Chibi-Koushiro walks up. "Hi," he waves. "This series is NOT FOR KIDS. It is rated R for a reason. It was not arbitrarily assigned. If you are under 18 years old, and your parents won't let you see a rated R movie-- then you should NOT be reading this either."
Chibi-Koushiro coughed. "Anyway. The characters are properties of Toei Animation Inc., Akiyoshi Hongo and others. They are used without consent. Archive is only borrowing them for an indefinite amount of time.
"Strict Japanese spelling for all names when possible. If an English name for a digimon or his attack is used and you know what the name is supposed to be in Japanese-- please tell Archive so it can be corrected."
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"In an attempt to flee from King Etemon, we went in a direction he was unlikely to follow us, straight into a desert. Course, the reason he wouldn't go into it was because it was suicide to go there unprepared." Daisuke forced a laugh. "We damned near killed ourselves and saved the monkey the trouble of having to do it himself.
"Lucky for us we happened upon a cruise liner that sailed on the desert sands. Sure, it was run by pirates, but we kicked them off the ship and set course for the third crest since Mimi found the second one, Purity. Thankfully, Gennai left a few hints where to find the other crests in the cave where Taichi got the Crest of Courage."
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Gomamon had his eyes closed as he sat on the cruise ship's prow, enjoying the breeze ruffling his fur. He would be swimming in the ship's pool, had it not been for the fact that the Skelamon had used it and it reeked of foul death.
Daisuke stretched on a lounge chair. "This is the life." He grinned eyeing the bikini-clad appearance of the girls, particularly Mimi and Miyako. Why the ship was stocked with various swim wear, Motomiya didn't know and certainly didn't care. He frowned a little as Hikari caught him looking at the other girls.
"Should we really be relaxing now?" Wormmon wondered.
"Hey, best to get it while we can. Who knows when the next time will be," V-mon retorted, adjusting the sunglasses he currently wore.
"Yeah, just relax and be glad we don't have to walk," Daisuke added.
Wormmon nodded. Not having to walk any great distance was something he was rather happy about.
A Numemon appeared on the deck. "Got fresh Ice Tea! Who wants some?" He then frowned as everyone replied they wanted some.
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Koushiro frowned as Taichi stood near him on the ship's bridge. Daisuke was the team leader and should be here as they plotted their course, not 'Spineless Yagami.'
"The King Etemon's Coliseum is the only arena I know of," explained the Numemon who had been Cockatrimon's first mate. "We can reach there by midday tomorrow."
Taichi nodded. "Good. What about the other locations?"
"'Maze of Stones' could mean this area here, the Rocky Sea," the Numemon replied, pointing at the map. "We don't travel there for the stones travel out a fair distance just under the sands and isn't safe for the ship to sail. The 'Well of Wisdom' is unknown to me. And I've heard talk of a giant Sphinxmon statue that may be the 'Statue of Riddles,' but that is farther north and right next to one of King Etemon's bases."
"I guess our best course would be to investigate the Coliseum first and then the Rocky Sea," Koushiro surmised.
Taichi nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I want to take care of King Etemon quickly and then punch through the Kaiser's area."
The Numemon stared at him. "Are you mad?! King Etemon and the Kaiser are among the STRONGEST lords known, but beyond the Kaiser lies the Lord of Death, Vamdemon. His power and cunning is beyond imagine. Only surpassed by the Dark Masters."
Taichi frowned deeply as he stared down at his sister, who was laying out on the deck, but he did not give a reply to Numemon's statement.
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Hikari's eyes shot open. Her dilated pupils jumped around, scanning every inch of the room making sure it was empty. She slowly sat up as she began to relax from her nightmare. She had dreamt that Hookmon had come into her room and took... liberties with her body while she slept.
