Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Mystic Digital War ❯ Chapter 15: The Omega Project ( Chapter 15 )

A young woman with curly blond hair held a microphone close to her mouth as she spoke,"Zis is Catherine DeGual reporting live. For zose of you juzt joing us, Rika appeared before ze Dark Masters's truck, ready to destroy it. Kari wouldn't let her not only kill a dozen innocent children, but also her younger brother. She engaged Rika in a battle to protect ze truck, but she started losing fast when Renamon digivolved to Mega.

Meanwhile, ze other Digidestined found Apocalymon, but he surprised zem by using zere one attacks against zem. Yolei started to feel ze empathy of Apocalymon's victims, and her Crest of Empathy appeared, allowing Aquillamon to digivolve to Sylphimon. He proved to be too fast for Apocalymon, and he fled.

Ze other Digital Warriors, Dark Digidestined, and Digidestined were battling each other. Davis's Crest of Miracles, and Ken's Crest of Kindess appeared, which gave Paildramon ze strength to defeat Shakkoumon and Ladydevimon. Zanks to a quick strategy by Megaseadramon, Michael was able to win his own battle.

Matt had finally overthrown Sora, placing himself in control of ze Digidestined and finally located Tai.

When zey arrived at Kari's battle, Davis gave her ze Crest of Courage and Gatomon was able to reach her new mega level, Orphanimon. Ze partner of Piedmon, Lucifer, zen called Michael, Peter Nerez, ze fourth Dark Master. Ze battle continued, but two strange kids appeared and started arguing with Rika. She left wiz zem, finishing ze battle.

Davis and Kari zen revealed zeir true feelings towards one another, but zeir happiness may be short lived, as ze battle between Tai and Matt is about to begin!

Chapter 15: The Omega Project.

Matt grinned wickedly as he stared at Tai. The Digital Warrior leader was standing in front of his safe house, his eyes locked with Matt's. His gaze slowly broke away from the new Digidestined leader, gazing over to a body that was lying in front of the destroyed tree that once rested in the front yard. "Anna, talk to me!" he said,"Are you okay?"

The blond haired Russian girl slowly sat up, placing her forefinger to her thumb. "I will be okay."

"Ah," Matt said,"I see you've taught her her Japanese."

Tai turned to Matt, then back at his fellow Digital Warrior. "<Anna>," he said in Russian,"<I want you to leave.>"

"<What>?"

"<Do it! Whatever is about to happen, is between us, I don't want you to get hurt.>"

"<I'll go,>" Anna said, climbing on her Unimon,"<but I will be back. Good luck.>" She gave her Unimon a 'Kya', and they disappeared into the sky.

"Why did you send her away?" Matt asked.

"Why are you here, Matt?" Tai asked,"Was Sora too afraid to come herself?"

"Sora won't be bothering you anymore," he said.

"What?" Tai asked, his eyes narrowing,"What did you do to her?"

"I just simply overpowered her," he said, pride dripping from every word,"I am now in command of the Digidestined, and my first order as leader, is to capture you!" At his last word, Metalgarurumon took a step forward.

Agumon quickly jumped in front of Tai, holding his arms out. "Just give me the word," he whispered,"and I'll attack."

Matt saw that Tai was reaching for his Digivice. He had hoped that learning of Sora's predicament would have angered Tai so much he would lose his focus, but he was keeping completely calm. Matt decided to use his trump card. He had hope to use it later, but he figured that now was best. "So," he said,"by now you've realized the truth about yourself, haven't you?"

"W..what?" Tai asked, his hand dropping from his Digivice,"What are you talking about?"

"The Firemaster," Matt said,"You."

"What?" Tai asked, his eyes opening wide,"What are you talking about."

Matt placed his hands together behind his back. "About five years ago, a group of adult scientists calling themselves the Monster Makers, came to the Digidestined's File Island Base. They wanted funding for what they called 'The Omega Project', which was a series of experiments using Digimon to create an Ultimate Weapon they could sell to warring nations. Sora wouldn't fund their project, but I saw the benefits of such a creature I set them up with a lab, and secretly began to fund their experiments. For their latest experiment, they created a superior Digimon, but they needed control programs, like a brain. They wanted to use the memories of a great warrior. I suggested you.

We broke into your tomb and brought your body back to the lab. When the Monster Makers started to examine you, they found something very interesting, you were alive. You were in some kind of coma, but because you were in the Digital World, you didn't require any sustenance, you were perfectly preserved, except you had aged in the normal rate. The Monster Makers wanted to revive you, I wouldn't allow it, but, they betrayed me.

They started to copy your memories into the Digi-egg of their creation, when something went wrong. During the process, you woke up. The Monster Makers altered the process so that you would wake up from your coma. You were crazy, thrashing around in the lab.. While we were trying to restrain you, the Monster Maker's creation, a combination of circuts and cells escaped.

This created even more of a problem then you, destroying a section of the wall and escaping. You soon followed. I tried to find the creation and you, but, it was hopeless. The Monster Makers disappeared, I never saw them again.

When the Firemaster appeared on the scene, I of course, knew it was you. I couldn't tell Sora, of course, then she would know that I disobeyed her orders concerning the Monster Makers. When the Cybrog appeared, claiming to be you, I realized that he was the Monster Makers' creation. When the two of you were fighting in Santa Carea and you claimed that you switched into your body, was nothing more than your mind coming to terms with who you really are. I realized all this when Anna was buying sleeping pills for you. I figured that you were remembering what really happened in your sleep."

He grinned,"I took a few psychology coursed when you were 'away'. By the way, in case you're wondering, you were able to fly, shot fireballs, and withstand Ultimate level attacks, was because of certain devices that you built during your time as "The Firemaster."

Tai's eyes were wide open and he was gasping for breath. "How...what...this can't be real..."

"But it is," Matt smiled,"You were the Firemaster, you were the one responsible for the deaths of all those Digimon, you were the one that brutalized the criminals, it was you.."

Tai was in shock,"No, no, I...it can't be, no, it can't!"

"But it is," Matt emphazied,"Now, I need to take you into custody."

Tai was able to get control of himself, reaching for his Digivice. "Damn it!" Matt thought,"He is too in control of himself. He knows that there is trouble, and he's not going to let himself be distracted."

"Is that what this is about, Matt?!" Tai shouted,"Because you really believe that I did something wrong, or is this just the same old story between the two of us? Huh?"

"You decide, it makes no difference to me."

Tai had his hand around his Digivice, but wasn't moving. Part of him was struggling with what Matt told him, with what he knew was true, and the other half was struggling to remain in control. "I am not going to give up!"

Matt frowned. "So be it, Metalgarurumon..."

