Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond The Other Side ❯ Third Configuration, Part 1 of 2 ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Author's Notes: Here's the third configuration. Enjoy. Sorry for not editing it but I'm lazy.

Disclaimers: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. Star Trek belongs to Paramount. Don't sue!!!

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

Davis went pale after Renamon had just revealed that they were in the digital world. "This wasteland...is the digital world?!? But how...this doesn't make sense!!!" Yolei pushed up her glasses. "When it comes to you, Davis, everything doesn't make sense. This may be only a part of the digital world. There's probably some civilized areas...villages, cities..."

Renamon narrowed her eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, there are very few civilized areas. It's every Digimon for himself. That is how I have lived for as far back as I can remember before meeting Rika. She summoned me to come to her world. The next thing I knew, I was right in front of her." Cody looked over at the tamers. "I don't suppose you know what happened here."

"We don't. This is the first time we've been to the digital world. Although, this looks very similar...this place looks like the background in the computer...simulation. In a way, that's how I found Terriermon," stated Henry. Ken blinked. "What do you mean that's how you found him? Did he just come to you or something?" Henry nodded. "Terriermon just collapsed out of the computer monitor when I got my Digivice."

"What about you, Guilmon? Do you remember how you found a way out of the digital world?" asked Kari sweetly. The rookie virus Digimon scratched his head. "Not really. The first thing I saw clearly was that...um...what was it called, Takatomon?" Takato gave a small smile. "You used your attack on a rat."

"Well, we better find a way to get back to your real world so we can figure out a way for us to get home. I'm guessing our absence in the digital world has caused these harsh conditions...just how far into the future are we anyway? And don't give me that temporal prime directive stuff...we need to know how far we've gone so we can change things appropriately when we get back home," said TK. Henry wasn't sure what to say. Before he could speak, Calumon interrupted him. "Oh, no...the last time I was here, a big meanie was chasing me up on those yellow blocks. All I wanted was a little fun!! But the idea of fun in this place is not really fun at all!"

Rika looked down sharply at the in-training Digimon. "Then how did you arrive in our world in the first place?" Calumon squinted his eyes as he searched his memory. "There was a bad horsey chasing me...someone else came in, lots of noise...something went boom and I flew straight up and into a place where the flying things were very rude."

They all looked up to see what Calumon was talking about. Davis gave a groan. "You mean we have to somehow fly all the way up there?!? That is totally insane!!" Rika gave a growl. "Will you keep your big mouth shut? Or do you wish me to shut it for you?"

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

A digital field started to form above a building. When the fog settled down, all that was left on the rooftop is a dark figure. Shadowgallantmon looked over the city. 'What just happened?!? I had everything planned!! If it wasn't for that accursed insect, those children would be at my mercy and I would have obtained that tamer's essence in its raw and demonic form!! I must familiarize myself with this city before I start planning.'

Inside the building, Hypnos kept monitoring the network for strange anomalies. The mood inside that room was intense. With a powerful wild one that was able to escape Yuggoth, problems are sure to follow. Yamaki replaced the lighter in his pocket. 'What is that monster waiting for? What is it planning?' "Have you detected anything strange that may reveal the motives of our new...visitor?"

The two operators kept typing away at their keyboards. "I believe I may have found something interesting...Hypnos has detected a small anomalous reading. It's very faint though...as if it's beyond the plane we're scanning." Riley started to check her partner's readings. "Not even Hypnos has the ability to scan in this detail. The signature must be unbelievably massive or a group of several smaller readings."

Yamaki gave a smirk. 'So an invasion force has been assembled...that wild one earlier must be a scout. After he tells his friend or friends all about the city, they'll launch a full assault. Not if I have anything to say about it.' "Have Yuggoth on stand by. As soon as they move into a position where they are ready to bio-emerge, that's when we'll strike." More tapping from the keyboards could be heard.

"If there is the possibility that the faint signature is actually a group, then Yuggoth would be unable to destroy all of them at once in its current state. I recommend that some of the algorithms be reprogrammed in order to deal with that situation. It would still retain its original capability of tracking down and destroying a single target." Yamaki crossed his arms. "Very well. But make it fast. We don't know how much time we have."

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

"Just where are we going again?" complained Davis. Renamon gave an irritated sigh. "In such an environment as this, it is best not to stay out in the open. Especially when all of us have not fully recovered from the battle with Shadowgallantmon...and the additional fact that a wild Digimon may attempt to fight us and upload our data."

"Besides, you wanted to check out what was down there because it kind of looked like some sort of small village. Even though it doesn't look like a village to me," stated Veemon. Davis gave a small sheepish grin as Rika just rolled her eyes. Before she could insult Davis, Renamon stopped walking. "What is it, Renamon?" The fox Digimon narrowed her blue eyes. "I believe someone is following us."

A roar came out of nowhere as a Meramon leapt up into the air and threw a fireball straight at Veemon, who was too surprised to even move. He shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain. But it never came. He opened his eyes again to see that Renamon had blocked the hit. She quickly shook off the pain in her right paw. TK gave a gasp. "Meramon?" Henry gritted his teeth. "I don't think this is the Meramon you knew, TK!! It's probably a wild one, native in this digital world!!"

Rika gave a smirk. "Might as well not let that data go to waste. Walk all over him, Renamon." Yolei gave a start. "What do you mean not let that data go to waste?!?" Meramon immediately went on the offensive, firing several fireballs at once. Renamon had little difficulty manoeuvring through the attacks and quickly countered with a kick to the stomach.

"It shouldn't take too long for Renamon to finish off this battle. Then she can absorb Meramon's data and increase her own strength. That's the basis of everything in the digital world." The other girl clenched her fists. "You don't have to destroy that Digimon and upload his data!! You're strong enough already!!"

Rika turned her icy gaze on to Yolei. "He was the one who attacked us with the obvious intentions to absorb our Digimon's data. By destroying him and uploading his data, he will no longer pose a threat to us." Yolei didn't back down. "He's outnumbered and our Digimon can digivolve up to ultimate level. He doesn't pose a serious threat. After all that time you spent with us, haven't you learned anything?!? There are other ways to defeat an opponent other than just destroying in cold blood!! Why don't you try diplomacy? After all, he is artificially intelligent. He may be reacting naturally to our intrusion in his territory or something!"

Before the other girl could give a response, Cody stepped forward. "Yolei is right. There could have been some incidences which some Digimon reacted negatively to the arrival of humans. Unless they pose a serious threat, we have to assume they are only fighting in self-defence to our intrusion." Rika gave a small growl before turning back to the fight. Yolei turned her attention to the other Digidestined. "What do you have to say about this, guys?"

"Well, Kari should say something about it first. She's more sensitive about this type of stuff," blurted Davis. Yolei gave a sigh. "You only want her to go first so you can just agree with her and try to score some points. Just say what's on your mind...assuming you have one." Davis ignored the insult. "I guess this is her natural reaction when she sees a wild Digimon. After all, she has to do everything she can in order to save her world. In a way, I kind of understand. She's doing everything she can to stop a potential danger to our group."

"Just like in the old days. I still remember when Seadramon put the squeeze on Matt. I was pretty scared. Gabumon had to digivolve and fight Seadramon with everything he had in order to save Matt. If we had the ability to digivolve to ultimate, we would have probably still took whatever action was necessary. I guess in some circumstances, we would have to put ourselves as the number one priority instead of the safety of a single aggressive Digimon," stated TK. "Kind of like the same thing when Shellmon tried something nasty on Tai," added Takato.

Kari lowered her eyes. "The Dark Masters and their minions were ruthless...they had the ability to change but they chose not to. We had to destroy them and Apocalymon in order to save the digital world and our world as well. Maybe if we had enough power to defeat them easily, we could have tried to help them reform...but knowing them, they would have tried to use something else against us." Ken remained silent as he did not feel any preference to either view point.

"Let us try to reason with Meramon, Rika. Hawkmon and Armadillomon are feeling a lot better from our previous battle. They've got some energy back so they can digivolve to their champion forms," said Yolei firmly. Rika glanced over her shoulder. "Good for them." Then she returned her attention back to the fight.

"Rika...why don't you actually give this a try? You should conserve your energy in case we run into something a lot bigger and badder than Meramon," stated Takato. Silence filled the atmosphere for a few moments until she spoke. "Alright, alright...if it'll get you guys to stop being my moral compass. Renamon, break time." The fox Digimon jumped over Meramon as he attacked. Hawkmon and Armadillomon stepped forward.

"Hawkmon digivolved to...Aquilamon!!"
"Armadillomon digivolved to...Ankylomon!!"

"Whoa...do you know what this means, Henry?" The boy turned his head to face Terriermon with a puzzled look. Terriermon gave a grin. "It means hell just froze over. She actually listened to him!!" Henry raised an eyebrow. "And why did you make such an observation?"

"You are outnumbered and low on energy. Now start talking!! Why did you attack us?" Meramon wasn't sure what to do when he noticed something scuttle behind a rock on his left. He glanced over at the left and fired his attack in a projectile motion. It sailed over a rock and hit the Gazimon that was hiding behind that rock. Meramon started to glow as the data became absorbed. He started glowing as his flames started to change from red to blue. Henry gave a start. "He's digivolving to ultimate!!!"

Before Aquilamon and Ankylomon could react, they were both sent flying back by Skullmeramon. Yolei and Cody gave simultaneous gasps and ran over to their partner Digimon. A sinister chuckle came from the newly evolved Digimon. "Isn't this convenient? Somebody must like me very much if I get to absorb all of this..." Rika clenched her fist. "Back off!! This guy's mine!! Digi Modify!! Strength Activate!!" Renamon aimed a high jump kick at Skullmeramon's head. He was sent back a few metres but his feet were still implanted firmly in the ground.

