From the Depths
Part 2 : The Arrival of Cobramon
By Dreamcatcher and Wulipix

“Wow! That was totally awesome!” Yuuchi exclaimed. “Umm...it’s not Manimon anymore, right?” Nanmimon was still peach in color, except he now looked similar to a small pony. He had three matching spikes on his head, a small green triangle on his forehead, and bright lavender eyes. He shook his head no. “I’m Nanmimon now, Yuuchi.” Marisa looked down at the large lizard staring back at her with bright blue eyes. Her body was purple with bright pink tiger stripes on her back, and she still had the curved crest on the back of her head. “I guess you’re not Chamamon, are you?” “Uh-uh. Now I’m Chamelamon,” she told Marisa.

“What happened to them?” Marisa asked the other kids. “They all digivolved,” Matt answered. “What’s that?” Yuuchi asked. “Digivolving is when your Digimon advances to the next level and become more powerful than before,” Izzy explained. “That’sss the truth,” Snakemon admitted. The large kiwi-green snake with two arms, golden-yellow eyes, a pale yellow belly, and a dark orange diamond pattern running down his back looked up at Marni. “I usssed to be Venomon, but I digivolved to Sssnakemon.”

“And I digivolved from Cubmon to Cheetamon, Zack,” Cheetamon exclaimed. Zack arched an eyebrow as he eyed this strange creature standing before him. He looked very similar to a cheetah back in Zack’s Old World, except he had a star on his stomach, and two gold bracelets on his front paws. He also had a smaller gold bracelet on his tail. Cheetamon still had the same dark green eyes he had when he was Cubmon.

“So, what do we do next?” Yuuchi asked as he looked at the others, who were watching the whole process. “Well, we find what’s causing all this mess and stop it,” Tai explained. “And how are we supposed to find it?” Marni asked. “Well, that’s usually not the problem. They normally find us first,” Joe muttered. “So, let me get this straight,” Zack said. “These things can ‘digivolve’ into bigger things? So, are there anymore forms?” he asked. “Precisely. In fact, there are a total of five different levels. There’s an In-Training level, a Rookie level, a Champion level, an Ultimate level, and even a Mega level. Currently, all of our Digimon are in their Rookie form,” Izzy explained. “So, in other words, they’ll be able to digivolve again?” Marisa asked. “That is correct,” Izzy confirmed.

Marni was about to say something when she noticed that Izzy had opened up his laptop and was typing furiously. “What are you doing, Izzy?” she asked. “I’m emailing a friend of mine, who lives here in the Digiworld,” Izzy explained. “His name is Gennai, and he may have some useful information on this new enemy that’s threatening this world.” After he finished typing, Izzy sat back from the screen and groaned. “What’s the matter, Izzy?” Sora asked. “For some reason, Gennai’s not responding,” Izzy explained. “Just give it a couple of whacks to boot it up!” Tai suggested. He would have whacked Izzy’s laptop himself if Joe and Zack didn’t hold him back.

“That could be the problem,” Marisa suggested, pointing at a thick fog that had rolled in from the ocean and had already blanketed the beach. “That has to be it,” Izzy muttered. “The fog must be messing with my infrared Internet connection.” He closed his laptop and stood up. “Let’s try moving further inland,” he suggested to the others as he headed into the forest, followed by Tentomon. “Hey, Izzy! Wait up!” Tai exclaimed as he and the other kids tried their best to keep up with Izzy and Tentomon...

By the time the other kids caught up with Izzy, he was once again typing on his laptop, with Tentomon at his side. “Any luck now, Izzy?” Tentomon asked. “Not yet,” Izzy admitted. “You might as well give it up, Izzy,” Matt suggested. “The whole island’s covered in this fog.” Izzy looked up from his laptop and realized that Matt was right about the fog.

Izzy was about ready to give up when his eyes spotted Infinity Mountain. The fog had circled the base of the mountain, but it was crystal clear higher up. “I’m afraid you’re wrong, Matt,” Izzy remarked, pointing at Infinity Mountain. “If I climb up Infinity Mountain, I’ll get much better reception and be able to contact Gennai!”

