Digimon 1. Chapter 1

Author's Note-This is the last time I'll rewrite! I swear!

Lily-Uh huh. I've heard that one before. But you have thought of a lot of cooler ideas for this story and me...so I'll let it slide.

Screams erupt in the forest all around us as Digimon ran for their lives, the flames shooting upwards among the trees, tainting the evening sky a dirty shade of blood red.

An entire pack of Gazimon flee through the underbrush, their fur ripped and torn, their red eyes wide with terror as the light behind them grows stronger and closer…

One of them trips, sending his fellows crashing to the ground. The lead one turns his head and didn't even have time to scream…as the light washed over them like a wave of death, vaporizing them on the spot.

Bats chitter in the air above, black wings blocking out any traces of light as their beady eyes fix on their next prey, a terrified Hawkmon who only manages one quick squawk before being torn apart into data fragments.

The boy runs as fast as he can, shoving through the branches, his chest rising in and out in desperation.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the shadow moving quickly between the branches above him, pursuing him with an eerie grace and calmness, as if it knows he can't possibly escape.

Tai gulps and continues to try and run faster, his heart pumping wildly as he reaches the riverbank, and his fear and panic give him the sheer adrenaline to make the jump, but not without almost falling to his death. He clings to the craggy rock wall, wincing as the rocks slice away at his palms as he pulls himself up onto the other side and keeps running.

He glances behind him again, not noticing anything this time. His brown eyes narrow. He's sure it could make that jump much better than he could…why…

A sudden scream of pain erupts from his lips as a foot crashes into the small of his back, sending him crashing into the trees.

Wincing, he pushes himself upward and cringes as he met those pitiless eyes…

The girl's long dark hair hang down to her shoulders, her figure firm and athletic hugged by a T-shirt and ripped jeans.

But her face is completely blank, robotic, as if it has been completely wiped of all emotion. Tai swallows hard as he forces a soft whisper from his throat.

"Lily…please…."

She raises her right hand and lets the sphere of light form in her palm…his eyes widen. "LILY DON'T!"

It's too late. Tai Kamiya screams as the orb ripped through his chest…and the life leaves his body.

…

"NO!"

My eyes shoot open as I bolt up in bed, my entire body shaking from fear, my hands trembling, my heart thudding so hard it felt as though it was going to burst out of my chest.

It's okay….it's okay….it was just a dream…

I manage to finally pull myself out of bed, my legs trembling as I walked to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, I stare into the mirror. Pale face, long dark hair curving around my face down to the straps of my black bra, dark brown eyes….full of the fear I was feeling.

I mutter a few curse words under my breath as I splash water on my face. I'd had that nightmare for the past six months, and every single time it got worse, more and more vivid, the chase, the blood…Tai's scream.

Actually it had been going on ever since Tai and I had split up…I'd been freaked but figured it was a one time thing. After all, it wasn't like Tai and I were still angry with each other. Our relationship had been too pressured, Tai being too clingy, me being too jealous….

So why wouldn't the dream leave me alone?

I sigh before turning the water off. It was times like this I desperately missed Renamon. Our friendship had been so special. I could tell her anything like this, while if I tried to discuss my past with anyone else, I'd probably be shipped off to the nearest psychiatrist and put into a rubber room.

Matt was busy with his band, Sora was traveling the country with tennis practice, Joe was training to be a doctor, Mimi was in America, Izzy was doing who-knows what with computers while TK and Kari were….far too young.

That left only Tai, and how the heck was I supposed to tell him I keep dreaming about killing him?

…

The exhaust from the bus stings at my nose as it crawls up to our stop like some kind of wounded animal. The three of us all coughed as the cloud of smoke enveloped us, and I glanced over at my two housemates.

Kari is only fourteen years old, and this is her first year in high school. She's nervous, but she needn't be—Kari's always been popular, what with her kind nature and her beautiful looks, short auburn hair with bright brown eyes and a kind smile, her pink headband pushed back to pull her bangs out of her face.

I on the other hand don't exactly invite attention. My darker and very sarcastic personality keeps most people from getting too close, though I'm told I'm beautiful with high arched cheekbones, pale skin, and penetrating hazel eyes.

If you take out the fact that he's as stubborn and bull-headed as me, Tai Kamiya's my exact opposite, with an easy-going expression on his face and a wild mane of chestnut hair that can never, ever be tamed.

The bus ride's long, full of screaming kids and people throwing erasers, homework, paper airplanes, and basically every school material at each other. I'm listening to my I-Pod, the music turned all the way up, but Tai's laugh echoes from the backseat, and my heart twinges slightly as the sound reaches my ears.

My eyes start to close as I listen to another song from Nightwish—some of the songs are weird, and the lyrics can be dark, but I personally just like the music. But it's not helping me deal with the little voice in my head that keeps saying I need to talk to SOMEONE about the nightmares.

"_Lily…."_

"H-huh?" My eyes shoot open at the sound of that voice. I nearly drop my I-Pod as every muscle in my body stiffens. That voice…

Everything around me seems to dim and fall silent, not important, not mattering, as I strain, desperate to hear her voice again. "Renamon….?" I whisper quietly.

The bus screeches to a stop in front of Odiaba Prep just as an eraser comes flying out of nowhere about to hit me in the face. I snap my hand up and grab it inches in front of my face.

The fifth year stares at me in disbelief, his eyes wide. "Whoah….how did you do that?"

I toss it up and down in the palm of my hand a couple of times, smiling slightly. "Practice." Before tossing it back to him.

…

The Digital World at daytime is usually a beautiful place, especially as the sun slowly peaks over the horizon, golden fingers stretching across the grass and through the forest leaves. But now the sun only means the beginning of danger.

There's an eerie silence that hangs in the atmosphere, pressing, tense. The sounds of Digimon shifting warily in the underbrush mean you know something big is about to happen.

Then slowly, several dark shadows appear on the horizon, contrasting horribly with the bright blue sky. Screams of terror erupt from the Digimon who turn and run for their lives, as the Rings dart downwards. One Gotsumon manages to reach the end of the field and into the safety of the forest, breathing a sigh of relief as he leans against the tree.

He turns and cautiously looks around….his eyes widen with panic as the Ring snaps ominously around his neck, glowing red as he chokes and struggles to pull it off to no avail before dropping to his knees. His eyes reopen, but now they are crimson red, and he turns to blast several rocks at a terrified Unimon, breaking one of the poor horse Digimon's legs at the knee with a well placed blast.

A cat Digimon is running as fast as she possibly can, her sapphire eyes filled with terror, her white fur sticking up all over as she bolts across the forest ground. Gatomon can hear the ominous heavy footfall of her pursuer, and she leaps upward, her claws snagging the lowest branch as she manages to barely pull herself to safety just as a huge fireball scorches the ground beneath her.

Her wide eyes reflect the flames as she leaps from branch to branch and continues running above the monster's head, before she gets unlucky, and a giant orange scaly tail comes out of nowhere to swat at the tree she's just landed in.

Gatomon screams as the entire tree is torn up by the roots and plummets to the ground, a horrible rushing and cracking sound filling the forest as it hits the ground, her entire world blurring around her in a sickening rush of red and green and flames.

For a while, she lies there, completely dazed, pain wracking her small body as the flames envelop the branches pinning her to the ground in a cruel embrace.

She can hear the low triumphant snarl of her pursuer, and looks up into the red eyes and cringes, waiting for the final blow.

There's a cry of rage above her, and a streak of yellow fur as well as a yell of "POWER PAW!"

Renamon flips to the ground, snarling as she watches the would-be assailant stumble backwards from the mere force of the blow.

Knowing she doesn't have much time, Renamon turns back around and slices her claws through the branches, grabbing Gatomon's scruff between her teeth and pulling her out.

Gatomon yelps as her tail gets caught on one of the branches….no….her tail ring is caught, and another yank from Renamon and, to her horror, it's left behind completely.

"My ring!"

"No time!" Renamon nudges her, just as their attacker gets back to his feet and roars, really pissed off now. "RUN!"

Gatomon hesitates but she knows Renamon's right, and with a low hiss of frustration she drops to her belly and bolts into the underbrush towards safety.

Renamon turns back around to face him, fur bristeling as she snarls. "Come and get me big boy..!" before leaping into the air and crossing her arms, before releasing a flurry of razor sharp diamonds at him.

The monster's eyes narrow as he opens his giant maw, flames forming again. "NOVA BLAST!"

…

I freeze in the middle of math class, my hand clutching the pencil so hard it snaps in half.

The noise attracts our teacher, Ms. Adams, who, I will swear by the Dark Area, is like part demon part harpy. Her hawk like eyes narrow at me.

"Something wrong Ms. Kamiya?"

"N-no…" I mumble, distracted as I twirl the pencil subconsciously along a long strand of dark hair. She walks over and crosses her arms, staring down coldly at me. "If nothing's the matter, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind coming to the board and demonstrating problem 57?"

…Oh boy. "Umm…"

"We're waiting."

I groan before pushing myself to my feet, my face flushing as I make my way towards the board, the rest of the class either snickering, or looking on in sympathy.

"X squared – …" I can't even decipher the rest of that problem. I'm just standing here at the board, looking like an idiot, having not the slightest clue in the world what to do.

"Well…?" Ms. Adams prompts, and I fight the desire to throw the stick of chalk at her in frustration. If there's one thing in the world I hate, it's looking like a fool.

"Excuse me, Ms. Adams?"

The voice is softer, with a British accent….but still it's commanding, powerful, and it draws the attention of every kid in class, including the teacher.

The boy has ebony black hair—his face is pale, with black eyes that seem to see everything. His fingers run through his hair lazily as he says, "I believe what Ms. Kamiya is trying to say is that this problem has no solution."

…What? I glare at him but Ms. Adams raises an eyebrow and smiles. "That is correct, for the both of you. You are the new student, am I correct?"

He nods politely, and I'm still too much in shock that someone actually helped me that I'm barely able to listen. "I'm Damien, ma'am."

"Damien…?"

"Just Damien." He smiles again, and for once Ms. Adams doesn't ask any questions, just orders me back to my seat and continues with her lecture.

I glance over at Damien as I have to walk past him to get to my seat. "Thanks…?"

He just smiles, leaning back. "Not a problem. The no-solutions are ridiculous…waste of time for a smart girl like you."

Is he being sarcastic or sincere? I can't tell, especially because of that half-smirk on his face when he calls me smart.

My eyes narrow and I ignore him. The sick feeling in my stomach won't go away, the horrible sensation that Renamon…is in danger…

My hands are shaking slightly as I pull my cellphone out of my bag and type a quick message. "_Meet me at the front hall. NOW."_

…

The laughter of the soccer players reaches my ears first, then their sweaty smell. My eyes narrow as I pointedly look away from most of them.

"Hey look….it's the freak!"

"Kirk." I sneer over at him, my gaze meeting the blond idiot's sneer. "Big words for someone whose butt I kicked last week."

His face flushes as the rest of them howl with laughter. "You just wait witch. That's what everyone thinks you are, you know? A wi-"Shut up Kirk."

Kirk's eyes widened with fear as Tai walks up, the group of soccer players dispersing respectfully away from their captain. I can't help but smirk as I see the fire in Tai's eyes. A part of him will always be the General that defeated the Dark Masters.

"I…I was just…"

"You were, just joking?" Tai demands, stepping closer to Kirk and causing him to step backwards uneasily. "Next time I see you messing with Lily, I'll not only have you kicked off the team but you'll be drinking through a straw, understand me?"

Kirk glares at him before stalking off. "Why do you bother hanging out with that…freak?" He yells spitefully over his shoulder before laughing and rounding the corner.

I sigh and look up at Tai as we're now alone in the hallway. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know I didn't." He responds before staring at my pale face. "Lily, what's wrong? You're shaking. Are you sick?" Tai moves closer to me, protectively. "Are you sick?"

I shake my head. "Tai, it's not that. It's….." I stare into his eyes. "Home…."

His own eyes widen. Even after four years of living here in the human world, there's only one place I call home.

Tai glances from side to side to make sure that no one is listening before moving in closer and tugging me into the corner. "The Digital World?" He breathes, eyes widening. "Are you sure? In all of four years, there's been nothing…"

My temper flares. "You think I'm making this up?"

"No, but…are you sure it wasn't just some kind of nightmare?"

I shrug his hand off my shoulder, storming down the hallway. "I'm not crazy, Tai. I know what I felt, and if you won't help me, then I'll find a way….if Renamon's in trouble there's no way in the Dark Area I'll leave her alone."

"Lily, wait!" Tai growls in frustration before bolting back after me.

I duck into the computer lab, my eyes scanning the room, before walking over to one and turning it on.

Tai closes the door quietly behind me and walks forward. "Lils, you do realize that even if there is something wrong in the Digital World, we can't get there. The portals are shut. Izzy's been trying to open them for years with no success. And you do realize that every computer I touch ends up breaking?"

I ignore him, typing keys as quick as I can and pulling up the familiar screen that shows an image of a green datapad and a red dot at the top….indicating it's still closed.

I want to scream, to slam my fist down onto the desk and curse. Tai touches my shoulder and closes his eyes.

"…You're sure…something's gone wrong?" His eyes fix on mine, pleading with me for reassurance, to at least know that I'm positive, that I'm not putting him through this for nothing.

I nod silently. "I've never…" My voice catches. "Felt Renamon so scared since Myotismon was alive."

Tai's jaw tightens in response. "Then what the crap are we supposed to DO?"

I close my eyes and don't say anything, horrible images filling my head. Gatomon and Agumon being blasted into data particles, Renamon…Renamon being stabbed through the core, her lifeless body hitting the ground as some dark figure laughs.

The computer room is completely silent. The two of us just standing there in our helplessness, unable to do anything to save the ones we love.

It's so quiet that for a moment I don't hear it. Then it continues to grow even louder…the soft beeping….red light flashing from Tai's back pocket.

His eyes meet mine, widen, before pulling out the little device that I haven't seen him use in so long. Strange red symbols flash on his Digivice, and he stares and mouths one word-… "Agumon?"

"Tai, look!"

The computer is going completely nuts, flashing on and off, as well as the lights. I glance at Tai just as the lights go completely off, plunging us into darkness. "What the?"

A strange, tugging feeling in my stomach begins, pulling me forward, sucking me in. "TAI!"

"LILY!"

He lunges forward, trying to grab my hand as the light from the computer suddenly explodes outwards, surrounding us both, and suddenly everything's a blur of wild colours and spinning lights, I'm falling head over heels over and over before everything goes black…

…

"Lily…Lily!"

"…Ugh…."

"Oh Yggdrasil…" The voice is pleading, almost tearful, as it whispers, "Please….please wake up…please don't…"

"Die?" I mumble, my eyes finally opening. I see Tai leaning over me, desperation in his eyes, and I manage a weak smile, even though every part of me is sore. "Don't worry. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Tai sighs in relief, a shaky smile forming on his face. "Don't even joke…"

I glance around me, freezing. "Where are we…?"

I've never seen anything like this area before. Everything's blackened and destroyed, the ground is completely scorched, and there's no sign of life anywhere.

"I know where this place is." Tai breathes, slowly getting to his feet, his arms going numb at his sides like he can't believe what he's seeing.

"Huh?"

"This is the Native Forest…what's happened to it…?"

I slowly get to my own feet, the destruction horrifying me as well, but not so much that I've lost leave of my senses. The sound of something huge and powerful marching from behind the hills…towards…us…my eyes snap open as I scream "TAI LOOK OUT!" shoving him out of the way just as a MASSIVE fireball strikes the ground right where we've been standing.

Both of us go flying from the force of the explosion, tumbling over and over in the skies with each other. I hit the ground and clench my teeth in pain as the rocks scrape against my face, leaving deep scratch marks over my cheeks.

Tai groans, his eyes slowly opening as he shoves himself back upwards. I look at him and see his entire body tense, a strangled gasp of horror escaping from his mouth.

And then I get a better look at what attacked us. It's a massive dinosaur type Digimon, with orange scales and blue stripes, with a brown horned helmet covering his head, huge canines bared in a snarl. The only difference is a weird black collar wrapped around his neck.

"Greymon…" Tai whispers, his voice cracking.

Oh freaking Yggdrasil….No….

…

Kari rolled her eyes in annoyance as Davis Motomiya continued to keep hitting on her. The boy would just not give up, no matter how many times she said no.

"And now children I'd like you all to welcome our new student, who's moved back here to Odiaba this fall after several years abroad." The teacher droned, and Kari looked up, her eyes widening immediately as she did so.

The boy had messy blonde hair hid underneath a white fisherman's hat, a green and yellow shirt and brown pants.

Those blue eyes….she could never have forgotten them even if she wanted to. "TK…" She breathed.

Davis looked up, a look of horror appearing on his face as the new boy immediately went over and sat by his girl.

"I thought it was you." TK said softly, turning to smile at her. "It's so weird to be together again after all these years."

Kari smiled. "Just like old times."

The curly-haired teenage boy to the right of TK nearly had a complete and utter spaz attack. After six months of Davis painstakingly trying to win Kari's heart, this boy just comes right out of nowhere and….

Davis clenched his teeth. He was not going to let that happen. Not in a million years.

…

The huge tail flies over our heads as Tai shoves me to the ground, saving me from going flying and possibly breaking my back.

"Greymon STOP!" He yells, his eyes wild. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, Tai!"

He didn't seem to be in a listening mood. Greymon roared again, flames forming in his jaws. "NOVA BLAST!"

I leap to my feet to shove Tai out of the way and force him to run, but someone beats me to it. A flash of white fur flashes above us along with an angry hiss. "LIGHTNING PAW!"

The punch sends Greymon tumbling to the ground with an indignant grunt, and the creature backflips in mid air to kick him in the top of the skull, slamming his head down and dazing him badly as he lies on the ground groaning…

"Gatomon…?" I breathe, my eyes widening.

She hisses at us, her eyes wild. "Don't just stand there you idiots! MOVE!" She streaks through the badly destroyed forest and I grab Tai by the shirt, whose still staring at the fallen Greymon.

"You can't help him if you're dead, now come on!"

Tai hesitates for only a moment longer….before bolting after me. As our footsteps recede, Greymon's red eyes snap open and he snarls.

…

"The Digimon Emperor?"

Gatomon leads the way through the tunnel, which is so low Tai and I both have to crouch to get through.

She nods and stares forward, as though she's looking into the past. "Two years ago….a strange human appeared. He created these devices called the Dark Rings. When they capture a Digimon, they brainwash and control the Digimon completely. There's….no breaking free."

I flinch slightly. As an escaped slave myself, nothing sounds worse than that. "Didn't anyone try to fight back?"

"They did…until they were captured or had their friends enslaves. We, that is the Chosen Digimon, led the rebellion…" Her ears drooped. "Until…he came for us."

Tai's fists are clenched so tightly they're shaking, rage flowing from him so powerful it seriously hurts me to sense it.

Not knowing what else to do, I touch his arm, my gaze meeting his in a fervent plea for him to calm down.

"Out of all of them, only me and a few others remained uncaptured." Gatomon sighed, her claws digging into the stones.

My eyes widen. "Wait….what about Renamon?"

"…"

"GATOMON?"

"…Lily…there's something you should know…."

Before she could answer, the sound of a low groan fill the tunnels. My eyes widen as I shove past Gatomon, breaking into a run at that sound of pain. "RENAMON!"

The tunnel curves around to a small cavern, more like a hole than anything else, with a long podium of stone standing up in the middle.

But that's not what holds my attention. A strangled cry escapes my lips as I see a bundle of bloodied yellow fur lying weakly on the ground, not moving. I drop to my knees, my hands shaking as I reach out to her. "Renamon…?"

Her chest rises weakly as though every breath hurts as her bright blue eyes slowly open. "Lily…?"

I bury my face in her mane as a whimper of delight escapes her mouth and she starts licking my face wildly.

Tai smiles at the scene before sighing and leaning both hands on the pedestal and closes his eyes….before realizing what's sitting in front of him.

"What the heck?"

I glance up and see what looks oddly like a Digiegg sitting there. But I've never seen a Digiegg with a giant, dagger like horn sticking out from the top….or covered in red flame like patterns…or that had the Crest of Courage prominently displayed in the middle.

"What is it?"

Tai stares at the Digiegg as though entranced….his right hand stretches out and, fingers trembling, lightly rests them on the top of the egg before I can warn him not to. He tries to pull it off, but it doesn't budge. His eyes narrow as he tries harder, pulling until I'm sure he's going to wrench his back out.

"Tai, stop it." I step forward. "Stop it Tai. You're not going to help anyone. Besides, why does it matter?"

"…" He sighs before slowly pulling away, turning to face me and lowering his head.

Light shines forward as if the egg was exploding, and Tai yelled, pulling back as though blinded as three dots of light bolt into the sky, through the top of the cave. "Tai, what did you do?"

…

Kari suddenly breathes sharply in, her auburn eyes widening, her hands shaking as she leans against the school's lockers.

TK turns his head to look at her, concerned. "Kari? You okay?"

She nods silently and forces a smile on her face as she looks up at him. "I'm fine TK….I….just a little tired, I guess. How does your mum like the new apartment?"

He laughs ruefully, shoving his books and other belongings back into his locker. "She hasn't seen it yet. Too busy writing that newspaper article on toilet paper."

"Hey buddy!" an angry voice calls out, and Kari facepalms, as TK turns around, confused.

A boy with maroon colored curly hair and brown eyes glowers, his fists clenched inside his gloves indignantly. "That's MY girl you're talking to."  
TK raises an eyebrow and turns to look at Kari, who just rolls her eyes and shakes her head as if to say-"Don't ask me."

"She's not your girl." TK responds flatly to him. Davis splutters and curses at them both as he and Kari try to ignore him, walking over to the computer room.

Kari wants to show TK her new pictures she took recently on the computer, and she's more than a little annoyed he keeps following them.

To everyone's surprise, the door is adjar. That's weird. Most people don't come over to this computer lab, as the other one is more popular—though not for academic reasons.

TK glances over at Kari the minute they step into the room. The two of them can both sense it…the raw power that's coming from the computer. Without speaking, the two of them rush over to the computer and flick back on the monitor.

For a minute, they can't believe their eyes. TK has to sit down while Kari lets out a quiet gasp. "The portal's open…?"

"The portal?" Davis demands sceptically from behind them. "What portal?"

The computer's light flickers again, and Kari's eyes widen as something goes flying outwards. "Watch out!"

TK ducks just in time, but the ball of light hits Davis right in the head, knocking him backwards and onto his butt. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Kari stammers, trying not to laugh.

He grumbles, pushing himself back upwards and blushing slightly as he glowers at a smirking TK. "Ha hah…very funny. What is this thing anyway?"

"What is…?" Kari's mouth drops open and TK lets out a sharp breath as they see what's in Davis' right hand.

It looks like a regular cellphone, bright blue, but it's the symbols around the edges that tip the two of them off. It's a Digivice.

"No way in heck…"

Davis eyes it curiosly, turning it over and over again in his hand. "Cool. So, can I get Donkey Madness on this thing?"

"TK something's wrong." Kari said quietly to her best friend. "Why has the portal suddenly opened like this? I don't…understand."

"Neither do I." He muttered through clenched teeth. "But we know something big is going on. That's how it always goes, if the Digital World has called us back."

"Called you back?" Davis demanded. "What makes you think you're so special that only you can go to this…whatever it is you're talking about?"

TK raises an eyebrow before turning back to the computer. "You've got no idea how dangerous this place can be. I don't care if you have a Digivice or not, you're not coming."

Davis' eyes narrow as he takes a step forward. "Listen TC, if you can go, then I can go too!"

TK stares at him blankly. "T…what?"

"Enough arguing." Kari yanks out her own Digivice. "I don't care what you decide, but if my partner or anyone else I care about is in trouble, I have this chance to help them. I'm not letting it go to waste." She held it up to the screen and shouted-"Digiport open!"

Davis' eyes widen in complete disbelief, his mouth dropping down to his knees as he watches her disappear into a flash of white light.

TK nods and holds his own up. "I'm with you!" Another flash of light, and he's disappeared as well.

Davis doesn't have a clue about what's going on. A big part of him wants to run from the room screaming, but his bullheadedness overrides that. Like heck he's going to let TK be there for Kari and not him.

So he holds up his own Digivice, determination filling him like never before, and shouts out the words without even really knowing what they mean-"DIGIPORT OPEN!"

…

"KEEP HIM BACK!"

Tai's standing in front of me protectively, pressing me back away from the huge hole in the cave wall smashed there by fierce slam from Greymon's tail. His roar echoes loudly outside, and I can't help but flinch as he lowers his massive head and one red eye glares in at us, devoid of all of Agumon's cheerful innocence.

Gatomon charges forward, her paw shining with energy as she slams it into Greymon's eye. "LIGHTNING PAW!"

He roars in agony and backs away slightly as Renamon charges in as well, crossing her arms over her chest as an entire storm of diamonds forms behind her. "DIAMOND STORM!"

The razor sharp stones slice through his skin, leaving deep cuts across his face. Tai lets out a strangled gasp. "D-don't hurt him!"

"Oh, I'm sorry" Renamon snarls, looking back at him. "You prefer it if I let him eat you alive?"

He clenches his teeth and lowers his head, seething quietly but knowing…there's nothing we can do.

The sound of something crashing and then several loud screams echo above us. I look up, my eyes widen but I don't leap out of the way in time and three people come crashing down on top of us.

"Ow…." A low voice, male, not one I recognize groans and tries to get up, his elbow digging into my back. "That freaking hurt…"

"Would you get off me?" I snap icily, causing him to jump upwards, and nearly fall backwards on himself in his haste to get away.

I don't recognize the one boy, but the blonde haired kid is unmistakeable as he helps Kari back up to her feet.

"TK…?"

TK grins. "Hey Lils. How've you been?"

Gatomon's eyes widen at the sight of her partner. Kari drops to her knees, her voice shaking as she's sounds like she's about to cry. "Gatomon…" but Tai grips her shoulder. "Kari…not now all right. We can have a cozy catch-up later…right now we have to-!"

The boy screams suddenly, as another roar echoes outside and the sound of Greymon slamming his entire weight into the mountain makes the ground shake. "Earthquake!"

Tai loses his balance and falls back into me, Kari screaming as a giant crack forms in the ground, like an open mouth stretching upwards ready to swallow us whole.

Renamon whirls around, her fur bristling as she plunges forward to try and grab me but too late.

"Kari!" Davis lunges forward and grabs Tai's hand, whose desperately holding onto me, whose desperately holding onto both TK and Kari. He clenches his teeth and wraps one hand around the immovable Digiegg.

There's another sickening crashing sound above us, as the very cave wall is being torn away, and Greymon roars once more, this time managing to stick his whole muzzle into the hole, snarling and snapping at Renamon and Gatomon, who are being pushed back away from us just trying to stay out of range of those massive teeth.

Davis clenches his teeth, but his grip is beginning to slip. Sweat trickles down his forehead and its only his pure stubbornness and adrenaline rush that's keeping him from letting us all fall to our deaths.

I close my eyes, waiting for the fall that's sure to come, when another flash of white light occurs above us. Davis screams suddenly as though something is burning him, and his grip slackens, causing him to tumble forwards….

"I've got you Davish!"

Davis slowly opens his eyes…hardly daring to look. When he looks upwards, he's sure he must be dreaming, or he's already dead. One of the two.

A lizard-like Digimon is clutching Davis' hand in his own tiny one with unbelievable strength. He's covered in blue scales, except for his white underbelly, with a small horn sticking up from his nose, and a yellow V across his forehead.

With unbelievable strength, he groans before tossing the entire line of people upwards, and sending us crashing down beside him, where we all lie groaning and nursing brusied bodies and bruised egos.

"Boy that was a close one…" the little creature pants, dropping down on his butt and looking up ruefully at us.

We're far back enough Greymon can't reach, and Renamon runs over to me, panic in her bright blue eyes. "Lily! Are you okay?"

I rub the back of my head and wince. "I'm fine…" before pushing myself back upwards and fight the desire to laugh.

Davis is slowly scooting away from the Digimon on his butt, his eyes huge. The little guy stares at him and is talking to him like you would a frightened rabbit. "Hey, you don't need to be afraid of me. I'm your friend, Veemon!"

"H-huh?"

Tai snorts, and I can tell he's remembering the first time he and Koromon met. This memory seems to cause deep pain in him as he glances back out where Greymon is still desperately trying to get in at us. He takes a deep breath before walking over to Davis. "Look kid…I recognize you're freaked out right now. But I hate to break it to you…this is your life now. The talking little monsters that follow you all over are part of the package deal. And so is being chased by even bigger, much nastier Digimon. Granted, we're usually not being attacked by our own partners but…."

"I don't think you're helping." I mutter.

"Shut up…" Tai turns back to Davis. "The point is the minute you bonded with that Digivice you became one of us. And rather you like it or not, there's no going back."

Davis stares back at him before turning his head to stare at Veemon, who smiles and gives him a thumbs up. He looks down at the Digivice just as another roar echoes through the sky.

"LOOK OUT!"

One scaly fist punches into the weakened cave wall, then again, then again, and then again, until with a shattering of rock the wall is gone completely.

TK's eyes widen. " Greymon? But….what….how?"

"We'll explain later!" I shove Tai forwards just as the massive jaws slam shut right where he used to be. "Right now we have to run!"

Tai turns back towards his partner, desperation in his face. "Greymon…" He whispers, staring up at the snarling face, his tone one of utter and complete failure.

Kari fishes in her pant's pocket for her Digivice. "Gatomon you have to digivolve!"

"I can't!"

"What? What do you mean you AGHHHHH!"

"KARI!"

All of our screams echo in unison, Tai's and Davis' in particular, as Greymon's claws wrap around Kari's waist, and he lifts her, kicking and screaming in the air.

Rage floods through me, drowning out the screams of everyone else as I rush forwards. I don't care if it's Greymon at this point. All I know is, that is my little sister he's hurting, who is being crushed right before my eyes, and there is no way in heck I'm standing back here and letting her die like this.

I'm not hearing Tai's scream for me to come back, I just jump upwards as I reach the giant hole, expecting a huge ball of light to be forming in my hands and to slam it in Greymon's skull, enough to knock him unconious, not to kill.

…But it doesn't come…Absolutely nothing comes. My eyes widen as I don't feel a speck of power, not a tiny bit of strength flowing through, no magic…

Oh #$$^^.

"LILY NO!"

The tail whirls around and swats me in the middle, knocking the wind out of me so I can't even scream as I plummet towards the ground.

"LILY!"

Renamon shoots outward and plunges down after me, hooking her claws into the cliff's side and reaching out with one paw to grab my hand as I start to fall past her.

I gasp as my body collides with the rocks painfully, leaving deep gashes and horrible bruises…but I'm alive.

"Don't…ever…do that again…" Renamon pants, her teeth gritted with the effort of holding me.

"I'll try not to…" I cringe as Greymon roars again. "But we might not get that chance!"

Kari cringes in pain as Greymon's grip tightens on her, gasping. "GATOMON!"

Gatomon pounces with a cry of desperation and brings back a paw for a punch, only to be swatted away with Greymon's other hand like some annoying fly.

Tai bites his lip so hard a trickle of blood runs down his cheek. "GREYMON STOP!"

Greymon freezes at the sound of Tai's voice….his red eyes widen slightly…the hand holding Kari trembles…

"Davish, you've got to do something!"

"Huh?" Davis stares down at Veemon. "What do you want me to do?"

"You care about her, don't you?" Veemon gestures to Kari before looking up at him with a pleading expression. "You can't leave your friends to fight alone! Have courage!"

Davis stares at him for a few minutes more, before his head jerks back around at the sound of Kari's scream and Greymon's enraged roar as Renamon pulls me up onto a ledge and safety before pouncing forwards to strike him in the stomach, knocking him back several paces. Flames pour from his mouth. "NOVA BLAST!"

"NO!" The scream erupting from his mouth doesn't sound like his own…the Digiegg in his right hand starts to shine, as he shouts words that he's never said before, yet seem perfectly right. "DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

The golden light that surrounds both him and Veemon blinds everyone else…Tai and TK are both forced to take steps back, and I shield my eyes from below.

"What the #$$ is going on?"

As the light grows brighter I hear Veemon shout-"Veemon armor digivolve to…Flamedramon! The Fire of Courage!"

"…Holy…" TK breathes, his blue eyes wide. Tai can't say anything. He just nods numbly in disbelief.

The new Digimon is tall, lanky yet powerful looking, with Veemon's blue body covered by flame-patterned red armour, just like the Digiegg, with the same blade-like horn sticking up from his forehead.

He looks over and smirks at Davis, whose just as dumbstruck as the rest of us. "What do you think?"

"….I…" Davis finally manages to find his voice. "You're…you're freaking awesome!"  
He chuckles. "This is nothing. Watch and learn." Flames cover his entire body as Flamedramon kicks off from the ground, diving down and striking Greymon in the chest, knocking him backwards and making his head snap up, the flames from the Nova Blast shooting harmlessly up into the sky.

Renamon's eyes are huge. "Armour Digivolve? What the heck is that?"

The impact means Greymon loses his grip on Kari, and she screams, but barely falls before Flamedramon grabs her. She stares up at him in awe as he winks at her. "Thanks for dropping in." he quips, before setting her down next to her brother and darting back at Greymon.

Greymon roars, the flames forming in his jaws again as he blasts them right at Flamedramon. But Flamedramon doesn't even bother to dodge, he just dives right through them, blue eyes narrowing as he focuses on the Dark Ring wrapped around Greymon's neck.

He pulls back one fist, claws unsheathing and becoming wreathed in flames themselves before snarling and slicing downwards—Tai lets out a shattered gasp, but Flamedramon doesn't leave a scratch on Greymon's neck. The Dark Ring is another story. It shatters into a million pieces on impact….Greymon drops to his knees and moans as he starts to shrink…

Flamedramon lands behind the degenerating Greymon and smiles slightly as he looks back over his shoulder, before the grey light surrounds him as well and he turns back into Veemon. "Davish, what did you think?"

Davis laughs and lets Veemon leap up into his arms. "What do I think? I think that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

"I've got to admit." I chuckle, walking over with Renamon next to me. "That was pretty amazing." The smile on my face is masking the fear that's still in my heart.

I glance over and see Tai leaning next to Agumon, look back at Davis one more time before running over to Tai.

"Agumon…?" Tai whispers, laying a hand on the small dragon Rookie's flank.

Agumon's eyes flicker before slowly opening…the same emerald they've always been. "Tai…?" He whimpers.

Tai's voice catches. "Thank Yggdrasil…I'm so sorry…"

"You're sorry…I should be sorry…" His eyes then fully open, a look of horror appearing on his features. "Where's

Kari?"

"I'm right here Agumon…" Kari smiles as she walks over to him, leaning next to her brother. She's still sore, but I can tell she's trying not to wince so as not to upset him.

"…I'm so sorry…"

"You're not the one who should be sorry." Renamon responds angrily, her tail lashing back and forth. "The Digimon

Emperor is the one who should be sorry. And trust me, when I sink my claws into that creep…"

"You might have to beat me to it." I say darkly, my fists clenching at my side. How dare someone threaten my family? "What I want to know is, how is he stopping us from getting you guys to digivolve?"

"We don't know." Gatomon shook her head. "All we know is that this affects all Digimon, including ones that got their Champion forms naturally like Renamon did."

"Well?" Davis' voice startles all of us, and he's standing there, his fists clenched and an excited gleam in his eye.

"Why don't we just go over there and pound him flat? With Flamedramon here, how can we lose?"

I raise an eyebrow and snort. "It's a lot more complicated than that Rookie."

TK nods. "We're better off not doing anything too rash until we know exactly what we're up against."

"Besides," Tai agrees, resting a hand on a still oddly-forlorn Agumon's head, "our partners are worn out. We need to cut our losses and heal up before fighting again."

"Where's the nearest portal?" I ask, looking over at Gatomon who nods before leading the way through the destroyed Native Forest.

Agumon keeps looking down at the ground, not meeting anyone's gaze. He looks like all the life has been sucked out of him, despite Tai's best efforts to cheer him up.

"There it is."

I blink as Gatomon points one claw at what looks like a miniature television. "A TV…? Well that's new I suppose."

Tai shrugs and holds out his Digivice. But…there's no reaction. "Huh?"

"Let me try!" Davis shoves to the front and holds out his own Digivice confidently. "Digiport open!"

…Nothing. The screen stays stubbornly blank.

"…Abacadabra? Open seasame? PLEASE?"

Veemon blinks as Davis practically dances in front of the television set. "What are you doing?"

"Is he opening the portal or summoning rain?" I mutter.

Kari slowly looks over at me. "Does this mean…?"

"We can't get home." Tai's jaw tightens. "We're trapped here."

…

"Come on Tai pick up…" Izzy mutters, pacing back and forth in the computer room, the cellphone pressed to his ear, desperate to hear his best friend pick up.

Mrs. Kamiya had called saying that Tai, Lily and Kari were all missing. Maybe he was being stupid, but he couldn't shake this fear…

"Izzy?"

"Huh?"

A young girl with long dark hair sticks her head in. She's a freshman, like Kari, but a bit more pudgy and with round glasses perched on her nose, wearing a pink blouse and jeans.

"Oh hi Yolei…" Izzy says, distracted as he looks over at his friend from the computer lab. "Listen, I'm sorry but I don't really have much time to talk…"

She shrugs. "I just wanted to ask…"

His eyes widen as she holds up what looks like a red cellphone…with those symbols etched around the side…"W-where did you get that?"

…

The sounds of snoring fill the campsite. I'm lying on the ground, staring up at the stars and feeling the wet grass press into my back. Yggdrasil, how did a normal day go so wrong so fast? I flex my right hand slightly and feel a scowl of frustration form on my face when…again there's no spark.

"Lily?"

"Huh?"

Tai's lying next to me, his brown eyes fixed on mine. "Are…you okay?"

"…Fine…" I mumble before turning away. He rests his hand on my shoulder. "Lily…" He lowers his voice so no one can hear him talking. "What happened…it's been a long time…it's probably just a fluke. There's nothing wrong with you or your powers."

"…Yeah. Just a fluke."

"I'm just trying to help."

"I know you are." I mumble, turning my head to give him a half-smile. "I'm sorry. It's been…a long day, you know?"

He nods silently as I curl up into a ball, letting sleep overtake me.

…

The sun shines down the next morning, light playing across my face. I groan, my eyes slowly opening as I feel something heavy wrapped around me. "Wha…?"

Then I turn my head slightly and nearly scream as I see Tai's head resting on my shoulder, his arm draped over my waist, a half-smile on his face….You've got to be kidding me.


	2. And then there were three

Me-Okay here's the next chapter. Before I forget I want to thank both Fergus Flamacron and my awesome co-author vitalisudeos for all their great ideas! You guys are awesome.

Chapter Two

The figure leans back in his chair, his eyes narrowing. He doesn't look all that intimidating to start with. He has dark hair that sticks up all over the place, only slightly less wild looking than Tai's, and purple-shaded sunglasses that hide light blue eyes that seem calculating.

He wears a blue cape that seems several sizes too big for him, black gloves with silver gauntlets. His hand holds a whip that his fingers stretch over, caressing it. "Wormmon?"

A small insect Digimon crawls out, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground. "Yes master?"

The boy's eyes smile, glinting eerily beneath the sunglasses as he stares at the screen depicting the group of sleeping Digidestined. "Release prisoners 33455 and 005564. I believe I finally have some new friends to play with…"

…

The warm sunlight streams onto my back as I keep walking, my boots crunching the moist grass beneath me.

Even the cheerful laughter of Veemon and Davis behind me doesn't help ease the tension for the rest of us. Agumon's still worn out both emotionally and physically, and the rest of us aren't far behind him. My eyes are scanning the horizon for any sign of enemy movement. If something's coming, and I know it will, I can't risk being taken by surprise.

"Look what I can do Davish!" Veemon runs forward and backflips so he's standing on his hands, a triumphant smile on his face.

Davis laughs and applauds. "That's nothing. Watch what I can do." He takes off at a run and goes into a somersault, not seeing the cliff edge rise up in front of him. "WHO-AH!"

"Pay attention Rookie…" I growl, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pulling him backwards before he can end up a smear on the ground. "I won't always be around to save your neck."

"T-thanks Lils…" He mumbles as Kari peers down the side of the cliff. "So what now?" She asks grimly, looking at the sheer drop on the other side.

There's a very thin stretch of rock jutting out from the wall, and that's it. Not an easy path down, especially not for two escaped circus monkeys like Davis and Veemon.

"We'll go down first." I glance at Tai. "Renamon's agile enough to catch me if something goes wrong."

As Renamon and I make our way down, Renamon's ears twisting back and forth for the sound of the ground weakening too much beneath our feet, I glance back at the others and lower my voice.

"What happened…to the others? Patamon, Gabumon, all of them?"

Her ears droop slightly. "We don't know…we got separated the last time we fought against the Emperor's forces. I don't know if the others besides me and Gatomon had all been captured, or if they're in hiding…or….."

"_Or if they've been killed completely." _ Is the silent message that passes through both our heads. I sigh through clenched teeth. "TK's not going to like hearing that…"

"Should we tell him?"

"No. Not yet. Not until I have proof over rather or not Patamon's okay."

Renamon raises an eyebrow and smirks. "That's oddly subtle for you."

I roll my eyes. "If we weren't in danger of plummeting to our deaths by doing so, I'd reach over and slap you right now."

"Oh Yggdrasil Lils you have no idea…how much I've missed someone saying that kind of stuff to me."

I look over and smile at her. "…I've missed you too."

"Hey, Lils!"

My right eye twitches as Davis calls me by that nickname after only knowing me for less than a day.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"What do you think? Unless you want to spend another day here we need to find a portal back and quickly."

"And do you know where we're looking?" Gatomon asked.

"Nickpicking doesn't really help…"

Agumon's eyes widened as he looked upwards. His pupils dilated as he growled menacingly. "They're here…."

"Huh?"

Renamon's head shot up suddenly, staring at the sky as two dark shadows appeared in the clouds. "We've got company!"  
"GET DOWN!"

Several huge fireballs flew from the clouds like heaven's judgement…I ducked, slamming my stomach into the rocky path as I heard the screams from the others, Tai screaming my name in desperation.

Laughter breaks out above us, cruel and mocking, and Tai angrily gets to his feet, shielding his baby sister whose badly shaken by the surprise attack.

"Who the CRAP DO YOU THINK…?" His voice trails off. His eyes widen and a look of horror appears on his face. "No…"

Our two attackers hover above us menacingly…glaring down with pitiless red eyes. One of them looks like a phoenix, with feathers like flames, razor sharp talons on her feet and equally curved canines jutting out from her beak.

The other looks like a giant flying beetle, black exoskeleton gleaming in the sunlight, head covered with a heavy plated helmet, wings fluttering so fast you can barely see them.

Birdramon and Kabuterimon…oh Yggdrasil…

"RUN!" The scream erupting doesn't sound like mine, and my feet are running down the path much too fast for safety, cracks forming as Renamon drops to all four paws and runs behind me.

Davis pants as he runs behind Tai and TK. "Shouldn't we…be fighting?" He reaches for his D-3, but TK grabs his hand. "Unless Flamedramon can fly, than don't be an idiot!" He snaps. "You'll send us all to our deaths!"

Davis looks back over the side at the ravine on the other end…the little blue strip of river so far down and gulps.

"By order of his majesty the Digimon Emperor." Birdramon flies up above us, staring down at us like we're rats to be crushed, "you are under arrest. I suggest, Digidestined…you come quietly." She smirks, showing those teeth. "Or else we might be forced to resort to more drastic measures."

"…Biyomon…" Agumon whispers, before looking back at Tai pleadingly, his green eyes filled with anguish.

Two Champions and none of our Digimon can fly. The odds are not in our favour. I glance downwards and my eyes widen…something…shines down below in the ravine. A strange circle that glows more and more beautifully, with what looks like data swirling all around in it. Of course. NOW one shows up.

"Can I just kill them now?" Kabuterimon grunts over to Birdramon, his muscles tensing and his many fingers starting to crackle with electricity.

"That depends." She stares back at us. "Well? Do you surrender or not?"

I glance over at Renamon, who smirks back then nods to Gatomon. "How's this for an answer?" She growls, before taking a running leap and flying above both Birdramon and Kabuterimon.

Startled, the two of them both whirl around, Birdramon spreading out her wings which start to shine ominously.

"METEOR WING!"

Renamon dives downwards, twisting in mid-air and miraculously dodging every single one of the fireballs as her right paw starts to shine. Her blue eyes narrow and she lets out a savage cry before punching her hard in the neck, causing Birdramon to let out a horrible choking noise as her head snaps back. Renamon crosses her arms. "DIAMOND STORM!"

Meanwhile, Gatomon is keeping Kabuterimon busy. She's always been agile, and annoyingly impossible to hit, as I well remember. And right now she desperately needs that agility, because Kabuterimon's four arms are giving her quite the hard time.

"Would you quit bouncing around?" He bellows in frustration, trying to grab her tail just as it literally slips through his fingers.

"No." She responds before lashing across his un-armoured hand with her razor sharp claws, causing him to rear back with a cry of pain as she somersaults through mid-air dodging another fireball from Birdramon.

Agumon growls in frustration, his claws curling into fists at his side. "I hate feeling so….useless!"

"How do you think I feel?" Tai whispers, his eyes fixed on the battle. He pulls out his Digivice and stares at it. What good is he, to anyone, without this precious Device functional? If he can't help Agumon digivolve…then what good is he?

"Tai!"

He looks up as I race towards him. "We have to jump! NOW!"

His eyes widen as he takes a step back. "Are you insane?"

I shove both him and Kari off the side just as Kabuterimon roars angrily again-"I've had enough of this game!" and a massive ball of electricity strikes right where the two of them had been standing.

The screams of both Tai and Kari echo in my ears as we all plummet, Renamon and Gatomon diving after us. I clench my teeth and screw my eyes up tight. If I didn't estimate the jump just right, I really don't want to watch us all be smashed to pieces.

TK's eyes widen as he watches us fall. "KARI!" He tenses, ready to plunge in after her, but Davis knocks him to the ground and beats him to it, yelling wildly as he plunges after his crush.

But…he doesn't get that far. A taloned foot wraps around him, digging into his body with such force it makes him gasp out loud. "L-let!"

Birdramon snorts and glances back down. There's no sign of the other three…she growls in irritation before turning back to Kabuterimon, whose holding a struggling TK and a cursing Veemon in his hands. "We'll take them back to the master. He will reward us greatly." She adds with a smirk.

TK struggles desperately as Kabuterimon guffaws before flying off behind Birdramon. "NO! KARI! NO!"

…

I groan as I push myself up from the soggy grass. "I hate portals." I mutter, wringing the wet out of my hair and wincing slightly at the bruises that cover my body.

"But it saved our lives." Tai sighed, before giving me a LOOK. "Next time warn me what you're planning to do, for the love of Yggdrasil. You scared the crap out of me."

I snort. "What did you think I was trying to do? Murder you?" A pang hits my stomach as I remember my dream, but I force it down and punch him in the shoulder.

Kari looks around. "Where…are TK and Davis?"

…

…

"OH MY HOLY YGGDRASIL!"

"Weren't they right behind us?" Tai shouts, whirling around as if they might appear out of nowhere. "Weren't they right with us?"

"This is not happening…" I mutter, my teeth clenching. "This is NOT happening…"

Kari shoves herself upwards, her eyes desperate. "We have to go back!"

"Kari…" Gatomon murmurs, her ears drooping as she looks up at her partner, who is still unsteady on her feet.

"No, don't say that! The whole reason Davis came to the Digital World was because he wanted to help me…" Her voice catches. "I can't just leave them there…not…not TK."

"…"

I touch her shoulder, making her look at me. "Look, Kari. I know you're worried about them. We all are. But for now…you have to realize there's nothing we can do."

"But…"

"And charging back in isn't going to do any good, not right now." My eyes narrow and I curl my lip slightly. "But trust me we will come back for them. Once our Digimon recover…" I smirk. "Then we'll go back and teach this little twerp why you don't ever mess with the Digidestined."

A slight smile forms on her face, and Gatomon shoots me a grateful look before glancing around. "Does anyone know where we are? I've never been in this part of Japan before."

I frown slightly, glancing around. We've standing on a riverbank, with long bushy cattails along the edges, the water humming quietly. Off into the distance I can see a city rising up over the horizon…but not a city I've ever seen before.

"I…I don't know." I confess. Then a girlish scream echoes behind me.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?"

The water erupts above us, and I whirl around to see the most menacing look face snarling down at us, covered in blue scales, long whiskers hanging down from massive jaws, Water drips from its deep blue scales and yellow eyes narrow down to slits as it snarls at us. Gatomon and Agumon move protectively in front of their partners, but my eyes are fixed, in disbelief, on the figure standing on top of the monster sea dragon's head. She raises one eyebrow down at me and murmurs-"…Well, well. It's been a long time, hasn't it daisy?"

"…Sira?"

…

"This is completely unreal." Tai murmurs, still in a slight daze as he moves up and down in synch with Gyarados' pendulating body as she swims through the river. "Bloody mental."

"How is this any different than us riding on Whamon's back all those years ago?" Kari questions him skeptically.

"Well…I guess that's a point. But still, seriously what are the odds we land in a portal that takes us to Sira's world, exactly where she is?"

Sira turns back to stare at him and Tai shrinks back slightly. I know the feeling. I've been on the receiving end of that red-eyed glare way too many times. "My world's name in Nerm, pretty boy. And technically, none of you should be here."

"So sorry, I'm sure." Gatomon mutters sarcastically, her fur standing slightly on end as she's sitting in the middle of Gyarados' back, as far away from the water as she can get.

"I don't believe I was talking to you, hairball." Is the cool reply before Sira jerks her head at me to come over to her. "Oy, Daisy. I need to talk to you."

"…Say please and I might come over."

"Daisy…" Her voice carries that warning tone and I can't help but wince before carefully making my way across Gyarados' back towards where she stands at the neck.

There's silence for a moment, where the sea wind blows at our faces. Then she glances over at me. "They REALLY shouldn't be here. The rules…"

"I didn't see you complaining about the rules when I landed in this world." I remind her.

Sira snorts, her black hair blowing back away from her face in the wind. "I didn't have much of a choice. I was pretty much stuck taking care of you when you literally landed on top of me."

"That hurts, you know."

"Good. It was meant to."

I glower at her. "I know full well you don't want us around, especially how you skipped off during the battle of VenomMyotismon."

She stares blankly at me for a minute as though she can't remember what I'm talking about before asking-"You mean when Dork got even stupider?"

I snort despite myself. "Yeah. That kind of sums it up. Stupider but a lot stronger."

"Oh yeah….I had a good excuse."

"Hmm?"

Sira looks wryly over at me, her lips moving in a half smirk of amusement. "Is going into labor a good enough excuse?"

"…"

I have to grab onto one of Gyarados' dorsal fins to stop myself from toppling off her back in complete shock. "You were WHAT?"

"Surprised?"

"…You didn't even look pregnant!"

"I'm not sure how to take that." She mutters, shaking her head. "But then again you never were really good at noticing details."

"I resent that."

Sira smirks before looking up at the river, as the trees grow closer together on every side, hiding us from the searing hot sunlight."Ah. We're there."

"We're where?" Renamon asks in confusion before looking to the right, her blue eyes widening. "Oh…"

In the midst of a small gap between the trees, I can see the roof of a small houses standing up. It's nothing too fancy, brick, with a flower garden, and a cobbled walkway leading up to it.

"You live in the woods?' Tai asks skeptically.

She shrugs. "It keeps annoying people from finding me or GrandDracmon." She pats Gyarados on the back of the head before jumping off on the river's bank and walking towards the house.

"GrandDracmon?" Kari asks quietly to me as we follow her. "Isn't that Sira's boyfriend?"

"Not boyfriend kiddo." Sira's overheard her and turns back with a sly grin. "Mate."

"…Huh?"

…

The house isn't the big mansion I was half-expecting Sira to own. I mean, she's freaking rich enough to buy her own private island if she wanted to.

She leads us into the small living room, a plush blue couch sitting in the middle with a coffee table in front of it. Pictures line the walls, mostly of Sira's Pokemon team, but a few of her and GrandDracmon. I glance at the one in the middle….and a smile touches my face. It's a picture of me back when I was 13, all gangly and awkward, with my hair a wild mess and a shy, uncertain smile on my face, Sira standing next to me smiling wryly with a hand on my shoulder.

Those were good times….

A door swings open and I turn, expecting to see GrandDracmon. My jaw drops as instead, a massive Doberman pads out, holding a tea tray between his teeth.

"What…the?" Tai is staring in absolute disbelief as the dog pads over to him. He blinks before uneasily taking one. Renamon grabs five and shoves them in her mouth.

"Good boy Fang." Sira smiles and pats him on the head. I blink, recognizing unanimal intelligence in the dog's eyes, and I realize. "Is that a Dobermon?"

"Yup. GrandDracmon rescued him a few years back."

"He has a dog…for a butler…?"

"Wow these are really good." Agumon mumbles, his mouth full of cheese and chicken. Thankfully Agumon can be distracted by his emotional trauma by food. I'm not so lucky.

I look down and flex my fingers again, gritting my teeth at the complete lack of power…again.

Sira's eyes narrow. "You four stay out here and enjoy lunch. I'm going to check something out. Lily, come with me please?"

She shuts the kitchen door behind as I follow her in. "What?"

She crosses her arms. "You've been acting weird. What's the matter? And don't bother trying to hide it from me, because you of all people should know that I'll find out sooner or later."

I twitch slightly, turning to look out the kitchen window, crossing my arms. "…My powers are gone, okay?"

"…Well that's unfortunate."

I nearly fall over at her nonchalant tone. "Don't ask me what's wrong and then act like you couldn't care less, dang it!"

Sira shrugs, walking over to the stove where the tea kettle is singing. For a minute, she's silent, leaning against the stove. "Do you remember when I got my core smashed by Archie?"

I flinch, repressing the horrible memory. The blood, the smell of gun fire, GrandDracmon's scream of pain and rage.

"Yeah." She says quietly, looking at my face. "But what you don't know is after it was smashed, it took…weeks for me to be able to use my powers again Lils. Weeks. It was the most frustrating, humiliating time of my life, and there was nothing I could do but wait."

"But that's just the thing." I hiss, frustrated. "You had your core smashed, it's understandable that your powers should have suffered. But mine…it doesn't make any sense. Why they aren't working."

Sira shrugs. "I still say you just need to wait it out. But if you want, I can have Vincent give you a checkup."

"No…" I shake my head. "You don't need to bother him. You're probably right, it's not a big deal. What we really need help with is finding back a way to the Digital World. We had to leave two people behind and the portals are shut and…"

"Say no more."

"Huh?"

She just smirks before walking over and typing on the laptop. A video chat appears. "Ah, it seems he beat me to it."

"Sira?"

My eyes widen at the sound of that voice, jaw dropping. "No way in heck…"

Tai shoves open the kitchen door, his eyes wide. "Is that?"

"Sira!" Izzy shouts from the computer. "You have to pick up! Tai and Lily are missing, along with Kari. I've got no idea where they are and the portal has been opene-"Izzy?"

"…" He blinks in disbelief, staring at the six of us before giving Sira a dirty look. "You might have told me they were already here and fine."

"It's more fun to hear you panic." She chuckled.

He rolled his eyes and shot both me and Tai a look as well. "What the heck were you two thinking? I mean, first of all, you should be old enough and responsible enough to not charge in like that, but to bring three kids with you as well…even if two of them are TK and Kari."

Tai and I look at each other, both raising our eyes to heaven. When he gets like this, we both know it's best to just let it go.

"Look, Izzy, that's not the point. You need to-"Tai?" The screen fizzles. "I…can't hear you…you're breaking up…"

"Izzy! Look, you have to stay here! Stay out of the Digital World, you'll be trapped! Don't try to help us!"

The screen grows completely blank and Tai slams his fist into the desk. "DANG IT!"

…

Izzy stared at the blank computer screen, his fingers clenching on the edges of the desk. What was he supposed to do now?

"Are they going to be okay?" A soft voice asks from beneath him.

He looks down to see the small boy with black hair and green eyes staring up at him, running his hand over the yellow Digivice.

"…I don't know." Izzy murmurs back, staring back at the computer screen. Tai's last message runs through his head. _"You….Digital world….trapped…help us!"_

"Isn't it obvious?" Yolei demands. She shoves her glasses up her nose and clenches her fists. "Aren't we going to help them?"

"Yolei, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Why?" She points a finger at him. "If your friends are in trouble, you do whatever it takes to help them."

"But…"

"And don't think you can brush us aside, saying we don't know what we're dealing with. Maybe we don't, but Cody and I are part of this too now." Yolei holds up her Digivice.

Cody however, still looks unsure, and Izzy opens his mouth to argue against it some more before there's the noise of a door sliding open and a familiar voice saying-"You know we have to go back, right?"

"Sora?"

Sora's long auburn hair hangs down to her shoulders, her green eyes normally cheerful completely fixed on Izzy with a fierce determination.

"How long have you been listening in?" He questions, standing in front of the computer. He knows what she wants.

"Long enough to hear Tai and Lily begging for help. You can't really want to just ignore that, do you?"

"…No…but…the others…we have no idea where they are. And with just the two of us and two Digidestined who don't even have partners…"

"Partners?" Yolei questions. "What's a partner?"

Izzy gives Sora a "you see what I mean look" but she ignores it. "Izzy, it just doesn't matter. Is it risky? Yes. Would I do this if they didn't need our help?"

"Well…no….but…they're safe with Sira."

"That's not what I'm talking about. What about TK? That's obviously who Tai meant. And I can't face my boyfriend and tell him I left his little brother there."

"…" Izzy sighs before shaking his head and smiling wryly. "You're right…"

"Yes! We're going!"

"Though if that's the attitude Yolei's going to have," he mutters to himself as he loads the portal back up, "I might have to reconsider."

The computer light starts to shine as Sora takes both of the younger kids' hands in her own. "Hold on tight. The first time's always rough."

"…What do you AHHHHHHHH!"

…

Davis groans as he starts to regain consciousness. His head aches horribly, he can't feel his feet or hands, and everything around him seems to be dark for some reason.

He tries moving his fingers. Nothing. It's like he lost all feeling in them. For a minute, panic fills him as he wonders rather or not he damaged his spine.

There's an icy cold laugh above him that makes him feel like cold water has been poured down his shirt. "Wakey wakey…" Someone reaches down and rips the blindfold off his face. "Digidestined…"

Davis gasps at the sudden burst of light that stings his eyes horribly—looking down away from the searing sunlight he fights the desire to scream in terror.

He's been chained at least 200 feet up above the same river they were before….he gulps, trying not to hyperventilate.

"Davis?"

"Huh?"

He glances back up and his eyes widen as he sees the figure chained opposite of him. "TU! Are you okay?"

TK rolls his eyes at the mispronunciation of his name-seriously, how does Davis keep managing that—and responds grimly-"I don't think the word ok fits our scenario at all."  
The dark shadow standing on the ledge above Davis laughs again. "Oh, bearer of hope, you have no idea how adept those words are."

"I'm guessing you're the infamous Digimon Emperor." TK responds grimly, looking up at him. "Am I right?"

The figure laughs again. "Speaking." Before stepping into the light.

Both boys' jaws drop. Neither of them can believe what they're seeing at first. TK just manages to splutter-"But you're…a…a.."

""A kid!" Davis exclaims, disbelief in his maroon eyes. "What the heck is a kid doing playing God?"

The Emperor's eyes narrow. "I assure you I'm not playing at anything. And I'm no child, either." He spits the word as though it tastes bad.

TK snorts. "Whoever you think you are, you'd be smart to let us go. Our friends will come for us, and when they do, you're going to rue the day you were born."

"Oh…I know your friends will come." The way he says it sends shivers down both young boy's spines. "In fact…I'm sure of it."

Davis growls up at him as the Emperor straightens back up again, laughing. "In the meantime, while we wait for our friends, I have something designed that will surely entertain the both of you."

"DAVISH!"

Davis' head shoots up, his eyes widening with horror as he sees Veemon struggling desperately in the hands of an angelic Digimon….long blond hair, muscular torso, his face helmeted, a smirk on his lips, a Dark Ring wrapped around his wrist and another in his right hand.

"….Angemon…" TK sounds like he's been punched in the stomach, as if the Emperor has stabbed him. "Oh Yggdrasil…no…"

"_Oh crap, that's TK's partner…" _ Davis' heart sinks as he yells-"Let Veemon go! He's got nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah right." The Digimon Emperor barely gives Davis a passing glance as he stares curiously at Veemon. "He's a very interesting specimen…with the power to armor digivolve. I thought that was lost years ago. But…" He smirks. "It's not like he'll be managing that any time soon, not while I have this."

Davis feels his stomach turn as he stares at his Digivice in the hands of the Emperor. Oh ##$$%%%.

…

"GACK!"

Izzy twitches repeatedly at the bottom of the dogpile. "Not to be a bother…but would you all kindly get off of me?"

"Sorry Iz." Sora giggles before pushing herself off and looking around. "Where…are we?"

The courtyard they've landed in is ancient looking that much is easy to tell. Stone pillars climb upwards, covered with strange symbols, angelic statues stand in each corner, their eyes blank and slightly eerie looking.

Yolei touches some of the symbols, running her fingers over them. "They look kind of like Roman…or Greek."

"They're not." Izzy murmurs. His eyes have taken on a distant look as they scan the pillars. "This is Arcani. The language of the stars."

"Language of the what?"

"What's it say Izzy?"

He shook his head. "I can't decipher it exactly….but there are some glyphs that are clear. It says "To honour those who stood beside us. The lights that shine when others betray….or something like that."

"Hey, look!"

"Huh?"

All three of them turn to look at where Yolei is pointing. For a minute, it just looks like a huge hill, overtaken by the jungle. But then…

"It's a temple?" Cody breathed. "What would a temple be doing out here?" His back pocket starts beeping wildly, and he pulls out his Digivice. "It's going nuts…why?"

Yolei pulls out her own flashing Digivice. "Mine is too. Something in that temple is making it go nuts." She grins before running forward. "Well, let's go check it out!"

"Yolei, wait!" Cody runs after her. Izzy and Sora look at each other. "You feel it too, don't you?" She asks quietly.

He flinches. "That something really bad is about to happen? Yeah…"

…

Yolei pants heavily as she leans against the temple doors. The long hike up the stairs means everything hurts. "Honestly, doesn't anyone here believe in escalators?" She mutters before walking in.

She blinks as the others enter behind her. "There's nothing here!" She exclaims indignantly and not with a little disappointment.

Cody's Digivice beeps again as he walks in. "Hey…" He says softly, nudging her. "Look…."

In the center of the room stand two pedestals, each with the same symbols as the ones from the courtyard before.

And standing on top of them each…are two strange eggs, one helmet-shaped with a strange heart-like symbol on it, the other golden with a strange spiral symbol on it.

"….The Crest of Love…"

"And Knowledge…." Izzy whispers along with Sora as the four stand in front of them. The two of them look at each other, nod, before trying to pull the eggs up.

They don't budge. Sora scowls in frustration, crossing her arms before glancing over at Yolei. Something about the look on the young girl's face…unsure…but with a resolve…

She steps back. "Yolei…why don't you try?"

"Huh? Me?"

"You too Cody." Izzy agrees, backing away as well and gently pushing the younger boy forwards. Cody hesitates. "But….what exactly am I supposed to do?"

His Digivice beeps again, and then both glow in unison along with the Digieggs.

Yolei and Cody both look at each other, faces shining from the light of the eggs. Slowly, both of them reach out to touch them at the exact same time.

The light intensifies into two beings….Yolei shrieks like a little girl and jumps back, Cody grabbing her arm before she can trip.

One of them is hawk-like…or maybe more chicken like. Red feathers cover his body, except for his white head, with a black headband adorned by one golden feather. Bright blue eyes open and he smiles and bows at Yolei. "Hello madam. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"H-huh?"

The other one looks more like some kind of armadillo. With a golden shell and a strange pattern on his forehead, he yawns, uncurling himself from his ball and scratching his thigh lazily, like some kind of dog. "What'd you wake me up for? I was having such a nice dream…."

Sora giggles as Cody looks over at her and Izzy, obviously completely lost. Meanwhile, Hawkmon and Yolei are having an…interesting discussion.

"I'm sorry my dear, I meant no offense, I just simply didn't think I'd be paired with…such a young maid as yourself."

"Oh! So you're saying I'm not good enough because I'm a girl! Is that what you meant?"

"No dear lady I assure you!"

Sora chuckles before suddenly stiffening. Her eyes widen. "GET DOWN!"

"Huh?"

A huge explosion echoes above them-Yolei screams as Hawkmon pushes her out of the way of the massive chunks of rubble that come raining down upon them—Armadillomon leaps into the air and slashes through another with his claws before it can crush Cody flat.

Evil laughs echo above them, and two HUMUNGOUS beings hover over the whole. "I'd say we got here just in time." Birdramon chuckles with a smirk. "Wouldn't you?"

Kabuterimon laughs as well, and Yolei looks over at Izzy and Sora, her eyes pleading for guidance only to see that they have none to give this time.

They're both staring in horror at the two Digimon in front of them. Izzy's mouth opens and shuts several times but he can't seem to find the words, like his voice has been stolen from him.

Sora is in shock but able to speak. "Birdramon…what are you doing? It's me! Sora!"

Birdramon snorts, spreading her wings. "How dare you speak to me in that familial manner, Digidestined scum? METEOR WING!"

The huge blasts of fire streak towards Sora, reflected in her wide eyes as her death approaches….

"SORA LOOK OUT!"

…

Tai's eyes are fixed on his Digivice as we run forwards along the cliff edge. "We're getting close…" He mutters grimly, staring at the two dots that symbolize both TK and Davis.

"Just thank Yggdrasil Sira was able to get the portal open." Gatomon comments, clinging to Renamon's back. Renamon's faster, especially when she's on all fours.

"Man am I looking forward to kicking that little #$$%'s butt."

"I'm with you…." I snarl, curling my fists in my pockets. If TK is hurt, then you can bet that I won't stop till the Emperor wishes he'd never set foot in the Digital World. With or without my powers.

Sira gives me a warning look. "Lily, you're not going to help anyone by doing something rash."

"Forget rash." I mutter as we continue to run. "I'm downright pissed now…"

…

Davis is struggling desperately against his chains, eyes wild. "Let him go! Get your hands off my Digimon!"

The Digimon Emperor chuckles. "Well since you asked so nicely…no. Angemon? I think our new friend will look better wearing my gift."

"Yes my lord." Angemon's voice is mechanic, without emotion, as he clicks a button on the side, causing the Ring to open slightly, ready to snap around Veemon's neck.

"NO!"

"ANGEMON DON'T DO THIS!" TK's voice is full of desperation. "STOP!"

The Emperor just laughs. "Oh, I love moments like this. You're practically brining me to tears….tears of laughter that is."

"Oh yeah punk? Is this funny?"

He yelps as someone kicks him in the back full force, nearly sending him tumbling over the edge, only to be grabbed by a small worm like creature. "Master, are you all right?"

"'I'm fine…" The Emperor snarls before turning back around to glower as Renamon flips overhead to land on the ledge above him and stand next to me, snarling. "So…you and the others from before…"

I blink several times as I look at him. "…Renamon?"

"Hmm?"

"…You never told me the Digimon Emperor…was a midget…."

"…"

"I AM NOT A MIDGET!"

There's a slight cooing noise, and the next thing I know Sira's got the Digimon Emperor wrapped in a bear hug.

"Oh my gosh you are the cutest thing I was expecting some sort of psychopath…but no…it's just some little kid pretending to be all evil and powerful!"

"I am POWERFUL!"

"Of course you are…."

I raise my eyes to heaven as Tai and everyone else stares on in disbelief. "Sira you're choking our opponent with your hugs of humiliation."

She just smirks over at me. "It's so much fun to break your enemy's pride first, wouldn't you say?"

"You know I think that might be a viewpoint that even Dorkula would have agreed with."

The Emperor gasps, his face starting to turn blue from all the hugging before kicking Sira in the shin and forcing her to let go. "Get your filthy hands off of me winch!"

He cracks his whip ominously but she just laughs. "Oh yes, little boy? What are you going to do?"

Inhumane screeches fill the air, and my eyes widen to see three Snimon descending towards us, sickles gleaming in the sunlight. "That's not good."

…

"SORA NO!"

Yolei and Cody are both cringing in the corner of the temple, their eyes wide as Kabuterimon backs toward Izzy and the injured Sora, smirking as he forms another Electro Shocker.

"What can we do?" She whispers, feeling the beginning of tears pricking her face. "I should never….have come. We can't help them. I'm too scared to even help myself."

"Cody?" Armadillomon whispers, looking up at him. Cody's staring at Izzy and Sora…his face pale. Images flicker through his head of someone else he couldn't save….his mother crying…his grandfather standing a little to the side of the coffin, shoulders shaking…no…he couldn't let that happen again.

"SORA! IZZY! NO!" Yolei's scream of desperation cuts across the room, and Kabuterimon turns his head slightly to look at them. "More brats?"

"You deal with those two insects." Birdramon growls before smirking over and leaping into the air, spreading her wings. "And I'll deal with these. METEOR WING!"

Yolei's eyes snap open as Sora and the others scream her name. "CODY GET BEHIND ME!" She screams, pushing herself in front of the younger boy, knowing she's probably going to die, knowing and not caring, as long as he doesn't have to die for her mistake.

At the same moment, both of their Digieggs burst into golden light. Hawkmon gasps as he feels the rush of raw power running through him like never before as Armadillomon lets out a low moan of delight.

"DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO….HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

"ARMADLILLOMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…DIGMON! THE DRILL OF KNOWLEDGE!"

Halsemon looks like a giant eagle, with the same crimson feathers, but a white helmet over his neck and beak that has the Crest of Love painted on the top.

Digmon looks like some beetle. Some kind of beetle that has drills for hands and nose. His eyes narrow as he whirls around, pointing all of these spinning drills at Birdramon's fire balls. "GOLD RUSH!"

The drills fly off his body and slice right through the fireballs, tearing through them as though they're nothing and striking Birdramon in the chest, causing her to fall back with a loud squawk.

"Why you…!" Kabuterimon snarls before speeding forwards. "ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

Halsemon soars over Digmon's head, spinning rapidly in mid air and forming a huge tornado around his body. "TEMPEST WING!"

The winds slam into the ball of lightning and shove it upwards, slamming through the roof of the palace and sending even more rubble crashing down.

Kabuterimon growls, eyes narrowing before letting out a scream of agony as Halsemon's beak sinks into his right leg.

With strength that no regular Digimon would have, Halsemon literally twirls Kabuterimon around in a massive circle again and again and again, before finally releasing him and sending him crashing into Birdramon, who had just finally regained her balance.

The two of them both look up to see the armour Digimon charging towards them at full speed. Their eyes widen.

"Oh…crap…"

"TEMPEST WING!"

"GOLD RUSH!"

…

I barely duck in time to avoid one of Snimon's scythes from taking off my head. It swoops past me and carves into the cliff face leaving a horrible scar.

Sucking in my breath, I hear a furious snarl above me. "GET THE CRAP AWAY FROM MY TAMER!"

Renamon runs along the cliff edge before leaping at him with a furious roar, her paws glowing as she punches him not once, but twice in the stomach and then finally in the head, sending him crashing into the wall opposite.

Tai hisses in frustration as he clutches his own Digivice, watching Agumon fire off desperate Pepper Breaths to try and keep Angemon back, whose doing his best to try and get at the Digidestined and smash them to bits.

"What are you planning to do Sira? Besides just stand there with that smug smile on your face?"

Sira chuckles and raises a hand. "Just wait."

Angemon roars as his right fist clenches, glowing with an ominous golden aura. "HAND OF FATE!"

Tai gasps and grabs Kari, ready to shove her behind him, but he never gets the chance. Angemon freezes before the attack is even launched. And I mean literally freezes.

Ice begins to form on his wings as his jaw drops, and stretches till his entire back is frozen. With a wild scream he plummets, TK's yell of horror echoing awfully in my ears.

"I….did not want to do that…" The shadowy figure next to Sira murmurs.

"You didn't have a choice…"

Renamon dives down towards the next Snimon, crossing her arms. "DIAMOND STORM!"

The diamonds don't even leave a scratch on his tough exoskeleton, and the mindless slave just laughs mockingly up at him.

She scowls in frustration and doesn't hear the flutter of wings behind her until it's too late. "RENAMON WATCH OUT!"

She whirls around only to be struck in the head by the flat of the blade. With a grunt of pain and surprise, she topples towards the ground, her body like a motionless sack doll.

"NO!"

Anger and fury fill me like never before, like a fire forcing its way up through my veins. I don't care anymore. I don't care how dangerous this is, I don't care if I don't have any powers.

I just want to make the Digimon suffer who's dared try to kill Renamon. A feral snarl escapes my throat as I lunge upwards….I can hear both Sira and Tai screaming for me.

The Snimon smirks, crossing his blades as a blast of pink energy comes hurtling towards me. I raise my own hands, desperate for my own blast of energy.

But….nothing…comes…again….

I scream as the pink slash cuts right through my side, and I'm falling, agonizing pain wracking my body, the blood leaking into my eyes….

"LILY!"

Yggdrasil, is this how I die? This can't be….how I die…

Everything starts to grow black as I keep falling…falling…falling…..up?

Someone is holding me tight to them, holding me wrapped in their arms, and I hear a soft voice murmur in my ear-"Not yet baby girl. Not yet…."

"H-huh?"

I can't make out any identifying details. Just a black, oddly shaped mask, and black wings that stretch outwards, gliding upwards….before everything goes dark.

…

"LILY!" Tai's scream penetrates the canyon, agonized and heartbroken. There's no answer…..

Sira curses before touching his shoulder. "We must keep our minds on the battle."

"How do you expect me to do that when she could be dead?"

"Because if you don't you'll lose more members!" She shouts back, her eyes narrowing down to slits. "Including your sister! Is that what you want?"

Tai stares at her for a few minutes. "….I…."

The Digimon Emperor laughs up above them. "Oh, such despair makes things all the more interesting. Now Snimon!" The three hover in front of them, scythes bared. "Finish them off!"

Tai's eyes slowly go back into focus as he glowers at them, jaw tight with anger. "You little creep…" he breathes. "Fine then. Keep holding them back Agumon! If we go down, we go down fighting!"

"Pepper Breath!"

Agumon's flames don't keep the Snimon back at all. They laugh and charge forwards, but that's okay because two seconds later there's a furious snarl of "METEOR WING!"

Flames spin out of nowhere—for a minute, Kari panics, backing away with a scream, but the flames aren't directed at them this time. One Snimon's Dark Ring is roasted flat, turning to dust in mid-air.

An eagle Digimon Tai has never seen before flies up next to Birdramon, with a new girl on his back.

'Yolei gives Sora a thumbs up. "Nicely done!"

Sora laughs. "Thanks I…" Her eyes widen as Birdramon's body suddenly shakes. "Birdramon, what is it?"

"Power…draining….Sora…." She moans. "I'm so tired…."

"BIRDRAMON!"

Yolei grabs Sora's hand, pulling her and Biyomon onto Halsemon's back. "What happened?"

The laugh of the Emperor echoes ominously. "Did you really think you stood a chance against me? Me and my Dark Digivice?"

"Oh shut up!" Davis snarls up at him before gasping as one of the Snimon fly in front of him, sickles bared.

"You're too lippy brat…perhaps I need to rectify that for you."

Davis lets out a strangled gasp and closes his eyes as the Snimon screeches and raises the blades, ready to slice down and cut the boy's head off.

There's a rumbling sound behind him and the very mountain wall gives way. Several missile-like drills shoot forwards, slicing right through the creature's Dark Ring. But they don't stop there. The drills continue to fly past, colliding with what looks like a dark tower coming out from the top of the hill. Digmon laughs as he pulls Davis into the tunnel he's created. "That was a close one."

"Are you okay?" Veemon gasps, leaping from ledge to ledge to get down to his partner. Davis smiles, placing a hand on Veemon's head. "Don't worry about me. I'm just glad you're okay."

Halsemon flies towards TK, eyes narrowing as rays of red light emit from his eyes, disintegrating the boy's chains as Yolei and Sora pull him on. "Are you okay?"

"…" TK doesn't say anything. He just stares down in the ravine where his partner fell, his hands shaking. Sora's face softens. "TK…."

The Digimon Emperor's eyes widen as the cracks continue to form in the Dark Tower. "NO! NO!"

"Oh dear…." The little worm's antennae droops. "That's not good at all."

Tai blinks. "What are they?" His eyes widen as his Digivice begins to shine. "No…way…."

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GREYMON!"

Yolei's eyes widen. "Whoah….that…is one massive dinosaur…"

Greymon roars his triumph before blasting a huge fireball at the last Snimon. The impact causes the Digimon Emperor to lose his balance as the Snimon crashes into his side of the cliff. "Ah!"

He loses his grip on Davis' Digivice, who catches it easily and smirks over at Veemon. "You ready?"

"Yeah!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….FLAMEDRAMON! THE FIRE OF COURAGE!"

"Now it's my turn…." Flamedramon snarls, bringing back his fist for a punch as it's covered in flames. It connects directly in the center of Snimon's arm, and the insect Digimon wails in pain as the fire spreads across him. The Dark Ring cracks several times….before shattering completely.

Flamedramon smirks before yelping as he degenerates back into Veemon while still in mid-air. "W-whoah!"

"I've got you!"

Veemon looks up as Yolei pulls him up by the scruff, smiling. "Er…thanks? Who exactly are you again?"

"What just happened?" Gatomon muttered. "One minute Agumon can't digivolve…and then he can? What the heck?"

Sira shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine kitty cat…."

"And who exactly are you?"

Yolei smirks over at Kari. "Yolei. I suppose we'll be working together, eh?"

Kari blinks. "…Um…okay?"

"And you are midget?" Davis questions, looking down over at Cody.

Cody twitches. "You know it's not really nice to call someone short after they just saved your life."

"Enough about this!" Tai cuts in, desperation in his voice. "We can all meet each other properly later, at this point I could care less. Not when I don't know what's happened to Lily."

There's the sound of a low moan from around the mountain's side. His eyes widen as he bolts around the path.

"Li…..?"

He drops to his knees, eyes widening. Renamon groans, finally weakly pushing herself up and revealing the figure she was crouching over, protecting.

"Lily!"


	3. Partner Lost, Enter the Dark Prince

Me-Sorry this took longer, studying for my finals. Doesn't everyone hate it when real life gets in the way?

Episode Three

Pain…agonizing pain wracking my body as I writhe slightly, whimpers escaping my throat as something bright shines through my eyelids.

"W-what…?"

"She's waking up." Renamon's voice was relieved in my ear. "Thank Yggdrasil…"

"Good. Then I can do this." A slap upside the head.

"OW!"

"Sira! Was that really necessary?"

"I concur with Tai." I grumble, shoving myself upwards and rubbing my sore head. "Who the heck hits an unconscious person?"

"If that unconscious person is a complete idiot who needs to be taught a lesson…" Sira glowers down at me, her red eyes scowling and deeply disapproving.

"…"

"How'd the heck did you survive that?" A girl I don't recognize with dark hair and round glasses, peers down curiously at me like I'm some kind of exotic specimen. "I mean…I would have thought a fall like that would have killed any regular person."

"Yolei, for the love of…" Davis says, exasperated. "She just woke up from near death. Please don't talk her right back into a coma."

She huffs and turns, glowering at him. "I don't recall asking for your opinon, Motomiya!" She then turns and smiles at me. "By the way…I'm Yolei."

"Yeah. I kind of figured that out on my own."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Tai murmurs, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and hugging me. "Don't ever scare me like that again Lils…please…"

The feeling of his body pressed up close against mine feels so warm…comforting. But then I get a look at Izzy's raised eyebrows and Sora's surpressed smile, and my cheeks flush red. "I'm fine."

Sira just frowns slightly before sighing. "Sorcerymon, take a look at the idiot's wounds."

"Yes Riona."

The figure steps forward into the light. If one didn't know any better, they'd think he was Wizardmon, just by looking at the sillouhete. Heh. I wish. A short figure with a cloak, pointed hat, covered mouth, and a staff in his hand. But Sorcerymon is all white, with a snowflake topping his staff instead of Wizardmon's sun, lighter blond hair and light blue eyes that look like crystal.

"You were…lucky." He murmurs to me, in that odd way of speaking as he heals the bruises and gashes across my back and upper shoulders. "How did you survive?"

"…I…" My voice falters as I remember the dark figure holding me close to him, holding me to his chest. And I tell him the honest truth. "I don't know."

He raises an eyebrow but TK says stiffly—"Now that we know Lily's okay, shouldn't we be worried about other stuff?"

"…"

Kari touches his shoulder. "TK…we'll get Patamon back, I promise. I swear that I personally will do whatever it takes to make sure he's okay and he's freed."

"And we'll beat the crap out of the Emperor too." Gatomon agrees, her blue eyes flashing.

"How are you planning to do…that?" Sorcerymon asks dryly as Renamon and Gatomon exchange high-fives. "Neither of you…can digivolve…"

"You just had to ruin our moment, didn't you Icicles?" Renamon mutters.

He twitches. "…Icicles?"

I roll my eyes and step in front of Renamon before she can get herself blasted. "Ignore her. Without GranDracmon here she's lost her favourite person to annoy."

Is it my imagination, or does Sira flinch slightly as I say that?

I frown before continuing, "You realize that some of us can digivolve. Veemon can, and obviously the new kids can make their Digimon evolve as well. So what's going on?"

"It's got something to do with that Dark Tower…" Tai mutters under his breath before turning to look back at the hill above us. The tower has been split in half at the base, and the top part teeters precariously above us.

"What do you mean?'

"Well when Digmon's drills broke it…that's when Agumon was able to digivolve."

"Interesting." Izzy cupps his chin in his hand, rubbing it thoughtfully. "I'd like to examine that dark tower. See if I can't find out anything."

Sira nods. "Sorcerymon can stay behind to help protect you and Tentomon, as he's already at the Champion level."

Sorcerymon gives Sira a "why am I the babysitter look" but she just ignores him. Izzy's already half-way gone, practically scaling up the mountain in that strange adrenaline rush he always gets when he's exploring something new.

"As for the rest of you…"

"What made you the leader?" Tai challenges, his brown eyes narrowing slightly as his hackles rise.

"Tai…" I murmur, grabbing his hand. It's the one way I know always calms him down, even if it is awkward.

Sira just raises an eyebrow at his challenging tone and shrugs her shoulders, moving like she's about to just walk off. "Fine. Don't accept my help. But you'll never know where the next two Digieggs are."

"…Wait…what?"

…

The Emperor scowls like a petulant child as he sits in his throne, lost in thought. He never thought he'd actually lose a battle personally. He could blame the Digidestined's earlier successes on the stupidity of his servants but…

His eyes narrow as his fists clench on the arm rests of his chair. This was not acceptable.

"More tea master?"

He rolls his eyes as he takes the cup from Wormmon, who cowers away from his master as soon as he can, before retreating back into the shadows and watching sadly.

He hates it when the Emperor got like this…

A red light flashes repeatedly on the panel next to the insect Digimon and he blinked. "Oh, master? You're getting a call."

"Put it through."

The massive screen in front of the Emperor flickers before revealing a dark figure. The Emperor blinks and subconsciously scoots back slightly in his throne. "You. What do you want?"

The woman has long white hair, pale sharp features, and her eyes are hidden by purple sunglasses. She smirks. "Not happy to see me?'

"Not particulary." He responds coldly. "I may have been willing to work with your many times in the past, but I resent your constant pushing me."

"Pushing you? Nonsense. I'm simply trying to help you achieve your goal…and in doing so, achieve mine."

"I don't need your help."

"Really?" She smirks. "Then what is this I hear about your crushing defeat earlier?"

The Emperor's jaw tightens. "They got lucky, you understand me? LUCKY!"

"Nevertheless…wouldn't it be more prudent for you to be able to get rid of the brats as quickly as possible?" She continues smoothly.

"…And?" He mutters, continuing to glower at her.

The woman smiles and taps her fingers on the chair she's sitting in. "How about this? You bring us something we want, and we'll make sure those little twerps suffer an unfortunate accident."

The Emperor smirks. "Sounds interesting. What is it that you want?"

"The freak with black hair. The older one."

"…The idiot who tried to take on that Snimon by herself?" He blinks. "What do you want with a fool like her?"

"Oh trust me. That girl is far more than she seems."

"…" The Emperor smirks. "I think that will be suitable."

"Good. I'll arrange for one of my own followers to help you." She pauses and smirks. "I'm sure you can understand why…after today's incidents I find your little minons slightly less reliable."

The Emperor growls before sighing reluctantly. "Understood."

As the screen turns blank, Wormmon crawls back out of his corner. "I don't trust her master…please…are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Are you questioning my decisions?" The Emperor's eyes narrow.

"…Master…"

The whip cracks on the ground in front of Wormmon, causing him to leap back in fright.

"Don't ever talk back to me again, do you understand me?"

….

"W-whoah!"

Kari slips slightly on the rocky hillside—

"Kari!" Davis lunges forward to grab her hand only to get pushed backwards by me as I grab her collar. "You okay squirt?"  
She smiles up at me. "Yeah…thanks Lils."

"No problem." I shoot the dejected Davis a warning glare. "No one touches my baby sister."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Tai teases, walking down past me and raising an eyebrow.

I smile at him. "Thought I'd save you the trouble."

The high cliffs where TK and Davis were imprisoned are behind us now—the terrain is now flatter, sloping downwards into the valley below.

The sunlight feels good on our bodies, making my dark hair sparkle. I catch a glimpse of Tai looking at me, and blush slightly before turning back to Sira. "So where did you say the Digieggs are supposed to be?"

"Right there."

She glances up from her Digivice to point at the cave in the end of the cliff, like a huge open wound in the rock.

Renamon stiffens and growls uneasily a few paces in front of it.

"What's wrong?"

"…" She stares into the cave, her fur bristling slightly. "I…I don't know. I just…have this really bad feeling."

I shrug, touching her shoulder. "Well, we won't know unless we check it out, will we?"

"Lily, you don't get it." The fear in her voice startles me. "I really don't think we should go in there."

"…Renamon…"

"Look, you might be right that it could be dangerous." TK speaks up from behind the rest of us, a steely determination in his blue eyes. "But those Digieggs might be the key…in saving my partner. I'm going in, and no one's stopping me."

We all look at each other as TK marches into the cave. A part of me wants to yell at him to come back, not be an idiot. But….another part of me can't imagine what he's going through. I've never been apart from Renamon since we first met, despite bat-for-brains' futile attempts to keep us apart. Losing her would be my worst nightmare. It'd be any partner's worst nightmare.

"Let's go."

…

I do not like small spaces. At all. And this cave is cramped, tight, the walls pressing in from all sides like something trying to choke me.

And every sound, every footstep, every trickle of water seems ten times louder than usual, making my body shudder slightly every time.

"This place is creepy." Yolei mutters, flinching slightly as shadows skirt across the wall. Davis grins mischievously. "Who knows? There might be ghosts in here Yolei. Rattling chains, soaked in blood, the whole deal."

"Stop it Davis, that's not funny! "

He snickers, and she whirls around to tell him off only…he's not there. "Davis?"

"…"

"DAVIS?"

"BOO!"

Yolei screams, jumping back as Davis jumps out from around the corner in front of us, grinning like a mad man. He must have hung back and circled around the corner to surprise us like that—a stupid prank, but every muscle in my body tenses as I inadvertently take a step back. "For Yggdrasil's sake!" My voice rises to a shout. "DON'T do that!"

"What, come on? I'm just messing around."

I shake my head angrily and storm off ahead. "Mess around when we get out of this stupid place, all right?"

"Lily…?" Tai's hand is resting in the middle of my back. "Are you okay?"

I can't talk. The darkness is pressing all around me, and it's all I can do to just shake my head numbly. The cave we were in earlier was bigger, and I was distracted by Greymon trying to eat us for my phobia to take hold.

"You want to wait outside?"

Another shake of my head.

"Lily…"

"She'll be fine." Sira glances back at me. Her face seems blank, but I see the slightest flicker of compassion in her eyes. "Right Daisy?"

Laughter….darkness…being pushed down….blood…so much blood…people touching me…crowding…foul…cold…so cold…

I swallow hard but meet her gaze, forcing my shoulders back. "Right. I'm fine."

Kari looks back, worry in her eyes before her Digivice suddenly starts beeping like mad. "Huh?" She pulls it out, her jaw dropping slightly.

"What the…?"

'There they are!"

Just like with the Digiegg of Courage, the two of them sit on a rock pedestal. One is white with a golden headrest sitting on top of it, a familiar symbol shaped like a star carved in the middle.

The other one though…is weird looking. It's black, with a crudely drawn symbol that looks kind of like the Crest of Hope, a shooting star, and the wings appear to look more…like bat wings than anything else.

I frown uneasily, taking a step back. Kari seems to be in disbelief. She looks at TK. "Why would we have Digieggs? We already have our Digimon."

"Dang right." Gatomon agrees, rubbing up against Kari's legs with a smug smile on her face.

Sora shakes her head. "I don't know. Kari's got a point."

"Well, we never know unless we try."

TK reaches forwards towards the black one, and in an instant all of my senses scream at me. "Wait, TK! Don't!"

The Digiegg uncurls, black ratty wings spreading out, huge, buggy golden eyes snapping open, a gap-toothed sly grin forming on it's face which is mostly hidden by what looks like some kind of executioner's cap.

"Demidevimon?"

He just laughs, flapping his wings. "Hey, Lils. How's it going angel-face?"

"You…" My teeth set on edge as I raise one hand, ready to blast him through several walls, before I remember. Scowling I close my outstretched hand and clench my fist at my side.

"Yeah, I heard your powers were on the fritz." He says with mocking sympathy, a smirk on his face. "Too bad. Well, it makes my job easier."

"What job?" Agumon growls, his green eyes narrowing down to slits. He's not forgotten what Demidevimon tried to do to TK, or how he had to be the one to fight him off.

Demidevimon just smirks…and I hear the pounding of footsteps outside, a loud roar, and my eyes widen. "EVERYBODY DOWN! NOW!"

"BLAZE BLAST!"

Yolei screams as Davis shoves her down, just as the red-hot flames burn right through the walls of the cave, like red devil fingers they force their way through the rock, heat licking my face and I can smell the scent of burning flesh.

"GET BACK TO THE ENTERANCE!"

The sound of something shuddering echoes above us as huge cracks appear in the ceiling….Sora's eyes widen before pulling Cody out of the way just as several large boulders come crashing down in front of us.

"T-that was too close…"

Cody breathes shakily before looking up at Sora. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She glances back at us, her green eyes widening as the walls begin to shine red from the heat.

"Anyone have a plan before we get roasted like pizzas?" Renamon asks, deadpan, but the fur on her back rising more and more.

I glance back at her. If we get burned to a crisp here, it's my fault. I didn't listen to her. Oh Yggdrasil…Renamon I'm so sorry…

"I've got this." Armadillomon tenses before running forward to the rock barricade as Cody lifts his D-3. "Digiarmor Energize!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…DIGMON! THE DRILL OF KNOWLEDGE!"

Digmon grins as all three drills start spinning at a rapid pace and bore right through the boulders. Tai grabs a coughing TK and Kari and shoves them out, following himself and pulling me after him as the walls finally give way behind us…and flames fill the tunnels.

"That was…." Kari coughs several times. "Too close…"

Davis nods before letting out a yelp as another fireball hits the ground right where he was standing. "OH COME ON!"

The dinosaurs towering over us are at least twelve feet tall, covered in red scales and green-diamond shaped spikes, long razor sharp black claws that look more than capable of tearing us all to shreds.

"Oh dear."

"Well?" Yolei grabs her D-3, her eyes glinting with determination. "Let's show them what we're made of!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…FLAMEDRAMON! THE FIRE OF COURAGE!"

Renamon skids to a halt before running off to join the battle. She places a paw on my arm. "This time, don't do anything stupid all right?" Her voice is pleading. "No stunts."

I sigh, before meeting her gaze and smiling. "I'll be good…."

She smiles back at me before leaping into the fight, literally hopping onto Halsemon's back as he zooms past. "Shall we do this?"

He chuckles. "If you think you're up for it."

"Always."

She leaps off just as he starts spinning wildly in mid air, forming a giant tornado around him. "TEMPEST WING!"

The attack crashes into one of the Tyrannomon and he howls, falling to the earth with a sickening crash.

Red eyes look upwards to see the vixen dive towards him, and he lets out a low grumble of—"Well I'm $$%%%."

"POWER PAW!"

Renamon's claws slice right through the metal of the Dark Ring, shattering it in half. Slowly, the Tyrannomon's eyes turn blue and he blinks in confusion.

Meanwhile Flamedramon is taking on the other two at the same time. His speed would be annoying enough for them to try—and fail—to combat—but they also have to worry about Agumon, whose running around the giant lizard's ankles and spitting fireballs at them, which even if they don't cause much damage, still hurt.

One of them roars in annoyance and raises a giant foot to stomp on Agumon, the Dark Ring wrapped around his leg glinting in the sunlight until Flamedramon comes charging in with his body covered in flames. "FIRE ROCKET!"

The Tyrannomon is literally knocked off of his feet and wails as he comically falls to the ground, the Dark Ring shattering as he does so.

"SPIRAL TWISTER!"

One of the Tyrannomon is frantically swiping at his head, while Biyomon easily dodges and keeps shooting emerald flames at him.

He lets out a howl of pain and covers his eyes as the flames shoot into his face, and doesn't notice Digmon walking towards him with a smirk on his face. "GOLD RUSH!"

The Dark Ring on his arm band shatters—Digmon and Biyomon exchange a grin.

Davis laughs loudly in my ear as we crouch behind the boulders. "All right! We're winning!"

Sira frowns, her eyes narrowing as she scans the battlefield. "Wait…weren't there six Tyrannomon?"

"Huh?"

A low growl echoes behind us and our faces turn pale in unison before we all whirl around. The Tyrannomon snarls down at us where we lay, unprotected, and flames start appearing in his muzzle.

Renamon's head whips around at the sound of Yolei's scream—her eyes widen with horror. "LILY NO!"

She drops down to all fours, ready to bolt forwards and push me out of the way when a familiar cackle fills her ears.

"Going somewhere fox face?"

Demidevimon grins before tossing one of his syringes with alarming precision—it sinks right into Renamon's arm before she can dodge. Her eyes widen and she groans, toppling to her stomach. "Nighty-night!" He laughs before smirking.

The flames shoot towards us at full power, I cringe and reach for Tai in an attempt to push him out of the way. Sira however is perfectly calm. Her eyes just narrow and she smirks.

…Oh crud. What is she planning?

"Riona!"

Just mere seconds before the flames can incinerate us, a river of ice slowly forms in front of us and grows rapidly into a massive sparkling wall.

"Ice?" Yolei shrieks, still curled up into a terrified ball and holding her head in her hands. "How is ice supposed to….?"

But the flames don't pass through. They extinguish against the icy wall into mere puffs of smoke.

"…Well then…." Cody says slowly, blinking several times.

"Nothing in the Digital World makes logical sense." Sora shrugs. "It's best to accept that now."

"ICE ARROW!"

The blueish white arrow shoots forward, slicing right through the Dark Ring. Sorcerymon stands behind the wall of ice as the Tyrannomon moans and rubs his head in confusion. Without a word he waves one hand and the wall slowly sinks back into the ground. "Are you…all all right?"

"Yeah, thanks to you.' Kari responds gratefully, brushing the dirt off her shirt and wincing at the gash in her elbow.

"Guys!"

Izzy runs up panting, bent over and clearly out of breath. He's never been one for any kind of physical activity. "I'm…so sorry…I would have come sooner…but we didn't realize…."

"For heavens sake Izzy," Tentomon says impatiently, fluttering besides his partner, "how many times do I have to tell you it's not your fault? At least we got it."

"Got what?"

Izzy holds out a chunk of black concrete with wires attached to it. "A piece of that dark tower. I want to find out what it's purpose is and how it works."

Tai shrugs. "Sounds good to me." He then sighs. "But it really sucks we didn't get the Digiegg of Light, especially as the other one was a fake. Stupid little creep."

"Who says we didn't get the Digiegg of Light?" Kari raises an eyebrow before pulling something out from her sleeve. My jaw drops as I see the Digiegg, covered in soot but still undamaged.

"If you had that why didn't you use it?"

She blinks. "I…actually don't know." She then rolls her eyes as we all fall over. "Look I don't know okay. I'm guess I'm just nervous. We don't know how this thing is going to affect Gatomon."

"I'm sure it will be fine." I say comfortingly to her before turning around. "Right Renamon?"

"…."

"Renamon?"

"…"

My eyes widen as I scan the terrain…and there's no sign of my partner. She's vanished. She's gone. This….this is impossible…this can't be happening…

"RENAMON!"

…

The Digimon Emperor's eyes narrow as Demidevimon comes in, dragging a black bag that's struggling wildly behind him.

"Well? Did you succeed or didn't you?"

Demidevimon bristles. "You do know I don't answer to you kid, right?"

"You little…"

"Demidevimon, do what he says." The woman's voice cuts in from the screen, and her eyes narrow. "Show us our prize."

"You got it!" He tears the bag open with a smirk, and something yellow and furry falls out, hitting the ground with a low moan.

For a minute, no one says anything. Demidevimon's grin slowly falters as both the Emperor and the woman on the screen slowly turn and give him looks that suggest that they cannot BELIEVE anyone could possibly be this stupid.

"What in Yggdrasil's name…" The woman speaks slowly as if trying to stop herself from screaming. "Did you do?"

"…What? I've got you a prisoner!"

"YES YOU IDIOT BUT IT'S THE WRONG ONE!"

The Emperor smirks and leans back in his chair. "Weren't you the one who said that your servants would be more profitable than mine?"

"You can't blame me because of one fool…."

"I resent that." Demidevimon pipes up, his golden eyes annoyed.

"Shut up!"

Leaning forward, the Emperor smirks. "You're beginning to outlive your usefulness as an ally. I admit I needed you when I first came here, but that was then and this is now. I can't have weaklings pulling me down."

The woman's eyes narrow but then she smiles, simpering. "Of course not my liege. But give me another chance. I promise I'll be more useful to you."

"Hah. You outlived your usefulness a long time ago. I bet the Digidestined brats escaped again, didn't they?"

"…"

"See what I mean?" He smirks. "I don't need anyone's help. I'll deal with them on my own. Although…." He glances down at the unconscious Renamon and slowly smiles, an eerie smile that would make any sane person want to run for cover. "Leave this one here. I imagine I can have some fun with her."

…

"This CANNOT be happening!"

Sira sighs as I pace back and forth, about ready to pull my own hair out. "Daisy, please calm down."

"Calm down? How the heck do you expect me to calm down when my partner is in the claws of that fleabag monster!"

"I understand that, but panicking like this isn't going to do you any good."

"Don't tell me how to feel when my partner's been kidnapped!" My voice rises and I realize I'm screaming at her but I can't help it. "You can't possibly know what it's like to lose your Digimon! So try acting like you have some more concern for her, and for me you s-"LILY!"

I yelp as someone cuffs me on the arm, a blow that stings but isn't strong enough to do serious damage. Gatomon glares at me with piercing blue eyes, her claws unsheathing slightly in warning.

She slowly looks away at the look in my eyes before whispering-"Just…listen to her, all right? We're all in shock. But I hate seeing you like this."

"…"

"Thanks tabby." Sira says dryly before touching my bruised arm. I flinch and look up at her. "Daisy, I promise Renamon will be okay." She lowers her voice. "The Emperor must have a reason for kidnapping Renamon, and I'm guessing that reason is to get to you Lils."

"…Get to me? Why?" What interest could a human have in a broken star?

She smiles wryly. "That's what we're going to have to find out, isn't it?"

…

Tai sighs as he lowers the mini telescope and shoving it back in his pocket. There was nothing but sand on this side of the valley, massive golden dunes of nothingness.

He pulls out the phone he was given. "Sira? Anything on your end?"

"_No." _ Her voice is grim, irritated. "_And we're running out of time. The longer the Emperor has Renamon…the more likely it is that saving her will be…impossible…."_

"Don't say that." Tai mutters, closing his eyes. Losing Renamon would be unthinkable. Not only is she Lily's Digimon, but he considered Renamon a good friend as well. Always full of life and laughing, maybe child-like at times but always brought a smile to everyone elses' face.

"You didn't mention this before why?" Agumon questions, looking up at the phone as if Sira's standing there herself.

"_Because I didn't want Lily to be more worried than she already was, of course." _

"…Do you really think it's hopeless?" Tai says softly.

"_I didn't say that." _She then sighs. "_But…as much as we'd all hate to admit it, it might be a lost cause. Oh, and Tai?"_

"Huh?"

"_You're a complete idiot for giving my sister up. Understand me?"_

"…Wha?"

The phone clicks off and he scowls in annoyance down at it. When it beeps again he responds with an irritated "WHAT?"

"_Gosh, you don't have to take that tone." _ Yolei's voice sounds indignant. _"I just thought you might like to know we found something."_

"What? What did you find?"

"_Say please and I might tell you."_

His right eye twitches. "Yolei…."

"_All right, all right. Sora and Birdramon were flying overhead when she suddenly degenerated again. We figured it must be because there were some of the Emperor's forces that were hanging around there, and we were right."_

"What did you find?"

"…_It's a prison, Tai. And the way things are looking right now, it's not going to be easy."_

…

The black concrete building sticks out for miles against the gold of the deserts' sand, like a disgusting twelve foot tall scar. Several Digimon patrol the outer boundary, their red eyes predatory and hungry.

I count at least six Tyrannomon, ten Grizzmon, and five Snimon. Not good odds, on any counts.

"Great." Sora mutters, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Anyone got a good idea?"

"We just blast our way through, right?" Davis demands, holding his D-3 as he rises to his feet, a look of determination in his eyes before Tai drags him back down.

"Pipe down, big mouth. As of yet, only three Digimon we know for sure can evolve to the armour level. That's a poor chance against twenty or so Champions."

"So what do you suggest then?" He asks, disgruntled that Tai's telling him off.

Tai glances over at Cody and smiles. "You guys think you're up for it?"

"Absolutely." He clutches his D-3 and whispers the words instead of screaming them. "Digiarmor Energize!"

Thankfully we're far enough back that the light from the Digivolution doesn't attract any of the army, and two seconds later Digmon is standing before us, drills spinning so fast they're almost silent.

"Can you dig under the concrete of the base?" Izzy asks doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. Digmon just snorts. "You doubt me? Rock Cracking!"

The sound of the ground practically splitting in half does draw the attention of the army, and my eyes widen as they walk towards us, snarling. "Guys, we've got to MOVE! Now!"

"Get in the hole!"

Sira pushes me forward as she and Sorcerymon stand defiantly, glowering at the snarling Champion slaves.

"But….Sira…."

"I said go, Daisy. Find your partner. I'll be fine."

I hesitate, my eyes locked on her face as my feet don't seem ready to willing to plunge in. I can't just leave another person I care about. I can't just leave someone else' fate up to chance.

Tai touches my arm. "Lily, come on!"

…But I don't have a choice. "Sira, you'd better be alive when I come back up here!" I growl before diving into the hole after Tai.

…

They say when a Digidestined's partner is in danger, the other one can feel the same physical pain. I wouldn't know exactly about that, but I do know that as I walk through that tunnel, with the darkness and the cramped walls, an even tighter fit than the one before, my claustrophobia doesn't affect me at all. The only thought, and only need in my body propelling me forwards is the desperate desire to find my partner. I can sense her distress and fear in the back of my mind, and that only makes me even more pissed.

"Don't do anything rash." Gatomon whispers to me as the group finally comes to a stop at a certain point. Izzy has been muttering something quietly to himself the entire walk, and now he looks up at the ceiling with a grim expression.

"This should be it. The direct middle of the base."

"Fun." Tai says sarcastically, but his brown eyes are dead serious. "Okay, here's the plan. We're probably going to get ambushed the minute we appear, so the rest of us deal with the enemy while Lily gets Renamon and gets out. Gatomon, you and Kari can go with her, and TK should as well since he doesn't have a partner."

"Got it."

Digmon's drills spin once again, plunging into the rocky ceiling as the dirt and rocks and bits of concrete come crashing down around us. Biyomon grabs Sora's hand and drags her upward, Hawkmon doing the same for Yolei.

The two girls touch the floor, and the first thing they notice is the red eyes glaring all around them.

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

Halsemon roars and charges right into the crowd of slaves that pounce, tearing with their claws at teeth at his flanks, but he spins rapidly in mid air throwing them all off before doing an abrupt turn mid flight and charging at them once more, winds blasting them to the opposite ends of the corrider.

"FIRE ROCKET!"

Flamedramon charges at three of the Gotsumon, his flames incinerating their rocks with ridiculous ease before grabbing two of them by the necks and the third with his tail. He leaps upwards before slamming them into the ground with such force that the floor has several cracks.

I bolt down the hallway as Agumon lashes his claws against the eyes of a Grizzmon that charges at me. His howls echo eerily as I keep running, the sound of TK's, Kari's, and Gatomon's footsteps right behind me. I'm following the aura of my partner, and Yggdrasil help anyone who gets in my way.

…

The Digimon Emperor smirks as he leans back in his chair. He glances to one screen, which shows that one weird, obnoxious girl from earlier and that wizard freak trying to fight off against near impossible odds. Another shows that ridiculous boy that he attempted to capture earlier fighting alongside his leader, with those three armour Digimon. Once the humans are crushed, he'll enjoy dissecting the armours…..that should be fun.

"They're splitting up exactly as I calculated." He chuckles under his breath, his smirk growing as he sees that one idiotic girl running down the hallway with two other Digidestined and the white cat at her heels. "That's it…come running to save your little friend." He whispers, smirking before pulling up a different screen. The figure growls in response to his master's call.

"Deal with them." The Emperor's voice hardens. "Keep the older girl alive, but…." He grins. "Just barely."

…

Renamon's aura is like a magnet pulling me down the hallway as fast as I can possibly run. "I'm coming." I whisper, my voice shaking as I do so. "I'm coming Rena…just hang on…."

At the end of the hallway, there's a massive steel door with a massive bar across it, shielding it shut. This is where I know she is. Inside there. My fingers trace along the outer edge of the door as I desperately try to find a way to break it open.

"Let me try." Gatomon offers.

I shake my head. "It's not steel. Chrome Digizoid—or at least laced with it. I don't want you getting hurt trying to force it upon."

Kari's head turns and her eyes widen. "GUYS LOOK OUT!"

"Oh crums, what is it this time?" I mutter, turning my head before my eyes widen and I duck just as a golden sphere of energy explodes against the door, leaving a large crack.

Angemon levitates in front of us, an ironically devilish smirk on his face as his knuckles shine ominously again.

"Oh #%%."

"Angemon, don't you recognize me?" TK's voice is pleading as he steps in front of Kari, his eyes fixed on his partner's face. "You know me. I know you're strong enough not to fall for this. You're better than being some creep's common lackey."

Angemon hesitates. The arm lowering the staff lowers slightly….

"It's me Patamon." TK whispers. "Patamon…."

"…"

The Dark Ring crackles with energy again and Angemon jolts. Snarling he raises his fist. "HAND OF FATE!"

"TK LOOK OUT!"

I lunge forward ready to push TK out of the way and take the hit myself, if that's what it takes, but Kari beats me to it.

The Digiegg topples out of her pants pocket as she shoves him out of danger, bursting into pure white light.

"GATOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…NERFERTIMON! THE ANGEL OF LIGHT!"

She looks like a mix between a lion and a woman—what was that the Egyptians called them? A sphinx? Though I'm pretty sure that no sphinxes in the Egyptian period has pure white, angelic wings or a long striped tail.

And even though I can't see her expression underneath that facemask, I can tell she is PISSED. With an angry snarl she lunged at Angemon claws outstretched, slamming him into the wall opposite just as his attack collided with the door, blasting it off its hinges.

"RENAMON!"

I leap in there, hearing the sounds of Kari and TK shouting encouragement to Nerfertimon and glance back to see something white flicker out of the corner of my eye.

For a minute, I don't understand what I just saw. Then there's an icy cold hand wrapping around my throat and pulling me upwards, and I see yellow sharp teeth and blank beady eyes.

Bakemon….

Struggling like mad and kicking desperately, I feel more of them dig their claws into my legs and sides, and a scream of frustration escapes from my throat.

This is not happening! If I had my powers, I would be unbeatable against these idiots. But here and now…I'm just another piece of easy prey to them. One of them bites down on my calf and I scream, this time in pain as they guffaw.

"Rena…Renamon…."

One of the Bakemon floats in front of me and smirks, his mouth opening wide teeth inches from my face…..

Before a shadowy attack, like a wave of darkness sweeps the entire room and crashes into them. The group don't even have time to scream before they're completely obliterated on the spot.

I fall on my back, gasping in pain, unable to move as blood seeps down from the bite wounds. Someone drops to their knees beside me.

"Lily?"

"T-Tai?"

The boy rolls his eyes slightly before leaning forwards so I can see his face. High cheekbones, dark eyes, cobalt black hair.

"…Damien? Wha…how….?"

"Shh…" He murmurs, helping to pull me to my knees. "Don't strain yourself. Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah….how…" My eyes narrow as I look at him. "How did you get here? And how did you…what did you do to the Bakemon?"

"You know some girls just say thank you after someone saves their life." He comments, raising an eyebrow.

I scowl slightly at him. "I didn't need sav-ow!"

"That's what I thought." He chuckles. I glower at him and then blink in confusion when he stretches out a hand. "What?"

"Your partner's right this way. I can take you to her."

"Renamon?" I still hesitate. "Why should I trust you?"

Damien rolls his eyes. "Yeah. It seems completely productive to murder the girl I just saved. Just trust me…please…"

I clench my teeth before sighing and running after him.

...

The figure slumps weakly from her chains, not moving. Her breathing is weak and ragged, her yellow fur stained with blood.

Her blue eyes are exhausted, like she's had all desire to fight has been drained out of her. The purple gloves that cover her paws are ripped.

Suddenly a familiar scent fills her nose. Her eyes slowly widen. It smells like chocolate and fire mixed together, which might sound disgusting, but to her it's the sweetest scent in the world.

"Lily..?" She whispers.

I drop to my knees in front of her. "Renamon!"

I take in my partner's injuries and the weak whimper of delight that escapes her throat. "Lily….you came…for me?'

"Of course I did." My own throat clogs up as my fists clench, trembling. "Renamon….I'm so sorry….this is all my fault I…"

"Don't waste time blaming yourself." Damien cuts in, his eyes narrowing. "We don't have time for that. What matters is getting her out of here."

He strolls forward and touches the chains that envelop Renamon. A black aura surrounds them before they snap in half and she tumbles to the ground, head falling in my lap.

"Renamon…" I bury my face in her mane and she beats her tail weakly against the ground. Damien smiles slightly before touching my shoulder. "We have to hurry. Your friends need our help."

…

Nerfertimon screeches as she's blasted backwards to the ground, sliding down the hall till she rams into the wall opposite. She lies there, moaning slightly as Kari screams for her to get back up, and Angemon flies forward with a cruel smile on his face.

"NO!"

"Hey kid!"

TK turns his head to see a boy he's never seen before with long dark hair and black eyes toss him what looks like a golden egg, with a bushy white mane and the Crest of Hope carved in pale yellow on the front.

"Heads up!"

TK grabs it with the reflexes born of years of playing basketball, and the egg bursts into golden light at his touch. Angemon stops mid-flight and suddenly screams, his entire body convulsing as the Dark Ring sparks with black energy, as if trying to hold back the golden light that envelops him.

"PATAMON!"

Angemon moans, falling backwards to the ground and slowly shrinking down to a miniature form….a guinea pig with huge bat wings. TK holds him close to his chest and sighs in relief. "Patamon…"

…

Sorcerymon growls, blasting several more Dark Rings off of arms and legs with his ice arrows and his amazing precision. His eyes widen as he hears the sound of a low growl behind him and is taken off guard by an Ogremon swatting his legs out from underneath him, a sickening cracking noise echoing across the valley as the club smacks into the bone.

"ACK!"

Sorcerymon drops to his knees, panting with pain, and the Ogremon's red eyes glint with pure malice as he raises the club again ready to smash Sorcerymon's skull in.

He closes his eyes and grits his teeth, reaching for his staff which was knocked away from him in the first blow.

But before he can even touch it, the Ogremon's eyes suddenly widen and he screams as what looks like a giant hand of water shoots up out of nowhere from the barren ground, grabbing not only him but several of the other Digimon. The hand clenches around them before slamming all of them into the ground again and again and again, till the last enemies are unconscious, moaning lumps on the ground.

Sorcerymon looks up at the sound of someone gasping for breath. "Riona?"

Sira is bent over, coughing hard. Flecks of something red fly from her mouth and speckle her hand. Her eyes roll backwards…

"RIONA!"


	4. Courages' Pride, Return of the Wolf

Episode Four

Tai pants, running down the hallways of the base as fast as his legs can carry him. His fear for Lily is constantly propelling him forward. He knows how easily she can get into trouble. He whips around the corner, ignoring the shouts of everyone else.

The hallway beyond is empty, but there are scorch marks all along the walls and floor, a clear sign that a battle has taken place her. His heart is thudding wildly in his chest.

"Lily! KARI! LILY!"

He leaps through the smouldering hole in the door and bends over, wheezing slightly. His brown eyes scan the room. There are discarded chains on the floor…and the scorch marks continue, as if something huge has blasted its way in here.

"…Lily?"

"Took you long enough Digidestined."

Tai's head shoots up and he sees the dark figure leap down from above him. The boy straightens, and Tai flinches slightly under that dark stare.

His fists clench. "Who are you?!"

"Temper temper…" The boy murmurs, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Tai's own eyes narrow. "Listen…I don't know who the crap you are but whatever you want I do NOT have time for-"Tai, it's fine."

His heart almost leapt into his throat. "Lily..?"

I straighten up out of the shadows and smiles at him, and he's so relieved that he runs over and wraps his arms around me in a hug. "Holy Yggdrasil…you and Kari are both okay?"

"We're fine. We would have left this room sooner but…Renamon was so weak…" My voice catches slightly as I look back down at the ground. Gatomon has an icy rag wrapped around Renamon's bleeding face.

"…Is she okay?"

"I hope so…."

Damien walks over. "Lily, I promise you she'll be fine. Trust me. I've seen injuries much worse than this on a Digimon…"

Tai glowers at him. "Who are you exactly?"

"Tai…" Kari looks up at him, giving him a look as Damien half smirks again. "I don't see how that's really any of your business."

I raise an eyebrow. "He does have a point. How'd you get here, anyway? And where's your partner? How'd you know exactly where to find me?"

Damien shrugs. "Well it's not that hard to get here if you have a digivice." My eyes widen as he tosses one up and down in his hand, that looks a lot like Davis' except silver. "As for my partners, I'm sure they're off doing…who knows what. And as for how I knew to find you…" He shoots me a slightly sly grin. "Let's just say I have a knack for finding damsels in distress and leave it at that."

My right eye twitches. "Damsel in…what now?!"

Kari grabs my shirt before I can walk forward, and it's probably a good thing, because I am this close to slapping him across the face.

"Can we get out of here?" TK questions, holding the still weakened Patamon to his chest. "Our Digimon really need a chance to heal."

"He's right." Tai nods and then glowers slightly as Damien, not him, leads the way out of the room. "I…really don't like him."

"Hmm." I make a noncommittal noise. Sure, Damien's kind of annoying. But considering how he saved me and Renamon, I can't really say I DON'T like him.

Course if he makes another damsel in distress crack again that will change very quickly.

Then the scream echoes from the outside of the building. The sound of it makes my blood run cold. "S-Sorcerymon?"

"RIONA!"

….

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Yolei whispers as the campfire's flames shoot upwards into the night sky, little flecks of orange against the black.

Sora smiles comfortingly, but the truth is she doesn't know. She looks back and sighs in relief as Tai returns carrying a bundle of leaves. "Got those herbs you requested Sorcerymon." He murmurs, handing them to the wizard.

"Thank you."

I finally look up from where I've been sitting by Sira. "What are those for?" I whisper, hating how my voice cracks slightly.

"Just restoration herbs. She wasn't badly injured, thank Yggdrasil. Just…worn out."

I close my eyes, remembering the time just four years ago where Sira was fighting against Myotismon to help protect me…how he tricked me into thinking she died doing so…died from exhaustion. Her powers, given to her by the implantation of Kyogre's core in her body at birth, make her sick.

I don't know how sick, I just know that the more energy she uses up the worse it is. Course, she won't listen to a dang thing I say, insisting it's always her choice.

"She'll be all right." Sorcerymon repeats quietly, looking at me. I just nod and shove myself to my feet, my legs trembling slightly with exhaustion.

Someone grabs my arm. "You should rest as well."

I glance at Izzy before pulling him forwards, so the others, the younger ones cannot hear. "So what have you managed to discover about the Dark Towers?"

Izzy looks grim. He glances back at the camp. "Lily, I'm not sure if you want to hear this now…you're tired."

"Izzy."

He sighs at the tone of my voice, a clear sign that I mean business. "All right. The Dark Towers are a power source. They transfer energy from the Emperor's base…negative energy, that somehow stops a Digimon from evolving."

My blood runs cold. "So that's why we couldn't evolve till breaking it. But Izzy…who knows how many of those things there are? And only three Digimon that can reach a more powerful level?"

"I know." His voice is heavy, and he closes his eyes. "Don't tell the others about all of this yet. I'm not sure what else the Towers could do, and there's no reason to have the others worry until I can figure out…what else the Emperor can throw at us."

"You're always worried about how people might react to news." I sigh.

"And you never worry what people think." He says with a wry smile on his own. "You don't bother ever trying to shield people's feelings, do you?"

"Not in the slightest nerd boy. But if we're going to be fighting in a bloody war again…the others should know exactly what we're dealing with."

"I get that. But I don't like only being able to offer only part of a solution or information."

I sigh and he asks, "Say you'll get some sleep. It might be some time from now before we finally get the portals working again."

"Yes mum." I tease him, a half smile touching my lips. "Where's Tai?"

"Out on guard duty."

"That's oddly noble of him. He usually can't stay up past 11."

"I think it might have more to do with not wanting to be around Damien. They really don't like each other."

"Clearly not." I say with a shrug. "What do you make of him?"

Izzy hesitates. "I don't like judging people before I've got all the information. You know that."

"But…"

He shrugs. "A part of me thinks that we should be wary of someone who just pops out of nowhere."

"You know, I can hear you right?"

The two of us both jolt our heads up to see Damien leaning against the tree trunk above us. He takes a chunk out of the apple he has in one hand before lazily, gracefully, leaping back down and smiling.

I twitch. The fact that he snuck up on me so easily makes me uncomfortrable. "Where the heck do you keep coming from?"

"The sky." He drawls sarcastically, chucking the mostly uneaten apple off the side before smiling at me. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about rather or not you can trust me or not. I'll be heading out soon."

"Huh?"

Damien raises an eyebrow. "What? You going to miss me?"

I snort, pulling back. "You wish."

"So hurtful." He murmurs. His fingers trace across my arm as he walks past into the shadows, a ghost of a smile on his face as he leaves. "Bye sweetheart."

"…" Izzy and I just stand there, dumbstruck and staring.

"…Did he just call me sweetheart?"

…

Gabumon howls in pain as he's beaten back by the spiked clubs yet again. Blood fills his eyes as he collapses to the ground, not moving.

Behind the Vegiemon who stand poised to attack him again at a moment's notice, the prisoners Gabumon had been trying so hard to rescue cringe back in fear, their eyes round and terrified.

A loud, mocking laugh emits from the biggest guard, this one a scarlet red one, like an angry tomato. He leers at Gabumon, his mouthful of needle sharp teeth shining in the light. "Not so tough without your partner, are you Chosen Digimon?"

Gabumon glares defiantly at him, eyes narrowing in disgust. "You rank little freak…" He growls, shoving himself upwards. But his body trembles with the effort. If only he could digivolve….if only Matt were here…

The clubs shoot forwards again as the RedVegiemon shrieks in anger. "DON'T TALK ABOUT MY SMELL!"

Gabumon lets out a wounded howl as the clubs collide with his body, and he goes flying…right off the edge of the cliff…into the river below.

"GABUMON!"

…

Elsewhere, in another dimension, a boy's bright blue eyes snap open in the middle of band practice. His hands stop moving, stop strumming the cords on his guitar.

"…Gabumon…"

…

The girl straightens up as she pulls the weakened body of the Rookie lizard/wolf creature. Her green eyes narrow, and she brushes her hair out of her face as her Digimon examines him.

"Well Monodramon?"

Her own partner, a small, purple two-legged lizard gently touches one of the wounds on Gabumon's body, wincing as Gabumon moans in pain. His dome shaped head nods once as if confirming a thought to himself before turning back to the girl.

"He'll be fine. Wounded, badly, but I've seen worse."

"Good." Her voice is harsh, and without much emotion. "I'd hate to think that I'd gone to all this trouble to pull his sorry hide out of the water for his ungrateful self to just die on me."

"Ryo…" Monodramon sighs, giving her a look.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry." She fingers with something in her pocket before pulling out a cellphone looking device with strangely shaped symbols etched around.

"But surely…he'll feel better once his partner enters. And we could use all the help we can get." She adds under her breath as she punches in several binary codes.

The device glows oddly…the entire thing seems to shine red as the air seems to contort in front of her. A light, merely a speck at the beginning starts to grow and grow until it is a shining circle, data swirling around in the middle of it.

Ryo smiles, Monodramon just crosses his arms and sighs. "If the others find out about this…her in particular…"

"Don't talk to me about her." Her voice hardens. "This doesn't concern that little slut. And if she wants to make trouble…."

"You do realize she's too strong for you to do anything against her, right?"

"Oh shut up." She mutters before walking off with him. She glances back at the still unconscious Gabumon. A part of her wishes to go down and help, but she doesn't have time. Besides, his partner would be here soon enough.

A smile touches her lips and she chuckles.

"What's so funny?'

"Oh…nothing. I just bet that this next battle's going to be very…interesting. What say we get a front-row seat? Check out how strong these guys are for ourselves?"

He sighs and just rolls his eyes to heaven before running to catch up with her long stride…and then disappearing into the night.

…

"…Mizzebleh?"

I roll my eyes and nudge Tai harder with my foot. "Get up."

"…?"

"Tai, I'm serious. We need to go. Come on!"

Tai just groans and rolls over. My eyes narrow. Is he now deliberately ignoring me? "Tai…you've got two seconds to get up before I do something very nasty."

He mumbles something softly under his breath. It sounds oddly like—"Go ahead and try."

"Oh you asked for this." I mutter before walking off.

Tai yawns and rolls over again, ignoring the feeling of small rocks digging into his back. Now he can finally sleep. The numbness of exhaustion starts to come over him again before-"AIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I smirk and drop the water bucket as Tai leaps up from the sleeping bag, sopping wet and yelping. "Good morning!"

"You evil!"

"Indeed." I give him a sly grin as he keeps spluttering. "What can I say? You were warned."

Tai shoots me another glare before grinning evilly.

"…Uh oh."

I yelp as he tackles me and we both go flying into the muddy bank together, rolling down and getting dirtier by the second before we land with a splash in the river.

We're both dripping water and the mud is encrusted all over us—I'm pretty sure that it won't come out of my hair completely for weeks. But still, we both look at each other and laugh, before splashing each other and trying to drag the other back down.

Tai wins easily and pulls me back into the river, and I shriek as the icy water splashes me in the face. "You…idiot…" I laugh before pushing myself upwards and wringing the water out of my hair.

He just sticks his tongue out at me.

"Oy. You two lovebirds."

We both look up to see Sira standing at the edge of the river, looking slightly amused. I feel myself blush but cover it up by saying, "Sira! You're okay!"

"Course I'm okay. What, you thought a couple of idiotic slaves could seriously do me damage?" She snorts, and I'm too relived to have the topic moved away from my…awkward relationship with Tai to tell her off.

As I scramble up the bank I hear another voice. "My, you two HAVE been busy haven't you?"

"…Matt?"

Matt's standing there, cool as always, his hands shoved in his pockets, his blonde hair windswept. He totally looks the famous singer type. Sora's standing next to him, and she punches him in the shoulder. "Knock it off Matt."

"How did you even get here?" I ask curiously as Tai just smirks and mockingly raises his muddy arms, as if to ask for a hug.

Matt gives him a "you do it and you die" look before turning back to me. I frown when I see the worry in his bright blue eyes. "That's…the problem. I don't know who opened up the portals again…."

Sira's eyes narrow but she doesn't say anything.

"But right before I got pulled in…." Matt takes in a deep breath and pulls out his Digivice. My heart sinks as I see those flashing red letters.

"Gabumon's in trouble. And I have to find him."

…

TK's eyes widen as he comes back with the younger kids, kindling in their arms. "Brother! What are you doing here?"

"Hey kiddo." Matt manages a weak smile but it's not very convincing.

TK's eyes narrow. "…What happened?"

"So if the portals are open, does that mean we can finally go home?" Yolei gasps, dropping her own bundle. "Oh my goodness thank God. I haven't gotten a chance to shower in a whole day."

"You don't smell any worse than usual." Davis says before getting punched in the face. "OW!"

Matt's eyes narrow as he takes in the new kids. He doesn't look all that…impressed. "Are we…bringing them with us?" He asks, a touch of disdain in his voice.

Davis' eyes narrow. "Yeah? So what's your problem?"

"Davis…"

Matt stares back down at him, a half smirk on his face. "I know. You're Jun's little brother, aren't you?"

"H-huh?" For a moment, Davis' face flushes bright red. "H-how did you?"

"Yeah…I've heard a lot about you." He grins, and Davis flushes even redder.

I can't really blame Matt for not wanting these younger kids to tag along. They're inexperienced, and when your partner is in danger, you want the best you can possibly have for back up.

"We don't have much choice Matt." Tai responds mildly, but he gives Matt a warning look. The last thing we need is arguments in the group, and judging by the way Davis is glowering at Matt it definitely looks like that's the direction we're headed.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry Matt…but I can't go. Renamon's still weakened…and without a partner…" I sigh, thinking of how if this had happened a few years earlier I could have gone charging off into battle anyway, but now without my powers…

Matt touches my shoulder. "I understand."

"But the rest of us will be right behind you." Sora says firmly, walking over to her boyfriend and squeezing his hand. Sira chuckles. "Well you're certainly not leaving me out of this."

"Riona, you should be…resting." Sorcerymon scolds, coming up from behind her and giving her a disapproving look.

"I'll be fine Sorcerymon. Watch Renamon and Daisy and make sure they don't get into any trouble."

Hawkmon glances up at Yolei. "Shall we assist them in the manner of much butt-kicking, Yolei?"

"But…" She hesitates, her eyes worried and slightly sad. "Home…my parents will be freaking out right now…"

"She has a point." Cody says in his usual soft-spoken manner. "My mum will be worried sick. I've never just…disappeared for a whole day before."

Armadillomon places a paw on Cody's foot. "Don't worry about it kiddo. Time passes differently here in this world than in your world. When you get back it'll be like you've only been gone five minutes."

He blinks. "Really?"

"Actually it's more like 5.69987 minutes."

"No one cares Izzy."

"Well I'm sure not going home." Davis glowers slightly at Matt, with a look of steely determination to reclaim his pride. "Let's get going."

Veemon blinks as Davis starts walking off. "Davish…?" He runs after his partner. "Wait, come back!"

Tai sighs before facepalming. "Do you have to be so aggravating some times?"

"Not usually." Matt shrugs. "But this kid's got an even bigger ego than you did when we all landed here. It's fun to break that out of people."

Sira raises a hand and the two of them exchange high fives. "See Lily this is why I told you to go for Matt instead of Tai."

"H-huh?"

I laugh before walking back to camp. "Well if you're so in love with him you can date him yourself."

My smile slowly slips from my face as I watch the rest of them walk off. I sigh, brushing my bangs out of my eyes before slowly making my way back to where Renamon is still sleeping.

…

Gabumon moans as he slowly pushes his head up. The air has changed direction, and there's a new scent hanging in the wind…new…but familiar…

"M-Matt?"

Someone fell to their knees next to him. "Gabumon!" The voice sounded choked, like the person was about ready to break down crying.

"…Matt…"

Matt swallowed hard, resting a hand on his Digimon's torn pelt. Sira swears quietly behind him. "I should have brought Sorcerymon with me…"

Sora drops to her knees. "Gabumon…" She says softly before grabbing her shirt and tearing off a ribbon of cloth. She wraps it around his paw, the worst injury, as a kind of makeshift bandage.

"That little brat…" Tai mutters, eyes narrowing in contempt as he looks up at the Dark Tower.

Izzy sighs. He knows he has to tell them now, even though it's frustrating to have such little information. "If one of them is up there, then none of our Digimon can evolve."

"What?" Matt blinks up at him.

"It's…true." Gabumon coughs, his entire body wracking as he does so. "I couldn't channel any…of my power."

Matt grits his teeth, as Davis responds with complete confidence, "Then it's a good thing you have us, right?"

Tai shoots Davis a look as Matt twitches again. "Don't act like a little snot."

"Gabumon, what happened?" Agumon looks up into his best friend's eyes. Gabumon sighs. "This village is in the center of my territory. The last bit, as the Emperor keeps chipping away." He adds bitterly with a growl. "I admit. I may have acted recklessly to help save the villagers." He glances down at his torn coat and made a face. "Dang…I'm going to have to get a new one."

Ignoring this slightly…weird comment Tai straightened up and sighed. "Looks like we'll be doing another rescue mission." He glances back at the others. "Are you up for it?"

"You bet!" Patamon's childish voice chirps up from his usual place on TK's hat. His bright blue eyes shine with determination to get back after being enslaved himself.

Tai smiles but Davis cuts in-"You haven't even gotten your Digimon to armour evolve, TC." He says, a hint of mocking in his tone. "Don't jump the gun."

TK glowers but Kari cuts in, shooting Davis a dirty look. "Watch your tone. We've been fighting a lot longer than you have and have seen a lot more than you have. So I wouldn't get so full of yourself yet."

Davis stares dumbstruck at her, horrified by the anger in her caramel eyes, and just stands back whimpering for a while.

"So…what's the plan?"

…

The prison on the other side of the hills, overlooking the village and casting its ominous shadow over it was smaller than the one they'd destroyed earlier, Tai reflects. But that didn't mean it would be any less of a challenge. He sighs and turns back to the others.

"We'll need a better plan than the usual fight our way in." He comments, staring at the advanced guard around the prison walls.

The sound of fluttering wings echoes above him and Tai smiles as Biyomon flies above them, Sora clinging to one taloned foot. She nods as she drops on the hilltop next to her two best friends. "It's just as you thought Tai. The back areas not as tightly guarded as the front."

"Judging by how hard it was for us to get into the last prison…" Gatomon said grimly. "I'd say the Emperor is sure we're too weak to fight back again." Her blue eyes narrow down to slits. "We'll have to reverse his opinon of us, won't we?"

"Sometimes you really scare me when you slip back into assassin general mode." Agumon comments to her.

"Oh shut up…"

Cody frowns. "None of our Digimon are strong enough to get involved in a battle." He said in his usual pratical way. "Not after what happened yesterday."

"Don't worry." Tai smiles. "They won't."

Davis looks dumbstruck. "H-huh? Whatever happened to kicking butt and taking names?"

Matt snorts. "Yggdrasil kid, do you think all problems need to be resolved through fighting? Or is it just the way that involves the least brain cells?"

Davis twitches and his fist clenches. Veemon glances up at him worriedly, as though afraid that his partner will do something stupid like punch Matt in the face.

"Look," Yolei says, stepping forward, "I'm not the type that prefers subtle. But they're right. What matters is getting those villagers to safety, not fighting. Not this time."

"What idea do you have?"

Davis glowers as everyone crowds around Matt and Tai. He'd gotten used to at least being…well at least somewhat listened to. Now he was being ignored by everyone.

Again…just like he always was…

Davis chewed his lower lip before his eyes set with determination. He'd show them he knew what he was doing. He'd show them that they were wrong to ignore him. One way…or another.

…

The Vegiemon on guard duty mostly had a boring life. Except for occasionally swiping at the prisoners that were dragged in, they'd never seen anything close to battle.

The Dark Rings wrapped around their necks made them more bloodthirsty, more eager for a fight. And they hadn't had one in months.

"Wish we'd gotten to pound that Chosen Digimon too." One of them grunted then laughed. "But I heard he was surprisingly easy to beat."

"No kidding. And I wish his Mightyness would give us a REAL mission. I want to spill some data."

They suddenly both stiffened at the sound of pawsteps approaching. A Gatomon and Patamon were leading a group of Digimon…and humans…in chains!

"What the?!"

The Gatomon held up her right paw, the Dark Ring wrapped around it obvious. "It's okay. We're one of you. We're containing these prisoners here until the Emperor himself can come and collect them."

"T-the Emperor is coming here?!"

She raises an eyebrow. "Are you going to help us contain them or what?"

A boy with scruffy brown hair growls at her. "You just wait you stupid cat…when I get out of here…."

"Oh shut up."

The Vegiemon look at each other and grin. Wait until the Emperor discovers that they are the ones that captured the Digidestined!

As the prison door swings shut, one of them laughs and turns back to face Gatomon. "Nicely done. I mean, we could have done it ourselves of course…but it looks like you beat us to the punch!"

His eyes suddenly widen as Gatomon just smiles and slips the Dark Ring…off her paw. "Speaking of punch…LIGHTNING PAW!"

He screams as he's slammed through the concrete of the prison wall, where he lies moaning as the other Vegiemon look up, startled.

"Guys, we've got to move! Now!"

The Vegiemon pour into the hallway as the kids and Digimon run as fast as they can. "LIGHTNING PAW!"

"PEPPER BREATH!"

Gatomon and Agumon take out the front, while Gabumon and Armadillomon deal with the back. "BLUE BLASTER!"

"SLASH BEAT!" Armadillomon rolls into a ball towards the Vegiemon at top speed before uncurling and slicing through their Dark Rings with his razor sharp claws.

Meanwhile Hawkmon and Biyomon deal with slicing through the bars of the prison cells on either side of them, Biyomon's emerald flames incinerating the steel doors and Hawkmon, in some impressive avian ninja skills removes the feather from his headband and slices it through the bars like they're made of paper.

"So what's the plan again?" Kari pants as she runs next to her brother, ducking as clubs barely miss smashing into her skull.

"Get to the back enterance." Tai says, not panting at all, his stride powerful and sure. "Davis should be distracting the guards right now with Flamedramon. That's how we'll make our escape. It's the perfect plan."

"I really hate when you say that." Izzy grumbles, Sweat sticks to his forehead as he struggles to keep up. "There's no such thing as perfection."

"Yeah? Well this plan is close enough to it."

…

And it would have been…if all of the members of the team had been willing to follow the plan as ordered. Instead of distracting the guards at the back exit, Davis had something more dramatic in mind.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Veemon whispers as he and Davis creep among the boulders. Davis' fingers trace along his D-3, and he smirks down at his partner. "Please. It's the perfect plan. We kick the main leader's butt, we impress Kari, and we prove to that jerk Matt that we're not just worthless rookies."

"Somehow I don't think this will really impress him." Veemon mutters before suddenly brightening. "Wait…do you think Gatomon will be impressed?"

Davis blinks and looks down at him. A sly grin forms on his face. "I see…"

"S-shut up!"

"Relax." He grins. "I'm just messing with you. But don't worry. She'll be impressed when she sees how strong you are. They'll all be impressed."

He ducks back behind the boulders, dragging Veemon with him as the main boss himself bounces into view. Davis' eyes narrow as he glowers at the fat tomato of a Digimon. "Ready Veemon?"

"Ready!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

…

Sira is standing on lookout duty, ready to warn the others if something went horribly wrong. She isn't happy about this, but Tai remembers the glower Sorcerymon gave him as the team walked off with her.

"Bring her back alive or I freeze certain parts of your anatomy off."

So he wasn't taking any chances of Sira getting injured, not when her partner GrandDracmon was still Yggdrasil knows where, and she'd just collapsed from exhaustion last battle.

Her eyes narrow as she scans the battleground. There's still too many guards around the back than she would like. Wasn't that goggleheaded idiot supposed to be drawing them away?

Her eyes suddenly widen as she sees a flash of flame…at the FRONT of the prison. She curses and reaches for her cellphone.

"Sira this is NOT a good time!"

"Forget that Tai. We've got a problem. That idiot's even stupider than you are…."

…

Tai skids to a halt in the middle of the prison hallway, his eyes widening. "He did WHAT?!"

"There's the exit!" TK shouts, lunging for the outer door. Several more Vegiemon leap in front of him, snarling, but with an aggressiveness you would not have believed possibly for his tiny, fluffy frame, Patamon charges forward and rams into them before flying upwards, sucking in huge gasps of air. "BOOM BUBBLE!"

The attack blinds one of the Vegiemon and he stumbles around, clubs waving wildly in mid air and accidentally colliding with many of his fellow slaves.

TK grins. Even in his Rookie form, which is all Patamon can achieve after his trials and exhaustion as a slave for the Emperor, the flying guiena pig is still a force to be recockened with.

TK slams into the door at full strength, knocking it off its hinges.

"TK WAIT! DON'T!"

His eyes widen as he stares into the courtyard full of enemy Digimon, mostly Vegiemon, but other Champions as well, Kuwagamon's, huge stag beetles with powerful jaws that can crush solid metal, and Dobermon's, massive snarling black dogs that lack the friendliness of Sira's pet.

"….Oh…bugger…"

…

"FIRE ROCKET!"

Flamedramon covers himself in flames as he charges at RedVegiemon, who waits till the last possible moment, smirking. Then he uses his vines to propel himself upwards over the flaming lizard…Flamedramon skids to a halt, snarling in annoyance only to yelp as the vines shoot at him from behind.

The stupid creature is faster than he looks, and Flamedramon howls in pain as the thorns dig into his muzzle, drawing data.

"Flamedramon! Help!"

"Huh?"

Flamedramon's head whips around at the sound of his partner's scream, and then he too howls as the massive spiked clubs slam into his back while he's distracted, knocking him to his stomach.

Davis is struggling desperately as the other Vegiemon lift him high into the air, ignoring his kicking and screaming. Their grins are malignant and cruel, and RedVegiemon just laughs, a weezing, raspy chuckle.

"Are you ready to surrender yet?"

Flamedramon growls, slowly pushing himself back to his feet and ignoring the pain wracking his body before he's slammed in the face again, then again in the side, and again in the back.

Davis' eyes are wide with horror and fear as he watches his partner get a beating he doesn't deserve. "This is all my fault…" he realizes with a sinking heart. "All my….fault….."

One more blow strikes Flamedramon in the chest, and he lets out a desperate scream as data gushes upwards and his eyes roll backwards and he hits the ground before degenerating back to an unconscious Veemon.

"NO!"

…

I stiffen as Sorcerymon's eyes snap open suddenly. He takes a deep, low breath of pain and leans on his staff.

"What is it?" I ask warily, not sure I want to know.

"…Riona…."

Oh freaking Yggdrasil….."What has she gone and done to herself now?" I demand, straightening up, my eyes narrowing.

Renamon groans groggily beside me, but her wounds are better, mostly healed over, though the scars will probably stay for weeks. "We won't know until we check it out, will we?"

…

Tai moans as he awakens. Something roasting hot is pressed up against his back, and he can't move his limbs or even his neck. "S-Sora?" He murmurs, wincing as the blinding light sunlight seers through his barely open eyes.

That's when he realizes how effectively $$$ he is.

He and the others have been chained to the sides of the Control Spire, the sun searing down at them and heating the black metal to horribly painful levels. He can feel it cooking away at his skin. Trying not to cry out in pain, he shouts-"GUYS!"

Low moans echo all around him.

"We're still here…." Matt says through clenched teeth. His eyes are focused on Sora and Biyomon. Sora's arms are bright red where they're chained to the metal, and she's obviously trying not to cry out in pain.

"Davis…" Tai mutters under his breath, trying to keep his temper under control as he looks to the right of him. Davis' head is slumped over in defeat…"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"…I…I.."

"You screwed up." Yolei, from beneath Davis, snaps angrily. "You epically screwed up. You just had to play the big hero, didn't you?"

"…" For once in his life, Davis doesn't say anything.

"Agumon?" Tai asks weakly, to hear his partner whimper softly.

"What do you think they're going to do with us Tai?" Kari says softly.

"…I don't know…I don't know…."

…

Every muscle in my body tenses as I see my friend's predicament. Sira is bent over, breathing hard as the sun cooks at her body. Dang it, she's a water creature, and she's already weakened enough from the last battle. This is the last sort of thing she should have to go through.

I can practically see the sweat glistening off Tai's body as he strains to get free…see him wince every time the metal touches his skin.

I'm not even thinking. I just stand up and bolt forwards, ready to run to him, ready to rip anyone apart who gets between me…and him. "Tai…Tai!"

Renamon pins me to the ground before I can run forwards, knocking me to my stomach as I writhe and kick, trying to get free.

"Lily, calm down!"

"Calm down my butt! They're suffering out there, can't you tell?!"

"We know that…" Sorcerymon says with a sigh. "But….rushing in….and landing yourself in the same predicament isn't going to do any good."

"…" I don't say anything. I just look at Sira and Matt and Sora and Kari…..and Tai…..My heart seems to go into my throat slightly before I clench my teeth and narrow my eyes. I'll do whatever it takes to make him safe, even if that means damaging my own pride.

"Lily's got a point though." Renamon is saying to Sorcerymon grimly. "The longer we wait the more likely something really bad could happen to them….'

"I understand that Renamon….but…three on fifty are not good odds."

"No?" My eyes drift back to where we came from, the river…the forest…the mountains, and a grim sort of smile appears on my face. "How about four?"

…

Damien is just standing on the cliff's edge, staring out at the horizon with a half smile on his face. He glances at the morning sun. Time to move on. They'd be waiting for him and even though their impatience annoys him….there's no point in another useless argument.

"Damien!"

"Huh?"

He glances back, and his eyes widen as he sees me running up to him, panting slightly, then a small smirk appears on his face. "Lily…now to what do I owe this pleasure?"

I blink as I stare at him. "Why do you talk like that?"

"Talk like what?"

"All this formalness and…." I shake my head. "You know what, that's not the point. The point is….I need your help."

"Ah…." His fingers play with my hair slightly before I can slap him away. "So the lady needs…my help. Interesting."

I flinch slightly and hear Renamon's low growl. Both she and Sorcerymon are looking at Damien with the deepest of mistrust.

I don't blame them. There's something about Damien that's definitely…unsettling….

Swallowing hard, I repeat my question. "Damien, please. My friends are in trouble and they need help or I don't know what's going to happen to them."

The smile slips from Damien's face ever so slightly. His eyes narrow, the pupils slitting like a cat's. "And what will you give me if I help them?"

"…Give you?"

"Of course." He smirks, leaning against the cliff wall. "Every action has a reaction. It's one of the most basic laws of the universe. So, I'll repeat my question. What do I get in return for helping you?"

"The warm satisfaction of giving?" I offer up sarcastically and without much hope. He just rolls his eyes.

I sigh. "All right, fine. Then what do you want?"

"How about…?" He smiles. "A date."

"…Okay." I shrug. "You want a date, I can get you a date. Which girl are you interested in, one of the cheerleaders or-"Lily…" Renamon groans, facepalming.

"...?" I glance back at Damien, who just raises an eyebrow at me. …Oh holy Yggdrasil…

"Whoah there." I hold up both hands as if warding off evil. "I don't date. Or do relationships in general."

He shrugs. "No date no rescue."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely"

I glance back at Sorcerymon and Renamon, who both sigh and give me a "Just do it" look. I groan, raising my eyes to heaven. But if this is what it takes to save Tai…

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Perfect." He grins, showing teeth that are absolutely perfect. It's a great smile, but it's not Tai's cocky half-grin. "So I pick you up at eight tomorrow? And I must say I'm getting quite fond of Chinese food, so that's where we'll go."

"…" I just stand there dumbstruck like a complete idiot for a while. Then I slowly turn around to face both Renamon and Sorcerymon. "…What just happened?"

…

"By order of his majesty the Emperor…."

The RedVegiemon continues to drone on and on, and Tai rolls his eyes even as more sweat trickles down into them.

"You shall be deleted in the most painful way possible for entering his territory and inciting rebellions against his Majesty. Such crimes can only be punishable by-"If you're going to delete us…." Tai scoffs. "Then for Yggdrasil's sake go ahead and do it already, if you think you're strong enough. Don't just ramble about it for hours."

"Tai!"

The RedVegiemon turns even redder, if that was possible. "You…dare!" He shrieks, his eyes bulging out of his sockets.

"Heck yeah I dare." Tai narrows his eyes as he glowers at him. "And I'll say this too. Your Emperor is a coward if he can't come over here and face us himself. I've fought a lot of enemies, and have more respect for all of them than for this git. At least they didn't quiver in the shadows like pathetic rats."

"I think the heat has completely gone to his brain." Gatomon mutters in exasperation. Sira just rolls her eyes to heaven. "You idiot…."

RedVegiemon glowers. "In that case, boy, I suppose you volunteer to die first." He laughs mockingly but Tai just yawns. "Whatever."

"…He really does have a death wish."

"TAI!" Sora screams his name in panic, as the RedVegiemon seeths in anger and raises both of his spiked clubs. Tai's eyes just flash with steely determination as the clubs swing towards his head…

"DIAMOND STORM!"

The diamonds slice like daggers through RedVegiemon's pulpy flesh, and Renamon roars as she rams into him at full strength, knocking him away from Tai.

"Lily?!"

"Riona!" Sorcerymon freezes several of the Vegiemon where they stand, creating grotesque figures of ice. But there are still so many of them….

Kari flinches as something lands on the Dark Tower next to her, but then her eyes widen. "Lily?!"

"Stay still." I mutter through clenched teeth as I pull a bobby pin out of my hair and insert it into the chains that bind her wrists and ankles. It's only a matter of seconds before she's free, and she falls right as I catch her safely in my arms,

Damien raises an eyebrow. "Nicely done." He comments, before his own hand shines with dark energy and he snaps Davis' chains like they're made of paper. "But I find this…to be more effective."

Unlike me, he doesn't bother to catch Davis and lets him fall flat on his face with a muffled yelp of pain before rolling his eyes and releasing Veemon as well.

"They're releasing the prisoners!" A voice screams in anger. Oh ##$$$.

"N-now what…?" Davis gasps, wincing as he pushes himself upwards. I land next to him and grab his shoulders. "You see the Dark Tower? You need to concentrate on breaking it, not fighting."

"W-wha?!"

"Davis, do it NOW!" I roar before spinning back around and charging at the Vegiemon. I might not be able to use my attacks, but I'm still as agile as I ever was, and dodging these spiked clubs is easy compared to dodging Myotismon's Crimson Lightning.

One of the spikes still grazes my shoulder and I wince ever so slightly, but there's a blast of water, unnoticed by the rest during the frenzie of battle. Sira smirks over at me, and I shoot her a grin of gratitude.

"BLUE BLASTER!"

Gabumon plunges into the battle as soon as Damien releases him and Matt. He stands next to Agumon and Biyomon, and the flames, red, blue, and green mix together to create a searing blast of golden heat that literally fries the Dark Rings wrapped around the Vegiemon with ridiculous ease.

Sorcerymon knocks Renamon out of the way just in time to avoid a blow that would have taken her head off, and she barely has time to shoot him a grateful smile before powering forwards and punching another two Vegiemon into the cliff's side.

I grab a large branch sitting on the ground and swing it, catching one of them off guard and almost breaking his skull with my own club, before I swing back around and whack the Dark Ring off another one.

"Lily! Look out!"

"Huh?"

I suddenly let out a shriek of pain as I feel thorns tear into my back and rake, and my eyes roll backwards as my old scars reopen. Yggdrasil, the back, why do people always aim for my back?

"Lily!" Tai actually kicks RedVegiemon from behind with all the leg muscle power he gets from his soccer training, causing him to squeal and let go of me as I collapse, panting.

I glance upwards…and there's a flash of red hot flame darting across the sky right towards the Dark Tower. A smile appears on my face.

"You GO Davis!"

…

Davis' D-3 shines in his hand as he watches with determination as Flamedramon leaps into the sky, his entire body covered in flames before diving back down towards the tower.

"I screwed up so badly earlier….I won't make the same mistake again!" His fist clenches. "RedVegiemon, you made the mistake of hurting my friends. Now you and the rest of your flunkies PAY!"

"FIRE ROCKET!"

The Dark Tower explodes into flames, fire streaking up to the horizon, electrical sparks shooting outwards as it teeters precariously….before collapsing….

"BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…BIRDRAMON!"

"TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO….KABUTERIMON!"

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO….GREYMON!"

"GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GARURUMON!"

"RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…KYUBIMON!"

A huge, almost childish smile appears on my face as I see my Digimon's Champion form again, her beautiful yellow pelt, the white mane, the fire streaking along her paws.

I look over at Tai, and we both look over at Sora, Matt, and Izzy, and grin in unison. "Go give them…."

"HELL!"

Kyubimon roars as she charges forward, and I leap onto her back as she grabs nine Vegiemon with her tails and slams them together again and again and again, till they're nothing but a muddled, unconscious mass on the ground. She skids to a halt, spins back around as flames appear on each of her tails.

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

Greymon roars and charges the BlackTyrannomon. The two of them shove each other back and forth, but Greymon clearly is more muscular and more experienced. "NOVA BLAST!"

His orange flames easily overpower BlackTyrannomon's red, and the light of fire appears in the enemy's wide eyes before the flames wrap around him, burning the Dark Ring to dust.

Garurumon snarls as he runs forward, muscles rippling underneath his pelt as three Dobermon jump on him, trying to get to Matt who rides on his back. Their mistake. He grabs one of them by the scruff and shakes him wildly before sending him flying and crashing into the others.

"HOWLING BLASTER!"

Yolei looks over at Hawkmon and smirks. "We're not going to let them have all the fun, are we?"

"Certainly not."

"DIGIARMOR…ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

Halsemon leaps into the sky and soars next to Birdramon. Sora gives Yolei a thumbs up right before twisting out of the way just in time as massive pinchers nearly slice both birds in half.

Yolei grins as Halsemon starts to spin wildly. "Put that bug in its place!"

"TEMPEST WING!"

Kuwagamon shrieks as the massive winds whip at him, and he struggles to keep his balance, keep his wings spread so he can stay in the air.

He's so focused on this, he doesn't notice Birdramon soar up behind him. Sora smirks and gives her partner the signal, and Birdramon spreads her now ominously shining wings. "METEOR WING!"

Kuwagamon screams as the fireballs lance into his back and he goes tumbling towards the ground, crashing so hard he creates a miniature crater.

But it's still not enough to keep him down for good, and, with a feral snarl, he uses his many legs to start to push himself upwards. That is, until Kabuterimon lands in front of him. Izzy grins. "Hello."

"Uh…oh…."

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

Cody grips his own D-3. "You ready for this Armadillomon?"

"Heck yes!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….DIGMON! THE DRILL OF KNOWLEDGE!"

Digmon's drills spin like crazy and he slowly smirks before plunging them into the rocky outcropping as the allies get back out of the danger zone. "ROCK CRACKING!"

Screams echo as the slaves tumble down the cliff….RedVegiemon's shriek pierces my ears as he plummets towards the river….

"That takes care of that."

…

Damien chuckles as he brushes his sleeves off. "I have to admit…you guys are better than I thought you would be."

Yolei blushes. "Thanks…."

"Even if you did need your friend to beg for my help to be rescued."

"I didn't beg." I say sharply, shooting him a look as Tai bristles. "We made a deal, remember?"

He smirks. "Just don't forget…." He chuckles before smiling. "By the way….there's something you don't know about the Control Spires, or as you call them, Dark Towers. They're not what block the Digimon's ability to evolve, or control the slaves."

"Huh?"

"Nope." He grins lazily as the portal reopens behind him. "It's not the Dark Towers. It's the Emperor's Digvice."

Izzy's eyes widen. "So they act like a transmitting device….my gosh…that's brilliant."

"Stop complimenting the villain." I mutter over to him before turning back to look at Damien. "And did you know thi…Damien?"

He's gone. Disappeared again. I twitch repeatedly before facepalming. "That boy…."

"Well, he can't be all bad." Matt says ruefully. "I mean, I hope not because we all now seriously owe him."

"Terrific." Tai mutters sarcastically.

"You have no idea." I agree before looking over at Sira. Her eyes are narrowed as she stares at the spot where Damien disappeared, her entire body tense.

"Does this mean we get to go home now?" Yolei breaths, hope in her eyes.

"Yes. But…." Kari smiles at her. "We can count on you for the next battle, right?"

She grins. "Absolutely."

"Hey, Davis?"

"Huh?"

Davis looks up and his eyes widen as he sees Matt smile slightly at him. "Not bad."

"….Thanks…."

"That's as good as you're going to get from loner boy." Patamon giggles as TK laughs, smirking over at his indignant older brother.

"Anyway, shall we head home?"

Kari smiles as she holds up her Digivice—the portal glows even bigger. "Digiport OPEN!"


	5. Saving A Life, Guardian Angel

Chapter Five

You know, school never looks weirder than when you've been away for days fighting an evil menace. I brush my hair out of my bangs and sigh as; once again I walk down the familiar hallways. Mrs. Kamiya had freaked out when we finally got home—I thought for sure she'd chuck me out of the house this time. All her promises of when I first moved in that we'd be a real family? Yeah. Not so much. Apparently a girl who can shoot balls of light out of her hands is "freaky" and not something she wants her "only son" dating. I hadn't bothered to tell her that I couldn't use my powers anymore for some reason—what was the point?

I wander to my next class without really realizing what I'm doing. My mind is wandering all over the place, mostly repeating the same question over and over again—"Who exactly is the Digimon Emperor, and more importantly, how do we stop him?"

The bitter chemical smell in biology class stings at my nose, like it always does, so I go to grab my usual seat at the back as far away from the scent of dissected frog as possible.

"Hello there."

It takes all of my self-restraint not to fall out of my chair as I splutter, staring in disbelief at the face smirking at me-"DAMIEN? What the heck are…how did you…"

"Same as you I suppose." He says with a shrug. "Getting an education." He smirks. "Though it might not be so easy with you distracting me."

I make a face at him. "Do you use poor hook up lines with all the girls you sit by?"

Damien just grins, twirling his pencil in his long fingers. "Maybe. But it's even more fun when they get annoyed by them."

I stare flatly at him. "You are really weird."

"I try."

I just roll my eyes before pulling out my Biology book-Damien's hand rests on mine, and I can't help but flinch slightly. His fingers are so cold…like ice…

"Surely you didn't forget." He says softly, looking into my eyes. A smile creases across his lips.

"H-huh?"

"Our bargain?"

….Oh crap….

"Look…like I tried to tell you before…I don't date…."

He raises his eyebrows. "I see…so you're the type of girl who breaks her word then?"

"What? No, I'm not!"

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, should there? Unless of course you are either a lesbian, which I can't help you with, or already dating someone." He cocks his head to one angle. "You're not…with someone already, are you?"

"…" I hesitate for a minute before slamming my biology book shut. "No, of course not. See you at eight."

…

"Wow. You've really got yourself landed in the deep end this time."

"You don't have to say it with such satisfaction." I grumble, shooting Sira a look as she eats her sandwich. She just shrugs her shoulders, brushing the crumbs off her face and letting them gather on the warm concrete entrance steps to the school.

I sigh, leaning back against the concrete. "Maybe I'm just being stupid. I mean, going out with Damien once can't hurt, right?"

"You never know…"

I blink and look over at Sira. Her face is devoid of the teasing smirk I expect her to have when she says something like that. She's deadly grim.

"Sira? What is it?"

She sighs, setting her sandwich down. "Granted, I was only around him for about ten seconds-"Less than that actually."

"Lily."

"All right, all right, finish with what you were going to say."

"Thank you. Anyway, my point is….there's just…something about that kid that makes every nerve in my body tense."

"What?" I scoff. "You're saying he's evil after saving all of our lives?"

"If I said yes, you'd ignore me, so I'll just say this. Rather he's evil or not he's got a lot of darkness and anger built up inside of him. I don't know enough to make snap judgements, but I'd be willing to bet that he can be very VERY dangerous when he wants to be."

"…Whatever happened to you not making snap judgements?" I mutter as she goes back to eating, and she just shrugs.

I sigh. "Look, I'll be careful when I'm around him all right?" Subconsciously my fingers stretch to the scar that stretches from my back to across my hip, wide and ragged. "I know better than to completely trust people…."

…

Kari's sitting on the couch, flipping through channels before stopping on Bleach and sitting back with a sigh of content—before her brother grabs the remote and changes it to soccer, flipping over the couch and half pushing her out of the way.

"HEY!"

"Sorry sis, big game on tonight."

She twitches and tries to grab it back from Tai. "Well I'm watching the season finale!"

"Everyone knows that Bleach starts to suck after a certain point. They run out of plot."

Kari twitches repeatedly, and Tai can't help but cringe back as he meets her glare. Obviously this dismissal of one of her favourite shows is not okay.

"Give. Me. The. Remote."

"No way…."

Gatomon can't help but purr as she watches the two of them wrestle for the remote. "They act like such children at times."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Viximon pipes up, her big blue eyes looking up at Gatomon as she sits next to Koromon.

The two of them both went back to their In-Training forms, because for some reason, Mrs. Kamiya finds both Renamon and Agumon intimidating. Why she finds them intimidating and not Gatomon, who I've seen mercilessly slaughter under Myotismon's orders, is beyond me. Not that she does that anymore, obviously, but my point still holds.

"Both." Gatomon chuckles wryly. "I don't know it's just…their behaviour is childish but at the same time it'd be too weird to see Tai and Kari be serious all the time."

"Same goes with Lily." Viximon giggles, her bottle-brush tail sweeping back and forth. "If she ever stopped mouthing off to the enemy I'd be worried about her."

Koromon's red eyes scan the room. "By the way…where is Lily?"

…

"Why do I not own ANY decent clothes?" I groan, shifting through my closet. All I had were T-shirts and jeans—anything nicer than that was more than I could afford, and obviously asking Mrs. Kamiya for money to buy fancier clothes would not be appreciated. It had never mattered to me before. When Tai and I were going out, I could have cared less about silly things like what I wore….it had just been about spending time…being with him….but now, I feel this strange desire I've never felt before—to impress, to look nicer than I usually do. With a sigh I yank out a white-t-shirt, black jacket, jeans, and tie my dark hair back in a ponytail. I glance at myself in the mirror and try to look happy or even excited—I just look nervous. Biting my lip I stride out into the hallway and nearly trip over Miko.

"Sorry girl…." I apologize, petting her tabby head and letting her rub up against my knees, purring. Tai glances in from the hallway as I head towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out." I reply, slipping on my tennis shoes. "With a friend."

"…You mean like with Sora or Yolei or something?" He asks, and I can't help but notice the hint of wariness in his tone.

"Since when is it any of your business who I hang out with?" I demand, turning back and giving him a warning look.

Tai doesn't back down from my glare, he meets it, and I can see my face reflected in his eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Well, with Tai, they really are. I can always tell what he's feeling, or what he's thinking, when he's hurting. Right now there are flecks of that hurt in his gaze right now, and a pang of guilt shoots through me. But what would the point be in saying that I'm going out with Damien?

Right now Damien is a useful ally, a good guy. I'd hate to see him subject to Tai's jealously when he only asked me out as some kind of joke, I'm sure.

My fingers itch to take Tai's hand but I close my own hand firmly, sighing. "…I'll be back in a couple of hours. Kay?"

He smiles. "…Kay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you…."

"Tai, I…" I glance out the window and see a black sports car pull up outside the apartment building. You've got to be kidding me…

I smile once more at Tai, before looking away and bolting out the door. I didn't look back.

…

Tai waits until I'm out of sight and hearing before literally slamming his head against the door. "Stupid stupid STUPID!"

"If you were trying to find a way for her to stay in with you, I think your charm epically failed you." Gatomon yawns, showing off her feline fangs.

"Not…helping…" He mutters, lifting his head. He's not as gullible as some might think he is—if Lily's not telling him where she's going, then it means that….she's probably moved on. And is just trying to spare his feelings.

He swallows hard, glancing at a picture to the right on the mantelpiece above the chimney. On it, Kari is sitting in the front, laughing, as he and Lily sit beside her, with Lily leaning on his shoulder and rolling her eyes away from the camera.

He sighs. If she's met someone new, he should be happy for her. Besides, maybe it won't be as bad as he fears. Maybe the guy will totally suck and she'll come home crying and he can offer a shoulder to sob o-…no! SUPPORTIVE thoughts. SUPPORTIVE thoughts.

"I want her to be happy….but is it so wrong to dream she can be happy with me?"

…

Damien shoves the door open to the Chinese restaurant, and my mouth starts to water the instant I walk in. I can taste duck, herbs, soup, potstickers, who knows what else.

"Hungry?" He smirks as my stomach rumbles.

I nudge him in the ribs and then look over at the maitre'd. "Table for two please."

…

Damien's digging in but my appetite is somewhat diminished…I'm playing with the spicy chicken, not actually eating it.

His eyebrows knit together. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?..." I sigh, and look away. "I'm sorry I guess I'm just…stressed. So much is going on…it's all a lot to think about."

"You worried about the know-it-all midget?" He raises an eyebrow and before I know it, his fingers stroke the back of my hand. "Don't worry about it. He's not going to touch you."

"Please." I snort. "I'm not scared, I'm just worried about the others, that's all. Having an evil human to deal with is a completely different ball game."

"You're worrying too much about this." He says softly.

"Oh really Mr. Confident?" I lean across the table and raise an eyebrow at him. "So what in your past makes you so convinced that this will be easy?"

"Uh uh uh. I thought we agreed. I only share my past when you share yours."

I scowl slightly before leaning back into the opposite chair. "…Okay fine. I'll bite. I was raised by a narcissist jerk who had an ego the size of the freaking universe, who had serious anger problems, and whose life goal to make my existence a living hell. There. Any questions?"

Damien just snorts. "You don't mince words, do you?"

"Not really." I smirk back at him. "Your turn."

"You didn't really share all that much…." He pouts. My back twinges again and I shake my head. "I didn't agree to details. Trust me, you are better off not knowing."

He grins. "Fair enough. All right…so my parents are both dead, I was raised by older relatives who I couldn't stand, my brother was always the goodie-goodie two-shoes who had to one-up me in EVERYTHING, and my girlfriend dumped me for him. Any questions?"

"Nope." I stare at him, my blood running cold. "So wait…your parents are…."

A muscle jumps in his jaw. "No details, remember? It's not something I like to talk about."

"…Your brother stole your girlfriend?" I grin. "Is he cute?"

"Watch it." He says sternly, pointing his fork at my face. "And no, he's a complete and utter dork who'd prefer to bury his face in a book than ever interact with people."

"Wow he must be smoking hot if your girlfriend picked that over you."

"Lily…"

"All right, all right." I laugh, sitting back and holding up my hands in defeat. "I'm just messing with you. Anyway, shall we talk about…ANYTHING else rather than the people who raised us?"

"Certainly." He sets his fork down his face a mask of pure solemnness. "Yggdrasil we haven't talked about so many things, like the difference between a cumulus and nimbus cloud, or Machiavelli, or Shakespeare."

"All very important things I'm sure."

"You have no idea…."

….

"Whose idea was it to enter a FREAKING BLIZZARD?"

The snow whips and burns at our faces with heartless intensity, the wind howling as we struggle to make our way through the fluffy drifts.

I shiver, wrapping my arms around my body in a desperate attempt to keep warm. Try as I might I keep thinking about Damien, and the Chinese restaurant, and the warmth from the ovens and the steaming hot food….

Renamon moans and drops to her stomach. "I can't…go on….leave me here to DIE…."

"Suck it up." I snap back, my teeth chattering together. "Besides, you're a mammal Digimon. Agumon's a reptile and I don't hear him complaining."

Agumon moans something behind me, and I'm not sure if his response is just lost in the wind or if his mouth has literally frozen together. Tai has his goggles lowered over his eyes, peering in every direction but it's no good…the clouds of ice obscure all vision.

"Tai!"

The sound of running pawprints and Garurumon is right beside us. There are icicles stuck to Matt's hair and his cheeks are bright red. "We can't keep going like this. We need to stop and find shelter until the storm is over."

"But…" Cody coughs behind us. "We have to…knock down the Control Spire….."

Yolei shudders. "Cody, I don't think we could find the Control Spire even if we bumped into it. And I…" Her eyelids flutter. "Don't…think I can keep going….I want to take a nap…"

"Don't even think about it." Gatomon snaps, nudging her and cutting her leg only slightly. It might seem heartless, especially when I hear Yolei's yelp, but I know why Gatomon does it. People who go to sleep in these kind of storms do not wake back up again.

I pinch Renamon's arm to keep her moving and to keep her awake, then glance back at Matt. "You have a suggestion?"

'There's a cave not far from here. We can show you the way, right Garurumon?"

Garurumon just growls, his muzzle covered in frost before slowly walking besides us. Kari clings to his shaggy fur while holding onto TK. Patamon is safely tucked away in TK's backpack, out of the elements, but still freezing I'm sure.

I close my eyes and just force my feet to keep moving. Moving…and moving…and moving…every step is a huge effort.

Strong hands grasp my shoulders and I feel Tai gently guiding me forwards. I look over at him and he smiles at me, though his teeth seem to be freezing as he does so.

I smile weakly back just as I hear Matt holler-"HERE!"

The cave can barely been seen, just a speck of black in all the white, but Garurumon leads the way into the entrance, and the feeling of ground, even frozen ground, is good, as long as it's not snow seeping through my shoes.

Davis drops to his knees, breathing hard. "Let's…never….ever….do that again."

"How does any reasonable Digimon live in such conditions?" Hawkmon moans, pulling chunks of ice off his feathers.

There's a pile of logs in the middle which tells me this cave must be used often by other unsuspecting travellers

Tai groans. "We need to start a fire….anyone got a match?"

"Now I know the cold must be affecting your brain." Agumon says stuffily from behind us. "PEPPER BREATH!"

The red hot flames engulf the logs and grow rapidly, but the heat is only a slight relief against the cold. TK drops to his butt and shivers. "I wish the Emperor had picked a more hospitable place to build a Control Spire."

"Well the next time we see him we can all complain about his poor building site choices." Matt says dryly. "In the meantime, curl up against Garurumon."

"I am not the communal bed." Garurumon grumbles, his eyes flickering open slightly as his head is outstretched on his paws.

"You'd better be." Tai says grimly as we all lean against him. "Because while I might have been kidding around the last time I said this, I'm not now-I will skin you and use you for a blanket if I have too."

Garurumon growls again, and Matt rolls his eyes. "Ha hah. Very funny Tai. Besides, we should all be comfy here…long as you and Lily don't get up to any funny business."

"Matt!"

"What?"

I scowl at him, just as Davis drops from pure exhaustion, his head in Yolei's lap and she's too tired to push him away. TK and Kari are leaning against each other, sighing in pure content, and I close my eyes trying to drift asleep but I keep shivering.

Someone drapes a jacket over me and I blink, seeing it's Tai's letterman jacket. He smiles and I see he's wearing nothing but a T-shirt. "Tai, I can't…."

"How about we keep each other warm?" He mumbles, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close. The heat of his body is so warm that I can't bring myself to complain…not that I'd want to anyway. I lay my head on his shoulder just as I hear another whimper-"Davish, keep me warm too…."

"Veemon let go of me!"

…

That night nightmares haunt my sleep again. Only this time I'm not hunting down anyone, I'm running for my own life.

The shriek of bats as they flutter past me, claw at my hair is disgusting feeling, and I whirl around, batting at them, but my powers won't come and there's no burst of light energy to scare them away.

"Going somewhere my pet?"

I growl defiantly but the whip lashes around my right arm and yanks me off my feet, making me land hard on my back with a grunt of pain, and it's only by rolling desperately to the right that I avoid my stomach getting slashed.

The tall figure standing above me is one I know far too well—his gaunt face is cruel and pitiless, and the ice in his dark blue eyes is full of sadistic glee. His lips curl into a mocking smirk as his fangs show, and I can hear the soft crunch of leaves being reduced to shreds underneath his boots.

Myotismon smirks. "You didn't honestly think you could escape me for good, did you?"

"Get the ## away from me…." I hiss, sucking in my breath as I feel the blood run down my arm and it keeps stinging like mad.

"There's my sarcastic little girl." He coos mockingly. "Go ahead. Fight back all you want. It amuses me to see you struggle against your inevitable fate."

I growl before lunging at him and scream as I'm whipped fully into the tree behind me. The bark cracks underneath the force of the blow, but I know for all my bruises and pain it could be a lot worse. He's more than capable of snapping my spine with that whip of his, but for some reason for all my betrayal and disrespect he never has.

Because it's more fun to make me suffer in life than give me peace in death.

The whip cracks once more and I scramble back, right before he grabs me by the front of the shirt and pulls me up. I cough as he smirks, his face close to mine.

"You will never be free girl…." He laughs and his face changes into another's—The Digimon Emperor, laughing at me and I whirl to punch him in the face and his sunglasses fly off as he turns into a puff of smoke.

The laugh is high and cold, Myotismon's laugh, but not quite…there's something familiar about it…the change is subtle but I know it…

"_Foolish girl…."_

The darkness presses all around me, squeezing me, choking me, and I'm clawing, trying desperately to get free as it feels like a black shadowy cage closing in on me…

…

"GAH!"

I jolt, shaking like mad, my entire body trembling. I'm cold, freezing, and it's only a second before I notice Tai isn't pressed up against my side. For a second I feel a ping of annoyance. He's supposed to be my pillow.

And then I hear coughing. Not a simple cough, but loud, hacking, as if the victim is struggling just to draw breath into his lungs.

My blood runs cold. The last time I heard someone cough like that…."Kari?" I ask in a somewhat timid voice, pushing myself upwards.

Oh Yggdrasil…don't let her be sick again, please….please…..

"So you're basically saying there's nothing we can do?" Tai's voice is horse, and my throat clenches. But then I hear another voice-"You guys strained yourselves too far. Tai you should have known better than expect a little kid like him to be able to handle this."

…Him? Never mind that. I pad to the center of the cave, my eyes slowly widening. "Joe…?"

Joe turns and doesn't even manage a smile as he looks at me. "Open your mouth." He orders, before sticking something that tastes like carboard down it. I sputter indignantly before he finally takes the offending object out of my throat.

"What…was that for?"

"Throat's okay…"

He then pulls out a stethoscope, pressing it to my chest and listening. "If you weren't a doctor I'd smack you so hard right now." I mutter, trying not to act embarrassed over the fact that one of my oldest friends literally almost has his head in my bosom.

"Sorry Lils." He sighs before pushing away. "I had to check." His dark eyes are grim. "Cody has a very bad case of pneumonia."

My blood runs cold. "Pnemounia…?" I say, my voice trembling slightly. "That's…that's deadly, isn't it?" I remember Digimon catching that same sickness in Myotismon's castle, how they withered away despite Wizardmon's best attempts to heal them. Of course when they grew too weak…Myotismon basically had them used for target practice.

"If we could get him back to the real world in time…." Joe says grimly. "But there's more bad news."

"When is there not?"

Tai sighs and leans against the cliff wall. "Lily, the portal was destroyed during the snow storm."

"…" My 'eyes widen. Kari's hand goes to her mouth. "Than that means…"

"No way." Tai shakes his head stubbornly. "I'm not going to accept that. No way in heck." His hands curled into fists.

I know that look in his eyes, that defiant fire. It usually means he's planning something crazy.

Armadillomon is curled up next to his partner, staring down at him, his claws trembling slightly. This sickness…is something he can't fight, and it's killing him. I see it every time his partner gasps for breath. He looks up at us pleadingly.

"What do you want us to do Tai?" Matt questions, grim and dejected. "The nearest village…we have no clue where that or the portal is. How do we get medicine?"

"Never thought I'd hear you sound scared Matt."

Matt's jaw clenches as Tai pushes past him to the exit, and he grabs Tai by the sleeve and pins him to the wall. "You are not going out there. You'd get lost, and I am not in the mood to have to go looking for your frozen carcass."

"…"

Tai doesn't say anything. He just glances back over at Cody, and his eyes narrow with frustration in anger. I haven't seen him even close to this bad since Kari got sick. Right now Gatomon is touching Cody's head with her paw, wincing from the heat.

"There might be a way…." She says slowly before finally pulling away. "There might still be hope even in this frozen hell."

I give her a look. "What do you know?"

"I've been here before. With…" Gatomon's ears droop slightly as she whispers, "Wizardmon." Davis blinks and opens his mouth as if he's going to ask who Wizardmon is, but TK waves at him to be quiet. "And…?"

"There's a certain type of flower here that can remedy most infections, as long as the infection isn't too large or to severe."

"Then that's what we're looking for!"

"Really?" Davis snorts. "We're supposed to put all of our hopes…the safety of one of our own on some stranger's knowledge?"

My hands curl into fists and Kari glares at Davis. "You don't know anything, do you? If this was something Wizardmon knew about, and believed in, then it will work."

"Besides, it's certainly possible." Joe says, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Besides, there are flowers in the human world that can cure disease. And anything, however ludicrous, is possible in the Digital World."

"So who goes to look for it?"  
Tai stands up, and the look on his face is so determined that I know what he's going to say even before he says it. "I'm going with you."

Tai blinks and looks at me. A smile creeps onto his face. "Thanks Lils…."

"Then we're coming with you."

