The Crest of a Master

by PizzaSpino

When the Digital World is in peril it doesn't just turn to a regular group of kids. It turns to a group of kids raised in a world centralized around raising and battling monsters! Join Ash and Agumon as they make new friends, battle an army of monsters, and hopefully save both of their worlds from an ancient evil.

26. A Sorcermon Show Stopper

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction written by someone who enjoys creature collector franchises. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc. and Satoshi Tajiri. Digimon is owned by Bandai, WiZ, Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo. If you want to support the official releases, worry not. Lord knows there is plenty of merchandise to choose from.

Listening to as I take your tickets: Western Village 1 Remake (Ape Escape 3, TechnoMicha cover)

The Crest of a Master Chapter 26: A Sorcermon Show Stopper

Dawn rushed out of the soldiers' car and back into the passenger car. "Penguinmon! You don't have to be shy. You can join in if you want to."

"Joining in isn't the issue," Penguinmon responded, downcast.

"Are you afraid of getting the cold shoulder? Because this isn't your village. You can do as many time wasting activities as you want. Perform tricks, look at art, cast a silly spell," Dawn lectured. She ended with a mischievous smirk. "I know you secretly want to."

Penguinmon stiffened. "I…uh…what makes you think I'd be into any of that stuff?"

"Your criticism of the street performance," Dawn said, folding her arms. "The way you went into depth on where you thought the performers were lacking reminded me of my mom. Whenever we sat down to watch a contest on our TV she would always go over the different Coordinators and list what they did right and where they could improve."

Dawn stared down at Penguinmon who now looked a lot like a little kid whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. "You need to be very passionate to have that level of scrutiny."

The purple Piplup diverted his eyes and wrung his clawed flippers. "I may have spent some time in the village's study reading old books on music and theater instead of practicing spells. And lingered behind on a couple of trade post trips to watch their little story boxes."

"TVs," Dawn supplied remembering the couple of trade posts they managed to stumble on during their travel. Though Dawn was pretty sure they were just pawn shops given how much junk populated their poorly lite shelves.

"I've told you before, technology isn't my forte," Penguinmon grumbled defensively. "Anytime my village has attempted to set up an electrical grid it either gets destroyed by a blizzard or a wild Digimon attack."

Fair enough. Dawn decided to bring the conversation back to Penguinmon's secret love of entertainment. "I also noticed you like puns. 'No harm, no fowl,' 'Water you doing,' 'full steam ahead.'"

"How were you even able to pick up on some of those puns?" Penguinmon asked skeptically. "You'd need to have looked at their spelling."

"I get top grades in literature and spend a lot of my spare time reading poetry," Dawn replied smugly. "I am a language arts master. You can't hide word play from me!"

"Well, for the record I was not hiding those puns," Penguinmon huffed, arms folded in a most dignified manner. "Puns, along with songs and poetry, are acceptable forms of art as they take little resources and can be recited while you work. Everyone in my village practices the noble art of punning."

"Noble art, eh?" Dawn said, disbelief clear in her voice. Alright, dubious high status of "the noble art of punning" aside, this exchange just confirmed what Dawn was saying earlier. "So why don't you join us and have some fun? I'm sure you can come up with a performance just as good as Dolphmon's!"

"That's a nice offer," Penguinmon's replied, shoulders slumped. "But I'm not worried about myself. I'm worried about you."

Dawn blinked. "Me?"

Tilting his head up, Penguinmon looked straight into Dawn's eyes. "Dawn, I know I can come across as strict, but I feel a kinship with you."

"Well, we are partners," Dawn said, holding up her Digivice.

"No," Penguinmon replied with a headshake. "As you have deciphered, I do in fact enjoy the arts. Despite the harsh climate I was born into, there has always been a beauty to the arctic that could only be expressed through mediums such as poetry and those paintings I'd occasionally see at the local trading post."

"Winter can also serve as a good time for sculptures and ballets," Dawn threw in, not sure where Penguinmon was going with this.

"Alas, work must always come before play and times are harsh. My enjoyment of creative endeavors was not meant to be. For, at the end of the day, these were just luxuries and as such were low priority," Penguinmon sighed.

"Okay?" muttered Dawn. "Sorry if I sound rude, but what has this got to do with me having a fun time with some retired soldiers?"

"The problem is your attitude," Penguinmon said pointedly. "It may be good in the moment for cheering up some wounded veterans, but I have to wonder how long it will last from here on out. We may be out of the snow, but my village's philosophy is still paramount."

"What do you mean?" Dawn frowned.

"Once we receive our crest at the temple, the next logical step would be to head to the warzone which will be even less forgiving than the tundra," Penguinmon explained. His eyes narrowed and a chill entered his voice. "As much as I appreciate your carefree spirit, smiles and pretty displays won't assist us in the heat of battle."

For a moment Dawn was about to get on Penguinmon's case for being such a worrywart and dragging down the atmosphere on what should have been a break. She froze up when her mind wondered back to her dream. The silent wasteland, the chunks of earth that looked like they had fallen from the sky, the looming shadow of Arceus knows what. A shudder ran down her spine.

Noticing Dawn's shiver, Penguinmon switched to a more comforting tone. "I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm saying this because you'll need to brace yourself for what is about to come."

Dawn was about to respond when Worm's gruff voice sounded over the train car's speaker causing her to jump. "Sorry to interrupt, but I've got an announcement."

"Wait! You've been able to listen in on our conversation? How long have you been eavesdropping?" Dawn asked not bothering to hide her accusatory tone.

"Eh, the entire time" Worm responded in a layback voice. "My cars are attached to me so they kind of become a part of me. I pretty much know everything that happens inside the cars. Including someone going into the passenger car she was specifically told to stay out of."

Before Dawn could wince at the more inculpatory tone, Worm bounced back with a small laugh. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Those guys needed a little pick me up. But more to the point, you guys should calmly make your way to the caboose."

"Why do you need us to go there?" Dawn asked, looking over at the door that lead to the rear of the train.

"Standard safety procedure," Worm explained. "We might need to decouple the last car to save you in case things get ugly. There are several runners gaining on us and my gut is telling me they may be bandits. Assuming they're not strong enough to kill me, I'll come back and grab you when it's safe."

"Bandits!?" Dawn exclaimed. Right as she uttered those words there was a loud THUNK. Dawn grabbed onto a bench to keep herself from falling over. Something large must have rammed into the side of one of the cars causing the rest of the train to shake.

Penguinmon had not been as fast and was sent tumbling between a pair of benches. He caught himself by grabbing onto the legs of the sets and pulling himself forward. "Can you see them? Is it the Three Musketeers!?"

There was a weird static noise that Dawn figured was Worm snorting. "If it was the Musketeers we'd be Digi-dust. And sorry, I can't give you much information on what happens outside my cars. Now get your butts over to the caboose!"

Nodding, Penguinmon grabbed Dawn's hand and began leading her to the back of the train. The pair rushed from car to car. As they made their way to the back, they would have to grab onto a bench or doorway to brace for the shaking of the train from the blows of their mysterious attackers. Occasionally Dawn would hear the scrapping of what she was sure were claws.

Right as the two threw open the door leading to the caboose, they were stopped right in their tracks. Standing on the other side was a new Digimon. It was almost as tall as an adult human. In fact, it kind of resembled a human. A human with a giant gun barrel of a silver pistol for a chest. A human with a black orb for a face and a pair of glowing, yellow eyes peering out from the darkness. A human in one of the most stereo-typical western getups Dawn had ever seen from its cowboy boots, ten gallon hat, red scarf, and pair of pistols holstered on its belt because having a gun for its main body was evidently not enough.

A new Digimon! Better sca-

One of the gun man's hands shot out and seized Dawn before she could grab her Digivice. Penguinmon made a move to jump forward and attack, but the new Digimon's free hand quickly grabbed one of its pistols and pointed it right at Dawn's head.

"Walk forward slowly and don't try anything funny or else the girl gets it," the new Digimon warned in a southern drawl.

With no means of fighting back that wouldn't result in Dawn's brains getting sprayed across the floor, Penguinmon settled down. The bandit Digimon then directed the two back to the first passenger car. Once inside that car, Dawn's eyes widened.

