Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ The Day that Time Forgot ( Chapter 34 )

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

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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The Day that Time Forgot

By nightdragon0

“Well I managed to get Steve's medical report from the hospital.” Aero slid a data-pad across the table. “And his story definitely checks out.”

“Hmm…he suffered some deep wounds, but the spikes missed seriously damaging any major bones or organs.” Sekata browsed through the report, not understanding too much of the complicated medical terms on it.

“And the Swanmon nurse you claimed to have seen Janet. Well, all their staff were accounted for during those 2 days.” Aero continued. “One of them looked after Steve, who remained unconscious until a few hours before he got up and went out to find you.”

“I could've sworn one of them told me that Steve's condition was much worse.” Janet, as Strikedramon, shook her head. “Perhaps it really was my imagination playing tricks on me.”

“You're just badly shaken up.” Aero put a claw on her shoulder. “Better take a few more days of rest.”

Three days after their previous reunion and Steve's recovery, the party was finally back in their home base. It was late at night and the trio had gathered at the front desk.

Janet still felt uneasy about Steve's recovery and had insisted Aero gather the data from the medical center. However, it all turned out exactly as Steve had told them.

“Hey guys, what's going on here?” The aforementioned Flamedramon stepped in through the doorway.

“Oh just…” Aero started.

“Checking through some old stores.” Janet cut in, quickly hitting the file's delete button and slipping the data-pad into her belt pouch. “Which reminds me, we've got to get that shipment ready for the delivery tomorrow.”

“Those old vases right?” Steve gestured.

“Those are expensive.” Sekata cautioned. “Don't go and mess around with them.”

“We've got ya, don't worry.” The smaller dragon laughed.

As Janet and Steve walked into the back room, Aero came up beside Sekata.

“He's really lucky to survive a blow from Arkadimon like that.” Aero whispered, lowering his voice. “I dread to think of what could've happened.”

“Indeed. And with the demon progressing as quickly as it has, especially in these few days that we've been distracted, it's going to be even more problematic.” Sekata said grimly. “If that thing evolves again we're dead. We must each be at our all if we're going to beat it.”

“That I agree with.” Aero nodded firmly. “But we'd best think about it after a good night's rest. In the meantime, I've got my own charge to check on.”

“Zelia?”

“Yup, who else.” The blue dragon winked as he exited the room.

“I wish I had his confidence when it comes to expressing our feelings.” Sekata said to himself. “Zoe…I really want to, but I'm just afraid of…”

Flicking through the screens on his Digivice, Sekata brought up the screen with the percentage counter, which he stared at for a long while.

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“Hey Zelia, you in there?”

There was a jingle of the bells that hung on the bathroom's door as Aero entered. It was a standard white tilled room with facilities similar to one of human proportions. And in one corner was the large gray bathtub that Zelia lay in, covered up to her neck in ice.

“Zelia?” Aero asked from the doorway.

“Um…huh?” Zelia opened an eye. “Didn't hear you come in.”

“Well, it's all right considering how deeply you sleep. Erm, if you consider it sleeping since…well…let's not go there.”

“I'll say it again that you're an interesting dragon.”

“Heh, I like to think of myself that way too.” Aero strode forward and rested his arms against the edge of the bathtub. “How's the ice bath working out for you?”

“It helps.” Zelia simply replied.

“At least we're able to control your body temperature problem.” Aero raised a hand and stroked the raptor's cold snout.

Zelia didn't answer, but leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

“Is this how it's always going to be? You know, with you here and….” Aero trailed off.

“What about it?”

“Oh nothing. Just babbling.” Aero moved to leave. “Goodnight Zel.”

The Aero V-dramon flicked off the lights, leaving Zelia to the silence and darkness of the room.

But he is right. Zelia told herself. Once I start down my chosen path, just how long will I remain here in this world? I am already past my due time, but…just too many buts, how's and why's.

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“Ok, set it down here.” Janet huffed. “There!”

Steve and herself carefully lowered the last vase into a crate packed full of straw. Close by were three more wooden boxes stacked on top of each other. The crate they were now packing would be the fourth and last box.