Hikari shook her head. It was rather unlikely Hookmon had done anything considering she had been his prisoner for only a couple hours before Mimi came to the rescue. Though in a strange way, Hookmon raping her while she slept wasn't as disturbing as the other dreams she remembered. The images she got from those were too horrific for her to utter. She didn't want to believe what she saw in her restless sleep was real, yet she was sure it was.
Hikari slowly lowered herself into bed, sleep heavy in her eyes. She let out a hollow laugh. "Being raped by a would-be pirate is a tame dream."
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King Etemon tapped the armrest of his metallic throne impatiently. "Are the preparations completed?"
A Gazimon appeared on the main monitor. "Yes, my King. All we need now are the 'guests of honor.'"
King Etemon grinned. "Excellent. A little birdie told me that the 'guests' will arrive midday tomorrow. Give them a rockin' good time."
"We shall," the Gazimon replied before the monitor went blank.
A side monitor displayed the image of Pico Devimon who didn't look entirely pleased. "'Birdie,' indeed. You shall be awarded if you succeed."
"Doesn't that look inviting," Patamon commented with a shudder as a giant stone arena loomed into view.
Takeru nodded. It certainly didn't seem to be a friendly place. He then looked at his inactive tag. "Anyone's tag reacting?"
The others glanced at their tags and shook their heads.
Daisuke shrugged. "This'll suck if it's here and it's meant for Gomamon's partner."
Miyako slapped the back of Motomiya's head lightly. "Best not to jinx us, 'fearless leader.' Now let's go find the thing."
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The Chosen cautiously entered the arena's main floor. They had yet to spot anything resembling a crest. They paused seeing a lone Gazimon standing in the middle of the open ground, with a devilish smile on his face. They then looked at the arena seats with dismay as hundreds of Gazimon, Gizamon, Skelamon, Numemon, and various other digimon they could and could not name, even a Greymon.
"Welcome Chosen!" The Gazimon greeted, his voice amplified through a microphone. "Welcome to your death!"
"The great King Etemon has assembled these fine opponents for you." The gray-furred mammal pointed. "Gate number one, we have Triceramon."
The gate was ripped apart by two large hands as a half-human, half-triceratops emerged onto the field.
Gazimon continued. "Gate number two is Vermillimon."
A giant red lizard-like rhino plowed through his gate and flung the metal bars from his horn into the crowded seats. A deafening explosion thundered as another gate became clouded with dust and debris.
Gazimon laughed. "From gate three is the rather impatient Metal Greymon!"
From the cloud came a fearsome sight of an enormous Greymon with a metal cover its skull helmet, chest and right arm.
Agumon took a step back. "Guess that's my Perfection form."
"Hope we live to see it," Taichi replied in fear and awe.
"But that's not all folks!" Gazimon pointed straight up. "There is also the master of the air, Parrotmon!"
Daisuke smirked. "And for the good guys we have...."
"Paildramon!" cried out the half-dragon, half-insect jogress form of Wormmon and V-mon.
"Greymon!" added Taichi's Tyrannosaurus Rex.
"Birdramon!" "Togemon!" "Kabuterimon!" "Ikkakumon!" "Angemon!" "Holsmon!" "Garurumon!" the others followed in suit.
The Chosen digimon tried to work in pairs against the opposing digimon, but King Etemon's minions didn't seem to fight by any rule of combat. While Paildramon managed to hold his own in a wrestling match against Triceramon, the other Chosen digimon seemed to be no more than annoying flies to the other Perfection digimon they faced.
"Watch out!" Mimi screamed, not to the Chosen nor their digimon, but the spectators as Metal Greymon had fire missiles from his chest which had missed their mark and continued on into the seats.
The digimon viewing the battle suddenly became very worried for their lives and most of them bid a hasty retreat out the nearest exits.
"They're toying with us," Taichi commented angrily. He clutched his crest. "There has to be some way I can evolve Greymon."
"Just think courageous thoughts," Sora told him.
"I'm trying, but I'd rather find an exit and get out of here," Taichi admitted.
