"Goblin Assault!"
Goblimon raised his hand, forming a fireball the size of a fist in his palm. With a flick of his arm, he hurled it at a long, thorny vine.
The fireball flew at lightning speed—practically supersonic!
BOOM!
The fireball exploded on contact with the thorn vine, and the shockwave obliterated all the vines within a dozen meters.
"Success!"
Mushroomon, Tadpolemon, and Frogmon all cheered excitedly. Even Goonimon, who couldn't speak, waved both claws to show its joy.
"So weak…" Goblimon said smugly, ready to mock them—only to see the vines regrow almost instantly, and even denser than before.
Cosmic Brainmon rubbed his chin in thought. "These thorn vines are vulnerable to fire, but their regeneration is extreme. Unless we find the main body, they'll never be fully destroyed."
Moss nodded. "These are the Curse Thorns released by Argomon."
Argomon.
A Virus-type, Ultimate-level, mutant Digimon.
As mentioned before, mutants can vary wildly—some are incredibly weak, others terrifyingly strong.
Argomon happened to be both: its upper limit was these global curse vines, capable of putting all of humanity into a magical sleep.
It looked impressive—and it actually was.
But it had one glaring flaw: the vines were extremely weak to fire, and if you found its core, even a Champion-level flame attack could destroy it.
That was its fatal weakness—its low floor.
Moss muttered, "Kudamon and BanchoLeomon should both be in this world. Finding that weakness shouldn't be hard."
Thanks to her butterfly-effect-level interference, the plot of Digimon Data Squad had already changed drastically early on. The Digital and Human Worlds had formed diplomatic ties, and now the human world likely had at least one Royal Knight on standby—maybe even BanchoLeomon.
So how did Argomon manage to enter the human world and put everyone to sleep?
Was something wrong?
Moss and her team—Cosmic Brainmon, Goblimon, and others—headed out from DATS HQ, hoping to find answers. Just around the corner, they saw a flash of white.
No—it was Kudamon!
But his energy was like a flickering candle, about to go out.
He was seriously wounded.
What happened? Who did this?
Could it have been Argomon?
Impossible. Even if Argomon evolved to Mega, Kudamon—whose potential includes evolving into Sleipmon, a Royal Knight—shouldn't be this badly hurt.
Moss didn't hesitate.
"Holy Bubble!"
A wave of colored light enveloped Kudamon.
"Ugh…" Bathed in the light, Kudamon slowly woke and opened his eyes. "Angewomon? You saved me… thank you."
"What happened?" Moss asked. "Why are you so badly injured?"
Kudamon hesitated. "Argomon has sealed all humans…"
Moss frowned. "Is it really that powerful?"
Even if it reached Mega level, Kudamon should've been able to escape—at the very least, not be half-dead.
"It's not that Argomon is strong—it's that it's working with a human," Kudamon explained.
Moss's eyes narrowed. She had suspected as much. Something unexpected had happened.
Argomon collaborating with a human?
Kudamon added, "That man is pure evil. I didn't dare to move against him."
"Why not?" Moss asked. "What could a human possibly do to intimidate you?"
Was he someone like Marcus Damon?
Kudamon gritted his teeth. "He said if I tried anything, he'd kill Satsuma, Miki, and Megumi."
Threats. Dirty, but effective.
Moss had assumed their new enemy might be a Marcus-type—but no, this one was clearly a Kurata-type.
Then again, it made sense. During that UN broadcast where the Digital World first connected to Earth, out of 7–8 billion people, only a few million awakened DigiSoul.
And even among them, how many were Marcus-types?
Kurata-types were far more common. Marcus-types were rare breeds.
Actually, even Kurata-types—despite being awful people—were at least geniuses. The majority were just… Ordinary-types, neither brave nor brilliant.
"So," Moss asked, "what's this Kurata II even doing here?"
Since he was Kurata-type, he had to have a goal. He wouldn't just be hanging around DATS for fun.
Hearing the name Kurata II, Kudamon blinked… and then nodded. "That name fits him perfectly. He acts just like Kurata."
"He took Feathered Serpentmon!" Kudamon said gravely.
"Feathered Serpentmon?" Moss was startled.
Why would he do that?
Kudamon speculated, "He may want to fuse with a Digimon."
Feathered Serpentmon—more precisely, Nanami in that form—had both a Digimon and a human body. That was her uniqueness.
It was very possible Kurata II wanted her for that reason.
