Solo Tremaine

I agree, Deus. To make such a huge generalisation is unfair. True, there are those who show respect only to themselves (and some who don't even show that) and are arrogant, but amongst them are the others who respect and admire other people. Usually, those people don't broadcast their respect directly- it's often in more subtle ways and less noticable. It's mostly the disrespect you hear about anyway, because that's what causes disagreements, arguements, and is a contributing factor to atrocities in war. People who expressly say they are better than others are often arrogant and say it without actually stopping to think 'hang on, maybe I'm not so good', but there are some who genuinely are. But to be arrogant about it is no excuse. It shows lack of respect. The people who are are usually the ones who keep quiet and don't say anything because they know they're better than that. And they get respected for that, too.

I've got a couple more to add (I'll add them on here if that's okay because I doubt anyone'll go back to read my first post): Digital_Monster, because she was there for me when I needed to talk to her. Very nice person. Ginny, for her great art and general niceness Everyone on the digimon forum who speaks to me (shaun, iggy, blackgatomon, Blanko, calumon_luver, rokas, Nuchlear, sorry if I've missed anyone), and Deus_Ex_Machina for being intelligent and respectful. And Juu for being the first person who asked me to be on her buddy list! Thanks! I'm not doing this in the hope of getting mentioned. These people deserve credit and that's why I'm putting their names up- not because they're the most likely to give thanks to me in return, because I really haven't done much that deserves thanks. Thus, I'm not expecting any.

Generally I have to keep quiet about my liking for anime. My friend says that the only good anime is Akira, and he hasn't seen any others at all. I bet he'd wet himself if he saw NGE. But anyway, anime here's very sparse. You can't rent it, and there are all of about four DVDs on sale in the shops- Ninja Scroll, Akira, Generator Gawl and Ghost in the Shell. I couldn't talk to anyone about it and I started to get really frustrated because my friends wouldn't respect my liking for it, despite the fact that I have to put up with them waxing lyrical about the flipping Powerpuff Girls. I was *this* close to yelling at them because they'd shown no respect to my tatses for the umpteenth time. They're just ignorant to anime. And other people's tastes. Either that or I can't take a very bad joke. But that's why I came here. And now I don't have a problem. I don't have to see the PPG movie with them, so I won't. And they don't have to come over to watch Mononoke. So it's okay. But it's still frustrating that the shops ignore it.

I like 'Yesterday'. It's one of my favourites. They certainly were a pretty revolutionary band. Thing is, my dad used to listen to them ALL the time, so I'm a bit sick of them. Them and the Moody Blues.

