and handing them over. Cautiously accepting them, Etemon looked at the crystal curiously before dismissing it and turning his attention to the paper or more specifically the writing on it.
As his sunglasses covered eyes went down the page, a large wicked grin covered his face as he laughed darkly, not even noticing as Aidmon vanished from sight. "Gazimon! Get over here! I have a delivery for you to make, yeah!"
-Back with the digidestined-
Naruto was relaxing inside the cool water of the oasis he and the others had just arrived at when a shiver suddenly ran up his spine. 'Why do I have a bad feeling in my gut all of a sudden.' He wondered, before shrugging it off as dread for having to walk in the desert again since the giant snowball had completely melted.
Besides, he had other things to worry about. "A-are you okay?" …Like the fact Mimi was soaking in the water with him.
"Yeah fine, what about yourself? You look like you have a fever." He commented, referencing to Mimi's still lightly blushing face. He was still confused on why she absolutely insisted on staying with him instead of going with the others to pick some of the fruit they had found growing all over the place but just figured she wanted to cool down as well. He had offered to use his Oiroke no Jutsu like last time only for her to say it wasn't necessary since they were both wearing their undergarments this time.
"I'm alright, it's just a-a sunburn." She muttered softly, mentally facepalming at him not realizing she was blushing, though it wasn't entirely a lie. Parts of her face and neck had gotten minor sunburns since she gave her hat to Palmon. Unfortunately, instead of getting Naruto to drop it, he became more concerned, reached over to where their stuff was, and grabbed his scroll.
"Then we should get that treated soon. Hold on, I think I have some aloe vera gel in here somewhere." He said while channeling some chakra into a new seal with the kanji for 'Medical' on it. After the usual puff of smoke cleared, it revealed a small pile of bandages, disinfectants, painkillers, and other such things. "Aha! Here it is, so glad I got everything in this thing sorted out. Definitely saves time." He said while grabbing a small clear container and sealing the rest up again.
Tossing the scroll back in the pile of clothes, Naruto waded through the water to Mimi's side and handed it to her. "This should help, Tsunade-bachan told me it works great for sunburns." He told her with a grin, getting her to smile softly in return.
Feeling a brief flare of something inside herself as Naruto was starting to back up, Mimi suddenly leaned forward and kissed the blonde's whiskered cheek, muttering a quiet "Thank you," before just as quickly sitting back down as her face turned just a shade redder and applying the gel.
Naruto blinked in surprise at the girl's action for a few seconds before smiling goofily and plopping back down on his side. "You're welcome Mimi-chan."
They stayed in the water for another ten minutes before climbing out and getting redressed, just in time for their friends to get back with the fruit. "Sooo, did the lovely couple enjoy their dip together?" Gomamon asked in a teasing voice, getting Mimi to blush again while Naruto looked confused.
"You guys better hurry up and chow! We think we found where Joe's crest is!" Tai said while shoving the fruit in their arms impatiently.
"Really? Where?" Naruto asked before glancing down at Agumon who was holding his stomach in discomfort. "And what happened to Agumon?"
"In a coliseum thing not far from here, and he ate too much." Sora explained.
"He'll need it to give him energy for when he digivolves to the next level." Tai said confidently.
"If you say so," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders, munching away at an odd purple banana while Mimi enjoyed an orange pear. "Let's get going then."
A quick walk around the oasis revealed what the group was talking about as Naruto and Mimi saw the run-down coliseum a short way in the distance while Joe's tag started glowing a soft blue. Hurrying across the dunes, they were about two thirds of the way there when Joe's foot caught onto a ruined black cord that had been buried in the sand and fell flat onto his face.
"How odd, why would someone put a cable all the way out here?" Gomamon asked while lifting the cord up before yelping in pain as the frayed cord shocked him mildly. "And would it have killed whoever did it to keep them properly maintained." He grumbled while shaking off the slight tingling in his flippers and helping his partner up, never noticing the Gazimon running in the distance with a sparking red crystal held in its tail.
