...

<Continent Server / Desert> <POV - Noah>

As we approached the church a feeling of happiness invaded my body making me smile. 'Finally a place to rest... how many hours have we been in this desert on BlackGarurumon's back?'

That question made me pause for a moment before shrugging my shoulders. It was hard enough keeping track of days in this World without a clock or calendar, it wasn't worth the effort to know what time it was.

'That reminds me, the Data Analysis update isn't finished yet... I wonder what's taking so long-'

“Watch out!!!”

SLASH!

The urgency in TK's voice snapped me out of my thoughts just in time to feel BlackGarurumon's body turn oddly to the side dodging by the hair a large gait of large red feathers that looked extremely sharp.

“What the hell?!” I exclaimed as I looked up to see three large shadows moving rapidly in the air forming a sort of circle above us.

Although I had to squint my eyes, I could dazzle as three large eagles with reddish plumage glared at us menacingly. I could barely notice the horns protruding from their heads.

 

[=====]

Name: Aquilamon

Level: Adult

Type: Data

Data: 73 / 500

...

A giant bird Digimon with two giant horns growing out of its head. It is called the Great Eagle of the Desert, and while it flies through the sky at Mach speed, it possesses the visual strength to locate the opponent from a very great distance. The horns on its head, when it glides from a great height and charges at the opponent, exhibit immense power. They are extremely territorial and will attack anyone who interrupts their territory.

Special Attack: Glide Horn, Blast Laser, Stealth Quarrel, Mach Impulse

[=====]

 

[=====]

Name: Aquilamon

Level: Adult

Data: 60 / 500

Special Attack: Glide Horn, Blast Laser, Stealth Quarrel

[=====]

 

[=====]

Name: Aquilamon

Level: Adult

Data: 49 / 500

Special Attack: Glide Horn, Stealth Quarrel

[=====]

 

'Three Digimon Adult?!' I widened my eyes in surprise before smiling. 'With BlackGarurumon and Herissmon we should be able to beat them easily, they're not as strong as Ogremon.'

Lowering my gaze I noticed how BlackGarurumon was intently watching every move of the three eagles, I looked at him confused wondering why he didn't move or attack when a realization hit me.

We were on his back, which prevented him from attacking properly without knocking us to the ground and leaving us sitting ducks for the eagles' attacks.

“Noah...”

“Herissmon can you shoot them at this distance?” I muttered under my breath as I also stared at every move the trio of Aquilomons made.

“I think so!” Herissmon nodded hesitantly as he sharpened his barbs. “But at this distance they'll certainly be able to dodge my attacks like it's nothing!”

“Not to mention those Digimon are Adult” I muttered thoughtfully as I scratched my hair nervously, letting out a snort I turned my gaze back to the eagles. “Maybe if- hold on tight!”

Slash! Slash! Slash!

More sharp feathers fell from the sky like a flurry of bullets upon us, BlackGarurumon barely dodged the rain of feathers receiving a few shallow cuts.

'Think! Think!' My mind raced as I thought of some kind of plan, but unfortunately I couldn't come up with anything for such a situation. I looked around for something that would be helpful... until my gaze stopped at the church.

Suddenly an idea formed in my head.

I lightly tugged on BlackGarurumon's fur drawing the wolf's attention to me. “I need you to run to the church and get inside!”

“No” BlackGarurumon denied as he looked intently at the eagles. “To the Aquilamon they will surely try to destroy the church with us inside.”

“In case you didn't notice they have the advantage in the open field!” I exclaimed loudly as I stared as the trio of eagles began to move faster and faster. “Besides you can't fight with all of us on your back, we'd just hinder your movement!”

I lowered my gaze to meet BlackGarurumon's who was looking at me doubtfully. “Trust me I have a plan!”

BlackGarurumon was silent for a moment before he shot off towards the church leaving a huge cloud of dust and sand. We all had to abruptly grab onto BlackGarurumon's fur to keep from falling off his back from the sheer force of his speed, I barely managed to hold onto TK and Tokomon in time to keep them from falling.

In the blink of an eye we found ourselves at the door of the church which was much larger than we could see in the distance. Without giving us time to contemplate the large construction, BlackGarurumon simply slammed into the door forcing it open and shattering it by the sheer force of the impact.

