Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond The Other Side ❯ Second Configuration, Part 1 of 2 ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Author's Notes: I don't know what happened when the second part of the First Configuration uploaded. I'll try and fix the problem as soon as possible.

Disclaimers: Digimon belongs to ABC, Saban and whoever else owns it.

Beyond The Other Side - Second Configuration (Part 1 of 2)

"How much longer? I'm getting tired of standing around!!" Takato crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Armadillomon and Guilmon were sleeping quietly with Calumon snoozing on Guilmon's head. Cody kept an eye on his D Terminal. "They'll send us a message when it's all clear to go through the Digiport. This way, you guys don't have to make up some story about how you accidentally wandered into our camp group or something."

Takato started to pace again. "Henry, you look a little worried. What's up?" The other boy gave a little sigh. "I'm not exactly sure about how we're going to live a life in a world which we originally thought never existed except in the imaginations of the writers of the telelvision show."

"Well, it should be pretty much the same back home except there's no Suzie to terrorize me!!" exclaimed Terriermon. The worried look still remained on Henry's face. "Takato, back there at the battle...did I make the right choice? Did my actions seal the fate of the digital world?" Takato shrugged. "Don't worry too much about it. Every choice we face always has those types of things. Like on a multiple choice test, you keep asking yourself which answer is the right one. There's always the possibility that something may go wrong but sometimes we have to take those risks in order to achieve our goals."

"Rika, what's that in your hand?" Rika replaced the crest in her pocket before answering Renamon. "Found it near the base. It's supposed to belong to that boy genius. But since he didn't activate the crest's power, I'm just going to have to keep it until its ready to go to him."

"They're sending me a message! 'Sorry to keep you waiting. The drive took a few hours and we dozed off. You can activate the Digiport. We're right by the river brook and nobody's watching. Yolei.' Hey, guys!! Let's go!!" Guilmon and Armadillomon slowly woke up while Calumon remained in dream land. "Digiport open!!!"

[Insert Digiport sequence, music, all that stuff]

"Whoa!!!" The group fell out of the computer. Calumon bounced off Guilmon's head and headed towards the water. "Hey!!!" Takato ran forward to make a diving catch. A huge splash followed, with the water droplets soaking the other tamers. "AAAUUUGGGHH!!!" When he surfaced, Calumon was laughing. "You humans are so funny!!"

He emerged from the river with Calumon in his arms. "The water is c-cold. AH-AH CHOO!!!" He let out a gigantic sneeze. TK backed off a bit. "Now we need to figure out who's staying with who. I can probably take somebody since it's just me and my mom."

"And there's nobody but me and dad at our place," added Matt. Henry thought about it. "I suppose I should stay at TK's place with Terriermon and Calumon. It will cause a little less trouble...but your mom knows about the Digimon. She was there before the original eight Digidestined traveled back to the digital world to fight the Dark Masters."

Blank looks were on the faces of the new Digidestined. TK noticed those looks. "Remind us to tell you that story sometime. As for mom, she would freak at first about the idea of Digimon again and me going out to fight. But I think she can handle it. She probably won't mind small Digimon like Patamon, Terriermon and Calumon. But Guilmon is another matter." Takato rubbed his head. "Maybe I should have made him smaller."

"Don't worry. Guilmon can crash at my place. Nobody's home during the day and dad's completely cool with the Digimon. Of course it will be a bit messy and the apartment has a special little smell that makes it home. But I'm sure you won't mind," said Matt. Takato gulped. "No, not at all."

Kari noticed that nobody had figured out what to do with Rika. "Rika can stay at our house. I just need to figure out an excuse while Tai can stay at Matt's apartment." Tai was about to argue. "Hey-" "Come on, Tai. They helped us out against Kimeramon," Kari pleaded.

Tai sighed. "All right, all right. You do have some guest bedrooms?" Matt took some time to think. "Yeah but they were converted to storage rooms. I'm going to need some help to turning them back." "Now the problem is how to hide Renamon," said Davis. Rika snorted. "Renamon can just stay out of sight. It's not that difficult." With everything settled, each tamer left with their respective hosts as the others went straight home.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"We're doomed!! I just know it!!! Those new kids blab out everything and then the Digidestined stop us before we pull off anything!! Maybe we should quit while we're ahead!!" Mummymon kept on ranting about how everything is going to fall apart. A few moments later, he was lying on the ground unconscious. Arukenimon tossed away the now broken wooden chunk on to the ground. 'They seem to know what actions we were planning to take. We should start the attack early, before events go as they predict.' She began to make her plans.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"This is absolutely ridiculous!! You expect me to go to school in this?!? Isn't there anything a little more dignifying?" Rika had denim shorts that reached the tops of her knees. She had a white and pink t-shirt with a pink heart in the centre of the shirt. Kari started to replace the clothes that Rika had tossed out of her closet. "You practically rejected everything else I had. Until we wash your other clothes, this is the best I can manage." Renamon appeared by the window to check up on Rika. The fox Digimon gave a small chuckle.

Rika placed her card pouch at the back pocket along with her Digivice. "Did I hear you chuckle?" Renamon put her hands up, signalling the innocent look. "I didn't do anything. Anyways I'll be right by the school in case you need me."

She went by the mirror to make sure her hair was in the right place. "We're going to be late, Rika!!" With that said, Kari left the room. Rika looked at herself one more time and gave a slight shudder of disgust. "Have a good day at school, Rika." She heard the fox Digimon chuckle lightly and mentally made a note to get back at Renamon.

"Man, I can't believe that you, me and Rika got in the same class as TK, Kari and Davis!! What are the odds?" Takato walked beside Henry as they moved to their morning physical education class. He had his goggles along with a black t-shirt with gray pants. His gym uniform was inside his bag. Henry shrugged. "I don't know. I guess there was enough room to squeeze us in. Geez, this sweatshirt is itchy!!" He wore a green sweatshirt and khakis.

An explosion occurred nearby. Takato and Henry raced over to investigate. It came from the chemistry room where Yolei had just blown up a chemistry experiment. Henry shook his head. "She should have factored in the possibility of a complete combustion!! With the other chemicals reacting to magnify the explosion, I'm surprised this place is still in one piece!!" Takato gave him a funny look. Henry chuckled sheepishly. "We better get going."

The boys had justed started their pre-game warm ups with the girls preparing for their dance lessons. TK gave a huge yawn. Davis practiced shooting a few baskets. "Hey, TI!! You look sleepy. What's up?" TK rubbed his eyes to keep focused. "It's nothing. Henry's snoring just kept me up half the night!!"

"I snore?" Henry and Takato had just emerged from the change rooms to join the warm up. TK nodded. "If you don't believe me, Calumon, Patamon and Terriermon can back me up." Before Henry could ask more questions, the coach had started to make teams. Henry went on TK's team while Takato went with Davis.

Patamon, Gatomon and Demiveemon were watching everything from near the ceiling. "Kari's really a graceful dancer," stated Patamon. Before Gatomon could boast about how she taught Kari to be graceful, Demiveemon made an observation. "What about the other girl? Uh...what's her name...Rika!!" The other two Digimon turned their attention to see Rika off in a corner, not doing anything. "She's not dancing. I wonder why?"

Renamon came out of nowhere to answer that question. "Obviously, this is a physical activity that she does not like. She probably wants to play basketball. After all, she thinks dancing is a foolish activity." Demiveemon looked at Renamon. 'It would be kind of cool to dance with Renamon. But I'm so short!! Even as Veemon, I'm still short!! Raidramon is on four legs. What about Flamedramon? Yeah...' He started daydreaming about Flamedramon and Renamon dancing together. His armored form spun Renamon around gently in the air...(AN: I wrote this while listening to a Linkin Park instrumental piece.)

"Where's everybody else?" asked Gatomon. He snapped out of his daydream. "Guilmon, Calumon and Terriermon are by a tree outside. Once the school day is over, we should let them come inside to the computer room." The others nodded before turning back to the basketball game. TK had the ball and was dribbling it down the court. "Here's TK!!" said Patamon. He made a bounce pass to a teammate but Takato intercepted it. A quick pass to Davis and a simple shot gave their team two points.

"Nothing but net!!" He gave Takato a high five before retreating back to his team's zone. Demiveemon leapt up with joy. "Isn't there anything that Davis can't do in the real world?" Gatomon crossed her arms. "I could name a few things." Henry took the ball and slowly began to dribble. "Did I miss anything?"

The Digimon gave a start as Terriermon appeared right behind them with Calumon. "What are you doing here?" hissed Renamon. Terriermon shot back an annoyed glare. "You go wait in a tree until the end of the school day!! After 20 minutes, things get quiet and boring!!" Patamon grinned. "We could raid the school cafeteria!!"

"Cool!! Whoa!!" Terriermon started to fall. Gatomon leapt out to grab him while her tail tried to hold onto something. Demiveemon tried to keep a hold of the tail but he started to slip. Patamon grabbed Demiveemon with his mouth and tried to keep them hidden. Finally Renamon had to step in. Had anybody looked up at that moment, they would see a line of Digimon struggling not to fall. "That looks fun!!" exclaimed Calumon.

"Over here!!" Henry's teammate had just lost the ball thanks to Takato. He quickly passed it to Davis who was about to shoot when Henry grabbed the ball from his hands. "Yoink!!" "Yoink?!?" Before Davis realized it, Henry was dribbling up the court. He went for a long pass to TK. The boy got the ball, made his way past the last defence man and did an easy lay up. "Alright!! Now that's teamwork!!"

"Go, TK!!!" Kari cheered from the other side. Davis felt his jaw drop. 'She's practically cheering for him! What does he have that I don't...of course!! His Digimon can digivolve to the champion level!! When we go to the digital world after school, I'll get Veemon to digivolve to the champion level as well. Then Kari will be the one cheering for me!!!'

