((Ladies and gentlemen! What you've all been waiting has finally arrived. Months of trying to get the correct wording and a viable plot have finally come to an end. Now, for you viewing pleasure, I have split this into five parts and will post them in this thread simultaneously within the hour.

To the one who wishes to grade this, keep in mind that this project has been worked and reworked for a great deal of time, and has been read over and over to make sure it's up to par. Crestventures are about the writing skill and determination of the writer, and I hope I have put enough into it for you.

So, without further adieu, I give you:))




It was quite warm, but Riko didn’t care. There were more important things at stake than his health. Stalking across the hot plains, the perspiration was intense on his skin. He felt as if he’d just gotten out of a pool with all of his clothes on. He took a sip of warm water from his canteen and wiped the sweat from his brow. Although the environment was heating it, the water still quenched his thirst for the time being.

The pack on his back seemed heavier on his muscles than when he began his search. The egg resting in his arms kept him going. Not only did he need to find a master to teach him, but also he needed to keep the digitama safe from the dangers of the world. Leaving Dargo and Mayer behind was a gigantic mistake, and it might cost him in the middle of nowhere.

Riko’s legs were getting tired, and as much as he wanted to keep going, rest seemed like a good idea, as well. Slowing to a stop, he noticed the tree line of the forest in the distance. He wondered if he should keep going in order to get some shade. It didn’t seem too far away, and it would benefit him in the long run. Kneeling for a moment, he gently placed the egg on the grass, and slung his pack down, digging through it to check his supplies. Everything looked in order, save for the bronze plate. The simple piece of metal was said to belong to Jijimon, but it didn’t look like any armor he’d ever seen before. It was just a bronze plate.

Still curiosity hit him as he remembered Fizban’s words. There is more to it than you think. Standing again, Riko was hesitant in doing so, but he placed the plate on his right shoulder. The boy still couldn’t see the appeal of having one small piece of armor in a battle where blasts are coming at you from all directions. There was no way that the piece would be of any use to him, and he was so close to chucking it away. He needed weapons, not cheap souvenirs.

As he thought that, an image of Dargo altered his thoughts and filled his heart with joy. The Gabumon had protected him and fought by him for so long, and now it was time to give something back, especially now that Mayer had joined them and now that another was about to be born from the digitama. It was time he got the chance to protect his family. Tired of being afraid and hiding behind his Digimon, Riko clenched his right fist. Then, something began to happen.

As those thoughts ran through his mind, he felt something creep across his shirt thinking it was a bug, but it was more than just his shirt. Looking down, it was hard not to notice the bronze- thing creeping across his chest to his other shoulder, as well as down his right arm, and down his abdomen. His breathing immediately shifted and increased as he tried pulling at the material, but there wasn’t a place to get a decent grip to pull at it. The scales seemed to be coming from the shoulder plate he put on only seconds ago, but what was happening? And how did so much metal spread from such little material?

The boy scratched at it frantically, but he couldn’t get it off. The bronze seemed to stop as it now covered most of his neck, his entire chest and down his abdomen stopping directly above his pelvic bone, but the even stranger part was that the material seemed to completely cover his right arm and hand, but didn’t spread to past his left shoulder.

Riko continued to pull at the bronze armor, but it wouldn’t budge. Banging on his chest, the armor seemed to make a clunky sound under the impact of his fleshy hand. It was as if he was knocking on a metal door or stepping onto a steel platform. The boy couldn’t pull himself to believe that all the armor that covered him came from one piece of armor, but what vexed him more was the fact that he didn’t know how it happened.

But he was wasting time, and as long as it wasn’t hurting him, he was fine. Right now, he needed to continue on his journey. Finding Jijimon was of the utmost priority now, and he was so sure that this was what he needed. Since the armor used to be Jijimon’s, he would know how to take it off.

------

Coming to an end in their path, the two came to an opening of the forest to a plain with large hills covered in tall, luscious grass. They had been running for a while, and as they looked back, they noticed that Betsumon wasn’t behind them anymore. Stopping at the edge of the forest, the two looked out into the opening. Dargo leaned against a tree, then slid down its bark to the soft soil, “Let’s just rest here for now. “

“You sure? You really think we lost him?” Mayer huffed and continued to look back to the forest just to be safe. His eyes then went out to the rolling hills of the plains, but saw nothing but grass blowing back and forth in the distance underneath the setting sun’s watch.

“I think so. He might have just lost interest and found something else to do.” Dargo’s caught his breath, and looked back to the forest, his better judgment pulling at him, “But still, you’ve got a point. Let’s keep moving. Actually, Riko’s scent is stronger out here.”

“Really?”

Nodding, the Gabumon took a few more deep breaths, “He’s close. If we hurry, we might be able to catch him.”

It was hardly the bonding time he was looking for, but Mayer couldn’t complain as long as the Betsumon wasn’t chasing them anymore.

Ironically, as Dargo said those words, a figure appeared in the distance. It was too good to be true for the Agumon, but as he stepped forward, the happiness of their success washed over him. They’d been separated for no longer than three days, and Mayer was happier than a dog to see his tamer.

“IT’S HIM!” Mayer exclaimed, darting into the field to meet him.

Dargo looked and smiled, following the Agumon’s lead, but something was wrong. Hearing a familiar cackle, Dargo stopped and turned his head back to the forest, where movement caught his eye. The strange, scraggly figure from before burst out of the forest and into the remaining daylight, his white fur shinning in the setting sun. The Betsumon was back, and Dargo only had enough time to turn and shout a warning before the puppet Digimon was upon him, “KEEP GOING!”

The boy saw a figure in the distance running in his direction; two figures, actually. It frightened him enough to stop and reach for his knife, but as he recognized the familiar figures, he ran toward them, as well. The armor withstanding, he had to put that situation aside for now, and focus on his partners. His jog came to an immediate halt when he felt some type of movement on the skin of his arm. Looking down again, the checkered, bronze plating began to retract within itself until managed to creep underneath the shoulder piece. The piece itself stayed on his right shoulder without any effort, which wasn’t even the best part about it. Looking to his partners, he realized that Fizban wasn’t kidding about the armor.

Suddenly, something white, tall, and obviously not friendly quickly emerged from the forest behind them. His heart raced as he watched the white figure tackle Dargo. His voice rang deep in Riko’s head as he warned Mayer. The word ‘protect’ reappeared in his mind as a beacon to ignite the tamer’s will to fight back. Drawing his knife, he realized that the armor was quickly extending. He couldn’t figure out why it was happening, but a pattern began to form in his mind. A trigger; there had to be one in order to set the armor off and force it to extend; Riko just had to figure out what that trigger was.

Mayer heard Dargo’s warning and turned to see what was wrong. The maniac Digimon from before had returned, or never left as he thought about it. Whichever it was, he had Dargo in his clutches, once again pinning the Gabumon to the ground. He knew aid was necessary as he pivoted and shot a fireball in the Betsumon’s general direction. The Digimon was keen on the attack, leaping into the air over the fireball with little to no effort and falling toward Mayer with a dropkick to the snout.

The Agumon was sent to the ground rolling, the strike knocked him for a loop. Dargo, on the other, was still ready to tangle as he quickly rose from the grass. He saw Betsumon standing over Mayer, laughing as he raised an oversized paw to rend his companion. The Gabumon reacted quickly, firing a stream of blue flames directly into his back. Screaming and trying to put the fire out, Betsumon’s laugh never went away. The creature even dropped to the ground and rolled around to stop the flames, but Dargo wasn’t done there. He rushed in for a melee attack, swinging a paw to his enemy’s face, but missing as the agile entity evaded the attack with a roll.

Betsumon pushed himself up, cackled as he did so, and swung his paws at Dargo; the impacts knocked the breath from his digital lungs. Once again, the strange creature had the upper hand, but that suddenly changed when two clawed arms wrapped around his neck. Mayer was back up, and he hung from the enemy’s neck as to throw him off his assault. Since his paws were so big, Betsumon couldn’t grip Mayer’s claws to release him.

The Gabumon returned to his senses, rushing to Mayer’s aid, throwing a few fists into his foe’s stomach. Before he knew it, a flash a light stunned him as a large foot connected with his chin and sent him flying to the ground. Letting himself fall backward, he allowed his own weight to crush Mayer so he would be freed from the chokehold.

Back on his feet in a hurry, Betsumon turned to the dazed Agumon and raised his paws once again, but another body stopped him. It was bigger than the two he’d been facing, and it was heavy, as well. Riko checked the Digimon, and fell to the ground with him. Knife drawn, the boy scrambled to straddle the arcane creature and plunged it into his shoulder for lack of better aim.

The cackling ceased as Betsumon looked to his shoulder slowly, staring at the blood that seeped through the thread of his costume. His head snapped back to Riko, and the cackling continued. It sent shivers down the boy’s spine because his heroic efforts didn’t seem to be enough.

Suddenly, Betsumon lifted upward, bringing his forehead to connect with the boy’s eye. The shock forced Riko to release the knife’s handle, leaving it in the shoulder, and falling into the grass. The cat-like copy quickly stood above the human, laughing as he slowly pulled the knife out of his shoulder. Riko couldn’t open of left eye because of the pain, but he managed to see the enemy standing over him, his own weapon being used against him.

The moments seemed to fly by as if time sped up especially for this moment; the Betsumon went to strike in a downward, stabbing motion toward the boy’s chest. He couldn’t quite put the words together to describe the actual moment, but Riko knew at that moment that he was going to die. The knife plunged down into his chest, but stopped. A clunk sound entered his ears as a moment of clarity washed over him, as well as anger. The armor protected him; it blocked the knife from ever piercing his skin. It didn’t even make a dent in the bronze plating, but it didn’t matter at that point. Betsumon continued to stab at the armor, but it couldn’t be pierced, giving the human a chance.

Survival was all that mattered as Riko reached up with his armored hand, taking in it the Betsumon’s neck and squeezing. A choking sound interrupted the cackling, which pleased the boy for a moment. It was kill or be killed; yet he took pleasure in making this being pay. It only seemed fair, as he’d just tried to kill him, but more importantly, his partners.

Snapping out of his newfound bloodlust, Riko swung his arm, throwing the Digimon to the ground. Riko staggered as he reached his feet once again; a certain level of exhaustion washed over him. He watched the Betsumon writhe and gasp for air on the ground, and it made him want more. Stalking to the creature, he smirked, as he felt powerful. Wielding strength to make his enemies cower as such was useful and to be able to inflict pain to those who would attempt to hurt him or his partners was comforting. Betsumon began to crawl backward, yelling and grunting as to scare the human away, but the tactics didn’t faze Riko. Coming closer and closer, Riko was ready to enjoy putting this creature in his place. He would know that Riko Mugatu was not one to mess with.

As he came closer, something pulled at both his hands from behind. Both his Digimon yanked and yanked, grabbing his attention. He stopped and turned his head downward and to his left stood Mayer pulling at him. To his right, Dargo continued to pull, “Riko, what are you doing?”

As the Gabumon said, Riko’s thoughts focused on his partners. Dargo and Mayer were there in front of him, but there was also Betsumon, who was trying to harm them. He fought back, but it wasn’t like him to want to torture or kill anyone.

Betsumon scrambled to his feet, screaming as he scurried into the forest, leaving the three behind. Mayer was the first to speak, “Riko?”

“What are you doing out here?” Riko responded his own question, “I thought I told you two to train in the city!”

“You were alone, and we thought you might-“ Dargo began to say.

“I don’t need help Dargo!” Turning and kneeling to them, “When I give you an order, I expect you both to obey it. Do you understand?”

“But-“ Mayer’s interjection was cut off.

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” The boy raised his voice; the anger in his tone burned them more than anything. Both of them nodded in response to the outburst, and neither of them knew what to say at the moment or else they would have. Riko was obviously stressed, but he seemed to be such a gentle spirit, and this emotional shift had been an indecent surprise for them. Riko’s eyes widened, and he realized what he’d done. Taking a deep, deep breath, he stood and turned to the trees, “Now, let’s get see what we can get firewood from the forest.”

The two child Digimon couldn’t help but look at each as their tamer walked toward the forest. Both quite confused by what just happened, and even more confused as they tried to ponder what would happen next. Mayer spoke first, “What the hell just happened?”

Dargo shook his head with a frown, “Riko’s never talked to me like that before.”

“Yeah, well-“ The Agumon began to followed his tamer, “He better not do that again.”

The Gabumon knew Mayer didn’t mean it like that; as hurt feelings settled all around, it was best to let it settle and set up camp. Dealing with it now, would only stress them out more, and it wouldn’t help their current situation

The group set up camp and completed the choirs for the night. As far as Riko was concerned the sunset was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. This was especially true because the heat of the day was dying down and he was finally able to relax. After eating a simple meal of vegetables and fruit found in the forest, the group sat around a fire of forest wood and some of Mayer’s firepower. They sat quiet for a while, looking at each other through the fire.

The Agumon, however, couldn’t pull his eyes away from the egg. It was as if he’d been entranced by its small and gentle nature. Maybe the thought of how innocent the baby would be affected him somehow, but he found himself reaching for the egg. It was on the ground next to Riko, so when he saw Mayer grab for it, he was a bit confused.

Having the egg in his grasp, Mayer suddenly felt responsible for its care. It was like he didn’t know what to do with himself except watch over the Digitama. Riko didn’t pay it any mind as he turned his attention more to Dargo, as well.

“Look,” Riko broke the silence with his solemn voice, “I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s fine. You were just tired.” The Agumon immediately jumped to answer.

“Yeah, Riko.” Dargo added, “We’re just glad you’re okay.”

“Well, not really.” The two looked at their tamer with high concern, but said nothing, “I have some bad news. I went to the Glacial Kingdom.”

“What?” The Gabumon sat forward.

“It’s the home of the Valor Alliance, remember? That kid, Riley, was talking about it in the hospital.” Mayer couldn’t remember all the details, but what he did recall was shared.

“Right. I promised Zack that he would be safe there, but when we got there, the place was wrecked. I mean, it was rundown and almost completely destroyed. The leader there says that Riley hasn’t been there since they were first attacked, and I don’t think he knows about the attacks afterward.” Riko starred into the fire, “It was horrible. I thought I was leading Zack into a safe haven, but when we got there, it was like looking at an apocalypse. Then, they were under attack again.”

