Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Key-Seeker ❯ Visit ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to various big companies. I don't own it, and I'm not making any
money off of this little venture. Nothing belongs to me except for the plot of this twisted little
story.

Visit
by: SilvorMoon

Sam kept his eyes fixed on the only point of light in the room. All of his lights were off
now, leaving deep shadows in every corner. The door was shut tight - no intrusions there. Even
though it was night, the window shades had been pulled low and the curtains drawn so that not
the least bit of illumination from the streetlights outside could slip into his domain. The only light
came from the screen of his computer. It showed him a visage of trees, blue sky, rampant flowers,
pure wild beauty. He had watched it often, as he was watching now, with a mixture of frustration
and fascination. No matter how the sight angered him, he went on looking, peering through the
tentative link with the Digital World that he could open but not pass through. The glow of the
screen cast odd shadows on his face, creating an eerie sight for the boy he addressed.

"Well, Ken," he said, "I see you've brought in some new recruits."

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" answered Ken offhandedly. "If you called me just to tell
me what I already knew-"

"Don't act so high and mighty around me," Sam snapped. "Your little monster pals might
call you a Paladin, but I know the real you. Behind all your posturing and your fancy clothes,
you're still just a little boy who never got anything right in his life."

"I've done well enough so far," said Ken.

"You're just hanging on," Sam replied. "If you were really doing all that well, you
wouldn't have had to bring in reinforcements, would you? I'm wearing you down."

"So what? As you pointed out, I have help now. They can fight your monsters as well as I
can, and as you may have noticed, your Spies are useless against the power of the Digimentals.
I'd say I made a wise move. Can I go now? You're wasting my time, Sam. I'm getting bored, and
I have things I need to do."

"You're not going anywhere yet," growled Sam. "Not until I say my piece. I want an
explanation from you."

"Get used to going without."

"I can't believe you! You are such a hypocrite," Sam snapped. "All these years, you insist
you can't bring me into your world, tell me it's impossible, it's never going to happen. Then what
do you do? You bring in five perfect strangers! You let strangers in and keep out your own
brother!"

"I didn't have any choice in that matter," said Ken. "They're Digidestined children, just
like I am. They were chosen by fate, not by me."

"You expect me to believe that?" asked Sam. "Why must you persist in telling me your
lies when you know I don't believe you?"

"I'll tell you what I want. What you believe is your business," Ken replied.

"Give it up, Ken."

"Never, Sam."

"Next time, then."

"We'll see, won't we?"

Ken turned off the TV set, and Sam's computer went black, leaving him alone in absolute
blackness. Worlds apart, two boys stared at blank screens with matching thoughtful expressions in
their amethyst eyes.

"Goodbye, Sam," said Ken softly.

"Goodbye, Ken," said Sam.

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

The Odaiba Elementary cafeteria was the scene of mass chaos... not unusual, considering
it was lunchtime and a few hundred children were celebrating the fact that they didn't have class
for the next hour. Somewhere in the midst of the melee, the Digidestined children managed to find
a table where they could all sit together. Yolei was the first to spot it, and she went to stake a
claim, flagging the others with her bandanna. The other kids converged from all corners of the
cafeteria to join her.

"Wow, Davis," said Cody. "Didn't you eat any breakfast this morning?"

"I'm hungry," Davis replied, digging his fork into a trayful of cafeteria food. "I'm injured,
remember? I've gotta keep up my strength."

The other kids nodded. Though Davis was keeping up his usual good cheer and clownish
antics, and was wearing blue jeans to hide the injury, he was still moving with an obvious limp.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Kari worriedly. "Aw, I'm fine," Davis assured. "Don't worry about it. Sure, I'm a little sore, but I'm really
better than I was yesterday. I'll get over it. Ken said he got stung by one of those things, and he
seemed okay."

"How'd you explain the burn to your parents? They had to have noticed you limping
around like that," said TK.

Davis shrugged. "I told them I was in a motorcycle accident."

"A motorcycle accident?" TK repeated. "And they believed you?"

"Of course not," said Davis. "They never believe anything I tell them, so why should I
bother?" He pointedly turned his attention to his lunch.

Yolei nudged TK with her elbow.

"We don't talk about Davis's parents," she whispered. "They don't exactly get along, and
he doesn't like to be reminded."

"Hey, Davis, I just remembered something," said Kari. "I told my brother about yesterday,
and he sent a present for you."

"A present? For me?" asked Davis.

"Yup! Here."

Kari shoved a packet of something wrapped up in a piece of cloth. Carefully, Davis untied
the bundle. His eyes opened wide.

"Is this what I think it is?" he asked.

"It's my brother's goggles," said Kari. "He said after what you did for me yesterday, you
deserve them."

"Whoa, cool!" Davis exclaimed. He quickly swapped his square-framed goggles for Tai's.
"How do I look?"

"Like Tai," said TK.

"Just what I always wanted," Davis replied with a grin.

"Do you feel well enough to go to the Digital World again?" asked Cody. "I really want to
go back. It's been on my mind since we left. I have this strange feeling I haven't finished what I
was supposed to do."

"That's funny," said Yolei, "because I had the same feeling. It's like something's calling
me back."

"I bet it's because you still haven't found your Digimon yet," said Davis. "I've barely
known Veemon an hour, but I miss him anyway."

"So does that mean we're going back?" asked Kari.

"You guys might be, but I don't think I can," Davis replied, shaking his head. "I mean, I
really wish I could, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I mean, look at me - I can barely
walk! If you guys got in trouble, I'd just get in your way."

"But Davis, your Digimon is the only one that can armor digivolve," TK pointed out. "If
we run into a Glitch, we'll need you with us."

"You'll get by without me," said Davis. "Ken said there were a whole bunch of other
Digimentals - you can find one somewhere. Anyway, there's still one thing I want to do that can
only be done in the real world. I want to talk to Sam."

"Are you crazy?" asked Cody. "He's the enemy. You can't just walk up and start a
conversation with him."

"Why not? What's he going to do, kill me?" asked Davis. "He doesn't know who I am,
and he's not going to hurt me if I show up at his house while his parents are still around. I'm not
planning a confrontation. I just want to sound him out and see what we're really up against."

"It's risky," said Cody.

"So's hunting Glitches," TK pointed out. "It would be nice to know a little more about
Sam than that he makes monsters and hates his brother."

"I know," said Davis. "I tried to find out something about him last night - you know, look
him up on the Internet or something - but I guess I must have pushed the wrong button or
something. I'm not allowed in Dad's computer room anymore."

"Can't you touch a computer without breaking it?" asked Cody.

Davis looked crestfallen. "Apparently not."

"I'm two steps ahead of all of you," said Yolei. "Look at this!"

Yolei rummaged in her backpack and pulled out a sheaf of papers, which she pushed
across the table to Davis. He picked them up to study them and was met by a picture of Sam
smiling his cool smile, his eyes dark behind his glasses. He riffled through the rest of the pages and
found more pictures spaced amidst blocks of text.

"What's this? His biography?" he asked.

"Just about," Yolei replied. "Most of those are from his school's webpage, but some of it
is his stuff. I figured a guy who was good enough with computers to create Glitches would have
his own webpage. He's also an all-star athlete, and his school puts all their bios on their sports
page. There are a bunch of articles from newspapers and magazines, too. He's had quite a
career."

"Well, at least now I've got a reason to visit him," said Davis. "I mean, in case he wants to
know why I'm there."

"You didn't before?" asked Kari.

"Well, no, not really," Davis admitted. "I thought I'd think of something. I'm pretty good
at making things up on the spur of the moment."

"Yeah, but they don't always make sense, like you and your motorcycle accident," Yolei
replied. "What are you going to tell Sam that he's going to believe?"

