//------------------------------// // The Castle in the Clouds // Story: Digimon Codex // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was another busy day at Codex, where Flash stepped out of the stadium having just won another battle. "Yeah!" Flash cheered, feeling pumped after such an awesome battle. Today was a first for Flash, as he had chosen to use his new Betamon and Airdramon scans in the battle. It had left him at a bit of a disadvantage, given he didn't have an Ultimate form for Airdramon and not using Veemon meant he had one less security, but he had been able to pull through and defeat his opponent before they could go Ultimate. Heading over to the cafeteria, he spotted Veemon, Sandalwood and Mangoramon sitting there waiting for him. "Dude!" Sandalwood cheered, "totally killer battle. You were awesome." "Thanks," Flash smirked, "though it was a bit of luck. My opponent put me in a water environment, so my Betamon form was right at home until I could Digivolve." "Well you still won," Sandalwood smirked. "And you won because you earned it." Flash smiled at this before looking around. "Hey, where's Micro? I haven't seen him since logging in?" Sandalwood shrugged, stating he hadn't seen him either. Veemon and Mangoramon had the same reply, making Flash curious about his whereabouts. He was about to log out and ask the real Micro, but a voice spoke up. "You looking for Micro Chips?" He looked around and saw Trixie walking towards them with Lunamon besides her. "I just saw him coming out of the Beta-Stadium." "Really? Who was he battling?" "Nobody," she sat down, "I think he was just testing a deck." Flash raised an eyebrow. "You can use the Beta-Stadium on your own if you want. Most people go in to test out being a Digimon or practising in a certain terrain. You can do it on your own or have the computer use one of the house decks against you, which makes an opposing Digimon for you to fight. You can even fight against one of your own decks." "Huh, alright. But what was Micro doing in there?" They all shrugged and Flash was curious where Micro Chips was right now, only for one of the TV screens to announce a battle was about to start in the Champion Stadium. When the names came up, he was surprised. "He's battling now?" "You sure we're ready?" Tentomon asked, as he and Micro Chips made their way to their designated arena. "We've trained hard," Micro pointed out. "And the new deck seems pretty balanced. We'll just have to be careful and not underestimate our opponent." Tentomon nodded as they arrived outside their room. As they did, Micro looked down at his Digivice and stared at the deck he planned to use. Whilst most people tried to guess how to counter their opponent when they saw them, Micro had decided to use this deck in particular no matter who he was up against. Hopefully, they would be someone it would match up well against. But as Micro stepped into the room, he saw that his opponent was already there. And he knew who it was, "Lightning Dust." The girl smirked at him, her Kokuwamon standing besides her tapping his pincers together. "It's her," Flash realised as he saw Lightning on the TV screen. "You know her?" Trixie asked. "We ran into each other at the Rookie stadium," Flash explained. "But what's she doing there?" "She must have ranked up," Sandalwood frowned. "What was she like?" Flash frowned, not sure how to answer that. It was possible she was always the way she was when he met her, but given she had been worried about her partner she might be a lot nicer then he thought. "Not really sure. Only met her once for a few minutes." "She's not the nicest of players." The six looked around and saw a girl walking towards them. A blue skinned girl with rainbow hair, who was walking besides a tortoise-like Digimon. "Lightning Dust is all about speed and power. She hits hard and fast and doesn't care what happens to anyone around her." "She a friend of yours?" Trixie asked. "Not really. We started playing at the same time and were the first to face each other in the In-Training Stadium." She turned to them, "name's Rainbow Dash. And this is my partner, Kamemon." "Pleased to meet you," the tortoise waved as Flash offered her a seat. "Anyway, your friend better hope he gets to pick the battlefield." "Why?" Veemon asked, as they watched Micro and Lightning begin to select their decks. "Lightning likes to use small and fast Digimon," Rainbow explained. "Ones that can move around at high speed and work well in enclosed spaces. That's why she always picks areas to fight in that are cramped, like caves or the insides of buildings." "Makes sense," Trixie nodded. "And since most Champion Digimon are large, that kind of tactic's pretty smart." They looked up at the screen, hoping Micro got picked for the locations. Micro and Lightning finished selecting their decks. As they did, the voice spoke up. "Micro Chips. You have been randomly select to choose the battlefield you would like to use." Lightning Dust frowned, clearly not happy she couldn't pick. Micro opened up his list of locations and after considering his deck, he smiled and picked one. "Castle of Dark Illusions has been selected. When both players are ready, hit the start button." Lightning seemed surprised by this, as Micro went to hit the button. She also hit it, both yelling out in unison. "LET'S GET DIGITAL!" In a flash of light, they and their Digimon were fused together. When the light faded, only Tentomon and Kokuwamon were in the room. Said room quickly filled with light, blinding them both as the field formed around them. Back in Codex, Flash and the others watched as the screen changed to show the environment Micro had chosen. That environment was a large collection of clouds. Within those clouds was a structure, floating high above the Digital World. It