Chapter 26: The Trials Of 404 Island (Part 1)

The Elemental Four and the members of World For Us All had just been informed that Evander and his Digidestined Team had been taken captive to The Dark Area in Universe 616, to the dismay of their children. Emmett clenched his fist. "That Morty Shin….if he lays one finger on my mom…" He said in anger. Drusilla placed her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be ok. Don't forget that they're Digidestined too, and have been for decades. They don't need newbies like us worrying about them." Drusilla said. She was trying to sound like she wasn't worried at all, for Emmett's sake, but deep down, she was anxious too.

"Mr. Akiyama also informed me that they're probably helpless. The Demon Lords forced your parents to leave their digivices behind. So whatever level their Digimon partners are at - which is probably Rookie - won't be of much use." Mirei said. Drusilla sweatdropped. "Great. So much for comforting blondie here." She thought to herself. Taylor stood up again and looked at Mirei with a clenched fist. "Get us a Kommonodomon right away! We're going to rescue them!" Taylor said. Zoe Orimoto's eyes widened and she stood up quickly. She grabbed Taylor by the shoulders and forcibly turned her around. "You can't do that! Listen, my team and I fought a Lucemon when we were your age. It took everything we had just to bring that one Demon Lord down. Even as Susannoomon, we broke a sweat. These Digimon are not like anything you've ever faced before!" Zoe explained, not calmly. Kari also stood up and walked over to Taylor. "Zoe's right. And my team - err, one of my teams - faced a Daemon. We couldn't beat him with all our strength combined. The most we could do was seal him away in The Dark Ocean." Kari said. T.K frowned. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." T.K said. His wife shot him a strange look. How could he forget about that? Not only was that one heck of an experience, but he freaking wrote about it in one of his novelizations of their Digimon Adventures!

"And Yoshino and I also fought a Demon Lord once." Marcus said. "That's right. We fought a Belphemon." Yoshino said. Marcus smiled proudly and held up a fist. "Even 4 Megas and 2 Ultimates combined were no match for him. But my Agumon became ShineGreymon Burst Mode and took him down." Marcus said, before punching the air. Marcus' Agumon smiled. "Not to brag or anything, but yeah, I was the one to take Kurata and Belphemon down. Yep. That. was. me." He said, proudly. Yoshino rolled her eyes. "Are these two ever going to change?" She thought to herself.

Takato perked up a little. "Oh yeah! That's right! My friends and I fought a Beelzemon a long time ago. Even when Guilmon and I bio-merged to Gallantmon, it was still a close match! I had forgotten that that species is in the Demon Lord group." Takato said. Thankfully, that Beelzemon reformed himself and was now a friend to the tamers. He had killed Jeri's Leomon in the early stages of the battle, and he had spent the past twenty years trying to atone for that sin. Although he wasn't a member of the Demon Lords, the Mega form that Impmon attained was of the same species and, ergo, likely of comparable strength.

Taylor lowered her head. "I know how strong they are. I could probably tell you more about The Seven Demon Lords than anyone here, but….I can't just turn my back on my family." Taylor said. Rika came over and flicked Taylor in the forehead. "Hey, Goggle Head. We're not asking you too. But we need a plan rather than rushing in gung ho." Rika said.

Mirei pushed her glasses up, causing some slight to reflect from the lenses. She smiled. "I'm certain that if your Digimon could go to the Mega level, they would be able to defeat the Demon Lords with no problem." Mirei said. Emmett stood up and took his D-Eco out, clutching it tightly. "Do you have an idea of how we can do that?" Emmett asked. Mirei pushed her glasses up again, and again some more light refracted. "The power lies in your crests. If you become even more one with the natural elements like you did last time, your Digimon will be able to digivolve even further." Mirei replied.

"Look, I don't have time to go on another camping trip with Naturemon. My mom and dad need me!" Martin said.

"I know. I know. That's why we're going to speed things up a bit. Have you heard of Witchenly?" Mirei asked.

"That place that's pretty much like Hogwarts for Digimon?" Taylor asked.

