Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Two to Tango ( Chapter 22 )

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong are copyright to Bandai/ Toei animation / Saban entertainment. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

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"So this is it...?" Janet looked up at the building. "Gee, sure is inviting."

From the outside, the structure standing before her seemed like an old, run-down castle now that she could see it more clearly.

However, as she moved closer, Janet spotted three figures standing at the castle's main gate. She crouched down and carefully crawled through the bushes lining the path. This allowed her to move in much closer without being spotted.

Hey, it's that Beelzebumon creep! Jan realized.

With him were two centaur-like Digimon, Vajramon and Pajirimon.

"So, everything's all set up for the big Dragon Artifacts trade?" Vajramon was asking.

"Hey, don't worry." Beelzebumon replied, waving his hands. "My guys have it covered, ya?"

"And about that dragon companion of yours'..."

"Yeah, he's just there to make sure it's the real stuff, and to supply us with the Dragon Dagger."

"I thought you said the Dagger he had was fake." Pajirimon muttered.

"The one that Flamedramon had on him, ya." Beelzebumon corrected. "But Siavon says he found the real one. Something about it being hidden in the young Flamedramon's lodgings."

"Another thing is to make sure no word of this gets out." Vajramon insisted. "So..."

"Hehehe, after this..." Beelzebumon pulled a finger across his throat and made a grunting noise. "And he won't be saying anything, ever. Flamedramon has probably already been taken care of by now, ya."

"How?" Vajramon growled.

"Relax, we've got that covered, ya? Let's just say he'll have a hard time talking when he's part of the castle wall, ya?"

"I was referring to the other one. A BlackWargreymon, certainly a considerable foe by any standards."

"We'll see how considerable with that trap that's been specially designed for him, ya."

"Humph, all right." Vajramon huffed, not entirely convinced.

"What's wrong? Don't trust me, ya?"

"About as far as an anvil can jump." Pajirimon quipped. "Watch yourself, if you dare double cross us..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, ya."

"Good. Then excuse us, we have preparations to make."

The centaur pair entered the doorway and disappeared.

Beelzebumon put on a wide smirk before he too strode in through the gate and slammed it shut behind him.

"A Flamedramon?" Jan wondered, emerging from her hiding place. "Steve? Could it be? But then..."

Suddenly, her Digivice began beeping.

Janet brought up her left claw and flicked the screen on. A dot was blinking, indicating the presence of another Digivice close by, somewhere within the structure.

The Digivice was still functioning, and she could only pray that its owner was too.

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Firstly, Janet had to get in.

The castle's main gate was expectedly locked, but not like she wanted to barge in with guns blazing or swords flashing. (In her case, Dino-breaths and a very mean lance.)

The windows she could see from her position were all closed up with shutters, and locked when she tried to open them.

So, Janet crept around the right side of the building and, much to her surprise, spotted a partially open shutter. Actually, it was partially crushed too. It was even better when she found it just the right size for her Guilmon body to squeeze through.

"Well, that was easy." She remarked, landing on the stony floor.

But then, her face fell. Janet re-examined the broken shutter and concluded that it had first been cut open from the outside, unlocked and then forced open.

Which meant that there was another intruder besides herself. Still, there was nothing she could do about it at the moment.

Janet spent the next few minutes carefully searching around the first level, using the light of her Digivice since it was nearly pitch black inside. Debris and crumbling stone sections were everywhere, slowing the rate of her search even more.

"Yargh!" She gasped, tripping on a loose stone. "Damn, you'd think the 'bad guys' would at least put some lights in their hideout. Huh? Wait, that's it!"

There were no lights about on this level, and thinking about it, no signs of any guards either.

"So, their hideout is probably either upstairs or possibly below. Great, I bet this castle has a whole network of secret passages. And how am I supposed to find that? In pitch darkness no less."

She leaned her head against the wall and groaned.

"Huh? There's a scent!" Her dinosaur senses detected a slight trace of another Digimon. "Someone brushed past this wall recently. Strange, the scent seems so familiar, but I can't pinpoint where I've encountered it before."

However, Janet was still happy to follow the trail, which led towards a large wooden door. She pushed it open and found herself face to face with a giant, floating head.