“How’d you guys do?” Mayer asked, truly concerned for the boy’s safety.

“Well, before we could do anything, they told us to leave, and not to look back. I mean, they just told us to leave without even letting us help them.”

“I’m so sorry, Riko.” Dargo scooted over to him tamer to comfort him.

“So, what then?” Mayer asked, “Was that all the Valor Alliance down there?”

The boy nodded at the question, but it pained him to do so. They couldn’t understand how surreal it was to walk into what could only be described as a premature graveyard for those still living there, “And what’s worse is that Riley hasn’t been there in months. He has no idea what’s happening to his own group!”

The flames flickered brightly in front of him, but he paid no attention to it. The sun was going down, and their eyes had to rely on the fire to see now. The nighttime was a lot more serene, and it helped with Riko’s mood. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling of hopelessness in his journey. His efforts to turn this war around were futile so far, and he hadn’t seen any results in terms of the goals he meant to achieve.

“Oh no-“ Dargo gasped. The Gabumon couldn’t believe that the Valor Alliance was wiped out after hearing such heroic stories about it. Dargo was looking forward to visiting the Glacial Kingdom in time, but that wouldn’t happen now.

Mayer’s eyes widened, “What do we do now?”

The way he felt during the trip flooded back to a Riko’s mind. Leaving his partners behind was a mistake even though he wanted Zack to trust him. Even Aura was a strong Digimon, and she was able to Digivolve passed the Adult level; and with Zack’s dark sense, they would be able to navigate the Digital World and flatten any enemy that crossed them. He assumed that Zack was hurt enough to learn to wise up and fight back. He’d gone on a journey to find himself, and he would do it with the power to protect himself both from having a spirit and powerful Digimon.

“I don’t know, but I need you guys to listen to me.” Riko cleared his throat and continued, knowing exactly what he wanted to say, “We need to get more powerful. I know this is sudden, but we have to train even harder now.”

“I want you guys to push harder than you’ve even pushed before. I think you’ve gotten rusty since the mall attack. We need to reinvent our strategy, and when we get back, I need to get some better cards.” Dargo and Mayer looked to him, trying to find out what the reasoning was for such a drastic change. They were doing the best they could with what they had, but Riko seemed to be saying it wasn’t enough.

“What are you talking about?” Mayer interrupted, “What are you trying to say, Riko?”

With a sigh, Riko shook his head. This meant nothing, but his partners would probably get the wrong impression from his reaction. He gestured to the egg as a means to continue his explanation.

“That egg was given to me to add a little extra firepower. We have to protect this egg though. It needs to be nurtured so that when the Digimon inside is ready to come to us, it will.”

Riko continued on with his story of his travels, “Then, Fizban gave me a spirit.” Pressing a few buttons on his D-Ban, a holographic image of the statuette appeared in front its onlookers, “It’s like the one Zander has or that other kid. I think his name was Alex or something like that.”

“That’s pretty cool.” Mayer said

“Yeah. It’d be even cooler if I knew how to use it. It might be very useful to us.”

Deactivating the hologram, the boy looked to his partners and sighed. The egg and the spirit weren’t even the tip of the iceberg.

“And he told me to find an old Digimon who knows all about using spirits, and apparently, he’s the one who made this damned armor, too.”

Silence engulfed the three once again as Mayer tried to take everything in. Dargo was stuck on one particular part, though as he watched Riko tug at the bronze material.

“Wait, so, what do you mean by ‘get stronger’?” Dargo’s eyebrow lifted, “I thought we were pretty strong as long as we had each other.”

“You need to digivolve, Dargo.” Blatantly stating it, Riko went straight to the point and didn’t let up, “Every tamer that we’ve ever met had a Digimon that could digivolve past the Adult level, and even when we were at the mall, every tamer could digivolve passed that level without any cards. I don’t know how they did it, but we need to find a way for you to digivolve further. The same goes for you, Mayer. You need to digivolve to Adult and beyond. I have no idea what you’re going to digivolve to, but I think it’d be good to start with your armor form.”

“Okay…” Mayer looked to his tamer, not able to believe what he was hearing. He was basically told that the only way to get stronger was to digivolve, when just a week ago the boy told him not to rely on digivolving and cards to win. He was actually starting to believe that he didn’t need to win by digivolving at first, but now, he wasn’t sure what to think.

Dargo, however, made up his mind that second, “I can’t.”

“What?” Riko shot a look of disbelief to the Gabumon, unable to discern whether this was a joke or not.

“I can’t do that. I mean, I can’t just digivolve when you tell me to; I don’t know how or I would have by now. It’s not as easy as you’re making it sound, you know?” Trying to get his point across as peacefully as possible, Dargo saw that it wasn’t taken as such.

“What are you talking about? You figured out how to digivolve the first time. How hard could it be to digivolve to the next level?” Riko asked as if he already knew the answer, “Dargo, this isn’t a game. I’m trying to protect you guys, but you have to help me help you here.”

“Help me? You’re asking me to do the impossible! You’re trying to get me to do something you wouldn’t do yourself!” Dargo blurted out.

“Look, can you do this or not?” Riko wasn’t in the mood to argue, and would rather see results than debate about it.

“I just told you; I CAN’T!”

“You can’t or you won’t?” Riko pushed

“Right now, I don’t see the difference, Riko! You’re being completely unreasonable to us!”

Mayer’s eyes shifted back and forth between them. This was getting out of hand and he hadn’t even said that much. It went from a conversation to a verbal brawl between those who were the best of friends a few days ago. All of this reminded him of when he fought Dargo; how intense it was combined with his anger mad him lose sight of whose side he was on. But even so, Mayer had to say something.

“Guys, can we not do this now?” Mayer tried to interrupt, but it was seemingly hopeless as their eyes were locked.

“No! I want to hear what else he has to say!” Riko gestured to Dargo quite violently, letting his hand drop to his lap.

“You want me to say it? Well, I’ve said it before, but I think you let your insecurities get in the way of what you’re doing.” Dargo, in general hated to repeat himself, but feeling threatened, he felt it needed to be said, “Like the time we fought the LadyDevimon; you felt the need to fight even when we weren’t needed. That Crescemon probably would have won anyway, but you needed to show off, and it was like you were fighting to prove something.”

“Show off? What if she hadn’t pulled out of there alive? We did her a favor, and let’s not forget that if we hadn’t stayed, we wouldn’t have figured out how to use our Digimental.” Riko’s point was valid, but Dargo was right back to it.

“Our Digimental or your Digimental, Riko? We’ve only used it twice since we found it, and there have been plenty of times where it could have been of use to us. Answer me this, Riko; if it’s our Digimental, how come you haven’t used it on Mayer yet?”

The boy was struck hard with the question as his eyes stared into the fire. He’d never given any real thought to it before, but Dargo was, once again, right. When he found the Digimental, it reacted to his presence, so it was meant to be his. And when Dargo was magically with him in the beginning, it was Riko who was pronounced as a tamer, which meant that Dargo was his to command. The same went for Mayer in that they were meant to find him, which meant that he was also Riko’s property, but Riko never saw it like that until that very moment.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wait.” Dargo crossed his arms and stared intently at his tamer, who looked more and more like a tyrant than anything else.

“Uh, guys?” Suddenly, Mayer felt the urgency in getting both their attention, but they were still intent on fighting each other.

“I don’t even think you care about us. And you throw all this new information at us without giving us time to think about it. It’s like you’re just using us to fight so you can make yourself feel better since you can’t go home! ”

“Shut up! That’s not true!” Riko shook his head, burying his face into his hands.

“Guys?” Mayer called to them again.

“Then what the hell is it? All you care about is getting stronger and gaining power; and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were just like Za-“

“ DON’T!!! ” Riko drew the line there, marking the end of the argument, “Don’t- don’t you dare compare me to him! I’m nothing like him, and-”

“ ENOUGH! ” Mayer shouted over them, forcing them to turn their heads to him, “We haven’t been back together more than twelve hours and you guys want to get into a pissing contest!

“But-“ Riko started to say, but Mayer interrupted.

“No! It’s my turn to talk! You guys either need to get along or we might as well go and give this egg back. This thing could hatch at any moment and I don’t want it being born into a hostile environment.”

Needless to say, both were stunned at the level of maturity the Agumon had just shown. It was as if he was a completely different person with the egg in his arms.

Riko gazed at the Gabumon, still furious with what was said. He could barely look at any of them at the moment.

“I’m gonna take a walk.”

It was as if he didn’t care about the digitama at all, or at least from Dargo’s perspective. The confrontation was over, but there was still the underlying issue of why Riko was a tamer at all for the Gabumon, anyway.

Dargo focused on Mayer, “Listen, I’m sorry that-“

“I don’t wanna talk about it. “ Mayer interrupted quickly. He was unusually protective of the egg, “We can talk later, but negative stuff needs to get out of your mind for now.”

Feeling like he had no choice but to keep his apology for now, he changed the subject, “I didn’t realize you were so nurturing.”

“I don’t know what it is.” Mayer chuckled, “I almost feel obligated; like I know the baby inside.”

“Right.” Rolling his eyes, Dargo sat, “We should get some sleep.”

“What about Riko?” Mayer asked

“What about him?” The question came out with a touch of venom on it.

“Well, he needs to get back, and he might not be able to see us if the fire is out.” Mayer was right, but Dargo couldn’t get enough space from the human at this point, and he beat himself up for coming along on this journey.

“Fine.”

“Can you take the egg? I’ll wait up for Riko and have him help me put the fire out. You should get some sleep.”

He was exhausted, and he would have to finish the ordeal with Riko later, but his focus was on the egg now, which calmed him to a certain extent. His eyes felt heavy as he rested his hand on the soil and drifted off with the digitama next to him.

Mayer watched the flames, then looked to the stars, as they appeared one by one. What is happening to us? Riko’s going Apemon about all this fighting; Dargo’s getting upset with Riko and calling him on stuff I wasn’t even there for; and now that we have that egg, we have to be even more careful than we’ve ever been. Mayer couldn’t blame Riko for feeling overwhelmed, but he still had to wonder what was happening to the team. I thought I had problems, but this is crazy.

Just as he thought that, he saw the body of his tamer reenter the light of the fire. He approached slowly as he noticed Dargo sleeping peacefully with the Digitama near the warmth of the fire.

“Welcome back.” The voice of Mayer startled him, as he realized that not everyone was still sleeping. He was actually surprised that anyone was still up at all.

“Hey.” He said walking over to the Agumon still sitting. He seemed to remain quiet as if he was waiting for something, to which Riko couldn’t figure out. Mayer finally nodded, reaching his feet and looking up to the human.

“Help me put the fire out?” He began scooping dirt into his claws and dumping it onto the controlled blaze. Riko took the hint, downtrodden as he repeated Mayer’s actions. The flames died slowly as they threw more dirt on it, and soon, only embers remained, flickering in the darkness as the light from the stars and moon sliced through the trees. Mayer yawned and took a seat, “I’m going to bed.”

“Oh-“ Riko was almost surprised that he didn’t want to talk, but he hoped that the Agumon didn’t hate him, “Sure.”

The boy decided to stay up and think, no matter how tired he felt. He’d been traveling all day through a strange land, and fought off an even stranger Digimon, and felt strange about the place he was in at the moment. He didn’t know how to feel; his purpose in this world was, again, in question.

There was a white movement in the sky near the moon, but in front of the stars; blocking some and letting others shine through. A boy’s brown skin seemed black as darkness loomed through the trees and blanketed the forest. Smoke slithered away from the dead fire; the smell of burnt oak drifting off and dissipating into the night. The scent reminded Riko of his living room back on Earth; his family playing board games while the warmth of the fireplace drifted over them all. Propped up by his arms, the tamer sat surveying the opening from the forest to a long stretch of hills in the plains.

The breeze, so cool and lovely, swept the grass from side to side in a mystical dance of sorts. The boy stared from the landscape to his partners, admiring them as they slept. He wasn’t tired when they drifted off to sleep, but as he watched nature do its work, he became more and more drowsy. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let his head fall backwards as the breeze washed over him.

Hearing the story of how his partners fought while he was gone made see that he hadn’t been much of a tamer, or so he thought. Riko gazed over to the Gabumon sleeping silently on the ground. He was my first partner here. I don’t deserve a Digimon as caring and protective as Dargo. He takes my life more seriously than his own, though. I guess I am just trying to make up for missing home. The tamer couldn’t figure out why they kept running into such problems.

And Mayer’s so headstrong; so willing to throw down and fight anyone that stood in our way, but that’s the problem. That’s not why we fight. We’re together because there is a power out there stronger than all the light tamers put together. He’s so eager to prove himself to me and show me how strong he is.

The wind picked up, making the grass whip back and forth more violently than before. The boy huddled his knees close to his chest. His skills are great, and I’m glad he’s re-focusing his energy, which is more than I can say for myself. Who am I kidding anyway? Dargo’s right about me. The moon shone more brilliantly now that the clouds drifted away, allowing light to bless the area with grace. Riko was able to see Dargo’s fur a lot better.

The night air felt cool on his skin as he continued to look out to the fields of grass. The memories flooded his mind as he enjoyed nature for what it was. I was so scared in that mall. I didn’t know what the hell was going to happen, but I stayed. I stayed, even when Zander and Koro blasted Dargo. Was I crazy? I mean, was that courage? I always thought that courage meant to not be afraid.

I guess the time for being afraid was over when I chased Zander into the mall that day. It’s when I realized that there was actually a war and that I had to pick a side. That brought the boy back to a saying his father used when he was younger. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s having fear, and continuing on anyway.

The boy sighed as he watched the stars twinkle. Exhaling heavily, he let the night air cool him. Why was he brought to this world if he couldn’t make a difference? After the attack at the mall, he originally thought he purpose was to defeat Zander Steele, but how could he defeat someone who mirrored him so well? Zander looked to gain power, strength, and from his actions at the mall, he didn’t care about the well being another human. He even took a clear shot at Riko, something he still couldn’t believe, without batting an eye. Was it that easy? Am I really like him?

