Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ War 3 ( Chapter 9 )

My name is Mimi Barton and I still remember the first time I saw Palmon… weeellll…technically she was Tanemon the first time I saw her, and that was back when I was still Mimi Tachikawa. Anyway, she pretty much freaked me out, and I didn’t want to have anything to do with her. That was until Kuwagamon attack, and she became my best friend in a matter of five seconds. We were through a lot together, and when my family moved to New York, I just wanted her with me so I could hold her tight and let her tell me that everything would be okay.

That was until my first day at school, and I met the man of my dreams. Michael Barton…Oh, I don’t know how many nights I sat up, saying his name over and over again in my dreams. He was everything I could have ever asked for. Together, we built up the New York team from a group of arguing teens to one that rivaled Taichi and Daisuke’s team back in Odabia. I thought of all of them like my little brothers and sisters. And when Lou, Steve, Sam, Tatum and Mari were infected with BD-2, part of my heart broke, and when Lou and Steve died, my heart cracked a little more, and when Sam and Tatum joined Digitalatri, my heart completely shattered. I couldn’t believe it. I know that they kind of resented me and Michael since we were modified by the X-Antibody, but I never thought they would completely turn their backs on us. Oh thank God Maria didn’t.

We did meet another Chosen from Brazil named Iduia. She suffered one of the worse cases of BD-2 anyone had seen. That damn virus ate away her voice box, messed with her lungs and almost destroyed her kidneys. Yet, she still had a smile on her face. While me and Michael were with her, she started showing that weird light energy that those other girls did. Iduia insisted we go to Nightsun to help Taichi defend the city, so we did.

When we got there, we got into a fight with three of the Demon Lords, these looked like Taichi, Sora and Daisuke. They summoned Chimeramon to attack us. Our X-digimon fought as hard as they could, but Maria and the others thought if they gave us their energy powers, we would have a chance. But something went wrong. The Demon Lords stole half of the energy, and the other half proved too strong for us and we collapsed in pain. My entire body felt like it wanted to explode….. --------------------------------- The Book of War: Chapter 3: ---------------------------------

Taichi somberly walked up the brick steps, his eyes already beginning to water. He forced the tears back and continued up the stairs. Behind him was Hikari, holding his hand tightly. Taichi was dressed in his only black suit, while Hikari was wearing a dress in a dark blue, and odd choice for the usually bright young woman.

They passed through the white, elegantly designed doors and stepped into a dimly lit hall, decorated with a plush carpet, a large couch and matching curtains. They saw Yamato and Jyou standing at the only door in the room. They said nothing; Taichi only bowed, but Hikari embraced both of them.

The two siblings continued on their path, stepping past them and entering into the larger room. There were rows and rows of chairs stretching from end to end. At the front of the room was a beautifully polished box covered with flowers. Hikari squeezed his hand even tighter as they approached the box, and saw the body of Sora Takenouchi.

Hikari began to cry and turned to run out of the room. Taichi wanted to run after her, but could only stare at the body in the coffin. He felt the tears began to fill in his eyes, and this time he did not pull them back, but let them flow free.

“Sora…I…can’t believe that you’re gone too…Takeru, Miyako, Iori, Ken, Daisuke, Koushiro, and now…” He collapsed onto the casket, “Sora, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. Sora, I’m sorry, I’m just so…so….”

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Back in the real world, Taichi’s eyes flickered feverously beneath his eyelids. Maria noticed this instantly. “Taichi? Taichi!” She turned over her shoulder, “Noriko, he’s doing something!”

“They’re all doing something Maria!” the Japanese woman shouted back as she examined Yamato, “Oh shit, I can’t believe we did this!”

“What about those other two?” Lynna asked.

“Sora and Catherine,” Maria clarified.

“Whatever! Those demon guys took ‘em!”

“One problem at a time,” Noriko said. She glanced over to the other fallen X-Chosen. They were all twitching and flinching as if they’re bodies were in extreme pain, while Anna, Lynna, Maria and herself examined them. Iduia and Keeya were acting as lookout. The young women had managed to pull the X-Chosen back into one of the building of Nightsun, but the Digitalatri Army was still pushing closer into the city, and Chimeramon was still circling the immediate area, searching for them.

Anna gently placed her hand on Hikari’s face. She felt her shaking and quivering beneath her touch. “I am sorry,” she said under breath, “Please forgive me…”

“We did not know this was going to happen,” her Penmon said, “We only tried to help…”

“How much longer are they gonna be unconscious for?” Patamon asked.

“I don’t know,” Maria said, “Oh, Taichi, wake up soon, pl…” She was cut off as a large, loud, deep roar blasted through the air, so deep and loud it shook the walls.

Iduia and Keeya ran back into the room. “Chimeramon is getting closer,” Keeya said.

“We…need…to…move…them…” Iduia added via her mechanized voice box.

“What?” Noriko gasped, “It took us forever to get them in here!”

“Shouldn’t we jus’ fight?” Lynna asked.

“We’re still too weak from fighting Shiokuru and Barbamon,” Keeya’s Mushmon replied, sadly.