His Digimon nodded, and jumped forward.

"Watch it!" Agumon shouted, running towards Matt's Digimon. "Agumon warp digivolve to Wargreymon!"

The two Digimon met with a tremendous sonic blast that shattered the windows of the safe house. They shot up into the air to give them more mobility. Metalgarurumon head butted Wargreymon, but the dinosaur digimon grabbed the cyborg dog's head and flipped him in the air, throwing him into the safe house, destroying the roof. Matt held his breath for a couple seconds, then quickly exhaled when he saw his Digimon shoot up out of the hole and back into battle.

Wargreymon wasn't going to give Metalgarurumon the chance to recover. He quickly began a series of punches and kicks that drove his opponent deeper into the city. Wargreymon charged after him, with Tai and Matt running after their Digimon.

Noriko was resting with her arms behind her head, staring up at the Digital World's night sky. She heard a slightly cough and turned her head to the right. Michael was coughing slightly as he was resting on the rotted armchair. She sighed, then turned her gaze back to the sky. "Poor Michael," she thought,"He's so confused, well, I guess I would be too. It's not everyday that you find out that you are really one of your enemies. I can't even imagine what's going through his mind. Ever since I've met him, he's been like an older brother to us, always so focus and in control, and I just can't stand to see him like this, so confused, so unsure. I want to help him, but he won't let us get near him. Not that I could help him anyway, I don't even no what he's going through.

Well, that's not entirely true. The memories that I keep experiencing are my father's memories, but why can I remember them? Lately I've been having a hard time remembering my mother and my life before I started living with my father. I wish I could talk to Michael, but he's not ready yet."

She yawned, about to reach down to grab a blanket, but thought better of it. She was wearing jeans, a yellow jacket with red sleeves, and a brown scarf, so she was quite warm. She closed her eyes and was almost asleep, when she felt a massive blast of light and wind.

"What happened?" Izzy asked, jumping up from the couch.

"I don't know," Mina said.

Noriko was looking through the alley, trying to discover what had happened, when all the color drained from her face. "It's Michael," she said,"He and Betamon left."

"She's right," Ken said,"He's gone. Where do you think he went?"

"Maybe he just needed to be alone," Mina said, hopefully,"He'll be back."

"I hope so," Noriko said, looking at the sky.

"What happened?" Kari, who was pulling on her jacket, demanded as she ran into the alley with Davis, who was tucking in his shirt.

"Where have you two been?" Ken asked.

"Never mind!" Davis said, his face slightly turning red,"What happened?"

"Michael left," Noriko said, looking at the ground.

"Michael is gone?" a completely new voice asked," This isn't good!"

The Digital Warriors spun around in the alley and a 12 year old boy walk into the alley, with a red dinosaur walking behind him. Four more familiar figures appeared, trailing behind the new boy.

"Hey, it's you," Gatomon said, pointing at the four other figures,"You are the ones that stopped my battle with Sakuyamon earlier.

The dark haired boy with a dog creature at his feet stepped forward. "My name is Henry, this is Terriermon."

The light brown haired body with the robotic being held his hand up,"And I am the great Kazu! And of course, my Digimon partner, Gaurdromon!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you!" the large Digimon said.

The first smiled slightly, then said,"I am Takato, this is Guilmon, and we have much to discuss."

"Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming," Amiko Tachikawa said, opening her front door,"There's no need to keep knocking. Ah, Sora, how are you?"

Sora bowed. "Hello, Mrs. Tachikawa," she said, quickly,"How are you today?"

The elderly woman bowed. "I am doing quite well, thank you." Concern suddenly etched across her face,"Mimi's not here, I thought she was in the Digital World on a mission."

"I'm sorry for being rude," she quickly said,"but, do you mind if we come in?"

"'We'?" she asked, looking over Sora's shoulder to see a group of other teenagers,"Ah, I see. Well, yes, come in, come in."

Sora and her group quickly jumped inside, the last one closing the door. "Can I offer you anything?" Mrs. Tachikawa asked,"Tea? Crackers?"

"No thank you," Sora said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well, let me introduce everyone. This is Rosa, Sonja, Lou and Steve. Listen, I'm sorry to bother you, and we'll leave if you want us to, but, we need a place to stay for a little while."

"Why?" Mrs. Tachikawa asked, sitting down,"Are you in trouble?"

"Yes," Sora nodded,"We're wanted by the Digidestined."

"I thought you were in charge of the Digidestined,"she said.

"I was," the redhead sighed, looking at the ground,"Until someone I trusted with everything betrayed me and took over. These people are the only ones that are my true friends. We were brought to the prison section, but we escaped. The Digidestined were watching my house, this was the only other place I could think of."

Mrs. Tachikawa nodded. "Yes, of course. Come, make yourselves comfortable."

Sora nodded. "Thank you. Mrs. Tachikawa, we discovered something secret about Mimi, and I was waiting for a reply, but then I was....I was wondering if I could look through your son's notes, if it wasn't a problem?"

Mrs. Tachikawa looked at Sora strangely. "What did you discover about my granddaughter? Did you find out about her wings?"

"Yes," Sora said,"Yeah, can you tell me anything?"

Mrs. Tachikawa sighed. "All my daughter-in-law told me was that she was part of a race that had certain powers, being able to grow wings from her back was one of them. My son placed all of his notes on video diaries before he and my daughter-in-law died. They're upstairs, feel free to look at them."

Sora bowed. "Thank you very much." She turned to her group,"You guys take it easy, I'll be upstairs."

Mimi slowly opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times. "W..what happened?" she asked herself, groggily,"I was fighting that Dark Digidestined Barker, then he..."

"He drugged us."

"Palmon," Mimi said, finding that her Digimon partner was resting beside her,"Where are we?"

"It looks like a forest to me," Palmon said, twisting her head around,"with a lake."

Mimi turned her head and saw a large blue lake sparkling in the moonlight, surrounded by thick trees. "Where are we?"

She heard a twig snap, and her head shot around. There were a group of figures walking towards her on a dust path from deeper inside the forest. She recognized three of the figures, as Barker, Skull Satanmon, and Daemon. She instantly jumped behind her Digimon. "Palmon, get ready to digivolve," she said, reaching for her Digivice.

"Wait, wait, wait," the fourth figure said, holding up his hands,"I do not wish to battle you."

Mimi stared at him. He was an older man, somewhere between 40 and 50, with a thinning buzz of white hair. Despite this fact, he had large muscle that were barely concealed by his short sleeve black shirt and gray pants and vest. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Hiroshi Eiri, the Commander of the Dark Master's armies. I am the human partner of Daemon.."

