"Hey, this is Tai. Last time, we were headed for Gennai's to find out more about Kari's crest, and possibly a little more about Gatomon. When we got there, we got the surprise of our life, when we found Leomon waiting for us. Leomon told us about this new evil digimon, called Raptormon, and how he had brought Ogermon to Server. Meanwhile, Raptormon took over Myotismons castle, and sent Demidevimon to distract us, when we left for the castle the next morning. When we emerged from the lake, Demidevimons forces attacked, and everyone except for Patamon and Gatomon digivolved. The battle was short though, and as one of the Gazimon left, shot another digimon, Pyromon, out of the sky. While we saw to Pyromons injuries, Raptormon and Ogermon snuck up behind us, and all of our digimon fired at both of them. But the victory was short lived, as Raptormon proved that he was tougher than he looked, and countered with his Sonic Blast, which returned everyone back to their rookie stage. Gomamon digivolved, and continued the attack, as I convinced Patamon to digivolve, and help out. When Ikkakumon was defeated, Patamon digivolve to Angemon, and continued the attack. Meanwhile, Matt gave Gabumon some food, and he managed to change back into Garurumon, and then digivolved into WearGarurumon. It looked like the battle was over, until Raptormon digivolved to Rexmon, and captured all of the digimon but Patamon and Gatomon. That is when Pyromon joined the fight, and something strange happened, I made him digivolve to Dragimon. Dragimon was able to fight off Rexmon and Ogermon, and they escaped with Agumon and the others. It was then that we found out that we needed to search for new digimon to help us rescue our friends, so we set off to find these new digimon, while Leomon rallied together all of the good digimon to battle Rexmon, and save our friends."
The castle was darker than usual, as Demidevimon flew through the hall that led to the throne room, where his new master, Rexmon awaited the report of his latest scheme to get rid of the digi-destined and their chances of getting their friends back. As he entered the throne room, he saw that Rexmon was not in the throne, but once again out on the balcony.
The small digimon flew out to the balcony. "Master," Demidevimon started, "the project that you ordered us to begin work on is nearly completed."
"Excellent," Rexmon began, "Soon those brats will be no more, and I will rule the Digital World." He then began to laugh historically.
It had taken them almost three days, but they had finally left the forest, that they had entered back at the lake. The eight digi-destined and their three digimon Patamon, Gatomon, and the newest member of the team, Pyromon, were now in search of the six new digimon that Gennai had told them about. Pyromon, was the first, and had taken Agumons place, as Tai's partner. None of them could believe that only three days had passed since Agumon, Biyomon, Tsunomon, Tentomon, Gomamon, and Palmon had been captured by Rexmon and Ogermon.
Tai led the group out of the forest, followed by his sister Kari and her digimon, Gatomon, and Pyromon, who was flying just above them, then came Matt and TK with Patamon, then Izzy, Sora, Joe, and bringing up the rear, as usual, was Mimi. Suddenly, Sora's crest floated out from under her shirt, and floated in front of her, glowing. Izzy watched with interest, "Now that's odd."
"What do you mean?" Asked TK.
"Our tags have not done anything like that since we found all of the crests." Izzy explained, he then thought for a moment, "It might mean that we are getting close to Sora's new partner."
"How do you figure that?" Sora asked.
"Well, remember when we were searching for Kari, and when we finally found her Digivice, how Myotismons goons all had copies of Kari's tag?"
"They all glowed when they were near to Kari's Digivice." Joe said.
"Exactly," Izzy began, "Well, I surmise that the crests act as a type of tracker, whenever we need to find something that it is connected to."
"So you are saying, that our tags will lead us to our new digimon partners?" Matt asked.
"Precisely. Just as I believe that when we return to Rexmons castle, they will lead us to our friends." Izzy explained.
While this conversation was going on, Tai was looking through his monocular, over the lay of the land, when he spotted something that he thought that he would never see again, "Hey everyone, check this out." Everyone looked at Tai, and then rushed over to him.
"What is it Tai?" Kari asked her big brother.
"Something that I thought that we had seen the last of, a black gear."
"Are you sure Tai?" Sora asked, a little concerned.
Tai looked through his monocular again, "No doubt about it, that is a black gear, and it looks like it is going to land in the middle of that clearing out there."
Sora moved up to where Tai was standing, "Then that means that there is some poor digimon, that is going to become one of Rexmons unwilling servants."
"Tai," Kari asked, "what exactly does a black gear do?"
Tai looked at his sister confused for a moment, until he remembered that Kari had only just came to the Digiworld. "Well," Tai began, "the black gears, are some sort of device, that turns good digimon into bad ones." Tai looked at the area where the gear had landed again, "We first encountered them when we fought with Devimon, and they did a lot of damage. He even turned Leomon against us."
