Hoping for a little Light in the dark. [Yoshi/Sunderlands]

Thankfully, the bros were there to help give Yoshi a boost if he needed it. Sure, normally they weren't much taller, but they were just tall enough that they made useful springboards for climbing ledges and cover in case a bad Digimon tried to attack them. It probably helped that, rather than sticking to human form, they were currently bearing Strikedramon and Yasyamon. The Dark Area was a very dangerous place, and the bros never spent time there as humans if they could help it. Unfortunately, their human spirits were the only forms they could maintain strain-free for extended periods of time, so they didn't have the added instinct and force of beast spirits. With the threats looming in the Dark Area, every little bit like that counted.

Then came the admission that Yoshi had no idea what he was looking for. Isaac turned to Yoshi, as if to help answer his question, only to realize that he had no clue what was going on either! Most of the time he and Elliot found their spirits through random panicking, or perhaps through being attacked and running right into the solution to their problems. Nevertheless, as the closest thing to an adult here, he had to make things clear one way or another. "Well, there's the Digivice beeping, but that gets really unreliable when you get close enough, so we're probably done with that step," he started.

Elliot took over shortly after. "Sometimes it comes down to looking for the most important looking stuff. These are artifacts. They aren't just gonna be lying around on the floor out in the open. So the good news is, we're probably gonna have an idea of where to look. The bad news is, especially here in the Dark Area, landmarks usually mean danger, too."

"Not that it's a problem," Isaac said, grinning. "We got you. And if we've got a say in it, these Digimon aren't gonna lay a finger on you."

Elliot nodded in agreement. "Be strong, okay? It's gonna be scary sometimes, but we're both believing in you, okay?"

What the heck, the kid could glow? Elliot found himself asking "How do you do that?" as he watched the beam of light shot from Yoshi's chest, cutting through the Dark Area's ever-present dark area. Isaac, on the other hand, decided to keep his eye on the prize. If there was a sudden glow it had to have been illuminating something, and he'd follow its path to see-

Oh god. A door in the middle of a cavern. This looked very, very familiar to the bros. Come to think of it, they were also in the Grotto of Sorrows when they found the door their H Spirits had lied beneath. They also found an entire factory designed for making and testing booby traps, complete with a horrifying Porcupamon sentry patrolling the perimeter. Now they were strong enough that powerwise it wasn't too big of a deal, but they'd be damned if there was a Digimon any more unpleasantly designed. It couldn't have been a back door to the same facility. There was no possible way. And yet, a strange feeling of foreboding twisted in their guts as they imagined Kioyshi trying to navigate it.

Nevertheless, if there was anywhere the Digimentals might have been, this was it. With a sigh, Isaac turned to Yoshi. "We've been somewhere like this before, and it can be very dangerous," he warned. "There could be anything behind that door, and in the darkness we'll have a tricky time seeing it coming. So stay between us at all times, okay? I'll stick behind to make sure nothing sneaks up on you, and Elliot can take the lead since he's the biggest right now. Does that sound okay to you?"

"I think with your light we'll be able to see good enough. Come on, lets go," he said, trying to keep his tone more hopeful than Isaac's warm-yet-grim one. Yoshi would be fine. They'd make sure of it. Stepping to the front of the group he waved them back, as if making sure they wouldn't be in range of traps, before gently trying to open it.

Isaac knew pattern recognition when he saw it. If something was grey and lacked a symbol, when other similar somethings were colorful and had symbols, that was likely to just be an inactive form of the same item. And if it glowed out of nowhere just now? Well, there was likely going to be some mystery solving going on around here. Isaac gave the crest a curious peer, but for now he decided not to focus on it just yet. Maybe he'd investigate later, but for now he had a feeling things would start solving themselves.

The second the mysterious voice started talking Elliot threw out an arm, making sure everyone stood behind him. "Hold on. We need to see what this guy wants," he whispered, keeping his voice hushed in case the voice proved hostile. Of course, it quickly started looking like even the bros might not have been able to deal with this one if it proved dangerous, their eyes widening as the gemstones started to illuminate just how colossal this Digimon was. Did Digimon even get that big usually? How the hell were they going to deal with that thing? Elliot took a nervous step back, but Isaac put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. They could do this.

It looked down upon them, a Sphinx-like head ominously looming above the little group. The two brothers looked at each other, but slowly one of them began to take the lead on talking.
"H-hello there! My name's Elliot, and this is my brother, Isaac," he said, motioning towards the Yasyamon.

"And these are our friends." For now it was a good idea to keep their names hidden, in case this was some sort of "if he knows your real name he can have power over you" sort of deal. That would've been no good! "What is this place?"

Elliot let out a panicked noise as the Duskmon suddenly appeared, slashing at him. He tried to step to the side, but its long blades were just a tad bit faster than Elliot was, leaving a sizable slash across the shoulder. He clutched his arm, hissing a bit in pain, before turning his attention back to his foe. Of course, before he could charge into battle, DemiAngewomon did first. His eyes widened in shock as Duskmon completely ignored her punch before he could even warn her "Wait, don't-!"

Isaac listened to what was going on. DemiAngemon hadn't been attacked. He hadn't been attacked. Yoshi hadn't been attacked, but that was because he didn't say anything at all. What did the other two have in common? Slowly, he smirked behind his mask as he turned to Elliot. "Why are you fighting?" he asked, matching AncientSphinxmon's inflection. "Why do you think we need to do this? Is there not another way? Why are you not listening before you act?"