Walking through the entrance, the kids of the group blinked in surprise at what they found. "A soccer field?" Tai said questioningly as he glanced between the two goal posts and a lone soccer ball as it rolled around.
"Isn't that a game you mentioned a while back?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's a sport where two teams try to get the ball into the opposing team's net while using any part of the body except your arms or hands." Sora said, walking up to the ball and easily juggling it around with her feet. "Me and Tai played on the same team together at school."
"Cool, maybe you could show me how to play after we find the crest." Naruto said, getting the helmeted girl to nod in agreement while she caught the ball with her hands.
"Sounds like fun."
However, before they could even begin to start looking properly, the sound of static filled the air followed by clapping. Following the sound to the source, the group stared in shock at a massive sized television built into the front of the stadium where a grainy video of Etemon was playing. [Congratulations you digidestined brats for making it to my little stadium. And just in time for a special show I had planned just for you.]
"Crud, it's Etemon! We need to get out of here!" Matt yelled with everyone but Naruto running to the other side of the stadium.
"There you are, monkey brains! I've been looking all over for you! We never got to finish our fight before you ran off like a little bitch!" The whiskered blonde called out, causing Etemon to jump on the screen before glaring at him.
[YOU! You will pay for humiliating me Teumesemon! And you were the one to run away not me!]
"What was that? I can't understand you! I don't speak bitchnease!" 'That's right, keep your focus on me while everyone else gets away.' Naruto thought with a smirk as he insulted the ape digimon. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be as he heard several cries of shock behind him. Glancing back, his eyes widened when he saw everyone except Agumon trapped inside the now electrified goal net.
[Perfect, those little brats won't be able to get away again while I deal with you!] Etemon said with a wicked grin. [Now, allow me to introduce the surprise guest of today's event! He's big! He's bad! And he may just seem a little bit familiar! The digimon of the hour! GigaGreymon!]
With a deafening roar, the familiar form of the orange dinosaur digimon smashed his way through wall before them. However, unlike Agumon's champion form, this Greymon wore a large black collar around it's neck covered in wicked hooks and edges while a large red jewel was embedded inside the middle of it's forehead. Well, that and he was nearly double the size.
"Holy crap! Another Greymon!" Tai exclaimed in shock from the cage. "And he's ginormous!"
[Uh-huh, and it's all thanks to my loyal fans! They sent me that little trinket on GigaGreymon's head there, which almost doubles the little guys strength! Let's see how well you handle this!] Etemon said with a laugh as he pulled out a bucket of popcorn.
"Not to point out the obvious or anything… but this would probably be a very good time to digivolve if I do say so myself!" Joe yelled.
"Right!"/ "Got it!"
"Kitsumon digivolve to… Teumesemon!"
"Agumon digivolve to… Greymon!"
Hopping on top of Greymon's head, Naruto began channeling fire from his tails into his arms as he spoke quietly. "Greymon, you focus on getting the others out of that cage while I keep this Teme busy. I get the feeling we're going to need all the help we can get."
"Got it, be careful Naruto." The dino said in his gravelly voice before flicking his head to launch Naruto right at the oversized version of himself.
-Insert Battle Music-
"Seirei-en no Dangan!" Naruto called swinging his arms and launching two giant balls of blue fire mid-air. GigaGreymon roared loudly in response while batting the flaming projectiles, causing them to explode prematurely. They served their purpose though as the sudden flare of the attacks detonating blinded the digimon long enough for Naruto to zip past his guard and land a devastating punch to his head, sending him stumbling back several feet.
It didn't do much else however as GigaGreymon easily recovered from the blow and responded in kind by swatting the still airborne hybrid away with his tail. Skipping across the ground, Naruto crashed into the side wall of the coliseum with a grunt and quickly pulled himself out. "Well, that certainly rung a few bells." He said, shaking his head a few times to clear the ringing before rushing back in.
