And the next chapter!

Quick note before this one starts, the chapter title refers to scars, not to being afraid, because I know this word can be confusing at times.

Scarred Dragon! Veedramon!

The group continued to make their way towards Infinity Mountain, the Hive now no longer in sight as they went through a rocky pass. "The temperature is dropping, isn't it?" Tentomon said with a light shiver.

"Guess it really is cause we're getting close to the mountain," Weiss frowned slightly.

"Hopefully it doesn't get too bad though," Pyrrha frowned.

"Let's be glad we have the pouch Azure gave us, so we're set for supplies even if we get to an area where we can't find food," Gyro sighed. "I've got a few heaters in here too, so camping shouldn't be too bad."

"Yeah, we should really thank your brother when we get back," Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Still, we should be careful. This pass seems like it'll be slippery to get through," Palmon said, noting some of the snow on the ledges.

"Maybe I could melt it off?" Agumon suggested, already prepping a flame in his mouth.

"Nope!" Gyro quickly said as he clamped Agumon's jaw shut, the flame going off inside his mouth, making smoke come out his nostrils a moment later "You might cause a landslide down below for all we know, let's not take any risks."

Agumon's eyes widened, and he quickly nodded, albeit with a few tears escaping his eyes cause even if Gyro had done it for a good reason...it still hurt. "Sorry buddy," Gyro said apologetically.

"But maybe we could still try and see what's ahead," Yang suggested.

"Leave that to us," Biyomon said, as she and Tentomon flew upward to act as scouts. They weren't gone long, as they frantically came back, looking VERY worried.

"I don't like that look." Pierce said as he watched their faces, even Tentomon was able to have some expression on his face, surprising for an insect honestly.

"We just saw a huge amount of Black Gears, all coming from Mount Infinity, they seemed to be flying out of a temple at the top of the mountain." Tentomon quickly explained.

"That's… really, REALLY not a good sign." Jaune said, swallowing nervously.

"I'll say, hopefully those gears don't find any other Digimon to infect." Gomamon frowned in worry.

"With our luck, they likely will." Blake said with a sigh, before looking back at everyone "Though this probably means that whoever is making these gears is on top of the mountain."

"We have to stop him." Patamon said with a determined nod.

"Oh yeah! Time to go and kick some butt!" Veemon said, pumping his fists.

"You won't see me disagree with that idea." Gabumon added, rolling his shoulders for emphasis.

"Let's go break their legs!" Nora almost shouted with a grin.

"I like that plan!" Salamon grinned in agreement.

"Okay everyone, looks like we're in agreement. We need to get to the mountain as soon as possible, and put a stop to whoever is making these things," Gyro said, earning nods of agreement from them all. "But at the same time I think we can all agree that that doesn't mean we should rush through and possibly end up falling to our dooms in the hurry."

"Yeaaah, that'd definitely help," Blake deadpanned. "We can't really help anyone if we're a broken pile of bones at the bottom of a cliff."

"Dear Monty you're morbid." Pierce said dryly.

"She's not wrong though." Ren agreed with Blake.

"Could have worded it better if you ask me." Wormmon muttered, trying to banish the mental image THAT gave him.

Blake shrugged slightly at that, but ultimately they all agreed that they needed to keep going.

The trek through the pass was...slower than they'd like. The colder climate and higher altitude meant that snow was a problem, and on top of that, they had to carefully maneuver through some of the tighter passages. To make matters worse…

"An earthquake? Now?!" Pyrrha said incredulously as they all grabbed hold of something when the ground started to shake.

"It's not an Earthquake! It's…" Gabumon said, right as a large tortoise-like Digimon fell over a ledge overhead down to the ground below.

"Don't tell us. Territorial Digimon live on this pass, don't they?" Ren sighed.

"Yeah, Tortomon," Wormmon nodded.

"...so let me get this straight? We're on a pass that is narrow and treacherous as is...and on top of the fact that we're headed straight to whatever maniac has been making the Black Gears, we also have to worry about a group of overgrown tortoises fighting over territory that can cause the area to have small earthquakes?" Weiss said, her voice calm. Too calm.

"Uh….pretty much?" Tentomon gulped.

