Still groggy from being abruptly awoken from her nap on the train Haruka stumbled out of the trailmon after her digimon partner, Gizzmo. The humid air nearly choked her and it was a few seconds before she realized exactly where she was.

"This isn't the beach!" she cried, looking out at the murky, discolored water before her. She hopped onto a nearby bar of soil and nearly fell in but managed to regain her balance.

Gizzmo raised in eye brow, "I didn't say we were going to the beach did I? Besides, this place is much better." With that he dove into the shallow water with a splash that sent water droplets and duckweed toward his partner.

Looking revolted she used her sleeve to wipe off her face and glared at him, "You're disgusting you know that," she spat, "Let's get going the sooner we fight some ugly beast who actually chooses to live here the sooner we can go someplace nicer."

He said no more and simple lowered himself into the water, the only part of him left out was the row of spikes along his spine which created a v shaped wake behind him. Haruka made her further into the swamp, cursing under her breath.

((And for her first trick as a mod :¦D::¦D::¦D:, GH will attempt to pull a random encounter out of a hat.))

“Hmm. Trouble in paradise, I’m guessing?” sounded a deep, slow growl of a voice from behind a large, coarse shrub.

The bushes then parted to reveal a saurian beast larger and more menacing than any Haruka had ever seen: forest green; feet baring enormous beige claws; head and back crowned with a row of deadly sharp spines; grey skull-and-crossbone sign on left arm warning of danger; and most intimidating of all: a gigantic black-and-red striped horn erupting from each shoulder blade.

“Yeaassh!” followed another hidden observer, sounding much like a teenage boy with a cracking tone and a very severe lisp. It wasn’t, however: instead, a light green, amphibious, very cartoony looking creature emerged from right behind Tuskmon. Its bulgy eyes had a disorientated look that was quite unnerving, as was the fact that its long protruding had three holes on the very tip, but strangest of all was the… rusty, golden horn seemingly growing out of its right shoulder, and wrapping itself around the neck like a fox fur.

“Shhome Digimon and Thhamer combinashhun you are, shhpitting at eacssh other worshh than I do when I try to shhay the shhee-shhellsh-shhore thingamyjig!” said the Gekomon sarcastically, evidently having to make a huge effort to ensure he was understood.

He and Tuskmon stood side by side and stared intently at the human and Gizamon for some time, awaiting a response. Evidently, they weren’t intent on fighting Gizzmo head on – but only time would tell.

At the voice Gizzmo slowly emerged from the water, his eyes widened slightly when he saw the digimon; he wasn't expect to run into two champions. His fur bristled but he made no move to attack for the odds were far from being in his favor.

Haruka at the sight of them was scared half out of her mind for it was true these were the most intimidating digimon she'd seen since entering the digital world. All the one's she'd met so far had been friendly. Well, maybe not friendly, she thought, thinking of her gizamon partner.

Still, fear didn't stop her from making a snappy retort, "you're quite the couple yourself aren't you?" she said, almost smirking in spite of herself, "I was right eh Giz? The digimon in this swamp are ass ugly." She forced herself to bite her tounge after the last comment, for fear she'd already said too much.

Gizzmo meanwhile was a bit worried, hoping she hadn't gone too far. This stuipid human is going to get herself into a lot of trouble talking like that and chances are I'm going to be the one to have to get her out of it, he thought bitterly.

OOC: Sorry this took so long :o.oU: Every time I started to reply to this I had to get off the computer.

((Oh, I know the feeling all too well!))

Gekomon’s shoulder’s slumped a little at the human’s comment. “Well, you try shprucing your appearansshe up when the closshet thing you have to a mirror is jusssht a pool of brown, brown and more brown that blockssh up all reflectshhions…” he moaned, seemingly attempting to quip back – but only sounding hurt and even a little guilty.

“Oh, come now, Gekomon,” said Tuskmon, bending down to the frog’s level and trying to sound as comforting as a monster so gruff could. “We travelled out here seeking a Digimon with a Tamer… and evidently, we have found one ahead of schedule.”