Izzy started to run toward the mountain, with Tentomon shouting, “Wait for me, Izzy!” “Hold on a minute,” Joe yelled. Izzy and Tentomon stopped and turned around. “What is it, Joe?’ Izzy asked. “You shouldn’t go up by yourself. It’s too dangerous.” “Joe, we’ve been up Infinity Mountain before, so I know about the potential danger,” Izzy explained. “I’ll only be up there for approximately an hour, maybe two.”

“You might have been up there before, Izzzzzzy,” Snakemon remarked, “but that wasss over eleven yearsss ago. There are new dangersss in thisss world now that you and your friendsss have probably never come acrossssss before.” Izzy thought about what Snakemon said. “Well, that’s true,” he muttered as he looked at Infinity Mountain.

“Look, why don’t Snakemon and I go with you,” Marni suggested. “I think two Digimon could handle anything up there.” “I’m not sure about you going, Marni,” Izzy muttered out loud. “Your Digimon hasn’t had much experience fighting other Digimon.” “Okay, that’s true,” Marni admitted, “but if we do run into something on that mountain, Snakemon will gain more fighting experience, right?”

Izzy was quiet for a few moments, carefully thinking it over. “Well, I suppose there’ll be no harm with you coming along with us,” he finally replied. “All right!” Marni exclaimed. “Let’s get going! Come on, Snakemon.” As she and her Digimon headed toward the base of Infinity Mountain, Sora asked Izzy, “Are you sure about this, Izzy? What if you do come across an evil Digimon up there?”

“No need to worry about it, guys,” Izzy assured his friends. “I have Tentomon with me, and I’m confident he can handle any Digimon we may encounter on the way up by himself, if it ever comes to that.” “Come on, Izzy! I haven’t got all day!” Marni yelled impatiently. “Coming!” Izzy yelled as he ran to her, followed by Tentomon. “Be careful, Marni,” Marisa shouted to her sister. “Don’t worry about it,” Marni shouted back. Together, the two kids and their Digimon eventually disappeared into the thick fog bank...

“Geez!” Marni exclaimed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand. “From down there, Infinity Mountain looked a lot smaller. I can see how it got its name!” She looked up at Izzy and Tentomon, who didn’t appear to be as exhausted as she was. Marni took in a deep breath and asked, “Do we have to go all the way to the top?” “Not necessarily,” Izzy explained. “We just need to locate a break in this fog. I need a fog-free area in order to contact Gennai.”

Marni sighed deeply. “Okay,” she replied as she stepped forward. Marni tripped over something and fell to the ground. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” Snakemon complained. “Sorry about that,” Marni apologized as she stood up. “I didn’t see you, Snakemon, with all this fog.” The fog was still pretty thick, so the kids and their Digimon were still having a hard time seeing where they were going.

As Marni helped Snakemon up, Izzy was looking at the path ahead. “It appears that the fog is starting to lift up along this path, guys,” he informed Marni, Snakemon, and Tentomon. “We just have to go a little further.” Marni looked up at the path and noticed that Izzy was right. The path was becoming much clearer. Izzy continued hiking up the steep path, with Tentomon hovering next to him, and Marni and Snakemon lagging behind.

By the time the two caught up with Izzy and Tentomon, they were on an extremely sharp turn on the path. There was a massive gray boulder nearby, and the bend in the path formed a long ledge overlooking File Island. “This is perfect,” Izzy commented as he plopped down on the ground. He opened up his laptop and started to type furiously. Tentomon was watching over his shoulder as he usually did, and Marni and Snakemon were looking around the place.

Marni was obviously becoming bored with watching Izzy on his computer. She headed over to the nearby boulder, climbed on top of it, and stretched out on her back. Snakemon soon joined her by slithering his way up. He followed Marni’s gaze up to the sky. “What are you looking at, Marni?” Snakemon asked as he flickered his tongue.

“The clouds,” Marni replied, still looking up at the sky. “It’s not like I have anything better to do, with Izzy typing away on his computer. Boring!” Snakemon lied down on his back and looked up at the clouds. “Why do humansss do thisss?” he asked. “It’s something us kids like to do when we’re bored,” Marni explained. “We look up at the clouds and see if we can pick out any shapes or forms. Like, look at that cloud over there.” She pointed at a large round one with two smaller ones on top. “That cloud looks like the head of a teddy bear.”

“No, it doesssn’t,” Snakemon replied. “Do you even know what a teddy bear is?” Marni asked. “No,” Snakemon admitted, “ but that one looksss like Monzzzaemon.” “Monzaemon?” Marni repeated. “Is he a Digimon?” “Of courssse,” Snakemon replied. “He runsss a place called Toy Town.”