“Whew…yeah. You said it.” Steve muttered, wiping his brow. “Hey Sekata, you missed all the fun.”

The Vritramon had just entered the room and glanced down at the boxes.

“Not like there was much to pack. Zoe did a pretty good job on that earlier.” Janet added in.

“Why don't the two of you take a break?” Sekata suggested. “I can finish up here on my own.”

“That'll be cool.” Steve smiled, patting the rim of a vase with his hand. “By the way, what are these things for anyway?”

As he did that however, Steve also dropped a small, circular metal talisman into the vase. Drumming his fingers against the vase created enough noise to drown out the sound of the metal disc hitting the vase's bottom.

“A mid-autumn festival in the neighboring town apparently.” Sekata explained. “Not too sure what the ones in the Digital World are for, but it has to do with bringing good luck.”

“Everything does, they say.” Steve shrugged. “Well Jan, how about a drink?”

“Sounds good.” Janet gave a thumbs-up. “See you tomorrow Sekata.”

“I'll finish this up then.” The red dragon grunted, grabbing a hammer to nail the crate shut.

During the motion, his claw briefly touched the same vase Steve had dropped the talisman into. For a split second, Sekata's body glowed with purple energy, and then it was gone. The dragon himself passed it off as nothing.

Janet too had her back to Sekata and failed to notice anything, but Steve knew exactly what was happening and turned away with a smirk.

“It's all been set in motion now, just like they wanted it.” He whispered to himself.

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The next morning….

“Rise and shine Sekata!” Cimons the Dorugamon called cheerfully, pushing the door open.

“Ugh…five more minutes…” Sekata moaned, rolling over to his side.

“Come on buddy!” The purple furred dragon leapt onto the other side of his bed and started bouncing. “Wakey wakey!”

“Go away…” Sekata growled.

“Grrr…you asked for it then!” Cimons jumped off the bed and threw open the curtains.

The bright morning sun streamed in through the window and right into Sekata's face, causing him to sit up and rub his eyes.

“Finally.” Cimons heaved. “You're supposed to be delivering that shipment today.”

“Damn….what time was it again?”

“Well, you've got to leave in half an hour if you want to make the delivery on schedule. Or you need someone to relieve you again?”

“No, I'll get this one done. Let me get my gear on and I'll be there.”

“Don't take too long.” Cimons reminded him as the Champion Digimon exited the room.

Sekata dragged his dragon body out of bed to where his body armor and helmet lay. The sections he generally removed when he slept included the shoulder pads, arm-blasters, helmet and breastplate.

He caught a glimpse of his bare chest in the mirror. The chest and belly section were white while the rest of the scales on his body matched the deep red coloring of his armor.

Feeling a little grumpy as not having had a good sleep, Sekata stretched his `feathery' wings, whipped his tail about and cracked his head from side to side. He'd had some sort of nightmare the previous night, but like most cases, simply couldn't recall exactly what it'd been about.

Shoving the thoughts out of his mind, Sekata quickly strapped his armor on. No matter how he disliked it, it was time for another day of work.

The Ryuukonken sword hung on the wall, an ominous reminder to Sekata about everything that had happened to him in the past few months. On this day however, he simply left it hanging on the wall.

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Sekata trudged down the stairs to a familiar scene. The dining room which he'd just entered consisted of a large wooden table in the center, several chairs surrounding it and a couch in the back.

“Hey there!” Zoe waved.

The female XV-mon was seated at the table, with Steve across from her and Aeromaru next to Steve. Sekata raised his hand and was about to respond when he felt a slight gust of wind behind him.

Seconds later, Adrian the Airdramon rushed by, knocking Sekata to the ground as he whizzed past. The serpent-like dragon's mouth was full of something, which soon became apparent by Janet, in Strikedramon form, running into view.

“Grrrr….those were my pancakes you little thief!!” She fumed. “Give em' back!!!”

Completely distracted, Janet stomped on Sekata's tail as she ran past. The affected dragon let off a yelp of pain that went completely ignored by the duo in pursuit.

“Na-ah!!” Adrian grunted with his mouth full. “I saw em' first!”

