Big Mouthmon

"Ahhh!" Sora Takenouchi let out a terrified scream as she woke.

"What? What happened?" Roused by the noise, Gomamon hurriedly looked around.

"Biyomon, digivolve! Biyomon!" Biyomon had only just woken up too, but failed to digivolve.

"Biyomon, Gomamon, we're in trouble. The Digivice is gone," Sora said.

"How could that happen? Wasn't it still here when we went to sleep last night?" Gomamon asked.

"No way. Sora, without the Digivice, I can't digivolve into the Champion-level Birdramon." At Sora's words, Biyomon practically went limp. Just look at Gomamon-without Joe Kido around, Gomamon had been little more than a spectator from start to finish.

"The Digivice must still be somewhere. Maybe someone took it." Sora calmed down after a moment and carefully analyzed the situation.

"Hold on. Let me think about which Digimon are here. The footprints I saw while gathering food yesterday should have belonged to Triceramon, Big Mouthmon, Panicmon... There were marks on the trees too, so Etemon and Woodpeckermon must be here..." Sora counted them off on her fingers. "The tracks Mastiffmon left were older, and we already saw Mastiffmon on the last island. There's Big Mouthmon too. But Big Mouthmon said they digivolved together from three Little Mouthmon, so there are probably two more Big Mouthmon here. And..."

While Sora analyzed the situation, the others kept busy too. As Sora's partner Digimon, Biyomon could sense the traces she had left behind and retraced her route from the previous day to see whether she had dropped the Digivice somewhere. Gomamon circled their campsite, sniffing around for clues. Unfortunately, they were already quite far from the water. Otherwise, with Gomamon's natural affinity for Digimon of the Deep Savers, those Digimon would not have minded answering a few questions.

"Right. We can go find Big Mouthmon. If there's only one, we can lay a trap and catch him by the sea," Sora said firmly.

"But Sora, what if there are two Big Mouthmon? Even if we fight in the water, Big Mouthmon is still a Champion-level Digimon," Gomamon argued. Although Big Mouthmon could not fly with wet wings, Gomamon would clearly have to do most of the fighting at sea. A Rookie fighting a Champion was practically suicide, even if that Champion was weakened.

"Sora, let's think of another way," Biyomon urged too. "Maybe there's a Sukamon here." Biyomon was willing to try anything to talk Sora out of it.

"It'll be fine. We'll go take a look. If there are two Big Mouthmon here, we'll cancel the plan immediately. If there's only one, we'll proceed as planned." With Sora putting it that way, Biyomon and Gomamon could only follow her arrangements.

Unfortunately, the three Big Mouthmon brothers had been separated by the meddling of Devimon and the god of Infinite Mountain. That was fortunate for Sora and her companions, though they would all rather have done without that luck.

Big Mouthmon was a Digimon of the Wind Guardians, but his wings had degenerated. Of course, poorly functioning wings did not mean much. Even with his degenerated wings, Big Mouthmon could still flap about in the air for a short while, and that was precisely when he was terrifying. Even Kuwagamon would not dare face Big Mouthmon head-on in the air. Without proper wings to support him, however, Big Mouthmon had one of the shortest flight times among all the Wind Guardians' Digimon. His ability to fight on land was fairly average. But the moment he touched water, his whole body lost its strength. His smooth body meant that if he accidentally fell into the water, he would immediately float to the surface, then shake himself clean and regain his strength in moments. But what if someone held him underwater? This was the trick the other Big Mouthmon had told Sora after they revived him earlier, so they could rescue his brothers.

Hurry! Hurry up! Watching Biyomon flee in the distance, Sora screamed inwardly. She dared not make a sound.

Biyomon flew along the route and relaxed upon seeing the marker they had prepared earlier, slowing the beat of those wings.

"Heh heh heh, got you, Biyomon!" Seeing Biyomon slow down, Big Mouthmon leaped high and grabbed the metal ring around Biyomon's leg.

Their plan had been for Biyomon to provoke Big Mouthmon just before he landed. Once he landed, he would surely lack the strength to keep flying, allowing Biyomon to lead him into the pit they had dug. This operation allowed absolutely no room for error, yet Biyomon had made a mistake while fleeing. In the end, they had all underestimated the pressure a Champion-level Digimon exerted on a Rookie.

"Sora, we have to find a way to save Biyomon," Gomamon said upon seeing Biyomon captured. "Huh? Sora, where did you go?" Getting no response, Gomamon turned around. Sora was nowhere to be seen.

"Big Mouthmon, let Biyomon go!" Sora charged at Big Mouthmon, brandishing a tree branch.

"What kind of Digimon is this? A friend of yours?" Unable to sense even the slightest aura of strength from Sora, Big Mouthmon questioned Biyomon in confusion.