was a castle, with many large towers on the top and a bottom covered in spiky rocks pointing downwards. Wrapped around it was a large stone ring, with the kanji of darkness engraved within it. "Wow," Flash whispered, "that's that?" "The Castle of Dark Illusion," Trixie replied. "It's a flying fortress in the Digital World, where a bunch of magic wielding Digimon recide." She frowned, "why would Micro pick someplace like that?" "Yeah," Sandalwood nodded, "that's playing right into Lightning's wheelhouse. He'll be fine as Tentomon, but the second he Digivolves to Champion he's gonna be in serious trouble." "Maybe he plans on going outside," Mangoramon suggested. "That cloud cover should help conceal him." The others nodded, as the screen zoomed into the castle entrance and into its foyer. There, Tentomon and Kokuwamon appeared. Tentomon: 5-100% Kokuwamon: 5-100% Their stats appeared on the screen. Name: Tentomon Level: Rookie Type: Vaccine Attribute: Plant Species: Insect Family: Nature Spirits, Metal Empire, Jungle Troopers Name: Kokuwamon Level: Rookie Type: Data Attribute: Electric Species: Machine Family: Metal Empire, Jungle Troopers "Tentomon's a Vaccine Digimon," Flash frowned. "Which means a he'll be at a disadvantage against a Data type like Kokuwamon." Rainbow nodded. "Lightning probably knew Micro was gonna pick Tentomon and picked that Digimon for that exact reason." They all frowned, hoping Micro could come up with a way to win even with the disadvantage. Kokuwamon looked around the place, smirking at the little room they would have to work with. "Perfect," she smiled, "you really shot yourself in the foot with this location. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," Tentomon stated. "This battle's outcome was decided when we chose our decks and I chose the location. I've already won and now, it's just a matter of showing my work." "We'll see about that!" Kokuwamon leapt into the air, the wings on her back folding up to allow flight. Lightning then sparked between the horns on her head, "Stun Shock!" The lightning exploded off of her head and shot towards Tentomon, who quickly leapt up and took flight as well. The electricity hit the ground and exploded, but Tentomon was safe. And as he flew higher, he generated his own lightning from the wings on his back. "Super Shocker!" The lightning shot towards Kokuwamon and slammed into her, making her he hiss. But then she just smirked as the power was sucked into her. "What?" Tentomon: 5-100% Kokuwamon: 5-100% "Why didn't her health drop?" Sandalwood cried, as Kokuwamon flew forward to attack Tentomon. "Is it because she's an Electric Digimon?" Flash asked, but the other shook their heads as they had all seen fights between Electrics types before. There had to be another reason. They watched Kokuwamon flew forward and slashed at Tentomon with its claws, trying to pinch him with her scissor like claws. But Tentomon dodged it and flew down to land at the bottom of some stairs leading up to the next floor. Kokuwamon then landed at the top, the two staring at each other. "How did you take no damage from that attack?" Tentomon asked as he looked around for a way to fight the opponent. Said opponent simply chuckled at him. "Guess you didn't study as well as you thought. I'm an Electric Digimon." "So?" Tentomon asked, "other Electric Digimon take damage from Electric attacks." "Unless they're machines types," Kokuwamon replied. "Electric type Machine Digimon aren't hurt by electrical attacks. We feast on them." Tentomon realised what she was saying. "But you're not the same." She crossed her arms, as they sparked with lightning. "Power Surge!" She swung her arms around and unleashed an X-shaped blast of lightning, which flew towards Tentomon. The bug Digimon leapt up to dodge them, which shot under him and slammed into a stone pillar behind him. The attack was so strong, it cut right through the pillar and causing it to break apart. Tentomon gulped at this, since he would need to be careful with that attack. But he was so focused on the pillar, he lost sight of Kokuwamon. "Surprise!" She slammed into him, slashing his back with her claws and making him cry out. Tentomon: 5-90% Kokuwamon: 5-100% His friends flinched as Tentomon hit the ground, the bug Digimon groaning as Kokuwamon flew down to deal another attack. But before she could, Tentomon spun around and slashed at her. "Talon Attack!" The claw on his large front legs slashed against the robot, damaging it. Tentomon: 5-90% Kokuwamon: 5-90% Kokuwamon flinched at the pain, but leapt back and flew towards the stairs again. She landed at the top once more and stared down at her, ready to do some long distance attacks which Tentomon clearly couldn't respond to. "You don't have a shot at beating me." Her head sparked again, but Tentomon was ready. The stairs had a long red rug running down it, which wasn't connected to the floor. So Tentomon grabbed it and pulled before Kokuwamon could fire. "WOW!" She cried, as the rug she was on was pulled out from under her and she found herself getting dragged over the edge of the top step. She started slamming into the stairs, groaning and grunting with each impact and lost of points. As she did, the rug started to be wrapped around her. Tentomon chuckled as he leapt into the air, deciding to change up where they would be fighting. As Kokuwamon hit the bottom of the stairs, still cocooned in a blanket, Tentomon shot down a hallway. Tentomon: 5-90% Kokuwamon: 5-70% "Hey!" Kokuwamon cried, as she started ripping through the carpet. "Where'd you go?" She looked around, then noticed a sound coming from one of the hallways. "There you are!" She shot into the air and flew like a jet down the hall, which was a narrow corridor she had to be careful with as she turned corners. Then, when