A New Tamer

Jayr (Aegiomon) POV - Digital World, Lowest Layer - 2001

After Caturamon captured Culumon and Takato, Jianliang, Terriermon, my Main Body, and my Digimon Partners were transferred somewhere else by the chaotic Data Streams, the Data storm caused by the activation of Shaggai calmed down making the weather once again peaceful, so after resting for a while, the group starts to wander around aimlessly hoping to reunite with my Main Body group or finding a way for the place where Caturamon took Calumon.

As the group wanders around, I can't help but notice the situation that is happening on my Main Body's side as they still haven't reached their destination, something quite unusual as usually, the transfer is almost instantaneous, but I don't worry too much as I realize that the cause for this delay is the interference generated by the activation of both the Hypnos System and the Shaggai program which caused quite a bit of disturbance in the Network and this also reflects back in the Digital World, in addition, if Takato, Jianliang, and Terriermon are truly in danger I can simply teleport them to safety whenever I want, for this reason, I simply decide to wait and see how the situation develops.

While I think that, I hear Juri as she says with clear worry in her tone, "I wonder if Culumon is okay..." but Leomon quickly tries to reassure her, "If Culumon really is as important to them as they say, I think he'll be okay."

Hearing that, Juri looks at Ruki and asks for confirmation, "Do you think so too, Ruki-chan?"

Ruki suddenly stops and calls her out, "Juri..." making the young girl also stop and ask, "What?"

Ruki continues to look down as she says, "Stop with the "chan"." confusing Juri who repeats "Chan?" which seemingly pisses off Ruki who glares at her and says, "Ruki-chan! We're not in kindergarten anymore. We're in grade school." 

Seeing Ruki so incensed, Juri meekly tries to apologize, "I'm sorry." but Ruki continues, "And we're in fifth grade. We're almost in middle school."

At this point, Renamon who misunderstood the situation tries to make her Tamer see reason, "Ruki, she has apologized. Isn't that enough?"

But after glaring at Juri for a few more seconds, Ruki suddenly smiles and says, "I forgive you, Juri-chan." making Juri pout a little before she and everyone else understand that Ruki is simply trying to distract her from her worries causing all of them to smile slightly before we all resume walking. 

Sometime later, Guilmon is the one who starts to feel down as he wonders, "Where could Takato be?" but Kenta then promptly suggests as he tries to use the same tactics Ruki used a few moments ago, "Guilmon, how about I become your Tamer instead of Takato?" making Guilmon declare, "Takato is Guilmon's only Tamer!"

At this point, Kenta hugs Guilmon and says, "Don't be shy!" but Guilmon breaks free and starts to run forward while saying, "No thanks!"

In response, Kenta runs after him while yelling "Don't run away!" with Hirokazu chasing after them calling out, "Kenta!"

But suddenly he is pulled into the ground without warning, and quickly after him, everyone else is also pulled into the ground and "falls" toward another location as we have stumbled into a hidden Gate. 

We all land in a forest area, and we all land safely but not all land with style or even grace as Hirokazu, Guilmon, and Kenta land on their back. 

After a few moments, a dizzy Kenta sits up and realizing what happened, comments, "Now we're even farther away from Pucci-sensei's group..."

Soon after that we start to study our surroundings and notice that we land in front of a lake in the middle of a forest making Ruki question, "What is this place?"

But suddenly, we hear a male voice that yells, "Orochimon!" making a scared Juri ask, "Who's that?" while Ruki realizes where the voice is coming from and says, "Over there!"

Then Ruki starts to run in that direction and we follow after her, and soon we see a humanoid Digimon picking up a big boulder and throwing it in the lake while yelling, "Orochimon show yourself!"

It is a mechanical Digimon with a humanoid body structure, roughly 3/4 of its body is covered in chrome armor, its right leg has little to no armor at all, leaving what seems to be its organic material exposed and it wears a skull-like helmet that conceals its brain, I can easily recognize this Digimon as Andromon.

(Image Here - Andromon)

As we are approaching Andromon, Juri makes the most cliche mistake of stepping on a branch lying on the ground causing it to loudly break which makes Andromon turn toward us and ask, "Who are you?"

