Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ DigiTerra: The Digital Earth ❯ Chapter 4: The Digital Earth is Born! An Unexpected Hope ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Destiny is a strange thing.

For the most part, it is surprisingly malleable. It can be
changed by those, good or evil, who have hearts strong enough.

However, there are times when Destiny refuses to be changed no
matter how it has been manipulated. Though wars that should not
have been are allowed to rage, and hearts that should not have
been given the chance to connect form the bonds of love, Destiny
will still stubbornly refuse to allow seemingly unimportant
details to be altered.

For example, the passing of a treasured symbolic item will still
occur. Though the circumstances surrounding the giving of the
gift will change, the metaphysical torch will still pass to new
hands.

Great changes have occurred to this new world, alterations that
seem to have annihilated Destiny's plan.

The Chaos of the Dark runs wild still. People die and suffer
from it. The Balance is still not restored, even with the two
worlds as one.

As Musyamon, this was my crime.

And yet... one can not help but notice how, after all these
changes, little things that may seem so insignificant, yet still
contain a greater importance of their own, will nevertheless come
to pass.

Like a pair of goggles ending up in new hands.

+ + +

"I don't WANNA go in there! You can't MAKE me go in there!"

Mamemon crossed his arms over his chest, looking like a petulant
little child, as he and his two larger companions stood alongside
a wall of fog. The fog was thick and deep, almost completely
obscuring all vision of what laid inside. The fog seemed unable
to pass beyond a certain point, leaving it to whirl and writhe in
its confinement. Not a single wisp of it leaked out.

Mamemon's two companions sighed in unison. One of them looked
much like a unicorn with a zebra-striped body, large wings, and a
red metallic face mask with a yellow visor. He said, "We
understand that you're afraid of him... but you know the orders."

"And the Master's orders," the other one said, "Must be obeyed."
He, unlike his other two companions, was humanoid, if far taller
and more muscular than any human could hope to be. However, that
was as far as any resemblance to a human went. His head
was shaped like a lion's, complete with a full mane of dark brown
hair. His body was covered in a thick layer of lighter brown
fur, and he wore a pair of black pants. Attached to his side was
a short sword, easily in reach of his massive, clawed hands.

The one trait that all three Digimon shared in common was the
strange mark on their foreheads, a black glyph that seemed to be
shaped like a clenched black fist.

"But GUUUUUUUYS..." Mamemon protested to his companions in turn,
"Can't you at least come WITH me? I mean, ShimaUnimon, with your
Horn Devastator attack, you can really mop up! And Leomon, your
Fist of the Beast King technique is nothing to sneeze at! Along
with me, Mamemon, and my powerful Smiley Bombs, there ain't
nothin' that can stop us!"

The little Ultimate Level Digimon tilted his spherical body
backwards and let out a mighty, resounding laugh.

"You're scared," Leomon said simply.

Mamemon deflated, groaning for an instant before heaving himself
up and down as he shouted, "You're darn tootin' I'm scared! I
AIN'T goin' in there! I'm an Ultimate and the two of you are
just Champions! You can't make me go if I don't wanna!"

ShimaUnimon turned to Leomon. "Notice how he thinks we're so
powerful when he needs us."

"Indeed," Leomon said. "Perhaps we should return to the Master
and report the failure of this mission."

Mamemon's eyes went wide at that. He bounced up and down harder
as he all but squealed, "Okay okay okay! I'll go! I'll go!"

"Oh, good," ShimaUnimon said, his face becoming as much of a
smile as his features would allow. "I don't think the Master
would mind us accompanying you. After all, the child we're about
to visit IS rather on the scary side."

ShimaUnimon reached out a hoof to lightly pat Mamemon on top of
his bodysphere. The smaller Digimon then jumped up onto
ShimaUnimon's back as the Unicorn Digimon took to the air and
dove into the fog, Leomon running swiftly after them on the
ground.

"Oh KEEEEEEVVVV-IIIINNN!" ShimaUnimon's voice called out. "Your
little playfriend is on his way to VIIIIIS-IIIIIT!"

Something within the fog stirred, as if waking up from a long
sleep. It spoke, soft and quiet, in a way that indicated long
disuse.

"... the Angel?"

+ + +
DigiTerra: The Digital Earth

A Digimon: Digital Monsters Fanfic by Christian Rogers (AKA The
Flashman) and Alicia Ashby (AKA Lynxara)

Aided and abetted by: Damien Karolev, Shelby Scott,
Ben-San Arizona and Jeff Yang

Digimon is copyright Toei Studios, Saban, and FOX Kids.
+ + +

Chapter 4: The Digital Earth is Born! An Unexpected Hope

+ + +

If the situation wasn't as serious as it was, I'd be giggling
right now at the looks on all of their faces. I mean, I know it
isn't every day that you see an angel... but then again, it's
also not every day that you get to BE an angel.

Hello again. It's me, Kari... or should that be AngeKari or just
Angari or something like that? Until we figure that out, I think
Kari will work just fine.

How can I even BEGIN to describe what I'm feeling right now?

How can I explain how this happened....

How can I still see even though I've got this big piece of metal
over my eyes?

"Don't be afraid," TK says, his new wings ruffling a little.
"It's just me... TK."

"Forgive me for being skeptical, but I don't seem to recall the
wings," Cody says as he crawls out from the cockpit that I guess
is inside Submarimon's body. He must pilot it, like Gennai did
with the Mekanorimon.

Cody doesn't look very steady on his feet. Some of his cuts are
still bleeding. Did he get hurt somewhere else or did he try to
fight Michelle on his own?

"Oh, those! There's... a really long story behind that," TK says
back, laughing nervously.

"I'll bet!" Jim says as he comes out from behind the car. "Care
to tell us anyway?"

Before we can say anything else, the Digimon with them suddenly
shrink back down into Rookie forms. The energy flies away from
their bodies and into... are those some kind of new Digivice? I
thought maybe they'd just made friends with some unique Digimon.
Does this mean they're Digidestined now? Is it possible for there
to be any more real Digidestined than the eight of us?

I turn to look at TK and he nods, indicating that he's thinking
the same thing I am. "Sure," he finally says back down to Jim.
"... as long as you guys promise to tell us how you became
Digidestined."

"Not a problem!" Yolie calls back, cheerfully. "Maybe you guys
can explain some of this stuff to us."

TK leaps off the roof and out into space. I can't help but feel
terrified for a moment as I watch him do that... I mean, usually
people who leap off of really high places just end up becoming a
greasy spot on the pavement. But instead, TK's wings spread out
to their full length, a few feathers drifting off as they catch
the wind. For a moment, the sun's rays are right behind him so
he's bathed in golden light, and he still is when he lands
lightly on the ground in front of Yolie and the others. He's
enjoying making their jaws hang open way too much, but I can't
blame either of them. TK's always wanted to be a little bit more
spectacular than he felt like he was, and right now he really
looks more like something from Heaven than just another high
school kid. I'm happy for him.

As for me? I didn't get wings for some reason, so I just leap
over the edge and let myself drop. My body still feels...
lighter, somehow, so I don't think I'm falling all that quickly.
Or maybe I just feel things different now. Either way, I make an
easy landing next to TK. Not bad for a ten-story drop, if I say
so myself. Once we're on the ground, we turn around so we can
catch Tokomon and Salamon as they leap off the rooftop after us.

Yolie blinks as she watches them. "Hey, what happened to the cat
and the flying hamster thing?"

"That's us," Tokomon says, smiling through those really big teeth
of his. "We're just a stage lower now because TK and Kari need
our energy to Digivolve. Usually I'm a Rookie and Gatomon's a
Champion!"

"... humans Digivolving?" Cody asks, blinking confusedly. "That's
not possible, is it?"

"It looks pretty possible from where I'm standing," Davis
replies. He's not staring at me, is he? He'd better not be
staring, it's not like it's my fault Angewomon doesn't wear a lot
of clothes by human standards.

"That's a big part of our story," TK says. "But I think we'd
better get to somewhere safer and get Cody patched up before we
try to tell it, though."

"I can handle the patching up part," Jim says, patting his first
aid kit. "Just so long as you two are willing to tell me where
the heck Joe is."

"We'll tell you what we know," I say. I concentrate for a
moment... and I can feel the power leaving me, and going back to
Salamon. The world blurs for a moment and goes pink, and I can
feel parts of myself breaking away into tiny bits of data. When
the pink light fades, I can tell I'm back to normal again. My
body feels heavy and my senses feel duller, even though I know
the plate over my eyes must be gone. When I look down, I can see
the green sleeves of the school uniform I was wearing before, and
it's Gatomon that's smiling up at me from my arms instead of
Salamon. The change is so fast, it makes me feel a bit nauseous.