Screaming, she fell backwards, covering her head and whimpering. When nothing happened after several seconds, Jan shakily shone her light into the room again.

It turned out to be a large mask suspended from the ceiling by translucent wires that glittered in her 'flashlight'.

"Heh...hahah...that was stupid." She muttered.

The mask was designed to look somewhat like a Kabuterimon's head, only that it revealed the eyes as well, indicating it was probably Cimeramon or Millenniummon instead.

Then, Janet heard the faint sounds of breathing and jerked her light towards the far left corner of the room.

"Hey, would you mind not shinning that right into my face?!"

"YOU!!" Janet snapped.

"Hiya princess!" Dynamo beamed. "Nice to be recognized, but you don't have to shout."

Janet was about to start screaming abuse at her old rival, but stopped short. Not only did he have a bucket on top of his head, but when she moved the light downwards, she found the rest of his body stuck within a thick and hard red blob.

"What the heck happened to you?!" She asked, struggling to contain a smile.

"Grrr...I was here setting up a trap for...erm...nevermind whom the trap was for, but then your stupid light and screaming made me jump as well, and I sorta..."

"Got stuck in your own trap, I see." Janet giggled.

"Yeah, you don't need the IQ or a rocket scientist to figure that out. Now could you help me out of here, please?" Dynamo begged.

At that, Janet fell backwards, roaring with laughter.

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A pair of MechaNorimon (Mekanorimon) lumbered down the empty corridor. Their emotionless eyes moved, scanning the entire area and making sure it was clear. Then, they exited the corridor to carry on with their patrol.

That was when Steve finally emerged, crawling out of the air-vent and replacing its metal grilling.

"Whew..." He muttered. "Why didn't I try this earlier? They always do it in the tactical espionage games."

The Flamedramon quickly dusted himself off as he moved towards the adjacent doorway. He pressed his ear to the door first, and upon hearing nothing, pushed the door open.

Inside was a restroom that looked very similar to the ones in the human world. A row on sinks of varying heights lined the right side, and on the left, a row of lockers. In the center, a sliding glass door led into the shower rooms and other such facilities.

"Furthest locker." Steve repeated, jogging towards it.

Suddenly, he heard the click of the main door opening behind him.

Oh crap!

In his moment of panic, Steve pulled the nearest locker door. Finding it wasn't locked, he whipped it open and jumped inside, pulling it close as quietly as he could. Just in time too, for the lumbering footsteps of a MechaNorimon echoed behind him.

Steve pressed back against the soft pile of cloth in the locker as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart. He couldn't see much through the small slits at his eye level, but heard the ominous footsteps coming closer and closer. The light coming in through the slits was abruptly blocked off at the MechaNorimon stepped in front of his hiding place.

Steve held back a yell and quickly crouched down as the robot shone a light in through the slits. After several tense seconds, the guard moved on.

"Damn, that was close." Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, he waited in the dark, cramped locker until the footsteps of the guard had faded beyond the doorway before stepping out.

At least, he tried to step out of the locker.

"What the?!"

Fumbling in the darkness, Steve realized the door had automatically locked itself....from the outside.

"Oh No! Oh No! NNOOOO!!!" Steve pounded on the door. "THIS SUCKS!!!"

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"Hey! This damn goo's already hardened and I can't move! And there's some remains trickling down my neck! Argh! It's itchy!!" Dynamo yelled. "Quit staring! Do you think this is funny?!"

"Funny?" Janet replied "This is hilarious!"

"Fine, you've had your fun laughing! Now, help me out OK?"

"Help you? After you tried to kill me about how long ago? And Zoe too for that matter."

"Erm...yeah...I did....sorta try that..." Dynamo laughed nervously. "But that was when I thought you were a bunch of weak twerps. I admit, I've now got a new respect for you princess. And besides, you know we Guilmon do go a little berserk when we get mad, yeah?"

"I'd rather just leave you to rot. Bye!"

"NO wait!" Dynamo pleaded. "I've got some information that can help you!!"

"Then start quacking." Janet growled, leaning against the wall and folding her arms.

"There's actually a hidden factory and base beneath this castle, and it's where this bunch of smugglers are going be trading some Dragon Artifacts with the Daemon Crops. Neither are friends of my boss, and I'm here to sabotage it."

