Digital Waltz

Discussion in 'Community Fictions' started by Gandire Alea, Mar 20, 2020.

?

What do you think?

  1. I'd read more.

  2. Okay, but something is lacking

  3. it has potential, needs more

  4. No, not for me

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  1. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    So, my biggest concern is whether this fic is interesting. I'll be straight, this is a digimon fanfic. It's literally something that's been in my head since I was around 16. It has evolved and changed since then, but the core idea is the same. I've finally gotten to actually writing it and really want to know if it's entertaining/captivating >.>

    I'm pretty sure it needs more editing, so please forgive me on that. Also, that name will change once I can think of something better.

    Chapter 1
    Chapter 2
    Chapter 3
    Chapter 4
    Chapter 5
    Chapter 6
    Chapter 7
    Chapter 8
    Chapter 9
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
  2. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Chapter 1
    Avery stirs to a soft breeze brushing against his face. It’s then he notices a lump weighing down on his chest. It doesn’t hurt or make breathing difficult, but it is impossible to ignore. Also, now that it has his attention, he realizes its radiating warmth.

    As another breeze strokes his face, he gives up falling back asleep and open his eyes. Greeting him are large blue eyes and an orange face. The creature’s mouth spreads open with what resembles a wide smile, revealing a full row of sharp white teeth. “Good mor—”

    Avery slaps the creature off him before it can finish. He sits up with the motion, flips around, and dashes off in the opposite direction. A bush line lies ahead of him, but he doesn’t hesitate. He thrusts his arms forward, ignores how the various branches dig into his skin, and forces a path open for himself.

    From behind, he hears a high voice. “Wait, wait, stop! I’m sorry! I was just really happy to finally meet you!”

    Avery grits his teeth as he glances over his shoulder. He recalls from when he slapped it that the creature has short stubby legs. Being caught up to so fast should have been impossible. But to his horror and surprise, the bat-wing like ears on creature’s head somehow gives it the ability to fly. By using them to leap over the underbrush, it is more than able to keep up. Avery ignores its cries and forces himself to tear through the shrubbery even harder. Regardless of what is happening, his best hope is still to lose it within the lush forest he somehow appeared in.

    He then grabs an oncoming tree and uses it to to make a sharp right. The oncoming bush is barreled through without a second through.

    “No, wait! Not that way!”

    Avery finds relief in its cry and forces his legs to move faster. He bolts out of the bushes for a clearing, a broken ledge. With a scoff, he grabs whatever he can. His body twists as he takes hold of the very bush he’s bursting from. His feet slip from under him and he slides over the ground. His grip on thin branches he’s holding tightens, but with a dry pop, they snap.

    He claws at the now, somehow barren, dusty, ground he skids across in an attempt to stop, but his momentum carries him to the edge. As his legs go over, the creature from before zips down and grabs one of his arms. It flaps its ear-wings and pulls back as hard as he can.

    Only as Avery’s lower body drops over does he stop. He and the creature both work together. While he uses his hands to grab what he can, it tugs and flaps its ears. Slowly, he climbs out of the ledge and flops on the barren ground right next to it.

    Avery, between breaths, turns his head and peers towards the ledge. A few golden lines trace the dark grey, almost blue, mountain side. They guide his eyes to the bottom of the ravine where, instead of the anticipated rocky bottom, there is a mass of something he can only describe as pink and green static fuzz.

    The creature lands beside him and says, “That’s the corrosion.”

    “Corrosion?”

    The creature’s ear-wings rise up and flop down in a display of helplessness. “Falling in is instant deletion with no hope of reformatting. I was really scared I’d lose you after having finally met you.”

    Avery is at a loss by the creature’s explanation. He can understand it when he breaks down the words but the meaning vanishes upon putting them together. Deletion isn’t a term he’d use to describe death. However, what stands out most to him is something else. “You were waiting to meet me?”

    The creature nods with a hum. “It’s so good that I can finally get know you… So, you’re not going to run away anymore?”

    Avery glances to the side for a moment. He then says, “I thought you were going to eat me.”

    “Why would I eat you!? You’re my partner!”

    Avery looks back at the creature. It has bat like ear-wings and a small orange and beige body. He draws a blank to what it’s supposed to be. “We’re partners?

    It hops up and flaps its ear-wings to fly around. With a voice that’s bubbling over, he says, “That’s right!” He then lands on Avery’s chest and adds, “We’re partners!”

    Avery stares into the creature’s bright, blue eyes and says, “What the heck are you?”

    “I’m Patamon, a digimon.”

    “A… digimon?”

    “It means digital monster.”

    Avery looks from Patamon’s brilliant smile to the corrosion. He recalls Patamon used terms such as deletion and reformatting. “This… isn’t Earth?”

    Patamon tilts his head, saying, “Earth? You mean your village?”

    “It’s a planet.”

    “A planet? Really? The stories I’ve heard all say Earth is the home of humans.” Patamon snuggles into Avery’s chest and sighs out. “I’ve been traveling all over in search of it so I could find you. No wonder nothing ever came up.”

    Avery watches as Patamon gets comfortable on him. The few details Patamon has casually been mentioning make him uncomfortable. After a few moments of silence, he says, “So, where are we?”

    “On Askr.”

    “Askr?”

    “You don’t know?”

    “I don’t know anything about this place. Be as detailed as possible.”

    “Okay, Askr is the largest and northern most of the four continents. Before the corrosion, it used to be the smallest of four.”

    “What do you mean by four continents?”

    “What do you mean, what do I mean? The Digital World only has four continents.”

    Avery, growing increasingly worried by Patamon’s causal and incomplete revelations, glances back at the fuzzy swirl of green and pink. In an attempt to distract himself from the notion that he has no clue to where he is or how to get home, he says, “That stuff swallowed a continent? The heck is it?”

    “No one really knows for sure. It’s dangerous to touch, but really, it’s more of a nuisance. Once it appears, it just stays there. Sometimes it grows and other times it shrinks. As long as it doesn’t appear where you are, you’ll be fine.”

    Avery grabs Patamon with his hands and sits up. It’s then he notices a strange watch like device on his left wrist. He sets Patamon down and begins pressing the buttons on the device’s side. “Digivice 02? Why 02? It tells time… There’s a map? A useless map... A storage system? The heck does that work? An analyzer?”

    Avery points the device at Patamon and presses the middle button. The digivice’s screen immediately projects a picture of Patamon along with information about him:

    Patamon: Child/ Mammal/ Vaccine

    He then tries scanning the corrosion.

    Corrupted data, cannot scan

    “Well, that’s useful…”

    Patamon then hops onto Avery’s head and says, “So, what do we do now?”

    “It’s just assumed you’ll be coming with me?”

    “Of course, we’re partners.”

    “Do you even know my name?”

    “You aren’t going to tell me?”

    Avery chuckles. “You really have a lot of faith in me.”

    “Of course, we’re partners.”

    “It’s Avery, my name’s Avery.”

    Excitement laces Patamon’s voice as he says, “I like it.”

    Avery laughs while saying, “At least one of us does.” Despite him distracting himself by talking with Patamon, he is terrified at his growing acceptance that he isn’t on Earth. Still, a faint hope currently burns inside of him that he somehow got lost in the park and ended up in the woods. He then sets off while saying, “Which way to the nearest city?”

    “Doesn’t your digivice have a map?”

    “Other than this part of the forest, it’s blank…”

    “That map is horrible. Anyway, there’s a town on the other side of the mountain. Not far, about a day’s travel.”

    Avery starts walking. Annoyance laces his breath as he says, “Right, we’ll be there in no time.”

    Patamon say, “Turn left at that shimmering tree.”

    Avery pauses as he reaches the tree. While from the outside, it can be called a tree due to having branches and leaves, the trunk is completely wrong. Instead of being made of wood, it’s a glass tube with wire wrapped around a spool of metal inside of it.

    Avery hesitantly touches it while saying, “This is a tree?”

    “They uncommon, so they make for good land marks. If you look hard enough, you can find one just about everywhere.”



    After 30 minutes of walking, a light tremor makes Avery pause. Not feeling any more, he decides to continue. Then, after another two steps, he feels a second. “An earthquake?”

    A third, stronger, rumble follows his question.

    Patamon says, “Feels more like digimon.” The tremble that follows leads to him adding, “See? There’s no way something like this is natural.”

    “Why are there pauses between them...?”

    “Maybe whoever it is is stopping to check its directions? The rumbles feels like they’re getting stronger though.”

    Avery fells a knot well up in his stomach at Patamon’s follow up. Soon after, he can hear the echo of hooves as something forces itself through the foliage. Each thunderous step is accompanied by a loud crash. He peers towards where the sound is coming from and sees a glint of light.

    Avery clamps Patamon down on his head with a hand and dives to the side. Just as he lands on a bush, a flaming boar thrashes down where he stood. The ground shakes as the beast springs forward straight at him.

    Avery scrambles onto his feet and leaps again to the side. The fiery boar tramples past where he was standing straight through a massive tree, hurling deep into the forest as it continues unfazed.

    That, to him, is enough to confirm the creature’s intentions. In turn, he runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction it charged in. At the same time, he says, “The heck was that?”

    Patamon grips Avery’s head to keep from being flung off. With a voice shaking due to Avery’s rapid movements, he says, “A boarmon!”

    “Yeah, and!?”

    “It’s a digimon that only knows how to charge forward! Once it decides something, it won’t stop!”

    Avery feels a chill upon hearing a snort and once more dives to the side. Burning wind washes over him as Boarmon bursts by his side. Crying out from the searing blast of wind, he holds his forearms before himself and uses them to break his fall. With an, “Umpff!” he lands flat on some rocks.

    He ignores the jagged pain ringing across his bones and throws himself through a bush. As he continues to run, he says, “Why’s it attacking us!?”

    “I don’t know! Maybe this one is territorial?” Not long later, Patamon spins around on Avery’s head. With the cry, “It’s coming back,” he leaps off.

    Avery spins around to try and stop him. As he reaches out, he sees Patamon’s body swell as he takes a deep breath. Pataman, with the cry, “Air shot!” deflates as he blasts out what appears to be concentrated air.

    Avery grabs Patamon’s leg and pulls him. He grips the digimon in his arms and dives to the side. The attack deflects off the side of Boarmon’s face, but succeeds in making the beast swivel to the side.

    Avery gets up, saying, “You crazy?”

    Before he can start running again, Patamon points with an ear-wing and says, “Look!”

    Avery didn’t notice with everything going on, but Boarmon is laying on its side, buried underneath some trees.

    Patamon leaps from Avery’s arms. He flaps his ear-wings to remain in the air and says, “Now’s our chance. We’ve got to fight!”

    Avery notes the obvious size difference. His first impulse is to grab Patamon and run, but he stops just as he reaches out towards the digimon. There is nowhere they can escape towards.

    He has only been able to avoid being crushed mostly due to luck. Out running Boarmon is impossible. The determination Patamon displays give him courage. The David verses Goliath battle about to unfold inspires him to brave the situation head on.

    Avery’s hand, which had been reaching for Patamon, straightens. He holds out his Digivice 02, points it at Boarmon, and analyzes the attacking digimon. He then reads the information aloud. “Adult, mammal, data.”

    He still wants to run, but says, “Ready when you are.”

    Patamon grins at the determination lacing Avery’s voice. Confidence radiates from the digimon. “To fight together like this with you… I’ve been waited a long time. I’ll fight, you tell me what’s happening.”

    Boarmon heaves itself back onto its feet and rises, shaking off the trees in the process. It stomps the ground to intimidate Patamon, but he responds by brandishing his rows of sharp teeth. A heat haze envelops Boarmon and the beast kicks forward.

    Avery and Patamon sync up and leap to the side. Patamon then releases a burst off air at Boarmon’s side. The burst disrupts the haze and lands flat against the attacking digimon’s body.

    Avery says, “Direct hit!”

    Patamon brims with energy as it says, “Yeah!” He then leaps into the air and releases another, “Air shot!” at Boarmon, but the digimon soon vanishes into the trees.

    Boarmon doesn’t leave. They can hear the beast crashing though trees and bushes as it arcs around. Patamon releases an “air shot” at some bushes, just before Boarmon burst forth. The beast digs its heavy hooves into the ground and holds its head low in order to barrel its way through a followup burst of air. Patamon darts to the side, but its wing-ears are slow and clumsy on the turn. Boarmon rams it with the side of its plated head.

    Patamon flicks over Boarmon’s head. Avery sees the small digimon arcing through the air and then realizes he’s scurrying through some shrubs away from Boarmon. Patamon is gripped within his arms.

    Avery doesn’t get far when he hears a squealing roar. The ear-piercing sound sends shivers down his back. He stops running and spins around. Patamon syncs with the movement and leaps from his arms. “Air shot!”

    The bubble of air zips forward and slams against the side of Boarmon’s face. The charging digimon once more swivels as it loses balance from the impact. Avery and Patamon keep track of which way it teeters and dash towards the opposite direction.

    Avery flinches at the echoing boom of trees behind him. He turns around to discover trees have once again collapsed on top of Boarmon. Words escape from under his breath, “That’s not going to be enough…”

    A fiery ball leaps, shattering the debris as it leaps into the sky and sending the remains of the pilled trees scattering all around. Avery and Patamon both break for the side. They barely manage ten paces when a deafening, scorching, impact blows them onto the ground from behind.

    Avery grabs Patamon as they tumble through bushes. A sudden tree then brings them to a violent stop. As he climbs to his knees, Patamon tense within his arms. Avery picks up on the Patamon’s reaction and with a grunt, throws himself to the side.

    Boarmon once more streaks through where he was. Avery winces at the passing heat wave from digimon’s charge. With grit teeth, he forces himself onto his feet. Blood is dripping from his arms, sides, back, everywhere. Just standing makes his legs shake.

    Patamon then voices his building frustration. “Yeah, this isn’t working. We’re need—gyah!” The digimon cries out as Avery takes off running again. He notes Avery’s tense yet unwilling to yeild expression, and instead of commenting, climbs up onto his shoulder. His eyes and ears focus to pick up even the faintest of movements and slightest of sounds. “Dive left!”

    Avery leaps without a moment of doubt. He barrels head first into a bush. Its prickling branches and leaves are nothing compared to the burning gust thundering past behind him.

    The process continues a few more times. Avery is positive he would have been skewered by Boarmon’s horns if not for Patamon’s perfect instructions. He is slowly getting roasted by a wave of heat each time, but it’s preferable to being turned into charcoal.

    “To the right!”

    Avery dives while saying, “Attack it!”

    Patamon leaps off of Avery’s shoulder. “Air shot!”

    Boarmon grunts and clamps its front hooves into the ground. It then kicks forward even stronger than before and plows through the attack. It dashes past where Avery stood and vanishes within the shrubbery. A loud, frightful, squeal echoes moments later.

    Avery releases a sigh at the sound. He doesn’t bother to get off the ground. He instead breathes in, closes his eyes, and chuckles. The laughter soon dies down due to the pain from his chest, but a grin from his euphoria remains plastered upon his face.

    Patamon lands beside Avery’s head. Its large eyes brim with curiosity as it asks what just happened.

    Avery continues to look at the treetops as he says, “Remember how we first met?”

    “Yeah, you ran off.”

    “And what happened after that?”

    “You ran and almost…”. Patamon’s voice cracks as he goes, “Ohhh.”

