Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ The Shadow of Death-X ( Chapter 43 )

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 Shadow of Death-X

By nightdragon0

 

 

 

“You came down all this way just to tell us?” Steve nodded. “We really appreciate it buddy.”

Rain, Janet and himself had all dropped themselves onto couches in the central gathering room.

“Wasn't easy, but we pretty much stumbled upon a lucky break.” Rain brought out a circular holographic projector and placed it on the table.

“Hey, the important thing is that they turned up, right?” Steve smiled. “So, let's take a look at it Rain.”

The Raindramon nodded, switching the holo projector on. A 3D image of an elongated purple crystal flicked into view. There was, of course, no way to tell if this was the right one, but the group viewed it with interest nevertheless.

“If it is one of the Chaos Shards, then we can use its energy signature to track similar ones to itself.” Zoe spoke, stepping into the room. “That would lead us to another portal, possibly open it, and then we can go in after Lucifer.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.” Janet muttered, receiving nods from the others.

“Anything on Sekata's condition?” Zoe suddenly changed the subject.

“From our tests on a sample of his Digital DNA, there shouldn't be anything wrong with him.” Rain informed her. “I'm sorry, but other than that, there's nothing that we've managed to uncover so far.”

“I understand.” Zoe nodded, biting her lip.

“So, where exactly is this Chaos Shard you've located?” Janet raised her hand.

“Bought off the black market and in the hands of another undesirable character I'm afraid.” Rain gestured. “My leader and the others are currently planning to infiltrate their operation, but we're having a hard time tracking them down. Still, you can expand the holo projection there to take a look.”

“How? Like this?” Janet pushed a button and the display changed to a `Now Loading' screen. “Say, where is Aero? We're discussing important things here and he's missing out.”

“Hey guys! Bad news!” Cimons came stumbling down the stairs. “Aero's gone!”

“Yeah, yeah we know.” Janet huffed. “It's just like him to…”

Everyone stopped short as their expressions turned to looks of surprise.

“Gone?”

“That's impossible!” Steve gasped. “I just talked to him about half an hour ago!”

“Yeah, I thought he was in his room, but I found it empty with the window open!” Cimons explained.

“Why would he go running off without telling any of us?” Zoe wondered. “It's not like him at all.”

“Oh no, don't tell me he's gone off after Siavon's mystery by himself?” Steve whispered.

“What was that bro?” Rain queried.

“Nothing!” Steve jumped off the couch and dashed up the stairs to Aero's room.

The Flamedramon threw the door open and found everything just as Cimons had mentioned. Aero was generally a very tidy fellow and nothing else seemed to be out of place other than the pile of books on his desk. He'd even taken the time to shut down his computer before making his abrupt exit.

A quick glance over the desk found the books to contain old maps and sketches, none of which made any sense to Steve. What he did notice was that neither the locket nor crystal of Siavon's was there.

“Damn, Aero really went charging off by himself.” Steve whispered. “Idiot, I told him to wait for me!”

“Find anything?” Janet appeared at the door, together with Zoe and Rain.

“Nope, looks like we'll have to trace him using these.” Steve brought up his D-Dragon and flicked through the screens until he came up with the map. “According to this thing, Aero isn't that far away, but we'll have to hurry and catch up, otherwise we'll lose track of him!”

“We'll go with you.” Janet spoke up, gesturing towards Zoe, Rain and herself.

“But…”

“Don't argue and let's hurry!” Grabbing Steve by the scruff of his neck, Janet promptly dragged him down the stairs.

“Ow! Ow! Hey that hurts Jan!”

“Will he be all right?” Rain asked nervously.

“Steve's got a pretty thick head.” Zoe grinned. “Come on, we don't have time to lose.”

“How about the rest of us here?” Cimons met the group at the bottom of the staircase. “We could…”

“No, since Adrian is out in town, I…we need Katsu and you to keep an eye on Sekata.” Zoe knelt down and brushed the dino's forehead. “We're not blaming you for letting Aero run off, but just make sure Sekata doesn't….well, you get the idea.”

“I won't mess this one up!” Cimons raised his paw in a salute. “You can count on me!”

“I know we can.” Zoe acknowledged.

Nodding to each other, the rest of the party sprinted out the front door.

Meanwhile, the holographic projector everyone had left on the table finally finished loading its expanded image. Besides just showing the purple crystal shard, it now showed some of the background, being what seemed like an old wooden room.