Gekomon snapped almost instantly out of his hurt mindset at that. “Of courshhh!” he piped up, turning to face the Gizamon and Tamer. “Tussshkmon and I are a pair of asshpiring warriorssh who’ve honed our skillsssh on the wild Digimon that inhabit the shhwamp, and reshhently we’ve become curiousssh as to if there’shh any truth to what they shhhaay ‘bout tamed Digimon.”

“My companion refers, of course, to the legend that defeating a tamed Digimon is a sure-fire pathway to the land they call… the Real World,” continued Tuskmon, sounding a great deal more intelligent than his ferocious appearance implied. “We are, naturally, intent on challenging your jagged backed-friend, young human, and we will take pains not to actually delete him – but do not expect us to go easy on him just because he’s a Rookie.”

The dinosaur turned toward Gizzmo and addressed him, “For the sake of flexibility, you may freely choose to battle one of us and one alone, one of us before the other… or, if you are indeed as confident as you look, the two of us at once.”

From where Haruka and her partner stood, the Gekomon didn’t look much of an obstacle, but having the lumbering Tuskmon on his side might change things entirely.

Haruka felt a little bit guilty at the digimon's crestfallen response to her insult, she hadn't known appearance meant so much to him. She considered apologizing but couldn't as the tuskmon continued talking at too brisk a pace for her to squeeze an apology in.

"Tame digimon," spat Gizzmo, after being referred to as one "you make it sound as if I'm some pathetic human pet. I guess I do travel with her so that makes us partners of sorts, but the human implies no ownership over me."

"Ownership," Haruka almost chuckled, "I can't control you nevermind own. But you're right, we're partners, even if you're a pain most of the time."

He growled but didn't bother starting another long arguement. Instead he considered what the two digimon had said. They'd claimed he wouldn't be deleted but he didn't know if he believed them, for the digimon in this place were probably not to be trusted.

He tried to decided which one to fight. Tuskmon was large, and probably powerful as well but gekomon was probably more adept for maneuvering in the marsh-like environment. Not being the most decisive digimon he was having a hard time deciding.

He finally decided to simply not pick. It had been awhile since he'd been in an interesting battle after all, so he dicided for the last option. "I can take both of you," he said smugly, eyes flashing.

Haruka let out a little squeak, "Both of them? But you're only a rookie!" she protested. Then realizing she wouldn't be able to stop him and even if she could it wasn't really her decision to make. "Alright, if you say so. I'll do what I can from the sidelines," she said, getting her cards ready.

Tuskmon turned toward Gekomon, gave him a “be prepared” sort of nod, and lowered his head to exactly Gizzmo’s level.

“Oh, I meant no offence by the term “tamed” – I was merely referring to Digimon with human accomplices, that’s all,” he stated, now so close to the Gizamon as to almost block his sideways field of vision. “Very well: one-on-two it is, but be warned, for Gekomon and I have been fighting side by side for several years now, and not many have been able stand against our combined forces. We will, however, respect your wishes.”

But how was the Gizamon to know: all the while Tuskmon had been speaking, Gekomon had gradually edged his was sideways, and was now launching a whip-like attack with his tongue toward the right hand side of Gizzomo’s body? He was going about the attack so silently and bringing the “whip” down so swiftly, the chances of the target noticing were slim to none…

(Actually I posted in the cards thread before I posted in trailmon station so I was talking about those cards.)

Gizzmo had been prepared for a surprise attack but he'd been expecting it from the giant digimon a few inches away rather than the small amphibian who'd remained quiet for quite some time. He saw the attack out of the corner of his eye but by then it was almost upon him. Not having time to cuss out for being so foolish he attempted to submerge himself beneath the water but was too late; the tounge caught him across the back. It stung but not as much as it would have had it hit it's original target which was somewhere along his ribcage.

He fully submerged himself now, not even his back spines were showing. These two digimon had showed him that the element of surprise was key so he decided to use it against them. Under the murky water he was virtually invisible but it also hindered hit sight. He finally managed to identify tuskmon's large body through the haze. (I just assumed he was in the water, he would probably have to be to get close enough to block Giz's view. Sorry if it's considered powerplaying or something.) He kicked forcefully downward, sending himself catapulting out of the water a few feet away from tuskmon. "Frog kick!" he cried, and kicked out with both his hind legs, the attack aimed for tuskmon's face.

