Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ AlForce One ( Chapter 30 )

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong to Bandai. 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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As the water rose above his face level, Sekata was unfortunately not able to see that he wasn't alone. He was actually being watched from the platform above by a pair of sharp dinosaur eyes.

Zelia eyed him through her built-in night vision, watching her struggling prey carefully. Her prey.....yes that was what her instincts told her. And the Raptordramon silently climbed down the ledge, pausing at a point just above the water level.

The makeshift breathing pipe was literally at her claw-tips, and one motion would knock it away. Zelia raised a claw and swung it, but found herself stopping just before she could touch it.

Why? She wondered. He's here....helpless before me. Why?

Her claws were actually trembling as Zelia glanced down. She just couldn't bring her claws forward for some strange reason, and her mind raced to find an explanation.

No... Zelia tried to convince herself. I want my enemies to fight. I want to beat them down before I tear them apart!

Suddenly, several footsteps came from another direction. Zelia glanced around in panic, and then quickly retreated to the shadows in the darker part of the area.

"Sekata!" Zoe yelled, shinning her torchlight around. "Are you here? Sekata?"

"You think he's here?" Aero asked her. The Aero V-dramon was lagging behind, leaning against the wall for support.

"I'm sure....I can feel him." Zoe turned the light forward. "Whoa!"

The two had arrived at a ledge that dropped off into a pit, which was rapidly filling up with water. They were on the opposite from where Zelia was hiding, watching them from the darkness.

Zoe shone her light down and realized just where Sekata was.

"Oh no! He's trapped down there!" She gasped.

Then was a sudden thud as Aero collapsed behind her. Zoe ran over to his side, shaking him.

"Ugh....I'll be Ok." He growled. "Just feel....rather dizzy. Go...help Sekata out..."

"I promise this won't take too long."

Zoe jumped down, landing in the knee-deep water with a splash. She found his makeshift breathing pipe and dropped to her knees, feeling his head beneath the water.

"Sekata, it's me." She called. "I'll get you out, hang tight."

She felt the part of the rubble that was pinning Sekata's chest down and begun digging away at it, hoping to break the rocky debris apart. Sekata too heard as much as felt his friend's presence nearby and did his best to shove against the rubble.

Zelia had her night vision on the entire time, a spectator to the scene of Zoe and Sekata struggling for their lives. However, this confused her too, for she felt something so similar had happened to her before.

Then, she blinked and suddenly saw another scene unfolding in front of her.

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Flashback....

In her mind, Zelia was viewing a scene of herself, running in a dark mine, from a first person perspective.

There was many other shadows running about, representing other Digimon she didn't recognize. A loud explosion suddenly rocked the area, throwing her to the ground. She tasted blood in her mouth as she dropped, but quickly scrambled to her feet and continued running.

However, there was a howl of pain to the left side. A blue scaled dragon, V-dramon, had been trapped beneath some fallen rubble. It was exactly like the way Sekata was trapped, with the debris landing on top of his chest and pinning him down.

Zelia saw herself immediately turn and try to help the fallen dragon out by clawing away at the rocky debris. But a sudden series of clicks caused her to look up, straight at some more shadowy figures that fired their guns at her.

She vision blacked out for a long while.

The next thing she found was that she was floating in some strange green liquid. As Zelia struggled, she felt constrained, glass sealing her in. She didn't like it at all and banged against the glass repeatedly.

Finally, the glass shattered, and the green liquid spilled out. She was finally free and jumped out onto the ground of a large laboratory. She felt new emotions....a rage...a fury.

But before her stood the mistress, Evza, who raised a hand.

Yes...I must obey. Zelia thought. I was created to serve and programmed to obey...

Zelia bowed low, and Evza carelessly stroke the top of her head. There was a piece of broken glass on the floor nearby and in it, Zelia saw her reflection.

Her Raptordramon reflection...

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"Gargh!!" Jumping back to the current time, Zelia clutched her head in confusion.

I must obey. Zelia repeated to herself. I was created to serve and programmed to obey. But why? What's wrong with me?

However, Zelia turned and glanced at the scene of Zoe struggling to free Sekata. And something just made her go running forward.

"Huh? Who...?!" Zoe gasped.

"Zelia. I'm here to help." The dinosaur replied. "Hurry, we'll get your friend out."

"Thank you."