"...is anyone else in the mood for turtle soup?" Weiss asked, her voice frigid.

"Well… I hope none of you guys have a turtle like evolution down the road." Gyro said as he glanced at all the Digimon.

"She can't be mad for THAT long...right?" Gomamon said sounding a little nervous.

"And now you just jinxed us," Veemon deadpanned, earning a nervous chuckle from the aquatic Digimon.

"Let's just keep moving and keep a lookout for any other of those Tortomon." Pyrrha said with a sigh. Something they all agreed on.

The path was...it was honestly a mix of more dangerous yet more boring, compared to what they'd been through so far. Dangerous was due to the less than stable terrain, boring due to how lacking in life this area was compared to the others before it.

"This is is honestly a little tedious," Ruby sighed as they were once again pressed against the cliff walls, carefully inching across while every now and then a few rocks they bumped against fell down to the ravine below. "Though there's a lot of incentive to do it right…."

"Yeah...even I wouldn't do anything crazy right now," Nora nodded with a light gulp.

"Let's be sure to pass this way quickly then," Pyrrha said quickly.

"Sometimes I hate having a long tail." Veemon said as he was pushing his stomach flat against the cliff while having to grab onto his tail so it didn't balance him backwards.

"I think we're gonna be good for now though." Pierce said, looking towards the top of where they were walking.

"Why is that?" Blake asked.

"Its to do with my Semblance," Pierce said simply.

"That reminds me, what IS your semblance anyway?" Yang asked, turning her head to her fellow blonde, figuring now was as good a time as any.

Pierce looked at her "Well-" and before he could really start speaking, they all heard the sound of an angry screech, as they turned...and saw what looked like nothing short of a black demonic dragon in the air.

"Ok, what the HELL is that?" Jaune asked, staring at the nightmarish creature with a twitching eyebrow.

"That's Devidramon, and it's a really angry Digimon." Agumon said in worry.

Digimon Analyzer: Devidramon.

Devidramon. Virus Type. An Adult Level Evil Dragon Digimon. Known as the Many-Eyed Demon, it was born in the depths of the Dark Area. Its body is perfect for battle, with its long clawed limbs and its tail that can split open into several more claws, it strikes down its opponents as they cower in fear in front of it. Its special attack is Crimson Nail, cutting the enemy to pieces with it's blood red claws.

"Ya know, that thing looks a LOT like a Grimm...only without the white bone armor," Gyro idly pointed out...looking surprisingly calm right now.

"Yeah, it does," Pierce nodded in agreement.

"Why are you two so calm?!" Jaune all but demanded, as true enough, the Devidramon let out another angry roar, and came barreling towards them, and knocking them off the ledge to their doom...or that would have been the case if not for the sound of something cracking above them, causing them to look up and see a boulder detach from the cliff face, and actually hitting the Devidramon square on the head RIGHT as it was about to get them, causing it to stop in mid-air almost comically...before it soon fell to the darkness below along with the boulder.

"And THAT Jaune, is why we were so calm." Gyro said simply, as everyone else minus Pierce were trying to understand what had just happened. Eventually…

"Wow...we really got lucky there, huh?" was all Veemon could say. At that point, the two brothers burst out laughing. "...was it something I said?"

"Nah, nothing like that. You just summed up my Semblance is all." he gave everyone a few moments, seeing the dawning understanding on their faces. "Before anyone says anything, no, I DON'T have any real control over it, but the bottom line is the more dangerous the situation, the more likely it is to work, making me a living good luck charm," Pierce said.

"That's a rather unique semblance." Ren noted, used to seeing semblances that people could activate with a thought, or that would trigger in certain cases, like Nora's own boosting semblance that powered her up when hit with electricity.

"Yeah, well… there's a good reason I ended up having good luck as a semblance, but that's for another time." Pierce said with a shrug.

"Agreed, this isn't really the time to be swapping stories," Weiss nodded. "Though it IS comforting to know we literally have luck on our side."

"Don't think my Semblance is a magic pill. It DOES run out, and when it does, I usually have crap happen. Nothing life threatening, but enough to make it really annoying for me," Pierce said, before suddenly having a pile of snow fall on top of him, covering his head "Like that." he said, his voice muffled.