"Kari? Are you alright?" Gatomon asks me, putting a gloved paw
up to my face.

"I think I'll be all right... but how do you Digimon do this all
the time without getting sick?" I ask.

"Well, we're designed for this. You're not," Gatomon replies.

I look up to check on TK, and he and Patamon have successfully
made the change back to normal, too. I guess it must look pretty
dramatic from the outside, because everyone's still just
speechless and staring at us. I'm really surprised Davis has
been so quiet... it's like his brain's frozen or something.
Well, to be fair, that's probably not very hard, but-- ACK!

And now he's suddenly right next to me. I've never seen him move
this fast for anything that's not on a soccer field. He's
crushing my ribs with this monstrous bearhug and I don't think
Gatomon likes being crushed between us much either, and he's
spinning me around and crying, "KARI! It's you! It's really
you! You're alive! Karikarikarikarikarikarikari!"

TK glares at him and starts to make his way over when Davis
suddenly lets go and jumps back a little. Thank goodness he
realized what he was doing. I'm just a little winded but I think
Gatomon might've had all her lives squeezed right out of her if
he'd kept that up. "OhgodI'msorry," he says in a rush, bowing
about fifty times in less than twenty seconds. "Iwasjustso
worriedI'velostjustabouteveryoneandnowyou'reokayandIknowwha t
Friendshipis... and... I'm just... sorry..."

"It's okay..." I say as I run a hand over my ribs to make sure
nothing's broken, and then over Gatomon's mouth to keep her from
saying something nasty back to him.

But she's not the only one unhappy about how Davis is acting. TK
seems... miffed, I guess, about the whole thing. His eyes are
resting on Davis with that look he gets when he's... not happy.
Davis doesn't even seem to notice he's there. He's gone back to
hugging a startled-looking little... baby dragon Digimon, I
guess. It's awfully cute, whatever it is. That must be his
partner, since I think any other Digimon would've attacked him by
now for squeezing that tight.

Then it hits me. And I think it hits TK at the same time.

DAVIS is a Digidestined?!

I try not to stare but I can't help it. I thought they'd at
least have... I don't know, competency tests or something. Not
that I think Davis is bad, but... who in their right mind would
pick him for something this serious? I know TK's mouth is hanging
open and I'm pretty sure mine is too as we watch him dance around
with his little Digimon partner. If anything, the little guy
seems to be hugging Davis back as hard as he can, too. They're
both letting out the occasional yelp between bouts of
happy-sounding laughter.

Watching that, another part of Davis' little rant hits me.

"Lost just about everyone"?

What's been happening since that horrible battle in the Digital
World?

+ + +

"You know," Jim said as he wiped an antiseptic-soaked cotton swab
across the cut on Cody's neck, "you can feel free to say 'ouch'
at any time."

"I'm... fine..." Cody said, his voice quavering and eyes bulging
at each dab of the swab. "At least... it isn't rubbing
alcohol...."

Yolie and Davis, meanwhile, had been telling TK and Kari a
slightly abridged version of their travels. The group had decided
to take their rest in a building that now had a distinctly
tree-like appearance. It had been abandoned before the fusion,
creating the curious image of boards covering the few windows and
doors that peeked out of the thick bark that now formed the
exterior of the building. Digmon had battered the door down with
his steel drills, which allowed a healthy flow of fresh air and a
tolerable flow of light to pass into the building.

"Okay, let me get this straight...." TK said. "An Ultimate-level
Digimon called Asuramon shows up with your partner Digimon, says
something about what you want to fight for, and then the
Digi-Eggs came out of your chests and you got new clothes?" His
voice sounded more than slightly incredulous.

But Davis and Yolie nodded, nevertheless. Yolie added, "But they
were different Digi-Eggs than the ones you saw just now. We just
got those during that battle. We've now got two Digi-Eggs each.
Davis has Courage and Friendship, Cody's got Knowledge and
Reliability, and I have Love and Sincerity."

"Flamedramon, Raidramon, Digmon, Submarimon, Halsemon and
Shurimon," Davis added, ticking off the names on his fingers,
"... but Flamedramon's Egg doesn't seem to work anymore, so I
guess I must've broke it or something. I mean, watch."

He raised his D3 and pointed it at Veemon as he halfheartedly
said, "Digi Armor Ener... gize."

Everyone was surprised with a rush of fiery red-orange energy
surged forth from the D3's screen. The energy coalesced into an
egg of flame that burned so strongly that it left a blackened pit
in the building's wooden floor. "Veemon, Armor Digivolve TO...
FLAMEDRAMON! The Fire of Courage!"

"Well," the Armor Digimon said as he looked himself over, "it's
good to be back, but could you warn me before you do that again,
Davis?"

"Sorry..." Davis said, looking at Flamedramon in surprise. "Man,
why is this thing working again NOW? It wouldn't do anything
when I actually needed it!"

"For that matter, why are they connected to The Crests?" Kari
asked. "And how?"

"Crests?" All but TK asked as they looked at Kari.

"Those are the little pictures on the Egg, right? That's what
Hawkmon said!" Yolie added.

"Well... the thing is, they're not just pictures. The Crests were
something we found in the Digital World and used to help our
Digimon Digivolve from the Champion to the Ultimate Level," TK
stated. "There was eight of them, one for each of us, and they
were supposed to represent a particular Virtue we had to stay
true to in order to unlock its power. Tai had Courage, my big
brother Matt had Friendship, Izzy had Knowledge, Joe had
Reliability, Sora had Love and Mimi had Sincerity. Mine is Hope,
and Kari's is Light."

"Cool! What do they look like? Can we see?" Davis asked,
eagerly.

TK's eyes suddenly looked far less bright and cheerful. "I wish
I could show it to you. But... we don't have them anymore. Both
kinds of Crests were destroyed when the two worlds became
one."

"... so they turned into Digi-Eggs?" Davis asked.

"That's not a bad guess, but if that was true, then why can
Gatomon still give me the power she used to become Angewomon?"
Kari asked. "Without the Crest of Light, Gatomon shouldn't
have the strength to digivolve at all."

"And if there's two more of these Crests," Yolie added, "does
that mean that there's two more Digi Eggs out there? And if so,
does this mean there's another Digidestined like us out there
who's supposed to use them?"

"I think there's something we need to address before we begin
thinking about things like that," Cody said as he walked over to
join the group. The bandages that Jim had put on his deeper cuts
showed clean and white through the cuts and stains that remained
on his Digital outfit. "First, what do you mean by 'both kinds of
Crests' and how exactly did the 'two worlds' become one?"

"Okay..." TK said, sighing deeply. "I think where we need to
start is the day when Devimon and Lady Devimon attacked the
school..."

+ + +

The battle at the school barely even scratches the surface of it
all. I'm sure you heard about a lot of the other fights between
monsters that happened all over the city that same day, right?
Good, then that makes explaining things a little bit easier.

Those fights were brought about by us and the other Digidestined
being attacked by a group of children and their Digimon. The
oldest of them couldn't have been any more than ten. They called
themselves the Dark Digidestined, and at the time, we had no idea
where they had come from or why they wanted to fight with us so
badly. All we knew was that they didn't care who got hurt in the
fights, and were in fact willing to kill a lot of innocent people
just to get under our skin.

I know a lot of people ended up dying anyway when we had no
choice but to try and fight them. As bad as it was, I couldn't
help but feel like it would've been worse if we'd tried to just
run away instead. But to be fair, all of us underestimated the
seriousness of the situation. After all, our Digimon could
Digivolve to Ultimate and the best those kids could hope for was
Champion.

We were wrong. Apparently, they'd all spent their entire
lives living in the Digital World, and as a result they were
almost as strong as we were, and definitely more used to
fighting. So we learned about the Dark Crests the hard way.

The Dark Crests were like the evil twins of the eight Crests that
we used. They represented Vices instead of Virtues: Domination,
Discord, Apathy, Hatred, Ignorance, Deceit, Despair and
Darkness. With them, their Digimon were able to evolve to
Ultimate, too.

Who are they? They're... a family. The Sadamotos. Although,
from what we saw of them, they definitely aren't the most loving
family in the world....

+ + +

"Come on guys! We're almost there!" Tai shouted as he, Matt and
TK, along with their respective Digimon partners, raced down the
long hallway. Tai's clothing, an amalgamation of standard casual
clothing and soccer gear, seemed, for once, well-suited to its
surroundings.