“Don't make me go Cyberdramon on ya!!” Janet threatened.

“Just try it!!”

“Sheesh, and you guys call me the immature one.” Steve sighed as the two disappeared into the next room.

“Thanks for your concern!” Sekata yelled sarcastically after Janet and Adrian.

“How's your tail?” Zoe asked.

“Oh it's a little sore, but nothing to worry about.” Sekata replied.

Katsu the Shadramon was the next to enter the scene, with a wide grin on his face.

“Aero, I've finally got one that you won't be able to figure out.” The bug smirked.

“Oh really? Bring it on.” Aero challenged.

“A mon rides 15 hours on a Raindramon.” Katsu recited his riddle. “Then after a 1 hour break, completes his trip in another 14 hours…all on Sunday. How is this possible?”

“Erm…hmm….” Aero began drumming his fingers nervously against the tabletop.

“Give up?”

“No, I just need more time to….”

“Because Sunday is the Raindramon's name, heh.” Katsu winked.

“Grrr…I knew that…” Aero muttered.

There was a heavy thumping of footsteps as Zelia entered the room as well, drawn by the sweet aroma of the food on the table. Unfortunately, Janet and Adrian came back in the midst of their `tag game' and ran right into Zelia.

Zelia was thrown off balance and lurched forward, right onto the table. Her weight had the effect of crushing the wooden piece of furniture, along with all the food beneath it. Everyone let off long moans while Janet and Adrian sweatdropped.

“I think I'll pass.” Sekata decided to make his leave, but grabbed a fallen apple as an afterthought.

“Everything's on that hovering platform over there.” Katsu gestured.

The crates had been stacked and tied on top of a flat metallic device. It basically functioned as a hovering trolley and was used to facilitate transportation of heavier equipment.

Sekata activated the hover platform by pushing a button on its remote control, and then proceed to push it out the door. He barely gave a thought about the events in the dining room, for those were everyday things to him by now.

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Sekata made his way through the bustling market town and arrived at the Trailmon station with plenty of time to kill before his train was due to leave.

He found himself waiting beside his cargo outside one of the station's storage bays. It was a large gray warehouse with its main doors open and stacks of boxes nearly neatly arranged within. The building he stood before was in a fenced up area of the compound, surrounded by rows of many similar structures.

Whoever was supposed to meet me here is certainly taking his time. He thought unhappily.

The dragon was still munching on his apple and absentmindedly leaned his weight against the nearest crate's lid.

Crunch! A small hole the size of his fist appeared in the wooden piece.

“Damn…” Sekata frowned.

“Help!! Gargh!! Stop him!!” A sudden scream rang out. “Thief! Stop him!!”

Sekata slammed his partially eaten apple down on top of the broken crate and looked up. Unbeknown to him, the apple rolled into the hole in the cover and fell into one of the vases inside.

A humanoid robed figure was running across the alley between the buildings, holding a brown knapsack in hand. He was Astamon, an Ultimate level demon type Digimon.

His body was clad in a gray and red cloak, covering what one could describe as a blue `business suit' with white stripes visible beneath. He had a pair of bat-like wings on his back and wore a bat-shaped mask on his head, leaving just his mouth and his long white hair exposed.

Following close behind was a familiar Digimon, a Renamon. Sekata remembered Luna the Renamon from the visions of Rodi's youth, except this one here was far less graceful. In fact, her face was red and flushed with exhaustion as she ran.

Astamon was facing backwards and sneering at the Renamon when Sekata abruptly stepped into his path. With a loud thud, the smaller spellcaster rammed into his armored dragon form and was thrown against the ground.

“Not very nice bullying little girls.” Sekata growled, intimidatingly folding his arms.

“Gurgh….” Astamon staggered shakily up.

Renamon had caught up by this time and launched herself into a flying kick. Astamon suddenly hurled a fistful of powder into Sekata's face, causing the dragon to stagger backwards. The agile figure moved away the next instant….leaving Renamon's flying kick to brush past and hit Sekata in the groin.

“RRRAAARRGGHH!!!” Sekata roared, tumbling backwards.

“Oh no! I'm so sorry!!” Renamon gasped.