Normally Isaac was the fightier one, so Elliot was a bit confused. Besides, he had already sprung back for a Rolling Start, prepared to launch himself from a handspring into a fierce dropkick. However, Isaac's words made him pause, and he bridged out of the handspring to instead try and see what Isaac had to say. It didn't make much sense, especially with the strange way he was phrasing things. Unless . . .

"Why do you think we want to fight?" he asked the AncientSphinxmon, rephrasing his thoughts into a question as well. "Is it because I didn't speak in a question? Is this Jeopardy?" He shot a nervous look towards the Duskmon, hoping that by playing along he would be able to shut the sentry down. Nevertheless, he kept his guard up just in case, prepared to interpose himself between Duskmon and DemiAngewomon at a moment's notice.

"Where can we find the Light and the Hope?" Isaac asked, keeping himself oriented on the goal. He had a feeling AncientSphinxmon had what Yoshi needed, and he was all but tipping his hand at their importance by mentioning them so reverently. Was it any wonder that Isaac saw it fit to capitalize?

Elliot sighed in relief as Duskmon stopped, although he sure didn't seem too keen on leaving. Something told Elliot that if they kept on slipping up, they'd be in trouble still. But what else could they slip up on? They had the question part down pat now! From here, all they'd need to do was keep on talking like that while fulfilling whatever requests the sphinx had for them. Now, to just see what those requests were.

That was when the walls of text emerged in front of the trio. Elliot immediately got to work looking at his, while Isaac blinked in curiosity as his appeared. He wasn't the best at puzzle stuff, but he could be really clever when he needed to be. Maybe this one wouldn't be so bad . . .

His jaw dropped as he looked at it. Seriously? Was this it? How the hell could it be so easy? Briefly, he wondered if the Sphinx was insulting his intelligence. He may not have been a whiz at math, but this was the world's most basic question. "Is it Negative One?" he asked, fairly certain that barring some metaphor shenanigans he would easily have this question. "Or maybe add N to the front, to make it None?" he asked, just in case AncientSphinxmon didn't know basic algebra either. "Or the word No, to make No One? There are so many ways of answering this question, right?"

Elliot, on the other hand, was running through all sorts of metaphors. What could be broken without being held? It could be a vase that somebody stumbled into, knocking it off of a shelf. Or it could have been someone's heart, broken before it could even be given to the object of someone's love. Oh! It could have been the Draenei of the Outlands, regressed through fel magic. No, no, this thing looked way too ancient to be up to date on World of Warcraft. Ooh, there were way too many answers to this question! Nevertheless, he kept turning the answers over in his head, eventually dumbly mumbling out, "My leg?"

Isaac had no idea whether to feel guilty or burst into laughter.

"You've gotta be kidding me?" Isaac asked, making sure to turn his inflection into that of a question to avoid spawning in a fourth Duskmon. What the hell were these things made of? And it wasn't like Elliot's answer was wrong, just because it wasn't the one AncientSphnixmon had on his mind. He'd fallen on it! That wasn't being held in the slightest! Nevertheless, the tides were quickly turning against them, and Isaac was starting to realize that the more miscellaneous guesses they made, the worse these appearances would get.

It was time to even up some odds. Isaac splayed his fingers out in the direction of the Duskmon that was currently not being controlled in any way. It was an attack he had rarely taken the chance to use, but his Puppet Master technique was bound to come in handy around here! As wispy, phantom-like strings sprang from his fingers, aiming for Duskmon's limbs, he began focusing his thoughts as hard as possible. In case AncientSphinxmon truly got anal about this, of course. Would you kindly turn and stab the nearest Duskmon to your left? he thought, flexing his arms in the same movements that he would want the Duskmon to bring into action. Could you please just sit back and let me guide you?

Elliot, on the other hand, was just trying his hardest to get this darn riddle done. Why did this have to be so difficult? He was pretty sure heart was the answer, or at least something like that. Wait, did the not held part mean it couldn't be a physical object at all? Because theoretically, you could totally hold a heart. What was something breakable that was completely metaphorical and verbal? Something you could never hold . . .

Wait. Hold didn't only have one definition either. "A promise!" Elliot finally called out, hoping this one would be the definition AncientSphinxmon was after.

Huh! For a test run of an attack Isaac had never used before, that went really well. Then again, considering these Duskmon were more like autonomous constructs than actual Digimon, it probably made sense that they were so pliable. He flexed his fingers as the feeling went back into them, grinning a tiny bit behind his mask. He could get used to this. "No need to worry about us, is there?" Isaac asked, deciding to keep on the safe side of things in case all of the Duskmon decided to fade back into reality and shiv him at once. "We really are made of tougher stuff than that, aren't we? Although surely we can't be as dumb as the sphinx suggests, right?"

Okay, this was starting to get tiring. Isaac vowed to never ask a question ever again once his business was done here.

Elliot was a little less okay, considering the giant slash on his arm, but the other three Duskmon had been spirited away before he could really get attacked again. It was a good thing, too. Strikedramon may have been a scrappy fighter, but his melee focus meant he could easily get in over his head if he was outnumbered. "I'm fine, I think? What else might we have to fight?" Elliot asked. After all, he wasn't the only one who heard about a fight with one last guardian, right? That would've been way too important of a detail to miss!

Nevertheless, he smiled at Yoshi. "You're okay, I hope?" he asked, making sure there was no evidence that the Duskmon even got close to the boy. "We have to move on now, I think, but could you please stay close to us? I'm not entirely sure we can trust this place, right Isaac?"

Isaac nodded, keeping his swords crossed in a defensive stance. Once more he let Elliot lead the way, while he kept his eyes on the dusted-out Duskmon at the group's rear. No chance he was risking that guy getting back up!