The two began digging with renewed vigor. Slowly, the rocks were moved away and Sekata was allowed more mobility. Crunching of the rocks were heard as Sekata started pushing his way through.

"Grrr...come on!" Zoe muttered in panic.

"It will take too long to clear out the rubble." Zelia told her. "We'll need to loosen the rocks just enough to pull him out."

"Yeah, good idea." Zoe nodded.

"All right, pull on my mark. 1....2.....3!"

Zelia got her claws beneath the bulk of the debris and shoved upwards. At the same time Zoe grabbed onto Sekata's body and pulled as hard as she could. Sekata too, sensed this and worked to free himself.

It was several tense seconds of struggling, but in a spray of water, Sekata finally got himself free. Coughing and choking, he was helped to his feet by Zoe.

"Sekata!"

"Rarghh! Garghh!" He spluttered. "Zoe....thanks...."

"Hey, anytime." She laughed. "I had some help from...huh?!"

In the moment Zoe had turned her head away, Zelia had mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

"I don't see anyone else."

"But she was right here." Zoe insisted. "Wait, Aero needs some help too!"

The pair climbed up the ledge to where Aero was waiting.

"Hey man...." The blue dragon waved. "You're all wet...."

"You don't look too good yourself." Sekata spoke, shouldering his companion. "We'd better get out of here Zoe."

"Uh huh, but..." Zoe shone the light around, looking for any traces of Zelia. "Yeah, you're right. We'd better go."

Zelia watched the group departing from her hidden spot, a concealed shaft on the ceiling. She knew however, that a rescue team was approaching their position. Zoe and her comrades would definitely be found.

As for herself, she had to leave too. But things just didn't fit in her mind. Her mission had been a failure, but why? Just why did she feel otherwise?

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That feeling kept coming back even as Zelia returned to her mistress.

There she was ordered to return to her resting pod, which was pretty much like a white rectangular box. The inside of her pod was cold, but it was familiar to Zelia as she curled up inside of it.

What were those memories? Were they really mine? She wondered.

Still, she closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.

"My first creation." Evza stood there, drawing a hand over Zelia's pod. "Good, but still flawed. On the other hand..."

The sorceress turned and moved towards a larger pod. Within it was Arkadimon, the same creature that had been stalking Zoe and the others in the mines. Its feeding and development was done for this stage, and it was time to move on to another location. One with a stronger energy source to fuel its gradual transformation.

Evza watched in delight as her newest creation begun squirming, and then evolving.

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Two days later....

The mines had been temporarily closed after the disaster and the wounded were all brought to a nearby medical center. Sekata and Zoe stayed there with Aero, keeping in touch with their friends back at base.

All seemed fine at first, but then Aero's condition started deteriorating. He was currently undergoing a more intense scan while Sekata and Zoe waited outside.

The hospital area was similar to the one he'd been in before, and that brought back several bad memories as Sekata paced around. Zoe was sitting quietly nearby and looked up as a door opened.

"How is he doing?" Zoe asked the Swanmon nurse.

"His condition is stable for now." The Swanmon reported. "However, it seems he's suffering from a rare form of Palaside poisoning."

"I'm all right I tell you." Aero came lumbering out of the examination room. "The drugs all helped and...ugh..."

"Hey careful!" Sekata caught Aero's arm as his friend stumbled.

"The liquid form of Palaside crystals can be toxic to most Digimon, and he seems to suffer from the worst of it." The nurse explained. "These crystals are still fairly new, but there have been antidotes made from Jirnn crystals. And our supplier has unfortunately been delayed."

"Hmmm...those are from mines further up north from where we were." Aero noted.

"We could always go get the crystals ourselves." Zoe decided. "That would help, right?"

"Of course. They're a whitish crystal formation and are the only ones that form in those mines." The Swanmon nodded. "We'll be easily able to produce the antidote here if you can bring back a sample."

"Right, let's go then." Aero pulled himself up.

"Oh no, you're staying here." Zoe shoved him into the seat.

"Yeah, we can handle this." Sekata assured. "We'll send a message to the other back at base and let them know too."

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"See ya soon!" Rain called.

"Thanks for dropping by!" Steve called from the station's platform.

The young knight wanted to do a little more traveling before getting back to his duties, and Steve was seeing him off. Janet was there too, waving as the Trailmon begun to move out.