I'm really gald you liked it. I've been waiting for a reply for a while. Thanks for letting me know about the 02 thingy. I've changed it to 2019 anyway. It seems too long a gap, otherwise. You can get clouds over the sahara- My mum went there on a cloudy day and she has some photos to prove it (so she says- I asked her the exact same question yesterday). Anyway- back to the story. Chapter 1: Part 2. --------------------------------------------------------- MetalArmadillomon wandered about the ship, investigating various rooms and trying to find a way back to the big room. All of the corridors looked the same. Eventually, he came to a door marked ?Izzy?. Curious, he gently pushed open the door. A blinding light flooded the room; he had to shield his eyes just to squint. It began to dim a little, and he braved a stroll inside. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he could hardly believe what he saw. The room was massive, at least twenty feet high. Every inch of the walls was covered in an iridescent blue metal which glowed in the light. In the centre of the room were two cone-like structures, one hanging down from the ceiling, the other reaching up from the floor. Suspended in the centre was the source of the light- a large white crystal. It felt as if it was giving off more than light- MetalArmadillomon could almost feel an energy. Suddenly, he remembered the broken spike on his back. Sighing in disappointment, he walked over to the metal wall and studied his reflection. To look at, he was one of the more attractive digimon. At least, that?s what he thought. A black and grey colouring of Armadillomon, he was quite a lot larger- almost three feet high with his spines up. His tail had three curved blades at the end. Usually he kept them closed to avoid accidents. He was relieved to finally be out of the compound. They kept throwing him into ridiculous experiments and sticking needles into him. Lifting up the plates on his arms, he could see some of the scars. Shuddering at the thought, he laid them back down and looked at himself in the metal. His purple eyes shone brightly in the light of the crystal, and his black metal shell glinted dangerously. He raised his spines to survey the damage to his broken one. Strangely, all of the spikes were there. No broken ones. He strained his neck round the to see if it was just a trick of the light. Still no broken one. ?Strange?? he murmured. From the other side of the room, he heard an angry voice. ?Hey, what are you doing here? MetalArmadillomon jumped and looked round. ?S-sorry. I was lost.? A man with long red hair in a wheelchair wheeled up to him. He was wearing a ripped green shirt over an orange T-shirt with faded black stripes. ?I?ve not seen you around here before. You new?? ?Yes. I?m MetalArmadillomon.? He held out his claw for the man to shake. He smiled and shook it heartily. ?Koushiro Izumi. Call me Izzy.? ?Hi Izzy. Um?? he looked at the crystal. ?What is that crystal?? Izzy moved some of his hair out of the way of his eyes and cleared his throat. ?We don?t know exactly what it is. We use it as a power source for the ship. It tends to fluctuate a bit, so I?m here to regulate the temperature and do maintenance.? ?Ah.? MetalArmadillomon looked at Izzy?s legs. They were bandaged tightly to the legs of the wheelchair. ?What happened?? ?I assume you?re referring to my legs.? Izzy asked. MetalArmadillomon nodded. ?Eight years ago, we were engaged in battle against some of Thanatomon-? MetalArmadillomon shuddered. Izzy looked puzzled. ?Sorry.?, he explained. ?We don?t tend to say his name?? Izzy nodded. ?We were up against some of his forces in one of our early attempts to overthrow him, and we weren?t doing that badly until ChaosPiedmon turned up. Bent on revenge, he started taking us out one by one, and it didn?t look like anything was going to stop him. He got to me and Tentomon. I knew Tentomon wasn?t going to stand a chance, so I distracted ChaosPiedmon by leading him into a half-destroyed building. I got up to the top floor, and with nowhere left to run, ordered our digimon and human allies to fire at the building. As it was destroyed and the building collapsed, I heard the maniacal digimon screaming. Even though I survived the fall, I?d landed heavily on my back on a broken wall. We haven?t heard of ChaosPiedmon since, but I doubt that would have seen him off, somehow?? MetalArmadillomon wished he hadn?t asked. He didn?t know what to say. All this destruction and pain? caused by his masters. His jaw clenched with anger. Just as he felt he was about to explode with rage, a rather confused-looking Tentomon buzzed into the room. ?Hello there!? he said cheerfully, crashing onto the floor. MetalArmadillomon jumped clear of Tentomon?s crash and picked him up. ?Thanks. Of course, I meant to do that.? Izzy smiled at Tentomon. ?You okay, pal?? ?Sure thing, Izzy. I?ve recalibrified the exhumator, examinicated the transmogrifier and adjusted the green thingy. I think that?s right, anyway.?, he buzzed excitedly. A look of great concentration swept over Izzy?s face for a few seconds, before turning into a confused smile. ?Thanks, Tentomon. Don?t overwork yourself.? Suddenly, the ship jolted forwards, sending Izzy flying into the wall. He grabbed the radio receiver next to the door and yelled into it. ?What kind of flying do you call that?? Matt picked up the other end, sounding angry. ?We hit something.? ?Must have been some bird?? Izzy murmured gravely. Suddenly, a blur of screams burst through the intercom. Through the frantic shouts, Izzy heard the word ?Gigadramon?. MetalArmadillomon, spurred by anger for the Digimon Sentients, sprinted out of the room, determined to stop them from destroying the children on the ship? Ken and Yolei battled with the controls to keep the ship in flight. There were three Gigadramon circling the ship. Every few seconds, one would let off a huge volley of missiles, causing the base to shift out of control. ?These impacts are going to break through the hull if we don?t do something quickly.? Ken growled while wrestling with the controls. A stray missile thundered into the ship just below the front window, rocking the bridge uncontrollably. Matt struggled to keep himself upright. ?Can?t we carry out evasive manoeuvres?? he yelled to Yolei. ?We?re a floating lump of stone- evasive manoeuvres don?t work!? she shrieked back as another missile cracked the glass. Matt ran his fingers through his hair. Losing the Haven would be a major blow to any efforts to restore peace. But if they died then everything would be lost. What should he do? ?Ken?? he shut his eyes. He didn?t want to give the order. ??Order an evacuation of the Haven. Get everyone to the transport