Most of the benches had been blasted to smithereens creating a clear circle in the middle of the car. Inside that circle were the glitching veterans and two more Digimon that were of the same species as Dawn's captor. Said captor gave Dawn's back a firm kick forcing her onto the ground.

As Dawn dropped to her knees, her Digivice came fell off her belt. When it hit the floor, it lite up creating a holographic projection displaying information on the bandit Digimon. "Deputymon, champion level," Dawn read. "These guys have a love of gambling and can take down their opponents either using their expert marksmanship or by shooting them down using the Justice Bullet that launches from their chest. A fitting name as they have a strong sense of justice-wait! Hold on!"

Dawn shot the Deputymon bandits a glare. "Justice my foot! What is a group of so-called heroic Digimon doing robbing a train?!"

From behind her, Dawn heard the Deputymon who had taken her hostage chuckle. "Your fancy, little encyclopedia isn't wrong. My kind do love their righteous causes. When the war broke out most Deputymon went a runnin' to the frontlines to go a fightin' for truth, justice, and the Digital World way."

There was smug timber in the Deputymon's voice. "Us though? We're smarter than our programmin'. While most of the stronger Digimon headed out to fight with those Celestials or Chaos Generals, we stayed behind to loot and plunder."

"Filthy opportunists!" Dolphmon growled as he sneered at the Deputymon behind Dawn.

The Deputymon behind Dolphmon gave him a swift kick to the head. "Hey now! I'll have you know we washed ourselves this mornin'!"

"Alright, enough of this banter," snapped the Deputymon behind Dawn. "We know you Trailmon have been hauling supplies across the continent. From ridin' past those cars I can see you've got those cargo cars locked up. Just give us the codes to those cars and we'll be out of your hair. Figuratively."

"Sorry," Worm replied over the speaker. His normal laid back voice sounded odd when it came out as serious. "I can't give you them."

"We ain't askin' nicely," sneered the Deputymon behind Vegiemon. To emphasize his point he pressed his gun up against the plant's back.

"No, really, I can't," Worm hastily supplied. "Each cargo car has its own code and I don't know them. The only one who does know is Elecmon."

"An' where is Elecmon?" the Deputymon behind Dawn asked. Dawn flinched when she felt the barrel of a gun dig into her back.

"Trapped in the first cargo car," Worm replied.

"Trapped!?" Deputymon asked sounding surprised.

"It seems that when CERTAIN bandits attack my carts they caused some crates to fall down on my conductor, trapping him," Worm said in a snippy voice. "I can't even communicate with him. I think you knocked him out."

"You better not be fibbin'" growled Deputymon, once again poking Dawn. A part of Dawn wanted to snap at the living pistol, but it's hard to get mouthy when you're one trigger pull away from a meeting with Yveltal.

"You have my passengers at gunpoint. I am not joking," Worm stated sternly. "The door to that car is still unlocked. Take that cargo and go."

"I want all the cargo," Deputymon demanded.

"Then you still need to go and dig up my conductor," Worm responded. "Because all I can do is keep pulling these cars along the tracks."

The Deputymon behind Dawn, which was probably the leader, stood silently. Finally, he stepped over Dawn and headed for the doors leading to the forward cars. As he passed by the other Deputymon, he addressed them. "Stay here and watch over the hostages," he then looked back up at the speakers. "Keep this train movin' I don't need these varmints getting' any bright ideas of escapin'."

With that, the lead Deputymon left. Dawn's mind raced. All she had was three injured soldiers, Penguinmon, and a bunch of broken benches. The soldiers were all caught, so it was safe to say that they were hurt so bad that they couldn't fare well in head to head combat in their current state.

In theory Dawn could make Penguinmon Digivolve, but she still hadn't quite figured that out despite spending months in the dangerous digital wilds. Looks like Penguinmon's magic constantly keeping her safe was backfiring as the other trainers were able to unlock their Digimon's champion form during situations of extreme distress. And Dawn wasn't going to risk a Deputymon firing a gun at her in the hopes that Penguinmon would transform into some kind of Digimon sheriff.

Sighing, Dawn looked back around the cart. As her gaze moved around the circle of captives, her eyes met Vegiemon's. Vegiemon gave Dawn an encouraging smile and a quick wink. Confused, Dawn studied Vegiemon. When Dawn saw what the grass type was up to, she bit her tongue to keep herself from shouting in surprise.

Behind Vegiemon, her vines slowly and quietly stretched across the floor. They then began to rise in the air coming up behind the Deputymon holding her captive. The other Deputymon was occupied with Meramon and Dolphmon and didn't notice the vines until it was too late.

In a motion akin to lightning, Vegiemon's vines struck forward. They forced the Deputymon's hand to aim at the other Deputymon. Surprised by Vegiemon's attack, the first Deputymon's fingers pulled the triggers of his weapons causing them to shot at the other Deputymon.

The bullets from the first Deputymon hit the second causing it to flinch. Meramon took advantage of this opening and spun around, delivering a fist full of fire right into the Deputymon's face. Turns out, even when a champion level Digimon is weak and on its last legs it's still pretty strong. The punch from Meramon was so strong that it sent the Deputymon careening into the side of the car where it broke through the windows.

"Check it out! I just figured out what my vines are good for!" Vegiemon grinned. Her victory was short lived thanks to the massive gun barrel pointing down at her curtesy of the Deputymon behind her.

Seeing the other Deputymon charge up his chest gun, Dolphmon slapped the floor with his fluke. This launched the dolphin forward, allowing him to head-butt the Deputymon. The force of the collision sent both Deputymon and Dolphmon crashing through the windows on the other side of the car. Before Dolphmon could go tumbling off into the desert with Deputymon, Vegiemon's vines whipped out and snagged the porpoise to drag him back into the car.

Now free from the bandits, Dawn stood up and cheered over the winds now howling through the damaged car. "That was AWESOME! Wait, did breaking those windows hurt Worm?"

"Nah, so long as my main body is unharmed, I'll live," Worm's voice came in over the speaker. "Though I do normally charge a small fortune for wrecking my cars. Not gonna do it this time for obvious reasons, but please try to keep property damage to a minimum."

"Understood-stood-stood-stood-stood," Dolphmon began to respond, but was interrupted by another glitching fit.

Looking around, Dawn was able to see that Dolphmon wasn't the only one suffering. Both Vegiemon and Meramon were glitching and glitching hard. So hard that Dawn felt concerned that they would be blown out through the broken windows like dust in the wind. "Hang it there guys!"

While the soldiers' stabilized, Worm spoke again. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the last Deputymon is currently digging through that pile of crates I mentioned earlier."

"Any more bad news?" Penguinmon asked cautiously.

A loud screech sounded off outside the train car. Dawn briefly spotted a trio of large Digimon zoom off the roof of the car and towards the ground. The creatures moved too fast for Dawn to get a clear look, but she was sure they were birds of some kind.

"Looks like the bandits' mounts are off to retrieve them," Meramon observed. He and the rest of the soldiers had managed to literally pull themselves together and were now all standing at attention.

Dolphmon nodded. "We'll need to find some way to both get rid of the last Deputymon and shake them off."

"Wait a minute!" Dawn exclaimed. "I don't want the Deputymons to steal the supplies, but you guys are sick! You shouldn't throw your lives away for some cargo!"

"Miss, we appreciate your concern, but this is about more than just us," Vegiemon said, her vines on her hips. "That cargo contains food and medicine. Items certain parts of the Digital World has been struggling to produce since the war. If we don't stop this Deputymon, civilians who are starving or are in critical conditions may end up dying in our place."

"Besides, we're soldiers," grunted Meramon. "Putting our lives on the line to protect the innocent is our job."

"You're loyalty to your creed is admirable, but I must agree with Dawn," Penguinmon frowned, folding his flippers. "Your bodies almost gave after that last scuffle. I don't believe your next fight will go any more favorably, even if it is four verse one. That is, assuming the other two bandits don't catch up to Worm and put us back where we started."

"If it makes you feel any better, there may be a way I can shake off the other two bandits," offered Worm. "There should be a long tunnel up ahead that goes through a mountain. The tunnel has a gate to keep unwanted Digimon out and only opens for Trailmon. If I can get in before the other bandits manage to board me again, I can lose them."