Joe shakes his head at Matt. "We need someone to watch Cody. Anyone who's more responsible than Davis."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Maybe, but perfectly true." Yolei smirks at him before turning back to us and nodding. "We'll watch him…."

"Good. Keep him warm as possible." Joe hands her his cellphone. "Call me if his condition worsens."

"Wait, how will you have a phone?"

In answer, Joe pulls out his own cellphone and smirks slightly. "Always keep a spare."

"That's Mr. Reliable for you." Renamon chuckles dryly standing up. "Always has equipment for any situation."

"Well, it never hurts to be prepared, does it?"

Armadillomon finally slowly looks up at us as the three of us prepare to leave. "Make sure you find it. For Cody." He says softly, his eyes even brighter in the darkness.

I smile at him. "Don't worry. We will."

"Easy as pie." Agumon grins and then blinks before looking at Tai. "Which reminds me can we have pie once all this is over?"

…

The snow from earlier crunches underneath my boots. I flick my icy hair out of my face and glance at Tai. "Any idea where we should look?"

"Well based on the coordinates Gatomon gave us…" He mutters, glancing upwards. "The flowers should be growing right underneath the Polar Mountain."

"Great. Then where are we supposed to find…" Renamon's eyes widen as she walks over the top of the hill. "Oh…that's not good."

"Do I even want to know?" I suck my breath in suddenly as I see the Dark Tower standing over the horizon, black against the white.

Joe glances over at me. "The flowers…." He whispers.

He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have too. I can see for myself, in the barren icy ground around the Control Spire, pounded and scarred by several slave's claws.

My heart seems to be diving into my stomach, and I feel something close to tears prick at my eyes. Tai sinks slightly, as if he's about to fall to his knees, and I grab his arm. "It will be okay." I whisper, my voice cracking. "We'll find something, we can make this work…."

"How Lils? HOW?"

"….I don't know…."

….

Garurumon comes back into the cave, his claws clicking on the icy ground.

"Everything okay?" Matt asks, walking up to him, his bright blue eyes concerned. Garurumon shakes his head. "Quiet as the tomb."  
"First of all, it's quiet as the grave, and please don't say either…." He mutters, his eyes flickering back over to the bundle of blankets that lie at the back of the cave.

Garurumon sighs. "I suppose he's not feeling any better, is he?"

Matt shakes his head silently and looks down at the ground. "The others are our only hope…."

"Then we must fight ourselves to make sure their efforts are not in vain." Garurumon comments, degenerating back to his Rookie form. Gabumon walks over to Armadillomon, whose sitting crouched still over his partner. "Could you guys give us some space, please?"

Veemon blinks. "Huh? Why are we getting kicked-"

Gabumon growls.

"Okay, okay we get the point!" Davis yelps, grabbing Veemon by the scruff and pulling him away, Yolei and Hawkmon following hastily to the front of the cave.

Gabumon plops down next to Armadillomon, not saying anything for the moment. Finally he turns his lupine muzzle towards him. "Not feeling so great right now yourself, are you?"

"What do you think?" Armadillomon murmurs, staring down at Cody's flushed face. "He was so sick and I didn't even notice. What does that say about me as a partner?"

Gabumon sighs. "You honestly think you're the only Digimon who thinks they've failed their partner?"

Blinking, the armadillo Digimon meets his eyes and Gabumon nods. "There was a time when I felt like I lost Matt completely. Not to sickness, mind you. But he was suffering from a pain even worse than illness. Matt was convinced that he wasn't needed by anyone on the team…that no one cared about him…wanted him…and it was driving him mad to the point where I feared he'd let the darkness destroy him."

Armadillomon blinks. "Wow. And what'd you do about it?"

He smiles. "The only thing I could do. I was just there for him no matter what, and willing to do whatever he needed. I reminded him that friendship mattered and even if he lost everything else, he still had me. Sometimes things happen to our humans we can't prevent, and even though it breaks our hearts, all you can do…" He stares at Cody's form and then turns back to Armadillomon. "Is let them know you're there."

Armadillomon hesitates, then slowly smiles. "Thanks partner."

Gabumon twitches slightly at being called "Partner" but shrugs it off to Armadilomon's weird Western behaviour.

"No problem."

As Gabumon pads off, he glances back and sees Armadillomon lay one clawed paw on Cody's chest, his gaze protective and loving.

Gabumon smiles before leaning against Matt's leg, who just chuckles and lays a hand on top of his head.

…

"Tai, please calm down…." I say softly, wrapping my fingers through his hand and giving it a squeeze. Tai's staring off into the distance numbly, his eyes blank as if he's not seeing anything.

"Tai…."

Renamon sighs as she watches the two of them. "I've never seen him this bad before…."

"I have." Joe says softly, shaking his head. "After Matt left—he tries not to show it, but it's such a burden being the leader. When Matt left us he felt like he failed. That's part of the reason why I was so determined to find Matt—because I knew if Tai broke completely than the rest of us would soon follow."

"Cheerful thought that."

"But you can't blame him. Even then, we never came this close to losing a member. At least when Kari got sick there was a chance at getting her medicine…but now….."

"You can't keep doing this to yourself." I whisper. My chin rests on his shoulder without me even realizing I'm doing it. "Tai, please don't shut down like this. The team can't lose you too."  
"I completely failed." His voice is taught with emotion. "Yggdrasil, what am I supposed to tell the others? Sorry, but Cody's going to die and there's nothing I can do about-Ow!"

"Stop it!" I hiss, pulling my hand back and glaring at him as he rubs his red cheek. "Just stop it, right now! How were you supposed to know Cody would get sick? How were any of us to know that the Emperor would have destroyed our chances of healing him! You act like it's all about you sometimes," I continue, as Tai stares at me in disbelief, "but it's not! We all screw up, Kamiya, not just you. You're not some great big super hero that can always pull off miracles. You seem to think you let everyone down by not stopping bad things from happening but they. Just. HAPPEN."

Tai stares at me for a bit longer as if he's never seen me before. Is it just me or do I see the slightest hint of tears forming in his eyes. "I…Lily I…."

"Hey…." I wrap my arms around him in a hug, feeling his athletic body press up against mine, resting my head on his shoulder again, my head on his back. "I only say this because you mean too much to me for me to let you hurt yourself." I whisper. "The Tai Kamiya I knew would never back down from this challenge. He would never see himself as a failure, believe you me, I'm a lot happier when you're being an arrogant git."

He chuckles weakly, and I smile before pulling back and staring at him. "And we are going to get through this." I continue softly. "We'll find a way to save Cody, and don't ask how. Because you know us. Just like bad stuff comes out of nowhere…so does good stuff."

"Speaking of bad stuff coming out of nowhere…!" Renamon is shooting towards us, her eyes wide, her fur bristleing. "MOVE!"

She shoves us both out of the way just as a war cry echoes frim the mountain above us, and something white and fluffy and fat pounces down, it's fist slamming against the ground and freezing it solid.

I scream slightly and back away hurriedly, Tai standing protectively in front of me, while both Agumon and Renamon advance, snarling.

Joe is forced to hang back. I can see the absolute frustration in his eyes, see him finger the Digivice attatched to his belt like Tai did only a few days ago. He mouths Gomamon's name quietly, pleadingly.

"F-Frigimon?" Tai stammers, his eyes widening. "What…"

"Tai!"

The Dark Ring is obvious against Frigimon's white fur as he charges us again, ice forming around his right paw. His eyes are completely feral. He's not a friendly little ice teddy-bear anymore, that's for sure.

"HEY!" Agumon runs forward, and Renamon's ears twitch slightly as he passes us. Thinking quickly, she kicks Agumon as hard as she can, and though he yelps in surprise and fear at first, a slow smile appears on his dino-face as he curls up into a ball and rams into Frigimon's stomach, knocking him backwards with a grunt.

"PEPPER BREATH!"

The flames dart right towards Frigimon's arm, but to the shock and horror of everyone there Frigimon's eyes just narrow before blasting his own icy attack, and the two collided with each other forcing Agumon back.

Agumon grunted as he slid, ice cutting across his skin and Frigimon let out a cry of triumph before charging forwards at the weaker Rookie Digimon.

"AGUMON! NO!"

Just as Frigimon raised his paw to turn Agumon into an icicle, a purple blur shot out of nowhere and rammed into Frigimon, knocking him awkwardly to the side.

"H-huh?"

The Digimon standing in front of us isn't that big…I'd actually say it's only a Rookie itself. Dragon like with golden armour pads on its knees and elbows, its' domed head standing out and sharp teeth in its muzzle.

He smirks slightly as Frigimon angrily gets to his feet, and crooks one finger at him in a clear—"Come and get it" gesture.

Frigimon roars angrily that some little Digimon like this is DARING to mock him, before blasting several balls of ice at him at once.

The newcomer doesn't even b at an eye but runs forward, punching through each ball of ice and shattering them to bits.

"BEAT KNUCKLE!" He roars, slamming his claws down on the Dark Ring with enough force to crack the earth, and Frigimon lets out a yelp of pain as the mere force of the impact sends him sliding backwards.

The new Digimon looks guilty as Frigimon slides back and hits the icy mountain wall. "Eh heh…didn't mean to get so carried away there…" He mumbles, scratching the back of his head.

Renamon's tail flicks back as her fur keeps rising warily. "Just who the heck are you?" She demands, a flash of her white teeth showing.

"'That's not important." He smiles. "But trust me, I am a friend. I can't stick around long…but…I'm glad I was here. It's been a long time since I was able to help other."

"We didn't need help." Renamon mutters. "We could have handled it just fin-OW!"

"Be polite." I hiss at her before taking my boot off her tail. I manage a small smile at him. "We owe you one. He caught us off guard."

Renamon huffs behind me but he just smiles. "No problem."

"Frigimon?" Joe's bent over him and shaking him gently. "Are you okay?"

Frigimon moans, his black eyes finally open and just as innocent and sweet as we knew them before. "Ugh…what happened?"

"A Dark Ring was controlling you." Agumon piped up. "Don't worry, we got it off you, thanks to…" He turns his head and blinks. "Um, where did he go?"

The new Digimon is nowhere to be found. I raise my eyes to heaven. "Is it just me or are we surrounded by people who keep constantly popping out of nowhere and disappearing again?"

"You're telling me." Tai mutters. "Damien, that dark figure that saved you, and…does Sira count?"

"Nah. She comes out of nowhere so often it's kind of expected."

"Meaningless conversation aside," Joe says dryly before turning back to Frigimon. "Have you heard of this kind of flower before…one that can heal sickness? I believe it grows around here?"

"It's small." I jump in, remembering what Gatomon told me. "Really small, but like a perfect little snowdrop? And it has this…special smell." I didn't understand what that meant when Gatomon had told me, when I'd asked she'd just shrugged and said she couldn't remember what Wizardmon had meant.

Frigimon blinks. "You mean the Chrysalis Flower?"

"Yes!" A smile splits on all our faces. Tai pushes forward and asks with a hint of desperation-"Are there any more of them? They weren't…all killed when the Emperor took over this area, were they?"

"Huh? Nah. The flowers grow inside the caves you see. The Emperor has no reason to go into them."

I close my eyes and fight back a shudder. Caves…

"Not very deep." He says, as if sensing my fear. Tai wraps an arm around mine and stares comfortingly at me.

For Cody…

"All right, let's do this."

…

Matt's eyes shoot open at the sound of the explosion from outside their hideout. He curses, furious at himself for falling asleep as he and Gabumon shoot forwards with Yolei and Davis right beside him.

The sunlight burns at their eyes, and Matt's forced to squint and look away, but that evil laugh sends shivers down his spine and he can make out a short yet menacing figure standing in front of them, holding a whip.

"I'm impressed." The Emperor smirks, crossing his arms over his chest as several Frigimon stand behind him, their eyes completely blank. "I didn't think any of you were so stupid as to sneak into one of my greatest strongholds."

Matt growls, sounding oddly wolf-like, as Davis and Yolei run out to join him. Davis' eyes narrow down to slits. "You little twerp, what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Oh wait, to someone of your mental capacity it's probably not."

"HEY!"

"He's got you pegged pretty good there." Yolei mutters sarcastically before smirking at the Emperor. "You really think a bunch of angry snowman are going to beat us?"

"Oh I have complete confide-AIIEEEE!"

"ROSETTA STONE!"

The Emperor is barely pushed out of the way in time just as several huge chunks of rock with strange markings on them hurl themselves at him. The Frigimon stand guard, punching the rocks to smithereens before glowering at Nerfertimon who hovers menacingly above.

"Nice girl scream." TK laughs as Kari just smirks. He then glances at his own partner, and he and Patamon exchange a grin. "I think it's finally our turn, right Patamon?"  
"All right!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"PATAMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….PEGASUSMON! FLYING HOPE!"

"…He gets a stallion?" Davis mutters as TK leaps onto the flying horse's back, golden wings extended from orange fur, making it easy for him to dodge all of the ice balls the Frigimon blast their way. "Veemon, why don't you have a cool form like that?"

"FOCUS DAVIS!"

"Right….DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….FLAMEDRAMON! THE FIRE OF COURAGE!"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

"All of you, wipe out as many Dark Rings as you can from the air!" Matt barked as Halsemon leapt upwards and joined his allies. He then turned to Davis and Flamedramon and smirked. "We take them straight on…."

"All right!"

The Digimon Emperor just snorts a laugh as Garurumon and Flamedramon charge forwards. "You really think one champion and one overgrown lizard freak are going to be enough to defeat me? Frigimon, attack!"

…

Back inside the cave, Armadillomon cringes slightly as the raging battle outside makes the ceiling and ground shake wildly. Cody moans and turns over, his body shivering.

"Cody…" _Please hurry you guys we don't have much time!_

…

"When the Emperor took over this area…" Frigimon continues, gesturing to the icy mountain. "The only place he refused to enter were these caves."

"Why?"

"Because he's a coward." Frigimon snorts. "And he believes the rumors that this area is haunted."

I freeze, my eyes widening slightly. "…Haunted?"  
"Yeah. They say spirits cursed in their mortal life are forced to walk the icy walls for all eternity." The look on Frigimon's face is oddly terrifying, a menacing leer, and everyone takes a step back and gulps.

Then he bursts out laughing. "Ha ha got you didn't I? Don't worry so much midgets. It's just an old wives tale."

Joe rolls his eyes. "Ugh. Even without Gomamon here this is still the kind of stuff we have to put up with…."

The thought seems to sadden him, and he toys with his Digivice again.

"Joe…"

The sudden, uncomfortable look on Frigimon's face makes me have a very, VERY bad feeling. "Um…" He mumbles, looking away. "About….Ikakumon…"

"HARPOON TORPEDO!"

The missiles seem to come out of nowhere, shooting towards us at full speed and landing right in front of us…Renamon backflips to regain control and catches me mid-air as I go flying.

"T-thanks…." I breathe, catching my breath and feeling her hold me tightly. "Are you okay?"

Joe is staring in horror as we stare in front of us. There are several Mojyamon, with their big, hairy bodies, and leering faces, all of them holding menacing icicle clubs.

But worse of all was seeing Ikakumon standing in front of all of them, eyes completely red and merciless, the Dark Ring wrapped around his front paw.

Tai swore under his breath before grabbing my shoulders. "Lily you need to get out of here."

"What? I'm not going to turn and run and leave the two of you to fight alone!"

"Lily, please!" There's so much desperation in Tai's voice that I actually am taken aback and don't argue for a moment. "We need someone to get the flower. It's Cody's only hope."

"But why can't Joe…?"

"You go with him, he's going to need a bodyguard. Agumon, Frigimon and Renamon and I can take care of things."

Yeah that sounds great, send the star without any powers in to guard the human. But as I look in Tai's face, I can tell what he's really worried about. It's not just me. He wants to get Joe out of here, and that's not going to be easy when his partner is being controlled.

I grab Joe's arm. "Come on, we need to go."

"What? No way am I going….!"

"Joe, COME ON!"

He hesitates, glancing back at Ikakumon before letting out a shaky breath and bolting after me. Ikakumon smirks. "This should be interesting…."

…

Flamedramon seethes in pain as the ice cuts across his hide like daggers, drawing drops of blood and data to land on the white snow.

Garurumon roars, grabbing one of the Frigimon by the arm and swinging him around like a club, knocking three others and sending them flying into a groaning heap.

"HOWLING BLASTER!" He roars, leaping into the air and letting the blue flames spew from his mouth, trying to ignore the yelps of pain from the Frigimon. The flames aren't strong enough to delete, only to smash the Dark Rings.

Halsemon charges straight into the crowd, his winds sending the Frigimon flying upwards high into the air, where Pegasusmon and Nerfertimon are waiting for them.

Pegasusmon spreads his golden wings wide as they start to shine. "STAR SHOWER!" Balls of light shoot downwards and strike, smashing the Rings on impact.

Nerfertimon doesn't even have to use her attack—her teeth and claws keep slicing away through the dark metal, her eyes blazing underneath her face mask.

One of the ice attacks blasting upwards nearly hits Kari, and she twirls out of the way just in time but still has part of her wing frozen. "Gack!"

"Are you okay?" Kari gasps, touching her Digimon's flank.

"Y-yeah…." Her eyes widen as another blast of ice, this time much bigger comes blasting up towards them. And this time with her frozen wing she doesn't have the agility to dodge.

"FIRE ROCKET!"

A streak of fire bursts downward, obliterating the ice attack before it can even make contact and smashes into the offending Frigimon, who wails as he's thrown backwards.

Nerfertimon blinks, surprise obvious in her voice even if you can't see it in her face. "Flamedramon? What…how…."

Flamedramon just looks back over at her and smirks, giving her a thumbs up before going back to thrashing the Frigimon.

"Well….that was…" For one of the few times in her life, Gatomon is actually speechless for a bit. "…Something else…."

…

For once I'm not as freaked out as I usually am in caves. The walls are crystal and wide, meaning that I feel less trapped and vulnerable.

Joe's shoulders are shaking slightly as he walks beside me. "Joe?"

When he doesn't say anything, I touch his shoulder. "Hey, it'll be okay. I promise you. We managed to free Greymon when he was enslaved by the Emperor, we freed Birdramon and Kabuterimon too. It will be okay."

"…" He sighs then turns to slowly smile at me. "Thanks Lils. You know, for someone who prefers being sarcastic to being emotional, you can say really nice things."

"I have my moments." I shrug, stuffing my hands in my pockets and then looking back over my shoulder sharply at the sound of another explosion. My heart twings slightly. "_Please be safe Tai…."_

Renamon suddenly growls beside me, her head whipping around. Her mane is bristeling and her eyes are feral.

"We aren't alone…"

The ground suddenly shakes and there's an explosion of ice and Joe yelps as I push him backwards, hissing in pain as daggers of ice dart across my back.

"L-Lily!"

"Well well…I thought I'd find you two here…."

Ikakumon smirks over at us, climbing out of the hole from below, smirking. I cringe back slightly but stand in front of Joe protectively, my eyes narrowing. "If you want to kill him you'll have to kill me first!"

"Lily!"

…

Tai clenches his teeth as he watches Agumon take a brutal beating, only caught by Frigimon who crouched protectively over the bruised dinosaur.

His eyes flicker back over to the Control Spire behind them. Something he heard before…something that Damien told them…the Control Spires act like a radio tower, transmitting signals to the Dark Rings. Does that mean that if they destroy it they don't need to win this impossible fight?

Jaw hardening, he makes a decision—and it's one so insane, so mad, so incredibly stupidly dangerous that if Lily saw him doing it she'd kill him.

"Get ready Agumon…." He mutters before yelling-"HEY! SNOWMAN REJECTS!" The Frigimon all turn to look at him, red eyes narrowing.

"Come on you cowards." He taunts, spreading his arms wide as if inviting them to come and freeze him solid. "You want a piece of me? You couldn't manage to delete me no matter how much you try, especially with your crappy aim."

"Tai!"

Several angry snarls echo, and Tai suppresses a gulp and slowly takes a step back as his eyes flicker back to the Control Spire. "…Run."

"Has he gone mad?" Frigimon exclaims, watching in disbelief as Tai and Agumon both run straight towards the dark tower, barely dodging the blasts of ice that rained down around them like heaven's judgement. Complete bafflement filled him. Did the Digidestined leader WANT to di…his eyes flickered back to the tower. "Oh. I see. Oh that's clever."

Tai crouches next to Agumon in front of the Control Spire, his eyes narrowing as the attacks fly at them all at once. "Wait for it…wait for it…."

At the last possible second with the balls of ice so close it makes Tai's hair start to freeze over, he shouts, "NOW!" and rolls out of the way with Agumon.

The attacks slam into the Control Spire at full strength, blue ice forming around it. Then…slowly…long cracks start to form in its side.

"And that's all she wrote." Tai mutters with a smirk on his face as the Spire hits the ground with an earthshattering crash.

…

The Emperor's head whirls around at the sound of a loud crash echoing in the valley. "NO!"

Matt grins as the Frigimon stop attacking them and instead stumble around, looking completely confused but slowly coming to. That only meant one thing—that Tai and Lily had managed to destroy the Control Spire as well.

"You sure you still want to fight?" Davis asks mockingly, a smirk obvious on his face as the Emperor glowers at him. "After all, you seem to have lost your army."

Sure enough, the Frigimon are advancing towards the Emperor with menace in their eyes. He backs away warily, slight fear in his eyes.

"This isn't over!" He snarls before leaping onto a scaly reptilian head that bursts through the ice with. A Seadramon. There's a flash of green scales…and then the Emperor is gone.

Matt breathes a sigh of relief, and then turns to look back at their old hideout. His heart sinks slightly as he thinks of Cody lying weakly in there…every minute precious…every second ticking away at his life.

"_Please guys…please hurry…."_

…

Ikakumon glowers at all of us, eyes cold and pitiless. "Well? Bring it on."

There's dead silence in the cavern at first until finally Ikakumon smirks and then bursts out laughing. "HAAHAH I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS FELL FOR THAT!"

"…Huh?"

Ikakumon smirks before degenerating back into Gomamon. "You didn't really think I'd let the Emperor control me that easily, now do you?" He questions, slipping the Dark Ring easily off his paw.

"…You…what…how…I…?" I splutter as Joe just laughs and holds out his arms for Gomamon to jump in. "Good to see you're all right, buddy."

"That still was not funny though." Renamon mutters, shooting him a nasty look. Gomamon just shrugs. "Sorry. But I didn't have much of a choice. It kept the Emperor from capturing me for real, and I could keep an eye on the Frigimon as well as this area. If it was destroyed the Digimon here would lose their only real medicine."

"So you know where the flowers are?" I question, my annoyance replaced with excitement.

Gomamon nods. "Right down there…" He gestures to a small tunnel in the cave's wall. There's only room for one person. I swallow hard and step forward, and Renamon grabs my arm. "You don't have to do this."

I slip my hand out of her grasp and smile at her. "Yeah…I do…I'll be fine, I promise."

"Be careful Lils." Joe says softly as I descend down inside it. Renamon just bites her lip, her fur rising up again.

The tunnel is so tight I have to crawl on my stomach for the first part…my breathing goes in and out rapidly as I struggle desperately to not let my stupid fear take control of me. The thought of what Frigimon said about ghosts here….

I clench my teeth and keep wriggling around like a worm until I pop out like a cork. I'm in the middle of a cavern….the most beautiful cavern I've ever seen. The walls are like crystal, shining even though there's no light, like they have a life of their own. And the lake stretches out in front of me…subterranean and beautiful. I glance down at my reflection and make a face at the tangled mess my hair is, along with the cuts on my face.

That's when the shadow darts across the lake. I gasp, my eyes widening as I whirl around to see….nothing….

"H-hello? Who's there?"

There's no one that I can see, but I can feel a presence behind me. It doesn't seem unfriendly however. It seems….protective.

I hesitate but slowly turn around again. My eyes widen. Sitting on the rocks behind me delicately, is one tiny white flower, it's petals collected with dew even though we're probably miles underground.

But sitting next to the flower Is an inky-black feather. I pick it up, my fingers running over the soft edge in wonderment. Someone gave me these two gifts.

I stare into the cavern, the other tunnels leading away and say softly-"…Thank you."

Silence. A soft smile touches my lips as I turn back around and make my way back towards the others…..;

Episode Six


	6. Return of Sincerity, Yolei's Honor

Episode Six

"_Oh dear…." _ Wormmon thinks to himself as he crawls into the control room, his antennae twitching slightly. The entire room is full of bitterness, frustration, and barely contained rage.

The source of all these emotions is pretty obvious—the Emperor sits in his throne, not moving, not speaking, but Wormmon flinches as he sees his master's fingers clench and unclench on the arm rest, a sheer sign that he's doing everything he can not to lose control.

Well that's probably a good thing. The last time the Emperor lost control, several things got smashed. And Wormmon was sore for a ridiculously long period of time.

"Sir…?"

"How do they keep doing it?" The Emperor mutters quietly to himself, not even bothering to acknowledge Wormmon's presence. "How do they keep…defeating me like this?"

"Master, cheer up." Wormmon pleads. "You'll destroy those brats for sure sooner or later. Here. Have some tea!"

He offers the tray he's holding with the cup of simmering brown liquid, but the Emperor just waves a hand in dismissal just as the computer screen flickers to life.

Wormmon scowls as he sees the creepy woman standing there again, a half smirk on her face. "Oh just hang up on her…."

The Emperor ignores him and instead directs his attention to the woman. "What do you want?"

"My, someone's in a mood." She touches her mouth with one long bony finger, and asks in a mock questioning voice-"Does this have something to do with the spectacular failures that he's had?"

The Emperor growls. "Is there a POINT to this call because as you might have guessed, I have had a crappy week already."

"That I don't doubt….and of course there's a point to me contacting you. The same one as always. I want to offer my help."

"Oh really? Because the last time you offered help, it ended so SPECTACULARY." He says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Her jaw tightens and she smirks again. "True. But I only failed because I chose a poor servant to complete the task, as opposed to you who failed even when you yourself entered the fight."

"Shut up!"

"You know I speak the truth."

The Emperor's fists clench angrily again as he bites back a vicious snarl. The woman smiles. "So do you accept my help or not?"

"He doesn't need your help." Wormmon speaks up from the corner. "He doesn't need anyone's help, especially not from someone like you."

Her eyes narrow down to slits as the Emperor snaps, "Shut it Wormmon. Your opinon was not asked for."

Wormmon whimpers quietly before retreating to the back of the room again, his antennae drooping, his big eyes sad, not that his master cared to notice.

"If I…did accept your offer….what kind of help would I be getting?"

She smiles. "What if I said that I have…a friend who can get you valuable information? Enough to eliminate one, and by that, all of the Digidestined."

The Emperor slowly smiles. "Then I would indeed be interested."

Wormmon sighs again as he watches, his little insect heart breaking as he sees his partner consorting with this witch. _"Oh Ken…..this can't really be what you want…"_

…

"I think we deserve a break."

Kari says this while yawning, stretching her arms out and wincing as she rubs at a massive bruise on her side.

"Amen to that." I say with a sigh, sipping my soda. Tai says something that's probably assent, but it's kind of hard to tell with the massive piece of pizza he's chewing.

"I mean think about it," she continues, ticking them off on her fingers as she speaks, "we've had to deal with being almost eaten at least twice, having to fight against our own allies being controlled, one of our own getting sick and nearly dying, and another one of our own getting kidnapped. It's been a full week."

I nod. "You said it. If we don't take a break even for a little bit, we're going to completely burn out."

Tai swallows. "Izzy sent a message to Gennai. He promised to let us know if anything major propped up, but unless that happens…" He grins. "We can relax. What do we do?"

"I vote we hit the bars, get sloppy drunk, and then spend the rest of our weekend praying for death because of our awful hangovers."

When they both stare blankly at me I roll my eyes. "Gosh you guys, I was JOKING. You know I hate that kind of stuff, that's why I never go to parties."

"Speaking of upcoming parties…." Tai finally looks up. "You know home coming dance is coming up soon?"

"Oh don't say that." Kari groans, facepalming. "Because if Davis finds out about it he's going to immediately start harassing me to go with him."

"So….who are you going with Lils?"

"No one." I crumple the soda can in my hand and toss it over my head into the trashcan behind me with perfect precision. The clink of it landing inside echoes in the loud school cafeteria as I continue-"I'm not even sure if I'm going, to be perfectly honest."

"What? Lils…" Tai gives me his saddest puppy dog eyes, and I stifle a laugh, remembering how Sira once described Tai as dog like. She's partly like—he's honest, friendly, and he has the silliest pout I've ever seen.

"Look, I'll think about it." I say, amused, shaking my head at him. When his face brightens again I remind him-"But I'm probably still going alone."

"Dang it…."

"By the way, isn't Mimi coming this weekend?" Kari asks, looking up at us from her salad curiously. I shake my head and check my Ipod. "No she's coming to…."

I freeze, my eyes widening as I see the date marked on the calendar. "Oh…oh crud…."

…

There are times when I think I would be more than willing to sell my soul if only to have a car for my very own. It's moments like this, when Tai and I are dripping wet as we make a mad dash to the airport across the street, after already having spent two hours on the subway, which stalled halfway so we had to switch lines about oh, six times?

"What gate does her flight come in?" Tai pants as we burst through the sliding doors and make our way to the middle of the airport where the board flashes new information updating us on the flight schedules.

"I don't know!"

Anxiously my eyes scan the board searching for anything that mentions a plane that came in from New York. Nothing. Oh holy freaking Yggdrasil, if Mimi's been waiting here for hours she is never going to forgive us.

These are the thoughts running through my head right before I'm pounced on from behind.

"What the?"

"Hi darlings!"

"…" A slow grin forms on my face as I turn around to see the beaming diva smile back at me. "Mimi!"

The diva girl standing in front of us is just like I remember her, minus a few physical differences. She was already striking as a fourteen year old, but now she's drop-dead goregus, with her knockout figure and well developed bosom. She wears a red, white and blue t-shirt with a yellow star on it, from her days in America I guess, with long white boots that stretch up and meet her white shorts.

But one thing catches my attention most of all. "Pink?" I ask, admittedly a little stupidly. She giggles and toys with her newly dyed hair, which has sparkles in it. "Yes, pink. Why not?"

"Pink is great." Tai says with a smile before muttering under his breath-"If you want to look like a Barbie doll."

"What was that Kamiya?" She fixes him with a such a warning glare it's enough to make him step back and stutter-"I…I…I…nothing?" He finishes with a sheepish grin.

She smiles. "I thought so. In that case, would you be a dear and carry my suitcase for me?"

Tai groans as I smirk over at him, and then yelps as he struggles to pull the bag behind him."Gosh, Mimi, I thought there was a freaking weight limit for the airplanes! What did you put in here anyway?"

"Just the essentials. All my magazines, my makeup, my clothes…."

"Did you bring the wardrobe too?"

"Oh, man up Tai." I scold before letting a smile tug at my lips as she links her arm through mine.

"Now Lils you're going to tell me exactly what's been going on here since I've been gone."

The smile slips from my face and I sigh. "It's…a long story."

…

"The Digimon Emperor?" Mimi asks in alarm as she follows us down the school hallway down to the computer lab.

"Yeah." Tai says grimly, his brown eyes narrowing. "Thankfully he's not as bad as the Dark Masters, or even Myotismon, but I'm not sure if that's just because he lacks their power. He certainly seems just as evil."

"Tai, no one could possibly be as evil as Myotismon was." I say flatly as I walk ahead, the tone of my voice clearly stating there is no room for debate in that statement.

Mimi chews her lower lip. "What DO you know about him?"

"A ridiculously small amount." Tai sighs as he pushes the door open. "That's the problem."

Izzy looks up as we enter the room. "Oh, Lily, Tai…" His eyes widen slightly and he suppresses a gulp. "M-Mimi?"

She smiles coyly, her amusement obvious as he turns bright red. "Hi Izzy…did you miss me?"

"C-course I did. Don't we all…always miss you?" He turns back to the computer and bends over, typing wildly on the computer as if that's going to hide the obvious blush on his face.

I whack Mimi lightly in the arm. "Stop being evil."

"I am not." She says, sticking her tongue out at me before sitting next to Izzy, so close I'm sure he's about to hyperventilate. Poor guy. He's never been good with girls, especially girls I'm pretty darn sure he's been crushing on her ever since sophomore year right before she moved away.

"Well what do we have here…?"

Damien stands leaning against the wall, in all his bad-boyness. Yeah, I know that's not really a word. So what?

"Are we never rid of you?" Tai mutters as I nudge him hard in the ribs.

Mimi's eyes widen slightly as she sees him standing there, and he smiles at her. "I…don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." He murmurs, bending over and actually kissing her hand.

My right eye twitches as Mimi giggles. "My, so charming. There aren't many guys that act so gentlemanly."

Damien just gives her a sideways smile—and I really don't like the look he gives her, like he's encouraging her flirting back with him. Of course, why should it bother me? It's not like Damien and I are dating…right?

Izzy doesn't look all that happy either. He keeps looking back from Damien to Mimi with such an abandoned look that it makes me think of a dumped puppy.

"So are you planning a little trip back to the Digital World?" He murmurs, and a part of me is taken aback how quickly he's standing behind me, his breath low and tickling my neck. "You left me behind last time. I felt all rejected." The half-smile on his lips only irritates me more, even though I don't know why I'm irritated.

"You don't have to follow me around constantly." I snap, feeling a slight mean pleasure when he looks actually kind of hurt. Tai looks like he wants to dance a jig at my rebuttal, and that just makes me feel like more of a jerk.

"And anyway, we're not going to the Digital World today." I mutter, looking away. "After what's been going on….all of the craziness….we just thought we'd take a break for a day."

Damien just shrugs but Mimi looks crushed. "Oh but….I thought I'd see Palmon….."

"We can all go together tomorrow." Izzy offers, spinning around in his chair. "Right now all of our partners just desperately need a rest from all of the fighting. But I promise we'll find her, kay?"

She smiles slightly. "Thanks Izzy…."

….

"I brought snacks!"

Yolei drops down the heavy grocery bags with a loud thunk that echoes throughout my room as they hit the floor.

DemiVeemon, Veemon's In-Training form, who is basically a blue furry ball with a white face and stomach and floppy ears sniffs curiously at a pack of cookies that rolls to him. "What is it…?"  
Poromon, a pink fluffy feathery creature cocks his head oddly bird-like to one side. "Can we eat it?"

"Of course you can eat it." Patamon giggles, pulling a juice box out of the bags. "Watch me!"

He tears it open with his surprisingly sharp teeth and gulps it down rapidly, licking his lips as he does so. I flinch as a couple of drops land on the carpet. "Hey, watch it you guys. If Mrs. Kamiya sees stains on this carpet, I am freaking dead."

"You're overreacting."

"Oh am I?" I turn my head and shoot Tai a look as he stretches next to me. "How's she going to react when she comes home to find us lying in the same bed?"

His face turns bright red as he splutters, "That's not…we aren't even…I….I…"

"Way to be eloquent." Gatomon mutters before twitching repeatedly as a huge blob of ketchup comes out of nowhere and darts across her white fur.

Everyone freezes. No one says a word. Viximon slowly takes her paw off the packet and gulps, the fur on her tail rising up. "Eh heh…sorry…."

"…" Gatomon slowly raises a paw and licks it before calmly wiping off the mess. Her eyes narrow as she looks at Viximon and DemiVeemon, whose struggling to contain his laughter.

"Hilarious." She says dryly before smirking back and grabbing a box full of muffins with her tail. I sit bolt upright in bed, swearing as Kari yelps-"GATOMON DON'T!"

"FOOD FIGHT!"

The next thing I know desserts and sauces are flying everywhere…I barely dodge a hamburger thrown at my head by Kari before lobbing one back at her and hitting Yolei in the face.

She slowly wipes the mustard off her glasses before her eyes narrow and she dumps a soda over a laughing Davis' head.

I laugh before someone grabs me by behind and I go tumbling into the river of chocolate that's now pooled across my bedroom floor. "TAI!"

He just grins up at me, his arms and chest covered in the sticky and delicious substance—I scowl mockingly before running my hands through the stuff and rubbing it all over his face.

"NOOO GATOMON DON'T KILL ME!" Viximon wails as she runs, fur covered in who knows what with Gatomon right on her tail. She runs out of the room and into the living room, scrambling over the back of the couch and leaving tiny little pawprints all over it.

Gatomon growls mockingly and crouches on top of the couch, acting like she's about to pounce right before a mayonnaise covered Upamon tackles her from the left, and they both go down.

Koromon grabs a chunk of watermelon with his long ribbon like ears and starts throwing chunks at his partner. The bright red stains on Tai's already brown shirt totally make it look like he's a soldier shot down.

Cody surprisingly loses some of his serious demeanor by pressing down exactly right on the juice container causing a spray of orange juice that covers Kari head to foot as she howls with laughter. TK ducks behind the couch before lunging back up and lobbing cookies at anyone who comes in range.

"GERONIMO!""…Uh oh…

"DEMIVEEMON!"

All of our screams echo too late, DemiVeemon jumps down from off the bookshelf on top of the already half smushed fruit pie.

Reddish chunks go everywhere, splattering across our faces and shirts. I groan, wiping a chunk of raspberry off my face.

The room is a complete wreck, with brown chocolate stains across the carpet and rug, huge splotches of unidentified food across the walls, little paw prints all over the couch and leading back to my room.

"Oh…"

I groan and tip my head back. "I am SO dead…."

….

"This is not how I imagined spending my day off." Davis grumbles as he dips the sponge back into the bucket and rubs frantically at the walls.

Yolei sticks her tongue out at him as she comes down the hallway, dressed in nothing but a towel after her turn at the emergency shower. "You were the one that started all of this."

"No, I think that was Viximon."

Viximon grins sheepishly as she toddles out of the kitchen, her fur still dripping wet from the bath I had to give her. More like wrestled her kicking and screaming into the sink. "Eh heh…sorry…"

I just roll my eyes and sigh, dropping the trash into the garbage can and then wiping off the massive juice stains that collect along the edges. "You should be. If I get grounded, you are so dead."

My fingers go subconsciously into my back pocket and I pull out the black feather. My fingers stroke it slightly. I don't know why but….just holding it makes me feel better whenever I'm upset or worried. It's like being a little kid again and taking the hand of an adult you love.

Stupid, I know, but that's how I feel….

"You've still got chocolate on your face." Tai chuckles. His thumb traces over my cheek and he smiles. "There. Got it."

I just roll my eyes, concealing the slight blush, and lightly punch him in the chest, muttering something about him not acting like a moron before hurrying back into the living room.

Yolei is yelling at Poromon and there's the sound of frantic splashing echoing. That….can't mean anything good.

…

Mimi sneaks down the school's hallways. The place seems creepier at night, that's for sure. She chews on her lip nervously as she wonders if this was a really good idea. But…..

"_Palmon…."_

She clenches her hand on the phone and tries to keep it from trembling. Her eyes narrow. There isn't any choice, and if going alone is what it takes to help her beloved friend, then so be it.

The computer lab is dark, and she breathes a sigh of relief. She half-hates herself for it, this timidness she is displaying. _"Don't be like this…be like Tai! Be like Lily! They wouldn't jump at shadows."_

Mimi shoves the door open and quickly walks over to the computer, her high heels clicking on the floor. She reaches into her pocket for her Digivice-"What do you think you're doing?"

She shrieks, the sound loud and piercing before whirling around. Izzy flips on the light, deep bags underneath his eyes, his red hair a frizzled mess.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I asked you first!"

Mimi crosses her arms. "What kind of guy just sneaks up on a girl in the middle of the night?"

"What kind of girl sneaks into a locked building in the middle of the night?" He throws back at her before wrinkling his nose in confusion. "By the way….how'd you get in here?"

Mimi shifts from foot to foot before she mutters-"Scaled the wall."

Izzy glances down at her high pink heels and blinks. "How by Yggdrasil's flaming sword….?"

"I'm not just a pretty face you know." She says with a smirk. "Now can you answer the question—what were you doing here?"

Izzy hesitates before sighing and dropping back into his chair. "I've been getting….weird signals."

"Huh?"

He shakes his head as he pulls up a file filled with charts and graphs and numbers that don't mean anything to Mimi. "Right after you guys left it happened for the first time…." Izzy shows a graph that suddenly peaks upwards. "A raw power….that seems to be coming out of nowhere."

"What do you mean?"

"That's the thing, I don't know." His voice is frustrated and angry. "All I know is that those stupid Control Spires are transferring power from somewhere to somewhere else….and that's not all. This huge increase in dark power is damaging the barrier as well."

Mimi's eyes widen. "What?"

"Exactly." Izzy leans over the computer and groans, burying his face in his hands. "When that sharp increase in energy occurred…chaotic, dark energy….there was a notable blow to the barrier." He pulls up another graph where the numbers glow red. "See? The barrrier's condition was critical when thank Yggdrasil it somehow healed itself."

"Healed it…is that even possible?"

"The barrier is like the protective skin of the Digital World. It protects things that aren't wanted from coming in that could cause it harm, like computer viruses-"You mean like the virus that helped create Diaboromon?" She shudders, biting her lip.

"Exactly. But it also keeps stuff in." He gives her a meaningful look. "For example, the Digimon that Tai saw when he returned to the human world snuck through a hole like this. They couldn't obtain physical form because it was small in the grand scheme of things….but….."

"If this carries on…" Mimi whispers, her voice shaking. "Then it will be just like the time Myotismon brought an army to Japan."

"Exactly." Izzy groans. He stares blankly ahead at…nothing for a while, as if he's seeing too horrible mental images to be described.

"Hey…" Mimi whispers. She touches his shoulder. "We'll get through this. We'll make sure everything turns out alright, got it?"

"…."

She squeezes his shoulder. "All right?"

He slowly turns and smiles back at her. His hand reaches over to rest on top of hers. "Right." For a minute, neither of them say anything. Then Izzy turns bright red and pulls away. "S-sorry." He mumbles before clearing his throat and looking back at her. "So…why did you come here?"

Wrong thing to say. Her eyes seem to fill with tears, and she sniffles. Izzy is alarmed. "Mimi?"

"I…I got this message…." She flips the phone open and shows it to him. He reads it, eyes slowly narrowing to furious slits.

"_Hello there. I just wanted to formally invite you, Digidestined of Sincerity, to my little party. Your friend Palmon is already here, and I think we're enjoying ourselves!...Or at least…I am….anyway, I'd hate for you to miss out on all the fun. Come alone, or I'll enjoy slowly tearing your partner apart piece by pathetic piece."_

_Love, Guess Who?_

"Son of a banshee…." Izzy hisses through clenched teeth before turning to look back at her. "You weren't seriously thinking of trying to deal with him on your own, were you?"

She remains silent.

"Mimi, are you insane? Without even a partner to protect you? You'd be literally walking up to the executioner's block."

"Well what choice do I have?" She clenches her fists angrily and glares at him. "If it were Tentomon that was in trouble you wouldn't want to do anything that might risk him being in even more danger."

"And I understand that." Izzy responds calmly. "And you're right. But you seem to be forgetting something Mimi."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"That we're a team. We do what we do together, and if one of us falls, than we all work together to help that person."

She blinks, staring at him in astonishment. "I…."

"Come on." He steps forward and rests a hand on her shoulder. "Let's contact the others."

…

I groan, turning over in my bed as my cellphone goes off. Grabbing it reluctantly I flip it open, checking the caller ID. "Izzy, it's 3 in the morning." I say irritably. "Whatever is going on, it'd better be good."

"…"

"What?"

Tai groans, pushing himself up as the light floods his bedroom. "L-Lily?" He blinks, blushing bright red as I enter the room. I bless the fact that his covers are wrapped tightly around him, because if they weren't I'd end up seeing him in his underwear, which would be embarrassing for everyone.

"Vacation's over." I say grimly, tossing him his shirt and goggles. "Let's get to work."

…

"So that's where she's being held." Agumon mutters, his emerald eyes narrowing as we stare at the massive city wall in front of us. It looks completely impenetrable and unfriendly, with spikes jutting from the top of it. I picture myself falling off of Kyubimon's back as she leaps over the wall and skewing myself on them. Yikes.

"Yup." Izzy nods grimly, his eyes narrowing as he types wildly on the laptop. "This is Shogun City, which is populated by the-"Otamamon and Geckomon, who are all ruled by ShogunGeckomon, who, unfortunately, is now one of the Emperor's slaves."

"…"

"Hello Damien." I sigh, rolling my eyes to heaven as he drops out of the tree behind us. Mimi blinks as he walks over to us—completely at home in the shadows with his black jacket and dark hair and eyes that gleam. "Wow. You-"Popped out of nowhere? Yeah, he does that."

"I know you love me." He grins as I stick my tongue out at him. Tai just scowls. Damien pushes back his hair in an admittedly very sexy way. For the love of…what is it about this boy that nearly everything he does appeals to me?

"Your partner is being held in the palace." Lights decorate the palace's arched dome—I can see it clearly towering over the wall. The walls are pure white and beautiful underneath the moonlight. "I believe ShogunGeckomon is still sleeping….a poor choice for the Emperor to enslave, considering all he does is lay on his fat behind and snore."

"And how do you know all this information?" Tai asks suspiciously.

"Because I'm secretely the Emperor's spy." He responds. There's a jolt among the group before Damien rolls his eyes to heaven. "Yggdrasil's holy bloomers, it was a joke. You didn't seriously fall for it, did you?"

"Uh….?" Davis grins sheepishly and scratches the back of his head. "…No? Eh heh, good one Damien."

Damien smirks slightly before Mimi interrupts-"Great as this conversation is can we PLEASE get to the part where we find my partner?"

"I'll go sneak in and see if I can't find some weak spot in the castle." Renamon smirks but I just raise an eyebrow.

"How are you going to do that? Sublety your name is not."

"Oh look who's talking."

"Fair point. But regardless, you're not much better than I am."

Renamon grins. "Ah, but I have something you do not." She closes her eyes and with a soft "pft" noise seems to vanish from view.

"Where'd she go?" Veemon yelps, his head whipping from side to side in alarm.

"She's still there." Gatomon raises an eyebrow as everyone keeps looking around in confusion except for me. "I can sense her."

"It's called a perception filter." She says smugly before reappearing back into view. "And it's about time I get to try it out again."

"How come we never saw you using this..perception filter?" Tentomon buzzes as he flies next to Izzy's head.

"Because she sucked at it." I say flatly. "And she's not much better at it now. Renamon, this is too risky, I am not letting you…."

"Oh come on Lils. Let me do something really useful." She shoots me a cheesy grin but I don't smile back.

"You're going to get yourself kidnapped again."

"And you've been kidnapped….how many times?" She shoots back.

I scowl at her as Yolei asks curiously-"What does she mean by you constantly getting kidnapped?"

"I DID NOT get kidnapped constantly I just had back luck and one determined psychopath on my tail. Anyway, even my invisibility spell Wizardmon taught me was less risky than this."

"Uh huh." Gatomon smirks at the memory. "I don't think much could fail any more epically than that."

"Hey, I got away didn't I? By myself?"

"Yes, by punching Myotismon in the face."

My right hand curls into a fist as subconsciously both Davis and Damien touch their noses and wince in slight sympathetic pain. "And I enjoyed that immensely."

"Lily, I promise you I'll be fine." Renamon touches my shoulder with her powerful paw and smiles at me. "You can trust me."

"It's not that I don't trust you….but…"

She hugs me. "I'll come back to you this time. I promise."

"You'd better…."

"Not to interrupt the fluffy mushiness…" Damien says dryly, crossing his arms and jerking his head at the city wall. "But if you're going to go, I suggest you do it now before someone notices us standing here and chit-chatting."

"I'll go with her." Tentomon flies over to Renamon. "Four hands are better than two after all, and I have two more than that so we should be good!"

"…I think it's two heads are better than one, not hands." Izzy sighs. Yolei just shakes her head. "Maybe we should stop trying to teach the Digimon sayings. They always seem to warp them into something wrong."

I watch as Renamon flickers into invisbility, shielding Tentomon with her. I sigh and lower my head. Tai touches my arm. "She'll be okay." He whispers. He rests his chin on top of my head and I lean into his chest.

Davis just blinks. "So…they're NOT boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Kari giggles while Damien scowls.

Mimi's eyes flicker to the top of the wall and fixate on the palace. She sighs and clenches her fist. "Please be okay…"

…

"I must say this is incredible." Tentomon comments, fluttering beside Renamon as she bounds from the top of the building to building. She whips her head around and gives him a look. "Be quiet, all right? The perception filter messes with what people can see. It doesn't make us mute as well as invisible!"

"Oh…sorry."

Renamon's tail fluffs up as she stares at the building. Her eyes narrow. Something about that gidled palace feels wrong…really wrong…a shiver runs up her spine like dozens of spiders are tip-toeing across it. "_I promised Lily I'd come back to her."_

Dropping to all four paws she runs forward, her tail waving behind her like a banner. She leaps across from the building to the next, and several startled Geckomon look up, sure they caught a glimpse of something bright yellow.

Tentomon flutters to the top of the palace and peered in the highest most window. He gasps quietly, and if it weren't for the fact that it was almost impossible for his expression to change, you would have seen a look of complete shock and horror on his face. "Palmon…."

Palmon is bound and gagged, shoved to the ground and lying there helplessly on her stomach as several Geckomon stand around talking.

"We have succeeded in setting the final piece of the plan into action my lord." The lead Geckomon speak to a dark figure—Tentomon can't see his face but he recognized the voice from his own enslavement—the Digimon Emperor.

The Emperor laughs. "Those fools. I knew they'd come running without thinking if one of their own was in danger. And it turns out she was right—the Palmon was a Digidestined's partner."

Palmon glowers up at him as he smirks at her. "Did you really think your little act of pretending to follow me would do you any good?" He chuckles. "It looks like I have the last laugh now, eh little flower?"

Palmon scowls at him before yelping as the Geckomon kick her in the face, drawing data. Renamon sucks in her breath sharply as Tentomon growls.

"I wonder which of my little creations will destroy the Digidestined…." The Emperor smirks. "Will it be the bomb or my little surprise?"

Renamon's eyes widen. "Bomb?" She and Tentomon both exchange fearful looks with each other. Oh ###$.

…

I sigh, leaning against the giant oak next to the city wall. My eyes travel up it, as I desperately wait to see my partner reappear. Still, no sign of her. No sign of her bushy yellow fur or bright blue cheerful eyes, or the sound of her loud brash voice bragging about how easily the whole thing was and how I worry too much.

"Are you alright?"

I blink to see Damien standing next to me, his eyes fixated on my face and his expression oddly concerned. I shake my head. "I won't be alright until I know Renamon's okay."

"She seems tough." He says softly, his eyes never leaving mine, "I know she got kidnapped a few days ago….but that's only because that worthless scumball Demidevimon cheats and is afraid to fight in a fair, honourable battle."

"I know that Damien." I sigh. "I know she's strong, I've never doubted that. Not in all the years I've known her…."

"How long have you been partnered anyway?"

A small smile touches my lips as I look up. "Since I was 10. I met her…well let's both just say we were both in a bad situation. She was the first real friend I could trust…well that was more like me. The only other person I loved was more like a father to me. But with Renamon….I had someone I could be a kid again."

Damien smiles slightly. "That sounds special. You can see the love you have for each other. It's in your eyes….the way they're all lit up…full of hope and determination."

"And rebellion." I mutter under my breath.

He raises an eyebrow at me and I just shake my head ruefully. "Sorry. My aunt used to complain about the way I'd look at her all the time—she hated the hope and rebelliousness she saw there. She hated that in anyone's eyes."

"You can say that again…" Gatomon murmurs quietly beside me.

The somber somewhat sweet moment is interrupted by a very loud yawn. Davis yawns and stretches backwards. "This is so BORING…."

TK rolls his eyes. "Only you would be so insensitive as to say something like that. You know Mimi's partner is kidnapped and we don't know what's happening to Renamon and Tentomon?" He lowers his voice, glancing uneasily at me. I pretend I don't hear.

Davis sighs. "I know that TB. But that's my point—I'm not the type that just likes sitting outside and waiting patiently when people I like might be in trouble. I'd rather be out there doing something. Whoever said patience is a virtue was completely high. It never gets you anywhere, not on the battlefield, or the soccer field."

TK's eyes narrow slightly and he suppresses a smirk. "So I take it that you're saying that my more patient virtue would be a disadvantage against you in a game?"

"What? You actually play sports?"

"Uh, duh. Not soccer, but basketball."

He blinks. "Really?"

"Is that such a surprise?"

Well I thought I had you pegged as one of those drama geeks you know?"

"First of all, the term is actor, and second of all….what?"

"Cause you look like that blond haired dude who's always following his sociopathic older sister around in that one musical?"

"…You're saying I look like Ryan Evans from High School Musical."

"Yup."

"…Oh it's SO on now."

I laugh and Damien smirks before Patamon suddenly stiffens on the tree branch above me. "Incoming!"

There's a flash of yellow fur racing downwards at full speed and a desperate yell of "LILLLYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"What the-Ooof!"

Renamon lands on top of me spluttering wildly. "Palmon-castle—Emperorbombdosomething!"

"…Okay once again and not in fast forward please?"

"She means the Emperor has had a bomb planted in the city!" Tentomon shrieks as he flies downwards, his wings beating rapidly.

"….WHAT?"

"We heard it!" He continues as Renamon sits up, panting heavily, her eyes wild. "The Emperor has Palmon held captive and in chains in the palace!" Mimi puts a hand to her mouth and lets out a low moan-"And then the Geckomon told the Emperor that the bomb had been set! He means to blow the whole city to shreds and us with it!"

"….SON OF A BANSHEE!" Tai snarls, his eyes burning with outrage as Agumon snarls next to him. "You just wait till I get my hands on that little-"Tai, now is the worst time for you to lose control of your temper." Izzy interrupts firmly, his face pale.

"If there is a bomb we're dealing with….than this is the last time we should be acting rashly."

Tai hesitates before looking over at Mimi and Kari, who both look scared by the news and his outburst, and then at me, whose eyes narrow as I raise my chin in defiance and determination.

"…Then what do you think we should do Iz?"

"If I may speak…" Damien's eyes narrow as he looks at all of us. "I think I might have a plan."

…

"This is freaking insane." Tai mutters as he walks down the streets of Shogun City in plain daylight. TK glances over at him. "What? You jealous that Damien thought of a plan actually crazier than yours?" He teases.

Tai just shoots him a look as the Geckomon and Otamamon stare at them from the side of the crowded streets—the entire village reminds him of an old samurai movie, with Feudal Japan style homes. Flowers grow in the small gardens between the homes. All in all, it looks peaceful and quiet.

If you forget the fact that several of the Digimon staring at them are leering through red eyes, Dark Rings wrapped around their necks and arms and legs.

"This is so wrong…" TK mutters as his eyes scan the area. "So wrong…the Geckomon are annoying but they've always been peaceful. Why would he see this place as a threat?"

"He doesn't." Tai says quietly. "He just sees this whole thing as some sick kind of game." He turns his head back around. "You guys ready for this?"

The others, Lily, Mimi, Izzy, Davis, Kari, Yolei, Cody, and Damien all nod blankly in unison. He sighs before coming to a stop at a pair of high black iron gates that tower menacingly over them, a symbol of the malignant force waiting inside.

"What do you want?" A high pitched voice barks, and Tai looks down at the Geckomon standing in front of him behind the bars, red eyes narrowed down to slits.

Agumon steps forward. "We want to see the Emperor."

"Why…?"

Tai smiles grimly. "To tell him we surrender."

…

"That was…bloody exhausting." Renamon pants, breathing hard as she finally lowers the perception filter. Damien and I are standing on the windowsill, and I hold on tightly to her like I'm afraid she might fall out of exhaustion.

Damien smirks before reaching his hand and touching the iron bars, gripping them tightly. Darkness seems to flow out of his fingertips as the bars melt away into nothing.

"One of these days you are going to tell me how you do that." I mutter to him. He just chuckles quietly but I grab his arm right before we can step in. "Wait….I have to ask you something. Do you…do you like Mimi?"

"Huh?"

"Cause…if you do it's fine with me…it's just you two seemed very interested in each other…." I don't know why I'm wasting time asking this. Thank Yggdrasil Sira's not here to hear this or I wouldn't hear the end of it till the day I died.

Damien smirks at me. "What? Jealous?"

I stiffen. "Course not."  
"Good. Cause you don't need to be. There's only one girl I'm interested in." He adds before slipping inside.

I blink. "Which girl? What are you...oh…." My cheeks flush slightly and I give Renamon a look, whose busy trying to restrain herself from laughing and failing epically.

"I hate you."

"You know I take everything bad I said about the guy back." She chuckles. "If he can embarrass you like that…I love him."

"Shut up…" I leap in and nearly get my head taken off. The silver blade swipes over my head slashing a deep gash in my shoulder, blood darting the floor of the prison.

"GACK!"

"LILY GET OUT OF HERE!"

…

"Here." Izzy says grimly, his arms wrapped awkwardly around Kari's waist as he sits on Nerfertimon's back. Yolei rides next to them on Halsemon, Mimi next to her. "As long as the Control Spire is up, none of us can digivolve. Hopefully Davis and Cody have that aspect covered, while Tai and TK distract the Emperor. Lily and Damien will free Palmon and any other prisoners."

"Palmon.." Mimi whispers quietly.

"We'll get her out of there Mimi." Yolei promises, her eyes narrowing underneath her glasses. "For now we need to take care of that bomb."

"And according to my calculations…" Izzy says grimly, gesturing to the palace wall they hover beside. "It's right inside there."

"Why would the Emperor set a bomb where he's hiding out?" Halesmon questions in his deep voice. "Surely it would be suicide."

"Not really." Nerfertimon responds. "It's actually brilliant. If it weren't for the fact Damien suggested it might be here, I certainly would never thought of it."

"And the palace is in the middle of the city…." Izzy murmurs. "Many of the Digimon here built their homes close around it. If a bomb were to go off around here, hundreds of Digimon would die."

"Then let's quit the yakking and get this done." Mimi demands, her eyes flashing. "If that bomb goes off not only would it kill Palmon, but many of my friends here in this city. I'm not going to allow that."

"Never thought I'd hear you sound so vindictive." Izzy smiles as he pulls out his cellphone. "Tentomon? We clear?"

"_Yup. Looks like no one's guarding the back wall. They're all more interested in that fire lizard that's attacking the Control Spire."_

…

"FIRE ROCKET!"

Flamedramon tears through the crowd of slaves, his flaming fists knocking Floramon and Geckomon out of the way, his tail whipping around behind him and slamming into several Otamamon that try to jump on him from behind. These little guys aren't powerful, could hardly be counted as a threat, but they're freaking EVERYWHERE.

Davis clings tightly to his partner and growls-"We can't keep this up for much longer."

Cody is right behind him, Armadillomon slicing through the Dark Rings with his claws. He rolls into a tight ball before barrelling into the crowd, sending several of them flying.

"Davis! Now would be a good time for you to put that plan you talked about into action?"

Davis grins at him. "This IS the plan." '

"Huh?"

The next explosion of fire sends both Cody and Armadillomon flying, screaming wildly as they're hurled into the air out of the grasp of the Rookies that try in vain to lunge up and seize them.

Cody twists in mid-air, remembering something that Yolei had told him about—how it's always better to land on your side than on your front.

He winces, his shoulder slamming down hard on the road and is half-sure he heard something crack. "DAVIS!"

"I don't see them anywhere!" Armadillomon cries, scrambling back to all four paws as he comes out of his ball. There's only the massive crowd of slaves—swarming around the Digidestined and partner. Cody gulps slightly, then his eyes narrow as he turns around and looks at the base of the Control Spire where they landed. "You ready Armadillomon?"

"Absolutely."

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

…

Yolei shivers as she drops down through the small hole they've blasted in. The hallways are dark and creepy, with hardly any light.

"It'll be okay." Mimi whispers, touching her arm before following quickly after Izzy. Hawkmon trots beside his partner. "Fear not Yolei, for I shall guard you from whatsoever threat presents itself."

She smiles. "Thanks…"

"Don't you ever talk normally?" Gatomon mutters before suddenly stiffening and looking over her head. Kari stops beside her. "What is it?"

"…Nothing. I just…thought I heard something."

"Guys! Over here!"

They follow the sound of Izzy's shout to an abandoned court room. What looks like a giant throne…literally gigantic. It's amazing that anyone's butt could be big enough to fit into that. "What the?"

"This is ShogunGeckomon's room." Mimi mutters, sticking her hands in her pockets. Her eyes travel across the room, the beautiful tapestries that hang from the walls and golden ornaments. Many musical instruments are also hung up, tubas, harps, even a piano hangs from the ceiling, though how Yolei's not sure. "But where's ShogunGeckomon?"

"Never mind that." Izzy's voice is strained as he points forward. "Look." Right above the throne is a black box with red and green wires sticking out of it, stretching across the brick and lacing in. On the box's screen shows numbers counting down-"5.00."

Then-""4.59"

"We've got five minutes left." Yolei mutters. "Peachy. Well I suppose it's better than the movies. That always has only one minute left."

"Thankfully I think I can dismantle it." Izzy sighs, walking forwards.

Mimi blinks. "You know how to dismantle a bomb?"

"I read a lot."'

"…"

"I'm WEIRD all right?"

"Now see that I can accept."

Izzy rolls his eyes and reaches for the bomb just as a black fist comes out of nowhere and punches him in the face, sending him sprawling backwards.

Mimi screams and runs towards him only being held back by Yolei and Kari just as Tentomon comes soaring in.

"Nobody makes a move." A deep voice growls, and the tall figure steps out into the light. He's literally like some kind of humanoid wasp, covered in green skin, except for red hair that sticks out from his helmet, and big auburn eyes. His form is muscular and powerful, and when his fist clenches pink energy seems to crackle around his knuckles.

"He doesn't have a Dark Ring." Yolei mutters, her voice confused and nervous.

The figure almost seems to smirk. "You are quite right. I don't need one. I'll follow my partner to hell and back. He doesn't need to force me to."

"…Partner?"

"Look, you don't get it." Gatomon steps forward, her fur bristeling. "If we don't get rid of that bomb thousands of Digimon are going to die."

A flicker of regret….flickers across the figure's face. He then just shrugs, as if he couldn't care less. "Collateral damage."

"You little…!"

Yolei glances back at the bomb, which now says "3:25". She clenches her teeth. "We don't have time for this. If you want to fight, that's fine with me."

The figure's eyes narrow and he tenses, battle-ready, as Yolei whips her Digivice out. "DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

…

Tai winces as he's shoved unceremoniously into the main hallway. His hands were bond behind him the minute he and TK were allowed into the gates. His eyes narrow at the sound of footsteps and then slowly looks up.

The Digimon Emperor leers down at them. "Well met Chosen of Courage."

Agumon growls quietly behind them, his jaws, strong enough to snap through the Emperor's arm literally muzzled shut.

Patamon's wings are tied together, obviously a painful position to be in. Tai clenches his teeth and glares at the Emperor. "Just because you managed to beat us doesn't mean you'll manage to take this world. The Digimon are stronger than you think they are."

The Emperor scoffs. "Oh please like I'm scared of some pathetic computer programs?"

"…?" TK blinks and exchanges a look with Tai. "Computer programs?"

"Well of course." The Emperor sneers, walking over to 'Lily'. "That's what you are all. Just useless computer programs, hunks of data that need to be wiped out if that's what it takes to win the game."

Tai raises an eyebrow and then suppresses a growl when the Emperor touches Lily's face. "I have to admit…very beautiful computer programs."

"You little…"

'Lily' grins oddly, showing rotten, razor sharp teeth. Her eyes turn black and the Emperor backs away, startled. "W-wha…?"

"Oh no…" TK mutters, rolling his eyes the heavens as Tai groans.

'Lily' shimmers before turning into what looks like the cliché carbon ghosts—rotten, torn sheets, lolling tongue, yellow teeth, and the others behind them follow.

Agumon gulps. "Was it part of the plan for the Bakemon to give themselves away on us?"

The Emperor's eyes are flashing with blue fire. Tai slowly backs away as the anger and hate is replaced by a strange smile. He's seen villains get that look on their faces before. It generally means that they are going to enjoy slowly tearing your heart out.

"So…you thought you could outsmart me?" The Emperor giggles. Yes, giggles. It's somehow worse than even Myotismon's laugh. "You really thought that you could outsmart—me? The greatest genius both worlds have ever seen?"

"Oh please." Patamon scoffs. "You know who also thought he was so great? Devimon. And guess where he is now? Rotting in hell."

"Silence, you little rat!" The Emperor's eyes flash again before he smiles. "Now it's time for my little surprise."

Oh…that does not sound good.

He waves his right hand and the floor slowly opens up to reveal a massive hole. Tai can hear the sound of something huge being lifted up and an angry roar echoes, more like a bellow, echoing off the shaft.

"Awaken ShogunGeckomon!"

"Oh $$$$.

…

"Izzy, please wake up, PLEASE!" Mimi's voice rises to a shriek as she and Kari keep shaking Izzy's form. His head lolls back slightly and Mimi whimpers. Obviously that punch from the guard did a lot more damage than any of them thought it did.

Gatomon hisses angrily, pouncing forwards only for her to yowl as she's grabbed by the tail, spun wildly around before being released and slammed into the opposite wall.

Yolei lifts her Digivice. "DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"HAWKMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!"

Halsemon doesn't bother with his wind attack, instead soaring straight forwards at the guard who charges out t meet him. The two wrestle in mid-air, both kicking and clawing at each other. Halesmon's beak clamps down on the creep's arm, causing his opponent to scream in pain.

Yolei glances back at the bomb. Only thirty seconds left…she can feel herself start to hyperventilate. Bile starts to rise in her mouth. What can any of them do with Izzy unconscious?

"Izzy?" Mimi whispers again, touching his face just as Halsemon's talons rake across his opponent's chest again. The enemy hisses, drawing back as data falls from his wounds. Red eyes narrow. "So you want to play dirty do you?"

What looks like a bright pink spear juts out from the creature's wrist, but instead of charging at Halesmon he soars straight towards Mimi and Kari.

"NO!"

Kari gasps and closes her eyes as the spear's pink light sears through her eyelids—she can feel the warmth of her Digivice in her back pocket start to shine. Right before she and Mimi, whose clinging to Kari closely, can be run through, there's a furious yowl and the next thing either of them know, Nerfertimon has grabbed the creep by the arm, her razor sharp claws digging into his shoulder before literally hurling him out the window.

The assassin struggles to maintain his balance in the air—his insect wings spread out and hum rapidly only for him to yelp as Halesmon charges him full on, ramming him in the stomach with a roar of outrage.

Yolei just stands horrified, her eyes wide. Kari and Mimi…almost died…and she…didn't do anything…she couldn't do anything but stand there…oh God, why was she even chosen to be a Digidestined? She never does anything useful. She can't even help those she loves.

"Yolei…"

Kari stares at her. "You…have to dismantle it."

"W-what? Me?" She glances back at the bomb. 22 seconds.

"We don't have time to keep trying to wake Izzy up! PLEASE JUST HURRY!"

When she still hesitates for a second, a roar echoed outside. "YOLEI!" Halsemon's voice booms. "HAVE MORE FAITH IN YOURSELF! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" His words seems to ring even more in her ears as he continues-"YOUR FRIENDS BELIEVE IN YOU! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS…I AM HONORED TO BE YOUR PARTNER!"

Yolei's eyes narrow before she bolts towards the bomb. She flips the outside panel open and starts playing with wires and frantically pushing buttons.

"Dear Yggdrasil….please…if we all die…" she mutters as she continues working, "don't let it be because of my mistake."

…

"ROCK CRACKING!"

Digmon slams his drills into the side of the Control Spire and smirks as the gigantic cracks form along its sides. Cody grins up at him. "Nicely done."

As all of the Floramon and Geckomon stumble around, rubbing their heads and just generally looking confused, Cody blinks as a snarl echoes and Flamedramon lands next to them. "W-what's going on? Did the bomb go off?"

"Nah." Davis says grimly, pulling on his goggles the way he always did when he was upset about something. "But Tai and TK need our help…like NOW."

Cody blinks before looking back over at the city. His eyes widen so much they look like they might fall off of his face.

"What the…?"

The creature at first looks like a giant angry beachball—seriously, it's that fat, with a gigantic tuba wrapped around it's neck complete with fluffy tassle of hair above his head. His beady eyes bulge up above his skull as he roars and literally TEARS A FREAKING BUILDING out by the roots and whirls it around like a baseball bat trying to whack a golden blur out of the sky.

"Pgeasusmon!"

A roar of pain echoes through the city as ShogunGeckomon raises the building and slams it down onto the ground.

"And that was Greymon…come on, we've got to move!"

…

Tai's feet skid backwards at the force of the building hitting the ground as the trauma literally tore it in half. Shards of glass shot upwards and sliced across his face, leaving deep cuts.

"This is so now how I pictured spending my day off." He murmurs before shouting, "Greymon! Are you gonna be all right?"

Greymon snarls as he shoves himself to his feet again…his pupils are dilated and totally feral now.

"Yup. He's fine."

"NOVA BLAST!"

The explosion of fire soars upwards and slams right into ShogunGeckomon's face. He squeals in pain as he backs away, frantically wiping at the embers that enter his eyes. His now red, pained eyes narrow in anger and he growls, "All right, you asked for it you little punks…"

"TK GET OUT OF THERE!"

Pegasusmon yelps as the red fist closes around him and squeezes tightly…TK gasps out desperately, his blue eyes bulging out slightly in pain as he kicks out desperately trying to get free.

"TK!"

…

I kick out at the enemy's knee with all my strength just as he raises the sword again ready to stab me in the stomach. I know my aim is good when he lets out a shriek of pain and doubles over—knees are always a weak point, I know that from all of my fighting.  
As he drops down to one knee I finally get a good look at him-he's dressed in a green suit with red armour covering his shoulders, a strange, almost skull-shaped yellow mask, tightly wrapped bandages around his arms, and the silver, massive sword held tight in one hand that's dripping with my blood.

A Musyamon.

He snarls and swings for my head again just as I duck and roll. Damien runs forward with a shout of-"LILY GET OUT OF HERE!"

Renamon lets out a howl of fury and lunges at him. For a minute, I get to see the chance at how good my Digimon is at hand-to hand combat—she's easily dodging each one of the sword swipes and then follows up another one with a fierce punch to the side, the sound of his ribs cracking echoing.

With a snarl he slices at her with his blade, nearly missing taking one of her ears off. I feel Damien stiffen beside me, like he wants to make a move but doesn't dare when he could hurt Renamon too.

Renamon leaps into the air and crosses her arms-"DIAMOND STORM!" The flurry of razor sharp stones slam downwards…but something's wrong. There aren't nearly as much diamonds as she usually has for that attack, and they barely scratch his amor. I glance at Renamon to see sweat trickling down her face. Crap…the perception filter must have taken a lot more out of her than I thought.

Musyamon laughs before slicing upwards with a cry of "NINJA BLADE" as his sword shines with a weird kind of energy. I hear Renamon scream and see the massive gash form across her leg as she tumbles to the ground and doesn't move.

I don't think, I just run forward, ignoring Damien's grab at me as he tries to take hold of me and pull me to safety as Musyamon raises the sword over Renamon who lies on the ground, struggling to get back to her feet.

I feign a kick towards his stomach which he moves to block before leaping upwards on one hand, somersaulting in mid air and then desperately rolling to avoid the sword slash that's aimed for my chest before I kick him right in the face, smirking at the sound of his jaw and possibly his nose as well breaking.

He throws the sword right at me again and this time I don't manage to dodge very well at all-I supress a scream as it slices across my side before angrily backflipping and slamming my foot on top of his head and watching as he stumbles around, dazed and in a great deal of pain.

I smirk, waiting for him to topple to the ground unconscious before….his hand clutching the sword is surrounded with dark energy. It seems to be moving against his will, and his eyes widen in fear as the blade rises and hovers right in front of his own chest.

My own eyes widen and I turn around to see Damien glowering….his eyes slits of pure fury. "Damien WAIT! DON'T!"

The blade stabs itself into Musyamon's chest and he screams before bursting into data.

Damien strides towards me, his boots crunching the mask beneath his feet as he pulls me to my feet. "Are you all right?"

"You…you didn't have to…you shouldn't have…" I can't talk. My throat clogs up with horror.

"Oh yes I did. He tried to kill you. There's no excuse for that and no mercy."

"It wasn't even of his own will! He had a Dark Ring on him, why couldn't you have just destroyed that?"

He just shoots me a look. "Excuse me if I value YOUR life over the life of some assassin."

My jaw clenches as I glower at him. "It was still wrong."

For a minute, neither of us talk at all. Then Damien sighs. "Look, he'll come back to life all right. If that had been you…you wouldn't." There's a flicker of something in his eyes that I can't really translate…but fear is definently one of them. I sigh. "…Forget it. Let's just get out of here."

Ripping through the rest of the prison bars, I usher the other younger Digimon outside before a small voice asks-"Lily?"

"Palmon!"

Renamon breathes a sigh of relief and cuts through the ropes binding Palmon. The little cactus is so relieved she hugs me around the legs.

"Oh thank Yggdrasil I thought I was going to die in that disgusting, muddy place."

Yup. That's definently Mimi's partner.

I glance out the window just at the sound of another explosion. Dashing forwards, I see ShogunGeckomon tearing the city apart…my face pales as I see him holding Pegasusmon like that.

Renamon snarls but I shake my head at her. "You've done too much for one day. You need to rest."

"But…"

"She's right…" Palmon's eyes narrow. "Let me have a turn."

…

TK cringes as he feels ShogunGeckomon's grip on him tighten. Pegasusmon is choking and gasping desperately as he tries to break free, hooves struggling in vain.

The giant frog Digimon laughs and bares rotten, square teeth. "Me bite off…head!" TK gulps as he sees that giant mouth loom towards him…

There's a flash of yellow in the sky above.

"Are you ready for this?" Renamon mutters to Palmon as she leaps from the top of the building into the air. Palmon nods grimly and then shouts her partner's name as Renamon releases her grip and she plummets down towards TK,

…

"Almost…there…" Yolei breathes, glancing at the clock just as it says "0.02." There's dead silence in the room, a sharp contrast to the fierce aerial battle going on outside.

Yolei yanks open one more flap and pulls out the blue wire. The numbers flicker slightly….before the screen turns black. Everyone holds their breath. Two seconds later…nothing happens.

Yolei closes her eyes and lets her head fall against the wall. Kari breathes a sigh of relief as Mimi practically pounces on Yolei. "You are my hero! Understand? My freaking hero."

She just mumbles something. It sounds like she's about to throw up. Mimi quickly backs away before hearing a cry of-"MIMI NOW!"

She doesn't have to think. She yanks out her Digivice, which is shining brighter than it has in years. "GO GET EM PALMON!"

…

Palmon smiles as she feels the familiar rush of energy fill her body and her entire frame starts to shine. "PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO…TOGEMON!"

ShogunGeckomon has brought an arm up to shield his face from the light—big mistake.

"NEEDLE SPRAY!"

He shrieks as the hand holding TK is filled with sword-sharp needles—TK himself gulps as one of the needles slices right next to his neck and through ShogunGeckomon's finger. The controlled Digimon loses his grip with a wail and both of them plummet, TK grabbing onto Pegasusmon's neck and quickly flying out of the way as ShogunGeckomon collapses to his knees.

Tai smirks. "Shall we finish this?"

"Gladly…" Greymon growls before throwing his head back. "NOVA BLAST!"

"STAR SHOWER!"

The Dark Ring glows bright red from the horrible stress from the attacks…cracks start to form all over it…

Togemon smiles as she brings back her right fist. "LIGHTSPEED JABBING!"

…

The Digimon Emperor scowls as he flies away on his partner's back. "I can't believe another one of my plans has failed…another city lost…"

"I'm sorry Ken." The figure he rides grunts. It's the same figure that Halsemon and Nerfertimon fought against, but now he has massive cracks along his body and deep cuts.

"You'd better not fail me next time Stingmon." He snaps before smirking and looking back over his shoulder. No doubt those brats would be enjoying their meaningless victory. "Enjoy it while it lasts…"


	7. City of Robots, Enter Ryo

Me-Okay. FREAKING SORRY this took forever but things have been nuts...

Lily-In other words you procrastinate.

Me-I DO NOT!...okay maybe a little

Tai-A little?

Me-I hate you all.

Damien-(smirks) Does that include me?

Me-...No...(blush)

Lily-Stop flirting with our author Damien

Damien-Make me.

Me=Okay...ignoring the awkwardness of that scene...what can I say but review please! And hopefully the next chapter will not take as long

Chapter Seven

The traffic is slow, as usual. Cars are practically frozen in place on the road, engines humming impatiently as the drivers who stick their heads out of the window to yell at others.

Mr. Kamiya sighs and drums his fingers on the dashboard. Honestly, what a day he'd had. And now he has nothing to do but just sit here and inhale smoke.

Suddenly from behind he hears the sound of what sounds like…paw steps coming faster and faster. Expecting it to be some poor confused dog he sticks his head out the window only to get the shock of his life when a blur of yellow fur rushes past and a yell of-"HI MR. KAMIYA!" echoes.

"…Lily?"

I grin, pulling the goggles down over my face again as Kyubimon streaks through the rows of cars, dodging and weaving. "Up girl!" She leaps onto the back of a slowly moving van and continues running, leaping from car to car with ridiculous ease until we reach the end of the road and are now back onto the main highway.

"W-whoah, watch it! Watch it!" I yelp as she ducks to the right barely avoiding getting hit by a taxi. She just lets out a happy bark and keeps running straight forwards, easily keeping pace with the rest of the cars which are going about 60 miles an hour.

I smirk as a stunned eight-year old looks out the window. I gave him a salute before nudging her gently in the flanks and leaning forwards as she lowers her head and bolts past the van.

Both of our laughs echo on the wind as she streaks through the lines…my eyes widen as I see the bus in front of us turning onto the freeway. "Whoah! Whoah! KYUBIMON STOP!"

She just grins toothily, and keeps running-before she nearly drops to her belly a moment before colliding with it and literally sliding underneath before popping back out again like a cork.

My breathing finally returns to normal and I glower down at her. "Don't….do that again."

"Ah, Lily, it was fun. Don't be such a stick in the mud!"

"Stick in the mud my butt." I mutter as she tears to the right following the highway back into Odiaba. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

She just laughs and then one of her blue eyes rolls back slightly to look at me. "One last run?"

I grin and lean forward, touching her shoulder. "One more. Show me what you got!"

"Babe, you ain't seen NOTHING yet!"

With another explosion of energy she bursts forward even faster than before so that the buildings, trees, everything is nothing but a muddled blur. I laugh but quickly stop because the bugs keep flying into my open mouth at such speed they go straight down my throat—and decide to go for a gleeful, giddy smile instead as I yank the goggles down even harder and listen to the sound of Kyubimon's claws literally tearing up the road.

There is nothing better than the moments like this….just me…my Digimon….the open air and sweet, sweet freedom.

Suddenly my eyes widen and I let out a frantic shriek of-"WHAT THE—KYUBIMON PULL UP! PULL UP!"

Sira is standing in front of us not more than a few feet away, and the unimpressed/pissed off look on her face made me want to turn around and run for my life.

Kyubimon frantically digs her claws into the ground, struggling to find purchase, and nearly falling head over heels as the sheer momentum that's been building up in her run makes her spin again and again and again.

Sira taps her foot as Kyubimon finally slides to a stop inches in front of her, so close my nose is nearly touching Sira's.

"Yggdrasil's holy bloomers." I gasp, pulling the goggles up off my face and feeling my chest where my heart is now pounding about a million beats per second, "Were you TRYING to get yourself run over?"

Sira rolls her eyes. "Well I DID just come out for a walk…and then I got an interesting call from one of my teammates that they saw something on the news about a demon vixen and her rider running through the streets of Japan. Turns out it's just my stupid little sister."

"I resent that."

"What the heck were you thinking?"

I shrug and drop to my knees, as Kyubimon rolls onto her back and pants eagerly, obviously hoping for a belly rub. I'm more than happy to oblige, as it means I don't have to meet Sira's fiery gaze for that moment. "Kyubimon needs a run every once in a while."

"Then give her exercise in the Digital World, not the freaking Human World where anyone might see you or her." She snaps, crossing her arms. "You do realize what would have happened to her if you got caught?"

"I'd like to see any human try to take Renamon away from me." I snort as Kyubimon rolls over back onto her back.

"Come on Sira." Kyubimon chuckles, nudging my leg. "Plus we were far too fast for any human to even be sure of what they saw, much less track us down."

"Idiots…" She mutters, rolling her eyes to heaven. It's as she's doing this that I get a better look at her. And I do not like what I'm seeing.

There are deep bags underneath her eyes that show her complete exhaustion—her hair is a tangled mess, and….it also looks like….has she actually been crying?

"…Sira? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She snaps, glowering at me. "Or at least I was until I got dragged out of bed this morning to deal with your stupidity."

"…It's 11 in the morning Sira."

"So? What's your point?" Her eyes narrow. "Speaking of which…why aren't you in school right now…"

"…Eh heh…"

"LILY WALKER!"

"All right, all right, I'm going." I sigh, rolling my eyes to heaven and then looking over at Kyubimon who bounds to her paws again and drops in a play bow, eager for another run. I grin and walk towards her before Sira grabs me by the scruff. "Ohh, no you don't."

"Sira!"

"We're going for a ride in MY car."

…

I lean against the school walls, my arms crossed over my chest and headphones jammed into my ears. The hallways are mostly deserted as everyone else heads off to lunch, but I'm not hungry. Especially cause if I make my presence known the principal is going to remember that he gave me lunch detention earlier for being late again.

"Hello my rebel." A voice murmurs in my ear and I manage not to jump this time as Damien comes out of nowhere again.

"I am not a rebel." I inform him, rolling my eyes. "I just had something better to do with my time then fall asleep in Ms. Adams' math class."

"Hmm? Even if it means pulling that grade back up to a B?" He teases, a slight smirk on his face. I swat him on the arm. "Shut up."  
He glances at my headphones-"May I?" and I blink as he pulls one out of my ear, listening himself. A slight smile appears on his face and he looks right into my eyes as he croons softly, beautifully, hypnotically under his breath-_"Deep into a dying day…I took a step outside an innocent heart…Prepare to hate me for when I may…This night will hurt you like never before…Old loves, they die hard. Old lies, they die harder…I wish I had an angel, for one moment of love, I wish I had your angel, your Virgin Mary undone. I'm in love with my lust, burning angel wings to dust…."  
_His fingers trail across my cheek and I don't slap him away…I'm just staring back at those eyes, which are more silver than black, my entire body feeling numb, like I could just fall into him and let him sing to me forever.

"_S-snap out of it! This is stupid!"_

His voice croons low in my ear as he leans forward. _"I wish I had your angel…tonight…."_

I swallow hard, my chest rising in and out with ridiculous speed as he smiles and leans back. "Wow…um…" I struggle to find the right words and not sound like an idiot as I fumble for my Ipod and switch the music off. I hadn't even realized I'd pulled my headphones out as Damien was singing, I was completely lost in his voice. "T…that was…something else."

"In a good way?" He chuckles, and those silver eyes are still staring into mine. So completely….mesmerizing. That's the word I'm looking for.

"…Yes." I whisper softly, looking away.

He smiles. "Join me for lunch Lily. It's beautiful…" His fingers trace across my arm again. "And you're so cold."

"…Uh sure. Whatever." I say in as regular a voice as I can manage—right before I heard the sound of glass shattering.

"DAVIS MOTOMIYA!"

"Oh freaking Yggdrasil." I mutter, facepalming. "What has that boy gotten himself into NOW?" Glancing back at Damien, I manage a small smile. "Rain check, all right?"

He scowls before forcing a smile onto his own face. "I'll hold you to that."

…

"Davis, what the heck were you THINKING?" I hear Tai fuming on the other end of the door and supress a grin as I step in to see him scowling down at Davis, who keeps fidgeting nervously.

"Eh heh…sorry." He mutters, scratching the back of his head.

"It's not funny. Do you realize how many strings I had to pull to make sure you didn't get pulled from the soccer game tomorrow?"

"Wow, Taichi is indeed taking this most seriously." Poromon comments from atop of the cuboard. He's the only one who actually bothers to call people by their given names. Kari just giggles. "It's the biggest soccer game of the season. In Tai's mind that's all that matters."

"I wouldn't say that." He protests, shooting her a dirty look.

"I would." I respond, stepping in with a smirk. Tai rolls his eyes. "Ha ha. You're just the same with your music Lils."

"I like music a lot, I'm not obsessed with it." I respond, glancing back over my shoulder with a start as Yolei suddenly hisses-"Shh! It's starting!"

"_Join us now for the second half of the Genius Parade where we interview young boy genius and millionaire Ken Ichijouji!"_

"The Genius Parade?" Davis mutters in disgust. "Are you for real?"

Yolei hushes him, much to his disgruntlement. The screen changes to show a picture of a boy with raven-black hair and bright blue eyes, a pale face.

"That's him! That's him!"

My eyes narrow slightly as I watch the screen. I feel like….I've seen that face before.

"_So Ken, you recently created another highly advanced computer program, one of the most amazing forms of AI that has been seen in a long time."_ The reporter, a perky blonde woman says, shoving the mike into Ken's face. _"Care to tell us more about it?"_

Ken just smiles, his hands in his pockets, the perfect image of a shy and modest genius. _"Oh, I'm really just an average kid who got lucky. The research I've been able to develop…it's just a dream come true."_

"_So I understand you've also mastered chess and are also a brilliant soccer player, am I correct?"_

"_Seriously…" _ He laughs. _"You're giving me far too much credit. But yes, it is true that I love playing soccer—maybe even more than playing with computers, although it doesn't pay as well."_ He grins cheekily at the camera, and I can't help but feel annoyed with this kid…for all of his talk about how modest he is…there's this look in his eyes that says he knows everyone thinks he's amazing, and he knows it. I roll my eyes and grab the remote, flipping it to any other channel.

"HEY!"

"_And on today's news we have received reports of some strange dog carrying a girl on it's back running through streets of traffic-!"_

I quickly turn the TV off. "Eh heh…let's not watch that shall we?"

"Dog?" Viximon yips indignantly from behind me. "In what world am I a dog?"

"Why do you like this guy so much Yolei?" Davis asks, folding his arms and scowling. "Some snob?"

"Where do you get off calling him a snob?" Yolei scoffs, raising an eyebrow. "You are one of the most arrogant people I know and you don't have half the achievements he has."

"Hey, I have plenty of achievements! I bet Ken's never controlled a fire-ball launching man-sized lizard, or taken down armies of slaves, or fought against a psychopa-"Yeah yeah…" Yolei rolls her eyes before squealing-"All I care is he's so HOT!"

"Well I…I…" Davis huffs and turns away from her. "Gah!"

The door opens again and Sira walks into the room, looking exhausted still.

"You didn't come all this way just to make sure I went to school did you?" I ask sceptically as I sit on the computer desk.

"No." Sira sighs, rubbing her face. "I came to talk to Izzy, is he here?"

"Nah. He was sick today. Allergies."

She mutters a curse word under her breath. Cody frowns and looks up at her. "Are you okay Sira?"

Sira sighs and leans against the desk. She's oddly silent for a moment before looking up. Her face is completely blank of any emotion that could possibly let me know what she's feeling. "It's fine. Things have just been stress-filled at work."

"Shouldn't GranDracmon be helping you?"

"He's busy with the kids." She snaps at me, eyes narrowing. "And it really is none of your business."

"Whoah." Tai holds up his hands. "We were just asking."

"I know it's just….." Sira pulls on her jacket tighter and starts to walk out of the room. "I'll see you guys later, all right?"

"Wait."

She turns her head back around and looks at me. "Why don't you come over to our place tonight? If you need a break for a bit?"

"Lily, I told you I'm bus-"Come on." I plead, sitting up straighter. "We haven't gotten a chance to hang out with each other for days."

"What do you take me for? Some chick that goes over to her friend's house to watch sappy movies, do hair, and talk about boys?" She said dryly.

"What do you take ME for?" I question, raising an eyebrow. Sira smirks in acknowledgement. I grin. "What do you say for watching some horror movies, or cheesy romantic comedy we can make fun of?"

"…" Sira hesitates before smiling. "…Okay. One night."

Tai and Kari both wait till she's out of the room before-"Lily, have you LOST it?"

I blink. "Since when do you guys not like Sira?"

"I like her a lot," Kari responds, wincing slightly.

"She scares me."  
"Tai!"

"But she's awesome." He hesitates, his eyes meeting mine. "But the thing is….Mum…."

My eyes widen as I groan before facepalming. "Oh %$%^^."

...

The apartment is mostly quiet when I hustle Sira in. She's not holding a suitcase, I notice, and she just shrugs. "Sorry,  
I was busy." She says with a shrug.

"No problem." I push open the door to my bedroom. "You can stay in my room. I'll sleep out on the couch."

"Lily I don't want-"Don't be silly, it's the guest bedroom, that's what it's there for. I'll go make tea."

Ducking into the kitchen, I wince as someone grabs my arm hard, the nails digging in. "Who on Earth said you could just invite a friend over whenever you wanted?" Mrs. Kamiya demands, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

I shrug my shoulders and fill the cup up with water before sticking it in the microwave and setting it for a few minutes. "I haven't seen her for a long time….and she's been run ragged at work. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal."

"You do realize this is not your house, right?" She snaps. "You could have at least had the decency to ask me."

My jaw clenches as I pull out the tea packet but I manage to refrain myself from snapping back. Which is odd, for me. Usually I can be quite the sarcastic brat, as Gatomon can attest. "…You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't think about it."

Mrs. Kamiya mutters something under her breath as the hum of the microwave continues. "…She is normal right?"

I freeze. It would be a really bad idea to tell Mrs. Kamiya that Sira is the exact opposite of what most people would call normal—that she was implanted with the orb of Kyogre as a baby, and now not only controls said super-powerful sea god, but she has her own powerful water abilities. Oh. And she's married to the devil.

So I do the honest thing. I turn back around, smile innocently at Mrs. Kamiya and respond with-"Whose normal?" before grabbing the tea and walking out of the room.

…

"Sira?"

I enter the bedroom to hear the sound of water running. She must be using the restroom. Her cellphone rests on the bed and, me being the curious idiot that I am, I pick it up.

"Aww…"

There's a picture of a baby boy on the screen, with all the chubby cuteness babies have and big round sweet eyes being held close by GranDracmon.

"What are you doing?"

I drop the phone like it's burning hot and grin guiltily at her before holding out the tea cup as a kind of peace offering. "Er…I made herbal tea?"

She raises an eyebrow and I just continue to smile innocently, hoping I'm not blushing bright red. Thankfully she takes the tea cup before my fingers can burn off and sips it quietly. "Mmm…good."

"Glad you like it." I pull out a soda from underneath my bed and pop it open, ignoring her eye roll as I drain about half of it in one gulp, before burping loudly.

Sira snorts. "Please. Is that the best you can do?"

"Oh yeah? Let's see you try one siren."

She smirks and tips her head back, letting out a belch that seems to make the entire bed shake. I double back, giggling as she grins. "Top that twerp."

"Gladly."

Mrs. Kamiya rolls her eyes as she vacumes the hall, the sound of belches getting louder and louder from the guest room.

"Honestly…"

…

I collapse back onto the bed after the movie. It was good—actually I had gotten a really sappy romance movie, but for the sheer purpose of making fun of it.

"So what do you want to watch…?"

My only answer is a snore. Sira is crashed onto the bed, her arm draped over her face, her breathing steady and calm in sleep.

I roll my eyes, shaking my head with a smile. "Sira…" Then my eyes narrow. The cellphone lies next to her right hand. I hesitate, glancing back from her to the phone several times. I'm usually not this snoopy. I'm really not. But when my best friend is acting so weird….

Gently reaching forward, I freeze when my fingers brush up against hers, and she mutters something about fish under her breath.

Closing my eyes with relief, I pull it away and flip it open. "A message?" I click the button and hold it up to my ear.

"_Sira you can't keep avoiding me." _ The voice is unfamiliar. _"I know I'm one of your least favourite people in the world, but if you help me we can stop it from happening again. Stop him from regaining power." _ The voice becomes much more threatening. "_If you don't help me then I promise you. Your husband won't be the only one who dies."_

The cellphone drops from my hand and hits the carpet with a soft thud. My breathing is harsh and ragged as I take a couple of steps back.

"_Stop him from regaining power…stop it from happen again…your husband…dies…."_

"…GranDracmon…"

…

I'm standing in a place I've never before on top of a cliff overlooking an ocean…an ocean whose water is inky black, the waves tumbling against the shores. My entire body feels cold. I know this place. I remember it from that awful dream I had all those years ago…the hate…the malevolence…

I gulp, walking backwards and feel the ground start to crack underneath my feet. "…Oh you've got to be kidding me-ACK!"

I scream as I tumble head over heels down the hill, rocks scraping away at my body before hitting the ground. I spit the sand out between my teeth and glance up. I fight back the gulp rising in my throat. "Okay…I'd like to wake up now…" the icy cold feeling keeps growing, like an evil snowman has its hand on my shoulder. "NOW!"

The dark creatures stretch out their hands towards me, so covered in shadows I can't make out any details except for their bright red eyes.

"Lily…."

"G-get back!" I try to form a sphere of light in my right hand, but there's nothing except for a tiny spark that darts across my palm and disappears.

It's this that really frustrates me—the feeling of catching a glimpse at my former strength and then having it vanish again.

"Come with us…."

The laugh echoes throughout the midnight ocean, and I clasp my hands over my ears, dropping to my knees and feeling the icy sand wrap around my flesh like fingers trying to drag me down.

"T-Tai! TAI!"

The laughter keeps growing, keeps getting louder and louder until there's a flash of white light and a furious yell of "CORONA DESTROYER!"

The creatures are obliterated in a blink of an eye, making a noise like a strangled cat before bursting….not into data…but into black smoke. Something foul fills the water, the creatures' blood.

I can't see anything in the darkness, but there is the feeling of someone grabbing my arm, pulling me close to them, holding me.

"It'll be all right…it'll be all right….." He says this over and over again, his grip tightening on me like he's afraid I'll be taken away again.

I'm shaking like mad as he holds me, and I glance up in time to see…light blue eyes staring at me…three of them-wait, three?

Black wings encircle around me like a protective cocoon, and I feel a safety and protectiveness I haven't known in years. Not since Wizardmon died.

"It'll be all right." He whispers again, and I'm just trying not to cry quietly. "You have to warn the others. You have to, understand me? Let them know what's going on."

I just blink and nod weakly.

"Warn them…."

I wake up, breathing hard on the couch, the sound of the radiator humming, the smell of a dusty blanket.

The sound of footsteps moving into the living room echoes, and I freeze, closing my eyes tight. You know that old belief you used to have as a kid—that if you can't see the monster, they can't see you?

Even if this practice has grievously failed me before in my childhood, the image of those shadow creatures with their long bony fingers and blood red eyes won't leave my head.

The sound of footsteps stops beside the couch. Someone gently takes hold of the blanket that's now lying in a heap at the end, probably as a result of my thrashing and kicking and all that fun stuff—and gently pulls it back up around me.

I feel the sensation of soft lips brushing up against my cheek. I freeze, my heart stopping, but not from fear. That kiss has seemed to send warmth flowing through my entire body.

Then I remember the dream, and another shudder runs through me.

"Warn them…"

...

"Damien I have to talk to you."

"I have heard that sentence from women before." He comments, stretching out on the high school steps and rolling his eyes. "Never once did it ever mean anything good."

I slap him upside the head. "Would you be serious for once in your life?"

"Yeesh." He mutters before sitting back up and yawning. "If you want serious you should talk to that kill-joy of a best friend you have."

"Sira was gone when I woke up in the morning. Something about news from her boss, heck if I know."

"Well?" He still looks bored. "What is it?"

I don't know how to find the words. I bite my lower lip and run my hand through my dark hair.

Finally Damien seems to be picking up on my distress. With Tai, he would have noticed it instantly, I wouldn't have even had to say anything…wow where did that thought come from?

"Lily….what's wrong?" His hand rests on my shoulder and I can't help but compare the iciness of his touch to the warmth of Tai's I almost want to shrug him off.

But I don't. And I tell him…everything. The nightmare, the dark waters, the bloodred eyes of the creatures. The message I found on Sira's phone. That makes me feel guilty. I shouldn't be talking about her private business. I shouldn't be talking about something that involves GranDracmon with Damien of all people. But when Damien gets that dark look in his eyes after I finish telling him about the dream, and then asks if I'd noticed anything else weird going on…well what am I supposed to say? I even throw in the last part about my rescuer. I figure, if I've blurted Sira's secret out to him, I don't have much right to keep my own privacy.

Damien's eyes narrow down to slits, and I hear him cursing softly under his breath before pulling me closer to him. "And you're all right?'

"Yes, but that's not what matters right now."

"That's all that matters to me."

I suck in my breath, caught off guard before sighing and then adding quietly-"I….thanks. But right now all I want to figure out is what it all means. The nightmares, the messages…..that place…"

It's hard for me to keep my shudder out of my voice, and Damien glances over at me. "…You've had dreams about it before." It's a statement, not a question.

I hesitate before nodding quietly. "Yeah. Four years ago. I dreamed that the place was coming for me again….gosh it was the most terrifying nightmare I'd ever had, and believe me, I've had a lot." My fingers trace over the Crimson Lightning scar that rides up slightly over the top of my jeans again.

He stares at me. "…How much do you know about that place anyway?"

"Nothing. I never told anyone about the dream."

"Fair enough. Do you believe in hell?"

I blink. "You mean…religiously? Well…I…I don't really know to be honest."

"Not necessarily religiously. I mean do you believe that people who have committed…despicable acts in life will suffer in the afterlife?"

"WIZARDMON NOO!"

My jaw tightens slightly as I look up at him. "Heck yeah I do. There are some things…that can't be forgiven."

He smiles faintly before sticking his hands back in his pockets and grimacing. "The Dark Ocean is the Digital World's version of hell. GranDracmon curses those who commit acts that destroy innocent lives….they turn into the monsters they were on the inside."

"So….you think that…those creatures I saw in my dream were…"

"Cursed Digimon, yeah. No one knows exactly what they are. But if they're starting to gain power…and GranDracmon himself has gone missing…" His jaw clenches. "I don't know what the Digimon Emperor has done this time. But I do know from what it looks like we are knee-deep in #%%%/."

…

Tai glances at the clock in the computer room and frowns. "Where the heck is everybody?"

"Davis had detention again." Kari said with a rueful smile. Gatomon was batting at a small torn of piece of rope from gym class that Patamon and Viximon were having fun dragging around, getting her to chase after them. She was still a cat, after all.

"That guy…" Yolei mutters, typing on the computer behind Kari.

"Don't be so hard on him." Cody replies, looking up at her. "And since when does what Davis does bother you so much?"

"H-huh? It doesn't! I could care less rather or not that kid," she emphasizes the word as she pounded on the keyboard much harder than necessary, "joins us or not."

"Right…" TK smiles as he leans up against the supply closet. "You don't have to lie Yolei. Just admit you're missing him right now."

"I am not!"

Tai smirks slightly. Koromon is sitting up on top of the supply closet, snoring away. But his dreams seem less peaceful than usual. He's fidgeting constantly, muttering stuff under his breath. Then he starts shaking like mad.

"Koromon?"

Strained, horrified whimpers keep coming from the little pink ball's mouth. "Koromon!"

Tai's hand rests protectively on top of his partner's little head, and slowly, Koromon's ruby eyes open. "T-Tai…?"

Tai picks him up and holds him close to his chest as Koromon buries his face in Tai's shirt.

"What happened?"

"Nightmare…" Koromon mumbles, his voice muffled. "Dark water…."

Tai tenses, as does everyone else in the room. Yolei's fingers stop typing on her keyboard and she bites down hard on her lower lip.

Cody seems to curl slightly up into a ball at his place beside the computer while both TK and Kari freeze.

"Okay then…" TK says slowly, his blue eyes taking in everyone. "I take it we all had the same dream last night. That's not weird at all."

"Me too." Patamon shudders as he lands on TK's shoulder. His big ears droop. "It was awful. I felt like I'd never be happy again…"

Tai's fingers twitch slightly in his jacket pocket. He doesn't want to talk about his own nightmare. What he saw there, and what the voice had threatened him with….

He shakes his head and jerks back to attention as TK starts talking again-"I wish we could find a way to contact Gennai." His tone is wistful but doubting. "We've been back in the Digital World for weeks now. I would have thought he'd have contacted us."

"He didn't contact us at all for months at a time, remember?" Tai corrects him, walking towards the door. "Remember? He almost forgot about us completely the last time. I swear, the old man is partly senile."

"Tai, show some respect." Kari scolds sternly, shooting him a look. "He's helped us in the past before."

"I don't count a brief warning about how there's something more powerful than the Dark Masters."

"Tai…"

He sighs. He's taking his stressed out mood on everyone else, and that's not fair. "I'm going to go find Lily. Wait up with me. Then maybe we can work something out when it comes to tracking the old geezer down."

As soon as he pushes the front door of the school open he sees Lily's dark hair gleaming in the sunlight. A smile touches his lips….and then he freezes when he sees who she's talking to.

Damien touches Lily's arm and murmurs something to her in caressing words that seem far too intimate for Tai's liking. An almost feral growl escapes his throat as he walks/runs down the stairs, stopping right above them. Lily doesn't even notice the sound of his footsteps. Her eyes are focused on Damien as he murmurs-"We'll figure it out, I promise."

"Figure WHAT out?"

The two of them us both turn—I can feel a guilty flush filling my cheeks as I look up at Tai. I can see a mixture of emotions in his eyes, anger, which annoys me, but also hurt….and then just makes me feel like a ! 3#.

"Tai…I…didn't see you there."

Tai doesn't respond to this, he just glowers over at Damien. "Why are you talking to her?"

"Tai!"

Damien raises an eyebrow and smirks. "I'm sorry. Didn't know she's yours and can't talk to whoever she wants."

Tai's face flushes. "That's not what I meant. Why is it always-"Tai…" I growl, giving him a look. "Stop it."

"No, you stop it! Lils, the guy's practically stalking you."

"Nope. If I'm stalking someone believe me they don't know it." Damien says dryly. He then smirks. "Sounds like someone's jealous because there isn't a girl in the world willing to stick with him and his patheticness."

"DAMIEN!" I shout, whirling around and giving him a death glare as Tai flinches back slightly like he's been punched in the stomach, before his face contorts with anger and he half lunges at Damien before I grab him.

"No…Tai…stop it!"

Damien's regarding the situation uncaringly, but I see a slight flash of menace in his grey eyes that makes me shudder. The memory of what happened to Musyamon floods my mind…the scream…the blood…

And the way Damien is looking at Tai makes me flinch. I don't want to think about what the end result of a fight between them might be. I give Damien another angry look before grabbing Tai by the arm and pulling him into the school. "Grow up and walk it off."

I can feel the burning sensation of Damien's eyes from behind, but I don't look back, and I can tell he's annoyed to have been relegated to second place, for me to have taken Tai's side.

But I always take Tai's side. Always. Well…unless he's being a complete idiot.

The minute we actually enter the school I spin Tai around and pin him to the opposite wall, ignoring his yelp. Even without my powers I'm still physically stronger than most guys…having to fight Champion Digimon constantly or get mangled does that to you. I can at least thank Dorkula for that.

"What the heck was that about?"

Tai glares at me before pushing me off, not hard, but roughly. "What do you think it's about? Lily can you honestly not tell that the guy's bad news?"

My eyes narrow. "After he's saved our lives several times you're trying to make it out that he's some kind of villain?'

I can hear the footsteps of the others coming from the computer room. It's after school so thankfully there's no crowd, but it's still embarrassing.

Cody and Yolei are watching with wide eyes to see their leaders behave so embarrassingly, and my cheeks flush red before I glower at Tai. He's making me look like a complete fool.

"I'm not going to pander to your ridiculous dislike of Damien simply because you are jealous."

"J-jealous? Of him?"

I just raise an eyebrow and Tai's jaw sets in his stubborn way as he scowls-"What does he have that I should be jealous of? I'm just worried about you because you're too gullible and naieve to see when you're being used or not!"

"…"

"OW!"

Kari sucks in her breath and runs to Tai as I storm off, my clenched fist shaking at my side as Tai covers his right eye, wincing in pain.

Viximon whimpers and moves as if to run after me, but Gatomon shakes her head and steps on her tail. "Leave her be….she needs to be alone right now. Nice work lover boy." She mews sarcastically over to Tai.

"I didn't do anything!" He protests, still covering the right side of his face. Kari sighs and pulls his hand away to check out the large bruise. "Tai I love you. But you're an idiot."

"…I…" He groans as Yolei runs off to go find some ice. Dang it, why does he always do something stupid around Lily?

…

"Stupid…son of a banshee…" I mutter, stalking down the school hallways bristeling with anger. How dare he talk down to me like that? He's lucky I only punched him in the face, I was half tempted to do a lot worse.

"I take it things didn't go so well." A sly, smooth voice echoes and I roll my eyes. "You're not helping."

"You have one mean right hook." Damien comments, raising an eyebrow as I walk past him.

"I'm really not in the mood for this…"

"Hey…" He grabs my arm and sees the brightness in my eyes. "Lily…"

"I'm okay…" I mutter, even though I'm really not. I'm used to people saying I can be gullible, or at least don't think my actions through enough. But hearing something like that coming from Tai…is enough to break my heart."

Damien touches my shoulder. "He doesn't deserve you Lily." He murmurs, pulling me closer to him, his arms wrapping around my waist.

"He doesn't realize….how precious you are…"

I pull away from him and sigh, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Ask me what you want and I'll give it to you. I'd do anything for you Lily you have to believe that."

The statement is sweet enough…but something about it I can't believe. I look over at him, arching an eyebrow. "Anything?"

"For some reason I'm slightly scared now." He mutters but doesn't walk away. "Well? I take it from the tone in your voice you have something in mind?"

I smirk before nodding. "All of this running around and destroying Control Spires isn't going to get us anywhere. We won't get anywhere until we reach the main source. That's why I need your help."

"Doing what exactly?"

"I want to find the Emperor's base. And I want to figure out his real identity. And you.." I poke Damien in the chest. "Pretty boy, are going to help me do it."

…

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Smoke covers the entire battlefield as Davis skids back, coughing like mad and Flamedramon stands protectively in front of his partner, snarling angrily at their approaching opponents…who are robots…

Yup. That's right. Robots.

"Intruder! Intruder!"

The Guardromon are big and bulky, but also stupid, Renamon reflects as she runs through the crowd of enemies, all of them who turn to fire at her only to miss horribly and end up shooting each other instead. She leaps up into the air and crosses her arms, gathering her power. "DIAMOND STORM!"

The diamonds pierce through the Guardromon and tear out the other side, sparking wires crackling as their eyes go blank. She's not worried. Their robots…it would have taken a lot more than that to destroy their Cores. Plus, they have no Dark Rings to aim for, and she doesn't understand why. How could the Emperor have taken control of them without the Rings?

She whirls around at the sound of a cocking of a gun to see at least three Guardromon aiming at her—but before she can even strike out at them one of the robots yelps as white claws stab him through the back, and the other gets a fireball in the face.

"I could have handled it." She scoffs, giving Agumon a look as he smirks over at her.

"Sure you could have…."

Digmon slams his drills into one of the building's walls. The entire huge apartment style building shakes wildly before collapsing, and the Guardromon scream as rock, glass and metal rain down on them without predjudice.

"Nicely done!"

Tai's eyes flicker back up to the sky enough time for him to grab Cody and yank him out of the way as balls of light and chunks of rock hurl downwards.

Pegasusmon and Nerfertimon are blasting the Guardromon with everything they've got, and unfortunately there's so many Guardromon that their aim isn't perfect.

Cody breathes a sigh of relief and looks over at Tai, swallowing hard. "Thank you."

Tai smiles. "Don't mention it." He glances back at the still advancing army and bites back a curse word he should not repeat in front of Cody.

For all the massive casualties the Guardromon have been suffering, there are still dozens of them, and there doesn't seem to be an end to it.

He growls and considers the order to retreat. There are at least 1000 more Guardromon with only seven Digimon and only five that can digivolve.

Pegasusmon whinnies up above as another missile shoots towards him, which he barely dodges as it soars underneath him and crashes into the steel tower in an explosion of metal and flames.

"TK!"

Nerfertimon soars towards them as Kari shouts, "TK are you oka-"KARI WATCH OUT!"

Her head whips around in time to see another missile shooting towards them—her eyes widen before screaming, Nerfertimon's wail of pain echoing in her ears as the missile slams into her side and then she's falling…falling…falling…the sound of the wind rushing around her, the smell of fire filling her nose.

"**KARI!"**

…

I cross my arms as Damien keeps typing away at the computer. "I thought you said this would be fast. It's almost been…."

"40 minutes…." He says, with a roll of his eyes. "And the next time you ask me it will probably be 45 minutes. Lily you do realize that hacking into someone's base, creating a portal, none of that is easy right?"

I just shrug. My eyes flicker back over to the computer to the right of him, the one we usually use. Damien says it would be too risky to use it, as it would mean the others could track us down.

And if Sira found out what I was doing she would FREAKING kill me. I sigh, and reach back into my pocket, feeling the black feather.

Don't think about the fight with Tai….don't think about him at all.

Damien chuckles suddenly next to me, a smirk appearing on his face. "It appears the little boy genius isn't as good as he thought he was."

The blinking dot appears on the computer screen, signalling the portal is open. I grin and raise my hand for a high five. He just blinks and stares at me in confusion.

"…You don't know what this means?"

"Uh….no."

I sigh before letting him enter the last code. The light surrounds us and I feel my stomach being sucked in…..  
…

Kari moans as her eyes slowly open, pain wracking her entire body. She glances to the right and sees her right arm bending awkwardly, and it hurts like ##$$.

She struggles to sit up and whispers her partner's names-"Gatomon…?"

"Oh Kari thank Yggdrasil you're okay!"

She smiles as Gatomon bounds forward, rubbing her face against her partner's. "I was so worried….when you didn't wake up…." Her voice cracks slightly.

"I'll be okay." Kari winces and looks back at her arm. "Except for this…I don't think I'll be using this any time soon."

Gatomon looks up suddenly at the sound of footsteps. A hiss rises from her throat before she grabs Kari by her good arm and drags her behind a building.

The robotic clinking grows louder and louder, echoing eerily. Kari gulps and slides down farther, trying to ignore the agonizing pain in her right arm.

Slowly the two of them turn to look around the corner….Kari's eyes widen…."N-…No way…" As Gatomon gasps in horror as the long shadow casts over them.

"No…not him…."

…

The Digimon Emperor grins as he leans back in his seat, smirking at the image of Kari's terrified face. "Aww….poor thing…" He then flips the screen image to show Tai, TK and the others frantically running through the streets as the army of Guardromon chase after them.

One more screen pops up and the same dark shadow appears on the screen, standing to attention. "Your orders sir?" He drones in a powerful, yet robotic voice.

"Soon the rest of the Digidestined will be coming to you as well." The Emperor continues, smirking, "looking for their lost friends….when they do…I want you to kill her in front of them. And then the leader, that goggle-headed fool they call the Bearer of Courage."

He laughs, before hearing the sound of something shuffling behind him. His blue eyes narrow in his sunglasses as he whips around…but there's nothing there.

…

Damien is the only thing holding me back from lunging around the corner and tackling the Emperor to the ground.

"Lily, calm down!"

"He's-going-to have-them killed!" I snarl, still struggling to break free from his grip. "I'm going…to freaking STRANGLE him!"

"I know, I know, just calm down and we'll think about this!"

I was still trembling in his arms, rage filling through my body, fists clenching so hard the nails dig into my palms. "They're in horrible danger…"

My jaws tighten as I stare back at the computer screen, an image of Tai running through the streets of the city, blood running down one side of his face, smoke and fire exploding around them as the stomping of the Guardromon echo loudly.

"…I have to help them…."

"Lily, there's nothing you could do." He whispers. "You don't even know where they are…."

"So what? You're saying we just abandon them? You could program a portal to get us to the others. Why aren't you doing it?"

Damien hesitates right as the Emperor stands and we both freeze. However, he doesn't go anywhere near us. He just sighs with discontent before typing in a code himself, and my eyes widen as a portal appears in front of him.

"Time to go home…" He mutters bitterly, stepping forward.

Damien squeezes my arm just as the Emperor steps through the portal, and with a shimmer disappears. "Quickly Lily. We must follow him. We'll discover his identity and be able to put a stop to this madness."

"What about Tai and the others?"

"…Lily sometimes…." He sighs. "You have to make sacrifices for the good of the Digital World."

"My friends are not collateral!" I shout, whipping around to glower at him. "I am not going to leave them to get butchered just so…"

"So you'd let the Digimon Emperor continue to rule and torture hundreds of innocent Digimon?" Anger flashes in his eyes. "You'd let the one chance of us stopping him slip through our fingers?"

I don't answer. My eyes are fixated on the computer screen where the others….my friends…are all running through their lives.

Cody has a massive gash down his cheek and is limping slightly, while Agumon and Flamedramon struggle to keep the Guardromon back. Agumon's claws on his right hand are broken and cracked, and there's absolute exhaustion in his green eyes.

"….Lily….it's what they'd want…." He whispers softly, his hand slowly pulling away from my arm. "You know they care more about the Digital World than anything else. They'd never forgive you if you chose them over stopping the Emperor…"

"…"

"Lily…please listen to me. Do the right thing."

I sigh and then turn back to him, a wry smile on my face. "You'll probably find that responsibility is not something that I do very well." Before whirling around bolting down the hallway.

"Lily! Wait! Come back!"

…

"I've got Kari's signal!" Yolei ducks and rolls just as another missile flies over her head, and Halsemon roars as he dives over her, impaling the offending Guardromon with his claws.

"Where?" Davis cries, before screaming like a girl as a missile soars right towards his face only to be blasted aside by Flamedramon. "Tell me so I can save her!"

"We're ALL saving her!" TK growls as Pegasusmon literally runs through the crowd of Guardromon, trampling several with his hooves. "We are not wasting time so you can play the hero!"

"Who asked you TE?"

"This could go on a while…" Cody mutters, facepalming as TK and Davis both glower at each, figurative lightning shooting from their eyes.

Tai's face is ice pale as he grabs Yolei, but his eyes are filled with a feral fire. "Where's the signal? Where's my sister? Tell me NOW!"

"Tai!" Agumon protests as Tai shakes her ever so slightly only to release and both of them to dive to the right as missiles shoot right towards them. Yolei gulps, pushing herself to her feet and staring at Tai. He looks…different. The kindness and humor that's usually in his eyes has disappeared. Now there's only a primal rage.

The instant Yolei points a shaky finger down another alleyway, he bolts forward, leaving the others behind in his desperate determination.

"Tai wait! You can't go by yourself!"

Agumon pounds one to the ground with his claws and blasts another with a fireball, while Digmon crosses his arms and shouts-"GOLD RUSH!"

The drills spin wildly and tear right through the missiles and then into the Guardromon, ripping right through the wiring.

Yolei glances back at the others. "Come on! Tai's going to need our help!"

…

Tai bolts down the street without looking back, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. Images seem to burn in his brain. Kari lying on the ground sick, coughing, the smoke from battle filling his nose as he stared helplessly down at his dying little sister while Machinedramon's goons surrounded them.

Kari crouching terrified behind Gatomon as the bats swooped towards the pair drooling, and Myotismon's cruel laugh echoing ominously right before Wizardmon dove in front of them and took the brutal blow himself.

…He can't go through any of that again…..not losing Kari like that….not coming so close to having her taken away from him…or even worse…having someone else die because he couldn't do his job right. Because he couldn't protect Kari Wizardmon had had to. And he'd died because of it. No one else was going to die because Tai couldn't take care of his own family!

He skids to a stop in the middle of a small city square at the end of the road, a staute that looks like a bunch of twisted gears. "Kari!"

For a minute it's quiet. Too quiet….then he hears it. The pounding, merciless, mechanical stomping of hundreds of robotic feet.

Tai curses wildly as he backs towards the statue, the Guardromon's eyes all fixated on him as they march into the square from all directions, arms straight out, no emotions whatsoever on their metal faces. Almost like metal zombies, if there were such a thing.

Tai's hand reaches for his Digivice inside his pocket, and then curses himself for a fool when he realizes he left Agumon behind.

The Guardromon keep marching forward before they are suddenly blasted by a huge shadow ball from the right. A draconic screech fills the air and Tai's head whips around as a scaly tail whips around, crushing several more underneath taloned feet.

"A….?"

He recognizes the gleaming red eyes and sharp teeth, the skull marking on its shoulder. "A…A Devidramon? But…what….?"

"TAI! GET BACK!"

His eyes widen as Lily leaps in front of him, growling and punching one of the Guardromon's eye-pieces, glass shattering and snarling menacingly as he stumbles backwards and falls.

The other Guardromon are all staring at Lily in blank surprise and fear as they back away. Lily's eyes are completely feral as she bares her teeth in warning. "No one….touches him."

"Nicely done starling."

A girl's voice Tai doesn't recognize echoes as she leaps down from the Devidramon's back, a smirk on her face. She has flaming red hair and brilliant green eyes, and she arches an eyebrow at the sound of pounding footsteps.

"Looks like your friends are coming Digidestined leader."

"Tai what the heck were you thinking?" TK demands as Pegasusmon swoops in. "I swear sometimes you're as bad as Davis!"

"I resent that!"

"You really are…" I mutter, finally unstiffening and losing the animal like snarl on my face. Tai opens his mouth indignantly before getting caught off guard as I practically tackle him, my arms wrapping around his waist as I hug him tightly.

"Don't ever scare me like that again…" I whisper, my voice catching slightly as I hug him. "I…thought I'd loose you…"

His eyes widen slightly before he hugs me back, only to get interrupted as Davis makes a gagging noise.

The girl rolls her eyes as well. "Not to interrupt the cute moment, but I don't suppose you could put it on hold for a minute?" She asks dryly as Devidramon roars and swats away more missiles with his tail. His eyes narrow down to slits as he turns to face the Control Spire and blasts another black fireball at it. The Control Spire is engulfed in flames as massive cracks appear all along it before it topples to the ground with a massive thud.

Agumon smirks over at Tai. "Shall we do this?"  
"Absolutely!" He holds up his Digivice which starts to shine before glancing over at me. "By the way…whose your friend?"

"No idea!" I shout back over my shoulder. "She just offered me a ride!"

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GREYMON!"

Greymon roars, opening his mouth as he and Devidramon stand back to back, black flames mixing with orange and filling the entire courtyard.

Flamedramon rips through the crowd and punches several of the Guardromon aside, the flames not even leaving a single mark on his body.

Pegasusmon flaps his wings and sends showers of stars crashing down on the robots before landing in the middle of a smaller group, whinnying loudly and rearing up on his hind legs, kicking out at several of them, his hooves crashing loudly as they collapse.

"I think we're actually winning!" Davis shouts, grinning as he pulls his goggles down over his eyes, the flames reflecting in the glass.

Renamon streaks forward, spinning wildly as she kicks out, her claws raking into each of the robots before flipping back onto her paws and lands next to me, grinning. "Nice to have you back!"

"I'm not fully back…" I sigh, grimacing and thinking of my lack of powers, but I shake that thought from my head. "Let's just not think about that now. Let's just kick some butt!"

She laughs as I kick out at another Guardromon, crushing it's face. The face is the weak spot. Renamon shoves me to the ground just as missiles come soaring towards me, crossing her arms and shouting-"DIAMOND STORM!" as the razor sharp rocks slice through them.

Several Guardromon come pounding towards the girl, but she just smirks and pulls out…a gun? Before firing it repeatedly, and the Guardromon's eyes go blank as the holes smoke and they go offline, just as Devidramon swipes at them with his claws.

Tai grins as he looks at the group of offline robots and smirks. "Well you guys….I think we definently won!"

"Will they all be okay?" Cody asks in a small voice as he looks at the groups of unconscious Guardromons.

"Sure they will." The girl pockets her gun and shrugs. "Guardromon are different than regular Digimon. Much more difficult to kill. And they're more mechanical than regular Digimon too—that's why they don't have Dark Rings, the Emperor only needed to reprogram them."

"I'm sorry…" Halsemon lands next to Yolei. "But…who are you again madam?"

Devidramon and Greymon suddenly snarl, their heads whipping around to stare down the dark alleyway. Renamon tenses beside me. For a minute, there's absolute silence. And then the soft sound of something clanking it's way towards us…growing louder and louder with each step…

"More of these guys?" Davis mutters, scowling and stepping forward, but Flamedramon grabs him by the arm and pulls him back, fear obvious. "What? What is it?"

My eyes are fixated down the alleyway. The first thing I notice is the pair of legs. One robotic and covered in armor…the other bare fleshed and scarred all over, with a clawed foot. I swallow and slowly look up. He's covered in beautiful silver armour, except for one arm, which is more like the leg, and half of his face. I can see his eyes…both bright blue and staring into me without seeing me.

Tai lets out a strangled gasp as he sees what the monster is holding….Gatomon hanging limply by the scruff of her neck, and….and..

"Kari…" Tai whispers, his voice catching as he bolts forward only for me to grab him by the arm. "Lily let go! I have to!"

"What? Get yourself caught as well?"

The robot slowly comes to a stop, his eyes narrowing as he looks upon us, a smirk on his face like I've never seen before.

The girl growls and reaches for her gun, but I smack her hand away.

"Ow! What is that for?"

"You'll kill him…"

"And isn't that for the better?"

"No, you don't understand!" I shout, just as Tai pulls free of me and runs forward a few paces. The robot grabs Kari by her hair, causing her to yelp in pain and growls at him. "Come any closer Digidestined leader….and she dies."

"….Andromon…" Tai whispers. His eyes are full of pain as they flicker from his sister back to our old friend. "Andromon come on, this is insane, don't you recognize me?"

A flicker of something appears in Andromon's eyes….before they narrow again in hardness and he places his hand on Kari's neck. "Don't push me brat. Degenerate your Digimon."

"…"

Tai looks over at me and I just sigh, clenching my teeth so hard I could have sworn they started to crack.

"We're not going to listen to this guy are we?" Davis demands, looking over at us.

"Degenerate them. Or have her blood be on your hands."

Tai stares at Kari for a minute longer. Her eyes are pleading as she mouths something to him, though I can't figure out quite what.

With a growl of frustration he sighs and lowers his head. "All right…fine. Guys, stand down."

"What? But Tai-"I said stand down. NOW."

The girl sighs before turning her head and nodding to her partner, who grunts in frustration before sighing and degenerating back into the purple lizard I remember from before.

"Ryo…" He mumbles, just as Greymon and Digmon follow suit.

Halsemon degenrates as well, Yolei's face pale white as she walks over to him. Flamedramon growls in annoyance and looks over at Davis, whose glaring stubbornly at Tai for a bit before sighing and nodding.

"That's better." Andromon smirks, his claws tightening on Kari's throat. "Now your Digivices. Hand them over."

"Where's Damien when we need him to pull off another brilliant rescue?" I mutter. Tai just shoots me a look and scowls.

"While we're on that were the heck is TE?" Davis growls, looking around as he slowly pulls out his Digivice and fingers it reluctantly, obviously not wanting to hand it over. "Did he get scared and run away?" He asks in a mocking voice.

"TK wouldn't do that."

The girl looks behind her suddenly and smirks. "No, he wouldn't. In fact…."

"Um sir?" one of the Guardromon asks, looking up at Andromon who scowls down at him.

"WHAT?"

"…Weren't there…eight Digimon sir?"

"…Oh. Oh cru-"HAND OF FATE!"

The shining orange blast of light strikes Andromon from behind, knocking him off of his feet and forcing him to release his grip on Kari as he goes flying backwards.

Davis' jaw drops. "…No way. No way a Champion should be able to stand up against an Ultimate like that!"

"You'd be surprised." I chuckle. "Angemon's probably the strongest Champion we have on the team, which is why it's so hard for him to evolve into that form." A slightly evil grin forms on my face. "I still remember him kicking Myotismon's butt."

"Good times." Tai agrees. "Good times."

Andromon growls, thrusting both hands to his side and thrusting himself upwards. His robotic hand clenches before starting to spin wildly, forming a dangerous looking weapon. "LIGHTNING BLADE!"

Angemon easily dodges the attack and dives back down, his mouth a scowl of determination as he aims another attack right at Andromon's face.

Andromon laughs as he easily dodges the blast of light. "HAH! You missed weakling!" However the blow was merely a distraction. The second one strikes Andromon in the stomach, and with a cry of pain he's blasted backwards.

Normally even Angemon would find fighting against a nonvirus like this difficult however….I mused, staring at Andromon as he struggled to get back to his feet. Could it be he wasn't going at full strength to try and defeat us?

Could it be that…maybe….?

I hesitate and look over at Kari. The two of us share a look before I nod and she sucks in her breath and walks forward, her expression determined.

"Wha…hey Kari! Come back!"

Grabbing Tai's shirt I mutter, "She has to do this…"

"Has to do what? She'll be sliced in half!"

"Just trust me okay?"

Andromon's eyes narrow as Kari crouches down in front of him, and a growl emits from him…that slowly sounds more confused than anything else.

"Andromon…." She whispers. "Do you remember me?"

"I….I…." He clutches his head and shudders. Gatomon growls, her eyes narrowing as she weakly pushes herself upwards. "This crazy plan of yours had better work Lily."

"It will. Just give it time."

"We all took a picture together…." Kari's voice cracks slightly, one tear running down her cheek.

Andromon blinks. "A…a picture…."

"…"

Davis growls and looks ready to lunge forward, being the brave/idiot that he is—that is until Renamon thunks him on top of the head and he passes out. Tai however is watching with shock and the faint glimmer of hope in his brown eyes.

"…Digidestined…." The android murmurs, stretching a hand out until he's touching Kari's cheek. His fingers tremble, like her skin is filled with some strange electricity….before he pulls away and grabs the Dark Ring around his neck. In one swift movement he literally tears it off.

I smile as Kari lets out a shout of joy and wraps her arms around his waist, Andromon smiling and putting a hand on top of her head as the rest of us crowd around them.

The girl stands back a few paces. Her partner's eyes are wide as he stares at Kari. "So…that's what she is." The girl murmurs. A flicker of a smile appears on her face. "Interesting."

…

"What will happen to the Guardromon?" Yolei asks worriedly, glancing over at the heaps of deactivated Guardromons all around us.

"Don't see why you're so worried." Davis comments, his hands in his pockets. "This is a definite improvement from all of them trying to shoot us dead."

"…"

"OW!"

"You deserved that one." She mutters, rubbing her knuckles as Davis whines and rubs at the huge lump on his skull.

Andromon chuckles and leans over one of the Guardromon, opening the back panel and fidgeting with the wires inside. "Not to worry. Once I reprogram all of them they'll be good as new."

The Guardromon's eyes slowly light up and he lifts up his arms and declares loudly-"I FEEL FRESH AS A DAISY."

"…"

"Okay…..?"  
"Maybe a little bit more fine tuning than I thought." He admits, scratching the back of his head.

Tai chuckles, before looking back over at Andromon. "By the way…I don't suppose you've heard from Gennai recently have you?"

My eyes narrow as Andromon freezes and stammers-"…G-…Gennai…?"

"…?"

"What's wrong?"

He hesitates, looking away. "I'm….not sure if I should be the one….I…."

"Why don't you just tell them the truth?" We look back over as one and see the girl leaning against one of the buildings, her partner standing next to her with his eyes closed.

"What does she mean tell us the truth?" Gatomon snaps, whipping her head around to glower at Andromon. "What happened to Gennai?"

"…Gennai's gone missing." He sighs, leaning against one of the unconscious Guardromon. "Has been for several days now."

"WHAT?"

The shouts of outrage fills the entire square. My teeth are grinding so hard it actually hurts, and even Patamon looks murderous. And when that's the case you know something's totally wrong because it takes a LOT…to make that happy go lucky flying hamster angry.

"That's actually how I got captured." Andromon says grimly, looking away. "Trying to find him….."

"And that's where I come in."

The girl steps forward, and I see her red hair is done up in a braid, and her eyes aren't green like I thought—well, one is. The other is bright blue. Her black T-shirt shows off her arms which has…strange Celtic like tattoes from the shoulders downwards.

"My name is Ryo. And I'm more than willing to help you if…" She smirks. "You do me a favour as well."


	8. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Losing You

Author's Note-Eep! I'm all excited because tommorrow's my birthday. Seventeen here I come...and I got to see Avengers last week!

BEST. FREAKING. MOVIE. EVER.

Lily-You're hyperventilating again...  
Me-You weren't there okay! It was freaking amazing!

Lily-Uh huh. Hence why you made me kidnap these two for your birthday. (points at tied up Tony Stark and Loki)

Loki-...I don't know what's worse...being kidnapped by a mortal...or being chained up to you...

Lily-(rolls eyes) Get over it pretty boy. In any case, review for my author's birthday. And then maybe it'll be a distraction enough for these saps to escape.

Chapter Eight

"You definitely don't beat around the bush, do you Ryo?" Monodramon sighs, rolling his yellow reptilian eyes to heaven. She thunks him on the head, the exact same way I'd slap Renamon occasionally. "Shut up."

"And…." Yolei's eyes narrow. "Who…exactly are you?"

"I think she just told us." Veemon says innocently. "She said she's Ryo."

"We know that." Tai mutters. "But a name isn't enough to trust sometimes…."

"And if you say you don't do backstory, I'm going to have to scream, because that's what my other friend keeps saying." I sigh, rolling my eyes before a pang of guilt enters my chest. "_Damien…." _He'll be okay….but I still…left him there.

I remembered running through the halls of the Emperor's base, hearing him scream my name from behind me, hearing the sound of him running after me right before I burst outside. It actually took quite a long time, the Emperor's base made Myotismon's labyrinth seem easy to understand.

Then I get out there and there's this HUGE black dragon, the biggest Devidramon I've ever seen in my entire life standing there, growling slightly.

I tensed, ready to…actually I don't know WHAT I would have done if the thing had been unfriendly? Screamed? Have to run back to Damien with my tail between my legs? That would have been humiliating. That is if the thing didn't just simply eat me like a chicken nugget.

Then I heard this girl's voice from above me. There was a teenage girl on the Devidramon's back. ON the Devidramon's back. I'm pretty sure my jaw was hanging down to my knees. You can't tame a Devidramon. There's a very good reason Myotismon charmed the Devidramon into being statues most of them time…as cruel as that might seem Devidramon have a penchant for going off and trying to eat everything made of data they can. One time one actually started chewing on the castle….oh and ate Demidevimon….but I digress.

"Do you want a ride or not?" The girl asked in an accent that sounded Italian, but I couldn't be sure.

"…Ride?"

"Don't worry. He's friendly. Mostly." She said with a chuckle as Devidramon growls under his breath before reaching down and offering her had. "Come on. Your boyfriend is waiting for you, and from the look of things, he could really use some help about now."

Tai….I grabbed her hand without thinking and she hoisted me up, just as Damien burst out. "What…LILLY WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?"

"Sorry Damien! I'll see you later, okay?"

"LILY!"

"See ya Chief." Ryo said sarcastically, mock saluting him before nudging Devidramon in the sides and he spread his leathery wings and took to the skies.

I glanced back to see Damien scowling after us, his hands clenched at his side. He…clearly was not in a good mood….

…

I shake my head now to clear it of that mental image and shoot Ryo a suspicious look. "So how did you know where Tai was anyway?"

"I have eyes everywhere." She smirks. Monodramon sighs. "What she means is we heard that there was a recent disturbance in this sector. And…no offense…wherever there's massive destruction the Digidestined aren't that far behind."

"I resent that." Renamon grumbles, crossing her arms.

Gatomon shrugs. "But it is true."

"All right…" Agumon eyes them warily. "So you helped us. But you said something about wanting something in return."

"We'll get to that later." She shrugs. "Let's just say that…for now, I'm more than willing to help you find Gennai, as he's a friend of mine as well, and stop the Digimon Emperor." Something flickers in her eyes. Regret? Heartache? "Believe me…no one wants to smack some sense into that kid more than I do right now." She mutters under her breath.

"We know nothing about you." Yolei crosses her arms and shoots Ryo a look. "So excuse us if we're not all that willing to make any deals with you at this moment."  
Ryo's eyes narrow slightly before a low moan of pain echoes.

"Kari…"

"Big brother it's fine…" Kari murmurs, wincing in pain as she tries to hold her arm in the right position to stop it from hurting.

Ryo walks over, frowning, and Gatomon and Tai both tense, but she shoves Tai out of the way with ridiculous ease muttering, "Here, let me take a look."

She gently touches Kari's arm, causing a whimper of pain, before scowling and tearing a large chunk of her jacket off.

"This is going to hurt." She warns, before moving Kari's arm as gently as she can, ignoring the girl's cry of pain, and positioning it just right so it fits into the makeshift sling.

"You might want to let Sira's uncle take a look at that." Ryo comments, walking back to Monodramon. "I'm no doctor."

My eyes widen. "Wait…Sira? How do you know her?"

Ryo's back stiffens and she slowly turns to look back at us. "…Long story. But you might not want to mention meeting with me. I have a feeling she would not like hearing that."

"What do you-"Let's go Monodramon." She holds up her Digivice and my eyes widen. It looks a lot like a PDA…in other words, a copy of Sira's Digivice. Except this one is silver instead of blue.

"MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….DEVIDRAMON!"

Devidramon growls lowly at us as Ryo climbs onto his back, causing both Davis and Veemon to stumble backwards, looking about ready to wet their pants.

She stares at us for a bit before popping her dark sunglasses back on. "Remember what I offered Digidestined."

The wind from Devidramon's wings yanks back my hair, and I stare as they soar off. Questions pop up wildly in my mind. But I do know this. There's something about that girl….that though intriguing, is not safe.

…

"Pretty bad break." Vincent shoves his glasses up his nose and sighs as he finishes setting Kari's cast. "The bone was almost crushed in the fall. You're definitely not going to be up for any battling for at least a few weeks…."

"I'd have thought it be more like a month, with a break that bad." Tai comments, leaning against the wall as Vincent injects a clear, yet somewhat sparkling liquid into Kari's arm.

"You're thinking of human medicine." Sira chuckles. "Medicine in my world is far more advanced. Has to be, what with the injuries people get traveling all over the wilderness."

"While regular humans in your world just like sitting on the couch watching TV…." I chuckle.

"Eating fatty crap." Sira agrees with a chuckle.

"Getting ridiculously overweight."

"I resent that." Tai grumbles, shooting me a look. I only decided to take Tai and Kari again this time because…let's face it. I don't think the others would be ready for the Pokemon World after only a few days at most in the Digital World.

And the Pokemon World definitely isn't ready for Davis.

"Well at least it doesn't hurt anymore…." Kari mutters, rubbing her cast. "In fact it doesn't feel sore in the slightest. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Vincent chuckles, flicking his dark hair just like Sira's out of his face. "By the way Lily when's the next time I can get you signed up for a checkup?"

"Oh no." I back away, shaking my head. "You know I don't do needles Vincent."

"Honestly." Renamon chuckles. "You can take getting lashed repeatedly by Crimson Lightning and not shed a single tear but when it comes to getting one single shot…"

"Feel free to shut up."

"Nope."

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

Rolling her eyes Sira just sighs as Tai laughs. "Well if Kari's okay I'm going to take my leave now. There's…something I need to work on."

I glance at Tai and he just nods slightly before I follow Sira into the hall and softly close the door behind me so Kari can't hear the argument that I know is going to happen. "Something involving the Dark Ocean?"

Sira freezes, her entire body tensing. Slowly she turns around, eyes narrowing. "How did you….know about that?"

"Long story. What happened to GranDracmon? Why was someone saying he'd die if you didn't help them?"

"How did you…were you looking at my messages?" She snaps, her eyes narrowing. "Is that why you invited me over?"

"No! Look Sira, I was just worried about you okay? And if something like this…something like GranDracmon being in danger…than I have to know."

"This doesn't concern you Lily." She says through clenched teeth. "Nor does it concern any of the Digidestined. Now drop it."

"Really?" I put my hands on my hips. "Then why did I…and Tai…everyone actually…all have nightmares about the Dark Ocean last night?"

Sira's eyes widen. "…You what?"

"…Yeah…the water….those monsters coming up out of it…grabbing me…."

She clenches her teeth and sighs. "They're not technically monsters. Normally the Sinmon are peaceful."

"I thought that they were condemmened murderers and such."

"Yup."

"…In what world is a bunch of previously violent murderers peaceful?"

"Well they are now." Sira says with a shrug. "They're going to die eventually and they can't leave the Dark Ocean. So most of the time they've learned to…accept their fate. But recently they've been far more aggressive than they ever have been before."

"And…GranDracmon?"

Sira's shoulders droop, and I feel bad for bringing it up. She lowers her head and murmurs, "I don't know. The last time I saw him…he said he had some business to take care of. Said it would be quick and he'd be back soon…he kissed me goodbye and…."

"…You haven't heard from him since."

She shakes her head. "And the boundary between the Dark Ocean and the Digital World is completely sealed off. I…I don't…"

Her voice trails off and my eyes widen as she slowly, her voice shaking almost imperceptibly-"I don't know what's happening."

I don't know what to say. What do you tell someone who isn't sure rather or not their mate is okay or not? For all we know GranDracmon could be…could be….

"_Stop it, that's insane!" _A little voice in my head shrieks. "_It'd never happen, either! He's practically a freaking god!"_

"_Then why hasn't he contacted Sira? He loves her. He'd never put her through something like this…."_

"_I….I don't know…."_

"…Sira…"

She sighs before forcing that smile back on her face. "Hey….by the way Lily…did you know what day today is?"

I blink. "No?"

Sira rolls her eyes. "What day is September 23rd to you?"

"…."

"Happy birthday." She says with a smirk as she walks past me.

…

"Happy birthday Lily!"

I can't help but laugh as Renamon blows one of the party blowers in my ear, the strings tickling. The smell of chocolate flows in from the kitchen, sweet and oh so tempting.

"Happy birthday sweet pea." Warm arms wrap around me from behind, and I can't help the huge smile that forms on my face as I turn around. "Caroline!"

Caroline has dark red hair and bright eyes—she looks nothing like Sira, with her paler complexion and Sira's dark red eyes. She shoves a present towards me and I blush. "Oh uh….you didn't have to."

"Course we did. It's your birthday, isn't it?" She kisses the top of my head. "Besides…we've all really missed you."

Tai shifts uncomfortably in his seat, looking nervous as I tear off the wrapping and exclaim over the cool new jacket, which has the small symbol of a fox face on the front.

"Um…I…" He blushes as I look over at him. "I…got you something too."

My face flushes slightly as I unwrap his after thanking him—it's a heartshaped box, sweet, but really awkward, and inside….

"Chocolate…."

"She'll be happy for years on end." Sira chuckles, rolling her eyes to heaven as I dive in. She then checks the label, and her eyes widen. "Exactly how much did you pay to get this fancy chocolate?"

"Eh…" Tai shrugs and looks away, blushing. "It's not a big deal."

"Where's the birthday girl?" calls out a jovial voice which is oddly familiar in more ways than one. Tai and Kari all stiffen, their eyes widening with shock and horror, but I just leap to my feet and wrap my arms around his waist in a tight hug.

He has mid-length blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and a slightly pale skin tone. His lips curl in a smile as he hugs me back.

"H-he looks just like!"

"It's good to see you Michael." I whisper, closing my eyes in happiness before pulling away. I have to snort at the expressions on all of their faces. "Oh come on…do you really think I'd EVER hug the conceited jerk that is Myotismon?"

"….And how come you were so unconcerned about all of this?" Tai demands, whirling around to give Gatomon a look.

She shrugs. "I've met Michael before, even if it wasn't on the best of terms then." She shoots me a sly look as she pulls the salami out of the sandwich. "Although I wouldn't say you'd…never hug Dorkula Lils. What about that-"Oy!" I point a finger at her warningly. "I'll remind you I was drunk out of my little mind!"

"You were drunk?"

"Uh…" I scratch the back of my head, embarrassed as Sira snickers behind me and Tai smirks. "Long story...Demidevimon swapped out my soda….with pure vodka…I drunk a whole bottle of it. I don't actually remember most of what happened that evening…huh."

A blush forms across my face as Tai now falls out of his chair laughing his head off. I stick my tongue out at him before reaching for the last present, a small box…white and velvet.

I blink when there's no tag. "Hey Sira do you know who…?" But she's busy talking to her Dad and I don't see the point in bothering her.

Shrugging, I tear it open and a small piece of paper falls out.

"_It's been too long since this has been worn. The time has come for the legacy to be passed on, and a promise to be fulfilled. Good luck, daughter of Alayna."_

A chill runs down my spine as I look into the box. It's a ring…or sort of a ring. It looks more like armour that could be slipped over your whole index finger, with brilliant emeralds embedded in it. The thing is oddly warm for being stuck in a dark box for who knows how long….

As though my hands have a mind of their own, my fingers slip the ring over my right index finger. And then it literally latches on, growing tighter and the emeralds shining. And it…won't…come…off…

"Uh, Lily?" Renamon blinks and looks over at me. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Um…." I tug my sleeve over my right hand to hide the ring. For some reason, sharing it doesn't seem like a good idea at the moment. "Nothing. Er, let's have cake!"

…

The soccer field is always a loud place to be, what with the sounds of teammates screaming at each other and the coach blowing that stupid whistle again and again.

Not that I don't like soccer. I do. You can't be a member of the Kamiya family and not develop a fondness for the sport. I just don't like the noise.

I watch as Tai runs through the field, sweat glistening off his forehead as he kicks the ball over to another of his teammates. This is only a practice, but he's still putting 110% into it. Actually, more like 120% today since this is the last practice before the Championship finals. This year's our senior year, so as Captain, it's crucial for him that the team does well if he wants to get a scholarship.

But with….certain people….

"I got it!"

I fight the urge to bury my face in my hands and groan loudly as Davis steals the ball from his own teammate, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey, what the?"

Davis grins, a picture of arrogance and cockiness as he brings his leg back to strike the ball into the net….right before someone slides in front of him, effectively tripping him and causing him to fall flat on his face in complete humiliation.

I smirk and clap from the bleachers as Tai gets back to his feet and grabs Davis by the scruff, eyes blazing. "What the heck was that back there?"

Davis mutters something under his breath, wiping a smear of dirt off his face as Tai snaps-"I don't give a crap Motomiya. We're in the Championship league now, and we have a chance of winning it. Pull something like that again and I'll make SURE you're not only benched for the rest of the season, but the season after that!"

The official coach….has fallen asleep in his chair at the end of the soccer field. Again. Then again I can't be too harsh on him. He is about 85. But it means Tai has to be both Captain and Coach at the same time, which puts a lot of stress on him.

I clamber up from the bleachers to walk down over and comfort him, just as a loud squeal erupts in the bleachers.

I wince, and sure enough, the curly blonde menace of my life bolts from the school across to her boyfriend. "Kirk, uoi were SO awesome out there!"

MacKenzie Potters wraps her arms around her boyfriend's waist, giggling as he kisses her neck. I roll my eyes. For the love of Yggdrasil, there are children present and the last thing in the world we need is for Davis to get more ideas.

"You were awesome out there too Tai…." She purrs, looking over at him like a cat would a mouse, smiling with an innocence that fools no one except for her deluded boyfriend. Heh. If Kirk wasn't such a jerk, I might feel sorry for him since his girlfriend is cheating on him with who knows how many people.

Tai's face goes red as he mumbles, "T-thanks…but…."

"Oh don't second guess yourself." McKenzie smiles and puts a hand on his arm. "Everyone knows you're the best captain in the entire world."

That little viper….My hands curl into fists but I force myself to remember that I am not Tai's girlfriend anymore. He can take care of himself. And I don't have the right to storm down there and beat the living snot out of here, no matter how much I might want to.

"You shouldn't waste your time with him." Says a voice low in my ear, and I whirl around to see Damien standing there next to me.

"…" A guilty flush covers my cheeks. "Look about what happened earlier, I'm sorry but I just…."

"Save it." He rolls his eyes. "I still can't believe it….I didn't have you pegged to be the type that moons pointlessly after her ex."

My hands curl into fists again. "It's not like that at all," I lie, to him and to myself, "He's….he's my friend. I don't want him getting hurt, by controlled Guardromon or by soul sucking witches."

He snorts, amusement in his eyes at the description of "soul sucking witches" before shrugging and walking off. "Still…I would have expected more from you."

My right eye twitches as he walks off, and I fight the desire to jump on him, give that face of his a good bruising and demand to know who the heck made him the boss of me.

Ugh, today is just not my day.

….

"He's called Ken Ichijouji."

"Guys….you're squishing me…." DemiVeemon whimpers as the group crowds around the computer, Davis pressed up right against Yolei as he leans over her shoulder.

"So this is the top soccer player of the year huh?" He mutters, wrinkling his nose in contempt. "Doesn't look like much."

"I wouldn't say that." Kari looks at the stats underneath the picture of the kid. "This says last year his team didn't lose a single game, and in the last game of the season he scored a record winning 55 goals."

Tai makes a noise like a balloon that's had a pin stuck in it. "Holy crap this kid…might even be better than I am."

I glance at the picture again. Ken has shoulder length dark blue hair, almost the same shade as mine, and pale skin that doesn't exactly flatter him in the picture. But it's his eyes that catch my attention. Deep blue and piercing. And the half smirk on his face…I flinch slightly, thinking about another face that looked like that. But that's a ridiculous comparison. Still there's this odd feeling of familiarity….I can't shake…

Jerking myself back to normal I force my voice to remain calm. "Sounds like a tough competitor. And you've never gone up against his team before, have you?"

"Well no…" Tai mutters, lowering his head. "Last year we didn't even-"Make it to the playoffs, I remember that." TK grins. "Matt was tormenting you about that for weeks."

"Sometimes I hate your brother."

I smile wryly and pat Tai's shoulder as he buries his head in his arms. "Well look at it this way. Last year Kirk was captain, not you. There's a reason why that boy is repeating senior year." I add dryly, rolling my eyes. "Plus anyone who's dumb enough to date McKenzie needs his head examined."

"…I don't know. McKenzie's not that bad."

My right eye twitches and he blinks. "What'd? What did I say?"

"I'm going home." I growl, grabbing my backpack. "I have homework."

Tai blinks as the door to the computer room is slammed shut and everyone around him gives him exasperated looks.

"What?"

"Oy vey."Gatomon says with a sigh as she buries her face in one gloved paw.

…

"Not so bad….stupid kid…completely oblivious…" I mutter, scrambling math homework down with surprising ferocity right before my pencil lead snaps again.

"Argh!"

"_Tai Kamiya this is all YOUR fault!"_

With a huff, I lean forward and sigh, my head in my chin and my headache slowly growing. "Ack…." Hissing in pain, I slowly stand up and try to walk forwards. It's never been this bad before….it feels like my very brain is about to split in two.

My vision seems to blur in front of me as I struggle not to panic, before my eyes roll back in my head and everything goes black.

_Flames, green flames everywhere, and the roar of the monster echoes above me as I struggle to keep running, feeling the wind rush around me as it flaps it's many, disjointed, mutated wings._

"_HEAT VIPER!"_

"_LILY WATCH OUT!"_

_Just as another blast of fire shoots down towards me there's a blur of yellow fur and Renamon slams into me from the side, knocking me out of the way….but taking the brunt of the attack herself._

"_RENAMON NOO!"_

_Smoke fills the valley and I can't see anything….except for the dark red liquid that now floods the clearing I'm standing in…blood…_

"_Rena…RENAMON!"_

…

"Lily…Lily?"

I feel something cold against my forehead, and I groan, my eyes slowly opening. "What…happened…?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that." A curt voice, and I see Mrs. Kamiya standing over me. "Considering I came home to find you passed out on the kitchen floor."

"…Ugh I don't know." I mumble, looking away. "My head is killing me though…."

She narrows her eyes. "Have you been drinking? Or taking drugs?"

"GOOD GOSH WOMAN!" I yell, waving my arms about in a slightly ridiculous manner. "Do you have ANY idea what Sira would do to me if she even heard those ridiculous rumours?"

"Then why….?"

"I don't know ok?" I groan, putting the cold rag onto my forehead again and squeezing my eyes tight, trying to forget about the nightmare I had. The shadow of the Digimon chasing me….like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Mrs. Kamiya purses her lips and sighs before walking into the kitchen. The next thing I know she walks back out holding a bottle of pills, and I raise an eyebrow.

"I didn't pass out from overdosing on household drugs either, just so you know."

She rolls her eyes and hands me the bottle. "Here. You probably just had a migraine."

"Er…thanks."

She nods stiffly and I press my fingers to my temples, fighting back another shudder as the dream flashes through my mind again.

I glance underneath the table where Viximon is sleeping, her bushy tail curled up around her nose. I don't even bother to be annoyed about the fact that she slept through me passing out. The sight of her safe and relaxed is enough for me.

She purrs in her sleep as I scratch her behind the ears, and a small smile touches my lips.

"_I'll never let anything bad happen to you I swear it…."_

…

"INTRODUCING…ODIABA HIGH BEARS!"

Screams erupt in the bleachers as hundreds of people drum their feet against the floors, yelling encouragement as the team runs out onto the field.

Sira rolls her eyes and shoots me a look as I yell beside her. "Remind me again why you forced me into this?" She grumbles.

"Because you need to get outside and interact with other people oh pale-skinned one." I retort with a smirk.

"…Pale? How the heck am I of all people pale?"

"Not yet but you will be if you continue to spend all of your time in a dark room on your computer."

Sira shrugs. "That's easily fixed."

I turn my attention back to the field to see the opposing team, the Tomatchi High Raiders run out onto the field as well, right before the sound of clicking behind me. My right eye twitches.

"You brought your freaking laptop to a soccer game?"

"I'm bored." She retorts, bending over the screen and typing away. "Besides I have work I have to get done."

I mutter something under my breath before turning away, shaking my head. Honestly, she's worse than Izzy is.

My eyes drift back to the soccer field, and I frown. "Isn't Ken Ichijouji supposed to be with his team?"

Sira shrugs and continues typing, and I notice one boy in a red shirt run over to the Tomatchi team who are busy stretching.

"Uh….excuse me…."

One of the older boys finally looks up and raises an eyebrow at Davis, who shuffles slightly nervously. "Is uh…Ken here?"

"Nah. He had a photo shoot and a press conference in the same day so he couldn't make it."

"Ken hardly has time to even play soccer anymore…."

Davis' shoulders slumps and he mutters something under his breath before Tai yells over-"OY! Davis! Get your butt over here!"

As Davis trots over Tai grabs him by the arm. "Listen….I know you were looking forward to going one on one against Ichijouji, but don't forget his teammates are still champions." A slight smile touches his lips. "So as long as we play well against them…"

"I'll still be a living legend!" His face brightens as he runs forward. "Thanks Tai!"

Tai just chuckles wryly before following him, only a few seconds before the whistle blows and the game begins.

The game is fast and it's brutal. The challengers are good, that fact is obvious from the beginning. Tai expertly passes the ball over to Kirk, who powers through the enemy lines only to have the ball swiped away from him, and then it's stolen back by another boy, Joshua.

Joshua looks nervously from side to side as the Tomatchi team all charges towards him from different directions—kind of like a frightened deer as the wolves tear towards it. He quickly kicks it through the smallest of openings towards Davis, who dives forward, but instead of kicking it the ball bounces off his head and into the net.

"Was that on purpose?" I mutter, sweatdropping as Viximon crawls out from underneath the bleacher beneath me and snickers.

"At least his hard head is good for something right?"

The whistle blows again for halftime and I smile and run down the bleachers, meeting up with Kari and the others as an exhausted Davis and Tai trot over to us.

Tai's sticky with sweat and breathing hard, but I don't hesitate at all to wrap him in a gigantic hug. "You did great out there…" I murmur, his body hot against mine.

"Thanks Lils…."

"That goal you made was super cool Davis." Kari giggles as she holds out her camera, flipping through pictures until it shows one of Davis headbutting the ball into the net.

The expression on his face is supposed to seem warlike and battle-ready. To me it just looks like he's constipated.

"T-thanks Kari…." He stammers, blushing.

It's at this exact moment Yolei chooses to moan loudly and say-"Why did I even bother coming if Ken's not going to be here?" She whines, her face a picture of misery.

"Uh….to support us?"

"Psh." She waves a hand dismissively. "I can support you two anytime. But this was my one chance to meet him….and he's so smart….and athletic….and cute!" She squeals the last word as she hugs Poyomon.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." Davis grunts, a lot more grumpiness in his tone as he looks at her than I would have thought. His eyes narrow. "Why do you like this guy so much anyway? If he were here right now I'd show him a thing or-"IT'S HIMMMMMMM!"

Several of us clap our hands over our ears at the girl's squeals—I turn my head to see a small car pull up at the top of the steps and a figure step out.

"You just HAD to say something." Tai mutters to Davis, clenching his teeth as Davis cringes away. I study the boy as he calmly walks down to the field, as though he's oblivious to anything that's going on around him.

His eyes scan the crowd, then slowly turn to rest on us. He freezes. His eyes widen. His hand clenches on the railing in the middle of the stairs, shaking slightly as he clenches his teeth. I can smell the anger on him.

"What's the dude's problem?" Viximon mutters from behind my feet. I just shake my head and keep staring at Ken.

A slow smile appears on Ken's face that doesn't look all that friendly before he makes his way towards his team.

Yolei squeals in my ear. "Did you see that? He looked right at us!" She hugs Poromon tightly and smiles. "I'm going to faint!"

"Yolei you're crushing my vital organs!"

Ken drops his bag off to the side of the field and smiles innocently at his coach. "Sorry I'm late. There was something…important I had to do."

The coach chuckles. "Hey, don't worry about it, we're just glad to have you at all. Can I put you in the game?"

He smiles. "If that's what you want…."

"_Now substituting Ken "The Rocket!" Ichijouji!"_

"Rocket huh?" I mutter, leaning back as I studied the two teams lining up to face each other again. "Now we get to see if he's as good as everyone says he is."

Davis smiles and reaches over stretching a hand out to the soccer star. "Hey! I'm Davis! Nice to meet ya."

Ken doesn't take Davis' hand, His eyes flicker back over to us. He stares for a moment, then that smile/smirk appears on his face again before he turns back to him.

"Pretty nice friends you got there….Davis…."

The whistle blurs, and for a second I don't see what happens, just a yelp from Davis and Ken is already halfway down the field streaking towards our goal. One swift kick and the ball strikes into the net.

"….Did you…."

"See that?"  
Tai's mouth is hanging open in shock and disbelief. Then he slowly closes it. "Okay….we might have a problem."

And that's pretty much how the game continues for the next ten goals. Ken's moving so fast I would have thought he was teleporting—one minute he was there, the next he was scoring a goal into the net with ridiculous, insulting ease.

"This is humiliating…." TK groans, closing his eyes. "I don't know if I can bare to watch."

"Normally I'd find pretty boy's pride getting so wrecked hilarious." Gatomon comments, watching Tai and the expression of near physical pain on his face. "But I actually feel kind of bad for him."

"He doesn't need a disaster like this." I mutter. "Colleges aren't going to look good at a captain whose team couldn't even score a single goal against a sixteen year old."

"WOO! GO KEN!"

"If Yolei doesn't shut up I'm going to have to kill her. And for the love of freaking Yggdrasil Sira, at least PRETEND you're interested in the game!"

Sira shrugs, still bent over her laptop. "But I'm not. And it's getting so predictable I can tell you what's going to happen—Ken's going to score another goal in 5…4…3…2-"GO TAI!"

Everyone on our side leaps to our feet, screaming his name as Tai actually manages to steal the ball away from Ken and bolts down the soccer field.

Sira blinks. "Well what do you know…?"

Tai passes it quickly to Kirk who gets boxed in. Growling in frustration he just barely manages to pass it back to Tai, whose millimetres away from shooting the next goal.

Right as he brings his leg back another boy wearing that green jersey runs up behind him. My eyes widen. Somehow I know exactly what's going to happen before it does.

Tai's scream of pain erupts across the soccer field as the kid kicks Tai in the back of the leg at full force….I see his leg bend at an angle it should never bend….I hear gasps from the crowd….and I don't realize until my feet touch the grass of the field that I'm running to him as fast as I can.

"TAI!"

"_Time out….time out…."_

Tai's gasping in pain in the middle of the field, holding at his knee and moaning slightly even though he does his best to supress.

"Are you okay?" Kari asks tearfully, and he can't even talk, just slowly shake his head. I cup his face in my hands. "Tai, look at me. LOOK at me, Tai. Don't think about it okay…."

"Holy crap!"

Davis runs up, looking ashwhite as he skids to a stop in front of us. "How…..oh gosh Tai are you….okay? Can you stand?"

He struggles to get up but I push him back down, pinning him slightly with a warning growl of-"Don't you dare."

"No, he can't!" I snap at Davis, shooting him a look. "You go and deal with this game on your own and I'll take care of Tai."

"But I…."

"Davis, this game is not my priority right now."

The look in his eyes tells me it's not really his priority right now either. "I should be with you guys." He says in a small voice, scuffing the ground with his shoe.

"You'll be fine." I sigh, shaking my head. "And so will he. Unless someone else is out there on the team, because forget his knee—he'll have coronary arrest if you leave the game too." I smile slightly as Tai shoots me a look, but then nods weakly to Davis.

Davis takes a deep breath and then runs back to the rest of the team—I look over my shoulder and see both coaches actually screaming at the player who kicked Tai, our coach actually on his feet and taking an interest for once. The kid has his head down low, but I can't help but notice how he glances over at Ken. And how Ken stares over at him before a flicker of a smile appears on his face and he nods.

My eyes narrow before I see Sira actually has left her laptop and is walking towards us, a grim expression on her face and oh…thank Yggdrasil…Sorcerymon's with her….

…

Davis watches as Sira and Sorcerymon help get Tai off the field, waving off the doctors, though he's not quite sure how she manages that.

He swallows hard. An injury like that…especially to the knee…could ruin a soccer player's career for life. He glances back over at the teams as they line up again.

He's not sure he can do this, not with his mind on Tai and the others. He glances up and sees Ken cock his head slightly at him, raising an eyebrow.

Davis' eyes narrow as his own smile appears. He knows a challenge when he sees one. And he can do this….for Tai and the others.

The whistle blows and it seems to be going just as it did countless times before—Ken shoots down the field like an arrow, untouchable, unstoppable.

The timer for the last half is slowly ticking down….ten seconds left…..

Ken smirks and brings his leg back for a kick, ready to end this. But then there's a war like cry from his right, he glances sharply up, and Davis slides in front of him, stretching his leg out and smirking as Ken goes flying right on his face.

The timer goes off, and the announcer blares, "ODIABA HIGH-1! TOMATCHI-9!"

The field is usually full of laughter after a game, even a lost game. But this time the feeling is more sober. One of their own has been badly injured.

Davis' eyes widen as he sees Ken limping slightly, and a deep red stain on his leg. He swallows hard before running over.

"Hey, Ken! Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Ken's eyes narrow slightly but he turns his head and raises an eyebrow. Davis scratches the back of his head sheepishly, glancing down at the other boy's injury.

"Listen I….with the sliding block I didn't mean to actually…."

"It's fine." Ken says with a shrug of his shoulders and a mischievous smile. "I barely felt it anyway. Too busy scoring goals."

Davis can't help his own grin that forms on his face. Ken hesitates before asking, "Is your other friend okay? I'm really sorry I don't know what was going through Marcus' head…."

Davis' smile slips slightly and he sighs. "Hopefully he'll be okay. He's in a lot of pain right now but….that might just be partly because he missed the last of the game." He finished with a weak chuckle.

Ken shakes his head. "Still I….can't help but feel partly responsible."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You can't control the actions of others. I'm sure Tai would say the same thing."

"Thanks…" Ken chuckles. "You know you actually surprised me with that sliding block. That play usually never fails me."

Davis grins. "Well looks like you might need to make some changes then, if we're going to challenge each other again."

"Indeed…." Ken slowly looks back up at him, smiling a little oddly before holding out his hand. "Well until we meet again my worthy adversary…." His grip tightens slightly on Davis' hand. "In battle."

…

"Tai, Sorcerymon says you're supposed to rest that leg." I scold, twirling around the chair to look at Tai, whose still walking with a limp.

Sorcerymon, thank Yggdrasil, managed to heal the torn ligaments and joint that Tai had suffered. But it was still a mess, so he warned Tai to try to keep off it as much as possible, no running, not too much walking.

"I don't need to rest right now…" He mutters, continuing to make careful steps around the computer lab. "Besides he said I should be stretching it occasionally too."

"Yes, I know that. But if you do any more damage to it it will be even harder for Sorcerymon to heal next time." I give him a stern look and he groans before collapsing back into a chair.

"Yes ma'am…."

I pat his head, smirking. "Good boy."

"I'm not a dog, Lily."

"Really? Are you sure?"

He rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue playfully out at me, and I just snort. "By the way have you seen Yolei? Or….Davis actually?"

"Last I heard she was chasing him throughout the school."

I raise my eyebrows. "…Ah. Well they make a good couple."

"Eh?" Tai's face flushes slightly before he laughs. "No, Lils not like that, though I think you might be right. I think Davis is just annoyed because Yolei asked him to give her Ken's autograph he got….and he said, well why don't you take my autograph, and she said why on earth would she pick him over Ken so he stormed off."

I chuckle. "Someone sounds quite jealous his lady love likes someone else."

"I'd actually be quite happy if he started mooning after Yolei." Tai says with a half grin. "It would mean that he stops swooning over Kari."

"Yup. Now it can just be TK and Kari."

"W-wha? But….I…." He groans, closing his eyes. "Oy vey…."

I just burst out laughing at the look of glumness on his face. "You and your overprotectiveness. She'll be fine. Besides, better TK than all the others right?"

"Right….wait…what do you mean all the others?"

The computer lab door swings open and Davis storms in, looking grumpy. "I said NO Yolei!"

"Come on…." She pleads, following him in looking close to tears. "Why can't I have it?"

"Because you've got to get over this ridiculous obsession!"

"Come on, please! I'll do anything!"

"Now this out to be interesting." I grin, as Davis slowly turns back around, a mischievous smile on his face. "ANYTHING?"

"Suddenly I feel a little afraid now…." She mutters with a sweatdrop. "But yeah, I said anything."

"Okay. You have to be my personal slave for the week, do my chores, do my homework, among other things." He winks playfully at her as Cody snorts in the seat next to me, chocolate milk coming out of his nose.

"…YOU SICK LITTLE PERVERT!"

"This could go on a while." TK sighs as he comes into the room, shaking his head as Yolei chases Davis around, no longer pleading, just really, REALLY pissed off.

Kari giggles just as Cody looks at the Control Spire, his eyes widening. "Hey guys, we've got another one!"

"What's one doing out in the middle of nowhere like that?" Gatomon mutters, leaning over his shoulder to look at the screen. She facepalms. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?"

"He named the valley….that?"

I look over and fight the desire to burst out laughing. "_The Forbidden Valley of No Return_? What is this, a cheesy horror movie?"

"Villains do love to be dramatic." Tai says with a wry smile and a shake of his head.

"Yeah but even Piedmon with all his flashiness would have realized how retarded that sounded."

Tai stretches, wincing slightly as his muscles creak from not using his leg for a few days. "So shall we head out?"

"What?" I stand straight up, giving him a look, Kari and Koromon's glares backing me up. "Tai, you're supposed to be resting that leg."

"I did rest it…."

"72 hours is not enough. And now you want to charge headfirst out into battle?" I sigh, rolling my eyes in irritation. "Typical…"

"Whoever said anything about battle?" Tai protests. "Look, it's one Control Spire. And if you look here…." He types a few keys and the map extends, blank except for the one dot that represents the Spire. "It's abandoned."

"Why would the Emperor abandon a Control Spire?" Kari asks warily. "Seems fishy to me."

Yolei shrugs. "Maybe he had too much trouble with the native Digimon. He's been overpowered by them before. Still getting rid of it would mean that he can't stop anymore Digimon from digivolving."

"See?"

"Tai, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Please…?" He turns and gives me the most ridiculous….the most adorable….puppy dog pout an 18 year old boy can manage. "I really need to get outside, at least for a bit. Come on Lils…."

I try to force myself not to give in…don't give in….no matter what happens….but that pout….I can feel the blush forming across my face as I finally mutter in defeat-"Fine. FINE. You win. But if anything happens to you, so help me Yggdrasil Taichi Kamiya, I will strangle you."

"Hey I want to be alive to see the Iron Man movie that's coming out soon." He grins, his brown eyes twinkling as he slowly pushes himself upwards. "I have no plans to die and miss that."

"Glad to know that's your only concern."

"Don't worry Lily." Koromon waves a ribbon-like ear. "If anything bad happens or if Tai does something stupid I will personally drag him out of there rather he wants to or not."

"Oh ye of little faith." Tai mutters as I chuckle. "Thanks Koromon."

"Can we go now?"

We all glance over to see Yolei still chasing Davis around and whacking him repeatedly with a folder.

Kari laughs. "Yeah. Sure. Let's get going!"

…

"Bleh!"

Davis rubs at his tongue frantically trying to wipe the sand off of it, and only succeeding in getting even more on his face.

"Knock it off, you look like an idiot."

Davis scowls over at me and scrambles back to his feet, trotting after us. Veemon groans and wipes at his forehead as the sun beats down. "So….hot…."

"Did anyone perchance think to bring water?" Hawkmon coughs, his wings blowing up dust as he flies above us. "I am quite parched."

"In English bird brain." Renamon sighs, shaking her tail to try and get the sand out of it.

"I did speak English! Simply because you are too simple to understand it-!"

She bares her teeth at him. "You do know that foxes EAT birds right?"

"…Ahem. I believe I shall cease conversation now."

"If that's code for I'll shut up now than it's fine with me."

I sigh, glancing over at Tai. "Are you regretting coming now? Besides, I don't even see a Control Spi-"LILY!"

I whirl around to see Kari slip underneath the sand with a scream, her eyes wide with fear, Yolei already gone along with their Digimon.

"CODY! TK!"

"TAI!"

I lunge forwards just as he bolts towards his sister, and the ground seems to suck him in, pulling him under so all I can see is his head and one hand desperately grasping the ground which betrays him. I grab his hand, my fingers entwining with his as I shout-"Don't you DARE let go Kamiya!"

I can feel my grip starting to slip…clenching my teeth I swear wildly and meet his own eyes. Fear is actually in them, which is an emotion you don't often see in the eyes of the Digidestined of Courage.

"LILY!" A terrified whimper, and I whirl around just as Davis screams his partner's name. Veemon cringes as he struggles to hold on to something I can't see beneath the sand.

"Hurry….I've got….Renamon….but she's…too heavy can't…."  
My heart seems to stop beating in my chest and my eyes widen with horror, grip slackening ever so slightly. Renamon?

That's when I feel it….Tai's hand being pulled away from me. My head jerks back around just in time to see Tai's eyes meet mine…something flickers in his eyes before the fear disappears and he smiles. Just a grim acceptance.

"**TAICHI!"**

Davis grabs me from behind right before I can jump in after him. "Don't do it Lily! It'll get you too!"

My brain is completely on feral mode. With a snarl and not even really thinking about what I'm doing, I punch Davis hard in the jaw, forcing him to let go of me.

But the sand has already gone back to normal, not a trace of what has happened, completely innocent and showing none of its malevolence.

"No…No…NO!" My fingernails claw at the sand as I keep digging, digging and digging without finding anything, without finding a single trace of them.

Tai….Renamon….I've lost both of them….suddenly my fingers brush up against something hard, and in desperation I pull it out.

….It's Tai's goggles….

"Oh Yggdrasil…." Davis' voice comes out as a whimper. I clutch the goggles tightly in one hand, squeezing my eyes shut and begging the tears not to come.

"**!"**

….

"What do we do now?"

Davis' voice is small, unsure, and his eyes are focused on me. I keep holding tightly on Tai's goggles like they're a lifeline. But it won't do any good. It won't bring him back.

"Lily?"

"Leave me alone." I snarl, looking away from him. He takes a slight step back as I glower, but then I catch the look on his face. Depression. Fear. Heartbreak.

"…_He just lost his partner too."_

I sigh, brushing my bangs out of my face. "I don't….know, okay? Look, do you have your D-3? We need to contact Matt and the others…we need to get help."

Davis nods and starts to hand the device over to me….before the icy cold laugh echoes across the desert.

My hand clenches shut, and Davis looks up, eyes narrowing down to slits. We both know that laugh.

"Aww….missing your little friends?" The voice mocks, the smugness obvious.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?" Davis screams, his eyes blazing as he spins around trying to see the Emperor. "TELL ME!"

"Your friends are safe and sound with me for now." The Emperor responds with an unseen smirk. "For now….come and save them if you dare."

As the voice trails away, Davis and I look at each other. A grim sort of understanding passes between us. Is this a trap? Most likely. But at this point I am beyond caring. All I want is to make sure that Renamon and Tai are okay. And if he's put so much of a scratch on either of them I will rip that little brat apart.

…

The Emperor smirks as he lurks in the shadows, listening to the sound of pounding, desperate footsteps racing into the gorge.

"Where is he? Where is that little creep?"

Davis looks wildly from side to side right before I touch his arm and silently point to the dark figure standing above us, hidden partly in the shadows. A feral snarl touches Davis' lips. "THERE you are! You're going to get it!"

The laugh echoes across the gorge we stand in and the Emperor's voice is cold and mocking-"Oh….I'm SO scared…."

"Let them go…." I hiss through clenched teeth, my eyes narrowing down to slits. "Let them go you cowardly little rat and maybe I won't smash your skull into these rocks until you break."

"Easy m'lady." He says the last word with such mocking it's almost enough to take away the shock that he just said a word not used since the 1300's. "You wouldn't want to make me angry, now would you? Not when your friends lives hang in the balance."

"If you've TOUCHED them I swear to Yggdrasil…."

"Hmm? But you don't know do you? I could have done all kinds of things to them already. Right at this moment I could be ordering my slaves to be slicing off that pretty brunette's fingers one by one…."

Davis makes a choking noise-"Kari…."

"Or ordering them to slaughter that flying bat-pig right in front of that little brat's eyes…."

"TK….Patamon…."

"Or maybe…." His grin is definently malicious and full of cruel anticipation at this last statement. "I have that boy with the ridiculous hair chained to a post and screaming YOUR name as the flames grow higher and higher and slowly cook away at-"**SHUT UP**! SHUT UP AND DARK OCEAN TAKE YOU!"

Davis gives me a fearful look at the sound of my outburst—I doubt he's ever seen me come that close to losing control. My chest heaves in and out as I glower at the Emperor-"What do you think this is….some kind of sick joke? All a game to you?"

"Of course it's a game." He responds with such frank honesty, and a tone of derision in his voice. "What else do you think this whole thing is?" The smile returns on his face. "And speaking of game….I'd like to introduce you to mine."

Fog starts slowly drifting into the ravine….obscuring all sight, hiding the Emperor from us. I freeze as the fog curls around me, licking at me, touching me with its cold fingers.

…I hate fog. It never brings anything good with it.

"You play or your friends die."

I feel someone gently taking my hand, their own shaking like mad. Glancing quickly to the right, I see Davis looking up at me fearfully, unsure.

I squeeze his hand back, a soft smile touching my lips. "Digiegg of Courage remember?" I whisper as I curse myself quietly for a fool in my mind. I should have contacted Matt or Sira immediately. Now I'm not going to get that chance. But I realize it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. The Emperor is clever. He would have been blocking all signals out of this area.

I glower at the Emperor, not hating someone like this for a LONG time. "Fine…." I hiss through clenched teeth. "You win…."

The fog tightens around us as he smiles. I close my eyes and will myself not to hyperventilate. Everyone thinks I'm so strong but just even things like fog…can bring back memories I don't want, ones I can barely take.

"L-Lily?"

Davis' voice comes out as a whimper as he looks around him. My eyes slowly open as I see Renamon…Agumon….Veemon, Gatomon all standing around us. Except one thing is really wrong. They all have Dark Rings on them, and are glaring at us with crimson red eyes.

Oh crud.

"GET DOWN!" I yell, shoving Davis to the ground just as balls of fire and diamonds swerve towards us…the sound of something whirring echoes behind me, and Armadillomon dives down at us rolling, the glint of his razor sharp claws showing.

"OH ###$$$!"

Davis is shoved backwards as I kick outwards at exactly the right moment, knocking Armadillomon back and sending him sprawling on the ground, snarling.

He lets out a shaky breath of relief before a voice growls-"You were never good enough to be my partner."

Veemon's red eyes are devoid of all friendliness, cold and cruel. Davis swallows, trying to keep the tears from pricking at his throat.

"Yggdrasil Veemon what has he done to you….?"

"Done to me? He hasn't done anything to me?" A smirk that doesn't seem right at all on the lizard's face appears. "I can see why Kari prefers TK to you. Heh. If I'd had a choice I would have picked anyone else."

Davis can't help the weak moan that escapes from his lips as he clutches at his head. Veemon's eyes narrow and he lowers his head before charging. "VEE HEADBUTT!"

But he doesn't make it. Probably because I just grabbed Patamon and slammed the little Rookie into him. Davis breaths a sigh of relief mixed with pain before looking behind him. His eyes widen. "LILY LOOK OUT!"

"Huh?"

I have to duck just before the punch can literally snap my skull off. Renamon is glaring at me, glowering.

"Renamon please….don't do this…."

"You brought this one yourself." She snaps back, clenching her paws. "Too weak to even tell the boy you love how you feel. You make me sick!"

My jaw tightens as I have to keep telling myself….this is not my partner…right before grabbing her paw as she feints a blow to my head, before aiming for my stomach.