Snickering, Astamon ran into the nearest warehouse via its open door.

“Urghh….that hurt…” Sekata moaned, clutching his groin area.

“Are you…” Renamon began.

“As long as I get my claws on him!” Sekata growled, giving chase.

Astamon's fleeing form was visible across the street, but something else got Sekata first.

“Ooofff!!”

“OWW!!”

Sekata ran right into that path of another Digimon, a dragon type Champion known as Gin Ryuumon. To describe this dragon, one could consider it a quadrupled-type, though he was able to stand on just his hind legs. His scales were all a light orange in color, except for the white lining around his jaws.

The rest of his body was covered in samurai style armor, colored primarily in black, with red shoulder and thigh pads, and a purple neck piece. The dragon had a muscular built and a long tail, although he lacked any kind of wings.

“Hey! Watch where you're going you fruitcake-eating dragon!!” Gin Ryuumon yelled angrily, picking himself off the floor.

“Jerk! You ran into me first!” Sekata protested furiously.

“No, it was you!” Gin Ryuumon jabbed a finger at his chest. “And by the way, the name's Raynor, you Psychotic oversized red lizard!!”

“Enough with the name calling dysfunctional dumbass!” Sekata lost his temper.

“Demented freak of nature!!”

“Hey!! Will you two please stop fighting!!” Renamon ran between them and cut in.

That was when Sekata noticed that their original quarry had completely disappeared from view.

“Damn, he got away.”

“Nevermind about that.” Renamon said with concern. “As long as you're all right. But thanks for trying to help.”

“Don't mention it.” Sekata nodded. “But can't you just teleport after him? You Renamon can do that, correct?”

“Erm, forget it. He's not worth the trouble.”

“Are you sure about…”

“There wasn't anything important in that bag anyway. Just a bunch of my sister's funny powders.” Renamon shrugged off his query.

“What about me?! Raynor interrupted. “You're supposed to be…”

“SHUT UP!!” Renamon lashed out with a groin-directed kicked, followed by a punch to the dragon's face, knocking him out cold. She then dragged Sekata back into the warehouse.

“That's certainly one way to do it.” The Vritramon laughed.

“Hmmm…you must be Sekata right?” Renamon scratched her head. “I was supposed to meet up with a tall red dragon of sorts. Here, luckily I didn't put this in the bag.”

The fox pulled out a folded up piece of paper from beneath her right glove and showed it to Sekata. It was an order form with all the details of his cargo.

“So, you're the one…” Sekata trailed off.

“Why? Were you expecting some muscular, rowdy Digimon.” She folded her arms.

“No, I didn't mean it like that! I mean, I know females that do heavy work too.”

“Hey relax buddy, I was just pulling your arm, if you get my drift.” She winked. “Call me Paige.”

“Well nice to meet you. But business-wise, what do you need me to do with all this then?” Sekata gestured towards the crates.

“Oh, not much at all.” Paige grinned.

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The day seemed to breeze by rather quickly. Sekata helped bring the cargo onto the train and went with Paige to her town.

Paige explained a little about the festival, which Sekata barely paid attention to. For the entire time he was on the train, he just felt like something was….missing somehow. But no matter how he tried, he just couldn't recall it.

He was forced to put the feeling out of his mind when they arrived at the town. There, Sekata met Paige's sisters, a Taomon and a Sakuyamon, the Ultimate and Mega evolutions of Renamon respectively. They were also the priestesses who would be conducting the ceremony.

The sisters invited him to stay for the lunch reception after the ceremony and Sekata accepted as a gesture of politeness.

The ceremony itself was held in a large courtyard in front of the town hall. Before long, the place was packed with Digimon of all shapes and sizes, watching intently as the two priestesses begun their ritual dances on a flower-decorated stage.

It reminded Sekata a lot of the traditional practices he'd seen back in his actual world, the human world, and his thoughts wavered. Thinking about home wasn't always pleasant and he'd tried to avoid it as much as possible.

Sekata was currently seated in the shadows of an adjacent building, watching the process from afar.

“Hey there…”

Sekata started to find Paige standing in front of him.