Regardless of whether or not the attack hit Gizzmo landed behind him and quickly resubmerged to avoid detection. A physical attack would be nearly impossible to land as it's difficult to hit something you can't see but an attack that could affect a large area would probably work well. It seemed the battle was going fine but Haruka refused to be lulled into a false sense of security simply because the battle was going well for the fist few minutes.

((My bad! I hadn’t really been keeping track of your posts beforehand, so blame me and my lazy ass.

Also: now that you mention it I’ve realized Tuskmon was probably, all the while, standing on some large rock “stepping stone” in the middle of the water, but no, it’s not consider powerplaying at all. Now, if you’d said Frog Kick had hit Tuskmon in the face, that would be powerplaying – what you said instead was a pretty good compromise.))

Gizamon’s attack was a fast one – but not so fast that Tuskmon was not prepared to counter. At the last second, the lumbering dinosaur quickly rotated his body so as to administer a hard WHACK with his tail, knocking Gizzmo straight back underwater ((note that that isn’t considered powerplaying either, since you said he resubmerged regardless of whether or not Frog Kick hit)).

No sooner than had Gizamon vanished into the muddy water, Tuskmon craned his neck toward the surface and scanned it with his nostrils – taking great care not to start so much as a ripple. Once he’d caught the Rookie’s scent, he was able to make out a faint silhouette underwater and, raising his head in Gekomon’s direction, pointed a single claw in the direction of the blob of shadow. “Aim over there,” said Tuskmon as quietly and calmly as he could.

“Right!” responded Gekomon. “Thissh oughta knock ‘im off key! Shhhmphony Crusshher!” A blast of soundwaves, loud enough to paralyze any who came into direct contact with them, then shot from the horn sprouting from Gekomon’s neck. It was headed straight for the fuzzy outline of the Gizamon in the water, and since sound travels faster though water than it does though air ((I think that’s right)), the attack would certainly prove difficult – though not impossible – to avoid.

The gizamon hadn't expected such a quick reaction to his attack and was thrown backwards by the counter. He was not severly injured by the attack but it left him a bit dazed and he was caught completely off guard by the syphony crusher attack.

He was surprised at the amount of damage the attack had done compared to the others. He was stunned for a few seconds and lay limp in the water. Haruka, noting that her partner was in distress quickly scanned a card that she hoped would be able to turn the tide of the battle. "Dark Light!" she yelled as she scanned it.

After managing to regain control of his limbs Gizzmo resurfaced to aim the attack. He shot two jets of black energy, one directed at each of the opponents. Due to his attribute the attack was more powerful than normal and would cause a fair amount of damage if they were to hit.

This being done he curled up into a ball and made his way toward the gekomon, sharp spines cutting through the water as if it were air. The attack wasn't very descete but it was difficult to be blocked because of the spikes.

OOC: Quick question, when you use a card does it go away forever or can you just not use it for the rest of the battle?

--
Dark Light
A black beam of energy is shot at opponent. It is two times as strong when used by a virus type. It can only be used by data or virus digimon, but virus digimon can use it more than once.

((Cards can be used in as many battles as you want, but only once per battle unless otherwise stated.))

Such a speedy succession of attacks was too much for both the green Champions: all they could do was brace themselves a second before the impact and take the hit in their stride. Evidently Tuskmon, being more sturdily built, was less fazed by the Dark Light, but both had taken substantial damage.

Still, neither was prepared to give up despite the damage. Gekomon had time to weakly side-step out of Gizzmo’s path, dodging Spiral Saw by the skin of his teeth (if he had teeth). “Tusshkmon, brasshe yourshhellf!” stage-whispered the frog in warning to his saurian companion. As rapidly as he could muster, Gekomon then fired another searing burst of soundwaves - only this time on a higher frequency, so as to stand a chance of stunning the spiny-backed Rookie if only breifly – in the direction of the Gizamon. So abrupt, loud and high-pitched was the sound, it was just as well Tuskmon had received a warning beforehand.

Meanwhile said dinosaur Digimon, eager to compensate for letting his best friend take the blow from Dark Light, took a single large step back to dry land and manoeuvred his way around the shrubbery surrounding the two amphibians. True, he didn’t manage to do so as silently or as swiftly as intended, but it had been wise of him to take a course that would avoid the Symphony Crusher’s path.

