Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Key-Seeker ❯ Out ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: All these characters belong to the creators of Digimon. Unfortunately, I'm not one of
them.

Out
By: SilvorMoon

Davis was late for school on Monday. This was partly premeditated; after the adventures
of the weekend, he wasn't really sure he wanted to face his friends again. What would they do
when they found out he'd let his Digivice fall into the hands of the enemy? He hated to even think
about where it was now; somehow, the idea of Sam clutching the device in his cold hands with
that hungry look in his eyes made Davis's stomach clench. He knew he would have to tell the rest
of the team what had happened eventually, but he wanted to put it off for as long as he could. If
that meant arriving a bit late so no one would be able to catch him at his locker, he could put up
with a scolding from his teachers. He crept up the hallways with head bowed and shoulders
slumped, trying to be invisible. It didn't work.

"Hey, Davis!"

The boy jumped, whirling around with a hunted look, trying to see who had called to him.
The hall seemed to be empty. Davis glared this way and that as if he expected assassins.

"Who said that? Where are you?" he demanded.

"It's me!" said the voice. "Get in here, quick! I've gotta show you something."

Calming down a bit, Davis realized that the voice was coming from inside the computer
lab, and that it was vaguely familiar. Since he couldn't connect it with anything immediately
dangerous, he opened the lab door and went in, where he was surprised all over again. Sitting
casually in one of the chairs was the Paladin himself, wearing an uncharacteristic grin.

"Ken!" Davis exclaimed. "What are you doing in the real world?"

"I brought you something," said Ken. "Pick a hand."

Davis was puzzled, but obediently said, "Left."

"Right!" said Ken. He extended the hand his friend hand chosen and opened it, revealing...

"My Digivice!" shouted Davis, snatching it up. "Where did you get it?"

"I have my ways. Let's just say Sam and I did a little bargaining." He gingerly touched a
bruise on his cheek. "Very rigorous bargaining."

"Man, this is too cool! I really owe you one, Ken. Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it," said Ken. "You know I don't mind helping."

"Yeah, I remember. You fixed my leg," Davis replied. "I haven't seen much of you since
then, though, what with getting hurt and losing my Digivice and all. Hey, I've got an idea: as long
as you're here in my world, why don't you hang out with me and my friends for a while?"

"I don't know about that," said Ken. "I don't know if I fit in here anymore. I've been gone
so long..."

"But you're still human," Davis pointed out, "and you're still my friend." He considered.
"You are kinda conspicuous, though. Don't you have any other clothes?"

"Huh?" Ken looked down at himself, evaluating his outfit. The formal, old-fashioned
clothing looked suitable enough in the Digital World, but he looked ridiculously out of place in
the school's computer lab. "I see what you mean. Sorry, but this is all I've got. The Digital World
sort of made it for me when I outgrew my old clothes."

"The Digital World made you a suit?" asked Davis, curious.

"Something like that," Ken replied. "It's one of the weird things that happens when a
world adopts you."

"Oh." Davis puzzled over that one for a while, then shrugged. "Well, I guess if you don't
have anything of your own, I could loan you something. We're about the same size."

Ken blinked. "What am I supposed to do? Just pop up at your house and ask your parents
if I can borrow some of your clothes?"

"No way!" said Davis with a shudder. "These days, everyone in my house thinks I'm
probably plotting to murder them in their beds or something. How'd you get in here?"

"Through the computer."

"Can't you just come in through my dad's computer? He never turns it off, and he should
be at work by now."

"That would work. Why didn't I think of that?" asked Ken, smiling sheepishly.

"It would work," said Davis. "My folks won't be around until late tonight, so you can
hang out in my room and play video games, or whatever. Just don't let Jun spot you. Usually she
just goes out and hangs out with her dumb friends at the mall, but ever since she hooked up with
Sam..."

"Your sister's hanging out with Sam?" asked Ken, startled.

"Yeah. I guess we forgot to tell you that," Davis replied. "Anyway, as long as she doesn't
see you, you'll be safe enough. So what do you think? Is it a plan?"

"Well..." said Ken slowly. Then he smiled. "It has been a long time since I played any
video games. I think I'll accept."

"Cool!" Davis cheered. "See you after school, then! And thanks for the Digivice!"

"You're welcome!" Ken called back. Still smiling, he turned back to the computer and
prepared to return to the Digital World.

*And then,* he thought, *I'm coming home!*

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

Sam hadn't had any sleep all night. Various parts of his body were aching where his
brother had beaten him earlier, and more than one bruise was becoming visible. At the moment, he
was running on pure adrenaline and loving every minute of it. The last few hours had been spent
most enjoyably exploring his new laboratory, and he was pleased to see that it was everything he
could have asked for - if he had been given free reign to ask for everything he wanted in terms of
computers, it would have been something close to the setup Arukenimon had given him. The only
difference, as far as he could tell, was that there were things in his new room that even he
didn't understand, but he was confident he'd figure them out soon. With equipment like this, what
couldn't he do? He sat back in his chair, swivelling thoughtfully as he surveyed his new toys, the
banks of buttons, lights, dials, switches, and screens, and he smiled.

"Is everything to your liking?"

Sam turned around again, peering into the shadows. That was one problem with this lab -
it was below ground level, so there were no windows. As a matter of fact, there was a shortage of
light in general, but he figured it wouldn't bother him much as long as he could see what he was
working on. Still, it did annoy him to have people darting around in the background when he
couldn't see them.

"Everything's fine," he said. "Better than I could have asked for. Thanks, Arukenimon."

"Just see that you put it to good use," she replied. "We had to pull some strings to get
this, you know. You'll be in trouble if you go and ruin something."

"Have some faith in me," said Sam irritably. "I know what I'm doing."

"I know, but these computers aren't your run of the mill machines. Some of them could be
very dangerous if used wrongly."

The boy grinned. "Even better."

"Don't be so cocky. If you make trouble, I will send you away. I wouldn't say
something was dangerous if I didn't think it was worth taking seriously."

There was a flash of something in the darkness, a pair of slits like the eyes of some wild
animal, glowing red. Sam let his smile fade.

"All right, all right," he said. "Have it your way. Just tell me ahead of time what you don't
want me to touch so I can get some work done tonight."

"I don't feel like explaining it all right now. You can stay up all night and play if you want
to, but some of us need our beauty sleep."

Another voice in the darkness said, "You don't. You're already perfect the way
you are."

Arukenimon gave a sigh of exasperation. "Oh, go to bed. All the sleep in the world
wouldn't help you. And as for you-" The glowing eyes fixed on Sam again, "-just stay out of
anything you don't recognize, and I'll explain it all in the morning."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," Sam replied. It was obvious his benefactress was in a less
than good mood, and he didn't feel like annoying her. No matter how many times he told himself
that the spider woman was only trying to help him, he still couldn't quite bring himself to trust
her, nor could he completely override his fear of a being whose eyes glowed in the dark and who
could pass in and out of locked rooms. "Just one more question: What's that thing over there?"

