03 - Desert Crossing

It’s a bright and sunny day, where the sun was so up high and blessing its warmth and lights to the creatures on the earth. No one will ever feel the coldness and the loneliness, as long as the sun is high up there…

“Ahhhhhhhh… what a nice day…”

“Yeah! It’s so… hot!”

“…it IS hot.”

“Well… I think I’m gonna die from the heat.”

“A-Akira-nee-san… aren’t you… hot…?”

“Eh? Well, normally I think I would, but I kind of like this temperature-”

“RIGHT?! RIGHT?! I feel that too ya know?!”

I can’t believe these two…

Was what everyone (exclude the BushiAgumon) was thinking at this moment. Everyone, except for the BlackAgumon and Akira herself, were suffering from immense heat that they need to bear in this seemingly unending desert. Minoru was clinging very hardly onto Akira, the young blonde – now officially known as Yamanaka Sora – was trying very hard not to faint, the WhiteAgumon was fanning himself off with a book, and the BushiAgumon was just… walking, ignoring the heat. The BlackAgumon was humming delightfully as he took more steps forward than the rest of the crowd – being the vanguard if there’s anything going to happen – while Akira just stayed behind and take care of the people that couldn’t bear with the heat… with an oddly helpless yet a bit of happy smile.

Perhaps she’s delighted that she’s able to take care of someone rather than having people to take care of her.

“Why are we… walking… in the desert anyway…” It was an unusual complain from the normally composed WhiteAgumon – Shiro.

“What Shiro, you’re complaining already?! Damn, I should have made a bet that you would complain within a day in the desert!” The BlackAgumon laughed out heartily as he watched how pitiful Shiro – his own twin brother – was looking right now.

“Shut…up… Kuro…” Rather than giving a full comeback, the non-heat-resistant Agumon just mumbled in dissatisfaction.

“Look at you look at you~ You can’t even talk back to me HAHAHA!!!”

“Shiro… Kuro… Stop… Arguing…” Minoru tried to stop the bickering, but his normally soft voice is even softer right now because of the unbearable heat that he’s feeling. Akira couldn’t help but pity these people, but at the same time feel that it’s funny to see them like this.

Well, maybe the same things will happen to her (and Kuro?) if they were crossing the ocean or swimming through some watery places… after all, she can’t swim.

“Ok you guys, stop this,” Sora – the eldest in the group (even though he’s a human yes he’s still older than BushiAgumon) – stopped the fight. “We’re here because this is the fastest and easiest way to cross towards Terminal City.”

“Not to mention cheapest,” That was Akira speaking, and undeniably, everyone gets the point.

“I can’t believe your boss doesn’t provide us transports!” The BushiAgumon huffed, doesn’t even turn back to face the humans and human-raised Digimons behind him.

“Hmph, as if your boss did something,” The WhiteAgumon retaliated – which was once again odd since he wasn’t the type that starts a fight normally.

“…human-raised, what did you say…?!”

“Digital World-raised, I’m saying what I want to say. And it’s not like you contributed a lot except for the fact that you want us dead for your own sake!”

“You…!”

“Heyheyhey, stop this now…” Sora stepped in between the fight – once again. “You don’t want to lose your energy to the heat, don’t you? Now just keep your energy to your legs and move on, not your mouth. We’re there soon.”

“Hmph.”

“…fine.”

I guess the heat really made everyone less patience, less tolerance, more hostile and honest to each other… Akira couldn’t help but thought of that in her own mind, while silently watches over everyone around her. Everyone (once again, except for her and Kuro) are quite tired from this journey, even though they just only started this journey today. They have been walking for god knows how many hours, but they really saw nothing that could relieve them from the heat… yet. Well, Sora was positive that there’s a small village or town here that all of them could rest for the day before starting the journey again, but… so far, there’s nothing around. Even the map doesn’t seem to help them that much with the directions and distance.

They weren’t even sure where they are right now.

But they’re still walking, hoping that they’re going to the right direction… according to the device that Sora’s holding right now. He won’t tell where it came from, but apparently it acts like a map and a compass at the same time, but requires batteries… and they couldn’t provide it at this moment, so they had to use that in last resort, or when they really went out of the track.

Sora’s pretty sure that they’re at the right track though.

“Hey Sora… how long ‘til we arrive…?”

“…just keep on walking.”

