The trailmon sped past the bleak and lifeless landscapes of the graveyard, pulling Lucas and Falcomo along with it. The two had recent met the train, who Lucas named Lurch after the butler from the Adam’s Family, in the city, when they traveled out here based on the words of Gertrude and Alex, bird digimon in a treehouse destined to support Insomnia. Lucas stared down at his D-Ban, tapping it slightly. A holographic display appeared, showing the digital world as it currently was. Most of the sphere was dark, but Lucas notice that a small area grew lighter as the train traveled. Lucas could see that Lurch was heading north, to the glacial plains. He also saw two very well lit areas. One was the graveyard, where a red blip indicated a digimon that Lucas had met. He tapped the dot, and Gazimon’s picture appeared. Lucas smiled, seeing the familiar face, but he quickly scrolled his holographic world to Gertrude’s Treehouse. He searched the area, but not blips were shown at all. ”Where is Gertrude? And Alex?” Lucas said, turning to Falcomon, to get his opinion. The poor digimon was sound asleep, however, and so Lucas was left to ponder his own problems. He smiled when saw a red cluster…in Primary Village. ”Piccolomon…and Gertrude! Well, at least she is okay.” Lucas said. He looked, however, and still couldn’t find Alex. He began to get worried, so he took his mind off of the problem by checking out Lurch’s progress northward.
Lurch..where are we going?” Lucas said, sticking his head out of the window so see the tired-looking face. The voice was in a deep monotone, although the answer was rather interesting.
”We are heading to a secret hiding place I once had as a Hagurumon. I hid something very important there, and I think it might help you out, little human. I don’t know what evil has landed there since I was last there, nearly forty years ago. I do know that my rails don’t lead us there….so we’ll have to jump off…right…about….here.” the trailmon no more than muttered the word than the entire train rocked, and Trailmon ripped free of the track, plowing into the snow. Trailmon grunted, and his smokestack blew a gout of flame. The train lurched forward and pulled itself to race atop the snow, going almost twice as fast as before. It began to rush forward faster and faster, until a large mountain of ice began to loom before the train. ”Here we go. Fasten your seatbelt!” the trailmon called, and he crashed head-first into the ice. The wall, instead of being solid, shattered, sending shrapnel everywhere. The force rocked Lucas to the floor, and Lurch fell sideways, skidding across the floor and crashing into the walls of the now open cavern, his doors bent and creaking on their hinges as he forced them open.
Lucas tumbled out of the train, Falcomon cursing loudly now as it got out, holding its head. ”Trains crashing into mountaisn while I’m sleeping! No warning! How unfair! Now my head hurts!”
”I’m sorry, Lucas. I thought the ice was thinner. You have to enter the cavern. There are probably a few dangers by now, but the cavern has my prize in the back. I’m too large to fit in there now, so you’ll have to go for me.” the train said, closing its eyes ”I’ll be napping until then…” it said, and a rumbling snore was heard, smoke beginning to churn from the smokestack atop its head. Lucas sighed, and patted Falcomon’s head. Then the two turned towards the cavernous mouth, and took two large steps into it…
The cavern didn’t appear too large past the entrance. The entrance, once the size of a gaping hole in a mountain, quickly shrank to a tunnel that had Lucas bending his head to pass. This ensured that Lurch couldn’t have followed them in here, making his story true so far. The tunnel went on for a good while, growing darker as it got farther from the light. The pair eventually felt the air grow stale, and they knew they were now heading underground, beneath the large frozen mountain in the glacial plains. All at once, the pair turned a sharp corner and were rightly blinded, as a mass of torches reflected off of the deeply frozen ice and snow, filling their view with a flash of white light. The pair heard the intake of breath, and knew they were not alone, but their sight had yet to return to them.
”What d’you reckon they are, paw?” the voice echoed, the pair blinking away their blindness as they saw the scene before them. Two digimon, both old, disheveled creatures, sat before a fire, sitting on blocks of ice and covered in rags and fur. The two looked like elderly humans, actually, except for their incredibly small stature. Lucas’s arm beeped and he lifted it up, the holographic display showing both their names, and brief information about them.