"That's what you said five minutes ago!" TK shot back as Patamon
flapped his wings rapidly to keep up. He felt far less
comfortable in his school uniform, which he'd had no time to
change out of.

It had been a long search, lasting over a week in Digital World's
time, but the Digidestined had found the base of their enemies at
last.

TK couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by where the Dark
Digidestined had decided to call home. "Infinity Mountain," TK
thought to himself. "The last time we had to fight here, I
thought I'd lost Patamon forever... that WON'T happen this time."

"So once we find these kids and beat the hell out of their
Digimon, then what are we supposed to do with them?" Matt asked.
He was breathing much harder than the other two boys, likely
owing to his self-professed disinterest in athletics. His
windbreaker and loose blue jeans flapped loudly as he pushed
himself to keep up with the others rather than complain about
their pace. "It's not like we can just kill them or anything.
Can we?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Matt," Tai replied,
though he sounded distinctly uneasy at the prospect. "We've gotta
make sure we CAN beat their Digimon first."

"We can do it, Tai," Agumon said brightly up to him. "When the
time comes just stand back and leave the Digivolving to us!"

"Hey look!" TK said as he pointed in front of them. "I think I
see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Indeed, a large doorway was ahead of the group, light from the
room on the other side pouring into the tunnel. "Alright then,"
Tai said as he charged through the doorway. "It's time for ac...
huh?"

The group of six found themselves alone in a large, darkened
arena. The light they had seen was coming from a giant spotlight
beam that originated from an unseen point high in the chamber's
dark, shadowy ceiling. Two more beams were radiating downward,
one toward a doorway on the other side of the arena and another
onto a doorway in left side of the arena. The humans and
Digimon looked around, surprise registering on all their faces.

TK felt his throat thicken in tension as, from the lighted
doorway in front of them, Sora, Mimi and Kari, along with their
Digimon, raced in and stopped short, similar looks of surprise on
their faces. From the doorway to the left side, Joe and Izzy
emerged moments later with their partners. "Have you ever had
the feeling that you've been set-up?" TK asked softly.

"As well you should," a dark, mocking voice said from the
shadows. "After all, we've only had nine years to prepare for
you."

"The fuck?" Matt exclaimed. TK had long since grown used to his
brother's bad habit of cursing casually, only one of many that
Matt proudly cultivated, but it still didn't fail to produce a
surprised glance from Tai.

"I know time moves faster in the Digital World, but nine years?
We didn't even spend a full day getting ready in the Real World
before we came here!" TK added.

"Yeah, but I think it's safe to say things have gotten a lot
worse since the last time we were here...." Tai trailed off, a
disconcerting uncertainty in his voice.

"Oh, you don't know HOW right you are," A voice that was slightly
higher pitched then the first said as four figures, two human and
two Digimon, made their way into view from the shadows of
the upper levels of the stadium.

One of them was a young man with his black hair long and messy,
his eyes fully hidden from sight and his apprearence highly
disorderly with a large tenchcoat covering the majority of his
body. By his side was a yellow-scaled lizard Digimon with
large blue eyes. A single horn sprouted from its forehead and an
unnervingly familiar patch of purple and black coloring was on
its stomach.

"Oh my GOODNESS!" Gabumon said, pointing at the Digimon. "They
MUST be the evil ones! That Gabumon is NAKED!"

The two humans and the naked Gabumon snickered. The other
Digimon, a small, blue-black Agumon whose emaciated
body was a patchwork of scars, stayed silent.

The other human was actually somewhat clean looking. His black
bodysuit appeared to have been well-maintained. Along with the
way his visible skin seemed to be free of any sign of dirt or
grime, it indicated that this was a man who cared very much
about his physical appearance.

That was of no concern to Tai, however, as he pointed to the
skinny Agumon by the stranger's side and shouted. "... What the
HELL have you done to your Agumon?!"

The cleaner looking man smirked as he replied. "I've merely...
motivated him to live up to his trait."

"That's awful!" Tentomon exclaimed, as he hovered by his
partner's head.

"How can you rationalize treating another life like that for ANY
reason?!" Sora yelled out.

"It definitely doesn't look like its made him into a better
fighter," Joe added.

"You're nothing but a big bully who beats up his own Digimon!"
Mimi added.

"Well then, if you believe that is all there is to us," the
stranger continued, "then Peyton and I shall have to show you
just how sadly mistaken you are. Agumon... Digivolve."

The Agumon nodded, a sad whimper escaping his muzzle before a
burst of sickly green energy over took him as he leaped off for
the arena floor. The sphere grew to enormous size as the
Agumon started to fall. "Agumon, Dark Digivolve TO... GREYMON!"
The ball continued to grow and change, however. "Greymon, Dark
Digivolve TO... " It finally broke apart as a giant dinosaur-like
skeleton with a fleshy missile housed on its back landed with a
large crash on the arena floor and glared down at the
Digidestined, jaws gaping. "... SKULLGREYMON!"

The furless Gabumon that stood by Peyton's side was engulfed in a
sphere of blood-red light that began growing to a towering
height. "Gabumon, Dark Digivolve to... GARURUMON!" Instead of
breaking apart, the light sphere merely continued growing, taking
on a more ovoid shape. "Garurumon, Dark Digivolve TO..." The
crimson light shattered to reveal a gigantic, bipedal
werewolf-like creature with white fur that was streaked by red
stripes and two snarling heads. He wore spiked armor plates over
his shoulders and hands, and black pants with a livid red glyph
shaped much like the classic 'anarchy' symbol emblazoned on the
left pants leg. "... BLOODGARURUMON!"

Suddenly, the grounds around the arena exploded upward as, rising
up from hidden bunkers, came the rest of the Digidestined's
enemies.

The first to climb out was a giant grey beetle-like monster with
four arms, and red circular markings on its body. A short mane of
long black hair sprouted from the back of it's head. "...
OKUWAMON!"

Crawling up together from yet another bunker were what looked
like a giant cherry tree with arms and a face that sported a
fluffy moustache, and alongside it was a dark blue humanoid
creature with squid-like tentacles. A dark mask covered his
red eyes.

"... CHERRYMON!"

"... MARINEDEVIMON!"

The next bunker unleashed a monstrous beast who almost defied
description. With the chest and mouth of Greymon, the helmet of
Kabuterimon, one arm that was completely skeletal, one that was
red and insectoid, and two more that were perfect copies of the
arms of Devimon. The creature also had the legs of Garurumon and
the hair of MetalGreymon. Finishing off the monster's appearance
were the wings of Angemon and two other, red, leathery wings.

"... KIMERAMON!"

The final two creatures were the ones TK remembered all too well
from the battle that felt like it had taken place a lifetime ago.

"... DEVIMON!"

"... LADY DEVIMON!"

"Alright Patamon," TK said as he grit his teeth, "It's time!"

"Patamon digivolve TO..." Holy light filled the caverns, and
white feathers drifted along the ground as Patamon's Champion
form emerged into existence. "... ANGEMON!"

The Angel Digimon immediately rushed forward, flying low to the
ground as he swung his staff at the smirking Devimon. The Devil
Digimon merely dodged, flying up and over the attack. "This time
it ENDS," Angemon proclaimed.

"Indeed," Devimon replied. "But for who it ends is yet to be
seen!"

"HEAT VIPER!"

Angemon turned his head, and raised his staff to try to block the
incoming beam of sickly green energy that Kimeramon had unleashed
in his direction. Fighting Devimon, he knew, would tax his
strength to its limits, but trying to fight two opponents
might prove to be completely impossible....

"WING BLADE!"

A birdlike blast of bright red energy soared to intercept the
attack. Garudamon flew swiftly past Angemon and collided with her
larger opponent, driving Kimeramon back.

"Wow..." TK thought, as he looked on. "That must have been the
fastest Digivolve Birdramon's ever done...." But as he took a
moment to look around at the other fights, he was surprised to
see that all of the Digidestined had pushed their partners to the
Ultimate level already. The arena had abruptly become a Digimon
war zone, each monster seemingly drawn or forced into battle with
their rival.

BloodGarurumon and WereGarurumon snarled at each other as they
both expertly dodged each others' kicks and punches.
BloodGarurumon moved in suddenly, clamping his claws down
around WereGarurumon's biceps so each of his foaming mouths could
sink their teeth into his rival's shoulders. WereGarurumon howled
briefly in pain before countering with a swift, armored knee to
BloodGarurumon's stomach, followed by a crushing Garuru Kick that
smashed across both of his heads.