The rest of the day went by slowly. Takato started to design Guilmon's mega form while he waited for the other Digidestined and the other tamers in the computer room. 'Samurai? Too predictable. Maybe a knight...yeah!! Knights are practically the same thing!! Now what is he going to look like?' He remained lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the others come in. "Takato! Are you listening?"

"I'm sorry, Miss. Asashi!! I promise that I will pay attention next...huh?" Takato found himself to be looking at Kari Kamiya rather than his teacher back at home. "Oh, sorry Kari. By the way you asked me whether I was listening, you sounded a lot like my teacher!! What's going on anyway?"

'I'm going to become a teacher and have Takato in my class?' Kari shook the thought away for the moment. "Rika and Henry have decided that it would be wise if us Digidestined went to the digital world by ourselves. It's just a clean up job anyway. It shouldn't take too long."

Takato took some time to think about the Digimon episode that corresponded with this event. 'Ah, the plan to get Veemon to digivolve. Since Arukenimon won't be making her move until the Digidestined start work on Primary Village, it should be alright.' "Yeah, that would be a good idea if we stay out of sight for a bit. After all, there has to be something else lurking around the digital world if you guys can still go in."

"He's right. The clean up job is completely voluntary. Something else is threatening the digital world. I don't suppose you can tell us...wait, Izzy would say stuff about the prime directive or whatever," mumbled Yolei. Cody gave a smile. "I'm sure we can handle it. If we need your help, we'll send a message through the D Terminal. Did we give you one?"

The tamers shrugged. Then one of Henry's pockets gave a slight glow. It was a D Terminal card. Rika looked at him with disbelief. "You actually take that card along?!?" Henry paid no attention as he slid the card through his Digivice. "Digi Modify!! D Terminal Activate!" From the Digivice's screen, a light came out and formed into a D Terminal. Takato took the card to get his D Terminal. Rika had to calm herself down before sliding the card.

"Well, we got that solved. By the way, Renamon told me of a little mishap that nearly got our Digimon in trouble. I suggest that when we're at school, our Digimon spar with each other. This way, they can be prepared for any unusual events that occur in the digital world," stated Rika.

"Since Flamedramon is the best fighter out of you weaklings, he's going to be my sparring partner. Any objections?" asked Renamon coldly. The room filled with silence. "Good. Now that's settled, you can be on your way." The Digidestined simply went through the Digiport, unsure of what just happened. Demiveemon and Davis were the most confused.

Takato sighed and went back to his work. 'He's going to be a mega, holy knight Digimon so he should have a cape. What about a sword? Nah...he'll be too much like Omnimon. Maybe if I stick one of those weird jousting spears on his right arm...not bad!! He will have a shield with the logo that has appeared on him on the other digivolutions. Now to sketch in his armor. What about a name? Dukemon? Sounds a bit weird and corny.'

"Did you read the part where the gallant knight saves the Empress from the dark dragon? It's sooooooo romantic!!" "Oh, do tell!!" Takato's ears perked up. 'A gallant knight? Maybe...Gallantmon? Hey, that sounds cool!!' Henry was the first to break the silence inside the computer room. "Are you sure we should leave them alone? I'm sure Arukenimon and Mummymon have put the pieces together about us and are altering their plans right now."

"They won't launch an attack today. This is the episode where Davis tries to trick Veemon into digivolving. He eventually does with the help of Tortomon. Don't worry about them, they'll be fine," said Takato as he kept drawing. Their D Terminals started to beep, signalling that they had mail.

Rika opened her D Teminal. "'A new Digimon, that looks exactly the same as Devimon except in color has appeared in the area and has frozen the other Digimon except for Exveemon. Just so you know, that's Veemon's champion level form. Right now, Exveemon's having trouble. We need help!! Kari.' You were saying, goggle head?"

Takato gave a groan. "Me and my big mouth. Guilmon!!" The red virus Digimon stopped admiring his reflection in the computer screen. Terriermon, Renamon and Calumon got inside the room and prepared to go through the portal. Henry started typing commands to the computer to open a gateway near the Digidestined.

"You actually know how to work it this time?" asked Rika. Henry finished setting up the portal. "Izzy showed me how to use the gate over the weekend. The principles weren't that hard. Everything's ready to go!! Digiport open!!" The Digiport read the code on their Digivices and opened up the gateway.

[Insert Digiport sequence, music, all that stuff]

When they arrived in the digital world, their clothes had reverted back to what they wore when they first came to a dimension that originally was nothing more than fiction to them. Takato looked around. "Okay, where are they being attacked?" Henry scratched his chin. "When Yolei assigned the clean up tasks, they were in a forest. That's where we should start."

"Vee Laser!!" The tamers heard Exveemon try his attack. They looked up to see an aerial battle between Exveemon and another Digimon. Rika pulled out her Digivice. "Icedevimon. A fallen angel Digimon. Champion level, virus type. If he gets you with his Frost Claw attack...needless to say, it's worse than getting hit by Frigimon's Subzero Ice Punch."

"How can it be worse? Frigimon practically freezes you solid," stated Henry. Rika kept reading the description. "If a Digimon stays frozen by Icedevimon's power for too long, it'll decompile into data and be absorbed." The other two tamers gave nervous looks. "Avalanche!!" Ice daggers came from Icedevimon's wings and hit Exveemon.

"I'll go after Icedevimon. You help free the other Digimon, okay?" Rika gave a scowl. "Why do you get to fight Icedevimon, goggle head?" Takato shot a fiery look at the female tamer. "We don't have the time to debate this!! Get going!!!" She gave an icy glare before speaking. "Very well. But the next one is mine, is that clear?" Takato nodded. Henry started running to the forest with Terriermon on his head with Rika and Renamon behind them.

"Why is that white thing up there so ugly?" asked Calumon. Takato shrugged as he took out a card. "Let's do this. Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!" Calumon's red mark started to glow as well as Guilmon.

DIGIVOLUTION.... "Guilmon digivolved to...Growlmon!!"

"Just get Icedevimon away for the moment. Ask Exveemon what happened. Digi Modify!!! Dragon Wings Activate!!" Growlmon took off into the air and knocked Icedevimon off balance. Exveemon shook off the Avalanche attack that hit him a bit earlier. "Takatomon wants to know what happened."

"We got to the digital world. Yolei was trying to figure out who's doing what job when that Devimon look-alike came out of nowhere and froze Gatomon and Armadillomon. He knocked Hawkmon and Patamon out with those ice daggers. Davis was about to order me to armor-digivolve into Flamedramon when I got hit by one of those Frost Claws. I couldn't move but I could sense that Davis was in real danger and I just digivolved, breaking the ice prison." Icedevimon tried to regain his focus. "Frost Claw!!"

'Why does he attack so viciously? I don't suppose...maybe he's a control spire Digimon. After all, they usually just attack viciously and they don't even bother to talk except when they announce their attack.' "Dragon Slash!!" Takato snapped out of his train of thought and went back at observing the battle above. Icedevimon dodged the attack and delivered a punch to send Growlmon flying back. "Vee Laser!!"

The energy blast hit Icedevimon but it appeared that it didn't do much damage. Growlmon regained control and started flying up behind Icedevimon. "Time to finish this, Growlmon!! Digi Modify!! Viral Boost Chip Activate!!" Growlmon prepared to fire his attack. "Pyro..." Icedevimon turned around to see Growlmon unleashing his attack. "...Blaster!!" He became incinerated instantly.

The two champion level Digimon slowly made their way to the ground where Takato was waiting. It wasn't too long until the others made their way out of the forest. The frozen Digimon had been released from Icedevimon's power since Growlmon destroyed him. "Man, that was really something!! How does it feel to be a champ?" asked Davis.

While the Digidestined gathered around to talk to the new champion, Takato was telling Henry and Rika about his disturbing discovery. "It was all there. It appeared that the only thing on Icedevimon's mind was to destroy, destroy, destroy. The only conclusion I could come to was that Arukenimon made him."

Henry had a grim look on his face. "So she is altering her plans in order to throw us off. She initiated her attack early and tossed in Icedevimon instead of Thundermon. This complicates matters. Now, the possibility of Ken joining the team and the other Digimon attaining their champion levels has been altered with Arukenimon chaging events. And what about obtaining the DNA digivolutions?" Rika gave a smirk. "Well, at least we get new Digimon to fight. It won't be so predictable as it was last time."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Okay, let's see how I can get out of this jam. What cards should I use against your virus version of Metalgarurumon?" Henry pondered silently as Takato waited his turn. 'He already used his Viral Boost Chip and he can't use the Black Gear since Metalgarurumon is a mega Digimon.' The two boys were having a duel during lunch break at school. The other Digidestined kids had kitchen duties to do with Davis and Kari serving lunch, Cody cooking it along with TK and Yolei keeping things clean.

Rika came up behind them and gave a scowl. "Why are you still playing this? We have real Digimon to worry about, you know!!" Takato nearly fell over. "What are you doing here, Rika? I thought you were helping Renamon spar against Flamedramon." The girl crossed her arms. "Renamon didn't want my help. She said if I used Modify cards, then her victory over Flamedramon will be meaningless and there will be no honor."

"A rookie level Digimon against an armored? Doesn't seem honorable to me," murmured Henry as he kept thinking about what his next move will be. Takato took a moment to think. "Flamedramon is a vaccine Digimon while Renamon is a data type. Henry, you told me that we should assume that data types have an advantage over vaccine types if we're following the logic you lay out. So she would have a type advantage over Flamedramon."