He took a step forward, when Mimi grabbed hold of her Digivice. "Please," Eiri said, holding up his hands,"I only wish to talk, we will not hurt you, I promise."

Mimi hesitated for a long while, then said,"Go ahead, talk."

Eiri nodded. "Yes, well, I need your help."

"Why me?"

"Because, you are a Wiant, or so Gregory here tells me."

"W..what does that have to do with anything?" she asked, starting to feel her heart about to jump out of her chest. She never had to face a Mega Digimon and an Ultimate by herself before.

"Let me tell you a story," Eiri said, placing his hands together behind his back,"I had run away from Japan to see the world when I was about your age, maybe a little older. How old are you?"

"17."

"I was about 18. Anyway, I was in America when the Gulf War broke out. I decided to volunteer my services to the United States government. I was sent overseas to Iran almost instantly. During a routine training mission, my unit and I were ambushed. We retreated to an old destroyed temple in the middle of the desert. The enemy had killed everyone else except for me. I was certain that I was dead, when a miracle happened.

A group of angels appeared in the sky through a giant glowing circle. They came down and began to destroy the enemies before leaving. Originally I thought that they had saved me, but, later I realized that they were only protected that temple.

Eventually the rescue team came to save me, and brought me to a hospital back in America. I, of course, had to tell what happened in my report, but no one believed me, no one, except a group of computer programmers calling themselves the Monster Makers. I told them the story, and warned them not to disturb what was buried under the sand, but they didn't listen. One of those Monster Makers, was your father."

"W-what?" Mimi asked,"How..how can that be?"

Eiri shrugged."I don't know. I can only assume that since you have wings, your father must have met a Wiant when he investigated the temple ruins and...well, you know how babies are born."

"My...my mother had wings,"Mimi mumbled.

Sora's eyes were wide open. "I..I don't believe this!"

The redhead had gone upstairs to the attic and had found Mimi's late father's video diaries. She had watched a couple tapes, mostly about him in college and so forth, until finally she hit pay dirt. "Mimi's father...knew about the Digital World? He..he was one of those Monster Makers? I need to find out more."

Sora ejected the tape she was playing and put the next one in. Mimi's father appeared and started talking,"I just received word through my normal sources that an America Soldier that had just returned from the Gulf War claimed he saw a group of 'angels' appear to him through a 'glowing circle'-a gate...' This could be a Digital Gate. The Monster Makers and I are headed there soon to interrogate this, 'Hiroshi Eiri."

The screen turned to blue, then turned back to Mimi's father. "We have confirmed that Officer Eiri did witness a Digital Gate opening, but we have not been able to confirm what those 'angels' are. We are now journeying to this 'temple' in the Middle East to see if his fear that something is buried there is true."

The screen faded again and then turned to both Mimi's father and mother. Mr. Tachikawa turned to the camera and spoke,"What Eiri told us was true, there was something buried in that temple. My asso-er, my wife, will explain."

Mimi's mother turned to the camera,"What was buried beneath the temple in the Middle East was a very powerful Digimon called Apocalymon. The dimension you call 'The Digital World', once existed as s 'compilation' of all the myths and stories of early Earth, including the myths of the Japanese city of Kyoto with the four Gods protecting it, as well as the stories and tales of angels."

"The four Gods...?" Mimi's father asked.

"Yes, Azulongmon, Zhuqioamon, Baihumon, and Ebonwumon. These Guardians watched over the pre 'Digital World' until the coming of Apocalymon. This evil monster, created no doubt, by almost every culture's idea of the end of the world, brought fear and destruction across the 'Digital World' before being stopped by the Guardians. My ancestors, the Wiants, aided them. After their battle, only Zhuqioamon was left. He used the last of his strength and sealed Apocalymon's power away in five sacred stones, which were hidden across the land. The Wiants then sealed Apocalymon and hid him away, in the other world, Earth. That is what the Monster Makers found in the desert temple."

Mimi's father interrupted her,"The Wiants?"

"Yes," Mimi's mother nodded,"My clan was no doubt birthed by stories of angles. We existed in the other world, down through the centuries, making sure that no one disturbed Apocalymon's tomb. Once our old world began to become flooded and merged with this world's computers and video games, during the 1980s, my race dwindled to a handful. After the remaining Wiants fought the soldiers at the desert temple, a terrible thing happened, the Wiants died out. I became the only one left. I then decided to position myself in front of the desert temple, to protect Apocalymon. I was too late, the Monster Makers had already found the tomb, and stole Apocalymon's body."

Mimi's father sighed, and started to rub his head. "What have I done? If only I had...."

Mimi's mother walked over and started to rub her husband's back,"It's funny, I spent by whole life, ready to stop anyone from uncovering Apocalymon, and, yet, ever since I met you...all that matters, is being here with you."

Mr. Tachikawa smiled,"I am happy I found you. I guess if you hadn't arrived late at the temple, we might never have met."

"You were late too, huh?" she laughed,"I forgot about that."

The scene faded out, then returned with Mr. Tachikawa and a man wearing glasses that had a bluish tint to it. Mr. Tachikawa's face had stress lines and he looked he had not slept in days. "I am here with the leader of the Monster Makers, Dr. Jonyu Wong. Dr. Wong.."

He nodded and sighed. "I am here to report that we have had a great...accident. We started to use Apocalymon in our attempts to create a powerful Digimon warrior. During our experiments, we began to create thousands of different types of Digimon, that started to populate the Digital World, but...there was an unforeseen accident, Apocalymon was revived and escaped."

"We have tried to search for him," Mr. Tachikawa said,"But, it is like he has disappeared. My wife has tried to use her Wiant powers to look for him, but, our daughter has recently been born, and..I don't want her to grow up without a mother...or a father."

"Don't worry," Wong said, turning to Tachikawa,"We'll find Apocalymon, we'll correct our mistake."

Sora was in complete shock, so much that she didn't notice the tape was over. "Mimi's father...found Apocalymon?"

"The lake behind you," Eiri said,"Contains a Zhuqioamon Stone. However, only the power of the Wiant can free it. Help me free the stone for the Dark Masters. You must help us, help us restore order to the Digital World!"

"I don't have to do anything!" Mimi shouted,"Giving the stone to the Dark Master will only bring the Digital World under an evil control!"

"Your fellow Digidestineds have one stone, the Digital Warriors have another, Oikawa has the third stone. The Dark Masters already have one, give them the last stone, and they can end this fighting and bring order to the Digital World!"

Mimi held up her Digivice,"Palmon, we may need to fight our way free."

"If you digivolve or try to escape," Daemon said, holding up his palm,"I will be forced to destroy your Digimon."

