[North]
"A train station? We're taking the train?" Arshan didn't quite believe what he was hearing. He knew the Digital World would have offered multiple venues in heading toward their destination. Still, he never expected the most mundane option to be a part of it.
Henry turned to Arshan. "They're called Trailmon, but yes. No one knows why, but trail rails have survived the fall of continents and even D-Reaper attacks. Even Ragna Lordmon has declared no Trailmon will be harmed."
"Wow!" Coro cooed. "That sounds awesome! Why don't we all use that?"
"Cause some Trailmon stations have Ragna Lordmon's guards and forts." Terriermon, on top of Henry's head, said. "Turns out, Ragna Lordmon said not to touch them 'cause they're the best way to organize his forces across the Digital World!"
Arshan groaned but Henry spoke again. "Originally, I wanted us to take separate trains to multiple areas that aren't heavily fortified. Not one whole ride. The dice rolls picked this path for us, and it is one of the safest routes north."
The four started making their way. In the distance, Arshan was surprised to see a train station from an urban area in the middle of a plain. It looked like a marketplace had been set up near the train station. Tents and crowds gathered and spoke while Digimon bartered. The sounds of speaking, trading, and walking echoed in the area. Henry stayed close to Arshan, leading him to the ticket booth. The brunette tried to avoid eye contact with other Digimon this time, not wanting another Fugamon incident.
After buying their tickets, Henry turned to Arshan. "Our ride is about to arrive. It's a Blue Trailmon. So stick with me."
Arshan was about to respond until the four heard ringing through the area. The teenager was not expecting a sudden crowd of Digimon to begin swarming towards the trains.
"Right, we better get going." Henry led the two as Terriermon leapt on top of Henry's head. Yet, they underestimated the number of Digimon coming in and out of the Trailmons. Before they could even get to the platforms, crowds of Digimon had to squeeze together. It seemed like human-designed train stations did not mesh well with Digimon varying shapes and sizes. Nor did it help as Digimon moved without much care for others. Arshan grunted when the claw of a Tyranomon hit his head.
"Hey! Watch it!" Coro shouted to the big Dino who quickly walked past the crowd.
Arshan rubbed his head but realized that the interruption caused him to lose sight of Henry and Terriermon. "Oh no. Where are they?"
"Oh hey! There's a Blue Trailmon!" Coro pointed to one nearby them a second before an announcement said they were already taking the last boarding. It took some effort, but Arshan and Coro got on the Trailmon just before the train doors closed.
Arshan sighed in relief. "That was close. We should try to find Henry and Terriermon when we can."
Coro nodded before he climbed a seat to get a better look at the area. The fire rookie happened to look out the window and said. "Wow! Hey, look at that, Arshan! I think I see them!"
The brunette noticed how Coro looked OUTSIDE the Trailmon they were on. As they were leaving the station, Arshan's eyes widened when he saw a DARKER BLUE Trailmon parallel to them. In one of the windows, Arshan made eye contact with Henry and Terriermon…who also looked as stunned as him as they were on separate trains.
"What are they doing there? Did they go on the wrong train?" Sometimes, Arshan wished Coro's battle instincts translated into his common sense.
But the teen was hopeful, the two trains were parallel to each other still, maybe on the next stop they could catch up an— both Trailmons did a hard turn in opposite directions.
"Huh!" Coro hummed aloud while Arshan had a slow look of horror across his face. "Well, I guess that means we'll race them to the north first!"
The rookie wondered why Arshan was starting to cry. Were they under attack again by Ragna Lordmon?! No time to think, attack anything that looks armored! Like that guy! "Take this: Petit Prominence!"
Arshan wailed louder when he saw Coro attacking a Strikedramon.
[Later.]
Instead of being kicked out, Arshan and Coro were confined to the luggage cabin. Coro was in one of those cat containers (Oddly fitting for Coro) immune to Rookie Digimon moves. Arshan was sitting next to him with his knees up.
"I can't believe we went on the wrong train." Arshan muttered while holding his knees together.
"Wait, we went on the wrong train? I thought Henry and Terriermon did?"
Arshan groaned.
Coro tried to make his partner feel better. "It'll be alright, Arshan! There's no possible way things can get any worse!"
Arshan suddenly realized that he had forgotten to talk with Coro about Murphy's law. Before he could start, he and Coro realized the train had come to an abrupt halt.
"Attention, mons!" A loud voice echoed past the Trailmon walls, but the way it did suggested the train was surrounded. "This is a hold-up! Now everybody get out of the Train!"
Arshan climbed some fallen luggage and looked out a window. Much to his dismay, there were more Digimon than he expected there to be, almost reaching the numbers of hundreds. Most of the Digimon were on top of motorcycle-like Digimon known as Machmon that his Digivice told him. And with how they were all together, they looked like a combination of bike gangsters and raiders.
But Arshan noticed a good number of these raiders held flags. The symbols on all of them looked familiar and reminded him of Koji and Ancient Wisemon's symbols. But it wasn't the same style and was distinctly different in a way the teen couldn't explain.
"Alright, Arshan, you take the 100 on the right, I'll take on the 100 on the left!"
"Coro, we can't win a fight like that." Arshan kept his gaze on the raiders, the Machmons were already Champion Level. And his Digivice already showed some Ultimates like Pistmon among their numbers.
"Not with that attitude."
It suddenly occurred to Arshan that he was hearing Coro right next to him when he thought he left the rookie inside his Digimon-Cat-Cage. He did see Coro next to him, but when he looked back at the cage, he saw the bars bent open to let a Coro-sized headache loose.
"Coro, let's not fight an army of Digimon. At least, only if the situation is good enough for us to win completely, alright? Besides, we can't fight with them corralling the other innocent Digimon." As Arshan spoke, the pair were already watching Digimon from the train rank and file outside. The brunette felt a little bad that innocent people were used as an excuse to stop Coro's want for danger, but the needs of his fear outweighed the needs of the masses! (It was a very good thing he kept this all in his mind.)
"Alright! Now, we finally get to the goods in the baggage cart!" A voice shouted loud enough to be heard even through the walls of the Trailmon.
"Must you be so loud?!" A female voice shouted just as loudly as the male voice before the two heard a resounding smack.
"Alright, Arshan, we can take them!" "No, we cannot!" "Come on!" "Coro, please! I don't want to fight!"
While the two were arguing, Arshan heard the sound of the two coming closer. The scared teen's heart rate skyrocketed. Without thinking he used his Digivice to recall Coro and slid under a bag table.
"Hey! Ars-" The teen muffled his Digivice, making it so Coro couldn't be heard more than a whisper. At the same time, the doors slid open, and the teen peeked at what he saw were two humanoid shoes. One belonging to a male, and another to a female. But even with his hand smothering his Digivice, the Hologram lit up over the hand, revealing two Digimon: Mummymon and Arukenimon.
Though, one was a mummy and the other some Greek spider myth…huh even by their lower half, they looked nothing like the digivice showed him.
"Whoa! A pretty big load! I bet the boss will be happy about this, huh, Arukenimon?" Arshan could tell the male voice, possibly Mummymon, was brown-nosing a bit. He could also tell by the way he pointed his voice that he was attempting to impress Arukenimon.
"I could use some new clothes. Some of those punks spilled drinks on my favorite ones."
"How dare they!" Mummymon screamed while Arshan imagined him raising a fist to the sky.
A beat passed before Arshan saw Arukenimon's feet face away. "Let's go report to the boss."
The brunette waited for the two to leave before he sighed—
"Spider Thread."
Faster than Arshan realized, the bags and shelves above him got cut in a way that exposed him to the two Digimon, who looked very human at the moment.
"I knew there was a stowaway somewhere here. And what do you know? A Human." Arukenimon smirked.
"A human? Man, the boss is gonna get a kick out of this! Now let's go!"
Arshan gasped. His heart rate skyrocketed when he knew he was found out. While he froze in fear, his subconscious acted and made his finger press his Digivice's button, allowing Coro to get back out.
"Not so fast, fashion freaks! If you want to get Arshan, you're gonna have to beat up both of us!" Coro went into a fighting position.
"Fashion freaks!?" Arukenimon fumed.