SkullGreymon rammed his shoulder hard into the chest of
MetalGreymon, who took a step back and countered by smashing his
metallic arm down onto the back of his skeletal opponent.
Okuwamon and MegaKabuterimon interlocked their many arms in a
grappling contest, MegaKabuterimon abusing his leverage to Horn
Buster Okuwamon into a nearby wall. MarineDevimon used his
tentacles like whips, entangling Zudomon's arm and hammer.
Garudamon flew up into the air and fired Wing Blades down at the
unnaturally agile Kimeramon, who answered with a withering
assault of Heat Vipers. Cherrymon leaned back, firing small
explosive cherries off of his branches as Lillymon dodged lightly
aside from them in mid-air, occasionally firing back with a
Flower Cannon attack of her own. Lady Devimon and Angewomon
clashed high in the air, almost touching the ceiling as
they charged at each other, passed by in a crackle of clashing
energies, and then circled around for another charge.

TK turned his attention back to his own fight, his battle command
lost before it reached his lips as he saw the person now standing
in front of him. He was still small, though not quite so small as
before, perhaps only just now starting his growth spurt. The boy
stared at him with cold black eyes that showed no emotion at all,
save for a deep sadness.

"Your name is Kevin, right?" TK asked, softly.

Kevin didn't reply, and in fact didn't seem to be paying
attention to TK at all. He was looking up at the dueling
Digimon. "Devimon..." the boy spoke his partner's name, terror
infusing his voice.

The Devil Digimon seemed to find a new strength with that single
word, and reared back suddenly. He caught Angemon off-guard with
a powerful punch to the face, sending the Angel Digimon backward
and into the side of the arena.
"Angemon!" TK shouted in alarm.

"HAND OF FATE!"

Devimon quickly crossed his arms over his chest to block
Angemon's incoming attack, the golden beam of energy lancing out
and pushing him backwards as he roared in pain and fury.

Angemon flew forward once again, stabbing his staff downward into
Devimon's abdomen. The Devil Digimon doubled over in pain, but
recovered quickly, snapping back upwards and knocking Angemon
aside with the backsides of both his massive hands.

"TOUCH OF EVIL!"

Angemon quickly darted to the side, letting the dark beam of
energy expend itself on the wall of the arena.

"This is going nowhere!" TK exclaimed to no one in particular.
He looked around, trying to find his brother or Tai. He knew
suggesting battle tactics wasn't normally his place, but if
something wasn't done then they'd never defeat their rivals.
"Maybe if we switched opponents we'd have a better cha..." TK
stopped talking as he looked around and saw Matt and the others
were nowhere close to where they could hear him.

The man standing next to Peyton high up in the arena looked down
the stairs and saw that Matt had somehow managed to get onto the
stairs and was running up towards them. He chuckled a little
under his breath and said, "Peyton."

Peyton turned his eyes away from the battle. "Yah?"

The man smirked ruthlessly as he said, "Go play now. Big brother
needs some time for bonding."

"... cool!" Peyton grinned happily as he produced a kitchen knife
out of one of his trenchcoat's deep pockets and then hopped down
a shorter flight of stairs than the one Matt was scaling before
leaping over the railing and down to the arena floor.

He looked around and settled on his target, an adorable little
girl in a delightfully short green skirt with a camera slung
around her neck. She was currently staring at his littlest
sister, who was doing nothing but silently staring back. It was
kinda weird how neither of them were really doing anything else,
but Peyton figured that meant they wouldn't mind if he cut in.

"Hey there, cutie!" Peyton called out as he began to walk
closer, running a finger idly along the edge of the knife. "Wanna
come play with a big boy? C'mon, please? I've got something
nice to give you for being so cuuuuuute...."

It was at this point that he began to notice that both the
cute girl and his sister's bodies were beginning to radiate
power. Shining white light emitted from the cute girl's body,
while black shadow seethed from his sister's. Neither of them had
acknowledged his presence at all.

"HEY!" He called out, voice cracking into a partial shriek.
"Excuse me! HELLO! Guy with a knife here!"

He angrily reached out to grab Kari by the shoulder... and then
screamed in pain as he made contact with the white aura that
surrounded her body. The knife fell from his suddenly numb
fingers as he was thrown back by the waves of power, landing
heavily on his back. He stared up at the ceiling for only a
moment before the shadow of a spikey-haired man fell over him.
"And just WHAT were you planning to do to my SISTER?!" Tai
demanded angrily.

"... uh oh," Peyton managed before Tai grabbed him by the
collar of his trench coat.

Matt, meanwhile, continued to quickly climb the stairs as he
headed straight for the young man who stood near the top. His
shorter black hair just barely covered his eyes as he watched the
fight.

"YOU," Matt cried out as he approached the level the young man
was at. "Alright, you're gonna tell me right NOW what the fuck
your problem is or I'm going to kick your ass myself!"

The young man smirked in reply as he said, "No problem here. I
just want you all to die."

"... I think you're missing the point, here," Matt said, a small
note of confusion mixing with the anger in his voice as he stared
at the man.

"Am I? Or are you?" the man replied, his smirk growing wider.

Matt's fists balled up as he shouted, "If there's some fucking
point to coming to our world and jumping us, feel free to tell me
about it! I mean, what the fuck do you have against us? We don't
even know who you are!"

The man continued to smirk as he said, "It was destiny. We know
nothing greater then our hatred for you. We are nothing but
hatred for you. We are the Sadamotos, the Dark Digidestined, the
ones who were fated to destroy all that you stand for. That is
enough. My name is Shinji Sadamoto. You may call me Shane."

Matt stared at him for a moment before summing up his thoughts.
"... you're insane."

Shane laughed, his calm, confident eyes never leaving Matt as he
did so. "Perhaps... but that does not matter. All that matters
is seeing who is the Strongest. That is what makes me the
Digidestined of Domination. The strong rule over the weak... and
I am beginning to think you are very weak indeed."

"Think that NOW, asshole!" Matt roared as he raced up the final
few steps, fist curled back to swing...

... and before he knew what was happening he was doubled over
from a swift kick to his mid-section. Matt staggered back, stars
floating in his vision as he shook his head. He charged blindly
forward again, looking to bury his shoulder into Shane's solar
plexus. Shane spun to the side, lifting up a knee that narrowly
missed crushing Matt's nose. "Please," Shane said with a sneer.
"I mean, REALLY, is this the BEST you can do? I wanted a
CHALLENGE, not some skinny pretty boy with a nice ass. You
might make an amusing toy, but you're too weak to try and face me
in combat."

Matt narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he wiped away the
blood around his nose. He knew that he should be restraining his
temper, but Shane's words were grating against him too badly to
make him able to do it. "Fuck you. We're more than enough to
put you assholes down...."

"Well you haven't been proving it so far," Shane said. "If you've
got anything more to show me, I suggest you do it now. I only
enjoy playing with my prey so long as they're entertaining."

Matt suddenly reached down, picking up a stray chunk of rock that
had been sitting not far from him. He rapidly spun around and
tossed it at Shane's head. Shane merely caught the rock,
spinning around before throwing it right back. Matt, not
expecting such a deft maneuver, was hit fully on his right
temple, crashing downward as blood gushed freely down the side of
his head.

He tried to get up, but his world tilted as he tried to do so. He
found himself left flat on his back as Shane slowly walked over
to him and kneeled down. "That looks rather gruesome, you know,"
Shane said with a smile. "Maybe you'd better have it treated."

The Dark Digidestined of Domination continued to smile as he
leaned down and licked the side of Matt's face, taking some of
the blood off with it. Matt briefly shivered before his outrage
took hold. He found himself surging with a new energy as he
started to rise back to his feet. Shane stepped back, and looked
over the boy appreciatively, as if seeing him for the first time.
"You are a stubborn toy, I will grant you that...." he said,
smiling in approval.

From where he stood, TK was able to see the scene, as Shane
leveled an uppercut at Matt, sending the blond boy flying back
down the stairs as Tai landed a final blow that sent the
battered Peyton back into the wall.

"MATT!" Tai cried out as his friend managed to pull himself to
his feet, only to fall over as the side of the wall crumbled. He
landed in a heap among the rubble on the floor of the arena pit.

"Matt!" TK cried out as he broke eye contact with Kevin and ran
over to check on his brother. "Are you okay?"

"... bastard fucked up my hair," Matt hissed as he let his
brother help him back to his feet. "Screw this, it's time to get
serious."

The two teams of Digimon had separated, creating a clearly
demarcated battle line between the two opposing groups as their
respective humans gathered together again.

"Alright then..." Tai said, "It's time to pull out our trump
cards!"

"Are you sure they're strong enough for this?" Joe asked,
nervously.