A Puppetmon was seated on a counter in the middle of the room, holding up the crystal and waving gleefully at the camera.

 

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“Hmmm, this must be the place.” Aero muttered, planting his feet firmly on the grass.

The spot he'd taken was on top of a hill overlooking the area below. There wasn't much to see, for all around were green, wide open plains with several old buildings standing around, in particular a castle to the far west.

It was probably an abandoned village from the looks of things. He'd followed the crystal's directions to this location on the map, but now he was faced with the problem of where to go next. It could be a wild goose chase for all he knew, because Aero had no clue about what he was supposed to be looking for in the first place.

“My heart is supposed to guide me…” Aero repeated. “But that was meant for Siavon, not me. So how can I…”

Then, he felt the crystal vibrating against his chest. The shimmering gem mysteriously rose up and pointed its sharp end towards one of the wooden houses. It looked like it was about to `jump' off its chain, which was around Aero's neck, but fortunately the chain held.

Taking a deep breath, Aero ran one claw along the locket hanging around his neck, and flew down to the small house. A quick examination of the exterior didn't reveal anything suspicious to him and the Aero V-dramon slowly pushed the door open.

There was only a single room within and Evza the Lilithmon sat on a large chair, looking up as Aero approached.

“It's you…” Aero muttered.

“Did he not come?” Evza asked.

Aero opened his mouth to answer, but in the blink of an eye, Evza was gone. The dragon felt a cold chill behind him and whirled around to find the sorceress standing calmly behind him.

Before the stunned dragon had time to react, she brought up a finger and placed it against his forehead. Aero immediately felt slightly dizzy and stumbled against the wall, using it to support himself.

“I see, so that's what happened.” Evza nodded, lowering her hand. “You made a promise to Siavon, and you're here to honor that by meeting with me.”

“Did you…just read my mind?” Aero stared.

“The mind is a deep and delicate instrument. I only touched the surface of it.”

“You were the one Siavon mentioned then.” Aero straightened up and looked at the photograph inside the locket. “You're the one in this picture too, aren't you?”

“Tell me then, why do you truly wish to know? To dive into matters far beyond your own?” Evza asked, walking in a circle round the room.

“You already know. Because I made a promise to Siavon, and I won't go back on that.”

“I see you are a righteous one. But I sense there is another reason.”

“I…it's…” Aero bit his lip. “It's for Zelia too.”

At that remark, Evza glanced right into his eyes. Aero returned the look with eyes aflame of resolution.

“Very well then.” Evza broke the silence after almost a full minute. “This is what you wish to know…”

At that, she took hold of the crystal around Aero's neck and placed in against his forehead. The gem flashed brightly for a second and Aero let off a brief grunt before he dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Darkness told hold of his senses after that.

 

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“He's got to be around here somewhere.” Steve muttered, staring at the map screen.

The group had stumbled upon an abandoned village and was standing amongst the remains of old, wooden huts. Unbeknown to them, the hill they were facing was the same one that Aero had been standing on not too long ago.

“He's definitely somewhere in this village, but looks like we can't really pinpoint his signal.” Zoe commented. “Some kind of interference…”

“Um, guys I don't think it's a good idea for us to be here.” Rain suddenly spoke up. The younger, armored Digimon was constantly glancing nervously over his shoulder.

“How come?” Zoe queried. “Does this place seem familiar to…”

“Shhh! Quiet all!” Janet suddenly raised her hand. The Strikedramon dashed forward and hid behind one of the huts, gesturing for the others to follow.

From their new position, it became apparent that they weren't the only ones in the abandoned village. A small, red-scaled figure was lurking around the walls of the nearby castle.

It was a Guilmon, who had a rug sack by his side and was fiddling with something on the wall. He occasionally eyed the stone pavement surrounding the perimeter of the wall too, as if calculating something.

“Grrr…it's Dynamo in his lower form.” Janet snarled. “I could sniff him out anywhere!”

Before anyone could utter any words of protest, she got down on all fours and begun creeping through the long grass, headed straight towards her nemesis' position. Her tail would occasionally rise above the grass level, but she was otherwise silent and barely caused a stir in the vegetation.

“Uh oh, this is not good.” Steve whispered.

“Shouldn't somebody stop her?” Rain muttered.

