Old Ones Return (III)

Azuma: "Same ones as before?"

Cameron:<I guess it's the same teams as always.>

E"Sounds good to me."

*She & Taiyo walk off towards the oasis, Euryale watching the shifting readouts on her D-Power.*

E"You know, this is kinda boring."
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*Azuma finds that the phone booths have all been smashed, only the bent metal frames standing, like desecrated skeletons. Amidst the shards of glass & plastic are boot prints.*
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*There are noises coming from Zudomon's cave, but no trail to hint at what might have entered it.*

*They decide to take the middle path, Lunamon taking the lead to watch for threats*

Taiyo: "Maybe we can spend some time...err, check out the oasis. That might be interesting."

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Azuma hunkers down, looking at the bootprints.

Azuma: "Guess our friends have been here."

Patamon: "Really? Great..."

Azuma stands up, looking at his D-Power for any irregularities.

Azuma: "Hopefully they're not close by."

They continue on their way past the phonebooths.

*Lunamon notices a trail of claw prints, each one almost as large as she is, leading deeper into the cave.*
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*There is an unidentified D-Power signal roaming near the village ruins, which they are now walking away from.*
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*And so they approach the sea of green around the oasis. From this vantage point, it is possible to catch a glimpse of the river, which has flower petals of a multitude of colors floating within. Euryale looks around, & starts pushing aside ferns with one of her feet.*

"...I don't see any animals here."

Patamon: "What's that, what's that, what's that?"

Azuma: "Mysterious stranger."

And so they follow the signal.

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Taiyo: "Is that bad? There wasn't any when Agumon looked around last time, was there?"

Lunamon:<Something went down here.>

*She leads them down the trail*

*And is bodychecked by a charging ExVeemon. After Lunamon is slammed into the wall, the ExVeemon roars & tries to bite off her partner's head. Unlike a normal ExVeemon, this one has red, veiny wings, & red blotches on its upper arms. It also has a cable emerging from the back of its head & stretching off deeper into the cavern.*
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*They realize this was a mistake when they see Senthose against the silhouette of the village. The plane is entirely empty space, so if he turns even slightly, he's going to see them. At the moment, he's busy gesturing to a Digi Gnome to "come here." The creature does, flying around his arm & making cooing noises. When Senthose stretches out his hand, it lands in his palm, & at that point, it's too late. Senthose squeezes his hand & with a squishy crack, the Digi Gnome goes limp. It then loses its glow & begins melting into a formless white goop, dripping onto the ground in front of him.*
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"Well, if you lived in this desert, wouldn't you gather around the water source?"

Azuma grits his teeth and begins to step back with the others.

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Taiyo: "Yeah, but maybe other Digimon lived in the caves. There was water there and it'd be much cooler during the day. Or they're in burrows or something."

*Lunamon digivolves and uses Moon Night Kick to kick the Ex-Veemon away from Kylie. Then she Tear Arrows it. As Saberdramon would probably not fit inside the tunnel, Cameron instead slashes MeltalGarurumon's Blaster, which Biyomon then uses on the ExVeemon as well*

*Just this once, I decide that the Red Cards were used by everyone off-screen. ExVeemon is blasted into the wall, which cracks as the ceiling begins to shake.*
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*Next they see a woman walking towards Senthose from behind; dark-skinned with long, red hair, she wears a uniform similar to his, but it is red. Instead of swords, she is armed with bronze arm guards that end in clawed gloves, & she has similar grieves. She crosses her arms as Senthose turns around to face her, but they're too far away to hear what is being said.*
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"But we haven't seen any signs of life in the caves, or burrows in the sand."

They resolve to leave the village and return to their initial starting area.

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Taiyo: "It was a big cave? The burrows are covered up?"

*Lekismon grabs the rest of the group and runs out of the cave*

*This was a wise decision, as the tunnel does indeed collapse.*
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*They somehow manage to escape the notice of Senthose & the mystery woman, & are now standing in the middle of the desert with no idea where they are.*
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"How could we not notice anything this whole time? Nothing living on the trees, or in the water?"

*Outside, Lekismon places the others on the ground*

Kylie:<We need to inform the others.>

*Lunamon regresses as Biyomon digivolves, picks up the group, and flies off towards the oasis*

Patamon: "Great, we're lost."

Azuma: "We can still locate the others, calm down."

And thus they check for the signals of others.

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Taiyo: "Maybe it isn't that great of a place to live as it looks. It does look really pretty. I was kind of hoping to enjoy it with you."

"Enjoy it how?"
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*As they approach, they see Euryale & Taiyo just kind of standing at the edge of the oasis.*
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*2 D-Power signals are approaching from the direction of the village. The rest are converging on the oasis.*

Taiyo: "Maybe just hang out or something."

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They make their way towards the oasis.

*Saberdramon lands near Euryale and Taiyo*

Kylie:<We got attacked by one of those weird digimon! The kind that show up when Senthose does.>

E"I was afraid of this. But what are they still doing here? They destroyed the village, what else could they possibly want?"
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*On foot, it's pretty slow going, while the other 2 dots adjust their path & continue to grow closer. They should be visible on the horizon soon.*

*Cameron shrugs*

<I wish I knew.>

Kylie:<We should get out of here.>

Patamon Digivolves and picks the two up, Hitomi holding on to Salamon, tightly and takes flight .

Azuma: "Thanks for the warning, buddy."

*Euryale tosses a Space Oscillation Device into their path of flight, opening a portal back to the real world.*

*Saberdramon takes the group though the portal*