Digimon 1. Chapter 1: I'm Going Digital

**A/N: Hi guys! Welcome and thank you so much for reading my first ever Digimon fanfic! I hope you all enjoy it, and don't harp on me when I change up a few things. They won't be major (at least I don't think so), it'll be ages (I like writing older kids) and I'm adding OCs, stuff like that. I will also add a little (AN #) at certain parts if I feel there needs an explanation. And feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Just a heads up: Tai is 18, Davis is 16 (Yes, there's a reason behind the age difference between them), Takato is 15, and Takuya, Marcus, Mikey, and Kira (my first OC) are all 17. So, here is the beginning! Talk to you later girl scouts!  
-LivingTheSPNLife**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or their characters; I only own my OCs and the story idea.**

Kamiya Residence, Saturday, 10:10 A.M.

"Tai, hurry up or you're going to be late!" the leader of the old Digidestined heard his partner shout from the living room.

Tai, currently, was running around his room like a crazy person, rifling through drawers and tossing away everything in sight in hopes of finding his soccer jersey. He could have sworn he had placed it in his hamper to be washed, but it was nowhere to be found. He groaned and dumped out his laundry hamper for the fourth time.

"Tai, did you really lose your soccer jersey?" Augumon questioned, his surprised voice sounding nearer.

Tai let out a frustrated growl and began tossing his dirty laundry around the room in hopes of finding the red and white jersey he needed. "I didn't _lose_ my soccer jersey, _Augumon_. It was misplaced!" Tai called back, almost to the bottom of his laundry pile.

Tai could hear the orange dinosaur snort. "Misplaced like the time you _misplaced_ your address book when we were searching for the eighth Digidestined or _misplaced_ like the time you couldn't find your math homework and realized you left it in – oof!"

Tai huffed in frustration when his search came up empty. He turned around to say his retort to Augumon and laughed when he saw one of his school shirts and a sock stuck to Augumon's large, orange face. "Now who's the one that's been misplaced?"

Augumon's claw reached up to knock off the clothes from his face. "Tai, this isn't funny!" He'd now managed to take off the sock and shirt, but both were tangled around his claw. Augumon wrinkled his nose and shook the clothes off away from his face. "How long has it been since you've washed these, a year?"

**(AN: 1)**

Tai chuckled, helping the clothes from Augumon's claw. He tossed them back into his laundry hamper.

"Are you sure you're going to find your jersey in this wreck you call a room? I'm shocked Kari can stand it."

Tai rolled his eyes. "I'll find it, don't you worry!" he reassured his orange friend, shoving his dirty laundry back in its hamper.

"You do realize you have twenty minutes before the game starts, right?" Augumon said, closing the dresser drawers Tai had opened earlier.

"You worry too much, Augumon. You're starting to sound like Joe, you know that?" Tai commented, standing upright. He tilted his head, his thick, spikey, milk chocolate brown hair falling with it as he thought. He snapped his fingers and raced to the closet, an idea popping into his mind. "Found ya!" Tai exclaimed, snatching his red and white jersey off the hanger.

"About time," Augumon huffed. "You hung it up in the closet? That can't be right… you never hang up your laundry right away."

As Tai slipped on his jersey, he frowned. "Gee, _thanks_ Augumon, you make me sound like a slob. If you wore clothes you wouldn't fare any better."

"Actually, I would. I'd never have dirty clothes; my claws would cut the cloth if I tried to wear anything."

Tai grabbed his soccer bag and rolled his eyes. "Oh shush. Are you ready?"

Augumon nodded, moving through the doorway. "We better hurry or Davis and Veemon might just already be there before us."

Tai snorted as he followed Augumon out the door. "Yeah, the day that Davis shows up to a game early will be the day Myotismon actually gets to take over the Human and Digital Worlds."

**(AN: 2)**

As the pair were about to walk out of the door to the Kamiya residence, they noticed a blinding white light flash in the other room. The two partners looked at each other in concern. The two nodded at each other and cautiously walked toward the computer room, where the light had emanated from. They poked their heads into the messy room to find nothing out of the ordinary. Tai walked closer to his dad's computer, checking to see if the mysterious light had come from it.

When the search came up empty, Tai shrugged and turned around with Augumon to head to his soccer game. They took a step before the mysterious white light engulfed them.

**(AN: 3)**

Odaiba High School, Monday, 3:30 P.M.

Davis Motomiya dragged his feet down the empty school hallway; DemiVeemon perched atop his spikey mahogany hair and his heavy backpack on his right shoulder.

"Look at the bright side Davish," the little blue dino cheerily began, "at least the detention is over now!"

Davis smiled a little bit, DemiVeemon's cheer rubbing off on him. He shook his head in disbelief as he said, "But it's high school, DemiVeemon; you would think that they would be more lenient on the whole 'being late to class' thing."

"Isn't that a common rule in high schools?"

Davis spotted his locker and moved to open it. "Well there should be an exception when you're prepping for the soccer game Thursday night. It's not fair that I get into trouble and Ken doesn't. He was practicing _with_ me and barely left a minute before I did."

DemiVeemon hopped off Davis's head as he opened his locker and traded textbooks. "Ken left about ten minutes before you did though."

"Okay, _maybe_ you're right, but still!"

DemiVeemon shrugged. "So what are going to do tonight, Davish? Does it involve food?" DemiVeemon asked excited, a big smile lighting up his white face.

Davis chuckled and closed his locker, putting back on his backpack. He peered down at his partner and raised an eyebrow. "Is that your subtle way of telling me that you're hungry?"

DemiVeemon flashed Davis an innocent look. "Possibly."

Davis took a step forward, motioning for DemiVeemon to follow him. "Come on, Slowmon; let's see if Yolei will let us raid her parent's convenience store before we go home."

"Good idea, Davish! You're so smart!" DemiVeemon waddled after Davis hurriedly.

The two were almost out of the hallway when they heard a small beep to their right; it sounded as if something were turning on. Davis and DemiVeemon glanced at each other in curiosity and trotted over to a nearby classroom. Davis twisted the doorknob and poked a head inside. Desks were scattered about the room, computers placed atop each one. Since the room was devoid of people, Davis stepped inside, closing the door after DemiVeemon.

"Where do you think that noise came from, DemiVeemon?" Davis asked, walking about the room.

"Gee, Davis, I think it came from the computers over here," DemiVeemon answered, waddling over to the desk nearest to the door.

Davis rolled his eyes, wandering to the back of the classroom. "I know _that_, DemiVeemon! I meant, which computer do you think it came from?"

"I think it came from the one that turned on just now."

"What computer…?" Davis turned around, trailing off as he stared at the computer nearest to the door. He saw DemiVeemon standing in front of it, both of them watching as a white light shot out at both of them.

~~~~~~

Shinjuku Central Park, Saturday, 9:23 A.M.

"I wonder where Rika and Ryo could be," Takato mumbled, glancing at his watch. "They're late… again."

The group of Tamers – Takato, Henry, Rika, Ryo, Kazu, Kenta, Ai, Mako, and Suzie - had agreed to gather to the park where Takato, Kazu, and Kenta had always played the Digimon card game. Today was the first Saturday of the month, which meant that the portal to the Digital World would be opened until Wednesday and that they could spend the next five days with their Digimon partners. The time previously agreed upon had been nine, and Takato hadn't heard from Rika or Ryo.

**(AN: 4)**

"Come on, Takato, you know they probably had _another_ early morning date," Kazu said, slapping his hand on Takato's shoulder.

"Is it that much of a surprise that they're late?" Kenta piped in, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Every time we have some sort of meeting like this they tend to grab breakfast or something goes wrong and makes them late."

"I agree with Chumly over here," Kazu's voice boomed as he pointed toward Kenta, "We should just head to the hideout already. If they have less time to see their digimon, then that's their fault for being late to the party. I know _I_ want to see Gaurdromon again; I have a new video game to show him. What about you guys? Do you want to spend another twenty minutes waiting here like a bunch of mindless zombies standing by to obey orders from their master?"

The present Tamers were quiet, each thinking about what Kazu had said. Takato knew Kazu was right; making those who had arrived on time wait to see their digimon wasn't fair. But on the other hand, Takato wanted to wait for Rika and Ryo no matter how late they showed up; this had become a tradition for the tamers for the past three years, meeting at the park and picking up their digital partners together as a whole. As much as he could not wait to see Guilomon again, Takato didn't feel right about picking up his partner without the team there as a whole.

"As much of an idiot Kazu can be," Henry spoke up, breaking Takato's reverie, "he does have a point."

Takato looked up at his comrade. Henry looked cool as ever leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, his long, blue hair falling into his face. His gray eyes met Takato's light red ones as Takato spoke his opinion. "It doesn't feel right not going to the hideout as a big group. It's a tradition that we all go together, and I know if I were running a bit late I wouldn't want you guys to go without me."

"You call twenty-five minutes past a _bit_ late?" Kazu exclaimed, removing his hand from Takato's shoulder.

Takato shook his head. "Well, no, I wouldn't consider it a _bit_ late, but I was only trying to get my point across guys. How would you feel if you were late and we all ditched you?"

Kazu shrugged nonchalantly. "I would be fine with it. We only have five days to spend with them, Takato. Do you really want to waste that time that could be spent playing with Guilomon waiting for Rika and Ryo?"

Takato peered down at the ground for a moment. Kazu _did_ have a point. He only had five days with his playful, red-skinned dinosaur that he'd created; did he want to spend part of that time sitting around doing nothing? And even if the time limit didn't matter, Takato had to wonder, what were the digimon doing now? They usually Bio-Emerged at nine; were all seven digimon sitting around in Guilomon's Hideout right now? Were they asking themselves where their tamers were? How was Guilomon holding up? Was he hungry or bored? Takato sighed; he knew that if Guilomon sat there for too long that he'd get up and start walking around, searching for his milk-chocolate brown, long haired tamer.

"Hello, earth to Takato," Kazu said, waving a hand in front of Takato's face to regain the goggle-head's attention.

With a sigh of defeat, Takato looked up at Kazu. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right. Let's go, I guess."

"Alright! Come on guys, on to the hideout!" Kazu grinned and pivoted around, taking a step in the direction of Guilomon's old hideout. Takato followed his peppy step, freezing when he heard an angry voice address them.

"Hey! Where do you guys think you're going? Did you forget to message me that you were leaving?" the voice called out, sounding offended.

Takato turned around with a nervous smile plastered to his face. "Of course we were going to call you, Rika!" he said with a shaky laugh. "We were just going to call as we walked."

"Nice of you to finally show up," Takato heard Kazu mutter. Takato flashed his golden haired friend a look to tell him to keep his mouth shut. Kazu caught Takato's glance and put his hands up in a gesture to suggest that he was only speaking the truth.

Takato returned his attention to a sour-faced Rika and her boyfriend, and fellow tamer, Ryo, who looked at the group with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that, Kazu?" Rika questioned, crossing her arms and staring at him.

Takato knew that years ago, Kazu would've been afraid to say anything more to Rika in fear of her temper, but ever since their adventure in the Digital World and in fighting the D-Reaper, Kazu, along with the rest of the tamers, had changed. Kazu now was not as afraid of Rika as he had been – with her temper, there was always room for a bit of fear – and now he was demonstrating that new quality for the group by replying, "I said it was nice of you two to _finally_ show up. We've been waiting twenty five minutes -"

"Twenty-seven now," Kenta piped up, taking a quick peek at his phone.

"Twenty-seven minutes," Kazu continued, "for you guys to show up. You didn't call us once to say you were running late, and you expected us to call you guys to tell you we were going to pick up our digimon? Can you please tell me how that makes any sense?"

Takato say Rika open her mouth and braced himself for a mean, angry retort. However, it never came. Instead, Rika grasped Ryo's hand and, sending her boyfriend a quick glance, said, "You're right, Kazu."

Takato looked at Rika with furrowed brows. _What?_ he thought. He knew Rika had changed ever since everything had happened, but her admitting that Kazu had been right never happened. She hadn't said it with malice or any sarcasm, either. Takato was beginning to think he'd woken up to some other dimension or that some digital creature was possessing her until Rika finished her statement.

"I don't like admitting you're right because then you walk around as if you're the king of the world and annoy me to the point where I want to smack you, but we should have called you guys."

Takato chuckled. Now _that_ was Rika, talking about slapping somebody because they annoyed her.

Rika frowned and turned to Takato. "What are you laughing at, Goggle-head?"

Takato smiled a bit nervously – three years and Rika still frightened him at times – and replied in a wavering tone, "N-nothing. Um, anyways, why were you guys so late?" Takato hoped that Rika wouldn't accuse him of changing the subject.

Rika stared at him for a moment before Ryo answered, "Well Princess and I had grabbed breakfast and on our way over here when my car broke down. We had to wait until we could get it towed before we could walk here."

Rika nodded. "And then we got to talking and didn't think about calling you guys."

"Okay, so now that everyone shared what they needed to say, are we ready to head to the portal?" Henry spoke up, stepping away from the tree he'd leaned against. "I'm sure Terriermon and the others are sitting in the hideout very impatiently, and if we make them wait any longer I'm sure he'll go out and wander about looking for us."

"Yeah, and I really want to see Lopmon again!" Henry's little sister spoke, moving to stand next to her brother.

"And we really want to see Impmon again, so can we please go?" Ai spoke up, hugging her brother.

The other tamers nodded. "You're right," Takato said, smiling in excitement, "Let's go see our digimon everyone!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Guilomon's Hideout, 9:28 A.M., Saturday

"Where is Takatomon? He's late," Guilomon said sadly, waving his long, muscular tail back and forth. His winged ears curled down as his expression saddened.

"Momentai!" Terriermon exclaimed, walking over to the red dinosaur. "I'm sure Henry, Takato and the others will be here shortly! I know Henry always says they'd be earlier but Rika and Ryo spend too much time on their dates and run late."

Renamon glanced at the white and green floppy-eared bunny and laughed. "Yes, Rika always mentions how sorry she is that she's late. She always blames Ryo though," she said, flashing Cyberdramon a sidelong glance.

Cyberdramon shrugged. "I don't pay too much attention to Ryo's tardiness. As long as he's here, that's okay."

Guilomon sighed. He missed Takato; the times between their visits were too short for Guilomon to be happy. He glanced around at the other digimon, happy to have their companionship but sad that none of them were as playful as he was. Terriermon and Guardromon were the only ones that played with Guilomon, and even then, it wasn't as much fun as when Takato was with him. MarineAngemon was too small for Guilomon to play with and too difficult to understand. Impmon played sometimes, but most of his playing was tricks, most of which Guilomon did not like. Cyberdramon, whenever Guilomon had talked to him, was too aggressive to play with, and Lopmon and Renamon always seemed too mature to play with Guilomon.

Tiny footsteps made Guilomon's eyes glance up. He spotted Impmon walking toward the exit of the hideout. "Impmon, what are you doing?" Guilomon asked curiously, cocking his head to the side as he watched the little demon digimon.

Impmon's eyes settled on Guilomon as he answered, "Those humans are taking too long; I'm going to go out and find them."

In the corner of his eye, Guilomon saw Renamon shaking her head. "No, Impmon. Rika and the others told us to wait here for them. What if we leave and they come here looking for us? Then we'll be lost and our partners will be worried."

"I can't sit around any longer! At this rate it seems like they'll never come," Impmon stated, crossing his red-gloved hands.

Guilomon's eyes glared at Impmon. "Don't say that! Takato and the others will be here like they said!"

Impmon shrugged and faced the doorway. "Maybe they will, but I'm not going to stick around and find out. You guys can stay here if you like."

Before Impmon could make it through the doorway, however, Renamon appeared in front of him in a flash, blocking the exit. "If Ai and Mako come here and find you gone, do you know how upset they'll be?"

Guilomon watched Impmon's face soften as he thought about his two Tamers, the youngest of the bunch at age seven. His face hardened again once he realized everyone was watching him. "Okay, fine, I'll stay. But only for Ai and Mako, not for any of you!"

With that issue resolved, Guilomon lied down and wrapped his large tail around him, waiting for Takato.

After a few minutes of resting, Guilomon heard something in the distance. He sniffed the air and stood up quickly, his ears perking up as he listened to the familiar laughter of Takato and the other tamers. Guilomon ran through the door, startling the other digimon, and raced down the steps until he crashed into Takato.

"Takatomon!" Guilomon exclaimed, sitting on top of his partner. "I knew you wouldn't leave us waiting!"

Takato squirmed under Guilomon's large body, trying to wiggle himself out from under Guilomon and earning a round of laughs from the other tamers before they left to see their own partners.

"Of course I wouldn't leave you, Guilomon," Takato answered, managing to wiggle his upper body free. "Why would you say something like that? Is it because of Impmon?" At Guilomon's nod, Takato added, "Gee, you'd think after three years of us continually visiting you guys that he'd be nicer, but as long as he treats his tamers kindly I guess we shouldn't ask much more of him, right boy?"

Guilomon nodded in agreement. "Takatomon?" Guilomon said seriously, his yellow eyes meeting Takato's light red ones.

"Yeah boy?"

"Can we have some Guilomon Bread now that you're here?"

Takato chuckled. "Of course, Guilomon but only if you move off me. I kind of need my legs to walk."

Guilomon hopped off Takato and looked up at him, wagging his tail. "Is that better?"

"Much. Now let's head home." Takato pivoted toward Guilomon's hideout to say his goodbye to the other tamers when he saw something bright flash. "Guilomon, did you see that light?" he asked, peering down at his partner. Guilomon nodded. "Let's go check it out!"

The two dashed up the road and up the stairs to find the other tamers and their digimon staring curiously at the tunnel where the portal to the Digital World lied.

"Are you guys okay?" Takato asked, earning nods from everyone.

"What was that?" Rika asked, peering closer down the hole.

Suddenly, the same white light flashed again, only this time, it shot out a beam of light that hit both Takato and Guilomon, digitalizing them until they were no longer on the same plane of existence as their friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Just outside Bunkamura Theater, Friday, 4:40 P.M.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting!" Zoe Orimoto called out, running to her friends, and fellow warriors, in her brand new purple sneakers she had just bought.

Koji, Koichi, Tommy, and J.P. stood near the sign that read the name of the theater they had planned to see a movie at. Koji, as always, leaned against the stone sign, one foot on the wall with his hands behind his head. Koichi leaned next to him, keeping both feet on the ground and crossing his arms. J.P. and Tommy sat on the ground with J.P. in the middle of showing Tommy one of his old magic tricks.

Zoey looked around for any sign of Takuya, but she found none. She looked at her other friends in question. "Where's Takuya?"

The boys shrugged in unison, with only Koichi answering. "We were hoping you'd heard from him. We tried calling his cell phone, but he hasn't been picking it up."

Zoe shook her head, her long, platinum blond hair whipping back and forth. "I haven't heard from him since he came up with the idea to see the movie."

"You would think that since he came up with the idea that he would be here already," Koji had muttered, adjusting the blue bandana he wore on his head. Five years she'd known him and he hadn't changed his style much. Koji looked the same, save for hair a couple inches longer and a sudden liking of sweatshirts even when it wasn't cold outside.

"Some things never change," Zoe said, not only referring to Takuya in this instant.

