Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digidreams Do Come True! ❯ Jou & Yamato�s Rescue! ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Digimon who saw the capture of Yamato and Jou earlier in the story, is back, with allies, to rescue the two.

Also, as a disclaimer, since I didn't do a note again, I do not own anything of this series.

Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Mystery / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.07.2007 | Updated On: 09.28.2007 | Pages: 14 | Words: 14.1K | Visits: 692 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter 21: “????????????!”

“Yuujou no chikara de ore wa omae o taosu!”

“I will beat you with the power of friendship!” Jou & Yamato's Rescue!

A weak looking Jou and an aggravated Yamato sat in their dark, seemingly underground, cell, on the cold floor. The two had been trapped there all night, and both were a bit famished. Though hungry and thirsty, they were more curious as to why they were there, why they were younger, and why they were being targeted.

“I can't believe we're stuck in here,” Yamato grumbled. “I was supposed to have been in the park yesterday evening.”

“The park, huh? I was supposed to have joined a friend for dinner, and finish my paper; instead, I'm stuck here in the Digital World for seemingly no reason at all!”

“There has to be a reason, we just don't know what it is yet.”

“Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just tired due to my uncomfortable sleep, and my rumbling stomach, but I'm more curious as to where Gomamon and Gabumon are. We're definitely back in the Digital World.”

“Who knows…” Yamato sadly sighed. “Maybe they don't even know we're here.”

“I hate to sound like a pessimist, but we're probably doomed. I wanted to become a doctor, now I'll probably have to end up going to one for the injuries I'm probably about to receive.”

“That is if you're alive. You might end up seeing an undertaker,” the blonde commented darkly.

“Thank you for your optimism,” muttered Jou sarcastically.

“Yo, what do you have in that bag of yours?”

“I honestly don't know. I just woke up with it, and after I woke up, I saw you beside me, and then the next thing I knew, we were on the run.

“Looking at it now, it looks a bit like the one I packed when we went back to the Digital World to fight against the Dark Masters.”

“Hey you two,” they heard a Digimon shout, “shut up in there!”

“Sorry, just calm down.”

“We're just trying to pass the time,” Jou added on.

“Igamon-sama doesn't like his prisoners to talk or have any kind of fun. When his prisoners aren't miserable and suffering, it ruins his fun when killing them.”

Jou couldn't help but grow hysterical over the illogical comment. “Who's having fun!?!”

“I SAID QUIET!”

****

(Digi-Analyzer On)

Tentomon: This adult (champion) guarding the two, is Musyamon, a virus type Digimon who is a very skilled warrior and “swordsmon”. Just make sure to not get on his bad side or else you'll regret it; that is if you actually live to tell about it. His “Violent Dismissal” and “White Sword” attacks will make most any Digimon agree with him every time, wrong or not! Too bad Shurimon isn't here to fight this one off, like the one he encountered when he and Miyako-han were in Kyoto...

(Digi-Analyzer Off)

****

“Look here, Musyamon, or whatever you are, but what do you have against us?” Yamato asked him. “We didn't do anything to you or Igamon.”

“You are enemies of my master's superior.”

Jou was quite exasperated. He just wanted to hurry up and get whatever they had planned to do with them, over with. “Well, who is that?”

“Oh no you don't,” Musyamon shook a finger at them, “stop trying to play tricks on me. I will not fall for any of your human ploys! Humans can be quite crafty. One of you annoying humans helped to kill one of my fellow Digimon. Quite a few actually, that I admired and looked up to: Mugendramon-sama; Piemon-sama; Vamdemon-sama; Devimon-sama; Pinocchimon-sama---”

The part-French boy grew angered, about ready to rip the bars keeping the warrior like Digimon away from them. He really felt the urge to knock the large Digimon senseless.

“*You idiot! Devimon and Pinocchimon both tried to kill my brother! Piemon tried to, too! They all deserved with they got!” Yamato scathed heatedly. “I'm extremely glad that I had MetalGarurumon fry Pinocchimon! I'm glad Angemon killed Devimon! I'm grateful to HolyAngemon's trapping Piemon in his Heaven's Gate!”

“Yamato, calm down, we really shouldn't make him mad,” Jou warned in a whisper, but it went ignored by the current venting blonde.

“You think you're so special just because we're stuck in here and that you're out there!!”

Musyamon shook. “How dare you speak badly of our most loved, and respected, Digimon! You have no right to speak in such a disrespectful manner!”