"That's it, you little punk!" Mummymon stepped forward and rolled one of his sleeves, revealing a bandaged arm. "If you mess with Arukenimon, you mess with me! And there's no way a rookie like you can stand up to an Ultimate! Even if you could Digivolve, you'd be too big—"
Mummymon didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. There were a few key conditions that Mummymon overlooked, and Coro capitalized on. And they are as follows:
Mummymon, understandably, looked down on Coro for being a Rookie, unaware said Rookie had the power of a Champion. But even the power of a Champion paled to an Ultimate.
However, despite his strength and defense, Mummymon was on the lightside in weight class. So he might not get hurt, but it didn't mean he could get thrown off balance.
And the last condition that is in no way least: Coro had almost supernatural battle instincts.
As Mummymon stepped forward, thinking his opponent would be easy to defeat, Coro jumped forward with his fist ignited—and blitzed the Ultimate as he was mid-step, preventing the blue-coated Digimon from having the proper footing to anchor himself and sent him flying…knocking and bringing along Arukenimon who was right behind him. The two crashed into the next cart's end door.
"Okay, that was more power a pipsqueak like him should have had!" Arukenimon grunted as she pushed Mummymon off her and stood back up. "But I'm ticked so, I'm putting you down the hard way!"
Everything was going downhill in a way Arshan did not appreciate. He wanted to speak, but all that came was an impressive combination of a whimper, groan, and defeated laughter. It only went worse when his survival instincts kicked in and he ducked for cover. Coro jumped high as barely visible string bulleted to where the rookie once was and wrapped around a very large bag. Coro used Petit Prominence again, controlling the flames to make a construct of twin blades reminiscent of Karatenmon. He cut the line below him, but caused the line to catch fire and make the spider woman break off the attack.
"Snake Bandage!" Similar to Arukenimon, Mummymon pointed his hands as bandages shot out to catch Coro. However, the rookie moved quickly, using his small size to jump on seats, use handles to turn mid air, and duck under the train seats to avoid Mummymon's attempt to ensnare him.
Coro darted to Mummymon's right. "Corona Knuckle!" And unleashed an attack right into the Ultimate's shin.
True, even for a powerful rookie such as Coro, the gap between a Champion and Ultimate was akin to the Grand Canyon, but Coro knew this instinctively. That's why when he landed the blow, Mummy yelped and held up his shin, jumping as he did so. Coro didn't let up as he backflip into a running position before kicking off and tackling the imbalanced Mummymon again into Arukenimon.
After getting up from a tangle of limbs again, the two were getting angrier. "You idiot! He's making you make the same mistakes!" Arukenimon yelled.
"That's it! No more mister nice guy!" Mummy shouted, his anger also spiking.
Suddenly, two powerful auras unleashed as the roof of the Trailmon cart above them exploded.
From the front, a specific Digimon looked past as everyone else also saw the explosion.
"Hey, watch it! I just got that cart!" The Trialmon yelled.
When the lights died down, Arshan peeked out to see the two Digimon looking more like their Digivice images. The teen's eyes widened when Mummymon pulled out a very real and very scary-looking gun at Coro. "Necrophobia!" The gun fired a blast of dark energy, much faster than before. Coro created a small wall of flames, but couldn't avoid the brunt of the blast. The attack exploded, making Coro get thrown out of the cart and crashing to the dirt ground.
"Coro!" Arshan yelled as he stepped forward, his digivice shining in worry for his partner—before he froze. The light snuffing out as quickly as it sparked. At that moment, Arshan started to hyperventilate. His breathing became worse as his mind started to think back to every moment when he screamed at his (childhood) home—
"I'm not there… I'm not there," It took a moment for Arshan to collect himself. Years of therapy did have some merits, allowing him to be a bit more mindful in stressful situations, though it wasn't a perfect fix. "List three things: I am Arshan Dillon. I am in an Alien World. I care about…Coro."
"Oh no, Coro!" Arshan shook his head and ran towards the rookie. However, both Arukenimon and Mummymon were able to snake and restrain the fire rookie after one empowered shot.
"Alright you little punk!" Arukenimon lifted the rookie high with the intent to slam him to the ground. "This is payback for those hits a while ago!"
Arshan's mind went beyond overdrive as he was too far to make it in time, even if he could, what would that actually accomplish? He…He couldn't access his emotions. He knew why, but he had to save Coro! If only he was at least a 3rd generation Digivice, like Marc, his Digivice would at least give him more options than…
…In that instant, looking at his Digivice, Arshan remembered one small fact about it and then prayed this would work.
"Hyaah!" Arukenimon whipped downward, slamming Coro hard on the ground with enough force…wait. Something was wrong. She did whip her strings hard to the ground. However, the ground was cut instead of making a rookie-shaped crater. Her strings were loose, and Coro… was gone?
"Corona Knuckle!" Arukenimon turned—only to get decked in the face by Coro as he somehow appeared behind her.
"What—how—Necrophobia!" Mummymon pointed Obelisk, his gun, at Coro while he was still mid-air and after the punch. He didn't know how the rookie escaped within a second, but even for this zippy rookie, there was no way he was avoiding this move at close range!
Mummymon fired the blast…that didn't…hit anything? Wait. He knew the brat was— "GAHH!?"
Coro had somehow closed the distance, before unleashing an uppercut while Mummymon was stupefied that his attack missed.
Arukenimon shook her head and looked to where Coro and Mummymon were fighting. But her eyes widened as she saw Coro TELEPORTING around Mummymon. Where and whenever Mummy could lock on to the odd rookie, and launch an attack that would hit him dead on, the Coronamon vanished in a blink of light before a second later, he'd appear in a better position and strike Mummymon! But that was impossible! How was a fire rookie TELEPORTING!?
Wait.
Arukenimon started to see that "light" had a direction. She turned her head to see…Arshan pointing his Digivice at Coro. She could see that whenever Mummy was about to get a clean hit, the boy was pointing his Digivice at Coro, pressing a button, and the rookie disappeared into it! The boy moved fast, pointing his Digivice in Mummymon's new blindspot and pressing again, making Coro appear above Mummymon's head and punching him down to the ground!
"Mummymon!" Arukenimon shouted. "It's the human brat! He's using his Digivice's storage as a make-shift teleporter!"
Arshan heard this and inwardly cursed. Yoshi told him that the 5th generation Digivices could store their Digimon in pocket spaces, not dissimilar to a popular franchise involving pocket monsters, but while they were playing with it, Arshan subconsciously noticed he can "point" on where he can "take" and "free" Coro. Lucky him, his Digivice had a good enough range and speed on such a simple function.
However, when Arukenimon shouted this, Coro moved fast. Since Mummymon was staggered from his punch, Coro landed and used his unexpected strength to grab Mummymon's legs and throw him at Arukenimon, effectively doing the same tactic a 3rd time. Arukenimon, beyond ticked this happened a 3rd time, pushed Mummymon of her and roared at Coro. "YOU LITTLE PU—" The curse stopped as the Ultimate realized Coro was holding both one of her webs and Mummymon's wrap that were still connected to them. The small rookie narrowed his eyes at the two Ultimates before he lit both wrap and web. The flames reached and ignited Mummymon's body and Arukenimon.
"Gah!" Arukenimon and Mummymon panicked as their bodies were on fire. It didn't really hurt, but they cared about their appearance and didn't want the flames to ruin their appearance/wrappers. However, while they were distracted, only Arshan saw Coro inhaling deeply as he took a running position as his body started to glow.
…
A second passed, Coro's eyes snapped open, and the little one bursted towards the two who dusted off the last of the fire.
"That little punk! I'll kill him!" Arukenimon and Mummymon turned—only to see Coro reclining his fist back as he glowed with power.
"Corona FLAME!" The lion cub roared before unleashing a punch that exploded with an attack that defined "fire" power. The area got engulfed with an explosion, sending two smoking husks crashing back into one the train carts.
Coro fell face first into the ground after landing the attack.
"Coro!" Arshan ran to his rookie. "Are you alright!? You know using that move tires you out!" He said as he started to pick him up.
"Wow…I knew you'd.. help out in… the fight," Coro managed to weakly say. "Those guys were pretty good too, we should go again. 2v2…!"