"Should have thought this through more, huh?" I growl through clenched teeth before bending her arm at an awkward angle, causing her to yelp and then elbowing her in the stomach.

She snarls, glaring at me before disappearing from view. I can't help the slight cold smile that forms on my face. I know my partner's fighting style better than anyone else in the entire world.

The sound of footsteps on the ground, rocks tumbling away makes me smirk. I also know how hard it is for her to be invisible and quiet at the same time.

"DIAMOND STORM!"

I roll, ducking out of the way just in time as the diamonds fly overhead, shining daggers….and then my eyes widen with horror as they embed themselves in the last person I wanted.

Gatomon screeches as her fur turns red with blood and she slams into the opposite cliff, that crack echoing horribly.

"NO!"

Davis' eyes widen in horror as I bolt to the unconscious cat's side, cradling her gently in my arms. "Do me a favour and don't be dead." I plead, my voice catching as I look at her closed eyes. "Gatomon…please…."

She suddenly goes limp in my arms…I think I scream…and the next thing I know she's gone. But not burst into data. Smoke. She dissolves into smoke, like a whisper of a dream.

Dream….illusion….wait…"YOU SON OF A BANSHEE!"

The fog clears away and with it, our Digimon. Davis looks completely confused. "Wh…what happened?"

"They weren't here Davis." I snarl through clenched teeth, trying not to completely lose control. "We were tricked."

Fake clapping echoes above us, and we both look up to see the Emperor smirking down at us. "Well done. You passed the first stage of the test."

"Did I mention how much I want to kill that guy?" Davis snarls, his eyes blazing with anger and hate as he glowers at the Emperor.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual." I mutter to him before glowering at the Emperor. "All right smart aleck. You got us pretty good that time…I'll admit. But you should know that as soon as I get the chance I am going to dip you in steak sauce and feed you to bats."

He raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Bats huh?"

The entire canyon seems to grow dark….my eyes travel up to the sky and see nothing but darkness taunting me, surrounding me.

I reach for Davis' hand again to comfort him and find….nothing…."Davis?"

No answer.

My voice cracks slightly, as I walk forwards, hearing the sound of my feet against….cobbled stones? "DAVIS WHERE ARE YOU?"

"_What do you want?"_

A voice, full of defiance echoes in my ears, and I turn to see a girl standing in the shadows, her arms crossed over her chest, the flames from the torch illuminating her fa…fa…no….no freaking way….

It's me—or at least a younger version of myself, ribs poking out of my shirt, my hair a tangled mess not brushed for days, a long cut over one eye, probably from Gatomon or Demidevimon, and a burn mark on my right arm….

"_I want to show you something….." _ Even years later that voice still makes me flinch back, cringe, draw into myself. _Myotismon smiles down at the younger version of myself, who can tell just as well as I can he doesn't mean something good. "Come. I think you will find it…entertaining…" His fingers linger on her back for a moment longer as he gently pushes her down the hall, a warning not to run and not to disobey him."_

_The younger version of me reluctantly follows him, eyes shifting from side to side as if she's wondering when she can make an escape. But there isn't much chance with her master right there beside her. Plus he's got those stupid teleportation abilities._

_Unfortunate thing those. She wonders if he found out about the incident earlier, and a shiver of fear runs down her spine. But that's crazy. If he knew about her and Renamon freeing so many of the slaves, then surely she would have punished by now._

_Through an arched doorway they both walk, and she freezes the instant they enter. She recognizes the pit below. She's been forced to train there before. But she's never been up here…before. Where she knows he watches them, and her in particular. She never likes to think about him watching her….analyzing her…._

_Nearly being torn apart by whatever Digimon she's forced to fight is much more preferable. "Sit." He orders her, cape whirling around him as he sits down in his own throne, and gives her a look when she remains standing for a second before reluctantly sitting down in the chair next to him._

_Something about this feels wrong, really wrong…..not that she'd enjoy being forced to watch Digimon fight to the death like it's some kind of sport at ANY point, but she can sense the cold anticipation coming from him, sense the huge smirk that he's not showing._

_She slowly turns to look at the arena. Her stomach lurches as she sees one of the slaves she and Renamon helped save being shoved into the coliseum. The poor Monochromon looks completely terrified, covered in obvious whip wounds._

_She swallows hard and looks up at him, cringing as Myotismon smiles and strokes her hair. "Wait. It gets more interesting." He chuckles as she freezes._

_Another figure is shoved through the door opposite, covered in blood so much she can barely tell what kind of Digimon it is._

_Then the poor sap raises her head….and she recognizes those blue eyes. She'd know them anywhere. A moan of horror escapes her lips. "R-Renamon…."_

_She feels the icy cold hands pull her back as she's prepared to leap down and rescue her partner, do anything…._

"_Nuh uh uh pet…." He pulls her onto his lap even though she struggles, fighting back the scream that she feels rising up in her._

"_Enjoy my little game…" He whispers, stroking her cheek with one long cold finger…..just as the Monochromon lets out a desperate roar and charges Renamon._

"RENAMON NO!"

My scream echoes across the field and the next thing I know I'm back in the ravine and Davis is trying in his awkward way to comfort me-"Lily, it's okay, it's okay…really…."

"RENA-RENAMON!"

"LILS!" He hugs me and I force myself to stop shaking. When he pulls away he stares at me. "Are you going to be ok?"

I nod and push myself up. "Thanks…." He tried to comfort me, and I appreciate that. But he's not Tai. Tai's the only person I want to see right now….

"How many more tests do you think there are?" Davis chokes, and I see his own eyes are rimmed with tears.

I wonder what he saw there….swallowing hard I look up and see that the Emperor has disappeared.

"I….I guess he's done playing around with us?" He wonders as I help him to his feet. He glances to the right, and his eyes widen. "Look!"

A cave opens up in the side of the mountain and I cringe back slightly. Great not this again…..

"It's a trap."

"It's our only chance of getting our friends back!" Davis exclaims, and before I can stop him he's bolted inside.

"Davis WAIT!"

Racing after him, I freeze as I enter…..and it's not a cave. It's a cell row, the iron bars black and cruel. The torches hang from the rocky walls, their red light illuminating the Digimon who hide in the back, looking up at me with eyes full of fear. The air seems to have dipped into frigid as I continue walking, rubbing my arms as I try to-"Lily?"

"…Tai?"

I drop to my knees in front of the last cave….and I see him, his face cracked and bleeding, but he's not dead. I feel the beginning of tears forming in the corners of my eyes as I choke out, "I am so sorry I should have never let this happen."

"Don't be…." He reaches up and touches my face, and I sigh at the feeling of his warmth against mine. "Things like this just happen remember?" He whispers. "Isn't that what you taught me? Or…smacked into me?"

I roll my eyes but I don't really mean it, and he knows it. "Aw, Lils is that a smile?"

"Shut up…"

"Where's Davis?"

I freeze, my eyes widening. "Oh crap….I don't know! He just charged in here, we got separated I…."

He sighs. "As reckless as the Master thought you both would be…."

"…Tai?" A really cold feeling spreads up my spine. I'm really…REALLY not liking the way this conversation is going.

"Tai" smiles, straightening up, his eyes suddenly cold as rotten teeth descend from his gums, a leering taunt.

"No…."

Something kicks me forward from behind just as the Bakemon unlocks the cell door and I go flying inside.

"Enjoy your stay…"

Renamon smirks down at me, her tail brushing the ground, her lip curled in a sneer, eyes light with triumph as the Dark Ring glints. "You'll be here for a while."


	9. Forgotten Friendships, Emperor's Secret

(HEY GUYS!) Er...I have nothing much to say except I'm enjoying my summer vacation immensly. Went to Barnes and Noble. Bought a ridiculous amount of books. And wrote a bunch.

Episode Nine

"Ugh….."

His brown eyes slowly open, wincing as the sunlight increases the pain in his head.

"_Tai!"_

Her face…contorted with fear and panic…her hand wrapping around his…..her mouth opened pleadingly as she yelled for him not to let go. Falling….falling…

"LILY!"

Tai wakes fully, panic filling his entire body as he writhes but not able to move. "Lily where?"

It's about them when he notices two things. One, his ankles and wrists are bound to a wall behind him, pinching painfully….and two….he's facing a row of smirking Digimon, Monochromon, BlackTyrannomon, Snimon, and who knows what else, all with Dark Rings wrapped on them.

"…Oh boy…" He muttered, sweatdropping before hearing a groan next to him. "Agumon!"

"How is it we always end up in these situations?" Agumon sighs, closing his green eyes in resignation.

"Just lucky I guess." Cody mutters to his right.

"LUCKY?" Yolei shrieks, her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets as she writhes. "I…WOULD NOT call this lucky!"

"What happened to Lily and Davis?" Gatomon groans. "Where the heck are they when we need them?"

The laugh echoes ominously again, causing everyone present to freeze in anger/fear. "Oh don't worry. You'll be with the two of them soon…."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

The outburst doesn't come from Tai, surprisingly, but from Veemon, who writhes, kicking and spitting as he struggles to get at the Digimon Emperor who stands among the group of soldiers smirking.

"Veemon calm down!"

"NO! I swear to freaking Yggdrasil if you hurt my partner….!"

"Let's put it this way." The Emperor chuckles, crossing his arms. "You'd never know that two people could possibly have that much blood in them."

There's silence for a moment—even Veemon is stunned into horror.

"You sick little creep." TK's voice is low and menacing, not fitting the cute little blonde boy Tai first met at all. "When I get out of here….I'm going to have Angemon blast a hole through your dark heart."

"You can try." The Emperor scoffs, waving a hand as his throne seems to pop out of nowhere and he sits on it, leaning against the high black arched back and smirking. "Oh wait….you can't….because you'll be in pieces." He smiles and nods to the Snimon in front of him. "Whenever you're ready."  
"Men, stand ready to attack!"

Tai closes his eyes as they begin to countdown. _"Lily I'm so sorry….I failed you…."_

"All right! FI-AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The explosion booms out from the wall behind, and there's strangled screams as concrete goes flying everywhere—the Snimon's skull is immediately crushed as a huge block lands on his head before he can react.

"What the?"

"You know…" Tai's eyes widen and he fights the desire to groan as he recognizes the drawl—the one voice—the one person he did not want to see while he was chained up, helpless, and pathetic. "This is…hmmm….how many times have I rescued you now?" Damien's eyes glint with amusement.

…

I slam my shoulder into the bars of the cell once more, wincing in pain as it bruises horribly. My teeth clam shut as I fight the desire to scream in frustration.

I don't know why I bother. Even if I still had my powers, this would be pointless—we're powerful beings, but not superheroes.

Rubbing my aching arm, I scowl before groaning in frustration and leaning against the back of the wall, putting my head in my hands.

Why…why WHY could I not see that this was so clearly, so obviously, a trap? I feel like the biggest idiot there ever was—and considering my experience with people trying to trap me, I should have known better than to just charge in after Davis like this.

…If Sira finds out about this she's never going to let me hear the end of it. The sound of footsteps echoes outside my cell and I slowly look up, my eyes narrowing down to slits and a bitter smile touching my lips. "Coming to gloat?"

The Emperor is covered with scratches and part of his cape is frozen—I can't help the slow grin that forms on my face.

"Aw, did you piss off the wrong person you little moron?"

"Shut up!"

I don't even bother to yelp as he yanks the door open, grabs me by the hair and pulls me to the ground. I don't even flinch. If he wants to scare me, he's going to have to do a lot better than that.

"How did they find out?"

"How did they find WHAT out pretty boy?" I ask, raising an eyebrow and smirking when he scowls murderously down at me.

"Your friends…." He snarled, "the freaky girl and that odd boy…."

"Sira and Damien?" Oddly enough those descriptions seem to fit them perfectly. "They're here?"

"Don't get your hopes up." The Emperor sneers down at me. "They're never going to find you. What I want to know is how they managed to get so far…."

I don't say anything, I just raise an eyebrow.

"They almost managed to stop me from killing your little boyfriend."

My blood runs cold, and my eyes widen as he smirks again. "What? Touched a nerve there I see?"

The ice seems to run through my veins and I want to kill him….my hands wrap around his throat catching him off guard, and then….right before I can literally tear his oversized head off his body something hits me.

A smirk touches my face and I let him go. "You're lying."

"WHAT?"  
Looking back over my shoulder, I scoff-"The only way Tai would be dead….is if Sira let him die there. And I know her well enough that even if she doesn't like him she'd never do that." Damien I wasn't so sure about. "And you couldn't possibly have enough strength to stop her from saving them."

The whip slices through the air, hissing before striking me across the face. I don't even flinch as it leaves a long red gash across my cheek.

I just stare blankly at him, causing him to take a few steps back, looking surprised and a little uneasy, touch my hand to the cut, feel the blood trickle across my fingers and reply with a simple-"I've had worse…."

….

Tai was starting to seriously regret that he hadn't been killed by the Emperor's firing squad. For one thing, not only did he have to put up with Damien's half smirks that were constantly shot his way or snide remarks as the group fled across the very desert that had sucked him away from Lily, but he also had to deal with something much worse.

A very angry and unimpressed Sira.

"Do you TRY to get yourself killed?" She hisses through clenched teeth as she leads the way, Sorcerymon right next to her. "It is flipping unbelievable that I have to rescue you like some inexperienced newbie…..but what's even more ridiculous is that you walked into such an OBVIOUS trap."

"I know, I know…."

"If you know than why did you do it?"

"…" Tai didn't really have an answer to that question, and he looked the other way with a sigh. Sira yanked on his arm so he was forced to face her.

"You are supposed to be the leader. You are supposed to make it so that stuff like this…." She gestures to the rest of the Digidestined—Kari has a cut on her forehead, Yolei a bandaged arm-"doesn't happen."

"I know that, all right?"

Sira glowers at him once more before muttering curse words as she walks off. "This is why I thought Lily would be better off with Matt instead of you…maybe he could stop her from doing stupid stunts like this instead of getting caught all the time!"

Tai resents that. Like any normal man could stop Lily from doing something if she set her mind to it. She's the text book definition of stubborn. But….that's what he likes about her. How she's the only girl in the world that will flat out tell him he's wrong or he's an idiot.

Yolei is currently hanging onto Damien, looking up at him with such adoration it makes Tai want to gag. Damien doesn't look all that happy about it either. His eyes keep scanning the area as if searching for a way to escape.

"Thank you SOOO much for saving us! You're my hero!"

"Sure…whatever." He mutters, looking away from the blushing girl.

She smiles up at him. "I'm serious. Whatever favour you'd like, it's all yours. Hey, I bet I could get you a discount at my family's convenience store!"

"Wonderful." The sarcasm in his voice is obvious to anyone except for Yolei, whose too star-struck to tell. TK notices, and he frowns with slight disapproval.

Sorcerymon frowns as well, but not at Damien. He glances back over the horizon, his crystal blue eyes narrowing. "Did any of you hear that?"

Tai glances the direction Sorcerymon is looking. For a minute, he doesn't hear anything, just the wind blowing away at this Yggdrasil-forsaken place.

Then he does hear it. A low moan, a low whisper, a soft curse. "Li….lily…."

Exchanging a quick glance with Sira, the two of them both run forwards to the dunes that tower in front of them, but Damien gets there first.

Tai can hear the sound of him swearing quietly under his breath before the others all crowd around him. At first Tai doesn't recognize anything…he thinks the torn yellow blur is just, in his stupid refusal to accept what he's seeing, trash. It has to be. His mind won't accept what his eyes are screaming at him because….because….

Red splashes across the desert and Tai's voice shakes as he whispers the name-"….Renamon….."

…

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Davis slams his fists against the cold brick walls and groans in frustration, before giving up and slumping to his knees. He glances down at his hands, which are stained from blood from where his knuckles split from pounding so hard to get free. His voice is horse as well.

The frustration had nearly completely taken him over, and now his body was paying the price. Davis closes his eyes and lets out another groan. Thoughts of his friends fill his head. Especially Kari, with her caramel hair and dark eyes….if anything had happened to her….

Even worse, he'd lead the one friend he still had safely with him into danger. Lily had warned him that it didn't feel safe but had he listened to her?

Nope.

"_I can't lose people I care about again…."_ Painful images from the past squeeze in at his mind as if trying to force their way in, and he struggles to shove them right back out. He doesn't want to remember. Especially not that.

There's not even a bed in this cell…just a small section of ground not covered with dirt. Or blood. He desperately hopes what he's walking in is the former as he crawls into the corner, exhausted, his maroon eyes slowly closing.

However sleep is possibly the worst thing for him right now.

_The bitter, cold scents of the hospital fill his nose as he slowly opens his eyes. Davis freezes in the middle of the room._

_He's been here before. He swore he'd never come back.  
Even though his mind is screaming "no" his feet slowly force him to walk forwards till he's at the edge of the hospital bed._

_Flowers, now dead and limp, wilt in the vase sitting on the desk next to the bed. He recognizes them instantly. He made that vase in his third grade art class and his sister Jun picked the flowers._

_Slowly his eyes travel towards the woman lying in the bed…her face is gaunt and bony now….as though the flesh has been worn away. Her eyes are tightly closed in a restless sleep. Most of her hair has fallen out at this stage, and there's an IV wire attached to her wrist supplying her with needed fluids._

_His voice catches as he whispers her name-'…Mum…."_

_Her eyes, just like his slowly open and she smiles weakly before taking his hand in her own. "Hi sweetie…I'm glad I get to see you one more time."_

"_Mum don't talk like that you're….you're going to be fine…."_

_Davis feels her hand go slack in his and his eyes widen. "Mum?...Mum! MUM!"_

Davis wasn't sure for how long he was screaming. But when his eyes shot open, he heard a completely different scream, then the sound of something crunching.

A small creature with a furry body and what honestly looked almost like an elephant like face, complete with little tusks curling outwards, dropped to the ground, twitching before bursting into data. "What the?"

"Tapirmon…." Ryo strode into the room, her eyes narrow with disgust as she watched the particles float up to the sky. "Nasty Digimon. They can mess with your mind, tormenting with nightmares till you go mad. I'm guessing that's what he used against both you and Lily."

"How did you know we were in trouble?" Davis asks, confused but relieved to at least see some face he's pretty sure has never plotted to kill him. Again—he's pretty sure.

Ryo shrugs. "Hacked into the tamer's computer's months ago. I pretty much know everything they know, especially when an alert goes out."

"You did what?" Davis' eyes widens and he groans before facepalming. "Oh my gosh Sira's going to have a conniption fit when she finds out about that."

"That's what I said." Monodramon comments with a roll of his amber eyes. Ryo just shrugs. "At this point I'm pretty much beyond caring what Walker feels about anything. Now let's just go find the other kid and-…"

The sound of an alarm blaring suddenly glows off….a high pitched whine that continues to grow. Davis' eyes widen as he looks over at both of them.

Monodramon twitches as he looks over at her. "Didn't you turn off the alarm?"

"No I believe I gave that job to YOU!"

"Oh really Ms. Ultimate Hacker?"

"Uh….guys…." Davis waves his hands wildly as the sound of hundreds of feet comes pounding the hallways towards his cell.

"Right." Ryo mutters with a sigh, pulling her gun out and looking at Monodramon. "This didn't need to get any more complicated."

"Here come the welcoming committee." Monodramon grimaces. Ryo glances over the way and her eyes narrow at Davis. "Stay out of the way kid. I'm not in the mood to add collateral damage."

"Way to make a guy feel loved." He mutters before skittering off into the corner just as the snarls grew even louder.

"MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…..!"

….

Renamon's blue eyes slowly open, a moan escaping her lips. "W….what happened?"

"You okay?" Tai's hand rests on her shoulder as he looks over at Sorcerymon. "How bad is it?"

"All things considered, she's been worse injured." Sorcerymon comments as he straightens back up. "Actually I can't find anything physically wrong with her."

"That's a relief."

"Where's….Lily?" The tone was weary but missing the usual panic it had in it. Tai frowns. "We were actually hoping you could tell us that."

"I don't….know. We were all together when you guys went missing…..the Emperor appeared….he used a Tapirmon to cast illusions over all of us."

"Oh boy." Sira mutters, her eyes narrowing. When TK shoots her a questioning look she just sighs-"I've been on the wrong end of a Tapirmon's spell. It's not a fun experience I can tell you that much."

"In any case, can you tell us what happened after that?" Gatomon questions. "How'd you get separated?"

"I'm not sure." She responds grimly.

Gatomon's ears pin back slightly. "I'd have thought you'd be freaking out a little more than this…." She mutters under her breath.

Kari frowns a little as well. Renamon had the habit of, whenever Lily got kidnapped/went missing to fall into complete panic mode at times. Even though it happened often, Renamon would act like her entire world had been taken away from her. "You're….probably just in shock." She says slowly, exchanging a look with Sira who frowns as well.

"None of that really matters." Damien scoffs, crossing his arms. "What matters is, can you take us to where Lily was taken?"

Renamon's face hardens. "Of course I can."

"Good." There's a kind of menace in Damien's tone that makes nearly everyone, except Yolei, whose still too starstruck to care, flinch. Like a razor cutting across your flesh. "I swear to Yggdrasil if he's so much as put a papercut on her I will make sure that he will scream for mercy."

Sira raises an eyebrow as Damien strides off after Renamon. "Long as you don't go overboard pretty boy….."

"Oh come on you guys." Armadillomon scoffs, scratching his side. "He's just worried for his lady love. Any man would be."

Tai twitches repeatedly. "First of all…Lily is not HIS lady love, and second of all, as pissed as I am….I…." His voice trails off as he realizes he doesn't know how to put his feelings into words. Sighing, he brushes his hair back from his face. "Never mind." He mutters, before, albeitely reluctantly, following Damien.

…

The cell door creaks open and I supress the huge smirk that forms on my face, as I toss the bobby pin I pulled out of my hair lazily up and down in my hand.

"Yup. I've still got it." I mutter, snickering quietly before glancing warily from side to side. Good. No guards coming. At least not for this moment.

I try to keep my footsteps as light as possible, something ironically, I learned from Gatomon—or at least by watching her.

The ring attached to my finger shines slightly in the darkness of the hallway, and I clasp my right hand over it, afraid that the bright green glow is going to attract unwanted attention.

"This is going to be a pain if it never comes off…" I mutter, rubbing at it. "I mean what am I supposed to do when I shower? Or sleep?"

Then I realize I'm talking to myself again and fall silent. I'm good at picking up sounds and seeing things before others do….the way the shadows flicker if someone is walking towards me, even if they're invisible. So far nothing.

One of the doors is open and I quickly slip inside, making sure I don't close it after me. Rule number one when sneaking around—don't attract attention.

"Whoah." I mutter, glancing around the room. Computers line every wall, huge screens seeming to stare down at me like a million eyes. "Izzy would have an orgasm if he saw this place."

One of the screens, the one right in front of the chair is still on. I pray there's not a password I have to try and figure out, and thank Yggdrasil the Emperor had already logged in.

"You must have left in a hurry…." I mutter, smiling. "Thanks for that." I move the mouse over to another folder. Clicking on it I freeze with a fullblown picture of Tai shows up. A scowl forms on my face as I see he's got data on everyone—like where we live, the families….

Few minutes of typing and it's all deleted. The next folder is something weird. "Project Kimera?" I ask aloud, my eyes narrowing as I open it and see….welll…nothing. Just a bunch of lines in binary code I don't understand, and I groan, leaning back. Where's Sira when I need her?

There's only one word I recognize from when Wizardmon made a belated attempt to try and teach me to read this dead language-"Millennium."

"What the heck?" I mutter, before retyping the word in what I can only assume is the search box. A picture shows up of a snarling face with soulless red eyes and a black skull like face. "Yikes. Wouldn't want to meet that in a dark alley."

Thankfully some of it is written in Japanese so I can at least understand part of it-a list of….allies? My eyes widen and I grip the edge of the desk hard, my knuckles growing white as I flip through the list of pictures.

Devimon…..Piedmon…Machinedramon…..they all worked for this creep. My jaw tightens, and I click on the last picture.

Myotismon's face smirks back at me, sending a shiver down my spine as I stare at those cruel, pitiless blue eyes, gaunt face, long slicked back blonde hair…."Why am I not surprised you were a part of this too?" I sigh, leaning my elbows on the desk as I stare up at him.

Although….in a way I AM kind of surprised. I mean, last time I checked Myotismon was kind of more of the…lone wolf of the villains. He definitely didn't like those he had to share part of Server with….but again, that was Etemon. Nobody liked Etemon. But I do remember him ranting about how the Dark Masters were a bunch of "incompetent cowards who don't dare fight on their own." And I know how big his head used to be—he would never consent to let someone else give him orders.

"So what were you doing playing lackey?" I mutter, my eyebrows knitting together just as my elbow accidentally presses down on a big red button, and a bright light flashes. "…Oh no."

…

Devidramon roars, slamming several slaves to the side with his tail before letting out a shriek of pain as one of the DarkTyrannomon clamps down hard on his wing.

"Devidramon!"

With a snarl he whirls around and slashes the BlackTyrannomon's throat, growling in triumph as it screams before bursting into data.

Ryo is crouched behind her partner's hind leg, in front of Davis, her gun out and shooting at as many of them as she can.

Several Dobermon's Dark Rings are blasted off with ease, the bullets obliterating the metal and sending sparks flying everywhere.

Ryo glances up and her eyes widen as a Snimon charges them from the right, blades stretched out. In desperation she aims for the Dark Ring attached to its upper arm, but it simply crosses its arms so that the bullets ram against the impenetrable blades without any affect.

"DAVIS LOOK OUT!"

Ryo shoves him out of the way just as Snimon roars, "TWIN SICKLES!"

Two blades of pink energy slice forward, tearing through the ground ripping up the concrete floor. Devidramon whirls around and bellows a warning too late. Ryo shoves Davis and herself out of the way just in time but the blast still sends her flying, and she hits the wall with a sickening cracking noise.

"RYO NO!"

The laugh echoes, and Devidramon snarls as Davis crouches over Ryo's limp form. "Come on come on…wake up please…."

"I'm okay…." She manages to weeze, grabbing at her chest as if every breath hurt. Davis wouldn't be surprised if she'd broken a couple of ribs with that stunt. "Don't fuss over me Motomiya."

"My my my…."

Both of them stiffen as the Emperor walks forward, smirking. "What is it we have here?" He questions with mock politeness as Wormmon scuttles up behind his legs. "Here I thought I'd just catch one pest and instead I've caught two."

Wormmon's eyes widen. "Ryo?"

Ryo sighs and stuffs the gun back into her pocket, smiling slightly as she looks down at the little insect Digimon. "Hello Wormmon."

"Don't talk to the traitor." The Emperor snarls, kicking Wormmon back hard with his foot, causing the poor guy to cry out in pain.

Davis was too angry at this scene to wonder how Ryo knew the Emperor. "HEY! You can't-"Davis, shut up."  
Ryo mutters, her eyes narrowing as she turns to glower at the Emperor. "But he's right. Shouldn't you be treating your partner…the only person who wants to stick around you after you've gone completely mad better than this?"

The Emperor scoffs. "This? This is not my partner."

Wormmon whimpers as the Emperor shoots him a derogatory look. "This is just a mistake that keeps following me around. I'd ditch him in a heartbeat."

"…Master…."

"How could you have sunk so low?" The disgust in Ryo's voice catches Davis off guard. "What happened to the friend I used to have? I've done some pretty crappy things in my past….but this really takes the cake."

"You abandoned me! You have no right to be lecturing me about anything!"

"I didn't abandon you…..I didn't have much choice in the manner….you're a smart boy, couldn't you tell that?" She adds sarcastically.

"And when I asked you to join me-"I stand by what I said. Torturing innocent and helpless Digimon is too pathetic for me to be a part of."

The Emperor stares, eyes narrowing and Ryo meets his gaze. Her shoulders slump slightly. "Ken I…."

"Wha?" Davis blinks. "_Did she say Ken? That doesn't even…."_

"ENOUGH!"

Fire forms in the DarkTyrannomon's mouth just as Devidramon lunges, teeth and claws bared. The two of them wrestle on the ground, snarling and snapping their teeth, Devidramon's razor sharp claws tearing off huge chunks as DarkTyrannomon's flames scorch his face.

Ryo clenches her teeth and reaches for her gun just as the wall behind them slowly slides away like an elevator door, and the warm sunshine from the outdoors pours in.

"What the? Who pressed the exit button?"

Ryo glances down the steep edge and scowls. It did look like a far drop….

"Sticky Net!" A voice whispers quietly, and she jolts back in surprise when the threads collide to the wall next to her before dropping down over the side to the ground.

"You should go Ryo." Wormmon whispers, looking up at her. "While you still can."

"But what about Lily?" Davis protests, taking a step forward. Ryo glances back at the battle scene. She can make out the shadows of dozens of the Emperor's slaves, all trying to get in themselves and get a piece of her.

"Sorry squirt. It's going to be hard enough for Devidramon to hold them off long enough to break away and give us a headstart. She's on her own."

"But…."

"Thanks Wormmon." She mutters before wrapping an arm around Davis' waist—possibly a more awkward situation than he'd ever been in, grabbed the strings of thread which were amazingly strong, and did a regular Tarzan interpretation as she leapt.

…

"We're going in circles."

Damien barely glances over his shoulder at Tai as the group continues to make their way through the sand. "You have a better idea?"

"Actually yes."

Tai turns so he's in front of him, eyes narrowing. "Doesn't something about this feel wrong to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at her…." He hisses quietly under his breath, gesturing to Renamon. "Look at how she's acting."

Renamon is calmly leading the way, her fur ruffled slightly and her eyes narrowed down to slits, but it's not how Tai is used to her behaving. He would have thought she'd be snarling under her breath, muttering death threats against the Emperor, murmuring Lily's name every once in a while.

Over the top? Yes. But that's how Renamon behaved when she lost her partner.

"Something is wrong." Agumon agrees, walking up to Tai. "If Tai was kidnapped, I'd have evolved into Greymon and be ready to tear the whole area apart to find him."

"Er….thanks buddy." Tai manages a smile. "I'd do the same for you."

Damien rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath, causing Tai's irritation with him to rise. Honestly why does Lily consider this jerk a friend?

"Something about this is just wrong. I've known Renamon for years, she's not the calm type."

"Why does it matter how she's acting?" Damien scoffs. "All that matters is finding Lily. Something you don't seem to care as much about…."

It took Agumon AND TK to stop Tai from lunging at the other boy and punching him in the face.

"Watch your mouth." Gatomon snaps at Damien, her blue eyes narrowing. "No one cares more about Lily than the rest of us, got that? But we've got to make sure that nothing interferes with us being able to find her, especially since Renamon is acting like she's been brain damaged. And I'm sure Sira would agree, right Si-…."

Everyone sweatdrops as there's now a blank space where Sira and Sorcerymon used to be. "What the?"

Kari blinked as what looked like a folded piece of paper seemed to drift down from nowhere. Picking it up, she unfolded it.

"_Going to do things my way. See you later. Sira."_

"….You've got to be kidding me…."

Tai's right eye twitches before he turns and glowers at Damien. "All I'm saying is it wouldn't hurt to have a small group split off and look for Lily somewhere else, just in case."

"And what? Have those who leave get picked off for nothing? That's got to be the most moronic plan I've ever heard."

He growls, and Damien just raises an eyebrow before smirking. "…I know what this is about. You're so desperate to play the big hero, aren't you? What? Are you convinced that if you save her, Lily will come crying back into your arms? Pathetic…yes it's so obvious that's all you care about, your ridiculous crush and your petty longings."

"…" Tai lowers his head not looking at anyone. Damien smirks again before turning around…before yelping as he's tackled with a snarl and the two boys go rolling, both of the punching and kicking each other, snarling and yelling at the top of their lungs.

"Tai…Tai!" Kari runs down the hill, panting. "Tai, this isn't going to help Lily! Stop it!"

Gatomon stares down at the two of them for a bit longer, her ears pinning back. This is pathetic. Lily is in trouble and the two of them seem to care more about knocking each other's teeth out than looking for her.

Her claws slowly slide out of her paws and she growls in frustration. They can't trust Renamon. Damien and Tai are both being idiots. If it's only up to her….than that's what she'll do.

"_I said I'd make her safe and I will."_

…

"Well well well….look's like the little mouse got out of her cage."

I turn the chair slowly around and smirk up at the Emperor, catching him off guard with my lazy confidence. "I've been jimmying locks like that since I was seven. It's child's play to me."

His jaw tightens. "I'm assuming you were the one who let the brat and the traitor go?"

I blink. "I did?...Oh. So that's what happened when I pushed the big button." I raise an eyebrow. "I don't suppose there's another button I can conviently press that will send you falling down a trap door, is there?"

The Emperor snarls and slams his fist down on the consul. I don't even blink. "Careful. You might break something."

"Dang you girl….." He hisses, jamming his face close to mine. "Why don't you fear me?"

Snorting, I lean lesirously back in my chair. "Because pretty boy there was only one person I feared. And you're about six feet away from being him." I add, smirking at his short statue.

"…" He twitches. "No one could be more powerful than me. Digimon all over run screaming in terror when they hear my name."

"Yeah well…." I shrug. "When he was still alive Digimon would delete themselves rather than get taken prisoner by him. Or delete their family members rather than have their family be dragged there. Now what does that tell you?"

The Emperor scowls, leaning back, eyes narrowing, so I decide to finally ask my own question. "So how about you tell me why I am the one you decided to kidnap?"

His lips curve in a smirk. "Why don't you tell me more about that….star?"

I can't help it. For once he actually does take me by surprise. My eyes widen and I feel my mouth half open in a yelp of surprise. "Wait, how the heck did you?"

"Let's just say I have friends in high places." He responds with a malevolent grin, blue eyes flashing behind the sunglasses, "and your talents sounded very…useful."

Oh Yggdrasil not this again. "Then whoever you got your information from hasn't been paying much attention lately." I say, trying to keep the wariness out of my tone. "Or they would have known my powers aren't working very well at all anymore."

"Please. Like I'm going to believe that bull."

"It's not bull. Why would I make it up, even if it might get a power hungry addict like you off my back?" I add, my eyes scanning the room as I search for anything that might be able to use as a weapon.

Nothing. Unless I shoved the Emperor's head through one of the computer screens. I was going to file that under only chance option.

"It isn't your stupid fire or electricity abilities I want." He scoffs, curling his lip. "I have slaves who I bet are much more powerful than you ever were in that regard."

Keep cool…keep cool….he's just a stupid kid, murdering him and dumping his body somewhere is not going to do me any good…

"Then why do you want me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow and trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"…" He doesn't answer for a moment. Just looks away, and I can sense the weirdest emotion coming off of him….a mixture of sadness, grief, really strong, and guilt. Guilt was the strongest.

His voice is quiet as he speaks. "I….my contact said that the stars have the ability to bring the dead back to life."

"Huh?"

The Emperor snarls at me, anger peaking. "Don't play dumb! You will help me bring him back or you'll regret it!"

"Look…." I say quietly, looking into his eyes. "I don't know who told you that. But it's not the truth. The dead are beyond our reach." A pang fills my heart and I sigh. "Believe me…I know…."

On the computer screen a voice calls out-"RE-ENTERING HOME BASE."

"Wha…?" I turn to look out the window and my face goes pale. Dark waters…dark waves….red eyes…laughter fills my head….fingers stretching out to grab me….

"_Mine…."_

My head seems to erupt in agonizing pain—it feels like someone swung an ax down and sliced my skull in half, I'm barely aware of what's going on, I just know that the next thing I know I'm rolling on the ground, screaming in agony, my eyes rolling in the back of my head.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"

"W-what are you talking about?" The Emperor's voice seems far away, and full of fear. "I'm not touching you!"

"OH YGGDRASIL MY HEAD IS COMING APART!"

…

Gatomon freezes midway in the ventilation system. Her eyes widen as she breathes my name in horror, as the screams fill her ears.

"Lily…."

Her paws pound down the shaft, and she's barely aware of anything, just following the sounds of the agonized screams. "Hang on please hang on…" She whispers, screwing her eyes up tight, her fur puffing up so it's twice her size.

This feeling of wild desperation is all too familiar, but she can't pinpoint exactly where. She shudders and keeps running, a snarl gracing her features showing tiny but sharp teeth, her razor like claws unsheathing.

If the Emperor had hurt her there would be hell to pay. "LIGHTNING PAW!"

Her right paw curls around as she knocks the grating clear out of the ventilation shaft which such force it slams into the opposite wall, denting it.

Two Gorillamon standing guard at the door where the screams echo out from immediately stiffen and lunge forward, but Gatomon wasn't Myotismon's top general for nothing.

Her claws lash out once, then twice. That's all she needs.

Panting heavily as the Gorillamon both fall unconscious to the floor without even having time to yelp, she whirls around with a snarl at the sound of small feet padding forwards.

Wormmon stares at her for a moment…and Gatomon stares back, her pupils slitting angrily, ready to squish this worm if he gets in her way.

Wormmon slowly reaches up and presses a button on the side of the wall, and she tenses, ready to lunge forward but the door just slides open leading to an empty hallway. "She's through there." He whispers.

"…?" Gatomon's eyes narrow slightly but she doesn't have time to question as another low moan echoes out. "Thanks." She mutters curtly before bolting forwards.

She races down the hallway towards a set of double doors and brings her paw back once more. "LIGHTNING PAW!"

…

Tai massages his bruised jaw and stares at the others as they walk away, only his sister still standing beside him.

He shouldn't have done that. Let Damien rile him up like that. It means that now everyone wonders if Damien was right, and if he's over emotional and not thinking rationally due to Lily's disappearance. Even TK walks off with them, though he insists it's only to make sure Yolei and Cody don't get themselves killed.

Tai's not sure rather to believe him or not.

Sighing, he runs a hand through his chestnut hair and glances down at his little sister, who clings to his arm like a security blanket. "Well…we'd better start walking."

"And what?" Agumon questions as they walk in the opposite direction of the group. "We don't have a single idea where we're headed."

"I'm worried about Gatomon." Kari whispers, leaning her head on her brother's shoulder. Tai touches her arm comfortingly. "It will be all right. Gatomon's a cat, they always wander off with some plan in mind." He says with a wry smile.

She snorts but doesn't argue. "You know for how little they like each other I think Sira and Gatomon are definitely similar in some ways."

"Me too, but I won't be the one that makes that comparison where they can hear." Tai chuckles.

Agumon looks thoughtfully up at him. "You know I actually saw Sira leave. She was muttering something about bringing the others and having them deal with this."

"…Is that all she said?'

"Well…no. She also muttered something about how she can't take being surrounded by idiots."

"Should have expected something like that." Kari says with a roll of her eyes. She looks over at Tai and bites her lip.

Tai's gaze is almost emotionless as he stares out over the horizon, the sunlight reflecting in his brown eyes. "_I'll find you Lily….it doesn't matter how long I search, I'll never give up on you. So wherever you are, don't you dare give up either."_

…

"This way, quickly."

TK raises an eyebrow as Renamon gestures to the cave. It seemed like they'd been wandering in the desert for hours before finally reaching this rockier area. Yolei hadn't stopped complaining for hours. "Here?" He asks warily.

"Through here." She corrects, dropping down to all fours.

"I'm not sure about this TK." Patamon mutters, flapping beside him. Everyone else has the same uneasy expression on their face. Something about this just feels so…wrong. Once again, TK wishes he'd never left Tai. Or Kari.

Even Damien doesn't look all that comfortable. He glances back over at the exhausted Yolei and Cody and shakes his head. "I don't think this is a good idea. If something goes wrong in there it could be difficult to escape, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

Tai and Damien really aren't all that different from each other, TK thinks to himself, as he watches. Damien has the same ability Tai has—to get a group of people to come together and follow him. To trust him that they will be safe if they do what he says.

"If you don't go in I'll go in by myself." Renamon's voice gets more agitated now as she paces back in forth in front of Damien, a low growl escaping her lips.

Damien's eyes just narrow. Glancing to his right he says-"Yolei?"

Her face lights up as he speaks her name. "Go fly up above on Halsemon. If we don't come out of that cave within twenty minutes I want you to fly off and get help, understand me?"

"Perfecto!" She says with a grin and a nod. When he just gives her a blank look she winces and rubs the back of her head. "Er….I mean no problem. I can handle that."

"I know you can." He says with a warmer smile that makes her blush again. Renamon leads the way urgently into the gaping mouth of the cave, her bushy tail the last thing they see before she vanishes inside.

Damien follows after her, and TK and Cody exchange a look.

"Is everyone sure this is a good idea?" Armadillomon mutters nervously. "I don't particular cotton to it."

"You don't what?" Patamon blinks but TK decides to ignore Armadillomon's weird Western sayings and responds with, "We've come this far, haven't we?" and follows them inside.

….

Gatomon hisses, anger filling her entire body as she glowers at the Emperor. "Let her go! NOW!"

Lily's head is bent over, her teeth clenched as if she's in terrible pain. A low moan escapes her lips but she seems frozen to the spot.

What in Yggdrasil's name could he have possibly done to her to have driven Lily to this mess? The Emperor smirks down at the enraged cat. "I actually haven't done anything to her. Yet." He adds, stroking the whip in his right hand.

She hisses, livid. "Don't you DA-!" Before she can pounce on this impudent, cowardly brat someone grabs her by the scruff from behind, and she finds herself lifted up by another smirking Gorillamon.

Dang. Guess there was one more guard she hadn't been able to get rid of in time.

"Look how helpless you both are." The Emperor laughs, smirking as his eyes travel from Lily back to the seething Gatomon. "Pathetic."

"…" Gatomon stares at Lily, crouched and shivering. She can't help but feel like she's been in this position before. Her first thought is that the deja-vu feelings are coming from when Kari was kidnapped. But no….it's something else.

_Salamon howls, biting and kicking as she struggles to get to the chained up prisoner on the opposite end of the cell._

_The girl is screaming, screaming and crying as she struggles to break free from where she's chained to the wall. She can't be older than seven…maybe younger than that, she's so skinny and frail looking._

_She's screaming as the gloved hand grabs her neck and shoves it down….Salamon can see blood trickling down the back of the girl's neck and onto her shirt, dripping on the ground below. Even more blood stains her back so much that the brick walls are soaked with it._

_Salamon goes berserk, biting at her kidnapper's feet and wings. He howls, scratching her with a taloned foot. "STUPID LITTLE ##$$!"_

"_Now now Demidevimon…." The voice is the one that haunts her nightmares every night. Myotismon smirks as he pets the girl's hair absently, ignoring her quiet sobbing of pain. "This is what happens to those who try and escape me my dears…."_

_Salamon fights the desire to bite him, and the next thing she knows her jaws are being yanked open by Demidevimon's feet and something….vile is poured into her mouth with the other._

"_Open wide." He cackles, even though she hacks and struggles to spit it out. The last thing she sees is Myotismon smirking down at her before it all goes dark._

Lily's scream jolts her back to normal. She sees the flash of the whip before it slashes down on Lily's back.

"NO!"

Blood trickles down to the floor….drip…drip….a small puddle of it collecting around the girl, and Gatomon can tell this isn't the first time the Emperor has hit her.

More angry than she has been in a long time, Gatomon has to struggle when one of the Gorillamon grabs her by the scruff and turns her around, a gigantic leer on his face.

He holds an open Dark Ring in front of her, slowly moving it towards her neck….

…

The water drips off the stalactites….or was it stalagmites? Cody could never remember the difference. Weird shadows seemed to cast across the entire place. Out of all of the caves they'd been in, this was by far the creepiest.

TK touches his shoulder and Cody's glad the older boy is there. It's nice to have this support, kind of like an older brother.

Damien is dead focused on the mission, deadly silent as he follows the sound of Renamon's paw prints. Normally Cody wouldn't be bothered by the fact Renamon is rushing so much. Her partner had been kidnapped after all. But….he couldn't shake the feeling that….she was trying to ditch them.

Damien mutters a curse word as they reach an intersection. In one direction, a narrow path that really….really doesn't look safe. The other, blocked by a massive wall of rocks.

"Er, I vote we DON'T go that way." TK says, pointing over to the path that probably is right next to some bottomless pit, the way it always is in movies.

"What are you complaining about?" Cody mutters. "Your Digimon can fly."

"That's okay." Armadillomon shrugs. "I have other talents that will allow us to get through that mess." He gestures to the right. "Cody? If you please?"

"DIGIARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO…..DIGMON! THE DRILL OF KNOWLEDGE!"

Digmon's drills spin with excitement as he steps forward, eyes gleaming. "Shall we do this? ROCK CRACKING!"

The rocks give way easily under the spinning barrage, but Cody can't help but feel uneasy still, as the pebbles strike at his face and upper arms.

Damien looks uncomfortable as well. "Wait…." He mutters, taking a step back.

Another boulder gives way, and a low rumble echoes. Digmon takes a step back, confused, even as the boulder rolls past him. "Er…was that one of you all's stomachs?"

Cody feels his face turn pale as red eyes slowly appear in the darkness behind the rocks….not just two….but six….

"G-guys?"

The roar of rage and hate is so powerful it nearly knocks all of them off their feet. A clawed hand punches through the rocks and starts to tear it's way through, the snarls growing louder and louder.

"GOLD RUSH!"

The drills shoot forwards and slam into the creature's hand, but it barely reacts save to heighten its snarl. TK's faces goes pale as they see that the hand sticking out of the rock…is pure bone.

"…Oh…my holy freaking Yggdrasil…."

"Deltamon…" Damien breathes, his eyes narrowing as he shoves TK back. "Now would be a good time to run."

…

Yolei lets out a strangled gasp as she hears the roar echo from below. "TK! CODY! DAMIEN!"

Halsemon snarls as he dives downwards, claws stretching out. "Yolei, we must assist them at once!"

"No!" She tugs on the loose feathers around his neck, forcing him to halt mid dive and float there. "Damien said go get help if something like this happens."

"But-"Halsemon, you're not designed for fighting in small places like that. If we don't get help soon they'll die for sure."

"…." Halsemon sighs. "I know you are right m'lady."

She smiles and then her eyes glint menacingly beneath her glasses. "Now fly faster than you ever have before!"

….

Tai takes out his Digivice and stares. "That's weird…."

"What is Tai?" Kari asks, confused as she came to a stop ahead of him, standing on top of the dunes.

"I'm getting massive signals….according to this….we're getting a bunch of people with Digivices headed our way….but….they're different…."

"Different?" Agumon blinks. "Different how?"

"I'm not-"TAI!"

He let out a startled yelp as dust and sand whirled around them from the fierce winds—Yolei literally leapt ten feet off of Halsemon's back, her eyes full of panic.

A cold feeling clutched his stomach as Kari rushed back. "What is it? What's happened?"

"T-they're under attack! You've got to help them!"

…

My eyes slowly flicker open again at the sound of outraged yowls echoing along with the sound of frantic scuffling. My neck still seems to ache and my head feels like it's on fire so I can barely force myself to focus on the situation….the acidic smell of blood fills the room and I know it's my blood, surrounded me in this dark puddle.

I hear the Emperor's laugh and see two Gorillamon, one holding Gatomon by the head and the other holding her by the tail as a third approaches with a Dark Ring….

"_He laughs….she howls they shove it down her throat my head is burning burning BURNING!"_

Whoah. Where'd that come from? A snarl escapes my lips as I lunge for the Emperor, whose too distracted to defend himself.

"Get your hands ARGHHHHHHHH!"

He screams as I twist his arm at an unnatural angle before literally throwing him into the Gorillamon with such force that the Gorillamon holding the Dark Ring was caught off guard, fell on his backside, squishing both the Dark Ring….and the Emperor…who made a noise like a mouse being stepped on.

The other two Gorillamon, who aren't the brightest of Digimon, stared blankly in confusion, which gave Gatomon the chance to wrap her tail around one of their thick necks and start to squeeze, choking him, before lashing out with her claws at his Dark Ring, shattering it.

The last one raises both hands above his head to slam down on her before I charge him from behind…..or try to. I learn the hard way for a mortal without powers that's pretty much like running into a brick wall.

Thankfully the other Gorillamon Gatomon had just saved from the Dark Ring came back to his senses pretty quickly, and blasts his old ally with a cry of "ENERGY CANNON!"

The last one struggles to get back up from the ground, but it was kind of pointless, because Gatomon just leapt up and punched him hard on the top of his head with one gloved paw.

His eyes roll backwards before he collapses again….squishing the Emperor once more.

"You okay?" Gatomon asks urgently, padding over to me. I smile and let her hop into my arms, something I don't think she's ever let anyone but Kari do.

"Thanks for saving me." I mutter, hugging her. She shrugs. "Eh. No biggie." But there's a look in her eyes that makes me frown. "Gatomon? What is it?"

"Nothing….I just thought…." She's cut off by another low moan from the Emperor. We look at each other, roll our eyes in unison before walking over to him.

"What?" I say sarcastically, ignoring the throbbing pain in my back and head. "You can't take a hit pretty bo…." My voice trails off and my eyes widen in shock. "Oh no….oh HECK NO."

"What?" Gatomon pads over and her eyes widen as well. "…Oh no."

Because the Emperor's sunglasses have fallen off when he was squished by a 200 pound Gorillamon. And I recognize the face.

"Ken Ichijouji…."

…

"TK MOVE!"

Angemon bundles his partner up and shoves him out of the way right before Deltamon's teeth can snag the boy.

The monster is indeed terrifying—a bulky, muscular scaly body with razor sharp claws—but what's really disturbing is the fact it has three heads—one skull like with blank staring eyes, one metal, and one normal.

TK's not sure which is more terrifying—and in this inclosed space Angemon has barely any room to fly, meaning he can't attack as well as he might.

"GOLD RUSH!"

Deltamon hardly flinches as the spear-like drills bounce against his metal skull before turning around and snarling, his skull like head opening wide.

"SERPENT BITE!"

Cody screams as the teeth slam down right where he was with such force the ground cracks….he feels himself start to fall….hears Digmon and TK scream his name right before a cold hand grabs his.

"D-Damien?"

Damien pulls Cody to safety on a small ledge that doesn't seem like it could possibly support both their weight, yet somehow it does. "You okay kid?"

When Cody nods weakly Damien breathes a sigh of relief. "Good. I have a feeling Kamiya would kick my butt if you got squished."

Another shriek echoes and Cody fights back the desire to scream as the metal head appears over the edge, drops of saliva spattering the ground between them.

"I've had just about enough of this…." Damien mutters, raising a right hand and blasting the creature, to Cody's shock, with a ball of dark energy.

His jaw drops even as Deltamon's head rears back with wail of pain, clawing at the eye. "H-how did you?" But his attention is drawn away when he sees Digmon backhanded and slammed into the wall opposite with a moan of pain, sliding down almost comically before degenerating back into Armadillomon.

Oh crap…

Angemon lands in between the monster and the injured Rookie, his hands clutching the rod with determination, even as he pants with exhaustion. If they were out in the open, Angemon would have creamed this coward by now.

But in this cave a good shot is difficult….and besides….Cody has this terrible sensation that the monster can't even feel pain.

All three of Deltamon's mouths open in unison, eyes all gleaming with cruel anticipation as huge spheres of blue light form in each. "TRIFL-"INCOMING!"

The wall to the right gives way with a crash, and Deltamon's caught off guard when a snarling orange T-Rex bulldozes into him with such force that he's slammed through the opposite wall of the cave out into the open.

"Tai?"

Tai smirks over at them. "Somebody call for a rescue?"

Damien rolls his eyes as the rest of them scramble to the edge of the cave and look down. "Took you long enough Kamiya."

"Eh. I was pretty sure you could handle it." He responds before backflipping off Greymon's back and smirking. "NOW LET HIM HAVE IT!"

"NOVA BLAST!"

Deltamon snarls and releases his own attack. "TRIPLEX FORCE!"

The flaming attacks shove both dinosaurs back, Greymon snarls with frustration and winces slightly at the burn marks on his body just as there's a blur of red feather.

"TEMPEST WING!"

Deltamon doesn't even bat an eye—just reaches out and grabs Halsemon with one hand lightning fast and begins to squeeze.

Yolei gasps and coughs as she feels like her insides are being shoved upwards…..she hears something crack and feels a stab of raw pain.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!"

The voice is completely livid—through her pain Yolei can just make out a blur of fire before Deltamon screams in agony and is forced to drop her, staring in horror at his blistered hand.

"There's more where that came from…" Flamedramon snarls, as Davis runs forward to Yolei and Hawkmon. "Are you okay?"

She stares at him as he helps her up, then looks away coughing. "Y-yeah…I'm fine. H-how did you escape?"  
Davis smirks. "You could say I had some help."

"Huh?"

"CRIMSON CLAW!"

Devidramon slashes Deltamon across the chest and sends him sprawling backwards, shrieking as Deltamon bites onto his side and the two of them both wrestle.

"Devidramon! The Dark Ring!" Ryo's voice is cold and determined. "Get rid of it."

Devidramon lunges upward and sinks his teeth into the Dark Ring that wraps around Deltamon's arm, causing his opponent to scream in pain and the ring to start to splinter.

Angemon soars upwards, his wings spreading in determination as his knuckles start to shine. "HAND OF FATE!"

…

"They got him…" I sigh, breathing in relief as I watch Deltamon's Dark Ring burst into data. Gatomon smirks. "Knew they could handle it. Never had any doubt. Course if I had been there it would have been much faster…"  
"Oh shut up." I chuckle, rolling my eyes. Neither of us notice Ken slowly pushing himself upwards….and pressing a button on the console.

…

Tai's head shoots around at the sound of rocks come tumbling down. His eyes widen. "Renamon?"

Renamon's eyes were blank and emotionless as she stands there, her arms crossed over her chest. He takes a step forward before Ryo grabs him by the back of the jacket. "Don't do it." She says, her eyes narrowing. "Something's really…really wrong."

He stares at her before glancing back as Renamon slowly pulls off her right glove. His face turns ash-white. It's a Dark Ring on her paw. "Oh no…"

Damien's face is just as pale as he looks over at Tai. "You were right…."

The Emperor must have put it on Renamon the first time she was kidnapped. And they never knew….oh crap how could they have never known….

Dark energy surronds Renamon and she seems to start to grow in size. "RENAMON DARK WARP DIGIVOLVE TO…."

"RENAMON STOP!" Kari screams, running forward, ripping out of her brother's grasp as she runs. "DON'T DO THIS!"

"KARI COME BACK!" Tai screams as the wind tears around them. Even the sky itself has seemed to turn black, clouds whirling around, thunder booming…no….it's not thunder. It's a roar, a roar of hate, fury, and bloodlust.

"MEGIDRAMON!"

The dragon is massive, covered with hell-red scales except for a strange symbol on her chest….huge rotten, torn wings spring out from her back…..yellow teeth that seem to drip venom….

"….No…."

…

"NO!" My hands grip the computer desk as I scream her name. "RENAMON NO!"

….

The man stands outside the manor, completely still except for a slight ruffling of his wings occasionally. His jaw tightens and blue eyes narrow in frustration.

"You know you've already been pushing the rules right?" An exasperated voice which sounds oddly more like a little girl's….

The man looks down at his boss…what looks like a preteen boy with angelic wings and strange markings on his face.

"I don't have a choice." He responds quietly, his hands curling into fists. "I have to help her. I lost her once, and now you expect me to just sit on the side while she suffers again?"

"…Alexander I know this is hard for you but-"What about that?" He jams his finger at an image of Megidramon's sn snarling face. "You honestly don't expect me to just ignore THAT?"

"Yes…" He muses. "It is a slight problem…"

"Slight? What would be a major problem?"

"You don't even want to know what I consider a major problem." The boy smiles wryly before his light blue eyes look serious again. "But…I do see your point. All right, go and help her. Trust me, the last thing I want to see is her get hurt. She matters to the rest of us to you know…not just you."

He sighs and spreads his wings. "Thank you Lucemon." Before taking off into the air.

Lucemon picks up one of the black feathers left behind and smiles.


	10. Hazard's Wrath, Ken's Capture

Episode Ten

Megidramon roars, her yellow eyes full of hate and fury as she soars down from the rock cliff above them. Her massive, terrifying shadow casts over the entire group of Digidestined as Tai frantically grabs Kari's arm, pulling her out of the way as the monster slams onto the ground just where they were.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!" Davis' voice takes on an oddly high tone as he scrambles backwards, Flamedramon standing protectively in front of him.

"Megidramon." Damien mutters, his eyes narrowing down to slits as he too backs away, never looking away from those merciless eyes. "One of the four Great Dragons. They sealed it away hundreds of years ago…..I never thought another one would be born." His eyes widen as Megidramon snarls, her jaws slowly opening. "EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

"MEGIDO FLAME!" '

Yolei screamed as the dark red flames rushed towards her, thrusting her hand up in front of her face in a pointless gesture just she feels claws dig into her back and yank her out of the way just in time.

"Yolei I'm sorry…" Halsemon grunts, cringing as his partner's T-shirt stains red with blood where his talons grabbed her.

"It's okay!" She manages to gasp out through the pain, shuddering as she looks down. The fire still rages, smoke clogging up her glasses, but that's not the worse part. The worse part is that the ground seems to be tearing away under the flames, creating deep wounds that reveal digital coding.

"She's gonna tear this place apart." Yolei's voice comes out as a faint whisper of horror. Halsemon grunts behind her.

"Until she kills us…."

"Renamon!" Tai runs out in front of the dragon, his voice pleading. "Renamon, please! Don't you recgonize me! Your friends?! Think about Lily, I know you remember her!"

"Tai it's no use!" TK cries just as Megidramon lunges towards both boys. Tai glances to the right and shoves TK out of the way as both of them roll away from her sword-long canines, drool dripping.

Tai screams as he pushes TK away, before bending over and doubling in pain where his back literally…seems to sizzle, saliva covering the spot.

"TAI!"

Greymon roars and breaks out into a full out charge, ramming into Megidramon's lower jaw and stabbing upwards with his long nose horn. Megidramon squeals before pulling away, her jaw unscathed except for the tiniest of bruises.

She snarls once more as Flamedramon swoops downwards, arms tucked tightly at his side in order to increase his speed and power as his entire body is covered in flames.

"FIRE ROCKET!"

Megidramon screams, writhing away as the attack hits her in one of her gigantic eyes. Flamedramon smirks and backs off slightly from the agonized monster….before his eyes widen as a gigantic clawed hand wraps around him.

"…Uh oh. GACKKKKKKK!"

"FLAMEDRAMON!" Davis screams his partner's name and struggles to run forwards. "Flamedramon no!"

"Angemon help him!"

"HAND OF FATE!"

Megidramon just rolls her eyes as the attack blasts towards her….before smirking and throwing Flamedramon right into it.

Flamedramon's scream echoes as he slams into the ground face-first and skids, his entire body smoking from Angemon's attack.

"You idiot! Your partner nearly killed my partner!"

"It's not his fault!" TK snaps, turning around and glowering at Davis who clenches his fists, face bright red with fury.

Angemon lands next to Flamedramon, looking worried. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah…." Flamedramon's eyes widen. "But neither of us will be if you don't MOVE!" Angemon shoots out of the direction and he rolls away just as the giant barb on Megidramon's tail stabs down right where they had been lying.

She snarls, annoyed and opens her mouth again to let out another torrent of flames.

Damien runs forward, leaping from rock to rock before leaping higher up, forming a black sphere of energy in his hands and slamming it into Megidramon's jaw. She howls, not out of pain, but of anger, and Damien's eyes widen with fear as her tongue literally flies out and snags him by the ankle.

"GET YOUR SLIMY TONGUE OFF OF HIM!"

Halsemon slices across the tongue, forcing Megidramon to let go.

Cody glances at Armadillomon. The two of them had been forced to hide underneath the rock after Armadillomon's injuries in the previous battle. His eyes widen as his partner tries to force himself to his feet.

"What are you doing?!"

"We have to….help them…."

"No way! You're still injured! Megidramon will squash you flat!" He adds, wincing as another roar erupts, and Megidramon rears up on her hind legs and swats at Halsemon, whose desperately trying to avoid being impaled on those razor sharp claws.

Devidramon roars as he dives forward with Ryo on his back. Red razor sharp claws swipe at Megidramon's eyes as Ryo blasts blast after blast from her gun at the demon dragon's face. "YOLEI GET OUT OF HERE!" She shouts, doing her best to distract the monster from Halsemon. Megidramon squeals and turns away from Halsemon as the tiny blasts bounce against her amored skin, doing absolutely nothing.

Ryo breathes a sigh of relief that Yolei is being left alone before a massive clawed hand shoots out and backhands Devidramon, sending him slamming into the rocks that stick up out of the sand.

"RYO!"

She feels agonizing pain as the sound of crunching bones fills her ears, and the sand is dotted with both her and Devidramon's blood.

"I have to try, Cody. We can't leave our friends to fight alone. It doesn't matter how dangerous the situation is. We stick together, and we'll beat her and get Renamon back!"

"…" Cody stares for a few more moments before his hand slowly slips into his back pocket. Armadillomon smiles as he sees the Digivice appear. "That's my boy."

"DIGIARMO-…!"

The sound is possibly the most horrific thing in the entire world. Cody lets out a strangled cry and drops to his knees, covering his ears. Kari is whimpering as she presses against Tai, and it's impossible to tell rather he's in more pain from the horrible burn or from the horrific noise erupting from Megidramon's throat.

Yolei nearly falls off of Halsemon's back as she claps her hands to her helmet, moaning in pain, Damien holding onto her, his own face screwed up with pain. Tai grits his teeth and slowly looks up to see Megidramon calmly making her way towards them….like a cat who has a mouse cornered….

He clenches his teeth and looks at his sister, determined for her to be the last thing she sees….

The flash of energy seems to come out of nowhere, and Megidramon screams as the sphere, almost as big as she is, slams into her side and sends her crashing to the ground.

"…?" Tai weakly turns his head to see a certain figure standing on the hill above them, arms crossed over her chest and looking unimpressed.

His eyes widen. "…Sira?"

….

My knuckles were ash-white as I clung to the edge of the desk. I felt completely and utterly petrified, watching as Megidramon snagged Damien and dragged him down towards her mouth, watching as she swiped at Yolei and Halsemon, breathed fire all around her scorching the entire area.

"Lily….Lily we've got to go." Gatomon whispers, her eyes flickering from the screens back to my ashwhite face. "We have to help them!"

I don't answer. My lips move silently as I whisper my partner's name over and over again.

"LILY!"

I whirl around and grab Ken by the scruff just as he shoves himself upwards finally, leaning against the consule and looking exhausted. "I out to snap your neck right now…." I snarl, shoving my face up in his. "Deactivate that Dark Ring right now or make no mistake I will kill you."

Although he looks a little nervous, the Emperor still smirks. "What? Dismantle my newest project? Do you like the newest model?""

"Huh?"

I glance back at the computer screen and at the Dark Ring wrapped around Megidramon's clawed hand. My jaw tightens and my grip closes harder around Ken's throat. "What about it?" It looks…different than usual Dark Ring. Instead of one simple loop, there are many. Oddly enough I'm weirdly reminded of the slinkies TK and Kari used to play with together when they were little.

The Emperor's voice cracks from lack of oxygen. "I have….complete control over her….a Mega level virus….and….nothing….will ever make me surrender to you!"

My eyes narrow down to slits. "Oh…really?"

"LILY LOOK OUT!"

Pain erupts in my back and I scream as I'm thrown forwards, slamming into the wall opposite and feeling the computers shatter beneath me, glass slicing into my skin.

Glancing up, I see a dark figure standing over me with a smirk on her pale ash-white face, skull-like mask covering her face, black skin-tight outfit showing off her skeletal body. Some people might consider these creatures beautiful, especially with their voluptuous chest. But I know full well how dangerous a LadyDevimon can be.

"Going somewhere hun?" She laughs, her fingers stretching out into a long, razor sharp spear. I growl just as I hear Gatomon yowl-"LILY LOOK OUT!"

I roll to the right, dodging just in time to see the Emperor darting down the corroder as the wall shatters to pieces under her attack. "HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!"

"LIGHTNING PAW!"

LadyDevimon hisses in anger as Gatomon slashes a deep cut across her face. Her ruby eyes narrow down to slits as she raises one hand and feels the drips of blood that collect on her hand. "Why you little….you've better not have ruined my beautiful face!"

"What beauty?" She smirks in response before glancing at me as I scramble back to my feet. "Lily, get out of here! Make sure that little twerp doesn't get away!"

"But what about-"I'll be fine, just GO!"

I hesitate once more. The last thing I want is to leave Gatomon alone to fight this. A Champion VS an Ultimate are never good odds, but the honest truth was, what could I do? If Kari was here Gatomon could armor digivolve…but she's not. And I'm bitterly reminded once again that I'm mortal now, and killing me would be even easier than killing her.

"GO!" Gatomon yowls again as LadyDevimon whirls around to face me, eyes narrowing right before Gatomon sucker-punches her in the gut, causing her to grunt slightly and face her with a snarl as she swats Gatomon the way I'd swat a fly across the room.

I'm trembling, but I shakily run across the room, abandoning her, slamming through the door and running down the corrider. "You'd better be okay…" I mutter as I run down the hallway, Ken's scent still in my nose so I know this is the direction he went. "I can't face Kari if you're not."

I whip around the corner and then freeze. Standing in between me and a smirking Ken is about a dozen pairs of red eyes….120 long bony fingers…a dozen evil smiles tossed my way. A dozen LadyDevimon. Oh ! $$$ it all.

…

Megidramon roars in frustration as the new allies ambush her. She swipes angrily at Sorcerymon, who ducks calmly and blasts her in the face with ice—not enough to cause severe damage but having your right eyelid frozen together can never be pleasant.

A woman with icy pale skin and long black hair done up in a slightly weird style extends one hand and smirks as her fingers form into razor sharp claws. "KAIZER NAIL!"

Megidramon screams as the claws rake vertically down her back, cutting through her scales as though they're made of nothing but paper.

Blood drips down her side as she snarls before whipping her tail around and grabbing the Digimon's leg with it.

"LILITHMON!" Tai notices a skinny boy with deep brown curls run forward, only to be grabbed by another girl, this one darker skinned with long black hair yanking him back. "Delbert, stay back!" She snaps before looking up at the sky as a shadow shoots towards the dragon, and a smirk forms on her face. "Go get her…."

A huge blast of light energy strikes the tail and Megidramon recoils, snarling. The being that saved Lilithmon is literally an angel, covered in blue armor with golden symbols etched across it….one of which looks exactly like TK's Crest of Hope. Golden wings extend from his back, several at them, and his face is covered with a helmet. "Fall back." He says simply to Lilithmon, eyes narrowing as he looks at the snarling monster. "It's my turn now."

Megidramon roars and flames begin forming in her mouth again, hotter and larger than ever before.

"H-hey!" Tai's eyes widen as he lunges forward to where the two kids still stand right behind their partners. They'd be killed instantly if that hit…"Get out of there!"

"MEGIDO FLAME!"

The angel smirks beneath his mask as the flames race towards him and simply raises his right hand.

"What the?!" Davis' eyes are huge as several spheres of energy surround him, seven in all, Tai counts, and the being roars-"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

All of the orbs shoot towards Megidramon, and she screams as she's pushed backwards, the orbs actually tearing massive holes in her wings, slamming into her without prejudice. The smell of something burning fills Tai's nose….and his eyes widen as he sees the giant dragon start to stumble around, looking exhausted before collapsing with a moan onto her stomach and….very slowly….the grey light surrounding her…signalling her transformation back into the yellow fluffy fox he knew so well.

"Renamon!"

Kari races forward before Tai can stop her. She'd always been like that. When it came to the safety of her friends and family, all rational thought seemed to fly out the window. He wasn't sure where she learned that from, him or Lily. Probably an unfortunate combination.

A girl with long white hair grabs Kari gently, holding her back. "Whoah, squirt. That's probably the worst thing you can do right now." She glances over as Sira walks forward. "Well that was easier than I thought it would be."

"Don't get too cocky." Sira says sternly, her eyes narrowing as she walks past the girl towards Renamon.

The girl is oddly pale skinned…her eyes are as ruby red as Sira's, a thoughtful look in them as what looks like some kind of weasel crawls up onto her shoulder, golden markings on its back and one earring dangling. A strange ring, kind of more like some weird piece of jewelled armor, encases her index finger, sapphires glinting as she scratches her partner behind the ears.

"Who are they?" Yolei whispers, awe mixed with apprehension in her voice as she looks around at people who seem to have sprung up out of nowhere. Tai understands how she's feeling. He's torn between feeling really impressed…or really jealous. Especially how they managed to own Megidramon so effectively when it was all his team could do to NOT be eaten.

"Tamers…." Damien drawls the word out, his voice a mix of amusement, annoyance, and….was that a hint of respect? Certainly more respect than Tai ever got from him.

He glances to his right and sees Ryo staring at the group of newcomers. He can't help a flash of surprise as he sees the dark, angry look in her eyes as she glowers at all of them, especially at Sira. Sira, as if she can sense the glower being thrown her way, turns her head. Her eyes widen ever so slightly at the sight of Ryo before narrowing them in contempt.

Ryo responds with a less than polite hand gesture.

Sira just rolls her eyes slightly as Davis and the others stare at Ryo with open mouths. They didn't think anyone would possibly be that nasty to the most intimidating person they knew. Tai's eyes narrow.

"Renamon…."

The fox's eyes slowly open, gleaming red as she snarls at Sira. Sorcerymon's hand tightens on his staff, but Sira waves him away firmly.

"Easy girl…" She murmurs, reaching for the Dark Ring that is wrapped around Renamon's paw. "I'm going to get it off….shh…."

Renamon keeps growling, but she doesn't move to bite Sira's hand off. Which is probably a good sign. Tai wonders if it's because she knows Sira so well but then realizes that it can't be. He and Renamon have always been close, even if she wasn't his partner—instead Renamon's probably just too beaten up to move.

The sound of something…familiar echoes behind him. For a minute he can't place it. Then his eyes widen in recognition, and he's running forward as fast as he possibly can, shouting, "SIRA MOVE!"

He shoves her out of the way just as several barbs slam down onto the ground, sticking up out of the sand where she'd been sitting, large enough to have impaled her right through the skull.

The two of them both roll before collapsing in a heap, panting. Tai looks over at Sira and turns bright red as he realizes his arm is still around her waist from when he grabbed her. "Uh….s-sorry?"

"Just get off of me." She grunts, elbowing him in the stomach and pushing herself to her feet. "And be very glad GranDracmon wasn't here to see that."

Tai was glad. VERY glad. But he was quickly less glad as he glanced around him. They were completely surrounded. A massive group of BlackTyrannomon snarled down at them, pressing the Digidestined and tamers in. Things got even worse when flames seemed to sprout upwards from the monster's backs…no wait. There were several dozen Meramon leaping down, their stitched over mouths spread in sadistic smiles.

"We just can never catch a break." Lilithmon sighs as Dilbert smirks. "Go kick some major flaming butt."

"Oh trust me. I intend to."

Two of the Meramon's Dark Rings were shattered so quickly it looked like Lilithmon had only flicked her fingers and had hardly moved at all.

The little weasel—who didn't look like he could be much more than a Rookie, was easily dodging the fireballs from both the DarkTyrannomon and Meramon, swooping in between the Meramon's legs and whipping around them, smirking as they stumbled under his bombardment, confusion and frustration obvious in their red eyes as they snarled.

"GET BACK HERE YOU!" One of them fumed as they lunged forward, fingers burning the sides of the weasel. He winced in pain as smoke rose up from his fur, but a determined look still hung in his eyes. "I don't think so." He said in an odd, smooth, velvety kind of voice before backflipping and suddenly reappearing behind the Meramon. "BULLET WHIRLWIND!"

"Eh?"

The tail, which Tai now realized was wrapped around some weird kind of metal thing, slammed into the Dark Ring with such force that it exploded on impact.

"Well I don't know about you guys." Davis comments, his eyes narrowing as he grips his D-3. "But I for one vote that we start showing these guys we aren't a bunch of useless children."

"Heck yes!" Yolei agrees, smirking as Greymon cracks his knuckles and rumbles next to her and Halsemon, right before she and her Digimon take off into the air.

"TEMPEST WING!"

Halsemon slams into one of the Airdramon from above, who now finally decide to make their own way in the battle. His winds send the needles they spit at him flying harmlessly in every other direction.

Armadillomon looks at Cody and winks. "Shall we?"

"DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"ARMADILLOMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO….DIGMON! THE DRILL OF KNOWLEDGE!"

"ROCK CRACKING!" Digmon slams his spinning equipment down onto the rocks, smirking as the ground starts to crack right in front of the Meramon advancing on the tamers. The three of them stare blankly at him with their red glaring eyes before screaming as they plummet down into the abyss.

Greymon roars and slams right into a BlackTyrannomon. For a moment it's a shoving match, neither of them willing to give up any ground.

But Greymon lowers his head, and, hooking his horns from underneath BlackTyrannomon's arms, smirks as he bodily lifts the creature and sends it flying into the air.

"NOVA BLAST!"

Tai grins and punches the air as the monster goes flying like a weak rag doll. "Way to go!"

A low growl echoes behind him but before he can even have the chance to turn around and look there's the sound of something hitting the ground with a heavy, earth-shattering thud.

"What the?!" He whirls around and his eyes widen in disbelief as he sees the unconscious BlackTyrannomon lying behind him.

And Sorcerymon just standing there staring at him with a look that seems to say-"You idiot."

"I….guess we're even now." He mutters to Sira, whose standing a few feet away from Sorcerymon with a very amused look on her face.

"Hmm? More like you still owe me."

"That isn't how it works!"

Sira just rolls her eyes before scanning the battlefield with a frown on her face. "This….isn't adding up."

"I know what you mean." Tai mutters, standing next to her. "If a very powerful Mega couldn't kill all of us is the Emperor really so stupid to believe that a bunch of Champions are going to cut it?"

Or….it was a distraction….

Instantly Tai and Sira both bolted towards Renamon right as one of the Airdramon picked her up by the scruff, snarling and whirling around to face them with a nearly unconscious fox Digimon dangling from its jaws.

"PUT HER DOWN! NOW!"

Sorcerymon bolted past them and raised his staff, sending arrows of ice streaking towards Airdramon that it was barely able to dodge as it rose into the air. One of them actually struck its wing and it let out a muffled wail of pain as it still desperately soared upwards to the huge group of its fellows.

Sira swore as Tai shouted, "Yolei! Get Renamon back at all costs! Do it NOW! TK! You too!"

"Got it!"

Several dozen Airdramon swoop around them—Yolei screams as one of them charges right at her, and only a quick twist and dive from Halsemon prevents her from being chomped in half.

"No one touches my partner." He snarls before grabbing the offender with his talons and delivering a vicisous bite to the neck that not only shattered the Dark Ring but left a deep gash. Not that he cared. He was too pissed.

Angemon raised one hand and three Airdramon glanced at each other, their eyes wide as if to say in unison "Oh ! #$$$$."

"HAND OF FATE!"

The golden ray of light slammed two Airdramon out of the sky, and they fell down to the Earth with wails of panic, struggling to flop their wings and regain their momentum.

The third one breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be spared, but that didn't last long.

"ANGEL ROD!"

The Airdramon yelped as the staff slammed onto the top of his head. His eyes rolled backwards in his skull before he spiralled downwards out of control.

"Find the one with the damaged wing." Angemon mutters to Halsemon. "We're the best bet of knocking it out of the sky as Lilithmon and Serpahimon's attacks are too powerful. They'd delete Renamon along with her captor."

"Knowing how really really PISSED that would make Lily…." Yolei teases before launching back into deadly seriousness. None of them can bare the idea of something awful happening to Renamon.

"THERE!"

Halsemon, with his eagle eyes spots the injured Airdramon and soars towards it. Yolei bends forward, her eyes narrowing down to slits. "Hang on Renamon…"

Suddenly a scaly tail seems to whip out of nowhere, wrapping around Yolei and pulling her away, and she screams as the tail of one of the biggest Airdramon she's ever seen begins to constrict her, like some kind of angry python with a mind of it's own.

"YOLEI!"

The Airdramon spits massive needles at Halsemon, forcing him back as they pierce his skin and draw digital blood. He cringes and tries to get closer to his partner but the flack is so heavy….

Yolei closes her eyes and fights back another desperate scream as the pain in her sides increases and everything starts to go black…

The Airdramon screams as something huge rams into it. Yolei feels herself start to fall as the creature is slammed to the side till a massive clawed hand grabs her. A friendly voice echoes as she slowly opens her eyes.

"You okay?" The girl has long red curly hair, and the only thing Yolei can think in her dazed state is that the shade somewhat matches the colour of the giant stag beetle she's riding. It's massive pinchers are clamped around the Airdramon right before it bursts into data. Yolei recognizes the creature from a story TK told her about once…a Kuwagamon? But this one is definetly on their side.

When Angemon realized that Yolei is safe he swoops forward to engage the wounded Airdramon. Unfortunately, the large pack crowds around him, preventing him from reaching it. He growls in frustration, eyes narrowing dangerously behind his mask. "I do not have time for this! My friend is in danger and you are IN my way." He raises his right hand again and the knuckles glow golden.

"HAND OF FATE!" He roars, blasting out a much larger ray, tearing through several of the Airdramon with ridiculous ease, reminding everyone watching once again that he was the degenerated form of the god-like Seraphimon.

Streaking forwards, he growls in frustration as he sees the wounded Airdramon putting more and more space between them. It shouldn't be possible that he was slower than an injured dragon, but Angemon was built for power, not speed.

Which meant even this was difficult. "Renamon…" He muttered under his breath as he soars forward. "If you can hear me at all please please fight back. Struggle. Show more of that stubbornness and defiance that you and your partner are so famous for."

"DARKNESS WAVE!"

Angemon pulls to a halt, his eyes widening, even though they couldn't be seen beneath the mask, as everyone else' jaw drops.

"Is that…LadyDevimon?!

No, it wasn't. Angemon knew exactly what the one they had fought against all those years looked like.

This was of the same species, but diferent, with darker skin and jet black hair, her entire body stiff with concentration as the arrow shoots right through the Airdramon's back, and it screams before plummeting like a rock towards the ground.

Angemon's eyes widen in panic as he dives forward, and he hears the sound of Tai screaming Renamon's name as he bolts forward from underneath them.

The Airdramon slams into the ground with a sickening crash that makes the earth shudder. Angemon lands next to it before his fists clench in frustration.

"Renamon?!" TK scrambles up next to his partner. His eyes widen and he sucks in his breath.

"What is it TK?" Kari follows him. Her eyes widen and then narrow with anger, and, in a move very un-Kari like she kicks out at the sand, cursing loudly with harsh words Lily taught her.

But no one can blame her.

Because that Airdramon is quite Renamon-less. And the rest have disappeared over the horizon.

Taking Lily's partner with her.

…

"Eh heh…." I back away, sweatdropping and a weak smile on my face. "…Hi ladies?"

The LadyDevimon are all looking at me like I'm a bloody piece of meat, the same creepy smiles on their faces…one of them actually licks her lips. I really don't want to think about what's probably going through her head.

Glancing from side to side, I look desperately for somewhere to run but all of the opening are closed off.

"Don't even think about trying to escape sweetie." The LadyDevimon in front of everyone else smirks and places a hand on her hip. "We've been ordered by our master to use any method to make sure you don't get out of here in one piece. And I assure you I'm going to have a lot of fun with that."

She smiles cruelly, and the others mimic her grin. I blink. Something about this whole scenario is oddly reminding me of school…with McKenzie at the front, smirking down at me and the rest of her stupid cronies all looking down with their stupid painted faces not realizing how pathetic they look.

And I can't help but snicker.

The LadyDevimon in front stares at me in disbelief, confusion quickly being replaced with annoyance at the fact that I'm not cowering at her feet begging for mercy. "What the heck is wrong with you?" She snaps, and her tone is so much like McKenzie's I snicker louder.

"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!"

"Because…" I manage to choke out, forcing myself to straighten again, "it's all so hilarious."

"…Hilarious."

"Yes."

"And what, may I ask is so funny?"

"The fact that instead of just killing me…" I snort. "You're acting like some sort of teenage drama queen, building yourself up in an act to be super scary. You're not scary. You're pathetic."

Gasps echo in unison in the crowd, and the LadyDevimon in question seems to positively swell with anger, so much I'm half wondering if she would explode. That would be hilarious.

"You…you little impudent brat!"

"So I've been told." I agree, shrugging. "By many people."

"Well if you think you're so strong…" She jams her face in mine and brandishes her long, rapier sharp claws so it cuts across the very skin of my throat. "Then you won't mind fighting me one on one."

I just stare at her blankly as she waves for her cohorts to get back. "This one's mine!" She snarls before turning back to me and smirking. "Ready dearie….?"

I wait until the exact second she lunges before ducking and rolling, knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling. I then backflip so I land on her shoulders, slamming her farther down into the ground and knocking the wind out of her and then rebounding against the wall, which manages to get me to the end of the group.

"Sorry." I call as she gets over her surprise, which was the only reason I managed to make that move work. "But I'm not that fond of suicide."

I run like hell has broken loose, which is in a way it can. I know I don't really have a chance, but I have to try. For Renamon's sake. For Tai's sake. For everyone's sake.

…

Gatomon hisses in pain as the claws dig into her flesh, pinning her to the wall opposite. Blood trickles downwards from her many wounds and it almost takes too much energy just to breathe.

"Did you really think you could beat me?" LadyDevimon smiles menacingly, showing off her fangs as she forces Gatomon's chin up. "What chance did you have against an Ultimate?"

Gatomon hisses at her and struggles once more to break free, her hiss cutting off into a frantic cough as LadyDevimon's grip tightens around her throat. "You don't remember me, do you traitor?"

Her ears pin back. No, she doesn't recognize the LadyDevimon in question, but she called Gatomon a traitor. Which can only mean that-"Yes." LadyDevimon whispers, her eyes narrowing. "I was once a proud servant of Lord Myotismon. You and that DEMON GIRL ruined everything! I have wanted to have revenge for a long time and I promise you, neither me nor my sisters will give either of you an easy death."

"You…must have been pretty pathetic…" Gatomon manages to choke out, her blue eyes narrowing down to slits, "if…serving Myotismon…had you content." A sneer touches her lips. "But…then again…he always did treat better…those who were willing to play as his whore."

"WHY YOU!"

She raises her right hand, claws lengthing to run Gatomon through right before her eyes widen and her entire body tenses.

Gatomon blinks as the demon's grip on her throat goes slack. Blood trickles down LadyDevimon's mouth and she lets out a moan of agony. That's when Gatomon notices the razor sharp black claws extending from her attacker's stomach.

"W-what the?!"

The body bursts into data and Gatomon falls on her stomach so she's staring at her savior's black boots. Glancing up, she sees he's a lean Digimon dressed mostly in black, a leather jacket wrapped around him. His face is covered in a strange red mask and his three blue eyes…three of them…stare down at her, blonde hair messy and somewhat spiky, braided at the very back.

"Where's Lily?!"

Gatomon's too dazed to really think about much, especially take in something weird like this in. "She…I told her to run…I…."

He swears as black wings sprout from his back, his other arm reaches from behind in between his wings and pulls out…a cannon…that latches onto his other arm. "Stay here." He growls before soaring out of the room as fast as he possibly can.

"W-wait! How do you know Lily?!"

…

I don't make it more than ten feet before claws sink into the back of my leg. I scream as pain erupts in my calf and I double over before being yanked to the ground and onto my back.

I stare up at all of the red eyes smirking down at me, trying to fight the feeling of complete hopelessness that rises up in me. Even if I still had powers, I'd only be able to take out two, maybe if I was really lucky and went into feral mode at this moment, 3. Not the twelve that leer at me.

I'm dead. I'm so freaking dead.

"Sorry hun.." The snooty voice of the leader echoes above me, and I clench my teeth and turn my head away. I don't want to watch this.

"DARKNESS WAVE!"

I scream, throwing my hands up over my face as the sounds of the bats chittering around me fills my ears. Bats. Why in Yggdrasil's blessed holy underpants of all the CRAPPY ways to die!

I hear the sound of clothes tearing away, my shirt, my pants, even my bra, and even worse, the feeling of dozens of pairs of fangs and claws raking away at my flesh, each bat ripping off a hunk of skin as they eagerly keep chowing down on the fresh meat.

Sharp pain keeps erupting across my skin getting worse and worse, and I'm just trying to force back the tears I want to let out.

"Grisly Wing!"

"GRISLY WING!"

Blue mocking eyes, cold as ice, laughing…laughing….as the bats fly…

"TAICHI! SIRA! RENAMON!" My scream breaks from my throat before I can help it. "I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE! RENAMON!"

Laughter echoes as the LadyDevimon enjoy my absolute terror. The laughter keeps growing until the lead witch turns her head around at a sudden noise and frowns.

That's about the point she gets shot in the chest and bursts into data.

"What the?!"

"CORONA BLASTER!"

The LadyDevimon's burst into data all around me, like piñatas breaking or balloons popping. One minute they're there, the next they're not.

The figure drops to his knees beside me. "Lily, talk to me." His voice is horse. "Please say you're all right."

I'm shivering too hard to speak for a moment. The bats died the moment their master died, but the feeling…of claws and sharp little teeth ripping away at my body won't leave. I let out a moan and grab at my head, trying to burn the images out of my mind, the images I'd seen too many times when Myotismon would make me watch as his bats would eat innocent Digimon alive…there was never anything left….just blood and gore and…

"Baby girl please talk to me…." His voice is pleading, and my eyes widen. Baby girl…that's what Wizardmon called me all the time when I was little.

The man shrugs his leather jacket off and wraps it around me, so that I have at least some dignity again, as my shirt is almost in tatters.

"Can you stand up?"

"I…I'm fine." I whisper, even though I'm not fine, I'm so not fine it's not even funny, and my gaze drifts up from his shirt to his face.

And I freeze. My mind mentally screams in horror as I back away, dragging myself away from him. Because his face….his face looks just like….

"Lily, I know what you must be thinking right now but I swear I'm no-"D-don't touch me!"

The words tear out of my throat as I cling back, hugging myself before scrambling to my feet, clenching my fists as I stare into what looks exactly like Myotismon's face. He steps towards me and I push back. "Stay away from me."

His shoulders slump, and I see something that would never be on that coward's face.

Pain. Emotional pain. Indecision, confusion, and guilt all run through me at the same time. "Wa-wait…I…I…" He turns around and the next second he's gone.

"NO!" I feel like I've been punched in the gut as I spin around, my eyes scanning the entire hallway, desperate for him to come back even though I don't know why. "I-I didn't mean it…I'm sorry! Please!"

There's nothing but dead silence, and I want to scream in frustration. I slam my fist against the wall and lower my head, cursing myself and my stupidity and the fact that I just don't seem to know when to keep my mouth shut.

"Lily?"

Gatomon walks out and I whirl around to face her. My eyes widen at the deep gashes across her body and the exhaustion in her eyes. "Are you okay?!"

"I could ask the same thing of you." She rasps, her eyes taking in my own injuries and rips in my clothing. "And…where'd you get that?" A gesture at the jacket.

"…I…." I swallow hard and pull the jacket closer to me. With a sigh I say, "…A friend. I…I think…."

"…You think? You can't make it a simple yes or no? Friend or foe?"

"When is anything in my life simple?"

…

Tai buries his face in his hands as he sits on the rock outstretched from the sand. He doesn't want to think about anything right now, except for the fact that he completely failed.

"Tai you can't keep blaming yourself." Agumon sighs, looking up at his partner. "We all did the best we could."

"And he still took Renamon again." His voice is horse. "So clearly our best wasn't good enough, was it?"

"If Lily was here right now she would slap you so hard for acting like this."

"No, she'd just simply hate me for letting this happen to her partner."

"Are you still moping?" He looks up to see Sira crossing her arms and staring disapprovingly in front of him. He blinks and scowls slightly at her. "I'm not SULKING…."

"Sitting around doing nothing but feeling sorry for yourself? That's pretty much the text book definition of sulking."

"…Sometimes I just wonder…" Tai sighs, lowering his eyes. "If I'm supposed to be the one doing this. Leading the Digidestined. I almost couldn't stop Megidramon from killing my entire team, and I couldn't save Renamon."

"None of us could have saved Renamon." Sira says grimly, the wind blowing through her hair. "That attack was too well coordinated. This was not a battle that could have been won." She sighs. "Maybe if GranDracmon was here things would be different but…"

Tai stares into her eyes. There's a look of grief and worry flashing through the red irises, and he wants to say something, to ask what happened, but he has a very strong feeling Sira's response would be to punch him in the face and tell him to mind his own dang business.

"But…."

"Seriously stop. The last thing we need is for you to be one of those annoying people who sits around moaning about how it's all their fault and they're not worthy." She pulls Tai's Digivice out of his pocket before he can protest, tosses it up and down in her hand for a few times, before throwing it back to him. He catches it easily and stares up at her.

"They don't give those to just anybody you know." Is Sira's last comment before she walks off.

Tai stares down at the Digivice. His brown eyes narrow with resolve. All right. Enough was enough. He was done sulking over something he couldn't change. It wouldn't do any good and it wouldn't bring Renamon back. With determination in his eyes he clips the Digivice back to his belt and walks over to the rest of the group.

"Good on you Tai." Agumon mutters softly, smiling before looking behind him. His eyes widen. "HEY LOOK OUT!"

"Huh? Oof!"

Agumon shoves Tai out of the way just in time as something…huge can be seen falling from the sky ridiculously fast.

"NO NO LILY THE REINS THE REINS!"

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO DO?!"

The huge object continues to fall, and it takes Tai only a few more seconds to realize that the giant thing falling from the sky…is a Devidramon with two riders.

And it's not falling. It's purposely diving towards the ground, probably because it's pissed at the star and Digimon on it's back and is hoping to have them squished.

"EVACUATE! IT'S OUR ONLY HOPE!"

"LILY ARE YOU CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

About thirty feet from the ground a figure jumps off the Devidramon's back holding a white bundle as she leaps and…well…plummets as the Devidramon backflips in mid-air to throw his already absent passengers off.

A cloud of smoke rises from the crater in the ground as the dragon flies off, and two loud groans echo from the inside.

Tai is trying really…REALLY hard not to laugh as he walks forward, at least until he knows Lily and Gatomon are okay. But the snickers just seem to keep escaping from his mouth. "L-Lily…?" He manages to choke out, trying to force down his grin. "Are you okay?"

"Tai?! What happened?!"

Davis comes running up and nearly screams as he sees the pale white hand poking up from the crater and gripping the edges. "AIEEE! A ZOMBIE!"

"I'm not a freaking zombie Davis." I mutter as I pull myself up, wincing as I look down at the mud and dirt that cover me. "But I sure as heck feel like one."

"You okay?"

I grasp Tai's hand and shoot him a look as he keeps snickering quietly. "Quit laughing at my expense."

"Gatomon!"

Kari holds out her arms and smiles with relief and joy as her partner bonds into her arms, purring loudly. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I will be as long as I never go flying with Lily again." She mutters, rolling her bright blue eyes.

I point a dramatic finger at her. "And you think you could do better?! Controlling a rogue Devidramon is freaking hard….I'm actually realizing that Phantomon might not have been as useless as I thought if he could manage to keep

Gatomon just laughs as everyone else gives us a confused look. What the heck are we talking about, their eyes seem to say?

"Uh…" I scratch the back of my head. "Don't mind us rambling. Carry on with whatever you were-OW!"

"You idiot…"

Rubbing the top of my head from where she punched me, I mutter, "Hello to you too Sira…."

Sira scowls and crosses her arms, glaring down at me. "What on Earth were you trying to pull? Making everyone worry about you when in reality you were fine this whole time…."

"…I was hardly fine."

"But you were alive and couldn't be bothered to contact anyone for a ride? You decided to hijack a Devidramon instead?"

"She has a point." Gatomon says, sticking her head over Kari's shoulder. "Why didn't we just call someone to pick us up?"

"Cause…" I shrug helplessly. "It's so less cool?"

Cue everyone falling over. A chuckle echoes behind me. "Well you're definently the brash one right?"

I turn, about to give someone a fierce tell off when I blink. The girl's red eyes are full of playful mischief, with her long white hair that hangs down to her shoulders and the Kudamon on her shoulder. "I'm Adelina." She smiles, holding out her hand. "Alpha tamer. And stealing a Devidramon? I think you've given me an idea for my next prank."

"…Er…?"

"Don't give her ideas." A voice grumbles next to me, and I see a younger girl with darker skin standing to my other side. Her eyes are strict and remind me of Sira's. "The last thing we need is another repeat of the Great Pancake Incident."

"…The great what?" I snicker as Adelina beams. "Don't be a killjoy Stella. That was amazing and you know it."

"Easy for you to say." Stella mutters. "Your butt wasn't stuck to a chair by maple syrup for three hours."

"Or have your wings stuck together with the stuff." Her Seraphimon mutters and I can't help but burst out laughing.

Suddenly I'm glomped from behind as a familiar voice exclaims, "Lily look at you! You've gotten so big!"

"Ellen?!" I say in disbelief, turning around and a grin forming on my face as I see Sira's sister standing in front of me, her eyes lit up with excitement, her red hair hanging down to her shoulders.

The best way to describe her would probably be as the complete polar opposite of Sira, very warm and friendly. Don't get me wrong, Sira's awesome, and in all honesty I probably am much closer to her than anyone else here but Tai, but Ellen's very….open with her affections. Which is kind of nice.

I smile and hug her back. "I've really missed you….I didn't get to see you last time I went back to your house…"

"Pokemon Contest." She says with a wry smile. "I was so mad missed your birthday."

"Eh,no big." I blink suddenly in disbelief and yelp,"Wait,you're a tamer too?!"

"Surprised?" She asks with a smirk as she stands next to Sira. Kuwagamon and Sorcerymon stand behind them.

Sira chuckles. "I guess it's a family thing."

"I say Ellen's one of the most important members of our team." Another new voice comments, and a boy with auburn hair grins over at me. "Considering she's one of the few people who can calm Sira down when Sira's in one of her moods."

"…My moods, Delbert?" She asks dangerously.

"Uh….oh no…."

"Wait for the explosion." The last tamer snickers, his dark hair falling in his eyes as an Angewomon stands beside him. As Delbert apologizes—repeatedly—to Sira—his eyes drift over to me and he walks over. I blink as I look into his face. He has high sharp cheekbones and dark hair about the same shade as mine….and his eyes….look a lot like mine as well, shape wise, except that they are a bright emerald green.

"I'm…really sorry….about your partner." He says slowly, not looking away from me. "I…promise we'll do whatever we can to help get her back."

"…Thank you." I say quietly, looking away and I feel a hand touch my shoulder.

"Lily, are you all right?"

The boy's eyes narrow and he walks away and I feel myself being turned around to face Damien. Damien brushes the hair away from my face, touching the deep cut that lies across my cheekbone from the Emperor's whip. A low growl forms in his throat.

"That little creep…."

"Damien, it's fine." I mutter, embarrassed. I'm not the type that likes people getting overworked because of my injuries. Especially if it's embarrassing that I got injured by a young boy.

Damien's eyes are still murderous, his jaw clenched tight, and I know that if Tai were to find out about this, he'd be pretty darn pissed too.

But right now…it's just good to be home. A pang hits my stomach. Well….as home as I can be without Renamon beside me.

As I take in all of the Digidestined….TK whose seemed to grow older and even more like Matt since I last saw him, even though it was only a few days ago, Kari, sweet, amazing Kari, Yolei who never fails to speak her mind, Cody, whose always dead serious but now seems happier than he usually does, and Davis. Oh Davis. And…and Tai. And Damien. My eyes close. I've missed the two of them so much….Tai's….just….I thought I would never see him again.

I….don't think I could have handeled that. Not getting to say goodbye. And Damien's just…Damien. Smart and tough and….

"Hey…." My eyes slowly open as I scan the group again. "Where's Ryo?"

That one sentence seems to cause the entire group to freeze, Tamers and Digidestined alike. Scowls are on most of the Tamer's faces, and the younger ones, like Davis and Yolei, have a hurt, bewildered expression on their face.

I blink and look over at Tai, who takes my hand and sighs, his thumb stroking the back of my hand as he tries to find the words.

"She…um…she…."

"Is a backstabbing coward?" Adelina asks with mock cheerfulness and when everyone turns around to give her a look, she replies with, "What? She is. Ryo only cares about Ryo. It's always been that way."

"Huh?"

"Lily, how did you meet…that girl?"

Sira's voice is toneless, which tips me off that she is really…really not happy. I see her knuckles are white slightly, probably from clenching and unclenching her fists.

"She…appeared to us in the battle against Andromon and helped us beat all of the controlled Guardromon. Before that her partner Monodramon saved us from a controlled Frigimon."

"Monodramon's okay." Lilithmon, Dilbert's partner mutters as she studies her fingernails. "Just his partner has…issues."

"You needed help beating a Frigimon?" Stella says with a scoff. I just glower at her, already not liking this girl, but Sira waves at me to continue.

"She basically told us…I'll help you if you help me…."

Sira's eyes harden. "Help you with what?"

"I…I don't know. She wasn't specific."

Tai's eyebrows knit together as he stares at Sira. "What is this supposed to be about? What's wrong with her?"

"How about she's a traitor?" Stella says dryly. "And we're all better off without her, as is everyone else." She finishes this last sentence half-spitting.

"Stella…." Sira shoots her a look and she shuts up, but still, her dark eyes are angry. Seraphimon puts both hands on her shoulders, murmuring something to her, and she finally seems to relax. "…Ryo…was once a member of our group." Sira says flatly. "Through a…series of unfortunate circumstances…we had a falling out."

"More like you tried to murder each other." Lilithmon mutters.

"Not helping." Angewomon nudges her in the ribs and gives her a look from beneath her mask.

"Yes well it was a pretty bad falling out." Sira sighs. "I can't tell you what exactly it was about because it's confidential information. But the fact of the matter is I made a very hard decision and she…didn't like it. At all."

"So she left?"

"So I kicked her out." Sira's eyes narrowed. Cody blinks. "Isn't that kind of harsh just because she didn't agree with what you were saying?"

"Lead beta tamer's word is law." That remark, oddly enough, doesn't come from one of the tamers, but from Damien, whose stretched out across the rocks lazily.

The boy from before narrows his eyes. "How do you…-"I've done some research." Damien smiles slyly, and I'm oddly reminded of a smug cat.

Sira frowns slightly before turning back. "He's right. I can't deal with my members rebelling against me."

"And considering the levels she sunk to…."

"Edan, that's enough."

I feel my heart start to sink. I can't believe that…..I liked Ryo…I mean…she seemed abrasive…harsh a little but…there was just something about her I liked.

A hand slips into mine. "This is why it's stupid to trust." A voice says quietly in my ear, and I look up to see Damien stroke my hair. "Traitors never are what they seem…"

…

"I still can't believe we just left them."

Ryo sighs as she scrambles among the rocks. "Well there was really no more point in hanging around after the Tamer's appeared." She mutters, glancing down at her Digivice. Monodramon blinks and responds with-"Okay….I can understand why you don't want them to see you again. I don't really blame you. Sira is…." He glances from side to side as though worried Sira will pop out of nowhere if he finishes the sentence.

"A major pompous pain in the backside?" Ryo asks, her own lips quirking up in a smile. "Don't worry. Plenty of people feel the same way about her, I'm sure."

She glances down at her Digivice again and a smile breaks out onto her face, a true one instead of a cynical one, as the signal appears again. "Finally." She whispers, and looks up, a weird sort of gleam in her eyes. "Monodramon. Break through this rock wall."

He nods and, forming a fist, slams into the rocks several times. For a second his attacks don't seem to be having any effect, and Ryo has a moment of fear that perhaps the rock wall is protected by some kind of enchantment. But no. Cracks slowly start to form, tiny at first, then increasingly larger and larger. She smiles as they give way to form a deep hole in the middle of the wall. "Perfect. Nice job buddy."

"Uh huh." Monodramon peeks inside and gulps slightly as Ryo walks past him to enter. "Er…this isn't going to be like one of those movies were the treasure chamber is loaded with booby traps or undead mummies is it?"

"I knew it was a mistake letting you see those Indiana Jones movies." She rolls her eyes and looks over her shoulder at him. "You can stay out here I guess…that is if you're so scared." She finishes with a teasing smirk before disappearing in the shadows.

Monodramon huffs and crosses his arms. "I'm not scared." He scoffs, staring into the tunnel. "Even if that is…really creepy…" He sweatdrops as the sound of her footsteps continues to grow fainter and fainter before running in after her. "RYO WAIT FOR ME!"

She laughs as he scrambles up to join her. He loves it when she laughs. It's not something he gets to see all that often these days, what with the Emperor….and….other problems….

"All I'm saying is that…it wouldn't hurt to include the others in this. The Digidestined I mean. They would want to help us. After all, they're our friends right?"

"I don't have any friends….besides you." She says flatly as she keeps walking. "And I intend to keep it that way rather they like it or not."

"Ryo…."

…

Wormmon crawls into the room where the Emperor is sitting in his throne room sulking. Most of the rooms in the base are covered with scorch marks and or claw marks, and this one is no different. The throne has huge claw marks lashed across the back of it.

"…Ken? Are you all right?"

Wormmon becomes even more alarmed when Ken doesn't snap at him not to ever call him that. Swallowing hard Wormmon pleads, "Master, don't worry about the girl and the stupid cat escaping. It was just a lucky break. There's no way they're actually stronger than you…."

"Such…power…."

"Hmm?"

He looks around his master's chair and his antennae droop as he sees that Ken is once more staring at the yellow heap of mangled fur…Renamon.

"It…certainly was a sight to see." Wormmon admits, referring to the massive snarling beast that was Megidramon. And by that he meant absolutely terrifying.

The expression on his partner's face is a mix of awe…greed….but also more prevalently, complete frustration. For a minute, Wormmon is confused. Then it finally clicks in. "…You weren't the one controlling her in that battle."

"…No." Even the fact that he's willing to admit this makes Wormmon shudder. "I don't understand what happened. She was obeying my orders perfectly, spying on the rest of the Digidestined, slipping me information….until she digivolved."

"A Megidramon is one of the most powerful Digimon in the world. Maybe the Dark Spiral even wasn't enough to keep her under control…"

The Emperor lets out a laugh. Not the kind of laugh that Wormmon was used to. This one sounded…almost broken, and fearful.

"No Wormmon. My Dark Spirals work perfectly. Almost too perfectly…that's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

The Emperor clenches his teeth and manages to speak-"Someone…hacked into my system. By doing so they were able to control the Dark Ring independently of me."

"Wha?!"

"That's right…" The Emperor's shoulders slump slightly. "And I have….no idea how they managed it."

Fear begins to enter Wormmon's tiny body. He has this terrible feeling of what might happen, like something dark and evil trying to crawl its way up inside him. "Master….don't do it. Just let her go."

The Emperor blinks and turns around to face him, eyes narrowing down to slits. "Let her go…?" He repeats slowly as if he can't believe what Wormmon dared to suggest. "Why should I do that?"

"You said it yourself. You're not in control. Someone else is pulling the strings and I'm afraid you might get hurt if you continue to be involved."

He scoffs and turns back in the chair. "Please. Whatever fool decided to try and hack into my database, they'll regret it."

"They didn't TRY to hack into your database, they succeeded. Who knows what else they might do? Please master. Megidramon is too dangerous of a Digimon to be anywhere near if you're not in control."

"And I suppose you have a better Digimon I can test on?" The Emperor's voice is cold, each word filled with ice, and Wormmon knows it's a stupid idea to answer. Yet something makes him straighten up and clear his throat. "Yes Ken. Why don't….you experiment on me?"

There's silence for a moment. Than the Emperor bursts out laughing. "Are you kidding me?!"

"B-but Ken! I can digivolve! You know I can! And I almost beat those brats before too, remember? Why don't you let me try again? You don't need Megidramon when you have me."

"Oh really?" The Emperor still sounds amused but there's a vague hint of irritation in his voice. "Because if I recall you lost that last battle."

"….I…"

"I need strong Digimon who never lose a battle if I'm going to conquer the Digital World. I don't need you, little inchworm." He says with a sneer before walking off. "Besides…." Wormmon's drooping antennae perk up at the slight change of tone in his partner's voice. "…You'd do even less good to me dead." He says flatly before walking off.

"Ken…wait…please!"

Wormmon yelps as the whip crashes in front of him. He was lucky to get that warning, usually Ken went straight into the beatings.

"NEVER call me anything but master!" Ken hisses before whirling around and stalking off into the dark hallway.

Wormmon moans before quietly turning to look at the image of the unconscious Renamon lying in a mangled heap on the cell floor.

His eyes narrow. If he gets caught, Ken will never forgive him. But some things mattered more than Ken's forgiveness. Like keeping him alive.

…

Renamon groans, her eyes slowly opening. Images of fire wrapping around her fill her brain, and she can almost smell the smoke pouring upwards, filling her nostrils. She grimaces and tries to push herself up, wincing as she struggles to remember just what the heck happened.

The memories are foggy…but she remembers….a Lilithmon….a Seraphimon….her brain doesn't seem to be working. She puts her head in her paws and whimpers for her tamer.

That's when she feels the sunlight streaming in onto her coat, and she blinks, looking up. The wall in front of her has pealed away to reveal an opening…small door-sized, that she can easily slip through. She doesn't know where she is. Stumbling forwards, she blinks in the hot sunlight. "…Wha…?"

Wormmon watches her from above. He didn't dare actually take the Dark Spiral off, because if he did, he was afraid the warning signal would tip Ken off. Let the fox run back to her friends and have them remove it. And let her stay far away from Ken.

"How drunk was I last night?" Renamon mutters, her paw still over her eyes as she drops to all four paws to try and stay balanced. She scrunches up her eyes and tries to focus again, and that's when she notices what's wrapped around her right arm.

Her eyes widen in shock and fear. "Oh no….oh ! 3##$$!"

The world seems to be swimming around her, she can feel her eyes roll back in her head as her brain feels like it's being pushed to the side by something else, something much more powerful entering her head. She clutches at her skull and screams. "LILLYYYYYYY!"

…

"You're kidding me!"

Davis is staring at me in horror, his eyes wide as he comes to a stop. I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Believe me Davis. I wish I was."

"It's got to be some mistake…" He mutters desperately, his voice catching. "I mean….why would Ken…it can't really be him…."

"Look, Davis, I saw his face." I snap, starting to lose patience. "I saw his face, all right? I knew it from the soccer game and seeing his snooty butt prancing around on television time after time. So unless Ken has an evil twin somewhere, than there's no point in you living in denial."

He lowers his head, and I sigh as I see the misery and dejection in his eyes. He's taking this even harder than Yolei. Crushes come and go, but losing someone you looked up….finding out that they aren't what they seem…is never pleasant.

"Look….Davis….I'm sorry." I sigh as I look back over at the others before running forwards. I don't feel like being around the Digidestined right now. Adelina glances over at me, her eyebrows knitting together as I slow my pace to walk next to her. "Kid taking it pretty hard?"

"Yeah." I sigh, looking away. "It….was a shock."

"Hmm? Actually it was kind of blatantly obvious, if you think about it."

I roll my eyes. Actually, looking back on all the signs, she was right. We should have seen this coming. Adelina touches my shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. We all make mistakes." She grins. "You should hear about some of the crummy stuff SIRA'S managed to-"ADELINA."

She shrugs innocently at the sound of Sira's shout, and the two of us both exchange snickers. I glance over at her as her hand comes up to cover her mouth, and my eyes widen.

"Where did you…get that ring?"

Adelina blinks at the surprise in my voice and lowers her hand. "This? It's an Alpha Tamer Ring. It marks me as one of them and allows me to biomerge with my partner."

"Biomerge…?"

"Uh…." She scratches the back of her head. "Kind of difficult to describe if you've never seen it before."

I swallow hard, and move my own right hand so it's hidden behind my back. "N-no….I get it." I lie with an innocent smile, and a shrug. The instant Adelina moves on I pull my hand out again and stare at the ring on my right index finger, the emeralds shining in the moonlight.

….An Alpha tamer's ring?! Then what the heck is it doing on MY finger? Heh. Right now I don't even have my partner. And what's this biomerging she's talking about?

"Lily." Kari walks up beside me. "Tai and Sira say we're going to make camp now." She glances over at me and frowns at the look on my face. "Hey…are you okay?"

"Peachy." I mutter with a sigh.

She hugs me slightly. "We'll get her back." Her amber eyes glow. "I promise." I just smile slightly and touch her shoulder, unable to tell her that right at this second, that's not what's worrying me.

I curl up that night farther away from the fire…farther away from the rest of the group…as a million thoughts run through my head about the weird happenings which occurred today. Slowly turning my head to look up at the stars, I sigh.

"Any of you feel like giving me some answers?"

Silence.

"Thought not…."

I close my eyes and feel the beginnings of sleep begin to trickle in just as a twig snaps right behind me. Instantly I'm on my feet and in a defensive position.

An Elecmon hops out and stares at me in confusion before hopping off quickly again. I still remain frozen for a few seconds before groaning loudly and collapsing back onto the ground. If Sira had seen that she would have laughed her head off.

"Hello Lily…."

My entire body stiffens once more, and, not daring to believe what I'm hearing, not believing it could actually be her voice, turn to see my partner staring at me smiling.

For a few seconds, neither of us speak. My jaw clenches with indecision. On the one hand, this is my partner, my best friend since I was ten years old. On the other hand, if she's still being controlled by Ken, then we could end up in the same position we were a few hours ago—me chained up and Ken gloating over me.

Something tells me Gatomon or the others wouldn't bother to help if I was stupid enough to get caught BOTH times.

"…Aren't you glad to see me?" She asks, hurt in her voice, her ears drooping as she stares at me. "I'dve thought I'd get a better welcome home…than this….'

"…How did you escape?" I ask warily, taking a step back. I was ready to scream for the others when I saw the deep wounds covering Renamon's body. My voice dies in my throat as I whispers, "Oh…Renamon…."

"It hurts Lily…" Her voice sounds like her own again, but terrified, a pleading whimper. "Make it stop hurting…."

My fingers stretch towards her, and I'm walking forwards without realizing it. "Renamon…."

"LILY!"

The shadow blast comes out of nowhere and strikes Renamon hard in the side…she lets out a horrible shrieking yelp like a puppy being thrashed as she's thrown upwards and hits the ground.

"RENAMON!"

I bolt forwards just as Damien grabs me. "Are you completely suicidal?!" He hisses, as I still struggle to break free from him, and the sound of the others running forwards reaches my ears.

"You hurt her!" Angry tears prick at the corners of my eyes, and I know it's a childish thing to say but I can't help it. It's a terrible thing to see your partner be injured and not be able to do anything to help.

Mutters echo behind me. I see Sira glance from the injured Renamon back to Damien, her eyes narrowing down to slits as Damien grabs me by the shoulders.

"Listen, Lily, cause I'm only going to say this once. You matter too much to me for me to let you throw your life away out of foolhardiness!'

"…"

"Aw, how cute."

My head whips around and I scowl murderously at the figure standing just above me, right where I can't jump up and slam him into the ground then start breaking every bone in his body.'

"Beat it Ichijouji." Tai snarls as he looks up at Ken, standing in front of his sister and glancing over at me. "If you think you're kidnapping Renamon from us for a second time around, then think again pretty boy."

"You be smart to retreat now." Sira agrees, her eyes cold. "You're hopelessly outnumbered, and unless you LIKE being nothing but a smear on the ground…"

Ken's blue eyes flash from person to person and he smirks. "You don't get it. As long as I manage to take just one of you annoying little brats…" He hisses before raising his Dark Digivice again. "Then I've won!"

The madness in his eyes sends a chill down my spine and I'm running as fast as possible towards Renamon, screaming her name as Ken screams, "DARK DIGIVOLVE!"

Renamon suddenly howls and places her head between her paws and collapsing to her knees just as I reach her.

"Renamon it's going to be okay!"

"LILY GET OUT OF THERE!"

For a minute….I think maybe everything will be okay. Because Ken's Digivice seems to have died in his hand. There's no spark of power, no streaming darkness coming forth.

I hear Ken cursing in annoyance and frustration, muttering something about how the stupid thing needed another upgrade…

That was when I noticed Renamon snarling…her eyes turning a vivid shade of red….

Uh oh.

"LILY GET OUT OF THERE!"

"RENAMON DARK WARP DIGIVOLVE TO…..MEGIDRAMON!"

I swallow hard as I stare up at the couple-thousand pound snarling dragon in front of me. She's…much bigger than she appeared to be on the television screen. Her muzzle is about as big as I am tall, more than capable of snapping me up like a chicken nugget, and those yellow eyes give me the creeps, nothing like Renamon's warm and playful blue eyes.

"Re…Renamon?" I ask weakly, looking up at her. She snarls down at me and a couple of droplets of acidic spit hit the ground in front of me, creating huge steaming puddles.

Megidramon growls once more and I hear Damien screaming at me but I'm not listening. Slowly I reach a hand out towards her muzzle….which is idiotic, I know but…

"You know me…" I whisper, staring into her eyes. "You're not this savage monster Renamon. You're my partner. You're an idiot, even more so than I am, and you are literally a bottomless pit when it comes to food."

Megidramon's growling continues but it's lighter. "You know me." I repeat, and her yellow eyes fixate on the hand in front of me…on my ring. Her eyes take on a confused, but not aggressive look and she slowly lowers her head.

"That's it…."

"YOU USELESS LIZARD!"

We both tense at the sound of Ken's voice, whose scowling murderously down at us and looks ready to stomp his little feet and throw a temper tantrum. "WELL?!" He shrieks, his voice more like a PMS cheerleader than a boy. "KILL HER!"

Megidramon's eyes narrow as she suddenly roars, and my eyes widen as I get a very good luck down her gullet right before someone grabs me by the waist and pulls me away in safety.

The two of us both roll and I look up into Tai's eyes. "Can't let you get killed so easily." Tai breathes. Ken smirks….before his eyes widen with fear as the tail wrapped around him.

"HE-HEY?! WHAT THE HE-AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"NO!" I scream as Megidramon takes off into the sky, her tail dragging Ken behind her as he squeals like a stuck pig.

"…Your Digimon just kidnapped the Emperor."

" #$$$."


	11. Sibling Strife, Into the Dark Ocean

Chapter Eleven

"WHAT THE %%%%% JUST HAPPENED?"

"Lily, swearing at the top of your lungs is not going to solve the problem." Damien sighs with a roll of his grey eyes.

I clench my fists. "Well forgive me if I'm freaking out considering hell has practically frozen over! Really! What. The Heck?"

"She does have a point." Dilbert mutters, looking as disconcerted as the rest of us. "Megidramon wasn't acting right. I mean, come on. I could understand if one of his little trinkets malfunctioned and he was no longer in control….but if she was back in her feral state why didn't she just eat him? What was the point in dragging him off like that?"

"Maybe she dragged him back to her nest, where she's going to first paralyze him and then feed him to her young as he lies unable to move as the hungry kits slowly eat him alive...OW!"

"Idiot." Yolei mutters, rubbing her knuckles. "And curse you for having such a hard skull."

"…It's my only defense against people like you who seem to enjoy hitting me!"

"You guys, could we please focus?"

"So you're saying…" My mouth feels dry as I lick my lips. "You're saying you don't think Ken was ever in control of Megidramon?"

"I don't know for sure." He says, raising an eyebrow. "Don't put that much faith in my predications."

"And you stop being so cynical about yourself." His partner, Lilithmon, scolds, putting a hand on her hip and glaring at him like she might hit him upside the head as well. "It could very well explain why he was so desperate to get Renamon back. Probably scared out of his mind when he realized he couldn't control her."

"So there's a different psycho pulling the strings?" Gatomon mutters, her ears drooping. "Great…."

"Hey Sira can I borrow your Digivice for a second?"

"Why in Yggdrasil's almighty name would I-LILY GIVE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!"

"In a second!" I reply, continuing to type my message as I duck underneath her grab and actually backflip over the others' heads to avoid anyone else trying that.

"She just stole the leader's Digivice." I could hear the awed whispers coming from the other tamers. "What raw nerve…"

"I didn't steal it, I'm giving it back right after I hit send…." I smile at the little musical note it plays as I press it. "There." I hand it back to Sira and path her on the shoulder. "All done."

"Who did you…" Her eyebrows knit together as she looks at the screen. "Lily, did you not listen to a word I said earlier? She's completely selfish and untrustworthy, why are you…?"

"Because she's the one who knows Ken the best." I reply without looking back over at her. "I don't know how they know each other or why she still clings to the hope he can be fixed…but none of that matters. The point is she can give us information, and second of all…" I finally look back over at Sira. "I think that…everyone…well maybe with one or two exceptions…should be allowed to redeem themselves."

There's silence for a few seconds before Sira sighs and crosses her arms. "How naïve you are."

"I AM NOT!"

"Just don't accept too much." Adelina mutters with a roll of her red eyes. "Ryo's very good at disappointing those she cares about."

…

"This is it…" Ryo breathes as she stares at the symbol carved in the pedestal in front of her. "Finally…."

Monodramon smiles as he leans against her leg. "You deserve this Ryo. It's been so many years of you searching for it to try and make things right."

"Exactly. So let's not waste this golden opportunity." She smiles and leans forward, touching her palm against the top of the pedestal.

It seems as if blue lights are shooting forth from her hand, forming a complicated design that shone in the dark cavern so brightly Monodramon has to shield his eyes to keep from going blind.

"_Are you…worthy?"_ A voice that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere echoes in the shadows. Ryo clenches her teeth, annoyed at the way she flinches.

"Yeah. I am worthy."

"_Who are you?"_

"Ryo Akamiya. I've searched for years for this, for my desire to fix my stupid mistakes in my past. Please…."

A column of light shoots up from the pedestal, and she slowly smiles in disbelief. Could it be? Really? That the stories were telling the truth?

Her fingertips are inches away from the beam of light when her Digivice goes off. Monodramon glances up and blinks. "Aren't you going to get that?"

"In a minute." She hisses, and her fingers finally brush the side of the column. Immediately a burning sensation seems to shoot through her hand like something poisonous has just bit down, and bit down HARD.

Ryo fights back the desire to scream in pain and keeps moving her hand forward, clenching her eyes tightly shut and trying to fight back the single tear that runs down her cheek.

An image of a man with blonde hair and a sly smile runs through her mind and she swallows hard, continuing to press forward.

"_I will do this…for all of us…." _She thinks, picturing Ken the way he used to be. Short black hair, bright eyes, a smile that could light up the world…a smile that had never failed to warm her heart.

"Ryo!"

"WHAT?" Ryo snaps, whirling around to glare at her partner and struggling to ignore the pain that shoots up her arm. "What could be so important that…?"

Her voice trails off as Monodramon holds the Digivice high enough up so that she can read the message.

"_Ken has been kidnapped by Megidramon. Please come…."_

Eyes widening in horror, she looks back as the pillar of light starts to fade the minute she pulls her hand away. If she doesn't stay here then she might not get this chance for months…maybe years again, to find what she has been looking for and put everything right.

But….

The image of Ken flickers through her head again and she clenches her teeth before walking over to Monodramon. "Come on. Let's go."

…

"LILLLLLLYYYYYYYYY!"

My eyes widen in horror as I turn to run but it's no good. I'm already at the mercy of the furious red-headed girl, who starts hitting me upside the head repeatedly.

"Ow-SORA-OW!"

"HOW-COULD-YOU-NOT-TELL US ABOUT THIS?" She demands, shaking me wildly back and forth and glaring daggers at me. "How could you not tell the rest of us about your partner being kidnapped?"

My face flushes, either from shame or lack of oxygen as I gasp out, "Sora….you're….killing me….."

"She has a point though." Matt stands in his leather jacket looking oh-so-cool once more—I can almost feel the stares of the other girls, even a couple of the tamers, eyeing him. "We're a team. You both…." He glowers at Tai. "Should have contacted us the minute something like this happened!"

I look over at Tai. "You want to take this one?"

"Not really." He responds nervously, sweatdropping as we both stare at our irritated friends. I swear to freaking Yggdrasil I think Sora might be bipolar. Sometimes she's the nice and sweet girl who helps her mother out in their flower shop, other times….she freakishly reminds me of Sira.

Who by the way is standing just slightly behind me smirking as though my near-death experience was absolutely hilarious.

"Look Sora…." I sigh, scratching the back of my head. "I definitely would have called you if I could. But it all happened so fast….and…quite frankly only a couple of hours ago I was chained up."

"What?" Matt raises an eyebrow. "Again?"

I twitch. "Watch it pretty boy it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to."

"So we're working with half-chosen then?" Stella demands, turning around to face Sira. "I didn't realize that. I thought we'd simply help out on this mission, end it quickly, and then get back to doing our own jobs."

Yolei's eyes narrow like a cat's. "HALF-chosen? What's the supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? Unlike us you guys weren't completely chosen by Yggdrasil alone." Stella says, raising an eyebrow and with the tiniest of smirks on her face.

"Oh, so you think you're better than us or something?"

"Hmm? Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Yolei half charges forwards, looking exceptionally pissed right before Davis grabs her. "Ugh! Let me at her!"

"Yolei, you're making things worse!"

Sira shoots Stella a stern look that makes the other girl wilt slightly as Sira growls, "We're having a talk. NOW."

Judging by the pale look on Stella's face, she's already envisoning her life ending as Sira drags her away with a disapproving scowl on her face.

"You have to excuse Stella." The paler boy from before with the bright green eyes says in his quiet voice. "She still believes in the old ways. Not many of us tamers are like her."

"What was her problem anyway?" Gatomon mutters as she hops up on a hurt Kari's shoulder. "I don't recall doing anything to offend her mightiness."

The sarcasm in her meow makes me snort slightly, and the corners of the boy's lips turn upwards. "Stella just feels like that the tamers should be working on their missions and you guys should deal with your own problems. While I agree we need to make our problems the top priority, most of us don't see the harm in helping right now. Besides, a Megidramon on the loose…is a danger for everyone."

I look away and he flinches. "Look, I didn't mean your partner is evil or so-"Nah, it's okay." I turn and smile at him. "I…totally get where you're coming from, believe me. By the way….I didn't manage to catch your name?"

He smiles and runs a hand through his black hair. "Edan. Edan Lightwood."

"Edan?" Davis snickers quietly under his breath. "That's such a girl-OW!"

"I'm sorry, you were saying Davis?" Cody asks with absolute innocence, blinking. Edan chuckles before walking back over to the group and Agumon smiles. "See? Most of these guys are pretty cool?"

"Some of them are…." Yolei mutters, glowering at Stella's back.

Matt raises an eyebrow as he sees Damien's dark black hair in amongst the group. "Huh. He's still hanging around huh?"

"Matt!"

"Unfortunately." Tai grumbles with a roll of his eyes, causing me to punch him in the shoulder and glare at him. He pointedly ignores my "shut-up" gesture and Gabumon asks, cocking his head to one side, "But he's not a Tamer?"

"No….at least…I…" My eyebrows knit together and I shake my head, struggling to keep my thoughts together. "Wait…what were we talking about again?"

Matt's eyes narrow. "Lily?"

"Sorry…I…" I rub my temples, wincing in legit pain as another headache springs up. "I just….ah….."

"What's going on?" TK asks, poking around and frowning at the look of pain on my face.

"I was just asking about how much you guys know about Damien."

"Oh, Damien's cool." TK responds automatically. "Yeah…I guess we don't know…." He blinks. "All that much…but…."

Sora's eyes narrow as she looks from one to the other. I rub my temples again, fighting back a scream of frustration. What the heck was wrong with me? This wasn't teenage oh I love him so much I'm not going to think it through, this felt more literally like someone had flipped the off switch on the rational part of my brain.

I mean he is a weird kid who did pop out of nowhere….and has powers….but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with him….Is there….?...It's just….I don't…..

"You guys, looking!" Veemon cries out, his eyes widening as a dark shadow appears on the horizon. When the shadow doesn't slow down, he lets out a gasp before pushing Davis out of the way. "IN COMING!"

Devidramon slams down onto the ground right where Davis was previously standing, his claws creating huge grooves in the ground where they hit.

Davis lies there, twitching with fear as Ryo hops off Devidramon's back. "Anyone miss me?"

Silent glares from the Tamers and hurt/confused looks from the Digidestined. "Apparently not." She mutters as Devidramon rolls his eyes.

…

Somewhere in the darkness…it stirs….red eyes opening. A smile touches it's lips as it observes the scene in front of him, especially the young girl with the flaming red hair.

"You should have known better than to bother coming back my old friend." He mutters to her, smirking. "They'll never accept or trust you again." His lips curl, as he imagines sinking his own teeth into her flesh, watching her break, watching her bleed.

His red eyes fixate on the dragon next to her, and even though it's ridiculous, he can't help the sharp ache that burns at his chest.

He snarls once more. He will show her. He will show all who betrayed him….his eyes flicker over to the boy with the scruffy chestnut hair. Red eyes narrowing, he can't help the prickle of unease that builds up inside him. There's something different about this one….something….powerful….he isn't sure what, but this feeling makes him angry.

Snorting, he shoves it to the back of his mind and smiles again. It doesn't matter. The boy will die anyway. They will all die.

…

"Patamon?"

"Yes Veemon?"

Veemon leans in closer and whispers, "Am I the only one who feels like a bomb is about to go off any second now?"

Patamon flinches as he looks around at the crowd of humans clustered around them. "No, trust me. The whole atmosphere is really creepy."  
"If looks could kill I think Ryo would be dead by now."

I had to say I agreed with them. The Tamers were all glowering murderously at her, with the exception of Adelina, who looked more sad than anything else.

Ryo just shrugs and then turns to face us. "Sorry I left earlier." She said, playing with her red hair. "I didn't mean to leave you in the lurch like that but…something came up. Something…really really big…." Her face darkens.

"Something big my butt." Stella mutters under her breath. "More like you despise us so much that you refuse to help those who associate with us."

"I'm not nearly as petty as you are rookie." Ryo says with a sneer. Stella's face flushes before Seraphimon grabs her shoulders. "Easy." He mutters. "She's not worth it."

Ryo just rolls her eyes and replies, "So what the heck happened? Megidramon turned on Ken? Why?"

"If we knew that we would have acted on it already." I respond, feeling a little annoyed by her demanding tone.

She growls. "Well why aren't we tracking them down already? Before your partner eats him, preferably?"

"He'd probably deserve it." Damien says with an uncaring yawn and Ryo tenses, her eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"Damien…." I sigh, looking away from him. Is he really the type of person to just say that someone deserves to die a horrible death, being torn apart by a bloodthirsty dragon?

I mean, yes, this is all Ken's fault, but….that's not a death I'd wish on anyone.

"I can help track down the signal and find them…." Yolei comments, looking thoughtful. "If I had a computer than it would be easy."

"We can probably get you one back at the Tamer base." Adelina offers. "Would the Windows XB .65 work?"

"…You have that? Are you kidding me?" She squeals, clasping her hands together and beaming. "Perfecto!"

"Could we please focus on what really matters?" Ryo's voice is icy and makes Yolei cringe back, looking ashamed and unsure.

"I…."

"Hey…." Tai protests, shooting Ryo a look before pulling Yolei closer to the rest of us and scowling at her. I can't help but smile. Tai will never allow any of his members to be picked on like that.

A derisive snort echoes from the back and I can't help from cringing. Oh this can't mean anything good…..

"You know you haven't changed a bit." Sira says with a sneer that she usually reserves for people she really despises, like Archie or Myotismon. "I'd have thought you might have gained at least some maturity over the years after you were exiled but no. You still come in acting like you own the place and like you're better than everyone else here."

"Did I ask you your opinon banshee?" Ryo spits back.

"…Oh boy." Tai mutters, sweatdropping as the two girls glare at each other. "Should we try to get between them?"

Matt snorts. "You can. I know impending Armageddon when I see it."

"You have no right to even be hear," Sira snarls, looking ready to kill, "so you have no right to go around being snippy to people who haven't done anything and giving them orders!"

"Oh like you do?" Ryo snarls back, walking forwards with her hands balled into fists like she wants to sock Sira in the face. "You who only have members who follow you because you rule through intimidation?"

My jaw tightens as I step forward, ready to give Ryo a hard kick in the shins as Sira flinches ever so slightly. NO ONE talks to my sister like that.

Ellen beats me to it, slapping Ryo across the face and crying out, "How dare you?"

Ryo doesn't even flinch, like she can't even feel the slap at all, and Ellen pulls back, wincing as she stares down at her hand which now has a massive bruise across it. "What the…?"

"YOU are the pathetic one, not me." Ryo snarls, shoving Sira backwards. I hear Agumon growling beside me and see the murderous looks on all of the tamers. "You don't even care enough about your own mate to have your team help him when he's in trouble! You always put your pride first."

Wait…what?

"What the heck is she talking about?" Gatomon whispers, eyes narrowing. "GranDracmon can't seriously…be in…"

I shake my head slowly, the cellphone call echoing back in my mind. Now I realize who called Sira. It was Ryo. But before I can ponder this anymore I'm distracted by the bloodthirsty shriek and the next thing I know Ryo and Sira are rolling in the dirt, clawing and punching each other with all they have.

Biyomon just sweatdrops as she watches. "Well then…."

Sora groans, facepalming. "It's Tai and Matt all over again."

"Hey! We were never this bad!"

"Does WarGreymon VS MetalGarurumon mean nothing to you two?"

"…Touche."

"Sira, knock it off!" I shout, pleading for her to listen to me as her fingernails rake down Ryo's cheek creating long red grooves. "Sira, please! We have to find Renamon and Ken! SIRA!"

"Ryo, stop it!" Monodramon shouts over to his partner. "We didn't come here to start another fight with her, remember?"

"Don't you DARE bring GranDracmon into this…." Sira snarls as she bends Ryo's arm back, causing the other girl to yelp, "When it was your betrayal that nearly…."

"…Wha?"

But Ryo responds by catching Sira off guard and punching her hard in the nose, forcing Sira to fall back, and then kicking her hard in the chest.

Sira lets out a strangled gasp and clutches at her ribs, and I can tell by the pained expression on her face that a couple of them are probably really badly bruised if not broken.

That does it.

"You little jerk." I seethe, pushing past Ryo, and running to Sira. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be….fine…" She breaths before growling at Ryo. "I told you you can't trust her!"

Ryo rolls her eyes. "I'm untrustworthy because you are out of shape and you quite frankly suck at hand to hand fighting?"

Dilbert shoves her back roughly, and for once his normally happy face is clearly pissed. "Get out." He snaps. "NOW."

"Fine." She responds with a sneer, but as she walks off, "But if I do walk off you'll never know how easy it could be to beat the monster that's controlling Ken…"

"…?"

Ryo turns her head to look back at me, her eyes narrowing as she stares just at me. "Or the enemies he might bring back." Her tone isn't smug, it's weary, and that's what sends a chill down my spine. She's not making this up.

…Or the enemies he might bring back…._Blue eyes blue eyes blue eyes…._

"Lily." Sira's voice is hard as she grabs my shoulder. "I need to talk with you."

"In a minute Sira I'm trying to think this through….."

"NOW."

Sighing, I exchange a look with Tai like, "Save me please" but Tai just sighs and shakes his head ruefully, "Can't help you."

Few people can stand up against Sira when she's in this kind of a mood. I sigh as she pulls me to the outskirts of the group, and I know what her words are going to be even before she says them.

"You cannot invite her to be a part of this!" She snaps, slicing her arm back and growling menacingly. I glance at her bloodstained face and my resolve softens. "Are you okay?"

She gives me a withering look, the way she always does when she knows I'm at least partly trying to change the subject. "I'm FINE but that's not the point. The point is I'd trust a rabid Garurumon more than I'd trust her, and if you have any brain cells you'd do the same thing."

"First off, if Gabumon heard that rabid Garurumon comment he'd be highly offended, second of all…" I lower my voice and make sure Sira is looking me right in the eyes as I say this. "I don't trust her, okay? I get there's something off about this girl. But the fact is that she has information we could really use, Sira, and right now, when absolutely nothing makes sense, we could really use someone with inside information."

She just scowls at me. "And what will you do if she stabs you in the back when you're so focused on finding this information?"

"Sira, I can handle myself."

"Not all the time. Dang it Lily I am trying to show you when an idea is too risky and you're blowing me off!"

"Because even if it is a risk, I have to find my partner!" I snap, my voice rising. "And if Ryo helps us maybe we can make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Why don't you listen to me for a change? It'd be nice if you could be supportive instead of so eager to pick a fight!"

Her pupils slit. "Are you accusing me of being selfish?"

"No! That's not what I….' My fists clench. "Stop twisting my words around Sira. I'm just trying to think of a way to stop all of this insanity before someone else loses their partner and someone else gets hurt."

"If you cared about your friends than you wouldn't let someone like her around!"

…Oh that does it…

Grabbing her by the shirt collar, I shove her back, hard, but only to get my point across not to hurt her. "Get this through your head. No one cares more about Tai and the others than me. I would do ANYTHING for them so don't you dare ever make a statement like that again!"

Sira glares at me, her red eyes narrowing down to slits, and I'm so tired of this. Whatever reason she hates Ryo, I don't know, but she should be more mature enough not to let it interfere with what really matters.

"If you don't want to be involved, than don't." I say tiredly, as I walk away from her. "But just know this. You've really let me down."

"After all I've done…for YOU…how can I say I've let you down?"

I turn and look at her. "Right now." I say quietly. "None of the past means anything compared to this moment when I've lost possibly the most important person in my life…and you let me down."

…

"Beta…Alpha…and Omega?" Davis says slowly, looking over at Delbert. "So what do those all mean exactly?"

Dilbert grins as he lies on his back in the dirt, looking like he's without a care in the world. "They're different ranks in the group. Omega tamers are the most common, like me, and what we can do is…" He pulls out a dagger and Davis flinches back. Delbert snorts. "What? Did you think I was going to gut you or something? Trust me. If I was really going to kill you, you wouldn't see it coming."

"Gee that's comforting."

"Anyway, the fact my Digivice comes in the form of a weapon is what makes me an Omega tamer."

Yolei blinks. "Wha? No way. That's your Digivice?"

Dilbert shoots her a grin. "Sure is. And because of it it means I get to fight side by side with my partner."

"Doesn't mean I don't have a heart attack when he runs out into the battle field." Lilithmon mutters.

He rolls his eyes. "Ah, you worry too much. Anyway the next up in rank are the alpha tamers." He gestures over to Adelina whose busy talking to a teary-eyed Ellen. He frowns slightly before continuing, "See that ring on Adelina's finger? That's HER Digivice, and it allows her and her partner Kudamon to do something really special—to biomerge with her partner."

"Biomerge?" Sora asks sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Eh, it's hard to explain if you have never seen it before." He grins. "But let me tell you, it will knock your socks off."

"And…the beta tamer?"  
"That's what Sira and Stella both are." He nods in Stella's direction whose sitting with her head on Seraphimon's shoulder, her eyes closed as if she's trying to calm down. "Beta tamers are the leaders, as they have the most powerful Digimon—for example, Stella has Seraphimon, Sira has GranDracmon."

"Hold on." TK raises an eyebrow. "You said the beta tamer is the leader. And yet….you have two?"

"Right." Dilbert nods. "Stella's like Sira's apprentice. She'll be the leader herself one day, even though I'm not sure how much she's looking forward to it." He hesitates and lowers his voice slightly. "When she was still with us….Ryo was also a beta tamer apprentice. Could possibly have been the leader as well."

The group turns to stare at Ryo who is standing as far away from them as possible, the wind playing with her hair and throwing it back as she stares off into the distance.

Monodramon leans against her leg and she smiles faintly before touching the top of his head and continuing to ignore the others.

"…"

"What happened?" Kari asks, turning back to stare at Dilbert.

"…Long story…" He mumbles, looking away. "But it was such a mess….complete disaster….."

Everyone startles at the sound of footsteps stomping towards them, and Dilbert blinks to see Sira storming back over looking severely pissed as Lily follows behind, looking bitter.

"Oh that's not good."

"Lily?" Tai gets to his feet, concern flooding him and he gently grabs her shoulder as she tries to walk past him. "Are you okay?"

I sigh and cross my arms. "No…not really…."

"We're leaving." Sira snaps at Dilbert before turning to face the rest of her team. "Let's move out."

"But…." Ellen protests as Sira walks past her as Sorcerymon sighs. "Riona I think… you might be being too rash…."

"Sira what about…"

"I said we're going." Sira growls as Stella walks over to join her, looking relived. "Let the half-chosen deal with this."

"Sira!"

I clench my fists as I see them go one by one through the portal…Sira looks over at me but I pointedly look away and she scowls before entering.

Adelina goes in last, looking guilty and annoyed and glances over at us, mouthing the words, "I'll fix this" before following her.

Matt sweatdrops as they disappear. "Lily, what the heck happened back there?"

"Don't assume this is my fault." I growl, looking away. "She's the one who seems to think that settling a grudge is more important than doing what's right."

"That doesn't sound like Sira." Biyomon says, a frown appearing on her beak. "What happened?"

I just shrug and look away. "She's mad at my decision to…." My voice trails off as Ryo walks over to us. Ryo's eyes narrow slightly as she turns at the spot where the portal vanished.

A flicker of something appears across her face…maybe regret it's too mixed up to tell but then she turns back to me. "You okay?"

"Fine." I mutter. Sira's words keep playing back in my head. Damien raises an eyebrow as he looks over at her. "Well since our old comrade has apparently decided we're not worth the trouble….I suppose that means you can help us?"

Ryo keeps her eyes fixated on me, and even with all I've heard, she looks complete sincere as she smiles wryly and responds with, "I don't know. But I'll sure as heck try."

"So I suppose we head out and pray Megidramon hasn't eaten Ken." Tai says grimly, his eyes narrowing.

"But we don't even know where she went! What are we supposed to do, just wander around randomly hoping we'll get lucky?"

"Well do you have a better idea Matt?"

Matt rolls his blue eyes at Tai. "As a matter of fact I do, and if you were using your head more at this moment you'd realize it too. Who do we know whose a positive genius with computers?"

"…Oh." Tai's face flushes as he scratches the back of his neck while Sora rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone. "I'll contact Izzy."

"Good." Ryo nods grimly as Sora dials. "And when we do find her, no one-man heroic stunts. All of those with the strongest of Digimon are going to have to hit her as hard as we can."

Davis flinches. "Is that really necessary? She's our friend, shouldn't we be avoiding hurting her as much as possible?"

"Oh yeah she's your friend." Monodramon said with a wry laugh. "That won't stop her from trying to swallow you alive while she's being controlled."

"Hey…."

"Davis, it's fine."

He blinks. "Are you….sure Lily?"

I nod, brushing my hair back from my face and sighing. "What matters is….that no one dies for good. No human, no Digimon."

"Well said." Ryo nods. "And we'll try to make sure that that is the outcome." Her Digivice suddenly beeps and she rolls her eyes in frustration before answering it. "Hello?"

"What are the odds of that being Sira calling to apologize to me?" I mutter to Tai. Tai just smiles ruefully. "Be honest Lils. Sira never apologizes."

"…What?"

We all look up sharply at the tone in Ryo's voice. Her knuckles are clenched tightly around her phone. "No just…calm down….what happened?"

A few more moments of complete silence except for the muffled sound of someone terrified speaking to her.

"It's going to be okay." She says in a tone more soothing than I've ever heard her use in her life. "It'll be fine, I'll get you out of there I promise…."

Sora walks back over to us. "Izzy's got a lock on Megidramon's location. But while we're there he wants us to check out Tentomon's territory. Apparently he hasn't heard from Tentomon in days and he's getting really worr…." Her voice breaks off as Ryo finally hangs up, her face grim. "Apparently that's not the only problem, huh?"

"Try complete disaster. That was from Wormmon, and he's in huge trouble."

Patamon blinks. "Wormmon? Isn't that the Emperor's Digimon? Why is he sitting at home while his partner is in trouble?"

"I don't think he knew…." Monodramon shrugs. "Ken…he doesn't really like it when Wormmon tags around him. Or has anything to do with him really."

"Pathetic." Kari mutters, disgust obvious in her voice at the way someone could treat their own partner.

"Look, none of that matters right now." Ryo responds, agitated. "Wormmon called, absolutely terrified, because apparently the base has been taken over by…good grief a whole TEAM of psychopaths."

"I bet their leader is the guy who hijacked Ken's system." Gatomon mutters. "It's a good strategy. Gain control of the Dark Rings, gain immense power, and then get rid of the competition."

"That makes sense and all, and I'm worried for Wormmon as well," I point out, "but shouldn't stopping Megidramon be our top priority? I mean if we don't break the Dark Spiral off of her as soon as possible it'd cause even more damage if this creep was able to keep controlling her."

Ryo hesitates. "I don't like this but…."

"Ohh no." Damien shakes his head, crossing his arms. "We are not splitting up. Everytime we do it's a complete disaster."

"I'm inclined to agree with young Damien." Hawkmon pipes up. "Would we not be better off sticking together in a larger group? You know what they say, numbers is the best defence, and I think we've certainly found that to be true."

"While you might have a point it's not like we have much choice." Sora sighs. "Still, taking on a Mega will be nearly impossible without us all together."

"But if we all go together than we'll have even more problems." Ryo says tersely back. "I don't know what these creeps want in Ken's base but whatever it is it can't be anything good. Wormmon says he thinks they're building something there."

I get a very bad feeling in my stomach, like icy hands were trying to crawl up my intestines. "…Building something?"

"Apparently."

"Well, we obviously can't ignore that." TK admits. "So as much as it sucks, we're going to have to split into two groups. But we stay in constant contact with each other, agreed?"

"I need to be the one that goes after Megidramon." I say stubbornly, crossing my arms. "She's my partner, it's my responsibility more than anyone elses'."

"You're not doing this on your own." Tai says flatly, his hand clutching mine. "Not this time."

"Tai…." I can't help but shake my head and smile. I should have known there'd be no point in getting Tai to let me go without him.

"Well, if my brother's going, I'd better go too." Kari says with a smile as Gatomon purrs.

"Keep you two out of trouble."

I feel my face flush slightly at the cat Digimon's words. "W-what is that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm? It could mean all kinds of things." She says with a sly grin that makes both me and Tai turn bright red…though Tai's grinning at the same time. Damien scowls murderously, looking unimpressed. "Then I'm coming as well."

"No, Damien."

"Huh?" He gives me a startled, hurt look. Behind me Tai silently punches the air and mouths the words "I win you son of a banshee."

Rolling my eyes over at him so he'll stop doing the happy joy dance, I say quietly so others can't hear, "I need you to be the one to keep an eye on Ryo. She may be willing to help us but I don't trust her completely yet."

"One of the others can do that." He insists, his grey eyes flashing. "I want to make sure nothing happens to you. Lily…please….?"

The earnest look on his face makes me feel slightly guilty but I still shake my head. "I'll be fine. Trust me."

"But…."

"Just…" I touch his shoulder. "Do this for me, okay? It would make me feel a heck of a lot better."

"…Fine." He grumbles, looking away from me, his annoyance obvious, especially since Tai still seems to be gloating over there at him.

I didn't tell Damien that Ryo's not the only one I want someone to keep an eye on. More and more I find myself questioning Damien. Which is harsh and I feel kind of bad about it, but there's this little voice in my head that keeps screaming there's something not quite right about this whole scenario, how this kid with powers just dropped out of nowhere.

I'm probably judging too harshly but it never hurts to be wary.

"I'll go with them." Sora adds and when Matt flinches slightly she responds, "Come on Matt. You don't doubt I can handle myself." Her eyes narrow slightly. "Do you?"

"Uh…" He sweatdrops. "No. Not at all. Not even slightly."

She smirks before patting him on the shoulder. "Good to hear it."

"Contact the rest of us the minute you need help." Ryo replies, before walking off with the others. Sora touches Matt's hand for a moment and the two of them exchange a look. He smiles before kissing her gently and then following Ryo.

I feel my shoulders slump unwillingly. How long will it be before someone is willing to kiss me like that again?

…

"Sira, we need to talk about this."

Sira's eyes narrow slightly as she looks behind her. "Talk about WHAT Adelina?"

Adelina crosses her arms and gives Sira a stern look. They'd all just come through the portal moments before and Sira was still seething from the argument with Lily earlier. _"After everything she acts like I'm the one that disappointed her?"_

"You know Lily did have a point."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sira demands icily, turning around to glare at her, something she rarely did with Adelina.

But the Alpha tamer doesn't back down, if anything she gets more irritated looking. "Don't get snippy with me too. The point is Lily was right. Fighting with Ryo wasn't exactly important at that moment, you know that right?"

"So you think I should just LET that little witch get involved with us again? After what she did? After she nearly-"Uh, Sira. I was there, remember. I know full well what she did. We all did. But if you were really worried about her backstabbing the Digidestined, then you should have had us stick around with them to make sure something like that didn't happen, not storming off like a four year old."

Sira growls. "Remember who you're speaking to Adelina…."

Adelina's eyes flash. "I'm trying to. And when the Sira I know decides to reappear instead of this immature brat, than I'll be happy to." She walks off leaving Sira on her own.

Sira groans, running a hand through her hair. Ellen's too nice to say anything but she's giving Sira some disapproving looks as well. Edan looks uncomfortable while Stella looks torn. Dilbert is….sleeping. His head on his female Wormmon's stomach, as Lilithmon must have degenerated back to her Rookie form when they went through the portal.

"Well…Riona?" Sorcerymon asks, staring over at her. "What say you?"

Sira sighs, taking out her Digivice and studying it for a moment. She knows her team will follow her out of loyalty no matter what decision she makes. That's not the problem. The problem is if they're all convinced she's wrong…what if she was being selfish?

…

"Flipping heck." Davis groans as we keep walking through the tall grass of the prairie. "Is anyone else besides me bored out of their mind?'

"We're not on this mission for entertainment purposes." I say with a roll of my eyes to keep from strangling him. Normally I wouldn't be so irritated, but if I'm already super stressed, and he's been complaining this entire walk…

Sora frowns. "If we only had a map this would be going a lot faster…."

"I once had a map of everywhere we traveled." Tai comments before shooting Agumon a look. "SOMEHOW it got burned to a crisp."

"That was years ago! And I already apologized for it!"

"Wait a minute. Did you guys hear that?" Gatomon's ears perk up suddenly and she stiffens, looking around.

"What is it?"

"Shh…." A low wailing kind of noise echoes from around us, growing louder and louder with each passing second. It takes a while to register in my brain and then I blink. "A train…?"

"Uh..guys?"

Davis' face is pale as he slowly looks behind him. "You do realize….we're standing….ON the train tracks."

"…"

"Oh %%%****."  
"SORA MOVE!" Tai shouts before grabbing her around the waist and shoving her out of the way just as Gatomon slams into Kari, I roll down the hill, and Davis bolts…only to get his shoelace stuck in the tracks.

"DAVIS!"

Veemon slams into him full force tearing him free and knocking him down the hill just as the train rushes past at full speed.

"Maniac." Gatomon breathes, shoving herself upwards and shaking like mad as she stands protectively in front of Kari. "What in Yggdrasil's name was he thinking?"

"Aw man…"

Davis groans as he examines his feet, one now obviously shoeless, and whines, "I just got these."

"Ah, you'll be fine." Veemon waves him off. "Besides, I think it's always better to go barefoot anyway."

"You okay Sora?" Tai asks gently, helping her back up as she brushes the dirt off her jeans.

"I'll be fine…." She mutters, scowling after the train. "Hey buddy! Next time learn how to drive!"

"Yup, she's fine."

"I'm fine too thanks for asking." I mutter, wincing at the large scrape that is across my left cheek. I can't help the resentful glare I shoot Tai and Sora's way. It's ridiculous. She's with Matt, I don't know why I bother getting jealous, especially since Tai's not really my boyfriend.

But….a part of them will always love each other. Not romantically. But just as strong. It's…I don't know… Not the way Matt and Sora love each other, it's different than that, and I know there was a time when Tai loved me more just like Sora loves Matt more….but….

"Can we keep moving on?" I growl, getting to my feet and Sora laughs as she pushes Tai off. "Right behind you Lils."

There's no blushing, no indication of romance or anything but…

Shaking my head I manage to listen as Tai responds, "Isn't Tentomon's tree supposed to be right around here?"

"Yeah…?"

"…Then why don't I see it?"

Biyomon flaps her wings and takes to the sky, calling down to us, "I'll go check it out. BRB!"

I blink and slowly turn my head to look at Sora, trying not to giggle. "BRB? Are you kidding me?"

Sora groans, rolling her eyes to heaven. "I've been texting with Mimi recently and Biyomon wanted to know why I was typing weird words that weren't really words, so I taught her some of it. Apparently…she seems to like it a bit too much."

We both look at each other and both start laughing really hard for no really apparent reason. And just like that all of my doubts and jealously are shoved under a boulder…for now anyway. But I know one thing. Sora is one of my best friends, and just like I'd never do anything to hurt her, she'd never do anything to hurt me.

She knows how I feel and judging by the time I caught the two of them passionately making out in the school's supply closet, she knows how Matt feels as well.  
Biyomon flies overhead to the location to where she knows Tentomon's tree is supposed to be, a massive oak that has always seemed out of place and yet quaint here on the prairie. She blinks suddenly, not able or not willing to process what she's seeing.

Ash stretches outwards in a great ring and in the middle there's a charred stump. Claw marks all around it. Biyomon's eyes widen in horror and she lets out a low moan. "No…."

….

"That….is the stupidest looking base I've ever seen in my life."

Matt's observation makes both Patamon and Armadillomon snicker loudly. Indeed, it's not necessarily the most designer friendly looking base.

It looks more like someone sliced a huge chunk of rock out of a cliff, creating this odd bulky thing that's levitating in mid-air.

"It's designed to look like part of the terrain." Ryo says with a shrug as she fiddles around inside her bag. "To better blend in, you know?"

"Most mountains don't fly." Damien says dryly.

She rolls her eyes. "When it's NOT moving. Anyway, the base circles around every day, going to different locations, but at night it enters a subsection of the Dark Area." She flinches. "And TRUST me we do not want to end up there."

"After all…" Damien's lips quirk oddly. "That is where the Demon Lords live."

Yolei shivers. "The who-know?"

"The most powerful Viruses in the Digital World. The Seven of them are each embodiments of the Deadly Sins…Wrath…Pride…." His fingers brush up against Ryo's hair slightly. "And Lust."

She smacks his hand away and glares at him, causing him to laugh. "In any case, none of you kids would stand a chance against seven very powerful, bloodthirsty Megas."

Matt's eyes narrow as Damien looks over at him. He's irritated, and he knows Tai would have been down right pissed at the patronizing tone in Damien's voice when he talks to them or the way he said "kids."

But Matt's not Tai thank Yggdrasil, so he manages to easily keep his temper and respond with a raised eyebrow and, "Then I suppose we'd better be careful not to piss them off."

"I'm not so sure about this." Cody mutters and Armadillomon leans against his partner in a comforting way. "Don't worry about it. If the Demon Lords were planning to tear us to shreds they would have done it by now."

"Here's something we should really be worried about." TK comments, shoving his hat back slightly to get a better look up. "How do we get inside? It looks pretty well fortified."

To his surprise, Ryo chuckles. "That, kid, is the easy part." She smirks as she holds up her Digivice. "Ready Monodramon?"

"MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….DEVIDRAMON!"

"What is she doing?"

Devidramon soars upwards till he's hovering right by one of the bases' walls. Ryo clambers onto the edge and pulls out a circular metallic object from behind her back. It's too far away for Matt to see exact details on it, but when she presses it against the wall red lights show up on it. There's the sound of rapid beeping and then electricity zooms outward, sparking against the rock wall.

Slowly…slowly….the granite peels away to reveal an opening and Matt's jaw drops. "How did she?"

Ryo smiles, dusting her hands off at her good work before looking down towards the others. "Well? Are you coming or not?"

…

"ARGH!"

"Davis, punching the ground isn't going to get us anywhere." Sora sighs in exasperation as she looks at the younger boy. "Except give you a bloody fist."

"What the #%%%% %%^^ is going on?" Davis seeths, his eyes blazing with anger as he whirls around to face us. "First Renamon and now Tentomon has been taken from us? What kind of a game does he think he's playing?"

"Technically the Digimon Emperor isn't responsible for Tentomon's disappearance." Gatomon says, her tail lashing back and forth in agitation. "Although that makes me feel worse not better."

"Davis has a point." I mutter, rubbing my temples to fight the headache rising up in me again. "What the crap is going on? First someone hijacks the Emperor's system….now they're kidnapping tons of Digimon….and then Wormmon says people have snuck into the base and are building something? What could they possibly be building?"

"I'm not quite sure we're going to like the answer when we find out." Agumon responds grimly and Tai clenches his teeth.

I haven't seen him look this angry and frustrated in a long time, and I slowly lift my head just as Sora asks hesitantly, "Tai?"

"It's just so wrong." Tai growls in frustration, his fists tightly clenched so hard his knuckles are pure white. "How the heck am I supposed to protect my team when I don't even have a clue what we're fighting?"

"Tai, I get where you're coming from." Sora responds calmly, looking up at him, "But in this case there was nothing you could have done. Maybe if we had known that someone was targeting our partners spefically then we could have set up some kind of protection around all of them, but we didn't so we couldn't so there's no one to blame for something no one knew."

"…"

"Sora that…barely made any sense at all." Kari says, sweatdropping.

As Sora rolls her eyes and gives Kari a look, I punch Tai hard in the shoulder as I walk past him. "What she MEANS lover-boy is that this is not your fault. And if you go back into emo mode again after you get over this anger, I'm going to slap you in the face once more."

A small smile appears on Tai's face before he laughs. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go back into emo mode, as you put it, especially since your sister threatened to kick my butt if I did."

"Glad to hear Sira actually said something useful." I mutter, a pain of sadness and hurt rising up in me as I remember our fight from earlier.

Tai frowns and touches my shoulder, spinning me around. "Lily, don't let one fight get you down or ruin your relationship with her. I don't think she was trying to hurt you."

"She was the one who walked off, Tai, not me."

"Well yes, that was stupid, but look…." He takes a breath. "Look, I understand what it's like to be an older sibling." He glances over at Kari. "You get overprotective…"

"Like threatening to stalk and murder any boy who takes me out?"

"Well yes there's that, and that still stands." He adds, giving her a glare before turning back to me as she sticks her tongue out at him, "but the point is it that you….get angry when your younger sibling doesn't seem to be listening to you, or if they insist on doing something you know is wrong."

"Tai, I appreciate it…" I sigh. "But somehow I doubt Sira's just upset because she thinks I'm putting myself at risk by listening to Ryo."

He raises an eyebrow. "Really? Because if Kari was listening to someone I hated I'd be pretty pissed off at both of them."

"…I don't know." I mutter, looking away just as Agumon yelps, "Hey, what's that?"

We all whip our heads around to see something…huge…towering up to the sky and moving towards us at a ridiculous pace.

"What is it?" Kari gasps, taking a step back. "A-a tornado?"

Gatomon's eyes narrow slightly as she looks before her eyes widen. "Oh crap…EVERYBODY RUN!"

Tai grabs my hand as we both bolt, racing back in the direction we came towards the train tracks. The thing keeps getting closer, letting off sparks of energy as it does.

I clench my teeth, feeling the heat much too close to my back as I struggle to move even faster, actually leaping over the train tracks in one bound, a move that the others easily repeat.

Except for….

"GACK!"

Davis screams as his foot gets caught in the train tracks once again, his eyes widen with fear as he desperately tries to loosen it and the pink tornado slowly encircles him…

"DAVIS!"

I scream his name, running back just as I feel the suction pull at me as well, dragging me off my feet. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was some kind of portal, the motion sickness and all, but this was insane, pulling me head over heels and spinning me around rapidly as I heard Tai and the others scream my name. The roar increases in my ears and I squeeze my eyes tight to keep from puking as I'm spun literally upside down and forwards and back….I catch a glimpse of Tai's face and reach for his hand…

"L-Lily!"

Another ripple shoots up the column and I'm ripped away from him at the last possible second, screaming as I'm thrown backwards and Tai vanishes from sight.

….

"FALL BACK NOW!"

Matt shoves TK out of the way just as a massive tentacle slams into the ground in front of them, crushing the walkway with tremendous strength.

He stares in distaste at the creature, his eyes narrowing down to slits. He remembers when Joe and Ikakumon had to fight against this thing, a Gesomon, a squid-like Digimon with a powerful choking grip and rotten yellow teeth.

Ryo scowls in annoyance before looking over at him. "Do you think you can handle this on your own?"

Gabumon snorts. "Without a doubt. Matt?"

Matt smirks and pulls out his glowing Digivice. "The rest of you move on, we've got this."

TK hesitates for only a moment before grinning. "Go get him brother." Before bolting after the others down a narrow hallway.

Gesomon squeals and sends a tentacle whipping after TK, barely missing the young boy's ankles just as Gabumon bursts into light.

"GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO….GARURUMON!"

Gesomon's eyes widen as the snarling wolf charges him, sinking his teeth into one tentacle and nearly ripping it off.

His scream echoes before Garurumon finally lets go to avoid being clobbed in the head by a different tentacle and rebounding off the wall, blue flames appearing in his maw.

"HOWLING BLASTER!"

…

The rest of the group continues running at top speed down the hallways, Ryo occasionally checking her Digivice over and over again.

"I've got a lock on Wormmon's signal…." She mutters, whipping around a corner, her mane of red hair flying out from behind her. "Come on!"

"Let's just hope this isn't some kind of trap…." Damien replies under his breath, but Ryo can hear him and she fixes him with a glare over her shoulder.

"Wormmon would never do something like that. He's not like Ken, and he's one of the few people left I can still trust."

"Lovely." Yolei mutters, struggling to keep up with the pace of the more athletic group. Even Cody was managing this constant running better than she was, being the kendo champion that he was. For a girl who spent most of her time on the computer or eating sweets from her family's store, even weeks in the Digital World didn't solve everything.

"Almost….there…"

Suddenly Yolei's foot seemed to be falling through mid-air as she opens her mouth to respond sarcastically to Ryo's announcement. She screams as the trap door opens all the way and she plummets, twisting and howling all the way down.

"YOLEI!"

"**YOLEI!"** Hawkmon cries, diving down after his partner at full speed, spreading his wings out to their full length. Cody crouches, ready to jump in after his best friend but Damien pushes him to the side with a shout of, "I'll get her, you keep moving!"

And with an athletic ease he leaps in after the girl, black jacket swirling around him like a cloak as he vanishes from sight.

Cody shudders. "Yolei…."

"She'll be okay Cody…." Armadillomon comforts him by placing a paw on the younger boy's knee, "but for now we need to keep moving."

"We'll come back for all of them, I promise." TK agrees, touching Cody's shoulder. Cody hesitates, looking up at the older boy before nodding and taking his outstretched hand and getting back to his feet.

Ryo turns so the two of them can't see the look on her face. Good grief….on her first mission she's already had something potentially horrible to two of her members.

She just prayed that the others, wherever they were, wouldn't do something stupid once they found Megidramon. Like confront the massive dragon. "_Please Yggdrasil I know I'm the last person who deserves to be praying to you…but don't let anyone else die under my charge."_

…

"Ugh….."

Kari moans as she shoves herself upwards, her head pounding in pain as she struggle to regain focus. "T-Tai?"

There's nothing. Just the sound of birds and insect Digimon, and the feeling of sunlight beating down on her. For a minute, Kari feels a moment of terror that she was indeed all alone, but to her relief she quickly discovered that wasn't the case.

Sora and Davis, along with all their partners, are stretched out unconscious on the grassy forest bed. Sora moans as Kari crawls over to her and shakes her desperately. "Sora…please…wake up…please…."

There's that moment of fear and uncertainity before Sora's eyes finally open. "Wha….what was that?" She groans.

"Data stream…." Gatomon mutters weakly from where she lays.

'"Huh?"

"Never heard of them." Davis mutters, wincing in pain as he shoves himself upwards. "And at this moment I'm incredibly glad not to."

"They only appear every once in a while." Gatomon explains, getting steadily back to her feet and wincing at the bruises all along her body. "When the Digital World is in turmoil. They reflect the chaos."

"Good to know." Veemon grumbles. "So what happened to Lily and Tai?"

"They must have been sent to a different area." Gatomon sighs, her ears dropping. "That's what makes data streams so dangerous. You literally have no idea where you're going to end up."

"So you're saying….we might never see them again?" Davis lets out a choked noise of horror.

"Don't be so dramatic. Of course that's not what I'm saying. But it could take forever to find them, especially since we don't have the type of technology to track them down. And with only one partner amongst the two of them…they could be in real trouble…."

"I'm not going to accept that." Sora says firmly, getting to her feet, albeit with great difficulty and still feeling quite dizzy. However, she stubbornly walks forwards into the forest. "There must be a village somewhere nearby that we can use to contact someone with. Hopefully Ryo, or maybe even Sira. She might have her stubborn moments but I'm sure if Sira thinks Lily is in real trouble she'll come running no matter what."

Davis and Kari exchange a look with each other. "Are you sure Sora?" Davis asks. "That forest doesn't look particularly safe." He grins suddenly as he reaches down, his hand holding Kari's tightly. "Here, I'll hold your hand so you don't get scared."

Unfortunately Davis forgot about Kari's other hand. Which was a rather large mistake because she promptly slaps him hard across the face.

…

"T-…Tai?"

My eyes slowly open and I groan as I shift, moving my arm so I'm not lying on top of it awkwardly anymore.

Tai is stretched out awkwardly next to me, his chin touching his knees as he's curled up into a tight ball for protection. He looks almost like he could be asleep. I smile and reach forwards, brushing his bangs out of his eyes right before his eyelids slowly flicker, than open.

"Li-Lily?"

"Hey sleeping beauty." I tease, leaning back on my butt and feeling sand press up into my shorts. I supress a groan. Don't tell me we got landed in the desert again….but no. The smell of salt and the roaring noise behind me tips me off to where we really are.

"Huh." I comment, looking out at the ocean. "I did always want to go to the beach."

"The beach?" Tai says, surprised as he scrambles back to his feet. His brown eyes take in the water sliding up to our ankles, and he blinks. "Wait…I remember this place. This is where Agumon digivolved to Greymon for the first time."

"Wait, so that means we're on File Island?" I exclaim, turning around to face him. "That's a freaking ocean apart from the others!"

"I know I….wait…." Tai's eyes widen slightly as he whirls around. "Where's Agumon?"

"…You've got to be kidding me…." I mutter, spinning around as well and not seeing any sign of the chubby cheerful dino-lizard.

"AGUMON!"

"Shh!"

I clasp a hand over his panicked mouth. "Would you be quiet? You don't know whose listening in on us! We're separated from the others and neither of us have partners right now. To any hungry rogue Digimon we look like lunch." My tone softens. "I'm sure Agumon's fine. That thing must have transported him somewhere else, but aside from probably being worried sick about you, he's probably just fine. And freaking out's not going to solve anything."

Tai's shoulders are shaking but he sighs. "I….I know…."

I touch his arm lightly before he stiffens and pulls me behind him.

"What is it?"

He growls and I see something…moving…beneath the sand….moving towards us quickly creating snake-like patterns and without thinking I grip Tai's arm harder as the beach explodes upwards and something emerges….

…

"RYO!"

Ryo's face split into a relieved smile as she spots Wormmon crouching terrified in the corner. Bending down she smiles as he crawls, overjoyed, into her arms.

"You came…" He mutters quietly.

"Course I did." She pats the back of his head gently as Cody smiles.

"Not that this isn't a great reunion and all…." Armadillomon drawls, looking nervously from side to side. "But now that we've found the little guy shouldn't we get out of here?"

Cody frowns down as he sees his partner shivering. "What's wrong?"

"It's just….so cold….there's a chill of evil in the air…." Armadillomon hugs himself, shuddering and Cody's frown deepens.

"Don't be so dramatic."

"He's not." Monodramon's voice comes out as a mere whisper as he slowly turns his head from side to side, his reptilian eyes taking in every little detail. "I sense something powerful…something really wrong…."

Ryo's eyes widen slightly and she presses a button on the wall causing the window to open up. The first thought that enters Cody's mind is that they're being swallowed up by some huge monster, a giant gaping black mouth ready to swallow the whole base.

"No…" Ryo whispers, and the fear in her voice is enough to make Cody almost wet himself. "It's not supposed to enter this place until night!"

"T-that's the Dark Area?" Cody keeps staring and he feels the weakness enter his knees…his breathing becomes quick and shallow and its like all his energy is being sucked away from him into that bottomless pit…

"Don't look at it!"

Ryo clasps a hand over Cody's face and steers him away, growling. "We need to get out of here. As in….now."

"But what about-'We'll find the others, I promise. TK, come on!"  
TK doesn't answer. He's staring out that window as if he'd seen a ghost, his face clammy and pale, his hands clenching at his side, as the voices echoe in his mind, laughing….

ONE voice in particular.

"TK SNAP OUT OF IT!"

TK's eyes harden, not with fear, but with rage, and the next thing anyone knew he had shoved past Ryo down the opposite hallway, his fury radiating off of him in waves.

"TK!" Patamon flies after his partner struggling to keep up. Cody looks worriedly up at Ryo who just clenches her teeth in frustration.

…

Red eyes opened in the darkness of the basement, and the figure grins, stretching out skeletal fingers. "That's right….come to me small one." His laugh, so harsh it could shatter ice echoes across the walls.


	12. Bearer of Miracles, Birth of a Monster

Chapter Twelve

Davis groans as he collapses onto his knees in the middle of the forest, panting heavily. "We've been walking…for HOURS…!"

"Oh come on, Davis." Veemon responds, tugging on his partner's shirt. "Whatever happened to that neverending endurance you were telling me about?"

"It left me five hours ago…."

Kari and Sora exchange a look and Kari smirks as she continues walking. "You know…I've always found guys who don't tire even after so much is thrown at them very attractive."

"What are you slowpokes doing?" Davis exclaims in a jovial voice as he walks quickly past them. "Come on! Places to see, people to…." He suddenly doubles over, wincing in pain. "Oh CRAMP CRAMP!"

"Well you tried." Biyomon giggles as she flies ahead while Veemon pats Davis on the back, looking worried.

"He does have a point though." Gatomon yawns, her blue eyes taking in the darkness of the forest. "We've been wandering around this place for hours and we don't seem to be making any headway."

"What are you complaining about?" Kari grumbles, shooting her cat Digimon a look. "You're the one whose been riding on my shoulder for the past two hours."

"Regardless, doesn't that rock look familiar?"

Gatomon points at a large boulder at the side of the road, its light steel grey body glinting from the few rays of sunshine that managed to peak through the thick canopy.

"You're right it…." Sora's eyes widen and she groans before running forwards. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"What?"

She points to a carved marking on the side of the rock. "I drew that two hours ago." Is the grim reply.

"….You mean we've been walking in circles this entire time?"

Davis moans and drops to his knees again, burying his face in his hands. "That's it! We're doomed! We're gonna end up here for the rest of our lives and I'll never get to tell Kari how I really feel!"

"…Davis. I am standing right here."

"Uh…." Veemon blinks, his eyes widening. "Does anyone else smell smoke?"

Gatomon sniffs the air, her eyes widening as well. "I smell…sausages!" And with that she bounds off Kari's shoulder and into the underbrush. "Gatomon, wait! Come back! This is more something like Renamon would do!"

"Occasionally Renamon has the right idea!"

Kari and Sora exchange helpless looks before everyone bolts after the cat—that is, after Veemon manages to forcibly pull the exhausted Davis off his feet and into the underbrush.

Gatomon peers around one massive oak and blinks. "It's….a cabin?"

"What would a cabin be doing by itself out in the middle of nowhere?" Biyomon whispers quietly.

Sora stares at the dilapidated building and feels a chill run down her spine that's not exactly fear, but not a good emotion either. "I vote we avoid it."  
"What?" Davis waves his arms wildly around desperation in his maroon eyes. "But…but…there could be food in there!"

"Yeah, or we could end up being the food." Kari comments, grimacing. "Did you learn nothing from the story of Hansel and Gretel?"  
"This is not Hansel and Gretel. If it was, that hut would be made out of candy, not…twigs, and quite frankly, even if I would be fattened and butchered afterwards, if I was filled up with chocolate I'd die happy!"

Kari and Sora both sweatdrop as Davis storms confidently up to the hut. "He has….'

"Some serious problems…."

"Hello?" Davis raps repeatedly on the side of the hut. "Is anyone home? Please?"

For a minute, there's silence. And then the door swings open to reveal two glittering eyes in the darkness. "Who's there?" A voice snarls out, and Davis leaps back with a girlish scream.

…

"Tai, get behind me!" I shove him back as the sand covers the both of us in a golden wave. I cringe back, squeezing my eyes tight to prevent the burning sensation before whirling back around with a snarl.  
I didn't know how I was going to protect him from this monster, be it another Shellmon, a Coleamon, or even some kind of Digimon I'd never heard of before but even if I didn't have my powers I would die before I let any….any…what. THE. HECK?

"Lils, it's okay!" Tai exclaims, pushing in front of me, his eyes widening before he crouches down. "Hey little guy…where'd you come from?"

The creature in question is a dark blue puffball with cat like ears and golden eyes, a long striped tail and white underbelly. Even my inner voice is laughing at me. Blushing bright red, I scowl as Tai stretches his hand out and snap, "Tai, for Yggdrasil's sake be more careful than that."

Tai rolls his eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure this little guy is REAL vicious."

"Watch it. I own sarcasm and I didn't give you permission to use it."

He just smirks slightly over at me before turning back to the little puffball, who scoots away from him nervously, making faint whimpering sounds.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He says softly, stretching his hands out. "Easy…."

Something about his sweet brown eyes makes the little In-Training seem to relax, the raised fur all along it's body settling back down as it hesitantly hops forwards.

Tai scoops the little guy up in his arms, and then turns around to face me with a pleading look as he scratches him behind the ears gently.

"No." I say flatly before continuing to walk forwards.

"Oh come on Lils! What's the harm?"

"The harm is that I'm not interested in carrying around some little kid with me everywhere, especially when we're on a dangerous mission like this."

"But we're not even sure where Megidramon is." Tai protests, holding the In-Training close to him like I might knock it out of his hands. The little creature struggles slightly before licking Tai's hand as he scratches it behind the ears again. "Shouldn't we…I don't know, help him get back to his parents before he gets eaten by something?"

I groan, raising my eyes to heaven and cursing the fact that Tai is giving me his world famous puppy-dog eyes.

"Lily…please….?"

The fact that he's holding an adorable puffball doesn't really help matters. With a huff of annoyance I sigh. "Fine. We'll help him get back home and then that's it. We're saying goodbye, got it? We've each got our own partners we don't need a little tag-a-long."

"Don't listen to her." Tai whispers. "She's just jealous because you're cuter."

"Hah hah. That's so funny I forgot to laugh. And if it's not toilet trained…." I call over my shoulder, "it's your problem, not mine. I am not dealing with another incident like with Sora's cousin and Koromon!"

…

"Ugh…." Something icy cold is pressing against the side of her face, seeping through her body in a chilly embrace.

Yolei feels someone gently shaking her shoulder. "Oh dear." The voice is familiar and almost tearful. "Yolei, it is imperative that you must awaken! Yolei!"

"My….head…."

Someone nudges her in the side with their foot, hard. "Get up." Damien's voice is cold and near emotionless. "We don't have time for this."

Shoving herself upwards, Yolei fumbles around half-blind, her partner even more fuzzy than usual. "I…I can't see without my glasses."

"Glasses?" Damien blinks, as if the word is unfamiliar to him, and then he says-"Oh….those unnatural devices you put on your face for seeing. I see."

"…Unnatural?" Yolei cocks her head at him as she slips them on. "Where have you been living for the past 100 years or so?"

After she puts them on she turns her head slightly to the side. And she screams.

"Yolei!"

Hawkmon and Damien both grab her at the same time, Hawkmon wrapping his wings around her in a pathetic attempt at a comforting hug while Damien slaps a hand over her mouth.

"Shh…..the last thing we need is for dozens of guards to come running down here." He mutters. He glances down at her horrified face and makes a face of his own. "I know….it's horrifying, isn't it?"

Yolei can hardly speak now even though she wants to simply keep screaming. A dull pale green light fills the room…coming from the gigantic test tubes that line the walls. And inside each test tube, wires attached to their bodies and leading to glowing wires extending out are…

"Tentomon…" She gasps, running forwards. "a Kuwagamon….a Monochromon…and Airdramon…what the heck are they all doing here?"

"It's draining them of their data." Damien whispers, his eyes fixated on the glowing liquid that drifts away from the test tubes and into a massive computer.

"_75% scan complete. Two subjects still missing. Capture last two subjects."_ The robotic voice is completely emotionless, without pity, without the cruel amusement of the Digimon Emperor.

"W-what do they mean, capture last two subjects?" Hawkmon asks nervously, looking from side to side at the doped up Digimon in the test tubes.

Damien glances over at Yolei, his jaw setting. "You're good with computers, right?"

"Well yeah but I…"  
"No buts. See if you can't hack in and try to find a way to stop all of this. I'm afraid if I just start smashing things I could really hurt one of them."

Yolei gulps then bends over at the computer, typing frantically as the voice drones out again, "_Newest subject. Increasing energy transfer."_

Everyone whirls around at a scream of sudden pain. Yolei's face goes ash-white and she's shaking like mad as her eyes scan the room.

In the middle test tube a Rookie Digimon writhes and howls in pain and agony, his eyes rolling back in his head as his data is literally stripped away from him. Damien gulps as he sees what looks like Digital Wiring underneath the skin. The poor Rookie is writhing around so much Damien can hardly tell who it is…but when he does recognize him…his heart stops.

"No…."

The creature's green eyes lock on them before another snarl of pain erupts from his mouth. He writhes wildly trying to break free from the wires which are torturing him.

"AGUMON!"

"But if he's here than that means…." Damien mutters, his eyes narrowing before his face goes pale. "Lily….."