~~~~~~~~

Kanbara Residence, Friday, 4:06 P.M.

Takuya Kanbara sat at the kitchen table, his head resting in one hand and the other hand drumming on the table as he waited for his younger brother Shinya to finish getting ready for his soccer game. Bored, Takuya dug out his cell phone from his pocket and checked the time. He and his friends had agreed to meet for a movie at 4:30, and if Takuya was going to make it on time, he would have to leave his house now to drop off his brother.

"Shinya!" Takuya called out, stuffing his cell phone back in his pocket, "Hurry up or we're both going to be late!"

"I almost have everything together; get off my back!" Shinya called back, earning an eye roll from Takuya.

Takuya thought Shinya should have a little more respect for him considering Takuya was the one who had offered to take him to his soccer game. He didn't _have_ to drop the kid off, but Takuya had been willing to, and he felt that offer deserved some points towards respect. "Well if you would stop acting like a girl and taking forever then I wouldn't have to yell at you!"

Shinya said nothing, so Takuya went back to his drumming for a few minutes until he heard footsteps emerging from the hallway where the two boys' rooms were and the bathroom they shared.

"I'm done, are you happy?" his short, brown-haired little brother said, walking over to Takuya.

Takuya stood up as his brother approached. "Do you have everything you need? Because if you don't, I am _not_ driving all the way back here to get anything. It's too far and it's out of my way."

Shinya patted his red and white striped soccer bag. "Yeah, yeah. I have everything I need in here."

"Cool, now let's get a move on; I don't want to be late."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside Bakamura Theater, 4:43 P.M.

_Oh man, why does this always happen to me?_ Takuya thought to himself as he dashed down the sidewalk that would lead him to the theater he and his friends had agreed to meet at a few days ago. _I hope they didn't go in without me._ Takuya would've called his friends to explain his tardiness, but he stupidly forgot to charge his cell phone that day, so the best thing he could do was run as fast as he could in hopes of catching his friends before they for the movie.

_Come on! Can't you people see I'm running late? Is it really so hard to move out of the way?_ The sidewalk to the theater was cluttered with people standing around or gingerly walking, none of who seemed to be paying attention as Takuya dashed down the street like a marathon runner. Takuya consistently weaved his way through the people, bumping into some and muttering a quick, "Sorry!" as he continued on his way.

_The theater! Finally! I'm coming guys!_ Takuya, with what little energy he had left, sprinted when he saw the sign to the theater in the distance. He noticed his friends were not gathered by it, so Takuya let out a growl of frustration, disbelieving that his running had been for nothing. He had no clue what the time was, and if he was too late then he would not be allowed to see the movie. He scanned the entrance to the theater as he neared it, spotting a familiar blue bandana and long, platinum blond hair he recognized about to walk into the theater.

"Koji! Zoe! Wait for me!" Takuya yelled out in between breaths. _I need to work out more_.

The two warriors heard their names and paused, swiveling around to see Takuya racing towards them. They yelled something at someone – probably Tommy, J.P., and Koichi – and jogged to catch up with Takuya.

"_Now_ you decide to show up, Takuya. We thought you weren't coming," Koji said, his dark blue eyes settling on Takuya.

Takuya had finally caught up with them and placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily and wiping off the sweat from running. "I'm sorry. I had planned on coming early but stupid Shinya chose _today_ of _all_ days to take forever and then he had the _nerve_ to get angry at me when I _volunteered_ to drop him off at his stupid soccer game."

"Hey, Taky, it's okay," J.P. said calmly. "But why didn't you just call us?"

Takuya stood up straight, having regained his breath, and, with a hand behind his hat and an embarrassed chuckle, replied, "I kind of forgot to charge my phone."

"Well the important thing is that you're here now," Tommy piped in, a large smile on his face.

Koichi nodded. "Exactly. Now, can we all go see the movie before tickets sell out?"

The group nodded and walked inside the theater to buy some snacks and their tickets before making their way to the large theater. They walked in, debating where they should sit. Takuya, Tommy, and Koji voted for the top, while Zoe, J.P. wanted the middle. With Koichi not caring where they sat, the top of the theater won.

So once everyone had found a seat and sat down, they watched as the movie screen lit up. However, instead of the movie turning on, the screen flashed white.

"What is going on?" Takuya heard several people say throughout the theater.

Before Takuya could ask the same of his friends, a white light shot out from the screen and engulfed Takuya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patamon Village, Digital World, Wednesday, 12:54 P.M.

"Thank you for scaring away those mean Gizamon, Mr. Marcus!" a chorus of Patamon said, circling their human hero.

Marcus Damon waved his hand to say there was no reason to thank him. "It was my pleasure to help, Patamon. Those Gizamon needed to be taught a lesson," Marcus replied pounding his fist in his hand.

"Don't hesitate to let us know how we can ever repay you!" the lead Patamon said, flying over in front of the tall, muscular boy with the large orange wings on its head.

Marcus shook his head; he didn't want them to believe they owed him anything. "Just promise me you'll let me know if those pesky Gizamon attack again."

Patamon nodded and smiled. "We will!"

Marcus returned the smile and turned to leave when his earpiece beeped. He hit the button on the outer part of the device and said, "What's up?" He was unsure of who had been calling – in these past three years in the Digital World, Marcus and Augumon had assembled a team of digimon dedicated to helping the two monitor and protect the Digital World. Two years ago, they built a headquarters and divided the Digital World into different zones to make it easier for them to patrol. Some of the recruited digimon stayed at the headquarters to keep all the agents in contact with each other and to alert them of any conflicts that needed to be resolved.

"Boss, I need your help dealing with a fight between a SaberLeomon and an Ogremon," Augumon's voice replied. Marcus could hear growling in the background as Augumon snarled, "Knock it off you two! When the Boss gets here… did you just stick your tongue out at me? You little -!" When Augumon realized he was still on the line with Marcus, he added, "Palm Tree Forest, get here soon."

Marcus turned to the Patamon from before to ask, "Do you guys know where the nearest Trailmon is? Or is there a fast way to reach the forest beyond that mountain over there?" Marcus pointed to the mountain behind the Patamon Village.

Patamon glance at the mountain and replied, "There aren't too many Trailmon nearby, but I do know a way that you can reach your destination fairly quickly. Excuse me a second."

Patamon spun around and pulled aside another Patamon. The two Patamon talked briefly before the other one flew off. The Patamon in charge flew back over to Marcus. "Give us a few minutes and your ride will arrive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Palm Tree Forest, 1:13

"**Howling Crusher!**" SaberLeomon yelled, launching himself at Ogremon with his teeth bared.

"**Bone Club!**" Ogremon countered, holding up his club in defense.

SaberLeomon's attack struck the club, leaving his teeth caught in the wood. Ogremon used this to his advantage and swung the yellow lion to the side, causing SaberLeomon's teeth to dislodge.