"Yeah, those black gear are bad news," Matt put in, "but thankfully they are no match for our Digivices."
Kari pulled out her own Digivice, and looked at it. "This thing has that much power?" She asked.
"Yes it does," Joe put in, "But if you don't mind, one black gear usually means that more are in the area, so I think that we should get out of here, and try to find Sora's digimon."
Nobody could come up with an argument for that, and they continued on, following the glow of Sora's Crest of Love.
Ogermon appeared in front of Rexmon, and began his report, "I witnessed the gear fall into a clearing near to where our scouts said that they had spotted those kids."
"Then it is only a matter of time before they come up to my latest solder." Demidevimon flew into the throne room, and nodded to Rexmon. "Keep me apprised of the situation Ogermon." Rexmon said, and then switched off the image. He then looked at Demidevimon, "So we are ready to proceed?"
"Everything is ready Master." The small digimon reported.
"Excellent." Rexmon said, as he stood up and walked out of the throne room, with Demidevimon close behind him. They trekked through the castle, until they had come up to some sort of torture chamber. Inside of the chamber, hung six digimon. Rexmon walked up to one of them, "Your friends don't know when to quit do they, Agumon."
Agumon looked at Rexmon with anger in his eyes, "You will find that they are full of surprises Rexmon."
"So I have seen." He then walked in front of Tsunomon, and suddenly grabbed him by the horn, and pulled him away from the wall. Tsunomon screamed in pain. "How pathetic," Rexmon said, with a hint of amusement, "It is amazing, that you were able to defeat Devimon, Etemon, and Myotismon. Especially, in such week forms." Rexmon then let Tsunomon's horn go, and he slammed back into the wall.
Biyomon was enraged by this, and attempted to get loose from her chains, but only succeeded in drawing Rexmons attention. "And I take it that you want to, how your friends say," Rexmon pretended to think for a moment, "Get a piece of me."
"You bet I do" Biyomon said, "I am not afraid of you Rexmon."
"Brave words little digimon," Rexmon brought his claw up, and brought it down across Biyomons face, leaving a large scratch mark, "But utterly useless." Rexmon then grabbed Biyomon, and pulled her towards him. He then turned to the other digimon, "See now what happens to those that oppose me." His hand then began to glow, and he began to pump energy out of Biyomon, till she devolved back into Yokomon. Rexmon then threw her little body against the wall, and left her there, as he left the room.
When the door slammed shut, Yokomon let out a low groan, and looked up. "Are you ok Yokomon?" Palmon asked.
"I think that I will be fine," Yokomon said in response, "Or at least I will, when I digivolve, and get my wings around Rexmons throat."
"Now you are starting to sound like Biyomon again already." Tentomon said.
"Just hold out everyone," Agumon said, "Tai and the others will come to get us, I just know it."
"I hope that you are right" said Gomamon, "Because if you are wrong, it is going to be very bad for us all."
Sora suddenly stopped, and hunched over, placing her hands on her knees. Matt and TK ran over to her, and soon were joined by the rest of the group. "Are you ok Sora?" Mimi asked.
"I think so," Sora said, "I just had this intense feeling of pain." Sora then stood back up, and everyone gasped, as they saw her crest. Sora then looked down at it, and found that the heart on it was in two halves. "It must mean that something has happened to Biyomon." Tears began to form in Sora's eyes, as a lour roar came from in front of them.
All of the kids looked up, as saw what appeared to be a Stegosaurus walking on two legs in front of them. "Don't worry, it is a friend of mine," Pyromon said, "His name is Spikemon."
Izzy began to pull out his computer to check his analyzer, when Spikemon charged them. Everyone jumped out of the way, except for Gatomon, who jumped up, and landed on Spikemons back. It was then that she saw it. "Hey," She yelled back to the rest of the group, "I think that I found the gear that you were talking about before." But before she could say anything more, Gatomon was thrown off of Spikemons back, and right into Kari's arms.
"Boom Bubble" Patamon yelled.
"Fire Breath" Pyromon added in.
Both attacks hit home, but neither one did any good to destroy the black gear. Spikemon then charged again, this time at Sora. Tai tried to reach her, but was to far away, but then suddenly a yellow and black blur went in front of Spikemons path, and Sora was gone. Spikemon rammed into a tree, knocking it over.
Everyone looked around, and finally spotted Sora, up in a tree with a yellow and black feline digimon, that looked like it had small wings on it. "Who is that?" Tai asked.
"That is Purrmon," Gatomon said, "She is an aerial feline that can move at incredible speeds. She is also very clever, and has a heart bigger than a Whamon."