"Soccer!" said Davis simply. "We're both soccer players. I can ask for his autograph,
maybe some pointers or something, make a big deal over him. When I saw him on TV, I got the
feeling he likes being treated like a big shot."

"Who doesn't?" asked TK of no one in particular.

"It still sounds like a risk to me," said Cody.

"I'm the Digidestined of Courage, now," said Davis. "Risks are my business."

"Well, just be careful," TK replied. "Don't do anything to blow your cover."

"You can trust me," Davis replied. "I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid. I'll go over right
after school. I already told my coach that I sprained my ankle, so nobody will be expecting me on
the soccer field today. My parents won't care one way or the other if I'm home a little late."

"Then I guess it's settled," Yolei replied. "Soon as school let's out, we'll head for the
Digital World to find our partners, and Davis will pay Sam a little visit."

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

" Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Cody, looking around the empty computer
room.

"Ninety-eight percent positive," Yolei replied. "I did some experiments on my computer
last night, trying to reopen the gate. I did manage to get it open, but I didn't actually try going
through myself. It should work, though."

"If it does, things will be a lot easier than they were in the old days," said TK. "Getting
bounced back and forth between dimensions wasn't exactly fun. It would be nice to know that we
can get in and out when we want to, and not during some major cataclysm."

"It would be nice to be able to go see our Digimon whenever we wanted," Kari agreed.

"I'll be happy to just get through the gate in once piece," Cody replied.

"We'll be fine," Yolei insisted. "Don't you trust me? You're the one who said you
wouldn't trust anyone else to fix your computer."

"And you're the one who insisted you were going to marry that rock star on TV," said
Cody.

"I was only kidding! Sheesh! A girl can dream, can't she?" muttered Yolei. "Anyway, it
looks like the gate's open! Who's up for a trip to the DigiWorld?"

"I think we all are," TK replied.

"Right!" Yolei agreed. "Digi-port open!"

There was a burst of light, and the kids were swept out of the room, through the Digi-
port, and beyond. They landed in the middle of a forest... or what used to be a forest. It appeared
a Glitch had been in the area, for large chunks of wood had been burned away, leaving a swath of
barren, blackened land. Through one of these gaps in the trees, Yolei thought she could see
something shimmering, and she adjusted her glasses and stared.

"TK, Kari, you guys know about this stuff," she said. "Are sparkly lights a good thing or
not?"

"Sparkly lights?" TK repeated dubiously. "Where? I don't see anything."

"Let me look. Sparkly lights are my specialty," Kari replied, going to stand next to Yolei
and staring off in the direction she was pointing. "You're right, there is something down there.
Guys, take a look at this."

Everyone went to look. From where they stood, the land inclined in a gentle slope,
allowing a good view of the forest. The path of the Glitch was clearly visible as a dark line among
the greenery. Playing along the edges of the darkness were little shimmery lights, and where they
passed, the damage healed up as if it had never been.

"I'll bet that's Ken doing that," said Cody. "He said he knew how to undo the damage the
Glitches did... but I didn't know it was that dramatic."

"I want to see it up close," said Yolei. "Maybe Ken knows where our Digimentals are."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," TK replied. "I want to talk to him again, anyway. I think
he knows more about what's going on around here than he's telling us. I don't like the feeling that
we're being used to do his dirty work."

There were nods of agreement, and the team trooped down the hill. Following the trail of
wreckage the Glitch had left, they finally found the Paladin himself, sitting on the ground with a
laptop computer, typing away. Wormmon, Gatomon, Patamon, Veemon, and various other
Digimon sat in a semicircle around him, watching his work with interest. As he typed, grids
seemed to spring from the ground, glowing opalescent lines that formed the shapes of trees and
bushes. They shimmered for a moment, throwing off the sparkles the Digidestined had seen, and
then formed into solid objects. Ken looked up for a moment to stretch, and in doing so, he
realized not everyone in his audience was a Digimon.

"You again," he said, glaring at the kids. "What are you doing here? I didn't invite you!"

"Who says we need an invitation?" asked Kari, annoyed. "Who do you think you are? The
Emperor of the Digiworld or something, saying who can come in and who can't?"

Ken looked sullen. "I'm supposed to be protecting this world. I don't want people
wandering in and out without me knowing about it."

"Oh, yeah? Well, you don't have to protect the DigiWorld from us," said TK. "We protect
it too, you know. We always have, since way before you started your Paladin routine. The
DigiWorld wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for Kari and me and the other
Digidestined. It'd be destroyed, or even worse, someone like the Dark Masters or Apocalymon
could have it. Don't you be acting like everything here is your sole responsibility."

"If you were busy protecting this place, where were you when I first came here?" Ken
demanded. "Where were you when the Glitches first appeared?"

"We couldn't get in here, then," admitted Kari.

"And there was a reason for that," Ken replied.

"Well, we're here now," said Cody. "Is there a reason for that, too?"

"You're here because I called you here," answered Ken. "I was the one who searched for
the clues that led me to the Digimental of Courage. I was the one who freed the Digivices. I was
the one who sent you the e-mail that told you how to come here. You owe your presence here to
me."

"Well, now we're here," said TK. "Deal with it."

Ken frowned. "I don't like you."

"Then why did you bring us here in the first place?" Yolei demanded.

"Because I'm smart enough to know I can't stop my brother alone."

"Then let us help you," said Yolei. "We've come to look for the Digimentals. Doesn't it
make more sense for us to look for them while there's no danger than to wait until trouble comes
up for you to call us?"

"She has a point, Ken," said Wormmon.

"I know she has a point," Ken muttered. "All right, you can stay. I've got a rough idea of
where the nearest Digimentals are; I'll point you to them if you'll go there and leave me to get my
work done. Here."

He reached in a pocket and pulled out some folded papers. After flipping through them a
moment, he selected one and handed it to TK.

"If your Digivices work like mine, they ought to have maps stored in them. This chart
corresponds to those maps," said Ken. "Just pick one of the circled areas and follow the map, and
if you're lucky, you'll find a Digimental."

"Gee, thanks," TK muttered.

"You asked for my help and I'm giving it," said Ken. "Don't expect any more from me."

"I can see why your brother never liked you," Kari muttered.

"You leave him out of this," Ken snapped. "I wouldn't have to be this way if it hadn't
been for him."

"You need to learn that everyone isn't like your brother," TK replied. "Come on, guys.
It's obvious we aren't wanted."

The Digidestined stalked off into the forest, with their Digimon bounding after them. Ken
and Wormmon watched them go, Ken impassively and Wormmon looking wistful.

"I don't think you're making a very good impression on them," said the caterpillar.

"Who said I wanted to make an impression on them?" Ken asked. "You're the one who
wants everyone to be friends here, though I can't imagine why."

"I just want what's best for you, Ken," Wormmon replied. "Come on - have I ever steered
you wrong?"

"Well, now that you mention it, no," said Ken. He thoughtfully stroked the head of the
nearest Digimon, a roly-poly Tapirmon that had taken a liking to him. "It is interesting having
other people around besides myself.. I'm not sure what I think of it. They aren't very nice to me."

"You weren't exactly going out of your way to be hospitable to them."

Ken stiffened a bit. "I haven't done anything to them. I've even helped them. I didn't have
to patch up that boy when the Glitch attacked him - What was his name?"

"Davis."

"Yeah. I don't want to be their enemy, but I don't know anything about how people -
regular people - behave. I'm not comfortable around them. I need some time to figure them out."

"Then let's just watch them a while, like I suggested before," Wormmon replied. "They
won't see us, and if they do mess up, we can bail them out."

"It would keep them out of trouble," Ken replied. "All right. This mess will still be here
when I get back. Tapirmon, you'll keep an eye on things while I'm gone, won't you?"