“Ugh…”

Akira couldn’t help but think of the events after the ruby-event. First, they decided to form a band to “guard” and deliver the “parcel” which is now in form of a human named Seieiki Akira. It KIND OF troubled her, since she suddenly became an object of delivery, and sometimes they make fun of her being the parcel. Next, it was fortunate for her to have “protectors”, because she doesn’t have her D-Tector with her and she could not use her Spirit or turn into a dragon the way she wanted. It was weird, too, because the D-Tector was the source of all of these messes, and it’s gone! Akira really felt helpless against this right at this moment. Then, as Sora suspected, Akira will be targeted by a lot of people because of the ruby in her hand.

Which was what they’re encountering right at this moment.

“Hand over the ruby!”

“Hand over the girl!”

“Hah! You HOPE! BlackAgumon armor digivolve!!!” The black skinned dinosaur – to save his energy – used armor digivolution and evolved into a black skinned Yasyamon. “DarkYasyamon!!!” It ticked Enjin – the BushiAgumon – off, because of the similar form. Yet, this Yasyamon felt weaker than how he is as a Yasyamon.

“Hmph. You human-raised… don’t shame the name of the Yasyamon!”

“Ha! I won’t!” The black skinned Yasyamon vigorously replied as he gripped tightly against the twin wakizaki in his hand, and went to fight the Togemons that came at them. It was odd why the Togemons wanted the ruby, as they were normally docile and doesn’t care about fame and fortune. Akira couldn’t help but hope that they’re for evil intentions, so that she won’t feel too bad seeing how the fiery Yasyamon sliced through them easily with the fire blades of his.

“It’s only one Digimon, take it down!”

“We can’t! He’s too strong!!!”

Instead of letting the Togemons to come close to him or attempt to nail him down with their spikes, the Yasyamon took the advance and – after coating his wakizaki with flames – jumped around in circle and slashed them when he got the chance. He defended against the incoming spikes with his shield, and be careful to not be in contact with their bodies as the spikes would be deadly even for him. Shiro couldn’t help but feel how lucky they are that the opponents are weak against fire attacks, and the leader wasn’t really a strategic person.

They could always give up on fighting the black Yasyamon and just come at them – the ones who are already exhausted and lack of the power to fight.

Or maybe they’re just afraid of this BushiAgumon that stood in front of them, glaring at them with a deadly intent – even though the people who know him should understand that he couldn’t last in a single battle with a Champion in this state right now. Still, he maintained his position, and flared up his claws. His eyes and his composure threatened those that come near him, even though he himself knew that he probably won’t stand a chance against all of them if they were to fight at him head-on. He guarded the people behind him – not out of compassion, but out of pride and duty.

After all, he’s the only one that can at least stand the heat (not enjoying it) and fights for a bit.

But of course, none of them would have thought of this plan if it weren’t for Shiro the WhiteAgumon and the eldest of the group – Sora. This is a plan that they came up with before the journey through the desert. They knew that the humans probably couldn’t take the heat, and the forms that they had until now are not heat resistant. The only way for them to be safe is for Kuro to stand as the vanguard, and for Enjin to protect them. However, they never thought that the heat could affect the BushiAgumon until a certain degree as well. It was lucky that he followed the strategic through and did not break the formation against the Togemons.

Eventually, the fight came to an end, and the Togemons found that they couldn’t break through their defenses (Which actually they could but they lack of a good leader, Shiro mused). They retreated, with most of them having a major injury due to the flaming swords that the masked Digimon was holding. Seeing that the threat is finally out of range, the Yasyamon devolved back into BlackAgumon, and sighed in relieve.

“You know, it’s not really easy to fight in sandy areas…”

“Yeah, I noticed that.”

If it wasn’t because of the elemental advantage that they’re having, and the strategic advantage, they would have lost. The terrain is pretty hard for the DarkYasyamon to take a good footing and strike effectively. Shiro was glad that the DarkYasyamon could fool the Togemons and at least threaten them into a retreat. Sora nodded towards their efforts in guarding them, and gratitude from Akira for the hard works they did.

And continued forward.

= = =

Finally, after some “WHAT’S THAT?” “IT’S A TOWN!” “WE’RE NOT DREAMING RIGHT?!” “RUN TOWARDS YOUR DREAM!!!” They finally found this town that sits right in the middle of the desert. To Akira’s surprise, this town is pretty lively, and is a real oasis towards those travelers that came to the desert. There was a barrier that kept the flying sands out and shielding them from being too dry, though, it wasn’t enough to reduce the heat until it’s desirable for the two humans (which does not include Akira) and one certain white Digimon. Still, this is enough for them. They found foods and drinks, and they personally have some bits to spend on them.