When he first came to the Digital World, he’d felt an enormous emptiness he strove to fill. Dargo filled that hole to a certain extent, but he always knew that something else was missing that wasn’t filled by Mayer. The security of having two Digimon wasn’t enough for him, as he still wanted to fight. Even after fighting Zander, he tried to forge a purpose for himself, but it fell apart due to Dargo’s analysis of his behavior. The Gabumon had a valid point that he couldn’t escape from; he was only interested in getting stronger, and it wasn’t to defeat evil, but to make his feel hole within himself. The power of the Digimental was his to hold, and he unconsciously kept it for himself instead of sharing it with the others.

I’m a horrible person. What is wrong with me? Looking to Mayer, he knew what would resolve this. Leaning over to tap the Agumon, he expected to have to fight to wake him, but that wasn’t the case.

“I’m awake.”

This startled Riko being that it had been at least two hours since they went to sleep, “Oh. Can you walk with me?”

Mayer hesitated at first, but stood and followed the boy out into the open grass. They walked for a bit with the Agumon dreading what Riko might say to him. Maybe he would scold him for not saying much in the verbal tussle between he and Dargo, but what could he do? It wasn’t his fight.

“I want to try something.” Riko stopped and turned to him, pressing a few buttons on his wrist device. A small pillar of light erupted from the screen, showing Mayer a bluish-silver egg, “The Digimental should work on you.”

“Wait, what?” Mayer’s eyes widened as his mind scrapped his original assumption of how the conversation would begin.

“Do you not want to?”

“Well, I do- want to digivolve, I mean. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to.” Riko’s quizzical look forced Mayer to explain, “Don’t feel like you have to because of what Dargo said.”

“No, Mayer!” Riko looked away, immediately frustrated by the Agumon’s words, “It’s not fair to you. I’ve been so selfish, and I failed you because of it!”

Mayer raised a brow; a thought came to him, that he wished he’d thought of before, “Are you afraid of failure?”

No wonder he was so geared up to go to the Glacial Kingdom! He was so eager to help that he didn’t want to let anyone down. I’m guessing that that Zander person really hurt him, and when we had to leave the mall, he probably felt like he failed the other humans there.

With that question, Riko began to shake. He fought to hold it in, but the past few days gave him little to hold on to. He broke down, falling to his knees and hands and wept hard; an extreme change from what Mayer was used to in terms of emotions. Actually, the Agumon wasn’t sure how to handle this, lightly placing a claw on the boy’s back.

“Why can’t I help anyone? I want to help; I really want to! This war is getting worse, and it’s going to affect everyone pretty soon, but it seems like everyone is getting stronger by the day, and I’m not! I could barely hold my own against Zander; I was pathetic, and it was so hard to protect you two!” He continued sobbing even harder now; snot bubbles forming in his nose, “It’s not fair! I’ve been here for so long, and if I’m not supposed to help fight monsters like him, then what the hell am I doing here?”

Taking a moment, Mayer couldn’t formulate an answer. From what he’d learned in his life, the Agumon had learned that working alone was the only way to live, but he’d recently learned that he was wrong. Riko showed him a new way to live, and that was to not live your life without friends. He found that he wasn’t destined to live alone, and that his actual destiny was to help Riko, Dargo, and the Digital World.

“I haven’t told you this yet, but don’t think this is a new thing ‘cause it’s not.” Mayer cleared his throat and took a deep breath as he dug into his soul, “I’ve never met anyone so passionate about helping people, and I’m glad to be with you. I know I get angry a lot, but it’s only because I know I can do better. I feel like I owe you for everything that happen that day, and no matter what you say, I’m gonna keep trying to get better so I can protect you like Dargo does.”

Riko was able to get his breathing under control and slow his cry, but looking up at Mayer, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“And you know what else? I know why you’re here, too. You didn’t win at the mall because you weren’t supposed to win; you were supposed to help me. And you were supposed to help those tamers in the fight and make sure they didn’t die when it looked like they would. So, don’t say you can’t help because you did.”

The boy was shocked that such inspiring words could come from such a small creature, but he realized something. Mayer had finally accepted being apart of the team, which meant that there was still hope, no matter what, “You really mean all that?”

Mayer nodded; sure of what he was saying and even surer of Riko. The boy put himself under so much pressure, but forgot that he didn’t have to do anything alone, as Fizban said to him days ago.

“I think I understand now.” A voice came from behind them, almost as if the being had been standing there the whole time. To Riko’s surprise, Dargo was there the whole time, “You do care.”

Riko snapped around to see the Gabumon holding the egg and smiling, “But the things you said-“

“I know, Dargo, and I’m sorry. I just don’t know what else to do. There’s way too much to do.” Riko shook his head; his eyes went back to the grass.

“But why do you feel overwhelmed when you know we’re hear for you? That’s why we came to find you; because whether you like it or not, you need us.” Dargo’s smirk could be seen in the moonlight as he spoke, “I once said that I’d be with you through anything- nothing has changed. Mayer and I are here, so what do you need us to do?”

Riko lost his frown, but he was still conflicted, “I don’t think it’s what I need you to do. I think it’s what we need from each other. You both need my energy and love, and I need your courage and support.”

They found that they could all agree on that, which surprised Riko. It was the first time they all agreed on something as a team, but it wasn’t enough, “I don’t know guys.”

“What?” Dargo asked, letting Mayer take the egg off his hands. The Agumon cradled it in his arms as he listened on. The tamer rose from his knees, wiping off his pants.

“It feels like there is so much to learn in such little time. Meanwhile, Zander is getting more powerful by the second, and I have a feeling it won’t be long before we run into him again.” Hands at his face, wiping the wetness away, he continued, “I need to figure out how to use this spirit, the armor, get you guys to digivolve further or else we won’t stand a chance against him. We barely made it out of there alive last time, but it’s a lot more complicated than just defeating him.”

“Ever since I started hanging with you guys, that name has come up more than once. This guy killed my best friend- what is so difficult about this? Mayer asked shrugging, the memory of Sokka going through his mind. Back at the mall, he promised Bael that he would repay him for that, and he hadn’t changed his mind yet.

“It’s not that simple, Mayer!” The boy’s eyes welled up again, “He was my friend, or at least I though he was.”

“Riko, I liked him as much as you did, but he openly took a shot at us. That can’t slide!” Dargo interjected, feeling strongly about the whole thing, “I think we should find him and take him down!”

Mayer nodded in agreement, willing to do whatever his tamer wished.

“I can’t do that. There has to be some way to convince him to come back to the good side. And if we do, he could be a good ally, you know?”

As their conversation went on, they were being watched. Dargo didn’t know why he couldn’t smell it before, but it was too close now to do anything about it. Turning away from the conversation, his nose tore through the air, sniffing the new scent. He knew he’d smelt it before, but he was more concerned with how the being could remain hidden from his nose. Handing the egg back to Mayer, Dargo growled, “We’re not alone.”

“What?” Riko looked around, and despite the moonlight, he couldn’t see anything.

“He’s right.” Mayer’s eyes focused on the forest, feeling the presence coming closer. His scales crawled as he held the egg tightly, “There’s something there, and it’s big.”

Are you kidding? The big deal wasn’t that they were fighting to agree, but that they were just united and they were forced to fight again. Drawing his knife, Riko wasn’t about to let them be torn apart again. He felt the armor extend once again, “The armor’s extending again! I think it has a defense mechanism or something!”

“That’s great, Riko, but can we focus?” Dargo growled as he turned to the forest with Mayer and focused his attention.

Riko looked down to his partners, feeling differently about the situation. His idea of their team had changed; at least now he saw them as actual partners, but whatever this thing is might challenge him to really show it, “ Let me take the egg.”

Mayer looked back to see his tamer sheath his knife and reach for the digitama, “Why?”

“Well, I can’t fight, and if this thing is as bad as you guys say, you two will do better than I will.” Riko grabbed the egg from Mayer, holding it close to him. The Agumon nodded, but his attention turned back to the forest as a sound erupted from it. An unforgettable cackle erupted from the darkness as a figure leapt from woods landing in front of the trio.

It was Betsumon; standing there with the knife wound in his shoulder and burns across his body from Dargo and Mayer.

“You again?” Mayer rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Didn’t you have enough earlier?”

Suddenly, the scraggly creature stopped his cackling, emitting a high-pitched scream that echoed through the plains and back into the forest. The shriek was so piercing that they all had to cover their ears, but Riko had to struggle since he was holding the egg. Turning away from the creature, he knelt to protect the egg from shattering. It wasn’t long before the sound stopped, but it kept overlapping into the distance. The three managed to remain sane through it, but they were also confused as to why the Betsumon would do such a thing. Then again, the creature wasn’t big on words, nor was he a conventional Digimon as he was dressed as a Gatomon. Still, they had to take into account that he tried to kill them, which forced them to keep their guard up.

“What do you want with us?” Riko turned quickly, and faced the Gatomon-imitation.

“And why are you trying to kill us?” Dargo wanted to tear this being to shreds, but the power difference was great in his Child form. He would have to restrain himself for the moment, but as soon as he got the signal-

A growing whistle entered Dargo’s ears, making him turn with a stir. There was a bright object coming toward them quickly, and it was getting closer by the second. His eyes widened as he realized they were under attack from another source. Leaping into action, Dargo dashed passed Riko, sucking in a large breath and launching his Blue Blaster to intercept the projectile. The flames impacted the missile, exploding it on contact; the force from the blast was so strong, the shock blew them away.

The Gabumon felt the force of the explosion, covering his eyes as the bright light appeared in front of him. He was lifted off his feet quickly and pushed backward until he hit the ground rolling. Coming to his senses, he realized he was still moving and that he was flipped just above the surface with his horn scrapping the soil as his front faced the forest. Planting his hands on the ground, the Gabumon pushed off hard, somewhat stabilizing his body as he went through the last flip. He was now upright, and coming back to the ground quickly, and as his feet slammed to the ground, he dug in as hard as he could with his feet and paws to stop him.

Riko hit a tree roughly, and was dazed for a moment. His head rattled from the explosion while his back ached from the collision with the tree. The bronze material absorbed some of the impact, which was good because the boy’s spine might have been affected.

“You alright?” a voice came from his right, “Riko!”

Dargo stood next to his tamer, paw on his shoulder, trying to snap him out his daze.

“I’m okay.” Riko forced his eyes to focus on the attacker or the spot where his attacker was, but then looking around, “Where’s Mayer?”

Rubbing his eyes, the tamer suddenly began to panic, “Oh, God! The egg!”

He realized that is wasn’t in his hand, but even worse, it was nowhere to be seen on the ground, “Dargo, where’s the egg?’

The Gabumon’s eyes scanned the ground as his tamer carefully crawled along, trying not to miss a spot. He couldn’t help but return to his protective attitude as he looked back to the plains. The smoke began to clear, showing the shine of a mechanical being stalking toward the duo across the field. The Andromon looked menacing, but Dargo still wondered if Betsumon’s scream was a sort of signal…

“Damn!” Dargo yelled. He took the initiative and prioritized the situation at hand, “Keep looking for the egg! I’ll hold him off!”

Dargo rushed out to the field firing off one Blue Blaster after another. They lit up the night, but seemed to bounce off his target’s body. At one point, the Andromon slapped one of them away just to show off. His chest opened again and fired another missile. Dargo didn’t stop for anything, continuing his sprint through the grass, letting the missile soar over his head. He felt the ground rumble as the missile.

------
Mayer ran quickly through the forest, staying on a single course. He had the creature in his sights now; the Betsumon wouldn’t get away this time. The white coat of his fur shone in the patches of moonlight that shown through the canopy above

The puppet Digimon wouldn’t get away, and Mayer would see to that. After the Andromon attacked, Riko dropped the egg, and Mayer watched as Betsumon retrieved the fumble and escape into the forest. The Agumon was hot in pursuit ever since, and since he didn’t have time to say anything; he hoped Riko didn’t think he’d run off with it.

Having enough of the rigmarole of the chase, he decided it was time to end it.

“PEPPER-“ He stopped and sucked it a deep breathe, aiming his snout to his target, “BREATH!”

A large fireball erupted from his mouth, soaring through the dark forest and striking Betsumon in the back. He shrieked, throwing his arms up and releasing the Digitama into the air, then fell face first into the soil.

Mayer almost tripped over himself trying to reach the egg before it hit the ground, and he almost didn’t make it. Reaching his claws out as far as he could, the Agumon increased his speed and let the egg fall into his grasp. Stopping, he checked the egg to see if it was okay, but a laugh caught his attention as he realized that he had no backup, holding a Digitama with a vicious Digimon that was probably even more vexed now that Mayer shot him in the back. The cackling increased in volume as Betsumon rose slowly from the dirt.

Holding the egg close to him, Mayer backed away, but something else happened. A figure blanketed by the shadow of night dropped down in front of Mayer. With a grunt, the figure held a staff in front of him; it looked as if it had a paw at the end of it. The Agumon wasn’t sure what was happening, but the figure didn’t seem to want to harm him, and he certainly wasn’t with Betsumon as he held his staff to the puppet Digimon. The figure spoke, and to Mayer’s surprise, he sounded quite old, “Be gone!”

The warming was directed to Betsumon, but the creature still stood his ground. Tension built as the two stared each other down. Mayer almost couldn’t take it anymore, gripping the egg about to run for his life through the maze of a forest.

Suddenly, movement occurred as Betsumon leapt; throwing himself at the stranger. But as fate would have it, the old one has a few tricks up his sleeve. The tip of his staff produced a light that grew immensely until Mayer couldn’t see anything. And just as the light came, it was gone, and so was Betsumon. Looking up, the Agumon noticed the broken branches and whatnot. The stranger must have blasted him away, which is exactly what Mayer didn’t want to happen as the old one turned to him.

------

Dargo decided to try and hit his opponent head on, stopping and changing direction. He was too late to realize that Andromon was already upon him.

Andromon’s hand spun rapidly as his arm came slashing down, but his target wasn’t there anymore. As he made his approach, Dargo dove between his legs and tried to get back to his feet again. The assassins’ parts rattled as he turned to face the Gabumon.

The mechanical being lifted his arm again, aiming for the fleeing Gabumon, but he was stopped. Dargo turned onto his back, firing another Blue Blaster point blank into his chest. The attack was deemed useless as it, once again, bounced off his chest plate. Firing again, the Gabumon managed to hit the cyborg in the face.

This bought him time to stand and fight the Perfect-level. Reaching his feet, the Gabumon began to spin rapidly, “Blue Cyclone!”