"Coro, I swear to whatever god will listen!" Arshan whined that his partner loved fighting against two powerful Ultimates.
"Alright, that's it! I'm killing them both!" Arshan's heart sank as out of the smoke, both Mummymon and Arukenimon walked out of the smoke, both looking angry but actually looking damaged.
Arshan panicked as he held Coro close to him. The two Ultimates looked hurt, but they were definitely angrier, not only that there was nothing but desert as far as the eye could see, he'd have nowhere to run, even if he did, they'd catch him with all those vehicles…wait. Who is…?
The sound of slow clapping and amused laughter stopped the incoming two Ultimates. From anger, both had a look of horror on their faces as they turned to the slow clapping.
"I gotta admit," The voice spoke with swagger. The heavy sounds of boots clinking on the ground echoed despite the large group of Digimon surrounding them. "That was a show. I've seen those brats have Champions fight Ultimates, but here you two break and make a new record: a Rookie beating up two Ultimates."
"What!? We were so going to win! Those brats just had a bunch of lucky shots!" Mummymon shouted before Arukenimon shushed him.
"And you didn't even Digivolve, or rather… you couldn't, didn't you?" The voice was carefree, but the way Arshan gulped as this biker-looking Digimon somehow spotted him not being able to access his DNA Charge.
Actually, there were two Digimon, the one next to the biker Digimon speaking was some kind of nun with a blue bear veil. Arshan wondered why his Digivice scanned her first when she looked to be some second fiddle, but he saw the name, Sistermon Ciel, describing the rather beautiful woman Digimon who seemed to have an eldest-sister aura.
But her appearance contrasted with the biker Digimon, and Arshan's eyes stopped reading when he saw that it was the Mega Level.
Beelzemon was already one heck of a name.
"Arshan and I can kick your leathery butt," Arshan wished his partner would learn to be quiet. Wasn't he supposed to be utterly exhausted!? How was his mouth still running!?
"Picking a fight huh? Well, you got spunk, I'll give you that." Beelzemon walked up to a frozen Arshan. "You know, I like you two. I'm making you a part of the Hagith Raiders!"
"W-What?" Arshan didn't know what to expect, but he was being…surprise adopted? Though, this feels more like a kidnapping.
"I thought you foreswore picking up more strays since, in your words, were nothing more but a loud waste of food and effort," Sistermon Ciel spoke up though her tone was flat.
"Shut it! I do what I want, remember!?" Beelzemon snapped at the nun, who still remained stoic, but gave a small smile to Arshan and Coro.
"Grrr, how dare she speak that way to the Boss!" Arukenimon bit her lip and growled at Sistermon Ciel.
"Wow, Mummymon! You got your butt kicked again?!" Arshan looked over to see two Digimon, similar to Sistermon Ciel, poke the Mummy Digimon after getting close. Arshan peeked and saw the two Digimon were also Sistermon, but called Blanc and Noir.
"I did not! Don't you see me standing in victory while that guy is out cold!?" Mummymon pointed to Coro. "Besides, he cheated!"
Coro heard this and shouted, as loud as he could muster even though it was barely above a whisper. "I didn't cheat! Come on, let's go again!" "Coro, you can barely move!" "You be my arms! You got this, Arshan, he ain't so tough!" "What was that!?" "CORO, WHY ARE WE NEVER ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH!?"
The back and forth between Arshan and Coro, with the "What" interjection from Mummymon, caused Sistermon Ciel to laugh while holding a hand near her mouth. "I can see why you took a liking to them, boss: they're very lively," She walked forward to the two. Arshan stepped away, but the look in Ciel's eyes showed that she meant no harm to him and his weakened partner. "Perhaps you two should come with us, we need to leave soon before the Paladins arrive."
"I can handle a bunch of punks posing as supposedly better knights," Arshan (and Coro to some extent if he wasn't so exhausted) were surprised to hear Beelzemon could take on Paladins, considering how dangerous they were made to be.
"One, yes. But you know they've been traveling in groups recently, and fighting multiple at once will be a problem, especially if they find out who you are," Ciel turned to Beelzemon, who only grunted and looked away. Which was basically a confirmation that she was right, but he didn't like it.
Sistermon Ciel turned back to Arshan. "So how about it? You're also not the first human and Digidestined pair we picked up."
Arshan raised his brow before the nun looked behind her. The brunette looked past Ciel and his eyes widened when he saw a girl. She looked a bit older, possibly around 18 years old, but she was somewhat on the short side, roughly 5'5, as even Arshan was taller than her. Her hair was straight, neat, and black. Her attire was as plain as she looked: a long black skirt below the knees, a plain white blouse, and sandals. The shine of light from her rounded-lens glasses distracted Arshan as he looked to her brown eyes.
She was holding on to a small coral-like Digimon, Sangomon, if his Digivice was correct.
Though, Arshan found some relief that she was just as surprised to see him as he was to her.
The moment passed as Arshan yelped when Beelzemon picked up the teen by his hoodie. "If you're gonna gawk, I'm taking that as a yes. The rest of you, pick up whatever goods weren't destroyed by these stooges and let's get moving!"
"Hey, don't treat Arshan like that," Coro managed to squint his eyes at Beelzemon. "Put 'em down or I'll make ya!"
"Okay, now you're starting to annoy me," Beelzemon said as he carried a worried Arshan, "Maybe I should just throw you back to those two."
"If you do, they'll be even louder than usual and complaining about their burned clothes." Sistermon Ciel chided.
"Dang it. I hate this," When the two got closer to the other human, Beelzemon dropped the teen in front of her. "Kyoko, take care of his whimpering! It was bad enough when you were doing it."
Coro managed to still keep speaking even after being dropped like a sack of potatoes. "I'll get you… for that… Biebermon…"
"Beelzemon!" The Mega corrected.
"Beel…Bieber…BZ…" Coro muttered as Arshan got up thanks to the girl named Kyoko.
"Everyone! Get ready! We're leaving!" Beelzemon walked away from the humans and Sistermon Ciel.
"Err," Arshan looked at Koyko. "I…uh…"
"Hey…" Kyoko, Arshan noted, was a bit more like him in awkwardness.
Luckily, or not, Sangomon spoke up. "WOW THAT WAS SO COOL! I saw how you were making your friend zip around the battlefield! Not only that, you fought two Ultimates as a ROOKIE!? You gotta teach Kyoko and I how to do that! Also, why does your Digivice look weird!?" Her eyes shined as her arms flailed around in excitement.
"Sangomon," Kyoko held her partner closer. "Err, sorry about her."
"It's fine, Coro here can be a handful too," Arshan sighed even though he made sure his partner was safe in his arms. "I'm Arshan Dillon, this Coro, the Coronamon."
"I'm Kyoko Yamato, and this is Sangomon. Y-You are human, right? I thought the Sistermons were but…"
"I'm human," The brunette sighed. "I'm a human brought here, so yeah."
The Digimon around them started to clamor, indicating that it really was time to go and they had taken what they needed.
"Right, you four come with me. We'll hitch a ride." Sistermon Ciel said before she led the new pair.
"Ummm," For some reason, Kyoko and Sangomon seemed nervous. "A-Are we still going with?"
"Sadly, yes. But it will be fine since my sisters and I will accompany you."
Arshan raised his brow. "What are you talking about?"
"I am unfortunately banned from riding a Machmon and driving other vehicles, as such, I usually ride in the back. Kyoko and Sangomon here also carpool with someone else who brings them along."
Sangomon spoke up again. "Are they really going to drive? Even after the beating these two gave them?"
That question was the final piece of the puzzle before everything clicked into place in the worst possible way. Arshan looked ahead to see a decent sized jeep. Mummymon and Arukenimon, back in their more human-like appearances, were glaring daggers at him. The two younger Sistermons waved over and called Kyoko to the third row, which meant that Arshan had to sit right behind the two Ultimates he and Coro ticked off.
"We can take 'em." "Coro, how do you cause so much trouble even when you're unconscious?" While Arshan could put the tyke into his Digivice, he kept the lion cub sleeping in his arms.
As Arshan got in the jeep, he noticed both Mummymon and Arukenimon giving him the stink eye.