“Like I give a damn! You guys think you're so special just because you have powers and that you can hurt a bunch of defenseless kids! You're nothing but cold-hearted, brainless, idiotic moronic bastards if you respected Digimon like Devimon, Vamdemon, Pinocchimon, or Piemon!”

“Yamato, please!”

“Quiet, human!” growled the monster. “You humans are always sticking your noses in where they don't belong! I can't wait until Igamon-sama gets rid of you! That'll be two less children to have to worry about.”

“But we didn't do anything! Why are we here? We have the right to know that at least! You can't just lock us up without a reason!”

“I said to be quiet!”

“I will not be quiet! I want to know why the hell I'm here! Do you realize that I missed a date last night because of you all? I didn't ask to come here!”

“I see you will not cooperate. You seem to have a lot of anger and you're being quite an annoying nuisance.”

“Annoying!! Nuisance! How dare you---”

“YAMATO-KUN! WILL YOU PLEASE CALM DOWN!”

“Why the hell should I! You heard what he said!”

“Look, we are not in a position to be complaining about anything,” Jou urgently whispered to him. “We are their prisoners; it's not the other way around. We need to think logically, and try our bests to keep our cools, so that we can figure a way out of here without it involving us as part of some public execution.

“I don't know about you, but I actually enjoy living,” he hissed.

The 11-year-old boy went quiet, as he backed down. He then muttered, “Sorry”. He knew that Jou was right, but he was tired, hungry, and annoyed at the same time. He was tired from having a restless sleep, hungry since he'd been there all night, and annoyed over the fact that he had unintentionally stood Sora up. He hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't get too upset over that, and hope that whenever he did manage to get back to her, that she'd believe him.

“I have business to attend to,” Musyamon bellowed, glad that Yamato had finally “shut up”. “I am going to get special permission from Igamon-sama to get rid of you annoying children myself!”

The Digimon stalked off, leaving the two boys feeling absolutely miserable. “Way to go...”

“Don't start, Jou.” He wasn't in the mood to be lectured on how he should've held his tongue.

“Never mind, let's just find a way out of here.”

Yamato nodded, as both he and Jou went through the older boy's bag. Both were surprised that Igamon hadn't taken it from them. `Some Ninja,' Yamato thought amusingly.

As they pulled out different objects within the bag, they found rope, a first aid kit, food, and some other things.

“Wow, even when you're not prepared, you're prepared.”

“Yamato, look at this!” Jou had found a dark metallic-object, and picked it up. “This is my Digivice. I always wear it on my belt. I wonder how it got here in my bag.”

“There's another one in there too. It has a bluish-shade to it.” Yamato picked it up. “This is my Digivice. How did it end up in your bag? I left it in my guitar case…at least I think I did.” He looked at the time on it. `We've been here this long!! It's late Saturday morning, now! I'm surprised Jou isn't panicking over it.'

“So far, nothing's made sense since we've arrived here.”

“Yeah, I guess s---”

“What's wrong?”

“I think I hear someone coming. Put everything back into the bag!”

With that, the two boys stuffed the rope, kit, and the other things about, back into the bag, except for their Digivices. Jou clipped his to his belt, while Yamato stuffed his into his pocket.

Two creatures appeared in front of the door of their confinement area. Musyamon, who looked a bit disgruntled, and standing beside him, Igamon, who didn't look pleased.

“Musyamon has informed me of your behavior, human, and I don't appreciate it since he had to interrupt my training session just to report you two!” Igamon glared at Yamato. “It looks like I'll have to test out some new skills of mine.”

Within a flash, Igamon threw out two shuriken, which barely missed Jou. “Don't wet your pants now,” he laughed.

“Why me,” Jou muttered while rolling his eyes.

“Cowards!!!” Yamato shook his fist at them. “Do you see that, Jou?! They can't even go against us in a fair fight! How are we supposed to defend ourselves?!”

Due to that statement, Igamon went into thought, while Musyamon began to unsheathe his mighty sword. “How is this for fair, human?”

“Th-that's not what I exactly had in mind,” Yamato gulped.

“Hold on, now,” Igamon raised his hand. “Why not give them what they want?”

“Surely you jest! These are humans. Humans can not be trusted. You saw how they brutally murdered some great Digimon of the past, like our great BelialVamdemon and Devimon and---”

“No, I'm serious. Let them out. We'll let them stroll around on the grounds out back to show them how fair we are.”

Musyamon seemed to understand what the small, round Digimon had in mind. He pulled the door back, and let the two boys out. Poking the two in the back, he told the two to start walking, which they did.