Though, what they have used shall be earned back as soon as possible, and it will be best to gain more.

And so, after finding an appropriate place for lounging – it’s a wooden building with clean rooms and nice beds, Minoru smiled happily – they start to look around for works that could earn them some bits – even a little. They started to do works ranging from helping people washing dishes, to taking care of a stall – helping a grandma to sell fruits and drinks, including being a waitress in some “vegetarian” restaurants and farming in a mushroom farm. Some were odd jobs like cleaning the sands off the newcomers of the town, and help to brush the thorns of the Togemon. However, they made a mutual agreement that none of them shall do deliveries, or bounty hunting. First is because of their situation right now with Akira as the main delivery mission – they cannot stall more than the acquired time. Next is because each of their personal body status – non-heat resistant – which made deliveries and bounty hunting impossible as they are required to cross the desert just for the job.

Akira took the job in the mushroom farm – alongside with the WhiteAgumon (to keep an eye on her). It was a surprise to Minoru that Akira would be willing to do farming, since she’s not that kind of person. But, unbeknownst to anyone, mushroom is like the FAVORITE food of Akira’s. And what’s the bonus of taking this job was…

“FREE MUSHROOMS?! AWESOME. SOMEONE, COME WITH ME AND LET’S WORK!!!”

It was a long time since she became this enthusiastic, which actually shocked herself as well when she made that decision to be so passionate about this. But to her surprise, they seemed to be ok with that suggestions and Shiro even volunteered to go with her. She left out a sigh of relieve as she thought of that, and watching how… captivated the white skinned dinosaur was, looking so intently through his glasses at the mushrooms.

“This is how mushrooms are grown in the Digital World… interesting,” He started to take out a notebook and noted his finding down. “Good. With this, I only need to know how meats are being produced in the Digital World.”

“Hahaha, how meats are produced? Well, you can’t see it here but, I can tell you this,” The Mushroomon stood proudly right behind the WhiteAgumon. “Meats are grown in almost the same fashion as how we grow our mushrooms here.”

“In a farm?! Planting each of them?!”

“Yes!” The Mushroomon beamed. “I don’t know why humans are so fascinated by the idea… I mean, we’ve been doing this for the past god-knows-how-many years. And aren’t you a Digimon? Why are you so surprised?”

“W-Well…” It was the first time that Akira saw Shiro being embarrassed. “I’m a human-raised… if that’s how you name us.”

“Ah! That explains everything!” The Mushroomon grinned. “It’s alright. If you’re interested in knowing how we farm, I can tell you everything!”

“Yes, please!”

Akira is mused by the conversation that they’re having, and how passionate Shiro was to learn everything of the Digital World. I guess, he IS a Digimon at heart and this IS his home…

Casting her personal thoughts aside, it’s time for her to work hard and plant those mushrooms!

“For the free mushrooms…!”

= = =

“Uwaaah! The bed!!!”

“Oh, the bed is very nice and comfortable.”

“HEY! DON’T SLEEP ON MY BED!”

“Mmm! The mushrooms are very nice!”

“Right right?”

At the end of the day, they went back to the hotel and rest. It seemed that each of them have their tales to share, regarding their working experience. Minoru has taken the job of cleaning the bodies of the Digimons off the sands, while Sora helped to promote and sell the fruits. Enjin helped the old folks to build a house – which surprised Kuro that he actually KNOWS a lot of stuffs!

“Hmph. I build my own houses, ok?”

That was the answer he got from the armored dinosaur.

Kuro helped the kitchen of the hotel, chopping woods and flaming them up with his own special fireballs. If Shiro’s there, he would say it’s “very Kuro-like” since he can’t do anything else better than those kinds of barbaric jobs… which they would fight and Minoru would have to stop them, again.

All of them sat down in Minoru’s room (which is the biggest) and eat mushrooms together. They put out the bits that they earned so far and start to calculate it. As of this moment, they have collected half of the costs they need to use and have used.

“Hmm. By this, I guess we can work for a few more days and ready to go,” Sora smiled as he looked through the bits that they earned, and possibly get in the future, and the stuffs that they need to spend on before continue on their journey of the desert.

“Alright! We can get off from this boring place!” Kuro was happy to hear that news – even though he’s ok with the heat and everything… it’s really not his position to complain about the desert. “I want some battles!”

“Hmph, I knew in that tiny brain of yours, battles are all that matters,” Shiro commented on his twin’s behavior, and nibbled onto the mushrooms that he and Akira have earned today. “Oh, this is very nice!”