"Listen punk, you only got lucky!" Mummymon pointed to Arshan.
Sistermon Ciel looked ahead. "Mummymon, eyes forward, everyone's moving."
"You can't tell us what to do!" Arukenimon shouted. "Just because you're a little stronger than us doesn't mean—"
"Hey, Mummymon!" Sistermon Blanc, the smallest one in white and pink clothes raised her hand. "We should get back to the base! You promised to help bake pizza!"
"That's today!? Crap, we need to get back fast or else the kitchen will be full again!" Mummymon looked ahead and slammed on the breaks, making many yell, for different reasons such as fear or fun.
Arshan had one thought aside from the speed in which they were driving: How would he ever get back northward?
[Later.]
Arshan didn't know what to expect for a hideout, but he was not expecting an upside down temple hanging under a cliff. It looked eastern in human design, but he was not expecting graffiti to be written over ancient paintings and makeshift stops and bars where meditation gardens once were. The Digimon here were rowdy and loud, some even fighting in a bar brawl, but beyond broken walls, messy leftovers, and graffiti, the area was well kept.
"What is this place?" Arshan asked aloud.
"Welcome to the Lair!" Sistermon Noir said as she and Blanc showily motioned to the home. "Come on, we'll show you around!" The two grabbed the parts of Arshan's arms that weren't holding Coronamon and began to run ahead. Kyoko and Sangomon ran to catch up with them.
Arshan, and eventually Coro when he woke up, got a tour of the area, pool tables where a fish pool once was, temples turned into make-shift karaoke stages where some poor Digimon was booed off the stage with his terrible singing… and also by fruits and chairs being thrown at him with concerning speeds.
While traveling around the places, and avoiding the clouds below, Arshan took a moment to look over to Kyoko. "So, they found you guys?"
"Yeah," Kyoko said, not used to attention on her. "I umm. The Boss, Beelzemon, looked at me but then gave me over to Sistermon Ciel, who took care of me and Sangomon. She's told me more about the Digital World. So, you're one of the humans who have been trapped here?"
"I'm recent, like you, but I have met many from the older and first generation of Digidestined. They're… larger-than-life with their personalities, but they're very kind. They befriended and protected me and others like us." Arshan smiled as he thought about all of them, but then he remembered how they all had to split up so soon after connecting with each other.
"W-Where are they?" Kyoko was curious, especially after seeing Arshan frown.
"Right, I should probably warn you. Ragna Lordmon came for us in the 7th Generation specifically. The only reason why I'm still here is because he technically needs us alive," As Arshan began to tell Kyoko and the Sistermons his side of the story, he remembered. "Right, I need to head north!"
When he said that, everyone around him froze.
"Is… something wrong?" Arshan asked.
"No one is allowed to go north," Sistermon Ciel always seemed to be a serene figure. However, she spoke now with a finality and edge that made Arshan swear he almost saw electricity around her.. "The only "safe" zone in the north is the X-Thundra, a frozen wasteland. Ignoring how only the insane go there, to even get to it, you have to cross the Digital World's last remaining mega ocean, which is heavily watched by the Water Titan."
"Water Titan?" Arshan gulped at the idea of fighting off against someone like Ancient Troiamon, but without any of Xros Heart or the other Restorers to help him. Even in the absolute best scenario of Arshan forcing a Dark Digivolution, he doubted Coro's Mega could rival an entire ocean before they both fell into the sinking depths. But then, what plan did Henry have to get them there? "W-What about the Trailmon?"
Ciel sighed. "Those go to Ragna Lordmon-affiliated areas, such as sea forts. Death by sea or death by Tyrant's forces. No one goes to the ocean."
"If only the waters weren't dangerous, then we could go surfing!" Sangomon shouted, making Arshan and Coro turn to the rookie.
"S-Sangomon!" Kyoko shouted, horrified.
"What? You LOVE surfing! All we gotta do is take down the Water Titan, and you can go back to it!" The water rookie spoke.
"It's too dangerous! Ancient Mermaidmon is basically a goddess of water! No one can stop her when she's surrounded by her element!" The raven-haired girl tried to say.
"Hey wait a second, you didn't know?" Coro spoke up, much to Arshan's sudden urge to shut his partner up. "We're Restorers! Ragna Lordmon mind-controlled the Titans, and we've got the power to erase that mind control! All we gotta do is cleanse the Water Titan and we can go north, and you can do surfing, whatever that is."
"Coro, did you forget we needed an army, and multiple experienced and powerful megas to beat Ancient Troiamon? And even then we all almost lost if we didn't have reinforcements!" Arshan yelled.
"Yeah, but all we gotta do is purge her core!" Coro smiled, either not aware or assuming everything else outside of that major fact was easy. Or worse: he believed they would be hard and they could be overcome.
"You think you can purify the Titan of Water?" Sistermon Blanc looked at Coro with wide eyes.
Coro smiled and pointed to Arshan, "You're looking at the guy who purified the Titan of Wood!"
"Coro, you know we were part of a team!"
"Wait, that was you!?" Sistermon Noir shouted after Arshan yelled back. "Is that why you were tough enough to beat Mummymon and Arukenimon!?"
"Why is everyone saying that!? He's lucky we were stopped before we put him six feet under!" Everyone turned to see Arukenimon shouting. She and Mummymon were walking behind Beelzemon, who loomed over the teen and Coro.
Coro narrowed his eyes, remembering the way this tall guy treated Arshan. "BZ!"
"BZ?" Sistermon Ciel smiled as the nickname left her lips. She smirked at the Mega, who clicked his tongue in response.
"It's Beelzemon, punk. Don't make me beat you through the ground," Arshan won't deny that. Even though he was humanoid, the guy oozed with aura that felt similar to Omnimon's.
"Arshan and I can take you on!" Coro put his hands up the moment he heard a fight was coming.
"Coro! Stop! Do not drag us into this!" Arshan yelled and picked up his partner.
"Oh is that so?" Beelzemon smirked. "Look kid, I may have brought you in here, but I can just as easily kick you out. If you wanna stay here, you're gonna have to earn your keep. Call it an initiation if you want."
"Why would we join—" Coro was about to say more until Arshan covered his mouth.
BZ—Arshan mentally corrected himself to Beelzemon as the Digimon answered anyway. "If you do join, I may be more than likely to help you get north. After all, Behemoth is the best Motorcycle in the Digital World," Arshan thought back to Beelzemon's ride that he briefly saw. It did look like a normal Bicycle, but the way it outmaneuvered even fast Digimon was outstanding.
"Umm," Arshan let go of Coro's mouth. "Why would you help me?"
BZ—Beelzemon only smirked. "You caught my interest. That's all. You could easily lose it tomorrow, for now, I'll let you have a taste of having it easy." With that, the Digimon went off. Mummymon and Arukenimon were about to follow, but Noir and Blanc grabbed Mummymon and begged him to go to the kitchen and make Pizza like he promised. Arukenimon needed her yesman and angrily chased after the two girls.
"Kyoko and Sangomon, please be a dear and show Arshan and Coro around more? I'll have some words with… BZ." Ciel left without hearing a response. She looked pensive, as if suspecting something.
[...]
Beelzemon had his own private area, and was allowed space. What was once a grand shrine, now painted black and shot repeatedly to take on a gruff and tough look. However, as BZ walked up to his messy desk with empty mugs and leftover food, his eyes fell on a sock puppet, separate from everything else, but almost carefully cared for.
Silence was the only reaction of Beelzemon looking at the puppet. Unlike with Arshan, who handled roughly enough, he was delicate in holding his puppet.
"Caught your interest? Or rather, saw an opportunity?" Beelzemon frowned when he heard Ciel's voice.
"I thought I told everyone this room was off-limits." The leader of the Hagith Raiders turned around.
Sistermon Ciel walked forward. "Why the sudden interest in helping the boy? Even if he does what they claim to do in the Digital Ocean, the X-Thundra is a harsh place that even Ragna Lordmon followers can't enter easily," Beelzemon said nothing, ignoring her as he walked up to a hammock. Ciel folded her arms and started to think. "... Is this some sort of gamble to save… them…?"