Augumon moved between the two, using his "**Spitfire Blast!**" to keep Ogremon from clobbering his opponent.

"You two need to stop fighting!" Augumon called out, glancing between the two digimon. "I know you think Ogremon is trespassing, SaberLeomon, but this is one of the few ways for him to get back to his home."

SaberLeomon growled, narrowing his eyes at the Ogremon before him. "He should know to notify us before he walks into our territory. For all we know, he could be here to raid our food supply!"

Ogremon shook his head. "No, I got lost delivering a message to the Ogremon living in Foggy Forest. This was the only way home that I knew; I promise I'm not here to steal from you!"

SaberLeomon ignored his reasoning and charged once more at Ogremon with a "**Howling Crusher!**"

As Ogremon braced himself for impact with another "**Bone Club**", a voice shouted, "**Loader Morningstar!**" A yellow object crash-landed in front of SaberLeomon, halting him in his tracks. Before him stood a yellow, mechanized lion digimon with a mace for a tail and a tall, muscular human with black pants, a white shirt, and an orange sleeve-less jacket. He had long, wood-brown hair that went down past his shoulders and fell into his face, almost obscuring his determined green-brown eyes.

"I believe my partner told you to stop," Marcus said calmly, gesturing his head to Augumon.

"Like I should care about you, human," SaberLeomon growled, "Stay out of my way!"

SaberLeomon pounced past Marcus, aiming for Ogremon, when the digimon next to him attacked.

"**Tornado Storm!**" the digimon, which Augumon now recognized as LoaderLiomon, called out. His mechanical mane spun around to create a windstorm that knocked SaberLeomon into a tree.

**(AN: 5)**

SaberLeomon recovered quickly and stood, glaring at LoaderLiomon. SaberLeomon raced over toward LoaderLiomon and raised a claw to attack. Marcus, unable to watch any more, raced over toward SaberLeomon and jumped up with raised fists, connecting with SaberLeomon's forehead. Orange data surrounded Marcus's fist as he pulled out his orange and black digivice.

"DNA Charge… Overdrive!" Marcus called out, landing as he swiped his hand along his digivice.

"**Augumon Warp Digivolve to… ShineGreymon!**"

"Now do you care about me?" Marcus called out, earning SaberLeomon's attention. "Now, back off or you become ShineGreymon's new play toy!"

SaberLeomon turned to ShineGreymon and said, "Bring it on!"

"**Howling Crusher!**"

"**Glorious Burst!**"

ShineGreymon's attack hit SaberLeomon before he could strike the mechanic dinosaur. The burst of light energy knocked SaberLeomon to the ground, injuring him. The lion tried to stand, but his legs kept giving up.

Seeing this, Marcus faced the edge of the forest where the rest of the SaberLeomon clan watched. "Now, do any of you have an issue with letting this Ogremon through?"

The SaberLeomon shook their heads and moved to the side, creating a pathway for Ogremon to go through. Before he went through, Ogremon turned to Marcus and ShineGreymon and said, "Thank you so much!"

Marcus nodded his head in acknowledgement and watched the Ogremon pass through without any issues. ShineGreymon reverted back to Augumon and walked over to Marcus.

"Thanks for the back-up, Boss," he said, happy that his partner had made it.

"Of course, Augumon, I'm glad I got here in time," Marcus replied. He spun around toward LoaderLiomon and said, "Thank you so much for your help LoaderLiomon. I would have never made it here on time without you."

LoaderLiomon nodded his head. "Well the Patamons are good friends of mine and said you were in need of help, so I was glad to contribute to your effort of helping out. I wouldn't mind joining your team, actually."

"We could always use another member," Marcus said excitedly. "We'll take you to our headquarters and give you a brief rundown of how things work."

"Alright."

The two digimon and Marcus were making their way through the crowd of SaberLeomon when a bright white beam of light shot out from the sky and enveloped Marcus and Augumon, leaving LoaderLiomon standing by himself, looking toward the sky for the human and his partner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kudo Residence, Saturday, 11:47 A.M.

"Mom, I'll be back later today! I'm going to the park with Yuu and Tagiru today!" Mikey Kudo said as he slipped on his red sneakers and tied them.

"Okay, Mikey, have fun and drink lots of water!" his mother called from the kitchen, making herself some lunch. Mikey could smell unfamiliar spices in the air as he stood up and grabbed the basketball he kept in his room, so he figured she was cooking something new.

Knowing his mom worried too much, Mikey said, "I will, I promise!"

As Mikey slipped on his signature green goggles, the doorbell rang.

"Mikey, could you grab that?"

"Got it!" Mikey called out, making his way to the door. He wondered who their visitor could be. It couldn't have been Yuu or Tagiru since he was meting both of them at the park, and it couldn't have been Angie or Jeremy since he hadn't made any plans with either of them, so when Mikey answered the door, he was surprised. "Angie?" he said, looking at his brown-haired best friend with her school bag in hand.

"Mikey, hey!" she said, smiling when she saw him. "I wanted to know if you wanted to study for our math test Monday." When her eyes landed on the basketball Mikey was holding, she added, "Unless you have plans, that is."

Mikey nodded, hating to disappoint his best friend. "Yeah, I promised Tagiru and Yuu that I would practice with them before our game Monday night."

Angie sighed. "I should've known to call you beforehand. When _don't_ you have plans? I swear you are the busiest person I know, Mikey!"

Mikey chuckled. "Well, if you want, we can study for the test afterwards. You can watch the practice if you'd like; I doubt Yuu and Tagiru would care much if you were there."

"Yeah, I can do my other homework while you guys practice."

"Perfect!"

Ten minutes of walking later and the two had arrived at the basketball court Mikey and his friends practiced at. Yuu and Tagiru were already there, sitting down and talking. The two stood up and greeted Mikey and Angie with warm smiles.

"Hey guys," Mikey greeted, waving his hand. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited Angie along so she could do homework while we practice."

"Of course, she's always welcome," Yuu said, inclining his head to say hi to Angie.

"Thanks, Yuu. Now I'll leave you three to your practice; just pretend I'm not here," Angie said, walking to the nearest park bench and setting her stuff down. She dug out a textbook, notebook, and pencil and got to work.

Mikey turned to his two other best friends and said, "You guys ready?"

For forty minutes straight the boys practiced without stopping for water or bathroom breaks. They played each other one-on-one, alternating opponents until Mikey realized how tired and thirsty they all were. After the last game had ended, Mikey stopped, ready to call for a break.

"Tagiru," Mikey said, gaining the other goggle-head's attention, "What time is it? I left my phone at home to charge."

Tagiru pulled out his cell phone and read the time. "It's twelve forty-six."

"Okay cool. We've been practicing for about forty minutes now. I say we all deserve a break, so let's take fi -"

Tagiru's cell phone flashed a brilliant white light, and when the boy blinked, Mikey was nowhere to be seen.