"Right. The world that's like a side-dimension to the Digital World. For the uninitiated, it's where Digimon go to learn 'magic'. Well, it's not really magic. It's actually highly advanced coding that causes effects to occur in the digital world that seem magical. Some notable Digimon who come from there are Wizardmon and Witchmon. Natural rivals they are, but Wizardmon has mastered earth and fire magic while Witchmon has mastered water and wind magic. If you can contact them, they might train you." Mirei explained.

"And where are they?" Dovemon asked.

"We're right here!" Came a voice. Everyone's attention turned to the entrance of the room. A Wizardmon and Witchmon were standing side by side at the entrance. Kari's Gatomon frowned a bit. Many years ago, a Wizardmon was her best friend. In her universe, Myotismon tried to attack Kari with his Grizzly Wing attack. The Wizardmon who was Gatomon's friend blocked the attack and paid the ultimate price. Seeing another Wizardmon made her remember how much she missed her friend. Mirei smiled. "Wizardmon, Witchmon, right on cue." Mirei said, looking in their direction before turning back to look at the people in the audience. "These Digimon come from The Elemental Four's own version of the Digital World. They have a little village on an unknown island in the Digital World known as 404 Island. Name after messages you get when websites are unavailable." Mirei explained.

Dovemon tilted her head and put her wing up to her beak, looking interested. "Why is it called 404 Island?" She asked. Witchmon giggled a little, although it sounded more like a witch's cackle. "The answer to that question is because anyone who tries to go there will be instantly enveloped in fog and be made to wander until they end up miles away! It's a place in the Digital World that cannot be accessed." Witchmon explained. Wizardmon cleared his throat. "Well, not by normal means. If you know the right spell (i.e password), you can dispel the fog and approach the island like any other place in the Digital World." Wizardmon said.

Taylor looked down and put her index finger up to her lip. "So, it's like a secret server." She observed. Wizardmon snapped his fingers. "Exactamundo! The reason the island is like this is because of a spell I created!" He said in an excited tone of voice. Witchmon then hit him in the head. She had an angry expression on her face. "Excuse you! I'm the one who created that spell! Don't take credit for something you didn't do!" Witchmon chastised. Wizardmon rubbed the sore place on his head through the fabric of his hat. "Well…you came up with the code, but the fog barrier was my idea." Wizardmon said, trying to defend himself from plagiarism, but doing so in a very timid way. Witchmon looked away, closed her eyes, and folded her arms while scowling. "Don't you know that the execution is the most important part? Idiot." Witchmon said. The back cat sitting on Witchmon's shoulders sighed. "Now is not the time and place, you two." This cat was Witchmon's familiar spirit. It wasn't a Digimon nor an ordinary cat. It was more of a Digital Lifeform that differed from the Digimon, like the Digi-Gnomes in Takato's and Rika's version of The Digital World. There weren't many life forms like this in Taylor's version of the Digital World. The vast majority of them resided in the forests and mountains of Witchelny.

Martin and Drusilla got up from their chairs with their Digimon. "Then let's go get some training done." Martin said.

Mirei said "Before you go, I think you should know something about how the Red Stones came to be." Mirei then explained that an evil Digimon called Warlockmon from Witchenly created them, how he was exiled because the Council Of Wizards feared their power, and how Warlockmon fled to the Digital World with his spellbook containing instructions on how to make Red Stones. She then told them about a lone Digidestined who, with the help of partner Digimon; SorcererSuprememon, destroyed Warlockmon. Mirei adds that this lone Digidestined fought Warlockmon in the 1980s and when he returned, he marketed Digimon to Bandai. That's how it became a franchise in Taylor's universe. Then they left for 404 Island. First, they got inside of one of the interdimensional traveling Kommondomon that resided in the garage of World For Us All HQ. Then, once they were inside, the Kommondomon left World For Us All HQ into the inter-space of The Mother Universe; where all the "baby" universes resided. It was about a day's trip to Taylor's universe.

A day passed and the Kommondomon that Taylor, Sharkmon, Martin, Naturemon, Drusilla, Coalmon, Emmett, Dovemon, Witchmon, and Wizardmon were riding in arrived. However, it entered that universe's Digital World directly rather than first entering the physical world. From the inter-space of the Mother Universe, each universe appeared to be two bubbles stuck together. However, some universes had a smaller, third bubble attached to the side. This…was Witchelny. The Kommondomon came to a halt when it landed on the beach of the Folder Continent. They had arrived at Overflow Beach. When they landed, they kicked up quite a stir among various humans, mermaids, mermen, Felinciuses, Demi-Felinciuses, and, of course, Digimon.