The anteater-like Digimon nodded assent. Ken shut off his computer, gave the Tapirmon a
final pat on the head, and then turned to his partner.

"All right, Wormmon," he said. "We'll keep an eye on them from the sky. Fine with you?"

"Great. I like being Stingmon," Wormmon agreed.

"All right, then. Let's look into these Digidestined and see what they're all about."

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

Dav is stood uncertainly on the doorstep of his worst enemy and wondered if it wouldn't
be a good idea to take himself somewhere else. He wondered if he really did feel too bad to go to
the Digital World, and whether he'd be able to catch up to his friends if he went. Then he
wondered what kind of a Digidestined of Courage he was to be standing there thinking about
running away. He rang the doorbell.

"Just a minute!" called a voice.

A moment later, the door was opened by a motherly woman who greeted him with a
pleased but somewhat oblivious smile, as if she had a notion that something good was going on
but hadn't figured out what it was yet.

"Well, hello there!" she greeted. "What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if Sam was home," Davis replied. "I wanted to pay him a visit."

"Oh, how nice. Sam has so few friends over," Mrs. Ichijouji replied. "Sam! Sam, honey,
you've got a visitor."

An indistinct mutter came from somewhere, and then a door opened. Sam stepped out,
looking annoyed.

"Can it wait?" he asked. "I was working on something important."

*I'll bet you were!* thought Davis. *Oh, well, time to see what kind of an actor I
am. Let's find out what I've learned from my sister.*

"Wow, it's really you!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm finally getting to meet you!"

"Hmm?" said Sam, in one of his less coherent moments. He stared at Davis, sizing up his
grass-stained soccer jersey and the ball tucked under his arm. "Oh, a fan! Why didn't you say so?
Come on in. I always have time to spend with my fans."

"All right!" Davis cheered, bounding into the room as best he could on his injured leg.

"Are you hurt?" asked Sam, wondering why that was triggering a memory somewhere in
the back of his brain.

"Bungee-jumping accident," said Davis seriously.

"Bungee-jumping," Sam repeated. "That's one I haven't tried yet."

"Try it sometime. It's awesome," Davis replied. "But really, soccer's my favorite thing in
the world. Would you autograph my soccer ball? It would really mean a lot to me."

"Of course. It would be a pleasure." Sam flashed his artificial smile, and Davis had to
force himself not to squirm. He didn't like the way the older boy was staring at him.

*Why is this kid familiar?* Sam wondered. *I know I've seen him before...*

"What's your name again?" he asked. "I seem to have missed it."

"It's Davis," the Digidestined replied. "Davis Motomiya."

"A pleasure to meet you, Davis," Sam replied. He pulled a black pen from his pocket and
scrawled a message across the soccer ball with the air of one who has signed hundreds of
autographs before. "To Davis Motomiya - Aim for the goal! - Sam Ichijouji. There, how's that?"

"Awesome! All the guys at school are going to be so jealous," said Davis, thinking, *I'm
going to have to burn this soccer ball when this is all over. Then again, I might give it to Ken. I
bet he'd enjoy kicking it around.*

"Would you be interested in seeing my soccer trophies?" asked Sam casually. "I've
assembled quite a collection, you know."

"Oh, yeah, that'd be awesome," said Davis agreeably. "Is it true you're a judo champ,
too? You must have more trophies than you have places to put them."

"Just about," said Sam. "But I had to save some room for my books and my computer
programs."

"Wow, you really are a genius," Davis replied. "I wish I could do half the things you do.
Do you think maybe you could give me a few pointers? I promise I won't tell."

"I'd be only too happy to." There went that oily smile again. "Mama, Davis and I are
going to my room to talk soccer. Would you mind not interrupting us?"

"Of course, son. You and your friend have a nice chat," Mrs. Ichijouji replied.

"Thanks, Mama. You're the best," Sam replied. "Come on, Davis."

They walked into Sam's room. As he had said, the shelves of his room were filled nearly
to overflowing with trophies for soccer and judo, and wreathes of ribbons decorated a cork board.
Davis stared with honest amazement - he may not have cared for Sam personally, but he had to
admit, the guy had some impressive credentials. He was suddenly wondering if maybe all this
wasn't such a good idea. How could a guy like him, the loser who never got anything right, hope
to do anything against this boy wonder? While he was still marveling, Sam shut the door and
dropped into his desk chair.

"My mother is so oblivious," he remarked.

"Huh?" asked Davis. The statement might have been Sam's true feeling, but it didn't fit
with the facade he'd been presenting.

"I don't ordinarily let people into my room, but I wanted a little privacy so we could talk
about... certain things," said Sam. He smiled icily. "We mustn't let outsiders get a glimpse into
our little games. Chess, soccer, judo, taking over a world... it all comes down to strategy, and I
am a master at strategy."

"What are you saying?" asked Davis, desperately trying to feign innocence.

"Don't play dumb with me, if you can help it," Sam snapped. "I know who you are,
Digidestined."

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

"Are we there yet?" asked Yolei, trying to peek over TK's shoulder at the map.

"Almost," TK assured her. "See? If we keep moving at this pace, we should be there in
just a few minutes."

"Good," said Cody. "I hope we get to find Digimon of our own, like Davis did."

"Where is Davis, anyway?" asked Veemon, trotting alongside his friends. "Why isn't he
here with you guys?"

"He wasn't feeling good today, so he stayed behind," Kari explained. "Don't worry, he'll
come along next time, when he's feeling better. Today he's still sore from fighting the Glitch."

"Look on the bright side," said Patamon. "Maybe today we'll find some new Digimon
friends to keep us company."

"I'm sure we will," said TK. "A Digidestined's just not a Digidestined without their
partner. Yolei and Cody will find theirs soon... with or without Ken's help."

"Are you angry at him?" asked Gatomon. "Don't be too upset; you're lucky he talks to
you at all. Mostly he and Wormmon stay by themselves."

"Well, I respect his right to privacy," said TK. "I can even understand him being
unfriendly to us, in a way - I know I wouldn't act all that friendly if Matt was out to get me. But I
don't like him keeping secrets from us."

"Secrets?" asked Cody. "How do you know he's keeping secrets?"

"Well, look at the map," TK replied. "This red X is where we found the Digmental of
Courage yesterday. These two spots are the Digimentals we're heading for now. These are two
more. Here's one, and here's another, and there's one more. How many does that make?"

"Eight! We can count," said Yolei irritably. "What has that got to do with Ken keeping
secrets?"

"Well, yesterday he said there were nine Digimentals. One of them isn't on this map," TK
replied.

"That doesn't mean he's trying to hide things from us," said Kari. "Maybe he just hasn't
found that one yet."

"Or maybe that one belongs to him," Yolei suggested.

"It's not his," said TK. "If it was, why would he go through the bother of trying to protect
Stingmon from the Spies if he could just armor-digivolve? No, I think he's hiding it. He doesn't
trust us; of course he's not going to tell us everything he knows."

"Well, that's his problem, isn't it?" said Cody. "If he really needs help, he ought to let us
help him instead of trying to keep us away."

"I wish I could say it was his problem," said Kari, "but when his problem is protecting the
Digital World, the problem gets a lot bigger than one person. If he does something that keeps us
from being able to fight at full strength, then the whole DigiWorld will be affected. I don't like it."

"Well, we'll just have to prove to him that he can trust us," said Yolei, "and the
best way we can do that is to find our Digimon and get to work taking out those Glitches!"

"Good call, Yolei," said TK. "And I think we're almost to our destination. Does anyone
see anything? There ought to be a building or something around here."

"I'll check!" said Patamon, leaping up into the air. He dropped down a few seconds later.
"There's a temple up ahead! I bet that's the place!"

"All right!" said Cody, with an unusual show of emotion. "Let's go!"