“I didn’t fight!” Lynna’s Gizamon protested.

“Neither did I,” added Iduia’s Kokuwamon.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Noriko said, shaking her head, “You’d get yourselves killed.”

“But…” the Australian young woman started, but Noriko still shook her head.

“I can’t let you, sorry.”

“So…we…just…wait…to…ge t…killed…?” Iduia asked.

The black-haired young woman went back to gently shaking Yamato. “You’ve got to wake up…please…”

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The siege against Nightsun continued. The army of the Digitalatri had pressed through the front line, destroying a large section of the protective wall surrounding the city. This resulted in a massive hole being formed that allowed the soldiers free access. They were only stopped by the Chosen warriors of Nightsun. They had so far been able to keep the Meramons and Golemons at bay, but the invaders were gaining ground.

One of the Golemons broke through the line of Nightsun Chosen and charged through the streets, tearing and destroying as many buildings as he could. He lifted his army and prepared to smash into another building, when his mouth was pounded by a blast of electrical light. The massive digimon and his Chosen partner twisted their heads. A Chosen from the Nightsun army and his Elecmon partner ran to them from within the war zone.

The Digitalatri Chosen laughed and nodded at his partner. The Golemon lumbered forward, ready to smash the smaller Child-level, when three more Elecmons appeared from behind another building and fired electrical blasts at Golemon’s eyes. These Elecmons belonged to two girls and one boy. The first boy smiled slightly at them and the four Elecmons readied for another attack.

The Golemon roared and ran forward, swinging his arms into one of the buildings, blowing apart a large section of the wall. The building instantly collapsed, crushing the three Chosen and their Elecmon partners.

The Golemon’s human partner grinned.

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Outside of the city, Dingo of Australia and his Gesomon X and Yuri of Russia and his Kuwagamon X were staring down one of the commanders of the Digitalari Army, Keiko Shingu formerly of the Odabia Chosen, and her newly evolved partner, Pinocchimon. Dingo and Yuri knew that with partners only at the Adult level, they would not last long against a Mega digimon.

“Give it up now,” Keiko said, “Before you get killed.”

Dingo glanced over at Yuri. “Whadda say?”

The Russian man smiled slightly as he stared at Keiko and Pinocchimon. “As my Australian friend here might say, “Kiss my ass!”

The Japanese woman shook her head. “I gave you a chance.” She nodded at her partner, “Do it.”

Pinocchimon grinned and walked forward, gripping his mallet tightly. He chuckled. “I’m gonna enjoy this!”

Gesomon X and Kuwagamon X nodded at each other. Each one knew they would not likely survive, but were determined to make Pinocchimon break a sweat trying to do it.

Kuwagamon X led the attack. He zoomed forward and went to kick the puppet digimon in the head, but he ducked at the last second, grabbing the insect by the same leg and threw him high into the air. Gesomon X expunged a spew of black ink, aiming for the puppet digimon’s face. Pinocchimon swung his hammer as fast as he could, diminishing the ink into harmless particles.

Kuwagamon X returned from the sky, diving at Pinocchimon as fast as he could. The puppet digimon glanced to the sky and gripped his mallet, waiting for the opportunity to strike. Before he arrived, however, Gesomon X whipped his tentacles around to attack the wooden digimon from behind. It was his plan to attack Pinocchimon from behind.

The puppet digimon suddenly dropped his mallet, twisted around and grabbed the squid’s tentacle. Pinocchimon repositioned his feet and easily twisted the large digimon into the air, knocking Gesomon X into Kuwagamon X and threw them both into the snow.

“Get up!” Dingo shouted, “Don’t embarrasses me!”

Both digimon leapt back into action. decided to team up. Kuwagamon X hovered in the air for a second before shooting forward, once again heading for Pinocchimon at full speed. The puppet digimon grabbed his mallet and was ready to bat him aside, but at the last second, shot into the air. Pinocchimon twisted his head up in shock, but realized what had happened at the last second. He shot his head back down, but it was too late, Gesomon X’s tentacles bashed him in the face.

“Oh yeah!” Dingo cheered, “Yes, yes!”

Gesomon X slowly lowered his tentacles, and realized that he had not injured the puppet digimon at all.

Pinocchimon glanced over at his partner. “All right, can I stop playing now?”

Keiko nodded. “Yes.”

The puppet turned back to them and grinned maliciously. With a simply swipe of his hammer, he knocked Gesomon X skidding backwards. Kuwagamon X came flying at him from behind, but the puppet digimon ducked, causing the insect to shoot over head. Pinocchimon whacked his hammer into Kuwagamon X’s back, sending him into tailspin where he crashed into Gesomon X. Pinocchimon finished his combo attack but leaping into the air and slamming his mallet onto both X-digimon as hard as he could. Gesomon X and Kuwagamon X glowed brightly for a moment before de-evolving to Ganimon X and Kokuwamon X.

Dingo and Yuri ran over to the Child digimon, examining their wounds. They glanced up to see Pinocchimon and Keiko standing over them. “I gave you a choice,” she said, “You didn’t take it, now die!”