"Won't the Deputymon go over the mountain?" Dawn asked. In her mind she pictured the two gun monsters riding their mysterious winged mounts up into the sky and onto the other side of a rocky mountain to once again try and board the train.

"Trust me. This mountain is huge," Worm reassured his passengers. "By the time those low lives make it over or around, we'll be long gone."

"Which means we just need to figure out how to get rid of the last Deputymon in a head on battle without shattering," mused Dolphmon.

The entire room grew silent as everyone tried to think of how to duel a cowboy with three cripples, a penguin, and a girl. For her part, Dawn was wishing that she had some more experience as a trainer. Granted, even if she did have more experience it would not be as a battler or a search and rescue trainer, but some skills would have been better than nothing. Though Pokémon contests were focused on showing off a Pokémon's style, they were more than just simple beauty pageants. There was actually a fair amount of strategy involved.

Years Ago in Twinleaf Town

Dawn, age 6, bounced in her seat on the couch. Normally she would be in bed by now, but tonight was special. Tonight she was going to stay up long enough to watch the Sinnoh Grand Festival with her mom! Dawn had seen bits and pieces of contests thanks to TV reruns and her mother's old videos, but she had yet to watch a contest battle from start to finish. Tonight was the final match between the two most skilled Coordinators in Sinnoh (well, most skilled aside from Dawn's mommy) and as a special treat, Dawn's mom allowed Dawn stay up late enough to watch.

"Hurry up, Mommy! You're going to miss it!" Dawn shouted to her mother.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Dawn's mother replied. Moments later a woman with a peach apron and blue hair styled in a bob haircut came into the room with a bowl of popcorn in her hand and a Pokémon at her heels. Said Pokémon was a grey cat with white tipped paws, ears, and muzzle. The feline's tail was curled into a loose spring and ended in a puff of white fur. This Pokémon was known as Glameow, and it was Dawn's mother's ace Pokémon.

As soon as Dawn's mother made her way over to the couch, Dawn seized the bowl of popcorn and began shoveling it into her mouth. Taking her seat next to Dawn, Dawn's mother, Johanna, chuckled at Dawn's ferocity. "Where was this appetite when I served you your vegetables?"

"Shhh!" Dawn held a buttery finger up to her lips. "It's starting!"

Just as Dawn said, the two Coordinators had sent out their Pokémon. On one side there was a unicorn with a flaming mane, a Rapidash, and a blue humanoid bird with a crown-like crest, webbed hands and feet, and a red gem in the middle of its forehead, a Golduck. Opposite them were a spherical rock monster with stubby limbs and a reptilian head, a Golem, and a floating creature whose body resembled a white kimono with a red obi and icy sleeves. The white creature's purple head was oval and had a helmet of snow with two, stubby, ice horns sticking out on top. Dawn recognized the white Pokémon as a Froslass.

The battle commenced and the two sides began trading blows. At some point the Rapidash attempted to blast the Froslass with a powerful Flamethrower, but the Golem used Stone Edge to summon spikes of earth to block the attack. As the flames dispersed, Dawn noticed the point bar for Rapidash's trainer go down.

"Why did he lose points?" Dawn asked her mother. "That Golem's attack didn't hit his Pokémon."

Johanna looked up from grooming Glameow to address Dawn. "You're thinking of a regular Pokémon battle where the winner is decided by who can knock out their opponent. Contest battles aren't just about strength."

"Yeah. They're about looking pretty," Dawn confirmed with a scholarly nod.

"Sort of," Johanna pointed over at the screen where the battle had turned into a siege with Rapidash and Golduck attempting to get past Golem's barricade. "Contests are about showing off your Pokémon's strengths and moves. As such contests battles revolve less around raw power and focus more on displays and sabotage. For example, I think Rapidash's and Golduck's trainer is getting ready for a counter attack."

On screen, the Froslass created a large Ice Shard, which looked more like a massive ice bolder, to hurl at its opposition. Instead of panicking, Rapidash's trainer called for a Fire Spin. The horse created a pyro tornado which engulfed the frost turning it into water. Just as the water hit the stage, the Golduck used its Surf attack to summon a wave. The wave absorbed the extra water, increasing its size and proceeded to bypass the rock wall and crash down on the Golem below. The Golduck then followed up by casting an Ice Beam on the waves, trapping the rock monster in ice.

While Dawn watched the battle with starry eyes, Johanna continued her explanation. "The Froslass trainer was looking to show off her Pokémon's move. If that Ice Shard hit, it would have cost the other trainer a lot of points. However, instead of just dodging, he turned his opponent's attack against her. This allowed him to both undermine his opponent and to better show off his own Pokémon."

Back on the screen, the Golem was down, but the Golduck was now vulnerable to a retaliation from the Froslass. The snow ghost was about to throw a Shadow Ball at the duck, but the buzzer rang disrupting the attack. Though the Golem and Froslass trainer had a stronger start, the Rapidash and Golduck trainer was able to inch ahead just before the clock ran out.

"And there goes the buzzer," Johanna commented. "That is the final element of a contest battle is time. While a regular Pokémon battle goes on until a knock out, a contest battle is just as much against the clock as it is against the other trainer. Though you could use this to your advantage by stalling out an opponent that is stronger than you."

"How?" Dawn asked, head cocked like a curious Vulpix.

"Hit and run tactics," Johanna answered. She gave Glameow a scratch on the chin. The gray feline leaned into the scratch with a smug look of reminiscence. "Glameow may not seem like much at first glance, but she's always been quick on her feet. All I had to do was lure my opponent into a spot where she could strike them before darting out of harm's way. Lather, rinse, repeat."

Dawn stared up at her mother in awe. Being as young as she was, she didn't quite understand everything her mom said, but her mother spoke with such confidence that Dawn knew this information was important. The child filed away the lesson for the day she would stand on stage as a Coordinator.

Back to Now

"Maybe we don't have to overpower Deputymon," Dawn said garnering the attention of the Digimon. "Maybe we just need to keep him from hitting us."

Low Priority Cargo Hold

"Lousy, no good, boxes. That Elecmon better be alive under all this," Deputymon growled as he shifted through the crates.

When Deputymon arrived at the first cargo car he found that the Trailmon was telling the truth. The car's door was open and there was, indeed, a massive pile of cargo boxes smack in the middle of the room. Deputymon briefly considered using his main gun to quickly blast the cargo away, but he tossed that idea to the side when he realized that destroying the boxes would risk destroying Elecmon either because the mammal would get caught up in the blast or crushed when the remaining boxes inevitably fell. Besides, Deputymon would need that cargo intact if he was going to steal it!

Thus, to save his loot and next potential mugging victim, Deputymon carefully dug through the pile of boxes. It was as he placed a box to the side that he felt a tug at his belt. Deputymon twisted his body away from the pile and turned around to look behind him.

Nobody was there.

Deputymon's glowing, yellow eyes narrowed. He could just write off that tugging feeling as his holsters getting caught on something, but he was currently alone and vulnerable. A Digimon doesn't last as long as he did if they didn't stay vigilant.

Placing the box he was holding to the side, Deputymon grabbed his guns. The door to the car was left open as a precaution. There was a good chance that closing the door would cause it to lock, trapping Deputymon until he freed Elecmon. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Deputymon left the door open. This gave the mutant Digimon an exit if his salvage operation went south, but it also left him vulnerable to a sneak attack.

Slowly, Deputymon approached the door. His boots clanked against the train car's floor as he walked. Deputymon held his guns forward, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. When he stepped out of the car, Deputymon cautiously looked around. The door to the infirmary car was open. This confirmed his suspicion that someone had somehow managed to sneak up on him to try and steal his guns. Well, whoever it was wasn't going to have an easy second chance.

Guns still drawn, Deputymon walked over to the infirmary's door. If he closed the door, he could temporarily barricade it with a box from the cargo. This would either keep the would be attacker behind the door or at least create a sound loud enough to alert Deputymon when said attacker broke through. The wind from the moving train may have drowned out a regular door opening, but it wouldn't be enough to cover up falling crates.

The plan was sound. Only one problem. Deputymon's pickpocket didn't retreat to the infirmary car. She was behind him.