Igamon walked ahead of them. The place seemed a whole lot larger than when they'd been brought there that night, as the walk seemed longer. Both boys felt like they were walking through an ancient castle that they may have visited on field trips. After what seemed like forever, they finally reached their destination. Both boys stared in awe at the scenery. It was like an imperial garden. There was even a fountain out back.

“Thank you for letting us out. What can we use to defend ourselves with?” Jou could only groan at his friend for provoking the situation. He didn't care much to get involved in a one-sided battle, where the battle was in favor of the enemy.

“Not to worry,” Igamon smirked, “we have just the thing for you.”

Before both boys knew it, their torsos were tied up by the ninja. For Jou, it was a really tough since he still had his bag over his shoulder, and was very uncomfortable.

“How is this fair!” Yamato argued.

“It seems fair to us,” Musyamon chuckled.

“How are we supposed to defend ourselves if we're all tied up and have no weapons?!”

Musyamon forced them in front of a stone wall and joined Igamon, who explained the rules of this unethical game of his. “You get to defend yourselves using your natural abilities. You use your bodies. If you are not agile enough to dodge our attacks, you die.”

“And what if we dodge them all?” Jou queried, not really expecting an answer he'd like.

“Let's see, to answer your question, you'll die!”

“Oh joy.”

“We also have another companion here, who joined me after I conquered this area. He's very loyal, and should be joining us soon.”

They heard a loud wolf-like howling sound, but neither could make out from where. They heard the howl again, only this time, it came from above. Jou and Yamato looked up, to see a wolf leap down next to Igamon and Musyamon.

Yamato was happy at the sight, until he realized something wasn't quite right, and this wasn't who he thought it was. The Digimon was a bit more on the buff-side compared to the Digimon friend he was used of.

“Igamon-sama, why have you summoned me?” he yawned. His job was to make sure no one entered the grounds, but he'd been napping since no one rarely ever did, which for another, was quite fortunate.

“We're having a bit of fun. See those children standing over there?”

The wolf-like creature looked over at them, and snorted. “Are they two of the many that our superior has ordered us to kill on-sight if we encounter them?” Musyamon nodded. “Ahh, then it'll be my pleasure to kill them for you, if that's what you're insinuating.”

“Yamato, is that...Garurumon?”

“I don't think so. It's definitely not my Garurumon. There's something different about him. His coat is a bit darker, and he looks a bit bigger.”

The Digimon incredulously barked out a laugh after overhearing Jou and Yamato's conversation. “You think that I'm a Garurumon? Why would I want to be a wimp like him? I've seen one around here every once in a while, and he's not even worthy enough to walk the ground I crap on!”

“Don't talk about Garurumon like that! One my best friends is a Garurumon!”

“Like I give a sh--”

“SHUT UP ABOUT GARURUMON!!!”

He ignored Yamato's shouts, and just sneered at him. “I'll use these two for target practice, but it may cause some damage to the wall they're in front of.”

“I don't mind; go right ahead. I can just force the Woodmon and Jureimon in the area to repair it and if they refuse, I have me some new firewood.”

He nodded. The strange “Garurumon” looking Digimon was about to launch one of his attacks on the two, defenseless boys, until they heard a familiar, scratchy voice call, “*Baby Flame!” A fire ball hit the ropes, causing them to drop off. They then heard another voice shout, “*Fox Fire!” The bright, blue flame hit the Garurumon clone.

Igamon looked in the direction that the attacks were launched. It was coming from the woods-like part of his manor. An enemy had managed to sneak onto the grounds without his detecting it, and was using his garden for cover. “Who is there!”

A wolf stepped out into the open, with a small, orange reptile by his side. “Leave them alone,” the wolf ordered.

“What kind of Digimon is the other one, if it's not a Garurumon?”

****

(Digi-Analyzer On)

Palmon: This strange looking Digimon is *Gururumon. This vaccine-type may resemble Garurumon, but his bark is just as deadly as his bite. Just don't get on his bad side, or else he'll finish you off with his “Killer Bite” attack before you know it, since he lurks in the shadows when hunting down his prey or potential enemy.

(Digi-Analyzer Off)

****

“Oh great,” Jou muttered contemptuously, “a mentally unstable dog wants to kill us.”

“It's that Garurumon that I mentioned earlier that's always lurking around.” He then added in mock sarcasm, “I'm so frightened.” Garurumon rolled his eyes at the clone. “If you're going to interfere, then you're just as bad as the humans!”

“Yamato and Jou are my friends, and they're not a threat to the Digital World! Digimon like you are!”

