| Old Friends, Old Foes: Part Three Disclaimer: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02 and related elements are registered trademarks of Toei, Bandai and their respective owners and are used without permission. Rei, Kain, Aiko, Chiaki, Jenna, Jessie, Cassidy and related characters are creations of Sakura ([email protected]) and are used with permission. Note: In the Japanese version, the various Digimon levels are as follows: In Training: Baby Rookie : Child Champion : Adult Ultimate : Perfect Mega : Ultimate A few days later, at Kain's house... "Okay, is everybody here?" asked Hikari. The Chosen Children were assembled in the main dining room, eagerly waiting to hear what was so important. Rei in particular wanted to know more about the boy Taichi had called Ryou. "Hikari," Miyako said, walking up to her. "Ken told me he would be a bit late and to start without him." Hikari nodded as she looked around the room. The eight original Chosen( herself and Takeru included) were there,including Jyou,who was usually too busy to attend such meetings. Their 'successors' Daisuke,Miyako and Iori had arrived as well as the newest Chosen group made up of the refined Kain, the male-hating Cassidy, kindly Aiko, Chiaki( hyper as usual), Jessie , the young and somewhat naive Jenna and Rei. Each of them had brought their Digimon partners. "So," Ishida Yamato said, leaning back on his chair. "What's going on?" He grinned,"Do you need your big brother to get you out of trouble, Takeru?" Takenouchi Sora nudged him, causing him to fall over. "Ouch! Sora!" he complained. "What was that for?" "Stop teasing your brother!" she chided him. A murmur was heard among the boys. "How come the girls are always sticking up for Takeru anyway?" "Beats me...I feel sorry for Yamato,though..." "I never thought Sora could be such a nag!" A glare from the girls soon quieted them. "O-kay!" Hikari said, getting everyone's attention. "Since Ken-san is going to be late, we might as well..." "I'm here! I'm here!" someone yelled, bursting through the door. "Sorry...I'm...late!" Ichijouji Ken,genius and ex-Digimon Kaiser panted. He held his long-suffering partner Wormon in his hands. "It's okay,Ken!" Miyako called from across the room. "I saved you a seat!" "Thanks...Miyako," Ken gasped, collapsing into the offered chair. He dumped Wormon onto the floor, drawing a yelp of protest from the small Digimon. "I...ran...all the way here!" Kain, ever the polite host, offered him a drink. Ken accepted it gratefully. "Now then..." Hikari began again, her patience begining to crumble. "The reason we called all of you here," she said. The others leaned towards her to hear better. "My brother Taichi has a story to tell." A chorus of moans sounded all over the room. "I came all the way from America for this?" "I could be studying right now!" "This isn't another soccer story is it?" "What's wrong with a soccer story?" "Quiet!" yelled Rei, her voice cutting through the noise. "This might be important, so sit down, shut up and listen!" The others quickly quieted down. Sora grinned mischievously and leaned towards Yamato. "Remind you of anyone?" she whispered into his ear. Yamato gave her an amused glance. "Yeah," he grinned back. "Do you think she's related to you somehow?" Sora whacked him in the head in response. "Okay, guys," Taichi began. "This happened just after we got back to the Digital World after beating VenomVamdemon." He stopped to make sure he had everyone's attention. "We arrived at a part of the Digital World we didn't recognise, and got ourselves into some trouble with a really strong Digimon called Milleniumon." Ken suddenly started choking on his drink, spraying Takeru, who was sitting on the floor in front of him. "M-Milleniumon?!" he gasped, ignoring Takeru's demands for an explanation. "You fought Milleniumon too?!" "Too?" Taichi repeated. "What do you know about Milleniumon?" Koushiro interrupted. "Uh, maybe you should tell us your story first,Taichi-san." "Yeah," Jyou agreed. "Then Ichijouji-san can tell us his story." "That okay with you, Ken-san?" Aiko asked. Ken only nodded. "Okay, Taichi-san," the kindly girl asked. "you can start