"At this point I'd say a tactical retreat would be a GOOD idea," Yamato added.
Hikari held the tag she had tightly. Though she felt weak from evolving Ikkakumon, she wanted to do more. To give him more power. Her brother and her friends needed help, and all she could do was watch. Her eyes widened and her face paled. That couldn't have just happened. It couldn't have!
The arena was pierced with an ear-splitting scream of pain.
Miyako whipped her head around. She could see Koushiro's face etched in unimaginable red-faced pain as his tortured screams wailed into the air. There was no need to ask what happened. Bile rose up into her throat as Triceramon was standing on what would be Izumi's lower legs.
Triceramon looked rather pleased with himself, knocking down their little dragon-man and crippling one of the alien creatures. He would be greatly rewarded. He then blinked as the purple insect dive-bombed him.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Kabuterimon yelled in unrestrained anger.
Triceramon laughed and tried to punch the insect, but he moved too fast. He was startled as Kabuterimon practically fed himself into the dinosaur's mouth, but then the beetle used all his might to push down with his legs on the lower jaw of Triceramon's mouth and pressed up with his four arms. The three-horned giant stumbled backwards, struggling to pull the insect free.
Metal Greymon knocked Kabuterimon out with his metallic trident arm. The insect tried to stand after crashing into the arena wall, but fell forward and devolved into his second stage baby form of Motimon.
Triceramon massaged his jaw. "Thanks."
"I don't fancy losing an ally while facing all of them pissed off," Metal Greymon replied coldly.
Miyako and Hikari were the first to reach Koushiro to see what they could do for him. His lower legs were beyond crushed. They didn't even exist.
Daisuke was grimly thankful that Koushiro had passed out from the pain. They had to do something, and he looked over at everyone as the battle took a brief lull. He blinked as his eyes passed over Hikari. "When did you get the Crest of Sincere Faith?"
"What?" Hikari looked at him confused.
Daisuke pointed at her chest. "How'd you get the crest?" He then shook his head as King Etemon's minions stepped forward once more. "Never mind. We need to settle this." He looked over at the elder Yagami, whose glazed expression was fixed on the fallen Chosen. "Taichi, as soon as you got the chance, get everyone away from here."
Taichi nodded dumbly.
Hikari glanced down at the tag she carried and wondered when she got the crest. Last she knew she had seen Koushiro get hurt and had to run to help him. She then looked up and frowned. "Daisuke, no," she whispered, somehow guessing his plan.
"HEY, MONKEY BUTT! I KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING US!" Daisuke yelled.
The giant view screens around the arena that had showed close-ups of the battle changed to the image of King Etemon glaring at Daisuke. "You DARE speak to the King of All Digimon like that!"
"Sure I do," Daisuke retorted. "How about we make this a little more sporting... IF you're not afraid, that is?"
"Why should _I_ be afraid? I'm the one in control, here," King Etemon retorted.
"Ah, but we can make things more interesting. A one-on-one duel," Daisuke announced. "We'll each select one fighter. The winner gets to make any demand he wants of the loser. Our demand is to let us go free."
"Heh. Fine, and WHEN the King wins, all you little kiddies will be sold into slave labor," King Etemon returned. "Better prepare to sing some jailhouse blues."
"Agreed. I choose Paildramon to represent us!" Daisuke pointed at his fused digimon partner.
Trumpets began to blare and an ornate gate on the farthest wall opened. Out of it rolled a red carpet. And upon it strode King Etemon. "The King is in the house!"
"Shit," Daisuke muttered under his breath.
While Triceramon, Metal Greymon and Vermillimon moved off the arena floor, Taichi and Yamato carried Koushiro and led everyone back to the ship.
"Let's dance," Paildramon spat as he charged forward.
"You'll need to learn how to shake your hips more, like this." King Etemon jumped and axe-kicked the side of the dragon's head, sending him flying into the arena's wall.