"I won't go down so easily!" Palmon shouted,"Come on, Mimi, use the Digivice!"

"Palmon," Mimi said,"T-they're too strong for you, even as Lillymon. I have no choice. I have to give them the stone."

Eiri smiled. "Excellent. Use your Wiant powers, and raise the structure that houses the stone. Do it, now!"

Mimi sighed, then turned to face the lake. She pulled off Yolei's red sweater to reveal her tight black tank top. She took a deep breath, shoving her wings out of her back, spreading them out in their glory. She raised her palm towards the lake and took another deep breath, firing what looked like red lighting into the center of the lake. Her face instantly became stressed with pain.

"Mimi!" Palmon cried.

"I'll...be...okay..." she huffed,"It's....just...heavier than I thought...." She was breathing heavily and her face was turning red. "I've...all...most got it!" She took another deep breath and concentrated with all of her might.

The water of the lake slowly parted as a white structure arose from the bottom. The electric lightning bolts disappeared from Mimi's hand as she fell to the ground, panting. "No...w-wonder it was so h-heavy," she coughed,"It's got to be made of marble or something."

Daemon hovered over to the marble podium that had appeared in the center of the lake. He grinned when he saw what he was looking for. On top of the podium, resting underneath a clear box, was the Zhuqioamon Stone. With simple ease he destroyed the glass box, and flew back towards Eiri.

"Excellent work," his human partner said,"The Dark Masters will be very pleased." He turned to Mimi,"Now for you." Barker grinned and started walking forward.

"You said you wouldn't hurt us!" Palmon protested.

"I promised I wouldn't hurt you," Eiri said,"I didn't say anything about Gregory."

"Palmon," Mimi ordered,"Digivol-uh, ah, ugh." Her eyes drooped close as her head slammed down. Barker smiled slightly as he removed his fist from Mimi's stomach.

"That should at least shut her up," he said, turning to see Skull Satanmon holding an unconscious Palmon in his arms. "Commander, we're ready."

Eiri nodded. "Good, then let's head back to the base." The quartet turned to leave. As they were walking through the forest path, Mimi's Crest of Sincerity slid off of her neck and landed in the grass, its glow slowly fading, waiting for a new owner.

Seadramon slightly landed outside of the large ship. Michael jumped off as his Digimon returned to his Rookie form. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Betamon asked.

Michael nodded, turning his head towards the Dark Master's ship. "I have to know, I have to know about myself. Ever since those Digimon found us outside of Santa Carea, we have been guessing at our true pasts, our true selves. Lucifer says we were part of the Dark Masters, I want to know. Don't you?"

Betamon hesitated for a second, then nodded.

"I see you two are here also."

Michael and Betamon shot around and saw Oikawa and his Digimon landed a few feet from him.

"Why are you here?" Michael demanded.

"Probably the same reason you're here," Oikawa said, as Pharaohmon regressed to Daitiramon,"You've got a past that you don't know about, that somehow the Dark Masters do."

Michael crossed his arms. "You mean that little transfer process that they did to you? Ha, apparently, I am a Dark Master."

Oikawa was silent for a few seconds,"Well, I think you may have got me there." He took a deep breath,"Well, are we going in, or what?"

Michael nodded. "I don't like the idea of going anywhere with you, but, until this is over, let's call a temporary truce."

"Deal," Oikawa nodded. Suddenly, a section of the Dark Masters' ship opened and a bridge descended to the ground. "Looks like an invitation."

"After you," Michael said, mentioning with his hand.

Matt cheered as his Digimon landed a kick in Wargreymon's stomach. Tai's Digimon bent over in pain, clutching his stomach. "Wargreymon!" Tai shouted out,"Look out!"

Tai's Digimon tried to move out of the way, but Metalgarurumon hovered into the air higher then him, and slammed his head into Wargreymon's head, making him crash into the ground.

"Yes!" Matt cheered.

"Wargreymon!" Tai shouted, walking towards the crater,"Wargreymon!"

Suddenly Wargreymon shot up from the hole in the pavement and slammed his horn into Metalgarurumon's stomach. Matt's Digimon screamed out in pain. He placed both sets of paws on Wargreymon's head and dislodged him. The two Mega Digimon stared at each other for a second before charging at each other again.

"Takato?" Kari asked,"Henry? Kazu? W-who are you guys?"

"Do you know something about Michael?" Noriko asked.

The color from the light haired boy's face drained as he looked at her. "U- ah, Noriko, I didn't know you were here."

"Do you know me?"

The one called Takato took a deep breath. "I'll explain on the way," he said, as he, Henry, and Kazu turned and started running out of the alley.

"Hey!" Kari shouted, running after them,"Wait up! Where are we going?"

"It will be dawn in a few hours," Takato said,"And then the Day of Apocalypse will begin. We need to be at the Dark Masters' ship before then."

"The what?" Izzy asked, as the Digital Warriors ran after the trio.

"It's when Apocalymon...." Takato sighed, still running,"We need to get to the Dark Masters' ship soon. We can take you there."

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Ken asked,"Are you one of the Dark Digidestined?"

"No," the one called Henry shook his head,"You want to get to the Dark Masters anyway, right? If you come with us, listen to our story, then I'm sure you will trust us."

The Digital Warriors looked at each other for a second, then nodded to each other. "Okay," Kari said, "We're in."

"Good," Takato said,"Guilmon, Henry, Terriermon, Kazu and I will ride on Guardromon. If any of you needs a ride, Guilmon can digivolve, but I would prefer to keep the number of large Digimon flying towards the Dark Masters' base at a minimum."

"We'll be find on Megakabuterimon," Izzy said, nodding to his Digimon.

"Exveemon shouldn't be too large," Davis said.

"You've got it, Izzy," Tentomon said,"Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon digivolve to Megakabuterimon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

The group of mysterious kids and digimon climbed onto Guardromon, while, Davis, Kari, Gatomon, a still sleepy Taisuke and Taisuke's Agumon jumped on Exveemon, with the other Digital Warriors piling onto Megakabuterimon. "Where are we going?" Izzy's Digimon asked.

"Just follow me"! Guardromon said, hovering into the air.

"Now," Kari said, turning to the strange group,"What's going on?"

Takato cleared his throat. "Let me start at the beginning. Heh, I never really prepared myself. Well, to start off with, the six of us aren't from this time, we're actually from twelve years in the future. The Digital World is completely under the control of the Neo-Digiwold Empire, ruled by the evil Emperor, Apocalymon. He's not satisfied with simply control the Digital World either, five years ago, our time, he begin to attack Earth. We...what's wrong?"

The Digital Warriors all had funny looks on their face. "Time travel is impossible," Ken said,"It simply can't be done."