now." "Okay, here goes..." Taichi began. "We were surprised by Milleniumon..." "Agh..." Taichi moaned,rubbing his aching head. "What happened?" he wondered aloud as he sat up. Then he remembered..."Milleniumon!" he cried. "Hikari!" he called, realising he was alone. "Agumon! Sora!" He stood up slowly, then continued calling for his friends. Panic was beginning to seize him as he plopped down on a rock to rest and get his bearings. "Where are they?" A sound caught his attention. "Agumon?" he asked. "Is that you?" He turned to see where the noise was coming from. It came from some nearby bushes, not far from the clearing they'd arrived in. Taichi walked closer, picking up a heavy-looking branch just in case. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Don't make me come after you!" The bush rustled. "Huh..." Taichi sighed, lowering the branch. "Guess it must have been the wind..." A growl interrupted him. "Uh oh..." Moments later... "Yaaaaaaaahhhhh!" the brown-haired boy screamed as he was chased by an annoyed Snimon. The Digimon hacked and slashed with reckless abandon, trying to catch up to the idiot who'd hit it on the head with a branch while it was peacefully taking a nap. Taichi kept running but the inevitable happened...he tripped. "Ugh!" he grunted as he sprawled onto the ground face-first. "Smooth move, Taichi," he scolded himself as he desperately scrambled to his feet. He risked a glance behind him to see if Snimon was catching up, and didn't see anything. "Hey!" he cheered. "I lost him!" Then he looked forward and saw Snimon waiting for him just ahead. "Ack!" he yelped as the Snimon raised an arm to take his head off. A gigantic orange dinosaur suddenly leapt out of the foliage and roared "Mega Flame!" A huge fireball hurled out of the dinosaur's mouth, slamming into the Snimon and sending it flying. "Greymon!" Taichi cried with relief. He ran up to the large dinosaur, but stopped short when it glared at him. "Greymon? It's me, Taichi!" Greymon bared his teeth at the goggle-wearing boy. "Greymon!" called out a voice. "Calm down!" Taichi was shocked to see another boy walk out of the forest and approach them. He looked about Taichi's age, with spiky brown hair and carrying a backpack. "Hey, another human?" the boy said. "Nice to meet you!" "Uh..." was all Taichi could say, the events of the day finally catching up to him. "Still in shock,huh?" the boy said kindly, taking Taichi's arm. "Come on, we'd better get out of here in case that guy has any friends around." He signalled to Greymon, who scooped both of them up and marched into the trees. "By the way," the boy said, turning to face Taichi."My name's Ryou. Akiyama Ryou." Ken burst out coughing, this time spraying both Takeru and Patamon, who had taken his usual spot atop Takeru's head. "That's it!" the annoyed bearer of Hope declared, standing up and glaring at Ken. "Hikari! Cassidy! Make room on that couch,would you?" The blond boy marched over and plopped himself on one of the couch's arms. "Ryou?!" Ken demanded after catching his breath. "How'd...where'd...Do you know where he is?" "Calm down,Ken," Miyako pleaded, pulling him back down onto the chair. "You can ask later." Ken leaned forward, now completely interested in the story. "Alright," Taichi said. "Where was I..." "So, you're part of a group called the 'Chosen Children'?" Ryou asked Taichi as they sat around a campfire. Greymon was dozing not far away. "Yeah," Taichi replied. "There are eight of us." "So what's so special about you?" "Well, we each have these Crests which help our Digimon evolve to their Perfect levels and beyond." He swelled with pride. "I have the Crest of Courage." "Crest of Courage, huh?" Ryou repeated. "So why were you screaming like a little girl when Greymon and I found you?" "Hey!" Taichi protested, blushing slightly. "I just lost my friends and was being chased by a killer Digimon! What was I supposed to do?" "That's right, what about your friends? What happened to them?" "I told you!" Taichi snapped. "We were attacked by a Digimon calling himself Milleniumon!" "Milleniumon?" Ryou repeated. "Never heard of that before." The two were silent while they digested this