The boy pointed over at the far side of the room. It was partitioned off with a thin dark
curtain, but there were faint lights showing through the cloth, and Sam thought he could even
make out some kind of boxy shape. It reminded him vaguely of something, but he couldn't think
of what it might be.

In answer to his question, a hand came out of the darkness and gripped his shirt at the
collar, and suddenly Arukenimon was glaring down at him. He could still see her eyes gleaming
behind her glasses, casting a faint glow on her silvery hair and giving her face a reddish halo. Sam
had a brief, chilling vision of some demonic creature rising out of the abyss, and he quailed.

"You do not touch that," Arukenimon hissed. "You don't look at it. You don't even go
near it. It doesn't exist. Got it?"

"Yeah... Sure... Can you let go of my shirt now?"

She released her grip on him and dropped him back into his chair. He was so startled, it
took him a moment to process that he'd actually been lifted a few inches into the air. Sam
shuddered and brushed at his shirt; even through her gloves, the woman's hands were like ice.

"Remember what's been said about cats and curiosity," said Arukenimon. "What's back
there could kill you if you mess with it, and you don't have any spare lives. Understand?"

"Completely," said Sam. "But you are going to tell me what it is eventually, right?"

"Eventually," said Arukenimon, "but not until everything is ready. Until then..."

"I pretend it isn't there. Got it," Sam replied.

"Good. Are you going to sleep now? All the sane people are asleep at this hour."

"What is it? Two-thirty? It's still too early to sleep. I have too much to do right now to
worry about a little thing like sleep."

"No lying down on the job, hm? I approve," said Arukenimon, smiling slightly. "I'll leave
you to your work, then. Have fun." She turned and drifted off into the shadows again.

"Oh, I will," Sam replied.

He turned back to his computers and slipped a disk out of his pocket and into a slot in the
machines. Flipping a few switches and pushing a button made the large screen in front of him light
up. Smiling, he went to work on a keyboard, the quiet clicks echoing in the stark room. Slowly, a
grid pattern began to appear on the screen, a grid with a shape.

"Ken thinks he can put one over on his brother, does he?" he muttered. "Well, I've got
news for you, Ken. You haven't taken anything from me. After all, I always save my work. Now,
then, let's see what these babies can really do."

In the shadows, his eyes glittered, his glasses reflecting the light of the computer screen as
it constructed an image of a Digivice.

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

With the last echoes of the school bell still ringing in the air, Davis sprinted down the front
sidewalk, bouncing around and waving his arms in a display of boundless energy. The rest of the
Digidestined panted in their efforts to keep up with him.

"Hurry it up, guys!" Davis called. "He's been waiting for us all day long!"

"So he can wait a little longer," said TK. "The rest of us can only move but so fast.
Sheesh, what do you eat for breakfast, anyway?"

DemiVeemon poked his head out of Davis' backpack. "You don't really want to know."

"Well, it is kind of cool that you actually talked Ken into hanging out in the real world
with us," said Kari. "I didn't think anyone could do that."

"I'm just cool, that's all," said Davis, grinning.

"Put a sock in it," said Yolei. "You're not that cool. He's starting to thaw out, and it's not
just you who's doing it, so don't take all the credit for yourself."

"Well, yeah, I did hear something about you going off to the DigiWorld on your own
yesterday," Davis replied. "What were you doing there?"

"None of your business!" said Yolei, blushing furiously. "Besides, I didn't get into any
trouble. Hawkmon was with me the whole time, weren't you?"

"Up until you and Ken walked off into the woods together," Poromon replied. "You told
me and Wormmon to stay behind."

"Oooh... you blabberbeak!" Yolei stuffed Poromon back into her bag, and Davis
snickered.

"See? What'd I tell you?" he laughed. "Maybe I oughta ask Ken what you were doing!"

"I'm going to get you for this, Davis Motomiya!" Yolei shouted. She aimed a slap at him
and missed, and he danced off laughing. She took off after him, yelling imprecations. Kari giggled.

"Well, that's one way to get her to move faster!" she said.

"Guess we'd better catch them before they kill each other," Cody sighed.

The kids hurried after their friends, finally catching up to them at the front door of Davis's
apartment building. He and Yolei were both breathing hard from the run, but Davis was using
what little breath he had left to laugh at Yolei. She had run out of energy a few yards away from
him, and stood there glaring at him from where she stood.

"I'm going to hit you as soon as I can move again," she gasped.

"You need to get some exercise," said Davis. "Guy-chasing doesn't count!"

"Knock it off, both of you," said TK. "Isn't there someone waiting to see us?"

"Oh, yeah! Right!" Davis exclaimed. "Race you upstairs!" He turned and sprinted through
the door. The other Digidestined looked at each other and shook their heads.

A few minutes later, Davis arrived on his floor - literally, dropping onto the tiles at his
front door, breathing hard. Then he rolled over, looked up, and realized he was not alone.

"When did you guys get here?" he asked, looking up at the other Digidestined.

Cody shrugged. "While you were showing off how athletic you are, we took the elevator."

"But that's cheating!" said Davis, shocked.

"Not if you're not playing," Yolei replied. "Open the door already."

"Okay, okay, hold your horses," Davis muttered. He fumbled a key out of his pocket and
unlocked the door, peering inside. "Hello? Hey, Ken, are you here?"

"We're in here!" a voice called back, accompanied by some digital blipping and dinging.

The kids wandered into the apartment and found the Paladin and Wormmon lying on the
floor in the middle of Davis's living room, each holding a video game controller, eyes focused on
the screen, where a pair of video graphic jets were dodging the attacks of a large spaceship. The
ship exploded in a burst of red and orange flames, and Ken high-fived the caterpillar's pod. The
Digidestined stared.

"Hi, everyone," said Ken, looking up from his game. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you, too," said Kari. "You look... different."

Everyone could be excused for staring. It was true that Ken in his regal Paladin's clothes
was not quite the same person as Ken in a pair of blue jeans and a borrowed, slightly grass-stained
soccer jersey. Some of the age that he had gained since the day he had realized he was no longer
safe in his own home had dropped away from him, and now he looked less like the defender of a
world and more like the young boy he was.

"I feel different," he admitted. "I'm not used to being in the real world. I am getting pretty
good at your video games, though, Davis."

"Nice to see you out and about," said TK. "You ready to come out and explore Tokyo?"

"I guess so," Ken replied. "What about Wormmon? I'm sure things have changed out here
since last time I looked, but I don't believe they're ready for Digimon roaming the streets."

"Just take him along. We all do. See?" Davis held up his backpack, and DemiVeemon
poked his head out.

"Hi!" he chirped.

"We mostly just hide them, or pretend they're stuffed animals," said Kari. "It works about
eighty-five percent of the time."

"What do you do the rest of the time?" Ken wondered.

