"Walking... sheesh. I wonder if there's any other way of getting around the digital world," Lopmon grumbled from atop Eric's head. "I doubt it," Eric replied. "Unless we can bum a ride from some passerby in a dune buggy." Wormmon scuttered across the hot desert sands, looking up at Ken who took the heat with admirable resolution. "You seem quiet, Ken-chan." "I'm just worried, Wormmon. What was the point in the other world, besides getting a mask?" Lopmon shrugged. "Maybe we were there to prevent something from happening." "Yeah, but what?" Ken sighed. "The local me and Eric were probably gone from that world, but I know there must have been something that we influenced in that previous world." "I guess we'll never know," Eric droned as the the rolling clouds of sand began to pile up in the distance. "Sandstorm," Eric cried as the storm was then upon them, bringing with it blistering winds and opressive heat. ----------------------------- D^3 : Digital Diaries Dimentions Variations 1.3 : Copied Adventures or The Last Alliance of Digimon and Chosen Written by Shaun Garin Disclaimer : as usual, Toei owns digimon. I'm just borrowing them for an indefinate amount of time. For those continuity sticklers, having fits yet? ----------------------------- "ACK!" Eric erupted from his burial of sand, spitting out a mouthful of grainy dirt. "Yeesh. That's the last time I wander around in a sandstorm." He reached over, dug into the sand and withdrew Lopmon by his ears. "You okay buddy?" Lopmon leapt from his grasp and shook out his ears, knocking on one side of his head with a paw. "I will be, once I get all this sand out of where ever it went. God, I have sand in places I didn't know I had." "Ken?" Eric looked around and scowled. Jabbing at his communicator, he got nothing but static. "Shit. Looks like we got seperated. And out of range too." "Great," Lopmon drawled. "We're up a creek without a freaking paddle. I wonder how far away we are from them?" Eric shrugged as he noticed a Pyramid sitting upside down in the middle of the desert, a couple of hundred meters away. "Lets go and check that place out. I'm sure someone'll help us." "Or kill us," Lopmon grumbled, leaping to Eric's shoulder. "You should really stop watching X-Files," Eric reprimanded. "Not everything is out to get us." "In the digital world, that's usually a common place thing to think about," Lopmon retorted. "If they're not out to kill you, then it's usually a good thing." Eric rolled his eyes but slogged out of the dune and trundled towards the pyramid, bundle in hand. ------------------------------ Ken erupted from the mound of dirt, shaking his blueish hair free of dust. "Yeech," he exclaimed, spitting out a hearty mouthful of sand. "What a trip. Wormmon?" The nearby mound of dust exploded out as Stingmon erupted from it. "Ken-chan..oh. Hi." "You were worried about me?" Ken asked with a grin as Stingmon scratched his head embarrasedly. "Well don't go scaring me like that!" Stingmon returned as he helped Ken out of the waist high sand dune. "I won't. Any clue on where we are?" "Not a one. I think we wandered quite a ways away," Stingmon replied, reverting to Wormmon. "Those canyon walls wern't here previously." Ken tapped at his communicator and held his ears as static greeted him. "Well, Eric's definately out of range," he said, dropping his arm in disgust. "Lets try and find some shelter over there," Wormmon said, hopping into Ken's arms. "I'm sure we'll be able to find something." Ken laughed as he and his partner set out for the stones. ------------------------------ "You don't see this every day," Eric remarked, running his hand across the smooth surface of the pyramid. "Yeah. Who else besides you would think of contructing an upside-down pyramid?" Lopmon quipped. "Very funny..." "Yeah, I thought so.... down!" Yanking his partner to the side, a troope of Gazimon wandered by, searching for something or someone. "I'm sure someone was out here," one Gazimon said, looking around while holding a piece of equipment. "According to the scans, there was one human life form outside." "I guess you're not looking hard enough," grumbled another. "C'mon, lets get back inside. It's too hot." "I guess you're right," the first said. "Besides, we still need to get to Nanomon. That