**(AN: 6)**

~~~~~~~~~~~  


San Diego, CA, Tuesday, 3:17 P.M.

_I knew I should have left my house earlier_, Kira Rom thought to herself as she rested her head in her hand. She sat in her car stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for her lane to move. She'd been waiting in this lane for five minutes already, and she was already running late for her dance internship at Melony's Dance Studio, one of the most prestigious dance studio's in the state of California.

She sighed; she knew running late would be greatly frowned upon and was something she could potentially lose her dance internship over, but she could only hope for the best. Normally she would call whomever she was supposed to be meeting, but her dance instructor had sent a message to the students informing them that she would not be teaching today, but there would be a sub in her place, a sub with no number to contact them with.

The only thing Kira could do now was hope for the best. It had been pure luck that she'd even gotten the internship at all. Whitney Vixen, her dance instructor and person in charge of selecting the candidates for her dance participants, had been driving past Kira's school when her car had broken down. She called for roadside assistance and had discovered that Kira's school was close by and that Kira's dance class was throwing a practice performance for the incoming eighth graders, so she had decided to check it out. She watched the performance and had liked it, especially Kira's work. Whitney then contacted the dance teacher and was able to get in touch with Kira and invite her into her studio for an internship and, if she did well enough, possibly a spot in her dance company.

_Finally!_ The traffic in front of Kira had begun to move faster, and soon, Kira reached her destination. She had arrived seven minutes late, so she quickly ran inside the studio and into the bathroom to change into a loose-fitting light blue t-shirt and black yoga pants with a pair of mismatched purple and blue socks. She quickly locked up her stuff and raced to the studio where her fellow dancers were stretching.

She joined in, acting as if she hadn't been late in hopes nobody would realize her tardiness. Several of her peers glared at her as she stretched, but that was nothing new to Kira. Most of the dancers in Melony's Studio class were in their early twenties to their early thirties since the dancers in the company tended to be in that age range. Kira's young age of seventeen was a rarity and a first; she was the youngest person to attend Melony's Dance Studio. Most of her peers envied the potential Whitney saw in Kira and gave her rude stares and made rude remarks day after day, but Kira didn't care. She hoped that as soon as she turned eighteen that she'd score a spot on the professional squad and leave this class.

But for now, Kira had to remain in the class. To make things worse, the substitute teacher had noticed Kira's lateness and had beckoned the young girl over. Kira took slow steps toward the teacher, knowing that her slow pace would help her in the end.

"Who are you?" the teacher, a girl that Kira pegged to be in her early thirties, asked, eying the strawberry blond teen. The sub was scrawnier looking than Whitney, Kira thought, but she figured the sub did not dance as much as her teacher or as hard. She also had dark chocolate brown hair wrapped in a tight bun and piercing blue eyes.

"Kira Rom," she answered, meeting her gaze.

"Ah, you're the young one. I should know to expect tardiness from a teenager," she said in a condescending tone that angered Kira.

Kira's teeth clenched together before she responded with, "Excuse me? I'm sorry that there was a traffic jam on the freeway that I didn't know would happen when I left. I mean no disrespect, but I can assure you I show up earlier than these other girls most days. So don't stereotype me based on my age."

The substitute raised an eyebrow and stared at Kira expressionless until she spoke and addressed the whole room. "Any other sub may come in here and let you all mess around or report to your instructor about the time you arrived and what you did. I prefer to write performance evaluations and report about not only what you did, but how much effort you put into it. I will kick you out if I feel you are not working hard enough." With a glance at Kira, she said, "Now, Ms. Rom, I believe you and your peers have concert pieces to work on. Mind helping me get us started?"

Kira felt speechless at how quickly the substitute's attitude had changed. "Y-yeah. Sure thing."

Kira grabbed Whitney's laptop and turned it on to play the music her and her fellow dancers would be performing to in their upcoming spring concert. She set up the speakers and soon the class was back on track, even choreographing their own parts to Supermassive Black Hole, one of the songs they were performing.

After the two hours of class time had passed, the sub, Mrs. Blake, dismissed the dancers.

"Kira, would you mind helping me put away everything?" Mrs. Blake asked the teen as she stepped toward the locker room.

Kira pivoted and nodded. "Yep, I'll be right there!" She hurried into the locker room to change into a comfy pink cheetah print top, black, skinny denim jeans, and a blood red pair tennis shoes. She slipped on her class ring and grabbed her black gym bag with the words "Dance" written on the side and met Mrs. Blake in the studio. As Kira moved to shut off the laptop, a white light illuminated the room for a quick second, whisking Kira away with it as it faded.

**And there we have it ladies and gentlemen! I hope you enjoyed it! It's longer than I had thought it would be, but as long as it's good, that's all that matters, right? *crickets sound* Well, before I get to my side notes, I would like to thank you again for reading and I ask you to please comment and review. Tell me what you liked and didn't like, or feel free to drop a question or PM me with one. I am not sure how often this story will be updated, I am working on another one (for a different fandom) for a friend and I have a lot going on in these next few weeks, but I will decide on a schedule and try to do as much as I can for you! Ta ta for now!**

**-LivingTheSPNLife**

**A/N 1: A big thank you to my best friend ****NarikotheShadow ****for giving me that idea and for helping me make sure my characters had good chemistry with their partners and that this story was funny! :D**

**A/N 2: I don't know if they do this in Japan, but I know in America we have club sports where anyone can join regardless of age or grade. I imagine Davis and Tai part of the same club soccer team.**

**A/N 3: Davis is in a different time and place, and you will find out that reason soon!**

**A/N 4: So we all know how Takato found that the portal still worked, right? Well, watching the ending scene again it seemed to take Takato a while before he found it. That is why I think that the portal is open only during a certain time. **

**A/N 5: LoaderLiomon is on Digimon Wiki if you guys want to look him up. Most of the digimon I use will be on there. Just a side note though.**

**A/N: 6: Two things here: first, I am using the dub name for Mikey, Angie, and Jeremy. I started watching Xros Wars when it was dubbed as Digimon Fusion and that's what I know them best as. Also, I haven't watched the Hunters season either, so in my story, none of that has happened yet. **


	2. Chapter 2: It's A Whole New World

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the wait! I tried to get this chapter done as soon as I could, but school's kept me busy! But I'm back now, which is what I think is most important. I provided you with an extra long chapter (31 pages!), which I hope you all enjoy! I would like to throw out a big thank you to my best friend, greatest supporter, and amazing editor, Nariostheshadow for all of her help in this! She's an amazing person, and she deserves a shoutout. Thank you to all of you who left comments and who have followed and favorite me and this story, I really appreciate your support! Now, to the story! A reminder that the ages are as follows: Tai is 18, Davis is 16, Takato is 15, and Takuya, Marcus, Mikey, and Kira are all 17. I'll talk to you afterwards!**

**-LivingtheSPNLife**

**_Previously on The Ultimate Clash of Heroes: Tai and Augumon, on the way to Tai's soccer game, stopped by Tai's father's computer room to be abducted by a flashing light. Davis and DemiVeemon, after detention, get abducted by the same light in a classroom. Takato, after meeting up with the other Tamers on the day their digimon Bioemerge into the Real World, runs to Guilomon's old hideout and, with his partner, is taken away. Takuya meets his friends at a theater expecting to watch a movie, but before the movie began, the white light took him as well. Marcus and Augumon, after a battle between a lost Ogremon and some pesky SaberLeomon, are taken as well. Finally, Kira is the last one to be taken after her dance class. Now, what is next for our young heroes?_**

* * *

Green Leaf Forest

_Where am I?_ Takuya wondered, blinking his eyes as he took in his surroundings. The first thing Takuya noticed were trees. Thick barked trees surrounded him, their thick, bright green leaves overlapping, blocking out most of the sunlight. Patches of the sun's bright rays broke through, revealing a small pathway. It seemed to be the only true way out of this forest, so Takuya stood up from the dirt and brushed it off, pausing when he looked at his clothes.

When Takuya had left to drop off Shinya and meet his friends, he'd worn a dark red t-shirt, dark-wash jeans and black sneakers. Now, Takuya had on a yellow shirt with a "D"-like symbol on it under a red, short-sleeve jacket with chest pockets, dark brown Bermuda-type shorts, red and orange sneakers with white socks peeking out paired with brown-green gloves. _What am I doing in these clothes?_ Takuya stared down at himself in astonishment, recognizing these clothes as the ones he had worn during his visit to the Digital World. Takuya raised a hand to his head to find that his military-green hat and square goggles had also made a sudden appearance, taming his fluffy, dark, reddish brown hair. The ends of it underneath his hat flipped out, giving him a skater-like appearance.

_This is too weird,_ Takuya thought, curious as to what had brought about his sudden change of clothes. _Did the white light from the theater do this? Why would it care about my clothes? I thought I'd made a style improvement, guess the light thought I was wrong._

With a shrug, Takuya followed down the small, bush-lined path, kicking rocks as he walked. He felt bored, wishing he knew where he was and where he was going. He wondered what the other warriors were doing at this moment. Were they still at the theater? Were they searching for him? Or had that mysterious light abducted them, too?

"**Ninja Blade!**" a voice called out from behind Takuya.

Takuya swiveled around to face whoever had spoken, but instead of a person, he saw a silver object flying at him. Had it not been for the tiny rays of sunlight that filtered through the cracks in the trees, Takuya would not have seen the object flying toward him. He ducked, hearing the object slice the air above his head. He heard it slice through something and turned to see whatever had attacked him had cut straight through a tree. The tree fell toward Takuya, so with an irresistible yell of "Timber!" Takuya ran out of the way, rolling to the ground as the tree crashed several feet away.

Takuya let out a breath of relief just as he heard the same voice shout, "**Blade Boomerang!**"

_Why can't I catch a break?_ Takuya thought begrudgingly as he stood up to see where the next object would whizz by. He heard the sound of a blade slicing air to his left, so Takuya dropped to the ground to avoid the strike. As his eyes tried to follow what looked like a throwing star, Takuya noticed a clunky, red and black object lying on the ground. _My D-Tector!_

Takuya rose to his knees and moved to grab it, but he heard the sound of a blade slicing air once more. He summersaulted to the ground to swipe up his D-Tector, avoiding the throwing star in the process.

"Alright!" Takuya exclaimed, a grin forming on his face. "Let's do this! **Execute! Spirit Evolution!**" Takuya called out, swiping his hand on his D-Tector.

He awaited the familiar feeling of fire licking his skin – he always felt it when becoming Agunimon – but it never came. Takuya peered down to see he was still human, still in those same clothes he had worn all those years ago. _Ugh, come_ on_!_ Takuya let out a frustrated huff of breath and tried again. "**Execute! Spirit Evolution!**"

Once more, nothing happened. _Third time's got to be the charm!_ Takuya swiped his hand over his D-Tector. "**Execute! Spirit Evolution!**"

"**Star Storm!**" a voice called out, speaking at the same time as Takuya.

**(AN: 1)**

This time, Takuya was not quick enough to dodge the attack completely. Dozens of throwing stars flew toward Takuya. The boy dropped to the ground in hopes they would pass over him, and most did, but not all. Three of the throwing stars nicked Takuya's ride side and one hit his left shoulder. Takuya sank to his knees in pain, holding his side and shoulder with his hands. He could feel blood pooling beneath his hands as he glanced up to the trees to see a figure emerge. It was small and round, and when it stepped into the sunlight, Takuya could see a purple bandana wrapped around the digimon's head and a long silver sword that looked as though it could cut through anything.

Takuya gulped as the digimon hopped off the branch and raised its sword as it fell toward him. Takuya closed his eyes to wait for the impact as it called out, "**Ninja Blade!**"

"Takuya!" a voice called out. It sounded familiar to Takuya, but he couldn't quite place it. "Pyro**Tornado!**"

Takuya's eyes snapped open to watch a tornado of flames strike the digimon, knocking it into a tree. The tornado of flames landed in front of Takuya and slowly extinguished itself to reveal a red and white armored digimon with blue eyes, three horns on its head, and long, yellow hair cascading down its back. Takuya's mouth opened and closed a few times, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the sight in front of him.

_No way, this isn't real. Is it?_ Takuya thought, finally able to say something. "A-Agunimon?"

Agunimon nodded. "Yes, it is I, Takuya. Good to see you again, my friend."

"How did you -? How are you here? Aren't you some sort of spirit still?" Takuya sputtered out, reaching out to touch Agunimon. The digimon felt real enough.

Agunimon shrugged. "I have no answer for you, Takuya. I only know we were brought to the Digital World somehow, although I don't believe this is our Digital World."

"What do you mean it isn't our Digital World? Does it have a new owner or something?"

"No, I mean -"

"**Star Storm!**"

Takuya and Agunimon looked at each other in alarm before Agunimon picked Takuya up in his arms bridal-style and leapt out of the way of the oncoming throwing stars. Agunimon set a dizzy Takuya down and turned back to the digimon in front of him.

"Kogamon," the Legendary Warrior spoke, "I cannot allow you to continue attacking the innocent! **Pyro Darts!**"

Fire spewed from Agunimon's arm gauntlets, allowing him to throw the fire darts at his opponent. Kogamon dodged and, leaping to a tree branch, used his "**Ninja Blade**" to throw more throwing stars at Agunimon. Agunimon leapt to the side, realizing that his long-range attacks would not be effective in this sort of battle.

"**Pyro Kick!**" Agunimon launched himself at Kogamon, flames engulfing his leg as he neared the ninja digimon.

Kogamon hopped off the branch at the last second, causing Agunimon's attack to strike the tree. Agunimon fell to the ground hard, letting out a growl of frustration.

"Agunimon!" Takuya called out, drawing the warrior's attention. Takuya pointed over to the right, where a silver object laid, the sunlight glinting off it. "Grab his sword!"

