Locomon sped to a full stop, at a small train station that was outside of a forest, miles away from all the chaos. Everyone got out, looking around curiously at the quiet forest scenery.
"Uh...Where exactly are we now?" Logan asks.
"Hey, I thought these train stations usually got off at towns and cities?" Terriermon asks, looking confused as he turns to Locomon. "Locomon, isn't there supposed to be a town or something around here?"
"I don't know, I could've sworn there was a village around here..." Locomon says, looking around. "I'm just the ride though, so I wouldn't know. Try looking around for it, I guess." Before anyone can respond to Locomon, he closes his doors, quickly speeding off.
"Hey, look at this..." Lily points to a jagged stake in the ground, looking like the top half of it was ripped out.
"Whoa...You think a sign used to be here?" Blaine asks, staring at it.
"...Maybe..." Lily responds.
"So, about that Demondestined kid, Alec..." Allison curiously looks to Jake. "Was he just like, hiding on the train the whole time?"
"Yeah, but he jumped off after the fight..." Jake says, looking around. "I...Don't think he should be anywhere near us. Plus, he also had a tag and crest, just like mine...And said he could also Digivolve to ultimate."
"Whoa, seriously?" Blaine looked a bit shocked by this statement, looking away. "Urgh, those Demondestined are a bigger threat then I thought...It's like they've got pretty good control over the land too."
"Maybe we should hurry up and find that village Locomon was talking about..." Veemon adds.
"Yeah, you're right...We should hurry before the Demondestined find us again." Lily says, as everyone starts walking into the forest.
"You guys really think there's a village all the way out here?" Logan asks.
"Let's just hope so..." Blaine says. Everyone sees a cobblestone path, walking down the path, leading through a pretty forest view, everyone admiring it as they walked.
"Wow...This forest really looks beautiful..." Lily says. The forest had a quiet nature to it, and with the tall trees, they couldn't see the dark red sky, but it was somehow still bright, which was a nice, calm break for everyone compared to the previous chaos from earlier.
"Hey! Over there, there's a lake!" Veemon points to the distance, everyone running over to the end of the path, which leads to a view of a beautiful lake. Everyone pauses, admiring the sparkling water.
"I don't like this..." Terriermon frowns, crossing his arms. "There's something weird going on here!"
"Terriermon, what are you talking about?" Jake asks.
"He's kind've got a point, actually..." Lily says. "Almost feels like the village would be...Right here..."
"I think you're right..." Blaine looks back towards the path. "That path was specifically carved to lead to something...Right here..."
"Yeah...And that broken stake at the train station? It looks like it was a sign that got torn in half." Logan adds.
"Yeah! I think there used to be a village in this very spot, but it's gone now!" Terriermon says. Everyone is unsure of what to think about this, exchanging confused glances.
"Wait, seriously? So it just like, disappeared into thin air or something?" Jake asks, confused.
"You could be right." A voice agrees with them, but it didn't come from any of the group members, everyone looking around for the source of the voice...
...As he steps out from behind some bushes, alongside a Digimon.
"...Or there could've never been a village here at all. Who knows." The boy causually shrugs, everyone cautiously backing away from him.
"Wha...Are you another one of the Demondestined?" Lily asks, the boy nodding yes.
"Sure am. Names Russell." Russell responds, causally showing off his Digivice in his pocket.
"And I'm Syakomon! Nice to meet you!" Syakomon happily hops up and down. Everyone nervously keeps their gazes fixated on the two, backing away even more.
"So...Anyone wanna fight?" Russell casually asks. Nobody responds to him as he pauses, looking towards the lake.
"...Look at this lake. Water is Syakomon's speciality, so this'll be a difficult fight for one of you." Russell states. Everyone exchanges confused glances, turning to each other.
"Uh...Who's gonna fight him?!" Logan whispers.
"I nominate Jake for this one." Allison says.
"What?! I-I don't want to! Terriermon could still be tired from the last fight!" Jake says. Everyone argued back and forth in a hushed tone, not even realizing that Hoshi and Russell had their gazes fixated on one another, lightly glaring.
"I'll do it." Hoshi says.
"Woah...You sure about this?" Logan asks.
"Yeah...I wanna do more for the group." Hoshi says, Jake patting him on the shoulder.
"We get it. Good luck." Jake says, Hoshi nodding.
"Yay! This is gonna be fun! Let's do this!" Syakomon hops happily, jumping into the lake.
"KUDAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...REPPAMON!!"
"SYAKOMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."
"...GESOMON!!"
"RAAAGHH!!" Gesomon roars, popping out of the water with a splash. Gesomon towered over Reppamon, being over twice the size, but Reppamon still kept their confident ground.
"DEADLY SHADE!!" Gesomon sprays a blast of black ink at Reppamon, who growls in pain as the ink sticks to their eyes, making them unable to see. Reppamon tries flailing their head around to get it off, but to no avail. Gesomon then grabs Reppamon with one tentacle, roughly slamming them under the water multiple times. Reppamon flailed their body, trying to escape Gesomon's grip.
"Reppamon, use your tail to get out!!" Hoshi calls to them.