“Hahaha! Right?” Akira was very proud at the fact that everyone enjoyed the mushroom that she (and Shiro) brought back, and how they enjoyed the way Akira served the mushrooms – she gathered some spices (that smells and taste like garlic and chillies) and just roast the mushrooms in the kitchen she borrowed from the hotel. Surprisingly, the hotal manager was quite kind to lend them the kitchen… with the charge of some mushrooms that Akira made.

“I was very sure you’re not the type that cooks, Akira-nee-san,” Minoru smiled at her cousin, taking another bite of the mushroom. He was happy to see that even his own Digimons – Kuro and Shiro – enjoyed the foods his cousin served, even though they normally don’t eat anything else other than those that are prepared by Minoru himself. “This is very good!”

“Eheheheh, thanks!” The redhead shyly scratched her head after getting praised by so many – even Enjin couldn’t deny the tastiness of the mushrooms and gave her a thumbs up on that one…reluctantly.

After they ate they got ready for bed, and everyone seemed to enjoy the sleep.

Except for Akira.

She’s still worrying about a lot of things, like, how she’s going to suppress her “bestial instincts”, how she’s going to fight without a D-Tector, how the surgery’s going to be, what if she lose an arm during the process, will the surgery hurt or not, what if the anesthetics don’t work but they thought it worked and cut down her arm…

Ugh.

So many bad thoughts.

Akira felt a shudder upon her negative thoughts and decided that she needs to go out and take a breather. She looked at the sleeping BushiAgumon – wondering why this dinosaur was grouped up with her before leaving her room. She walked towards the outside of the hotel, and looked into the starry sky.

She wondered how Sapphira’s doing right now.

“What, can’t sleep?”

Sora’s voice came from behind, and prompted the redhead to take a look at him. Smiling at each other, they sat right beside each other – not too close, of course. They don’t want to give out the wrong impression towards anyone at all. Both of them looked into the starry sky, and none of them really spoke a word.

“…say.”

“Hmm?”

Akira started the conversation.

“Do you… miss the human world?”

Sora looked at her with one-kind of look, before he chuckled, and looked back to the sky. “Well, not entirely… but yes, yes I do miss my family and my hometown.”

“How long have you been in the Digital World anyway?” Akira raised an eyebrow towards his odd behavior just now, but decided to say nothing about it.

“Huh… it’s been quite a while,” The young man looked down, letting the wind to blow his long hair freely. “More like, I’m stuck here for a while, haha.”

“…hmm,” The teenager looked back to the sky. “What were you, in the human world?”

“You mean what’s my occupation?” Sora blinked at the odd way of questioning. “Well, I suppose I’m a part time pianist-”

“SERIOUS?!”

“Yeah,” He chuckled. “I even get some jobs to play the piano sometimes in the Digital World too. It was nothing big.”

“Wow…” Akira now was smiling at him. “You don’t seem like the type of the guy that works as a pianist though… I’m pretty sure you worked as a business manager or some sort of teacher in college or university. I mean, you ARE very smart in strategies and calculating…”

“Hahaha, I get that a lot ever since I started my living in the Digital World,” Sora chuckled again, listening to the familiar words that people have been talking about him, before descending into a gloomy thought. “Well… I have to be stronger to survive…”

That’s so true. Akira had the same thought as he was. It was because of that she trained so hard, and even sought out for the Beast Spirit. But what happened? She destroyed a whole town, mercilessly killing and torturing a huge bunch of people. It leaded her back to depression, and she hugged herself a little bit… not too much, of course. She doesn’t want to show her weakness after all. Not in front of this stranger.

“Well, it’s getting very late. Go to sleep Akira-san,” Sora smiled at her in a kind way, before standing up from his sitting place – patting off some sands off his pants. “We have jobs to do tomorrow.”

“Okay…” The younger teen nodded, and stood up as well – doing the same motion as Sora did. “Good night.”

“Good night to you too.”

= = =

“Hey, did you hear that?”

“Some bandits looking for something?”

“Yeah, apparently, it’s a ruby that they’re looking for.”

“Huh. Rubies eh. Luckily we’re a very small and poor town… none of us are able to afford a ruby or a sapphire.”

“Thank god, right? But I can’t help but worry…”

“Yeah… after all, they’re bandits…”

Rumors of some Digimons looking for the rubies have spread into the town. Akira couldn’t help but being pressured by the rumors. If they knew she had the ruby, would they…

“Hey Akira-san, you’ve been holding that one for quite a long time,” Shiro called towards her, looking at the seed that she’s supposed to be planting for some while.