“Oh, it's you.” He muttered. “Shouldn't you be helping your sisters backstage?”

“Nah, I'm not old enough yet.” Paige shrugged. “Besides, I'm not really interested in all this silly business.”

“But it's a family tradition, isn't it?”

“Great, now you sound just like my sisters. Always this and that about traditions and…”

“Shh…look there.” Sekata suddenly whispered.

Lurking in the shadows across the street was a robed figure, recognizable as Astamon.

“That guy…” Paige gasped. “Wasn't he the one from earlier?”

Astamon spotted the pair staring and immediately took off running.

“He just gave us the confirmation.” Sekata growled. “Hang on, I'm going after him!”

“Wait! But….” Paige was unable to complete her sentence as Sekata dashed out of view.

The robed Digimon sprinted into a side alley, not making use of the wings on his back.

He must have something planned. Sekata thought. Well, I'd better get a head start.

Leaping up, Sekata bounded up the side of an 8-story building and spread his wings. He caught an updraft and soared, flying across the rooftop.

Astamon was still running below, constantly looking back over his shoulder. He didn't even seem to suspect Sekata was in fact, perched on the roof above his head. With a roar, the red dragon leapt down onto the street level and into Astamon's path.

The demon simply smirked and changed directions, kicking a door open and running into the building whose roof Sekata had flown over.

“Hey! Get back here!” Sekata yelled, frustrated.

He charged through the door and was immediately hit in the face by a can of white paint. The lid was off and the paint splattered everywhere, including all over his face and body.

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“Rarghh!!” Sekata howled in fury.

“Hmmm…you're persistent.” Astamon muttered in a cold and calm voice.

The area inside was filled with all sorts of machinery in a single room that encompassed most of the building. Sekata guessed that it was a metalworks factory from the sight of things.

“I'm more than just that!” Sekata leapt towards his foe, who stood on a raised platform on the second level.

“Hargh!” Astamon somersaulted away and tossed a couple of daggers at Sekata.

The dragon swung his claws and knocked the knives away, only to see Astamon fleeing further into the factory.

Sekata regained his momentum by bouncing off a piece of machinery and landed feet-first on the second level. His talons made loud clangs on the metal catwalk as he charged.

Astamon placed his hand on the butt of some weapon hidden by his side, pausing for a moment too long. That allowed Sekata to catch up and grab his opponent from behind. The humanoid demon leaned his weight forward, throwing Sekata off balance. The dragon rolled forward as Astamon thrust a kick into his face.

Sekata managed to catch his foe's leg and heaved, throwing Astamon across the catwalk and in the direction back towards the door. The metal catwalk creaked in protest as the demon landed with a loud clang.

“Sekata!!” Paige's voice called from the doorway.

As the railings begun to give way, Astamon whipped out his weapon and rammed the metal bindings.

“No! Paige watch out above!” Sekata warned.

The part of the catwalk behind him fell and smacked into Paige's head, knocking her unconscious.

“Paige! Rargh!!” Sekata was momentarily distracted by the kitsune's injury and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side.

The weapon Astamon had was a sniper rifle, which had just plugged an armor-piercing bullet into the left side of his stomach.

“Worry about yourself first.” Astamon grinned.

“B##tard!” Sekata hissed, raising his arm-blasters to fire.

Astamon's reaction was faster, sending a bullet into his right thigh. Even as Sekata hit the ground howling, his platform shook and gave way when the sniper shot it out. Sekata was hit by the metal catwalk and forced down into the narrow passage below.

CLANG!! His ears rang as he hit the cold metal floor, with the platform slamming down on top of him. Sekata was too dazed to realize that he'd fallen right into one of the machines until he heard the grinding of gears.

The four walls were all covered with spikes and had started to close in. Cursing under his breath, Sekata tried to fly out through the opening at the top….only to find his tail and right leg caught amongst the tangle of metal.

Furiously struggling, Sekata used his blasters lasers' to burn through the twisted metal pieces. The walls just kept closing in and were suddenly at his back. Sekata panicked and lost his balance, falling forward against the ever-twisting metal catwalk remains.