Just before Deputymon could grab ahold of the infirmary door's handle, a pair of yellow vines whipped out and slammed into Deputymon. The force of the hit sent Deputymon stumbling forward into the infirmary. The mutant Digimon spun around and began shooting at the Vegiemon that was sitting on top of the cargo car he just exited.

The Vegiemon quickly retreated, but not before one of her extended vines shut the infirmary door trapping Deputymon in the car. Deputymon was about to reopen the door and give chase when a burning sensation hit the back of his head.

Whirling back around, Deputymon scanned the infirmary car. There was the large water tank that was probably meant for the Dolphmon, and a bunch of overturned and stack furniture. Furniture that was stacked by the walls of the car like some low barricades. Furniture that was not arranged like this when Deputymon went through this car before.

Deputymon carefully surveyed the car. Obviously, he was pushed into a trap. The question was: what kind? The collection of furniture from both the infirmary and destroyed benches from the car his boys roughed up was clearly meant to be a defensive wall. This must have meant that the hostages somehow escaped the rest of his gang and at least one of them was here in the car. But who?

The Digimon hiding couldn't be the Vegiemon, she was outside. The Meramon would have been obvious right away thanks to its torrid body. This left the Dolphmon, the Penguinmon, and that weird girl Digimon whose species was a mystery to Deputymon. The Penguinmon and Dolphmon were unlikely as the porpoise was clearly glitching and the bird was a rookie. Deputymon could take them down pretty easy if they didn't play their cards right. Maybe the ambusher was the girl? She didn't give off the same vibes as a Digimon, though she could talk which meant she couldn't be an animal. Unless that girl was a human, but what were the odds of that?

Hands firmly gripped around his weapons, Deputymon carefully made his way over to the wall. It was pretty low, just coming up past his hip. So far, he couldn't see anyone. It was only when Deputymon stepped over the wall that he realized he made a big mistake.

Suddenly, as if manifesting from a mirage, Meramon appeared. Deputymon's eyes grew wide. How did he miss this guy! Yes, he was kneeling close to the floor and a blanket was draped over his back covering his flames, but a flaming humanoid should have stood out the second Deputymon was shut into the car!

Before Deputymon could recover from his shock, Meramon leapt into action. He rose from the floor, causing the blanket to fall to the ground. In a fluid motion swung one of his flaming hands up to grab the barrel sticking out of Deputymon's chest. The fire man then swiftly tossed the gun man into the tank of water, cracking it, and spilling the liquid.

"Now!" shouted Meramon.

On que, a Penguinmon jumped out from behind the barricade of furniture on the other side of the room. He raised a clawed flipper towards the water and shouted. "Ice Prism!"

A trail of icicles jetted up from the floor. They started at Penguinmon's feet and made their way over to the tank creating a trail of ice spikes. When the icicles touched the wave of spilled water, they grew larger. Utilizing the extra moisture, the ice was able to mostly encase Deputymon trapping him.

With Dawn

While Penguinmon and Meramon fought, Dawn watched from the train's caboose. She was sitting on the floor next to Dolphmon who volunteered to guard her while the rest of the Digimon carried out her plan.

Said plan was an ambush. Worm would keep tabs on Deputymon, who had his hands full cleaning away the pile of crates. During that time they would, as quickly and quietly as possible, turn the infirmary car into a trap. Dawn's idea was to use Penguinmon's camping spell as a low level invisibility spell to hid one of the soldiers until Deputymon was close enough to dunk in the tank where Penguinmon would use his ice to freeze the water. That way they wouldn't have to beat the gun mutant up in a head on fight.

Of course, the plan was far from fool proof. Dolphmon was limited in mobility outside of the water and was glitching to the point where he could "swim through air" as he put it (whatever that meant). Vegiemon could have done it, but they would need her reach to push Deputymon in. This left Meramon to team up with Penguinmon which was a problem.

Penguinmon's camping spell only hid fires if they were dim or small. Meramon was a walking fire the size of a man. In order for the ambush to have the faintest hope of succeeding, the team would need to hid and dim Meramon's fire from sight. The dimming was done by draping a blanket across Meramon's body in hopes that it would cover his natural glow. The hiding was done by quickly grabbing pieces of busted up benches and stacking them along with some infirmary furniture to create a barrier for Meramon to duck behind. Finally, Penguinmon cast a camping circle around the fire man, a task made difficult by the tight space in the train car, but he managed.

Now all Dawn could do was sit back and watch her idea unfold from the back of the train. Penguinmon had suggested that Worm decouple the caboose to protect Dawn and Dolphmon if the plan went south. Dawn shot down this idea pointing out that if they did that, she and Dolphmon would just be lost in the desert and left vulnerable to the other Deputymon and their mounts.

Luckily, it looked like everything was going well. Dawn used the DigiView app to watch with satisfaction as the ice froze Deputymon in place.

Next to Dawn, Dolphmon watched in amazement. "I have to admit, I thought this plan was a long shot. Your Penguinmon friend is amazing."

"He is a pretty cool Digimon, isn't he?" Dawn smiled with pride for her friend. "He's a bit of a wizard you know."

"I can tell that," Dolphmon said with an indignant huff from his blowhole. "I've worked with spell casters before. Who did he study under?"

"Uh, no one, I think," Dawn responded unsurely. "He said he was the only mage in his village. I think he's self-taught."

"If that's true, your friend might be a prodigy," Dolphmon said thoughtfully. "I'm no magic maker myself, but I've been on a fair share of missions with spell casters. Wizardmons, Bucchiemons, even once fought under a Mistymon. From what I've gathered, the camping spell is basically a low level invisibility spell, but it works best from a distance. It shouldn't be able to shield a living inferno right next to someone. Especially if that opponent is the least bit suspicious that someone is there. If the spell was always that strong, Digimon would be using it left and right the same way we we're using it now."

As Dolphmon spoke, Dawn's eyes widened. As a newcomer to the Digital World, she didn't really know much about Digimon and what they can and cannot do. The idea that Penguinmon may or may not be gifted never occurred to her. She was just wowed to meet someone who could perform magic period. Now she felt even worse that Penguinmon didn't get a chance to go to the school of his choice. So much talent, wasted.

BAM!

Dawn was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of gunfire. Looking back on the holographic screen, she could see that the ice burst apart. Deputymon landed on the floor with his chest gun smoking.

"Oh no!" Dawn felt her stomach clinch. If a Pokémon was frozen in a battle, it took them a while to break out. She was gambling on the ice having a similar effect here.

"Must have been a level difference," Dolphmon observed, his body growing tense. "Looks like Penguinmon is strong, but he's still weaker than Deputymon. His ice wasn't going to hold him for long."

Back on screen, Dawn could see Deputymon raise his guns to target both Penguinmon and Meramon. Dawn's mind raced to think of a solution. Beside her, Dolphmon pattered her leg with a fin.

"It's going to be okay," Dolphmon said as comforting as possible given their current situation. "Don't forget, Meramon is a soldier. This isn't his first gun fight."

True to Dolphmon's words, Meramon went into action before a single bullet could be fired. The fire Digimon's arm shot forward, throwing out several small fireballs. The fire hit the shattered ice causing it to instantly melt and evaporate into steam. His weak attack finished, Meramon's form began to glitch again.

"I see!" Dawn brightened. "He's making a fog to obscure Deputymon's vision and throw off his aim! Now he and Penguinmon can escape!"

Though Dawn was relieved, Dolphmon sounded somber. "Only Penguinmon can escape."

Confused Dawn, looked back at Dolphmon. "What do you mean?"

"Look," Dolphmon replied stiffly.

Turning back to the projection, Dawn's eyes widened. Meramon's glitching body finally gave. Just like before it broke apart. However, this time his shattered pieces continued to break down until they were like glowing dust in the wind. The pieces then came back together creating an egg covered with fire patterns.

"He finally gave," Dawn said in both fear and awe. By now Dawn knew about Digimons' ability to reincarnate into a new Digimon when they died. However, just like glitching, it was another thing to see it in person. A flurry of emotions whelmed up in Dawn. On one hand, Meramon was still technically alive. On the other hand, he was basically reset with no memories of who he was. The body was alive but the personality was gone.