“Traitor!” Gururumon growled. “Chaos Fire!”

“I won't let you hurt them! Fox Fire!!”

Both the attacks met in the middle, but due to Gururumon's being a bit stronger, it overpowered Garurumon's Fox Fire, knocking him back into Igamon's fountain. Data types, like Garurumon, usually had the upper hand and advantage over vaccine types.

“Garurumon!!” Yamato cried.

Igamon and Musyamon just remained on the sidelines, rooting for their friend, but soon took notice of Agumon nearby.

“Igamon-sama,” he unsheathed his sword, “I see we have a lizard that needs disposing of.”

Agumon's non-visible ears perked up after hearing this. He shook his head at the two. “I don't think so! Baby Flame!”

Agumon tried his best to dodge the two fighters, but he knew his attacks wouldn't work well on them, and he didn't have the opportunity to evolve. When using Baby Flame, Musyamon just swung his sword, knocking the flame way. Agumon just continued to run and dodge the two, which was no easy task, as both looked to be enjoying terrorizing him. Right before Musyamon could slash the fire reptile, he heard someone call, “Meteor Wing!!” Flames hit the ground in front of them, causing them to halt.

Igamon was incredibly upset, since he, once again, didn't sense the attack coming. He really needed to go back to his ninja training.

“Thanks, Birdramon!” Agumon thanked the bird loudly. Due to the interference, he was able to evolve to Greymon.

Musyamon stood, his sword drawn. “I'm not afraid of you, reptile! I can handle you!”

“Go ahead,” Greymon roared.

“Okay, I shall!” With that, Musyamon looked to power up. When done, he charged after the orange and blue reptile, his sword surrounded with a pasty glow. “White Bird Sword!!” The aura seemed to launch itself at Greymon, who roared out in pain. Since he was still a bit weak from their having to travel to Igamon's castle and sneak around to avoid any traps that might have been set, he ended up devolving.

“Ahh, no fair!” Agumon cried.

While Musyamon had gone after Greymon, Igamon was dealing with Birdramon, but just like with Greymon, ended up devolving when Igamon attacked her due to her being tired and low on energy.

The only Digimon left fighting was Garurumon, who was having his bit of a time fighting off Gururumon.

****

“Oh no, they're both out of energy, Sora,” Taichi whispered. Both he and Sora remained in the woodsy like area, while the Digimon went off to fight.

“It took us forever to find this area. This place reminds me of Edo Castle. It even seems as big. Those three just have to be tired since they were spending most of the time, looking for traps.

“Taichi, we have to help them, but how are we going to sneak Jou-senpai and Yamato-kun out without being seen?”

“Distract them, of course.”

“Yeah, and maybe...we can manage to help the Digimon fight.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think I have an idea. Just follow my lead, and let's hope that what I have in mind, works, since we are back in the Digital World.”

“Alright, let's go.”

****

“Yamato, look! Isn't that...Taichi and Sora-kun?”

“S-ora?” He looked towards where Jou was pointing. “Sora!!”

Hearing Yamato's shouts, Musyamon turned away from Agumon, to see Taichi and Sora walking up to them. Both were scared to death as the sword-wielding Digimon came towards them, Igamon by his side, but they knew it was the only way for Jou and Yamato to sneak off without being noticed.

The two children went unnoticed by the two wolves, as they were still battling it out. Gururumon had Garurumon pinned to the ground, and was constantly using his bite attack on him.

“You know, we're just here to help our friends,” Sora told them suddenly.

“Couldn't you let them go for us?”

“Why would we do something idiotic like that?” Igamon questioned the two. “They're our prisoners, and,” he looked over at Sora who looked to be doing jumping jacks, “why are you waving your arms around like that!”

“I...like exercise?” she laughed nervously.

****

“What in the world are they doing?”

“It looks like they're trying to buy us some time, so we can get away. They're distracting them, so we can sneak off!”

“Jou, we can't leave those two! Igamon and Musyamon'll kill them!”

Right at that moment, Gururumon tossed Garurumon aside, causing him to land by Jou and Yamato.

“See, that's the power of a real Digimon!” snarled Gururumon.

“Garurumon!” Yamato rushed to his partner's side.

Taichi and Sora were about to run up to the scene, but were stopped by Musyamon, who held his sword up at them.

“Why don't we all just be friends instead? Not all humans are bad or out to get Digimon, just like not all Digimon are bad.”

“What would you know about friendships?” Igamon scoffed.

“We know a lot about friendships, and like Sora said, not all humans are bad. We want to be friends with you. Why won't you be ours? Jou and Yamato want to be friends with you too.”