Taylor, Sharkmon, Martin, Naturemon, Drusilla, Coalmon, Emmett, Dovemon, Witchmon, and Wizardmon exited the Kommondomon. Dovemon looked around, moving her head from left to right, right to left, and then left to right again. She had a confused expression on her face. "Is this 404 Island? Looks more like the resort on Overflow Beach the humans built." Dovemon said. Witchmon let out another cackle, which seemed to both startle and creep out the Digidestined and their Digimon. "That's because it is! Like I said, one does not simply walk onto 404 Island." She said. Witchmon's familiar spirit raised his right paw, indicating he had something to add. "What we're going to do is get on my master's boat and travel to 404 Island. Once we're in the fog, either she or Wizardmon will say the password to let us through." The spirit cat said.

Sharkmon jumped up and down. "Yay! A boat! Boat trip!" He exclaimed. Dovemon tilted her head again with a confused expression on her face. She put one of her wings up to her beak and asked. "I see what you're saying, but….who are you?" She asked. The spirit cat's eyes widened slightly. "Oh dear! How rude of me. My name is Tageor. I'm Witchmon's familiar spirit." He replied.

The group walked down the beach and found Witchmon's boat. It looked a little small to be carrying four people and six Digimon, but it was the only boat Witchmon had. It was anchored to the bay. There was a small booth near the docks attached to a larger, longer office. It was about the size of a small mobile home. Witchmon ran to the door, and turned back to look at the Digidestined and their Digimon. "I'll be back. I just need to pay the fee for having my boat docked here." Witchmon explained. Witchmon walked inside. There was a Gotsumon working the front desk. Witchmon walked up to the Gotsumon and laid some Digi-Dollars down on the desk. "Here you go, this should cover everything." Witchmon said. Gotsumon picked up and money and started counting it. When he was done, he looked over to Witchmon and shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm going to need 500 more DigiDollars." Gotsumon said. Witchmon gained a surprised facial expression and took a step back. Then she scowled and leaned forward with her fist clenched. "What!? The sign says 100 DigiDollars for docking! Can't you read!?" She yelled. "I can read, and if you'll look again, you'll see that it also says there's a 500 DigiDollar fine for having your boat docked past the time you signed up for." Gotsumon said, calmly. Witchmon clenched her fists some more and growled. Tageor sighed. "Take it easy, Witchmon. Just pay the extra 500 and let's go." He said. Tageor's vocal inflections always made it sound like he was tired or exacerbated. Maybe he was just fed up of always playing referee between her master and whoever ticked her off. "I'm not paying!" Witchmon said. Then she said something in Witchish and moved her hand forward, turning the Gotsumon into a toad!

Tageor sighed. "Not again. This is the 5th Digimon you've turned into a toad this week." He said. "Relax. It'll wear off in a few days….I think." Witchmon said. She then turned and walked out the door. Witchmon approached the Digidestined and their Digimon. Her previously angry demenor was now a more cheerful one. "Well, now that that's taken care of, let's go!" Witchmon said. The Elemental Four and their Digimon were all grimacing. Taylor's eye was twitching and a drop of sweat was going down her head. "Umm….is….everything ok?" She asked. "We heard screaming….and…croaking." Sharkmon said. Witchmon grinned brightly and waved her hand up and down. "Screaming? You must be imagining things!" Witchmon said. Tageor sighed. "That's right. You heard nothing. However, if you don't want to go on a fly diet, I suggest you do everything in your power to stay on my master's good side." Tageor said.

