Chapter Text
Chapter 18: Mon Maze! Stories Of A Different Time!
Takato and Tsurugi walked with Guilmon and Agumon. They were making good time on their arrival to Tamertopia, and they would probably be there in a day.
“Kiyoshiro’s a cool guy. His Digimon was a little weird, but their heart is in the right place.” Tsurugi informed Takato.
“A town full of peaceful Tamers. Honestly, I can’t blame them for not even wanting to try.” Takato sighed.
“Who even knows how many Tamers are left in the game now though.” Tsurugi crossed his arms. “I haven’t seen another one since we fought LoaderLiomon.”
“Rika was the last Tamer I saw. This world’s pretty big though, so I guess it’s reasonable that we aren’t running into Tamers left and right.” Takato argued.
“Yeah…still, it would be nice to have a whole party of Tamers who wanted to take down Daemon.” Tsurugi shook his head.
“I’m sure our group will grow soon enough.” Takato reassured him.
“Yeah!” Agumon and Guilmon nodded.
=+=
Tadashi and Izzy continued to type away. Of course, they hadn’t made any progress, but that was to be expected.
“Neo told me that none of the Tamers in the hospital were doing any better. It doesn’t look like they’ve gotten worse though.” Tadashi revealed.
“It’s good that they aren’t getting worse, but if no one can beat Daemon, those kids are as good as dead.” Izzy grumbled.
“We need to find a way to help them. Typing on these computers hasn’t accomplished anything!” Tadashi slammed his fist down on the desk.
“But no one can go into the game! And even if we could send someone in, we’d have to figure out who they should help and how to find them-” Izzy was cut off by his phone ringing.
He took it out and answered. He put the phone to his ear and listened.
“W-What? Really?” Izzy’s eyes lit up with interest. “Yes, that sounds good. If you can, bring them to our office as soon as possible. This might be what we need!”
Izzy listened for a few more seconds. He gave the person on the other side one more thank you and bid farewell to them.
“Who was it?” Sigma asked as Izzy lowered his phone.
“Detective Inui. He said he might have found someone who can help us.” Izzy stated hopefully. “But for them to be of any use, we need to decide what Tamers to help.”
“Either Ryouma or Tsurugi. We just need to find one of the two.” Tadashi nodded.
“Right. Let’s get to work!” Izzy and Tadashi began to type with renewed vigor.
=+=
Takato and Tsurugi continued their travels. They had decided to take a different route than Tsurugi had taken to Thunder Mountain originally, hoping to see new things to explore.
“This place would have been awesome to explore if we weren’t stuck in it.” Takato whined.
“Yeah. And we probably wouldn’t feel as tired as we are if this was just a game.” Tsurugi sighed.
“Takatomon? Tsurugimon?” Guilmon walked behind them with Agumon on his shoulders.
“I’m still not a Digimon.” Tsurugi coughed.
“Yeah?” Takato turned to Guilmon.
“I can see something up ahead, boss! A big old building!” Agumon reported.
“Really?” Tsurugi and Takato exchanged glances.
“Let’s check it out!” Takato proposed. The others nodded.
They all walked towards the building. Its large figure slowly came into view.
“Hey! It looks a lot like Centarumon’s temple!” Takato noticed.
“Do you think there’s anything in there?” Tsurugi inquired.
“Maybe some cool art to look at. I say we go in!” Takato and Guilmon looked excited.
“Sure. It looks like a nice place to stop and eat some grub.” Tsurugi shrugged.
“I’m always happy to chow down, boss!” Agumon waved from atop Guilmon.
The group reached the temple and found some places to sit down. Guilmon and Agumon sniffed the air.
“I don’t smell any Digimon.” Guilmon looked around.
“Probably because everything smells like old, moldy grass. Blehh.” Agumon flinched.
“That explains why Centarumon got the jump on us last time.” Takato realized.
“Maybe we should check the temple a little more thoroughly then?” Tsurugi and Takato got up from their seats.
All of them walked into the temple. They looked around the very empty inside.
“Well, this isn’t as exciting as I was hoping.” Takato pouted.