idiot took that chosen girl. We need to find her before Etemon-sama turns us into dog chow." The disgrunted troop of Gazimon stomped back into the pyramid. Eric and Lopmon released a long held breath. "I thought we were caught for sure," Lopmon said. "Geez, those bozos caught a chosen? I gotta save her!" "Nice deduction sherlock," Lopmon said sarcastically. "So, what are we gonna do this time?" "First, we find our way in," Eric said, fishing around for his D-3 in his pants, "Then, we stage a little distraction." At this, he looked at his partner who blinked. "Oh no," Lopmon exclaimed, waving his short arms around. "I am NOT distraction material! Get someone else to do it." "If you haven't realized, you're the only one here. Now get ready. I sneak in quietly and then you make me a distraction." "Fine. But you owe me some donuts later on. Lopmon evolve!" --------------------------- Nanomon cackled to himself as he worked busily at copying the tag, crest and digivice. "Just you wait," he exclaimed as Sora lay on the scanner table. "Your copy will be up and running, and soon, your partner will be under my control." Sora looked over at Piyomon who was strapped to the wall by heavy iron restraints. "She'll never work for your copy!" she exclaimed angrily, fighting down fear that welled within her throat. "Just you wait," Nanomon promised. Suddenly, the pyramid rocked with a dull explosion that sent fragments of stone raining down. "What?!" -------------------------- Eric sneaked into the building, keeping out of sight of the Gazimon. Another explosion resounded with the faint call of "Destroyed Voice" echoing in the halls. He chuckled to himself. "Sounds like he's having fun." As the Gazimon turned left at a glittering firewall, Eric waited until they were out of sight. Grabbing his sword, he gingerly touched the blade to the wall, emitting a flash of sparks. "No good... there must be a hole here." Prodding at various points in the wall, he finally found the opening and grinned. "Bingo." Cautiously, he slid his hand into the wall, then his arm, followed by the rest of his body. Behind the wall, it lead towards a long flight of stairs that headed downward into the belly of the pyramid. ------------------------- Taichi looked up as he blinked. "What? Agumon, wake up!" Agumon snapped alert as Taichi stared at Ken and Wormmon who were walking towards them where the end of the crest tunnel had been. "We have company," Agumon called out as the remaining Chosen ran out to meet the newcomer. Ken did a double take as the young versions of the Chosen he knew ran out to greet him. "Oh boy," Wormmon said, eyes wide. "No kidding," Ken breathed. "Who're you?" Taichi asked warily, hand on digivice. Ken suddenly found himself in a dillemia. He wasn't supposed to be around here for another few months, not until he and Ryo fought Milleniummon. 'Oh well,' Ken thought to himself. 'I guess it won't hurt. Just need to think up a few things.' "My name is Ken. I've been sent here by Gennai," he said, hoping they would buy the story. "Gennai, huh?" Koushiro asked, staring intently at him. "I guess we can trust you." "Um, where are the others?" At this, Taichi's expression darkened. "Nanomon has Sora. He just came out of nowhere and kidnapped her. We found where she was being held but it's too heavily guarded now." Taichi sighed. "It's all my fault." "It's not your fault, Taichi," Yamato said. "It was all ours, for being distracted." "I can help," Ken said, earning looks from the others. "Seriously. I have my own digimon, so I can help." "I dunno," Yamato said slowly, but Taichi put his hand on his shoulder. "We could use all the help we could get. Okay, you're in." --------------------------- Sora stared into the celing, wishing she could flick the piece of stone off her cheek. Suddenly, a finger did so as a face popped into view, holding his finger over his mouth. "Quiet," he whispered. "I'll get you out of here." "Piyomon," Sora whispered. Eric looked over and grimaced. "This is going to be harder than it's worth. Okay then, no more stealth. Hold still." With that, he raised his sword. Nanomon whirled around at the sound of metal on metal as Eric hacked the bindings apart like butter. "What the hell?!" Helping Sora to her feet, Eric turned towards