Digimon Terminal

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"FREE FALL!"​

Have you ever thought that something exists, something we couldn't describe, but that has always been present, in some way?

I've already thought about this and, initially, I didn't know how right I was when I asked this question to myself, well... I guess they're my friends?

Well, let's leave this topic about friendship and those things for another time.

I'm falling off a cliff, imaginary friend. For everything that is sacred, give it a rest!

"I... Someone, help!"

Falling from the top of a cliff, having accidentally tripped, he, a young man with Japanese physical features and tattered and somewhat dirty clothes in some places, did what any sensible person would do in his situation: scream for help and pray to the heavens for someone to hear his desperate pleas.

"STICKY NET"

Suddenly, and perhaps unexpectedly, the boy was caught like a fly that approached a spider's web more than strictly necessary. Now, he was inside a sturdy and sticky net, made of threads, that restricted his movements but saved him from a gruesome death.

Looking up, slowly and hesitantly, his eyes widened like saucers when he noticed what was preventing the wire net and, also, him, from falling: a disturbingly thin tree branch that seemed painfully fragile, held to the cliff by a few stones that he thought could come loose from the cliff with the slightest breeze.

As the sweat dripped from his forehead, his greatest current fear came true.

The branch broke off the cliff.

In a brief moment, Susumu felt that he was experiencing all the moments of his short life, before he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the impact.

The impact, nor the deep pain he expected to come, did not come.

"What...? How?"

Looking in every possible direction, moving his neck at abnormal speeds, with a confused and not at all credulous look, he realized what had happened.

"The branch... The branch was close to the ground?"

"Are you okay, Susumu?" Almost the very next moment, Susumu turned upon hearing the question, spoken by a voice that had already become somewhat familiar to him.

"I'm fine, I guess." He replied, sighing and shaking his head, as if denying something he had thought just moments ago, "Well, and… How am I going to get out of this net, Wormmon? Could you get me out of here? It's a bit cramped."

"Of course, you didn't need to ask." Wormmon replied, and launched a burst of rigid threads that were as thin as a silk thread, but as pointed and sharp as a needle, at the net that was trapping Susumu - "SILK THREAD" - and the net shattered into countless pieces.

Susumu got up from the ground before stretching and brushing off some dirt from his clothes with his hand.

Sighing, with his shoulders slumped and a pessimistic expression that turned into a look of resignation, he straightened up and nodded towards Wormmon, a gesture that asked him to follow.

Wormmon approached, and Susumu extended his left arm, holding it still momentarily. Thus, Wormmon climbed his body as if it were an adhesive surface until it stopped on his shoulder.

Walking aimlessly, Susumu was thinking about various things in just a few minutes, with his mind working more than it normally would, but one of the things he thought about was crucial.

"Hey, Wormmon." Susumu called for his attention, while glancing at the larva out of the corner of his eye, but still focused on the environment around him, being careful not to step on a stone or a branch by accident.

Wormmon looked at him, as if expecting him to continue. Finding the opportunity to say what he wanted, but still apprehensive, Susumu decided to say everything at once to free his mind from the other strange situations.

"I... Well, thank you very much, Wormmon. Like, for everything you've done for me so far. You saved me from a terrifying death more times than I could count on one hand."

Wormmon stared at him for a few seconds, as if analyzing something Susumu had no idea what it could be. The seconds felt like an eternity, and he mentally cursed himself for putting himself in such a strange situation. In the end, to his relief, Wormmon smiled.

"You don't need to thank me for anything, Susumu! We are partners, remember? I will protect you from everything, I'm not afraid of anything." Wormmon replied, seeming quite confident in his words.

Wanting to test something, Susumu slowly and horizontally moved his neck to face Wormmon, with his eyes looking down before looking up, slowly focusing his eyes on Wormmon's astronomically fearful expression.

Thus, making a painfully strange expression, Susumu said a single word to the frightened larva:

"Boo…!"

"AH! No, don't eat me!" And Wormmon jumped off Susumu's shoulder, trembling, while pointing at Susumu with one of his purple claws. "You... Who are you?"

Wormmon didn't expect Susumu to laugh at him openly, and shouted: "Susumu! That wasn't a joke, and it wasn't funny at all, OK?! It scared me a lot!"

"Hm? But didn't you just say that you weren't afraid of anything, Wormmon? To which dangerous castle did that brave knight from before venture?" Susumu said, with an ironic smile. He leaned forward, saying, suddenly serious. "The truth is this that I'm going to tell you, friend. No one is really brave. Everyone is afraid of something, you know?"

"Really? And are you afraid of something too, Susumu?" Wormmon asked, curious but a bit apprehensive.

"Yes, I also have many fears. Well, some of them are quite embarrassing, but that... that is not important." Susumu replied, scratching his neck, embarrassed. He raised the index finger of his left hand and pointed at Wormmon. "True courage is recognizing when you are afraid."

"Oh, those are beautiful words! You know many things, Susumu." Wormmon praised, his eyes practically shining with admiration.

"Ah, well, that's not really how it works. I don't know much, you know?" Susumu disagreed, reluctantly.

"That's not true, I know you well. You are intelligent, and I don't agree with your disagreement." Wormmon said, huffing in irritation, and turning away.

"Hey, Wormmon." Susumu called out in a low voice.

"What is it, Susumu?" Wormmon asked, with a haughty tone and louder than he intended, but quickly got scared when he faced the gigantic, animalistic blue eyes of a menacing sea serpent. "A… A Seadramon?!"

Wormmon ran up to Susumu, hiding behind his left leg, while trembling a little.