"Let's try this card...Digi Modify!! Metalgreymon's Metal Claw Activate!!" Renamon's left arm instantly formed into a claw. She fired it straight at his chest. He caught the claw just in time and yanked it towards him. Renamon was able to hold her ground thanks to the Strength Plug-In card. Rika grabbed another card. "Digi Modify!! Metalseadramon's River of Power Activate!!" Renamon couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed with her nose changing into a small cannon. She ignored that feeling and fired the beam. Skullmeramon was too focused on the tug of war to even look up until it was too late. A few moments later, Renamon was downloading his data.

Rika gave a sigh as she looked over at Cody and Yolei. Ankylomon and Aquilamon were still a bit shaken up but they were fine. She walked over to the other girl. "Now I believe that I was correct about the savageness of the digital world and the natives here as well." Yolei gave a fierce glare. "So now you've come to gloat, huh?" The icy look in Rika's violet eyes did not waver. "No...but this has proven that there are things in our digital world that you are not ready for. There will also be some similar things in our world."

Rika paused for a moment. "If you Digidestined wish to make it home in one piece, then it is best if you do exactly what me, Takato and Henry tell you." Before Yolei could protest, Rika cut her off. "The next word I want to hear out of your mouth is 'understood'." Yolei bit her lip. "Perfecto," she grumbled. The ground started to shake. Takato had to hold on to Guilmon for balance.

TK and Ken had to step back as the shaking got more intense. Calumon had to move out of the way. "Watch where you're going!! You could have landed on me!!" Before TK could apologize, something flashed brightly. The next thing he knew, he felt himself weightless and unaffected by gravity. He looked down and gave a gasp.

"Hey! What's going on? Help!!!" "I can't break free!!!" The group heard TK and Ken and turned around. The two of them along with their partner Digimon and Calumon were caught in one of the pink vacuums that had just lightly touched them as it swept an area. They were struggling to break out but had little success. Wormmon and Patamon tried to digivolve but were having no luck.

"TK!! Ken!!! Hang-" Before Kari could finish her sentence, everybody in the vacuum got sucked upwards. Soon all of them were out of sight. The pink vacuum started to move on to another area. Kari was about to try to enter the vacuum to find TK and Ken when she heard a soft whisper in the wind. "Queen Kari..." She started to sweat and her knees gave out on her. Images of the Scubamon that abducted her flashed through her mind. Davis gasped. "Kari!! Are you...?" A shadow started to block the light. The group looked to see a large Digimon. It appeared to be grey in color and slimy too, with several tentacles as legs and a large head.

"Ah...Queen Kari. At last we meet. My Scubamon have told me so much about you..." Kari could smell the presence of the Dark Ocean on him. Takato went pale. "Uh...Henry? Isn't this the Digimon that we saw at the end of the episode where Kari went to the Dark Ocean?" Henry nodded grimly. "Yeah...the undersea master...Dragomon."

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

"This is infuriating!! Where is Zhuqiaomon? We need to find some sort of explanation about what happened!! It is imperative that the chosen children be returned immediately before Myotismon is reborn! Otherwise, the worlds will be thrown into darkness and the Digital Revolution will not take place!!" The dragon Digimon who guarded the Eastern sector of the digital world gave a growl of impatience.

Ebonwumon, the turtle Digimon who guarded the Northern sector of the digital world, slowly began to speak. "Calm down, Azulongmon. The children that belonged to the world under Zhuqiaomon's protection had vanished at one point. Instead of worrying about them, he focused on the task at hand because he had confidence that they will be able to return by themselves." Azulongmon gave a sigh. "But the powers of transdimensional travel are not supposed to be in the hands of humans. Not for some time, anyway. How can he remain calm when his chosen children, who would most likely to be at the head of the Digital Revolution, have disappeared?"

"Because he knows that loopholes exist between dimensions." Baihumon, the beast Digimon who guarded the Western sector of the digital world, stepped forward. "Each of the digital worlds has a link to one another. Most of the time, nobody can cross the barrier to get to the other realm. However, there are tiny fractures that exist and they can open up to other worlds if certain conditions are made. Do you remember when your chosen children used Myotismon's gate to return to their world? Had the cards been in another order, they would have ended up in the Northern, Southern or Western regions."

"And do you remember what we had given the children when they took their rightful place as the chosen? In their subconscious minds, they know where to find the loopholes that lead from one dimension to another..." Ebonwumon paused for a moment as the digicores on the tree on his back started to glow. "...you see? The tamers have successfully returned to their world. And your chosen are with them. Now is there anything else that needs to be discussed?"

Azulongmon narrowed all four of his eyes. "Yes. A viral Digimon of immense power has recently appeared. He has originated from the Digimon created by one of Zhuqiaomon's chosen but he was created entirely out of control spires. I fear that if he is not stopped soon, he may pose a threat to everything we have worked for. There is also the issue of Daemon's arrival in my realm." Ebonwumon gave a heavy sigh. "And you all say that I worry too much...first of all, if he truly becomes a threat, we shall give the chosen the power to defeat him. We can also step in if the circumstances become extreme. Besides, there are other Digimon more powerful than him."

The dragon Digimon knew this too well. The memory of Millenniumon's threat still remained fresh in his mind. Ebonwumon continued to speak. "As for Daemon, his power level has been substantially lowered from his transdimensional trip. Even at full power, the chosen should be enough to defeat him. It is the reason why he retreated in the first place. Now if you would excuse me..." The turtle slowly turned around and slowly walked away. Baihumon remained in the area. "You still have a troubled look on your face, brother. What else has happened?"

"It appeared to be a minor detail. However, a dimensional rift has been created between my realm and digital limbo. Some of the data belonging to some powerful Digimon escaped," stated Azulongmon. The other Digimon narrowed his eyes in thought. "I would have thought that the data would have been deleted but with many patterns to go through and decompile...well, it does not really matter...right?"

"No, I suppose not. There is too little data to construct a physical form. Even if they all combined together, that would not be enough. The digieggs at Primary Village have been coated with a special security measure to prevent corruption and contamination. So there is no way that anything can happen in this realm. However, one of the patterns slipped away completely at the same time my chosen have disappeared. It may be able to take on a form by using whatever it can find in the realm that it has arrived in." Baihumon remained silent for a few moments. "Which Digimon possessed that pattern?" Azulongmon had a small grave look in his eyes. "Kimeramon."

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

TK felt that he was going into the rinse cycle when the laundry was being done. He kept spiralling further and further into oblivion along with Ken, Wormmon, Patamon and Calumon. He could barely see the others in front of him. Suddenly, he felt himself jolt forward as he was thrown down on to the ground. TK tried to stand up but his head still felt as though it were spinning itself. "I don't feel so good..." moaned Patamon as he proceeded to start vomiting.

"Whoa...that was some whirly ride!!" Calumon started giggling as though he were intoxicated. Ken felt a bit groggy but otherwise he appeared to be fine. Wormmon waddled up to him, while struggling to maintain his balance on the yellow computer chip floor. "Are you okay, Ken?" Ken put a hand to his forehead. "Just as soon as I regain my equilibrium..."

"So...humans have infiltrated our world. Let's finish them off now and deliver our report to the Sovereign." Indramon prepared to release the giant horn on his back. "Hold it!! What I would like to know is how they were able to get here in the first place. I'm sure the Sovereign would be interested in knowing how they got here as well so that better security measures can be made!" hissed Majiramon.

The dragon deva circled above slowly as he took a better look at the little group below him. "These children have Digimon partners...but I do not think the Sovereign expected them to be tamers and on the human resistance. There is something about them..." Indramon gave a small snarl. "They have already infiltrated our realm with an attack force!! We must eliminate them before they can report their findings!!"

Majiramon was about to reply when he noticed Calumon down there. "And who would that little white Digimon be?" Indramon had to squint to make out Calumon. "From his size...I believe he is an in-training Digimon. He does not pose a threat." The dragon deva narrowed his red eyes. "There is more to him than what we're seeing. I sense that he has a special quality...a quality that is shared by ourselves and our brethren."

The horse deva snorted. "Are you saying that little in-training Digimon is one of us?!?" Majiramon continued to speak. "No...but he may be a holy beast Digimon. There is much mystery that surrounds these guests. We should speak to the Sovereign about this at once." Indramon gave a sigh. "I told you that we shouldn't have disturbed that data stream and let them out. Then they would have probably landed at a place where there is no chance of survival. At least that way, it would be less of a headache."

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

Henry whipped out his Digivice. "Dragomon, an ultimate level Digimon. Virus type. His Forbidden Trident allows him to summon several green energy tridents to attack his enemies. The Thousand Waves can be used as an offensive attack or environmental adjuster. By creating an aquatic environment, his speed and evasion ability increase." Gatomon gave a hiss. "Get away from Kari!!!" She leapt forward to deliver her Lightning Paw attack but Dragomon swatted her away with a wave of his arm.

"Thousand Waves!" A pool of water started to form on the ground. The level of water started to rise fast. Ankylomon transformed back into his rookie form. "If this guy can create an aquatic environment, then I better armor-digivolve!" stated Armadillomon. Davis clutched his D3 while Veemon prepared to go into battle. "Digi Armor Energize!!!!"

"Armadillomon armor-digivolved to...Submarimon, Reliable Guardian of the Sea!!"
"Veemon armor-digivolved to...Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!!"

Rika grabbed a card and was about to slash it when Takato yelled at her. "Wait a minute, Rika!! We won't be able to use the Digivolution card without Calumon!!" She shot back a glare at the boy. "I'm not about to depend on a little runt to help Renamon digivolve!! I'll find another way to make her advance to the next level!!"

Henry took a moment to recall his observations about Calumon. "Calumon was more directly involved when our Digimon digivolved to their ultimate forms since his red beam combines with the light that comes out from our Digivices. But when they digivolve to champion form, nothing really comes out from him except for a glowing red triangle." Takato turned around. "So you're saying that our Digimon can digivolve to champion without him but not to ultimate? I guess we'll just have to find out." He took out his card just as Rika prepared to slash her card through her Digivice. "Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!"