The children and their Digimon friends rushed toward the old building. After a few
moments of crashing through the bushes, they were finally able to see their destination: a Myan-
style temple with a huge staircase leading up to a small shrine at the top. Everyone looked at each
other in dismay.

"We have to climb all that?" asked Kari.

"Well, some of us can fly," said Patamon.

"Lucky," sighed Veemon.

They went up... and up... and up. Finally, after many laborious minutes of climbing, they
finally reached the top. Once there, the Digidestined were too exhausted to do anything but drop
around the doorstep to rest, but their Digimon friends were more energetic.

"Don't just sit there!" Gatomon urged. "We've still got eggs to find, remember?"

"I'm not up to hunting eggs - I still haven't caught my breath!" said Kari.

"Can you see them?" asked TK. "What do they look like?"

"Well," said Patamon's voice from somewhere inside the shrine, "it's kind of dark in here,
but it looks like one of them has the Crest of Love on it!"

"I can see in the dark just fine," said Gatomon. "This one does have the Crest of Love,
and that one has the Crest of Knowledge!"

"Where's Sora and Izzy when you need them?" TK muttered.

"We may not need them," said Kari. "Remember, we didn't need Tai to lift the Digimental
of Courage - Davis did it just fine. I'll bet these eggs are for Yolei and Cody."

"In that case, I just got my energy back," said Yolei. "Come on, Cody, let's have a look at
these eggs!"

Inside the shrine stood a low table, and sure enough, on the table were a pair of egg-like
objects. One of them was silver and adorned with wings, while the other was yellow and tipped
with a small silver spike. Both of them were marked with symbols that were familiar to the two
original Digidestined.

"These have got to be them," TK remarked. "I'll bet the yellow one's yours, Cody."

"Then this one's mine," Yolei replied. She set her gloved hands around the silver egg, and
Cody gripped the one marked with the Crest of Knowledge. "Ready, Cody? One, two, three!"

Both eggs came free in unison, causing a sudden burst of bright light. Two brilliant beams
shot from the table to the ceiling, and within those lights, there became visible two sleeping forms.
One of them looked like some version of a bald eagle with reddish-brown feathers and a feathered
headband, like a child playing at being an Indian. The other was a large yellow beast with a scaly
shell. They opened their eyes and leaped down to meet their new partners.

"Greetings!" said the eagle-like one, making a respectful bow to Yolei. "I am Hawkmon.
It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"It's Yolei. Pleased to meet you," the girl replied.

"Likewise," Hawkmon answered. "I've been waiting for you, Yolei."

"What about you?" Cody asked the armadillo-like creature who was studying him. "Have
you been waiting for me?"

"Sure have," the creature drawled. "I'm Armadillomon, and I'm glad to meetcha."

"My name's Cody," the boy replied. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, too."

"Excellent!" said TK. "Looks like both of you got great partners."

"Too bad you won't know each other long," buzzed a mechanical voice.

Everyone jumped, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. To their
amazement, a segment of a nearby wall separated itself from the rest of the stonework and began
moving stiffly toward them. As it moved, it's outline seemed to blur and spread out, phasing from
stone to some kind of black metal. It was shaped roughly like a spider, with eight long legs held
together with a bewildering mess of cables and pistons. Th body was upright and cylindrical,
rather as if a soda can had sprouted legs and walked away, only this particular tin can was
adorned with multicolored spotlights that danced erratically.

"It's a Spy!" Cody exclaimed.

"Correct," buzzed the Spy. "I have been posted here to stop anyone from moving those
Digimentals!"

"Well, you're too late, tinhead," Yolei snapped. "I found my Digimon, and I'm keeping
him, so why don't you go fall in a trash compactor?"

"I guess this guy isn't a friend of yours?" Armadillomon asked Cody.

"Not hardly! He's a servant of the Key-Seeker," Cody replied. "That makes him bad
news!"

"You will not leave this place," buzzed the Spy. "Those who oppose the Key-Seeker will
be destroyed. Surrender the Digimentals now, and perhaps the Key-Seeker will have mercy on
you."

"I will not allow you to harm my partner!" Hawkmon declared.

"Mine either!" Armadillomon added.

"I'd like to see you defend them," the Spy sneered. "Digimon cannot digivolve when I'm
around!"

"Oh, yes they can!" Yolei replied. "Let's show him, Hawkmon! Digi-armor energize!"

"I'll teach this guy to pick on innocent Digimon," said Cody. "Digi-armor energize!"

The Spy jumped back as the Digimon it had been sizing up suddenly seemed to be
swallowed up by winds and earthquakes, and within the chaos, there came voices:

"Hawkmon, armor-digivolve to... Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Armadillomon, armor-digivolve to... Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge!"

"No! Not possible!" the Spy cried, waving its lights in distress.

"Think again," Digmon replied, flourishing his drill-hands menacingly.

"Get out of here now," Halsemon added, raising a clawed hand in warning, "before this
starts to get ugly."

"Make me," the Spy replied.

"Gladly,"said Digmon. "Gold Rush!"

The air was filled with flying drills, spinning ruthlessly toward the Spy. The mechanical
monster watched them coming for a moment, then leaped straight up toward the ceiling, many
feet above. In mid-jump, it flipped its legs around and affixed itself to the wall. When the coast
was clear again, it bounced off the wall again and landed in front of the two armor Digimon.

"Take this!" it buzzed.

The Spy turned all of its spotlights and beamed them on the Digimon and their partners.
Light burst from them, painfully bright, and everyone covered their eyes. When they were able to
see again, the Spy had vanished.

"Where did it go?" asked Cody. "Did we scare it away?"

"No, it's still here," Kari replied. "I can almost feel it... it's in here somewhere. Watch
your backs."

"I bet he ran off," said Veemon. "No crummy monster can stand up to us!"

At that moment, a segment of the floor leaped up and tackled the nearest Digidestined.
Unluckily for it, those happened to be the two that were in the forefront, watching their partners
do battle. Yolei screamed in pain as she was thwacked with one of the creature's steel legs. Cody
was luckier; he managed to dodge the worst of the blow, but the sharp edge of the metal nicked
his face, and he yelped. The Armor Digimon turned to the Spy with fire in their eyes.

"You can't do that to him!" Digmon cried.

"I'll do it again," the Spy replied. It shimmered and dropped into the floor again.

"Whoa, Ken wasn't kidding about those things being able to hide," said TK.

"I'll get him out," said Digmon. "Rock Cracking!"

The insect Digimon drove his assortment of drills into the floor, and a long chasm split
open across the temple, two walls of stone separating to reveal the Spy caught in the middle. It
tried to stretch its legs enough to hang on, but the gap continued to widen. With a final buzz of
frustration, the Spy dropped to the bottom of the rift. Everyone tiptoed to the edge to look down.
There was nothing to see but blackness.

"Did we get him?" asked Gatomon.

In reply, a blur rushed past them with enough force to send everyone toppling over, and
Digmon had to move fast to stop his partner from falling down the hole. The blur landed on the
ceiling and resolved itself into the form of the Spy. It began hurrying away from the Digidestined
as fast as it could travel.

"Not so fast!" Halsemon rumbled. "You can't escape me up there!"

The eagle-lion leaped into the air and began flying after the frantically running Spy, and
the rest of the Digidestined group ran along behind them to keep up with the fight. The
mechanical bug was fast, but Halsemon was faster, and he swooped around to cut the monster
off.

"Now we'll see who rules the air," Halsemon said. "Tempest Wing!"

The Spy was startled to be hit with an indoor tornado. There was no way it could stand up
to the raging winds, and its feet lost their tentative grip on the ceiling. Digidestined and Digimon
scattered as the tangled mess of legs and cables smashed into the floor in front of them. Digmon
and Halsemon went over to its side to glare down at it. The Spy twitched its legs in a struggle to
rise.