she turned another corner, Tentomon suddenly shot towards her. "Rolling Guard!" He rolled himself into a ball and shot towards her, slamming into her before she could defend herself and smashing her into the wall behind her. "Augh!" Tentomon: 5-90% Kokuwamon: 5-55% "Wow," Rainbow cried, "that did some damage." "Rolling Guard's an Earth type attack," Flash pointed out as he looked over the stats. "Earth is strong Electric and weak to Wind, so it would do a ton of damage." Trixie nodded. "But since Tentomon's a Vaccine Digimon, his attack power is weakened when he attacks a Data Digimon." They watched as Tentomon pushed himself away from Kokuwamon, who quickly recovered as her head sparked with lightning. "Stun Shock!" The lightning blasted off of her and towards Tentomon, hitting him before he had a chance to escape and making him cry out in pain. Tentomon: 5-70% Kokuwamon: 5-55% "AUGH!" Tentomon slammed into the ground, as Kokuwamon landed. "Not a smart move, heading somewhere you can't dodge my attacks." Kokuwamon rushed down the corridor ahead and Tentomon picked himself up, able to leap back and avoid a slash from the machine Digimon. "Give it up. You're not gonna beat me." "We'll see," Tentomon replied before his wings sparked. "But I've got one more advantage that you don't have." Kokuwamon braced herself, but smirked since he was about to blast her with the thing that gave her strength. "I know this castle like the back of my hand! Super Shocker!" Lightning exploded towards Kokuwamon, but shot passed her and hit the wall. "You missed!" She crossed her claws as they sparked, "Power Surge!" She launched the attack and the X-shaped lightning blast shot towards Tentomon, slamming into him and blasting him backwards. Tentomon: 5-20% Kokuwamon: 5-55% Kokuwamon smirked as Tentomon was thrown down the hallway and crashed into the wall at the end of it, but wondered what he meant about knowing the castle. She got her answer when a cracking sound made her look back. The wall that she had previously been slammed into had a small hole in it, likely formed when she was smashed into it, which she noticed had water leaking out and dampening the floor. The Super Shocker had also hit this spot and done further damage to the wall, as multiple cracks ran along it. And from these cracks, more water seeped out. "Uh oh." She ran down the hallway, as the wall completely exploded and sent a jet of water flying down it. "NOOOO!" She was slammed back the water and sent flying down the corridor towards Tentomon, who had recovered and now flying away to escape. "How does a castle in the sky have water?" Flash asked. Sandal hummed, trying to remember something Micro had told him. "It sucks in water from the clouds around it, channelling it through a series of pipes to allow those inside something to drink and bath in, then expels the waste water out." Everyone stuck their tongue out at that statement, as they watched Tentomon escape the hallway and find himself in a great hall that had four large tables located inside of it. He quickly flew up, as the water flooded into the room and filled the place up with enough water to submerge the tables. And as it did, Kokuwamon was slammed into one of the tables. The mechanical Digimon moaned as she laid on the table, her body sparking due to her short circuiting and causing a lot of damage. Tentomon: 5-20% Kokuwamon: 5-5% Tentomon waited for the water to reseed, dripping through drains in the floor, the tables emerging from the water but still being soaked as Kokuwamon laid upon it. "See, I know this castle like the back of Tentomon's claw." He flew down and landed, as the mechanical Digimon tried to push himself to his feet. "I'm not gonna let you beat me so easily." "Oh yeah," Kokuwamon stated. "But you also made a big mistake." He body sparked, "you just soaked this whole room." With that, lightning exploded out of her and was channelled into the water. Tentomon leapt up and curled himself into a ball, shooting forward as Kokuwamon launched her attack. "Rolling Guard/Stun Shocker!" The lightning exploded off of her and slammed into Tentomon, who pushed through it and smashed his rolled up body into her. Tentomon: 5-0% Kokuwamon: 5-0% The pair were knocked away from one another, both being sent flying in the opposite direction. They then crashed into the ends of the long tables and smashed through them, hitting the ground hard. They both laid there and let themselves recover, the two having a hard time shaking off this pain. But then, Micro saw something on his display that made him smirk. "Yes." He rolled back to his feet and stood up, jumping onto the table. "Time to turn this game around." "What are you talking about?" Kokuwamon picked herself up, "you might have been able to trick your way into keeping up so far. But I won't fall for your tricks anymore." "Don't be so sure," Tentomon stated. "After all, I'm about to shake things up." Lightning wondered what he meant by that, but realised he must be planning to Digivolve. "You actually wanna Digivolve here? You'll be stuck and there's not enough room to fly." "I don't know what you're talking about," Tentomon replied. "There's plenty of room. And I'm not gonna fly." "What?" She pushed herself onto the table, "don't try and trick me. Tentomon's Champion forms are all huge flying Digimon." "Who said I was going Champion," Tentomon laughed as something appeared in front of him. "You can thank my friend, Flash, for giving me this." The object was finally revealed: The Digimantal Of Courage. "Now, Digi-Armor Energise!" The Digimantal exploded into flames and wrapped around him, causing his body to change. "Tentomon, Armor Digivolve to..." The flaming body became humanoid and when the fires began to extinguish, it revealed a figure in flame patterned wizards clothing