"They have to be," Sora replied.

MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon glowed with energy as they briefly
returned to their Rookie forms. However, their bodies quickly
surged with blinding light once more as Tai and Matt's Digivices
each released an intense beam of raw power into them.

"Agumon, Warp Digivolve TO..." A blinding ovoid of red light
surrounded Agumon's body, and began rapidly growing as the little
dinosaur Digimon grew through his Champion and Ultimate stages in
a matter of seconds. Then the egg shrank and compacted, finally
detonating in a massive explosion of light and power. When the
dust cleared and the winds died down, the creature left standing
there was nothing less than an enormous humanoid lizard in
elaborate battle armor. Massive clawed gauntlets covered his
hands, and a distinctive horned helmet clearly announced
that he was Agumon's final evolutionary stage. "... WARGREYMON!"

"Gabumon, Warp Digivolve TO..." The shining blue ovoid that
surrounded Gabumon's body grew and contracted in a similar
fashion as Gabumon underwent the same process of rapid
digivolution through his lower forms. However, the form that
emerged after the ovoid finally contracted and then detonated in
an explosion of azure light was distinctly lupine, and covered in
a shiny silvery grey coat of armor. Massive racks of pointed
missiles sat above either of his front shoulders, and a shiny
golden blade extended from his tail. Two pointed, blade-like
metal plates extended from the small of his back, emitting a
high-pitched whining noise as they activated. "...
METALGARURUMON!"

The majority of the Dark Digidestined gawked at the Mega Level
Digimon, fear playing over their faces for a moment. "You may be
strong," Tai proclaimed, "but there's no way you could have
gotten the power of the arrows of Light and Hope!"

"'Arrows of Light and Hope'?" Shane said thoughtfuly, his
expression never dropping its smirk. "So there's more then one
way to reach the prize, is there?"

"... what?" Tai asked, his eyes becoming wide as the implications
of what Shane was saying began to sink in.

"... oh, fuck me," Matt cursed.

"Peyton..." Shane said, looking at his brother as SkullGreymon
digivolved down into the abused form of the blue-black Agumon.

Peyton grinned as his BloodGarurumon digivolved back down into
the furless Gabumon. "Now you're gonna get it!"

And then, their Digivices exploded with dark energy that
enveloped their Digimon partners.

"Agumon, Dark Warp Digivolve TO..." The ovoid of black energy
that surrounded him expanded rapidly and then contracted before
violently exploding. When the wave of darkness released passed
away, a hideous creature could be seen standing where the
black Agumon had been previously. His body was a black-skinned
parody of WarGreymon's, with red, open scars running across his
exposed flesh. The flesh around the scars turned a sickly shade
of green, giving the impression that the Digimon was somehow
rotting alive. His armor, colored purple, was stylized to
resemble bones, with an enormous pair of skeletal gauntlets
extending over his arms, and bony nubs extended from the spinal
column of plates that extended down the middle of his back.
Only one eye glowed into life underneath his skull-like helmet.
"... PLAGUEGREYMON!"

"Gabumon, Dark Warp Digivolve TO..." Crimson energy surrounded
the Digimon, rapidly expanding and then contracting before it,
too, exploded outward to reveal the final form of the Digimon
within. The creature that emerged appeared to be an enormous,
living wolf skeleton. A livid green fire burned endlessly in the
creature's chest, flames licking along the back of his spine and
rising upward to light the staring, empty sockets in its skull.
"... SKULLGARURUMON!"

"Meet PlagueGreymon," Shane said, indicating the large, armored
black and purple Digimon. "Not only does he have Dramon
Destroyers of his own, but his very touch is corrosive to
virtually everything. Be sure to keep an eye on his Plague Spore
or you'll find yourself rotting in the grave."

"And THIS badass," Peyton said, indicating the skeletal wolf
creature, "is SkullGarurumon. He'll chew you up and spit you
out... if you're lucky. If not, then he'll turn you into cinders
with his Fire Wolf Claw!"

"Alright guys..." Tai said softly, before pointing emphatically
toward their dark opposites. "... time for round two!"

The two groups of Digimon charged each other once again, the
Ultimates picking up where they left off as WarGreymon and
PlagueGreymon flew up into the air.

"ICE WOLF CLAW!" MetalGarurumon cried as his maw opened,
unleashing a river of cold blue energy at his foe.

"FIRE WOLF CLAW!" SkullGarurumon replied, the green aura of fire
surrounding his body gathering in his open mouth and launching at
the incoming attack.

Both fire and ice collided, resulting in a large explosion of
steam that sent both Mega Level Digimon back, turning their heads
away to shield their eyes.

In mid-air, the two Greymons traded blows, their arms moving in a
blur of speed as their Dramon Destroyer claws collided again and
again. WarGreymon flew up and away as PlagueGreymon reached out
to touch him with the hand underneath his claws. "I don't think
so!" WarGreymon said, orange energy gathering in his hands as he
raised his arms over his head. "TERRA FORCE!"

PlagueGreymon quickly copied WarGreymon's motions, a sickly green
energy gathering in his own hands and then forming into an
identical giant ball of force that he tossed back at WarGreymon's
attack. "Plague SPORE!"

The two balls of energy collided in mid-air, the resultant
release of energy sending a shockwave that slammed into all the
combatants below. The humans found themselves thrown violently
to the ground, while Angewomon and Lady Devimon were nearly
forced out of the air by the gale-force winds.

Devimon smirked at Angemon as he said, "Well well, looks like
we're right back where we started again, doesn't it? Perhaps it
would be wiser for you to surrender now and admit our superiority
before this leads to something we will all regret."

"There is no regret... and no surrender, so long as
the light of Hope still burns bright!" Angemon grimly replied.

"This is it..." TK said as he clenched his fists and his Crest
began to glow, "the final card we have to play. We can NOT allow
the powers of Darkness you use to spread anymore! They must be
eliminated ONCE AND FOR ALL! And they will!"

TK's crest unleashed an overwhelming radiance that wrapped
Angemon in a golden cocoon as his transformation began.

"Angemon Digivolve TO..." The egg of golden light that surrounded
him broke apart like a blossoming flower, becoming the eight
large wings that streamed forth from his back. One pair
curved downward around his shoulders, while another pair curved
around his hips. The others streamed majestically forth from his
back. A golden boa, enigmatic symbols etched upon it,
wrapped around his chest and flowed downward from his back,
extending to the bottoms of his armored grey boots. A great
purple buckler sprouted from his left shoulder to help protect
his black-armored arm; on the other hand, a golden wrist-bracer
formed around his white body. A massive blade made of purple
energy flashed outward from the bracer, as a tall violet helmet
that resembled a bishop's hat materialized to cover his eyes and
head. His long blonde hair was now bound back, and black straps
wound around his arm and fingers. "... MAGNAANGEMON!"

The evil Digimon and their partners covered their eyes and began
screaming, the golden light radiating off the Ultimate Holy
Digimon Warrior hurting them on a deep, spiritual level.

"NOW!" TK cried. "Get them all at once before they can recover!"

"You who would worship the dark side of the soul, I return you to
that darkness forever more," MagnaAngemon pronounced, as he
traced a circle in the air with the glowing blade of Excaliber.
The outline suddenly filled in, becoming an ovular shape with
many runes carved upon its golden face. The gates unlocked and
parted, sliding away to reveal a rippling void of energy that
began to pull on the Dark Digidestined and their Digimon.

"GATE OF DESTINY!"

The Dark Digimon fought the inexorable pull, grabbing onto
whatever they could to resist the pull of the Gate, snarling and
howling in fury.

"Shit! Shit! Shane, we're in trouble..." Peyton trailed off
fearfully as the wind began tearing at his trenchcoat.

Shane, however, was merely standing his ground, leaning backward
somewhat to balance himself against the pull of the Gate. "We'll
be fine, Peyton. Watch." With that, Shane pointed a finger to
where their younger brother stood.

Kevin had desperately grabbed onto one of Devimon's massive
fingers, digging in his heels and futilely straining to pull his
partner away from the Gate. But his strength was useless, and
Devimon continued to be pulled ever-closer to the gaping void
despite all his efforts.

"Let go," Devimon admonished his human with incongruous
gentleness, "Or you'll be pulled in with me."

Kevin shook his head violently from side to side, tears welling
in his eyes. "Nuh-uh... don't go..." The tears began to flow down
his cheeks as he realized that he was about to lose his only
friend, and that there was nothing at all he could do to change
it. "... don't go... don't go..."

Peyton's face suddenly split open in a gleeful grin as he glanced
back at his oldest brother.