"Talk fast," TK replied. "Then walk away really fast... Which, by the way, we probably
ought to be doing. Or do we really want to hang around here talking all day?"

"No way! I'm going out!" Ken cheered. Realizing the others were staring at him, he
offered a shy smile and added, "Well, I promised Wormmon I'd show him what the human world
looked like. You wouldn't want me to break my promise to Wormmon, would you?"

"Nah, we couldn't make you do that," said Davis, laughing. "Come on! We haven't got all
day!" He turned and sprinted out of the room, beckoning for everyone else to follow.

"Where does he get all his energy?" TK wondered.

"At least he's always cheerful," Kari replied.

"Oppressively so," said Cody.

Yolei sighed. "Let's head for the elevator."

"Did I miss something?" asked Ken.

"Just Davis being himself," said TK. "Come on, let's see if we can beat him downstairs."

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

In the darkness of Sam's laboratory, an ominous growl could be heard. He tried to ignore
it, busy as he was with his work, but it refused to go away. He had labored for hours on his new
equipment, finally slumping off to a bed in the next room sometime near four in the morning, only
to rise with the sun and go back to work again. Not even the demands of exhaustion could push
him from his course. However, it seemed that there was something else that was going to drive
him to distraction if he didn't get it taken care of soon.

"I'm starving," he muttered, rubbing at his rumbling stomach. "What time is it, anyway?"

He glanced at his watch; it was nearly noon, and he hadn't eaten anything since dinner the
previous evening, with a long hard night in between. Food seemed to be the top priority at the
moment, but where was he going to get it? An exploration of his new base of operations had told
him that there was nothing more to see here than his own lab, the room with his bed, a small
washroom, and a pair of locked doors that Arukenimon and Mummymon claimed when they were
at residence. At the moment, they didn't seem to be in residence.

"What I wouldn't give for a pizza right now," he said. "I can't order one, though.
Nobody's allowed down here but me... and I can't go out. My parents are bound to have noticed
I'm missing; they'll have the whole city out looking for me."

He pondered for a moment. Then, inspiration struck, and he reached for his cell phone.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Jun Motomiya was in a situation that Sam would
have envied: she was on her way to lunch. Her friends walked alongside of her, chattering about
this and that, but she only half-listened to them. There had been a time when their gossip about
the latest fashions and teen idols had been the bread of life to her, but ever since she had met Sam
and gotten mixed up in his schemes, her mind had stayed constantly busy with the fate of worlds.
It made talk of who was dating who look pale by comparison.

"Did you just hear a word I said?" asked one of her friends.

"Sorry! I was thinking about something," Jun replied.

"Well, you should listen. I was saying something important," her friend replied. "Someone
just told me that Sam Ichijouji has disappeared!"

"What?" Jun yelped. "Where? When? How?"

"Isn't it crazy?" said another girl. "He dropped right off the face of the earth. His parents
saw him go into room yesterday evening, and today... gone! No note, no sign that anyone had
been in his room, and his door was locked from the inside. It's like he just disappeared!"

"I heard the window was open," said the first girl, "but he lives on the third floor. How
would he get out?"

"His brother disappeared the same way," someone else said. "Do you think the two cases
are related?"

Jun could only stand there with her mouth hanging open. Sam? Gone?

*They got him,* she thought frantically. *He told me he was in danger, and he
was right. They must have come and done something to him, somehow. If I ever get my hands on
that brother of mine...*

Just then, her phone rang. She jumped.

"Nervous, Jun?" someone teased.

"I should be, if there's a kidnapper around," she said. "I'll be right back."

She scurried away into the girls' bathroom and hid herself away in the corner, hoping for a
halfway private conversation.

"Hello?" she said.

"Jun, it's me."

"Sam!" she squealed. "It's you! Where are you? What's going on?"

"Not so loud! You want the whole city to know you're talking to me?"

"Oops. Sorry," whispered Jun. "Is this better?"

"Fine. Listen, are you doing anything important?"

"I'm in school, Sam."

"Great. That's what I thought. Can you get out?"

"You mean, right now? I can't skip school! I'll get in trouble!"

"I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important. Don't you think something important
is going on?" asked Sam. "If I had to leave home, you know it's important."

"Well, I'll see what I can do," Jun sighed. "Where are you now?"

She listened attentively as he gave her directions, jotting them all down in a notebook so
she couldn't forget.

"Be really careful," Sam warned. "I don't want anyone to know where I am. If they find
me, they'll try to make me go back home, and I can't do that now."

"I understand," said Jun. "Don't worry. You can count on me."

"I know I can. You're the only one left that I trust," said Sam. "I'd be in a real mess if it
weren't for you."

Jun blushed. "Thanks, Sam. I'll be with you soon."

"I'll be waiting for you. Bye, Jun."

Jun went back into the hallway and began planning her escape from school. Fortunately, it
was still lunchtime, and that meant most people were eating right now, including the teachers.
Even if someone did catch her roaming the hallways, she could always say that she was going to
her locker or the restroom. Mentally, she plotted the quickest course to the outside world and
began trotting for the nearest flight of stairs. The trick, she had learned, was to go wherever you
were going as if you knew exactly where you were headed and had to get there in a hurry. People
who slouched along and looked guilty were the ones who got caught. Still, just to be safe, she
took a back stairway that she knew wasn't used very often.

*I can't believe I'm doing this,* she thought as she hurried down the stairs.
*I've never skipped classes before, not even when they were having that great sale at the mall.
My parents are going to skin me if they find out... but Sam's trusting me. I can't let him
down.*

With a sigh of relief, she reached the bottom of the staircase and stepped out into the main
hallway. Up ahead, she could see the front doors to the school, sunshine spilling through the front
windows. Only a few more yards to freedom! She picked up the pace, nearly running for the exit.
Suddenly, one of the teachers rounded a corner and nearly ran into her. She backed away,
stammering apologies.

"And just where do you think you're going?" the teacher demanded, crossing his arms and
staring at her suspiciously.

"I... well, um..." Jun blurted, her mind racing. Faced with an authority, she could feel
herself wilting, her heart beating faster. Worry made her stomach clench, and that gave her an
idea. She tried to make herself look as small and weak as possible. In a quavering voice, she
replied, "I - I'm feeling kind of sick right now. My teacher said I could go home early. Please - I
think I'm going to..." Pressing a hand to her mouth, her face panic-stricken, she lurched toward
the door. The teacher backed out of her way as if she were a cannon ball, leaving her free to run
out into the fresh air.

"That was a little too close," said Jun, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. "And
my brother thinks he's a good liar!" In retrospect, the idea was a very clever move - if
anyone asked where she had gone, she had someone who could provide an alibi for her. Now all
she had to do was find Sam. She made a quick check of her directions and set out.

