FicWad

Episode Two: The Cave

They had been walking for about two hours, chatting about anything they could think of, before Ramus restarted the conversation from Burg.“So! You guys landed here in Burg, but you don't know how. Well, that happens sometimes. A person could accidentally step on atrap from some ancient war.” He paused. “Though people landing here is a first for us.”

“I’m guessing that’s true,” Tai replied. “I mean, most people are in a state of shock or try to kill us before we can explain ourselves. All your friends did was just look at us strangely, and ask who we were.”

Nall grinned. “Actually, I was shocked, as I’ve never seen anything like that happen before. And you guys /did /pop out of nowhere.”

Alex nodded with that admission. “We just didn’t react to it, so you couldn’t tell.” Silently, he let out a sigh of relief. Ramus was still listening, if a little skeptically. That was better that he had expected.

“And we do live near the Dragon Cave,” Luna reminded them all, “so falling people sometimes have a relatively low priority to being ashock, as opposed to a very large flying beast coming to destroy us.”

“Yep. But I was shocked when I saw you coming up. I mean, I’ve never seen you, or those garments before, so I was a little leery.” The rotund man adjusted his pack a little, so it rested more comfortably on his shoulders. “So, where do you live? What town are you from?”

The Digi-Destined just stopped moving at that question, looking at one another for a few moments. “Do any of you want to tell him,” Tai asked, “or should I?”

Mimi smiled mischievously. “I’ll do it. I need to do something to get my mind off my aching feet. And besides, I want to be responsible for his reaction.”

Palmon sighed, a small grin emerging on her face. ‘Some things will never change. And I’m just as bad, and loving every minute of it!’

“The eight of us are from the city of Tokyo.” The mischief within the young girl seemed to grow. “We are from the planet Earth."

Gomamon barely stopped himself from laughing. It wouldn’t do them any good if he thought that it was nothing more than a prank.

“And we,” Palmon began, laughter dancing in her eyes, “are from the Digital World. It’s different from Earth, but runs parallel with it.”

All the Digi-Destined stared at Ramus, expecting to see shock, or even amusement. Instead, what they saw was skepticism. In that moment, some of them realized that things were going to get ugly.

“Uh huh,” Ramus stated plainly, showing the fact that he didn’t believe them one bit. “And where, pray tell, is this Tokyo?”

“It’s in another dimension,” Mimi answered sweetly, though some of the humor was gone. “I think it’s on a dimension called Earth. Weren’t we clear on that?”

“Oh, really. And you are all from that other dimension.”

“Am I to believe that you are a non-believer of alternate realms?” Palmon asked.

“What I believe is that you’re all crazy.”

Alex, Luna, and Nall instantly knew that was the wrong thing for Ramus to have said at that moment. It was obvious in the manner in which both Mimi and Palmon suddenly focused at Ramus; with a great deal of anger. The other kids started to edge their way to much safer standpoints was another obvious.

“What…did…you… say?” Palmon clearly wanted to throttle Ramus at that moment, as her vines were flexing.

Apparently, so did Mimi, and it showed in her fists clenching, the way her shoulders tensed. “I don’t particularly like being called crazy,” she informed Ramus archly. The humor was now long gone from her face. She was clearly not used to being called a liar.

“Well, what did you expect?” Ramus shot back. “Other worlds, other dimensions. That’s all crazy talk!”

"It’s true! Every last word of it!”

“And did I mention you are delusional? Because you're that, too!”

“Why you-!”

“/Hey/!” Izzy’s voice cut through the air like a gunshot, taking everyone by surprise. After all, Izzy wasn’t someone who raised his voice often. And when he did, it usually was to get everyone’s attention.

In this instance, it served to stop Mimi from causing a diplomatic incident, as Ramus turned to face this new opponent. “Stay out of this, pal!”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that!” Izzy retorted, stepping forward.“Mimi is many things, but one thing she is definitely not is aliar!” He paused for a second to catch his breath, rallying himself for battle. “Which is more than I can say for you!”

“What?” Ramus couldn’t believe it. What was this man doing, getting involved in the conversation? “What did you mean by that? You don’t even know me well enough to even think about judging me!”

“It means I know a con artist when I see one. You sir, are one!”

Alex and Nall Stared at Izzy in amazement. Luna was watching in amusement. As for the Digi-Destined, they were all surprised and proud of Izzy at that moment, if only for the reason that Izzy had never really raised his voice to actually yell at someone in a manner other than disclosing information. What was more, he was projecting a command presence that none of them had thought him possible of having.

“I wondered when someone other than Agumon was going to figure it out,” Matt whispered to Gabumon. Gabumon nodded, having figured it out for quite some time.

Ramus was shocked, to say the least. “H-how'd y-you know t-that?” he managed to stutter out in his shock.

“Because,” Izzy continued as he moved forward, his ire still in full force, “I have had to deal with people like you when I was in school, so I know what to look for. You’re out to make a quick buck!”

He would have continued on, but Mimi put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. “It’s all right, Izzy. He didn’t hurt me. And I thought about it. It does sound a little crazy if you’re in his shoes. I wouldn’t believe it either.”

Izzy slowly calmed down, taking stock that Mimi was not going to yell at him and run away. For that, he was grateful. Then he remembered that he was being watched, and not by just Mimi. He turned around.

Tentomon was beaming, if you could tell. The rest of the Digi-Destined were smiling proudly, as Izzy never really yelled at anyone before in such a matter. He had also very nearly gotten into someone else’s face.

Apparently Izzy also figured it out as well, because he blushed slightly, not enough to be seen, as he turned to face Ramus again.

Ramus was at a loss of words for a few moments, but he regained his composure quickly, or what composure he had. “If that’s all I wanted, then why am I here, going to a cave with a dragon in it?”

Izzy was ready for that one. If there was one thing he was prouder of than his computer, it was his sense of character. “Because you aren’t a true con artist. You have the skills, but you have compassion, and do want to be liked. You also do have a sense of adventure, even if the end result is to make money.” All this was said in a calm and precise manner that was usual of the Izzy they all knew and loved.

Alex and Luna were, for lack of a better term, were amazed. “Izzy sure knows what he’s talking about,” Alex whispered to Luna. She nodded in return.

Ramus just digested all this with a grain of salt. He was thinking about Izzy had said, and realized that he was right on the bat. He started to smile once again. “Then it appears that I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have called you crazy,” he told Mimi. “And I shouldn’t have insulted you. I just don’t believe it.”

“Well, it is true.”

“Well, let me tell you what I think,” Ramus began, much to the amusement of everyone else. Alex knew that Ramus could make even worthless arguments worthwhile, just as Tai knew that Izzy would rise to any challenge of knowledge.

Mimi simply whispered to Izzy, “Thank you Izzy… for helping.”

He whispered back, “You’re welcome,” before turning his full attention to battling Ramus’s definition of ‘wealth and fame.’