"... no! No! NO!" Kenny began screaming, as Devimon was drawn so
close that the Devil Digimon was forced to brace himself against
the gate's edge with one massive hand to keep from being pulled
in.

Rage and frustration built into one cry of anguished despair that
unleashed itself in one final scream that ripped forth from
Kevin's throat... as a blast of purple light erupted from the tag
around his neck and enveloped Devimon.

It was the Digidestined's turn to scream. The power that washed
over them seemed to be nothing less than distilled agony, untold
years of suffering ripping coldly at the cores of their being in
a single horrifying instant before the wave of dark power passed
away.

"Devimon, Dark Digivolve TO..." The Devil Digimon's body shifted,
become more slender and skeletal. An exposed ribcage of red bones
emerged from his chest, and his arms shrank and wasted until they
were nothing but hard red bones as well. Heavy metal gauntlets
covered his shrunken hands, and metal bands wrapped around his
upper arms. Black metal boots wrapped around his skeletal black
legs as his tattered black wings shrank, and his face became a
mocking red and black skull. A twisted staff with a small curved
blade at one end and a massive metal orb embedded in the other
appeared in his hands and tore its way through the egg of violet
light that enshrouded him as he digivolved. "... SKULLSATAMON!"

"Too late..." TK whispered, staring on in horror along with the
other Digidestined. "We couldn't pull it off in time...."

SkullSatamon swung his large, mace-like staff forward, a beam of
yellow energy shooting out from it toward the Gate. "NAIL BONE!"

The Nail Bone struck the Gate of Destiny, the collision of energy
forcing all of the combatants and their humans to dig their feet
down as hard as they could. The twisting energy made the Gate's
polarity switch back and forth, trying to pull in and push out at
all that surrounded it at random intervals. In a final howl of
power, the Gate destabilized entirely and shattered into nothing
more than sparks and golden data.

Shane chuckled as he stood up and looked across the field at his
opponents. "So that's it. All of our cards on the table.
Everything we have in our arsenals on display. Now, all that
remains is for us to see who is truely the stronger... who shall
be dominated, and who shall rule this and every world! GO!"

"You're insane!" Tai exclaimed in horror.

"That's what I said," Matt grumbled as he pushed his
blood-mattered hair out from in front of his eyes.

"We may barely know you..." Tai continued. "... but we know
enough that you have to be stopped, NOW! And we WILL stop you!
We're the Digidestined!"

Shane smirked as he replied, "So are we."

The two teams of Digimon charged each other once more, combat
resuming for all but MagnaAngemon and SkullSatamon. The two
amazingly powerful Ultimates merely stared each other down as
they hovered in the air. "This is actually somewhat amusing,
when you stop to think about it," SkullSatamon said.

"Amusement in such a serious situation is the sign of an evil
mind," MagnaAngemon replied. "Prepare for your final
destruction."

SkullSatamon laughed, "Oh PLEASE. Haven't you been paying
attention at ALL to what has been happening since this battle
began? This little dance has become quite the endless waltz,
wouldn't you agree? Our three beats of fighting, upgrading and
then equalizing looping around again and again and again until, I
suppose, we finally all drop from exhaustion. Tell me, is such a
battle truly worth this?"

"If we can eliminate the powers of Darkness from this world,"
MagnaAngemon replied, "then no sacrifice is too great."

"Ah, what the hell," SkullSatamon said with a shrug as he raised
his staff. "I always enjoyed a mindless brawl anyway."

"SHOGUN SWORD!"

The two stopped their charges even as they began them and turned
to look at the source of the new shout...
They saw Angewomon and Lady Devimon fall out of the air, changing
back into Gatomon and BlackTailmon as Musyamon landed between
them.

Kari and another small girl with long, wavy black hair, blinked
as the waves of light and dark energy that had been radiating off
their bodies suddenly stopped. Musyamon dashed forward and seized
the both of them in his arms before turning around and heading
back into the depths of the caverns.

"HEY!" TK cried, "Come back here! Guys!"

He looked around and frowned as he saw that the other Digimon
save his own were too busy with their opposites to help him,
which probably meant their humans were similarly distracted. He
turned to look back at his own opposite to see that Kevin and
SkullSatamon had already forgotten him, and had turned to give
chase after the Samurai Digimon.

TK followed, MagnaAngemon floating close by as they approached a
new door that must have opened during the fighting. It wasn't any
of the tunnels that they had followed into the depths of Infinity
Mountain, and didn't seem to lead outside. He stopped suddenly,
as a young girl, with her hair long, black and braided, stepped
in his way. She couldn't have been more then twelve, but the way
her clothing had been ripped - the shirt cut to expose an
unnerving amount of midriff and the pants cut short to
show most of her darkly tanned legs - accentuated what little
figure she had. "Hi," the girl said. "My name's Sachiko
Sadamoto, but you can call me Sandy. What's your name, cute guy?"

"Do you mind getting out of my way?" TK said with a snarl. "This
isn't time to be playing aroMMPH!"

TK was unable to finish his sentance as Sandy suddenly jumped up,
wrapped her arms around his neck and put her lips against his,
kissing him aggressively. TK's eyes widened as he soon felt
something probing the inside of his mouth....

He pushed the girl away, wiping his mouth and gasping for breath
as he glared at her. He was about to say something more when
suddenly an older boy, a red rag wrapped over his eyes, ran in
from the side and began yelling. "Stop fucking around, Sandy!"
the boy shouted. "If we lose this fight it's because you're not
taking it seriously!"

"Awww, Deke," Sandy said with a smirk. "What's wrong? We can't
see eye-to-eye?"

TK and MagnaAngemon slipped to one side of the Sadamoto siblings
as they argued, and raced down through the tunnels. Ahead of
them, they could see SkullSatamon, who was now carrying Kevin in
order to make better time on the path.

TK turned his head and shouted as he and MagnaAngemon caught up
to them. "Any idea where this leads?"

"The heart... Megan," Kevin said simply.

"Huh?" TK asked.

"He means the very center of the mountain," SkullSatamon said.
"The one place where Musyamon, our benefactor, never allowed us
to go. He usually left traps and such that would deter or remove
us from this place when we tried to find out what his secret
was, but apparently, with Megan and her counterpart in his
possession, he believes he has no need for such devices now."

"Let me make one thing clear," TK said. "We're only going to help
you until we've save Kari and your sister. After that..."

"Then we finish our battle," MagnaAngemon said.

Kevin smiled, and SkullSatamon chuckled. "We wouldn't expect
anything less," the skeletal Demon Digimon said.

The temporarily united four reached the end of the tunnel, which
opened into a full cavern. What was inside took their breath
away.

"What the.... " TK said softly.

The chamber walls were filled with carved symbols of all the
Light and Dark Crests. The strange patterns seemed to come
together around a raised stone dais where Kari and Megan hung
securely from stone crosses in a mock crucifixion. The crosses
were erected over a perfect replica of the Yin-Yang symbol of
Taoism, so large that only a rim of stone kept it from becoming
the entire top of the dais. TK wondered what it was made of. It
didn't look like it had been carved from the stone, but didn't
look like it had been made out of something else and set into the
stone, either. The black part of the circle reflected no light,
just as no shadow fell on the light part.

Kari had been hung over the dark side of the symbol, just as
Megan had been hung over the light. Serving as the "dots" of the
Yin-Yang symbol were what looked like representations of two
Crests TK had never seen before. He could only wonder if they
were light or dark, or what they represented. The one serving as
the "dot" for the dark side was something that looked like a
stylized golden triangle with three trident-like points along its
base. What served as the "dot" for the white side was a soft
pink-violet symbol that appeared to be a stylized flower petal
design.

Sitting behind the circle in the lotus position, sword drawn and
held in front of him sideways, was Musyamon.

"YOU!" TK shouted the moment he saw them. "Give Kari back to me!
NOW!"

"She will be returned to you soon," Musyamon said, raising his
sword above his head. "After the world as you know it has been
changed forever more! For the balance of both our worlds, I
invoke the forbidden power! GENESIS CIRCLE!"

He stabbed his sword deep into the ground.

At first, nothing happened. But then, the Yin-Yang wheel began to
spin, drawing cries of pain from Kari and Megan as the crosses
they were attached to began to glow. White energy, a soft and
flowing light, was pulled from Kari's body, while a dark, black
energy seethed from Megan's.