"Hey, nun," Beelzemon turned to Sistermon Ciel with three narrowed eyes. "I said shut up. You're making me regret saving you back then."
Sistermon Ciel twitched not from the glare but from the reminder. The flash of a great Digimon with a golden aura… brutally erased…
Beelzemon clicked his tongue, knowing that he hit a nerve. "Go check on the human brats. Their partners getting along gives me a headache for some reason."
Sistermon Ciel nodded and turned. However before she left, she stopped at the entrance.
"... Thank you, for taking in my sisters and I…after his death. …Please don't push yourself. It would be odd for a Demon Lord to wear themselves out by trying to save two other Digidestined."
With that, the blue-haired Digimon left, making Beelzemon stare at the shrine he shot up repeatedly.
He clicked his tongue. "I need some drinks."
[Arshan and Coro]
It did not take long for Kyoko to show off the rest of the area, places like the mess hall, the Machmon bays, and finally, one of the further upside down temples, where the dorms were. Though, it was one of the quieter places.
"The reason why it's quiet," Kyoko scratched her cheek. "Is mostly because everyone likes to just drink till they drop in the mess hall. Digimon don't always have hangovers. And they're very…active. So, it's mostly me, Sangomon, and the Sistermons who stay here."
Sangomon motioned to Arshan's partner. "Oh! Coro, let me show you the surfboards we made with Blanc and Noir!"
Kyoko looked alarmed. "Sangomon, wait!" However, she already ran off with an excited Coro right behind her.
"Surfing," Arshan recalled the rookie saying that several times, and he knew the Digimon weren't that familiar with earth customs despite there being influences all over. He suspected that she heard it from Kyoko. "So, you like to surf?"
"Do I?! Surfing is amazing, you get the thrill of balancing yourself on the ocean waves!, The cool rush of air, the high just as the waves start to rise. And even if you were to fall, it's a rush when you go into the water and swim up to breathe air! I even did it once at night, sure it was cold, but the winds and waves were even bigger! And it was a great chance to sit by the campfire at night and make smores with my uncle and…" Kyoko's smile lessened after she said her uncle. "I-I'm sorry, I'm talking too much, aren't I?"
"Why are you apologizing?" Arshan smiled at Kyoko. For a moment, Kyoko reminded him of Stefania. He'd have to make sure the two met when possible. "You don't need to apologize for something you're passionate about. In fact, you kinda convinced me that surfing sounds amazingly fun."
Kyoko was quiet for a second, not knowing how to respond to such a kind thing to say. "Thank you. S-So what about you?"
"... I like baseball… and I used to love music." Arshan admitted after a while.
"Used to?" Kyoko repeated.
Arshan looked out, seeing the sun starting to set in the horizon. He sighed. "My mom and dad met as orchestra musicians. So, music was their world, and they shared it with me. After dad died… mom… spiraled…and well… music hurt her… and she shared that hurt with me."
"Oh my god, I am so sorry."
"It's fine. It's fine. It happened a long time ago, and my therapist has been helping me be more open about it. To be honest?" Arshan used his Digivice's storage to bring out the violin. "I missed it. One of my fondest memories was playing with my mom and dad, a trio. So, even when I re-learned how to play on the violin, it always felt empty. …But I still do it sometimes, just for the memory. That wasn't as exciting as your talk about surfing, was it? Sorry for dragging the mood down."
"No, no! It's not that!" Kyoko shook her hands. "Well, to be honest? I might have an idea of how that feels now. The Digital World has beautiful beaches, but even the aquatic Digimon are avoiding the oceans as much as possible because of the Titan of Water. Some here are refugees Beelzemon took in."
Arshan perked up as Kyoko said that. "Refugees? Some of these raiders are refugees?" Even for the Digital World, Arshan didn't realize that these Digimon who acted thug-like are also people who lost their homes and livelihood to Ragna Lordmon's state of eternal war.
"He's oddly a huge softy despite acting so tough all the time, please don't tell anyone I said that," Kyoko begged before continuing. "But yeah. A lot of mons he picked up had nowhere else to go. They just grew over time. It's half why he has to do more raids and be quicker about it, to feed everyone and avoid the patrols of Paladins and other Ragna Lordmon-aligned." Kyoko frowned. "I think I even heard Ciel and him arguing about getting low on supplies despite stealing from other Digimon, and with increased security and movement from the paladins, everyone parties hard but…"
Arshan didn't need her to finish. These guys were running out of time as well. That… Arshan did feel BZ looked at them with interest, as if a plan was forming in his head. As rowdy and violent the Hagith Raiders were, they didn't seem like bad people.
"Hey, Arshan! Look at these things called surfboards! They float when you put them on water!" Coro's voice made the two humans look to see Sangomon and Coro coming down with boards.
"W-Wait! Why are you showing them!?" Kyoko ran off to the two about handling the things she worked on. However, Arshan looked back to the setting sun.
His talk with Kyoko reminded him how much others were suffering, not just him. As much as he didn't want to be a part of this fight with Ragna Lordmon, he hated the idea of people being in anguish like him. Even thieves and raiders were barely off?
That is why, an idea formed in his head, one that Coro would approve off immensely. But could a coward like him really pull it off?
Arshan happened to look back to the main temple. He saw a Champion breaking rations to give to Child-Level Digimon. The Centarmon accidentally broke it unevenly, but gave the bigger portion to the children while he slowly bit the smaller ration.
Coward or not, Arshan inhaled. He couldn't stay behind everyone else as they fought to heal the Digital World. He only hoped this wasn't a stupid idea.
… Who was he kidding?
[Later]
After eating, and with everyone going to "sleep" Arshan got Coro alone. He told the little one his plan, who, as Arshan predicted, was hopping up and down as he heard more details of his plan. Luckily, the little one had enough sense to not yell excitedly.
However, Coro noticed that he was the only one who was excited for this. "Arshan, what's wrong? It's a great plan."
The two started to walk. "I know it's just… I feel like I'm a liability to my own plan."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because, Coro, I stopped you from Digivolving back during the fight with Arukenimon and Mummymon," Arshan looked to his partner before sighing. "I felt it, the shine of the Digivice, my… soul… igniting but just as quickly, my mind instinctively smothered it. Everyone has been telling me that the key to Digivolution is my emotions. But the truth of it is: I am afraid of my own emotions. When I was young, I had to learn to stop feeling whenever I was around my mom. For years, I hid them for my safety, making sure I'd never laugh or even cry, because that would inflict more pain on me. Even afterward, I couldn't bring myself to laugh out of fear I'd hear her somehow, screaming at how much of a horrible person I was. How can I, who can't even access his own emotions, bring out your full potential and help save this world? Even after cheating to the Mega Level, I feel as if I really don't belong here. That the Digital World made a mistake in choosing me."
"I don't think that at all," Coro responded bluntly. "For me, you're utterly amazing, Arshan! I wanna be as strong as you."
"What?" The brunette looked at his partner in confusion.
"Don't you see how amazing you are?" Coro spoke in a softer tone as Arshan turned to him with surprise. "You brought back a Primary Village, you helped found GD, Queenbeemon, and the others, we fought and purified Ancient Troiamon, and you helped saved Tai while exposing a weakness in Ragna Lordmon. … Terriermon told me what his phrase, Momentai means: no problem, or to relax and take it easy. So, Momentai, Arshan."
"But what if I fail? What if I drag everyone down with me?" Arshan asked his friend.
"Huh, never thought of that," The brunette frowned when he looked at his rookie. Yet, Coro never lost his smile. "But also, what about the opposite? What if you succeed? What if you overcome your doubts and see how strong I know you can be and save the Digital World?"
Arshan… was stunned something so profound could come from his partner, despite all the other things he did before. True, failing the Digital World was a frightening and dark possibility. But, Arshan imagined it: a world where they do win, a world healed after years of fighting. Arshan despised when his old home, once a place of joy and light, turned dark and dangerous, but it was happening now to other people. And he refused to let others suffer like he did.
It was a risk, but… the result was more than worth fighting for.
"Coro," Arshan inhaled deeply before exhaling, his form straightening up. "Thank you. I really don't deserve a partner like you."