Tears began to build up in Dawn's eyes. Catching this, Dolphmon gently bunted her arm. "Keep it together, kiddo. We've still got an armed enemy on the loose."

True to Dolphmon's word, Dawn could see through Penguinmon's eyes that Deputymon was making his way to the door. Fortunately, Meramon's steam fog was able to cover Meramon's egg, hiding it from a vengeful Deputymon. The same couldn't be said about Penguinmon.

"Penguinmon! Get out of there!" ordered Dawn.

"I'm sorry, Miss Dawn. But if I abscond that will be one less defense for you and I do not want to take the chance that Dolphmon will go down like Meramon!" Penguinmon responded dutifully. The penguin's line of sight then lowered, which Dawn took to mean that he went on his belly for an attack.

"Sliding Attack!" Penguinmon shouted as he shot across the floor and right into Deputymon's side.

"Okay, fine," Dawn's mind raced. "Just don't stick around there. Hide in the steam!"

Following Dawn's order, Penguinmon used the force from ramming Deputymon to push himself back into the safety of the fog. He then performed another sliding attack. And another, this time from a different angle. Dawn considered having him launch another Ice Prism, but that attack might have incorporated the water from the steam which would expose Penguinmon. Given that Deputymon had already demonstrated that he could easily break out of ice, Dawn didn't think the steam to ice trade off would work in her favor.

Alas, the steam cover would also be rendered obsolete when Deputymon decided that instead of aiming his gunfire at an elusive penguin, he should instead shoot down a stationary door. One Justice Bullet later and the door out the back was blown off its hinges releasing the steam. Deputymon then began to leave through the opened doorway, presumably to hunt down the rest of the passengers before they tried anything funny.

Seeing as how his hit and run tactics would no longer work, Penguinmon charged forward one last time in an attempt to push Deputymon off the rails between the cars. The cowboy had other plans. Before Penguinmon could make contact, Deputymon punted Penguinmon up into the air. Through the holographic projection, Dawn was able to see that Penguinmon was able to come down on top of one train cars where he used his long claws to hang on for dear life.

"Penguinmon!" Dawn called over the speaker.

"Kid, get ready!" Dolphmon shouted. "That Deputymon is coming our way, I don't think he's just going to kick us."

Dawn froze up. Her heart raced. There was a monster with a gun coming straight down the line of train cars towards them. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. They were trapped on a moving vehicle with someone who could kill them. "What do we do?"

"Here's what's going to happen," Dolphmon glared at the door out of the caboose. "Deputymon is going to open the door from the passenger car to get to us. When he does so, I'll jump him and you use that opening to run past. Don't pause, don't look back. Got it?"

"But what about," Dawn began to protest.

"Got it!?" Dolphmon asked more forcefully.

Dawn was about to answer, when Deputymon threw open the door. "Afternoon," he greeted, guns pointed forward.

The second Deputymon opened the door, Dolphmon jumped at the cowboy. The dolphin landed on top of Deputymon and the two began to wrestle. For a moment, Dawn stood there wondering what to do. Should she run or find some way to help? Dolphmon decided to give her his two cents on the subject.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" roared Dolphmon. "LEAVE!"

Scared, Dawn took off past the wrestling Digimon and through the passenger car. She had almost made it to the door when a loud BANG echoed throughout the car. Ears ringing from the gunfire, Dawn was completely deaf to the strangled dolphin cry Dolphmon let out before dissolving into glowing dust.

Having read about Digimon reincarnation in the chat, Dawn knew that just before a Digimon turned into an egg it was vulnerable to being absorbed by other Digimon. And it looked like Deputymon wasn't going to let Dolphmon's death go to waste. The mutant spread his arms out and the glowing dust began to gravitate towards the gun man.

In that moment, multiple thoughts ran through Dawn's mind. A part of her wanted to save the soldier who sacrificed himself for her. But at the same time, Dawn knew that if she confronted Deputymon she'd risk his guns turning on her.

Ultimately, flight won over fight and Dawn darted out the door to the car and slammed it shut behind her. Just in time too. A series of thunks came from the door which Dawn was positive came from multiple bullets hitting the door.

Knowing that Deputymon was capable of stronger attacks, Dawn wasted no time in running through the next passenger car. She then ran through the infirmary and up to the first cargo car. Seeing as how the pile of crates and boxes would have prevented her from progressing even further, Dawn decided to take another risk. She grabbed onto the ladder that lead to the roof of the cargo car and climbed.

In her life, Dawn had seen several movies where the characters had to balance on top of a moving train for one reason or another. It was an act that never struck her as stable. Her current position proved her assumptions right.

The top of the train shook and swayed from the constant movement along the tracks. It wasn't intense enough to throw Dawn off, just unstable enough to make her stumble around to try and keep her balance. Between the shaking car and the wind generated by the train's movement, Dawn felt like she was going to be blown off at any moment as she tried to walk over to the other side of the car.

"End of the line, girlie," came Deputymon's voice from behind Dawn causing her to freeze in her tracks. Looking over her shoulder, Dawn saw that the gun monster had caught up and was now pointing all three of his barrels directly at her. "You've got two choices. Either come along and be a good little hostage or keep causing problems and earn yourself a bunch of new holes."

"Sliding attack!" Penguinmon cried from the car behind Deputymon. It looked like Penguinmon had recovered from his previous encounter with Deputymon and had climbed up to the top of the car. Penguinmon's attack missed Deputymon coming to a stop in front of Dawn where he rose onto his hind legs and threw his flippers out in a protective motion. "If you want Dawn, you'll have to get past me!"

Deputymon stared at Penguinmon. One of his glowing eyes was arched higher than the other creating a slightly confused expression. "You know, you're a pretty short fella. All I need to do is aim above her hips. But if you insist."

BAM!

There was a small yet loud blast. One moment Penguinmon was standing strong in front of Dawn, the next he was toppling over. Dawn dropped down to grab the bird before he could roll off the car. Turning him over in her arms, Dawn's heart clenched. There was a glowing hole in Penguinmon's chest that was leaking the same bright dust that Meramon and Dolphmon turned into when they died. What's more, Penguinmon's image began to flicker and glitch, just like the soldiers.

"Penguinmon!" Dawn exclaimed. Her grip on the bird tightened as if that would help keep him together. "Stay with me!"

"Sorry, Dawn," Penguinmon said, his weak voice sounding distorted as though it was coming from an old radio. "I couldn't fulfill my duty as your Digimon partner."

"Please, Penguinmon. Don't leave me," Dawn begged. Her mind flashed back to Dolphmon's death and how helpless she was. "You were right. I'm not ready for this! I'm a helpless coward. Penguinmon!"

"No. That's not true," Penguinmon's voice sounded fainter. "You have a buoyant spirit and a cleaver mind. I know that in time you will become both a brilliant artist and a powerful tactician. It's just a shame that I won't be able to witness it in this life."

"Don't," Dawn began to sob. As tears began to fall down her face, Dawn heard a pair of boots walk over to her.

"A Digimon partner, huh?" Deputymon said thoughtfully. "I guess that makes you a human."

Dawn could practically hear the greedy smirk on Deputymon's minimalist face. "You know, some people recon absorbing a Digimon who was partnered with a human may give them a power boost. How about you and me see if that's true?"

Dawn didn't respond. She just hugged Penguinmon's glitching body closer and tried to turn her body to position herself between her partner and the bandit.

"I don' want to lose a hostage, but I'll have to get dirty if you don't behave," Deputymon growled.

Dawn held strong.

"Can't say I didn' warn you," Deputymon sighed.

The next thing Dawn knew, she felt the hard and quick sting of the handle of one of Deputymon's pistols. Surprised by the pistol whip, Dawn's grip loosened and Penguinmon fell from Dawn's arms. He began to fizzle.

"STOP!" Dawn called out. She tried to get back up to shield Penguinmon, but slipped and almost fell of the train.

Three events occurred in this exact moment. Before Dawn could fall off the train, a pair of long, yellow vines wrapped around her. Deputymon, in an attempt to finish off Penguinmon, fired his guns. However, the bullets would not reach their target as Penguinmon's body became encased in a pink bubble right as Dawn's Digivice began to glow.