It kept the others entertained, at the very least.

----

At the end of their first day of traveling, the group settled down at the base of the mountain range. It was colder here than at Burg, due to the higher elevation so they pulled out the blankets that Alex’s parents had given them before they left. Then they went about building a fire.

Or in a certain Digimon’s cases, igniting them.

“PEPPER BREATH!” Agumon launched a sphere of fire into a pile of wood that they collected on their way. The fire branches caught instantly, burning brightly in the twilight. Alex and the others who had never seen something like that before were understandably amazed.

“Well, that’s done,” Agumon said, moving to sit next to Tai.“Now I’m wishing I had brought marshmallows to toast.”

“Well, if I had known we were gonna be transported to a parallel dimension, I would have brought some,” Tai replied, grinning.

“Hey, it’s the thought that counts.”

Gabumon snickered behind his furry paw at this.

Luna watched them closely, as well as the fourteen others, all pleasantly happy and content. /‘They’re just like family,’/she thought, with a bit of envy. She couldn’t help but be jealous of them, as she had never had any biological family that she could contact.

Kari came over and sat down next to Luna, having seen her frown. “You okay?” she asked quietly, staring at Luna with concern. “Are you sad?”

Luna smiled a little. “A little,” she replied. “Mostly for myself.”

Kari was silent for a moment, looking very thoughtful. “Why? You’re very lucky.”

Luna sighed, but couldn’t stop from answering the inquiry. “Because, I’m all alone in this world.”

“No you’re not. You’ve got friends, and a mommy and daddy-.”

“They’re not my real parents. I don’t even know my parents. They died just after I was born. I never even got to meet them.”

“Oh.” Kari immediately looked over at Izzy, who was chatting to Tentomon."I didn’t know.”

Luna gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I love my adoptive family. They’re very considerate, and they really care about Alex’s and my education.”

“I noticed.” Kari was smiling too, something Luna found hauntingly familiar. Suddenly, the little girl asked, without any warning, “I’m surprised you don’t have a boyfriend. You’re very pretty.”
At this, Luna blushed. It was something that was a tad bit uncomfortable to talk about. “Well, I just haven’t found the right guy yet. That’s all.”

“What about Alex?” Sora asked, having come over after talking to Mimi about a certain matter. “Does he have anyone in his life yet?”

“No, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. He does ogle every pretty girl in Burg,” Luna said, a slightly jealous expression on her face for a moment. She glanced over at where Alex was sitting with Ramus and Nall, getting a crash course in Digimon classes and ‘digivolutions’ as Biyomon called them. Her gaze softened as she stared at the boy that she cared for most in the world.

Sora noticed this, and grinned. ‘I get to play matchmaker. Oh what fun!’

----

“There are six levels of Digimon,” Gabumon began, his paws typing on Izzy’s computer. “Baby, In-training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. In addition, there are three types of Digimon; Data Virus and Vaccine. They are the three primary types in the Digital World, although there are Digimon that can have characteristics of all three at once. They are a minority however.”

Nall pointed at the screen. “What is the point of the Data Type?” he asked.

“They’re neutral, in their association of choosing one of the two other classes. All baby and in-training Digimon are of this category, for obvious reasons. Most rookie level Digimon are also data, although afew become virus types at this point. When they reach champion, they have a choice to become vaccine or virus, or remain data. Very few want to become vaccine, which in my opinion is very confusing, and about twenty- five percent will become virus.” He returned to the previous screen. “Now, Devimon is a virus type Digimon. He was also the first real opponent we faced when our friends started to learn of their destiny.” He pointed to the picture next to Devimon. “Lillymon is a data type Digimon, as well as Palmon’s Ultimate level form.”

“Cool.” Nall pointed to the last picture. “And that Digimon is avaccine type?” he asked.

“Yep,” Patamon spoke up, landing next to Gabumon. “He’s also my champion level form. He’s called Angemon.”

“Angemon.” Alex tried it on his tongue, finding it remarkably easy to say. “How strong is Angemon anyways?” he asked, at the same time wondering why he was so interested.

If T.K. could sense his confusion, he didn’t let it show. “He’s powerful enough to defeat Ultimate level Digimon, and can hold his own against Digimon at the Mega level with some success.”

“Wow. It’s just like different levels of magic.” Alex’s mind was spinning with what T.K. had just said. A creature like level of power was one that the powers of evil had to be wary of.

Joe sat down net to Nall and Gomamon. “How powerful is magic, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Alex frowned, thinking. It was a topic of discussion that he had never really thought about before. Probably because he simply accepted it as a part of his daily life “I honestly don’t know,” he finally settled with. “All I can use my magic for is to augment my physical strength, or use my Sword Dance technique.”

“Sword Dance?” Patamon and Gabumon asked at once.

“It’s when I release a series of sword swings at an opponent at lightning speed. I’ve been perfecting it for years.”

“Oh.”

Alex couldn’t take it. “On the other hand,” he continued, catching Joe's attention, “Two of the Four Heroes are capable of performing very powerful magic, from what read.”

“The Four Heroes?” Patamon asked, the name striking a chord in him./‘Why does that ring a bell?’/

“Oh!I forgot that you guys are new here.” He took a breath as he prepared to explain. “The Four Heroes are the greatest fighting force on Lunar today. During the Heresy War, they saved the Goddess and our world from evil more times than anyone could count in alifetime.” He paused as he remembered something. “In fact, I think that three of the Four Heroes live on the main continent.”

“Hey, that’s great news! If they can speak to the Goddess, then maybe we can visit them,” Gomamon said enthusiastically. “Where is the Fourth Hero? Maybe he can tell us how we can get home.”

At that, Alex was silent, hesitatingly wondering how he should tell them about the fourth one. Gabumon beat him to it though. “Dragonmaster Dyne?” he asked quietly.

Alex simply nodded, amazed at the intuition that the fur clad Digimon had./‘Matt has a good partner,’/ he thought to himself.

Gabumon was silent for a moment, before finally asking, “How did he die?”

“No one really knows. But he probably died defending the Goddess Althena from evil. Of that, I’m positive. After all, he possessed power that equaled the Goddess herself.”

T.K. nodded in agreement. “I have no doubt he did at that. As I have no doubt that he would continue to protect her from beyond the grave if he could.” With that surprisingly mature statement, he got up and walked over to where the delectable smell of dinner was making itself known.

Alex and Nall watched him go, somewhat surprised by what he had said. “Ya know,” Nall said, breaking the silence, “I think he really meant that.”

“Ya know, I think he's right.”

They both knew that they would sleep with lighter hearts tonight, their respect for the young man confirmed.

----

Once again, Kari shot up, gasping for breath, surveying her surroundings quickly. As she calmed down, she recognized the mountain that the group had stopped near before nightfall, the sound of her brothers snoring to her right, the smell of fresh air… fresh air?