As Marni and Snakemon talked some more, Izzy had finally succeeded with making contact with Gennai. “Izzy, my boy! It’s good to see you again,” the image of Gennai on Izzy’s computer screen greeted. “Likewise, Gennai,” Izzy replied. “Do you have any information on the new evil that’s threatening the Digital World?”

Gennai was quiet for a moment. “Sorry, Izzy, but not much is known about this new evil Digimon. All I know is that his name is...Armaggedamon.” “Armaggedamon,” Izzy repeated. “He’s extremely dangerous, more dangerous than all the evil Digimon you and your friends have defeated before.” “So that’s why we needed four more Digi-Destined,” Izzy theorized.

“Exactly,” Gennai confirmed. “You and your friends must be very careful with whom you trust here in the Digiworld. Any evil Digimon you encounter has a connection with Armaggedamon, so it's important that...Uh-oh.” “ ‘Uh-oh?’ Oh, I hate it when he says that,” Tentomon exclaimed.

“Where are you now, Izzy?” Gennai asked. “Up on Infinity Mountain. Why?” Izzy asked. “You must be careful up there. A new evil Digimon lives up there,” Gennai explained. “It is called a Rhynomon. It looks like a Monochromon, only its body is covered with a thick gray hide. When it’s lying perfectly still, it can be mistaken for a boulder.”

‘Did you say ‘boulder?’ ” Izzy asked. “Yes, I did,” Gennai replied. Izzy was obviously nervous. He remembered passing a massive boulder on the way up, and now Marni and Snakemon were lying on top of it! “I’ll have to talk to you later, Gennai,” Izzy stuttered as he closed his computer. He turned around and ran as fast as he could, followed by Tentomon...

“MARNI!” The girl looked up and saw Izzy and Tentomon racing toward her. She and Snakemon stood up on the boulder. “What’s up, Izzy?” Marni asked. “You got to get off that thing, now!” Izzy yelled. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen on the boulder, but Marni and Snakemon couldn’t see them. “Why?” Marni asked.

Suddenly, the rock underneath her started to shake. Startled by the sudden movements, she screamed a bit. Marni and Snakemon quickly slid off of the Digimon’s back as Rhynomon stood up. Marni quickly ran over to where Izzy was. “Let’s do it, Tentomon!” Izzy shouted, looking at his friend. The little bug Digimon nodded and Izzy’s digivice was activated.

“Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon.” “Electro Shocker!” Kabuterimon shouted, releasing a ball of electricity at the Digimon. Rhynomon was hit, but didn’t seem fazed too much. “I don’t think we have much of a chance here. That Digimon’s a rock Digimon, so Kabuterimon can’t hurt him!” Izzy explained to Marni. “Bone Crusher!” Rhynomon shouted, charging at Kabuterimon and pinning it against the wall. It didn’t look like Kabuterimon would last much longer in battle.

“What are we going to do, Snakemon?” Marni asked her Digimon. “I don’t know, Marni,” Snakemon replied, “but Kabuterimon needsss my help.” The Digimon slithered closer to Rhynomon, who still had Kabuterimon pinned against the rock wall of Infinity Mountain. “Poissson Sssting!” Snakemon shouted. The needles didn’t even penetrate Rhynomon’s thick hide. “My Poissson Sssting isssn’t ssstrong enough,” Snakemon told Marni. “I need to digivolve to the nexxxt level.”

“But, how can you do that? “Marni asked. “I need your help, Marni. Izzzzzzy made it possssssible for Tentomon to digivolve into Kabuterimon. You can make it possssssible for me to digivolve.” As Marni took all of this in, her digivice started to react. Snakemon was suddenly bathed in a white light. “Sssnakemon digivolve to...Cobramon.”

Marni was surprised beyond belief. Where Snakemon once stood was a huge bright green cobra, with a canary yellow belly, large muscular arms, and a decorative design in the interior of his hood. “Is that Snakemon?” she asked Izzy, who had opened up his laptop in order to identify the Digimon. “Not anymore, Marni,” he explained. “Snakemon digivolved into his Champion form: Cobramon. His Cobra Fang attack is like having a pair of drills attacking you simultaneously. Good thing he’s on our side.”