"Nonsense! You're an amazing one! And you'll be even better once you start fighting with me against Mega Digimon!"
The uplifting moment got interrupted with those last sentences as Arshan gave his partner a deadpan look. "Coro, I am not going to rush headlong into battle with my DNA Charge."
"Not with that attitude!"
And so, the two began their operation: Head North! True, Beelzemon said he would help, but Arshan didn't like the idea of an initiation test. That, and Coro really wanted to pick a fight with BZ for some reason. (The human teen mentally noted he also started calling the boss by Coro's nickname.) So, Arshan had the idea that instead of waiting and getting their approval…
…They'd just BORROW Behemoth and return it to them.
…When they could.
… If the opportunity arises.
Arshan assumed these guys were thieves, right? Surely they wouldn't mind one lost bike? So, when Arshan and Coro snuck into the place where most Machmon slept, they moved all the way to the back where the Sistermons and Kyoko pointed to where Behemoth would have been kept.
Arshan used his little pseudo teleporting trick with recalling Coro and pointing him in a gap between the gate doors for Coro to open a door from the inside. And when the two did, they spotted Behemoth.
"Alright, now how do we get it to work? Do you think BZ leaves the keys here?" Arshan looked around. Maybe he should have thought about this a bit more, but he recalled Beelzemon not needing to start his bike.
"Oh, right, Sistermon Noir told me about how to drive Behemoth. You gotta fight it for control!" Coro walked ahead as Arshan processed that sentence.
"Wait what? Coro wait!" Arshan was too late as the bike's lights came to life and shined down on the two without a rider.
"Who dares?!" The bike yelled, its lights turning red on the two.
"Behemoth, you're going to be ridden by us!" Coro showed no fear as he huffed and stared down the digital bike.
"You think you can overpower my will!?" The roar of the engine echoed in the chamber. "Only Beelzemon is my rider! With him, I will have my cravings for fierce battles!"
"Wait, what?" Now it was Coro's turn to tilt his head in confusion. "You want fierce battles? But you're just stealing from Trailmon!"
"Tch! Only the powerful can make rules! And he is—"
"That's actually perfect! You can come with us!" Coro interrupted. "We'll be fighting Ragna Lordmon's greatest!"
"You interrupt…wait," The lights on Behemoth lessened. "What did you just say?"
"We're gonna bring the fight to Ragna Lordmon after healing up the Digital World! And he's even trying to stop us with his Paladins! So it's gonna be a non-stop brawl for the fate of the Digital World! How about it? We could use you when we take them down. Actually, we're even trying to purify the Water Titan!"
"We uhhh," Arshan spoke, though by instinct more than actual thoughts as his brain was processing what Coro just blurted out. "We still need a plan for the Water Titan." As much as he hated to admit it, he did have to purify the Water Titan eventually. Which meant facing her was an inevitability he forgot. He did not like his chances of doing it right now.
The red lights shining down on the two stopped. For a second, the bike was silent.
Then the lights of the chamber opened, alongside a back exit. Behemoth turned towards the exit and revved his engines, as if motioning the two to get on.
While Coro ran excitedly ahead. Arshan only stared at disbelief.
"I…guess this isn't considered stealing anymore? N-Not that it was. W-We'll give him back… right?"
[Later that morning.]
"THOSE PUNKS STOLE WHAT!? HOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!?"
[In the Ocean.]
Arshan did his best not to look back when, even after traveling at Behemoth's speeds over the ocean waters, he heard BZ cry out for his bones.
"Wow," Coro, who was driving, casually turned back. "Those are some lungs with that aura."
"Of course," Behemoth continued his pace over the ocean surface. "Beelzemon is the Demon Lord of Gluttony, one of the former strongest groups of Digimon in the Digital World before the Tyrant came."
Arshan had a mental record scratch as all of his thoughts crashed to a halt. "I'm sorry, what is BZ?"
"A Demon Lord, although he lost in the 5th generation's final fight, it does not diminish how he is among the strongest the Digital World has to offer. Even Paladins stand no chance against him. You two stood even less of a chance, yet were so bold to take me and one of his guns away from him? I see now why you caught his interest."
Arshan started to panic as he realized he just angered THE LAST STRONGEST of the old Digital World. Unfortunately for him, he also picked up what Behemoth just said. "Wait, gun? What gun!?"
"Oh this one!" Coro said as he somehow lifted a gun that was longer than him. "This was one of BZ's!"
"HOW DID YOU GET THIS!?" Arshan started to panic. "WHERE did you even keep this!?"
"It's that jerk's fault for leaving it around drinking himself to a stupor while we were in the mess hall. I was gonna keep it and make him fight us for it back, but I liked your plan a lot better!" Coro casually admitted to stealing. Arshan thought Coronamon were supposed to be noble! Why was his this unhinged!? "Oh! And I just put it in your Digivice afterward."
"YOU PUT IT IN MY HAMMERSPACE!?" Poor Arshan's blood pressure was rising again.
One of the most Powerful Digimon in existence… and they stole his bike and gun, and made him look like a fool…and now, even miles away and moving at their speeds, he heard BZ cry out for their blood.
Arshan knew his plan had flaws, but by god, this was turning out much worse than he could have imagined. And he was already expecting the worst! This is what he gets by being inspired to stop injustice and suffering! Ugh, why couldn't he not care!?
"Alright, Behemoth, have you detected any large sources of power yet?" Coro asked while driving.
"Indeed, there is one up ahead. Hopefully, it is the Titan of Water! I will make the goddess of water eat burnt rubber!"
Arshan's eyes widened when he realized both driver and vehicle were actively looking for the Water Titan. "Uhh, we aren't ready to fight her yet?"
"Not with that attitude." Arshan did not appreciate how both Coro and Behemoth said that at the same time. He was starting to panic, and felt alarmed at how quickly Behemoth took Coro's mannerisms.
"There is a signal up ahead. However, it's not strong enough to be the Titan." Behemoth's voice made the two look.
As they got closer, Behemoth slowed down, and Arshan noticed a Digimon struggling to stay afloat. "Coro, I thought you told me that you could breathe underwater in the Digital World?"
"Not all of them," Behemoth answered for him. "But, the Mega Ocean is different. Even Aquatic Digimon can suffocate and be killed by the waters here if they aren't paying attention."
"We need to help him!" Arshan heard the cries coming from the Digimon. Coro agreed as he Drove Behemoth towards the drowning Digimon. It didn't take long for Coro to yank on a flailing limb and pull up… a cage?
Arshan looked at his Digivice: Mimicmon. Champion level. Reading more information, Mimicmon's ability to possibly capture even those of a higher level into it made Arshan realize he was more dangerous than he looked.
"Oh, thank the Digi-heavens!" Despite how he looked, Mimicmon sounded very pleasant. "I have been rescued! You all have my deepest thanks. I am Mimicmon and I will not forget this debt I owe to you! Perhaps, I may interest you in some of my fine cuisines?"
"You're a chef?" Coro asked, thinking back to Mummymon.
"Indeed, at times, I dabble in marinated torsos, but have recently learned to season limbs for their boney nutrients."
Arshan stared hard at the Digimon in front of him. "Wait… are you… a cannibal?"
"Sirs!" Mimicmon sounded aghast. "I assure you: I am chef! It's not my fault Digimon are incapable of understanding culinary art with harsh words like, "Let me out!", "Oh Digi-Gods, it hurts!", or "This is cannibalism, you jerk!" I swear, the nerve of some mons!"
"Oh my god. We saved a cannibal." Arshan's journey north was shaping up to be one he was not going to forget anytime soon.
"So why were you drowning?" Coro asked as Mimicmon seemed to stabilize himself and float just above Behemoth's handles.
"Ah yes! I was on a lovely cruise before an unnatural wave struck. Alas! I was knocked overboard, and feared for my life. Who knows how long I had been struggling afloat. Thankfully, you arrived! Please, return me there so I may better accommodate you."
"Sure! Where is this cruise?" Arshan spoke fast. The moment they put this guy where he belonged, the sooner they were booking it out.
"I do detect multiple signals of Digimon North East from here. This is likely the cruise ship that Mimicon spoke of," Behemoth said.