Immediately, her mind realized what was missing; the slight smell of smoke that she was accustomed to, the only thing that told her that she wasn’t home, or even in the Digital World. Here, the air was as fresh as the water she had had at dinnertime. It helped her get her mind in perspective.

Next Kari looked up to the canopy of stars. Here, there were no cities like the ones back home to block out many of the stars, so the sky was in its full glory. She recognized several constellations, most notably the Big Dipper, Orion the Hunter, and Taurus the Bull, among others. Then she saw something that made her stare in awe.

The planet Earth, what Alex and Luna called the Blue Star, was shining brightly in the night sky. She stared at it, marveling at its beauty, and the fact that it was there at all. Then, it clicked in her mind exactly where they were.

‘The moon!’ she thought in shock. ‘We’re on the moon! Or at the very least, another version of the moon! Why are we on the moon? How is that-?’

“Kari.” She turned to see T.K. and their partner Digimon sitting next to her, their concern and worry or her. Kari stared back at him.

“You guys have the dream too?” Patamon asked quietly. The other three nodded as one. “Me too.”

They had been sitting there for a while, each of them trying to get the courage to ask the first question, when Kari broke into tears silently, her hands coming up to cover her face. Her whole body shook with sobs. She didn’t want to look weak, but she couldn’t help it. She felt T.K. put his arm around her, but didn’t feel any better.

T.K. and the Digimon tried their best to comfort her, not really knowing how to calm a girl. “Don’t cry, Kari,” Gatomon said gently, after Kari had looked up at them. “If you do, you’ll look like a Divermon on an inhaler.” She then made a pretty convincing face of what the Digimon in question would look like. Kari giggled a little.

“Yeah,” T.K. put in. “And I would have to go around looking like this.” He went into a child’s full pout mode, with the big puppy dog eyes. Kari started to giggle even more, before whispering in astuttering tone, “I-it’s just t-that I noticed t-that Earth I-is right a-above us.” She looked like she was going to cry again, but T.K. was still making that expression, and she found herself giggling even more.

“We know,” Patamon said, grinning cheerfully “but if we cried every time we figure out something out, we’d be waterlogged. In my opinion, that’s too much work for us little people.”

Kari was starting to giggle non-stop. She couldn’t help it. Their antics were cheering her up. “You guys are funny.” She managed to calm down, but her smile remained. “Thanks guys.”

“Don’t mention it Kari.” T.K. blushed slightly. “You look a lot better when you’re happy.” He almost immediately wanted to bring those words back, but he didn’t know why. He just acted like a kid.

But still…

“You…really think so?” Kari was surprised at what T.K. had said, even though she shouldn’t have. After all, to little kids like her, that was a compliment that could be given to even an adult. For some reason though, she was oddly flattered.

T.K. snapped out of it after a moment, still confused about what he was feeling. He kept it from showing on his face. “Do you…want us to stay?”

Kari smiled. “Go right ahead,” she replied. “Just get your own blanket and bring it over. This one is too small and it’s very cold at the moment.”

T.K. grinned as he did as she suggested. Finally, the four of them were snuggling next to each other, looking up at the sky.

“Do you miss your parents?” T.K. asked curiously.

Kari was silent for a second. “Yeah,” she finally answered. She turned to look at T.K. “Do you miss your mommy?”

T.K. smiled a bit. “To quote you, ‘yeah.’ But I know we’ll see them again.” Both of them laughed a bit. “Good night, Kari.”

“Good night T.K.” Kari whispered back.

In moments, they were both asleep, smiling.

----

Two hours after they had woken up, the group found themselves at the entrance of the White Dragon Cave, with the majority of them staring at it in awe. T.K., Kari, Patamon, and Gatomon however, were under the mistaken impression that they had been there before, which was something they were starting to get used to. None of them really knew why.

Mimi broke the silence for them. “So this is the White Dragon Cave, huh? Is his door big enough?”

“We’ll ask him when we find him,” Nall replied sarcastically. “In the meantime, let’s go in! I want to start this adventure already!”

“I’m with you there, Nall,” Agumon said, as Gomamon replied at the same time, “We get the point.”

Slowly, they entered the cave, wary that they could encounter the dragon, and at the same time, expecting to meet him. They didn’t know what they would do when they did, but they were prepared.

Then they hit their first roadblock. Or, to state it more accurately, an ice block.

“There’s just no way to get past this ice!” Nall stated dismally, after Alex and Matt had pushed to see if there was any give. It was solid, so Nall seemed to have a point.

“Oh, yeah? Well, we’ll see about that!” Tai turned to his partner. “Agumon, you’re up!”

“You got it, Tai! PEPPER BREATH!”

This time around, Agumon hurled a much larger fireball than the one he had used last night. It was also much hotter than the one last night, flying through the air to impact against the ice.

The ice melted a little, but surprisingly held against Agumon’s onslaught. He hit it again, but it had melted as much as it was going to. “Drat,” he muttered.

“You did your best, buddy,” Tai said, patting Agumon on the shoulder.

Everyone stood there for moment, deep in thought, trying to find a way to get past the ice without bringing the cave down on all of them.

Finally, Ramus asked, “What if you…digivolved?”

Izzy snapped out of that, apparently annoyed that he hadn’t thought of that, while at the same time, relieved that someone did think of that. Despite the skepticism in his tone, it was relatively solid suggestion.

Tai looked over to him. “What do you think, Izzy? Can we risk it?”

Izzy thought long and hard. “Well why not?” he asked. “Greymon is much stronger than Agumon, and the cavern seems to be large enough for him to fit comfortably. His Nova Blast should be enough to melt the barricade.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Go for it, Agumon!”

“AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… ummm, why am not I digivolving?”

“Huh?” Everyone else was staring in shock at this. Sora even looked as pale as death itself. She shook it off though, and turned to Biyomon. “You try it, Biyomon,” she called out, having a very bad feeling about the whole situation.

“Okay, Sora. BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…it looks like I can’t digivolve either.”

Izzy now understood why he hadn’t thought of it, he had already had a theory about it in place. “It may be because we are in atotally different world that doesn’t revolve fully around the familiar laws we know,” he said. “It’ll take time for your bodies to adapt enough to be able to digivolve.”

“Which means we’ve lost our advantage. This is just peachy!” Tai’s frustration was equal to the others. He even showed it by kicking the block of ice, which proved to be disastrous. Not for the ice. Tai however, stubbed his toe.

“Hey Tai, don’t worry,” Matt said calmly, as their leader hopped around for a bit in pain. “If we run into the White Dragon, we can still move much faster than it can. And we are kinda smaller than a dragon.”

“Yeah, if we don’t keep running into ice,” Tentomon stated.

“Which brings us back to our immediate problem,” Luna put in. “We need to get it out of our way. But how?”

Izzy thought long and hard. “Let’s start by looking for aweakness in the ice block. Then we simply apply enough force to destroy it.”