The four Digidestined and their four Digimon partners grimaced again. They looked scared. Everyone got on Witchmon's boat. Witchmon unhitched the boat and raised the anchor. "This is a sail boat? Isn't that a little….sluggish?" Drusilla asked, looking up at the large sail. Witchmon walked over to the very back of the boat and pointed her broom towards the sail. "Not for me it isn't. I suggest you all hold on tight if you don't want to be Tylomon food." Witchmon said. Everyone's eyes widened and they grabbed whatever they could to anchor themselves to the boat. Taylor grabbed the side railing as did Emmett, who was right beside her. Drusilla ran up and grabbed a hold of the sail. The partner Digimon just grabbed a hold of their legs. Wizardmon, by contrast, chanted a Witchish spell to create wooden shackles around his feet. The wooden shackles were attached to the actual wood of the boat. When Witchmon saw how frantic everyone was to grab hold of something, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh for Petermon's sake, did you think I'd take off before all of you were anchored down?" Witchmon said. They were hesitant to answer. They didn't want to tick her off. "Umm…..no?" Sharkmon replied. Witchmon sighed again. "Well, it seems you're all anchored down. So…." Witchmon said before sending a blast of wind out of her broom while shouting "Baluluna Gale!" The wind hit the sail and caused the boat to move forward at the pace of a speed boat! Witchmon grinned and said "Now this is the way to sail!" Witchmon then let out another cackle. Tageor sweatdropped.

After about 30 minutes, they arrived. A thick fog began to envelop the sailboat. Sharkmon looked down at his little claws. "Whoa! I can barely even see my claws in front of my face!" He said. Witchmon walked to the front of the boat with a serious expression on her face. "We're here. Now for the spell." She said. Witchmon then closed her eyes and clasped her hands. She began chanting in Witchish again, but….her concentration was interrupted by the sound of someone chewing! She stopped her incantation and quickly looked behind her. "Alright! Who's interrupting my concentration!?" Witchmon yelled angrily. Wizardmon was holding a pack of crackers in his hands. The front part of his cape that previously covered his face was pulled down under his chin and there were cracker crumbs all over his face. Wizardmon had a big sweat drop run down his face and he hastily hid the pack of crackers behind his back with his right hand. He coughed into his left hand and nervously said, "Yeah, who indeed? Confess!" while pointing his finger around. Witchmon caused the pack of crackers to levitate out of Wizardmon's hand and caused it to float into hers. Witchmon had an angry expression on her face. "WHY WERE YOU EATING CRACKERS AT SUCH A CRUCIAL TIME AS THIS!?" She screamed. Wizardmon sweat dropped again. "Umm….well….I was hungry." He replied nervously.

The Digidestined and their Digimon partners gave the two magical Digimon strange looks. "These jokers are the ones who are going to help us bond with the four elements?" Drusilla thought to herself. "These two fight like an old married couple." Emmett thought to himself. "I wonder if Wizardmon will share some of his crackers with me." Dovemon thought. "I wonder if Wizardmon has some hot dogs stashed away." Sharkmon thought.

Witchmon scoffed. "Idiot." She turned back around and once again closed her eyes, clasped her hands, and started chanting in Witchish again. However….this time, Wizardmon farted…loudly! Witchmon's eyes quickly shot opened and she turned around to face Wizardmon. She took her broom and started whacking her repeatedly with it. "ARE. YOU. TRYING. TO. KEEP. US. FROM. GETTING. HOME!?" Witchmon yelled angrily while smacking him. Wizardmon held up his hands in front of his face in a rather defensive posture. "I'm sorry, but these crackers aren't gluten free and gluten gives me gas!" Wizardmon said in between broom smacks. Witchmon had briefly stopped whacking him, but shortly resumed whacking him again. "THEN. WHY. DID. YOU. EAT. THEM!?" Witchmon screamed. "I WAS HUNGRY! I'M SORRY!" Wizardmon yelled.

The Digidestined and their Digimon partners gave the two magical Digimon strange looks yet again, like this Japanese emoji → (-_-;). "These two are something else." Drusilla thought. "I hope he doesn't rip any silent, but deadly ones." Coalmon thought. "Fart sounds are funny." Naturemon thought. "Hooot doooogs." Sharkmon thought as drool started to drip from his jaws.

Witchmon scoffed. "Idiot." She turned back around and once again closed her eyes, clasped her hands, and started chanting in Witchish again.

