Poor Mako quickly had to learn that 'training' meant more than just defeat a few Numemon until you were skilled enough to take on more powerful opponents.
"Only with determination, stamina and a lot of sweat will you turn into a strong warrior," BanchoLeomon barked when Mako addressed this. "When you think that you are not up to this challenge, you can go right back home to mommy!"
"Yeah, only that my Mom is trapped in the body of a Rookie..." Mako muttered. But it was this image that made him even more determined to undergo the training the two lions had in store for him.
He thought they would go through battle basics at first, but what was waiting for him was a never ending flow of endurance drills.
First exercise: Running.
"Along the whole beach, to the abandoned lighthouse," Leomon told him. "Circle it ten times and then come back."
"WHAT?" Mako gasped. "That's at least the way I take to kindergarten..."
"Yes, that's why you're going to do it TWICE!"
Mako's jaw dropped. "C-can't I just use my wings?"
"This is a running exercise to train your leg muscles, so START RUNNING!" BanchoLeomon barked.
"Y-y-yes, sir!" Mako stuttered, turned around and began to run along the beach. Running in the wet sand was tiring and wearisome, and more than once was he tempted to just spread his wings and fly to the lighthouse.
'No!' he thought. 'Leomon-sensei said that this is a RUNNING exercise, so I just have to keep on running!'
The two Leomon watched him from afar.
"He's pretty determined for his age," BanchoLeomon said.
"True, but keep in mind that he wants to save his family... that's what gives him his strength. I would do the same for Jeri and my wife..." Leomon pointed out.
Second exercise: Climbing.
"Climb up this cliff," Leomon told Mako. "Once up there, you come back down. If you use your wings once, you fail. If you slip and fall, you can use them, of course, but you will have to start over."
"You're kidding me, right?" Mako gasped. The cliff was nearly as vertical as a house wall.
"Do I look like I am kidding? You will be fine, there are enough cracks in the cliff for you to find some hold. Now get moving!"
Mako sighed and walked up to the cliff. Just as he began climbing, BanchoLeomon shouted: "Oh yes, and you should try not to wake the Mushroomon that are rooted to the cliff... they tend to get pretty irritable when being rudely awakened."
Mako gulped when he saw the numerous, purple-capped mushrooms that were growing on the cliff. If those were all Mushroomon, climbing up there without touching them would turn out to be... difficult.
"This can't get any worse..." he sighed.
Third exercise: Flying.
"See that island over there?" BanchoLeomon asked. "On it, there is a small tree. Touch it and come back here."
"Say, shouldn't we wait for better weather?" Mako asked as he looked up into the sky. "It looks like a storm is coming up."
"That is exactly the reason why we do this exercise right now, and not later. Fighting against those strong winds will strengthen your wing muscles.
"But... but I'll never make it like that!" Mako protested. "The winds will blow me down into the ocean..."
"Well, in that case, this will double as a swimming exercise," Leomon smirked.
"All right," BanchoLeomon nodded when these three exercises were over and Mako was lying in front of him, panting heavily. "That was pretty good for the beginning. Now I'm going to tell you a bit about your new powers..."
"My... my powers?" Mako murmured, too weak to even look at his trainer.
"Yes," Leomon nodded. "Azulongmon told us about the special circumstances that caused you to digivolve. Your powers were created to act as a double and a counterpoint to Lucemon's powers... but unlike her, you will have to develop yours first through rigorous training."
"Like Lucemon, you can use the powers of light and darkness, which manifest themselves through your special attacks," BanchoLeomon said. "Like all Digimon, you can use them naturally... should you digivolve at some point, you will get even stronger ones. Those probably won't give you any trouble. But you need to train your additional powers."
"You remember the kids that have followed Ai from the beginning?" Leomon asked. "The TinyAngemon and ChibiAngewomon... now turned into devil Digimon, Azraelmon and Succubimon. Do you remember what their special abilities can do?"
"They... they transform people... and mess with their head," Mako said.
"That's right," Leomon nodded. "Transformation and mind control... those are Lucemon's specialty, in addition to her powerful attacks. She is a manipulator... and so are her minions. Since your powers are mirroring hers, you should be able to do the same... but don't expect us to help you train your mind-controlling powers."
"Why not?" Mako asked, a bit disappointed.
"Because forcing your will onto other people's minds is disgraceful and cowardly," BanchoLeomon growled. "Those are Lucemon's weapons, and we will not use them. Instead, we will focus on the other side of your powers... the shapeshifting."