Rain had his paws on the ledge and was sticking his head out the window. Not exactly a good idea because when the vehicle started moving, he smacked the back of his head on a signpost.

Steve and Janet cringed as the Raindramon dropped back, groaning.

"Ow! Hey chill! I'm Ok!" Rain smiled.

The rest of his shouting was drowned out by the chugging sounds of the Trailmon moving out of the station.

"Yeah, he learnt that from the best after all." Janet commented.

"Yeah, so true." Steve stopped. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh nothing." Janet began walking away when her D-Dragon beeped. "Hmmm?"

"Sekata and the others?" Steve jogged to her side.

"Yeah." Janet brought up the message on her Digivice's screen. "Seems they need some help from us."

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"This should be the one." Sekata gestured as Zoe and himself landed on the mountainside.

The scene around was that of a desolate wasteland with few plants and mostly rocky ground around. This area had been heavily mined of its best resources in the recent years, leaving little of commercial value.

Fortunately, the mining tunnels were still intact, and the pair found themselves faced with the choice of entering from several directions. It had been a tiring flight and the two took a moment to rest and consider their options.

"Which one do we try?" Zoe wondered. "They didn't tell us that there would be so many entrances."

"Try the one on the upper left." A voice told them.

"Huh?! Aero?!" Sekata gasped.

"Hi guys, I happened to know a shortcut here." Aeromaru appeared on a ledge above them. "Come on, this antidote is for me after all. As long as I'm able to, I want to do as much of it as I can for myself."

"You..." Zoe sighed.

"Well, it runs in our group to be really stubborn." Sekata remarked. "Let's go then. I suppose Aero isn't going to be turned away."

"Hell no." Aero laughed as he led the group into one of the entrances.

It was a long path down the mining tunnel before the party stepped into a larger chamber. Everyone stared as the place seemed to be the remains of some old temple. Parts of the stone walls were still standing, though the bricks were old and worn down with time.

"All this...within a mining tunnel?" Zoe wondered.

"The underground temple was here first actually." Aero explained. "Just that there were resources, so the mining came after that."

"Makes sense I guess." Sekata muttered, running his claws over the walls.

Aero came up beside him and dusted off a stone table embedded into the wall. The square tablet had been broken in half, but the part that was still intact had the carving of a dragonoid figure on it. This figure was an armored knight who stood upright, but had the wings, head and tail of a dragon.

The most distinctive feature however, was the carving's V-shaped horns and the 'V' decorating his chestplate. Aero just stood that, transfixed, before Zoe called him over.

"Are these the crystals?" She asked, pointing.

There were small bits of glittering white crystals on the ground, indicating that they were on the right track.

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Zelia lay hidden on a higher section of the ruins, poised to strike. A single lever stood nearby, and she had orders to activate it when the group came in. They were there now and almost in place.

I won't fail this time. Zelia told herself.

<I know that you won't fail.> Evza sent her a telepathic message. <Be alert now, they are almost in position.>

"Yes, mistress." The Raptordramon hissed.

She allowed the group to move forward some more and then activated the lever. The clicking noises that echoed throughout the room alerted the group below to the danger. Sections on the walls opened sent spears firing out.

"Watch out!" Sekata dashed forward and tackled Zoe, taking her out of harm's way.

"Whoa! Gargh!" Aero backed against the mural he'd been looking at in panic. Turned out there was a hidden room behind the wall as its 'revolving door' spun around and sent him sliding down a sloping tunnel.

"Aero!" Zoe shouted.

"This way!" Sekata grabbed her arm and dragged her through another moving wall. That brought them into another room where they ducked into a corner. "You all right?"

"Yeah, fine." She panted.

"Do you bunch always trigger the old traps whenever you go looking for relics?" The mocking, feminine voice of Junon taunted.

"She always has to be so direct." Dynamo added in.

"Hey you're not better Dynamo!" Zoe pointed. "You trigger traps just as often as we do!"

"Erm...heheh...I just trigger them so that we don't have to deal with them later, see?" Dynamo scratched his head.

"I'll give him credit for finding ways to cover up his embarrassment." Sekata shrugged.

"Hey! Are you insulting me?!"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh, enough of all that." Junon snapped. "It seems we're clashing over the usual stuff. Well, these mines are our territory and we won't allow you to search for any relics here."

"We're not here for relics this time..." Zoe began.

"Grrr....so you want to lose again?!" Sekata cut in. "Then come on and fight! Corona Blaster!"