…

"Aw, he's so cute!"

"Tai, no man should ever utter that sentence." I groan, rubbing my forehead as the little In-Training hops around Tai's ankles, chasing his own tail.

Tai raises an eyebrow. "What? Guys can't think little fluffy things are cute?"

"Sure, you can say it. Just please don't say it in a baby voice." I reply, rolling my eyes and trying to ignore the pounding headache that feels like someone is taking a sledgehammer to my skull again and again. He smirks slightly. "What, you mean like this?" He asks, his face completely innocent as he picks the little fluffball up and coos, "Aw, whose the cutest thing in the world? Yes you are."

"Oh my gosh, you are making me feel even more ill than I already do and quite frankly I think you're scaring the little guy."

Tai glances down at the In-Training, who is indeed staring at him with a…slightly disturbed expression in those big golden eyes. Blushing bright red, he looks over at me as I collapse down onto a boulder sticking out from the sand, wincing.

"You're not feeling good?" His fingers play across my arm before coming to rest on my forehead. "You don't feel hot…."

"Thanks Mum." I mutter. "It's just an awful headache I've been getting them all the time recently…."

He brushes the hair out of my face before I can say anything. "You don't get migraines, do you?"

"I…didn't use to think so…but now I'm…"

"Here." Tai stands up, slipping his hand into mine. "Let's get out of the sunshine. I heard that sun and heat can make a headache worse."

I shrug and follow after him, my feet sinking into the sand as he leads me into a small crack in the cliff's edge. I blink. "It's an awfully tight fit, isn't it?"

"Eh. We'll huddle."

"Is that why you suggested this?" I ask, amused as he turns bright red.

"N-no…it's just that…you need to get out of the heat and…unless you want to walk for miles…I…."

"Relax, Tai, I'm just messing with you." I chuckle as the little In-Training looks up back and forth at each of us, blinking in confusion.

The crevice is indeed a tight fit, I'm practically cemented next to Tai, so close I can feel his heartbeat under my palm. It's steady and sure, comforting….

My hand clenches slightly on his shirt as if I'm holding onto something more. Looking up at him I whisper, "At least we're out of the heat."

"…Yeah." He whispers back, staring at me with those eyes that just….ugh…I shouldn't be thinking like this. Thankfully, the tension is broken when there's a quiet, "Wanya."

"Huh?"

Tai's face splits into a grin as he picks up the little In-Training and cuddles him. "Did you hear that Lils? He's talking!"

"…Tai I don't know what Digital World you visited but EVERY DIGIMON CAN TALK."

"Yeah well, the babies can't talk perfectly." He defends. "Koromon was old for an In-Training when I first met him."

"Wanya, wanya." The baby giggles in his arms. Tai smiles. "Wonder what Wanya means?"

"I'm going to make a wild educated guess here." I say, rolling my eyes. "And say that that's his name. Wanyamon?"

He turns and shoots me a toothless smile, and I'm not so heartless as to stop a return smile. "He is pretty cute."

"Haven't you ever wanted kids Lily?"

I nearly choke on my own air. "W-where the HECK does a question like that come from?"

Tai's face turns bright red. "No, I…! I didn't mean necessarily with me, I just meant in general, I…!"

"We aren't even in college!"

"I KNOW that I just …." He glances back down at Wanyamon whose ears have gone back as he whimpers slightly.

"I just….sometimes I wonder…what'd it be like to be a father. That's all."

"…" I slowly raise my eyes to meet his. "Tai I barely knew what it was like to be a child myself growing up. I…wouldn't have a clue how to raise one. And besides, a half star? I don't even know if that's ever happened before and even if a baby was healthy I….I wouldn't want to take the risk of it having powers and being hounded down by psychos who want to use her for their own means."

Tai raises an eyebrow and a slightly small smile appears on his face. "So you'd want a daughter?"

…Did he just ignore everything else I said? I sigh and brush the bangs out of my face, smiling wryly as I look at him. "Yeah. I'd want a daughter."

…

"Tea anyone?"

"Thank you." Sora smiles politely as she sits at the old table that looks like it's been eaten by wormwood slightly. She nudges Davis hard in the ribs when he belches loudly after finishing his finger cakes. "Tea would be lovely."

"See?" He smirks over at her as the sound of their host entering the kitchen and out of earshot fades away. "I told you this wasn't Hansel and Gretel."

"Techinically it still could be." Gatomon yawns, stretching lazily after finishing her bowl of milk and licking her lips. "Of course if it was he'd have to be willing to keep Davis around till he got nice and plump and nothing would be worth putting up for months with Motomiya."

"…Hey…" He sulks just as their host walks back into the room. "I hope everyone likes herbal tea, because unfortunately that's all I could find." He chuckles through his long white beard that's almost indistinguishable from the long white mop atop his head.

In fact, you can't even see his face, which Sora found a little creepy at first, that and the bear paw club he seems to be holding.

"Thank you Jijimon." She smiles, and Kari and Davis both nod. "It's wonderful."

"Well, thank you little missy. Haven't had anyone to cook for since my mate passed away many years ago so…." He waves a hand. "But don't worry yourselves about that. So what brings you little ones all the way out here?"

The group exchanges glances. Jijimon seems nice but they've had too many incidences of letting their guard down around people who seem nice and then paying for it in blood.

Davis is reminded painfully about Ken really being the Digimon Emperor, and his shoulders slump. Sora keeps thinking about Datamon and shudders.

Unfortunately none of these thoughts seems to enter Veemon's head, because he cheerfully replies, "You see sir, we got separated from some friends of ours in the Data Stream. One of our other friends, Renamon, has been captured and forced to dark digivolve into Megidramon so we're trying to track down her location so we can-"VEEMON!"

Veemon's ears droop. "What? What'd I say?"

"Megidramon huh?" Jijimon puts a hand to his face thoughtfully. "That's a very powerful Digimon. You'd need at least a couple of Megas to destroy her."

"With all due respect sir," Kari responds, crossing her arms, "We have no plans to destroy our friend. This isn't her fault in the slightest, she's being controlled by something evil. If we could just get the Dark Ring off of her, she'd go back to normal."

Jijimon is silent for a moment before he says slowly, "There…might be a way to do that….that is…if one of you is the right one…."

"Huh?"

He leans on his walking stick and shoves the front door open. "Follow me children." He calls over his shoulder as he makes his way down the steps.

Davis sweatdrops as he stares after him. "I know I'm not the smartest tool in the shed-"Davis…it's sharpest tool in the shed."

"Oh. Is that how that metaphor goes? Anyway, regardless isn't it generally a bad idea for kids to follow old man out into the dark creepy woods?"

"Wha?" Veemon scoffs, stuffing his face with another muffin. "Are you afraid that I can't protect you?"

"No we're afraid you'd be too busy eating sweets to notice until your partner was thrown around like a rag doll and beaten unconscious." Is Gatomon's sarcastic reply.

"Hey!"

"Well we're not going to find out by just standing here." Biyomon comments, looking up at Sora. "And there are no Dark Towers here so if worse came to worse I can always digivolve and fly us out of here."

Sora hesitates and turns her head to look back at the forest

…

Rage. That's the only emotion TK feels as he storms down the hallway, blood pounding in his brain, the dim lighting off the base showing off the hot fire in his blue eyes.

He slams the door open and begins walking down the steps, his fists clenching so tightly at his side blood drips down from his palms and hits the floor in little droplets.

"TK?"

"TK, where are you?"

TK doesn't listen to the frantic cries of the others from upstairs, or the sound of Ryo and Cody's feet pounding as they search the hallways for him.

He doesn't care at this moment how terrified Cody must be for him, how Ryo must be beating herself up for losing Matt's little brother so easily.

All that matters to him is the being he KNOWS is waiting for him at the bottom. And ripping him limb from limb.

"_Angemon!"_

_An ice cold laugh that seems to cut through the young TK's bones as he watches his glorious partner stretch out his angelic wings that he'd only earned this morning._

"_Come here pretty boy…" The monster sneered, towering over the trees and stretching out two massive clawed hands towards Angemon._

_Angemon glanced back down at TK only briefly, before glaring back at Devimon, a murderous look in his eyes. "HAND OF FATE!"_

_The attack is far more powerful than anything TK has ever seen before, far more powerful than it really should be, how he knows this, he doesn't know, but the golden light rips right through Devimon's chest causing him to fall back with a scream of absolute agony._

"_ANGEMON!"_

_His eyes widened with horror as he saw not only Devimon disappearing…but his own partner….his data drifting away from the waist up. _

_Devimon laughed, broken and weak but triumphant. "You've…used up the last of your strength….what will…your friends do now I wonder…what will your friends do now…without you…what will your partner do…."_

_Angemon glared at him before turning his head down to look at TK. His Digi-core ached at the heartbroken, horrified look on TK's face. He tried to say something, quickly, before his energy ran out. "TK…I'll come back….if…if…" His data fluctuated and he seethed in pain, forcing the last part out in a quiet whisper, "if…if you want me to." He didn't know if TK could ever forgive him for abandoning him like this, but if his partner wanted him back he'd always be there. His eyes closed…_

_TK screamed as Angemon disappeared into the flash of golden light and Matt had to race forward and pull his brother close. "NO! ANGEMON! DON'T GO! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME TOO! __**ANGEMON!**__"_

TK's fist slams the wall to the side of him as his anger just reaches complete meltdown point. His breathing is hard and shaky and he takes frantic gulps of air to get it under control.

"_I won't let that happen again…." _ He thinks to himself with a snarl, pushing himself upwards. Never again….

"TK!"

He lets out a startled yelp as Patamon rams into his chest, nearly knocking him down the steps. "P-Patamon? What are you?"

Patamon instead just glares up at him, and it's to his horror that he sees that Patamon is…crying? "You big stupid head…" Patamon sniffles. "I was afraid something terrible had happened to you."

"Patamon, you shouldn't be here! Go back to the others."

"Oh please. And let you get killed? Not happening."

TK clenches his teeth. "I'm not asking you I'm ORDERING you! Get back up there! NOW! I am not going to even risk losing yo…." His voice catches as Patamon's eyes widen.

"So…" Patamon's voice is suddenly sounds a lot more mature than it usually does…more like…Angemon's tone. "THAT'S what this is about." His bright blue eyes flicker down the stairway. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Yes and…and that's why I can't…." TK's voice catches and he looks away. "I can't risk something awful happening to you again."  
"So what? You were planning to confront him on your own?" Patamon's tone is angry, something it usually never is. "What the heck were you thinking? We don't need anyone to be MORE like Lily!"

A weak laugh and then…"But…I…"

"No buts." Patamon lands on his partner's head. "We're going to do this together, like we always should." His entire body is encased in light and instead of Patamon resting on his head it's Angemon ruffling his hair.

"We fight as one TK." Angemon says warmly, looking down at his partner who smiles weakly back at him. His voice turns more serious. "And keep in mind that I can come back. You….if you died…." His voice trails off. "I'm the one guarding you. Do me a favour and…don't forget that."

The darkness seems to ooze up from the basement floor and Angemon tenses, his hands tightening on his staff. "TK. Stay here."

"But-"STAY HERE."

Angemon's wings spread as he dives downwards, the only thought in his mind of protecting his partner. He's sure without a doubt that Devimon had been manipulating TK's anger, trying to lure the younger boy in to slaughter him. Although you couldn't see it with his mask on, Angemon is PISSED.

Reaching the bottom he spreads his wings out and took on a defensive combat posture. "I know you're there…Devimon." He growls, taking on a defensive position. "Are you going to fight? Or are you going to lurk in the shadows like a coward and mess with MY partner?"

The laugh echoes out and sends a chill down Angemon's spine, though this annoys him to no end. He shouldn't be afraid of someone he beat before. Of course this person did nearly kill TK…and did kill him as well…

"It's been a long time my old friend…." Devimon's face is even more hideous than usual, massive scars across the pale skin underneath his mask…his wings ripped and torn so muscle and bone are showing through….Angemon gulps as what looks like some kind of parasite crawls out of one of his nostrils and into the other.

He can't help it. He retches, loudly, backing away slightly and infinitely glad that TK isn't seeing this.

Devimon grins, although most of his teeth are gone. "Disgusting, isn't it? You see? THIS is the true meaning of hell! My body is linked to this spot, the few bits of data that YOU didn't destroy. I can't move onto GranDracmon's realm and gain some form of peace, apparently….this is to be my punishment. Rather it was on purpose or not, no one cares enough to come and set me free."

Angemon shudders again. His mouth opens to try and find the words but he just can't. "I…I'm sorry…."

"Sorry?" The insane laughter again. "Why in the name of Yggdrasil's flaming bloomers should you be SORRY? If you were at all sane, you would be dancing with joy at the fact that the one who tried to kill you and your partner is now suffering for all eternity!"

Angemon's spine stiffens. "I'm not a sadistic little creep like YOU Devimon." He snarls. "While I might view you as the lowest form of scum I would not wish this state…" He stares at Devimon's broken body. "On anyone…"

Devimon laughs again, the laugh of someone completely off his rocker. "Of COURSE. You think you're so much better than me. So…pure and holy and perfect…you know I used to be like you. So convinced in what was right and what was wrong, so passionate about the belief I held for my God and for the people I protected…but they betrayed me in the end, just like what happens every time. They betrayed me and left me, even the woman I loved. And you'll fall just like me."

Angemon growls. "You really think I'd ever stoop to your disgusting levels? You are in desperate need of a reality check, demon."

The laugh is more of a giggle now. "I know how you feel for her."

"…Shut up."

"You think you are so clever at hiding your emotions don't you? But your horror at losing her is so painfully obvious. You are a fool. She only sees you as a fool, like some form of comic reli-"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The blast of golden light shoots forwards from his knuckles, and strikes Devimon right through the chest. Devimon screams once, long and hard, and Angemon is surprised, wondering if it was really that easy.

Then his surprise turns to horror when Devimon just grins slyly at him as the hole in his chest seals over and he stands in front of him, smirking broadly.

"W-what?"

Devimon flexes his long, bony fingers and grins. "I won't be beaten that easily this time my old friend. Not in my own prison!" Then he lunges at Angemon, hand swiping back as the claws rake forward to tear out Angemon's throat. "NOW WE END THIS!"

…

Cody screams as another explosion rocks the base and he tumbles forwards, hitting the ground hard and moaning in pain as Ryo runs to his side.

"This whole place is unstable." She mutters, glancing from side to side at the shaking walls. "Dang it Ken I would have at least thought you'd be able to build an adequate base."

"Ken didn't build this place." Wormmon says quietly, looking up at her. "It was already here when he appeared for the second time. Same with the Emperor outfit, the whip, the whole caboodle."

"So someone actually…wanted him to become the Emperor…?" Armadillomon blinks. "What kind of nutcase would want that?"

Ryo and Monodramon exchange dark looks with each other, as though they both have an idea they'd rather not think about. "It doesn't matter right now." Ryo mutters, clenching her teeth. "All that matters is getting out of here."

"But we can't leave the others!"

"Cody, we don't have a choice. Unless you want to die as well…" She flinches ever so slightly as the sound of another explosion echoes from downstairs.

Cody glowers at her. "No! What kind of a friend are you that you are so willing to desert others to save your own hide?"

Her eyes narrow. "Are you accusing me of being selfish you little runt? I'm trying to at least make sure YOU get out alive, you idiot."

"…You know there is such a thing called honour."

Ryo lets out a bitter laugh as she leans against the wall. "Honour? Buddy that died out a LONG time ago, believe you me. Trying to be honourable, to go down with the ship, doesn't save the ship. It just adds more death to the casualty list. You can do your best to try and STOP bad things from happening, but facing down the villain once all your friends are gone? Tell me what the point is to that. Because when it comes down to it, no honour in the world can make things right…..It can't erase the red in your ledger." She mutters the last part under her breath bitterly.

Cody stares at her. Even though he was so angry at her moments ago, now he doesn't feel any of that. Just a strong sense of pity. She doesn't seem like a cold-hearted banshee. She seems like someone whose been hurt several times and is close to giving up. Someone who doesn't have much hope and is just forcing themselves to carry on, to try and make things right, but not having to courage to stick with people.

"Look…Ryo…I know you might have given up a long time ago…but sometimes it's okay to put your heart first. That's what honour is about. It doesn't matter if you fail because that will happen and you will loose people. But shutting everyone else out and just giving up on them because you're scared to put heart and soul into friendships….that doesn't work either." He shakes his head. "I'm going. With or without you." He hesitates and then looks back at her. "I'm sorry."

Ryo's jaw drops open as she watches both him and Armadillomon run down the hallway without looking back. Monodramon slowly walks over and looks up at her. "Well?" He growls slightly as another explosion echoes. "Do you want me to just digivolve to Devidramon and get us out of here?"

Ryo hesitates, her eyes flickering to him and back to where Cody disappeared. She groans, raising her eyes to heaven. "I cannot BELIEVE I'm doing this. Cody! Wait up!"

…

I yelp as Wanyamon plunges into the shallow waters of the ocean and splashes me. "Hey…!" I groan as my shirt is now completely drenched in water. "I didn't need a bath, thanks much." Shaking the salt and sand out of my hair I blink as I see Tai standing there, blushing bright red.

"What?"

"Uh...Lils…that shirt's not exactly waterproof is it?"

I blink and look down to see that the outline of my bra is now very well defined underneath my shirt, and my face goes crimson red. Not willing to admit I'm embarrassed I raise my chin and strike a confident pose. "What? Not liking what you see Kamiya?"

"I-I didn't say…! I mean….!" His face turns bright red and then he rolls his eyes as I grin. 'You just live to mess with me, don't you?"

"Well you make it so darn easy." I smile as he picks up Wanyamon and scowls down at him. "This is all your fault you little hairball." He grumbles goodnaturely.

Wanyamon I could swear smirks. Mischief maker huh? Kid after my own heart. The next thing I know as I turn my back I'm pelted from behind with sand.

Twitching, I whirl back around to see both Tai and Wanyamon smirking at me, and I glower playfully. "Oh is that how you want it?"

Let's just say a quick wrestling match later and Tai is buried up to his knees in sand. Upside down. I'm laughing my head off as he struggles to get out before Wanyamon's ears perk up and he suddenly bounds off.

"Hey, wait where are you going?"

He bounds behind the cliff and I run after him as Tai finally frees himself and runs after me, no doubt with revenge on his mind.

"Wanyamon, come back alrea…." My voice trails off as I whirl around, and I freeze like Sorcerymon hit me with an Ice Arrow.

Tai sneezes out more sand as he walks up to me. "Lily, that really wasn't fun…" His voice trails off as he takes in what I'm seeing. His voice turns into a horrified whisper. "Oh…holy Yggdrasil…"

It's a village. Or it…was a village. It's in pieces now, bits of walls and roof all over the place. The leader's house, which was probably once large and majestic, now stands in shambles, huge chunks torn out of the roof, blackened from flames.

Something very angry came in here…..

"_Kill…hunt….tear..blood…data…flesh…" Flames spew from her maw as the silly little creature below run, she lands on top of the roof and tears her claws in, ripping away the wood to find more of the cowards hiding inside, cowering in the corner._

_A short blast takes care of them, but her frustration at not being able to find what she's looking for fills her. Black hair, auburn eyes, another roar of frustration. "LILLLYYYYYYYYYY!"_

"Lily….Lily…!"

Someone's shaking my shoulders, hard, and with a start I finally come to. "W-what?" I manage to stammer weakly, clutching to Tai for support.

"Are you all right?" He whispers, holding me close.

"I…." My voice clogs up as I remember what I just felt, what I just sensed, and I rub my face with my hands repeatedly. "She needs me. NOW."

"Lily, do you see what this is?" Tai exclaims, gesturing to the destroyed village. "This is not Renamon's work, this is Megidramon's."

"They're one and the same!"

"No, they're not. If you see it like that than you could blame Renamon for this and I don't want to see that happen!"

"I'm not saying this is Renamon's fault Tai. But I am saying that some part of Megidramon still sees me as her partner. Why didn't she kill me immediately the first time she dark digivolved around me?"

"I…."

"Tai she did all of this…." I gesture to the wreck village. "Because she was looking for ME! That means it's partly my fault, which makes me feel like crap, but the point is, if she's looking to me that means even under the Emperor's control…or whatever being is really controlling her, she still knows me. And it might mean I could be the only one who can reach her."

"And what if you're wrong? You tried to reach her before and she almost had you for a snack!"

I glower at Tai, crossing my arms. "If things were switched around and it was Agumon who had been enslaved would you do a single thing different?"

He opens his mouth to argue…then closes it….slowly he turns his head back to Wanyamon, whose standing shaking in front of a pile of charred rubble.

"…His home…" Tai's face pales even more as Wanyamon keeps staring silently at the spot, golden eyes emotionless as though he can't understand what he's seeing. Without thinking, I scoop him up and hold him close to me.

"Wanya." He whispers, burying his face in my chest and I sigh. "I'm sorry little guy…." Before looking back at Tai. "Don't you understand now? Why I have to stop this?"

He hesitates, his brown eyes full of confliction….

…

"Matt!" Cody gasps, running forwards upon seeing the blonde lying near unconsciousness on the floor, blood trickling down his lower lip.

Ryo drops to his side and starts checking for a pulse, her hands drifting up to his neck and breathing a sigh of relief when she finds it.

He groans, his blue eyes slowly opening and looking up at her. "…Where's Gabumon?"

Ryo doesn't answer because at that moment a scream echoes from down the hallway, terrified and pained.

"GABUMON!"

Armadillomon races down the hall and, with speed you wouldn't think possible for an Armadillomon, curls up into a ball and rams several of the Bakemon dragging his friend off, leaving them in shreds with his claws.

"Hold on Gabumon!" Monodramon shouts, punching through several more and then whirling around to face Ryo. "You're going to have to give me an energy boost!"

"But you're too big in your Devidramon form!" She cringes as another explosion rocks the base. "You'd send everyone in this hallway crashing down!"

He growls in frustration, realizing the truth to her words. "Then…Ultimate level is the way to go…."

Her eyes widen in horror. "No. No way."

"Ryo, we don't have a choice!"

"It's too big a risk! Yeah you'd end up shredding through the Bakemon but maybe Gabumon too?"

"RYO!"

Her head whips around just as the Bakemon seem to vanish into the shadows…Matt's horrified scream echoes in her ears as she just stands there numbly, horror seeping through her body as she stares at the spot where the poor Digimon disappeared.

"Not again…" She whispers, her voice catching. "Oh Yggdrasil….could my past be any more stained?"

…

"Here we are."

Davis pants heavily, clinging to the rock wall as he asks Jijimon weakly, "Couldn't you have put an escalator instead of all these steps?"

Sora was breathing hard too, but not so exhausted she couldn't roll her eyes in exasperation at Davis' comment.

"What's an..eskaltor?" Jijimon asks curiously, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "Sounds like some kind of disease."

"Never mind." Biyomon smiles at him, feeling perfectly fine considering all she had to do was pretty much fly up. She had offered a ride to Sora but the young girl had declined saying someone other than Kari and Gatomon needed to watch Davis, because Kari wouldn't be hard enough on the boy, and Gatomon was liable to actually shove Davis over the edge.

The building they stand in front of is a simple shrine with a slanting grey roof with four large columns of stone supporting it. Markings are carved all over the stone pillars, and Sora is reminded with a jolt of the similar symbols she saw carved all over the pillars at Hawkmon and Armadillomon's temple.'

"Wha…what is this place?" She murmurs, staring at them as the others bound up behind her. Kari stares at the pillars, transfixed suddenly it seems like, resting her hand on one of them.

"For those who believe in miracles…." She whispers, tracing her fingers down a row of the symbols in the column right in front of her.

Jijimon beams. "Correct, my dear. This is the Temple of Miracles. I…." He placed a hand over his heart, "am its keeper. I believe that one of you might be the next to wield the Digiegg of Miracles…" He gestures over to the Digiegg, "after so many years…."

Sora and Kari glance at each other. Could this be a trap? Sora was doubting this more and more, Jijimon seemed more sincere than most Digimon she met. Kari glances at Gatomon, who shrugs as if to say, what can it hurt?

"Okay…we'll try…."

He nods and Sora steps into the shrine. She glances up and lets out a soft gasp. "Whoah…." The ceiling is decorated with murals all over it, depictions of battle, of a girl with long red hair dressed in armour fighting against some sort of dark angel while the rest of her team stormed out and challenged its army.

The more she watches the more the pictures….seem to be coming alive…flames from the battlefield scorching the walls, coming to life, roars echoing in her mind as what looked like some kind of dragon Digimon and some kind of bird slammed into each other, wrestling in mid air as they dove downwards, the howl of grief for those lost…

"No!"

She backs away, stumbling slightly, and Kari grabs onto her. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Her voice trails off as she looks over at Jijimon. "What was that?"

He smiles sadly. "Tales of one of the bloodiest wars ever fought on this planet. Lifelong friend VS lifelong friend…one became corrupted, the other was forced to betray him to stop it."

"That's an awful choice." Davis says quietly, his eyes flickering back to the mural of the girl with the flaming hair. Instead of looking battle ready her face looks…miserable…like she'd rather do anything else than be forced to do this.

"A horrible choice yes, but a brave one in the end. The fact is that she and her forces were horribly outnumbered and outpowered by those of her old friend. Yet somehow they still managed to pull a spectacular victory, bringing peace and freedom to the Digital World to do so."

He gestures towards the pedestal and the dirty, bulky object that sits on top of it. "Now…oblige an old mon and show me which one, if any of you, can move it."

With another glance at each other, the three of them shrug in unison before Sora steps up. She grasps both edges and pulls as hard as she can, but no dice.

"This is the Digiegg of Love all over again." She grumbles, walking off. Kari and Davis glance at each other.

"Now what? Both of us already have Digieggs?"

Davis shrugs. "Well if any of us are is the most likely to lift a holy Digiegg, it would be you Kari."

"Me, why?" She rolls her eyes. "And if you're response is some cheesy pickup line, like, "because you're an angel" I'm going to scream…."

"…Eh heh…never mind then…"

Sighing Kari walks over and tugs at the Digiegg. Nothing. She gestures over to Davis and Gatomon pushes him forward. "Well? Go on pretty boy."

"But…"

"Just do it!"

Davis hesitates, looking back over his shoulder at the others. Sora nods encouragingly, Biyomon smiles…or smiles the best way a bird can with a beak, Veemon grins and gives him a thumbs up, Gatomon rolls her eyes and gestures for him to hurry it up all ready and Kari-"I know you can do it Davis!"

…That's it. He HAS to do it now, that or die trying! His fingers stretch forward and the minute they brush against the edge of the dark cube, light explodes upwards in a brand new golden column.

"What the?"

He hears the startled cries from the others and at the same time he does not. Slowly his hand reaches out and touches the golden column. The sensation he feels is like none other, like the light is literally traveling up his arm and through his body, filling his very being.

"_Davis Motomiya…." _ The voice rings in his ears, low and musical. "_Are you…worthy…?"_

"…I….I don't know." He whispers, his voice trailing off. "But I hope I am…"

The next thing he knows he's not with the others but in the middle of a golden desert, the wind buffeting at his face and sending sharp particles bouncing across his skin.

For a minute he's terrified that he's been transported to the middle of nowhere, that the cube was some kind of….dunno, Portkey like in Harry Potter, and now the girls are there on their own and CRAP Tai's gonna kill him.

But then he sees a huge crowd of Digimon at the top of the hill, and relief fills him, Maybe one of them can help!

"Uh…excuse me…" He tries, struggling to make it through the crowd. "Excuse me, can anyone…" His voice trails off as he looks up. And his stomach rises into his throat as he tries not to gag.

A bloody mass is tied to the top of the Control Spire, weakened, badly injured, and not moving at all. Swallowing hard he whispers, "W-what is going on?"

"This is to pay you back for all the suffering you've caused!" A Gotsumon screams before throwing a massive rock at the defenceless victim.

A scream erupts from the near-corpse but it comes out more as a whimper. Davis' eyes are wide with horror as he keeps watching.

"How do you like being the defenceless one, eh?" An Elecmon barks before he and his fellows blast the sap with electricity, full power.

Davis can't stand the screams that are erupting from this boy's mouth as his entire body convulses, and he runs forward. "Stop it! Stop it for Yggdrasil's sake, just STOP IT!"

He runs forward and stares upwards, and his revulsion turns to disbelief as the Digimon Emperor glares down at him.

"I don't need…" He coughs, blood spitting out as he does so. "YOUR help."

Davis takes a step back, torn between his innate desire to help people and his disgust for his enemy. But…right now…the Emperor looks less like a murdering sociopath…and more like a broken child…

"_Would you take a chance on him?"_

The voice echoes in his mind again, ringing in his skull. It's a woman's voice, he realizes that now, "_An impossible chance…that this boy could be redeemed…."_

"Redeemed?"

He glances back up at the Emperor and sees something else in the boy's eyes. More than just the anger and hate he usually sees. Just sadness…misery…grief…resolve….and something inside Davis churns at the sight.

"_Would you?"_

"…Yeah!" Davis turns around with a confident smile to face…well no one in particular, but that doesn't seem to matter right now. "Look at the whole Digital World! Everything about it….Veemon…my friendship with the others…me being picked to be a Digidestined at all…" He smiles. "All of that is a miracle! So who am I to doubt them?"

There's silence for a moment, and Davis can't help but wonder if he's said the wrong thing. The next thing he knows the golden light is everywhere, surrounding him and he throws a hand back to keep the light from his eyes as he falls backwards….

…

"You've got to be freaking kidding me…" I mutter as I peer around the edge of another cliff to the small enclave down below.

You would never have guessed that the giant, scaly monster lying curled up beneath us just ate an entire village a few hours ago. She's sleeping on her side with her tail occasionally twitching, her nose twitching the way Renamon's always does in a dream.

Her back right leg kicks outward suddenly a couple of times as she lets out a happy growl. If there's any of Renamon's mind left in there, I can guess that she's thinking about food. But that's not the sight I'm focusing on, hilarious and weird though it is.

A boy with his arms tied and twisted behind his back painfully sits whimpering in the space between Megidramon's legs and her tail, his face bruised and bloody and terrified.

Tai bites his lip and looks over at me, and it's all I can do to supress a groan. "We're not actually going to…we are, aren't we?"

"Lils, you know we can't leave him like that. Look at him. He looks more than just terrified, he looks sick and injured."

"He is sick. Sick in the head."

"Lily…" Tai gives me a look. "We're pretty sure Ken's not really the big player in this game anymore, remember? Odds are he's been messed with just as much as we have."

I hesitate before slumping my shoulders and crossing my arms as I sigh. "…Fine. But I get to punch him in the face at least once."

"The kid's pissed me off too, Lils, I get one punch as well."

A grin slips onto my face as Tai smirks at me before I lower my voice. "Come on." The two of us slowly make our way down the hill, me grabbing onto Tai and stopping him everytime I notice a loose stone that could go rolling or a twig that could snap under his shoe.

"Wanya?" A whisper of a voice asks, and Wanyamon is sitting on the hill above us ears pinned back as he stares down.

I put my finger to my lips and shake my head frantically. The last thing we need is to bring him along on something like this. In-Training dexterity is not exactly the stuff of legends. And if Megidramon wakes up and sees him, it'd just be like me popping a piece of popcorn into my mouth.

Ugh. There's an analogy I didn't need in my brain. I manage a confident smile Wanyamon's direction and he lets out a whimper so faint I doubt a Terriermon could have picked it up.

Ken looks up as the two of us walk over, carefully, CAREFULLY avoiding Megidramon's tail. His eyes narrow down to slits. "What do you-Mphf!" His voice is cut off as Tai's hand clasps over his mouth and he hisses, "Unless you want to be lunch, be still."

I glance uneasily back at Megidramon, who snarls in her sleep, curling her lip to show massive white fangs. I shudder and motion for Tai to step back. Unfortunately, Ken's face is full of terror as we try to carry him off…terror of us, I realize with a jolt, and before I can hiss at the moron that why in Yggdrail's name would we rescue him if we planned to kill him, he wrestles frantically in Tai's grasp to try and get away. Tai loses his balance and falls…right…on top…of Megidramon's tail….

…..OH ##%%%%%&&&** ^***((!  
For a minute she doesn't react, and I think we'll be okay. Everyone is completely silent…..Tai slowly shoves himself to his feet as Megidramon keeps snoring and shoots Ken a "I'll kill you when we get out of this" look.

No…wait…that's not snoring that's GROWLING! "TAI GET OUT OF THERE!"

I ram into him full strength just as Megidramon's teeth clash together in the spot where he just was. Tai grabs Ken and drags him behind us as flames start forming in Megidramon's jaws.

"RUN!" I scream, shoving them forward and feeling the heat of the flames rushing towards us at speeds we can't hope to match.

Tai suddenly grabs my hand and yanks me to the left, pulling me along and Ken into a small crevice in the rock wall. It's freaking close to, as Megidramon's bladed tail literally swipes right above my head.

She snarls, roaring with frustration as her teeth gnash at the gap all three of us crouch in but unable to get at any of us.

"Thankfully the Dark Spiral makes her stupid as well as vicious…" I gasp. "She could just tear the cliff apart to get to us but I guess she hasn't thought of that yet."

"Don't jinx us." Ken hisses, cowering back as the forked tongue slips in and touches his knee. He shudders, terrified, and lets out a shriek of pain as the acidic saliva burns his knee.

"_Somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend…." _A voice sings from my left pocket.

Tai twitches repeatedly as I reach into my left pocket. "I don't know what's worse…the fact that THAT of all your songs is your ringtone, or that you're actually answering your cell at a time like this!" He finishes with a shriek as Megidramon roars and snaps her jaws menacingly.

"You're not really choosing this time to answer a text, are you?" Ken shrieks as I flip the phone open.

"Hello?"  
"_Lily look it's me…." _ Sira sighs on the other end of the phone. I hear the sound of voices in the background and the sound of Sira setting down a glass. _"Look I feel….somewhat…bad about our argument."_ Coming from Sira that's a "I'll do anything to have you forgive me."

"Uh…." I shudder as Megidramon's warm breath vibrates across my back. "No trouble! No trouble at-"Lily you moron just tell her what's going on!"

"_I just feel sometimes…maybe…I take things out on you when I'm frustrated and I know that's not fair so-_"SIRA!" I shriek, clutching the phone tighter to me, as the entire cave seems to shake. "I'm thrilled we're having this wonderful sisterly bonding moment, okay? Really, I am! But we're kind of about to be eaten BY MY OWN FREAKING PARTNER!"

There's silence for a moment and then Sira responds in a terse voice, "_Hold on, I can't pick up any of your signals. Wait…" _She growls on the phone. _"Okay, I've got the fly's signal, just hold on, I'll be right there and you just WAIT until I get my hands on her irresponsible neck…." _She curses before hanging up.

…Wait….Fly? My eyes widen as I scream pointlessly into the phone, "NO SIRA! WE'RE NOT WITH RYO! SIRA? SIRA PICK UP!"

…

Yolei keeps pushing pointless buttons on the computer, ready to cry. Nothing was working! Meanwhile the others were crowded around her, desperation in their eyes.

Damien had taken to growling in frustration, pacing back and forth and muttering under his breath. She couldn't hear him perfectly but she thought she heard Lily's name a few times.

That only made her feel more guilty. Damien walks over to her, a frustrated scowl on his face. "Any luck?" He demands and when she shakes her head he swears.

"She's trying the best she can!" Hawkmon snaps, glaring up at him.

"Yes, and clearly that's not enough!"

"I am trying." Yolei pleads, spinning the chair back around to face those grey eyes. "It's that this project is so high-tech and confidential that hacking in is extremely difficult."

"_Project 70% complete…."_

Damien clenches his teeth. "We don't HAVE that much time!" His heightened senses pick up the sound of something whirring from below and his eyes widen as another tube pops out, a mechanical clawed hand holding….

"Gabumon!"

The clawed hand holds Gabumon with surprising gentleness, lifting him off the tube ready to drop the moaning lupine in.

Damien leaps forward, his hand shining with dark energy. "LET HIM GO YOU ARGHHHHHH!" Another claw seems to pop out of nowhere and grabs hold of him, seizing him tightly and sending volt after volt of electricity into his body.

"DAMIEN!" Yolei screams, leaping up from her chair and running forwards just as Hawkmon leaps into the air, determination obvious on his face. "FEATHER STRIKE!" He cries, pulling the feather off his headband and throwing it like a boomerang into the claw. It slices right through the metal, causing electrical sparks to go flying everywhere and send Damien crashing down to the floor, breathing hard.

"Are you okay?"

She touches his burned face and groans. "Man…if we ever see her again Lily's gonna kill me for this." She glances up at the ceiling suddenly and her face pales. "MOVE!"

Grabbing Damien by the wrist she manages to pull him out of the way, a near impossible feat for such a young girl, and cringes as the cracks grow larger and the ceiling itself comes crashing down.

Amongst the dust and the smoke Angemon and the most terrifying being she's ever seen in her entire life, with its body so rotten and torn that she can even see part of its spine….

She can't help it. She screams, loud and hard as she backs away, terrified.

"YOLEI!" Angemon shouts as he slams another Hand of Fate at Devimon's chest right before the fallen angel smirks and teleports out of the attack's range. "You and Hawkmon get out of-ARGH!"

"ANGEMON!" She leaps up and runs forward as Devimon reappears behind Angemon and grabs him by the neck.

Furious as she sees Devimon start to choke her friend to death, she pulls out her D-3 and shouts, "DIGIARMOR-!"

"Not so fast…." Devimon hisses, grabbing Yolei as the other arm stretches far more than arms should be able to stretch, grabs her by the leg and dangles her upside down causing her to drop the D-3.

"HAWKMON!"

"YOLEI!"

Devimon completely ignores the little Rookie hacking away at him and pulls the choking Angemon closer to him. "Now do you see…." He hisses in his opponent's ear, "why fighting against the powers of darkness is so…futile?"

The only response is a seething look from beneath the helmet and a choked snarl. Still smirking, Devimon only releases Angemon to allow the angel to plummet into another tube. Wires immediately attach to his wings, pulling him under the green liquid and trapping him there. Devimon laughs out loud as he watches his old enemy writhe and scream as his data is pulled away.

"Now I've done it!" Beaming, he whirls around to face the main computer. "Now that I've done it, you will release me from my torment, won't you master?"

"_Incorrect."_

Devimon's red eyes blink as he takes a step back. "W-what? You gave your word!"

"_Inconsequential. More data is needed for the final stage. You sold your soul to me eons ago….."_

Yolei shivers in horror and takes a step back from the computer. That last sentence…didn't sound like a computer speaking.

"NO! NO YOU CAN'T!" Devimon screams, taking to the air and trying to run right before wires from the computer burst from the screen and encircle him. He screams again and again as he's dragged backwards INTO the computer, his body convulsing the entire time, and all Yolei can do is watch in horror.

The last thing she sees of him are his terrified, mad red eyes, and then…he's gone. The entire room seems to plunge into darkness, and Yolei grabs her D-3, panick stricken. "H-Hawkmon where are you? I can't see a thing!"

"Yolei!"

"_99%...100'%..."_

"BUST THEM OUT OF THERE HAWKMON! NOW!" She screams suddenly when the glass from the computer explodes outwards, and she ducks, hitting the ground and covering her head with her hands.

A roar, deranged and oddly high-pitched compared to Megidramon's but just as bloodthirsty echoes. A misshapen foot slams down in front of her, and she can only swallow hard as she looks up, into the twisted, mutated fiend's face.

Kimeramon….


	13. Return of a Friend, Sea Basin's Cry

(This chapter would have been out sooner...but...I procrastinated...sorry about that!)

Chapter Thirteen

Ryo's eyes widen as she hears the sound of something creaking and then ripping through the metal underneath. For a minute she doesn't understand….the next thing she knows she's desperately clinging on for dear life as the hallway itself gives way and snaps in half, sending all of them tumbling towards the ground screaming bloody murder as the smell of smoke fills the room.

Monodramon clenches his teeth and frantically manages to dig him claws into the metal, screeching to a halt before whirling around and grabbing his partner's hand.

"CODY!" Ryo seizes the little boy's hand right before he can slide past her and go falling through the darkness. Armadillomon clings desperately on with his own claws.

Cody whimpers. "T-thanks Ryo…." His eyes widen as he sees another body start to fall past him. "MATT!"

"NO!"

Ryo feels a pang of rage as she sees the unconscious blonde haired rocker sliding away from them, tumbling through the darkness like a broken doll.

But she doesn't have much time to dwell on this anger, or even try to think of a way to save Matt, because the bloodthirsty screech that echoes downstairs makes her heart freeze in its chest.

The sound of many wings flapping makes her think at first that it must be some kind of army making its way towards them, but that isn't the case.

The first thing she sees are the red eyes looming out of the darkness, getting closer and closer, and for a moment she thinks of Megidramon, fear flooding her, but it's not Megidramon.

It's worse.

She can hear the others whimpering next to her, can hear Monodramon's gasp of alarm and horror, but her eyes are fixated on the creature before her.

All of its body parts seem to come from….other Digimon but they're all so misshapen and…wrong looking together. He has the head of a Kabuterimon, the arms of three different Digimon, Devimon, SkullGreymon, and Kuwagamon, Greymon's body, Garurumon's legs, Monochromon's tail, Airdramon's and Angemon's wings topped off with MetalGreymon's hair.

"Oh Yggdrasil's holy bloomers…." Cody whispers, his voice cracked and completely terrified. "What is that?"  
Ryo can hardly speak. Because the worst part of all is….she knows what that is. She's seen it before. And she knows exactly what his reappareance could mean….

Kimeramon's bulging eyes fixate on the helpless humans, and he slowly opens his mouth to show rotting teeth and a black mouth. All Ryo can think of is that it reminds her of a bottomless fanged pit.

"RYO!" Monodramon screams her name just as Kimeramon roars, "HEAT VIPER!"

She can hear the sound of Cody screaming but what can she possibly do? She closes her eyes and winces, sure she's about to be disintegrated.

...Her only thought is, "Well, Sira and the rest of the tamers will be happy."

But right before it happens she feels claws snag the back of her shirt and is yanked out of the way, a flurry of red and white feathers blurring around her.

"What the?"

"Get on!" Yolei shrieks, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and pulling her upwards onto Halsemon's back, along with Monodramon.

Ryo can see Angemon flying next to them, beaten, torn, obviously exhausted and barely sustaining his Champion form. It must have been a pure adrenaline rush to allow him to do so.

Kimeramon shrieks, obviously not happy about being devoid of his prey before diving down after them. For such a huge, misshapen, bulky creature, he is ridiculously fast.

"HEAT VIPER!"

Halsemon barely dodges the blast of green light, growling as the smell of burnt feathers fills the empty hallway. "we better loose the guy fast before I end up a roast chicken." He shouts over to Angemon who nods. "Leave it to me!"

"What? But you're in no condition to…."

"If I must….I must…." Angemon clenches his teeth before diving lower, outpacing Halsemon and landing on the floor. Glass vials are shattered all over the room, with green liquid flowing out. Wires spark and the smell of burning metal fills the room.

Several In-Trainings lie moaning on the ground, completely exhausted after their torture. Damien stares down at them for a bit and sighs, closing his eyes.

He looks up to see Angemon land on the ground. "Quickly, we can get out of here." He gestures over to the smoking wall. "I blasted us a way out."

"Where's Matt?"  
"Near death." Damien's voice is emotionless, his eyes blank as he turns to look over his shoulder at the unconscious lump on the ground.

Angemon sucks in his breath as he sees the large gash on Matt's face as Tsunomon desperately tries to make his partner wake up, whimpering as he nudges Matt repeatedly.

"We should flee now." Damien says, this time a little bit more urgently. "There's no point in staying….."

"My partner is still up there somewhere. And I need to help Halsemon."

"….You think you can actually save the boy?" The weirdest look passes over Damien's face, something torn between derision and…amusement….

"I must try!"

Damien watches as Angemon spreads his wings and soars back upwards. He sighs, running a hand through his dark hair. "Of course you must." He murmurs, a derisive smirk on his face. "I'd be surprised if you wouldn't. You're all so predictable."

Halsemon gasps as he sees the giant clawed hand of Kuwagamon swat towards him, ready to tear Yolei's head off.

"HAND OF FATE!"

The blast of light struck the hand right in the palm, much less powerful than it usually would be but it still hurt badly.

Kimeramon shrieks and dives after him, teeth slavering, ready to rip the interefering the little twerp apart. Angemon growls, soaring so he's now above Kimeramon before diving straight down, his fist gleaming with energy again. "HAND OF FATE!"

However, the monster doesn't react at all. There's not even a flicker of pain in his giant red eyes. Angemon growls in frustration before gasping as the Monochromon tail whips around and slams into him, sending him crashing through the steel wall.

Actually, more like three walls.

He keeps flying backwards, unable to regain control of his wings and flaying his arms wildly before hitting the ground in the last room and continuing to skid, clenching his teeth as he feels his back literally burning.

He lies on the ground, gasping for breath, struggling to maintain control, to get back up but it's a second too late. Kimeramon's drooling mug appears above him, dripping spit and snarling like a rabid dog, and the monster lunges just as Angemon tries to summon the energy for another attack.

Something dark shoots past Angemon, raking claws over one of Kimeramon's eyes and down to his cheek, leaving a massive gash.

He shrieks, clasping a large hand to his injured eye as LadyDevimon floats backwards, hissing herself, hands on her hips. "You think you're tough, freak?" She taunts, red eyes narrowing. "Well bring it on. Let's see how you handle the wrath of the tamers!"

Kimeramon roars, his mouth opening again to release a huge blast of flames only to shriek in pain as bullets of energy slam into the side of his face.

"Wha?"

A Digimon with a long, tattered white outfit with one metallic arm and one that looked like nothing but sleeve, a long white cloak, a blue shawl wrapped over his head with a single red dot in the middle and a mask covering the lower part of his face so the only thing you could see was his eyes.

Angemon stares in disbelief. He's heard of these kinds of Digimon before but never seen one in his life. A Ba'almon?

Kimeramon shrieks and swipes at him before screaming in pain as he's blasted with energy again.

"You might want to back down now." Ba'almon's voice is a soft cold whisper, yet there's something about it that is oddly familiar. "That is…if you are intelligent enough to do so…."

With a shriek of absolute rage and hate Kimeramon lunged at Ba'almon, his mouth opening wide. "HEAT VIPER!"

For a minute Angemon thinks that Ba'almon is completely done for, as the venom shoots towards him.

There;s smoke and an explosion as the acidic stuff touches the metal, and there's no sight of Ba'almon anywhere.

Kimeramon grunts in triumph and turns away, satisfied, before suddenly bellowing in pain and keeling over as he falls onto his stomach, smoke rising up from his back.

Ba'almon smirks in satisfaction and looks over at a shell-shocked Angemon. "Why so impressed? That's the least I can do."

"Always the modest one." LadyDevimon sighs, and Angemon recognizes her as the partner of that one boy…Edan?

"You don't need to be modest when you're right." Ba'almon shrugs, before turning to face Kimeramon who lies on the ground moaning. "Now shall we finish this one off?"

"Lets."

Kimeramon's eyes narrow down to slits as he sees all three Digimon, even Angemon, all surround him, powering up their attacks.

He growls, rising to full height and Angemon's eyes widen as what looks like….shadows surround him, pulling the giant monster back into some sort of vortex.

Ba'almon swears. "ATTACK NOW!"

"HAND OF FATE!"

"DARKNESS WING!"

The attacks converge into one bright red stream of energy, Ba'almon's blasts of energy swirling around the scarlet stream.

Kimeramon grins eerily….laughs…..a sound that makes every hair on Angemon's body stand straight up, his wings fluffing more than usual. Then right before the attacks hit….the shadows disappear…taking Kimeramon with them….

" ##%%%% IT!" Ba'almon shouts, obviously furious as the attacks sore right through the spot where Kimeramon used to be, tearing through the wall opposite and leaving a massive hole that bursts through clear to the outside, sizzling.

LadyDevimon growls in frustration and confusion. "What the heck just happened?"

"I was afraid of something like this…." Ba'almon mutters. Suddenly the ground shakes again sending Angemon sprawling off his feet. He was still too exhausted to use his wings properly right now.

LadyDevimon clings grimly to the side of the wall, her long red nails digging in and her hair flying around her as she looks over at Ba'almon with an expression that seems to say, "_Things are going to get interesting. And FAST."_

Something beeps suddenly and Ba'almon reaches into his robes and pulls out a small device, like a TV remote. He presses a button and a holographic image of Sira shows up, her black hair wild and messy and with soot covering most of her face.

"You guys have got to get out of there." She says grimly, her eyes trying not to show any emotion but failing. "The entire place is falling apart and if this keeps up…."

"Are all of the kids outside?" LadyDevimon asks her, coughing as the smoke starts to creep underneath the door and fill the room.

"Yes, except…."

"Except what?" Angemon demands, taking a step forwards. "Matt? Is he okay?"

"I can't say that for sure. What I want to know is…." Her voice cracks. "Please say TK is with you."

"…WHAT?"

"Angemon, you can't go back there!" Ba'almon grabs him by the scruff of the neck right before he bolts forward. "You'll be burned to a crisp!"

"Get your hands off…." He snarls, not sounding at all angelic, just very angry and very desperate. "My partner's in there!"

"And what will you gain my going back there? The entire building except for this room is in flames!"

Angemon roars, finally ripping free and racing forwards through the door just as another rush of green flames surrounds him.

"This is what's dangerous about Kimeramon's fire…" LadyDevimon whispers, her voice catching. "It never stops burning…."

"**TK!"**

….

I screamed as the claws ripped through the rock wall where we were hiding and Megidramon roars in triumph. Her golden eyes are full of hunger, drool dripping down her jaws.

Tai shoves me backwards, glaring but desperately trying to figure out what to do. His hand clasps mine as he scans the area for somewhere to run.

Ken? Ken is curled up in a ball screaming bloody murder and sobbing like a little child. A part of me feels like doing the same thing.

I glance up and my eyes widen. "TAI LOOK OUT!"

Shoving him to the ground, we both barely miss being impaled by Megidramon's claws. They slam down around us, forming a cage with her talons.

I scramble backwards, pulling Tai with me, mud covering my jeans and soaking into my hair. Tai's breathing is fierce and rapid, and I know he's as terrified as I am.

This is so not how I want to die….I swallow hard, looking up at Tai. This is all my fault. Why did I agree on splitting up in the first place? Why didn't I call Sira the minute Tai and I were on our own?

"It'll be okay…" Tai whispers, grabbing my hand and looking into my eyes. "Lily…I PROMISE you it will be okay."

"Tai…I…"

Suddenly Megidramon lets out a grunt of annoyance, and around her claws I can see something small and fluffy sinking tiny teeth into Megidramon's tail.

"WANYAMON!"

Stupid stupid STUPID KID! He should know he's not doing any damage but still he tries and yet Megidramon's just looking at him like she would a flea. She rolls amber eyes before flicking her tail and sending him flying. I hear him scream as he soars upwards and fight back a sob.

"NO!"

Wanyamon moans as he hits the rocks right where Ken is curled up into a ball. Ken lets out a strangled gasp, watching the little fluffball collapse, unconscious.

"_Stupid kid…why would you….?"_

Wanyamon lying limply on the ground reminded him of something else….he clutches his head and whimpers as the images he swore he'd never willingly remember come flooding back to him. Ambulances whirling towards the scene…alarms blaring….people whispering to each other horrified from the sidelines, screams, blood….blood trickling from the middle of the road where a boy with spiky blue hair lay limply, his head bent at a horrible angle….glasses thrown from his face and lying on the ground, shattered.

"S-Sam…" Ken chokes on the word, tears streaming down his face as he hugs his knees, shaking. "Sam please…no…"

Megidramon growls and lowers her head, studying the barely struggling Wanyamon. She swats at him slightly with one talon, and Ken hears Lily scream and Tai curse.

Wanyamon rolls weakly over to his feet, whimpering and covered in cuts and bruises. Ken's breath catches in his throat and suddenly he's back at the hospital again, screaming Sam's name over and over again as they wheel the gurney away with his brother wrapped in white blankets….

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Lily's rage catches him off guard and he looks up to see her glowering murderously at him and he realizes he was seconds away from grabbing Wanyamon and doing…what?

"Haven't you done enough? I said don't touch him!"

Ken swallows and backs away slightly just as Megidramon bares her teeth and lunges down at Wanyamon. Lily screams and he's not sure how but the next second he's shoving Wanyamon out of the way, eyes widening as that massive shadow looms over him and those teeth descend…

Suddenly Megidramon rears back, shrieking in pain and agony and there's a loud thud as one of her teeth falls to the ground, cracked in several places.

A figure up above in the sky does a couple of loop-de-loops, the sunlight glinting off his armour so the details are hard to make out at first.

Megidramon snarls and opens her mouth, red flames filling her mouth, and I open my own mouth to scream for him to watch out, terrified that Wanyamon's saviour is about to get cooked to a crisp.

Well…actually Ken was Wanyamon's saviour. But the thought is just simply too weird for my brain to comprehend right now.

But my worry is pointless anyway because the golden figure is quickly gone and then reappearing underneath Megidramon's jaw, and with a loud shout of "MAGNA KICK!" he slams his boot into the bottom of her jaw, snapping it shut.

She growls, whirling around with her tail only to have him kick that aside as well. Normally she could handle something like this just fine, but I have a feeling that she's still not fully recovered from the fight with the tamers earlier.

Which leaves just one question….

"Who the heck are you?"

The golden figure slows down in mid-flight, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest. "What, Lils? You don't recognize me?"

My jaw drops. "Holy…."

"No…freaking way…." Tai mutters, his eyes wide with disbelief and similar jaw dropping shock. The figure has blue, reptellian skin, with golden armour covering his body, very big, very bulky armour, so it's amazing he can fly so fast.

But it's that grin I know on sight. I press my hand to my forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "V…Veemon?"

"Surprised?" He grins before backflipping over Megidramon's swipe and then whirling around to face her.

"MAGNA BLAST!"

Huge spheres of light shoot from his body like miniature missiles, slamming into Megidramon repeatedly. She roars in pain but then bares her teeth in anger and frustration. She's not going to let this go, even if she's worn out from before.

"A new form…?" I mutter, rubbing my head and trying to wipe out the cries of pain from my partner. "How the heck…?"

"Don't ask us." A familiar meows next to me, and Tai's face splits into a grin as he sees Kari, Gatomon, Sora and Biyomon running up to us, crowding around the other side of Megidramon's claws.

"Davis was the only one who could lift it." Sora says, shrugging her shoulders. "That's all I know." She laughs ruefully. "Who would have thought he could be such a miracle worker?"

I glance to my right to see Davis standing on the hill above us, holding something gold in his hands and yelling commands to his partner.

Magnamon was like an annoying hornet to Megidramon, zipping this way and that, despite her attempts to swat him out of the sky. If Magnamon could be described as missile like, then Megidramon was like a huge blocky and very annoyed tank.

She roared one more time as Magnamon aimed a powerful kick at her neck, attempting to stun her, and then, to everyone's horror, whirled around and back handed him so hard that he went flying into the forest, slamming into tree after tree, finally getting ensared in the branches and lying there, winded, batted, bruised.

"Oh no…" I mutter, clenching my shaking fists at my side. "No no no no…." I repeat, as Megidramon stalks towards the injured warrior, tail slashing from side to side. "RENAMON LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

She tenses at the sound of my voice and slowly looks up, blinking slightly and turning her head. She makes a strange keening noise deep in her throat, and I freeze, my breath catching.

"Holy crap…." Tai whispers, and his eyes are wide. "She DOES still know you."

Megidramon keeps staring at me, and takes a step forward, that weird noise still coming from deep in her throat.

The Dark Spiral sparks suddenly again and she roars in pain, backing away from me and shaking her head in agony.,

"Renamon!"

She keeps roaring, not in anger, but in pain, her head jerking back from side to side as if to clear her mind of something. Flames pour from her maw and she blasts them upwards at nothing, not knowing what to attack to make the pain go away.

Gatomon hisses before bolting forwards. "We must act now!"

"I agree!" Biyomon soars after her calling, "Sora, give me a boost!"

"BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO….BIRDRAMON!"

I watch as Birdramon slices down, raking her talons over Megidramon's face and leaving barely a scratch before sending fireballs crashing into Megidramon's eyes.

She screeches and rears back, pawing at her eyes as Gatomon zigzags in between her legs with ridiculous speed and agility, dragging a vine with her and running back and forth, back and forth.

Megidramon roars and bends down to try and swipe at the little cat, but only succeeds in starting to lose her balance and tumbling to the ground with a mighty crash that makes the Earth shake.

There's a flash of light above the trees and the next thing I know Magnamon has shot up above them, in all his golden glory, which seems to get brighter and brighter with every passing moment…

"MAGNA BLASTER!" He roars, the golden light pulsing outwards and slamming into Megidramon full force.

She screams as the golden light surronds her body, and I have to literally hug myself to stop from crying at my partner's pain.

There's the sound of something cracking, and Tai lets out a startled quiet gasp as the Dark Spiral on Megidramon's right hand….slowly….slowly….shatters.

Megidramon lets out one more low moan before slowly turning her head to look at me again. Her eyes fixate on mine before her eyes roll backwards and she starts to shrink….

"RENAMON!"

I scream her name before bolting forwards, running and not stopping until I'm right at her side, dropping to my knees, filled with desperation and panic.

I can feel the salty taste of my own tears dripping down my face as I hug my partner close to me, now in her defenceless In-Training form, a yellow fluffy blob that lies moaning in my arms.

I feel something licking at my tears and look down at Viximon, who stares up at me with those bright blue eyes. "Don't cry." She says weakly, nuzzling my face. "I'm sorry Lily…I didn't mean to make you sad."

My voice catches as I try to find the right words to respond to that. Worry about making me sad is the only thing that's bothering her?

"Silly mouse." I whisper, hugging her closer to my chest and just sighing in relief at the familiar smell of her fur.

"Good to have you back Viximon." Tai says softly, leaning over my shoulder and smiling down at her, then looking off to his right. "Wanyamon!"

My entire body tenses as Kari walks over to the little cat-In Training, picking him up gently. For a moment there's just complete silence in the clearing. Then Kari calls over, "He's okay!"

Wanyamon's golden eyes slowly open as he looks up at the rest of us, whimpering softly. I smile down at him. "Thanks for saving me Wanyamon."

He smiles weakly and Viximon peers through my arms. "Yeah, thanks for saving my tamer. I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Wanya." He coos softly.

Gatomon's eyes narrow a second before leaping over our heads and landing hard on Ken's chest, slamming her claws into the ground and pinning him there. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't cut your throat right now." She snarls with a savagery I haven't seen her use in a long time.

Ken just stares blankly up at her, like he knows that she could kill him and he doesn't really care. My eyes widen and I step forward.

"Wait!"

Gatomon turns her head to stare at me in disbelief and I shake my head. "Let him go Gatomon."

"But-"Do it." My voice turns hard and she hesitates before withdrawing her claws and scowling in annoyance at me. But I didn't care if she was annoyed, or, if judging by the look on Kari's face, I didn't have the right to tell someone else's Digimon what to do.

Since when do I care about rules? I look over at Tai and nod, and we grab the vine Gatomon used earlier. Ken doesn't say anything as I tie his hand behind his back, my knee in the back of his spine warning him not to try anything. Actually his silence was kind of creeping me out, to be honest. Especially since back when we were fighting him he never would shut up.

Tai sighs and runs a hand through his hair. A pang of sadness fills me as I see the weariness in his eyes and another emotion I can tell he's trying to fight back. "I thought…" His voice cracks as he looks at Sora. "I thought for sure Agumon would be with you."

I can hear the raw pain in his voice and I swallow hard, especially when Sora's face takes on a look of alarm clearly showing that no, Agumon was not with her.

I know exactly how he's feeling. My free hand, the one not holding Viximon, slides down his arm and I interlace my fingers into his hand.

He doesn't smile the way he usually would. The last few hours without his partner must be eating him up alive. Almost getting literally eaten by Megidramon was just a, abliet large and very angry distraction.

I sigh and stare up at the sky. There's no point in telling him that things will be okay. I'm a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them.

And after all this is over, I don't think any of us are ever going to let our partners out of our sight again.

…

TK coughs loudly as the smoke continues to fill the room. His back is pressed against the door which is getting hotter and hotter from the flames outside, the hallway glowing a brilliant green…

Every breath he takes seems to sting his lungs even more, and he can almost feel the strength to keep going start to fail him.

Images of the others fill his mind. Patamon…..Yolei, Cody, Davis….Matt…oh Yggdrasil Matt won't be able to handle it when he's gone, he just knows this. He wishes he could have one more chance just to….to….he doesn't know, but to do something more than this!

He groans, sliding down the door and hearing the crackling of the flames getting closer…closer….He doesn't even have the strength to scream for help anymore but it's pointless. No one heard him in all the hours of screaming earlier so why would they hear him now?

"Angemon…." He murmurs, his blue eyes starting to close. "W-…where are you?"

As he starts to lose consciousness, his last image is not of his partner or his brother. His last image is of her, with her light brown hair down to her shoulders, that laugh, that smile….Yggdrasil…he would have done anything to make her smile…

The sound of something rumbling seems to grow louder and louder, but in TK's oxygen depraved brain he can't understand what it is.

Not just rumbling…rushing….it sounded like…the ocean? Using the last particle of his strength he ducked and managed to roll to the side, just as a huge blast of water slammed into the door and sent it flying off its hinges with such force that it slammed into the other side of the wall and bent in half.

"W-what?"

He can see a figure standing in the doorway, and for a second he shrinks back, unsure, and then he recognizes her.

"TK?" Her strong clear voice doesn't show a sign of exhaustion, just grimness. "TK are you here?"

"…Sira?"

Sira sighs in relief and walks over to him, smirking slightly. "Scared the crap out of Sorcerymon when I said I was coming back in here for you." She comments before picking him up practically bridal style. Normally this would be absolutely humiliating, but at this point TK honestly couldn't care less.

"T-thank you…but-….how did you…?" He rasps, staring at the broken door and the sopping wet room. Sira pauses and then blinks several times. "Huh. I almost forgot you're one of the few people who doesn't know about me…" Her voice trails off and she shrugs. "Ah well not a big deal. In any case, are you afraid of heights?"

"Uh…." The question comes so unexpectedly that all TK can do is stammer, "N-not really?"  
"Good!" She raises her right hand and blasts a long stream of water from her palm against the window, which had previously been shielded shut.

It shatters immediately on impact and she steps onto the ledge, still holding TK. TK gulps as he looks at the long drop and she tightens her grip.

"Ready midget?"

Without another word she LEAPS and TK fights the desire to scream as the ground rushes up towards them, ready to grind them into dust.

But then Sira waves her hand again and when he opens his eyes…they're not falling anymore. They're on a column of water that sprouts up from the ground and Sira is standing on it lazily as it begins to shrink, lowering them gently to the ground.

With the half bored look on her face you'd think she rescues teenage boys from burning buildings using mystical waters powers all the time.

As the fountain keeps descending, TK hears a sudden scream. "TK!"

Yolei flings herself at him the minute she sees him, grabbing onto his shirt and sobbing quietly. Unsure of what to do, he hugs her back.

"Oh my holy Yggdrasil….I thought you were dead…" She manages to choke out, still sniffling and getting snot tears all over his sooty shirt.

"Easy don't choke the poor guy." Sira says, gently prying Yolei off of TK before looking back up. "Stella can we get Seraphimon to take a look at his wounds?"

"I can do it." TK's eyes widen at Ba'almon's appearance as Ba'almon continues, "Serpahimon is taking care of Angemon. Angel got pretty banged up."

"Is he okay?" TK lunges forward but hisses in pain and Sira grabs him to steady him. "Whoa kid. He'll be fine but not if you bang yourself up again."

She looks tired now, leaning against the wall and breathing hard, clearly exhausted. TK keeps staring at her, he can't help it.

"I…" He hesitates, trying to find the right words. "I thought….Lily was the-…." His voice trails off when Sira shakes her head at him.

"That's not your secret to tell." She mutters before glancing over at Yolei and Cody. Both of them are staring at her with looks of either shock and in Yolei's case…slight disgust.

"You can…control water?" Yolei asks, taking a step back and crossing her arms. "How…that's not….natural….."

"Yolei!"

"Well, it isn't!"

TK feels his fists start to clench slightly as he takes a step forward but Sira grabs his arm. "Don't get involved." She mutters before smiling over at Yolei. "If you don't like it you're welcome to leave."

Yolei frowns and takes a step back, not saying anything more, especially when she sees how the other Tamers are glaring at her.

Ryo however just snorts under her breath and mutters, "At least I'm not the only one…."

Sira's eyes narrow menacingly as she steps towards her. "I may be a freak by your standards REBECCA but at least I don't simply abandon my team members for dead."

Ryo growls. "I would have gone back in there if-"Oh please. You gave up, you were so convinced it was a lost cause."

"And I wasn't the only person who feared that!"

TK ignores the girl's argument and turns to Stella, wincing slightly with the sudden movement. "Where's Matt?"

Her eyes flicker. "You might want to sit down Cap."

…

(Earlier)

Matt groans as he pushes himself upwards, spitting out sand before fighting back a scream as his arm bends at an awkward angle.

The smell of something burning fills his nose and he looks up, face paling as he sees the entire base in green flame.

He lunges forwards, wincing in pain as Gabumon grabs onto his shirt. "Matt, you must rest!"

"TK? TK where are you?"

He can hear the sounds of girl's arguing, screaming at each other. "You should never have left him there!"

"What did you want me to do?" Ryo screams at Sira, shoving her back. "Huh? We got separated, I tried to find him…."

"Obviously you didn't try hard enough!" Sira shouts back. "Why in Yggdrasil's name did you possibly think splitting up was a good idea in the first place? If you hadn't, maybe someone would have been with TK to make sure he didn't do something stupid! But no! You just had to put dealing with rescuing Ken's partner before the rest of the Digidestined! You MORON!"

"Oh like heck you care! You're the one who ran off in the first place! Quit thrusting your own guilt on me! If Lily's dead, it's your own fault! TK's death is your own fault!"

Matt's eyes widen with horror as he sways slightly on his feet. Panic starts filling him like someone tore claws into his chest, like a bottomless pit opened up underneath him and he fell, fell without an end in sight. "No…."

Footsteps sound beneath him and a low voice says, "You mustn't blame yourself."

"I have to go back in there…." Matt says groggily, every step he takes still unsteady as he struggles to make his way forwards.

Gabumon grabs onto his shirt again. "Matt, you mustn't strain yourself, you inhaled too much smoke!"

"Get off me!"

Gabumon pulls back, pain in his eyes. He hasn't heard Matt snap like that in years….he'd hoped never to again.

Damien just touches Matt's shoulder with a few fingers and with a strength you wouldn't think possibly of a wiry teenage boy, shoves him back on his butt. HARD.

Matt hits the ground hard, wincing as Gabumon growls a warning at Damien. "Hey, what was that-"Stupid boy." Damien's voice is harsh as he gestures back to the flaming building. "Do you honestly think there's anything you can do?"

Matt clenches his teeth and stares back at the building, the emerald flames reflecting in his dark blue eyes.

"I know this is hard…." Damien says, staring back at Matt, "but you don't have to simply accept it."

"Wh…what do you mean?"

Damien's eyes flicker back over to where Sira and Ryo are still snarling at each other and smiles. "Honestly, the two of them are both pathetic. Sira may be a good leader and warrior but she's letting her anger against Ryo cloud her judgement. I'm not sure I blame her considering all that happened….and Ryo's not much better. Neither of them can do anything."

"He should never have been by himself in the first place." Matt says, his anger starting to take control of him even as he struggles to force it back down. "I should never have…they should never have left him!"

"I know." Damien's eyes flicker back over to him. "You were his brother. It's natural that you should be angry…want revenge on the monster…."

"The real monster is the Emperor." He snarls, his anger growing and growing as Gabumon looks at him in alarm. "I don't care what the others said, he had the plans for Kimeramon in his computer, it's his fault!"

"What will you do?" Damien asks as Matt walks away, fists clenched and shaking. "You really think you can avenge him by yourself? As his brother?"

Matt doesn't answer. His blue eyes seem to have gone steely cold and he just nods icily. Damien takes a deep breath and sighs. "Well then…I suppose I can't stop you. After all, if they won't go after the Emperor and Kimeramon then someone has to."

"…Thank you."

Damien shrugs. "Hey, I have a brother myself." His eyes soften. "I don't know what'd I'd do without him. But you need to calm down. Think it through."

Matt sighs and lowers his head. "I…I guess you're right. Thank you." He keeps his head bent as he hears the other boy walk off and groans again, burying his face in his hands.

"Matt?" Gabumon whispers quietly, looking up at him. "Are you all right?"

Matt doesn't say anything, just weakly shakes his head, his shoulders shaking with raw emotion as he whispers, "This…this is all my fault."

"Matt, it's not your fault. There was nothing you could do. No one here blames you, and TK wouldn-"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"

Gabumon takes a step back, startled by Matt's outburst and getting more and more unsettled by his partner's grief and rage.

"IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN MY LITTLE BROTHER! I WAS SUPPOSED TO LOOK AFTER HIM! YGGDRASIL AFTER MONTHS OF NEARLY DYING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD THIS IS HOW I LOSE HIM?"

"Matt, please!"

Matt slammed his fist into the nearby tree trunk with another cry of grief. He could hear the murmurs of the others from the other side of the hill and guessed that they had heard his outburst.

Yggdrasil…what was he going to do…how was he going to tell his Mum…his Dad….they'd be heartbroken and blame him, he was sure of it.

"They wouldn't Matt." Gabumon says softly, looking up at him. "Your family would never blame you for this."

Matt sighs and slowly lifts his head again. His eyes widen as he sees something shining in front of him, growing bigger and bigger. A…a portal…

He swallows hard. This isn't like any portal he's ever seen before. It's pitch black, creepy, ominous. An uneasy feeling fills him as he watches it grow bigger.

"_Matt…brother…help me!"_

"…TK?" Matt whispers the name in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock as he stares into it. He could have sworn he just heard TK's voice but…but that wasn't possible, was it? TK was dead.

"Matt?" Gabumon asks in alarm as Matt steps forward as if in a trance. "Matt, come back!"

Matt takes another step closer to the strange portal…and that's when the suction feeling begins. His eyes widen as he realizes he's being pulled in, and he struggles to turn back but he can't. "G-Gabumon!"

"Matt!" Gabumon digs his claws into the side of a tree trunk and grabs onto his partner with the other paw. "Hang on!"

But the howling from the portal drowns their yells out, and Matt feels himself literally pulled off of his feet, twirling, losing control, as he screams TK's name, then Sora's.

Damien's head whips back around from the back of the group. His eyes widen. "Matt's gone!"

…

"I've got a lock on their signal!" Sora exclaims, as she bends over on Birdramon. Birdramon groans. "That's good because I think my back's about to give way under all of this extra weight."

"Maybe it would have been faster if we'd taken one of those Data Streams again." Davis comments from behind Sora, his arms wrapped around her waist to keep from falling off. The image makes both me and Tai continue to snicker, however immature it might be and no matter how often Sora keeps threatning to beat us both up if we don't knock it off.

I can't help it. The image of how Matt would react if he saw Davis getting that close with his girlfriend is hilarious.

"Ugh, no way." Nerfertimon responds from underneath me. "Those things are ridiculously unpredictable and dangerous, you never know where you're going to end up and quite frankly they upset my stomach. Cats were never meant to spin and go upside down and-"Like that one time you got stuck in the dryer?" Kari giggles.

Nerfertimon snorts. "That was no accident that was attempted murder.'

"Attempted murder my butt." Is my response, crossing my arms. "If I was actually trying to kill you you'd know it. Besides, who sleeps in a dryer in the first place?"

"I still say I could have taken another ride on Magnamon." Davis insists stubbornly, causing all of us to groan.

"Davis, you tried that about fifty times after Magnamon degenerated from the fight with Megidramon. It isn't going to work."  
Veemon moans miserably. "What happened to my amazing form anyway? I was so much cooler in it…."

"Oy vey…" Birdramon mutters, rolling her eyes.

"Heck if I know." Tai shrugs. "Some forms are more difficult to access than others. Take WarGreymon. We haven't been able to access that for years, not since I gave my Crest up. I mean, maybe if complete and utter hell had broken loose I'd be able to do it again but…."

"Plus with Sira and GranDracmon." I also point out. "GranDracmon has another Mega form you know, Alphamon."

Veemon blinks. "Alphamon? That name sounds…familiar…?"

"Why would it sound familiar to you?" Davis asks, crossing his arms. "I mean I've never heard of him and you were stuck under a rock for gosh knows how long."

"Hmm…."

"Well Alphamon is the leader of the Royal Knights." I continue with a shrug, not sure what to make of Davis' and Veemon's debate. "He's incredibly powerful….actually almost Gary Stueish, but whatever you do don't tell him I said that." I chuckle wryly as I scratch Viximon behind the ears, who purrs loudly. "It is kind of ironic, if you think about it. In one form he's pretty much known as the Saviour of the Digital World, in another he's like the Devil."

"That's not just ironic." Tai snorts. "That's like he has bipolar disorder."  
Davis glances over at Ken, and frowns. "Yo, Kenny!" He calls over to where Ken sits on Birdramon's back, hands still tied together. "You're not going to say anything this trip? Your silence is creeping me out."

Nothing. Ken doesn't even bother to look at him. His glasses fell off at some point during the journey but he just watched them plummet down to Earth staring blankly as though he couldn't care less.

Sweatdropping I nudge Tai. "Are you the only one whose kind of disturbed?"

"I know what you mean." He mutters. "I would have expected him to try to escape or SOMETHING when he realized where we're taking him but…."

"It's like someone pressed the off-switch on him." I agree, looking back over at Ken. "Like he's some kind of wind-up doll or puppet and someone got bored making him dance."

"…"

Tai and I exchange a look. While on the one hand I'm not sure I could forgive Ken for what he did to Renamon, the other part of me feels really…really bad for this kid. He doesn't look like some hot-shot villain anymore.'

Instead he…well he looks…like a kid. A broken kid.

"Well…." I murmur, looking at the fluffy lump in Kari's lap. "He did save Wanyamon."

"There is that." Tai agrees with a quiet sigh. "So maybe he's not as beyond hope as we all once thought he was."

My phone rings again, the Killers filling the afternoon sky with their music as Sora rolls her eyes over at me and gives me a "Are you KIDDING me" look?

I stick my tongue out at her. I like my music even if other people don't. Flipping it open, I check Caller ID before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Sira thank Yggdrasil I….no we're all fine…yup…everyone's here….yup. I know, I know, I'm an idiot, but…what…?"

My hand tightens on the phone and Tai looks over at me, his eyebrows knitting together worriedly. "Lily? What is it?"

Slowly I hang up on Sira before turning around to face Tai. "We need to hurry." I whisper, my voice catching. "It's Matt."

I can promise you that never before in my life have I seen Birdramon snap her wings open and fly so dang fast.

Tai swears wildly as I cling to him and Kari yells for Nerfertimon to go as fast as she possibly can. The wind rushes past me at ridiculous speeds and all I can think of is, "Matt, you'd better be safe, you moron. I can't deal with losing one of my best friends."

…

Stella sighs as she stares up at the sky, crossing her arms as we finally descend. "Took you long enough."

"So sorry your Highness." I say sarcastically, leaping off Nerfertimon's back. "So sorry that we have not yet mastered the ability to travel at the speed of light."

She rolls her eyes and gives me a look but right now I'm not in the mood for anyone's crap. "Where are the others?"

"Where's Matt?" Sora demands, her voice rising as she shoves her way forwards. "Where is my boyfriend?"

Stella hesitates and jams her thumb backwards. "The others are fine. When it comes to Matt….I'm not so sure…"

"Lily!"

A slight smile appears on my face as Damien runs up to me, his eyes full of concern and relief. Tai scowls and walks off.

"Are you all right?" He whispers, his fingers tracing over a cut in my cheek that I barely noticed before. I nod, touching his arm in response as I enjoy the feeling of his touch. At least he's still here, that's something, even if worry for Matt makes my heart ache.

"I was so worried…."

"I know. I was worried about you too." I say softly, my eyes narrowing as I see the gashes on his own body. "And from what it looks like I was right to be concerned."

"Oh….this." He brushes his wounds away as if they're nothing, the deep bloody gashes on his chest and legs that turn his shirt and pans red in some places. "This is…nothing. I've had worse."

"Still maybe you should have Sorcerymon look you over, just to make sure everything's….."

"I'm fine, believe me." He whispers low in my ear before kissing the top of my head. "It's good to see you safe my love."

"Uh…" His words make me fidget uncomfortably, especially because I don't ever recall telling Damien we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I especially don't ever remember hearing the word love enter our conversations.

Ever.

No matter how cute he is when he says it, that's just a little bit too creepy for me. "Um….I'm going to…go talk with the others."

A flicker of something passes over his face but then he nods. "Of course."

"WHAT THE %%^***^ do you mean he just ran off?"

Sora might seem like this quiet, reserved person, but when she's mad, she' capapble of making Mega Viruses want to run in the opposite direction, tails between their legs and whimpering.

I was infinitely grateful not to be Matt at this moment as I could only guess how much trouble he was currently in.

"What do you mean Matt disappeared?"

Tai asks sharply. I can see he's holding Koromon close to him, like a security blanket.

"We don't know." Ryo shakes her head. "Matt disappeared right before Sira went into go rescue TK."

"I still can't believe you had to be rescued by a girl." Davis snickers over at TK, who blushes crimson. "Wait to go TU."

"TU?"

"Knock off your immaturity for more than a few seconds." Ryo says icily, giving Davis such a dangerous look that it's literally terrifying, and he shuts up immediately. "We all agree that there's no chance Matt would have willingly left his brother if he thought TK was still up there, burning to death, but there's no sign of foul play."

"There's no way Matt would have left his brother to die in a burning building." Sira says coolly, crossing her arms, "but there was no sign of foul play so I'm not sure what to assume."

"…"

"Uh, Sira?"

"Hmm?"

I nervously point towards a twitching Ryo. "I…I think she just said that already."

"Hmm? Who said what Lily? I didn't hear anyone speaking, I just heard an annoying little fly buzzing in my ear."

"Oy vey.' I mutter, sweatdropping as Monodramon grabs onto Ryo's pants leg to stop her from lunging at Sira. For which I'm grateful. The last thing in the world we need right now is another catfight.

"Ignoring that," Adelina says, leaning forwards, "what's the one thing that would make Matt snap like this? I mean I know I don't know him all that well in particular but he seemed pretty rational to me. At least compared to someone like, say, Lily or Tai."

"Hey…"

She shoots us a grin and Kudamon climbs over her shoulder. "That's not the point." He squeaks. "The point is what's the one thing that could trigger Yamato to this kind of insanity."

"…"

"Me."

Kari reaches out and places a hand on TK's arm, trying to comfort him. "TK don't talk like that….this is definently not your fault, okay?"

"But it is." He says flatly, trying to keep his voice steady but beginning more and more to fail. "I should never have run off from the others. Ryo tried to stop me but I….when I sensed Devimon I-"DEVIMON?" Tai shouts, whirling around, brown eyes blazing. "That little CREEP is still alive?"

"Not anymore." Yolei says softly, looking away. "The program basically ate him. Devimon was absorbed into Kimeramon's body."

Tai's hand twitches at his side like he longs to punch something, and Sora doesn't look much better. I wasn't around when they fought against Devimon, but I know that whenever his name is brought up, I swear all of the first seven look like they want to kill someone. Horribly.

Even Mimi looks like she wants to take up a machine gun and just go nuts at the mention of his name. So I'm not all that surprised TK lost it. Being around someone who nearly killed your partner?

"Don't you guys see it though?" TK asks miserably, his voice cracking. "If I hadn't made that stupid mistake, then I would have been with the others, Matt wouldn't have thought I was dead, and he wouldn't have done this!"

"…" There's silence for a minute before Tai steps forward. "Look TK there's one thing that you've got to remember. I've learned this more recently, and it's this. No one solely makes mistakes. We're a team. We learn together, we screw up epically together. Who knows? Maybe if we hadn't split up this wouldn't have happened. Maybe if…you can always say that but it never gets anything done."

"…?" Sorcerymon raises an eyebrow. "I am…astonished….it appears one of Riona's lessons…has actually gotten through to you…boy."

Tai laughs sheepishly and shrugs. "Hey, I listen to her. Occasionally."

"Why are we wasting time like this?" Damien scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest, "When our course of action is clear?"

My eyebrows knit together as Edan asks, obviously annoyed, "So what is our course of action, oh wise one?" He asks sarcastically.

Damien smiles. "Simple. There's someone who been indirectly involved with Kimeramon all this time." His eyes scan the area to where Ken is sitting morosely, and he smiles. "I'm sure we can persuade him to tell us what he knows."

I really don't like the tone of his voice. "Damien…."

But the next thing I know he's right in front of Ken in the blink of an eye, lifting him up by the neck and not seeming to notice Ken's choking gasps.

"Damien, stop it!"

"Now!"

"STICKY NET!"

Damien yelps as the threads wrap around his ankles, making him lose his balance and topple down on his butt, landing hard and looking livid.

"Leave my partner alone." Wormmon threatens, rising up slightly as he stands protectively in front of Ken. Ken doesn't even seem to notice him, doesn't even look in his direction. But his jaw tightens and I can't tell if he's upset because of what Damien did…or what Wormmon's doing right now.

Damien scowls as he scrambles back to his feet. "Your partner is a monster." He sneers. "With blood on his hands."

Ken flinches and then Ryo's standing over the both of them, glaring at Damien.

"Back off." Her voice is taught with anger and she takes a menacing step forwards, her hands curling at her fists. "NOW."

Damien's eyes narrow as he looks at her before looking back over at me, seeing the anger in my eyes with him. He sighs and takes a step back.

"Sorry…." He murmurs, looking away. "Just got…carried away…."

"I don't think it's so wrong." Cody mutters, glaring at the Emperor with more hate than should be on a young boy's face. "It's his fault this is all happening in the first place."

"It is NOT his fault." Ryo hisses, her head shooting up like a viper's. "It is not his fault, and if you know what's good for you, you little brat, you'll take that back NOW."

"Ryo…"

"Huh?"

My eyes widen at the sound of the Emperor's sounds horse and weary. "Ryo just…." His hand reaches up to hers before dropping it again. "Just don't…."

"…Ken…"

"It doesn't matter anyway." Sira speaks up, giving everyone here a stern look. "We're going to have to stay put anyway, while we look for Matt and try to figure out where he is. Besides, all of our Digimon need to recharge." She gestures to me and Tai. "Your Digimon lost so much energy they went to the In-Training stage. Angemon went all the way back to Fresh."

I glance over her shoulder and see TK holding Poyomon closely in his arms while trying to comfort Pabumon at the same time. I guess the energy it takes to give someone a whole head must cost a lot, or maybe they both were just in there too long, or maybe it was just random.

"Wanya?" Wanyamon is amongst them, sniffing at the new Digimon curiously and I can't help the smile that forms on my face.

"Wait a sec…" Adelina frowns and bends down, picking him up. "Where'd this little guy come from?"

"We rescued him when his village was destroyed…." Tai's voice trails off when Viximon blinks innocently at him and I glower. She clearly didn't remember everything that had happened and I'd quite like to keep it that way.

"Ah." Adelina scratches the little guy behind his ears, making him giggle. "Too young to be without a caretaker, especially if he can't talk."

"And he's not going to find one here." Stella says flatly, folding her arms.

Yolei frowns. "Why not? He's so cute." She coos, bending over and scratching the top of his head.

"I'm sure he is but we have our own partners to worry about none of us have time to worry about some little orphan that can't even digivolve to protect itself."

"But…." My protest is stifled when Tai puts a hand on my shoulder and exchanges a sad look with me. I sigh. I know Stella's right. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

"Someone call Izzy….let him know about Pabumon. And I'll be in touch with Elecmon" Sira sighs. She looks absolutely exhausted and I feel a pang of worry, enough to make me follow her outside the campsite.

She leans against the trunk of a tree and slides down it with a groan. I crouch next to her. "I heard you saved TK….thank you."

Sira shrugs. "Like I'm really going to let some teenaged kid get burned to death."

"Still…" My eyes narrow as she shivers. "Are you feeling all right?"

She sighs, weakly getting back to her feet. "I feel fine….just…just tired…." She starts to walk off. "I just need some fresh air that's all. Breathing in smoke like that's not good for a water creature like me."  
I watch as she walks off and then I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Is she okay?" TK asks softly, his light blue eyes concerned as he watches her.

"I'm not sure." I sigh as Viximon fusses in my arms. "I'd be much happier if I could get her home." I flinch suddenly and am grateful TK's not looking the moment Sira bends over and retches silently into the grass up ahead of us. "She's sick, that much I can tell, but you have no idea how stubborn she is."

"She's a lot like Matt that way…" TK sighs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He swallows hard after saying his brother's name and I sigh before touching his shoulder. "It was probably just a Data Stream. Don't worry, we'll find him."

I thank Yggdrasil that TK has never seen a Data Stream before otherwise he'd know that what I'm saying is complete and utter bull.

He nods and I start leading the way back to camp. "We'd better get some sleep. You coming?"

"…Yeah…."

…

_For once it's not a nightmare. I'm running down the halls as fast as I can but it's not from fear. A childish squeal escapes my lips as I make my chubby little legs move._

_There's the sound of footsteps beside me, and I shriek with laughter as I try to run faster but there's no point. The man scoops me up into his arms with a laugh, and I'm pressed against his leather jacket. "Daddy! Let go!"_

"_What's the magic word?" His voice laughs in my ear, so familiar yet not. _

"_Put down!"_

"_Hmm?" His fingers loom over my stomach. "I don't think so." He chuckles before beginning to tickle me, and I'm shrieking with laughter._

"_N-nooo! Stopppp!"_

"_Oh for crying out loud…." The man holding me looks up and smiles sheepishly as a younger boy with white feathery wings steps out into the hallway. He looks almost exactly like an angel, with light blonde hair like a halo, except for the weird markings on his skin. He drags a gigantic plushie pink bunny behind him by the ear. "Whatever happened to the days when she'd be asleep by now?" He sees._

"_I'm sorry boss." Daddy chuckles, shifting me in his arms. "One game of tag doesn't hurt anyone, does it?"_

"_Huh. Just be glad it was me and not Lilithmon that came out."_

"_Uncle Luce you play tag?" I ask, as Daddy puts me down and I tug on his outfit. Lucemon facepalms. "One of these days we're going to teach you proper grammar."_

_But he still chases me down the hallway, and I laugh and look back at Daddy…._

…

My eyes snap open as I sit bolt upright. That man…the one who was holding me…..

"_Lily are you all right?"_

…..It was the same guy…."Holy freaking crap…" I whisper, my eyes wide. That's when I hear the sound of someone moaning.

I crawl to my feet and walk over as the moans continue to get louder. At first I think it must be one of the younger kids, having some kind of awful nightmare. But…it's not.

"Sira?"

She's lying there, twitching, covered in sweat and moaning in pain. My hand touches her forehead and I hiss, pulling away. It's like she's burning up with fever.

"Sira? Sira wake up!" I plead, shaking her. I can hear the sounds of other people groaning, waking up beside me.

Yolei yawns as she puts on her glasses. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong with Sira!"

Ryo groans, rolling over. "If this is just her trying to seek attention then I'm not in the-"Shut up Ryo." Delbert snaps, getting to his feet just as Sira's eyes shoot open.

For a minute I'm realized, and then I see her glassy, horrified stare, as if she's seeing something I can't see. She screams and screams, writhing in agony, and I'm holding her down, screaming for Sorcerymon. Out of all the babble I can only make out one word-"RAS! RAS!"


	14. Light of the Biomerge

(Author's note...Author slumps in her chair in exhaustion. Author would like to apologize for this being a slow update and if anything is confusing in this chapter, just please ask in the reviews and author will explain. Author is very tired because even though it is probably one of her more epic chapters ot was a very HARD chapter.)

Lily-Stop referring to yourself in third person it's creepy.

Chapter Fourteen

Sira's name screams from my lips as I tear forwards, gripping onto her hand and holding it tightly, shaking like mad as I do so.

"Sira? Sira wake up! Wake up! It's okay, please!"

Her screams pierce my eardrums and I grit my teeth to try to prevent myself from letting go of her hand and clasping my hands over aforementioned sore ears.

I can hear the sounds of everyone else rushing towards us, feel Damien pulling me back and holding me against his chest firmly, his eyes wide as he watches Sira.

Tai drops to his knees next to her, trying to hold her arms down as she flails them about wildly, half-clawing at her face and continuing to scream. "Sira! Sira, listen to me, it's all right, you're fine!" He winces as her hand shoots up as a fist, punching him in the jaw but he still doesn't let go of her.

"What the heck happened?" Davis exclaims, looking down with wide eyes, taking a slight step back out of fear when Sira lets out another scream.

Ryo is staring with her eyes wide, her hands trembling at her side as she mutters something under her breath, and I can catch the words, "not again" and "my fault".

"Move, Tai." Adelina snaps much more harshly than I've ever heard her speak to anyone, shoving him out of the way and kneeling next to Sira. "I know something that can help."

She looks over at Kudamon. "Do your stuff buddy."

Kudamon nods and slips from around Adelina's neck, wrapping around Sira's arm and purring softly, almost musically as he does so.

A golden light seems to surround his body as his grip tightens on her, not hard, but firm and gentle, and slowly her breathing starts to go back to normal, her thrashing slowly stops.

"Kudamon have the ability to soothe the soul." A voice echoes in my ear and I see Edan standing behind me, his arms crossed as he watches Sira, eyebrows knit together with intense worry. "_Das trethe kiomne." _He swears under his breath, and I blink. "…Sorry?"

"Huh?..." He looks back up from Sira, distracted and smiles sheepishly at me. "Sorry I…tend to slip into foul language when…" His voice trails off as he looks at Sira and he clenches his jaw harder.

"I've never seen her this bad…." Ellen whispers. Her shoulders are shaking and her Digimon, now in his Rookie FunBeemon form, tries to comfort her.

"It'll be okay Ellie. Sira's a lot stronger than you give her credit for." He's a pretty much adorable, fluffy, pudgy bee that looks more like a stuffed animal than something that could stab you with a stinger. I can't shake the feeling, however, that I've seen this little guy before…

"I've seen her this bad before." Delbert says softly, closing his eyes right before Sorcerymon literally shoves him out of the way.

"What? When?"

"Hey, shouldn't you be doing something?" Gatomon snaps at Sorcerymon when the green light pouring from his hands doesn't seem to be doing anything.

"This isn't something I can heal so easily…." He hisses back, clenching his fists at his side. "She's not the one actually being injured."

Stella's eyes widen. "You mean…."

Dilbert groans and buries his face in his hands. "That's what I was afraid of…."

"WHAT was it you were afraid of?' I snap, whirling around to face the rest of their tamers with their grim expressions. "Tell me what's going on! Now!"

"Lily I…."

"This is my sister we're talking about! I want to know what's happening!"

"All right!" Stella snaps, crossing her arms and glaring at me. I'm taken aback to notice that she seems to be fighting back tears. "The only thing that could reduce Sira to something like this is if….if GranDracmon himself was dying."

"…No…."

….

Sira lies behind the rest of us, still unconscious. At least it's better than her being awake and screaming bloody murder.

The flames from our campfire have now died down and left nothing but smoldering embers that glow red in the night.

For a minute, none of us talk. The sheer horror of what Stella said keeps ringing in my brain, and nothing in the world seems capable of reaching me. GranDracmon…can't actually be dying, can he? That's not…of all the people….but GranDracmon isn't exactly invincible, I remind myself grimly.

Back when I was thirteen, after all, Sira was forced to give me back to Myotismon because the psychotic vampire had basically cursed GranDracmon into a coma like state and could kill him at any moment.

But that was Myotismon, and he was a freaking twisted genius when it came to illegal dark magic, and besides—the only reason he actually managed to put that spell ON GranDracmon was because he caught my friend off guard, and in his Rookie form.

I know how strong GranDracmon can be. I can't imagine that anyone would be stupid enough to try and attack him.

"You okay?"

I turn and see Damien sitting beside me, the red light from the coals reflecting in his dark eyes. He tries to give me a comforting smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"No." I sigh, turning away from him and rubbing my arms in the cold. Damien sighs. "I wish I could find a way to make it so you didn't have to worry about this kind of stuff…."

"Thanks Damien….but you and I both know that's not possible." I look back over at Sira's pale face. A part of me wants her to wake up sooner, but another part of me is terrified to hear the screaming start again, knowing now that it means one of my best friends is actually…dying. And I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's not like we can just open a portal to the Dark Ocean. Only GranDracmon can do that, at least only he would have enough energy to send all of us in there at the same time.

Damien's hand rests gently on me knee, and I turn my head to look at him and smile softly, even though his fingers are so cold that it's a bit more uncomfortrable then gentle.

Ah well. It's the thought that counts, I suppose.

"So I don't get it…." Surprise, surprise, it's Davis' voice that breaks the silence. "Why does Sira actually feel GranDracmon's pain?"

"It's one of the drawbacks to being a beta tamer." Stella sighs. Her Tsukaimon, which is basically a purple Patamon (I know, weird right?) sits in her lap, cuddled close to her chest. "We have an unbelievably close bond with our Digimon."

"So do we." Yolei protests, her eyes narrowing as she sits next to Hawkmon, both of them looking disgruntled.

"I'm not saying you don't." Stella responds with a shrug. "Sira's always told me that the bond between a tamer and their partner is no stronger than a half-chosen and their partner."

"Enough with the language."

"All right, all right, I'm sorry." She rolls her eyes slightly, clearly not all that apologetic. "Digidestined. Anyway, the problem is with beta tamers the bond isn't just emotional, it's a physical bond. We literally feel the emotions and pain our partner feels. It goes both ways, and most of the time, it can be really helpful, but other times…." Her voice trails off as she looks back at Sira.

"…"

"Why would someone want to go after GranDracmon though?" Koromon pipes up, looking at the group with his big red eyes. "I've been racking my brain and it just doesn't make any sense."

Ryo flinches and looks away as Delbert shoots her a look. "Do YOU have any ideas Ryo?" He asks acidicly, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her.

Sora frowns. "Hey that's not cool…."

"And it doesn't matter what I think anyway.' Ryo mutters, blowing her bangs out of her face. "I knew this could happen months ago and you chose to ignore me!"

"You haven't exactly been the most truthful of people in the past." Edan's partner, now back in her Rookie form as a Salamon yips sarcastically.

"Oh shut it runt…."

Edan glares at Ryo and holds Salamon closer to him, and points out, "Besides, why should we believe you even if you were trustworthy? He's been dead for years, it could be anyone else who has a grudge against GranDracmon or Yggdrasil."

"I know, okay?" Ryo says flatly, her eyes narrowing as Monodramon sighs and looks up at her. "Even after all the bullcrap he's pulled I still know him better than most people do."

"Who are you talking about?"

When obstinate silence is the answer I roll my eyes. "Okay…don't tell me anything. See how well that works."

Tai snorts and Adelina's lips curl up in amusement. "It's not that we don't trust you guys…." Adelina says with a shrug. "It's just that if this is what we think it is, it will be tamer's business."

"Tamer business…." Yolei mutters under her breath, cleaning her glasses in annoyance. I heard the words "stuck-up" and "snobs" muttered as well, and Adelina's smile slipped slightly.

I put a hand on her knee and give her a "Yolei does this to everyone" look.

"It's not a question of snobbery." Delbert's Wormmon, a female, unlike Ken's speaks up. "It's just that everyone has their own job. The Digidestined are seen as…Yggdrasil's generals, I guess you could say. The tamers are her guardians that protect her own territory and in extension, her. "

"Okay, I get you guys protect Yggdrasil." TK says with a shrug, crossing his arms. "And I suppose I could say that metaphor makes sense. But why do I get the sinking feeling the reason you're so desperate to protect GranDracmon isn't just because he's a good friend of yours?"

"You are correct." Edan says in his soft voice. "The Digital World can be an ironic place. If Yggdrasil is God than GranDracmon is the Devil. The thing is….if GranDracmon dies…than so does Yggdrasil…and so will the entire Digital World."

"…THAN WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING SITTING AROUND HERE?"

Davis leaps to his feet, fists clenching at his side. "You could have mentioned the fact that the whole place could be doomed earlier!"

"A lot of people could have mentioned how serious the situation was earlier as well." Stella snaps, glaring at Ryo.

She glares. "I tried to warn Sira about what was going on before hand. It's not my fault if she didn't bother to trust you guys with this information, that GranDracmon was in danger!"

"More like threatened her about it." I mutter, and Ryo glares at me. "How would you know anything about it anyway?"

"None of your business."

"You little-"You guys, please…" Sora pleads, pushing herself up and getting to her feet. "Fighting between ourselves isn't going to help anything!"

"Well sitting around here isn't going to help anything either." Tai snaps, looking around at each one of us. "The longer we wait the more likely it is that GranDracmon could be dying, and with him the entire Digital World!"

"Tai's right!" Kari agrees, crossing her arms over her chest. "We have to go! What choice do we have? Sorcerymon, please, open a portal and let us in!"

"Your Digimon are all greatly weakened by the battles before hand." Stella scoffs. "What chance do you think you have half-chosen?"

"If you say the word half-chosen again I'm going to punch you in the face." Yolei growls murderously just as Cody grabs her by the arm. "Yolei, don't! She's not worth it!"

Stella twitches and her eyes narrow down at him. "You've only been a Digidestined for a little more than a month. I've been a tamer for years and you dare to talk down to ME?"

"When said tamer is a jerk, then yeah!"

"Sorcerymon…." Kari pleads again but Sorcerymon shakes his head. "I have to keep transferring energy to Sira. She might not have physical wounds but I fear what will happen to her without this."

"She's doomed even with your help…." Damien says flatly, his eyes narrowing, "unless you can get us in there."

Sorcerymon glowers at him, obviously not impressed with the way Damien phrased it, but the truth is that Damien's right. If GranDracmon dies we're all dead anyway. I'm sure Sira would agree with it.

But then again….

I flinch as I see basically everyone in our group yelling insults at each other, plenty of anger and frustration obvious. I'm sure the tamers are mostly just stressed out because of their injured leader, the way we would if Tai was injured, but it sure as heck isn't helping.

"This can only end badly." Viximon mumbles, pressing her head down on her tiny paws as she stares up at Ryo and Stella screaming at each other.

"Wanna make bets on who will come out alive?" Koromon says dryly.

"If this keeps up it's going to be Texas Chainsaw Massacre bloody." Gatomon sighs, facepalming at the sound of Davis shouting angrily at anyone who would or wouldn't listen.

"Sor…Sorce…."

"Huh?"

Gatomon's ears perk up and she looks over her shoulder to see Sira shoving herself up, shaking like mad as she does so and breathing hard.

"Sira?"

It's like flipping a lightswitch. Almost at once all of the arguments cease and everyone turns to see Sira sitting up, pressing a hand to her forehead and breathing hard.

"Riona, you should be resting." Sorcerymon snaps as though he's about to force her to lie back down but she shakes her head stubbornly.

"No…I…." She's standing now, breathing hard like she's run a marathon, but there's the burning light of detrimination in her eyes.

I've seen her get that look before. It's usually right before she comes up with some sort of suicidal plan.'

"I have to go in and find GranDracmon." She growls, her eyes flashing as though she's daring someone to stop her.

Sorcerymon opens his mouth when the rest of us are too afraid by the intensity of her glare to say something. "Riona, are you crazy? It could take ages for me to create a portal large enough to transport all of us to GranDracmon's realm…not to mention the fact that you are still weak."

Sira's eyes narrow. She's silent for a moment before sighing and then asking quietly, "How long would it take you to send a portal with just me?"

"…"

"Are you crazy?" I shout, shoving my way to the front of the crowd. "You are not going in there alone, you'll be killed!"

Sira ignores me and keeps staring at Sorcerymon, who shakes his head at first. "Riona, I cannot allow this…."

"You can't allow it?" She growls, glaring at him. "You can't allow me to save my mate who I KNOW is in really big trouble at this point? Who could be dy…." Her voice trails off. "I'm going after him. Rather I go alone or not, it doesn't matter. I can't lose him, not like this…." The last part is little more than a whisper.

I desperately hope Sorcerymon will say no. He can't be serious about sending her in there alone, where there's who knows what ready and eager to kill her.

"Sira…."

Sorcerymon and Sira stare at each other for a moment more before Sorcerymon sighs and closes his eyes. "All right…."

No no no no no NO! I shout Sira's name and try to shove to the front of the crowd when Edan grabs me by the arm, shaking his head. "You know her." He says wearily. "You know there's no changing her mind."

"But…." My voice seems to be trapped in my throat as I watch Sorcerymon turn so he's facing away with us, raising one hand and chanting something under his breath as a dark circle forms in front of them.

I pull away and run forwards. "Sira, please, you'll be killed! We can do this together, all right? Listen to me!"

"I realize this isn't the best way to go about this Lily." She responds grimly, not looking at me, her eyes focused on the portal. "But it's my only one."

"But if you-"I have to do this." She snaps, turning around and looking at me. "Nothing else matters right now."

I bite my lip down hard to keep it from quivering. I am not going to cry. Not a chance in hell. But I…can't shake this horrible feeling that this is going to be the last time I ever see Sira alive again.

She sighs and finally turns her head to look at me, touching my shoulder. "Hey…."

I look up at her, not speaking and the two of us stare at each other a moment more. "Look after Ellen for me." She says quietly, before pulling away and entering the portal.

One minute she's there. The next minute she's gone. "Si….Sira!"

…

Garurumon roars in pain as he's thrown backwards once more, blood staining his white fur and turning it an ugly shade of red.

"Protect the house!" Matt yells back to his own strange army which charge forward at the intruders again. There are hundreds in this army of monsters, Champions, a couple of Ultimates, thankfully no Megas, or else they would all be dead.

Matt silently thanks GranDracmon. He wasn't there to see the vampire in action, but according to Matt's new allies the man fought with all the strength and fury of hell, destroying all of the Megas before collapsing with exhaustion himself.

With that sacrifice they might stand a chance. But now GranDracmon was in his egg form, where, Matt wasn't sure, but he had bigger worries right now.

He rolls to the side just in time to avoid being speared by several Airdramon's needles, then shoots back up glaring murderously, a long cut running down the center of his forehead, tangling in with his blonde hair.

"Garurumon!"

Garurumon roars, leaping to his paws ignoring the pain in his own body as he leapt upwards, landing hard on an unsuspecting Tuskmon's skull before using the momentum to propel himself towards one of the Airdramon. One swift crunch from his powerful jaws…that skinny neck all Airdramon had didn't stand a chance. As he falls back towards the ground he opens his mouth, blue flames gathering there.

"HOWLING BLASTER!"

His attack streaks forwards and tears through two more Aidramon, out one and right through another. Garurumon lands on all four paws, huffing in triumph before snarling with frustration as the skies are once more filled with enemies.

Matt clenches his teeth and feels sweat prickling down the back of his neck. Honestly, he knows he's fighting a losing battle. He and Garurumon can't keep this up forever. But he will keep going to his own bitter end before he lets these monsters destroy the world and the friends he loves.

Garurumon turns his head slightly to look back at Matt and his red eyes widen. "Matt! MOVE!" He roars, fury and fear obvious.

Matt turns and starts to dodge too late. Fiery pain and agony fills his body as massive teeth clomp down on his leg.

He screams as the Tuskmon bites down just a little bit harder, his eyes roll back in his head, he can feel hot blood running down, and any minute now he's going to die he's just sure of it…

That's right before Tuskmon makes this horrible choking noise, raising both clawed hands to his neck as what looks like a noose wraps around it.

The creature stumbles around, trying to break free and continuing to fail, rasping loudly before finally letting go of Matt.

Garurumon runs forward and his nearly unconscious partner lands on his back. "Matt! Matt talk to me!"

…He doesn't get an answer. Just a low whimper and the sticky hot smell of blood. Garurumon snarls as the Tuskmon stumbles forward, ready to tear this creature apart for attacking his partner, but there's no point.

The noose, which Garurumon can now see, is made of water….but that's impossible…jerks sharply at an awkward angle and the Tuskmon screams before bursting into data.

Matt moans in pain again and Garurumon blinks as he sees the figure standing in front of them, panting hard and covered in the Tuskmon's data dust. "…Sira?"

"Let me see him." Sira says with such firmness in her tone, like an alpha wolf, he immediately drops to his stomach and lets her pull Matt gently off his back.

Sira fumbles around in her bag, muttering under her breath before a sigh of relief and a smug, "Hah." She pulls out a brown spray canister, kind of like those things TK and Kari liked to squirt each other with all the time.

Garurumon blinks. "Um….Sira I'm not sure how that's going to…"

"Just watch." She scoffs before spraying the entire contents of one odd smelling bottle on Matt's injured leg, then another whole bottle.

Garurumon backs away from the scent, gagging slightly but his eyes widen in disbelief as he sees the fractured and torn bone and tissue knit back together at ridiculous speed.

"What the….?"

Matt's eyes shoot open and he lets out a scream fit to beat Hades, rolling on the ground and howling like his entire body is on fire.

Alarmed, Garurumon takes a step forward but Sira waves him back, looking completely unconcerned by the screaming. "He'll be fine."

"What did you put on his leg?" Garurumon growls, not as fiercely as he normally would, mostly because from her attitude and confidence he was now officially beginning to see Sira as "the boss."

"Super potions from back home." She explains with a smirk as Matt keeps writhing and howling like his insides are coming out. "See, in our Pokemon battles we usually play it safe and no one usually gets severely hurt, but accidents do happen, plus there are gangs and rogue Pokemon. So we needed something to be able to heal our partners ridiculously fast."

"OH MY GOSH IT BURNS SIRA WHAT THE #/%%%%%!"

"And it hurts that bad?" Garurumon sweatdrops. Sira shrugs. "There's a reason it's not generally supposed to be used on people."

"Generally?"

"…Well okay, technically never. You see the thing is Pokemon's bodies work much faster than humans, so a super-quick healing potion doesn't bother them. But…for humans…."

"AHHHHHHH!"

"I see."

"Oh for crying out loud Matt…." Sira sighs as he clutches at his stomach, whimpering. She rolls her eyes. "I had to do something before the infection set in. Because if it had I simply would have just had to slice off your leg myself to save your life. Here. Without anaesthetics. I promise you that would have hurt a lot more."

Matt just groans, plopping his head back onto the ground as he listens to the not-so-soothing sound of Digimon dying all around him, screams of agony echoing.

He slowly lifts his head up and prods at the leg, which, to his absolute disbelief, doesn't hurt in the slightest anymore.

"How the…heck did you…?"

"Pretty good stuff isn't it?" Sira chuckles. "More than worth the pain. If humans were less wusses they'd realize that."

"Terrific…." Matt mutters, shuddering as he remembers the pain. He grabs at Sira's shoulders when she helps him up. "Listen, do you guys…" His voice trails off and he swallows hard. "Did you…maybe find TK's body?"

"…Eh?" Sira shakes her head. "Matt you've got it all wrong. TK's still very much alive."

It felt like someone had unchained him and punched him in the gut for being an idiot at the same time, for Matt just couldn't find his voice. "He…." His voice trails off in disbelief. "He is? But…but the fire…."

"Uh, hello?" Sira rolls her eyes. "Water creature, in case you forgot? Fire doesn't bother me."

"You saved him?" Matt feels relief start to fill him and smiles at her, a true smile, something not very many people got to see. "Sira…if you weren't married to someone who could kill me with ridiculous ease I would kiss you right now."

"Good to know." She mutters distractedly, and Matt notices how hard she's breathing, or the way her entire body is trembling as though even the effort of standing upright is costing her so much.

Without thinking Matt wraps an arm around her shoulders, supporting her, looking worriedly down at her. He flinches when another agonizing scream echoes behind him, turning around and seething quietly when another couple of Sinmon are torn apart by an angry Gorillamon. "…Sira you should get out of here this is possibly the worst place for GranDracmon's mate…"

"Don't you dare." Sira mutters, shoving herself back off him with difficulty. "I've come too far to turn back now….I have to find him…."

"…Sira…."

"Stopping me would be completely pointless." She says flatly, turning back and her eyes narrowing at him. Matt wonders if she and Lily truly get how very much alike they really are, and shrugs helplessly. "At least…at least let me help you, all right?"

She hesitates, wincing slightly. "You should get out of here. That potion is a miracle worker but your leg still desperately needs to rest or-"Or what?" He asks sarcastically. "It's not like if I strain it it'll go back to only remaining by a few tendons, right?"

Sira manages a wry smile. "No, I'm more concerned about it being too stiff for you to run when something tries to eat you."

"And you?" He asks pointedly, gazing into her tired eyes. "Are you strong enough to run if you have to?"

Sira's eyes narrow as she looks at him. "I'm the lead beta tamer." She scoffs. "I don't RUN."

"You are definently Lily's sister, even if it's not by blood." He mutters, rolling his eyes before wrapping his arms around her again, pulling her up onto Garurumon's back and then hopping on after her. Garurumon sprints off into a run towards where the most smoke and screams drift up into the air.

GranDracmon's castle.

….

"I can't TAKE this!"

"There isn't anything elese we can do, Lils." Sora sighs, her hands in her lap and her head bent. I glower over at the rest of the group, who are all waiting patiently…okay that's an exaggeration. They're all as tense and frustrated and angry as I am, but unlike me, most of them are doing a pretty good job not showing it.

Sorcerymon says that creating the portal will take HOURS and I'm not sure if I can hold out that long, not knowing what's happening to Sira. Whoever said that no news is good news was either in denial up to their necks or completely stupid.

"You can't blame Sorcerymon." Sora says, her voice turning more fierce as she gets to her feet. "Anyone can see that he's just as worried about Sira as the rest of us. Actually probably a lot more so."

"Then he shouldn't have let her go alone." My voice chokes on the words and I supress the lump rising up in my throat. "Anyone can tell that what's going on with GranDracmon is making her sick. She'll be killed."

"You're underestimating her…." Ellen sighs, but I can see the worry in her own eyes.

"Why did he let her go?" I repeat, clenching my fists and glaring up at the sky. I know I shouldn't be blaming Sorcerymon but….when I first escaped from Myotismon Sira and GranDracmon were probably the closet thing I'd ever had to a real family.

I mean sure Sira and I were at each other's throats a lot but….but when it came down to it I knew I could trust her. I didn't feel so alone in a new dimension…and she showed me a new way to live.

"You know you're not the only one stressing out right?"

"Of course I know that…." I snap back over my shoulder not looking at Sora. She bristles slightly behind me. "Then you should act like you remember it. Sira's not the only one whose in huge trouble right now. Matt's gone missing as well and while you have a clue what might be happening to Sira, I have no idea what's happening to him!"

Her voice catches slightly and Ellen puts a hand on her shoulder, obviously trying to be comforting. I groan, lowering my head.

"Sora I….ack…." Without thinking I bolt deeper off into the forest, the leaves and twigs crunching beneath my feet as I run, and run, not knowing what I'm trying to do, just knowing I have to…get away.

I don't stop running until I'm in the middle of a clearing where the trees grow farther apart and the moonlight shines down on them, bathing the forest in silver light.

Sighing I lean against one trunk, rubbing my face with my hands. What am I supposed to do? I can't wait any longer but it's not like I have much choice.

Staring up at the stars, I blink as something small and dark lightly descends to land in front of me. It's a black feather. I stare at it for a moment before sighing and looking back into the tree branches. "I know you're there."

There's only silence and I contemplate how that might have not been the most polite way to phrase it and try again. "Look I'm sorry about before, really I am. Can you come out? Please?"

My hands finger on the jacket that he left me from before, and I sigh when there's no answer, again. With a shrug of my shoulders I turn to go before I hear the sound of footsteps crunching through the forest.

I turn around, my eyes narrowing slightly when a voice echoes behind me, sounding slightly amused. "There was a time when you would have known where I was coming from instantly."

I whirl back around to see him standing there, just how I remembered him from a few days ago, and fight back a slight gulp as I look into his face.

The shape of the eyes and the colour is still so oddly similar to Myotismon's and makes a chill run down my spine. But there are smile lines around his eyes as well, something that Dorkula never had. Unless you count smiling sadistically as I writhe on the ground screaming in pain but hey that's just me.

The man's smile slips slightly as he sees the look on my face and he takes a step back, as if to leave again, but I cut him off by blurting out, "Wait!"

He turns back around to face me and again I remember the dream I had before. I swallow hard and my voice is a lot more confident than I want it to be as I ask, "…Who are you?"

He sighs and says ruefully, "I'm not surprised you don't remember me. It was a long time ago since you saw me last."

I blink before looking away. "You….helped save me from the LadyDevimon. And you helped me save Cody. …Thank you."

There's silence before he smiles slightly and brushes the hair back from my face and I can't help but notice another difference between him and Dorkula. His hands are warm. "I didn't do all that much…." He sighs. "And I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much this time either. We aren't able to enter GranDracmon's realm at all."

"…We?"

"Listen to me Lily…." He touches my hand and touches the ring on my index finger. "I have faith that you can do this on your own. If you are anything like the previous owner of this ring…." He smiles as though remembering the past, "then you will be more than fine."

"But-…" I blink when the next second he's gone again. I twitch slightly, feeling annoyance rise up in me. Yeah just give me a cryptic message and then disappear again that's REAL helpful.  
"I don't even know what this thing is supposed to do!" I protest, glaring at the ring on my index finger and watching the gems glint in the light.

It glows brighter as I continue to feel the feelings of anger and frustration building up in me, but a kind of ugly shade of green.

"Huh?"

I stare down at it for a few moments, and I oddly remember something Tai told me about using the Digivice for Agumon's evolution. SkullGreymon was born because his emotions caused his Crest to malfunction, actually to not work at all. Sora even said how his Crest turned blood red.

Oddly enough….this is kind of reminding me of that story. I run one finger over the ring and take a deep breath, trying to calm down, to feel at peace, not thinking about anything that could make me angry.

Slowly the gems change to a vibrant, more beautiful shade of green. It looks…healthy. Beautiful. Like the leaves on the trees when the sun shines down on them. "It's a Digivice…." I murmur in awe. I should have put it together in the first place, especially when Adelina showed me hers.

Well she said the ring could be used to biomerge with your partner, she didn't say anything about regular digivolution.

"Lily…"

I turn and see Viximon stumbling towards me, looking worried, her tail dragging in the mud. "You ran off so fast, I was worried about you."

"I'm….I'm fine…." I mumble. I turn my head to look back down at her. Before it usually took days to get Viximon back to Renamon after a beating like she had. But…maybe with the ring…

"Viximon, come here, I want to try something."

She blinks and backs away warily. "Try what exactly? The majority of your experiments end up with an explosion."

"Relax, it's nothing like that." I slowly touch her head, scratching her behind the ears and smiling as she rolls onto her tummy making puppy like whimpers.

Sure enough, the ring bursts into green light, surrounding her.

"VIXIMON DIGIVOLVE TO….RENAMON!"

I grin as Renamon stands before, her jaw hanging down to her knees, leaves still caught in her fur. "H-how did you…?"

"I think…." I say quietly, my fingers running over the ring again, "that we might not be so different than the others after all."

…

The white marble pathway was cracked in several places and stained red from blood, Matt notices as Garurumon pounds down it, him holding onto the weakening Sira so she doesn't fall off.

The screams are, he notices grimly, even louder in this area. Smoke rises from the ruined manor. Matt has no doubt that once this place was beautiful, but now….

Sira lets out a fierce cough beside him as the smoke wraps around them and Garurumon leaps through one of the charred walls of the house, right through a smoldering hole.

"Good boy…." Matt mutters to his partner before looking back over at Sira, whose face is oddly pale as she takes in the destruction.

Claw marks have torn parts of the walls and floors to pieces, glass litters the soft carpet. Matt can't blame her for being in a state of shock and horror. The intruders should never have gotten so far. He still can't believe that the army is actually this large, that so many people would be willing to go against the King of Vampires and the ruler of the Dark Ocean.

"_Why can't they see that we need him more than anything?" _ Matt clenches his teeth. _"If our world is to stay in balance and not fall into chaos…."_

But people and Digimon were as a general rule, stupid. They would turn on the one thing that helped protect them and had never personally attacked them.

"Where do you…think the egg is?" Matt says quietly, trying to keep his voice down low as he scanned the room warily. There was something really wrong about the whole scenario. The minute they had entered the building things had gotten much quieter.

Which probably meant this was a set-up. He was filled with the desperation just to get Sira out of there, rather she liked it or not, but realized that would probably get him nothing but a punch in the face.

Trap or no trap, he knew she wouldn't be leaving without her mate. He sighs, and glances over at Garurumon who keeps sniffing their air warily.

Sira makes her way down the hallway without speaking, her fingers tracing along the torn wallpaper and the stained blood spots.

Her shoulders shake as she does so, and Matt feels a lump rise in his throat. "Sira I….."

She doesn't say anything, and Matt hesitates before running after her. Garurumon glances around the room one more time, growling under his breath before padding after his partner.

The door at the end of the hallway is practically off its hinges, burn marks covering it, a large hole in the center.

The room was a bedroom, the master bed's sheets torn and stained, the walls so badly burnt that Matt could see the pillars on the other side.

"Sira…." He tries to keep his voice soft and gentle. "Sira I don't think anyone is here. We should go."

She shakes her head and drops to her stomach, reaching underneath the bed and grabbing something. For a minute, Matt is more than a little confused, but then she pulls out a Digiegg.

'Unfortunately Matt can't tell what color it is because of the droplets of blood running down its shell. He swallows hard as Garurumon growls in outrage.

The Sinmon must have hidden their lord underneath the bed out of desperation, when he grew so weak he finally degenerated back to this stage.

And probably sacrificed their lives to do it, Matt thinks grimly, his blue eyes narrowing in anger. Sira cradles the egg to her chest, murmuring under her breath, and Matt can hear the sound of small whimpers coming from the egg.

"…Pathetic, isn't it?"

Garurumon whirls around with a snarl of pure hate, Matt glowers murderously up at their new enemy, and Sira slowly raises her head, eyes narrowing.

The creature standing before them can only be described in one way-octopus like. With pale blue skin and strange red markings across his body including the tentacles waving around him like he's underwater, he looks like some sort of demon from hell.

"It's pathetic, isn't it, that the oh-so great Lord GranDracmon can't even protect himself?" He cackles, looking at the egg Sira's holding.

"I'll be taking that if you don't mind…." He says with a smirk, "So I can smash it into a million pieces."

His henchman laugh behind him, a mixture of Scubamon, the few water types who can survive on dry land, LadyDevimon's, and several other Digimon distorted with darkness.

Matt clenches his teeth, trying to keep himself from spitting in rage, and a low growl echoes beneath him.

Sira's eyes are burning with hate as she stands up, clutching the egg close to her chest. "So you're the scumbags behind this?"  
The icy fury in her voice was enough to make any sane man run for cover or drop to his knees pleading forgiveness, but apparently the monster was neither sane nor smart, for he just laughs. "Indeed, beta tamer. I am Dragomon, liteunant. What's the matter? Ashamed that you were not here to help your mate? You know I heard he screamed your name…."

Matt tells Dragomon to go and do something incredibly rude as he stands in front of Sira, glaring at him. "If you think we're going to let you hurt GranDracmon you are out of your #^^^^ mind."

"My, such language Bearer of Friendship." Dragomon muses as his lackies growl behind him. "Of course, not really. After all, you can't even get your partner to evolve to Ultimate anymore now that you gave up your Crest. And beat me? Do you really think that is possible when you can't even detect a spy in your own group?"

"There are no spies among the tamers." Sira snaps, her eyes narrowing down to slits. "I have no desire to listen to you debase my team when all you do is talk crap."

He laughs and the sound makes Matt want to rip his heart out. He can also see a couple of Phantomons in the group, along with….

"What are angels doing here?" He mutters, looking at the Angemon's and Angewomon's, all of whom stare at him blankly through their sightless helmets.

"Not all angels are good Matt." Sira responds quietly before glaring at Dragomon again. "Unless you want to die…."She says this in a too calm-voice that makes the hair on the back of Matt's neck stand up, "for daring to attack GranDracmon's realm, for threatning a tamer and a Digidestined….then you will leave now." She flexes her fingers. "Or else I will kill all of you and use your energy to restore his core."

Matt knows Sira means every single word she just said. Some of the lackies are beginning to look a bit more uncomfortable, but Dragomon's eyes just narrow. "Oh you will will you…? Kill them!"

"Sira!"

"Go!"

She shoves the Digiegg into Matt's arms and shoves him just as a wave of attacks, mingled together to form a wave of bright light. He ducks, holding the egg close to his chest and watching as the attacks shatter the wall opposite.

Sira screams, pain and rage filling her as Matt is temporarily blinded from the explosion, and he hears the sound of water rushing and people choking to death all around him.

"Matt!"

Garurumon runs up to his partner, grabbing him by the scruff like a kitten and bolting as fast as he can run in the opposite direction.

Matt scrambles onto his partner's back and clings on for dear life, holding onto GranDracmon's egg with his jaw set in determination. He would not fail Sira. He would-GAHH!

Matt screams as one of the Gizamon's razor sharp fins slices across his arm, he starts to stumble and hears Garurumon howling in pain. One of the Gizamon leaps up and slashes towards Matt's throat, malevolent grin on its face as it prepares to slit his jugular.

But before it can even get the chance, because it suddenly freezes and collapses to the ground, twitching as though paralyzed. Matt looks up and sees one of the Sinmon standing there, pale hand outstretched and red eyes gleaming underneath its hood.

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you…."

Another sound of an explosion of water echoes and the Sinmon's red eyes flash and before Matt knows it, dozens more surround him and Garurumon, easily keeping pace with the wolf.

At first neither Matt nor Garurumon have any idea what's going on, but when one of them whirls around and bares its chest, allowing an Angewomon's arrow to pierce it through the heart instead of Garurumon, he understands.

They are risking their lives to protect GranDracmon. Matt's not naïve enough to pretend that they actually care rather or not he lives or dies.

But even though GranDracmon condemmed their souls to hell, they are surprisingly loyal to him. He swallows hard as he watches another Sinmon explode into data with an ear-shattering cry.

He glances up ahead and his eyes widen. Right in front of him there is a HUGE crowd of enemies, Tuskmon, Tyrannomon, Meramon, something that looks like a black Birdramon, and dozens more. "Garurumon pull up! Pull-ARGHHHH!"

The explosion sends Garurumon flying and all Matt can see is a blur of light as he's hurled off his partner's back, sent flying head over heels before coming to a stop in the mud.

Laughter echoes and Matt hears the sound of a bow being pulled back. He looks up to see an Angewomon smirking down at him. "Well met, Child of Friendship." She says in a melodius voice which is completely at odds with the arrow pointing at his face. "Now do you feel like giving me that egg?"

Matt growls at her and looks behind him to see Gabumon struggling to weakly get back up, wincing as a Shellmon slammed down on his back with one massive foot.

No…no it would not end like this! His friends were more than his friends, they were his family. If he let them destroy GranDracmon, they would destroy everything he cared about.

And the Sinmon and Sira…they'd all made such huge sacrifices. He didn't even know if Sira was still alive. But no matter what, he was not going to let her down by letting her mate die.

A sharp, burning sensation hurts his chest and he looks down and his eyes widen. A familiar blue symbol seems to be literally carving itself right beneath his collar bone, shining a brilliant blue, and with it, strength he hadn't felt for a long time.

He looks up at Angewomon and gives her a disarming grin. "You might just get more than you bargained for."

"…Wha?"

The Digimon tormenting Gabumon are suddenly blasted back with an explosion of light, and Matt smirks as he hears those four words he never thought he'd hear again.

"GABUMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO….METALGARURUMON!"

…

"Sorcerymon! Sorcerymon!"

Sorcerymon looks up wearily as I skid down the hill, the portal in front of him slowly continuing to grow. "Lily, what is it?"

"I had….an idea…." I breathe, bending over and catching my breath as Renamon skids down to join me.

"Oh this out to be good." Stella mutters, looking over at me as she holds Tskuaimon in her arms. "What is it now?"

"Attitude…not helping…" I gasp out, pointing a finger at her before turning back to Sorcerymon. "You said that…what you needed to create the portal faster…was a massive use of energy right….?"

"Well yes but….."

"Then the solution is simple. We use our Digivices."

"Huh?"

"It could work…." Adelina muses, fingering her own ring, "after all our Digivices have a huge amount of stardust in them, which is one of the most potent devices in the world."

I grin and spread out my own hand, showing off my ring. "That's what I thought."

Her jaw drops, as does everyone elses. "Where the heck did you get that?"

"Still not sure." I respond with a shrug, smiling innocently at them. "But the point is, if you need my Digivice to make this plan work, than I am all for it."

Tai stares at the ring on my finger like he's seen a ghost. I frown, confused by his distress and he manages me a shaky smile.

Ah well. I'll figure out more what's bothering him later. Adelina laughs and claps a hand on my shoulder. "It's about time I had another alpha tamer for back up."

"Sira's little sister being an alpha tamer of all things." Dilbert chuckles. "She's not going to like this…."

I blink. "Why wouldn't sh-"…It's a long story Lily." Ellen is looking at me with something that looks like fear. I blink. "Ellen?"

"…Nothing. It's okay." She smiles at me, and I know whatever's bothering her isn't me. Something about this ring has her even more upset than Tai…

Stella sighs. "You better not get yourself killed on one of our missions."

"…Mi-"You guys!" Ryo comes running up, her face pale and her eyes wild. "Something's wrong with Ken!"

Veemon blinks. "What do you mean there's something wrong with Ken?"

Ryo swallows hard, and I see more pain and fear in her eyes than I ever have before. "I…I don't know. He's shaking all over and moaning in his sleep, Wormmon's with him, I don't….Sorcerymon please…."

"But that's not our only problem…" Sorcerymon reminds her firmly. His expression softens when she staggers back like she's been slapped and he sighs. "If we don't find a way to save GranDracmon's realm than Ken will die no matter what I do."

Ryo's fists are so tightly clenched that her knuckles are pure white. "But if you-"Why are you so concerned over this anyway?" Yolei scoffs, putting her hands on her hips. "It's not like the little creep isn't getting what he deserves."

"…"

Edan grabs onto Ryo to stop her from punching Yolei in the face, and to be honest, I don't blame her. It was a pretty awful thing to say.

Tai grabs Yolei by the collar and shoves her back slightly, not hard, more like an alpha wolf pinning a rebellious subordinate, that kind of thing. "I don't care if you hate Ken or not." He snaps. "You never say you're glad someone is suffering. If that's the way you think you can go home and not come back."

"…" Yolei looks away and Tai looks back at Sorcerymon. "If Ryo stays with Ken, will this idea of Lily's work or not?"

Sorcerymon sighs. "I'll admit that, surprisingly enough, Lily's idea does have a lot of merit."

"Exactl-…hey what the heck do you mean surprisingly?"

"But the problem is I need to actually get a portal to open to the Dark Area…." He flinches as the portal collapses on him again and he growls with frustration. "The outer defences are too good, I need someone to open it from the inside."

"But you helped Sira get in…"

"Which, I'm afraid, only made the defences tighter…."

I growl, pacing back and forth, as Ryo speaks up, "I have to come with you guys, I can't just stay with Ken…."

"Ryo…" Monodramon looks up at her. "You know you're the only one he trusts here."

"And for good reason too." Damien drawls sarcastically, walking over to me as he sneers at Yolei and Cody. "Those two can't be trusted if you ask me." He murmurs in my ear. "You should have seen how Yolei acted when she saw Sira's water powers…honestly some humans…."

"Huh?" I feel a prickle down my back as I turn my head to look at Yolei. "Why? What did she do?"

But before Damien can answer me Stella speaks up. "I don't care if you want to go so badly to help wipe out your ledger." She says the last word sarcastically as she pokes Ryo in the ribs. "Don't forget, you're the one who pulled Ichijouji into this mess in the first place."

Ryo flinches as though Stella just punched her in the face. She stares a moment more at her and Monodramon actually snarls at Stella, but then she quietly says, "…You're right. I'll….I'll stay with Ken."

"Watch Pabumon too." Tai says quietly. "And Wanyamon. Izzy would never forgive me if he got hurt and since we can't get through to him…and Wanyamon…."

She smiles softly and nods.

"Huh?"

My attention is drawn away from watching Ryo walk back and seeing Sora staring down at her Digivice, eyes wide. "No way…."

'Sora?" Tai blinks and takes a step forward. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong…." She breaths, her hands shaking slightly. "I've got Matt's signal coming in!"

"Huh?"

"From where?" TK exclaims, spinning around as though he expects Matt to fall from the sky or something or pop up out of the ground.

Armadillomon blinks suddenly, peering around the tangle of legs. "Uh….Master Sorcerymon….is the portal supposed to do that?"

Sorcerymon whirls around and his eyes widen as another portal appears, this one much bigger and darker than the one before, a lot like the one he made for Sira."Impossible…."

It continues to grow, and grow, and all of us stand like statues, alert and barely breathing. A head pops out of the portal-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Davis backpedals, his normally tan face completely pale and terrified. "IT'S A GHOST!"

"What the heck do you mean it's a ghost?" I exclaim, exasperated beyond belief. "For crying out loud Davis, it's just Matt!"

Matt slumps the ground in front of us, breathing hard, blood trickling down his face as he rasps out, "Take…him…."

My eyes widen as I see GranDracmon's egg held close to Matt;s chest protectively. It continues to shake and whimper, sounds I never thought I'd hear from GranDracmon.

Except when he was begging Sira but regardless. Ellen grabs the egg and holds it close. "What happened?" She whispers, running her fingers over top of it.

"Too…many…Dragomon….ambush…."

"Matt, buddy…." Tai grabs him and pulls him to his feet. "You need to rest, you look like you're about to pass out."

"Sira….needs help…."

"Matt!" Sora flings herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her shoulders shaking as he rests a hand between her shoulder blades. "You guys…." He rasps, looking at us. "Please?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Gatomon demands, turning around to look at her partner. "Kari?"

"Right behind you." Kari says grimly, pulling out her Digivice and narrowing her eyes.

"It's going to be dangerous…." Yolei murmurs, reaching into her own pocket. "More dangerous than anything we've ever done before if I'm right."

"You're not scared are you?" Davis laughs slightly at her only to fall silent when she glares at him.

"Fear's not a bad thing." Adelina comments, holding up her own hand, her ring starting to shine. "It prevents you from doing something stupid."

"As we know from experience." Dilbert laughs. "But don't worry, as long as we stick together everything will be fine."

"Those creeps won't stand a chance." Sora agrees, standing next to Matt as they pull out their own Digivices as well. Her eyes are oddly cold and I know for sure that the enemy has messed with the wrong person. You don't hurt Matt without having her wrath come down on you.

"I'm going to enjoy this." Stella mutters under her breath, her jaw tightening and her eyes glinting angrily. Tsukaimon chuckles before warp evolving back to Seraphimon. "Correction. We're both going to enjoy this."

"Let's show them the might of the tamers." Lilithmon speaks up next to Dilbert, her eyes narrowed down to slits.

"Not quite." Tai corrects, looking over at her. "The might of the tamers…." He looks back at me and smiles before slipping his hand into mine, "and the Digidestined when we work together."

I grin at him before looking over at Renamon. "You think you're up for this?'

She just bares her teeth and growls, looking over at me like she can't believe I had to ask.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Damien says impatiently.

"Ah, relax." TK laughs. "Wouldn't be right if we didn't throw in a cheesy pep talk at some point. Right Cody?"

"Um…." Cody looks around nervously, blinking when TK puts a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "It's going to be fine…"

"We don't know that for sure." Edan says grimly, looking over at the rest of us. "We could very well loose this battle."

"Way to put a positive spin on things." His LadyDevimon swats him gently. "Relax. We've done worse."

"Now I agree with Damien." I say with a roll of my eyes and holding up my ring. "Let's just do this!" Gathering around Sorcerymon Stella calls out, "You ready?"

Sorcerymon nods grimly, setting his jaw before raising his hands to the portal as it starts to shrink. Sweat dribbles down his face as he tries to not only keep it open, but make it grow.

"NOW guys!"

Several Digivices burst into light around me, the ring wrapped around my finger starts shining so brightly it actually grows hot and starts burning.

I clench my teeth and watch as the green light sears forward and joins the others in a bright beam of light that converges together and soars into Sorcerymon.

He gasps at the sudden increase in energy before clenching his teeth and white light seems to pour of his hands. For one heart stopping moment I was terrified that the portal was closing even with our best efforts, as it wavered, but then slowly…slowly….it started growing even bigger….

"Come on you guys!"

"Sorcerymon, you can do it!"

He growls and as the light from our Digivice increases, so does his own, and the portal keeps growing, and growing, and growing, and growing, its dark shadow casting over me, until it's the size of the whole freaking valley, towering over us like….well like a huge tear in the fabric of space I suppose, since that's what it was.

Even from hear I could hear the screams of the dying, the wails, the shrieks, and smell blood….

Yolei looks like she's going to be sick to her stomach but Tai whirls around, shouting, "Are we doing this? Are we together?"

Shouts echo from behind him, all in unison, all determined, dozens of eyes glinting with anticipation of battle and the determination not to lose.

"Together?" I turn to Renamon and flash her a grin. She grins back. "Together."

I hold up my hand again and the light beams from my ring and Renamon roars, writhing with anticipation as she takes in the green light. "RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…KYUBIMON!"

"NOW!"

She roars ad there's a massive crowd, no, army, storming into the portal, me on Kyubimon's back and leaning forwards, my heart going about a million miles per hour.

"_Hang on Sira we're coming…."_

…

Drip….drip….drip…..

Water droplets softly fall to the ground from the soaked beams and ceiling, dispersing the data dust that now lies so thick on the ground that it's formed a new layer of carpet.

Screams still echo outside, but in here, the enemies have been slaughtered like fish in a barrel, Dragomon forced to retreat back his injuries horrible.

A few of the droplets land on top of the face of the unconscious girl, who lies there on her back with her hair splayed out around her like some kind of weird halo.  
Sira groans in her sleep, her face twitching even as explosions echo outside, and she shudders. "Ras….."

….

Kyubimon roars and I tumble gracefully off her back, landing on my feet as she charges a skinny Fangmon, which is basically a red bonier and meaner version of a Garuumon, that is if you don't count the near crocodile sized jaws.

He sinks his teeth into her shoulder and she shrieks before all of her nine tails light on fire and she roars, "FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

I'll tell you this much, there are few things weirder than seeing a wolf combust from the inside out. "Nicely done!" I shout over the screams of the others. "But this isn't over yet!"

"FIRE ROCKET!" Flamedramon shoots forward and rams into a DarkTyrannmon, tearing practically right through him before backflipping in mid air and diving down again with another furious roar to take out the Tyrannomon that had been lurking behind him.

"Way to go!" Davis yells before getting grabbed by his partner right before a swipe from those massive claws could decapitate him.

Edan's LadyDevimon grabs an Angewomon about to shoot Adelina by the hair and starts spinning her around wildly. "Teach you to use such cowardly tatics!" She snarls, over the screams of the traitorous angel.

I blink. "Well that is…certainly ironic."

LadyDevimon sends her flying before crossing her arms and shouting out, "DARKNESS WING!" And watching the bats descend on the angel I am infinitely glad that this LadyDevimon is on our side and that the LadyDevimon that served Piedmon was nowhere near that strong.

Halsemon soars forwards with Yolei on his back, letting out a war cry as he spirals in mid air dodging several attacks at once.

Yolei looks slightly sick as she looks down, and for a minute, I'm confused. She's flown like that on Halsemon before what's bothering her now?

But then I realize that it's not the flying that's bothering her so much as what she's watching from above. The ground is practically stained red from blood and the screams of the dying cut to your soul if you're not used to something like this.

Halsemon starts spinning rapidly, sending a crowd of Bakemon flying with his Tempest Wing attack before whirling back around and impaling each one with his claws and beak till they burst into data. Yolei's face turns greener and greener but I don't have time to dwell on that because suddenly a scream that I recognize echoes behind me.

"CODY!"

I whistle for Kyubimon and she tears ahead of me, roaring as she lunges at the Phantomon that raises a scythe glinting in the dark and anger fills me, especially when I see Armadillomon on the ground moaning, his shell cut in several places.

"DRAGON WHEEL!"

My eyes widen when the Phantomon whirls around, his blade slicing right down the flaming attack and striking Kyubimon across the chest. She screams and falls back, blood spurting out from her chest and my eyes widen in disbelief because no normal Ultimate could hold up to her attack like that.

"I'm surprised…." He chuckles, levitating down and smirking at me. "Lily. I'd have thought you learned a long time ago that since tactics would never work on someone like me."

My eyes widen in disbelief before a feral snarl escapes my lips. "You!"

"Yes me, you dull child. Surprised?"

I snarl. "When I get through with you there won't be a piece of data left….."

He laughs, holding up his scythe and smirking at me even though I couldn't see his lips. "It'll be an honour to kill you you traitorous brat."

"YOU CAN JOIN MYOTISMON IN HELL!"

My defiant scream echoes and his eyes narrow and I only manage to grab Cody just in time to shove him out of the way of another Shadow Scythe, but the attack catches a glancing blow on my arm and I shriek, grabbing at it and wincing in pain.

He smirks and raises the scythe again and I glower defiantly, ready to try and grab Cody again even though with my arm injured I'm starting to doubt it will be much good, when suddenly he shrieks and whirls around, swiping at invisible objects.

"OW! STOP IT THIS INSTANCE! OW! ARGH!"

"…?" For a minute I wonder if Phantomon really has gone crazy this time for real, until I hear Adelina's voice shout, "NOW!"

The seven orbs of light shoot through not only Phantomon but half of the army sneaking up on us, and I can feel my jaw drop in disbelief as I look up at him.

"Lily, are you okay?" Stella asks, helping me to my feet. I stare at the other figure before me. She's dressed in what looks like Orimental robes, with some weird kind of head dress that looked sort of like a crown and…were those scrolls wrapped around her? "Nice job Sanzomon."

"Are you all right?" Adelina's voice and Kudamon's come out as one, and my jaw drops. "You…you are….."

Stella laughs. "That's what I did the first time I ever saw a biomerge." She chuckles and I slowly raise a hand to my forehead. "I think I'm gonna pass out….this is so weird….wh…what gender are you anyway in this form?"

"That's what you're worried about?" Stella sighs with a roll of her eyes and I shoot her a look.

Adelina…Sanzomon chuckles before looking behind her. Her eyes widen and with a shout she shoves Stella out of the way right before a huge blast of green fire shot towards us, full strength and blazing hot. I scream as I was thrown up, spiralling out of control my body doing backflips until I felt myself slam down hard on the ground with enough force to normally knock me unconscious.

A low growl echoed above me and I slowly rose my head to see the most terrifying thing…I'd seen in a long time. It looked like a demon from hell, there was no other way I could possibly put it, with the leering face and distorted body parts.

I'm not a coward. I swear to you, I'm not. But at that moment all I could do was curl up into a ball and see that thing fixating down at me.

"LILY!"

Arms wrapped around my waist and from out of nowhere Damien was there, holding me tight to him and jumping out of the way of Kimeramon's lunge with inhuman speed.

We fall backwards, a tangle of arms and legs as I gasp out, "Thanks…."

"You need to get out of here…." He whispers, his face pale as he looks around. "We're not going to last much longer."

I open my mouth to argue and then look out at the battle field in front of me…..He was right…we were losing….

The entire world seemed to be falling apart, huge gashes and rents all across, data seeping out from the Dark Area like it was bleeding.

Fire burned all over, green and evil, and it was all I could do not to cry. I could see Serpahimon being overwhelmed as perhaps fifty or more LadyDevimons and Devimons converged on him at the same time. No Mega could handle those kind of odds. Especially not when the Champions and Ultimates attacking him were Dark Types, which he was weak against.

I heard Dilbert screaming to Lilithmon, and saw the same thing happening to her but in reverse, she was fleeing for her life trying to retreat as the gangs of Angemon and Angewomon swarmed around her, her screams echoing higher and higher as the light burned into her skin.

"TAI! NOW!"

Greymon's flames incinerated several enemy's and I saw Matt and MetalGaruumon charging forwards towards Kimeramon as Greymon and Sorcerymon worked together, fire and ice, to try and distract the rest of the army from ambushing him like they did to the other Megas.

MetalGarurumon leaps into the air with Matt on his back, and lets out a roar of "METAL WOLF CLAW!"

"HECK YES!" I yell, punching the air as the missiles shoot forwards and strike into Kimeramon's body, his screams of pain echoing as the ice creeps up his limbs and onto his torso.

But my smile and triumph doesn't last long when I see the long cracks beginning to form in our new monster ice sculpture…"You've got to be kidding me…."

With an enraged roar Kimeramon shatters the ice around him, spitting with rage eyes rolling back in his head.

"It's VenomMyotismon all over again!" I shout, frustration and rage filling me. "But this is ridiculous, he's only an Ultimate!"

"Evil Digimon are stronger in the Dark Area…." Damien growls, looking over at me. "Just because GranDracmon is good doesn't mean this place is wonderful. They feed off dark energy."

…Which means Kimeramon is more like a Mega himself. A very powerful Mega. "HEAT VIPER!" He roars, and I hea the sound of Tai's scream….which is about the same time I lose it.

"NO!"

Bolting forwards, I feel Damien grab at me, but I writhe and kick, trying to break free. "NO! NO!" The flames shoot ever higher, and I hear Matt's cry of rage as he and MetalGaruurmon dive forward again only for Kimeramon to grab them both in one hand.

"Brother!"

Angemon shoots forward with a grim TK on his back, TK's eyes wild as he reaches for Matt only for Kimeramon to whirl around and whack them with his Monochromon tail, sending both of them flying like a ball being hit by a baseball bat.

"TK!" Matt's scream echoes and I scan the rest of the battlefield, searching frantically for the others. Sora lies unconscious next to Biyomon, Biyomon's wing bent at an awkward angle with blood pouring out…an Angewomon's lucky hit with a Celestial Arrow, I assume, while Kari and Gatomon do their best to try and protect them, blood trickling down Kari's forehead while an exhausted Gatomon keeps throwing punch and kick after punch and kick, but we all know she can't keep this up much longer. I can see Kuwagamon's Ultimate form flying through the sky before letting out a strangled cry and being blasted right through one wing as he tried to get to Matt

My eyes widen with horror as I see Kimeramon turn to eye the two girls, his eyes narrowing, and I let out a strangled gasp before shoving away from Damien.

I didn't know exactly what I was planning to do, something stupid like shove Kari out of the way and take the hit myself?

It all happened so fast I couldn't tell you exactly what did happen. Damien screaming my name and running after me, Kari looking up, her eyes widening, and then Kimeramon's roar-"HEAT VI-AHHHHH!"

He screams and blood ran down from his back like rain, splattering across me as I whirl around looking up. A massive spike of ice had raked right down his spine, causing him to writhe in mid air screaming bloody murder.

At first I thought it must have been Sorcerymon….but then I saw….

"Sira?"

I whisper in disbelief, my jaw dropping as she stands there, eyes blazing, jacket and hair whipping around her, one hand clenched in attacking position.

"No one…." I heard her snarl. "Messes…with my friends!"

He roars, and I scream Sira's name once more, my scream mixed with Sorcerymon's as he blasts back the crowd of enemies surrounding him and Tai with an explosive ice attack and runs towards her, just as Kimeramon roars-"HEAT VIPER!"

…He's not fast enough to make it….but I am…

"SIRA MOVE!"

My hands brush against her sides and I shove her out of the way and the attack hits the ground and the next thing I know I'm falling, falling into an inky blackness, blood turning my shirt red and I hear Tai.

"LILY NO!"

My eyes start to close…..and then I feel a furry paw wrap around my hand. "You're not leaving me…." Renamon's blue eyes meet mine and I manage a small smile as she holds me close to her, the both of us falling….right as my ring bursts into golden light.

_I don't know where I am. I seem to be nowhere, standing in blue light, bits of data floating around me. I wonder weakly if I'm dead…._

_Something gold shimmers before me and I blink, and as it comes into focus I see a mask, shaped like a fox's face, strange and beautiful symbols etched on it._

"_Take it…."_

_My fingers reach up and I feel the mask's golden surface, and slowly pull it onto my face. A burst of energy I didn't know I had explodes into my body, like the light around me is filling me up…_

"_RENAMON BIOMERGE TO…SAKUYAMON!"_


	15. Saving Emperor, Demon Lords

(Am TRULY sorry this took forever but...chp 14 took a lot out of me...seriously I only got one review for it though! I mean I totally respect the fact you guys have busy lives and I understand that completely but...what can I say but reviews make me really happy and I miss you guys a lot?)

Chapter Fifteen

Tai thrusts his hand back and takes a step back, blinking hard as he does so. The golden light above him is strong enough to complete blind him, not to mention most of the enemy army, who stumble around whimpering. As it finally starts to dissipate his jaw drops and he can feel the shocked murmurs of the rest of them.

"Yggdrasil…." Kari whispers, her eyes wide as Sora slowly regains conscious behind them. "She's beautiful."

"W-wha?" Sora blinks several times before slowly gasping. "Is that…Lily?"

The figure levitating in front of a dumbstruck Kimeramon isn't that much taller than the average human—probably the same height as Myotismon, if not a little taller, but golden armour covers her chest, her arms, and down to her stomach where a skin-tight black outfit is, black boots, and Renamon's old gloves covering the arm armour, one gloved hand grabbing at a ringed staff. A fox like face with symbols carved across it is used as a mask.

"Sakuyamon…." Gatomon breathes. "Holy Shaman Digimon….They're incredibly rare….."

Tai hears a low growl behind him and turns to see Damien looking up at Sakuyamon, a furious expression on his face that quickly smoothes over into shock.

But he doesn't have a long time to think about this because Kimeramon lets out an enraged roar at the sight of his new opponent, blasting out his powerful, "HEAT VIPER!"

Sakuyamon waits till the last second before disappearing out of the attack's range with such speed Tai would have thought she just teleported. The Digidestined and Tamers have the good sense to dive out of the way, quickly, Tai grabbing Kari, Sorcerymon grabbing Sora and Biyomon. The enemy Digimon do not however, and their screams echo as one of their own cooks them to a crisp.

A snicker echoes above them and Sakuyamon reappears behind Kimeramon, a smirk obvious beneath her mask. "You know your aim sucks right?"

"Yup."

"That's definently Lily in there."

Kimeramon roars and lunges at her again but she backflips easily over his swipe and then raises her staff, shouting, "AMETHYST WIND!"

Several pink cherry blossoms suddenly surround her, and Davis snorts. "You've got to be kidding me. What kind of an attack is…."

His voice trails off and his face paled as the flowers opene up and sent several foot-long daggers shooting at Kimeramon, who screams in agony as they bombard his body, blood raining down. It's especially nasty when one of the daggers caught him in the eye.

"….Remind me never to piss Lily off ever again…." Davis says in a small voice.

"No no no…."

"Huh?"

Sanzomon stands there, and Tai blinks at the obvious fear in Adelina's voice. "What's the matter? She's kicking the crap out of him!"

"No…" Adelina hisses, frustration. "She's being over confident. True she has more the advantage against him because of her level and type, Holy, but what Lily doesn't know is that any damage done to Sakuyamon….will only effect her when they degenerate…."

…

I scream as the green flames shoot behind us, able to dodge most of them but unable to avoid our back being scorched slightly.

Pain….raw pain….I don't think it melted through our armour completely but that was ridiculously close.

"_Lily! Are you all right?"_

"_Fine Renamon, that just…."_

"_Hurt like hell?" She asks dryly in my mind, A growl enters her throat as Kimeramon screams before charging at us again, his right eye completely ruined and draining from where the dagger pierced it. "He wants to play dirty? What say we play dirty?"_

_I laugh, liking the way she thinks. "I'm game."_

_Barely managing to dodge another swipe we reappear right at Kimeramon's blind spot, right behind his ruined eye,_

_Smirking and raising the staff again, we shout in unison, "TWIN BLADES OF BEAUTY AND TRUTH!"_

_Two beams of pink light converge on each other to form a X shape and blast Kimeramon hard in the chest, causing him to rile back with a scream._

"_That should do it…." I mutter with satisfaction as the smoke covers up the battle field.  
"Yeah I…." Renamon's voice is suddenly cut off as I hear the sound of Tai screaming my name. "LILY LOOK OUT!"_

"_HEAT VIPER!"_

"_ARGHHHHH!"_

….

"NO!"

Tai screams as he sees Sakuyamon plummet towards the ground, smoke rising up from her body as Kimeramon, leering and ready for revenge charges down after her. She slams into the Earth hard and doesn't move as he brings back one clawed hand and snarls triumphantly.

Sakuyamon stirs lightly, groaning, eyes widening underneath her mask as Kimeramon's claws swipe down to impale her…..Right before the canisters on her waist popped open and four shimmering creatures seemed to shoot out at the same time, one blue, one yellow, one green, and one red.

The green fox spirit slams into Kimeramon, forcing him back with gales of wind just as the blue and yellow ones combine to form a water jet that crackled with lightning, growing even bigger and stronger as it rushes forward before striking him straight in the chest.

Kimeramon screams in agony as everyone of his nerves is literally fried right before the green and red fox spirits whipped around, combing as well, the flames from the red one growing larger and larger as the wind from the green increased its power.

The screams continue to echo as the flames grow higher and higher, turning the sky of the Dark Area a dark blood red, smoke extending outwards as the demon is literally burned alive….

…

"Lily…Lily!"

"H-huh? Ow!"

I wince, pushing myself upwards as I feel something hard whack me on the head. Sorcerymon is glaring murderously down at me. "Why…are you so…stupid?"

"Hey, only Sira's allowed to do that…." I mutter, shoving myself upwards before gasping suddenly. "Sira! Is she…?"

"Don't worry about her right now, worry about yourself." He snaps, bending over me, and I look down to see my shirt stained a deep red.

"Oh…."

"L-…Lily…?" Renamon's head slowly lifts up beside me. She looks exhausted but not injured greatly…actually not injured at all. I grin weakly at her, trying not to scream from the raw pain that returned to me everytime I try to move.

Her blue eyes widen and she lets out a low whimper deep in her throat, more animalistic than anything else as she struggles to crawl over to me. "Oh….Yggdrasil…." Her voice catches as she sees my broken ribs poking out at awkward angles.

I can't help the feeling of alarm that fills me at the sound of her voice as I try to comfort her the best I can, still wincing in pain. "Hey it will be fine…I've had worse remember...from pissing off bat-for brains Yggdrasil knows I've had worse than this…"

"You do have a knack for angering the most dangerous of people." Sorcerymon says dryly as he keeps healing me. I feel a flicker of annoyance and grab him by the cloak, shoving him back.

"Go….help Sira…after all this….what must have happened to GranDracmon…she must be in far worse condition than me…"

He leans back on his heels and looks at me wryly. "Do you have any idea how long you were unconscious?"

"….Huh?" That's when I realize the sound of the battle has died down to almost nothing except for the occasional snarl of MetalGarurumon and the sound of some demon shrieking right before Seraphimon slices him in half.

"We…we won….?"

"Yes…." Sorcerymon doesn't look completely at me as he continues to heal my wounds. "In a sense…."

"Would you please stop speaking in riddles?" I hiss through clenched teeth in pain, wincing as my ribs snap back together.

"You don't need to worry about that right now."

I'd never been happier than to hear Tai's voice right then. He drops to his knees, his face covered in soot and blood and brushes my hair back from my face, a smile creeping onto his own. "You just need to get better."

"Taichi…."

"That was flipping amazing Lily!" A familiar whooping voice echoes and Davis nearly knocks Tai to the ground as he bounds toward me like an overexcited puppy.

"Get off you idiot…."

"You two were freaking amazing! Er, or should I say YOU were freaking amazing, seeing as how you're one being now?" Davis looks over Tai's shoulder and grins at me.

I try to just roll my eyes and not grin back, but I can't help the smile that creeps onto my face. "We're only one being when we biomerge Davis. But…." I turn my head and look over to grin at Renamon and then frown when I see she's not smiling.

And that's about the time when I get slapped upside the head again…twice at the same exact time. "OW!"

"You idiot…." Gatomon hisses, glaring at me. "Don't you EVER do something that dangerous again, do you hear me! You could have died!"

"Didn't know you cared…." I say teasingly back and she unsheathes her claws warningly. "Okay okay kitty I know better than to mess with you when you're pissed…."

"We thought you were going to die." Kari says, her voice catching slightly. "It was the most horrible moment of my life when that thing clawed you…."

"Not any worse when Piedmon nearly sliced Tai AND WarGreymon into ribbons." I point out, feeling slightly irritated. "I'm not the only one who keeps getting themselves nearly killed, Ms. I'm going to pointlessly sacrifice myself to the sadistic vampire."

"I was ten!"

"So?"

"So that's eight years younger than you are right now!"

"I've got to say…." Dilbert says, kneeling down next to me and shooting me a grin. "Not bad for a first time merge. You should have seen what happened to Adelina in the first battle."

"Don't remind me…" Adelina sighs, now degenerated as well as she punches him in the arm. "Oy, moron. Go help out that one girl, she seems a little shocked."

"Yolei?" Hawkmon says quietly, standing next to his partner. She doesn't say anything. She just stares blankly at the carnage all around them.

So many Digimon dead…..the data covered the entire ground, sparkling oddly and creepily. And all of the poor Sinmon who had given their lives…they would never be reborn. Was all of this really worth it?

"Yolei my dear will you be quite all right?"

"Hey kid."

She looks up to see Lilithmon staring down at her, one eyebrow raised. "You okay shortie?"

She takes a shaky breath and looks around at all the carnage once more…..her hands trembling, she slowly shakes her head and whispers, "I wasn't ready for this."

There's silence for a moment before Dilbert sighs and touches Yolei's shoulder. "Someday you will be. You just have to figure out what's best for you."

"But….I don't want to let anyone down…..especially my friends…."

He shoots her a grin. "Hey, you give your best and no one will look down on you. That's all any of us will ask."

Yolei manages a shaky smile and looks over at Lilithmon, who shrugs. "He's right. When it comes down to it unless you get yourself sorted out you can't help the others."

She nods and looks away. She knows what she's going to have to do once this is all over….once they know GranDracmon's realm is safe….but it wouldn't be easy.

….

"This is far from over." Stella mutters to Edan, who nods as Seraphimon slices through another couple of Devimon, their data bursting into the sky as their cries echo.

"It'll work out." He says softly, looking over at her, his black messy hair hanging into his brilliant green eyes. "We were already lucky that Lily managed to beat Kimeramon."

"Yeah, sheer dumb luck." Stella snorts. "She didn't have any idea what she was doing…."

A slight smirk touches his lips as he asks, "Oh? And you were perfect when you became second beta tamer?"

Stella flushes as the memories come rushing back. "Shut up." She snaps, punching him hard in the arm as he chuckles.

"Remember that one time when you-"I'm dead serious you shut your yap or I shut it for you."

Edan just smirks, knowing he's won this argument, and turns his head slightly to see another Devimon streaking up towards the sky with Seraphimon right behind him, desperation in the demon's eyes. He didn't get very far—two seconds later claws impaled him from the front, and LadyDevimon peels back with a smirk.

"All of our enemies seem to have lost their self-control. The loss of their Ultimate weapon, Kimeramon, made them panic."

"All right, all right I admit we owe her one for being able to defeat Kimeramon, even if I still say it was mostly luck." Stella sighs. "But seriously….that girl…a Tamer?"

"Guess so."

"We've got a long way to go…"

…

"They're here!"

Cody moans, hearing the sound of voices above him, distorted sounding like he was underneath the water.

The sound of the rubble shifting around him seems to echo louder than usual, and he feels hands wrapping around him and pulling him up.

"You'll be okay…." Matt says soothingly, pulling the younger boy out from underneath the body of a large Tuskmon that had pinned him to the ground. Core blood drips. These are the body's that don't just burst into data. These are the ones that won't come back.

He whimpers as he feels pain wrack his body and Sora's voice gasps. "Matt, look at his leg…"

Cody hears the sound of Matt swearing before the darkness seems to slip back in and everything becomes black once more…

…

TK sighs and sticks his hands in his pockets. "…It's a mess." He murmurs, glancing around.

"One that we managed to live through." Sorcerymon replies grimly, healing the large tear in one of Patamon's wings.

Patamon hisses in pain, and TK glances back quickly towards his partner, fear obvious in his dark blue eyes. Patamon manages a shaky smile up at him. "I'm fine…."

Sorcerymon snorts. "Hardly. I thought for sure that you were going to get your head ripped off. Why must all you angel types be so reckless?"

TK smiles slightly as his partner makes a noise of indignation that quickly turns into another yelp as Sorcerymon forces the muscles and tendons to snap back together. His eyes grow sad as he takes in the huge scorches, claw marks, and gaping holes in GranDracmon's realm.

"Will all of this heal?" He asks quietly, staring around and feeling a lump form in his throat as he remembers what he was told.

If GranDracmon's realm dies, then GranDracmon dies. And if GranDracmon were to die….no. That wasn't an option.

"Time is all we need." Sorcerymon sighs. "It will heal. GranDracmon has been attacked by worse enemies in the past. This is hardly new water we're treading."

"True, but I don't even think this battle is really over." TK mutters, his hands balling into fists. "Some of those gits got away. We can't allow that."

"Their leader, Dragomon escaped as well." Patamon says grimly, shoving himself up despite Sorcerymon's scowl. "Even if Sira mangled him, he'll try again. And we still don't know who Dragomon was working for."

"What makes you so sure he was working for anyone?" Davis asks, walking up and stretching so his shirt slid up slightly.

"Come on Davis, one Champion is not going to be able to convince a bunch of Ultimates and a few Megas to follow him. They might obey him in battle, but only if someone a lot stronger ordered them too."

"Dragomon is a lot smarter than any of the rest of these morons too." Veemon notes. "He knew enough to get out of there, especially when Kimeramon fell. That death gave us the motivation we needed, plus it made our enemy's desperate and panicky.:"

"I just hope wherever Dragomon is we at least get a break…." TK sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "We nearly lost many men today. Many of our Digimon will take days to recover their strength." He glances over at Sorcerymon, and bites his lip when he sees the exhaustion in the wizard's eyes.

Sorcerymon had went around healing nearly everyone of their allies, partners, and the humans themselves. Now he still held firm, but TK could practically sense the exhaustion coming off of him.

"And wait for Dragomon to get more powerful?" Davis demands, whirling back around and glaring at TK. "No way! We don't have time to waste, if we're going to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"What do you expect us to do?" TK asks, irritated.

…

"Tai…you could put me down at any time now…."

"Sorcerymon said you needed to rest." He responds as he walks through the portal, carrying me bridal style.

"Somehow I don't think he meant I wasn't allowed to walk." I respond sarcastically, stretching up and having my arms wrapped around his neck for balance.

Agumon is trying not to howl with laughter, his clawed hand over his mouth as guffaws kept escaping. Renamon still is oddly silent, which was really weird considering how much she'd usually take the micky out of me at this point.

The smell of smoke and blood slowly leaves my nose as Tai steps through the portal, and next thing I know we're outside in the clearing where we were before.

A shout echoes behind me and I see Ryo rushing forwards, with Damien right behind her. For a minute my mind goes blank as to why on Earth Damien would be here, but then I see the huge gash on his chest and I gasp.

"Are you all right?"

"Never mind me…." He rasps, leaning forward and then seeing that I'm still in Tai's arms. His eyes narrow slightly and I feel a flush appear in my cheeks as I shove myself down.

I could have sworn I saw Tai smirk slightly over at him but the next second I looked his face was politely blank.

'Sira…?" I ask weakly, and Ryo nods.

"She's fine but-"Let me see her."

The sight I saw before me was almost heartbreaking. Sira lay stretched out on the ground, unconscious and for a brief second I was terrified she might actually be dead.

But then I saw the steady rise and fall of her chest and saw she was now breathing regularly, and felt relief fill me. Sorcerymon must have gotten to her first.

Thank Yggdrasil.

A small whimper catches my attention, and I look over to see Dorimon continuing to nuzzle Sira. It's almost pitiful to see GranDracmon like this.

Just a round, fluffy ball with two little ears poking up out of the fur, which is still wet from just hatching from the egg. The last time I saw him like this was when Sira's core was smashed, and it's not a memory I like reliving.

"…Dorimon…."

He turns to look at me, amber eyes penetrating and I can still feel the power in that gaze. Somehow it's a relief. I know GranDracmon is still there inside this little fluffball.

Someone grabs my arm. "Sorry to break up your little reuninon….." Ryo's voice is tense, but I hear it shake slightly. "But we need your help. Now."

"H-huh?"

Ryo half pulls/half drags me over to the side of the clearing, and for a minute I'm completely lost and not just a little uneasy. "What are you…?"

"Ryo thank goodness you're back…." A small familiar voice pipes up and I look down to see Wormmon clinging to Ryo's leg. "He's getting worse I don't…I don't know what to do…"

She pats him on top of the head. "You've done nothing wrong. Understand me?"

I look over her shoulder and my eyes widen. I see Ken lying on the ground, his hair a tangled mess, a bunch of leaves messed up in them, his face pale, his eyes wild and his cheeks flushed as he keeps thrashing wildly.

"…What happened?"

I kneel down next to him and touch Ken's forehead. His head is burning hot and I hiss, pulling my hand away.

"Why didn't you tell Sorcerymon about this?" I demand, turning around and shooting her a look.

Ryo glares back at me. "You'd think I honestly trust a friend of Sira's?"

I clench my teeth, trying not to punch her in the face as Tai walks up. "What's going on?"

"This idiot-"Lily!" "has somehow decided that Sorcerymon's healing skills aren't good enough for her friend and from what I can tell he's in big trouble."

Tai's eyes narrow as he takes in Ken's flushed face. "This doesn't make any sense…" He murmurs, crouching down. "When we left him he was fine, weak but I figured it was just from being kidnapped by Megidramon…"

"I did?" Renamon says in disbelief, her eyes blinking. "Huh. I half wish I just ate him."

"Renamon! That is not funny!"

"Who said I was joking…?"

"Lily. Tai. Take a look at this." Agumon nods at his position next to Ken's head and then gently grabs him by the shoulders, shoving him onto his stomach.

"What the?"

My jaw drops and I have to find my voice, which seems to have up and run away from me. "Okay….what the heck?"

Ken's neck is bright angry and red, but that's not what I notice.

A strange red symbol seems to be carved into his neck, glowing ominously, angrily, as if it's something alive.

Ken screams again when I stretch out my fingers to touch it, and I pull quickly back, eyes wide.

"What the heck?" Tai whispers, his voice cracking slightly in disgust and horror. I turn to see Ken's eyes shoot open and the irises are bloodred instead of their usual deep blue.

"MOTHER!" He howls, twisting on the ground and continuing to scream. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't mean it! Sam! Sam please come back!"

I'm too horror struck to do anything. I'm just standing there, like an idiot, along with Ryo, Tai and our Digimon, none of us able to do more than stare.

Thankfully not everyone is too numb. The next thing I know Damien's grabbed one of Ken's arms and his own irises shimmer gold before dark energy flows down from him into Ken, whose breathing becomes less frantic, slower, as his eyes start to close.

My eyes widen in disbelief as I stare at Damien. His eyes quickly go back to normal but I want to hit myself for being so dense. I KNEW it. I'd always known there was something weird about Damien, but I kept my suspicious about where he got his powers from to myself, just in case I was wrong.

Turns out I wasn't.

"What did you just DO?" Ryo shouts, whirling around and glaring murderously at Damien. Damien just stares calmly back at her. "Let him fall unconscious. At least he's not in pain for now."

"Ryo, we have to talk to Sorcerymon…." Tai's voice trails off. "I've never seen anything like this before." He looks over his shoulder and gives Damien a look. "Unless you have wonder-boy."

Damien raises an eyebrow at the somewhat insulting nickname and I elbow Tai in the ribs. He then shakes his head, biting his lip in frustration. "No….nothing. I mean he was acting like he was being cursed or tortured, I've seen that kind of thing before, but I can't figure out what's going on with his neck and that weird symbol."

His eyes flicker up to meet ours as he continues grimly, "I can tell you this much though. Whatever that thing is…it's draining Ken's energy. I say we've got less than 24 hours."

I feel a chill run down my spine and turn to look at the others. Tai's eyes are grim, his jaw set, while Ryo for once in all I've known her actually pales.

I turn my head back to look at Damien. "Then let's get going."

…

"You were correct." Sorcerymon straightens grimly, pushing himself upwards away from Ken as we lay him down in the middle of the Dark Area. "His energy is almost completely depleted. It'll start shutting down his brain before the day is out."

"Can't we do something?" Wormmon pleads, his eyes sparking with tears as he drapes himself over his partner's body. "I can't lose him like this, I just can't…."

"Whatever is in him is too deeply attached for me to remove, my healing skills are not that powerful."

"Fat lot of help you are then." Ryo snaps.

Monodramon elbows her hard. "RYO!"

I glare at her only to see that one tear streak down from her eye and across her cheek and I swallow. If it was Tai lying motionless like this I don't know what I'd do.

"I never said the situation was completely hopeless." Sorcerymon responds mildly, looking at her. "There is one person whose healing skills greatly surpass my own." He scowls. "Even if we can't stand each other I'll at least admit that."

"Who?"

Sorcerymon doesn't answer the question directly. "Have any of you ever heard of the Demon Lords?"

Ryo's eyes widen as Tai and I both shake my heads, though me more reluctantly. I'd heard stories about them when I was a kid, but none of them had been more than vague….but there was this odd feeling of familiarity everytime I'd heard it.

"You're not suggesting we take Ken to them are you?" She asks warily, her eyes flickering nervously. "They're dangerous."

"They're only dangerous if you're their enemy." Sorcerymon responds calmly, tipping his hat down slightly lower. "Trust me, the stories about them being monsters going around murdering people is ridiculous."

"But-"Ryo, do you want Ken to live or don't you?"

She looks back at his unconscious form and nods quietly, letting out a small breath of air. "…All right…."

"Are you really going to risk yourselves for this git?" Stella's eyes narrow as she crosses her arms. "Not many can come with you, we're still cleaning up the rest of them before anymore damage can be done to the realm."

"I didn't ask for your help Stella." Ryo mutters through tightly clenched teeth. "I'll go by myself if I have to."

"Well of course you'd put him before the entire Digital World…." She says sarcastically. "It'd be just like you."

Ryo growls and I grab her arm before she can slug Stella one. "You're overexagerrating." I say with forced calm as I look over at Stella. 'You know as well as I do that there's barely anything left to mop up."

"And someone has to go with Ryo." Sorcerymon says grimly, his eyes narrowing. "The last thing we need is for some escapees to ambush those who are trying to help Ken. Whoever is draining his energy won't go without a fight."

"I'll go with you." I nod to Ryo and when Tai and Damien both glare at me, I reply with an innocent, "What? It gets me away from the main battle lines."

"Actually Lily's presence might be incredibly useful when it comes to meeting with the Demon Lords…." Sorcerymon mutters thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. All I mean is that she might be the factor that gets them to trust you."

I blink repeatedly, completely confused now. "I….don't follow you."

"You'll understand." Sorcerymon smiles slightly, and I recognize his "this-out to be good smile". Ugh, I trust the man but he can be ridiculously annoying sometimes.

"Well if Lily's going then I'm certainly going." Renamon comments, resting one paw on my shoulder. "I'm not getting separated from her again."

"Right, plus if you're there that means we can biomerge at any sign of trouble." I say with a grin. Her ears droop. "…Right."

I frown, ready to demand she tell me what's bothering her before Damien interrupts. "Well if we really are going along with this insane scheme than I'm coming too." He shoots me a sly smile. "Not letting you get away from me again."

"Good to know." I drawl back at him, smirking. "If you can keep up with me, that is."

"Well at least one mature person has to tag along." Tai says with a smirk, crossing his arms. I snort out loud. "Oh, are we bringing Matt?"

"Hey…" He pouts, and I resist the temptation to kiss him when he looks so adorable and puppy-sad like that.

"Well if you're going to go through with this…" Stella mutters. "Then good luck."

I'm surprised but manage a slight smile of my own. "Thanks."

"Don't do anything stupid."

I roll my eyes before looking back over at Sorcerymon. "Where is this place anyway?"

"I can summon another portal into their territory, but only large enough for the four of you, though it doesn't really matter as the others are needed here."

Tai looks over his shoulder back at Stella and says quietly, "Make sure my sister stays safe, all right?"

She nods. "Make you a deal. You four all come back safe and I promise nothing happens to them."

He shoots her a grin. "Deal."

"Come on pretty boy." I call over my shoulder. "You ready to enter the pits of Hell?"

…

"I'm going to kill Tai when I get my hands on him." Kari mutters darkly as she storms around, pacing back and forth.

"You know how both he and Lily are…." TK sighs, leaning back. "They'll help those who don't even really deserve it."

"That's kind of harsh." Adelina arches an eyebrow. "So you're saying the Digimon Emperor…Ken…deserves to die?"

"…Well…no but…"

"But he's not worth them risking themselves for." Cody snaps, folding his arms. His leg still hadn't healed so he wasn't able to stand up, something that made him even more grumpy. "After all if it weren't for Ken this wouldn't have happened…" He gestures to the scarred battlefield, with the dead Digimon all around it. "THIS wouldn't have happened to Armadillomon!" He points at the Digiegg sitting next to him.

"Blaming Ken for all of your problems isn't going to solve anything." Kudamon says calmly from his spot on Adelina's shoulder.

"He's right. Besides, did you listen to what Sorcerymon was saying? Someone implanted something into Ken to drain his energy. What if it did more than that?"

Patamon's eyes widen. "You mean someone must have been controlling Ken."

"Exactly. Look at all this." She gestures just like Cody did. "Trust me when I say no child, no matter how smart they are, could possibly get an army into GranDracmon's realm."

"That….does make sense…." TK says slowly, his own eyes widening.

"I don't believe a word of it." Cody mutters, still scowling. "Some people are just rotten. If you ask me Ichijouji is getting exactly what he des-"That is enough."

"Matt?"

Matt's nose has a long cut across it, slanting diagonally down to his lower jaw as he glares at Cody. "You are supposed to be a Digidestined. Act like it. We don't wish pain on any of our enemies. Even those who are most despicable. We fight them if they wish to harm others, but so help me, Cody, if I hear you saying stuff like that about any person, especially someone's whose sick and can't defend himself, I will kick you off this team. Understand me?"

TK and Kari's eyes were both wide. They'd never heard Matt sound so fierce. Being threatened with eviction was a serious thing, and, looking into his brother's eyes, he had no doubt that Matt would do it too.

Cody glares back at him before turning around and looking the other way.

Matt just shakes his head before looking back over at Adelina. "We have a problem."

…

Edan's face is grim as Sora shrieks, "What the heck do you MEAN?"

Edan sighs and sticks his hands in his pockets. "Well I figured that running a check would be for the best to determine where any survivors are…to help our team and to hunt down the last of the enemy, and to find out who had died and who hadn't."

"You can do that?" Matt asks in confusion as he walks back up with Adelina.

Adelina chuckles. "Edan's a genius at computers, maybe even a better hacker than Sira is."

"I wouldn't say that…" He mutters with a flush on his face before continuing, "Anyway, I found something…disturbing. An evil Digimon like Kimeramon should have had his data absorbed into the Dark Area. That's usually how it works. If a Digimon's core has been destroyed then it's rebuilt by Yggdrasil into a new Digimon or absorbed directly into the Digital World. But…that didn't happen."

"What else could have happened?"

Edan hesitates. "Well if his core wasn't destroyed then his data would still be floating around. But….it's not."

"Huh?"

Edan turns his head to look back at them. "You heard me. Kimeramon's data is simply gone. Someone has stolen it."

Chills run down everyone's spines as the full meaning of what Edan was saying hits them. Kimeramon, Yggdrasil forbid, could come back.

"But…." Sora's voice is slightly dazed. "If he lost once…what would be the point? Surely they don't think…."

"I don't know what they're planning." Edan mutters. "But what scares me is, who exactly stole it?"

…

"It's beautiful…"

My voice trails off as I stare around me, turning around in a circle to just try and take it all in. The sun seems frozen in a permanent sunset, coloring the land around me in oranges and light pinks…

It bounces off my face and I can't help the smile that forms on my lips. This is such a contrast to the area we just left.

The grass crunches underneath my feet and I can't help but notice flowers in certain places, not very often but the fact that they're still there, petals reaching out towards the sun…is something of a miracle.

"I'll go run ahead and check things out." Renamon looks over her shoulder at Agumon and Monodramon. "You guys coming?"

"Uh huh!"

"Can't believe it…." Ryo mutters, scowling as she looks around at the untouched area. It looks like a beautiful valley, like you might see in a storybook, where the castle holds a beautiful princess whose very voice attracts animals who do all her bidding. Which I always found kind of creepy but who cares? Besides, I think, suppressing a smirk of my own, it's not really a fairy princess. It's seven very powerful demons who live here. Talk about ironic.

"Uh, sorry Ryo my mind wandered what were you saying?"

She just crosses her arms, still looking unimpressed. "That they got off scot-free when GranDracmon's realm was almost completely destroyed and just sat here on their bums while we all almost died."

"That is a point," I mutter, scowling slightly though I remember what that man said, about how he wanted to help me but couldn't. He made me feel safe…and he seemed truly sorry…but he wasn't a Demon Lord. No, that's ridiculous.

"I don't think it's their fault." Tai speaks up, shifting Ken in his arms slightly to keep better balance. "Sorcerymon says that the leader of the Demon Lords doesn't have the ability to open a portal wherever he likes, and GranDracmon's always kept his land and their land separate. Doesn't trust them, I guess."

