“Time to wake up, everyone! We’re here!” the familiar voice of Whamon announced loudly. One by one, the twelve kids and their Digimon slowly woke up. After letting out a long yawn, Tai managed to get out, “Thanks for the lift, Whamon.” “No problem, Tai. It was my pleasure,” Whamon replied as he opened his mouth. Everyone shielded their eyes from the bright glow of the sun as they walked out of Whamon’s mouth onto the beach.
“Hard to believe we were only asleep for a few minutes,” Zack muttered out loud as he stretched out his arms. “Actually, you were all asleep for a few hours,” Whamon confessed. “You all needed some sleep, after everything that happened last night. Gotta go now. See you all later.” “Bye, Whamon!” T.K. shouted as he waved to Whamon. “Goodbye!” Kari shouted soon after. Everyone waved as Whamon headed into deeper water and dove down...
“Hey, can we walk by the beach?” Marni asked. “Sure, why not?” Tai replied as the group started to walk along the beach. “Gee, we’ve only been here for one day, and already we’ve gotten into trouble,” Yuuchi muttered out loud. “That’s nothing, Yuuchi,” Sora told him. “Back when we arrived at the Digiworld for the first time, we’d run into a bad Digimon about every few minutes.” “Terrific!” Zack muttered under his breath.
“If this ‘Armaggedamon’ is as evil as we’ve been led to believe, then this isn’t gonna be a simple walk in the park, guys,” Izzy muttered thoughtfully. “We’ve had good luck so far,” Marni replied. “Well, things never stay normal in this place,” Matt muttered as he looked around. “Hey, what’s that?” he asked, pointing to a brick road. “It looks like a brick path,” Marisa replied. “I think we should follow it. Maybe it will lead to Gennai,” Chamelamon added.
Marisa looked over the path nervously. The bricks were old and worn, and some of the bricks were missing, revealing the soft earth underneath. “Come on! What are we standing around here for?” Marni retorted loudly. “Let’s get going!” Without a second thought, she sped down the brick path into the woods, with Snakemon desperately trying to catch up with her. “Hey, Marni! Wait up!” Tai yelled as he, Kari, Yuuchi, Joe, Sora, Izzy, Zack, Mimi, T.K., Matt, and their Digimon ran after her and Snakemon. Matt stopped running for a minute. “What’s wrong, Matt?” Gabumon asked. “Nothing, Gabumon. I just realized we’re missing someone,” Matt replied, looking back toward the beach...
Marisa didn’t follow the other kids right away. She turned her head and looked out at the ocean. “Is something the matter, Marisa?” Chamelamon asked. Marisa looked down at her Digimon, and then looked back out at the ocean. “No, I’m okay,” she finally answered. “It’s just that this is all so overwhelming. I’m in this bizarre world that I need to help save, along with my sister, and now I’m supposed to trust ten total strangers...” Marisa trailed off. She sat down on the warm white sand and let out a deep sigh.
“Are you okay, Marisa?” She jumped when she heard the voice. Marisa turned her head and saw Matt and Gabumon standing behind her. “Yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry!” she stuttered a bit nervously as she stood up. “Well, are you coming?” Matt asked a bit rudely. Marisa was taken aback a little by Matt’s remark. “Yes,” she whispered with her head hanging down a bit. Matt shook his head and headed back down the path, with Gabumon following close behind. “Come on, Chamelamon,” Marisa told her Digimon as they hurried to catch up with the others...
“I wonder where they could have gone? It’s not like Matt to just wander off,” Sora thought out loud. “Not really, Sora. Remember, he’s done it before,” Joe reminded her. “Well, that’s true. I wonder where they could be,” Sora muttered. Suddenly, they heard some bushes move nearby. The Digimon stood ready for a fight, but it just turned out to be Marisa, Matt, Chamelamon, and Gabumon. “Hey, look who finally decided to show up!” Yuuchi remarked. “About time,” Zack retorted. “Sorry,” Marisa apologized.
“Can we get going before another Digimon attacks us?” Joe asked nervously. “That’s my Joe!” Gomamon admitted, trying to muffle his snickers. Everyone laughed along with Gomamon. Even Joe joined in. “Joe’s right, though. Let’s keep moving,” Tai admitted. With that, the kids started to walk again. Marisa was tagging behind the rest of the kids. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “Why did you stop?” Chamelamon asked. “I thought I heard something,” Marisa muttered.