The cyclone of blue flames impacted the android, forcing him to lose his balance. The Gabumon backpedaled away to create some distance between then. He saw the enemy regaining his balance.

“Dargo!” Riko looked on with considerable relief as Dargo came out of that altercation alive, but Andromon didn’t seem to be done yet. He saw the android covering his organic-like face, and it was time to even the odds a bit. Hitting the proper buttons on his D-Ban, light spilled onto Dargo, surrounding him and growing larger as quickly as it emerged. When the light dispersed, an enchanting dragon stood before the android.

Dargo wasn’t about to ask questions, feeding energy into the V on his chest and firing his V-Nova Blast. The attack struck enemy, creating an explosion that aided the moon in illuminating the night. He seemed content with the attack actually making its mark, but something exited the smoke fairly quickly; missiles. There was virtually no time to react as both hit the Veedramon. He tumbled over and hit the ground; Riko felt the vibrations as he stepped forward, wanting to help more.

Dargo lifted his head to see his foe walking closer to him. The impact from the missile left a scorch mark on his chest. Dargo slowly rose and he managed to push out a few words, “I’ve got better things to do tonight than die!”

The android’s hand began to spin in response as he came closer. Dargo wouldn’t let him achieve this victory, pouring power into his fist and lunging toward Andromon. The fist connected, sending their enemy flying backward. Satisfied with his dispersal of the enemy, he turned to Riko, “Where’s Mayer?”

“I don’t know, and the egg- I can’t find it!” Riko’s heart sunk even lower as the loss of the egg became a reality. Mayer was nowhere to be found; was he deleted by the blast? Riko couldn’t know for sure.

“Well, we need a plan, and soon!” The Veedramon said, “I don’t know how long I can hold him off!”

Dargo turned his attention back to the battle. He didn’t want to give Andromon the chance to retort. Slashing his claws sideways, he sent slices of air at his enemy.

Unfortunately, the android was quick to react, leaping over the attack and firings two missiles as a retort. Dargo then saw this as an opportunity, ducking below the missiles, and launching another V-Nova Blast. He then threw himself into a sprint behind it, hoping to throw the android off so he could get another shot. The blast hit nothing but dirt as Andromon had already moved out of the way.

Dargo couldn’t see what was going on through the smoke and general darkness of the night. He saw a glint of something in the corner of his eye, but he didn’t have time to react as Andromon soared through the air, landing a punch directly on his snout. The Veedramon stumbled back, trying to shake off the punch, but the pain was too much. He might have been bigger, but the assassin was definitely stronger. He rammed his Lightning Blade into Dargo’s knee, forcing him to kneel. He was at the Andromon’s mercy. Swiping a claw, he batted the cyborg away.

Riko stared at the fight. I lost the egg. Fizban gave it to me to protect it, but I’m not worthy enough. I couldn’t protect the egg just like I couldn’t protect Sokka, or Dargo, or Mayer.

The blue dragon huffed as he tried to suppress the pain of his knee. He couldn’t stand now, and was at a huge disadvantage since his balance was off. But the Andromon was still coming, stomping across the plains without faltering. He barely made a scratch on the mechanical being, and he was still coming.

I can’t even protect Dargo now, but I can’t lose him. Why did I leave my cards at home? Why did I leave Dargo and Mayer at home? Why am I so stupid? I’m such an idiot! We can’t win this. Andromon came out of nowhere and just started attacking us. How can we stop him when we don’t even know why he wants to hurt us?

Nevertheless, Dargo had a duty to uphold. Andromon would have to go through him to get to Riko, and he was okay with that. He always put his life in harms way so Riko could live on. Stretching his arms apart to uncover the blue V on his chest, he began to charge it once more. He would take it to this intruder and be happy when it was over. But, again, the Andromon was faster deployed missiles from his chest port directly into Dargo’s chest.

The Veedramon launched his attack, but the missiles were too close to him as they collided with the energy blast; they exploded on contact, pushing Dargo over and burning away the scales on his face. The dragon screamed as the burning sensation washed over him. He toppled over like the Tower of Babble, and lay still on the ground before his tamer.

NO! I have to help him! He’s gonna die out there and it’s all because he wants to protect me! Riko balled his fist hard and began pounding on his D-Ban to make something happen. He has to digivolve! He has to! It’s the only way! Why won’t this thing work?

“Hey!” Riko called to the Andromon, “Hey!”

The android wasn’t listening though. He continued to make his way to the fallen Veedramon. Dargo managed to open an eye to see the figure approaching him, but that wasn’t what he focused on. He felt his tamer’s emotions cycling from hopelessness to sadness to unbridled fury. He felt these things as if they were his own emotions, and it empowered him. The pain of the battle began to melt away even though his flesh was burned away. He growled as the android came closer.

“We’re not done! I’ve failed enough, and I don’t need a reminder from you!”

Still, no answer; Riko’s despair turned into complete anger. He continued to bang on his wrist device, “Come on! Do something!”

Hearing Riko plead with his D-Ban was pathetic to his own ears, but he was left with nothing else. He saw Andromon’s hand begin to spin one again. The android stopped in front of Dargo’s face, raising his blade as if he was about to strike.

The boy couldn’t take it anymore, and with all the energy he had in his body, he pushed it outward to his Digimon. He shouted, “ DARGO! DIGIVOLVE, NOW! !”

Suddenly, light spilled from his D-Ban once again, covering Dargo and protecting him. He was pleased as his wish was being fulfilled, but something was wrong. As the light formed around the Veedramon, Riko felt more and more exhausted. It was as if the evolution was draining his energy as the light encasement grew.

He suddenly felt very faint as he watched Andromon back away from the light. Riko soon realized that he couldn’t hold himself up anymore. The boy fell to his knees, still looking up to the encasement, he felt himself losing sight of everything; almost as if the world was fading away as he collapsed to the ground. He felt dizzy and sick as he tried to stand, but his entire body felt completely drained.

Meanwhile, the light cracked and fell apart revealing a grotesque figure. Silver and dark grey scales shone in the moonlight as eight heads wound around each other, hissing as they moved. All the heads were connected to a central body covered in yellow fur with a single tail extending from the back. Seven of the heads were covered in silver armor, but the eighth wasn’t covered at all. It seemed to be protected by the other heads as the wound around each other, then immediately snapped their attention to Andromon.

The cyborg took a few steps back, scanning the Orochimon before attacking. The missile port on his chest opened, releasing two missiles toward the main head, but two heads blocked the attack, shivering from the pain as they both hissed. Two of the bottom heads slithered at him from below, trying to crush him between the two, but Andromon was quick. He leapt above the two, landing on one of the heads, and then he made a mad sprint up the neck to the main body.

Dargo, in the form, had no control, as he was purely viciousness and aggression. His mind was located in the main head, but he couldn’t break himself from the rage within. Another head zoomed to the android, ensnaring him by the legs in its fangs as he tried to jump out of the way. The crushing sound of metal and the spark of his cybernetics made Andromon twitch, as he was lifted higher and higher. The main head quickly snapped into action and reached for the top half of the android, chomping down and chewing vigorously, feeling the crunch and crush of metal in its mouth. The thing Dargo evolved into was quite vicious, and quite a challenge to defeat.

The heads hissed in victory over the assailant, but turned to the tamer on the ground. The massive body of the Orochimon slivered over to Riko as the main head drew closer and closer to his position. Just then, the same figure that helped Mayer appeared to block the creatures’ path. He held his staff forward, and as he did this, a light similar to that of the moon was emitted from the tip. At first, the light was a small ball, but something began to happen as the heads of the Orochimon began to disintegrate; the pieces of data drifted toward the light and disappeared. The gargantuan body began to shrink until there was nothing left but a Gabumon sprawled out facedown on the grass of the plains.

The old character lowered his staff and exhaled in relief, walking over to the boy and kneeling to him. He placed a hand over Riko’s forehead. The boy stirred slowly, attempting to open his eyes, but the strain on his body was too much for him to deal with. He was too weak to open his eyes, but his mouth still worked, “Wh-who’s that?”

The strained voice of the being was somewhat comforting, but only time would tell as Riko regained some strength to lift his head. “A friend.”

Natural light flooded into the room as the morning sun bled in through the one window in the room to the left of the bed. Stone surroundings made the room seem cold and droll despite the beings inside. Two wooden chairs sat opposite the window; Mayer slouched in one, holding the Digitama as he slept, but Dargo was wide-awake. He’d been up for the past two nights, and it showed in his bloodshot eyes. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the bed since Riko was put there. This was now the third day that Riko was unconscious, and Dargo was awake for every moment of it. Staring at his tamer, he blinked slowly as sleep deprivation strangled him.

He heard Mayer stir next to him, but paid no mind. The Agumon held the egg, yawning as he sat up in him chair. He looked to Dargo with half opened eyes, “Hey.”

Dargo looked from the corner of his eye, but didn’t respond. They’d been in the same spots for a while, so he didn’t see the need to acknowledge the greeting.

“You didn’t sleep at all, did you?” Mayer looked to the bed, “He’ll be okay. You need to rest.”

“I can’t.” Dargo’s paws sat on one another as he leaned forward, “Not until he wakes up.”

Mayer shook his head and yawned, “Well, I’m gonna get some food. Do you want anything?”

The Gabumon shook his head, and Mayer exited the room yawning, but he didn’t want to. Over the last few days, Mayer had been trying to get through to Dargo. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel bad for him, but Mayer wasn’t sure why Dargo blamed himself for this. Riko was over exhausted and his coma was a result of it, but Mayer wasn’t sure why that was. Until he had sure answers, he wouldn’t ask the questions.

Dargo, however, was broken after what happened a few days ago. He knew exactly why Riko was like this; he used his tamer’s energy to digivolve and fight. Andromon was relentless in his attack, and Riko had no choice, but Dargo couldn’t help but take that negative energy and use it to fuel his will to fight.

What made it worse was how savage he was, tearing someone apart as Orochimon was terrifying even as he went into that Perfect form. To protect himself, he would have died if he hadn’t digivolved, but a line was crossed.

All he wanted now was for Riko to wake up; he wanted the boy to wake up so he could tell him that he was sorry. But the Gabumon decided to sit and fight to stay awake; he would watch over his tamer and make sure that he was all right. The blank expression on Riko’s face gave him no satisfaction as he sat.

------

I have been at rest for a long time, but you have awakened me. Why? Blackness filled his sight, but Riko could see his body as he looked down. He felt at peace, but where was he? His surroundings were completely black, and the voice came from nowhere.

Am I dead?

You are in my mind, as I am in yours. The sonorous voice echoed in the space, reverberating in Riko’s head. The being appeared suddenly in front of the boy, but he did not jump or fret at this. He was calmed, and even pleased to see the person he was talking to.

He appeared at least three feet taller, with black undergarments being covered by red plating. The armor itself was painted over with yellow outlining and white symbols. A stylish red faceplate with stripped red and white horns allowed golden locks to flow down his back. Hello, Riko.

------

Now standing at his bedside, Dargo starred at the boy’s expressionless face. It was as if he was sleeping, but in a very deep sleep. The Gabumon still couldn’t understand how it happened, and it was his understanding that this shouldn’t have happened, but Riko was in a coma. The energy that Dargo fed on when he was Orochimon was from Riko himself, and he almost sucked his tamer dry.

“Riko?” Dargo leaned toward the bed, “I know you can’t hear me, but I want you to know that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted to protect you.

------
You’re in my head? The being nodded his head, not moving any other part of his body. Who are you?

I am Agunimon, the Warrior of Flame. Riko’s thoughts seemed to be on track, and he noticed that he didn’t feel averse to giving this creature information.

It’s nice to meet you, Agunimon. Forgive me for being forward, but are you the spirit in the statue, the spirit of a Digimon?

Statue? I do not remember, Riko. All I remember is waking up and talking to you. I feel strange and not whole. Confusion overtook Riko as he tried to decipher what he was talking about. I am- I am inside of you, Riko. Our minds are connected, and this is how I can speak with you, but it is all so strange.


I don’t know how to deal with that. All I remember is feeling the energy drained out of my body. Did you do that?

I really cannot tell you. I don’t even know how I got here, Riko. All I know is that your body is in deep dormancy.

What do you mean?

I am connected to you and your body; I know what is happening. A moment of silence passed as the warrior facing Riko spoke again. I sense grief outside of you. Someone is watching over you, but they are sad; guilty. We will speak again, but you must go to them. I can help you out of this.

Wait-

Awaken. The warriors’ arm rose, and Riko felt a push like he’d never felt. The space filled with light as he felt gravity begin to pull him downward. He fell, and it was quite unsettling to say the least as the boy plummeted into the light; sitting up in the bed with his eyes wide open. He began to scream as the falling sensation continued for a moment. Dargo, unable to comprehend, fell over as he jumped in shock.

Screaming along with him tamer, Dargo didn’t know what was happening, and was even more confused than ever, “What? What did I do?”

Heaving as he sucked in air to try and calm himself, but his head was swimming and his body shook uncontrollably. Cradling his head in his hands, the boy sat on the bed rocking back and forth slowly, attempting to calm himself down.

“Riko?” Dargo climbed to his feet and step toward the bed, “You’re awake.”

Another presence burst into the room; Mayer clutched the egg as he returned, “What happened?”

Seeing that Riko was awake, the Agumon’s eyes widened as he moved to the bed. The boy was trying to get up, but it looked as though he didn’t have the energy.

“Hey, take it easy.” Mayer said, “You’ve been out of it for a while.”

“How do you feel?” Dargo leaned over the bed, holding Riko’s hand as if never to let go.

Riko moaned for a moment, then opened his eyes slowly, “Really, really sick, but really hungry.”

“I’ll get some food for you!” Mayer immediately jumped to the task, but Dargo stopped and pulled him aside, surprised at his willingness to help.

“I can get it, Mayer.”

“No, you have to talk to him.” Passing the egg to Dargo, he opened the door, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

As the Agumon exited, Dargo was left alone with the egg, and his tamer. There was no easy way to start since he really didn’t know what to say. That night was his biggest failure, and there were no words to cover it up.

“Dargo.”

The Gabumon looked to the bed, acknowledging the boy.

“I know I was out of it, but I heard what you said earlier.” Dargo’s eyes widened as he remembered what he said at his bedside, “You were apologizing, but I should be apologizing to you.”