Hearing Taichi's obvious fake attempt at trying to earn some sympathy, Gururumon charged Taichi, head-butting him in the process pretty hard. Taichi screamed as he was knocked to the ground. “How's that for your answer, human,” he barked out cruelly. Agumon rushed to Taichi's side to help him, but he was head-butted as well. Taichi trembled as he tried his hardest to get up, but he couldn't manage to, and slumped back to the ground.

“T-Taichi! Agumon! How could you do something like that! He just wanted to be friends with you! How dare you hurt Taichi and Agumon!”

Jou and Yamato watched in horror as Piyomon pushed Sora out of the way of Igamon's sword, which missed her by mere inches, but due to this, Piyomon got stabbed in her wing. Gururumon then hit Sora (who was too busy trying to tend to Piyomon to notice) in the same way he had Taichi.

“Stupid humans!”

“SORA!!!”

“Taichi!!”

Yamato took off to run to Sora and Taichi, but Gururumon galloped towards him, and knocked him back right into Jou, only not as hard as he had Taichi and Sora. Yamato, to him, seemed that he would make a nice challenge, and would rather torture him, than to kill him. He wanted him to beg for mercy.

“Are you all right?” Jou asked, helping the younger boy up.

Growling, his fists bawled, he ignored Jou and stared at the three Digimon before him. “All they were trying to do was be friendly to you bastards, and this is how you treat them!” Yamato muttered darkly, trembling in pure anger. “Who the hell do you think you are?! We aren't the monsters, you are!! You hurt Garurumon, one of my best Digimon friends! You hurt one of my best buddies, Taichi, and humiliated my good friend, Jou!

“You even had the audacity to hurt Sora.” His eyes flashed dangerously at Gururumon, as he squeezed his fists tighter. The three were pretty much ignoring all that the blonde was saying, but found it entertaining at the same time. He was digging his own grave deeper and deeper. “You hurt one of the few girls I can actually associate with. A girl who means a lot to me! A girl I would put down my life for!” Yamato, instinctively, pulled out his Digivice. “For that, I'll make sure that you...will...PAY!!!!”

All of a sudden, a familiar shape began to glow a bright blue light, which ended up causing the three enemy Digimon to look away and shield their eyes, while it gave Agumon, Piyomon, and Garurumon extra strength, which was especially good for Piyomon. Her stab wound was beginning to heal.

“Is this my...”

“It's your Crest of Friendship!”

Sora and Taichi looked up weakly, and noticed the blue glow in the shape of his crest. They weren't too surprised, and were glad that their plan had worked. Apparently, Yamato's strong friendship with them, helped to trigger his power of friendship, just as Sora had hoped for. It worked for her and Taichi when going against Parrotmon, her love for the Digital World and Taichi's courage to protect it, helped their partners to evolve.

Garurumon managed to stand up, feeling incredibly revitalized.

****

“Piyomon, it looks like Garurumon is evolving!”

“You're right, Agumon. Maybe he can get rid of them since he'll have the upper hand. He's a good fighter, too.”

****

“Garurumon, chou shinka...” A bright light shined down on Garurumon, causing his form to change. No longer standing on all fours, he now stood upright. His lower half was now clothed with jeans and the knee-pad of his right leg was spiked. On his left hand, he now wore a pair of spiked-brass knuckles, and a leather strap was wrapped across his torso. He did a round house kick and howled loudly. “...WereGarurumon!”

Yamato rubbed his eyes in disbelief, making sure he was seeing right. “WereGarurumon? He evolved to WereGarurumon?”

“Yamato, let's get away from here and go help Taichi and Sora-kun.” Yamato nodded, and ran along with Jou to their friends, which went unnoticed by the three evil Digimon.

Meanwhile, Gururumon, Musyamon, and Igamon stared wide-eyed at the newly evolved Digimon. Neither had ever witnessed a human helping a Digimon to evolve. They never thought it possible, and couldn't believe that something like that was possible. Igamon now understood what his superior had meant, by the human children having such power. They had the power to evolve Digimon.

“I wouldn't worry, Igamon-sama,” Gururumon scoffed uneasily, “I bet he's not all that tough.”

WereGarurumon gave him a smug grin. “Care to test that theory?”

Gururumon charged at WereGarurumon in response, head on. WereGarurumon, who was still in the same spot where Jou and Yamato had been, merely moved, causing the Digimon to hit his head into the stone wall behind him. He then picked Gururumon up by his tail, and tossed him aside, landing into the stone fountain.