“Oh! Sorry. Don’t mind me hahaha!”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

She faked a smile towards the WhiteAgumon, and continued her job.

Well, as long as they don’t find out, it’ll be alright… She thought.

= = =

After a few days (less than a week) working, they finally got the money for the supplies they needed and covered the costs that they have used. In addition, each of them has different achievements through these past few days.

Shiro (alongside with Akira) learned a lot regarding the Digital World, and his notebook is filled with notes and smiling faces (which is a rare side of the usually cold and aloof WhiteAgumon). Akira herself got the most out of this – free mushrooms. And thanks for her hard work, which the mushrooms seemed to grow more than usual, the Mushroomon decided to give an extra pack of mushrooms for free as a reward – towards EACH of them. The Mushroomon took a liking towards Shiro, too, as he never saw one with such enthusiasm to learn about their mother world as he did.

Sora managed to promote the grandma’s fruit stall and made a lot of selling. He also took Minoru with him (and dressed him up – not as a girl, as Sora knew a man’s pride should be honored) to promote the fruit stall alongside with him. Many of them were captured/fascinated by Minoru’s [s]beauty (even in a guy’s outfit he looks pretty cute)[/s] mannerism and decided to purchase the fruits from their stall. Sora also made plans on how to make this stall even bigger and more successful than it was, and sold his plans to the grandma (who refuses to take it without giving him some money) to make this a blast. So far, the stall has became from a wreck to a fancy fruit stall that’s filled with colors and liveliness – they’ve hired more people to help out the stall out from the money that they earned in the past few days.

Kuro, decided to learn something from Enjin, helped him out with the manly job of building houses. They worked from places to places to build different simple houses. To the customer’s surprises, the houses can be done in a single day! And these two were just amazing as partners. It was weird, because they were always fighting (verbally) against each other while building the houses. Sure they have got some complains, but the customers were very happy at the ending product and decided to talk the complainers out, leaving the two dinosaurs out of trouble.

They took the bits off and went for supplies shopping. Since they have already got some packs of mushrooms for free, they only need to buy a few food supplies. They bought a lot of water and also a cart. Interestingly, there are a few shops selling very expensive but useful items for them to walk well and fight well in the desert as they’re fighting in a smooth terrain with average temperature for all Digimons and humans – but only last for a week. The cost of these items were already calculated within Sora’s mind (with a secretly proud smile) so they don’t need to worry about spending too much on these expensive goodies. They also bought extra clothing and jacket for the humans just in case if the battles became too brutal and ripped off their clothes or something… especially for Akira, Minoru thought, since she’s a girl and it’s not good for her to expose too much.

After they are finally done with shopping, they restarted their journey through the desert. This time, with fully prepared items and extra batteries for the mysterious device that Sora’s holding onto.

But Akira couldn’t help but wondering about something that she wanted to ask for a long time…

= = =

“Hey Sora, I’m a bit curious,” She voiced out to the human man, who turned his attention towards her. “Why don’t we prepare all of these beforehand?”

“Hmm, I was hoping someone would ask actually,” Sora chuckled. “Well, first, we don’t really have the money. Second, if I were to voice this out before we even know how bad the desert would be, do you think those two will agree with me?” He glanced towards the black-skinned Agumon and the armored Agumon.

“W-Well…” Akira imagined that the BlackAgumon would be like “It’ll be fine! If Minoru can’t walk, I’ll carry him! If there are enemies, I’ll beat ‘em! No worries no worries!” while the BushiAgumon would be like “Hmph. A true samurai doesn’t need all of these! Foods and waters will be enough! The rest are challenges that I shall face and conquer!” and walked into the desert without an exact proper preparation.

“Plus,” The young man continued to walk as he spoke. “I’m very confident that the town can be reached in less than a day…” That earned a curious look from Akira. “…I’ve had mission here before, so I know. And that’s when I get this device anyway.”

“O-Oh…” The redhead blinked as she got the answers, and there seemed to be something more to ask the eldest one… but.

“Give us that ruby!”

“Give us that girl!”

“Cut off her arms!”

“WHAT?! NEVER!!!” Minoru once again reacted very aggressively against those that wanted to cut his cousin’s arm.

“Heh, you guys again… don’t you people learn?” The BlackAgumon stepped forward with a smirk, while his twin stood behind him, glaring at those Togemons. Enjin prepared his flaming claws, while Sora took the D-Tector on hand ready to turn into his spirit form.