Wary of him, Renamon, Leomon, and Guilmon step forward ready to fight him if needed, but Andromon misunderstands their intention for hostility and declares, "As I thought, you're Orochimon's underlings."

But Renamon quickly denies its affirmation, "We're not." followed by Leomon who asks, "Who is this Orochimon?"

Andromon calmly replies to this question with his guard still raised ready for a possible attack on our part, "The powerful Digimon who rules over this world." which makes Renamon further ask, "And you?"

In response to Renamon's question, Andromon replies, "It's embarrassing for me to say it, but..." before it declares with impetus, "I'm Andromon of Justice!"

At the same time, Ruki uses her Digimon Analyzer on it and reads out loud, "Andromon. Perfect Level. A human-type Cyborg Digimon. It possesses a fighting strength that can fell a Digimon below Perfect in a single blow. Andromon was developed as a prototype for Cyborg Digimon, and the mechanically-based Andromon and organically-based cyborg Boltmon were manufactured at the same time. This technology was appropriated for Metal Greymon and Megadramon. As a prototype Digimon it possesses neither will nor emotion, and it is faithful to its programmed behavior. It was upgraded with a program based on the data acquired from the Andromon of File Island, and the strength of that program varies. Its Special Move is a blade of energy which it fires from its arm module (Spiral Sword)."

Right at that moment, the water of the lake behind Andromon starts to rise up until a very big Digimon emerges from them. 

The Digimon in question is a large eight-headed snake whose heads are all different. 

One of the heads is covered with black scales like the tail while all the others are covered with metal plates, in addition, its tail ends in a rattle like a rattlesnake.

With such a distinct form it is clear that this Digimon is the Orochimon that Andromon was talking about.

(Image Here - Orochimon)

Orochimon's sudden appearance scares the kids and they quickly run to put some distance between them and the lake, at the same time, Renamon, Leomon, and Guilmon also take a few steps back.

At the same time, Andromon doesn't hesitate to open its chest plate to reveal two missile launchers, from which it fires two organic missiles at Orochimon while shouting, "Gatling Missile!"

But Orochimon's heavy alcohol-laden breath intoxicates the organic missles making them completely drunk causing them to fail and harmlessly fall into the lake's water.

In response to Andromon's attack, Orochimon lets out a roar before two of its heads covered with metal plates attack Andromon sending the Digimon crashing against a nearby tree.

At the same time, Juri uses the Digimon Analyzer to identify and learn more information about the eight-headed snake Digimon, "Orochimon. Perfect Level. A gigantic Demon Dragon Digimon that possesses eight heads. However, seven of its eight heads are dummies, and the black head in the middle is the only real one. The roots of Orochimon's creation are old, and although it was a being such that it raged in all its fury in the ancient Digital World, and drove some areas to devastation, it was sealed by the servant of a "being" which sought to preserve the harmony of the Digital World. Its Signature Move is to make the opponent completely drunk by intoxicating them with its alcohol-laden breath (Sake Breath). Its Special Move is turning the tip of its tail into a sharp blade and then cutting the opponent to pieces (Ame no Murakumo)." 

After easily dealing with Andromon, Orochimon slithers out of the lake and stares at them for a few moments before it focuses on Juri, but when Leomon arrives in front of his Tamer and prepares to fight Orochimon to defend Juri, Orochimon smirks before it retreats back into the lake.

Seeing this scene I can't help but roll my eyes while thinking, 'Of course... since we have the Dumbledore-like Qinglongmon who manipulates everything from behind the scenes for the greater good, it is expected that we also have the Orochimaru-like Orochimon who likes to targets and go after young kids with family problems... what is next a Aizen-like Vamdemon that wishes to overthrow Yggdrasil and makes everything go according to his plan...? Wait now that I think about it... it is likely possible to encounter such Digimon, after all, infinite universes are equal to infinite possibilities, and the Vamdemon I know about from the anime already isn't that far off from Aizen...'

While I think that, Kenta can't help but comment in admiration, "Orochimon... is so strong." but Hirokazu dismisses his friend and rushes toward the knocked-out Andromon while yelling, "That doesn't matter now!"

Once close enough, I immediately notice many blackened spots on its organic parts, most notably on its exposed leg and arm, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one as a worried Hirokazu comments, "He's wounded..." followed by Juri who says, "We have to treat him."