"Izzy has plans for a time machine that he wasn't able to build due to lack of materials," the boy called Henry said,"He hid those plans in a time capsule beneath his house that we will find in 2017."

Izzy's face was pale. "You could have just asked my parents about that."

Takato nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of goggles, which he threw at Davis. "Those look familiar, don't they?"

All eyes were on Davis as he reached up to his head and pulled off his own goggles. "T..they're the same," he muttered,"Look right here, on the strap next to the left eye, there is the same design I...that Tai scribbled in. How did you get these?"

"I got them from my father," Takato said quickly.

"Your father?" Kari asked,"Is..is Tai your father?"

Takato hesitated for a couple of seconds, then said,"No, you are my mother."

Kari's face paled as she stared at him, she then turned to her fellow passenger. "D..Davis?"

"That's right," Takato said,"You two are my parents. My real name is Takato Motomiya. Because a simple change in the time stream can ripple out and alter everything, we were warned to wait to reveal ourselves to you until after our births, so there wouldn't be any chance that we wouldn't be born. If I told you, then something happened and I was never born, then I couldn't be in this time, trying to alter the future, in which case I would be born, then I would travel back...it would create a giant time paradox which could inadvertently destroyed the time stream. However, if we waited until after we were born, then we would probably be too late to change things. We had to settle until after we were conceived."

Kari was still in shock, but was able to say,"W..wait. I..I'm pregnant? B..but, I'm only fifteen! I was only with him just a few hours ago, t-this can't be."

"It is, Mom," Takato said,"I will be born nine months from now. We calculated it a million times, and each time we came up with the same answer. I was just conceived."

"Wait," Mina said,"So isn't there a chance that you could still not be born?"

"Yes," Takato said,"But, I have to take a chance, or we wouldn't be able to change anything. It's possible that if somehow I won't be born, then, Henry or Kazu would be telling you this story instead of me."

Henry spoke up. "We really had to wait until after Kasumi was conceived before we could do anything."

"Kasumi?" Davis asked.

"She was our leader in the future, but, she was killed," Takato said, sadly,"She was the one that found the plans for Izzy's time machine, and helped to bring the children of the Digital Warriors to the power level we are at now. If it wasn't for her, then in all likelihood, we would have been killed long ago."

"Who is she?"

Takato smiled slightly. "She is the child of my uncle Tai....and Sora Takenouchi."

"Sora?" Kari said, completely confused,"but...she wants to throw my brother in jail, right now, she wouldn't even think of..." Suddenly, realization dawned on her face,"The night at the hospital..." she said, almost in a whisper,"Right after Tai fought Oikawa."

Takato nodded. "That was the time to start to appear to you. However, Henry did give Tai the blue card to make his Digivice into a D-Arc during the battle with Oikawa. We determined that giving him the D-Arc then wouldn't change what happened that night. Tai would have won the battle, but he would have been much more injured then he is."

"D-Arc?" Taisuke said, starting to wake up,"What's that? Oneesan, what's going on?"

Takato reached to his belt and pulled out a strange Digivice. "This is a D-Arc. It is a Digivice that we can use in conjunction with these special cards. These are called Digi-modify cards. You see, we knew that Uncle Tai was going to lose his Crest of Courage powers to you Mom, so we decided that part of the changes we would make to stop Apocalymon would be to give Tai a D-Arc. Rika had the same idea with her father."

"Even though I thought that if we intervened and kept the Crest powers where they were, then maybe we could save the future," Henry said, crossing his arms.

"What happened to Kasumi?" Davis asked, getting control of the situation.

"She was killed, about three years ago, our time," the boy named Kazu spoke up,"We think by Rika."

"Rika? You know Rika?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Takato said, nodding,"She is a Digimon Tamer like us, and is from our time. She lead the Digidestined, before they were whipped out by Neo-Digiworld."

"Apocalymon's empire," Noriko asked.

"Yes."

"Henry, you and Kazu called her a Princess," Gatomon started.

"She is a Digidestined Princess," Terriermon said, peeking on Henry's shoulder,"And a real spoiled on at that."

"She's the daughter of the Digidestined leader..."Takato started.

"Sora had another child?" Wormmon asked.

Takato shook his head. "Not Sora, Matt."

"Matt?" The Digital Warriors all asked.

"Rika's alias is Nonaka, but her real name is Ishida. She is the daughter of Matt Ishida and Rumiko Makino, a teenage super model. She's actually a little older then us, so that's why she appeared to General Ishida and Sora before Kasumi was conceived, because her mother is already one month pregnant."

"Matt is in charge of the Digidestined?" Izzy asked,"How is that?"

"Most of our knowledge of pre 2015 has been destroyed by Neo-Digiworld," Henry said,"but, if what limited information we have is correct, then General Ishida has just overthrown Sora as leader of the Digidestined. The rift between the Digidestined and Digital Warriors has increased greatly in our time. The Digidestined see the Digital Warriors as dangerous outlaws and should be destroyed."

Matt dove for cover behind a trash dumpster as Wargreymon's latest attack sent Metalgarurumon into the top of an apartment building, destroying a section of the roof that sent the debris crashing into the street below.

The pedestrians were terrified, screaming, charging into one another as they tried to escape from the battle above. It was nearing dawn, and the streets were starting to become crowded with people trying to start the day.

Tai knew that they couldn't keep this battle going in the city, but he didn't think Matt was going to listen to him. "He's so determined to bring me in for something I didn't even do," Tai thought,"I've got to get him away from the city."

Metalgarurumon recovered himself from the roof and shot at Wargreymon, nailing him in his stomach. Before the cyborg Digimon could move, the warrior Digimon reached down and tossed him into another building roof.

"Be careful!" Matt shouted,"These are innocent people!"

"You too, Wargreymon!" Tai yelled,"Move towards the water front!"

"Right," Wargreymon nodded, shooting over the Tokyo harbor, with Metalgarurumon right behind him. As soon as Wargreymon spun around to engage Metalgarurumon, the dog Digimon opened all of his missile chambers. "Ice Wolf Claw!" Wargreymon was able to dodge the first two, but there were plenty left. The rest of the missile impacted him in various places, covering him in a sheet of ice.

"Wargreymon!" Tai shouted, running to the water front. "Wargreymon!"

"Finish him!" Matt ordered.

Metalgarurumon nodded and fire another set of missiles that shot towards the frozen Wargreymon. Tai quickly grabbed the stack of cards that appeared to him. "Let's see if these things really work," he said, grabbing his new D-Arc. "Digi-modify! Meramon's Body Flame activate!"

Matt shot his head towards Tai. "What did he just do?"

