Having evolved to Ultimate, MetalGreymon now stood eye to eye with SkullGreymon. The two Digimon locked up, testing raw power. Angemon seized the opening and peppered SkullGreymon's massive body with blows. They didn't do much damage, but the holy force made that dark creature reel. With a screech it wheeled on Angemon, and MetalGreymon took his chance—lowered his metal-plated head, smashed into it, and followed through. "Giga Blaster!"
Panels on his chest sprang open and two missiles slammed into SkullGreymon. The skeleton giant burst apart into data on impact. "You rotten brats! Not only did you find a Crest, you trashed my concert venue!" Etemon ranted on the big screen. "Trident Arm." MetalGreymon's strike shredded the display into scrap.
Leaving the Colosseum with Joe's Crest in hand put everyone in good spirits. Time to head for the second Crest.
"Next is Mimi's—straight ahead in the desert. Let's keep pushing," Tai said, checking the screen in his hand.
They trudged on. "Hot hot hot hot hot… still hot." Under the punishing sun, the kids felt like they were steaming in a sauna. Mirages of gigantic cacti kept appearing, and every time they chased shade, it melted away.
Under the heat, Tai kept his head down, mulling over what happened at the arena: Greymon turning into an Ultimate under a surge of dark power. That never happened in the original timeline, and the aura he felt gave him a bad feeling. That darkness wasn't something Etemon could command. Could it be coming from there…? None of it was a good sign.
They'd been walking a long time short on water and food; everyone drooped, Gomamon and Palmon most of all.
Suddenly Mimi's Tag lit up. She rubbed her eyes, not quite believing it, then realized the glow wasn't a mirage.
"Guys, the Crest is close. It's mine!" Mimi's delight was contagious. The news was better than finding an oasis—if they got the Crest, this ordeal might end.
Tai whipped out binoculars to scan for a colossal cactus. He barely needed them: a hundred-meter column with a barrel-wide trunk—over ten meters across—towered against the empty sky. In a desert with nothing to block the view, it was impossible to miss.
The kids ran to its base and stopped, stunned. The branches were so thick they blotted out the sun, casting a wide, blissfully cool pool of shade.
"That cactus is huge!" Palmon gaped. Compared to her own evolved form, this thing made Togemon look tiny.
As Mimi stepped closer, "Ah—my Tag…"
Her Tag floated out from under her shirt. Atop the cactus, everyone watched a small miracle: the unmoving giant seemed to stir with fresh life; a beam of light flared at its crown, a pink bud formed and bloomed in an instant, and from the blossom a teardrop-shaped slab rose, drifted into the air, and drew toward Mimi's Tag. The slab shrank as it flew, becoming a grass-green Crest of Sincerity that clicked into place.
"That's great. Congrats, Mimi," Tai said. Still… the scene looked like the prelude to Togemon's super evolution.
"In that case, Palmon should be able to evolve too, right? I wonder what I'll look like?" Mimi turned the Tag in her hand, a little lost in thought.
"I don't know what my Ultimate is, but I really hope I evolve into something as strong as this cactus—'Super Togemon'!" Palmon said, full of hope.
"No way. Palmon, your taste is weird," Mimi finally snapped, unable to take it. Everyone laughed. In truth, Palmon's eventual slim, flower-fairy Ultimate would owe a lot to Mimi's aesthetics. Kids and Digimon shape each other.
With three Crests found back-to-back, morale soared, and they set out to find the next.
"According to the map, Piximon's barrier is nearby—southwest. At our pace these last few days, we can make it in half a day."
"Will Piximon welcome us?" Sora asked, uneasy.
"He should. Piximon's a good Digimon."
"It's nice and cool under the cactus's shadow. Let's eat lunch here and rest, then move out," Tai suggested.
"Okay," came the chorus.
Under the blazing sun, the group pushed on. But the road didn't stay smooth.
A deep rumble swelled behind them, so out of place it made everyone look around.
"What's that sound?" Joe craned his neck, trying to locate it.