"Right. Virus types have an edge over data types and..." Henry placed Wargreymon on the table and laid down the Omega Sword card. "...vaccines beat the living snot out of viruses." Takato groaned. "Hey...it's not fair using Omnimon's Omega Sword and jacking up Wargreymon's attack power by 1000 points!!"

"Fire Rocket!!" Renamon dodged the fireballs and dashed in to make an attack. Flamedramon blocked it with his right leg. The fox Digimon tried to land a punch in his stomach but he backed off. She aimed a jump kick at his head but he grabbed her outstretched left leg. Before he could toss her, she used the momentum to aim an inside roundhouse kick (counter-clockwise) to his head. His grip loosened enough for Renamon to get free.

"How long have they been sparring?" asked Poromon. The other Digimon didn't respond. They were too busy watching Renamon and Flamedramon duke it out. Guilmon stopped watching for a moment. "Um...I think they have been fighting since Takatomon told us to stay here."

Gatomon checked a clock inside one of the classrooms. She nearly gawked at the amount of time that has passed. "It's been four hours!! Right now it's lunch time!!" Upamon groaned. "I'm hungry. I wonder if Cody can get some of that shabu-shabu stuff."

A crinkling noise was heard nearby. This put the other Digimon on guard. Patamon slowly flew to where the noise was being made. "What are-" Terriermon and Calumon turned around and in a small pile were a bunch of candy wrappers. Poromon had an annoyed look. "You mean you had food all this time and didn't tell us?!?" Calumon grinned. "Well, Terriermon said that if you don't know about this, you guys won't mind." Terriermon laughed nervously as the other Digimon started advancing on them with expressions on their faces that made Kimeramon's evil look as scary as a lame Halloween accessory.

"Gotcha!!! Looks like I win this round." Flamedramon had just pinned down Renamon's arms and legs. Renamon gave a sly smile. "Perhaps." She closed her eyes as if concentrating on something. Flamedramon raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She started to raise her head. The armored Digimon still kept his guard up but began to blush as her face got closer to his. "What are you doing?!?"

Her lips were mere inches from his. 'Is she going to kiss me?!?!?' With this rampant thought running through his head, his grip started to loosen. Then Renamon quickly wiggled out of his grip, grabbed his armpits and gave a tremendous back toss (AN: Think the Back Roll from Street Fighter II. Street Fighter II belongs to Capcom). Flamedramon landed on his back and couldn't get up due to his lack of energy.

The fox Digimon walked over to him and knelt down. "You are a skilled fighter but you lack concentration. However you should not worry about it. You will learn to focus your energies as time passes." She tapped his face twice lightly with her hand before walking away. The last thought to go through Flamedramon's mind before he transformed back was 'I gotta talk to Davis about females.'

A few hours later, the bell rang signalling the end of the day. Takato made his way to the computer room behind Henry. "So we're going with them this time?" Henry kept on walking. "That's right, Takato. Since we're attempting to change things for the better, we can help fix Primary Village. When the fighting starts, we stay out of the way. That way, Hawkmon or Armadillomon will have to digivolve to their champion form." Takato gave a laugh. "Alright with me. Now all you have to do is tell Rika and make it out alive."

[Insert Digiport sequence, music, all that stuff]

The group had divided up the tasks to repairs on Primary Village. Rika kept a close eye out for control spire Digimon to battle however Primary Village remained quiet except for the baby Digimon that had just hatched from Digieggs. Guilmon, Takato, Kari, Gatomon, Henry and Terriermon were by the river, helping Elecmon to catch some fish for the babies. Calumon swam inside the river. Davis and Veemon supervised some of the baby Digimon. Yolei and Hawkmon were repairing some of the buildings. TK and Patamon fixed up the perimeter fence.

"Move a few inches to the right, Digmon. Right there!!" Digmon started to drill underground to set up a well. "Doesn't this place get all its water from the river?" Cody checked his map of the area. "Most of the time. But there have been some situations in which the river was unable to provide. By building this well, there'll always be a water source for this place...did you hear that?"

The boy stopped. He could have sworn he heard a neigh from a horse. Digmon turned around to look but didn't see anything. He was about to tell Cody that he must be hearing things when something rammed him from behind. Digmon flew over Cody and collided with a tree. "Digmon!!!!" Renamon heard Cody yell out Digmon's name. "There's trouble, Rika." Rika gave a cold smile. "And a new Digimon. Party time."

Cody ran over to where the now shrunken Armadillomon lay. He looked to see a striped horse Digimon with a helmet similar to Unimon. However he had no wings. Renamon and Rika came from behind Cody and Armadillomon. "Let's see what I can pull up on you...Shimaunimon, a champion level Digimon. Vaccine type. His metal helmet protects him from harm. His Raster Shot and Wild Thunder attacks were made to counter aerial strikes since he's unable to fly."

"Raster Shot!!" Renamon dodged the blast. "Diamond Storm!!" The attack hit him straight on the helmet and fizzled. "Let's increase the heat!! Digi Modify!! Strength Activate!!" Renamon dashed in to deliver a punch. Shimaunimon stood his ground. "Wild Thunder!!!" The attack threw Renamon back a few hundred metres. He turned his focus on Cody and Armadillomon.

'Why is he going after them?' Rika checked her Digivice and gave a small gasp at the new statistics. 'His attack power increases against Digimon who can dig underground. That's why spider lady sent him to take out Armadillomon.' "Raster Shot!!!" She looked up to see Cody and Armadillomon in the line of fire. Cody's D3 began to go off.

"Armadillomon digivolved to...Ankylomon!!"

Ankylomon swung his tail to block the attack. "Get to safety, Cody. I'll handle this. You too, Rika." Cody nodded as he backed off. Rika narrowed her eyes. "No way. Renamon, let's get back to work." The fox Digimon came by her side. "Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!" Underneath the surface of the river, Calumon's mark began glowing.

DIGIVOLUTION.... "Renamon digivolved to...Kyubimon!!"

"Wild Thunder!!" Kyubimon dodged the attack. The electricity bounced off Ankylomon's armor and didn't deal a lot of damage. "Tail Hammer!!" Ankylomon swung his heavy tail and slammed it into Shimaunimon. "Fox Tail Inferno!!" Kyubimon shot nine balls of energy into Shimaunimon. "Raster Shot!!"

Some of the fireballs got nullified but some got through. "Ankylomon, flip him up so I can get a good shot!!" Ankylomon grinned. He slammed his tail into Shimaunimon and flipped him into the air before he could recover. "Going up!!" Kyubimon took aim at the vulnerable area underneath. "Dragon Wheel!!" That finished Shimaunimon off.

"I told you that you should have stayed out of the way. But at least Armadillomon reached his champion form," stated Henry after the group got back together. The Digidestined were too busy checking out the new champion Digimon on the block. Henry started thinking of the latest attack by a control spire Digimon. "I wonder how many more control spires are scattered throughout the digital world. We should start destroying as many as we can before Arukenimon creates Blackwargreymon."

"We should take out Owikawa before Malomyotismon reaches full power. It would also be wise to destroy Mummymon and Arukenimon as well since they present a threat to the digital world, " said Rika in a monotone voice. Takato took this moment to speak. "Hold up a bit, guys. Destroying Arukenimon and Mummymon seems a bit of a waste of potential."

"Did those goggles cut the circulation of oxygen to your head or what? Those two are evil and we have to stop them!!" snapped Rika. "What if they knew that they were going to be destroyed if all goes according to plan? Wouldn't their main priority be to survive? I don't know...I'm just thinking that if Mummymon knew what we knew, he would probably throw in the towel with us since we may be the only hope of saving her life and stopping Malomyotismon," replied Takato.

Henry thought about Takato's proposal. "There are always morals that stand in the way of doing what has to be done to save a life. For example, someone does not want to go through an operation for personal reasons or maybe religious reasons but that operation is the only thing that could save that person's life. A doctor would have to honor the patient's request and not perform the operation. If Arukenimon wanted to die for her mission and her duty to Owikawa, Mummymon would have to eventually honor that." He paused for a moment. "I don't think we should even try to get involved with this matter. There are too many unpredictable factors to deal with. We have other problems to deal with and I don't intend to add any more to the list."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Are you sure you want to go back, Ken? Your last visit brought back a lot of unpleasant memories," said a concerned Wormmon. Ken clenched his fists. "I have a debt to repay to those kids for opening my eyes. I have caused a lot of damage when I was the Digimon Emperor. If I'm to atone for my sins, I have to go back and erase every bit of the evil I represented."

He placed his black D3 inside his pocket. "I've also been seeing some weird things. The day after I came back, I could have sworn I saw a white-haired woman doing something to my computer. She was pulling up statistics on the control spires. But I couldn't see much else since I was too exhausted. Obviously, she might know a few things that I don't. But since she's probably not willing to talk, those new kids may hold the answers I seek. Maybe they'll help heal my soul for hurting my best friend."

Wormmon crawled up to his partner. "Don't worry about the past. Whatever happens from now on, I'll be right at your side." Ken gave a sad smile. "Thanks, Wormmon. I just hope that we can fix things up." His computer screen started to glow. "You know, I saw how popular you were with the females on TV. If they knew that you had become a sort of dark hero, trying to heal himself, they would probably hunt you down with more effort." Before Ken could ask why Wormmon made such an observation, they were sucked in the portal to the digital world.

* * * * * * * * * * * *


"Guys, I saw something really strange. Just before Kyubimon destroyed Shimaunimon, I saw a small bit underneath its skin. It looked black and shiny, kind of like a small bit of a control spire. When we came to the digital world today, there was a control spire just hanging around the top of that mountain. Now it's gone!" The other Digidestined kids turned to look where Cody was pointing at. The tamers had just finished their discussion and joined them from behind. "What are you looking at?" asked Takato.