Without warning, Tuskmon proceeded to extend his neck from behind a gap in the bushes, opened his vast jaws to reveal a set of fangs like axe blades, and made an effort to sink these fangs down on Gizzmo from behind whilst the Rookie was preoccupied with Gekomon – taking great care to evade directly hitting those sharp black spines.

(Alright thanks. And sorry this is so short, I'm writing it right before school and it's hard to do much when you're paralyzed)

Gizzmo reeled backwards in the water as the soundwaves came in contact with him; the attack has been even more powerful than the last. Once again his body froze up but this time no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move. With an upwards glance he saw tuskmon above him and knew what was about to happen. Dammit, this is it. I'm a fool for thinkin-.

"Angelic Diamond!" Haruka's desperate cry cut through his thoughts. Having seen what was happening from the other side she knew she had to do something quickly to save her partner. A small diamond appeared above the two and began to shoot rays of light at tuskmon. She hoped the attack would be enough for gizamon to be able to get away from him unharmed.

--
Angelic Diamond
A petite diamond from heaven shoots rays of light at opponent. It causes twenty-five percent damage against dark digimon and twenty against light digimon.

Being a Virus-type who was not entirely accustomed to bright light didn’t exactly work in Tuskmon’s favour when faced with Angelic Diamond. There was nothing he could do to evade the blinding beams as he felt them burn his scales, and at that point it became apparent that his health was now beginning to deteriorate – but he didn’t let it stop him from attempting to fight back. The light was certain to have provided an opening for Gizamon to escape Tuskmon’s fangs, but had he made good use of that opportunity? The lumbering dinosaur prepared himself to strike as he looked in the direction Gizzmo had been the last time he’d seen the little spined frog…

((You didn’t say whether or not Gizzmo made an attempt to avoid the bite while the diamond was distracting Tuskmon, so please fill in that little gap in your next post, but it’s no matter: all of us forget little things in our posts. Hell, if I remembered every detail I wanted in my posts, they’d be long enough to fill a whole board!))

The more agile Gekomon had wisely submerged his whole body at the sight of the diamond, and avoided the majority of its light, but couldn’t help feeling as if he’d let his old friend down by allowing him to take the blow full-on. Even so, he thought, that’s not to say it’s too late to avenge him. The amphibian then allowed his eyes to peep just slightly above the water surface in order to get an idea of Gizamon’s location, resubmerged, and once he was sure the ripples had cleared, balled the three prongs of his tongue into a fist-like shape. Without warning, Gekomon then issued a cry that considering the combination of his speech impediment, the extension of his tongue and the water filling his mouth, was nigh impossible to make out – and shot his tongue straight out of the water in the direct Gizzmo had been upon his last look. The “punch” flew so swift and straight, it would prove difficult to avoid – but then again, it can be hard to hit what you can’t see directly.

((Also, Taz reminded me: ideally you should copy-paste the descriptions of each card you use at the end of the post you use it in, just so us mods have an instant easy reference.))

(I thought I did copy and paste it in :S)

The distraction had preoccupied tuskmon long enough for the paralisis to wear off and Gizzmo quickly darted away before he could land an attack. Hearing a gargling sound behind him he spun around but was not quick enough to avoid the gekomon's tounge. The attack wasn't accurate enough to hit anything vital but it did manage to catch him on one of his front legs, causing a slight limp.

He was angered but tried not to lose his head. It'd be better to get rid of tuskmon first so he only had one opponent to concentrate on. Precariously tucking in his injured foot he once more rolled into a ball but this time headed for shore, in the direction he'd last seen tuskmon. His back-spines sunk into the muddy ground with a sucking noise. By now he was covered from head to toe in the soft mud but he wasn't bothered by being a bit dirty, if anything it might make him a bit more difficult to see.