Pinocchimon positioned his mallet and fired balls of energy from the underside. “Bullet Hammer!”

The two Child X-digimon suddenly leapt up, hitting Pinnochimon in the face. He was thrown off balance, knocking him onto his back. His energy attack shot into the air before landing on his own soldiers. Yuri, Dingo and their partners quickly exited the battlefield.

Pinnochimon was about to run after them when Keiko called out to him. “Let them go.”

“What?” he asked, spinning around in shock.

Keiko crossed her arms and mentioned to the city. “They don’t have anywhere to go.”

Pinnochimon examined the battle which was moving into the city itself. He grinned in triumph.

Yuri was staring at the same sight. The Digitalatri Chosen and their partners, Golemon and Monochromons had succeeded in pushing through the last line of the Nightsun Chosen. Their defenses had failed. “It is over,” he said.

“What?” Dingo asked.

“Nightsun has fallen.”

“You’re givin’ up?!”

“Look, you can see it, they are pushing into the center of the city. We will never be able to force them out now.”

“Are you sure?” Kokuwamon X asked.

Yuri nodded. “Call the retreat.”

Dingo nodded. “If that’s what ya want.” He and Ganimon X began to run to the Nightsun Chosen. “Retreat! Retreat!”

Yuri watched as his soldiers began to reluctantly run from the battlefield. He turned to his own partner. “We have to go for Anna.”

The insect digimon hesitated. “Um, okay, but how?”

He shrugged. “The back way, of course.”

Kokuwamon X nodded and grinned. “You got it.” He evolved to Kuwagamon X once more. Yuri jumped onto his back and the giant insect hovered along the ground, shooting around what remained of the outside brick wall until they arrived at a smaller version of the main door on the other side. They passed through it and entered the back of the city.

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Deeper within the city, Chimeramon continued to circle the town square. He knew the young women and the injured Chosen had disappeared somewhere within one of the buildings. He did not remember those Chosen, except for the short-haired woman. She was the light child, he remembered her, she helped the other, the gold warrior destroy him. He would have his revenge.

Inside the safe house, the young women were huddling around the still-unconscious X-Chosen. “Chimeramon is coming closer,” Anna said, “I can hear him.”

“We can all hear him,” Lynna said, “He’s right over us!”

“Lynna!” her Gizamon snapped.

“Sorry,” the Australian woman said, “I’m a little stressed right now.”

“We’re all stressed,” Keeya responded in a more calm voice, “But we cannot start attacking each other.”

“I wasn’t attacking her!” Lynna protested.

“Stop it!” Maria shouted. The other women were in shock, even her partner. Patamon had never heard her speak in such a manner before.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“No, I’m sorry,” Lynna smiled. She walked over and put her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “We’re not fighting, right?”

Anna nodded. “Da, we are friends.”

“Please don’t treat me like a child,” Maria responded, “I’m just worried about Taichi.”

The others nodded in silent agreement. Each one was staring at the X-Chosen that they had tried to empower. The result sent them into unconscious shock. Mimi, Michael, Hikari, Jyou, Yamato, Taichi and their digimon partners…each one was writhing in pain, their eyes shut in darkness. “They…will…be…okay…” Iduia said, “…they…have…to…be…”

The entire building soon began to vibrate fiercely, throwing those women standing onto their backs. The building shook again as a large roar blasted through the city. They nervously glanced at each other. “He’s here,” Anna said.

Noriko stared down at Yamato. She rose to her feet. “We have to keep him away from them. Come on Plotmon.”

“Wait!” Maria called.

The Japanese woman turned around and saw the Latino girl crawling towards her. “I’m coming too…”

Noriko smiled and helped the legless Chosen onto her back. When they turned back to the door, they were only slightly surprised to see the other young women and their partners standing before them. They walked forward in silence, and Keeya and Iduia pulled the large, oak doors open. Chimeramon was standing in the city square, glaring down at the exiting young women and their digimon partners with drooling fangs. They positioned themselves in a semi-circle around the doors of the building. Noriko stood in the middle with Maria still on her back. The Japanese girl bravely stared up at the synthetic digimon and defiantly spoke out, “You’re not getting past us.”

He glanced down at her and growled. The shockwaves forced them back slightly, but they stood their ground. “You’re not going to scare us like that. We’re not moving.”

The mix-and-matched digimon raised his four arms and was about to throw them down, no doubt striking a fatal blow, when bright light began to explode from within the building, showering the young women, their partners, and the sinister Chimeramon.

The massive digimon ceased his attack. He and the young woman watched as the fallen Chosen slowly rose to their feet, each one glowing the same color as the light the young women had forced into them. Behind them, their Child-level partners rose to their feet as well, each one evolving to their Adult levels in a matter of seconds. The light intensified as their evolution continued.

The brown light from Maria forced Greymon X to grow tattered blue wings from his shoulder blades, his brown horns became covered with metal, creating a helmet. The stream of metal continued down his chest before reaching his left arm, which formed into a robotic shape, the fingers long clawed shapes. “Greymon X evolve to Metalgreymon X!”