At this point, Ruki notices a smoke coming from somewhere, and seeing that, we start to follow it hoping to find someone who can help, of course, Leomon is the one that is carrying the unconscious Andromon.

While we are heading toward the area where the smoke is originating from, something is happening on my Main Body's side as Takato and Jianliang come to the decision of throwing themselves out of their current path seeing that they still haven't reached any destination, I of course, agree with their plan and tell them and my Digimon to hold each other as I make use of the fuzzy physics of the Digital World to "swing" our bodies out of the roar into the void around us, where we once again start falling. 

At the same time, the group with my Digital Incarnation arrived at our destination, a very large building, making Juri say, "I wonder who lives here." 

But then, while Leomon gently lays Andromon on the ground, Ruki moves closer to one of the windows saying, "Rather than living..."

She then looks inside and mutters, "I knew it." making a curious Hirokazu, Kenta, and Guilmon also look inside and let out a surprised yelp before Guilmon exclaims, "The Gekomon are doing something weird!"

Kenta then quickly asks, "Is it a factory?" but instead of answering, Ruki covers her nose and asks, "Don't you smell that?"

In response, everyone starts to sniff the air, and I immediately recognize the nutty and roasted aroma that is usually produced by some brands of sake.

I'm not the only one as Juri also seems to recognize it as she mutters, "Sake?" 

Seeing the surprise on Kenta and Hirokazu's faces, she quickly explains, "My family has a restaurant, so I'm used to the smell of alcohol."

Suddenly, a small old Gekomon with a wooden cane appears from behind one of the nearby barrels and says, "That's right, geko. This is a factory for sake production, geko. And I'm the manager, geko."

Gekomon resembles a green frog with a wiry body, a white underbelly, yellow webs between its digits, and a crazed look on its face. 

It has a musical horn coiled around its neck and pointed teeth, and its tongue has three holes at the tip.

(Image Here - Gekomon)

Seeing the manager Gekomon, Leomon doesn't waste any time and quickly asks, "Can you treat Andromon's wounds?"

Hearing Andromon's name, the old Gekomon seems quite upset as it asks, "Andromon?" 

Gekomon then notices Andromon lying on the ground and spitefully refuses, "Tch! We refuse. geko!" making Renamon ask, "Why?"

At the same time, Leomon comments, "It looks like you have your reasons."

Hearing that, the old Gekomon asks, "You want to know, geko?" instantly making Guilmon innocently reply, "We want to know, geko!"

Kenta also can't help but comment after hearing Guilmon's imitation of Gekomon's verbal tick, "Guilmon, I don't think you have to say "geko"." in response, Guilmon simply says, "But it is fun!"

At this point, the old Gekomon sighs before it starts explaining, "This world was so peaceful... Until Orochimon suddenly fell from the sky, geko. It said "Quiet down, you Gekomon! Digimon doesn't need to evolve anymore. Even without evolving, I'll be fine as long as I have sake. So you will make sake for me. Get to it!" Orochimon is a hopeless alcoholic, geko!"

Hearing that, Juri can't help but ask, "So you built this sake factory, right?"

In response, Gekomon declares in anguish, "We love peace so we had no choice but to make sake, geko!" then he continues to tell us its story, "We let Orochimon drink sake in order to protect the peace, geko. But Andromon here...! But Andromon refused to let himself or the Gekomon be Orochimon's slaves and began to start fights with Orochimon, geko. Every time Andromon and Orochimon fight, they trash this world, geko. And it's always up to the Gekomon to clean up, geko."

After saying that, the old Gekomon points at Andromon with its cane and says, "Look at him today, geko! We don't want anything to do with this troublemaker, geko! Take him with you, geko!"

At this point, Hirokazu steps forward and says, "We understand how you Gekomon feel, but Andromon is also doing this to protect the peace..."

I also step forward and say my piece, "With some of those Data Packets and some alcohol, we could easily treat Andromon's wounds by ourselves."

Hearing that, Hirokazu looks at me and asks, "Really?" and Leomon nods and confirms, "Yes. What Aegiomon said is true." 

Hirokazu then holds Gekomon's hands and asks, "Gekomon! We'll treat him somewhere else, so can you give us some alcohol and Data Packets?"