Up in the sky, Wargreymon's body began to glow red. Suddenly the ice shattered apart, with enough time for Wargreymon to backhand the missile back towards Metalgarurumon. Matt grabbed his own deck of cards and slid one through his D-Arc. "Digi-modify: Teleportation activate!"

Metalgarurumon grinned, then vanished. "M..Matt," Tai said, staring at him,"You have one of those Digivices and Cards too?"

"What of it?" Matt asked,"I'll discover where you got yours when I interrogate you in the File Island Prison!"

Back above them, Wargreymon was turned his head back and forth, trying to find his opponent. "Where is he?" he asked, spinning around, only to see Metalgarurumon smash his head into Wargreymon's head. Tai's Digimon grabbed Metalgarurumon and shot him into the water, only to have him reappear a second later, blasting into Wargreymon with a blast from his mouth. Tai's Digimon dodged out of the way, and flew to attack.

Michael and Oikawa cautiously made their way through the hallways of the Dark Masters' ship. As they walked through the endless hallways covered with doors of various colors and sizes, Oikawa turned to his reluctant partner. "So, does any of this ring a bell?

Michael turned and glared at him. "I told you that I don't remember anything."

"Right, right," Oikawa said, turning his head back forward.

The rest of the journey was made in silence. The quartet silently walked through the ship, their eyes turning each way to try and find something. Something that would give them a clue to their true identities.

Eventually they arrived at a with a set of identical doors. Michael started to walk down the hall. He cautiously opened one of the doors and looked inside. "This must be the residential wing," he said, closing the door.

"I think this is the science wing," Oikawa said, pointing to a perpendicular hallway a few feet from the main hall."Look what I found."

Michael nodded, then followed him into the science wing. This hallway had door with small windows that lead to laboratories filled with chemical beakers and unholy machines. In one room they saw a man with light bluish hair, and a woman with short black hair. They looked like they were doing something under a very large machine that looked the bottom of a giant microscope. Both of them looked up at the same time, then smiled at each other. The woman said something, and then the two of them started kissing.

"I don't want to disturb them," Oikawa said,"But maybe they know what's going on here."

Michael nodded. He was about to open the door, when he heard footsteps. The quartet spun around. "Lucifer!" Oikawa said.

The Dark Master and Piedmon grinned. "Well, I was wondering when you two would make it here."

"We want to know what's going on, right now!" Michael demanded. "Who are we, really? If I'm a Dark Master, why did I have amnesia outside Santa Carea?"

"What did you do to me in the truck?" Oikawa asked,"What am I?"

Lucifer hesitated, then turned around and started walking up the hall. "About seventeen years ago I became aware of the world within the computer, or, the Digital World as you called it. I constructed a device and was able to enter the Digital World. When I arrived, I received my Digivice and met my partner. When we started exploring the Digital World, I discovered this..." He pointed to a small dark globe that was hanging around her next,"This is my Essence of Shadow. With it my Digimon was able to reach his Mega level.."

Piedmon turned around and grinned, then followed his human partner up the hall. Michael and Oikawa nodded at each other, and then followed.

"So," Taisuke asked, wanting to be a part of the conversation,"Do you guys have Crests, like my Onnesan?"

Takato smiled. "I guess it would be too weird to call you Uncle Taisuke, huh?"

"What?" he asked.

"No, we don't have crests, we have Essences."

"Like what Rika had?" Kari asked.

"That's right," Takato said,"The Essences are very old powers of the Digital World, and from what we know, each Crest is connected to an Essence. I have the Essence of Halo, from which the Crest of Miracles was created. Henry has the Essence of Strength, and Kazu has the Essence of Metal. They act like Crests."

"Rika had the Essence of Luna?"

"Yes, that Essence is newly created. In our time, it was remade from the destroyed Essence of Ice. Kasumi has the Essence of Sol, which was created from the Essence of Fire."

"So," Izzy said,"Both daughters have remade version of their father's Essences. Does that mean that they're dead?"

"Yes, in the future we, the Tamers, are really the only ones left."

The Digital Warriors were silent for a second, then Ken asked,"So, what is the future like?"

"It's horrible!" Guilmon said,"All the bread is gone."

"What he means," Henry said,"Is that Earth is at war, all of it. Everyone is fighting one another. Neo-Digiworld is destroying everything, everyone is dying. Even now, this world is just a lesser version of the future."

"Not like the Digital World in 1990," Takato muttered.

"I thought you said that you didn't really know about the world at this time period," Mina pointed out.

"We don't," Takato said,"The Digital World was so badly destroyed and altered by Neo-Digiworld, that any Digital map was useless. So, to that end, I traveled back to the year 1990 in order to construct a map that we could use later."

"You were here in 1990?" Noriko asked.

Takato nodded. "Yes, humans were just started to be able to appear in the Digital World, so I wasn't too out of place. In a bar one day, I met two people, and we decided to work together as mercenaries. It seemed like the best way to check out the Digital World quickly. They were Ukyo Oikawa and Peter Nerez."

Lucifer continued walking through the hall. "During a business venture, I was made aware of a group of mercenaries operating in the Digital World called the Tri-Warriors. They were Peter Nerez, Ukyo Oikawa, and a boy named Takato Matsuki. I began to the three of you to eliminate my competition and sometimes to round up escaped experiments of the Monster Makers."

"The what?" Oikawa asked.

"The couple that you just saw in the lab, they were the last two remaining Monster Makers, Dr. Jonyu Wong, and his wife. Back in 1990, they wanted to create a powerful Digimon they could sell to warring nations on Earth. When they appeared to me, they were searching for an escaped project of theirs called, "Apocalymon. I didn't care about that, but, I started to fund them to give me a powerful Digimon. Sometimes their experiments would escape, and the Tri-Warriors would round them up for us. "

"We called ourselves the Tri-Warriors," Takato explained," During one our missions, Peter found the Essence of Water, and was able to get his Digimon to the Mega level. After a few missions, we were hired by Lorenzo del Lucifer.."

"What?" Kari asked,"You were hired by him?"

"In our time, there are no Dark Masters, just a group of Digidestined serving under Apocalymon. I believe you know them as the Dark Digidestined. They are lead by a man we only know as "The Dark Minister." I didn't know that he was Lucifer, nor did I know that there was a Dark Master called Peter Nerez. From the limited knowledge that we did have was that there was a warrior named Ukyo Oikawa, but he disappeared."

"What?" Noriko asked,"What happened to my father?"

Takato sighed,"I'm...I'm going to get to that."

"Right," Noriko said, looking down,"I'm sorry."

"There was one assignment that we were given," Takato continued,"To hunt down a dangerous Digimon named Kimeramon."

