The beams of light condensed together and formed into several handheld terminals. Davis and the others stared at the things in their hands in shock, their mouths hanging open.
"What is… this?" Davis asked, holding his up.
"A Digivice?" T.K. said, unsure.
"But it doesn't look anything like ours," Kari said, looking from her own Digivice to the ones Davis and the others were holding, unable to find a single point in common.
Izzy glanced at the computer screen at that moment and noticed something. "The Gate has opened on this monitor."
"From here, we can get to the Digital World," T.K. explained.
"The Digital World? Really?" Yolei asked, her face lighting up with excitement.
"I'm going too. We can go there with these things, right?" Davis stepped forward, gripping his new Digivice.
"I… I…" Cody looked at everyone else, wanting to go but too nervous to say so.
"Okay, I'm going first," Kari said. She couldn't wait any longer; she had to see her partner. She pointed her Digivice at the Gate.
Her Digivice shone, projecting light onto the monitor. The screen reflected that light back, wrapping around Kari, and within the glow she vanished from where she stood.
"Then I'm going too," T.K. said, quickly raising his Digivice and following after her.
Davis, Yolei, and Cody all felt like their jaws were about to hit the floor.
"And you three?" Izzy asked them. "Are you coming?"
Finally Davis seemed to make up his mind. He lifted his new Digivice high. "I'm going too!"
"Me too," Yolei said, immediately taking her place beside him.
"Then… then I'll go as well," Cody said hesitantly, seeing that everyone else had already gone through.
"All right," Izzy said, stepping into the light last and entering the Digital World.
The data tunnel connecting to the Digital World was still just as dazzling and colorful as ever.
The six of them appeared in the middle of a thick forest. Davis and the others looked curiously at the trees and undergrowth around them. Going from a classroom to what felt like an ancient jungle in an instant wasn't exactly something the brain adjusted to easily.
"So this is the Digital World, huh," Davis said in awe—then suddenly realized his clothes had changed. "Hey, when did my clothes turn into this?"
That was when everyone else finally noticed the same thing. They all looked themselves over, and then looked around at the others. Only the three kids holding the new model Digivices had had their outfits changed.
Somewhere else, in a place filled with monitors, the Digimon Emperor watched Kari's group moving through the forest and smiled coldly. "Marching into my garden without my permission… what a bunch of rude little brats."
Following the guidance from their Digivices, Kari and the others made their way toward Gatomon's position, while Davis, Yolei, and Cody, on their very first visit to the Digital World, found everything they saw fascinating.
"The Digital World's not really that different from our world," Davis muttered as they walked. Just as he finished, he spotted a vending machine. "They've even got vending machines out here in the middle of nowhere?" Before he could get close, a whole group of Numemon came oozing out of it in a long line.
"What is that? Gross!" Yolei yelped, covering her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at them.
Hearing the voices, Kari and the others turned around and saw Davis and his two friends blocked in by the passing herd of Numemon. Davis was already so scared he had fallen on his butt.
T.K. burst out laughing at the sight, while Yolei and Cody both wore matching "We don't know that guy" expressions.
"Hey, what's so funny?!" Davis shouted angrily, stung by T.K.'s laughter.
"Kari covered her mouth, giggling. "Davis, really… you're not even as brave as Cody."
The six of them set off again. Davis, Yolei, and Cody couldn't stop glancing back at the receding Numemon. "So those are Digimon?"
"Mm-hm. There are tons of different kinds of Digimon," Kari explained. "Some of them are really cute, too."
"T.K.!"
"Kari!"
"Izzy!"
Suddenly familiar voices called from up ahead. Kari, T.K., and Izzy looked up and saw their Digimon partners.
"Patamon!"
"Gatomon!"
"Tentomon!"
Tai followed behind them at a relaxed pace with Agumon at his side.
"Tai, you came too," Kari said, hugging Gatomon and looking over at her brother.
"Tai, you're here too!" Davis hurried over, greeting him enthusiastically.
"Davis?" Tai looked at the grinning underclassman and could only feel helpless. Ever since Davis had seen Kari, he'd become excessively friendly toward Tai as well—anyone could tell what was going through his head.
"What a cute Digimon," Yolei said, staring enviously at Gatomon in Kari's arms.
Tai led the kids and Digimon back to the cave from before. There, they discussed the Digimon Emperor and confirmed that the Emperor's Digivice was the same type as the new ones Davis and the others were holding.
A black, gear-shaped Dark Wheel floated silently into the cave, projecting everything inside onto a monitor in the Digimon Emperor's base. Just in time, it picked up Kari's angry voice:
"Someone's hunting Digimon and calling themselves the King of Digimon—that's just going too far!"
