Senshimon impatiently marched back and forth on the hard floor of volcanic rocks. Every now and then, she would glare at the fire wall that was still blocking their path and wipe her forehead.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" she grumbled.
"Until Yui has come back," Turuiemon told her. "Don't be so impatient... and sit down, you're making all of us nervous."
"What do you think?" Alice asked. "Will she be fine by herself?"
Henry shrugged. "I can't say, I don't really know her. She's the sister of the girl Takato's always babysitting. You know, Eiko... she's one of the current Game Masters."
"Game Masters, huh?" Alice asked. "You think they're watching us right now?"
"I wouldn't exactly say they're watching us," Henry said. "But from what I learned about the 'RPG Reality' game, they should at least know what lies ahead of us."
"Shouldn't they have removed the obstacle, then?" Romi asked and gestured at the flames."
"That's not always possible, as far as I know," Henry said. "But maybe it was their idea that Yui would be able to safely pass the flames. So I don't think we have to worry about her... Eiko wouldn't let her sister run into danger."
"Let's hope you're right..." Alice sighed.
"Aaaah, mou-man-tai!" Gargomon grinned.
"Yeah, moo-mahn-tih!" Bimon giggled as he copied Gargomon.
Romi sighed. "Bro, sit down, please..."
"Awww, but can't I...?"
The fox-girl in the pink sailor outfit glared at him. "When I'm not allowed to pace around, you aren't either! Sit down!"
"Fine..." the little fox-boy muttered as he crouched down next to his sister. "But you don't have to be so bossy just because you're bigger now..."
Turuiemon noticed that Suzie had been unusually quiet. She was sitting on a rock and stared at the round shield in her hands.
The purple-furred rabbit Digimon sat down next to her friend and Tamer. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing, really..." the young woman said. "I've just been looking at this shield... and look, you've seen these images before, haven't you?"
Turuiemon looked at the circle of animal pictures that were on the shield. "Yeah, so?"
"They're the Deva!" Suzie said. "Or they at least represent them. Don't you see? Here... Mihiramon, the Tiger. Sandiramon, the Snake. Sinduramon, the Rooster. Pajiramon, the Sheep. Vajramon, the Ox. Indramon, the Horse. Kumbhiramon, the Rat. Vikiralamon, the Pig. Makuramon, the Monkey. Majiramon, the Dragon. Chatsuramon, the Dog. And even Antylamon... the Rabbit."
Turuiemon thoughtfully looked at the rabbit image that was supposed to represent her Ultimate Deva form. "Do you... do you think it was a coincidence that you received this shield?" she asked her. "After all, you are the Tamer of the last living Deva..."
"Maybe... but maybe Kei just thought it would be fitting and created that shield specifically for me. I mean, I know the chest in which we found the weapons was put there by her and Eiko... but this shield... can it be that it existed before... and that it would have found its way into my hands anyways?"
Turuiemon was amazed. "Suzie! I don't recognize you at all... what you just said sounded pretty wise. Um, I don't mean that otherwise, you'd be just..."
"A child who only wants to play?" Suzie smiled. "But that's what I was... what I am really supposed to be, isn't it? Come to think of it, it's just natural that now, as an adult, I think things through rather than just acting impulsively."
"Well, but if this shield really was meant for you, then I don't think it is just a bronze plate with a few fancy decorations... it must have its own powers," Turuiemon assumed. "Did you try touching the Zodiac signs yet?"
Suzie nodded. "Yes... and something strange happened."
"Something strange? What do you mean?"
Suzie let her hand sweep across the smooth surface of the Zodiac Shield. "I can hear their voices..."
Turuiemon blinked. "Come again?"
"It's true," Suzie nodded. "Whenever I touch their respective picture, I can hear the voices of the Deva... and unlike the last time they were in the human world, they are not hostile. They have faith in us. They encourage me. And they..." She giggled. "They called me 'Mistress of the Shield...'"
"Well, then I guess that's what you are right now," Turuiemon smirked. "Incredible, though... maybe their spirits live on inside this artifact. But... what about my picture? Can you hear anything when you touch the rabbit?"