that was carrying a pair of giant matchsticks. "FlameWizardmon, Burning Magical Courage!" "WOW!" His friend all cried out in amazement. "I didn't know Micro had that armor," Sandalwood turned to Flash. "You gave it to him, right?" Flash nodded, explaining how he had traded it before selling the Digimantal to the Codex Commanders. "I hoped Micro would get some use out of it, but I didn't realise Tentomon could Armor Digivolve." As he said this, Trixie brought up the new Digimon's stats and were amazed. "Guys, I think I know why Micro chose this Digimon." The others turned to her, as she showed them the stats. Name: FlameWizardmon Level: Armor Type: Virus Attribute: Fire Species: Demon Man Family: Nightmare Soldier "It's Virus?" Rainbow asked, smirking when she saw this. "Awesome. This gives Micro the edge." They turned back to the battle, as FlameWizardmon took out its matchstick wands and spun them around. "Fire Cloud!" The tips of the matches ignited and as he spun them around, the flames exploded outwards in all directions. "Wow!" Kokuwamon leapt back, shocked when she saw the room around her catch fire. "Are you insane?" A wall of fire appeared between them, but FlameWizardmon simply walked through it. "Of course. You've turned the battlefield to one you have the advantage in." "Exactly," FlameWizardmon started swinging his burning wands at the robot, attempting to hit Kokuwamon and burn her. But she avoided the attacks as best she could, only to leap back and find herself hitting the firewall behind her. "Augh!" FlameWizardmon: 4-100% Kokuwamon: 4-95% FlameWizardmon took this moment to leap forward and slam his foot into Kokuwamon, knocking her backwards and through the flames. "RAAAAH!" FlameWizardmon: 4-100% Kokuwamon: 4-70% She slammed into the ground and slid across it, as FlameWizardmon walked through the fire. She turned to glare at him, realising he had outsmarted her. "Picking a Rookie I was strong against, making me think I knew what he would become, picking this environment to throw me off. This guy's too smart for his own good." FlameWizardmon charged forward, but Kokuwamon wasn't gonna let him beat her this easily. "Stun Shock!" A lightning bolt exploded out of her horns and hit FlameWizardmon in the chest. "Augh!" FlameWizardmon: 4-90% Kokuwamon: 4-70% Kokuwamon used this distraction to turn to the great hall's exit, realising this was her only chance to escape since the flames were blocking it. She leapt into the air and for the door. as FlameWizardmon recovered from the attack. "Magic Ignition!" The fingertips of his gloves burst into blue flames, the magical Digimon flicking them at Kokuwamon and sending blue fireballs flying at her. Kokuwamon was able to avoid them and pushed her way through the door, the flames not spreading passed the great hall. FlameWizardmon ran out of the room behind her, but Kokuwamon flew around a corner and out of range. "You can run, but you can't hide!" "Never thought I'd see Lightning on the ropes like this," Rainbow was amazed as they watched the robot flying to safety. "She's not gonna stand a chance if she just runs," Trixie pointed out. "What's she thinking?" They got their answer when Kokuwamon flew into a corridor and found a coin floating in the middle of it. She quickly flew towards it and grabbed it, the coin exploding and flying into her body. "That's it," Flash nodded. "She's trying to Digivolve." Sandalwood nodded, "it's easier to Digivolve to an Armor Form than Champion Form. That's why Tentomon Digivolved before her." She kept flying through the castle, searching for another coin. However, she turned a corner only for a blast of fire to hit her in the chest. "Augh!" She was thrown backwards, her life points dropping even further. FlameWizardmon: 4-90% Kokuwamon: 4-40% She fell to the ground, as FlameWizardmon moved towards her spinning his wands around. "Ready to give up?" He wasn't acting cocky, but Micro hoped speaking this way would rile her up and cause her to make a mistake. "Never!" Kokuwamon growled as she checked her Digivolution gauge. Lightning saw it was almost full. She just needed to buy more time. "Power Surge!" She swung her claws around and unleashed the electrical X-shape, which struck FlameWizardmon before he could react. "Ahhhh!" He staggered back, feeling the electrical sting. FlameWizardmon: 4-75% Kokuwamon: 4-40% He staggered back as Kokuwamon leapt into the air and flew over him, making her way through the corridors until they reached another set of large doors. Pushing her way into his room, she found herself in a large library. FlameWizardmon was right behind her, but her Digivolution gauge finally filled up. "Alright!" She cheered as he body burst into light. "Kokuwamon, Digivolve to..." Her body didn't grow, but it changed shape and became more rounded. A spike appeared from out of its head. The light finally vanished and revealed a purple sphere Digimon with arms and legs that had a lightning bolt on its head. "Thundermon!" "Thought so," Rainbow nodded. "A small Champion Digimon with a lot of speed and power. Micro's gonna have trouble against that." The others brought up Thundermon's stats. Name: Thundermon Level: Champion Type: Data Attribute: Electric Species: Mutant Family: Metal Empire "It's still a Data type," Trixie pointed out. "Shouldn't be too much of an issue against a Virus type." "Maybe," Flash nodded, "but the typing won't matter if the attack can't land." Sure enough, Thundermon started flying around at high speed, as FlameWizardmon launched fireballs towards him. "Stay still!" The wizard roared as his fire attacks missed. "Not gonna happen!" Thundermon laughed as she suddenly shot towards him, throwing a bunch right into his back. FlameWizardmon cried out as he was knocked staggering forward. FlameWizardmon: 4-70% Thundermon: 