    Avery takes a breath before finally glancing at Patamon. “That was weird though. It was like I could feel what you were thinking.”

    “That’s cause we’re partners. I’m really happy you fought with me back there. I was honestly afraid you’d get scared and run away again.”

    Avery shrugs and says, “Don’t look down on me.” He wants to sit up, but decides against it after a second of effort. “Do you know if there are more of them?”

    Patamon grins and shakes his head. “Nope, everything’s good. They’d already be here if there were. We’re all clear to get off this mountain.”

    About twenty minutes pass before Avery feels like he can finally try to get back up. As he climbs back onto his feet, Patamon climbs up onto his back and comes to a stop on his should. “Let’s go!”



    Avery treks for an hour with Patamon resting on his head when a high-pitched voice cries, “Human!”

    The heavy tone prickles Avery’s back. Without pause, he ducks down, causing Patamon to yelp at the sudden act. At the same time, a small, purple, dinosaur like creature soars over their heads and crashes into a tree. With a heave thud, its claws impale the trunk.

    Avery leaps back as he stands up. He then scans the digimon with his digivice while it struggles to free itself. “Monodramon, child, small dragon, vaccine.”

    Patamon lunges at Monodramon to take advantage of the enemy being stuck. “Air shot!”

    Monodramon is slammed forward against the tree, but his claws remain logged. Patamon notes that the digimon can no longer do anything and relaxes. Not sure on what to do, he turns to Avery.

    Avery is equally baffled over what to do next. With Patamon’s expectant eyes on him, he eventually decides that he should at least try and figure out why he was attacked. However, before he can say anything, Monodramon cries out. “Human! Hurry up and get this over with! I refuse to be your play thing! Just delete me already!”

    Avery and Patamon exchange glances. Both shrug, revealing neither of them have a clue to what the miniature dragon is talking about.

    Monodramon continues, “Quit stalling and finish me already! Hurry up or I swear I’ll gut you!”

    Avery waits for the digimon to run out of breath. He then says, “What are you talking about?”

    “Shut up! Shut up! I refuse to talk with you!”

    “Why?”

    “Shut up!” With that shout, Monodramon breaks free and again lunges for Avery. Patamon springs towards Avery to push him aside, but something else swoops down in front of Avery first and repels the purple dragon with a flash of a sword.

    Monodramon clutches at a deep gash crossing his face as he sits up. “My eye!” He howls for a moment before settling down and glaring at the intruder, a lion man, with his remaining eye. “Traitor! Why are you defending a human!?”

    “Leomon, get rid of this pest already.” A voice laced with annoyance speaks out.

    Avery looks and sees a boy stepping out from some bushes. He seems to be about the same age as him. Most striking, however, is the pair of goggles on his ginger hair.

    Monodramon’s cries draws everyone’s attention back to him. Despite being the smaller digimon, he doesn’t cower before Leomon’s raised fist. “I’m not afraid of you! You sell out! You’re nothing more—”

    Leomon roars as he punches out his fist. “Beast King Fist!” A golden, lion head shaped, ethereal, stream of energy burst forth and blows Monodramon away.

    The boy steps forward saying, “Good job, Leomon.” He then turns towards Avery and adds, “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you digivolve?”

    Avery glances towards Patamon as the digimon alights onto his shoulder. “Digivolve?”

    Patamon looks back at him and says, “It’s a process where digimon get stronger by changing into a higher form.”

    At those words, Leomon’s body emits a blinding, white, light. The light soon fades to reveal a small lion cub.

    Patamon adds, “Like that, but in the reverse. It isn’t something a Digimon can just do, though.”

    Avery scans the small cub as he says, “Ha, Wilson, you called it, that guy was weak!” He ignores it and reads, “Liollmon, child, holy beast, vaccine.”

    The boy with the goggles, Wilson, laughs. “Told you. That twerp was just flinging itself around. It had no idea what it was even getting in to.”

    A girl’s voice then rings out. “Wilson, how was it?” Appearing from around some bushes is a girl with golden blond hair and a simple white dress. Around her neck is a creature resembling a white ferret. She then notes Avery and his ragged clothes. Concern laces her voice as she reaches out to him while saying, “You look terrible. What happened to you?”

    Avery shrugs. He then says, “More importantly, who are you two? Actually, where the heck are—”

    The ground explodes underneath their feet. Everything goes white and all sound ceases within a deafening roar.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
  3. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Chapter 2

    “Ughhh…” Avery grunts as he comes to. Trying to move his hands to rub his face fills his arms with searing pain. Even just breathing causes him to ache. He settles for simply lying where he is and staring at the dim sky.

    “The heck am…” He trails off upon seeing light green and pink blobs in the sky. He stares at them for a while before saying, “Right… not Earth…”

    He then recalls the ground exploding underneath his feet and being flung skyward. “How’d I even survive that…?”

    With grit teeth, he forces himself into sitting up. As far as he can tell, he’s still in a forest. The girl from before lays on the ground not too far from him. She’s also awake and is staring back at him, even if just barely

    “So, you two are finally awake.”

    Avery turns at Patamon’s voice and finds the digimon on a tree branch. With him is the white ferret like creature that was around the girl’s neck.

    With grit teeth, he forces himself over to the girl. He tried standing at first, but in the end had to resort to a limping crawl. Once next to her, he falls onto his side with a grunt. “What… what happened?”

    She continues to lay on the ground. She turns her head to the side to look at Avery and says, “We were attacked. As to by what or whom, I’m uncertain.” Despite what happened, her voice is clear, almost like a bell.

    “So, are you human?”

    The girl chuckles before wincing. “Yes, I’m just as human as you are.”

    Silence falls upon them, partially from exhaustion and partially because the explosion has still left them rattled over how to proceed. As such, they both end up staring at each other, but more so because looking away is too exhausting and painful than to remain how they are. After a few moments, “I’m Avery.”

    The girl tries to sit up, but gives up after a few attempts. In the end, she drags her hand across the dirt and gestures at herself as she says, “Silvia, my name is Silvia Yew.” She then stares into Avery’s dark eyes with her clear ones and asks, “How did you come to be in the Digital World?”

    Avery sighs and looks up at the navy blue sky. With everything that has happened, with all that he already walked, and with everything that seems to be unfolding, the faint flame of hope that he is on Earth dies. “Honestly, no idea. I was walking through a park to get to work and then I was here. You?”

    A weak smile crosses Sylvia’s face as she says, “I was in a park with my family….”

    Avery once more force himself to sit up. As he tries to stand, a leg gives partway and he flops back down onto his side. Silvia musters her strength to get onto all fours and reaches towards him, but her body, too, reaches its limit and she collapses as well. Neither of them have moved from where they started.

    As the two stare at one another, Avery says, “We can’t stay here.”

    “Agreed, we are completely exposed.”

    That’s when Patamon says, “There’s nothing to worry about. We’ve been keeping watch since yesterday and haven’t seen a single digimon.”

    Avery says, “Yesterday?”

    Patamon says, “It’s been more than 24 hours.”

    Sylvia purses her lips and says, “That’s worrisome in of itself. More so when taking that mysterious explosion into account. Kudamon?”

    The white ferret like creature, Kudamon, says, “I believe we should look into that later as well. For now, we should use this reprieve to our advantage. This is a safe place, rest.”

    Avery, without even bothering to try and move, says, “Do you two know something?”

    Sylvia hums as she gives a light shake her head. “Only conjunctures…. As to who or what, I honestly have not the slightest idea.”

    After a pause, Avery says, “So, how long have you been… in the Digital World?” He makes a face at having to vocalize that he’s not on Earth.

    “I arrived just yesterday. From how everyone else said it, we all seem to have arrived in this world around the same time without a clue to why or how we happen to be here. I met Kudamon, we wandered around, were chased by a meramon, and were rescued by Wilson. After that, we encountered Lee Ann and,” her face darkens and her tone lower as she continues, “then Ben before finally meeting you.”[1]

    Avery notes her sudden flash of anger and decides to stay out of it. “There are others?”

    “Yes, and from how the digimon we’ve met act, we don’t seem to be the first either.”

    After another moment of silence passes, Avery says, “What did you mean by ‘look into it,’ earlier?”

    “Simply that. I do not believe the events unfolding here should be ignored.”

    “…So you’re going to do something about it?”

    Sylvia brims with resolution as she says, “Of course.”

    Avery wants to question her about the reasoning behind her decision but decides against it. In the end, he just stares at the sky.

    After what feels to be 20 minutes, he hears soft breathing coming from beside him. He glances over and discovers Sylvia is fast asleep. Despite the strength she spoke with, she clearly had reached her limit. At the same time, tiredness washes over himself as well. Seeing Sylvia drift off like that soothed the tension keeping him awake and he soon falls asleep as well. The last thing that passes through his mind is how Patamon mentioned he is keeping watch.



    Avery awakens to bright light and grunting. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he rolls his still body over. Midway through that roll, indescribable pain spreads from his abdomen all throughout his limbs. He doesn’t cry out, but he gasps and his breathing shakes as he comes to a stop. As he slowly gets the bearings of his body, he notices something white flickering in his peripheral.

    Sylvia grunts as she forces herself up. With grit teeth and eyes squeezed shut, she succeeds in getting onto her feet. Then, as Kudamon scurries towards her side, she gives Avery a mirthless smile, “Sorry, I can’t stay here any longer. Our time was short but stay safe.”

    Avery watches her limp away and disappear around some bushes. After a few minutes, he clicks his tongue and tries to sit up despite all the pain moving brings him. He rolls onto his side, grits his teeth, and pushes up with his arms only to fall flat on his face.

    Patamon lands by his head and watches him try again. “You want to go after her?”

    Avery stops struggling and catches his breath as he says, “It’s stupid, but I can’t honestly just ignore this.”

    Patamon doesn’t comment, but his grin says everything. As Avery struggles to get back onto his feet, the digimon grabs the shoulder area of his shirt and flaps his hardest in order to help him up.

    Avery almost falls over again from the excruciating pain of Patamon’s touch, but he catches himself. Stumbling, he stands, and by spreading his feet, he manages to keep from falling. After a few breaths to steady himself, he says, “And she walked off like this? Dang…”

    Patamon walks at Avery’s feet. The digimon gives Avery an enthusiastic grin and says, “Let’s hurry, they can’t have gotten far.”

    “Yeah,” Avery steps forward and stumbles. Patamon leaps up and grabs his collar from behind before he can fall. Avery sighs out as he regains his balance. Grateful he can at least walk, he says, “Alright, small steps…”

    They reach the bush Syliva and Kudamon disappeared around and stop. As Avery tries to determine which way she went, Patamon points left with his ear. “They went that way.” Avery trusts his partner’s judgement and sets off in the pointed direction.

    Avery’s gait more or less recovers as they walk. Each step sends a jolt of pain up his legs and he has to walk at a slower speed than normal, but the size of his steps aren’t far off from their usual size. Furthermore, the pain seems to lessen the more he walks.

    For the most part, their walk is in silence. The only constant sound comes from the rustling of leaves whenever Avery brushes against bush. Occasionally, Patamon will say to change directions, either because Sylvia turned there or to avoid running into a potentially hostile digimon.

    After walking for half an hour, Avery speaks. Irritation laces his tone as he says, “How have we not caught up to them…?”

    “Maybe she wasn’t hurt as badly as you?”

    Avery recalls that she walked away limping. He then recalls her expression when she left. She looked ready to face the world, consequences be damned. While wondering it really is as Patamon said, he says, “Either way, we need to pick up the pace.”

    “I can, but can you?”

    “…Let’s just do what we can.”



    Bright rays of light cut through the forest’s trees as the sun continues to rise. Avery, having more or less returned to a normal gait, makes his way through and around bushes. After an hour of walking, he golden hair caught in the wind flickers among vibrant green leaves a short distance to the side.

    “Finally…”

    Sylvia’s shoulders jolt at his comment. She spins around, but her anxiety quickly melts into relief. She meets Avery partway and, with a hopeful, almost grateful, smile, says “You came to help?”

    Avery notices a cave through the foliage behind her and says, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

    Sylvia’s expression hardens as she once more faces the cave. “This is but a mere feeling, but we need to enter that cave and uncover whatever they covet first. We must not allow them to succeed in whatever it is they are doing and entering is the first step.”

    “Who exactly is who?”

    Sylvia purses her lips. “Regrettably, we still know nothing. But they are inside and that is enough.”

    “How do you know they’re inside this cave?”

    Kudamon says, “Their scents are still fresh.”

    Sylvia says, “At this moment, Kudamon and I are trying to determine the number of guards stationed.”

    “None,” Patamon says. Sylvia turns to look at the digimon and he flaps his ear-wings in response. “I’d hear them if there were.”

    Sylvia and Kudamon nod to each other as they both say, “Let’s go.”

    Avery is amazed by their lack of hesitation but keeps it to himself as he and Patamon follow the two inside. The entrance is a rising slope at first, but makes a steep drop around the first bend. The four proceed by sticking to a wall as best they can while using stalagmites as cover whenever possible.

    The orange flames of torches soon come into view. Sylvia begins to slow down, but Patamon says, “It’s fine. The way forward is still clear.”

    As Patamon declared, not a single digimon can be found near the torch. Avery peers further down and notes that the path branches into two. “Where is everyone?”

    Kudamon says, “The silence bothers you?”

    “A bit, yeah.”

    Patamon steps forward a few steps. Light can be seen down both paths. He closes his eyes and strains his ear-wings. After a bit, he says, “Both ways are clear. To honest, I can’t hear a single peep.”

    Avery says, “So, what? Do we split up?”

    Sylvia steps forward saying, “No, we stay together.”

    Patamon says, “Then, which way?”

    Sylvia stares down the left path. She then purses her lips and says, “Kudamon?”

    Kudamon steps into it and sniffs. “Unfortunately, their scents proceed down this way.”

    She thus heads down the right path. Impatience laces her words as she says, “We’ll need to hurry.”

    Avery glances down the left path as he walks after Sylvia. As far as he can tell, both look exactly the same.

    The cave is a myriad of twists, drops, turns, and even ascents. Almost the entirety of the way is illuminated by small crystals. The light they emit is faint, giving off enough only to illumiate in a few centimeters around themselves. A closer look reveals they’re actually containers. A pair of thin wires is encased within each of them.

    At times, Avery goes to place a hand against the wall for support only to end up stumbling into an unseen shaft. Progress is slow and difficult, but the darkness enveloping them provides a twisted sense of security. They are able to remain hidden while Patamon and Kudamon inform them of everything happening around them.

    Patamon sighs in relief as he lowers his ear-wings. His outline can faintly be seen looking back at Avery and Sylvia as he says, “Still nothing.”

    Avery tries peering down both paths and says, “Could we have gone the wrong way?”

    Sylvia says, “Unlikely, though the ways through may be different, they all intersect. That we haven’t picked up on anyone’s trail must mean they’ve gone down another route.”

    Avery pauses at her confidence. He tries to make out her expression within the darkness, but soon gives up and just says, “How… do you know that?”

    Sylvia goes to answer, but her words stop. She looks to Kudamon, but her partner, too, shakes his head. After a few moments of awkward silence, she says, “I… I don’t… know?”

    Avery stares her down. “So, you’ve just been leading us blind the entire time.”