“But, Riko, you don’t-“

“That negative energy came from me.” The boy interrupted, but kept his eyes closed, “I shouldn’t have tried to force you to digivolve. You were right before; I’m just selfish and power-hungry. I’m just like Zander.”

Dargo stood, caught off guard by what was said and couldn’t believe what he heard as Riko continued, “I let you and Mayer down, and I’m so sorry.”

“No.” A voice came from the doorway, “You didn’t let us down, and I don’t think I want to hear you wallow in self pity.”

Mayer reentered the room, having never left. It was wrong of his to listen in on their conversation, but he couldn’t help it. This made Riko sit up, despite his head being dizzy, “What?”

“You wanna know why I decided to help you guys?” Riko sat forward, listening intently, “You had this idea in your head that what happened in that mall was over-the-top wrong in every way. You were so determined to help others, including me, and I can’t thank you enough. So what if Dargo turned into some weird snake-thing? You wanna give up because of setback?”

“Mayer-“

Upset at this change of heart in his tamer, Mayer was determined to fix it, as he interrupted Riko, “We will digivolve, but you need to have some patience, or what’s the point? And you are nothing like that Zander-guy. I’ll bet you his own partners hate him, but we care a lot about you, and we’re not going to let you just give up.”

Riko sat for a moment, trying to absorb the Agumon’s words, but he couldn’t wrap his head around them.

“Well?” Mayer asked, claws on his hips.

“I don’t know. We definitely need to be more careful. I’m guessing the energy I fed you was the reason you digivolved into that creature, and I won’t let it happen again.”

“Look, we’ll be more careful, and we’ll be there with you all the way, but please don’t give up. We have to stop Zander, and we have to find Zack and help him.” Dargo raised his eyebrows and smiled, “And the first step is to learn how to use the spirit. You said it yourself, you know?”

The boy took a moment. He did say that a few days ago, but did he really mean it? His main goal since the attack on Digital City was to stay strong and find a way to talk some sense into Zander. It wouldn’t be easy, but he wouldn’t let a friend fall to darkness that easily, “Thanks, guys. It really helps to know that you’re both with me.”

“You didn’t know that before?” Mayer’s sarcasm brought Riko to smile even though he was exhausted, “But what about this spirit-thingy? Do you know how to use it?”

Riko rubbed his eyes and looked to the window, rising from the bed and shuffling to the opening in the wall. Apparently, there were plenty of small structures leading to a courtyard will tall pillars lining the sides. The courtyard led to a flight of steps, which led into what looked like a palace with one entrance, but plenty of windows. His head felt a little better now that his three-day slumber was over, but as the dizziness faded, the questions arose.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, but his mind was on the Digimon inside him, Agunimon, “No.”

The door opened once more and another being entered. The older Digimon was short and stout, with long, white hair covering his eyes and flowing down his back. Clumps of white hair covered the tops of his bare feet; gloves covered his hands, but the purpose was unknown

“Jijimon.” Dargo gasped at the sight of the old Digimon, but he was no stranger to the host. He’d taken them in after Riko fell into a coma, and he has been quite helpful and understanding. From what he could remember, Dargo saw the old one that night; he was responsible for draining the dark energy out of him and returning him to normal. He couldn’t thank Jijimon enough, but his attention shot back to Riko.

“It is good to see you awake.” The creature pointed his paw-topped staff at the boy, but he wasn’t threatening about it at all.

Riko took a moment before uncovering his face to access his situation. He was asleep for a while with dreams of a warrior Digimon in his head, “Thanks. And you are?”

“My name is Jijimon. I understand that you have been sent to find me.” The older Digimon watched the boy nod, then continued, “Fizban was a good friend of mine; I am sad to hear that he has passed on. “

Lowering his head, Riko remembered the day he had to abandon the Valor Alliance and leave them for dead.

“Come with me.” The Jijimon slowly turned and exited the room; his staff hitting the ground with every step he took. It didn’t look like he needed it to walk, but it was pretty cool in Riko’s eyes. He put his shoes on, and waved Dargo and Mayer to follow. The boy hurried to follow him, staying close behind since he wasn’t in the mood to get lost. He shrugged as he looked to his partners, but they followed just the same.

Into the hallway they went, treading down a stairwell at the end of it. There were a few doors that led out of the stairwell, but they continued passed them. At the bottom of the winding staircase was a steel door that Jijimon opened with ease. Torches lighted the path beyond the door, but it made Riko nervous since he didn’t know the creature that well. He was confident that nothing would happen with his partners around as he ventured in behind the old Digimon.

The hallway seemed to lead to another staircase at the other end of it. Riko looked ahead of Jijimon, not sure what to think, “So, where are we going?”

“I want to show you something. Don’t worry about me, boy. I’m not going to hurt you.” The old Digimon could sense the boy’s anxiety; it wasn’t hard to miss, “If I wanted to, I would have done it already.”

“No offence, but you took me by surprise. I was told to find you, but no one told me what to expect when I found you. Does anyone else live here?”

“ Nope. It’s just little old me.” He chuckled as he answered, “No one else has lived here for a long time.”

The hallway came to an end, and they were walking back up the stairs. Jijimon stopped and turned to the boy, his beard and mustache covered his mouth; “It’s not easy being alone.”

The comment struck a chord in Riko’s heart; he thought about Dargo and Mayer. The thought of being without them, especially now, scared him. This chain of events was a sign of something, but it wasn’t clear what the sign was.

He followed his host up the stairs until the came to a door at the top. Jijimon pushed it open and stepped in; the light inside was dim and warm, inviting his guests in. They all followed, smelling some kind of sweet aroma wafting around as candles lined the rectangular-shaped room. In the center of the room laid a beautiful, brown animal-skin rug on the floor. A hole was cut in the middle of it and a candle was placed in the hole, which intrigued Riko. Passed the rug on the other side of the room was a brown chest with a keyhole on the front. The boy could only guess what kinds of treasures lay within.

“A good friend of mine has sent you to me; given you my armor, as well as a powerful spirit. Fizban was very dear to me, and I am sad to hear that he had his final battle recently. I wish to carry out my friends’ last wish if you will let me. Fizban wouldn’t send you to me if he didn’t believe in you. I can provide all the help you need, but you have to trust yourself to open that door.” Jijimon looked to the boy with hopeful eyes.

There were so many questions he didn’t want to leave unanswered, and Jijimon was right. Fizban, a stranger, believed in him. Someone put all their faith into him and he couldn’t let the Frigimon down, especially since he died so that they could even be having this conversation. He owed Fizban the courtesy of hearing what his host had to say. Riko sighed, “How can you help me?”

Riko couldn’t tell because of the forest of hair on his face, but a smile dawned as Jijimon placed his stick down and sat cross-legged on the floor, “Please, sit.”

Sheepishly, the boy sat on the other side of the candle across from Jijimon. Dargo and Mayer took seats on either side of their tamer, not sure what to expect. He looked to the old Digimon as if he wasn’t sure what he was doing there. The hoarse voice continued, “I have been around a long time, and I know a lost soul when I see one. I am glad you are here, Riko, but I see that you are troubled. What I had in mind has to do with- well, the mind.”

A snort, then a laugh came from Riko’s left; Dargo couldn’t help himself. Riko looked to him with a raised eyebrow, “What? I got the joke.”

Riko shrugged and looked back to Jijimon, “I won’t push anything on you. It is completely your choice.”

“Look, I just want to help, but it seems like every time I try to help, something goes wrong and people die. And Dargo and Mayer are looking at me to lead them, but I don’t want them to die because of me.”

“They won’t”

“What?” Riko perked his ears waiting for Jijimon to continue. This mysterious being seemed quite old, as well as knowledgeable, and he wanted to hear what was to be said.

“They won’t die because of you. They will die for you, though, and you will do the same for them. It is your nature, but that doesn’t mean any of you will die.” Jijimon sat up straight as he spoke; his beard moved as the mouth underneath all the hair moved, “You see, Digimon and their human companions are stronger when they are together through everything. Since I brought you here, those two have not left your side, and that shouldn’t be taken lightly, Riko.”

“Told ya.” Mayer nudged him grinning as he looked on.

“But there is something you need to remember about your predicament. You are not alone, and there will be trouble, but I have seen being such as yourself before; always eager to help. You will get your chance to succeed soon enough, but let us concentrate on the here and now. Now that I think about it, there is no reason for you to be here.”

“What?” Dargo and Mayer said in protest

“What are you talking about? Fizban sent me here to train with you. You said yourself that he wouldn’t have sent me if he didn’t believe in me!” Riko leaned forward; his fists clenched on his lap, “Listen, I’ve been sent away too many times for you to tell me I don’t need to be here!”

“He did send you here for a reason, but the spirit and the armor aren’t it. Those take concentration, but you have the power within you to master them right away.” Jijimon stroked his extremely long beard as he thought, “There is something else he wanted you to gain from this visit, but I don’t know what yet.”

“Hold on-“ Dargo entered the conversation, “You said he has the power- what power are you talking about?”

Silence filled the candlelit room as Riko turned his head his partners; frowns on each of their faces. Immediately, Riko knew something was wrong; a feeling of betrayal flooded into his heart. They would have to fight their way out if things didn’t go right, but he wouldn’t be fooled again. Standing, the boy looked down at the old Digimon, “You’re not telling us everything, which either means that you’re not who you say you are, or Fizban didn’t know his friend so well. Either way, we’re leaving, and you’re not going to stop us because if you try-

Dargo stood with him; Mayer was up a few seconds later as he tried to keep a hold on the digitama.

“Then I’ll stop you.” The time for bluffing was over. He wasn’t afraid of the Digimon and it wasn’t because Jijimon was old. Riko had taken a lot during his time in the Digital World, and there was too much to began to understand at the moment. He was finally getting to understand digivolution until Dargo digivolved to Orochimon, and then everything changed. But he wouldn’t let this stop him. There were higher priorities than this, but first he needed to know the truth, “I’ve had enough bad luck lately, and I’m not gonna take it anymore! So, if you’re not going to help me, then I’m leaving. Do you understand me?”

Riko Dargo felt his courage surging through him. It almost felt like the last time, except there was no anger. Riko was actually sure of himself this time, and he knew that no matter what happened, he was in control. Mayer felt it, as well, and it wasn’t just that he wanted to fight. He wanted to protect them, and the Agumon felt as though Riko had the same attitude toward them as they did toward him.

Just then, a thump came from behind Jijimon. Another thump confirmed the origin; the treasure chest. The old Digimon rose almost too quickly, “That’s it!”

Rushing to the chest, he stood in front of it with his hands on the chest. Riko became very nervous because of what was happening. He knew Jijimon wouldn’t hurt them, but the truth seemed to fade further away as confusion settled in and became more prominent.

“What’s happening?” Mayer whispered, “Should we go?”

Riko was speechless as he witnessed what was happening. He watched as Jijimon opened the chest slowly, pulling something out before closing it again. Turning to the three, it turned out to be a smaller chest with some kind of light shinning through the creases in the wood. A lock on the front seemed to reassure Riko that whatever was inside would stay there.

“I apologize for not explaining myself earlier. I have been trying to figure out why Fizban would want you to come to me. I should have brought you into the loop, but I wasn’t sure you would understand it, but I have figured it out. I will train you in the ways of my armor, and I will even help you master your spirit, but this is what you need.”

Strangely, now that the box was out of the chest, Riko could feel a tingle in his stomach. It was a familiar tingle; one he felt when he first met Dargo, and when he met Mayer. It was a feeling that meant something strong was coming for him, but what? It was coming from in the box; something was calling for a connection to him.

Go to it. A voice in his head spoke to him directly. It needs you.

Reaching for the locked box, Riko slowly pushed forward; his partners looking at him, then to each other. Mayer reached forward to stop him, but Dargo held him back. Something was happening, and they couldn’t be too rash or act hastily. The boy’s hand hovered over the box, his mouth salivating as anticipation sped his heart. Whatever was in the encasement called even louder for him, and it pulsed harder as he came closer. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, laying his hand on the box, but pulling it away as light filled the room, blinding everyone.

After a few seconds, Riko opened his eyes to see that the overwhelming light that caused the others to turn away didn’t affect him at all. He turned away as an instinct, but he now stared at the light’s source. A silver chain hung from a rectangular, blue tag that seemed to have a symbol inside it, but Riko wouldn’t have to lean forward or squint as the object came closer to him on its own; floating through the air with no assistance necessary. It levitated as high as his chest and seemed to be drawn to him; a bee to bright colors, so to speak. Even though Riko stood still, the object knew to come to him, and it still called to him as if it was still in the box. The boy slowly raised his hand again, extending his palm under the tag and feeling the warmth it emitted.

Not so surprisingly, the tag rested in his palm and the light dimmed quickly to a glow. The room went back to being lit by the candles on the floor, and Jijimon, Dargo, and Mayer were revealed; still shielding their faces. One by one, they turned back to Riko, but their eyes immediately went to light blue glow in his hand.

“What is this?” Riko asked lightly. The warmth calmed him as the symbol became clearer to him. It matched the symbol on his Digimental; it was of Chivalry, but it was smaller and it glowed for him.

“It’s a crest.” Jijimon stroked his beard once again, but the surprise in his voice was just as high as his fascination, “It’s a rare artifact of unimaginable power. The symbol in the middle of the tag represents the main quality needed to use it, and it only responds to that quality. But it’s been in my possession this whole time.”

“You mean you didn’t know what was in the box?” Dargo asked, finding that hard to believe.

“Actually, Dargo, I didn’t. It was given to me A mysterious Digimon who told me to guard it until the time was right. I assumed that with the war getting worse, it was only a matter of time before the creature returned to reclaim it, but it never did. And now, it seems that the crest has found its owner.”

“So, what does that mean?” Mayer continued starring at the object.

“It means that we’re just getting started.” Riko closed his hand around the tag, and the chain fell outside his fist. He looked to the old Digimon, his mission was set in front of him, “You said this crest has unimaginable power, right?”

Jijimon nodded.

“Listen, I was sent here because you can help me. Will you?” The boy asked gently. He didn’t want to upset the Digimon who had taken them in for the last few days. Urgency was among his many feelings, and it didn’t help any more knowing that Zander was still out there hurting others.

He watched Jijimon continue to stroke his beard before tapping his staff on the ground, “I will, but with your powers, you shouldn’t have a problem-”

“Wait-“ Riko interrupted, holding his hand out to stop him, “You said that before. What powers are you talking about?”