Nanomon and said, "Get Piyomon. I'll keep bucket brain busy." As Sora quickly released her partner and reclaimed her tag and crest, Eric was knocked across the room by a swing of Nanomon's arm. "Ouch," he grimaced, standing back up. "Go!" Sora looked over at the pair fighting, but her eyes fell on her clone. It had been completed and restraints had been released with her errant pushing of buttons to release Piyomon from captivity. "Sora, we have to go!" Piyomon exclaimed. Compassion won over common sence as she ran past the fight and grabbed one arm of the clone.... ... who snapped into awareness. "Who?" she asked drowsily. Sora stiffled a gasp as she grabbed the remaining things, including tag, crest and digivice. "Lets go!" she called out. Eric broke off the attack as he ran out after the pair, Nanomon cursing as he scuttled after them. ----------------------------- "That it?" Ken asked, pointing at the pyramid. "Yeah, that's it," Taichi said, eyes narrowed. "That's where Nanomon took Sora." "This'll be tougher than I thought it would be," Ken mused. "Okay, here's the plan..." he was cut short as an explosion rocked through the pyramid, sending gouts of black smoke into the air. "On second thought...." "Looks like there's some commotion there," Taichi said, peering through his monocular. "I can see three people running out, or they could be humanoid digimon." "...Ken!" Eric's voice was heard amidst static. "Ken if you can hear me, answer damnit!" "Who's that?" Mimi asked, looking around for the speaker. Ken jabbed his communicator. "Eric? Where are you?" "At an Upside-down pyramid!" came the hurriedly reply as the sound of an explosion rocked the ground behind them. "If you're anywhere near there, please, give us some cover fire!" "We're here," Taichi shouted into the communicator, causing a whine of feedback to screech in the air. "We'll give you all the cover fire you need! Head towards the Sphynx!" ---------------------------- Etemon glared at the pictures his dark network was feeding him. "Damnit," he cursed. "Those lousy chosen kids, escaping with my rightful prisoner. There's going to be hell to pay!" "Etemon-sama, there's a host of chosen at the gates of the pyramid!" One Gazimon exclaimed. Etemon reached down and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him face to face. "I know that you imbecille!" Etemon shouted. "Send out all the troops to take out those damn children!" Dropping the Gazimon, he stormed off. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." --------------------------- "We're gonna die!" Wendigomon howled as he dodged blast after blast. "Why oh why did he have to set an army after us?" "Keep moving!" Sora panted as Eric ran beside her, carrying her clone on her back as she was too tired to run. "The sooner we get out of here, the better! Birdramon!" "Meteor Wing!" The flaming fireballs crashed down amidst the Monochromon as Wendigomon hopped backwards on one foot, letting loose with cannon shots from his torso pods. "Mega Flame!" A Monochromon exploded into data as Taichi rushed towards them, riding on Greymon. "This way!" "Harpoon Thunder!" Missles rained down on Monochromon and Gazimon Troops, knocking many back. "Lets go, lets go! The sooner the better!" Jyou howled. Suddenly, the battle cry of "Etemon-sama is here!" rang in the air as the orange monkey rushed towards the raging battle. Taichi groaned as he leapt off Greymon. "Don't worry, Taichi, I got em!" Greymon reeled as he took a punch to the jaw. "Maybe not," he groaned, crashing to the ground, devolving. "Ikkakumon, cover our escape!" Jyou exclaimed as he helped Taichi lug Agumon to his feet. "You won't get away that easily, HA!" A single punch sent Ikkakumon crashing to the ground in a heap as Etemon advanced on them. "Prepare for a world of hurt, kiddies." Eric's sword glowed blue. "Go." He said, brandishing the blade. "What?" Ken exclaimed. "Go? That's it?" "I said, GO! Wendigomon and I'll cover you!" Wendigomon nodded, face grim as he turned towards Etemon who grinned. The ape cracked his knuckles. "Lets dance bozo," Wendigomon said, rushing into the fray, locking hands with the orange monkey. Eric motioned towards the pair of Soras. "Get going." "But..." the Sora clone said, but was cut off. "I can handle this. You