    She matches Avery’s gaze and says, “I have not. I may neither know why nor how, but the this much is clear to me.”

    Avery, despite the darkness of the cave, can still feel the same confidence radiating from her invisible expression and posture as earlier. His first thought is to wonder if she has a clue to what she’s doing. He then shrugs and says, “Well, either way, not like I actually know where to go. Lead on.”

    Sylvia frowns for a moment, but she turns around to continue instead of retorting. “We shouldn’t be too far off now.”

    After another hour, noise begins to echo down from further ahead. Thanks to a warning from Patamon, they aren’t surprised by it. Listening closely reveals they’re the echos of screeches and roars. Avery glances towards Sylvia, not sure whether he should believe her merely lucky or take her claims seriously. Regardless, he gets her attention by placing a hand upon her shoulder and speaks in a low voice, “Okay, now what?”

    “Too soon. First we need to determine the intentions of those before us.”

    Patamon says, “How about leaving that to us?”

    Kudamon says, “Agreed, we are much smaller and therefore harder to detect than either of you. We’ll scout ahead and return shortly.”

    Sylvia nods and says, “Be careful.” Once the two digimon are out of earshot, she turns to Avery. She hesitates for a moment, but then says, “I didn’t say this earlier, but… thank you for coming. When I mentioned wanting to come here before, the others… they all tried convincing me against doing this.”

    Avery recalls the decisiveness with which she parted from him earlier. While wondering if that was to prevent him from saying anything, he says, “I don’t think that would have been possible.”

    Sylvia shakes her head. “That it would have not. Hence, for your courageous assistance in this reckless endeavor, I am truly grateful.”

    “…So you do recognize that you’re being reckless.”

    “Reckless, but necessary.”

    He then recalls how they turn right down that first tunnel. “So, now that we’ve run into them, does that mean we’re almost there?”

    “It’s more likely that we’ve stumbled onto the path they took. Truthfully, it’s worrisome. While they do not know the fastest way, they seem to know of a way.”

    “…What about us?”

    Sylvia averts her eyes. “Have we not potentially encountered the digimon we pursue? If anything, we are efficiently making our way.”

    “Yeah, we seem to have efficiently caught up to them.”

    “It cannot be helped. It’s vexing, but this area here is the quickest path to the next section. I honestly hoped the digimon we are pursuing would have already moved off of it.”

    Their back and forth is interrupted by the return of Patamon and Kudamon. They scurry towards the two and Patamon says, “There’s a devimon with a bunch of evilmon fighting a Death Meramon up there. They look like they’re at a stalemate though.”

    Sylvia says, “Death Meramon?”

    Kudamon adds, “More importantly, save for it, the scents of the rest match with those of which we chase. That said, Death Meramon currently has the advantage, but Devimon seemed to be getting stronger with each passing moment. I dare say the scales are slowly tipping in Devimon’s favor.”

    Sylvia cups her chin. After a moment of thought, she says, “Are they battling on the route, or have they already moved off of it.”

    Avery says, “What exactly are you planning? I don’t know anything about what you just said, but if they’re anything like every other digimon I’ve seen, they’ll kill us the second we jump in.”

    Kudamon says, “Agreed, but thankfully, that might not be a problem. As Sylvie surmised, the battle indeed unfolds off of this path.”

    Sylvia says, “How fortunate. Not not have to back track and go down another path saves us a lot of time. Death Meramon can hopefully provide sufficient distraction for us to slip past and gain a fair lead on them.”

    As they resume walking, Avery says, “So, that death meramon thing you mentioned.”

    Patamon says, “Death Meramon is a digimon.”

    “Right, that. Was… it not supposed to be here?”

    Sylvia says, “One isn’t within my knowledge, no. It must have randomly decided to make this cave its home.”

    Avery gives a flat, “Lucky us…” before then growing silent.



    Another few hours of walking pass. The few light crystals lighting the way become even more scarce, making the pacing slower and much more difficult. Sylvia gives a short, yet sharp, cry as she steps into a pit. Stumbling, she instinctively reaches out to grab whatever she can and end up grabbing the side of Avery’s collar.

    Avery, caught off guard, manages a, “Hey, what are you…!?”, before getting pulled down atop of her.

    As the two untangle and get back up, Sylvia claps her hands together before her mouth and speaks in a fluster. “I am so sorry.”

    Avery, recognizing it as an accident, suppresses his complaints and shrugs. Annoyance still laces his voice as he says, “More importantly, how much further?”

    “That’s just it.” Sylvia looks at a pitch black part of the wall just a bit behind them and adds, “We almost passed it.”

    Patamon and Kudamon lead the way and vanish within the darkness. Avery, using that as confirmation that a passage way does exist, follows after with Syliva. The light crystals vanish after a few paces leaving them in total darkness.

    Sylvia says, “Don’t stop. We just need to keep pressing— oof.”

    Avery’s head jerks in her direction. He steps towards her only for his foot to slip. With a, “Woah,” he too falls. Then, recognizing the trouble of their situation, makes his way to a wall on all fours. Once he finds it, he calls out to Sylvia, “Over here.”

    He stands as she shuffles over. The moment she feels the wall, she says, “Good idea.” The two use the wall as support and continue even further into the darkness.

    Dim bluish green light comes into view on their left as they reach a corner. The distance is still far, and they need to release the wall they use a support, but both Avery and Sylvia step forward without hesitation.

    The ground smoothens as they walk. With the worry about slipping gone, their pace increases. After about five minutes, Avery can once more see the hand he holds before himself as he walks. The passage continues to brighten, reaching a point where he can more or less make out the cracks on the wall, albeit with a greenish tinge.

    A vast chamber spreads at the end tunnel. Large crystals glowing blue and green provide dim lighting from the ceiling. A pure black monolith rests in the center. On it is a silver hexagon like plaque with a dragon’s silhouette in its center. Sylvia gazes at it in a daze and mutters, “The Dragon Digi-Memory…”

    “The what?”

    Sylvia flinches at Avery’s question. “My apologies, I was distracted. Could you repeat that?”

    Avery stares at her for a moment, unsure of what to make of the entire situation. Deciding nothing will change by staying quiet, he says, “You said, ‘Dragon Digi-Memory’…” He then trails off upon seeing confusion flash across her face. With a sigh, he adds, “Something else you just somehow know?”

    Sylvia lowers her head. “Once more, my apologies. However, while I do not know how or why, I do know this is our goal.”

    Kudamon then calls out to them. His voice echoes down from near the top of the monolith. “Then perhaps we should investigate more closely.”

    “Agreed.” Sylvia aims her digivice at the plaque and shoots out a beam. The plaque glows as the beam hits it before vanishing.

    Kudamon scurries down the monolith to his partner’s side and looks up with great expectation.

    Sylvia lowers her arm and says, “The Dragon Digi-Memory… It seems to be a failsafe of sorts for Yggdrasil.”

    Avery says, “What’s Yggdrasil?”

    Patamon says, “A giant tree that governs over the Digital World.”

    “Remind me to ask you about that later…”

    Sylvia continues, falling into deep thought as she sorts through the knowledge coming to her. “This digi-memory… according to it, digital world once faced a crises, one from beyond. To resolve it, humans were called. They vanquished the invaders and returned home, but not without leaving behind relics of their power.” She then takes a breath and says, “We should go. They’ll find us if we stay too long.”

    Avery turns for the tunnel. He emphasis her first word as he repeats, “This digi-memory?”

    “According to the information inside, there are more. From what I can infer, each most likely records more of the Digital World’s history and potentially more. Unfortunately, much to my regret, their locations are not specified.”

    “You knew where this one was. Don’t you know where the others are?”

    “I can only pray that is the case. While I knew this was here, I did not know what it was until after seeing it.”



    A rumbling shakes the cave a few hours later. Avery, Sylvia, Patamon, and Kudamon pause to glance back. Sylvia says, “Our heist appears to have been uncovered.”

    Patamon says, “Has it, really? For all Devimon knows, the digi-memory could have been taken ages ago.”

    The cave trembles again. This time, a rage filled roar echoes from all around. Kudamon says, “Whether Devimon knows we are here or not is irrelevant. We must make haste, now.”

    The four resume their trek for the exit, but despite Kudamon’s heeding and their efforts, they move at a slow pace. Neither Avery nor Sylvia can push their battered and exhausted bodies any harder than they already are. Furthermore, that they journey upward works against them.

    Avery says, “Well, we’ve got a lead on them. Even if we keep like this, we should be able-” Another, more powerful, tremor brings him and Sylvia to their knees. Loose stones and dust rain down on them as the sharp sound of rocks shattering echo all throughout.

    Avery clears his throat and says, “We’ve been at it for a few hours. The exit shouldn’t be too far off now.”

    Patamon laughs and continues after Avery.

    Most of trek back is made in silence. The cave continues to shake every now and then, sometimes stronger than before, other times weaker. At first, they try to pressing through by shielding their eyes the best they can against the small rocks and dust that pelt them from above.

    Then, during one of the more violent shakes, Avery hears a cracking sound directly overhead. He looks up and pales. “Sylvee!” He dives into her and forces her onto the ground underneath his body. A sound akin to ceramic shattering rings behind them as a stalactite crashes into the floor.

    He gets off of her once the shaking ends. While helping her up, he says, “You okay?”

    Sylvia pales upon seeing the size of the stalactite that almost crushed her. Her voice shakes, but she manages to say, “I suffered no injuries. Thank you for protecting me.”

    From then on, each time the cave shakes, they stop and look for safe places to wait it out. The few seconds they can save by forcing themselves to try and continue aren’t worth the risk.

    The four continue their ascent out of the cave. After a few more hours, a faint light comes into view. The light strengthens into a blinding radiance as they press towards it. Soon, a warm wind caresses their faces. Excitement at finally being able to leave the cave compels them to move faster. The dread that they might end up buried alive the longer they stay where they are is all the encouragement they need. Smiles of relief float across their faces.

    Patamon cries out in joy. “We’re almost there. Hurry!”

    Kudamon says, “We’ve only a bit more to go.”

    They enter the cave’s mouth when a chilling wind from behind brings them all to a stop. “Found you…”

    Avery whips around but finds nothing behind them. He takes a tentative step back when, “Death claw!”

    The ground erupts underneath their feet. A massive black hand spears towards them. Patamon and Kudamon call the names of respective partners, “Avery!” “Sylvie!” and scurry to protect them, but to no avail. Their attacks bounce off the oncoming black wave.

    Avery braces himself for the attack. As the darkness goes to envelop him, his eyes instinctively squeeze shut. He feels a jet of coldness wash over him, then nothing.

    Confused, he opens his eyes only for them to be greeted with the sharp sting of wind. They instantly wince shut. Then, more carefully, he opens them again. A bright blue sky comes into view.

    Avery goes to turn his head to look around, but can only to groan. His entire body aches. He feels as if he took Boarmon’s charge head on. It’s then he notices Patamon desperately pulling on his shoulder.

    “No, no, no, this isn’t fair! I just met you! This isn’t fair! You can’t! Not after all this time! No-”

    The fear and tearful regret lacing Patamon’s words jolt Avery from his daze. He’s flying through the air. Not far from him, Sylvia holds Kudamon close to herself. Fear is etched across her face as she prays for a miracle. He then forces himself to look towards where they are falling.

    Directly ahead is a bubbled mass of corrosion.

    Avery grits his teeth. Boarmon’s final squeal of fear replays itself in his mind. “Just like that…? I get brought to this world, and it’s going to end, just like that? What the hell!”

    Patamon’s overwhelming emotions mix with his anger and confusion. He looks at his partner and, “Patamon!”

    Patamon explodes with golden light. It’s blinding, but Avery doesn’t feel any pain from staring at it. Instead, its fills him with confidence. He takes a breath, and this time with a grin, cries out even louder, “Patamon!”

    A long, light blue, serpentine digimon stretches out from the light. It twists around Avery and has him land upon its soft red and golden mane. Avery slips and rolls as he slides over the base of the digimon’s back, but with quick movements is able to grab onto one of its ivory horns.

    “Patamon?”

    “I’m Airdramon now.”

    A flicker of red catches Avery’s attention. He twists his head and sees crimson wings flapping, carrying them through the sky. Holes dot the wings, yet they don’t impede their ability to catch air.

    That’s when Avery recalls Sylvia. He turns towards where he last saw her and says, “Airdramon!”

    “Already on it!”

    Airdramon eases himself towards Sylvia and Kudamon. Once they are close enough, Avery leans towards them and reaches out. Sylvia takes his hand and he pulls her towards himself. She instinctively wraps her arms around him. Likewise, he holds her tight.

    Sylvia takes a breath, but then shouts, “It’s not over yet!”

    An explosion booms behind them before. A devil man erupts from the mountain and streaks towards them. It snarls and one of its arms shoots towards them. It’s literally trying to catch them.

    Avery says, “Airdramon!”

    “Hold tight!” Airdramon then barrel rolls to the left.

    Avery and Sylvia both cry out at the sudden motion. Avery personally feels as though his stomach fell out of his body. His grip loosens for a moment, but he quickly recalls they’re being attack. He strengthens his hold on both Airdramon and Sylvia and then looks back towards the devil man. “That’s Devimon?”

    Sylvia’s eyes are squeezed shut as she clings to Avery for dear life. Terror from falling off keeps her from budging an inch. The best she can manage is say, “If it looks like a black devil wearing leather, then yes!” Then, in a quieter, trembling, voice she adds, “Promise you won’t let us fall!”

    Avery reaffirms his grip over her as he says, “Leave it to us! Airdramon?”

    “You can count on it!”

    He then spies Devimon attacking once more and says, “Left!” The second the word leaves his mouth, he curses himself for being vague.

    Airdramon, however, swerves to the right. Devimon’s left arm harmlessly arcs past where they were mere moments ago. The hand tries to give chase, but they slip outside its reach.

    Airdramon laughs in triumph as he says, “Don’t worry, I understand exactly what you mean!”

    A fearless grin cross Avery’s face as he then says, “Left!”

    Devimon continues to try and grab them as he chases after them. His arms stretch from his body, left, right, right, left, left, right, left, right, right, right, right, right, left, right, left, but Airdramon escapes from each of them with Avery’s help.

    As Airdramon darts away from Devimon’s attack, Avery says, “Doesn’t it have any other attacks?”

    Kudamon speaks from around Sylvia’s lap. “We’re too far and moving too fast for them. Regardless, we must find a way to break this stalemate. Although this situation is favorable to us, it won’t stay as such indefinitely.”

    Airdramon says, “I’ve got an-”

    “Left!”

    Airdramon darts to the right as it adds, “-idea. Make sure to hold on really tight!”

    Avery glances at his partner and says, “Do whatever! I trust- left!”

    Airdramon draws strength from Avery’s encouragement and swoops downward into a valley, leaving Devimon’s hand to arc past over their heads. Sylvia, however, cries out at the sudden shift in direction and acceleration.

    Devimon drops after them and prepares himself to try and grab them again, but stops. Anger flashes across his face as he snarls and howls something at them.

    As Avery wonders what changed, Kudamon says, “How clever.” He spares a quick glance forward and double takes. They’re flying straight towards a floating light green and pink blob of corrosion.

    Airdramon then says, “Alright, hold on to my hair and stay low!”

    Avery lowers himself and Sylvia flat onto Airdramon’s back. Their bodies now lay covered within the red and gold fur. “We’re all set!”