"Now that's interesting, but why should I free you then?"

"Cause the secret entrance to the underground facility is through the number-padded section over there! Look for yourself!"

Janet walked over, shinning her light to find the 9-digit number pad, just as Dynamo mentioned.

"Think you can get it open by yourself?" He asked. "I'm sure the answer is no. But I've got the equipment and the skills to get it done!"

"Oh? In here?" Janet picked up a brown knapsack lying by the side of the room. "Hmmm...cool gadgets. I could make use of these..."

"Want more? I was the one who sent you the letter telling you to come here!"

"Why?"

"Cause I knew you would want to screw the smugglers over too, being the good guys, you know?" Dynamo continued. "Besides, I think you have a friend in trouble and need to rescue him."

"What?! How'd you find that out?!"

"Erm...lucky guess. My informant told me something about a Flamedramon with a Digivice, and I thought you might know him."

"True, I do." Janet nodded. "But..."

She examined and number pad again and sighed.

"Hey, you've heard of 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend', right?" Dynamo said. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot princess. Won't you give it another chance?"

"Oh...." Janet moaned.

Dynamo seemed to be telling the truth, and Janet knew she had no chance of opening the secret door by herself. She took a while more to examine the contents of Dynamo's bag, then came up with a plan in her mind.

"All right, how do I get you out of that stuff?" She asked.

"You just got to heat it up a little." Dynamo replied. "You can see that I can't bend my neck enough to do that."

Janet fired a couple of her Fireball attacks and immediately, the goo seemed to begin to melt.

"Yeah, that's it!" Dynamo breathed a sigh of relief. "One more Fireball should do, and hey...erm...why come up so close?"

Grinning, Jan walked up and swung her tail, connecting squarely with Dynamo's chin. That broke the Guilmon out of the goo and sent him flying into the wall.

"Ow! Hey! You did that on purpose!" Dynamo moaned, rubbing his chin. "I'm gonna send ya the medical bill for my jaw surgery when this is over!"

"Hey, is this a taser?" Janet queried, pulling a small rectangular device out of Dynamo's bag.

"Yeah..." Dynamo nodded, still slightly stunned.

ZAP!! The taser let off an electric burst as Janet pointed it at Dynamo and pressed the button.

"Ow!! Hey!!"

"This is just to keep you in check." She growled. "Now, face the wall and put your claws against it!"

"What?!"

ZAP!!

"Arugh! OK! OK!" Dynamo reluctantly complied. "Just what is with all this...yeowch! Hey!!"

Still holding the taser ready, Janet moved around Dynamo, jabbing his scales at various points.

"Zoe told me about how you managed to smuggle the Sacred Crystal out back then." Janet told him. "I'll make sure you haven't got any more items hidden beneath some fake skin."

"I'll give you credit for your insight princess, but I'm not hiding anything this time. Gargh!! My tail!!"

"Heh, just making sure it was real." Janet smirked, releasing his dinosaur tail.

"You know, I've never been touched this much by a female before." Dynamo began. "I..."

BBBZZZZZZZTTT!!!!

"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!"

"Shut up." Janet spun Dynamo around to face her. "If you dare tell anyone about this..."

"Relax, as long as you don't say anything about my little...ahem...slip-up back there."

"Deal."

"Great. See, it's something we agree on." Dynamo winked. "We can work together after all, eh?"

ZAP!!

"OWW!!!"

"Don't get cocky." She snarled, strapping Dynamo's backpack onto herself. "I'm keeping a very short leash on you. Got it?"

"Absolutely."

"Now, what equipment do you need to get the secret passage open?"

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"Are you done yet?" Janet asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Just a little more...quality workmanship takes time." Dynamo muttered, fiddling with a square handheld device he'd attached to the side of the number pad. "There! Got it!"

With a creak, the adjacent wall slid open, revealing a staircase leading downwards.

"So, anything else her majesty needs from me?"

ZAP!! ZAP!!

"Ow! Ow! All right! I get the point!" Dynamo waved. "You have anything in mind once we're down there?"

"I assume there'll be guards and such?"

"My sources say so at least."

"Since it's a factory, we'll head for the nearest control station. Preferably a security room that we can get some layout details."