"Not exactly wrong to be wary of them." Damien says dryly, walking next to Ryo. "The leader Lucemon did try to kill GranDracmon at one point."

"Huh?"

"He wanted to be ruler of the Digital World…" Damien yawns, stretching his arms back so his shirt rides up slightly to reveal his lean frame. "Backfired horribly on him though. His own followers kept turning on him."

"So effectively we're asking yet another megalomaniac….for help?" Ryo says deadpan as she turns to look at him.

"Apparently. Dunno, he might be over his grudge against GranDracmon and the Digidestined…or he might not be." Damien smiles. "We'll just have to wait and find out won't we?"

"Lovely plan that."

I'm bending over studying the flowers, all of the a beautiful shade of white. I touch one of the petals and smile as it bounces slightly in response.

I've always been interested in flowers. Back when I lived with Michael and Caroline, I would help out in the garden all the time.

GranDracmon used to tease that with my name Lily, a love for plants was probably unavoidable. "Hey." I responds absently as I recognize the sound of what I know now to be Damien's step. "By the way, when were you going to tell me?"

I can almost hear him stiffen. "Tell you….what?"

"That you're the same as me."

"Lily…I…" He lowers his voice, glancing back over to make sure Tai and Ryo aren't listening. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me." I say flatly, standing up and giving him a look. "I knew there was something different about you…"

His eyes flash and I see fear and unease in them.

"I mean I should have realized it sooner, it was so obvious and so familiar to me…."

"Really?" He says icily, crossing his arms and glaring at me. "I thought it would take you much longer than this to pick up on it. Have to admit, you're even smarter than I thought you were."

"Thanks, I think…." I drawl, standing up myself. "But that's not the point. Why didn't you tell me you were a star?"

Something flickers in Damien's eyes….was it…relief…he sighs, running a hand through his long black hair. "I….it's complicat…." His voice breaks off and his eyes narrow. "You don't have any powers. How do I know you're telling the truth about what you are?"

"Because unlike you I've never lied to you." I reply as he rolls his eyes. "Anyway, that's…." I clench my fists. "Complicated…." I manage a wry smile. "Even more complicated than your predicament, I wager."

"Oh I don't doubt it." He mutters, his eyes still on the ground. "Look, when we get back home I'll try to explain things better, and you can explain what on Earth you're on about."

I raise an eyebrow. "Deal."

"Oy, you guys! Are you coming or not!"

The valley slowly thins until it reaches to huge walls of rock on either side….a narrow passageway in between which is too dark to see the light.

"Creepiness? Check." I say sarcastically, lifting one finger up. Renamon's ears twitch. "It'll be fine. Not that long of a walk and we're back out in the open."

"You realize this is supposed to be the Demon Lord territory right?" Monodramon comments, looking around and his golden eyes growing bigger in the darkness.

"Yes, that is correct, unless Sorcerymon gave us wrong directions or something?"

"Lily."  
"I get more sarcastic when I'm nervous, and I don't like tight, dark places okay?" I snap slightly at Tai. At least this was better than the caves I was forced to crawl through a couple of weeks ago.

"Regardless," Monodramon continues, as if I hadn't spoken, "I'd have thought that there'd be some kind of force trying to at least guard the place better. You know, like booby traps or something."

"He's right. For powerful demons they're being oddly welcoming."

"Well…." Ryo says slowly, "Didn't Sorcerymon say something about how that Lily's prescence might calm them down?"

"I don't know what he meant by that." A slight chill runs up my spine and I growl, "And I'm not sure I like it." Taking a slight step back I mutter, "This better not be some kind of sick trap, "we're so glad to see you now put the girl in chains."

"Who on Earth would want to kidnap you?" Ryo snorts as she walks past me.

"That is a very good question." I admit. "In retrospect it was only ever one really annoying sarcastic sadistic manipulative son of a-"And this list could go on and on." Tai chuckles, touching my shoulder to let me know he's just messing with me.

"And think about it this way Lils." Agumon points out. "Sorcerymon knows everything. He wouldn't deliberately send you into danger."

"He's not God." I mutter in irritation before shrugging. "But in some counts close enough I suppose…"

Damien turns his head slightly to stare back at the cliffs. "Did anyone hear that?"  
"Hear what?"

I turn my head and my eyes widen right before I dive and shove Tai out of the way. "MOVE!"

He sprawls backwards, losing his grip on Ken who bounces weakly while Monodramon tackles Ryo and pulls her out of the way and Renamon grabs Damien around the waist and backflips, leaping out of the way just as the massive avalanche of rocks comes raining down on us.

Finally I sit up, coughing like mad as the dust enters my throat. "Ugh….everybody okay?"

"We're okay…." Tai says weakly, sitting up and nursing a large bruise on his right cheek. "Agumon?"

"Yup. But I guess we shouldn't have mentioned booby-traps, I think Monodramon just jinxed us."  
"I did not!" He exclaims indignantly, sticking his purple snout up in the air and looking away from Agumon.

"Brilliant…" Damien mutters, looking at the massive pile of rocks in front of us and brushing the dirt off his jacket. "Well that's the biggest "stay-out" I've seen in a while."

"You think Devidramon could fly us over that?" I ask Ryo. She shakes her head.

"He could, but I'm not necessarily sure it's a good idea."

"Huh?"

"Use your brains." She snaps, apparently getting a little impatient. "If we do have enemies on the other side of thatg rockfall, then they'll be expecting us to try and climb/fly over it. We could be entering an ambush."

"Whatever happened to the Demon Lords are on our side?"

"They could still be." Renamon speaks up. "It might just be they're being cautious. I mean four strange people…I wouldn't be all that eager about a bunch of intruders on my territory."

"Well even if that's true…" I point out, "Ryo might be right in the sense that openly continuing on to their base might be seen as too challenging. Any other ideas?"

Ryo turns around and points at the mountain wall, smirking slightly. "We could…go through there."

"…Oh no…." I groan, looking up to see a gaping hole in the wall….a cave…. "What did I just say about tight and dark spaces?"

"You're gonna have to man it up." Ryo looks back over at Ken and her eyes soften with worry. "We don't have much time."

…

The rock wall brushes against my skin, cold and damp as we shove our way through, all five of us in one tiny tunnel.

"I hate my life." I grumble, rubbing my arms to try to keep the goosebumps down. Renamon doesn't say anything, but her bushy tail brushes up against my back comfortingly.

Damien is holding Ken and he and Ryo are walking ahead. Tai looks over at me and I recognize the look on his face.

"So…why exactly are you claustrophobic?"

"That's none of your business."

He shrugs and I snap, "I never asked you why you have that ridiculous fear…..actually what are you afraid of?"

Tai shoots me a grin. "Nothing."

I snort and push him away and he continues, "Okay, okay, fine I lied. If I admit what I used to be scared of, will you admit why you're scared?"

"Probably not." I say crisply, walking forwards, "but you can try."

"Okay….water."

"Huh?"

I turn my head to look at him and he nods. "Back when I was like three….first time I tried swimming I nearly drowned. My sister tried to save me and-"…Tai. That's what happened to Ellen. At least a disjointed very incorrect version of what happened to Ellen and Sira."

"Dang it…."

I just roll my eyes to heaven and finally shake my head. "Well at least for making a fake try I suppose I can reward you for effort."

"Hmm?"

"Well….back when I was little…." My voice trails off and I close my eyes, trying to keep my voice from trembling. "One of the ways Dorkula used to punish me was to shove me into one of the dungeon cells. It was always tiny and slimy, smelled awful too and I could always hear the sounds of other Digimon around me dying,…screaming….'

Tai's silent and I force myself to continue, "And that's not the worst of it. Phantomon he would…um…..have the Bakemon slip into my cell and well….disguise themselves as things like mutilated bodies, a ghost holding its head under its arm, or zombies, or….the worst probably was when one of them disguised themselves as me, dead, mangled and torn up from Myotismon's bats and it was just…."

"Lils…" Tai touches my arm. "….And no one ever stopped them?"

I let out a snort of derisive laughter. "Please. You think Bat-for brains would ever care? Sometimes it got so bad I actually did scream for him at one point….just to let me out…swore I'd be good…."

"He knew you never would be." Renamon says weakly, trying to joke but I just shake my head, clenching my teeth angrily.

"And come on. They did stop eventually once you got older. After you finally got back at them and succeeded in scaring the living crap out of Phantomon."

"What did you do?" Tai says with a slight chuckle in his voice.

I shrug. "I got stronger, as I got older, and at one point the next time they messed with me I lost my temper, killed all of the Bakemon, knocked Phantomon unconscious, stole his scythe and sliced through the bars to get out."

Tai's face splits into a grin as he nudges me. "Lily, did I mention you are something else?"

"Oddly enough that's similar to Dorkula's response." I contemplate, looking thoughtful. "Actually his response was kind of hard to make out, since he just facepalmed when I walked in holding Phantomon's scythe."

"But that's what makes you so special." Tai smiles and touches my arm. "Is even when you're put through hell, you don't let it get to you permanently. You fight back and you make people wish they hadn't messed with you."

I blush ever so slightly, looking away. "Not many people see that as a good thing."

"That's only because people are cowards. Bullies always panic when their victims fight back."

"…" I turn my head to smile at him. "Thanks."

"I don't care about your ridiculous senses!" Ryo's voice scoffs up ahead of us. "Use your head. The light is coming from that direction."

"What are you two arguing about now?" I sigh as we reach the spot where Damien and Ryo are standing, where the tunnel forks into two different pathways.

Damien is glaring at Ryo while Ken moans slightly in his arms. "I'm telling you we should go right." He gestures to the tunnel sloping downwards, darkness seeming to creep up from its mouth, ready to swallow us whole.

"Uh…." I say, blinking repeatedly.

"Thank you!"

"What exactly, is wrong with this direction?" Tai gestures to the way where Ryo points, the direction pointing upwards where light shines through. "No offense but that seems more likely to be the exit."

Damien sighs, scuffing the ground with his shoe. "I don't know…." He mumbles. "Something about it…."

His unease makes me uneasy, the back of my neck prickling with tension. I couldn't tell if I was really sensing something or if I was just picking up on his own uncomfortrableness.

"…Look maybe we should listen to Damien?"

"And go deeper into the caves?" Ryo scoffs, glaring at me. "I thought you wanted to get out of here."

"I do but…."

"We don't have time to risk getting lost!" Her voice rises. "Ken is dying, do none of you get that? I'm not going to risk his health on some stupid feeling!"

"…"

"She does have a point." Tai sighs, and when both Damien and I glare at him he shrugs. "Look I'm not saying you guys are wrong, but what choice do we have?"

"A choice not to do something potentially stupid."

Ryo glares at us all. "Stupidity is getting hopelessly lost down there for no reason at all. I'm going this way and I'm bringing Ken with me rather any of you like it or not."

I look down at Wormmon. "Well, what do you think?"

Wormmon starts, as though he can't believe someone actually asked him his opinion. "W-what do I think?"

"Yeah. Ken's your partner, which means you're the one who makes the final call about what we do, since this is mostly about him."

Wormmon's eyes grow big and he stammers, "Well…I…."

"Come on." I say, crossing my arms. "What do you think?"

"…" He looks back over at Ken whose breathing is still shaky and uneasy, and he gulps. "I can't risk having my partner be hurt he…he means too much to me. I…I think Ryo's right and we should take the quickest route out of here."

"Fine." Damien snaps, holding out Ken so she can take him in her own arms. It was a mark of how skinny Ken must be getting that she's able to hold him with no problems. "But I can't believe you're going along with this Lily…."

I don't answer. My eyes are fixated on the light ahead of us, as I struggle to shake off the feeling like a hundreds of spiders running across my back.

I can't shake the feeling that something horrible is about to happen. But I try to convince myself I'm wrong, and I keep feeling worse.

"We should turn back." I whisper quietly, but no one manages to hear me. The feeling of dread keeps increasing until I finally can't hold it back anymore and shout, just as Ryo enters the exit, "TURN BACK NOW!"

Two seconds later, I hear Ryo scream.

…

"Wow….this place is…."

Sora's voice trails off as she stares at the room full of computers, lining every wall. "Izzy would go completely nuts if he could see this."

"This is the headquarters of the tamer's base." Dilbert smirks as he looks at. "Pretty sweet huh?"

"How big is this place anyway?" Matt raises an eyebrow as he reaches for the door but Stella shuts the door on him. "You're not authorized to see the rest of it."

"Huh?"

"You heard me." Stella crosses her arms and glares at them, more intimidating than any other blockade. "You're half-chosen. As so, you're not allowed to be in here in the first place."

"Let it go Stella." Dilbert says with a yawn. "Considering we all fought together I would have thought you be less bothered by it."

"That doesn't mean we can break the rules."

"I doubt Sira would care…" Edan comments, brushing back his tangled mess of black hair. "Especially after Matt saved GranDracmon."

"Well until she actually wakes and officially gives them clearance, then I am sticking by what I was taught."

"Here's hoping she does wake up…" Matt says quietly. The image of Sira who seemed so completely unbeatable lying there like that made him feel slightly ill.

"Don't say that." Edan lifts his head and glares at Matt, eyes narrowing dangerously. "She'll wake up and she'll be fine."

Matt stares at him. There's something familiar about Edan's glare…oddly familiar….

"Any luck on finding out what happened to Kimeramon's data?" Sora asks, bending over him to stare at the computer screen and the information that meant nothing to her.

"No…." He sighs in frustration. "Someone took it, that's for sure, but every program I can think to trace it isn't working."

"Is there really any doubt who probably took the data?" Wormmon asks, her eyes flashing as she leans into Dilbert's leg.

"We don't have any proof of that." Dilbert scolds, giving her a stern look.

"But I wouldn't be surprised…." Stella mutters through clenched teeth.

"Who are you guys talking about?"

Awkward looks of the three of them. Matt's eyes narrow. "You're not giving Ryo a hard time again are you?"

Stella sighs and turns around to face the two irritated Digidestined, crossing her arms. "Look. I know you like her but trust me, you shouldn't."

"Why?" Sora demands. "What do you possibly have against her?"

"….Long story."

"Oh come on! You can't just say something like that and then just-"Uh…guys…." Edan's face is pale as he looks at the computer screen.

"What is it mate?" Dilbert leans over. "You found it?"

"Well….no. But I think that should be the least of our worries. Remember how Dragomon and some of his liteunants escaped before we could deal with them?"

"Yeah…" Fear enters Matt's voice and his face pales as he looks at the computer screen. He recognizes Tai and Lily's signals, making their way right towards dozens of red dots.

"Oh Yggdrasil…."

…

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK NOW!"

Ryo whirls around, her red hair whipping around her before screaming in pain as one of the Scubamon's tridents slams into her arm, and blood spurts out, thick and red.

Ken tumbles from her arms and lies there, soft little whimpers coming from his mouth. I hiss angrily, staring down at the large drop beneath us. One wrong step and we plummet from this cliff, to smash in millions of pieces at the bottom.

Even though I never saw him, I recognize the snooty octopus creature for what he is—Dragomon. He laughs mockingly, slamming his own trident onto the ground and grinning in triumph. "Ah, this is too rich. You thought for sure you'd found sancturary? Hmm? And instead we shall reclaim the master's prize and slay the rest of you little brats."

"Over my dead body." I breath, fingering the ring. "Renamon! Let's do this!"

"What?" She pins her ears back as I turn to face her.

"Come on!"

"I….I can't! You're hurt enough as it is!" She stares at the bandages all over my chest, her tail fluffing out behind her. "I can't do it!"

Tai whips out his own Digivice before I can yell at Renamon not to be an idiot, that my safety isn't the priority right now. "AGUMON DIGIVOLVE!"

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GREYMON!"

"No one touches my tamer!" Monodramon snarls, his eyes shining red. "NO ONE! MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….DEVIDRAMON!"

Greymon roars before charging at what looks like a much bigger, more muscular form of Tyrannomon except for being silver grey. Flames burst from both of their mouths, the opponent's bigger and stronger, shoving Greymon back.

"Renamon, we have to do this! Everyone will die if you don't!"

She hesitates again as Devidramon swats at several Scubamon with his powerful tail, sending them all flying off the edge.

"I…." Her eyes widen as she looks behind me. "MOVE!" Shoving me to the ground, she leaps into the air, crosses her arms and yells out, "DIAMOND STORM!"

The BlackGarurumon (you can probably guess it's description from the name) about to pounce on me shrieks as the diamonds enter its eyes and Renamon charges forwards with a battle cry, her paw shining a bright blue aura.

Ugh, if she won't biomerge than the least we can do is have her evolve. My eyes widen though, when the Ring doesn't respond. Doesn't glow, doesn't shine. Oh crap….if I need this for her evolutions now….crap crap CRAP WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?

Damien growls, his eyes glinting gold as he slams dozens of shadow balls, one after another, at the ten Dokugumon who keep advancing towards him, pinning him towards the cliff wall.

"Damien!"

I run forwards only to nearly get squashed when Greymon charges MasterTyrannomon and the two dragons roar, wrestling, the entire cliff starting to fracture under their weight as the enemy sank razor sharp teeth into Greymon's neck, and he howls.

Dragomon sighs and then rolls his eyes as our only support shakes wildly again. "This is pointless." He mutters, before ordering his men to move back. He slams the trident into the ground right behind the two dragons as they roll slightly apart from the rest of us, and my eyes widen with horror as I realize…'

"NO!" Tai screams and lunges forward. "GREYMON NO!"

Greymon roars, falling along with MasterTyrannomon down into the ravine and I let out a strangled scream of horror as I watch them twist and snarl at each other as they continue to fall before they're nothing but specks.

Damien lets out a yell of anger, sending out a blast of explosive dark energy that obliterates the Dokugumon. They don't even have time to scream.

"MOVE MORON!" He snaps at Tai, yanking him out of the way right before a Lynxmon, fiery coat blazing, can decapitate him.

I glance around and see we're completely surrounded. Tai still seems in dumb shock and I glance over to see Ryo crouching over an unconscious Ken, blood still streaming down from her shoulder.

She looks close to passing out herself from the pain but she won't leave him, her eyes blazing as she glares murderously at Dragomon.

I can hear snarling behind me and see that BlackGaurumon has gotten Renamon pinned down to the ground, his teeth an inch from her throat.

"_How did they even manage to GET in here? More importantly, how did they know that we were here and knew how to set up an ambush?"_

"Now there's no need for violence….' Dragomon says in an obnoxiously smooth voice that makes me want to kill him. "Just hand over what we want and then we'll be on our way."

"And then you kill us after you get Ken." I say sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. "That's how it goes, isn't it?"

He smiles oily. "That all depends on what you do, doesn't it?"

"You little…"

"Not an option." Ryo's snarl mixes with her dragon's. "We've come this far. I owe Ken too much. He's the last I have left and I will die before I let you take him from me!"

I look over at Tai, whose face is still icy pale. Are we really willing to do this? To risk our lives for someone whose been our enemy for so long?

He turns his head to look at me….and slowly we both nod.

"Just try and get him."

The smile slips from Dragomon's face and his eyes narrow. "All right….if that is what you choose…."

I don't hear it until it's on top of us. Whirling around and looking upwards, my face pales. "TAI!"

Several green dragons, iconic storybook style looking with red horns stretching back all roar as they dive down towards us.

"Coredramons!"

"GREEN FLARE BREATH!"

Screams echo as the blasts of fire rain down all around us, slamming into the cliff and shattering it. They don't care where they aim as long as it's not on Dragomon, they're willing to bring down their own troops with us!

"TAI!"

"LILY!"

The ground shudders underneath my feet and the next thing I know I'm falling, screaming, hearing the others scream my name.

"LILY NO!"

Oh cripes nearly falling to my death twice in one day is just not cool. By some amazing stroke of luck I find the smallest sliver of rock to cling onto, and blood collects from underneath my fingernails and runs across the back of my hands as I struggle to just hold on.

The explosions and smoke obscure everything else, and I can't see what's happening to the others. Yggdrasil, not again, we were so close WHY NOW?

I can hear Dragomon's laughter and see to my horror him holding up an unconscious Ichijouji with one tentacle, Ken's head flopping lifelessly like a broken doll.

A small voice cries out, "NO!"

My heart leaps into my throat when I see small, brave, stupid STUPID Wormmon charge forwards, diving towards his partner.

"I won't let you hurt Ken!"

"WORMMON NO!"

Dragomon laughs, coldly, icily, and the next thing I know the trident stabs upwards….Wormmon gasps as the middle prong impales…him….his data flickers….before bursting apart.

"NO!"

The scream isn't from me. Ken's eyes shoot open and he screams again like his heart has been clawed out of his chest. "WORMMON NO!"

The ledge I'm desperately gripping to breaks and this time I do scream as I plummet, twisting, writhing…and then arms grabbing me from behind, and I'm flying back up, and a higher pitched but still male voice chuckles, "Guess it's my turn to save the troublemaker huh?"

"Huh?"

Dragomon's red eyes narrow as he looks down at me but then widen with terror when he sees whose holding me, scuttling away to the edge of the cliff and then-"CORONA DESTROYER!"

Dragomon screams, writhing in agony, but all I can see is the man standing behind him, eyes blazing, cannon still smoldering, black wings stretched out like an angel of death.

"No one…touches….my…daughter!"


	16. Gluttony's Daughter, Ryo's Darkness

(Okay I'm sorry this took forever but I was trying to get this done and the Avengers crossover with my story before school starts. Go and check that one out, I'm very proud of it, even though it's an EXTREMELY long oneshot lol. And just so we're clear...the crossovers I do are for fun and my own amusement. They are not actually connected to the plot of my story whatsover. They're more like a what-if?)

Ch. 16

….What…..the…..?

Dragomon's screams echo. "MASTER I'M SORRY! I TRIED! DON'T PUNISH ME….ARGHHHHHH!"

"The only punishment you have to worry about is Yggdrasil's…." The voice behind me murmurs. "And trust me when I say she's not that forgiving towards those who try and destroy GranDracmon's realm."

I turn and look behind me, blinking. The kid can't be more like 12 to 14….but the waves of power that seem to be coming off of him speak differently.

He's got messy light blonde hair, big blue eyes, and white angelic wings sprouting from his back, two from his head. Like I said, nothing too intimidating. The only thing weird looking is the purple tattoos that cover his body.

But I get the sinking feeling that if he wanted to he could obliterate Sakuyamon in a single blow.

"Proof that they're working for someone after all…."

Tai's eyes widen as he sees the third figure. "Uh….?!"

I've got to admit, that the last one is a lot more intimidating than the other two. Dressed in a long dark red cloak with horns curling up from his head, you can't see his face, only his blue eyes. His hands are long and spindly, and my eyes fixate on the strange symbol on the middle of his hood.

"I believe this is yours?" He asks in a deep, rumbling voice that's surpisingly friendly. He holds out a small pink puffball…

"Koromon!"

Tai sighs in relief as his partner is dropped into his arms before scowling and punching the sheepish In-Training on top of the head, not too hard but hard enough to show his irritation.

"Ow, Tai!"

"You idiot…."

"I said I was sorry…."

Ryo's moan of pain echoes and the boy's headwings perk up and he walks over to where she clutches her still bleeding arm. She looks close to passing out.

He drops to his knees in front of her and Monodramon growls slightly, obviously not very comfortable with this, but one look from the boy and he shuts up.

The boy's hands glow slightly as he stretches out towards her wound. It only seems a few seconds before that horrible stab wound is completely gone.

My eyes widen. "_He's possibly the only healer even better than me….."_

"Are you…Lucemon?"

He just looks over at me and grins.

….

"Are you all right?"

The voice is strained and worried and I look over my shoulder to see the man standing there again, his wings receeding back into his back.

Swallowing hard I say, "Y-yeah…I'm fine, just got a little roughed up that's all." I manage a lopsided grin. "I've had worse."

"That's not exactly comforting…." He murmurs distractedly, rolling all three of his blue eyes. Lucemon is carrying Ken, how I'm still amazed as he looks like such a scrawny thing, Tai is walking besides the other one, Daemon, I think they said his name was, helping Ryo along with Monodramon supporting her.

Damien is at the back, his eyes narrow. I get the feeling that he really doesn't trust these guys. I know that the last time I ignored Damien's feelings we paid dearly, but this time….

This time I just can't help but feel annoyed with him. I don't really understand why.

"If he is Lucemon…?" I say slowly, turning my head to look at him. "Then who are you?"

He coughs. "Techinically….it's Beelzemon…"

"Beelzemon?"

"Yes but…." His hand rests on the back of my head. "You can call me Alexander."

I blink, more confused than ever before. "Right, And…and what did you mean earlier when you said….?"

"Whoah…"

The confusion in Tai's voice causes me to turn around and blink as I realize we've reached the bottom of the mountain. I frown. A home stands in front of us, not a manor, but a simple home like you'd see in a storybook.

The only thing different about it is the steel gates that stand in front of the home. A strange symbol is carved in the middle of it.

Lucemon raises one hand and the symbol glows a bright blue. Instantly a spot on my back starts itching like mad, and even though they seem too composed to really react, I see Alexander fidget ever so slightly.

The gates swing open and Lucemon turns his head to look at us again. "Well? Come on. Unless you'd rather camp outside but quite frankly I don't recommend it."

Damien grabs my arm before I can follow the others. "Lily, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it. What if this is a trap?"

I frown, crossing my arms and looking over my shoulder to make sure the others aren't hearing this conversation. "Sorcerymon said we could trust them."

"Sorcerymon isn't a GOD, Lily." He snaps, obviously annoyed now. "He isn't right 100% of the time."

"No, just 99.8% of the time." I quip with a chuckle, remembering how Sorcerymon once said something very similar to me years ago.

One look at Damien's face and I can tell he is "unamused."

"Look, we're here now. There's nothing that can be done, and I trust them. I'm not going to say I've never made a mistake, but there's something about these guys…" I shrug. "I can't put it into words, but I know they're not the enemy."

Damien snorts. "You just hope they're not the enemy."

I roll my eyes and walk through the open gates. "Well if they end up killing us all you are cordially invited to come to my funeral and tell my corpse "I told you so."

"Lily, that's not funny."

"If you want to go back it's fine…" I call over my shoulder. Damien stares as I walk towards the house. My hand brushes across the wood panel of the door and that feeling…enters my heart again.

This feeling like I've been here before….done all of this before….seen all of this before…..

I turn my head and look back at Damien to see him scowling in my direction. He's not going to follow me. I know that. He's looking at this place like nothing could disgust him more.

I shrug my shoulders at him before pushing my way inside. The first thing I notice is that I'm in a long, dark hallway, with candlelight making the entire place turn gold.

Trying to listen to the sound of the others, I groan with frustration as I keep going through endless hallway after endless hallway.

This place is so much bigger than I thought it would be from the outside. I brush my bangs out of my face and see one door in the hallway slightly ajar.

The room inside is pretty basic. King-sized bed….a bookshelf full of what mostly appears to be academic books….including a couple of medical books, which I quickly put back.

Let's just say for a brief moment of my high school life I considered being a doctor. I couldn't stay awake through the introductory chapter of Joe's textbook.

The only thing that seems kind of out of place in the room is a minifridge. I open it and blink, stunned by how much food one fridge can hold.

Looking both ways to make sure no one is watching, I snag a candy bar from the top shelf and stuff the whole thing in my mouth in one go, desperate for…something to make my stomach stop talking.

"Hmmahhf…." I mumble as I turn back to the bookshelf and see that one of them is lying on the floor.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the one who knocked it over in the first place, but I quickly move to put it back just in case.

That's when I realize, it's not just any book…but a photo album.

"Hmm?"

I flip it open, my annoying curiosity getting the better of me. My eyes widen slightly as I see the first picture of Alexander holding a little girl in his arms. She can't be more than 2 to 3.

Dark blue hair almost black, piercing brown eyes, and a huge happy smile as Alexander bounces her up and down on his knee. The only thing about her that screams "NOT HUMAN" is her longer ears, kind of elf like, and the strange markings on her face. They look kind of like tattoos….but they're not….

Or at least I assume that's what he's doing. Sadly in the Digital World pictures are just as still as they are in the Muggle World of Harry Potter.

I flick over another page and see a picture of the same girl trying to shove an entire piece of chocolate cake into her mouth all at once, her eyes nearly bulging out from the effort.

Then there's a picture of the little girl dumping her ice cream on top of a woman with dark hair and a somewhat disturbing appearance. Or maybe I was just thinking that because her outfit practically screamed "Hooker."

I snicker quietly and read the caption underneath the picture. "_Olivia's first birthday….."_

Frowning slightly, I turn the next page. Is this why Alexander seems so protective of me?

I mean….does he think….I might be his lost kid or something?

No way, that's insane. I'd think I'd remember if I was half Demon Lord. Besides, I distinctly remember falling from home.

I blink suddenly as I see a closeup picture of the little girl. Okay, this is getting a little creepy….her eyes are exactly like mine.

But it's her upper lip that clinches it for me. My eyes widen in shock and disbelief. The tiny moon shaped scar on her top lip is a lot redder than mine, indicating she got it a lot sooner than me.

I trace my own scar, hardly daring to breathe. It's not possible, it's not I…..

"You got that scar when you were two…." A voice says quietly behind me. "From trying to eat my stapler."

I whirl around and see Beelzemon….no….Alexander….standing there with his arms folded across his chest, a soft smile on his face.

"Um….how long have you been there?" I manage to squeak out, feeling really embarrassed.

"Well this is MY room…." He says but without annoyance. Those blue eyes just look amused. "About the time you raided the mini fridge."

"Oh uh….sorry?"

He just smiles and opens it again, and I blink as I see the exact same chocolate bar sitting there. "It restocks itself you know. Besides, I have a penchant for lasagne more than chocolate."

"…." I manage a slight smile that turns troubled again as I look back at the picture. "…What is going on?"  
He sighs and closes the fridge. "Lily…."

"No! I want to know what's going on, I don't understand any of this!" I stare at him, my eyes, I know are probably a bit wild looking, like a trapped animal's. But I can't help it. It's not so much a fear of him as complete confusion running through my veins.

He closes his eyes and sighs. "It's….complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it." I snap, knowing I'm being impudent but I don't really care. I HATE, I HATE when adults tell you something's complicated and think it's okay to leave it at that.

His eyes flash ever so slightly. "Be polite young lady or you won't get any answers."

My cheeks flush. I've never felt bad for being sarcastic before. Well…that's not necessarily true. Sira and Wizardmon I respected too much to usually sass, but when I did Wizardmon would just whack me on the head with the staff, not hard enough to hurt but enough to learn the lesson, and Sira would…undoubtedly contrive some really humiliating experience for me to learn my lesson.

But this was the first time I felt bad for being rude just because I was rude. Swallowing hard I mutter, "….I'm sorry. This is just weird and…and so insane I don't know what to do…."

Silence.

"Just….just tell me this?" I lick my lips, feeling my throat go slightly dry. "….Am I….are you….are you my ….my….and….and what exactly….am I?"

Alexander smiles wrly and strokes back my bangs, his fingers brushing against my forehead. I had the sudden sensation of being plunged into an icy shower, like all the bad parts of me, all the muck and grime were being washed away.

"…What did you just?!"

"Look in the mirror."

I frown at him, telling him with my eyes how very "not impressed" I am by this cryptic answer, before turning around and looking in the mirror on the wall.

My jaw drops. "WHAT THE #&&&&&888*!"

I look….I look….holy crap….

"Don't swear little one." He says sternly, and I turn to give him a look of disbelief.

"Something like this happens and you expect me NOT to freak out?!"

I have four stripes on my face, edged with metal, two of them underneath my eyes, and two above them, along with three dots in the center of my forehead. One on top, two slanting diagonally towards it.

My ears are longer and pointed, and sharp fangs extend from my gums.

"….Holy crud I'm a vamp?!"

"No-oo…." Alexander spins me around to face him before I can completely panic. "You are not a vamp, as you put it. You are 100% star."

"…Then what is?" I gesture to my face and try to force the calm through my body. Alexander smiles dryly. "This, Lily, is what a star's true form looks like."

"….That's insane. If that was my true form then wouldn't I have….?"

Alexander sighs. "This is where it gets complicated. I don't know exactly how, but I'm assuming….." His jaw tightens. "Myotismon was always an expert at charm working. My guess is that he put a glam on you when he kidnapped you."

"…Why?"

"So that we could never find you." Alexander put his hands on my shoulders. "Lily…sweetheart….Olivia….you should sit down."

I nod dumbly and he leads me towards the bed, gently letting me sit down and sitting down beside me, his hand still on my shoulder.

"….If I'm all star…..then how am I connected to you?"

"…." He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "….I knew your parents, Alayna and Ezio. They were some of my closest friends. Even if they did drag me into some absolutely ridiculous predicaments at times." He adds with a rueful laugh, and I can't help the smile that forms on my face.

"...So what happened to them?" I say slowly, seeing the expression on his face turn from happy reminiscence to sadness….and pain.

"….Lily….."

"Alexander, tell me…."

He sighs, holding me closely to him. Normally if someone I barely met did something like that, I'd probably tense and pull away.

"….You're old enough to know." He says softly, looking away. "Your mother was given a very important mission by Yggdrasil herself. There was….an incident….."

"….She died, didn't she?"

"No." Alexander's voice turns harsh. "Well yes, but there's more to it than that. Alayna was ambushed…..I'm sorry Lily. The cowards didn't even give her a chance to defend herself."

"It's okay…." I say softly. "I never knew her. It makes it…." My voice trails off and I feel the prick of tears forming in the corner of my eye, one escaping.

I feel Alexander's fingers brush it away gently and I swallow hard and manage a small smile at him. "Thank you…."

"For what?"

"For…for telling me….and just for….you know…thanks."

He smiles softly. "…Trust me Lily. You have no reason to feel indebted to me. When your parents had you they named me godfather and it was….one of the proudest moments of my life knowing they trusted me with their child, especially since I said no the first time."

"Why'd you say no?" I ask, frowning.

Alexander sighs, looking away. "….Because I was afraid. Bad things happen to the people I love Lily. I was afraid that I would only hurt something so pure and innocent."

"You shouldn't have….been so worried….."

He smiles and shakes his head. "Anyway when your parents died they made me your guardian. Better me than your grandparents." He makes a disgusted face. "Alayna never cared for them."

"…Why?"

"It's not relevant." Alexander responds simply, and I knew he wasn't just saying that. For this conversation it really didn't matter. "In any case you came home with me…here."

Ah…that explained why it felt so familiar. At least partly.

"And sweetheart, you meant everything to me. It'd….been a tough time again. Having you in my life gave me a reason to try again."

"Try to make that more sappy." I say, snickering slightly from embarrassment that turns into full out laughter when he tickles my ribs.

"Thought so…" He chuckles when I finally manage to yell for mercy between tickling. "That always was your ticklish spot. In any case, I didn't raise you alone. Thank Yggdrasil I had the other Demon Lords help or I think you would have driven me mad."

"It takes a village to raise a child." I quote, and he smirks. "Indeed. Though considering half the time I had to wrestle my own charge away from the others…."

"Seriously?"

"Lucemon's always loved kids, I think it made him ridiculously happy to be an uncle. Daemon spoiled you rotten, and Leviamon pretty much acted like you were her own nestling. Belphemon….well he sleeps all the time but ironically he was the best at putting you to sleep."

"Wait…." I say slowly. "If you took me in…how long….I mean how on Earth did Myotismon manage to….kidnap me?"

Alexander's face turns dark immediately and I can see the raw anger in his blue eyes. "I was hoping you could tell me that." He says, a surpressed growl in his voice. "I'd love to know what cowardly fool would cooperate with stealing an innocent four year old girl."

"….Wait….four?" I rub my face, feeling the beginnings of confusion and yes, border line panic starting to build up again. "But….I was seven when Myotismon captured me."

"….Lily, you were only four. Trust me when I say I remember quite clearly the day I lost my child."

"But….but…." I know I'm stammering right now and it's humiliating but I can't help the panic building up in my chest. "I remember falling….I…"

Straining my mind I do still remember the fall but over the years it's seemed more muffled and blurred together. I always thought that this was just do to the passage of time but now I'm…not sure.

"Fall?" Alexander says blankly before his lips quirk up slightly. "Lily, that's impossible."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Because the star's domain isn't actually what you would call heaven…in the strange, religious sense that mortals have be it Mt. Olympus or Christian heaven. It's not above anything, it's just an alternate dimension that….well for lack of a better word, floats beside ours."

I was REALLY trying hard not to panic now. "But I remember…."

"Do you? Do you really?"

"…Then how would I have gone missing?"

Alexander's shoulders slump and I see raw pain in his eyes. "….That was all my fault. The Demon Lords were currently fighting against the Devas, servants of the Sovereigns who Lucemon was hoping to overthrow…"

"What?" I say, deadpan.

"Er….ignore that last part. The point is at one point the Devas actually managed to break into our territory. We managed to defeat most of them and their armies but….one of them…Makuramon…a coward if there ever was one…..actually managed to get a hold of you….and….threatened to slit your throat if we didn't let him escape."

I swallow hard, feeling my hand drift up towards my neck subconsciously. "I….what happened to him?"

"What do you expect?" Alexander smiles a little darkly. "Lucemon caught him by surprise and blasted him to pieces for touching you."

"Ah."

"Quite."

"But I still don't see how you're saying that me getting kidnapped by Myotismon….was your fault."

He sighs heavily, looking away at the wall. His fingers twitch on the comforter, as if grabbing something to steal himself enough to say this. "….After that battle with the Demon Lords….I….began to think that this was not the right place to raise such a young child during the middle of a war."

"….And what did you do?" I say slowly, not thinking I'm going to like the answer very much.

Alexander sighs and rubs his face in his hands, as though trying to find the best way to say this. "I….had a friend in Primary Village. I thought you'd be safer there, at least until the war had ended."

"You just left me?!" My jaw drops as I stare at him, the flickering of anger building up on me. So effectively I was just dumped in an orphanage. Lovely. Great to know.

"It was never going to be a permanent solution!" He says fiercely, seeing the way I'm looking coldly at him. "I just asked her to watch you for a few months until we had at least made sure that the Devas could never enter the Manor again. And all of us intended to visit you every chance we got. Maybe it wasn't the best choice I could have made, but honestly, Olivia, do you think you could have done any better?"

I open my mouth to retort before closing it again…..He has a point. I don't know if I COULD have done any better, thought of a better solution.

And….I have to admit that if it had been my kid in danger then….I probably would have done the same thing. I wouldn't have wanted to risk my child either.

"I guess…." I mumble, not looking directly at him. "But that doesn't mean I have to like the whole situation."

"I don't expect you to have…." He says with a wry smile. "Believe me when I say the other Demon Lords didn't exactly approve of my choice either, but I was too afraid….of losing another person that meant so much to me."

"…" I don't say anything. I feel a slight lump rise up in my throat, hating myself for being angry at him earlier, and nod quietly.

"Then we got contact from Togemon telling me that….that you'd gone missing…." His voice catches.

"….How?"

"We don't know. It appeared you'd escaped by yourself…."

"Maybe I went looking for you?"

"Perhaps. In any case we all went searching for you….and unfortunately ran into the Sovereigns instead. We ended up sealed in this area for years…." His breathing turned harder. "Then I get out and find out that…that….WORTHLESS SON OF A BANSHEE HAS YOU!"

"Alexander?!"

He snarls once more, looking far more livid and furious than I've ever seen him before. I get up from the bed and walk over to him, worry creasing my brow.

"Hey…." I touch his shoulder and he seems to relax slightly, sighing as though embarrassed he lost his temper. The look on his face is sheepish but I just smile at him, letting him know I'm not bothered by it.

"It's fine. Well….no the whole kidnapping thing wasn't fine…." I admit when he rolls his eyes and opens his mouth for rebuttal, "but….I got over that a long time ago."

Alexander gives me a sceptical look.

"….Okay no. I'll never forgive him for that but I don't blame you, at all. You didn't know…" My voice trails off. "Look…..i'm just happy that….ugh this is going to sound stupid but…..I'm just happy that I actually did have somewhere I belonged. I love Tai and I see the Digidestined as my family….but….I don't know." I sigh, crossing my arms. "It's nice to know that I was wanted and missed….not just thrown away by my family like Dorkula had me believe."

"…He told you that?"

"Huh. To hear him tell it I should be practically oozing with attitude that he found me and took me in before some other Digimon used me for their late night snack."

Alexander's lips quirk upwards slightly in a smirk. "And what did you tell him?"

"That I would pick being a midnight snack any day if it meant I'd never have had to put up with him."

Alexander laughs, his smirk growing as he chuckles. "Oh I hope you gave him hell…."

"Did my very best too sir." I say with a grin and a mock salute.

He rolls his eyes and ruffles my hair. "Don't sass me kiddo. I….." He winces slightly and touches the small of his back.

"Huh?"

"Oh…just Lucemon letting me know he wants to talk to me. My mark burns if he needs me in privat…." He gives me a look when I frown. "It's not that bad. He only does it when things are urgent."

"Can I come too?" I ask as he walks towards the door, all the while thinking, mark burning when the master calls, Voldemort anyone?

Alexander hesitates as though not sure rather he should give me permission or not. I give him my best pleading look, not so cheesy and ridiculous as the puppy dog eyes, but still adorable and innocent.

Because I REALLY doubt my usual crossing my arms and glaring at someone with a "I'll do it no matter what you say" look is going to get me very far with him.

He sighs, before shrugging. "I suppose. Who knows, he might have your other friends with him right now seeing as he was working on healing Ken."

I grimace as I trod after Alexander down the hallways. What happened to Ken was quite frankly rather terrifying….having someone sucking his energy out, possibly even influencing him.

The thought of that happening to anyone else, Tai, Matt, scares me. Alexander shoves a door open and I hear the sound of soft moaning on the other end.

Lucemon stands over Ken whose finally sleeping, soft whimpers escaping the boy's lips as though he's having a terrible nightmare.

Lucemon looks up as we enter the room and I see Ryo and Tai are already there. They both look exhausted but I'm surprised to see that Ryo's arm doesn't look damaged at all.

Wow. Lucemon is really the best healer in the Digital World.

"Finally managed to get him to fall asleep…." Lucemon sighs, running a hand through his blonde curls as he looks down at Ken. "It's rough. I sure wouldn't wish something like this on any kid."

"Something like what?" Ryo asks, her voice raspy and exhausted, like a smoker's cough. Lucemon hesitates beforem shrugging and opening his palm. "This."

Alexander sucks his breath in and his grip tightens on my shoulder as I lean to take a closer look. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Unfortunately…."

"What is it?"

I squeeze past Alexander and then blink. It looks like a small dark object floating in the palm of Lucemon's hand. For a minute, I can't think of what it reminds me of.

Then I remember biology and recognize this as….some kind of seed? Spore? But no seed or spore gives off an aura like that, just looking at it made me start to feel a little ill.

"What the heck?" Tai mutters, his voice trailing off as he stares at it. The uneasy look in his eyes tells me he's picking up that something's not right with this thing too.

"This…." Lucemon smiles darkly before light springs to life in his palm and the dark object is obliterated. "Good. Better off that way."

"But what was it?"

"…" Lucemon shrugs and with some sarcasm he states, "GranDracmon should really do a better job of getting rid of projects he doesn't feel are safe anymore."

"Huh?" I blink. "You're saying GranDracmon made this?"

"Be careful Lucemon…." Alexander says quietly. "Keep in mind even if you're not fond of GranDracmon these kids are."

Lucemon smiles way too innocently. "Whatever gave you the idea I don't like GranDracmon? Besides the fact he's a backstabbing manipulative little-"Lucemon….please?"  
"Fine fine whatever…." He sighs, crossing his arms. "The object was what is known as a Dark Spore."

"…Why is it that the names people pick are always so obvious?" I mutter, trying to keep my disdain out of my voice. "Black Gear, Dark Ring, seriously?"

Ryo snorts. "Being a villain doesn't guarantee intelligence I suppose."

"Even if I agree with you two…." Lucemon drawls and I feel my cheeks bluish slightly. "The point of the Dark Spore, from what I know, is that it's basically a very advanced enslavement technology."

"…What?"

"It basically shuts down a person's conscious and replaces it with that of their master's." Lucemon scowls. "You are correct when you said you thought Ken here was being controlled. When he wakes up I doubt he will remember much of what happened except for a few horrible impressions."

"….GranDracmon would never make something like that…" I say, trying to fight back the spark of anger that appears in me. "Yes he's not always been good but he would NEVER…."

"I didn't say he made it this way on purpose."

"Huh?"

Lucemon glances over at Alexander and mutters the words, "We need to talk." under his breath. Alexander nods.

"We should head back…." Tai says awkwardly, looking away.

"No." Lucemon says flatly, looking over at him. "Ken's too weak to travel, and the rest of your partners aren't much better. And if what I think is stirring…."

"…Lucemon?"

"Don't worry about it." Alexander sighs, taking me by surprise by holding me close to him and kissing the top of my head.

Tai raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug, shoving him off me and muttering, "Alexander come on…."

"You should all get some rest. We'll talk more in the morning."

…

"….Did you just say….?" Tai's voice trails off in disbelief as I finished explaining the situation.

"That Alexander, the Demon of Gluttony, is my father?" I drawl.

"….Holy Yggdrasil…."

I pat Tai on the back, managing a wry smile on my own face. "Don't pass out on me pretty boy."

He shoots me a look. "I'm the Digidestined leader. We don't faint like little girls."

"Yeah? Well what about that time when…."

"You blackmailed Joe into wearing a bikini for an entire day. How was I supposed to react the first time I saw that hideous sight?"  
I laugh and Tai's face breaks into a smile as he brings me closer to him and hugs me. "I'm happy for you Lils…really I am…."

"Thanks…" I mumble, pulling away from him. "It's still a lot to get used to…."  
"Isn't it sweetheart?" A voice drawls to the side, rich, velvety and smug.

I whirl around and see a woman with long black hair, done up in a weird style, pale face, deep red lips and purple eyeshadow

"Who….are….?"

"Aw, I'm hurt sweetheart." She smiles showing teeth that seem too sharp. Then again I can't really speak.

"It's good to see you back in your birth form." She comments offhand, looking me up and down. "And not like a disgusting human."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demand, crossing my arms and taking a step back.

"Oh come on. The only reason you looked or had anything to do with a human is because of that coward Myotismon."

"Lily…."

Tai narrows his eyes. "You are…?"

"Lilithmon of Lust." She purrs, eyeing him. "I have to admit, for a human, you are pretty cute…."

"Stay away from him." I snap, my temper rising as I see her practically undressing him with her eyes, and Tai stumbles back looking embarrassed and terrified.

"Aw is that anyway to talk to someone who helped raise you Lily? Come on. Share your little human boyfriend."

"No way in heck….and he's not my boyfriend." I say, my cheeks flushing.

"No…?" She smiles. "Then he's available."

Tai blanches and I'm about ready to punch her in the face myself before a voice barks, "Lilithmon, leave the children be."

"You're no fun Daemon." Lilithmon walks off, pouting, and I see the third being from before reappear, arms crossed over his chest looking unimpressed.

"You're being rude to our guests." Daemon says flatly, staring at her. "And Alexander's daughter. You'll find that none of the Demon Lords would side with you against her."

"Oh I wasn't trying to create sides…." Lilithmon says with such innocence it's actually kind of gross. "I was just teasing." She strokes my hair as she walks past before I can swat her hand away. "Right darling?"

"Get lost." I grumble, unable to think of anything more imaginative to say.

She just smirks as she walks down the hallway and Daemon sighs, rolling his blue eyes to heaven in a "what I have to put up with" gesture.

"I'd best show you two children your rooms….that one red head….Ryo isn't it—refuses to leave Ichijouji's side."

"She's devoted to him." I say quietly with a shrug.

"Hmm. But devotion only carries you so far."

….

For the first time in a long time, my sleep is actually peaceful, as I lie curled up in the sheets of my old bed. Yes, my old bed. The same one, according to Alexander, that I slept in as a four year old.

Now you maybe wondering "how on Earth…?" but apparently the rooms in the Demon Lord manor are enchanted to change and expand based on how the occupant changes, physically or mentally.'

For example this room is now pure of anything that remotely resembles the colour pink. Ugh….thank Yggdrasil. Don't get me wrong it's not like I'm goth or anything but….I don't personally think pink should even be classified as a colour.

Which is weird because Mimi is one of my closet friends and her entire life seems to be defined by it.

…Okay I lied. I was having a peaceful sleep in the sense that my mind wasn't being tortured by nightmares about me killing my own friends.

But questions kept swirling through my mind, most of them awful ones I didn't really want to think about. The main one that kept haunting me was that Lucemon and Alexander both swore I'd gone missing at age four.

And I only really had memories stretching back to age seven. Tai had tried to reassure me right before we'd gone to bed that it was no big deal, a lot of teenagers couldn't exactly remember everything that happened when they were younger.

But that didn't make any sense simply because I could, if I stretched my mind, recall vague impressions from when I was only a toddler, back here in the Demon Lord house.

When it came to the first few years I must have been with Myotismon though my brain was completely and disturbingly blank.

Which meant there wasn't any question that he'd tampered with my mind.

That thought made me want to punch something….hard. My jaw tightens as I wonder what exactly happened during those three years that he would want me to forget?

Ugh, the possibilities….well we know he tampered with Gatomon's memory to make her forget Wizardmon in order to make her more obedient….

A smirk crosses my lips as I think of how if that was his goal it COMPLETELY backfired on him. Renamon rolls over in bed so she's closer to me, her tail wrapping over my waist and her head resting on my shoulders.

I stifle a sneeze. It's been four years, I've got to get used to my extra furry blanket again. Besides, I can't sleep whenever I'm upset or have had this insane of a day.

Rubbing my eyes I gently manuver my pillow to slip it inside Renamon's arms so she doesn't notice my disappearance.

Maybe a walk around the manor will make me feel better….long as I don't run into Lilithmon again. How awkward was that?

Rubbing my arms, I can't help but notice how freezing cold the manor has suddenly become. Every step I take sends shocks of ice down my spine.

"Remind me to tell Lucemon to invest in central heating…." I mutter through clenched teeth as I continue to walk, shivering with every step.

I'm about to just turn around and go head back to my nice warm bed in disgust….even sharing a bed with the hairball is sounding pretty decent right now….when I hear the sound of whimpers down the hallway.'

I freeze, my eyes narrowing.

"No….please…no….no…..I'm sorry….."

It takes me a minute to recognize the voice, possibly because I've never heard her sound that terrified in my life before, but the instant I do, I'm half running back to the healing room.

"Ryo?"

The only thing I could think of that could possibly terrify her so badly is that something must have gone wrong withn Ken, which doesn't make any sense as he was fine before but….

I shove the door to the healing room open….and freeze.

Ken is lying on his back, breathing peacefully and steadily, his dreams unburdened and peaceful….but Ryo tosses and turns wildly on her bed, her forehead caked in sweat and her entire body shaking.

Monodramon doesn't seem to notice his partner's plight, he's fast asleep….actually that's kind of odd. Renamon wakes up immediately if my nightmares are THAT bad.

She moans, her shoulders shaking like mad as she turns over, the whimpers bubbling upwards becoming more and more hysterical.

"…Ryo?"

I reach out to touch her shoulder and that's when her eyes snap open. They're wild and terrified, and I pull back for a moment, afraid of how she's looking at me.

That's when I realize she's not looking at me….she's looking at something BEHIND me. The air seems to grow even colder inside the room and I open my mouth to scream for Alexander or Tai not knowing why, just this terrible sense of dread and fear becoming more and more powerful.

….I can't help it anymore, I have to look….

Slowly, my brain screaming at me for being an idiot, I turn my head and glance over my shoulder. The blood drains from my face as the first thing I see is two gigantic golden eyes….gleaming with hate and hunger, pupils slitted down to murderous slits inside a black, gnarled face.

The face seems to smile as it looks at me and Ryo and the laugh echoes across the walls, bounding and getting louder and louder with every moment.

I cringe, dropping to my knees and pressing my hands over my ears, feeling my very bones growing cold. I've never felt anything like this before, ever….

"LILY!"

"Huh?"

There's the sound of paws scraping against the ground and the next thing I know Renamon's standing in the doorway, her blue eyes wild. "Are you okay?!"

….How did she know I was here…without me making a sound?

Ryo's whimpers turn into full fledged screams and the next thing I know I hear the sound of footsteps pounding down the hallway, shouts echoing, and I'm still rocking back and forth on my heels when Tai bursts into the room.

I feel his arms around me, warmth finally entering my body, hear him saying my name over and over again as though from far away.

Lucemon and Alexander are both in the room, and the figure's yellow eyes rotate to fix on Lucemon. The face crinkles into a sneer and Lucemon's face is expressionless except for a scowl that passes over his own face.

The figure just smirks and then slowly….slowly fades away….and my senses finally seem to snap back to normal.

"…Ry….Ryo?" I ask in a horse voice, feeling as though I've been screaming my lungs out myself instead of her.

"You check Lily, I'll handle the girl…."

Alexander drops to his knees in front of me, Tai reluctantly letting go and taking a slight step back. "Lily, are you all right?" He whispers, his voice catching. "What….what were you doing out of bed?"

"C-couldn't sleep…." I stammer, hating how weak I sound at this moment. "Went for a walk to try and relax….heard Ryo….was worried about her…."

Tai slowly stares back at Lucemon and Alexander, who keep looking at each other with grim expressions on their faces.

"….What….was that….?"

"Milleunimon…." Lucemon mutters, a grim expression on his face. "I guess GranDracmon was right for once he really isn't dead like we might have hoped…"

I feel a shudder of coldness again at the sound of that…creature's name.

"…..Milleunimon?...Who?"

But it's not them that answer. It's Ryo, pushing herself upwards off from the bed laughing in a sort of cracked way. "I should have known he'd try to find me…."

"Ryo…?"

"….Some things never change. You want to know what that THING is Lily?" Her eyes are wild and I take a slight step back as Monodramon stirs, finally managing to wake up and looking dazed as though he was in some sort of trance.

"….Congratulations. You've caught the attentions….of one of the most dangerous Digimon in the entire world….."

"How do you know this?" Tai snaps, his eyes narrowing as he glares at her.

"Because….Milleunimon is my partner…."

…

"Did I mention school gets weirder to come back to everytime?" I sigh as I look over at her. "Thanks for giving me a ride Adelina…."

Adelina grins, brushing her hair back. "Don't worry about it. Glad to help a fellow Tamer out…even when she sleeps through her alarm which is why she missed the bus in the first place."

"Hey, give me a break." I huff, crossing my arms. "It's been an exhausting past couple of days. Saving realms from destruction, finding out about an evil Demon returning to life, and finding out that I'm the ward of the Demon Lords….."

Adelina chuckles. "Trust me that's almost normal compared to all the other stuff that has been going on since I've become a Tamer."

"Have you known Sira for a long time then?" I question, my bangs blowing in the wind that seeps through her rolled down window.

"Oh, for a ridiculously long time…" She smiles, reaching into her purse and pulling out a chocolate bar. Splitting it in half she tosses one to me.

"Thanks."

"No prob." Chewing for a little bit, she finally swallows and continues, "Like I was saying, I was one of the first Tamers that joined Sira's group. She wasn't always the tough, fearless leader she is today, let me tell you. There was more than one embarrassing incident. Let's just say she had to pay people a lot for repairs for a long time…Dorugremon and explosive chemicals…not a good mix."

I grin slyly and lean forwards. "Feel like telling me more?"

"I would, but I think we're already at your school."

"Crud." I mutter, hearing the sound of laughter from the other kids as they climb up the stairs to the open doors to hell.

"Have fun Rookie." Adelina leans forwards as I reach into the back and grab my bag. "You know after school you should come over to my café. Initiation." Her smirk makes me flinch slightly, a little bit terrified.

"….Wonderful. Wait, where is your café?"

"Sunnyshore City." She smiles and waves, before driving off, leaving me to stand there with my mouth hanging open.

"Wait….you're from the Pokemon World too?!" I groan as her car drives past before I could get an answer. That means I didn't get a chance to ask the question I've been dying to ask. Renamon's always been good at knowing when I need her…but last night…never THAT good. I mean, it wasn't like I was screaming my head off to catch her attention…

And plus there's been this weird buzzing feeling at the back of my head, ever since we biomerged. I hadn't really had time to notice it before now, but it was driving me CRAZY.

…

Gym class. Otherwise known as hell on Earth. I grumble to myself as I pull on those shorts which give all the guys in my class a ridiculous view….

I hear a mocking snort from behind me and turn to see McKenzie smirking over at me as I'm changing. "What?" I say in a bored tone of voice.

"Nice scars freak…." She sneers, her laughter attracting the rest of her cheerleading flunkies.

With a chill running down my spine I remember why I never used to change where the others could watch. Pulling my shirt down over me I try to ignore them, slamming the door behind me,

McKenzie follows after me, still snickering loudly. "You know it's no wonder Tai and you broke up? He probably took one look at your freakish self and never wanted to touch something that hideous ever again…what's a matter orphan girl? Did your parents hate you?"

"…" I whirl around, this time perfectly ready to punch her in the face so hard all of those perfectly, obnoxiously straight teeth clatter to the floor but someone grabs my arm, not hard, but not enough to break free either.

"Get….off!"

"Get out."

I recognize that voice immediately, and McKenzie's eyes immediately widen as she takes in Damien standing there in his leather jacket, silver eyes narrowed down to slits.

I can almost imagine the tiny gears in her brain turning. Hot guy…siding with the freak….against HER? Does not compute. Does not compute.

"I….I was just….."

"I know full well what you were trying to do." Damien says in that low voice that makes anyone he's speaking to cringe back, "and you had better believe that if it'd continued I'd kill you."

….Something tells me deep inside the gut that this isn't the type of threat a boyfriend or a brother would make in a girl's defence out of anger. I have this sinking feeling….he means it.

McKenzie gulps slightly and backs away, her eyes wide before they narrow again and she shoves past him, snarling, "Fine. You two freaks can hang out together for all I care…."

"…"

"You didn't have to….." I mutter awkwardly, not sure how to tell him off for sticking up for me in a really…..weird way, yes, but still sticking up for me.

"Yes I did." He says flatly, looking away from me. "She had no right….you're worth ten of her. She should be on her knees begging for forgiveness."

"But I don't want…."

A smile touches his lips before he leans over and kisses the top of my head, catching me off guard before I can push him away. "Lily you're too sweet for your own good sometimes…."

"Don't smooth talk me." I warn, pushing him away, not sure if that comment was an insult or a compliment. "I'm still mad at you."  
"Hm? For what?"

"For what he asks…." I scoff, bending over at tying my shoes. "Well gee, it could have something to do with the fact you totally ditched us at the Demon Lord manor, or it could have something to do with the fact that you never told me about what you are."

"Lily I told you I'd explain things to you…." His voice trails off when I roll my eyes and he grabs my wrist before I can join the rest of my class running laps around the gym.

"Besides, I said I owe you a training lesson, remember?" His voice lowers. "Come with me out behind the school instead of wasting your time with these morons. You'll get what you deserve, I promise."

"…"

"Well anything's better than gym class I suppose." I mutter, glancing quickly to make sure the coach wasn't looking before following Damien as we sneak out the back.

…

"Okay….first question…." I say, leaning against the wall and staring at him. "Why didn't you tell me that you were….you know…like me?"

"Well I half hoped you'd figure it out on your own…" Damien says with a shrug that he quickly stops when I shoot him a look. "But the honest truth was I wasn't sure if you were a star as well…and….it's never a good idea to let people know what you are."

"That's bull. The Digidestined know my secret. I trust them completely."

"Because you didn't really have a choice BUT to tell the older ones the truth." He points out and I flinch slightly.

"….Well yeah but…."

"And you're not exactly leaping forwards to go and tell the other three, are you?" Damien's eyes narrow again and I scratch the back of my head, embarrassed.

"That's….that's different, Davis….oh you know how Davis is. He's a sweet kid and he'd never…intentionally do something bad or spill a secret but….."

"But he'd hint, and that's even worse." Damien drawls. "Even if he is brave he has no idea how to simply shut up about things, and especially not something really exciting and important. And as for Yolei….how she reacted when she saw Sira's water powers…."

I fidget. "Can we not talk about Sira when she's still in hospital?" I snap, not looking at him. It's a lousy excuse and I know it but…

"I'm sorry." He lowers his head and I just snort with derision obvious.

"No you're not. You never are."

"Not when I'm right." Damien admits, with a smirk, running his hand through his black hair. "When you're right Lily you never have to apologize."

"And people wonder why you're still single." I mutter, rolling my eyes.

He smiles wryly. "I have you…" He steps forward and I take a slight step back. "That's all I need."

"Uh…" My cheeks flush as I look away. "…So how exactly did you end up in the Digital World? You're not a Digidestined, you're not a Tamer….I don't even think you have a partner…"

"Who says?" He raises an eyebrow and my jaw drops.

"Damien you son of a banshee this had better not be ANOTHER thing you've lied to me about!"

"Sometimes lies are necessary…." Damien shrugs. "Even if I don't like doing them. Anyway, I never spefically told you I didn't have a partner, so there was no lying."

"…I hate you."

"No you don't." He smirks, and I hate the fact that he's right. He annoys the heck out of me, I want to strangle him multiple times, but no, I don't hate him.

"How do you even fit through the door with an ego that size?" I retort.

"Because an ego is an intangible aspect of a human's personality therefore does not require any space."

"….Shut up."

He shrugs and the next thing I know there's a fist aimed at my face—I duck just in time but it still scores a glancing blow across my cheek.

"Ow! Damien, what the heck?!"

"You said you wanted to practice didn't you?" Damien asks slyly, smirking as I rub my face. My jaw drops as he backflips with an alarming grace and lands on top of the chain link fence, balancing perfectly. "Come on sweetheart let's see what you've got…"

"B-but! I don't have any powers right now!"

His eyes just narrow and the next second I duck and roll as he passes over me, me barely dodging the kick that undoubtedly would have really hurt.

"We'll worry about that later…." He responds calmly. "For now let's see if you can actually hold your own without powers."

I growl, insulted by the words even though I can tell he's not trying to be condensceding. He smirks when he sees the anger on my face, and the next thing I know he's behind me aiming a punch at my neck.

But this time I don't duck. I whirl around and grab his wrist before aiming my own punch at his face. Damien leans out of the way and jerks so sharply I lose my grip, then he elbows me hard in the stomach.  
I gasp, bending over and then yelping indignantly when he grabs me by the arms, spinning me around and pinning me to his chest.

"You need to focus love…." He says softly in my ear as his long fingernails dig into my arms so hard it actually draws blood among the bruises. "Forget about pain. Just focus on beating me."

My eyes narrow and I lean back hard, headbutting him and then hooking one leg around his, yanking sharply so we both topple to the ground.

I smirk, dusting my hands off and looking down at him. "Not so easy to beat, am I?"

That's about the moment when he grabs me by the ankle and yanks me back down. I yelp as my head hit the hard cement.

Damien leans over, his face inches from mine, so close are noses are touching and his voice makes my entire body shiver as he whispers, "Never assume the battle's over,,,until it's over…."

I shiver but manage to gasp out, "…We…we probably should get to class….they'll miss us…bell rang….I think."

"…" He slowly sits up, his face passive. "Meet me here tomorrow evening after school? That way we won't be…interrupted…."

"Y-yeah…sure…."

I'm still shaking slightly and relieved that it's over. I mean it was helpful and all but there was this strange feeling…I….

I shake my head. This is ridiculous. And Damien had a very good point. If it can't master self control and am good at hand to hand combat what chance do I stand in an actual fight?

….

"I'm NOT wearing this…." I say flatly, staring at Adelina.

She smirks, holding up the waitress outfit again with the ridiculously short skirt. "You have to. Sorry Lily, it's tradition."

"NO."

"_Yggdrasil forbid you break tradition Lils…."_ My eyes widen and I look over at Renamon, whose still laughing her head off.

"Did you just-"Anyway, it's not like anyone's going to be allowed to touch you. Just holler if anyone messes with you and I'll throw them out."

"…That's not what I'm worried about." I hiss in frustration, throwing my hands up. "It's the humiliation! If anyone sees me like this I'll be forced to commit suicide!"

"Oh come on you're being overdramatic…"

I blink and glower at Stella. "I'd have thought you'd be on my side when it comes to this sort of thing."

Stella shrugs. "I used to be bothered by it, but you get used to it after a while." She lets out a sly smile. "Besides, the pay is awfully good."

"Pleasing perverted guys for cash." I mutter, sweatdropping. "You know what's that one step up from?"

"Oh don't be such a baby…." Adelina scolds before she literally pushes me into the restroom with the outfit. "Get into your uniform. Besides Sira wears it everytime she works here and you don't see her complaining."

"Why me?" I moan as I get changed reluctantly. Apparently all of the tamers work at the café, it's kind of required. And Stella's right, the pay is pretty sweet, especially since you don't make very much as a beginning alpha tamer…

"_She's going to look absolutely ridiculous…." _The gleeful voice of my supposed best friend echoes in my head. I roll my eyes, thinking back, "_Just thank Yggdrasil neither Tai nor Damien will ever see me like this."_

"…_Wait….how did you…?"_

"…_Dunno?"_

"…_This is surreal. Um, can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"_

"…_.Shepherd's pie, really? When exactly have you ever eaten shepherd's pie?"_

"_That one time Michael made it but never mind that! Holy crap…."_

"_I'll say. W…how do you think this happened in the first place?"_

"…_Dunno. Well, I've heard rumours that some of my kind can form telepathic links with people they love, but I don't understand why it's happening now."_

"_Must have been cause of the biomerge….we're closer than ever before, I mean, our brains did literally fuse together…"_

"…_Huh. Guess it did some good after all."_

"_What do you mean by-"_Hey baby….?"

I flinch as I feel an icy hand touch my arm and look over into the trainer's face. He smiles that smile jerk boys think makes them look cute.

"Can I get you your order?" I ask through clenched teeth.

"Hmm….? How about you…?" His hand rests on my leg and starts making its way up. "With a side order of-GAH!"

"No one's allowed to touch my girls." Adelina says flatly, holding the pot not emptied of boiling water. "You've got two seconds to run before I call the cops or sick my Pokemon on you."

He opens his mouth to argue but Edan grabs his arm and bends it behind his back painfully, so he can't move or break away either.

"Out." He snaps before literally kicking the boy out the door.

I sigh and touch his arm, smiling slightly. "Thanks….I could have handled it though…."

He smiles. "Sure you could."

"I could."

"Indeed."

My right eye twitches right before he laughs and grabs me by the arm. "Relax, Lily. I know you could, I wasn't arguing with you."

His smile is so sweet and innocent I can't stay annoyed, it'd be like kicking a puppy. I grin and push him on the shoulder before picking up the jerk's abandoned dessert. "Cake?"

"I'll take it!" Renamon pops up and snatches the plate and shoves the entire piece into her mouth just as Adelina pops her head around the corner.

"Hey guys…."

'Huh?"

Adelina slowly smiles. "Sira's awake."


	17. Unlikely Partnership,Wizard's Ghost

AN-I AM SO SORRY! (bows repeatedly to angry reviewers) I know this took forever, but first my muse deserted me, then we went to Germany, and I had to frantically get this summer project done for school.

Lily-You procrastinator you...

Me-SHUT UP! Anyway I am a review whore as anyone can tell you so...let me know how this one is!

Chapter Seventeen

The smell of the hospital always feels weird to me, the scent of antiseptic and sickness and medicine. I feel someone squeezing my hand and look up to see Tai.

"I know you hate this place…" He mutters softly. "But at least Sira's feeling better, right? That's what matters."

"Yeah….I know…" I sigh. "At least Vincent's was put in charge. He's the one who knows Sira best."

"Would be pretty hard to explain her….condition to someone who has never seen it before." He agrees with a chuckle.

Joe frowns and leans over my shoulder. "What is her condition anyway?"

"Sorry, confidential." I turn my head and smile at him, trying to let him know that I'm not annoyed with him. Joe looks a little nonplussed but shrugs.

"And I'm still wondering why we brought ALL of the Digidestined with us." I hiss to Tai, glancing over at Stella whose still scowling.

"Why not?" He looks confused and I sigh, rubbing the back of my head as I remember what Edan told me. "….Some tamers are sensitive about having people who aren't part of our group see the leader in a weakened state."

"Some of them?" Tai raises an eyebrow. "That doesn't include you, right? We worry about Sira too, you know."

"I know but…" Why couldn't I explain how I was feeling, how I knew the others felt? It didn't make much sense but I suppose my feelings of her being like my sister was a part of it.

I wanted her to not have dozens of crowds staring at her. We were her team, she was my sister. Stupid possessiveness I know but…

"Hey…." Tai touches my arm again. "I'll make sure Davis doesn't talk her head off with her still so tired. I wouldn't have brought the younger ones in the first place….but…."

"You know Davis." Matt sighs, rolling his eyes as Davis suddenly runs down the hallway towards us, his eyes wide.

"There's a….there's a….!" He stammers, "a….fox with lightning spikes and a giant crocodile and….!"

"What are you so surprised about?" DemiVeemon grumbles as he pokes his head out of Davis' backpack. "You've seen us Digimon all the time and some of us are even crazier looking."

"That's a Ferligator, a Jolteon, and I think there's a Primeape in the back." Adelina says with a shrug. Joe blinks. "So this is both a veterinary hospital and a hospital for humans?"

"Yeah." I say with a shrug. "Vincent's the best doctor in the entire world. He can treat both of them better than any stupid Nurse Joy."

"Now I wouldn't necessarily say that…."

"Vincent!"

Vincent yelps slightly as Ellen threw herself at her uncle, before chuckling, his glasses knocked slightly askew. "It hasn't been that long since I've seen you has it?"

"How's Sira doing Doc?" Dilbert speaks up and Vincent twitches slightly as he looks over at him. "Eh heh…sir?"

Vincent shrugs. "She was lucky. The actual physical injures she endured weren't really that bad. However she did suffer from extreme exhaustion, which is why she fell unconscious."

"But…she'll be okay now right?" Kari asks in a more timid sort of voice just as I hear another, irritated, but firm voice I've really missed.

"Oh for crying out loud of course I'm fine…."

"Sira!"

I race down to the bed at the end of the room and see her sitting weakly up, an IV tube attached to her arm, a bandage over her chest.

"….Ouch…..Lily…." She sighs as I hug her. "That'd be my ribs you're cracking."

"Sorry, it's just good to see you awake again…"

"She's right…." Adelina agrees, punching Sira in the arm. "You had us scared boss. Do us a favour and don't pull any suicidal stunts like that again."

"I didn't exactly plan to have that monster be unleashed on GranDracmon's realm." Sira mutters, stretching up so her arms were cushioning the back of her head. "At least it's dead…"

"Thanks to Lily." Sora smiles and I grin sheepishly before getting slapped on the back of the head. "OW! Sira, what the heck?!"

"That's for being an idiot…." She grumbles, her voice still sounding slightly tired from all the drugs running through her veins. "You weren't supposed to be an alpha tamer…"

"Wow, that's nice." I say, narrowing my eyes, offended as I shove myself back up.

"You know that's not what….I mean….it's incredibly dangerous…." She sighs. "I would not want you dragged into such a situation…."

Renamon flicks her tail and sighs. "Hey, Lils, I'm going out to go check something? Be right back."

"Okay but…."

….

Renamon sighs as she leans against the tree, closing her eyes. "I know I should be happy about Lily and me biomerging…."

A chirp answers her and she opens one eye, looking over at her companion. "I just…worry you know? Especially because when we merge she's the one who takes the damage, not me."

Chirp. Comforting clawed hand wrapping around her shoulders.

"I know I know this worrying nervous side isn't me but…..if something awful were to happen to Lily I'd never forgive myself."

Look.

She smiles and snuggles closer to him. "You're right. I'm probably just overexaggerating. Lily's a lot more mature and steady then she used to be, and we have the other tamers as well. They'll help me take care of her."

A head resting on top of hers and she sighs and curls up even closer. "Thanks….you always know how to make me feel better…"

"Oh for crying out loud…" I sigh, walking out and crossing my arms. "Renamon, Blaziken, is it too much to ask that you save the mushiness for when you know someone like me could walk in and see it?"

"Hey I never complained when I walked in on you and Tai French-kissing…"

"No that was awkward for me." I say, rolling my eyes. "And for Yggdrasil's sakes untangle yourselves because if Dorumon sees you like that he will give you hell."

Renamon snorts and responds by burying her face deeper into Blaziken's mane. I roll my eyes, trying to fight back of pang of jealously.

…Dang it I'm jealous of my fox partner and her birdy mate. Exactly how sad is that?

"_Pretty sad…." _Renamon laughs in my head. _"You must be desperate for male companionship if you're so jealous of me getting to snuggle with my mate."_

"_Are you going to be able to read all my thoughts cause that's going to get really annoying."_

"_Maybe…."_

"_Fine then, you wanna play this game? Did I mention Damien has abs like a god, I bet he's really a good kisser I wouldn't mind-"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT DEAR YGGDRASIL IF GRANDRACMON WASN'T ALIVE I'D THINK YOU WERE CHANNELING HIS SOUL!"_

"_Heh. That's mild compared to the perverted crap he usually pulls, but yes, he was my inspiration at that moment…"_

"_I swear to Yggdrasil that mon could make a Lilithmon blush with shame."_

'_Indeed."_

"…"

"_Hey Renamon?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"…_Did you really mean what you said about being so afraid about us biomerging…?"_

"…_I dunno…" She sighs. "You're right you having access to all my thoughts really is kind of awful…"_

"_Renamon."_

"_Look I'm not against biomerging. I'm just unsure about it for now. I'm sure as we get stronger I'll feel much more comfortable about it."_

"_I…guess…"_

"_Lily, I'm your partner. I supposed to worry about this kind of thing. Usually I'm the one taking the serious damage in a battle, but now you're the one constantly in danger and…it's a weird feeling for me."_

"_Maybe but there's nothing you can do about it."_

"…_I know. Look I'll be fine. Go find Tai or Sira I want to hang out with Blaziken for a while it's been too long since I last got to cuddle with my mate."_

I snort then smile at her and walk off, hands in my pockets, mind still running about a million miles per hour. I hear Sora calling my name and look up.

"What's up?"

"We finally decided…."

I cock my head, waiting for Sora to get to the point. "About…?" Sometimes she does this, just assumes that you know what she's talking about. Or maybe she had mentioned whatever it was and I'd forgotten about it. Again.

She gives me an umimpressed look, which suggests I was right and she has mentioned this recently. "You remember how we missed anniversary a few months ago cause you were sick and Mimi's flight was canceled due to storms…?"

Oh bull. Anniversary. "Yeah?" I ask warily.

"Well I think we've finally come up with a date to make up for it."

"W-wha? I thought we were just going to try again next year."

Sora arches an eyebrow at the alarm in my voice and frowns. "Why would we do that? Anniversary is special, it lets us remember those we lost in the war against Myotismon. I'd have thought you'd be pissed if we skipped a whole year of it."

"…Yeah." I say softly, looking into her eyes and hoping she can't tell I'm lying. "You just surprised me, that's all. So when is it going to be?"

"Tomorrow. Isn't it great? It's the only day everyone can come, and the younger kids are off school on the same day we are so it works perfectly. Mimi's flying out and staying for a whole week."

I have to literally force my lips up into a smile. "Sounds great. Just the regular stuff then, right?"

"Same as last year."

"Great…."

I wait until they leave before whirling around and kicking savagely out at the nearest tree stump. That just meant I had a lot of pain in my foot, but it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

Yggdrasil I HATE anniversary.

….

"_Lily…."_

_My eyes open and I see I'm standing in the midst of the foggy field, the mist curling up around my ankles and I feel coldness seep through my body._

_A shiver runs down my spine but then I hear the voice again. "Lily….?"_

"_Huh?" My eyes widen in disbelief. It….can't be him….turning my head I see him standing there, clutching onto his staff weakly and his green eyes pale with fatigue._

"…_Wizardmon…?"_

"_Lily…help me…."_

_His entire frame trembles with exhaustion….huge tears are evident in his clothes, rips in his favourite hat. His tunic is stained with blood._

_I shrink back slightly without meaning to and his eyes seem full of hurt. "I can't….help you…Wizardmon you're….you're dea…." My voice catches on the last word, my throat clogging up. _

"_Lily…."_

_His hand stretches out towards mine and his eyes are so full of pleading, so full of desperation that it's painful to look at._

_Swallowing hard I reach forward, my fingers brushing against his as he closes his hand around mine. "I've missed you…." I say in a shaky voice. "You have no idea how much…."_

"_I've missed you too…."_

_His fingers suddenly seem to grow cold as ice and I freeze, looking down as they grow longer, skinnier, the grip becoming much harder like a steel bear trap._

_My eyes widen and Wizardmon smiles at me….with a smile that's not Wizardmon's…._

"_N-no…..NO!"_

_I try to pull away but I'm not strong enough, and I cry out in pain at the feeling of the bones in my hand being slowly crushed. The being that's not Wizardmon grins malovently and laughs, a harsh, cold laugh that's far from his quiet chuckle._

"_LET GO OF ME!"_

"_Aww….and I thought you missed me…." He mocks, his frame growing taller and bonier, his skin turning paler, his eyes turning from dark green to sapphire blue._

_I snarl and bring my right hand back to punch him in the face, anger filling me and threatening to take over, but he grabs my other wrist ridiculously easy, and now I'm really trapped._

_Myotismon smirks at the fear and rage on my face. "You were expecting someone….else perhaps?"_

"_You son of a Bakemon, get off!"_

"_Make me." He taunts, running a finger down my cheek and I snap my teeth warningly. He just smirks. "Feisty as ever I see…"_

"_You just wait the others will come and we'll tear you to shreds and have you die in agony all over again…" I seethe, still trying to break free._

"_Oooh….scary…." He says mockingly and I clench my teeth in rage. "Anyway how do your friends plan to defeat me….when it's YOU they'll be fighting against pet?"_

"_W-wha? What are you?!"_

"_Never mind." He waves a hand carelessly, his smirk widening. "Unimportant details, and you're not NEARLY clever enough to figure them out."_

"_ #^^^&."_

"_Now if you don't mind…." Myotismon's smile grows more predatory and I can't help but shrink back in fear. "I've been wanting to do THIS for years…."_

_His fangs lengthen and my eyes widen and I struggle to push him away from me but it's like trying to shove away a brick wall._

_There's a stabbing sense of pain in my neck and I scream, my eyes rolling back in my head…._

"GAH!"

I shoot bolt upright in bed, my eyes wild, my hands curled into fists and shaking like mad. It takes me a while for me to remember where I am…I'm actually rocking back and forth on my ankles, trying not to cry but it's so hard.

It finally clicks in when I see the picture on the wall…a shot of me and Sira, Renamon behind me and GranDracmon standing over all of us looking bored.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down, still shaking like mad. Swallowing several times, I see Renamon's not in the room with me, thank Yggdrasil. She must be out with Blaziken tonight…as they haven't seen each other for a long time.

At least she isn't there to see me like this, I haven't had a nightmare that creepy in a long time. I flick on the lamp next to my bed. No sleeping in the dark for me tonight. That's when I notice something….and it doesn't make me feel any better.

All around my right wrist are deep bruises, like someone grabbed and squ….no. No no no no no. I check my other wrist, my heart beating wildly.

Just the same.

"Oh….my….holy Yggdrasil…." I breathe, still shaking like mad as I collapse back into bed. Suddenly the entire room feels cold, and I can't help but listen to the sound of boots slowly making their way towards me, or the swish of the cloak, or a quiet chuckle…

Almost afraid of the answer I lift my hand to my neck…..and find that it's sore in that one spot, a massive bruise forming.

Panic filling me I race to the bathroom, terrified that I'll find blood running down into my shirt and two puncture holes right above my jugular vein.

But when I look in the mirror there's….nothing. A large bruise that I'd expect if I got punched in the neck, but no sign of a certain malignant vampire's handiwork.

Okay…seriously? What. The. Heck?

It had to have been a nightmare. Not that he wouldn't sink that low, because I can totally imagine him disguising himself as Wizardmon and then ambushing me, but I don't think Myotismon had that ability. It's probably just nerves from anniversary….

Everyone said that it was good to remember, but to be honest, I'd rather just forget. Remembering hurt too much. And it didn't do me or the dead any good.

…But if all of this was just a nightmare from nerves, then….where did the bruises come from?

…

"Good morning sleepy head!"

I smile ruefully as I walk into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes. "Good morning Michael." I sniff the air suddenly, stopping in my tracks, a goofy grin forming on my face.

"Is that…"

"Chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes?" He turns around and winks at me. "Yes ma'am it is."

"…Did I mention I love you?"

Michael chuckles, swatting me on the butt with a dish towel before handing me a plate. "Oh go on." He says with an amused smile. "The rest of the Tamers are in the dining room already."

"Wait, the Tamers? Aren't Tai and the others….?"

He shakes his head. "They had to head out early in order to make it in time for school. But don't worry," He adds, seeing the look of panic on my face. "Sira already pulled you out for the day."

"…She did?" I blink. "Can she do that?"

"Have you ever known someone to say no to Sira when she's determined like that?" Michael asks with a rueful smile and a shake of his head.

I laugh and shake my head as well before walking into the kitchen, savouring the smell of my pancakes on my plate and already planning on finagling second and third helpings out of him.

I wonder why on Earth Sira would pull me out of school though? Must be something big.

"Hey Lils…"

"Hey Dilbert." I say , dropping down next to him and smiling when he shoots me a lazy grin. He kind of reminds me of Tai, though much more relaxed than him. Adelina….hmm…kind of like Sora , the same caring side but much more playful.

Ellen is of course a complete sweetheart, she always have been. Stella's a little intimidating with her hard personality, but I can respect that. Hey I lived with Sira for months.

Edan kind of strikes me as a dork, similar to Joe in the sense that he's the thinker of the group, the more cautious one, but he also has a more mischievous side I see when he's bantering with his other team mates.

"Dorumon!"

"Surprised to see me?" He asks in a croaky sort of voice showing how he's still tired. Dorumon looks so adorable in this form with his black fluffy fur and big eyes that it's hard to believe he's the Rookie form of the Devil. Actually more like Hades incarnate. Lucemon is the devil.

"A little." I reply, spooning myself some scrambled eggs to go with my pancakes. "I'd have thought you'd still be stuck in your In-Training form at least."

"Eh." Dorumon waves one paw carelessly. "It's not the first time some idiot has tried to destroy my realm and it won't be the last."

"How do you possibly be so casual about something like that?" Edan asks, amused and exasperated at the same time.

Dorumon shrugs. "Eh."

"I have never seen one girl eat so much." Dilbert comments, looking over in time to see Adelina shove an entire hard-boiled egg into her mouth. She wipes off the crumbs and just smirks. "Jealous?"

"Nah. It makes sense. You talk so much that no wonder your mouth has expanded beyond the normal human capacity…"

He laughs loudly before yelping as she lobs a piece of bacon at him, hitting him square in the face.

"Food fight?" Renamon asks hopefully, grinning as she grabs her own pancake and lobs it at Tsukaimon, Stella's partner.

He yelps and dodges it and it hits the door just as Sira walks into the dining room. "Uh….oh…."

"Nice going Renamon." I mutter through clenched teeth as Sira slowly looks at the greasy stained wood, as the pancake makes a pathetic noise and slowly slides downwards leaving a syrupy trail. "Clean it up." She sighs, exasperated but not actually annoyed. "And next time if you're going to play with your food instead of eating it, take it outside."

"Yes ma'am…" Renamon mumbles, dropping to all four paws and scrambling out back to the kitchen to go and ask Michael for a rag.

"Good to see you on your feet." Stella says with a smile of relief up at Sira. I stare at Stella for a bit, amazed that she can actually smile. Adelina looks at the stunned look on my face and giggles, causing Stella to look over and scowl at us.

"She just got hungry." I say with a smirk of my own, leaning back in my chair. "No one can resists the scent of Michael's pancakes."

"Mmmh-mmm…" Ellen agrees with her mouth full of food as Funbeemon sips orange juice out of his curly straw beneath her chair.

Sira shoots me a look and then shrugs ruefully. "It is extremely hard to resist." She admits before plopping down in the head chair. Dorumon climbs into her lap easily, leaning against her with a quiet sound that's sort of like a purr, but isn't. She scratches him behind the ears and then raises an eyebrow at us. "Well, might as well get down to business. The bad news is that Vincent's restricted me from entering the Digital World for at least a couple of more days…."

"You act like he's overreacting." Ellen says, finally swallowing and shooting her younger sister a stern look. "You would just push your injured and weakened body until it collapsed and died for good."

"Like my broken down car." Adelina sighs, face palming before brightening and looking around at us. "Whose up for working some extra hours at the café to help me earn enough to fix it?"

"…"

"NO." I say flatly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Adelina I'll do my required eight hours a day, three days a week, but no amount of money will convince me to spend MORE time parading around in a skimpy waitressing outfit."

"Twenty dollars extra per hour for coming in overtime."

"…Dang you."

Sira just rolls her eyes. "The point is for the next couple of days, I might not be in the Digital World but I still have things for you guys to do. Stella, you're in charge of going back to GranDracmon's realm and making sure that no one else tries to break through. I doubt it, but the boundaries aren't as strong as they used to be and we can't risk anymore damage."

"Speaking of that, what are you planning to do about Milleunimon?" I speak up, turning my head to face Sira.

There's an uncomfortrable silence.

"What….you don't think I was making up what I saw do you?"

"No Lils…" Ellen sighs, putting down her spoon. "It's just….complicated…."

"Huh?'

"The fact of the matter is that we don't really know what to do for now." Sira says grimly, sitting back in her chair. "Yes, I know you weren't mistaken when you saw Milleunimon's face…and if his ghost still exists then I have no reason to doubt that he's the one who went after GranDracmon."

"Why does he hate you so much anyway?" Renamon asks, arching an eyebrow over at Dorumon. "What cruel experiments did you do to him as GranDracmon?" She meant it as a joke but I saw Dorumon flinch ever so slightly.

"….Oh my holy Yggdrasil what did you do?!"

"Nothing…." Dorumon sighs, burying his face in his paws. "A grudge against me….I can understand but he's got no reason to try and take the entire Digital World down to get rid of me."

"We fought him once before." Kudamon says quietly, floating upwards and wrapping around Adelina's arm. "We thought that he was dead then…apparently we thought wrong."

"Didn't you destroy his core?"

Sira's face darkens and she looks away. "We would have been able to….if it weren't for Ryo."

My eyes widen. From what I saw, Ryo seems to hate and fear her ex partner, but did I read that wrong? The look on Sira's face can't be faked, she's SERIOUSLY pissed off just remembering this.

Swallowing hard I ask, "Wh…what hap-"It doesn't matter for now…." Sira sighs, running a hand through her dark hair. "And since we can't act against Milleunimon yet with the information we have….or lack of it, there are other things we need to deal with."

I want to argue, but I know in my gut it's pointless. When Sira gets that look on her face you might as well be telling off a brick wall.

"My main concern right now is…." Sira says, a half-smile touching her lips as she turns her head to look at me. "Is that we recently have a new alpha tamer."

Everyone turns to look at me, and I feel my face turning bright red, which is stupid, it's not like these guys are complete strangers to me. But I can't help the feeling that I'm being sized up.

"So? Who will her watcher be?" Stella asks, leaning against her chair and crossing her arms.

I blink. "…My what? What is this, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

"I think I should be offended by that." Dorumon says dryly, looking over at me, and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Oh come off it. I didn't start watching the show because I like seeing vampires get staked through the heart. I started watching it because it had an interesting plot….and then it became all about Buffy's hook-ups and that's when I gave up…"

"Getting back to the point…." Adelina says, looking amused. "Especially since I have no idea what you guys are talking about, a watcher is basically someone who acts as companion and protector to the alpha tamer."

"Uh, don't I already do that?" Renamon asks sceptically, raising her right paw.

"True, but when you're biomerged it becomes a different story…." Kudamon purrs. "You can't protect your partner from damage during battle, and if you were outnumbered…." His voice trails off and his ears droop. And it's not my imagination when Adelina flinches and touches her hand to her back.

"Oh…"

"The point is, beta tamers and omega tamers are far less likely to need backup. Alpha tamers have a much more dangerous job in some ways."

"Edan…."

Sira's tone is mildly exasperated, and I look over to see Edan reading a book, hidden underneath the table, his eyes eagerly scanning the pages.

…So hearing us talk is so boring he feels the need to read instead? Edan doesn't seem to hear Sira and looks dazed when Stella snatches the book from him.

"Come on daydreamer, you know you're not supposed to be doing this kind of stuff during a briefing…" She scolds with much more affection than I would have expected.  
He grins sheepishly, his black hair a mess suggesting he forgot to brush it, and his green eyes shining like a cat's. "Uh huh…sorry boss…"

Dang. Those are some mighty big puppy dog eyes. Sira sighs and just shakes her head while Dilbert and Adelina try not to laugh.

I wonder who my watcher will be….probably Ellen or Adelina….no not Adelina. That would defeat the whole purpose. You can't back up someone whose at risk with someone else whose at equal risk. So probably Ellen then? I do know her better than I do anyone else.

"Edan."

I look to the side, amused now, wondering if he had a spare book hidden in case his first got confiscated. But no. Everyone, including Renamon, is looking at me.

I blink. "What?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Stella grumbles, and I'm so annoyed by this I open my mouth to tell her to shut her hypocritical self, but Sira just continues, "Edan will be your watcher."

"…Huh?"

Edan doesn't look all that thrilled either. He hesitates. "I thought you wanted me to work on that program…"

"It can wait."

"Sira…you know I do better with computers than people, boss?"

She shoots him a look. "You've got to get over your shyness at some point. This will be good for you. You'll get more used to interacting with new people, and maybe you can teach Lily some responsibility."

"Hey!"

"It's the hard truth squirt." Dorumon chuckles and I glare at him.

"Besides, maybe if you get over your unwillingness to chit chat you just might get a girlfriend one of these days." Dilbert teases.

Edan rolls his eyes as his Salamon leaps onto his lap, and he scratches her behind the ears. "I don't WANT a girlfriend." He says dryly. "At least not now. I've yet to find a girl who interests me."

After seeing the looks of death shot his way he yelps, "ROMANTICALLY, I mean! I find all of you amazing, it's just that…that…"

"We know…" Adelina laughs, patting him on the head. "You're just too much fun to mess with some times."

"So we're agreed then?" Sira asks. "Edan, you and Lily will head out for your first mission together in a few hours, understand? I'll give you the coordinates on where to meet-!"

"Today?" Edan mutters before immediately lowering his head. "Yes boss."

"Wait a minute…" I hold up a hand as another thought hits me. "I can't go today." The people around me seem to stiffen, and Sira crosses her arms. "Why not?"

"…I promised Tai and the others that I'll meet with them…"

"As interesting as your playdates might be, I think you can postpone them." Stella says, rolling her eyes.

My temper sparks and I whirl around to give her such a fierce glare that she actually scoots back in her chair a bit, looking slightly alarmed.

"Lily?!"

"Don't you ever…" I growl, glaring at her. "Make such statements when you don't even know what I'm talking about. And for your information, this isn't some shopping trip I'm talking about. This is anniversary, the day when we honour everyone who Myotismon MURDERED in cold blood, all those whose cores he smashed…."

"…"

"I'm…I'm sorry…" Stella says softly, actually looking guilty, her eyes fixating on the table. "I didn't know…."

"You didn't care to ask…."

"…"

"Do you actually want to go?" Dorumon's always been good at getting straight to the point, something that's done nothing but irritate me since I've known him. He can be such a troll, always teasing, but he always knows exactly what people are trying to hide.

"…I….of course I want…." My voice trails off and Renamon walks over and lays a paw on my shoulder. "…No." I mutter. "I've never seen the point in anniversary. Just because we're honouring them doesn't mean anything. They're not there to see it. All it does is remind me that…people I care about are gone for good."

Something burns at the back of my eyes, and I struggle to force the tears away. I WILL NOT cry. Not here. Not in front of all the others.

"…It's just…I never forget about these people anyway. And the fact that….it just feels like this ceremony is more for us than for them….."

"Then maybe you do need a year off."

I shake my head at Sira. "Tai and the others would never understand, they would be so hurt that I-"Lils, for crying out loud…" Dilbert sighs. "They're your friends, right? Friends don't push friends to do things that make them feel absolutely miserable."

Why can't they understand it's so much more complicated than that? Sira rolls her eyes. "If you can't make the decision on your own, then I'll have to be the big bad tamer leader and flat out say, you have a mission, you're doing it."

"Sira…." I groan, burying my face in my hands as the meeting disbands and their chatter continues to ring in my ears as I still sit there at the table. Well on the bright side this means I don't have to go and they'll all be mad at Sira, not me.

At least I hope so.

Edan finally looks back up from his book, how he managed to hide it this time around I have NO idea, his eyes meeting mine. "So," he says, yawning. "Ready to head out?"

…

Matt walks down the crowded streets of downtown Tokyo, lost in his own thoughts as the music from his band plays in his headphones.

He glances in one of the store windows and freezes. It's not that spectacular of a store, a costume shop, with a pink dress, a teddy bear outfit, and some others.

But when he closes his eyes he can hear their teasing laughter as they'd danced around that window, he and TK staring gobsmacked at them.

"All they wanted was to have some fun…." He says softly, not taking his eyes off the store window till the owner comes over and glares at him, pulling the blinds down firmly.

Matt sighs and closes his eyes before walking away….

…

Joe's absently drawing into his notebook as he listens to the professor go on and on in a monotone voice. Normally you would never picture Joe as the type of boy to be spending time doodling instead of studiously taking notes, until you took in what day tomorrow would be….and what he was drawing.

A very bad drawing, in all honesty, but still recognizable as a lion's face. Joe bites his lip and looks down, sighing, his shoulders heaving.

I….If it hadn't been for Leomon, both he and Mimi would be dead long ago. If it hadn't been for Leomon all of the Digidestined might have died in the battle against Devimon.

He stretches upwards and runs a hand through his dark blue hair, messy from lack of combing or desire to even look orderly the past few days.

…It would never stop hurting would it? He stares down at the drawing once more before crumpling it up in his right hand, shaking slightly.

…

Kari wakes up in the middle of the night, hearing soft whimpering coming from the corner of her bedroom. She sighs, burying her face in her pillow.

…There were always nightmares around this time of year….she turns over in bed and sees Gatomon lying in her cat bed, trembling.

Her fingers itch and she struggles to surpress the desire to walk over there and pick her cat up, cuddle her close to her chest.

But it wouldn't do any good. From the way Gatomon's fur stood straight up and her claws were unsheated, it was a pretty safe bet that she was having nightmares about that….creep. Her suspicions were confirmed when Gatomon's eyes shot open, wild and terrified, looking like a cornered animal.

Sometimes Lily had the same look in her eyes when she woke up from a nightmare.

Kari stays silent and watches as Gatomon shakily pushes herself out of the cat bed and walks out the cracked open door. She gets out of bed herself and peers through the crack.

Gatomon pads out to the living room and stares at Lily, asleep on the couch, before uneasily, almost shyly, nudging Lily's dangling hand.

Lily grumbles in her sleep before turning over and sees Gatomon staring at her with those big blue eyes, and her brown eyes immediately soften. "…"

She doesn't say a word, but the next second Gatomon leaps up onto the couch, nudging in between Lily's arms and pressing close to her chest, Viximon draped over Lily's stomach and snoring.

Kari sighs as she walks back into her room. She wishes she had a way to comfort Gatomon in the way Lily did.

…

I sigh, crossing my arms as I look over at Edan, whose busy on his laptop typing away. "Can we actually go now?"

I say, deadpan as he continues to type, the desert wind playing with my hair. "You couldn't have figured out this information before?"

Edan doesn't even bother answering and I'm torn with the desire to whack him upside the head or bang my head on something…repeatedly…

Renamon turns her head, raising an eyebrow. "Is he always like this?'

"Apparently…..now I know how Mimi felt when Izzy used to ignore her instead of gushing all over her."

I glance back again at Edan's computer screen and see what looks like a scanning device flickering over the screen, before suddenly glowing bright red.

A devilish smirk appears on Edan's face and I blink, taking a step back. It didn't seem to fit on his normally kind, passive face…

"Got it…."

D'Arcmon nods grimly as she clutches the hilt of her sword, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"Uh…." I hold up a hand in protest. "You…still really haven't told us where we're going."

"Truth is, I'm not sure."

"Huh?"

Edan shrugs. "Well I know where we're going right now but it might not end up being the place we're trying to get to, you get it?"

"…No."

"Ah well you'll get it when we get there." He shrugs before pressing the enter key, and I feel the beginning suction feeling of the portal drawing me in.

I clench my teeth, half to brace myself against the sensation, half to fight my desire to slap Edan over the head a couple of times.

"_I better not have hurt Tai and the others for nothing…."_

…

"What do you MEAN you're not coming?"

"It's not my fault…" I mutter as I bend over my bag, stuffing clothes in them that Edan had instructed me to bring. He hadn't bothered to explain exactly why, but I suspected it might be because this mission was going to take a lot longer than I thought.

…Peachy.

Tai's giving me a look like I ran over his dog, and I'm just glad Kari's not here. Bad enough I have to deal with breaking the bad news to Tai, I don't want to imagine what Sora would do…how royally peeved she'll be when she finds out I ditched Anniversary.

"Lils, I don't get it. Why can't you explain this to Sira?"

I just give him a look and he flinches. "Okay, okay….but….."

"I'm sorry…" I repeat in the pointless monotone, trying not to let any emotion creep into my voice. I run a hand through my hair and reach into my bag, pulling on the black gloves that Edan says I'm going to need for the mission.

"Lils, wait!"

He grabs at my hand as I walk towards the door. Annoyed, I turn around and glare at him, wanting nothing more than to get out of here. "WHAT?"

"Jus…." Tai's brown eyes meet mine, and I swallow. "….What's the next thing you're going to be missing?"

"Tai, what are you-…" I sigh. "It's only one mission…." I lean forwards and hug him, trying to let him know I'm not abandoning him. "I'll be back."

He manages that cocky grin I love but it's not as sure as it usually is, and that hurts. "Heh…all right. I'll let the others know the big bad boss is cracking the whip on you."

"Absolutely. Direct Sora's wrath towards Sira instead of me please."

"Direct? Sora's like a incoming train when she gets really mad, all you can do is stand there in the middle of the tracks hoping she won't run you over."

We both laugh, awkwardly, and Agumon twitches his nose before looking up at Renamon. "Why is it Lily and Tai always act so weird around each other?"

She rolls her eyes. "Because they both have so much they want to say but neither of them are smart enough or brave enough to say it."

"Renamon?"

Renamon only manages to flick her ears slightly once before I've whacked her upside the head so hard she lands on her butt. "Ow!"

"Come on!" I snap, storming forwards out the door, her rubbing her jaw and muttering darkly about teenage girls and her hormones.

I make a mental note to have a rug made out of fox fur as the sound of Tai's laughter echoes behind me. It fills me up like warm honey, and I glance back at him to see him truly smiling now. I can't help the blush that covers my cheeks and I duck out the door.

…

"Tokyo Tower!" Mimi smiles as she puts her hands on her hips, her big hat falling back off her head as she looks up. It's an image just like herself at fourteen years old. "You remember that mess Sora?"

Sora snorts. "Huh. I remember Lily running up and challenging SkullMeramon, like an idiot, BY HERSELF, nearly falling off the platform after nearly getting roasted alive."

Yolei blinks as Mimi pinches Sora. "Knock it off. Lily's not a Digidestined, and she can't help the fact that Sira gave her this mission."

"Aren't you mad you missed out on seeing her?"

"Not really."

Yolei blinks. "That's a little mean isn't it…?"

Mimi giggles. "No, of course not, because I'm here all week. If I was only going to be here for a day I would have hunted Lily down and dragged her out here Sira or no Sira."

Sora mutters a curse about stars and their psychotic sea basin friends, causing Mimi to pinch her again.

"Ow!"

"Just cause Lily can't conform to our schedules anymore doesn't mean you need to be so grouchy. She's come every other year…" Mimi's smile fades slightly. The Bearer of Sincerity isn't just a title. Mimi could tell one thing Lily was very sincere about…she absolutely hated Anniversary no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Honestly…for her friend's sake, maybe it was better Sira was making her stay away.

Yolei seems to have changed since the last time she saw her too. Last time there was this bubbling girl full of excitement and determination…now there's….she doesn't know what exactly. It's annoying. But Yolei seems like a toy whose battery is running low.

Her head is down low and her hair is a tangled mess, her glasses dirty. "Yolei?"

"H-huh?"

Mimi cocks her head. "…You okay?"

Yolei forces a smile onto her face that doesn't seem at all genuine. "Y-yeah….so a Digimon really attacked this place?"

"Nearly knocked it over onto the whole city." Sora chuckles but exchanges a look with Mimi as Yolei lets out a forced laugh.

"Why couldn't he attack my dentists' office instead?"

Sora and Mimi exchange a look with each other again as the girl rounds the corner. "….You think she's going to be okay?"

Mimi sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "It all depends. Pretty soon….she's going to have to make that same choice I did."

...

"The ceremony starts in exactly three hours."

"Lils, don't do that to yourself." Renamon swats at my watch. "You're just trying to make yourself feel guilty now."

"I don't have to try very hard." I say dully. "It's eating me up inside, making me feel hot and sweaty and miserable…"

"…No Lily I think that might have more to do with that we've been wandering around a freaking desert for the past couple of hours."

"…Oh. That too, I suppose." Growling, I pull one of my gloves off and throw it at the person whose annoying me most.

"Ow!"

"Wimp." I say darkly, as Edan turns around and glares at me. "How the heck you became a tamer I have no freaking idea, considering you consider you flinch when something made of cotton hits you, and you totally got us lost."

"No, I didn't!"

"You told me to pack for a wintery climate! I'm wearing two layers of pants and my thighs are being cooked like a chicken's!"

"That reminds me-"If you say that statement just made you hungry Renamon, very bad things are going to happen to you."

Edan rolls his eyes. "Well then take your pants off."

"…"

"If you just said what I thought you just said EXTREMELY HORRIBLE things are going to happen to you."

He scoffs. "I've got no desire to see your panties. Just pull down the extra pair, for crying out loud."

Not wanting to admit that I exaggerated, aka lied, I cross my arms and glare at him. "I could. Or you could bother to explain why the heck we're in the desert in the first place."

"Tracking slavers."

"…" My eyes narrow at D'Arcmon's statement. "What?"  
Edan sighs, finally turning around to face me. "This one guy has gotten away from us more than once. Sira wants him behind bars for good this time…" His lips curve in a slight grimace. "Or torn to data particles. Whichever comes first."

The prospect doesn't seem all that appealing to him, even if it is a filthy slaver and Yggdrasil knows those are the scum of the Digiworld.

My fingers subconsciously stretch towards my back, flinching and pulling back quickly as his eyes follow the movement. "And what makes you so sure they're here? We're out in the middle of a boiling hot desert as flat as Mrs. Kamiya's pie, shouldn't we have spotted them by now?"

"Speaking of pie…"

"Shut up Renamon."

Edan smiles, and there's something familiar about it, but I can't put my finger on it. "Last time we fought him I managed to scan his data, so I could search for it again if we needed to. He's up in the northern area."

I mentally count to ten so I don't jump and literally strangle the guy. "And…?!"

"Which means he won't be in our way while we're saving the prisoners."

"Prisoners?" That word makes me stop in my tracks and I freeze. "…Edan. What exactly is this plan?"

He then pulls out a pair of handcuffs and I freeze. "…Not a chance in Hades."

"Do you want to help them or not?" He demands, jangling them in front of my face, the metal glinting in the sunlight.

"Edan. If you wanted someone to act as your decoy prisoner, you should have picked ANYONE else. I don't do subservient. I don't do submissive. I literally can't even pretend to be a servant, and believe me, I tried."

"You did?" Renamon says, raising an eyebrow. "Well that's news to me."

"I said I tried to PRETEND to be one." I mutter to her.

"Ah. That makes more sense."

"But it's the beautiful girls that these slavers are looking for." He insists. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not, so I cross my arms. "So you're basically going to have me poked, prodded, and lead about by a bunch of lecherous older guys?"

"…It's for a good cause?"

"Nuh uh. I already work at the café and that is torture enough in itself. Not a chance pretty boy."

He sulks and I can't help the slight smirk on my face. He looks like Joe whenever we shot down one of his plans.

"…Tell you what…I'll fight you for it."

"H-huh?!"

"3….2….1…."

"LILY WAIT!"  
I smirk as I backflip him over my head, and his grunt echoes as he hits the dirt, hard, sending sand flying upwards. "I win!"  
Edan groans, sitting up and rubbing his head, only to yelp as I click the handcuffs around his wrists. "Now we're doing things my way."

Renamon chortles and D'Arcmon looks like she doesn't know rather to chuckle or be concerned, causing him to shoot her a slightly betrayed look.

"Why do I think I've gotten in over my head?" He sighs as I drag him to his feet, smirking widely.

…

Monodramon nudges Ryo's head with his knee, looking up at her. "Do it. You know you should."

"Just because I should doesn't mean I want to…" She mutters, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"You know you want to as well."

"…I'm scared, Monodramon."

The admission catches him off guard, and he looks back up at her face. Even after….that night when…it had appeared again, so recently, she hadn't admitted to being scared. Even though he could smell the waves of fear coming off her, she wouldn't admit it, and he cursed himself for so long for being in that tranced sleep.

But now standing outside this apartment door….she was terrified…

"He needs you Ryo."

"He'd be better off without me." She says dully, and Monodramon shoots her a fierce look through golden slitted eyes. "You knock or I do."

Ryo flinches. "But what if…." Her voice trails off as she can hear the sounds of voices from inside.

"Honey, someone's out there can you go get the door?"

"If it's the darn Girl Scouts again…"

Frantically Ryo digs into her pocket and pulls out her Digivice. "Monodramon, de-digivolve and get in the bag!" She hisses through tightly clenched teeth.

"Are you KIDD-GAH!"

Ryo shoves the purple scaly ball into her bag and zips it shut just as Mr. Ichijouji walks out into the hall, peering down at her.

She stares down at his shoes, not wanting to look at his face. "I'm sorry, little girl, can I help you…?"

A part of her twinges at being called a little girl, but she forces herself past it. Swallowing hard, she says quietly, "I…Is this the Ichijouji residence?"

His voice hardens slightly. "If you're another fan than I'm afraid you'll have to come back some other time, Ken isn't feeling well."

"But I…" He closes the door in her face and Ryo groans, facepalming. "That didn't go anywhere near as well as I hoped it would."

"Plan B?" The tiny voice squeaks from her bag.

…

"…Okay…here we go…."

A crowd of people clusters around the TV screen, all of them fixed with determination, eyes narrowed down to slits. The guy on the screen continues walking through what looks like a jungle, speaking into his microphone in a hushed voice about the nature of parakeets.

Relaxed smiles start to form on their faces until the guy's voice changes. It becomes higher, desperate, pleading. _"G-Gatomon…."_

Groans emit from all of them, especially the nerdy guy behind the chair who moans. "You've got to be kidding me! This is the hundredth time!"

The man sitting in the seat sighs and turns around to face the director. "Look boss, clearly this is not going to get fixed soon. We'll have to postpone."

"Are you crazy?! This is supposed to go on the air tomorrow!"

"Oh that's just #%%%^& GREAT! Now what are we supposed to do?"

As the director bawls, another guy, this one with a round pink face, walks into the room. "Hey boss? The soundtrack…." His face is covered with nervous sweat, and he's shaking.

The second man stands up, crossing muscular arms over his chest and scowling. "Well? Play the tape!"

"Er…okay…." His tone suggests that he'd rather do anything but, he presses the green button. For a minute, there's silence, and then chirping and excited, hungry chittering fills the room.

It's definitely not the noise a peaceful flock of parakeets make.

"Uh….what are bat calls doing on my tape?"

"Is this some kind of prank? Some stupid Hallowee-…." The second man's voice trails off and his face pales as an absolutely blood curling scream echoes through the radio.

It literally sounds like someone being eaten alive…

"Oh my…."

"This whole place is haunted!" The unfortunate soul who brought in the cassette tape shrieks before throwing it at the wall, where it breaks into several pieces, wires poking out. But the noise of the bats doesn't die away…

"Um….I didn't sign up for this…" The tough guy sounds far less confident as he takes a step back.

The director huffs. "This is absolutely ridiculous. The whole thing is probably just a bunch of idiotic teenagers playing some sort of cheap prank. I've worked here twenty years and I've nev…."

"Uh….boss…"

"What?!"

Whimpers echo as he slowly turns around to look. First it's just one trickle down the wall, and he thinks he must be imagining things, because there's no way…it's not possible…

Then there are about a dozen more, again and again, dark red streaks down the wall, a horribly familiar smell filling the room. The sickly sweet smell of blood.

"_Gato….GATO….!"_

You never would have heard three men scream loudly as they ran for their lives….

…

Bam, bam, BAM!

The door creaks upon and I smile innocently at golden eye that peeks around the crack of the door. "Anyone interested in a healthy male tamer?"

A disbelieving gasp and mutters around the other side of the door. I smile and lean against the door, winking slyly. "Yup. I caught one." I tug a disgruntled Edan into view. "See?"

More muttering.

"Nah, no tricks. I just want my pay like the rest of you."

There's silence for a moment before the door finally slides upon. I shake the sand out of my hair and step inside. Clever, hiding your base inside a mountain sized sand dune. I would have never figured it out if it weren't for Edan noticing slight details like the way the shadows fell or the faint imprints in the dune.

A sly grin covers my face. But that doesn't mean I'm not completely going to enjoy this.

"How on Earth did you bag one of them?" A Deputymon asks as he leans against the bar. Most of the people here are half drunk, not that I'm surprised. The stale scent of beer and drugs fills my nose. Underneath her perception filter, I know Renamon is gagging.

"That was the easy part." I shrug. "The tamers are nothing without their group, and this one's even weaker than the rest."

I get an even nastier look from Edan, and the Deputymon smiles menacingly. "Well…I suppose you'll be wanting to show your bounty off to the boss, right?"

"…Boss?"

Renamon's snarl echoes in my head as the feeling of something icy cold seems to run down my spine. Edan's eyes widen, and I hear the faint sound of a blade being drawn from D'Arcmon's sheath, even as invisible as she is right now.

The figure standing in front of us is tall, dark, with spikes extending from his shoulders, bushy yellow hair, dark red eyes, a cape, and a mask that looks oddly familiar…

"N-no…."

The word slips from my mouth, hating the fear that fills it.

"What have we here?" The voice is chilling, menacing and smug. The tiny lightbulb that hangs above us swings slightly, showing his figure in the light.

I stare into those red eyes, unable to move for a few moments. Yggdrasil it can't be him it can't be him it can't be him…

That's when I realize that the thing I thought was a cape is really bat-like wings, and the mask is deep purple instead of red.

"NeoVamdemon…" Edan mutters through clenched teeth, clenching his fists so hard his hands have turned white.

"….That's the boss whose supposed to be up north FAR away from us."

"…Indeed."

"Edan?"

"Uh huh…?"  
"…You're an idiot."

NeoVamdemon laughs, and the noise is so terrible I actually take a step back. "Yes, I'm afraid the tamer's little spy wasn't quite so much on your side as you thought, was he Edan?"

Edan's face pales. "…But….that…."

"Didn't think you could be played so easily do you?" The git smirks, showing off his fangs, and I'm reminded of Drake circling around me, taunting me, with that exact same sneer on his face. "You're SO gullible….It's no wonder that the beta tamer has never actually let you on a solo mission before."

"LA PUECELLE!"

NeoVamdemon doesn't even bat an eye, he just grabs the wrist of an angry D'Arcmon before she can actually slice her sword down his back, twisting it horribly as he lifts her slightly off the ground.

"D'ARCMON!"

He grins, leaning his head down and baring those fangs close to her neck…smirking he chuckles, "I am in the mood for a nice appetize-GACK!"

"Pick on someone your own size."

Edan stares at Sakuyamon as she kicks NeoVamdemon into the wall, leaving a vampire demon shaped dent. D'Arcmon drops to the ground, breathing hard.

"Are you all right?!"

She smiles and looks up at him. "I….am fine Edan. You…worry too much about me."

NeoVamdemon pushes himself up out of the rubble, fuming as the concerned chitter of his lackies echoes around us. "You interefering slut, you'll pay for that!" He hisses, brandishing claws. "I'm going to enjoy this…"

"Not nearly so much as I will…" I spit back, Renamon's snarl mixing with my voice.

…

"This is the place…"

Kari holds the bundle of roses in her arms, staring up at the TV station.

"Storm's coming in…" Matt murmurs, staring up at the grey clouds that cover the sky. He's looking anywhere but the building in front of him. "….You know for years…I could never visit my Dad at work. Still can't stay there for long. I hate that place…"

"Shouldn't you guys see it as a great place?" Poor Davis looks completely confused. "I mean…this is where you beat that monster Myotis-whatever for good, right?"

"That's not all that happened…." Tai mutters as he wraps his arms around Kari's shoulders.

"Huh?"

"Yggdrasil, it was probably the most terrifying battle we'd fought yet. I thought for sure that we were all going to die…." Sora sighs, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "The only thing I could hope was that we would make that son of a banshee suffer before we went out."

"And he did…."

"An arrow straight through the heart can't feel pleasant."

"The way he screamed…" TK shakes his head. "That's going to be stuck in my head forever."

"That's not what's stuck in my head…" Mimi says softly. "It should have been one of us….no…."

"…Mimi?" Izzy asks quietly, touching her shoulder.

"…He saved Lillymon. I'll always be grateful to him for that."  
Tai sighs and looks back at the TV station. An odd feeling runs up his spine….he shivers, shaking his head and then looking back at the others. "Well…let's get this over with."

…

"NIGHTMARE RAID!"

Several shadows with grinning faces dart towards me, just like Dorkula's Nightmare Claw. I raise the shield, watching as they slam against it repeatedly, grimacing as cracks form.

A light based shield is not going to last very long against a dark based attack. I can't see Edan, but I hear D'Arcmon shout once more and turn my head.

With an odd, almost eerie gracefulness she spins, both swords outstretched, spinning like a top of death through the group of flunkies that try to crowd around her.

Their screams echo and I can't help but grin. She's strong, she's very strong. I whip back around at the sound of wings tearing through the air, and my eyes widen to see the git full out charging me.

I barely have time to scream one really obscene swear word before his claws slam right through my shield, ramming into my stomach.

"Ga-….!"

"LILY!"

Or at least it would have slammed me through the stomach, if it weren't for my armour. Thank Yggdrasil for chrome digizoid.

But the impact still knocks me off my feet and I hit the ground hard, and the next thing I know he's on top of me, pinning me down to the ground.  
"YOU SON OF A….!"

He smirks and the smile is so much like Myotismon's my mind is filled with the horrible mental image of…him leaning over me, pinning me to the ground. It's not him it didn't happen it…

This nightmare of a thought is pretty much too much for my body to handle, it tenses all over like a statue, suddenly I can barely move.

"GET OFF ME!"

"_Lily…!" _

"_CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"_

"_NO-I DIDN'T MEAN TO-PLEASE…!"_

NeoDevimon laughs once more and then suddenly freezes. His eyes widen and he makes a horrible, gasping, choking noise. The only thing I can see is a silver blade…sticking right out of his chest.

"D'Arcmon?"

The sword is yanked out of the creep's chest, and the next thing I know, Edan's standing behind him, breathing hard, his eyes dark and angry. He looks almost like a different person….

"…Edan?"

He doesn't say anything. He just holds out his hand and pulls me up, and I glance down, staring in disbelief at the bloodstained object in his right hand.

"…You have a sword?"

Edan quirks a slight smile, while he's still breathing hard. "Yeah…I do."

"…" I pull the ring off my hand and stand up with his help. "Thank you…."

"….I killed him from behind. That's not the noble thing to do."

Renamon snorts in derision. "Who cares? Guess the rest of his flunkies ran, huh?"

"Not willing to risk their lives against a Mega Digimon and a Champion tough as nails." I chuckle. Edan shrugs, still looking a little distracted. "Not that it matters. None of them are smart enough to set up an operation like the one he was running."

He nods quietly, and I cock my head, unable to understand what's bothering him for a moment, before it suddenly clicks.

"Hey…"

"Huh?"

"…You saved me. Don't worry about if it's the honourable thing to do. Honour doesn't exist when you're dealing with scum like this." My eyes narrow. "All that matters is people are better off for it. It's not like you killed him in his sleep or something like that, though I'm not so sure that would have been evil either…"

Edan manages a wry smile. "You talk like an assassin would."

"Reformed assassin." I correct him, reaching into my pocket as I hear my cellphone start to buzz. "Huh?"

Why would Tai be sending me a message?

My face pales as I read the one line there, typed in all capital letters-"HELP."

…

"I dunno why, but this place is giving me the willies…." Upamon whimpers in Cody's arms, looking around uneasily at as they ascend the staircase.

"I know the feeling…." He mutters, looking around. "It all seems so cold in here…" He glances at the walls and then yelps, stumbling backwards slightly.

"Cody? What is it?"

He swallows hard as Kari looks over his shoulder. "…There was a…shadow…I don't…."

But the wall was completely blank. Davis huffs in contempt and walks forward. "Yggdrasil, Cody grow up. Don't be such a baby."

"…I didn't make it up…" He says softly. Kari's staring at the wall as well, her eyes oddly vacant looking. "I know…" She murmurs, her voice shaking slightly.

"Kari, Cody, you're holding us up!"

"…"

"Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?" Izzy mutters through clenched teeth as he and the older Digidestined lead the way.

Tai feels the hairs on the back of his neck standing up again, feels Koromon's low growl vibrate through the whole little guy's body. "…It's probably nothing…"

"Where are all the workers?" Matt mutters through clenched teeth. "It's the middle of the week…"

"I really don't like this Matt…"

He grips Sora's hand and then glances back at Tai. "…Maybe we should get out of here…"

"What are we so afraid of?" Gomamon scoffs. "Myotismon's ghost coming back for revenge?"

"That's not funny."

"Ghosts don't exist, Joe. I thought they taught you that at least at college." Gomamon laughs again and then freezes at the sound of the door slamming shut behind them.

"….Er..."

"Get it open." Tai orders, whirling back around. TK bounds down on the steps and pulls on the handles, Patamon grabbing onto his shoulders and trying to help but nothing works.

"…This is not happening…" Mimi mutters through clenched teeth as Yolei pounds on the door again and again yelling, "Someone let us out of here!"

Tsunomon frowns in Matt's arms. "Does…anyone hear that?"

"What is it?"

Tai does….and it chills him to his very bones. Gatomon hisses, backing away, her fur puffed up, eyes wide. The chittering of a hundred hungry bats.

Yolei screams, not knowing what the sound means but now fully freaked out, and runs up the steps ahead of the rest of them. "I WANNA GO HOME! I DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE!"

"Yolei, WAIT!"

Tai clenches his teeth as he races after the girl, Sora right beside him, the feeling of dread and unease growing with every step.

Gomamon's crack about the ghost of Myotismon keeps coming back to him….but that's ridiculous because it's not possible, is it?

Sora almost grabs the girl's T-shirt just as Yolei ducks into a room. "Yolei, wa-…!"

"…"

"What the heck?" Matt breathes in disbelief. A massive group of people are pressed against the opposite wall, all looking white faced and terrified.

"…Something else is in here Tai…" Koromon shines with orange light, growing in size before he was back to his regular miniature dinosaur self. Agumon steps protectively in front of his partner, growling a warning to anything that might dare harm his friend.

Tai's eyes scan the room and he freezes as it fixes on the computer screen. It seems to have gained a life of its own, letters scrambling across it big and red. G…A….T….O….M…

"…Gatomon?"

The cat Digimon is standing in the middle of the room, her fur puffed out to the extreme, but she doesn't look terrified. She just looks…stunned.

"THE WALLS! OH MY YGGDRASIL LOOK AT THE WALLS!"

Mimi's scream echoes and Tai whirls around and his own face pales this time. What looks like…blood trickles down them, scrawling out letters as well. "GATOMON."

"…."

"Okay…I think this is about enough for me…" Davis says in a small voice, backing towards the wall as DemiVeemon evolves. Veemon grabs Gatomon by the paw. "Come on, we've got to get you out of here!"

She swats at him, pushing him aside and he blinks. "G-Gatomon?"

"I know you're here!" She cries, her voice full of pain and sadness. "Show yourself! Please!"

The shadows on the wall seem to move….and Tai's eyes widen as one detaches itself from the wall and slides towards Gatomon.

Suddenly there's a sound of breaking glass and a shout of, "TAI!"

The next thing he knows Lily's there, shoving him back, breathing hard. "Are you all right?"

"I…." His voice trails off and I whirl around, growling at whatever thing is in here. The shadow freezes for a moment…and my eyes narrow as I glare at it, then I let out a soft gasp.

Somehow…I just know who this is… a lump rises in my throat and I can't talk, my hands are shaking at my sides.

Slowly the shadow rises upwards…he's short, for a Digimon, with sandy blonde hair, a pointy wizard's hat he was ridiculousy proud of and I loved to tease him about, and brilliant green eyes that had always seemed to sparkle…when he was alive.

Matt makes a choked noise from behind. "…Oh…Yggdrasil…"

He smiles sadly. "It's good to see all of you as well…"

"…Wizardmon…."


	18. Troublesome Suitors,Abducted Alpha Tamer

Chapter Eighteen

"Just who-OW!"

Davis' protest is cut completely off when Yolei and Sora both kick him in the shins at the same time, and he doubles over in pain.

"Wizardmon…" Gatomon's tail twitches across the floor several times restlessly as she looks up into those green eyes. "It's…so good to see you again….I…" Her voice cracks. "I've missed you."

"I came to tell you something Gatomon…."

"What is it?"

"There is a darkness rising far greater than any of you have ever fought before. Full of anger, and hate, willing to destroy anything and anyone in its path to get revenge on one person…"

"Milleunimon…." I mutter through clenched teeth, and Wizardmon nods, to the confused looks on some of the kids faces and grim acknowledgement on the ones Tai and I talked to…

"He cannot be destroyed the way he is now, for he is linked to a more powerful source that keeps his life force going."

"Huh?"

"The only way to destroy that source….is to collect the symbols of the Lost Three."

"The what?" Yolei mutters. "Figures the ghost just gives us an obscure message and then starts to-OW!"

Wizardmon's form flickers suddenly, and he cringes. "I….have to go….I'm sorry…."

"No…."

He looks at my tear-stained face and smiles sadly as Gatomon cries out, her voice completely breaking now, "Wizardmon!"

"…"

He reaches a gloved hand out towards her, her paw reaching forwards….only to pass right through the hand like its not even there.

She lets out a strangled gasp and Wizardmon slowly starts to pull away, frowning as he stares down at his hands with a look of complete sadness before looking back at her.

"I'm sorry…."

Gatomon gasps as he starts to float away back towards the large glass window. "NO!"

"WIZARDMON!" I lunge forwards but I'm crying so hard I can barely see and Tai's holding my shoulders, holding me close, and I can smell the scent of his own tears. I'm pretty sure most everyone in the room is crying…

Gatomon slams against the window, pressing her face to it desperately as she shouts outside to Wizardmon, "Don't leave me again!"

"Hurry…!"

The fog rolls in around the ghost….and the next second….he's gone….

Gatomon gulps and lowers her head, her ears drooping, I know how she feels. For years she didn't pay any attention to him, tried to ignore him. It was only in those moments when he was helping her that she realized how much his friendship meant to her…maybe more than his friendship, it would have been more if he'd lived, that much I know.

As for me, every sarcastic thing I ever said to him, anytime I snapped at him, keeps playing on repeat in my head over and over again.

I am a monster, I HATE myself…and I didn't get a chance to say sorry….again.

"Gatomon…." Kari says softly, her own voice trembling as she drops to her knees beside her partner and hugs her.

Renamon is whimpering low under her breath as she stands next to me, her ears and tail drooping.

Sora sniffs and rubs her eyes. "….He came back to tell us…."

"Who WAS Wizardmon anyway?" Davis asks, his voice full of confusion as he looks from one Digidestined to the other.

"He was…..a really good friend of mine…." I finish lamely, looking at the ground. Tai sighs, and closes his eyes. "It was during the final battle against Myotismon…"

"_Have you had enough or do you want some more?!"  
"Actually….*laugh* I was about to ask YOU the same question. GRISLY WING!"_

"_KARI!"_

"He was about to destroy both Kari and Gatomon….but Wizardmon…..he jumped in between the attack." Tai swallows hard. "He sacrificed himself to save them."  
"_WIZARDMON! NOOO!"_

"_Next time…don't get in my way!"_

"_Wizardmon you'll be all right, please don't leave….!"_

"_Are you….all right Gatomon?"_

"…_You saved me….I'm sorry…"  
"About….what?"_

"_Sorry I got you involved in all of this….."_

"_Don't be sorry….I don't have any regrets….if I hadn't met you my life would have no meaning….I'm…glad you and I were friends…."_

"…_That's forever…."_

"…_.Thank you for everything….Gatomon…."_

"_Wizar….WIZARDMONNNNNNNNNNNNN!"_

My teeth grind together angrily as my eyes snap back open. If I really tried hard, maybe, MAYBE, I could forgive Myotismon for all the bulllcrap he put me through.

But he did the unforgiveable when he killed Wizardmon. That's something I won't ever forget. None of us will. Even Mimi would love to take pieces out of him for what he did there.

"Will we ever see him again Tai?" Kari says softly, staring out the window and pressing her hand to the glass.

"….I'm sure we will Kari."

Gatomon sniffles, her blue eyes watery. "That Wizardmon….what a friend. Even from beyond he still continues to watch over me."

"But who were the three he was talking about?" Joe wonders, cupping his jaw in his hand like he always does when he's thinking…

I shake my head. "….I dunno….but I know someone who would…" My eyes narrow slightly.

…

"Edan says you ran off on him at the end of the mission."

"That wasn't my fault." I protest, scowling and crossing my arms as Sira sips her tea across the Walker's table. "I got a distress call, what was I supposed to do?"

"Hmm…true." She murmurs, stirring it slightly with a silver spoon. "At least that creep is dead. We've been trying to get him for years. Hundreds of Digimon, mostly young girls have gone missing thanks to him." Her eyes darken and I try to squelch the feeling of absolute disgust that rises up inside me. "…Have you…any chance of finding them?"

"I doubt it…." Sira sighs. "The slavery ring is so underground and powerful here in the Digital World that it's almost impossible to stop, even for us."

"Slavers are like weeds." Dorumon scoffs, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "You kill a handful, and dozens more pop back up."

"I had no idea it was this bad…." I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "And I WAS a slave…."

"True, but in a way you were lucky." Sira says in clipped tones. "Myotismon was more the type of slaver who was very possessive over what he considered his. You weren't going to see any of your friends like say Renamon, sold off to a sex slaver."

I nod grimly. "There is that…course instead of selling them Dorkula would have just killed them if they disobeyed."

"The slavery ring has been going on since my time." Another voice echoes and I turn around in my seat, relieved to see the person I want to talk to enter the room. "Lucemon managed to put it down for a time while he was ruler…" Sorcerymon continues as he walks towards the table. "It was one of his main goals…." He glowers at Dorumon. "Of course, that was before SOMEONE cured him with the Eye of Gorgon, made him go crazy, and become convinced that anyone who spoke against him deserved execution."

"Is no one ever going to let that die?" Dorumon sighs as Renamon and I both stare at him in absolute disbelief.

"…You…cursed Lucemon?"

"He started it."

"Huh?"

Dorumon rolls his golden eyes again. "He was convinced I was some evil being-"Which you are in a way-"Oy, that needed to be destroyed. What he didn't seem to realize that by trying to destroy me he was threatning the entire Digital World. So I taught him a lesson."

"By causing him to go crazy and destroy hundreds of lives." Renamon says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well done you."

"Eh. It was going to happen anyway. Yggdrasil herself said it." Dorumon shrugs. "Don't hate on the vampire for doing his job."

"Who beat Lucemon anyway?" I ask curiously. "I mean obviously someone had to overthrow him once he went mad…"

"…That was the job of the first Digidestined." Sira sighs. "And honestly, they probably had a crappier time than most other tamers or Digidestined…"

"What? Why?"

"Well for starters, Lucemon is an incredibly deadly enemy when he wants to be and most of the Digital World was on his side, out of loyalty or fear. And second of all…" She flinches. "The leader of the Digidestined was Lucemon's childhood best friend."  
I wince. "Ahh…."

Sorcerymon sighs. "I was one of the ten who fought under her. Lizzie had a horrible time during that war. I know she was greatly tempted numerous times to just quit and go running back to him…she still cared about him after all. She hated being the leader of the rebellion with a passion." He shakes his head. "But no matter how many times he offered for her to come back, eventually, she would always say no. Because as much as it hurt her, she knew what he was doing was wrong. She couldn't bear it if hundreds would suffer simply for the sake of her friendship with him."

"What a crappy choice." Renamon mutters, pinning her ears back. "Your best friend or hundreds of innocent people."

"Agreeing that it was a crappy choice either way," Sira says dryly, turning her head to look back at me, "You never told me why exactly you ran off."

"…" I tense before sighing. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

"…Uh, no, not really. Though I suppose they COULD exist…." Her voice trails off and her eyes narrow. "What? Lily, what exactly are you getting at?"

"…Wizardmon. That's what was making the disturbance. It was Wizardmon."

"…Wizar…?"

"Sure you weren't just hallucinating?" Dorumon snorts while I clench the edge of the table and glare at him. "All of the Digidestined saw it. He spoke to us in the TV station."

"Mall hallucinations then? Wonderful…"

"DORUMON…."

Dorumon sighs, flicking his tail. "I'm just trying to mess with you Lily. In any case….if that really was Wizardmon…then my sympathy for him has somehow increased tenfold." His eyes darken. "Digimon only become ghosts if….if they don't want to move on. If there's something in their old life they're still clinging to."

I remember the way Wizardmon looked at Gatomon, and I groan. "So he's going to be stuck in limbo for the rest of eternity?! That's not fair!"

"It's not fair…." Sorcerymon says wearily. "But it's his choice, however subconsciously he's clinging onto it. If he doesn't want to move on, than he won't."

I mutter a curse word under my breath and Renamon takes over. "….He did tell us something interesting though….about Milleunimon…."

Everyone in the room stiffens, Sira's hand tightening on Dorumon, Dorumon growling under his breath, Sorcerymon's hand tightening on his staff.

"So…he has returned after all….I did warn you GranDracmon. I told you he would not give up on revenge so easily."

"Now is really not the time for an "I told you so" lecture Sorcerymon."

"What did he tell you?" Sira demands, leaning forwards.

I sigh. "Nothing that makes sense….he just spoke about the three…how their symbols were the key to defeating him."

Sorcerymon's eyes widen. "…Ahh…."

"You know something don't you? Well spill it shorty, tell me what you know!"

Renamon then yelps as ice creeps up her ankles up to her thighs. "Gah! I'm sorry, Sorcerymon, I didn't mean to call you s-short!"

"You're an idiot." I say flatly to her as the ice continues to creep up her body before turning back to Sorcerymon and in my most respectful, polite, "I know you could kill me with a snap of your fingers if you wanted to but please don't" voice, "What can you tell us about the three?"

"…" Sorcerymon sighs. "Milleunimon appeared after Lucemon was first sealed away. We were…that is to say Lizzie and the rest of them, greatly weakened from one war, and we'd lost members. We desperately needed help."

"And…?"

"I can't tell you their names, because after the war they'd witnessed so many atrocities they wanted to forget. They didn't want to be remembered in history at all, so disgusted by the amount of lives they'd had to take in order to achieve victory. Maybe their memories will come back at some point, maybe they won't, but I shall keep my word."

"Then how is that going to help us?" I demand, exasperated now. Sorcerymon's eyes flash. "Because it's not them you need, it's their symbols. The Digieggs Yggdrasil gave them in order to become far more powerful."  
"…Like Davis' Digiegg of Miracles?"

"Exactly. The original Bearer of Miracles died a long time ago, actually fighting against Milleunimon. He managed to do a great deal of damage to the monster ahead of time though, which is how we were able to seal him."

"…You sealed him? You didn't just kill him?"

He shakes his head. "Too powerful….and remember this happened literally only a few weeks after the war with Lucemon. We were all still exhausted."

"So how do the three Digieggs come into play for us?" I say sceptically, leaning forwards. "I don't know what happened to the Digiegg of Miracles after Magnamon helped beat Megidramon, but I don't think Davis kept it."

Sorcerymon shrugs. "Then it means he wasn't strong enough to bind the Digiegg to him by himself. In any case…if we can bring all three together, then we can re-enter Milleunimon's prison."

There's the sound of shattering ice and Renamon pants as she slowly pries her way free, using her claws. "Not….cool, Sorcerymon!"

"No, not cool at all." Dorumon responds cheekily, smirking. "Freezing cold."

"Shut up hairball."

"You want me to use MY ice attack on you when I get back to my GranDracmon form? I promise you it's a heck of a lot more powerful." He grins malignantly.

Sorcerymon raises an eyebrow. "I really hope that's not you implying that your attacks are stronger than mine, GranDracmon…."

"…Maybe…?"

Sira bonks Dorumon on top of the head, causing him to yelp and give her a resentful look. "Enough with this stupid argument over whose stronger, the two of you have been having it for years."

"And it usually ends in a certain fox ending up looking like an idiot…." I mutter, rolling my eyes.

Dorumon's eyes narrow. "…Did I mention I need new subjects when I get to start experimenting again?"

"Don't even think about it Dr. Frankenstein. Touch me and Milleunimon will be the LEAST of your worries."

Renamon blinks. "Dr. Frankenstein? I thought Frankenstein was the monster."

I shake my head. "Nah, that's only in the movies. The monster was actually pretty nice, only desperately wanted to make friends and be human like everyone else. Dr. Frankenstein was the irresponsible idiot who didn't take accountability for his actions, betrayed and rejected the monster, and then acted even more idiotic by not dealing with the monster immediately when it started killing people."

"Oh by all means…." Dorumon says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Go walk up and give Milleunimon a hug. See how far that gets you."

"I'll pass, thanks." I say drolly back. "That doesn't change the fact that technically this is all your fault."

He scoffs. "It's not like the Digimon I experiment on are innocent anyway. Generally it's only the criminals that Yggdrasil allows me to toy with."

"…GENERALLY?"

"Details, details….anyway my point is that you shouldn't be wasting time feeling sorry for the moron, if he wants to get revenge on me by causing me pain, that's FINE, but actually trying to kill me puts the entire Digital World at risk and that's crossing the line."

"I agree Milleunimon's crazier than a rabid Bakamon." I sigh. "And I'm half convinced that Ryo might be as well. Did you hear her? She's actually convinced Milleunimon was her partner."

"…"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

"How old IS that girl?" Renamon says in disbelief, pulling the ice free from her fur with her claws. I roll my eyes and bop her on the head.

"OW!"

"…" Sira sighs, burying her face in her hands. "It's a long story…"

"You think I have anything better to do with my time right now?" I say dryly.

"Well you are single and yet live with your ex boyfriend hmmm…-"REMIND ME AGAIN WHY WE SAVED YOU?!"

"….Milleunimon managed to escape the barrier by degenerating." Sorcerymon says grimly. "Hundreds of years later. It was already weakened because…one of our own…." His eyes darkened. "Wasn't as loyal as we thought he was."

"So he was manipulating Ryo the entire time? Or did she know and she just went along with it for the power?" I question, my eyes narrowing, but something about that statement didn't make sense. Why would she be afraid of him then?

"….I don't think either of them knew at first to be honest…" Sira sighs.

"Huh?"

"When he degenerated he lost his memories…." Sorcerymon sighs, leaning against his staff. "We suspected—that is Dorumon and I—always felt uneasy around him because he felt familiar in some way…although we didn't realize exactly how at the time."

"He and Ryo did love each other, partner and beta tamer, I'm sure of that." Sira sighs, stretching up and brushing her hair out of her face. "But…..the more levels he advanced….the more his memory started to return…."

"And the more bitter he got…." I say grimly, getting a sinking feeling as to where this is going.

"We didn't notice much at first except that he was getting more aggressive, tearing apart enemies instead of bringing them in, not showing any signs of holding back or mercy." Sira's eyes harden. "And Ryo didn't stop him."

"Maybe she was afraid…?" Renamon says quietly. "I mean if she had any inkling of how crazy her partner really was…."

"Maybe. And I could forgive that. But by the time he got to the Ultimate form his memory returned in full."

"Oh…."

" #%%%^."

"He ransacked an entire peaceful settlement to download enough data to evolve back into Milleunimon." Dorumon says, growling under his breath and showing his fangs a little.

"Did Ryo try to stop him then?"

"I wouldn't know." Sira says coldly, her eyes fixed on something I can't see. "We got there too late to stop him and found Ryo unconscious. After that…it was pretty obvious that deletement was the only option."

"…That had to have been hard…." I say softly, looking away. "Knowing that your partner had to be destroyed. I'm guessing she didn't take it well."

The anger in Sira's eyes is intense enough for me to scoot my chair back a little, as though I'm afraid she'll bore holes into me with that stare.

"….She didn't take it at all. She sabotaged our mission."

"What?!"

"That's how Adelina almost died, and GranDracmon…." Sira's voice trails off and her hand tightens on top of Dorumon and I swallow.

Renamon growls. "Was she actually trying to kill you?"

"I don't know and I don't care. The point is that little traitor nearly got my partner killed and endangered the rest of her team, people she promised to protect when she became a tamer. It's a good thing she ran after Milleunimon escaped, because I…." She stares down at her hands. And I know what she couldn't say. If Ryo was there she might have killed her, and for a minute, I hate Ryo for doing this to someone I care about.

Sira's sarcastic, snappy, and sometimes just downright rude and I've seen her kill in battle many times before….but that's much different than killing in cold blood or pure rage. Both of those aren't Sira.

"…Then why didn't you tell us this before?" I say wearily, leaning back in my chair. "Tai would have kicked her out and told her not to show her face around the team if he'd known."

Her shoulders twitch. "…I wanted to see why she'd come back."

"You thought she might have changed?"

Snort.

"Hey, stranger things have happened." I say with a shrug. "Would you have ever thought that Gatomon and I would end up being close friends? Considering the number of times we've tried to maim/kill each other in the past?"

"Gatomon was brainwashed into following Myotismon, there's a big difference between that and betraying people who put their trust in you."

"True…."

Sira sighs. "I wanted to know what she wanted. I've done some research…apparently she's been traveling all across the Digital World for years now ever since that incident. Looking for something…."

A chill runs down my spine. "…You think she's looking for the Digieggs?"

"Exactly. And if she finds them….someone holding those Digieggs could use them to let Milleunimon's spirit completely free."

"…."

"Lovely…."

Shoving my chair back, I stand up, eyes flashing. "I need to warn Tai about this."

"NO!"

"Why the heck not?!" I snap, glaring at the rest of them. "He and the others need to know that she's a freaking monster…."

"Lils, you know the only good side to her being around the rest of the Digidestined?" Sira says with forced calm as she leans forward across the table from me. "Is that I KNOW what she's doing."

"So you think putting them in danger is worth that? I'm sorry, but not a chance!" I snap, crossing my arms and glaring back at her.

"Use your brains…." Dorumon growls. "Isn't it better to keep tabs on what Ryo's doing than not? Because if she's not being watched we won't know about her attempts to get the others killed until it's too late."

"But…."

"And that way if she does pull something again she won't get away so easily." Sira says grimly.

"…."

Renamon sighs. "They have a point Lils…."

"I still don't like it…" I mutter, clenching my fists in anger but not having a way to argue against Sira. I hate this. I hate the fact that I'll be withholding information from Tai, and I can't help one more protest even though I know it probably won't do any good.

"Why not just tell Tai though? He can be trusted to keep a secret…." Sira rolls her eyes and I stiffen.

Granted, Tai's not the….er….how do I put this without sounding mean….the brightest tool in th…oh forget it, there are just times when he can be a complete idiot.

The boy has more of the stereotypical blonde moments than Matt has.

"Even if he can keep his mouth shut, which I seriously doubt…." Sira says dryly, crossing her arms, "You realize that if we told him he wouldn't be able to tell anyone else, not even Matt or Sora."

"….Ugh….they're even more trustworthy than he is, don't be ridiculous…."

"I can't do that Lils. I can't risk Ryo catching onto the fact that we're watching her, otherwise she'll run. And if she's planning something, it will put everyone in danger. Besides, it's different with Tai. He's the leader…and leader's aren't supposed to keep secrets from their team. It's the ultimate betrayal. I'd never do it to my own team and I can't ask him to do something I wouldn't."

"…" I groan, rubbing a hand over my face. "…..Fine. We'll do this your way. For now. But if your way starts putting Tai and the others in danger I will not be a happy person."

"I might be willing to reconsider the matter if my plan doesn't work the way I want it to." She says flatly. My eyes narrow slightly at her.

"…Lily what do you want me to say? Kimeramon's data is missing, is it my fault that I'm a little paranoid about what others might find out?"

My jaw drops. "….WHAT?!"

"Matt and Sora didn't tell you?" Sira raises an eyebrow. "They were there when Edan figured it out. Kimeramon's data should have been loaded back into the system, but it wasn't. That combined with the fact that-"That Ken was possessed with a Dark Spore?"

"…."  
If Dorumon wasn't covered with fur, I could have sworn his face had paled. "…How did you know about those things?" He manages to say through clenched teeth, his claws extending.

"…Uh….Lucemon….found one in Ken's neck-"WHAT?!" Sira barks, leaping to her feet, eyes blazing. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?!"

"Because you were in a coma! And then things got…..even crazier around here, so sue me, I forgot until right now!"

"Unfreaking believable…." She mutters through clenched teeth.

"Sira, I'm sorry all right it's just-"This changes everything…." She continues, as though she can't hear me. "Ken was being completely controlled the entire time, I doubt he'll have any memory at all of the last couple of years….and he might be better off for that,…." She says quietly.

"Uh, excuse me?" Renamon raises a paw. "Lucemon didn't say exactly what they were, just that they were used for slavery, and that a certain someone here made them…." She shoots Dorumon a look but he just glares back at her. "Don't blame this on me, this wasn't supposed to happen…."

"Why did you make them in the first place?" I demand, putting my hands on my hips.

"….They weren't supposed to cause slavery…." He mutters. "I designed them to help weaker Digimon, In-Trainings, Rookies, those who were killed by stronger Digimon so easily. It was supposed to help them digivolve…."

"Ken's a genius level kid and amazing strength and sports skills…." I muse. "Almost inhuman…."

"Exactly. It should never have been used on a human in the first place! I tried to get rid of all of the Dark Spores once I found out that….that the person injected with them was bound to the will of the person who gave it to them."

"…" A chill runs down my spine at his words. "And there would be no way to fight off the effects of the Spore?"

"No….well technically yes but that person would have to have amazing will power. But in the end it wouldn't matter. The Spore works by draining energy from those who try to resist its influence. Eventually….if they don't give in…it will drain ALL of their energy. It's not a question of "will they die" it's a question of "When?"

"….Why didn't you destroy these things?"

"I tried to…." Dorumon snarls. "They were stolen from me. Apparently one of my associates decided to heck with what these things can do to people, they earn good money on the black market…."

"….Ryo knows Ken…." I say quietly. "Or….at least I got that feeling that she's known him before. You….don't think maybe…."

"Maybe she's the one who put it in him?" Sira says grimly. "That's exactly what I think."

…

The room inside is dark and completely silent like a tomb, except for the quiet whirring of the fan and the near non existent sound of someone breathing.

There's a sudden creaking sound and the window pops open slowly, slowly, and a head of red hair emerges shoving her way inside.

"Lucky their security system is complete bull…" Ryo whispers to herself as she pulls herself upwards onto the windowsill.

The purple puff ball leaps out of her bag and shines, which is obnoxiously bright in the small room. Ryo fights the desire to curse wildly. "Monodramon! I told you to wait till we got out of here!" She hisses through clenched teeth, fighting the desire to strangle him.

"Sorry…I have too much energy to stay in my In-Training form!"

Ryo glares at him and glances warily at the closed bedroom door, half afraid the Ichijouji's are going to come charging in here to find out the source of the bright light.

That would be awkward.

There's a low moan behind them and both of them freeze, Monodramon's golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"Is that…?'

Ryo doesn't say anything. She just takes a step forwards, her hands shaking a little bit at her sides as she approaches the figure lying unconscious on the bed.

"….Ken…?"

He's lying there, his forehead pale with sweat, and she swallows hard. "I thought Lucemon said you'd be better…." Her voice cracks. "I realize you need time to fight off what that thing did to you….but please come back….please…."

Ryo's jaws clamp shut at the sound of voices outside the door. There's the sound of someone….sobbing?

"He didn't even remember me…." Mrs. Ichijouji weeps loudly in the living room. "I thought we might finally have our son back….but we've lost him after all, just like Sam…oh…..I can't go through this again…."

Ryo can hear the sounds of her husband trying to soothe Ken's mum, but nothing works. Swallowing hard, she whispers, "….Ken you can't just….waste away like this. You wouldn't want to do that to your parents, I know you wouldn't…."

Silence.

"If you're having trouble coming back….because a part of you doesn't want to than please don't do this to them Ken. They only love you. They've always loved you, not just your brother…."

Monodramon touches her leg as she lowers her head. "Besides….if a part of you is looking for someone to blame because of this mess…..then you should blame me…."

His pale face is still blank and unknowing, and Ryo bites down hard on her lip to surpress the scream of frustration she wants so desperately to let out.

Frustration and self-hatred.

"…I did this to you….I'm sorry you got involved in it…."

"….Have to find…."

"Huh?"

Ryo whirls around at the sound of his voice, to see Ken shivering in his bed as though hopelessly cold. "Lost him…lost them both…."

"…Ken…"

Her eyes scan the room, taking in the bookcase stuffed with academic textbooks, the dusty chess set, the set of Donkey Kong Video games right next to the….

"Computer…." She breathes, her eyes widening.

Monodramon cocks his head as she walks quickly over to it, her anticipation—and her fear scent obvious to him. She had an idea but was terrified it wouldn't work.

"Ryo….what are you….?"

"Digiport open!"

Monodramon yelps as the light from the computer fills the room and hears the sound of Ken's parents walking towards the door, obviously noticing the light.

"Ryo, what are you?!"

"Getting Ken back what he lost…." Is her simple yet fierce reply as she picks the boy up and hoists him over her shoulder.

The three of them enter the portal at the exact same time Mr. Ichijouji forces the door open, and the screams from his parents echo in her ears.

…

"….Ugh….."

Sapphire blue eyes slowly open underneath a curtain of dark hair, and Ken groans as he sits up, feeling the warm grass beneath him.

"Where….am I….?"

"We're in Primary Village."

He blinks at the sound of that voice, looking up at the face that is strangely familiar. "….Ryo?"

"Glad you can at least remember that…." She says softly. "….You said in your sleep….that you were looking for someone….I have a feeling who that might be…."

"Hello!"

The two of them both turn around to see a small Botamon lying in a cradle, yellow eyes peering up at them with curiosity. "What is a Digidestined doing here?"

"…I…."

"Don't talk to him!" Another Baby Digimon that looks more like an old man with a long beard glowers at Ken. "I recognize you even without your fancy clothes….you're the Digimon Emperor!"

Gasps and whimpers fill Primary Village and Ken takes a step back, looking confused for a moment, then glancing down at his hands and paling as though he can see blood on them.

"Ken…." Ryo says in alarm, taking a step forwards, but he pushes her away.

"Don't touch me…" He hisses, shaking. "You're better off being far away from me…..don't touch me!"

Monodramon bares pearly white canines at the Fresh Digimon, something he would normally NEVER do, but they've succeeded in pissing him off. "What's with you guys? Primary Village is supposed to be a place of new beginnings. Half of you probably died in the first place because you made a stupid mistake and were cruel to the wrong person, so who do you think you are judging him?"

"There's a difference between making a mistake and being pure evil!"

"He's been touched by the Devil himself! We don't want him here in this world!"

"Piss off….no one cares what you brats think." Ryo snaps and sees Ken back on his knees, shaking like mad. "Oh Yggdrasil I'm a monster…." His strained whisper echoes upwards and hurts her heart.

"No Ken, don't listen to them…they don't know what they're talking about."

"Why would Wormmon come back to you?"

"He would be better off without you! You only want him back so you can hurt him so more, don't you?"

"…." Ken felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Ryo's eyes. "….You can make this right…." She says softly. "You haven't nearly gone so far as….as I have…"

There's silence for a moment before something shines on Ken's waist. His eyes widen slightly and he pulls his Digivice out of his pocket, staring down at the light in awe and disbelief.

"It's coming from your heart!" A third baby Digimon, a Poyomon, actually smiles at him. "And if Lady Yggdrasil has still blessed you….then I'm sure you'll be able to find your partner!"

"If he wants you too….."

Monodramon glowers at the Yuramon. "I'm serious you little punk….one more word….."

"Monodramon, now's not the time to be picking on the runts. Actually, it's never the time to be picking on stupid kids."

He snorts, pulling his teeth back in a growl. "Someone has to beat the sense into them…."

"…"

Her eyes narrow. It was never a good thing when Monodramon lost his temper. It didn't happen often but when it did….and there was no guarantee of what exactly would set him off. "Easy boy…." She mutters, putting a hand on his head.

Ken walks forward as if in a trance, his eyes focused straight ahead of him, the grass crunching softly underneath his footsteps. Baby toys jangled in the tree branches under the soft breeze that filled the air….

"_Ken….?"_

That voice…

"_Ken come and find me….don't leave me again…..please….."_

He drops to his knees in front of a green shelled egg and touches it, fingers trembling. He doesn't pull back at the bright expansion of light but it attracts both the baby's and Ryo's attention.

The egg continues to shine until finally slowing down, until it forms what looks like a green ball, with an adorable round pink nose and tiny black eyes. He kind of looks like a baby piglet with a leaf blowing gently in the wind.

"…Ken?"

Ken's eyes fill with tears and he lets out a choking noise, lowering his head and pulling the little Digimon close to him.

"….Ken I missed you…."

"I missed you too….I kept looking for you….I never stopped….."

"Ken….thank you….it took a while for you to get there but you kept your promise in the end."

Monodramon looks at Ryo quizzically. "What does he mean by promise?"

Ryo's silent for a moment, her red bangs hanging in her face as she lowers her head.

"_Go get Ken…..we're moving out, it's not safe here anymore…"_

_The girl nods up at the older boy, running forwards and pulling herself over the sand dunes of the desert._

"_Ken…! Ken, Jake says we need to….!"_

_The sand suddenly explodes in front of her and she screams, holding her arms up over her face as a huge, dark face looms down at her, yellow eyes, skeleton like features._

"_SkullScorpiomon!"_

"_RYO!"_

"_SPIKING STRIKE!"_

_Stingmon charges downwards, the pink blade extending as he rams the creature right between the shoulder blades, causing it to rear up in pain, forgetting Ryo as it whirls around and lashes out at him instead._

_The inexperienced Champion is no match for the hungry Ultimate, and Ryo's eyes widen in horror along with Ken's scream as Stingmon hits the ground hard, his wings badly torn by the pinchers, groaning as he degenrates and SkullScorpiomon scuttles forwards, drooling._

_However his attack doesn't last long as the dragon leaps onto his back, snarling in fury, ripping into the creature's ribcage and showing little mercy._

_Ken runs forward to his unconscious partner, scooping him up in his arms, his blue eyes teary. "Wormmon, are you gonna be okay?"_

_Wormmon groans slightly, opening his own eyes as he looks into the worried face of his young partner. He smiles. "I'm fine Ken….don't you worry."_

"_I was so scared for you….I hate seeing you get hurt, even a little bit…."_

_Wormmon sighs, smiling. "That's what I love about you Ken. You're such a sweet, sensitive boy….but it's also why I worry about you…."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I worry that one of these days someone is going to use that kindness to take advantage of you….I'm worried you might get hurt too, Ken."_

"…_.I promise I'll stay the same way forever….."_

_Wormmon chuckles. "That's not exactly what I meant, but as long as you remember your kindness…..then I'll always be proud to be your partner."_

"Kindness…." Ryo says softly, closing her eyes and feels a hand on her shoulder. She stiffens, not remembering the last time a human touched her and slowly turns her head to look at him.

"….I'm ready to go back now…." He says softly. A small smile appears on his face. "Thanks….Ryo…."

"…" She smiles. "…..Your parents will be freaking out right now. We should get you back before your parents think you've been kidnapped this time…."

…

Ryo and Monodramon watch as the portal slowly closes. Monodramon smiles and looks up at her. "You did good work Ry…"

She whacks him upside the head. "I told you not to call me that…." She mutters as he grins.

She rolls her eyes and suddenly stiffens at the sound of something crunching up above her.

"…."

Monodramon growls lowly before his golden eyes narrow, grabbing Ryo's wrist before she can reach for her Digivice.

"Wait….it's someone we know…."

"….Tai….COME OUT…"

There's the sound of something crunching up and Monodramon rolls his eyes and leaps upwards, slicing his claws in a punching motion.

Tai yelps as the branch is sliced out from underneath him and both he and Agumon tumble to the grounds, Tai letting out a startled yelp as Agumon lands on his back.

"…Ow! Get off me tubby!"

"Who are you calling tubby?!"

Tai scowls, getting to his feet just as Ryo grabs him by the front of the shirt, nearly spitting mad as she pins him to the tree behind him.

"You were spying on me?!"

"….Calm down for Yggdrasil's sake…." He sighs. "It's not like I came all the way here looking for you." He holds up his Digivice. "I got a familiar signal on here…Ken's signal."

"…And? What's your point?"

Tai's eyes narrow slightly and Ryo bristles. "Just because he made a mistake doesn't mean he should be denied from his partner for good. Are you perfect, Kamiya?"

"Never claimed I am." Tai says flatly, taking a step forwards. "And I'm not saying he's evil. I've got nothing against Ken, especially after the Dark Spore was the thing controlling him. But he's not the most stable person in the world, is he?"

"….Are you having a problem with Ken or me?" She growls.

"…" Tai's eyes narrow. "….You picked up on that rather quickly, didn't you? You're connected to the whole Milleunimon incident and you won't explain how."

"Because it's none of your business…." She hisses through clenched teeth.

"I have to protect my team." Tai's voice raises as Agumon and Monodramon growl at each other. "And if I don't know the situation, than how can I?"

"…..Piss off…."

"No…." He grabs her shoulder and glares at her, their eyes meeting each other. "I can't let this go. Ryo I want to help you…" His voice trails off. "But I can't if you make my job so much more difficult."

"I don't need your help. I never have needed anyone's help…."

"…Are you sure about that?"

Ryo's eyes widen slightly, clenching her teeth. Neither of them notice another figure standing in the background. I sigh, leaning against the tree as I watch the two of them.

I couldn't hear what they were saying….but it was pretty obvious that Tai had some kind of influence over Ryo.

In other words she didn't hate him as much as she hated the rest of the Tamers, especially Sira. And by an unfortunate extent, me too.

If we're going to find out what's going on with Ryo….if there's any chance we find out what happened to Kimeramon's data….then do I have a choice?

Ugh….but this keeping stuff from Tai is manipulating him….but I can't have Ryo have any clue we're watching her…

What am I supposed to do?!

"It's a dilemma isn't it….?"

My right eye twitches before I sigh, turning around and raising an eyebrow. "I know you're there Damien. What do you want?"

His black hair and dark jacket make him blend in with the shadows as he sits in the tree above me….no wonder I didn't see him before.

"Can you teleport or do you just use freaky mind abilities to find out where I'm going to be?"

"How about a combination of both?"

"How about you actually answer me for once?" I say, rolling my eyes as he hops down from the branch and glances back over his shoulder.

"Worried about your boyfriend?"

"….He's not my boyfriend…."

"Still….I think he can take care of himself….you plan on taking care of him for the rest of your life?"

"That's not what I'm trying to do…."

"You're a tamer. And he's the Digidestined leader. You're not responsible for what happens to him, only what happens to your team…."

My eyes narrow and I give him a look. "Let's make one thing clear…" I say in a low voice, poking my finger into his chest and shoving him backwards slightly. "No matter what happens, if I'm a tamer, Digidestined, or banished from the Digital World completely….I will always help them. I always will want what's best for them…."

"Even if it means putting the Digital World at risk?" He asks as I turn away from him, walking deeper into the forest. His fingers curl around my wrist and I stiffen slightly as he pulls me closer to him.

"….You have a good heart Lily….you're loyal to your friends more than most people would be…but you should realize things are never so black or white…"

I sigh. "Trust me, I know that…."

"Do you? Do you really?"

"…I think I'm learning that…."

My eyes widen as he catches me off guard….leaning forwards….I shake my head and put my hands against his chest, pushing him back. "NO."

The fierceness in my warning growl seems to catch him off guard, he leans away from me, slight reproach in his eyes.

"….Damien I'm sorry. But no."

His eyes flicker with annoyance but he reluctantly lowers his head. "I…see. My apologies for my forwardness…."

Grabbing my hand, he kisses my knuckles, a gesture that sends shivers down my spine, and not just shivers of nervousness.

"W-what did we say about the forwardness?"

Damien smiles roguishly. "If you ever change your mind….you can bet I'll find you…" He smiles before stepping back into the shadows.

"…Because that wasn't at all creepy." I call back, and I swear I can hear his laugh on the wind, ringing in my ears. I know full well Damien's not safe. I know even less about him than I do about Ryo. But…still…I rub my knuckles against my cheek, breathing in his scent in the air.

Something about him is so alluring…I look into his eyes and I feel like I've known him for years, instead of the few months in reality.

My gosh I sound like a love struck idiot from one of those sappy romance novels I always used to tease Mimi for reading.

But something about Damien draws me to him, like a moth to the flame…..I can only hope I won't end up being horribly burned.

Something vibrates in my pocket as I stand there, still hopelessly lost in thought, and I absently pull my cellphone out and answer it. "Hello…?"

"_My my, someone sure sounds like she's in a daze. Let me guess, Tai, Damien, or Taylor Laughtner just was with you?"_

I scowl. "Dorumon…."

"_Guess again. Can't use the phone in my Dorumon form, I lack these handy appendages called thumbs."_

"Fine, GranDracmon what do you want?"

"_Well while you were drooling over your latest boy toy…."_

"For your information I was tailing Ryo…."

"…_I see….so THAT'S the way you swing, I have been wondering…."_

"I'm TAILING her like Sira TOLD me to you idiot…."

"_Uh huh….whatever you say….in any case be a dear and spend more time with that scruffy haired dog, will you?"_

"…Eh?"

"_What's so confusing about that?"_

"You little runt what exactly are you planning?"

"_What? You can't just trust me?"_

"Not as far as I can throw you."

"_Good girl….in any case Sira managed to uncrack part of the riddle your old friend Wizardmon told us about."_

My eyes widen slightly and I tense my hand around the phone. "….What do you mean?"

"_The three Digieggs….I managed to find out where the map is..."_

"And?!"

"_And it's in the Digidestined territory, which means we need your charming friend's permission."_

"…You want me to manipulate Tai again? Forget it! And tell Sira that too!"

"_Calm yourself….we don't want manipulation….just ask him politely…over a candlelit dinner…"_

"Clearly your definition of manipulation is different from mine."

"_Clearly but do you honestly think I care?"_

"I know you don't care…." I mutter. "I still say there could be a better way to do this."

"_Sira insists on it."_

"…Why do I get the odd feeling this is a set up for me to go out with Tai again and to stay away from Damien?"

"_Big head idiots are better than dark haired jerks. Honestly, Lily….there's something about that kid that sounds fishy to me."_

"…You don't know him."

"_And I'm relieved not to in a way."_

I sigh, rolling my eyes and staring back into the forest where Damien disappeared. One is like the shadows and one is like the sun.

…Yggdrasil help me. I'm Bella Swan.

…

"Hey Sora, what is it?"

Tai raises an eyebrow as he answers the phone, leaning back on the plush couch and closing his eyes. "..Lily wants to talk to me? Then why would she ask you to call me?..." His eyes widen. "….You think she was actually trying to…."

"…"

Gatomon's ears twitch as at the sound of a loud thud, and she pads outside Kari's door with her concerned partner to see Tai lying there in a daze.

"….Tai? What happened?"

"You look like Yggdrasil herself decided to strike you dumb and blind."

"….Lily….date…..'

"Huh?!"  
Kari's eyebrows raised so high they didn't appear to be on her face at all. "….Lily asked you….out on a date….."

"Y-YES!" Like a man who just received an electric jolt Tai bolts out the door, slamming it shut. "I'll be back!"  
"…."

"Since when does Lily need Sora to ask a guy out?" Gatomon says sceptically. "I mean I know she's bad when it comes to the whole dating thing but she's not THAT bad…."

Kari shrugs as she bends down and picks up the cordless phone. "Beats me. Cripes, this thing is going to run out of batteries again cause Tai never hangs it up…."

"_Hello….Kari?"_

"Sora?"

"_Please tell me Tai doesn't actually think that Lily was trying to ask him out….."_

"Unfortunately…..I take it you come bringing bad news huh?"

Sora groans on the other side of the phone. "_Lily seemed pretty nervous at school today and when I asked what was wrong she said she needed to talk to Tai tonight and if I saw him let him know cause she'd be busy."_

"….Well maybe she really is planning to ask him out and that was why she was nervous….."

"_Kari she wasn't half-excited nervous she was more…..upset nervous."_

"…..Oh dear Yggdrasil this is not going to be pretty…."

"_No kidding. When Lily finds out about this whole mess she is going to freaking kill me."_

Kari hangs up the phone—properly, unlike her brother, and turns back to Gatomon with a rueful grimace on her face. "Now what do we do?"

"Well we have two options….." Gatomon comments as she lazily stretches out on the couch. "We can either run down there and stop your brother from making a fool out of himself, or we can relax here and laugh at his misfortune when he comes back."

Kari snorts but Gatomon did have a point. Tai had to learn the hard way not to get so overexcited and assuming. She knew if Lily wanted to get back together, she'd let him now.

Probably through an intense make-out session in the school supply closet again.

"Yeah, I've been wanting to see some TV…."

….

"…..Please tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing…."

"_Nope. That is Tai in a tux and that is a candlelight dinner in front of him. Well….actually it's a cheese pizza with a birthday candle in front of him but you get the gist."_

I roll my eyes over to where Renamon's hidden underneath the perception filter. "You're so helpful."

"_I try!"_

Seriously, how could this have happened? I had just decided that I was going to ignore Sira and GranDracmon's odd attempts at getting me to go out with Tai, and then THIS happens.

Sora you are so freaking dead when I get my hands on you.

"Tai….what is this?"

"Uh…it's dinner?" He says hopefully, holding up a piece of pizza. "You hungry?"

I roll my eyes and sit in the chair on the opposite side of him. "I mean why the heck are you in a tux….?"

"…I don't really know…."

I sigh before leaning forwards and quickly blowing out the pink-striped birthday candle. Tai's forehead creases and I cross my arms. "Nice try lover boy." I say, feeling slightly annoyed. "I just wanted to talk to you and then you go and pull something like this….."

"Well Sora told me-"And you still should have known better. Besides, candlelight dinner? Even when we were dating did we EVER do something that cheesy?"

"Eh heh…no? But I just thought….."

"For Yggdrasil's sakes…." I mutter, grabbing a piece of pizza and taking a massive bite to hide my irritation. "I can't even just talk to you. Honestly talking to Damien is simpler…."

….That might have been the wrong thing to say….

Tai's eyes narrow as he leans back in his chair, jaw setting tightly. "Damien….huh…..well I'm so sorry I'm not like the sexy dark wonder."

"That is not what I meant and please never refer to him like that again people might start questioning your sexual orientation."

"…"

"GAH!"

I roll my eyes as Tai lies there on the groud, twitching. "Easy, Kamiya I was joking. No one will ever really think you bat for the other team. Although that would be an interesting twist to a love triangle…." I muse thoughtfully. "Having the two guys fall in love instead of-"LILY!"

"I'm joking….." I repeat again with a sigh as Tai scrambles back to his feet.

Tai scowls in frustration as he leans against the back of the chair. "Seriously though what does he have that I don't?"

"….Maturity. Charm. Intelligence."

"Ugh…."

"All of which get pretty boring after a while…." I muse, cupping my chin in my hand and staring off to the side peacefully.

"…."

"Really…" Tai says, arching an eyebrow.

"Nah. It never really gets old."

"GAH!"

"You really need to learn when I'm being sarcastic and when I'm not…." I sigh, looking down at him. "For crying out loud I do like Damien, I'm not going to lie to you, but he's too serious for me I feel. Besides, it doesn't matter that he's more muscular than you are…."

"How would you know that?! Oh Yggdrasil you've seen him shirtless haven't you!"

"Don't be ridiculous, he just wears those really tight shirts that show off everything….."

"….My gosh you've spent too much time with GranDracmon…."

"I know right?" I say with a snort. "In all fairness, he's not as muscular as Damien is either, and when I first met GranDracmon I still thought he was pretty ho….oh no…."

"….." Tai slowly turns around to face me, a sly, cheeky, border line evil grin on his face that lets me know I'm in serious trouble. "….You used to have a crush on GranDracmon."

"Tai, DROP IT."

"Ohh no I won't, this is PRICELESS!"

The next thing I know he's on the ground, rolling, laughing his head off. I scowl, glaring murderously down at him as his guffaws continue to echo upwards.

"It wasn't really a crush I just thought he was…..oh for crying out loud…I didn't know he was engaged to Sira when I first met him….oh give me a break! I was 13 years old and the only men I'd ever seen before were Dorkula, Demidevimon, and Wizardmon. My hormones had been so horribly supressed they latched onto the first mildly attractive guy I sa…..WOULD YOU STOP LAUGHING?!"

He can't. I scowl and stomp onto his chest. Not hard enough to actually hurt, even though I half believe he deserves it, but enough to get my point across. "LOOK. The whole reason I came to talk to you was because Sira asked me to. Three Digieggs….that's what Wizardmon meant….and Sira thinks she knows where the clues to them are hidden."

"…." Tai's eyes narrow and he's actually serious for a second. "…Wait…three Digieggs? You mean that they-"Are they key to Milleunimon's realm. It works like GranDracmon's, we get in there, we destroy it, we kill him."

"…..And you didn't feel the need to tell me this earlier BECAUSE?"

"That's what I was going to try to tell you before you went all Cassanova on me."

"Lils do you even know what going Cassanova means?"

"Whatever….'

Tai shrugs. "All right, fine I'm sorry….wait why is Sira asking permission to enter our territory?"

"Because you're the Digidestined leader….and she's trying to do this the respectful way, apparently." I purse my lips in thought. "Mind you, if you say no she'll just storm in there anyway…."

Tai's eyes narrow. "A chance to beat that monster….you think I'd honestly say no? Sure they can come in as long as the rest of my team can follow and we're not left out of the loop."

I think of Ryo and how much we ARE leaving out of the loop….I sigh. "Right. Course not."

I grab his hand and help pull him to his feet. "Oh and…..Tai?"

"Hmm?"

"I'd…appreciate it if you don't mention my past mistake to GranDracmon he'll never let me hear the end of it till the day I die…."

Tai's expression is far too innocent. "Of course not….that is…things might slip out by accident, you know?"

"They won't if I staple your mouth shut…." I threaten, my eyes narrowing.

"Yeah but that would cause a lot of awkward questions. I know one thing that you could do to me that would guarantee me to shut up, even without staples."

"….What?"

He leans forward and whispers in my ear like he's sharing a secret, "Go out on a real date with me?"

"…YOU SNEAKY CONNIVING BLACKMAILING JERK!"

"Hey, you said that's what you like about Damien right?"

"No, that is NOT what I said I like about Damien! If you're going to imitate any of his habits don't let it be his penchant for blackmailing….!"

My eyes widen as Tai quickly leans forward and kisses me….."What…..the….?" I gasp, trying to ignore my face flushing bright red.'

He turns around and shoots me a lopsided grin. "See you back in the Digital World Lils." Before whirling around and running for his life.

"…TAI KAMIYA YOU **GET BACK HEEEEEEREEEEEEEEE!"**

….

"It was good to meet with you again Adelina."  
She lowers her head respectfully to the dark haired man not much older than her. "Me too Oran. And it's no trouble, don't be too hard on your rookies. They had no idea they'd crossed into our territory."

"But you think they'd have more sense than to take on an entire pack of Seadramon by themselves….." He mutters, sighing heavily in annoyance.

Adelina chuckles. "Every green member is the same. They get overconfident and think their Digimon can protect them from anything, and their partners aren't much better."

"True…." Oran nods. "At least it could be worse. Another expensive factory could have been blown up…." He gives her a pointed look.

She scowls and crosses her arms. "Hey that was Sira and Dorugremon, not me."

His lips quirk up in a grin. "I know. I was checking to see if you would go into a panic as to what as I was talking about, or if you'd remember."

Adelina snorts. "You haven't changed a bit have you?"

"….In some ways I have…." He sighs.

"….We all miss you you know?"

Oran rolls his eyes. "I bet Sira doesn't miss having to deal with my attitude that put other people at risk."

"She did stand up for you though."

"I know. And I'll always be grateful to her for that…." His eyes narrow. "Did I hear that Ryo has appeared again?"

Adelina sighs, lowering her head. "….It's complicated…."

He nods grimly. "I can bet. Let Sira know that if she ever needs any help….I'll send as much help as I can spare."

"Thanks…in any case, I'll see you again soon."

"Knowing my greenies, sooner more than later…."

She laughs and waves goodbye, walking towards the exit of the DISC base before whisteling softly. Kudamon trails down from the rafters like a white banner and curls around her neck. "How did the meeting go?" He asks softly, nuzzling her neck.

"Fair enough buddy." She smiles before patting him on the top of the head. "Although he's worried about Sira with all this Ryo problem…."

"Probably worried about you too."

Adelina shakes her head and continues walking down the long hill that led from the DISC base back to the portal. "I don't hate Ryo for what she did, like Sira does. I can understand it."

Kudamon sighs and buries his face under her chin. "Sometimes I think you're too forgiving…."

"But she never meant for any of us to get hurt. She didn't want her partner to die…." She scratches Kudamon behind the ears. "I don't know what would happen if I didn't have you."

"You'd trip constantly and break countless objects?" He says drolly, flicking his ears back and forth and suddenly freezing.

"Hey, I'm not THAT much of a cl-"Adelina, shh…."

"…What is it?"

The hairs on the back of her neck start to stand up as she sees the wariness in Kudamon's eyes. Suddenly the cheerful autumn night seems far less cheerful and much more threatning….

Swallowing Adelina whispers, "Do you smell something?"

"…Not sure….but something is following us…."

Adelina glances back towards the DISC base, a couple of hundred meters away from her and up a hill. Could they make it if she ran for it?

Her fingers touch the ring on the opposite hand and her jaw tightens. "Get ready to biomerge. Maybe that will make them think it's not worth messing with us."

He nods and she takes a step back, opening her mouth to shout out the command just as she feels something soft and icy wrap around her ankle.

"H-huh?"

A stinging pain suddenly shoots up her calf and she screams, yanked to the floor and dragged forwards away from Kudamon.

"ADELINA!"

"KUDAMON!"

She clenches her teeth trying to ignore the stinging pain that is now filling her entire body, the purple threads continuing to fly out of nowhere and wrap around her, tightening around her arms, her legs, her neck.

"BIOM….!"

But before she can finish the shout the threads wrap around her mouth, tying neatly behind in her neck in a nice little gag.

"ADELINA!"

"KUDAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….!"

But something whacks him in the back of the head as he's evolving, sending him flying forwards with the shock into the rocks in front of him.

He groans, his eyes rolling backwards before he passes out. Adelina lets out a muffled scream into her gag and tries to scramble forwards but a foot presses down into her back so she can't move.

"Nuh uh uh can't have you getting away now after all the hard work we put in to capturing you in the first place…."

She glares upwards and sees a woman smirking down at her through purple sunglasses, and an overexcited posh voice echoes even though she can't see the speaker.

"Well done Arukeni! Your plan was brilliant as always, knew it would work, never had any doubts…."

The woman huffs, putting her hands on her hips, her bright red suit contrasting with the darkness horribly.

"Quit trying to butter me up Mummymon you thought this plan was mad from the beginning. "

"No I thought the boss's plan was mad, but when you pulled it off….well when you're the one doing it it's never crazy!"

"…"

"OW!"

"Shut up you moron or do you want to explain to HIM why we're late?"

Adelina wrestled against her bonds, trying desperately to break free, desperately to get to her partner.

"I suppose you won't be needing this anymore…."

Adelina screams into her gag as she feels razor sharp wires cut into her finger, screams and screams as the blood rushes out from her hand…dying her alpha tamer ring red as the index finger is ripped off…

She's sobbing now, not really aware of what's going on.

"….Oh don't worry dearie…." The woman smiles, patting her hair. "You are going to die, and it's going to be painful, but not yet. Our boss has something very special planned for you."

Mummymon gulps, his face contorting. "…Was that really necessary?"

"Shut up."

" ##$$."

"Obsecnity will get you nowhere….Mummymon, carry her. Let's go."

Adelina struggles as much as she can tied up in the cacoon of string, her eyes fixed on Kudamon as she lets out a wail of frustration and fear as she's dragged away.

…

"…." My hand reaches for the phone as I curl the blanket on my bed tighter around me. Tai and I came back home, me blushing bright red and Tai grinning like an idiot but with a couple of lumps on his head.

Kari had just rolled her eyes and muttered something about "oblivious idiot" but I wasn't sure if she was talking about me or Tai.

I glance at the clock, scowling. It was 3 in the freaking morning, Sira better have a really good reason for calling me….