TK raised an eyebrow. "Henry, you said that only Ken could create control spire Digimon. But Cody just got attacked by one only a few moments ago. How is this possible?" The other boy crossed his arms. "I only said that it was a distinct possibility that Ken was using the control spires in another manner however that hypothesis seems to be incorrect."

"So what do we do now?" asked Yolei. Before anyone could answer, Davis came up with a suggestion. "We should try and find who's transforming control spires into Digimon. But if we do that, whoever it is may create more Digimon out of control spires and totally wreck the digital world. The best thing to do is to knock as many control spires down!!"

"Unbelievable. Davis actually made a logical suggestion," said Rika as she gave a mock gasp of surprise. Davis ignored that comment. "Well, we would have to start tomorrow after school. I gotta go help out at the convenience store," said Yolei. "I have kendo lessons with my grandfather," added Cody. "Alright!! I get the picture!! We'll start tomorrow." Davis pointed his D3 at the TV. "Digiport open!!"

A few moments later after the Digidestined had left with the tamers, Ken found the TV by which they left. "Damn!! I must have missed them!" Wormmon looked around the area. "The Primary Village must be having a renovation. There's tools everywhere!!" A look of regret came across the boy's face. "They're having the renovation because of me...we should help do some repairs while we're here."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Arukenimon watched the television which had recorded the conservation between the Digidestined and the tamers. Mummymon felt himself go pale at the thought of what Davis had suggested. "They're going to destroy all of the control spires!! Our power comes from those spires!! What do we do?"

His partner did not respond. 'So far, we have used Icedevimon and Shimaunimon. Those two were some of the most powerful champion level Digimon in the digital world but they were easily beaten. Obviously, brute strength will not defeat our foes.'

"Hello? Mummymon to Arukenimon, are you there?" A scowl came across her face as she hit Mummymon. "Be quiet!!! I'm trying to think!! We need to infiltrate the Digidestined team somehow...and outsmart the new kids. Perhaps I should try a control spire Digimon from a different angle." She turned to face the gigantic dark tower. "Spirit Needle!!"

A flash of light came from the spire as it formed into a Digimon. When everything cleared up, Mummymon's jaw dropped at the sight of Arukenimon's new creation. "You're actually going to use this little pipsqueak to infiltrate the Digidestined group?!?! I do admit that he does look a little like one of their Digimon but what if they catch him?! His colour doesn't match that of the real thing!! If they decide to fight him, he won't stand a chance!! The guy's just a rookie!!"

The new Digimon shot a dangerous glare. "I may be a rookie but I can beat you in a battle of wits any time!!" Mummymon was seriously considering morphing into his battle form and teaching the small Digimon some respect when Arukenimon stopped him. "That's enough bickering. I've been refining my techniques when it came to creating Digimon and I may have just found the perfect solution. However I must test this first."

"Test what?" Arukenimon stroked her hair lightly. "Remember how our boss used his DNA to create the two of us? I've decided to take a similar approach and use my data not just to give life to a control spire but to give it artificial intelligence. There's a safety mechanism in the hair fibre that can dissipate the data if there is any danger. And if necessary, it can convert intelligence subroutines into additional data so that he can digivolve and defend himself."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Davis? I got something to ask you." Demiveemon hopped right beside Davis as he turned off the small lamp nearby before going to bed. "What's up, Demiveemon? Wait...don't tell me. You want me to bring a bag of snacks as a refreshment after your sparring match with Renamon. "

"Uh...that would be nice but that's not it. I want you to tell me about girls and how they are able to make guys fall in love with them. And what do we do when we are in that type of situation." Davis yawned before replying. "Why do you want to know?" Demiveemon was thankful that the room was dark so Davis couldn't see his blushing. "Just curious."

"Well, sometimes it's the way they look. Like when I look at Kari, I see nothing but pure silky skin, strawberry lips and eyes that are so gentle that any guy would give anything to look in them forever. Sometimes, the looks don't really count and you have to look further by the way they act. With Kari, she is so gentle and pure of heart. A girl with both beauty and soul is hard to find. Luckily for me, that search is over...." He gave a contented sigh before drifting off.

"Wait!! But what do we do when we realize that?? Davis!!" It was too late. The room had already gone silent except for the boy's snoring. Demiveemon tried to get some sleep but Renamon's image kept haunting him. 'She's always in my head!! This is totally weird!! If I keep thinking about her like this, she'll always pound me in our sparring matches!!'

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Before we begin, no using cheap tactics!! Okay?" Renamon gave a chuckle. "Whatever you say, big boy." Flamedramon started to do a bit of stretching. The group had gathered before school to do a bit of talking. "Cheap tactics? Renamon, what did you do?" asked Rika. "All I did was distract Flamedramon a bit. He let his guard down and I took advantage of that," replied the fox Digimon.

"Hmmmm...I may know a way to make this match a bit more fair." She started rummaging through her cards and found one that confirmed her idea. 'Now to see whether goggle head or Einstein have the card I need...wait a minute. I should just borrow the Digiegg from Davis.' She took a connecting wire and hooked her terminal at one end. "Davis, can I see your Digiegg of Friendship for a moment?"

The boy blinked in confusion before summoning the Digiegg to materialize from above his D3 on the table. "Okay but I don't know why you want it." Rika gently took it in her hands. "I just want to borrow your Digiegg for a little experiment..." The fox Digimon went slightly pale. 'Is she going to...?' Rika said the activation sequence, confirming Renamon's suspicion. "Digi Armor Energize!!" Calumon's mark started to glow.

ARMOR DIGIVOLUTION....

"Renamon armor-digivolved to...Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!!" Everybody except for Rika, Calumon, Guilmon and Terriermon immediately dropped their jaw when they saw Renamon armor-digivolve to Raidramon. Calumon looked at her in awe. "Hey, you look exactly like the Digimon who leapt into that cave a while back!!" Raidramon raised her head and gave an exasperated sigh. "This is your revenge for me laughing at your pretty girl outfit earlier this week, isn't it?" said the Digimon in her normal voice.

Rika gave a smirk. "Whatever do you mean? Now you have to fight on four legs and he won't get distracted so easily. I evened it out for him." Takato was the first to start stammering. "B-b-b-b-but how d-d-did you know?" Henry started scanning the new Raidramon. "Gotta calm down...here we go. Armored type Digimon, Thunder Blast attack...it says here that this Raidramon is a data type Digimon."

The girl gave a motion for a tamers only meeting. The two followed as the others started to look around at Raidramon. "You haven't answered my question earlier, Rika." Rika gently took a card out of her pocket. Takato's eyes went wide as he saw the card. "I don't believe it!!! A promotional card from the...the..."

"The Youth Division of the Digimon Card Game City Championship Tournament. I won this card as a consolation prize when I came in second place two years ago. I returned last year to play the guy who beat me but he never showed up. He must have chickened out at the last minute or something." In the small text box, it had as the digivolution requirements: Renamon and the Digiegg of Friendship.

The bell rang, snapping everyone back to reality. "Aw man!! I'm going to be late!! I'll see ya later!" Yolei ran off as did Cody to their first class. Once everyone had left, Raidramon gave a sigh. "I should have seen this coming, ever since I saw the card."

'Just when you think you know someone, they pull out a giant surprise.' "Ready?" Flamedramon blinked as he saw Raidramon waiting for him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." The armored Digimon started leaping up towards the roof. "I always wondered who could win. Flamedramon or Raidramon. They're pretty strong guys!!" exclaimed Upamon. "Well, the first time I fought Flamedramon met in battle, I locked him down with the Training Grips," boasted Terriermon. The other Digimon groaned as Terriermon started bragging about his victory.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Whoa!! Check out the test marks!! Ken flunked!!" "No way!! He's a genius!!" The other students gathered around the bulletin board to check out how they did on a test. Ken ignored the speculation and slowly made the walk to the exit. 'What's wrong with me? I used to know all this stuff but now I'm just plain old Ken. I can't focus right...I have to go to the digital world and find something to restore my concentration and help me become the person I was before I found the dark ocean and became the Digimon Emperor.'

"Ken!! You're home early! How was school, honey?" Ken placed his school bag on the ground. "It was okay. I'm having a bit of trouble focusing myself but I'll just take some extra tutorial or something." His mother gave a smile. "Don't stress yourself over one failure. You should get some rest and let some of the pressure come out of you." Ken nodded and headed straight for his room. Had anyone been observing, they would have noticed a flashing light through the small gap underneath his door.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Golden Noose!!" Nefertimon and Pegasusmon dragged down a few control spires with their combination attack. Ankylomon whipped his heavy tail to knock down another control spire. "Tail Hammer!!" Exveemon powered up his attack. "Vee Laser!!" Halsemon fired a Tempest Wing on another spire.

Davis gave a grin. "Good work everyone!! Let's take a break!! Yolei brought some refreshments for you guys!!" The Digidestined Digimon immediately reverted back to their rookie forms (except for Gatomon of course) and charged towards the snack bag. Growlmon finished off another control spire with his Pyro Blaster. "Can I go eat, Takatomon?"

Takato laughed. "Sure. Just try not to go overboard or anything." The champion level Digimon started jogging to where the others were eating. Kyubimon continued to work while Gargomon begged Henry to let him go to the refreshment area. Calumon went to the snack bag for a treat.

"I'm going to fly around a bit. When the break's over, just let me know. I'll be around that area," said Patamon. TK smiled. "You got it." The little Digimon started flying towards one of the forest areas. When he got near one of the trees, he could have sworn he saw something. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He heard the leaves ruffle a bit and a shadow came from behind. Patamon turned around and gave a gasp of surprise. "You-" "Sonic Burst!!" (AN: the original Japanese name was Bad Message.)