The dark light from Noriko merged with Garurumon X, shooting him onto his back legs. His back cracked into an upright position, and the hairs on his back grew into shape, Stegosaurus-type fins growing down his back. His front paws twisted into human-shapes, and metal pants appeared on his legs. “Garurumon X evolve to WereGarurumon X!”

The dark blue light from Anna twisted around Tailmon X, before striking her in the chest. She grew three times in size, her body changing into a lion-body type. Large, feathery wings sprouted from her back while a smaller pair appeared on the sides of her hind legs. A metal breastplate appeared over her chest, while metal shin guards appeared over her front legs, causing her Tailmon gloves to twist into long claws. An Egyptian-styled mask appeared over her face and blond hair, with sharp cat ears on her head. “Tailmon X evolve to Nefertimon X!”

The light blue light from Lynna flowed around Tylomon X, encasing him within a cocoon of water. The chrysalis shattered a moment later as a multicolored shellfish creature leapt out, with blue pincers hanging over his front, a long red body, and sharp blades emerging from his shoulders. “Anomalocarimon X!”

The green light from Keeya shot into Togemon X, causing her body to explode into thousands of pink flower petals. These same petals were pulled back together, forming a human shape with four green leaves in forty-five degree angles on her back. A stream of pink light started from the top of her head and flowed down her body to the tip of her feet, causing large rose petals to attach to her head in the shape of a hat, a sleeveless pink dress with a poofy skirt in the shape of flower petals, green, knee-high boots, and green arm gloves. “Togemon X evolve to Lillymon X!”

The gray light from Iduia caused Seadramon X to change to a red color, his sharp horn turned to a scimitar shape as bolts of lightning flew from the tip. “Seadramon X evolve to Megaseadramon X!”

“You’re okay!” Maria exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Taichi grinned.

“Sorry to make you worry,” Hikari smiled apologetically.

“Hey, it was our fault,” Lynna said.

“That was a pretty good idea though,” Jyou nodded, “Just, next time, maybe we should test it out first.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Noriko shrugged slightly.

“Just stay back,” Taichi said, stepping past her, “And let us handle this.”
“Are you sure?” Maria’s Patamon asked.

“Hey, no worries,” Michael smiled, “We’ve got more then enough power to deal with him.”

“He’s right,” Mimi said, “Thanks for the help.”

Yamato punched his open palm. “All right, let’s show Chimeramon that no matter how many times he comes back, we’ll beat him every time!”

The young women stared with expressions of extreme shock as the Fully Evolved X-Digimon shot past them. Metalgreymon X head butted the synthetic digimon, grabbing two of his arms and running forward, throwing Chimeramon into a building across the street. The synthetic digimon flapped his wings, throwing Metalgreymon X onto his back before he flew into the air.

Nefertimon X and Megaseadramon X shot around from behind, each one charging their attacks. The sphinx digimon fired two beams of red light from her headdress. “Curse of Queen!” The energy attack struck the digimon in the eyes, causing him to roar in pain. Megaseadramon X added to his injury by forcing the horn on the top of his head to turn into a sharp point before he rammed into Chimeramon’s chest at full force. The synthetic digimon was about to grab him with his arms, but the serpent displayed an increase in speed and shot out of harm’s way.

Chimeramon began to swing his arms around in blind rage as he fell back to the ground, landing on his feet. Weregarurumon X darted between them with ease and executed a roundhouse kick in the synthetic digimon’s ribcage. Lillymon X fluttered around like a butterfly, kicking and punching along his entire body. Anomalocarimon X skittered along the ground on his multiple legs. He used his giant pincers to claw the furry legs, almost drawing blood. The giant digimon flicked his legs and sent the sea creature skidding backwards.

Jyou frowned. “How come my digimon’s the only one that got hurt?”

Once Chimeramon’s vision returned, he saw the six Fully Evolved X-Digimon before him: Nefertimon X, Megaseadramon X and Lillymon X hovering in the air, while Metalgreymon X, Weregarurumon X and Anomalocarimon X were on the ground. The synthetic digimon began to flap his wings and fly into the air once more. He took a deep breath and expunged a giant blast of red energy. “Heat Viper!” The attack struck the ground, sending shockwaves strong enough to shatter glass throughout the city, but to Chimeramon’s horror, the X-Digimon remained uninjured.

“Let’s finish this!” Metalgreymon X shouted. The others nodded in agreement. The cybernetic digimon pointed his metal arm at the flying digimon. “Trident Arm Version 9.9!” The claw portion shot forward, connected to the arm by a thick metal cable. The claw clasped around Chimeramon’s tail. The dinosaur twisted his arm around, slamming the synthetic digimon into the ground with a mighty quake.

He leapt back to his feet and was about to take to the air, when Anomalocarimon X twisted around in the air, scrapping the sharp blades on his tail across Chimeramon’s face. “Tail Blade!”

He batted him aside, but Weregarurumon X came around from the other side, swiping his claw in the air, sending waves of power blue energy slapping across Chimeramon’s chest. “Kaiser Nail!’