In the end, overwhelmed by Hirokazu's enthusiasm, the old Gekomon complies and gives us everything we need to treat Andromon.

After that, we move away from the factory and find a quiet place to treat Andromon where I quickly give the instruction on what to do to treat it and Hirokazu dutifully follows them.

Meanwhile, looking at the process at the process, Juri asks Leomon, "The alcohol is for disinfecting, right?" making the Digimon reply, "Yeah."

Curious Ruki can't help but follow up with another question, "And the Data Packets?"

Again Leomon answers as I continue to instruct Hirokazu, Kenta, and Guilmon on what do to do, "For us Digimon, data can be used as medicine, not only to stop infections, but also cure other ailments and wounds."

After cleaning and disinfecting the wounds, and laying the Data Packets on top of them we only have to wait a few moments for them to have their effect and while waiting, Hirokazu can't help but comment, "He knew how strong Orochimon was, yet he still went to fight alone..."

Suddenly, Andromon's body starts to shine before it quickly grows smaller as it degenerates to its Adult Level, Guardromon.

Guardromon is a machine Digimon that gives a strong steampunk vibe, its armored body is made of solid brown iron, and it also has rocket jets mounted on its back.

(Image Here - Guardromon)

At the same time, Ruki also quickly uses the Digimon Analyzer to identify its new form and reads out loud the information projected by her D-Ark, "Guardromon. Adult Level. A Machine Digimon that protects the Computer Network's defensive barrier. It was originally a Digimon that repelled anyone illegally entering the Network's defensive barrier alongside the "Net Keeper" Giromon. However, a malicious hacker who noticed its ironclad defensive ability infected Guardromon with a computer virus, and used it to protect themselves from the Vaccine justice group, the "Virus Busters". Basically, Guardromon only has program commands for "defending", so even if its position changes, it does not pose a huge problem for it as long as it can defend against intruders. Its Special Move chases intruders to the ends of the earth and completely destroys them (Destruction Grenade). Guardromon will never attack anyone unless they are intruding." 

Seeing Guardromon current state, and hearing that it is now at the Adult Level, Renamon explains, "The fighting must have drained his energy." while a relieved Ruki comments, "His wounds have healed."

But suddenly, Orochimon appears again, and snatches up Juri making Leomon and the others give chase, although Hirokazu stays behind when he sees Guardromon stirring. 

I also follow after the group but don't put any major effort as I know that she will be safe, meanwhile, as Juri is taken away, she yells to Leomon that she'll be fine, being the daughter of a restaurant owner and very experienced with drunkards.

Through my awareness, I can easily sense Orochimon demanding that Juri pour his liquor for him, and Juri calmly has all of his snake heads drink the sake in the hopes of getting all of them drunk. 

Leomon, meanwhile, is still worried about her, knowing that Orochimon is more than just a regular drunkard. 

At the same time, Hirokazu continues to tend to Guardromon, who blames himself for Juri's kidnapping and tells him that there may be a way to save her.

As the Gekomon prepare to serve Orochimon his sake, the group asks them for help in saving Juri but when they refuse, Guardromon reminds the Gekomon of their happy times singing together before Orochimon had enslaved them, and they finally agree to help us and fight Orochimon. 

They transport our group to Orochimon's lair in the sake barrels, while Juri succeeds in putting all but one of Orochimon's heads to sleep.

The Gekomon bring the barrels to Orochimon, and Leomon, Renamon, Guardromon, and Guilmon emerge to fight Orochimon while I stand by the kids' side ready to act if needed. 

Seeing that we came to save her, Juri starts to run toward us while telling us that she tricked Orochimon into drinking a lot and it is now very drunk and vulnerable. 

But the Gekomon reveals that Juri had actually made Orochimon stronger by feeding him sake, which distresses her. 

The group of Digimon manage to fight off Orochimon's heads one by one, but Orochimon proves strong and quickly reforms them since they're not part of the main body.

Juri believes that it's her fault for giving Orochimon all of the alcohol, but Hirokazu reminds her that she's a Tamer and that she has to have confidence. 

