Chapter 5 - A Spot of Trouble
For the past five minutes, Nathan had been sitting at the base of a large tree, deep in thought. He had woken up in this forest with different clothes and no real memory of coming here. And he was apparently alone too, which was odd. Even if someone had dragged him here, just to ditch him, wouldn't there be wildlife?
As for these clothes... A white shirt with some weird symbol, black shorts, light blue fingerless gloves... It was a random mesh of clothes. It was as if whoever gave him these clothes had no idea what a decent look was.
And that symbol... It was a circular object with two sharp points jutting out from the sides, with what looked like a cracked circle in the centre. Was that supposed to mean anything?
Well, sitting here wasn't going to get him anywhere. Nathan had to go out and look for someone, and find out just what was going on. With a sigh, Nathan stood up, wondering where he should go. All he could see where plants, trees, trees, grass and plants.
"North it is." Nathan decided with a shrug, and set off, in what he hoped was a northern direction. A compass really would have helped out here.
For several minutes, he made his way through this unfamiliar forest, positive that it was nowhere near his home. He wondered if his coming here was related to that weird E-Mail he received. It was one of the last things he remembered before waking up here. Or maybe it was just coincidence?
Somewhere ahead of him, he heard a rustling sound. Feeling relieved at having found someone else, he quickly called out, "Hey! Is someone there? I need help!"
A pause, then the rustling started up again. Whoever was behind all that tall grass was heading his way. Nathan waited patiently, ready to greet his hopeful saviour.
A black, reptile like monster emerging from the grenery was not what Nathan was expecting.
Nathan blinked continuously in disbelief as he stared at the dark coloured monster, who gave him a look Nathan couldn't dechiper. He saw a symbol on the left leg of the monster, but it was different to his own. The mark showed what looked like a capital 'X', with a bunch of wavy lines emanating from the shape, as if to show some sort of radiance. It was as nonsensical as the one on Nathan's shirt.
The black skinned creature grinned, scarlet eyes glinting with what Nathan hoped wasn't malice. And then, to Nathan's surprise, the monster actually spoke.
"Lisa! I found one!" It called. Nathan wasn't sure, but the monster sounded female. Almost immediately, more rustling sounds came from behind the creature, an excited voice voice replied 'Coming!'
A human burst onto the scene, her face showing delight. Nathan wasn't sure what this girl was doing in the forest with that monster, but hopefully they were friendly. At least they all spoke English.
"Hey there," Nathan greeted cheerfully. Normally, Nathan was a rather outgoing and friendly person. With the shock of what he was seeing subsiding, his friendly demeanour was showing through.
"My name's Nathan! So, what're you guys doing way out here?" Nathan asked, putting on a large, beaming smile. The girl tilted her head as she stared at Nathan. They both looked roughly the same age of fourteen, although the girl was slightly taller.
"Hey, BlackAgumon, do you see his partner anywhere?" Lisa asked the monster, who shook its head.
"Didn't he just arrive? It's doubtful that they've met up yet," The monster, BlackAgumon replied.
"Hm... Pity. I wanted to beat up the idiot who'd help him," Lisa sighed. "But, I guess we'll just kill him now and find the rest."
Nathan's face was frozen in a rather confused smile. He wasn't quite sure, but these two sounded like they planned to kill him, this 'partner' of his, and some others.
Clearing his throat, Nathan then asked, "Um, If you think I'm really some top secret spy, I'm afraid that's restricted to fiction. I just woke up 'round here."
The girl and her monster friend snickered at his words, clearly amused. "Spy? why would we think that? You're just an enemy," Lisa replied. Nathan still wasn't sure what she was talking about. He hadn't done anything to this girl! Hadn't even talked before now!
"Enemies in what?" Nathan asked nervously, to which Lisa smirked darkly.