Marni and Izzy watched in astonishment as Cobramon wrapped his body around Rhynomon and pulled him away from Kabuterimon. “Are you all right, Kabuterimon?” Izzy shouted. “Don’t worry about me, Izzy,” Kabuterimon replied as he stood up. Rhynomon managed to break out of Cobramon’s grasp and was ready to attack again. “Let’s attack together, Kabuterimon.” Cobramon yelled. “Right. Electro Shocker!” Kabuterimon shouted. “Cobra Fang!” Cobramon shouted. He opened his mouth and two large ivory fangs with crimson red tips flew out.

The two attacks combined nailed Rhynomon, and after letting out a painful howl, he disintegrated. “All right!” Marni cheered. Izzy noticed that a black walkie-talkie, just like the one Lavamon had, dropped to the ground and disintegrated shortly afterwards. “Gennai was right,” he muttered thoughtfully to himself. “We must be cautious as to who we trust here in the Digital World.”

“That was totally awesome, Cobramon!” Marni congratulated her Digimon as she ran toward Cobramon. She suddenly stopped when Cobramon de-digivolved back to Snakemon. “Snakemon! What happened?” she asked as she picked up Snakemon. “Snakemon just returned to his Rookie form,” Izzy explained. Marni looked up at Kabuterimon, who was standing right next to Izzy. “Well, how come Kabuterimon hasn’t returned back to Tentomon?” she asked.

“Well, Tentomon has digivolved much more often than Snakemon has,” Izzy explained. “Because of that, he’s able to stay in his Champion form much longer. Once Snakemon get accustomed to digivolving, he’ll be able to hold his Champion form of Cobramon much longer than he did.” “Okay,” Marni replied slowly. She looked down at Snakemon. “How are you feeling?” “Jussst ssswell,” Snakemon muttered. “That’s good,” Marni replied with a smile. She turned toward Izzy. “Since you’re done talking to that ‘Gennai’ guy, can we get off this mountain now?” Marni asked...

“What could be taking them so long?” Marisa asked Tai, who was looking at Infinity Mountain with his mini-telescope. The thick fog had finally cleared up, so Tai could clearly see the mountain through his telescope. “I don’t know,” Tai replied. “Since Izzy’s on his computer, they’ll probably be up there for a few hours,” Matt retorted. “Hey, what’s that?” Yuuchi asked, pointing at a blue speck that flew off of the mountain. Tai focused his telescope on the blue speck and gasped.

“It’s Kabuterimon!” he exclaimed. “Is that good?” Zack asked nervously. “Izzy, Marni, and Snakemon are with him,” Tai continued. As the blue spot came closer, Marisa, Yuuchi and Zack could see that Izzy, Marni and Snakemon were indeed riding on the massive blue beetle that Tai called “Kabuterimon.” Everyone backed up a bit as Kabuterimon landed on the ground and his riders slid off.

“Umm, Izzy? Where’s Tentomon?” Yuuchi asked. “This is Tentomon,” Izzy explained. “He digivolved to Kabuterimon.” Just then, Kabuterimon de-digivolved back to Tentomon. “Whoa! That was awesome!” Yuuchi exclaimed. “Marisa, you should have been up there!” Marni exclaimed to her sister. “There was this huge Digimon called a Rhynomon, Snakemon digivolved to Cobramon, and he and Kabuterimon defeated Rhynomon. It was so cool!” She turned to Izzy. “Do you still have that picture of Cobramon on your computer, Izzy? I want Marisa to see it!”

“Sure, no problem,” Izzy agreed. He opened up his computer and brought the image of Cobramon back on the screen. “Wow! That’s totally wicked!” Tai commented as everyone crowded around Izzy and Marni to take a look at the image of Cobramon. “Believe me, it’s much more wicked seeing Cobramon up close,” Marni added. She noticed that Snakemon was looking the other way. “Is there something wrong, Snakemon?” she asked. “I think you like Cobramon better than me,” Snakemon retorted.

“Aww, come on, Snakemon,” Marni pleaded. “I’m just seeing all this stuff for the first time ever. Of course, I’m gonna be excited by every single thing I see! Come on, are we gonna be friends or what?” Snakemon looked up at Marni. “I guessssss we could be friendsss, Marni,” he replied. “Okay, a handshake makes it official,” Marni remarked as she and Snakemon shook hands...