"Penguinmon Digivolve to…"

Penguinmon's beak sank into his face giving way to a stitched up mouth reminiscent of a scarecrow's. The feathers across Penguinmon's body began to wither away revealing grey cloth-like skin. As Penguinmon's body began to grow and reshape into something more humanoid, the pink lightning within the sphere danced across his being.

Wherever the lightning touched, clothing appeared. Brown boots with silver, crescent buckles formed over Penguinmon's feet while a thick pair of brown gloves slid over Penguinmon's transforming claws forming hands. Meanwhile, a white and blue jumpsuit covered with various zippers encased the Digimon's body.

Wrapping around the new Digimon's shoulders was a long white cape with a dark blue inner lining that was decorated with white runes. The cape was fastened around the neck with a silver, skull buckle and the high collar of the cape wrapped around the Digimon's lower face like a mask.

Long blond hair sprouted from the Digimon's scalp which was quickly fastened into a loose ponytail. A new, white witch hat with a black band and a wide brim formed atop the Digimon's head. Finally a staff ending in a large snowflake appeared right before the Digimon.

When the bubble burst, Penguinmon had been replaced with a short humanoid that looked like a cross between a scarecrow and a grey elf clad in a wizard's wardrobe. The now champion level Digimon reached out and grasped the staff. He gave it an experimental twirl, releasing a stream of cold air and snow which swirled around him in a display of improved cryomancy. "Sorcermon!"

The vines gently placed Dawn back down on the car's roof at a safe distance away from Deputymon. Normally, Dawn would rejoice that Vegiemon was okay after she thanked the plant monster for saving her life. That would have to wait for later as right now Dawn was a bit preoccupied. She watched in awe as her partner, no longer a glitching mess, stared down Deputymon.

It was just like a standoff in a Western film. Sorcermon's cape blew dramatically while the brims of both champion's hats rippled in the wind (how either combatant's headwear stayed atop of their heads was beyond Dawn). Sorcermon gripped his staff as he watched Deputymon's fingers twitch near his pistols' triggers. From her spot, Dawn could see Deputymon's glowing eyes narrow as the cowboy analyzed his new opponent. Finally, Deputymon pulled the trigger.

Draw!

Right as Deputymon fired off his guns, Sorcermon's palm thrust forward. "Crystal Cloud!"

Sorcermon's staff glowed and his hand shot out a series of ice shards accompanied by a small blizzard. Several of the ice shards came into contact with the bullets, halting their trajectory. The rest of the ice storm flew over to Deputymon, knocking the pistol man off the car and off the train.

Sighing in relief, Sorcermon turned to address the other roof riders. "Well, glad to be rid of-OPH!"

Sorcermon was disrupted when Dawn came charging forward and pulled him into a bear hug. Dawn blubbered a couple of sentences into Sorcermon's shoulder, the most audible of which being "Don't scare me like that!"

"I could say the same to you," Sorcermon gently responded, returning Dawn's hug.

"Uh guys, it might be a bit soon to start celebrating," Vegiemon warned from behind.

Looking up from Sorcermon's shoulder, Dawn saw what the vegetable was referring to. Closing in on the group, were all three of the Deputymon. And they were not alone.

Each Deputymon was riding on an armored, avian Digimon. These Digimon had green feathers on their lower halves, golden yellow feathers on their upper halves, and red feathers at the tips of their wings, tails, and coming out of the back of their heads. The birds' legs, neck, head, and arms of their wings were covered in plates of metal. Black horns stuck out of their skulls while the thumbs of their wings were tipped with claws just as sharp as the ones on their talons. Each of the birds released a cawing screech from their fanged jaws as they ran alongside the train.

Faced with the threat of mechanical cowboys riding giant, angry birds Dawn took the most logical course of action. She scanned the mounts.

"Diatrymon, champion level," Dawn read. "Their wings aren't powerful enough to fly, but their legs are powerful enough to run at 120 mph. If that wasn't enough, their metal feathers allow them to shrug off damage! Special attacks include the slamming move Mega Dash Impact and a wide ranged Destruction Roar."

"Y'all won't be getting' away that easily!" shouted the lead Deputymon from atop his Diatrymon.

"So much for losing these guys in the tunnel," muttered Vegiemon. "Not only are these guys keeping up with Worm, but taking down six Digimon at once isn't going to be easy."

"Can't Worm just attack them with his Emergency Break Spark?" Sorcermon asked.

"These guys are too fast to get hit," Vegiemon replied with a frown. "Look."

Bolts of electricity jumped form the cars' wheels, but the Diatrymon were able to nimbly dodge out of the way. This must have been how they were able to board the train in the first place!

Looking over her shoulder, Dawn saw the mountain was fast approaching. At its base was the tunnel, gate slowly opening. Looking back over at Sorcermon, Dawn spoke in as authoritative voice as she could muster. "We don't need to take down six Digimon. We just need to take out the Diatrymons' legs. If we can knock them down long enough, Worm can make a getaway."

Though Dawn couldn't see the lower half of Sorcermon's face, she could make out the corners of his mouth bend upwards in a confident smile. "What are your commands?"

Taking a deep breath, Dawn scanned Sorcermon with her Digivice. She had only a few minutes to fend off her opponents. She didn't have to take them down with raw strength, just deflect their attacks while finding ways to sabotage them using her Digimon's moves. This wasn't how she pictured her first contest battle, but when in the Digital World, do as the Digimon do. "Sorcermon, champion level. He specializes in ice and light magic and can even heal wounds. His special attacks include summoning blizzards and ice with his Crystal Cloud attack and jets of water with Drowning Aquarius."

"Eyes forward!" Vegiemon called out. "They're making their first move!"

True to Vegiemon's word, the Deputymons began pelting the train with gunfire. Without time to strategize, Dawn stuck to what she had seen work. "Sorcermon, block them with Crystal Cloud!"

Once again, Sorcermon shout out a miniature ice storm. His attack met the Deputymons' gunfire head on resulting in a miniature explosion and a fairly decent sized smokescreen. It was thanks to the mixture of smoke and fog that Dawn didn't notice the large Diatrymon charging forward until it rammed right into the train car. The collision shook the car, almost knocking off the passengers. Sorcermon was able to summon up a small blizzard to push himself back onto the roof while Vegiemon caught Dawn.

"Easy there!" Vegiemon called out over Dawn's startled yelp. "Just focus on the battle. I'll focus on keeping you from falling off!"

"Right!" Dawn nodded in agreement. She then turned toward her attention back to the trio of bandits who were now out of the fog. "Sorcermon, try and freeze their feet to the ground!"

"Drowning Aquarius!" Sorcermon pointed his staff at the ground ahead. A powerful stream of water shout out from the staff creating a massive puddle. The snowflake at the end of the staff then began to glow. "Crystal Cloud!"

Another blizzard erupted from Sorcermon's staff blowing straight at the large, muddy puddle freezing it. Not ready for the frozen terrain, the Diatrymon slipped and slid on the ice. Two of the Diatrymons crashed into each other while the leader's Diatrymon jumped on top of his downed underlings to use them as makeshift stepping stones. With their leader safely on the other side, the two other Deputymon tried to urge their mounts to get up. One Diatrymon was able to make its way back on its feet while the other stayed down probably due to a twisted ankle.

One bird down.

As the remaining two continued to run alongside the train, Dawn noticed one of the Diatrymon opening its beak. She turned to warn Sorcermon. "They're getting ready to attack! Aim for the mouth!"

Just as the Diatrymon was about to unleash an attack, Sorcermon aimed his wand at the bird. "Drowning Aquarius!"

The stream of water hit its mark and forced its way down the Diatrymon's throat. Instead of a sonic roar, the bird began to choke and gasp. The bird fell over and began coughing out water forcing it and its rider to fall behind.

Two birds down.

Now it was just Dawn, Sorcermon, the lead Deputymon, and his Diatrymon. Both parties traded blows. Snow and water against bullets and sonic screeches. Sadly, it wasn't a stalemate. Though Sorcermon was able to lessen the blows by using his ice storms as shields, bullets would still get through and Diatrymon's screeches couldn't be completely blocked. Sorcermon tried to use water on the Diatrymon, but Deputymon would always pull his bird away when he saw a Drowning Aquarius forming. If this was a contest battle, Dawn would almost be out of points.