Both his arms ended up pinned beneath the mess as the walls closed in. Sekata was struggling in wild desperation, unknowingly screaming in pain from the spikes jabbing into his body.

My sword.…need Kaiser Greymon…

Much to his horror however, Sekata realized that he'd left his Ryuukonken weapon back in his room. His vision was blurring out, the world covered with black and red patches as his body went numb.

Noooo!! Rarghh…nooo…

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“Rise and shine Sekata!” Cimons the Dorugamon called cheerfully.

“RRRargrghhh!! Garrghh!!!” Sekata sprang up screaming.

“Whoa! Dude!” The purple furred dragon jumped back in fright.

“Damn…just a dream. That was just a dream…” Sekata panted, wiping the sweat off his brow.

“Sounds more like a nightmare.” Cimons leaned closer to his face. “What was it about?”

“Ugh…don't really remember.”

“Aw, come on….”

“Grrr…don't push me!” Sekata hurled a pillow into the Champion Digimon.

“Ow, hey don't be such a grouch.” Cimons sighed. “Well, just remember about that delivery you're supposed to make today.”

“Delivery?”

“The one you have to make in half an hour, remember?”

“Didn't I do one, what? Yesterday?” Sekata whispered.

“Hmm?” Cimons asked.

“Nothing.” Sekata quickly shook his head. “Let me get my gear on and I'll be there.”

“Don't take too long.” Cimons reminded him as he exited the room.

Sekata dragged his dragon body out of bed to where his body armor and helmet lay. He caught a glimpse of his bare chest in the mirror before stretching his `feathery' wings. He also whipped his tail about and cracked his head from side to side.

As he was strapping his gear on, Sekata's eyes fell upon his Ryuukonken sword on the wall. Sekata didn't have any plans on taking it out today, but some odd feeling just urged him to bring it along as well.

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Sekata trudged down the stairs to a familiar scene….the dining room.

“Hey there!” Zoe waved from the table where Steve and Aeromaru were seated.

This seems….rather familiar…

WHAM!! Adrian rushed by, knocking Sekata to the ground as he whizzed past. Sekata instinctively pulled his tail back onto the stairs, just as Janet, in Strikedramon form, came running past.

“Grrrr….those were my pancakes you little thief!!” She fumed. “Give em' back!!!”

“Na-ah!!” Adrian grunted with his mouth full. “I saw em' first!”

“Don't make me go Cyberdramon on ya!!” Janet threatened.

“Just try it!!”

“Sheesh, and you guys call me the immature one.” Steve sighed as the two disappeared into the next room. “By the way, nice evasion move there Sekata.”

“Yeah, thanks. Though I felt like I'd done it before somewhere.” Sekata shrugged.

“Aero, I've finally got one that you won't be able to figure out.” Katsu entered the room, smirking.

“Oh really? Bring it on.” Aero challenged.

“A mon rides 15 hours on a Raindramon.” Katsu recited his riddle. “Then after a 1 hour break, completes his trip in another 14 hours…all on Sunday. How is this possible?”

“Erm…hmm….” Aero began drumming his fingers nervously against the tabletop.

“Cause….Sunday is the Raindramon's name?” Sekata cut in.

“Wha…how'd you know that?!” Katsu stared in shock.

“Even a dragon as dull as Sekata knew that one.” Steve laughed. “You have a lot to work on Katsu.”

“Garghh! I hate this!” Katsu moaned, clutching his head. “Man, how'd you know that one Sekata?”

“I…don't know.” The dragon replied, taking a seat at the table. “Haven't you told us that one before?”

“No way! I just got that off…ohh nevermind where I got it from.”

There was a heavy thumping of footsteps as Zelia entered the room, glancing curiously around. Something clicked in Sekata's mind and he remembered Janet and Adrian. Already he could hear the shouting form the adjacent room.

“Watch out!” Sekata jumped up and pulled Zelia back, just in time to avoid colliding with the speeding duo of Janet and Adrian.

“Thank you.” Zelia said softly.

“No problem. I faintly remember you being hit the last time though.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, forget about it.” Sekata shook his head. “I'll get going first because I don't want to be late.”