"Heh heh heh…" Hearing Kari's words, the Digimon Emperor chuckled darkly. "Are you talking about me? This is a game. I hate people who don't understand the fun of a game the most. Come on—let's have a little fun. I'll wipe you all out."
She flicked her finger, and several buttons appeared on her console. She pressed two of them. The screen displayed two identical Digimon.
"Go, Monochromon. Show them a bit of your true colors," she said.
"Beep… beep…" Warning tones echoed through the Emperor's base as two Monochromon, eyes glowing a vicious red, were released and started moving toward Tai's location.
When the discussion about the Digimon Emperor was over, the kids finally noticed the Digi-Armor at the top of the cave.
T.K. pointed up at it. "Isn't that the Crest of Courage?"
"Yeah, it represents Courage," Tai said, "but it's not the Crest itself."
"Not the Crest?" Izzy was puzzled. Tai lifted the tag hanging from his neck, showing that the actual Crest of Courage was still there. Izzy was completely confused now. "Then… what is it?"
"Hey, let's just take it and talk about it on the way," Davis said impatiently. He stepped forward, grabbed it, and turned back to the group with it in his hands.
At that moment, once the Courage Digi-Armor was moved aside, orange light poured out of the hole beneath it and shot up to the cave's ceiling. A silhouette took shape within the glow—a blue Digimon.
As soon as it opened its eyes, it looked straight at Davis, then leaped into his arms. "Yes! Yes! The Digi-Egg moved! The Digi-Egg moved!"
After making a big fuss, the little Digimon finally dropped back down and held out its right hand. "I'm Veemon. What's your name?"
"D–Davis," Davis stammered, still completely stunned.
Veemon: a newly discovered Dragon-type Vaccine Digimon, a Rookie-level new species. It's a survivor of the once-prosperous race from the Digital World's Age of Beginnings and is capable of Armor Digivolution. Veemon is an excellent combat-type Digimon, hiding a great deal of latent power and able to unleash explosive strength when it Armor Digivolves. Its personality is mischievous and fond of pranks, but it also has a strong sense of justice. Its signature technique is BoomBoomPunch, where it spins around and around, swinging both arms and pummeling the opponent. Its special move is Vmon Head, a powerful headbutt that knocks its foe flat.
"Nice to meet you, Davis. Please take care of me," Veemon said, stepping closer.
"Is this… a new DigiDestined?" Izzy murmured, deep in thought.
Just then, the cave began to shake violently, chunks of rock falling from above.
"What's going on? Is it an earthquake?" Davis cried in a panic.
"No. Look over there," T.K. said, pointing toward the ceiling.
Following the direction of his finger, they saw a massive head forcing its way into the cave.
"Monochromon!"
Monochromon: a Dinosaur Digimon with armor plating, sporting a horn on its nose like a rhino. If its massive horn keeps growing, it can reach half the length of its body. Its horn and the armor plating covering half its body share a hardness equivalent to diamond, and it's said there's nothing that horn can't pierce. Monochromon is a Digimon that excels equally at offense and defense. It's herbivorous and generally gentle in nature, but if provoked, its heavy, tank-like body will unleash terrifying counterattacks. Its special move is Volcanic Strike, where it spits out a searing magma fireball. It can also unleash Grand Fire, sending flames sweeping along the ground, and Guardy Tusk, driving its horn forward like a lance to skewer its enemy.
"Air Shot!"
"Pepper Breath!"
"Tail Lightning!"
"Lightning Paw!"
The kids' partner Digimon unleashed their special moves one after another, covering the children's retreat.
While they were running, Veemon shouted to Davis by his side, "Davis, what are you doing? Hurry up and bring out your Courage!"
"Bring it out? How am I supposed to do that?" Davis had no idea what Veemon meant.
In their panicked flight, Davis and Veemon ended up on a ledge some distance above the ground.
"What is going on here?" Davis groaned, looking up at the sky. He'd just arrived in the Digital World and already they were being attacked by "monsters." He was honestly traumatized.
Behind him, Monochromon aimed at Davis, who was still stuck in his dramatic, arms-spread pose, and launched its special move, Volcanic Strike. A blazing magma fireball roared toward him.
"Look out!" Veemon slammed into Davis, knocking him off the cliff.
"Davis, hurry and use the Courage Digi-Armor! All you have to do is shout 'Armor Digivolution!'" Veemon yelled, finally explaining what he'd meant by "bringing out Courage."
"Okay, I'll give it a shot!" Davis raised the Digi-Egg of Courage high in both hands and shouted, "Armor Digivolution!"
The Digi-Egg of Courage flared with orange light, the glow surging outward to envelop Veemon.
"Veemon, Armor Digivolve to… Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"
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