“But it doesn’t look like there are any Digimon around here at least.” Tsurugi and Guilmon walked to one side.
“I guess we should just go back outside and eat then.” Takato and Agumon walked to the other side.
“Yup. Come on-” They heard the sound of several levers clicking. “...What was that?”
Panels under Takato and Agumon, and Tsurugi and Guilmon opened up. They all exchanged glances before falling.
=+=
“Ow…ow…” Takato’s eyes fluttered. “Guilmon? Tsurugi? Agumon?”
“That you, boss?” Agumon muttered.
Takato and Agumon raised their heads. They stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Guilmon/Tsurugi!” They both hopped up. “Where are they?!”
“Aw man, where did Tsurugi go?” Agumon grabbed the sides of his head.
“And why did the floor just fall open like that?” Takato rubbed his head.
“We gotta find them, Takato!” Agumon ran over to him.
“Right! Come on!” Takato and Agumon ran down a hallway.
After a few seconds, they ended up right where they were before.
“I think we’re in a maze.” Takato drooped.
“Dang it! We need to find them!” Agumon dashed off again. Takato got ready to follow him before he heard Agumon scream.
“Agumon! Are you okay?” Takato called out.
“Don’t go in that direction!” Agumon dashed back over to Takato, grabbed his hand, and bolted down a different hallway.
Takato looked over his shoulder, seeing a Minotarumon chasing after them.
“Ah!” Takato and Agumon picked up their pace.
=+=
Tsurugi and Guilmon walked down one of the hallways. Tsurugi sighed. “Definitely a maze. And a big one at that.” He told Guilmon.
“Tsurugimon, we need to find Takatomon!” Guilmon frowned.
“He can’t be far from here! Come on!” Tsurugi and Guilmon got ready to run again.
Guilmon sniffed the air. “There’s a Digimon nearby.” He said casually.
“Really? Which direction-” Tsurugi was cut off by a large arrow grazing his hair. “Nevermind.” He turned to face the threat.
A Sagittarimon got another arrow ready. He pointed it straight at Tsurugi.
“We should probably go now.” Tsurugi and Guilmon gunned it down a random hallway. More arrows flew after them.
=+=
Takato and Agumon peeked around a corner. “Looks like we lost him. We need to find a way out of here ASAP!” Takato gulped.
“Uh huh. Without Tsurugi, I can’t beat that guy!” Agumon drooped.
“And I can’t do much without Guilmon.” Takato sighed. “How do we get out of this place?” He faced forward.
Takato jumped back as he found a single podium in front of himself. It had something written into its stone body. In front of them lay three hallways, each possessing a different image over them.
“What the heck?” Agumon scratched his head.
“Must be a quiz to get out of here! Don’t worry. If I could get past the Monmon, I can get past this!” Takato and Agumon walked up to the first podium.
Agumon cleared his throat. “Decades before, there were fourteen heroes of the Digital World. You assuredly know of one, possibly more, but who was the last to join?”
“Uh…fourteen heroes? There’s Tai, Rei, Sigma, Mari, Hideto, and Neo. That’s only six.” Takato counted his fingers. “Maybe…HolyAngemon, Leo, Gabo, Starmon, Pal, Pul? But that’s only twelve…”
“How about you add in Gekovitch and Jijimon?” Agumon suggested.
“Yeah, yeah. Good idea…If that’s what we’re going off of, then Neo joined them last.” Takato snapped his fingers. “...wait, have you read the V-Tamer Manga?”
“Tsurugi read it out loud and I heard everything. Plus he always had my device nearby whenever we watched the show.” Agumon shrugged. “Anyways, which hall do we choose then?” Helooked at the images over the hallways.
One was the crest of kindness, one was a very worn out image of the Digimental, and the final one was some goggles.
“Well, I can’t tell what that second one is, and the goggles have to be Tai’s…the first one looks like the crest of kindness, and Neo’s described as being kind before he was evil, so…” Takato nodded confidently. “Come on!”
Takato and Agumon ran through the crest of kindness hallway. They both found another podium that simply said “Ken! Correct!”