Suzie shook her head. "No, nothing at all! But... I guess that's because the Deva is sitting right next to me, isn't she? And I wouldn't want her to leave quite yet..."
"No, me neither," Turuiemon nodded. "I wonder... does Zhuqiaomon know about this shield?"
Suzie shrugged.
They all jumped in surprise, when a flaming body jumped through the flames and landed next to them.
"Relax, it's just me!" Yui said. "And look what I have!" She showed them ice-blue jar she had bought.
Henry floated closer to look at the jar. "What's that?" he wondered when he saw the blue powder inside.
"Wow, that's real Snow Powder!" Gargomon explained. "It's incredibly rare... you normally find it on snowy peaks in the Digital World. But how could you find it here? And then in such a hot area..."
Yui grinned. "A nice Tapirmon sold it to me."
"A... Tapirmon?" Romi blinked. Then she groaned and waved her hand. "Never mind, never mind... I don't want to hear the story! Just what can that stuff do, anyways?"
Yui smiled. "Just watch..." She opened the jar and sprinkled the Snow Powder over the searing hot flames.
They all watched in awe how the flames were transformed into a rigid ice formation... ice that almost instantly melted in the heat of the lava tunnel. All of this happened in a couple of seconds.
"Satisfied? Now we can get past here and show these fire Digimon who's boss!" Yui grinned. "And just remember, without my help, you would still be stuck here."
"Yeah, yeah, we all get it, you're amazing," Turuiemon chuckled. "Did you run into any trouble?"
"Uh, not really... but I met the leader of those Digimon, SkullMeramon."
"What?" Alice asked. "You saw their leader?"
Yui nodded. "Yeah, and let me tell you, he's a total creep... and a weirdo! He says that he and his buddies want to create a volcano... directly underneath Tokyo Tower!"
"What?" Romi wondered. "But Tokyo Tower is..." She hesitated. "I see... So he doesn't know yet that it has transformed into Lucemon's Tower..."
"Yeah, he sounded like he didn't know anything about the changes that happened on the surface," Yui said. "I wonder why he wasn't affected by the change, though..."
"Maybe... maybe he and his minions have been for such a long time underground that they didn't know anything about what happened on the surface... and maybe Lucemon's magic only affected every Digimon and human above the earth."
"Well, we can only guess what happened," Henry shrugged. "We can't really ask him what happened at that time..."
Suddenly, Alice smirked. "Who says we can't? We go on and beat him up, and when he's out of commission, we can ask him everything we need to know."
"Well, sure... but who tells us that he's actually willing to talk?"
"Oh, I might have some ideas," Yui chuckled.
Everyone looked at her. "Yui... what did you do to escape SkullMeramon, anyways?" Turuiemon asked.
"I, um... is that really important? Oh, fine, I used my feminine wiles to get away. Seems like he's smitten with me, just because I'm a female Meramon."
Gargomon whistled, while Suzie giggled. "Sooo... are you sure that his attraction was one-sided?"
"O... of course it was!" Yui protested. She would have blushed if she didn't already have a red head. "Besides, you know pretty well that there's only one in my life..."
"Oh boy..." Henry groaned. "Not that again..."
The Meramon giggled bashfully. "That's right, my Gargomon is the only man for me..." And she snuggled up to Henry's stunned partner.
Everyone stared at her.
"WHAT??"
"EIKO!" Kei yelled. "That's not funny!"
"Oh, I think it is," the vampire girl said while laughing her head off. "Serves Yui right for always annoying me with her stupid crush on Renamon..."
"You can't just change your sister's sexual preferences!" Kei shouted. "Change it back, now!"
"Okay, okay! Gee, you can't take a simple joke..." Eiko grumbled as she changed Yui's 'target of attraction' back from 'Gargomon' to 'Renamon'. Then she hesitated. "Wait, are you sure we couldn't couple her with Ivan instead?"
"EIKO!!"
"Just kidding, just kidding..."
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(Posted Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:15)
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