"Heaven's Fist!"
"Golden Diamond Impact!"
"Holy Arrow!"
"Storm Wings!"
"Knuckle Fire!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" As the Digimon's attacks rained down, one Dark Tower after another was smashed to the ground, snapping into several broken sections.
"Alright! Let's take a break first—then we'll keep going in a bit!" Yolei called out to the Digimon who were still hammering away at the Dark Towers.
Hearing Yolei's voice, the Digimon flew or ran back, de-Digivolving into their Rookie and Champion forms before flopping down in exhaustion.
"So tired…" Veemon sat on the ground, not even wanting to move. Behind them lay rows of collapsed Dark Towers.
"Come on—let's eat lunch!" Yolei said with a grin, pulling out a convenience bag from behind her, stuffed with all kinds of food she'd brought from her family's store.
"Yum! Yum!" The four Digimon swarmed in and started fighting over the food. Gatomon's mouth twitched as she watched them stuffing their faces while loudly declaring how good everything was. Completely helpless, she drooped her ears, walked over, and took some food for herself too.
"By the way, Kari… T.K…," Davis asked, pausing mid-bite. "How exactly do we get Veemon and the others to Digivolve?"
"Hmm…" T.K. thought about it seriously for a moment. "When our Digimon first Digivolved, it was always when we were in danger. They just… naturally Digivolved."
"Yeah," Kari said, digging through her memory carefully. "For Gatomon… I think the first time we met, when we got the Digivice and the Crest, she immediately Digivolved straight into her Ultimate form."
"Wait—Crests and stuff… what even are those?" Yolei suddenly jumped in, eyes shining. "Can you let us see them?"
"Huh?" T.K. and Kari exchanged a look, then nodded. They took their Crests out from under their collars and held them in front of the kids.
"Whoa…" The kids stared, amazed, at the Crest of Hope and the Crest of Light up close—jealous beyond words.
"Seriously… why do only T.K. and Kari have them? Why don't I have one?!" Davis glared at the two Crests, getting more and more annoyed the longer he looked. Then he whipped his head to the side, grabbed Veemon in one hand, and snapped, "Veemon, come with me!"
With that, he bolted off at full speed, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The others were left behind, completely confused, staring blankly at the sight of Veemon being yanked along by the neck—his eyes already rolling back from the grip—while their mouths twitched.
At last, Davis stopped. He dropped the nearly suffocated Veemon onto the ground. His face was twisted with intensity, his eyes bulging as he shouted, "Veemon! You have to Digivolve! You HAVE to Digivolve into MagnaAngemon, got it?!"
Veemon stared at Davis like he was a total stranger. He swallowed hard and stammered, "D-Davis… c-calm down. Even if you say that, I can't just Digivolve whenever I want…"
Davis's eyes darted around. Then he slapped his palm with a smug grin. "I've got it, Veemon! Kari literally just said it, didn't she? If we run into danger, then Digivolution happens! So as long as there's danger… that's it!"
"Davis, what are you planning?" Veemon asked, watching the increasingly unhinged Davis while desperately scanning for an escape route.
"Just wait, Veemon! In a minute, you'll Digivolve!" Davis's voice echoed from far away—but he was already completely out of sight.
Veemon gulped, his legs trembling nonstop. "D-Davis… is this really going to work…?"
"It'll definitely work!" Davis said with absolute confidence. "If we pull this off, my relationship with Kari will totally surpass T.K.'s!"
In his mind, he was already imagining Kari circling around him nonstop. His eyes glittered, and he was practically about to drool.
"I also want to be as close as you and Gatomon."
Enter the edgy Digimon.
"So at a time like this, the two of us have to work together and really put on a good show!" Davis said, grabbing Veemon's hand.
"I'll do my best, Davis! I'll turn into MagnaAngemon and show everyone!" Veemon declared confidently, stepping toward the bamboo grove.
"Rustle… rustle…" The bamboo leaves scraped against each other, the sound startling birds into shrieking flight. A massive shadow pushed out from within the bamboo, looming larger and larger.
Davis and Veemon immediately broke into cold sweats as the enormous figure crushed several bamboo stalks and advanced toward them.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Davis screamed. "Veemon, save me!"
"Davis—" Veemon strained so hard his face turned red. "Vee—Vee—Veemon Digivolve!"
Veemon spun in circles, forcing it with everything he had, but even when his eyes turned into spirals, he still didn't Digivolve. Dizzy and wobbling, he collapsed into Davis's arms.
"No… it's not working… I still can't Digivolve…"
Then the huge, patchwork "monster," with two branches stuck on its head, spoke in an awkward tone.
"Uh… is this… enough?"
"Yeah, yeah! Seriously, thanks so much!" Davis scratched his head, grinning sheepishly.