“Come between Jan and Dynamo? Sure, but before you do that, let me know where to send the flowers for your funeral.”

“Steve!” Zoe hissed. “At least she had the sense to stay down wind of him.”

Meanwhile, Janet had snuck up undetected and approached Dynamo from the rear.

“Now I just connect this wire here and I can blow this…” Dynamo was whistling when he was abruptly tapped on the shoulder. Whirling around, he found one very angry Strikedramon glaring into his eyes. “Whoa! Princess! What are you doing…”

WHAM! Dynamo's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets a Janet planted a front kick between his legs.

“Gaarrrggghh! Hey! No fair! I wasn't ready yet!” Dynamo moaned, clutching his groin in pain.

“Go tell someone who cares!” Janet growled, grabbing Dynamo around the neck and slamming his back into the wall. “Now, I'm going to get some answers out of you!”

“Ack! Ow!”

“And I mean right now!”

“Hey princess, I know you're still mad over the whole puppet incident,” Dynamo waved his claws. “But…ack! AArrrghh!”

“I'll give you two options. I can torture you first to get you to talk.” Janet let off a smirk as she tightened her grip. “Or you can talk first, and then I torture you.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Oh, you think so?” Raising her tail, Janet revealed a large hunting knife strapped to its tip. “I know how to hit a guy where it hurts.”

With a growl, she waved the blade's flat surface just above Dynamo's groin area.

“Argh! No! No! No!” Dynamo screamed. “All right! I'll talk! But I don't know much! I swear!”

“Man, she's scary when she gets mad.” Steve gawked.

“It's something about this castle, and an energy source beneath it. Junon found out and I came here investigate.” Dynamo panted.

“What energy source?” Janet queried.

“I don't know! You think I'd be wasting my time checking it out if I knew what it was?”

The wall Janet had been pressing Dynamo's back against suddenly shifted, and before either of them could move, the wall gave way. Actually, it seemed more like a hidden passage had opened, causing the wall to fall back and sending the two plunging down a dark tunnel.

“Jan!” Steve, Zoe and Rain sprang up, dashing through the grass.

Just as they reached the moving wall, Dynamo's rug sack, which had been left on the ground, suddenly detonated. The explosion was small and hardly even enough to even knock the trio down.

However, what it did was crack open the stone pavement beneath their feet, sending the group plummeting into yet another hidden passageway.

 

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Night had fallen and the dark basement was lit only by a single lamp hanging from the ceiling. Cimons shivered and curled up on the couch, making sure he was as far away from Sekata as possible.

The dragon was peaceful at the moment, but there was still no telling what he could do in his current state of mind. Sekata had been fully chained and muzzled, but Zoe had asked that someone be watching him at all times, just in case.

Despite his weariness, Cimons found it nearly impossible to get to sleep. Perhaps in was something about being in the same dark room as a ravenous, killer dragon. Perhaps it was spooky environment of the messy basement too.

The Dorugamon jumped up upon hearing a creak, only to find it was a draft blowing the lamp from side to side. Taking a deep breath, he glanced back towards Sekata, who had his eyes closed and seemed to be sleeping. Occasionally, he'd stir or utter some muffled grunts, but was otherwise silent.

“Man, what's up with you big guy?” Cimons muttered.

However, it was Sekata's mind that was currently in a state of unrest.

 

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“Are you still running? You know you can't escape.”

Sekata opened his eyes as the voice echoed around him. He expected to see the graveyard as usual, and was startled to find himself in a dark, endless void.

“Come to me…”

A light shimmered in the distance and Sekata unsteadily got to his feet, using a claw to block out the glare. He was still in his Dorugoramon form and without even thinking, begun stumbling towards the glow.

As he did, the purple colored form of Death-X Dorugoramon flickered over him, though Sekata didn't realize it and kept on walking.

“Oh no you don't!” A roar sounded, piercing the void like a bullet.

“AncientGreymon?” Sekata stared. He was then knocked to the ground as the ancient warrior ploughed through, shooting off a fiery burst towards the glow.

“This one is mine! You hear me?” AncientGreymon growled.

“What the…” Sekata got to his knees, a sudden pang of weariness washing over him.

“Damn kid! Do you really want to become Death-X's other half?” AncientGreymon hissed furiously. “There'll be no turning back once that happens!”