    Airdramon loops as he reaches the corrosion and nose dives.

    Avery feels his stomach getting left behind when a sharp scream makes him forget any issues he might have with flying.

    “We’re falling, we’re falling, we’re falling, we’re falling!” Terror stricken, Sylvia tries to bury herself within Avery’s chest.

    “Calm down, Airdramon has everything under con-” An accidental glance shows him they are closer to the corrosion than her realized. Even just a sneeze might be enough to get him to bump into it.

    Sylvia panics at Avery’s sudden stop. “Under what!? Everything’s under what!? Why’d you stop!?”

    “It’s fine, it’s fine! Airdramon’s got it under control! Devimon can’t attack us!”

    Airdramon says, “Just a bit more! We’ll be out of this soon!”

    Sylvia says, “Please, please, please hurry!”

    “Okay, and we’re… free.”

    It’s then Avery notices they’re rising out of the valley. At some point during it all, they rounded the corrosion. He looks back as he sits up and says, “Yeah, but that still leaves us with Devimon.”

    Kudamon says, “Perhaps not. Go left, quickly.”

    Avery picks up that Airdramon is hesitating about doing so and says, “Let’s just do it. Not like we have any other ideas.”

    Airdramon, without a word, makes a sharp left. Sylvia screams at the harsh turn, but soon settles down. An unexpected reprieve from Devimon’s attacks occurs, allowing for steady flight. Avery, still on the look out for the devil digimon, realizes he’s probably still flying underneath the mass of corrosion.

    Sylvia, still holding onto Avery as though her life depends on it, notices his breathing is more relaxed. His relief allows her to also calm down. She doesn’t release him or open her eyes, but she’s able to speak again. Her voice quivers, but she says, “Ho- how are you not scared?”

    “Of flying?”

    Sylvia nods as she gives a quick, “Yes.”

    Avery thinks for a moment, not once moving his eyes away from watching their back, and says, “Probably cause it’s Airdramon? I don’t get it, but I have absolute faith Airdramon won’t let me fall.”

    “Because you’re partners. I’m certain this was mentioned earlier, but we are connected with our digimon. Still, for your trust to go this far is quite amazing.”

    “Left!”

    Sylvia shrieks and throws herself into clinging onto Avery again.

    Once Airdramon is clear of stretching arm, Kudamon says, “Not much further. Go around that mountain top and fly low! Quickly, now!”

    “Right!”

    Airdramon drops down and to the left. Devimon continues trying to grab them when, “Beast King Fist!”, “Absolute Zero Punch!”, and “Power Metal!” Three digimon jump out from the canopy of trees underneath and attack Devimon.

    Airdramon makes a sharp flip around as the three attacks envelop Devimon. “God tornado!” With Devimon faltering from the previous attacks, the winged serpent is able to flap his tattered wings and envelope the devil digimon within a swirl of fire.

    Chilling laughter echoes over the roar of the burning tornado. The center of the orange-white flames darken, taking a purple hue. Those flames continue darkening before the whole tornado then bursts with a swirl of dark energy.

    Devimon, spreading his ragged wings, blows away the remaining flames. His crimson eyes and sharp fangs glint underneath the dying embers as he says, “Leather wing!”

    Airdramon gets knocked down into the trees as the attack blows all four digimon away. The digimon flaps his wings as he tries to reorient himself, but ends up crashing through the branches of a tree below.

    Avery grunts as his back slams across a thick trunk. His grip on Airdramon slackens and he fall from the Digimon’s back together with Sylvia who’s clinging to him even harder. They tumble onto a lower branch that then drops them on the ground. Groaning, he still calls out to his worried partner. “I’m fine… Just go get him.”

    Airdramon springs towards Devimon. The devil digimon lifts its arm to strike the serpent down, but before it can finish calling its attack, its body is chomped down on. Airdramon drops headfirst into the trees and swings Devimon into the ground. Large rocks are sent flying in all directions, but Airdramon doesn’t relent. The digimon swings its head all around and thrashes Devimon into mountain stone and trees. The serpent digimon ends its assault by flinging the devil digimon aside and flapping his wings for a “Spinning needle!”

    “Beast King Fist!”, “Absolute Zero Punch!”, “Power Metal!” The three attacks join with Airdramon’s to envelop the devil digimon in another explosion. Once the smoke clears, no trace of Devimon remains.

    “Easy win.” Wilson walks over to where Sylvia is helping Avery stand. The two of them are covered in twigs and leaves. He says, “A pathetic digimon like that was giving you girls trouble?”

    Avery is faster than Sylvia. He glares at Wilson and says, “Call me a girl again and I’ll kick your face in.”

    Sylvia cuts Wilson off before he can retort. “Your claim of, ‘pathetic digimon like that’ is misguided. Devimon defeated Death Meramon. It should not have been this easy.”

    Wilson shrugs. “Whatever you say, he’s gone now. Death Meramon must have been weaker than you’re giving him credit for.”

    Liollmon then appears and say, “Yeah, that punk was pathetic. A few attacks and he’s already down.”

    Sylvia purses her lips and says, “That can’t be right…”

    Another boy of similar age to them steps forward. A strange, eye catching, pendent lays between his open high school football jacket. He says, “Sylvee, relax. It’s over now. If it comes back, we’ll fight it off again.”

    Wilson slaps the guy’s back. “Yeah, what Ben said! Quit being so chicken.”

    Sylvia’s expression is pensive, but she refrains from saying anything more.

    Ben takes the opportunity to walk up to Avery and holds out his hand, “I’m Ben, Ben Arnold.” He then gestures to a furry, violet, dinosaur like creature with a red gem on his forehead. “Here’s my partner, Dorumon.”

    Avery reaches out to shake his hand while saying, “Avery.” At the same time, he notices Ben’s digivice is on his right hand, and that unlike his, it has an extra pair of buttons on the side.

    He then glances toward the girl with long black hair. She stares him down, openly evaluating him. A light frown flashes across her face as she says, “Lee Ann.” A snow white dinosaur steps forward and she adds, “Yuki Agumon.” Then, before he can respond, she turns away.

    Patamon lofts onto Avery’s head and looks towards Wilson. “And you’re Wilson, right?”

    Wilson gestures to himself with his thumb and says, “Yep.” He then gestures to the lion cub and says, “And my partner, Liollmon.”

    Avery regards everyone and says, “Again, I’m Avery.” He then glances upward and adds, “and my partner, Patamon.”

    Wilson laughs and says, “Your name’s Avery? You really are a gir-”

    Avery kicks Wilson in the gut. Wilson hunches over, but steps back to keep from falling over. He then lunges at Avery while shouting, “Bastard!” Ben and Lee Ann, however, catch him before he can punch Avery.

    Ben say, “Woah, Wil, hold on there! Don’t go making it worse.”

    Lee Ann says, “You shouldn’t have expected anything more from him to begin with.”

    Avery glances from Wilson to Lee Ann. He then turns to Sylvia and says, “Well, good luck from now on. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.”

    Sylvia’s taken aback by his remark. As she struggles to find her voice so she can ask for clarification, Avery waves his hand and turns around to walk off.

    Ben dashes after Avery and catches his shoulder. “Woah, woah, woah! You’re not seriously just gonna go off on you own, are you?”

    Avery clicks tongue. He glances towards Wilson and Lee Ann and says, “Better than staying here.”

    Ben turns to Wilson and says, “Well? Say something.”

    Patamon says, “Yeah.”

    Everyone looks at Wilson. He makes a face but makes no motion to say anything. Avery, getting fed up, turns to leave again. Yet before he can finish, Wilson says, “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I won’t call you a girl again.”

    Patamon looks down at Avery and says, “He apologized. So, what now?”

    Avery looks back at Wilson. He then turns toward Sylvia. As he turns, his eyes also pause on Lee Ann for a moment, but one too brief for anyone to notice.

    Sylvia says, “Please stay. It’s safer for all of us to be together.”

    Kudamon says, “The Digital World can be very dangerous. The excursion we just underwent more than proves this point.”

    Avery sighs and says, “Fine, fine, we’ll go with you guys.”

    A silence falls over the group. Ben notices the impasse and says, “Anyway, how about we get going? None of us want to stay here any longer, right? Come on, we can talk while we walk.”

    Sylvia turns to Wilson. “I agree, there’s no reason for us to stay here.”

    Wilson nods, “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
  4. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Chapter 3

    Avery says, “Are we going any place in particular?”

    Wilson says, “There’s a town not too far from here according to Liollmon. That’s where we were going before this whole thing happened.”

    Liollmon leaps to the front of the group with the words, “Just follow me.”

    As they start walking, Patamon then looks towards Kudamon and says, “By the way, how’d you know everyone was going to be here?”

    Kudamon says, “You mean when Devimon was chasing us? Your 02 has a locator function. Registered digivices can both communicated with one another and pinpoint each other on the map.”

    Avery looks to his digivice. He isn’t the only one, both Wilson and Lee Ann do the same. After pushing some buttons and searching around, he says, “Oh, found it.” That’s when he also discovers that part of the map has filled in, the areas he has traveled through.

    Sylvia then points her digivice at his. A second later and her name appears on his screen. She says, “There, better we register each other now while we have the chance.”

    Ben steps forward to register his digivice with Avery’s while saying, “Good idea, we don’t wanna end up getting blown apart again.”

    Avery then registers his digivice with Wilson. At the same time, he says, “So, what the heck was the explosion? An attacking digimon?”

    Wilson says, “According my scanner, it was some digimon called Tankdramon.” He notices Avery’s confusion and adds, “Imagine a bluish lizard thing with a ton of guns inside of a box with tank treads.”

    “The hell? That just makes it even harder to understand.”

    Wilson shrugs.

    Avery then looks towards Lee Ann. She scoffs at him and says, “What? I’m not registering with someone like you.”

    Patamon snaps back before Avery can. “What do you mean by someone like him? Avery’s my partner.”

    Lee Ann clicks her tongue and turns away. Avery thinks about her choice of words so far but decides against calling her out on it. Saying anything at that moment would be pointless, and more likely than not, end up being taken poorly by everyone else. In silence, they all resume walking again.



    Not long passes when Ben says, “Sylvee, when did your dress get those shoulder covers? I’m pretty sure they were bare just the other day.”

    Sylvia looks down at the flap like covers flowing over her shoulders. She stares at one and then the other. Kudamon, too, takes one within his paws and feels it. Instead of actually responding to him, however, she wonders aloud. “My dress changed… I never even noticed.”

    Lee Ann says, “Is it a new dress?”

    “No, this is the same one I’ve been wearing since yesterday. The Digital World seems to be full of mysteries.”

    Lee Ann then says, “Speaking of mysteries, are any of you hungry? This is like the third day since I last ate anything and I’m perfectly fine. You all think this is strange too, right?”

    Everyone stops at her words. Avery places a hand over his stomach as he thinks about her remark. Ever since he arrived in the Digital World, it had been one thing after another. He had been so busy that he never even noticed he hadn’t been eating. At the very least, he should be extremely irritated at everything.

    Kudamon says, “There is no need for food in the Digital World. Energy is restored simply by sleeping. While eating can help you replenish said energy, it better serves as a temporary boost of strength.”

    Avery says, “That’s… convenient.”

    Sylvia says, “You don’t like it?”

    “I think I’m just not used to it? Thinking about it, not having to eat would be great way to save money. Except now that I don’t have to, I feel like something is missing.”

    Ben says, “Yeah, I totally get what you mean. What about you, Wil?”

    Wilson says, “Same, knowing that I haven’t eaten for more than two days just feels wrong.”

    Ben chuckles and says, “Well, just cause we don’t have to eat doesn’t mean we can’t. Let’s see if we can get anything at this town.”

    Lee Ann sighs at the boyish conversation and says, “How far away are we, anyway?”

    Liollmon says, “With everything that happened, we should get there in a few days.”

    Avery looks up at Patamon. “Didn’t you say it was a day’s travel?”

    “It is. That’s how long it took me to get here from there.”

    Kudamon chuckles and says, “The rest of us do not have wings. We are unable to fly across any ridges or canyons.”

    “Ahh…. Opps.”

    Everyone chuckles at Patamon’s mistake.

    After a few moments, Wilson glances towards Sylvia and says, “So, why’d you wait so long to contact us?”

    “I beg your pardon?”

    “Earlier, you sent me a message saying, ‘We’re being chased by a digimon, meet us at etc etc etc.’ You two were blasted off ages ago. What was with the delay?”

    Avery jumps in and says, “Why didn’t you contact her first?”

    “I didn’t even know we could do that until then.”

    Sylvia nods to herself as she says “My apologies, but I neglected reaching out to you at first precisely for that reason. It was only in our moment of desperation that I considered checking my digivice 02 for a glimmer of hope and learned such was even possible.” She and Kudamon then lower their heads as she adds, “I truly regret any worry that may have caused.”

    Avery’s expression falls flat at her apology. Understanding her reason for lying, he turns away before anyone can comment.

    “Something’s coming!” Patamon leaps to attention from atop Avery’s head. “Everyone, get ready!”

    Everyone tenses, but a few moments of silence pass without anything happening. One at a time, Wilson, Lee Ann, and Ben throw accusatory glares at the digimon.

    Lee Ann says, “Of course, useless people will have useless partners.”

    Avery says, “Shut up. Patamon, where’s it coming from?”

    Patamon points to the left with an ear. Avery and Sylvia are the only ones who remain alert and take precaution. The other three glance in that direction and begin to walk again.

    “Hyper heat!”

    Patamon and Kudamon leap forward with attacks of their own. A magna red sudden beam appears and explodes upon hitting their attacks.

    Then, a yellow, reptilian ogre like creature flies out of the smoke and thrusts a massive arm at Wilson and Liollmon, “Strength Arm!” The two are too stunned to react.

    Avery calls out to his partner, “Patamon!”

    At the same time, the digimon was already leaping forward saying, “Shinka!” Patamon explodes within a golden light. That light fades seconds later to reveal a confused Patamon.

    “Avery!” Sylvia catches the boy as he collapses.

    Kudamon says, “He’s fine! Just exhausted! More importantly!”

    Another, “Shinka!” rings out. From the golden light appears Leomon. The beast man digimon draws his blade at the last second and swats the attacking digimon aside.

    Wilson shouts at the attacking digimon. “Who are you!? What are you attacking me for!?”

    The yellow digimon jumps to its feet, roars, and lunges for Wilson again. As Leomon meets the attack head on, Sylvia scans the digimon with her digivice.

    “His name is Cyclomon, a dragon man digimon!”

    “Yeah? So, what’s he want with me!?”

    Dorugamon rams into Cyclomon as it gets back up again. Ben says, “Hey, that guy’s helmet only has one eye hole. Didn’t you say something about blinding some digimon the other day?”

    Cyclomon roars out at the remark. “Humans! Die, die, die!”

    Wilson grins at the reaction. “Oh, so this is round two!” He glances towards Ben and says, “We got this, stay out!”

    “You sure?”

    “Yeah, I wouldn’t be man if I got help for something like this.”

    “Beast King Fist!” Leomon launches a golden, ethereal beam shaped like a lion’s head at Cyclomon. Then, as Cyclomon meets his attack with a, “Hyper Heat!”, he leaps forward and swings his sword.