"There's only one solution here, Wormmon." Susumu said, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a technological device smaller than the palm of his hand, but very important.

Wormmon saw the sunlight reflecting off the device Susumu had picked up, and straightened up, his expression now more focused than before. He jumped out from behind Susumu, while the other extended his arm forward.

"Wormmon, alright, let's go. It's time to digivolve!"

And a shining light dazzled the shadows.

"WORMMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."

OK, you must be confused about everything you've seen up to this point, right?

Well, this is my opportunity to explain things to you.

So, do you still remember what I said before?

Something exists in this world, but no one knows about it. However, unlike those people, I know what it is.

This something is a distant reality, but even so, it has always been so close to us.

These are stories of what happens between the world built by atoms and this place made of mathematical equations.

They are the stories that have traveled through the real world and the digital world.

I just need to tell you a bit of what happened earlier. But are you sure you want to hear it?

If you want, fine. It all started with a free fall...​

 

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"HOWLING NOISE!"​

Standing, stopped near a door, in a spacious corridor with a polished wooden floor, Susumu raised his arm, with his fist closed. Breathing through his nose and exhaling the accumulated air through his mouth, he lowered his head before nodding to himself, as if gathering all his willpower to perform a single, simple task that, for him, is more difficult than one would imagine.

Moving his arm slowly, and even though he was quite reluctant and hesitant to do so, he knocked three times on the door with the back of his hand, lightly. The knocks made a rhythmic noise, and the sound was louder than he would have imagined. Susumu flinched momentarily at the noise, but remained silent, waiting for a response that might take a while to come.

A few seconds passed, and he heard the sounds he always used to hear in that same situation: countless stacks of paper being flipped through, the noise of a thumb rhythmically and repeatedly pressing the cap of an expensive ballpoint pen, all before hearing a sigh that sounded quite irritated to his ears.

"Don't keep me waiting, Susumu. I hate delays." Said a deep voice. His words radiated irritation, annoyance, and disdain in amounts that are probably equal.

Susumu moved his hand towards the doorknob, turned it, and then pushed the door in as gently as he could. He peeked into the room momentarily before entering and closing the door. As always, nothing had changed. A rectangular desk organized with a high degree of perfectionism, papers stacked in also organized piles, a coffee mug that he secretly finds dull, and a laptop with a modern and refined appearance. Internally, Susumu thinks he will never verbally say that he expected the things in this office to scream to everyone who could hear: "I am worth money, a lot of money."

Sitting in a wooden chair that he imagines cost more than all the other things in this office, Susumu straightened up, hating the idea of leaning forward while sitting. With his hands in his lap and his chin raised, his eyes fixed on the person in front of him, he quickly stated his purpose for entering the dragon's lair.

"I wish to be transferred to another school. Could you do that, Dad?"

The man in front of him, sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the table, slowly placed his ballpoint pen on the table before clasping his hands. He was looking at him, but sometimes, Susumu imagined that his father was seeing something else instead of him.

Susumu may seem like just a shy and rich child to many who have met him before, but the truth is that he is observant. One of his greatest hobbies, besides playing tennis, is solving puzzles.

However, even with all this intelligence and analytical ability, his father remains an indecipherable mystery that he does not wish to unravel. And even though they lived in the same house, they were always distant, but they respected each other's privacy.

"I will take care of that." He replied, as dryly as ever.

Every time, the same answer, never failing to be said in the same dry and somewhat disdainful tone. Internally, Susumu kept asking himself: Do you even care?

The man stopped and stared at him with a slightly different expression this time, but with more intensity. Susumu cursed himself internally for expressing his complaints out loud, Why do I always get myself into trouble?

"Get out." He spoke, with his hands trembling from what seemed to be anger, and a vein pulsing on his forehead.

Rising from the chair and walking to the door with short, slow steps, head held high and in silence, Susumu opened the office door and left, before closing it from the outside.

Walking through the corridors of the place he lives in, but hesitates to call home, while looking at the paintings and expensive vases he found along the way with an uninterested gaze, Susumu finally arrived at a garden full of flowers.

Approaching a more distant corner of the garden, Susumu, with rubber gloves on his hands and wearing a cotton overalls, looked at a beautiful and bright rose in a vase on a table. Taking the vase as carefully as he could, he looked at the flower and smiled with a forced smile.

Then, Susumu blinked, a look of confusion appearing on his face. Looking more closely at the vase, he saw that something was under the soil that filled the object.

Placing the pot on the table, he stuck his fingers into the soil and pulled out what seemed to be some kind of toy.

"How did this end up here, in this vase?" He murmured, confused.

Taking a handkerchief from one of the pockets of his overalls, Susumu spent the next few minutes cleaning the object until all the dirt and grime stains were gone. In the end, it looked impeccable.

Susumu smiled, a little proud of the cleaning results.

A few hours later, Susumu was in his room, holding the likely toy in one hand, while the fingers of his other hand moved over the buttons of his PC keyboard.

In the end, Susumu was surprised by what he found after an extensive search.

"Nothing?" He murmured, incredulous.

Or rather, with what he didn't find after an extensive search.

Leaning back in his chair, Susumu absentmindedly looked at the object in his hands.

"What are you, anyway?" He asked aloud, to no one in particular, before he was shocked to look at his PC screen.

The rectangular screen flickered repeatedly in a literal confusion of colors before it stopped. Susumu was thinking that he had lost his PC forever, before a multicolored light shone from the previously dark monitor.