“It’s as good an idea as any. Let’s give it a try,” Matt replied, agreeing to the plan with only a little bit of doubt He didn’t think that there was any other weakness.

For about ten minutes, they pushed on the ice block at various points get a sense of its give. They kept pushing at it for a while, but came up with nothing. For another minute, they stood there, frustration gripping them.

Finally though, Alex looked down…and saw the ring on his finger. He snapped his finger in realization. “I think I’ve got it.”

“You’ve got…what?” Agumon asked irritably. His lack of success with melting the glorified ice cube had annoyed him to no end.

“I think I know how to melt this ice.” Alex stepped up to the block, the ring pointing at it. Izzy noticed this and thought, ‘He isn’t going to a ring to melt the ice. That’s impossible in any realm!’

As he thought this, he heard Ramus say, “Give it a shot, Alex!” That statement confirmed it. These three were all crazy. They were in the presence of lunatics.

“All right, everyone back! I have no idea what is going to happen!” Alex shouted. Everybody heeded him, the majority of them harboring doubts, like Izzy, about the sanity of their new friends.

“Are they crazy?” Biyomon asked in disbelief to Gomamon. Gomamon just shrugged, his eyes on Alex.

When they were all at a same distance, Alex took a deep breath, pointing the Fire Ring at the ice block, feeling like an idiot. He had no idea what was going to happen, but there was nothing else they could do.

For a moment, nothing happened…then as if from a silent prayer, ajet of fire shot out from the ring, sailing through the air to strike the ice. For a second, the ice withstood it, before melting into apuddle of water.

The Digi-Destined stared in shock at the puddle of ice water on the floor, then at Alex, and finally at the ring on his finger. None of them uttered a word. Sora looked like she was going to pass out from it all.

Of all of them, Luna, Nall, and Ramus were the only ones who were not even surprised by that. “Yes!” Nall even stated in glee.“Now we can go through!”

“Yeah, great job!” Joe roared, being the first to recover. “Now let’s going before all of us get frostbite!”

“Perfect!” Alex whispered, as Mimi and Gomamon tried to calm Joe down. “This ring sure did come in handy.”

“But that’s-no,” Izzy just said, still in shock. “I’m not even going to bother to say it.”

“What’s the matter?” Nall asked. “You’ve never seen a ring do that?”

----

They had not walked fifteen minutes before they encountered their first opposition. It kind of oozed its way over to them, to say the least.

“Move back, guys!” Gabumon shouted, the Digimon getting in front of them, along with Alex and Ramus, who was shaking in fear.

“What are they?” Luna, slightly scared, used her sling to hurl a rock right at one of them. The creature was pushed back a few feet, making a slightly squishing sound at the impact. It recovered though, and continued to move forward slowly.

“Izzy!” Tai shouted, already in leader mode. “See if you can’t find out what this thing is!” He watched the battle through keen eyes, trying to be his Digimon’s eyes as well as ears.

Izzy pulled his computer out of his backpack, turning it on and heading the digital analyzer. He really didn’t have much hope that it would even work. So when the monsters profile came up, he was extremely surprised.

Slime: A weak, gelantinous mass, Slime has no useful abilities to speak of, and is unable to move extremely fast.

“Good. That means I won’t miss it.” Alex swung his short dagger at the one that Luna had hit, destroying it utterly. He felt amomentary heaviness in his money pouch, but ignored it. It would wait until later.

Suddenly, the cavern was filled with the sound of buzzing. They all looked around, trying to determine where it was. Then it came at them with blinding speed.

Tai felt something cut his cheek as he turned his head to the right, too fast to be seen. He glanced around wildly, trying to find it. The he saw another one coming from an entirely different direction aiming at… “Look out, Sora!” he shouted, running in her direction. He noted that he was closer to her than the flying creature, but with its speed, it all came down to luck.

In his case, luck was on his, and Sora’s side.

“SPIRAL TWISTER!” Biyomon released a vortex of greenish energy, aiming it at the insect. It hit with force, slamming it into the wall, just as Tai got in front of Sora. “Quick Izzy, before it disintegrates! Get a scan of it!”

Izzy complied, moving his computer in front of the dead monster.

Mutant Fly: a flying type monster that moves at nearly the speed of sound. It attacks quickly and always attacks in groups of four or six.

“Well, then that settles it! Patamon Tentomon, and myself will deal with the mutant flies, unless they come right at you. Agumon, you and the other guy’s deal with the slimes. I just hope their stench isn’t contagious!”

“That’s what I hope too,” Gabumon said. “Agumon, cover me!”

“You got it! PEPPER BREATH!”

“BLUE BLASTER!” Gabumon shot a stream of ice out of his mouth, joining it with Agumon’s Pepper Breath Attack. They hit a small group of slimes, turning them into soup almost immediately. They turned to the next batch of slimes.

Alex, Ramus, Gatomon and Gomamon just went in swinging, hitting slimes left and right. They cut a swath through the ranks, causing the creatures to scatter.

Biyomon and Tentomon flew in a loose formation, Patamon flying behind them. They were in what appeared to be a collision course with some of the Mutant Flies. At the last moment though, they attacked.

“SPIRAL TWISTER!”

“SUPER SHOCKER!” Tentomon sent a spear of electricity at one of the flies, before he and Biyomon peeled off, letting Patamon have a say.

“BOOM BUBBLE!” Patamon unleashed a sphere of air, hitting the third fly in the group and smashing him into the cave wall with authority. Luna’s sling hit the last one, tearing its wing off and making it easy pickings. A well-placed Blue Blaster put it out of its misery. “Well, that was easy.”

“Hey, don’t get too confident,” Gatomon said, slashing a Slime.“Something tells me we haven’t fought the pick of the liter yet. And we still haven’t found the dragon’s lair yet, so we better keep going.”

“Good idea. Agumon, take point,” Tai ordered. “Gabumon, you and Biyomon take up the rear. I don’t want anything sneaking on us.”

The Digimon saluted, and took position.

“Let’s get going now,” Gatomon said. “And you guys stay in the middle from now on. You’re just too tempting of targets to pass off.”

----

On their way through the cave, they encountered yet another creature. This one proved a little bit more troublesome than the others.

“Synapse Guard. A crystalline monster that uses teleporting capabilities to strike at his enemies. I think this one going to be just a tad bit more difficult to defeat.” Izzy rolled out of the way of the Synapse’s attack. It hit the ice and teleported out of range, leaving a jagged hole where it had struck.

“I got it!” Agumon shouted, hitting one of the flies with his claws, then hurled a Pepper Breath at the crystal like creature. It fell back several feet, smoking. Another Pepper Breath later, and the monster was broken glass. “That takes care of that.” He never had to fire two Pepper Breath attacks in sync before. “This what you meant by the pick of the liter, Gatomon?”

“That about sums it up.” Gatomon replied. “How are you, Izzy?”

Izzy checked himself over. “My shoulder is bleeding somewhat. It just nicked me. Other than that, I’m okay.”