"Still a pretty useful Semblance if you ask me," Yang said.

"Oh yeah, it saved our asses pretty often when we were training against actual Grimm." Gyro said as they finally reached a wider passage.

"Huh...I DID think it was really lucky that I accidentally made that Deathstalker cut its own claw off...guess this explains that," Jaune mused.

"Pretty much, yeah," Pierce chuckled as he removed the snow from his head. "Unfortunately I don't think it can help us with our soon to be next problem," he added, pointing up at the sky which was growing darker.

"Guess we have to camp here…" Patamon said glumly. None of them were looking forward to needing to sleep in this place.

And then the wind picked up.

"Maybe not here specifically." Blake added, making sure her bow didn't get blown away.

"Time to look for a cave!" Nora said as she pumped her fists.

"We're probably gonna get a snowstorm soon." Ruby said as they all started walking again.

"Then we'd better hurry even more," Pyrrha said, forcing them to keep moving, and fortunately, they found what they were looking for. "This will do well," she said, referring to the small cave they found. It wasn't too big, but it was still big enough to fit all of them inside and still have decent room. It also didn't seem to be connected to any other caves, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about any unpleasant surprises from inside the caves, and as an added bonus, the entrance was covered by a rock shelf above, meaning that even if it did snow, they'd be less likely to get some snow coming into the cave. The group immediately went to work, taking out some firewood they still had stored and quickly started a fire in the middle of the cave to avoid exposing it to the elements, while still giving room for the smoke to waft out, as well as avoid having to 'fight' with the fire for oxygen, and to allow the heat to permeate the cave, keeping them all warm. Once everything was set, they took out some of the supplies they'd gathered along the way, including the last of the Meat Apples they had packed, and a few of the mushrooms they'd hung on to from when they were at the lake with the tram. While it was no 5 star hotel, dinner was a rather enjoyable affair, mainly due to the good company they had.

After dinner was done, the group was entertaining themselves with a number of ways. Inevitably, it also lead to scary stories...something the twins had PLENTY of that would scare even those from Remnant. The internet was truly a terrifying place.

"He ran, never once looking back, too terrified of what he saw, kept seeing at the edge of his vision. He just had to find that last page, it had to be his ticket to freedom. Then, as if the heavens were laughing at him, he tripped, falling onto the dirt below. Quickly, he scrambled to hit feet, only to freeze in fear at what he saw. A simple pair of shoes, but as his eyes kept trailing up, he knew it was the end, as his eyes finally reached the face of the tall figure… except he had no face. It was the last thing he would ever see." Pierce finished the tale, a smirk on his face as he saw that everyone was huddled up together, although he had to try and not to laugh as Gyro was in the middle of the group huddle, his cheeks red as Ruby was basically in his lap.

"S-so...if we ran into this guy...we're already dead?" Agumon asked, shaking like a leaf.

"Your only chance at survival is finding the 8 pages, if you can't… you stand no chance." Pierce said with a very convincing evil grin.

The group shook again as they were huddled up, Gyro freezing as Ruby suddenly hugged him, and Pierce's grin almost wavered at his brother's situation.

Almost.

"C-Come on guys, you're all being silly," Veemon said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, Slenderman isn't real…right?"

Pierce shrugged "You never know." apparently the world decided to help him as the wind started howling, the group shaking even more.

"Okay, I think that's enough scary stories for tonight," Gyro said with a slight sigh. "You all look like you won't be able to sleep for a week if we continue."

Everyone nodded in agreement, lying down to sleep in blankets made of leaves and Wormmon's webbing.

Gyro gave Pierce a look as he sat next to Agumon on his blanket "You're a freaking jackass sometimes, you know that?" he said dryly, to which Pierce simply grinned before lying down next to Veemon.

"But ya love me anyways, bro," Pierce said unrepentantly, chuckling at the light glare he got. It would be a cold night, but ultimately one they all made through just fine...even if every now and then someone woke up thanks to a random noise.

The following day soon came, the snowstorm finally gone, and as the sun rose over the horizon…

"Gooooood mooooooooooorniiiiiiiiiing!"