“Don't let that human lover make a fool of you, Gururumon!” Musyamon shouted to the wolf.

“I don't plan too! Chaos Fire!!”

WereGarurumon rushed up to him, and held out his paws, planting his feet firmly into the ground. The attack hit him full force, which pushed him back slightly, but WereGarurumon still stood his ground. He then pushed the giant sphere away from him, which ended up hitting, and damaging, another part of Igamon's castle. Gururumon couldn't believe what he had seen and wasn't sure what to do at the moment. He couldn't run, as it would show cowardice, but he knew that WereGarurumon was definitely a lot more powerful than he looked.

Gururumon decided to charge at him again. He planned on using his “Killer Bite” attack. He snarled like a mad-dog, and rushed towards WereGarurumon, his fangs seemingly growing. He leapt up into the air, but WereGarurumon had other plans in mind, since he'd been hoping for this. WereGarurumon was better suited for close range battle, and Gururumon had just made himself vulnerable. “*Kaiser Nail!!”

WereGarurumon ended up slashing the buffed up Digimon, who couldn't withstand it. He cursed WereGarurumon, before exploding to digital dust.

“I-I can't believe it! It can't be! Gururumon was one of the strongest Digimon protectors I had!”

“Igamon-sama, we must defend the honor of our fallen Digimon!”

Igamon nodded in agreement as he pulled out his sword, just as Musyamon did. Both ran towards WereGarurumon, their swords extended, planning to decapitate the wolf in some way or form. WereGarurumon inwardly smiled, glad that they were coming towards him. They obviously hadn't learned that close-combat just gave him the upper hand.

“Garuru Kick!” He roundhouse kicked both of the swords in their hands, which ended up knocking them away. Both looked on in astonishment, and Igamon, for once, looked to be at a loss as to what to do. His mind pretty much blanked out. Musyamon had also become the same, forgetting pretty much all of his fighting techniques and skills.

“You show them, WereGarurumon!” Yamato cheered to him from the side-lines, his Digivice rumbling. “Show them that they can't hurt our friends, and expect to get away with it!”

He used Kaiser Nail on the two, and it seemed that both were weaker than they had let on, because both ended up deleted. When done with those two, he walked over to where Yamato and the others currently were. “Are you all okay?”

“Thanks to you, we are. Jou too,” Taichi said. “It's a good thing he has a first aid kid.”

“Always be prepared, I always say, even though, this time, I wasn't, but at the same time, I was...weird.”

“It was a big risk on our part, but it did work, right Sora?”

She nodded. “Yeah. We weren't sure what was going to happen, but we figured that maybe we could persuade them into being friends.”

“By doing that, we were hoping that you'd somehow activate your Crest of Friendship, so that Garurumon could evolve and so that you and Jou could get away.”

“You two are crazy! You could've been killed!”

Taichi gave the blonde his trade-mark lop-sided grin and thumbs up, “It worked well, I'd say.”

“At least you two are okay now.”

“Taichi, Sora-kun, are you sure you're all right? You took a really hard hit from Gururumon.”

Taichi stood. “I'm fine, Jou.” He did a cartwheel.

Agumon laughed at his human partner's tumbling. “He's back to normal.”

“Shall we get going?” WereGarurumon suggested.

“Yeah, I don't want to stick around here longer than I actually have to,” Piyomon stated.

While walking back, WereGarurumon halted in place, as he felt a very strange sensation in his back. He fell over, and devolved back to Gabumon.

“Gabumon!” Yamato held him in his arms. “What's going on? What happened?”

“I don't know. Something just hit me in my back, and weakened me terribly.”

“I hope they enjoyed their journey since it shall end here. It's quite obvious that Musyamon, Gururumon, and Igamon were unworthy,” the group heard a male voice say.

“I guess not. Our lord will not be too pleased,” a female voice rang in agreement. “I don't want to use anything of such a pathetic Digimon. May I keep on my regular attire?”

“Go ahead. It doesn't matter.”

Taichi put up his fists, prepared to fight if he had to. “Who's there?”

Appearing from the shadows of the trees, stood a girl, and beside her, a Digimon slightly shorter than her.

“Wizarmon?”

“People are always getting me confused with that weakling! I'm Sorcerymon, and this here, is my newest slave.”

“Who is she?” Piyomon asked.

“That's not for you to know,” the girl hissed, while tossing some of her long, black hair over her shoulder. “We were originally here to pick up some items, but now that we've run into you, we shall kill you for our master.”