Once inside we quickly dismounted BlackGarurumon, the latter turned towards the door while growling menacingly. Suddenly a large red blob burst through the door smashing directly into BlackGarurumon and smashing them both into a wall.

I quickly grabbed TK's hand and ran to the other end of the church as I took one last look at Blackgurumon who was tearing at Aquilamon's shoulder with his jaw.

Turning my attention away from the scuffle between the two Digimon I went with TK just behind the altar completely ignoring the deplorable state of the church. Stopping for a moment I noticed that there was a door between open that seemed to lead to a spiral staircase down.

“Listen TK, I need you to come down along with Tokomon and wait for us down there” I quickly explained as I pushed TK and Tokomon towards the stairs.

Freeing himself from my hands TK turned around to look at me with concern. “But... what about you and BlackGarurumon?”

I gave him a confident smile as I pointed a thumb at myself. “We beat Ogremon didn't we? A couple of birdies is nothing compared to the scary ogre.”

“I want to-”

PAM!

Before TK could complete his sentence I suddenly slammed the door shut with force kicking up some dust in the process. Not a second later knocks started coming from the door.

“I don't think that was a good idea” Herissmon commented blinking in surprise as he heard the banging and shouting at the door that no doubt belonged to TK. “I highly doubt TK won't bother you after is that.”

“...Maybe but that doesn't matter, right now we have a bird to defeat.”

 

***

<TK - POV>

“Noah! Noah! open the door! It's not fair!” I shouted loudly as I tried in vain to open the door with my hands, I pouted towards the door as I stomped hard against the floor. “I want to help them too!”

Tokomon hesitantly approached my side as he looked at me with concern. “They just want to keep you safe TK-”

“I can keep myself safe just fine!!!” I shouted back to Tokomon before cringing at my own words as I saw the hurt expression on his face. “Sorry Tokomon-”

“I know better than anyone how much you want to help them TK...” Tokomon said crestfallen as he trembled slightly. “But right now we'd just be nuisances to them... I... I... I'm too weak to help... I'm sorry.”

“I'm sorry Tokomon, you're amazing and I couldn't ask for a better partner” I said apologetically as I crouched down next to him. “I just... I'm frustrated, I don't understand why Noah is so hell bent on sidelining me in fights... I mean, if he can fight I can't too?”

“I don't think it's that simple...” Tokomon muttered with a grimace.

“Again, I'm sorry Tokomon I shouldn't have yelled at you like that” I apologized to my partner while giving Tokomon a gentle hug, I shouldn't be mad at him for something he didn't do.

After the hug I took Tokomon in my arms while at the same time cautiously looking at the stairs.

“...We should go downstairs shouldn't we?” I asked the air only to be answered by a small nod from Tokomon. Carefully I started down the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible which was a bit difficult when the wood the stairs were made of was on its last legs.

Finally we went down to some sort of room which was completely dark. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little freaked out by this....

I instinctively pulled out my Tamagochi while pointing it into the darkness, it was after I pulled it out that I wondered how this was going to help me see in the dark. But as if by magic the device emitted a bit of white light that allowed me to see a couple of meters away.

“Hear that TK?” muttered Tokomon fearfully as his ears flicked back and forth.

I blinked twice before looking confused at Tokomon “Hear that?-”

 “Capture Thread...” Suddenly a faint voice echoed in the room.

Next thing I knew I was hanging from the ceiling of the room as my device seemed to have slipped from my hands and dropped to the floor.

“What is this?!” I screamed in fear as a large web wrapped around my arms and legs, in panic I looked around only to see how Tokomon had also been wrapped in a large web preventing him from moving.

“TK!” Tokomon cried as he tried to free himself from the large web.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see some sort of green centipede come out of the darkness and stare at me. Although I could only see it for a second a holographic screen had already appeared right in my face.

 

[=====]

Name: Dokunemon

Level: Child

Type: Virus

Data: 13 / 150

...