information. "Hey,Ryou," Taichi said. "How'd you get to the Digital World anyway? Did you find a Digivice too?" "Digivice?" Ryou reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic device. "You mean this?" Taichi looked at it closely. It had no resemblance to his own Digivice, being larger for one thing. He also noted a slot on the side. "Nope, that's no Digivice I've ever seen," he said ,showing Ryou his Digivice. Ryou took it and compared it to his. "But they evolve Digimon, right?" he asked, handing the Digivice back to Taichi. "I guess..." he replied. "Uh...Ryou?" "Yeah?" "Where'd you find that Greymon?" "You think it might be yours?" Ryou asked. "Could be...I mean, I haven't seen any other Greymons before..." "Sure, I found him just over a ridge over that way," Ryou told him, pointing roughly in the direction Taichi thought he and the others were ambushed by Mileniumon. "Do you mind if I try something?" he said, holding his Digivice and approaching Greymon. "Sure, go ahead!" Taichi raised his Digivice and pointed at the slumbering dinosaur-like Digimon. "It worked on Leomon..." A beam shot out and covered the Digimon in a blinding light, forcing both Ryou and Taichi to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Greymon was gone, and in his place was..."Agumon!" Taichi cried happily, overjoyed to see his friend. "Taichi?" the small orange dinosaur moaned as he woke up. "What happened? Where are the others?" "I was hoping you could tell me!" Ryou blinked. "You...devolved him?" Taichi grinned. "Yup! One of the perks of being a Chosen Child!" "Great..." Ryou said, calmly packing his backpack. "Now, what about those guys?" "Huh?" Taichi said, turning around. A swarm of Snimon marched out of the forest, the one at their head probably being the one that had attacked him earlier. "Uh oh." "RUUUUNNNN!" the two boys yelled simultaneously as they turned and ran. "So what happened next?" Daisuke demanded. "Well, to make a long story short, Ryou and I travelled together trying to find the others..." It was dark. After hours of wandering, the two boys and Agumon had entered a thick forest, searching for clues as to the fate of the Chosen Children. Taichi sat on the ground while Ryou leaned on a tree and began rummaging through his bag. Agumon was happily munching on some fruits they found. "Here, Taichi-san," Ryou called to the goggle boy, tossing him something. "We'll need the energy." Taichi caught it, and saw it was candy. "Thanks," Taichi said, taking a bite. "I was getting tired of fruit." Ryou laughed. "Well, we could try fishing if you want!" "No thanks!" Taichi replied, laughing as well. "After last time?" "I told you to wait until I had the fish out of the water!" "No, you didn't!" "Yes, I....huh?" A piercing howl cut through the air. A large humanoid figure landed in the clearing. Clad in torn jeans and covered with blue fur, Taichi recognised the Digimon as... "Weregarurumon?!" The Perfect-level Digimon lashed out at him, missing him by inches. "AAHH!" "Taichi! His eyes!" Agumon pointed out. Taichi looked and saw Weregarurumon's eyes had the same glazed appearance as the Digimons who were once controlled by Devimon's Black Gears. "Agumon, evolve!" Light surrounded the small orange Digimon as he grew larger and a skull mask appeared on his face as he became..."Greymon!" The Adult-level Digimon attacked his possessed friend while Ryou ran up to check on Taichi. "Taichi-san!" Ryou panted. "Greymon can't beat Weregarurumon!" "Oh yeah?" Taichi retorted, holding up his Digivice. "Watch this!" Another beam shot out of the Digivice, passing through the Crest of Courage before striking Greymon. Metal armour materialized and fixed itself onto Greymon's arm and chest as he grew and a pair of ragged wings sprouted out of his back. His skull mask dissolved and a metal helmet replaced it as Greymon called out, "Greymon, hi-evolve! Metal...Greymon!" "Whoa!" Ryou gasped as the newly-evolved Metal Greymon slammed into Weregarurumon. "Metal Greymon!" Taichi yelled. "Try to hold him down!" He began to run towards the fight, but Ryou grabbed him. "What're you doing?" he demanded. "You'll get yourself killed!" "I need to get