"Really?" Mako smiled. That didn't sound too bad... maybe he could turn Lucemon's minions into harmless little kittens.
"Yes, but don't expect them to work on Lucemon and her lackeys," BanchoLeomon said. "She has had much more practice in using such powers as you, and she, as well as her minions, will be able to turn themselves back instantly. Instead, try to focus on transforming your own body."
"My... own body?" Mako wondered. "I thought that only happens when I digivolve..."
"You can't give yourselves the powers you don't have," Leomon tried to explain. "You can only become a Champion by digivolving. But you still can change your Rookie form in any way that seems useful."
"I don't get it..." Mako said in a confused voice. "If I can't make myself stronger like that, why should I..."
"Do you think you could fight an aquatic Digimon when underwater?" LeoBanchomon asked. "Do you think you could catch up with an Airdramon when using your wings? Do you think you could pursue a Drimogemon that decides to escape by digging into the earth? And do you think your current body would be able to tolerate the temperature inside a volcano?"
"N-no, I don't think so..." Mako muttered.
"That's where your new powers come in," Leomon smiled. "Every Digimon type has its own advantages. Aquatic Digimon can swim better than any other Digimon, bird Digimon are faster flyers than any other Digimon with wings, elemental Digimon have learned to adapt to their natural habitats... there are very few Digimon that can learn to use all of these advantages. Thanks to your transformative abilities, you are one of these Digimon, Mako."
"Awesome..." the little angel muttered.
"When you have to face Lucemon one day, she might to catch you off guard by putting you into a situation that isn't dangerous for herself, but for her opponent - you! If you are prepared well enough, you can adapt to anything she has up her sleeves."
"I... I will try to do my best," Mako said. "How do we start?"
"Well, since we are at the seaside... why don't you try and turn into a more aquatic version of your Twilimon form?" Leomon suggested.
"And how?" Mako wondered.
"Just close your eyes, imagine your new form and focus your powers on that image."
Mako did as he was told. He tried to imagine how he would look with scales and fins instead of angel wings.
Leomon and BanchoLeomon watched how Twilimon's body slowly transformed. His clothes changed, leaving him with a pair of swimming trunks. His human skin was covered with thin scales and turned bluish-green. His eyes moved to the side of his head while his hair retracted inside his skull. His wings transformed into fin-like membranes that were connected to his torso and arms. After a sleek tail grew out of his spine, a white dorsal fin that was running from the top of his head down to the tip of his tail appeared.
Mako opened his eyes. "Did it work?"
Leomon smirked. "Well, take a look at yourself!"
Mako took a look. "Wow..." he murmured. "Cool..." He then grinned. "I think I'm gonna call myself 'AquaTwilimon' when I'm like this."
"Yes, very nice..." BanchoLeomon grumbled. "Now, why don't you try out how fast you can swim. And while we're at it, we can make this the next exercise. Try to collect as many seashells as you can from the bottom of the bay. You have ten minutes."
"All right!" Mako grinned. "That should be easy!"
BanchoLeomon smirked. "Shellmon shells!"
"Awww, man..." AquaTwilimon groaned.
"I heard you want to help us? That's great, we need every sort of help against these invading fire Digimon."
Bimon, Suzie and Yui couldn't stop gaping when they looked up at the towering forms of Belphemon and Leviamon. As for the rest of their little group, they had already seen them before, so they were not that awestruck.
Romi was, however, surprised at their new look. "If the sin data was extracted out of your body, how could you become Belphemon again?" she asked the former Lord of Sloth.
"Remember Beelzemon?" Henry asked. "He was able to digivolve without succumbing to his negative emotions, too."
"Yes, but he still had his sin data buried within," Romi insisted. "Mega Digimon are the most powerful beings I know of... their power can't just come out of nowhere."
"I suppose that was because of Lucemon's spell," a new voice behind them spoke up. They turned around and saw a blonde man wearing a business suit and sunglasses enter the room.
"Yamaki!" Henry smiled. "Good to see you again!"
"Do I know you?" Yamaki frowned.
"That's BioCalumon, isn't it?" Alice asked.
"Only his body. That's my brother Henry in there," Suzie smiled.
Tally gasped. "This young woman can't be little Suzie, can she?"
"I think she is very pretty..." Ivan murmured. "But I would never let Alice hear that..."