“Oh no, please don't tell me we're dealing with another Ichijouji-kun!” Jou groaned while holding his head.

Gabumon stood, and studied the girl. “I don't think so. I've never seen her in the Digital World before at all.”

“Neither have I,” Piyomon responded, “and if this girl has, Gennai would've mentioned her to us or Agumon at least.”

“Sorcerymon, attack them!”

“Run back into Igamon's castle!”

Since they didn't have all that much of a choice, the kids followed Agumon's instruction, and went back into the door that Jou and Yamato had been forced through earlier. They ran and ran, not caring where they ended up, and growing more and more lost. They finally came to a big room (sliding the door behind them shut), which was loaded with different types of fighting equipment, like kunai, shuriken, bo shuriken, etc., as well as some mats and dummy targets. The room looked like it was used for training.

The only way out of the room, was through a *shouji-like door far off from them. Jou figured that the girl and Sorcerymon would've caught up to them by then and seeing as how there were no other rooms in the section they were in, that they'd definitely be discovered there due to process of elimination. With nothing else better to do, they headed towards it.

“They're going to get us!”

“Don't get discouraged, Sora-kun,” Jou managed to say while remaining calm. He heard more angry shouts from Sorcerymon and the girl, and could see why Sora was so worried.

The group got half-way across the room, when a blast occurred right in front of them. They stopped running, and stared at the giant hole in the floor, which showed the room underneath the current one, if they were to peer through it.

“Good job, Sorcerymon-sama, you got them to stop.”

They turned to see the girl and Sorcerymon with his left hand raised, and a wand in his right. “I guarantee that next time, I won't miss.”

Piyomon stepped in front of Sora and the others. “Don't worry, we'll protect you.” Agumon and Gabumon did the same, willing to protect the children at all costs.

“You guys don't get yourselves hurt!” Jou warned.

“Don't worry, all of us together should be able to fight Sorcerymon,” Gabumon stated.

Sorcerymon held his wand at them. “You Digimon stay out of this. It's the children we want!”

“No, we won't let you!” Agumon shouted to the sorcerer. “They haven't done anything to you!”

“They are human; that's all the reason I need!” he snapped at him.

“But that girl beside you is human too,” Piyomon pointed out.

“True, but she is not a threat and is on my side! The humans you're attempting to protect are Digimon murderers!”

“Such illogical reasoning! Since when have Yamato or any of the others, murdered anyone!”

“Just get out of the way!”

“Do as he says!”

Yamato stared at the girl. She looked a bit familiar to him, but couldn't put his finger on it. She was wearing OJH's school uniform, which he recognized instantly, having just graduated from there himself. “Sorcerymon, what have you done to that girl?”

“That is none of your business. All that matters is that she's under my control and will attack you if I tell her to.”

During the discussion, Jou had been trying to think his way out of the situation that they were currently in. He gazed upwards, and noticed loose boards in the wooden ceiling. He inwardly smiled, since he'd finally come up with something. “Agumon, Piyomon, Gabumon, all three of you attack the ceiling towards those loose boards,” he pointed discreetly, “Taichi, Sora-kun, Yamato when they do that, run!!”

The three Digimon didn't ask any questions; neither did Taichi, Sora, or Yamato, but they were all curious as to what the future doctor had in mind. They did as they were told, and launched their attacks to where Jou had pointed. After they did so, they heard a large rumbling sound. The ceiling began to cave in. As this happened, the children and the Digimon ran towards the door they'd seen earlier, which led to some old, stone stairs. Jou made sure that the other three, and the Digimon got ahead of him, before running along.

Jou looked back to see that the doorway was blocked, but they continued down the steps. They wanted out of this place. Jou instructed the Digimon to just blast their way through the walls of the old castle. After a good while of running, they'd finally made it to the huge steps that led up to the castle. Out of breath, they made their way to the large gate which kept out intruders, usually.

They stopped running after they were a good distance away from the manor, and back in the woods, all practically out of breath.

“Jou-senpai, that was great! You were very reliable back there!” Sora complimented completely awe-struck. “How did you come up with that?”

“Taichi.”

“Me?”

“How did Taichi give you the idea for us to launch our attacks at the ceiling?” Gabumon asked.

“I was trying to think of a way out of there, so while Yamato was arguing with Sorcerymon, I scanned the room. I thought back to the time that Sora-kun, Taichi, and I encountered Andromon when he was being controlled by one of the Black Gears of Devimon. When in that weird factory place, he told Agumon to attack the ceiling, and it stalled Andromon for a while.

