Chapter Fourteen: Garurumon

"Roar!"
A fierce blue-bodied, yellow-headed sea dragon burst from the depths of the lake, fixing Taiyi and Agumon with a furious glare. It was clear that the stray spark from the fire earlier had indeed burned it badly.

"Wha...what's going on?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
"The train is really moving!"

The children inside the electric railcar didn't understand what was happening, but panic swept through them all at once. Koushiro peered out the window, his pupils contracting as he suddenly gasped in terror, "A monster has appeared!"

"It's Seadramon!"
Tentomon, standing right next to Koushiro, exclaimed in alarm as he looked at the enormous ‘sea serpent.’ Startled, all the children scrambled off the railcar, eager to see what was happening.

"Roar!"
Seadramon spun around and swam toward the center of the lake. To their surprise, the island in the lake moved along with it, and the path connecting the island to the shore was torn apart by some invisible force, leaving only broken earth and stone.

"The...the island is moving?"
Taiyi stared in disbelief at the island drifting farther from the shore.
"It feels like Seadramon is dragging the island with it," Koushiro said hesitantly, watching the ground shift beneath Seadramon's movement.

"How can this be?"
The children were all in a panic now; clearly, if this continued, their situation would soon become dangerous.

"That's strange. Seadramon wouldn't attack others unless it was threatened or provoked," Tentomon muttered, acting like an impromptu encyclopedia. Even Koushiro was curious about where Tentomon had learned all this Digimon knowledge.

Tentomon eyed the children suspiciously, taking a step forward, "Did you do something to anger it?"
But before he could finish, a powerful force surged under his feet, flinging him away.

"So that thing that looks like a giant leaf is actually its tail?"
Understanding dawned on Taiyi's face.

"It really was your fault!"
Tentomon shakily took to the air, grumbling in annoyance; it seemed that fall had hurt quite a bit.

Suddenly, the red, leaf-like tail slammed into one side of the island. The massive impact caused the whole island to shake violently, and Taiyi and the others lost their balance, all tumbling to the ground.

"That creature is furious now!"
Taiyi rubbed the back of his aching head, watching as Seadramon dove back underwater, warning everyone to be on guard.

With a crash, Seadramon swam beneath the island and began to push it with great force, clearly trying to carry everyone out to the center of the lake.

"Takeru!"
Yamato, worried for his younger brother, saw the island drifting farther away and, without hesitation, dove into the water.

"Wait...wait up!"
Gabumon saw Yamato swimming desperately toward the island, hesitated for a moment, then steeled himself and jumped in after him.

Qin Fei, who had been lying down, sat up, watching the pair in the water with mild interest.

"Should we help them?"
Loretamon asked softly. Though Qin Fei claimed to be just watching, the way he clenched his fists and bit his lip had not escaped Loretamon's notice. Her tamer was clearly worried about them.

"No need. Not yet. If Gabumon can't evolve, then we’ll step in..."
Qin Fei didn't even realize that his tone was no longer as relaxed as before.

The island finally crashed into a cluster of electrical towers and came to a halt, but it was now far from the lakeshore, cutting off any route of escape.

Yamato swam quickly and soon reached the island, but battle on the island with Seadramon was already about to erupt.
The Digimon on the island launched attack after attack at Seadramon—flames, air blasts, lightning—but none had much effect. Instead, they only served to enrage Seadramon further.
The difference between Champion and Rookie levels was starkly apparent.

"Agumon, can you still evolve?"
Seeing how dire the situation was, Taiyi had no choice but to ask Agumon.

"I've been wanting to, but I can't," Agumon replied, looking troubled as if he himself didn’t understand how he had evolved before.

"Why is it that you always fail at crucial moments?"
Taiyi blurted out in frustration.

"Yamato!"
Takeru, hearing his brother's call, ran eagerly to him as Yamato neared the island, only to misstep and tumble into the water.

"..."

"Are you planning to swim over there? I can't fly, you know,"
Loretamon shrugged as she watched Qin Fei standing tense and anxious. Anyone could see how nervous he was.

But Qin Fei simply shook his head, "This was expected."

Loretamon: "???"

Fortunately, Gomamon rescued Takeru just in time, and Yamato breathed a sigh of relief.
But this also drew Seadramon's attention to him.

"Yamato, Seadramon's coming!"
A chorus of alarmed cries from the children made everyone tense.

"Damn! I’ll draw it away."
Handing Takeru over to Gomamon, Yamato immediately swam off in another direction, even shouting to distract Seadramon.

"Petit Fire!"
Gabumon added to the commotion, following Yamato in retreat.
But before they’d gotten far, Seadramon's tail lashed out and sent Gabumon flying.

In the water, clearly, Seadramon held the advantage.

"Gabumon!"
Yamato cried out in worry at seeing his partner attacked.
But Seadramon was relentless. With swift movement, its tail snared Yamato while he was distracted, pulling him underwater. The lake flooded over him, and soon Yamato lost all strength to struggle.
Then, Seadramon lifted Yamato high above the water, squeezing him tightly with its tail as if determined to kill Yamato before everyone’s eyes, intent on satisfying its thirst for revenge.

"Brother!"
Takeru panicked, urging Patamon to go rescue Yamato.

"..."

"Are you still going to wait? If this continues, he'll die,"
Loretamon reminded Qin Fei, standing at his side. She longed for a fight herself—perhaps even with Seadramon right now.
But Qin Fei remained silent, so Loretamon could only suppress her urge.

"…It’s about to happen."
At last, after a long silence, Qin Fei spoke. He had been watching the Digivice at Yamato's waist, and now, finally, it was reacting.

Countless rays of white light surged forth, enveloping Gabumon and infusing him with powerful data energy.

"Gabumon, digivolve!"

The white light twisted and expanded, forming a gigantic wolf-like Digimon.

"Garurumon!"

The blue-gray striped giant wolf leapt from Gabumon's light, catching Seadramon off guard and attacking its tail to rescue Yamato.

Immediately, Garurumon and Seadramon were locked in fierce battle.

"Cough, cough—"
"Brother!"
"I'm all right."

With great effort, Yamato dragged himself from the water, his gaze fixed anxiously on the battling Digimon.

Compared to Seadramon's massive body, Garurumon was much smaller, but also far more agile. Even in the water, he darted back and forth, holding his own.

But the advantage didn’t last.

Seadramon's Arctic Blaster struck Garurumon, almost freezing him to the surface of the water.

"This is bad!"

The children on the island all cried out in alarm.

"We’ve won."

Qin Fei, on the other hand, recognized this familiar scene and knew that the battle's outcome was near.

"Fox Fire!"

In the end, just as Qin Fei expected, the fight concluded with Seadramon sinking beneath the water.