The route Sam had described to her led her to a disreputable segment of the city,
populated more by pigeons and stray cats than humans, littered with scraps of paper and broken
glass. The buildings were uniformly grey and blocky, and most of them had their share of broken
windows and graffiti. All of them looked deserted. Jun walked up and down an alley between two
of these buildings, the last location Sam had given her, and wondered what she was supposed to
do now. The stillness of the air and the darkness of the narrow alley was making her
claustrophobic, and she had the feeling that things were lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump
out at her.

"Psst!"

"Eek!" Jun jumped in surprise, looking around frantically for the source of the noise and
clutching her bookbag like a shield. "Who said that? Come out and show yourself!"

"Calm down, Jun. It's only me."

From out of one of the deeper shadows, Sam stepped into view. Jun gave a sigh of relief
and catapulted herself at him, throwing her arms around him in a hug that made him yelp.

"Sam! You're okay! I was so worried about you!"

"Hey, careful!" he protested. "I'm a little sore today."

Jun released her hold to look at him more closely. His face was still marked with the
scratches and bruises Ken had given him the previous night. His hair and clothing were in
rumpled, and his eyes were red from the sleep he had missed.

"Oh, you poor thing! You look awful! What happened?" she asked.

"Rough night," said Sam. "Come on, let's not stand out here where someone might see us.
I wanted you to see my new place."

He took her hand and led her through the shadow he'd stepped through. Jun was
surprised; it looked just like a shadow, with no evidence of a door, but they walked through it as
if there was nothing there. Then they stepped into a dark hallway plated in something that looked
like metal. There was a faint bluish light that made it throw off shimmering reflections, but there
was no visible source for it. The air was cool, in contrast to the warm day outside. Jun wanted to
stop and stare at it for a moment to get her bearings again, but Sam led her on, through a door
and into his computer lab.

"Ta-da!" he said proudly. "What do you think?"

"It's incredible!" said Jun, staring around at the millions of blinking lights in awe. "Just
like something out of a movie."

"It's my new playground," Sam explained. "You should see what these things can do!"

"Where'd you get all this?" she asked.

"My Digimon friends found it for me. I don't ever ask too closely where they get things,"
said Sam. "I had a problem last night and had to get away in a hurry, so I'm just glad I had
somewhere to go."

"What happened?"

"Well, I got attacked. That's the short version anyway." He touched his scratches
gingerly. "It could have been fatal."

"Oh, no!" Jun put her arms around him again, more carefully this time, and he reached up
to stroke her hair.

*She really is worried about me,* he thought, a little surprised. *What for?
Nobody ever worries about me. My parents only want me around so they can see me win awards
and things. Nobody ever cared about what I felt, but maybe...*

"It's okay now," he assured her. "I'm safe here. It's just that there are a few things I can't
do now that I've gone into hiding. I can't let anyone see me outside, or they'll try to send me
home again, and I'm not safe there anymore. Obviously, I can't ask my Digimon friends to go out
there for me - even if I could convince them, no one would ever believe they're human. I still need
you as my agent, to keep an eye on things in the outside world and go to the places I can't."

"I'll do anything I can. You know that."

"Well, for starters-"

"What's going on in here?"

Jun turned around and found herself looking at a strange creature, an unnaturally thin
humanoid wearing a blue suit. The being stared at her suspiciously with a single golden eye, and
its frowning mouth was full of sharp sharklike teeth.

"Eek!" Jun yelped, tightening her grip on Sam. "Help! A monster!"

"Owch! Watch it!" shouted Sam, wincing.

"What's all the commotion in here?" asked Arukenimon, gliding into the room.

"She started it!" said Mummymon, pointing an accusing finger at Jun.

Jun tried to hide behind Sam. "Don't let that thing get me!"

"Oh, for crying out loud," said Sam, rolling his eyes. "Look, you - what's the big idea,
scaring my girl like that? It's okay, Jun, it's only Mummymon. He won't hurt you."

"Are you sure?" asked Jun, peering over Sam's shoulder to look at Mummymon
dubiously. "He doesn't look that friendly to me."

"What is this girl doing here, anyway?" Arukenimon demanded. "I thought I told you this
place was secret."

"Jun can keep secrets," said Sam. "She already knows most of what I've been doing,
anyway, and she's been trustworthy so far. She's the one who got the Digivice for me. I'll take
responsibility for her."

"I guess there's nothing we can do about it, since she's already here," Arukenimon sighed.
"The question is, what are we going to do with her now?"

"I'll tell you what we're going to do with her," said Sam. "We're going to send her out for
pizza! I don't know about you two, but I need something to eat every once in a while. If you want
me to open a gate for you, you don't want me to fall over from starvation. Is that okay with you,
Jun?"

"Um... Yeah, sure," said Jun, a bit confused. "Pizza?"

"Sure. I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday, and I'm starving!"

"Pizza," Arukenimon repeated, as if it were a foreign word. "You brought in a potential
security hazard just for pizza?"

"She's not a security hazard. I told you that," said Sam. "She can be a big help around
here. Just give her a chance."

"No. Absolutely not," said Arukenimon. "Send her home immediately."

"I will not," Sam replied.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Jun. "I'm not really sure what's going on right now, but as
long as Sam needs me, I'm staying."

"Aw, c'mon," said Mummymon, "let her stay. She seems all right. Besides, I like
pizza."

"Oh, for crying out unprintably," Arukenimon muttered. "All right, all right! I can see I'm
outvoted. Just don't any of you try to put the blame on me if she gets in trouble." She considered,
glancing over at the curtain at the end of the room. "On second thought, there may be uses for her
after all."

"Great! Glad that's settled," said Sam. "Now, if nobody minds, I'm going to order lunch."
He took out his wallet and began counting bills, but Jun stopped him.

"It's okay," she said. "I'll take care of it this time. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks, Jun. You're the greatest," Sam replied.

"Great, just what I needed," Arukenimon muttered. "Another lovestruck idiot to deal
with."

Jun kissed Sam lightly and turned to leave, giving Arukenimon and Mummymon a wide
berth as she made her way to the door. Sam watched her go with a glazed expression until
Mummymon waved a hand in front of his face, making him jump.

"Cut it out!" he complained. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You were drooling."

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Well, it's not like you never do the same thing!"

Sam and Mummymon became engaged in an argument. Arukenimon rolled her eyes in
disgust.

"Men," she grumbled, and swept out the door.

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

A group of six children sat around a parasol-shaded table at a streetside caf&eacute,
chatting happily as they licked ice cream cones. None of the people who passed by them noticed
that the odd assortment of stuffed toys the kids had with them were sharing the treats as well.

"Thanks for the ice cream, Yolei," said Ken, offering a spoonful to Wormmon, who was
perched on his shoulder. "There weren't many things I regretted about leaving this world, but
having to give up ice cream was one of them."

"No problem," Yolei assured him. "We wouldn't let you sit there empty-handed while the
rest of were eating. It's not your fault you don't have any money."

"Only digidollars," said Ken. "I don't think those things are much good around here."

"Well, maybe next time we're in the Digital World, you can treat us to lunch," said Davis.