This time, Witchmon was not interrupted. The fog lifted and an island a mile off became visible. "There. That's more like it. Now we can get on with-" Witchmon said before being interrupted by another loud Wizardmon fart. Witchmon turned around and raised her broom up in the air about to strike Wizardmon. "Wizardmon, I swear to King Drasil! If your Digi-Butt interrupts me one more time….!" She angrily shouted. Wizardmon sweated a little and took a couple of steps back. "What do you expect me to do? Stick a cork up there?" He asked rhetorically, but still sounding nervous. "If you wouldn't mind!" Witchmon sarcastically responded. Tageor sighed. "I can't believe I have to put up with this for 8 more of my 9 lives." Tageor thought to himself.

Taylor nervously raised her hand, "Umm…can we go to the island now?" She asked, hoping to not annoy Witchmon by speaking to her and end up getting turned into a frog. Well, at least she'd continue to be an amphibious creature if she did get turned into a frog, but she wouldn't be as cute. Witchmon lowered her broom and sighed. "Right. Fine." Witchmon said before walking to the back of the boat. "Oh, master, did you manage to get those Feline Frisky Delight treats I heard existed in the human world while you were out?" Tageor said. Witchmon reached up and pet the ghostlike cat under the chin. "You know I did, Tageor." She said, now speaking in a much nicer tone. Tageor let out a happy meow. Tageor then blushed and looked back at the children. "Whoops. I should have expressed my joy without swearing. I forgot there are children present." Tageor said. Witchmon got to the back of the boat, turned around, and raised her broom up to the sail. Witchmon grinned. "Everyone grab onto something! Imma bout to Baluluna Gail this sucker again!" She said. Everyone grabbed onto the railing, the pole of the sail, and whatnot. "Everyone ready?" Witchmon asked. Wizardmon's wooden shackle spell had come undone. "Wait, I'm not-" Wizardmon began. However, he couldn't finish his sentence because while he was speaking, Witchmon shouted "Baluluna Gale!" and a big stream of wind blasted out of her broom at the sail. The boat once again moved forward at the pace of a speed boat. Wizardmon fell off the boat and into the water!

He watched as the sail boat raced towards the island. Wizardmon raised his fist and scowled. "Witchmon! Darn you!" He shouted. He didn't know if Witchmon could hear him, but he did hear some cackling as the boat got farther and farther from him.

Later, the children and their Digimon were inside of Witchmon's house on the island. It was a small wooden house with spider webs, cauldrons, and a nice set of table and chairs in the kitchen. On one side of the living room area potion bottles sitting on shelves, and on the other side were shelves lined with spell books. It looked like a house you would expect of a typical Halloween witch. They were sitting at the table having lunch. "Witchmon, do you always argue with Wizardmon?" Martin asked. "Not always. Sometimes we do battle." Witchmon asked. "Battle? Why?" Naturemon asked. They were all eating chicken salad sandwiches. Or at least that's what they appeared to be. The children and their Digimon were hoping these weren't contaminated with some magic potion that would turn them all into toads. After taking a bite of her sandwich, Witchmon pointed her finger (which was gloveless as she had taken her red gloves off to eat) out the window. "That Wizardmon and I go way back. Back in our school days, the two of us were both Impmons. He was always one step ahead of me in everything. He got better grades, more praise from the teachers, and he even digivolved before I did, having mastered earth and fire magic. Losing to him really makes my blood boil, so when I digivolved and graduated, I confronted Wizardmon and declared that he would be my eternal rival. Everything we do together, we make it a contest. That will include training you four.." Witchmon explained.

"But why are you so mean to him? Is it because you hate him?" Emmett asked.

"What!? I don't hate him! I uh….he just annoys me! That's all!" Witchmon said. She was blushing. Drusilla smirked. "Riiiiight." Drusilla thought to herself.

Wizardmon barged in through the door. Water was dripping off of his body. "Oh! Wizardmon! Where have you been?" Sharkmon asked. Wizardmon pointed at Witchmon. "You witch! You left me behind! I had to swim all the way to shore!" He said angrily. Witchmon tried to feign surprise. "Did I? Whoopsie!" She said.