Daisuke gripped his D-3 tightly. He gritted his teeth in impotent fury as his joined partner was being beaten into a pulp. The monkey wasn't even using any special attacks as he rained blow after blow on the draconian-insect. Retreat was not an option. His friends needed time to escape. But there was more to this. If he could beat King Etemon now, they would have an easy time of getting the crests and be a step closer to winning this war. He had to win!
"Ready to submit to the King, baby?" King Etemon gloated.
Paildramon coughed up digital blood. "You're not my type."
King Etemon glared at the gay comment and kneed the dragon-man in the stomach.
"My King! My King!" the Gazimon announcer cried out over the arena's speakers. "The other Chosen are escaping on the ship!"
"What?!" King Etemon backhanded Paildramon, who fell to the ground and struggled to remain conscious.
"You tricked me!" King Etemon bellowed.
"Like you would've held to the agreement if we won," Daisuke retorted.
"No one insults the King like this and gets away with it," King Etemon growled. His hand shot out and grabbed the boy by the neck and lifted him into the air.
Daisuke struggled to breath as the monkey king squeezed his throat with unbearable force. "I won't let you win!"
"Like you can stop me," King Etemon snarled. "Huh?!"
Daisuke's body began to glow as his limbs went slack. A beam shot from him and struck Paildramon. Then, from his D-Terminal, an orange and a blue light leapt into the air and streak off into the distance.
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Miyako, Mimi, their digimon and one of the ship's Numemon had taken the task of watching Koushiro and the currently comatose Motimon. The rest of the Chosen and their digimon stood at the back of the ship, watching as the Coliseum grew increasingly smaller.
"Shouldn't we wait for Daisuke?" Hikari questioned.
"He'll catch up with us on Paildramon," Taichi replied, hoping he wasn't lying to his sister.
"What's that?" Takeru pointed.
They watched in wonderment as the blue streak of light went straight into Takeru's D-Terminal, while the orange light struck Hikari's.
Hikari's hands shook as she drew out the device and looked at the image her terminal now displayed, the Digimental of Courage. "No," she whispered. She looked up and her heart further sank into despair as an enormous white pillar erupted over the arena. From the pillar emerged a gigantic blue dragon that let loose a bellow of loss that sank all who heard the horrible cry into depression.
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"DAISUKE?!" Tears streamed down the mighty dragon's face. "Die, you fucking evil digimon! DIE!" The cannon on the dragon's back fired, letting loose massive destructive power but missed the intended target.
"Now you're swingin' them hips," King Etemon commented with a frown.
Imperial Dramon was the name of this evolution, but that didn't matter to him. He spared a glance at the body of his fallen partner. His rage built up another decimating blast of the positron laser cannon, which obliterated half the arena, taking Triceramon and Metal Greymon with it.
"Monkey Play!" King Etemon sent a volley of black lightning at the dragon, but whether the beast howled in pain from it, or was still mad with anger, the monkey couldn't tell. He tried to figure out how to deal with the imperial opponent as he had to run away from another laser attack which further sent his once grand arena into ruin.
Imperial Dramon got fed up with the damn monkey's jumping around and dove straight for him.
King Etemon couldn't dodge in time and found himself struggling to hold the dragon's mouth open. He then screamed in pain as the dragon spat out death from his maw. The agony continued as the dragon began to chew on him and then swallowed.
Imperial Dramon started to jerk and then black lightning coursed over his body. The dragon began to gag, but his throat burst open, spilling out King Etemon.
The monkey king shambled to his feet and called forth his dark lightning attack one last time.
"You... won't... win," Imperial Dramon's voice gurgled out before his body exploded into data.
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Author's notes:
Coming Next:
Episode 25 - Safe Ground
With their leader gone and Koushiro injured, can any place be safe for the Chosen to regroup and deal with their lose?
An omake for this entry would be in poor taste, so there isn't one.
Narutaki is the infamous detective of Steam Detectives.