He skidded backwards, but instead of continuing his attack on the ground, he flew into the air. His advantage did not last long, as Nefertimon X and Megaseadramon X executed their Curse of the Queen and King Javelin attacks, throwing the synthetic digimon into a tailspin. Lillymon X appeared behind him. She placed both of her hands together, forming into a blossoming flower. “Flower Cannon!”

After her attack hit, Chimeramon began to twist in the opposite direction. Weregarurumon X leapt into the air and kicked him as hard as he could, sending him flying towards the ground. “Metalgreymon, I’m sending you a present!”

The dinosaur laughed. “And it’s not even my birthday!” His metal chest plate swung open to reveal two giant missiles. He pointed them at the falling Chimeramon and fired. The missiles exploded into the synthetic digimon with a mighty explosion, deleting him in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, kick ass!” Lynna exclaimed, “That was awesome!”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Maria smiled.

“We’re fine,” Taichi said, “But what happened to Sora and Catherine?”

The other young women frowned and glanced to the ground. “I wasn’t dreaming, was I?” he asked again, “They really took them?”

“Yes,” Noriko said, “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “Okay, we can’t worry about that right now. We’ve got to help Yuri with Digitalatri.” He smiled and glanced at Metalgreymon X. “Shouldn’t be too hard now that we’ve got you, right?”

“You got it buddy.”

They were about to run towards the battlefield, when they became aware of a loud flapping sound behind them. The digimon twirled around, ready to attack, but stopped just in time when they saw Kuwagamon X and Yuri flying towards them.

“Yuri?” Taichi asked.

Anna’s ears perked. “Yuri?”

Kuwagamon X stared at the X-Digimon. “You evolved?”

“We’ll explain later,” Jyou said, “What’s going on?”

Yuri sighed deeply. “We have lost, I have called the retreat.”

“What?” Taichi gasped, “Yuri, you can’t…”

The Russian man only glanced away. “I had no choice.” He clenched his fists in self-loathing rage, when Anna walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“It is okay,” she said, “You did what you had to do.”

“She’s right,” Mimi said, “Your home is where ever you guys are, not these bricks and stones.”

Michael glanced at her. “Wow, that was pretty good.”

She smiled. “Hey, I’m not just a pretty face you know.”

Taichi took a deep breath. “All right. Yuri, let’s….” He trailed off as he spied something down the street, or rather, someone. Their battle with Chimeramon had brought the Chosen and their partners four blocks from the main building of the city. Their current position had them behind one of the building, hidden from view. Taichi, however, could see without much hindrance a familiar messy-haired young woman waltz through the, as-yet, uninhabited streets.

“Miayag,” he sneered, “So she is here.”

“That’s Hiroshi and Piedmon right behind her,” Metalgreymon X whispered as best he could.

“What are they doing?” Noriko asked.

“They are going into the main building,” Yuri asked, “But why just them? Why do they not have any soldiers with them?”

“I’m gonna find out,” Taichi said, “While the rest of you get to safety.”

“What?” Hikari gasped, “No, we’ll come with you.”

He placed his hand on her shoulders. “What about Maria and the others? I want you to help bring them to safety.”

“But…”

He flashed his trademark smile. “Hey, Metalgreymon’s with me. I’ll be fine.”

His younger sister fidgeted. “Taichi….”

He sighed. “All right.” He looked over at the blond-hared young man. “Yamato, wanna give me a hand?”

“Uh, sure, why not?”

Hikari smiled. “Thank you, Oniichan, I feel better now.”

“What about us?” Michael asked.

“You’ve got to get them…” He mentioned to Noriko and the others, “Out of the city now.”

“Wait a second,” Noriko protested, “Don’t we get a say in this?”

“No,” he responded flatly, “You need to get out of the city before Digitalatri overruns it.”

Jyou lightly tapped his foot. “All right. Go and find out whatever you want from Miayag, but I’m giving you half-an-hour. If you’re not out by then, we’re coming back you for, all right?”

Taichi nodded. “All right.”

Jyou nodded, and Yuri began to lead the others through the streets to the back-door of the city. Taichi and Yamato glanced at one another, then ran towards the center building. When they arrived, Miayag, Hiroshi, and their partners had already entered. Thankfully, due to the massive halls, Metalgreymon was able to fit inside-it was a tight fit, but he was still able to traverse the halls.

“Any idea where she’s headed?” Weregarurumon X asked.

“No,” Taichi said, “But she’s got to be in here somewhere.”

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Miayag and Hiroshi had passed through the large double doors and traveled down the stairs to enter the bottom of Nightsun. The basement was, in fact, nothing more then a giant underground cavern. The walls were comprised of massive stones, and stalagmites and stalactites stretching towards them like stony fingers, otherwise, the floor was bare.

Hiroshi and Piedmon glanced around. “What exactly are we searching for?” the clown digimon asked.

Miayag glanced at him oddly. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s nothing here,” he answered, “It’s a dead end.”

“Are you blind?” Witchmon asked. She mentioned to one of the walls, where a large section of the rock had been carved out, “There’s a door right there.”

Hiroshi and Piedmon glanced to where Miayag’s digimon was pointing. It was a wall made of solid rock. “We don’t see anything,” Piedmon replied.