When everyone had finished their meals, they went outside. They were standing on the beach, which wasn't far from the two magic using Digimon's houses. Wizardmon and Witchmon faced The Elemental Four and their Digimon. "Now that everyone has a full stomach, we should begin your training. Since my specialties are water and wind magic, I shall test Taylor and Emmett." Witchmon said. "And being master of earth and fire magic, Martin and Drusilla are who I will put through the ringer." Wizardmon said.

Witchmon pointed out to the sea. "Taylor, your trial will take place in the Net Ocean." Then Witchmon pointed up at the sky. They hadn't noticed it before, but there was a small town overhead sitting on a rock it was slightly adjacent to the island and was casting a shadow over the water. "Emmett, your trial will be in Sky Town. It's still a part of 404 Island, just not attached to the mainland…obviously." Witchmon said. Wizardmon pointed towards a forest behind his and Witchmon's houses. "Martin, your trial will be in Mystic Forest" He said before point up to a volcano at the center of the island. "And Drusilla, your trial will be at Magic Volcano."

They all nodded. "So when do we sta-" Taylor began to speak, but before she did, Witchmon had mounted her broom, scooped her and Sharkmon up her arms and took to the sky. Taylor looked surprised as did Sharkmon. "And here I thought Martin would be the one to sweep me off my feet!" Taylor joked. "I guess Witchmon wants to get started right away!" Sharkmon said. Witchmon flew over the ocean near the island. When she got out far enough, she dropped Taylor and sent her hurtling into the water below! However, she kept Sharkmon with her. The brown haired tween let out a yell as she fell down into the waters below. She managed to quickly pull her goggles over her eyes mid-fall. Splash! Taylor started sinking a bit, and then…panic set in! Taylor remembered that she could hardly swim in her human form. Her heart began racing and she instantly began trying to form gills and a tail. Nothing.

"No! Not again! I have to get my gills and tail! I might not make it back this time!" Taylor thought to herself. The tween mermaid continued to struggle to form her gill slits and tail. "No! It's not working! Wait, I haven't even taken my shoes and shorts off. I have to calm down. I'll never be able to concentrate while in such a panicked state." Taylor thought. Taylor calmly reached down and removed her shoes, one at a time. She let them sink into the water below. Then she reached down and grabbed the waistband of her shorts. The brown haired girl calmly slid the shorts off, revealing a brown loin cloth that covered her unseeables. Taylor let go of them once they were freed and just allowed them to float up to the surface. Taylor kept her t-shirt on. Her only goal at this point was to free her lower half to form a tail. Things like shoes and pants got in the way. Even underwear got in the way. That's why mermaids and mermen wore loin cloths or skirts instead. There needed to be no cloth going between the legs or else transformation would either be halted or the garments would rip apart. Once she was able to breathe and swim again, then she could remove the t-shirt.

Taylor closed her eyes and tried to relax every muscle in her body. "Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrated Orange juice is now 20% off at Nakano Broadway. Wait! No. Concentrate." Taylor thought to herself. In a matter of seconds, Taylor's legs went from being fleshly to scaly. Then, they fused together and formed one single scaly tail, with two fins at the bottom. Gill slits appeared on Taylor's neck. When Taylor saw the tail, she took a deep breath. "Finally. Just in time. I almost didn't make it." Taylor said. Being suddenly dropped into deep water without already being in mermaid form always freaked her out. It didn't happen many times, but when it did, she would be unable to shift forms. Once, when she was 5, she accidentally slipped and fell into one of the neighbor's swimming pools and almost drowned. Fortunately, her dad saw her and jumped in and pulled her out before it was too late. Taylor thought about this incident, and then thought about when ChelseaGizumon tried to drown her before…and came very close to succeeding! Taylor could swim perfectly as a mermaid. As a mermaid, the water felt like home. As a human, it felt like a suffocating abyss that sought her life. She could recall 8 times where she almost drowned like this. Either slipping into a pool, falling off a boat, or being forcibly dragged under by a Gizumon/Mermaid hybrid. This may seem like a lot, but when one spends as much time near the water as Taylor, it really isn't. Not one of these times was she able to rescue herself by assuming a tail, but this time, she succeeded. Taylor thought about all of this while she floated in the water, breathing in and out.