4-40% The attack wasn't that strong, but Thundermon was able to fly away before FlameWizardmon could react. The magical Digimon managed to remain on his feet and looked towards where Thundermon had flown to, but the Mutant Digimon was too fast and he couldn't follow her. "AUGH!" He was once again struck in the back and thrown forward, a bolt of lightning flying around him and hitting four more times. FlameWizardmon: 4-45% Thundermon: 4-40% Having had enough of getting punched, FlameWizardmon quickly spun around as the last moment. "Magic Ignition!" His hand burst into blue flames and with a flick, the fireballs exploded off his fingers and shot in several directions. On of those directions was where Thundermon had flown, the living lightning bolt flying straight into the path of a fireball. "AUGH!" Thundermon scream, as the fireball exploded right in her face. FlameWizardmon: 4-45% Thundermon: 4-10% Thundermon spun through the air until he crashed into a bookcase, almost knocking it over. But the Digimon quickly used this and pushed his feet into the case, using it as a springboard to propel himself towards her opponent. "Powerful Punch!" Her fists sparked with lightning and with incredible speed, she punched FlameWizardmon in the chest. FlameWizardmon: 4-35% Thundermon: 4-10% FlameWizardmon flinched as he was knocked staggering back, the magician attempting to launch a blast of fire towards Thundermon. But the Mutant was able to leap back just in time. "Thunder Bomber!" Lightning shot off his horn and into his hands, which be brought together to form an orb of electricity. That orb was blasted at FlameWizardmon, who attempted to dodge it. But as soon as it slammed into the ground, the sphere exploded and sent out a blast of electrical energy. It electrocuted the FlameWizardmon, making him cry out as his body felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand tiny needles. FlameWizardmon: 4-20% Thundermon: 4-10% He hit the ground and Thundermon shot towards him again, planning to deal a punch right to his face. But FlameWizardmon smirked and thrust his wands out. "Curse of Fire!" Red light shot out of the matches and formed some kind of magic circle, which Thundermon accidently flew through. As he did, fire exploded around her. "Augh!" FlameWizardmon: 4-20% Thundermon: 4-0% Thundermon fell to the ground in front of FlameWizardmon, who got up and smirked at him. She quickly rolled to her feet and picked herself up, ready to attack, but her body burst into flames again. "GYAH!" FlameWizardmon: 4-20% Thundermon: 3-90% "What happened?" Veemon asked, "FlameWizardmon didn't even touch her." Lunamon hummed. "My guess, it was some kind magic. When Thundermon flew through the magical circle, she was cursed to be burned every now and then." The others nodded, thinking the same thing. "Magic is a powerful thing in the Digital World. Those with its power can manipulate the coding of the world to make the impossible possible." Rainbow nodded, "and now Lightning's up against a pretty powerful form of magic. She might not stand a chance." "I wouldn't be so sure of that." They all looked around, seeing the speaker sitting at another table. It was Jet Set, who was sipping a cup of coffee. "Lightning isn't one to give up so easily. She'll find a way to turn things in her favour. Just watch." They turned back to the battle, as Thundermon stopped burning. "You think you've got me beat?" She asked, as FlameWizardmon readied his wands. "I don't think I have," the magician replied. "But my strategy seems to be working." He charged forward and swung his flaming matches around, Thundermon leaping around to avoid them. "It's just a matter of hitting you enough times whilst my curse widdles you down." "I'm not gonna let that happen," Thundermon replied before her body burned again. "Gyah!" FlameWizardmon: 4-20% Thundermon: 3-80% She staggered back, as FlameWizardmon tried to whack her with his staff. But Thundermon leapt to the side. "Time to kick things up a notch." She leapt into the air and flew to the top of a bookcase. "You think turning to a Virus Type surprised me?" FlameWizardmon stared at her, "well it did. But it's not the first time someone's tried to use that trick on me." "So?" "So...I always come prepared." She leapt into the air, "Battle Gear...BOOST!" A light then exploded off her back, transforming into a metal backpack of sorts with wires sticking off it that went into her arms. "Virus Buster Breakers!" "What?" FlameWizardmon hadn't heard of that Battle Gear. But he quickly learned what it did when she shot down towards him, then slammed her fist into him. "AUGH!" FlameWizardmon: 4-10% Thundermon: 3-80% Thundermon then dealt a second strike, hitting FlameWizardmon right in the face. FlameWizardmon: 4-0% Thundermon: 3-80% FlameWizardmon fell back and as Thundermon prepared to attack again, the magician thrust his hand forward. "Magic Ignition!" The fire exploded out and slammed Thundermon head on, making her cry out in pain. FlameWizardmon: 3-100% Thundermon: 3-50% Thundermon was knocked backwards but as she was, her horn sparked before unleashing the lightning into her hand. "Thunder Bomber!" The electrical explosive was sent flying towards FlameWizardmon, exploding to electrocute him as he was also knocked backwards and into a bookcase. FlameWizardmon: 3-70% Thundermon: 3-50% "I don't get it," Flash frowned. "Why are Thundermon's attacks doing more damage?" "Her Virus Buster Breaker," Jet explained. "With that, any attack she launches are transformed into Vaccine attacks. Even though she's a Data type, she can hit Viruses with Vaccine Attacks." "That's not good," Trixie frowned. "Now they're both on equal footing." "Not exactly," Flash sighed. "She's gonna go Ultimate eventually." "Does Micro have an Ultimate Form for