"GRAAAAHHH! GIGA NOVA FLAME!" The giant digimon roared while exhaling a torrent of fire at Naruto as he approached, forcing him to abandon his charge in favor of dodging.
"So that's how you want to play huh? Well then how about you try this! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" As soon as these words left his mouth, a giant cloud of smoke filled the area and quickly cleared to reveal dozens of grinning copies of the blonde with their flaming limbs pointed right at GigaGreymon, making the oversized digimon sweat nervously. "Shigo no ryūsei-gun! (Meteor Shower of the Afterlife!)"
Thousands of balls of fire flew through the air and struck the dino at once, making it cry in agony as they scorched his skin. Not one to just sit there and take the pain though, GigaGreymon fired another torrent of flames that roasted a good majority of the clones before they could react while forcing the rest to stop firing as they leapt out of the way. They didn't survive long after that however as the oversized Greymon fired a second blast then swiped his tail across the burning wreckage for good measure.
Confident that he was the victor, GigaGreymon lifted his head up in the air and started to roar only to get cut off by Greymon ramming into his side. At the same time, Naruto suddenly appeared on top of the digimon's head with a flaming Rasengan in hand that he promptly rammed into the chitinous covering. "Seirei-en Rasengan!"
The combined force of both their attacks sent the mighty digimon crumbling to the ground with a roar of agony. Jumping off just before he could be crushed by the falling enemy, Naruto landed back on Greymon's noggin with a tired pant. "Great timing Greymon, did you manage to get the others out?"
"Nah, they found their own way out, along with Joe's crest."
"Good to hear, because we really are going to need their help with this one." As Naruto spoke, GigaGreymon was already beginning to regain his bearing and get back onto his feet.
"I know what you mean. I don't know how much longer I can stay digivolved, my stomach is killing me." Greymon groaned while grasping his belly.
"Just hang in there a little long-Look out!" Naruto called out too late as flames engulfed them. GigaGreymon had managed to discreetly angle his head towards them while he was getting up and fired at them before they realized what happened. Blinded by the surprise attack, Naruto ended up getting a taste of his own medicine when he and Greymon were mule kicked away.
Flying off of his impromptu ride, the whiskered teen flew off into the stands and into a support column, causing the whole section to collapse on top of him. After a few seconds the sound of rubble shifting could be heard, followed by the pile rising up slowly before suddenly falling back down. "Son of a bitch… Can someone get me out of here? My hands are pinned." His muffled voice called out.
Thankfully for him, rescue came fast as Matt, Mimi, Garurumon, and Togemon showed up and swiftly dug him out. "You alright?" Mimi asked as she pulled him back to his feet.
"Just a few scrapes and a bruised pride." Naruto grunted as he brushed some stone flecks off his shoulder while turning back to the fight and froze. "A better question would be: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU GOGGLE WEARING BAKA!?" He screamed out as he watched Tai face down GigaGreymon all on his own.
"He must be trying to force Greymon to digivolve further." Matt said.
"More like trying to get himself killed! Garurumon, Togemon, let's go save his a-" Naruto was cut off as thunder boomed out and the sky darkened out of the blue. Moments later, beams of spiraling black and red energy fell down from the sky and flowed into Greymon as his body turned black then into a reddish-orange miasma that grew in size and took on the shape of something that easily towered over GigaGreymon.
"Greymon dark digivolve to…"
As the miasma settled into place, it turned solid and became stark white until all that remained was a massive skeletal beast with a large orange heart in its ribcage and an orange fish-like object on it's back.
"…SkullGreymon!"
"…That can't be good."
-End Chapter-
AN: GigaGreymon: A normal Greymon that has had its natural abilities pushed far past it's bodies normal limits due to a chunk of Kyuubi's crystalized data being embedded into its skull.
And thus, SkullGreymon makes his big debut into the story. How will Naruto and the others going to be able to handle this? What other nefarious 'Fan Mail' will Aidmon deliver next? How much longer till Gamakichi returns with a response from Tsunade? Keep reading and find out. Thank you for reading and please review.