"War." At that word, the BlackAgumon suddenly shot a ball of fire at him. He didn't quite catch what it shouted (which was an impressive feat, giving there was a ball of flames in its mouth at the time), but he threw himself to the side just in time. The ball whizzed past and struck a tree, somehow simply dissapitating instead of lighting the place up.
Nathan knew that these two were dangerous. No amount of talking was going to change the fact they were now trying to kill him. Before they could launch another attack, Nathan was up on his feet, dashing through the foliage for dear life.
This is insane! Nathan thought as he ran.
What the hell did I do?!
"Should I chase him down then?" BlackAgumon asked Lisa. She looked ready to speed off any second.
"Sure! Beat up anything that tries to stop you while you're at it!" Lisa suggested cheerfully. "I'll catch up in a few minutes."
With an excited smirk, BlackAgumon set off in pursuit of the fleeing human. While BlackAgumon may be shorter, she was definitely faster. It wouldn't take long to catch up.
At roughly the same time, Tanya and her two companions Calumon and Wormmon, were searching blindly for someone else. According to the two Digimon, at least one other human had been taken to the castle before Jake, and there was at least a good chance of Salamon finding one or two of the others. Still, Tanya would rather be out searching just in case.
"Don't you guys have any way of tracking us?" Tanya asked, somewhat irritably.
"Well, there's the Digivice's... but you guys don't have 'em yet!" Calumon said, unhelpfully. Tanya had no idea what a Digivice was, but if they worked as trackers, then they would certainly be useful.
"So, what are Digivice's?" Tanya asked as she pushed huge leaves and branches from her path.
Wormmon cleared his throat. "Well, without going into too much detail, they're devices that are supposed to help channel power from you into us, allowing us to Digivolve at will. They have a variety of other features too."
"Like Digi-nalysis!" Calumon piped up cheerfully.
Wormmon nodded. "And the afore-mentioned tracking of others. Well, the other Digivice's anyway."
"Didn't they have a built in clock?"
"I believe they had built in Sudoku too."
"Guys, shut up." Tanya sighed quietly. Amazingly, her tone still carried a vague threat. 'Shut up, or I'll have to slap you both silly'. The Digimon both got the message, and kept their mouth's shut. Or pincers, in Wormmon's case.
Aside from the rustling noises the trio made, there was silence. A silence shattered by the screaming of someone shouting 'Somebody help!"
"Oh come on, we've just been through this!" Tanya groaned in frustration. She was half expecting to see Jake barge through with that Veemon in tow.
The owner of the voice was conveniently heading their way, barreling through nature to escape pursuit. As the boy emerged, Tanya noticed that it wasn't Jake, although she was sure she'd seen the boy's face before. Another resident of their town? Was that E-Mail restrcited to their specific region or something?
The boy, upon seeing Tanya, didn't stop in recognition. He merely rushed a few paces passed them, and faced her, jogging on the spot.
"Please tell me you aren't trying to kill me too?" Nathan asked, panting slightly. For someone running for his life, it seemed rather unusual to stop and ask the next person they see if they were after him too.
With an eyebrow raised, Tanya answered. "Obviously not. I doubt your partner wants to, either."
"Eh?" Nathan looked rather confused. "BlackAddermon? Partner? I dunno what you're talking about, but that thing sure isn't my-"
"Oooh, another human?" BlackAgumon chirped gleefully, suddenly bursting into the scene, a grin filled with excitement spread across her face. She looked at Nathan, her grin quickly switching to a frown. "By the way, who the hell's 'BlackAddermon'?"
Nathan apologised nervously, while Tanya was glad that at least she wasn't the only one who forgot the Digimon's names. Still, this Digimon didn't look quite as friendly as the others.
"You! You're with Cherubimon, aren't you!" Calumon asked, a hint of aggressiveness in her voice now as she protectively leaped in front of Tanya, with Wormmon joining her.
"You! You're with MagnaAngemon, aren't you?" BlackAgumon mockingly repeated, gaining a rather irritated look from Calumon. "So, what gave it away? My 'evil' colouring? Me chasing the human? The Pepper Breathe!"