"Urgh...RAZOR WIND!!" Reppamon wildly flails their tail, roughly cutting Gesomon's tentacle as they're finally released from his grip. Reppamon then jumps to the surface... Somehow running away, as Reppamon runs on the water's surface, rapidly zigzagging away, everyone gasping at this.
"Woah...Reppamon can walk on water?!" Logan says, with shock. Gesomon watches Reppamon run around the lake, then quickly diving underwater, out of sight. Reppamon stands completely still on the water, trying to listen to where Gesomon is.
"Reppamon, you gotta get outta there!" Hoshi calls. Reppamon then starts dashing to the other side of the lake...
SPLASH!! But then, Gesomon grabs them, pulling Reppamon underwater. The two are both out of sight for a long, uncomfortable moment...As ink starts bubbling up from the water...
WHAP!! And Kudamon is powerfully thrown out of the water, roughly landing in Hoshi's grasp, as Gesomon also crawls out of the water, revering back to Syakomon.
"Whoa...We actually...Won?" Russell had a stunned expression, before giving a small smile. The rest of the group was just as stunned by this defeat, before glaring at Russell, stepping forward.
"You gotta be kidding me...Ugh, let me at him next!" Allison grumbles.
"No...Let me!" Veemon chimes in.
"No, ME!!" Terriermon says. Everyone starts arguing back and forth, on who to fight Russell next...
"Hey, it's fine." But Russell puts his hand out, halting everyone's speech. "It's ok. That one fight is all I wanted." Before anyone can respond, Russell and Syakomon walk away, out of sight as they walk through the bushes, everyone looking at eachother with confusion.
"Uh...Is Kudamon ok?" Blaine asks.
"Yeah...I think so." Hoshi says quietly.
"I think they just need to rest now." Lily chimes in.
"...Hey...You guys..." Suddenly then, out of nowhere, an unfamiliar voice calls to the group. Everyone looks around for the source of the voice, and surprisingly, see a hand coming out of the water.
"Apologies. I must conceal myself so the evil ones can't see me." The voice says.
"What the...Who the heck are you?" Jake asks, confused. "And what do you mean?" The voice doesn't respond, only snapping his fingers as sparkles come out of the hand, the colorful sparkles circling the group for a moment, before disappearing.
"...Come step inside the water, if you want to find out." The voice says. Everyone exchanges glances, unsure of what to do.
"It's ok. I activated a spell, so you all can access our village. It's safe, I promise you. I sense you all have good hearts, so I trust you all...And hopefully, you the same for me." Everyone continues thinking, before finally nodding at each other, making their decision, as they all step into the water...Fading out of sight.
Sometime later...
Russell and Syakomon walked through the forest, with a happy, confident stride.
"Man...Syakomon, I can't believe we won against the Digidestined that easily!" Russell says, a smile on his face.
"I know! I totally kicked Reppamon's butt!" Syakomon cheers.
"Yeah...I think I'm getting much better as a Demondestined..." Russell says.
"You sure are...It's definitely a turnaround from when we first met!" Syakomon says. Russell chuckles, starting to reminisce.
"Yeah...It sure is..."
Flashback...
It was a chilly afternoon in the city of Yellowknife, Canada, as Russell, alongside his four other siblings, ran to their front doorsteps after school, walking into the house.
"Hey, kids!" Their parents were there, happily greeting the kids the second they walked in. "How was school everyone?" Their dad asks.
"Awesome! I just got my grades back, and I have all A's!" Russell's older sister says.
"Yeah! And we both joined the soccer team!" One of Russell's older brothers says.
"And I became the captain!" Another brother brags.
"And I did super good on my test today!" Russell's little sister says, jumping up happily. Both the parents happily congratulated all the kids...Paying attention to everyone but Russell, who only stood among everyone awkwardly and silent.
"Russell, sweetheart, could you, um, take out the trash for us?" His mom asks.
"Uh, sure..." Russell says quietly, quickly walking outside away from the others. Russell holds the bag of trash over the bin, sighing to himself.
"Oh, big bag of trash...I relate to you more then anyone." Russell says to himself, before stuffing the bag in the bin, closing it. Russell then feels sadness welling through him, as he slowly trudges to the lake behind his house, sitting in front of it.
"...Nobody ever cares about me..." Russell mumbled to himself. "It's always the others...They're so much better then I am. If I was like them...Mom and dad would actually notice me...." Russell sadly looked down at the lake water, at his reflection...Not even noticing that there was a Digital World portal behind him, Syakomon right between the portal and Russell, as he quickly sneaked up on him...
...And clamping his shell down on Russell's head, slowly pulling him into the portal, as Russell flails around, letting out a muffled scream...Before getting pulled in, the portal quickly disappearing. Syakomon then releases his grip on Russell, who falls to the ground with a horrified expression.
"What the...What's happening?! A-are you kidnapping me?!" Russell asks.
"No, silly! My names Syakomon! And this is the Digital World!" Syakomon happily smiles. "You don't have to introduce yourself, I already know your name Russell!"
"WHAT?! How?!"