At this point, Juri pulls out her card deck and uses a LadyDevimon card to give Leomon a powerful attack that poisons Orochimon and takes him out in one hit turning the eight-headed Digimon into motes of Data. 

After that, the others are impressed with Juri, and the Gekomon sing for the group in celebration of being free from Orochimon.

But Hirokazu suddenly finds a D-Ark of his own appearing to him and realizes that Guardromon is his Digimon Partner making the boy ecstatic at finally having become a Tamer, while Kenta is distressed at still being the only one without a Digimon. 

Meanwhile, on my Main Body's side, our group happened to find ourselves landing in an immense body of water.

Jayr POV - Digital World, Ocean Area - 2001

After we landed in that immense body of water, the boys quickly started to swim toward the surface as they felt like they were about to drown not realizing that being in the Digital World means that they can actually breathe and talk in this water.

I and my Digimon Partners calmly swim after them and soon we all find ourselves in an underground cave with no way out, and seeing that, Terriermon offers to jump into the water and see if he can find something that indicates a way out of this place. 

While Terriermon jumps into the water and scouts ahead, Takato worries about Guilmon, but Jianliang quickly tries to reassure him, "You don't have to worry about Guilmon. He's with Ruki and the others, after all."

Soon after that, Terriermon reemerged, and seeing that, Jianliang rushed toward him and asked, "How did it go?"

Terriermon shakes his head to dry himself and comments, "It's like a maze." making Jianliang ask again, "Did you find any other place with air?" but Terriermon regretfully says that he didn't find any before asking what our next move is going to be.

At this point, Jianliang looks at me and asks, "Pucci-sensei... do you have any solution?" 

Hearing that question, I smile and say, "Well, there are many possible solutions... the most direct is that you could try to make a hole in the wall..."

Before I even finish saying that, Jianliang exclaims, "That's right!" before he pulls out his D-Ark and a card and then, he tries to get us out of the cave by using an Option Card to give Terriermon a drill, but the use of the drill cause water to flow from the hole in the wall he just created.

Seeing that, Jianliang quickly uses a Yukidarumon card to give Terriermon an ice attack which he uses to freeze the water and tap the hole. 

The only good thing about what just happened is that we learned that the frozen water confirms that there's water on the other side of the wall. 

At this point, Takato brings out the communicator Yamaki gave him and asks, "Hey, what about this?" but Jianliang quickly declares, "It's useless."

Hearing that, Takato asks, "Why? It could work like that other time." but Jianliang quickly explains, "It was in the water. It's broken."

Still undeterred, Takato tries to turn on the communicator and is surprised to see it working, even more so when he receives an email from Yamaki, "No way! I got mail. It's from Yamaki-san. "I'm glad you're safe. I wish you good luck." Ah! Maybe we can ask for help!"

At this point, I decide to stop them, "Stop! Can you guys stop and think for a few moments before you act? I mean, really!? First Jianliang doesn't even wait for me to finish speaking before he goes on and drills a hole in the wall, and the next moment you are about to ask for help without knowing if Yamaki can even help us from the Real World. In addition, if for some reason your parents also see that message you guys will only end up making the worry even more! Are you guys really in that much hurry to do something that you aren't even willing to listen to me?" 

Hearing that, both Takato and Jianliang lower their heads and say, ""We're sorry..."" before they start to explain the reason behind their actions one after the other.

"It is just that because of Chimairamon and Mugendramon's presence I'm worried about Guilmon and the others, and want to return by his side as soon as possible..."

"I admit that when I realized that we were trapped in this cave surrounded only by water I panicked a little at the thought of not having a wait out of this situation..." 

Hearing that, I smile and reassure them, "Don't worry too much. It is natural to feel fear and worry about those you care about, even more so at your age. But you guys have to remember that as long as I'm here, I'll make sure that nothing will happen to guys. Moreover, Guilmon and the others are also safe too. After all, Aegiomon is with them and as you have seen he is powerful enough to protect them."

My words seems to be able to calm and reassure both the Jianliang and Takato, and after seeing that, I nod and say, "Now, let me finish explaining what our options are... as I was telling before, there are many possible solution to our current problem. Making a hole in the wall was only one of them and while direct, it isn't the easiest nor the safest. Our best choice is simply to jump in the water and explore our surroundings..."