"Not all of you," Ken replied, grinning. "Just Yolei. She's the only one who bought me
anything."

"Ohhhh," said Davis. "You're going to take Yolei out to lunch? Sounds like a date to
me!"

Ken and Yolei turned identical shades of red, and the rest of the group giggled.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Ken protested.

"Don't pay too much attention to Davis," said Cody. "He's always trying to stir up
trouble."

"I am not," said Davis. "I'm just having a little fun, that's all. Can't you take a joke?"

"I guess I'm not used to jokes," said Ken. "I guess that's what I miss from being away
from people so long."

"Well, Davis does have his own unique brand of humor," said TK. He paused, as
something caught his attention. "Hey, listen to that!"

"To what?" asked Kari.

"Those kids at the next table," said TK. "I thought I heard them say something about
Sam."

"You're imagining things," Davis replied. "You're getting... what do you call it?
Paranoid."

"If you want to know, ask," said Cody. "You guys wait a minute. I'll find out."

Before anyone could stop him, the boy had climbed down from his chair and wandered
over to the next table. A couple of other boys, soccer players by their garb, were having a loud
conversation.

"Excuse me," said Cody. "Hey! You up there?"

"Huh?" said one of the boys. He looked down. "Oh, it's a little kid. What do you want,
squirt?"

"Pardon me for eavesdropping," Cody replied, "but I thought I heard you say something
about Sam Ichijouji."

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, my cousin is on his soccer team," the little boy replied, thinking fast, "so they're
sort of friends. He would want to know if something had happened."

"Oh... Well, go buy a newspaper. It's all over the front page."

"I will," said Cody, and turned and stalked away, muttering under his breath, "Thanks for
nothing."

"What did they say?" asked Ken as Cody returned.

The boy shrugged. "They said to buy a paper."

"A paper?" Kari repeated. "I'm not sure I like that."

"I'll do it," said Davis. "Be right back."

He dashed across the street, dodging cars, while the Digidestined looked on with interest.
He made it to the other side unscathed, dropped a few coins in a paper dispenser, and scooped up
a paper. Then he ran back again, ignoring honking horns and squealing tires.

"Why do you do things like that?" asked TK.

"Things like what?" asked Davis innocently.

"Forget it," TK replied. He took the paper out of Davis's hands and unfolded it.

"What does it say?" asked Ken worriedly.

TK skimmed the page quickly. "You're not going to like this."

"I don't care. Tell me anyway."

"Okay." TK took a deep breath. "Your brother's disappeared. He vanished sometime last
night, and no one can find a trace of him. It's hit your parents pretty hard, it looks like. Your
mom's had some kind of breakdown, and she's in the hospital now."

"Oh, no..." whispered Ken. "Mom! I've got to go see her!"

He stood up to leave, but Davis caught his shoulders and pushed him back in his chair.

"You're not going anywhere," he said.

"But-"

"No buts. Listen, I know you want to be with your parents right now, but that's the worst
thing you could do. Number one, there's no telling if you could really make them believe it's you.
Number two, they're rattled bad enough already. What do you think it would do to them if you
came back from the dead like that? Face it - the best way you can help them now is to find the guy
who caused the problem and send him back home."

The other Digidestined looked at Davis in faint surprise.

"This is the kid who plays in traffic?" Yolei wondered.

"You're right," said Ken. "You're absolutely right. Sam's gone too far this time. Bad
enough that he hurts us and the Digimon, but to do this to his own parents... This is
unacceptable!"

"What are we going to do about it, though?" asked Cody. "We don't know where Sam is
anymore."

"No, but we can find him," said Ken. "I can always find him."

"What do you mean?" asked Kari.

"We talk to each other every day," said Ken quietly. "We made sure we'd always be able
to find each other."

"What?!" everyone exclaimed. "Why?"

Ken shrugged. "We're still brothers. It's possible to hate someone and love them at the
same time. Even if we don't have any choice but to fight each other... I guess I still care about
him, and things have happened to make me think he doesn't want to hurt me as much as he acts
like he does."

"So... what do you want to do?" asked TK.

"Just what Davis said," Ken replied. "What I want most is to end this fight, so Sam and I
can both go home. And that means we've got to go find Sam."

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

"Sam? Where'd you go?" Mummymon called.

"I'm under here," came Sam's muffled voice from under a computer console. "Hey, toss
me the soldering iron, would you?"

There was a loud clunk, and Sam looked irritably up at Mummymon. "What did
you do that for?"

"Well, you told me to throw it."

"No I didn't, I told you to - never mind." Sam crawled out from the mess of cables he'd
been working with and picked up the tool. "If you don't shape up, I'll tell Jun to come back, and
she can help me do this."

Jun had hung around for a little while, long enough to deliver the pizza and make sure
Sam got his fair share, but she had excused herself shortly afterwards. She had told them that she
needed to get home before her parents did, or they would know she was doing something out of
the ordinary. Actually, despite her loyalty to Sam, she had to admit that she didn't care for his
taste in friends. She left Sam with a kiss on the cheek and an admonition to get some sleep.

Sam had no intention of sleeping now. A few experiments with his Digivice model had
given him some insights, and he wanted to test them out while they were fresh in his mind.
Unfortunately, the current setup wasn't configured the way he wanted it, so he was busy opening
things up and rearranging them to suit his needs, and he'd drafted Mummymon into helping him.
Arukenimon was by far the cleverer of the two 'mons, and she was talented enough when it came
to the actual data manipulation, but she knew nothing about the mechanics of computers beyond
the fact that they needed to be plugged in and turned on to work. Even if she had known
how to do the work, chances were no one would have been able to convince her to crawl
around on the floor to do it. Mummymon at least knew a little about how machines worked, so he
had been set to helping Sam with some of the more basic rewiring while Sam himself handled the
more delicate operations and supervised.

"Are you two having fun in there?" asked Arukenimon, looking into the room.

"Something like that," Sam muttered. A stream of smoke wound up from where he was
busy soldering things together. "I've just about got this finished."

"You'd better not mess anything up, tinkering around in there like that," she said
dubiously.

"Trust me! I know what I'm doing," said Sam. "If you want to make an omelette, you've
got to break a few eggs."

"What's an omelette got to do with anything?" asked Mummymon.

"Quiet, scrambled-eggs-for-brains. No one's talking to you," Arukenimon snapped.

"Yes, dear."

"So, what are you doing, anyway?" Arukenimon asked Sam.

"Well, after analyzing the data I collected from the Motomiya kid's Digivice, I've
discovered that it works by some sort of personalized link to the individual it's customized to, but
I think I can override it by redirecting the primary foci to a more general base and-"

"That's enough. I don't want to hear the rest of it," answered Arukenimon. "I don't need
any more headaches today. But you're sure you know what you're doing?"

"That's what I just finished telling you," Sam replied. "There! That ought to do it! Help
me plug everything back in, Mummymon, and then we'll give it a whirl."