Suddenly, the bricks beneath her gave way. Marisa and Chamelamon screamed as they fell into a hole. They landed on a wooden foundation about six feet down. “Oww!” she groaned as she slowly sat up. “Marisa, are you okay?” Marisa looked up and saw Matt and Gabumon looking over the edge of the hole. “Yeah, I think so,” she replied as she slowly stood up. “Hold on. I’ll try to get you out,” Matt yelled. “I’ll help, too,” Gabumon offered. The two of them tried to reach down for her hand, but they fell in as well.
“Hey! I thought you guys were supposed to be helping us,” Chamelamon retorted. Matt didn’t say anything as he stood up and wiped the dust off of his shirt. He approached the side of the hole and tried to jump up to reach the edge, but it didn’t work. After three or four more tries, Matt groaned out of frustration and turned around. “Here, Marisa. I’ll give you a boast,” Matt suggested as he joined his hands together.
As Marisa tried to get out of the hole with Matt’s help, Gabumon noticed that the ancient wooden foundation holding them up was starting to split from the excess weight. “Uh...Matt, you better hurry up!” his Digimon exclaimed. “Why, Gabumon?” Matt asked. Suddenly, the wooden foundation broke from the excess weight. The two kids and their Digimon screamed as they fell down a pitch black, bottomless pit...
“Did you hear that?” Marni asked. Everyone heard a loud noise, like wood splitting, followed by two screams. “Marisa!” she yelled as she ran back down the path, followed quickly by the others. They soon came across a huge, gaping hole in the brick path. “Whoa! You can’t even see the bottom!” Yuuchi exclaimed as he looked down into the massive pit. “How did that happen?” Zack asked. “Well, due to the fact that these bricks were old and worn out from weather, the excess weight from the twelve of us walking across caused it to cave in,” Izzy explained.
“Yeah, whatever. The more important thing is that my sister’s down there!” Marni yelled at Izzy rudely. T.K. looked down the hole and yelled, “Matt! Are you down there?” “ ‘Matt! Are you down there?’ ” his echo replied. “Marisa! Can you hear me?” Marni yelled into the hole. “ ‘Marisa! Can you hear me?’ ” her echo replied. “I hope they’re all right,” she muttered out loud...
“Marisa?” Chamelamon asked with concern. She stood by Marisa’s side, watching as her violet eyes slowly fluttered open. “Chamelamon?” she asked in a whisper. Marisa slowly sat up and looked around. Gray stone walls surrounded her, or so it appeared. The area was dimly lit, so it was hard for Marisa to see. “What happened?” she asked uncertainly. “Don’t you remember? We fell through that old brick path,” Chamelamon reminded her. Marisa gasped when she realized that she wasn’t the only one who fell.
“Where’s Matt and Gabumon?” she asked Chamelamon.
“Right here,” Marisa heard Matt reply. She looked in the direction the voice came from and could barely make out the silhouettes of Matt and Gabumon in the shadows. “Where have you two been?” Marisa asked as she stood up. “We’ve been trying to find another way out of here,” Gabumon explained. “Did you find anything?” Chamelamon asked. Matt nodded his head.
“There’s a tunnel over there,” he explained pointing at a dark spot within the stone walls. “Problem is, it’s so dark that we can’t see where we’re going.” “There’s gotta be a way we can see where we’re going,” Marisa muttered thoughtfully. “Well, unless you have a flashlight, I think we’re stuck,” Matt retorted. Suddenly, Marisa’s foot hit something on the floor. Looking down, she recognized it as a piece of wooden board that broke from the foundation. “Maybe not, Matt,” she replied as she picked up the piece of wood.
“What do you mean?” Matt asked. “We can use this as a torch,” Marisa explained, showing him the piece of wood in her hand. “Good idea,” Matt admitted. “We just need to light it up.” “I’ll do it,” Chamelamon offered. A small puff of fire flew from her mouth and lit the top of the makeshift torch. “Thanks, Chamelamon,” Marisa told her. With the cavern now lit, the two kids and their Digimon could see debris scattered all over the floor.
“You’re right about that tunnel, Matt,” Marisa replied as she looked down the tunnel that Matt mentioned earlier. “Let’s just hope it leads us back to the top.” She started to walk down the tunnel, with Chamelamon at her heels. Matt took a quick look among the debris and found another piece of wood. As he picked it up, Gabumon asked, “What’s that for, Matt?” “We might need another torch, Gabumon,” Matt explained.
“Hey, Matt! Gabumon!” they heard Marisa shout. “You gotta see this!” Matt and Gabumon quickly ran through the tunnel and caught up with Marisa and Chamelamon. Matt gasped when he saw a massive cavern spread out before them. Twelve-foot stone walls criss-crossed all over the floor, creating a confusing labyrinth. “What do we do now, Matt?” Marisa asked. “Well, we can’t turn around. Both of our Digimon can’t fly, so we can’t go back the way we came. We have no choice but to explore around here and try to find another way out,” Matt explained.