“Ha, I know how incapable they are, that’s why I came out to lead them!” It was a Lilymon. “I’m the infamous bandit queen, Lily of the Desert! You all shall bow down and listen to me!” She has a distinctive hair color – which was red instead of green (Akira suspected if she dyed it for the sake of being a bad girl) and she had a red bandana on her right arm.

“Eh, they have a leader.”

“Not very surprising.”

“Yeah, and I doubt they can top us with element advantage…”

“Mind you, our terrain advantage isn’t very high.”

“Hmm…” Sora smiled at his fellow comrades. “I have a plan.”

“Uuuuuuhhhh!!! STOP BICKERING AROUND!!!” The Lilymon couldn’t stand the non-chalant chit-chats they were having below her. “Go, Togemons, crush them!!!”

“There they come…!”

“Ready everyone!”

“BlackAgumon digivolve to…!”

“WhiteAgumon armor digivolve to…!”

“BushiAgumon digivolve to…!”

“Lightning Insect Spirit, execute…!”

“Come Minoru, let’s hide.”

“Y-Yes!”

The four battlers stood at their position, and their frames grew bigger and bigger. Unlike how the battle was when they first came to the desert – they could not go all out to preserve strength – now they can go full power without the worry of being easily exhausted. Like how when Akira witnessed the first battle against the Vitramon, they took the same forms as BlackGeoGreymon, LightSaggitarimon, Yasyamon (Enjin), and also Searchmon (B-Spirit). It started off with Sora (as Searchmon) setting up a barrier to defend the non-combaters and also the ranger – Shiro (as LightSaggitarimon) – from the attacks of the Togemons (and possibly the Lilymon).

However, the opponents did not flinch at the growth of strength of the misfit band.

“Togemon, formation A!!!”

Instead, they listened to their leader’s commands, and formed a line in front of the barrier – ignoring the two battlers that came forth to them.

“Ready… FIRE!!!”

“NEEDLE SPRAY!!!”

Sora’s eyes widened as they started to rain barrages of needles against them. Kuro and Enjin quickly retreated into the barrier as the needles were really painful to even brace it against them. The needles deflected on the electromagnetic barrier, but Sora was having a bad time fending those needles off as they just keep on coming at them.

“A team, switch! B team, follow close to them and move forward everybody! C team, ready to switch!” The Lilymon, despite how she looked, is quite a capable leader and the Togemons suddenly became threatening under her command. The reason why the needles are not stopping is because of the switch of teams that keeps the attack continuous – to not give them a breather. She flashed a taunting smirk towards the misfit band, which Sora had to admit…

She’s good.

“Guys, I have a plan.”

“Move in, move in!!!”

“This barrier couldn’t hold much longer, and the needles are not useful in close range, so they would need to switch to melee. Also, the leader has started to look down on our abilities,” The Searchmon quietly told the people below him what to do. “…and lastly, after the barrier is released, Shiro quickly take the other two and run away just in case… while we’ll stay here and fight them off, clear?”

“Clear.”

“The barrier’s gonna break! Continue!”

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the barriers are dispersed, the Togemons came close to them… You’re walking right into my vicinity...! The Searchmon flashed out the electric surges that he has been accumulating since the attack has started, and turned the remaining electromagnetic field into surges of electricity. “Here’s a present for all of you, Status Busy!” The Searchmon unleashed the lightning bolts towards every Togemon that came into his area of effect. “Blame yourself… for being powerless!”

“W-What?!”

“What is this?!”

“It’s not painful but… I can’t move…!”

“Lily!”

“Boss!!!”

“S-Shit…!” The Lilymon – the only one that’s not being paralyzed – did not expect these to happen. “The information I get didn’t say anything of this…! Dammit. RETREAT!!! RETREAT!!!”

“Hmph, I won’t let you!!!” Enjin and Kuro reacted quick as the Togemons were being paralyzed by the lightning bolt. Kuro unleashed a barrage of flame attacks towards the hapless Togemons, while Enjin tried out some new tactics towards the Togemons. Both of them seemed to be damaging them greatly and rendering them vulnerable. Shiro shot three electrified arrows towards the Togemons and pushed some of them back… however, the normal arrows that he shot later didn’t seemed to do much damage except for a simple “Ouch”.

“Hmm, this doesn’t really work on them…” Shiro frowned through his mask, searching for other options – should he charge up another Judgment Arrow? But that would delay the attack and it only hit 3 opponents at one time… and it seemed that the time for paralyzing is going to worn off soon.