Agunimon nodded and race to Kogamon's sword to beat Kogamon to it. Agunimon reached it first and picked it up, slicing behind him as Kogamon appeared. The little ninja digimon stared up at Agunimon in shock as its data streamed out into the air in bits. Agunimon then ran over to Takuya to tend to his medical needs.

"Kogamon really did a number on you, didn't he?" he commented, peering down to examine Takuya's injuries. Takuya gave a weak nod, feeling light headed.

A clapping noise sounded from somewhere, followed by a female voice that said, "Congratulations on defeating Kogamon. You two demonstrated good teamwork and great devotion for each other." Takuya thought she sounded a bit like Ophanimon. "For your efforts, I can provide you with the answers you both seek and the medical attention you need, Takuya. I have sent the coordinates to your D-Tector; I expect to see you both shortly."

"Got it," Takuya mumbled, his eyes closing as he fell unconscious.

* * *

Vertias Beach

"This is definitely _not_ my soccer game," Tai commented, standing next to Augumon as the two partners took in their new surroundings.

The two were standing in soft, white sand with a dark blue ocean surrounding them. A large, rocky mountain stood behind them, appearing to be an intimidating climb with its large height. At the left side of the mountain appeared to be a small forest. _A forest? Next to the beach?_ Tai thought, turning to his partner.

"Augumon, do you know where we are?"

The orange dinosaur shook his head, glancing up at his partner. A confused look passed over Augumon's face. "Tai, did you change your clothes?"

Now it was Tai's turn to look at his partner in puzzlement. "What are you talking about Agu… oh! What the -?"

Tai peered down at himself to find he no longer wore his soccer uniform. In its place was a blue T-shirt with an orange star on each sleeve, a yellow pocket on each side of the chest, and three yellow buttons on the top over a yellow shirt. He had on brown shorts and blue and white sneakers with yellow stars on them and white socks sticking out. Tai also noticed he wore a black wristband on the left arm, white gloves, the blue headband he used to wear on his head all the time as a kid to tame his hair, and the goggles he had given to Davis. The only thing that appeared to remain was the soccer bag hanging over his shoulder.

"Why am I back in this?" Tai muttered, glancing around as he set the soccer bag down. "Something tells me we're not in Odaiba anymore, Augumon."

"Then where could we be?"

"**Aqua Blaster!**"

A jet of water shot out from the ocean before them and hit the two, sending them crashing into the mountain hard enough to leave a small indent in the rocky structure.

Tai coughed, choking on the water. "Augumon, are you okay?" He looked at his partner, the water dripping off his skin.

Augumon nodded, moving to help Tai up. "I'm fine, but I think you're right; we aren't in Odaiba. We're in the Digital World, Tai."

Tai shook his head, confused. "How'd we end up back here?"

"**Aqua Blaster!**"

Tai and Augumon both saw the stream of water shoot at them, so they ducked to the side quickly, avoiding the hit. The mountain took the strike this time, a small crater remaining in the water's wake.

"I don't know," Augumon answered, eyes focused on where the water had shot out from, "but we need to find out who's attacking us. **Pepper Breath!**" Augumon sent a small fireball at the spot the water had shot out from, steaming the top of the water.

When the steam cleared, Tai and Augumon watched the water ripple and a pink-skinned creature with long, yellow hair sticking out from its head and a large, gray shell emerge from the water.

"Shellmon?" Tai groaned. "Can we never get rid of him? Time to Digivolve, Augumon!"

"**Augumon Digivolve to… Greymon!**"

"Let's show this sea monster how we like our shellfish!" Tai called out to Greymon.

"I like mine nice and crispy. **Nova Blast!**" Augumon shouted, sending a large fireball at Shellmon.

Shellmon sprayed another "**Aqua Blaster**" to douse the flames in mid-air and continued to make its way to Tai and Greymon.

Greymon tried once more, sending one "**Nova Blast**" after another at Shellmon in hopes of one strike hitting its mark. Greymon figured Shellmon's "**Aqua Blaster**" could only douse his flames for so long. However, Greymon was proven wrong when Shellmon crawled back into the water, increasing the power of his attack, knocking Greymon back from the impact.

"_Come on_!" Tai groaned, feeling as frustrated as he had the last time he and Greymon had faced the shellfish digimon. He felt unsure of what to do; they're fire attacks weren't strong against Shellmon's water ones. It wasn't as if they were able to digivolve to Ultimate either, not since the older Digidestined had sacrificed their crests in order to strengthen the barrier of the digital world. "Greymon, let's get rid of him the same way as the first time!" If Greymon's attacks weren't strong against Shellmon, then they'd have to go with brute force.

Greymon nodded, charging at the pink creature. Shellmon's hairs at the top of its head outstretched toward Greymon, but the giant T-Rex knocked the hairs aside and attacked them with a "**Nova Blast**" as he neared Shellmon. Shellmon growled in pain and turned its eyes on Tai, sending its hairs to strike the human. Tai dove to his right, rolling on the ground until he found a decent sized tree branch he could use in defense. Tai picked up the branch and swung it at the oncoming hair, but Shellmon's hair only took the stick from him and snapped it in half.

Tai gulped. "Uh, Greymon? I could use a little weed killer over here!"

By the time Greymon heard Tai call for help, Shellmon's hairs had already wrapped themselves around him, tightening their grip. Tai tried calling for help once more, but the hairs had constricted his air as he struggled to get away.

"**Nova Blast!**"

Tai felt himself flying as the hairs, still tightly holding onto him, snapped back to Shellmon. The shellfish digimon opened his mouth and brought Tai closer, ready to eat him.

"**Nova Blast!**"

Tai saw one of Greymon's fireballs pierce Shellmon's head, torching the hairs that held him. Tai landed on the ground hard, trying to recover his breath. He realized he would have to catch it later as he saw Shellmon's hand-foot thing – Tai was unsure what to call it – moved over him and slammed down to crush the boy. Tai rolled out of the way to avoid the hit, sand covering him from the impact of Shellmon's foot-hand. **(AN: 2)**

When he had wiped the sand from his face, he saw Greymon and Shellmon going at it. Shellmon tried to spray an "**Aqua Blaster**" at Greymon, but he fired a "**Nova Blast**" to cancel it out, as he had the first time the pair had fought Shellmon. Greymon maneuvered his head underneath Shellmon and tossed the shellfish digimon into the air.

"Send him crashing into the mountain!" Tai ordered, hoping Shellmon would lose power and redigitize into an egg at Primary Village.

Greymon used one last "**Nova Blast**" and fired Shellmon out of sight and into the mountain. Greymon degenerated back into Augumon and raced to Tai. Tai met him halfway and hugged his partner, spinning the dino around.

"I knew you could do it, Augumon!" He finished spinning and set his dizzy partner down, his face growing more serious. "I wonder if any of the others are here, too. We can't be the only ones to have returned to the Digital World."

Augumon opened his mouth to say something, but clapping interrupted him. The sound seemed to emanate from nowhere as the two searched for the source.

"Congratulations, I am pleased to see you have passed my test," a female voice spoke, startling Augumon and Tai.

Tai looked around, body growing tense. "Fighting Shellmon was a test?" he sputtered in disbelief. "A test for what?"

The female voice chuckled as if amused by Tai. "Patience, bearer of Courage. All answers will come in due time. For now, I have sent coordinates to your digivice of my location. If you can find it, you truly are Digidestined."

"Who are you?" Tai asked.

A minute passed in silence, the voice seeming to have disappeared.

With a frustrated huff of breath, Tai checked his digivice, seeing a red light flashing in the direction he and Augumon were to go.

"Tai, you do realize you had me blast Shellmon in the direction of where we're going, right?" Augumon asked as he and Tai began walking toward the mountain.

Tai's eyes widened as he realized Augumon was right. "If we find him again, I'm not sure how we'll fight him. My soccer bag doesn't have any food in it, Augumon."

"Bearer of Courage, do not fear. You never know who you'll stumble across in your journey," the female voice spoke, earning wary looks from Augumon and Tai. "And you two may want to travel through the forest."

* * *

Manta Bay

"Guilomon, do you think you can do me a favor?" Takato asked.

"Yes, Takatomon?" Guilomon replied, waving his tail back and forth slowly as he sat, eyes lost in the sky.

Takato groaned and said, "Could you please get off me? You're suffocating me." Guilomon moved off Takato, allowing the boy to take in a deep breath as he looked around. The two were no longer at Guilomon's hideout, that was for sure. A dark blue ocean extended for miles in front of them, with a large mountain range behind them and a small forest located to their left.

"Takato, where are we?" Guilomon asked, sniffing around.

Takato stood up, frowning. "I don't know, boy. The last thing I remember was that flash of light from the tunnel in your old hideout. I would have thought that light would've sent us to the Digital World if anything, but there are no beams or parallel Earth."

When Guilomon gave no response, Takato glanced at his partner in curiosity. Guilomon's eyes appeared to be glued to the ocean, his body rigid as if an enemy were nearby.

"Guilomon, what is it?"

Guilomon growled and, in a low voice, answered, "I smell a digimon."

Takato shook his head. "How can that be? We aren't in the Digital World, Guilomon. And you guys are the only ones that can resurface, right?" Guilomon didn't offer an answer, so Takato pulled at his arm to lead him toward the mountain. "The only way to escape seems to be this mountain. Maybe we can find some help."

But as Takato made his way for the mountain, he heard Guilomon shout, "**Pyro Sphere!**"

_Three years later and your obedience is the same as ever, Guilomon,_ Takato thought sourly as he pivoted around to face his partner.

"**Torpedo Ray!**" came a voice Takato did not recognize.

Something leaped out of the ocean at that point and launched at Guilomon. Guilomon saw this coming and moved out of the way, causing the object to drill itself into the white sand of the beach. When Takato saw it float out of the hole it had drilled and back into the ocean, he gasped in shock; it had been a digimon, there was no mistaking it.

This digimon looked like a purple manta ray with horns and a pointed tail that looked as if it could deal some damage.

_But wait,_ Takato thought, trying to reason with himself, _if that's a digimon, where are we? Are we still on earth?_

"Guilomon, I think we should get out of here! I don't like not knowing where we are and I don't like that he has the home field advantage," Takato called out, earning a glance from Guilomon. The distant look in his eyes had disappeared, and the red dino made his way toward his human partner.

"**Tail Booster!**"

The digimon's tail flew out of the water and struck Guilomon in the back, causing him to fall to the ground. Takato raced over to his partner's side to try to help him up, but Guilomon's muscular body would not budge more than a few inches. The red dinosaur peered up at his partner with sad eyes, his winged ears pointing down.

"Takato, it's no use," Guilomon said, his voice sad. "I can't feel my arms or my legs, and we both know you can't drag me out of here."

Takato didn't know what to do. He didn't have his D-Power with him or any of his cards that he could use to help Guilomon out. He felt useless.

"**Torpedo Ray!**"

Takato looked up quickly, watching as the digimon from before attacked him. Takato jumped over Guilomon to protect him, rolling them both a few inches out of the line of fire. The digimon's attack missed once more, but this time it stayed in the hole, using its "**Tail Booster**" to strike Takato and Guilomon.

Takato reached out his left hand to smack it away, feeling a burning sensation on the back of his palm as the digimon's tail struck. Instantly Takato's hand felt numb, and soon he couldn't move it. _So this is what Guilomon must be feeling,_ Takato thought as he held his hand against his chest.

"Hey! Whoever you are, we come in peace," Takato said calmly, hoping to negotiate with the digimon. "My name is Takato, what is yours?"

"**Torpedo Ray!**"

The digimon flew at Takato with lightning speed and knocked him to the ground, the sand getting into his mouth. Takato sat up and spit the sand out, muttering, "You could've just said you didn't want to talk."

As Takato rose to his feet so he could see where the digimon was, he noticed something gold flash in the corner of his eye. He turned and his mouth opened in shock. "No way!" he exclaimed, running over to the object. "My D-Power! And a box?" Takato leaned over to pick up his D-Power and the box. He opened the lid and grinned. "My cards! Guilomon, do you know what this means? You can digivolve!"

Takato took out one of the many familiar cards and placed his D-Power in his left hand. He may not have been able to move it, but it could still hold stuff. Takato swiped his Blue Card in his D-Power and called out, "**Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!**"

Takato held his breath as he awaited Guilomon's digivolution to Growlmon, but that moment never came. Guilomon remained on the ground, unmoving, his eyes peering at the ground. Takato could have sworn they looked watery.

"What? Come on, Guilomon, I _know_ you can digivolve boy! **Digi** -"

"**Tail Booster!**"

Takato's D-Power and Blue Card flew out of his hands, leaving him with a burning sensation. Once again he they felt numb, and soon, he could no longer use either of his hands. The same attack struck one of his kneecaps as well, knocking him to the ground, rendering his powerless.

"**Torpedo Ray!**"

The strange digimon launched itself at Takato once more, and with his hands and leg out of commission, Takato was a sitting duck. He closed his eyes, awaiting the impact, but it never came.

"Takato, no!"

Takato's eyes opened as he heard Guilomon call out his name. He looked at his partner as he watched a miracle unfold before his eyes.

"**Guilomon digivolve to… Growlmon!**"

"Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Takato exclaimed, excited.

The digimon that had been attacking had frozen when it heard Guilomon call out for Takato. Now it redirected its attack to Growlmon, who had already braced himself for the attack.

"**Dragon Slash!**"

Takato watched as Growlmon's claws glowed with energy and met the digimon head-on in a collision. Growlmon had enough power to knock the digimon to the side, near the water but not in it. Growlmon tilted its head back and unleashed a "**Pyro Blaster**" attack on the digimon, obliterating it. Instead of its data absorbing into Growlmon, it floated into the air and disappeared to Takato's amazement.

"Whoa, that was crazy!" he said once the data was out of sight.

"Takatomon, are you okay?" a newly degenerated Guilomon asked his partner as he dashed over to him.

Takato nodded. "I'm fine, Guilomon. I'm still paralyzed from the digimon's attack, but I'll get better. I still would like to know what digimon that was."

"The digimon you faced was a Mantaraymon," a female voice said, seeming to appear from nowhere.

"Who are you?" Takato asked, glancing at Guilomon to see if his partner smelt anyone. Guilomon merely shook his head.

"That is not of importance yet. I have sent you coordinates to your D-Power of the place where all of your questions shall be answered."

"Well, much as I would love to follow the coordinates given to me by some stranger, I kind of can't move at this particular moment," Takato replied.