A few minutes had passed. TK was starting to get worried. Patamon should have been back by now. "Hey, is there something wrong, TK?" asked Cody. TK looked at the forest where Patamon had flew off to. "I'm going to go find Patamon. He probably got lost or something. You can start without us. If I need a hand, I'll send a message through the D terminal."

"Hold up, TK. It's a big forest. I'll help search for Patamon," said Yolei firmly. TK hesitated before nodding. Yolei headed into another area of the forest with Hawkmon at her side. TK started running in the direction where he saw Patamon last. "Patamon!! Where are you? It's hard to see anything with this weird purple fog!!"

He saw a shape that looked like Patamon. "Patamon!! Is that you?" The Digimon gave a tiny wave. "Over here!!" TK raised an eyebrow. "Your voice...Patamon, do you have a sore throat or something?" He heard a small cough. "Yeah. Must be something that came from this purple fog." TK went further inside to get his friend. "I almost got you..." "Sonic Burst!!"

"They should be around here somewhere. The signals I'm getting told me they were here. Stupid purple fog," muttered Ken as he walked through the dense forest. He stopped as he heard a grunting noise on his right. Wormmon looked up at him. "Is something wrong?" Ken slowly walked to the area where he saw a knocked out TK being dragged by a little Digimon that looked like Patamon. The real Patamon lay unconscious by one of the trees. "Geez, I wish the boss could have gave me a little help. This guy's heavy!!"

"What's going on, Ken?" Ken placed a finger on his lips, signalling Wormmon to be quiet. "I'm not quite sure but TK and Patamon are out cold by a Digimon that looks like Patamon except he has purple skin where Patamon has orange and he has yellow eyes. We should sneak them out when he's not looking. Who knows what that Digimon has up his sleeve," whispered the boy.

When they saw the little Digimon fly away, they quietly went to grab TK and Patamon. "What do we have here?" They both whirled around to see the Patamon imposter glaring at them with his golden eyes. Wormmon gave a startled look. "We saw you fly away!! How did you know?" A smirk came across the Digimon's face. "You weren't whispering quietly enough. Now I'm going to have to get rid of you. Sonic Burst!!"

"What?" Kyubimon had just finished knocking down another control spire when she heard something. "What's wonrg, Kyubimon?" The fox Digimon narrowed her eyes. "Trouble. It came from that direction." Rika took out her Digivice to see its compass was pointing in the same direction. "Let's go."

"Sticky Net!!" Wormmon shot a sticky fluid but his opponent flew overhead and shot another Sonic Burst. "I got them!! Let's get out of here!!" Wormmon shook off the attack and started his hasty retreat. But they didn't get very far, seeing how Yolei and Hawkmon were blocking their path. "What do you think you're doing, Ken?" Before Ken could answer, he was knocked down by a Sonic Burst. "Thanks for stalling them for me. As a reward, I'll make your death a quick one," grinned the little Digimon. "You mean, you knocked out TK and Patamon?" asked Hawkmon. The imposter gave a laugh. "That's right. Now hold still so I can finish you all in one shot."

Yolei knelt down before the dark haired boy. "You were trying to save them, Ken? My God, what have I done?" Hawkmon took a protective stance. The girl gave a fiery look at the other Digimon. "You're going down, buddy!! Hawkmon!!!" Her D3 started going off. "Hawkmon digivolved to...Aquilamon!!!!"

Rika and Kyubimon leapt in to see Aquilamon, Yolei and two unconscious Digidestined kids along with their partners. She pulled out her Digivice to check out the rookie Digimon. "Tsukaimon, a rookie level Digimon. Virus type. His Purple Fog blinds his enemies so that he can hit them hard with a Sonic Burst."

"This looks bad. I need a battle upgrade." Tsukaimon started to glow as the hair fibre started rewriting his digital code. Rika narrowed her eyes. "Is he digivolving?" Now instead of Tsukaimon, Ninjamon stood in his place. He started to take out something when Aquilamon attacked. "Blast Ring!!"

Ninjamon quickly dodged the attack. He concentrated to create multiple copies of himself. "Fox Tail Inferno!!" Nine fireballs came out from Kyubimon's tails to attack each copy. When the smoke cleared, only one Ninjamon was left. "Aquilamon!! It's a control spire Digimon!!" A small bit of a black shiny metal was showing underneath a cut. "Alright then!! Grand Horn!!!" Aquilamon dove in for the kill. Ninjamon had no time to react and dissipated into data when the attack connected.

"Ken!! Wake up!!" The boy stirred and opened his eyes. Most of the Digidestined stood above him to see if he was okay. Cody stood off in another area, preferring not to talk to Ken since he still felt that the former Emperor can not be trusted. "You tried to save my life. Thanks," said TK. "And that goes double for me," added Patamon.

"I just wanted to help. Excuse me but I need to talk with those three." He pointed a finger at Rika, Henry and Takato. The Digidestined decided to leave him alone with the tamers. Ken walked up to them, uncertain what to ask first. "What do you want?" asked Rika coldly.

"First, I want to say thank you for helping me see some things that I couldn't see before. If you didn't give me that speech, I would have probably winded up doing some more regrettable things." The two male tamers looked at Rika who just gave a 'whatever'. "You also seem to know a lot of stuff about me. I need to know what happened that changed me so drastically."

Henry was about to give the 'temporal prime directive' speech when Rika interrupted him. "Okay, genius. I guess you deserve to hear the truth. A few years ago, a little boy was jealous of his older brother, so jealous that he wished that his brother was dead. He got his wish and became even more miserable than ever to the point which he gave up all hope to live. A dark force took advantage of that and magnified it to the point where you turned into a diabolical evil genius. But the main fact was that he found it so easy. You never even put up a fight to remain who you were: a nice, decent person who represented the human element of Kindness in the digital world. That is what makes me sick. I can understand if you fought hard but lost in the end. Giving up before the battle has even begun is another matter." Ken remained shocked at what Rika had just told him. What shocked everyone in the group was what she did next.

"See this, genius?" She held up the Crest of Kindness. Takato and Henry gave each other startled looks. "This represents what you were before you went to the dark side. So far, you have not displayed any sort of genuine kindness to have this in your possession. Until you prove your worth, this Crest is staying with me." With that said, she started to walk away. Ken fell down on his knees and slowly started crying. Wormmon crawled up to him. "The worst part is that she's right. I'm not worthy." He silently sobbed while Wormmon tried to comfort him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I'm not worthy..." The tears fell freely from Ken's eyes but he didn't care. Everything else had been taken from him except for the Digivice which he created out of pure darkness. Although Wormmon was there, he felt that he no longer had the virus Digimon's full trust.

Takato was trying his best not to freak out at this new revelation. "I can't believe that she took the Crest!! Of all the people to safeguard it, why did it have to be her?" Henry had a concerned look on his face. He had to help Ken get through this psychological trauma or else Stingmon might not make his appearance. Which means no DNA digivolving and no Imperialdramon to stop Malomyotismon. Takato knelt down by the other boy. "Don't mind her, Ken. She just hates quitters."

"Exactly!!! Don't you see that she hates me? It's because I gave up on my old life with everything that was ever dear to me!!" Takato wasn't sure what to say but he knew that this was a delicate situation. Henry decided to break the small silence. "Ken, we would like to tell you the answers but then we would be saving you all the work. You must see things from a new perspective if you are ever to move on. Perhaps once you find that, the Crest of Kindness will recognize you as the rightful bearer."

"You really should cool down a bit. Momentai!!" Henry gave a small smile at Terriermon's comment. "Terriermon's right. You don't have to stress yourself over this. I have faith that you can find what you're looking for." Takato grinned. "We can give a little advice along the way but you probably won't need it since you are smart enough to make the right decisions."

Ken wiped a few tears away with his sleeve. "What about her?" Takato crossed his arms. "If you keep acting like this, you'll prove her point. The sooner you get started on your new path, the sooner you can prove her wrong. That's all there is to it." The tamers decided to let this sink in and turned to leave. Ken got up slowly. "Let's go, Wormmon." Guilmon gave one last look over his shoulder. "Will he be alright, Takatomon?" Takato gave a nod. "I have no doubt about it. Let's get back to the Digiport."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mummymon kept driving the vehicle towards their destination. "So now that the test with the runt has proven to be successful to some degree, what do we do now?" He stopped the jeep when he got to the location. Arukenimon looked at the small clutter of control spires before her. "Isn't it obvious? I create a Digimon using the same parameters that I used to create Tsukaimon except this time, it will be a champion level Digimon that creates havoc and digivolves to ultimate once they have all assembled together. They will all fall in one glorious attack!!"

"But don't they have an ultimate level Digimon? I believe it was the red one. Yes, it was him who administered the final blow to our puppet's creation. And even if they don't, they still outnumber us at least two to one."Arukenimon gave a dark smile. "I believe I have the perfect Digimon for the job. She is a ferocious fighter in her ultimate form. If the entire team shows up, we join the fight. Regardless of their numbers, they have no chance against three ultimate level Digimon!!"

Mummymon scratched his head. "Um...did you remember how those new kids were able to defeat Gigadramon and Megadramon? They were ultimate level Digimon too, you know." Arukenimon prepared to get to work. "This simply means I'll have to create a decoy." She gave a small laugh. "And I have just the candidate who will be able to do that just nicely. Spirit Needle!!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I don't belong in the digital world at all, Wormmon. I've already had my chance to do some good but instead I quit on that and became evil. The only thing I would have regretted if I didn't go is not meeting you." Ken lay on his bed, just drifting in a sea of thoughts. "I'm just not sure what I'm going to do."