The Vritramon unleashed a spray of energy bolts from his arm-mounted blasters, forcing Junon and Dynamo to dodge. He then followed up with a charging maneuver, smashing into his opponents.

"Oh well, here we go again." Zoe muttered as she joined in the melee.

Hmmm....shall I go to the aid of our allies? Zelia wondered, watching the battle from the ledge above.

<No don't concern yourselves with these two.> Evza instructed. <Go and watch the other dragon. Arkadimon is busy feeding at this point and I'd rather not have the dragon discover the true secret of this temple.>

"As you command then."

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"Argh! Ow! Oof!" Aero landed on the floor with a thud. "Darn, I hate it when that happens."

Pulling himself up, Aero glanced around the area. He'd fallen into a narrow corridor that was lit by rows of flaming torches. It was odd, because if no one had been in these tunnels for years, the flames would surely have died out.

Curiously, Aero followed the tunnel down and came to a large mural at the end. Depicted on it was the image of the same dragon knight he'd seen on the earlier carvings. Only this one was more complete and showed the knight in battle with a large, winged demonic beast.

"This looks like the true form of Daemon that we fought before." Aero whispered.

The carving of the demon however, seemed to be much larger and stood fully upright. Aero shuddered, wondering about whom the figures represented. As Aero touched the mural, he began to feel some strange emotions.

AlForce Saber!

"Huh?!" Aero stepped back. "I thought I heard a voice."

The blue dragon put his claw to the mural and continued to focus. He felt as if he were the one fighting there, bracing against a powerful blast as he countered. It was just difficult to describe, as if someone's memories had suddenly been thrust into his mind.

Aero reeled back in surprise and suddenly realized he wasn't alone. Zelia the Raptordramon was sneaking up behind him. When she saw that Aero had detected her presence, Zelia lunged for him.

The blue dragon lashed out with his fist, knocking Zelia's jaws away. Zelia rebounded against the wall and came back, slamming into Aero and knocking him onto his back. Aero was strong however, and heaved up, throwing his opponent off.

He then shoved forward, grabbing Zelia by the jaws. Zelia growled in frustration and lowered her body. Springing off the ground, she pushed against Aero, ramming him into the mural.

It was an odd combination of the forces present there, but it so happened that both were wrapped around each other as they touched the mural. Aero saw into his foe's memories for a brief moment, and witnessed brief flashes of Zelia being carried away.

He saw her being placed into a strange machine that was filled with green liquid. The vision jumped to her trashing about in pain, and then curling up inside an ice-filled pod to rest.

Zelia seemed to have had a similar experience and was still recovering from the shock when Aero pinned her down, stomach against the ground. Snarling, she struggled in vain as Aero held her jaws down, with his body weight effectively preventing her from moving.

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"Hargh!"

"Rargh!!!" Sekata grunted as he grabbed onto Dynamo's lance. After struggling for a while, Sekata whirled to the side and punched Dynamo in the face, sending the black knight rolling backwards.

"Desperado Blaster!" Zoe, in Paildramon form, sent off a spray of blue bolts.

"Spiral Masquerade!" Junon lashed out with the four ribbon-like blades on her body and blocked out the shots.

The two female fighters landed, facing each other and growling.

Suddenly, a new hissing noise caused everyone to stop and look up. The creature known as Arkadimon (in Champion form) stepped onto the scene.

It was a tall, thin demon with an orange hue and long thin arms and legs. It had 'reversed knees' and was partially covered with metal armor. The tail was red and whip-like, and there were a pair of small wings on its back.

The head was elongated with a pair of long eyes and a red 'slit' on the forehead. It also had some blackish hair sprouting from its head and long sharp claws on its fingers and toes.

"Wait a second....that's the sorceress' experiment right?!" Dynamo gasped. "The Arkadimon thing."

"Arkadimon...." Sekata stared. "It's in its Champion form here."

"I really don't like the looks of this thing." Zoe whispered to him.

"What's it doing here?" Junon wondered. "Evza was supposed to be busy at the other mine with this creature."

"You two know something about it?!" Sekata demanded.

"Yeah, and I don't want to stick around to find out more!" Dynamo got up and sprinted out of the room. "I'm outta here!"

"Grr...you idiot." Junon muttered. Then she turned and pointed towards Sekata as she retreated. "We'll finish this another time!"