The device in his hand was also glowing, as intensely as his PC screen. Susumu covered his eyes with his arm, trying to shield them from the light.

In the next second, Susumu screamed, startled, and found himself traversing what seemed to be a dimensional tunnel at absurd speeds, as if he were in free fall. It was a place filled with zeros and ones in every corner, and he quickly became disoriented by the multitude of colors his eyes saw in less than a millisecond.

Susumu didn't know exactly why, when, or how this happened, but when he woke up, he was somewhere in a not-so-dense forest, but it was full of unique trees with roots identical to power cables.

"You've arrived, Susumu! Yes, yes, yes!"

He just didn't expect some kind of larva to start moving, floating through the air in circles around him. Susumu recoiled in fear at this before moving away to a distance he considered safe.

"What... What are you? And how do you know my name?" He finally gathered the courage to ask, before swallowing hard as the larva approached and hung from his arm with what seemed to be the hair growing on its head.

"I am Minomon!" The larva replied, waving one of its short little arms. "And how do I know your name? Hmm, that's a big question... But I don't know the answer. I just know that I know your name!"

"And do you know why this giant wasp with sinister wings is coming towards us?" Susumu said, pointing with a trembling finger in the direction of the said giant wasp.

"This is Flymon! Quick, cover your ears!" Minomon warned, and Susumu quickly covered his ears with his hands.

This was not enough to prevent the buzzing from Flymon's flight from dulling his hearing.

Flymon flew towards the two at extremely high speeds, generating a loud noise. Hearing that destructive noise, Susumu struggled not to fall to the ground, firmly planting his feet on the floor. Minomon, who was hanging on Susumu's arm with his eyes closed, stretched out his little arms and covered his ears.

When he opened one of his eyes, Minomon witnessed Flymon shooting the stinger from its tail in the direction where he and Susumu were.

"BROWN STINGERS"

"No!" Minomon shouted, before pushing Susumu to the ground. The sting of Flymon almost hit them, but in the end, it pierced a tree that was not far away, a few meters from them.

Susumu fell onto the grass, still disoriented by the noise generated by Flymon, but looked at Minomon and smiled, grateful.

Minomon let go of Susumu's arm and, floating in the air, headed towards Flymon, threw a hard object, shaped like a pine cone, at the sinister creature.

"PINECONE"

The pine cone hit the right side of Flymon's face, who growled and shook his head, irritated, before charging at even greater speeds than before.

"BROWN STINGERS" Again, Flymon shot its poisonous stinger. But this time, Minomon was the intended target.

Hit by a precise shot, Minomon fell to the ground. His body froze before quickly changing to a violet hue due to the poison.

Looking at this, at a glance, Susumu was speechless, his expression showed his shock. Then, he muttered.

Struggling to get up, Susumu walked, a bit trembling, and took his hands off his ears before grabbing Minomon and starting to run aimlessly in any direction.

The buzzing of Flymon accompanied him all the way.​

 

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"TREMOR!"​

"Either my eyes and ears are deceiving me, or it's true that I'm facing a talking quadruped radish, which looks more like an attempt some crazy scientists made in the search to create a reptilian animal." He said in a low voice, blinking, before resting his chin on the palm of his open hand. "Have I gone crazy, just like these guys? If so, I don't know what to say other than: OK, I guess I can deal with it."

"Uh, what...?" The four-legged radish the young man was referring to, Tanemon, didn't know what to do. "I didn't understand anything you said, Jude."

"You're not the only one in this long line of people, did you know that?" Jude replied, while brushing off his cold jacket just before lowering the hood of the jacket and adjusting the disposable mask he wore on the lower part of his face, concealing his chin, mouth, and most of his nose.

Sitting on an old tree trunk that was lying on the ground, he placed his bag, which was a travel tote, on his lap.

Grabbing the zipper with two fingers, Jude slid the zipper to the left until he reached the end on the opposite side. As soon as he opened his bag, he began to rummage through everything inside, trying to see if any of his things were missing or broken. Tanemon approached Jude and looked at what he was doing, blinking in confusion when Jude stopped to pick up a strange and unknown device, which somehow seemed quite familiar to Tanemon.

Looking at the object in the palm of his hand, the young man moved his hand approximately every ten seconds, looking at the device in different positions with an expression of curiosity and interest.

Then, after that, he extended his right arm with his palm open and the device right in the center of his hand, showing it to Tanemon.

"Do you recognize this, in any way?" He asked.

"I've never seen anything like this before, but it feels quite familiar in some way. Where did you find it?" Tanemon asked, curious about what Jude would answer, and interested in that small yet enigmatic object.

"Well, I was at home, minding my own business, when suddenly I had the brilliant idea to go out to the backyard in the middle of the night. A glow appeared in the sky and then boom! It fell in the garage. I went in there, took this, and in the end, I'm here, in this place." He replied dramatically, making arm gestures as if to emphasize his words. Then, he asked, confused: "But, where is here?"

Jude then heard some beeps. As he searched for the source of the sound, he realized it was coming from the device in his hand. Looking at the green monochrome screen with a square shape, he saw a dot appearing in the upper left corner of the screen and moving towards the center.

"What does this mean?" Jude asked himself, in a murmur, before alerting himself and looking around when the sound of hurried footsteps came from his left.

"Ah, yes... I finally managed to shake him off!" The young man who appeared in that environment, looking quite tired but also relieved, exclaimed loudly.

Looking more closely at that boy who appeared out of nowhere, Jude noticed that his clothes were dirty with dirt and grime, the soles of his shoes had what was probably mud, and his clothes were wrinkled in some places. However, even with all that dirt, Jude could tell at a glance that this guy's clothes were expensive, even if they were simple pieces of clothing.