"You're not so tough now, are you?" asked Digmon.

"And you're not so smart," the Spy buzzed back. "You have no idea what you've just done, do
you? No, of course you don't. Heh heh heh heh heh..."

"What's so funny?" TK demanded. "Speak up, Spiderman, before we scramble your
circuits."

"No point in it," the Spy rasped. "I've already sent all my data to the Key-Seeker. You've
really done nothing at all. How sad. Foolish Digidestined, to fall for such simple tricks."

"Tricks? What do you mean?" asked Yolei.

"I'd love to," the Spy replied, "but my program... is... terminated."

With that, the Spy collapsed completely. A few seconds later, it evaporated into tiny bits
of data and blew away. While the Digidestined were still staring in surprise, they became aware of
a sound. Somone was standing in the doorway of the temple, clapping his hands together in
mocking applause. Everyone turned to look at Ken, who looked back at all of them with an icy
glare.

"Clever," he remarked. "You think you're clever, don't you? I can't believe you all."

"What's your problem?" asked TK. "We went through a lot of trouble to blow this thing
up. You ought to be thanking us for getting rid of one of your brother's monsters."

"You want thanks?" asked Ken. "Here's your thanks."

He strode across the room to stand before TK. Then, with a speed so fast it was barely
visible, he drew back and punched TK in the jaw. The blonde was actually thrown a few feet
backwards before he stumbled to the floor. He sat up and rubbed at the injury.

"Ow," he hissed, wiping away a trickle of blood. "Man. Ouch! What was that all about?"

"That," said Ken, "is for being a fool!"

"What are you talking about?" Cody demanded. "What did we do?"

"You hung around here fighting that Spy, that's what you did," said Ken.

"And why shouldn't we?" asked Yolei. "Quit insulting us and start making sense!"

"I'll make sense when you start using some," Ken replied. "Look. Did that thing attack
you?"

"That ought to be obvious," said Cody. He dabbed his fingers at the place where the Spy
had slashed him. There was a trickle of blood creeping down his face.

"I didn't ask if it hurt you. I asked if it attacked you," Ken replied. "You know how
Digimon attack by now. How did it fight you? Did it use any special powers? Any particular
abilities?"

"Well, no, not really..." TK managed.

"That's because it doesn't have any," Ken replied. "The Spies are information gatherers
only. They can defend themselves by running and hiding, but they don't have any attack
capabilities. In other words, they aren't actually dangerous."

"Then why did it jump out at us?" asked Kari. "It said it was going to destroy us!"

"Well, it lied. Face it, you've been fooled," Ken replied. "You let a harmless robot trick
you into wasting your time playing games with it, and while you all have been messing around,
I've been trying to keep three - count them, three - Glitches under control. I've left
Stingmon behind to try to fight with them, but I have no idea how he'll do against so many at
once, I have no idea if he's even alive right now, and you people have been playing games
with an animate tape recorder!"

"Then why didn't you say something about the Spies before we left?" TK demanded. "If
you had just taken the time to explain all this to us instead of trying to be Mr. Big Shot, none of
this would have happened, so don't go trying to blame it all on us!"

"Why should I tell you anything?" Ken snapped. "I knew the moment I met you people I
couldn't trust you, and you've proven me right."

"Now, hold it just one minute!" shouted Yolei. "Both of you have a right to be mad at
each other, but now is not the time! Ken, if you're really worried about Stingmon, then shut up
already and let's get out there and help him."

Ken shot Yolei a glare, and she met him with a frosty look of her own. He turned his eyes
back down to the ground.

"You have a point," he said. "Follow me."

"Why should we go anywhere with you after what you just did?" TK mumbled, trying to
talk around his pain.

"Because the DigiWorld needs us," said Cody.

"Good point," TK sighed. "All right, gang, let's go bail the Paladin out of his
mess."

"Watch it," Ken snapped. "If you aren't in enough pain now, I can easily take care of
that."

"Stop it, both of you," said Yolei. She stepped between both of them and locked eyes with
Ken. "I want to help you save your Digimon and this world. We're allies here, so stop fighting."

Ken stared at her a moment, then turned around and began walking away.

"I'm going back," he said. "If you want to help me, I'd... I'd really appreciate it."

"That's more like it," said Yolei. "Come on, Halsemon."

She climbed onto his back, though not without some difficulty - her whole side felt sore
from her encounter with the Spy. Digmon crouched so that Cody could scramble onto his
shoulders. Kari went to help TK to his feet.

"Thanks, Kari," he said. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so," Kari replied. "Why?"

"You're the only one," TK replied. "I get the feeling that knowing Ken is going to be a
painful experience."

Outside, they found a large yellow dragonfly perched on the front porch. Ken went over
to it and began climbing onto its back. Two grey dragonflies were on either side of the first.

"What are these?" asked Kari.

"Transportation. Faster than walking," Ken answered. "This is a Yanmamon. Those are
Sand Yanmamon. I thought you and your friend might be needing some way of getting around,
since your Digimon can't armor-digivolve yet."

"Okay, I don't understand you," said TK. "One minute, you're being all considerate, and
the next, you're trying to punch my lights out."

"I do what I have to do," Ken replied. "Let's not waste any more time!"

"Good idea," said Kari. "Want to ride with me, Veemon?"

"Sure!" the dragon Digimon replied.

Kari, Gatomon, and Veemon climbed onto the back of the nearest Sand Yanmamon, and
TK and Patamon climbed on the other. Ken waited until they were all settled, and then gave the
order to his own mount to lift off.

"Full speed ahead, Yanmamon," he ordered. Under his breath, he added, "Hold on,
Stingmon. Help is on the way."

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

Davis stared in horror at Sam, who smiled back maliciously.

"What are you talking about?" asked Davis, trying desperately to sound innocent.

"Fine. Lie to me, then," said Sam, "but it won't work. I saw what happened yesterday. My
Spies see everything. My brother is right about some things - it is foolish for a lone human to try
to fight a Glitch. It never heals, and it leaves a tell-tale mark for me to track you by. I might not
have recognized your face, but I remember what happened to the boy who destroyed my
creation."

"You say it like I've done something bad," said Davis.

"It's not nice to destroy art."

"A killer slime monster is art? You're crazy."

"I have vision that extends beyond the capacities of ordinary mortals," said Sam.

"You mean you think you're better than everyone else."

"I don't think, I know."

"I don't think you know either," Davis replied. "If you really knew what you were doing,
you'd leave the DigiWorld alone. I've only been there a little while, and I know more about it
than you do. Who do you think you are, trying to force your way in?"

"I'm just trying to reclaim what's rightfully mine, what was stolen from me by my brother,"
Sam snapped. "You should stay out of affairs that don't concern you."

"This concerns me now. I have friends in the Digital World, and they don't deserve to
have you messing with their lives," Davis replied.

"Tell that to your friend the Paladin," said Sam. "The Digital World is mine by rights, and
anyone who stands in my way will inevitably be met with defeat... You don't even know what
'inevitable' means, do you?"

"Yeah, it means you're a jerk who's trying to intimidate me with big words," Davis
replied. "Do you know what 'intimidate' means?"

"Very funny," Sam replied. "You may be smarter than I thought. Not smart enough,
though. If you were really that smart, you wouldn't have walked into the home of your enemy and
expected to get away with it."

"You can't hurt me," said Davis, hoping he was right. "You wouldn't do anything to me
while your parents are around."

"Oh, you think?" asked Sam. "That's funny. That's very funny."

Suddenly, Sam leapt at Davis. With one hand, he covered Davis's mouth and nose, and
with the other, he jerked the younger boy's arm around behind his back in a hammerlock. Davis
struggled to free himself, but he was having trouble even breathing.