The remaining duo stood staring as Arkadimon scooped up a handful of crystals from the floor and devoured them. It then turned towards the two with an angry look on its face.

"It's just a Champion right?" Zoe asked.

"All the stories about Arkadimon from our world had it a lot more powerful than it seemed." Sekata replied. "We'd best not underestimate it."

At that moment, Arkadimon brought up its arms and lashed out with a rapid series of tentacle strikes from its claws. This was its Snatch Whip ability and it sent Sekata and Zoe flying into the wall.

"Rrrrr.... Corona Blaster!!" Sekata fired his weapons, which Arkadimon dodged by leaping onto the ceiling. "Gargh!!"

Arkadimon lunged forward and slashed, leaving Sekata with a long scratch across his right shoulder pad.

"We'll have to bring out our more powerful forms." He muttered. "But we'll also need the space to fight."

"Leave that to me." Zoe pointed her eyes upwards.

Nodding, the two backed away as Arkadimon approached. Then, both raised their blasters to the sky and fired.

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"You....you were the one who helped Zoe earlier." Aero stared.

"Grrr...that was a mistake! I was supposed to destroy them instead!" Zelia hissed. "I am programmed to serve! I...must...obey...!"

Zelia's struggling became more intense and Aero had to use all of his strength to hold her down.

"And were those your memories I just saw?"

"I have none...I am....I am...."

"You're what?"

"I....I don't....know anymore." Zelia suddenly calmed down. "Those memories....I'm so confused...."

"I know how you feel." Aero said softly. "Just try to calm down."

"How?! Why should I?! You are real! I'm an artificial creation, am I?!" Zelia roared. "And I have to follow my programming!"

She was in quite a state of confusion, and Aero had to think for a while before he could come up with a good reply.

"I was referring to your state of distress." Aero replied. "Then, was it you who attacked us in the mines as well?"

"No that was Arkadimon. That mindless creature, programmed only to fight. Just like....just like...." Zelia's eyes widened. "It's just like me! No! I'm....am.....I....no different from that thing?! Wha....what's wrong with my eyes?!"

"You're crying, that's all." Aero wiped a tear from her eye. "I don't know, because I saw some pretty strange things in your memories, most of which I don't understand. But I'll tell you this, no matter what happened in the past, you're here having this conversation with me now. And you can definitely think on your own."

"...."

"I don't want to fight you, but I will if you persist in attacking." Aero slowly let go of Zelia's neck and backed away.

Zelia lay there for a while before turning to face Aero.

"I choose not to fight you either." She said softly. "I...I saw something in your memories too. You had a friend, someone called Alicia. And you blame her death on yourself..."

"That....was a painful time in my life."

"How...how do you know that it's all real? All the memories?"

"Huh? I...I just know, that's all." Aero scratched his head. "I've been through all those times, and I remember them. That's what memories are all about."

"Do I...do I have them too? Real ones?" Zelia spoke out loud.

Aero was silent for a long while before he managed to come up with an answer.

"I don't know anything about you, but I will say that you should go with what you feel."

"Your reply is...hypothetical."

"Well...ugh..." Aero clutched his wounded leg, which he'd apparently forgotten all about. "Damn...the poisoning...."

"Hmmm...." Zelia leaned closer and sniffed at Aero's bandaged right thigh.

She then reached out with her claws and snipped the bandage off, causing Aero to cry out in alarm. The wound beneath had clotted, but a green pus was visible on the surface.

"Palaside has poisoned your system." Zelia noted. "I will search my database for a remedy."

Aero watched her with interest as she closed her eyes for a while. Zelia then nodded to herself and walked over to the wall, where she started scraping with her claws. She quickly broke through the rocks and collected a handful of the white Jirnn crystals that were hidden beneath.

A section on the Raptordramon's chest opened and Zelia slipped the crystals inside. Zelia's eyes flashed white for a few minutes as she stood still, giving off an odd humming noise. Before long, she produced a small tube filled with a white liquid from that same chest compartment.

"This is for you." Zelia held out the tube.

"Erm, thanks." Aero managed, though a little stunned. He was weary of this strange dinosaur whom he'd only just met, but something about the look in her eyes told him to trust her.

A needle emerged from the tube and Aero injected the contents into his injured leg. He watched in surprise as the pus dried up into scab and fell off, leaving a barely visible scar beneath.