"I do have some maps, but I should be able to mess around with the security systems a little." Dynamo nodded.

"Good. You first." Janet jabbed the taser at his side.

"Me?"

"Grrrr...."

"OK! I'll go! Just don't leave me hanging."

"Oh come on, I'm the good guy, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's true."

As the pair made their way downwards, the stone walls of the old castle gradually began to be replaced by metallic sections. At the bottom was an electronic sliding door, and through that, a large metal corridor.

The two carefully checked for any guards before entering.

"It's this way." Dynamo gestured.

He led Janet down the left path and through another door. After several minutes of carefully ducking into alcoves and corners to avoid Tankmon patrols, the duo arrived at the end of the passageway, a set of double doors with a lightning bolt symbol marked on them.

"Locked, as expected." Dynamo muttered, noticing a similar 9 digit keypad next to the door. "I should be able to crack the code if..."

"Hey, how about over here?"

Dynamo looked over his shoulder to find Janet pulling a couple of cardboard boxes that had been absentmindedly tossed in the corner. Their labels read 'Supplies, Computer Room Basement Level 1 East'.

"Yeah, I guess that'll work too." Dynamo laughed. "Not too bad at this sneaking around business, are you?"

"I have some field experience." Janet quipped.

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"More supplies?" A Tankmon wondered, finding two more equipment crates outside his door. "Thought we were done for the day. Hey, come help me over here!"

"Yeah, coming." The second Tankmon in the control room rolled over with a grunt.

Each one picked up a box between their gun arms and brought them into the control room.

"Aren't these a little heavy?" The second Tankmon wondered.

"How right you are!" Dynamo sprang out of the box and fired a gun at point blank range, sending blue energy waves convulsing through the startled guard's body.

"Hargh!!" Janet leapt out of the second box and disabled the second guard with the same tactic.

The two guards let out gargled screams before going offline, their arms hanging limp by their sides. Janet quickly shut the control room door while Dynamo shoved the two Tankmon into a corner.

"Ion charges." Dynamo smirked, twirling his gun. "These work wonders on disabling machines. Those two will be out for a long time."

"They'd better." Jan growled, snatching the gun out of his claw. "Now, get to work!"

Dynamo took a seat at the computer and flicked on several other screens in the room, which showed various images of locations in the facility. Janet passed him a CD, which he slipped into the computer and then began typing.

"I'll be into the system in no time." He winked.

"So, how are your planning to sabotage this trade?" Janet leaned over his chair.

"Well, these two groups aren't too fond of each other, and being in the same facility has probably made them edgy enough already. So, a few 'mishaps', and they'll be at each other's throats."

"And you get to steal the Dragon Artifacts in the process?"

"Erm...hehehe....sort of...." Dynamo laughed nervously.

"Hey wait! That image!" Janet pointed towards one of the monitors. "Pause it!"

Dynamo brought the image up on the main screen. It was footage from a surveillance camera, though it was rather blurred. However, Janet had spotted a flash of blue at the edge of the screen, which the guards had most likely overlooked.

When Dynamo was done enlarging it, there was no doubt in her mind.

"Steve!" She gasped.

Her friend's Flamedramon form seemed to be devoid of any armor, but camera had caught him sneaking into a door at the far corner.

"That your friend?" Dynamo queried. "He might still be in that room, you know?"

"Where is it?"

"I'll get the system to send it to you."

Janet connected her Digivice to the computer and downloaded the map data.

"I'm going to see if I can find him, so you stay here." Janet decided.

"Fine by me."

"And just to make sure..."

"What the?! Hey!!"

Dynamo found his arms yanked back and bound around the back of the chain with a metal chain. Janet pulled his tail through the hole in the back of the chain and secured it to one of the chair's legs.

"I can't do anything if you tie my arms down!" Dynamo protested. "And....urgh!"

Janet tilted the chair back, so Dynamo's legs went up, and pushed them onto the table. She then moved the chair closer towards the table, so that Dynamo was unable to take his legs off the table, and locked the chair in that position.

Finally, she shoved his protesting head down onto the table, chin-down between his legs, and tied it down. Each of the chains Janet used had a lock, which she made good use of to ensure the chains were fastened tightly.

"Gargh!! I...I can't move!!"