The female giggled. "You will be able to move in about another minute. I reversed the effects put onto you by Mantaraymon."

Takato frowned, not liking the fact that neither he nor Guilomon knew who this mysterious stranger was. "Why did that digimon attack us in the first place? We never did anything to it."

"It was a test. I needed to make sure you were worthy of performing your next task."

Takato sighed. "And let me guess, our task will be announced at the place you're sending us to?"

"Smart boy. Now, I expect to see you shortly."

"Takato," Guilomon said, "I want to go home and eat some Guilomon bread."

Takato nodded. "I wish we could, Guilomon, but I think the only way back home is to follow those coordinates." He finally began to feel his fingers and leg a little. "Can you hand me my D-Power?"

Guilomon nodded, fetching his tamer the golden D-Power.

Takato grabbed it and saw his compass pointing his in the general vicinity of where they were going. "Looks like we've got a mountain to climb, boy."

Guilomon nodded. "Okay, but Takatomon, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Why are you dressed like you were three years ago?"

Takato looked down at himself in surprise and sighed at the sight of his old blue sweatshirt. "I guess we'll figure that out when we reach the top of the mountain."

* * *

Jungle Amazon

"What kind of digimon do you think it is?"

"I don't know, should we poke it with our sword?"

"Yeah, good idea."

Kira felt something poke her side, causing her to groan. She opened her eyes and blinked, sitting up with a gasp when she saw a green reptile staring at her. Now she saw there were two green reptiles, both standing on two feet like a human. The two had markings on their faces and shoulders and a bandana wrapped around their head with a purple razor-toothed necklace around their necks and red wristbands. Their wristbands had sharp, silver blades jutting out the end of each. In the palm of their hands rested a gleaming sword paired with a long sword covered by a sheath strapped behind their backs. To Kira's surprise, they wore purple pants held up by a brown belt and yellow tapestry that hung down their front.

"It's awake," said the reptilian to her right, moving its sword away from Kira.

Kira opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She felt too shocked to speak.

"Fellow digimon, can you speak?" the other reptile asked, bending down to peer closer at her. "What is your name?"

"What's a digimon?" Kira asked, wondering if she were dreaming. She could have sworn that there'd been a light shooting at her from the computer at her dance studio, but where could it have taken her? Could it have knocked her out? Did she have some unknown form of epilepsy that stemmed from certain lights?

The two reptiles appeared to be taken aback. "You don't know what digimon are?" the one to her right asked, sounding as if the question were preposterous. When Kira shook her head, he said, "If you are not a digimon, then what are you?"

"What the heck else would I be?" Kira exclaimed, staring hard at the reptile. _Great, I must be going crazy. Here I am arguing with some creepy reptile creature when I should be finding my way home. _"I'm human. And I'm leaving this place, whatever it is." Kira stood up, earning surprised glances from the creatures before her.

"You're a human?" the creature to her left questioned, eying Kira closely.

"Yeah, and if you keep eying me like that you're either going to have to buy me some nice jewelry or take a picture. I would prefer the jewelry, but that's just a personal preference," Kira responded, turning away from the creatures to leave.

She felt one of their scaly hands wrap around her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Where do you think you're going, human?" it hissed.

Kira tried to yank her arm away from the creature, but its grip remained tight. "I plan on going home away from you, whatever you are. So I suggest you remove your hand from my wrist before I punch you."

"That's impossible. You must see our leader. He is to decide what to do with you," the creature holding on to her said, pulling Kira toward him.

Kira frowned. "Leader?"

The creature to her left nodded. "Yes, the King of the Dinohyumon decides what we do with trespassers like you. Most stay with us in the village to work, and I think you seem like one of the ones that will work."

Kira laughed nervously. "As thrilling as _that_ sounds, I don't even like doing my work for school, so I doubt I'd be of much use to you."

"We could destroy you," the reptile, or Dinohyumon as Kira thought they were, replied, its grip tightening.

"Is letting me pass not an option?"

"Come on," the Dinohyumon said, pulling Kira along as it walked forward. The other Dinohyumon followed closely behind, watching Kira as she stumbled forward.

Kira caught herself before she could fall and jumped up. Using the Dinohyumon holding her as a brace, she kicked her foot out, hard, and slammed it into the chest of the other Dinohyumon, knocking it back a few steps. As the other Dinohyumon looked back to see what had happened, Kira punched it in the face, shaking her hand in hopes of shaking off the pain from the hit. She had never punched anyone or anything before, and she had not been expecting it to hurt.

However, the punch had its effect. The Dinohyumon released her wrist, allowing Kira a few seconds to run away before they recovered and charged after her. She raced to the side, through the mess of thick trees and sand around them. She had no clue where she was or where she was going, but so long as the path in front of her remained clear, she would follow it. She heard the Dinohyumon shouting at her from behind, but she continued running.

"**Blade Shot!**" she heard them call out.

Suddenly, the trees to her sides fell down at her, as if chopped down by some unseen force. Kira dove to the ground in front of her, hearing the trees collapse around her. Only one fell across her legs, barely grazing her skin. She rose to her feet quickly and continued to dash down the pathway she was on, taking a quick right in hopes of throwing off the Dinohyumons.

"**Dragon Fire!**"

Next to her, trees lit up in flames, spreading across the new pathway Kira had followed. She stopped running as soon as a couple of trees had fallen into her path, cutting her off. Kira turned around to find another route of escape, but she saw the Dinohyumon closing in on her, three more of their clan joining them.

"**Dragon Fire!**" the five Dinohyumon yelled in unison, combining their attacks into one, large, destructive ball of fire aiming itself at Kira.

Kira didn't know what to do. There seemed to be no way of escaping the fireball.

"**Psychic Wave!**"

Kira watched in amazement as the fireball changed directions, firing itself at the Dinohyumons. The five of them took out the blade behind their backs and held them up in defense.

"**Blade Shot!**" the yelled, sending a laser strike from their blades toward the fireball, slicing it in fifths. The fireball's power instantly seemed to weaken, but it still struck its target. The Dinohyumons seemed unaffected by the strike, however.

As they moved closer to Kira, a figure jumped in front of her as if to protect her. The newcomer looked like a dragon, minus the wings. It stood on the balls of its feet and on two legs, with three claws to make up its hands. The dragon creature had dark blue scales with wing-like ears and a long tail that snaked upward and split into three ends that pointed at different angles behind the creature.

"Dragonlairmon, what are you doing here?" one of the Dinohyumons hissed, glaring at the dragon.

"I originally had been sent here to negotiate the crossing of some Penguinmon, but now I'm here to protect the human," Dragonlairmon said calmly, nodding his head back at Kira.

"She trespassed our territory; it's per our agreement that we choose what happens to that human," another Dinohyumon spoke, stepping forward.

Dragonlairmon's tail moved closer to Kira, making her feel uncomfortable.

"You are correct; we did negotiate that deal with you. However, inn this case, the Counsel needs this human. She is of importance, and the loophole in the agreement we made with you is that _we_ get a say in what happens to those of importance."

_I'm important?_ Kira wondered. What used could she be? If there were any more of these creatures, Kira knew she wouldn't be able to protect herself. Sure, she could run from them, maybe outsmart them a few times, but that would only get her so far.

When the Dinohyumons showed no signs of backing down, Dragonlairmon added, "If you fail to cooperate with me I will have to destroy you, you know."

The Dinohyumons smirked. "The odds are five against one, Dragonlairmon. Just because you're part of the Counsel does not mean that you are undefeatable. It merely means that you have not met your greatest challenge yet."

"**Blade Shot!**"

"**Dragon Fire!**"

"**Dino Slash!**"

"**Dragon Fire!**"

"**Gale Storm!**"

All at once, the Dinohyumons struck. Within seconds, lasers, fireballs, and Dinohyumons descended upon Kira and Dragonlairmon. Kira screamed at the oncoming strike and dove to the ground, unsure of what else to do.

"**Psychic Wave!**"

Kira looked up to see Dragonlairmon wave a clawed hand at the fireballs and lasers, whisking them to the side. The dragon then turned to the approaching Dinohyumon and formed a ball of energy between his claws.

"**Dragonlair Ball!**"

Dragonlairmon shot the energy ball at the Dinohyumon, colliding into them in midair. The ball exploded upon impact, knocking them to the ground.

"**Dragon Fire Punch!**"

Dragonlairmon leaped at the unmoving Dinohyumon and punched them with claws of fire. The two Dinohyumon burst into particles and floated into the sky until the bits were completely out of view. Dragonlairmon then turned to the remaining three Dinohyumon and said, "Do you three want to join your friends or have you learned your lesson?"

The three Dinohyumon looked at Dragonlairmon in fear and nodded their heads, slowly backing up. "Yes, Dragonlairmon. We understand. The human is yours, do what you will with her."

Once the Dinohyumon had left, Dragonlairmon turned to face Kira.

"W-what are you? Are you a digimon, too?" Kira asked, eyes focused on Dragonlairmon.

"Every creature here is a digimon, Kira," Dragonlairmon answered, his green eyes settling on her. "Now, we must get you out of here. I don't know why you ended up here, but you did."

Dragonlairmon moved toward Kira, but more questions popped into her mind. "What's a digimon? Where am I? How did you know my name? And why did you say I was of importance to you?"

"I can answer you that after we go find your partner."

"My partner?"

Dragonlairmon sighed in frustration. "I wish Varodurumon was here to explain all of this to you, and I would tell you to wait until we find your partner, but you won't come with me until you have your answers, correct?"

Kira crossed her arms and nodded. "So, now will you answer me?"

"Fine. Digimon are digital monsters who live in the Digital World, which is where you're at." When Kira opened her mouth to ask another question, Dragonlairmon held up a claw. "No, I am not going into any more depth than that. You're of importance because you're here to help us maintain the balance, which is how I know your name. Your partner is a digimon, one that is going to help you help us. Got it?"

Kira nodded. "I'm still confused, but you seem to think your V person can explain better, so I'll take it. Where are we going?"

"To the Palm Amazon, not too far from here. You were supposed to land there, but I guess they made a mistake."

"They?"

Dragonlairmon moved closer to Kira as he answered, "Varodurumon will explain later. Now, in order for me to teleport, you must be touching me. So clutch my claw and we'll go."

Kira nodded and touched the cool claw. Suddenly, a blood red aura enveloped Kira and Dragonlairmon, earning a shocked gasp from the latter. A bright red light flashed in front of Kira then, and in the blink of an eye, an object that appeared to look like a slim, black smartphone floated in front of Kira. Something inside of her told her to grab it, that it was hers, so she did. She let out a startled gasp when she saw red and orange flames spread across the screen like live wallpaper.

"No. No way. This is _not_ happening," Dragonlairmon said aloud, staring into the sky as he spoke. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"It is destiny, Dragonlairmon," a female voice spoke.

Kira glanced around but found no source for the voice. "Dragonlairmon, who is that? And what is this?" Kira held up the phone, studying it. It didn't look abnormal to her, really. "Is this a phone? It's nice but I already have one."

Dragonlairmon only ignored Kira.

"How is this destiny? We had it all planned out!"

"I'm sorry my friend, but destiny had other plans it seems. You know what to do, my warrior. I will be expecting you and your partner shortly."

Kira glanced at Dragonlairmon curiously. "Who's your partner? And who was that? Was that Varo whatever?"

Dragonlairmon let out a defeated sigh before turning back to Kira.

"Let's go."

"But you didn't answer my -"

"Trust me Kira, I will make sure that all will be explained," Dragonlairmon huffed, whisking the two away.

* * *

The edge of Superior Mountain

**(AN: 3)**

_Where am I? _Mikey wondered, sitting up from the grassy ground. _Where are Angie, Yuu, and Tagiru?_

The basketball court no longer lied in front of Mikey; instead, all around him were trees of all kinds and plants of all different colors, surrounding him as if to lead him to the mountain behind him. The mountain stood tall, its peak extending above the clouds. Mikey could hear bird caws off in the distance, but none seemed too close to his location.

_How did I manage to get here? _

Mikey stood up and walked toward the mountain, studying it. He wanted to climb it so that he could get to higher ground and be able to see a wider range of the area around him, but the climb appeared to be an intimidating one. But if he decided to walk through the forest, he risked unknown dangers. He didn't know what lied within the dense trees, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. Plus, Mikey had no clue how large the forest was. Would his trip out of it be short, or would it be a long trek?

_Mountain it is. I can at least scout something from up there._

With his choice made, Mikey began scaling the rocky mountain as if it were a rock-climbing wall. Within minutes, Mikey had already climbed up a decent height, giving him the confidence boost he needed to ascend further. Ten minutes later and Mikey had already reached a small cliff of the mountain. When he climbed over the edge, he turned around to see that he could see above the trees, just barely. But it was enough to see that he appeared to be on an island of some sort.

"**Blast Coffin!**"

Suddenly Mikey felt something strike him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Mikey rolled from the impact, but stopped himself before he rolled off the mountain.

_That was close,_ Mikey thought as he stared down at the long fall he almost had taken.

"A human? Today must be my lucky day. Who knew lunch would be so easy to catch," a low, guttural voice said.

Mikey glanced up toward the trees to see who had spoken. The voice had sounded as if it had come from in front of him, and he'd been right. A skinny wolf with red fur and a white underbelly with black leather armor pads wrapped around its legs. The red wolf also had long, razor-sharp purple claws with a protruding jaw that housed hundreds of teeth and a tail that seemed as to be the length of Mikey himself.

"Whoa, you don't see that every day," Mikey remarked, slowly rising to his feet.

The creature before him smirked. "And a clueless human at that. The Digital World just keeps making my life a better place." The wolf's large tongue licked his bared teeth.