”Babamon…and Jijimon…elder digimon, usually travel together. Excellent digimon parents. Hmm.” Lucas said, barely noticing the two digimon before them. Falcomon, however, was more polite.
”This is Lucas. I am Falcomon. He’s a human, and I’m a digimon. We came here with Lurch, who said he used to hang out here. We’re looking for a special treasure that will make me stronger!” Falcomon released the narrative in one large breath, speaking very quickly.
”Lurch? Nope, no young’n here has ever been named Lurch, eh mama?” Jijimon said, hopping up from his icy seat and grabbing a staff with a stuffed paw on the end. He used it to shuffle over to the pair. ”You sure his name was Lurch?” Jijimon said, staring at Falcomon.
”No.” Lucas answered. ”Lurch is a nickname I gave him. He’s a trailmon, you see. Black, very scary-looking. He’s usually the ferry to the graveyard. He took us here when we asked for his help. I don’t think he knew you guys were down here, though. We should go, Falco-“
”Oh! You mean little Wyatt! He was such an energetic little Hagurumon! I’m glad to see he has evolved! A Trailmon, you say? Quite impressive. He always wanted to be a Lilymon, you know. We told him it was quite impossible. He was crushed, but shot for a Gigamon. He seems happy enough, though. Why don’t you sit down and tell us all about what you crazy kids got into! I’d love to hear it!” Babamon said, clearly quite scatter-brained. She patted another ice chair, but Lucas declined.
[b]”We don’t have time. Your boy is sitting outside the long tunnel, if you want to go see him. We have more pressing matters to worry about. You see, we finally have crucial information about Insomnia, but we are too weak to do anything about it. Lur-I mean, Wyatt, said that we could get stronger here. He said he had a precious treasure we could use for that very purpose.” Lucas said, and Jijimon scowled, the homeliness leaving his voice. He, indeed, sounded very wise.
”Insomnia…poor girl. We saw her once before she became evil. We were but babies in Primary Village then. I grieve for her, and the mess she has created. It is true, that the treasure you seek is buried deep in Hagurumon’s room. There is a slight problem, however. We noticed, unlike most, when the digital world made a strange shift, we don’t know why, but things vanished and were utterly replaced. We lost several of our children that way, utterly deleted. Hagurumon’s room was affected. We think that his treasure caused it to attract pieces of another world. The pathway is now very treacherous, and a monster of a digimon waits at the end of the obstacles. If you can defeat this monster, I know that our dear Wyatt’s treasure will happily aid you. Please, don’t hurt the monster, though. He is one of our children, his data changed by the merge. He was a DemiDevimon, although I do not know what he has become now…” Jijimon bowed his head, pointing towards a large wooden. ”Head through there, and get going.” He said with a sad smile of assurance.
Lucas took a deep breath, and looked to Falcomon. ”You ready, man?” The small bird nodded, and Lucas pulled a large brass ring on the door, causing it to swing inward. Lucas and Falcomon stepped through expecting the worst to fall upon them immediately.
It was close.
The door slammed shut behind them both, and Lucas whirled about, staring at the door. Glowing on the inside of the door was a symbol that resembled a cross. The cross had small triangles at the edges, giving it a new look. The image was glowing, and Lucas leant forward to touch it, before it flared and vanished, leaving the burned imprint in the door. A voice echoed through the room immediately, booming to the two friends, “Stand you now at the precipice of the end. This land is no friend to you, and you’ll soon come to know that cunning and wit, nor a fast tongue, will give you what you seek. Sometimes, all that is needed is a blind leap of faith.” the voice boomed, then receded. Lucas stared down at Falcomon, somewhat puzzled by the action, but soon, a series of arrows branched out, hitting walls of the room and fading suddenly.