"What you're going to do is to get yourself out of this depressing mood and find your answers! Don't think that you don't belong in the digital world. That's a quitter talking!! You've changed back to your old self, Ken. Once you prove it to yourself and the others, the rest will fall into place." The boy turned his head slightly to look at Wormmon. He saw trust reflecting in the virus Digimon's blue eyes.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Takato went over to look at the sight before him. "So this is the mountain area where Blackwargreymon came to life. Well, since we're trying to change things for the better, let's tear down those control spires!! Growlmon!!" The virus Digimon unleashed a Pyro Blaster to destroy a spire. "Gargo Laser!!" Another one toppled over. "Fox Tail Inferno!" Nine balls of energy concentrated in one specific location to bring another spire down.

The group had just finished another day of school and had just begun working. The tamers decided to take the mountain area to prevent Arukenimon from creating Blackwargreymon. The Digidestined were all working near the forest where assorted control spires loomed overhead. Rika tapped her foot impatiently while Calumon enjoyed the sight before him. "We should be going after our enemies and bringing the fight to them!! Who cares if spider lady can make Digimon? We'll just deal with them when they come!!"

"At this point, I would rather not take the risk of dealing with a mega Digimon. Regardless of the amount of cards we possess and our numbers, a mega Digimon could overpower us easily," stated Henry. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a shadow move. "What the...?" "Erase Claw!!!!" Their Digimon barely had time to dodge that attack. A black dragon Digimon with red wings hovered in the air with a dark lust that could easily be seen in his eyes. He started diving down towards Growlmon. Takato pulled out a card. "Digi Modify!! Hyperspeed Activate!!"

Rika gave a smirk as she took out her Digivice. "Excellent...apparently, that goon up there is Cyberdramon, an ultimate level Digimon. Vaccine type. When he is given a target, he uses his Erase Claw attack to kill them and everything else that stands in his way. He also has a lust for battle that could only be rivalled by Skullgreymon. So we're the chosen targets, eh? Kyubimon, walk all over him!!"

In another part of the digital world, Arukenimon's other creation was setting up various road blocks and dead ends before the actual encounter takes place. The boss had specifically ordered that all escape routes be blocked and all televisions within the vicinity be destroyed so that the Digiport can't be opened. This time, there was no place for the Digidestined to run and the other kids have their hands full with Cyberdramon.

"I don't think we can be of any help right now, Wormmon. We don't have the strength to knock down a control spire!! I'm not sure if I can find a way out of this jumble that I created for myself. " His voice echoed throughout the place, indicating his presence in the digital world. 'So the boss lady's former puppet is trying to put things right again. Hmmmm...'

"Doesn't this guy ever quit?!?" Gargomon fired another round from his machine gun hands. Cyberdramon dodged the attack and went in for a close range attack. "Erase Claw!!" Gargomon fired a shot from the ground to propel himself into the air. Henry whipped out another card. "Digi Modify!! Imperialdramon's Positron Laser Activate!!" Gargomon's hands formed into a giant cannon. "Positron Laser!!" Cyberdramon had already vacated his previous spot and was attacking Growlmon.

"Dragon Slash!!" Cyberdramon was forced to back off from Growlmon. Takato took out his pile of cards. "I hope I can find a blue card in here!!" Rika froze when she heard Takato mention the blue card. "Blue card?!!? Of all the stupid...why the heck would you want a blue card right now??"

"The card enabled Growlmon to digivolve to his ultimate form!!" Rika's expression changed immediately. "The blue card...you're telling me that not only can it make Digivices when slid through card readers but it allows our Digimon to digivolve to their ultimate forms?!?"

Ken checked the signatures on his D3. The Digidestined weren't too far away. Tracking them is the easy part. Proving that he has changed in another matter. A voice came out form nowhere. "Hello there, little boy. Are you lost?" Ken stopped in his tracks. "W-what did you say?"

"You are lost, aren't you?" Wormmon started looking around for the source of the voice. "We should keep moving, Ken." Ken raised his hand as a signal to be quiet. "In more ways than one, I'm afraid." A black cat Digimon came from above the tree and landed in front of him. (AN: Okay, now this is going to be a Season 2 Digimon Analyzer sequence)

Wormmon looked at the new Digimon. "Be careful, Ken!! That's Blackgatomon right in front of you!! She's the one who invented the superstition of black cat crossings giving bad luck!!" The champion level, virus Digimon smiled. "You shouldn't believe in superstitions anyway." Wormmon narrowed his eyes.

Blackgatomon turned her attention to the boy. "If you wish, I can give a bit of advice on how you can find the clarity in life that you seek. You seem to need it." Wormmon was about to state his objections but Ken silenced him. "They're just words, Wormmon. It doesn't hurt to listen." Wormmon still had an uneasy feeling as Ken approached the other virus Digimon.

Henry pulled out another card and prepared to slash it through his Digivice. He stopped suddenly as he looked at the card. "A Program card...using the power of the net to make your Digimon digivolve...where did this come from? I never used this card in any of my other decks!!" "Erase Claw!!!" Cyberdramon missed Gargomon by mere inches. "Why do you have to be so crazy? Momentai!!!"

The boy decided that figuring out how he got the card in the first place was something that he should save for later. "Let's see what you can do. Digi-" Sparks of electricity came from the card and the Digivice. Henry was forced to pull back the card. It glowed a soft blue before settling down. Henry couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the palm of his hand lay the blue card.

"So what's your idea of clarity? How can you see things so clearly?" Blackgatomon gave an impish grin. "It's all about indulgence, young man. You do what you feel like doing and you have no regrets. In life, there are a lot of temptations. Instead of resisting the nature that resides within you, you should try doing those things. At one point of your life, you wanted to be in control of the entire digital world. You probably still want that control. It's in there, beating inside your chest."

Ken widened his eyes. "N-no..." The cat Digimon continued. "The reason why you are so lost is because you're trapped between your morals as a human and your natural born instincts. You crave order. The digital world is the exact opposite. If you want to fix it, you should install order in the digital world. Your order. The only way to accomplish this is to push your morals all the way down. It's a bit of a tough job but I doubt that finding your new perspective on life as a good guy is much easier."

As soon as she said that, Ken regained his posture. "The road to redemption is not an easy path. But when I reach the end of that road, I will know that I have accomplished something through hard work and sacrifice. Taking the easy path would do no good. If I quit now, I may never get another chance. I have to fight to remain who I am. Once I lose my identity, I have nothing. As far as I'm concerned...my top priority is remaining the kind and gentle person for the rest of my life!!!" A faint glow appeared on the screen of his D3.

Kyubimon was thrown back into a control spire by Cyberdramon. "Kyubimon!! Look out!!!" It looked like that Rika's warning came too late. But Growlmon intercepted Cyberdramon before he could fire another Erase Claw. Henry ran over to Gargomon. "It's time for you to go up to the next level, if you're up for it."

The rabbit Digimon grinned. "Bring it on!!" Henry slashed the blue card through his Digivice. "Digi Modify!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!" Calumon's mark started to glow red. "Wow...the gun bunny's starting to glow!!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION.... "Gargomon digivolved to...Rapidmon!!"

Cyberdramon tossed Growlmon down. "Erase-" "Rapid Fire!!" Missiles hit the ultimate level Digimon from behind. He turned around but there was nobody there. Rika pulled out her Digivice. "Rapidmon, ultimate level cyborg warrior Digimon. Vaccine type. According to this, this guy's the fastest ultimate level Digimon in the entire digital world!!" In her pocket, the Crest of Kindness started to glow a bright purple. She took it out and examined it. 'What is that boy genius doing?'

"Well, I tried to point you in the right direction but unfortunately you're a moron. Thunder Uppercut!!" (AN: In the Japanese bersion, Tailmon, Gatomon's Japanese counterpart, and Black Tailmon both had a Cat Punch. Instead of using Lightning Paw, I went for something different) Blackgatomon raised her left arm, her furry blue gloved hand in a fist. "Wormmon digivolved to...Stingmon!!" Stingmon leapt in front of Ken and parried the attack. Blackgatomon raised an eyebrow. 'Since when could that wimp digivolve?'

"Spiking Strike!!!" A pink blade of energy came out of the top of Stingmon's hand. He charged towards the other virus Digimon. She concentrated as she caught the blade between her blue gloves. Stingmon kept going forward, bit by bit. Blackgatomon started sliding back slowly.

"Erase Claw!!" Cyberdramon tried to attack but Rapidmon was way ahead of him. "Okay you big bully!! Eat this!! Tri Beam!!!" A triangle formed from Rapidmon and was shot towards Cyberdramon. He was knocked down but not for the count. Rapidmon gave a small groan. "Doesn't this guy ever die?!??!"

"We'll just have to try destroying him with something different. Digi Modify!! Frigimon's Subzero Ice Punch Activate!!" Rapidmon started to dash forward towards the dragon Digimon. Before he could use an Erase Claw, Rapidmon went behind him. "Subzero Ice Punch!!" He became frozen in a matter of seconds. Henry grabbed another card to finish the fight. "Digi Modify!! Imperialdramon's Positron Laser Activate!!" After a few moments, there was nothing left of Cyberdramon except for residual traces of data.

Blackgatomon forced herself to get a grip on the ground and tossed Stingmon to the other side. He recovered in the air. "Spiking Strike!!" Blackgatomon gave a growl. It's time to pull out the big guns. She started her transformation. Stingmon wasn't sure what's going on but he kept charging anyway. The next thing he knew, he missed his target and got heavily scratched on his back.

Ken didn't believe what he saw. Blackgatomon just somehow digivolved into Ladydevimon. She easily dodged the attack and slashed his back with her sharp nails. He was sent crashing into the forest. "What the heck is that?!?" The Digidestined gathered around the fallen Stingmon. Kari looked up in the air and gasped. "I don't about him but I definitely know her!! That's Ladydevimon!! She used to be Piedmon's bodyguard on Infinity Mountain!!"