"Wow, it feels so much better too." He smiled.

"My system allows me to create poisonous darts from various organic matter." Zelia told him. "However, it can also be applied to medical remedies."

The area suddenly shook, sending small chips of stone falling from the ceiling.

"What was that?!" Aero gasped.

"Arkadimon..." Zelia replied.

"The others." Aero pulled himself up. "I've got to help them. Just remember what I said."

Zelia watched as Aero ran off, and shook her head. Her mistress had insisted that these were her enemies, but once again, something had stopped her from carrying out her orders.

Was it these emotions? These 'memories'? Or perhaps, it was just because she wanted to....

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"Hyper Spirit Evolution..... Kaiser Greymon!"

"Matrix Evolution..... Imperialdramon!"

Both of the pair's evolution sequences completed as the stone roof of the temple came crashing down. Zoe spread the wings of her larger dragon form and used them to shield Sekata.

"Thanks!" Sekata breathed as they moved out of the temple ruins and into the central chamber

"Do you think we got him?" Zoe asked.

Suddenly, pieces of rocks flew up as a loud roar sounded from beneath the rubble. Arkadimon had reappeared in a new form.

This time the demon was far bulkier and stood upright, encased in armor. Its head and body were green in color, with its collar armor being yellow and its huge claws orange. The head appeared similarly to before, with an elongated reptilian shaped and red hair sprouting from behind. Finally, the wings were larger now with yellow and red feathery patterns.

"It's gone to the next level, Ultimate form!" Sekata realized.

Arkadimon attacked with an upgraded version of the tentacle lashing it had given them earlier, the 'Freeze Tentacle'. Sekata was quick enough to bring his sword up and block the tentacles that emerged from Arkadimon's claws. Zoe's armor however, took a beating.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" A Flamedramon suddenly jumped onto Arkadimon's back, covering its face with his claws. "How you guys doing? We got your message and came as quickly as we could!"

"Steve!" Sekata yelled. "Be careful!"

"Whoa! Go now Jan!" Steve leapt off as a Cyberdramon flew onto the scene.

"Erase Claw!" Janet roared, firing off a blue energy burst at Arkadimon's back.

"Hargh!!" Sekata charged in, using a sword combo attack that ended with a flaming shoulder tackle.

"Positron Laser!" Zoe finished it off by hitting the demon with her laser cannon.

Arkadimon flew back and smashed into another small structure, taking it down as it fell. The group of four broke out in cheers, but those were short-lived as Arkadimon rose from the rubble.

"Crap, it's still standing?!" Steve growled.

This time however, a section of Arkadimon's chest opened and begun glowing. It was preparing for its ultimate attack, Dot Matrix.

"Shoot it now!" Sekata ordered.

Zoe, Steve and Janet all launched their projectile attacks, but Arkadimon jumped into the air to avoid it. The demon sent out a white shockwave knocked the trio out.

"No!" Sekata cried, leaping forward as Arkadimon attacked again. He took the bulk of the shockwaves this time, and was attacked several times before he finally collapsed.

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"Oh no!" Aero stared, emerging from the lower passageway. Arkadimon had just taken Sekata down as well, and was standing triumphantly over their group.

"Wait, you can't go out there." Zelia said, running up to him.

"My friends are in trouble...."

"Arkadimon has just finished feeding on the crystals and is powered-up because of it. You won't fare much better than the others."

"But I can't just do nothing!"

"Perhaps there is something you can do. It was about this temple's true secret." Zelia muttered.

"True secret?" Aero wondered. "But all I saw were the murals and..."

Alforce... Aero blinked as a thought just snapped into his mind.

"Alforce? What's that?"

"I didn't say anything." Zelia shook her head.

Call me forth.... The mysterious voice was accompanied with a brief vision. In it, he saw the same temple area they were in now. There were four distinctive murals lying at each of the four major compass points.

"These murals...." Aero muttered, opening his eyes and glancing around.

One was the mural that hid the secret passageway and two more were visible. But the point where he'd seen the northern mural was empty.

"Of course! The one down below!" Aero snapped his fingers. "I understand the secret now!"

Arkadimon's roar brought his attention back to his fallen comrades.

"Do what you have to do." Zelia told him. "I'll hold Arkadimon off."

"You sure?"

"You're the one who told me to go with what I believe in. And that's what I'm doing."

Lowering her body, Zelia charged in and pounced on the demonic creature.