close enough to use the Digivice on Weregarurumon!" Just then, Weregarurumon lashed out, knocking Metal Greymon down. While the armored cybernetic dinosaur tried to get to his feet, the werewolf-like Digimon charged at the humans. Ryou tackled Taichi out of the way, but dropped his Digivice. The machine hummed and shot out a light that engulfed Weregarurumon, and when it receded, Gabumon was standing in his place, looking dazed. "What happened?" the small fur-wearing Digimon asked out loud. "Where's Yamato?" "You mean Weregarurumon wiped the floor with Metal Greymon?" Yamato laughed. "You go, Gabumon!" His Digimon partner smiled while Taichi frowned. "Hey, I said he was knocked down, not knocked out!" Taichi protested, glaring at the blond boy and his Digimon. "Besides, Metal Greymon was holding back!" "Yeah!" Agumon agreed. "I was just kidding!" Yamato said, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Don't be so sensitive!" "Well...okay..." Taichi muttered. The older Chosen kids rolled their eyes. "Boys..." "I thought they out-grew that..." "Somethings never change..." "So what happened next?" Jenna asked, eager to hear more. "Well," the older boy continued. "Gabumon didn't remember anything from just after VenomVamdemon, so we had to carry on wandering." He looked at his friends' Digimon. "Let's see..." he said,counting on his fingers. "Zudomon tried to drown us nearby a river,("That's a lie!" "Quiet,Gomamon!") Atlur Kabuterimon sicced a bunch of Kuwagamon and Dokunemon on us,("I did?!" "Tentomon, shhhh!") Lilymon tried to bury us under tons of rock, ("Palmon! You didn't!" "No! It wasn't me, Mimi!") Garudamon ambushed us near some mountains...("Biyo?" "Don't look at me!") and Angewomon sniped at us while we were crossing a rope bridge over a chasm." Hikari looked at Tailmon. The cat-like Digimon stared back at her before shrugging. "Anyway," Taichi spoke up, "we finally made it to this castle..." "You've got to be kidding me." Taichi, Ryou and the Digimon stood at the bottom of a tall mountain. Using his minature telescope, Taichi was able to make out a castle at the top. "We have to climb that? Why can't these bad guys have castles at the bottom of the mountain for once?" "I'm more worried about where Patamon is!" Tailmon told him. "He's still missing!" "That's right," echoed Gabumon. The other Digimon nodded in agreement. "Something is worrying me," Ryou interrupted. "We fought all of the other Digimon at their Perfect levels, right?" "Yeah, but Patamon can't reach his Perfect level yet," Taichi replied. "That's what worries me..." Ryou muttered thoughtfully. A few hours later... "How...much...higher?" Taichi gasped. Ryou stood still, trying to catch his breath. "Just...a little...farther!" he panted. The group was exhausted after climbing so far. Taichi took a look behind him. Ryou was leaning on the rocky wall, gasping for air. The Digimon were faring no better. "I think...we'd better take a break..." the goggle wearing boy wheezed. "Good idea!" chorused the Digimon, glad to be off their feet. Ryou didn't even answer, simply sitting down and gulping water from a bottle. He leaned back on the mountain, his eyes on the sky. "Taichi!" he said urgently. "What is it?" Taichi asked, looking away from Agumon and the other Digimons' antics. "Up there!" The taller boy pointed towards the castle. As Taichi followed his gaze, he saw something approach. "What is that?" Before Ryou could answer, a group of Dark Tyrannomon leapt from above them, surprising the group. As the humans and Digimon frantically dodged the enemy, the approaching figure landed amongst the melee. It carried a huge shield mounted on one shoulder, a sword what looked like pure energy, and had ribbons floating around its body. Long blond hair flowed from under a tall helmet and eight wings sprouted from the muscular, armoured figure's back. The figure glared at them. "My master Milleniumon has ordered your deaths, Chosen..." the imposing humanoid Digimon said quietly. "Know that you meet your end at the hands of Holy Angemon!" Reviews, comments, suggestions and criticisms (constructive or otherwise) are welcome and can be sent to [email protected] |