ship in the hangar.? ?What about the Gigadramon?? Ken asked anxiously. His hands were shaking slightly. ?Aidan and I will take care of them.? He boomed. ?Just make sure everyone gets out.? Ken and Yolei looked at each other. They could see the fear in each other?s eyes. Ken pressed a button on the desk in front of him. ?Evacuate the ship.? His voice wavered slightly. ?Everyone is to proceed to the emergency hangar immediately and get into the transport ship. I repeat? evacuate the Haven.? Matt sighed and put on his sunglasses. He hated Sora seeing him lose hope. She could see it in his eyes. The ship rumbled slightly as he pressed another button on the panel. ?Aidan, you and Gabumon are to come with me to give the transport ship cover immediately!? A faint voice hissed through the radio. ?Sure, Matt.? The Gigadramon laughed menacingly as they launched missile salvos into the defenceless base. Slowly, it began to tilt to one side. One of the Gigadramons drew back its enormous fist and plunged it straight into the side, creating a massive hole. He grinned at the damage he?d caused. The other two watched and laughed evilly as they heard frantic screams and cries from inside. The other two opened their metal claws and prepared to fire off the final round when something stopped them. A streak of white light shot through the first one?s shoulder, causing him to let out a terrible roar. Aidan was brandishing a large steel longbow and threatened them with a second shot. The first Gigadramon grimaced in pain and flew back a few metres. The other two growled at him impatiently. ?Not smart!? hissed the second one, opening his claws. Two missiles screamed from the sockets and flew straight at Aidan. Quickly, he slammed the longbow onto his left wrist and held his arms out in a defensive position. The missiles exploded, leaving a mass of smoke floating in the air. The Gigadramons growled triumphantly. But? as the smoke dissipated, the saw a white sphere in front of them. Suddenly, it disappeared, leaving Aidan hovering there, completely unharmed. The longbow had changed shape into a steel crossbow. ?Idiots.? He scoffed. His Light Shield was put up just in time. Roaring fiercely, the third Gigadramon charged straight at him. Aidan drew his sword and held it in front of him, pointing downwards, bracing himself for the impact. Gigadramon?s hard metal helmet collided with Aidan?s sword, sending him crashing onto the roof of the base. The Gigadramon snorted indignantly and gestured to the other two to keep attacking the base. They floated round to the back and charged up their cannons, eager to destroy it as soon as possible. A sudden explosion in the side wall distracted them. Smoke drifted from an open hole. Cautiously curious, one of them edged closer to it to see what had caused it. As it moved closer, it could hear metallic noises. Suddenly, a massive burst of missiles zoomed from the smoke and exploded in his face, freezing it completely. Incapacitated, he fell down into the ocean far below. The second Gigadramon aimed his cannons at the hole and fired several missiles into the cavity. Debris exploded outwards and the Gigadramon turned his attention to the dome, content that whatever it was had been vaporised. Aidan couldn?t move. He?d been temporarily paralysed by the force of the floor hitting his back. Groaning in pain, he tried to open his eyes. He could see the Gigadramon salivating over his opportunity to end his life. ?Not yet?? Aidan choked. The ominous sound of Gigadramon?s cannons charging up pierced his ears, and he prepared himself for the final hit? but something else happened. Instead of a deafening explosion, all he heard was a loud ?pop?. Opening his eyes again, he saw Gigadramon frozen with pain, his cannon split down the middle. MetalArmadillomon flopped out of the end, stunned and covered in soot. He?d jumped into the cannon. Aidan smiled weakly and heard a new sound- the roar of engines. On the transport ship, Sora was struggling to get everyone to calm down. Many of the children were in hysterics, and even Tentomon walking into the door wouldn?t calm them down. On top of that, the ship was stuck inside- the bay doors wouldn?t open. Struggling to remain calm herself, she handed over the controls to Yolei. ?Someone needs to open the doors, Yolei. I?m going to go.? Yolei grabbed her arm. ?Sora, that?s insane! You?d fall out and? I don?t want to lose another friend.?, she pleaded. Sora looked at the doors again- they?d changed shape. A huge dent had appeared in them. As she looked again, they imploded and a massive metal claw appeared where there used to be a door. ?It?s okay, Yolei. This bozo?s done it for us!? She jumped into the pilot seat and slammed down the throttle lever. The engines roared into life and it accelerated forwards. Gigadramon peered inside to see what he?d found when Yolei took the gunner?s seat. Screaming in rage, she held down the trigger. A minigun on the roof of the ship burst into life and fired straight into Gigadramon?s evil eye. He reared back, roaring in pain. The remaining Gigadramon jumped and stared at the one holding its eye. It saw the ship shoot out of the hangar. ?Easy prey?? he sneered, discarding his damaged claw. MetalArmadillomon saw what he was going for. Leaving Aidan on the dome, he rolled after Gigadramon. ?Hey, you! Over here!? he yelled. Gigadramon turned round and swatted him with a claw. MetalArmadillomon slammed into the tall mountain structure, leaving a large crater. Gigadramon advanced on the ship, dribbling in anticipation. As he drew closer, he heard something behind him. ?You?ll have to do more than destroy a wall to get rid of me!? MetalGarurumon boomed. ?Ice Wolf Claw!? The attack thundered into Gigadramon?s back and he disappeared, deleted. Matt was riding on his back. ?Great work, pal. Once we?ve picked up Aidan and MetalArmadillomon we?ll catch up with the ship.? He patted his back, impressed. Metalgarurumon whirled round and flew back to the base, which was now falling fairly rapidly towards the ocean. Aidan and MetalArmadillomon were sitting on tope of the dome. Aidan?s right wing was badly hurt- he couldn?t fly. MetalGarurumon landed gingerly on the dome and let them clamber on. As they flew towards the ship, Aidan recounted the battle. ?Wait, what happened to that third Gigadramon?? he asked. An evil laugh boomed behind them. ?HAHAHAHA! Time to die, vermin!?, the one-eyed Gigadramon roared. Ripping the mountain structure from the top of the base, he swung it at MetalGarurumon. Being laden with passengers, there was nothing he could do to avoid it. Drained of energy, he de-digivolved to Gabumon and all four of them plummeted down into the ocean? TO BE CONTINUED?