“You’re blind, right?” Witchmon laughed. She hovered on her broom over to the wall in question. She moved her hand through the opening in the rock, then floated through. She returned a moment later. “See?”

To Hiroshi and Piedmon, however, it appeared that she had passed through solid rock. They glanced at one another in confusion, then walked over to the area where Witchmon had vanished into. They attempted to pass through, only to slam into the rock wall.

“What is going on here?” Piedmon asked.

Miayag nodded as she examined the wall. “Yes, I think I understand…”

“What?” Witchmon asked.

“A Firewall,” she answered, “Those without the necessary qualifications can’t pass…they can’t even see it!”

Piedmon crossed his arms. “So, what are the necessary qualifications?”

“Judging by where we are and what I assume to be on the other side…only those with the blood of Yuushi may enter,” she grinned maliciously, “It is a good thing that I am of the blood of Yuushi.”

She turned to him. “Stay here and guard the area. We will return as soon as possible.”

“””””””” ;””””””””””R 21;””””

After searching most of the building, Taichi, Yamato and their partners were not able to find Miayag not Hiroshi in the upper levels, which only left the basement area. They would have moved down the stairs quietly, but Metalgreymon X was so massive that the stairs creaked and moaned as he walked down them anyway, that they decided to jump into battle.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Yamato was surprised to see a large room with four walls made of thick stone. Hiroshi and Piedmon were standing in the center; an unemotional expression on the human, while the digimon smirked wickedly.

“Oh shit,” Yamato muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Weregarurumon X said, “We can take him.”

“Wait a second,” Piedmon said, “You evolved, didn’t you?”

“That’s right, and we’re gonna kick your ass!” Metalgreymon X boasted.

“Don’t kid yourselves,” the clown digimon laughed, “Even at your current power levels, you still don’t have a chance in hell.”

“Where’s Miayag?” Yamato asked, “Is she upstairs?”

Taichi glanced at him. “Uh, I don’t know, but I’m gonna guess she went through the opening he’s guarding.”

Yamato glanced at the wall. “What are you talking about? There’s no opening.”

The bushy-haired young man blinked a few times before he glanced at the opening he clearly saw in the rock wall, then back at Yamato. “Uh, are you feeling okay?”

“I’m feeling fine,” he said, “Are you feeling okay?”

“I can see an opening,” Metalgreymon X added.

“I don’t see anything,” Weregarurumon X said.

“What’s going on here?” Taichi asked, eying Hiroshi and Piedmon.

Hiroshi only shook his head.

“Is that a ‘no’, or you’re not gonna tell us?”

“We are not going to tell you anything,” Piedmon responded.

“We’re just gonna have to go around him,” Taichi said, crossing his arms.

Hiroshi glanced over his shoulder and nodded at his partner. Piedmon slowly walked forward, pulling the swords out of the holsters on his back. “I’ve been eager to test out my Mega-level powers,” he said.

Metalgreymon X and Weregarurumon X braced themselves for Piedmon’s attack. The clown raised his swords arrogantly but before he could attack, Weregarurumon X leapt forward and planted his foot into the clown’s face as hard as he could, throwing him to the floor.

“Hurry up!” Yamato shouted, glancing at Yamato.

“What?” Taichi gasped.

“Go through that door or whatever,” he replied, “We’ll keep him busy!”

Taichi and Metalgreymon X hesitated, but began to run towards the opening that only they could see. Piedmon rose back to his feet and was about to fling his sword at the large dinosaur, but Weregarurmon X shot around and struck his face with his sharp claws. Yamato and his partner watched as Taichi and Metalgreymon X walked through the stone wall and completely vanished.

“Wow,” Yamato said, “There’s nothing there…”

“It’s a shame that there isn’t,” Piedmon said, rising to his feet, “Because now you’re trapped here with me, and I am going to destroy you with my bare hands!”

Weregarurumon X was about to attack, when Metalgreymon X’s metal claw shot through the rock wall, grabbed Yamato and the large wolf via the massive elastic cable, and yanked them back through the solid rock wall. Piedmon and Hiroshi glanced at one another. Thinking that it was now only an illusion, they ran after Yamato and his partner, only to smack hard into the rock wall.

On the other side of the mysterious rock wall, Taichi and Metalgreymon X stood unharmed, while Yamato was clearly injured, breathing heavily and unable to stand. Weregarurumon X glowed brightly and regressed to his Child form of Gabumon X.

Taichi crossed his arms. “Only me and Metalgreymon could see a door in the rock wall. Hiroshi and Piedmon couldn’t pass through. And now you and Weregarurumon were only able to enter after Metalgreymon forced you through. Weregarurumon de-evolved, and you’re barely able to stand.”

“Y…yeah,” Yamato coughed, “It…it feels like my entire body’s on fire…”

Taichi glanced down a long hall, which was covered by rock on all sides. “Can you walk?”

He nodded and slowly rose to his feet. “I…I’ll be okay…”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded again. “Yeah, I’m…I’m feeling better already…”

The bushy-haired young man glanced at the wolf. “What about you?”

“I’m fine,” Weregarurumon X said, “Let’s see where Miayag went.”