"I'm in the Digital World?" Mikey asked, wondering where Shoutmon could be. Was his partner around here somewhere or was Mikey on some island that Shoutmon didn't know about? And speaking of his location, what zone was he in? Were there still zones now that Shoutmon and the others had helped repair the Digital World?

"Sorry kid, but I'm not in the mood to talk right now. **Blast Coffin!**"

A black, coffin-shaped energy shot out from the wolf's mouth.

"Looks like somebody isn't himself when he's hungry," Mikey muttered, diving to the right to avoid the strike. As he hit the ground, he heard an object fall to the ground next to him. Mikey's eyes landed on the red Fusion Loader a few feet away. _My Fusion Loader?_

The wolf's eyes had spotted the Fusion Loader as well, and he leaped to fetch it. Mikey raced over to the Fusion Loader and snatched it up before the wolf could reach him.

"Shoutmon! Ballistamon! Dorulumon! Anyone in there, Reload!" Mikey shouted as the wolf digimon descended down on him.

"**Rock And Roller!**" a familiar voice called out, slamming the attacking digimon with his microphone.

The wolf flew backwards into the mountain, allowing Shoutmon to turn to Mikey.

"Mikey! Are you alright?" Shoutmon helped Mikey up to his feet.

Mikey nodded in answer, smiling. "I'm fine, thanks Shoutmon. It's been a long time."

Before the red dinosaur could reply, a voice called out, "**Black Blaster!**"

A stream of black energy surged toward Mikey and Shoutmon, shooting at the two so fast they wouldn't be able to dodge without taking damage.

"**Drill Tornado!**"

A small tornado whizzed past Mikey and Shoutmon and crashed into the black energy, cancelling it out. A white wolf with orange fur pounced into view, glancing at Mikey and Shoutmon to ensure the two were all right.

"Dorulumon, thanks for the help!" Mikey exclaimed, glad to see his digimon again. He turned to Shoutmon to ask, "Were there any other digimon in the Fusion Loader?"

Shoutmon nodded. "It went back to the basics; only Dorulumon, Ballistamon, Starmon, the Pickmons, and I were in there."

"Perfect!" Mikey held up his red Fusion Loader and began spinning the dial on it. "There are enough of you guys to Digi-Fuse to Shoutmon X4. **Digi-Fuse**!"

"**Stun Snap!**"

The red wolf digimon charged at Mikey and sunk his teeth into Mikey's arm, drawing blood. Mikey dropped his Fusion Loader due to the pain and the numbness the digimon's attack had brought on. The digimon's body knocked Mikey to the ground. It threw its head back to prepare to attack, but Shoutmon beat him to the punch.

"**Fiery Fastball!**"

The digimon was knocked off Mikey immediately and hit the mountain hard enough to cause small rocks to tumble down.

Mikey felt the ground shake beneath him from the impact, an idea sparking in his mind. "Shoutmon, have everyone send their attacks at the mountain! This wolf is about to learn how to play dodgerock!"

Shoutmon called out the other digimon in the Fusion Loader and sent a "**Fiery Fastball**" at the mountain.

"**Drill Tornado!**"

"**Seismic Speaker!**"

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Each of the digimons' attacks struck the mountain at once, sending an avalanche of large rocks falling toward the wolf digimon. The digimon saw the attack and tried to stop it, but it was useless; the rocks tumbled down and knocked the digimon off the mountain.

"Nice tactic, Mikey," Dorulumon commented, walking toward him.

"I'm just glad it worked," Mikey replied, flexing his hand now that the numbing was beginning to fade. "Otherwise I would have been wolf meat." Mikey checked his arm now, feeling the pain from the bite. Blood ran down his arm in small, slow streams.

His digimon saw this and ran over to check on him.

"Mikey, your arm is bleeding!" Shoutmon exclaimed, staring as the blood streamed down.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Shoutmon," Mikey replied, waving a hand. "I'll be fine; it's no big deal."

Dorulumon shook his head. "Mikey, I think you should be more concerned about this since Cutemon isn't here to heal you."

Mikey stood up slowly, cradling his bleeding arm in his hand. "Just find me a river to clean my arm at, please. Really guys, it's only a bit of blood. My question is what are you guys doing back in my Fusion Loader? I thought you were maintaining the balance of the Digital World."

"They were," a mysterious female voice replied, "I needed you, General Mikey, and your digimon here for a special purpose. Now that you have passed my test by defeating Fangmon, I have sent coordinates to your Fusion Loader. Follow them and you will find me and answers to any questions you have."

"Who are you?" Mikey asked curious, looking toward the sky.

"You soon shall find out. Now go on. I will be waiting for you with the medical care you seek."

"Mikey, don't tell me that you're going to trust that voice," Shoutmon groaned.

***Spoiler!* **

***Spoiler!***

Mikey chuckled; he knew Shoutmon knew him better than that. "Come on, Shoutmon. You know that if I hadn't listened to Omnimon's voice the first or second time around that I wouldn't have helped save you or the Digital World."

***Spoiler had ended***

***Spoiler has ended***

Shoutmon sighed. "I know, but what if the voice belongs to some bad person, Mikey? We could be falling for a trap and we might not know it."

Mikey smiled. "Then we'll find a way out of it like we always do, Shoutmon. Now, are you with me?"

"Of course I'm with you. What kind of question is that?" Shoutmon replied.

Mikey nodded, checked his Fusion Loader for the coordinates, and held it up. "**Digi-Fuse!**"

* * *

Mountain Sector 3: Snow

"DemiVeemon, where are you?" Davis called out, his hands clasped around his mouth in hopes to make his voice sound louder.

Davis had been searching for his missing partner for about ten minutes now, stuck searching in a snowstorm that seemed to be growing worse with each passing minute. The light from the computer had brought him to this unknown place that Davis knew was somewhere in the Digital World based on the fact that his Digital World clothing had taken the place of the clothes he had worn for school that day.

_Man, is it cold!_ Davis crossed his arms, shivering even though he had his old blue jacket with flames on it. _DemiVeemon, where could you be? _

"Davis, over here!" his partner cried out, sounding distressed.

Davis placed his goggles over his head and took off to the right where he'd heard his partner shout. "I'm coming, hold on!" he shouted.

With his goggles on, Davis could now see up to three feet ahead of him, and soon he found Veemon holding a gloved hand of something stuck under the snow.

"Davis, help me get them out of the snow!"

Davis nodded quickly and joined Veemon, grabbing onto the arm Veemon's claws were clutched around. Together the two pulled out the digimon stuck under the snow.

To Davis's surprise, he saw that they had pulled out a human from the snow. The human was a young woman with shoulder-length strawberry blond hair. She wore a red dress that fell to her ankles, allowing her black boots to poke out with red gloves that covered most of her arms. Davis watched as her eyes fluttered open, glad to see she was alive.

"Are you alright, Miss?" he asked, watching as her eyes focused on his.

She nodded, sitting up. She smiled warmly at Davis. "Yes, thank you. Who are you?" Her eyes flittered toward Veemon's blue figure; they widened in shock. "Oh my, what is that?"

"I'm Davis, and this is my partner, Veemon. Trust me, he doesn't bite. He could hardly hurt a fly," Davis joked, hoping to comfort the young woman. He hoped Veemon wouldn't scare her; Davis did not want to see her run off into the snowstorm without any protection or sense of where she was going. He knew that although they had saved the Digital World from evil, there were still digimon who would not be too thrilled to see a human pass through their territory.

The girl looked at Davis curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Davis? As in Davis Motomiya?"

Davis recoiled his head in surprise, his eyebrows knitting together. "Uh, yeah. How did you know my name?"

"Because I was sent here to destroy you!" she hissed, transforming into a digimon similar to Arukenimon. Her short, strawberry blond hair grew longer, sticking out everywhere; she grew taller with a black collar and cape accompanying her dress; the red gloves covering her arms tightened, claws growing inside of them; finally, a red witch hat with a cat head bejeweled design appeared on her head along with a broom.

"**Baluna Gale!**" she called out, her glove-covered claws shooting out a gust of wind that knocked Davis and Veemon ten feet away.

"Thank goodness for the snow or else that would've been a rough hit," Davis commented, sitting up from the ground. "Veemon, what _was_ that thing?"

Veemon's head popped out of the snow a foot away from Davis to answer, "That's Witchmon. She's Wizardmon's enemy, using her magic abilities for evil instead of good. I need to digivolve if I'm going to beat her, Davis."

"Alright, time to turn up the heat on this Popsicle stand! **Digi-Armor Energize!**" **(AN: 4)**

**"****Veemon Armor Digivolve to… Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!**"

"So you digivolved, big deal!" Witchmon said, cackling. "I eat digimon like you for breakfast!"

Flamedramon stepped forward, melting the snow around him. "Be careful what you eat, Witchmon, or it might just give you heartburn.**Fire Rocket!**"

Flames engulfed Flamedramon's body as he launched himself at Witchmon, knocking her to the ground.

"**Blazing Fists!**" Flamedramon called out, leaping into the air to shoot fireballs from his fists at Witchmon. She dodged the first few strikes, and when the last one was almost upon her, she recoiled.

"**Aquary Pressure!**"

A large torrent of water shot out from Witchmon's broom, extinguishing Flamedramon's last fireball and hitting the digimon himself. Flamedramon fell from the sky and into the snow, degenerating back into Veemon.

"Veemon!" Davis cried out, rushing over to his partner. "Are you hurt?"

Veemon sat up and groaned, shaking his blue head. "I'm fine. Her blast was just so powerful, Davis. I'm sorry I couldn't stay digivolved as Flamedramon."

"I don't care about that, Veemon, you should know that by now. I'm only concerned that you took that hit directly. Are you sure you're fine?"

"I can still fight, Davis!" Veemon said determinedly, standing up. "Well if she wants to fight with water, let's show her what water conducts!"

Davis nodded, his digivice lighting up once more. "**Digi-Armor Energize!**"

"**Veemon Armor Digivolve to… Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!**"

Raidramon glanced at Davis quickly, giving his partner a look that said Witchmon was going down before he ran after Witchmon.

"**Lightning Blade!**"

A bolt of electricity shot out from the horn on Raidramon's head, electrocuting Witchmon. Her hair looked fried, as did her dress and hat, which only seemed to anger her.

"**Lightning Ray!**"

A blast of electricity blasted from Raidramon's mouth, ready to destroy Witchmon until she used her own counter attack.

"**Reflection!**"

A mirror appeared in front of Witchmon, absorbing the energy and spitting it back out at Raidramon at double the power.

"That's not fair!" Davis yelled, watching the attack fire back. "Raidramon, get out of there before it hits you!"

Raidramon turned to leave when Witchmon began chanting a spell of some sort. Raidramon froze in place, struggling to move. The electricity struck him, blowing him back a few feet.

Davis saw Witchmon smirk and raise her palms.

"**Inferno Desolator!**"

Flames shot out from Witchmon's claws and engulfed the paralyzed Raidramon. Davis ran over to his partner as Raidramon screeched in pain. As soon as the flames died down, Raidramon degenerated back into a barely conscious Veemon.

Davis cradled his partner in his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Davis, let me go. I can still fight," Veemon said weakly, meekly trying to push Davis off him.

Davis's heartstrings tugged; even though Veemon had taken some extremely powerful attacks, he still wanted to protect Davis. Davis glanced at his partner, tears forming in his eyes. "Veemon, you're in no condition to fight. You tried your hardest out there, and I don't want to risk losing you. We can run and find a cave somewhere so we can rest and build our energy up, alright?"

Veemon nodded weakly.

"Good! Now let's go before that creepy witch finds -"

Veemon's eyes widened suddenly. "Davis, watch out!"

"Huh?"

Davis turned around to see a torrent of water heading straight towards him and Veemon. The water hit the two hard, sending them both flying into the air and to the ground. Davis saw Veemon land and roll off the cliff of the mountain.

"Veemon!" Davis cried out, crawling over to the edge to see if his friend had found a branch to hang on to.

However, there were not any branches unless you counted the ones that hung on the trees that lied seventy feet below. Davis doubted that Veemon would've even had the strength to hold on to a branch anyways; his partner had used all of his energy digivolving and fighting Witchmon. Davis didn't even see Veemon falling anywhere, which brought tears to his eyes. He didn't want to lose his best friend; Veemon had always been the one he could count on the most in any situation.

"Your partner is probably data by now," said Witchmon, her footsteps sounding closer and closer to Davis.

"You don't know that!" he said, spinning around to face her.

Witchmon smirked, taking a couple steps so that her face was inches away from Davis's. She grabbed his shirt and lifted him up, saying, "You know I'm right, Davis. There was no way he survived all of my attacks and that drop. Not unless he can fly in his rookie form, which that weakling can't. You're better off without that pathetic excuse you call a partner. You should be thanking me."

Davis grit his teeth. How dare she call Veemon weak and pathetic? "You know what," Davis said, glaring at her with flared nostrils, "I _should _be thanking you. So here's my gratitude!"

Davis kicked Witchmon in the stomach, knocking the air from her lungs, and as soon as she bent over to recover her breath, Davis used his other leg to kick under her chin, snapping her head back. She released her grip on Davis as she stumbled back, allowing him to slip past her. He dashed through the snow, hoping to escape.

"**Inferno Desolator!**" Witchmon called out.

Davis dropped to the ground, narrowly escaping the fireballs. He heard them sizzle the snow around him, revealing the rocky ground underneath. Davis crawled over there and picked up some of the rocks, throwing them at Witchmon as she neared him, an unamused expression on her face.

She easily stepped aside to dodge the rocks and picked up Davis once more, tossing him against one of the taller rocks.

"Is that the best you've got?" Davis taunted, keeping his fighting spirit alive for Veemon.

"**Baluna Gale!**" Witchmon called out, sending out a wind so powerful that it made Davis crash through three large rocks before he landed back on the ground. "How was that attack, better?" Witchmon demanded, kicking Davis onto his back. She then lifted him up and brought him to the cliff Veemon had fallen off. "Any parting words before you join your partner?"

Davis, a crumpled, bloody mess, only spit a mixture of blood and saliva out at Witchmon.

"Fine, you disgusting ape, have it your way," Witchmon said, throwing Davis off the cliff.

_Veemon, I'm sorry I let you down,_ Davis thought, accepting that he was falling to his doom.

"Davis!"

_It's almost like I can hear him. Am I dead?_

Davis felt strong arms wrap around him and a voice say, "Davis, are you okay? Talk to me!"

Davis groaned from the pain and opened his eyes, focusing on the blue dinosaur that held him. "ExVeemon?" Davis questioned, wondering if this was real or not.

ExVeemon smiled. "Good, I didn't lose you! What did she do to you?"

"How can you be here?" Davis asked, his mind disbelieving that his partner had survived the nasty fall and had digivolved. "I saw you fall."