    Cyclomon swings his massive arm at Leomon mid-flight and whacks the lion man into a tree. The dragon man then pounces forward. “Hyper—”

    A crimson laced cough gasp ends his cry short.

    Leomon’s sword has been rammed right into Cyclomon’s stomach. The beast man must have pulled it out at the last second and let the dragon man impale himself.

    As Cyclomon staggers back in disbelief, Wilson says, “Pathetic.” Cyclomon’s head snaps towards Wilson. With a roar, he raises its massive arm, but Leomon kicks the dragon man from behind.

    Wilson says, “Let’s finish it for real this time.”

    Leomon says, “Right.” He then flips over Cyclomon’s head, pulls out his sword from Cyclomon’s stomach, and hoists it over head. As he swings down, Cyclomon explodes with silver light and turns back into Monodramon. Leomon’s swing is undeterred. The beast man swings to decapitate the small dragon when a bone club slams into the back of his head.

    A green ogre digimon kicks Leomon aside his landing, picks up both the bone club and Monodramon, and dashes off into the woods.

    Ben says, “And they’re gone,” as he watches them disappear.

    Wilson walks up to him and says, “Why didn’t you stop him?”

    Ben shrugs and says, “Dude, that all happened way too fast for anyone to do anything.”

    Wilson scoffs and turns away. “Whatever, let’s just get going.”

    Sylvia says, “We cannot. Avery is still hasn’t awoken.” With those words, she then eases him on the ground. Patamon then lands on his stomach to wait.

    Lee Ann says, “Seriously, how useless. What kind of idiot just passes out like that?”

    Kudamon leaps forward and says, “Do not be so hasty to judge. Our digivolutions put a heavy strain on all of you as well. The energy required for it does not simply manifest from air.”

    Lee Ann gestures to everyone and says, “Yeah, well you don’t see any of us falling down left and right.”

    Kudamon says, “Do not forget. Both Avery and Sylvia were caught up in an explosion just recently. That, couple with recent events, which includes Patamon’s first digivolution, must have left him drained.”

    “Please, he was fine!”

    Sylvia says, “Or so he seemed…” She then turns to Wilson and says, “Although it may still be early, let us rest here for the night. To be honest, I could also do with some rest.”

    Wilson sighs, kicks a random rock on the ground, and says, “Fine, whatever! Let’s just stay here another day.”



    After a few hours of sitting around, Wilson looks to Sylvia and says, “I’ve been wondering, how are the two of you still alive?”

    Sylvia perks up at the question. She blinks a few times and, after a moment of hesitation, says, “I… what?”

    He points at Avery and adds, “You two were blown away… by an explosion. Even if you survived that, the fall should have killed you.”

    Ben laughs and slaps Wilson back. “Dude, you’re talking logic? After everything that’s happened? For real? We’re in a world with tank dragons. Them not being dead should be the least of your worries.”

    Wilson drops back and lays on the ground. With his arms crossed behind his head, he stares at overhanging branches and says, “Yeah, true.”

    Sylvia doesn’t comment. She and Kudamon exchange glances and leave it at that.



    Not long after, Sylvia lays down. Kudamon curls up into a ball by her side. She says, “We’ll be sleeping early. We shall see each other in the morning.”

    Lee Ann looks at the pair in disbelief. “Why?”

    “While we might be in better shape than Avery, we too have been pushing ourselves today. The best course of action we can take is to sleep.”

    Ben says, “Right, night.”

    Wilson spares her a glance to say, “Whatever,” before turning away.



    Sylvia and Kudamon awaken hours later. The sky glitters with stars. She wants to guess midnight, but having three moons makes discerning such impossible. However, despite the lateness of the night, the the three moons provide more than enough illumination. She sits up and takes a quick look around. Everyone is still sleeping. Although she’s surprised that no one stayed awake to keep watch, “It is convenient for us.”

    “Agreed, still, we’ll need to bring up this shortsightedness once we return.”

    Sylvia then glances towards Avery. Patamon remains perched on his stomach, also fast asleep. “He hasn’t even budged a millimeter.”

    Kudamon says, “No, but his complexion is much better than before. He should be fully restored once we return.”

    Sylvia nods and Kudamon scurries onto her shoulder. She then stands and creeps out of the camp, taking care to not step on anyone. She doesn’t relax her breath until after rounding a bush and placing everyone out of sight. From there, she picks up her pace.

    “Where are you going?”

    Sylvia jumps. She would have screamed if not for Kudamon hugging her mouth shut. After a few heavy and panicked breaths, she turns around to find Lee Ann and Yuki Agumon. Her voice is both hushed and enraged, “What are you two doing here?”

    Lee Ann speaks with her normal tone. “Following you, obviously. Why are you sneaking away? You said you’d come back, does that mean you know this place? Why did you lie and pretend to be clueless? Who are you?”

    Sylvia is taken aback by the questioning. Kudamon answers in her stead. “Sylvie hasn’t lied. We are merely off to retrieve something that will help us.”

    “Retrieve what?” Lee Ann then raises her voice as she adds, “How can you know anything about this place?”

    Sylvia waves her hands as she gestures for Lee Ann to lower her tone. “Stop, stop, do not speak so loud or you’ll wake everyone.”

    Lee Ann stares at Sylvia. “What are you being so secretive about. Tell me or I’ll scream and then you can tell all of us.”

    Sylvia is taken aback at the threat. She purses her lips as she struggles to think up of a solution only to sigh in resignation. “Fine, I shall tell you. However, do not expect much. Earlier today, we, Avery, Patamon, Kudamon, and I, came across a memory of the Digital World of sorts.”

    “The heck is a digital memory?”

    “I’m honestly not certain, but this memory told of a battle long past where humans and digimon vanquished an evil. The souls of these noble warriors who gave their all remain as powerful relics… No, as virtues. One is located very close to here. Kudamon and myself mean to retrieve it.”

    “That’s just stupid. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Your Kudamon can’t even digivolve.”

    “Even so, we will not stop here.”

    “By yourselves?”

    “I intended to ask Avery, but he still ne—”

    “Forget that slacker. I’ll go with you instead.”

    Sylvia is taken aback. After a slight pause, she says, “I beg you pardon?”

    “Just that! Yuki Augumon and I are—”

    “Alright, alright,” Sylvia once more waves her hands in panic. “Just refrain from shouting, please.”

    Lee Ann quiets down and nods. Her eyes burn with determination.

    Sylvia recognizes nothing she says will get through to her. She suppresses her sigh and leads them further away.

    Once they reach a safe distance for talking, Sylvia says, “What did you mean by such? Calling Avery a slacker? Are you acquainted with him?”

    “Please, why would I have anything to do with someone like that? I don’t surround myself with losers.”

    “I don’t understand. How can you call him a loser if you don’t know him?”

    “Are you blind? It’s obvious just by looking at him.”

    Sylvia glance towards Kudamon, but ferret like digimon shakes his head. She looks back at Lee Ann with doubt as she says, “When Avery and I were separated from all of you, he stood by me the entire time. Not once did I feel regret over his accompanying me.”

    “Pfft, yeah, people like him are good at making you think that.” Lee Ann storm forward with her head held high. “Just wait. You’ll see what he’s really like once we get back.”

    Kudamon narrows her eyes at the boast. “Yes, I suppose we shall.”

    ……

    A campfire keeps Goburimon warm as he lays on his back with his arms crossed behind his head. The green oni digimon stares at the night sky as he waits for the monodramon he rescued earlier to wake up. The purple dragon digimon, having been out cold for hours, finally starts to stir.

    Goburimon glances at the digimon and says, “First time digivolving, huh? I can relate. Took me a while to get used to it too.”

    Monodramon rubs his face as he sits up. “What? Where am…?” He then hops to his feet. The dragon digimon recalls what was happening before passing out and roars. “Humans! Where are they?”

    Goburimon gives a lazy, “Calm down, there ain’t any stinking humans near this place.”

    Monodramon spins to glare at Goburimon with his remaining eye. He points a claw at the oni digimon and says, “And who are you!? What happened to the humans!?”

    Goburimon sits up and introduces himself. He then adds, “I’m a friend. You were getting your tail handed to you, so I bailed you. You’re welcome.”

    “And what about the humans?”

    “Sleeping, probably.” Goburimon then smirks, “But I was thinking, maybe we could make it eternal. You know what they say, two are better than one.”

    “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Monodramon begins to walk off but stops upon noticing Goburimon still laying on the ground. “What are you just laying there for? Let’s move!”

    “Are you stupid? Do you even have enough energy to digivolve again? Right now, you’re too weak to do anything useful.”

    “Perhaps, then, I can be of some assistance.”

    A cold, booming voice fills the area. Goburimon jumps to his feet, club raised and ready to be swung. Monodramon also tenses up and gets ready to swing at whatever appears before them.

    The voice speaks out once more. “Calm yourselves, I have not come to fight. I have come to aid you against our common enemy, the humans.”

    Goburimon lowers his club but remains vigilant. “Then quit hiding and step into the light where we can see ya.”

    Long legs wrapped in black leather come into view on the opposite side of the campfire. As the digimon continues out of the shadows, tattered black wings and long arms become visible. On its chest is a red horned sigil, the mark of evil. Devimon appears before Goburimon and Monodramon.

    Goburimon looks the new digimon over. He recognizes the devil man as the one who was pursuing two of the humans earlier that day. “And what exactly is it yar going ta do for us? Last I saw, you couldn’t even put up a struggle.”

    “Foolish, my purposes are better served with them not knowing I’m here. They did not defeat me.”

    Monodramon snaps and says, “Fine, whatever! You said you were going to help, so out with it!”

    Devimon laughs at the impatience. The cold bark sends a shiver down the spines of both Goburimon and Monodramon. “Oh, it’s nothing much. Just some of my energy!” The devil man’s arms stretch out and he grabs both child digimon. The two are then enveloped in a torrent of darkness.

    The two digimon cry out and struggle, but they are unable to break free. The assault don’t last long and they are soon tossed aside, but Goburimon finds himself brimming with strength. Before he can say anything, Monodramon bursts with laughter.

    The dragon digimon laughs out while saying, “Finally! With this much power, I’ll crush those humans and their traitorous digimon! I’ll crush them and rip off their heads!”

    Devimon says, “Good, good. Then let me tell you something helpful as well.” Once he has the attention of both digimon, he adds, “Two of them have split off from the others. They are headed in that direction.”

    Monodramon runs off in the direction Devimon points without a second thought. Goburimon is more cautious. He looks Devimon over and says, “Why use us?”

    “Because you hate the humans and I need… a distraction.”

    “And what if we kill them?”

    “A distinct possibility, do try if you can. Whether they live or die is of no concern to me, but I still prefer them dead.”

    Goburimon narrows his eyes, but he turns around and walks off after Monodramon without another word. He has no idea what the devil man digimon is doing, but he is able to pick up that if he wanted to kill the humans he could have easily done so. The power he granted them is that amazing. For such a powerful digimon to choose not to directly kill them is worrisome.



    Lee Ann takes a deep breath and eases her head around some bushes. Seeing that the coast is clear, she slinks around the bush. A loud cracking sound, however, sends her diving onto the ground.

    Sylvia looks down and sees a freshly snapped stick underfoot.

    Kudamon sees Lee Ann trembling and sighs. “Not once did Avery ever jump at his own shadow. You are only slowing us down. Go back, we’ll continue without you.”

    Sylvia continues past Lee Ann. Lee Ann calls out to her, “Wait, wait,” but she doesn’t look back. Lee Ann and Yuki Agumon hurry after her, but Kudamon is who responds.

    The ferret like digimon says, “Are you daft? You’re help is neither wanted nor required. Leave us.”

    Lee Ann laughs out as she says, “You say that now, but you can’t even digivolve.”

    Yuki Agumon nods. “Right, and that’s just the least of what we can do.”

    “You’d be begging us to stay with you if you knew exactly what I’m capable of!”

    Kudamon turns away and faces forward. Just like Sylvia, she decides to not pay them anymore mind.

    “Hey, don’t just ignore me!” Lee Ann and Yuki Agumon chase after Sylvia.

    Sylvia doesn’t stop. Regardless of Lee Ann’s fears and complaints, she treats her words like wind and presses forward. Lee Ann, despite her wishes, is forced to move at Sylvia’s pace.

    The few times Sylvia does stop are at clearings. She and Kudamon pause to take a quick look around before hurrying to the other side.

    Lee Ann, shocked by the bold action, can only force down her fear and run after her. The first time, she tries to berate Sylvia for being, “reckless,” but neither Sylvia nor Kudamon spare her a glance.

    Sylvia comes to a true final stop upon walking up to a grey cliff wall. Lee Ann looks at Sylvia and then the mountain wall. She looks upward and says, “What? You’re not gonna say we need to climb this, are you?”

    Sylvia shakes her head and reaches for the rock wall. Her hand touches firm stone as it presses against the mountain side. She then presses her other hand against the cold stone. With both hands, she begins to feel the mountain side.

    Lee Ann says, “What the heck are you doing?”

    Sylvia ignores her and continues to search. After about ten minutes, the fingertips of her left hand flow through the stone. She notices the change in sensation and searches that spot with both hands. Not long after, she feels out a narrow, short door.

    The inside is a long passage carved directly out from the mountain. Various crystals placed in random places along the floor, walls, and ceiling illuminate most of way with a faint light. At unexpected points, however, the lighting fades, leaving those inside to navigate the path blind. It’s also in those places were parts of the wall jut out, the ceiling lowers and forces travelers to crawl, or the ground surprises them with potholes.



    Lee Ann continues to follow behind Sylvia. Brushing off dirt from her hair due to rubbing against a low ceiling, she says, “This is stupid! Was this path for Digimon or humans?”

    Sylvia ignores her and instead speaks to Kudamon. “This is slowing us down too much.”

    “Agreed, the degradation is much worse than we anticipated.” The ferret like digimon then hops off her shoulder and scurries ahead on his own.

    Sylvia waits until her partner is out of sight before sighing, leaning back against a wall, and sliding onto the ground.

    Lee Ann’s jaw drops. Her eyes bulge open and she shouts out in disbelief. “You could have split up this whole time!? The hell was all of this for then! Are you stupid!? This was a complete waste of time!”

    Sylvia glances over at Lee Ann. Her lip curls in disgust. “You’re still here?”

    Lee Ann scoffs at Sylvia and turns around. “Forget it. Yuki Augmon, we’re outta here!” She then storms back the way they came.

    Sylvia, finally alone, leans her head back against the wall and closes her eyes. The exhaustion she had been hiding and suppressing the entire time washes over her and she soon drifts to sleep.

    An explosion shaking the passage wakes her twenty minutes later. She brushes off the loose stones and dust that fell on face as she gets up and looks around. A howl followed by another ground shaking explosion tells her all she needs to know. Lee Ann encountered danger near the entrance.

    “Sylvie! Sylvie!” Kudamon’s call echoes from deeper down the passage.

    Sylvia spins around and drops to a knee to pickup her partner digimon. “How was it? Did you find it?”

    “No, I checked the chamber twice, but there was no sign of it.”

    Sylvia purses her lips. “It must have already been claimed.” Another shaking leads her to add, “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time…” She turns around hurries back to the exit.

    “I realize this is pointless to ask, but Kudamon…”

    The digimon shakes her head. “Unfortunately not, there was no other exit within the chamber. Whatever lies ahead, we will need to face head on.”