A Larva Digimon whose appearance is very similar to Kunemon. It carries a very potent toxin which can severely poison its opponents with its brief contact to their skin. Its special moves are to jump and spread a neurotoxin from its tail that paralyzes the enemy, and to charge and then stab the enemy with the horn on its tail.

Special Attack: Capture Thread, Worm Venom, Poison Ride

[=====]

“I-I wasn't expecting visitors...” Dokunemon said with strange shyness, even though I couldn't see him I could hear his small footsteps echoing like drops of water in the room. “Except to have such tasty ones...”

“W-what do you mean?” I felt the blood drain from my face as I remembered the story BlackGarurumon told me when he was still Gabumon, about how Digimon eat other Digimon to make themselves stronger....

“...I-I see” Dokunemon muttered as he appeared next to Tokomon and stared at him, it was hard to describe his look due to the strangeness of his eyes. “I-I-I feel holy power coming from you...”

“Don't you dare touch me!” “I have a BlackGarurumon as a friend and when do you see that-”

“Y-You're... delicious” Dokunemon suddenly said as he bit and tore off one of Tokomon's ears eating it immediately.

Tokomon's silent scream echoed in the dark room as fear and panic rose up my chest and into my throat.

“TOKOMON!!” I shouted loudly as I struggled hard against the web.

“...Your d-data must be special n-no?” Dokunemon's foul voice spoke with delight as he savored the Data in Tokomon's ear.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!” I shouted loudly as I shot him an anger-filled glare.

“...Y-You're annoying” The green centipede muttered before approaching me as it walked across the ceiling and landed right on my back. I tried to move to get it off my back but to no avail. “Worm V-Venom.”

Suddenly I felt as if a small needle was injected into my left shoulder and, as if I had been struck by lightning, an indescribable pain erupted throughout my body at the same time.

A great amount of nausea and heat flooded my body quickly making me vomit at once, I felt as if my blood was boiling as my body went limp in the air. A buzzing sound echoed through my head as my gaze became strange, almost as if everything around me became distorted.

“TK!”

Tokomon's voice reached my ears strangely, as if I was underwater.

Thinking was becoming increasingly difficult as I slowly lost feeling in my hands and legs.

“TK! TK!” Tokomon exclaimed as he frantically moved around.

“That s-should do it...” Dokunemon muttered with a small chuckle before moving towards Tokomon. “...Now where was I?”

“Brother...he...lp...” I muttered weakly watching as Dokunemon took another bite out of Tokomon ripping off his other ear, the corners of my eyes began to darken as I felt my mind slowly shut down.

“This place is dangerous TK...” The memory of a conversation with Noah popped into my head. “We are no longer supervised by adults and there are monsters outside that can do us a lot of harm...”

Suddenly I was no longer hanging from a spider web in a gloomy abandoned basement, but in our house in Tunomon Village while we all ate a lively meal.

“U-Uh, don't cry TK! I promise I'll protect you until we find Matt and the others, got it?...so don't cry!”

I hadn't realized it at the time...but Noah seemed to be hesitating as he spoke, as if he wanted to tell me something but didn't have the courage to do so.

 “TK, don't worry I will always be there to protect you and no one will hurt you!” The image of my brother smiling confidently at me popped into my mind, I hadn't realized it until now, but his smile seemed... hesitant.

As if he wanted his voice to make me ignore the screaming and crying in the background.

'I... want... want to be strong... like you guys...' I gritted my teeth as I did my best to keep my eyes open, the faces of my brother and Noah flashing through my mind like a breath of fresh wind. 'I... I won't give up... because... you guys wouldn't give up either until you give the last of yourselves...'

FLUSH!!!

Suddenly the room was filled with a warm white light that seemed to wrap tightly around me like some kind of blanket. It felt like mom's hugs when I was saying goodbye to go to school together with my brother.

With my last bit of strength I opened my eyes for a brief moment before passing out.

The last thing I remember seeing before I passed out was an orange blob brutally slamming Dokunemon to the floor of the room.

...

A/N: Finally after a lot of back pain and learning to manage my scarce time, I was able to make some advance chapters for Patreon!

I should clarify that this does not mean that the reading becomes paid, far from it, it's just a way to support the reading. The only advantage is to be able to read some chapters in advance and that there may be more frequent updates.