He had well-groomed hair in a simple haircut, but it was messy in some spots, perhaps due to the frantic rush. His attire consisted of a plain linen shirt, pants that looked quite similar to the ones his father wore to work in the morning, and a pair of shoes that Jude imagined were worth much more money than the various coins and bills he had accumulated in his faithful piggy bank over the years.

Giving one last look, Jude finally noticed that this stranger was holding a little creature resembling some kind of larva, cradled in his arms. That being whose name Jude still didn't know was unusually motionless, and its body had a violet hue that he assumed was the result of some insect bite.

Internally, Jude thought as he instinctively moved his hand to his arm, making some movements with his fingers over the left sleeve of his jacket as if he were scratching something, Just thinking about it makes my wounds tingle. Ah, God, how I hate my allergies.

Tanemon jumped through the grass until he reached Jude, hiding behind him and looking timidly at the two unknown figures.

"Uh, hello? How are you?" The guy said, perhaps finally noticing the presence of Jude and Tanemon.

"With hunger and thirst. But the important thing is not me, nor my complaints. Say it once, what happened to your friend?" Jude asked, walking and raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Friend...?" The guy murmured, staring into nothing as if his mind were wandering, before shaking his head to dispel some thoughts. "Well, it went like this. He and I were talking when, out of nowhere,
a giant wasp appeared and almost killed us. Minomon was hit by the stinger and, well... you can see what the result was."

"Give him to me." Jude asked, extending his arms. He looked at that messy boy with an intense gaze when he was about to question, not giving room for discussion.

When the guy handed over the so-called Minomon, Jude sat back down on the log, with Minomon held in a firm grip in one of his arms, while rummaging through the items in his bag with his free hand. He took out a glass vial that contained some pills.

"What medicine is this?"

"My antihistamines." Jude replied promptly, while opening the bottle, not caring about the shocked look the guy was giving him.

"Why do you intend to give this to him?" He asked him, right after taking a deep breath. Jude thought that he might be trying to calm down.

"It's the only medicine I have here, and he needs something urgently." Jude replied, taking a pill from the bottle and placing it in Minomon's mouth, who struggled to swallow.

"Now, what I..." The guy was interrupted by a loud and annoying noise, whose sound seemed to be getting closer and closer to them.

Hastily, that boy grabbed Minomon and ran away as fast as he could. Muttering some colorful words under his breath, Jude slung his bag over his shoulder and picked up Tanemon in his arms, who screamed in protest, before following in the same direction that the rich boy had started to run.

"BROWN STINGERS" And Jude dodged a stinger that almost hit him.

"Does this always happen to you?" He asked, perhaps trying to sound ironic and failing. His hands trembled.

"Come on, shut up and just run!"

In the end, the two of them ended up in a not-so-metaphorical dead end. And Flymon landed in front of them.

"Jude?" Tanemon murmured, his tone worried.

"You... Do you have a final wish?" Jude asked, swallowing hard.

"I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? Well, my name is Susumu. And I... I wanted to be anywhere else, except here." The guy - No, Susumu, said, tilting his head.

"Well, I think I would like the same thing too." Jude said, seeming to open a smile behind his mask.

"Hey, Susumu..." Minomon called, opening his eyes, before getting out of Susumu's arms, who shouted in surprise. Minomon continued: "I… I can fight! And I will win!"

"Me too!" Tanemon exclaimed, jumping from Jude's arms and going to Minomon.

"What? But... But you are weak, very weak! And even if you were fine, you wouldn't stand a chance." Susumu protested.

"Tanemon, idiot! Don't go near that ugly animal!" Jude shouted.

"Trust us!" The two said, in unison, without looking at them. "Just this once."

Susumu looked at Jude, who stared back. So, after a silent conversation, the two nodded to each other before nodding to Minomon and Tanemon.

Thus, when Flymon approached, Minomon and Tanemon moved forward together, growling at the insect.

A radiant light came from the devices that Susumu and Jude were holding, vibrating in their hands like a phone, a light that illuminated the bodies of Minomon and Tanemon.

"MINOMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."
​

"WORMMON."​

"TANEMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."
​

"FLORAMON."​

While watching the almost literally spectacular event unfolding before their eyes, Susumu and Jude did the only thing they could do in that situation: hope for their victory.

"This is for hurting me!" The green larva with purple claws shouted, launching a burst of threads at Flymon, which hit and pierced its insect face. "SILK THREAD"

"ALLERGY SHOWER" From the flowers on its arms, the plant with reptilian characteristics spread an allergic pollen on Flymon, who seemed disoriented for a few seconds before shaking its head and flying away.

"He... He ran away?" Susumu murmured, incredulous.

"That means they won, right?" Jude murmured, his eyes expressing his disbelief which, if not equal, was greater than Susumu.

The green larva crawled through the grass to Susumu, smiling, while the unusual plant walked slowly to Jude, with a proud expression.

However, none of the four present there expected the ground to start shaking incessantly until holes formed.

None of them were spared from the impending fall.​

 

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"EXTINCTION!"​

"Where are we going, Omar?" Asked what seemed to be a puppet, which had an appearance similar to that of a chess piece. He held a spear in his left hand and had a shield raised in his right hand, walking with a clumsy and somewhat funny demeanor. It was as if he were trying and failing to walk like the person next to him, who walked with a straight back and hands crossed behind his back.