TK and Kevin, along with their Digimon, covered their eyes. The
crackles of black and white energy that shot forth from the
Yin-Yang circle made it impossible to approach, as badly as they
wanted to. They could do nothing as the two opposing Crest
energies were forcibly intermingled by the wheel's
ever-quickening spin. There was an explosion of
sparks as the radiance of some terrible new power filled the
room, throwing the humans forcibly to the ground and reducing the
Ultimate Digimon to their Rookie forms. Then, TK's world was
enveloped in blinding white light, and he felt a stabbing pain in
his chest as he saw his Crest glow until it shattered. He barely
had time to scream before he slipped into unconsciousness.

+ + +

I woke up with Kari, Patamon, Gatomon... and a headache. Somehow
we'd ended up in an old abandoned church. We were still alive
but we were missing our Crests, not to mention the rest of our
friends.

We searched until long after the sun had come down. We saw how
the city had changed, but we worried enough about our friends
that we wanted to find them before we started trying to figure
out exactly what had happened. When we didn't really find
anything, we decided to go back to the church to get some
sleep... although we didn't get all that much, considering the
situation.

As soon as the sun came up, we went back out to search some more.
We'd spent most of the morning going south this time instead of
east...

+ + +

"TAI! SORA! MIMI! JOE! MATT! IZZY!" Kari called out, cupping
her hands around her mouth. "Can ANYONE hear me?!"

"This is ridiculous...." TK growled to himself in frustration.
"You'd think there would at LEAST be some sign of people or
Digimon somewhere around here... I can't believe I can't even
figure out what planet I'm on!"

"It's so quiet," Patamon said.

"Too quiet," Gatomon groused, "At this point, I'd be overjoyed to
see a NUMEMON."

"Maybe we should try the sewers then?" Patamon suggested.

"... I think we'll save that for a last resort," TK said as
Gatomon slapped her face with her paw.

"Hey guys!" Kari called out suddenly. "Does anyone know what that
thing over there could be?"

TK, Patamon and Gatomon turned to where Kari pointed and gawked
at the site they saw. Towering over the buildings around it was
a tall obelisk made out of some sort of black stone.

"Wow..." Gatomon said, "It's so big. What do you think it could
be?"

"I don't know..." Kari said softly, her voice seeming to drift
off a little as she continued to stare. "But there's something...
evil about it."

"Kari?" TK asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Kari jolted and blinked rapidly, as if waking up from a deep
slumber. She turned to TK and smiled softly to show she was okay.
TK smiled back and said, "We can come back and check it out later
when we find the others."

They continued on their way. The strange tower faded away into
the distance, and was soon left far behind them. A feeling of
coldness began to creep up TK's spine as their group reached a
point where the landscape shifted into a grey stone parody of
itself. "Do you feel that?" Kari asked. Gatomon's hair stood on
end as she hissed at the air.

"Yeah," TK said as he looked down at Patamon. "It's one of them,
isn't it?"

Patamon nodded as he stared quietly off into the rocky distance.

"I think we should turn around," Kari said. "I don't think we've
been able to recover our full strength yet and our Digimon may
not be ready to fight if it gets bad."

"We were able to find enough food for last night," TK muttered in
thought. "But yeah, we haven't really eaten in a while, so...."

"Eat... food...."

The group of four looked up toward the monstrous new voice, just
in time for them to be engulfed in a net made of sticky, pale
violet spider webbing. Their first impulse was to scream as the
net closed around them, pulling them upwards with vicious force.
The little sack of webbing attached itself the side of a much
larger net of purple webbing that hung between the higher levels
of two apartment buildings above them.

Above them, crawling down the webbing, was a large black and
yellow spider Digimon with a large skull-and-crossbones design
etched on its abdomen. Its jaws dripped hungrily with saliva, and
the hands of its human-like forearms tightly clutched the rough
orange hair that sprouted from its head. "Dokugumon!" Gatomon
exclaimed. "He's got us in his Poison Thread... if we don't get
out of here, we're going to be lunch!"

"Lunch..." the Dokugumon repeated, its multiple eyes suddenly
flashing in recognition. "FOOD!"

"He's so starved he's going crazy...." Patamon said, looking up
in wide-eyed horror.

"We can't worry about that now!" TK said as he struggled with the
net. "Digidestined are NOT on the menu!"

"You've got to Digivolve," Kari said. "That should break through
the webbing!"

"We're on it!" Gatomon exclaimed.

TK and Kari's Digivices glowed with power as the Digimon prepared
to reach the next level.

"Patamon Digivolve TO..." An aura of golden power enveloped
Patamon's body. But instead of forming into the usual solid
sphere of light, the power crackled ineffectively around
Patamon's body and then bled back into TK's Digivice, causing
sparks and arcs of pseudo-electric power to crackle harmlessly
around it. "... huh?"

"Gatomon Digivolve TO..." The pink aura that attempted to
surround Gatomon suffered the same fate, blurring and breaking
into static as it tried to surround her body. The energy slammed
back into Kari's Digivice after its failure, where it seemed to
crackle angrily in place. "... no way!"

Gatomon and Patamon remained unchanged. "... it must be because
my Crest is missing," Kari said in sudden, terrified
understanding. "Gatomon can't Digivolve without it...."

"Mine's gone too..." TK said. "... but Patamon should be able to
become Angemon! What's going on?!"

"We're trapped..." Kari said, a note of horror filling her voice,
"Guys... I... I... I'm starting to feel... sleepy..."

"Me... too..." Gatomon and Patamon echoed, their eye lids
beginning to droop.

TK felt it as well, as if his very strength was flowing right out
of his body. "... C'mon, guys..." he said, biting his lower lip
in an effort to stay awake. "... can't... go... asleep..."

"Sleep..." the Dokugumon said as he skittered a little closer,
"Sleep... and then FEED!"

"The Poison Thread...." Gatomon droned to no one in particular as
her eyes began to close.

"We... can't..." TK said, his voice slurred, "Not like this... so
much... unanswered... can't die like this... can't... give up..."

Their Digimon were powerless. They were being trapped, slowly
poisoned, and had Dokugumon's promise that they would be eaten as
soon as they lost consciousness. Hope... that was all they had
left. "I won't... give up..." he thought. "Matt... Kari...
Patamon... everyone... I can't die while there's still hope!"

He bit his lower lip again, hard enough this time to draw blood
as he continued to struggle to stay awake. "But how..." TK
thought. "What can I do... there has to be a way... has to... I
can't let them down...."

Dokugumon crawled even closer, now directly above the children,
his outer mandibles opening as he leaned forward. Saliva dripped
more rapidly from his mouth as he lowered himself towards Kari's
neck.

"KARI!" TK cried out at the top of his lungs. The girl fearfully
closed her eyes in anticipation of terrible pain....

Pain that never came. The web was suddenly filled with golden
light. TK looked down at Patamon in wonder... and for a brief
moment, felt his heart sink once more as his partner's body
shrank, dropping a stage down into his In-Training form of
Tokemon. Suddenly, the Digimon's eyes went wide and Tokomon
shouted, "... Transfer Digivolve!"

That was when the power hit him full force.

His whole body felt numb at first, his emerald green school
uniform suddenly being... replaced in a flash of pixilization by
a full, tight, white and blue body suit and brown boots. Over
the body suit, a golden shoulderpad formed over his right
shoulder, as armored guards formed into place over his knuckles
and a large golden staff materialized in his left hand.

The numbness faded into an acute mix of pain and pleasure, making
him scream as giant, angelic white wings tore free from his back,
shredding the webbing around him and his companions. For a brief
moment, his eyes were engulfed in darkness as a helmet with a
cross-shaped design emblazoned upon it covered his eyes.
However, a few moments later he could see with greater clarity
and range than he could ever remember doing before. He suddenly
felt charged with a great power beyond anything he had ever felt
before in his entire life.

To Kari and Gatomon, it was an incredible sight to watch as they
clung to the webbing beneath them to keep from falling. The now
distinctly angelic TK glowed. "It's pretty... isn't it?" Kari
asked as she held Gatomon's paw, gazing at TK with a distracted
look in her eye.

"... Yeah," Gatomon said. She felt the distinctly odd sensation
of losing power as energy flowed out of her body.

"The Light..." Kari whispered. Gatomon suddenly found herself
transformed into her Rookie form, Salamon. She felt a sudden rush
of understanding, and completed the process with a final cry.
"Transfer Digivolve!"

Kari's transformation began much like TK's. The first thing
she felt was a complete numbness as her school uniform was
replaced by a pink and white sleeveless bodysuit with a low-cut
bodice. A molded and strangely delicate-looking golden chestplate
formed over it and one of the bodysuit's legs ripped away into
pixilated nothingness as white, shoulder length gloves formed on
her arms and a pink ribbon wound itself around her right arm,
over her back, and back around her left arm. Her legs were
covered with long, white high heeled boots and for a moment,
darkness covered her eyes as the familiar-looking helmet formed
into place. She too felt her senses abruptly expand beyond the
range of anything she had known before.