<Zelia, what are you doing?> Evza's voice yelled. <Stop....>

Zelia shut off the link. She knew it was betraying her mistress, but she just felt like she had to.

The sounds of the raptor's desperate struggle reached Aero even as he raced down the hidden tunnel. The mural where Zelia had attacked him earlier was still there and when Aero dug his claws into the wall, the stone piece easily slid out. He returned to the surface and saw Zelia being pounded into a wall.

"Go!" She ordered, screaming an agony.

"Fire Rocket!" Steve was up by this time and rammed into Arkadimon with a flaming tackle.

The demon turned its attention towards Steve instead, who managed to dodge its tentacles. Another roar sounded as Janet jumped onto Arkadimon's back, clawing and biting at it.

Arkadimon howled furiously as it struggled to shake her off.

"I've got a clear shot!" Steve exclaimed. "Move Jan!"

"I can handle it!" Janet insisted, stabbing an exposed section of her opponent's neck. "Just stay....gargh!!"

Unfortunately, Arkadimon's tentacles stretched all the way and wrapped around her.

"Hands off buddy!" Steve snarled, leaping forward and slashing at the tentacles.

The furious demon knocked Steve aside and hurled Janet across the room.

"Erase Claw!" Janet fired her attack, only to have it countered by the Dot matrix.

Howling in pain, the Cyberdramon was thrown roughly to the ground. Arkadimon shot out its claws, sending them straight for Janet. She was too stunned to do anything but watch as her doom approached.

Then, there was a sickening stabbing sound as the claws stopped. Steve had jumped in front of her and taken the blow....three spear-like claws through his chest.

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Janet roared.

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Aero had reached the northern position by this time and slammed the stone tablet into position. He stared in horror as Steve fell, with Janet screaming behind him.

Suddenly, all four of the murals lit up, each one sending off rays of light that met in the center of the room. Even Arkadimon seemed stunned as it backed away.

From the convergent point of the lights, a small shinning object emerged and flew into the air. Instinctively, Aero followed it up and grabbed it in his claws.

It was some sort of Digivice, taking the form of a bracelet with a triangular end, a circular center portion and a screen with rows of buttons by its side. (The Digivice from V-Tamers 01.)

"Is this....for me?" Aero wondered.

It definitely seemed so when the Digivice strapped itself around his right wrist. Aero glanced around, seeing Zelia slumped in a corner and Steve lying in a pool of blood, with Janet crawling up to him. Sekata and Zoe (who had dropped back to her XV-mon form) were getting up, though they looked battered and bruised.

"Everyone...." Aero muttered. "Let this light guide my path. Matrix Evolution!"

Aero brought the Digivice to his chest, causing a blinding light to burst out from within. His body began to change, becoming encased in blue and golden armor. In fact, he was evolving into the same dragon knight he'd seen on the mural earlier.

"Alforce V-dramon!"

Arkadimon seemed drawn to Aero's new form with renewed aggression and leapt up, lashing out with its tentacles.

"AlForce Saber!" Aero extended a green laser sword from his right wrist and slashed, cutting through the tentacles with surprising ease. He then charged into the beast, his glimmering blade flashing as he struck, knocking Arkadimon away.

"Grrr....that monster!" Sekata growled, staggering to his feet. "I'll never forgive him for hurting Steve!"

"We'll take him together." Aero nodded, landing beside him. "Shinning V Force!"

"Enryuugeki!" (Flame Dragon Attack!)

Aero's beam and Sekata's sword burst combined into a massive fiery explosion, but Arkadimon was still standing after it. However, it had both claws covering its chest...as if were desperate to protect that area.

"Could that be a weak point?" Sekata wondered.

"Let's see!" Aero lunged forward and slashed again and again at Arkadimon's chest. Though each time his attacks were blocked, Arkadimon was backing away from them.

Suddenly, Arkadimon made an odd grunting noise. It then leapt up, smashed its way through the nearest wall and disappeared into its self-created tunnel.

"He ran?" Zoe looked up.

"Forgot about that, Steve needs help!" Janet was crouching over him, her claws stained with blood.

"We have to get him out of here quickly." Aero agreed.

Steve coughed and let out a soft moan as Janet carefully scooped him up in her arms.

"Why did you do that you idiot?!" Janet whispered. "It was my fault. All my fault.....I'm sorry Steve...."