Then she looked over at her shorts which had her Digivice in it. Taylor swam over and grabbed her Digivice. She looked on the back and her Crest Of Water was starting to glow. Not by much, but slightly. Taylor smiled. "I see. So I guess this means I passed the first part of the test." Taylor thought aloud.

Then, Taylor heard a voice. It sounded like Witchmon's, but it was more like it was inside her mind then going into her ears. "You have now passed the first test, but there are plenty more to activate your crest. Now, ten flags scattered about for you to read. Collect them all for your partner is in dire need. Get the flags within the allotted time, otherwise they'll disappear. I'm running out of rhyme. There will be no time to catch your breath, collect the flags or Sharkmon will taste death."

Taylor thought about the message she heard. "Based on my interpretation, it sounds like I have to collect all the flags in order to find out where Sharkmon is. If I don't, he'll die. But…would Witchmon really do that?" Taylor said. Then, ten flags appeared in front of Taylor. They were large, but the poles they were hanging on weren't very tall. Each flag was about a football field's length away from another. "I have to catch them all, or they'll disappear. But…how much time do I have?" Taylor asked. The voice returned. "Whoops! My bad! 5 minutes." Taylor's eyes widened and she gasped. "5 Minutes!? There's no way I'll be able to traverse that much distance in time!" She exclaimed. Taylor then got a determined look on her face. "No time to catch my breath." She said, remembering that part of Witchmon's rhyme. She took off swimming as fast as she could, her tail moving up and down as fast as Taylor could make it.

It took Taylor about a minute and a half at her top speed to reach one of the flags. "I got one!" Taylor said cheerfully. "Three minutes and thirty seconds left." came Witchmon's voice. Taylor looked disturbed. "I….used a minute and a half just getting one flag!?" Taylor thought to herself. At this rate, she'd never get to Sharkmon in time. Taylor did the calculations in her head. It was simple first grade level math. If Taylor took a minute and a half to get one flag, and there were ten flags in total, how much time would she need to get all ten flags? 15 Minutes! That was way more time than Witchmon had allowed her. "What am I going to do!? I don't know if Witchmon will actually kill Sharkmon or not. In fact, this whole trial reminds me of the trial my mother went through to acquire her Crest of Affection which was overseen by a Shellmon. But even if Sharkmon will be safe, I still don't want to fail the test. Witchmon might not let me try again! I have to find a way to become faster!" Taylor thought to herself.

Suddenly, Taylor had a flashback to a relatively recent time when her grandmother Victoria came to visit her from the United States. Victoria was an elderly mermaid. She sat on Taylor's bed next to her and told her some stories from when she was Taylor's age. Victoria's orange hair was now completely gray and she wore glasses from her worsening eyesight. This event took place only a few months before Taylor met Sharkmon. "You really look up to your mother, don't you?" Victoria asked her granddaughter. Taylor grinned and let out a giggle. "I sure do, Granny Vickie! She's the coolest! She can make a trident appear out of seemingly nowhere! She can control marine life and this even includes Deep Savers Digimon! She possesses the powers of hydrogenesis, hydrokinesis, and even hydro-cryokinesis! She's like a super hero!" Taylor said enthusiastically. But then her face fell and her enthusiasm dampened. "I wish I could do all those cool things." Taylor said in a sad tone of voice. Victoria let out a chuckle. "Yes, me too, child. Me too. Sadly, as you know, the power of Sebastian Poseidon skips a generation. But…" Victoria said. Taylor's curiosity was piqued. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "But…?" She prompted. "But…even though you'll never manifest Poseidon's powers, that doesn't mean you won't have unique abilities of your own."

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked.

"Just as many humans have special talents, so do mermaids. Some humans can speed read and others can't. Some have photographic memories, while some can't even remember what they had for lunch. There are basic abilities all humans possess such as walking and talking, but then there are special abilities. Merfolk are no different." Victoria replied.

Taylor's disappointed demeanor turned excited again. On her bed, she got on her hands and knees and leaned in towards her grandmother with the most excited expression on her face. "What kind of special abilities are you talking about!? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Taylor said enthusiastically.