"One false move, and I'll pull your arm out of its socket," Sam whispered. "Now, are you
going to try anything funny?"

Davis shook his head desperately, feeling his air running out. Sam released the boy and let
him slump to the floor, and Davis gasped for breath, while his erstwhile captor dusted his hands
off as if he had touched something grimy.

"Now that we have that settled," he said, "why don't you make yourself comfortable so
we can talk? I have some questions I want answered."

"I'm not telling you anything, you slime!" Davis snarled.

"Oh, I'm crushed," said Sam, putting a hand to his heart melodramatically. "Listen, I don't
have a lot of time to waste, and you don't have any way to get out of this situation. We both
know that, so why don't you just give up and make it easy on yourself?"

"You don't have me trapped anywhere," said Davis. "I can get out anytime I want."

"Oh?"

Davis nodded. "You aren't so smart - you left your computer on. You've never got a
Digidestined trapped as long as they have a computer and one of these."

Davis took out his Digivice and displayed it proudly. Sam's eyes went wide, suddenly
burning with desire.

"A Digivice! Of course - why didn't I think of it?" he whispered. "I should have known!
Ken's not the only one with the key anymore. All of you have Digivices!"

"Uh-oh," said Davis. "I just made a bad move, didn't I?"

"Hand it over," Sam demanded. "Give me that Digivice, and I'll let you go free."

"Never!" Davis replied.

"I said, hand it over!" snarled Sam.

The older boy lunged at Davis, making a wild grab for the device. It was only through
years of soccer practice that Davis had learned to get out of the way so fast. He managed to
dodge Sam's dive, but his injured leg betrayed him, and he fell over backwards, crashing into
Sam's desk. His shoulder struck the side of the computer, and there was a whirring of gears as
Davis slid to the floor. From where he landed, he could look up and see the CD tray sliding out -
by some coincidence, he had managed to push the eject button. There was a CD in the tray, bright
and shiny and... red? Davis couldn't recall having ever seen a red CD before...

"Look what you did!" Sam exclaimed. "If you've broken that thing, I'm going to make
you pay dearly for it, and I don't mean repair charges! How could you possibly be a Digidestined
if you can't touch a computer without breaking it?"

*Funny, that's just what Cody said,* Davis thought. *Hey, that gives me an
idea!*

"Your computer's not broken, Sam," Davis replied. "Not yet, anyway!"

With all the strength the could muster, he pulled himself to his feet. Before Sam could do
anything to stop him, he pulled the CD out of the tray, and then slammed the machine as hard as
he could with his fist. The tray broke off with a satisfying snap. Then he broke the CD itself in
half, while Sam watched in horror. Davis grinned.

"Oops, did I mess something up?" he asked innocently. "So sorry... Not!"

"Why you little...!" Sam snarled.

"Sorry, but I can't hang around any longer," Davis replied. "See ya, Sam!"

He made a dive for the door, ignoring the pain that shot up his leg as he did so. Sam tried
to chase after him, but shock and dismay had made him clumsy. By the time he reached the
doorway, the door was being slammed in his face. Davis smirked a little as he rushed out of the
apartment, breezing by Sam's mother on the way out.

"Bye, Mrs. Ichijouji!" he called. "Nice visiting!"

While she was still staring and trying to figure out what was going on, Sam slunk out of
his room, muttering to himself.

"What just happened?" asked Mrs. Ichijouji.

"That little brat broke my computer!" Sam replied. "Now he's trying to get away without
paying me for it. And to think I autographed his soccer ball for him!"

"Oh, dear," said Mrs. Ichijouji. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing, right now," Sam replied. "There's not much I can do, now that he's run
off. I'm going to need a new CD drive, though. Maybe some extra RAM, while I'm at it. Some
extra memory wouldn't hurt... Mom, do you think I could have some money to get some
replacement parts?"

His mother stared at him in utter bafflement, as he'd known she would. She was the sort
who couldn't tell a monitor from a microwave, much less understand what he was talking about.

"Of course, honey," she said. "You do whatever it takes to get your computer working
again. You need it to get your work done, after all."

"Thanks, Mom," he said. "Can I borrow the credit card? I promise I won't buy anything
except what I need to get my computer running again."

"Oh, that's all right, Sam," said Mrs. Ichijouji, going for her purse. "I know I can trust
you. Actually, why don't you go ahead and get yourself a treat, to make up for your computer
getting broken? I know how much it means to you. You must be very upset."

"I'll survive," said Sam, shrugging. In his mind, he added, *But you may not be able to
say the same for Davis Motomiya.*

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

The return to the Glitch-battle was tense. Cody was lucky; he got to ride along the ground
on Digmon's back. The rest of the team flew, however, and that meant keeping company with the
unsociable Paladin. The Digidestined fidgeted as they flew, watching Ken as he stared grimly at
the scenery, his cloak flapping in the breeze. Having resigned himself to the fact that the other
children had to come with him, he was now pretending they weren't there, focusing all his
attention on watching for the signs of Glitch activity. Only his hand moved, stroking the
Yanmamon's head with the unabashed gentleness he showed all Digimon. The other Digidestined
ignored him in return, TK silently fuming, Kari watching the scenery, Yolei attending to her
injuries. Suddenly, everyone's ruminations were broken by an explosion below.

"I think this is our stop!" said TK.

"It seems so," Ken replied. "Take us down, Yanmamon!"

They dropped down to earth, Halsemon landing on the ground and the Yanmamon
hovering a few feet above it. Ken leaped down lightly, while the others climbed down with more
difficulty. Digmon and Cody turned to look at them all. Digmon was missing his drills, but a heap of fallen trees indicated where they had gone. An injured Glitch lurked just beyond them, apparently confused by this new enemy.

"It's about time you came down here," said Cody. "I thought I was going to have to fight this thing by myself!"

"I hope not." Ken was anxiously scanning the sky. "Where's Stingmon? Why isn't he here?"

"I don't know," Cody admitted. "I didn't see him."

"He's got to be around here somewhere," said Ken. "I'm going to look for him!"

"Um, aren't we supposed to be fighting these Glitches?" asked TK.

"I'll fight after I know my partner is safe!" Ken replied. "If he is, we'll help. If he's not, you're in trouble."

He turned and rushed off into the forest, his purple garments slowly becoming invisible in the shadows. The other Digidestined stared at him, then at each other.

"He's crazy," TK opined.

"Well, I'm not going to let him be crazy all by himself," said Yolei. "Besides, there are three of these Glitch things, so we're going to have to spread out a little. I'm going to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get eaten or something, okay? C'mon, Halsemon?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Halsemon, but he obediently took off again.

"Well, looks like it's just us," said Kari. "Guys, are we up to dealing with this monster?"

"No problem," said Cody. "Go for it, Digmon!"

"Huh?"

Digmon looked around in confusion as the Digidestined suddenly made a dive for cover. In the next instant, a tentacle whipped past him, and he was barely able to leap out of the way. He rolled over a few times and bounced to his feet again. The Glitch growled as it was bilked of its prey.

"Oh, so you still want to fight, huh?" said Digmon. "I think I can do that!"

The Glitch answered by swiping a few tentacles his way, but Digmon leaped over them, then dropped straight into the ground, leaving nothing but a deep hole. While the monster was still looking around in confusion, Digmon exploded up from another part of the ground, drills blazing.

"Gold Rush!"

There was an explosion of dust and steam as the Glitch, already injured, exploded. Little pieces of it evaporated as they rained down, turning to smoke before they ever touched the ground. Digmon, his energy spent, reverted back to his Rookie form. Cody dashed over to his side.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "That thing didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Armadillomon replied, "but... you wouldn't happen to have something to eat, would you?"