DIGIVOLUTION...

"Guilmon digivolved to...Growlmon!!"
"Terriermon digivolved to...Gargomon!!!"
"Renamon digivolved to...Kyubimon!!"

Cody quickly hopped into the cockpit. Submarimon started to move in on to the target. "Oxygen Torpedo!!!" Dragomon had little difficulty moving away from the attack. He raised on of his arms. "Forbidden Trident!!!" (AN: Think of it as Abyss' trident super in Marvel VS Capcom 2) Several green tridents came down and attacked Submarimon.

"Pyro Blaster!!" "Gargo Laser!!!" The energy blasts came at a tremendous speed and connected. But when the smoke started to fade, it was clear that Growlmon and Gargomon's attacks have done nothing but enrage the beast. "Thousand Waves!!" A massive cyclone came from beneath them and started to whirl them around. "Forbidden Trident!!" Green tridents started to attack the cyclone. A dark laugh erupted from Dragomon's throat.

Yolei watched as Dragomon turned his attention on to Submarimon. 'That Digimon...he's so ruthless. He enjoys creating pain and suffering and he doesn't appear to be under some evil influence. Rika was right. There are some Digimon that can't be reasoned with.' "Well? Are we going to help the others or what?" She turned to face Aquilamon. 'Now I'm going to have to ignore my ethics in order to help my friends.' "Yeah. Let's go, Aquilamon."

Flamedramon leapt in to make an attack on Dragomon. "Fire Rocket!!" Dragomon gave an irritated growl before counterattacking. "Thousand Waves!!" Submarimon was tossed a good distance away from the battle. Flamedramon tried to make an aerial recovery but he couldn't control his fall. He expected to land in the water but instead he landed on Kyubimon's back. Before Flamedramon could thank her for the save, she started to speak. "I have an attack plan."

"Grand Horn!!!" Dragomon barely dodged Aquilamon's surprise attack. Yolei noticed that Kari was still paralyzed with fear. Gatomon was trying to get her partner to snap out of it and help her armor-digivolve. She ran over to try to snap some sense into her. "You have to put away your doubts and go with the flow!! We need your help!!" "I can't help!! I'm not strong enough!!! I thought I could escape but now everything's caught up and I'm trapped!!" wailed Kari.

"Fox Tail Inferno!!!" Flamedramon had to duck to give Kyubimon some room. Dragomon blocked all nine fireballs. Flamedramon quickly used this opportunity to stand up, leap off Kyubimon's head and dive in for an attack. "Fire Rocket!!!" The ultimate level Digimon was knocked down but not for the count. "Why do you insist on fighting? As soon as I have Queen Kari in my grasp, then I will return to my realm without hesitation."

"Just how did Dragomon get here anyway?" asked Takato. Henry narrowed his eyes. "The transdimensional mechanics may be different in the Dark Ocean. We have no idea about how the full capabilities of the Dark Gates. As far as I'm concerned, they can create portals to our world, the world of the Digidestined and other bizarre places!!"

"Kari, you're stronger than you think!! I can give you a hand if you want." Yolei gave a small gulp. "Aquilamon...take out Dragomon with whatever force is necessary." Aquilamon circled around for another attack. "Blast Ring!!!" Dragomon gave a growl. "Forbidden Trident!!" Aquilamon weaved in and out of the tridents. "Grand Horn!!!"

Kari looked at Yolei in wonder. "You...just a while ago, you were against the option of killing a Digimon that could be reasoned with. And you thought that all Digimon who weren't under an evil influence could be reasoned with." Yolei gave a weary sigh. "I've had to rethink about some things now that we're in a totally different place. But there's a tiny part at the back of my head that keeps thinking that everything can work out according to my old morals." Kari gave a small smile. "I guess...I can give you a hand." For the first time since landing in the new digital world, Yolei felt warm inside. "I would like that very much." A light erupted from both of their D3s.

"Aquilamon..."
"...Gatomon..."
"...DNA digivolved to...Silphymon!!"

Henry looked over at the newly formed ultimate Digimon. "Silphymon's timing couldn't be any better!!" The cyclone that kept Gargomon and Growlmon busy died down. Both champion Digimon landed on the ground, weakened from their ride in the cyclone. "You can say that again!!" mumbled Gargomon as he struggled to rise. Growlmon slowly started to get up and turned to face Dragomon. "Pyro Blaster!!" Gargomon focused his aim before attacking with his Gargo Laser. Kyubimon went in with a Dragon Wheel while Flamedramon attacked with his Fire Rocket.

"Oxygen Torpedo!!" Submarimon came from behind for a sneak attack. All these attacks were starting to wear down the undersea master. Dragomon gave a snarl. "One way or another, you will come with me, Queen Kari!!" Silphymon started to channel forth energy. "That's what you think!! Static Force!!!" The blast of energy collided right into him. He had no time to scream as his physical form decompiled into data.

The water started to disappear. "All right, guys!! We did it!!!" cheered Davis. "Now that Dragomon's bit the dust, we have to go find TK, Ken and the others. And our only chance is to enter one of those pink vacuums," stated Yolei. Everybody returned to their rookie forms except for Silphymon.

"That would be unwise. We don't know where they will take us. If we go into one of those vacuums, our chances of meeting up with the others is slim. And our chances of returning to our home worlds respectively may become slimmer," said Rika. Kari narrowed her eyes. "That's a chance we have to take. They're a part of the team and we're not going to abandon them. Besides, we now have Silphymon to watch our backs." Terriermon gave a grin. "Whoa...Kari has more guts than Rika!! That's something you don't see everyday!!" Rika ignored the comment as she kept her eye on the approaching pink vacuum slowly coming their way. They all stayed close together as they were sucked in.

The next thing they knew, they landed on something that looked like several thousand yellow computer chips. Kari got up and noticed something coming their way. She squinted her eyes to make it out. To her delight, it was Stingmon and Angemon with TK, Ken and Calumon. "Hey, guys!! Over here!!!" Her smile faded when she noticed something massive giving chase. "It's nice to see you all again but I suggest you RUN!!!!" yelled Angemon. The others gasped in shock as a Machinedramon came into focus.

"Sir, I'm picking up several anomalous readings on the move!!" Yamaki clutched his lighter. "What's the status of the modifications on Yuggoth?" Riley finished typing in the final sequence. "Modifications are complete. But they're untested. I'm not certain what actual effect they may have on those wild ones." "I don't care!! Activate the program!! I want all of those signatures eradicated!!" barked Yamaki.

"I'll try to hold him off!!" Before Silphymon could get into position, Angemon grabbed the ultimate's arm. "Unless you have enough power to take out a mega Digimon, you should move as fast as you can!!" "Giga Cannon!!" The energy blast hit Silphymon and forced Poromon and Salamon apart. Kari and Yolei ran back to scoop them up. Takato turned around to yell something when Guilmon gave a yelp. "Takatomon!! Help!!"

The boy focused his attention on Guilmon and gasped as the virus Digimon struggled to get free. An odd shape had chained him...the same odd shape that came out of Shogungekomon's dark spiral about a week ago. "Hang on, Guilmon!!" The others stopped running to try to help out Guilmon. Some of Guilmon's data began to dissipate. Stingmon landed down to help as did Angemon. Rika pulled out a card. "Renamon, we have to stall for some time!!" The fox Digimon got ready. Before Rika can slash her card, Machinedramon unleashed another Giga Cannon, that knocked everybody into the air straight into the net.

'Whoops...I guess I should watch my aim next time...and what do we have here?' The machine Digimon noticed someone's data was just floating around the digital world. 'I wonder who didn't absorb this guy's data...well, it's mine now.' As Machinedramon started the download sequence, he was unaware of a new consciousness awakening within.

"Status report." Riley gave a small sigh as she told her superior officer the bad news. "We lost all of them, sir. The program's been knocked off line. All we got was a small digital pattern that we got from one of the wild ones." Yamaki sat back down in his chair before issuing new orders. "Get cracking on that code. I want to find a weakness that we can exploit!!"

A fog started to form as several humans and Digimon started to tumble out. Calumon was the last to bio-emerge and blinked at the new surroundings. He didn't have to concentrate very hard in order to hover above the ground. He could hear everybody screaming in terror. The small Digimon looked down and saw that most of the group were tumbling toward the ground in a freefall from a height that is equivalent to the height of a typical office building in New York. He couldn't help but give a giggle. "Those guys are going to go splat if they don't know how to fly!!!"

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

'Where am I?' Ryo Akiyama found himself in an area completely filled with darkness. He looked around the black void, hoping that there was some sign or a trace as to the whereabouts of his partner, Cyberdramon. The boy was about to start walking in some direction when he heard a dark laugh in the distance. 'That laugh...can it be...?' He started to run towards the source of the laugh but he couldn't tell if he was even in the right direction.

"Okay, Millenniumon!! Show yourself!! I know you're out here!!!" Two bright spheres appeared in front of the boy. He quickly raised his arms to shield his eyes. When the light started to die down, Ryo lowered his arms. Instead of two spheres, he was staring straight into Millenniumon's dark red eyes, filled with evil. Before Ryo could react, a powerful voice started to speak. "So, my dear nemesis....it appears that we may meet again very soon." More laughter came out from the darkness.

The boy woke up in a sweat. He rubbed his blue eyes for a moment, to clear out the rest of his sleepiness. Beside him, Cyberdramon remained alert for enemies to fight. Even though they were in a castle protected by Knightmon, they're not taking any chances. Cyberdramon gave a grunt. Ryo recognized this as Cyberdramon's way of asking him if everything was all right. "Not exactly. Millenniumon...appeared in my dream. He said that we may meet again very soon. He's back, Cyberdramon. And it's up to us to make sure that this is the last time that he comes back. It's going to be one hell of a battle but I'm sure you're up to it." Cyberdramon remained silent for a while before saying one word that slightly disturbed his tamer. "Sweet."