    With those words, Sylvia presses faster.

    Lee Ann waits for Sylvia and Kudamon at the entrance. In her arms is a wounded Yuki Agumon. Outside, Ogremon and Cyclomon battle against a group of small dinosaur digimon holding riffles and wearing camouflage. Both of them, despite their size, are being suppressed by the military dinosaur digimon. While the bullets keep them distracted, grenades are thrown into their blindspots.

    Sylvia scans the smaller digimon with her 02 and reads, “Commandramon, virus, child level.”

    Lee Ann then says, “They cheated! We were winning and then they blindsided Yukidarumon with a grenade. We would have already been out of here if not for them.”

    Kudamon says, “You escaped into here as they engaged Ogremon and Cyclomon? Doesn’t seem likely.”

    “Agreed, they most likely know you’re in here. We’ll need to escape now while we still have the chance.”

    Lee Ann brightens upon hearing the word escape. “Then… you found—”

    Sylvia shakes her head. “It was already claimed by another.”

    Lee Ann growls. If not because she is holding Yuki Agumon, she would hit Sylvia. “Then how the hell are we supposed to escape? We’re surrounded!”

    “They’re distracted. If we wait, Ogremon and Cyclomon will eventually succumb to their assault. This is the best chance we have.”

    “Our best chance? Your Kudamon can’t even digivolve!”

    Kudamon sighs and says, “Then stay here. We’ll do this on our own.”

    Lee Ann grabs Sylvia’s ankle to stop her from leaving. She then forces herself up and says, “No, I am not staying here.” She grips the digivice 02 on her writ and gets ready to run.

    Sylvia says, “On my signal…” She watches the battle. Then, as Cyclomon’s mouth glows, “Now!”

    The two race out of the hidden passage as Cyclomon’s, “Hyper Heat!” fills the area with light. They run away behind the backs of the Commandramon. Ogremon notices them and shouts out, but his words are drowned under gunfire.

    Sylvia, Kudamon, Lee Ann, and Yuki Agumon escape into the trees. They keep running until they can’t even hear the occasional grenade.

    Lee Ann, once she catches her breath, says, “This was a complete waste of time.” She then begins to walk away, but Sylvia grabs her arm. “What?”

    Sylvia’s expression is firm. She speaks in a soft, but firm, voice as she slowly glances around. “Digivolve Yuki Agumon.”

    Lee Ann yanks her arm free. “Don’t tell me what to do!”

    A blow sends Lee Ann hurling into a tree. The movement is so swift, she’s already crumpled on the ground and clutching her stomach before she or Sylvia register what happened.

    Laughter echoes as a voice says, “Ya should’a listened while you had the chance.”

    Kudamon tenses and springs from Sylvia’s shoulder. Moments later, a humanoid dragon like digimon in sleek combat gear tumbles into a bush beside Sylvia. He rolls about, trying to pull Kudamon off ihis face, but the ferret like digimon refuses to let go.

    Sylvia acts fast and scans the digimon with her digivice. She mutters his name aloud as she goes over his information, “Sealsdramon.”

    A giant snowman then barrels into Sealsdramon. Kudamon springs off of the dragon man’s face and hurries back onto Sylvia’s shoulder.

    “Stupid… Digimon…” Lee Ann huffs as she tries to get back onto her feet. Sylvia lends helps her up and lends her a shoulder as she continues. “He’ll regret not finished us while he had the chance…”

    Sylvia says, “If he wanted to, he could have.”

    Kudamon says, “Agreed, he more likely than not intended to follow us back. With that failing, capture the two of you for information.”

    Lee Ann then glances towards Sylvia. “How’d you know it was following us?”

    “Our escape was too easy. The further we ran, the more I felt something was wrong.”

    “So, you guessed.”

    “That’s one way of phrasing it.”

    Lee Ann rolls her eyes and returns her attention to the battle.

    Sealsdramon cuts a third gash along Yukidarumon’s arms. The snow digimon matches the timing of the knife being drawn back and attacks, “Absolute Zero Punch!”

    Sealsdramon grins at the attack. He twirls around the arm and gets behind Yukidarumon. Then, with his knife, “Death Behind!”

    Yukidarumon cries out as she drops onto a knee. Sealsdramon raises his knife for another blow, but Kudamon latches onto his wrist and bites down between the gabs of armor.

    Sealsdarmon doesn’t drop the knife, but his attack misses. While growling with pain, he slams Kudamon into a tree. When the white ferret digimon refuses to let go, he slams the tiny digimon into another tree.”

    Sylvia covers her face in horror. “Kudamon!”

    Lee Ann grabs Sylvia’s arm and says, “You got to digivolve him!”

    “I can’t!”

    “Yes, you can! He’s your partner, his strength to digivolve comes from you!”

    “I’m well aware! Digivolution simply refuses to occur!”

    The loud snapping of wood draws their attention back to the battle. Both Sylvia and Lee Ann snap their heads in time to see Yukidarumon pummel Sealsdramon into a tree.

    As Lee Ann cheers her partner, the snow digimon readies another attack. “Absolute Zero Punch!” The attack lands firm against Sealsdramon’s snout and finishes sending him through the tree.

    Sylvia, overjoyed, hugs Lee Ann. “You got him!”

    Lee Ann hugs her back. Yet just as she opens her mouth, the tree gets shoved aside. A low voice barks out, “I ain’t dead yet!”

    Lee Ann feels a chill as she turns towards her partner. “Yukidarumon!”

    Her warning is too slow. Yukidarumon, too shocked by Sealsdramon’s voice to react in time, is slashed across the throat. A bright light flashes to reveal Yuki Agumon laying on the ground.

    Sealsdramon then bends his arm and elbows Kudamon out of the air. The small ferret digimon crashes into a rock and bounces onto the ground, unmoving.”

    “Kudamon!”

    Sylvia and Lee Ann, still in each others arms, tremble as Sealsdramon steps towards them. “Now, for the two of yo-”

    A massive, light blue, serpentine body rams into Sealsdramon from above, sending him flying. Avery slides down from Airdramon’s back and says, “Hurry!”

    As he then helps Lee Ann carry Yuki Agumon, Sylvia picks up Kudamon. Then once all of them are atop Airdramon, the mythical beast digimon springs skyward.

    Only once the former battlefield vanishes from view do Sylvia and Lee Ann breath out in relief. Sylvia, holding on to Avery as though her life depends on it, says, “What are you doing here?”

    “I woke up and saw you were missing. I had a feeling you were up to something and that you might be in trouble, so we rushed here. I would have never found you without the location function.”

    Sylvia releases a light sigh and says to herself, “Lucky us…”

    “So, did you find what you were looking for?”

    She doesn’t answer. That tells him all he needs to know.

    “Thanks…” Instead, another voice breaks the silence. “I thought Yuki Agumon was going to die… So, thanks.”

    The rest of the trip back is carried out in silence.



    Airdramon returns to their campsite not long after. Wilson and Ben are already awake and waiting. Sylvia, without any prompting, walks straight up to Wilson and explains what happened.

    Wilson facepalms. “Next time, tell us and we’ll all go with you.” As Sylvia brightens at his change of heart, he adds, “You going off on your own is way too dangerous.”

    “You have my word.”

    “Then you and Lee Ann should get some rest. We’ll be leaving once the sun rises. This time, however, I’m gonna be keeping watch.”

    Sylvia smiles at his exasperation. Wilson’s cooperation releases a heavy weight from her heart. Without a complaint, she settles down with Kudamon and drifts back to sleep.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
  5. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Chapter 4

    Avery wakes up to shouting a few hours later. He goes to sit up, but he stops upon realizing there’s a lump, Patamon, on his chest. His stirring, however, wakes Patamon.

    The small Digimon stretches as he stands. He pulls on his body and straightens his front legs while reaching as high as he can with his ears. After a few seconds, he relaxes by exhaling and faces Avery. With a faint smile, he gives a lack luster, “Morning.”

    “Morning to you too.” Avery holds Patamon and sits up. He then moves the digimon onto his shoulder, stands, and also stretches. A pair of loud pops crack out as he does his neck. “Laying flat on the ground is gonna take some getting used to…”

    “You done yet?” Wilson calls out to Avery and adds, “If you’re finished then hurry up. I want to get out of this forest, ASAP.”

    Lee Ann snickers as everyone’s attention falls on Avery.

    “Then go, we’ll catch up later.”

    Sylvia steps between the two before their arguing gets any worse. She goes up to Avery and says, “Don’t say that. You should know just how dangerous the Digital World can be. It’s much safer if we all travel together.”

    Avery looks into her pleading eyes and sighs. “Fine, fine, I’m sorry for dragging you all down. Let’s go.”

    Sylvia smiles as she walks up to Wilson. “You heard him, let’s go.”

    Wilson shakes his head and turns around. “Lead the way, Liollmon.”

    The lion cub leaps to the front of the group while saying, “Right! Just follow me!”

    As they start walking, Lee Ann says, “How much farther until the exit, anyway?”

    Liollmon says, “Not much farther. We’ll definitely be out by tomorrow.”

    Lee Ann sighs and mutters under her breath. “At least there’s no bugs here…”

    Ben waits for Avery to catch up. Once they’re side to side, he clasps his shoulder with a wide smile. “So, with everything that’s happened, I know next to nothing about you. Where are you from? What do you do? What’s your horoscope?”

    Patamon answers from atop Avery’s head. “Avery is Avery. Is anything more than that really all that important?”

    Avery chuckles as he reaches up and rubs the top of Patamon’s head. “You do have a point there.” Then, with a smile still on his face, he turns to Ben. “I don’t live that exciting of a life to brag about. A lot of my free time is spent at work.”

    “You got a job?”

    “Nothing special, just a bunch of random things at a store. Sometimes I worked the floor, other times I was opening boxes in the back, and every now and then I changed burnt out light bulbs.” Avery pauses as he remembers, “Although, there was this one time I was asked to install a new window.”

    Wilson comments from the front of the group. “Your job sounds weird.”

    Avery shrugs. “Not like it was an official job. Just something at a small shop. That said, the pay wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too bad either. Not with all things considered.”

    Sylvia glances back towards Avery and says, “I do not understand. What do you mean by unofficial?”

    Lee Ann clicks her tongue as she says, “It means illegal. He was paid in cash, under the table. You know, a tax-free wage. It’s people employing themselves like that who are ruining the economy.”

    Avery doesn’t even spare Lee Ann a glance. Instead, a reluctant sigh escapes him as he adds, “I’ve already been fired though, probably…”

    Ben gives Avery’s back a light slap. “That’s rough, buddy. Well, don’t take it too hard. I’m sure you’ll be able to find another one once we’re all back home. I mean, we’re in another world. This has got to count for something.”

    “Yeah? Well, what are you going to do once you’re back home?”

    “Me? Honestly, that’s a good question. I guess I’ll look into learning programing?”

    Wilson glances back at Ben and says, “Programing?”

    “Yeah, programing. We’re in a digital world. Don’t you think there might be a connection.” At Wilson’s dismissive, “pff,” Ben snaps back. “Fine, then what are you gonna do once we’re back?”

    “Get my black belt. I’m getting tested for it soon. Really, being here is just a waste of time. I should be practicing, not wandering some stupid digital world.”

    Sylvia is visibly hurt by Wilson’s flippant attitude. “You don’t… like being here?”

    “It’s got nothing to do with liking or not. I’m busy and don’t have time to be messing around here.”

    Liollmon laughs as he says, “Don’t say that. The Digital World is great! Where else can you find loads of mons to fight?”

    Ben laughs at Wilson’s silence. “What, nothing to say?”

    “Shut up.”

    Lee Ann scoffs and says, “You guys are so immature.” She glances at Wilson and Liollmon and adds, “Is fighting all you two think about?”

    Ben jumps in before Wilson can snap at her. “So, what about you? What do you do for fun?”

    Lee Ann holds up her head as she says, “I’m a guitarist. My band and I have even been on tour.”

    Avery gives her a slow, sarcastic, clap.

    “Hey! Don’t look down on me. If you’ve got something to say, then out with it! Don’t forget, you’re nothing. I can top anything you can pull off!”

    Avery looks at her and says, “Si, si, que envia. Eres una mujer muy talentosa.”

    Lee Ann is taken aback by the comment. She didn’t understand a word he said, but disgust fills her face. Yet before she can snap at him, an ear-piercing screech rings down from overhead. A giant, red, stag beetle is zooming towards them.

    Patamon, Liollmon, Yuki Agumon, and Dorumon all glow as they shout, “Shinka!” and digivolve to their next forms.

    Airdramon’s long, serpent, body allows him to reach ahead of the others and headbutt the attacking digimon aside. At the same time, however, everyone’s sudden growth causes them to collide into each other. Airdramon, being the largest, sends Leomon, Yukidarumon, and Dorugamon flying into the trees.

    Lee Ann expression twists from disgust into fury. She grabs Avery as he’s trying to scan the attacking digimon and screeches at his face. “The hell is wrong with you!? Don’t you know the meaning of teamwork? No, I guess not! People like you always backst—”

    Avery shoves her aside, letting out some of his building frustration. “Get off!” He goes to follow up as she falls to the ground, but Airdramon sudden cry of pain is more important.

    A quick look reveals Leomon pulling his sword out of Airdramon’s back. Avery whips towards Wilson and demands an explanation with, “Hey! What gives?”

    “Leomon had a clear a shot! Airdramon got in our way!”

    A growl of pain gets everyone’s attention. Yukidarumon is punching Leomon in the face.

    Wilson grabs Lee Ann by her jacket’s collar and says, “What was that for!?”

    Lee Ann points at the insect Digimon and says, “Pay more attention!”

    The red, stag beetle’s following movements then reveal that it grabbed Leomon and is holding him as a shield. The digimon then flings Leomon around and throws him into Dorugamon.

    “Kudamon!” Sylvia’s cry of fear and horror gets everyone’s attention. Her partner lays by her feet, beaten and battered while before her is a white triceratops with some black armor.

    “Dorugamon!” Ben quickly has his partner jump to Silvia’s aid.

    Wilson looks around and says, “We’re surrounded.”

    Avery reads the surrounding digimon’s names off his digivice 02. “Snimon, Yanmamon, Zassoumon, Bomber Nanimon, Diatr—”

    Lee Ann shoves him and says, “Okay, we get the picture! There’s a lot of them!”

    Wilson then says, “Dibs on the bug!” He then turns towards his partner, “Leomon!” The lion man’s fist glows with energy as he jumps up and punches at the giant stag beetle flat in the face.

    Avery and Lee Ann both say, “Whatever!” as they turn away from both Wilson and each other.

    Avery turns towards Airdramon only to see him on the ground with various digimon crawling up his body. Powerless, he can’t think of a single way to help his partner. Instinctively, he calls out, “Airdramon!”

    Airdramon groans out in response and squirms around, but he can’t do much to get the digimon off himself.

    Overwhelming fear makes Avery shout out, “Airdramon, don’t give up!”

    Airdramon growls out, half in pain as the digimon bite, claw, and tear into his flesh, and half out of determination to respond to Avery. Airdramon coils in on himself and starts raising his head only to be hit from above by an armored bird like raptor.

    “Airdramon!” Avery can only cry out in horror as his partner crashes against the ground with a ground shaking thud. “Airdramon!”