They began to walk through the hall in silence.

-------------------

Miayag had reached the end of the hall and entered another large rock room. It was much like the previous room, except for two major differences. First, there was a tunnel on the other side of the room leading deeper under the ground. And second, a large altar in the center, standing a full twelve feet, so tall that stairs were required to reach it. Resting on top was a square-shaped stone box, designed with strange and wonderful symbols, while on top were small stone carvings of the three great angels: Seraphimon, Ophanimon and Cherubimon. Standing before the box was a long metal staff designed on top with a metal sun. She grabbed the staff with eager interest and shoved it into the air.

“The Staff of Yuushi! It is mine at last!”

“Staff of Yuushi?” a male voice asked.

Miayag and Witchmon spun around and saw Taichi, Yamato and their partners standing in the opening leading to the hall. The High Priestess of the Digitalatri slowly walked back down the stairs, holding the staff proudly before her. “My compliments on passing through the seal.”

Taichi raised his eyebrow. “You mean that rock/door thing? I was able to walk right through it.”

Miayag’s eye shot open. “What?”

He shrugged. “It was easy.” He mentioned to Yamato, who was using his hand to prop himself up against the wall. “As for him, we just pulled him through.”

She nodded. “Yes, a simply solution from a simple mind.”

“Oh real mature,” he rolled his eyes, “How old are you, five?”

“I am 19,” she answered, “And I hope you’ve enjoyed the age of 24, because you will not be getting any older.” She pulled open the bottom part of her dress to reveal her shaven legs. Wrapped around the top of her left leg was an elastic band worn like a garter, where her digivice was attached. It was similar to the X-Antibody-modified digivice, which was a square, cellphone-like device, colored in dark pink. She removed the garter in a rhythmic, swaying manner and held the device tightly in her hand.

“Ya know,” Taichi commented, “If you weren’t such a bitch, I might have been turned on by that.”

She sighed in annoyance. “Don’t you ever shut up? In fact, don’t answer, I am going to make you shut up.” She pointed her digivice at her partner. “Witchmon!”

Her partner flew into the air and began to glow with the light of evolution. “Witchmon evolve…” The red witch had transformed into a cat-girl, with leopard-colored harem pants, long claws, messy red hair, and two black tails, “…Bastemon!”

She licked her lips in sexual manner beneath her veil as she walked towards Metalgreymon X, swaying her hips back and forth. She ran a hand through her hair while she twisted her hips slightly. She forced her back to arch more prominently, jutting her breasts out and bringing her right leg slightly in front of her left. She winked and grinned suggestively.

She then placed her hands together in front of her, almost in a prayer. Metalgreymon X and Taichi stared in confusion. Bastemon was silent and still for a full minute before she began to twist her hips in a circular fashion. She walked forward, swinging her hips back and forth. She put her arms at her side and began to twist them in a wave motion. She took a step forward, still swinging and dancing.

She pivoted on her foot and began to move faster, as if the song she was dancing to had increased drastically in tempo. She darted around Metalgreymon X and Taichi, twirling and spinning, throwing her arms into the air. Taichi could feel his partner start to relax beside him. The human himself began to feel overly relaxed, almost to the point of falling asleep.

“That’s her power you know,” Miayag chuckled, “Her ‘Helter Skelter’ attack will remove all of your fears, your worries, your desires…”

Taichi struggled to stay awake. “Sounds like you two…have…have a lot in common….”

The High Priestess only smirked. “I will miss your so-called ‘wit.’” She lifted her digivice and slowly brought it towards the Staff of Yuushi. They two items began to glow brightly, but once the light faded, the staff and the digivice had merged together to create a slightly larger staff with the same sun symbol but a set of buttons down the side and the screen near the middle.

She waved it around in the air. “Now, Bastemon, we have the ability to evolve once more!”

Bastemon ceased her dance and leapt into the air, her body starting to glow with an odd mixture of pink and orange light. “Bastemon evolve to…” The cat-girl began to change once more, this time to a humanoid fox woman dressed in blue armor, with long white hair flowing behind her and a staff appearing in her hands. “…Kuzuhamon!”

Almost instantly, Taichi and Metalgreymon were free of Bastemon’s spell, but before they could so much as blink, Kuzuhamon darted forward with amazing speed, slamming the pointed end of her heeled boots into the dinosaur’s snout. She then twisted around, executing a perfect back-flip, placing her hands onto his eyes, flipping again to drive the same heels into his neck. He growled and threw his arm around to grab her, but by that time, she was already on the ground.

He raised his metal arm and shot it down to strike her. She swung around and the dinosaur’s arm smashed into the ground. The fox woman darted around to attack his backside, but he displayed a sudden surge of agility and managed to spin his entire body out of the way. Kuzuhamon slammed her staff into the ground. Metalgreymon X shot around and grabbed the fox women within his hands. She struggled violently and managed to twist her body to the side and she fell easily between his hands. She executed three back-flips and landed a good distance away.