“I think I’ve known their weaknesses,” Sora’s robotic voice rang above them, before his body started to glow and shifted into a smaller frame. “Slide Evolution… MetallifeKuwagamon,” Sora turned into a more robotic insect, covered with golden armors and beam-shooter-stuffs on his fingers. Akira was so amused by how different his form and aura changed from Searchmon to MetallifeKuwagamon… because now he’s full of killing intent rather than protective as he was in Searchmon’s form.

“Guard them well, Shiro,” The newly transformed humanoid beetle spoke... “I shall do some cactus hunting…or cutting,” …before smiling under the helmet and shooting himself into the fray, started to slice through the Togemons. From the center-point of his palm, a glow emerged and a blade made of beam was created. It was as long as a rapier, and since it’s created with beam, it’s able to cut through a lot of things – which are especially useful against the Togemons who only have protections from their plant, cactus frame.

The three of them were pretty dumbfounded by the sudden change and the prowess demonstrations of the MetallifeKuwagamon. Enjin smirked behind his mask against the hidden strength of the Spirit Digimon, while Kuro seemed to be amazed by the sleekness of the strategist of the group, who managed to carry out such beautiful massacre… despite how he normally portrayed as an intelligent, decorous businessman.

This man truly is multitalented, in a sense.

“Heh, we can’t lose to this guy then…! Nova Blast!!!” The GeoGreymon unleashed a barrage of giant fireballs towards the Togemons, which most of them caught on its flames and running around yelling in pain – the paralysis has worn off! But it does not stop them from getting hurt, even though they tried to retreat.

“Right… Ken-Atsu,” The Yasyamon calmly announced the technique that he’s going to use, and covered his boken with wind pressures – turning them into invisible katanas in a disguise of bokens. He swung the boken up high towards the one that’s going to punch on him, and make a turn to slice another one that’s coming from the side. Neither of the Togemons managed to deal damage on him – what’s worse - they got themselves with some very bad injury that’s pretty bad to heal with!

But the worst cases of injuries happened to those that fought the MetallifeKuwagamon – not only they got these cuts from him, the cuts are fused with burns as well! These are some injuries that are going to take a very long time to heal with… “Not even the kind sun is going to help regenerate your wounds anymore… plants.”

“…”

“…”

“…Judgment Arrow.”

The three behind Sora who are the closest to him heard the taunt/joke he made… and it was so bad that Akira and Minoru felt their heat lifted up a little… while Shiro just shoot 3 electric-charged arrows towards the ones that Sora missed out – knocking them back to Sora and let him cut them off.

Though he almost couldn’t react due to the joke/taunt that Sora just made.

Someone needs to have a word with him after the battle…

That was what the three of them were thinking at the same time.

“No… Nonono! My Togemons!!!” Lily was horrified by the sudden change of event… everything were going perfectly fine a few moments ago! Why did this happen… Why… It wasn't because of the terrain neither it’s because of the element advantages! She looked at the MetallifeKuwagamon, and glared at him furiously. “You… You shall be the one I must take out first…!”

With that in mind, she charged towards the occupied beetle in high speed and readied her attack. “Flower Wreath!!!”

When did she…?! The golden humanoid was pretty surprised by the sudden appearance of the agile Lilymon, and in a split of second, he’s being tied up with ropes of vines and flowers. He didn’t even have time to react and counter with his beam blades (which are easy to cut through these vines) against her sudden burst of speed. “Ugh…!”

“I shall destroy you…! Point Blank –” She thrust both her arms forward, creating the gun muzzle from the petals on its wrist, and place it at zero distance from the MetallifeKuwagamon’s head. Disregarding the widening eyes and the endless struggle from the golden beetle, the Lilymon was determined to fire the cannon off. “Flower Canno-!!!”

“THUNDER RAY!!!”

A beam of light was shot from some distance, and it hit right onto the arm of the Lilymon, sending her flying further away from Sora.

“UWAHHH!!!”

“Human!!!” Enjin came to the side of the MetallifeKuwagamon immediately, and cut the vine ropes off from the spirit user.

“Ha!” Kuro immediately freed himself from the Togemons that decided to gang up on him, and rushed towards the Lilymon who’s struggling to get up from the ground. The shot was so fast and so powerful, that one of the Togemon that tried to stop it lost an arm towards it. Lily was hit on the arm right at the spot from that attack, and it rendered the arm useless for the rest of the battle.

“Ugh… You… pesky little…!”