    Metal balls snip off the digimon crawling over Airdramon. Dorugamon then tackles the armored bird like raptor attacking Airdramon’s head.

    Airdramon shakes his head as he gets back up. With a, “Thanks,” to Dorugamon, he uses the cover to spew out a miniature flaming tornado from his mouth, “God Tornado!”

    The digimon that were swarming over Airdramon flee upon realizing that they’ve lost their advantage. Avery and Airdramon then turn to help out the others but discover that their battles are also ending.

    The two exchange glances and sigh out in relief.

    ******

    Fashioned in the center of a large swamp is a Japanese castle surrounded by a feudal city. The roads are muddied with water, but the polished white buildings are all burning. Gekomon and otamamon run through the streets, both screaming and shrieking out from fear and pain as they’re hunted down by an army of sethmon.

    Lilithmon stands atop the castle’s central tower. Her eyes glow with cruel delight as she watches everything unfold. A black fan covers the smile playing on her lips. It’s then she notices a pair of gekomon protecting an otamamon within an alleyway.

    The gekomon blow their golden horns at a charging sethmon, but the beast shrugs of their attacks and impales them both with its tusks. The sethmon flings the two off and onto the muddy street, leaving them to slowly be deleted as they watch it trample the frightened otamamon.

    Lilithmon relishes the otamamon’s final cries as she’s deleted. The burning castle shakes and a large, red, gecko like digimon with a pair of golden horns is sent flying out from the center of the tower. The booming blow of his horns resounds throughout the city. Both the invading sethmon and the fleeing gekomon and otamamon pause as they look towards it.

    A crimson sword lops of Tonosama Gekomon’s head, silencing his final struggle. The severed head and body begin breaking into the particles of deletion as they fall onto the burning city underneath.

    “Enjoying yourself?” A cold and booming voice speaks to Lilithmon from behind.

    Lilithmon glances back to see Devimon. Callousness glints from his red eyes as he waits for her to respond. Irritation frowns across Lilithmon’s face as she sighs out, “Did Lucemon send you?”

    Devimon scoffs as he says, “I serve no such master. My business with you is mine and mine alone.”

    Lilithmon narrows her eyes and thrusts forward with her right arm. “Nazar Nail!”

    Devimon catches her golden arm and smirks. “Come now, I am not here to fight.”

    Lilithmon, shocked that such a lowly digimon is able to withstand the corrosion of her attack, yanks back her arm and flings the sharp laces of her kimono at him. Devimon catches them and pulls Lilithmon forward, bringing the so called Goddess of Darkness up to his face.

    Devimon stares down into Lilithmon’s eyes before flinging her aside over the tiled roof to catch a crimson blade with his hand. Cold laughter escapes his mouth as he greets Duskmon. “Ah, it seems your loyal knight wants to join us.” Then, by gripping the sword, he hurls Duskmon at Lilithmon and adds, “It makes no difference at all.”

    Lilithmon shoves Duskmon aside and gets back up. Furry blazes across her face as she says, “What do you want?”

    “Me? Nothing at all. I am here merely to give you something instead.” Devimon then holds up a silver hexagon plaque with a cross on it.

    Lilithmon catches it as he flicks it towards her. She stares Devimon down to ensure he isn’t plotting anything before glancing down at what is in her hand. “What is it?”

    “A digi-memory, a memento of Yggdrasill if you would. There are seven more scattered around this continent, each their own treasure of knowledge. That one in particular tells of the future.”

    Lilithmon goes, “Hmm,” to herself as she once more examines the digi-memory. “Duskmon, keeps your eyes on our guest.”

    “Of course, my lady.”

    Lilithmon holds the digi-memory to her month and swallows it. Seconds later, she begins to laugh. While Duskmon is washed with confusion, Devimon grins. Lilithmon speaks between breaths. “This… you’re really giving this to me? Why? There’s absolutely… absolutely no way I’ll do nothing now... knowing this. What do you gain?”

    “Satisfaction. I too want to see the future.” Devimon leaps back and vanishes before Lilithmon can question his motives anymore.

    Duskmon kneels before Lilithmon and says, “My lady?”

    Lilithmon glances at Duskmon and says, “That digimon is using me, but no matter. This… gift is that valuable. Come Duskmon, enough playing around here. We’ve much more important matters to take care of now.”

    A bashful smile spreads across Lilithmon’s face as she turns around. Lilithmon’s voice softens as she adds, “Yes, something so important, Lucemon can just wait.”

    ******

    Lee Ann flings down her arms and stomps her foot as she cries out. “How many more of these stupid digimon do we have to deal with!? All they’re doing is slowing us down.” She then jabs a finger at Avery. “And you, you keep letting them run away! Just delete them! They’re going to keep coming back if you don’t!”

    Sylvia steps between them to says, “No! Cease deleting them! Deleting them like you are shall only make the situation worse! They are living beings the same as us.”

    Wilson says, “No, Lee Ann’s right. They’re just slowing us down. If they’re going to attack us, they get what’s coming to them.”

    Sylvia is shocked into silence by his reply. She grips her arm as she glances away and says, “You… truly believe such?”

    “Yeah, I do. They’re the ones starting it.”

    Sylvia bites her lower lip, but she doesn’t say anything more.

    Avery says, “Yeah, maybe you’re right, but deleting them is just making it worse.”

    “So, what? Let them come! Liollmon and I will take them all.”

    Avery walks towards Wilson while saying, “That’s just stupid! Is fighting them all you care about!”

    Wilson also moves towards Avery. “What does a girl like you know?”

    Avery and Wilson glare at each other. Their digimon, too, mimic their hostility. Patamon from atop Avery’s head and Liollmon from Wilson’s left. Wilson refuses to back down.

    Ben jumps between the two before any fists can fly. He holds his arms his arms out at both of them as he says, “Woah, woah, woah. Wil, you went too far calling Avery a girl there. Look, it’s been a long day. We’ve fought a lot today, a lot. Way too many times if I’m being honest. Let’s just stop, now. Think about setting up camp, instead.”

    Wilson says, “There’s nothing to think about. We can just stop wherever.”

    Ben says, “Okay, okay, sure. How about this, you guys see if you can find any fruit to eat. Avery and I will go check if there are any rivers nearby. We’ll all be a lot happier after something to eat and drink.”

    “Fine, whatever.” Wilson storms away. Sylvia, worried, hurries after and tries to pacify him. Lee Ann, not wanting to be in Avery’s group walks after them in silence.

    Ben slaps Avery’s back once they are alone. “Alright then, let’s go!” He then sets off in the opposite direction.

    Avery watches him set off. Only at Patamon’s, “Avery?” does he sigh and follow after. He then finds Ben waiting for him around behind the tree.

    After walking for a bit, Ben says, “So, I’ve been wondering.” Once he has Avery’s attention, he continues, “Why are you so against deleting Digimon? It’s not like they actually die. Weren’t you listening to Liollmon. He said deleted Digimon get reformatted back into being digi-eggs.”

    Avery recalls the boarmon he and Patamon defeated back when they first met. “After Boarmon, Chamelemon came swearing revenge for Boarmon. After Chamelemon came Elephamon and Frogmon swearing revenge for him. After them came three kenkimon and two digmon.”

    “You mean that boarmon you tricked into diving headfirst into corrosion? Well, other than that guy, the rest have become eggs. They’re still around.”

    “I’m not buying that. Sure, maybe they’re turning into eggs, but they all keep acting like they’ll never see each other again.”

    Ben tilts his head at Avery’s frustration. “You’re putting way too much thought into this. The way I see it, they attack, we defend ourselves.”

    “That’s you. The way I see it, every digimon we delete ends up doubling the number showing up for revenge next time.” A silence then falls over them. After a few minutes, Ben turns left. Avery can’t find any reason that he that would have prompted him to do so. Then, after more walking, Ben turns again. As far as Avery can tell, the action was meaningless. As doubt wells up inside of him, he says, “Are we just walking in random?”

    “Totally.”

    Avery stops with a flat, “What?”

    Ben laughs out and shrugs. “Hey, I said this is a search. How should I know if there’s even any water here? Our maps don’t tell us anything unless we’ve been there first.”

    Avery sighs out, shakes his head, and walks in a random direction. As Ben follows, he says, “So, now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ve been meaning to ask. Why does your digivice have extra buttons on it?”

    Ben holds up his digivice and manipulates it with his left hand. As he presses the two buttons in question, he says, “To be honest, I’m not sure. Although, the fact my digivice is different makes me think we all have specific roles to fulfill, roles that can only be carried out as a team.”
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
  6. Effugium

    Effugium [Investigator], Praise Shigure-sama

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    Why would he run away so desperately from patamon? :hmm:
     
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  7. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    How would you react to seeing some sort of creature on your chest, smiling and showing a bunch of sharp teeth at you?
     
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  8. Effugium

    Effugium [Investigator], Praise Shigure-sama

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    Be wary, maybe find a tree branch to use as weapon. patamon isn't that big so i wouldn't run like him :hmm:
     
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  9. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Yes :blobuwu: :blob_plusone: who would run away from this :blob_tilt:
    [​IMG]
    People need to get their sh*t together and watch some digimon, running away from patamon just because he saw him:facepalm:
     
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  10. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Me: yeah, he is going to digivolve, here comes An...
    Me: ... :blobneutral:
     
  11. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Fufufu~
    :blobsnow:
    Thank you continuing to read
     
  12. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Aside from few grammatical errors (and I think I saw some typos), I like that you gave the characters some personalities (Lee Ann seems to be racist for instance :blobunsure:), also, the digimons evolutions are kind of throwing me off guard, like Monodramon becoming
    Cyclomon or Patamon becoming Airdramon (what is the next digivolution for it: Megadramon? Myotismon?... :hmm:)
    And power levels are kind of... weird for some digimons here (Leomon's power is a bit exaggerated, don't you think? :blobsweat_2:)
    Well, to finish, I like this fanfiction so far (I see slight hints of romance, I hope I am wrong :notlikeblob:), seems promising :blobokhand:
     
  13. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Yes!!! Lee Ann is racist. I was afraid that wouldn’t get picked up on.
    The evolutions aren’t the usual, but they are within their evolution lines. Power scaling is off, but those guys are exceptions and there are reasons. Leomon didn’t seem that strong to me though?? I don’t recall it doing anything to outrageous
    What are your thoughts on Devimon??.
     
  14. Deleted member 155674

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    Not outrageous but kind of different to the Leomons I know (I guess that is because of how I visualized his battle reading this, he seems kind of faster and stronger in comparison :hmm: well, no harm being stronger than what I know), as for Devimon, I like how you gave him the feeling of that calculating smart villain (kind of reminds me of the feeling of when I first watched the first season of digimon adventures, Devimon back then was like the super evil villain that no one can defeat till Angelmon (Angelmon seemed OP back then :blobhero:) appeared and then died :blob_teary:, from that moment on, the Devimons that appeared were second rate in comparison.
    Your Devimon is definitely stronger (don't say no, he seem to be approaching the level of Beelzemon... well, weaker but definitely stronger than other Devimon counterparts I know of :hmm:)
     
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  15. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    My Devimon took on Lilithmon and Duskmon.:blobsmilehappyeyes: There’s no way he can be considered weak~
    If only there was an Angelmon to save the them. :blobwhistle:
     
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  16. Warrior Seadra

    Warrior Seadra Well-Known Member

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    Why am I not in this! I'm a brave warrior! I demand to face the strongest of these chosen!:blobhero:
     
  17. Deleted member 155674

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    I think @Gandire Alea is going to insert @Bantyo Blade somewhere in there at some point, so you might get your chance against him :blob_tilt:
     
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  18. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    I should be translating~

    Chapter 5

    Patamon taps Avery’s forehead from atop of his head with a paw. Once Avery glances upward, the digimon says, “Just a bit more, and we’ll be out of the forest.”

    Lee Ann overhears and cries out in relief. “Finally! We can leave this stupid forest.”

    Ben laughs and says, “Your just ticked Yukidarumon keeps getting knocked out.”

    “Shut up! We had them. Those should have been our wins!” She then glares at Avery and adds, “It’s your fault for not covering Yukidarumon properly! Don’t you know the meaning of teamwork?”

    Avery, instead of answering, reaches upward to rub Patamon’s head. A relaxed smile melts across Patamon’s face and he makes himself more comfortable atop of Avery’s messy hair.

    “You! Quit ignoring me! Take responsibility for yourself! You’ll never get anywhere until then!”

    Wilson says, “That’s you.”

    “What!?”

    Wilson continues, “You messed up. You focused on one digimon and stopped paying attention. Quit blaming others for your mistakes.”

    Ben chuckles and says, “You mean quit blaming Avery.”

    Lee Ann says, “He’s holding us back! I don’t make mistakes!”

    Sylvia says, “No, if anyone, Kudamon and I are most at fault here. Despite how long we have been traveling, we are unable to achieve digivolution.”

    Ben says, “Aww, don’t be like that. Besides, not like it’s something you can force. It’ll happen when it happens.”

    Lee Ann says, “Yeah, no need to cover for someone like him.”

    Wilson says, “Again, that’s you! They attack, you mess up, lose, and blame her— I mean Avery!”

    “No, I don’t!”

    “What are you, seven?”

    “Shut up, shut up, shut up! You’re going on and on about how great you are, but you can’t even beat me!”

    Wilson’s face scrunches from confusion. “When did I ever say that!? But if you’re looking for a fight, fine! Liollmon!”

    “Yuki Agumon!”

    Ben and Sylvia jump between them as their digimon begin to shine with golden light. Thanks to some quick words, the digivolutions are cut short and a fight is prevented.

    Liollmon, seeing that a fight won’t be happening, eases up. He then grins and says, “We’re really close to the exit. In fact, we’re already there!” He then scampers around a shrub. Everyone comes to a stop as they step out of the forest. Before them is a ravine between two massive cliffs. The walls are so perfectly flat, the passage looks as if someone had cut a knife through the mountain. Liollmon says, “Ta da, the exit.”

    Avery says, “The exit is a narrow passage?”

    Patamon says, “Maybe? I just flew down from one of the cliffs.”

    Liollmon says, “There are heaps of other ways in and out, but this one’s easiest to travel though and closest one to the town.”

    Lee Ann makes a bee line for the exit before anything else can be said. No one comments about her impatience and instead follow along.

    As Avery steps forward, Patamon tenses up on his head. He picks up on Patamon’s feelings and readies himself. His head flicks in the direction Patamon is staring and his right hand flies to his digivice 02. At the same time, he says to everyone one else, “In coming!”

    Everyone gets ready. The past few days provided the more than enough opportunity to learn not to doubt Patamon’s hearing. Moments later, a loud buzzing fills the air.

    Lee Ann makes a face. “Ugh, more bugs…” The rest of her words are drowned out by the furious buzz.

    A gust of wind washes over everyone. “You humans have been making quite the mess in my forest.” A voice that seems to vibrate on itself calls out to them from behind.

    Avery’s breath gets caught in his throat. He spins around and points his digivice, but no thing is there. “Wha- where…?”

    Wilson clenches a fist and says, “Above.”

    Hovering overhead by flapping its wings faster than can be seen is a crimson bugman wearing a long, shimmering, black, jacket. Golden armbands cover the forearms of his crossed arms.