“Who the heck is Ken?” Takato scratched his head.
“I don’t know, but I don't think he's gonna save us from Minotarumon!” Agumon shoved Takato down the hallway as he heard loud footsteps coming at them.
“Onto the next question!” Takato and Agumon continued to run.
=+=
Tsurugi and Guilmon ran down a hallway. They both stopped as they entered a large room filled with images.
“Woah…what the heck is this stuff?” Tsurugi gawked at the drawings.
“This place looks pretty.” Guilmon commented.
“This is…” Tsurugi squinted at one of the carvings. “A whip? Next to a Wormmon and a Kimeramon…” He followed the carvings as they progressed.
They told a story of some kid wearing a long cape and a smug grin. Slowly, other kids succeeded against the first kid, ending with a battle between Kimeramon and a bunch of Champions. At the end of the carvings was an image showing the crest of kindness.
“What is this place?” Tsurugi muttered. An arrow flew by behind him.
“I don’t know, but we should keep moving. Sagittarimon might hit us eventually.” Guilmon looked over his shoulder.
“Right. Come on!” Tsurugi and Guilmon dashed down the hallway in front of them.
=+=
Takato and Agumon came to a halt in the next room. It was a large room, filled with carvings and stone images, but no way forward.
“This place gets weirder and weirder.” Takato sighed. “What are these carvings?” He looked at the wall.
He followed the story told by the images. It was started with simple spires, but the next images showed the spires coming together to create a creature.
Takato quickly identified the creature to be WarGreymon, though the stone that was used to make his figure was considerably darker than the other images. At the end of the story, WarGreymon turned into a special version of himself, wearing jetpacks and long claws.
At the end of the wall were several Digicode letters.
“Ooh, Digicode…” Takato squinted at it. “It says ‘Hades’. What does that have to do with WarGreymon?” Takato asked out loud.
“You got me, Takato.” Agumon walked over.
“...Agumon?!” Takato and Agumon jumped.
“That voice! Is that you, Tsurugi?” Takato called out.
“Takatomon!” Guilmon responded.
“You guys are okay! And you can hear us!” Takato and Agumon cheered.
“About that, we’re stuck over here! There’s this little podium that has a question, but I don't know what the answer is!” Tsurugi told Takato.
“Really? We’re also stuck, but the room just has a bunch of drawings.” Takato replied.
“Huh…we also ended up in a room like that, but the entrance was open!” Tsurugi remembered.
“Hmm…” Takato furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s the question on the podium?” He asked.
“Not a normal Digimon, a villain turned good, this black-skinned warrior represents the opposite of heaven. Which is?” Tsurugi read out. “And then the answers we can choose are Gehenna, Hell, and Hades.”
“Oh, HellWarGreymon is an awesome name!” Agumon commented on the other side.
“Yeah…GehennaGreymon’s kinda cool too though.” Tsurugi rubbed his chin.
“The answer is Hades, Tsurugi! It says so on this wall!” Takato shouted.
“Hades? Alright!” Tsurugi and Agumon ran over to the Hades hallway.
A door shut behind them as a podium came into view in front of them. It simply said “Hades! Correct!”
“Yeah!” Tsurugi and Guilmon celebrated. “You were right, Takato!...Takato?”
Takato and Agumon listened on the other side of the wall. “Guilmon? Tsurugi? Are you still there?” They got no response.
A door opened up in the room. Takato and Agumon exchanged glances before running through it.
Both groups ran down their respective hallways. The stomps of their pursuers slowly grew closer as they sped up.
They both skidded to a halt as both groups ended up in a large room. Both of their rooms were covered in images. They also had three hallways to go down, with answers above the doors like before.
Their questions this time were: Teamwork is an incredible skill to have, though the way creatures work together can be very different. Together, what power is achieved by two certain creatures?
“Guilmon! Tsurugi! Can you hear us?” Takato called out.
“...Yeah! Let’s figure out what answer is right!” Tsurugi yelled.
“Stay safe, boss!” Agumon patted the wall.
Takato, Agumon, Tsurugi, and Guilmon quickly began to look over the walls.