“That’ll take a while,” Marisa muttered as she looked over the maze. “Unless we split up,” Matt suggested. Marisa looked up at him. “Are you sure, Matt?” she asked. “It’d be easy to get lost in there.” Matt took his digivice off his jeans and held it in his hand. “Let me show you something, Marisa.” She looked at his hand with the digivice. Matt pointed at a black button on the side of the digivice. “If you press this button,” he explained, “we’ll still be able to find each other.”
Matt pressed the button, and Marisa could see two red dots right next to each other. One was flashing, while the other was solid. “Those dots, are they you and me?” she asked. Matt nodded his head. “Whenever you see this dot on your digivice,” he explained, pointing at the flashing red dot, “That means there’s someone near you with another digivice.” Marisa slowly nodded her head as though she understood.
Matt put away his digivice and picked up the piece of wood he brought with him. Without a word, he stuck the tip of it in Marisa’s torch, causing his to light up. Matt noticed a stone staircase leading down form the ledge to the labyrinth. “This way,” he told Marisa as the four of them walked down the stairs. When they approached the labyrinth, there were two separate entrances visible. “I’ll go this way, and you go that way,” Matt told Marisa.
“Okay, but what if we come across an evil Digimon?” Marisa asked. “Don’t worry, Marisa. I’ll protect you,” Chamelamon assured her. “And Gabumon will take care of Matt.” Marisa looked up and noticed that Matt and Gabumon had already left. Shivers went up and down her spine. She shook it off as she headed for the other entrance. “Let’s go, Chamelamon,” Marisa told her Digimon. As they walked further into the maze, Chamelamon asked, “Are you all right, Marisa? You seem upset about something.”
Marisa jumped nervously. “I-I’m not upset,” she stuttered. “You’re lying,” Chamelamon pointed out. “It...It’s Matt,” Marisa reluctantly admitted. “He’s been kind of rude to me today. First on the beach, then up there on that ledge, and then he leaves us without even saying anything...” She let out a frustrated sigh. “Matt acts too cool sometimes, and I don’t like it. He’s a bit self-absorbed, thinks only of himself.”
Marisa and Chamelamon turned another corner and discovered a stone wall blocking their way. “A dead end,” Marisa muttered. Chamelamon was about to say something when she noticed some small carvings in the center of the wall. She walked closer so she could read it better. “Marisa, can you please come closer?” Chamelamon asked. “I need some more light.” “What for?” Marisa asked as she came closer. “There’s something written here in Digi-code,” Chamelamon explained.
Marisa held up the torch as Chamelamon looked over the series of carvings. “What does it say?” Marisa finally asked. “ ‘Warning to all Digimon. You have entered the Labyrinth of Minotaurmon. Turn around and leave while you still can,’ ” Chamelamon translated. The lizard Digimon gasped. “What’s a Minotaurmon?” Marisa asked. “He’s a huge bull Digimon with a nasty attitude,” Chamelamon quickly explained. “Even worse, Minotaurmon works for Armaggedamon.”
“We have to find Matt and Gabumon, and warn them,” Marisa exclaimed. They quickly found their way back to the entrances and went into the one that Matt entered. Marisa and Chamelamon stopped when they reached an intersection. “Which way now?” Chamelamon asked. “I don’t know,” Marisa admitted. Then, she remembered what Matt showed her on his digivice. She took hers off of her shorts and pressed the black button. Instantly, a small map of the labyrinth and two red dots appeared, one flashing and one solid. After carefully looking over the map, Marisa looked up and announced, “This way, Chamelamon.” She turned right and ran down the path, followed by her Digimon...
Matt and Gabumon walked cautiously through the labyrinth. “I wonder what a labyrinth is doing all the way down here,” Matt muttered out loud. “I don’t know,” Gabumon admitted as they turned down another path. “What’s that, Matt?” Gabumon asked, pointing to an old altar. Matt shrugged in response. “Might as well check it out,” he suggested, heading to the building. Matt and Gabumon gasped when they entered the altar. There were tall white marble columns, forming a complete circle, and intrigue carvings everywhere. It reminded Matt of those old buildings from ancient Rome.