Taichi stared at the two digimon, then back at Miayag, who was watching triumphantly at the bottom of the altar stairs. She was so preoccupied with the battle, that she did not see Yamato slowly climbed onto the altar stairs from the side and make his way to the strange box at the top. Taichi knew that he would have to keep her attention for as long as possible.

“Is that all you got?” he asked, “’Cause Metalgreymon’s just about to kick it into high gear!”

The dinosaur shot his partner a glance, but turned back to Kuzuhamon with confidence and courage in his eyes. “You’d better say your prayers, because I’m gonna send you to your Digital God. Trident Arm Version 9.9!” The claw on his metal arm fired, heading for the fox woman.

Kuzuhamon gripped her staff tightly. “Ura Izuna!” She began to rapidly spinning her staff in front of her, sending out four transparent black foxes into the propelling claw. The metal projectile wobbled for a moment, then impossibly reversed in direction, heading back towards Metalgreymon X. The dinosaur was slammed in the eyes, causing him to stumble around in near-blindness.

Kuzuhamon leapt into the air and slammed down on Metalgreymon X’s head with all of her Mega-level strength, bouncing off of him and landing gracefully next to Miayag. The large dinosaur began to stumble around.

“Metalgreymon…” Taichi said.

“I am sorry for this humiliation,” Miayag said, “I truly am, but I must not be stopped from my mission.” She turned around and her calm exposure instantly changed upon see Yamato lifting the lid of the strange box.

“No!” she screamed, “Get away from there you heathen!” She shot up the stairs as fast as she could, striking him in the chest with all of her might. He fell to the hard rock floor, and Taichi and Metalgreymon X ran over to him.

Back on the top of the altar, Miayag opened the chest. Inside were three thick books that were covered in a leather material. “The Machina Codex…At last!” She put the lid back on the box and turned to face the X-Chosen, her rage radiating off of her body. She found them standing in the archway leading to the second tunnel.

“Trying to escape?” she shouted, “You will pay for daring to touch the Machina Codex! I will rip out your hands myself!”

“Now!” Taichi shouted.

Metalgreymon once again fired his metal arm, this time striking the ceiling in the cavern room, causing a massive cave-in. Taichi, Yamato and their partners were safe, being in the second tunnel, while Miayag and her partner were trapped within the falling stones.

Once the cave-in had ceased, Yamato turned to Taichi, shock on his face. “What the hell were you thinking? What if you made this ceiling…” He pointed to the ceiling of the tunnel they were standing in.

Taichi shot him a glance. “And what about you? Climbing for that box right behind her! You didn’t even know what was in it!...What was in it anyway?”

Yamato mentioned to Gabumon X, who was holding something behind his back, which he now brought to the front. It was thick book covered in brown leather. “This was inside,” Yamato explained, “While you guys were fighting, I grabbed it and dropped it to Gabumon X. I was going to grab the other book when she saw me.”

“Wait a second,” Taichi said, “If you took that, then why did she seem like she had that in the chest?”

“She obviously didn’t know there were two books in there.”

Taichi grinned. “All right, now we’re talking.”

Gabumon X stared at the arch-way that once lead to the open room, which was now covered in rocks and dust. “Think they were crushed?”

“We would be so lucky…” Metalgreymon X muttered.

Taichi sighed and glanced down the tunnel before him, which stretched into the darkness. “Let’s try to get out of here.”

“I just hope it leads somewhere,” Yamato muttered.

----------------

Hiroshi and Piedmon were desperately trying to find their way through the invisible firewall when their Priestess stumbled through, collapsing to the ground. She was covered in bruises and cut, and her clothes were torn and shredded. Witchmon was at her side, and had not fared much better.

Hiroshi gently helped her to her feet. She lifted her head, her eyes turning red with rage. “I…will have my vengeance!”

-----------------------

Taichi and Yamato had traveled a full two miles before arriving at the end of the tunnel. There was, hover, a small sliver of light streaming in through a small hole near the ceiling. They dug and tugged at the soil until they were able to climb onto the snow-covered surface of the Digital World’s arctic. They had emerged on a small hill near the rear side of Nightsun. The Digitalatri forces were still entering through the massive hole on the other side of the stone wall. They decided to move from the city’s perimeter as fast as they could, running another half a mile into the frozen wasteland. When they simply could not run any longer, they collapsed onto the ground.

“Well, Jyou says everyone’s safe,” Yamato said, putting his cellphone into his pocket, “I told him where we are, they should be here soon.”

“Great,” Taichi said, staring off into the sky. He sighed deeply.

The blond man placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we’ll get them back, okay?”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Don’t worry too much about them.”

“I…I’m not really,” he clarified, “I mean, Sora’s one of the strongest women I know, it takes a lot to make her cry, and Catherine’s so sure of herself I don’t think she would even realize she was being tortured unless they showed it to her through a mirror.” He smiled slightly, “With the two of them there, those Demon Lords are sure in for trouble. I hope they have health insurance…”

Yamato chuckled before he fell onto his back. “Man, I’m exhausted.”

“It’s been a long day,” Taichi commented. He slowly fell onto his back as well, staring up at the sky. An image of Sora appeared before her.

“Sora,” he thought, “Please be safe…”