And then a loud crashing sound was heard.

Back in the cave, Gyro was dusting his hands off after embedding his brother in the cave's wall, everyone waking up and being very clearly tired.

"You know you were asking for that one, right?" Veemon yawned.

"Seriously, after THAT story, we could barely sleep…" Salamon nodded in agreement.

"I kept seeing Slenderman instead of Grimm like I normally do," Nora added.

"Yeah, I think it's safe to say we aren't telling scary stories anymore." Gyro said with a sigh as he started walking out of the cave, the others following him while Yang dragged Pierce by the back of his jacket.

"Good news. The weather is much clearer today than it was yesterday," Pyrrha said as she shielded her eyes a little from the glare of the light.

"That's good to know," Gabumon nodded.

"How far are we anyway?" Ruby asked.

"Judging by the map...we're a little over half way through. As long as nothing big happens, we should be able to make it through by midday," Weiss answered.

"So basically plan to get out of here later than that, right?" Jaune sighed. They'd already heard this song and dance enough times.

"That's a safe assumption, yes," Weiss nodded with a sigh.

"I really hope we manage to get an actual schedule one of these days." Ruby said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"We'll have to take care of whoever's making the Black Gears first." Palmon said.

"Still though...can't help but wonder what kind of sicko is making these things," Gyro frowned, his mind already entertaining all kinds of scenarios with whoever was responsible for all this.

"Whoever they are, we'll just have to beat them when we find them," Salamon said.

"I'll roast them for sure, I've been trying to figure out how to evolve without you having to be in danger, and I think I'm getting there." Agumon assured his partner.

"You're not the only one." Biyomon added with a smile.

"We're all trying to figure it out." Wormmon said with a nod.

"Even us ones that haven't evolved yet." Gomamon said.

"Don't be afraid to share what you figure out though." Tentomon said with a chuckle.

"Definitely," Agumon nodded. They would need all the help they could get for what would not doubt be a big fight. Anyone who could create or at least control, something like the black gears would no doubt have some serious power.

"And when we do fight them. We'll do it. Together," Gabumon grinned.

"Damn straight," Pierce said with a grin after he got up, one they all shared. Even if they'd been taken to this world against their wills, they weren't about to leave it to the hands of whatever maniac was behind the gears.

"Well, let's get going then. We've still got a good deal of ground to cover," Gyro grinned as they continued on their way.

The path through the pass was just as treacherous as the previous day, the trail needing them to climb a few sections here and there aside from navigating the tighter paths, and avoiding the steep drops dotted through it. However, at the same time, they were met with more life as they got closer to their destination. Making their homes in a number of spots and ledges were several Digimon here and there, of as many varieties as they'd expect. Some Digimon appeared to be literally made of rocks, some of them were avians, and even a few reptiles, all having adapted to live in the environment.

"Is that a blue Greymon?" Gyro idly noticed as he saw a more slim and battle oriented version of Greymon with a more armored helmet and a bayonet on the tip of it's tail, it's stripes being orange in color.

"Oh yeah, that's BattleGreymon, their more of a warrior than the other Greymon variations are." Agumon explained simply.

"Wait, there are other versions of Greymon?" Gyro asked in surprise.

"That's right, what Agumon said the other day wasn't that far off, as his evolution line has the most variations in existence, for example, there exists a virus version of the normal Greymon simply called BlackGreymon, and a more robust version called GeoGreymon." Tentomon explained.

"There sure are a lot of variants of the same Digimon," Ruby couldn't help but say.

"You get used to it," Palmon shrugged.

"There's even a black version of Birdramon called Saberdramon." Biyomon added idly.

"Any other variants of your evolutions out there?" Yang asked while also trying to picture Birdramon with black fire on her body.

"Well, there's a BlackGarurumon out there, self explanatory really, and there's a Digimon called Gururumon, which looks a lot like Garurumon, but it's fur is darker." Gabumon said with a shrug.

"And then there's a BlackGatomon, and a Digimon called Mikemon, but it has orange, black and white fur." Salamon said with a paw on her chin from atop Nora's head.

"Oh, like a calico cat then." Nora said with a blink.

