Chapter 38: DUNES
The fanboy inside Takuya was barely holding himself together.
His heart was pounding so fast he felt like screaming like a fangirl, only managing to keep his composure through sheer willpower. This was MetalGreymon. He would be lying if he said he had never dreamed of having one as his partner. The closest he had ever come was in a video game...
But this was different.
MetalGreymon was alive. He breathed. He moved and above all he was real.
The Digimon examined his new mechanical arm, spread his purple wings, and slowly swung his tail. After a few moments, he finally spoke, his voice noticeably deeper than before.
"Thank you my friend."
He turned toward LoaderLeomon.
"So, who are we approaching first?"
"I think Triceramon," LoaderLeomon replied. "He’s the official protector of Volcano City. He’ll probably be willing to help us."
As Takuya listened to them discussing how to protect their home, a thought crossed his mind. He needed to do the same...
But for the Human World.
"Can I ask something?" Takuya said.
"Of course," MetalGreymon replied.
"Are there any Digimon on this island that threaten the balance? The kind that put the peaceful Digimon living here in danger? like you know, evil digimons"
He might as well take advantage of being here. He had already absorbed the data from several Perfect-level Digimon, but he still needed more.
MetalGreymon looked at him for a moment before smiling knowingly. "So...You want to clean up the island?"
"More or less," Takuya admitted.
"Then yes. There are a few. They mostly stay within the same region as well."
Takuya’s interest immediately spiked and asked "Who are they?"
"Another Tyranomon lives at Great Beach," MetalGreymon explained. "He’s been attacking any Digimon that gets close, killing indiscriminately to absorb their data. He’s also been gathering large amounts of scrap metal, so it’s highly likely he’s trying to evolve into MetalTyranomon."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"That area is also home to multiple Shellmon, a BlackTailmon that’s been causing trouble because it’s almost impossible to track down, and several other hostile Digimon. To tell the truth, everyone prefers to avoid that place. The Digimon living there aren’t friendly toward anyone. Quite the opposite, actually. That’s why many of them ended up evolving into twisted versions of their species."
Listening to him, Takuya couldn’t help noticing something.
So the colors and attributes of a Digimon weren’t simply recolors after all. The evolutionary line itself seemed to have a strong influence on a Digimon’s personality.
"And where is this Great Beach?" Takuya asked.
"Are you sure about this?" LoaderLeomon frowned. "Even if you’re strong, the moment they realize someone stronger is hunting them, they’ll gang up on you."
Takuya thought about it for a second before asking, "If I clear Great Beach, will the island become safer?"
"Of course it will," LoaderLeomon replied. "But there are a lot of Digimon there. Trust me, the place is enormous. Going alone would be too much."
"Don’t worry," Takuya said with a grin as he pulled Pumpkinmon closer by the shoulder. "I’m not alone. I have a friend."
Pumpkinmon answered with a smile of his own.
LoaderLeomon and MetalGreymon exchanged glances before shrugging.
"Well," MetalGreymon admitted, "if we’re serious about forming an alliance with the other Perfect-level Digimon on this island, then sooner or later someone would’ve had to deal with the rest of the digimon. Otherwise, we’ll never have real stability."
"In that case," Takuya said, "while you two gather the other Perfect-level Digimon... Halloween and I will take care of the beach."
"Halloween?" LoaderLeomon repeated, hearing the name for the first time.
"It’s just a nickname I gave Pumpkinmon," Takuya explained.
"It’s not a nickname," Pumpkinmon immediately interrupted, puffing out his chest proudly. "It’s a title. Show some respect."
Takuya chuckled.
Looks like he was finally starting to recover.
"Alright then," he said. "Let’s split up. You two recruit the others."
With that, MetalGreymon and LoaderLeomon headed toward Volcano City, nestled at the foot of the enormous volcano Takuya had privately nicknamed Mount Fuji, while Takuya and Pumpkinmon headed in the opposite direction, leaving the Island of Beginnings behind. According to LoaderLeomon, he could always ask another trustworthy Digimon to watch over the place in his absence. Considering everything that had happened so far, Takuya had no reason to doubt him.
Unlike LoaderLeomon and MetalGreymon, the two of them didn’t travel at full speed.
There was no need.
Instead, they took their time, chatting as they walked through the forest. Takuya told Pumpkinmon about his two friends, Jinah and Jinwoo. When Pumpkinmon pointed out that their names sounded almost the same, Takuya simply nodded.
"They do."
After walking for a couple of hours, they finally reached the edge of the forest. It was already getting late, so they decided to make camp and continue their journey the following morning.
That night, Takuya took out a handful of eggs.
Well...
More like twenty of them.
The two sat together eating while talking. Unfortunately, Takuya had emptied almost his entire inventory feeding the rescued Digimon, so eggs were practically all he had left.
Maybe they could catch something later.
That thought made him look at Pumpkinmon.
"Hey, Halloween. Do fish exist in the Digital World?"
"Of course they do," Pumpkinmon replied, rubbing his plush belly. "They’re pretty tasty."
"Then once we reach the beach, we should try catching a few."
Pumpkinmon’s eyes lit up immediately.