"Our destiny is the place that exists outside of here, PawnChessmon." Responded the aforementioned Omar, in a low voice and with a calm tone, as he looked with curiosity and intrigue at the drawings inscribed on the stone walls to his right and, also, walked down the long and narrow corridor with what had apparently become his partner. Omar was of average height and seemed a bit thin, and his hair was cut in a rather short hairstyle. He wore prescription glasses with aviator frames, a high-collared shirt, tight pants, and a pair of high-top sneakers. "We need to find a way out, and urgently. I assume we've been going in circles all this time."

PawnChessmon simply nodded at the response, without questioning or giving opinions. It seemed as if he thought that everything Omar said to him would, indisputably, be taken as fact. Omar glanced at PawnChessmon briefly, never stopping to wonder why this creature always seemed to nod in agreement with whatever he said with the utmost seriousness. So, Omar decided to set that matter aside for now, never stopping to walk, and PawnChessmon followed him at his own pace.

For the next few minutes, the two walked to the end of that corridor, where they entered a room with a fork: two other corridors, one on the left wall and one on the right wall.

Omar looked at the two corridors, and PawnChessmon remained silent, just as he had for most of the path they had traveled.

"Let's go to the left corridor first. If this is the wrong path, we can come back here and take the right path until we find an exit." Omar said resolutely before looking at PawnChessmon, who nodded.

PawnChessmon quickly grabbed his spear and, bringing the sharp tip of his weapon close to the ground, marked one of the stone bricks on the floor with an "X". Then, Omar entered the corridor on the left, and PawnChessmon clumsily ran to catch up with him.

At some point along the way, Omar stopped, and PawnChessmon accidentally bumped into him. The chess piece fell to the ground, but it stood up and composed itself as quickly as it could. Holding his spear, with the tip pointed forward, and raising his shield, PawnChessmon positioned himself in front of Omar, having quickly noticed something unusual.

The two heard the sound of what seemed like hooves pounding against the ground, as if a horse were galloping down the corridor they were in, unwilling to stop.

"Three." Omar began to count down, calmly and without haste, his gaze sharp, and PawnChessmon waited, attentive.

From the darkness at the end of the corridor, the two could see a bright red dot that seemed to be approaching them. A metallic glimmer shone briefly, and Omar noticed something resembling a gladiator's helmet.

"Two." He continued, and PawnChessmon crouched down, raising his shield up and pointing his spear upwards.

Then, something appeared galloping at high speeds while neighing. It was a creature similar to a centaur that continued to gallop, hastily, and seemed unconcerned with the "obstacles" it would undoubtedly encounter along the way.

"One!" Omar finished his countdown, out loud.

At his command, when the creature jumped over them, about to stomp on them, PawnChessmon speared it with his lance.

"PAWN SPEAR" And the centaur was hit. He neighed in pain, but kept advancing.

Still in the air, the centaur, Centarumon, jumped over the two before landing, standing, on the ground, a few meters away from the human and the puppet. With its back turned, Centarumon slowly turned to face them, its single eye expressing what was probably pure hatred, and something more.

PawnChessmon, already positioned in front of Omar, with his spear and shield raised, did not need to wait for any orders.

The chess piece remained still for a short time, and advanced further and further on the board.

Raising his right arm, which had nothing less than a built-in cannon, Centarumon waited before proceeding with his shot.

"SOLAR RAY" and fired a burst of energy from the cannon on his arm.

PawnChessmon, in turn, did not stop running, and protected himself from the energy blast with his shield. The force behind the attack almost knocked him back, but he persevered and kept moving forward.

Omar observed the battle that was taking place, with his hand resting on his chin, thoughtful, yet also attentive to every detail.

Having finally realized that the technique Centarumon used a few seconds ago requires a large amount of energy, Omar found an opportunity for PawnChessmon to attack.

"Go!" Omar said, and PawnChessmon understood what he had to do.

"PAWN LIGHTNING" From his spear, PawnChessmon unleashed a shockwave with a swift strike.

Centarumon was hit by the shockwave on his right shoulder. The pain was excruciating, but he would never let victory remain close to his opponents.

"JET KICK" Using the jet boosters on his back, Centarumon propelled himself forward and galloped at astonishing speeds. He approached PawnChessmon but kept galloping.

Its target was the human.

And for the second time, since the moment he arrived at this place full of endless paths, Omar felt fear.

However, he would never allow that fear to destroy him, I won't allow that. At least, not now.

As he approached Omar, Centarumon was about to kick him with his hind legs.

But, unexpectedly, he stopped when a bright light illuminated his eyes.

With his arm extended forward, the young man was holding the device that had previously been stuck in the back pocket of his pants, something he had not known before about the situations in which the object he thought was a simple toy could be useful.

Now, however, he has a better idea about the usefulness of this device.

From the monochromatic green screen of the device, a light shone and illuminated Centarumon's face, who grunted in pain and trembled abnormally, as if something were extinguishing from his body.

From Centarumon's back, long and thin pink spider legs emerged as a loud, prolonged, and grotesque scream followed.

In the end, a gigantic pink spider with a sinister appearance emerged, coming out of Centarumon's body, which fell to the ground, unconscious. In front, instead of having a face, the parasitic spider had a large, bulging eye with a humanoid green iris.

"P-Parasimon?!" PawnChessmon exclaimed when he saw the spider, trembling a little, truly frightened.

"Is that his name? Are you serious?" Omar asked, confused.

While Parasimon screamed in pain, as if being burned by the light radiating from the device in Omar's hand, PawnChessmon approached him, hesitant and still trembling, before briefly looking at Omar and nodding to himself.