Purrmon then jumped down to the ground, and charged at Spikemon, she jumped up, and began to spin in midair. "Tail Slash" she yelled, as her tail came down hard on the larger digimons armored back. She then jumped back, and landed near Mimi and Kari, who had taken shelter behind the fallen tree.
"Stay down you two, I am going to try to lead him away." Purrmon got no arguments from the girls, as she jumped away from them.
Sora watched this up in the tree, and took a moment to look at her crest, which was glowing. Realizing what this meant, she quickly climbed down the tree, and ran over to Tai. "She's the one Tai."
Tai looked up at Sora, and then at her crest, which was glowing. They were interrupted though, when Purrmon jumped in between them, and grabbed both of their arms. "This is no place for you digi-destined to be right now." And without another word, she leapt into the one of the trees with Tai and Sora along for the ride.
They then heard Spikemon yell "Spike Attack" and saw several large spikes hit the tree that was behind were they were just at.
Tai's Digivice began to glow, "Pyromon digivolve to ..Dragimon." He then saw Dragimon fly over top of them all.
"I have to help him," Purrmon told Tai and Sora, "Stay here." And she jumped back down into the battle, only to emerge again with Mimi and Kari, then Matt and Izzy and finally, Joe and TK.
"Be careful Purrmon." Sora yelled, as her Digivice began to glow.
Purrmon landed on the ground, and rushed into battle. But before she could reach the battle, Purrmon stopped, and started to glow. "She is the one," Sora said, "She is digivolving."
"Purrmon digivolve to ..Tigramon."
A larger cat stood where Purrmon stood. She still had the wings, but other than that, she looked like some sort of supper tiger. Izzy pulled out his computer, and accessed his analyzer, "Here she is, Tigramon." Izzy read out loud "She is a flying cat digimon, of the data type. Her main attack, is the Blue Fire, which is hot enough to melt a metal beam in just a few seconds." Everyone then turned their attention to the battle.
"Tigramon," Dragimon called down from above the trees, "Distract him, and I will go for the gear on his back."
"You got it Dragimon" Tigramon responded. She then looked at Spikemon, and opened her mouth, "Blue Fire". The flame hit Spikemon, and he stumbled back.
Dragimon took this opportunity to get rid of the gear, "Lava Flame" and a fireball leapt out of his mouth, and hit the gear on Spikemons back, incinerating it. Dragimon then reverted back to Pyromon, and Tigramon reverted back to Purrmon.
Pyromon quickly went to his friend, "Are you ok big guy?"
"I think so little buddy." Spikemon said, as he was helped up, "What happened?"
By this time the kids had climbed down from the tree, and were all gathered around the large digimon. "You were being controlled by a black gear. But now that it is destroyed, and you are back to normal now." Izzy told Spikemon.
"I am sorry about attacking you, If there is anything that I can do to help you out, just let me know, and I will do it."
Tai thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers, "A friend of ours, Leomon, is putting together a strike force, to fight against Rexmon, and the other evil digimon."
Spikemon thought about it, "Then I will go and join this group."
"THEY DID WHAT?" Rexmon yelled at Demidevimon.
"They defeated the black gear that we sent out," Demidevimon repeated to Rexmon, "And they found another one of the six new digimon."
Rexmon settled back in his throne, and looked out the door to his balcony. "And to make matters worse, I have heard reports that that fool Leomon is putting together a strike force that he will lead against me when the digi-destined return with their new digimon." Rexmon paused for a moment, "We must stop those blasted kids, no matter the cost. I want the black gears released, as soon as they are finished. By the time that I am done, every good digimon on Server will be fighting on my side."
"It will be done Master." Demidevimon said, and then flew off to carry out his orders.
"So let me get this straight," Purrmon said, "your partners have been captured, and you are on a quest to find those six digimon that were prophesized will become your new partners, in order to take in Rexmon, and Ogermon."
"Yeah, that about sums it all up." Matt said, as he stoked the fire that they had built when night fell.
"And that was the reason that I digivolve before?"
"Yeah," Sora said, "apparently, you and I are to be partners, until we can get Biyomon and the others back. Will you please help us?"
Purrmon looked up at the night sky, and then back at the group that was awaiting her decision, whatever that would be. "Well, I guess that I have no other choice, especially, if this is the path that destiny intended for me to walk. Count me in."
"Finding Purrmon, has brought us one step closer to getting Biyomon and the others back, but there are still four other digimon out there that we need to find. And what has Rexmon got in store for us in the future, we will never know. But what we do know, is that we are once again becoming a team. And when we find those other four digimon, we will return to Rexmons castle, and rescue our friends, we will face Rexmon stronger than ever."
To Be Continued in Chapter 3: Leathermon's Swamp