"Sounds like a ship's whistle. But this is a desert, right? How would there be a ship?" Izzy said, baffled.
"Nothing's impossible here. Remember, this is the Digital World. We saw phone booths and buses back on File Island," Tai said evenly.
"Then why's it getting louder?"
"Because it's getting closer."
"Closer?"
"Yeah."
Then came a scene you'd never see in the real world—a massive steel ocean liner plowing across the desert straight toward them. "A luxury cruise ship!" Joe's jaw dropped.
The giant liner ground to a halt in front of the kids.
"Numemon!" The ship eased to a stop not far away, and a Numemon in a sailor's cap popped up and peered at them curiously.
"Numemon, could we come aboard and rest for a bit?" Joe volunteered himself and tried to talk to it.
Joe was ignored.
"Leave this to me!" Mimi patted her chest, tidied her hair and hat, lifted her chin at a perfect forty-five degrees to flash a dreamy smile, pressed her hands together and turned on the sparkly eyes. Brimming with confidence, she called up, "Numemon! We're soooo tired. Can we please rest on your beautiful ship? Pretty pleeease!" The sugary lilt made Joe shiver, but the Numemon ate it up—the hearts in their eyes told the story. With a thud, a ladder slammed down, hurled into place by a swarm of Numemon now all heart-eyed, the far end hooking the top deck and the near end landing at the kids' feet. Proof that a pampered princess type is a hit in the Digital World: every neutral creature had a way of falling for Mimi Tachikawa's charms… though it would be much nicer if they weren't the kind that attack by throwing poop.
It was a true luxury ship, crammed with entertainment—pool, gym, basketball court, billiards room. Giddy, the kids split up in clumps, forgetting caution. Tai didn't stop them. Kokatorimon was just a Champion-level Digimon, and Agumon could now reach Ultimate—nothing to worry about. What they needed was a feast, a hot bath, a deep sleep—and then they'd deal with that overgrown chicken.
Inside the cabins, the gilded decor dazzled them—more luxury than grade-schoolers could put into words.
"It's really fancy," Sora breathed.
The two tidy, long-unbathed girls made a beeline for the baths and vanished. Tai, Izzy, Matt, Joe, and T.K. headed straight for the restaurant to eat. When they got there, they froze: white tablecloths stretched under mountains of dishes from all over the world, the sheer presence pulling at their eyes and stomachs.
Staring at heaping platters of meats and delicate pastries, Izzy, Matt, Joe, and T.K. swallowed hard, hesitating only because no one had asked the ship's owner for permission.
"It's not right to eat without asking first, is it?" Izzy said, awkward.
"But I'm starving," Matt's stomach growled on cue.
Tai didn't even look up. He sat, tied on a napkin, and—under the gaze of four kids and four Digimon—started eating with Agumon as casually as if he were at home. Etemon was footing the bill anyway—why be polite? He dug in without a second thought.
A bad example is still an example, and right now these kids hadn't seen a spread this rich in ages.
"Well, if they're being such generous hosts, we should accept," Izzy told himself.
Armed with that logic, Joe, Izzy, Matt, and T.K. dove in too. Chaos erupted: soup sloshed, pits skittered, bones flew, crumbs rained, utensils and cups clattered everywhere.
Once everyone was stuffed, the action shifted to the pool on the top deck, which soon turned into a party. The kids, naturally, enjoyed it.
A short distance from the pool, up on the ship's highest deck, a figure in a captain's uniform—hat shadowing his face—watched the kids and their Digimon through binoculars.
"DigiDestined, your fates are in my hands—Kokatorimon's hands!" Shedding the disguise, Kokatorimon dug a talon into the rail, flapped flightless wings, and crowed.
It tried to contact Etemon, but the monitor only spat static. Kokatorimon frowned.
"Forget it. I'll handle those kids myself and take their Crests." It turned to rally its Numemon crew.
"Numemon on shift! Double rations of Bulili taro and Bululu melons if you grab the DigiDestined for me!"
With a vicious grin, Kokatorimon moved to strike at the DigiDestined.
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