Finally, Deputymon pulled on the reins slowing his Diatrymon down. Watching this act, Dawn turned to her fellow passengers. "Is he giving up?"

"If only we were that lucky," Vegiemon frowned. "Look!"

With a loud THUNK, the Diatrymon leapt on to a car that was a bit further down from where their group was stationed. It seemed that Deputymon was changing tactics. Either he was going to try and hitch a ride and jump off the Diatrymon before the roof of the tunnel could knock them off or…

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

…judging by the way the Diatrymon was charging at them, Deputymon wanted to get rid of the group as soon as possible. Now that Diatrymon was on the train as well, Dawn and her friends were basically standing still. Time to change that.

"Try and knock them off!" Dawn called over to Sorcermon. Hopefully the wind would aid them by increasing the speed of Sorcermon's ice storms.

Unfortunately, the Diatrymon continued to rush through the ice storms. Looks like Deputymon decided to focus all his ride's power into one last charge relying on Diatrymon's steel armor to deflect most of the blows. Worse, it looked like his plan was working! The ice attacks were only slowing the Diatrymon down. Dawn bit her lower lip. If only they had a bit more juice.

"SCREAAAH!" Diatrymon was almost right on top of them! The bird began to leap over the final gap between cars. Sorcermon tried for one last Crystal Cloud. It looked like Diatrymon was going to land when suddenly-

"Sparkling Thunder!"

A bolt of lightning joined in with Sorcermon's snow storm creating a miniature thundersnow storm. The electricity consumed and shocked both Deputymon and Diatrymon causing them to tumble. A manic laugh sounded off from behind Dawn.

"YAHOO!" laughed Elecmon. The conductor was looking a lot livelier than he was earlier that day. The mammalian Digimon was currently down on all fours, claws digging into the roof of the train car. His tails were raised up, fanned out, and sparking with electricity. There was a voracious grin on Elecmon's face which, along with his twitching ears, gave him a frenzied appearance. "Good, great Yggdrasil did I need that nap!"

Before anyone could respond, Worm gave off a loud whistle. Judging by how fast they were approaching the tunnel, the whistle was a warning to get inside. Quickly, Dawn and the three Digimon scrambled down from the roof and down into the cars. Just as they made it inside the infirmary car, Dawn could see everything go dark inside followed by the loud sound of the tunnel's gate closing.

"Victory!" cheered Vegiemon. She raised her vines in the air and wiggled them around in jubilation.

The rest of the group joined in on Vegiemon's celebration with Dawn pumping her fists into the air while Elecmon did a little jig. Sorcermon, just sighed and collapsed on the floor. He spotted Meramon's egg and gave it a reassuring pat. Even Worm celebrated by giving his whistle a couple of quick toots.

"GAH!" The celebration was cut short by a sudden cry of pain from Vegiemon. Just like Meramon, Vegiemon appeared to have reached her limit and was now glitching with no sign of stopping. Slowly, her body began to dissolve.

Immediately, Sorcermon stood up and made his way over to Vegiemon. Carefully, he reached out and pushed the plant monster down to the floor. "Lay down and hold as still as possible."

"Hey, what are you-" Elecmon began.

"Please be quiet," Sorcermon ordered sternly. His hands began to glow with a bright, white light and the air began to cool. It wasn't a harsh chill like his attacks, rather a gentle, comforting cold. Like placing an ice pack on a wound or stepping into a cool room on a sweltering day. "I haven't done this before, so I'll need all the concentration I can get."

It took a moment, but then Dawn realized what was going on. She leaned down to whisper to Elecmon. "Sorcermon can use healing magic. I think he's trying to stabilize Vegiemon."

Just as Dawn deduced, Vegiemon's glitching began to settle. Her form became more solid before glowing with a bright light. Stepping back, Sorcermon watched as Vegiemon's body began to shift. Her main body redistributed its mass forming new legs and arms. Her vines dissolved and her snout retracted into her face while her head petals rearranged themselves on top of her cranium.

When the light died down, Vegiemon had been replaced with a new Digimon. It was a green Digimon with wide, veiny arms which ended in short, purple and green fingers. Her short legs had no feet, just roots and her round head resembled an alien with large eyes and sharp teeth. Atop her head was a blooming, magenta flower and sticking out from her back was a stubby tail.

"Palmon, rookie level," Dawn read off her Digivice. "The flower on her head releases a sweet scent when she's happy and a foul odder when she senses danger. If she has to brawl, she can trap her enemies by stretching out her fingers into vines using her Poison Ivy attack."

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep you from reverting," Sorcermon apologized. "But I think you should be stable now."

Palmon looked herself over and grinned at Sorcermon. "Don't sweat it! This is way better than turning into an egg! Thank you!"

"Yes, well, um. It was nothing," Sorcermon said bashfully. A small blush appeared on his grey skin.

"So, Palmon. What are you going to do now?" Dawn asked.

"That's an interesting question," Palmon brought her vine fingers up to her chin. "I'm stable now, but I'm also a rookie which means I should probably stick to the civilian zone until someone figures how to turn the Digivolution back on. I guess I'll have to go hunt for a new job."

"You're hired!" Elecmon exclaimed.

Palmon tilted her head in confusion. "But I didn't-"

"Don't leave me!" Elecmon cried, grabbing Palmon's shoulders. "That cargo induced concussion was the only nap I've had in days! I can't do this work by myself! Please, say you'll help out! Please, please, please!"

While Dawn and Sorcermon watched this desperate recruitment, they caught each other's eyes and shared a smile. They then snuck out the back before Elecmon could order them to clean up the mess left by the Deputymon.

Later

Worm had not been lying when he said the mountain tunnel was long. There had been multiple twists and turns as well as a quick stop at a subterranean town to hand out some supplies. By the time they exited the mountains, the sky darkened into night revealing a plethora of shining stars accenting the Digital World's moons.

Wanting some time to herself, Dawn rode the caboose. As she leaned against the railing in the back of the car, Dawn reflected over the day. One event in particular kept playing in her mind. Dolphmon's death and absorption.

No matter how much she tried to put it out of her mind, Dawn could not stop thinking about the dolphin's dissolving into dust. Dawn's body began to tremble and her hands gripped the rail. She could have ran back and shoved Deputymon. She could thrown one of her boots at him. She could have, she could have…

Sorcermon's voice came from behind. "May I join you?"

A lump formed in Dawn's throat. She couldn't talk. Just nod.

Taking her invitation, Sorcermon walked up next to Dawn and looked around. "My. The mountains sure are lovely this evening. The skyline, the trees, and the plants. I don't think I've ever seen so many different species of plants in my life. What do you suppose those are called?"

Following Sorcermon's finger, Dawn saw a patch of glowing cubes growing out of the ground. She "Those are computers."

"Ah! So those are computers! Come to think of it, I actually think I saw one back when I was an in-training. It sat on a hill right outside my village. Didn't last too long though. A wild Hyogamon ended smashing it up along with our southern wall. I think the light scared it."

"Mmm," Dawn hummed. Her eyes drifted away from the computers and began watching the train tracks.

"Dawn," Sorcermon said gently. "If something is bothering you, you can talk to me. You know that, right?"

Dawn stayed silent for a few minutes before finally blurting out: "I'm worthless!"

"That's not true," Sorcermon said. He managed to meet Dawn's eyes with his own worried expression.

"It is," Dawn trembled. Tears rolled down her checks. "Back when Deputymon attacked. Dolphmon sacrificed himself to save me and when I had the chance to step in and save him, I ran!"

With that, Dawn broke down and sobbed. She continued to grip the rails, but her knees gave out causing her to kneel down. As she cried, Dawn felt Sorcermon's gloved hand rub her back.

"Dawn, I'm sorry you had to witness that," Sorcermon comforted. "And I'm also sad that Dolphmon was absorbed. But if it's all the same to you, I'm glad you ran."

Blinking, Dawn looked over at her partner. "What?"

"I understanding wanting to save Dolphmon. I wish I was there to help," Sorcermon responded. He continued to speak with a gentle voice, but Dawn could hear a firm conviction. "But as the situation was, rushing in to save Dolphmon would have just put your life in danger."

"But Dolphmon," Dawn began.