TK managed a smile, despite the fact that it hurt one side of his face to do so. "There's your first lesson in raising a Digimon - they're always hungry!"

"Especially after a battle," Kari added. "You're going to have to feed him when this is all over."

"Can he wait until after we catch up with Yolei and Ken?" Cody asked. "Don't worry, Armadillomon - I promise you can have something as soon as all this is over."

"Yeah, we do need to check on those two," said TK. "They could be in trouble... Any idea where they went?"

"Over there somewhere," said Gatomon, waving with her claw. "Patamon can find them, can't you, Patamon?"

"I hope so," said Patamon.

"It's having someone around who can fly," said Kari. "Too bad the Yanmamon flew away. We're going to have to walk after them."

"Can we run instead?" asked Cody.

"We can try," TK replied. "Lead the way, Patamon!"

The flying animal gave a nod and leaped into the air, searching for their missing companions, and the rest of the team followed along behind him.

Meanwhile, Ken was running through the forest as fast as he could, fighting against bushes and tangled plants, stopping from time to time to wrest his cape from the grip of nearby trees. There was a Glitch nearby, at least one. There was no mistaking that hot, heavy scent. That meant that somewhere, too, his Digimon must be fighting for his life, and Ken wasn't there to help him. Maybe the Digidestined were right; he wouldn't be in this mess now if he had placed a little more trust in them. He could have warned them about the spies. He could have told them how to communicate with him through their D-terminals. He could have wasted less time arguing. If anything had happened to Stingmon, it was as much his fault as theirs... no, more so. It was his responsibility to protect his partner, and if he had failed him...

Suddenly, something dropped out of the sky, sending down a rain of leaves as it sliced through the trees to land in front of him. It was Halsemon, with Yolei perched on his back as if she'd been riding griffons since the say she was born. She flashed Ken a grin.

"Hi again!" she said. "Need a lift?"

"I... I'd appreciate that," said Ken, surprised.

"Great! Hop on!" Yolei encouraged.

"Do I get any say in this?" asked Halsemon.

"Don't complain, Halsemon," his partner replied. "We're supposed to be helping out. He'll be able to help his Digimon that much faster if he flies with us." She turned to look at Ken. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I don't want to be any trouble," Ken began. "If your Digimon doesn't want to carry me, I'll just go on foot."

"I never said I minded," said Halsemon. "If you're going to come, then come!"

Ken moved - there was no arguing with Halsemon's rumbling voice. He sprang onto the griffon's back and, after a moment of hesitation, awkwardly put his arms around Yolei's waist.

"Someone ought to put a seatbelt on this thing," he said.

"Try telling Halsemon that," Yolei replied. "Hang on tight!"

They erupted into the air, and Ken found himself forced to hang on tighter than he had intended to if he didn't want to fall off. Yolei whooped at the roller-coaster effect, obviously enjoying the ride. Her passenger closed his eyes as her long hair whipped his face. However, once they were in the air, the ride was smoother, and they both relaxed a bit.

*I can't remember the last time I was this close to a human,* thought Ken uneasily. *I don't even remember my parents holding me. I hope this girl doesn't get any ideas.*

*Isn't this my luck?* Yolei complained to herself. *I get a gorgeous guy to put his arms around me, but I know he doesn't really want anything to do with me. It's strange, though - you'd think I'd be a little more excited or nervous or something. I don't feel nearly as uncomfortable around him as I thought I'd be.*

"Glitches at two o'clock," said Halsemon, cutting into their thoughts. "Should I move in closer?"

Ken looked down at the landscape below. "Is Stingmon down there? I can't see him!"

"I do," said Halsemon. "He's right between the two monsters. Do you see?"

The children stared, and sure enough, they could just barely pick out a darker green shape against the trees, zipping from one Glitch to another. Both of them were lashing at Stingmon with their many tentacles, and it was clear he was having a hard time dodging everything at once. Halsemon went into a sudden dive, speeding toward the insect Digimon, and the Digidestined cried out in alarm.

"Eagle Eye!" shouted Halsemon. Twin beams of pink light shot from his eyes, severing the questing limbs of the Glitches and making them pull back in pain. Halsemon landed in front of Stingmon, who dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Ken ran to him.

"Stingmon!" he shouted. "Stingmon, are you all right? Say something!"

"Ken!" Stingmon greeted. "I'm just a little tired, really. Not even a scratch - well, not many."

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," Ken apologized.

"Well, we're all here now," said Yolei, "and so are the Glitches. Stingmon, do you think you have enough strength left to finish this fight?"

"I can handle it," said the wasp, climbing to his feet again.

"Be careful, Stingmon," Ken cautioned.

"This will only take a minute."

Stingmon leaped into the air, brandishing his stinger. Halsemon waited for Yolei to climb off his back before he went to join his insect comrade. The two of them stared down at the Glitches with expressions that would have sent more intelligent creatures running for cover, but the monsters only glared back with their glowing red eyes and snarled. The Digimon were unimpressed.

"Let's end this quicky," said Halsemon. "Tempest Wing!"

"I'm with you!" Stingmon replied. "Spiking Strike!"

The combined effects of Halsemon's tornado and Stingmon's slicing blade were too much for the Glitches, and they went up in an earth-shaking explosion. Ken and Yolei had to cover their eyes to protect themselves from the force of the blast. When they looked up, the landscape was filmed over with the cool fog that came from the aftereffects of destroying a glitch, and out of that fog came two small figures. Hawkmon and Wormmon made it only a short distance before collapsing on top of each other in an exhausted heap, and their partners ran to their sides.

"Hawkmon!" Yolei exclaimed. "You look awful! Are you all right?"

The bird tried a tired smile. "It's nothing, really."

"We're okay," Wormmon insisted. "Just give me a minute to rest."

"You're both so brave!" said Yolei, hugging her partner tightly.

Ken did the same with Wormmon, holding the little creature with a gentleness the girl found surprising. The worm Digimon returned the embrace with all ten of his feet.

"I'm never going to let this happen again," said Ken. "Yolei, if you and your partner hadn't been here, I could have lost Wormmon. I owe you an apology... More than that, I owe you and Hawkmon for saving my best friend's life."

"You don't owe us anything," Yolei replied. "Don't you get it? We're all partners in this now. If we're going to save the Digital World, we have to work together. Besides, you've already helped us by taking care of Davis, giving us our Digivices, and helping us find our Digimon. I don't think we owe each other anything."

"You think so?" asked Ken. "Hm. Perhaps I've been a little too quick to judge you people. You might be all right after all... I'm going to have to think about this some more."

"Think about it? What's to think about?" asked Yolei, a little annoyed.

"Whether I really want you all in my life," Ken replied, "and that's not something I can make up my mind about in a hurry."

"Ken, you can trust us," Yolei insisted.

"Maybe you're trustworthy," answered Ken, "but that doesn't mean I know how to trust you. Come on, Wormmon. Let's get you patched up. You look like you've been to one of Piximon's training sessions."

Before Yolei could react, Ken had gotten up and walked away. She stared at him, shocked.

"How do you like that?" she asked Hawkmon. "He doesn't even say goodbye or thank you or anything! And just when I thought he was coming around!"

Ken didn't appear to hear her. However, as he reached the edge of the Glitch-created clearing, he turned and looked back at her.

"Come back sometime," he said. "I'll see you then."

And then he was gone, leaving a puzzled girl and an equally puzzle Digimon behind. Yolei sat where she was, mulling over her encounter with the Digimon Paladin, until her friends finally arrived. When they saw her sitting so still and silent with her partner lying in her lap, they all froze and looked uncomfortable.

"Yolei? Did something go wrong while we were gone?" asked Kari.