"I only advance! PAWN SPEAR" Gathering his conviction, PawnChessmon shouted and pierced Parasimon with his spear, which exploded before disappearing into a multitude of points of light.

Breathing until he caught his breath, Omar lowered his arm and looked at the device in his hand before focusing his eyes on the spot where the parasite was.

Walking up to PawnChessmon, Omar asked, smiling playfully, "Are you tired of the battle, brave warrior?"

PawnChessmon did not respond verbally, just shook his head. Together with Omar, he approached Centarumon.

"What will we do with him, Omar?" PawnChessmon asked.

"Nothing, for now. We'll just wait for him to wake up. It's likely that he knows where the exit of this place is." Omar said, sitting on the floor near the wall and hugging his knees. Then, with a distant look, he murmured, "I miss you guys."

PawnChessmon, sitting next to Omar, looked at the young man but decided not to interfere.

I must protect him, PawnChessmon thought, inwardly, For that, I must stop asking and start acting.

Looking at his human friend one last time, he saw that he was sleeping.

I... I think I also need my rest, He thought, before leaning against the wall in a position he found comfortable.​

 

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"LABYRINTH!"​

In the seconds that followed the moment of the fall, Susumu extended his arm and grabbed a tree root growing in the ground with a firm grip, refusing to let go. With his other hand, while preventing himself from falling, he swiftly grabbed Jude's hand as he was falling. Jude was as shocked as he was, his eyes showed it.

"I will only let go of your hand if I die!" Susumu said, looking really serious, he had conviction, as if he had some level of certainty that what he was saying wasn't something foolish.

"We're going to die anyway, man. Just stop talking nonsense, look where we are!" Jude shouted, looking more than just indignant, but not letting go of Susumu's hand.

"You know very well that I know that, masked one." Susumu said to him, struggling to hold himself together and also to prevent Jude from falling.

Jude's forehead furrowed with irritation when Susumu mentioned his mask, and he murmured some unintelligible words under his breath.

And the root came loose from the ground the next moment, and the two fell and screamed together.

While falling, the iconic green larva jumped to the wall, climbing it as if it were an adhesive surface.

"SILK THREAD GATHER" Then, from the wall, the larva spat a burst of threads that twisted and intertwined until they formed a hand made of threads, which extended to grab Susumu by the arms, preventing him from continuing to fall from an astronomical height. "Ugh, Susumu, you are heavier than I thought! Ugh, what a bad situation…"

The larva didn't have enough strength to bear so much weight, even though it was trying hard, and fell, along with Susumu.

"Why?!" And he shouted, indignant.

The plant, on the other hand, quickly clung to the top of the hole that had formed with the previous tremors and then, from the flowers of its other hand, several vines appeared and extended, which it used to reach and grab Jude from that increasing distance - "POISON IVY" - but they were too short.

The plant lost focus, and its grip at the top of the hole loosened more and more, "Oh no! Not this!"

Like the other three, the plant was also descending rapidly into the depths of the hole.

When they got there, they all screamed, complained, and groaned in pain.

Susumu muttered a few seemingly meaningless words in a low voice before standing up and brushing some corners of his clothes with his hands. Walking slowly until he reached a nearby stone, Susumu lifted his feet and brought them closer to the stone one by one before rubbing the soles of his shoes to remove the dirt and mud. Right after that, he fixed his hair as carefully as he could.

Jude had a frightened expression for some reason when he saw that his disposable mask was about to fall off his face, so he turned and quickly adjusted his mask before walking to his bag, which had fallen a few meters away from him. Checking his things hurriedly, he was left speechless when he saw that his antihistamine bottle had broken, as well as his flashlight and some other items. Opening and closing his mouth like a fish gasping for air, he soon lowered his head, his gaze shining with anger, before slinging the bag over his shoulder.

The larva with several purple claws and two long antennae was in a corner, curled up on the ground, grunting in pain and crying silently.

Susumu, seeing this, approached carefully, taking care not to accidentally step on the stones, roots, and some pipes he encountered along the way, and gently picked up the larva in his arms.

"Don't cry, Minomon. The worst is over." Said Susumu, in a low voice, before the uncertainty could take root and bloom in his mind. "Hm, I guess."

The plant with reptilian characteristics was in a corner, not far from the other three. Getting up with some effort, he brought his hand closer to the petal on his head and walked with a strange swagger, looking like a drunk person walking down a street at night, feeling dizzy. Looking at the surroundings, the place seemed to be spinning infinitely in his eyes. So, stopping for a few seconds before sitting down, he closed his eyes, hoping the dizziness would pass.

Jude observed the entire scene before taking something out of her bag: a bottle of water, which somehow survived unscathed, without a scratch, through all the ordeal.

Approaching the plant, Jude handed the water bottle to the plant right after removing the cap, "Take this. Drinking water helps to reduce dizziness a bit. And rest a bit, Tanemon."

The plant picked up the water bottle with its flower-shaped hand and drank slowly.

"And I am not Tanemon, Jude. At least, not anymore. Now, I am Floramon." The plant, Floramon, said proudly.

Jude blinked, initially confused, but gradually resigning, "Well, you transformed, I guess. So, OK, Floramon."

"And you?" Susumu asked, looking at the larva.

"I became Wormmon, Susumu. This happened because you believed in me!" Wormmon replied, smiling with his eyes.

"Was it the same for you too?" Jude asked Floramon, who confirmed and smiled.

"Well, another thing I noticed, but didn't want to mention before, is that all your names end with 'mon'. Why is that? And do all of you have names like that?" Susumu asked, curious.