Just then, the ground they stood on rumbled. The initial shock subsided, but another quake took its place quickly. Jijimon rushed in between them to the door and ripped it open, “Come! Something is wrong!”

Immediately, the three followed in close pursuit down the staircase and back into the endless hallway. They ran for a while, but Mayer was falling behind as he tried not to drop the Digitama.

“What’s happening?” Riko yelled to Jijimon, as the rumbling was too frequent and too hard to be an earthquake.

“We may be under attack. Stay close!” The old Digimon stopped at a door to the left, pushing it open and ducking inside to reveal another stairwell. Riko followed to see the light at the top; it led to nook that looked out into the courtyard where the boy had looked out at from his room before.

Jijimon put his back to the wall and held his staff tightly, ready to strike. Riko, Dargo, and Mayer lined the stairs behind him, “Stay hidden. I’ll handle this intruder.”

Without giving them a moment to protest, Jijimon rushed out into the courtyard. Scorch marks littered the ground as well as the pillars. Some were toppled over as flames dined on the forest facing the ancient palace. The buildings themselves were burned, but the shots looked intentional, like the perpetrator was trying to get their attention.

Then, Jijimon saw him. A ferocious animal of a Digimon stood in the middle of the stone courtyard; a tower of muscles. Mechanical chest plating connected to the shoulder pads as a wild, golden mane flowed down to his calves. The fur burned red as the sunset began and his thin tail harbored a flame at the end of it. Jijimon grunted as he addressed the stranger, pointing the claw on his staff at him, “You have desecrated my home and gotten my attention. Now, what do you want?”

A growl came from the depths of this feline’s bowels, as he spoke, “You don’t concern me, but the fugitive you harbor do. Hand him over to me and you won’t be harmed.”

“I am not harboring any fugitives, now leave my home and never return.” The old Digimon held his staff firmly and kept it pointed.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I have been tracking his scent for days and it has led me here. I will give you one last chance to give him up or I will tear this place down!” His voice definitely promised results and he looked as if he wouldn’t break it.

“I can assure you that there is no one-“ Jijimon continued in his farce, but he would have a hard time covering this up.

“Leave him alone!” A voice came from behind him, echoing through the surrounding area. The Flaremon peaked behind the old Digimon to see the boy standing with his fists clenched.

“No one else here, right?” The leonine Digimon growled as he spoke the Jijimon, “I would kill you if you were my mission!”

Riko cringed at the thought of Jijimon dying at the hands of whoever the newcomer was, but more interestingly, he thought about what the creature wanted. He had been tracking a scent, and he was pretty sure it was his, but what did he want with him?

“You got me. Now what do you want with me?” A chuckled came from across the courtyard as the Flaremon shook his head.

“Everyone I’ve hunted has known what they did to get a contract out on them. You are wanted; alive is a bonus, but not necessary. I’d rather have you dead since a head on a stick is a lot easier to travel back with.”

Riko’s eyes widened as he heard the words. Not only did the Flaremon look awfully powerful, but he was an assassin, and he was there to kill him. The boy shook for a moment, but stopped as he looked to Jijimon. Dargo and Mayer were still in hiding waiting for his cue, and he wouldn’t divert from the plan. No matter what this Digimon’s purpose was, he couldn’t let Jijimon suffer. He was an important accomplice and Riko would do something to make up for his inability to make a difference in the Glacial Kingdom.

“You can have me, but you’ll have to run if you want me!” Riko smirked. He was admittedly terrified, but that wouldn’t stop him. He couldn’t let it; not now. There was too much at stake for him to turn tail and run, but it wouldn’t happen this way because he would at least be able to do something for once. Pressing a few buttons on his D-Ban, light erupted and shot back toward the nook.

Suddenly, a roar came from the stairwell as a figure burst out from the darkness. The Raidramon howled as he stopped in front of his tamer. Dargo was following the plan as he faced Flaremon and charged his body, sending the electricity through the spikes on his back. The thunderous blast struck the leonine creature head on causing smoke to rise off him, but he didn’t move. It was as if the attack didn’t faze him.

Riko didn’t care at this point whether the attack worked or not; mounting Dargo as Mayer rushed out and stopped to speak with Jijimon. He quickly thrust the egg forward, forcing him to take it, “Take care of this please.”

With that, Mayer pulled himself onto the back while Riko addressed the intruder, “Come and get me!”

“You fools!” Jijimon’s voice seemed faint as the sped away, and Dargo galloped hard as he entered the forest surrounding the ruined palace.

“You really think this’ll work?” Mayer yelled to Riko

“It has to. He wants me, but I didn’t want to fight in Jijimon’s home. We might destroy it, and I don’t want that on my head.” The boy held on and ducked his brush and branches came up.

“You think we can win?” Dargo’s deeper voice traveled back to them in a huff.

“We have to try.” Riko frowned as they navigated the dense forest. Leaping over tree stumps and giant roots, the Raidramon pushed forward. Mayer happened to look behind them, and quickly turned when he saw the Flaremon on their tail.

“He’s coming!”

Riko turned to look, but turned back and kept his eyes ahead, “Just keep moving and don’t look back! We can’t fight him here!”

With that, the chase was on. Dargo’s muscles burned as he tapped into his body’s natural speed. He saw light ahead, as well as a way out of the forest. Making his way to it, he hoped he could make it before the assassin caught up to them.

Moments seemed like hours as they trudged on breaking through the barrier and ending up in the plains they were in before, but Dargo didn’t stop at the edge of the forest. He sped on into the grassy hills as the assailant followed. He was gaining on them since there weren’t any more obstacles, but they wouldn’t be running for very much longer. Dargo began to slow his run, turning and veering back toward the Flaremon. They were now caught in a game of chicken; a Flaremon vs. a Raidramon, Agumon, and a Human. Dargo fired a few more blasts, but they missed as they came closer and closer to collision.

Riko’s heart exploded out of his chest; he grit his teeth hard while holding on for dear life. They were upon Flaremon, or he was upon them, driving his massive fist into Dargo’s face. The impact pushed his face into the ground, forcing the rest of his body upward. His passengers were flung off and toward the enemy; Mayer bounced off his rock-hard body and tumbled to the ground, but Riko fell into his clutches as Flaremon leapt over Dargo.

The boy was held out like a rag doll by his head and neck; his captor chuckled as he held him high off the ground, “I’m going to enjoy this. To think that my job had gotten so easy as to eliminate a human and his pathetic Digimon!”

Riko struggled, trying to pry the hand off his, but it was too big and too strong for him to fight it. He hoped this wasn’t it as he looked to the toothy grin of the beast.

“Your friend was right; you are a fool! You thought you could get away!”

“No. I thought you’d be dumb enough to follow!” Just then, Riko’s attitude changed. He was now quite serious and it was time for his plan to take shape. Letting his hands come together, he felt the buttons on his D-Ban and pressed the correct ones quickly. Lifting them quickly, he felt something in his shift as if he was changing. Seeing his right hand; a blue and white particle ring formed around it. The boy then ran the ring across his D-Ban as if to scan it; the motion being fast since he had no time to waste.

Riko felt the change immediately, screaming as flames engulfed him and his body broke down into data. For hours, he struggled with the reality of turning into a Digimon, but he decided to use it to protect Dargo and Mayer. It seemed safe enough, but he didn’t have time to inspect it properly with Flaremon attacking.

Flaremon stepped back as the boy he once has a grip on broke away and was surrounded in flames. The data swirled and formed a new body as he felt his mind conversing with another. I will help you.

The flames suddenly expanded, and then exploded, drifting and dying away as a new presence stood in Riko’s place. Dargo, now back in his Child form, sat up in the grass to see what was happening. He had taken a hard hit a moment ago and he didn’t know what happened to Riko. Seeing Flaremon wasn’t a surprise, but the armor clad warrior was a first, “He did it.”

He looked to find Mayer, who facedown on the ground. Rushing to help him, he turned the Agumon over, “Hey!”

He shook the body to wake him, and to his relief, Mayer came to, “What happened?”

“Riko is using the spirit!” At that, Mayer shot to his feet to see.

The warrior appeared at least three feet taller than Riko, with black undergarments being covered by red plating. The armor itself was painted over with yellow outlining and white symbols. A stylish red faceplate with stripped red and white horns allowed golden locks to flow down his back. His voice was deeper and more commanding than that of the teenagers’, “I am Agunimon; Warrior of Flame. You, Flaremon, will not harm anyone.”

Stunned by this transformation, the leonine beast looked the new warrior up and down, but scoffed, “I have a job to do, and you won’t stop me!”

He let out a roar and he lunged forward, taking the warrior to the ground with him. His size and weight was enough to push him over, and they hit the grass rolling. Flaremon took advantage of the size difference, climbing on top of the Agunimon and throwing his large fist into his face, but the warrior was ready. Moving just in time, the fist plowed into the dirt, but Flaremon quickly retorted; pulling his hand back, getting a hold on the smaller fighter and throwing him away.
Agunimon rolled, but quickly came to his feet to face the fiery cat. Flames covered his fists; he used his firepower to make this battle count. Thrusting his fists forward, Agunimon attacked, “Pyro Punch!”

The flames shot toward the feline, but they were swatted away. His booming voice, echoed through the plains, “Fire? I was born of this!”

Roaring, the Flaremon caused flames to surround his body. They were beautiful, with vivid reds, yellows, and oranges, and they reached quite high. With a wave of his hand, he thrust the flames forward in a blast toward Agunimon. The warrior took a quick step back before firing a blast of his own. They collided, and they were locked in a power struggle between the two.

What’s happening? Riko’s voice echoed in the warriors’ head.

Your thoughts are too erratic, as are mine. We can’t use this body unless we work together.

The flames came closer and closer to him as Flaremon clearly pushed back. Struggling to hold them back, Agunimon pushed even harder, but it was no use as Flaremon roared, putting more power behind his blast. The final impact sent him flying, but the initial explosion was large, and the flames burned his armor until it was almost black. He hit the ground, and wasn’t up so quickly as he tried to catch his breath, but he wouldn’t have time.

Flaremon was upon his before he knew it, and a clawed foot was jammed into his face. Off the ground again, Agunimon grunted as he slammed into the grass once again. He squirmed to get to his feet, and before the feline was upon him again, luck struck at the right time.

Two blasts hit the large feline in the back, causing him to change his focus to the two who would protect Riko until the end. The Gabumon and Agumon stood side-by-side ready to take on the Perfect level as a team. Drawing his attention was the best thing they could do to keep Riko safe.

“Back off, kitty!” Mayer

“Blue Cyclone!” Dargo just into action; the cyclone of blue flames impacted the Flaremon, forcing him to lose his balance. Mayer rushed in afterward, leaping in an attempt to head butt his foe in the chest. Despite the assassins’ disparity, he reached a hand outward and got hold of the Agumon, lifting him and slamming him to the ground. Mayer rolled for a bit, inhaling heavily before struggling to reach his feet. His side throbbed as the blow seeped in a settled there. At that point, he cared more about Dargo’s safety than anything.

“Are you okay?” His concern exceeded his own physical pain.

“Yeah. You?” Mayer nodded as his eyes went back to the Flaremon as he readied himself. The menace regained his balance and starred at the two, smiling as he let them have a small respite.

Agunimon, still on his knees accepted the invitation to rest; allowing the energy to fade. His body was engulfed in flames once again, and once they disappeared, Riko was left panting on the ground. His body was weak from the transformation, but he had to pick himself up. The boy fought through the headache he received and got to his feet. Dargo and Mayer took over for him, and even those he left his cards at the apartment, he would do everything he could to help them.

“Insolent pests!” Flaremon growled, “This doesn’t concern you, so why do you oppose me?”

Mayer shook his head, the pressure unbearable. “Family sticks together!”

“Well, well. I see we’ve got ourselves a bit of a conundrum here.” The assassin stopped for a moment, making the two even more nervous. Neither of them wanted a fight, but it couldn’t be avoided, “You will learn respect, and I will be your teacher! I’ll have all your heads, even the boy!”

“Just try it!” Dargo said, standing closer to Mayer.

The boy clenched his fists; his eyebrows furrowed as he gritted his teeth and watched his partners take over for him. Suddenly, he remembered what Jijimon said to him earlier.

They won’t die because of you. They will die for you, though, and you will do the same for them. It is your nature, but that doesn’t mean any of you will die.

His nerves calmed, despite the impending danger his team was in. Mayer had finally shown that he was ready to fight seriously, and Riko was going to respect that. For once, they were all on the same page. Excitement filled the boy’s heart, but banding together was the first step. Flaremon was still quite powerful and they only had but so much firepower to take him down. Here we go.

Silence overtook them as the two Child levels faced the Perfect together. For the first time ever, the two, Dargo and Mayer, were on the same track. He caught Dargo out the corner of his eye, “You go high; I go low?” Mayer asked, trying to keep his voice low.

“Just what I was thinking.” Dargo leapt in the air pointing his horn downward and aiming for his opponents’ chest. Mayer quickly followed, rushing to Flaremon’s leg and trying to rend it with his claws. The assassin immediately looked up to swat Dargo out of the air, but miscalculated, managing to miss Mayer at his leg until it was too late. Two swipes of his claws went straight through the fur as Mayer attempted to back peddle away. He would have no such luck as something impacted his chin and sent him flying a few feet away. The Agumon hit the ground rolling, groaning as he tried to stand. The foot to his chin was no joke, making his head spin. Dargo, however, was back up in a flash, firing a streak of blue flames to the Flaremon’s face. Unfortunately, the assassin turned his attention back to him in time to see the attack and hinder it with his arm.

“Get up!” Dargo screamed to Mayer before firing another Blue Blaster. Mayer reached his feet once more, finding it hard to come down from his heavy daze. He finally caught on to what was happening and shot released a fireball. It impacted just as Dargo fired a Blue Blaster to combine their attacks.

“Done yet?” Dargo taunted the fiery feline, but it didn’t seem to work, as he stood tall, seemingly unscathed by their attacks.

“All you’re doing is irritating me!” He quickly lunged forward, catching Dargo by surprise as he wrapped his fingers around the Gabumon’s throat. Mayer immediately jumped to Dargo’s aid, but was slapped away by Flaremon’s heavy, clawed hand.