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

Renamon tried to find Rika but with the wind blowing against her, it was hard. She finally spotted her tamer, two hundred metres ahead of her. She moved her body in a skydiver position and soared towards Rika. "Aaaaaauuuuugggghhhh!!!!" Davis flailed his arms wildly. Veemon concentrated as hard as he could to digivolve before his partner winded up as street pizza.

"Veemon digivolved to...Exveemon!!!"

Exveemon stretched out his right arm to catch Davis. He kept screaming until he noticed that he wasn't falling. "Alright!! Now let's go rescue Kari!!!" Exveemon pointed a finger behind him. "Too late." Davis looked at where Exveemon was pointing at and to his dismay, Kari and Salamon were safely in the arms of TK and Angemon. Stingmon and Ken had just grabbed Yolei and Poromon.

"Great...who else can we-" Before Davis could finish the question, Exveemon started to dive down. Davis hung on to Exveemon for dear life. The next thing he knew, Exveemon had stopped. The boy looked to see that in Exveemon's left fist, yellow and white fur sprouted out at the top. "Watch the tail, buddy," growled Renamon. Rika was hanging on to Renamon's left paw. "You're welcome," said Exveemon sarcastically.

Takato's left arm had an iron grip around Guilmon's neck. "Hold on, Takatomon!!" The boy wanted to wail and beg for one of the Digimon gods to save him. Instead he slowly moved his right hand and grabbed the Hyperwing card. But due to the wind pushing against him and nerves that are not made of steel, the card flew straight out of his hand and straight into Henry's face.

He grabbed the card and gripped it as tightly as he could. "This gives me an idea...aaahhh!!" Terriermon dug his nails into Henry's neck. "Well, you better hurry up and put your plan into motion!!" The boy quickly used the green strap to secure his Digivice to his wrist. Then he placed the Hyperwing card in his right pocket. "Get off of me, Terriermon. You're going to need room to digivolve." Terriermon gave a nervous gulp. "I hope you know what you're doing." He let go and got some distance. Henry carefully took out a card from his left pocket. "Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!"

DIGIVOLUTION.... "Terriermon digivolved to...Gargomon!!"

The boy replaced the card and took out the other card that flew into his face. "Digi Modify!! Hyperwing Activate!!" Gargomon grew wings on his back. He quickly dived down to scoop Henry as best as he could with his machine gun arms. "Henry, hold still!!" Henry moved out a little bit and stretched his arm. "Cody!!! Grab my hand!!"

Cody had his right hand holding the edge of Armadillomon's shell. He quickly stretched his left arm and caught Henry's outstretched hand. Gargomon had to summon all of his strength just to keep them in the air. "Whoa!!!! I don't know if I can hold all of you guys!!!" Armadillomon was silently praying. "To any Digimon god who's out there...if I survive this experience, I promise never to eat the mega sashimi special again...well, I'll limit myself to just once a week instead of four times a week."

"We're not going to make it!!! The only thing I have to say is...it's been nice knowing you, buddy!!" Guilmon didn't give a reply. He was focused on the building that was about forty metres ahead. He started to steer his body towards the building. As soon as he was close enough, his arms shot forward. The next thing Takato knew, Guilmon's claws were embedded right into the brick wall. Takato looked up to see skid marks in the brick wall. "Owwww...that hurt..." The boy looked down and saw that they weren't too far from the ground. "Just slowly let us down for a bit. Then you can jump the rest of the way." Guilmon fought the pain in his claws as he slowly started his descent.

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

"Hurry up, slowpoke!!!" Kenta raced up the stairs as fast as he could to catch up with his energetic friend. "Kazu, how can you think of getting new cards now with Takato missing for three days?" Kazu readjusted his cap. "We can resume our search later. I want to take my mind off of this and see what new cards can strengthen my deck."

They quickly reached the second floor and made a left turn to arrive at the entrance of the small manga and card shop. The store owner greeted them warmly. "Boys!! How are you doing? You're just in time. I just got the shipment of the new Digimon card game set yesterday. It's in the back room." Kazu gave a grin. "Thanks for letting us get a crack at the new set first, Mr. Kashinaru." The man gave a smile. "No problem!! After all, you two are my best customers. Follow me."

Mr. Kashinaru unlocked the back room door and went inside. "The booster box is right inside that box over there beside the window. You can select what booster packs-" The telephone started to ring outside near the display cabinet. The man turned back to answer the phone. "Epsilon Kingdom Cards and Comics, how may I help you?"

Kenta moved forward to open the box when he noticed something by the window. He looked out and gasped. "I...I don't believe it!!!! It's Takato!!!! And I think he's on a Digimon!!!" Kazu gave a start. "No way!!!!" He ran forward to see where his friend was looking at. Just below them, Takato and Guilmon were slowly climbing down the building. Kazu started to knock on the window as loud as he could but Takato couldn't hear him. Instead, the mysterious creature that he was riding on dug his claws out of the wall and let himself drop the rest of the distance. Then Takato got off him and they started to run off.

"Come on, Kenta!! We've got to go after them!!!" Kazu started to run out of the back room with Kenta right behind him. They darted out of the store, flew down the stairs and ran outside. Takato and his Digimon were nowhere in sight. "Where did they run off to?" Kenta gave a shrug. "I don't remember. I was too busy looking at that red Digimon. Which Digimon is that anyway?"

Kazu headed back into the building. "I don't know. Let's just grab what we came for and start hunting for Takato again. When we find him, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do." They climbed up the stairs to go back to the room which held a booster box of the new set. Instead, they found a frightened Mr. Kashinaru, who was in the grip of a tall, dark knight with a blue cape. "I swear I didn't see anything!!!!"

"Wrong answer..." He raised his right arm, which had a silver and blue lance at the end and was about to strike when he noticed the two boys standing in the doorway. "Ah...perhaps you two can assist me. I'm going to ask you a few simple questions. Answer right and you get to live. Answer wrong and I'll be sending you along with this pathetic human to the next dimension." Kenta stepped forward nervously. "A-are y-y-you a Digimon?"

Shadowgallantmon's blue eyes flashed for a moment. "Keep in mind that I'm the one who's asking the questions. Now...a few moments ago, I observed a very interesting mark on the wall right beside this establishment. They appeared to be claw marks. Upon closer examination, I realized that no living creature on this planet could create such a mark. The only conclusion...these are claw marks belonging to a Digimon. Did you see any Digimon outside that window? If so...which Digimon was it? And where did it go off to? I'm sure children like you who have invested time in learning the different characteristics and appearances of each Digimon would be able to identify the one who made those marks."

"What do we do?" whispered Kenta. Kazu gritted his teeth. "If we're going to make it out alive...we have to tell him. I know Takato's our friend but at the moment, it's our butts on the line here." He cleared his throat before giving a reply. "We saw the Digimon climbing down the wall. I'm not sure what type of Digimon it is because I've never seen anything like it. All I know is that it's red. Me and my friend ran down to see it better but it got away."

'Could it be that you are here as well? This is becoming very interesting...' He released his grip on Mr. Kashinaru. The man was unbelievably frightened but otherwise, he was okay. Kazu narrowed his eyes as sweat rolled down his cheek. "What type of Digimon are you anyway? I haven't seen you in any of the Digimon merchandise!" Shadowgallantmon turned around to go out the way he came from. He leapt out of the broken window before the boys could fire another question. 'Ready or not...here I come.'

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

"What do you mean you lost sight of him?!?" yelled Rika. It was at times like these when Gargomon wished that he didn't have such good hearing. Henry put both his hands up nervously. "He was right in front of me when his card blew right into my face. I was too busy figuring out a plan to check how he was doing. We should check the compass on our D powers. Hopefully, we can get Guilmon's signal." (AN: Does anyone know why the dubbers call D-Arcs D powers?)

"I have a signal?" They all looked over to see Takato and Guilmon coming closer to them. Takato activated his compass and found a clump of digital signals. It didn't take too much effort to find the others. "Is everybody alright?" The Digidestined were right behind Henry and Rika with everybody now in rookie form except for Poromon. "Does anybody know where we are anyway?"

Henry looked around for any type of landmark. "From what I can tell, we're close to the Meiji Memorial Art Museum. If we walk, it'll probably take us a few days to get back to our neighbourhoods. We could get some aerial transportation but we would need some way to be inconspicuous...but we can't go back to our homes yet. After all, we've been gone for about nine days!! We need to come up with some sort of story to explain for our disappearance." Takato reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "My 'Cherrymon's Mist' can give us some cover. We can look like a cloud drifting in the sky. We can also hide out at Guilmon's place until-"

Rika immediately cut him off. "Wait a minute, goggle head. Your Digimon has his very own house?" Takato rubbed the back of his head. "It's a really small shelter. I kind of found it in the park around the time you tried to kick the living crap out of us. It's not much but it's a good hiding place for Guilmon."

He paused for a moment to think about what he was saying before he was rudely interrupted. "Where was I...oh, right!! We make up a story. Something like that we were lost in a weird fog for a few hours or something. And technically, we did leave our world by a portal in a digital field. After we clear everything up about our disappearance, we can figure out how to get the Digidestined back home. Until then...they're going to have to stay at Guilmon's place. And I'm going to be honest...it's no first-class hotel room."

Davis gave a depressed look. "You mean we can't stay in one of your houses or something? After all we've-" Henry gave a sigh. "I'm sorry, Davis. But it's kind of crowded in my house. There's me, my parents, my younger sister Suzie, my-" "They get the picture, Henry!! Besides, your Digimon partners would probably find his home a living nightmare with Suzie constantly squeezing them to death, dressing them in diapers, calling you 'Princess Prettypants'..." Gargomon gave a small shudder.