    The Digimon stares down at everyone with his blue compound eyes and speaks with a vibrating voice, “You’ve deleted a lot of my friends while I was away.”

    Wilson throws his arm out to the side as he steps forward. “Please, they attacked us first.”

    “That they did.”

    “If you’re going to punch someone, don’t cry if you get punched back.”

    The crimson insect lands and uncrosses his arms. Its relaxed attitude suggests agreement with Wilson’s words. “I am Bancho Stingmon. It’s been a long time since humans last came, but they went and left quite a mess of things.” He then readies his fists and adds, “Tell me, what exactly is it you lot are planning to do?”

    “Liollmon!”

    “Right,” the lion cub shines golden light as he leaps forward. “Shinka!” Moments later, Leomon appears before Wilson.

    Avery steps forward, ready to digivolve Patamon, but Wilson holds out his arm to everyone.

    “Don’t get involved, this is my fight.”

    “What?” Avery’s taken aback by the declaration. “Are you insane? You’re nowhere near his match.”

    “Shut up! This is a fight between men.” Wilson glances at Avery with cold eyes and adds, “Get in my way and we’ll cut you down first.”

    Avery clicks his tongue but steps back. Once Wilson is ignoring him, he speaks to everyone in a low voice. “Be ready to jump in.”

    Lee Ann says, “If he wants to die, let him die. Not our problem.”

    “This fight is completely our problem. Standing by doing nothing is plain stupid.”

    Sylvia says, “Are you certain? Wilson said not to get involved.”

    Avery glances at her in disbelief. “So what? Sylvia, he’s in over his head. The second he goes down is the moment we need to jump in.”

    Ben says, “Avery’s right. We need to be ready for anything.”

    Sylvia says, “Do neither of you believe in him?”

    Avery scoffs, “Belief has nothing to do with it. Bancho Stingmon is on a complete different level from every other Digimon we’ve face. This isn’t the time for his stupid ego.”

    “Right!” Patamon grips the top of Avery’s head, ready to take off at a moments notice.

    A piercing cling returns everyone’s attention to the battle. Leomon seems to have rushed forward and swung his sword at Bancho Stingmon only for it to have been received by a spike shooting out from one of Bancho Stingmon’s armband.

    Bancho Stingmon says, “Not a bad swing,” before roundhouse kicking Leomon through a tree and into the forest.

    Wilson’s eyes pop open. “Leomon, get up!”

    “Beast King Fist!” The golden, ethereal, lion head flies out through the bushes and explodes against Bancho Stingmon. Before the dust can settle, Leomon pounces forward and goes to bisect Bancho Stingmon’s head with his sword. “Shishioumaru!”

    Leomon swings into the cloud of dust, but he stops moving midway. He doesn’t realize at first, but shock soon washes over his face as he realizes his arm won’t budge anymore. “Wha—?”

    Anger laces Wilson’s voice as he again says, “Leomon!”

    Leomon grits his teeth at Wilson’s cry. The lion man digs his feet into the ground and pushes with all his might to no avail. Instead, his feet slide backwards, clawing grooves in the dirt.

    The dust finishes settling to reveal Bancho Stingmon holding the blade’s edge between two fingers.

    “Leomon!”

    Leomon roars out with a lion’s cry and swings with his other hand. Bancho Stingmon catches the fist and pulls Leomon towards himself. The bugman pulls his head back and slams it down against Leomon’s. Then, as Leomon’s legs crumple, he drives a fist into the lion man’s gut.

    Leomon flies back and lands at Wilson’s feet. His eyes are rolled back into its head and a strained gagging sound trickles out from his throat.

    “Leomon! Get up! Right now!”

    Bancho Stingmon steps towards Wilson while saying, “Not bad, a good punch and a clean swing.”

    Despair creeps into Wilson’s voice as he once more shouts, “Leomon!”

    A massive serpent rams into Bancho Stingmon from the side. The bugman side steps, wraps his arms around Airdramon’s maw, and hoists the serpent over his shoulders. Airdramon slams into the cliffside behind him, shaking the whole area.

    Bancho Stingmon looks over Airdramon before then glancing at Avery. “And an honest strike.” He then leaps into the air and flies away.

    Everyone stares at the sky with their jaws hanging open. Avery wonders if the digimon took a liking to them, or if he simply got bored and decided to do something else.

    “He’s just gonna flying away!?” Ben’s shout brings everyone back to their senses. “What was the point of all that?”

    The question is soon forgotten as Wilson explodes with anger. “Avery! The hell! That was my fight!”

    Avery casts his gaze upon Leomon. The lion man continues to remain sprawled on the ground. “It ended.”

    Wilson grabs Avery’s collar and shakes him as he says, “Like hell it did! You got in—”

    Avery punches Wilson in the face. Wilson staggers a step before hurling himself and a punch at Avery. Avery blocks the wide swing with his arm only to be kick from the side.

    Wilson takes the opening to pounce on Avery. Avery grabs him as he rolls onto his back and flings Wilson off of him. He then springs back onto his feet and lunges for Wilson who’s also getting back up. Yet, just as he’s throwing a kick, a pair of arms wrap around him from behind and throw him to the side.

    Ben then dash forward and grabs Wilson before he can reach Avery. “Chill! Both of you, calm down!”

    Wilson struggles to break free, but Ben’s hold is firm. Instead, he settles for shouting, “You stupid girl! That was my fight! Who asked you!? Who! Asked! You!?”

    Avery looks at Wilson in disgust for a second before turning to his partner. Airdramon, not long after collapsing onto the ground, had revered back to Patamon. As such, Avery picks up the small mammal and holds him to himself. “Great going, Patamon.”

    It’s around then that Ben releases Wilson. Wilson drops to his knees and slams a fist against the ground. “Damn it, damn it damn it!” He cries out at the top of his lungs and hits the ground again and again, each time louder and harder. “We lost!! Damn it!”

    Avery sighs at the sight and walks off. Ben notices him entering the straight between the cliffs and dashes up to him. “Woah, woah, woah, where are you going?”

    Avery glances back at Wilson and says, “I’m not putting up with this anymore.”

    “So you’re just gonna leave?”

    “Yep.”

    Ben wraps his Avery’s shoulder and leads him back towards the others. “Don’t do that. Safety in numbers, man. Safety in numbers.”

    Avery forces a stop and glances at Wilson who’s glaring at the ground in both shame and silence before an unconscious Liollmon[2]. He then turns towards the imprint Airdramon left in the mountain side after being slammed into it. Avery shifts his shoulder to shrug off Ben’s arm and says, “We’ll take our chances.”

    Patamon nods from within Avery’s arms. “Besides, I can fly.”

    Sylvia then appears on Avery’s other side. She places her hands upon his crossed arms and pleads for him to stay. Her eyes shimmer with fear as she looks into his eyes. “Please, do not leave. We were all brought to the Digital World together for a reason. That we ourselves were chosen must have a meaning. We are a team. We must stay together.”

    “Traveling together does not make us a team.”

    Ben says, “Maybe not, but we’re getting there.” He then gestures to a larger version of Dorumon, but with darker fur and wings. “Bancho Stingmon flew off, but Dorugamon and I, we were ready jump in right behind you.”

    Sylvia continues to stare into Avery’s eyes. “While we might not yet be able to digivolve, we are more than willing to do our part.”

    Avery looks at the two of them and sighs out in frustration. “Fine, fine, we won’t go anywhere.”

    Sylvia exhales in relief. “You give your word?”

    Annoyance laces Avery’s words, “I promise.”

    Sylvia lowers her head as she says, “Hearing you say that… Truly, I am grateful.”

    Ben then says, “Anyway, what was the deal was with that digimon. Who was it? What was the point of all that?”

    Lee Ann joins them, saying, “It was testing us, obviously.”

    “A test?”

    “Yeah, weren’t you listening? It wanted to make sure we aren’t like the previous humans.” She then clicks her tongue and adds, “It annoyingly wouldn’t let me scan it. It shifted and made me miss each time I tried. I mean, there’s got to be a limit to how stupidly annoying you can be.”

    Sylvia says, “I also failed at scanning him. No attempt could reach him.”

    Avery says, “Same.”

    Ben says, “That… doing that can’t be easy. We really got lucky there. If that guy got serious against us…”

    Everyone gets quiet as they imagine their own deaths.

    It’s as Avery muses over the comment about previous humans having made a mess that he notices something odd. “Sylvia, in your digi-memory, didn’t you say humans saved the digital world? What’s with the disconnect?”

    Kudamon answers from Sylvia’s shoulder. “Bancho Stingmon was most likely referring to a different set of humans. Whenever an impossible calamity befalls the digital world, for human aid to be sought is not uncommon.”

    A hoarse growl speaks up. “That’s right… you said there are virtues that can make us stronger.”

    Sylvia jumps at Wilson’s interruption. Her golden blond hair flicks Avery in the face as she spins around.

    Wilson says, “Where’s the closest one? We’re going there next.”

    Lee Ann says, “Hold it! What about going to that town!?”

    “Later! First, the virtue! Everything will be pointless if we just die on the way!” He then looks back at Sylvia and says, “So, where is it? Which way do we go?”

    Sylvia nods and says, “I understand. Please follow me. Fortunately, one isn’t that far from the town.”

    Avery himself follows along without any complaints. When he thinks to how they are barely getting by, to how random digimon attack them on a daily basis, how Devimon probably wasn’t defeated by them, and how Bancho Stingmon let them live, he realizes everything has been a tight rope. Worse, even though they are all avoiding talking about it, not a single one of them has any idea on how to return home. Seeing as how they are stuck in the Digital World, getting more strength can only be a good thing.

    “No, we’re lost, but we aren’t stuck.”

    A smile crosses Avery’s face as he recalls that humans have come to the Digital World in the past. That they are no longer there means there is hope.

    Ben notices Avery’s growing smile and says, “What the heck put you in such a good mood?”

    “Ever since middle school, somehow or another, I’ve worked, weekends, holidays, and summers. My most wildest adventures have all just been school field trips.”

    Ben’s expression falls flat. “Dude, is this all some fun, happy, trip for you? We were almost killed like seven minutes ago.”

    Patamon speaks up from atop of Avery’s head. “But the Digital World is a great place.”

    Avery reaches up to rub Patamon’s head and says, “Everything will be fine as long as we’re careful. Heck, even back home, nothing was guaranteed. I mean, part of why we’re taking this side trip is to find some virtue of a relic instead of going to that town.”



    Walking through the straight, despite the jagged footing, is simple. While the towering brownish grey cliff walls are close, they are distant enough to prevent any feelings of claustrophobia. Instead, the way light channels through and glitters on the walls as the sun passes overhead creates a transforming, almost living, sense of awe and splendor. The various minerals exposed on the wall act as prisms and reflect shimmering rainbows all around.

    Exiting the passage, to the surprise of all the humans, takes them until the next day. They emerge from it around noon and step onto a wide, vast plain of tall, rolling grass. Everyone’s attention however is drawn to one point.

    Ben is the first to speak out, “Is that a tree? It’s huge!”

    Lee Ann says, “How? Trees can’t get that big!”

    Kudamon clears her throat to get everyone’s attention. The ferret then says, “That is Yggdrasill, the lord and overseer of the Digital World.”

    Lee Ann snaps at the explanation. “That’s a tree!”

    Avery says, “Your partner is a talking, white, dinosaur.”

    Lee Ann is taken aback by the remark. She instinctively wants to refute him but can’t find anything to deny. Instead, she scoffs at him and says, “Who asked you? This is none of your businesses.”

    Sylvia says, “We are a team. This involves all of us.”

    Lee Ann, with a, “hmpf,” says, “If that’s this world’s so called overseer, shouldn’t it know why we’re here? Hell, it’s probably responsible for bringing us here! Let’s skip that town and go there instead.”

    Yuki Agumon says, “Great idea, we should do that instead!”

    Kudamon says, “Yes, there is logic to that plan. However, a trailmon at the town can take us there much faster than our legs could.”

    Avery glances towards Sylvia. He recalls her saying the digi-memories are a failsafe incase anything happens to Yggdrasill. “I thought Yggdrasill was dead.”

    A strained silence falls over the group. Kudamon clears her throat and says, “Regardless, much can be earned going there.”

    Wilson says, “Great, then that’s our final stop.” He then takes in the grassy plain spreading out before them before looking back at Sylvia and adds, “If we’re done here, which way?”

    “Right,” Sylvia nods and begins walking East of Yggdrasill. He voice is full of energy as she says, “We still have a way to go, but what we seek lies in this direction.”

    As they walk, Ben muses aloud. “So, first a mountainous forests full of cliffs and valleys. Now, rolling, grassy, plains filled with who knows what. What’s next, rivers of lava?”

    ********

    A pair of sistermon watch the humans and their digimon partners set off from atop the two sides of the ravine. Each stands atop a golden line. Behind them is an annihilated platoon of tankdramon. Large bluish grey dragons along with their massive guns, tank treads, and twisted chunks of metal lay scattered about, slowly disintegrating into bits of data as their lives cease.

    Sistermon Blanc, a young girl like Digimon wearing a fluffy, pink bunny, veil over a white dress and holding a golden trident, speaks from the left cliff. “We can claim that Lord Yggdrasill’s arrangement worked despite the mishaps. Although, Bancho Stingmon leaving his area to fight Beelzebumon over his beach house…” Her voice grows meek and trails off at the end.

    Sistermon Noir, a teenaged girl like Digimon wearing a black cat veil over a black nun’s habit, grins and shrugs from atop of the other cliff. “What can we do? Beelzebumon laid his claws on his property. No way Bancho Stingmon would take that laying facedown. His domain ended up being left open for D-Brigade to invade, but it all worked out, right?”

    Worry laces Sistermon Blanc’s voice. “Just… where did those other human’s come from?”

    Sistermon Noir plants her cheek against a fist. After musing the possible reasons, she smirks and laughs out. “Honestly, no idea. It could be the mechations of that new force, Homeo-something or another. Either way, five is a lot more interesting than one.”

    Sistermon Blanc sighs at her older sister’s carefree attitude. “For now, we should report this to Gankoomon.”

    “He’ll probably just say to keep watching from a distance.” Sistermon Noir then deepens her voice and speaks in a harsher tone. “More humans means they can pull more weight! Let them suffer more!”

    Sistermon Blanc giggles at her older sister’s imitation.

    Sistermon Noir then adds, “Let’s explain that tankdramon who slipped through like that.”

    “Speaking of which, I can’t believe they were able to take one out. Sure, it was weakened, but still.”

    “Let’s say we gave them their first test and they passed it, not that we saw it or anything. Well, they’re alive and stronger because of it, so it’s all good.”

    “That’s how you’re describing it… More importantly, any idea to what happened to her afterwards? Like, did she just drive away after they sent her off that cliff.”

    “Maybe something else got her? Not like we’re the only ones here.”

    “You mean like Devimon? We completely lost sight of him after he empowered Ogremon and Cyclomon. Do you think he knows we’re here?”

    “My gut says, ‘yeah.’ I’ve no idea how, but he’s on to us. Stay sharp, he might even pop by to greet us sooner or later.”

    The mystery deepens?? What do you all think about this chapter??
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2021
    Deleted member 155674 likes this.
  19. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Keeping Avery in the team isn't necessary, let him go solo :hmm:
     
  20. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Are you saying that cause the people in that team tick you off??