FlameWizardmon?" Sandal asked, everyone else unsure. "Even if he does, it won't be until after Lightning unless he can get some coins." Flash remembered how hard it was to get from Armor to Ultimate. One of the few downsides of the evolution. "Come on Micro." "Smart move," FlameWizardmon picked himself up. "But this battle's far from over." Thundermon smirked at this, only for her body to burn once again. FlameWizardmon: 3-70% Thundermon: 3-40% As she burned, FlameWizardmon charged. The pair got in close and with Thundermon still recoiling from the burn, she was unable to avoid getting hit by the attacks FlameWizardmon started hitting her with. But she pushed through the pain and threw her own strikes, the pair trading blows several times. The library was ripped apart by their fight, as they dealt attack after attack at one another. Eventually, the pair split apart as their life gauges dropped. FlameWizardmon: 2-100% Thundermon: 2-85% Seeing the room had been completely destroyed and no coins had been revealed, Thundermon rushed off at high speed. "Hey!" FlameWizardmon charged after her, but the living lightning bolt outsped him. He chased her out of the library and she whizzed down the hallways, attempting to find a coin or two. "Come on," she groaned as she searched for a Digivolution Coin. She then found a route that lead down to the lower sections of the castle. This area wasn't as clean as the rest of the castle, being a strange mixture of dungeons and laboratories. And it was in one of these labs that she found a Digivolution Coin. "Yes!" She grabbed it and the power flowed into her, her Digivolution gauge getting close to full. "Almost." But as she said that, her body burst into flames again and her life points dropped. FlameWizardmon: 2-100% Thundermon: 2-75% She panted as the flames went out, but knew she had to keep fighting. However, she then heard footsteps coming from outside the room. Seems FlameWizardmon had found her. "See anything?" Micro asked as the Armor Digimon reached the bottom of the stairs, looking around as Tentomon kept an eye out of anything. "Nothing that you haven't already noticed," Tentomon replied. "Just be careful. She's gotta be down here somewhere." And sure enough, a soon as he said that Thundermon leapt out of one of the rooms. "Powerful Punch!" She shot forward and thrust her fist into FlameWizardmon, unleashing a blast of lightning that knocked the Armor Digimon backwards. FlameWizardmon: 2-80% Thundermon: 2-75% Despite being thrown backwards, FlameWizardmon ignited his fist. "Magic Ignition!" He flicked the fireballs forward, Thundermon trying to avoid them but having very little success in the narrow corridor. One of the fireballs exploded against the wall to her left, the explosion pulling her into the path of another. "AUGH!" She cried, as the flames singed her body. FlameWizardmon: 2-80% Thundermon: 2-45% FlameWizardmon then leapt forward and threw a kick at the still recovering Mutant Digimon. FlameWizardmon: 2-80% Thundermon: 2-35% Thundermon hit the ground and rolled backwards, coming to a stop when she managed to dig her feet into the ground. She panted, but pushed herself back to her feet. And as she did, the Digivolution Gauge became full. "Finally." As she said that, he body started glowing. "Thundermon, Digivolve to..." The spherical Digimon remained the same size, but her arms started changing. The lightning bolt on its head vanished as metal plating appeared on his head. When the light faded, she was now a red spherical Digimon covered in metal armor. Her head had a helmet covering it and her arms were entirely mechanical, with her right fist have a red glove with three metal claws on it and her left arm having a laser cannon of sorts. The Virus Burst Break was still stuck her her back, the wires connected to her arm weapons. "MetalMamemon!" "Not good," Rainbow frowned. "That Digimon's one of Lightning's strongest." The others brought up the stats. Name: MetalMamemon Level: Ultimate Type: Data Attribute: Electric Species: Cyborg Family: Metal Empire, Virus Buster "It's still a Data type," Trixie pointed out. "But with their Virus Buster Breaker, Micro's still gonna have trouble." "And he's not gonna be able to use his Ultimate for a while," Flash reminded them. As he said that, the new Ultimate shot forward at incredible speed. "Metal Claw!" She slashed at FlameWizardmon with her claws, the Armor Digimon trying to block with his matches. But the claws cut right through them. "What?" He cried, seeing the wooden weapons falling to the ground. MetalMamemon then slashed at him, hitting him right across the face. "AUGH!" FlameWizardmon: 2-40% MetalMamemon: 2-35% He was thrown backwards, as MetalMamemon leapt into the air and pointed her weapon at him. "Psycho Blaster!" She charged up her attack, but before she could fire the flames exploded around her body. The curse hadn't broken with her Digivolution. FlameWizardmon: 2-40% MetalMamemon: 2-25% Seeing his chance, FlameWizardmon raised his fist as the flames exploded around it. "Magic Ignition!" The fireballs shot off his hand and slammed into the Ultimate, exploding and knocking her backwards. FlameWizardmon: 2-40% MetalMamemon: 2-5% FlameWizardmon then ran forward, knowing his best shot of victory required the destruction of the Battle Gear allowing MetalMamemon to deal him large damage. And to do that, he needed his own. "Battle Gear, BOOST!" He leapt into the air over MetalMamemon, as something appeared on his back. That something was what appeared to be leaf blower backpack, the wizard pointing the hose towards MetalMamemon. "Flame Cannon! FIRE!" A stream of flames exploded out of the leaf blower and flew towards the Ultimate Level, hitting the back of her Battle Gear as she was knocked forwards. MetalMamemon flinched at the heat, but