“What are you so concerned about then?” Sekata replied. “Everyone seems to want me! You…him…I can't stand this! What is it? Why me?”

“You've got much greater potential than you realize. Or at least you used to.” AncientGreymon shook his head, not directly answering Sekata's question. “Seems that I've been too soft on you as of late!”

The armored dragon lunged and Sekata instinctively rose into a fighting stance. However, AncientGreymon was abruptly thrown off an invisible wall, repelling him far away.

“No! Grrr….” AncientGreymon pulled himself to his feet. “It's happening already?”

A huge pair of claws suddenly reached out and grabbed Sekata's body. The dragon struggled, but was dragged down the path until he was face-to-face with the head of Death-X Dorugoramon.

No, it was really the face of Death-Xmon.

At some point, Sekata knew that he had awakened in the `living world' once more. Although he was back in the dark and dingy basement, the face of Death-Xmon was still there, staring right into his eyes.

He tried to scream, only to find his jaws muzzled shut. He tried to move, to run, and found himself bound firmly by heavy chains. Not only could he feel the breath of the huge creature before him, but the aura of something much more mysterious.

“What the hell?” A softer voice rang out.

It was Cimons, who had obviously fallen asleep on his watch. Not only had the purple dino gotten a rude awakening, but his mind was also contemplating how the massive bulk of Death-Xmon had gotten into the basement right before his snout.

Sekata uttered a muffled warning as Death-Xmon shot out one of its long arms towards Cimons.

“Cannonball!” The Dorugamon jumped above the strike and fired off a silver cannonball from his jaws.

The attack was dead-on, but merely bounced off Death-Xmon's hide. The synthetic beast grunted and lashed out again. Cimons was fast, but with the limited space in the room, he was eventually hit and thrown hard against the wall.

In the midst of the fight, Death-Xmon's moved its body and knocked Sekata's chair right off its fastenings. The chair, with Sekata still chained to it, slammed against a nearby shelf, sending all of its contents spilling down over Sekata.

Something sharp must've sliced one of Sekata's muzzle straps, for he managed to wiggle his head out of it. To his horror, Death-Xmon was lumbering over to the dazed Cimons, who lay groaning in the corner.

“Hey leave him alone! It's me that you want, isn't it?” Sekata spat.

The gesture did little more than annoy Death-Xmon, who sprayed the restrained dragon with a fiery breath, leaving him roaring in pain. It then turned back to its slow approach towards Cimons.

No! I won't let him! I won't let this happen!

Sekata's mind flew into a blind state of frenzy and panic. He threshed and struggled against his bonds, seemingly to no avail. As his vision went all red, Sekata felt a fiery rage growing within him.

It was the same one he'd felt back in the ancient city.

Roaring like a maddened dragon, he strained his already worked muscles against his bonds. Once, twice, and then….the chains snapped.

“Brave Metal!” Sekata charged and rammed his foe aside.

Death-Xmon screeched as he pounded on its head, grabbing it around its neck.

“Sekata! Garrkk! It's me….no…don't…” A soft voice echoed out.

Stop? No, I can't stop now! I've got him just where I want him! Sekata's thoughts rang out in his mind.

Death-Xmon was struggling, futilely trying to ward him off with his claws. Merely that thought…the pleasure…the fury of crushing his opponent for good kept him going.

He wasn't about to let this chance slip. He couldn't…he had to…had to…

“Stop…please…it's me….” The voice cried out again. “Cimons….”

Then, the figure fell limp. Sekata blinked twice as his vision begun to clear….and realized that he was holding Cimons in his arms.

 

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Flashback…

“Excuse me, are you all right?”

“Ugh…hmm…”

The dragon opened his eyes. His head was pounding and his body aching all over.

“So you're alive after all. I thought you were dead for a moment there.”

As his vision cleared, the dragon found himself staring down at his black, armored claws. It took him a while to regain his senses. But when he did, he heard the waves.

The beach. He told himself, although he was not sure how he knew.

“You must've had an accident. Are you all right?” The voice asked again.

Blinking, the dragon sat up and glanced towards its source. There, kneeling by his side, was the human-like Digimon, Lilithmon. The dragon's mind was still blurred, not being exactly sure how he knew all these things.

“Well, you seem to be fine.” The female smiled. “Do you talk?”

“Talk?” The dragon muttered.

“Looks like you do. Can you tell me your name?”