"We are digital monsters, we are Digimon." Floramon replied.

"And your last question was a big and unexpected question. I don't know, but I think all Digimon have names like that." Wormmon said, thoughtful.

"Monsters… Digital monsters?" Susumu repeated, confused. "You are all very unique, of course. But monsters? I don't think so. Well, Flymon is the exception to that."

"And they said they are 'digital'. Following that logic, could this mean that I am inside a television? I got here when the TV in my garage suddenly turned on as I approached with this in my hands." Jude said, raising the device to show them, before pocketing it in his coat. "I could be in a coma or dreaming, I guess. Everything here is bizarre."

"I... Well, I know this isn't a coma." Said Susumu, hesitantly, before facing Jude. "Everything here is too lived-in, so it's not something my brain can create, nor my computer - the door that brought me here. And, well, I'm not in your dream, man. Not now and not ever."

"So, it seems you have a point." Said Jude, sighing, before facing Floramon and asking, with an arched eyebrow. "You have transformed. No, I have a better word. Evolved. How does this work?"

"I digivolve. I don't know how it works, honestly." Floramon replied, patiently.

"Can you evolve too, Susumu?" Wormmon asked, curious.

"Well, we, human beings, have evolved, but not in the way you are probably thinking." Susumu began his explanation. "We grow, change, and become smarter. It's not something quick, not like that 'digivolution' you and Floramon probably experienced."

"Well, this conversation is nice and all, folks. But I think we have something more important at stake." Said Jude, pointing ahead, his finger slightly trembling.

Looking in the direction where Jude was pointing, Susumu, Wormmon, and Floramon were shocked by what they saw. Turning and looking in the other directions, the three were as stunned as Jude.

"We are… Are we in the center of a labyrinth?" Susumu asked, swallowing hard.

"And it seems we have company." Jude said, moving his neck to look up.

In front of him, a group of five large digimons with bodies covered in fur, resembling moles, all of them had huge drills at the tip of their snouts and on the claws of their front and hind legs.

"Oh, these are Drimogemon. Don't worry, they are shy and gentle. I doubt they could hurt us!" Wormmon said confidently, waving in the direction of the Drimogemon.

"Uh, hello?" Susumu said, smiling a strange smile, and waving hesitantly.

"DRILL SPIN" And the five Drimogemon advanced, intending to attack with the rotating drill on their heads, which spun continuously.

"Your information is not correct this time, friend!" Shouted Susumu, running down one of the paths of the vast underground labyrinth.

"They went this way, let's go!" Jude shouted as he ran.

Floramon followed him, running as fast as he could to catch up, but fell after tripping over a root on the ground.

"Ouch, that hurt..." Floramon complained.

"Floramon!" Jude exclaimed, worried, and stopped in his tracks.

Looking at Jude, Floramon ended up not noticing that the Drimogemon were approaching the nearest target.

The pain came, once again.​

 

[Spiking Finish]

DIGIMON TERMINAL

"FLOWERS!"​

Shortly after the moment the Drimogemon attacked her, Floramon was thrown into the air due to the force of the blows she received.

Falling to the ground and getting up with some effort, her breath seemed shallow, she was out of breath.

Then, looking at the Digimon that, in her inner thoughts, she began to call "idiotic and brainless moles," with her expression boiling with anger, Floramon thought, I won't leave without a fight. I won't.

Moving both arms behind her body, keeping them still and pointing downwards, Floramon, without waiting, ran frantically towards the nearest Drimogemon, while letting out a scream full of rage, undoubtedly intending to attack.

Jude, observing from a not-so-safe distance, swallowed hard, appearing shocked by his friend's unexpected display of anger, but remained silent.

Bending down before propelling herself upwards with a jump, Floramon moved her arms forward just before raising them high, with the flowers on her hands not far from Drimogemon's face, who tried to grab her.

Still in the air, Floramon spun and did a somersault, landing gracefully on Drimogemon's arm. Running over Drimogemon's arm, Floramon skillfully dodged another blow, where Drimogemon intended to crush her with the other arm.

"POISON IVY" And from her hands, thick vines with thorns emerged, striking Drimogemon in the right eye the moment he turned his neck to face her.

However, with all this exhausting physical effort, the dizziness returned with a vengeance, and even stronger than before.

So, Floramon lost balance and fell.

"Oh, not again... Why?" She said, while trying to get up, but couldn't. "Oh, everything is spinning."

"Floramon!" Worried, Jude dropped his bag in a corner and ran the next moment.

One of the Drimogemon pushed him away with a slap, and Jude lost his breath, unable even to scream.

Getting up and, as soon as he caught his breath, muttering a series of words in a low voice when he realized he had twisted his right ankle, he held the brim of his jacket hood with his left hand and pulled the hood up, hiding his hair and most of the upper part of his face.

With a pain in his ankle, Jude limped forward, walking slowly towards Floramon. Then, he crouched down, with his back to Floramon.

"Get on my back." He said, and Floramon nodded.

After climbing onto Jude's back, Floramon grabbed his neck with her arms, trying to prevent herself from falling. Jude grumbled in pain when his neck was squeezed, but decided not to protest.

Internally, he thought, with an ironic smile hidden by his mask, I have many things on my mind. One of those things is that I have to get out of here as fast as my feet will allow me to go. And what a great time to twist my ankle. Yes, what a great moment.

"Jude, where are we going?" Floramon asked, blinking in confusion.

"We're going to a place far away from these manic moles." Jude replied, his tone and voice rising.