Dargo gasped for air as the gripped tightened. He could feel his constricted neck being crushed under the pressure. His eyes rolled back into his head as suffocation got the best of him.

“NO!” Mayer screamed as he climbed back to his feet. He quickly made his way back to help the Gabumon, leaping into the air with his claws balled up, “Uppercut!”

The fist caught Flaremon in the chin, catching him off-guard as he dropped Dargo to grab at Mayer. Holding the Agumon with both hands, he smirked, “Gotcha, you runt!”

“No you don’t!” Resting his feet on the furry chest, he fired a fireball into his foes’ face while pushing off. The grip loosened as he pushed himself free. He saw Flaremon shielding his face and cursing loudly from the pain. Landing on his back, Mayer quickly turned to see if he was okay, “Hey-“

“I’m okay.” Gasping for air, Dargo’s eyes were half open, trying to keep a lock on the Perfect level. He coughed as his lungs welcomed fresh air once again.

Riko looked on with considerable relief as Dargo and Mayer came out of that altercation alive, but Flaremon didn’t seem to be done yet. He saw the feline recovering from the blast to the face, which warranted him to even the odds a bit. Hitting the proper buttons on his D-Ban, light split between Dargo and Mayer, surrounding them and growing larger as quickly as they emerged. When the light dispersed, a fiery saurian and an enchanting dragon stood before the assassin.

Dargo, the Veedramon, rubbing his throat, continued to pant from being choked only seconds earlier, “You ready for this?”

“I know he’s not! Mega Flame!” Flames erupted from the GeoGreymon’s throat at the assassin. Dargo wasn’t too far behind him, feeding energy into the V on his chest and firing his V-Nova Blast. The two impacted their enemy, creating an explosion that aided the sun in lighting the area for a moment as a flash went off. They both seemed content with the combined attack actually making its mark, but something exited the smoke fairly quickly; it was Flaremon. There was virtually no time to react as Mayer was targeted first. Thrusting his fists forward, a gigantic fireball was released and it impacted Mayer’s chest. The burned scales sizzled as the force pushed the dinosaur over.

Flaremon then leapt toward Dargo. The Veedramon saw him coming and tried to slash his claw at him, but the assassin was quick to react in the air; grabbing one of the fingers and swinging himself up onto the arm. The fiery feline made his way up the arm to the shoulder as Dargo tried to swat him away, but it was too late. A fist went into the Veedramon’s cheek; the strength of it surprised him considering the immense size difference between them. The push of the punch knocked him over, as well.

“You still try to fight me with flames? Have you learned nothing?” He taunted the two as they went down, landing on his feet and savoring his victory in this round.

They both hit the ground; Riko felt the vibrations as he stepped forward, wanting to help more. He was sure that they could win with their combined abilities, but how? At this rate, they’ll be killed! I can’t let them lose, but what can I do? They have done so much for me, and they’re still going all out. I can’t let them lose; not now.

Warmth filled the inside of his pocket as he reached in and pulled something out. He almost forgot about it as they rushed to see what the commotion was that he stuffed it in there. It warm like before, but its light was brighter. Somehow, the object seemed to be reacting to his emotions. So, I have Chivalry. What is it supposed to do? And why is it glowing now?

The battle intensified passed what ever he expected, and it just got started. But they were losing quickly, and there was nothing that a card could do even if he had them, but what card would work? As his thoughts of cards filled his mind, so did the words of a holographic Lekismon.

Learn to depend on your natural strength, as well as your brains, rather than the soul-shriveling artifice of cards, and one day you could be great.

“Rely on their natural strength.” Riko said to himself. He nodded to himself, finally understanding what the hologram spoke of. It wasn’t the cards that made him a great fighter, but his will to find a way out of a difficult situation. This was no different, and no enhancements would do the trick. He realized that they had enough firepower to defeat Flaremon without using them, “We’re going to be fine.”

The Flaremon stepped forward, cackling as he stalked toward the two fallen comrades, “Give it up! You runts don’t know who you’re dealing with!”

Mayer lifted his head to see his foe stalking closer to him. The impact from the fireball left his chest open and smoking. Burned and hurt, Mayer scoffed and shook as his body dealt with the pain. The damage was done, but reduced because of his resilient hide. He saw Dargo slowly rising, and decided to follow his lead. With a smirk, he managed to push out a few words as he forced himself up, “I’ve got better things to do tonight than die!”

“Well, that’s all you’re going to be doing tonight.” The Flaremon lunged forward again, aiming for the burn on Mayer chest. Punching the burned flesh sent the saurian back to the ground roaring in utter disdain as more pain seeped into his body. The assassin proceeded to stomp on his chest as a means of torture. Dargo wasn’t going to let him get away with that, pouring energy into his fist and lunging toward Flaremon. The fist connected, sending their enemy flying backward. Satisfied with his dispersal of the enemy, he turned to check on Mayer.

“Are you still breathing?” The opening where the burn was looked black and fleshy, and the scales were gone. Breathing hard as he opening one eye to Dargo; cracking a smile to break the tension.

“I’ll be fine. Listen, I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but if we don’t make it-“

“Let’s not get into that now.” The dragon took the time to help Mayer to his feet, but it wasn’t over yet. Dargo turned his attention back to the battle. Seeing their opponent returning to continue, he slashed his claws sideways, sending slices of air at the enemy.

The feline was quick to react, leaping over the attack and throwing two fireballs as a retort. Mayer sucked in a breath, tapping into the super-heated flame in his belly; a wave of flames erupted from his maw and connected with the flames causing them to cancel each other out.

Dargo then saw this as an opportunity, launching another V-Nova Blast, then sprinting a safe distance behind it. The blast hit nothing but soil as Flaremon had already moved out of the way.

Dargo couldn’t see what was going on through all the smoke of the colliding blast. He saw a glint of something in the corner of his eye, but he didn’t have time to react as Flaremon soared through the air, landing a punch directly on his snout. The Veedramon stumbled back, trying to shake off the punch, but the pain was too much. He might have been bigger, but the assassin was definitely stronger.

“Crimson Beast King Wave!” Landing once again, Flaremon surrounding himself with flames with his arms outstretched and sent them toward Dargo. The dragon was still in a daze, and couldn’t do anything about the flames coming his way. Standing completely in the middle of fire, Dargo felt as he did in the mall; Cool then white hot as his scales left his body. Sounds became dulled and the only thing he could hear was his core swirling inside his chest. Before he knew it, Dargo was on his back once again.

A scream came from his side as Mayer roared and let loose his dinosaur rage. Inhaling, an exhaust of flame poured out on top of Flaremon, blanketing him with their warmth, but it wasn’t enough. A cackled came from within the flames, “Fire? Very original!”

Riko looked on, unable to believe what was happening. Without hesitation, he rushed to his partner’s side looking to put his hands somewhere. He wanted to comfort Dargo, but he would cause more pain, “D-Dargo.”

He lay still in the grass, and it looked as if the life was burned out of him. Riko couldn’t say anything, for it was too overwhelming to see him like this. He was taken back to the mall when Zander brutally wounded Dargo. He was too upset to be in this position again, and it hurt to think about the evil that did this to him.

EXERPT FROM TOOLS:

“Kid, get the hell out of here!” Suddenly, he felt something restricting his movement as an apparatus appeared around his arms, chest and legs. He struggled to get out, but the pain of the blast from Bael set in. He looked the devil’s way and snarled as his muscles flexed, trying to break his bonds, but nothing worked.

“Dargo!” Riko said, watching the canons on Koro’s back charge. He couldn’t seem to find any cards to help, but he wouldn’t give up.

“Hurry up!” Mayer chimmed in with his two sense. Dargo grunted viciously, but it was all in vain.

“I-I can’t!” He said, “Just go!”

“But-”

“GO!”

He knew his attempts were futile, and the attack was already coming. Bracing himself, he felt a cool, then hot sensation wash over him as the tide of power forced him off his feet and blew him back. What felt like a board against his back seemed to break away, allowing the blast to push him back even more. When it was over, he was on his back, not feeling the apparatus anymore; it was probably blown away by the attack. He couldn’t move, it took everything he had to hold his data together through the vicious attempt to end his life. Ultimate-level attacks were nothing to be trifled with, as he learned today. Just thinking about moving was painful enough, but a pebble fell on his leg, causing a chain reaction of nerves throughout his body going haywire. His eyes were half open, and he could see the circular hole he was at the bottom of. Feet and feet into the mall’s interior didn’t assure him that everything was going to be okay.

Mayer attacked on, slashing his claws downward at his target, but missing as he was just too fast. This was the second time Dargo stood up for him and get burned for it, literally. He needed to kill the beast now that he had the chance, and he was determined to do it quickly.

The GeoGreymon would be sadly mistaken as Flaremon managed to leap through his barrage of slashes and reach his chest. The feline used his claws to dig into the circular burn mark and hold on causing immense pain for Mayer. He struggled to fight it, but it was still too strong as he lost his balance. He toppled over and hit the ground yelping in pain as the feline tore into his already open wound. The assassin was relentless and showed no mercy as he decided to finish the dinosaur off. Walking up his body, Flaremon reached Mayer’s throat; one swift stomp and his wind pick would be crushed.

Even with two Adult levels, they still weren’t powerful enough, but he wasn’t giving up. He tried to take my brothers away from me, and I won’t stand for it! This ends here! The warmth of the object grew, making him jump slightly. The light had grown stronger and was getting brighter by the second. Chivalry was the courage to keep fighting even when he was afraid, and he would do so.

There was a moment of silence, and the light from the crest seemed to invoke light from Riko’s D-Ban; both combined and darted away, splitting between Dargo and Mayer.

The light hit Mayer, breaking down his data and snatching him away from danger. Flaremon fell to the ground, as he had nothing to stand on. The second stream hit Dargo, creating another stream of light that shot toward the other. When the two collided, a clap much like that of thunder echoed through the true as an egg-like encasement was formed. A gust of wind, unlike any Riko had experienced, blew over him, pushing him back. The light grew to be as tall as Flaremon, causing the assassin to take a few steps back.

The sunset emitted a beautiful light onto a new individual, so peaceful and helpful in this encounter. Light hit its darkened exterior; the horned, silver headpiece being one of the brightest things on its body. It matched the thigh and shin plating, but besides that, its entire surface was jet black. Muscles seemed to rip through the black plating on its armor, as well. Blades protruded from its elbows as its claws glistened, waiting to rend flesh to pieces. A set of small wings grew from its shoulders while a larger set grew a bit lower; both sets were blood red.

Hello? Mayer’s voice echoed into the distance of white nothingness. He seemed to be standing, but there was no floor visible to him.

I’m here. He wasn’t as alone as a voice responded to his call.

Dargo? Mayer asked, attempting to find him. There was no indication that Dargo was there or even that he was ever there in the first place. The last thing he remembered was being relieved of his burns before everything went dark for a moment.

Yes, it’s me. I’m right here. Mayer turned to see the Gabumon standing there, completely involved in the lack of surroundings, Are you okay?

The Agumon scratched his head, Yeah. I guess so. Kinda tingly, though.

I feel it too.

They faced each other, staring at one another like they were in a showdown. Mayer was about to say something, but his tongue refused to move. In fact, his mouth refused to move.

What the hell? Why can’t I talk now? It was then he realized that he hadn’t used his mouth the entire time talking to Dargo, Are you- are we doing some kind of psychic thing?

Actually, I’m not sure. Um, think of something.

Mayer raised his brow, unsure what to think. If they were in each other’s heads, than it wouldn’t matter what he thought because Dargo would hear it. Still he had to humor the idea, Cheesy fries. Sun. Express caffeine chat rooms.

Whoa! I heard everything! Do you know what this means? We must’ve Jogressed! Since their thoughts were shared, Dargo automatically knew that Mayer hadn’t know what that meant, It’s what happens when two Digimon digivolve together. Their data becomes linked, and they become one being. I’ve heard that it almost never happens.

So, are we more powerful or what? Getting the confirmation through the endless swarm of thoughts going around, Mayer seemed to like the idea, Okay, so now that we’re one body, how do we work this thing?

Think about it this way: Two bodies are merged into one, but it can’t work with two minds. I think we need to merge our minds.

WHAT! Mayer’s thoughts echoed, Wouldn’t that mean that we’re stuck together forever? How will we know it worked? And how can we even DO that?

I don’t like this either, but we need to protect Riko. As long as we do that, being merged with you forever is worth it.

Thanks. That means a lot to me. Look, if we don’t make this work-

We’ll make it work. I know we will. Mayer couldn’t disagree with the notion, as they began to walk toward each other. Coming closer, each of them reached a hand to the other, and once they touched, they were gone.

Riko read his D-Ban carefully; it took a few seconds to identify the Dargo/Mayer combination.

Cyberdramon
Level: Perfect
Attribute: Vaccine

The boy marveled at the new Digimon just as he did when Dargo first digivolved, “It’s amazing. I didn’t know this was possible.”

Riko shook his head; mouth unable to close as he mouthed ‘Wow’ to himself. They’re together. Not quite what I had in mind; hell, it’s more than I asked for!

The Cyberdramon suddenly began to move; shaking out his limbs and grunting as he stretched. The assassin looked on, surprised, and a little shaken by the vicious look of his opponent.

“Magnificent! A Jogress! I’m honored to be one of the few to see one, but I’m also honored to be the first to destroy one, as well. You’d better be ready.” The cybernetic dragon continued to stretch, seemingly paying no attention to him, “A fresh Jogress may be more powerful than the original two, but it’s still new, nonetheless. You’ll never learn to use it well.”

The Dargo/Mayer combination was obviously uninterested with Flaremon’s taunting as he was warming up his new body. He held his arms up to the sky, groaning as his muscles awakened. The beast was getting more and more frustrated as he received no response, “Do you hear me? I’m talking to you!”

Riko tried to bear the tension, but there was nothing he could do to help. Getting involved would only distract them from their goal. However, he wondered how long this standstill would last before one attacked the other. He put his money on Cyberdramon going in first to test his new strength.

“STRETCH ALL YOU WANT! IT’S NOT GOING TO SAVE YOU!” The Flaremon’s legs sparked into motion, launching full-speed toward the target. The soil bowed to his weight, submitting to the prints left by his feet.