"And I don't think I can help either. My mom has strict rules about bringing strangers into the house. I can't even keep a pet!! That's why I had to find a shelter for Guilmon," said Takato. "I can take them in." All eyes turned to Rika. "My mansion has a few guest rooms. You can stay in there for the time being. Now all I need is for my mother to be out of the house. If you come around and she sees you, who knows what could happen."

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

"Here you go, Jerri. The chicken pies may still be a little hot since they just came out of the oven." Mrs. Matsuki handed the bag full of treats over to the young girl. "Thanks. It must be real tough to continue going on with your normal routine with a loved one missing. Have you heard anything about Takato yet?"

The woman lowered her eyes. "Nothing yet. The police said that they'll contact us if they find anything. I just hope that Takato can come home s-soon." She tried to hold back a sob but it still came out anyway. "I'm sorry...it's just that with all this going on..." Jerri gave a reassuring smile. "I'm sure that everything will work out." She left the bakery with the bag secured in her arms.

As she walked down the park, munching on an egg tart, she started to think about Takato's recent disappearance. 'Takato...I hope you come back soon. Everything's been crazy. Miss. Asashi had been giving serious thought about resigning her teaching job. Kazu and Kenta have been protecting your card box with their lives. And your parents...their egg tarts haven't had that special zest in them...' "Hi!!!!" She stopped suddenly and looked around. "Who's there?"

"Down here, silly!!!" She looked down to see a small, white creature with green eyes, large ears and a red triangle on his forehead. He took a whiff at the aroma the treats were giving off. "Can I have some of your delicious snacky stuff? Can I? Can I? Can I?" Jerri stepped back nervously. "Who are you? What are you?"

"My name's Calumon!!" This triggered a vague memory inside the girl's mind. A while ago, Kazu, Kenta and Takato were talking about why all Digimon names end with the word 'mon'. She looked at the small creature again. "You...you must be a Digimon!!" Calumon started to bounce up and down, trying to get his hands on the bag.

Jerri couldn't help but give a small giggle at his childish attempts to get the bag. "If you want some treats, then you will have to say please." Calumon stopped jumping. "Can I please have one of those...um....treats?" The girl gave a smile before she reached into the bag. She pulled out a raisin bun and handed it to the small Digimon. "Thank you!!!" He took a huge bite out of the bun.

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

'This isn't good...his resurrection is at hand. Already, his presence is altering the dimensional pathways. Once he forms, he will decide who gets in or out to the real world or the digital world in all of our realms. All of our work would be for nothing!!' "Sovereign!!" A voice interrupted Zhuqiaomon's thoughts. The phoenix cocked his head over to where Indramon and Majiramon were waiting along with the other devas upon a small ledge over a pool of lava. "We detected two humans inside our realm. They both had partner Digimon," stated Indramon. This brought upon a gigantic reaction from most of the other devas.

"S-s-so? Did you des-s-stroy them or what?" hissed Sandiramon. Mihiramon gave a chuckle. "Had they did, they would have reported it immediately. This is a first...a Digimon who refuses to be chained to a human partner shows mercy to two low lifes and two traitors." Indramon snorted. "You can blame Majiramon for that. He decided that we should investigate how they got here...considering they were not on the Sovereign's list."

A general murmur swept throughout the group of twelve. The Sovereign had compiled a list from his observations on the human world of potential humans who would gain Digimon partners and resist the new order. Kumbhiramon fired a question immediately after he digested this new information. "So why didn't you destroy them? That way, they will not present a security risk." Before any of the other devas could ask questions, Zhuqiaomon spoke. "Describe these humans and their companions."

"One of them wore a hat...I believe he had blond hair. It appeared that the Patamon was his Digimon partner. The other one has short black hair in a cut that kind of made him look like a girl...anyway, with the way the insect Digimon Wormmon was acting towards him, we had to conclude that he was the partner of the boy. And then there was the small white Digimon. An in-training Digimon...who was bathed in the glow of the Holy Beasts," finished Majiramon. The phoenix narrowed his eyes. 'How did Azulongmon's chosen arrive in my realm? And also, how did the holy fairy of evolution end up with them?' "So what is to be their fate?" asked Vajramon.

"At the moment, they are to be left alone. There is another, more pressing concern. A great evil is about to awaken. He is more despicable than the humans since his sole purpose is to destroy all of reality as we know it. He presents a threat to everything we've accomplished...we must attempt to eliminate him before he is at full power. You know what you must do. Dismissed." The devas gave a final bow before leaving the phoenix alone with just his thoughts.

Near the phoenix, a motorcycle was surrounded by the fire which burns in the hearts of those who ride it. 'There is still some time. However, I may not be able to find a Digimon who will be able to use this weapon. Only a demon lord Digimon can use this. As far as I'm concerned, there are no demon lord Digimon that I have access to. And what of Ryo Akiyama? Even with his Goliath set and Cyberdramon, it may not be enough should the skirge transform to his most powerful form. And if that happens, may the heavens have mercy on us all.'

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

"Well...we made it. It took us a few hours and the major wind changes didn't help but we made it none the less." Takato beamed at the fact that they all made it to the shelter from one of his ideas. TK readjusted his hat while cradling a pooped out Patamon. "The problem is that your plan nearly wiped out our Digimon!! It was hard enough for them to digivolve with their low energy levels. They also had to fly in sync with the mist which kept blowing away thanks to those windy gusts!!"

Henry began to speak. "None of us knew that it was going to be a windy afternoon. Now, the three of us are going to head out and try to clear up the matter of our disappearances. You just try and sit tight for a while. We'll be back as soon as we-" Before he could finish, a gust of wind blew in a magazine that appeared to be missing a few pages and its jacket. It flew up and hit Guilmon in the face. "Aaahhhh!! Who turned out the lights?!?"

Davis took the magazine from Guilmon's eyes and started leafing through it. "Cool!! This looks like some sort of gaming maga-" An image caught Yolei's eye. "Wait!! Go back to that page!! Right over there, just past the...auuggghhh!!!" She swiped the magazine from Davis and flipped over to a page. "Just what is this?" Her finger pointed to an article. To be more precise, a review for the complete Digimon Season 2 DVD.

Cody took a quick look. "It appears that we're famous here. They've made several historical re-enactments of our adventures in the digital world...I think." Yolei wasn't convinced. "Since when did historical re-enactments include commentary from the writers of the program? It says that their commentary includes an in-depth analysis of each character." Cody was at a loss for words.

"Well...the writers were probably-" Before Henry could finish speaking, Rika tapped him on the shoulder. "Now that they're on our turf, they're going to be exposed to the fact about who they really are. It's better if we tell them now. They are going to find out eventually. If not now, then from something else. An advertisement, an article and whatever other Digimon stuff is out there." Henry looked around to see that each Digidestined child was watching him and waiting for an answer. "I was hoping that you wouldn't find out. If the situations were reversed, you may have done the same thing. In our reality, all of you exist only as fictional characters."

The Digidestined just remained stunned as their partner Digimon started sleeping. Davis was the first to react. "You gotta be kidding...right?" A flash of anger reflected in Ken's eyes. "You mean all the suffering I have caused as the Digimon Emperor came from the twisted mind of some writer on your world?!?"

Kari fought to get out her next question. "All of our hopes, dreams, adventures...everything that made us who we are...our whole lives were all just entertainment for you?" "T-there's nothing left..." Cody just left his sentence unfinished with reality starting to sink in. Yolei started to mumble. "This isn't happening...I'm going to wake up now in my bed and see Poromon bouncing on me, asking me to get breakfast..."

TK directed his statement straight at the boy who delivered the unfortunate news. "I thought that...by now we had earned your trust." Henry shook his head. "It wasn't a matter of trust. We weren't going to shatter your dreams of a good life but now that you're here...for what it's worth, I'm sorry." TK lowered his head. "So are we."

Rika crossed her arms. "Come on. We should give them some time to think alone and be in each other's company. Besides, we have a family reunion to get to and I want to get that over with. Renamon...look after these guys until we get back. Get what they need to make it through the next few days or so." The fox Digimon nodded. Takato turned over to Guilmon. "You have to stay here and help protect them until I get back. I promise to bring you a whole bag of bread...along with peanut butter!!" He got no response as the virus Digimon was already drooling from the idea of having peanut butter. Terriermon remained motionless as he is going to have to play the stuffed animal when the tamers have their reunion. The tamers looked back one last time before heading into the outside world to resume their lives.

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

"Cameras are on in 4...3...2...1..." The cameraman activated the broadcasting system as the reporter started to read the news for the noon hour news broadcast. "Now in local news, the three children who have been missing for the past few days have miracously returned unharmed. Takato Matsuki, Rika Nonaka and Henry Wong returned last night to their homes and their families. We were able to get them to answer a few questions after they delivered a statement to the police."

They started to play the footage that was taped this morning. It started with Henry and Takato with their families coming out of the police station after giving the police a statement. In the background, they could hear Rika protesting. "Mother!!! I'm not going to wear this stupid dress on national television!! It's degrading!! If I had known you were going to do this when I got back, I might as well have remained missing!!!" The older woman pushed a dressed up Rika on to where the others were placed. Henry and Takato forced themselves not to laugh, knowing that Rika would send Renamon after them if they did. "When you are in front of a professional camera, you are supposed to be formally dressed, young lady. Your two companions have obviously been a bad influence on you. Besides, we have to get that camera test done right after this and your disappearance threw the schedule way off."

Before Rika could start arguing, the questioning began. "Could you please tell us exactly what happened on the day of March 24, 2005 when you disappeared?" Takato looked over at Henry and started whispering. "We were gone for that long?!? I thought we were gone longer!!" "I'm guessing that time on our world runs differently than time in their world," whispered the other boy. (AN: There's a reason why I set the date this way. You'll find out eventually...also by this time, the cards in the game should have little bits of circuitry on their edges so they can be scanned in the readers. Something like this was revealed when the people at Nintendo announced they would be creating the special cards for the Pokemon trading card game for additional statistics on the Pokemon in the video game)

"I'm having trouble understanding you. Can you please speak into the microphone?" Henry gave a small gulp before speaking. "It's kind of difficult to explain. We're having trouble understanding it ourself." "What exactly do you mean difficult to explain? Just tell us what you remember!!"