"The Digimon called Kimeramon," Lucifer said, looking over his shoulders to see Oikawa and Michael following him,"escaped from the Monster Makers complex. I sent you after him. When you arrived, however, you were incredibly over powered." He looked at Michael over his shoulder,"Even with your Essence of Water, and Takato's mysterious Essence of Halo, you were having a hard time. Somehow, Daitiramon was able to digivolve to Pharaomon, and the three Megas defeated Kimeramon, or, so I am able to guess."

"What do you mean?" Betamon asked.

"We were not there to view the battle," Piedmon said,"When we arrived, Kimeramon was holding on by a thread, Nerez was unconscious, Oikawa was dead, and Matsuki was gone."

"During the battle with Kimeramon," Takato said,"We were able to defeat him, but, as he fell to the ground, he shot out an attack that hit Peter and Ukyo, knocking them both into the ground." Takato sighed, looking to the ground,"I..I honestly thought that Peter was dead, and...and Ukyo was dying. I thought that since we didn't have any information about him, I thought that then was when he was suppose to die, but..but after spending a year with him, becoming his friend, I couldn't just let him pass on. I figured that if I brought him into the future, but left his body here, it would still be as if he died."

"What?" Noriko asked,"What do you mean?"

Takato held up his hand,"What I did was, I used a special device and downloaded his mind, his memories, his personality, his soul into a CD, leaving his body a tabula rasa, but, that didn't matter, because his body expired moments later. I seriously thought Nerez was dead, so, with nothing left in that time period, I returned to the future."

Lucifer stopped and turned around, looking at Michael. "You started to wake up after I arrived, with Oikawa dead and Matsuki gone, your group was finished. You then officially joined me. We soon gathered Christina Mora and Ferdenel Bizzard, and became the Dark Masters. Others joined us, The Dark Digidestined, and we started to plan our conquest of the Digital World. As for Kimeramon, I developed an ingenious plan, I would disguise Kimeramon as Ukyo Oikawa. That, my friend, is you."

The color drained from Oikawa's face."W...what? I...I'm...I'm...."

"Ukyo?" Daitiramon asked, looking at his human partner.

"That's right," Lucifer smiled,"You...are...Kimeramon."

Michael turned to Oikawa, trying to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. He turned back to Lucifer.

The Dark Master continued,"The Monster Makers began a process that took almost ten years to complete, the process of turning a digimon into a human. The Monster Makers slowly altered the very molecular structure of Kimeramon, turning every single part of him into a human, so perfectly that not even a trained doctor would be able to find a problem."

"But why?" Michael asked for Oikawa.

"Because Kimeramon had a special item inside of him, a bio-generator. However, that generator alone was not storing enough energy for what I needed, so I was required to siphoned your single generator into the bodies of those children."

"For what?"

Lucifer grinned,"My master plan. Don't bother asking, I'm not going to tell. I, unfortunately, had no idea that he would gather an army and conquer the Digital World. It turned out to be more profitable than I thought. I, of course, kept a close eye on him, and was very interested when he found a Zhuqioamon Stone in the Santa Carea cave. I did research and discovered that the others were hidden in the Land of Modem. I and the rest of the Dark Masters left for here to search for them. I gave orders with my chief scientist Lady Krake to monitor Kimeramon's battle with Kamiya. That is why she rescued you, because I needed the energy that your generator would produce. I have no idea who that girl Noriko was, or why she thought she was Oikawa's daughter..." He shrugged slightly,"Maybe she really is Oikawa's daughter."

"Fine," Michael said,"Then answer me this, how is it that I am only eighteen? And how were Mora and Bizzard only ten-years-old, yet, were Dark Masters also?"

"In the year 2000, we had successfully conquered the Digital World. However, we would not have it. A Monster Maker that separated from the others put a program into effect that banished all humans from the Digital World except for himself. I believe you know him as Genai."

"G..Genai?" Oikawa asked.

Lucifer nodded. "The humans may have be banished from the Digital World, but our connections to our Digimon were strong. We watched as Genai opened a Digital Gate and pulled the Digidestined to fight our Digimon. They killed Devimon, Ladydevimon, Metalseadramon, Puppetmon, and Machinedramon, and each time of the Digimon died, the energy connection made their human partners perish also. Except for Piedmon. All Tai Kamiya succeeded in doing was knocking him out. With him alive, I was able to set out resurrecting my soldiers."

He turned around and started walking up the hall. "While you were dying, I quickly downloaded your soul, as it were, onto a special CD, leaving the part of their bodies that was really them safe as their bodies died. Using technology that remained after the Monster Makers left me, I was able to begin to clone the dead soldiers, in conjunction with an age accelerator. I determined that a 'blank state' body was able to survive in the age accelerator until the age of ten. After the body was ready, I would downloaded the soul into the new body. I started with you, Nerez. Your resurrection went very well, however, a transportation accident near the town of Santa Carea resulted in you and Betamon being lost to us. I can only assume that the two of you suffered blows to your head, which resulted in amnesia."

Michael reached up and lightly touched the back of his head.

"After you were lost, I had to replace you, however your soul was in your new cloned body, so I had to make do with only your memories. I set out to create another clone, imagine my surprise when the clone turned out to be female!"

He sighed,"The cloning machine used a radioactive ray to jump start cellular replication. Somehow, that same radiation also mutated the genetic structure of the DNA, sometimes making it female, other times male. The hair color might be wrong, the size and weight could be different, and yet sometime I received an exact duplicate. It all depended on certain factors, such as how dirty the machine was, or other particles in the room. In any events, I tried fourty-nine other times before achieving a clone that was similar enough to you, despite the fact that it was female. I gave this female clone your memories, even though she had to develop a soul on her own, which she did quite nicely, as did the rest of the Nerieds...."

"Melissa," Michael said.

Lucifer nodded. "Right. She became the leader of the Nerieds. Well, I had fourty-nine useful soldiers, I wasn't going to get rid of them."

"My plan," Takato said, staring at the pre-dawn sky,"Was to clone Ukyo in the future and download his mind into the new body, but, something went wrong."

"We had a cloning machine, as well as an age accelerator, thanks to my father," Henry said,"He was one of the Monster Makers, and he wanted to stop Neo-Digiworld."

Kazu nodded. "We cloned Ukyo's body, but, somehow the radiation that jump started the cloning process mutated the DNA into a girl's DNA, the XY gene became an XX gene."

"According to my father's notes," Henry said,"Due to various circumstances, such as dust in the room, how strong the ultraviolet and microwaves were and whether they were even present in the room, certain things that could, basically block some of the radiation, would result in a mutated DNA strained."