Are you sure? They were both from the film. And it didn't have the same tune... but anyway. Al's great. He's been in all three Naked Gun films, ya know. I love 'Living la vida Yoda' and the one about Anakin Skywalker. The Eminem spoof is great too- exactly what I think of him as well. I haven't heard that many others. My friend's got an entire album of his.

1. I've lived here in Hambrook, near Chichester, West Sussex for all 17 and not-quite-a-half years. 2. Chichester's home to the Chichester Festival Theatre (no less), second most reputable in the country (Lawrence Olivier helped fund it) I think. Um... Zoe Wannamaker shops at the Waitrose here. Hambrook's very small, consisting of a few houses, a post office and two pillarboxes. There's an animal sanctuary too. 3. There's bog-all to do in Hambrook, except go for a walk and get stuck in the gravel pits. Chichester's got lots of shops, a theatre and they're building a large complex with a cinema in it. So fairly boring if you've seen it all before. It's a pretty town. 4.I like living in this part of the country. Not too much crime, there are trees and places to get lost and wiggly roads which make you feel sick and the odd wallaby (they're oficially a British native marsupial now- they've been around for over 30 years) and a few C-List celebrities and a big dip. It's a nice place.

John Williams is an amazing composer. His stuff tends to sound the same after a while, but it's still great, and I don't blame him because it's hard to keep coming up with original music. And he's English! I'm not really a fan of James Horner. Apart from the fact that he ripped off Schindler's List in...oh...that film about WWII snipers (starred Ed Harris and Bob Hoskins), his music's all fairly samey to me. I think Hook's the best John Williams score. Episode II's my favourite, though, even though it needed more Duel of the Fates.

I used to cuddle one of my mum's silk dresses in bed until I was thirteen. It was really nice and soft. But I had to let it go. I also had a soft toy horse called Boxer. He's gone now. I have to listen to music to get to sleep properly. Anime music. Just a querk.

It still doesn't hide the fact that they're based on the common visual conception of the devil and death. Just giving it a different name shouldn't really change what it is, after all, 'That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet' or whatever. I'm aware that it does change things a little and shows people that they aren't trying to be blasphemous, but it's still at least a little dodgy by my book.

Hmm... I was thinking about getting The Lilo and Stitch soundtrack. I love 'Suspicious Minds'. It's an oldie, but I really like it. Alan Silvestri did the score, too. Good stuff. I've not seen Scooby Doo. I never really had any interest in the series (scratch that- I loathed it), and I didn't really want to sit through the movie to listen to the music. I'm not often a fan of modern music, either. But I like some stuff. I'll have to see if I can have a listen to it somewhere...

I love film and anime soundtracks. I live by 'em, more or less. Not just songs from flims, but scores too. I have: Shrek (songs and score) Chicken Run Antz Hook Star Wars (Episodes I (normal and SE), II and ROTJ special edition) Digimon: The Movie Transformers (songs and score) Mysterious Cities of Gold The Mummy Returns Austin Powers 2 The Full Monty Batman/Batman Returns Beetlejuice The Nightmare Before Christmas Neon Genesis Evangelion Pokemon (US and Japanese scores) it's the music! The show's appauling) Digimon Adventure Lord of the Rings Zoids And lots of others that I can't remember or can't be bothered to list. As you can see, I don't think they're a waste of time. I love the music they have, and I like to be able to listen to it without having to watch the film. I've been disappointed by the last few music albums that I've bought- the best songs are often used in the films anyway. I think film music is great to listen to (mainly the orchestral stuff) because it conveys so much emotion and actually tells a story. Hook is the best score for that, I think.

*Takes a Turkish Delight from a bag* Ooh! Turkish Delight! *Bites it* Eurgh. I just remembered I don't like Turkish Delights. -Me on GCSE results day. Life is not like a box of chocolates- In a box of chocolates there's usually a little pamphlet thingy explaining exactly what's in there- life isn't like that. And if it was: a) it'd be no fun, and b) that's impossible because everyone would constatly be trying to change it. So life is more like a box full of randomly assorted things that you've never seen before, but some other people have. You may have heard of some of the things or seen other people with them, but have never experienced it for yourself until you open the box and live... and if there's nothing in the box, you're screwed. -Me, in a script I co-wrote some time ago.

I'd like to see the Armadillomon/Sandslash one, too! And there's Scyther (one of the few Pokemon I like) and Snimon, Moltres and Garudamon, and maybe even Gomamon and Seel. But I hate Seel.

I have a lot of respect for all of the moderators who choose to make sure these boards run okay. It's nice not having everyone swear every other sentence or just spam, and these guys do a great job of keeping it together, and I know I really appreciate all they do for it. I guess they must have to put up with a lot of stick too, from ex-members and some members too, and I thank them for that as well. I've not been with OB for that long, but I joined as soon as I found the site. It was great that people made me feel so welcome (it was a stark contrast to my school life where I'd get humiliated out of the room if I even thought about mentioning anime, especially Digimon. I still do, but to a lesser extent). There seems to me to be a group of boarders who spent half their time welcoming people, and I think that's great too- DarkOrderKnight and Mist were two who helped me fit in in the very beginning. I guess I also appreciate people's patience with me when I've been a bit annoying, paranoid or over-apologetic or thankful, or when I've been a bit of an idiot. I have a great respect for anyone who can put up with me! I'd like to think I've made some good friends here (Devidramon, Shystor, shadowdramon and Pyrophobic to name but a few), and I feel I'm enjoying everything like school and life in general more for having joined up to the forum. So my sincere thanks to James and Adam for creating the site in the first place. It's simply fantastic.

It depends. If you say out and out that you just don't like them, then it's more than likely really going to hurt their feelings. They'll be left sitting wondering what it is about them that you don't like and may try to change themselves accordingly, thus preventing them from being themselves and meeting up with someone they may hev been perfectly happy with. Because it's likely that they'd take a while to get over something like that, and that's plenty of thinking time. That's a bit 'worst case scenario', but it could happen. You don't want to unintentionally force someone to change just because they're not your type or whatever. But, as you said, you don't want to lead them into false hopes. Tact, then, is the key. Maybe saying something like... I dunno... it's so hard to get the right thing without sounding arrogant, rude or really nasty. Unless you want to be, which isn't something I'd advise. Um... maybe just something like 'I don't think we'd work out' and then explaining why would be how I'd do it. You don't want to destroy all hope because you could end up losing a possible friend too. It sounds like you're saying 'I really don't want to even be friends with you', which, to me, seems wrong. A friendship is different to a relationship- you shouldn't reject those with them. Although some friendships after relationships do leave behind awkward feelings...