"Sora, don't come over! Big Mouthmon is a Champion-level Digimon. We can't beat him!" Biyomon cried.

Sora seemed not to hear Biyomon and charged on with her head down, but Big Mouthmon understood perfectly. "So you can't beat Champion-level Digimon. Heh heh, I'm a Champion-level Digimon." With his concerns dispelled, Big Mouthmon swept one wing. "Great Whirlwind!" His wingbeat stirred the air into the beginnings of a tornado, which shot straight toward Sora. It swept her into the air. Even as the spinning wind left her dizzy and disoriented, she refused to loosen either hand from the branch.

"Biyomon, is this a new Digimon? I've never seen her before," Big Mouthmon asked.

"This is Sora. She's my good friend." Biyomon still did not understand the difference between Digimon and humans. After all, apart from their fighting abilities, many humanoid Digimon were just like humans.

"Why worry about all that? The appearance of a new Digimon only proves how necessary it is to accept dark power. This one's fighting ability really isn't much, but this is only the beginning. Once dark power consumes the Digimon World, even more powerful Digimon will surely digivolve," Big Mouthmon muttered.

"Magic Fire!" Biyomon did not care what Big Mouthmon was thinking. The instant there was the slightest opening, Biyomon unleashed a signature attack.

Spiraling green flames wound around Big Mouthmon's body. There even seemed to be a faint sound of data energy shattering. Of course, shattering data energy made no sound, but Digimon could all sense it.

Hurt by the attack, Big Mouthmon abruptly pulled his wings tight. In an instant, he broke free of the rope-like Magic Fire. But that movement exposed a patch of black beneath his feathers for everyone to see: a Black Gear.

"Magic-mmph!" Biyomon tried to attack again, but Big Mouthmon grabbed Biyomon and swung his captive violently through the air. In an instant, Biyomon was completely dazed too.

"These guys actually came to attack the source of dark power. Could they be those unusual Digimon?" Big Mouthmon looked at Sora. "Other than being weak and rare, there doesn't seem to be anything special about them." Despite his words, he cautiously wrapped three more walls of wind around Sora.

"Fish School Stampede!" Gomamon sprang out of hiding and unleashed a signature attack. The school of fish shoved Big Mouthmon, making him stumble, but did not injure him. As the Fish School Stampede closed in, the moisture within it had already alerted him. Without him needing to move, a wind barrier rose behind his back. Even the Fish School Stampede had little strength left after breaking through it. The moisture they had pinned their hopes on proved completely ineffective.

"A Gomamon. A Digimon of the Deep Savers. How strange." Big Mouthmon targeted Gomamon with his signature attack from a distance. He dared not let Gomamon get close.

"Heh heh heh heh." Gomamon could only laugh awkwardly. Sora finally regained her senses. Seeing Gomamon talking to Big Mouthmon, she hurriedly gestured. With Sora inside his wind barrier, Big Mouthmon could sense her every movement. His mouth twisted, and the wind pinned her completely in place.

Although she had only managed one gesture, Gomamon understood what Sora meant after all their time together. Gomamon began calmly, "Big Mouthmon, you have two brothers, right?"

Big Mouthmon furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before saying, "I think... that's right. But how do you know I have two brothers?"

Thankfully, Big Mouthmon still retained some awareness of his own.

"I know about it. Once, when the three of you were hunting Nanimon, you suffered injuries that wouldn't heal. The eldest's stomach, the second brother's left wing, and the youngest's left foot." Big Mouthmon had told them all this on the previous island. They had never expected it to actually come in handy.

"I think so. I have to get revenge on Nanimon. I have to become stronger." A powerful dark aura surged from Big Mouthmon.

"We're done for. I've made things worse," Gomamon muttered.

"How can you prove you're the Big Mouthmon we're looking for?" The instant Big Mouthmon relaxed, Biyomon gained some freedom too. "We met a badly injured Big Mouthmon on the last island. His injuries were very serious. We have to find his brothers before we can treat him." Biyomon's words gave Gomamon a new angle, bringing back the basic medical knowledge Joe had taught Gomamon.

"I... I really am the Big Mouthmon you're looking for. Please tell me where my older brother is." Whether it was familial affection or dark power eating away at his intelligence, Big Mouthmon had already forgotten that he held the upper hand.

"The wound! The wound! Let us see the wound Nanimon gave you," Biyomon said excitedly.

Completely missing the change in Biyomon's tone, Big Mouthmon spread his wings.

"Now!" Seeing the exposed Black Gear, Gomamon leaped forward with all his strength. "Wave Claw!"

A series of cracks rang out. Under everyone's hopeful gaze, the Black Gear shattered completely.