Salamon thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Huh...that's pretty interesting actually," Weiss mused. "Could be an interesting idea to try and understand what causes the variants."

"After we get back to Remnant, right?" Pyrrha chuckled.

"Naturally," Weiss nodded.

However, before any of them could get any further in their conversation, the pass was wracked with a massive tremor. "Great...3 guesses what that is," Yang sighed, and on cue, a section of the pathway ahead exploded, revealing a Tortomon.

Digimon Analyzer: Tortomon

Tortomon. Vaccine Type. An Adult Level Reptile Digimon. A territorial Digimon who is usually rather calm, similar to Monochromon. It's shell is made from the toughest stones, and it eats minerals to make it even harder. Its special attack is Shell Phalanx, the spikes on it's shell glowing before being launched at its opponent while new ones quickly grow in place.

"It gets even better. Look at what's just under its shell," Ren sighed, pointing at the Black Gear embedded into it.

"Of course…" Everyone else sighed, not even surprised anymore.

"Well, you guys know the drill. Beat him up till the gear comes out. Let's move people," Pierce shrugged.

"Should I be worried that we've gotten to the point this is a regular occurrence for us...and we haven't even been here for more than a week at most?" Jaune sighed.

"Probably," Nora chuckled.

"Let's try to find a way to flip it onto its back first, than we can have that dawning moment that we're already jaded to this world." Blake told them dryly.

"Right," everyone nodded.

"I think the ones out of us who don't have long range moves should wait until we manage to flip it before jumping into the fray." Gabumon said as he turned to half of the Digimon present.

"Yeah, I think a headbutt would hurt by head more than his." Veemon said as he rubbed his forehead.

"First things first, we need to distract him," Agumon said.

"Leave that to us," Biyomon said as she and Patamon flew over him, before peppering him with their attacks, aiming to try and hit the Black Gear, but the gear was better defended than they thought. However, they did gain Tortomon's attention, allowing them to lead him away a little.

"My turn!" Tentomon said as he buzzed upwards and started trying to shock the gear, though trying to curve his attack in the right way was proving rather difficult.

"Okay, so its not THAT easy," Weiss frowned.

"Then try to maneuver around it," Ren said, as Wormmon used his Sticky Nets to try and ensnare Tortomon's limbs, slowing it down a little, but not by much as Tortomon quickly started to move again, retracting into his shell.

"Go for the gear!" Gabumon shouted as he and Agumon tried to shoot the gear, but sadly their attempts fell flat when Tortomon suddenly started spinning in his shell, tearing off any remaining bits of sticky net, while blowing any nearby Digimon away.

"Oh just great, of course he can do THAT move." Gyro said with a groan as he helped Agumon get back up.

Right then, Tortomon came out of his shell, the back of it glowing, before the spikes on it were launched towards them.

"Hit the deck!" Jaune shouted as everyone dived down onto the ground, though some were surprised at the sudden attack.

"Oh crap!" Yang shouted with wide eyes as she was caught off guard, having been helping Biyomon get back up.

"Get down!" Pierce said as he pushed her and Biyomon down to the ground, leaving him completely open to being hit as he didn't have enough time to move.

"No!" Veemon shouted with wide eyes as he tried to make it in time, he wasn't going to let his partner get hurt!

(Play Brave Heart)

Pierce's Digivice glowed bright as the signal was sent, calling forth the light that released the stream of data once more. "Veemon, Evolution!" Veemon called out as the data flowed into him, before he transformed. "Veedramon!" His body had grown larger, now standing at the same height as Greymon's shoulders, his head taking on a more natural dragonic shape as his long ears turned into a pair of horns on the back of his head, his pointy nose turning into a horn on the tip of his snout, as his frame now looked more muscular, a blue V appearing on his white chest, while scars adorned his body, while the claws on his feet and his now white hands were longer and sharper than before.

The stone spikes flew towards Pierce, but were promptly shattered by a strong tail smashing them into the ground. When he looked up, he saw his now evolved partner standing protectively in front of him. "Veedramon, huh? That's badass, Veemon," he couldn't help but grin.