"Hey look, it's the new kid!" Russell hears Alec's voice calling from the front door of the castle, who runs up to Russell, shortly followed by Rosalie and Lila.
"Sweet...Names Rosalie, nice to meet you kid." Rosalie smiles.
"And I'm Alec, one of the greatest Demondestined by far!" Alec boasts.
"Hell yeah...Welcome to the Demondestined, kid. Names Lila." Lila says.
"Huh...Demondestined?" Russell whispers under his breath, in confusion.
"So...Who wants to take on the duties of mentoring him?" Rosalie asks.
"Not me! I ain't doing that!" Alec says.
"Christ Alec, you are so damn lazy." Lila rolls her eyes.
"Mentor me...Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Russell asks.
"Well, now that you're part of the Demondestined, Elijah wants you to be mentored, so you do all this ruling stuff right...Or some shit like that, I don't know." Lila says, shrugging. Russell looked very uncomfortable and scared by everyone, standing up as he backs away from the group.
"Look...I have no idea what you all are talking about, and what the heck's going on here...But I don't want any part of it." Russell turns around, walking away from the group as they look confused.
"What...You're already leaving so soon?" Rosalie asks.
"Pfft...Your lose then, weirdo." Lila scoffs.
"Wait, Russell, where are you going?" Syakomon calls to him, following him. "Come back!" Russell keeps running, Syakomon continuing to follow as he runs into some woods, the two eventually stopping when they get corned by a lake.
"Russell, what are you doing?" Syakomon asks. Russell turns to him, with an upset expression.
"Getting away from here! I don't want to be a part of this cult or whatever the heck this is supposed to be!" Russell says.
"A...Cult? What are you talking about?" Syakomon asks, confused.
"This is obviously a cult of some sort! How else would you explain kidnapping me and bringing me here the way you did?!" Russell says, Syakomon looking a bit guilty.
"Oh...Sorry about that..." Syakomon says. "I didn't know how else to bring you here..."
"Did...Did my parents make you do this?" Russell says, his voice getting low.
"No...What do you mean by that?" Syakomon asks.
"I know they like my siblings better then me..." Russell sighs. "So maybe I do deserve this...To belong here instead." A silence grows between them as Russell sits down by the lake, looking down at it. Syakomon sighs, putting his Digivice and tag and crest on the grass.
...Then, the Digivice starts to glow a bit.
"...Russell, your parents didn't bring you here...I did! Cause I want you to be my partner, and part of the Demondestined!" Syakomon says.
"But...Why me? My siblings would be much better at this than me..." Russell mumbles. "They're better at me...At everything..." The Digivice then starts glowing even brighter, Syakomon looking at the light.
"Russell...I can feel your pain." Syakomon says. "Your pain and...Jealousy...Over your siblings."
"...Yeah..." Russell sighs. "It's just that, no matter what I do, my siblings are always the ones who overshadow me, and whatever I can do, they can do it ten times better...Even my little sister, she's way younger than me and has accomplished so much more then I ever could. I just...Wish I had the talents that they had...Then I do better at life...And be more noticed. Even they'd probably make for better Demondestined then I could."
"Aw, Russell..." Syakomon mutters. "But I brought you here for a reason...I see the strength and potential in you, not your siblings."
"...Really?" Russell looks back at Syakomon, with a surprised expression.
"RAAAAGHH!!" Suddenly then, out of nowhere, a BlackGrowlmon pops out of the water, with a loud roar as he steps closer to Russell.
"RUSSELL! GET AWAY FROM HIM!!" Syakomon yells, but Russell doesn't budge, only sadly hanging his head down.
"No...Maybe I do deserve this..." Russell mutters.
"Russell, don't worry..." Syakomon hops between the two, as the Digivice glows even brighter, and rumbles. "...I'll protect you!"
"SYAKOMON DIGIVOLVE TO...GESOMON!!"
"DEADLY SHADE!!" Gesomon immediately sprays BlackGrowlmon in the face, who stumbles back, tripping into the lake. Russell looks up and admires Gesomon, as Gesomon grabs BlackGrowlmon, pulling him under the water. The two are underwater for a moment....Before BlackGrowlmon is suddenly thrusted upwards into the air...
"DEADLY SHADE!!" And one last shot is blasted at him, before poofing to dust.
"Whoa..." Russell stares in wide eyed shock, as Gesomon crawls out of the lake, reverting back to Syakomon.
"Russell...That was thanks to you, that I was just able to Digivolve!" Syakomon says happily.
"Woah...Seriously?" Russell looks in disbelief, pausing as he looks back at the Digivice.
"Yeah! And...If you want to, we can do even more together as a team...If we go back to the castle, and become Demondestined!" Russell looked genuinely surprised, in silentl deep thought for a long moment...Before he finally smiled at Syakomon, giving his answer.
"Alright then...Let's go."
End of flashback...
"I'm glad you were there for me that day, Syakomon." Russell smiles, finally done with the reminiscing. "And Rosalie too, of course. She helped us out a lot with the mentoring."
"Yeah! I'm glad we're friends, Russell." Syakomon smiles back.
"Yeah...Me too." Russell agrees. "Let's agree to become even stronger...Together."