"Well, for one, there's speed swimming. Although you'll never be able to reach the speeds your mother can, some mermaids can activate a hidden ability deep within their genes. They can go up to 100 miles per hour. As you can see, it's not as impressive as breaking the sound barrier like your mother, but that's faster than most speed boats! Foolish young mermaids who would visit Earth in its past eras would use this ability to flee from men who would seek to capture them. " Victoria explained.

When the flashback ended, Taylor got a determined look on her face. She took her aquamarine short sleeved shirt off revealing her black tube top underneath. She tossed it to the side and clenched her fist. "It may be a long shot, but I have to try." Taylor said.

Taylor took off swimming again at top speed. She was trying to swim faster and faster, but she couldn't seem to exceed her previous top speed. "Come on, tail! Move faster! Up and down! Up and down!" Taylor thought to herself.

50 feet above the water, Witchmon sat on her broom stick, looking down at the water while frowning. "At this rate, she'll fail the test." Witchmon said. Her familiar spirit Tageor whispered something in her ear. Witchmon grinned.

Back under the water, Taylor was making her way to another flag. Sadly, she wasn't going any faster than she previously was. "Two minutes and 23 seconds left." Came Witchmon's voice. Taylor was beginning to get concerned. Maybe this speed swimming thing wasn't a talent she had. Just then, a gruff masculine voice from behind her said, "Yummy! Lunch!" and another said "She looks too pretty to eat, but dang it if I aint starvin'!" Taylor looked back to see two Piranimon tailing her. "Piranimon! Ultimate level Digimon! Virus types. This Digimon often travels to large schools. They use their Cruel Invitation attack to impale their prey with their hooklike tails and drag them under the water." Taylor said. "Hey, you're pretty smart! Maybe you'll be brain food!" One of the Piranimon said. "Well, you certainly need it." Said the other Piranimon. "Yeah, you're ri-Hey!"

The Piranimon were gaining on her. Taylor was still swimming towards the second flag. "If I don't do something quick, I'll be sleeping with the fishes!" Taylor said. One of the Piranimon had now gotten VERY close. He opened up his jaw and was about to take a huge bite out of the base of Taylor's tail. Taylor felt a surge of energy suddenly flow through her and then…she took off like an underwater missile! She left a stream of bubbles behind her as she swam through the ocean. "I….I'm doing it!" Taylor then grabbed the second flag, then the third, then the fourth, and then the fifth. She was halfway done collecting the flags. Witchmon's voice came into her mind again and said "One minute left." Taylor then increased her speed even more! She managed to grab up to 9 flags! While she was on her way to the tenth, she heard Witchmon's voice counting down;

"10…9…8…7…6…"

Taylor swam towards the final flag. Her speed exceeded even that of the average speed boat! She was traveling at up to 100 miles per hour!

"5…4…3…2…"

Taylor grasped the last flag right as Witchmon uttered the last second in the countdown; "1." Taylor then let herself float in the water for a second. All that swimming at such high speeds was exhausting. Taylor looked down at her D-Eco. In the round slot in the back where her Crest Of Water was tightly nestled, Taylor could see that her crest was now glowing even more brightly. Taylor giggled. "So…water we going to do next?" Taylor asked. "Well, first you should stop making bad puns. There's still more to do to save Sharkmon's buns. Decode the message on the collected flags. On your way, seduce the scallywags. 5 minutes were given to unlock your first mermaid power, but this time I'll give you up to an hour. Head to where the flags say to go. How to end this with a rhyme? I don't know."

Taylor laid the flags out in front of her. Each flag had a number on the front and a single word on the back. Taylor figured that she should arrange the flags according to their number, so she laid them all face down on the ocean floor. This was the message that the ten flags made;

"Go to the cavern one mile to the east. *cackles*"

Taylor's face looked like (-_-;) emoji again. Was "*cackles*" really necessary to put on the final flag? Taylor took out her D-Eco digivice. She looked down and saw that there was a compass app on it. "I thought I saw a compass app on here, and I was right. Izzy really went the extra mile with that upgrade." Taylor said aloud. She then turned east. "So, I just need to travel one mile in this direction until I find a cavern. Should be easy enough…I hope." Taylor said.

"There's our pretty little snack!" Taylor jerked to see that the two Piranimon that had pursued her had now caught up to her again!