Digimon Analyzer: Veedramon

Veedramon. Vaccine Type. An Adult Level Mythical Dragon Digimon. A powerful Digimon who's roots can be traced back to the ancient Digital World. Even amongst Adult Levels, Veedramon is powerful, his power honed in years of combat, the scars on his body proof of each victory. His special attack is V-Breath Arrow, shooting a powerful arrow shaped heat ray from his mouth.

"Time to get that gear removed," Veedramon growled, and remembering that so far tactics weren't working so well against Tortomon's defenses, decided to go for his favorite trick. Up close and personal. With that in mind, he ran forward, and began grappling with the heavy tortoise using his claws. However, Tortomon wasn't about to just let him do that without a fight, and soon started to push back.

What soon followed could best be described as a large sumo wrestling fight, as Veedramon and Tortomon fought to push each other back. After a few moments of the stalemate, Tortomon in a surprising show of intelligence reared back, causing Veedramon to move forward a little, before slamming his head forward, pushing the dragon back, and then ramming into him, forcing him back further. However, Veedramon immediately regained his balance, and soon countered, going lower, and managing to grab Tortomon by the bottom of his shell, using it as leverage to start to push him upwards onto his hind legs. Tortomon however wasn't about to just let that happen and tried to fight back, even wildly firing his Shell Phalanx in an attempt to push himself back down. Veedramon growled as he felt the pressure, and decided if Tortomon was going to do it that way, then he'd do the same, as flames began to escape from his mouth.

"V-Breath Arrow!" Veedramon called out as he opened his mouth, sending a high temperature heat ray right into Tortomon, the Digimon crying out in pain as he was pushed back from the force of the blast, and soon landed on his back, leaving him helpless. Taking advantage of the attack that was still happening, Veedramon soon moved his head so that his beam hit the Black Gear, causing the gear to spark and finally shatter.

(Song end)

With the gear destroyed, Veedramon moved over and pushed Tortomon back on his feet, though the large mon was still out cold, before he soon reverted back into Veemon.

"Way to go Veemon!" Pierce grinned as he ran up and clapped his partner on the back.

"Thanks." Veemon said, his voice a bit scratchy, before coughing into his fist "Thanks, woah, using that move makes my throat dry." he said with a sheepish laugh as his voice was back to normal.

Minutes later, the group was nearing the end of the mountain trail.

"You sure it was ok to just leave him there." Ruby wondered, referring to Tortomon.

"He'll be fine, he'll probably just think he was napping and ended up sleep walking." Palmon waved off her concerns.

"If he actually does, he must be SOME sleep walker," Patamon laughed.

"Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if he really was." Salamon said with an amused grin.

"Well, Tortomon aside, we've reached the end of the pass," Pyrrha said with a smile as true enough, they could see woodlands again, and not far away was Infinity Mountain.

"I know it's a little early, but is anyone else feeling pretty proud that we made it this far?" Jaune couldn't help but ask as they soon entered the woodlands.

"Honestly? I kind of get what you mean, we've already been through a lot in just a few days." Gomamon answered him.

"Chances are we'll end up going through a lot more by the time we get back home." Gyro added.

"First things first, let's deal with the creap on this mountain." Pierce grinned as he punched his open palm.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Veemon grinned, pumping his fist into the air.

And done!

Now, couple of things.

Pierce's semblance was finally revealed, and I know a lot of you were curious, as for just why his semblance is good luck, well, story reason will be revealed eventually.

Actual reason is originally we were giving him the ability to boost others with his aura.

But guess which character was revealed to have that during the planning stages of the story?

Second thing, BattleGreymon, for those who know your Digimon stuff, you'll recognise it as the Greymon from Xros Wars, it's not important to the story though, it was just a cameo.

And finally, now that the episode has released, the lot of you can stop ignoring the intro sequence earlier in the story and realise that the answer to your constant question of 'What does Veemon evolve into?' is finally fucking answered.

Yeah, this is just as bad as that one guy who keeps saying I have the wrong attack names, but he's too dumb to realise I'm using the japanese names and expects me to talk to him, yet he doesn't seem to realise his status as a guest reviewer means I can't reply to him.

Sorry about the rant, I kind of needed to vent a bit.

Anyway, for now...

The Adventure Evolves.