The boy was at a loss for words and started feeling queasy. Takato noticed this and quickly took the microphone from Henry. "This is what I remember. Me and my friends were just getting some fresh air as it's spring and all. We were right by my school when this weird fog rolled in. We got lost in it and remained lost for a few hours. Then all of a sudden, we ended up somewhere else. We went home and everybody exclaimed that we were missing for quite some time."

The other two tamers looked at Takato, amazed at how he was able to think up a story right on the spot "Are you saying that your disappearance was caused by a meteorological phenomenon?" Takato gave a small laugh. "All I know is that the fog did all this stuff to get us missing. That's all I can say-" Mrs. Matsuki took the microphone from his hand. "And that's all anybody can say. These children have been through enough trauma already. They should be focusing on getting things back to normal and catching up on their schoolwork. Good day."

More reporters tried to ask questions but everybody was being escorted off. The footage ended and the screen switched back to the main news room. "Scientists have begun designing equipment to track down and study these phenomena. Keep watching for further developments on this story. In other news, Satashi Kashinaru, the owner of a local comic shop, has been attacked by a-"

Yamaki pressed a button to turn off the television. 'Those children who were missing got lost in a digital field?!? They're hiding something, I'm sure of it.' He pressed a button to activate a communicator. "I want surveillance teams on stand by to keep an eye out on those three children who recently reappeared after vanishing in the digital field." "Acknowledged."

The man turned to one of the technicians. "What's the status of the Juggernaut program?" The technician looked down at his notes on his clipboard. "Installation of the secondary power generators is complete but some of the power relays are not at 100% efficiency. We can begin testing the program in about three days, sir." A dark smile crept up on to Yamaki's face. 'Soon, the world will be rid of this digital pestilence once and for all.'

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

"But Mrs. Matsuki!! It's an emergency!!" The woman gave a small cross look at Kazu and Kenta. "Until Takato catches up with his school work, he can't have any friends over to see him." Kenta quickly tried to think up of an excuse to go see him. "We can help him out on some of the stuff that he missed!!"

She took a tray of freshly baked buns out and prepared to place them for display. "That's very nice of you to offer, boys. But Takato said he's doing fine by himself. In fact he said that some of the stuff is easy for him." Kazu's jaw dropped. "Since when did Takato become a math wizard? It took me an hour to do each page we were assigned!! Those problems are crazy hard!!" The two boys decided to check up on their friend later.

Upstairs, Takato Matsuki scribbled down the answers to the math problems that he had to catch up on. 'It was lucky for me that I did all of this stuff when I went to school with the Digidestined. I would probably be stuck up here for hours doing all this!!' He quickly finished answering the last few questions before placing his pencil down.

'Now that everything's caught up, I should phone Henry and Rika. We need to have a meeting with the Digidestined and try to snap them back to reality. Now where did I put their numbers? They gave them to me last night and I jotted them down as soon as I got home!! I can't have lost them already!!' He found the piece of paper that he was looking for. 'Bingo!!'

The phone rang four times on the other end before someone answered it. "Hello?" The voice on the other receiver sounded like a little girl. Takato double checked to make sure he called the right number. "Um...is Henry there?" "Yep!!!" The line remained silent for a few moments. Takato broke the silence. "Can you get him on the phone?"

"Why?" The boy gave an irritated sigh before talking again. This time, his frustration was evident in his tone. "Look, just get him on the phone for me, okay?" The other end didn't reply until he heard the little girl shout. "Henwy!!! There's some angwy kid on the phone!!!" "I'm not angry!!" protested Takato.

He heard another voice at the end of the other line. "Thanks Suzie. Why don't you go play with Terriermon?" There was a bit of giggling at the other end as Suzie went to find Henry's 'stuffed animal'. "This is Henry. Who is this?" Takato started to speak. "It's me, Takato. I was wondering...actually we should start thinking of whether we should search for Calumon."

"Calumon should be fine. Remember when we first found him? We tried to find him a tamer but he seemed perfectly fine by himself. Who really knows how long he's been out in our world?" Takato tapped his fingers on his desk. "Yeah...but what if we run into some nasty Digimon? We need him in order to have our Digimon digivolve to ultimate."

Henry gave a small cough. "When we get to that situation, we'll deal with it. Now if you excuse me, I have a report to write on how modern Japan differed from the Japan that had ninjas and samurais. I'll catch you later." The other boy was about to hang up when he remembered why he called in the first place. "Hey, wait!! We need to have a meeting at Guilmon's place this afternoon to discuss how we're going to deal with depressed Digidestined. I'm not sure what has to be done to snap them out of this."

"Well, I would suggest finding something in the Digimon show that proves that they make a difference. You can also see if the program actually makes a difference here. How it changes things for the better, stuff like that. Hopefully, that would restore their confidence in themselves. It's all about philosophy and psychology. After I'm done with my stuff, I'll see what I can do about this." A small smile came across Takato's face. "Okay, Henry. I'll do some checking on this end. See ya." He hung up as he looked at the paper again to check Rika's number.

Inside the Nonaka residence, an old woman had just turned on the computer when the phone close to her started to ring. "Hello?" A male voice started to stammer at the other end. "Um...hi. Is...uh...Rika available? I would like...to talk to her." "I'm sorry but she's out with her mother. They haven't returned since this morning-" She heard a door open as Rika entered the house with her mother behind. "Just stay right here, darling. After I find the catalogue, we can go shopping!!" The girl gave a small groan.

"Actually, she just came back. If you would hold on for a moment...Rika!! Telephone!!" Rika walked over to one of the phones while her mother searched the living room. The elderly woman got up from the computer to let her granddaughter be alone with the caller. "Honestly, Rumiko. You shouldn't force Rika to do all this. She doesn't have any dreams to be a supermodel like her mother." (AN: Did I get the name of Rika's mother right?)

Rumiko brushed a lock of her gold hair from her face. "I only wanted to get a simple camera test and help start a solid relationship between her and the agency in case she changes her mind about modeling in the future. Instead, she caused a whole lot of grief for Coco and the entire crew. I'm trying to bond with her, mother, but she keeps pushing me away." She paused for a moment to hear a part of Rika's conversation. "I wonder if it's because of that friend she refers to as 'goggle head'." Her mother gave a disapproving look. "It's not polite to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation. You have to remember that as a good parent, you should encourage her to find a path that's suitable to her. Sometimes doing what's best for them doesn't always work. I know."

"I'll be there. See you in a bit, goggle head." Rika replaced the phone's receiver before heading to her room to change. 'I owe you one, goggle head. This emergency meeting just got me out of an afternoon of shopping with my mom!!' After a moment, she emerged from the room, dressed in her normal attire. She glanced over to her mother. "I have something important to take care of with my friends. We'll have to cancel the shopping trip."

Rumiko started to get a little worried. "I don't mind cancelling the trip but you shouldn't go out again by yourself!! What if one of those...fogs roll in again?" Rika held up the cell phone. "I'll call in once an hour to tell you I'm alright. Now I really have to get going. I'll see ya later."

"Just one more thing, Rika. I've been thinking about a few things lately and..." Rumiko had to choose her words carefully if she was going to make a connection with her daughter. "I didn't realize how much you meant to me until you vanished a few days ago. I was hoping that through our journey to get you on the road to modeling that we could bond but it seems that didn't work too well. So I was thinking that we could do something special. Just the two of us. No cameras or any of that stuff. Can you please give me another chance to show that I care about you?"

The girl remained silent for a few moments before speaking. "The night I got home, I didn't really expect to see you there. You were supposed to be travelling throughout Europe, modeling top designer clothes. It was practically the chance of a life time. But when I saw that you were willing to stay behind and give up the tour just for me, I had a feeling that you cared more than you were letting on. I would like to give this a try but at the moment, my friends need me. Let's just take this one step at a time, alright?" She gave a small smile at her mother before heading out.

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

Armadillomon had a small panicked look on his face as he glanced over at a depressed group of kids. "I don't know what to do. They've been like this ever since we woke up. What has gotten into them?" Hawkmon started thinking. "We all fell asleep when we got back to this shelter. Then something happened to our partners. Perhaps the tamers can shed some light on this matter. More specifically, their partner Digimon."

Gatomon shot a dangerous look at Guilmon. "Okay, you red dino!! What the hell happened last night?!?" The virus Digimon gave a nervous gulp. "Um...uh...I can't remember!! I was too busy thinking of Takatomon bringing peanut butter!!"

"What's going on here?!?" They all looked to see Renamon at the entrance of the shelter. "We're hoping that you can tell us," mumbled Wormmon. The fox Digimon glanced over to where the humans huddled in a corner, lost in their own thoughts. A small look of understanding came upon her face.

"Your friends have recently been exposed to some rather disturbing news. They found out that they were characters of fiction in this world." Patamon gave a puzzled look. "But what I can't understand is why this is affecting them so much. I mean we could have done worse like drop into a world that is being controlled by someone who loves massacres."

Renamon paused for a moment. "Humans have a strong connection with who they are and the things that they do to make a difference in their own lives as well as the lives of others. By knowing that they are characters of fiction, they will undoubtedly feel like everything that has happened in their lives and everything that they have done was all for nothing." Hawkmon narrowed his eyes. "So if our partners are fictional characters, then we must be fictional as well. The question is why are we still acting normally?"

"Digimon have been accustomed to being ignored by humans. In your case, the digital world and the real world is kept completely separate. Only the Digidestined know about you. Here, Digimon give children something to play with. They don't suspect that Digimon are very much living beings." Veemon tried to digest this information before speaking. "So how do you deal with it?"