They continued to run into monster groups that were basically combinations of the three creatures they had faced before. All were defeated handily, but the group received numerous cuts, bruises, and lacerations because of it. Nothing a few herbs, from treasure chests they had found, (which confused Izzy to no end,) couldn’t cure. After a breather, they pressed on.

Finally though, through hard work and determination, they reached a large opening. It looked suspiciously looked like the main entrance of the cave, and was just as large. Mimi collapsed in exhaustion. “Finally!” she breathed, trying to catch her breath. “We’ve reached it.”

“My roots are starting to freeze!” Palmon moaned, trying to shake some feeling into her muscles. “I wasn’t made for this type of terrain! My vines are going blue!”

“Well,” Matt said, “there’s nothing we can do about that, so let’s go in. I mean, what’s the point of coming all this way if we don’t explore?”

“All right, all right. But if we freeze to death, I’m blaming you, Matt.” The young girl staggered to her feet. Palmon just tried to stick her vines up her armpits, with limited success. “I just hope this is worth it.”

With that thought in their minds, they walked into the cave, wary of what they might find. They needn’t have worried.

“What is this place?” Nall asked, taking in the slightly darker surroundings. “It’s so cold, but so…beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Mimi murmured, the chill and fatigue forgotten. Palmon was completely silent, staring in awe at their surroundings.

It seemed the entire chamber was composed of crafted ice sculptures. In fact, it looked like the chamber was an ice sculpture. It was large enough to house a soccer team.

T.K. looked around, in awe like everyone else, but at the same time…confused. “Am I the only one who thinks that I’ve been here before?” He whispered to Kari.

Kari shook her head. “I know that I should be scared but it feels as familiar as home."

She would have said something else, but Alex was already moving forward.“Come on,” he called back. “We need to see what’s in here.”

T.K. and Kari shrugged, and started to walk in the direction Alex was headed.

Slowly the group walked forward, looking around, trying to see if there was anything in the chamber. Kari and T.K. were curious as to what the White Dragon looked like. They wouldn’t have much longer to think about it.

As they approached the far side of the chamber, a growl stopped them in their tracks. Luna, Sora, and Mimi screamed in fear, as the growl was right in front of them.

“What’s happening?” Ramus cried out, just about ready to bolt.

“I don’t know!” Alex shouted back. He was looking around him. Trying to see what it was. “Everybody back!”

Tentomon and the other Digimon got in front. They braced themselves, ready for anything, or as ready as they could be.

Nall flew up to Alex. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this something’s out there, guys! Something BIG!”

Matt nodded. "We got that feeling!"

Nervously, they looked into the darkness, and the platform in front of them. It said only one thing.

“Who has awakened me from my deep slumber?”

They had found the lair of the White Dragon. Why were they not happy?

----

The Digi-Destined and their adventuring friends, most of them understandably quaking in their boots, watched in a mixed reaction of fear and astonishment as the White Dragon's head rose up towards the ceiling, his eyes glowing white for a few moments. His gargantuan foot came down, cracking the stone underneath him.

He was truly was a magnificent beast. His body was not covered in scales, as most fairy tales and movies would have depicted him, but in what appeared to be some sort of thick white fur. His wings were feathered, giving them an almost bird like feel, and his ears were large and flappy, almost like a dog’s. He had a sort of mystical quality that was different to what they had read about. He seemed to radiate…power. Power so strong, that they could feel it in the air.

Lifting his head to the heavens, the Dragon roared, his power using the ice structures around them to gain luminance. Afterwards, a roll of thunder could be heard. The sound of a storm approaching.

Everybody was ready to bolt, their adrenaline pumping…with the exception of four of them. Patamon, Gatomon, and T.K. were smiling broadly, not even the least bit afraid of the creature before them. Kari, smiling so widely you’d think her jaw was hinged, walked up and called out, “Hi!” to the Dragon.

When he heard the extremely cheerful greeting from one of the ‘intruders’, the dragon turned his head and looked down in confusion. /‘Children,’/he thought, looking each one of them over in turn. ‘Children managed to get through the monsters to my lair. It is…impressive. It reminds me of those who came here twenty years ago.’

He also sensed power coming from several of them. Power as tangible as his, and even more so, familiar to him. But that was something he could think about later. He lowered his head to their level, and sniffed them cautiously. Satisfied that they were okay, he spoke to them.

“My friends,” he said, his voice a resonating throughout the chamber, "you are the first adventurers to visit me in a long time. I am Quark, tetrarch of the Dragon Tribe.” He moved his gaze from child to child, then the creatures that had accompanied them. Creatures that he had never seen before. “You have journeyed far, and now you have arrived at my lair. It is a journey few have survived. Your mission must be urgent.”

Everybody stared at him with hesitation clearly written on their faces, but slowly, it melted away, and some started to grin. Ramus, of course, was still cowering behind Joe, but that was Ramus for you.

“Hey guys, did you hear that?” Nall was flapping enthusiastically in the air. “He called us adventurers! This old Dragon is very wise!”

“And very big.” Agumon was trying to see how long Quark's tail was. He wasn’t succeeding. “Wow.”

Alex stepped forward, bowing slightly. “My name is Alex. I’m… honored to meet you.”

“I’m Nall!” the little catlike creature said. “Nice to meet you!”

“I’m…I’m…I’m…uh…uh…Ramus,” Ramus managed to stutter out. “Umm…mommy!” Tai chuckled.

Finally, Luna stepped forward. “My name is Luna.” After the Digi-Destined and their Digimon introduced themselves as well, she added, “We came here from Burg to meet you.”

Quark looked over at Luna. “And perhaps we were destined to meet. You appear somehow familiar to me.”

Luna did a double take of that statement. “Are…you speaking to me?”

“Yes, child. I sense that our souls are intertwined in some ancient manner. Alas, it may only be only that age and isolation have taken their toll…but still, the feeling is so…”

Gabumon was confused, and turned to Matt. “I wonder what he means,” he whispered.

Matt was just as confused, if not more so, than Gabumon.

For a moment, silence reigned in the chamber, as Quark and Luna stared at each other, each trying to understand something about the other that neither could understand themselves.

It was shattered though, by an impatient Nall. Grant you, this was normal for him. “Yeah, yeah,” he stated, “We’ll walk down memory lane some other time. Right now, we need…”

Nall was silenced when Ramus, who was fast in a pudgy sort of way, clapped his hand around Nall’s mouth. “What are you trying to do, get us killed? Be quiet and leave the negotiating to me.” He turned, cleared his throat, and swallowed. “All hail Quark, the mighty White Dragon!”

Kari noted that Quark seemed amused at this, and assumed that he had heard the same thing time and time again. Gatomon must have figured it out as well, because she had a wicked glint in her eyes. “I think I’m gonna enjoy this,” she said.