Smirking, Janet leaned over his head and showed him a book from his own backpack, 'How to Secure a Captive for Dummies'.

"No fair! That's mine!" Dynamo whined.

"I had something to do while hiding inside those boxes, even if reading in dim light is bad for the eyesight." Janet grinned.

"Grrrrrr!!"

"Good thing you nicely provided a set of keys too." She continued, dropping the keys into her belt pouch. "Sorry, but I want to be sure you don't decide to alert the guards, seeing you can't exactly run away right now. If you want to play around with the computer while I'm gone, then I hope you're good as doing that with your toes."

The Guilmon lifted a foot and wiggled her toes for emphasis.

"But what if they find me in here?!" Dynamo squealed. "I won't be able to run away either!!"

"I'll lock the door." Janet huffed, snatching up the backpack. "You hope they don't have blasters."

"That isn't very reassuring." Dynamo moaned as the door clicked shut. "GARGH!! Damned b**ch of a dino!!"

Dynamo struggled to no avail.

"Hey, but know what? I think I like her!"

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A while later, Janet stood in front of the door she'd seen Steve entering earlier. The room was only one level down and happened to be in a relatively quiet section.

Yet after everything, Janet stood hesitantly in front of the door marked 'Male Restroom'.

"To go, or not to go? That is the question." She sighed. "Steve, why did you have to make this so difficult?"

Finally, she gathered up enough courage and pushed the door open slightly. The room seemed to be empty and Janet stepped in, closing the door behind her.

THUMP! THUD!

Huh?! What's that sound? It's coming from...that locker?

Janet strode over to the left side of the room, where an odd thumping noise was coming from inside one of the lockers. Unfortunately, it was only after she'd pushed the handle down, thus unlocking the locker, that Jan remembered what happens to all the girls who open 'thumping cupboards' in the horror movies.

With a terrifying moan, a tall white shape burst out of the locker.

"AAARRGGGHHH!!!! GG...G....GHOST!!! HHHEEELLPP!!!! GUARGH!!!"

The ghost came right at her, wrapping its cloth-like folds around her. Out of pure instinct, Janet let loose with a Fireball attack, setting the ghost on fire.

Screaming, the ghost knocked her back against the opposite wall, causing a shelf to break and several buckets of paint to come crashing down, spilling their contents onto the Guilmon.

"Urgh..." Janet moaned, rubbing blue and green paint out of her eyes.

The 'ghost' was now running in circles round the room, screaming wildly.

Wait a minute...that voice! Steve?!

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"Almost...almost....gargh!!" Dynamo had realized one of the locks had been placed at the back of his head, and was currently stretching a leg and attempting to pick the lock with his toenail.

Finally, the lock came loose with a satisfying click.

"YES!"

With his head finally free, Dynamo craned his neck, reaching down between his legs for the crank that would release the chair lock. Pushing his muscles till they were about to tear, Dynamo stuck out his tongue and managed to move the crank.

Now that he was able to spin the chair around, Dynamo did so and placed his feet back on the floor.

"Whew..." He panted.

From there, he still had to pick the lock of the chain tying his tail to the chair, probably with his toes again. With that done, he'd be able to get off the chair and free his arms.

However, he could only flop back for now.

"Owww...my aching back." Dynamo moaned, finally able to stretch his cramped leg muscles. "I really need to work out ways to escape from my own traps more easily."

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"ARGH! GARUGH!! YYARRGHH!! FIRE!! FIRE!! HELP!! HELP!!!"

SPLOOSH!!

Steve felt a splash of cold water hit him as he finally tripped and went face-first into the metallic floor. With a yell, he tore his head through the burnt section of the white cloth to find a rainbow colored Guilmon standing before him, an empty paint bucket in her claws.

"Didn't they ever teach you to stop, drop, roll?!" Janet growled. "And what the heck were you doing dressed like a ghost inside a locker?!"

"Oh...hi Jan..." Steve waved, panting. "Then what are you doing dressed like a rainbow in the guy's restroom?"

Janet blushed, though it was hidden by the colored paints on her face.

"Forget it." She sighed. "Some fire elemental you are."

"Hey, I'm fire-resistant, not fire-proof." Steve protested. "Especially without my armor. Speaking of that..."