Within a few moments, they had everything set up again, and Sam looked with satisfaction
as his machines blinked and whirred to life again. Finally, finally, he was making progress! Perhaps
before the sun went down today, he would finally be in the Digital World. It briefly crossed his
mind that it would have been nice if Jun had been there to witness his achievement, but he put the
thought out of his mind. Right now, the important thing was that he'd done it... or at least, he
thought he had done it. He bent over one of the keyboards, laying out some instructions.

"Well," he said at last, "here goes nothing."

He pushed a button, and, in the alley outside, a hole in the fabric of the universe opened.

Six Digidestined stepped out.

"This is the place," said Ken, looking around warily. "Watch your backs."

"Sam's hanging around in an alley?" asked Kari.

"I thought he had better taste than that," Davis said.

"He's around here somewhere," Ken replied. "Probably hiding, the coward. This is
strange, though. I had tracked Sam down, and I thought we were going to land right next to him."

"Have you noticed something else?" asked Yolei. "There's no computer around here. We
just came... out of nowhere."

"That's impossible," said Ken. "We can't open a portal without a computer. It just doesn't
work like that."

"It must. There's no computer anywhere," said Cody, looking all around. "It's just an
empty alley."

Ken spun in a small circle. "It's... not... possible. Unless..."

"Unless what?" asked Kari.

"Sam," said Ken simply.

"You're absolutely correct," said a voice, and Sam stepped out of the shadows. He smiled
wickedly at them. "Hello, everyone. So nice to finally meet you all in person. I see you found my
door. Impressive, isn't it?"

"Impressive?" Ken repeated. "You can't just go around putting holes in the fabric of
reality! It's dangerous!"

"I've done it," said Sam. "I have no regrets. If you didn't want me to do this, you should
have cooperated with me earlier."

"Don't start that again!" said Ken. "Sam, do you have any idea what you've done? Mom's
in the hospital because of you and your thoughtlessness!"

"She is?" For a split second, Sam looked disturbed, but he shrugged it off. "That's what
people get for trying to hold me back. I wouldn't have left if they hadn't been getting in my way."

"This guy really is heartless," said Kari. "Do you really think anyone who gets in your way
deserves to be hurt? You're terrible!"

"I'm claiming my destiny," Sam answered grandly. "I'm going to take the Digital World,
and there's nothing you all can do about it, or your little Digimon friends, either. Now, stand aside
and let me through the door."

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great," said Davis. "Only one problem with that?"

"What? Do you all plan to stop me?" Sam sneered.

"Nope," Davis replied. "Don't have to. The door's gone."

"Huh?"

Everyone stared. Sure enough, there was no portal to be seen. Cody took a few steps in
the direction they had come from, then walked back. That patch of air was no different from any
other patch of air. At least, that's how it seemed, but as soon as Cody had finished his
explorations, a head popped out of the air and looked at them all.

"Lookit, lookit!" exclaimed the Tapirmon. He pulled his head back through the portal for
a moment, then looked out again. It seemed to hunker down to the ground for a moment (though
it was hard to tell, since only his head was visible) and then sprang out into the alley. It turned
around and looked at the space it had just come from, but there was still nothing there.

"Looks like your door only works one way," TK observed.

"Well, that's just great," Sam muttered. "I must have made a miscalculation somewhere.
Hm..." He trailed off, momentarily lost in thought. While he was thinking, the Tapirmon trotted
up to him and started investigating his shoes.

"Hi there!" it said. "Who are you?"

"None of your business." Sam snapped. "What in the world are you, anyway? An elephant
that got left in the dryer too long?"

"I'm a Tapirmon," said the Tapirmon. "Do you want to play with me?"

"Are you out of your mind?" said Sam and Ken at once.

"Tapirmon, get back here!" Ken called. "He'll hurt you if you don't watch out!"

"He won't hurt me," Tapirmon replied. He looked up at Sam. "You won't hurt me, will
you?"

Sam pressed his hand to his face. "I am besieged." He sighed and looked up again. "Never
mind. This is just a temporary setback. I'll just figure out where I messed up, and then I'll take it
again from there."

"You messed up when you tried to take my Digivice away from me," said Ken. "Give it
up, Sam. You can end this now, you know. Just give it up and come home quietly."

"And give up my chance for greatness? You're crazy," Sam replied. "Get out of here, you
little runt," he added, aiming a kick at the Tapirmon. The little animal hopped out of the way in a
swirl of smoke and trotted unharmed toward Ken.

"He has problems," said Tapirmon.

Ken sighed. "You don't say."

"Well," said Cody, "that wasn't very successful. What do you think we should do now?"

"We can't just give up! I say we bust in there and drag him out!" Davis exclaimed.

"Yeah, we'll just drag him home kicking and screaming. That'll be fun," TK muttered.
"Honestly, Davis, didn't you ever hear of subtlety?"

"I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea," said Ken. "I keep forgetting Sam
doesn't listen to reason."

"Well, you're not changing your mind now," Davis replied. "Look, we've got him now, okay? He doesn't have anywhere to run to - we can shut him down once and for if we want to, and you think we're just supposed to give up and go home? Forget it. I didn't come all this way for nothing. Follow me if you're coming."

Without waiting to see anyone's reactions, he turned and jumped through the shadow, with Veemon bounding along behind him.. The other Digidestined stared at each other.

"He's nuts," said Cody flatly. "What does he think he's going to do?"

"I don't know if he thinks anything," said Kari, "but if I know Davis, he'll come up with something... He might need some help doing it, though. I'm going after him."

"I think the insanity's contagious," Yolei muttered. "Anything could be down there!"

"That's why I can't let him go alone," Kari replied. "Come on, Gatomon."

The girl and her partner passed through the blot of darkness and found herself in the metal hallway. Davis was still there, poking around and rattling the locks on doors. He looked up in surprise as Kari entered.

"Hey!" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you said to follow you," she replied, "so I did."

"Wow," Davis replied. "I didn't think anyone would really come."

"No point in letting you get hurt. You're my friend, after all."

"Really?" asked Davis.

"Sure! We've been friends for a long time. I thought you knew that," Kari replied. She grinned. "You're kind of a weird friend, but I like you anyway."

"Wow," said Davis, blushing a bit. He looked like he was going to say more, but he was interrupted by Veemon.

"Hey, listen," he said. "There's people talking behind this door."

"People?" Kari repeated. "You mean there's someone down here besides Sam?"

"Must be, unless Sam's really good at changing his voice and likes talking to himself."

"Sam's crazy enough to do that," Davis muttered. He walked quietly over to the door and put his ear to it, beckoning for Kari and Gatomon to do the same. The four of them crouched together, listening.

"...thought you said you knew what you were doing," a woman's voice complained.

"I did. Give me a break already! I did at least get a door open," Sam replied.

"Yes, and a fat lot of good it does if it only goes one way," said the woman. "We need to get in, not go out."