two need to rest and recover. Don't worry about us. GO!" With that, he rushed into battle, swinging his sword with a cry, blue blade arcing in the sunlight as he stabbed and thrust with precision. "Sora, lets go," Birdramon said, landing. "Both of you, hold on." Eric watched them go as he threw himself into the attack once more, only to be met with a devistating fist to the face. He dropped like a sack of bricks, sword landing point first into the ground. Wendigomon, his energy supply cut, collapsed and devolved into Lopmon. Immediately, Gazimon swarmed the pair as Lopmon fought back angrily but to no avail. Etemon grabbed the boy by his shirt and grinned evilly. "So... we have a new boy in town, eh? Lets give him a warm welcome." "Boss, what should we do with the bunny here?" One Gazimon asked, kicking Lopmon in the stomach, causing him to heave and groan in pain. "Bring him along. We'll get some information out of them, and then do as we want." ------------------------------ "Damnit!" Taichi kicked the wall and hopped around in pain. "That sure didn't go well," Yamato said as he cast a glance at the mirrored duo of Soras. The first one sat, legs stretched out while the second curled up her legs, wrapping her arms around them while leaning her head on her knees. "So what do we do now? That Eric guy has been captured, and we're stuck with two Soras!" "One of them is a copy, created by fusing random data together." At this, the one with her legs curled up tightened her grip on them. "And the other, is our Sora." At this, the original scowled at Koushiro. "Could have put that a little less sensitively?" she bit off as Koushiro looked embarrased. "Sorry. I never was trained for something like this," Izumi replied, embarrased. "The question is now, what do we do? We can't leave a fellow Chosen in the clutches of Etemon," Jyou pointed out. "It'll be suicide to mount an attack," the original Sora said, casting a glance at her copy. "I don't know what to do." "Could we sneak someone in and get him quietly?" Takeru asked for the first time. "I dunno," Taichi said, standing at the doorway of the Sphynx. "It'll have to be done real quiet like." Ken sighed. "This is partially our fault that this happened... so I'll go." "Ken, are you sure?" Mimi asked, speaking up. "We may have to rescue you as well." "I'm sure," Ken said, standing up. "wait for me. I'll be back soon." With that, he dissapeared into the darkness, Wormmon trailing after him. ------------------------------ "What are their strengths and weaknesses? Who sent you? How more many of you kids have come here?! Answer me!" Eric's throat was dry from screaming in pain as the electrical discharge ripped through his body. Disgusted at the lack of talk, Etemon shut down the machine and the young boy slumped down in pain. "Damnit," he growled. "You're going to talk one way or another," the monkey said, reaching for the knob that would certianly spell Eric's end. A low chuckle resounded in the room. "Very interesting..." "Who's there?" Etemon exclaimed, turning around. "Such strength.... but they are coming." "What are you talking about?" Etemon shouted to the darkness that seemed to permiate the world around them. "You wish to defeat the chosen?" the voice breathed. "Yes! Anything to beat em up!" Etemon shouted. A single red eye appeared and flared. "Then I lend you my servant...." ------------------------------- "What's going on?" Ken wondered as the Pyramid shook widly. "Ken-chan!" Wormmon bounded into his arms. "I can feel him again!" "Him? Him who?" Suddenly, the world around them exploded. ------------------------------ "What's going on there?" Yamato asked, peering into the depths of darkness. "I can't tell..." Taichi peered into his monocular and gasped. "There's a huge dragon and it's ripping up the Pyramid!" "Positron Laser!" A brilliant beam of light flared out as it engulphed the top half of the pyramid, ripping it clean off. "Positron?" Koushiro questioned in surprise. He watched as the sphynx was struck by the attack and obliterated, leaving an impossibly big crater behind. "Shit! He's using anti-matter! I don't think this guy's a Perfection. That blast would have killed Etemon!" "We're in serious trouble here," Jyou said as everyone hit the dirt as another blast