"We couldn't leave Ukyo's soul on the CD forever," Takato continued,"He was still unconscious, but, he was starting to wake up. If he did, it would be horrible. He was realize that he couldn't see, hear, feel, anything. It could result in his soul...passing on. So, we downloaded him into his female clone. We were just going to kept him there until we cloned a male body, but..'sigh' but then Neo-Digiworld found our hideout. We had to flee, the Empire destroyed everything, every last bit of our machinery, every last page of notes. Everything was gone. We had no choice, Ukyo Oikawa was now in a female clone of himself."

"There was another age accelerator in one of our old bases," Henry said,"So we brought him-er, her there and progressed her until the age of 9. We had to 'program' other memories for her mind, suddenly waking up in another body, another sex, would cause extreme shock. We 'adjusted it' so that she would remember gradually. That girl, is you, Noriko."

"W..what?" she asked, the color draining from her face,"I..I'm what?"

Takato nodded. "My plan was to bring you back to this time period a few years after you 'died.' I was very surprised when I returned to the year 2000 and found Ukyo Oikawa ruling the Digital World. For a second, I thought that I had screwed time up very badly, but, when I saw the other Oikawa in person, I realized that it wasn't the same one, he was a fake. I decided to place Noriko here close to the fake Oikawa to determined who he really was. I was even more surprised when I presented Noriko as his daughter, and the fake Oikawa didn't question me."

He looked to the ground as he continued,"When I was traveling with Ukyo around the Digital World, I remember him telling me that his greatest dream was to start a family and have a child. I guess that part of the real Oikawa was inside of the fake one." He shrugged, slightly, "Maybe Noriko's missing memories just fueled the fake Oikawa. Maybe they just built upon each other's 'world'."

"How could you do that to me?!" Noriko shouted.

"I'm sorry," Takato said, handing his head low,"I was only trying to help."

"How?" she shouted,"by...by doing this to me?"

"Noriko, calm down," her Kunemon said,"Please."

She turned her gaze away from Takato, crossing her arms. "This is what happens when people play God."

"What about the others?" Michael asked,"Mora, Bizzard and the other Dark Digidestined?"

"I resurrected them shortly after you, but, because I only had two age accelerators, Michelle Azuna and Mark Lambert aged at a normal rate. I would have kept Mora and Bizzard in the accelerator chamber until they had reached the maximum, but time was of the essence, the Digidestined were searching for the Zhuqioamon Stones, and I needed the help. That is why Mora and Bizzard are now eleven years old, while Azuna and Lambert are only seven."

Michael nodded. "Yes, I..I see."

Lucifer grinned. "Now that you remember, do you understand? Are you with me, my friend?"

Michael kept his eyes to the ground, then looked up, a smile on his face,"Yes, I am. I am sorry that I hurt you and your soldiers."

Oikawa turned. "W..what did you just say?" he whispered,"Come on, we're going to need each other's help to get out of here."

"I am not going anywhere," he said,"I belong here."

"What is your partner talking about?" Daitiramon asked.

Betamon kept staring straight ahead as he responded. "We are staying with the Dark Masters, we belong here."

Daitiramon looked horrified. Suddenly he felt something clamp on the top of his head. "What did you do to them?" Betamon asked, seeing that Oikawa had a similar black device clamped around his neck.

"I just simply gave them something to keep them in line," Piedmon smiled,"It's called a Dark Ring, and it should keep them from escaping.

"Come now," Lucifer said,"I have sent the other Dark Masters to get the stone that the Digital Warriors have, and the Dark Digidestined have gone to escort a 'guest' of ours. Come, let the six of us journey to the Digidestined camp and take the Zhuqioamon Stone they have."

Michael nodded. "Lead the way, my friend. Let us crush the Digidestined, then we'll destroy the Digital Warriors, then, nothing will stand in our way!"

A giant thunder clap sounded in the dawn sky as Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon slammed into each other. The two Megas shot apart, then rammed each other again. Metalgarurumon closed his mouth in Wargreymon's leg and flung him into the ground, tearing up a small plane of grass. Wargreymon recovered himself and shot back into battle, while below, Tai and Matt watched with fierce interest.

Over the course of the past few hours, they had managed to move the battle, albeit slowly, towards the edge of the Tokyo City boundaries. At the pace they were setting, they would be out of the city and to an area with far less people in a half-an-hour. Still, they couldn't simply move to the safe area, then continue their battle. Each was afraid that the second they paused to talk, the other would gain the upper hand. So, through an unspoken pact, they would move their battle as fast as they could to a safer location.

Matt flinched as Metalgarurumon was flung into a building roof. Tai gasped when Wargreymon was nailed with a missile attack. Both Digimon paused for a second, allowing them to catch their breath. They quickly descended to the street, their eyes locked together.

"Well," Matt said, his back to a building as Metalgarurumon landed next to him,"It looks like our Digimon are even in power."

"Yes," Tai said, his back towards an opposite building, as Wargreymon landed,"It does."

"Why don't you just give up now," Matt said,"Save me the trouble of having to outsmart you, since Metalgarurumon can't outgun Wargreymon."

Tai smirked. "Hey, I thought I was the warrior here."

"Just a warrior who is going to lose," Matt grinned.

"What happens to the other Digital Warriors?" Tai asked.

"They'll soon join you in the Digital World prisons."

"What about their families?" Tai asked,"What about their lives?"

"What do you think prison is?" Matt asked, with a slight laugh.

"And you said I had ice running through my veins," Tai mumbled.

Matt growled, and jumped on Metalgarurumon. He reached for one of his cards,"Digi-modify..."

Tai climbed onto Wargreymon. "Digi-modify... "

Both digidestined stared at each other,"...Energy Boost activate!"

Their digimon each felt an increase in strength as their fatigue washed away. "This is round two, Tai," Matt said,"Are you ready?"

"As ready as you are, Matt," Tai grinned.

"Attack!" Matt commanded as Metalgarurumon shot forward.

"Let's go!" Tai ordered as Wargreymon launched towards his enemy.

Metalgarurumon opened all of his missile chambers,"Metal Wolf Claw!"

Wargreymon pulled his fist back,"Mega Claw!"

Next: The battle between Tai and Matt is only starting to heat up. As two of the strongest digidestined clash on Earth, in the Digital World, Lucifer, Michael, Oikawa and their Digimon have arrived at the Digidestined base, demanding a Zhuqioamon stone. The Digital Warriors, meanwhile, are about to attack the Dark Masters' ship for their stones, but Eiri and the Dark Digidestined show up instead. Just when it seems it can't get worse, Apocalymon makes his grand play for the stones. Next: "The Day of Apocalypse" and on his day, Apocalymon plays for keeps.