Here's the first chapter of a new fanfic that I wrote in about an hour of spontaneous inspiration. Well, my chapters tend to turn more into epics, but still, any feedback is greatly appreciated. What do you think? Sorry if I've nicked anyone's title- it sounds familiar but I'm not consciously aware of reading any others called that. Maybe it's just a cliche. Let me know if I've enfringed. Happy reading! ROUGH SYNOPSIS: Set 23 years after MaloMyotismon's defeat, this takes place in a reality where things went wrong. While the world was blinded by happiness, a mysterious and powerful digimon named Thanatomon opened the gate to the Chaos dimension. In a post-apocalyptic world, humans and digimon are still waging war against each other. Few digidestined remain, branded traitors by both sides. The story begins in the Sahara desert... ---------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The Shattered World Earth, 2019. Seventeen years after the gateway to the Digital World opened to all in the real world, offering untold new hopes and lives of peace. Things had changed. Back then, everything had seemed so alive- Everyone had a fabled digimon, a partner for life, and it seemed like you could live forever. With digivices in hand, the whole world was united against the evil of MaloMyotismon. Blinded by their own happiness; they never saw it coming? Deep in the Sahara desert, a digimon was escaping. In the intense heat he felt close to collapsing, but he knew he had to run. The humans would be right behind him at any moment. As he sprinted past dunes, his breath rasping loudly, he heard the sound of sirens in the distance behind him. ?Oh no?? he gasped, sweat dripping down his nose. He chanced a look behind him to see the compound he?d escaped. A trail of dust was rapidly making its way towards him. That could mean only one thing- the tank. A massive armoured containment unit, a tank was a fortress on wheels. Deadly to digimon, armed with deletion cannons and 6-inch armour plating, he knew he didn?t have much of a chance against it. The roar of the engines grew steadily louder as the digimon felt the tank catching up to him. His last hope, he thought, would be to roll. The ground began to shake with the impending arrival of the heavy vehicle. Steadying himself, MetalArmadillomon curled up into a spiked ball and cannoned forwards as fast as he could. The hot sand burnt his scales and scratched his skin like sandpaper. Grimacing through the pain, he kept rolling away from the compound. ?I don?t want to go back? Don?t let them take me?? he pleaded to himself. Inside the vehicle, the three humans were enjoying the thrill of the hunt. One, sat in the gun turret, followed the digimon in his sights, stroking the trigger. ?This is the last time you escape, worm.? He growled. Suddenly, the digimon stopped. One of its spikes had broken, sending it crashing into a standing stone. It lay, dazed and exhausted on the ground, too weak to continue. In the compound, the human commander listened intently to the tank?s status. All around him, huge screens showed him the tank?s position on the map. Officers ran frantically around the room, studying each security camera and making sure the site was secure. ?Kill it.? He barked. ?Gotcha now!? the gunner sneered. The targeting computer bleeped insistently at him to fire. Smiling evilly, he jerked back the trigger. MetalArmadillomon struggled feebly to get to his feet. He felt his insides constrict as he heard the cannons fire. As the two bright blue deletion beams screamed forwards relentlessly, he shut his eyes in fear, hoping they would miss. Suddenly, something thundered into his side and he could feel himself being carried away. ?So this is what it?s like to die?? he thought. Opening his eyes and expecting to see his body disappearing, he instead saw a mass of blue and white fur. He strained his neck back to see the tank far below him, getting smaller and smaller. Someone was saving his life. Hurriedly looking up to see who it was, a huge blue streak shrieked past. MetalArmadillomon?s carrier looped in the air, making him feel sick. He hated flying, he hated heights, but he preferred them to being deleted. He felt dizzy and pushed against the digimon to get some air. ?Hold on.? It said calmly. Suddenly, MetalArmadillomon felt them changing direction. He looked up and saw the tank and the desert floor zooming towards him very fast. He drew back in shock. ?What are you doing?? he spluttered fearfully. ?You?ll never get through that armour!? ?That?s not what I?m trying to do.? The digimon answered back. ?Trust me!? MetalArmadillomon wished he could, but just held on for dear life instead. Inside the tank, the driver was furious. ?It?s that one again! He totalled one of our units two days ago! We should pull back!? The gunner snarled at him. ?No way! I?m going to get him for what these things did!? He aimed the two turrets at the fast-approaching digimon and fired madly. The digimon avoided the projectiles effortlessly and drew a massive sword from the scabbard on his back. It began to glow a bright white. The driver swore loudly and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The engine roared loudly, spewing black smoke from its exhausts, and the tank shuddered forwards? but not far enough. The digimon took aim with his sword and sliced through two large generators mounted behind the turrets with extreme precision and ease. They sparked madly for a few seconds, then exploded. MetalArmadillomon held down his stomach contents and smiled uneasily. ?Impressive.? He said queasily. The digimon smiled. ?It?s not over yet.? The shockwave of the explosion caught up with them, rocketing them forwards and upwards. The G-Forces made MetalArmadillomon feel sick. He clenched his eyes shut- he didn?t dare look down, they were so high up. Eventually, they reached the clouds and passed above them. The digimon smiled at him. ?You can open your eyes now. We?re safe.? ?We?re not safe!? ?Yes we are, we?re above the clouds- way out of their range.? ?It?s not that that we?re not safe from, it?s the falling down from up here we?re not safe from.? The digimon chuckled. ?Open your eyes. It?s beautiful.? MetalArmadillomon cautiously opened half an eye, and then gazed in amazement at the view spread before him. Miles of white clouds lay below them, and below that was the desert, looking far more enjoyable from up here. Mountains of cloud flew past them like great sentinels in the sky. The sun shone brightly, giving everything a warm glow. A cold wind was blowing strongly; it felt soothing. ?It is beautiful?? he sighed in wonderment. He shook his head. He could finally get a clear view of his saviour. He was like one he?d never seen before. He was a bipedal wolf with blue and white fur. His huge red dragon wings were spread very wide, quivering in the wind currents. Muscular arms with leather belts wrapped around them gripped him tightly, and on his left wrist was a small steel crossbow. Finger-less gloves covered blue-furred hands with gleaming white claws. A red bandanna hug loosely around its neck. Finally, MetalArmadillomon said something. ?Where are we going?? The digimon gestured forwards with his muzzle. ?To a place we call ?The Haven?.? ?You mean we aren?t going to report to HiAndromon?? A look of revulsion flicked across the digimon?s face. ?No. The Digital Continent is full of evil, and HiAndromon?s where most of it comes from.? MetalArmadillomon was confused. ?But? he?s part of the highest command before?? ?I know.? The digimon nodded. ?That?s why we aren?t going there.? MetalArmadillomon was shocked. ?You rebelled against the Sentients?? ?No. The Sentients rebelled against humanity and Digimon. Their sheer power allowed them to overpower the digidestined nine years ago. I hate them.? The digimon said sternly. MetalArmadillomon did agree, but was afraid to say anything. They had spies everywhere. ?So? what is The Haven?? he asked, watching some birds fly underneath them. ?It?s a hidden place where we do our best to keep peace in the area. It?s far enough out of reach of the Sentients, and the humans? boats can?t detect us. A lot of the digimon warriors are there.? ?You mean the digidestined?? The digimon sighed sadly. ?Yes? the ones that are left.? Back in the compound, the commander sat at his desk, the headphones broadcasting lifeless static to his ears. Anger welled up inside him. ?I?hate?digimon?? he hissed through gritted teeth, the rage making his hands shake. ?I?hate?? He raised his fist and slammed it down on the desk, splitting it in two. ?DIGIMON!? he screamed. He pointed madly at a communications officer sat at a desk and yelled at her. ?Get me through to the command centre at