Steve dashed over to the furthest locker and threw it open.

"Finally!" Steve let out a sigh of relief as he began strapping the pieces back on, though leaving the gauntlets off and hanging by his sides like he did at most times. "I never thought I'd be so happy to get these back."

"What happened to you?"

"It's a long story. But right now, I'm looking for one of my friends. He's this BlackWargreymon, Siavon, who's supposed to help me get these Dragon Artifacts..."

"The Dragon Artifacts? You're looking for them too?" Janet asked, wiping the paint off her body.

"So, you've heard about the powers they're said to have?"

"Yeah, I also overheard our old foe Beelzebumon talking with this Vajramon and Pajirimon."

"Hmmm...must be Vija and Pija." Steve muttered. "And they're not very nice Digimon."

"Well, those guys were planning something for your BlackWargreymon buddy."

"Siavon?! Oh great, don't tell me he's in trouble. Either way, we've got to find him."

"Any ideas?" Janet queried.

"He gave me this short range communications chip." Steve replied, showing her a small metal piece. "Siavon? You there? Respond!"

All he got was static.

"Not good." Steve shook his head.

"Let me have it. Perhaps we can use the signal from this chip and trace it back to him." Janet suggested. "My Digivice could probably do that."

"Your...hey! It's changed!" Steve gasped, staring at the red & white device which resembled a dragon's head.

"Yep, all new and improved, D-Dragon." Janet said proudly, placing the chip on the screen. "I got it when I went..."

BEEP! BEEP!

A dot was blinking on the screen, indicating a position several levels below.

"I think we've got it!" Janet remarked. "How about we exchange stories later on?"

"Yeah, we've got a job to do." Steve agreed. "Let's go!"

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Following the signal to its location was surprisingly easy. All of a sudden, there seemed to be practically no guards around. However, when Steve and Janet got to their location, they realized why.

An entire squad of Tankmon and MechaNorimon patrolled the hallways, obviously guarding the room through an elegant-looking pair of double doors.

"I'll bet that the exchange is taking place inside that room." Steve muttered as the pair watched from the stairwell.

"That would certainly explain all the security." Janet agreed. "But we have to get in. The signal is coming from within that room."

"Up here." Steve gestured, leading his companion up to the level above. "How about we get in through that?"

He was pointing to an air vent on the side of the wall.

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It didn't take long for the pair to squeeze themselves through the air vent. They soon found a path which led right into the room.

"Whoa...bad guy convention." Steve whispered, peering through the air vent's metal grills.

It was a huge meeting room with a large wooden table in the center. On one side was Beelzebumon, flanked by a pair of 3-headed Cerberumon. On the other were a Zanbamon, Vajramon and Pajirimon - Zakar, Vija and Pija, as Steve remembered.

"The payment was meant to be for the shield and the dagger, not the shield alone." Zakar rumbled.

"Well, it wasn't my fault that Siavon figured it out and decided to hide the dagger, ya." Beelzebumon protested.

"Then the payment will be severely cut down."

"What? For these things? Hey, getting even one is a real bargain, ya?"

The two continued their negotiation in loud voices.

"Hey, look there!" Janet pointed.

In lone pillar stood in the far corner of the room. There was something strange about the pillar, for it was a shiny silver and shimmered with the same colored glow. However, there was something else...a dragon-like head sticking out from one side.

"Siavon!" Steve realized. "Man, what have they done to him?!"

"He's not moving...maybe he can't, or perhaps he's unconscious." Janet observed.

Steve took another look around the room. The opposing groups were completely engrossed in their discussion and quite oblivious to anything else. The area was also dimly lit with many pieces of large furniture scattered about.

"I think we can make it to Siavon unseen." Steve decided, quietly removing the air vent's cover.

Jan and Steve cautiously made their way over to the 'pillar', ducking and crawling beneath various chairs and tables in the process.

A large desk was the furniture piece closest to the pillar and the pair squeezed beneath it.

"Siavon!" Steve hissed. "Hey! Siavon!"

The dragon man's eyes slowly opened.

"Under the table here, but don't turn your head."

Siavon managed to roll his eyes up and down, as if in a nod.

"I'm guessing you'll want this." Janet whispered, passing him the nano-communications chip.