”Pathways! One of these walls must be fake. Search around, tap the edges!” Lucas said, and the two began to check the entire wall around the arrows, attempting to find the pathway that would lead them out of the cramped cavern they stood in. The two beat and searched along the walls, and found nothing of any help. They met in the middle, finding no switch at all, or a false wall, or any hidden handles.
”Now what, Lucas? We have to think! Maybe if we come up with a plan, we can find the answer. What if they used the arrows to trick you? What if the switch is no place near the arrows? Come on!” Falcomon yelped, and he rushed off to find the switch. Lucas didn’t move, simply looking around. These arrows, and that voice’s warning..it meant something. ”Falcomon! Stop! I want you to run, full speed, at that wall where the arrow meets it.” Lucas said, and after Falcomon’s puzzled expression, he pointed at the wall. ”Just do it!”
Falcomon looked at him, and then sighed, grumbling, ”I don’t see what this will prove. Give me a headache, that’s what…maybe I can bust through the wall! Here goes! FALCO RUSH!” and he launched forward, glowing with purple energy as he charged forward. He came up to the wall, and kept moving, passing right through it, skidding inside of another room. He paused, looking at the wall. He ran up to it, tapping, beat on it…completely solid. ”Lucas! Lucas!!!!” he called, smashing his feathered arms into the glass.
”Relax, Falcomon!” Lucas said, stepping out of the wall a few feet away from where Falcomon did. ”My plan was right. A leap of faith. Do something stupid without knowing what will happen. That room was to test what we were willing to do, and I bet that every room we enter will be exactly the same. Some new test, some new trap to make us take a leap of faith. The only question is, what will the trick be in every room?” Lucas said, looking around the new chamber.
It was very large. It was perhaps more than five times the size of the room behind them. Lucas looked about and spotted the cross again on the ground, glowing. He smiled, and stepped on it immediately. A series of glowing lines spread out across the room, then vanished, as the cross was burned into the ground beneath Lucas’s foot. ”Hmm…just a marker…hey look! Arrows at the corner of the room over there! That’s our door!” Lucas said, pointing to the door across the room. Falcomon, in elation, began to run across the room, aiming at the arrows like before. His feet pounded on the ground, and he got about twenty yards before the ground gave way beneath his feet, falling down into a pit below him. In a panic, Falcomon leapt into the air, flapping his wings in order to get back to the edge. The falling square of ice triggered other squares to fall, obeying the pattern of lines that shot from the symbol on the floor. Before long, only about twenty-five yards of ground remained on one side, and about fifteen yards of land on the opposite end of a large, very deep pit. The pit was over sixty yards long.
[b]”Lucas…I can get that far, but not with you hanging on! We should go back.” Falcomon said, and he whirled around…the arrows were gone.
”The arrow’s gone? I figured. We have to solve the puzzle….and I think I know how.” Lucas said, and he began to swing his arms. ”The voice said…a leap of faith.” Lucas said, and he charged, leaping as soon as his feet hit the edge of the pit. He sailed maybe fifteen yards before starting to fall. Falcomon screeched loudly, and began running after Lucas.
Then Lucas smashed into the air. He was splayed out, and he hurt a bit, but he was seemingly floating on the air itself. Falcomon paused, realizing that he, too, had entered the open air above the pit. Lucas began laughing suddenly standing up on the air. ”A leap of faith. The floor never fell. You got scared and fell back, what any sane person would do. All we had to do was trust that we’d make it. So come on, let’s go.” Lucas said, and he and Falcomon crossed the empty ground, stepping into soft snow at the other end. They smiled and took a brisk walk at the arrows, disappearing into the wall.
The pair emerged in a room with a very, very deep crevasse cut into it only about thirty yards from the entranceway. The pair walked over to it and peered in, and even attempted to step on it, but their foot sank. This one was real. ”Okay…new challenge…but where is the symbol? The cross that triggered each challenge prior?” Lucas asked, looking around.