"Cool it," answered Sam. "I just made a couple of minor miscalculations. Now that I've got the general principle down, it will be nothing to work out the details. Look at it this way - I've made more progress today than I have in the last few years together. You can wait a couple more days for me to get out the last of the bugs."

"A couple of days?" Kari whispered, shocked.

Davis's face was grim. "I knew I was right! We've got to shut this guy down, and we've got to do it now. If he gets into the Digital World, there's no telling what he'll do."

"What are we going to do, though? It sounds like he's got help in there," said Kari.

"Hmm." Davis closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Seems like the first thing to do is make sure Sam doesn't get that gate open. That means we're going to have to shut down whatever he used to make it open in the first place, right?"

"That makes sense," said Gatomon, "but even if you do, he's not going to give up so easily. You broke his computer once, and he just fixed it."

"Well, it'll buy us a little more time," said Davis. "If we destroy everything he's been working on, maybe that will be enough to make him give up."

Kari sighed. "It's too bad we can't make him see how important the Digital World is. The only reason he wants to go there at all is to prove he's better than Ken! If he just knew about what the Digimon are really like, he wouldn't want to hurt them."

"Yeah, he would," Davis said. "Sam doesn't care about anyone but Sam. He doesn't know how to make friends. Well, I'll show him!"

With that, he shoved the door open with such force that he nearly fell through it. Sam and his confederates looked up in shock. Davis and Kari stared at them in equal surprise.

"You're the woman!" Kari exclaimed. "You're the one who made Ken kill the Snimon!"

Arukenimon smiled. "That was a nice bit of manipulation on my part, wasn't it? I'm so glad you remember."

"I'm going to give you something to remember!" Davis shouted back. "You're worse than Sam is!"

"I'd be careful how you talk to her," said Sam, grinning. "My friends here have nasty tempers. I wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt because you all were silly enough to provoke them."

"Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do to us, huh?" Davis replied. "You all don't look so tough to me. Our Digimon could take you all on."

"Davis, maybe you'd better not talk to them like that," Kari whispered to him.

"Oh, really?" said Arukenimon. "Would you listen to that, Sam? He thinks he thinks their Digimon can take us on. How do you like that?"

"I like it just fine," Sam replied. "Do you want to handle this, or shall I? I've been wanting to see what you two are really capable of."

"We'll take it," said Mummymon. "Are you ready, my dear?"

"Always," Arukenimon replied, giving the Digidestined a cold smile. "You should learn not to judge people by their appearances, little boy. Behold our true power!"

There was a blurry, confused moment as Arukenimon and Mummymon's outlines seemed to melt and shift. One minute, there had only been a strangely dressed man and woman, and in the next, the Digidestined found themselves faced with creatures out of nightmares: an enormous red spider and a walking corpse wrapped in bandages. Both of them were grinning savagely, and despite himself, Davis felt his face going pale.

"Wow," said Sam, staring appreciatively. "I am impressed! Why didn't you guys tell me you could do that?"

"I don't like your taste in friends, Sam," said Kari. "But two can play at that game! Gatomon, get ready to armor digivolve!"

"Go ahead and try it," said the spider Digimon. "We're Arukenimon and Mummymon, Ultimate Virus Digimon! Your armor's no match for us!"

"Why don't we find out for sure?" said Gatomon, baring her claws. "You don't look that tough! I've fought bigger things than you and never even gotten my fur ruffled!"

"You were more powerful then, too," Kari said. "Remember, you can't go to Ultimate anymore. I think we'd better back up and think about this."

Davis opened his mouth to disagree, then changed his mind. "You're right. Let's go get the others, and we'll fight these creeps together."

"Oh, yes, the others," said Sam. "I'd almost forgotten about them."

He walked over to a computer and began typing something. Somewhere outside, there was a distant crash and a roar, and then noises of humans and Digimon shouting. Sam turned back to Davis and Kari, grinning maliciously.

"You remember my Glitches, don't you?" he asked. "I've just brought one of them through the warphole for your friends to play with... and I can generate much more powerful creatures with these new machines than anything you've seen before. You're not getting any help from outside."

"Then we'll go help them," Davis decided. "Come on, Kari!"

The two of them began sprinting for the exit, but Arukenimon simply flicked her wrists and shouted, "Spider Thread!" Suddenly, Kari found that her feet would no longer move, and she fell hard on the floor, her arms and legs tangled up in tough red webbing. Gatomon yelped as she was hung up in the same net. With another flick, Arukenimon reeled in the struggling girl and lifted her into the air. Davis froze, staring in alarm.

"Kari!" he shouted. "Let her go, you overgrown bug!"

"If you want us to give you something, you're going to have to be more polite about it," Sam said. "Maybe now you'll listen to reason. What do you think, Arukenimon? Can we have some fun with him?"

"What have you got in mind?" she asked.

"A bargain. I have a score to settle with this kid," Sam replied. "So, here's what I say we do. I'll give you three choices. Number one, you can go outside and try to help your friends fight my Glitch, and Arukenimon can rip your girl here to little pieces. Number two, you can stay here and try to rescue her and let your friends fight alone. Number three, you can surrender now, and be killed in the girl's place, and she can save your friends instead. Which would you like?"

"Davis, don't listen to him! He's just baiting you!" Kari shouted. "Get out of here and save the others!"

"I'm not leaving you here!" Davis called back.

"Do you need some help deciding?" asked Sam. "Maybe this will prod your thoughts."

He clicked a few more buttons, and a screen lit up, showing an image of the battle being waged outside. Davis flinched; the last Glitch he'd seen had been a garden slug next to this monstrosity. Besides the assortment of tentacles, it also seemed to be sporting a fanged mouth, a few set of mismatched pincers, and a scorpion's tail, as well as three glowing red eyes. It made him wonder what kind of sick mind could have dreamed up such a mess. The Digidestined were doing what they could to battle it in such a small space, but it was clear that they weren't doing well. Yolei looked to be favoring one leg, and a gash in her jeans was showing the telltale mark of a Glitch-induced burn. There was an unfamiliar Digimon armed with a set of whirling shuriken stars trying to defend her, hacking off tentacles right and left.

*Must be whatever Hawkmon turns into when she uses the Digimental of Sincerity,* Davis thought distractedly.

"So, what will it be?" said Sam. "I hope you know, the last option is the only one that even leaves a chance of all your friends getting out alive."

"Then that's the only choice," said Davis. "Let Kari go."

"Davis, don't do it!" pleaded Veemon. "Let me Digivolve! I'll fight them!"

"No. I won't let you hurt yourself, either," Davis replied. "These are the only friends I've ever had, and I'm going to save them!"

Just then, a commotion broke out on the battlefield, as the gate between the worlds began to glow with a brilliant blue-purple light. The Glitch reeled away from it, apparently frightened, but the Tapirmon began yapping excitedly. With a final pulse of light, something floated through the gate. It was a black, egglike object with a spike thrusting from one end.