Midway!? The communications officer nodded and madly jabbed at the buttons on her control panel. In a dark room in the command centre at Midway, in the Pacific Ocean, a phone rang tunelessly. Illuminated only by the dim glow of a computer monitor, the darkness seemed to stretch into infinity. Someone picked up the receiver. The commander wasn?t looking forward to this. He breathed in heavily. ?Master Danaki, I-? ?He?s escaped, hasn?t he?? a voice hissed. The commander froze. ?Sir, if you would let me explain, I can-? Danaki?s eyes narrowed evilly. ?I don?t care for slack security, commander. See to it that he is returned as soon as possible. The Sentients will be after him soon, and we don?t want them taking him, do we??, he growled. The commander?s voice was wavering. ?Yes, sir. I?ll?send out a recovery team immediately, sir.? ?Good. Have we established where the Haven is?? ?Latest reports indicate it?s off the north-west coast of Africa. ? ?Find it and destroy it. Is that clear? If I hear any more bad news from you, commander, I shall see to it that the monsters tear you apart limb by cursed limb. Do you understand?? Danaki hissed, clenching his fists. All blood had drained form the commander?s face. He felt sick. He?d never seen the Master, but he?d heard of what happened to insubordinates. ?Yes, sir.? He whimpered quietly, putting down the communicator. In the dark room, Danaki rubbed his hands together slowly. The digimon?s escape was a minor setback. In the end they would all be destroyed, together with the digidestined, who had damned the human race from the very moment they mat their accursed ?partners?. He felt disgusted at the very notion. They weren?t partners. He considered them worse than parasites. Not fit for a physical existence. That was why they should be exterminated. He hit a button on the keyboard. The screen hummed electronically, then bleeped as a cryogenics tube came up on screen. It was filled with a hazy green liquid, but inside he could see the distinct features of his creature. They would soon learn that the human race is not so easily defeated. ?Fools.? He spat. He jabbed another key and a picture of a massive underground hangar filled the screen. In it was a mass of metal plating and wires. He grinned wickedly at the thought of his final revenge. MetalArmadillomon opened his eyes blearily. He must have fallen asleep. Down below him, he could see the coast. They were steadily descending on the ocean, to what looked like a small island a mile or so out. As they drew nearer, it started to look more familiar. At one end was a small mountain-like structure, and next to that was a large metal dome. ?Was? he real, then? The stories were true?? ?Yeah.? The digimon nodded as they came in to land on the dome. He touched down effortlessly and set him down on the ground. ?Still is real. Kenji Ichijoji?? The digimon continued. He drew his sword again and tapped on the dome three times in quick succession. A young man with fairly long blonde hair opened a circular hatch in the centre of the dome. ?Glad you?re back, Aidan. Get inside quickly- a patrol of digimon?s coming this way.? Aidan grabbed MetalArmadillomon and shoved him down the hatch. Keeping a watch on the sky above, he climbed in afterwards, slamming the hatch shut behind him. The inside of the ship was dimly lit. Odd bits of seaweed clung to the metal walls, which had begun to rust. More corridors led off from this one, each looking the same. Small hatchways were embedded in the walls- ventilation ducts and maintenance tunnels. Suddenly, they came to a large door. The man and Aidan looked back at MetalArmadillomon, nodded and swung open the doors. He couldn?t believe his eyes. A massive brightly-lit blue metal room greeted him, and all around it were loads of humans and digimon sitting together happily- not a hint of malice in the room. To one side, some younger kids were playing with a few battered toys with their digimon. Occasionally, MetalArmadillomon would see a digivice. He?d try to get a closer look at it, but someone would get in the way. The blonde-haired man was talking to a girl about his own age with short orange hair, whom he?d heard to be called Sora. A Gabumon stood next to him and said something- he couldn?t hear what, but he looked very sincere. All around him the room was buzzing. Some of the older people were just sitting and talking, but still looking genuinely happy. He hadn?t seen emotion like that since he was a baby digimon. He looked around in wonder, and then saw Aidan. He was just leaning against a wall, looking dejected. He noticed a slight look of longing in his eyes as he watched some of the children playing. When the blonde-haired man had finished talking, Aidan walked over to him and asked him a question. The man nodded and disappeared into another large door at the other end of the room. In the bridge, Yolei and Ken were sat at the controls. In front of them were masses of monitors and scanners, hurriedly joined together by wires and duct tape. Yolei tweaked a bit of the tape and sighed. ?Not exactly state-of-the-art, is it?? she said lazily, flicking the radar screen. Ken nodded in agreement. ?At least it works. And it?s our only hope at achieving peace.? Yolei was just about to reply when Matt strode into the room. He stood inbetween them. ?How?s it going, guys?? ?We?re good to go!? Yolei said cheerfully. Matt?s face stayed stern. ?Aidan rescued a digimon from the Sahara compound earlier today. If we?re lucky, he?s got at least some clue as to holes in the human security systems.? He said flatly. ?So? do you think we?ll be able to pull it off?? Ken asked apprehensively. Matt?s head lowered. ?That room is full of children. They have no concept of how to battle properly. The only ones here who can deal with this are you two, me, Sora, Joe, Izzy and Aidan. That?s not a heavy strike force?? ?How many will we need?? ?I don?t know. Since the Digi-World?s been as good as destroyed, we still can?t digivolve. It?d take a lot. Much more than what we have.? They all looked solemn. Matt looked ahead at the thick plexi-glass window. Fish had begun swarming around the edges, sucking up plankton. ?Take us out, Yolei.?, he ordered, turning to leave. Ken and Yolei looked at each other with concern. T.K?s absence was obviously still playing on his mind, even after all these years? She slammed the throttle forwards. The entire ship moaned into life, jerking forwards. . Slowly, it rose up out of the ocean and into the sky until it disappeared behind the clouds. Down in the living quarters, Aidan stood outside his door silently, staring at the name he?d scratched into it when he?d first boarded. He hated his name. He?d hated it for years. It didn?t suit him? not any more. Painful memories filling his mind with sorrow and rage, he raked his claws across the door viciously, leaving deep gouges in it. MetalArmadillomon crept towards the slightly ajar door and looked at it sadly. This was obviously a regular thing- gouge marks were all over it. Gently, he pushed the door open. The room, like most of the rest of the ship, was a dirty red and black metal room with a large daylight bulb strapped to the ceiling. Aidan?s room was covered in scratches and large dents. Aidan took his scabbard off his back and leaned it against the wall. He stared at himself in the mirror. Feeling nervous, MetalArmadillomon coughed quietly to get his attention. Aidan whirled round, making him jump. ?S-sorry to interrupt, Aidan, I was just-? Aidan sighed. ?Don?t worry, you weren?t interrupting anything.? ?Um? I just wanted you to know that I?m really grateful for you saving me today. I? would have been killed if it weren?t for you.? Aidan?s grim expression softened slightly. ?No problem. Just don?t make a habit of it.? ?I won?t.? he turned to go, but saw the deep scratches in the door. ?Um? Aidan?? ?Hmm?? Aidan grunted, scratching his cheek. ?Why?? Aidan shot him a fiery glance, he knew what he was going ask. MetalArmadillomon gulped and looked at his mirror. ?I mean?where are we going?? Aidan looked slightly relieved. ?Well, we tend to go anywhere that?s out of sight. But once we?ve got enough forces, we hope to restore peace to the worlds.? ?That?s? ambitious.? MetalArmadillomon thought out loud. He clicked his claws on the metal floor. ?Nice, but ambitious. Do you think we can do it?? Aidan shook his head. ?I don?t know.? MetalArmadillomon didn?t know what to say. Now obviously wasn?t the time to try and start a conversation. ?I?ll see you later, Aidan?? he said quietly. ?Bye?? Aidan whispered. In the sky, several large serpent-like shapes were following the base. Their eyes glowing red, they quickened their pace, growling with bloody anticipation?