scoured the desert sands. ------------------------------- Etemon growled. "Damnit! This is not going to plan!" "What should we do?" A Gazimon asked. "Run, of course, and take the brat and his digimon with us! We can threaten to kill him if he gets out of line and provide some insurance." Gazimon nodded as he unhooked the boy and Digimon from the wall. ------------------------------- Etemon staggered along the shaking hallways of the pyramid, when suddenly, a large green insect barreled into him. "Surprise!" Stingmon howled, pushing the stunned monkey into the wall. Ken kicked and punched a few Gazimon away as he grabbed Lopmon and shouldered Eric. "Stingmon, lets go!" he called, running for the exit. "No! Get them!" Etemon shouted as the Gazimon rushed the small group. Bursting out into the sunlight, Ken and Stingmon shouldered their burdens and ran for the battle field where the chosen were hiding from Imperial Dramon. "Thanks for stopping by," Eric said weakily from Ken's shoulder. "Not a problem," Ken puffed as he slid behind the sand dune where the rest of the chosen were waiting. "What took you so long?" Taichi demanded. "Ran into some traffic," Ken retorted as Imperial Dramon flew overhead, creating a massive backwash. "So anyone got any bright ideas?" "Beyond running, nothing. But this guy is too strong! I doubt we'll be able to defeat him!" Koushiro paused. "But maybe, if we can find a weak spot...." "Wait, I have it!" Everyone turned to Mimi who pointed into the sands. "Look, the heat of his blasts have melted large spots of sand into reflective glass. Maybe we can reflect his attack back at him!" Koushiro frowned. "Wouldn't work. A positron laser works by having the laser burn away the air so the anit-matter it protects won't explode once it leaves the barrel of the cannon. The mirror would theoritically only reflect the laser." "Then we disrupt the laser at the source," Taichi replied. "But how'd we do that?" Sora asked in an eerie chorus with her clone. "Those pieces of glass could help," Jyou said, looking over. "Someone has to get close in and drop a piece of glass in front of the laser so it will reflect the laser back into his weapon pod." "No, it's too risky," Koushiro protested. "One false move and it's all over." "Great, we'll never be able to stop him!" Taichi exclaimed. "Well, I'm not sitting around to wait for him to destroy the digital world," Yamato said, standing up. "It's time we took a stand." "Yamato," Taichi said, amazed at his friends bravery. 'I can't let him go at this alone. But what if...' Taichi shook his head. 'No, I can't think like that. All of them need me. Everyone is counting on me to find my courage once again. But what if I die? NO! I refuse to think like that! Everyone is counting on us pulling together as a team! I'm the bearer of the Crest of Courage! I have to stay strong! Yeah, that's it! We'll work together, and together, we'll beat him down!' Taichi turned to Yamato, grinning widely. "I'm with you, Yamato. Together we can beat him." "Thanks, Taichi," Yamato said, clapping him on the back. "I'm with you, one hundred percent." "The plan is foolhardy, but sound. I'm in," Koushiro stood. "I can't let you guys get in without backup." "Me too," Mimi said. "I can't let anyone get hurt by this monstrocity." "Same here," Sora said, casting a glance at her clone who stood too. "We're in too." "Lets do this! Together we're unstoppable!" Jyou added. "For all of us, and the digital world!" Takeru put in. "Together," Ken said. "Together, we rock!" Eric shouted as fists pumped to the sky, amidst the shrill sounds of Digivices going off. As the digimon reached the adult stage, Taichi noticed his tag glowing. "My crest?" His digivice began to glow a brilliant orange. "My crest is glowing too!" Yamato said. "My crest as well," Koushiro said. "And my sword," Eric said, holding it up in the sunlight. "I know just what to do with this then," Taichi said. "Greymon!" "Right! Greymon super-evolve!" He was encased in a egg like shell and it exploded out, the gargantuan cyborg dinosaur standing in the desert. "Metal Greymon!" "Garurumon super-evolve!" Garurumon flared with light, the light revealing a scarred wolf wearing jeans and brass knuckles. "Were Garurumon!" "Kabuterimon super-evolve!" Kabuterimon