The Crest of Courage

"Heh, you think I'd tell you?" Faced with Wisemon's question, Etemon bared a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, his expression full of defiance.

"Oh? So you're feeling brave, are you?"

At Etemon's reply, Wisemon raised his greatsword to a ninety-five-degree angle again.

"...Damn it!"

"Love Beam!"

Etemon knew it wouldn't work, but that didn't stop him from using the move to distract Wisemon.

Bang!

Etemon's special move was deflected again.

"Trying to gross me out, huh? Don't you love singing? Come on, sing me... 'Where Does the Road Lead?'" Wisemon knocked the struggling Etemon flat again, then tapped the side of his face with the greatsword in a threatening gesture.

"I... I don't know that one..."

If singing a song was all it took to get himself released, that actually fit his personal interests perfectly. The problem was... he really didn't know how to sing this song!

Clearly, he still wasn't passionate enough!

If only he'd learned a few more songs back then, he wouldn't have found himself in such a predicament today...

Thump!

"You can't even sing 'Where Does the Road Lead?' And you have the nerve to say you love singing and dancing?"

Bang!

"You're a disgrace to that hide of yours!"

"Enough! Why don't you teach me? I can learn it right here!"

After taking two blows in a row, Etemon's eyes flashed viciously. He bared his teeth and, with a crazed expression, delivered that remarkably defiant line.

Bang!

"Who's telling whom to sing here? Do you have any idea who's in control right now?" Faced with Etemon's request, Wisemon swung his sword again.

Are you kidding? With Wisemon's deep, tone-deaf voice, wouldn't singing just make a fool of me on the spot?

Whoosh!

Thud!

Just then, Etemon, who had looked so cowed a moment earlier, used the force of Wisemon's sword strike to dart over to a nearby tanker truck.

Eyeing the lumbering Monochromon, Etemon kicked him straight at Wisemon.

"Dark Spirit Ball!"

"Dark Spirit Ball!"

Knowing Monochromon could only slow Wisemon down a little, Etemon fired two more special attacks at Wisemon as he fled!

Boom! Boom!

When the dust settled, Wisemon could see nothing else moving besides Monochromon, whom Etemon had hurled at him like a punching bag.

It wasn't that Etemon had escaped particularly quickly. The main problem was his conveniently colored hide. His yellow fur blended into the desert around them, and once he burrowed into the sand amid the chaos, finding him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Wisemon had gotten careless after all. He hadn't expected such a bizarre Digimon as Etemon to learn how to use his surroundings.

Although he knew Etemon was probably hiding nearby, Wisemon had no intention of searching every inch of ground. Etemon still had his uses anyway, so he would let him off this time. After all, the main cast still needed him to drive things forward.

Whoosh!

Ignoring Monochromon, who lay on the ground playing dead, Wisemon lingered no longer. He turned and hurried toward his main body's location.

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

Beyond the waterfall, at another exit inside the cave.

"So this is a Crest?"

Tai looked utterly bewildered as the pattern on the wall shrank into a Crest and automatically slotted into his Tag...

We found it just like that???

"Does finding the Crest mean Agumon can evolve to Perfect now? Then we won't have to be afraid of that Etemon." Looking at the Crest and Tag on Tai's chest, Joe immediately thought of Etemon, who was locked in a fierce battle with Wisemon on the other side of the waterfall.

With so many companions in tow, everyone had followed the Koromon to evacuate for safety while Wisemon and Etemon bombarded each other outside. That way, if Wisemon couldn't win, they wouldn't become a burden that prevented his retreat.

But now Tai's Agumon could evolve to Perfect too. That meant they could pit two fighters against Etemon alone. Why would they need to retreat anymore?

"Evolving to Perfect, huh... Agumon, do you feel anything?" Looking at the Crest on his chest, Tai felt excited, but aside from that, he didn't seem to feel any different...

"Feel anything...? I'm so hungry..."

At Tai's question, Agumon rubbed his stomach and answered honestly.

Everyone: "..."

"That's not what I meant! I'm asking whether you feel anything special, like the feeling you get when you evolve!"

After seeing Wisemon and Etemon's fighting power, Tai would have been lying if he said he wasn't envious. Now that he had his Crest, there was no reason not to see Agumon's Perfect evolution for himself.

"Uh, nope!"

Agumon's answer was very straightforward...

Tap, tap, tap...

Clink, clink, clink...

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the passage behind them...

"Who's there?"

"Could Etemon have found us?"

"Damn it, everyone, run!"

Everyone knew Wizardmon had only recently evolved into Wisemon, so it was hardly surprising that their first assumption was that Etemon had chased after them.

"All right, don't get so worked up. You can tell from the footsteps that Wisemon's back. He's wearing armor, after all, so there's a metallic clinking sound when he walks."

Unlike the panicking children, Zhou Zhu, who could see from both perspectives, naturally knew who was coming.

"Wisemon?"

Although Joe didn't know how Zhou Zhu knew, his answer finally eased Joe's nerves.

"Did Wisemon win?"

Hearing that it was Wisemon, Izzy furrowed his brow.

How exactly does Digimon fighting strength work? Wisemon only evolved a little while ago...

"Then that Etemon who calls himself the king isn't all that impressive, huh?"

Tentomon seemed to have forgotten how he had trembled under Etemon's relentless bombardment earlier.

"You don't think he's impressive, huh? Then why didn't you go fight him earlier?" Gomamon looked utterly speechless at Tentomon's remark.

"Huh? It really is Wisemon! Thank goodness!"

As Wisemon emerged from the shadows, Mimi cheered too.

"I wouldn't call it a win. I only drove him off for now. We'd better leave this trouble spot quickly. Etemon might come after us any minute." Looking at the children and the large group of Koromon behind them, Wisemon didn't reveal the actual outcome of the battle. After all, judging by the original story, the main cast still needed this incident to spur them on toward obtaining their remaining Crests.

If he carelessly altered the plot here, and the main cast hadn't even collected all the Crests needed for Perfect evolution by the time they faced Apocalymon, they would be doomed.