“Me? I….who…what am I?” The dragon suddenly snapped.

“Excuse me?”

“I…everything's…I don't understand…I don't know!” The dragon slammed his fists into the ground and clutching his chest as a sudden burst of pain shot up.

There was a small pool of water nearby and the dragon glanced at his own reflection in the water. What he saw was a dragon-like head covered in a gray helmet. A single horn sprouted from the end of his snout with two more curved ones at the sides of his head. His yellow colored hair was also showing from beneath his helmet.

“Hmm, you look like a Wargreymon breed, only that you're black in color.” Lilithmon remarked.

“I…am?” The dragon paused a while before clutching his head. “I don't remember anything.”

“Sounds to me like you've lost your memory. If that's the case, I suppose there's no point in asking you about how you got that scar on your chest.”

“This…scar?” The BlackWargreymon ran a claw across it. It was a circular part of his chestplate that looked more worn than the rest, as if something had pierced right through his stomach before the hole was patched up.

“You're certainly an interesting fellow.” The female continued. “You know, I have connections with this doctor who might be able to help you. I know that we've only just met, but…”

“No, I'd certainly appreciate the help.” The black dragon nodded.

He still didn't know why or how, but he just felt that this was the right thing. Some strange feeling just told him that this was the way things were `destined to go'.

“Oh and by the way, my name is Evza.” She introduced. “I'm doing research in the magic field, but at the moment I'm just an apprentice.”

After a few awkward seconds, Evza withdrew her hand sheepishly, remembering that the dragon didn't even know his own name.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's all right, really.” The dragon nodded, closing his eyes. “I suppose you need to call me something.”

The BlackWargreymon paused for a moment, and then voiced out the first thing that came to mind.

“Call me Siavon.”

 

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“Whatever you do, don't let go Rain!” Steve yelled.

“Ya…thmk…” Rain mumbled with his jaws clamped onto the ledge. The Raindramon's front paws weren't meant for gripping, leaving all three in danger of sliding off the edge.

And nothing was visible below other than darkness.

Zoe had apparently knocked herself unconscious during the fall, leaving Steve to grab her shoulder with one hand and Rain's tail with the other. The light from above was barely visible now, indicating that the trio had fallen quite a distance.

“I'm trying to think of something, but I can't reach my D-Dragon.” Steve called, tightening his hold on Rain's tail. “You have any bright ideas?”

“Hehehe…” Rain giggled slightly.

“Hey, this is no laughing matter here!”

“Taul…tickluch…” Rain managed. “Hehehe…”

“You're ticklish at your tail?” Steve screamed. “Oh no, please don't!”

“Hehehe…stup…muving…”

“What? Like this?” Steve's claws were gripped around the center section of the blue Raindramon's tail, leaving the tip to poke him in the eye. “Ow! Hey!”

Steve shifted his fingers on reflex and Rain couldn't restrain himself any longer.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Rain burst out laughing, obliviously letting go of the ledge.

“Oh son of a…gggaaaarrrrgggghhh!”

Well, at least he'll die laughing. Steve thought dryly.

Then…splash! Steve was suddenly submerged in water.

“Garrgghh! AArrrgghh!” Steve spluttered, threshing his limbs about. “Help! There's water in my eyes! Help! Get me out of here!”

“Hahahaha!” Rain's voice sounded.

“Help! Quite laughing and help me! I'm drowning here!” Steve cried.

“Hey bro!” Rain managed to lower his hysterical laughing to a giggle. “Have you tried standing up?”

“Huh?” Steve stopped and complied…to find that the water level only came up to his waist.

Rain burst out laughing again as Steve's face went bright red from embarrassment. The temple on the left side of his forehead was also throbbing with rage.

“Not funny!” Steve growled, taking a step forward.

CRUNCH!

“Rrraaarrrggghh!” Zoe sprang out of the water roaring in pain. Steve had apparently plodded on her tail and she instinctively swung a fist, sending the smaller Flamedramon spinning into the air.

“WWWAAAHHHHH!” Steve yelled as the wall came into view. “Aww crap! This is gonna hurt!”

WHAM!

Both Zoe and Rain stared, sweatdropping, as Steve slid down the wall with a long, loud screech.

“I…I didn't mean to do that.” Zoe gasped. “Are you all right Steve?”