The Dokugumon skittered backwards. The strange event occurring in
front of him managed to temporarily snap him out of his hunger-
induced madness. The Spider-Digimon half-snarled and half-
whimpered as he looked at his transformed meal. Hunger triumphed
over fear, prompting Dokugumon to rush to the attack before even
this food escaped him.

TK felt like he was watching himself from a distance as the
Dokugumon quickly crawled down the net at them, roaring in fury.
TK saw himself raise his suddenly glowing right hand and heard
his voice cry out, "HAND OF FATE!"

The golden energy blast severed the web, sending all five of
them tumbling toward the ground. TK's wings flapped as he swooped
around and caught both Tokemon and Kari safely in his arms. Kari
was, in turn, holding Salamon safely in her arms. "I've got you!"
he said, reassuringly.

"That's good," Kari said as she looked down, watching the
Dokugumon smash into the ground and pixilate into nothingness.
"But who's got YOU?!"

"... I've got me," TK said as the initial rush of power and
excitement began to wear off. "Does anyone have any idea what
just happened?"

"You Digivolved!" Tokemon said with a big, toothy grin.

"Human's CAN'T Digivolve," Salamon said.

"Well, TK and Kari just did, right?" Tokomon replied.

Salamon opened her mouth and then quickly shut it again as she
realized she had no way to refute that argument. "This is
royally fucked up," she finally cursed.

"Salamon...." Kari admonished lightly.

TK slowly lowered them to the ground, stumbling a little on
landing and dropping Kari in the process. Kari yelped a little
as her rear impacted with the ground, but she quickly got up,
shaking it off as she looked TK over. "You look like Angemon,"
she finally said. "And how come I didn't get any wings?"

"I don't know..." TK said, looking at Kari. His eyes, obscured
behind his helmet, were lost in what could loosely be termed
'thought'.

Kari turned away for a second to think.

*... wow, what a costume. Why didn't I notice her before?*

Kari turned back to TK rapidly, glad the helmet she wore covered
the majority of her blushing face. "TK..." she said. "What was
that for?"

"What was what for?" TK asked, doing his best to sound innocent.

"What you just said."

"... 'I don't know'?"

"No, after that."

"But I didn't say anything!"

Kari glanced at TK again for a moment, then decided to let the
subject drop. "Never mind," she said. "Probably just my
imagination."

She looked down at the ground again.

*Man, I am SO glad my costume isn't any tighter or this could get
really embarrassing....*

"TK!" Kari snapped as she looked up again, "Stop that!"

"Stop what?!" TK said, raising his arms defensively as he took a
step back. He stumbled, quickly trying to readjust to the new
weight his wings added to his upper back. "I didn't say anything!
Honest!"

Tokemon and Salamon looked back and forth between their humans in
confusion.

Kari was about to shout at TK, then stopped herself as an idea
suddenly occurred to her. She tried to focus all her will on
opening her mind, and letting her thoughts flow freely from it...

*TK... Can you hear me?* she asked, as her spirit gently reached
out to touch his.

TK boggled a little, floating back a little ways and nodding
numbly as he thought, *Yes... I can. What's going on?*

*It must be some kind of ESP,* Kari mentally replied. *It's
probably how we find our away around now, by feeling them out
with our minds.*

*Wow... guess I gotta be more careful about what I think from now
on,* TK smiled apologetically at her. *And I have to admit, I was
always curious about how Angemon could manage to fight with that
big helmet of his on....*

Suddenly, there was a hum of energy. In the distance, three
pillars light, respectively blue, green, purple, stabbed upward
through the horizon. The humans and Digimon stared at the light
until it faded away. Only then did TK shake off his surprise and
realize what the sudden phenomenon most likely meant. "C'mon!" TK
said as his wings flapped powerfully. "That might be the others!
We need to check it out!"

"Right!" Kari said as she started to run...

... and then suddenly found herself landing on a near-by rooftop
as the strength in her legs propelled her upward. She turned
around, gasping in surprise as she looked down at where she had
been and then at where she was now. "This is DEFINITELY going to
take some getting used to," she muttered.

TK carefully flew up, Salamon leaping out of his arms and into
Kari's. "No kidding," the angelic boy said as he shakily began
flying ahead of her and into the distance.

Kari, after a few moments to prepare herself, leaped off after
him.

*Wow... what a pair of legs.*

*I HEARD that, TK.*

*... sorry?*

+ + +

And, well, that brings us to the here and now. We followed the
light to its source and, instead of finding the rest of our team,
we found you fighting Michelle. You already know the
rest of the story.

+ + +

"Dude..." Davis said slowly, as he processed the information he'd
just been presented with. "Kari, what did Musyamon DO to you? I
mean, did what happen cause the fusion or something?"

"I'm... not sure," Kari said softly. "I don't really remember
much of what happened in that room. All I really remember is
Musyamon saying something about 'Light and Dark causing the
unity'. Something about the power of our two Crests unleashed...
I... I don't remember the rest, I'm sorry."

"Strange...." Cody said softly. "Didn't Asuramon say he was the
Guardian of Balance in this new world?"

"Yes... he did," Yolie replied, pursing her lips in thought.
"Cody, are you saying there could be a connection between him and
this Musyamon?"

"It's possible," Cody said. "But this Musyamon seems much more
malevolent in his tactics. Maybe they're opposites in the same
way the original Digidestined and the Dark ones are."

"We'll have to meet this Asuramon sometime," TK said. "He sounds
like an interesting person."

"Okay," Jim said. "If you don't mind me giving some advice about
our next plan of action, then I suggest we take a few hours to
rest and recuperate before we continue. I know for sure Cody
needs the rest and the Digimon probably need the time to recharge
their energy too. One more thing, though... are you SURE you
have no idea where my brother could be?"

"None," Kari said. "I'm sorry... if we knew anything more, we'd
tell you."

Jim sighed. "I know... I just worry about him. He may be the big
mojo-infused superhero of the family, but he's still my kid
brother... even if he IS a seal or something now."

"I know how you feel," Kari said. "Tai's out there somewhere and
I hope he's okay... and I really wonder what's happened to my
parents if things have gotten so bad while we've been gone." TK
just frowned a little as his thoughts focused on his own family,
his brother in particular.

"Don't worry, Kari," Davis said. "Tai's like, the second-greatest
person alive! Behind you, of course! If anyone can survive
this, he can!"

Kari looked up and smiled sadly at him. "That's my girl!" Davis
said exuberantly as he grinned broadly back at her. "That smile's
just what we need right now."

"What is WITH you?!" TK yelled suddenly. "In case you haven't
looked around, this is SERIOUS! We don't have time for your
usual goofing around!"

Davis winced for a moment before he shouted back. "Geeze, what is
YOUR problem, PM?! Just 'cause I say something nice to Kari
you're gonna bite my head off?!"

"My PROBLEM is that you have NO idea how serious this is!" TK
snarled. "People are most likely DYING out there and all you seem
to care about is acting the same self-centered way you ALWAYS
do!"

Davis winced hard at that. His face contorted into an even
thicker grimace of anger and his entire body shook as he clenched
his fists. "... TK... I'm only going to say this once... and I
REALLY mean this... but you can go SCREW YOURSELF!"

He then turned and stomped out of the room. Flamedramon quickly
reverted back to Veemon, and rushed out to catch up with him.

Cody and Yolie shared a brief, silent look. Cody nodded, and
then Yolie and Hawkmon raced off after Davis and Veemon.
"Great...." Jim grumbled. "Just what we need right now."

"Guys..." Cody said softly, "I think there's something you need
to know. Certain parts of the story we told you about how we've
gotten to this point have been... omited."

As Cody began explaining those details to Kari and TK, Yolie
caught up to Davis across the hall in another room. "Davis...."
Yolie began. "TK didn't know... and he's probably under just
as much stress as we are...."

"It's MORE than that...." Davis sighed as he looked out between
the boards of the window.

"What IS it then?!" Yolie asked. "We're going to be traveling
together for a while at least, so I think it would be a good idea
if we at least TRIED to get along!"

Davis sighed and then muttered, "I guess it's only fair...."

"Huh?" Yolie asked as she blinked.

Davis turned around, and sat down on the floor as he said, "Take
a load off. I've got a little story to tell of my own...."

+ + +
To be continued...
+ + +