“This story is about…” Takato squinted. Agumon sniffed the air behind him.
“Ah! Minotarumon coming in hot!” Agumon looked towards the doorway.
Minotarumon burst into the room. He roared at the two before rushing at them.
“Keep going, Takato!” Agumon jumped at Minotarumon and entered a struggle with him.
Tsurugi and Guilmon could hear battle on the other side of the wall. “Are you guys okay?” Tsurugi called out.
“I think they’re fighting a Digimon.” Guilmon hypothesized. “Also, I smell Sagittarimon.” He said as an arrow flew over his head.
Sagittarimon galloped into the room. He got another arrow ready.
“I’ll protect you, Tsurugimon!” Guilmon rushed at Sagittarimon. He tackled him before he could shoot, causing the arrow to miss.
Takato and Tsurugi began to scan the walls quickly. Agumon and Guilmon were being easily beaten by their assailants.
Takato’s story was about the many fusions that he had seen in the V-Tamer Manga. SkullSatamon, Ghoulmon, and Omnimon. But after that, it also showed other Jogresses that he had only known about because of Net Battle and a couple other Digimon Games.
Finally, his story ended with a carving of Hawkmon.
Tsurugi had very similar carvings in his walls, but they ended with a carving of Gatomon.
“What answers can you choose, Takato?” Tsurugi inquired.
“Uh…” Takato looked at his pool of answers. They were a Hououmon image, an Ornismon image, and a Valkyrimon image. “A bunch of birds! Hououmon, Ornismon, and Valkyrimon!”
“Mine are…” Tsurugi looked at his own answers. “A bunch of birds! Varodurumon, Zhuqiaomon, and Valkyrimon!”
“Wait, we both have Valkyrimon?” Takato and Tsurugi rubbed their chins.
“But…how is Valkyrimon involved? He hasn’t even been in any of the Digimon series or games since…2002, I think.” Tsurugi noted.
“Y-Yeah. But Gatomon and Hawkmon don’t Jogress into any of these other Digimon. I’m not sure if those two become Valkyrimon though-they might be going for something else with this question!” Takato pointed out.
“Make a decision!” Agumon was thrown into a wall. He leapt off of it and grabbed onto Minotarumon’s face. “Hurry!” He banged his claws on Minotarumon’s head.
“Please?” Guilmon was donkey-kicked back. He growled before grabbing onto Saggitarimon’s bow and biting on it.
“Hawkmon…and these three choices…along with what the images are showing…” Takato closed his eyes. “How did your story end, Tsurugi?”
“With an image of Gatomon!” Tsurugi looked back at it to make sure. Guilmon was thrown straight into the wall behind him. “That’s not good…”
“Hawkmon and Gatomon…it has to be referring to a Jogress…” Takato whispered to himself.
“Hawkmon and Gatomon…Jogress together to create…” Tsurugi knocked the sides of his head.
“Oh…” Takato clenched his fists. “We know what Digimon evolve into the other ones, but we don’t know what Digimon becomes Valkyrimon! Let’s choose Valkyrimon!”
“That plan’s good enough!” Tsurugi and Takato ran over to the hallways.
“Valkyrimon!” They both shouted triumphantly. Agumon and Guilmon quickly ran in behind them.
Both groups ran through Valkyrimon’s hallway. The entrance shut behind them and a podium gave them their answer.
“Valkyrimon! Correct!” The podium said. Takato and Tsurugi let out breaths of relief.
“Let’s go, Agumon!” Takato and Agumon ran down the hallway.
“Come on, Guilmon!” Tsurugi and Guilmon did the same.
Both groups ran up some stairs at the end of their hallways.
“We’re out!” Takato and Tsurugi declared. They looked around the room, finding themselves in the temple’s main hall.
They both turned to the side, jumping back as they found the other Tamer.
“Takato/Tsurugi!” They both cheered.
“Boss/Takatomon!” Agumon and Guilmon ran back to their Tamer’s side.
“We did it! I don’t know what that maze was about, but we did it!” Takato punched the air.
“Yeah! None of those questions made sense, but we got through anyway! We’re awesome!” Tsurugi and Agumon jumped around with each other.