“Hey, Matt, look at that!” Gabumon exclaimed, pointing to a statue, which was standing on a marble pedestal, in the middle of the room. It was about nine and a half feet tall, and looked like a cross between a bull and a human. The creature had a spiked club in one hand and a long chain in the other. “It looks so real,” Gabumon pointed out. “You’re right, it does. Almost too real,” Matt muttered thoughtfully. Suddenly, the statue’s eyes began to glow bright red. “Who dares enter my labyrinth? Be gone!” the bull Digimon snorted angrily as it stepped off of the pedestal.
“Matt, watch out! It’s Minotaurmon!” Marisa shouted as she and Chamelamon ran into the building. She gasped when she saw the huge bull Digimon. “I think it’s safe to say that they already know,” Chamelamon remarked. “Gabumon, get ready,” Matt told his Digimon. “Right, Matt,” Gabumon agreed as he ran toward Minotaurmon. “Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!” Marisa was shocked to see the huge blue wolf as he jumped on Minotaurmon. “Come on, Marisa! We gotta get out of here, now!” Matt exclaimed. He grabbed Marisa’s hand and they ran out of the temple, followed by Chamelamon.
“Do you really think he stands a chance against Minotaurmon?” Marisa asked as they continued down the maze of corridors. Before Matt could answer, they heard Minotaurmon yell, “Blind Rage!” Matt quickly pulled Marisa down to the ground and wrapped his arms around her for protection. Chamelamon ducked alongside them as a section of wall came tumbling down. They managed to avoid being buried in the rubble. When they opened their eyes, Matt, Marisa, and Chamelamon were shocked to see Garurumon lying on top of the pile of rubble.
“Garurumon!” Matt shouted. He let go of Marisa and ran toward his Digimon. “Are you all right?” he asked as Garurumon slowly tried to stand up. “You should be worried more about yourself, kid!” Matt heard Minotaurmon yell. He turned around and saw Minotaurmon standing at the hole in the broken wall. “Get out of the way,” Garurumon shouted as he stood between Matt and Minotaurmon. “Howling Blaster!” “Blind Rage!” Minotaurmon shouted as he swung his club. The club hit the blast of blue energy and hit Garurumon head on. Minotaurmon chuckled sinisterly. “Now, it’s your turn, kid. Grappling Chains!” he shouted. The long chain in his hand went flying straight toward Matt.
To Matt’s surprise, before the chain could reach him, Marisa pushed him out of the way. “Marisa!” Matt yelled as he watched the chain wrap itself tightly around Marisa. He tried to grab her, but Minotaurmon yanked hard on the chain, pulling Marisa out of Matt’s reach. “Not whom I originally wanted, but she’ll do,” Minotaurmon snorted as he looked at his prize. “You better let her go, you big bully!” Chamelamon demanded. “And what are you gonna do if I don’t, little one?” Minotaurmon asked sarcastically.
“Fire Spin!” Chamelamon shouted. Minotaurmon deflected her attack and shouted, “Blind Rage!” He swung his club, forming a boomerang of yellow energy. The boomerang nailed Chamelamon and sent her flying. “Chamelamon!” Marisa shouted. Out of anger, she kicked Minotaurmon in the knee hard. “Oww!” he groaned in pain. Anger was burning in his eyes as he stared at Marisa. “You’ll pay for that, Digi-Destined brat!” Minotaurmon yelled as he pulled the chain taunt around Marisa’s body. Tears were welling up in her eyes from the overbearing pain.
“Stop it! You’re hurting her!” Matt yelled. Chamelamon slowly got up and saw the trouble Marisa was in. “MARISA!” she shouted. Suddenly, Marisa’s digivice went off. Knowing what was going to happen, Matt took a quick look at Chamelamon, who was now bathed in a white light. The brilliant light filled up the entire cavern. “Ahh! That light!” Minotaurmon yelled as he covered his eyes, causing him to drop Marisa. “Chamelamon digivolve to...Dragomon!”
Marisa was surprised beyond words. Standing where Chamelamon used to be was a huge deep burgundy dragon with a magenta belly. She felt a gloved hand on her shoulder and looked up at Matt. “We better get out of the way,” he explained as he removed the chains and helped her up. They ran out of the way as Dragomon prepared to face off against Minotaurmon. “You really think you, a Champion Digimon, can fight me?” Minotaurmon asked sarcastically. Dragomon growled deeply as a response.
“Are you forgetting me, you overgrown ox?” a familiar voice growled. “It’s Garurumon!” Marisa exclaimed as the blue wolf Digimon leapt next to Dragomon. “Oh, there’s two of you now. I’m really scared!” Minotaurmon retorted. “Blind Rage!” he shouted, sending the boomerang of yellow energy straight at Dragomon. Dragomon managed to fly out of the way of the attack. “Ready, Garurumon?” she asked. Garurumon nodded his head. “Howling Blaster!” he shouted. “Inferno Blast!” Dragomon shouted. She opened her mouth, and a massive blast of fire flew out.
