Light the way (Mar)

Marshal and Coronamon had a bit of soul searching to do, so they took a leave of absence from everything for a while. They knew that their friends would probably worry about them, but Marshal needed to take some time to figure out what he was going to do next. While on their travels, they heard of a few places in the Digital World that had been quickly changing over time, and that meant there were new areas to explore! The two of them jumped at the chance, and before they knew it they were setting upon a new area known to the locals as the Shining Sea, a former inland sea that mysteriously dried up recently.

They were both speechless, staring at the beauty of the new desert. White sand stretched as far as the eye could see, and as the sun began to set, a bunch of glowing crystals popped up, nearly giving the same appearance as the night sky itself. It was if the two of them were standing in the middle of space.

"This is something else," Marshal admitted. "You definitely can't get views like this in the Real World." The beauty of it all was quite overwhelming, and it threw yet another wrench in his decision. The Digital World still needed him, or was he the one that needed the Digital World? How would he be able to juggle going to college with being a Tamer with the power that he possesed?

Coronamon noticed his Trainer's frustration. It was so abundantly clear ever since the two had completed their Biomerge. "You know, you still have plenty of time to decide." Coronamon still wasn't sure how Marshal would end up, but he knew he'd be crushed if they ever had to split up. Their bond wasn't quite like the one that he and Bellamy shared, but it was unique to anything he had eer experienced, even in his limited memories of his past life.

Marshal stayed silent as the duo trudged onward, eventually spotting a few figures in the sand. They seemed to be studying the crystals. As they became clearer in his view, Marshal recognized a few faces he hadn't seen in a long time. "Shi? Yasuo? Yuudai?" It had been months in Real World time that he had seen the other Tamer and his twin Agumon, which meant that it was even longer in Digital World time. He barely recognized Shi, as it seemed he had changed quite a bit since the last time they had met. "It's been forever!" he said. "How've you been?"

Shi and the Agumon twins said that they were just there to check out the new area. Marshal chuckled. "We're actually out here looking around, too." He didn't really mention specifics, since he didn't want to bring his problem to anyone else, especially someone he hadn't seen in a long while.

Coronamon, meanwhile, thought something was off about Shi. He looked...different. Marshal tended to be kind of unobservant at times, but it looked like Shi had a scar across his face now, didn't he? He tried not to stare, but couldn't help but wonder what had happened since the last time they had met.

Marshal tried to continue the conversation. "This place is really fascinating, isn't it? The Digital World is changing right before our eyes, and it's like we're just along for the ride."

Yuudai wondered about the crystals. Coronamon shook his head. "We just got here, so I'm not sure what these crystals are or what they're made of. Probably better to leave them, though." Who knew what messing with the crystals would do? Or who it would upset?

"I know the feeling," Marshal said to Shi. "There are more and more new Tamers coming and going every day, yet I only seem to see the same couple of people." It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was still kind of disturbing that so many Tamers would come to the Digital World and then mysteriously disappear after only a short time. What if that had happened to him and Coronamon?

Yasuo was more concerned with Marshal and Coronamon's strength than anything else. It seemed some things never really changed. "We've gotten way stronger than the last time you saw us," Marshal confirmed. "Maybe you'll get to see it someday!"

Everyone else was busy talking, but Coronamon could feel a slight rumbling in the sand underneath his feet. It seemed that it happened as Yasuo got closer to one of the crystals.

Coronamon watched in horror as Yuudai touched the crystal. The second he did, the ground began to quake violently. Suddenly, a bunch of sand began to float in the air, along with the crystals. Eventually, all the sand in the area was floating in the air, leaving only a seemingly bottomless pit for the Tamers and their Digimon to fall into. Coronamon, while getting his bearings, saw the cause of their problems.


This Digimon was unfamiliar to Marshal and Coronamon, just as Dorbickmon and Splashmon had been. Not even the D-Terminal could identify it. Something about it was downright terrifying, however. It held out its ghostly white arms and seemed to be concentrating on something.

Marshal, meanwhile, was trying his best to stay calm. He quickly looked over at Coronamon, and the two made eye contact and nodded quickly. While flailing through the air, the two managed to fist bump, and immediately began to glow with the light of evolution.


"Coronamon Biomerge to...Apollomon!"

Once finally evolved, the Super Mega Digimon was able to keep himself up in the air. "Looks like the demonstration will have to come sooner than expected!" he joked as he stared down their opponent.

"Don't...touch...my crystals..." the enemy mumbled.

Apollomon had never seen Shi and his partners Biomerge before. Their process was different from Colin's, whereas BlackJupitermon was a combination of all three partners, this was Shi split into both twins individually. Biomerging was something else! VictoryGreymon and ShineGreymon definitely looked powerful!

"Glad to see you guys haven't been slacking, either!" Apollomon joked. As the three Super Megas stared down their opponent, the sand and crystals finally slowed down to a halt, leaving a floating battlefield of crystal and sandstone around them, carefully crafted by Gravimon. Now that he was done making it so, the thin, ghoulish Digimon shot through the air and tried to slam his giant hand down on Apollomon.

"Infernal Guard!" Apollomon shouted, raising his arms to block. An orb of flame appeared just before Gravimon's attack connected, leaving the Digimon with a singed palm. It seemed like Yasuo and Yuudai would have an easy time attacking.

Gravimon wasn't quick to react to Yuudai's sweeping strike and got swept from underneath his feet just before Yasuo brought down his flaming sword and getting him with a clean strike. The ghoulish Digimon grunted in pain before plummetting farther down below the other Super Mega Digimon.

Apollomon was impressed with the twins' efficiency. Shi and his Digimon were as strong as Marshal and Coronamon remembered them being. He took off after the enemy, so as not to let the unknown Digimon recover. "Sunfire Punch!" he shouted, bringing his fist up as it began to glow with intense flame. The creepily powerful Digimon was still stunned and wouldn't be able to react in time, but Apollomon's fist was stopped by something else.



This Digimon was just as unsettling to look at as the other, and seemed to appear from nowhere to stop Apollomon's attack. His limbs extended like chains and had managed to grab Apollomon's arm from a great distance away. "Gravimon," the newcomer said, his voice eerily soothing. "It has been quite some time."

"Ah, NeoVamdemon," said the first Digimon, now revealed as Gravimon. "I take it the time is upon us once more?"

"The others are starting to awaken as well," NeoVamdemon confirmed. "That means that he is summoning us back to his service."

Apollomon was clearly unhappy to have been stopped, and quickly broke away from NeoVamdemon's grip. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Surely you've heard of the Big Death-Stars?" NeoVamdemon assumed. "Typically our reputation preceeds us, but it has apparently been many ages since our last appearance."

Apollomon froze. These two were in the same group as Dorbickmon and Splashmon, who he had encountered at an earlier point with Maia. That meant that they would be extremely powerful foes not to be taken lightly. Apollomon got into a fighting stance and watched carefully, not wanting to rush in without knowing what he was up against.

Gravimon and NeoVamdemon seemed to exchange knowing glances for a moment. Apollomon couldn't be sure what they were planning, but it couldn't be good. The newcomer extended his chain-linked arms towards Yuudai, attempting to grab his ankle. Gravimon, meanwhile, rushed for Apollomon, his slightly burned hand outstretched.

Apollomon was ready for this, however, and met him head on. "Sunfire Punch!" Another flaming fist made its way to the Big Death-Star, but it was caught head on. The flames looked like they were awfully painful, but Gravimon showed no signs of distress.