“Oww…no, I'm hurting all over if that's what you're asking.” Steve moaned, flopping down on his back. “Let's just not do that again.”

“Well, we're going to have to fly back to the surface.” Zoe noted. “Think you're up for…”

There was a sudden scraping sound and three heads turned up just in time to see a set of heavy metal doors closing above their heads. The circular area was plunged into darkness, being lit only by a series of blue lights along the floor.

“Or not…” Zoe finished unhappily.

“Look on the bright side guys.” Rain piped in. “At least the ceiling isn't coming down on our heads.”

No sooner had he said it did spikes emerge from the metal doors. Gears creaked as the ceiling came speeding down.

“You just had to go and jinx it, didn't you?” Steve yelled.

Zoe scanned the circular area that was partially the rocky `shore' and partially the pond they'd plunged into. Nothing offered any escape from the ceiling deathtrap, except for…a small alcove just above the water's surface.

 

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“Wha…no…” Sekata stared in horror. “Cimons! Wake up!”

The dino didn't respond. His eyes were closed and his body motionless, with his limbs hanging limply by his sides. Around his neck were claw marks…from the claws of Sekata himself.

“No….no…please! I'm sorry! I…I didn't mean it!” Sekata pleaded.

However, there was no denying it. His friend was dead….killed by his own claws.

Sekata let off a long howl of anguish, which was soon cut off by the laughing of Death-Xmon. He hadn't even realized that the beast was still there until it stomped him into the ground before baking him with flames.

“What's going on in here?” Katsu kicked opened the door and stood there staring.

“Holy shit!” Adrian stuck his head in through the door and yelled.

“NO! Look out!” Sekata reached up painfully with a hand.

Death-Xmon swung one of its arms, knocking the door off its hinges and into the Digimon pair. The Shadramon and Airdramon were thrown several feet back before being crushed by parts of the shattered door.

They would live at least, unlike…

“RRRRAARRRGGHHH!” The very thought of that drove Sekata into a wild rage, and he pushed up against his opponent. Fighting both the flames and his foe's brute strength, Sekata pounded its underbelly, again and again.

Death-Xmon howled and stumbled back, giving Sekata enough room of maneuver out of its grasp. With a howl, Sekata jumped and slashed at its right arm, making an almost clean cut through. Pain suddenly shot through his arm and Sekata stared at the bloody mark that had appeared.

It barely registered in his mind that his wound and that of Death-Xmon's were the same before Sekata was grabbed in its two huge claws. The creature seemed to snicker in his face before it literally ripped his right arm off.

The ripping of scale, flesh and bone shocked Sekata into submission, so much that he didn't feel that pain at all. Death-Xmon simply dropped him onto the ground, revealing the wound Sekata had inflicted on its arm had almost completely disappeared.

His opponent then backed off, fading into a cloud of gray smoke that flowed out through the window and disappeared.

“Come to me…” Death-Xmon's voice echoed.

It was then that the pain registered in his mind, though Sekata was probably screaming long before that. He had the misfortune of opening his eyes at the wrong time and watching as his severed arm reattached itself to his body.

The white bone simply fitted and fused into place, followed by the flesh that mended itself and the scales that covered the joint. The disgusting swishing and grinding sounds were something that Sekata would not forget for a long while.

“Sekata! Cimons!” Katsu and Adrian had recovered by this time and dashed into the room.

The two were talking a lot after that, but Sekata barely heard anything. He was still far too stunned at his rejuvenation process.

Is that what AncientGreymon was saying about me becoming `his' other half? Sekata wondered. My pain…his pain…we were linked…

“Sekata? Sekata…” It was Katsu's voice.

“I'm sorry.” Sekata whispered. “This is all my fault…”

“No, it's not. You couldn't have stopped that monster by yourself.” Katsu turned to where Adrian was sobbing over Cimons' body.

“But I…”

“Don't talk, just try to rest.” Katsu put a claw on his shoulder. “You haven't been yourself lately.”

“No…I have to stop it. Stop…him…” Sekata pulled himself into a kneeling position.

“You're hurt!” Katsu insisted. “You can't possibly…”

“Don't try to stop me!” With a sudden spur of energy, Sekata dashed past his companions, up the stairs and out the door.

Next thing he knew, he was soaring through the night sky, following his instincts towards his newfound nemesis.

“Death-Xmon…” He whispered. “You'll pay! I swear that you'll pay for what you've done!”