(EDIT: I guess what I was meaning to imply was the gizamon hit the mud on the shore but kept going regardless. I didn't know it would be so hard to understand :o.oU: )

Tuskmon moved one eyebrow skywards at Gizzmo’s manoeuvre, at first curious at what he’d hoped to accomplish by it. However, it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds of careful observation to realise he was, indeed employing the tactic of camouflage – which, after he’d progressed further through the mud, certainly did make him a challenge to spot for a tyrannosaur, who in their day weren’t exactly famed for their perfect vision.

Gekomon, on the other hand, could distinguish outlines far more easily with his enormous cartoon eyes. “Hey – if we can’t shhee him, he can’t sshe uhss, right?” stage-whispered the amphibian with a grin so devious it could make a BlackTailmon run for cover. “Get your attack ready, buddy – we’d best go long-distanssshe this time.”

Gizamon was now about a yard away from Tuskmon’s feet, but the dinosaur avoided him with ease, stepping backward into the bushes as lightly as he could manage – however, this was not nearly lightly enough to avoid being caught on the right foot with Gizzmo’s spines, drawing a minute trickle of blood. Tuskmon reacted with a low moan, but quickly shook it off and told himself, “No matter.” With that, synchronised whispers of “Sshhhymphony Crussshher!” and “Bayonet Lancer!” echoed through the swamp – and two mighty blasts, one of soundwaves and one of flaming laser beams, headed in Gizamon’s direction; their combined size making them quite the task to dodge. Both the Adult-levels hoped for their own sakes that some of that mud had got in their foe’s eyes.

((OMG… my crappiest, not to mention most belated, post in months and you of all people have the misfortune to be stuck with it. :<=(: Please bear with me: several things, too many to list here, have been attacking my activeness at once, and for that, I wholeheartedly apologize.))

Being that light travels faster than sound the Bayonet Lancer reached Gizzmo first. The attack was too difficult to avoid and it caught him in the side sending him reeling backwards. Instinctively he rolled to the left, trying his best to ignore the stab of pain in his ribs where the attack had hit. He managed to evade the majority of the Symphony Crusher though the scattered sound waves that did reach him were enough to dizzy him slightly.

He kneeled on the ground for a moment, recuperating after the onslaught of attacks. Eyes cast downward and his breath came in short gasps. Slowly he raised his gaze, eyes filled with a new determination that would almost be intimidating if it wasn't for his small size. He may be down but he wasn't quite out. Carefully raising himself on his three good legs he took a hesitant step forward, testing his injuries. His ribs were sore but only bruised at worse.

Kicking off powerfully with his back legs he sprang forward with surprising agility, moving with an awkward hopping gait made even more awkward by having to favour one of his legs but he was moving none the less. The jolts of pain in his side were worsening with every bound but he ignored it. They could be fixed. But he doubted his bruised ego would ever be repaired if he lost this battle. He was only a few feet away from the gekomon now. He leapt.

Hind legs kicked out forcefully, though just where they would make contact if they even hit at all was unsure. In a blind rage his accuracy wasn't at it's best. His already foul temper and competitve attitude had brought out the worst in him, this wasn't just a friendly competition anymore. He had to win.

(Yay a half decent post! Well... not really. I made Gizzmo all angsty D:)

It worked in Gizzmo’s favour that his opponents had both taken a quiet moment to relish the successful hit – due to this, both were completely unprepared for this new attack almost supercharged with rage. Gekomon felt the full blows of the kicks on his face like harsh raindrops. Helpless to counter attack, he simply emitted a hoarse scream and plunged into the nearest body of water. The limp way in which his silhouette floated was an indicator that he had been left in bad shape, but that was not to say he’d be unable to resume fighting after a few minute’s rest.

Tuskmon’s face drooped in grief and shock at this latest twist – but it didn’t take long to morph into a vicious, determined scowl. “He’ll rise again sooner or later,” said the Champion in a menacing growl, “but in the mean time, let’s see how you cope with me. Panzer Knuckle!”

Tuskmon’s fists then became encased in flames blazing to match his rage, and he hurled his whole body, fists first, toward the Gizamon in a lunging motion. Oddly he seemed to do this at a slightly slower pace than normal – perhaps because he still had the temporary loss of Gekomon on his mind, dampening his spirits slightly distracting him from the battle at hand. One thing was for sure, however: if Gizzmo failed to dodge the attack, it’d hurt, and a lot.