“Igamon may be a skilled ninja - okay, that's pushing it - but he's a terrible housekeeper to let the place get that bad. I noticed the boards in the ceiling were loose, and it seemed to be right near the key. Hitting it would cause the entire room to cave in. I hope the girl didn't get caught in it, but it should keep them busy for a while to dig themselves through to the door we went through.

“We should get out of here now while we have the chance.”

“Wait,” Sora took out her Digivice, “it's beeping.” The other three heard beeping as well, and took out their Digivices. “I wonder what it could be.”

“Maybe it's another Chosen Child, Sora.”

“Piyomon's probably right,” Jou noted. “I'm getting a signal for one person, but about five or six others in another area than that one person, who seems to be going towards where the bigger group is.”

“Wait, I just thought of something. How did you guys find us?”

“Gabumon saw you two when you were first captured by Igamon,” Taichi explained. “Since he knew he couldn't fight Igamon alone, he left to find help.”

“He was on his way to find Agumon, but ran into us coincidentally,” Piyomon added. “We were on our way to see Gabumon anyway.”

“After that, to help locate you, Taichi and I used our Digivices and picked up on your signals.”

“It seems like we're picking up on someone else's signal now, guys. We should probably follow it.”

“Taichi's right,” Agumon concurred.

“But where is the signal coming from?” Sora asked.

Piyomon flew behind Sora, and stared at her Digivice. “It's a bit hard to tell, but it looks like it's going in the direction towards that industrial area that I keep hearing about. A lot of cyborg and robotic Digimon hang around there.”

“How far is that away from here?” Jou asked.

“It shouldn't take too long, if I evolve to Birdramon and fly us there.”

“Piyomon, you don't have the energy to do that. You saw what happened when fighting earlier.”

“Don't worry Sora, all I need to do is rest up and I'll be fine.”

“Piyomon shouldn't do this alone. I can help as well. I'm pretty fast on foot as Garurumon. We can fly some of the way on Birdramon, and continue on foot with me.”

“Good idea,” Agumon squeaked, “and if we run into any trouble while on foot, I can evolve to Greymon and fight so that you guys can get away, and I just join up with you.”

“Between me and Garurumon doing the transportation, and Agumon doing the fighting, it shouldn't take too long at all.”

“But you guys haven't rested from your recent battle!” Yamato argued.

“He's right. You guys need to rest a bit.”

“Taichi, we'll be fine!” Right at that moment, Agumon's stomach growled.

“Pathetic, Agumon; you're not a very good liar. Sora, Yamato, Jou, we need to find them some food.”

“I have some. With all that's been going on, I forgot all about it. I even forgot I was hungry myself.”

“Oh yeah, we haven't had anything to eat or drink since yesterday, since we were stuck in Igamon's basement.”

Sora looked horrified. “And you guys still have energy! You two, eat now, and you Digimon too! We refuse to do anything until we know that we're all energized!”

No one argued, and the Digimon, Yamato, and Jou ate the snacks and downed the water greedily. Taichi and Sora drank some as well. The running had left their throats pretty dry.

When done, their Digimon re-energized, Piyomon evolved to Birdramon. All four children climbed onto her muscular back, along with Agumon and Gabumon. “Hold on tight,” she told them as she took for the sky to head towards the signals...

Author's Notes

Note 1: This isn't really relevant, just thought I'd mention that out of all of the Adventure (01) villains, to me, Devimon was the best of them. I guess Vamdemon (Myotismon), would come next. Everyone else was okay, imo, minus Etemon, who was pathetic, “uh-huh-huh”. Okay, just kidding there. I actually found him pathetic in an “amusing” way. He was very entertaining.

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Note 2: “Baby Flame” is the original name for Agumon's, “Pepper Breath” attack.

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Note 3: “Fox Fire” is the original name for Garurumon's, “Howling Blaster” attack.

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Note 4: Yes everyone, there is a Digimon by the name of “Gururumon”. It looks very similar to Garurumon, only it seems more muscular to me. Another difference is that Garurumon is a Data type; Gururumon is a Vaccine type. Gururumon also evolves from Psychemon and he can also evolve from Bakumon. Gabumon can also evolve to Gururumon. It's another alternate evo for him.

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Note 5: “Kaiser Nail” is the original name for Wolf Claw.

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Note 6: Shouji is the type of door you usually find in a traditional Japanese house. It has washi paper, which covers the frame of the door, and the door usually slides open. Just think of series like Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, etc. For this castle, I'm pretty much trying to show that it's old-fashioned.