Kari had guessed correctly. Quark/ was /amused by this, and it was all he could do to keep a straight face at the groveling. “For what purpose do you beseech me, little boy?” he roared, delighting in the way that the boy jumped up like a baboon, yelping as he did so. ‘Now this reminds me of Noah. Ah, the good old days.’

Ramus visibly collected himself, and straightened up slightly. “Oh mighty Quark. We are here to take…I mean…we are here to umm… find the legendary Dragon Diamond.” After this statement, he seemed to shrink unto himself. “I mean…uh…could you please give us the Dragon Diamond?” Finally, his courage left him, and he ran behind Matt, using him to hide. “Wussy,” Gabumon could be heard muttering to him.

Quark just stared at them, his amusement giving way to confusion. “You braved so dangerous a course to secure a Dragon Diamond?” he asked in disbelief.

“That’s about it. And if you want to know whose idea it was…”Tai pointed in Ramus’s direction, “just look at big, dumb, and scared.”

“I’m beginning to regret that course myself. Ummm…please don’t chomp us to bits!”

Quark almost, almost, sighed with exasperation. “Why is it that you humans prize it so much? Don’t you know that they’re made from my sh…Oh what’s the use?”

Tai and Matt mouthed the rest of the word silently, Shit, but Sora caught them. “Taichi Kamiya, you know perfectly well I can read your lips!”

“Sorry,” Tai said meekly, to the laughter of everyone else present. Even Luna managed a chuckle before bringing them all back to the problem at hand. “I think Ramus has the right idea Alex. We should go…” she said, but Quark was chuckling.

“If you want my Dragon Diamond so badly, children, you must but accomplish one task,” he stated. “Retrieve the Dragon Ring found deep within this chamber.” He looked at each and every one of them. “Return it to me, and I shall give you the Diamond.”

Nall was surprised, to say the least. He was expecting something a little more… difficult. “Is that it? I’m surprised that you aren’t handing out nuggets all day…”

“On the contrary,” Quark interjected, “To obtain the ring, you must pass through the Dragon Trial.” His eyes grew distant.“The last to succeed was a head strong youth named Dyne.”

“Whoa, hold on a minute!” You’re telling me that Dragonmaster Dyne had to go through a trial, just to get a ring?” Quark nodded. Gomamon was surprised, but then shrugged it off. “Makes things more interesting in my opinion.”

Quark chuckled, before becoming serious. “Unless you use the strength of both your body and mind, as Dyne did, the Ring shall forever remain beyond your grasp.”

Nall was confident, maybe righteously so, that they could do it. “He’s just trying to scare us guys,” he said. “Let’s pass his trial and get our Diamond.”

“Yeah, let’s go get that Diamond and get outta here before I turn into a Popsicle!” Palmon said. Everyone agreed whole heartedly, and turned to leave.

“Wait, children!” Quark suddenly called out, stopping them in their tracks. “Before you begin, I shall restore you to full strength…you’ll need it.”

Almost immediately, they all felt a breeze blow over them, suffused with apale green glow. It ended, and they all were amazed.

“I feel like a million bucks!” Matt practically shouted.

“I just feel warmer,” Joe said.

Gomamon stared at him in disbelief.

“You may begin, children.” Quark stretched his neck out to its full length. “Your future now rests squarely in your own diminutive hands.”

“Thank you!” Twenty voices said at once, as they turned and walked out.

Quark watched them go, lying back down, pondering about what he had just seen. It really should have been no different with these children, but he had hadn’t imagined it. The powers those five had, he did not just find familiar. He now knew those powers, as surely as he knew his own.

‘It appears that fate is not done with you, guardians of Hope and Light,’he thought, ‘or you Angelics. In fact, it appears that you are now needed, more than ever. And I never thought I would see one of Sheyra's daughters here.’ He knew exactly what he had to do, but first, he waited for them to return.

After all, it is kind of difficult to follow when you were the size of aspire.

“Okay,” Gabumon began, as they walked into an antechamber to the right of the Dragon’s Lair, “we have to find this Dragon Ring in order to get our hands on a Dragon Diamond. In order to get the Ring though, we have to complete this Dragon Trial that Quark has prepared for every Dragonmaster wanna-be. That sound about right for the rest of you?”

“I’m still trying to figure out what he meant by ‘Dragon Trial,’” Tai replied, scratching his head. “Do we have to do something extremely dangerous, or is it completely harmless?”

“I guess we’ll have to see for ourselves, so why worry about it?” Gomamon grinned. “After all, it can’t be anymore difficult than having to deal with Etemon.”

“And didn't you hear what Quark said?” Biyomon added. “‘Mind and Body.’ It probably means we’ll have to be both strong and smart. A double trait that none of us have.”

“Yeah, Izzy is the smart one, we only have the strong part down, and Mimi and Sora are the sensible ones… at least, I hope they are” Tai grinned. “Joe has the paranoia down to a tee.”

“Hey!At least I didn’t almost get us all killed today!”

“Oh, Quark was just having some at Ramus’s expense,” Kari said, giggling. “I mean, he's in this cave all by himself, waiting for someone to come in and say ‘hi’ to him. It’s pretty lonely in here after all.”

“You’re probably right." Matt quickly brought them all back to the topic at hand. “It’ll definitely be behind some type of ice wall. We already know that Agumon can’t melt any of the ice in this place, and the Fire Ring won’t be ready for use again until tomorrow.”

“It’ll have to be brute strength then,” Alex pondered thoughtfully.“Either that, or we throw Ramus at an ice pillar and see what happens.”

“Ha,ha,ha,” Ramus stated sarcastically.

“But do any of us have the power to do that?” Tai asked. “No we do not.”

“So we go find Ed Asner,” Gomamon simply stated.

There was dead silence from the rest of the group, as they stared at their only aquatic Digimon. “And where,” Matt finally asked,“are we going to get Ed Asner?”

Gomamon was about to reply, but a grumbling sound interfered with their conversation. And there was something about it that would have gotten on their nerves, except for one detail. A minor detail to be sure, but a significant one.

The grumbling was getting closer, and it was accompanied by what sounded like something beating the icy floor.

Then the creature itself appeared.

“You asked Matt, and you shall receive.”

Charging at them, moving faster than a thing of that size had a right to, the creature rushed at the Adventurers, fists pummeling the ground in adrum beat roll.

“Move!” Alex’s shout reverberated throughout the chamber as he dodged. The Digi-Destined and their Digimon partners acted the same way, jumping or basically moving in every which way. The creature rushed past, a blur of white.

“What the hell?” Tai shouted, surprise etched on his face. “What was that thing, Izzy?”

Izzy already had his computer out, and was busily scanning the monster. When its profile came up though, his face paled considerably. “Albino Snowman,” he read shakily, “He is definitely a cousin to Bigfoot, and is just as strong. He primarily attacks with his fists, but he does have an attack called ‘raging snowball'.” He looked up. “And it looks like he’s going to use it!”