The conversation continued until both of them eventually drifted off to sleep. Even then, neither of them truly relaxed. Takuya had learned a few things from the Hunters Guild, one of them being to never lower his guard while camping. Judging by Pumpkinmon’s behavior, he had developed the same habit.
Throughout the night, both of them woke up several times.
Not because of Digimon...
But because a leaf fell nearby, a gust of wind shook the trees, or a fruit dropped onto the ground.
The next morning, after getting enough rest, they resumed their journey.
A few more hours later. They finally saw them.
The Dunes. gigantic dunes.
They rose like mountains of sand, perhaps a hundred... maybe even two hundred meters high.
It was difficult to tell.
As Takuya stared at the entrance to Great Beach, he heard a loud crack behind him.
Turning around, he found Pumpkinmon pulling an entire tree out by its roots. At first, Takuya had no idea what his friend was doing.
Then Pumpkinmon split the trunk cleanly in half and quickly carved it into shape.
A crude wooden sled.
Without hesitation, Pumpkinmon tossed it toward Takuya. He caught it instinctively before chasing after the grinning Digimon as they sprinted toward the tallest dune they could find.
Once they reached the top, they noticed an even higher one in the distance.
Naturally...
They climbed that one instead.
When they finally stood atop the highest dune, the view unfolded before them. The ocean stretched endlessly across the horizon. On both sides, an immense sea of sand framed the coastline, turning the entire region into a gigantic bay surrounded by towering dunes. Far below lay the beach itself.
The perfect starting point.
Neither of them needed to say a word.
They exchanged a grin, dropped onto their sleds, and launched themselves down the slope. Takuya propelled himself forward with bursts of fire beneath the sled, while Pumpkinmon used explosions to gain even more speed. The two of them burst into laughter. What had begun as a race quickly turned into a competition to see who could reach the bottom first.
As they descended, still laughing, something suddenly came into view.
At first, it looked like a scorpion...
No.
It was yellow, wore a horned helmet, and definitely wasn’t a Greymon.
"What’s that?" Takuya shouted, unable to recognize the Digimon.
"That’s Cyclomon," Pumpkinmon replied. "Bad-tempered... and pretty savage."
Unfortunately, neither of them had enough time to change course.
A second later—
Crash!
Their improvised wooden sleds shattered as they slammed straight into Cyclomon, sending all three of them tumbling across the sand.
"Sorry, dude!" Takuya yelled while rolling back to his feet.
He didn’t expect a friendly response.
And he certainly didn’t get one.
Without saying a single word, Cyclomon opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of fire.
Takuya and Pumpkinmon exchanged a glance.
No words were needed.
"Burning Salamander!"
"Lantern o’ Jack!"
The two streams of fire merged into one, colliding head-on with Cyclomon’s flames. The Adult-level Digimon managed to resist for only an instant before his attack was completely overwhelmed by their combined firepower.
The inferno surged forward.
The sand beneath it melted into crude glass as the flames engulfed Cyclomon entirely.
A moment later...
The Digimon dissolved into data.
The particles split evenly between Takuya and Pumpkinmon.
"He didn’t have to attack us," Pumpkinmon complained, crossing his plush arms.
"True," Takuya admitted with a shrug. "But we already knew the Digimon around here had terrible tempers. Come on, let’s keep going."
The two continued descending toward the beach. They were already halfway there.
As they walked, joking and messing around, another Digimon suddenly burst out of the sand ahead of them.
It looked like an enormous spider.
A pair of horns protruded from its head, while two human-like hands constantly gripped its own hair as though pulling it downward.
Dokugumon.
Takuya and Pumpkinmon exchanged another glance.
This time, Pumpkinmon stepped forward. "Hello there."
Takuya couldn’t help smiling. "General Kenobi," he muttered under his breath.
Apparently... Dokugumon wasn’t a fan of the reference. The spider Digimon immediately attacked. It opened its mouth and spat a stream of thick purple liquid toward them.
Without hesitating, Takuya grabbed Pumpkinmon by the shoulder and leaped aside. He had no idea whether the substance was poisonous, corrosive, or if it would react violently with fire. There was no reason to take the risk.
Still carrying Pumpkinmon, he darted from side to side, avoiding every projectile before finally retaliating.
He unleashed a volley of Fire Darts.
One after another, the blazing projectiles struck Dokugumon, scorching its body until its movements slowed dramatically.
A final blast ended the fight.
The spider dissolved into particles of data.
As they resumed their descent, Takuya found the situation increasingly strange. Almost every Digimon they encountered attacked on sight. None of them tried to talk. None of them hesitated.
Takuya wasn’t about to complain.
After all, this was exactly what he needed to evolve.
If anything, he appreciated how hostile the Digimon around Great Beach were. They seemed to have chosen a far more savage, animalistic way of life compared to the Digimon living in the island’s towns.
As they continued descending toward the shoreline, however, something changed. The number of Digimon steadily decreased. It wasn’t as if they had been encountering them every few meters before, but at least one would appear every now and then.
Now...
There was nothing.
Not a single Digimon in sight.
"Why do you think there aren’t any Digimon around here?" Takuya asked, trying to figure out what was happening.
Pumpkinmon looked around cautiously before answering.
"Maybe..."
"We’ve entered someone’s territory."
Neither of them sounded completely convinced.
But neither of them could come up with a better explanation.