"But... But I have to fight." Floramon said, appearing hesitant, before shouting in protest: "I want to fight!"

"And why do you want that?" Jude asked, without turning or stopping, but it seemed his patience was running out.

"To protect you. You and I are a team, aren't we?" Floramon replied, smiling.

"Team?" Jude repeated, slowly. So, as if trying to sound resolute but with his voice faltering, he continued: "I-I didn't ask for any protection, Floramon. We are not a team."

Floramon's smile slowly faded away.

"... Okay." Floramon said, after a moment of silence.

The petals on her head wilted.

Jude lowered his head, clenching his hand into a fist. His nails were short and well-trimmed, so they left "only" the palm of his hand with a reddish hue. Behind his mask, Jude had a smile of disdain.

When he noticed the Drimogemon advancing towards him, Jude made an effort to run towards one of the paths of the labyrinth, trying to outsmart the Drimogemon in some way.

However, with his injured ankle and unnecessary burden on his back, he remained slow.

Following a fork, Jude ran to its end before taking the path on the right side.

He had the idea that he would once again end up in a dead end, and that idea seems to have come true.

With their backs close to the wall, Jude and Floramon looked apprehensively at the sharp tip of a drill that appeared in their field of vision.

The Drimogemon came shortly after, and didn't need to use its sense of smell to find them.

"Hey, Jude." Floramon called. "Can I ask you something?"

Even though reluctant, Jude nodded.

"Why this, all of a sudden, Jude?"

Jude didn't respond initially. Then, his eyes widened.

Without warning, a memory that had been buried deep in his mind, longer than he had imagined, suddenly resurfaced.

"I noticed that you have the habit of wanting to distance yourself from the people who care about you and wish the best for you."

Jude felt a tightness in his heart when thinking about those words, as if he could hear them in the same way and with the same patient tone they were spoken back then.

"First, he did this with his friends.And now he does the same with us, with me; with his family."

Jude closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands and screaming.

"Why this, all of a sudden, Jude?"

At that moment, when Drimogemon attacked the ground beneath them with its drills, Jude looked vaguely at Drimogemon's snout drill, while his cold hands trembled and his body shuddered.

In his perception, he saw that the drills were spinning incessantly, comparing them to the tires of a truck.

Jude didn't realize he had fallen into the hole that formed beneath him.

He didn't even notice a scream calling his name; in his head, it seemed so distant.

"Do you know what these flowers are, Jude?"

Then, inadvertently, a bright light illuminated all the corners of the hole. During the fall, Jude felt something hold him before he fell.

"Is this... Are these cherry blossom petals?" Jude murmured, impressed, seeing that several cherry blossom petals were falling around him. "How...?"

Realizing that he was in the lap of what was most likely a Digimon, which skillfully leaped through the walls of the hole with a dramatic, almost flamboyant behavior, yet seemed quite performative.

The Digimon was tall, with large flowers blooming from its hands and head. He wore a kimono, had long and flowing hair, and wore a white mask with red details covering his face, in addition to having a similar mask on the palms of each hand, in the center of the flowers.

When the Digimon jumped out of the hole, it landed on its feet and struck a literally performative pose as it touched its feet to the ground. With his feet apart, eyes wide open, and chin raised with a proud air, he remained frozen in the same pose for a few seconds, which caught Drimogemon's attention.

Moving his right arm forward slowly before holding it erect and motionless, with the palm facing forward, the Digimon emitted a blinding light from his hand to the back of Drimogemon's head, which then unleashed a literal storm of petals, "CHERRY BLOSSOM STORM."

Drimogemon was hit without even realizing it was an attack, his eyes clouded by fascination.

Making a circle with its head, the petals of its head suddenly sharpened before releasing and hitting the unsuspecting Drimogemon, piercing it as if they were ninja stars, "LION DANCE"

In the end, Drimogemon's body exploded in a burst of bright dots that swirled around the performative Digimon like fireflies before disappearing. The Digimon maintained its pose until the moment the points of light disappeared, at which point it turned its head in a circular motion and moved its right leg forward, stomping the ground forcefully.

"He... He died?" Jude murmured, truly frightened by the idea.

This mysterious Digimon, though it seemed quite familiar, remained silent. He placed Jude on the ground, carefully, before his body was enveloped by a light and slowly shrank in size and changed shape.

"Floramon? That Digimon was you?" Jude asked, confused.

His response was two punches, one delivered to each side of his face. The third was in his stomach, which almost instantly took his breath away.

Coughing, Jude slowly recovered from the pain before smiling, "Well, I guess I might have deserved this, right?"

Floramon huffed before turning his face to the opposite side, without looking at Jude.

"Hey, guys!" Then, they heard Susumu's voice, and Jude and Floramon turned, looking in his direction.

Susumu was standing, scratching his neck and smiling nervously, with Wormmon standing beside him, who waved in the direction of the two.

"We have to find a way out of here, don't we?" Susumu said, and Wormmon nodded, smiling. Susumu seemed to notice something was wrong and asked, "Do you mind telling me if anything happened while I was out looking for you two?"

Floramon didn't respond, her expression tinged with frustration, and Jude smiled as he adjusted his disposable mask on his face.

"Well, then, I guess I don't want to know." Susumu said, turning around.

"Did they fight?" Wormmon asked, in a low voice, crawling towards Susumu.

"Shh, be quiet." Susumu replied, making a gesture with his hand in front of his mouth, as if closing a zipper.

Jude and Floramon looked at each other before, after a few seconds of staring, they smiled.

So, Jude and Floramon followed the rest of the way.​