"Alright, let's go!" Arshan was in a rush, making sure that they got rid of Mimicmon soon. With Behemoth's speed, it wasn't long before they saw and caught up with a cruise ship, the S.S. Totally Normal Ship.
Arshan read the name and squinted his eyes. He swore if this was some secret elite cannibal society, he was busting out the Dark Digivolution no questions asked.
Mimicmon floated upward and it didn't take long for a platform lowered for the three to enter.
"Welcome! Welcome!" Next to Mimicmon, a Diatrymon greeted Coro, Arshan, and Behemoth. "I must thank you for saving brother Mimicmon from when that ghastly storm hit us last night. We feared the worst for him! Let us give free cheers for Mimicmon's saviors!"
"Hear hear!" "Whoo!" "Blessed be you by the Black Sun!" "You have our thanks!"
Arshan blinked as he heard something odd about what one of them just cheered. However, before he could ask, the horn of the Cruise Ship rang in an odd rhythmic tone.
"Ah! And you were brought back just in time! Come, we must prepare for the Ascension!"
"The what?" Arshan asked before some Digimon walked up and handed large black robes to him, Coro, and even Behemoth. The human was very confused, especially when Mimicmon ushered him and the others to wear and follow them.
Sensing he was about to go into a secret cannibal society, Arshan got his Digivice ready and preemptively recalled the feelings of Tai and the others when they accessed Mega.
However, while wearing a full body cloak, and going deeper into the bowels of the cruise ship, Arshan… started to hear chanting? Everything clicked into place. Arshan heard all of the Digimon except Behemoth and Coro starting to chant in synchronization as they all made they way deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Good news: they weren't in a secret society of cannibals.
Bad news?
Arshan exhaled. "I can't believe we joined a cult."
"What's a cult?" Coro looked up to his partner, before Arshan just whispered back.
"Just… get ready to fight our way out if it comes to it."
"Yes!" Behemoth revved up slightly. "A fight! Finally!"
"Not now!" Arshan couldn't believe he was telling a battle-hungry bike to not fight a cult. What was his life now?
To his surprise, the walking came to a close as the three arrived in what looked like a circus ring. The chanting surrounded them as they lined up until a red spotlight shined down in the center, revealing a symbol that Arshan recognized: it was Ancient Wisemon's symbol, but pure black instead of green. Not only that it was inside a black sun?
In a fit of mist, a flower bloomed, before growing to the size of a full humanoid. Arshan took a peek at his Digivice, revealing Oleamon, and Ultimate Digimon. The teen did not appreciate how that plant seemed to be the leader of this Cult.
"Brother and Sisters," Oleamon spoke in a dry and feminine voice. "I welcome all, to the point where our promised salvation will come!"
"By the Black Sun!" Everyone around Coro and Arshan cried out.
"It came to me, by the God of Metal!" Oleamon moved one of her tendrils out towards the spotlight. "He envisioned the key! The key to defeating the Tyrant once and for all! And ushering a new age of darkness!"
"By the Black Sun!"
Arshan stilled when he heard of that. Hearing people call Ancient Mermaidmon and Ancient Troiamon the gods of the elements in the Digital World, it didn't take much for the teen to deduce the god of metal was Ancient Wisemon. But wait, she accessed an Ancient Wisemon vision? How? And wait a second. Weren't only the early 7th Generation the only "clear" visions? What would exactly happen if a random Digimon happened on an Ancient Wisemon vision?
Arshan was getting his answer when Oleamon shrieked. "For too long we have suffered! For too long, we bleed eternal and die eternal! But by the words of the God of Steel, today a savior will be born! But we must make a sacrifice to them! The purest symbol of two worlds: The Digidestined!"
"By the Black Sun! By the Black Sun!"
Arshan's eyes widened as beyond the mist, two tables rolled out with two being strapped and trapped into them. One of them was a Black Gatomon; his Digivice called it an Uver variant? Odd that this Digimon was styled like a delivery person, but had another familiar symbol he thought he recognized. But Arshan's eyes widened when he saw her: another human.
She looked beautiful, even though her skin was pale to the point of looking ill. She had a ponytail for her white hair, blue eyes that looked panicked as she glanced around the circus ring for any sign of escape and possibly hope. She styled herself in a heavy dark purple hoodie with black pants and gray sneakers. She did look much older than even Tai and the others, maybe around Yoshi's age as she looked to be around her 20's. But Arshan knew he had to make sure she'd at least see tomorrow.
"By The God of Steel's decree: we will sacrifice these two to bring about our savior!" The chanting only grew louder as Oleamon walked towards the struggling and gagged two and grew large pointed thorns from her 'limbs'.
Arshan had to act fast. He couldn't let those two get hurt, but how!?
"HEY YOU JERK! Don't hurt them! And there's no way Ancient Wisemon would ask you to kill somebody!"
The chanting stopped. Everyone watched as a small, robed figure had made his way to the center of the ring and made all eyes fall on him.
Arshan had this odd feeling overcome him. "Huh. That guy sounds a lot like Coro. But that's impossible since he's supposed to be right next to me." The teen looked down.
"... Behemoth?"
"Yes?"
"... By any chance can you turn Coro invisible?" Arshan asked as there was empty air where his partner was supposed to be.
"No."
"Please say yes instead."
"No."
"You DARE!?" Oleamon screamed after Arshan and Behemoth had their little banter. "To think, one of my own would desecrate this sacred ritual for our future saviors of the Digital World!"
"You don't need to kill guys to summon the heroes of the Digital World, because it'll be me, and my buddy, Arshan!" Coro pointed directly over to Arshan. At the same time, a spotlight shined down on him and made everyone but Behemoth and another cloaked figure step away from the human.
"Say," The voice made Arshan realize the second cloaked figure was Mimicmon. "If you um. Do have to be killed, mind if you give me your arm? I've always noticed the closer I am to someone, the tastier they are," Even with the cloak up, Arshan glared at Mimicmon's direction. "Right. Timing. I'll just do it later, buddy."
Arshan needed better friends. Or he really wished Henry was here.
"I will not stand for this!" The mist around Oleamon became thicker around the ring. "Heretics must be purged!"
"A fight? A fight!" Behemoth's engine revved up as he blasted off from where he was from. The speed he moved made him slam into Oleamon and tackle her into the darkness. Arshan took this moment to bolt for where Coro was.
"Coro, help me free those two!" The teen shouted just as Coro was about to follow Behemoth. It didn't take long for Coro to burn away the restraints while Arshan helped remove the gags.
"Bleck! Bleck! Curse them all! I'll get them for that!" The Black Gatomon sounded vengeful, but she quickly got off the table to glare at where Oleamon went.
Meanwhile, the young woman looked surprised to see Arshan.
"Uh hey! I'm Arshan Dillon. We're here to rescue you, apparently? Yes. We are. We need to get out of here!"
"I'm," The pale adolescent took a second to find her voice again. "I'm Cassiopeia Gardyne. But please call me Cas. W-What's going on? Wh-Why was that a bike that just tackled a crazed flower?"
"Look, I am not a hundred percent sure myself," Arshan helped her off the table. "But what I do know is that we're in danger and we need to…"
"Arshan, duck!"
The teen listened to his partner as he and Cas ducked under the table the second before Behemoth was thrown over them, rolling on the ground before the bike somehow made itself land rightside up with a screech.
"Yes! Yes! I craved this!" The bike's lights shined.
Multiple thorned vines shot out of the darkness, which Coro burned and allowed everyone else to fall back towards Behemoth.
Out of the shadows, Oleamon crawled out. However, instead of the vaguely humanoid form she took, she was a writhing mess of flowers and throned vines with sharpened fangs in each tooth. "You! You also are a human and Digimon pair! Perhaps, by killing all four of you, our savior will rise from your blood!"
"You're not getting Arshan!" "You think you can sacrifice me and get away with it!? No chance!" Coro stepped forward the same time that Uver did as well.
"Coro!" "Uver!" Arshan and Cas cried out to the two. A light shined from Cas' hand, making Arshan notice her Digivice was a watch?
However, a light shined on Uver and within an instant, the boat shook by a sudden increase of weight. Under the spotlight, a Digimon that looked like a sphinx with angelic features. Arshan looked at his Digivice, seeing the name of the Digimon in front of them was called Nefertimon. But… why was this one 4 times the size of the one shown!?