His warning proved useful, as the snowman had finish making a snowball, and doing a pretty decent impression of a baseball player, wound up, and threw it at them at nearly the speed of sound. And it was aimed at…

“/Sora!/” Tai and Biyomon shouted, coming to her aid. Tai got in front of her, as Biyomon launched a Spiral Twister at it.

It hit the snowball dead on, slowing it down, but dissipating before it could destroy it outright. The snowball, slowed even after only asplit second, continued on its course. And it hit Tai hard.

Real hard.

The Digi Destine leader was knocked back several feet, feeling like he had been suckered punched by a professional wrestler with the strength of Hulk Hogan. Hitting the ground, he clutched his chest in pain. /‘Must’ve cracked a couple of my ribs,’/he thought, trying to breathe.

Sora went to get Tai, but Luna intercepted her, knocking her to the ground as another snowball whistled overhead. “What are you doing?” Sora cried out. “He needs our help!”

“You are no good to Tai dead! He's in no immediate danger, and we need to stop that Albino before he really kills someone!"

As if to punctuate that remark, the snowball threw a third snowball at Izzy. He barely managed to get out of the way in time, but the snowman wasn’t interested. Without waiting for them to recover, the snowman took off, fists pummeling the ground. His target became apparent in about a second.

“Kari!Move!” Gatomon threw herself at the creature. “LIGHTNING CLAW!” she roared, swiping at the creature. She managed to get a glancing blow on the creature’s shoulder.

It could make even an ultimate level Digimon stop, even for a moment, in pain and confusion. As it was, it only succeeded in pissing the Albino Snowman off.

Gatomon was suddenly airborne. The creature had stopped, turned around, grabbed her, and tossed her, all in one continuous motion. Geez, is he a monkey, or an Olympic discus thrower?’ Gatomon asked herself as she flew through the air.

Before she could impact, Tentomon and Patamon managed to grab her by her feet, stopping her a scant few inches from the wall. “Thanks guys!” she sighed with relief.

“All in a days work,” Patamon replied, smiling. Then he shouted,“Move, Alex! Get out of the way, T.K.!”

Alex and T.K. heeded the warning, barely getting out of the way in time. The creature just missed them by a hair. Alex roared, “Everyone, into the next chamber!”

Sora had finally managed to get to Tai’s side, dragging Luna with her. “Ramus!” she yelled. “Give me a hand with Tai!” Wordlessly, Ramus complied, helping get the Digi-Destined leader into a standing position. “Guys, give us some cover fire!” Sora yelled to those remaining in the chamber.

“Right Sora! SPIRAL TWISTER!” Biyomon released another attack, this time at the creature itself.

“PEPPER BREATH!”

“BOOM BUBBLE!” Patamon released a sphere of air at the same time Tentomon shouted “SUPER SHOCKER!”

The four attacks merged together and struck the snowman head on. It let out a final shriek as it disintegrated.

“Well that was easy,” Tentomon stated sarcastically. “I think that is what is considered the pick of the litter, wouldn’t you agree, Gatomon?”

“Oh shut up,” Gatomon growled, batting one of her ears. “I think it’s academic.”
”Let’s go, guys!” Agumon started running. “Tento, you and I are taking point!”

They began heading for the entrance to the next chamber, but then they heard a shriek. “Kari!” Gatomon yelled in panic. “We gotta get to them, guys!”
“Move out!” Agumon shouted as he ran for the next chamber, the other three Digimon hot on his heels. He wondered how the others were faring.

Alex and the others were not out of danger, not by a long shot. When they had entered the next chamber, they had been immediately attacked by two more snowmen. For a time, the battle had been even, but the kids couldn’t hold on for much longer.

“Gabumon!” Matt cried out, as Gabumon was thrown headfirst into a pillar of ice, cracking it. He slumped to the floor, senseless. One the snowman charged right at the fallen Digimon, ready to squash him.

Palmon shouted, “POISON IVY!” throwing her vines around the creature’s legs, trying to stop him. It slowed him down, but he simply stopped on his own, turned around and grabbed her vines, and pulled. Palmon went sailing through the air, right to it. She closed her eyes.

“Sword Dance!” Alex ran right toward it, his sword starting to tremble. He released a series of super fast cuts on the snowman, slicing through the skin like it was butter. It released Palmon with a roar of agony.

“BLUE BLASTER!” Gabumon shouted, releasing a stream of ice at the monster. It was so cold that when it hit the beast, it actually shivered. Ramus hit it with his dagger in the side, knocking it to the ground, a lifeless heap. He looked extremely confident after that.

But there was one creature that wasn’t dead yet. It turned in their direction, and exploded into a berserker rage.

“Uh…Oh…/move/!” Mimi screamed, as the creature started moving at a speed that was blinding. Joe and Gomamon just got out of the way in time, as the snowman hurtled by, hitting a pillar of ice. It shattered completely under the impact, and the snowman teetered a little as it regained its bearings.

And just like that, Alex realized what he had to do. What Quark was talking about was just beginning to make sense.

Apparently, Tai figured it out too, because he got, ignoring the pain, and staggered to another ice pillar. His intent was clear.

Sora tried to stop him. “What are you doing, Tai?” she shouted. “You’ll get yourself killed!”

Tai ignored her, laboring for each breath, and made it to his destination. Stopping, he shouted at the Albino Snowman, ignoring the pain in his chest, and the blood spraying from his mouth, “Hey, Blubber butt! Over here!”

The monster turned, heard the insult, and possessed just enough intelligence to know that it had just been insulted. With a roar of rage, it charged Tai. It was going to run him over for that.

Tai side stepped, having anticipated what was going to happen. The snowman slammed headfirst into the pillar, destroying it in one shot.

Izzy blinked, comprehension dawning in his mind. “Oh, I get it, now!Tai goaded the Albino to charge him, then got out of the way, allowing it to destroy the ice pillar. Prodigious!”

Sora was watching with amazement. “Yeah…” she mumbled as she turned to Luna. “He did it. He actually did it.”

Luna just smiled.

The Snowman was teetering, having just hit two pillars, but it still had enough strength for one last attack. Picking its target carefully, it charged.

“KARI!” Gatomon cried out, entering the chamber with the others in tow. She started to move forward, knowing that she wouldn’t make it in time. She saw Agumon running next to her, and prayed that his attack could reach the snowman.

Kari had turned around, saw it coming at the last second, and reacted instinctively. Faster than she had time to think, her little fist swung up in an uppercut.

So it was to the shock of everyone present that when her fist connected with the behemoth's chin, the creature’s head snapped back with the full ferocity of a cannon shot. Its body flew the air to land in a heap at the other side of the room, with enough force to leave an indentation in its wake. It slid to the floor, and was still.

Everyone present, human, cat, and Digimon, stared at the crumbled heap on the floor, then at Kari, then at the each other. All of them were shocked at what had just happened. It even made Tai’s pain more bearable for a moment.