Sekata grabbed an apple out of a nearby bowl and made his way towards the hover platform that was loaded with the crates.

All this also seems….like it has happened before. No, it couldn't be. Sekata told himself.

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Sekata felt quite uneasy as he made his way through the busy town streets and to the Trailmon station. He was early and ended up waiting with his cargo outside one of the station's storage bays.

He quickly finished his apple and tried to remember the details of his `dream'. Currently, Sekata stood in the gray fenced-up compound with multiple warehouses all around.

Didn't something happen around this time? Yes…I think it was…

The red dragon walked around a corner just as a scream rang out.

“Help!! Gargh!! Stop him!! Thief! Stop him!!”

Dashing towards the source of the noise, Sekata spotted an Astamon running, holding a brown knapsack in his hand. Following close behind was a Renamon, who was already panting.

“Hey you! Hold it!” Sekata shouted, stepping into view.

Astamon halted in the middle of the alley, with the Renamon quickly catching up behind him.

“Gurgh….” Astamon took a step back.

The demon man's hand suddenly moved and Sekata ducked, barely avoiding a fistful of powder tossed into his face. Sekata tackled the shocked Digimon, though his foe was able to regain his balance.

Unfortunately, Astamon stumbled into Renamon's path. She was moving too fast to stop and jumped over both Astamon's and Sekata's heads.

The yellow fox landed behind Sekata, one foot stamping down on a carelessly discarded wooden pole. And Sekata just happened to be standing over that pole with his legs apart.

“RRRAAARRGGHH!!!” Sekata roared as the pole flew up and caught him in the groin area.

“Oh no! I'm so sorry!!” Renamon gasped.

“Paige! Can you watch what you're doing?!” Sekata snarled angrily.

“Huh? How'd you know my name?” Paige wondered. “Oh! You must be my contact!”

“Worry about that later! He's getting away!” Sekata pointed towards the fleeing Astamon. “After him!”

“Are you sure you're all…”

“Grrr…come on!” Sekata forced himself up despite the pain and gave chase.

Astamon had run into an open warehouse and Sekata saw him escaping through the side door and across the busy road. Sekata followed, but…

“Ooofff!! Dammit!!”

“OWW!!”

The red dragon ran right into that path of another Digimon, a dragon type Champion known as Gin Ryuumon. Both of them were thrown to the floor and sat there staring at each other.

“Wait a minute! You're that Ryeen, or Ryan or something like that.” Sekata gasped.

“It's Raynor, and it seems you've heard of me.” The Gin Ryuumon huffed. “But what the heck did you think you were doing charging into me like that you…”

“Fruitcake-eating dragon?” Sekata asked.

“Wha….how'd you know I was going to say that?” Raynor stared.

“I don't know…”

“What do you mean by that?!” Raynor snarled, grabbing Sekata's shoulders. “You psychotic ….”

“Oversized red lizard?” Sekata queried.

“Huh? What the hell is…” Raynor staggered.

“And demented freak of nature?” The Vritramon continued.

“Hey! Let go of him!” Paige abruptly pulled the samurai dragon's tail and spun him around. “Hargh!!”

“Guwwwargh!!!” Raynor was left rearing back from the groin kick Paige threw at him. “Son of a b##ch!!!”

“You!! Grrr!!” Paige fumed.

WHAM!! The unfortunate dragon was knocked out by a swift punch to his lower jaw.

“Crap…” Sekata glanced around. “Astamon got away…”

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I'm starting to feel so sure now that all this has happened before. Sekata was lost in thought.

Paige's two sisters were the priestesses in-charge of the ceremony. The two were on a stage in a large courtyard, performing their ritual dances on a flower-decorated stage. Of course, dozens of Digimon had turned up for the ceremony and for the lunch reception later on.

Sekata was currently seated in the shadows of an adjacent building, when he looked up to find Paige approaching him.

“Hey.” She waved. “You heard me coming? Guess I'm not as silent on my feet as I thought I was.”

“No, I sort of knew you'd show up.” Sekata shook his head. “By the way, I was meaning to ask…”

“Yes?”