Renamon wasn't completely prepared for that question so she had to think up of a response before replying. "The only certain way to know that I exist is if Rika believes that I'm real as well. As long as I have that, it does not matter what everybody else says."

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

"Calumon!! Where are you? I brought something from my dad's restaurant if you want to try it!!" Calumon came bounding out of the forest to meet Jerri. "You brought something? What is it, huh?" Jerri smiled as she unwrapped the package. Inside lay a bento box with various foods inside.

Calumon grinned as he started to devour some sushi. "You are the nicest human I've ever met!!! Just as nice as Takato!!" Jerri gave a start when she heard his name. "You know Takato too?" The small Digimon nodded. "He was really nice but I always thought he was weird. It was like there was always something bugging him. At least his Digimon is normal. Guilmon really knows how to play!!"

'Takato has a Digimon?!?' Jerri didn't know what to do when Calumon stopped eating and spread his ears. "I see something that may look like a lot of fun!!" He started moving past Jerri. The girl quickly repacked the bento box. "Calumon!! Wait up!!!" She started to follow the small Digimon into a mysterious thick fog, otherwise known as a digital field.

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

Rika tapped her foot as she waited for the other two tamers to arrive. A little while later, she saw Takato and Henry running up, with Terriermon on Henry's shoulders. "What took you guys so long?" Henry took a few solid breaths. "Well, I needed to figure out a way to help the Digidestined recognize their worth. Plus, I had to wait until Suzie fell asleep so I could get Terriermon." The vaccine Digimon gave Henry a small glare. "You know, you shouldn't have asked Suzie to go play with me."

The trio made their way up to the shelter where the Digimon were gathered in front of the entrance. Guilmon gave a grin. "You finally came, Takatomon!! Where's the peanut butter?" Takato gave an apologetic look. "We were all out and I couldn't find the time to grab some on the way." Guilmon's face fell. "Ah, nuts."

Rika turned to Renamon. "How have they been doing?" Renamon gave a small sigh. "It looks like that they haven't been eating or sleeping much. That's typical with depression." The girl gave a small snort of disgust. She walked over to where the other Digidestined were wallowing away in self pity. "You guys are supposed to be the Digidestined children!! As protectors of the digital world, you should know how to overcome any obstacle, physical or emotional!!! Now you waste away just because of one little shocking fact that you would eventually have to face when you got here!!!!"

Ken looked up with his eyes almost reflecting the intensity he expressed as the Digimon Emperor. "How can you deal with something like this when everything you knew and believed in turns out to be false? How can you live with the fact that someone else is controlling every aspect of your life?" Terriermon clutched his head. "Momentai!! Geez, all these philosophical questions are giving me a headache!!"

"We can't control your lives. Only you can. What you guys have been doing in your world is living normally like you were in control. All we did is bring what we believed about life in your world to television. And as fictional characters you have made a difference in our world. We've been basing our lives on the traits of humanity that each of you represent: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Reliability, Sincerity, Hope, Light and Kindness. In a way, you have become the backbone of our society. It may not look that way on the surface but that is how everyone feels inside their hearts." Henry paused for a moment. "Look inside yourselves and your hearts. If inside you feel certain that you exist, that you made a difference in your lives as well as the lives of others, then it doesn't matter what anybody else says. As long as you know that you are inside the hearts of others, then you have successfully passed on a legacy that can be enjoyed for generations to come."

Each Digidestined child remained stunned at Henry's words. Before they could start speaking, Takato stepped forward. "There is an interesting saying that goes like this: The only person who can take away your hopes and dreams is yourself. Do you know who said that?" Davis got up slowly. "Well...actually no."

Takato continued to speak. "I'm sure that someone else said it before but the first time I heard it is when it came out of the mouth of Davis Motomiya. That was the basis of what unified your digital world with your real world. If you guys didn't believe in that when it counted, then everything would have been lost. We live out our life as we believe in living it. But should one live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying. Life is always worthwhile as long as you believe in how you are living it."

Rika whirled Takato around. "Who are you and what have you done with the real goggle head?" Takato gave a sheepish grin. "Well, since we were going to be debating philosophy and stuff, I checked my school agenda. You wouldn't believe what interesting things are in there. I found a long quotation from Joan of Arc about belief and so I kind of stuck the idea in my head."

One by one, the other Digidestined got up. It appeared that some confidence was restored in them. "So we can really make a difference here?" asked Kari. Before the tamers could reply, their Digivices started to react. A wild look flashed in Guilmon's eyes. Rika quickly checked her compass on her Digivice before speaking. "If you want to make a difference, here's your chance. A wild Digimon just appeared in our world and it probably wants to cause some trouble. You in?" The other Digidestined looked at each other. TK had a look of determination on his face. "Let's go!!!"

They all raced out of the shelter and moved to where the digital field has appeared. Rika and Henry placed their sunglasses on while Takato placed his goggles over his eyes. Davis, not sure of what to do, did the same. When they finally made it through, the atmosphere looked dark. "Whoa...it's like night time here!!" remarked Yolei. "Help!!!!!" A shrill cry broke the silence. Cody gave a gasp. "That sounded like Calumon!!"

When they arrived at the source, they saw a purple imp creature with his foot on Calumon's back. A ball of fire floated on his right glove. "It's time to dish out your punishment for being a cute accessory to that human girl over there!!!" Takato looked over to see Jerri in the clutches of another Digimon. He looked like a white gargoyle Digimon. A deep growl came from his throat as he raised his right arm. "Gargoylemon doesn't like humans..." Jerri let out a scream as the Digimon prepared to rip out her heart from her chest.

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

In the depths of the flames that surround Zhuqiaomon, the phoenix Digimon who guarded the Southern sector of the digital world, the motorcycle known as Behemoth started roaring louder than usual. The phoenix Digimon looked down at it. The only possible explanation that would get the motorcycle excited is if a demon lord Digimon was somewhere near by. 'It senses a potential rider...' Zhuqiaomon tried to focus his senses on the position of the demon lord Digimon. His eyes finally found a small purple imp Digimon engaged in some sort of battle on the human world.

'Under normal procedures, he would have to be willing to sacrifice everything that he already is in order for me to upgrade him to mega level and have more control. However with the rate of Millenniumon's awakening increasing rapidly, I must approach him quickly. I may even have to give him full control over his power. But no matter. As long as he completes the business at hand and does not attempt to dominate the digital world...should he become a problem to the humans, they can deal with him.' A dark chuckle came from Zhuqiaomon's throat, clearly showing evidence of his corruption due to the renegade D Reaper program.

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

"So he is on the brink of resurrection...I knew I should have brought up the matter with Kimeramon's data floating freely around!! If everything is destroyed, then it will be my fault..." Azulongmon closed all four of his eyes in guilt. Before Ebonwumon could start speaking, Baihumon stepped in front of him. "If you must blame someone, blame me. I told Azulongmon that there was nothing to worry about and that the data could not take a physical form."

Ebonwumon gave a small sigh. "I have had no interest in playing the blame game and I'm not about to start now. What matters is how we resolve this situation. Since Millenniumon is forming within Zhuqiaomon's realm, we must speak to him at once. But I have sensed that he is behaving oddly lately. This has me worried...it may also explain for his absence at the last meeting."

"This is just great...if my chosen are stuck in his realm, then not only will they have to face a synthetic mega Digimon that can transform into a god but a somewhat corrupted and possibly insane Digimon sovereign. What else can make this better?" asked the dragon sovereign sarcastically. Baihumon thought for a moment. Then a thought came to the holy beast's mind. "Hey...I think Ryo Akiyama went back to Zhuqiaomon's realm after the tournament..." All of Azulongmon's eyes widened. "Ryo!!!!"

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

"Guilmon!! We have to save Jerri!! Ready?" The virus Digimon gave a nod. Takato whipped out a card. "Digi Modify!! Hyperspeed Activate!!!" The next thing Gargoylemon knew, he was tackled on the side. Jerri collapsed to the ground in fear with Guilmon standing protectively in front of her. Henry checked his Digivice to get some data. "Gargoylemon, an armored Digimon. Virus type. When he activates his Great Cyclone attack, his aerial speed and manoeuvrability are tripled with the high amounts of wind." Before Henry could finish reading the description, Gargoylemon launched an attack.

Impmon looked up from what he was doing. "Huh? More Digimon serving the humans?!? Am I the only Digimon here with enough dignity to-" Before he could finish his rantings, Renamon took the opportunity to sneak up behind Impmon and grab him by the back of his neck. He struggled to get out of her grip. "Let go of me, fox face!!!!"

Rika checked the data given by her Digivice. "Impmon...virus type...special attack is Bada-Boom...he's only a rookie!! He's not worth fighting." Cody looked at the small virus Digimon. "Why are you picking on Calumon? What has he ever done to you?" A small 'yeah!!' came from Armadillomon in the background.

Impmon gave a shrug. "I really don't know. It's just survival of the fittest. Nature taking its course. I'm the stronger one so I should eliminate that weakling." Renamon narrowed her eyes. "Picking on the weak and innocent is dishonourable. Only a coward would perform such an act."

Rika gave a small grin. "Maybe we should be calling you Wimpmon!!!" Davis gave a loud laugh. "Wimpmon!! That's a good one, Rika." Impmon started to feel embarrassed with all of the humans taunting him now. Renamon decided to toss him aside so they could help the others with Gargoylemon.

"Guilmon!! Hang on buddy!!" Takato had to finish scanning the new armored Digimon to get an idea of an attack plan. "Gargoylemon's other attacks are Black Statue and White Statue which can tap into both the dark and light energys of his enemies and drains them of it, leaving them as stiff as statues! This Digimon can be formed with Veemon armor-digivolving...with the Digiegg of Light?!?"

"I better go in there and help Guilmon," stated Terriermon. He hopped off Henry's shoulders. "Wait!! I have an idea...since it's night time, I believe you can finish Gargoylemon off before he knew what hit him!!" The vaccine Digimon started to understand where Henry was getting at. "Okay, Henry. Let's give this a try!!" "Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!"