"Sacrificed himself for you," Sorcermon said, cutting Dawn off. "If you ended up dying just after he did, his lose would have been pointless."

"I guess," Dawn conceded, though she didn't sound any better. "I just wish I could have done more."

"As do I," Sorcermon admitted. "But I wouldn't say our efforts were worthless. We managed to save Vegiemon, Meramon's egg, and the cargo. That last one may not sound significant, but a lot of Digimon were relying on those shipments. You may never met them, but by standing your ground and defeating those bandits you saved the lives of many Digimon."

Sorcermon continued. "And what's more, you were able to unlock my champion form. I won't be as helpless in the future. So please, don't beat yourself up. No matter what happens, I'll be by your side, ready to protect you."

A part of Dawn did feel a bit more comforted by Sorcermon's words. And yet, she didn't feel fully confident in Sorcermon's vow to protect her. The second he said that, her mind flashed back to her dream from the night before and the massive monster towering over her, promising to wait for her. "Sorcermon, have you ever studied dream magic?"

"Dream magic?" Sorcermon blinked in surprise. He then listened as Dawn described the dream she had the previous evening. When Dawn finished. Sorcermon closed his eyes thoughtfully. "That dream does sound pretty peculiar."

"Do you think it means anything?" Dawn probed.

"Perhaps," Sorcermon hummed. "There have been instances in the past when dreams have been used as a means of divination. Some Digimon, or human in your case, may have had a strong connection to powers beyond their understanding or have received messages from other worldly beings. Though I cannot say for certain that is the case for this dream. Divination is not my area of expertise. If I were you, I'd try to move along. There's not much we can really do at the moment except rest up for the temple."

"You're right," Dawn muttered. She wiped away her tears and stood up. Before she went back inside, she took one final look at the night sky. The Digital World, despite its perils, really was a beautiful place. "Thank you, Sorcermon. For everything."

Sorcermon gave Dawn a modest bow. "Any time."

The two then went back into the train to get some sleep and enjoy the calm that would come before the storm.

AN: Everyone laughed at me when I told them to add a Western shootout course to Hogwarts's curriculum. Well, who's laughing now!?

I know Sorcermon seems a little out of left field, but hear me out. While Digivolving is fairly open ended, I favor evolutions that have a logical flow to them (dinosaur to dinosaur, water elemental to water elemental). I have a certain final evolution in mind for Dawn's partner that I think should match up with the themes of the fourth gen games which means I have to build a bridge from penguin to [spoiler]. The first step on that bridge is ice wizard.

Ice because penguins live in the South Pole and wizard because Dawn's ultimate and mega Digimon's are a bit more magical in nature. Though if you think about it, Dawn does have an affinity for the element. Her starter is a penguin, her Buneary knows Ice Beam, her heavy hitter is Mamoswine, she uses ice a lot in her performances, and her manga counterpart even has a Froslass.

Side note, another Digimon I considered was Xiquemon, another ice bird who has an elegant appearance.

And speaking of ice, I decided to go ahead and give Penguinmon the Ice Prism move from the Digimon World: Card Battle game to give him a long distance move.

Reader Response Recess!

Ashpoke55: It's pretty predictable, but I adore Tamers. I liked the characters, I liked the Digimon, I liked the new mechanics it introduced (though I think the Digimodify ability wasn't as abused nearly enough), I liked the world building and the more sci-fi focus, and I liked that it was slow paced at the beginning giving the kids time to try and figure out their partners and allowing the rookies some time to fight.

I also had fun watching Savers/Data Squad when it first came out.

Mr. Navit: No need to stress! We're all just having fun here!

While there was a bit of slums from Seekers in that chapter, I was actually mostly thinking of Midgard from Final Fantasy 7.

One of your crests guesses was correct, one was close, and one was wrong though I liked your thought process on it.

Greymon sort of already is using everything in his arsenal. Maybe not to its maximum potential since Ash is still a rookie trainer (he'll be making better calls as the story progresses), but it's all there. Nova Blast, Flame Wall, teeth, claws, tail smashes, head smashes. As much as I love this dinosaur, he doesn't have the most diverse move pool. The one I haven't given a full move set to is Garurumon as I haven't given him his ice breath yet.

In my defense with the Kyukimon fight, there was a lot going on there. Balancing all the characters is something I hope to improve as the fights get bigger, but not everyone is going to get a spotlight in every battle.

Gallantmon has in fact visited Witchelny and has picked up a few tricks from there. Too bad he's too far gone now to make use of any of those tricks. Such a waste.

Yeap. Datamon is pretty much an amalgamation of the evil scientist trope.

The Chaos Generals are indeed powerful members of their species, though they could get stronger.

What does that dream entail for Dawn indeed?

I'm not sure if Red's Articuno has ever visited that particular town, but I assure you it is a heroic ice bird who saves people. Unless it's hungry.

I'm don't understand the reference, but you sure got me!

I'll admit, I still need to finish Hacker's Memory and Cyber Sleuth. But isn't the karma system from Survive? In any case, killing a Demon Lord in this story isn't necessarily going to curse you. Though they don't go down easy.

You've already seen one of the Demon Lords in an earlier chapter. Most of the Demon Lords are depowered at the moment and are just waiting for an opportunity. Actually, all things considered Leviamon is probably the Demon Lord in the best condition right now.

Who would you pair with RustTyrannomon or Machinedramon?

Wow, a magic car that travels through the multiverse? Crime really does pay!

Very good reasons for which partners you think would work. While I most likely won't be making these partnerships cannon to this story, I always enjoy reading your ideas so keep them coming.

I have seen that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon video. It was fun.

Yeah, I've seen people talk about Pokedex entries like Magcargo and honestly I'm more concerned with what I observe in the game, show, and manga when it comes to figuring out what these monsters can and cannot do as appose to dex entries….and sometimes making up my own lore. Though I'll try to point that out when I do that.

I don't know much about the history of France as I would like to, so thank you for that bit of insight.

Daww! It's nice to see that Yodewtwo/Yodarceus get into the spirit of the season. Merry post-Christmas.

The one who reads and writes: At this point in the story, the question isn't whether or not anyone is going to fight a Demon Lord. The real question is how will they survive?

Magic isn't intrinsic to Penguinmons, however the manga "Digimon Dreamers" showed a number of Digimon who aren't necessarily magical in nature attending Witchelny's magic academy. I assume this means that any Digimon is capable of learning magic (which for Digimon is basically just extremely complex computer codes), but you may learn it easier if you have a name like Wizardmon or Sorcermon.

As far as I can tell, Frailemon is a fan-made Digimon. A well designed fan-made Digimon, but still not cannon. I prefer to use cannon monsters as using fakemons can leave people feeling out of the loop. The closest I got to using a fan-made Digimon was mentioning a Rurimon in "Garurumon Howls." On that note, I wouldn't be against using fan-made variations or alternate modes of pre-existing Digimon. But that's a topic for another arc.

Just a heads up on "Digimon V-Tamer." It's a manga, not an anime. I read it on OneManga when that website was alive, but since then it's been shut down (it was a pirated manga site). I don't know where you can find it now. I personally try to stay away from pirate sites nowadays both to avoid the viruses and because I try to support legal distribution, but it does make it more difficult to find obscure titles.

Team Rocket won't be doing anything…this arc.

Thank you for your reviews! I always look forward to reading them when I post a chapter and do enjoy your perspective and sharing my love of creature collector series with a fellow fan of these franchises. Looking forward to conversing with you more in the coming year. On that note: Happy New Year!

Thank you for reading my story! God loves you and so do I! See y'all next time!

Digimon Introduced

Sorcermon: Champion, Vaccine, Wizard

Deputymon: Champion, Vaccine, Mutant

Diatrymon: Champion, Vaccine, Ancient Bird

Palmon: Rookie, Data, Vegetation

Pokémon Introduced

Glameow: Normal, The Catty Pokémon

Rapidash: Fire, The Fire Horse Pokémon

Golduck: Water, The Duck Pokémon

Froslass: Ice/Ghost, The Snow Land Pokémon

Golem: Rock/Ground, The Megaton Pokémon
Next Time: Finally! We will have all of the main characters together! Now it'll be easier for me to kill them. Until then, let's have some fun at a fancy spa/hotel. See ya then.