BlackAgumon shot a ball of flame towards the two Digimon. They both moved to the side, away from the blast and each other. Tanya and Nathan couldn't help but be impressed at how well Wormmon moved. He was noticeably slower than Calumon, but not the slouch that would be expected of him.
"You guys stay back, we'll deal with this gal!" Calumon called back to the two humans. Nathan was more than happy to stay away from a fight involving the BlackAgumon, but Tanya didn't seem to like the idea of sitting on the sidelines.
BlackAgumon raised her arms defensively as her two opponents moved in to attack. Her large, sharp claws gleamed ominously in the sunlight that made it through the treetops.
"Ruby Beam!" Calumon shouted, a red light bursting from the jewel on her forehead shooting towards BlackAgumon.
Swiftly, BlackAgumon leaped back, the beam striking the ground. As she landed back on ground, Wormmon lanched his own offensive.
"Sticky Net!" As the name implied, a very sticky substance was shot from Wormmon's pincirs, catching BlackAgumon's legs and trapping her in place.
With a confident smirk, Calumon charged forward. "Now for the finishing move! Ruby Headbutt!" The gem glowed brightly once more, spreading across Calumon's entire forehead as she leaped head-first towards BlackAgumon.
"...Tch. Total amatuer." The black-skinned reptile commented. Raising one of her clawed hands, she swiped at Calumon, easily deflecting her attack and swatting the smaller Digimon to the ground.
"Calumon!" Tanya and Wormmon shouted. With a groan, Calumon struggled back to her feet. That single swipe had dealt quite a bit of damage. This enemy was well trained if it was defeating fellow Rookie level Digimon this easily.
With her Pepper Breathe attack, BlackAgumon burned away the threads holding her in place, the flames barely affecting her. Calumon retreated, standing next to Wormmon, both glaring at the enemy.
"That was rather pathetic." BlackAgumon commented. "Bad aim, weak thread, terrible headbutt... did you guys even train in preparation for meeting them?" She referred to the two humans witnessing the skirmish.
"Don't act all tough. That last attack only tickled me!" Calumon lied. Her head was throbbing painfully. This was bad. If Wormmon and Calumon together couldn't take BlackAgumon down... if only they could Digivolve. No way could this cocky lizard take on two Champions.
BlackAgumon simply shrugged, her razor sharp teeth bared in a grin. "Tickled? If that's the case, I'll simply tickle you to death."
"Someone needs better rebuttals." Wormmon muttered quietly. Calumon smirked, ready to commence battling. After all, they'd only just started.
Nathan cautiously stepped next to Tanya, watching the Digimon carefully. "So, uh... what exactly is going on?" He glanced at the girl, and finally recognise her as Tanya. Unlike most, he didn't flinch away. Tanya hadn't given him a reason to fear her after all, and it was clear that they were on the same side.
Tanya shook her head, unsure of the finer details. "I guess that's an enemy of ours. But I'm not standing here and playing cheerleader. I'm just gonna have to kick that thing's a-"
"Tanya, stay back!" Calumon warned, surprising the girl. A commanding tone wasn't what Tanya pictured Calumon possessing. She certainly seemed resolute about keeping Tanya out of the battle. "BlackAgumon is vicious. Get close to her and she'll tear you to shreds!"
"Oh come now, she may be human but I bet she can hit way harder than you." BlackAgumon taunted, ready to finish the fight quickly.
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Tanya: Wow, a fight scene! At long last!
Nathan: I hope it doesn't disappoint...
Calumon: Hehe, of course it won't! I had to completely revamp my species just for this moment!
Tanya: Oh? How so?
Calumon: Well, I reconfigured my data so that I could actually learn attacks and Digivo-
BlackAgumon: If you don't mind, I'm trying to kill you right now.
Wormmon: Our apologies. We shall continue momentarily.