They both stopped as they heard the sound of cracking. They found cracks splitting across the ground.
Minotarumon jumped out of the ground. Sagittarimon jumped up behind him and they both landed in front of the kids.
“Oh yeah. I almost forgot about these guys.” Tsurugi let out a few nervous laughs.
“H-Hey guys, sorry about invading your temple. We’ll just go.” Takato held his hands up.
Minotarumon and Sagittarimon responded by roaring at them.
“Welp. Here we go, Agumon! Let’s give this guy a real fight!” Tsurugi raised his device.
“You too, Guilmon! Let’s take him down!” Takato did the same.
“Agumon/Guilmon! Digivolve!” Tsurugi and Takato called out.
Greymon and Growlmon quickly appeared before running at Minotarumon and Sagittarimon.
“Judgement Arrow!” Sagittaromon shot an arrow straight at Growlmon.
“Boulder Bash!” Growlmon punched it to the side before linking his arm with one of Sagittarimon’s.
Greymon and Minotarumon struggled with each other. Greymon threw him back. “Horn Strike!” He plowed into him. As Minotarumon stumbled back, Greymon grabbed his golden nose ring.
“You guys can do it!” Takato and Tsurugi cheered.
“Come on, Growlmon!” Greymon threw Minotarumon at him.
“Yeah!” Growlmon chucked Sagittarimon.
The two Digimon slammed into each other as the Champions charged up fireballs.
“Exhaust/Mega Flame!” Growlmon and Greymon let loose huge fireballs. Minotarumon and Sagittarimon wailed in pain as they were struck.
The two Digimon slumped to the ground.
=+=
Minotarumon and Sagittarimon bowed apologetically. “We’re sorry for attacking you! It is our duty to protect this temple, but only against those who are evil. You two did not deserve our wrath.” Minotarumon stated.
“For whatever reason, we felt an overwhelming desire to attack you. I do not know why, but we still apologize all the same.” Sagittarimon nodded.
“It’s fine. But what is this place? Those carvings were full of Digimon and people that have never had…importance, I guess is a nice way of saying it.” Takato scratched the back of his head.
“Yes, well. This page here explains everything, though we are unable to read its strange language. Here.” Minotarumon handed them a crumpled piece of paper.
Takato and Tsurugi quickly read over it. It was in Japanese (or English, jury's still out on that one), and said some weird stuff.
“Hello there,
If you’re reading this, then you accidentally found an unfinished part of the game. This temple was supposed to be a cooperative side quest for Tamers, but we didn’t know what questions or rewards to put in.
The questions in there are temporary and will be replaced by more topical ones later on. And if you are confused about the topics of those questions, don’t worry about it…we just wanted to use questions only we would know the answer to.
Anyways. Sorry if you stumbled on this place, because there isn’t really anything here. It will be fixed VERY soon, probably before many other people can see this note, so feel proud of the fact that you stumbled onto this temple before we could implement whatever plans we may have for it.
Once again, sorry if we wasted your time.
Thanks for playing Net Battle!
-Izzy Izumi and Tadashi Yujin."
“H-Huh?” Takato and Tsurugi exchanged glances.
“Kinda cool to have a letter from those two, at least.” Tsurugi shrugged.
“Anyways. Feel free to rest here if you wish. If not, then we bid farewell to you.” Sagittarimon and Minotarumon walked to certain positions of the temple.
The floor opened up, dropping them both down into the maze.
“I think…I think we should just leave.” Tsurugi sighed.
“Yeah…” Takato, Guilmon, and Agumon nodded.
=+=
Tai felt his phone rumble. He took it out and checked the message.
“We might be able to send someone into Net Battle. We’d like to tell you all about him, as he is just about the only advancement we’ve made recently. Come in tomorrow at 12:00 pm if you can. Thanks.” Tadashi messaged.
“Huh.” Tai pocketed his phone. “That’s good. But who knows if a single person can really tip the scales in our favor…”
Meanwhile, the person in question slipped on a shirt with a large yellow target on the front.
To be continued. 3462 words.