"I already heard it..." Alice sighed. "I can't get used to all these changes... makes me wonder what happened to me if I hadn't been out of Japan when Lucemon turned everything upside down..."
"Everything will be okay after we kick her butt, right?" Yui smirked.
"I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy," Riley sighed.
Romi was still glaring at her and Yamaki. "You two..." she grumbled. "If I were in my old body, and if we didn't need every single helper in this fight, I would arrest you on the spot!"
"Are you that dense?" Riley growled. "In case you still don't understand: IT WASN'T OUR FAULT! The damn game made us do those things! So get your facts straight, little Miss Foxy Cop!"
"Game or no game, you still threatened to destroy Tokyo!" Romi grumbled.
"I think that's enough!" Alice frowned. "After all, Belphemon was the one who would have attacked the city. But I don't see anyone putting the blame on him."
"That's right," Belphemon nodded. "I was controlled, just like Yamaki and Riley were controlled."
"That's different!" Romi insisted. "They put that MCT on you and..."
"The what?" Yui wondered.
Suzie giggled. "The Mind Control Thingy."
Bimon couldn't help himself when hearing that: He had a giggling fit that looked like it wouldn't stop very soon.
"Would you stop joking around?" Romi grumbled. "This is serious! As I said, Yamaki had strapped the MCT..."
Bimon's giggling intensified.
"...the MCT to Belphemon's body. and that's why he was forced to do his bidding."
"You don't think that thing is the only way how people can be forced to do things they don't want to do, right?" Riley whispered. "You can be so narrow-minded, Taomon... From the very first day on, when you became the Champion of my father, I knew you would be trouble. But this really takes the cake..."
"And what about you?" Romi hissed. "Why did you come back if you know that Lucemon has absorbed the sin data of all the other Demon Lords? Do you want her to become even more powerful? Or have you just forgotten that you are carrying the sin data of Lust inside you?"
A horrified grimace appeared on Riley's face. "Oh god, no... what have I done?" She looked down at her paws. "I... I'm a danger for all of you... I need to get out of here, right away!"
"You'll go nowhere!" Tally insisted. "Lucemon doesn't even know you're here, and as long as you don't let her absorb the Lust data, she won't get it."
Belphemon cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, but we have some more urgent problems at hand."
"That's right, the fire dudes are still knocking on our doors," Kazu nodded. "And when their lava comes in here, everyone will be torched!"
"Maybe we can collect a big amount of fire extinguishers," Kenta suggested.
"You are so dumb!" Kazu groaned. "They would still be too small. No, we only need one, but it has to be the biggest extinguisher in the world."
"Idiot, fire extinguishers as big as that don't exist!" Kenta insisted.
Turuiemon rolled her eyes. "I was wondering, Belphemon," she then said. "If you and Leviamon are powerful Megas... why haven't you fought against the fire Digimon yet?"
Belphemon grimaced. "There's one very simple explanation for that: We are so big, we would never fit into those tunnels."
Romi felt like doing a facefault. "WHAT? Is that all? Then just de-digivolve to the Ultimate or Champion level!"
"That doesn't work," Belphemon sighed. "Of course Leviamon remembered the abilities he had back when he was a Demon Lord... but right now, he and I are stuck like this. Lucemon's spell has turned all children into adults... and she made sure that they stay that way. No adult Digimon will be able to regress to a lower level... and that includes Mega Digimon as well."
"We could stand in front of the tunnels and shoot inside," Leviamon grumbled. "But... would you really want to risk the destruction of the whole tunnel system? The cavern could collapse and bury everyone inside the HQ."
"Mega Digimon's powers tend to be a bit destructive," Henry nodded.
Romi sighed. "Fine, fine... but what else can we do?"
A sudden scream caught their attention. Otamamon came running in the room. "The fire Digimon... they're breaking through!" he shouted. "They dug an additional tunnel. That one isn't filled with lava, but... they are attacking us inside our own HQ! We're being overwhelmed!"
"Calm down, Dad!" Leviamon told the little tadpole. "When they come in here, they're history!"
"Yeah, but what if they decide not to come in here?"
Turuiemon drew her blades. "Then we will have to go out there and fight!"
The others nodded and raised their weapons as well.
Alice raised an eyebrow when she saw Romi's little wand. "So... is that the new standard weapon for all cops?"
"Very funny..." Romi grumbled.
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(Posted Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:52)
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