No, it's what I've done…Sekata thought bitterly.

 

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“This is all your fault!” Janet jabbed a claw at Dynamo's chest.

“My fault? Hey, who was it who threw me against the wall in the first place?” Dynamo snapped. “I was minding my own business, when who comes along?”

“That's exactly the point! You just have to show your face here.” Janet growled. “And maybe if you'd answered my questions faster, we wouldn't be in this predicament!”

Recovering from their fall, the pair had broken out into a heated yelling and growling match. Unfortunately, all the shouting through the corridors of the dark passageway was getting them nowhere fast.

The two eventually calmed down and leaned against opposite walls for support, trying to regain their bearings.

“Well princess, seems like we're stuck beneath an old haunted castle together.” Dynamo spoke up. “Déjà vu?”

“Don't remind me.” Janet hissed. “I'm still hurting from the last time this happened.”

“Ok, ok, I'll get right to the point. But I'll say that neither of us are gonna get too for on our own…so how bout we work together on this one?”

“Grrr…I am so gonna regret this.”

“Think I am already princess.” Dynamo fumbled in the darkness and came up with a wooden torch, which he lit with a fiery breath.

The glow of the flames danced off the stony walls, but revealed nothing more than a long, straight corridor heading off into darkness. Whatever tunnel they'd fallen down through had apparently sealed itself off, leaving them with only one path to follow.

“I hate this place already.” Janet muttered, trudging forward.

“You and me both princess.” Dynamo strode after her. “Wandering about in corridors beneath haunted castles isn't exactly my kind of thing, you know?”

“Humph.” The Strikedramon hissed.

“So…” Dynamo walked up and nudged her side. “I guess we have a truce for now then?”

“More like a ceasefire. That's the only thing keeping me from running an Erase Claw across your throat right now.”

“Oo…nasty.” Dynamo waved his torch about.

The light of the flames fell upon several carvings on the wall, which caused Dynamo to pause and examine them.

“Now this is interesting.” He remarked, sticking his torch into a crack and wiping the dust off the wall with both claws.

Out of curiosity, Janet did the same and Dynamo stepped back to give her some room. The carvings seemed to be a set of random pieces, but Janet made out an image of a castle with two dragon-like shapes battling over its roof. Both of them were colored in black.

Another image showed a triangular object, probably meant to be a tornado with all the wind swirls marked around it. A final image was that of a large circle with another two dragons fighting within.

One of the black dragons from before was there, together with a white colored dragon. The white one was standing over the black one with a sword pierced through its opponent.

“Huh? Wait a minute…” Janet rubbed the stones a little harder and squinted in the dim light.

The first carving with the dragons over the castle had one black one and one purple one in it, not two blacks. And it was this purple dragon that was being skewered in the final image. Janet racked her brain for anything they'd gone through and came up with nothing that might relate to the cravings.

“Seems weird to me.” Dynamo spoke from behind. “But I think that it might be…garrk!”

As Dynamo's sentence was abruptly cut off, Janet whirled around…and found nobody there.

“What the hell?” She grabbed the torch off the wall and swung it around. “He couldn't have just disappeared into thin air, could he?”

Heart pounding, Janet glanced up and down the corridor, but found no trace of any place that Dynamo could have run off to. And the stones were definitely too hard for him to dig through so quickly.

She wasted no more time and dashed down the corridor. Panic over took all rational thinking as she ran, simply wanting to get away from this place.

Further down, the wall shimmered as one of Dynamo's claws and the tip of his snout poked out. He was desperately struggling, but was quickly dragged back into the wall.

The ripples then vanished, leaving the stone wall looking perfectly normal and untouched.

 

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“Everyone! In there! Now!” Zoe ordered.

The others needed no more encouragement before splashing into the cold water and diving into the alcove. There was barely enough space for the three of them, with their heads just above the water's surface.

However the next instant, the ceiling trap crashed down, literally squeezing them into the tiny alcove.

No one spoke for the next few seconds as they lay gasping for breath. On one side, their faces were pressed against the stone walls whilst on the other, against the flat metal surface of the ceiling trap. They were up to their necks in water too.

“At least we're alive.” Zoe panted. “But what do we do now?”

“Erm, guys I really think this is the place.” Rain muttered.

“What place?” Steve queried.