"Hm?" she replied. "Oh! No, everything's okay. Hawkmon's just resting. He's had a hard morning."

"Yeah, we all have," TK said. "Where's Ken? Did you find him?"

"I found him. Wormmon is fine; he's just even more worn out than Hawkmon is," answered Yolei. "I'm tired, too, and I still ache all over from getting thwacked by that Spy. Can we go home?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea," said Cody. "My mom is going to wonder where I am."

"Can we come with you? Please?" asked Veemon. "I want to see Davis again!"

"We don't want to be left in the DigiWorld all by ourselves," Armadillomon added.

"Sounds like fun to me!" Kari replied. "Let's all go home."

So they did. And yet, even as they left, the only thing Yolei was thinking about was returning.

*... "Come back sometime. I'll see you then." ...*

*Don't worry, Ken,* she thought. *You can trust me. I'll be back.*

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

Some time later, the door to Yolei's room opened, and a somewhat bedraggled-looking Davis limped in. His arrival turned several heads, and he stared back at them, surprise replacing his look of suppressed pain. Not only were the other Digidestined sprawled comfortably around the room, but there were five little Digimon sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, shoveling candy into their mouths as fast as their paws, flippers, or wings would allow.

"Where did these guys come from?" he asked.

At the sound of his voice, the blue Digimon looked up from his food, and his wide brown eyes lit up.

"Davis!" he squealed, launching himself at his partner. He latched on to Davis's ankle and hugged him tightly.

"Veemon? Is that you?" Davis asked. "You've shrunk!"

"His name's DemiVeemon right now," Kari explained. "This is his In-Training form. It seems like they lose a little power when they come into our world, but at the rate they're eating the food Yolei brought them, they'll be at full strength again in no time."

"DemiVeemon, huh?" said Davis. "I like him. He's cute! C'mere, little guy." He picked up his Digimon and set him on his shoulder, and then shuffled over to take a seat between Kari and Yolei.

"You look like you could use some recharging yourself," said TK. "How did your meeting with Sam go?"

"Worse than I expected," Davis sighed. "Gang, Ken's right - this guy is seriously screwy. He practically tried to rip my arm off! Even if he is a kid like us, he's dangerous, and get this: he knows who we are!"

"He knows we're the Digidestined?" Yolei repeated. "Oh, right, he's got those Spy things watching us. Ugh. Does that mean he might be able to track us down in this world, too?"

"If that's true, I can't blame Ken for moving to the DigiWorld," Davis replied. "You should have seen the look in his eyes when he saw my Digivice! He's crazy. I think I fixed Sam's wagon, though... Or maybe I should say I broke it."

"What do you mean?" asked Cody.

"I smashed his computer," Davis boasted. "I don't think he's going to be making any more monsters for a while, not until he fixes that contraption."

"Knowing Davis, that could take a while," Yolei replied. "Way to go, Davis!"

"Yeah, good job," said TK. "Now we can go to the DigiWorld without having to worry about getting jumped by Glitches or Spies... or Paladins, for that matter." He rubbed at his sore cheek, where an impressive bruise was forming.

"What happened?" asked Davis.

"Just a little misunderstanding with Ken," TK muttered. "Yolei says she thinks he's coming around. At any rate, he's given us his permission to come back to the Digital World agian. That's something."

"By the way," said Yolei, "you haven't met our new partners. This little guy here is my partner Poromon. He becomes Hawkmon and armor-digivolves to Halsemon."

"And this is my partner Upamon," Cody added. "He digivolves to Armadillomon and Digmon."

"Way cool," said Davis. "So, we found some new Digimon and busted Sam's monster maker. I think we did a good day's work!"

"The best," Kari agreed. "At this rate, it won't be long before we shut Sam down entirely!"

"Great! That means we can celebrate!" said Davis. "Toss me some of that candy before the Digi's eat it all!"

The Digidestined laughed as their companions made a dive to protect their food, and everyone settled back to celebrate the victory they were certain would come soon.

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

Sam regarded the bag he carried with mixed emotions. In some ways, the Motomiya boy
had done him a favor. He'd been wanting an excuse to increase his computer's capabilities - after
all, the templates for the creatures he'd created ate up a lot of space on his hard drive. If he could
get the computer running faster and give it more memory, he'd be able to enhance his creations
greatly. He had planned to do so all along, but the opportunity to make his parents pay for the
improvements, and then some, was an unexpected bonus.

On the other hand, though, there would be no replacing his CD, and that was what really
made him grit his teeth.

*Arukenimon is not going to like this.*

Though no one knew about it, he'd been seeing quite a lot of the lady in red. Most times it
was only e-mail communications, her sending him little hints and crumbs of knowledge. Other
times she would communicate by video transmission. On very rare occasions, she would show up
in person. Even when he didn't actually hear from her, he'd often had the feeling she was doing
things to his computer when he wasn't looking, because he was sure things had appeared on the
CD or in his files that hadn't been there the day before. Her ability to move in and out of his world
with such ease made him feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, but he'd always brushed it off.
Arukenimon may not have been the most genial of beings, but she was doing a lot to help him,
and he could sometimes even feel grateful to her. However, that CD had been the source of the
greater part of his knowledge of the Digital World, and losing it was a serious blow. He wasn't
sure how the spider-woman would take it.

*I hope she's not too angry with me. I hate it when she gets angry. It's not my fault
the kid destroyed the disk! Somehow, I'm going to make him pay for this!*

He was so wrapped up in his musings that he wasn't looking where he was going, so it
came as a surprise when someone collided with him. There was a feminine yelp from the stranger
and a patter of boxes as both people dropped everything they were carrying. Sam looked to see
who had run into him and was met with a pair of large dark eyes.

"Oops!" said the girl. "Sorry about that! My mind was somewhere else."

"So was mine," Sam replied, still staring. The girl he'd run into was about his own age,
rather pretty and stylishly dressed, with unruly red-brown hair that gave her a girl-next-door
appeal. That was not what made him stare, though, but the uncanny resemblance she bore to the
cause of his current problems.

"Oh! I made you drop your bags," she was saying. "I hope nothing's broken. I'm so
sorry!"

"It's all right," said Sam. "By the way, have we met before? You look familiar."

"So do you," the girl replied, "but I can't remember who you are. My name's Jun, Jun
Motomiya. Who are you?"

"Sam Ichijouji," Sam replied. "Are you any relation to Davis Motomiya?"

"He's my brother," Jun replied.

"That's why you look familiar," Sam replied. "I met your brother recently... That's why
I'm buying computer parts. I was giving him some soccer tips, and things got a little out of hand.
Guess we should know better than to play soccer indoors."

Jun giggled. "That sounds like something Davis would do. He can be so crazy
sometimes."

"I noticed," Sam replied. An inspiration was slowly dawning on him, prompting him to
offer his most charming smile and add, "his sister seems all right, though. Would you be free to
have dinner with me tonight? I know a good place."

Jun's eyes lit up. "I'd love to!"

"Great," said Sam. "Just let me call my parents to let them know I won't be coming home,
all right?"

"I'll wait right here," Jun promised.

"Great. Back in a minute, then," Sam replied.

The boy smiled to himself as he headed for the pay phones. What luck! Here was the
solution to at least one of his problems. Jun Motomiya was stylish enough to make a respectable
date, and attractive enough that it wouldn't be a burden, but most importantly, she would be the
access he needed to the boy who had thwarted him. If there was one thing Sam couldn't stand, it
was being made to look like a fool. Davis would pay, and it would be his own sister who collected
the payment.

*What a lovely symmetry,* thought Sam. *He'll be betrayed by his own flesh
and blood, just as I was betrayed by mine. With the proper coaching, she'll do anything I want,
including bringing me her brother's Digivice. Once I have that, there will be nothing left that can
stop me.*