"Hello?" I grumble, irritated, clutching my pillow with one hand and speaking into the phone with the other.

"…"

"….Adelina's GONE?!"


	19. Finding Gennai, Into the Spider's Lair

.

AN-Sorry this took longer than I expected! But like...half of my chapter was deleted and I had to rewrite it. Thankfully I'm on a more regular writing schedule now so uploads should be more regular.

Snape-So you've said...

Me-...What are you doing here?

Snape-...The girl kidnapped me.

Me-...LILY!

Chapter Nineteen

"This is not happening…."

The mountain all of us are crowding around is barren, with rocks poking up from the ground but deadly silent, no sounds of bug or bird Digimon.

All in all it feels like a tomb. That's not a visual I need. I close my eyes and clench my teeth, trying to surpress the rage and fear that's building up in my stomach.

"…_.I should have been with her…I'm an alpha tamer too….it should have been me….it's ALWAYS me they want so why did they target her?!"_

"Any sign?" Matt says quietly, walking up behind me and touching my shoulder.

"No." I hate how my voice cracks slightly. It's not like I've known Adelina for very long, but there's something about her personality….

And this feeling of guilt I have won't go away.

"….There wasn't anything you could have done not even Sira could have known Adelina was in danger…."

"That doesn't help Matt who knows what could be happening to her at this point?"

"…What would the point in kidnapping her be if they were just planning to kill her?"

I sigh. "Why do people kidnap anyone in the human world? For the sick joy of torturing killing…." _Raping….._

"…"

"I'm so sorry Sira…." Oran says softly as he looks down at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. "I had no idea….something like this would happen….I should never have left her alone…."

"DARN RIGHT YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!"

"Edan…" D'Arcmon pleads, reaching for his shoulder, but Edan's not listening. It's practically unbelievable to see how angry the mild mannered dork is, his eyes flashing darkly with rage.

"If anything happens to Adelina it is on YOUR head, you understand?!"

"Edan!" Sira barks, and he freezes, his fingers still on Oran's shirt, his teeth bared in a feral snarl. My eyes widen slightly when I can swear I see a flash of gold appear in his irises….than disappear…

"….Go search the bottom with the others…." She says flatly. He stares at her for a moment longer before letting go of Ouran and dropping him, walking away, the muscles in his back tight and tense.

"….He's really upset…."

"We all are…." Dilbert sighs, bags underneath his eyes. "But blaming Oran isn't going to do any good."

"How's Kudamon?"

"Recovering…."

Sorcerymon bends back up, the light from his hands finally slowly fading away. "Are you feeling all right my friend?"

"No…" Kudamon whispers, his face covered by his paws. "How do you think I feel?"

"Probably pretty darn rotten." GranDracmon says, folding his arms and looking down at Kudamon. "But blaming yourself won't do any good." His eyes flash. "I promise you when we catch who did this we will make them rue the day they were ever born. But you have to tell us what you remember."

"….I'll try…." He sighs, closing his eyes. "But after getting hit in the head like that most of everything is a blur…all I remember is those monsters laughing….while my partner screamed…."

…

"Yolei are you okay?"

She looks over at Davis and sighs, sticking her hands in her pockets. "No…." She mutters.

"Don't worry, we'll find Adelina." He smiles comfortingly at her. "And then that jerk will be nothing but a smear on the pavement when we're done with him!" He adds with a grin, clenching his fists.

Yolei shakes her head. "…I know but….if she could get caught…."

"I…We'd….never let anything bad happen to you, you know that right?"

"….I guess I just thought that all the bad stuff would stop once the Digimon Emperor was gone." Yolei mutters softly. "I didn't think even more people would get hurt."

"That is unfortunately the way of the Digital World, my dear." Hawkmon sighs sadly. "Some Digimon can choose to do acts of unspeakable evil, just as you humans be cruel as well. We're…unfortunately very similar in that sense."

"True, but humans are worse…." Cody mutters darkly. "Humans kill for no reason, Digimon don't."

"….?" Hawkmon raises an eyebrow as Veemon facepalms.

"…I….wouldn't be so sure about that Cody…." Armadillomon says haltingly, looking up at his partner.

"They're right."

Everyone turns around and sees TK following, Patamon on his shoulder. "Believe me when I say that the Digimon we fought were beyond insane. They killed for personal pleasure. Devimon, for example. He enslaved hundreds of Digimon with his Black Gears, even forced Digimon to attack those who trusted them for years. Ask Meramon, he still has nightmares about being forced to attack the Poyomon village. And Piedmon and the Dark Masters? They nearly DESTROYED the entire Digital World so they could reshape it into their personal play area. You should have seen what Piedmon tried to do to me and Kari. We were just little kids, younger than you, and he was toying with us. He nearly got both of our brothers killed as well."

Cody crosses his arms. "But Digimon are willing to listen to reason. They might act crazy but they can be fixed. They're not obsessed with money or revenge like some other people."

"Did you see the way Devimon looked at me a few days ago?" Patamon says darkly. "He'd have loved the chance to tear me apart, and anyone who cared about me, anyone who I cared about."

"Maybe we should just drop this." Cody says, his voice hardening as he continues walking down the path.

"…."

"What is his problem?" Davis mutters, annoyed, about ready to charge after the younger boy and demand he explain right as Veemon grabs his shirt.

"Veemon let go!"

"No Davis! Whenever you loose your temper your mouth tends to make the problem ten times worse."

"I can concur to that."

"Who asked you TP?!"

"…..DAVIS…."

"Let it go." Yolei sighs, holding up her hands. "TK I'm sure Davis wasn't seriously trying to call you toilet paper. And as for Cody…." She bites her lip. "I'm not sure if I should be telling you this."

"Well? Go on. Spill."

"…Four years ago….right before the Odiaba Fog Incident….Cody's father died."

"….Oh…."

Armadillomon pins his ears back. "I'm his partner and I didn't even know that….ugh….."

"That's cause he never likes to talk about it." Yolei responds. "He didn't even tell me about it. I just found out because his mom and mine were childhood friends. But his Dad was a police officer and….well he was in charge of protecting this important guy in China, I forget exactly who it was but some nutjob tried to kill him."

"…." TK had a very bad feeling of where this was going.'

"His Dad pushed the guy out of the way and got shot instead." Yolei sighs, cleaning her glasses absently the way she always does when she doesn't want to meet someone's eyes.

"…Oh…Yggdrasil…."

"Which is why, I guess in a way, Cody doesn't want to accept the fact that Digimon can be evil too. He already lost his faith in humanity, you could say. He doesn't want to loose this too."

'But if he keeps living in denial, my lady," Hawkmon said, looking up, "then he could get himself killed. Or put others in danger."

"I know." Yolei says softly. "But Cody's like a boulder. You can try to push it all you like but all you'll get is one heck of a sore back."

"Still, he's going to have to make a choice soon."

"A lot of people are going to have to make choices soon." Yolei says softly, almost to herself, then looks up at Cody's shout. "You guys! Over here!"

"Cody? What did you find?"

Cody holds something up, his face pale and drawn, and Veemon sucks in his breath. "I….Is that….?"

Sira's standing there, her shoulders shaking slightly, Lily touching her shoulder and murmuring under her breath, as she holds…

"Oh…YGGDRASIL…"

…

"Find anything?" Tai says wearily, leaning against the tree as Birdramon lands in the small clearing. Sora shakes her head, trembling.

Tai clenches his teeth before whirling around and punching the trunk, letting out a cry of anger.

"Tai, how is that supposed to help?" Greymon says gruffly, but there's not much real scolding in his tone. They're all beaten…

"It just makes me so angry…." He mutters, lowering his head. "I can't imagine what Sira must be going through….I mean we've been separated before….but this….this is like when you were kidnapped by Datamon Sora."

Sora flinches and rubs a small scar on her wrist. The bindings Datamon used to pin her to the table and experiment on her to develop a clone….they'd cut deeply into her skin, her wrists were bleeding when Tai had pulled her out of there.

"What about when Myotismon kidnapped Lily? Wouldn't you say that was much worse?"

"….In a way….yes and no….Well yes because obviously she was my-"Girlfriend, yeah I know." She chuckles teasingly but Tai doesn't smile.

"….There's that….but at least when Lily was kidnapped I knew what I had to do. I had a vague idea of what was…probably happening to her, even though it made me feel sick to my stomach. That made it easier to blame Dorkula and less self-blame. And there was the small…small comfort in the fact I knew he had no plans of killing her. But when you were kidnapped by Datamon….I knew….I knew I could have done something. Even when he grabbed you I still could have done something to save you, if I hadn't frozen. When Lily was kidnapped, yeah, I did something STUPID and reckless….but at least she didn't get taken because I was a coward."

"….You weren't a coward Tai…."

"….Sora I thought for sure you were going to die. You should have seen me. I was bawling my eyes out. Thank Yggdrasil Matt actually managed to hold it together long enough to come up with a plan."

"He's only good at holding it together when people are watching…." Sora says with a slight smile, then lowers her eyes. "But I get what you're saying Tai. Maybe you should talk to Sira. You can understand how much she must be hurting right now."

"Sira thinks of me as a dog." Tai says, rolling his eyes. "A dog who talks and follows her little sister around far too often. But….I suppose I can try."

"Atta boy." Greymon chuckles, nudging Tai with his huge head. "And don't worry about it. We'll save Adelina. Just like you saved Sora, you saved Lily, and you saved me from the Digimon Emperor."

"That's what bothers me though." Birdramon chirped. "The Digimon Emperor is gone, isn't he? And even when he was still around I doubt he'd be stupid enough to kidnap a tamer right from underneath Sira's nose."

"…." Sora sticks her hands in her pockets. "…How much do we know about DISC?"

"You don't seriously suspect one of them, do you?"

"….It's possible….I mean we only have Oran's word Adelina left the base in the first place…."

"Sira found…." Here Tai swallows, "….it wasn't just her ring. They found her finger near the bottom of the mountain."

"…"

"Maybe they had an argument and he…." Her face pales. "Pushed her?"

Tai shakes his head. "A human's body wouldn't just disappear like a Digimon's body would. Besides, they've all known Oran before and they seem to trust him. Sira's got a good grasp on people's characters, better than others."

"But she's not perfect."

"I never said that Sor…." He hesitates and then takes a deep breath. "There's something else I need to be honest about….I don't think he's a threat….I don't even know if he'll ever come back to the Digital World…but Ken and Ryo were both in Primary Village yesterday."

"What?!" Sora shouts, as both Digimon stiffen. "Why did you not tell us this?!"  
"Because you set me up on a fake date with Lily, she proceeded to chase me around all of Odiaba because I….kind of kissed her without warning….and then we both pretty much collapsed back at the apartment and then got the call saying Adelina was gone. Does that answer your question?"

"….You kissed Lily?!"

"That is not the point." Tai says, blushing as red as Sora's hair as she puts her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow, a sly grin forming on her face. "The point is both me and Agumon saw that kid….and all he wanted to do was find his partner."

"He's right." Greymon grunts. "You should have seen that kid when he was holding little Leafmon. He didn't look like the Digimon Emperor at all, just like a little boy who'd found his best friend again."

"…"

"And think about it Sora, the egg wasn't going to hatch if Ken just planned on abusing Wormmon more. Digieggs only hatch when there's a bond between the human and Digimon."

"I….guess that's true…" She sighs. "But it's still weird you know? The whole fact that the two of them show up not long before Adelina is kidnapped?"

"Sora, believe me Ken could not have kidnapped her. He looked extremely weak when I saw him, as if walking was an effort."

"And what exactly caused this great change of heart for Ken anyway?" Sora says sceptically, crossing her arms.

Tai blinks. "…Oh right you didn't know about…."

Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as he told her about the Dark Spore, the object that had apparently completely been manipulating Ken's behaviour and draining his energy to boot.

"….Oh my Holy Yggdrasil…."

"That's what Lily told me when we collapsed at the apartment…" He sighs. "I wasn't sure exactly what Lucemon meant, so I was waiting to speak to Sira."

"…Poor kid…" Sora's tone has gone from brisque and tough to what everyone referred to as her "Mother Sora" phase, softer and tender. "I can't imagine going through something like that."

Tai shakes his head. "Neither can I….But I have the sinking feeling the younger kids are going to be less sympathetic towards him…."

Sora scoffs. "Kari's own partner was brainwashed into doing much worse things, she can't speak."

"It's not Kari I worry about…"

…

I sigh as I walk forwards. "Sira….are you okay?"

No answer. She stands on the outcropping, not speaking, her black hair getting whipped back by the wind. "….Leave me alone Lily…"

"…" I lower my head and sigh. "….."

"Riona?" GranDracmon walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, laying his head on top of hers. I can hear the sound of quiet sobbing. I can only think of a few times in my entire life I've ever heard Sira cry.

"….So now what?" Dilbert's Wormmon asks solemnly, her antannea drooping.

"….There's not much more we can do…." Stella says miserably. Her eyes were actually red and puffy, and the sight makes the lump in my throat grow. Please…Yggdrasil….don't let me loose another person I care about.

"Don't say that!"

Edan's voice is louder than the rest of ours, more filled with emotion than I've ever heard it before. "I refuse to accept that she could be dead! She wouldn't die on us! She CAN'T be dead!"

"There's not much more we can do by just searching though." Gatomon sighs, her eyes downcast. "….I know a lot about people who go missing. The kidnappers are smart enough to pull this off, than they're smart enough not to leave any physical trails. We're going to have to try something else."

Her eyes meet mine and I know what she can't bring herself to say…..please don't let us just find a corpse….

Yolei raises a hand timidly like we're in class. "I can…talk with Izzy. Maybe we can track her using the computers or something."

"….Maybe…."

Sira smiles wearily at Yolei. "That might work, at least it can't hurt. Thank you…"

I sigh, leaning into Tai's chest without even really thinking about it. "…I want to go home."

…

Math class was mind-numbingly boring as usual, but on a day like today, when one of my friends was actually kidnapped, I NEEDED mind-numblingly boring.

Ms. Adams was droning on and on about hyperboles…oh wait no. That's English. Yggdrasil I must be tired.

Something cold strokes my arm and I nearly jump out of my seat, whirling around and only breathing again when I see a pair of silver eyes staring at me.

"…Damien. You scared me." I whisper, hoping not to attract the attention of my teacher. She could easily be a super villain, with her amazing hearing abilities for picking up the faintest of whispers, or her ability to see through a person's desk at what they were really reading underneath.

"…Are you okay?" He mouths back almost silently.

"Why are your fingers so cold?" I mouth back, shrugging his hand of mine and averting the question. Damien shrugs. "I dunno."

"Wear gloves bad boy."

"…." He raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Out of baby seal skin?"

"You sick creep…." I mutter back, even though I know he's joking.

"Ahem."

"Uh oh."

We both turn our heads to see Ms. Adams standing there right by us, her arms folded across her chest, her yellow-hawk eyes glaring down at us.

"…Eh heh…hi?"

"Ms. Kamiya, as important as your relationship might be, I will ask only once that you discuss it outside the classroom."

…I blink as she strides back to the board and continues her lecture. Well I actually got off quite easy there. Too easy. …wait a sec…

I rip a piece of paper out of my notebook and toss it over my head. It hits Damien in the face and I smirk.

Damien raises an eyebrow before glancing down to read the message I scrawled to him.

"_Why do people think we're in a relationship?!"_

He shrugs and has this innocent look on his face that makes me scowl at him and mouth the words, "What did you DO?"

"Nothing…."

Of course. Because he didn't have to do anything. Here in Purgatory the rumours spread faster than Megidramon's flames, and there's absolutely no stopping them.

The fact that me, a social outcast by necessity is hanging out with Damien, one of the cool people who's a social outcast by choice, was bound to get people talking.

And to make a lot of girls jealous….

Speaking of jealous…

The bell rings and there's the sound of everyone scrambling for their bags and stuffing books and papers away, but my eyes are fixed on McKenzie who saunters over to us.

"What do you want…?" But I know what she wants. The same thing she's always wanted. I know that hungry look.

"Hey Damien…" She purrs, flicking her golden hair back behind her shoulder and smiling at him in a way that makes me want to hurl. "A couple of us are going to out to eat tonight, then hit this massive party. You want to come?" Her gaze flickers meaningfully back over at me, the message, "You don't have to hang out with the dog," clear in her eyes.

As for me I repress the urge to snarl. And then I do something I thought I'd never do. Grabbing Damien by the arm I smirk far too innocently at McKenzie and respond with, "Actually Damien and I have plans for tonight…right?"

"…You do?"

Damien's eyes had widened to near popping out levels when I'd purred that last sentence, and he looks around at me and mouths the words, "We DO?"

"Yeah." I say sweetly, flicking my hair back behind my head. McKenzie's eyes narrow. At least some part of her has to realize that I'm completely mocking her. The part that's not a dumb blonde. "We'd better go. Have fun at your party, McKenzie, with Kei….oh wait…that's right. The two of you broke up again, didn't you?"

Sometimes it amazes me how catty I can be. Amazes and scares me.

Damien's not the type to actually jawdrop, but I can practically smell the shock on him as I lead him out of the room.

However that shock quickly turns to annoyance when I lean against the lockers and practically howl with laughter.

"Very funny…" He grumbles, crossing his arms.

"…Did you see…" I snicker. "The looks on….their faces…oh Yggdrasil I think I'm going to crack a rib…."

Damien sighs. "Was there any point to that other than me looking stupid?"

"Well yeah. Did you want to go to their dumb party?"

"…Well no but-"See? Now you don't have to. And it's so much fun to break the jerk's pride….Though in the case of McKenzie I think what I just did might have completely warped her version of reality."

"…Why?"

"Huh?" I look up at him. "Damien, you've seen how it is here. People like you don't hang out with people like me."

"…" Damien sighs and leans against the lockers. A slight smile appears on his face. "You still owe me for getting my hopes up for nothing."

"What do you…?"

"Train with me."

"…" The bruises from last time still hurt. I knew that made me sound like a complete wuss, but something about training with him made me uncomfortrable. Then again Sira had been brutal when we'd trained together. I probably just needed to get used to it again.S

…Still….

"Why now?"

Damien's eyes flash as he stands back upright, and I can tell he's annoyed that I argued with him. "…You want to be able to better protect your friends, don't you? So what happens to Adelina doesn't happen again?"

I feel like I've just been sucker-punched in the stomach. Damien's eyes soften as he reaches for my hand. "…I'm sorry. I'm not trying to imply what happened to Adelina was your fault. And since Renamon doesn't seem all that eager to biomerge…then we need to have someway to make sure we don't loose anyone else, don't we? It could be TK or Kari next."

The way he said TK and Kari made it seem more like a promise than an actual warning of what might happen.

…I stiffen, but I know he's right. Clenching my teeth I mutter, "…All right fine. Tonight back behind the school?"

He smiles and nods, and I roll my eyes. "…I'm going to go check on something. Be right back."

…

"Izzy?"

Izzy looks up from the computer, bags underneath his eyes as he turns around in the chair to face me. "Oh…hey Lils."

"Have you been working all night?" I ask, dropping into the chair next to him and studying his face. Worry lines and exhaustion seem to fill it. I realize with a jolt he looks almost ten years older.

"…Izzy…."

"I've been searching for Adelina's signal." He sighs, turning around and facing the computer again. "So far…nothing."

"…Iz, you can't keep pushing yourself like this, it won't help her. Besides, Mimi will kill me if her boyfriend dies of a heart attack ten years before his time."

The corners of his lips almost quirk up into a smile. …Almost. "Adelina's not the only one I've been searching for…" He sighs. "There's been no luck finding Gennai…"

"…"

I remember when Andromon first told us Gennai was missing. It seemed like forever ago but in reality it was probably little more than a month.

"…Iz I'm sorry…" I say softly, closing my eyes. In all honesty, I wondered if Gennai was even still alive. I'd mentioned his predicament to Sira a couple of weeks ago, and she'd just looked grim.

She didn't have to say something. It's the same kind of thing in the real world, when psychopaths or rapists kidnap people. The longer time goes, the less likely their victims were ever going to be found.

I couldn't bring myself to tell the others though. ….The Digidestined were incredibly close to the old maniac. Heck, I'd liked him a lot too.

Closing my eyes, I thought about another reason why I didn't want to admit Gennai was probably dead. …It made me think of Adelina.

"….I have to do something…." Izzy mutters, bending over the computer. "…I was next to useless in the battle against the Digimon Emperor. This at least I can do."

I touch his shoulder. "You will NEVER be useless, Izzy. Without you…you were the one that came up with the plans for our victories so many times. Look at Tentomon, and MegaKabuterimon. Heck, without you and your partner, we would have never made it back to the real world in time to stop Myotismon."

"…Thanks Lils…." He says softly, closing his eyes.

I sigh as I stand up, glancing back at him one more time as he turns back to his work. I can only hope he actually listened to me.

…

"…N-no…."

The covers trembled, shaking with the motion of the girl cowering beneath them. Low moans kept escaping through the bedroom.

The pink puffball at the end of the bed stirred, so deep in sleep that he didn't notice his partner's distress. Yolei suppresses a sob as she pushes herself upwards, wiping at her eyes.

Yggdrasil, would the nightmares never stop?

Every time she closed her eyes at first she worried that she would see the signs of the battle all over again.

The screams of the Sinmon….

The wails of all her other friends….

The smell of blood filling her nose and staying there, burning , burning, burning, it HURT so bad!

"…" Yolei glances over at Poromon to make sure he hadn't awoken before sighing and slipping out of bed. She stares into the mirror on her dresser.

Long stringly violet hair, a girl who has absolutely no muscles, and can't see a thing without her glasses. Why on Earth would Yggdrasil have picked a girl like…her?

Closing her eyes she sighs, banging her head against the dresser, feeling absolutely miserable. She kept on trying to find out how to tell the others, but she never could.

….Yolei looks back at her partner, her throat clogging up. He looked so peaceful, sweet and adorable when he was sleeping.

"…I guess I don't say anything because I'm afraid of losing you." Yolei whispers, not caring that she's talking to herself. "I'm afraid if I tell the truth that all of my friends will think I'm a coward. I'm afraid…they'll hate me."

"…."  
"But what happens if I don't tell…"

…

"That is enough Cody."

Cody pants, blinking in surprise as he sees his Grandfather stand back up and start peeling off his armour. The clock says it's almost 10'00 at night.

"..W-what are you doing?"

"I mean we are done for tonight." Grandfather says gently. "You already convinced me to extend your lesson, though I was loathe to do so because of your knee."

"…" Cody glances down at his bandaged knee. He remembers Sorcerymon saying that he was lucky the kneecap itself wasn't completely shattered. Even though it had been healed, it still hurt quite a bit. He only wore the bandage though, to keep his family from being suspicious.

He clenches his teeth and takes a step forward, holding his kendo stick higher. "I can continue Grandfather! I want to…."

"That is enough." Grandfather's voice actually raises for a second, and Cody blinks, stepping back, startled. His knee pains from the sudden movement, and he hisses.

"…" Grandfather's eyes soften and he sighs before sitting back down. "….Cody. Talk with me."

Cody's knee doesn't bend as well, but he manages to sit right next to him.

"….Cody, I worry about you. I sense much anger and pain coming from you, much more than the sweet little boy I love so much. You seem like you're trying to prove something, what I don't know."

"…I have to take care of my friends…"

His grandfather nods slightly. "…That is part of what makes you so special. You want to be better for your friends. But Cody…before a man can improve…he must prove something to himself before he can prove anything to others."

"…" Cody stares at him a moment more before slowly pushing himself upwards and walking out the door of their training area.

His grandfather watches him and sighs, turning back his head to look at a picture framed on the wall. It's a picture of a man with dark curly hair, and bright green eyes just like Cody's, dressed in a police man's outfit. He looks confident and proud.

"…I don't know what to do with him." He sighs. "I wish you were still here…."

…

"Your mum is such a great cook Ken!"

Ken laughs as he lets Leafmon wriggle out from underneath his shirt and plop onto the bed, landing there blinking with his button black eyes.

"Yeah she is, isn't she? I can't remember the last time I had such a great meal. We've been so busy lately the past couple of years what with all my interviews and press confrences that we usually just got take out." His smile turns thoughtful. "…I really missed mum's cooking."

Leafmon giggles. "It was funny how your Dad scared off all the reporters that tried to come to your house today."

"They're a pain." Ken says, making a face. "That's one thing that will never change…" He mutters under his breath before turning his laptop back on and checking his email.

"Huh? New message?" His heartrate quickened. "Maybe it's from Ryo…."

"Does that make you happy Ken?" Leafmon asks curiously. "Her writing to you?"

"W-what?" Ken feels his cheeks heating up subconsciously. "O-of course so. Why wouldn't it make me happy?"

"I don't know. You're just blushing so oddly."

"…I'm not blushing." He lies, turning quickly back to the computer and unable to stop the smile that spreads his face as he opens the email.

He doesn't know why being with Ryo makes him so happy. Maybe it's because, besides Wormmon, she's the only friend he has?

He never really had friends back when he was the Emperor, he realizes that now. Does it bother him?...A little. None of the people he thought cared about him came to visit him while he was in the coma, except for a few of the soccer players. And they only stayed for a few minutes.

Ken blinks as the computer screen is filled with static as he opens the email. "…What the?..."

"Nice to see you again….Emperor…."

He freezes at the sound of that voice. Leafmon tenses as well, seeing his partner's shoulders stiffen and his jaw set.

The screen shows an image of a woman with long white hair and a red hat, purple tinted sunglasses and purple lips.

"…You…."

She smiles. "You remember me, don't you? I'm glad. This makes things so much more interesting."

"What do you want?!" Ken snaps, struggling to keep his temper, along with the growing sickening feeling in his stomach. "And I'm not the Emperor, don't ever call me that again."

She sighs. "True. You're not the Emperor anymore, which is a shame. You had so much potential…"

"Shut up!"

For once it's not Ken's angry outburst, but Leafmon's. "Leave Ken alone. Haven't you done enough harm!"

"…"

Her slitted eyes look over at him, and she curls her lip in disgust, showing her fangs. "Watch it runt. You got squished once remember? It can easily…so easily happen again."

"Stay the #%%% away from my partner."

Leafmon blinks. He's never heard Ken swear like that…ever.

The woman giggles. "Aw that's so cute Ichijouji. You're still my little bad boy after all. But I wouldn't worry too much about your partner. My master is quite busy with his newest acquisition…waiting to see how long it will be before she breaks."

"…"

"Who did you kidnap?" Ken breathes, feeling the familiar rage build up inside him. "Kari? Lily? If you hurt either of them….the Digidestined and tamers are innocent! If you want revenge, then mess with me. The others did nothing to you!"

"Nothing?" Arukenimon sounds offended. "Ichijouji do you have any idea how hard it is to build hundreds of Control Spires?"

"They're MY Control Spires, and they can tear them all down for all I care."

"Your Control Spires?" Arukenimon lowers her sunglasses and Ken feels a chill run down his spine as he gets a much better look at her red eyes. "Let me explain this to you, my little Emperor, so you fully understand. Everything you had…everything you were…none of it was yours. You were never a king. You were nothing but a pawn in our scheme my friend….to lay the path for the true king."

"…What?"

She laughs once more. "Bye bye Emperor boy…."

Ken still stands there, completely frozen as the screen fades to black again. Leafmon stares at him. "…Ken what do we do?"

He doesn't answer. He just stands there, his head lowered. He had to tell someone. Arukenimon had kidnapped a Digidestined. He could give them the information to save her! But…he closes his eyes. None of them—not the tamers, not the Digidestined, would believe him. They'd think he was setting them up for some kind of trap, and he honestly couldn't blame them in the slightest.

His eyes narrow as he reaches down to his Digivice. There is…one person that might listen to him.

…

The forest echoes with the scream of a terrified Digimon, echoing along with the sound of a hungry roar. Ryo smiles as the Golemon stares down in horror at it's body.

The long cracks continue to extend across before breaking into a million pieces. Devidramon growls once more, as the black dust blows up to the sky.

"Nicely done." She murmurs, sighing as she watches the skies. This morning had been the first type she'd encountered one of these monsters. And there had been dozens more.

The worst part is, she doesn't know where the creeps were originating from. She had…absolutely no idea…

"Anything you can do to help?" Ryo sighs as she stares at the stars. Nothing. "…I know I'm crazy if I'm talking to a bunch of idiotic lazy bums." She mutters.

Devidramon huffs at her, nudging her so she nearly looses her balance. She knows what he's trying to say. Pissing off the stars probably isn't the best of the ideas.

"..." The sound of crunching undergrowth catches her attention. Her eyes narrow as Devidramon growls once more.

"If that's Kamiya again…." She mutters. But something inside her tells her it's not.

The crunching sound grows louder and Ryo makes a hand signal at Devidramon, who nods once. There's another snap of a branch and then he ROARS, showing every single one of his massive canines.

"…Ryo?"

"…Ken?!"

She plunges forwards and grabs his arm, scowling at him. "Don't do that…ever again! I nearly had Devidramon eat you!"

Ken swallows hard, and Wormmon's shaking behind his leg. "…I-I'm sorry…" He says softly.

Ryo's eyes narrow slightly. "…You managed to get into the Digital World by yourself?"

"Y-yeah…why?"

"…" Ryo doesn't bother trying to answer, but she feels a massive feeling of relief. Because if Ken's Digivice is still working…that means Yggdrasil has not condemned him.

"Maybe she is a just God after all…"

Ken's blue eyes flash as he grabs onto Ryo's arms. "…I have to tell you something. Arukenimon…she kidnapped a kid."

"WHAT?!"

"One of us." He whispers. Ryo stiffens. She knows what he means. "…How would that slut kidnap one of us?"

"You think I'm lying?"

"No…" She says quickly as Ken's eyes flash with anger. "I would never accuse you of lying. But I'm saying Arukenimon is so inept, that I'd bet anything she was just bluffing you to mess with your head."

"It wouldn't be the first time…" Ken mutters, crossing his arms as Wormmon asks, "Ryo? What are you doing?"

Ryo presses a few buttons on her Digivice, studying the dots that appear on the screen. "My Digivice can scan for the signals of the others rather they're in the Digital World or not."

"…?" He raises an eyebrow. "That's helpful."

Ryo smirks as she presses a few buttons. "..Okay the Digidestined all seem to be back in the human world…tamers…." Her face pales as she counts the signals she used to know so well. "….."

"…Ryo?"

"…Adelina…." She whispers. "….Oh Yggdrasil….that's….."

Devidramon's red eyes widen, before he curls his lips back in a vicious snarl. Ryo actually feels her knees start to go weak.

Someone grabs her arm, and holds her firmly to him. "…Ryo are you all right?"

"…WHY didn't they call me?!"

"Ryo…"

"Sira and her Yggdrasil forsaken pettiness!" Ryo hisses, kicking out a tree trunk, not caring how much it hurts her feet. All she can see is a red film of rage.

"Ryo, calm down! Please don't pull a Lily on me!"

"…A what?"

"…" Ken shifts his feet uneasily and blushes. "It's something I heard the Digidestined say when I was spying on them. Something about how when you loose your temper and run off, it's called pulling a Lily."

"…" Ryo snorts. "That's epic. Does she know?"

"Uh…don't think so." He says with a smile of his own. Ryo chuckles. "Well thankfully you were here and…stopped me from pulling a Lily."

"…"

"I'll help you find Adelina, I promise." He says softly, and she stares at his face, for a minute…actually seeing how much older he's gotten.

For so long, Ryo'd been thinking of Ken, as two separate people—the Ken she'd known before all those years ago, when Jack….was still with them, and then the Digimon Emperor.

But now….this was a new Ken. He was colder, harsher, but there was still the softness in his eyes she remembered…that smile…

…"Thanks." She mutters, completely confused by this new feeling.

He smiles again. "…You helped me, or at least you tried to, even though I wasn't listening. I promise I'll help you the exact same way."

"…"

…

"Ow…ow…ow…"

Tai slowly pushes himself back up from the couch, his eyes bleary, feeling tired after an entire day of searching for Adelina.

…It's her voice that awakens him.

"…Lils?"

I stiffen, pulling my jacket closer to me to shield my body. "…Tai? What are you still doing up? It's past midnight."

"Waiting for you…" He grumbles. "Where the heck have you been?"

"I told you. I was meeting with the tamers." The lie slides so easily off my tongue that it's surprising. Tai frowns. "…Then why were you saying ow?"

"Stubbed my toe." Second lie…I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Look I've got to get to bed, all right?"

"…Are you sure you're okay?"

I sigh in frustration and lean over the couch to look at Tai. "Of course I'm okay you idiot. Why wouldn't I be?"

Tai shrugs and sighs. "I don't know…I'm sorry Lils. I don't mean to be so clingy. I know you can take care of yourself just fine, I guess just sometimes I get this feeling you're in trouble…"

"Tai if I was really in trouble you'd know." I scold, before reaching down and taking his hand in mine. "Now come on…let's get you to bed, you look exha-whoah!"

I must have been leaning too far over the couch, because I topple over and….land on top of him. For a second, neither of us move, both of us just staring at each other.

Tai's face is bright red as he stammers, "Um…um…um…"

"….Er…"

There's the sound of shuffling feet and we both slowly turn our heads to see Gatomon pad into the room. She stares at us, blinks once, twice, mews, "I see…" in a way that reminds me far too much of GranDracmon, than pads back out of the room.

"…Wait! Gatomon! Come back!"

…

I sigh as I reach my bedroom, and wince as I try to pull my jacket off. I say try because…"Oww…." I hiss, wincing in pain as the jacket shifted my shirt. And that HURT. Because my shirt was rubbing against….

Five painful seconds later I am standing in front of my bedroom mirror in nothing but a bra and panties, staring at the reflection.

Deep gashes are across the girl's chest and back, and everytime I saw her chest move in and out, it caused another spasm of pain in me.

I limp to the bathroom and pull out a dark red towel for me to lie on tonight, and pray none of the Digimon would ever smell the blood.

They'd just freak out over nothing, it was no big deal, really. I'd been hurt worse than this in real fights. This was just…practice. Intense practice but practice none the less.

…Right?

My body twitches as I roll over, trying to find a position that doesn't hurt so much. The smell of my own blood makes it difficult for me to fall asleep all night.

…

Davis groans as he bends underneath the desk, scraping away at the bottom of them. "This is…disgusting…."

"Thanks so very much for getting us busted." TK says, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he scrapes away at the bits of gum.

For that's what their detention consist of. "I only chewed one freaking piece…" Davis mutters through clenched teeth as he tries to pick off a particulary hard bit that looks like cherry, but there's really no way to be sure anymore. "And I didn't even stick it to the bottom of the desk!"  
"No…" TK says dryly, rolling his eyes. "You instead decided to spit it across the room into the trash can."

"And it would have been a perfect three pointer, too." Davis snarks back.

"Heh. It would have been if you hadn't hit Mrs. Collins in the face with it instead."

"For an art teacher she can be pretty darn scary."

"I think anyone has the right to be pissed off when another human's saliva is all over them."

Davis snorts then slowly turns to look back at TK. "…You know…I'm entering the basketball team next semester."

TK raises an eyebrow. "Since when do you like basketball?"

"Since…"

"Since Kari decided to join the cheerleaders next semester?" TK raises an eyebrow and smirks. "I see…."

"T-that's not the only reason!"

"Uh huh."  
"Shut up TE. It's not!"

TK sighs, rolling his eyes as he drops more pieces of gum into the wastebasket. "Whatever Davis. I have a lot more to worry about than your unrequited crush on Kari."

"…Unrequited?"

TK smirks slightly. "If you don't know what that means, look it up. In the meantime, keep scraping lover boy."

"…" Davis's fists clench. Honestly sometimes he really…REALLY can't stand TK. If he could get away with punching TK in the face right now, he probably would have.

"LISTEN, TH-"Guys, enough of that."

The two of them both snap to attention as Tai and Matt enter the room, both of them wearing grim expressions.

"…Adelina?" TK asks the question that Davis is afraid to.

Matt shakes his head. "No, unfortunately. There's been no luck on that end. But Izzy got a message…." He clenches his teeth.

Tai's eyes are fierce. "It was a distress call from Gennai. He's been held captive. We're busting him out. NOW."

…

"This is where it is…."

Renamon blinks. "…It's a giant house."

When Renamon says it's a giant house, she's not kidding. I mean the door itself is about five times my height. And even though I'm short, that's HUGE. The windows are about big enough for Megidramon to fly out of, if she really wanted to.

"Yes, the house is new." Dilbert says, running a hand through his curly hair. "But it's what's underneath the house that's important."

"Well? Don't leave us in the dark. Spill."

Stella's eyes flicker over me and then back at Dilbert. I supress a pang of annoyance, even though I'm getting used to the fact Stella clearly doesn't really see me as a tamer yet.

Dilbert however, is nothing like that. "You see Lils back in the war against Lucemon Lizzie and the others had one massive advantage….they had underground tunnels stretching across the entire planet."

"…" My jaw drops. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope." He grins. "I don't know the full details, but it took the ground Rebellion Digimon a good twenty years to carve them all out. And they became a hiding place. They made the tunnels even larger so that escaped prisoners could live in there, hide there."

Renamon blinks. "That's smart but….Lucemon would have to be a complete idiot not to eventually realize what was going on."

"Oh he knew. He just could never get in. There were barriers agaisnt his specific data structure. If he ever tried, they say the tunnels themselves would come to life and attack him."

"…"

"Lovely picture that."

"And we're sure that the tunnels won't do the same thing to us?" Stella says skpetically as Serpahimon stands by her side. She had him evolve to Mega as soon as we got here.

"…Well they shouldn't." Dilbert shrugs.

"That's not exactly a good answer." I grumble, making a face at him, and he just shrugs his shoulders helplessly. "Look, I'm only telling you what the boss told me Sorcerymon told her. The tunnels only attacked Lucemon and his top subordinates, data signatures the original Digidestined knew and they could program in. My only worry is these tunnels haven't been used for years. I hope they're stable enough to still tell the difference."

"Fine by me." Stella says firmly. "Lily, you stay out here…"

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Sira would kill me if anything happened to you…." She says absently, already studying the house and trying to find a way to get inside.

My eyes narrow down to slits as I glare at her. "…I'm older than you are midget."

"And I'm more experienced." She says flatly. "You've only biomerged, like what, twice? Dilbert's the only one who knows the way through the caves and he and Lilithmon will need reliable backup."

"…You are SUCH a…"

"Sorry Lils…' Dilbert says apologetically. "But she has a point. Look, once we've had the chance to give you some proper training, then you can head out on missions with us all the time."

"But with Adelina gone you'll need all the help you can get." Renamon argues, surprising me. I'm pleased she's actually on my side with the whole biomerging issue for once.

"We're not going to argue about this." Stella says flatly before turning to look at her partner. "Come on. Let's go."

"Sorry Lils." Dilbert says sheepishly once more before running after her.

I just glare after them for a few minutes before groaning and raising my head to heaven. Sometimes I seriously hate my job.

…

In an odd, yet fitting, freaky and parallel version of events, another group of people were just behind the house having a similar discussion. "We are not going to argue about this." Tai says flatly yet calmly, folding his arms over his chest as he looks down at the three younger Digidestined.

"Tai you've got to be freaking kidding me!" Davis complains, actually close to stomping his foot and showing them what a real fit looked like.

"We're dead serious." Matt says firmly. "We aren't sure rather or not this is a trap or not. It would be the perfect setup you know, getting us all in the house and then dropping the bomb. Maybe literally. I hope not."

"Only in our word do we worry about rather or not there really WILL be a bomb." Yolei mutters disparangingly.

"But why are we the ones who are standing out here?" Davis demands, crossing his arms.

"…Because we're the ones who knew Gennai." Surprisingly Kari snaps. "He helped us, not you. It's our job to help him now."

"…"

Davis sighs. He knows that they're right. He knows someone keeping guard is important. But he can't help the feeling that it's because the others don't trust him he's given this assignment, and that's just not fair!

"We'll be back soon…."

"Yeah. If you hear agonized screaming it means this was a clever trap and Piedmon's trying to kill us with swords…again."

"Matt!"

"We should be going with them." Cody mutters darkly, folding his arms and watching as they enter the house. "I know what you mean." Armadillomon says with a sigh. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Think they'll be okay Davis?" Veemon asks. Davis blinks. "I mean…probably. Tai and Matt don't usually get into trouble. Why? What is it that has you two on edge?"

"…."

"I cannot be sure young sir." Hawkmon sighs. "But it feels as though the malevolent finger of fate has travelled over us, casting us in its grim shadow."

"…Uh…"

"OH MY GOSH! THE FINGER OF FATE!"

"What?!"

Sure enough, a massive shadow moves over them, covering all three Digidestined. Veemon and Armadillomon actually WHIMPER and cower behind each other, while the others recognize it.

"…Ryo?"

"…" Davis' eyes widen. "What's HE doing here?!"

…

"Okay I am officially creeped out by now." TK says flatly as they enter the kitchen and stare up at the mountain sized table.

Gatomon nods grimly in agreement. "I feel like some giants going to walk back and snap us all up, eating us like crackers."

"Gulp." Patamon says.

"We get the point." Kari sighs, as Izzy looks at his Digivice again. "Iz? What are you doing?"

"I programed Gennai's location into here." He mutters without looking up. "Hopefully it will lead us right to where he's being held."

"…"

Gatomon falls back so she's next to Tai and Matt. "…You know all of this screams trap right?" She asks grimly. "I can feel the tension in the air. Something's watching us….like a hunter getting ready to spring."

"I know." Tai sighs. "But when Izzy came rushing in with that message from Gennai….it was all I could do to stop him charging in here without backup."

"Funny. You don't usually think of Izzy as the impulsive one."

"No, but he was much closer to Gennai than the rest of us were. Gennai was like a mentor/father figure to him."

"Hey guys…." Kari slowly turns her head , the gigantic stove attracting the attention of the Digimon (of course)

"Just imagine all of the meat pies you could fit in that…" Agumon says, drool dripping down his jaw.

"This place looks like it's been made for Belphemon himself." Gabumon mutters. "…Or Beezlemon, considering he is the Demon Lord of Gluttony."

"What is it Kari?" Tai asks, after rolling his eyes at his partner's antics.

"…Did you….hear that?"

"…It sounds like…."

"A horde of angry bees?" Matt asks with forced calm as he stares behind them.

"Yeah, how did you…." Tai's voice trails off and he groans. "…Oh no."

"IZZY!"

Izzy's head whirls around and his eyes widen as several sword sized stingers soar towards him, inches away from decapitating him. "WHAT THE?!"

"IZZY! LOOK OUT!" Tentomon shoves him out of the way just in time as Izzy's digivice bursts into light again.

"TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…KABUTERIMON!"

…

"WHAT THE !$$$ IS HE DOING HERE?!"

Ken holds up his hands in a peaceful gesture, but the six beings in front of him aren't buying it. "…I'm not here to cause problems…."

"Please. Scum like you shouldn't even be in the Digital World!" Cody snaps, his eyes burning with hate, a horrible emotion to see on such a young face.

"…" Ken flinches slightly and Wormmon hops down from Devidramon's back, glaring at the younger boy. "Don't you dare talk to him like that!"

"…Wormmon?" Davis stares in disbelief, a slow smile forming on his face. "…You're alive?"

"And what are you still doing with Ken?" Yolei asks suspiciously, glaring at the other boy herself. "….After how he treated you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I've forgiven Ken. I did so on my own terms and because I knew he had changed."

"People like that don't change." She mutters.

Davis shoots her a look as Veemon mutters, "…I don't know. A partner will only even hatch from an egg if there's still a bond…."

"He's just been brainwashed." Cody snaps and Wormmon says, annoyed, "I can still hear you you know."

"We don 't have time for this…" Ryo backflips over her dragon's head and lands next to Ken. "We need to talk to the tamers. Where are they?"

"You expect us to know?!"

"I know they're here…" Ryo repeats, holding up her Digivice showing several flashing signals on the screen. "And I don't have time for your pettiness. Tell me where they are."

"Why?" Cody growls, surpising the others with his viciousness again. "You brought HIM here. Why should we tell you anything you traitor?"

"…Cody.." Davis can't believe he's actually about to say this. He can't believe for once HE seems to be the rational one of the group. "…Maybe we should listen to them."

"…What?!"

"Davis, have you lost it?"

"I'm just saying she wouldn't let Ken back in here for no reason!"

"Listen to your friend. I'm trying to help…." Ken pleads, taking a step forward. "I'm trying to make things right, but I need you to hear me out."

"…"

"...Make things right?" Cody growls. "After all the Digimon you enslaved and tortured? The ones who died because of Kimeramon? You can't make this right, ever!"

"Cody!"

"Digiarmour Energize!"

"_He's completely snapped…." _ Davis realizes with a sinking heart and a feeling of horror. Digmon crosses his arms and shouts the words, "GOLD RUSH!"

"Ken, move!" Ryo screams as she shoves Ken out of the way and the blast encompaases her, sending her flying.

"RYO!"

Ken whirls around, and his blue eyes aren't pleading any longer, but full of the Emperor's cold fury. "I have had it up to here with you!" He snaps, raising his own Digivice. "Wormmon…."

"WORMMON DIGIVOLVE TO…STINGMON!"

"CODY! KEN! STOP IT!" Yolei shrieks, more afraid than angry now as the two bug Digimon snarl at each other, circling, Ryo lying unconscious behind a furious Ken, guarded by her own partner.

Davis hesitates, looking at the Digivice lying in her splayed out hand, and does something very brave and very stupid.

"SPIKING STRIKE!"  
"GOLD RUSH!"

Davis dove underneath the two attacks, rolling till he reaches Ryo's side. He grabs the Digivice and types a frantic message-"_Help!"_

..

"Oh this ought to be good." I mutter, as I flip open my suddenly vibrating phone. Since I have a ring for a Digivice Sira uploaded my phone to send me messages from other tamers.

…She also took off my totally awesome ringtone, saying it was "ridiculous and unprofessional." I'll show her "ridiculous and unprofessional." Once I get home, I'm totally uploading "Once I Was The King Of Spain" for my new ringtone. Let's see how her highness feels about, "…What the…?"

"…" Renamon's eyes widen as she looks over my shoulder. "….A message for help? From RYO?"

"…"

"We're not really going to help are we…." She groans.

I mutter under my breath before shoving it back into my pocket. "…Despite what Sira says…she still helped us. I can't just ignore a distress signal."

"Yes we can. It's very easy."

"Renamon."

"Oh, all right. But don't blame me when Stella kills you for leaving your post."

I smirk and lift my hand, feeling the warmth of the jewel starting to gain power again.

"RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….KYUBIMON!"

…

Digmon grunts as he lands hard on his backside, glowering up at Stingmon who silently forms his pink blade again and points it warningly at Digmon's face.

"Surrender."

"Not to…a chump like you…"

"…Fi-"ENOUGH!"

Stingmon is knocked aside by about 220 pounds of snarling fox, who whirls around and immediately growls at Digmon as well when he tries to get up.

"…What the HECK is going on here?!"

"Lils!" Davis exclaims, relieved as he clutches Ryo's Digivice. "I knew you'd come."

"…And there'd better be a good reason for dragging me away from my mission." I growl, shooting everyone there a menacing glare and making them all slink back slightly.

Huh. Must be a tamer thing. You get upgraded to a much more intimidating person. "Now what the he…" My voice trails off as I see Ryo lying there unconscious, with the tell tale signs of Digmon's attack all around her.

"….Did YOU do this?" I snap, whirling around and facing Cody, who flinches back slightly. "…I-I didn't mean to actually hurt anyone…"

"You tried to kill me." Ken snaps, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

"That's rich coming from you." Davis mutters. "…Cody freaked out yeah but…."

"But when our old enemy comes swarming out of nowhere, what the heck is he supposed to do?!" Yolei adds fiercely.

"…Who made the first move?" I demand, and when the Digidestined suddenly look guilty I scowl murderously. "Idiots…I'll be talking to Tai and Matt about this, just you wait, and don't blame me if you're on suspension for a while."

"But we didn't do an-"Yolei. Seriously. SHUT UP."

She looks near tears and any other time I would have felt bad about my harsh attitude, but I'm too annoyed right now to give her anything but a withering "grow-up" glare. "...Ken what are you doing here?"

"…" His blue eyes meet mine. "…I know who kidnapped Adelina…"

….

"This place is beyond creepy." Stella mutters, hating herself for the statement but it's a fact. The carvings on the earthern walls seem eerie, with the light from Dilbert's lantern making the shadows give them life.

"The big bad beta tamer is scared?" Dilbert teases before yelping as she punches him in the arm. "Shut up."  
"I'm kidding. This place would creep anyone out, it has been abandoned for hundreds of years…."

"So if you see any skeletons don't be surprised." His Wormmon says with a smirk and the two of them laugh.

"Trolls." Stella mutters. "Any luck sensing it?"

Seraphimon shakes his head. What with him being a Holy Digimon, they were counting on his senses and Dilbert's map to lead them to the place that hid what they sought.

"…Something…dark." He makes a face. "Is harming my senses."

"It's the mildew." Dilbert shrugs and continues walking.

"…I'm not so sure." She mutters.

"Seriously Stella, sometimes you worry too much." He laughs. "Even Sira is more confident than you are at times."

"Thanks." She says sarcastically, folding her arms and walking past him.

"Hey come on…" Dilbert wraps an arm around her shoulders and hugs her. "You know I didn't mean it like that. You're improving, just like everyone does. Remember how you used to be this naïve, innocent, shy girl?"

"Sira pretty much scarred all the innocence out of me." She mutters, curling a strand of black hair around one finger.

"She IS very good at that." He agrees. "But that's not the point. You shouldn't worry what other people think of you. Focus on becoming a better leader because you want to, not just because everyone expects you to."

"…" Stella smiles. "Thank you."

…

"I'm going to enjoy this." The woman mutters, as she lifts the gleaming white flute to her lips. Her pupils shrink slightly inside her red eyes as she slowly begins to play, the disturbing music filling the home.

…

"Where's that coming from?" Dilbert asks sharply, alarmed as the music echoes ominously through the barren tunnels.

"…Dunno…" Stella mutters before looking down sharply at the sound of a sharp intake of breath. "Wormmon?! What is it?"

"…" Wormmon's eyes are wide, her pupils slowly shrinking as she moans and struggles to cover up her antennae, whimpering softly.

"Wormmon…?"

Dilbert bends down to her, worried, but an odd dark light surronds his partner and Stella yanks him back, afraid but not really knowing the reason why.

Wormmon's breathing becomes more and more erratic, as if she's fighting something we can't see, and the three of them watch, transfixed in some weird kind of way, as she slowly grows bigger until she's six feet of seductive demoness.

"…Lilithmon….?"

Her eyes are blank and unseeing, and she slowly pulls one hand out of her massive sleeve, golden claws extending.

"NO!"

…

"…You think this Arukenimon stole Adelina?" I say grimly. He nods. "Believe me, she wasn't bluffing. I've known her long enough to tell when she's just messing with me and when she's serious."

"If you ask me this is all ridiculous." Cody snaps. "If she used to work with you, I wouldn't be surprised if she DID kidnap Adelina under your orders."

"…" Ken's face flushes. "If you think that, truly, than you're just proving how hoplessly naïve and stupid you are. I would never work with that monster, ever again. You hear me!"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turns their heads to look at me, some shocked, some deeply impressed by my lung capacity. "I have had enough of your ridiculous squabbling! Do you have ANY idea how childish you sound? One of my friends has been kidnapped and you all care more about having a piece of each other and settling your petty revenge! You hear me! PETTY!"

"Um…Lily…?"

"Not a single word Davis! Now I will say this once and only once. You are Digidestined, act like it instead of a bunch of trigger happy idiots! You shame yourselves and those who came before you, and even worse, you made ME have to actually give a lecture!"

"BUT LILY!"

"WHAT?!" I roar, whipping around, right before Digmon nearly kills me.

Peachy.


	20. Traitor's Treasure, Roar of Friendship

(AN-HAH! I am now officially 1/3 of the way done with this story! Let's throw a party!)

(twenty minutes later)

(Snape Loki and Lily are all at a table...well tied down to their chairs and forced to eat cake) Loki-...Does your author do this often?

Lily-All the time..

Snape-(has I don't even want to be here you stupid girl look on his face)

Ahem. Anyway review? Please? It would fill me to the brim with girlish glee!

Chapter Twenty

"IZZY NO!"

Izzy screams as Kabuterimon's talons snag his shirt, missing impaling him through the back by inches and a lucky shot.

He feels himself being flung into the air, falling, falling, looking down into his partner's mouth, giant teeth gleaming despite him being a beetle.

…."_Gennai I'm sorry…after all you did to help me…I've failed you…."_

But right before Death's cruel embrace could wrap around him, Izzy felt something wrap around his arm, yanking him to safety.

"Holy crap Iz…." Matt breathes, pulling him onto Garurumon's back. "That was way too close to comfort."

Kabuterimon shrieks, diving downwards for another go as Garurumon fell gracefully towards the ground, but he was momentarily distracted.

By the giant fireball that nearly incinerated him.

Tai stands next to his partner as Greymon snorts smoke out of his nostrils, looking all the world like the general he was, the golden fire obvious in his eyes.

"Get Izzy out of here." He snaps at Matt. "We can take it from here."

Matt raises an eyebrow and seems reluctant to leave, before he hears a low moan from Izzy and sees the blood soaking what remained of his old friend's shirt.

Maybe Izzy hadn't been so lucky against Kabuterimon after all…

Clenching his teeth he nudges Garurumon slightly, and they bolted, at speeds no one could ever hope to match.

Nerfertimon and Pegasusmon both fly upwards to engage the flock of Flymon in battle, their expressions…well you never could actually see any of Nerfertimon's expressions. But Tai is sure that it is just as fierce as the other three.

Greymon growls, frustrated that he himself can't get at any of the targets. If he were back in MetalGreymon form, then none of these cowards would stand a ghost of a chance.

As it was, he could only hit the ones that flew close enough towards him and Tai, and that wasn't a risk he enjoyed taking.

"Greymon! Watch your flank!" Nerfertimon yowls, as he incinerates three Flymon charging straight at him only to have another charge at Tai from his blind spot.

He spins around, furious, only to have the cat Digimon beat him to the punch, grasping the critter with her claws and sinking her fangs into his exoskeleton.

Pegasusmon whinnies and spreads his wings as some of the Flymon tried to surround him and TK, circling around to box them in.

Not happening.

"STAR SHOWER!"

The miniature meteorites shot off in all directions, crashing into each of his opponents and sending their smoking bodies falling to Earth.

A couple of the blasts of energy struck the wooden rail where a massive dishtowel was hung, weaking it, long cracks appearing in the wood.

"…"

Greymon's eyes narrow thoughtfully before a smirk appears on his reptilian face, an awfully hungry look.

"Greymon, what are you doing?"

Tai yelps as Greymon grabs him by the scruff of the neck, like a mother cat grabbing her kitten. "Greymon! What the heck?!"

Greymon doesn't and can't answer, not with his mouth full of the rank taste of one of Tai's soccer shirts. "When was the last time you washed this?" He tries to gag but it comes out sounding more like, "THhgjskk?"

Tai looks up as Greymon charges towards the cuboard, and his brown eyes nearly pop out of his sockets. "Are you trying to AHHHHH!"

Now see, a Greymon is built for a lot of things. They're built for charging straight through steel walls like a rhino on steroids. They're built for stomping Digimon so deeply into the ground they form craters.

They are not, however, meant for jumping or climbing. And that was, bizzarely enough, exactly what Greymon was currently trying to do.

His claws dig into the wood as he slowly manages to hoist himself up, Tai still yelling at his apparently insane partner and the other two watching in disbelief.

"What is he trying to do…?" Kari says in disbelief. "….?"

"…He's lost it…" TK says flatly. "…It's like he's trying to climb like you Gatomon."

"Don't insult my climbing skills."

Greymon's eyes narrow as he hears the sounds of the Flymon charging towards him, obviously thinking he was helpless in this position.

Well not quite. He drops Tai from his jaw and catches his partner in one massive clawed hand, before opening his jaws wide and letting out a fierce roar of "NOVA BLAST!"

It worked, thank Yggdrasil. He leaps out of the way and rolls downwards, clutching Tai safely to his chest as the MASSIVE towel falls downwards, the rack incinerated.

The Flymon only had time to let out short yelps as they were squished underneath about five-hundred pounds worth of soft cotton.

Greymon had wiped out about eighty Flymon in about a tenth of a time it would have taken Nefertimon and Pegasusmon to hunt them all down.

"…That was…" Pegasusmon struggles to find the words but is unable to. Nerfertimon and Kari simply nod dumbly.

"…"

Greymon just smirks.

...

"Hurry, Garurumon!"

Matt bites his lip as the blood from Izzy's injuries seeped into his partner's white fur. He feels the terror building up in him, in the knowledge that his friend is badly hurt and they're wasting their time, rather it be with fighting up the massive amounts of bug Digimon that seemed to keep appearing around every corner, or the fact that there just seems to be no end to this house.

For example, this one hallway they'd just run into…? They'd rounded the corner and bolted into it about FIVE minutes ago.

Matt feels a prickle down his spine. He can't surpress the feeling that he's being watched. And the absolutely unbelieving behaviour of the Bug Digimon didn't make any sense either.

If they'd entered a nest or something like that, he could understand their aggression, but this? There was something unnatural about how they all looked at you, blank and unseeing, that made him think they weren't just common lackies either.

Something was going…

These are the thoughts running through Matt's head right before Garurumon suddenly lets out a horrible, deranged screech as he's thrown backwards.

Matt rolls a couple of feet before hearing a cold, icy laugh echo above him. The first thing he notices are the pale feet sticking out from underneath the velvety purple dress. His blood runs cold as he slowly looks upwards into the manicured face that is carved into a smirk.

"L-Lilithmon…?"

It's the look in her eyes that really terrifies him. Blank and unseeing, robotic, drained of all emotion. He doesn't even have time to scream as the golden claws slice downwards and Garurumon leaps forward with a furious snarl, his entire body surrounded by blue light.

…

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

These are the thoughts running through Matt's head right before Garurumon suddenly lets out a horrible, deranged screech as he's thrown backwards.

Matt rolls a couple of feet before hearing a cold, icy laugh echo above him. The first thing he notices are the pale feet sticking out from underneath the velvety purple dress. His blood runs cold as he slowly looks upwards into the manicured face that is carved into a smirk.

"L-Lilithmon…?"

It's the look in her eyes that really terrifies him. Blank and unseeing, robotic, drained of all emotion. He doesn't even have time to scream as the golden claws slice downwards and Garurumon leaps forward with a furious snarl, his entire body surrounded by blue light.

…

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

Kyubimon's blue fireballs strike at Digmon's spear-like drills, charring the metal so badly they fell to the ground in a crumbled heap.

The beetle-like Digimon growls and glares murderously at her through eyes that did not belong to her friend.

Cody is screaming and struggling to get at his partner, while I hold him back, cringing as the loud sound fills my ears.

"Hurry, Kyubimon!"

Kyubimon snakes around Digmon's legs, even in between them at one point, her tails grabbing all of his limbs and tumbling him to the ground. As he struggles to get back up again she charges, her entire body covered in flames of blue.

"DRAGON WHEEL!"

Cody's screams grow louder as the snarling dragon formed from the fire dives downwards at Digmon, whose eyes widen like a deer in front of an incoming train.\

"YOU'RE GOING TO HURT HIM! DIGMON NO!"

But Kyubimon doesn't even have a chance, because before the attack could hit something rams her in the side and knocks her away.

Stingmon soars downwards, eyes gleaming, the pink sword ready to stab my partner in the heart before she can scramble out of the way.

"NO!"

I reach for the ring to biomerge, rather she likes it or not, but before I can there's a fierce roar of "FIRE ROCKET!"

Stingmon screeches and stumbles backwards, away from the flames before Flamedramon can even hit him.

Flamedramon growls and shouts, "We're not your enemies Stingmon! Try to think!" before diving downwards again, this time only his right hand on fire. "FLAMING FIST!"

Stingmon is plowed into the ground from the mere force of the blow, the two Digimon wrestle with each other, their snarls echoing upwards.

"Thanks Davis…" I breathe a sigh of relief before suddenly hearing something crunching in the bushes behind me.

"…"

"WE'VE GOT COMPANY!"

Red eyes gleam in the shadows of the forest behind us like a bad horror movie, and the next thing I know there's a swarm of angry Dokugumon charging at us.

"Everyone fall back!"

I swear as I shove Davis behind me, glancing back over at Devidramon, who roars and crouches protectively over his unconscious tamer.

There must be at least hundred of these horrible spiders…one hungry Dokugumon is bad enough. But when there's this many, and they're all looking at you like you're their next lunch, well…

"YOLEI!" Davis bellows, his head whipping around. "What are you waiting for?! Have Hawkmon digivolve and help us!"

She's silent, her hands shaking, her lips moving noiselessly as the number of spiders keep growing, and Hawkmon tries to keep blasting them back away from his partner to no affect.

Devidramon roars and rises up on his hind legs, crunching several with his claws and then shrieking as Stingmon dives at him, cutting a long gash on his flank.

"No, Stingmon, STOP IT!"

Ken runs forward, and I wonder once again how a kid whose supposedly so smart can be so incredibly stupid.

Davis manages to get to Yolei and grab her by the wrist, shaking her slightly. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but snap out of it!"

"…I…I can't…"

"What do you mean you can't?! You have to! We need you!"

I growl as the Dokugumon advance towards both me and Cody, whose hiding behind my legs, unable to do anything else.

"KYUBIMON! We have to biomerge!"

"It's too dangerous!" She barks back, slicing through several of the Dokugmon's fragile legs. "With this many enemies?!"

…Crap…I thought she was over this paranoria of us biomerging…but obviously not.

"We DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!"

…When she doesn't answer, I know she's ignoring me. I hear a sudden scream and whip around to see one of the Dokugumon sink its fangs into the back of Ken's calf, see him double over in pain.

"NO!"

I know it's a stupid move, because I'm just a regular mortal now, especially, but what else can I do, let them tear him apart?

Ken stumbles to the ground, panting in pain and about eight more Dokugumon charge around him, their anticipation for a kill obvious.

"LEAVE-HIM-ALONE!"

I don't know how I did it….I don't know why really either. It isn't like Ken and I are close, but seeing him lying there helpless as all of the monsters converge around him with this look of helpless, yet somehow accepting defeat on his face made me angrier and more fiercely determined than I had been for a long time.

That feeling….a feeling I hadn't had for months rose up inside of me again, like liquid fire, and the last thing I remembered really thinking was…"…Holy crap…."

…

Ken's eyes widen as Lily's pupils disappeared, slowly shrinking into her golden eyes. Her ears lengthened to become sharper, her canine teeth grew slightly, markings appearing on her face.

"Wha…wha…?!"

The golden aura surrounding her body pulses outwards, like a wave, washing over the Dokugumon. Cody is thrown backwards as well, tumbling over and hitting the back of his head on a large tree root.

Their screams echo horribly as they melt away like sand castles in water, as the light slowly fades away.

"…"

Ken watches as Lily drops to one knee, and pants heavily, sweat dribbling down her forehead as her gaze meets his.

"L-Lily!" Kyubimon crushes the skull of the last Dokugumon and runs forward, shock and joy obvious in her foxy face. "Y-you finally did it! You see…I knew you were worried about not…"

It's in that second both Ken and Kyubimon realize that something was very, very wrong.

Lily's eyes, just turned back to normal, suddenly widen as she screams, a long, drawn out scream of agony and pain.

"LILY!"

"MY HEAD! OH YGGDRASIL MAKE IT STOP IT HURTS! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kyubimon bolts towards her partner at the same time Ken does, and that's just when Digmon lets out a loud yell of, "ROCK CRACKING!"

…

"…"

"Dilbert…are you okay….?"

The light from her Digivice shone on his face, the only light in the tunnels. Dilbert's own lantern lay smashed against the wall, glass covering the cobbled ground.

He groans and slowly shoves himself upwards, blood dribbling down his face. "…Wha…happened…Lilithmon?!"

"I don't know…" Stella says shakily, pressing her shirt to the cut. "…She…just snapped…Seraphimon went after her but I…"

Dilbert flinches from the stinging pain and manages a weak smile. "Not exactly what we had planned for this mission to go."

"Even now you can make jokes?"

"Only way to deal with problems…" He sighs. "Can you contact Lily?"

"Her? Why?"

"Because first of all, I'm worried about her, and second of all, I don't exactly think we're in a position to handle this for ourselves."

Stella groans before typing into her Digivice. "All right, all right, you're right…" An image of Lily's face appears on the screen…but there's no answer.

She curses in great volume and expression. "Stupid girl, can't even be bother to answer."

His eyes flash with concern. "What do you think happened?"

"How should I…" Stella looks up suddenly and sees long cracks appear in the ceiling above them. "LOOK OUT!"

Stella grabs him by the arm and pulls him to safety just as the ceiling gives in above them, a rain of rubble and concrete.

The smoke obscures all vision as she coughs wildly, before hearing a frantic voice screaming, "LILY! LILY! ANSWER ME!"

"…I think we found her…."

…

"GET IN THERE!"

Tai roars as he leaps off Nerfertimon's back, pulling Kari down with him as they dive into the open sock drawer.

He bounces as he lands on top of something white and massive…before quickly rolling out of the way as the two flying Digimon manage to drop Greymon.

Getting all the way up here would not be something he could manage alone. The drone of insects outside makes his face pale, as he looks at his sister and TK. TK groans, holding his badly injured right arm.

"…Close it!" He yelps as the sound of a swarm continues to keep growing.

"I don't…think we can…" Nerfertimon groans, panting from exhaustion along with Pegasusmon.

Dragging along a 500 pound dinosaur is not an easy chore.

Greymon snorts. "Are you implying I'm fat?!"

"DOES IT REALLY MATTER?!"

Greymon snorts and hooks his horns underneath the handle, pulling with all his might.

With considerable better results than his earlier climbing attempt.

The Snimon dive downwards, sickles glinting in the light as the door slams shut and they are alone in the darkness.

"…Tai?"

"Yes Kari?"

"Please don't tell me that we're….sitting on a gigantic pair of underpants."

"…"

"Well I'm traumitized for life…"

Kari touches TK's arm, wincing as she looks at the gash. "That looks pretty bad…look, here I…"

"KARI YOU ARE NOT USING YOUR SHIRT AS A BANDAGE FOR HIM!"

"Tai, he's bleeding! What do you expect me to do?!"

Tai twitches repeatedly, his eyes flickering from the injured TK to the pleading/annoyed Kari. "…Fine." He clenches his teeth. "…But you keep your eyes closed while she's doing it!"

"Yes sir." TK says dryly. "I'll keep that in mind while I bleed all over a pair of giant panties."

"Eww…"

Tai swallows hard as he leans against the back of the drawer. Though he tells himself he did the right thing by protecting TK and Kari, getting them to safety, he hasn't felt this frustrated in a long time.

Running like that, hiding here like a coward…

His right hand clenches into a fist as he thinks of Matt and the others. At least Davis and the other two were outside when the insects attacked.

They should be fine then.

…Right?

Somehow he seriously doubts that…

Nerfertimon, still panting, degnerates back to Gatomon, who groans before stretching out her back so tight it actually makes a cracking noise, causing everyone around her to flinch.

"…There. That feels better."

"How could that possibly feel better?" TK says in disbelief, staring at his friend's partner.

Gatomon grins. "A little pain means a lot of pleasure later. Like massages. You should see how good Sira massages."

"…And you know this how?"

"She lost a bet. And you know her, her pride's too great to back ou-"Shhh….!"

Patatmon's ears flap upwards. "I heard something…"

For a minute the drawer is filled with the oddly creepy sound of complete and utter silence.

"…"

Then they hear it. A soft whirring sound that keeps growing repeatedly louder and louder by the second. Tai's eyes widen and his face pales, as does everyone else in the room.

"…"

"They're drilling in…" Kari whispers, hugging herself, her auburn eyes wide. TK sets his jaw tightly, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders, a gesture that would normally make Tai flip but right now it hardly seems to matter.  
Greymon snarls as wood chips fly at them, striking Tai in the face and leaving tiny gashes all over it. Swallowing hard he clenches his teeth. "…_Now what do I do?"_

…

"Ugh…."

I half expect to hear the sound of Sira whacking me upside the head and declaring me to be beyond stupid. Instead there's a gentle voice that's asking me, "Are you okay?"

"…Am I dead?" Because there's no one been that gentle with me before. I open my eyes and see a pair of bright blue ones staring back into mine…

"Uh…I don't think so."

"…Ken?"

I push myself upwards and feel dirt crumble down from my hair into the back of my shirt. The entire tunnel is too dark for me to pick up anything except for the shadows of the boulders that surround us.

"…What…happened….?"

"Hey, take it easy now…." A more familiar voice echoes in my right ear and helps pull me to my feet. "You got quite the nasty bump on your head…"  
"Dilbert…!" I gasp out, swaying slightly on my feet, as I push myself upwards. "….W-what happened?"

"Heck if we know. One second we're searching for the tunnels for a legendary map, next thing my partner's lost her mind and after that you fall into Stella's lap. Literaly."

"…I WHAT?!"

"Kidding." Dilbert bursts out laughing at my look of complete horror. "…Man I can't believe you fell for that…"

"I think you've been spending too much time with GranDracmon." Ryo's voice echoes as she walks out of the shadows towards us.

"Besides, it's about time we do get serious." Stella says grimly, gesturing to the wall of boulders in front of us. "There's pretty much no way we can get through that."

"…Why exactly are you glaring at me?" I mutter, shooting her a look.

"Because you're the one who made the ceiling break into about a million pieces."

"Oh I'm SO sorry I'm sure. Next time I'm trying to avoid being eaten by about a hundred Dokugumon, I'll think on that."

"…You shouldn't have been anywhere near the Digidestined in the first place."

"Stingmon and Digmon turned on them Stella, what was I supposed to do? Just shrug as they're killed by their own partners and go, "ah well?"

"Course not…" She mutters. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong-…" She's not? Well that's a surprise. "But it doesn't change the fact that we're in some serious trouble here."

"She's right." Cody's voice is horse and raspy, but all the same my shoulders twitch with irritation. Maybe if he and Yolei hadn't picked a fight with Ken and Ryo this wouldn't have happened. "We'll run out of air if we stay here much longer…"

"Good point. Stella, you can no longer talk."

"Hey!"

"Ryo!"

"Moving on…" I sigh, my eyes focusing on Ken's, as they're the brightest things in this room. "What do we do now? I don't think any of our Digimon are strong enough to pound their way through that. Do we just stay here and wait for help?"

"We have to find….what we came here for." Stella says calmly, but her eyes flicker to Ryo with unease. She doesn't want Ryo to know about the map.

"…?"

"What for?" Monodramon asks groggily as Ryo just raises an eyebrow.

"Tamer business." Stella raises her chin. "…Not that it concerns you."

"Just some old runes Sira asked us to find for Sorcerymon's library." I say casually, the lie falling from lips with ridiculous ease. I'm actually not that bad of a liar, when I'm not afraid of/care about the person I'm lying to. "You know, just some information on the war against Lucemon that he lost a while back…"

"…"

Ryo snorts contemptuously. "You're really wasting time for a mission like that?"

"Eh. What can you do?"

She rolls her eyes. "…Whatever…."

Dilbert catches my eye when the others aren't looking and mouths the words, "Nice job" appreciatively behind Ryo's back.

I smirk before something catches my eye. That symbol….carved onto the wall…

"_What do they stand for Daddy?"_

_Alexander ruffles my hair as we stand outside the door to home. "The symbols of the Demon Lords…see Lucemon's is at the top and mine is…."_

_It was hard for me to follow, they all looked mostly like squiggly lines. "Do I have one?"_

_He chuckles. "Sorry little one. You're not a Demon Lord, so no."_

"…_Oh."_

"…_But remember this?" He touches my back and I giggle as he tickles me. "You have your own mark. It means that even though you're not a Demon Lord, you're still our ward….And we'll always be there to help you."_

"…Guys…?" I say slowly. "…These tunnels were meant for the war against Lucemon right?"

Stella gives me a "well duh" look. "And your point is…?"

"My point is if this place is so anti-Lucemon, why is his symbol right there?" I demand, pointing down at the small carving on the rock wall that was bright red, like blood.

"…" Dilbert's eyes widen. "She's right."

"I'm sorry, what?" Cody asks, completely lost. "…What do you mean?"

"I mean there's something more to this part of the cave that meets the eye…"

"Here. Let me try." Ryo presses her hand to the symbol and the rock around it, but nothing happens. No secret lever, no nothing.

Eventually she stands back up with a grunt of frustration. "…Forget it. This is a waste of time."

"You give up so easily still." Stella says flatly.

She just snorts before pushing herself upwards. "Monodramon, come. Ken…" She hesitates for a moment, looking at him before shrugging her shoulders. "…Stay with them if you like. Doesn't bother me."

"…" Ken watches her and Monodramon walk back towards the boulders with a pained expression on his face. "…You guys…I need to…"

"We know. Make sure she doesn't do something stupid."

"I say you guys are right." Cody says firmly, looking back at the symbol. "…This has to be the answer. " Of course Cody didn't notice I was lying earlier,he's far too innocent of a child for that.

"Are you saying that because Ken disagreed or cause you really believe it?" Dilbert asks dryly.

"…That's no-"You guys, we really don't have time for this!"

I bend down again and stare at the symbol. "What do you think Lils?" Renamon says softly. "Go for it or not?"

"…'

My jaw sets. "…I don't have any better ideas!" The minute my palm touches the symbol, it glows bright red, the light illuminating the whole tunnel.

"Holy crap, what did you do?!"

I turn back to see Ryo and Ken staring at me in disbelief, and I grin. "Not such a waste of time after all, was it?"

…

Tai clenches his teeth as the drilling noise continues to get louder. His eyes flicker back to his sister, and he knows…what he has to do.

"…Guys? As soon as the creeps get through, you need to run. I'll hold them off."

"Are you crazy?!'

He flashes her a grin. "Maybe…"

"No way. Asbolutely no way in heck." Kari spats as TK nods his firm agreement.

Tai's eyes narrow. "…That wasn't me talking as your brother, that's me giving you an order as your leader."

"I don't care! You think I want to face Mom or Dad and tell them that I just abandoned you?!"

But Kari's shout is drowned out by the sound of a large, almost sickening crunch, and a part of the drawer explodes inwards on them.

Kari screams as Gatomon hisses, and TK lets out a yelp of horror. "D-Digmon?!"

"NOVA BLAST!" Greymon roars, his red flames nearly striking Digmon, and they would have done so as well if a certain humanoid wasp hadn't tackled him out of nowhere, knocking him off balance.

The flames strike the bottom of the drawer, burning a hole through it just large enough for a person to jump through.

"GO!" Tai roars, shoving his sister down the hole despite her protesting scream, and giving TK a fierce look. TK nods grimly, hissing in slight pain as he moves his bended arm, before leaping after her.

"GATOMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…NERFERTIMON…!"

"PATAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ANGEMON!"

Tai smiles slightly as he watches Nerfertimon fly off with his sister, and breathes a sigh of relief. "I know you guys can figure out what's going on…" He mutters before turning back to face the intruders, as Greymon struggles back to his feet.

It's not just Stingmon and Digmon either. A massive Kuwagamon and Snimon crowd around them as well, and Tai clenches his teeth. "…All right fine. You guys want a piece of me?" His brown eyes glint in the darkness, and he's so focused on the battle that he doesn't notice his Digivice starting to glow orange. "…Bring it on."

…

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

Matt smirks as he sees Lilithmon's golden talons become encased in ice, stopping her from stabbing his partner in the heart just in time.

She hisses in pure frustration, unable to break free which is nice for a change. Unlike both Kimeramon and VenomMyotismon.

MetalGarurumon roars and charges forward, sinking his teeth into her upper bicep, causing the demoness to shriek with rage.

…Unfortunately….they'd forgetten about her other hand….the fingers twitch and dark shadows drift down from them…

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Matt's eyes widen as the dark shadows surround his partner, causing the wolf Digimon to fall back, screaming, writhing on the floor. "METALGARURUMON!"

"IT HURTS! MATT PLEASE! MAKE IT AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GABUMON!"

He springs forward, just in time to see golden claws lance downwards towards his face. His eyes widen as Lillithmon lets out a laugh that's not her own….

He closes his eyes….

"…Huh?"

He wasn't dead?

A screech echoes to his right and he sees an angel dressed in blue armour pinning an outraged Lillithmon to the wall. "Sorry kid…" Seraphimon growls. "But you and your partner stay out of the way now!"

His sword Excaliber forms in his right hand as Lillithmon pushes him back, her eyes blazing with hate.

"…I don't want to fight you….but you've left me no choice…SEVEN HEAVENS!"

…

"So why would the tunnel have Lucemon's mark on it anyway?" Ken asks, confused. I close my eyes. "…I heard something about this from Sorcerymon. There was a traitor in their midst all those years ago. He's part of the reason for…" My voice trails off as I look over at Ryo, whose face is stone. "…Milleunimon."

"…And why didn't they notice?"

"We didn't even notice the symbol until Lily pointed it out." Dilbert says thoughtfully. "…I bet it's got glams all over it. Only people who are loyal to Lucemon can see it."

"…So effectively only people whose souls are owned by the devil."

"Hey!" I protest, whirling around and giving Stella a look, but she's grinning. "…I'm just joking Lily. Lighten up."

"…."

I blink as Stella and Ryo walk past me. "…What just happened?"

"…I'm not really sure." Renamon says dryly, touching her tail to my legs. "But don't just stand there gaping like a fish."

"Oh shut up…"

She snorts and is silent for a minute before speaking up, our footsteps echoing down the tunnel. "…I'm sorry."

"…About what?"

Renamon closes her eyes. "…If I'd just biomerged when you told me to, none of this would have happened. I mean….Davis and Yolei would still be safe…with us…"

"…" A pang pinches my stomach and I swallow hard. I'd been trying really hard not to think about what might be happening to them. It wasn't like there was anything we could do with that rock barrier preventing us from getting to the surface.

"…Do you remember much about what happened back there?"

"…Uh no. It's all pretty much a big blur from when those spiders were swarming Ken…."

Renamon finally looks back over at me. "You lost control. You were in terrible pain and it…." Her voice cracks. "…It was my fault."

"…Renamon don't say stuff like-wait…" For a second her sentence hits me. "Wait…by loosing control…you mean I actually used my powers?"

"…Yes and they nearly killed you! Which is again, all my-"If you say it was all your fault again I will punch you in the face."

"…" Her ears droop again and I sigh. "Look….Renamon, what happened back there….wasn't your fault. I've lost my powers for months, having them come back suddenly must have been too much for my body."

"Are they really back though?"

I felt a thrill of excitement, something like triumph filling me up as I lifted out my palm and stretched my fingers….Nothing.

"OH ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"…Lily? What's wrong?"

"…Nothing." I grumble, looking up at Ken. "….Just stubbed my toe on something."

He hesitates, his eyes fixing on mine. "…I'm going to need to talk to you….about something."

"Huh?"

"Ken! Come on!"

Renamon's ears droop even more. "And so I made you go through all of that without helping you at all. What kind of a partner am-OW!"  
"I warned you." I say calmly, brushing my hands off as she gives me a dirty look. "...Look what happened…with Davis and Yolei…would have happened. We were outnumbered by twenty to one. And we've only biomerged a couple of times."

She stares at me. "…I know you don't really believe that Lils."

"…Look…stressing out…won't change things. We made a mistake. But we'll do things the right way when we get out of here. We'll save Yolei and Davis and if anyone tries to get in our way, we'll burn them alive."

…

Yolei moans. Her hair feels tangled and messy, pulled back at an awkward angle, along with her arms and legs. She tries to shift in bed…but she can't.

Annoyed, she opens her eyes to see Davis sleeping right next to her. "…"

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"W-wha?!" His maroon eyes shoot open. "What happened?!"  
"You sick pervert!" She shrieks. "I would never….OH MY HOLY YGGDRASIL!"

"You think I would EVER want to?!"

"Guys…" Veemon says in a tone that suggests forced calm. "…I don't think you realize what exactly is going on."

"What are you talking about?" Davis demands suspiciously.

Yolei rolls over…or tries to, annoyed and not wanting to look at Davis. That's when she realizes what exactly they're lying on…

"…Sp…spid…."

"SPIDDERR WEBBBB!"

Davis' high pitched scream echoes throughout the forest, and it's not long before Yolei starts joining in. "HELP US! SOMEBODY! PLEASE! HAWKMON?! WHERE ARE YOU…!"

"…Yolei…"

She slowly turns her head, hating the tone in Veemon's voice. Her eyes widen with horror as she sees Poromon lying limply in the web beneath her. And it….didn't look like he was breathing…his beak was an odd shade and spit poured out from it…

"…Venom…"

"Oh…POROMON!" Her scream grows louder as Davis tries desperately to calm her down. "NO! PLEASE! THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS! POROMON WAKE UP!"

"Yolei…Yolei!" He clenches his teeth and is horrified to see the tears streaming down her face. "Yolei, I swear to you, I swear, I'll get you out of this! I won't let Poromon leave you! It's going to be okay! I promise!"

"DAVIS! BEHIND YOU!"

The web shakes slightly and he whirls around, as much as he can move. And immediately wishes he hadn't.

The biggest Dokugumon he'd ever seen before in his life….the fangs about the size of his arm…was slowly advancing towards them.

It looked like it was savouring the moment. Prey completely helpless and all wrapped up nice and tight for dinner.

Yolei doesn't scream again, but she's shaking like mad and he can hear the sound of her sobbing quietly. He clenches his teeth and feeling he's never known before rises up in him. "I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER!"

…

"I can't believe we just left Tai like that…." Kari says, her voice cracking as she twists around on Nerfertimon's back. "…"

TK touches her shoulder. "He'll be okay, I promise you…"

"But we might not be!" Nerfertimon's alarmed yowl echoes upwards as a very familiar figure appears behind them again.

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

"Watch out!"

The huge blast of electricity passes so closely over the two teenagers' heads that it makes Kari's hair stand straight up.

Kabuterimon's face is a mask of pure hatred as he chases after them, his four wings making him much more agile. Nerfertimon shrieks as suddenly he's in front of her again, swatting her upside the head and sending her flying into the wall.

Kari screams as she and TK both fall, just as TK's Digivice bursts into light. "PATAMON DIGIVOLVE TO,,,ANGEMON!"

"Go ahead!"

"We are not doing this again!" Kari manages to shriek out just as Nefertimon swoops down and grabs her scruff, her tail wrapping around TK's waist. "I'm not leaving someone else behind again!"  
"You must…." Angemon snaps, turning around to face her. "This is not about my safety right now you two. This is about something completely dark that is close…very close…"

He points upwards to what they realize is a giant air vent. Kari and TK both turn back and give him confused looks before something reaches their ears.

"Is that…" TK says slowly. "…Music I'm hearing?"

Sure enough. The vague sounds of a flute, from what Kari can tell after three years in the band echoes outwards. But this is not like any song she's ever heard before. It was chilling…creepy….seductive..,.

"The music is the source of the curse that has afflicted the bugs!" Angemon shouts over Kabuterimon's roar. "You must end it, NOW!"

"…We've got it Angemon!" TK calls and grips onto Kari's hand and Nerfertimon soars upwards, her wings flapping against the heavy wind that generates from the vent.

"Be careful!" Kari calls back down to him, but her shout is drowned out by the howl of both the air and Kabuterimon, who charges Angemon with a snarl of fury.

Angemon's eyes narrow beneath his mask and his knuckles start to glow brightly gold. "HAND OF FATE!"

…

"TAI!"

Greymon roars his partner's name as Snimon dives towards the boy, his shoulder ramming into Tai's lower ribs as he tries to dodge.

Tai screams at the sound of his own ribs snapping, and Greymon roars in rage, his pupils narrowing down to feral slits as he whirls around and sinks his teeth into Snimon's right leg.

Snimon screams just as Greymon is forced to let go and pull quickly away as Kuwagamon's Guillotine attack nearly takes his head off.

"Tai!"

Tai groans and pushes himself upwards, trying to ignore the agonizing pain in his chest, fighting the desire to try and pass out, the blackness that surrounds his vision.

"G…Greymon…!"

"TAI!"

Greymon is still fighting, roaring, his teeth sinking into the Kuwagamon's leg that presses him to the ground. Digmon, much heavier than he looks, is pressed onto his back.

Tai growls into frustration, rage as he watches Snimon walk towards Greymon, the pink blade extending as the smirk appears on the wasp's face.

….It couldn't end like this…..here…alone…without Kari….leaving Matt and Sora behind…never getting a chance to tell Lily…

…No. If he was going to die here than he was going to go down FIGHTING, not sitting here in the corner like a coward.

"GREYMON GET UP!"

A burning sensation filled his chest right above his collar bone, although this wasn't nearly as painful as the broken ribs.

He screams, loud, as orange light seems to carve a symbol onto his chest right to the side of his neck, circles, getting clearer and clearer.

Greymon's eyes widen as he sees that symbol appear on Tai's chest…a symbol he was afraid…he might never see again.

Light pours from the marking, and all three insect Digimon take a step back from the light, throwing their hands up over their faces.

Stingmon's red eyes narrow angrily and he whirls around, charging at Tai instead of Greymon, pulling that pink blade up to decapitate the boy.

"NO!"

Energy fills Greymon like he hasn't felt in years, his roar becomes louder and more blood-thirsty,metallic sounding in a way…"Greymon digivolve to…METALGREYMON!"

…

"You've got to be kidding me….another freaking puzzle?"

"Whoever hid the map here wanted to make sure people couldn't get in easily." I mutter. "Doesn't surprise me, if Lizzie was anything like Tai or Sira…you wouldn't want to be caught betraying her."

"It actually doesn't really look like a puzzle." Monodramon comments. "It looks like a key…"

…He was right. The door, when you really looked at it, simply had an imprint that was shaped like a….

"That looks like a digivice." Cody says in disbelief, his eyes widening. "…But….how…."

"Well?" Stella demands, putting her hands on her hips. "Is someone going to try and open it or not?"

"In case you haven't noticed…." Ryo drawls with a slight sneer in her voice. "That imprint is like the Digivice of Tai and the others. None of us have that."

"…"

"Then what the heck are we supposed to do?!"

"Might as well try." Dilbert sighs and holds out his own Digivice. When he notices the look Ryo gives him, he sighs. "I know it probably won't work but it's better than just standing here right?"

He held up his Digivice to the wall. Nothing. I'm vaguely surprised when Ryo doesn't make a disparaging remark of "I told you so" to him.

Frustration rose up in me. "I'll try." I can't accept the idea that we've been stuck here for all this time and have absolutely nothing.

My ring doesn't even flicker. I scowl in frustration, feel Stella's hand on my shoulder. "…You tried."

"…Wait…"

"Ken?"

His blue eyes are dead serious. "Don't give up so soon." He says grimly. "I haven't come this far to quit."

"But-"Whatever is out there has my partner!" Ken shouts, anger entering his voice. "….I lost him once…I can't just give up on him now!"

"…"

"All right." Stella nods. "Do what you have to do."

Cody's looking at Ken with the weirdest expression on his face. It's a mixture of surprise, confusion and….maybe a little regret? But then it's gone and he just shoots Ken a cold stare as Ken walks forward to the end of the hallway.

He pulls out his own D-3, which glows with black light.

"…Holy crud…" Renamon's ears perk up. "I think it might actually be working…."

The imprint on the wall glows a bright red before the carving twists slightly to the right. The sound of rock grinding against rock fills my ears and Ryo slowly turns her head to look at us, smiling. "…We're in."

…..

Davis glares murderously as the drooling spider advances. He can see his reflection in all of those eight red eyes…

"…Yolei…."

She can only whimper as the fangs of the spider drip venom, and Davis screams as the poison lands on his right hand. It's a horrible burning sensation that threatens to overcome him completely…let the darkness fade in…

"DAVIS! DAVIS!"

Through what felt like a haze he can hear Yolei and Veemon screaming his name and clenches his teeth. No matter what happens he can't let his friends be hurt!

Wait….his fingers are free….oh yes, Heck yes!

Davis reaches into his pocket and whips out his D-3, screaming at the top of his lungs, "DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO….FLAMEDRAMON! THE FIRE OF COURAGE!"

"Chew on THIS you little piece of scum!"Flamedramon roars, his entire body covered with flames as he charges forwards, the fire scorching the web as he soars.

The Dokugumon only had a brief second to realize how very dead it was for picking on a Digimon's partner, before Flamedramon tore right through it.

That's right. Tore. THROUGH. IT. It was a messy way to die but Flamedramon was too pissed to care about that. His eyes shot back to his partners as he heard them both scream.

His eyes widen with horror as he sees both Yolei and Davis falling to the ground, about 200 feet below. "NO!"

Charging downwards, his claws snag into the bark of one tree, the other claws wrapping around Yolei's hand as her hand wrapped around Davis'.

"Don't you dare let go!" Davis yells, not afraid to show the terror on his face as he dangled above the forest ground. "Wasn't planning to…." Flamedramon growls back, wincing as he slips slightly.

Flamedramon is meant for speed, not strength, and he doesn't know how much longer he could last. Yolei screams suddenly. "BEHIND YOU!"

Flamedramon's head shoots around to see another Dokugumon charging towards him, eyes hungry, and snarls a menacing warning. "_I will not let my friends fall!"_

Beneath Davis….something blue starts to shine…

…

"Hurry Seraphimon!" Matt calls, fear starting to enter his voice even though he hates it, fear entering into it as MetalGarurumon freezes as many of the bugs as he can but more just keep….coming!

Lilithmon's dress in smoking, and there are massive cuts all over her body, but, zombie like, she just continues to get back up again no matter how badly she's hurt.

Seraphimon clenches his teeth behind the mask. That was part of the problem. She could still go all out while he…couldn't. Not if he wanted her to stay alive.

"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

The orbs of light shoot towards Lillithmon, but somehow, impossibly, her claws lash out and she tears through each one of them, her eyes gleaming red as the claws lash back.

"SERAPHIMON!"

…

"You just wait until I get my claws on the slut that's done this…." Nerfertimon mutters darkly as the three of them make their way through the airshaft.

"The music'still going…." TK mutters, turning a left. "This way."

Kari's eyes are icy cold, something that would have shocked anyone who knew the kind, generous girl. But when her actual family is being threatened, well…

Let's just have a flashback to Angewomon VS LadyDevimon shall we?

"…It's an attic….'

TK realizes as they reach the end of the vent, which, thankfully, this one is only a few inches from the floor. "I mean, an attic about the size of Odiaba, but you know."

"I'd really rather Angemon was with us." Kari mutters. That feeling of something completely dark and evil won't leave her mind, it's pressing in all around her.

"What?" Nerfertimon snorts as she stretches out her wings and her claws. "You doubt me?"

"You know what I mean…"

"I do actually…" She mutters. "This whole place seems to be dripping with hate and darkness…."

Her cat's eyes spotted movement in the back of the attic, and she barely had time to yowl, "LOOK OUT!" before a dozen white hot needles came out of nowhere and piereced through her wings, causing her to stumble to the ground with a moan of pain.

"NERFERTIMON!"

Kari ran to her Digimon's side as TK whirled around, just as a cold laugh fills the room. "…I should have known. You Digidestined are so predictable."

The woman is dressed all in red, with purple sunglasses that hide her eyes. Her purple lips are curled up in a ghostly smile.

"…" Kari holds up her Digivice and scowls. "…I can't get a read on her."

"…Then maybe…" TK mutters. "She's…not a Digimon?"

She giggles. "That's for me to know and for you to find out. I've been looking forward to meeting you, Children of Hope and Light."

"…Why?" Kari demands, anger yet unease filling her as she slowly stands up. "What would you possibly want with us?"

"Oh, a lot of things Hikari Kamiya…."

"…How do you know my name?"

The woman smiles, and it's the kind of smile that sends shivers down your spine. "Oh, I know a lot about the both of you. I know how you TK nearly got everyone you cared about killed in the fight against Kimeramon because you were so detirmeined to get your revenge on Devimon, I know how you've always worried that you've been nothing but a burden on your family, that somehow you caused your parents to separate, and that your brother, at least a part of him, hates you for it."

"…" TK's face pales. "…You…."

"I know YOU, Kari Kamiya, are so concerned with making others mad that you let them make stupid decisions. That you caused your brother to be punished because of your stupidity. I know that because you simply gave in, to, "protect others", as you tried to convince yourself, you got a good Digimon murdered."

"…You don't know what you're talking about…" Kari breathes, a feeling of icy coldness running through her body.

The woman tilts her sunglasses and Kari gets a good look at those red eyes. "…If you hadn't handed yourself over to Myotismon, you stupid girl, your friend Wizardmon wouldn't have even been there. Maybe he would still have died, maybe he wouldn't, but you'll never know, will you, because he died to cover up your stupid mistake!"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"

The woman laughs as Kari puts her hands over her ears, and an enraged Nerfertimon rips free of the stinging needles that bind her to the wall, charging at the evil creep, her claws extending.

"…No one…insults…Wizardmon…or Kari in front of me!" She yowls, but with definite inhuman acrobatics the women just bends backwards, dodging the swipe of Nerfertimon's claws.

Nerfertimon screeches and goes for another round but the woman just smirks and snaps her fingers. For a minute there's nothing. And then the ground starts shaking.

"W-what's happening?!"

It looks like a Kuwagamon, kind of, but it's not. It has grey, dead looking skin, and pinchers even bigger than the creature TK can be remembered being chased by all those years ago.

"Okuwamon…" She smiles. "Have fun with your tasty morsels my dear!" Okuwamon roars, the sound shaking the very foundations of the attic.

…

I swallow hard, staring at the small box in front of us. It looks like a chest, the lock the only clean thing about it as the rest is covered with rust.

"Well? Ken, lift up your Digivice again."

"Don't need to." Ryo says with an odd expression on her face. "It's already unlocked."

"Huh?"

"That's weird…" Renamon mutters as Dilbert pushes the lid past. "Why would he be so careless now?"

I can't explain an uneasy feeling that rises up in my stomach, so I ignore it. "…Bad guys. He must have been so confident that no one else would get this far that he left it unlocked."

That's a reasonable explanation right…?

"Doesn't matter much now…" Dilbert says calmly, pulling out a yellowed piece of paper…a scroll…

A smile touches my face until I hear a bitter laugh from behind me. "…I should have known…" Ryo sneers, her eyes glinting menacingly. "I should have known you were lying…"

"…Ryo…"

"Shut up Lily."

"Lily?" The confused and somewhat hurt look on Ken's face makes my insides start to squirm. "…What is she talking about?"

"…I…."

"That's not any ancient rune." She snaps. "That's the map. The map to the three Digieggs…what leads to Milleunimon's lair."

"…What?!" Cody says in disbelief, turning around and glaring at the three of us. "…You lied?"

"Cody, I would have told YOU but-"But not me…" Ken's voice is full of anger. "That's what this is all about, isn't it? You never trusted me in the first place!"

"Ken, this isn't about you…" Stella says sharply.

"You lied and used me, I think it IS about me, thanks very much!"

"Get used to it." Monodramon mutters. "Tamers tend to do that a lot…."

"You know full well why we couldn't tell you Ryo." Stella says, her voice hardening. "After what you did you should be lucky Sira didn't demand you be hunted down and executed. Now you're complaining that we don't trust you?"

"…" Her eyes narrow. "You think we'd actually let that monster FREE?!"

"I know Ken wouldn't." Dilbert says with such calm it's actually pretty impressive. "But I said that you would never ever turn on us….I turned out to be wrong about that, didn't I?"

"…" Ryo flinches like she's been slapped for a second before her jaw tightens and she reaches for her Digivice.

Ken's eyes widen with horror as the rest of us all stiffen. "Ryo, no it's not worth it…"

"Shut up Ken…"

"But only one of them even has a partner with them! You can't put them, all of us at risk by starting a fight down here, it's not-"Ken, SHUT UP!"

"MONODRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…DEVIDRAMON!"

The giant black dragon is barely able to fit into the tunnel, but I get a very good look at those massive teeth as they glimmer centimeters away from my teeth.

"…Now either you give me that map…" Ryo says calmly. "Or things are going to get bloody down here."

"This doesn't have to get any worse Ryo…" Dilbert says softly, his eyes meeting hers.

"…Of course it does." She clenches her fists. "I've come too far for anything else!"

"…Then I'm sorry."  
Dilbert reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bleeping device, and I only have a split second to recognize what it is before he lobs it at Devidramon and Ryo.

"…GRENADE!"

I shove Cody out of the way and hear both the sounds of Ken and Ryo screaming as the ceiling collapses….

Coughing out the smoke, I bend upwards, no longer protecting Cody with my body. "…You okay kid?"

"Y-yeah…" He says shakily, turning his head to look back. "…Did you kill them?" He whispers softly.

"No. But they won't be getting through that in a hurry." Dilbert says in his usual calm manner, though his smile slips slightly. "…I really didn't want to have to do that…"

"You were following orders…" I sigh. "And Ryo can't be trusted with the map. It sucks, but it's true."

"Look!" Renamon sniffs the air wildly as she points to the massive hole in the wall that the blast generated. "I can smell fresh air coming up from there!"  
"Really?!"

"Well then…." Stella says dryly as she looks up the rocky mountain path. "Who's up for some climbing?"

…

"AHH!"

Flamedramon screams as the Dokugumon snarls, "POISON COBWEB!" sending purple strings shooting downwards, entangling him, stinging, burning, blackness filling his vision as his energy was sucked away.

"…Flamedramon!" Davis screams as his partner is surrounded by a grey light. His eyes widen in horror. "No…wait, Veemon! No!"

But the Rookie lizard is nowhere strong enough to hold onto the two children, and Yolei screams as she slips from Veemon's hand.

"DAVISSS!"

"YOLEI!"

He grabs her as they fall, the dark tree trunks rushing up beside them, strings of cobweb gathered onto his back, massive burn marks on his right hand from where the venom spilled.

He closes his eyes, not wanting to look at the terror on her face…

"Ow!"

Something shoots upward, glowing blue, hitting him in the face. He scowls and opens his eyes, even as they're falling, to see a blue-strangely shaped object floating on it's OWN beside him, yellow jagged marks across its sides, a dagger like horn that could have taken his eye out easily protruding.

"…It's a…"

"Digiegg…."

And it was their only hope. Hardly daring to breathe Davis grasps it firmly in his hands and screams out the words, "DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…RAIDRAMON! THE STORM OF FRIENDSHIP!"

…

Kari screams as Nerfertimon is flung into the wall once more, and grabbed by Okuwamon's grey, cold hand. "NO! LET HER GO!"

"If you insist…" The woman says in a smug, sing-song voice and then looks at Okuwamon. "…Kill her."

"NO!"

Okuwamon drops Nerfertimon and opens his pinchers wide to crunch her in half…that was right before he was literally bulldozed out of the way.

"…Tai?"

Tai's eyes glint with cold fury as he rides on Greymon's….no…MetalGreymon's back. "No one touches my sister." He growls. "Or her partner. Get them!"

The missile pad on MetalGreymon's chest opens up as his pupils slitten. "GIGA BLASTER!"

Okuwamon screams, the explosion the missiles cause tear off one of his massive pinschers and one of his wings so quickly he doesn't even have time to react.

The last sight he sees through his reptellian eyes is MetalGreymon's massive claws shooting towards him….

"NO!"

As MetalGreymon then turns around and gives Nerfertimon a look. "Shall we do this?"

"M-hmm…"  
"GIGA BLASTER!"

"ROSETTA STONE!"

The attacks slam into the wall, wires and electricity shooting outwards. TK blinks as the woman screams in rage, her eyes bright red with fury. "…Was that a…radio?"

"Of course…' Kari breathes. "…She used an ability to control bug Digimon, but it doesn't work very well long distance. The radio was an amplifier!"

The woman snarls. "…If you think that's the end of things…you're completely wrong…." She reaches into her pocket and freezes, her eyes widening with horror. "…Where is my…?"

"Looking for this?"

"Lily!"

I smirk as Renamon drops her perception filter. "Sorry we're a little late."

"But you know what they say…." Stella says dryly.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold." Dilbert smirks, as both Seraphimon and Lillithmon appear, Seraphimon holding Gabumon and Matt, both of whom look tired but still battle ready. Lillithmon holds Izzy.

"You…little…how?!"

"Once your radio broke it was very easy to regain control." Lillithmon says mildly, but there's a menacing gleam in her eyes. "…I'd be careful. You pissed off quite a lot of bugs today my little spider. Of course none of them are going to get a chance to kill you, because you'll be in so many pieces once I'm done with you."

I smile darkly and toss the flute to Lillithmon. "…Which reminds me. Do you want to do the honours?"

"Gladly…"

"NO! DON'T!"

The flute snaps easily under Lillithmon's iron grip, and she screams like her arms been ripped off. She staggers backwards, her hat falling off her head, revealing a shock of white hair.

"…Tell us who you're working for." Stella growls. "…Now."

She slowly lifts her head, her eyes gleaming red as fangs distend from her mouth, her body starts bulging against the suit.

"…What the….?"

But our attention is distracted by a massive explosion outside. My eyes widen. "KEN! RYO!"


	21. Deals with Devils, Barrier Breakdown!

Chapter Twenty-One

"Are you all right my friend?"

Tentomon moans, his big green eyes slowly lifting up towards Angemon's helmeted face as the angel holds the weakened bug in his arms.

"…Izzy…"

"Don't worry. Izzy will be all right…."

"…I attacked my own partner….how could I…?" He breathes, swallowing hard. Angemon shakes his head. "You should not worry about that. There wasn't anything you could do. You were being controlled and there was no way you could fight it. Look, not even Lillithmon could fight it, and she has been Dilbert's partner for a much longer time than you have been with izzy."

"…True but…"

"If you continue to mope like this," Angemon says, his tone suddenly getting much more severe, "I shall have to do what Lily does and hit you."

"…"

"Take me to Izzy." Tentomon pleads and then his green eyes narrow. "And then this bug is going to kick some major butt…."

…

You know what I really hate? That awkward moment when, at first you've got the enemy cornered. They're powerless. They're even whimpering a little, if you're lucky. And then the next thing you know there's hundreds more swarming out of nowhere for backup.

Yeah. I hate those moments.

"TAI!"

Renamon is wrestling on the ground with a Dobermon, teeth and claws flashing, as the two canines tried to tear into each other.

So far it looked like she was fine. This moron wasn't exactly experienced enough to really be a threat to her, plus she was much more agile.

So she wasn't the one I worried about. But in the heat of the battle, in one very small, tight attic, I'd lost track of Tai.

"GIGA BLASTER!"

Ah. There he was. "Tai!"

I run forwards, kicking a snarling Elecmon out of the way and rolling underneath the swipe of a Tyrannomon. "Lily!"

Scrambling up the back of MetalGreymon's tail, I reach up and grab Tai's outstretched hand. "Care to join the party?" He laughs.

I snort, watching as the rest of our team decimates the slut's backup. "Nah. I think I'll sit up here and watch. Wish we had popcorn…" I muse as Lillithmon literally throws a SkullBaluchimon through the wall, her razor sharp nails carving straight through the living skeleton.

Tai laughs as he sits beside me before gesturing for MetalGreymon to shoot at a large group of Bakemon that cluster around Cody, his eyes narrowing.

"Cody!" I shout, leaning forwards, all pretense gone. Digmon wasn't there to protect the little boy, darn it, we should have made him stay down in the tunnel rather he liked it or not.

"Take them out MetalGreymon! Now!"

But before he could even release his missiles there's an explosion, and something bursts through the ground in front of Cody.

The screams of the Bakemon echo as several large sharp objects pierce through them. Cody blinks in disbelief and then takes a slight step back as something lands beside him…

"Cody? Are you okay?"

"…Digmon?" He asks in disbelief, his eyes widening. Digmon breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank Yggdrasil you're ok…Cody?"

He blinks as Cody suddenly runs forward and wraps around his leg. The sound of soft crying can be heard, and Digmon smiles softly. "Yeah…I missed you too kiddo."

"Well what do you know?" I mutter, a smile forming on my face as Tai grins.

"Look out!"

TK shoves Kari out of the way just as several needles swoop downwards and embed themselves in the wood meters deep. TK grimaces as he pulls Kari behind what looks like a gigantic hat box, the needles of the Airdramon following them.

"Angemon! I have an idea!" He fishes into his pocket and pulls out his D-3. "But you're going to have to degenerate for it to work!"

Angemon has enough trust in his partner to know that TK had a plan in mind, so he let the grey light surround him, shrinking him back to Patamon.

'PATAMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…PEGASUSMON! FLYING HOPE!"

"Shall we partner?" Nerfertimon smirks as she flies up to him. Pegasusmon knickers and flicks his mane back. "…I still don't see what…" His eyes widen as she taps a claw impatiently against his bracelet.

"…Oh."

"Duh."

"Oh shut up…" He mutters, embarrassed before soaring towards the angry dragons right next to her.

Nerfertimon and Pegasusmon both swoop around theflock of Airdramon, calling loudly as their bracelets shine gold, "GOLDEN NOOSE!"

Screeches erupt as a gigantic net falls over the angry dragons, encircling around them in golden chains as they're dragged down to the ground.

My eyes scan the battlefield, and I frown, knowing something was wrong but not knowing what….Then it hit me. "…Tai! She's gone!"

Tai doesn't have to ask who I'm talking about. His eyes immediately scan the area as well as and he swears, loudly.

The woman who had caused all of this mess had escaped. The battle hadn't been to wipe us out, oh no. Just to give her a chance to slip away.

I'm furious with myself for not seeing this coming, and then Tentomon, who's weakly hovering next to us, asks, "…Do you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?"

A low rumbling makes my entire body start to shake, and I blink, looking down in surprise. It sounded like an earthquake…no…it sounded like a massive wave…I smile.

…

Arukenimon, for that was the strange woman's name, had reverted back to her true form. Her extra legs sprout out of her body as it lengthened, and her human like face seemed to melt like wax, revealing a creature with bulging eyes and fangs that glistened in the depths of the pipe wall she climbed on.

Heh. The human's really were stupid. Not that it mattered. It wasn't HER fault the mission had failed. It wasn't her fault that she hadn't managed to get the stupid thing. Okay, so she probably shouldn't have thrown it away earlier. But how could she have known? The master had said to only bring him the girl. Therefore, there was no point in him getting so furious.

…Wait…

She stops moving, tensing. As a spider, she was much more sensitive to vibrations. And there was a very large vibration coming straight towards her. Her entire body tenses with panic, unsure of what to do, and that was long enough.

The smell of the ocean fills the tunnel, and Arukenimon SCREAMS as the most massive wave of water speeds through the tunnel towards her. Frantically she turns back around and tries to make a run for it, but it's no good. The water easily catches up to her, holding her in a deadly embrace, and she gurgles as she's forced back the way she came.

…

"RYO!"  
Ken gasps as the Snimon screeches hungrily, rising up in front of him, blades glinting as it dives down, ready to slice off his head and feast on his corpse.

Or it….was about to. There was a sudden scream of rage, familiar, and the next thing Ken knew, there was a pink blade sticking out of the creature's stomach.

"Ken, are you all right?" Stingmon demands, walking over, his red eyes gleaming with anger as he watches the data of the Snimon drift up into the sky.

"…I'm fine."

"Listen…I didn't mean to…."

"I know you didn't…" Ken says softly, looking up at him. "Just like I didn't. Believe me. I know how you feel."

"…I…thank you Ken."

"Not to interrupt the nice moment," Ryo yells, looking over her shoulder as she crouches behind a large boulder and lets out gunshot after gunshot, "but could you two come on?!"

Ken lets Stingmon grab him by the waist as they kick off into the air, just as a BlackTyrannomon's firey attack nearly strikes them. "We're coming!"

"SPIKING STRIKE!" Stingmon roars, stabbing a Kuwagamon right through the face and yanking the blade back out.

Devidramon snarls as he sinks his teeth into a Monochromon's stomach, the only unarmoured place, by grabbing the unfortunate dinosaur with his tail and flipping him up into the air.

Few seconds later, a massive clawed hand swats him aside with a roar.

"WARUMONZEAMON! GET BACK!"

It looks like, to put in plainly, a teddy bear gone horribly wrong, with the stained fur, the red eyes, the loose knitting, the steel claws on one paw, and the massive hole in the stomach that revealed…something like an eye glowing…gold inside.

Ken swallows hard just as Ryo screams, "WATCH OUT!"

"BEAR CLAW!"

Stingmon tries to swoop out of the way, but the mangy teddy bear is much faster than he looks, and Ken screams as he's forced to obey gravity and his body plummets to the Earth, a voice cackling, "Oh, I'm not done with you yet your HIGHNESS…HEART BREAKER!"

…It is….one of the worst experiences in his entire life. The images flash through his mind over and over again, as he seems to sink in them like he's drowning…

"_I was just playing with it…."_

"_Mom and Dad only care about him! I wish he'd just disappear!"_

"_I HATE YOU SAM! SOMETIMES I JUST WISH YOU'D DIE!"_

"…_S-Sam…?..."_

"…_I didn't mean it…."_

"_S-Sam! Wake up! Don't leave me! Why did you do it, you idiot?! It should have been me! SAM! SAAAMMM!"_

"_I don't need you, you pathetic little insect…"_

"_Don't ever touch me again! You disgust me!"_

"_Any partner would have been better than you, you pathetic waste of data!"_

"…_Wormmon…WORMMON! NO! PLEASE NO NOT AGAIN!"_

"…_.Just give me another chance…just one more chance please…."_

"…_.I want to die…I want to die…"_

"KEN! KEN WAKE UP!"

Ken moans, feeling the horrible sensation of drowning slowly start to fade away, replaced by the feeling that his body weighed about a hundred tons.

"…Ken…"

His eyelids flicker open to see Ryo bending over him, her hand pressed to his forehead. "…Are you okay?"

"Y-ye…what happened?"

Ryo turns her head slowly and Ken blinks when he sees a man with long blonde hair, piercing golden eyes, and what looked like fangs sticking out of his mouth.

"…Who…?"

"GranDracmon." She breathes, not making eye contact for once. It somehow alarms Ken to see Ryo looking so unsure of herself. Even Devidramon looks unsure, shifting his massive claws on the ground as he stares at the Lord of the Underworld.

"…" GranDracmon's lips quirk up in a teasing grin, something that Ken definently didn't expect to see from the stories he's heard. "Not the best thank you I've ever had but….what can you do?"

"…W-what did you do with…?"

"The mangy flea bag?" GranDracmon cocks an eyebrow and stretches a hand out to show the massive claw marks on the ground, as if something had desperately been clinging for support. "…Dragged him straight down to hell."

"…Why?" Ryo asks warily, confused, like it's not anything she can comprehend.

GranDracmon just shrugs. "Because death by giant teddy bear is truly too pathetic for anyone to endure. Oh, and Ryo? I don't really hold grudges."

"…" Ken blinks as he gets to his feet and looks at Ryo, who's staring at the spot where GranDracmon vanished.

"Are you okay?"

"…He's too confusing." She mutters, lowering her head and having Devidramon headbutt her gently. "I can't…never mind." She shakes her head. "It's not about grudges, anyway. I just know better than to waste my time…." Her eyes narrow as she looks back at the house. "If we can't use the map, that sets us back greatly. We'll need to hurry if we're going to beat the tamers at finding the Digieggs."

Ken nods in agreement but still hesitates. …He can't just walk away, what with him knowing the truth…

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his Digivice and types a quick message. "_Ask Arukenimon where Adelina is. Trust me, she knows."_

…

The rumbling continues to grow louder and louder, and I feel Tai tense behind me. "…What is?"

I simply smile and hold up a finger. "…3…2…1…."  
"AHHHHHHHHH!"

The wall seems to positively explode, all of us ducking as the rubble knocks the two Tyrannomon MetalGreymon is fighting unconscious at once.

"…"

"Hello there…." I smile dangerously down at the woman, her hair dripping wet, gasping for breath. Although it was pretty obvious she was a Digimon. The extra legs, fangs, and horns kind of tipped me off.

"…" Stella pulls out her Digivice and scans the creature. "…Arukenimon." She says grimly. "Should have known. One of the nastier kinds of Digimon. Prefer using trickery than actual fighting."

She hisses and scrambles back up, her eyes flashing. "What did you say to me, you pathetic little…" She's cut off as someone pounces on her with a growl from behind, knocking her forwards with a fierce blow.

"Sira!"

"Tell me where she is…" Sira growls,an ice blade forming in her right hand and pointing it straight at her neck.

Cody lets out a strangled yelp at this, but Sira is past caring. I can see her pupils start to vanish and I feel a prick of fear. "Sira, maybe you should…"

"Quiet!" She presses the blade down a bit more and a trickle of blood appears on Arukenimon's neck as she snarls up at Sira.

"…Where…is…Adelina…?"

"…What?"

My jaw tightens and I look away, fury filling me as well as the feeling that I really don't care what happens to that slut now.

Images of the blood stained rocks fill my mind and I picture Adelina's laughing face….

Arukenimon laughs, a broken, half crazed sound that fills the room. "You think I'll tell you, beta tamer? You think I fear you at all compared to my master's wrath? Even if you kill me, it's better than a slow death and torture at his hands, you coward."

"…"

Stella growls and reaches for her Digivice, her eyes flashing with anger as Seraphimon puts a hand on her arm. "Wait, little one…" He says softly.

"…" Sira's eyes narrow down to murderous slits. "…Then you've made your choice." She flicks her wrist at an awkward angle and Arukenimon SCREAMS, her back arching horribly, and twisting, writhing on the ground.

I'm not bothered by the actual scene of torture. I've seen it happen many times in my life. But the fact that it was Sira doing it…made me feel a little ill, to be honest.

"_She's doing this for Adelina…." _I tell myself over and over again in my head. _"She's like, how Sora and Matt are to me and Tai….if one of them were ever kidnapped and had Yggdrasil knows what done to them…"_

But somehow…that didn't make me feel any better, especially when the screams got louder.

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"

"STOP IT!" Cody shrieks, and his voice carries through the whole room. "STOP IT!"

Sira's head turns to face him, her eyes narrowing, her mouth opening just as I sensed something very, very bad coming towards us NOW…

"SIRA WATCH OUT!"

"H-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"NO!"

Electrical energy struck Sira full force, and I saw her writhe with pain on the floor, screaming as it curled around her.

In that instant, all of us were racing towards her at full speeds, just as a voice calls out, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Yes…Mummymon…." She gasps out, pushing herself back to her feet. My eyes shoot up and I see someone standing on top of the hat box, a figure whose limbs are oddly skinny, whose face is oddly pale.

"…!"

"Renamon, stop them!" I gasp out as Sira writhes again, and Seraphimon and Lillithmon both roar out attacks in unison.

Light and darkness mix together, forming a spear of blue light shooting towards the enemy, as a purple sphere of energy somehow pops up out of nowhere, preventing them from striking, and actually bouncing back!

"GET DOWN!"

Lillithmon screams as the attack hits her in the chest, her eyes rolling backwards, and robes smoking as she collapses onto the ground just as Dilbert screams and runs towards her.

"What the heck?!"

"Sira!' Renamon drops to her side and lets out a soft moan as she looks at Sira's closed eyes. I can't move…I'm frozen in horror….because behind the barrier is one of the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life.

Standing in front of Arukenimon I swear I see…a tall figure, dressed in purple armour, with a staff in one hand, long flowing white hair, and a fox like mask over my face.

"…S-Sakuyamon?" I say in disbelief, hearing the gasps from the others behind me.

"No way…."

"It looks exactly like…."

"But that doesn't make any sense…"

Sira groans, and I blink as the shadows from the walls seem to take on a life of their own, peeling free and wrapping around her, like a fierce embrace.

"…" The figure that's me and yet not me smirks and takes a step back, starting to fade out of existence with the other two flunkies just as the shadows blast towards her.

"RIONA!"

Let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing more terrifying than an angry vampire lord, especially when he appears out of nowhere, fangs bared, golden eyes flashing, with the shadows moving around him at his command and several bats chirping as they circle around him.

Sira groans slightly as he drops beside her, her eyelids flickering as he brushes her hair back. "…R-…Ras…"

"…What just happened?"

…

"BLUE THUNDER!"

The streaks of electricity shot forwards from the horn on Raidramon's head, blasting through the stringy white threads.

Davis gasps as he clings to Raidramon and in turn, feels Yolei clinging to him, as the sound of hundreds of spider legs scuttling after them echoes.

"There's just no end to these guys!"

Yolei clings tighter to Poromon, squeezing her eyes firmly shut as the hungry screeches fill the air. "Yggdrasil keep us safe…" She moans, feeling like she might throw up.

"YOLEI!"  
She screams as a group of three Dokugumon drop down on them from above at once, red eyes glittering, but Raidramon roars and bounds, pressing his back paws against the tree trunk and catapulting himself upwards.

"…" Davis slowly grins as his partner keeps bounding from branch to branch, easily outwitting and dodging the slower arachinds. "This is so freaking awesome!"

"DAVIS!"

"Huh?!"

The creaking sound reaches his ears one second too late to do anything, and all three of them scream as they plummet towards the ground.

"We're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die!"

"YOLEI!"

"…"

Davis' eyes widen as something glows, opening up beneath them…..a…portal….

"HOLY ###%%%%%!"

…

"Any luck Tai?"

"_No…." _ He sighs on the other end of my phone. "_How the two of them could both disappear like that…without a trace…." _

I swallow hard and roll over on my surprisingly comfy bed, still cupping the phone in my right hand. "…You think they might have been kidnapped by the same person that took Adelina."

"_That's the theory anyway…." _ He says through clenched teeth. "_Stella contacted DISC and every person in the entire Digital World is looking for them. We scanned the forest for hours…." _He sighs. _"…But I still feel like I should be looking for them at least…"_

I glance up at the clock. "Tai, it's almost near midnight. And finding them in the night, when it's all dark, would be pointless. It's…hard to say…." I sigh, hating myself. "…But this is up to the computer nerds now."

"…"

"Tai…promise me you won't do something stupid…."

"…_I won't…." _ He sighs. _"Mostly because I spent so much time having to explain to Izzy's parents the scars on his back. Just thank Yggdrasil Sorcerymon was able to heal him or I don't think Tentomon would ever have forgiven himself."_

"Any luck finding Arukenimon?" I ask, feeling the pain of anger rising up in my heart again, my hands curling into shaking fists.

Tai literally growls on the other side of the phone. "_No, but once we got our hands on that…."_

"Watch it Kamiya…" I say, surpressing a snort even at the seriousness at the situation. "…You know if your mum hears you cursing like that you'll never hear the end of it."

"…_Yeah…I know….you know you didn't have to leave….mum wasn't that mad at you, she was just…upset…."_

"I know what she said, Tai." I say, my voice flat. "I don't need to be around to here more."

"…_But…"_

"Tai, you're stressed out enough, having to get between me and your mom can only make things worse for you." My voice softens. "…Get some sleep. We'll find them in the morning. We'll find all of them in the morning….

"…_Thanks Lils…you get some sleep too, you hear? Sira will personally kick my butt if her only other alpha tamer is too tired to walk in the morning…."_

I snort with laughter before collapsing back onto the bed. "Sir yes sir. Goodnight Tai…."

"_Night Lily…sweet dreams."_

My eyes widen slightly before I slowly smile. "…Yeah. You too."

"All the mushiness is going to make me hurl." A voice complains behind me, and I roll my eyes without looking. "Hello to you too Lucemon."

Lucemon yawns, rubbing one eye, holding a…giant plushie Cherubimon by the ear behind him. "Aren't you ever going to actually go to bed?"

"Couldn't sleep…" I sigh, looking up at him, which is weird considering how short he was.

"You're not still upset because that one human kicked you out?" He asks, sitting on the end of my bed and raising an eyebrow sanctimoniously.

"…She didn't kick me out…" I sigh, rolling my eyes. "…We just had a…really loud disagreement…."

Lucemon sighs, rolling his eyes. "...Humans are so narrow-minded, just like Digimon. Blinded by petty differences they can never come together for the common good."

"I think it has more to do with the fact that she loves her children and she blames both me and the Digimon for getting them into danger." I point out with a shrug.

Lucemon scoffs, a harsh noise that makes me flinch slightly. "When you're the one whose saved her brats' lives countless times? You know it's been centuries since I was sealed here...and beings still treat each other like Numemon slime. It disgusts me."

"Well..." I say, pretty confused about where he's going with this. "I agree that it sucks Lucemon, but what can you do? You can't force people to do the right thing..."

He just raises an eyebrow. "Why not?" The question actually sounds completely sincere, like he couldn't understand what was wrong with the idea. I had to actually forcibly close my jaw as I stared at him. "Because...because refusing people the right to make their own choices is...slavery Lucemon!"

"No it's not." He argues calmly back. "Freedom is dangerous. Too many Digimon and humans alike abuse it. All the wars, all the pointless killings for power and money. All I would do is take away the cause of that, which is freedom.

...My gosh he really believes what he's saying. I can only stare blankly at him for a few more managing to open my mouth I manage to yet out-"But you're basing all of this on the actions of a few!"

".,,What?"

"You heard me." I say,my voice rising slightly with confidence. "Not all humans are like that, or Digimon. I mean actually if you really saw the outside world you'd see almost no one is. Look at the Digidedtined. After the battle against VenomMyotismon the kids didn't have to go back and keep helping. They CHOSE to. To leave their families and fight a war that they knew they might not survive.."

"True..." He says slowly, a little bit of annoyance in his voice. "But I'm not talking about the Digidedtined or tamers. They're only a few among billions."

"But it's those few people who make the difference..."

Lucemon's face is blank and I fidget a little, not sure if I've just made him more upset. But what he says next pretty much destroys all of my working brain cells.

"Prove it to me."

"EH?!"

"You heard me." Lucemon says calmly, though his lips quirk upwards at my outburst. "Show me that this world and the humans you love so much are as pure as you claim."

"Yes...but...but..." I splutter as he walks out the door.

"See you in the morning Lily!" He says cheerfully with a smile that's much too innocent. "Sweet dreams!" I stare after him a few seconds longer, then I'm out of bed like a shot. "A-ALEXANDER!"

...

"Ah..." Alexander muses, his three blue eyes fixing on me. "I wondered when he might pick on you."

"What do you mean by that?" I yelp, trying to fight the feeling of growing horror rising up inside of me. I mean not that I don't trust Lucemon. I do. Really. Mostly. Within a reasonable margin. Okay that doesn't sound very trusting at all but give me a break...I like him a lot but he is planning to take over both worlds and create a dystopia. You know. Minor things like that.

"Don't worry so, you'll get horrible lines all over your face." Alexander chuckles as I scowl at him and turns back to his paperwork, which, apparently there's a lot of in the Demon Lord manor. My mind flashes to the paperwork Sira ordered me to complete a few days ago, but I quickly shove that thought to the side. Again.

"Don't you ever worry about this?" I ask almost pleadingly, putting my palms on his desk and leaning forwards, "I mean, I like Lucemon a lot and I respect him but..,this...plan of his is..."

"Preposterous, insane, and a little terrifying?" He asks dryly.

"..." I blink. "Er...I was going to say freaking mental, but yours has less slang in it, I suppose."

Alexander smiles wryly and turns around in his chair so he's facing me. "Listen, you have nothing to worry about. None of the other tamers who took him out have...well I don't THINK they were completely scarred for life, though Stella does twitch a little everytime she sees him."

"That's...so very comforting." I say darkly. "Why do we do this anyway? Just for kicks? Let the evil demon loose once a year?"

"Don't ask me." He says dryly. "All I know is that somehow he convinced Yggdrasil to let him out once a year, surprivised, and under the condition he must completely behave."

"..So basically I'm a babysitter?" I say flatly, facepalming.

"I wouldn't say that to him if I were you." Alexander chuckles and I roll my eyes.

He moves suddenly, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug.

My eyes widen slightly as my cheek presses against his leather jacket. It's a comforting, fatherly gesture that...actually the last time someone hugged me like that was when Wizardmon was alive...I swallow hard and slowly pull away, not wanting to look at the hurt look on his face.

"Um..." I stammer, looking down at the ground. "I'm really tired I'm...going back to bed." He nods quickly, and I hate how the only sound filling the silence is my footsteps walking away. It's just so scary, trying to build that kind of relationship again. It was hard enough for me to let my friends get close to me, because I was so afraid I'd loose them.

Risking loosing someone who was starting to mean as much to me as Wizardmon had...that was too much for me to take.r

...

Edan bends over the computer, his bright green eyes fixed resolutely on the screen, the blue glow of the light surrounding his face like some creepy kind of halo. "Initiate scan." He orders for what feels like the thousandth time.A map appears on the screen with a pulsing red circle that flows outwards, again and again, and again. Edan closes his eyes and positively growls as he slams his hands against the desk. "Adelina, where ARE you?!" Suddenly the light surrounding his face turns bright red instead of blue, and a loud beeping sound began to wail loudly. "What..."

His eyes widen as the scene seems to show the red light seeming to collapse in on itself, the wailing turning more and more frantic. Edan stares at the screen, unable to process what he's seeing before bolting from the room, absolute panic and horror filling him. "S-SIRA!"

...

"I'm so worried Tai..." Kari says quietly as the two of them made their way down the crowded hallways. Normally they were like ordinary siblings and wouldn't be caught dead being seen in public together-at least not SCHOOL certainly. But Kari had been upset all night, what with Davis and Yolei disappearing, and the screaming match Lily and their mum had had. Neither she nor Tai were speaking to their mother right now, which only made Mrs. Kamiya more upset about how the Digimon were turning her children against her.

Privately, though Kari hasn't mentioned this to Tai yet, she wonders if the reason the two dislike each other so much is because they're both almost scarily similar. Both of them have this strong desire to protect TK and Kari, and both seem to see the other as an annoying interloper who kept getting in the way.

"We'll find them..." Tai says soothingly. "As soon as Izzy's feeling better he can help Edan track them down, them and Adelina." He doesn't mention to Kari his doubts, and his severe doubts about the latter. A few days might not seem very long, but he knew in missing person's case, it meant everything. "Mimi's with Izzy now so she'll be able to help too." That he didn't have any doubts about. Mimi might be a sparkly diva, but if you hurt someone she loved she was a sparkling diva with a cold desire dot vengeance, and she would hunt you down relentlessly and mercilessly. Arukenimon was doomed. "Did Edan say if he found anything himself?" Kari asks, brushing a strand of honey-blonde hair out of her face. Tai shakes his head. "No..I tried to contact him this morning and I couldn't get ahold of any of the tamers."

As if one cue, there was the sound of someone trying frantically to open her locker, cursing in great expression and volume as she couldn't manage it, and a high pitched voice Tai didn't really recognize saying sternly, "Language, Olivia."

"So Yggdrasil help me, if I want to swear I'll swear till I am blue in the face!" A much more familiar voice snarls. Tai's lips quirk up in a smile as he turns the corner. "Lils?"

"Tai!" I whirl around and point at the blonde midget standing next to me. "Tell him it's no longer the 16th century and that women are allowed to curse however and however loudly they want."

"Maybe not with an entire class of kindergartners behind you." Tai says, his voice shaking in an effort not to burst out laughing.

"Huh?!"

I whirl around to see about sixteen pairs of wide eyes staring at me, their teacher glaring at me, her face pinching to an unnatural state.

"Uh..." I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. "Hi kids...um...don't ever smoke, drink, or get in the car with creepy old men who offer you candy." If possible, the teacher looked even more mad, storming off with her brood while Tai sloped against the lockers, laughing his head off. "Thanks..." I grumble at him, groaning as I try to open the locker again to no success. "Ugh...today is just not my day..."

"I can see that..." Kari snickers, her hand over her mouth. "Because that's not your locker."

"...AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Where'd you sleep last night anyway?" Tai says, concern creeping into his voice.

"Demon Lord manor..." I mutter, my back to him. "Couldn't sleep at all..."

"I hope that's not a complaint about the room I set up for you." The little boy sniffs.

"No Lucemon the room was great..."

"Whoah Whoah Whoah!" Tai yelps suddenly as his head whips around and stares at the little boy standing next to me. "You're telling me the kid is..."

"I'd have thought it would be obvious." I say, raising an eyebrow.

Lucemon smiles slightly. It's not that nice of a smile more of an amused smirk.

"..." Tai and Kari both narrow their eyes slightly and I give Lucemon a nudge in the shin. "Try not to piss too many people off with the superioristic attitude, kay?"

"I'm the Demon Lord of Pride Lily, it's kind of in my nature to be an arrogant jerk."

Kari's backpack shifts slightly and Gatomon pops her head out. Thankfully no one is paying attention. "You're not exactly what I was expecting from all the stories I heard."

Lucemon raises an eyebrow. "Hmm? What WERE you expecting out of curiosity?"

"Well definitely someone less sho..." Her voice trails off as I shake my head wildly, making frantic hand gestures. Don't do it. Please, for the love of Yggdrasil don't make a height comment! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!

"Yes...?"

"Um...someone less...blonde?"

Thankfully the sound of the bell ringing puts an end to this awkward conversation. "Tai and I have English class..."

I shoot Lucemon a pleading look as I grab Tai by the arm and start herding him down the hallway. "Please day you won't mentally scar too many people."

The innocent expression gives him a very good "I'm such a sweet yet abused puppy" look. You'd never guess who he really was. "Wouldn't dream of it..."

"You're really just leaving...LUCEMON of all people to just walk around our school?!" Tai asks in complete disbelief as I pull him up the stairs to our classroom. In answer I pull my right sleeve up to show a bracelet wrapped around my right wrist.

"...What is that?"

"Lucemon and I both had them fitted on before I left the Manor. It means that no matter how far apart, I'll know if something goes wrong."

"...And do what? Stay out of the way or get completely creamed?" I smirk. "The bracelet he wears means his abilities don't work."

Tai raises an eyebrow. "...So it's made of zinc?"

"Sort of. I think. Dunno."

"How do you know all the rest of this stuff?"

"...Alexander told me."

"Well that was nicer than most people we run into. Most of the time they don't bother and take the "figure it out for yourself" attitude."

"...Yeah..." I mutter, fidgeting with the bracelet.

Tai groans, raising his eyes to heaven."What did you do?!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno, the guilty look on your face, the way your shoulders slumped when I said his name, or the way you won't look me in the face."

...Dang it.

"Tai it's just that..." My voice trails off and I swallow. "I like him a lot. But...I guess the truth is I'm a little scared. You know how I am...I guess I'm afraid of losing them too like I lost..."

"Lils...you never lost any of us. Or any of the tamers. And this isn't like with...look my point is..." He sighs. "And if you push them away you'll loose something really great."

"..." WHY was he always right?

"Just...think about it."

...

The brown haired girl whimpers as she backs away, her broken glasses sliding down her nose. "P-please..."

"Nerd..." The older boy laughs, looming over her. "Don't even bother crying, you look even uglier when you do so."

She cringes as he pins her against the lockers, his breath in her ear and his hands digging into her pockets, yanking out the money she had saved up for her sister's birthday.

"I..."

"Did I say you could talk?" He growls, yanking hard on her hair and making her cry out in pain.

The sound of footsteps echoes throughout the hallway, causing both of them to turn their heads and look.

"...Let her go." The voice isn't very loud at all, but it still sends a little chill down her spine.

The boy standing in front of them looks like he's only about twelve, her age. He's beautiful, with curly blonde hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. But something about his eyes is...unsettling. Noriko lets out a soft gasp as she saw the power of that glare, a feeling of thousands of pins and needles tickling her whole body. And she wasn't even the one the glare was directed at.

Loosening his grip on Noriko, the boy takes a hasty step back, stammering, "Listen, I was just..."

But he doesn't have time to finish his sentence before, ironically, he's pinned to the lockers himself, letting out a high pitched yelp of terror as he was forced to stare into those cold blue eyes.

Lucemon smirks slightly as the boy shakes a little, whimpering growing steadily louder. "Not so much fun when you're the one being traumatized is it...?"

There was the sound of rushing footsteps and Lucemon rolls his eyes, knowing what was about to come as he finally drops the boy and sniffs disdainfully.

"LUCE-LUCIEN!" I shriek, rushing down the hallway. "What did you DO?!"

"Nothing Lily darling, don't worry your pretty little head."

"Really?" I say in disbelief, feeling my head start to pound wildly and my energy start to fade. "Then why does that kid look like his soul was been thrown into a bottomless dark abyss?"

"I was just teaching an important life lesson..."

"Lucien, I don't care if the kid is the spawn of Sata...oh quit looking at me like that...you just broke the kid's brain!"

"Why does it matter if he deserved it?"

"Because...because..." I groan. "Oh I give up you're right..."

"Course I'm right. I'm always right."

...Actually I gave up because arguing with him gave me the headache of the century but whatever.

"Noriko? Are you all right?"

I turn my head and have to forcibly prevent my jaw from dropping. The blonde cheerleader bending over the little girl is disturbingly familiar.

"McKenzie?"

She glares at me, her eyes narrowing down to challenging slits as she helps the little girl to her feet. I just raise an eyebrow and she huffs, taking Noriko by the hand and leading her away. "Come on sweetie let's go home..."

I can't help the small chuckle that escapes me, and Lucemon turns his head and gives me a questioning look.

"You know...you're right about a lot of things Lucemon. People are scum, who don't do anything good without a reward. But...there's something you don't get. And that's that people can surprise you."

"..." Lucemon raises an eyebrow before looking away.

My phone rings, the hallway echoing loudly with "Once I Was The King Of Spain."

"...Don't you dare say a word. Hello?"

"Lily, meet back at base." The voice is terse, urgent, and so filled with fear I almost didn't recognize it. "...Stella? What is it?"

"...Just...hurry."

...

Yolei groans, rubbing her head as she felt conciousness slowly returning to her again. It takes a moment for her to realize that she was lying in some kind of bed...

"Davis...?" she moans, pushing herself upwards. She seems to be in some kind of hospital room, the smell of antiseptic filling her nose. She begins to feel the emotions of panic rising up in her as she realizes that she is completely alone. "P-Poromon? Davis?! Where is everyone?"

The door opens and Yolei tenses, ready for either flight or fight but not sure if she was capable of either, Yolei is almost shaking with nerves as a woman dressed in a nurse's outfit walks into the room, carrying a tray into the room. "Oh good." She smiles. "You're awake. We were beginning to worry."

"Wh...Where am I?" Yolei asks warily, hating how weak and tired her voice sounded.

"Shh..." The nurse says softly, setting the tray down on the bed. "You and your friend were in a bad way when we found you. You 're in the Pokemon Center now. You're safe."

The word doesn't mean anything to her so she focuses on the last part of the sentence.

"Davis? He's here?"

The nurse smiles comfortingly. "He's sleeping right now. Here. Eat something."

The tomato soup did indeed taste very good, warming up her entire body.

Another, more important question fills her mind. "Po..Poromon?"

"If you mean your Pokemon you needn't worry. The doctor's looking him over right now."

Yolei began to feel dizziness rise up inside of her again. Her entire body seems to be growing numb, and thoughts disappear into a thick fog. Still the part of her mind that can still think knows this is very wrong. Humans shouldn't be looking at her Digimon. "No...I..." Her tongue feels much thicker in her mouth as she manages to say, "What...did you do?"

"Rest." The nurse smiles sweetly, pushing Yolei back onto the bed. Her smile grows into a smirk, as the girl's eyes slowly close.

"Finally, I can get out of this ridiculous getup." She mutters, pulling off her wig to show much darker red hair done up in a ridiculous style. Her communicator beeps. "Well?"

"These creatures are absolutely fascinating..." The image on her phone shows a terrified pink puff ball shaking in one cage while the blue and white lizard snarls through the bars of his own.

Smirking cruelly, the woman flicks back her red hair. "Well don't let me hold you back. You may proceed with any experiments you wish, as long as they're in...general good shape for when our leader comes."

"...And...the humans?"

"Human? They're not human, they're alien as those creatures. I'm sure we can use them for scientific purposes as well."

"...Yes General Mars."

"Just remember. Keep them alive. They're too valuable for us to let them die."'

….

"So what exactly is this all about….?" My voice trails off as I see what's on the screen in front of me. "…Never mind."

"Is that what I think it is?" Ellen gasps as she stares at the massive Dark Tower glowing ominously on the screen.

"…Another one?" Stella says, her eyes narrowing down to slits. "I guess Ken's not as redeemed as we thought he was."

"I don't believe that." I retort back, even though my heart starts sinking into my stomach as doubts echo in my head. It can't…really be him can it? But I can't trust Ryo either.

"People never really change…"

"Lucemon. Now is REALLY not the time for your pessimistic view on the human nature, got it?"

"And besides…." Edan says, his voice softer than usual than I remember it being, his eyes fixed on the table. I take in his tight shoulders, the muscle jumping in his jaw, and his Adam's apple.

…Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.

"…What do you mean?"

"Look." Wormmon snaps, her eyes narrowing as she jerks her head at the screen. "Does that look like the Digital World to you?"

My eyes flicker back up to the screen and I saw the image of humans….humans walking around the small town, with creatures walking beside them, reptiles with tail flames, a brown massive hawk bird, and a black lion.

"…That's the Pokemon world…." My entire mouth grows dry. "But…but there's no way…..I don't understand…."

"There's no way Ken could get in there. He doesn't even know anything about it."

" Then how in the name of Yggdrasil's holy panties did a Control Spire pop up in the Pokemon world?!"

Lucemon winces and holds up a hand. "Dilbert. Please."

"Oh...right. Sorry Lucemon."

A part of me wonders why the devil would care if the God is insulted, but the trivial thought is pushed from my mind.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Renamon demands, swishing her tail back and forth in irritation and nervousness. "Let's go there and tear it to scrap metal!"

"You don't hold back much do you?" Kudamon asks dryly,

She grins, showing some of her teeth. "Nope."

"...It's not that simple." Edan's voice is quiet, strained.

"..." My eyes narrow as I lean across the table from him. "Okay computer boy I know something very wrong has happened that you're not telling me. I'm a tamer too so you betternot say it's any of my business. Spill."

I know I'm being rude, but I've never sensed so much fear coming off him before, not even when we were cornered by NeoVamdemon.

"...That's the even worse news."

"Oh goodie."

Edan swallows hard, D'Arcmon touching his shoulder as he digs his fingers into the wood.

"I was...scanning for Adelina's signal...and I saw something...else."

"Else?" Stella asks sharply.

"...The barrier between the Pokemon world and the Digital World is near fatal collapse." He says these words in one, frantic breath but each syllable rings horribly in my ears. "Only about 20 percent remains undamaged."

"...WHAAT?!"

"I spoke with both Izzy and various DISC members as well. They reported that...that the barrier between the human and Digital world isn't much better. Only about fifty percent remains undamaged."

Ice seems to creep up my skin as the silence fills the room. My fingers reach for my phone. "...I have to call Tai."

"NO!"

"Well why the heck not?! This involves the Digidestined too!"

"I agree." Ellen frowns at the rest of our group. " Now is not the time for petty group differences. Besides, you're involving me, aren't you? And

I'm not a tamer."

"Exac-...wait, you're not?"

She giggles at the look on my face, despite the severity of the situation. "Nope. Bounty hunter."

"...Uh huh. So regardless, why are you all being too stubborn to contact the Dogidestined? They can help!"

Stella rolls her eyes and I shot her a glare as Dilbert says grimly, "That's not why. There's a very good chance if they try to enter the Pokemon world...they could die. Heck there's a very good chance some of us could die just trying to travel there."

"..."

"Because ..." Lucemon cuts in, actually sounding grim for once in his life. "The barrier between all three worlds is, in a sense alive. It's like the way you human's bodies work. Right now it's injured, and it's shutting down to prevent any more damage being done. It will be difficult enough for the Digivces of those who are from the Pokemon world to open a portal. Those whose Digivices aren't programmed for the Pokemon world will have to literally tear through. And the barrier will react to that the same way the human body will react to germs-by trying to eliminate you."

"..."

"But wait." Stella's Tsukaimon asks, sitting on top of her head. "If only Digivces that have been programmed to reach the Pokemon world can get through...how was that

Control Spire built?"

"...We don't know."

"I just LOVE that answer." I say sarcastically. "Hasn't anyone tried to contact the boss?"

...Holy Yggdrasil. Did I really just call Sira the boss? Well judging by the way Renamon is staring at me, her jaw hanging down to her knees, the Apoyclapse might just truly be upon us. "We tried that. There's no way of contacting her, the barrier is halting any connection to home." Ellen says grimly.

"...So the only way to fix this is to go in ourselves?" My jaw tightens. "I'm game."

"What?!" Lucemon's eyes flick towards me and narrow at the same time as Ellen's outburst.

"Ellen, it's not like we have a choice."

"B-but...your Digivice isn't naturally programmed for the Pokemon world."

"Most of ours aren't..." Stella says quietly, looking down at her own phone. "But we can't afford to have anyone stay behind."

"..."

"Hey Lily," Lucemon's voice echoes among the sound of all of us getting to our feet.

My eyes look back and lock onto his, and he half-smiles. "...Be careful. Alexander will kill me if you die."

"Relax midget." I say breezily. "I've got this all under control."

Big words, while on the inside I'm terrified knowing the situation is so NOT under control.

"By the way Lucemon..." Dilbert carefully pulls an old looking scroll out of his bag. "We can't bring you with us, but if you would, there is one way you could help us..." He says, lowering his head respectfully. Lucemon inclines his on head slightly, in a "go on" gesture.

"...Is that the..."

"Yes." Dilbert nods. "This is the map we found only yesterday...although if you want to be technical, it seems to be more of a bunch of riddles than a map. Since we can't contract GranDracmon and we're not sure what's happened to him, we're going to need you to translate it for us."

"Hold on a second," I say, raising an eyebrow. "Lucemon's been with me all day! Why the heck didn't you give it to him earlier?"

"..."Dilbert looks sheepish. "Because I didn't know?"

"And even if Lucemon can translate..." I catch myself at the look on the angel's face. "Sorry. EVEN THOUGH Lucemon can translate, how are we supposed to..."

"We're going to have to worry about that later." Stella says grimly, though in her eyes I see the sane fear and unease in mine. "Besides, at least this way we know the map will be safe."

"...I guess..."

"Look at you being all responsible and thinking things through for once." Renamon teases as I walk over to her and the others. I shrug."Sira's not here so we all have to combine all our sense of responsibility to equal hers."

"Enough chatter. Is everyone ready for this?"

"as we'll ever be..."

I watch, my heart in my throat as Stella raises her Digivice shouting, "Digiport open!"


	22. Mayhem in Pokemon World, Galatic's Plot

Chapter Twenty-Two

(You know it was hilarious, this chapter should have been out last night. But I was dragged away from the computer and didn't get another chance until after school. I figured I had a 1,00 words more to write for this chapter, and then it's just...one sentence. Ah well.)

It's one of the worst sensations I've ever felt. Cold, pressing in on me from every side, squeezing tightly till it feels like my ribs are about to pop.

I gulp for breath and try to breathe but can't take any air in. Everywhere around me is black, pitch black, and my mind begins to go into panic mode.

"_Tight spaces tight spaces tight and dark I can't handle this I really jus…."_

I feel something warm and furry grab my hand and my eyes widen slightly…..Renamon. A smile touches my lips and I mouth the words, "thank you…" before remembering that there's no way she could possibly see me and then say them out loud.

I can feel the tension from everyone else. This is not how traveling through the portal is supposed to be. I feel bile rise up in my stomach, and I can hear Stella using some harsh words to my right, frantically and out of breath.

…I can't shake the fear that we're going to die here….and I don't know rather to be relieved or regretful that Tai's not here.

I don't know how long this agony lasts. Probably only a few more moments. But the next thing I know, there's sunlight beaming down on me and I gasp as I topples forwards, my hands striking the cement of the road, blocking my fall.

For a minute, I just slowly lower myself onto my side and keep gasping for breath, relief filling me as the oxygen fills my lungs.

Thank Yggdrasil….I'm not dead….I'm not dead….

"…R-Renamon…?"

"…RENAMON!"

Panic fills me and I struggle to get back to my feet, only to feel something warm and fluffy pressing against my ankles.

"…Li…ly?"

"…Renamon!"

I reach down and grab her, pressing the yellow ball of fur to my chest, thinking she's resorted back to Viximon form.

But she hasn't. There are no stubby little legs, just a yellow ball with a tail and slanted big eyes that look up at me.

"The force must have knocked them all the way back to Fresh form…."

I look over and fill relief fill me as Dilbert staggers forwards, looking like he's just run a 300 mile marathon or been tortured on the rack for several hours.

He slumps slightly, and trembles as though he's about to lose his balance, and I reach out and grab his arm. "…Are you okay?"

"….Yeah. I'll be fine." Dilbert manages a grin, even at a time like this. "Though I feel like the time I drunk two whole bottles of vodka for a bet."

"….Idiot."

He chuckles. "That's what Sira said. Then she had me scrubbing the bathroom I was puking up in for about a week."

"Good to know."

"It really was disgusting…." A voice says and I look over to see a chubby little green creature with a massive leaf sticking out of her head in Dilbert's arms.

"They all got knocked back to Fresh form." He nods as mine shivers in my arms. .I bite my lip. "…Renamon's never even been in Fresh form before. I don't even know what she's called in this form."

The puffball whines slightly and I facepalm as Dilbert chuckles. "Most freshies can't talk, don't worry about it. It is basically their baby form. Only reason Leafmon can is cause she's older."

"Where are the others….?"

"…"

Icy cold horror grips my heart. "…No. Please say no."

"No no." Dilbert says quickly as he holds out his Digivice, which shows three more dots scattered across the scene. "If they were dead, I wouldn't be able to pick up their signals."

"Then…."

"My guess is the barrier messed us up…." He sighs. "It malfunctioned and sent them to different portals all over the Pokemon World."

"…ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"

"I wish I was…." He sighs. "But I'm not. And to make things worse, Stella had the co-ordinates, so I don't even know where we are right now."

I blink and realize we're surrounded by forest, the massive trees leaning over me, casting us into shadows. "…Who the heck puts a sidewalk in the woods?"

"Obviously a town must be close by." He shrugs. "But what town, I have no idea."

"You're just full of useless information, aren't you?" I grumble, brushing my hair out of my face as the little Fresh Digimon giggles.

"It's not funny."

"Rele. Rele!"

"…Relemon? That's your name?"

"Rele…"

I groan. "That's going to get wildly annoying really quickly." Looking around the forest, I frown, my eyes knitting together. "…This place…is familiar somehow…"

"…You think you've been here before?"

"Yeah. With Sira."

My eyes narrow as I sniff the air. I can smell people, lots of them, sweat, perfume, and food….food…chilli cheese dogs…

My mouth waters and I fight the desire to start drooling in front of Dilbert, and thereby make the situation we're in ten times more awkward than it actually is.

The sound of something moving about in the underbrush makes me tense, and I whirl around, dropping my Glam slightly so I can flash fangs at whatever is there.

The poor Starlies fighting over a scrap of food both shriek in terror and fly off into the sky.

"…Nicely done…" He says sarcastically.

"….Oh shut up…" I mutter, then freeze as we continue walking. "Wait…..why didn't you freak out when you saw ….?"

"Eh. Nothing weirds you out after you've seen the boss blast both ice spears and lightning at the enemy at the same time."

I snort. "What poor sap got Sira so pissed?"

Dilbert shrugs. "Dunno. It was after the accident though….the one four years ago…?"

"What?" I tense and turn around. "Dilbert, what are you talking about?"

He looks embarrassed but shrugs. "Lily….I'm sorry. I can't tell you." When I growl at him he holds up his hands and says quickly, "And before you get mad, none of the rest of the team know either. I dunno why but Yggdrasil asked Sira to keep it quiet, since the whole mess started before she even met us. I just kind of got dragged in by accident."

"…" My eyes narrow. I don't like it, but I can't just demand either him or Sira release a promise given to Yggdrasil.

I hear the sound of something growling behind me and my spine stiffens….before I realize exactly what it is I'm hearing and start giggling.

Dilbert blushes. "What? I'm starving! Being practically crammed into a sardine can is extremely exhausting and energy draining."

"Boys." I snicker before an even louder growl erupts from my own stomach. "….'

"You were saying?" Dilbert asks with surprising innocence as I glower at him. "….You baka." I mutter, letting loose a Japanese curse I've heard from Tai.

"Anyway, shall we continue? The food can't be that far away."

"And how would you know that?"

"My impressive senses of smell, hearing, and sight…." I wiggle my eyebrows before pointing behind me. "And there's a sign that says ¼ mile to Eterna City."

…

"Wake up you moron…"

Stella moans, reaching up and touching her forehead. The first thing she can see through her blurred vision is red. Something bright red leaning over her.

"You know that's not exactly helpful…" A voice says in irritation, and the female voice retorts with, "If I'm stuck taking care of people I hate Ken I tend to be in a less helpful mood, kay?"

….Oh Yggdrasil…REALLY?

Stella considers just lying here and pretending to be in a coma like state. Maybe then she'll go away and leave her alone.

But the figure leans forward and says loudly in Stella's ear, "Wakey-wakey, princess…."

"Shut up…." Stella grumbles, pushing herself upwards and ignoring the pounding sensation in her head. She glowers as Ryo smirks at her. "I see now why you would have never made it as a doctor."

"Be nice." Ryo says, dropping something in Stella's lap. "I could have just left you in the wilderness for the wild Pokemon to eat."

The being in Stella's lap whimpers slightly, and her eyes widen. ".Po…Poyomon!"

"He's okay." Ken says soothingly, as Stellla hugs the little white ball to her chest. "We had the nurses here look them over by passing him off as some kind of exotic Pokemon."

Stella blinks. "…And they fell for that?"

"Ryo's very good at lying." A voice says deadpan next to her, and she turns around in the hospital bed, blinking as she sees Edan sitting there, a bandage wrapped around his forehead. "You're hurt."

"Hit my head on a rock as we came through…" He winces, still holding onto what looked like a pure white Botamon.

"Where are the others?"

"Yggdrasil." Ryo mutters. "There are more of you idiots running around here? Oh lucky me."

"Ryo!" Ken snaps as Stella fumes.

"The entire group came through….well everyone we have." Edan says, fidgeting in bed. "We came here to meet up with Sira because we picked up on some suspicious activity."

"You mean the fact that a Control Spire popped up in Celadon City?" Ryo says sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"…"

Stella's eyes narrow. "How did you know about that?"

"Because it's a twenty foot tall black tower." Ken says, a hint of sarcasm entering his own voice. "It's kind of hard to miss."

Edan decides to change the subject. "Right. So we were trying to get here but the barrier malfunctioned on us while we were trying to get through."

"We know something's wrong with the barrier." Monodramon chirps up. "We've been trying to get back to the Digital World for ages….once we realized there's a practical army of Digimon holding Celadon City hostage."

"WHAT?!"

"Exactly." Ryo says grimly. "We got there and were blasted out of the sky almost immediately. Devidramon got a huge blast to the wing."

"Which, just so you guys know, hurts as much as being kicked in the soft spot." Monodramon grumbles. "Repeatedly."

Ken and Edan both flinch. "Thanks for the visual…"

"So how did you find us?"

Ryo shrugs. "Just luck I guess. When we figured out that we couldn't get back home and get reinforcements through the portal, we retreated back into the wilderness."

"Where's…Sira?"

"Dunno. She wasn't at Celadon." Her jaw tightens. "She must have decided helping them wasn't worth the effort."

"Don't say things like that!"

Edan glowers at her as well. "You don't know anything about Sira if you think that she would abandon an entire city if she knew they were in trouble."

…" Ryo actually looks a little guilty, as though she knows how ridiculous her last statement was, but then still retorts with, "Then where the heck is she?"

'…"

"I don't know…."

…

The sound of snarling echoes and Poromon slumps farther down into the cage, his eyes fixated on the ground. "DemiVeemon it's useless. You should give up, you're just going to hurt yourself."

"I can't…." DemiVeemon snarls as he gnaws on the bars, trying to break free. "I can't give up when I don't know what's happening to my partner!"

"But the bars are…." He flinches as DemiVeemon yelps in pain, being thrown back as the charge electrocutes him. "…That."

"…."

DemiVeemon bangs his head against the bars and groans. "….Davis….I failed my partner Poromon."

"We both did…"

The sound of footsteps makes them both stiffen, their eyes widening with fear. DemiVeemon glances around and sees the forceps, the needles, the scaples on the shelves and fights the desire to either be sick or pass out.

There's the sound of arguing outside the door…

"What the # #%%% did you mean?!" A younger, rougher sounding voice with a weird accent shrieks. "You promised if I….told you….you'd give….to me!"

Parts of the argument are stifled, difficult to hear through the thick door. "…Things have….changed…..see no reason…."

"Are you #$$...do you have any idea….what my boss….do to me?!"

"Should have thought of that before…"

"Oh please….he'll tear my feathers out if I don't bring….."

"Unless you want to end up….like them…."

"What's going on?" Poromon whispers, his eyes wide as he listens to the arguing going louder and louder. One person sounds more terrified and desperate than anything else, the other sounds more annoyed and uncaring.

DemiVeemon and Poromon exchange a look, before another sentence makes both of their blood run cold. "…The boy and girl…are first. I want….to have a good look….experiment….how you see fit….long as you don't….completely destroy them."

"…Davis…"

"…Yolei…."

DemiVeemon grips the bars even tighter, his little paws turning white, thought it couldn't be seen under his blue fur. "We've got to get out of here!"

…

Tai follows the sound of air whoosing and loud whacking sounds—the school's tennis court. As Sora would constantly complain, it was far too small to practice properly in. Being a tennis celebrity, an impressive feat for someone so young, he supposed she should know.

She'd already won a scholarship to the college of her choice because of her skills. He could only hope his soccer skills could get him that far as well.

He stood outside the chain-link fence that separated the court from the rest of the school, his fingers interlacing into it.

He watches her for a while, in her tennis outfit, her face tied up with concentration as she doesn't miss a single ball bounced her way.

He waits until the players take a short break, and Sora reaches for her bottle of water, before smirking and calling out, "You nearly missed the last one!"

She turns her head and sticks her tongue out at him. "Shut up you moron. I only made it look like that."

Tai just snorts and leans against the opposite side of the fence. "…Have you seen Lily?"

Sora frowns. "No, not for a while, why?"

"…Nothing. Just I didn't see her after school. ….I…guess she left with Lucemon but…."

"…Wait, Lucemon?!"

"You missed out on a lot being late to school today." Tai snickers, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk.

Sora scowls. "If there wasn't a fence between us I would hit you so hard right now."

"Scary." He says, running a hand through his chestnut hair. "Where's Matt?"

"On tour with his band…." She sighs. "He emails me every day….but you know….I still miss him, even if we Skype once a week."

"Shouldn't he be back soon?"

"Yeah, by tomorrow." Sora hesitates for a moment before asking quietly, "And…how is your Mum doing? I heard from Kari that…."

"I dunno." Tai sighs. "She's never been happy about the whole Digimon thing in the first place. She's always been overprotective of us, especially Kari because she was so sickly. And plus Kari was a target of Myotismon in the first place, so I guess that kind of makes her feel bitter against all Digimon."

"You humans just keep buying into the stereotypes…." A voice drawls above them, making them both jump. "Don't you?"

"Huh?!"

Tai groans and facepalms. "Yggdrasil, not you again…."

"Now that's just rude." Damien says lazily as he lies on top of the fence, somehow, impossibly perfectly balanced. "Keep that attitude up and I'll start thinking you're NOT my biggest fan in the world, Kamiya."

"Got to admit." Sora mutters as she watches him lie there. "That is pretty darn impressive. How'd you get up there without anyone noticing?"

"Sora, NOT YOU TOO!"

Damien straightens till he's standing up right on top of the fence, then backflips through the mid air so he lands next to Sora.

He leans over and whispers in her ear, "…Magic."

"Jerk." She scolds, shoving him away, but she's smiling all the same, clearly amused. Tai clenches his teeth. He doesn't know why he hates Damien so much. Well…okay he does. But he knows it's unfair. He and Lily are broken up. Damien has every right to be flirting with Lily and spending time with her.

But still….Tai has to resist the urge to punch him everytime he sees him. Especially since he seems able to make everyone like him despite his completely arrogant, pain in the butt behaviour.

Tai takes a deep breath and tries to force himself to let it go. "….What are you doing here? Spying on us?" He tries to say that last sentence like it's a joke but he can't help the harder edge that creeps into his voice. Sora shoots him a look and Damien raises an eyebrow.

"…Much as it pains me to break your heart Kamiya, I've got much better things to do than follow you around." He raises an eyebrow. "Unless you want me to start stalking you, then I'm happy to oblige."

"…What?"

Sora snorts. "Stop tormenting him Damien. What is it you want?"'

Damien takes his eyes off Tai, who has now literally fallen on the ground and is twitching repeatedly. "….Same thing as lover boy I presume. I was wondering if you'd seen Lily."

"Should I be offended that the both of you were looking for her and not me?"

Damien raises an eyebrow and smirks. "….Depends. I could be lying and really, I've just been watching you for the past hour and am attempting to cover my tracks by saying that I was looking for Lily."

"Eh?"

"I do like watching women in short skirts I'm not going to lie…."

Tai makes a horrible choking noise and Sora smirks. "You might want to go with looking for Lily, as I don't think you want to make my boyfriend angry."

"…Oh yes the boy with the machine wolf." Damien murmurs. "You're right, I'm not eager to pick a fight with someone who can actually get their partner to Mega…"

Tai's right eye twitches. "And what is THAT supposed to mean?!"  
Damien just smirks slightly and Sora rolls her eyes. "To get back to the point…like I'm sure you heard, Damien, I don't know where Lily is. In fact, we seem to be losing friends a lot, since we still haven't managed to find Davis or Yolei."

"That reminds me…." Tai grumbles. "…Where the heck were you when we were fighting for our lives against the swarm of angry bugs?"

"Beating a bug is easy….simply squish them." Damien says with a roll of his eyes. "And to answer your question, I was spending time with my brother, joy of joys…" There's a hint of bitterness in his tone.

Sora blinks. "You don't get along with him?"

"Not even slightly…"

"Okay look." Tai says, exasperated as he pushes himself back up from the ground, "The point is none of us know where Lily is. So really there's no point in you hanging around here."

"Taichi!"

"No need Sora…" Damien rolls his eyes. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you guys later, shall I?"

Tai scowls as the other boy walks away and then yelps as Sora hits him in the back with her tennis racket, knocking him back to the ground. "OH COME ON!"

…

"Oh thank Lady Yggdrasil…" I sink my teeth into the chilli hot dog and relish the taste. Usually food from vendors was hardly well cooked at all but this was…

"I do believe my tastebuds have died and gone to heaven…." Dilbert sighs. Relemon chirps in my arms and looks pointedly at my food.

I break off a small piece and hand it to her, snorting as she tries to fit it all in her mouth at once. "So now what do we do? Search the entire Pokemon World to find the others?"

"That might be counterproductive." Dilbert says. "Because they're probably trying to find us. Normally we'd use the portals to hop back to the Digital World to take a different portal to the Pokemon world, but I don't want to risk crossing the barrier again."

I nod. "…So…what? We just wait here for a day or two and hope they find us?"

"Pretty much. If that doesn't work, we'll have to go looking on our own….." He starts when his hotdog suddenly is yanked out of his hand and darts away mid-air.

"Hey!"

"What the heck?!"

"Hey, come back with that!"

"Follow the flying hot dog!" I pause to reflect how that might be the WEIRDEST thing I've ever said in my life, before shrugging it off and running after Dilbert's lunch, him in the lead, followed closely by Viximon . I'm in third, with Wormmon trailing behind us and yelling at us to slow down, short legs, curse it!

Dilbert somehow trips and goes down with a yelp, Viximon tries to slide to a stop but unlike that one time with Sira, she can't put on the breaks in time.

I trip on her tail and end up flying over both of them as she howls in pain and my face eats gravel. It takes a minute for my ears to stop ringing, but then I hear it….gleeful laughter…

"Oh man, dinner and a show, who would have thought I'd be so lucky?"

Scowling, I shove myself upwards. "All right, who are you?" No one makes me look like a complete idiot…

"_Uh, I just did."_ The voice smirks, and my eyes widen. It almost sounds like the voice was responding to my thoughts_-"Yup."_

…Okay. That's weird. What the heck is going on?

"I'm just your friendly neighborhood stalker. No need to mind me."

"Okay seriously WHAT THE HECK?!"

Viximon and Dilbert have similarly disturbed looks on their faces, and it's not directed at me. Good. At least I know I'm not going crazy. My ring glows slightly and the next thing I know, it's Renamon standing next to me instead, albietly a tired Renamon.

I make slight hand gestures at Renamon, ordering her to get into position while I keep whoever it is talking.

"What are you some kind of….ghost or whatever?"

"_Ghost?"_ The voice sounds offended now_. "Please. I'm much better than some lowly Haunter or Dusclops."_

Renamon's blue eyes scan the walls of the ally we ducked into and growls slightly before leaping forward, pulling her arm back for a punch.

I see a flicker of something green and red eyes before the next thing I know Renamon's howling in pain, clutching at her paw and whimpering.

The voice cackles again_. "Missed me, missed me, now you've got to kiss me!...Although please don't. That would be too gross. And fluffy."_

"YOU LITTLE-"Renamon, calm down!"

"Calm down?! I'm going to skin whoever this is alive!" She leaps back up into the air, crossing her arms and ignoring me. "Kiss this! DIAMOND STORM!"

The diamonds dive downwards towards the opposite wall behind a wrecked car…..and then they froze, before reversing in mid flight and charging back towards Renamon.

"What the—GAH?!"

"Renamon!"

I bolt to her side and then there's a cry of, "STICKY NET!" followed by several loud squeals and a lot of obscene language entering my brain.

I glance over to see Wormmon standing triumphantly over her prisoner, who is thoroughly stuck in her web. "Who says you need legs to kick butt?" She gloats as Dilbert chuckles and pats her head.

"Nice job Wormmon. Now who do we have here…."

The figure is small, barely coming up to my lower leg. She has a white body that looks kind of like a miniature dress, with a green helmet and two horns sticking out of it.

I blink. I'm reminded of one of Sira's own Pokemon. "…A…Gardevoir?"

"_Try again moron."_ The voice grumbles, and I finally manage to come up with the name Sira told me. "…A Ralts then. I thought Sira told me that they're more common in Hoenn than Sinnoh. What are you doing here?"

"Who cares?" Renamon grumbles. "Can I please kick the crap out of it?"

"Renamon!"

"What?! It hit me first!"

"I am NOT….an IT…."

We all turn back to look at the Ralts, who is still caught up in Wormmon's net, but is glaring at us defiantly, her little white fists clenched at her side.

"…"

"_I don't need anyone!" I shout, my right cheek stained with blood, my left eye blackened, but I'm still standing, even with the chains wrapped around my wrists. "I don't care what you do! You hear me! I DON'T CARE!"_

"…." I raise an eyebrow before dropping to my knees, causing the Ralts to stiffen. "…Why are you here?"

It's a simple question, and one the little mindreading pain in the behind seems to have trouble answering. _"….Trainer….ditched me….didn't like…my attitude…"_ Is the final, reluctantly muttered answer I get. I can see scars on the face and my jaw tenses.

"…Lily?" Dilbert asks, obviously confused by my attitude, but Renamon, who can also read my mind, facepalms and groans. "Oh please no. PLEASEE…NO."

I ignore her and slowly reach underneath the broken down car to reveal an older looking Pokeball. I click the button to enlarge it and keep staring at the little mischief maker.

"…" Ralts tenses but doesn't try to run away again, just stares at the ball. _"…My last trainer broke my heart. How do I know you're not like that?"_

"Because I'm not." I say simply, and for whatever reason, he believes me. "Come on. We'll make you stronger. You're always stronger when you have something worth fighting for. We'll make you into an awesome Gallade, if that's what you want."

The Ralts seems amused by this and snorts. _"That would be kind of impossible because I'm a girl."_

"…Seriously?"

"_110%."_

"Ah. Well Sira's Gardevoir is a boy so…."

"He IS?!" Renamon asks in disbelief. "Well that's news to me…."

"_For Arceus' sakes…"_ The Ralts snickers before pressing the button on the Pokemon. There's a flash of red light and the next thing I know she's sucked inside.

I turn the ball over in my hand a couple of times, tossing it up and down once. "…Well that's definitely not what I expected to happen when we came here."

"Me neither." Dilbert chuckles. "But you'll get along great with her, I can just tell."

"Why am I always stuck with the annoying ones?" Renamon moans and I punch her in the shoulder and tell her to shut up.

There's a chuckle above me, much less playful sounding than Ralts'. And very….VERY….familiar…

"Always had a soft spot for stray dogs, didn't you angel face?" A voice cackles above me and I whirl around, my fangs extending in a hiss of pure rage.

"DEMIDEVIMON!"

…

Edan grimaces as he watches the lines of Ogremon striding back in forth in front of the main gates of Celadon City. He's standing on top of Pokemon Tower, peering through with Ryo's amazing binoculars. She seems to have a gadget for just about anything.

He hates to admit he's slightly jealous. "This doesn't make any sense…."

"What?" Ryo drawls sarcastically. "The army of invading Digimon in the Pokemon World, or the fact that a Control Spire popped up here?"

"ALL of it!" Edan hisses. "This is literally the definition of impossible. We barely managed to make it through to this world ourselves, and the barrier nearly killed us. An entire army of about 200? Not possible."

"But the fact is, however impossible it is, it's there, Edan." D'Arcmon points out grimly.

Ken shook his head. "I agree with Edan. The Digital World has its own law of physics, no matter how weird and wacky it might be. The Digital and Pokemon World are connected through the barrier, that's true. But while people can travel through the barrier, the worlds themselves are in separate dimensions. They're not touching each other, there's no other link. Without a Digivice….it's impossible."

"...But if the barrier breaks down…."

"If the barrier breaks down, it means a central part of both worlds is destroyed and they die instantly." Edan adds. "No matter what happens there is. NO. COLLISON. No connection. Just instant black hole."

"That sounds even better…." Stella says sarcastically.

Monodramon looks thoughtful. "….But….if what you're saying is true….then…the Digimon couldn't just be crossing over at random. Someone had to let them in. Someone with a Digivice."

Everyone falls silent for a moment and Stella takes in a deep breath. "…Then….if what you're saying is true…."

"Somewhere there's a traitor." Edan says flatly, his eyes narrowing down to slits.

Ryo nods. "And it's one of us."

…

Yolei can feel the effects of the drug filling her body. The drowsiness is so difficult to fight, all she wants to do is collapse her head against her pillow and fall asleep…it would be easier…she'd never know what these scientists are doing to her…

She heard the terrible things they were planning outside the door, in a sort of haze, like it was all some horrible dream she could wake up from, Yggdrasil she wanted to wake up, she shouldn't even be here! She wants to go home! She should have….just given up….found the courage to tell them she wasn't meant for this….long ago…

"Da….Davis…." Yolei moans, images of the brown haired boy filling her mind, his smile, his laugh….she doesn't know why these thoughts are coming to her now….but they're comforting her….somehow…

"…."

"I won't just let them….hurt him…." She rasps out, remembering how his hand rasped around hers, how he held onto her as the Dokugumon advanced and screamed for her not to let go.

But what could she possibly do? Poromon was Yggdrasil knew where, and she was shackled to this bed…

She closes her eyes again, memories floating around her.

"_Hey guys? Have you heard about this trick where you can escape police cuffs?" Davis laughed, leaning his head back. "Might be useful to figure out, huh?"_

"_Why?" Kari snickered. "Planning a bank robbery anytime soon?"_

"_It's ridiculously easy to get out of simple handcuffs…." Lily yawns, leaning back in her chair, Tai sitting next to her, Viximon on her lap._

_Davis rolls his eyes. "How would you know?"_

_Gatomon looks exasperated/amused as Lily smirks. "Believe me that girl is a literal Houdini….I could never figure out how she kept managing to escape even when…certain people…did everything in their power to keep her trapped."_

"_And then those certain people would look like a complete idiot in front of their boss, and then get punished by their boss, correct?" Lily asks with a smirk._

"…_.Unfortunately…."_

"_All right smarty pants." _

_Tai blinks and snorts back a laugh as Davis actually pulls out a pair of handcuffs, "You actually brought one with you?"_

"_I figured one of you would challenge me." He waggles them in front of Lily's face. "Come on. Put your money where your mouth is."_

"_What the heck does that even mean?" DemiVeemon wonders aloud._

"_Human phrases." Koromon sighs. "Don't even try to comprehend them."_

_Lily shrugs. "If you really want to challenge me lock me in the supply closet as well."_

_Davis smirks. "You're on."_

_Yolei finally glances up from her computer and blinks as Lily lets Davis put the chains on her wrists and then shove her in the closet._

"…_Are we sure this is a good idea?"_

"_Yeah." Cody frowns. "What if she….runs out of air or something like that?"_

"_Trust me." Kari rolls her eyes. "She won't."_

"_But…" Yolei begins but freezes when she feels a tap on her shoulder. "Hi."_

"…_LILY?!"_

"_HOLY ##^^&&!" Davis yelps, nearly leaping out of his chair as Lily stands there , chainless, less than five minutes after being shoved in the closet. "Yo…You're a phantom!"_

"…_Uh…no."_

_Lily smirks and pulls something out of her hair—a simple bobby pin. There's silence in the room for a moment before Kari says incredulously, "You're serious…that's it?"_

_She grins. "Can be a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but if once you get the hang of it you can break out of any handcuffs like that."_

"_And the locked door?!"_

"_Same thing."_

"…" _Gatomon's right eye twitches. "You mean to tell me….that every single time I wou…." She cuts off and then fumes silently as Lily just pats her on the head and laughs._

…

"…That'….That's it…" Yolei mumbles, reaching upwards with her fingertips, desperate to do this before her hands went numb from the drug as well.

After about three minutes of frantic searching, she manages to pull a bobby pin loose. "….I'm not going to be able to do this…" She groans, but she has to try,

Thankfully, years of tinkering with the tiny mechanics of computers have managed to pay off. Yolei nearly lets out a cry of joy as the cuffs click open, but quickly bites down on her lips. The last thing she needs is dozens of guards come rushing in.

Now….the door….she didn't think a bobby pin was going to cut it this time, but there was something else she heard of on the Internet.

She slips a hand into her jean pocket and pulls out something—a library card, stained with mud. "If it works for credit cards…."

A grin appears on her face as she finally hears the click open, and mouths the word, "Perfecto."

…

"You know your duties…."

"I do." The figure kneels in front of her master, her purple armour glinting in the shadows. "I will kill the imposter, the ones who betrayed us, the cowards who escaped us last time."

"…Good. And you will be rewarded with the thing you seek the most, I promise you, Kuzuhaumon…Now go."

She slowly stands to her eight foot tall height and makes her way out of the room, her hand tightening on her staff. "…I will save you…" She mutters, her voice cracking. "My Taichi…"

…

Mrs. Kamiya sighs as she leans against the wall, and closes her eyes as she watches her son silently watching the soccer game.

…Usually Lily would be leaning on the couch next to him, sipping soda, and rolling her eyes at Tai's outbursts and overexcitement at every goal.

Now he's silent….silent….

"_Yggdrasil what did I do?" _She'd always thought that the girl was nothing but a free loader and a freak…..but….

The phone rings and she sighs and slowly walks over to it, picking it up. "…Hello?"

"…_."_

"HELLO?"

"_T-Tai…?"_

Mrs. Kamiya's eyes narrow, not out of anger, but out of confusion. "What is it, Lily?" She asks a little sharply. "What do you want?"

There's nothing for another moment and she's about to slam the phone down in annoyance, but then hears the sound of her son padding towards her and reaching for the phone.

She starts to hand it over to him before the voice gasps out through the phone again, "_It….hurts….bad…."_

"WHAT?!"

Tai grabs the phone. "LILS?! LILY?! Answer me! What's going on?!"

"…_Help….me…."_

"….LILY!" Tai shouts as he slams down his fist on the counter as the line goes dead again, his voice breaking in a shout of pure outrage.

"Taichi!"

"Tai?" Kari asks, peering out through her bedroom door. "…What's going on?"

"I heard Lily's voice." Gatomon says sharply, padding out. "What did she say? What happened?"

"…" Tai makes his way towards the door. "I'm going to talk to Izzy. He's awake now, I have to see if he can't trace that call…"

"Tai!"

"What, mom?" He snaps, turning around to face her. "Are you going to lay into me again about me getting involved with this? I'm a Digidestined, that will never change regardless of how you feel about it. And I'm not going to leave my…." He swallows. "…My friend on her own if she's hurt."

"Me neither." Kari agrees defiantly, crossing her arms and shooting her mother a look. Mrs. Kamiya swallows hard.

"…Just answer me this. Is she really worth you risking your life for, again?"

Tai's eyes meet his mother's. "…She'd do the same for me. " before running out the door with Koromon somehow keeping up with him, Kari and Gatomon right behind them.

…

Demidevimon screams as he barely dodges a huge flux of diamonds meant to shish kibab him. "W-wait! Let me explain!"

"EXPLAIN MY BUTT RENAMON TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB!"

"Lily, wait, maybe you should-"I AM NOT GOING TO CALM DOWN!"

Renamon's fist collides with Demidevimon's face, as he doesn't have the benefit of teleportation like Ralts does. He screams as he hits the wall hard and slides down it with a moan, landing on his face.  
The next thing he sees is Renamon's claws darting downwards to cleave him in between the eyes and he screams, "I KNOW WHERE THOSE TWO BRATS ARE!"

"…Renamon!"

She freezes in mid pounce and falls, almost comically, to the ground with a groan. Demidevimon breathes a sigh of relief and then yelps as I grab him by his antennae and pull him upwards. "What do you mean you know where the two brats are?" I snarl, my face inches from his, enough to take in his rank scent. I had to force myself not to retch.