glowed and flared, reshaping into a mauve stag beetle. "Altur Kabuterimon!" "Wendigomon super-evolve!" Wendigomon stretched out his hands as light reshaped his body into a rabbit with long arms and legs. "Antiramon!" "Go get them!" The four shouted as one, the digimon unleashing their attacks. "Giga Destroyer!" Metal Greymon cried, his weapons blasting into Imperial Dramon's face. Were Garurumon leapt off of Metal Greymons's Trident Arm and kicked into Imperial Dramon's face, shouting, "Kaiser Nail!" The attack exploded in Imperial Dramon's face, sending data spurting everywhere. "Ashibatoravana!" Antiramon came down on Imperial Dramon's neck, slicing into the flesh that lay there. It howled angrily as it fired it's Positron Laser wildly. "Gotcha!" Altur Kabuterimon charged Imperial Dramon from the side flipping the dragon over with his horn and then grabbing his opponent in a bear hug. "Get him, Antiramon!" Antiramon picked up a piece of glass and ran at him, dodging Positron Lasers as Imperial Dramon struggled to get up. "Lights... out!" He puffed, jamming it into his weapon pod as Altur Kabuterimon let go. Imperial Dramon fired, and it's own cannon blew up in his face. Antiramon landed and looked up at Imperial Dramon who groaned, smoking profusely from his own attack, half of his metal mask shattered from the force of the blast. "Is it over? Did we get him?" Suddenly, Imperial Dramon split right down the middle as a ring of data formed around him, a mask appearing in the ring. Eric returned his sword to Digivice mode and held it up. The data streams flew into his digivice, along with a Mask. He looked at it as the mask appeared in his Digi-Locator. "Offhand, we got him." The remains of Imperial Dramon burst into data as it floated away as the digimon returned to their in-training state. ----------------------------- "So I guess we're off," Ken said as the rest gathered to see the pair off. "It was nice working with you guys." "Yeah," Taichi said as they shook hands. "We'll meet again someday, I hope." "You sure you can't stay and help us?" Sora asked. Eric shook his head. "Imperial Dramon was what we were here for, and now he's dead, we have to move on." "It was nice meeting all of you," Wormmon said. "Yeah. If you're ever in canada, give us a holler," Lopmon said. "It's been real," Eric said as he and Ken started to get clear of the group before the Gate reactivated itself. "Wait!" The pair turned to see copy Sora run up. "Wait up!" "Sora?" Yamato asked, moving towards her. "What's the matter?" "I'm going with them," Copy Sora said, looking at Yamato and then glancing at the pair. "There's nothing for me here." "What? But you could be such a big help!" Taichi said, but a touch on the shoulder by the original Sora stopped him. "Taichi," Sora said. "I think she needs to do this. To find her own place in the world, not just behind me every step of the way." "Sora," Copy Sora said, eyes watering. She ran up and hugged the original. "I'll never forget you." "I won't either," Sora said. "Now go. They're waiting." "Everyone ready?" Eric asked as Copy Sora joined them. The rest nodded. "All right." He pulled out the Gate and it flared a cerulean blue color. -------------------------------- In a flash of light, the group reappeared in front of a hill, overlooking a large meadow. "Wow, what a trip," Sora said, looking around. "Yeah. I wonder where we are?" Eric turned around and blinked. "Is it just me, or is there a house in that hill?" "You're not wrong," Ken said. "I wonder who lives in it?" The door opened up suddenly as a little man looked out. "Greatious me, where did all of you come from?" The trio blinked dumbly. "Taichi?" Sora asked. "Sora? My goodness, how did you get so big? And who are your friends? Oh, forgive my rudeness, I am Taichi Yagami, at your service." The short little hobbit sized version of Taichi, furry feet and all, bowed, drawing stunned stares from the group. "Oh boy," Eric said, eyes wide. ----------------------------- Authors notes : They will be visiting more worlds than the ones I write down. What do you expect, I chronicle all of their adventures? It would take me forever to do! If you ask nicely, I WILL write the LOTR fusion world of Digimon. Boy, this chapter sure took a long time to get out.