“Couldn't you have teleported after that Astamon thief earlier? Or perhaps you could do that if we happen to run into him again.”

“Erm…well…I can't really do my warping trick yet.” Paige admitted. “It's a little difficult to master and I haven't really put in the effort.”

“Wait…over there!” Sekata pointed.

Lurking in the shadows across the street was a robed figure, recognizable as Astamon.

“That guy…” Paige gasped. “Wasn't he the one from…”

“Earlier? Yeah.” Sekata sprang up. “Come on, let's go after him!”

Astamon spotted the pair and immediately took off running. Their quarry sprinted into a side alley, not making any use of his wings at all.

“Keep on his tail, I'm going over the building to cut him off.” Sekata instructed.

“Got it.” Paige nodded.

Sekata repeated his maneuver of jumping up and flying over the rooftop. Astamon was more distracted by Paige chasing him that he didn't notice Sekata coming in for his landing until the last moment.

However, the agile demon executed a sliding maneuver and skidded in between Sekata's legs, leaving Paige to crash into him.

“Urgh…damn…” Sekata moaned as Astamon kicked a door open and entered.

“I'm so sorry! Are you all right?” Paige gasped.

“Forget it and let's just follow him.” Sekata replied, barging through the half open door and tearing it off its hinges in the process.

A can of white pain suddenly came flying towards his head. Sekata ducked, but the can hit Paige's face and knocked her out cold.

“Hmmm…you're persistent.” Astamon muttered in a cold and calm voice.

“Rarghh!! You'll pay for that!!” Sekata howled in fury.

Sekata recognized it as the same metalworks factory from the one in his `dream', and leapt towards his foe, who stood on a raised platform on the second level.

“Hargh!” Astamon somersaulted away and tossed a couple of daggers at Sekata.

Sekata swung his claws, attempting to knock the daggers away. However, unlike his `dream', the daggers actually pierced right through his gauntlets, going through his palms. Not only that, the wounds gave off a burning sensation that had Sekata howling in pain.

His pounce went completely off course and the red dragon slammed into a piece of machinery. Sekata toppled down and onto a moving conveyer belt.

He was too stunned at first, but eventually Sekata realized the machine had brought him beneath some sort of compressor, meant to nail two metal sheets together. One sheet was held up on its flat surface and the other one….was beneath Sekata's body.

BAM!! The upper piece came down before he could move and fastened the two metal sheets together, trapping Sekata in-between. The machine didn't break any bones in his strong mass, but it certainly knocked the wind out of him.

All Sekata had sticking out was his head on one end and the end of his tail at the other.

“Rrarghh!! Garghh!!!” Sekata struggled in vain. He wasn't able to do anything…whether move or reach any of his weapons.

However, another grinding sound alerted Sekata to an even more horrific sight. A green laser beam was being used to trim and cut away any uneven ends of the metal sheets….and his head was right in its path.

“Nooo!! Rarrrggghhh!!!!” Sekata cried in panic.

The dragon was sure he'd heard Astamon laughing. However, there was nothing else Sekata could do as the laser cut his head from his body.

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“AArrgghh!!!!” Sekata sprang up, dripping with sweat.

He was back in his own room, lying on his bed. There was no battle, no factory….nothing. All the various pieces of his armor and weapons were at their usual positions in his room.

“I…I don't understand…” Sekata muttered, feeling around his neck just to make sure that his head was properly attached.

“Rise and shine Sekata!” Cimons the Dorugamon called cheerfully, pushing the door open.

“Hey I'm up already!” Sekata yelled, tossing a pillow at the purple furred dragon.

“Fine, no need to be such a grouch.” Cimons waved. “Just to remind you about delivering that shipment today.”

“I've got it all right? Just leave me alone for a while and I'll see you downstairs.”

“Don't take too long then.” Cimons called as he exited the room.

“All this…this has happened before.” Sekata shook his head once he was sure Cimons was gone.

The unarmored Vritramon got out of bed and examined himself in the mirror. There were definitely no scars around his neck from the laser, nor any stab wounds from spikes in the metal compactor.

“I don't believe this…” Sekata said to no one in particular. “But the day is repeating itself!”