"..Uh…you know….the girl with the purple hair and the boy who looks kind of like your boyfriend but not?"

"…Davis and Yolei…?" Dilbert's eyes widen. "….How do you know this?"

Demidevimon pulls free from my grasp and says, dramatically, "Well you see how it is. One minute, I'm in the Digital World, minding my own business, the next thing I know, I'm here, and these nasty humans are shoving me in a cage and poking needles into me and it was all so awful…"

"Grow up." I snap, completely unsympathetic. "Get to the point about Yolei and Davis."

"Ah. Well you see the same humans that caught me….they have your friends too…."

"…WHAT?!"

"How hard would that be to spit out?" Renamon growls, rubbing her head as she shoves herself up. "We don't care at all what happened to you."

"That's rude." He huffs. "Keep that attitude up and I won't tell you anything."

"Oh trust me…." I growl, hating, HATING, how my tone sounds exactly like Myotismon's used to. "You CAN and you WILL."

"…" Demidevimon blinks and lets out a whimpering noise. "….All right….all right….I'll show you the way…."

"Nuh uh." I glower. "The only thing you've ever been good at is brownnosing and lying. I want proof you're telling the truth."

"And how do you expect to do that?"

"Ralts…." I pull out the Pokeball and release my newly caught friend. "Feel like doing me a favour?"

"_Ugh I am not peeking in his brain…" _ She sneers, looking at him. _"I can tell by now he's complete and utter scum…."_

"Ralts, please?"

"…_Fine. I can tell he's lying about something, but he does know where Yolei and Davis are."_

I narrow my eyes at him. "….I swear to Yggdrasil if you're trying to cheat me or con me in anyway I will smear your data across that wall!"

"….They uh….the same group…." He fixes his eyes on the ground. "….They found something."

"Found WHAT?"

Demidevimon's grin suddenly turns sly. "What do you know about one of the three legendary Digieggs?"

…

"How would we stand a chance against such an army?" Edan says, his voice catching slightly, his frustration apparent in every syllable.

The fact that there is a traitor among them has been shoved to the side, at least for now, but the thought still lingers at the back of every person's mind.

"…" Ryo runs her tongue over her lips. "There might be a way…." She runs back into the tower. Edan blinks as he follows her and sees the dozens of graves lining the ground. He pales slightly. "…What the…."

"Pokemon Tower is where we in Kanto come to bury our dead." Ryo says quietly, bunching her fists in her pockets. "…."

"…You sound like you've been here before." Stella asks carefully. She's startled to see the pale, drawn look on Ryo's face. "…I really don't want to talk about it." She growls. "Got it?"

"Don't be mad Ryo." Ken's Wormmon says, leaning his head against her knee.

She blinks and then looks even more surprised when Ken's hand wraps around hers and squeezes slightly.

"Can we quit the mushy stuff for now?" Stella says sarcastically as her Tsukaimon makes obnoxious kissing noises.

"…Whatever." Ryo mutters. "The point is that a few years ago people from Celadon City installed an escape route to get to here in case Team Rocket caused more problems."

"….You're going to say tunnels, aren't you?" Tsuakimon flinches. "Didn't we have enough of those back in Lizzie's tunnels?"

"Yeah, but that wasn't so bad." Stella comforts him. "…I mean…minus the roof falling in on us but at least there will be a distinct lack of magic here."

"There wasn't that much magic there either."

"We were lucky…" Stella says grimly. "They were designed to attack Lucemon, not us."

"No booby traps in these right?" D'Arcmon asks, half serious, half joking. Ryo just rolls her eyes.

"…Are we going or not?" Ken sighs.

Ryo shoves a hand against one of the graves. Edan catches a glimpse of the writing on the headstone, "Rapidash, may you rest in peace…"

Before the ground opens up and reveals a gaping hole, that they're forced to stare down.

'…Well that looks…cheery…."

"Is anyone else really creeped out about the idea of just hopping into a grave?"

Four hands went up in unison and Stella sighs. "Good. Then it's not just me." As she lowered her own hand.

"Ladies first." Edan mutters.

"Really? Okay then."

Edan screams as Ryo shoves him down into the pit and disappears from sight.

…

Yolei crouches behind the wall corner and watches as more people in those silvery outfits walk by. In another time, their wacky hairdos and space style outfits would have been something both she and Kari would have cackled over together.

Right now the only thing she can think about is finding Poromon…

She glances to her right, her face paling as she saw them walking towards her. If she didn't think of something fast, she'd be dragged back to her cell kicking and screaming for them to dose her up again.

There wasn't time for anything else. Praying that no one would be in there, Yolei ducks inside the room and breaths a sigh of relief when she finds it empty.

….Empty except for the large computer on the other side of the room….

A slow grin forms on her face. It's all she can do not to rub her hands together and cackle. Oh yes. With a computer, she could work her own magic.

…

"I don't know why, Tai, but I swear your school is even creepier at night."

"That's because it is, Koromon." Tai says solemnly, staring up at the building covered by shadows. "This is when all the ghosts of the kids murdered by teachers come every night, to stalk those students who don't turn in their homework in time, wailing, "BEWARE! Beware lest our own fate befall yo-"OW!"

"Be serious…." Kari scolds, kicking him in the leg. "There's no such thing as ghosts…."

"What are you talking about? We just saw one only a few days ago!"

"…" Gatomon's whiskers and tail droop. "….Yeah."

"…I just said something insensitive again, didn't I?"

"Yes." Kari scolds, hitting her brother again.

"…Uh…." Koromon suddenly sounds nervous. "….Are we sure that there are no ghosts here?"

"Koromon, I was only kidding."

"Oh yeah? Then what's that?!"

Tai's brown eyes snap to the side to see a tall shadow dart across the school wall. He tenses and shoves Kari firmly behind him, ignoring her protests.

He strains to see in the darkness but his human eyes are too easily impared. Gatomon just has time to yowl an alarm before someone grabs Tai by the arm, flips him, throwing him onto his back.

"OW! What the heck?!"

"Too easy…." Tai clenches his teeth as Damien's silver eyes look down on him. "Honestly, you humans….if I'd wanted to I could have snapped your neck ages ago and you wouldn't have even realized it."

"Get OFF me you great overgrown…."

"Didn't Lily say for you two to stop sexually harassing each other?" Kari says, exasperated, as she puts her hands on her hips.

"…HUH?!"

"…What?"

"Regardless, I still think giving them a heart attack might not have been the way to go." Another voice, more friendly sounding to their ears echoes.

Kari breathes a sigh of relief and smiles at TK and TK alone, before a look of concern came across her face. "…We didn't tell you…how did you know we were heading towards the portal?"

"Got the same message you did." Cody says quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Digivice. "Lily's in trouble, and since we couldn't contact the rest of the Tamers and figure out what was going on…."

"Why would she contact you?" Tai frowns.

TK shoots him a look that's freakishly similar to Matt's glare. "Why shouldn't she?"

"Think she'll only accept your help to save her…." Damien drawls.

Tai clenches his fists. "NO, you moron. I'm saying that if she was as badly hurt as she sounded, how did she manage to contact all of us?"

"Does that REALLY matter…?"

Tai's eyes narrow. "…No. Come on."

The door creaks open and the sound of five footsteps echo down the hallway. Damien leans against the doorway, letting Kari and TK in before nearly closing the door on Tai's face.

Tai's right eye twitches and Koromon sighs, rolling his eyes. "...Remember, we're doing this for LILY, right?"

"…" A slight smile touches Tai's lips. "Right."

"That's…..weird….." Kari frowns, and looks at the screen showing the Digiportal.

"What is? Huh? It says it's open…"

"I know but…." Kari rubs her arms, and Tai glances over at her, his eyes narrowing. His sister always seems to have an instinct for when something really, REALLY bad about to happen…

"…"

"Are you coming?" Damien asks sweetly. "If not I'll just enjoy rescuing Lily myself and uh…enjoy the fruits of my labour?"

"You really are a jerk…."

"Huh?"

Cody glares up at him. "You don't care about helping Lily, you're just hoping she'll drape herself all over you in return."

"…" Damien snorts. "Of course that's not what I'm expecting. After all, Kamiya's saved her….oh a dozen and a half times, and she still won't give him the time of day?"

Tai clenches his jaw and ignores him. "…Kari, seriously, what is it?"

She sucks in her breath and then slowly lets it out. "….Nothing Tai. I'm probably just worried about Lily."

"…Kari…"

"Look, we have to GO, all right?!" Kari snaps, whirling back around to face him. "Just because sometimes I think things might go wrong, doesn't mean I'm a bleeding psychic. Let's GO."

".."

Tai knows that if Kari's getting defensive like this, it must mean she DOES think something's very wrong about the situation.

…But if he can't just leave Lily there….

"…All right. Cody, you want to do the honours?"

"DIGIPORT OPEN!"

As Tai's pulled forwards with the others, the first thing he feels is a horrible burning sensation in his chest which quickly spreads to the rest of his body.

"A-ARGGGHHHHHH!"

The smell of blood fills his nose as everything goes black….

…

"We have to try once more…." DemiVeemon whispers, shoving himself to his feet again. Poromon nods, a look of determination appearing on his face even though his beak is bruised.

"Wait for it….1…2…4..."

"Doesn't 3 come first?"

"Who cares?!"

The front door opens and the doctor walks in, smirking as he approaches them, the syringe poking out his pocket…

"…Yolei…."

Suddenly there's a loud beeping noise echoes and there's the sound of several doors squeaking open at once.

"…WHAT THE?!"

Up until now, DemiVeemon and Poromon had been too distracted with finding their partners to notice, but there were hundreds of Pokemon stuffed into cages around them, Turtwigs, Staravias, none of which the Digimon recognized. Heck they didn't even know these strange creatures were CALLED Pokemon.

Their cages had suddenly all flew open and now the scientist was surrounded by dozens of angry Pokemon.

"Ow, ow, OW, OW, OW! Get off me you stupi….ARGHHHH!"

"What's going on?!"

"Poromon!"

The door had swung open and DemiVeemon didn't hesitate to leap off the large counter, bouncing as he hit the ground.

"Davis, I'm coming!"

Poromon struggles to keep up with him, but it's not easy when you don't have any legs. He falls flat on his face as he crosses the door, and spots a pair of black shined shoes.

He whimpers as another of the scientist yells, "The experiments are running loose!" before lunging forwards to grab him before Poromon can launch a weak attack…

Then the man suddenly twitches and screams in pain, clutching at his groin.

"No one touches my partner!" Yolei snarls, glaring down at him as he rolled on the ground, moaning in pain. She bends down and holds out her arms, Poromon shouting, "YOLEI!" and bounding to her.

She hugs him tightly, so hard he normally would complain but right now he honestly doesn't care….

"I'm sorry buddy…." Her voice cracks. "I'll never let anyone take you from me again, I promise."

"It wasn't your fault Yolei…" Poromon chirps back. "It was my fault for not protecting you better."

Yolei chuckles and wipes a solitary tear from her eye. "We could play the blame game for hours, but right now, we have to find Davis and get out of here."

…

"…"

Davis scowls murderously as the drug enters his body, eyes slowly closing, as the scapel lowers towards his kneck…

'TEMPEST WING!"

There was a rush of wind and screams echoing all around him….he couldn't make it out…he couldn't completely understand what was going on…

"Davis….Davis!"

"…Yolei?"

She threw herself onto his chest and hugs him tightly…he barely has time to register the fact that Yolei is HUGGING him before there's the sound of his chains snapping open.

"…Yolei…I…"

"Save it." Yolei snaps, pulling him to his feet. "We've got to get out of here." Glass covers the ground, glass, blood, and wrecked medical instruments.

One of the scientists groans as the kids make their way past, slowly reaching out for his walkie talkie…

"I DON'T THINK SO!"

DemiVeemon lands full force on top of the man's head, and with his eyes rolling backwards, the man falls unconscious.

"Hurry Davis!" Yolei pulls him onto Halsemon's back and holds onto both him and her partner tightly as Halsemon roars before charging through the door he broke down.

Shouts echo behind and in front of them, and Yolei's eyes narrow at the Pokemon that surround her, trying to block off her enterance with their grunts of trainers behind them.

"TEMPEST WING!"

Like leaves in a hurricane they're flung out of the way, screams echoing. Yolei lets out a sudden yell of pain as a fat gray cat with a curly tail dropped on her from above, sinking shadowy fangs into her shoulder.

"Get OFF of her!" Davis shouts, coherent enough to punch the cat off as DemiVeemon kicks it in the face.

The outer door is surrounded by grunts….all of them looking like a pack of evil clones, standing there, with their

Pokemon surrounding them.

Davis touches Yolei's back. "…I've got this one. Ready DemiVeemon?"

"BEEN ready!"

"DEMIVEEMON DIGIVOLVE TO….VEEMON!"

"V-HEADBUTT!" V-Mon yells, charging forwards and taking out the whole front row of Glameows, a skinnier version of the creature that attacked Yolei.

"Veemon, look out!"'

He screams as a Luxray, a giant, electrical lion sinks fangs into his back and lets the lightning pour into his spine. Davis clenches his teeth and yells, "Show them what REAL lightning looks like!" as Halsemon strikes down Staraptor after Staraptor, proving again and again which bird was really the master of the skies.

"VEEMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…RAIDRAMON! THE STORM OF FRIENDSHIP!"

"BLUE LIGHTNING!"

If it wasn't so horrific, the sight of how the Pokemon and grunts screamed when the lightning struck would be almost comical. Davis didn't even know eyes could bug out like that until today.

Even better, the lightning shorts out the circuitry for the main door, and it slowly slides open. "YES!"

"TEMPEST WING!"

It's easy for Halsemon to tear the steel door the rest of the way of its hinges now, now that there's a gap for his claws to cling to.

Yolei feels the wind rush on her face and yells, "HURRY HALSEMON! WE'RE ALMOST….ARGH!"

"YOLEI!"

The blast from above is like nothing they've ever felt before…it feels like their heads are about to explode, like something's forcing them downwards without touching them.

"Nicely done Kadabra…." A cool voice echoes. A man with blue hair that sticks out like cat ears stand next to the weirdest creature with brown markings on its yellow body.

"…You made a valiant effort…" He smirks down at Yolei and Davis, who are cringing and grabbing at their heads, their Digimon? Not any better.

"But it all ends here….men. Return them to their cells."  
"Yes General Saturn!"

"You…" Davis seeths, glaring up into those black, smirking eyes. It was at this point that several knives shot out of nowhere and pinned a terrified Saturn to the opposite wall.

"YOLEI! DAVIS!"

"Sakuyamon!" Yolei nearly sobs with relief as Sakuyamon lands in the middle of the clearing, the terrified grunts scattering under the glare she sent them behind her mask.

"For crying out loud…." I mutter. "Usually it's me who needs to be rescued. Heh. Guess it makes a nice change."

"You..." The blue haired freak stares up at me in terror. "What are you?!"  
"That is none of your business." I growl, taking a menacing step forward.

"_You should just be glad we don't kill you now for what you did to our friends…" _ He pales even more at the sound of Renamon's voice, then is distracted by a loud voice squawking, "You idiot! Forget them! Find the Digiegg!"

"…"

Saturn's eyes narrow with fury. "You…traitor!" He hisses at Demidevimon who just sticks his tongue out at the unfortunate human while he flutters around my head.

I glance around at the dozens of grunts advancing on us, most with Pokemon, some with guns, and at my friend's weakened state. "Now is not the time." I say flatly, raising a shield around the four of them, a protective bubble.

"HUH?!"

I kick the sphere hard as Yolei and Davis struggle to find the energy to protest, sending it shooting across the horizon, finally freeing them. The shield will protect them from the fall, and now they're out of this creep's reach.

Demidevimon and Saturn's screams of rage mingle, but I kick off and dive without looking back. As long as my friends are safe, I will not waste my time on a battle by myself,

I may be rash, but I'm not that mad.

…

"He's coming…." Kuzuhamon breathes as she watches the air fluctuate in front of her. "…Taichi…."

…

"Cyrus, the two subjects….!"

"What?"

"…T-They disappeared my lord…Saturn's base is in shambles….we can't establish contact…."

"Hmm…pity."

"…What should we do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?!"

"The ritual may proceed. Once it is complete, their pitiful efforts will mean nothing."


	23. Control Spires in Celadon, Devil Dragon

(LOL sorry this one took so long. I had to rewrite HALF of it. Ugh...anyway here you go!)

Chapter Twenty-Three

I land, panting heavily as though my lungs are about to burst. I didn't waste that much energy but having that many Pokemon snarling at you and having guns pointed at you…

Well….let's just say it doesn't exactly make you feel all warm and fuzzy. The bubble surrounding Yolei and Davis slowly shrinks down to nothing.

Yolei doesn't say anything. She just runs forward and hugs me around my armoured waist. I blink and slowly hug her back, a little uneasy.

"Thanks Lils…" Davis' voice catches slightly. "You probably just saved our lives."

"Yeah that's great and all…." Demidevimon flaps his wings and glowered down at me, his yellow eyes gleaming in the night. "But you didn't GET THE EGG!"

"Grow the heck up." I spit as I degenerate and glare at him. "I only did this to find Yolei and Davis."

"…Uh….Lily?" Davis blinks. "…What….Digiegg is he talking about?"

My eyes widen suddenly as I realize, "…Crap…." Tai knew, or at least I thought I'd explained it to him. But….the others…

"Oh, so you didn't tell them Lils?" Demidevimon's face turns into that leer that always annoyed the heck out of me back when I was little. "What other secrets are you keeping from them? Bet I can name a few…"

"Lily?" Yolei asks, confused, as she watches my fists clench at my side.

Renamon glowers. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't smash you between the eyes and yank your core out."

"Oh, someone's feeling graphically violent today." He chuckles snidely.

"You better believe it." She spits before I can tell her to shut up, taking a step forward, her paws clenched and tail bristeling. "This isn't like the old days, you little creep. I don't put up with ANYONE messing with my tamer. If you hurt Lily in any way, I will kill you. In a heartbeat."

"Renamon, that's enough." I say sharply as the other four keep staring at us, wide eyed. The waves of pure hate Demidevimon is sending to us and us sending back to him must be enough to freak them out a little.

"Why am I in trouble?!"

"You don't need to…." I say, frustrated as I look meaningfully back at Yolei and Davis. "Start something now. We're all tired."

"But the EG-OW!"

"Give me one good reason I should believe what you say…" I snarl as I grab him by the antenna again.

"Ugh, weren't we in this position earlier? And besides, I told the truth about these two, didn't I?"

"Demidevimon, you, my scrawny git, have the ability to lie and yet not lie better than anyone I've ever known save Myotismon. The only thing I want is you OUT OF MY LIFE."

"That's enough."

"Huh?'

Dilbert gives Demidevimon a cool look that actually manages to make me flinch back. I've never seen Dilbert look so contemptuously at anyone before. "I don't know who you are, and I don't really care. I DO know that you're messing with my kin, and that's not okay with me."

"…Kin?" Veemon asks in confusion, while my cheeks redden slightly. Kin. Family. That's what tamers call each other. But the thing is….the Digidestined are my family too.

Demidevimon laughs, but I can hear that faint note of fear in his tone. "L-Like I'm scared of a measely omega tamer…."

Dilbert flips his Digivice up in the air, forming the dagger, the blade glinting ominously. "Do I need to persuade you?" He asks in his normal cheerful tone, but his eyes glint like his blade.

Demidevimon backs away, cringing. "….Fine. But when Team Galatic uses the egg to destroy the world, don't blame me!" He yells spitefully over his shoulder as he flies away.

Yolei's jaw gapes. "…Did he just say destroy the world?!"

I clench my teeth. "…He's lying. _He has to be…."_

Davis scowls and crosses his arms. "I didn't like what I just heard. Lils, what exactly have you been keeping from us?"

_Do you want the short list or the long….?_

"…Nothing important. Davis, I just….." My voice trails off and I clench my fists. Renamon blinks as I look away from the two, hating the looks of confusion and slight betrayal on their faces.

"…Lils?" Dilber says cautiously, staring at me as I slowly raise my head again with a slight smile on my face, otherwise expressionless.

"…You know what. I will tell you."

"HUH?!"

"When we find the others…." I say calmly, ignoring Dilbert spluttering in the background. "Then I'll tell you everything I know….Promise."

"…" Davis' eyebrows knit together and then he grins. "Cool! So what's the next plan?"

I almost fall over. He's almost too ridiculously easy to please.

…

"TK….TK! TAI HELP!"

Tai groans, his brown eyes slowly flickering open, just as the sound of his sister's scream reaches his ears again. "TAI! I NEED YOU! SOMEBODY!"

"K-KARI?!"

He manages to scramble to his feet, not knowing how, because every muscle in his body aches in pain, enough to make him gasp for breath and bend over, waiting desperately for his vision to clear.

What he sees beyond the haze of pain ...he doesn't like…

Kari is bent over an unconscious boy, Patamon flying around in frantic circles, terror obvious in his blue eyes.

TK seems limp and unresponsive….but Tai can feel his face paling when the blood seeps through onto the ground.

…"…Yggdrasil…."

"It's not as bad as it looks…" Damien rasps out, finally getting back up. He looks like Tai feels…like they've both been run over by a truck.

Tai's face pales as he realizes TK's arm is now soaked in blood, he makes a choking noise and drops down to his knees in front of the younger boy, besides Kari.

TK shudders in pain again and Damien hisses in frustration. "…The barrier….was weaker than I thought it would be….the wound on his arm is deep…."

"…What are you talking about?"

"The barrier tried to prevent us from coming through to here." Damien says in an emotionless tone as he continues to stare down at TK. "…We could have all died. We SHOULD have all died." He repeats, anger and frustration entering his voice.

Gatomon checks out TK's arm and grimaces. "We've got to get him to a doctor, soon as possible. I don't want that thing becoming infected…"

"How? With the barrier shut down….we don't even know where we are!"

"Hello? Tai!"

The sound of barking is what catches his attention. The dog at the figure's side is scary looking, without a doubt. Corse black fur covers its body with devil-like horns curling backwards.

The man standing beside the dog is unmistakeable though. Tai's eyes widen and a slow, relieved, if disbelieving smile appears on his face. "Michael!"

…

Stella shudders as they make their way down the damp tunnels. She can't help rubbing her arms continuously, trying to keep the fear back and not really succeeding.

"…It'll be okay Stella…" Edan says, trying to keep his voice soothing and not condenscending. He's the one least affected. Even Ryo and Ken both seem tense as well.

They remember all too well the way they nearly died in similar tunnels. And the smell filling their noses isn't much better.

"…What….is that?" Stella asks, gagging.

"Smells like a pack of Numemon…." D'Arcmon wrinkled her nose as well, her face flushing red.

"Ryo? What do you think it is?"

Monodramon hacks as he walks beside his partner, and Ryo fidgets uncomfortably, her hand held around her Digivice. "…I dunno." Her eyes seem darker than usual, like they always have in this world. "….It's been…years since I've been back here….but….somehow it seems familiar…"

""…."

"Uh….guys…."

Purple sludge sneaks around the corner, and Ryo's eyes widen in recognition as Stella declares to her partner, "All right, whatever it is, kick its butt!"

"Wait….that's a…."

"BOOM BUBBLE!"

D'Arcmon slices her sword and yells out, "LA PUECELLE!" The blade of light shoots forward and both her and Tsukaimon's attacks bounce off the purple slime, which realigns like it was never touched.

"….MUK!"

The stench was almost completely overwhelming, and Edan feels himself hacking and spitting as he backs away. His eyes stung as he saw the purple slime form a gigantic monster….bulging eyes, giant mouth that seemed to ooze with venom…

Ryo swore loudly at the top of her lungs. "I forgot this was their territory! Everyone fall back! RUN!"

"If they're not fast…." Stella shrieks as they bolt. "Why are we running like this?!"

"Because where there's one Muk, there's always….!"

The sound of something sploshing echoed down the pathway ahead of them, and Edan's eyes widen. "….Another one?!"

"They're everywhere!" Tsukaimon yelps as what seemed like smaller versions of the toxic creatures slimed across the walls, staring at the humans with drooling eyes.

"….I don't understand…" Ryo mutters, as the group crowds closer together. "There shouldn't be THIS many in the tunnels. Not after Celadon City started cleaning up after itself…."

"Why don't we just attack them?" Monodramon demands, taking a step forwards, cracking his knuckles, and baring his fangs.

Ryo shakes her head wildly. "NO physical atta…." Her voice trails off as a giant hunk of slime is chucked at her by the advancing Grimers.

"LOOK OUT!" She shoves Stella out of the way just in time as it hits the wall and dissolves the concrete, the putrid scent somehow stronger than ever before.

"RUN! RUN NOW!"

The kids bolt down the hallway, Ken and Ryo leading the way with Edan the last one behind. He's never been the athletic type, and these hunks of slime are much faster than they look…

"Edan!" Stella falls back and growls a warning at the Grimer, as she shoves him forwards. "Go on ahead!"'

"Hu-huh?!"

"I have a plan….just keep running! Ryo! Toss me one of your gadgets!"

Ryo hesitates before fishing in her pocket and tossing her a small black circular device. Stella tosses it Tsukaimon, who doesn't need much prompting to fly upwards to the ceiling and attatch it firmly there, before yelping as he barely dodges being nailed between the eyes.

"NOW!"

The huge Muk rears up in front of Stella and makes a gurgling roar, and her eyes widen as she rolls backwards just as Ryo presses a button.

The explosion echoes and the Muk and Grimers look up, letting out yelps of horror when the tunnel collapses on them in an earshattering crash.

"….Did you just….kill them?" Edan asks, his voice a little more high pitched.

Ken looks disturbed, but tries to fight it. "…They were trying to kill us…."

"I would never kill a Pokemon." Ryo says flatly, her eyes narrowing. "They're different from Digimon. They don't know right from wrong."

"Uh….I think when you drop several tons of cement on something….then it's dead." Wormmon says in his usual helpful way.

Ryo shakes her head. "Muk and Grimer are some of the most resistant Pokemon you'll ever find in this world. They have no skeleton, or internal organs, so they'll just reform fine in a few moments."

"…Did you just say they have no internal organs?" Ken says blankly. "Then HOW on EARTH….?"

"Don't ask me. You think Digimon biology is weird….try Pokemon."

Stella breathes a sigh of relief as Edan bends down over her. "You okay?" She nods, swallowing hard to get rid of the dust that's risen up in her throat.

"You didn't have to do that." He mutters as he helps her to her feet. "I could have taken care of them."

"With what?"

He flinches and Stella grimaces. It was an unfair comment to make. "…Look. I was glad to do it. I'm the leader in this situation, am I not?"

Ryo just sighs and gestures for them to hurry up. "Enough with your mushiness. You can make out later."

"…EH?!"

"Ryo…"

"What? Everyone can tell they want to do it…."

"RYO!"

…

"What is this place anyway?" Davis asks from atop of my back as I flew across the ocean, relishing the feeling as the sea breeze whisked up to my neck, playing with my hair.

"This would be even better if I wasn't wearing this ridiculous mask…." I mutter, and Renamon lets out an indignant yelp inside my head.

"_OY! I LIKE our mask!"_

"I like it too, but you've got to admit the whole effect is kind of spoiled…" I chuckle as Veemon looks down at me too. "Remember how you said you'd start answering questions Lily?"

"Right, sorry…."

Yolei and Hawkmon are looking over expectantly at me too, though Yolei is riding with Dilbert in Lilithmon's arms. I really, REALLY didn't trust Davis to keep his hands to himself around a woman like that. Whereas he knew if he ever tried something with me, if I didn't kill him, Tai would.

"The Pokemon World is the last world connected to the Digital World." I say over the sound of wind rushing by. "The creatures here….are different from Digimon. Just as intelligent, but a lot more…primal, I guess."

"And what exactly are we doing here?!"

"Lils….you shouldn't tell them anymore…" Dilbert pleads, looking over at me. "Sira ordered us to keep this as a tamer mission."

"Then you can tell her the truth—that I ignored your orders despite your best attempts to stop me." I say calmly as my target appears in my sight. "But when you do, I'll tell Sira what I've been thinking all along. This is too big for us to handle on our own. We need the Digidestined's help."

Dilbert stiffens slightly, his eyes narrowing, before sighing as he closes his eyes. "….She's going to feed you to Gilbert."

"Oh Yggdrasil I hope not." I mutter, as Davis asks curiously, "Who's Gilbert?"

"Hold that thought….we're coming in for a landing…."

I flip over in mid air as we descend, Davis yelping and Veemon making a squealing noise as I land on my feet, my boots hitting the soft sand as I yank off my ring and degenerate.

"Was that….really necessary?" He moans, holding onto his stomach as he drops to the ground.

I shrug. "No. But it was fun." I add with a wicked grin.

"Ugh…."

"Where is this place?" Yolei blinks. The cliffs rise up above us, and just out of sight, I can see the thick trees, and smell something absolutely delicious baking.

….Renamon whines and she and I exchange a look. "_Michael's cooking…."_

…

"Will he be okay….?" Kari asks in a small voice as she hugs the pillow, staring down at TK's injured arm and watching as the pink fluffy Pokemon, a Chansey, Michael called it, busies herself with him.

"Don't worry…" Michael says soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "The injury was deep but he'll recover just fine."

Kari nods, remembering how easily her arm was fixed when she broke it during the fight against Andromon. They certainly had better medicine here.

Tai breathes a sigh of relief just as Caroline suddenly exclaims from the front of the house, "Oh! My goodness! What happened to you?!"

"It's nothing Caroline…." That voice makes Tai's heart leap into his throat. Kari and Gatomon's eyes both widen in shock.

"…" He bolts out the back room and into the hallway to see Lily standing there, looking exhausted but besides that…perfectly fine…

"Oh thank Yggdrasil…."

He rushes towards her and her eyes widen. "…TAI?!"

"Lils, I was so wo-..!" He yelps as she grabs his arm and flips him over her head, before pinning him to the ground with one knee and practically SNARLING down at him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Coming to save you…" Tai moans, watching as the stars floated around his head. At least it was a distraction from the fuming star above him.

"You absolute…." I say through clenched teeth, ignoring how Carolyn is staring at me in half-shock half slight admiration. Not many girlfriends can flip their boyfriend.

"…IDIOT…! You were lucky you weren't killed!"

"…The barrier was messed up…."

"I know that!" I shout, leaning forward and grabbing him by the shirt as I pull him up. "So why did you come?!"

His brown eyes meet mine. "…Because you asked me to…."

"..What?"

"Lily, that's enough." Sira's voice echoes through the hallway. "Put him down and don't say another word."

I don't look at her. "…You were the one who made me not tell what's going on…" I snarl. "If any of them had died, it would have been YOUR FAULT."

"My fault…? I was trying to PROTECT your stupid boyfriend, and his friends, got it? You have no idea what that monster is truly capable of…."

"Okay for the last time…" Yolei says in complete exasperation and anger. "WHAT are you two talking about?!"

"….Tell them or I will…." I say through clenched teeth as I glare at Sira. She just narrows her eyes and glares furiously at me.

"…Milleunimon is trying to break out of his prison. We need to find all the three Digieggs before the barrier collapses completely….!"

The smack hits me so hard I barely register it till I'm actually lying on the floor, my hand flying up to my face, glaring defiantly up at Sira whose hand is stretched out and she is livid.

"YOU…." She growls before throwing her hands up and storming off. "You are a complete IDIOT!"

"Lily!"

"So…" Davis says slowly, though he and the rest of the Digidestined are pale. "….Uh, you want to repeat that, Lils…?"

…

"You can't completely blame her…" GranDracmon sighs as he leans against the balcony. When his mate shot him a glare with her fuming red eyes he held up a hand. "Believe me I know what she just did was completely stupid. But considering how Tai could have died….how TK nearly died….crossing the barrier because they had no idea it was so dangerous…."

"I KNOW that." Sira hisses angrily. "But telling them about Milleunimon would have put them in even more danger, you know what he wants."

"…Yes. I do."

"The Tamers mean nothing to him. But for Tai and the others….

"You can't hope to shield them, Sira. He will make his move against them sooner or later."

"Not if we can stop him before. If she hadn't said anything then they wouldn't be getting involved at all!"

"They're not that inexperienced…."

"No." She admits with a huff. "But only one of them can go to Mega so far. Going up against Milleunimon could mean their deaths…."

"….Riona…."

"….I don't want to be responsible for more pain."

"…" He hugs her and she sighs, annoyed slightly that he's trying to distract her, but gosh darn it, it's working. She sighs and buries her face in his chest.

"….We'll work it out."

_She was a fool, yes, but she's only trying to protect the ones she loves…._

…

"How could you NOT tell us this?!"

I roll my eyes at Davis' outburst. "You should be freaking grateful that I managed to tell you at all." I retort, rubbing my bruised cheek.

Damien raises his eyebrow. "…Think your boss will ever forgive you?" He enquires calmly.

"…She'll get over it." I mutter, trying to squash another pang of guilt that rises up in me. The fact that Dilbert keeps sending me disapproving, hurt, sad looks like a puppy who's been kicked REALLY isn't helping.

"So how much longer will the barrier last?" Cody asks in a small voice. We're all at the dinner table, helping ourselves to Michael's beef stew.

At least he and Caroline don't hate me, even if their daughter does now.

My phone rings and I roll my eyes at the song that echoes. "That little twerp…."

"Uh….is that the troll song?"

"…Lucemon, did you tinker with my phone when I wasn't looking?" I demand as I answer it, while Tai's eyes bulge and then laughs. Gosh, he laughs hard.

"_It's an epic song, don't you think?"_

"It certainly fits you better than any other…." I say, rolling my eyes to heaven. "Wait….I thought that the communications weren't working very well with the barrier messed up."  
_"Oh, I have friends in high places. In any case, you're right in that I won't be able to talk very long. Oh, by the way, first thing, about this Friday…."_

"No Lucemon. I am never playing poker with you and the others again, understand? You managed to somehow earn all of my summer hire money."

"_Are you afraid of a challenge?"_

"What do you even NEED money for?! You can never leave the Dark Area!"

"_Never say never my dear Lily."_

A responsible person would realize that they should probably tell someone Lucemon was plotting again. At this point, I didn't really care.

"…Did you look at the scrolls?" I sigh, as Davis and the others all snicker as Gatomon mouths the words, "Poker?" to me incredulously.

I put my hand over the reciver and say sternly to them, "Don't laugh. You've never seen Lucemon's poker face. Or Daemon's for that matter."

"_And yes I read the scrolls but…." _He sighs. _"It's….confusing…."_

"Huh?"

"_The scrolls don't list a specific name, they only state that it is the place where time and space meet…."_

"…Eh?"

"_Lily…can you…hear me….something's…."_

"Lucemon? Lucemon!"

The phone turned to static and I fought the desire to scream with frustration. Unbelievable. He'd been in the middle of telling me something important, I just knew it, and then I lost the dang connection.

Tai grimaces. "Where time and space meet? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sounds like one of the old legends my grandfather told me about…." Cody murmurs. "….You think that that's what the scrolls are referring to?"

Renamon's eyes lit up. "It could be…."

"There are dozens of legends here in the Pokemon world though." I sigh. "…Sira would know them but…."

"Just give her a bit to cool down." Dilbert sooths. "This is a great lead. It could tell us where the Digiegg is."

"And we go looking for it together, right?" Agumon questions, looking up at Dilbert.

Dilbert smiles wryly. "I don't think we could keep you guys back even if we wanted to."

"_This just in….Celadon City…!"_

"Huh?"

I can hear Michael and Caroline muttering to themselves, worry in their town as we bolt into the living room.

My eyes widen as I see the dozens of Gotsumon, Monochromon, and BlackTyrannomon lining the streets of the city.

"…What the heck…?!"

"But I thought you said the barrier was too damaged to let that many Digimon through!" Kari exclaims, her eyes flashing over to me.

"It IS." Dilbert growls.

"That doesn't change the fact that they're still here…." His Wormmon mutters, staring across at the buildings in flames.

My jaw tightens and then my eyes widen at a familiar sight—a red headed girl riding a black dragon, slicing through the dozens of enemy Digimon.

"Ryo!"

Ryo's red hair whips around her as the camera zooms closer, I can hear the reporter's frantic babbling, just as a massive blast comes out of nowhere and I can hear the sound of Devidramon screaming. "NO!"

"We've got to get there fast…." TK croaks, his arm still bandaged up.

Davis's eyes flash. "How?"

"I'm not sure if you've somehow missed the memo." Damien says dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. "But you do realize the majority of us can FLY?"

…

"This is so AWESOME!"

Tai flinches as Davis yells loudly in his ear, the sound high pitched enough to pierce any man's eardrums. MetalGreymon huffs in annoyance, his wings spread out and red hair blowing from underneath his helmet.

"I thought Flamedramon could fly…." MetalGreymon grumbles.

"Nah, just really high jumps." Veemon corrects cheerfully, leaning onto his back and practically sunbathing. All he needs is a pair of sunglasses to complete the picture.

Tai's lips quirk. The pair of them don't look like they're about to go and fight a massive battle. They don't look like two people who not too long ago were being held captive by a bunch of mad scientists.

But oddly enough, their attitude relaxes Tai. It helps take his mind off…what might be to come? His eyebrows knit together in frustration.

Too many pieces of the puzzle were missing.

For starters, one of their own had been kidnapped. Adelina had been missing for days now and there was no sign of her. Gennai had been missing for months. His blood still boils at the thought.

He can't help but think how the Control Spires in the Pokemon world started appearing not long after Adelina's disappearance.

Could it be possible that they're connected somehow?

And the barrier breaking down. Tai has the sinking feeling that Sira knows more about that than she's telling. The barrier breakage is definently connected to Milleunimon somehow, he knows that in his gut. Rather the slime ball caused it or is taking advantage of it….he doesn't know.

And then there's this Team Galatic. The idea of someone actually TOUCHING, HARMING, HIS team, chaining them down to cold metal tables makes something primal in him start to come alive. Team Galatic had better say their prayers, cause when he got through with them, no one would be able to find their remains.

And Demidevimon….was he lying about the Digiegg? Do those cowards actually have it? Or is this another one of bowling ball's cons.

It wouldn't be the first time, Tai reflects grimly, remembering how Demidevimon nearly tore apart Patamon and TK, then tried to wipe both Tai's and TK's memories.

No, he doesn't trust Demidevimon. The little creep is manipulating them somehow. This whole mess feels like one massive manipulation.

And Tai Kamiya doesn't like being screwed with.

He glances to his right and has to stop himself from physically flinching, even as the shock hits him. He didn't believe Damien when he said he could fly, but apparently he was wrong.

Though Damien seems to be more…levitating than anything else. In any case, Damien's black hair flies back behind him as he remains close to Sakuyamon.

He doesn't know what Damien says to her, but Lily's laugh echoes as Sakuyamon shoves Damien away. Just like she did a million times with him.

"…"

"Tai?"

Davis looks over and winks at him. "Tell you what. Let's play a game."

"I'm not really up for games Davis…" He sighs, looking away from him. Davis smirks. "I bet you'll be interested in this one. How about we see exactly how many of these creeps we can send back to whatever hole they crawled out of?"

"Davis…"

"Eh. It's okay if you don't want to play. There's no way you and your giant dinosaur could POSSIBLY beat me and Veemon."

"…" Tai's right eye twitches. "…You're on shrimp."

MetalGreymon chuckles and feels a rush of gratitude fill him. He knows how stressed out Tai has been, all the responsibility and frustration.

….It's good to know that someone's trying to lift the burden off his partner's shoulders, even through trivial things like these.

"Told you it would work." Davis mutters not so quietly to Veemon, and, for the first time in a while, Tai feels himself begin to smile.

…

"I smell smoke…." Pegasusmon whinnies uneasily as his golden wings spread out farther, slowing him slightly. His horse side wants to turn and soar as quickly away as possible, taking his rider with him.

"I know…." TK mutters as the land rushes beneath them. It can't have been more than an hour since they left Sira's house, but it feels like forever.

The feeling prickles up the back of his neck….the feeling of something powerful, and evil, and dark….He clenches his teeth, trying to override the feeling.

Celadon City suddenly appears in front of them and he has to surpress a gasp of horror. Smoke rises up as flames scorch down below.

Buildings are blackened, windows smashed, deep cracks running along the streets. TK clenches his teeth, especially as the sounds of human screams fill his ears.

This is almost too much. It's so much like what happened with VenomMyotismon. They were lucky then. The civilians were in the Convention Center, safe for the time being.

….But this….

"Who could have done this….?"

"You know that as well as I do." Pegasusmon says grimly. "Evil Digimon will show no mercy."

Yolei and Halsemon are flying next to him, and TK feels a pang of fear for her. He remembers how badly the last battle shook her up.

This could be just as bad as the battle in the Dark Ocean. Even worse, because these are humans that are dying, not Digimon that might be reborn.

But he's surprised and a more than a little impressed to see the determination in Yolei's face, even though she's super pale and shaking slightly.

"…Are you…..going to be okay?"

"…Probably not." Yolei sighs, bending down lower so she can press herself against her partner. "But we have to do this. I realize it. If I walked away now just because I believed I couldn't handle it…." She fidgets. "It would be just like me walking away from Davis back when Team Galatic captured us. I couldn't live with myself."

"I'm glad you feel that way Yolei." Halsemon says approvingly. "Don't worry. It will be all-"LOOK OUT!"

"JUDGEMENT ARROW!"

Yolei shrieks and Halsemon barely pulls out of the way just in time as an arrow comes shooting forwards out of nowhere.

Pegasusmon whinnies angrily, and TK glowers down at the figure standing on the building beneath them. His body is covered with black fur—he looks almost like a centaur, but with claws instead of hooves.

"He looks….kind of like Flamedramon and Raindramon…." TK says in disbelief. Sure enough, the creature has Raidramon's head, and Flamedramon's hands, one of which is grapsing a MASSIVE bow.

TK doesn't have much more time to process this because Pegasusmon is barely dodging arrow after arrow, shrieking with frustration.

They aren't even getting a chance to launch an offensive attack themselves, Pegasusmon is just frantically trying to make sure neither he nor TK get shot.

"YOLEI GET OUT OF HERE!"

"SHOOTING STARS!"

The Digimon growls and covers up his face with his arm, Pegasusmon's attack shooting forwards and striking him repeatedly. TK blinks as he can swear he sees sparks…SPARKS…coming from the Digimon's body.

But it doesn't last long and TK yelps as another arrow is shot….this time straight towards HIM. Suddenly he can feel himself being bucked off Pgeasusmon with such force he's sent flying into the sky, straight out of the path of the arrow, letting out a very unmanly scream of terror.

The Digmon aims for TK once more but forgets about the angry horse which takes the opportunity to ram into him at full strength, rearing up on his hind legs and bringing a hoof crashing down on his opponent's skull. The Digimon roars in pain and grabs Pegasusmon's leg angrily, starting to bend it, but Pegasusmon lets out a whinny of anger as green light surrounds his forehead.

"EQUS BEAM!"

An attack like that at point blank range? The coward doesn't stand a chance, and screams as he falls back, the massive hole in his chest smoking.

Pegasusmon barely has time to process the fact that the Digimon didn't disappear after being defeated when TK's scream reaches his ears.

TK flails as he falls, grasping at thin air, feeling his chest constrict with terror as Celadon's skyscrapers tower below him, ready to shish-kebob him.

Right before that he lands on something else….something with fluffy orange fur. "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" He pants over to his partner.

Pegasusmon whinnies, sounding almost amused. "You didn't REALLY think I'd let you fall, did you?"

"…" He smiles and pats his neck.

MetalGreymon lands in the middle of the street with a roar, his wings spread out, teeth bared in a snarl. The humans scream and scatter frantically, and Tai looks over at Davis, raising an eyebrow. "…You ready for that competition?"

"You're on!"

The ground shakes suddenly and Tai has to grip onto MetalGreymon to keep from loosing his balance. His eyes widen as a massive crack opens up in the road, and the screams of several civilians echo as they plummet into the hole.

"DAVIS! HELP THEM!"

"Got it! DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"VEEMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO….FLAMEDRAMON! THE FIRE OF COURAGE!" Flamedramon leaps into the hole with no second thought, bounding from side to side to keep up with the small family that plummets to the ground.

He clenches his teeth and tucks his arms in at his side to increase his speed even more. His right arm whips out and he grabs the father by the back of the shirt, the mother's arm with his right, and lashes out with his tail to grab the little toddler.

It's at about this moment he realizes he has nothing himself to hold onto, and momentary panic sets in until MetalGreymon's much larger tail drops down and encircles all four of them.

"Idiot." Tai grumbles, but there's a hint of affection and definite relief in his tone. Davis shoots the family a look as they and Flamedramon are dragged to safety.

"Don't just run around in the street like a bunch of dumb chickens! Get out of the city! Use the alleyways, just stay out of the fighting for Yggdrasil's sake!"  
Tai's head whips around at the sound of an angry snarl, and he blinks to see a bull-like creature, almost as tall as MetalGreymon, standing there, snorting angrily.

For a right hand, it has a massive looking drill-like winces. "…Oh boy."

MetalGreymon roars, baring all of his razor sharp teeth, warning the creep not to come anywhere near his partner.

Davis pulls out his D-3. "Minotaurmon…Ultimate Level., Tai, watch out!"

"What?! You don't think I can handle myself?"

"Well if anything happened to you Lily would skin me alive!" Davis calls back, sweatdropping as the bull roars again before charging, horns lowered, straight at MetalGreymon's stomach.

MetalGreymon snorts with contempt and flicks his tail upwards, sending the Minotaurmon flying. But unfortunately, that had been what their opponent was expecting.

He smirks and then slams his drill full strength on the underside of MetalGreymon's jaw, and the dinosaur lets out a cry of pain that turns into a strangled choking noise as the Minotaurmon then slams the drill into his neck, before landing back on the ground with a cry of "EARTHQUAKE DRILL!"

Already off balance from the blow to his neck, MetalGreymon roars as he tumbles sideways into a building, and Tai has to duck and press himself against his partner's back to avoid being smashed by the rubble and glass. One piece slices across his cheek and he looks up, blood dribbling down into his shirt collar.

"All right…." Tai mutters, his brown eyes flashing. "NOW I'm pissed."

"MEGA CLAW!"

The Minotaurmon easily manages to sidestep MetalGreymon's attack, ducking out of the way with a smirk on his face.

"Is that the best you can do?" He taunts. Tai's eyebrows raise and he smiles innocently.'

As MetalGreymon's claw turns at a near impossible angle and impales Minotaurmon from behind. Minotaurmon's eyes bulge out and he makes a horrible choking noise as MetalGreymon growls in satisfaction.

"…Hey Davis?"

"Y-yeah?"

Tai looks down and grins at him, that cocky, arrogant smile. "That's one."

…

Devidramon roars as he swooped around one corner of the building, his wings tucked closely to his side to not only increase his speed but hopefully to prevent them from being stabbed at again.

Ryo clenches her teeth and looks behind her. The big black birds following them look like eagles. EVIL eagles, she decides grimly, as the Saberdramon shriek and call to each other, their flock continuing to increase in size.

Devidramon growls his frustration and all four of his red eyes narrow as he spots the massive tower looming up in front of them, his reflection shining in the glass windows.

Ryo's eyes widen slightly. "…You're not SERIOUSLY going to…!"

Devidramon just chuckles darkly and charges straight at the building without slowing down, the flock of Saberdramon mindlessly charging after him.

"You're crazy, you know that?!" Ryo yells down to her partner, her knuckles turning white. "Completely insane!"  
Devidramon just smirks and a second before he would have collided with the glass wall, he flicks his tail and is suddenly flying vertically straight up.

The Saberdramon can't change direction like he can, and several of them strike the building with pained squawks, snapping their necks on impact or falling unconscious and crumpling fifty feet towards the ground.

Devidramon flips in mid-air, not worrying too much about Ryo, she has experience when it comes to this sort of thing, and roars before sinking his talons into the closest bird.

The Saberdramon doesn't even have time to cry out as Devidramon sinks his teeth into the neck and snaps it effortlessly, before gagging and spitting.

"Devidramon?!"

He grunts, shaking his head wildly like he always did whenever something tasted horrible to him. There was that incident with the Mexican food…

Ryo frowns but doesn't have much time to think about it. There's another angry screech, and she whirls around, eyes widening to see the last Saberdramon they missed charge at them. Devidramon is caught off guard, and screams in pain as talons tear his wing membrane open.

Ryo shrieks and her eyes widen with fear as the Saberdramon snarls at her, a purple aura starting to form around its wings. She reaches for her gun and shoots repeatedly….but apart from flinching a few times the Saberdramon doesn't react.

"…W-wha….?!"

"NIGHT ROAR!"

The feathers shooting from its wings are more like daggers, and Ryo barely manages to avoid being decapitated by one, watching in horror as Devidramon screams, deep gashes forming along his body.

"AMETHYST MANDALA!"

The pink sphere forms out of nowhere, wrapping protectively around Ryo and Devidramon before spreading outwards.

The Saberdramon shrieks as the sphere slams into it at full strength, crushing it, and Ryo can smell smoke as the creature plummets to the ground.

"Thought you could use a hand…"

She looks over and her eyes narrow slightly at Sakuyamon. "…I would have figured it out."

Sakuyamon seems to raise an eyebrow under her mask. "We're friends, right? Friends are allowed to help friends."

"…Thanks."

As Sakuyamon smirks slightly Ryo rolls her eyes before tersely saying, "These aren't ordinary Digimon."

"I figured that much." Drifting down so I was beside her I say grimly, "…Where's Ken?"

…

"SPIKING STRIKE!"

Ken's face is emotionless and pale as his partner stabs another Ogremon through its heartless chest. His eyes were fixed on the Control Spire ahead of him.

"Not planning to do something stupid, are you…?"

Damien's shadow attack blasts right through the last three and Ken feels himself being shoved backwards from the mere strength of that attack.

Damien's eyes glint in the darkness like the cat watching the canary. Ken feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up but he defiantly insists-"…I'm the one who made this mess. I'm going to be the one to fix it for good."

"There are about a dozen guards around the Control Spire itself…." Damien says, raising an eyebrow. "You honestly think you and your wasp can beat all of them?"

Ken's jaw tightens. "…I don't care, I HAVE to try."

"You Digidestined and your morals and your petty self-guilt…" Damien sighs. "I suppose I'm going to feel obliged to help you."

"…You don't…."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I have to. I'm not in the mood to explain to your pretty red head that I let you get yourself killed."

Ken's face flushes with the way Damien refers to Ryo, but he realizes Damien has a point. Stingmon is already exhausted…

And…."But you don't have a partner…"

Damien smirks. "Who says I don't? Just cause they're not with me? In any case, I have my own skills, Ichijouji…."

Ken's eyes widen slightly. "…_So….he's like Lily?"_

Ken still remembers the explosion of light energy Lily let off that time at the Big House, saving his life from the Dokugumon.

….One day…if he survived today…he would ask her about it. And the only way for him to survive might be for him to swallow his pride, and accept this boy's help.

"…Don't get in my way." He means that to come out as a warning but it sounds more pleading. _"Please don't let someone else get killed because of me…"_

Damien arches both his eyebrows. "…Wouldn't dream of it."

"Stingmon!" Ken leaps back onto his partner's back and feels the wind whip past his hair as Stingmon takes off, darting towards the Control Spire.

It feels almost like he's playing Donkey Kong Madness again, as he nudges Stingmon like he would nudge a controller to dodge the bright flashes of light that mark other Digimon's attacks.

Ken hears the sound of a vicious snarl and yelps as a Devimon aims a punch at his face, claws stretched out to rip his head off.

There's another snarl and Damien pounces on the Demon Digimon, wrestling with him in mid air as they both plummet to the ground twenty feet below.

"DAMIEN!"

The Control Spire looms in front of them, closer now, and Ken feels a tightness rise up in his chest like the tower itself is mocking him.

"….NOW STINGMON!"

"Spiking Strike!"

Something strikes Stingmon from the side and Ken feels himself start to loose balance as cold hands wrap around him.

"Grr…let me GO!" He shouts, punching upwards and kicking at the same time, but all the Judo moves in the world won't help him now.

The figure holding him laughs mockingly, and Ken's heart sinks as he looks into those cruel, dark face.

"I don't think so, your Emperorship."

The Digimon has pale grey skin, red, leathery wings, long, razor sharp claws like a Devimon's, and a golden mask covering his entire face.

He forces Ken's head down harshly, evoking a yelp of pain from the young boy, and yanks down his shirt collar.

"What the HECK are you doing?!"

"Shut up, you little brat….!" Ken can feel cold fingers on his neck and surpresses the urge to hurl as he continues to try and struggle to break free.

"It's…..it's GONE?!"

He can hear his captor's horrified, strangled gasp. He twists again and manages to break free, catching sight of Damien on the other side of the massive group, eyes wide and then narrowing down to furious slits, a trickle of blood running down the side of his face.

"No, no NO, it CAN'T be gone! Who would be crazy enough to remove it?! The master will kill us all for this! PLEASE IT'S NOT MY FAULT I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!"

Sparks seem to fly from each of the enemy Digimon still living, and Ken's eyes widen in disbelief as the Control Spire starts shining a deep red….

Ken watches, in a kind of stunned, fascinated horror, as his captor and the other Digimon scream, and by some sort of force, they're pulled…..INTO…..the Control Spire….

"N-NO!" NeoDevimon's face manages to stick out for a moment longer, his fingers reaching out desperately for something to grab onto. "I DON'T WANT….NOOOO!"

Then he's gone, the metal of the Control Spire seeming to ripple as it swallows him whole. Ken's eyes are huge as he hears TK yell, "What the #$$ just happened?!"

"I don't know…." Lily's voice echoes and she sounds truly afraid now. "…I don't know…."

The Control Spire continues to shine a horrible blood red, and Ken feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Tai yells, "KEN, GET OUT OF THERE! NOW!"

Ken hears mocking laughter and whirls around to see Arukenimon step out from behind the Control Spire, lowering her sunglasses so she can smirk at him.

"Bad luck, Emperor boy." She mocks. "Now's when the real fun begins."

"YOU….!"

"SPIKING STRIKE!"

Stingmon charges at her, his eyes blazing, but Arukenimon just smirks and a second later, a yellow jeep appears out of nowhere and rams Stingmon in the stomach, catching him off guard.

Mummymon leans over and asks innocently, "Want a ride my dear?"

"Absolutely…." Arukenimon purrs as she leaps in next to him, the car whizzing off. She smirks and tosses her white hair back, and then twitches as Mummymon puts his arm around her.

"A positively BRILLIANT scheme, my love! Those brats will never know what hit them!"

"…Mummymon." She says sweetly. "Do I have to maim you….AGAIN?"

"Oh….sorry love….it's just you're so beautiful and wonderful and GAHHHHHHH!"

"AMETHYST WIND!"

The daggers shoot forwards and puncture holes in the tires, sending the car skidding wildly. I levitate there, crossing my arms and smirking.

"Going somewhere?"

"You STUPID LITTLE BRAT!" Arukenimon shrieks as she starts to morph while leaping out of the car, her body bulging out as fangs descend and grown in her mouth, legs sprouting out from her sides.

Mummymon's blue suit fades away to reveal a bandaged form, a gun clutched in his right arm. My eyes narrow under the mask, Renamon's growl echoing.

"You're not going ANYWHERE until you tell me where Adelina is and what you just did back there."

Arukenimon scoffs. "Oh PLEASE."

"Do you really think you could possibly beat both of us?" Mummymon says haughtily.

"…Actually yes, I do. But the good news is, I don't have to."

"…Huh?"

"LA PUCELLE!"

Mummymon yelps as the blast knocks the gun out of his hand and D'Arcmon levitates there, glowering as Edan stands behind her, his eyes smoldering.

"…Start talking." Edan growls. "Or next time we won't be so nice."

My jaw tightens as that feeling of something….evil pricks at my senses again. I glance back towards the city and my eyes widen as I spot the red glow from the Control Spire, now casting the entire city in a disturbing light.

"…Edan…."

"What?!" He glances back and his face pales. "…Holy…."

"We've got to get out of here…" Arukenimon hisses to Mummymon, trying to scramble away and then yelping as I hit her in the head with my staff, flooring her again.

"What are you talking about?" I snap. "What exactly is that thing?"

What really chills me is Arukenimon doesn't look as smug. She looks more….terrified….

…

"Kari. MOVE!"

Sira yanks her out of the way as huge chunks of cement come raining down, the Control Spire seeming to grow and stretch outwards, dark shadows growing and shaping.

Kari swallows hard and can't help but cling to Sira out of pure terror as Nerfertimon screams with rage at the attempt on her partner and charges forward, only to be knocked aside by one MASSIVE hand.

"NO!" Kari screams as her partner goes flying and the big black orb seems to form into razor sharp claws….that twitch before whipping around and slicing towards those two girls in a movement that's ridiculously fast.

"NO!"

"RIONA!"

"KARI!"

Right before the claws can slice through both of the girls, GranDracmon appears out of nowhere,s eeming to materialize from the shadows and grabbing both Kari and Sira around their waists, teleporting them to safety just as the claws slam onto the road where they were standing, leaving deep grooves in the cement,

"-T-thank you…" Kari breathes weakly, staring up at him, and GranDracmon's eyes fixate on Sira's, a mixture of worry and fear in his eyes.

"….I'm fine." Sira grunts as the shadow seems to move what appears to be its head in their directions and roars, a terrible, high pitched screeching noise.

…GranDracmon's eyes widen….He knows that sound…Sira's hands tighten on his shirt and her face pales slightly.

Stella freezes as the figure takes a firmer shape. "….Is that….who I think it is?!"

"Oh Yggdrasil…" Dilbert whispers, feeling sick to his stomach as Ryo makes a choked noise. Lilithmon and Seraphimon exchange grave looks and stand protectively in front of their tamers. They've only heard of this being, but as the shadows slowly fade away, they know who it is.

"EDAN!" I bark, as we soar back towards the city, "WHAT IS THAT?!"

Edan's eyes are wide as D'Arcmon continues to somehow, impossibly carry him, though her wings slow down in shock and horror.

The creature is covered in an evil shade of purple—I know it sounds weird but that's what I think—with huge, massive wings, orange underneath

Metal spikes stick out of his wings and tail as well as a giant horn, and his roar makes a shudder run down my spine.

"…What…is….that?" I repeat, my voice dropping to a mere whisper, dreading the answer.

"….ExoGrimmon….Sira and GranDracmon's worst enemy…."

The massive dragon smiles twistedly and howls, a howl that turns into a laugh. "PROMINENCE!"

"EDAN LOOK OUT!"

I slam him out of the way as the massive towers of flame shoot upwards and I scream as the fire burns my side slightly, not head on, thank Yggdrasil, or I'd probably be dead.

"_LILY!"_

"You IDIOT." D'Arcmon gasps, her eyes horrified as the two of us levitate above, me panting hard and trying really, really hard not to be sick from the pain.

"Lily! Are you okay?"

"Ugh…not really…." I manage to gasp out, feeling raw pain shoot up my side and beginning to feel the strength of my Mega form begin to dissipate…

"Degenerate now." Edan orders as we drift closer to the ground. "Degenerate and stay out of the way."

"….What?! But I have to…"  
"You don't have to do anything." D'Arcmon retorts, as she looks over her shoulder. "Just land now, unless you enjoy degenerating and plummeting to your death."

...

"KAIZER NAIL!"

Lillithmon's claws shoot upwards and slice down ExoGrimmon's back, causing him to howl in pain and rage. She smirks in triumph before much bigger…evil looking claws clamp down on her.

"LILLITHMON!" Dilbert yells, his eyes wide with horror as he watches his partner.

"…D-Dilbert…." She manages to choke out as ExoGrimmon's tail swipes out, the massive spikes about to impale him.

"TEMPEST WING!"

Halsemon's attack slams into the base of his tail before it can strike, not leaving a scratch. The only effect is the tail whipping upwards with ridiculous ease and whacking Halsemon and Yolei out of the sky.

Yolei shrieks as she plummets towards the open mouth and massive teeth, her arms flailing wildly. With a movement that seems almost impossible, Halsemon soars upside down underneath her, grabs her T-Shirt with his talons, and flicks her up into the air.

Yolei grins in relief as Halsemon rights himself just as she lands on his back. "That was WAY too close!"

"Indeed…" He snorts back, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice.

Lillithmon grunts in pain, her claws twitching as she feels the pressure increase, her eyes starting to bulge out of her sockets, the sound of her tamer's screams echoing in her ears. "G-ahh…..A little help here?!"

"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

"FIRE ROCKET!"

Flamedramon shoots downwards, one of his wrists covered in flames as he blasts his attack straight into ExoGrimmon's right eye, elicitng a scream as Serpahimon's attack strikes the massive taloned right hand. Lillithmon shrieks as she falls, Seraphimon catching her in his arms.

"…Thanks…" She manages to breathe out. "Uh….this is awkward…" She mutters as she notices his armoured hands around her waist.

"…Don't think about it." He grunts though she can swear she can see a slight blush underneath his helmet.

"GIGA BLASTER!" Digmon's drills slam into the ground, creating massive cracks along the road as ExoGrimmon took another step forward. He trips slightly and Devidramon streaks forward, red claws glistening slightly.

"CRIMSON CLAW!"

The claws bounce off his side, not so much of a papercut being formed, and Devidramon had to dive out of the way quickly to avoid being a dragon-sized snack.

His eyes narrow. He knows he's only a Champion but that should have at least made a mark….or at least ExoGrimmon should have acted like he felt SOMETHING.

Tai growls as he stares up at the monster, his hands curling into fists as MetalGreymon stomps forward. "…Go get him."

"GIGA BLASTER!"

The missiles streak forwards and ExoGrimmon roars, more in annoyance than actual pain, and swats them away with his tail.

Burn marks appear along his side, and Tai's eyes widen as he spots sparks…sparks….what the heck….?

"TAI GET OUT OF THERE!"

"AIR GOD!"

"Tai looks straight up and his eyes widen as he spots…what looks like a giant dragon form from the sky, like a massive storm cloud, dark, lightning sparks flying from its eyes.

"AMETHYST MANDALA!"

The pink sphere forms out of nowhere, and spreads out around the rest of the team. Lightning blasts down, a massive explosion of light that blinds all of them, and Tai screams as he's thrown backwards…..

….

Sira groans and pushes herself upwards. She's shaking all over, trying not to scream inwardly. It can't be him…please no….not again….

How is she even still alive? That blast should have killed all of them….she knows exactly how strong ExoGrimmon truly is.

Even as it is, none of them are in very good shape. Lillithmon has been knocked back to her Wormmon form, lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding as Dilbert tries to crawl over to her and then collapses.

Stella's arm is bent at a funny angle as she clutches Patamon to her.

Ryo breathes hard, a long cut on her forehead as she leans onto Monodramon.

Flamedramon supports Davis, his claws wrapped protectively around his partner, who looks close to passing out.

Kari is still standing, but there's a massive gash on her leg, as she frantically digs around the rubble and pulls out an injured Gatomon.

Cody's managed to escape unscathed, as Digmon was crouched over the young boy, long gashes on his armour.

A low moan echoes behind her and she slowly turns her head, afraid to look.

"….You idiot…." She whispers, her voice catching in her throat as she looks at Lily lying unconscious on the ground, Tai leaning over her and whispering her name over and over again in horror, his shoulders shaking.

"…." Her eyes narrow as she watches GranDracmon get to his feet, his eyes becoming more and more narrowed down to slits. "I don't know how you managed to come back…" She breathes, her breath coming out more and more shallow.

"But I promise you will PAY for ever hurting my tamers!"

GranDracmon chuckles as ExoGrimmon snarls dangerously, his eyes narrowing. "…I'm going to enjoy this. I may have been defeated by the original…but a mere copy…." He laughs. "Oh this is going to be FUN."

ExoGrimmon snarls before charging him, letting out a roar of contempt and hate as he does eyes slowly flicker open and I look over my shoulder, trying to ignore the pain that wracks my body.

"…Gra…GrandDracmon?"

Shadows dart across the ground around him, and GranDracmon's eyes curve up into a smirk as they blast towards ExoGrimmon.

"BLACK REQUIEM!"

…

Arukenimon grumbles, folding her arms as she watches the destruction rage down on Celadon City. "What a bother. We don't even get a chance to join in the fun ourselves."

"You want to go against GranDracmon?!" Mummymon yelps, his one visible eye widening in horror.

He's rewarded with a punch on the head. "Of COURSE not you idiot."

"….Oh."

"I'm just saying there's all that lovely carnage and destruction…" She runs a hand through her silver hair and sniffs plaintively. "And I can't be around to enjoy it."

"If you ask me, safer the better. I'd hate to see that monster turn on you Arukeni." He whimpers.

"…"

"OW!"

"None of that matters." She huffs. "What we need is to hope the kids take the bait and go for the object those pathetic humans stole from us."

"…What? Don't we want it?"

Arukenimon raises her eyes to heaven as if she's praying for Yggdrasil to give her strength. "Of COURSE we do. We want it destroyed. And if we can convince the brats…" She smirks as they climb into the car. "That Team Galatic is planning to use it for nefarious purposes they'd be happy to oblidge."

Mummymon grins then, as the car whizzes forward, him clutching the steering wheel with bony fingers. "That is if they can even survive the next ten minutes."

…

The spy's eyes narrow as they watch GranDracmon's Black Reqieum attack tear through huge segments of ExoGrimmon's flesh.

He's strong. A lot stronger then they'd thought he'd be. Their fingers reach into their pocket, pulling out a ring with a sapphire gem glistening.

Adelina's alpha tamer ring. They smirk. The moronic leader Sira had been careless. She hadn't know how close the spy had gotten. It had been so easy to sneak into her pocket and take it, the first time to open the portal and allow Arukenimon and Mummymon through.

Sira would be horrified when she saw it was gone this time. Because the spy had bigger plans for it. With it, the greatest weapon would be unleashed.

With it, a weapon would be born even greater than ExoGrimmon.

Too bad none of these brats would be around to appreciate it.


	24. Wrath of the SeaBasin,TraitorsandTurmoil

Wrath of the Sea Basin, Traitors and Turmoil

Tai frantically pressed a hand to lily's neck, searching desperately for a pulse. "Lily, please, please..." He whispers, feeling his voice catch. Blood trickles down his cheek but-that's the absolute last thing on his mind. Renamon lies unconscious next to them, her breathing ragged and unsteady. Lily had nearly used up all of her energy creating that barrier to save lives from that fatal blow...his jaw tightens and blood 'trickles down from where he was biting his lip. ExoGrimmon roars in agony as the black tendrils circle around before slamming into him again. He doesn't realize just how much danger he truly is in, and he snarls and brings back his claws for another strike.

"FIRE ROCKET!"

"EQUS BEAM!"

The attacks combine together to create a blindingly powerful orange light that hits ExoGrimmon in the back of his head, sending him sprawling forwards.

Both Digimon's eyes are blazing with hatred "How DARE you!" Flamedramon snarls, completely incensed. "How dare you try to harm my friends? I'd rather be splintered into data a thousand times over than let a souless freak threaten them!"

ExoGrimmon snarls mindlessly up at them as Pegasusmon continues in a voice dripping with ice, " It is over for you. Look at this city. These people had absolutely no way of defending themselves from your kind. Even your own creation was a disgrace, made from absorbing the bodies of your own allies." His forehead glows a brilliant green. "But it ends here.

ExoGrimmon seems unimpressed with speech and snarls as a shout echoes behind them, ""MOVE!"

Both Digimon barely duck out of the way as seven spheres of light streak forwards, tearing straight through the pillar of fire before it could burn them to ashes.

"Nice as that speech was..." Lilithmon drawls as she levitates next to Seraphimon, "perhaps you should save it for a time when we're sure it can't get up anymore."

"Perhaps." Pegasusmon whinnies, amused. Flamedramon grins and winks over at the two. "You guys ready to bring the pain?"

"Oh ABSOLUTELY." She purrs.

"HALLOWED KNUCKLE!" Seraphimon lets off a blast that looked a lot like Angemon's Hand of Fate, but about ten times more powerful, striking ExoGrimmon on the side and knocking him over sideways.

Sira's eyes narrow. "…This guy isn't nearly as strong as the ExoGrimmon I once fought against…." She mutters, her hair blowing out around her face.

Ryo snorts. "It's like a Ditto. The copies could never be as good as the original."

"Harsh but true…" Sira's face is streaked with blood and mud but she smiles darkly, not seeming to notice, for once, that she's actually agreeing with her enemy. "GranDracmon?"

"CRYSTAL REVOLUTION!" The ice creaks up, like Sorcerymon's attack but even faster and thicker, wrapping around ExoGrimmon's legs and freezing him to the spot.

"TEMPEST WING!" Halsemon shouts, twirling around forming the wild tornado around his body again as Yolei clings on, a look of steely determination on her face.

"FIRE ROCKET!" Flamedramon charges next to Halsemon, much to Yolei's confusion at first, but a slow grin appears on her face as she watches Halsemon's winds make Flamedramon's flames even bigger.

ExoGrimmon's roar seems more angry and frustrated than actually pained, even though scorch marks cover the metal body, and the ice starts to crack around his legs before he finally breaks free and snarls, slicing at Halsemon.

"CRIMSON CLAW!" Devidramon's merciless side shows as his talons shone blood-red and he slices right through the enormous eye, the scream of rage and pain echoing as wires jutted out like blood vessels.

ExoGrimmon roars, lifting his head to the sky as his entire body is covered with a strange light.

"What is that?' Edan exclaims, his eyes widening.

"His healing move…." Stella hisses, and sure enough, the wounds along the body had started to fill over, making him look like he'd never been touched before.

"AIR GOD!"

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Sira roars as the lightning crashes downwards. Nerfertimon screeches as she's thrown backwards, Kari frantically holding onto her fur as the cat was flung into the nearby building.

"**KARI!"**

"Kari!" Davis screeches, leaping onto Flamedramon's back just as TK leapt onto Pegasusmon's. It was a mark of the how much Davis had matured since coming to the Digital World that he didn't complain at all about TK coming to rescue Kari as well. Before he became involved in all of this he definintely would have complained about it.

TK's heart thuds in his chest so loudly it's a miracle the entire group couldn't hear it down below on the ground. Rubble fills the entire room where Nerfertimon crashed into, even the ceiling itself near fatal collapse.

"…Kari?"

A low groan answers him and TK's eyes widen as he spots Kari's face, pale and twisted with pain. "My leg…GET IT OFF MY LEG!"

Flamedramon growls, gripping the steel and struggling to lift it, not being able to manage it until Pegasusmon gets underneath and shoves upwards as well.

Kari groans again and rolls onto her back, clutching Nyokomon close to her chest.

"W-what is that?" Davis stammers, looking at the little green blob with kitty cat ears and a striped tail, mewling and pressing its face to Kari's chest.

"Gatomon's In-Training form…" TK groans. That meant another member of their force was out of action, both Lily and Kari.

Kari grimaces, trying not to think about her leg twisted at the horrible angle. "…Just GO." She breathes. "You have to help the others."

"No way." Davis snaps. "We're not leaving you here, no way no how!"

"You HAVE to." She hisses. "I'll be fine. You're not leaving my brother in the lurch like this. Go and help Tai and the others, NOW."

"But…"

"Davis…she's right." TK lowers himself to Kari's level, his blue eyes staring into her brown ones. "…Will you be alright?"

"…Lucemon can heal me when we get back." She says, clenching her teeth from the pain. "Right now I need you to GO. TK…please…"

He closes his eyes before nodding. "…I promise. You'll be okay, I promise. We'll all be okay."

She smiles faintly as TK runs back to Pegasusmon. "Davis, come on!"  
"But…"

"NOW!"

Davis sighs with frustration and looks back at Kari, lowering his head before nodding and running to Flamedramon. Pegasusmon soars out of the building and Flamedramon backflipped with Davis in his arms.

"YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME SICK!"

"Not on me you're not!"

Tai's face is pale as he looks at the building where Kari had crashed into. No…she couldn't be…he couldn't have lost…

"… …?"  
"Lily!"

Her brown eyes slowly flicker open, barely conscious but still managing to fixate on him. "You must not…" Her voice cracks as she coughs.

"You need to rest!"

"…Don't let him hurt anyone…I can't protect them….so…..tired….Taichi…please…."

"Lily…"

"…Tai….I…." Tai kisses her forehead, a fierce feeling of determination rising up in him, like a blazing inferno spreading from his chest throughout his entire body. "Get some rest. Or so help me I'll knock you unconscious to make sure you do."

"…Taichi…"

"Ready for this MetalGreymon?!" He shouts as MetalGreymon slowly staggers back to his feet. Both partner's eyes are filled with fire. "More than ready!" MetalGreymon roars as his entire body is surrounded by an orange aura.

ExoGrimmon's head turns slightly at the sound of the vicious roar and then squeals as the missiles collided with the underside of his jaw.

He roars as he rises up on his hind legs and brings them crashing down, trying to crush both the Bearer of Courage and his partner as a scream of "SPIKING STRIKE!" echoed as well as a flash of dark energy.

The attacks hit him straight in the face and he wails as a massive gash from Stingmon's Spiking Strike was carved from the nostrils to the center of his forehead. Damien's strike left a massive hole in the side of his face.

It was MetalGreymon's missiles that had done the most damage though. They'd actually torn a hole right through his neck, and ExoGrimmon stumbles, every movement seeming to become more difficult.

"I thought he healed himself…" Dilbert says, eyebrow knitting together.

Edan's D'Arcmon smirks. "It's like they said. Copies are never as good as the original. Edan?"

"Go get him." Edan growls, his own pupils shrinking dangerously in his anger.

"D'ARCMON DIGIVOLVE TO…LADYDEVIMON!"

"DARKNESS WAVE!" LadyDevimon declares loudly, her red eyes glittering with anger and detirmnation as the dark shadows flow from her body and form dozens of chittering, snarling bats.

ExoGrimmon screams as the claws and fangs of the bats sink into the places where armor had been chipped, tearing into the softer metal.

"Hey that's an idea…" Digmon crosses his arms. "GOLD RUSH!" The spirals shoot forwards, slicing through more of the metal, sparks shimmering down on them.

"SIRA! WATCH OUT!"

Sira's eyes widen as ExoGrimmon suddenly seems to lose all patience, got down on all fours, and charges at ridiculous speed.

"RIONA!"

GranDracmon doesn't even have time to teleport—Sira snarls, defiant to the end, right as someone pushes her out of the way.

"SIRA MOVE!"

Ryo's head whips around and her eyes widen with horror as ExoGrimmon's tail whips around, slamming into someone and sending them flying. "NO! STELLA!"

Stella goes flying, like an out of control meteorite, but without a convient partner to cushion her fall like Kari had with Nerfertimon. She slams down hard on the roof, screaming as she feels her ribs snap in the blow and rolls towards the edge.

Just barely she manages to grasp onto the edge, pain obscuring her vision as her fingers wrapped around the edge, sweat making it harder.

Through her blurred vision she can see ExoGrimmon stalking towards her like a hungry jungle cat, pupils fixated on her as though she was nothing more than a chunk of meat.

Stella swallowed hard and closes her eyes, not wanting to watch this. At least she saved her leader. That's all that matters. ExoGrimmon roars and his head lunges forward, in a snake like striking motion, and she screams once more, as she gets a very good glimpse of massive fangs about to clamp down on her body and a giant black hole of a mouth able to swallow her in one gulp.

But then…right before the teeth can collide there's another, more powerful roar, and a wave of water seems to come up out of nowhere, twisting and turning to slam into the monster's chest.

ExoGrimmon screams in agony as Sira unleashes a Hydro Cannon so powerful, so unbelievably strong, that it tore RIGHT THROUGH HIM.

"RIONA!"

Her eyes were a solid gold color and she snarls, Tai freezing in his tracks as he sees the feral look in her eyes. "…Just like Lily.."

"You DARE!" Sira's voice rises to a scream. "YOU WILL NEVER HURT MY FAMILY! YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" The water rises up behind her out of nowhere, a gigantic tidal wave, and Tai watches in disbelief as it slams full force into ExoGrimmon, knocking him over, causing him to loose his balance and land hard on his back on the buildings, which were, thank Yggdrasil, empty.

Stella screams as she feels herself finally loose her grip and fall, only to be met with the waiting arms of her Digimon.

"….Seraphimon…."

"Don't scare me like that again…" He breathes, shaking slightly as he set her down on the ground. "Stay out of the fighting for now. I'm not getting that close to losing you again."

Sira's eyes flicker and she groans, sinking down onto one knee, her lungs moving in and out frantically as GranDracmon rushes to her side.

"You idiot…" He hisses, shaking as he grabs her. "You absolute idiot. You know what happens when you use up too much energy!"

Sira groans once more, slumped over and pale in his arms. GranDracmon clenches his teeth and lets out a feral sounding snarl as he slowly raises his head.

The pale light surrounds ExoGrimmon again, and Davis lets out a groan of disbelief. "Don't tell me he's healing himself again!"  
"No…wait…." Cody's eyes widen. "…Look…"

The pale light fades away but ExoGrimmon's wounds remain the same, huge, gaping. His entire frame shakes as he struggles to get back to his feet again, the menace in his eyes replaced by a look of exhaustion.

"Looks like he's on the ropes now…" Davis grins, cracking his knuckles.

Flamedramon blinks. "…What does that even mean?"

"I guess we'll have to explain wrestling to you guys some other time." Ken chuckles, as he stands next to Davis. "For now…"

"TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB!"

"FIRE ROCKET!"

"SHOOTING STARS!"

"KAISER NAIL!"

"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

"GOLD RUSH!"

"TEMPEST WING!"

"DARKNESS WAVE!"

"BLACK REQUIEM!"

ExoGrimmon doesn't even try to block the attack. The attacks combine into a blur of white energy that rushes forwards at full strength, so bright and strong it filled the entire city. The explosion occurred with all the force of about a dozen bombs, and ExoGrimmon's last roar of rage echoes as the sparks from his fake body are sent everywhere.

"…"

GranDracmon's eyes narrow as the demon's head actually falls off the body, the wires holding it together now completely fried and snapping. The lights of its eyes slowly fade away into darkness.

"…It's over." He closes his eyes. "….Thank Yggdrasil."

..

"Oh look Arukeni." Mummymon comments as they watch from the hill away from the city. "They managed to destroy your creation."

"Are you HAPPY about that?!"

He squeals and ducks from her fist. "N-no my love! I was simply surprised, that's all! And…I confess…I would not enjoy telling the master about how your creation went on an incontrollable rampage…"

Arukenimon huffs. "The creature went on a rampage because it was imperfect. Once the process is complete then I shall have the most powerful force in all of Milleunimon's army…under my control. Not even the one who gave us life can say something like that."

"You wouldn't…actually…go against him would you? Arukeni, you said you wouldn't!"

Arukenimon snorts. "Like he's not planning to go against us the moment he gets his hands on the girl. We're expendable then, you moron. I'm simply making sure that when the master gets tired of us we won't be data floating into the sky."

"Oh…" Mummymon mumbles, clutching his cane tighter. "That doesn't sound very pleasant."

"No, bandage breath. It wouldn't be good." She huffs, and then an absolutely evil smile appears on her face. "…Let's get going. We don't want to keep our little friend waiting, do we?"

Mummymon snickers mockingly as he walks with her.

…

"Ugh…." I groan as my eyes slowly open, my chest aching everytime my lungs move. The first thing I saw was white. Lots of white. "…Holy crap…am I dead?"

"No but very close to it." A voice says dryly, and I look up and see red eyes staring down at me. It took me a moment for my brain to process exactly where I am. I'm in the middle of a hospital bed, an IV in one arm, bandages over my body. "…"

"You're alright Lily…" A hand rests on my shoulder, pushing me back down as I try to struggle. "…Vincent…" I groan, feeling my head rush again. "Exo…Grimmon…the others…Renamon…"

"You used up a lot of energy in that battle." Vincent says, his tone the "you idiot patient" again. "You were lucky your heart didn't stop completely. What were you thinking trying to create a shield to stop an attack that powerful?"

"…I had to protect the others…" I whisper, my voice cracking. "Where is Renamon?"

Vincent rolls his eyes. "Honestly, you're so much like Sira it worries me. Immensely."

"…What do you mean?"

"I'm not NEARLY as mad as this idiot is Vincent." A voice mumbles next to me, and my eyes widen as I turn over in bed to see Sira lying on the bed next to me.

Her eyes are closed as if she's trying to block us all out. Her skin is flushed, as if she has a fever.

"That battle was brutal." Vincent says quietly. "Besides the four of you…all of the hospitals in Kanto are dealing with victims of this attack."

"Wait…four of us?"

"This is the second time Vincent's had to fix a limb of mine."

"Kari!"

Kari smiles wryly over at me. "Is it too much to hope that it will be the last?"

"Judging by our record…" Stella lays on the bed on the opposite side of Sira's. "I wouldn't be too hopeful."

"…Wha…happened?" I ask weakly. "Did we…did we…?"

"Yeah we won." Kari murmurs sleepily. "Next time try not to save all of us by giving up your own life."

"Sira…?" I push myself up. "….How did you get hurt?"

"…Water has its own power. Especially when pushed to the brink."

"…In others words, this "Idiot girl decided to try and summon a Hydro Cannon powerful enough to tear a hole right through that machine." Vincent mutters, and I can sense real worry under his shell of irritation.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"It was nothing." Sira mutters sleepily "You should have seen how bad of shape I was in after fighting against the REAL ExoGrimmon-now that was a mess."

" You...beat the real ExoGrimmon..." Kari says in a voice of numb shock that I don't think is completely from her injuries, Sira smiles wryly. "You'd be amazed at the kind of power the orb of Kyogre gives me...especially when my mate is threatened. Now hush up and rest. This war is far from over and you will need your strength." I feel cold all over. Something Sira told me a long time ago runs hauntingly through my mind. Her core keeps the disease she was born with from ravaging her body yes-but everytime she uses her powers it eats away at her lifespan. She told me awhile ago that if she manages to make it to 40 it will quite frankly be a miracle. And this battle she was in probably knocked off another what, six months, maybe even a year. I turn away from her as my heart constricts painfully, like an invisible clawed hand is wringing it. I punch my pillow angrily and try to force the thought out of my head. If I'd been stronger I could have kept fighting. It's a crazy thought and I know it, but maybe if I'd been stronger she wouldn't have had to risk her life for us. I groan and feel the exhaustion hit me once again. Even when I biomerge, as exhilarating as the feeling is of bonding with my partner, I'd still be nothing without her. I just wish...I wish that I could be useful again. My eyes close and I let myself drift off into sleep once more...

...

_"Daddy don't go!" _

My eyes flicker open, expecting to see maybe some little kid in our crying, But...there were no kids in our hospital room. Instead I seem to be floating above some kind of daycare center, filled with baby Digimon playing with blocks, eating snacks, or napping in cots. No...wait. There was one child who WASN'T a Digimon. A little girl no more than four years old was crying as she clung to her father's gloved hand.

"Alexander..." I breathe, recognizing him instantly.

_"Are you sure you want to do this Lord Beelzemon?"_

_"I have to." Alexander sighs miserably_, not looking at the Togemon who stares worriedly at him. _"Right now we are fighting the Devas and in the last attack they actually managed to get inside our base." _He sighs and strokes the hair of the younger me. "_If Lucemon had been a second slower killing Makuramon that blasted monkey would have killed her for sure." _

_"...I understand. But that doesn't mean this little child will understand why her whole family seems to have left her."_

Alexander flinches visibly, and responds harshly, "_I'm NOT abandoning her. I'll come back for her as soon as the Soverings move on from the fact Lucemon tried to have them overthrown."_

_"Again?" _Togemon asked, deadpan.

_"Again." _Alexander says, equally deadpan.

_"...I see."_ Togemon sighs. _"You needn't worry my Lord. I respect your group too much to possibly let any harm come to your ward."_

_"Thank you..."_ Alexander whispers.

_"Daddy? I wanna go home. I wants Luce and Lilli." _

"_I know sweetie..."_ Alexander cups his hands around my little face.

I swallow as I watch the scene. "_No...please don't go. You don't understand what will happen if you leave..."_

_"I'll be right back, I promise. It won't be long I promise, then we'll go home together. And all of the other Demon Lords will be so happy to see you again."_

_"DADDY!"_ I see Alexander's shoulders shake slightly as he turns away from me. "_NO LEAVE! Uncle Dae! Levi! Come BACK!"_

I wipe my cheeks with my sleeve, hating the fact that I'm crying, watching as the younger version of me screams and shakes the bars as Togemon tries to soothe me."

I don't notice for a moment...the way the shadows behind me move slightly.

"...Huh?"

The shadows ripple again as I keep wailing, and then slowly, slowly...they form into a FACE. My own eyes open in disbelief. "WHAT THE ?!"

…

I sit bolt upright in bed, nearly yanking out my IV. It's a good thing I didn't actually because if I had…Vincent would have killed me.

Man, I freaking hate nightmares. I run a hand through my dark hair which has grown much longer over the past couple of weeks, It's a stupid detail but in my numb shock it seems important. I'm more tan too, probably from the days we've spent running around in the Digital World.

My fingers tighten on the bed sheets as I remember the shadows staring at the toddler version of me. I manage to swallow, and breathe again, but it's not easy. Kari and the others are still asleep. Kari's leg is healed and Stella has much more color in her face. Only Sira still looks sickly and weak.

…I wonder…if this feeling of helplessness I feel towards Sira is how Alexander and the others felt when I went missing. Being completely powerless when you never have before. I don't have very long to think about this because the door suddenly bursts open and there's a delighted cry of, "Hey! You're awake!"

"Davis…"

Kari's eyes flicker open and she manages a small smile as Davis practically pounces on her. "Ow…."

"S-sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No…just caught me off guard…."

"Are you feeling better, Lily?" I glance up and see Damien standing next to my bed, appearing out of nowhere like he always does. "Don't scare me like that again…" He mumurs, his breath brushing against my neck.

"Hey, no sexually harassing the patient." I scold, shoving him back slightly.

He raises an eyebrow and grins wickedly. "…Sexual harassment, hmm? I shall have to wait for that till you're out of bed."

"You creepy stalker you." I scold as then there's laughter in my ear. Tai's eyes glint as he stands next to me. "I know the kind of sexual harassment Lily really enjoys…."

"…Tai…Taichi Kamiya, don't you dar-HAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAH!" I shriek as he starts tickling me all over, in my worst spots too. "Okay, okay! MERCY! MERCY! TAICHI STO!"

"Really, Lils?" Tai says, his eyes way too innocent. "I can't understand what you're saying, can you repeat that?"

"TAI KAMIYA YOU SON OF A BANSHEEEE!"

"Nope. Sorry. That's not the answer." Tai says cheerfully before yelping as a pillow is flung full force at his head, actually knocking him off of his feet.

I groan as I finally manage to breathe again. "Thank you…Sira…."

"I didn't do it for you…" She grumbles, turning over in bed again. "I just can't handle all the screaming."

"Sorry Sira." Cody pokes his head around TK's waist. "I tried to tell them that this was a bad idea and that you guys needed to rest…."

"Me too!" Agumon responds, nodding fervently as Sira keeps glaring.

"…Agumon you coward." Tai says flatly. "This was your idea. And I quote, "Let's go visit the girls at the hospital cause they must be really lonely!"

"Shh, Tai, Sira doesn't need to know that."

"Stella!"

Stella smiles weakly and holds out her arms as Tsukaimon flies into them, a gesture so much like TK and Patamon that it makes me chuckle "I was so worried about you…"

"I'm fine buddy." She murmurs soothingly.

"So I think the only person missing is…." I roll my eyes as GranDracmon teleports behind Sira. However even my expression softens when GranDracmon hugs Sira tightly.

"Daww…." Gatomon teases, as Sira just rolls her eyes at her and buries her face in GranDracmon's shirt. Both of them seem to forget for a moment that they're not in private both they reluctantly pull away. But it's not like I blame them. We came so close to losing so many people. It's natural people would be more emotional right now.

Sira sighs and then looks back at us. "Well…in a way….I'm glad you're all here, I suppose." Her jaw tightens. "We need to talk."

…

"So what do we know for sure?"

"We know that someone has the ability to turn Control Spires into Digimon." Tai says grimly, leaning against the bed. "And when those Control Spires are combined they make one POWERFUL Digimon."

"I bet it was Arukenimon." Ken mutters, his eyebrows knitting together and a dark scowl forming on his face.

"What makes you say that, Ken?"

"Because…" His voice trails off. "She was the one who…who taught me how to make the Control Spires in the first place."

Cody's eyes narrow at Ken until Davis thunks him on the head, clearly not willing to put up with Cody's hostility towards Ken today.

"We know that somehow she's managed to make Digimon that are connected to our pasts." Sira mutters. "The fact that she created an ExoGrimmon…to fight against me…can't be coincidence."

"We also know that somehow Adelina's disappearance is tied into this." Ryo says, for once the tamers not bothering to glare at her, all of them, even Sira, actually listening to her. "And I think I know what it is. You need a Digivice to get into this world with the barrier so badly damaged."

"But Adelina's Digivice has been with me the whole time…" Sira protests, her jaw setting. "You honestly think I'd be careless enough to let it out of my sights?"

"No I don't." Ryo says flatly. "But if the spy is someone you trust completely…."

"Are you accusing US?!"

"Ryo, you'd better take that back, NOW."

"She's just saying what must be true." Ken snaps, his eyes flashing. "No one could steal the ring from Sira unless they were close to her—no one could even touch it."

"Well if anyone's a spy…" Cody mutters, shooting Ken a glower.

"CODY!" Yolei shouts as Ryo whips around, her eyes flashing with anger and Ken scowls slightly and looks away.

"We shouldn't be fighting in amongst ourselves…" Stella insists, pushing herself upwards. "I agree there's something weird abo…."

"You'd accuse members of my team?" Edan snarls, his face close to Ryo's. "This is why you were kicked out. You have no sense of loyalty."

Ryo's jaw tightens. "And you're letting your emotions cloud your judgement. This isn't about loyalty. Do you think I like the idea of people I fought with helping destroy my world?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

"Huh? Ellen?"

Ellen walks in with FunBeemon at her heels, an expression so stern and fierce it actually makes me gulp. She's Sira's older sister all right.

"What is wrong with you?" She demands. "I cannot believe that one of us would help Arukenimon, yes. But if that is the case…and Ryo's right…that's what it appears to be…then we must not turn on each other randomly. That would be what the spy wants. We WILL figure this out. We've fought together, laughed together, cried together, both Digidestined and Tamers, together. A spy cannot hide among us for long."

"…I'm sorry Ellen." Edan's voice is still harsh. "But all I know is this things started happening right after we joined forces with the Digidestined that all of this crap started!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

I feel my heart sink as the snarling commences, people shouting at each other, Sira calling them idiots, but they're all too riled up to hear her, and she's so weak still that being forceful isn't easy.

I manage to push myself off from my bed and stagger towards the door. Tai doesn't even notice. He and Dilbert are both growling at each other, and my heart sinks even more. Defeating ExoGrimmon should have brought us closer together. Instead the mere idea of a spy among us makes us all fight like cats and dogs.

I walk out onto the terrace leading out from one of the big windows, leaning my head on the railing. I still felt dizzy. There's the sound of little feet behind me and then I'm pounced on from behind.

"Lily! I've been look all over for you!"

"Viximon!" I press my nose against her forehead and let her bury her face in my hospital gown, as awkward and immodest as these things are.

"_We got separated from the others._ Ralts says, suddenly appearing next to me, balancing perfectly on the railings. "_And then this one smelled food…"_

I roll my eyes. Viximon is literally a baby in this form which means she's more easily distracted. I can smell mustard on my partner's breath but decide that no—I really DON'T want to know.

"…It's a mess in there isn't it?" Viximon says hesitatingly as the sound of the shouting continues.

"..." I look away. "…Why can't they see…?"

"Because they're afraid."

"Stella? Shouldn't you be resting?"

Stella stops next to me, her eyes narrowing. "…So should you. You think I'm weaker than you are?"

"No, I'm just saying that…" I sigh, looking back down at the ruined city. "…Never mind. The last thing I want to do is start more arguing."

Stella sighs and closes her eyes. "…A long time ago…I thought that joining with the Digidestined would cause us so many problems….Trusting isn't easy for me. I prefer just being with my own group. They were…the first people to truly accept me." She closes her eyes. "I suppose I'm just protective over them. But after all this fighting…I'm starting to think maybe we're not so different after all."

"…" I smile at her then sigh again. "…What are we going to do about the others?" I mutter, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

Stella shakes her head. "I don't know. You'd think Dilbert would realize that now isn't the time to let our emotions run away with us."

"Edan's worse about that if you ask me."

"Edan's had a crappy past. His family neglected him…acts like he doesn't exist."

"Whoa, really? Why?"

Stella hesitates. "…Edan doesn't like people talking about it. I only learned a year ago. But I believe his Dad ran off with another woman…so his Mum doesn't like being around him. And he's kind of seen as pathetic because he was born without any…never mind."

"….Wow." I mumble, though I'm still slightly confused.

Stella grimaces. "What I'm confused about is these two objects. One of them is on Mt. Coronet, and we know both Team Galatic and Demidevimon and the others are taking an interest in it."

"…You think it could be the Digiegg?"

"…I don't know." She sighs. "It's just…I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why would Team Galactic be interested in a Digiegg?" Viximon questions.

I shake my head. "…I don't know." Looking up I frown to see Ralts stiffen. "…What is it?"

"…" Ralts turns away. "_Team Galactic are scumbags….you can't trust a single one of them…if it means they get power then they'll destroy anything. I hate the lot of then."_

"…Ralts…"

"She has a point." Stella mutters. "Sira's talked about Cyrus before. He's a coward and is wanted for several crimes, even against the Legendaries."

"…What exactly does he want?" I question, frowning.

"He wants to somehow destroy this world and remake one free of all flaws." Stella sweatdrops as she sees me crouched over and holding my head.

"…Lily?"

"It's like the Pokemon world version of Lucemon." I groan, massaging my temples as I rock back and forth. "Not again not again not again…"

"I think being stuck with Lucemon for a whole day scarred her for life." Viximon observes cheerfully.

Stella shudders. "…Also been there." Her eyes go blank. "And I can tell you by the end of it I was this close to beating my head against the wall."

"…"

"Uhh….."

"_You guys are a weird group." _Ralts observes as she watches both me and Stella in our state of near catonicness.

"Yup. We know that. Stella?"

"Uh huh?"

"…" I bite my lip. "…What if that object…isn't a Digiegg at all?"

Her eyes widen. "You think there might be something else that those monsters are after?"

Taking a deep breath I mutter, "I hope not. Things don't need to get any more complicated."

Suddenly there's a slam of the door and Vincent stalks towards, his expression clearly unimpressed.

Uh oh.

"…You two should be in bed. It's freezing out here and the last thing you need is to catch pneumonia in your weakened state."

"Yes MUM." I grumble, standing back up and quickly wiping the grime off the gown before Vincent can see it and I'm forced to endure yet another lecture,

"Wait…I don't hear anymore arguing…"

"…" I run back into the room and my eyes widen as I see that it's empty except for Sira and Kari.

"Brother…" Kari mumbles. "Don't do this. We need them…."

"…What are they talking about? What's happened?"

Vincent folds his arms. "I kicked those children out when they wouldn't stop arguing. They were upsetting my patients."

"…But…"

"Did they say where they were going?" Stella demands, pushing past me. "Vincent, please. This is important."

"It really isn't any of my business, but last time I checked, both groups seemed to have decided it would make more sense for them to handle things on their own."

"WHAT?!"

"Have they lost their minds?!" Stella exclaims, bolting towards the door, and Vincent steps in the way.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you leave."

"Vincent, this is not funny." I growl. "I need to go there and pound some sense into Tai's thick head, though I suspect Davis had something to do with it. Now LET US OUT."

"You were both seriously injured." Vincent said, his eyes gleaming. "And technically, I have every right to keep you here if I think my patients are going to put themselves in more danger before they're fully healed. And…if I have a guardian's permission."

"…Oh no," Stella groans, facepalming.

"Yes, GranDracmon is much more powerful so he's not as affected by the barrier, and he's able to keep himself from affecting it as much…but that's beside the point. The point is both your guardians told me to use whatever resources possible to make sure you don't leave this hospital until you're fully healed."

"Oh Alexander." I groan. "You didn't."

"He most certainly did. Lily, he cares about you. He doesn't want to loose you because you're being reckless."

"Look, where's Sira?" I insist, trying to not squirm awkwardly at those words. "If Sira says me and Stella have to go then we have to go. Orders and all that."

"Sira is resting. The stress of the argument took a lot out of her in her weakened state." Vincent gives me a pointed look. "…You know how dangerous it is for her to push herself."

"…I know. I know…" I whisper.

"Good. So we have an agreement? Get some rest you two. Or so help me I will have you strapped down."

"…" Stella slowly turns to look at me, her eyes wide. "You've known him longer than I have. Would you say he was joking or…?" The sentence hangs in the air as the sound of a door locking shut echoes.

"…"

"He's not joking." I say flatly, facepalming.

Stella groans and runs towards the door, trying to get it open. I glance out the window again. _"Please, Taichi. You should be smarter than this. But…in case you're not…Damien, don't let this happen. Do whatever you have to do to make them understand."_

…

"Guys, don't you think this is a bad idea?" Yolei whispers, her voice pleading as she follows Tai and the others.

Tai's shoulders are tight as he keeps walking.

"_How the heck do we know if you're not the traitors?"_

"_Guys, stop it!"_

"_More likely to be a half-chosen if you ask me…."_

"We don't need their help." Davis scoffs as he kicks out a rock. "…"

Yolei looks away and Davis sighs, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Look…I'm sure we'll all make up later, okay? Right now the Tamers don't want anything to do with us, but I'm sure it will all work out. We just need to give each other some space."

"I still say we don't need their help." Cody scoffs. Armadillomon looks worriedly up at him. "If they're willing to let people like Ken and Ryo into their group than they aren't much bet…"

"Enough, Cody!" Tai whirls around and glares at him. "I thought you were getting over these judgemental feelings you have towards Ken, but they appear to be getting worse, not better. I'm pissed off enough as it is and I DON'T want to hear it, got it?"

"…" Cody takes a step back. His green eyes widen and then he looks away. Honestly, the truth is he's not sure what to make of Ken. A part of him does know he's not being fair. But…still…

He can remember the grave site and his mother sobbing and the look of raw grief on his grandfather's face. He doesn't want to make a mistake…to trust the wrong people…and have his friends hurt because of it. Cody doesn't think he can go through that again.

"We've got no way of finding these Team Galatic people though." TK argues.

"That's…not technically true." Agumon says slowly. His green eyes slowly travel over to Yolei and Davis,

Tai's jaw tightens. "I can't ask you to…"

"That's okay." Davis takes a step forwards. "We can show you where Lily saved us. But if we do that…if we do that…will you call the Tamers and try to get them to work with us again?"

Tai's eyes widen slightly and Yolei looks over at Davis, a small smile appearing on her face.

Even though he doesn't fully like the tamers either, he knows all this fighting upsets her. He's willing to swallow his pride rather than see her stay upset.

Tai doesn't face Davis. "The tamers made their emotions painfully clear." His hands ball into fists. "They have their way of doing things, we have ours."

There's stunned silence for a moment. Agumon glances worriedly up at his partner. Tai's usually much more laid back than this.

Almost predictably it's Damien who breaks the silence. "I wonder if there's more to your agnostic behavior than you claim." He says lazily, arching an eyebrow.

Tai's shoulders stiffen and his eyes narrow, as though he knows he's not going to like what the other boy has to say. Then again, when had he ever liked what Damien had to say?

"...You think?" He tries to say noncommittally but his voice comes out a challenging growl instead. Damien just runs a hand through his hair lazily. "I can't help but realize that LILY is a tamer, not a Digidedtined. And if the tamers truly don't want anything to do with your group, then that means...eventually Lily probably won't care about this team either. Is it painful being around those who will soon take your girlfriend away from you, Kamiya?"

There's dead silence as Davis, TK, and Yolei all stare in a sort of numb disbelief, their eyes fixed on the two teenage boys like you might watch a duel. Tai's hands clench and unclench and Damien just runs his tongue slowly over the top row of his teeth. Not a sound can be heard. Finally Tai's face twists into a dark smile. "Sorry. You're dead wrong. I couldn't care less."

"Tai..."

"Let's go you guys." He repeats, turning around and walking out of Celadon City without looking back.

The rest of the group stares at each other uneasily. A flicker of a smirk appears on Damien's face before it vanishes and he says dryly, "Shall you follow your esteemed though currently angst driven leader or not?"

"I...guess." Yolei mutters. Davis hesitates before running forwards. "Tai, man! Wait up!"

TK bites his lip. "Lily would never just leave us Tai. Even if she is a Tamer. You know that...Yggdrasil what's gotten into you?"

...

"You two are TERMINALLY stupid."

Edan winces and doesn't look Ellen in the eye. Although she's usually the gentle one when she got mad...well let's just say he could totally understand the phrase "It's always the quiet ones."

Dilbert sighs and runs a hand through his curly hair. "Both sides said things we regret. It's truly awful that we'll no longer have them as allies."

Edan feels like he's been punched in the gut. If Dilbert is actually being serious than you know how grave the situation is.

And it's all his fault. He doesn't fully understand why he gets like this. So defensive and angry when any of his team are accused. It's like something very dark rises up inside of him, something he can't fully control.

"…Dilbert…maybe we should…" His voice trailing off.

"It's too late now. Besides…" Dilbert smiles, turning to face them. "We've taken out plenty of dangerous enemies by fighting together, as a team. We can do it again." His eyes fixated on Edan and then Ellen. "We can do this together if we have faith in ourselves. Now…do you have faith in me?"

"…"

Edan smiles and sticks his hand out, grasping Dilbert's, both boys staring each other in the eyes. Ellen sighs, shaking her head. "You're both idiots." She grumbles but she smiles as well and reaches out, grabbing their enclosed hands.

They stand together like that for a moment, a gesture they've done hundreds of times. It's a gesture that feels Edan with comfort.

D'Arcmon puts a hand on her chin in a thoughtful pose. "If you think about it there must be a base around here somewhere."

"You're right." Dilbert agrees. "They have to be making the Control Spires somewhere right? Back in the Digital World the Emperor's base did that job, but it wouldn't work now…"

"If we destroy it, it will be a crippling blow in Milleunimon's forces." Funbeemon says in his unusual high pitched voice.

Wormmon just shrugs…as much as a female worm with no shoulders CAN shrug. "I just like blowing up stuff. So just point me in the right direction and I'm your insect."

"What do you say Edan? Can you track it down?"

"Absolutely." D'Arcmon says firmly. "Give him a computer and there's nothing he can't do."

Edan blushes at her praise and fidgets. "Well…I wouldn't go that far. But I do have all the tools I need." He states, looking around at the hospital's lower floor, the many computer monitors glowing in the offices behind them.

The rooms themselves were all dark as everyone but Vincent had gone home for the day.

Speaking of Vincent…

"Made sure the two troublesome ones can't leave?" Dilbert calls over.

Vincent rolls his eyes. "…Somehow yes. Many death stares from Stella and Lily calling me a…well…never mind, isn't going to get me to change my mind."

"Better that than explaining to Beezlemon we let Lily get killed." Edan mutters as he bolts towards a computer.

They all knew how scary Alexander could be when someone he loved was threatened. And none of them were eager to repeat the incident of 1999, which couldn't even be named do towards it's horridness.

"I feel wrong leaving them behind." Dilbert sighs. "But it's truly for the best."

"Lily and Stella are both like my little sisters." Ellen argues. "If Sira can't take of them right now then it's my job too."

"I've got it!"

The red light flashes on the computer screen and Edan grins. "Right in the middle of Sinnoh."

"At least it's convenient." Ellen laughs and then looks back at Vincent. "…Take care of Sira for me." She whispers. "This time was too close for her."

Vincent nods solemnly. "I'll take care of all of them."  
As the three tamers bolt out the door, their cries echo in the night sky.

"D'ARCMON DIGIVOLVE TO…LADYDEVIMON!"

"FUNBEEMON DIGIVOLVE TO…KUWAGAMON!"

"WORMMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO…LILITHMON!"

Vincent stares up at the sky as the three of them vanish. "Good luck." He sighs, his gaze fixated on the spot where Ellen once was and worry for his niece filling his chest.

"_Please stay safe…"_

…

"You shouldn't be hanging around me."

Ryo's head snaps around as she looks over at Ken, whose sitting on the tree branch opposite hers, not looking at her.

"…Where does a statement like that come from?" She asks, trying to keep her voice dry and uncaring while fear pricks at her heart. No…she can't lose Ken too. Please don't let Ken be turning against her as well.

"…You'd be better off without me…" He whispers, his voice so quiet she can barely hear him.

"Ken…" Wormmmon exclaims, looking up at him.

"What are you talking about Ichijouji?" Ryo demands, her voice hardening, eyes narrowing.

"…"

"Ken, look at me. NOW."

Ken knows better to ignore her when she talks like that and slowly turns around on the bench. Her heart thuds loudly as she notices the tears in his eyes.

"…They don't trust me." His voice cracks. "They don't want me around. And who could blame them?"

"And you think that just running away will solve anything?" Monodramon says firmly. "Forget about it. Don't let them bother you."

"…But still I…."

Ken yelps as someone slaps him across the face and looks up into Ryo's glowering face. "He said forget about it." She snaps. "You think you're the only one whose screwed up? The only one who has a past they wish they could change? Newsflash—lots of people hate their lives. But if you think I'm going to walk away and reject you, you're dead wrong. And I'll slap you a thousand times over to get it through your head. I'm not leaving you."

"…"

Ken stares at her for a few more moments before slowly smiling. "…Well I'm certainly not going to give you a reason to do that."

"You'd better not." She snaps, turning around, crossing her arms. Her eyes widen when she feels something press against her cheek.

Monodramon lets out a low whistle and Wormmon's eyes go big as Ken pulls away. "…Thanks Ryo. You're a really good friend."

"W…wha…" She stammers, her entire face turning bright red. "What the heck was that for? Don't get any ideas, I'm just trying to make sure you don't end back up in the emo corner."

Ken smiles as Monodramon continues to cackle. "….And I appreciate it."

"Oh…you…" Ryo mutters as Monodramon's cackles turn into complete howls of hysterical laughter.

Her eyes narrow before she promptly kicks him off the branch, ignoring his wail as he plummets to the ground.

Monodramon groans as he slowly pushes himself up from the ground, literally seeing stars. The sound of footprints echo in front of him, and there's a startled cry of, "Monodramon!"

"H-huh…?" His golden eyes widen as he takes in whose truly in front of him. "Zack?!"

Ryo's head whips around. "Zack?!"

The boy with the reddish hair can't be more than an early teen. He runs forward and actually hugs Ryo around the waist. "I'm so glad I found you!"

"Who's he?" Ken questions as Ryo places a hand on Zack's head. "What's the matter? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I've got a message for Lily from my partner!"

Ryo's hand stretches out and she takes the sheet from him. Her eyes widen, and the color drains from her face. "…Oh no."

"Those are my two least favorite words in the entire English language." Wormmon sighs as Ken leaps down to join her.

Ryo's hand shakes as she clutches the letter tightly. Her eyes narrow. "You guys feel like busting some people out of a hospital?"

…

"I'm so EPICALLY bored." I whine, leaning on my bed so my head dangles off the edge. It's quite the dizzying affect but I'm not really that bothered, to be honest.

"I know." Kari sighs, rolling over to face me. "You've said. 5,345 times to be exact." She says dryly.

I roll my eyes. "Now you're exaggerating. There's no possible way that you could keep track up to such a large number."

"You can…if you're BORED OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND."

Viximon whines. "Why did Gatomon go with the others while I'm stuck here with you?"

"You're so very kind." I mumble, burying my face in my pillow. "Don't even want to aid your own freaking partner in her time of need and her hour of pain."

"And to answer that question. Gatomon got to go because even without her partner she can still access her Champion form, and, to be honest, most of the time that's all she needs."

"Stella, logic isn't comforting when you're bored."

She sighs. "I know. But I'm kind of dead to the world and don't care about rather something helps or not."

"You could bust us out of her, couldn't you Lily?" Viximon shoots me the biggest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen.

"No way. I'm not pissing off Vincent."

"What?! You once somehow managed to unchain yourself when you were locked by the neck, wrists, and ankles. And you think THIS is hard?!"

'How in Yggdrasil's name did you manage to do that?" Kari asked, completely dazed. "Wait…do I even WANT to know?"

"It took me about 12 hours to do it." I say cheerfully. "Which is probably all I could take because Myotismon put me in really tight chains that chafe."

"_Oh they CHAFE Arecus forbid." _Ralts rolls her eyes. "_I thought you were going to say they burn you when you struggle or something like that."_

"Are you kidding me? I'd be crying like a baby if I got burned every time I struggled."

"_Wuss."_

"I am NOT!"

"Says the girl who can take being hit by Crimson Lightning repeatedly…" Kari mutters, rolling her eyes.

I stick my tongue out at her. "Being hit by Crimson Lightning is COMPLETELY different. I can dodge it—or at least I have a chance at dodging it. Being trapped in a situation where I can't get away from the pain freaks me out. That's part of the reason I'm claustrophobic."

"Does that really fit with claustrophobia?"

"IT'S THE CLOSEST PHOBIA I COULD THINK OF."

Stella rolls her eyes. "I'm sure somewhere some poor sap has it much worse than you do."

"I'm sure they do." I agree. "I'm sure somewhere someone has been stuck with a git much crueler and Yggdrasil forbid, SMARTER than Dorkula. If I ever meet said person they will get a massive hug from me."

"Getting back to the POINT…" Kari says deadpan. "Why exactly are you scared of Vincent Lily?"

"Because Vincent is Sira's uncle. The terrifyingness is hereditary, I promise you."

"That explains why Sira's mum is so scary at times." Stella mutters.

"…Caroline?"

"Think Ellen times hundred."

"…OH DEAR YGGDRASIL'S PANTIES."

"Shall we play Hangman again?"

"NO." Kari points a finger at me. "Lily I am through with you putting down unprintable words for Hangman. You realize this is a KID'S game, right?"

"But that's what makes it so funny."

Stella rolls her eyes. "At least she doesn't put down the names of random anime characters that no one could ever know."

"The fact that Erza Scarlet is not a familiar name to you is a tragedy." Kari informs her sternly. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I see Sira every time I watch Erza." I mutter. "I really do."

Just then the door creaks open and a sarcastic voice drawls, "You know what Lucemon will do if you say that again?"

"…RYO!"

"You've come to save us from the madness!" Viximon wails, darting towards Ryo and leaping up, pawing at her leg.

Ryo sweatdrops. "…It's only been about two hours since you were locked in here. What EXACTLY have you guys been up to?"

"Interesting debates about what kind of torture I could and couldn't handle." I say with a shrug. "Suffice to say I am powerless in the face of Sira's entire family. But whatever."

"…I'm not even going to ask." She groans before jerking her thumb back. "Come on. We're busting you out of here."

"WE'RE FREE?!" I bolt from the room so fast Ryo's hair actually flies past her face slightly. "YESSS!"

"Whatever happened to you being afraid of Vincent?" Kari yells back before facepalming.

"…"

"Well then."

"Lily gets a little tense when she's locked up in a room for too long." Viximon says cheerfully, looking up at Ryo. "When she's finally let free it's like a nuclear bomb going off."

"…Oy vey."

Ryo sighs and looks over at Stella, who is too bemused by my actions to be bothered by the fact that someone she hates is standing in front of her. "…We have a problem."

"We have many problems." Tsukaimon sighs. "We don't have ROOM for another one."

"…Let's put it this way." The look on Ryo's face makes them sober completely. "…" She hands the note over to Kari. "…Your brother might be in real danger."

Her brown eyes widen.

…

"Wow…wait…" My right eye twitches as I look at Zack. "…Your…ALEXANDER'S TAMER?!"

"Kind of." He shrugs. "I'm not really old enough to join the fighting yet. You have to be older in the Tamer's group than the Digidestined's…Sira's protective like that. I go out on plenty of missions with him just not full out wars. Not yet."

"…Why didn't he tell me about this?"

"Probably cause he was so focused on getting you back and getting you safely home." Zack responds so matter of factly I can hardly believe I'm talking to someone so young. "It's been on his mind for AGES since he found out where you were."

"…Really?" I fidget uncomfortrably, running a hand through my hair though something inside of me glows at these words. Heh. He really does care even more than I thought. I hesitatingly look back at Zack. "…Look…I hope he hasn't been ign…"

"Ignoring me?" Zack snorts. "Alexander practically mothers me with his worrying." He looks shifty-eyed for a moment. "I get to get away with a lot more stuff than I used to now that you're back, you know?"

"I…see." I say, dying a little inside at the fact that a kid this innocent could possibly be thinking such evil thoughts.

"But you know…" Zack shifts from foot to foot, looking embarrassed. "It's…nice to know that someone watches over you like that. It's nice to know…that…you know."

"…" I turn my head back to the night sky, a hint of a smile appearing on my face. "Yeah…" My hand reaches into my pocket and I cling to the black feather there. I still always put in in my pant's pocket. I have for so long now that it'd feel horribly weird without it.

"…You don't hate Ryo like the others do." I say slowly, turning back to face him. "Why is that?"

He shrugs. "I know she did something bad but I wasn't there to see it. It must have been pretty awful to get even Ellen upset. But just cause she hurt my cousin…I could never believe that Ryo could do something like that on purpose. She was always so nice to me."

Nice? Ryo sometimes looks like she could chew nice up and spit it back out, all the while glaring at everyone.

"Besides, like I said, I wasn't there. So I can't really judge."

"…You're like what 12? And you already have more maturity than…everyone I know."

"…"

Zack's eyes narrow. "…You think I'm ONLY 12?"

"Uh…"

"LILY!"

I turn my head around and see Kari racing towards me. Before I could make a comment about whose running from the hospital NOW I caught a look of the pure panic on her face.

I feel my entire body grow close as I grab her shoulders and demand, "What is it? Did something happen to Tai?"

"No, but it's about to!"

"Alexander sent a message saying that Lucemon finished looking at that map." Viximon growls, her tail poofed up. "A map that claims the egg is on Mt. Coronet."

"…Then that's good, right? I mean that means they'll find it."

Viximon gives me a "I cannot BELIEVE how slow you are on the uptake sometimes" look. "It would be if the map wasn't a fake."

"…So the same traitor that got Adelina kidnapped, stole the ring, let Arukenimon and Mummymon in, also stole the map?!" My eyes widen as I remember how we found that map. How that box it was in hadn't seemed that secure.

…Why was I so EPCIALLY STUPID?!

My swearing made everyone around me cover their ears except for Kari, who quite frankly is not the innocent little girl everyone seems to think she is, and Stella, who looks completely unbothered by it.

"…So what do we do?" I manage to grind out. "Did you manage to contact Tai?"

"We tried that. Someone's jamming our signal so we can't reach them." Ken says grimly, his hands tightening into fists.

"…So it really is a spy among the Digidestined." I mutter. An image of Damien appears in my mind but I force it away. I won't accept that until I have no choice. He's…I close my eyes.

"It's looking that way-"Not necessarily." Ken steps forward. "Someone really good with computers wouldn't HAVE to be in the same group. There's no guarantee the spy is a part of Tai's group."

"Whatever." Kari mutters. "We need to find my brother, right now!"

"Wait…" My eyes narrow.

"How could you say but wait?!"

"Kari, I don't want to leave Tai behind either but let's not forget another issue. You said Lucemon finished translating the map. Where is the Digiegg TRULY?"

"I don't even fully understand why this Digiegg thing matters!" Kari exclaims, her face flushing from anger and frustration. "You never tell us anything."

"Kari, I'm sorry. I'll explain more later but what you need to know is that those Digieggs…might be the key to stopping Milleunnimmon once and for all."

Her brown eyes shoot open. "…What?"

"Stella, please, go with Kari. She doesn't have a partner but Serpahimon should be strong enough to protect you both. Ryo, Ken…Ken's the computer genius he should be able to track down the tamers. I have a sinking feeling they're walking into a trap as well." I bite my lip.

"…Which leaves you Lily."

My eyes flicker upwards and meet Stella's. "…I know what I have to do."


	25. War for the Destiny Stone, Fly Lily!

Chapter Twenty-Five

(HEY! New chapter! Sorry this one took forever I had to rewrite half of it. However I hope you guys like it. Things are about to get even worse...(cackles)

The grunt snorts his contempt, pulling his jacket tighter around him. "Freaking cold up here on this stupid mountain." He lights the cigarette and puffs, the smoke enveloping both him and his partner.

The other grunt, younger looking, coughs. "You idiot, blow that crap somewhere else."

"What am I supposed to do?" The first grunt sneers. "You know how the boss feels about smoking inside the base. Sets a bad precedent for his "utopia" or something like that. At least the security camera is broken over here, so people won't come checking

"I'm so absolutely sick of that word…" The second one mutters. He looks around the corner and groans. "Don't look now but it's another chipper Rookie again.."

The third grunt trots eagerly up, a Starly flapping beside his head. He looks nearly identical to the other two, to the strange silver outfits, to the oddly shaped green haircuts. "I've just been speaking with Liteunant Mars and…"

"Yeah? What did Red want?"

"…That's not very respectful towards one of our leaders, is it?" The third one frowns. The second one snorts. "Kid, how long have you been here?"

"…About two weeks? Why?"

"So naieve…"

"Listen, kid," The first one addresses again, "you may not realize it but our precious Generals aren't nearly as amazing as they claim they are. Those three are the reason that that kid managed to actually beat Master Cyrus."

The rookie's eyes widen. "No way…so that wasn't just a rumor? A common trainer managed to defeat all four of them? Even the Master himself?"

"Get caught bringing up that past again and you're going to get yourself fed to a Drapion…" The second one mutters. "They're all so bitter about it. And Mars is even more tense since the two subjects got away."

"Beings from another dimension, pah. I bet they were just random kids. From Kanto or something."

"Yeah…but you got to admit that despite the fact she was a little chubby…" The second one grins, and there's absolutely nothing friendly in that smile. "She had a nice body, if you get what I mean…"

The other one laughs and the rookie slowly joins in as well until there's an angry yell of, "VEE HEADBUTT!"

The second grunt screams as the blue dinosaur rams into his stomach and knocks him off the edge of the cliff, sending him plummeting towards the ground without a minute of warning.'

The other two both whirl around, jaws dropping as the other strange creatures stand there, all glaring with murder in their eyes.

One looks like some kind of bird—with sharp, piercing blue eyes, a headband with a feather attatched to it—the other, like a Sandshrew, but with a diamond pattern on his forehead and much more wicked claws. Two of them look more like dinosaurs, one muscular, orange colored, with fire in his green eyes. The other is blue and lean, a v-shape on his forehead. The last two don't look similar at all—a cat with green cloves who unleashes her claws menacingly, and what looks like an orange gueina pig with giant wings for ears.

"…No one gets away from making comments like that about my partner." The bird says dangerously, taking a step forward. "Shall I teach you imbeciles the proper manner in which to treat a lady?"

"Stunktank! Purugly! Golbat! Get those freaks!"

"You too Staraptor! Luxray!"

Gatomon's eyes narrow as she leaps above the blast of Thunder the dark haired lion sends her way.

"Let me show you how a real cat should fight…" She mutters, running along the rock edge of the cliff and then backflipping, stretching out her leg and yelling, "LIGHTNING KICK!"

The kick strikes the larger cat in the jaw, and Luxray roars with indignation and slight pain before slamming a suddenly steel like tail into her gut.

Gatomon gasps, not having expected that, and she's thrown backwards, but she manages to roll as she falls and lands on her feet, hissing angrily and ignoring the bruise on her side.

"BOOM BUBBLE!" Patamon spits out a gust of air that slams into the Golbat and knocks him backwards, striking the overgrown bat straight in the eyes.

A sudden shriek pierces the air and Patamon yelps as wicked claws grab him around his waist, lifting him into the air.

The Staravia snarls, shaking Patamon repeatedly as he wails and tries to break free.

"Don't just TOY with your food!" The older grunt yells. "Kill it now!"

"I don't think so!" The feather slices forwards like a boomerang, slicing across the Starvia's talons and creating a massive slash. With a shriek of pain the bird lets go of Patamon, who slams a Boom Bubble right into its face.

"PEPPER BREATH!" The orange flames surround the big fat cat, and it shrieks, skidding to a stop, eyes widening and fur bristeling at the sight of the flames.

Agumon growls low under his breath, showing his claws. "I don't want to have to hurt you, but if you get in my way I will."

"Get him Stinky!"

"…Huh?"

Agumon's eyes widen as the skunk like Pokemon raises his tail in its direction. "…Oh no GAHHHH!"

The toxic cloud that surrounds him smells so freaking bad it's almost indescribable. He didn't think anything could top the time he was accidentally shut inside Tai's dirty laundry for a whole six hours until Mrs. Kamiya finally found him…don't ask…but this definintely takes the cake.

Agumon howls, backing away and pressing his claws to his nose, and doesn't notice as the Golbat slams him with a Shadow Ball, sending him flying.

"AGUMON!"

Tai's Digivice starts to glow orange and the grunts laugh. "You really think your little shiny toy can possibly beat us?"

"Oh…I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you…" A voice drawls in the younger one's ear, and he whirls around for Damien to calmly punch him in the face and send him flying, landing knocked out cold.

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GREYMON!"

Both grunts scream as the giant dinosaur forms in front of them, red eyes narrowing down to slits, the deep, thunderous growl emitting from his chest.

Tai smiles with an innocence that fools no one as he stands next to his partner, Digivice still shining. "So…we have a few questions we want to ask you…if you don't mind."

…

"That's some base." Ellen's red hair is tossled by the wind as she stares down at the base below the mountain ledge they stand on.

The base looks more like a castle, cold, unfriendly, with turrets and steel black gates surrounded the entire place.

Several Ogremon march in front of it, which only gave off more of the "my clichés, let me show you them" feeling.

Dilbert frowns. "How could anyone possibly not notice this? And how the HECK did they even make a castle so quickly anyway?"

"It's the mountains." Edan replies, walking forwards. "They manage to hide this base cleverly so unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, you'd never find it."

"And it's Digimon." D'Arcmon says dryly. "Doing the impossible is sort of our job. I once heard that Myotismon had his base in the human world in less than two days."

"…Touche."

"Well now that we're here, what do we DO?" Funbeemon buzzes, shivering a bit. It's freaking cold up here and the poor little guy really isn't having a fun time with it. Ellen pats him on the head as Dilbert says enthusiastically, "Isn't it obvious? We blow this popsicle stand sky high!"

"Blow this WHAT sky high?" Wormmon asks, deadpan.

"It's an expression…"

"It's a stupid expression…" She mutters, rolling her black eyes. "And your love of making things go boom worries me some times."

"And your love of making things bleed worries me ALL the time." He retorts, sticking a tongue out at her. It's the usual banter between them but Ellen seems something flash in Dilbert's eyes, something she can't quite place. A similar expression passes over Wormmon's face and she frowns.

"But seriously…" Edan says, deadpan. "A plan would probably be quite nice. You're not DAVIS, Dilbert."

"Hey!"

"Edan, couldn't you run a scan to see how many enemies there are down there?" D'Arcmon asks, turning to face him. He nods, his eyes meeting hers as he whips out a smaller device that looks sort of like an Ipod. "Just…give me a moment here…"

"You have a gadget for everything don't you?" Ellen chuckles.

"Well isn't it a good thing I do?" He questions before pressing down on the large circle in the middle of the remote.

It flashes red and a screen shows up.

Dilbert sticks his hands in his pockets. "…I wish the boss was here." He murmurs, his eyes closing. "…I…"

"What is it…?" Ellen rests a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I promise you everything will work out all right."

"…I'm not meant for the leadership role." His eyes close. "I just hope that….."

"You have to banish those doubts Dilbert."

Edan's tone was more tense than anyone had heard for quite some. D'Arcmon's browns knit together. "Edan…?"

"In fact…you need to do that NOW." His voice cracks as he clicks on the flashing red dot.

"…"

"No…"

"Oh crap…"

"Adelina…" Dilbert whispers, his heart sinking horribly in his chest as the image of Adelian's face shows above the red dot.

…

Davis yelps as he struggles to wiggle free, his shoulders wedged in so tight he feels as though his ribs are being crushed.

"Davis, hurry up! We don't have time for your goofing around!" Yolei's voice echoes back through the ventilation shaft. "Tai, Damien, and Gatomon aren't going to be able to distract all of those grunts for good, you know…"

"I'm NOT screwing around!" He calls back, breathing heavily. "I'm REALLY STUCK!"

"I could V-Headbutt you free Davis!" Veemon calls from behind.

"…Are you serious…?" Davis yells. "You're going to CRUSH me if you do something like that, you idiot!"

"Oh for heaven's sakes…." Yolei mutters, struggling to turn back around and crawling to him. "Here—take my hand. You guys, push…"

"Got it!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Davis sucks his breath in, trying to allow the movement easier, as Yolei's hand fits perfectly around his.  
"How many shakes do you eat?" Veemon moans, and Hawkmon lets out a gasp. "Perhaps a visit to yonder place of torture Lily calls a gym will do you many favors…"

"OH SHUT UP!"

Suddenly her jerks forwards like a cork out of a bottle, landing on top of Yolei. She gasps as Davis' head is pressed against her chest. For a moment the two of them just lay like that, their faces bright red, eyes wide.

"I-I…" Davis stammers as Armadillomon calls from behind them teasingly, "Looks like SOMEONE'S in love…"

"What?" Cody calls from behind Armadillomon. "What happened? Armadillomon, I can't see you're blocking me…"

"You're too young anyway." Veemon chuckles. "Though I'm not sure the airshaft is an appropriate place…"

"Since when do you know stuff like that?" Davis demands incredulously. "Or were you looking through my mom's romance books looking for advice on GATOMON again?"

Veemon's scales seemed to turn red. "…I bet I still know more stuff than you do."

"Can we please have this incredibly awkward conversation somewhere else?" Yolei begs. "And Davis…?"

"Hmm?"

"GET…OFF…"

…

Greymon growls, crouching down low as more of the team Galactic grunts charge at him, dozens of their Pokemon running forwards with snarls and blasts of energy.

He can't move much around this cliff edge much or his giant size will cause them all to go crashing down.

Tai clenches his teeth and looks over at Damien. "Maybe…this was a bad idea…"

"You figure that out now, Kamiya?" Damien asks, raising an eyebrow.

"But we can't just run away with Yolei and the others in there!" TK insists, his blue eyes flashing.

"HAND OF FATE!" Angemon's attack sends several Golbats crashing into the cliff wall and he levitates in front of TK. "They're right…we need to flee now before we are overwhelmed. If we could tap into our full power than we could easily defeat them all, but we would risk killing all of these Pokemon…"

Damien snorts. "I cannot believe that we're going to loose because you are afraid of killing a few senseless animals…"

"…"

Tai's eyes narrow down to slits. "…"

"So what do we do…retreat?" TK says grimly.

"…We don't have a choice…"

The harsh laugh echoes and Tai's head shoots around to see another man with an even stranger style hairstyle, shaped kind of like cat ears at the ends. "You honestly think we're going to let you get away? How…amusing."

Greymon growls a warning, flashing white teeth. "Who are you?"

The man ignores him, eyes drifting back towards the Digimon and their partners, a cruel smile appearing on his face. "Beings from another dimension…I knew they exist….Mars may have been stupid enough to let your little friends escape, but I am not so easily gullible…"

"YOU creeps were the sick $#&&& that flipping planned to have Yolei and Davis dissected…" Tai snarls, half-ready to lunge at this man. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you apart…"

"General Saturn—your orders?" One of the grunts standing next to him barks.

"Saturn…?" Gatomon mutters. "And MARS? What kind of names are those?"

Angemon shrugs. "At this point I'm not really surprised by much…"

Saturn smiles darkly as he lowers his head, the sight sending shivers down Tai's spine. "…Shoot them all down where they stand. We don't need them alive to collect our data. You see, in a way, I'm more merciful than Mars is…"

"Yes sir!"

"…" TK's face pales at the sound of several guns firing in unison as he yells, "Angemon, get us out of here! Now!"

Tai reaches for his Crest, cursing his hestiatiance in retreating. "GREYMON DIGIV…"

"GET DOWN!"

Damien shoves Tai hard to the ground as the sound of bullets whiz pass them, Angemon and Gatomon both pressing themselves down to the rocky floor, and Greymon roars.

His skin is so thick and tough that the bullets do absolutely nothing to him, but it won't last that way forever.

"G-GREYMON!" Tai shouts, still covering his head with both hands as his Crest begins to shine again. He suddenly lets out a yelp as he feels a boot digging into his back, and looks up into Saturn's smirking face.

'"Checkmate." Saturn sneers, the blade in his right hand glinting as he plunges down towards Tai as TK screams and Angemon lunges upwards, forgetting the danger in his desperation to save their leader.

A screech cuts through the air and suddenly a long black tail slams into Saturn's stomach, sending him flying backwards.

He slams into the cliff wall behind them, not even getting the chance to scream as he collapses, falling flat on his face. He doesn't get back up again.

"Anyone else want to try something as cowardly as that?" Ryo's eyes cut like daggers as she glowers at the rest of the grunts from a top Devidramon's back.

…

"How much farther Ken?" Stingmon calls, his wings beating rapidly as he soars across the sky, one arm stretched outwards, his partner clinging on tightly for dear life.

"About…" Ken glances down at his D-3 once more. "There! I've got their signals!"

"What?" Stingmon skids to a halt. "All I can see is mountains!"

Ken scowls, his dark hair whipping around his face. "Stella, what do you have?"

"This is definintely the place." Stella says flatly. "There's something we're not seeing."

Kari scowls next to Stella in Seraphimon's arms. "I can't believe I couldn't go after my brother…"

"What? So saving my group is less important than saving yours? I couldn't exactly leave you behind girly."

"Maybe if RYO hadn't suddenly disappeared like that…"

"Leave her alone." Ken snaps, his head whirling around to face Kari and Stella. "You have no idea what Ryo's been through. You may not trust her, but I do. I'd trust her with my life. And I know she didn't just abandon us. If she left she left for a reason."

"…Ken…"

"Wait…" Seraphimon freezes suddenly, his wings seeming to almost stop in mid air—levitating. "I sense something…"

"I am so sick of people saying they sense something and then expecting that to satisfy for an answer." Kari mutters. "It's really an…" Her voice trails off and her eyes widen as a sound reaches her ears. A sound she recognizes.

"GAHHH!" Everyone's hands clasps over their ears except for Stingmon, whose orange eyes narrow in contempt.

"What?! What…is that NOISE…" Ken says through teeth so tightly clenched his mouth hardly opens at all.

"BROWN STINGER!"

The harpoons streak towards the others like giant missiles, and Seraphimon barely manages to shake off the pain from about fifty Champion level attacks strong enough to nearly shatter his ear drums as he dives, barely dodging.

Stingmon however doesn't seem affected at all. With a shout of "HOLD ON TIGHT KEN!" He backflips over the harpoons and weaves in and out of the constant attacks.

The pink blade forms around his wrist and he growls as he slices through several of the Brown Stingers with ridiculous ease, the rest he dodges by twisting and turning.

His mobility hardly seems affected at all by the fact that there's a human on his back. Ken struggles to think with the Flymon's horrible whine echoing in his ears, but he eventually realizes why Stingmon's not affected. Of course…Stingmon is an Insect Type Digimon as well, they're not affected by sound in the same way.

Still his Digimon's unbelievable flexibility and strength as he beats away the harpoons is unbelievable.

Once again Ken can't surpress the feeling of guilt rising up in him. He never digivolved Wormmon back when he was the Emperor if he could help it. How many times had he called his amazing partner, weak, stupid, said he didn't want him…

Yggdrasil…it was a miracle Wormmon had re-bonded with him willingly. Why he didn't just leave Ken to die countless times…Ken will never know.

He's just glad that, for whatever reason, Wormmon came back for him.

"SPIKING STRIKE!" Ken yelps and has to grip on even tighter as Stingmon suddenly corkscrews in mid air again, becoming a whirling blade, the pink light flashing before Ken's eyes and the screams of the Flymon echoing as he tore right through them.

"Nicely done!" Ken yells as stingmon then straightens up again, spinning around and slicing through the last of the Flymon trying to sneak up behind him.

"…" Ken's eyes widen as the horrible sound begins again. He clamps his hands over his ears and yells, the noise seems even louder this time.

Even more Flymon swarm around them, and Stingmon curses, his eyes taking in the vermin. "…Crap. I thought we were done here!"

"Let me take it from here…"

Seraphimon stretches his wings out, a look of sheer determination on his face now that he no longer has to protect Kari and Stella. The Flymon scramble back slightly, unease in their eyes. They realize exactly how very dead they are at this moment.

Seraphimon's lips curve in a sort of grim smile, holding up one shining hand. Several orbs of light surround around it. "SEVEN HEAVENS!" He roared.

The blasts of light fill the entire sky, and Ken has to cover his eyes as the Flymon are disintegrated on the spot.

"Let us hurry." Seraphimon growls, pinning his wings back as he dives. "It appears we found our friends."

Ken's eyes widen as he spots a blast of light appearing in the middle of the mountains. His jaw tightens. "And they've got company…"

…

"_Lily…we can't keep going much longer…"_ Renamon's voice echoes with the exhaustion I feel flowing through every part of my body.

"I…know…" I pant, lungs feeling like their on fire as Renamon and I continue to fly, cloak flying behind me, my hand trembling on the staff.

The ocean is beneath us, wide and deep, the sound of the waves ominous and sort of creepishly soothing.

As if the water is trying to lull me into sleep, lull me into just giving up, dropping, falling into its embrace so it can choke me.

…I can't…Tai and the others…they need me….but this was still a STUPID deicion. I used up so much of my energy shielding the others from ExoGrimmon's attack. Just biomerging again took up the last little bit of my strength.

Sucking my breath in, I force myself to forget the tiredness. An image of Tai floats before me, his laughing brown eyes, his smile….his hand outstretched towards mine.

"…Taichi…" I breathe, as images of my other friends fill my mind. Sora…Matt…Yolei…Davis…Joe…Kari…Izzy…Mimi…Cody…Sira…Adelina…so many others….Alexander…..

…If I live through this…Sira and Alexander are going to kill me. Suddenly the water seems a lot closer than it did before, and I feel panic rising up inside me.

"_Lily! Pull up! Pull up!" _ Renamon's panicked screams fill my head.

"I…I can't….." I gasp and then suddenly I'm plummeting towards the water, splaying my arms and legs about in a wild, completely undignified manner. My cape flies forwards, covering my face so I can't see,

Both of our screams fill the air and I feel a familiar sensation…my eyes widen…."OH…OH ##$$%r$&!"

The gray light surrounds us and we degenerate, me plummeting towards the ground with Renamon right next to me.

Renamon's wild eyes meet mine, before her eyes slowly close and she falls headfirst ahead of me.

"NOO!" My scream echoes through the night, absolute horror filling me at the idea of my partner being lost to that dark abyss.

"_Lily..!" Viximon licks my nose and I giggle as I hold her close to me, kissing the top of her head…._

_Renamon wraps her arm around my shoulder as I sob, the dark walls of the cell seeming to press in around us…_

_The laughter of the rest of the group surround us as I sit with my head on Tai's shoulder, Renamon and Agumon wrestling with each other, laughing as they play with each other._

…_I can't loose my friends…I'll do anything…anything…to keep them safe…._

A burning sensation fills my back and I scream as I feel like my back is being ripped open.

Something…huge tears out of my spine and uncurls…out of the corner of my eye I see what it is…black…feathery wings.

My eyes snap open and I soar down on instinct, stretching my hand out, my fingers reaching for Renamon's paw.

"HANG ON!" I scream, and her blue eyes widen in disbelief as she sees me. "…Lily?!"

My fingers reach and miss, grasping thin air. "I'm not losing you!"

Renamon's feet dangle underneath me as I struggle to hold her aloft. My lungs breathe in and out. "…Are you all right…?"

"You…you have…?!" Renamon's eyes are wide with disbelief. "You have WINGS?!"

"I can't….hold up much longer though…" I pant and Renamon nods before the grey light surronds her.

"Wait, Renamon, what are you doing?!"

"Making things easier for you…" Her voice comes out as a squeak as she shrinks. "You saved my life, I'm not going to pay you back but getting you drowned…"

"…Renamon…"

I hug her little body close to my chest as my wings continue to flap. It's such a…completely WEIRD sensation…

The feathers brush against my nose and I sneeze. "You've got to be freaking kidding me!"

And if that wasn't weird enough, the balance is difficult to keep as well. Viximon gags slightly. "Quit bouncing around and just fly!"

"I'm TRYING gosh darn it!" The wind grows stronger and I yell as I'm thrown backwards in the direction were we came from.

"LILY!"

"FOR YGGDRASIL'S…SAKE!" I scream in frustration as my wings keep slapping me in the face. "HOW DO ALEXANDER AND ANGEMON DO THIS?!"

"LILYYYYYY!"

…

"AHHHH!"

Davis' yell echoes as he and the others fall out of the air shaft, tumbling head over heels into the pile of…dirty laundry…

"Ew…" Yolei wails, as she pulls the handful of dirty underwear off her hand, an expression of complete horror on her face.

"I blame you." Cody mutters. "A laundry chute…really?"

"It's not my fault…" Davis mutters as he looks behind him and facepalms. "…"

Veemon blinks, the bra sitting firmly on his head, the strap around his nose horn. "Why? What did I do?"

"OH FOR YGGDRASIL'S SAKE TAKE IT OFF!"

"Shh…" Davis hisses and clasps a hand over Yolei's mouth, stifling her scream. "Are you trying to give us all away?"

Yolei mutters a grudging apology and Davis slowly takes his hand off. "Now come on. We have to…" His voice trails off as the sound of voices echoes towards him. "Hide!"

"What?!"

He shoves Yolei back down into the dirty laundry with one hand, Cody with the other. Armadillomon grabs Veemon and pulls him underneath. Hawkmon fusses for a bit. "Oh…I really don't thi…!" He yelps as Yolei's hand shoots upwards and grabs him by the leg, yanking him underneath all the dirty underwear just as the guards walk in.

"Man, can you believe it…"

"The scientists say by the end of the day they should be able to absorb it's magic power…" The grunt's laugh echoes so close Yolei cringes, hugging herself.

"And then we shall have the opening to the new world. Can you believe it?"

"I'm almost not sure it's just a hoax…"

"Come on. You saw those monsters fighting on the security camera? You really believe THAT is a hoax?"

"That is true…"

"You just wait. When that portal is created, we're going to have a whole freaking dimension to ourselves. Ours to rule."

Cody shudders and glances over at Davis. Davis' face is stone hard with cold fury, and Veemon keeps quetly growling under his breath.

They're both pissed, RIDICULOUSLY pissed. Suddenly the floor in front of them starts to move, and Cody has to surpress a yelp.

They landed inside a massive laundry bag and now the grunts are pushing it down the hallway.

"Once we get to the new world…" One of them mutters. "We'll never have to do menial tasks like this again."

"Yeah, I know right? The world will be our oyster. For once, we'll be calling the shots."

Yolei can tell that it's taking all of Davis' strength not to leap out and tackle these jerks, break a few of their jaws perhaps.

She knows because she feels the exact same way. How dare they speak about the Digital World as though it's just something they can waltz in and take? As if all the lives in that world don't matter to them…

Her outraged growl is thankfully muffled by the socks wrapped around her mouth, and it's a mark of how angry she is that she doesn't even care about the dirty laundry on her face.

She feels someone touch her hand and looks over to see Cody. Even though he looks just as angry as everyone else, his gesture reminds her that they must remain calm. The more worked up they got, the more worked up their Digimon would get. And all a fight here in the middle of this place would be absolute suicide.

"Hey, let's go take a peek at the thing one more time, shall we?"

"You've already seen it four times…"

"I know, I know, but I can't help it." The twisted delight in his voice makes Yolei feel sick to her stomach. "I don't care if we get in trouble, this is…this is…"  
_"They're all insane…" _Yolei thought to herself before a thought struck her. Going to go see it…that must mean what they meant by the Digiegg. That means she and the boys were on their way right now.

She clutches her Digivice harder. Tai ordered them to get the Digiegg out of there, she supposed she was stupid to think maybe they could escape without having to fight.

But she isn't going to back down. She CAN'T back down. She cares about every Digimon and she'd rather die than see these monsters take over her world.

Her hand reaches into her pocket for her Digivice and she holds it comfortingly towards her. Glancing at Hawkmon and then the others, they all nod, which is not easy when you're being pressed in by mounds of dirty laundry. When the time is right, they'll strike.

…

"HEY LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO!"

The yells are quickly muffled by another Sticky Net. Dilbert crosses his arms and smirks as the Commandromon rolls around in frustration at his feet. "Don't even bother…nice job Wormmon."

The corridor is abandoned, thank goodness. It looks like most of the guards went out to go and fight the rest of his comrades. Which means either this place has really…really poor security, or…or they're letting him and Wormmon walk around in her.

Dilbert doesn't want to think too much about that, even though it presses worriedly at the back of his mind.

He knelts down next to their prisoner. "The girl….you have a Tamer trapped here, do you not? Blink once for yes, twice for no. And keep in mind, we can tell when you lie." Dilbert lies. He presses in a code and Wormmon shines before turning into Lilithmon. "You really want to piss this…off?"

Lilithmon smiles eerily and shows off her razor sharp golden claws. The Commandromon's eyes widen and he lets out a muffled squealing noise that's almost impossible to hear.

"So…you feel like telling us?" Dilbert says with a smile. The Commandromon blinks slightly.

"Good mon. Looks like Edan's information was correct."

"You actually doubted him?" Lilithmon questions. Dilbert shrugs. "I wanted to make sure this wasn't some sick kind of trap."

"…Fair point. That's actually some logic showing through you."

"Hey, can you not act like you think I'm a total idiot?"

Lilithmon just smirks and Dilbert shot her a dirty look before muttering, "Okay, this way, hurry!"

"How about a quieter method?" She suggests dryly, scooping him up in her arms and pinning him to her chest, which would have been ridiculously awkward if it had been anyone else. But Dilbert had known her since he was too young to count to 10, and she'd known him since she'd freshly hatched out of her egg. There was absolutely no awkwardness between them now.

She teleports in a flash of light and suddenly they're inside the room where Edan downloaded what appeared to be Adelina's location.

The room is full of glass tubes, massive and stretching towards the ceiling, full with some kind of bubbling liquid.

If Dilbert had been there, he would have realized that it looked exactly like the room where the monster Kimeramon had been born.

He still feels a horrible chill running up and down his spine as he enters the room. He doesn't have to have the same abilities as Lily to sense when something pure evil is there.

Swallowing hard, he mutters, "Well this is….cheery."

"Quite." Lilithmon says, deadpan before looking over. Her eyes widen with shock. "…DILBERT!"

"Wha?"

He looks over and his own eyes widen as he sees what looks like a glass tank in the middle of the room, surrounded a hospital bed,

And strapped to that bed was….

"ADELINA!"

…

Devidramon's claws slice through the pack of Pokemon surrounding them, biting at his flanks, sending fireballs and lightning bolts at his body. He's careful not to strike any killing blows but he still growls with frustration at having to hold back like this.

The Galactic grunts are swarming like ants, fighting with the urge to punish the ones that dare struck one of their leaders down.

Tai's eyes narrow with frustration. If this kept up, they'd be forced to retreat simply because of the lack of numbers. That was not something he wanted to be forced to do—Cody, Yolei, and Davis were all still inside and BESIDES that, his pride wouldn't allow it.

It was a bloody stupid thought, but thankfully only at the back of his mind. Still, if things got much worse….he'd be forced to escape with whoever he could and get the heck out of here.

"How many ants are there?" Damien mutters, backflipping and striking an Umbreon in the face before it could sink its fangs into his calf.

Tai grits his teeth. "Too many…."

"Have Greymon digivolve." He responds icily. "Surely you realize with MetalGreymon on our hands we can't possibly loose."

"Then we could get everyone here killed! MetalGreymon's attacks aren't discriminatory." Tai's eyes flicker back over to Ryo. "What about Devidramon's Ultimate form?!"

"…" Ryo's jaw tenses. "….No. I SWORE…I'd never…"

"Ryo, what are you talking about?!"

"TAI!"

"GATOMON!"

Gatomon screams as she's pinned down by a massive Houndoom, who snarls menacingly before lunging down at her.

Tai plunges forwards just to feel his body suddenly freeze over, yelling as what he wouldn't know to be a Alakazam stood next to its trainer, moving what looked like a silver spoon.

He was thrown backwards, landing on top of Ryo, who yelled in frustration. Damien snarls as the massive shot of water hits him in the chest, the massive penguin standing loyally next to his trainer.

Greymon roars as the Nidoking slammed into him, the ground positively shaking as the ground tyrant pushed the Digimon back even closer towards the edge of the cliff.

Devidramon roars in agony as the Scyther slices across his wing, and he stumbles back, bleeding digital blood.

It looks completely hopeless for them. For all of them. Tai lifts his head, feeling the massive bruises all over him as he's suddenly lifted up once more. He feels his throat start to constrict as he looked at the Pokemon who attacked him, its spoons glowing oddly.

The trainer smirks. "Don't underestimate the power of a psychic Pokemon. Enjoy your slow death, brat…"

Tai fought desperately to regain control, gasping but not recieveing any relief. His vision starts to go spotty, his fingers going numb. Yggdrasil, was this really how he was going ti die? This was NOT how Tai Kamiya wanted to die, alone, outnumbered, and outgunned.

Suddenly there was a massive explosion, and several of the grunts scream as they are thrown backwards, rocks and rubble going flying. Tai fell face first on the ground, gasping.

"You…honestly never think anything through….Digidestined…" The disdainful, slow voice makes Tai flinch and want to beat his head against the rocks.

Repeatedly.

Oh boy.

"Oh crap…." Ryo mutters, her eyes widening as she scrambles back slightly, even Devidramon's red eyes widening in shock.

The being floating before them was like one Tai had never seen before. He was dressed in what looked like dark brown robes, with a white headdress covering up most of his face, showing only two small, yellow glowing eyes.

"…W-who is…" For once, Damien's cool composure has seemed to abandon him, as he slowly stands to his feet.

"Wisemon." Ryo mutters. "Sorcerymon's evolved form. Crap, we're so dead…."

"Or more correctly, THEY are." Gatomon says, deadpan as one of the grunts yells, "It's just another one of those monsters men! Get 'em!"

"I…wouldn't do that if I were you…" Wisemon muses. The bullets and attacks shot his way simply seem to past by him, without touching him at all.

"Yup. They're dead."

Wisemon's golden eyes narrow down to slits. "…I see. If that is how you wish to be, than fine." He clasps his hands together, and Ryo's eyes widen.

"HOLY FREAKING #%%%%%!"

The light blinds all of them, Tai hears the rest of his team yelling as he drops to the ground, wincing as he rubs against his bruised muscles again. The yells of the rest of the grunts echo, loud and terrified, and then….there's nothing but silence.

Gatomon slowly pushes herself up from the ground to see quite a few confused Pokemon standing there, all with perplexed expressions, whimpering and whining for their masters who have all inexplicably disappeared.

"Holy crap…" Tai breathes, torn between absolute boyish admiration and a feeling of sheer terror. "You…you VAPEROIZED all of them!"

Damien rolls his eyes as Wisemon says simply, :"Not so. I simply used my attack to banish the humans to another dimension."

"…"

"SAY WHAT?!"

"Not permanently…" He shrugs. "But hopefully being inside there for a bit will teach them that Digimon are not so helpless and won't simply allow them to mess with our world."

"…Well then." Gatomon mutters. Damien looks pale and for a moment Tai thinks he's just been more hurt than they thought. But no. Damien mutters something about evil, decapitated clowns and then shoves himself back to his feet. "And what exactly brings you here in the first place?" He demands coldly, eyes flashing.

"I ordered Sorcerymon to bring me here…"  
If Tai had been terrified a few seconds before, the sound of THAT voice was enough to make him about to wet himself.

"S-SIRA!"

…

The cart finally stops moving and Veemon breathes a sigh of relief. He's not sure he could have STANDED another few minutes among the jerk's delicates. It's even stinkier than Davis' room, if such a thing is at all possible.

The low hum of excited voices echoes outside them, but he can't quite make out exactly what they're saying through two layers of underwear.

Something prickles at the back of his spine, growing stronger and stronger by the minute. He shivers. He doesn't know exactly what it is, but he knows he's sensing something with extreme magic, more so than any Digimon he's ever been around. It even feels stronger than GranDracmon.

Cody is pressed close to Veemon, and the younger boy manages to carefully maneuver and shift enough laundry to peer through. "…Is that the Digiegg?" He breathes out softly. The blue light from whatever it is shines through into the crate.

There's the sound of hundreds of people clicking away on their computers, and excited voices.

"Doesn't seem like any Digiegg I've ever seen…" Armadillomon murmurs doubtfully. "I ain't never seen one that large."

Cody decides to correct Armadillomon on his horrible grammar later. His partner is right…er wrong, depending on how you interpret that sentence. That stone is so large it stretches up towards the ceiling, the blue aura surrounding it.

"…What is it?"

Davis' hands clench. "…I don't know…" He lets out a yelp as his Digivice beeps. Everyone inside the basket pales, but thankfully, the grunts don't notice. That's because they're distracted by something else. "LORD CYRUS!"

The entire room is silent except for one man's footsteps, echoing ominously. Yolei whimpers slightly as Hawkmon leans into her side in an attempt to comfort her.

"…How goes progress?"

"N-Nearly there sir…" A voice trembles as it speaks. It's obvious this Cyrus guy is the boss man, and it's just as obvious that everyone here is afraid of him.

"…Nearly?"

"W-well sir the stone seems to have been shielded….by something…cracking the protection…hasn't been easy, it….protects itself…" The voice babbles, the fear growing with every syllable.

There's silence for a moment, and then a loud scream. Yolei claps her hands over her mouth, shuddering. Thankfully the yells of whatever poor sap was being punished drowned out almost everything else, so Davis was able to wriggle around more and flip open his D-3.

The message stated it was from Ellen. His eyes widen even more as he reads it.

"_Davis. That object that Team Galactic have…it's a Destiny Stone. At all costs, you MUST destroy it. If anyone manages to get their hands on it, we're all doomed. It's better that it's gone for good."_

His heart pounds rapidly in his rib cage. Destroy it? Destroy that monstrosity? He doesn't know if they CAN. But…

"You know how important this dream is, do you not?" Cyrus' ice cold voice cut through Davis' heart like a knife. "What this object can give us? Or do you need a reminder? Have your lost your sight of the goal?"

"No…master…please…"

This guy was whacked, there was no doubt about it. But….his jaw clenches. He didn't know why this thing was so dangerous. But he knew that this monster, this creep who wanted to threaten both his world and the Digital World wanted it, and that was more than enough to piss him off.

"Veemon?" His voice comes out as a horse whisper, and Veemon's eyes flicker up to meet Davis'. Davis grins. "How would you like to blow something up?"

…

"DARKNESS WAVE"

"ROSETTA STONE!"

It was an odd sight. It really was. A LadyDevimon and a Nerfertimon fighting side by side was virtually unprecedented. Edan and Kari stood back to back as well, assessing the battle as their partners blasted anything that dared get too close to the Digidestined and Tamer.

Kari bit her lip. "…There's so many of them!"

"I know." Edan grumbles. "Even if our Digimon are more powerful, if we keep getting overwhelmed if these numbers don't die down soon…."

Huge blasts of light rain down, heavens judgement as Serpahimon levitated above, the screams if the enemy army echoing.

Stella stood behind her partner on the ledge of the mountain, her black hair flying out around her.

"We're not backing down…" She snarls. "Not in a million years…."

Kari's eyes scan the battlefield once more, and she felt the blood drain from her face. "Wait….WHERE'S ELLEN?!"

"…"

The battlefield was covered with enemy Digimon, data covering the ground, but there was no sight of the red headed Tamer or her partner.

"…"

Nerfertimon had a much better gaze with her predator senses, and a low growl escapes from her mouth as she spots a weakened Kuwagamon being swarmed by several of the scumbuckets, tearing into him the way hyenas tore into a downed wildebeest.

"BACK OFF YOU LITTLE CREEPS!" She roars, snapping her wings forwards and streaking downwards, claws unsheathing. Right before she could get to the fallen beetle, she was slammed into by a snarling Devidramon, much bigger, and meaner than Ryo's,

The two of them were caught in a vicious aerial brawl, Nerfertimon shrieking with frustration, unable to get to her downed comrade.

"NO-YOU LITTLE….!"

"KUWAGAMON!"

"Stella, wait! You CAN'T!" Edan yells, his eyes widening as he saw the older girl leaping onto the back of her partner as Seraphimon streaks forwards.

"…"

"He can do it right…" Kari breathes, desperation creeping into her voice as she clutched Edan's arm. Her eyes widen as the lackies surrounding Kuwagamon all look up, dark grins on their faces as their bodies are covered with dark energy.

"Oh no…"

"Not again…" Edan breathes, his eyes widening. "It's just like what happened with ExoGrimmon, the monsters are….MERGING…"

Stella's eyes widen with shock and horror as the dark light slowly grows, sucking in all of the other Control Spire Digimon. It becomes bigger and bigger until what's standing before her looks like a vision from hell.

The figure itself isn't that big, but the terror of his appearance more than makes up for it.

He looks like some sort of bipedal dragon, but it's hard to tell, because he's clad in menacing black armour, with swords hanging from his side, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"…Gaiomon…." Seraphimon mutters, his eyes narrowing beneath his mask.

Stella growls, anger filling her. "….Last time I needed to be the one saved…I didn't do ANYTHING for my team…that is not happening again…I swear it…GO SERAPHIMON! BLAST HIM TO SMITHEREENS!"

…

"Hurry UP Dilbert!" Lilithmon hisses as she swats away several more of the guards, her poisonus talons more than enough to keep the rest of them back.

"I'm…trying!" Dilbert hisses back, frantically pressing keys on the consul sitting right outside Adelina;s cell. "Crap, I wish Edan had come in instead of me, he's better at this sort of thing…"

He glances back up at Adelina's pale, pale face inside the tube, how she whimpers in her sleep, how the wires stick out…

A low growl escapes from his lips. "If we have to we'll just break this thing open and get her out of there!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

The voice is vaguely familiar and both he and Lilithmon jolt their heads around to see Arukenimon standing on the wall above them….yes standing on the wall. Yggdrasil only knew how she did that. Then again, she was a spider Digimon.

"You little…:" Lilithmon bared her fangs, looking like the Demon she truly was. "Either get the ##$$ out of my way, or I tear your core out with my claws, comprende?"

"Aw, so violent…"

Dilbert's eyes widen as Arukenimon turns a small device over in her hands a couple of times. ":I really wouldn't do that if I were you. One push of this button, and that cage enclosing our pet tamer explodes."

"WHAT?!"

"That's cowardly fighting…" Lilithmon seeths, her red eyes shining with disgust. Suddenly there's a choked noise and her head whips around to see Mummymon has Dilbert by the throat, his gun pointed right at her tamer's head.

Her eyes widen slightly and she curses herself for a fool. She took her eyes off her partner for one second…

"Oops. Guess there's not much you can do now, is there?" Arukenimon giggles and Lilithmon clenches her teeth in fury.

"I guess you're just going to have to sit back and watch the show. Watch as our greatest creation is unveiled."

"Greatest…" Lilithmon's eyes travel back over to the glass cylinders that are attached to the wires from Adelina's cage. Something….huge is starting to form inside there….something dark and massive….she feels a chill run up her spine simply from that dark energy.

But…it looked so…familiar….

"_WarGreymon?"_

…

My feet hit the rocky ground and I breathe a sigh of relief. Viximon rolls out of my arms and lands, shivering on the ground.

"I think I'm gonna hurl…you're the most awful ride EVER Lily."

"Well excuse me." I retort, feeling annoyance building up. "It's not exactly easy to work on my flying with you complaining all the time, you know?"

Viximon huffs, showing her disdain. "Well get some more practice in before you try that once more. I thought we were going to end up at the bottom of the ocean!"

"You WOULD have ended up at the bottom of the ocean if it wasn't for me!" I snap, my hackles raising.

"…Lily?"

"What?" I mutter as I try to shove my way into the cave enterance, only to be blocked. "Ugh, this is TINNNY!"

"Lily, for Yggdrasil's sakes, retract your wings!"

"I don't know how to do that!" I wail, struggling to get in and wincing as the big bulky black objects keep getting in my way.

Viximon groans, her ears pinning back before she's surrounded by gold light at the same time as my ring is.

"VIXIMON DIGIVOLVE TO….RENAMON!"

"You're hopeless." Renamon sighs, a smile creeping onto her muzzle as she then proceeds to bring her right paw back, it glowing blue.

"POWER PAW!"

Her fists collide rapidly with the wall of Silver Mountain, rocks and rubble falling away.

Within a few moments the area is much conviently larger. "Thanks." I mutter, still embarrassed.

"You'll get the hang of it. You just need practice."

"Shut up…" I mutter, not wanting to talk about it anymore. The minute we step inside the mountain, I sense it. An incredible magical power that makes the back of my neck tickle.

Renamon sniffs the air. "I think we sh…" Her voice trails off as I walk the other direction.

"Uh, Lils? What are you doing?"

"Shut up already." I retort, my mind focused on one thing and one thing only. I know one thing and one thing only. The egg is nearby. I can feel it. I know it in my bones and it pulls me forward like a magnet.

Renamon's ears flick forwards, confused but resigned to my weird behavior. Until she smells something else.

"LILY LOOK OUT!"

"Wha?"

My head whips around to see blue flames shooting down the tunnel towards me at full speed, and my eyes widen. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

…

"What do you mean, Team Galactic have a Destiny Stone?!" Tai gasps, years of soccor training allowing him to keep up with Sira's frantic pace.

"I….should have kno…" Sira breathes, her anger and frustration obvious. "It was so FREAKING OBVIOUS!"

"How could you have known?" Ryo, for once, doesn't seem angry at Sira. "Anymore than the rest of us! $$$&&&& I should have KNOWN Milleunimon would be stupid enough to try something like this!"

"Wait, guys, we don't understand!" Gatomon pleads, running right beside Sira's ankles. "What's the Destiny Stone?!"

"…." Sira doesn't stop running, but her voice cracks slightly as she responds with, "The only things keeping all of our worlds from destruction. And it's all…my fault…"

...

"TEMPEST WING!"

"BLUE LIGHTNING!"

"GOLD RUSH!"

The three armour Digimon all stand next to each other, all of them snarling as the grunt's Pokemon are thrown back.

"All right!" Davis yells, punching the air as the smoke fills the room. "That''s how Digimon fight, you little creeps!"

Yolei grins. "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

"Speaking of which, can we have food soon?"

"Raidramon!"

"What? Yolei was the one who brought up kitchen…" Raidramon grumbles.

Cody's eyes narrow as the smoke slowly dissipates. "…I wouldn't celebrate just yet you guys…"

"What do you…?" Davis' voice trails off as the sound of footsteps echoes ominously and a figure's shape slowly emerges from the smoke, walking calmly forwarda as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

Cyrus slowly walks through the smoke, an eerie smile on his face. Although his clothes are blackened and his hair singed, he barely seems to notice it. Somehow, that's even more creepy than if he hadn't been damaged at all.

"So…you are the little brats I've heard about…" He muses in a soft, quiet voice, that sends chills down the spine of everyone there.

Davis is standing protectively in front of Yolei and Cody, breathing hard, glowering at Cyrus with absolute contempt. "If you've heard about us than you should know that you're about to get your butt handed to you, loser…"

"Mature…" Cyrus says dryly, a mocking smile on his face. "But I'm afraid that none of you will be leaving this place alive. There used to be a day when I would hesitate at using brutal force against children…but that day is long gone. I've come too far to turn back now."

Cody growls. "You don't care about how you hurt as long as you get what you want!"

"Reality check, little boy. I'm not a good man. Of course I don't care…"

Davis snorts. "So it's all or nothing for you? That's the way you want to play?" A wicked gleam appears in his eyes. "…Fine."

"That's the only way we do things." Yolei agrees, clenching her fists and taking a step forwards. Her eyes gleam with a determination that you'd never think could be found there. She's come so very far from the terrified girl who was determined to quit.

"But you're going to regret messing with us." Cody warns in his calm, steady, almost slightly frightening way. Right at that moment you can almost forget that he doesn't like fighting. They are three warriors, unafraid, determined, and ten times stronger than any of the cowards in this room.

Cyrus slowly smiles. "….So be it." He pulls the Pokeballs out from his waist and releases all six of them in six blinding flashes of light.

One of them—a snarling dog with horns curved backwards, red eyes gleaming with hunger.

The other, a massive sea serpent, curled around Cyrus and hissing hungrily, massive fangs dripping.

One a massive bat, four wings spread outwards and face carved in a permanent leer.

Another an oversized, fat looking crow but with a menacing, sadistic gleam in its eye.

The fifth looked like some kind of weasel, claws glinting as it clang them together and stares pointedly at Cody.

The last was just as terrible looking—a giant, scaly scorpion like creature whose eyes bulged outwards, and whose poisonus tail twitched like a snake ready to strike.

"Houndoom. Gyarados. Crobat. Honchkrow. Weaville. Drapion…..Kill."

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Raidramon roars, leaping forwards, electricity building around his horn. "BLUE THUNDER!"

The lightning bolt strikes towards the Gyarados right before the Houndoom lets loose a massive stream of fire from its jaws, blocking out the attack.

Raidramon's eyes narrow as the smoke from the explosion fills the room, and the black canine suddenly leaps upwards, snarling as it rams into Raidramon.

"TEMPEST WING!"

'Halsemon's attack hits the Crobat head on, sending it spiraling out of control and slamming into the opposite cliff wall.

He smirks, but then yells in pain as a rain of dark balls strike his back and flanks, actually cracking the mask around his face.

"HALSEMON!"

The Honchkrow cackles merrily above Halsemon, before yelling as he barely dodges the dozen or so drills that are sent flying his way.

Digmon growls, crossing his arms. "All right, let's see what you little creeps are made of! GOLD RUSH!"

The Weaville darts forwards, striking each drill as its claws glow white before slicing downwards.

Digmon yelps as his arms are almost completely frozen over. "Y-Yggdrasil that's COLD!"

"DIGMON!"

Cody's panicked shriek echoes and he whirls around, eyes widening with horror as he sees his partner in the grasp of the Drapion., the tail tightening ominously around his ribs as the fangs grow closer to his head.

"CODY!"

"NO!"

With a display of courage he didn't know he had , Cody manages, just barely, to stretch his fingers down and seize his Digivice just as the creature lunges, about ready to bite the young boy's head off.

The Digivice hit the creature right in the middle of the eye, and with a squeal of pain, the Drapion rears back just as Digmon slams into it.

Cyrus' eyes narrow ever so slightly, and he whirls his head around to glare at the few grunts who try to creep forwards, reaching for their Pokeballs to help aid their boss. "Don't you dare…this is my battle, understand?" He says, his voice dripping with ice. "You just concentrate on using that thing's energy."

Davis growls as he falls back. "I cannot believe we're getting beaten by things that aren't even Digimon." He mutters, his frustration obvious.

"They are…plenty strong…" Raidramon breathes, wincing at the massive bruise on his side and burn marks on his legs. "I'd never have expected….them to be able to…"

"Raidramon!"

"We don't have time for this." Yolei hisses, her fists clenching as she sees the Destiny Stone continue to glow a bright blue. "If this keeps up…what if they actually do manage to use it's power?"

'…You guys are….forgetting something…" Cody grunts quietly as he pushes himself to his feet. "We don't need to…actually beat this guy."

"Huh?"

"…If the Destiny Stone is gone…then they'll never be able to use it. That's what Ellen said, right?"

"…."

Davis slowly grins and Yolei smiles grimly as well, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "It won't be easy."

"When are things ever easy for us?"

"…True."

"What is with all the babbling?" Cyrus says in a bored voice, as his Pokemon snicker. "Are you ready to surrender yet?"

Davis grins, and the smile is so much like his mentor's arrogant smirk it's unbelievable.

"…We are not done yet. NOW GUYS!"

"ROCK CRACKING!"

The massive earthquake knocks nearly everyone off balance. Computers and other such equipment go flying as the yells of the lackies echo.

Cyrus' Houndoom howls as he's knocked off his paws and lands on the unfortunate Weaville.

Their master is even less unfortunate as he has his giant Drapion land on him. He yells, fury in his voice. "GYARADOS HYPER BEAM!"

Gyarados snarls, the orange beam forming in its mouth as it suddenly roars and lets the massive attack fly.

The explosion nearly consumes half the base, and Cyrus' mad laugh echoes wildly. "See?! I told you it was pointless to resist my power! You should have submitted when you had the chance!"

"BOSS LOOK!"

Cyrus' head whips around and his eyes widen with horror as he sees Raidramon and Halsemon streaking towards the Destiny Stone. "NO! STOP!"

"BLUE THUNDER!"

"TEMPEST WING!"

The wind and lightning combine, creating a massive attack that strikes right down towards the Destiny Stone.

"NOOOO!"

Davis' and Yolei's face light up in matching triumphant grins as the massive lightning bolt strikes down…just as another familiar voice, full of horror echoes…

"…DAVISSS!" Tai yells as he bolts into the room. "DON'T!"

...

The figure's blue eyes are full of evil glee. "….And now it begins…." He chuckles inwardly. Better than he could have hoped. Everything was now truly in motion. And soon…his revenge would be complete.


	26. Enter BlackWarGreymon, Shademon Strikes

Chapter Twenty Six

(Hey guys! Here's hoping this chapter is liked as well, and that it clears up some of the mysteries I've been building up LOL)

Renamon shoves me out of the way just in time as the blue flames shoot down the tunnel, the heat scorching my hair, feathers, and outfit. I land hard on my butt, gasping. "T-Thanks."

The laugh that echoes is oddly...creepishly familiar. My eyes widen along with Renamon's as we look up in unison sharply.

"I knew...you would come. I know it...as well as I know myself..."

"...Holy..crap..." I breathe, my entire body seeming to grow cold. The figure standing in front of me was clad in purple armour, with high heeled boots, a staff in one hand, long, silver hair, and...a purple fox mask stretched across her face.

"Y-...you'...'re...me?" Renamon whispers. "You're...us?"

She growls, slamming her staff on the ground and making us both go flying with screams. "I AM NOT YOU!"

Renamon helps me back up to my feet, a low growl forming in the back of her throat as she stands protectively in front of me.

"You filthy fox nothing but an imposter." She rants, and the growing crazed tone in her voice is seriously starting to scare me.

"...Imposter..." My voice trails off. "Look I have NO idea what you're talking about and we really don't have time for this."

"Direct as always I see." Renamon deadpans.

"Well we DON'T..."

Her shoulders soften slightly. "Lily...you haven't change at all. I'd be willing to forgive you..."She snarls at

Renamon. "But not YOU. NEVER you."

I stand protectively next to my partner, clenching my fists. "Renamon never did ANYTHING to you. Now back off or I'll..."

"Stay out of this." Kazuhuman snaps, sending me flying again with a yell.

Renamon's teeth are bared in a more feral snarl than I've ever seen.

"Do not...EVER touch my TAMER AGAIN!" She roars before flinging herself forwards like a tigress, teeth and claws bared.

"RENAMON!" I scream her name as my Alpha ring bursts into light.

"Renamon MATRIX DIGIVOLVE TO...TAOMON!"

The figure levitating before me is one I haven't seen in a long time. A shawoman like Digimon, her robes flowing around her body.

"Haven't seen this form in a while..." Taomon murmurs, her blue eyes scanning the room. A grin forms on her face. "I could get used to..." Her voice trails off as she hears a low thud. Her head whips around to see me slumped across the floor.

"LILY!"

...

"So..." Dilbert's eyes are wary but besides that you wouldn't be able to tell how angry and frustrated he is, not to mention there's an undead Egyptian pressing a gun to the side of his head. "...You going to tell us what this is all about?"

Arukenimon tosses her white hair back.

"And WHY should I do that?"

Lilithmon's eyes narrow but Dilbert's says calmly, "Because no villain in the history of all three worlds can resist bragging about their genius plan. Come on. You know you want to."

"Arukeni I don't think the boss would like it much if you..."

"Quiet." Arukenimon snaps over at him. "Plus never call me that again." She runs a hand through her hair. "And in fact...I think I will..." She smiles. "It's not like they will escape from here right? Not alive at least..."

Lilithmon and Dilbert exchange looks from the corner of their eyes, a "why are all villains SO stupid?"

"So why do you want Adelina anyway?" Dilbert says calmly, trying not to look at his friend lying there so close to death.

Arukenimon smiles coldly. "It's simple really. The last time our master fought against the Digidestined he realized exactly how powerful your...little devices really are." Dilbert stiffens slightly as Lilithmon growls, "And? What's your point? Only a Digidestined or a Tamer can use a Digivice."

"True." Arukenimon smiles. "To make a partner digivolve when their precious human is in trouble. The device lets out a huge amount of energy that allows them to evolve and protect their human. But what do you think happens to all that energy when their partner isn't there?"

Dilbert felt a very cold chill run down his spine. Mummymon's gun presses harder against the side of his head and Lilithmon growls, her fangs flashing. She looks much like her Demon Lord counterpart with her eyes flickering red in anger.

Dilbert shakes his head imperceptibly at her.

As angry as he himself was at this STUPID situation he'd really not have his life end at this dolt's hands. That would just be TOO pitiful.

"And what exactly are you...planning...to do with this energy?"

Arukenimon slowly smiles. "Tell you what...why don't you watch for yourself?"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

The wires connected to Adelina suddenly glow a bright blue. Dilbert's eyes widen with horror as she suddenly screams and writhes, her body convulsing and thrashing but unable to break free of the torture.

"STOP IT!"

Dilbert's voice is full of horror and this time Lililthmon lets out a high-pitched shriek of absolute rage as

she plunges forwards. Mummymon yells as Dilbert takes advantage of the distraction and slams his foot down on top of Mummymon's. Adelina's screams are still echoing in his ears as he bolts towards her.

"Adelina I'm coming!"

"You're too late..." Arukenimon cackles and Dilbert whirls around to see her standing next to...his eyes widen as the cylinders slid down to reveal...

"Control Spires..." He murmurs, feeling the fear grow inside of him. "…Hundreds of them…."

"It was totally worth it." Arukenimon giggles, brushing back her hair to reveal the bald spot. "Now…"

"KUDAMON!" Adelina screams, her eyes bulging slightly. "HELP….ME….!"

…

Somewhere back in the safety of his home, Sorcerymon looks up, the motion of his patient attracting him. Kudamon moans and stirs in the little bed provided for him, a cat bed, but comfortrable enough.

His eyes flicker. "…Adelina…"

…

Stella grimaces as Gaiomon roars, slicing his blades forwards. The white streaks of light that follow the swords seem to tear through the sky itself.

Her eyes widen as the light touches the mountains, leaving deep gashes in the rocks without the swords even touching them. "…What the….?"

"STELLA GET DOWN!"

Stella lets out a strangled gasp as the sword streaks towards them-Seraphimon brings out his hands and sends out a blast of light that EXPLODES the blade.

But he doesn't see the other one that streaks from below and hits him in the calf—Seraphimon roars in pain as the white light surronds his leg and leaves a deep gash.

"NO!"

Stella clenches her teeth, glancing back to see Nerfertimon and LadyDevimon streaking towards her, their partners on their backs.

"Stay back!" She barks. "This is MY fight!"

"Are you crazy?" Kari yells back, over the sound of the roars and another explosion as Seraphimon sets off another "Seven Heavens" so powerful that it actually knocks the Gaiomon off his feet, causing him to land on his back hard, his armour smoking in several places.

But it still isn't enough, and the monster pushes itself back up, not showing any signs of exertion or pain. Of course these robots didn't HAVE nerves, physical or digital, and that, Stella reflects, was incredibly annoying.

"I'm supposed to be the one protecting you two." She growls, clenching her fists. "That's my job as Sira's apprentice to make sure the team…stays safe. And if I have to give my life to make sure that the two of you are okay, than that's what I'll do."

She yelps slightly as Edan grabs her arm. She never knew how tight his grip could be. "No one is dying hear." He says in a low voice, his eyes meeting hers with a ferious gaze she'd never seen before on his face. "You hear me?"

"But…"

"You're almost worse than my brother." Kari sighs, putting her hands on her hips. "Look I'm not budging from this spot until we kick this robot's metal behind and leave it for scrap metal."

"…"

The two Tamers stare at her blankly. "Are you…channeling Lily's spirit because she's not here right now?" Edan says carefully, unable to keep a straight face.

Kari makes a face of her own. "…You try growing up with my brother and the emblem of rebelliousness." She mutters. "Your innocence would have been destroyed as well."

"Duly noted."

"Can we get back to the point?" LadyDevimon deadpanned, rolling her eyes behind her mask.

"This isn't just your fight. This is ALL our fight."

"But….if you guys get hurt…"

LadyDevimon shrugs. "Part of the job Stella, or have you forgotten." She chuckles and Stella sighs before slowly smiling.

"But I honestly have no idea how we're going to beat that thing." Kari says, her tougher attitude fading away as quickly as it had come. "How do you destroy something that doesn't feel pain?"

"Never mind the fact you don't have a partner with you right now." Edan deadpans. "You need to stay where it's safe."

Kari scowls, looking off into the distance before sighing. "…I know. It just hurts seeing you guys have to fight alone. It makes me feel…useless."

"You're not useless Kari." LadyDevimon breaks in. "But we need to think of something fast or else we're all in danger."

"You don't need to worry about that."