Kudamon's expression turned grim. "Argomon's power specifically targets humans. If Kurata II fuses with it, humanity is doomed!"
"I'll try to locate Feathered Serpentmon's signal."
Moss focused and expanded her sensing range—but found nothing.
Could she be dead?
"No," Moss shook her head. "I don't believe it."
Kudamon clenched his jaw. "Then we'll just have to wait for Kurata II to show himself."
If Kurata II made a move, it would mean he was ready—but they had no other choice. Right now, they were on the back foot.
Just then, a clear voice rang out:
"Are you looking for my body?"
They turned toward the voice and saw a blonde girl.
Nanami!
More accurately—Nanami's soul.
Back when she turned into Biochemical Minervamon and challenged Moss, she lost—and as punishment, Moss extracted her soul.
Moss looked her over and said, "You don't look very reflective."
Nanami had hoped to use this moment to get her body back. Hearing that, her face stiffened. "That's just your biased assumption!"
"Stop arguing," Kudamon said. "We have bigger problems."
Nanami snapped, "I don't want my body being used for some freak experiment! Help me get it back—follow me!"
Argomon's thorn vines had spread across the globe, putting humans into deep sleep. Only Digimon remained active.
Nanami, in soul form, was unaffected.
And as a genius, she hadn't wasted her two weeks in spirit form. She had mastered two abilities: wall-phasing and dream entry.
Using her wall-phasing power, she secretly followed Kurata II after he kidnapped her body—and learned its location.
A secret underground lab, where her body, in Feathered Serpentmon form, was strapped to a massive surgical table and being scanned with X-rays.
"So this is how Kurata created his Biochemical Digimon…"
A figure at the computer smirked.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Alarms went off.
"Oh? You actually found this place."
He turned toward the monitors and sneered.
"Too bad you're late. Oh? Isn't that the world's most famous Angewomon? Perfect timing."
He pressed a button, guiding the intruders to the operating room.
Moss, Kudamon, and Nanami arrived to see Feathered Serpentmon bound on the table. Moss stepped forward and healed her with Holy Bubble.
Then a voice echoed:
"This world is filthy. Don't you agree?"
"You bastard!" Kudamon growled.
Kurata II!
Moss said calmly, "Yeah… I often think the same thing. The human world… just got filthier."
Kudamon and Nanami both froze.
Wait—what?! This was the trash talk phase before battle! How could she agree with the villain? Didn't that ruin their morale?
Momentum matters in battle!
"Oh? You understand me?" Kurata II smiled, surprisingly pleased. "Then let me introduce myself. You may call me… the Ice King—"
"Not interested," Moss cut in. "You're Kurata II to me."
Kudamon and Nanami's eyes lit up.
Ah, a classic bait-and-switch. Pretend to agree, lull the enemy into thinking you're allies—and then cut ties immediately.
That betrayal hits harder than any insult.
Truly worthy of a Digital World diplomat!
Kurata II's elegant expression twisted into a scowl. "I am not Kurata—and certainly not his successor!"
"Yeah, yeah," Moss waved dismissively. "Whatever you say, Kurata II."
Kudamon and Nanami nodded approvingly.
You don't get to define yourself. If we call you Kurata II, then that's what you are. A bootleg Kurata, with all the mockery that implies.
Crushing his ego, identity, and pride beneath their feet.
That's our Angewomon!
Kurata II laughed darkly, eyes glowing. "In the end, you're just a lowly Digimon who doesn't understand human speech."
Oh?
How do you clap back at that?
Kudamon was furious at the insult—but he and Nanami turned to Moss, eager to see how she'd respond.
Moss gave a light chuckle, raised her chin a few degrees, and said:
"I don't care to listen. You're not worthy of speaking."
Kudamon and Nanami were stunned.
A perfect burn—dismissive, elegant, devastating. That slight head tilt made it feel like she was looking down on him, oozing condescension.
The ultimate humiliation.
"ARRRGHH!" Kurata II screamed in rage. His body erupted in black DigiSoul, and dozens of eyes opened around him.
Creepy. So creepy.
Nanami's soul shivered. Her face turned pale.
Kudamon narrowed his eyes. "That's Argomon! It's evolving to Mega! No—this aura… it's even worse."
"Looks like it's beyond just a Mega," Moss said with a grin.
Perfect. Just what I needed.
"I've been waiting for the 81 tribulations… Looks like you've brought me one."
Time to train.
Battle!
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