DIGIVOLUTION.... "Terriermon digivolved to...Blackgargomon!!"

"Gargo Laser!!!" Blackgargomon fired several shots at the white Digimon trying to slash Guilmon. They bounced off without doing much damage. "Uh...Henry? A little help here?" Henry concentrated as he started to swipe the next card through his Digivice. "Digi Modify!!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!"

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION.... "Blackgargomon digivolved to...Spectralrapidmon!!"

The ultimate Digimon quickly aimed a kick at Gargoylemon's head and sent him flying. "Rapid Fire!!!" The missiles were right on target but they weren't effective enough to bring the virus Digimon down. Spectralrapidmon used his speed to get up close. "Tri Beam!!!!" Gargoylemon gave a chuckle as he blocked the beam with one hand. "Beam from freak Digimon can't hurt Gargoylemon."

A small vein popped over Spectralrapidmon. "Freak Digimon?!?!? Look who's talking!!!!" Henry looked at his Digivice again for some answers. Spectralrapidmon shook his head in disbelief when another Rapid Fire didn't give him a scratch. "I don't get it!! Those attacks were right in his face!!!" His tamer started to go pale at what he saw next. "The combination of the power from the Digiegg of Light with the being of darkness created an extremely powerful armor. Only a mega Digimon can have any effect against him. Regardless of how many armored, rookie, champion or ultimate Digimon against this powerful armored Digimon, he will always pull through...we've got to get him out into the open into the daylight!! I have an idea!!"

Spectralrapidmon started backing up slowly now with Gargoylemon fixed on him as a target. "I really hope you know what you're doing this time!!" He made his way out of the digital field with Gargoylemon following him. "Let's go, Renamon!!" Rika started to run after Gargoylemon. Takato wanted to help fight but first he had to comfort a hysterical friend.

Jerri couldn't feel her own body after tha trauma that she went through. "Jerri!! Jerri, speak to me!!!" The voice sounded so familiar. Slowly, she regained her senses. She saw several children standing over here with weird...monsters on their shoulders. "Aaaauuggghhh!!" She scrambled on to her feet as fast as she could. "Jerri?"

The girl looked over to her left and saw a familiar face. The next thing he knew, he was the recipient of a giant bear hug. "Takato!! T-there was this b-big white m-m-monster and...and..." She couldn't stop her stammering. "Jerri!! It's going to be all right. I'm going to stop that monster. These guys can protect you while I'm away."

"Wait a second!! I'm coming with you!! I need to do something to help!! If that monster stays out there much longer, he can hurt a lot of innocent people!!!" Takato noticed Davis clenching his hands into fists. "Count me in too!!" Ken stood up with renewed courage on his face. "I have to prove that there's more to me than what your writers think!! Besides, if things get messy, we can use Paildramon to cover for us!!"

Takato thought about this for a moment before nodding. "And Calumon needs to come in order to help us digivolve...alright. But the rest of you stay here and protect Jerri. We need to keep her far away from the battle so that she won't get hurt. Davis, Ken, Calumon...let's go." The three boys along with their respective partners started running in the direction where Gargoylemon disappeared off to. Calumon rode on Guilmon's back.

The cyborg Digimon finally emerged out of the digital field in broad daylight. Henry found his way out and took off his green sunglasses. "Once he gets out in the light, he should have a little bit of...what?" Gargoylemon emerged from the digital field. A few moments passed and nothing happened. Henry had a small look of disbelief. "But I don't understand!! According to legends, gargoyles turn to stone during the day!!!"

"Great Cyclone!!!" A huge funnel of wind came up from nowhere. Gargoylemon took off into the sky with amazing speed. Spectralrapidmon tried to get moving as well but Gargoylemon had the field advantage. "Black Statue!!" Before Spectralrapidmon could react, the beam hit him square in the chest and started draining him of his dark power, forcing his black armor to revert to its normal green color. "White Statue!!" Rapidmon slowly started transforming back into his rookie form. He couldn't move a muscle thanks to those two attacks.

The wind started dying down as the attack duration started coming to an end. Before Gargoylemon could attack again, Renamon delivered a high jump kick to knock him off balance. Rika came out and checked her own Digivice. "There's gotta be a weakness on this guy...what do we have here? This looks like some sort of prophecy...ah, crap. It's just like Venommyotismon all over again. Just why is there a prophecy here anyway?"

Henry was still lost in his own thoughts. "Let's see...we have a gargoyle Digimon who is not affected by daylight. The reason must be the Digiegg of Light acting as some sort of protective charm..." Rika gave a growl. "Einstein!! We could really use a hand here!!" Gargoylemon prepared for another Great Cyclone.

"Vee Laser!!!" The attack came from the digital field and distracted Gargoylemon long enough for him to see Exveemon charging out. Henry started going through Gargoylemon's profile. "I guess they also placed mythological data about this guy as well as normal scientific statistics..." His Digivice started displaying the mythological data.

'To vanquish the beast, it must fight the champion it could have been. The champion must be aided by the knights of Courage and Friendship in order to separate what should not have been made.'

'What does this mean?' Henry looked over at where Takato and the others came out of the digital field. Exveemon had sent Gargoylemon down with one punch. The armored Digimon looked a little tired. "This isn't going to take very long!!" boasted the champion Digimon. He went into a dive but Gargoylemon sprang back up, collided his knee into Exveemon's stomach and elbowed him down to the ground. "I stand corrected."

'Fighting the champion it could have been...? Let's see. This guy comes from Veemon using the Digiegg of Light...the champion must be Exveemon!! And the knights of Courage and Friendship must be Flamedramon and Raidramon!!!' "Davis!! Give Rika your Digiegg of Friendship so Renamon can armor-digivolve!!" Davis looked over at Henry. Before he could ask why, Henry shouted "Just do it!!" The other boy shrugged and took out his D terminal to summon the Digiegg. Rika took the Digiegg carefully. "Here goes nothing. Digi Armor Energize!!!"

ARMOR DIGIVOLUTION....

"Renamon armor-digivolved to...Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!!" Raidramon fired an energy blast straight at Gargoylemon. "Thunder Blast!!!" Gargoylemon had to move back to compensate for the recoil. Henry gritted his teeth. "It's not enough!!! We need to get Flamedramon into the fight!!" "Great Cyclone!!!" The wind blew the D terminal right out of Davis' hand. Takato dived to catch it before it blew away.

"Thunder Blast!!" "Vee Laser!!!" The two attacks cut through the cyclone to hit Gargoylemon. He narrowed his eyes. "Black Statue!!" Exveemon had to get out of the way. "White Statue!!!" Raidramon leapt back and prepared to counterattack.

Ken narrowed his eyes. "They can't keep this up forever!! We've got to take him down now!!" Henry secured Terriermon before rejoining the others. "I believe I've deciphered that prophecy but we need Flamedramon to make it work. And unfortunately, I don't think the Clone card would help in this scenario."

Takato was about to return the D terminal back to Davis when he felt a small surge of energy coming from within the machine. It appeared that the Digiegg of Courage was reacting to him. But how? He walked over to where Davis and the others were. "Hey, Davis? Can you let me try something with the Digiegg of Courage?" The other boy took the D terminal. "Sure...but I don't see what it can do now."

The Digiegg of Courage formed from the D terminal. As soon as Takato touched it, it started glowing a faint orange. Henry gave a small gasp. "The Digiegg of Courage is responding to Takato!! How is that possible? And more importantly, why?" Takato gave a shrug. "I don't know but I'll just have to see what happens when I say...Digi Armor Energize!!!" Calumon fell off of Guilmon when he had to shield his eyes after a great light erupted from Guilmon's body.

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

"We must find a way to aid the chosen in the upcoming battle. But with Millenniumon regaining his power, he is also regaining control of the gateways between our dimensions. It will be only a matter of time before he renders us powerless to do anything," stated Azulongmon grimly. "His senses are becoming more sharp. He can detect any anomaly within the gateway's flow. If we attempt to send something to help the children, such as a digi core, Millenniumon will not hesitate to destroy it," added Baihumon.

Ebonwumon closed his eyes in deep thought. Slowly, an answer came to him. "We can decompile the digi core into fragments. Millenniumon won't be able to distinguish them from normal data flows between the dimensions. Then they must be sent to someone who can reconstruct the digi core and deliver it to the chosen. We will require one of your digi cores for your chosen, brother Azulongmon. But as for the tamers, they will be on their own until we can find out what has happened to Zhuqiaomon."

Baihumon narrowed his eyes. "And who can reconstruct the core? Can this being be trusted? There are too many risks with this plan, Ebonwumon. How can we be sure of its success?" The turtle Digimon paused for a moment. "There is a human inside Zhuqiaomon's human realm. He already has some knowledge about us since he participated in the project which gave birth to the Digimon in Zhuqiaomon's realm. As a skilled programmer, he puts in a lot of time to try to acheive the goal that we share: the Digital Revolution. He created the algorithm that allowed Digimon and humans to come together. All we did was select who would be at the head of the Digital Revolution. He is known by his peers as Shibumi."

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

Exveemon gave a start when he noticed the bright glow on the other side. "Hey, what's happening?!?" Raidramon stopped her assault on Gargoylemon to see Guilmon's body erupt in a burst of light. The other armored Digimon had realized that a window of opportunity had opened but could not bring himself to take advantage as he too was curious about what is occurring.

ARMOR DIGIVOLUTION.... "Guilmon armor-digivolved to..."

His shape began to change and grow. His red appearance disappeared and he began to form blue skin. A small orange chest plate with a somewhat fiery design formed above his stomach. His eyes changed from yellow to red. Clawed gloves with the same fiery design appeared as did foot wear with sharp claws representing toes. A mask with a giant blade on the top finished the look.

"...Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!!!!"