it didn't damage her. However, as she hit the ground, her Battle Gear began to short circuit. "Seriously?" She asked, spinning around as FlameWizardmon landed. "Psycho Blaster!" Her arm cannon fired and shot a blast of purple energy towards him. "Flame Cannon!" He fired another stream and it struck the energy ball, exploding. As this happened, the Virus Buster Breaker sparked before exploding. The damage had been too much and now, she was stuck fighting him without her large damage. "Doesn't matter!" She shot forward, "I'll still take you down." She flew through the smoke of the explosion and reached FlameWizardmon before the magician could reach, "Metal Claw!" She slashed at him and FlameWizardmon hissed as he was knocked backwards. FlameWizardmon: 2-20% MetalMamemon: 2-5% FlameWizardmon fired his flamethrower again, the fire stream moving towards MetalMamemon. She leapt up, the fire stream flying under her. However, she wasn't fast enough and the flames struck her foot. "Augh!" FlameWizardmon: 2-20% MetalMamemon: 2-0% However, MetalMamemon quickly pushed through the pain and pointed her blaster at him. "Psycho Blaster!" The purple energy exploded out of her cannon and shot towards FlameWizardmon, who's eyes went wide as he tried to blast it with his flamethrower. But the device needed more time to recharge. As such, the energy blast slammed into him and exploded. "AUGH!" He was thrown backwards, slamming into a door at the end of the hallway. FlameWizardmon: 2-5% MetalMamemon: 1-100% He smashed through the door and hit the ground, his Flame Cannon getting battered upon the impacts. The device exploded as he fell to the ground, as MetalMamemon landed. FlameWizardmon groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, his opponent moving forward with her claws ready. But as he did, the Armor Digimon noticed something and looked up to see a Digivolution Coin. "Yes!" He leapt at it, jumping onto a table as MetalMamemon charged forward. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed the coin, right as she slammed her foot into his side. "Augh!" He was thrown away, slamming into the wall. But the coin was still his and the power flew into him. FlameWizardmon: 2-0% MetalMamemon: 1-100% He groaned as he laid on the ground, MetalMamemon standing on the table and pointing her blaster at him. Unfortunately, she had used most of her SP. She couldn't fire it. "Just give it up. Don't you get it? You're not winning this fight." FlameWizardmon began to push himself to his feet, but only got to his knees, panting as he did so. "I'm...not gonna let you beat me." "Don't try and bluff me," MetalMamemon stated. "There's no way you have an Ultimate for that Armor. You're stuck like that." FlameWizardmon smirked, "that's where you're wrong." He pushed himself up. "You know, it's funny. I have a friend in the Digital World that I've known for a long time. He even gave me his scan. But I could never find a Digimon to use him with. But then, Flash gave me the Digimental of Courage. The next thing I know, I'm unlocking an Armor Form that can Digivolve into him." "You're bluffing," she repeated. She watched as her SP slowly rose, but not enough to attack with. "You wanna bet," FlameWizardmon smirked as his Digivolution Gauge finally hit the peak. "Well be prepared to lose that bet." With that, his body exploded into flames. "FlameWizardmon, Digivolve to..." He grew taller and as he did, something appeared in his hands. The right one became some kind of weapon, whilst the left was an orb of some kind. Armor appeared to cover his body as well, along with a cape of some kind. The fire finally began to extinguish and when it did, an eight foot tall wizard wearing armor stood there carrying a sword that was on fire and a strong glowing orb. "Mistymon!" Micro's friends were amazed by the sight before them, the lot wondering where he had gotten that scan from. The Mistymon stats then appeared Name: Mistymon Level: Ultimate Type: Virus Attribute: Fire Species: Magic Warrior Family: Virus Buster "Wow," Flash was amazed by the power this Digimon possessed. "Lightning doesn't stand a chance." The others nodded in agreement, as the battle continued. MetalMamemon stared at him in amazement, as Mistymon threw the crystal ball he carried into the air. That ball started floating, as Mistymon held his sword with both hands. "So what if you have an Ultimate form," she pointed her weapon at him. "I'll still take you down!" She fired a low level blast at Mistymon, who remained completely still. Instead, the crystal ball flew in front of him. "Core Dart!" The orb unleashed a large amount of light, which formed a wall in front of him that the laser bounced off of. It then fired a beam at MetalMamemon, who leapt off the table that exploded. She leapt out of the door and ran for the stairs, as Mistymon followed. The crystal ball fired several more blasts at her, but she managed to avoid most of them as she got to the stairs. But one managed to hit her in the back, making her cry out in pain. Mistymon: 1-100% MetalMamemon: 1-70% As she ran up the stairs, Mistymon's orb returned to his hand. Instead, he held up his sword as the flames upon it grew more and more powerful. "Blast Fire!" MetalMamemon ran up the stairs and managed to reach the top, running into the entrance hall the battle had started in. But as she looked behind her, expecting Mistymon to run out of the stairs, she suddenly felt the ground getting very hot. "Huh?" She looked down, just in time to see the floor glowing red and smoking. "You've gotta be kidding me!" She leapt back, seconds before it exploded with a blast of fire. "WOW!" Mistymon leapt out of the hole this caused, his sword raised above his head. "Raaah!" He slashed at her, but MetalMamemon blocked it with her claws. "Not gonna happen!" She