I've never had a partner, and at the rate I'm going, it's unlikely that I will soon. But one thing I do regret is not trying. There have been lots of girls who I've fancied, and I'd never made an effort to talk to them because I was afraid that I'd look stupid. When I finally did, it's always been too late. That's happened to me seven times, and I'm not kidding. I had one really great friend a few years ago who I met through N64 Magazine's (now NGC) penpal section. It was unbelieveable how much we had in common, except where we were. Her dad was Columbian, and was never around, and she lived in a rough neighbourhood. I, on the other hand, lived in a large house in one of the best parts of the country. I liked her so much, I wanted to give her everything I could. But I guess that may have been why we lost contact. Maybe I was trying too hard to keep being her friend. I miss her, though. We haven't spoken in about two years, but I just want to talk to her one last time, if I could. Just to show her that I've changed. Anyway, enough of my life- it's depressing! I didn't know what I was letting myself in for when I wrote that letter to the penpal section, but even though I'm left here on my own, I didn't regret it for a second. Try, and even if you failed, it would be a heck of a lot worse wondering what could have been. Uncertainty is often worse than rejection, because you've got to live with the fact that you never tried, and you could have had so much. Equally, you could have had nothing, but you wouldn't know, and the fact that you could have had something will play on your mind for a long time. Go for it, and best of luck to you!