“Give up already!” Sora stood up and pointed his blade towards the Lilymon, looking down at her from the higher ground. “You have no chance against us!”

“All the Togemons are being beaten badly, and most of them retreated already,” Saggitarimon, alongside with Akira and Minoru on his back, moved forward and surrounded the Lilymon. True to what he said, all the Togemons are on the floor, moaning in pain from the cuts and burns, while some already fled the battle. Even though none of them were dead, they were all pretty much invulnerable and unable to battle or even move any longer.

Lily still struggled to get up from the ground… instead she smirked and started to laugh as she found herself unable to do so anymore. “Fine. You guys win,” She seemed to give up on getting up, but she’s not very satisfied or willing to surrender in a happy way. “Heh. I knew that this was a scam after all… saying what, they’re easy preys and there’s easy money a great leader such as the bandit queen, Lily of the Desert, ME, to earn… Dammit.”

“What?” Sora first blinked, then frowned. “Who told you this information?”

“Heh. Who knows,” The Lilymon just smirked at the man who beat her down in terms of prowess and strategy… and great teammates. “It’s just a cloaked Digimon, coming to my hideout, and just gave me all of these information… and a videotape of how you guys fought some crazy Vitramon…” She chuckled in pain once again. “I knew there’s something wrong when he offered me a million bucks for getting the ruby on that woman’s hand…”

“A MILLION!!!” Kuro’s eyes widened. “That’s… That worths more than what we should earn in transporting the ruby!!!”

“More than you know, black guy,” The Lilymon slumped to the ground, finding herself losing energy. “It seemed that the ruby is a very valuable, and this info is not only offered to me, but also a lot of other people throughout the whole Digital World,” Lily continued to speak as she smirked at how misfortunate the group is… or fortunate for themselves to get such a valuable shit that does things that none still understands. “That’s why I took my chance when you guys are the weakest, but apparently… you guys are not as what they said!”

“Hmm…” Sora took his time to digest all the information that he just got it from the Lilymon, but still, he couldn’t help but being suspicious about this Digimon. “Why are you telling us all of this?”

“Because I HATE that guy who tricked me to this!” The Lilymon started to get agitated… but at the same time, the Spirit user notices something glowing at her wings. “He made me use my Togemons, and they’re now hurt because of him!!!” The glow became stronger and stronger, before the pseudo-Digimon, the Yasyamon and the LightSaggitarimon noticed and picked up what was going to happen.

“DODGE, EVERYONE!”

“SECURE THE NON-COMBATANTS!!!”

“BRACE YOURSELF!!!”

A burst of light blinded the people surrounding the Lilymon, but it only lasted for a while. When they opened their eyes, the Lilymon was gone and so was the Togemons. They were already pretty far away from them and still running. It seemed that the Lilymon has took her chance to heal the Togemons until they could at least move and run while they were still being blinded by the light and defending the most vulnerable people.

“Hahahaha! Suckers! You will never catch me and I’ll continue my way of bandit!!!” Lily gave them a ghost face – especially at Sora – before she turned around and run along with the Togemons.

“Urgh, we let them go…!” Kuro was ready to go and chase after them, but Enjin held him back.

“Let them go,” Sora spoke as he released the spirit form and returned being a human. “I don’t think they will come after us later.”

“Heh, after all,” The Yasyamon spoke as he pointed at his feet. “We’ve got these goodies that no one could stop us from fighting in disadvantage terrains anymore.”

“True,” The LightSaggitarimon nodded as he devolved into WhiteAgumon. “I agree that we should stop pursuing them.”

“Phew…” Minoru was glad that the battle is over, while Akira felt guilty that she couldn’t help them with anything and is the one that’s being protected. Again.

“Cheh. Fine,” The BlackGeoGreymon spat at the ground before devolving into BlackAgumon as well.

“I guess we should continue our journey, then?” Sora smiled at them, and received a nod from everyone – while the Yasyamon finally devolved back into BushiAgumon with an acknowledging smirk. Seeing that everyone’s ready to go, he nodded and turned around. “Great. Let us go.”

“OHHH!!!”

= = =

“Heheheheheh… I’ve got it…” From the far away land in the desert, there’s a pair of sinister eyes that have been watching them, and recording their movements. “Here, send this to the Lord,” He gave the tape towards the DemiDevimon, who nodded and flapped his wings, entering a portal of some sort that brought him towards another land.

“Heheheheheh… We will get that Dragon’s Tear… and we shall rule the world…!!!” The creature continued its monologue.

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!!!”