"Stingmon!! Are you okay?" Ken came running into the area. "You know this Digimon, Ken?" asked Yolei. Ken helped Stingmon get up. "This is Wormmon's champion form." The others gave surprised looks.

"Darkness Wing!!" A wave of black energy started to head towards them. The Dgidestined had to get out of the way. TK hid behind a tree. "Be careful, everyone!! She's an ultimate level Digimon!!" Sweat started to roll down Cody's face. "An ultimate level?!? This isn't good!!"

"She's already started the party? How rude!! We better get there as soon as possible, pumpkin!" Mummymon started morphing into his battle form as well as Arukenimon. "That's probably the most reasonable thing to do. And you actually thought it up by yourself...and can the sweet talk." "Fox Tail Inferno!!"

Before they could react, nine fireballs pummeled them on to the ground. The tamers stood in front of them, with Growlmon and Rapidmon ready to fight. Calumon was on Takato's head. "How...they beat Cyberdramon!! Time to retreat. Acid Mist!!" "Get back!!" hissed Henry. Arukenimon and Mummymon took this time to escape.

"Vee Laser!!" "Grand Horn!!" Ladydevimon easily dodged both attacks. Exveemon gritted his teeth. "She's too fast!!" She started diving down. Pegasusmon came in front the side. "Star Shower!!" The attack bounced off her armour. Before she could make an attack, Rapidmon arrived and fired a Tri Beam at close range. She let out a bloodcurdling scream before dissipating.

"Hey, is everyone in one piece?" Takato walked over to the other Digidestined. Some of them were a bit shaken up but otherwise they were fine. Henry gave a small sigh of relief when he saw Stingmon. 'Now everything is set up for the DNA digivolutions.' Rika noticed that the Crest of Kindness started glowing more strongly. She walked over to Ken. "Hey, genius." He looked up and caught the Crest of Kindness. "It'll probably be safer with you, anyway."

She started walking away, not even thinking about keeping the Crest safe by herself. The Crest of Kindness had been the last thing on her mind when the fact became clear to her that she was the weakest tamer. Twice, Einstein and goggle head have surpassed her by having their Digimon digivolve to their champion forms and ultimate forms before Renamon got to that level. Rika clenched her fists. "They aren't the ones who are inferior. I am." Renamon stood silently behind her tamer, with a clearly worried expression on her face.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

'What's wrong with me? I'm the Digimon Queen!! The best of the best!! One of the elite players!! And yet...those two simpletons have advanced their Digimon to the next level before I did. How is it possible? Just how did I become the inferior Digimon tamer all of a sudden?' "Rika?" The girl snapped out of her thoughts and back to reality. "What do you want?"

Kari pulled out the keys to the apartment. "If I didn't say something, you would have walked all the way to the end of the hallway." Rika's face flushed slightly, probably due to a combination of anger and embarrassment. "Kari? Rika? Is that you? I've got some treats for you two!!" Rika ignored Mrs. Kamiya's offer and went straight to her room. She didn't even notice Renamon waiting inside. "What's wrong, Rika?"

"Oh, nothing. Other than the fact that I just learned that I'm the weakest Digimon tamer, everything's just fine and dandy." She tossed down her backpack and sat on the bed. Renamon sat beside her. "How do you know that you're the weakest tamer? Is there any definite sign that you're the weakest?"

"Let's see...Terriermon and Guilmon have been able to reach their champion and ultimate levels before you did and the fact is that I'm not making you strong enough. Remember when we first met? We made a pact to be the strongest Digimon and Digimon tamer in the world. You may think you're fulfilling that pact...but I'm not. I can't believe it took me this long to realize it." Rika clenched her fists in frustration while Renamon remained silent.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Don't beat the living snot out of each other. You're going to need some strength to knock down more control spires!!" Davis gave a cheerful grin before heading off to class. Flamedramon made a promise to himself to have that partner to Digimon talk about females in the digital world. He leapt up to the rooftop to meet Renamon.

The fox Digimon didn't even notice him. She just stood there, staring at the wide open. Flamedramon approached her cautiously. Was this another one of her mind tricks? He was about to make an attack when Renamon started to walk away. He stood there dumbfounded. Before he could ask a question, she already gave him his answer. "I don't feel like sparring today. I got too many other things on my mind."

"It's your partner, isn't it? You worried about her." She looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?" Flamedramon closed his eyes. "I usually act the same way when I'm worried about Davis. He's practically my best friend and when something bothers him, it starts to bother me as well."

Renamon crossed her arms and looked up at the drifting clouds. Flamedramon came up beside her. "If you want, you can talk about it. I know what it's like." Renamon shook her head. "You wouldn't understand this particular situation. It's different from what you're accustomed to." "What's the difference?" asked Flamedramon.

"Rika feels that she's the inferior one of our group. She believes that she's breaking the special pact we made when we first met a while ago. I'm not sure what to do." Flamedramon thought it over for the moment. "Perhaps you shouldn't do anything. Sometimes inaction is the best action you can take...I think that's how it goes. Wait a sec...let me think about that for a bit..." Renamon gave a small chuckle. "Maybe you shouldn't think...it'll be less of a headache for you."

"Wow, it's actually quiet up there. I wonder what they're doing," murmured Patamon. Terriermon rolled his small black eyes. "Sparring!! What else did they do for the past few days up on the roof?" Guilmon scratched his head. "But I remember hearing some explosions up there. There aren't any explosions now." Gatomon narrowed her eyes. "He's right...it's quiet up there."

"You guys don't know anything!! The reason it's quiet is because they're probably practicing stealth combat techniques or something!! I had to use stealth combat techniques against big Digimon like Gorillamon!!" Calumon gave Terriermon a confused look. "But I never saw you use any of that stuff on Gorillamon."

Terriermon looked sharply at Calumon. "What would you know about it?" Calumon's ears folded. "After I went down that cool whirly slide, I heard somebody describing Gorillamon. Then this big sea snake came out of nowhere and fought the other guy. You weren't there at all."

"I remember fighting a Gorillamon back in both the digital world and in the real world. Maybe not the Gorillamon here but...Guilmon!! You were there when Gorillamon came to our world!" Guilmon thought back for a moment. "I guess so...I do remember that I asked Takatomon if we could have something to eat." Upamon started to bounce up and down. "When do we eat?"

Terriermon gave a frustrated sigh. "Well...it was just me and Guilmon against Gorillamon. It didn't look good. What would you expect the outcome would be with two rookies fighting against an obviously superior Digimon? I remember that Takato was asking Henry to make me digivolve but Henry kept saying no. So I had to fight in my rookie form. Guilmon got beaten up heavily. So it was up to me..." Poromon gave a yawn. "Great...you just had to get him started."

Lunch time came around eventually. As the Digimon waited for Izzy to bring back some food, Henry had just started tracing back to where he found that card. "So any idea where that blue card came from yet?" He looked up to see Rika. "Well, I think it was something to do with one of my dad's old acquaintances. It was the day after I got my Digivice and Terriermon. He came for a visit while I was having my martial arts lesson. I remember bumping into him just as I came back. He must have dropped the card. I probably just threw it in one of my old card piles." "Yeah...well at least we have some sort of starting point on the blue card that just popped up and helped dino boy and the rabbit digivolve to their ultimate forms."

Takato narrowed his eyes slightly. "What's wrong with her now? She's been like that since you found that blue card." Henry shrugged. "I'm guessing that she's a bit more confused about this blue card business than we are. She's probably wondering why we got the card but not her."

Izzy walked in the door, carrying a few boxes. Upamon started bouncing up and down with more energy than ever. "BENTO BOXES!!!!" he shrieked. Izzy placed the food down on a table. "Didn't Cody teach you the lesson about how patience is a virtue?" Upamon tried to bounce onto the table where the food lay. "Well, you do get very hungry when the only thing you think about for a few hours is food and who's beating up who on the rooftop."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

'Every time we encounter the Digidestined and their new allies, we get defeated. Even if we change our plans, they still manage to defeat us. What we really need is a plan that can carry through regardless of the obstacles thrown in the way.' Arukenimon sat back in the seat while Mummymon kept driving. Mummymon gave a tired sigh. "With the amount of power those new kids are packing, we're going to need an army to beat them!!"

A sly smile came across Arukenimon's face. 'Why didn't I think of using this earlier?' She pulled out a flute. 'With this, I can summon an army of insect Digimon to destroy the Digidestined and those other kids...regardless of whether they have the edge in skill and valor. In the end, only sheer numbers will matter. But they are probably aware of the flute's properties. If they see it, they will try to destroy it.' "Stop right here, Mummymon." The other Digimon slammed his foot on the brakes. Arukenimon stepped out of the vehicle and looked at the control spire towering over her. "Spirit Needle!!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"At this rate, all the control spires will be out of commission within the next few days!! Ready to get to work, Veemon?" Davis clutched his D3. Veemon held up his hands. "Wait!! Can I talk to you about something? It's been bothering me a little bit for some time." Davis raised an eyebrow. "Sure thing, buddy."

"I was curious about how this whole love thing works with you humans. What do you do after you realize you're in love? How do you get the other person to return those feelings? What do you do to get someone to open up to you?" A sly smile made its way across the boy's face. He pointed a finger straight at Veemon's nose. "You're in love?!? That's great!! Who's the lucky girl...um...Digimon?"

Veemon started to mentally panic. "It's nobody!! I swear!!! I'm just curious because you oggle Kari all the time!!" Now it was the boy's turn to mentally panic. "Alright!! I won't ask about this crush of yours yet. The first thing you want to do is to get close to the girl. As a friend of course. That's where I am with Kari. We'll be friends but it'll gradually turn into love...I can see it now..." "Davis!!!" He gave a sheepish laugh before continuing. "After you establish being a friend, you start to pay special attention. June constantly rants about how guys have to pay special attention or get dumped."