The one most shocked about all was Kari herself. She stared at her fist in fear. Did…I just do that?’ she asked herself. She was also wondering how she did that.

The moment was broken when Tai fell down, groaning in agony, bringing most of them back to reality. Sora, Agumon, and Luna ran over to him.“Tai, are you all right?” Agumon asked, concern etched on his face.

“I think blubber butt cracked a couple of my ribs,” Tai gasped, clutching his chest in pain. He was just about to pass out from it.

Luna probed his chest gently for a moment, testing out his pain receptors.“It’s definitely a cracked rib,” she said. She looked at Tai sternly. “Hold still,” she said, “and relax. It works much better when a person is relaxed.”

It took some time, but slowly, Tai’s muscles relaxed. He let his shoulders slump, and closed his eyes. He waited patiently, if still in pain.

Luna started to sing a short melody that sounded like it should have been sung in a concert hall than in an icy cave. Sora was about to comment on it, when she saw something that amazed her. Tai’s breathing was slowing down, and the pain on his face was slowly leaving him. He appeared, for a moment anyway, in peace. “What is she doing?” she asked Alex in amazement. Alex simply smiled at what was happening.

Sora rushed over to him, and gave him such a bear hug, that Tai thought his ribs were going to crack again. “Ok Sora, you can let me go now.”

Sora did that, blushing furiously, before turning to Luna. “How did you do that?” she asked.

Luna smiled. “I call it the healing song,” she replied, then caught the questioning stare of Agumon. “And before you ask, Idon’t know how I do it. It’s a mystery to me as well.”

“As long as it works,” Izzy stated, impressed. Even Magnaangemon didn’t have that type of healing power. He put that out of his mind though, and turned to the more immediate concern. “Kari, how did you augment your strength?”

Kari was still in a state of shock. “I…don’t…know,” she managed to say. She continued to stare at her fist, as if she had never seen it before, and the fact she had just killed something with it. That was the part that shocked her the most.

Izzy was about to inquire to Tai about Kari’s silence, but a shout came out like the proverbial foghorn, shattering his concentration. He, and everyone else, turned.

Nall was pointing to a treasure chest that had been, until that moment, hidden behind the ice pillar. “I think it’s in there,” he said.

Alex walked up to the chest, and examined it closely. It was unadorned, with no markings on it to make it any different than the others they had seen so far. However, there was something about it that drew Alex’s attention to it. Trying to figure out what it is, he opened it.

Inside the chest, nestled in what looked to be a plush pillow, lay a single ring, glinting in the refracted light. It had the emblazoned form of a dragon on it. To Alex and everyone else, it was pretty obvious what it was.

“Yes!It’s the Dragon Ring!” Nall stated, exulted. “We’ve completed the trial!” He looked over to Alex. “C’mon, Alex! Let’s go back to Quark and hand it over!”

“Yeah!” was the resounding response.

“Ah, excellent!” Quark stated in admiration, laying his eyes on the Dragon Ring for the first time in fifteen years. “You have managed to complete the trial!” He turned his head to Ramus.“Here is your reward brave adventurer.” He tossed something in his direction.

Ramus caught it, and looked at the object in his hand. “Yeah, we did it!” He performed a pirouette in the air, to the laughter of Gomamon and Biyomon.

Nall on the other hand, was incensed. “Whaddya mean, ‘we’?” he asked, with a slight sneer on his face. “All I remember you doing is searching our backpacks for cheese and crackers.”

“Yeah,” Mimi added, “and hiding behind Gomamon.”

Gomamon just grimaced. “It was humiliating, him trying to hide behind me!”

Quark looked on with amusement for a moment, before clearing his throat. Everyone turned to look at him. “This is but the first small step of your adventure, young Alex.”

Alex looked surprised at this statement. It wasn't something he expected to hear. “The…first step?”

Quark nodded solemnly. “Ah yes. The time is upon us. And most importantly Alex…you have the green eyes.”

Everyone stared at one another. “Since when did green eyes become so important?” Agumon whispered to Biyomon. The flying Digimon just shrugged, clueless.

“The last time I gazed upon eyes like yours, it was the shining face of Dyne I beheld.”

“The Dragonmaster,” Alex whispered in awe and surprise.

Quark observed the young man before him, saw his soul, humble and strong.“Why do you act surprised?” he asked kindly. “Anyone who looks in your eyes can see it, Alex. The desire to become aDragonmaster burns within your soul.”

Alex was speechless. He couldn’t believe that Quark had seen right through him so clearly.

“Cross over to the main land and seek out my brothers; Red, Blue, and Black. Overcome their trials and claim their rewards. “He reared back at this. “Return here when you earn the prize of manhood, and anew Dragonmaster will be born unto the world.”

Nall was excited to say the least. “Wow Alex,” he gushed, “Did you hear that?”

“Yes, Nall,” Alex replied, a small grin starting to form on his face,“I did.”

Luna looked at him. “Alex…” she murmured, putting ahand on his shoulder. It looked as though their little adventure had evolved to become something grander.

Quark continued to stare at them, the amusement now long gone from his face. “Your success is not guaranteed,” he warned, “so remain vigilant. I will pray for your return.” He stopped for asecond, as if remembering something. “But before you all return to Burg, I have one last duty to perform.” He turned in the general direction of Kari. “Come forth, little one.”

Suddenly nervous, Kari did just that. She was trying to figure out what Quark wanted with her.

“What is your name, young one?” he asked, his friendly visage gone. In its place was a being of great regality and wisdom.

“K-K-Kari Kami-y-ya,” Kari stammered out, wondering why Quark was asking her what her name was, seeing as how he already knew.

“And your powers, they are the powers of Light?” he asked. Kari could only nod with fright. Quark finally smiled again. “Then Ibelieve that this now belongs to you,” he said, grinning now from ear to ear. He closed his eyes, and held his palm right side up, in front of her.

And to Kari’s amazement, a scepter appeared in a burst of light right in front of her, hovering in mid-air. “What’s this?” she asked, looking back at the Dragon in curiosity.

Quark smile became gentle. “This is the scepter of the warrior of Light. It belongs to the Guardian of that power, which is you.”

Kari stared at the scepter in awe, having never seen an object so beautiful before in her life. ‘And yet, it looks so familiar. It’s like I have seen it before, but I don't know from where.’

Quark seemed to sense the hesitation in her. “Go on,” he urged gently, “take it. It is yours by right.”

Kari hesitantly put her hand on the handle, thinking that it was going to be heavy, as most scepters are. Therefore, she was surprised to find that it was light as a feather. She made a few swings with it, then looked back at Quark, smiling. “Thank you,” she whispered, almost in reverence.

Quark only nodded, then addressed them all again. “Before your long journey, you should spend one last night with the ones you love.” Once again, the pale green glow refreshed them considerably. “Return home children, for your time is precious.”