pushed him back and fired her cannon, hitting Mistymon on the shoulder and making him stagger backwards. Mistymon: 1-90% MetalMamemon: 1-70% Mistymon stabbed his blade into the ground to balance himself, then rushed forward again. As he did, MetalMamemon fired at him. "Core Dart!" The crystal ball flowed in front of him and formed the energy wall, blocking the laser and allowing him to get in close. He swung his sword at her and MetalMamemon couldn't react in time, the orb slashing down her front. "Augh!" Mistymon: 1-90% MetalMamemon: 1-55% Mistymon then leapt back, as his orb unleashed a rain of lasers that flew towards MetalMamemon. But the Ultimate recovered and blasted the ones that would hit her, allowing her to leap up and slash at it with her claws. The orb was split into four pieces, falling to the ground as Mistymon raised his sword. "Now, let's end this. Blast Fire!" He swung his sword and unleashed all the fire within it, creating a wave of flaming blades that flew out in all directions. MetalMamemon tried to avoid them, but the flames were too fast and to many. Eventually, they smashed into her with incredible force and ignited her whole body. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" She screamed, her life points dropping. Mistymon: 1-90% MetalMamemon: 1-15% The flames eventually went out and MetalMamemon began to fall, Mistymon charging forward as she did so. But as she fell, she pointed her blaster at him. "Psycho Blaster!" The weapon fired and the energy ball shot towards Mistymon, slamming into him and exploding as he hit the ground and took fall damage. Mistymon: 1-75% MetalMamemon: 1-10% But Mistymon wasn't letting this fight end yet, the Ultimate leaping out of the smoke with his sword still raised. "Raaaah!" He swung it at MetalMamemon, who tried to push herself back to her feet. But the sword sliced through her arm cannon and the tip struck her face, knocking her backwards with a cry of pain. Mistymon: 1-75% MetalMamemon: 1-0% Slamming against a pillar, MetalMamemon almost fell to the ground. The Cyborg Digimon looked up at Mistymon, who was preparing for one final strike. If she was going down...she was going down fighting. "RAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" She screamed, running forward with her clawed hand primed to strike. Mistymon also ran forward and had his sword ready to strike. Everyone watched as MetalMamemon and Mistymon reached one another and in the blink of an eye, the pair were standing back to back with their weapons pointing forwards. That was the scene that remained on the screen for several seconds before MetalMamemon began to fall. She hit the ground and exploded, Lightning Dust and Kokuwamon replacing her as the voice began to speak up. "Battle Over! Winner, Micro Chips." The battlefield was then consumed by light, transforming back into the domed room as Mistymon suddenly split back into Micro and Tentomon. "YEAH!" The winners cheered, high-fiving as Lightning and Kokuwamon began to pick themselves up. The girl turned to glare at him, "you got lucky." She grabbed her Digivice and turned to leave, "don't think this makes you better than me. Next time we face off, you're going down. I'll take that sword you were swinging and stick it where the sun doesn't shine." With that, she marched out the room with Kokuwamon behind her. Micro sighed, wishing she could have taken her lose with a bit more grace. "Oh well." Lightning Dust stood outside the battle room with a look of anger on her face. "I had him. I had him at the start but he started turning the tables. This bites." Kokuwamon looked down, appearing to be ashamed. "I'm sorry Lightning. I wish I could have stronger Digimon for you to become." Clearly, he was worried Lightning would blame him. But she sighed and looked down at him. "Relax. You weren't the one fighting. I let him beat me so I'm the one to blame." She walked down the corridor, "I gotta find a way to beat Virus types that don't just rely on my Battle Gear." Micro and Tentomon stepped out of the stadium and as they did, they spotted Flash, Trixie, Sandal, Rainbow and their Digimon heading towards them. "Micro!" Flash cried, "that battle was awesome." Micro smiled as he scratched the back of his head, "thanks. I couldn't have won without the Digimantal you gave me." Flash smiled back as Sandalwood stepped up. "You really worried us back there. We thought you went nuts when you picked the Castle of Dark Illusions." The others nodded, Micro smirking as he noticed Rainbow. "Hey, you're Rainbow Dash. You're a really strong Champion player." "I know," Rainbow smirked. "But I guess you're just as strong. You managed to beat Lightning and I know how tough she is." Micro nodded as Rainbow asked him something. "You said you were friends with that Mistymon. I don't think I've ever met a Mistymon before." "Yeah," Micro nodded, "I met him not long after meeting Tentomon. We hit it off and he took me to the Castle of Dark Illusion." They all nodded, now knowing where he got that scan from. "We've hung out several times and he was always training and trying to get stronger." "Sounds like my kind of Digimon," Flash smirked. "Hope I get to meet him sometime." But this caused Micro to frown. "Actually, I haven't seen him in a while. Last few times I went to see him, the other magical Digimon at the castle said he left for a training trip and he never came back." That confused them all, as they wondered where Mistymon might have gone. The Digital World was full of mysteries and no matter how much you learn, something new shows up and you find yourself just as confused as before. Only time would tell whether or not Mistymon would appear again and the answers of where he had been. Until then, Micro and his friends would focus on getting as strong as they could.