He was answered by a voice he didn’t know there. It was elegant, yet chilling, and a sinister touch laced the words that it spoke. ”There is no symbol here. Your faith has led you into my lair. A cunning and devious trap, no? You pass through without any idea of where you are going, and all paths lead here! An endless pit in a room, filled with nothing but ice and snow! There is not any escape here, and the treasure that used to be here was lost when the worlds shifted! Mother tried to get me to come home, but I was a monster! No longer a happy digimon, but a vile creature! I injured my brothers and sisters with a flick of my wrist! I could do nothing but cause pain...and so I mastered the art of it. Do you want to see? I haven’t shown anyone in nearly thirty years!” The voice said, and then dropped from the ceiling. The digimon spread out its long, thin arms, and stood tall.
The digimon was a pale blue color…and it looked absolutely devilish. Long, clawed fingers, large, hole-punched wings, and a scowl to match the meanest digimon. Lucas’s D-Ban shook to life, cataloging the digimon. ”IceDevimon…” Lucas said, reading from the D-Ban. ”Adult level digimon…Falcomon..we’re outmatched here! You can’t beat an adult!”
”So? Do we just sit and lose? No way! We’ll fight. Give me as many power-up cards as you can! I’ll hit an Adult’s power, and exceed it!”
”You got it! Modify, Charge! Golden Shield, Activate!” Lucas called, and Falcomon extended a wing, which was quickly covered in a large golden shield, the very same one that sat on WarGreymon’s back. Falcomon gripped it tightly, holding it in front of itself as a protective measure.
”A puny shield! FROST CLAW!” the devimon yelled, and it struck the shield. Falcomon slid back a bit, the shield held. ”FROST CLAW!” Devimon yelled again, and a barrage of hits hammered on the shield, until Falcomon was pinned against a wall. The shield, however, still held strong, taking the hits as if they were nothing. Falcomon, however, had no space to attack.
”Alrighty…Modify, Charge! Training Gear, Activate!” Lucas called, and ropes and pulleys leapt from the ground, gripping the Devimon as hard as they could, ceasing his attack chain. Falcomon leapt from behind the wall, and swung a powerful wing towards the Devimon.
”Wind Blade!” Falcomon yelled, shooting wind at the Devimon. The blade hit the Devimon, but did very little. In a fury, the Devimon broke the restraints around it, rising up, and he gripped the shield, lifting Falcomon into the air. He shook the shield violently, eventually yanking Falcomon’s arm free, sending the bird careening into the wall.
”You oversized chicken! You dare try cheap shields and petty tricks on me! I’ve worked my strength up in here for much longer than you’ve been hatched! I am more than any normal adult!” Devimon said, and he reached down ,scooping up the unconscious bird.
”Falcomon!” Lucas cried, running forward and ramming into Devimon. The digimon paused, but not move, or fall over.
”You want to play, you worthless excuse for a tamer?” Devimon said, tossing Falcomon over his shoulder, the digimon sailing past him…
Into the lip of the crevasse.
”FALCOMON!” Lucas cried, pounding his fists against Devimon. ”You monster! How dare you!” Lucas yelled, beginning to cry. He beat on the digimon for quite some time before the Devimon simply waved a hand, sending Lucas toppling. This digimon was much stronger than he was, by far…
Meanwhile, Falcomon fell. He woke up halfway down in his descent, and found his wing injured, unable to give flight to the digimon. Falcomon immediately panicked, hearing his name being screamed above him. Falcomon was beginning to give up, when the voice returned, only this time, it wasn’t booming and powerful, it was, in fact, rather puny. A barrage of images came to Falcomon as he fell, which he could not explain of identify.
”No! Gomamon!”
“Gomamon! You digivolved!”
”Joe! You believed in me!”
“Gomamon, Digivolve to….ZUDOMON!”
”Armadillomon! Look Out!”
”Armadillomon, Armor Digivolved To….Submarimon!”