"A Digimental!" Ken exclaimed. "What's a Digimental doing in this world?"

"It's got the Crest of Friendship on it," said TK. "Did someone activate it, somehow?"

The Digimental ignored all of them, sailing through the alley and into the shadows, down the hall and through the open doors, finally pausing in front of Davis. Everyone stared at it as it filled the room with it's blue glow.

"Where did that come from?" Sam demanded, glaring at it with a look of apprehension.

"I don't know," Davis replied, "but I'm not looking a gift Digimental in the mouth! Go for it, Veemon! Let's see what this thing can do! Digi-armor energize!"

There was a flash of lightning that made everyone cringe, everyone but Davis, who watched the light show with a laugh of delight. The lights crackled around Veemon, momentarily obscuring him, but clearly audible was a voice shouting, "Veemon, armor digivolve to... Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

Arukenimon shot a malevolent glare at this interloper. Veemon had shifted forms, now appearing as a vaguely wolflike animal covered in black armor. It stared back at her with a frosty gaze.

"I think you had better put the girl down," he said. "Now."

"No chance, buster," she replied. "Mummymon, get him!"

Mummymon hefted the gun he carried and obediently trained it on Raidramon. "Snake Bandage!"

"Thunder Blast!" Raidramon shouted back.

Lightning shot from the spines on his head and back, colliding with the lasers that blasted from Mummymon's gun. Both attacks struck each other and burst in a blaze of sparks. Before Mummymon could react to that, Raidramon jumped up and snatched Kari and Gatomon out of Arukenimon's hands. He landed, jumped again, bounced off the wall, and began charging back to Davis again, swatting Sam with his tail on his way past. He gently dropped the bundle he carried and slit the webbing with his horn.

"You okay?" asked Davis.

"I'm never going to hear the Itsy Bitsy Spider again without getting chills," said Kari, spitting webbing out of her mouth.

She, Davis and Gatomon climbed onto Raidramon's back, and they rode out of the laboratory before any of their enemies could find the time to recover their wits. Sam dragged himself to his feet, rubbing at his bruises.

"I'm beginning to dislike this Digimental thing," he said. "Oh, well, never mind. My pet will take care of them all."

"You had better hope so," Arukenimon replied. "You had just better hope so."

Meanwhile, Raidramon and his passengers came bounding into the alley - and quickly ducked as a clawed tentacle whipped over their heads. They landed safely, and Raidramon knelt to let his passengers down.

"Hi, guys!" Daisuke called. "Sorry we're late, but we got in a little mess of our own. Oh, but I found a new friend! Meet Raidramon!"

"Never mind the introductions! Just help us out here!" Yolei shouted back.

"Oh, yeah, right," said Davis. "Hey, Kari, Gatomon, you two feel up for a digivolve?"

"Always," Gatomon replied.

"I'm ready," Kari agreed. "Digi-armor energize!"

There was a flare of golden light as Gatomon transformed into Nefertimon. The other Digimon gathered next to her, a solid wall of dangerous looking creatures. The Glitch began to look nervous.

"All together now! Let's blast that thing back to where it came from!" Davis shouted.

There was an earsplitting noise as the Digimon fired off their most powerful attacks, and the alley was filled with light and smoke. Then it wasn't smoke at all, but a thin fog as the Glitch melted and faded away. The Digidestined whooped and cheered.

"See, that's what teamwork is all about," said TK.

"Well, whatever you call it, it works," Ken replied. "Great job, everyone."

"Hey, Yolei, tell me about your new critter," said Davis. "I haven't seen him before. Who is he?"

"This isn't a critter, Davis. This is Shurimon," Yolei replied. "Isn't he the coolest?"

"He's great," said Kari, "but I think I prefer Raidramon." She smiled at Davis, and he turned a remarkable shade of pink.

"What happened in there, anyway?" asked TK. "Why didn't you come help us?"

"We were... a little tied up," said Nefertimon.

Davis nodded. "Sam's got some new buddies - Digimon friends. Remember that weird lady we met the other day? It turns out she's really a Digimon called Arukenimon. There's another one called Mummymon, and they're both really nasty... Just not as tough as Raidramon," he added proudly.

"Good thing, too," said Kari. "They would have killed me if Davis hadn't saved me."

"Well, I guess that means just flat-out attacking Sam isn't going to work anymore," said TK. "We're going to have to think of another plan."

"And what are we going to do about the hole?" asked Cody, staring dubiously at the general patch of air it occupied. "We can't just leave it here."

"It will close on its own when I go back home," said Ken. "Two portals can't be open at the same time. When one opens, the other closes."

"That's a relief," said Yolei. "I would hate to see any more of those things wandering out here."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I've had enough sightseeing for one day," said Kari. "I think I'm going home. Almost being eaten by a giant spider kind of takes it out of you."

"Can I walk you home?" asked Davis.

"Sure," she replied. "I think I'd like that."

Their Digimon shifted back to Gatomon and DemiVeemon, and they said goodbye to their friends and began the journey back to Kari's apartment. For a while, they were quiet, not quite sure what to say to each other.

"I wanted to thank you," said Kari after a while.

"Thank me?"

"For saving my life. It was a brave thing to do."

"It was nothing. After all, it was kind of my fault in the first place," Davis replied. "If I hadn't gone barging in there, you never would have been in any danger."

"But you still saved me," she said. She paused for a while. "You really were willing to die for me?"

Davis hung his head bashfully. "Yeah... you and everyone else. I never had friends like you guys before. You mean more than anything to me."

"Really? That's so sweet," Kari replied. "You know, I wanted to say I'm sorry, too."

"Sorry?" Davis repeated. "What have you got to be sorry for?"

"For what happened to you in the first battle," she answered. "I noticed you're still limping. Does it hurt?"

"No. It just feels... kind of weird, that's all. You know what Ken said about it never getting totally well again."

"So you're always going to have a limp because of me."

"No, not because of you. Because of Sam and his monsters," Davis corrected. "I would have done the same thing for Yolei or Cody or TK or anybody... Just especially for you," he added.

"Why me?"

"Why? Because I like you, that's why. I thought you knew that," he replied. "I don't even mind having the scar. It reminds me of you."

Kari blushed. "I think that's about the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

DemiVeemon hopped up onto Davis's shoulder.

"Aren't you going to kiss her yet?" he asked.

Davis turned bright red. "Shut up! Can't a guy have a conversation in peace? Sheesh!" He put his Digmon back on the ground. "Come on, Kari. Let's see if we can outrun these two, or they won't let us have any privacy at all."

In the distance, the other Digidestined watched as their friends ran off, hand in hand, laughing all the way. Ken turned to Yolei.

"Hey, remember what Davis was saying to us earlier?" he asked.

"Do I ever!" Yolei replied. "I still need to get him back for that."

"Well," said Ken, grinning mischievously, "I think now we've got our ammunition."