"No problem," the giant monster said—and then its huge body toppled over.
With a messy thud, it turned out to be Numemon and Vegiemon piled together in a chaotic heap.
"Sorry for making you come all the way here to help. I really appreciate it," Davis said again.
Numemon and Vegiemon left, and only the disappointed Davis and Veemon remained.
"Veemon, it's all your fault!"
"How is it my fault?!"
"Because it just is! It's your fault!"
Furious, Davis punched Veemon on the head.
"Davis, I'm mad now!" Veemon chopped down a bamboo stalk with one palm and chased after Davis, swinging at him.
"Come on, don't be mad!" Davis laughed as he ran.
"Stop running!"
Davis sprinted onto a suspension bridge and planted himself there, waiting for Veemon to charge after him. He was smug beyond belief.
"First I make Veemon angry, then I run onto this suspension bridge, then I destroy it—then I'll be in a life-or-death crisis—and in the end Veemon will Digivolve into Champion level. A perfect operation plan!"
Seeing Veemon step onto the bridge, Davis quickly severed the bridge ropes. The bridge lurched violently, swaying as Davis screamed for help at the top of his lungs.
"Splash! Splash!" One boy and one Digimon dropped straight into the river, bobbing and sinking with the current.
That "perfect plan" was now a complete disaster.
After a struggle, the two of them finally crawled up onto the riverbank. They collapsed there, panting so hard they could barely breathe.
"Wait—so all of that was your plan to make me Digivolve to Champion?" Veemon stared at Davis in shock. He honestly hadn't expected Davis to want it that badly.
"I thought if I got into danger, you'd Digivolve to Champion and save me," Davis muttered, slumping forward, utterly deflated. "But… it didn't really go smoothly."
"I'm sorry, Davis," Veemon said, guilt written all over his face. "It's my fault…"
"It's fine. It's not your fault," Davis replied.
Veemon was about to say something else when a gurgling, rolling sound rose up behind them.
A swarm of rocks was tumbling down the mountain toward them—one of the boulders was even taller than the two of them combined.
"Ahh!" Boy and Digimon screamed and took off running, with the huge boulder rumbling after them.
As they fled, something dirt-yellow appeared ahead. They rushed past it, stepping right into a puddle in the process. The boulder smashed into the dirt-yellow thing and stopped on top of its head.
Saved at last, Davis and Veemon let out a long breath—then finally looked properly at what was in front of them.
"It's Tortomon!"
"And we saw him peeing… like, extremely clearly!"
Tortomon whipped his head around and roared at them. He'd been startled by the two of them, accidentally stepped in his own pee, and was already furious—especially because Davis and Veemon were still talking about what he looked like while peeing.
Tortomon was an armed, land-based turtle Digimon with many sharp blades on his back, a reptile-type Digimon. He was a Digimon that loved to pee, and would even deliberately pick a "good spot" to do it. His finishing move was Shell Phalanx: firing hard, sharp scales from his back to shoot at opponents.
"He's really mad," Davis realized a beat too late.
"He was in a great mood while peeing, and then someone watched him. Anyone would be angry," Veemon analyzed from the side, acting like it had nothing to do with him.
"GRAAAGH!" Tortomon roared and lunged.
The boy and Digimon immediately launched into another frantic sprint.
To be fair, as a key member of the soccer team, Davis was absurdly durable—after running and swimming, he could still keep fleeing, and he even managed to get pretty far. But it still wasn't enough to shake Tortomon.
"Help! Stop chasing us!" Davis and Veemon panicked and ran straight to the edge of a cliff, nearly failing to stop in time.
Behind them was Tortomon, closing in.
Ahead was the drop.
They were trapped—pursuer behind, cliff in front. A true dead end.
Tortomon panted heavily, staring at them. That gaze alone made Davis and Veemon's legs go weak. Tortomon bared sharp teeth and stepped closer.
At that moment, Davis suddenly shouted, "Wait, Tortomon!"
"?" Tortomon stared at him, confused.
"Before you attack me, I have something to say," Davis declared righteously.
"Davis…" Veemon looked at him with desperate hope, praying he'd say something inspiring enough to make Tortomon back off.
"We're sorry for seeing you pee! That was our fault!" Davis prostrated himself flat on the ground in apology. "But before you attack us… could you please wash your hands?"
"What?!" Veemon's soul practically left his body.
"If you're going to attack us, please wash your hands first," Davis insisted.
"Davis, what are you even saying?!" Veemon grabbed him, trying to stop him.
"Veemon thinks it's more sanitary too, right?" Davis said, still completely unaware.
"…Yeah," Veemon reflexively agreed—then snapped back to reality. "No! This is not the time to worry about hygiene!"
"Ah." Tortomon roared in furious humiliation, scaring Davis and Veemon into hugging each other in terror.
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