'I don't even know if Renamon would like that type of special attention.' The D terminal started to beep. Davis took it out to read the message. "'Izzy's detected some strange readings near Ken's old base. We're on our way to investigate. Meet us there as soon as you can. Cody.' Sorry but we have to get going. Digi Armor Energize!!"

Raidramon kept running towards where the others were headed but when he got there, all he saw were the other Digidestined battling an army of insect Digimon. The tamers had not yet reached the area. Davis hopped off. "I think you should go back to your rookie form and digivolve to champion level. It'll be easier for you to handle this swarm!!" Raidramon changed back into Veemon. "Veemon digivolved to...Exveemon!!"

The tamers had just got the message and were heading their way to the base when someone yelled out from nowhere. "Hell's Grenade!!" "Gargomon!! Heads up!!" The rabbit Digimon moved to another position before the grenade exploded. Takato looked at the huge Digimon in front of them. It almost looked like a spider except it has six legs. Gold claws appeared out of its red feet at the end of each leg. It's body is red and white with gold spikes. The head looked almost cybernetic. Calumon looked in awe. "That thing looks ugly!!"

Henry took out his Digivice. "Infermon, an ultimate level Digimon. Hell's Grenade gives it superior fire power over other ultimate Digimon. Its Cocoon attack traps his opponents and weakens them so it can deliver the final blow....what the...?" Rika shot a glare at the other boy. "What's the hold up?!" Henry looked at the Digimon before him. "According to the Digivice, he's neither a data, virus or vaccine Digimon." "WHAT?!?"

"Bunny Pummel!!" Gargomon delivered an uppercut attack to the other Digimon. "Cocoon!!!" A beam came out of nowhere and hit Gargomon, encasing him inside a cocoon. Henry gasped. "Gargomon!!" "Pyro Blaster!!" Infermon barely noticed Growlmon's attack. "Fox Tail Inferno!!!" Kyubimon's fireballs did little damage.

"Digi Modify!! Expansion Activate!!" The cocoon remained intact as if nothing happened at all. "How are we supposed to beat this guy? Without a specific attribute, we won't be able to figure out which tactics to use!!" Rika clenched her fists. Takato sorted through his cards and picked one out. "Let's try and crack that cocoon!! Digi Modify!! Berserk Sword Activate!!"

A sword appeared in Growlmon's hands. He charged towards the cocoon and gave a giant slash. A small crack appeared in the side of the cocoon. "Hell's Grenade!!" Growlmon had to move back. "Dragon Wheel!!" Infermon gave a mighty leap and prepared to attack. "Cocoon!!!" "Digi Modify!! Hyperspeed Activate!!" Kyubimon got out of the beam's way.

The D terminal began to beep. Takato took his out and prepared to send a "we've got our hands full" message when he gave a startled gasp at the message. "'An army of insect Digimon is attacking us. Stingmon's under the spell too. It must be that white haired witch that we saw just before the swarm came in. Can't hold off this many much longer. We need help!! Yolei.' Guys, we need to finish this Digimon off. Fast!!" Rika reached into her pouch for another card. 'Regardless of their flaws, they have proven to be reliable allies. I must return the favour by helping them in their time of need.'

The card she took out shone brightly before transforming into a blue card. She gave a small grin. "Kyubimon, it's time to kick it up a notch!!" Calumon's mark began to glow red. "Digi Modify!!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!" A red beam of energy burst from Calumon's forehead and hit Kyubimon.

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION.... "Kyubimon digivolved to...Taomon!!"

Takato looked at the new Digimon in amazement. "Taomon, an ultimate level Digimon. Data type. Her Thousand Spells and Talisman of Light banish evil Digimon into oblivion." "Thousand Spells!!" Red slips of paper shot out from Taomon's sleeve to hit the cocoon. The cocoon cracked some more before shattering. Henry gasped at what happened to Gargomon. He had black fur instead of his usual green and brown fur instead of white. His pants also became a bit darker. "Whoa...let's not do that again..." moaned the champion level Digimon.

Takato gave a start. "What's wrong with him?" Henry checked his Digivice. "Blackgargomon. Champion level, vaccine Digimon. The only change is that his resistance against attacks from Digimon using the powers of darkness has increased. I guess he got this way from his data having to develop a resistance against Infermon's cocoon." Blackgargomon turned around and fired his Gargo Laser.

"Thousand Spells!!" The mark hit Infermon and sent him back. "We got him on the ropes!! Let's finish this off so we can help the others!!" Henry and Takato both nodded at the same time. "Digi Modify!! Viral Boost Chip Activate!!" Growlmon unleashed his Pyro Blaster. "Digi Modify!! Power Activate!!" "Eat this!! Gargo Laser!!"

Taomon floated in front of Infermon. She drew out a long paintbrush from one of her sleeves. "Talisman of Light!!!" The last thing Infermon saw was Taomon and the incoming blue energy symbol. "Now that Infermon's out of the way, we can get to the base!! Digi Modify!! Hyperspeed Activate!!"

"Look out!!" TK tackled Ken to the ground just as a Twin Sickle attack went overhead. "Spiking Strike!!" Exveemon was hit in the face just after dodging an attack from a Flymon. "Hang in there, Exveemon!!" Arukenimon kept playing her flute while Mummymon watched. "This is your most exciting performance yet, my dear!!" A red blur ran by them and snatched the flute. Growlmon stopped and snapped the flute in half. The tamers caught up with them. "They got past Infermon!!" The insect Digimon stopped their attack and looked around in confusion.

"What do we do?!?" Rika gave a cold smile. "You become deleted by Taomon. Fairly simple, don't you think?" Taomon raised her giant paintbrush. Arukenimon and Mummymon transformed to the battle forms. "Snake Bandage!!" "Spider Thread!!" Taomon had to dodge both of their attacks.

"Talisman of Light!!" They barely got out of the way. Arukenimon quickly noticed the amount of control spires around the base. "Spirit Needle!!" The control spires fused together to create Cherrymon. "Illusion Mist!!" Everyone had to back away. Mummymon fired his gun from inside while Arukenimon tangled up Blackgargomon.

"What are they doing? They already lost this battle..." Henry didn't understand it until his D terminal started to beep. He opened it to check the message. "'The instability at the Digimon Emperor's former base has magnified!! At this rate, the collapse of the digital world is imminent unless the power source is shut down!! Izzy.' Now I get it!! They're trying to stall us!! We have to go to the base and destroy the power source!!" The Digidestined nodded and headed towards the base.

"Not so fast!!" Mummymon fired an energy blast from his gun and hit Ken. "Aaauuuughh!!" "Ken!! No!!!" Stingmon flew in to attack Mummymon but it was hard to see inside the mist. Davis ran over to help Ken. He grabbed his hand to try and pull him out of the shot's path but he started to feel the effects as well. "Leave me!! I have to find my way out myself!!" "No way, Ken!! You're part of the team and we're in this together, whether you like this or not!!" Their Digivices started glowing simultaneously.

"Exveemon..."
"..Stingmon..."
"...DNA digivolved to...Paildramon!!"

"Huh?" Paildramon came in and blocked the shot. "See how you like it!! Desperado Blaster!!" Mummymon had to retreat back into the mist. Rika pulled out a card. "Now for the grand finale...Digi Modify!! Wargreymon's Terra Force Activate!!" Taomon formed a giant ball of energy and tossed it down with all her might. "Terra Force!!"

Arukenimon and Mummymon got out in time but Cherrymon wasn't that lucky. "It doesn't matter that we lost the battle. You're too late to save the digital world!!" Arukenimon fired an Acid Mist attack to provide cover for the getaway. Rika was about to go after them when Takato called out her name. "Rika!! We got other problems to deal with!! Let them go!!"

The other Digidestined kids had already ran over to the base with their tired Digimon partners, except for Paildramon. Ken inserted his Crest of Kindness inside the wall where the Kindness logo was carved. They waited to get the all clear from Izzy. Instead they got the 'it's not enough' message.

"We need to eradicate the power source!! Using the Crest isn't enough!" Ken noticed the pipelines. "Paildramon, clear us a path in the direction of the pipelines!!" "Sure thing!!" Paildramon flew over to smash down the obstructing obstacles. When the kids reached the core, Henry gave a start. There was a small object, spherical at the top and covered with bits of silver and what looked like veins. 'What is the Digiegg of Darkness doing here?!?' Takato and Rika gave similar looks.

"Let's put an end to this!! Desperado Blaster!!" The energy discharge destroyed the power core in a few moments. A blast of purple energy from the Crest of Kindness came out of a wall and hit the Digiegg of Darkness. It dissipated almost immediately. The energy started to take on a form. "It's the...Digiegg of Kindness!" murmured Takato. Ken slowly approached the Digiegg and held it gently. It disappeared into his D terminal.

The tamers went off to another area while Paildramon prepared to destroy the base. "Now what? We destroyed the flute so Arukenimon can't summon an army of insect Digimon. The control spires are too scattered to create Blackwargreymon..."

Henry crossed his arms. "Still, she is very crafty. She'll throw something at us that may take some time to deal with." Rika rolled her eyes. "Like what? The Dark Masters? Please..." Blackgargomon had transformed back to his rookie form. Terriermon had his usual white and green look.

"Besides...she's not our only problem." Takato stretched his arms and yawned. "We know about Malomyotismon. We'll figure out a way to deal with him." Henry shook his head. "I'm talking about Daemon and his minions. How are they going to react to our arrival?" The tamers stood in silence as an explosion erupted from behind them.