“You know how earlier I was telling you about the Digimetal Knights investigations about that Chaos shard?”

“Yes?”

“Well, the fellow who has the shard is supposedly hiding out in this haunted castle.”

Zoe and Steve waited a full minute before bursting out with questions.

“And you didn't think of telling us this earlier?” Zoe growled.

“Haunted castle? You mean you knew?” Steve added in.

“Sorta, but I just didn't recognize the place…”

“Forget about it.” Zoe shook her head. “But who was this `undesirable character' you mentioned earlier? If he's here in the castle, then perhaps he's the one setting off all these traps.”

“It was this fellow called…” Rain began.

“Hey wait!” Steve interrupted. “I can feel something beneath my feet! The stones are loose!”

Steve wiggled about as he did his best to kick the stone wall behind him. It took several frustrating minutes, but he finally managed to punch a hole through. There seemed to be a tunnel beyond, however it was completely flooded by water.

“Seems like you'll have to use your Depthmon armor for this one.” Zoe remarked.

“I'll see if I can find anything to get us out of this mess.” Steve nodded, raising his D-Dragon. “Digimetal Up!”

In a flash, his form melded into the armored merman that was Depthmon. He still had several draconic features like the reptilian-shaped head with horns, but was otherwise clad in light blue armor with gray colored gloves and tail fins. Despite having both gills and lungs to breathe with, Depthmon was equipped with a protective helmet designed to fit over his dragon head.

“Hurry bro.” Rain urged. “I really hate enclosed spaces.”

“I'll be back soon.” Steve winked, before pulling the helmet's visor down over his face. With a splash, he disappeared beneath the surface, squeezing himself down the hole and into the underwater passageway beyond.

Flicking on the searchlights attached to his helmet, Steve made his way through the narrow tunnel. It twisted and turned at many points, and Steve feared at times that it would lead him to a dead end. However, he was pleasantly surprised when the tunnel opened into a large pool of water.

The bottom was decorated by various pieces of junk, including parts of old ships, steel towers and many fallen pillars, creating some sort of an obstacle course.

“Wonder what the heck happened here?” Steve said out loud. “Looks like a war took place above.”

The aquatic Digimon squeezed his way through the underwater wreckage, glancing around out of curiosity. It was amidst the darkness of the waters that Steve failed to detect another presence lurking nearby.

To put it simply, the creature was an oversized red crocodile with an extremely long snout. Lining its back were two sets of blue `sails' running all the way down to its tail, which split into two. Blue fins were also visible on the joints of each of its four limbs.

This Digimon was Leviamon, and it was rapidly approaching Steve's position. The latter was far too late in reacting and was slammed into the rubble.

“What the?” Steve kicked his tail off the bottom and barely avoided being stomped on by the creature. However, he only managed to get several feet away before being whipped by its tails.

With a scream, Steve smashed into the hull of a sunken ship and got his arms tangled in a set of cables in what was apparently the ship's storeroom.

The stirring of the water nearby caused him to look up….right into the approaching jaws of Leviamon.

“RRRAARRGGGHHHH!”

 

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He's here, I can feel it! Sekata told himself.

A large structure was coming into view, and by the light of the moon it was an old castle. Surrounding it was a village of run down, and probably deserted houses. His instincts pointed him towards the castle and Sekata was surprised to find his D-Dragon beeping.

Bringing up the map screen, he found the signals of his friends in the vicinity.

“Zoe and the others are here?” Sekata whispered. “Then that creature….Death-Xmon…could it be going after them?”

Death-X is something like the virus counterpart to the X-antibody. AncientGreymon's voice rang out in Sekata's mind. Therefore, Death-Xmon could've gone after anyone running with the X-program.

“But why not anyone else, but me first?” Sekata continued, not entirely listening.

Remember that your X-antibody program came from Zelia. And remember too that her form was one of Evza's experiments. So, it's safe to assume that Evza's experiments were based on, possibly even sourced from those in the ancient city.

“How do you know all these things anyway?” The Dorugoramon asked.

Haha, remember that you're not the only host I've had. I do exist in here, all the time, and I learn things. Not all of them are pleasant though.

“Then Death-Xmon…”

Would feel a link to you, yes. AncientGreymon explained. After that battle in the ancient city awakened him, he sensed that connection, that similarity.

“But why? I still don't understand.”

Because it would be so much easier to assimilate you.