"Thanks." Steve put the chip to his ear and tapped the side of his head as an indication to Siavon. "Siavon, you there?"

"Right here." Came the older warrior's reply. "Damn, I knew they had something planned, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Yeah, you're the one in the sticky situation for a change." Steve held back a laugh. "What happened?"

"You can see that they have the Dragon Shield right over there." Siavon explained. "But I kept the dagger hidden, suspecting that they'd all play me out."

"And stick you in a silver pillar?"

"This mechanism is more complex than it looks. To keep a long story short, it consists of some liquid metal within a contained vacuum. The vacuum sucks in anything that makes contact and keeps them completely immobile inside while it saps their energy. It's called a Dragon Trap, supposedly for its enhanced effect on dragons."

"We'll get you out of there." Steve told him, edging to move forward.

"No, whatever you do, don't touch it or you'll be trapped like me. Cutting the vacuum's power supply is the only way to stop it."

"How do I do that?"

"That'll alert our enemies, so don't."

"But you..."

"Listen kid, look near the base, my Dramon Killer claws are lying there."

"Yeah, I see them."

"The middle finger on the right claw is actually the Dragon Dagger."

"All right, I'm on it." Steve gave both Jan and Siavon firm nods before crawling out of his hiding place, keeping as low to the ground as possible.

He reached the claw and grasped onto the concealed dagger, attempting to yank it free.

"Once you have it, get out of here." Siavon's voice sounded weaker, even through the nano-communications.

"No way!" Steve whispered. "We're not leaving without you!"

"Kid, don't be stubborn." Siavon hissed.

"Will you stop being so negative old timer?" Steve replied. "I'll find a way to...yargh!"

The dagger abruptly came loose, both from the claw and from Steve's grip...sending it flying into the metal wall with a strikingly loud twang.

The next instant, all heads were turned in Steve's direction.

"Oh...shit...."

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"Intruder!" Zakar pointed with one of his swords. "Stop him you fools!"

From beneath the nearby desk came a brilliant flash of red light, followed by a scream.

"Matrix Evolution! Dukemon!"

The entire enemy party hesitated as the white knight leapt between Steve and them, menacingly brandishing her lance, 'Gram' and the 'Aegis' shield.

"Jan?!" Steve's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You can go Mega?!"

"This is no time to worry about that." She ordered in a stern voice. "Get out of here now. I'll take care of these bozos!"

"You and what army, knight?" Vija demanded, unsheathing his dual swords.

"Hey, am I too late for the party?" Dynamo the Guilmon burst in through another air vent. "Oohh....flashy princess."

"What's going on here, ya?" Beelzebumon muttered, drawing his guns.

"Who invited them?!" Pija raised her crossbow.

"In that case, allow me to show you my invitation!" Dynamo brought up a rectangular device and pushed a large yellow button with a smiley face on it.

"Hit the deck!" Janet screamed, moments before a deafening explosion tore through the side of the room, throwing everybody off their feet.

It didn't last long, but stirred up a large cloud of smoke as well as 'extending' the room all the way through to the surface, revealing the dark, night sky.

"Heh, a good saboteur knows how to improvise even when all his equipment gets stolen." Dynamo's voice pulled Janet back to reality.

"Damn, are you insane?!" She yelled, looking up to find Dynamo in Black MegaloGrowmon form kneeling over her, holding out his arms to shield herself, Steve and the immobilized Siavon from some debris.

"Not really, I just needed a little room to evolve."

"Urghh...where's Beelzebumon and gang?" Janet asked.

"They're headed for the surface, so let's hurry if you want to catch them." Dynamo replied.

"Go on first Jan." Steve decided, pulling himself up. "I'm gonna get Siavon out of this Dragon Trap first."

"Moron..." Siavon muttered weakly.

"Be careful, because this place could collapse any moment now." Janet warned.

"All right then." Dynamo wiggled out of his position, angling his arms so the debris fell away from Janet's group. "Rargh!"

The mechanical dinosaur moved to a clear spot, and still in a kneeling position, and activated his jetpack.

"Well, it takes two to tango princess. So, shall we dance?" Dynamo winked, indicating for Janet to jump onto his shoulder.

Janet glared at her 'rival' for a while, and then nodded.