Oleamon's teeth all shrieked as thorns flew in towards the literal biggest threat. However, red lasers shot out of Uver's gems, burning the incoming vines and causing Oleamon to shriek.
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?" Uver spoke in a tone that was seductive, alluring, and violent. However, to many but Cas, everyone was confused.
"What are you doing? A question? Fine I will answer," Oleamon's vines reformed, showing that she had some form of regeneration. "You will be sacrificed to summon our savior!" More vines shot towards the giant-sized sphinx, but as before, more red beams fired from her crystals and burned away the vines. Moreso this time as some of the fanged flowers burned away as withered husks.
Arshan was surprised as he remembered that technically, Nefertimon was a Champion digimon. Yet, she was easily handling an Ultimate Level Digimon!
"Wrong answer. Answer my game of wits, and mayhap I let you live." Uver's face was stone cold as she spoke with the authority of a judge, jury… and executioner.
However, even with pieces of her body being burnt, Oleamon only laughed. "Oh please. Let's not lie to ourselves. Your eyes betray your stoic form: you want me dead even if I were to answer all your riddles correctly!" It was then that Arshan Uver was embodying the myth of sphinxes: imparting riddles on those that stand before it. Only, he and everyone else were seeing the result of what happened if they answered wrong.
Her answer only made more lasers shoot out and burn the remains of Oleamon till her main face flower remained.
"She's doing it again…" Cas whispered but Arshan heard her. What did she mean by that?
"I suppose you're smarter than the others, but nothing more. Now, suffer for your attempt at me and my partner's life." Uver focused all her lasers down on the last of Oleamon, turning her nothing more into a black stain on the steel.
Silence filled the area…
"WOW!" Coro, jovial as always, was clapping. "You were so cool!"
Uver turned to the fire rookie. "Hmph. I see someone finally can see with their eyes. That weed was nothing to me. You're welcome."
"Um," Cas pointed a hand up. "D-Didn't these guys save us?"
"We didn't need to be saved in the first place! Those others got lucky to get the jump on us. In fact, besides the three here," Uver turned her stony glare at all the other cloaked individuals, "I have half a mind to send them to their "sAvIoR" if they're that adamant for it."
"Uh hey," Arshan noticed that this Digimon was far more deadly than the other partners he had seen so far. "W-We don't have to."
Uver snapped her head to Arshan, obviously about to reprimand him for even saying such a thing. However, the voice that everyone heard was Coro's, "Get back!"
The second the fire rookie screamed this, a figure crashed into the center of the ring, making an even bigger quake than when Uver first Digivolved.
"I'm impressed. Even among Digidestined, a Champion defeating an Ultimate one on one is no small feat." The figure rose and kept rising, showing that the one beneath this robe was tall and imposing. Maybe not as big as Uver was, but nonetheless intimidating. A hand, a human hand, grabbed the cloak before throwing it away, revealing a man who could make even muscle builders green with envy. His hair was a gray-ish white and his face was stoic and focused.
"I am Ivan Darga, a Paladin of Ragna Lordmon," Even the cultists started to scream and panic as they realized one of Ragna Lordmon's men infiltrated their cult! The one who looked stronger than bodybuilders then pointed to Arshan and Cas. "You two will surrender yourselves to the King of the Digital World."
"KING!?" Uver's voice sharpened when hearing that. "I bow to no one!" She yelled as she unleashed the same attack that defeated Oleamon. However, Arshan and Coro quickly saw Ivan recline his fist back and…
KABOOM!
Arshan and Cas could only gape in awe as the ferocity of Uver's lasers… was shattered by a single punch from Ivan. An attack that turned an Ultimate to ash, and the only thing of note was the light smoke coming off Ivan's fist.
"How'd he do that!?" Coro shouted in disbelief. "I didn't even see a DNA Charge Aura!"
"I am of the 5th Generation, but not naturally chosen," Ivan showed off his Digivice, which Arshan noticed it looked distinctly different from the 5th generation Digivices so far. "I am a Bio-Hybrid: Both human and Digimon, one of 3. And I repeat what I said: surrender. Your chances of victory are low, even if it was only me here."
Arshan and Cas gulped. "D-Did he say if it was only me?" The white-haired adolescent looked to Arshan with some hope she heard it wrong. However, Arshan also paled as he felt someone walking behind him.
It was two cloaked figures, removing their cloaks to reveal a Gabumon… and a very handsome man with blonde hair and fierce blue eyes.
"You, I heard what that Coronamon called you," The blonde man looked at Arshan. "He called you Arshan, as in, Arshan Dillon?"
Ivan perked up at the name. "So this one is the 7th Generation Digidestined Ragna Lordmon specifically wanted, Matt?"
As the one called Matt nodded, Coro gasped as he seemed shocked towards the blonde Paladin. "Wait!? You're Matt Ishida!? Master Zero told me about you! You're Tai's best friend!"
Arshan's stomach sank when he heard what Coro just said. Not only were there two Paladins surrounding them, but this blonde guy was a first generation Digidestined!? Possibly as strong as Tai!?
"... I… thank you for saving that idiot. I heard what you did," Matt closed his eyes before he opened them again, blue eyes looking resolute. "But I have to obey Ragna Lordmon. Don't make us hurt you."
"Oh yes!" Arshan wished Behemoth didn't sound so excited right now! He had to think of something to escape! Right now… there was only one option… but they were inside a cruise ship!? Should he risk a fight and put these Digimon in danger?! Sure, they were a cult but!
[?]
The Paladins were not the only one who infiltrated this random cult of the black sun. One cloaked figure, holding a device, spoke into it with a voice full of promise, mischief, and almost seduction. "So, fun fact, it seems like I've finally found the new generation. Unfortunately, Ragna Lordmon's pawns found them first."
On the other end of the device, overlooking a jeweled city floating in the dark sea, making even the legendary city of Atlantis look like a dusty ruin, someone walked towards the window overseeing this final gem of the sea. He was a handsome young man, around 18 years of age, but it didn't stop the fact he lived like a king. His hair was dark purple and spiked while his red eyes took in everything that belonged to him. Despite the riches of the room, he wore a black jeans, a black shirt, and a metallic jacket over it.
He smirked before he spoke back to the woman back on the cruise ship. "Watch them for now. But knowing you, you can do whatever you want."
"Oh my.~ You sound like you're in a good mood."
The young man smirked, remembering something between him… and the female on the other end. "If the Paladins sink a ship of cult members, I'll lose no sleep. As for those two? Any one of them a hot girl?"
"Dog.~" The flirty voice dropped the call. Making the young man relax into one of his comfy couches.
"Takeya?" The one called Takeya Kazuma looked back to see a Digimon known as Dracomon. "Who was that?"
"Oh, nothing, Dracomon," Takeya turned to his partner as he fiddled with a Black D-Arc with a purple accent. "Just enjoying the good life."
[Author Notes]
AND I DID IT! I GOT EVERY OC submitted to appear in the story!
Cassiopeia "Cas" Gardyne and Uver by my very good pal, TheBlueTigrex, as he's known here in Fanfiction!
Kyoko Yamamoto and Sangomon by ArcaneQuil09!
And last but in no-way least is Takeya Kazuma and Dracomon by electriuser!
And with that, I've finally introduced all SYOC submitted characters! (Now I gotta work on developing all of them! … GAAAAAAAAA-)
But I am glad to get back to my sons, Arshan and Coro! It was a blast in writing their development and misadventures.
And congrats Arshan! You may not have Digivolved yet, but you have learned JJK's Boogie Woogie! I can't wait to develop that in your future fights!
Arshan: I won't lose my arm like a certain character, right?
Author: …
Arshan: … R-Right?
Author: … I wasn't until you asked.
Arshan: … Please tell me you're joking.
Author: I'm joking.
Arshan: Please mean it!
Author: No.
(Sike! You won't lose an arm, Arshan! Or will you?)
Anyway, I had a lot of fun with these characters, and there's more to come soon! This chapter had a lot of stuff I also had fun playing with, so there's more to look forward to!
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!