Suddenly Falcomon’s mind was filled with the cross, its image burning brightly. In his mind’s eye, unable to be shaken…
Lucas, being stomped on by Devimon, had resigned himself to his fate. Falcomon was gone, and soon, he would join the digimon. He began to close his eyes, when the crevasse was suddenly filled with a glowing blue light. IceDevimon stopped, staring at the crevasse. ”No! Could it have been down there all along? Impossible! I looked! For years! It no longer exists! What card did you use! What trick is this?” IceDevimon screamed in fury, turning to Lucas for an answer.
”No….trick….” Lucas said, gasping for breath. ”Just….a little….Faith.” he said. Then it began. His D-Ban exploded with light, and Lucas’s body was suddenly surrounded with a veil of purple energy…Lucas’s Digisoul. ”Digisoul…Charge. Digimental…Charge.” Lucas said, his arm slowly moving to his D-Ban. As soon as he clasped his wrist over the watch, the light flashed, and from the crevasse rose a new digimon.
The digimon was a scarecrow, being dragged about by a small raven attached to its wrist. ”Nohemon!” Falcomon called with a smirk. The digimon landed, standing up with his arms raise. ”And you, IceDevimon…are in for a surprise.”
Lucas laughed, his shaky hand pulling out a card. ”Use this one…Nohemon. Modify..charge. Positron Laser…activate.” The card began to glow, and Nohemon’s hand changed..into a giant laser cannon.
”Well done, Lucas. Now….POSITRON LASER!” Nohemon cried, leaping forward, and shoving the laser directly into Devimon’s chest, the attack firing at point blank range. Devimon flew backwards, smashing into the wall and collapsing in a heap. The laser vanished from Nohemon’s hand, and he flexed it slightly. ”One last card Lucas. Fix him.” Nohemon said, pulling out the card, De-Digivolution. ”Modify…charge. De-Digivolution, Activate.” Nohemon said, and the D-Ban came to life.
IceDevimon began to shrink. Slowly, surely, the digimon shrank, reverting down to its original form…DemiDevimon. The digimon was blue, a very odd color, but still, it’s a DemiDevimon. Nohemon lifted both Lucas and the DemiDevimon, and walked towards the arrows that appear, leading into the chasm. He took a step into the abyss, and vanished.
The trio appeared back in Jijimon’s house, stepped out of the fire the digimon had sat around. Nohemon sat down Lucas and DemiDevimon, turning to them both. ”You knew all along that we were meant to get it. You knew that DemiDevimon wouldn’t come back or be able to be saved until somebody found that egg. Well, he’s back now. Permanently changed to blue, but he’s back. Take care of him, okay?” Nohemon said, smiling.
A few hours later, Lucas woke up and looked around. He was staring at the seat inside of Lurch, and he saw Falcomon thanking Jijimon and Babamon, a blue DemiDevimon chatting excitedly as it flew about. He rubbed his eyes and looked about ,and his D-Ban was lit up. Jijimon and Babamon had been added to his D-Ban, so had Coro, a DemiDevimon. The Faityh Gorge was now on his map beneath a large mountain, and Lucas saw one very important item next to him.
An egg.
”It is my greatest treasure.” Lurch said.
”It was in the crevasse. I was falling, and I got flashes of every human who has ever used that symbol. It means Faith, and it belongs to us, now. It can make me evolve into Nohemon, you saw me. Add it to our D-Ban, I didn’t know how.”
Lucas lifted the egg, smiling. He held it over the D-Ban, which began to glow. The egg turned into a mass of data, vanishing into the D-Ban. The egg appeared on screen, and was then moved, in a miniature version, to a corner of the D-Ban’s display. ”A digimental, and you evolved. We got what we needed, right?” Lucas asked.
Falcomon nodded. ”We still have a long way to go, but yea, we got stronger. Nohemon can help us. I think now it is time to find some tamers. Lurch! Back to town, if you would. A lot of people need to hear Insomnia’s story…” Falcomon said, sitting down as the doors closed, and Lurch pulled out of the mountainside, aiming for railroad tracks once more…