Riko gasped. His heart nearly exploded in his chest as he watched the enemy lunge forward. Looking back to the combination, he wasn’t moving even with the assassin charging. What the hell are they doing?

Reaching his target, Flaremon began throwing his fists, and landing each and every one. It was a gruesome scene, as the assassin didn’t let up for a second. Aiming for the midsection, Flaremon seemed proud to land the hit, but he didn’t stop there. He grabbed Cyberdramon, picking him up and slamming him on his back. Stepping away, he knew he scored a victory just then, but his nerves burned even more as the armored warrior stood facing away from him. Immediately, the flaming feline wrapped an arm around his neck, while the other held onto his thigh.

Why isn’t he fighting back? His arms were outstretched as he gasped in surprise.

Cyberdramon now seemed to put up a bit of a struggle, but it wasn’t enough to stop his foe from lifting his off his feet and throwing him away. Coming to a sliding stop on the ground, he laid still for a moment.

Riko took a step forward, holding his breath and waiting for his chance to rush over and aid his partners, but something told him to wait just a bit longer.

Using his midsection, Cyberdramon sat up quickly and rose to his feet as if he’d never been knocked down. Flaremon’s voice screeched as he panted, looking almost out of breath, “Stay down!”

The Flaremon’s fist flared as he sent fireballs, one by one to the Cyberdramon’s location. Explosion rocked the plains as they made contact. Riko covered his eyes as the bright flames danced around his friends. Looking back, his breathing became heavier as the thought of losing both Dargo and Mayer in one shot was awful to think about.

A few moments passed as the smoke billowed into the day. An eerie sound entered everyone’s ears, becoming louder and louder as the smoke settled and the fires died. Riko was finally able to identify the sound; it was heavy laughter, and it sounded like Dargo and Mayer together. Suddenly, a sharp movement burst from the smoke cloud, armor glistening once again. The figure streaked across the open landscape quickly, advancing on the assassin and giving him no chance to react. Fist raised, the Cyberdramon cocked it back and released it on the targets’ face. The massive impact tore the Flaremon from the ground. It wasn’t over yet, and the Jogress would prove that as he reached for the targets’ leg, catching it in mid-air, and pulling him back down. Shifting his weight, the combination smashed him into the ground, creating an indentation in the shape of the body in the soil. Backing away, Cyberdramon allowed his foe space to stand and prepare himself.

“Unbelievable.” Riko said, the rectangle in his hand shone even brighter; his heart felt a sense of pride knowing that his partners were working together. Literally. It was like something out of a science fiction novel for him to see such a battle take place. The pieces were set and it was time to play, but from the looks of it, the assassin wouldn’t be playing for much longer. Suddenly, a voice broke the silence, giving Riko a bigger shock than before. The voice itself was, in fact, two voices, but they spoke in unison.

“It’s you who should stay down.” Cyberdramon let his claws hung open; ready to strike if he needed to.

The Flaremon slowly made it to his feet. Turning to face his enemy, he spoke, “ You have crossed a line! Well, whoever you are-“

“Maar.” The Jogress form corrected him, “Call me Maar, and I’ve got better things to do tonight than die.”

“Well, it’ll be good to have something written on your tombstone!” He stopped, “You think I’m the only one? We are everywhere! Even if you manage to get away, they will never rest. They will hunt you, and kill you. The price on your head is just that high.”

A moment passed before an answer came, Like I said, I’ve got better things to do tonight.”

“You are such a fool, but SO BE IT !!!” Flaremon leapt into action again, both claws thrust toward Maar like daggers. Without another thought, the Cyberdramon stepped to the side, letting his attacker flail by and stumble to his knees. Quickly returning to his feet, the fiery cat lunged at the Cyberdramon, claws slashing every which way in an effort to carve his foe like a Thanksgiving turkey.

“Enough games.” Maar’s claws shone a bright blue as he waited for an opening to attack. Flaremon began to swing his claws in an effort to slice through Maar’s armor, but the Jogress form was too quick. Dodging every attempt was easier than he’d imagined, but two Digimon together had a better chance than one.

Slicing downward, the Flaremon left himself completely open. Maar took this opportunity to slash with his claw, totally rending the arm. A screech came from the assassin, as he staggered backward, blood spewing from his deep wound.

Give up! Turn around and leave right now! Maar was actually giving his a chance to flee, but the chance wasn’t taken as he refused to stop. Screaming uncontrollably, he swung the other arm toward Maar’s head. Ducking to avoid the arm, he swung his own arm; a tiny slice was heard, but the movement was too quick to make out. They were both next to one another, standing completely still in the blessed light of the sunset.

Riko couldn't help but hold his breath, as the decision of the battle wasn’t quite clear.

No more than a few seconds passed before the assassin began to move again, but not the kind of movement that would force Cyberdramon to react. His head wobbled a bit, stopped, then split from the body and crashed to the ground. The body itself disappeared in a burst of data that was carried off by the nightly winds.

A gasp slipped through Riko’s lips. Never in his life of being desensitized to shoot-outs and monsters ripping their victims apart on television prepared him to see a head fall off its body. He turned away when he had seen enough.

“I warned you.” Maar, the Cyberdramon turned to his tamer, grinning with such sharp teeth that it made him look like a hungry predator. Light enveloped his entire body, and then separated into two egg-like encasements. When the light was gone, a Gabumon and Agumon remained facing each other. They both fell over; Riko rushed to them, fighting his exhausted body to reach them, then collapsing next to them.

The boy breathed heavily as he tried to speak, but couldn’t get out a sentence. Instead, he began to chuckled, and his exhausted partners followed in a chorus of laughter.

“We need to get out of here. “ Dargo said as the laughing died down.

“Can’t we just rest a little longer?”

“He’s right, Mayer. Flaremon said that more people are after me. He made it sound as if it was an entire organization wanting to kill me, and I’ll be Andromon was apart of it, too.” Riko struggled to sit up, “We need to get back to Jijimon’s place. Do you think you can digivolve, Dargo?”

“I may still have some juice left in me, but once we get back, I’m going to pass out on your bed.” The Gabumon smiled, standing as he said it. Riko hit a combination of buttons on his D-Ban, and Raidramon was present once again. Dargo’s deep voice beckoned them to hurry, “Yeah, I’m definitely feeling the drain.”

“Well, let’s get going, then.” Riko hopped on, pulled Mayer up behind him. Dargo took off back the way they came, leaving the battle of their lives and the memory of a vicious Flaremon behind.

As they treaded through the forest, Riko couldn’t help but shiver as he thought about a contract on his head. Strange things happened after the attack on Digital City; dreams about his sister, losing the Valor Alliance before he got to know them, meeting a strange Digimon who seems to have a strange amount of knowledge about certain things, stumbling across a powerful artifact, and now someone wants him dead. And so far, he’s run into two assassins already who have been at the perfect level. Both times, they’ve barely been able to escape alive, but who knows what else is around the corner? He would have to ruminate on this when they returned, but for now, he wondered about the crest in his pocket and what it had to do with him. More importantly, what did the spirit want with him, and why had it chosen him?

There were too many questions running though Riko’s mind as an opening to the forest revealed the ancient ruins they left before. They were safe for the moment, but he was pretty sure that if there was a contract on his head, that he shouldn’t stay for too long. These assassins seemed to be expert trackers and it wouldn’t do him any good to stay in one place at any given time.

Although Dargo and Mayer were satisfied with the outcome, it could have been a lot worse, and they realized that. No one spoke of it, though. The power they witnessed this evening would have to be spoken about later, but the night was for them to rest as Jijimon stayed watch. Riko couldn’t sleep, though. His mind was filled with questions and the worry that someone would try to harm them. And so, the stars twinkled above, but Riko wouldn’t dream this night, for he now knew that this war was just beginning. And the fact that someone wanted him dead was a sign that his part in it was bigger than he thought.

----

The next day didn’t come soon enough as Riko had been awake the entire night. The boy had been in his head the entire morning as he found himself back in the candlelit room with Jijimon facing him on the other side of a candle.

“I have brought you here by yourself because this is an important matter. Someone is out to kill you, and I have decided it would be in my best interest to help you. That crest didn’t choose just anyone, and it was in my care. That combined with the dying wish of a dear friend means that you are a special individual. You may not believe it, but someone wanting you dead means that you are an important figure in this world. Someone is afraid of the power you have and they will stop at nothing to stop you.” The old Digimon stroked his beard as he sat cross-legged in front of the candle, “And you have proven it by performing one of the few Jogresses known in Digital History. You also have been chosen by two ancient artifacts; this means that they have been drawn to you because you have what it takes to wield them as weapons.”

“But what does this all mean? Am I some sort of God or something?” Riko

“Far from it, my boy. But you are powerful, and I will teach you how to use your powers.”

“Wait- you keep saying that I have powers. What do you mean by ‘powers’?” Riko leaned forward as if he was prying for answers.

You really don’t know? Suddenly, Riko jumped as he heard the voice in his head. At first, he thought it was the spirit, but it had been dormant since the battle with Flaremon. And the voice itself was rougher, older, and more cheerful than that of Agunimon. Looking around the room, his eyes finally landed back on Jijimon. That’s it. Do you understand now?

“You-“ The boy trembled as he realized what was happening, “You’re a psychic.”

Yes, but keep thinking. How could this be possible; you hearing the thoughts I’m projecting to you?

He couldn’t believe it. All the events of the recent past overwhelmed him enough, but this was the frosty on the cake, “Me? No way!”

How else do you explain how you’re hearing my thoughts? Psychics cannot read into the minds of others unless invited. I’m inviting you.

“So, if I’m a psychic, how did you know? And why didn’t you say something before?” Riko’s frustration with these games grew as he questioned the still mysterious Digimon.

I know one of my kind when I see one. I’ve been around a long time, remember?

The boy knew that this was insane, but with all that has happened lately, it wasn’t too farfetched. He could never put his finger on it, but he knew something was different about him. Maybe this was why someone wanted him dead, but he wouldn’t be fully sure until he found him or her.

“Okay, so I’m a psychic. What do I do with it?” Riko played along, humoring the idea to see what Jijimon would say. The old Digimon switched to speaking with his mouth again.

“I need you to concentrate on the energy around you. In order to become better with anything, you need to exercise the muscle for it. I will train your mind to use your powers and the armor, which will be the most complex to control. Then, I will train your body to handle the strain of using a spirit.” Jijimon said, “This will all take time, so I am letting you live here for the time being, but you have to want to go through the training I have in mind.”

Thinking about it, Riko knew that he couldn’t go back to his apartment. The organization gunning for him would no doubt have people there waiting for him. And with Andromon and Flaremon dead, they would be sending more powerful Digimon to hunt him. He needed a safe haven to train and hone his skills, and to keep his partners safe, as well. They would need to train with him, and make use of their new evolution. With a breath, Riko spoke.

“I’ll do it. Thank you for doing this.”

“No need to thank me. Now, take a deep breath, close your eyes and concentrate on the depths of your mind. We will attempt to unlock the recesses of your mind. A psychic needs to think with his whole mind instead of just a portion.” Jijimon looked to him from across the candle as the boy began to breath deeply.

Riko did as he was instructed, closing his eyes and breathing to calm his nerves. Nothing happened at first, but as he continued to push away barriers in his mind, a vision came to him. It was of the mall, desolate and broken. Smoke billowed from its ruins, and the area was taped off as Digimon officials went to work cleaning up the area. He was back in Digital City, or at least his mind was. The boy then saw humans and Digimon roaming down the street looking at the wrecked building as it was being cleaned out. As he looked at them, a face stood out from all the rest. It was so familiar as a face he had seen a few days ago. Suddenly, blackness filled his vision as he looked around. It was like déjà vu, as he seemed to have had this vision before, except there was only one other person standing in front of him. The girl looked around before meeting gazes with him and her widened.

She wore all white; her dress flowed down to the ground, as well as a hooded cloak that tied around her neck. Along with the cloak, a necklace with a strange jewel hung from it. Her eyes were a light blue, which complimented her brown skin quite well. Black hair covered her head and came down to her ears while a single bang almost blanketed her right eye.

After a while of staring at each other, the girls’ thoughts came to him. Riko?

In his stupor, the boy couldn’t think of anything else to say. Corry.

The surprise alone snapped him out of his calm entrancement, causing Jijimon to lean forward in concern, “What happened?”

He knew immediately; his mind was in Digital City and he sense a presence that he hadn’t felt since before he came to the Digital World. The boy hadn’t been this shocked/ dumfounded in a while, but it was appropriate in this situation. He could have made contact with anyone, but he connected with his sister. Not only was she in the Digital World, but also she was in Digital City, holding a digitama and looking lost and confused.

Riko looked to Jijimon across the candle and breathed heavily as he tried to pull himself together, “Holy sh-“



((I hope those of you who read this enjoyed it! Anyway, that is the end of Team Riko: Season 1! Stayed tuned for Season 2, and keep a lookout for Season 1 of Team Cortana!))

((Ho ho ho... another crestventure. Not to mention the first use of jogress that I can recall. ^^

All in all, that's worth

• Your Crest of Chivalry
• .3 DEP
• $1000 bits
• A rare card of choice

Congrats!))

((I took Zero Hour as a rare card! Thanks a lot! Now for a Mysterious post!))

"Not bad, kiddo," grunted a voice far distant. The speaker was relaxed, leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree easily fifty meters off the ground. Ten black claws dug into the bark of the branch below him, and a tufted tail swayed gently with a passing breeze.

"'Sa pity, though," grumbled the stranger without any real discontent, holding three faintly-glowing items in a broad golden palm. "I like yer style, wouldn'ta minded givin' ya a real crest." Of course, the Crest of Chivalry was as real as any other such artifact, but what with the particular item he'd recently given to a certain blue-haired young lady in the swamp, his reaction was only natural.

The keenest of eyes had allowed him to observe all proceedings, from the moment the paths of the boy and his partners began to converge, a tug in the watcher's chest having alerted him to one of potential worth nearing a crest he watched over. From there it had been a relatively simple task, simply making sure the boy made it to where the watcher knew the crest lay, and to both pleasure and boredom on his part, such hadn't been necessary.

"Don't yeh dare go foulin' up that crest now that yeh got it," He grunted, straightening up, a longsword glinting in a shaft of sunlight. "Orochimon," he spat, but it was a long way to the ground. "Yeh'd be embarassin' yourself."