"I thought you knew me better than that, Davis. A fall like that can't keep this Mon down!"

Davis smiled, glad that his friend was alright. "How were you able to digivolve?"

ExVeemon shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think it was because I knew you were in danger and I couldn't let anything bad happen to you, Davis. Somehow I regained my strength when I saw you falling."

Davis coughed, blood trickling from his mouth. "If you feel up to it, then let's take that witch down! She won't be expecting us, so as soon as we see her, attack!"

ExVeemon nodded and flew up slowly, watching for any sign of the Witchmon. As soon as he flew above the cliff of the mountain, ExVeemon saw her and attacked with his, "**Vee-Laser!**"

The attack hit Witchmon dead on from behind, knocking her face-first into the snow.

As she stood up to view her attacker, ExVeemon let loose another "**Vee-Laser**", knocking her down again. One more "**Vee-Laser" **later and Witchmon had turned into bits of data that floated up into the sky.

"ExVeemon, you did it!" Davis cheered, despite the pain he felt.

"Congratulations, you two," said a mysterious female voice. "It was a long, hard battle, but you've proven yourselves to be worthy adversaries; which is why I've brought you here, but I will explain more about that later on. I have sent coordinates to your D-3. Follow them and you will find the answers you seek and the medical assistance you need after that battle."

"Wait, who are you? Why did you bring us here?" Davis called out, although he knew it would be no use.

"Davis," ExVeemon chimed in, "You do realize that she said she would explain it all later. Asking her now isn't going to change anything."

Davis huffed. "Shut it, ExVeemon." He took out his D-3 and checked the coordinates. "It looks like we've got to fly to the top of the mountain. Think you can do it?"

ExVeemon faked mock hurt. "It hurts when you ask me questions like that, Davis." He faked a sniffle before growing more serious. "Of course I can do it, Davis. We can do anything."

"Then up, up, and away we go!"

When ExVeemon began flying toward the forest, Davis frowned.

"Do you not know which way is up, ExVeemon?"

"Ha ha, we have a couple guests to pick up first," ExVeemon said, shocking Davis.

"Who else is here in the Digital World? Did that mysterious light hit them, too?" Davis asked, excited to see who else had been sucked back here with them.

ExVeemon navigated him and Davis through the trees, and when they were through the thick leaves, Davis spotted the friends ExVeemon had referred to.

"Tai! Augumon! Am I glad to see you guys!" Davis exclaimed, a smile growing on his face. He paused when he got a closer look at Tai. "Tai, when did your hair grow back?" The last time Davis had seen Tai, the older boy had chopped off his long locks as part of his soul search after his soccer accident two years before.

Tai glanced at Davis curiously, almost looking as if he thought Davis was crazy. "What are you talking about, Davis? I never cut my hair."

"But I thought -"

Tai shook his head. "Maybe Witchmon hit you a bit too hard. She sure seemed to do a number on you."

Davis rolled his eyes. "Look at her now; she's not bothering us anymore. Wait a second, how did you know about her?"

"ExVeemon told us," Tai said as ExVeemon landed.

ExVeemon nodded and Tai and Augumon climbed onto his back. "When Witchmon's attack knocked me off the cliff, Tai and Augumon found me once I had landed in the forest. They woke me up and then I digivolved to save you."

"Did you guys talk to the mystery voice, too?" Davis asked, glancing at the two.

Both nodded. "Yeah, we were sent coordinates that pointed toward the top of the mountain."

"Alright, then we're all in this together. Let's go, ExVeemon."

* * *

Mountain Sector 2: Desert

"Ugh, Boss, where are we? And why are you in your old DATS uniform?" Augumon questioned, rubbing his head as he looked around.

Marcus sat up, dusting dirt off himself. He wiped sweat from his brow before peering down at himself to see his red uniform on. "Huh. Beats me, Augumon. Do you think we're in part of the Desert Zone?"

"Which part?"

Marcus shrugged. He clicked his earpiece to try to connect to Headquarters. "Hey, is anyone there? It's Marcus, come in. Hello?" Marcus sighed heavily. "Nothing. Wherever we are, it's too far from Headquarters to get a message across."

"So what? Do we just walk around and hope that we find some help?" Augumon questioned, glancing up at his partner.

Marcus stepped forward. "That's exactly what we're going to do, Augumon."

Augumon's jaw dropped. "But, Boss," he groaned, following his partner. "It's hot out."

Marcus bobbed his head, agreeing with the orange dinosaur. "I know that, Augumon, but it's the only way we can find any other digimon that can help us."

Augumon sighed and silently went along with his partner.

Twenty minutes later, and the only thing they still saw was dirt, cactus of all shapes and sizes – some of which Augumon had had an accidental run-in with, some snake-like creatures that weren't digimon, but they weren't like any regular snakes either. These snakes slithered around with no face; it was merely holographic, something Marcus had discovered when he'd accidentally stepped on one. They also had seen a lot of sun and no water, and Marcus had begun to feel thirsty.

Licking his lips, Marcus turned to his partner. "Do you think that white light zapped us somewhere outside of the Digital World, Augumon?"

Augumon looked at Marcus curiously. "What do you mean? You think it teleported us back to the human world?"

Marcus shook his head, his long brown locks swishing around. "No, what if it took us somewhere different? To neither the Digital or the human world and that's why we're lost."

"That's a good question."

"**Eradicating Roar!**"

The ground beneath Marcus and Augumon shook, sending them both stumbling to the ground. A loud, high-pitched screeching sound wailed through the air, causing Marcus and Augumon to hold their heads, covering their ears from the sound. Marcus's head felt as if it were going to explode from the sound, and soon he passed out from the pain.

When Marcus woke up, he blinked a few times before his eyes settled on a frightened Augumon. "Augumon, what's wrong?" He noticed claws wrapped around Augumon's body and followed the claws to see a large green and orange feather bird. "What is that?"  
Augumon's green eyes met Marcus's greenish brown ones, fear reflecting in them. "Boss, don't look down," Augumon replied.

Marcus knew Augumon should've actually answered him, for he peered down to see the two flying over a large mountain. Marcus watched as they passed over different areas of the mountain; some parts were completely barren, devoid of any life, whereas there were portions that seemed to house villages of creatures with trees and rivers flowing around the villages. Tilting his head up to see ahead of them, Marcus saw a bunch of fog, and the faint outline of another mountain in the distance. He could see flying figures surrounding the border of the fog and knew he and Augumon would not want to face them.

"Augumon, I think I can grab my Digivice. If you digivolve to ShineGreymon, we can fly away from this thing and figure out where we are." Marcus reached his hand in his pocket and found his Digivice. He grabbed it out and yelled, "**DNA Charge… Overdrive!**"

"Boss, wait!"

Marcus stopped an inch away from the Digivice. "Augumon, what is it?"

Augumon's eyes wandered around nervously. "Well, walking through that desert for so long exhausted me, and I don't think I'd be able to hold ShineGreymon's form long enough to fight this digimon and to escape. I think digivolving to GeoGreymon and then to ShineGreymon would work."

Marcus nodded, liking the idea. "Let's do it! **DNA Charge!**"

"**Augumon Digivolve to… GeoGreymon!**"

The digimon that had captured the two could feel the shift in weight as Augumon Digivolved. Marcus could see its grip loosen around GeoGreymon, and he knew his partner saw it, too.

"**Mega Flame!**" GeoGreymon called out, sending a massive fireball at the bird digimon.

The digimon released its grip on the two as the fireball exploded against its chest, screaming in pain.

Marcus and GeoGreymon fell toward the mountain, the ground coming at them fast. "**DNA Charge… Overdrive!**" Marcus shouted, slamming his hand on his Digivice quickly.

"**GeoGreymon Warp Digivolve to… ShineGreymon!**"

Within seconds, ShineGreymon wrapped his arms around Marcus and flew his partner to the mountain.

"**Eradicating Roar!**"

ShineGreymon and Marcus heard the screeching once more, but it seemed to have less effect the further they traveled. So once they were far enough away, ShineGreymon set Marcus down on the edge of the cliff and sighed in exhaustion, his shoulders sinking. Marcus was about to comment on the nice save when ShineGreymon suddenly degenerated back to Augumon and fell down the mountain and to the ocean that lied two hundred feet below.

"AUGUMON!" Marcus cried out, practically falling over the edge himself as he reached to grab his partner. But it was too late; Augumon was too far down for Marcus to reach. Marcus's breathing sped up as he tried to think of anything he could do to save his best friend, his eyes watering as Augumon neared the water. "Augumon, I'm sorry I couldn't help you." A tear slipped down Marcus's cheek.

An orange burst of energy surged out from Marcus's Digivice and hit Augumon, creating an orange aura around the dinosaur. Marcus wiped his eyes as he saw his best friend's green eyes open and meet his gaze. Augumon flapped his arms and suddenly, he was in front of Marcus.

"Boss, why are you crying? You never cry," Augumon said, tilting his head at his partner.

Marcus chuckled, relieved to see his partner. He wiped his eyes some more and said, "I'm not crying, Augumon. We're in another desert; some dust got into my eye. That's all. Anyway, what's with the orange aura?"

Augumon shrugged. "I guess I can access my Burst Mode at any stage."

"Which is partly why I have brought you here," a mysterious female voice said, causing Marcus and Augumon to look around in search of the voice.

"Who are you?" Marcus demanded, his fists curling up. "Where did you bring us?"

"All will be answered if you follow the coordinates I have sent to your Digivice, Marcus Damon," the voice answered, calm as ever.

"What?" Marcus exclaimed, his face contorting with anger. "No, answer me right now! How do you know my name?" To the silence, he added, "Come on, come out and face me!"

"Your temper was certainly not one of reasons I wanted you here, so if you would lose the attitude before you meet up with everyone at the coordinates, it would be appreciated, Marcus. I am not here to fight you."

Marcus scoffed and crossed his arms. "I'm not following any coordinates until you tell me who you are and what you want with Augumon and me."

Marcus could imagine the female shrug as she said, "I don't care if you come or not, Marcus. You, on the other hand, should care. You may have escaped from Diatrymon, but that does not guarantee that you will get off this island. I am your best shot at getting back home, so I suggest you drop the attitude."

"Boss, I hate to agree with her, but I do," Augumon interjected, forcing Marcus to look at him in disbelief. "We don't know what part of the Digital World we're in, or even if this is our Digital World. We have no way of going back, and I know I don't want to be stuck here."

With a sigh of defeat, Marcus muttered, "Fine. Fine! We'll follow those stupid coordinates, Augumon. But if this goes over badly, I get to say 'I told you so'."

"Deal!" Augumon exclaimed, waiting as Marcus checked the coordinates.

"Well," he said, glancing towards the top of the mountain hidden by clouds, "I hope you can fly us both in your Burst Mode, Augumon. It seems we have a long way to the top."

* * *

Tempest Tower

A knocking sounded on the door, quick and precise.

"What is it, SkullKnightmon?" a female voice questioned, belonging to the young lady lying in her bed.

A tall digimon with silver chainmail armor opened the door and walked inside. Its skull torso turned to the eighteen-year-old and the digimon saluted with one of its lance-shaped arms. "Sorry to disturb you, my Queen, but there is a digimon here to see you. He says it is urgent."

With a huff, the sky-blue haired girl tossed aside her sheets and stood up, snatching up her sky-blue kimono from her desk chair and putting it on. She put on her dark red sandals and followed SkullKnightmon to a small room. The walls were a midnight blue in color, and devoid of any pictures or murals. The only furniture in the bland room was a small staircase and a throne. The room had no light aside from the light stream of moonlight flooding in through a small window behind the throne.

The Queen made her way up the stairs and sat on her throne, waving a hand at SkullKnightmon as she said, "Go fetch him."

A few minutes later and the door to the room opened once more, a dark figure slinking in, saying, "My Queen, I have news for you."

"What is it, Fangmon?" the Queen asked, sitting atop her thrown as the red and white wolf stepped forward into the light.

Fangmon raised its head and met the Queen's gaze. "There seem to be more Digidestined gathering, brought here by _them_. They chose me to become one of their test subjects. I have seen one of the new warrior's strength; they are powerful, my Liege."

The Queen laughed, tossing her curly hair behind her. "I do enjoy a challenge, Fangmon. Now go, keep an eye out as my spy. And don't let them catch you, or I will let them kill you."

Fangmon nodded. "Yes, my Queen." He turned around and stalked out of the room, leaving the Queen to her thoughts.

_So, you think you can bring in more Digidestined to help you, Varodurumon?You can bring in all the help you want, but you and your puny army will be disposed of soon enough. It's only a matter of time before your new playmates become my possession._

* * *

**Howdy guys! So, what did you think of this chapter? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know your thoughts! I know I had a blast writing this on my downtime at home. Now that school is ending, I hope (like I said, hope) to update this every other weekend. I am in the midst of moving to a different state and all, so I might be a little late on my deadlines, and I apologize for that. Now, for the story, keep in mind that all of these are taking place at about the same time. They are also together on one large island except for Kira, but all of that will be explained in the next chapter (now I sound like the mysterious voice. It's me, mwuahahaha!). ****Also, I am going to keep drawing names from a hat to randomize the order of the POVs, although there might be less of them coming up. Now, go on and read the author's notes and have a great day! Peace out girl (and boy) scouts!  
-LivingTheSPNLife**

**AN 1: I am going to include some harsher battle scenes where blood may be drawn, just a heads up for anybody who might not be into that type of thing. I don't expect to include a lot, but just a little bit, nothing too big, as demonstrated in the next part (well for those who read this afterwards you know the next part).**

**AN 2: I had no idea what to call that thing. I didn't know if it was a foot, hand, hoof, or something else. **

**AN 3: There is a potential spoiler for those of you who haven't watched Xros Wars (Fusion) so I'm adding *spoiler* for those of you who wish to avoid it, although it isn't anything major. It only reveals the voice that Mikey (Taiki) had spoken to in the first episode.**

**AN 4: We all know Digimon is known for its corny jokes, so I'm going to try to keep up with that. Hopefully they won't be so corny!**

***P.S. All of the digimon mentioned, save for Dragonlairmon, is legit. You can look them up on Digimon Wiki if you would like a visual. The only thing I tweaked were a couple of the moves, be it adding some or changing the names a bit.***


End file.

Digimon, Fantasy, Sci-Fi