Both attacks nailed Minotaurmon head on, burning him till all his dark brown fur was singed charcoal gray. He snorted out two puffs of smoke from his nostrils. “That’s it! I’m outta here!” he yelled as he made a hasty retreat. As Minotaurmon ran, he dropped a black walkie-talkie, which broke as soon as it hit the ground. “That was incredible, Dragomon,” Marisa exclaimed as Dragomon landed on the ground next to her. “Don’t forget, Marisa. I’m here to protect you,” Dragomon told her.
Marisa smiled at her Digimon. “You sure you’re okay, Garurumon?” she heard Matt ask. Marisa turned around and saw Matt standing in front of an obviously exhausted Garurumon. “I’m fine, Matt. Just a little tired,” Garurumon muttered out loud. Suddenly, to Marisa’s surprise, Garurumon de-digivolved back into Gabumon. “Is he gonna be all right?” Marisa asked with concern. “Don’t worry about it, Marisa,” Matt assured her as he helped Gabumon stand up. Marisa looked back up at Dragomon and a smile slowly formed on her face. “I think I know a way out of here,” she announced...
“Keep lowering me down,” Marni shouted. She was about fifteen feet down the hole that her sister and Matt fell into. Back on the surface, Palmon was carefully lowering Marni down with her vines while everyone else watched. “Do you see anything yet, Marni?” Tai yelled down the hole. “I can’t even see the bottom, Tai,” Marni yelled back. “Keep lowering me down, Palmon.” Suddenly, the kids and their Digimon heard Marni scream, “Ahh! Pull me up! Pull me up!”
Palmon quickly pulled Marni out of the hole and set her on solid ground. As she took in several gasps of air, Izzy asked, “What’s wrong, Marni? What did you see?” “Dragon! Big, huge dragon!” Marni managed to get out between gasps. “A dragon? Yeah, right,” Yuuchi retorted. “Are you calling me a liar? I know what I saw!” Marni shouted. She was about ready to slug Yuuchi until Tai step in between them. “Calm down, Marni. This isn’t helping your sister,” he reminded Marni.
Marni groaned as she reluctantly put down her fist. All of a sudden, a roar was heard from inside the hole. All of the kids gasped when they heard this noise. As they looked toward the hole, a huge burgundy creature that looked a lot like a dragon flew out. “See! I told you!” Marni yelled at Yuuchi. “What do we do?” Zack asked. “Well, I’m up for running away,” Joe suggested nervously. “For once, I agree with Joe,” Sora remarked. The dragon Digimon suddenly dove down toward the Digi-Destined and their Digimon. They screamed and ran down the brick path.
The dragon Digimon flew ahead of them and landed on the brick path, blocking their path. “Oh, no!” Mimi wailed. “I don’t want to be a Digi-snack!” “We have no choice! We gotta fight!” Tai told the others. “No, don’t hurt Dragomon!” they heard Marisa shout. Marni looked up and was both surprised and relieved to see her sister standing next to Dragomon. “Marisa, you’re okay!” she exclaimed. “Marisa, where’s my brother?” T.K. asked.
“Right here, T.K.,” Matt told him as he and Gabumon climbed off of Dragomon’s back. “Matt!” T.K. exclaimed as he hugged Matt. Just then, Dragomon de-digivolved back to Chamelamon. “So, that’s the Champion form of Chamelamon? Hmm, interesting,” Izzy muttered thoughtfully. “That was totally wicked, Marisa,” Marni exclaimed. Marisa giggled a bit. “Now that Matt and Marisa are back, let’s keep going,” Tai announced as he led everyone down the path.
Matt and Marisa were in back of the group. “Hey, Marisa?” Matt asked. “What?” Marisa asked. “I’m sorry about earlier. I know I’ve been kinda rude to you before, and I want to apologize,” he explained. “No big deal, Matt. Forget about it,” Marisa assured him. “I also wanted to thank you, for saving me,” Matt added. “Well, you did the same for me, Matt,” Marisa admitted as her cheeks turned red. “Better hurry up, you two. We’re losing the others!” Chamelamon exclaimed. Matt and Marisa looked up and realized that she was right. “Come on, Marisa,” Matt shouted as he and Gabumon ran after the others. Marisa smiled as she and Chamelamon tried to keep up with him...
TO BE CONTINUED...
Go Back to Part 3
Go to Part 5
Go Back to the Digimon Fanfiction
Go Back to the Main Page