I can't see why they don't get rid of Cow and Chicken and all it's various affiliates (I don't like CN cartoons, generally. Powerpuff Girls... yeurgh)- it's bad enough already without some devil with a large backside parading round everywhere. If anything, that'd be worse than a mention of hell- a depiction similar to the devil making people do what he wants or influencing their decisions. I know they don't actually mean anything by it, but religiously speaking it's a terrible thing to broadcast. Much worse than a mere mention of hell in a series with little or no religious basis or influences.

I noticed that too. I believe there's a bit more of that later in the series (we've had all of CC/GF here in the UK). I don't think hell is particularly bad, personally (no offence to anyone who does). There are worse things to say, as people have pointed out. But mind you, they probably hear those words on other programmes anyway. One thing that gets me is they way they won't use 'heavy' words like love and dead. Why? You won't say hell, which has a serious religious meaning and people actually object to its use, but you won't use words which are perfectly normal and often better to keep in, in terms of dialogue. You're always left with " Could they be... Are they...?", which, to me, sounds tacky. But they said killed in Digimon somewhere. I noticed that b***s*** was edited out of NGE yesterday. And I thought they were being crude when one of them said he was 'p***ed off'. That YuGiOh thing with the guns was ridiculous. They showed guns in Pokemon, aimed at even younger kids. You can't expect children to believe they've got supercharged fingers or something...

I like Maya from NGE. Just plain nice. Um... Ohh! Can't remember her name... the girl from Mononoke. That's about it. I've not seen that much anime. Were I a girl (which I ain't), I'd have to go for Baccura from YuGiOh. I love his hair. Thick 'n white. Like Yue's, but not too long. I don't like his cardigan, though. That would [I]have[/I] to go. I've got a bit of a hair thing going on here. But sometimes that's almost all the difference there is between anime characters. Apart from maybe eye colour or shape.

I don't mean they teach people to hate it, I mean it goes against their beliefs. Some of the more fundamental Christians can be pretty nasty about it, though. It really depends on how strong your beliefs are. Even though Christianity may tell people to love thy neighbour and accept those who are different to you, some people still don't like it. I'm not talking about everyone, don't get me wrong, it's just some people. I think if there weren't laws against assault and such then it'd be a much bigger problem. But society's learned to adapt to it. It's not a particularly big problem in the sense that it's everwhere, but typical men, deep down, still don't like it. And they can be discriminated against by people. They can be. I'm not saying they are. In some countries I think you can still be executed or imprisoned or something for being homosexual. Maybe I'm making an unfair generalisation here, but that's what I see.

You'd be surprised how much homophobia there is. It's not necessarily obvious on the surface, but even major religions such as Christianity are really against homosexuality, so it's probably more of an internal thing that could affect relationships. And besides, I think Armadillomon was exaggerating a little. Don't get too worked up. It'd be more likely that men are afraid of getting close because of homosexuality. It's generally a natural reaction- biologically, we weren't made to reproduce with other men. Just like we weren't made to reproduce with, say, a microwave. But you can't be friends with a microwave.

I personally have three really really good friends who I talk to and listen to all the time. One girl, two boys. The girl is going out with one of the boys, who I've known for about 12 years. We're great friends, and I don't think we ever won't be. At least, I hope that's the case. My other friend has lots of friends who are girls. He doesn't have a girlfriend, but he's looking for one. As such, things are a bit... weird. He talks to lots of girls, but sometimes it seems a bit false, like he's just wanting to go out with them. It's not a conscious thing, but it's a really strong drive that can really muck friendships up. Whenever I've fancied someone, I've done my best not to make it show. Otherwise they get to know someone who may be a bit of a show-off, or trying to be funny, or just loud. When this front comes down, it can be a shock. Thus, I've done my best to try and keep them as friends rather than people I'm trying to get into bed with. But some men don't see it like that. It all depends who they are. I bet some, when it really comes down to it, don't even have any male friends who'll be there when they need them...

Wile E. Coyote's my Tune of choice. Not that I liked the cartoons he was in that much- I just liked him. I do a mean impression of Marvin the Martian.