The three of them all glance forwards, eyes widening as Ken and Stingmon land next to them. Ken smirks. "I've seen how this thing fights. I have an idea."

...

Seraphimon felt the tiredness begin to creep up into his limbs and cursed himself. No, not now….

He wades and deflects and dodges every single attack thrown at him, much to Gaiomon's absolute frustration. The Holy Angel hadn't reached the Mega stage for nothing. But all creatures have their points when their bodies don't want to cooperate with their strength of will. All living creatures that was. The fact that he was worried about his tamer was also another unfortunate distraction, and it was starting to cost him.

"SEVEN HEAVENS!"

The blinding flash strikes Gaiomon again, but the attack that once sent the Digimon flying now only pushes him back a few paces.

His eyes widen as he barely dodges being impaled by the sword, and as he dodges the white light, moving so fast its almost impossible to track strikes him in the back.

"ARGGGGHHHH!"

Gaiomon cackles as Seraphimon tumbles slightly in mid air- speaking words for a change. "Holy angel not so strong after all hmmm? I kill you now!"

Seraphimon's head whips back around to see the sword slicing through the air towards him again—his eyes widen slightly right before someone hits him in the gut and knocks him backwards.

"MOVE you idiot!" LadyDevimon snarls as she shoves him away, the sword slicing across her wing. Her eyes widen and she lets out a scream of pain just as Seraphimon grabs her in time to avoid her being hit with the light as well.

"What are you DOING?" He hisses, giving her a slightly rough shake. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

She shoots him a look. "Well what exactly are you trying to do?"

"…I…what is that supposed to mean?!"

"Hey, lovebirds!" Stella yells as both of them turn red around the face. "You mind actually beating this guy or not?"

Gaiomon growls as his red eyes slant. "Two more? You really think that that will make a difference?"

"Actually…yes." LadyDevimon smirks before bending her head and whispering in Seraphimon's ear. "Follow our lead…"

She suddenly spins around and doges just as the blade darts forwards again, nearly impaling her. Right before it can hit Stingmon streaks downwards and the blade changes direction, chasing after him instead.

Seraphimon's eyes widen as a slow grin forms on his face. Of course….with only one sword and three targets Gaiomon can't possibly keep up.

"Keep him busy!" LadyDevimon yells as she and Stingmon soar next to each other before suddenly splitting apart as it slices in between them.

Stingmon slices downwards in between Gaiomon's legs, the dragon panicking and almost falling over himself in an attempt to avoid getting hit by his own attack. Stingmon smirks as their enemy struggles to regain his balance, growing with outrage at the humiliation, before his eyes widen and he has to duck to avoid nearly having one of his wings sliced off.

"Hey, LOSER! OVER HERE!"

The sword stops streaking directly after Stingmon as LadyDevimon swoops in between bug and blade and climbs upwards, pounding her wings harder and harder to keep out of range of the beam of light that's chasing after her.

LadyDevimon dives downwards in a spiral motion as the sword charges down after her—she backflips suddenly with a roar of "DARKNESS WAVE!"

The bats form a shield around her, protecting their master, but it is in vain. The bright light tears them all in half and LadyDevimon screams as the light slams full force into her. Large gashes appear along her wings and she moans as she plummets towards the ground.

Edan's panicked screams echo as he races towards his partner as she's knocked all the way back to Salamon form. He leaps in mid-air and with a catch that would have made any football player proud, he hits the ground with her safely in his arms.

Gaiomon laughs loudly, a grating sound as he smirks, "Told you. No angel, fallen or good, is enough for me." His eyes narrow as sudden realization hits him. "Wait…where is the…big….uh oh…"

"HEAVEN'S KNUCKLE!"  
The ray of light shot forwards, streaking right into the back of Gaiomon. Gaiomon's eyes widen and he screams, doubling forwards onto his knees as the explosion of metal rain down on the rest of the group.

Gaiomon's eyes go dark as he collapses onto the ground, the wires and gears spilling out of the robot.

Stella stares in disbelief before slowly smiling. "…We did it…."

"WE DID IT!" Kari punches the air with her fist as Edan laughs. Stella feels the smile tugging at the corners of her lips until she too broke into delighted laughter.

Her voice cuts off as Edan spins her around slightly to face him. She stares up into his face. "….I told you we could do it." He says softly. "When we work together."

Stella slowly smiles at him and nods. "…"

"We couldn't have done it without your help Ken." Kari nudges him. "That was a positively BRILLIANT plan."

Ken shrugs, a faint blush appearing on his face. "…I just didn't want any of you to get hurt."

That was when the explosion rang out among the sky, blowing them all backwards.

…

"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!"

The symbol slices downwards and strikes Kuzuhamon in her stomach, causing her to howl as she's pressed back. She growls, looking down at the dent in her armour and then narrowing her eyes contemptuously at Taomon. "You're only an Ultimate. How are you possibly able to combat me like this?"

"Don't underestimate me just because I'm a level lower than you right now." Taomon growls, showing off her fangs.

Kuzuhamon laughs mockingly. "I'm not underestimating you because you're a level lower. I'm underestimating you because you stole my life…my identity…my par…" Her eyes flicker back over to me and she growls as my own eyes widen and Taomon stammers out a "W-what?!"

The blue flames shoot out from Kuzuhamon's staff and I scream as they strike my partner back into the rocky cave wall before she can form a shield.

"TAOMON!"

Kuzuhamon grins as Taomon moans weakly before turning her eyes on me. "Lily. Come on. Let's leave this sorry excuse for an imposter and go home…."

"LIKE ##$4$ I WILL!" I spit, scrambling over to Taomon and standing in front of her. "I don't know why you think these things but you are NOT my partner. Taomon and I have fought with our hearts binded together. I would never mistake her for anyone else. And I'll go to the Dark Area before I let…"

My voice trails off as Taomon grabs my ankle. "H-huh?"

"Lily…" Her voice comes out weaker than I'm used to, and panic runs down my spine as I realize how truly she must be injured. "Lily…you need to get out of here…"

"What?" Did she just miss my truly inspiring speech or what? "Are you insane?" I shake my head. "I'm NOT leaving you."

"You need to…find the Digiegg…" Taomon manages to push herself back up, the rubble and dirt falling off her outfit. "That's why we came here, right? If you don't…then all of this will be for nothing…"

"…But…"

"LILY!" The purple flames shoot forwards again as Kuzuhamon yells, "NEITHER of you are going ANYWHERE!"

Taomon's shield expands so quickly I don't have time to react, but it not only protects her from the attack but pushes me much farther along the tunnels out of range. "GO!" She roars.

I bite my lip, my wings and fingers twitching, fighting the desire to run back to my partner and then realizing there's no point. I'm almost completely out of energy. There's no way I could biomerge…and…let's face it…there's no way I can fight on my own. Not anymore. Swearing words under my breath that would probably make Mrs. Kamiya wash my mouth out with soap about fifty times over. "RENAMON YOU BETTER NOT DIE!"

Kuzuhamon growls under her breath as the shield prevents her from lashing out towards me again. "You can run but you can't hide…" She mutters, before she's suddenly caught off guard by the low growling.

Taomon's expression is almost feral, her pupils narrowed down to mere slits, her fangs glinting. The expression is so menacing that Kuzuhamon actually takes a step back.

"…What's the matter with you dog?"

"…You almost killed her…" Taomon's voice is low and menacing. "You could have killed Lily."

"…" Kuzuhamon's eyes narrow. "…So what? You think I'm going to let you have the power of my Tamer for yourself? Let you steal her from me? Not a chance."

"So all you want from a Tamer is a stepping stone?!" Taomon hisses.

Kuzuhamon smirks. "Isn't that all humans are good for?" She backflips over another Talisman of Light aimed straight at her chest before yelling as several chains of cards encircled around her wrists and ankles.

"WHAT THE?!"

"You scumbag…." Taomon's blue eyes narrow down to slits again, and Kuzuhamon's eyes widen as she pulls out the paintbrush once more, summoning a massive symbol of light. "You are never…EVER…touching my partner….and you want to know something?" Her eyes fixate on Kuzuhamon's. "You are NOT ME."

The light fills the whole cavern with an explosion that makes it shake all over. I glance back over my shoulder and clench my teeth before contining to run.

Taomon smiles grimly to herself as the light slowly fades. "And it ends." Suddenly her eyes widen as a purple armored fist slams forwards and hits in her face.

She yells as she's slammed upwards and into the ceiling before hitting the ground, rubble falling down on top of her as the last of her strength in this form slowly leaves her.

Taomon groans as she degenerates back to Kyubimon, letting out a low whine. Kuzuhamon laughs as she presses her boot down on the fox's head, slamming it into the ground over and over again.

"How does it feel vermin? Hmm?"

Kyubimon groans as she feels blood run down her fur into her eyes. "…Lily…."

…

Stella moans in pain, feeling the pain vibrate throughout her whole body. It even hurts just to twitch her fingers. She slowly opens her eyes, seeing Tsukaimon lying next to her, his eyes tightly closed, scrapes all over his tiny little body.

She scoops him close to her, seeing Salamon lying in a lump of unconscious puppy. Her eyes frantically scan the field for Edan and Kari, and when she sees Edan lying there, his face horribly pale, she thought for a horrible moment he might be dead.

"Ed…Edan…" She murmurs, crawling forwards and placing a hand on his chest, not daring to breathe until she feels his heartbeat underneath her fingers. The darkness crawls around her and she slowly looks up at the sky where the dark clouds block out all light.,

The horrible chill runs down her spine as the darkness seems to fill her up from the inside out. Lightning cracks across the sky. It was like the world itself was ending.

The sudden roar that cuts across the landscape makes her cringe, doubling over and holding her hands over her ears. That was NOT thunder.

Slowly looking up, all she could see were yellow eyes that gleamed in the darkness. A scream erupts from her throat as the shadows peel away enough to reveal what was standing before her. A bipedal dragon-warrior, exactly like WarGreymon, but clad in black armour, yellow hair blowing in the wind, teeth bared back in a snarl of hate.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

Her eyes widen with horror as she sees the yellow orb forming between the monster's claws, growing larger and larger with every passing second. "…What…the…?!"

"TERRA DESTROYER!" The dark creature roars, throwing the huge ball of energy over his head and slamming it down into the ground.

Stella screams, feeling the heat from the attack nearly sear her eyebrows off as she hugs Tsukaimon towards her, terrified that the last thing she'll ever see is those cold yellow eyes…

"STELLA NO!"

A hand grabs the back of her jacket and yanks her upwards—she feels cold scales beneath her hand and slowly opens her eyes. Ryo's face is ash white as she looks back at Stella. "…Please tell me you're okay."

"…Where did you come from?!"

"Well I don't know about you but when my mum and Dad fell in love…"

"Davis, I will hurt you."

"Yolei?!" Stella's head whips back around to see Davis and Veemon sitting on Devidramon's back as well. Yolei flies beside them on Halsemon, with Salamon and Edan draped next to her, stirring weakly.

"K-Kari?"

"It's okay…" Yolei says, managing a smile. "She'll be all right."

TK is holding Kari in his arms so delicately you'd think she was made of glass. She moans, her head pressed against his chest. Angemon's wings beat in position as he struggles to hold onto three people, as he's gripping Cody as well.

He practically falls on his face right onto the rock ledge sticking out, groaning slightly. "TK…you need to loose weight…" He murmurs, sounding much more like Patamon than the regal Angemon.

"Oh shut up." TK mutters. "

Kari rolls over and stares into his eyes. "…How did you find us?"

TK manages to give her a small smile. "…Good luck?"

"KARI!" Kari feels relief build in her chest as Gatomon bounds towards her at full speed, leaping into her partner's arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Kari whispers into the cat's white fur.

"Me too." Gatomon's tail whacks Kari in the face. "You idiot you're supposed to be in the hospital!"

"Eh heh…well…"

"…Remind me to strangle Lily when I get my paws on her." Gatomon mutters, and Kari laughs sheppishly, scratching the back of her head. "Er…it wasn't actually really her fault this time."

"Worry about what Gatomon's going to do to Lily later." TK says grimly. "What the heck is going on?!"

Another roar echoes, but this one is more familiar. MetalGreymon levitates in mid-air above the completely scorched earth, snarling. Kari feels a shudder run down her spine as she stares down at the blackened area. If they'd still been there, they would have been killed. Wiped out without even a trace is likely.

Tai's jacket whips around him as he stands on top of MetalGreymon's head, his brown eyes narrowed down to slits. Many enemies had taken a second look…hesitated even….at the look on the Digidestined leader's face. This was not a look that belonged on a teenager's face. This was the look of a general.

"…" It was like a scene in a horribly cliché movie. The good dragon vs the dark dragon, standing a few meters away from each other, sizing each other up.

Tai doesn't say anything. He just stares into the face of the being that looks so much like his partner, but so clearly isn't. For a minute the entire place is eerily quiet. And the silence is somehow more deafining than the loudest roar or most vicious snarl.

"WELL?!"

The ear-splitting and familiar voice causes heads to whip around so fast you'd think that they'd all get whiplash.

Arukenimon stood on the ledge, her clothes ripped and torn and smoking, her glasses broken on one lense.

Ken balls his hands into angry fists at the sight of the woman, but Ryo places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a look, imploring him to not loose his temper.

"What are you waiting for?! Blast them to smithereens! Those brats got away with the prisoner and I will not have to report another failure to the master!"

Stella allows a grin to creep over her face. It appeared as though Dilbert and Lilithmon had given Arukenimon a harder time than she'd thought previously.

The monster's eyes seem to grow colder than they were before as he slowly turns his head to look at the spider woman.

Arukenimon stomps her foot angrily. "Why are you just STANDING there?!"

"BlackWarGreymon takes orders from no one…"

The voice is low and menacing, and it sends shivers down the spine of every being that's watching this scene. He slowly turns his head and fixes his yellow eyes on Arukenimon, who freezes, her eyes widening.

"…I…"

Ken is painfully reminded of his time with Megidramon, those meancing eyes fixing on him with a strange hunger, even though this monster's expression is one of more cold disregard.

"I…" Arukenimon licks her lips. "You take orders from ME you brainless bag of bolts! I created you! You ungrateful, filthy little…"

"ARUKENIMON SHUT UP!" Tai yells, as the being lets out a low snarl and lunges at her. The claws nearly decapitate her, and she screams just as Mummymon appears from seemingly out of nowhere, knocking her out of the way.

"Are you okay Arukeni?" He whimpers, looking down at the woman in his arms. Arukenimon twitches several times, her raspy breathing the only sign of her absolute fear. She looks up into the monster's eyes that glower down at her, and the horror of this being her final moments…done in by her own creation…is almost more than she can bear.

She screams as the claws come down on them again lashing out with such speed ready to slice both of them in half-"NO!"

A metal claw seems to shoot out of nowhere and wraps around BlackWarGreymon's, yanking on him and catching the giant Digimon off guard.

"What is this…?" He growls.

MetalGreymon's low growl answers in response. "Even if these two are some of the lowest scumbags of the Digiworld, I don't think anyone deserves to die like that. Besides…I don't like being dismissed like I'm not even here…" He adds darkly, taking a step forwards.

BlackWarGreymon's own eyes narrow. "Oh I haven't forgotten about you. Just didn't think you were worthy of an opponent."

MetalGreymon growls deep in his throat, outrage obvious, as Tai's hand rests on his partner's head, trying to steady him and keep from lunging at this monster.

"…" BlackWarGreymon makes a contemptuous mocking noise. "Does your human have you so whipped that you just obey his every command?"

"You've got it all wrong." Tai says in a low voice. "He trusts me and I trust him. That's what makes us powerful." The famous Kamiya grin creeps onto his face as he slyly asks, "Do you want to see how MUCH?"

BlackWarGreymon's own eyes flash before a dark smile appears on his face. "Gladly." He growls before leaping up into the air. Both Tai and MetalGreymon tense as the roar of "TERRA DESTROYER!" echoes again as the ball of yellow light tears towards them.

"TAI LOOK OUT!"

Tai doesn't flinch as the attack tears towards them. His faith and complete trust in his partner means that he will stand by MetalGreymon till the end. Backing down is not an option. Not when his family is standing right behind them…

"I'm not afraid of you…" Tai says softly, as the symbol of his Crest on his chest suddenly starts shining a brilliant orange again.

"METALGREYMON DIGIVOLVE TO….WARGREYMON!"

"No way…" Kari breathes.

"Holy crap…." Yolei mutters, wiping her glasses off repeatedly to get a better view, her mouth hanging open.

"It's…it's…" Veemon leans over and has to forcibly close Davis' mouth.

Stella leans back, a smile forming on her face. "…What do you know? The Digidestined leader has done it again…"

The being that dodges BlackWarGreymon's attack almost looks exactly like the enemy, except he has short red hair flowing beneath his silver helmet, with gold armour instead of black, and the Crest of Courage painted on his back shield.

WarGreymon had returned.

…

"This is too creepy." I mutter, suppressing the urge to shiver as my fingertips feels spiderwebs along the walls. I had discovered, much to my dismay, that my feathers were much, much more sensitive than I would have thought. They tickled every single time they rubbed up against something—and there was a practically awful moment when one of them got caught and I accidentally tore it. I actually had to suppress a whimper. Hey, it was a little like having a fingernail badly torn. To heck with what you tough people say, that HURTS.

"…You'd better be safe Renamon…" I breathe, hating myself all over again for leaving her back there. She'd shut off the mental link between us and that scared me. It was either because she wanted to focus on the battle and not have to worry about me…or she thought that seeing her battle would really distract me.

I swallow hard, pushing on through the cavern. As much as it hurts I can't think about that right now. I have to find this Digiegg so we can all get the heck out of here and go home.

Why did I volunteer myself for this mission again? I have no idea what I'm looking for! Sira never really explained what the difference is between the Digegg I'm hunting down and the ones the kids have….she didn't have time.

Around another tunnel, and I want to scream as I see the path diverges into three separate directions. Great. Just GREAT. Now which way do I go?

I stand there for a minute, letting my frustration and anger building up in me before something else tugs at my chest.

"Huh?" I glance down the middle path. Something seems to be….calling at me, urging me forwards. A spark of slight fear hits me. After all it's usually not a good idea to follow creepy sensations. What if this is some kind of trap?

But….it doesn't…feel like that. "This is absolutely crazy." I mutter as I walk down the pathway. "If I end up getting murdered down here Sira's going to kill me."

My footsteps are the only sounds in the dark passage. But for a moment, I thought I saw the shadows along the wall…move oddly.

I back up frantically, wincing as I bang my wings into the rocky wall. "Who's there?!"

There's no answer….and I scowl, cursing myself for being a complete chicken. Heck, if Gatomon saw me right now she wouldn't stop teasing me for decades.

…Gatomon…I didn't know what had happened to her or Kari either. I bite my lip hard, letting the pain distract me from the worry that plagues at my heart. Suddenly I see a low, golden light start to grow bigger and bigger as I walk forwards.

My breath quickens as the light gets closer and closer. I feel this…odd sort of warmth rising up inside of me as I enter the cavern.

"…Holy crap…"

The golden Digiegg sits there, glowing. It's shaped like nothing I've ever seen before, a round ball on a pedestal with a feathery wing forming from the top.

But it's familiar, and I know from where. Disbelief turns to outrage and fury at myself. "I am so STUPID." I hiss as the flashback of Magnadramon and Davis saving us from Megidramon enters my mind. "Davis has had one all along! YGGDRASIL CURSE IT!"

"Did he really now?"

The voice is familiar but still shocking as that's the last person I expect to be in here with me. I whip my head back around to see….

"…Ellen?" She smiles, inclining her head slightly.

"Hello Lily."

"W-w…what are you doing here? I thought you left with the others."

"…I did. I came back to help you."

"…How did you know where I was?"

Ellen giggles. "By tracking your alpha ring you silly goose. That's how I knew where Adelina was too."

"…." My brain is screaming warnings at me, a truth I don't, CANNOT face. "A-…Adelina?"

"Of course. That's how I told the boss, and he told those two idiots exactly where to go." She scowls. "But they couldn't even get the one simple thing right and get the Alpha ring along with her. Morons. I don't see why he had to even bother creating them when he had me."

"…But you…" My voice cracks slightly as she plays with her red curls, wrapping them around her finger like I've seen her do a hundred times. "…Ellen I don't…" I take a slight step back. "I don't…understand why would you…"

"Hmm? You really don't understand? Simple, naïve girl, I'd have thought you'd at least gained some intelligence in the past 14 years."

My hackles slowly start to rise as something moves in Ellen's irises, and I see her shadow ripple oddly.

"…Who are you?" I growl, feeling my anger rise. Something in my brain recognizes this person from the start, and I'm filled with a feeling of hate. "How do you know me?"

"What? You don't remember? We met before. Aww I'm hurt…."

_Being yanked along against my will not able to control my own feet screaming silently for Daddy because my mouth won't move finally managing to slam my body down and scrape both my knees and get a lump on my head as my hands drag me forwards._

_Staring up into the walls of the castle as his face smirks down at me before I loose consciousness that woman's laugh playing over and over inside my head._

Ellen—no not Ellen—laughs loudly and mockingly, tossing her head back. Her eyes widen suddenly just as my hands wrap around her neck and I THROW her bodily into the wall.

She yells, dropping down to the floor, looking up in slight alarm as I drop my Glam, revealing a snarling star, markings shining in the light, fangs bared.

"….You're the one who stole me from my family." I breathe, the rage like a monster inside my chest, howling, wanting to be let loose and to tear her apart. "You're the reason I was stuck with Myotismon. You're the reason I was a slave for SEVEN…no…no…it was longer than that…you…honestly think….that you're going to leave this room alive now?"

Her eyes widen right as I leapt for her again.

…

Kyubimon moans, barely having the energy to move as she hears Kuzuhamon's laugh once more, the staff pointing ominously right at her head.

"You honestly thought you could really beat me?" Kuzuhamon laughs. "Now it's clear to the both of us who deserves a partner and who doesn't. Because I am strong when you're just a sniveling little wench that tried to ruin everything!"

The flames shoot down from her staff again but Kyubimon's eyes snap open. Using the last of her strength, she leaps up, her entire body covered in flames.

"What the?!"

"DRAGON WHEEL!" Her blue flames mix with Kuzuhamon's, and Kuzuhamon's eyes widen as the snarl vixen tears through the flames, claws and teeth bared.

She doesn't have time to react as Kyubimon's claws tear right through her already almost gone armour and into her chest.

She lets out a choking noise as Kyubimon rips her claws free, exposing the wires that her chest was filled with.

Kuzuhamon stares down at her body…her robotic body…then slowly lifts her head to stare up at the Digimon pinning her to the ground. She doesn't fight back this time. She just accepts what she's been denying ever since she woke up in that tube.

She's not real.

Kyubimon growls low in her throat before lunging downwards.

…

Kari screams as the explosions keep up behind them, with the force of massive bombs. Nerfertimon's muscles tense underneath in reaction as she yells, "Don't look back!"

"But we can't leave them!" Tai yells, straining to get back to his partner. He's completely livid about being forced to leave WarGreymon behind like this, but Kari forcibly yanked him on.

"We have too!" Nerfertimon shouts, beating her wings harder and faster. "I know you're worried about your partner but we don't stand a chance against either of them!"

"TERRA FORCE!"

BlackWarGreymon snarls as he tears forwards, his massive claws lacerating the giant orb and keeps going, ready to stab WarGreymon right in the heart.

But his attempts are foiled as WarGreymon blocks the attack with one of his own claws. The clang echoes for miles and BlackWarGreymon snarls, pressing downwards and then makes a choking noise as WarGreymon's other claw hits him in the shoulder.

The two of them pull apart from each other slightly, both of them glaring daggers, the low growls echoing .

BlackWarGreymon's eyes flicker back towards the fleeing children and he growls.

"You aren't going to be able to hurt them." WarGreymon growls, his entire body still glowing slightly orange just like the marking on Tai's chest.

"…Oh really?" BlackWarGreymon asks, a hint of a smirk appearing on his metallic face as he suddenly slashes outwards again. WarGreymon moves to block but the move was a feint. BlackWarGreymon twists his body so he's aiming for the kids.

WarGreymon's eyes widen in horror and alarm as he roars, "NO!" slamming forwards to try and block the growing Terra Destroyer only to be hit directly in the stomach with it.

"WARGREYMON!" Tai's horrified scream echoes over and over again in his head as he plummets towards the Earth, his entire body smoking as he degenerates back to Agumon.

"_I….lost…."_

…

I scream as the shadows lace into my body sending me flying head over heels and into the wall opposite.

The girl that's not Ellen laughs and lowers her hand. "How pathetic." Chills run down my spine at how creepy that voice sounds—like it's Elllen's but…echoing…mixed in with another voice entirely. "You don't even have any powers. How can you possibly hope to defeat me?"

"Don't…underestimate me…just yet…" I breathe, pushing myself back upwards and then screaming in pain as the darkness fills my body again, nearly bending me over backwards.

She rolls her eyes before kicking out at me, a cruder move that embarrassingly enough catches me off guard. I yell as my jaw vibrates with pain and then she aims punch after punch at my face, me frantically dodging each one.

It's been too long since I was involved in a real fight like this, plus I'm afraid to go all out. Ellen's eyes stare back at me and the fear of hurting her is even greater than my desire for revenge.

"_Renamon hurry…." _I plead mentally over our link but her signal is so weak I can barely feel her. I'm on my own here.

Suddenly her leg lashes out again and I trip, landing embarrassingly on my back as I let out a yell of pain and surprise.

Not-Ellen smiles dangerously down at me and the feeling sends goosebumps down my spine—"…You know that I can possess more than one person at a time right?" She chuckles. "And I think your body might be a lot more fun to play with than this one. Just like old times, right?"

"Get…off of me…."

She smirks once more and then screams as a jet of water shoots forward from nowhere, nailing her between the eyes and sending her flying.

"…Honestly…getting in trouble again…"

"S-SIRA!"

…

"Agumon…AGUMON!"

"Tai, are you completely crazy!" Nefertimon shrieks as Tai crouches before springing onto the rock ledge below. He stifles his yell of pain as he lands heavily on his side—he's sure he cracked a couple of ribs even though he can't have fallen more than about a dozen feet.

Wincing in pain he slides down the side of the cliff, the only thought in his mind a desperation to get to his partner.

"TAI! COME BACK!"

BlackWarGreymon stares blankly down at the little weak Agumon lying unconscious on front of him. "…So this is the strength of the so-called Digidestined partners…pathetic…."

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Agumon's green eyes flicker open as Tai shoots forwards. "Tai….Tai….no don't…."

"Agumon!"

Tai drops to his partner's side and glowers up at BlackWarGreymon. "…."

BlackWarGreymon stares back down at Tai for a bit, his yellow eyes narrowing down to slits. "…Why do you waste your time? You know there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Tai doesn't answer and simply keeps glaring at him. Kari is screaming her brother's name over and over again as Stella shouts, "Is he COMPLETELY CRAZY?!"

"I ask myself that question every single day…" TK groans before facepalming.

"Well do something before that monster ends up squishing him flat!"

BlackWarGreymon growls low deep in his throat at these words but he doesn't take his eyes off Tai. "…I'm not interested in killing you, but I will if you keep protecting him."

"Than I guess you're going to have to kill me." Tai's voice is soft but resolved—he's not backing down.

BlackWarGreymon stares at him for a moment. "…You are….an unusal human…but you made your last mistake by getting in my way."

"Tai please…run…" Agumon chokes out. "You idiot…"

Tai's grip tightens on his partner, his brown eyes showing no fear, only determination as BlackWarGreymon leaps up into the air, the orb glowing between his claws once more. "TERRA….DESTROYER….!"

"TAI NO!"

The orb casts an ominous shadow among the two of them, Tai and Agumon staring into their deaths.

"TAIIIIIIIIII!"

The black shadows suddenly swirl up around Tai and Agumon before bursting forwards, slamming into BlackWarGreymon and sending him flying backwards.

"Honestly Kamiya there is absolutely no limits to your stupidity."

"…Gran…GranDracmon?!"

…

Not-Ellen scrambles back to her feet, her wet hair dangling around her face, coughing. A hand grabs mine and pulls me back to my feet, as Sira crosses her arms in front of her chest. "Idiot…."

"Shut up." I grumble.

"Where exactly is your partner? How naive are you to think that…" Her voice trails off as she stares at my back. "…Lily."

"Uh huh?"

"You have wings."

"You just noticed that?"

"Yup."

"Not to interrupt this conversation…" The Not-Ellen says acidly. "But we were in the middle of something, were we not?"

Sira's eyes narrow down to slits as she says with calm, cold control, "Yes…we were. Let's see. In the course of the past few weeks, you've done what? First, you POSSESSED my older sister, using her body as though it's nothing more than your personal tool. Second of all, you USED my sister to gain my trust and it was because of your actions that one of my tamers was kidnapped and had Yggdrasil knows what done to her. Your actions caused me to doubt my own tamers, caused them and the Digidestined to mistrust each other. And then I find you cowardly attacking my BABY SISTER. You really have no idea whatsoever you've done."

"Holy crap…" I breathe, feeling the energy spike up along Sira with such intensity that it nearly makes me wet myself. I swallow and take a few steps back. Sira's eyes flicker from red to gold—the gold of the sea goddess Kyogre.

Not-Ellen suddenly looks a lot less confident as she takes another step back. "I….you…." She begins before spitting out angrily, "You think that's going to be enough to intimidate me? Shademon? Myotismon's loyal liteunant?"

Suddenly her limbs freeze together and she's yanked in the air without Sira even touching her.

"Let me shut you up, shall I?" Sira asks, deadpan, one hand raised.

My eyes widen. "…Holy crap…you're not actually…"

"Lily, remember what I once told you? About how the human body is more than 70% water?" Sira turns her head and smiles at me. "When you weild the orb of Kyogre any water is simple enough to control. With practice."

"But…." Yes, she told me that. She also told me that she almost never uses it because it's not that easy to control and she can't guarantee that permanent damage won't be done to the person she's using it against.

Ellen gasps for breath as she tries to reach for her throat, choking as her legs kick out frantically. My eyes widen. "Sira, you have to stop!"

'Lily, shut up."

"No, seriously, you're going to kill her! She's not as strong with that thing inside her body! You can't actually…"

"Lily, what am I supposed to do?!" Sira snaps, whipping her head back around and shooting me a stare. "If I have to choose between Ellen dying…or her being possessed by that thing for the rest of her life…which do you think she'd want me to do?"

"…" I swallow hard. I know what Ellen would be saying right now if her voice was her own. I know what any of us would say in this situation. That death was preferably to being forced to work against our comerades, to kill our friends and loved ones. Still the pale look on Ellen's face twists my heart.

Then my eyes widen. "SIRA LOOK OUT!"

The blast of dark energy that shoots forward nails Sira right in the chest, sending her flying into the ceiling above, with such force that large cracks form on impact.

I scream Sira's name once more as she collapses, watching in horror, unable to move as the stalagtites shake above her before slamming down towards her.

Sira manages to turn—her eyes widen-

"SIRA NO!"

Ellen's laugh echoes, triumph obvious. "You little witch…you honestly thought beating me would be that easy…."

"S-Sira…" I breathe, staring in horror at her slumped body, the smell of blood in my nose.

"What are you going to do now little star?" Ellen smiles. "…Now you're really…alone."

"….YOU…..!" My wings snap out behind me as the roar escapes from my lips, and I slam into her at full force, whipping around and slamming her into the ground, my blinding rage the only emotion driving me.

The shadows wrap around my ankle and lift me bodily off her, before slamming me down onto the ground over and over again.

I surpress a scream as the tears of pain reach my eyes, the dark shadows lashing out like whips onto my back.

"Pathetic…"

"GAHHHH!"

"Stupid…"

"STOP IT…!"

"Weak…."

"YO-ARRRRRGGHHHHHH!"

"Did you honestly think that you could ever possibly beat us? No matter how powerful the light the darkness always sneaks back in…and overcomes it."

The force from the blows knocks the one Pokeball from my waist and it explodes into light.

"TAICHI" The black links wrap around my body like chains, burning into my body the more I struggle as I howl, "ALEXANDER! SOMEBODY!"

Ellen laughs. "Go ahead. Scream. Nobody can hear ARRRRRGHHHHHH!" She suddenly screeches, holding her head in both hands and dropping to her knees.

"…Wha…the…."

"MAKE IT STOPPPP!" She screams, twisting around. I slowly turn my head around and my jaw drops. "…R-Ralts?!"

Ralts' whole body is surrounded by a purple light…and she's using some kind of ridiculously powerful Psychic attack.

Her little hands stretched out in front of her she growls, "_Nobody hurts my trainer. NOBODY YOU ##3%%%%%!"_

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" The shadows surround Ellen's whole body and she drops to her stomach, howling as the dark shadows lift upwards.

I balk slightly at the creature that rises up out of Ellen's body. It's like a dark shadow, but with…eyes. Dozens and dozens of red eyes. It's whole data flickers slightly as the voice echoes everywhere, "_You….you can't…."_

"I think you'll find we can." A familiar voice echoes, and Kyubimon steps into the room, her paws and tails flaming. "You honestly think after what you did you can expect mercy from us? Don't make me laugh."

"Finish it Kyubimon!"

The blue flames surrounded her entire body as she charged forwards, filling the entire cavern as she roars, "DRAGON WHEEL!"  
The monster's scream echoes as the flames tear into the shadows—the pupils bulge as it is torn straight in half.

"L-Lily?" Kyubimon runs over to me, her nose pressing into my face as she licks my cheek. "…Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" I wrap my arms around her neck and give her a tight hug. "Thanks to you and Ralts, I'm fine."

"_Don't mention it." _Ralts says with a smirk. _"It was fun."_

Kyubimon arches an eyebrow as she looks over at the little Psychic Pokemon. "You know I still say you are one twisted, weird little creature. But….thank you for holding that thing off until I got here."

"_EXCUSE ME?! I didn't need your help! I had it all covered and then you butted in and stole my thunder!"_

Kyubimon growls, baring her teeth. "All right you little brat, that is SO-"SIRA!"

The two of them both stop glaring at each for a moment as they take in my pale face as I bolt towards Sira.

"Is she…okay?" Kyubimon says, taking one step forwards, her paw still raised, her tails drooping.

I crouch down next to her body, which seems smaller than usual, and shudder as the scent of blood fills my nose. Please don't let her be dead….please don't let her be dead….

Suddenly a hand reaches up and slaps me across the face so hard it nearly gives me whiplash. I cringe and rub my cheek. Looking down, a shiver of fear runs down my spine as I see those red eyes glowering at me.

"…You…are…such an idiot…." She growls through clenched teeth.

I manage a smile of relief, even as my cheek continues to sting. "…I know…I know…."

The glow starts to shine behind me, casting golden light on both me and Sira. I slowly turn my head, as Sira sighs. "…At least Ellen's all right…and despite the best efforts of that monster we finally have a Digiegg."

…Oh boy. "Um…Sira…."

"Keep in mind I am mad at you already, so you might want to choose your next words very VERY carefully."

"Er…okay. I'm just going to spit it out. Davishashadoneofthegoldendig ieggallalongpleasedon'tkillme!"

"…WHAT?!"

…

BlackWarGreymon;s yellow eyes narrow with contempt as he glowers at GranDracmon, who just arches an eyebrow and slowly smirks.

"You honestly think you can beat me?" GranDracmon drawls, spreading his hands out beside him. "I wouldn't be so naieve."

"You are extremely arrogant, aren't you?" BlackWarGreymon growls, his claws flexing as though he'd love nothing more than to rake them across GranDracmon's face.

"Yes. Yes I do." GranDracmon smirks.

"At least he doesn't try to deny it." Nerfertimon sighs, as Kari facepalms.

The black shadows form around BlackWarGreymon, and he leaps upwards before the blast can strike him in the core. He growls, spinning downwards and slices through them with his claws.

GranDracmon's eyes widen slightly and he grins. "….You know this might actually be fun. I was just playing around before but…" The chittering of bats fills the air as his flock is summoned around him. "Go."

BlackWarGreymon roars, slicing downwards, but the bats dodge each one of his swipes—one of them takes out several but his eyes widen in disbelief as they refoem before his gaze. For once in his brief life, BlackWarGreymon feels the emotion….of fear.

"You sure you want to keep doing this?" GranDracmon asks in a low voice, and his head whips around to see the vampire levitating in front of him.

BlackWarGreymon snarls, about ready to lash out, but GranDracmon just raises an eyebrow. "You know you can't possibly beat me, you don't strike me as that stupid."

"How d-"Let me finish." GranDracmon says smoothly, holding up a hand. "I know evil. I've been evil. You're not evil. So here's my question…do you even know what you want?"

"….What…?"

GranDracmon sighs. "You really are epically stupid. I'm going to do you a favour and remove you from the premises before you do something you'll regret later." He waves his hand again, and, completely catching BlackWarGreymon off guard, the black tendrils wrap around his ankles and drag him downwards.

BlackWarGreymon roars with rage and struggles to break free but to no avail. He continues to be dragged downwards and Tai and the others watch in disbelief as the ground swallows up around him.

"What….the…."

"Did you just kill him?" Cody gasps, his eyes wide with horror.

GranDracmon snorts. "Although it would solve me a lot of headache…no." He cups his jaw in his hand as TK growls, "You should have.."

"Hmm?"

"TK…?"

TK grits his teeth. "That thing is just another one of Arukenimon's evil creations. It would have killed Tai and Agumon in cold blood along with the rest of us!"

"…"

"Don't be to sure about that…." GranDracmon sighs before a voice shouts, "TADDEO!"

"LILY!"

I smile weakly as Tai runs towards me, I bury my face in his chest without really thinking about it. His arms wrap tightly around my shoulders and I don't move for a while. I just want this moment to last forever. I'd nearly been murdered about five times over in this darn scenario. I'd seen friends fall in battle and feared that I would loose everyone I loved. But right here…finally…finally…I feel that everything is going to be ok.

"LILLY!"

I look back over and see the others charging towards me—more particulary, Gatomon charging at me, her blue eyes blazing.

….Oh crap. I'm DEAD.

….

"So will Adelina be okay?" Yolei asks softly as we all collapse on the couches of Michael's living room.

Dilbert nods, his jaw setting. "No thanks to me."

"How long are you going to beat yourself up about that?" Kari demands, twisting her head around to stare at him. "We all failed. If more of us had been there maybe we could have been able to help you and Lilithmon."

"We let out pettiness get in the way." Hawkmon murmurs sadly, his feathers drooping sadly. "If we had stood together, been more organized, trust each other more…"

"They played us all." Tai growls. His fists clench. "The whole thing was a set up to trick us into destroying the Destiny Stone."

"And what I really can't believe…." Stella growls, slowly twisting her head around. "Is that WE HAD A FREAKING DIGIEGG ALREADY!"

"II SAID I WAS SORRY!" Davis yells, ducking as though a bomb has been loosed, his hands over his head as Veemon cringes back from Stella's wrath.

"Don't blame them." Sira sighs, her hand on her forehead as she massages her temples. She has bags under her eyes and she looks absolutely exhausted. "I should have known….from what I heard from Lily about Davis and Magnamon but I wasn't sure…I had no proof…."

"What do you mean?"

"She means that there are dozens of Digieggs—like the one you used to create Flamedramon, like Digmon's…" GranDracmon responds, leaning back into the couch. "And we had no idea if this was one of the special ones….if we'd seen it we would have known…"

"It's not your fault, Sira.," Gatomon says comfortingly. "You were distracted by GranDracmon's life was in danger. Nobody blames you for not being able to think about other things."

"…Still…"

"Come on, Walker." Ryo says, rolling her eyes. "We said it ain't your fault so get over it already. None of us were being completely honest with each other. We all screwed up."

Sira sighs. "….I screwed up more than you guys can imagine…this whole mess with the Destiny Stones…it's all my fault."

Tai stares at her, her slumped shoulders, and the way her head is lowered. He's never seen Sira look like this, ever.

"…What happened?"

"Riona…" GranDracmon walks over and holds her close to him, resting his chin on top of her head.

"…You know you can tell us right?" Kari asks, her tone gentle. Stella nods. "Boss, there's no way we'd ever look down on you. You're the one who helped me be the tamer I am today."

"You heard her Bossy-pants." Dilbert teases, his face softening. "…Spit it out…"

"…"

"…Do you guys know why the Pokemon world, Digital World, and human world are all connected?"

"No?" Davis offers and Yolei rolls her eyes before whacking him upside the head.

"All of them were created by Drasil's family."

"Whose Drasil?" Cody asks quietly. Gatomon's tail flicks back. "….The original God of the Digital World. He died a long time ago, but…we don't know how."

GranDracmon flinches slightly and Sira sighs. "The Pokemon world was created by Drasil's father…Arecus. He's our God, what we named the Pokemon after in his image. And the Earth….your world…was created by Drasil's sister."

There's stunned silence for a moment and Yolei murmurs, "So they're really is a god in our world….I can't believe it…."

"When Drasil died, he was absorbed into the Digital World." GranDracmon says flatly, looking over his shoulder. "So that he could protect it even after death. He literally is the Digital World now. When Sira and I first became partners….however…something went wrong with the Digital World's balance. Digimon that died…refused to stay dead. There was only one way to connect the balance….to restart the Digital World's system….and that was either my death…as I'm directly connected to it as well….as the God of the Underworld….or Chrono's death…as the God of Time…."

"…Chronomon sacrificed himself for GranDracmon's sake…" Sira says softly. "For the Digital World's sake…" She closes her eyes. "But when he did so….we lost control of time."

"Whoa, whoah, WAIT." Tai says, pushing himself upwards. "What do you mean you lost control of time?"

"I mean time sped up, at a ridiculously dangerous pace." Sira snaps, looking over at him. "Versandi was nearly completely destroyed. The only thing that saved your world…mostly…was Yggdrasil creating the Destiny Stones."

"The Destiny Stones kept the malfunction in." GranDracmon says flatly. "But when they're destroyed….the time problem speeds up again. That's what's destroying the barrier."

"…I don't follow." Veemon says flatly.

Gatomon's fur is standing straight up. "It's like that fish I got last month and hid behind the fridge. It was good for a while but then when it got old it tasted absolutely disgusting. And turned green."

"…You did what…." Kari groans, facepalming.

"So…what you're saying is…"

"If the Destiny Stones are destroyed, time will speed up, and the barriers themselves will begin to age." Sira says flatly. "They're not immortal. Milleunnimon means to destroy the only protection we have, break the barriers, and collapse all the worlds…..And it's because I let Chronomon die…."

….

"Damien, are you feeling okay?" I sit on the bed, as Damien smiles weakly over at me. His side is banagded up as well as his arm.

"It's fine….it's not like this is the first time I've ever gotten injured. Besides, do you really think some injury Team Galactic causes me is going to keep me in bed forever?"

"Ooh, big tough guy huh?" I laugh, and he smirks, cocking an eyebrow at me. "It's nice to have my own personal nurse here though."

I roll my eyes and continue redressing his wound again. "Don't make me slap you."

"Now if only you were in one of those out-OWWW!"

I smile innocently, finishing spraying the healing medicine Vincent gave me on his cuts. "I'm sorry, does that sting?"

"You are a vindictive woman…." He groans. Silence fills the room again and he slowly asks, "…Are you going to be all right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know…you feel guilty…for not realizing that the Digiegg Davis found was one of the ones Sira was looking for. It's not your fault she wasn't completely truthful about it."

"I still should have known…" I mutter. "I mean how obvious can it get?"

"Did you see him get the Digiegg?"

"No…I never saw it again. So all of them are golden, like Magnamon's evolution?"

"Apparently…look." He pushes himself upwards. "All of the Digieggs were used by the first Digidestined."

I blink. "Really? Like, directly?"

He nods. "But what makes the Golden Digieggs special is that those were the Digieggs used by the three leaders. They're ridicously powerful. That's why Milleunimon wants them…to use them to break free from his prison."

"I know that…" I mutter. Slowly looking into his gray eyes I ask, "…If these Golden Digieggs are so special…does that mean that something about Davis is special?"

He closes his eyes. "…Maybe. I don't know." His fingers wrap around my wrist and I look up, startled, into his eyes. "…I do know…that you and me…we're not like the others, right?" He smiles. "We'll figure it out."

I manage a small smile back. "Thanks Damien….'' Before yawning.

"…You're tired…get some sleep…"

The living room is now quiet, absent of all the rest of life. I know the rest of them are probably just as worn out after this hellish experience as I am. Shuffling towards the couch, I collapse. The darkness seems oddly warm and embracing. It's nice to just not think about anything for a while.

Plus it helps with the pounding headache I have, that simply won't go away. I groan, pulling a pillow down over my eyes.

It can't be that much longer when the breeze wakes me up. It's far chiller than I expected, and I slowly push myself upwards, ready to shut the window. That's when I realize I'm not in my bed. I'm in the middle of an abandoned field….the grass is sticky with something I don't recognize…

"W-what the heck?"

My eyes scan the area and I stare in disbelief. A village stands before me…or what…used to be a village. Roofs have been torn off and blasted. Massive holes line the street. Rubble is scattered everywhere. Fire licks the area around me.

I slowly look down at my hands…they're stained red…red with Digital Blood. "…Wha…what?! TAI! TAI!"


	27. Hello America, Monster in the Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Author's Note-Hey you guys! Hope you like this chapter. There's not much action but there will be plenty of side-splitting hilarity. At least I was cackling during writing half of it. Anyway I've got a new schedule here so hopefully I can get chapters out sooner!)

"What the….what the HECK?!"

My vision seems to blur before me as I stagger weakly around, taking in the scene of total destruction with a sense of growing horror.

How the heck did I get here?! One minute I was in the comfort of Michael's warm couch, the next minute…

"Tai…?" My voice cracks. "Sira? Kari? Where am I?" My lower lip trembles as the breeze picks up and everything just seems so cold. Above all I'm tired…so horribly tired as though I'd just been forced to run the mile at track again.

"ANYONE?!"

I step on what looks like a wooden plank, and it cracks. Slowly I pull my foot off and stare down at the burned piece. I can make out a few letters, along with a picture of a smiling group of Digimon. My throat clogs up as I whisper, "Oh…Yggdrasil…" My eyes scan the area again and I fought the urge to hurl violently at the death and destruction. "Who would possibly…how could anyone…?"

"…"

The sound of footsteps echoes behind me and I whirl around, growling, only to see Damien standing there a look of worry and fear on his face. "Lily, are you all right?!"

There was so much I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. No, did I LOOK like I was all right, did I look like everything was fine?

But seeing that destroyed village has knocked all of the wind out of me so all I can do is whisper, "…No."

Damien wraps his arms around my shoulders, his jaw tight."…It's going to be all right…"

"What….what happened I don't…."

"I don't know either." Damien sighs, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't in the house."

"….I-….I don't remember…." My voice trails off, and I shiver again. He hugs me, a gesture that's very un-Damien like and only serves to freak me out further.

I pull away from him quickly and something passes in his eyes before he says firmly, "We'll figure out what's going on. I promise."

"…I've got to tell Sira about this…" I mutter, massaging my temples.

"…You sure she won't think you were…."

"That I was what?"

Damien looks away. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Damien…"

"It's just…." He bites his lower lip. "You don't think she could possibly believe that…you…had something to do with this, do you?"

My jaw practically drops open. "…Are you freaking kidding me?"

"I know, I know, it's stu-"Sira would never believe I'd do something like this!"

Damien shoves his hands in his pockets and looks away. "…You're lucky…" He murmurs. "Not every human has been so good to us…."  
I press my hands to my forehead,feeling the pounding sensation growing again. I stumble forwards and Damien grabs my shoulders, holding me steady. "Come on. Let's go home…"

…

Adelina's pale face crinkled slightly in pain again as she rolls over in distress, the nightmares filling her brain. The soft whimper escapes from her lips and Kudamon presses himself closer to his partner.

"Will she be alright?"

Vincent sighs as he brushes his hair back from his face. "Physically she's stable. But…it might be a while still before she wakes up. And then there's the mental trauma she's certainly suffered."

Sira nods and sighs, lowering her head. "…I should never have even let her go out alone…."

"Don't say that Riona. What could you have done? Assign each of your tamers their own personal group of soldiers to protect them? She had her partner with her. That should have been enough."

"You're right." Kudamon mutters. "It should have been enough. I should have been able to protect her."

"I really have had enough." Vincent snaps, looking at both of them. "Riona, you should have the common sense to realize you can't always be there for your tamers. And Kudamon, you should not make the assumption that you failed your tamer somehow. Word of advice. Sometimes life simply lets you down. The point is, will you have learned from it?"

Sira sighs. "…That sounds exactly like the same talk I told Tai not long ago."

Vincent smiles dryly. "It's a lot easier to talk to people about their issues when you're not the one going through them."

Sira nods and closes her eyes. "I know I know…" She glances down at Adelina again and sighs. "I just hope that….that this sinking feeling…will leave me soon,…."

…

Yolei yawns and stretches, walking out of the bedroom. She frowns as she sees everyone crowded around the kitchen table.

Tai and Agumon are on their fifth set of Michael's pancakes, inhaling the sweet sugary breakfast foods at a ridiculous pace.

"The boys aren't normal." Stella says deadpan. "They're bottomless pits."

Both of them glare at her, syrup dripping down their faces. Kari giggles. "I think you've got something on your face brother."

"Shnhshbdn." He grumbles.

"I'm just saying, why can't you be more like Edan? At least he eats like a human being."

"Uh…leave me out of this." Edan says quickly, lifting his glass of orange juice to his lips and sipping.

"Where's Davis?" Yolei questions, pushing her eyesglasses up.

"Why?" Wormmon's beak stretches in a grin. "Missing your boyfriend?"

Yolei's eyes narrow. "Don't make me get the fly swatter…."

"Eeesh. Can't even make a joke."

Ken's Wormmon stares at her in a sort of stunned disbelief. "…I can't believe you look so much like me and yet are completely different."

Gatomon gulped down an entire fish, and Kari makes a face. "For breakfast? Really?"

"You can never have too much of fish." Gatomon says with all seriousness and Patamon, who was sitting next to her, brought up his paws to his nose with a squeal of "Ewww! Fish breath!"

"Oh yeah?!"

TK has to duck as he enters the kitchen to avoid being hit in the head by his fleeing partner, and then tripped and fell flat on his back anyway as Gatomon charges through him.

Renamon yawns as she walks in, rubbing her eyes with her paws. "Gosh…I'm so…tire….is that pancakes?" Her blue eyes light up as Michael enters through the kitchen with about a dozen more.

"My gosh Caroline is a lucky lucky woman." Stella says reverently.

"I'd like to think so." He chuckles. Michael's blue eyes scan the room again. "….Where's Lily?"

"She had nightmares again…" Renamon mutters. "Although then again…I promised not to tell about that."

"Again…?"

Tai pushes himself out of his chair. "I should go check on her. Make sure-"I wouldn't do that. " Renamon says dryly. "Lily can be quite vicious when people try to wake her up at the best of times."

"Really?" Michael blinks. "She's never given me any problems."  
"Yeah but…that's cause you're you." Renamon rolls her eyes. "Course she lets Alexander wake her up too. It's just everyone else she's aggressive too."

"I'm going to go look for Davis." Yolei says firmly, pushing her glasses up. "Since when does he ever willingly miss out on eating pancakes?"

"Oh, I think I saw him and that other boy with the black hair and somber attitude out there." Michael responds.

"Ken? What are they doing together?"

…

"VEE HEADBUTT!"

Veemon roars, charging at the tree in front of him with such intensity that it splinters on impact.

Davis grins and punches the air. "All right! That's the way!"

"You know knocking down a tree is a lot different than dealing with Milleunimon's forces right?" Ryo asks as she stands next to Ken, her arms folded.

"Well…duh…" Davis mutters, scratching the back of his head. "But a little practice never hurt anyone."

"If you want real practice than go head to head with me." Monodramon brags. "I haven't had a proper fight in ages."

"No Monodramon." Ryo says flatly. "Don't waste your time."

"Ugh, Ryo….you don't have to worry so much…"

Davis and Ken exchange confused looks and then a voice echoes above their heads, "You know, there's an even better place to train not far from here."

"Damien?!"

"Does he always show up out of nowhere like that?" Ken asks curiously, as Damien leans against the tree trunk above them.

"Yes." Veemon and Ryo both say in a monotone voice, rolling their eyes to heaven.

Davis punches the air. "All right, thanks man! Where is that?"

"Right up in those mountains." Damien jerks his head back. Davis and Veemon both grin. "Thanks man!"

"Yeah thanks!"

Ryo stares up at Damien blankly. "You do realize what you just sent them into right?"

"Just a little joke.." Damien yawns, stretching.

"What?" Ken looks back over his shoulder at them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"…The mountains are where Sira's Aggron lives." Ryo says deadpan. "Her very territorial Aggron who tends to…well…."

Damien smirks. "You'll see."

….

"So what's up?"

Davis glances down at his partner. "What do you mean?"

Veemon snorts. "Come on Davis, you've never really taken training seriously. What gives? Is it just a way to impress Kari again?"

"Well…sort of." He scratches the back of his head.

"I should have known." Veemon groans, facepalming.

"Why does everyone act like that?!" Davis mutters. "Is it so wrong for me to like her? I've had a crush on her ever since we met. She's cute, she's funny, she's…."

"But she doesn't like you, Davis." Veemon says forcibly. He knows this is going to sting Davis' pride a little but for the love of Yggdrasil, the boy had to get over the girl eventually.

Davis stops mid-walk, his fists clenching slightly and Veemon's ears droop, knowing he's hurt his best friend's feelings. "…Davis..you know…Yolei likes you."

"…Yolei?" He stares up at the sky, running a hand back through his spiky brown hair. "….I dunno."

"You know what I think?" Veemon suggests. "I think the whole reason you like Kari so much is cause you don't need to get close. Cause when you watch from a distance, everything looks perfect. But if you get too close to someone than it will be hard."

Davis kicks at a rock and watches it bounce down the hill. "…Since when are you the relationship expert?" He mutters.

"Davis…."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it okay?" Davis snaps, turning around and glaring at his partner, folding his arms as well. Veemon sighs and is about to say something again when the sound of rustling echoes behind them.

"…What is?"

"Davis, get behind me." Veemon orders, his hackles rising as the crackling sound gets louder. Davis slowly reaches in his pocket for his Digivice just as something bursts out of the bushes in front of him.

"….It's….it's….."

"Cute!"

Veemon hesitates as Davis drops to his knees, holding a hand out to the little creature. "C'mere little guy."

The little Pokemon was tiny, covered in silver armor, with big blue eyes. It shies away from Davis' outstretched hand and makes a nervous, high-pitched chirping noise.

"Aw, come on, I'm not going to hurt you…." Davis coaxes as Veemon turns around and pales slightly.

"D….D…Davis?"

"Yeah?"

The low, hatefilled snarl echoes ominously in Veemon and Davis' ears. Slowly, Davis dares to turn his head around….and stares right into the giant, metal plated dinosaur's cold blue eyes.

"Um….Um….."

The roar echoes for miles, along with the high pitched sound of Davis and Veemon's screaming.

…

"Get up."

I groan, pulling the pillow back down over my head as my bed sags from the weight of the annoying man sitting on the end of it. "Get out of here…."

"Lily…"

"GranDracmon…."

GranDracmon sighs, crossing his arms as us two stubborn fools stay there, neither of us willing to budge. "So you want to make this difficult do you?"

"Do your worst old man…."

There's silence for a moment and I wonder if that old man comment actually worked. If so, maybe I should use it more often. And throw in a couple of snide comments about his hair as well. Yggdrasil knew he could be so overdram-AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"YOU SICK LITTLE CREEP!" I scream as the bats chitter around me, yanking me up out of bed. GranDracmon just smirks, a very villainous smirk if I do say so myself.

"…All right…you made your point." I grumble as I can feel the bats start to inadvertently pull my pants off. And the last thing I want is for a certain troll to make fun of my underpants for the rest of my life.

"Have I?" He asks innocently and my eyes widen as the bathroom door opens. "…No. NO NO NO!"

GranDracmon just smiles to himself as my scream of being dropped into the icy water of the tub.

"I've still got it…."

…

Tai sweatdrops as Sira continues to yell at Davis and Veemon, who both are bowing down repeatedly in apology. Apparently they'd managed to aggravate Sira's proud Mama Aggron and she was not happy about the mental angst they'd put her Pokemon in.

Or the rampant damage that had been caused to their property when Aggron had chased them. He sighs and Kari says softly, "I feel sort of bad for him, don't you?"

"I don't." Dilbert grins. "The girlish screams were absolutely hilarious."

"Sadist…."

"They never learn." Tai sighs, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Agumon grins up at him. "Can you believe that we used to be like that?"

Tai groans. "Don't remind me…hey, Davis."

The younger Bearer of Courage looks up at his mentor. "What is it?"

Tai runs a hand through his messy hair. "If you really want to practice some training tips…." He grins. "Maybe Agumon and I can pass on some advice."

Davis' eyes light up. "REALLY?!"

"Advice from you?" Stella snickers. "Well that can't possibly go wrong."

"Seriously, are you and Lily related somehow? Because both of you enjoy putting me down const…"

"What was that Kamiya?"

"I sai…." Tai's jaw drops down to his knees as he sees Lily standing there wearing nothing but a towel and glowering murderously at him.

"I have to say…" Damien drops down from the tree as Tai is still making stammering noises, "I like this outfit." He purrs, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Unfortunately for him this action earns him a punch in the face and he falls back, pinching his bleeding nose between his fingers.

"What happened to you?" Kari stifles a laugh as I glower at everyone.

"GranDracmon happened to me." I say through clenched teeth, my right eye still twitching from the urge to punch a certain vampire's fangs in.

"Ahh….the dreaded early morning soak…." Dilbert sighs, shaking his head. Edan just closes his eyes and looks pained.

Well. At least I wasn't the first one this had happened to. "I'm freezing." I mutter, leaning against Tai for warmth without really thinking about it until he lets out a stifled choked sound. I look up to see his face has turned bright red and the towel wasn't wrapped as tightly around me as I supposed. Ah.

"Er….while Lily gets herself decent…" Edan says, looking away and eyeing practically everything besides me. "….What exactly is the plan?"

"We have to find the next remaining Digieggs, right?" Davis says, bouncing back from his near death experience like an overactive Pomeranian.

"That's easier said than done." Stella says deadpan. "Considering how hard it was to find THIS one."

"…Actually, maybe a lot easier than you think."

"I'm still ticked off at you." I growl at GranDracmon who just shrugs. "Be ticked off all you want. You'll love me when I tell you that….I think I might know exactly where we're going."

"Huh?"

"…Does your friend Mimi still live in New York?"

…

"And in other news, massive floods and earthquakes occurred….in Kanto…Hoenn…."

I wince slightly, leaning over the back of the couch to stare at the images of torn apart homes, flooded streets, and fire on the TV screens. I hear the yells of people around me and sigh with frustration. "…All this is because of the Destiny Stone being broken isn't it?"

"Yeah…." Tai closes his eyes and leans back into the couch.

"…It wasn't your fault."

Tai just sighs. "You can keep saying that Lils. It doesn't change how I feel."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Cody standing in the doorway, his head held low. Before I can go to him or even really do anything, he's left the room. That kid is like a ghost, I swear. Silent and diseappears as soon as you look at him.

"Look, Sira and GranDracmon will come up with something." I say confidentially. "They're both jerks but they're both ridiculous intelligent. "

Tai nods silently, his fingers white on the remote, a muscle in his jaw jumping. I tug the device out of his fingers and flip the channel. "Come on pick something better….you don't need to turn into a brooding loser you idiot."

The picture flickers and then the theme song of "My Little Pony" sings out and I scream, covering my hands over my eyes. "TURN IT OFF! MAKE IT STOPPPPPP!"

…

Cody's hand trembles slightly on his kendo stick as he practices a few swings. The images from the TV show keep flickering before his eyes over and over again.

People loosing their homes, running for their lives….losing everything…maybe even their loved ones…

And it was all because of the three of them….

The guilt that rises up inside of him is absolutely crushing, everything about his kendo is completely off, his staff, his standing….

"Hey…."

He looks up to see Ken standing there, and his eyes narrow slightly. "…What are you doing here?"

"Planning world domination." He says deadpan.

Cody scowls at him. "That's not funny."

"It was a joke for the love of…" Ken facepalms before sighing. "….I know why you're so upset."

"Other than the fact that you're here?" Cody growls, looking away.

"…I'm going to ignore that offensive comment…..You're pretty shook up about what happened with the Destiny Stone aren't you?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" Cody mutters, the kendo stick hanging limply by his side. "Look at all the destruction we caused today. And it was all because we rushed into it, didn't think before acting, walked right into a trap because we didn't….didn't listen to each other."

Ken doesn't say anything, he just stands there silently. Cody feels another pang of guilt in his gut and takes a deep breath.

"…It was an accident. We got played. We won't let it happen again."

"…How can you be so sure that it won't happen again?" It wasn't so much as a challenging question as a pleading one.

Ken's blue eyes flash. "Because we won't let it happen again. I won't let it happen again."

"…" Cody shifts from foot to foot, not looking at him. Ken moves his head towards the house. "I think they're waiting for us inside." He says softly.

Cody nods silently, still looking down at his sneakers as Ken opens the French doors that will lead him inside. "Hey…Ken?"

"Yeah…?"

Cody slowly lifts his head up. "….Thanks."

Ken manages a tight smile and nods as he walks inside the house. Cody sighs again, running a hand through his short-cropped black hair.

There's the sound of a yawn and Armadillomon fumbles out, rubbing at his eyes. "Gosh, Cody, you're making so much noise with all your practicing. And I was having such a nice nap…" His voice trails off dreamily before seeing the look on Cody's face. "What's the matter?"

Cody fidgets with his kendo stick. "I'm such a jerk." He mutters, sadness in his voice as he looks at the spot where Ken had been standing.

"…No you're not Cody. You're one of the nicest people I know! I promise."

"Yeah…nice." Cody says softly, closing his eyes.

Armadillomon sighs. "…I mean sometimes you can be stubborn, but that's what I like about you. It's a big change having Ken on the team isn't it."

"I don't think big change covers what I'm feeling." Cody admits with a sigh. "I mea…he's trying. So why can't I just not feel so bitter when I'm around him?"

"It will all work out." Armadillomon promises, nudging Cody in the leg. "At least he doesn't seem to hold the fact that you hold his past against him against you…"

"That didn't make much sense."

"Ah well. Let's just get back in the house, shall we? I'm hungry."

…

Mimi was actually having a pretty good day, here in the Big Apple. She dries her hair off as she steps out of the shower, yawning.

It was only early morning back in Japan so putting in a call before she went to bed probably wouldn't work. She frowns, glancing at her computer. Not that anyone had tried to contact her recently. Matt had tried to explain to her what was going on with the others but in all honesty, he hadn't seemed that sure either. Just ticked that Tai had ski-daddled without him and Sora. Judgining by Sora's personality, Mimi could only assume that her poor goggle-wearing friend was hiding, bearing his time so he could have a good excuse before he saw her again.

It was times like these when she felt the old bitterness towards her parents rise up a little again. She loved them. She loved them more than anything else. But she couldn't quite…forgive how they'd stripped her away from her friends and carted her off to a different country. Her parents had seemed to believe that if they tore her away from Odiaba they could stop her from being a Digidestined.

That thought made her blood boil, and not much made Mimi's blood boil. But she could never stay too angry at them. Sure they'd uprooted her and dumped her in a country where she couldn't speak the language and she didn't know a single soul, but they'd done it because they believed it was what was best for her.

And after the Myotismon fiasco she couldn't blame them for being afraid. She sighs, plopping back down on her bed again and opening up her laptop. Yes, she had two computers. But her laptop was portable. And bright pink, more importantly.

Mimi has just gone to open her email when she notices a weird light flashes in the top right corner. "…What the…?"

The light grows bigger and bigger and her eyes widen as she registers exactly what's going on and lets out a yell of horror as about a dozen people collapse on top of her.

Needless to say the bed promptly collapses from the huge amount of weight being placed on it.

"Ouch, Edan, your elbow is IN MY EYE."

"Sorry, sorry…"

"Man, watch the goods!"

"Can't…breathe…knee….in….windpipe…."

"Watch the claws Gatomon!'

"WOULD EVERYONE GET OFF AND SHUT UP!"

There was a lot more scrambling in which a lot of people got poked and squished even more. Tai falls back on his rear and grins up at Mimi, his scruffy brown hair hanging over his eyes. "…Hi."

"HI?!"

Tai yelps as Mimi starts throwing things at all of us. "You bust in—out of NOWHERE—kept me in the dark for DAYS—and….EVEN WORSE…I'M NOT DECENT!"

"Join the club." I call, raising my hand out of the crowds. "GranDracmon enjoys violating young girl's privacy."

"You act like I MEANT for this to happen." GranDracmon says deadpan, shooting me a glare.

"Rather or not you MEANT it to happen is irrelevant. The point is that it's because of you that two perfectly decent girls were almost exposed to oh I don't know, everyone they know."

"Lily, shut up." Sira says deadpan, standing up and then getting hit in the face with a teddy bear. She doesn't even blink. I SWEAR that girl isn't human.

Mimi scowls and looks towards the door. "You are all just lucky my parents are out of town or they probably would have called the police by now."

"That would be awkward indeed." Sira says politely, tugging another stuffed toy out of Mimi's grasp. She sighs. "But unfortunately….we really need some help."

…

Mimi's eyes narrow down to slits as we sit around her massive dining room table. "…..Holy crap."

"I think that pretty much sums it all up." Stella says deadpan, lowering her head onto her hands, the exhaustion from all of these miserable days finally catching up to her.

"And you think…the Digiegg is here? In America?"

"That's what GranDracmon managed to track down." Ryo says flatly. "Assuming he didn't make mistakes."

"I DON'T make mistakes." GranDracmon scoffs before looking thoughtful. "At least 95% of the time I don't make mistakes."

"And the other 5%?"

"I hide the evidence."

I glance over at Damien who had been awfully quiet, except for staring at an indecent Mimi for a bit too long. Was it just me, or was he never as talkative when GranDracmon was around? I supposed that was technically a GOOD thing…Yggdrasil knows one troll at a time was enough but still…I see Damien's eyes flicker back over to my friend and then quickly away again. His fingers drum the table slightly, faster, before he realizes he's doing it.

There was no doubt about it, I realized. Damien was afraid of GranDracmon. I mean there are a lot of reasons to be afraid of GranDracmon, he's Ruler of the Underworld, King of the Vampires, and is way too interested in experimenting on people…but why..why was Damien in particular afraid of him?

I frown, determined to figure this out, but probably at a later date. An image of the ruined village runs back through my head and I clench my teeth. There were….a lot of things I was putting off until a later date.

Was I just running from things I didn't want to face? Was that what I had become?

Mimi's voice draws me back out of my inner musings…at least for a bit. "See the thing is that I have no idea where the Digieggs could be. America is BIG not as big as the entire Pokemon World but still…much bigger than Japan."

"We don't have time to be searching a whole country." Davis says grimly, crossing his arms. "Milleunimon's forces could be here any day to hunt the thing down, and they don't care how many cities they squash to get their own way."

"I know that." Her eyes light up. "Wait a minute….Michael!"

"Who is…"Michael"?" TK asks, making air quotes with his fingers. Mimi blushes, pushing a few strands of pink hair out of her face. "He's….a friend."

"…A friend?"

"Izzy's not going to like this…." Agumon mutters as they sit underneath the table. Armadillomon and Gatomon both nod.

"…Anyway." Ken looks up and frowns slightly. "Is it really that good of an idea to have some guy get involved in our problems?"

"Oh but he's not a normal guy." Mimi smirks, twirling a pink strand around her finger. "He's a…."

Just then the doorbell rings, and Mimi blinks. "….Who could that be?"

"Go get it Daisy."

My jaw drops as I look at Sira. "Why do you constantly give me orders?!"

"It's okay, I can get the-"Nah, nah…." I mutter, pushing my chair back and walking down the massive hallway.

"I've got it." The pictures along the wall are all of Mimi, Mimi riding her first bike, Mimi and her family at the fair, the beauty salon…wow. As cute as that seems it also makes me think her parent's desperately need a hobby. I thank Yggdrasil that my family's not THAT obsessed with me…

Brushing my hair back from my face I open the door. "Hel…." My voice trails off. My jaw drops. Oh sweet mother of…"ALEXANDER?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

…

The clouds cover the sky, making the afternoon appear a lot darker than it really is. The boy pants as he keeps running, his blonde locks hanging into his eyes covered with sweat. His fear comes off him in waves—something pokes a pale furred head out of the backpack. It's a bunny like creature, long, white ears striped with green hanging down as little black eyes scan the area. The Digimon freezes as he sees a long shadow following them.

"Pick up the pace Willis, he's gonna catch us!"

"What do you think….I'm trying to do!" He pants. He trips, landing hard on the ground, scraping his cheek on the pavement.

The low growl echoes once more as Willis slowly looks over his shoulder. The bunny Digimon leaps off his shoulder, mouth opening wide. "BUNNY BLAST!"

"Terriermon get out of here!"

"Wil…lisss…." The voice sends chills down his spine, low and grating, and Willis closes his eyes as a scream rips involuntarily from his throat.

…

"You…." I stare numbly at the group of very familiar people standing on Mimi's doorstep.

"Yo." Lilithmon pushes her way to the front, dressed in a black low cut sweater and jeans instead of her usual hooker outfit. "It's cold out here. You gonna let us in or what?"

"…"

"Hello young one." I yelp slightly as I feel a heavy hand resting on my head, messing with my hair. The figure standing beside me is utterly terrifying looking, with the red robes covering most of his body, the hood shielding his face and casting it into darkness except for two piercing blue eyes.

"…Daemon?! What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on this little monster." Daemon says deadpan, as Lucemon pokes his head around him. "Hi Lily!"

"YOU LET HIM OUT?!" I yelp, my head whipping around terrified that Sira's going to see. And then absolutely murder us all. Lucemon laughs. "Don't be ridiculous. I can't get out without the aid of a tamer."

"…Who did you kidnap?"

"That would be me." Zack says weakly, lifting up his wrist, which is chained to Lucemon's. I facepalm. "….Why am I not surprised?"

"Unfortunately you're the only one we can get at short notice." Alexander ruffles Zack's hair before pulling me into a tight hug. I feel the leather of his jacket press into my cheek and smile softly. "…You know a warning would have been nice." I sigh before pulling away.

"That's what I said." A tiny but somewhat familiar voice pipes up. I glance down in Lucemon's arms to see a small white fluffy bunny with a moon shape on her head. "…Lunamon….Levimon….?!" I yell. I remember the first time I saw her, a giant forty meter crocodile. Now she's a…a…..

"I need THERAPY….!" I moan, rubbing my temples.

"Lily? What's going on in…."

Tai's eyes widen in disbelief as he takes in the suddenly very crowded entry hall. "….Mimi?" He says deadpn. "You might need to get more chairs out."

…

"….This is possibly the weirdest thing I've ever seen…."

"Holy crap…"

Davis' eyes are nearly popping out of his sockets as he watches the spectacle enfold in front of him. "…I'm jealous…."

Gatomon just rolls her eyes. "Renamon, you're going to need to stop before you explode."

"Not a chance." She mumbles, her mouth full of hotdog as she glowers across the table at Alexander. "I'm not loosing to you, bike boy."

Alexander on the other hand looks completely unruffled, smiling serenely as he squirts more ketchup onto his hotdog. "I think your chances of winning continue to diminish my friend."

"How does he do it?" Stella whispers. "It's like…he's a bottomless pit."

"And I thought Dilbert was bad." Tsukaimon agrees.

"Wha-hey!"

"Seriously, Renamon, that's enough." I say, peeking through my fingers. "You're going to male yourself sick and then I'm going to have to be the sap that cleans you up."

"Nnmgmmgmg." She growls at me. Alexander just arches an eyebrow and bites into another hotdog, wiping his mouth with a napkin. I sigh, rolling my eyes to heaven.

"Well thanks for another revolting display." Lilithmon says dryly. "I haven't seen that over 327 times."

"That my friend is what happens when you challenge the Demon Lord of Gluttony." Alexander smiles, showing his fangs.

"So what's with the sudden appearance?" Kari asks, leaning forwards. Mimi cringes. "Feet off the table Lucemon you don't even have shoes. "

"I don't believe in shoes." Lucemon yawns. "Anyone have watermelon?"

"…?"

"He loves watermelon." Barbamon, who pretty much looks like a slightly creepy version of someone's grandfather except with the golden mask stretched across his face and the staff sitting next to him.

"…I'll go see if I can find some." Mimi sighs, standing up.

"…That is a beautiful bracelet you're wearing young la-"NO BARBAMON."

"All I did was make an observation!"

"And your observations never lead to anything good." Sira says deadpan, glancing across the table at him. "I still haven't found my watch just for the record."

"What are they talking about?" Patamon whispers to TK. TK shrugs and GranDracmon says in a monotone, "Gold is to Barbamon what sex is to Lilithmon."

"Ah." Then, "What's sex?"

"DO NOT ANSWER THAT." I snap, whipping my head around to shoot Lilithmon a glare as she smiles. I may not have known my adoptive family for very long but I knew well enough that that was never a topic you entrusted to the Demon Lord of Lust.

"ANYWAY…." Edan rubs his temples exactly like I did not long ago. I wonder if his head is pounding as well. "No offense but can we please, oh please, get to the point?"

"Wow, Mr. Assertive." Stella chuckles, looking over at him.

His face flushes. "…I didn't MEAN to be…"

"It's not a bad thing Edan."

"He does have a point." Lucemon inclines his head towards Barbamon. "You brought the files correct?'

Barbamon hands what appears to be some kind of disc over to Edan, who takes it gingerly. "Took me forever to get that translated." He grumbles. "Even for me…."

"….What is it?" Yolei asks curiously, pushing her glasses back again so she can stare intently at the device.

"Information about one of the Destiny Stones that you're searching for."

"Are you for real?!" Tai gasps, his brown eyes widening in disbelief. The atmosphere of the entire room changes from relaxed and completely ridiculous, to intense.

I clench the table, my knuckles turning white. "…How did you get this?" I whisper, my eyes on the disc as Edan bolts down the hallway. "Can I use your laptop?"

"Uh, sure…" Mimi calls over her shoulder, a dazed expression on her face before turning back to us. "So….the Destiny Stone you guys were talking about….you know exactly where it is?"

"Well….I'm not sure exactly." Barbamon drums his claws against the table. "The Destiny Stones were created to keep all three worlds in balance. That's why there is one in every of the respective dimensions."

"That makes sense." Gatomon nods but Agumon looks puzzled. "…But….why would Lady Yggdrasil want to keep the location of the Destiny Stones secret? I mean Milleunimon wasn't around right then, was he?"

Ryo flinches slightly and looks away. "…He was. He just hadn't made his move yet."

"….But then why…."

"There was….another incident involving the Destiny Stones."

Every single person's head turns to look at the blonde haired midget currently sucking on a piece of watermelon. He looks up, his face covered in pink juice. "Why does everyone always blame me?!"

"How many times have you tried to take over the Digital World again?" Lilithmon says deadpan, looking up from where she files her nails.

"Once!" Lucemon exclaims. "And I didn't TRY I did, thanks very much."

"…I don't think that's a good thing Lucemon."

Davis nudges Ken. "…Remind me…why is everyone scared of the blonde midget?"

Ken shrugs his shoulders before practically yelping as Lucemon's face is practically inches from them all of the sudden. "W-wha?!"

"I'm sorry what was that?" Lucemon smiles innocently, the deadly menace coming off that little boy powerful enough to send shivers down my spine.

"You needn't punish them my lord." Daemon waves a hand, trying to keep the worry out of his tone and not really succeeding. "They're too young to understand the evils of insubordination."

" …All the better to learn early…."

"I DIDN'T SAY IT!" Ken yelps, panic obviously in his voice as I call over, "Lucemon DON'T. Please?"

"Hmm?"

"…I'll give you another piece of watermelon?"

"Yay! Watermelon!"

Davis practically passes out breathing hard as Tai whacks him upside the head. "…Idiot…."

"I would like to return to the point." Sira says deadpan. "About now. Before I get annoyed and feel the need to punish some of you myself."

"Anyway what was this group that tried to find the Destiny Stones the last time?"

"…Have the rest of you ever heard of the Dark Masters?"

The rest of the Digidestined all tense. Tai's pupils narrow down to slits, tensing on the fork he's holding so hard that you can hear the metal bending slightly. Gatomon hisses beneath my feet as I let out a growl that echoes in unison with Renamon's.

Mimi's face pales with anger, her hands shaking on her wrists, as TK's expression turns completely dark, and Kari looks as though she'd like to introduce her fist to someone's face.

There isn't much that can get us all looking like this. But those….MONSTERS….the mere memory of them, is enough. Piedmon's crazed laugh echoes in my head again, Machinedramon's blank, cruel stare, Puppetmon's creepy giggle, MetalSeadramon's roar….

"Yeah…." Tai breathes, obviously trying to keep his temper down. "…We've…crossed paths with them a few times…."

I remember Piximon, that stupid, stupid Ultimate somehow, unbelivabely holding them off long enough for us to escape….I remember Whamon's scream as MetalSeadramon's attack pierced him right through the skull…I remember bending over a sickly Kari as we hid from Machinedramon's forces hunting us…I remember the fear we all felt when Puppetmon kidnapped TK…I remember screaming Tai and WarGreymon's names, having to be dragged away from the battlefield as Piedmon's attack nearly killed them both of them. I remember the smell of Tai's blood on my hands, all over my hands as I finally reached his side.

TK growls. "…What did those psychos want with the Destiny Stones?"

Barbamon shakes his head. "No one knows for sure. We do know that it occurred at the same time as the disappearance of the Sovereigns."

"The disappearance of the who know?" Ken looks over to see scowls, albeit not as fierce, on the rest of the Tamer's faces.

"I take it you're not….friends?"

"Not even close."

"Not really."

"We pretty much wish the others would be wiped off the face of the planet."

Sira sighs. "…It doesn't go that far Dilbert."

"Oh, it doesn't?" Ryo says deadpan, looking over at the rest of them. "So how much has changed since I've been gone? What else crazy has happened—like Edan finally getting a girlfriend?"

"Hey." Stella snaps at her.

"He's not even in the room why do you…." Ryo's voice trails off before a sly smile appears on her face. "Oh."

"See this scar?" Dilbert yanks down his back to reveal a bunch of large claw marks across his right shoulder. "That's what happens when you make an enemy of a Mihiramon."

"Why do they hate you?"

"Not all of them hate us." Sira says deadpan. "Azulongmon is a fine Digimon. It's…Zhuqiamon we don't necessarily like. The other two stay out of our way if we stay out of theirs."

"I hate them all." Lilithmon says deadpan, her right eye twitching. Alexander sighs. "In all fairness…we were the ones that started a war with them."

"Three guesses why." Gatomon says deadpan, glancing over her shoulder.

"This is really good watermelon." Cue facepalms from everyone in the group.

"Man is anyone else feeling confused?" Veemon groans, leaning back. "Just trying to keep up with all your conversations makes me feel dizzy."

"GranDracmon…didn't you say that there was another one of the Golden Digieggs in the human world as well?" Stella asks, leaning across the table and staring up at him.

"Nope. But something related to them." He runs a hand through his blonde hair. Monodramon growls. "You speak in riddles almost as much as Sorcerymon does."

"I am highly offended by that." GranDracmon says in a tone that suggests he's not that offended at all. "Anyway, it's not really that complicated. Davis was the only one who could pull the Digiegg out right?"

"Not that I can use it much." Davis mutters, glowering down at his D-3.

"The Golden Digieggs are special." Barbamon nods. "They'll only appear when their bearer is truly in need."

"Like when their friends are about to get chomped down by a giant scaly dragon."

Renamon lets out a low whimper and lays her head on my lap as I shoot Davis a glare.

"Sorry! Just making an observation!"

"Only the bearer of that exact Digiegg can even get them out." Ryo says flatly. "That's why…why I've had such trouble."

I glance down and notice scars along Ryo's arms before she quickly pulls her sleeve down. A chill runs down my spine slightly as I wondered what exactly happened to her the last time she tried to pull them out.

"So you're saying…." Tai looks up. "If we want to be able to use the Digiegg that we found in the Pokemon world, we have to find its bearer."

"Bingo. And I know where he is." GranDracmon smiles. "Right here in your…smog infested city."

"Hey, New York's not that bad!" Mimi protests, before her eyes widen slightly as though she's thinking about something.

"You really think there might be other teams of Digidestined?" Kari breathes, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"Your territory is a lot bigger than ours." Stella shrugs. "It makes sense you never did cross paths."

"Yeah, you guys have more members and your Digimon grow faster." Dilbert fake pouts. "You guys get everything."

"Not wicked cool weapons." TK grins, punching him in the shoulder. "You guys get to fight beside your partners in a way that we can't."

"And we can't biomerge either." Yolei chuckles, looking over at me. I smirk, punching the air as Renamon grins. "Heck yeah."

"I wonder what form I'll appear in once I reach the Mega level." Hawkmon muses thoughtfully. Yolei grins. "I bet you'll be much cooler than Veemon's or Armadillomon's Mega form!"

"No way!"

Cody grins slightly. "I wouldn't make presumptions like that quite yet Yolei."

"So you're positive this kid is a Digidestined in America?" Mimi questions before a smile appears on her face. "…Then I might know exactly who to call."

"Huh?"

…

Ryo shivers as she tosses and turns in her bed-low moans keep escaping from her mouth, many whimpers. The darkness of Mimi's guest room, which at first seemed so inviting, seems to be pressing in on her from all directions.

"…._Ryo….."_

"No…." She mutters, clawing at something in the darkness she can't see, something she can't fight.

"_That was amazing…!" She grins looking up into the tall, dark dragon like figure that stands beside her, watching as their enemy's data darts towards her partner's body. He growls in savage triumph, lashing his black tail back, a crooked smile appearing on his face._

_Ryo, much younger, her red hair tied up in a ponytail, punches the air in triumph. "We're going to be the strongest of the team soon! Stronger than all of the tamers! Even stronger than boss!"_

"_We certainly will." His voice is deep and gravelling, red eyes turning on her, but she doesn't fear his gaze, though many people do. They say stuff about her partner, stuff she knows can't possibly be true. She'll prove them wrong. THEY'LL prove them wrong. Together._

"_You're the best Cyberdramon!"_

"NO…."  
_"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"_

"_PLEASE STOP! DON'T HURT HIM! I CAN MAKE HIM STOP!"_

"_Ryo….what have you done?!"_

"_I…I…."_

"_You killed her…."_

"_N-no! I didn't mean to! It was an accident, I just wanted…."_

"_Traitor! TRAITOR!"_

"**NOO!"**

Ryo sits bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath, her eyes wild, terrified. She hugs her knees and rocks back and forth for a bit. She presses her head to her knees and lets out a quiet muffled sob. Yggdrasil…

"…Forgive me…." She manages to uncurl herself and slowly make her way out of the bedroom. A low sound that seems almost like a massive growl comes from the living room and she stops dead, her hand reaching to the pistol at her belt.

That's when she realizes it's only Lilithmon snoring. Ryo's eyes scan the room to find all of their surprise guests lying there, a pile of demonic arms and limbs and in the middle of the group…

"Are you for real?" She mutters, stifling a snort. Lily and Tai were pressed close together with a circle of devils around them, Renamon lying so she was stretched across Lily's back and using Lucemon's stomach for a pillow.

Agumon was sleeping on Tai's chest, claws spread out so he was dangerously close to poking out Lunamon's eye.

Ryo can't help the slight smile that appears on her face, shaking her head at the sheer ridiculous randomness of it all. She pushes her way out towards the terrace, grateful that Lilithmon's truck like snores drown out the squeaking of the window.

Her nightgown blows back slightly in the breeze, brushing against her ankles, but she doesn't notice that as she stares up at the stars.

"….If what they say is true about the dead going up there…" She mutters as she stares up at the night sky. "…I hope it's true. I'm trying to make sure what you did wasn't in vain. I just hope…." Her fingers trace the bar and she murmurs, "I just hope that no one else has to pay for my mistake."

…

I wake up with my nose pressed against Tai's chest and with his arm over my waist. Now a normal person would have at this point freaked out or at least frantically pushed away. However considering this has happened before I just took it as a matter of course.

"Good morning sleepy head…" I murmur, looking into his face as his brown eyes meet mine. Tai doesn't seem to register what's happening at first, being in that awkward stage when you're not really awake.

"Morning…" He murmurs.

"You know we should probably move." I comment as a matter of fact. Tai groans. "I'm comfy here…."

"Right…but you realize who we're surrounded by right?"

"Yeah…."

"And you know they're insanely protective of me right…?"

"Mmhhmm….."

"You realize that they're not going to be very happy to wake up and find us like this right? In this very intimate suggestive position?"

"…Oh."

'Right. So for your sake let's just-"WELL. What do we have here?" Damien's eyes glint with a surprising amount of pure evil which I'm beginning to think is just a part of his expressions.

"Damien you IDIOT you'll wake them up!"

His smile is sly. "Actually Lily…I think you just did…."

"Huh?"

Alexander groans, pushing himself upwards. His three eyes fixate on me and Tai…then on me….then on Tai…then narrow…

"RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Stella moans as the loud piercing sound penetrates her eardrums. "….What was that?"

Yolei doesn't even blink as she shifts slightly on her side of the bed. "….Probably Alexander trying to kill Tai."

"Oh."

"No big." Kari yawns, smiling serenely as Tai's scream of "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" echoes down the hallways.

"ALEXANDER FOR YGGDRASIL'S SAKES YOU CAN'T USE SHOTGUNS IN THE HOUSE!"

"Really I would have thought that you two would have the common sense to pick a better spot for your little…." Insert dark chuckle. "Get together. I think I can provide some good advice for that, if you're interested."

"No thank you Lilithmon."

Cody slowly pads down the hallway and opens another door. "Sira? Do you mind? I hate to bother you but…."

Approximately five seconds later there's a roar of "EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE e^^^^^^#4#### UP!"

I swear to Yggdrasil everyone in the apartment simply freezes—Tai in midflight-Alexander with his claws outstretched—me about to grab Alexander—Lilithmon putting on early morning makeup—Stella sticking her head out the door with her black hair a tangled mess—Veemon shoving an waffle into his mouth.

"Nicely put my love…."

"Oh shut up."

"Yes ma'am."

Yup. It's official. Sira's got us all, even the Lord of the Underworld, completely and utterly whipped.

…

"I cannot…freaking believe…I got roped into this." Ryo says this in a tone that suggests that having her eyeballs yanked out and fed to bats would be more preferable.

I sigh, leaning against the wall. "Seriously, how is this even possible? I come here to this country to find a Destiny Stone, and I'm dragged off….SHOPPING. With Mimi and Kari…and the Demon Lord of Lust."

"This is mental."

"Our lives are mental."

"The world is mental."

"Lily…." Lilithmon's voice echoes over the changing stalls. "Pass me another bra." My cheeks flush red as I gingerly pick up another one from her chosen pile to hand.

"…Do you feel flat-chested too suddenly?" Ryo asks me, her eyes twitching slightly. I groan before facepalming. Something…pricks at the back of my mind and I frown, slowly lifting my head up.

"…What is it?" Ryo asks, her eyes narrowing down to slits.

"Shh…." I glance upwards. The dressing door slams open and I hear Lilithmon's footsteps behind me. "…I sense it too…."

"GOSH DARN IT YOU'RE NOT DECENT!" Ryo yells, throwing up her hands to shield her eyes from the fact Lilithmon's not wearing a shirt. But neither of us really care at the moment. Lilithmon's eyes are predatory, intense, as are mine, the both of us standing next to each other…listening.

"…Digimon."

"Close…."

…

"For the love of Yggdrasil…." Tai groans, looking down at his now empty wallet as they exited the café. "You guys are going to end up eating me out of house and home."

Renamon, her arms full of food that had been snuck to her, shrugs. "I've got to get some more practice in."

"For what? You planning to have another eating contest with Alexander?"

"And get creamed?"

"….Shut up…."

Agumon and Tai both laugh, attracting strange looks as no one can see the two Digimon underneath Renamon's perception filter.

Suddenly a blonde haired kid rams into Tai at full force, knocking him off his feet. "Hey, what the heck?!"

"Sorry…." The boy doesn't look much older than Kari, his blue eyes terrified as he glances back over his shoulder.

"…Hey….what's wrong?"

He scowls slightly, still looking at something Tai can't see. "…It's none of your business….I have to…."

Tai frowns as the boy continues to run off. "…That was weird…."

"Amen." Renamon says, lowering her perception filter. She glances down at Agumon and her fur stands on end—his green eyes are narrowed down to slits and his muzzle curved back showing razor sharp teeth.

"What is it…?"

"Virus…."

…

"Kari, how many pictures are you going to take?" Gatomon purrs, amused, as Kari just shakes her head and laughs, lifting the camera to her eye again. "Well as long as I've got such a great model…."

"Hey…." TK mutters sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as a slight blush appeared on his face. "It's what I get for tricking you into coming to the museum with me."

"Hey, it's fine. It was fun." She smiles. "Besides what else were we supposed to do while we waited for Edan to finish translating that CD? Might as well see the sites."

"So….bored…."

"I think all the history might have broken Davis though." Gatomon giggles. Kari giggles, looking over at the boy slumped against the wall, holding the little Demiveemon in his arms, an expression on his face like all the life had been drained out of him.

"Okay, TK, just smile and say "Histories for cool kids."

"I am not going to say that." He laughs, and Kari grins and snaps the picture. "That's what I hoped you'd say."

TK rolls his eyes as Patamon pokes his head out of his backpack. "…What is it buddy…?" He frowns at seeing the feral look in the blue eyes.

All three of the Digimon are glaring at something, even tiny little DemiVeemon. Gatomon leaps off of Kari's arms and bolts down the alleyway, Patamon flapping right behind her, DemiVeemon struggling to keep up.  
"Demiveemon!"

"Patamon!"

"Gatomon come back!"

Kari bolts down the alley, just in time to see Gatomon scamper over the top of the chain-link fence, carrying Demiveemon tightly wrapped in her tail.

Something…huge moved in the darkness behind that gate…a low growl echoing menacingly….she saw red eyes gleaming in the darkness and her blood went cold…

"Kari!"

"KARI!"

The blonde haired boy that had bumped into Tai earlier, though she wouldn't have anyway of knowing that, is lying on his butt, a panicked look on his pale face, his lower lip trembling.

"Hey!" Kari leaps onto the chain-link fence as well, her fingers intertwining with the metal as she pulls herself upwards. "Get out of there!"

"Kari, stop it!"

She lets out an indignant yell as Davis grabs her backpack, pulling her back just as a set of blue eyes and red eyes train on her. "Davis, get your hands…."

"Get out of here!" The blonde haired kid screams, his face pale. "RUN! RUN!"

"But that thing's going to…" Kari's brown eyes widen as the creature's red eyes train on her and the snarl echoes, rotting teeth close to her face as red claws wraps around her.

"KARRRRI!"

The creature looks like some form of mutated rabbit, a weird mask placed on his head, black beady eyes staring up at her with no emotion whatsoever.

"…T-….TAICHI HELLLLLP!"


	28. Lucemon's Glory, Begin the Hunt

Author's Note: LOL well I hope you liked this chapter. I certainly enjoyed writing it and finally setting in motion the beginning of the next arc. I love this new schedule I'm going by, I think it really helps improve the quality of my writing. I guess there's not much more to say, I'm probably just trying to add to the word count, but...read and review?

"KARI!"

The vicious snarl echoes as both the cat and the vixen slam into the creature at the same time. Gatomon curls her fist and slams her claws straight into one of those black pupils, causing him to fall back with a roar of pain.

Renamon backflips over another of the creature's swipes, crossing her arms together. "DIAMOND ST…." Her voice trails off as she sees Kari frantically trying to free herself. A full ranged attack like her diamonds could easily wound the young Digidestined as well.

As she hesitated the arm not holding Kari swings forward at an impossible angle with a snarl of "CABLE CRUSHER!"

Renamon yells as she's slammed into the wall opposite, sliding downwards with a moan of pain.

The monster shuffles towards Renamon with an awkward, weird gait that reminds her of zombies from late night horror movies. Her eyes widen with fear as another shout echoes, "VEE HEADBUTT!"

"BOOM BUBBLE!"

The creature's head slowly turns around as Davis yells, "Don't just beat the jerk up! Save Kari!...And the other kid too!"

"I'm glad to know his priorities are in order." Veemon mutters sarcastically to Patamon who snorts.

TK's eyes narrow as he stares at the creature. Cable Crusher…where had he heard that attack before…

Kari gasps as the creature's grip on her tightens. "Ack….I could really use some help here you guys!"

"Kari!"

The creature leaps above both Veemon's and Patamon's attacks, bounding straight up with a nearly impossible leap, springing from building side to building side.

"Who does he think he is, King Kong?!" Davis yells, his voice full of exasperation as Kari's scream echoes.

"Wait a sec, what exactly are we playing at?" His hand reaches in for his D-Terminal. "DIGIARMOUR…."

"NO!"

Both of the other boys jump when the new kid's hand clamps around his wrist. "Don't kill him! I won't let you!"

Davis yanks his hand free. "I'm not going to kill him unless he gives me no choice! But my team member's safety comes first, you got that?"

The boy's pale blue eyes glower fiercely into both him and TK's before looking away, clearly full of anguish. "…You don't understand…"

"CABLE CRUSHER!"

All three of them look up to see the monster slam its fist into the side of a building—TK's eyes widen as rubble comes crashing down towards them—there's a flash of white fur out of the corner of his eyes just as he rams into Davis and shoves him out of the way.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Kari screams, struggling to break free as she looks down at the ground far, far below. She gulps, seeing cars below her now only the size of ants. "…H-holy…" She covers her mouth with her one hand that's not pinned to her side. "I'm going to develop a fear of heights after this…" And she can't reach her D-Terminal either.

The monster leaps onto the roof of the building he was scaling up only to growl as he spots two more interlopers in front of him.

"…That's my sister you've got…." Tai said, his voice pure ice as Agumon growls beside him. "Put her down now and maybe things won't have to get messy."

"T-Taichi!"

"3….2…1…." Tai's eyes narrow before his Digivice bursts into orange light. "Go get him!"

"AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…GREYMON!"

Greymon roars as he towers over his much shorter opponent, and the monster's eyes narrow before he charges head on.

The monster rams his head into Greymon's stomach, knocking the wind out of the much bigger Champion, but not for much longer. Greymon's claws rake across his back, deriving a roar of pain from his opponent. Like Renamon Greymon doesn't dare use any of his real powerful attacks unless he wants to cook Kari to a crisp.

"CABLE CRUSHER!" The fist whirls around just as Greymon's eyes widen.

"That…attack…" Tai breathes, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Wait…no….!" Greymon roars as he's slammed onto his backside, and there's a yell from above of, "Tai, WATCH OUT!"

"KOKO CRUSHER!" The shock wave that the monster generates knocks all of them off their feet—Tai yells as he plummets downwards, hears Greymon roar his name-"Gotcha!"

Something grabs him in mid-fall and he looks up to see Lily holding him, her wings beating hard to try and stay aloft.

"You…need to…cut down on the cheeseburgers my friend." I pant, holding his right arm as both of us landed on the ground, hard, but not as hard as it surely would have been.

"The others—Kari-!"

Greymon roars, slamming his tail into the monster's mid-section. The bunny freak stumbles back, but still doesn't loosen his grip on Kari. That's when she decides she's really REALLY had enough of all of this damsel-in-distress business and throws her camera—right into the creature's eye.

The monster roars in pain, gripping at his pupil and finally, finally letting go of her. Greymon doesn't hesitate for even a second once Kari's out of the way. "NOVA BLAST!"

The flames shoot right towards him, but the monster uses the force of the explosion, backflipping as he's sent flying. The crazed grin he shoots Greymon while still upside down sends chills down the dinosaur's spine. He's seen a smile like that before….once…

The monster sends another fist crashing into Greymon's stomach with a shout of "CABLE CRUSHER!"

My own eyes widen as that attack name reaches my ears and I whip my head over my shoulder to look at Tai. "No….OH HECK NO…."

"GREYMON!" Kari screams as he's hit in the throat and actually sent flying. Yes the blow is strong enough to send a DINOSAUR flying. Greymon roars as he plummets towards the ground—hears the screams of the passerby below and uses the last of his strength to degenerate.

Kari glances frantically back over her shoulder down at Agumon whose lying unconscious in the middle of the street just as a low growl catches her attention again. The monster's face is probably mere inches from hers. Her breath catches and she takes a slight step back, gulping as she realizes she has nowhere to run to.

"…TK…." She whispers, her voice catching.

"Go….Go…."

"W…wha?"

"Go back to the beginning…." The words are delivered with such solemnity in that snarl that for a minute, Kari can't believe what she just heard. "…I…I don't understa…."

The monster stares at her for a few more minutes before bounding away at ridiculously high speed, slowly becoming nothing more than a black blur.

"What just happened?"

….

TK looks over at Tokomon and Demiveemon, both of them forced back to their In-Training form after the rubble fell on top of them.

"….This cannot be happening…." Tai was pacing back and forth, his anger filling the entire room.

"It might not be what we think." I say, looking over at him as Mimi has her face buried in her hands. "Diaboromon is DEAD. We all saw Omnimon stab him right between the eyes, good riddance."

"Then explain why that thing was using his attacks!" Tai's voice rises and mine lowers.

"…I can't."

"What I want to know is where the heck did that one kid go?" Davis mutters, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "First he gets in our way and then he just ditches us before even seeing if we're okay. Jerk."

"We don't know enough about the situation to judge anyone Davis." TK sighs. "When are the others coming back?"

"The rest of the Tamers are coming the entire city for that thing." I say, pressing my bangs out of my eyes. "They'll find it."

"Why aren't you out there with them Lily?" Agumon asks, his right arm bandaged as he looks over at me.  
"Because she's in trouble…." Renamon says in a sing-song voice, leaning over the couch and smirking at me.

"Shut up." I snap at her, rolling my eyes. "I didn't ditch Lilithmon and I needed to find you guys fast."

"You actually sort of did ditch her and Ryo."

"Shut up!"

"Hey, guys!"

We glance over to see Edan finally making his way down the hallway, his eyes having bags underneath them, his hair even messier than usual. "The zombie returns to the land of the living." TK deadpans and Salamon, whose trotting next to Edan's heels, rolls her eyes. "That's just how he is when he's working. He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep, you need to literally drag him away from the computer."

"He really should meet Izzy." Mimi murmurs, a strand of pink hair falling into her face. Edan doesn't seem to be listening to any of us, he continues, "I've determined the locations where the Destiny Stone might be."

'"Where it MIGHT be?" Tai asks, his eyebrows knitting together. "What do you mean where it "might be"?"

Edan's face flushes slightly and I shoot Tai a warning look. "It's not as easy as you might think. The ancient language isn't so easy to translate. But I figured out through cross-referencing and studying that it's in…."

He taps a few fingers on Mimi's keyboard and a map of America appears up on the wall. He taps another few and six red dots appear on the screen.

"One's right here in New York." Mimi says, making a face. "That makes sense. EVERYTHING happens in New York."

"Manhattan to be precise." Edan corrects her. "But yeah….you're right."

"This other one is much farther south." I point at one down lower. "Help me here I'm not good at American geography."

"Mexico." Edan corrects. "Specifically an area where the ancient Mayans were prevalent."

"And that one?"

"Probably Mexico's polar opposite. Alaska."

"Oh gosh." Davis groans, burying his face in his hands. "I hated trudging through the freezing cold back in the Digital World and I'm not going to do it again."

"Davis, for crying out loud, shut up and be a man."  
"I am a man. That's why I don't want to be turned into a giant Davisickle!"

"…"

"I don't know how to respond to that one." Edan says flatly, looking over at Davis. I wave a hand, shaking my head at the same time. "Don't even try to. The next one?"

"San Fransisco, California."

"YES!" Davis yells, punching a fist in the air. "We're going to Disneyworld!"

"DisneyLAND is out west Davis, not Disneyworld you idiot." I sigh. Kari glances over at him. "And besides, we're going to these places to work, remember? Not to have fun."

"Awww…."

Gatomon is holding a can of tuna when she trots into the room. Kari blinks as she looks over at her partner. "Shouldn't you be resting right about now?"

Gatomon shrugs and hooks one claw into the lid, tearing it free. "Demiveemon's snoring keeps me up so I didn't even bother. He snores worse than Demidevimon used to." She glances over at me and I make a face.

Even in his sleep, Demidevimon had been completely obnoxious and annoying. Tai scowls—actually we all do. It was Demidevimon's fault we got tricked into destroying the Destiny Stone. That's not something any of us are going to forgive…little backstabbing scumbag…

"Speaking of that twerp, where do you think he is right now?" TK says harshly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I don't know and I don't care." Kari says snappishly. "But I'm hoping his new boss pulled a VenomMyotismon and ate him."

Gatomon glances at her, her eyes widening slightly. "Gosh, Kari."

"I know, I know…." Kari sighs, covering her face with her hands. "It's not like me. But that little creep makes me so angry."

"Join the club." I mutter, my hands curling into fists as I realize Demidevimon tried to get me to destroy the Destiny Stone as well. Thankfully I'm just too freaking stubborn to listen to him.

"But it wasn't just him." Tai says practically. "Not really. It was mostly the fault of that Shademon that masqueraded as Ellen."

"We know that…." Gatomon says, a slight purr in her voice. "But it's so much more fun to put the complete blame on someone we all hate."

"Touche."

"True that."

I see Edan shifting from foot to foot and I know it's killing him how we keep interrupting him before he can finish his lovely presentation.

"So what are the last two?"

Edan grimaces and points at another dot—this one I actually recognize with the little knowledge I have of American geography. "Washington DC?!"

Mimi's face pales. "…The Capital?"

"Indeed. If Milleunimon unleashes his armies anywhere it will be a disaster but if he unleashes them here it will be an utter and complete…."

"Load of #4$4$$$$%^^^". Tai basically sums up the feeling of the room.

"Exactly." Edan sighs, for once not flinching at the coarse language. Huh. I'm not sure if we're being a good or a bad influence by desensitizing him like this.

Tai's eyes close and he leans on the back of the couch as TK speaks up. "…And the last place?"

"Please say Hawaii….." Davis says, closing his eyes and chanting. "Please say Hawaii please say Hawaii please say Hawaii…."

"….Nebraska?"

You could hear the loud thud as Davis falls off the couch with a moan of angst.

"I don't understand." Mimi frowns. "There's almost literally nothing in Nebraska—well—nothing important anyway."

(Note: To all of you lovely Nebraskians please don't kill Mimi. She just never thinks before she speaks)

I rub my eyes. "If this information had just been written in plain and simple Japanese everything would make more sense. Seriously? Is that too much to ask?"

"You know why." Edan says in a somewhat lecturing tone. "It's because Lady Yggdrasil wanted to make sure all of the power hungry idiots the Digital World is full of wouldn't be able to track the Destiny Stone down."

"Yeah, yeah I know. I just hope Millleunnimon is as confused by all this as we are."

"Um….Lils?"

"Yeah-huh?"

Mimi gives me a blank stare. "I don't mean to be rude…but where exactly is your family?"

"…" I shrug. I'm a little shocked to hear her refer to the Demon Lords as my family, I'm still not used to it yet.

'How should I know?"

"So effectively you let them loose on the streets of New York."

"Hey, they're not little kids okay?" I snap, annoyed. "They can take care of themselves and I trust them to not make too much damage."

Blank stares from everyone in the group and I fidget. "…Scratch that. Alexander is with them and I trust him to keep them all in line."

More blank stares. "….I need to make a call…."

….

Alexander has slipped back into his Ultimate form. He's found it's easier for not freaking people out, as opposed to his tall, clad in leather, shotgun wielding, three eyes form. True, he usually preferred his Mega form because that was he looked so much less like his brother.

The last thing he wanted to be reminded of when he looked in the mirror was Drake. He clenches his teeth repressing the feral snarl that rose up in his throat. At least Drake was far away from Lily. That was all that mattered.

"Lucemon, are you coming or not?" He says impatiently before looking behind him to see neither sign of his tamer or his leader. "Oh NOOOO….."

"Lucemon, I think Lily will be very mad to find out that you're doing this." Zack whispers, his voice low and anxious as he glances around at the gathering crowd.

Lucemon beams as the smaller kids around him crowd even closer, their clamors growing with every word. "Nonsense! I'm doing a good deed, aren't I?"

"I don't think bribing kidnergartners counts as a good deed in anyone's book." Zack says deadpan.

"I'm not bribing, I'm encouraging!"

"Uh huh." Zack says in that way kids do when they know an older person is speaking complete and utter ##### and they can't even be bothered to say it out loud.

Lucemon sticks his tongue out at him as more voices call out, "More candy! Please!"

"Of course….what do we say first?"

"Please?" Several voices chorus in unison.

"…No no no AFTER that…."

"…."

"LONG LIVE KING LUCEMON!"

Zack just facepalms and groans loudly as a huge grin forms on Lucemon's face and he tosses out more candy, just in time to hear a loud yell of "WHAT ON YGGDRASIL'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"I thought I asked you not to swear in my prescence…." Lucemon says innocently, as his headwings droop and his eyes narrow.

Alexander's eyes twitch before he facepalms and groans, just like his tamer. "….You are a disturbed person, you truly are…."

"I resent that." Lucemon says, shrugging as the crowd of children scatter. "Honestly, you're making such a fuss out of such a trivial matter."

"Trvial…it wasn't trivial when you tried to manipulate the hatchlings at Primary Village and it's not trivial now! Honestly, this has all got to stop! I mean re….." His voice trails off as both he and Lucemon freeze.

"….Guys…?" Zack says slowly right before Alexander places a hand over his mouth and says softly, "Shh…."

Lucemon's blue eyes narrow down to slits as he stares over the crowd of people, staring at something that none of the others can see. Alexander steps closer to his leader and Lucemon shakes his head at him. "Don't." His tone is more serious than Alexander has heard it in a long time.

"….But….."

"Get Zack out of here, NOW." He says in a tone that invites no argument. Alexander shakes his head. "I can't just simply leave you to…"

"Do NOT question me." Lucemon's head whips around and his eyes narrow dangerously at Alexander. The two of them stare at each other for a few seconds before Alexander lowers his head submissively. "…Yes my lord."

"Good, now GO!"

"W-wait!" Zach yells, leaping forwards, horror in his gaze right before Alexander grabs his partner. "But we can't just…we're supposed to…"

"We're leaving NOW." Alexander says with surprising fierceness, his wings ripping out of his back as he evolves back to his Mega form. Zack stares back at Lucemon as they flee, sees the young boy standing there in the middle of the crowd, not moving an inch, not paying any attention to the people that keep nearly bumping into him, his hands pressed together.

…

My eyes widen slightly, my hands gripping on the couch, taking in a long, low breath. Tai glances over at me as Renamon sits up, her eyes confused. "…What happened?"

"….Something's wrong…."

"Are you for real?!" Davis exclaims, sitting bolt up. "AGAIN?!"

"Well why is Lily the only one who can sense it?"

I don't think, I just bolt for the door, panic filling me I can't really understand.

"Lils! Come back!"

"Oh, are you for real?! Not again!"

….

Stella sighs as she lowers her Digivice, frowning. "…I can't find any kind of signal either…."

"I don't see why we're wasting our time with this." Barbamon grumbles, running a hand through his beard with agitation. "Whatever Digimon they ran into is clearly long gone by now."

"We cannot take that risk Barbamon." Angemon says flatly, glancing over at him. "Would you really risk a Digimon with Diaboromon's powers running loose again?"

"Don't mind him." Lunamon/Leviamon laughs. "He always gets grumpy about this time because if we were home he'd be recounting his gold."

"I don't appreciate your mocking tone." He says stiffly, glaring down at her along the mask of his long golden nose.

Lunamon pats him on the leg. "Come on Barbamon. You know me. I couldn't actually be mocking to anyone."

"…That is true."

"Even you."

"…" Barbamon rolls his eyes as she continues, "Now, you mind giving me a booster? Walking on these little legs is tiring, to say the least."

"Oh all right." He mutters, bending down and letting the little rabbit hopping onto his shoulder. Stella smiles slightly at the sight before turning back to Angemon. "…Do you think maybe we might be making too big a deal out of this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" She hesitates, running a hand through her hair. "I mean don't get me wrong, anything related to a Diaboromon….especially the one we heard about four years ago freaks me out…."

"But,...?"

"But it's one Digimon. And isn't finding the Destiny Stones more important?"

"…" He sighs. "You do have a point. I just…." His voice trails off once more. "I just have a incredibly bad feeling about this. I can't explain it."

Stella's eyes narrow slightly before she looks back over her shoulder. "So what do you two…." Her voice trails off as she sees the look on the two Demon Lord's faces.

Both Barbamon and Lunamon have frozen, their eyes widen, Barbamon's knuckles gripping his staff so hard that it started cracking slightly.'

"What is it?!"

"Lucemon…." Lunamon breathes, her paws trembling. "Barbamon, we have to go!"

"I know, I know!"

"But we need your hel…." Stella's voice trails off as she notices the fierce looks on both of their faces. "We're not leaving our leader!" Lunamon snaps, her temper showing for once.

Barbamon growls and Stella hesitates once more before nodding. "You're right. Just go!"

….

"My gosh, why couldn't I have been paired with Daemon?" GranDracmon mutters, sarcasm obvious in his voice.

Sira nudges him, rolling her eyes. "For crying out loud, she's not that annoying."

"That's hurtful you know." Lilithmon says, suddenly appearing at their elbows. Sira arches an eyebrow in her direction. "And how exactly have you been spending your time?"

"You know…looking for that one kid."

"I see." GranDracmon says in a monotone, looking over at her neck. "And hooking up with some unsuspecting fool helps you how?"

Lilithmon covers up the hickie mark on her neck, sticking her tongue out at him. "You're just jealous."

"Nope. You know very well that I'm a very happily married man."

Lilithmon rolls her eyes, making a mocking lip-synching gesture as GranDracmon shoots her another look and Sira glares at both of them. "FOCUS."

"Why are you so worried about this anyway?" GranDracmon sighs, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "One Champion Digimon.,…"

"One Champion Digimon that somehow managed to thwart two others." She retorts. "I can't help it. This guy suddenly shows up at the exact same time we're searching for the Destiny Stone?"

"I know Sira…." He presses his nose to the top of her head. "…I promise you….Milleunnimmon won't get away with what he's done." His jaw tightens.

"…One of these days you're going to have to forgive yourself…." She said softly.

"Much as I can appreciate a good mushy moment…." Lilithmon says deadpan in a tone that suggests she doesn't at all. They glance back at her and see her face is pale, one drop of blood running down her cheek and standing out against her white cheek.

"…."

…

"GRAND CROSS!"

The flash of bright light fills the entire square, a massive cross that slams into the monster. It screams, writhing backwards before snarling back up at the angel that floats above him.

Lucemon's eyes scan the entire square, seeing the screaming humans running for their lives, which was good, and the others frozen in fear and shock, which was not.

"For Yggdrasil's sake…." He hisses, and it was a mark of how upset he was to use that word, "why do you all stand there like a bunch of stupid Bakemon?! RUN!"

His head snaps back around as another angry roar echoes. The monster towering there was truly terrifying. Pale gray skin, long, ragged red wings, one massive golden eye in the middle of its body, and another eye each in the middle of its claws.

A Ghoulmon. Lucemon smirks slightly, crossing his arms as his wings flap. "Don't waste your time on these pathetic insects. If it's data you seek, than try and see if you can bring down the leader of the Demon Lords."

The monster lets out a rasping cackle. "You certainly are as overconfident as your reputation claims, "Lord Lucemon"."

"Prideful." Lucemon says with an innocent smile. "Not overconfident, you see. There's a difference. It's not overconfident at all to think that beating you should be easy."

"We shall see…DEATH ARROW!"

Lucemon backflips over the first arrow that slices towards his mid-section and then dives forward, his fists and feet glowing. His kicks and punches become little more than a blur as he pushes Ghoulmon back.

Lucemon smiles as he pulls back, a grin forming on his face. His blue eyes widen as the smoke clears and there's not a single scratch on Ghoulmon's body.

"Nice try." Ghoulmon says condescendingly, as more arrows shoot out of his hands, this time hitting Lucemon straight on.

Lucemon yells as he's thrown backwards, crashing into the apartment building behind him. He groans, shoving himself upwards, startled, horrified gasps echoing around him.

"H-hey…!"

He glances up to see a young girl, probably not much older than Lily, with long curly blonde hair bending over him. "…Are you okay?"

He hisses in pain from the slashes across his body before looking to see she had a hand outstretched to him. He cocks his head to one side, confused for a sec, before a slight smile appears on his face and he grabs her wrist. "…Huh…?"

"You need to get out of here." He says firmly, looking into her face. "Get your friends and your…co-workers out of here and run."

"B…okay…" She says, fear in her voice as she glances back, Ghoulmon blasting down building after building with his arrows, roaring at Lucemon to come out and challenge him.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine…." Lucemon staggers back to his feet, limping slightly. It had been a while since he'd taken a blow like that and it was clearly taking its toll on him. So much stronger than he'd though…much stronger than the average Mega.

"…What are you gonna do?"

"..." He flashes a grin over his shoulder at her before reaching down and snapping off the bracelets on his wrists, and then, his ankles. "…I'm going to tear a certain Digimon limb from limb…"

…

Ghoulmon roars out once more, sending another arrow soaring towards an unfortunate group of people. They're obliterated on the spot. "LUCEMON! Come out! Fight me for real you pathetic coward!"

"AMETHYST WIND!"

The daggers slam into his back, catching him off guard, but not really do any damage. His three eyes all narrow as he turns around to glare at the levitating sha-woman Digimon behind him.

"This doesn't concern you Tamer…" He hisses.

"Oh yes it does." Renamon's and my voice are in complete unison, our contempt obvious. "You have messed with our friend. You have taken innocent lives this day. If it means wiping a slimeball like you out of existence than there is nothing that we won't do…."

"Very well…." His main eye began to shine a brilliant shade of scarlet and Renamon yells inside my head, "_LILY LOOK OUT!"_

"AMETHYST MANDALA!"

The golden sphere forms around me, pulsing but it still does no good. The arrow slams into my shield and shatters it, sending us both sprawling backwards.

I yell as we slam into the building opposite, so hard that it forms a freaking dent, groaning. "Ugh….that…hurt…."

"LILY!"

"ROSETTA STONE!"

"Kari, get out of here!" I shot, slicing my hand through the sky. "This guy is too powerful, we have to GO!"

"Like heck…." Kari scoffs, and I really, really wish Tai and I hadn't been such a big influence on her. "I'm not leaving you. Where's Lucemon?!"

"I…I don't know!" My eyes scan the area for the angel, clenching my teeth in anger. I know he took a direct hit…the spot right between my shoulders is BURNING for some reason although for the life of me I can't understand why.

Barbamon materlizes beneath the both of us in the middle of the crowd, and we don't even notice him. His eyes narrow down to slits as he spots the monster storming through the city and takes a step forward, before Lunamon cuts him off. "Let me handle this one…."

"Are you sure?"

She gives him a look. "Absolutely. Let me have some fun."

Barbamon chuckles and thrusts his arm up, Lunamon leaping into the sky. "LUNAMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO…LEVIAMON!"

"HOLY FREAKING ##&&&#!"

Kari's eyes widen in disbelief as she stares down at the massive monster that uncurls beneath her with a roar. "…Oh…my….Yggdrasil….'

The giant crocodile is probably about forty meters long of muscles, scales, and claws, with her long snout curled back in a smirk that shows all of her razor sharp teeth.

If people weren't panicking before, they definitely were panicking now, screams echoing at the top of their lungs as they run from the massive reptile.

"Honestly…." Leviamon mutters, a bit annoyed. "Can't they tell I'm supposed to be the good guy?"

"Uh, usually the gigantic crocodile ISN'T the good guy." I point out, levitating down beside her. She rolls one golden eye and mutters, "Stereotypes."

"I know, I know. For shame, all of those people thinking that demons are evil."

Leviamon bumps me gently with her snout. "Are you done now?"

"Yeah." I chuckle, crossing my arms. "Now kick his butt."

Leviamon ROARS, standing up on her hind legs, her tail lashing back and forth and accidentally taking out a couple of buildings that I really, REALLY hope are already empty as she charges Ghoulmon.

Ghoulmon's one eyes widens in disbelief as she uses sheer MUSCLE to tackle him, ramming him off his feet and pinning him to the ground with a snarl.

"Um…." Kari sweatdrops as she and Nerfertimon land, both of them staring with their jaws hanging open as the two giants wrestle. "…Is this really…a good idea…?"

"In retrospect, probably not." Barbamon sighs, wincing slightly as Leviamon's claws leave deep gashes in the road and Ghoulmon's arrows incinerate everything else.

"Crap…" I mutter.

"_Don't you just hate collateral damage?" _Renamon's voice echoes out as I facepalm. "We can't let this go on for much longer, or else the both of them will tear the whole city apart."

"Give Leviamon a break, she's trying." I glance over at Lilithmon who has also suddenly appeared out of nowhere, (my family seems to do this a lot).

And Leviamon is trying, we can tell. She's barely using her claws or her tail now, and her eyes are more focused on the people who are scattering around the titans like little ants than her opponents. Which is certainly not a good thing.

"This just isn't her type of battle. There's not enough strength for her to go all out." Lilithmon sighs.

"But we need to finish this guy off and…." My voice trails off as I see Lucemon landing next to me. His blue eyes meet mine and he says dryly, "I suppose Alexander didn't tell you all to clear out and let me handle this."

"Actually we didn't get a chance to even see him." Lilithmon says cheerfully. "But do you honestly think we would have listened anyway?"

Lucemon just facepalms as another roar from Leviamon echoes, and this time it seems more a cry of pain than anything else.

"…Lucemon…where are your…." Kari begins, glancing down to see that his ankles and wrists are free of bracelets. Lucemon just smiles slightly as Barbamon's eyes widen.

"….My lord…you do realize that the entire point is to NOT cause collateral damage correct?"

"I am aware of that, thank you." Lucemon says deadpan, waving his hand over his shoulder. "But you do realize that there's this convient thing not far from us…called the Atlantic Ocean."

"Well brilliant." I say deadpan, as Nerfertimon asks, with a tone that suggests she's almost afraid to ask, "How are you going to do that?"

"You'll see…Leviamon! NOW!"

Leviamon's golden eyes snap open again as Ghoulmon continues to press her skull to the ground, a snarl appearing on her face as with a burst of strength, she flips him upwards.

"ROSTRUM!"

The blast of water energy spirals directly upwards underneath Ghoulmon, sending him flying with a scream.

"Well…you could do that…I suppose…."

Ghoulmon screams as the force of the blast sends him flying so hard, that he crashes into the waves. The explosion of water blasts upwards as he explodes back above the surface, coughing and furious.

"Filthy…little…." He breathes, his one eye red with rage. He would tear all of them apart. All of the so-called Digidestined, and all of those useless, interfering, Demon Lord fools…

"I'm sorry….you were saying…?"

He manages to look up to see Lucemon floating above him again, a serene smirk on his face even though his body is covered with bruises and scrapes.

"Oh please. You honestly believe that I fear you…" Ghoulmon's voice trails off as he realizes that Lucemon is no longer wearing the sealing devices, and the feeling of raw power surrounding the angel has increased at least by 50%.

"…Wait…oh….no…."

"You are correct." Lucemon says sweetly, slashing one hand down and one hand vertically, his eyes glowing a pale blue. "Any last words?"

"N-noNOOOOO!"

"That's about what I thought." The white light is near blinding and Ghoulmon screams, as he feels it burning away at all three of his eyes, agony filing his body.

"GRAND CROSS!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The light seems to fill the entire horizon, and the screams of the civilians on the island echoes as their panic is contagious.

I hug Kari close to me, cringing underneath the bright glare, feeling the raw power radiate against my body before it finally….slowly…fades away….

Everything is oddly quiet…completely still…as though everyone's afraid to say a word. The first sound I hear is the noise of the water, still churning madly from the attack.

"…"

"LUCEMON!"

Lucemon smirks slightly as the data from the Ghoulmon dissolves into the air, and he is about to absorb it before he notices…something weird…

"…What is…that…?" He mutters, as the black object falls into the hand. Exhaustion seems to fill his entire body as he slowly droops down, eyes closing, and the last of his strength fails him as he plummets.

Right before he can hit the ocean and sink into the dark depths, he feels something grab him. "You idiot…." Alexander mutters, holding his unconscious leader in his arms, black wings beating over the stilled surface.

"Like any of us would ever truly leave you…"

….

"Well, now all of us know the true meaning of the word disaster." Sira says deadpan as we're sitting back in the kitchen. I run a hand through my black hair. "How is it our fault that all of the psycho monsters are always drawn to us?"

Sira's right eye twitches as Mimi stares out the window as the smoke rises from the damaged buildings around us.

"Um…."

She glances down at the beaten up Lunamon, a scrape across her eyes, and Lunamon shuffles her feet. "I'm…really sorry about the damage I caused…."

A small smile appears on Mimi's face as she bends down and rubs the top of Lunamon's head. "It's all right. It's not your fault. You helped beat that monster before he could wipe out everyone I care about. Thank you…"

Lunamon smiles shyly before her ears droop again. "Then why are you sad?"

Mimi sighs. "I just feel…so useless…."

"We all feel that way." Yolei mutters as she leans her head on the top of her arms. "Even when we all work together we still are one step behind that monster's forces."

"How's Lucemon?" Tai says, running a hand through his choppy chocolate hair.

"Resting." Daemon sighs. "He used up pretty much all of his energy just now and it will take awhile to recover…"

"Will someone get this THING off of my head?" I perk up at the sound of Damien's voice, turn my head, and then have to bite back a howl of laughter. Damien scowls and shoots me a look of disdain while the white fluffy blob on top of his head opens its mouth and lets out a long yawn.

"What is that?" Ken asks curiously as Yolei lets out a squeal of "It's so cutttteeeeeee!"

The little creature giggles and leaps into the air, waving his little golden wings about as he flutters, chanting, "Happy. Happy happy happy!"

"…Is that…?"

"No way…." Dilbert's lips curl in a grin as he looks like he might die of laughter. "Is that…"

"LUCEMON?!"

"Oh dear…." Daemon sighs, making a grimace. "I knew his injuries were substantial but I never dreamed they would be enough to knock him back to Baby form."

"Happy Happy Happy!"

A newly regenerated Veemon sweatdrops. "….Is that all he can say?"

"Indeed."

"You have no idea of how annoying it gets after a while…." Lilithmon mutters, facepalming. "Still, I suppose it could be worse."

"What I don't understand is how the heck was that Ghoulmon that powerful?" Stella crosses her arms. "It's like with that Wendigomon earlier…."

"So that's what it's called." Tai mutters, his jaw tightening. I glance over at him and sigh. I should know he's not going to let this business of a creature with Diaboromon's powers go.

"…Something's going on here…." Ryo mutters. She looks tired, like she didn't get much sleep last night at all. "…And I don't think I like it…."

I glance over at Damien, whose as usual, standing in the corner of the room, as far away from the Demon Lords as he possibly can. My eyes narrow as I watch him leave and without thinking, I get up to follow him.

"Lils…?"

"Girlfriend trouble?" Lilithmon says cheerfully. "I can give you some advice if you like, Kamiya."

Tai's face practically pales. "…Oh…um…um…."

"This out to be good." TK chuckles and Mimi sighs before leaving the room. "…Hey where are you going?"

"Just going out for a bit." Mimi says sweetly.

"...Are you sure that's okay?"

"Yeah, it's not that safe, Mi…"

"I'll be fine." She turns around and winks at Yolei. "Don't forget, I'm a Digidestined too."

"Yeah but…."

Tai sighs, watching her leave before a thoughtful expression appears on his face. Stella snorts. "I've seen that look on boss' face so many times. What are you thinking about Kamiya?"

'…I'm worried about her…" He sighs. "I think all of the older Digidestined developed a real lack in confidence after the whole mess with the Control Spires and…"

His voice trails off as he looks over at Ken, who is staring determinedly at the ground. Ryo and surprisingly Davis both glare at him.

"I've been thinking…." Tai's voice trails off before hardening. "The rest of the older team has been forced to sit on our haunches for too long. For crying out loud, we beat Apocylamon. And the way things are going…we're going to need every member we can get…."

"He's right." Agumon pipes up. "Besides, you know if we don't get them to come in soon, Sora's going to find out on her own what's going on. And you know how she gets."

"…"

"Kari start contacting them on your D-Terminal. STAT."

"Already on it."

"All of the older Digidestined." Cody says, his voice somewhat small. "….Wow." Yolei fidgets with her glasses uneasily, gulping. She knows what Cody is thinking. The older Digidestined are so powerful, so much more advanced then any of them have ever been.

"For crying out loud, you're acting like their demigods." Dilbert's Wormmon scoffs and he shoots her a look.

"She's got a point." Dilbert leans forward. "What are you so worried about? That you're not going to measure up to your predecessors?"

"Well I…"

"Oh for crying out loud." Stella scoffs. "This low self-confidence isn't like you girlie. For Yggdrasil's sake, quit reminding me of me."

Yolei shoots her a look. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that….a bit ago…" Stella's eyes travel over to Edan, who blushes slightly as she looks back. "I had a friend of mine help slap some sense into me when I doubted yourself. And if you keep thinking you're not good enough, I'm literally going to do the same thing. Slap some sense into you."

"And she slaps hard." Tsukaimon adds, and Stella rolls her eyes at him before aiming a swipe at her partner. He giggles, barely ducking out of the way.

"The point is, I'd hate to think my rival is selling herself short. So straighten up." She finishes, before walking out of the room.

Yolei blinks. "What…just happened exactly?"

"I think Stella just declared you her rival." Ryo tells her deadpan. "And as her previous rival I have to say, Yggdrasil help you."

"…Oy vey…."

"Listen, kid…" Lilithmon tosses her black hair back. "It isn't easy living up to other people's expectations. Trust me, I know. You gotta…" She waves a hand lazily in the air. "Do what you think is right and then if people try to tell you what to do, tell em they can just stick their advice up their-"THANK YOU LILTHMON." Alexander says loudly.

…

Mimi knocks on the door of her father's office, and his secretary blinks as she enters. "Oh, uh, Mimi sweetheart. You know your father isn't here right now, right?"

"Oh yes, I know…" She smiles sweetly. "I just remembered…I….lost my necklace a bit ago and I think it happened last time I visited him. You don't mind if I poke around do you?"

"Well…I suppose not but…."

"Great! Thanks!"

The minute she makes her way into her father's room and closes the door behind her she breathes a sigh of relief. No one ever really doubted Mimi's intentions. Not with her innocent face.

She'd sent messages to Michael and the other American Digidestined asking about the kid that Kari and the others had described, but according to them, they'd never heard of him.

She glances down at the picture that Kari had given them—apparently her camera had accidentally gone off during the battle and it had caught an image of not just the monster, but the blonde haired boy fleeing from the scene.

Something about that face was familiar….Mimi cracks her knuckles as she sits down at the computer. Izzy's influence had paid off. She wasn't that bad at cracking passwords herself, which was amazing considering four years ago she'd never had the patience to do anything with computers. However she'd found that hacking required the same thing as bargain shopping—persistence.

As her father's files scroll before her she scans them for any information, because from that picture, she could have SWORN she's seen that kid before. And she could have sworn it happened at one of her father's work banquets she'd been forced to attend as a child.

"Let's see…." She mutters. A half an hour later she was about to beat her head against the ground. Was it too much to ask for the information to appear to her? She didn't WANT this, she didn't want to be useless…

"…." Her eyes flicker over to the screen as she spots an unnamed folder. Well it was her last chance. She opens the file and has to surpress the urge to punch the air.

As she read the information, she frowns. Okay…that was weird.

Her father ran a video game company, a hugely successful one, and had had business dealings with people all over the world. What was weird was that this group seemed to be such a minor one. The picture showed images of four people, one was….

"Hey that's Sora's Dad…." She breathes, her eyes widening in disbelief as she recognized the name.

The next was a pale man with black hair and eyes that gave her the chills, even though she couldn't imagine why. "Oikawa…."

She searched the name on the Internet, her eyes widening. Oikawa had apparently gone missing four years ago, right after the death of his partner, "…Cody's Dad…" She breathes. And the fourth man, who had also gone missing…

"Holy crap…" The fourth man looked almost exactly like the boy in the picture, with golden hair and blue eyes and a beaming smile. The expression was surely different but everything else…and…apparently…he'd gone missing as well.

Mimi feels a weird feeling creeping up in her stomach. Something about this was all connected, and possibly not in a good way. She quickly signed out of the computer, the feeling of something cold pressing in around her.

The image of Oikawa's pale eyes seemed to be haunting her…that expression was so familiar from somewhere…but from where?

...

"What the heck is going on with you?"

"That's how I love to be greeted…" Damien mutters, turning away from the balcony to face me. I frown and cross my arms. "Don't push me pretty boy. What the heck is happening to you? You're acting even more weird and vague than usual."

"Am I?"

I glower. "That's not an answer, now spill."

Damien's eyes flicker over to me. "…I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do." I say, taking a menacing step forwards. "Look, I don't like the fact how you keep sneaking off like this. Damien…I don't like how…you seem to have changed. That's hard to trust, and…."

"Oh….I'm hard to trust am I?" Damien takes a step forwards and I feel a slight chill run down my spine at the look in his eyes. "After all I've done for you you suddenly turn on me. Like everyone does."

I bite my lip and reach for his hand. I get the feeling that I've hurt him somehow, and my instinct is to comfort my friend. But….

"…Just tell me what's going on…" I plead. His eyes narrow down to slits. "…I really wouldn't be making demands of me right now Lily. You're not in any position too."

"…What are you talking about?"

"You know full well about how that village was wiped out. And you were the only one there out of nowhere…."

I stagger back, as if he's slapped me. "…You're blaming ME for that?!"

"You're accusing me of being a traitor!" He snaps back. "You expect me to just take that?"

"You're the one who we know nothing about!"

"…You know what?" Damien's eyes flash with anger. "…Fine. I know full well where I'm not wanted. Let's see how well you handle the mystery of what happened back there by yourself."

Storming back into the house I yell over the shoulder, "WHATEVER! I don't need you!" I slam the door behind me. Everyone looks up and I feel my cheeks turn bright red.

"…Lils…are you okay…?" Gatomon's ears perk up, her tail swishing back and forth. I take a deep breath. "Yeah…whatever…"  
"Bullcrap." I freeze at the sound of that voice, slowly turning my head around. "S-Sora?!"

"We're all together now." Sora says fiercely, punching me in the shoulder as I look around the whole room. Izzy….Matt….Mimi….Joe….Tai….TK…Kari….Sora…

A slow smile appears on my face, and I'm able to push Damien's words out of my head, although the memory of that morning still makes my stomach churn.

"You guys…" I say, my voice trailing off before I suddenly throw myself at Sora, hugging her tightly. She smiles, hugging me tightly, and I suddenly feel the grip become extremely uncomfrotrable.

"Uh….Sora….you can let go now…."

"If you ever leave me out of something like this again…." The tone of her voice making me about wet myself.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! SOMEBODY HELLPPPPPPP!"

…

"So what are we looking at?" Ken says, pulling the pictures Mimi brought over towards him. The four men smiling up at us—well one, scowling, draw all our eyes on them.

Cody freezes. He looks at the picture like he's seen a ghost. "That's my…my…."

"Your Dad." Mimi says quietly. "I know. And that's…."

"My Dad." Sora says softly. Her hands clench the edge of the table. "What the heck is this Mimi?"

"You guys know my Dad runs a video game company right?"

"Yeah….?"

"Well apparently more than a decade ago these people approached him with a game idea…." Her eyes take in all of us. "A game about a world populated by monsters inside of a computer."

"…What…"

Sira's eyes narrow down to slits. "So…your parents knew about the Digital World beforehand?"

"N-no!" Cody shakes his head. "That's not even possible. My Dad never…I don't even know who these people are."

"What about you Red?" Lilithmon asks, crossing her arms. "Your old man ever talk about our world?"

Sora shakes her head. Her face is pale and I can't blame her. "…My Dad's always been interested in the legends and myths of the world. Could it just be…."

"A coincidence? I really, really doubt it."

"Especially when you look at this guy." Davis nods to the guy on the far right. "He looks EXACTLY like the guy we chased after earlier."

"Must be his father. And why would Millenniummon's forces be after his son if he didn't have some connection to the Digital World?"

"…"

"Cody, are you okay?" Yolei says softly, leaning a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, whose face is completely pale.

"Yeah, dude, are you all right?"

"…I…don't…understand…" Cody whispers, curling his hands into fists.

"Neither of us do." Sora says softly, looking over at him. "….But…I can't believe my father would be involved in anything corrupt. So don't doubt him. I'm sure there's more to this that meets the eye."

"There always is." GranDracmon says under his breath. I glance over at him and see his fists curled, a fang glinting slightly.

He's seemed so much more agitated than he has been before. It's weird. There's something he's not telling me. Then again, as Damien's accusation echoes back through my head, I realize there's something VERY big I'm not telling him and Sira. I remember what happened in the Pokemon world because we didn't trust each other. I make the mental note to push them for an answer…and…tell them the truth, as absolutely terrifying that is.

"I do know more about this guy." Sira, now back in detective mode, taps the picture of the scowling man. I sigh, rubbing my temples, knowing that there's got to be some reason why he seems so familiar.

The look in the eyes, the shape of the face…so similar but so….this is horribly annoying.

"All the information Mimi found on this guy…" Izzy shoots her a proud smile, "says he went missing four years ago."

"That is correct. For a while we believed that it had been a suicide…but there was never a body found…."

"…So he just…vanished? Out of thin air?"

A chill runs down my spine. "So…we have two parents of our own members…a missing guy…and a guy whose son is being harassed by the forces of our own enemies?"

"That pretty much sums it up." Matt grumbles, his blonde hair hanging in his face as he wraps an arm around Sora's shoulders.

"…We can't allow us to get to distracted by this." Edan says, a firmness in his voice that seems a lot more common now a days.

"What do you mean?"

"He means…." Matt runs a hand through his perfectly gelled blonde hair. "That from what you've told me, the Destiny Stones are Millennniummon's main target. And if we get distracted, than we might just be falling for another trap just like in the Pokemon World."

I like how Matt says "we" instead of "you." Even after that massive screwup, he's not being the least judgemental. I remember Damien's icy cold glare and I sigh. When am I going to have that great a guy again?

Nope. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. Not important right now, in the slightest.

"She's right." Sira nods. "So here's what Goggle-head…" She jerks a thumb at Tai who rolls his eyes, "have decided. We will split up into six groups, each person searching for the Destiny Stone."

"And we will be helping." Alexander announces, as Daemon nods, Lilithmon shrugs, Barbamon crosses his arms and looks a little uneasy, Luanmon grins and leaps into my arms.

"HAPPY." Puttimon says from his spot on Renamon's head. She groans. "Get off you idiot."

Sira shoots all of us a look and everyone falls silent.

"Here's how it's going to go. Izzy, Mimi, Lilithmon, the three of you are staying right here in New York. Mimi knows this place better than anyone else."

"All right!" Mimi grins and Izzy turns red. I let out a low groan as Lilithmon smirks. Oh gosh. Lilithmon with two people who have a crush on each other. She's going to make their lives absolutely miserable.

"Leviamon, Dilbert, Joe, . You will be going to Mexico." Tai continues.

"Ole." Dilbert's Wormmon hops into his lap, striking an odd pose.

"Oh gosh please stop." Dilbert begs.

"Daemon, Stella, Davis, Ken, and Ryo. Alaska."

"Oh GOSH…." Davis lets out a low moan. "I hate the cold…."

"Than isn't it fitting you're stuck with me." Daemon chuckles and Davis and Veemon both suddenly grin.

"We'll keep them in line." Ryo smiles and Ken grins.

"Barbamon….Yolei…Sora and Kari you will be going to San Francisco."

"Guess whose going to Disney Land." Yolei says, shooting Davis a teasing smirk. He just scowls at her.

"If Lucemon's out of action…" Kari asks.

"Happy."

"…Okay….Then who is going to take his place?"

The other Demon Lords exchange awkward looks. "…If we can get him to wake up…."

"Then there's no one less reliable."

"TK, Cody, me, and Belphemon, will be going to the Capital." Sira says flatly, crossing her arms.

"…You're sicking Belphemon on DC?" Lilithmon says deadpan. "Oh gosh do you just hate America?"

"Lilithmon."

"Kidding…." She says in a singsong voice as we all give her horrified looks.

"And the last group?"

"To good old Nebraska?" I ask, amused. "Sounds good to me. You up for it?" I say in a teasing tone of voice, as I look over at Alexander. Alexander chuckles and ruffles my hair along with Zach's.

"Correct. Along with…two other people."

…Oh boy. I look up into Tai's eyes and he turns bright red. I know how silly this is, to feel this rush…but I can't help it.

"And I'll be here to make sure the lovebirds are kept in line." Matt says deadpan, a smirk on his face.

"Shut up Matt."

"So be it." GranDracmon raises an eyebrow. "We are the Digidestined. The Tamers. Do your names proud….and no matter how this goes down…then you will have glory."

There's silence for a moment, only broken when-"Happy."

"…Well that was anticlimactic."


	29. Troubles in America from SeatoShiningSea

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Troubles in America from Sea to Shining Sea

AN: LOL I have NO idea how I managed to get this chapter done by today. It was EXHAUSTING. XD. Darn school not conforming to my schedule. Anyway I hope it's still good. But still that awkward moment when you're staring at your inbox panicking because the new chapter email hasn't shown up, and then you realized you forgot to post it.)

The screeching of Behemoth's tires finally comes to a stop, and I breathe a sigh of relief, finally relinquishing my super tight grip on Alexander's jacket. "…Next time I'm riding on Garurumon…" I breath, feeling my heartrate finally slow down.

Alexander chuckles, sounding amused in front of me. "You just aren't used to it. Don't worry, it gets better with time."

"Your ride is completely insane." I tell him, deadpan, as Behemoth rumbles underneath me. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn the thing was laughing at me.

I roll my eyes as Kyubimon trots up beside me, her tongue sticking out in a pant as she practically laughs at me. Zach grins and pats her shoulder. "That was…FREAKING AWESOME!"

"Okay, switching was cool, this ONCE, but let's never do it again." I say deadpan. Kyubimon yips. "Hey, I need a break from carrying your dead weight around sometimes."

"EXCUSE ME?"

There's the sound of laughter behind me and I glance over to see Garurumon trotting up, Matt in the front, Tai behind him looking disgruntled.

"Pretty boy here almost fell off." Matt chuckles. "I had to be the one to save his butt, or else he would have splattered all over someone's car."

"Shut up….." Tai mutters. Agumon groans as he slides to the ground. "Sweet mother Earth I'll never leave you again."

Not wanting to look as big a wuss as the other two, I ask, "So what exactly is the plan? Just wander around and go, "Excuse me, have you seen a certain giant stone floating in the air?"

Tai snorts. "Yeah, if we want to get locked up in a mental institution."

"Agreed, but do you have a better plan?"

Zach reaches into his backpocket and pulls a Digivice, pressing a button in the middle. A screen flickers to show a holographic image of Edan sitting at the computer.

"And look who couldn't be bothered to leave a place without sure wi-fi." Matt mutters sarcastically.

Renamon stifles a giggle.

"I heard that."

"Woops."

Edan shoots Matt another look. "It may not look like I'm doing much, but all of this…" He waves a hand as the hologram gets bigger to show that he's somehow set up an entire room full of computers, "is what will allow me to keep track of all of you, make sure none of you run into trouble, and maybe provide clues about where the Destiny Stone is. So I'm SOOO sorry if-

"Edan, Edan!" Matt waves his hands frantically. "It was a joke, all right?! I'm sorry!"

"Nicely done." I say deadpan as a sheepish Matt retreats to the back of the group. "So, Edan, what's so special about this place then? Looks like any other city."

"Ah. You see I cross-referenced the picture that Mimi took…"

"And…?"

Edan smirks. "That guy? From the group photo? He lives HERE. Right in the middle of good old Omaha. Apparently he's divorced and has one child, who lives with his mother in New York."

"Nice…" Tai says, a smirk forming on his own face. "Then all we have to do is to go straight to this address and…"

"And do what?" Matt asks, finding his voice again. "Lily's point from earlier still stands. A bunch of kids and a bunch of monsters are going to end up putting him in hospital for a heart attack, not give us the information we want."

Garurumon lets out an indignant snort. "Strange looking? Who are you calling weird looking?"

"Oh….I don't know. Improvise."

"Sweet. I have the perfect plan."

"NO!" Matt and I both yell in unison, whipping our heads around and shooting Tai and Agumon fierce looks.

Tai pouts, crossing his arms. "Well why not?"

"Dude, no offence, you're actually smart when it comes to battle strategy, but when it comes to being subtle, you…"

"Stink?" Kyubimon offers.

"No one's forgotten the whole incident with you, Palmon, and your pathetic attempts at disguises back at Myotismon's castle." Garurumon says with a smirk.

"Fine." Tai tosses his hands up. "I had this freaking awesome plan about how we could get into this guy's house and search through his information, but ah well. Go be boring, the lot of you."

"You mean…be like ninjas?!" Zach asks eagerly. "I vote for Tai's plan!"

"No, you don't." Alexander says firmly. "Sometimes the simplest approach is the best approach. We don't want to cause unnecessary trouble, especially not with the paleez."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…The….the what, Alexander?" I ask carefully, as both Tai and Matt and the other two Digimon are giving him a "What the heck is wrong with you?" looks.

"The PALEEZ." Alexander repeats, a hint of annoyance entering his normally refined British-like accent. "You know. The human law enforcement?"

"…"

Matt coughs. "…Um…sir….I'm pretty sure…that's the POLICE."

Alexander waves him off with a shake of his head. "No, no I'm quite sure. Anyway, off we go!"

"Paleez save me now." I mutter into Kyubimon's ear as I climb onto her back, and she manages to disguise her laughter as a coughing fit.

….

"Has anyone seen Lilithmon?" Tentomon buzzes next to Izzy as the two of them stand on the crowded sidewalk next to a busy intersection.

Izzy sighs, shaking his head as he waits for the light to turn green. "They said they'd meet back up with us by now. I shouldn't have let Mimi go off with her…"

"What? You don't trust Lilithmon?"

"It's not that I don't trust Lilithmon." He responds, as he and Tentomon walk across the crossing walk. "It's that I don't trust them together, especially when they both get that mad gleam in their eyes and say they know the perfect place to start looking."

"...You think the two of them are both out shopping right now, don't you?"

"Yes. Yes I do." Izzy says deadpan, and both of them look at each other before groaning.

Tentomon is dressed back in his old outfit from four years ago—it's the best way to disguise him Izzy can think of, and he doesn't think the adage "New Yorkers have seen it all" will apply to giant talking beetle.

Of course he's already amazed, again, that so many people seem to just brush Tentomon off as a weird looking kid. The disguise isn't THAT good is it? Huh. Well if Agumon's disguise had worked back then, than what the heck?

"It's really good to be back with you buddy." Izzy says in lower tones as he and Tentomon reach the other end of the street.

Tentomon looks up at him and smiles…well…smiles in his own way, as Tentomon's expression never really changed. "Indeed Izzy. All six of us have been itching to get out there and, prove our worth, as the expression goes."

"Gabumon and Agumon regained their Mega forms." Izzy muses, his chin in his hand. "It…almost felt like the good old times."

"Do you think that soon, I shall also reachieve my Ultimate form?" Tentomon says, and there's such a tone of wistfulness in his voice that Izzy actually stops and looks down at him.

"I'm sure you will buddy." Izzy says soothingly, his eyebrows knitting together. Suddenly his neck seems to feel…lighter. And not in a good way. He feels the absence of the weight of his Crest the way you would feel the absence of a friend.

So strange that years ago, he had almost given it up to Vademon, falling for the strange alien Digimon's lies that true knowledge could only be found when curiosity was lost.

He smiles down at his partner once again, trying to push back his own unhappiness. "You know what…I bet…one of these days you and I will go farther than the Ultimate form. Whose to say that only Tai and Matt can do it?"

'You really think so?"

"Yeah. I'm positive of it." He nods, the sadness inside of him slowly fading away. "And your Mega form will be incredible. You just wait."

Tentomon's green eyes seem to grow a little brighter. "You know Izzy, I don't say this enough, but you're a really great friend, you know that?"

Izzy smiles and then tenses. Something seems to be prickling up his spine. "…Did you feel that?"

"No I…." Tentomon's wings suddenly start to beat in agitation underneath his coat, lifting him off the ground slightly.

"Hey, Tentomon, watch it!"

"That energy, Izzy! Can't you feel it?! It's so…familiar…"

"What do you…." Izzy's voice trails off and his eyes widen as the memories come rushing back. A cold dark space. A feeling of numbness filling his entire body, a darkness creeping into his mind he couldn't fight. Holding a crying Pabumon in his arms…

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…"

His hand whips into his pocket, feeling around for his cellphone, but his fingers are slimy with sweat as he frantically punches in her number.

"Hello, Izzy? Er um..." Mimi's voice is hesitant and then overly innocent, the way she always is when she's trying to hide something from him. "We…think we're on a really good trail for some more clues. No, no, the BLUE on-"MIMI!"

"I'm sorry, but there was this really cute boutique and Lilithmon and I both thought a couple of minutes never hurt anyone, please don't be mad at me, I-"Mimi, I already knew you'd gone shopping!" He clenches his teeth. "That's not what matters right now. What matters is that you're in danger, understand me? I thought he was dead, he's supposed to be dead, but…."

The phone starts to turn static, and he curses, something Izzy almost never does.

"…Izzy….I can'…." The last thing he hears before the phone dies in his hand is a long, drawn out scream.

"MIMI!"

…

"I…FREAKING…HATE…THE…COLD…." Davis stammers, his face turning blue as they land right into a drift of snow. The wind howls around them and Stella shivers, drawing her thick coat that Edan had supplied her with tighter around her. "How do you think I feel? I'm a Southerner…" She tries to say, but her teeth are chattering so much everyone in the group looks at her like she's speaking Swahili.

"This isn't good…." Ken mutters, tightening the coat fiercely around the shivering Wormmon in his arms. "Very few of our Digimon are made for the cold. What were they thinking of sending us here?"

Ryo nudges him. "There's a building right over there. Look." She points and through the whirlwind of snow Stella can barely make out a dark lump that seems to be the building Ryo is referring to.

"Thank Yggdrasil." She mutters. "Now we can finally get warm."

A chuckle echoes behind her, and a voice familiar says, "You won't have to wait that long."

Flames spurt up around them, and the warmth is so freaking good on her body that she just wants to stand there forever.

Ryo nudges her. "Hey, keep moving princess. FlaWizardmon's fire isn't going to last us forever."

Stella's eyes snap open at the same time as Tsukaimon's. "Did you say FlaW…." Her voice trails off as she stares at the being in front of her. He looks so much like a regular Wizardmon, except his robes are red, his gloves appear to be much larger than his hands, and he also has goggles on top of his hat. Which is flaming.

Stella feels her hands tighten on Tsukaimon. She knows it's not him but…this one…she didn't need that reminder.

"Something wrong?" Daemon—FlaWizarmon—asks her, peering forwards, his goggles covered with snow.

"…No…" She mutters, even though she can't resist the urge to flinch back slightly. "Why can't you be in your regular form anyway?" Tsukaimon asks innocently, staring up at him.

FlaWizarmon's face curls in a slight wry smile. "Because unfortunately, people tend to panic at the sight of a ten-foot tall fiery demon."

"Can you blame them?" Davis asks. "I mean don't get me wrong, I respect you guys…but you scare the crap out of me."

FlaWizarmon laughs, big and booming, and Stella sighs, her dark hair hanging into her face. She feels someone touch her shoulder and glances over at Ryo, who says softly, "I had the same reaction when I first saw."

"What are you two talking about?" Ken asks, dropping back to stand beside the two Tamers.

Ryo doesn't even bat an eye. "Girl talk. You know. Tampons and such."

As expected, Ken's face turns bright red and he stammers, "Uh…uh…uh…." Like a broken record a few times before bolting forwards to catch up with Davis.

Stella makes a face at her. "Really? Girl talk? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, it may be crude…." Ryo's smile turns smug. "But it works everytime."

"Oh Yggdrasil." Monodramon's In-Training form moans, a blush appearing on even his purple scales. Tsukaimon didn't look much better.

…

In perhaps the world's polar opposite, Dilbert grins as the sun beats down on his face. He glances over and then asks deadpan, "Are you ever going to take that stupid hat off?"

"No way dude." Wormmon says, her tone absolutely serious as she and Lunamon sit next to each other on the train seat, both of them wearing overlarge sombreros that nearly fall of their heads.

Dilbert surpresses the urge to facepalm and comment about how could you really be any more cliché, but is distracted by Joe saying wearily, "Haven't you had enough tacos yet Gomamon?"

"MMMMSdhdshdh." Is the response from the seal Digimon who shoves another bite into his mouth. "I can never have enough…I love Mexico!"

Joe sighs, rolling his eyes before looking over at Dilbert. "This is going to be quite the mess, isn't it?"

Dilbert smirks. "Relax. Think of it like a vacation."

"The world could end and you want to think of it as a vacation?" Joe asks in a tone of complete disbelief.

Dilbert leans back against his seat. "You've heard of the phrase carpe diem right?"

"Well of course, who hasn't?"

"Yeah but you see…to me…" Dilbert stares out the window a second before looking back. "To me it means a lot more than just going out and partying, like everyone seems to think it does. To me it means that we should make the best of what we have, go to the fullest, especially when it comes to your friends. Give everything to them like today might be your last day, because you…." His voice trails off as Wormmon glances at him. "…Because you don't know…" He says softly. "It might just end up being it."

".."

There's odd silence in the train, the only sound of the engine running and the low murmur of other passengers on the other side of the door.

Joe hesitates before slowly asking, "Dilbert…are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Dilbert stares out the window for a second longer before being brought back to reality. "Oh, uh…course I am." He smiles, and he seems to banish all of his earlier seriousness. "So Joe…you got yourself a girl?"

"W-what?!" Joe's cheeks turn bright red as Gommamon hoots with laughter. "I LOVE this guy!"

"I think he must have picked up on your influence." Lunamon says to Wormmon who snorts. "Hey, I'm not like your lusty companion. That teasing side is all his own, trust me."

"…Lusty? What is she? One of the Seven Dwarves?"

Joe doesn't know which he should be more afraid of—the scarring mental image of the Seven Demon Lords watching classic Disney movies, or the fact that Dilbert is staring straight at him, the faintest hint of a smirk growing on his face.

"W-well…" He stammers. "I mean…do you have a girl?"

Wormmon snickers. "He's had plenty."

"Shut up you." Dilbert punches her between the antennae lightly. "You know I'm just waiting for Ms. Right."

"Uh huh. Too bad you seem to dump every woman after only the first, and if they're lucky, the second date."

Joe frowns. "…That's horrible."

Dilbert shrugs, running a hand through his hair. "…That's not the point. The point is do you have a girl?"

"I…well…' Joe ran a hand down his pant's leg, suddenly nervous. "…There was this one girl…" His voice trails off as he remembers Mimi's laugh, and the way her eyes sparkled. "…I really liked her…but…."

"Yeah?"

Joe lowers his head. "…But she likes someone else. She likes him a lot, actually. And he's a good friend of mine. So…I'm not going to get in their way."

Dilbert raises an eyebrow as he leans back. "…That's tough man."

Joe glances out the window, wishing he could be anywhere else, having any other sort of conversation.

"…Hey. Tell you what?" The grin is back on Dilbert's face. "I can probably hook you up with this one girl I know would be just perfect for you."

"Thanks, but I'm really not interested." Joe says, a little stiffly. "Besides, dating's awkward when you're a Digidestined." He glances over at Gommamon. "There's a huge chunk of your life that you can never share with them, and if you do, they'll never…never really understand."

"If you're accusing me of cramping your style Joe, than as your partner, that hurts." Gommamon taps his chest with one claw. "It hurts deep in here. And besides, I give you all these awesome lines to use on the ladies and you never do!"

"Gommamon, half of the lines that you give to me will end up getting me slapped!"

Dilbert's smirk grows bigger. "Oh, I don't think that will be a problem. You see…my friend has her own Digimon partner."

"H-huh?!"

"The plot thickens." Wormmon says deadpan. Lunamon giggles. "You're all so funny. It makes me happy to be around you, makes me less lonely for the others."  
"You've been with Lucemon and the other Demon Lords for a long time, haven't you?" Joe asks her curiously, now desperate to change the subject.

Lunamon nods. "Yeah. I was in a pretty bad place before Alexander found me."

"What do you mean?"

Lunamon's ears go back slightly and she lowers her eyes. Joe stammers quickly, "I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, that's cool too."

"No…it's fine." She sighs. "…A while back slavery was a much bigger problem, even though it's still not gone completely today. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, I belonged to this one guy who owned…a fighting ring is I guess the best way to describe it. They would stick Digimon in there to fight to the death and…make bets on it."  
"…That's…that's…."

"Awful? Evil? Despicable?" She rubs the side of her head. "Trust me, I know. The only reason I ever became free was when Alexander joined—well basically he made a bet with the owner that if he managed to beat his strongest Digimon, than he would have to let all of us go free."

"And you were his strongest Digimon?" Gommamon asks with a hint of scepticism in his voice.

Lunamon bares little bunny teeth at him. "Hey, I may not look it, but I was quite the fighter even before I became a Demon Lord."

"Sorry, sorry!" He yips and Joe asks, "So…Alexander won? And the guy let you and your other friends go?"

"Alexander beat me yes." She had a wry look on her face. "And trust me, the others have never let me forget it. But no, of course that monster didn't let us go. He was making good money off of us."

"So…"

She smirks. "Long story short, a lot of explosions and a lot of shooting happened, and the next thing I knew, the guy and all of his lackies were data dust."

"So you owe a lot to Alexander huh?" Dilbert asks, leaning back in his seat some more.

Lunamon nods. "Oh yes, we all do. Alexander is the one that found all of us, except for Daemon. Daemon's known Lucemon since they were both much younger."

"And…where they all…?"

Lunamon shrugs. "You'd have to ask some of them personally, it's not all my story to tell. But I do know that Barbamon and Belphemon probably would have been killed if Alexander hadn't interfered."

"And…Lilithmon….?"

"That's…even more personal." Lunamon says firmly. "Lilithmon and I are too close for me to blab about that. But let's just say…outside of us, there's very few people Lilithmon trusts. And I don't blame her one bit."

There's silence for a moment, as no one in the group is really sure what to say. Joe takes off his glasses and starts to clean them, the way he always does whenever he's feeling awkward.

That was when a loud roar echoes outside the train and a BOOM noise sends all of them flying forwards, Joe's glasses frames cracking as they slam against the wall.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"

…

TK stares.

Cody stares.

Sira's busy reading a magazine and doesn't seem to really care, while GranDracmon just looks bored.

"…Er…is he…okay?"

"He does this all the time." GranDracmon says, deadpan, rolling golden eyes to the ceiling of the plane. Unfortunately for them the only portal Sira couldn't open a portal near DC. She suspected that it had something to do with the large amount of people in the city. The system was set up so that the portals wouldn't open anywhere where an unidentified person could see it, she explained to TK and Cody. TK supposes that makes sense. After all the last thing they needed on this mission was more attention.

Patamon pokes the being sitting next to them, the person they'd all had eyes on, and has to stifle a giggle as he doesn't get a single reaction.

Upamon is still grumbling because the Digimon in between him and Patamon stole half his food and then went right back to sleep like it wasn't a very big deal at all.

The Digimon looks, for lack of a better term, like a koala bear. Except it was a koala bear with tiny horns, tiny bat wings, and a spike on the end of its tail.

People had been giving them weird looks all day. One girl had even cried and hugged her normal golden teddy bear closer to her chest.

TK wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that everyone seemed to think they were weirdoes, or that they thought he was a weirdo teenage boy who carried around a teddybear.

Ah well. He didn't seriously care what other people thought anyway.

Still, it was almost unnerving how almost nothing in the whole world could wake Phascomon up. Even after horrible turbelance that had left even Sira looking green, clutching her mate and muttering about from now on they were just teleporting and GranDracmon patiently reminding her that unlike Sorcerymon, he couldn't teleport more than one person at a time and that to do so would take forever.

Phascomon hadn't even woken up when that one kid from behind kept repeatedly kicking his seat. TK had thought it was a little silly to have Phascomon have his own seat, he was certainly small enough to plop down on someone's lap. But Sira had pointed out that if TK wanted to do that, he could just try and MOVE Phascomon/. TK had tried. The little Rookie Digimon weighed a ridiculous amount. It was like all of the muscles and raw power of his Mega form were cramped into one small teddybear sized body.

The only person who COULD lift him was GranDracmon, and the suggestion that the vampire put the sleeping Demon Lord on his lap was not well received.

And by gosh did that kid snore, TK thought, rubbing his ears and wincing. Of course the snoring was less annoying than "Happy."

"Is that really all you can say?" Patamon sighs, thankfully voicing TK's own thoughts. Puttimon giggles, fluttering his tiny golden wings. "Happy, happy, happy…"

TK notices gold dust rising from his wings towards GranDracmon, who quickly waves it away with a sharp tone of, "No thank you."

Puttimon whimpers and TK awkwardly pats him on the head, hoping to Yggdrasil Lucemon didn't remember any of this when he got back to his regular form.

Cody was sitting silently in his seat, his eyes tightly closed, so you might have thought he was sleeping too.

But that couldn't possibly be farther from the truth. Cody couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard he tried. Not now. Not after the news he'd heard about his father.

He shifted uneasily again, as the memories came flushing back through his head. The worst part was that he'd WATCHED his father die.

They'd been so excited to see his father, on that TV program, watching him getting out of the car with the important dignitary…

Then the screams…and the shots…and the blood staining the pavement…his Dad staggering, his hand over his chest, the person whose life had just been saved staring in horror, people screaming for help on TV as back home his mum had screamed too, and his grandfather had staggered as if he'd been shot just like his son.

He remembered the long plane flight home, and the silence that had filled, his mum staring blankly out the window as his grandfather had drained prune juice after prune juice. No one had said a word.

People had said his Dad was a hero. A legend. He should be proud of his father. And he was, he really was. But…sometimes…he wondered…he wished…his Dad had never done it. After all, nothing good had come of it, not really. He and his mum had had to leave their home and all his old friends behind and move into his Grandfather's apartment.

And he'd had to deal with the fact that never again would he hear the door open and hear his father's footsteps in the hall, that plus living in a completely new environment had meant that smiling was an activity Cody rarely took part in. Cody had been hurting for so long after his father's death, but if there was one thing he'd never doubted, it was that his father had been a good man. No, not just a good man, a great man. A selfless, brave man.

…And now he feels like he doesn't even have that anymore. His father's picture with all those other men, working on something related to Digimon., and yet his father had never mentioned it? Not once? He'd kept it a secret from his whole family and Cody couldn't help but feel a slight pang of betrayal at that.

Not to mention there was the fact they'd tried to make MONEY off of the Digimon. His heart pangs as he looks down at Upamon, still grumbling about his food, in his arms. How could anyone possibly bear to do that?

He didn't know what to think anymore. A wave of exhaustion hits him and for once since the plane ride started, Cody feels himself begin to drift into sleep.

"_I told you the answer is NO!"_

_The little Cody looks up from where he's working on his puzzle, a frown creasing the brow of his four year old face. He's never heard his father shout like that, not ever._

_His father paces back and forth, his eyebrows slanted with fury, one hand curled into a fist. "I don't care about the MONEY William! I will not sell out Yukio like this…..we told you this information because we believed that you could help us better understand them, not make MONEY off of them!"_

_Cody covers his ears with his hands, trying to block out the sound of his father's fury. His father's voice lowers, and the cold fury is terrible. "If you do this, you won't get away with it. I can't believe you betrayed everything me and my friend believed in. What we thought YOU believed in."_

_He slams the phone down, breathing hard, his back slouched over. Cody stares and quietly leaves the room. For some reason he's not feeling like playing anymore._

Cody wakes to the sound of sirens and screams erupting all around him. His green eyes glance wildly around the room only to see the entire place is covered with smoke.

"What happened?!" He glances around and his eyes widen with horror as he sees Sira slumped in her seat, blood trickling down her forehead, a suitcase lying on the ground half open with blood stains on it.

GranDracmon was shouting and shaking her, desperation in his voice, his fangs extending in his distress.

"Cody!"

Cody felt a hand rest on his shoulder and turned to see TK standing there, a grim look on his face.

"…What is it…?"

"…It's him…"

Cody's head jerks towards the window where the sky seems to have gone dark and unfriendly. His green eyes narrow and then widen in horror as he takes a look at the dark figure floating next to them.  
BlackWarGreymon curls his lips back in a growl and lets out a roar that seems to tear the heavens in half.

"…"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

…

Somewhere another team were hearing the sounds of completely different screams. The rollercoaster whips over Yolei's head and she grins, licking an ice cream cone. "Does anyone else think that we got the best possible end of the deal?"

"I certainly do,…" Poromon chirps in her arms. She punches the top of his head lightly. "Don't talk, remember? I'll give you tons of cotton candy once we get back to the hotel…"

Kari looks distracted as her eyes wander around the park, and she sighs. "Have you seen any sight of him?"

"Nope." Yolei says deadpan. "And if you think I really care what that old geezer is doing…"

"Yolei…"

"Look, I'm sorry. But all he's done ever since we started is be obsessed in the gift shop looking at prices." Yolei grumbles, pushing her glasses up. "I'm beginning to think the money is all he cares about."

"Oh, Yolei, I wouldn't say that…"

"I would." Gatomon and Poromon both say in unison. Kari sighs, holding back the desire to roll her eyes.

"Look, it's not that I don't like him…" Yolei sighs. "He just…doesn't seem to care as much. I dunno. And he doesn't seem to be that strong anyway…" She mutters quietly underneath her breath.

"Yolei!"

"I guess I'm just sort of jealous. The others have like Leviamon and Belphemon…."

"I guess." Kari shrugs. "I can see your point but you don't want to underestimate anyone. He's not a Demon Lord for nothing."

Gatomon's tail lashes back and forth. "Yeah. Like look at me. You wouldn't think someone this small could be so talented, smart, beautiful and powerful, and yet here I am!"

"Don't forget humble." Kari snickers.

"…Shut up…"

"Anyway, want to ride to Tilt-A-Wheel again?"

"Oh Yggdrasil." Poromon whimpers as the girls bolt towards the rides. "If I throw up it's not my fault!"

Behind them a couple suddenly stop walking, staring at the girls as they run. The woman lowers purple shades and smirks, while the man lowers his map a bit to reveal pale grey skin.

"Enjoy yourselves while you can…"

…

Wanyamon sighs, bouncing forwards towards the river at the edge of Primary Village. His long striped tail hangs limply, as he lowers the bucket. He does love his new home, of course he does.

Elecmon, grouchy as the little rabbit can be at times, has been nothing but a good caretaker for him and the other babies. But…sometimes Wanyamon feels like that he's just one of the crowd. He hasn't felt any close bond with people since his parents died.

His ears still droop at the memory. The flames…the screams..his mother yelling at him to run and never look back.

And then he'd found that one girl…the both of them, the girl with the black hair and small smile, and the boy with the goofy grin and the way he'd ruffled Wanyamon's fur.

…He remembered how the girl had held him. It felt like he was with his mother again.

And then they'd have to leave him too. Wanyamon lets out a low whimper and then pulls the bucket out of the stream. As he starts to bounce back towards the village he glances back sharply.

He could have sworn he saw some shadow move around there. A strange feeling runs through his body. He has the feeling that he's being watched by someone. He quickens his pace…er…bouncing….and then hears the sound of wings flapping behind him.

Wanyamon's golden eyes flicker back and he lets out a yelp as the creature cackles behind him.

"Where do you think you're going runt?"

Wanyamon yelps, trying to leap forwards as claws snag onto his tail, hoisting him into the air.

"Nighty-night." He cackles once more, the needle going in right between his ears.

….

"This top would look great on you." Mimi squeals, holding out the bejewelled garment.

Long pale fingers snag it, tearing it out of her grip and Lilithmon glances down at it, a hint of scathing in her voice. "Sorry, love. I don't do pink."

"Oh, come on. It would look great with your skin tone…"

She considers. "Hmmm….maybe. Oh here's something for you."

Mimi blinks as the clothing hits her on the head, and she gasps slightly, her face turning scarlet as she realizes it's a horrendously skimpy piece of linerge.

"Uh…I'm not sure I'll ever be needing any of this…." She stammers, holding between two fingers.

Lilithmon smirks. "Are you sure? What about….with that boy you know?"

"…E-eh?"

She lets out a snort. "Ah, young love. You're so naïve." She wraps her arms around Mimi's shoulders. "Let me give you some advice." She states, tossing it over to Palmon, whose face is hidden behind the massive pile of clothes she's carrying.

"Oh sure. Just leave me like this." The flower Digimon grumbles, her voice slightly muffled.

Lilithmon winks. "Thanks doll."

"Er…okay?"

"Look, reining in a boy is not actually as hard as you might think, speaking from experience." Lilithmon says, examining her nails.

"…Izzy's not interested in me like that." Mimi says, a hint of a frown appearing on her face. "To be honest, I think he's more interested in his computer than me."

She smirks. "Ah, the intellectual type, huh?"

"Well…yes. And I'm clearly not, as you can tell." She mutters, looking down.

Lilithmon snorts. "It's not nothing to do with the smartness factor. If the only thing your boy wanted was to have someone to talk about physics with, he wouldn't even be stepping outside of the house."

"That's a bit stereotypical, isn't it?'

"Whatever." Lilithmon waves a hand carelessly. "The point is don't worry about what you're not. You just need to flaunt…" She runs a hand through her dark hair and smirks. "What you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well even though you're almost as flat as Lily is…"

"HEY!"

"Whatever. The point is, no matter how, shy and…undoubtedly socially awkward your boy is…"

Mimi opens her mouth to tell Lilithmon off, but realizes that's probably true. Social will never be an adjective used to describe Izzy,

"Boys with their heads in books need to be shown exactly what they're missing out on. Which means a lot of this…" Lilithmon says, holding back up the skimpy nightgown, "a whole lot of this…" She toys with her hair playfully, "and a LOT of this…" She smirks before making kissy faces.

Mimi stares at her and then says, in a tone that suggests she's almost afraid to ask, "So…you're basically saying be a lot more forwards with him?"

"Of course. Isn't that what I've been saying?"

"That and a lot of things." Palmon deadpans. Lilithmon chuckles. "Aw, you're just nervous cause it's the first guy you actually want to-"GAH! DON'T STOP TALKING!"

She cackles. "Aww, you're so cute."

"Suddenly, I'm beginning to understand why Lily got that look on her face when she realized Lilithmon would be the one chaperoning us." Mimi mutters to Palmon, as Lilithmon dives back into the racks of clothing, with a cry of, "That is GOREGUS!"

"She does have a point about one thing." Palmon says, glancing up at her. "You know you're always so shy when it comes to Izzy, and that's weird because I've never really seen you be shy about anything before."

Mimi runs a hand through her pink hair, muttering under her breath. "…It's a bit more complicated than just throwing myself at him, despite what the Demon Lord of Lust thinks."

"Hmm?"

"I mean…I know she's right. I shouldn't be worrying about the fact that I'm not as smart as some of Izzy's other friends. But I don't want him to think I'm the vapid girl I used to be either, which is what I'll look like if I act like a diva."

"Mimi! You were never vapid."

Mimi rolls her eyes. "Remember how I threw my friends in the dungeon, including you, because I wanted to keep playing princess?"

"You still weren't being vapid you were just being…" Palmon's voice trails off.

She snorts. "As I recall, you called me a spoiled brat. And you were right. I was being a spoiled brat. And…I guess a part of me thinks Izzy deserves better. I mean, yeah, it's not a big deal that I'm not smart. But when he goes on and on about computers I want to bang my head against the desk, and when he starts talking about physics I want to fall asleep."

Palmon cocks her head. "So that's what you're worried about? What? You think just because you're not completely the same that you don't appreciate him enough?"

"…Hmm…"

"Mimi…if you love him…than just tell him. You're killing yourself with this." Palmon says firmly, putting a plant-like hand on Mimi's thigh. Dressed in doll clothes, no one could really tell that Palmon wasn't human until she did that, and Mimi shot her a stern look before sighing.  
"I guess…maybe you're right…"

"Got it!" Lilithmon returns triumphantly, holding up a black lacy tanktop. "I had to wrestle some twerp for this but it was totally worth it."

"…You did WHAT?"

Lilithmon just smirks before suddenly tensing. Her eyes narrow down to slits and become much more feral, a low growl escaping her lips.

"…Uh…Lilithmon?" Mimi asks timidly, only to see Palmon's ivy green eyes narrow as well.

"…What's going…?" Mimi yelps as Lilithmon places a hand over her mouth, shaking her head imperceptibly.

That was when the entire room seemed to shake. Mimi yells as she falls backwards, all three of them landing in a heap.

Lilithmon hisses and spits, scrambling back upwards with a yell of "GET OFF!"

"S-sorry!"

She glances over and sees a long scar up Lilithmon's arm as her robes had shifted slightly. She didn't really have time to think about it much because a dark crack had appeared in the middle of the room.

Mimi gasps as she feels what seems to be some kind of suction…pulling her…INTO…the whole..

Lilithmon lets out a shriek of rage, her claws slamming into the edge as she falls first, gasping, and Mimi screams, panic filling her.

"MIMI!"

Palmon doesn't care about her disguise anymore, her partner's safety trumps that by miles. Besides so many people were running and screaming in panic, they don't notice as the plant Digimon shouts, "POISON IVY!"

The vines lash forward lashing onto the staircase that lead to the upper floors, the other set of her vines lashing onto Mimi.

Palmon hisses as the suction continues, and Lilithmon yells as she looses her grip slightly, sliding downward. She breathes heavily, frantic breaths as she looks down into the abyss with the dark howling winds.

"LILITHMON!"

This was FREAKING ridiculous she was a Demon Lord, not some helpless Freshling. But oh…Yggdrasil…how she HATED the dark…

Mimi's pale fingers stretch downwards, grimacing as the suction continues, pulling both her and Palmon closer into the hole.

"HANG ON!"

"Get…out of…" Lilithmon says through clenched teeth, baring her fangs in frustration as she felt herself start to slip some more.

Mimi stretches her hand farther down. "I can't! But I can at least try and keep you from falling! Reach!"

"…Gahh…."

"Come on…just a little…farther…" Mimi breathes, and her hand manages to grab Lilithmon's humanoid one.

"MIMI!"

She glances up and sees Izzy standing there, his face pale, and she opens her mouth to tell him…what she's not sure.

But just then the wind from the hole seems to increase and she screams, Palmon letting out a scream of pain as she's yanked back so forcibly that her vines let go or they would have been torn in half.

Tentomon dives forward and tries to grab her just as Izzy screams her name, and all three girls plummet.

A high, goofy, ridiculous sounding laugh echoes as all of them vanish from sight. At least it would have been ridiculous if it weren't for one thing.

Izzy knew exactly who that person was. His jaw tightens with barely surpressed rage as he sinks to his knees, trembling as the sound of sirens echoes outside and there's shouts and sobs all around him.

"…Vademon…" He hisses.

…

"Come ON Cody!"

Cody yelps as TK pulls him forwards to the front of the plane, shoving their way through the crowd of people all in a panic. TK growls, glancing back at Sira, whose clearly unconscious.

"What about GranDracmon?"

"Good luck trying to drag him away from Sira right now…" TK mutters. He knows it's not rational for the vampire to be so focused on his mate when all of them are in danger, but he can't judge. After all, how would he be reacting if it was Kari…?

He shakes his head, determinedly clearing it of that mental image and both he and Cody manage to make their way to the front of the plane.

The flight attendant blocks their way. "What do you think you're doing?! This is an emergency situation! Go sit back down, at once!"

"Move!" TK snaps, and Cody stares at TK in disbelief. His eyes are much harder than he's ever seen before, with a strange kind of ferocity as he pushes the woman out of the way.

"Oh wait…" Upamon gulps as TK reaches for the handle. "We're not really gonna…OH YGGDRASIL!" He yells as TK shoves the door open, and clings on grimly. His Digivice starts to glow as he yells, "NOW PATAMON! DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

Patamon dives out the door with a yell of "PATAMON ARMOUR DIGIVOLVE TO…PEGASUSMON!"

"Cody, get on the flying horse!" TK shouts, pulling the younger boy on as the completely confused crowd shriek and stammer.

Pegasusmon whinnies and charges forwards, his golden wings snapping out as he charges into the night sky.

…

BlackWarGreymon narrows his golden eyes to slits as he studies the plane. He knows there are Digidestined in there, he can smell them, amongst the stench of the other humans, theirs is oddly sweet, calling to him.

And HE'S in there as well. The one who humiliated him. The one who shamed him.

His jaw tightens, and a snarl erupts deep from his throat. Yes GranDracmon had to die, that was certain. He would not be satisfied till he'd accomplished this. And after the so-called Vampire King was dead, he would hunt down the boy and his WarGreymon as well.

There could only be one WarGreymon that lived, after all.

But for now…

He could destroy that whole metal tube in one shot, but something inside of him is pulling back.

"SHOOTING STARS!"

BlackWarGreymon barely blinks as the attack slams onto his hide. He slowly turns his head around, a hint of an amused smirk on his face as he looks at them. "You really think it's a good idea to challenge me?"

Both of the two humans glower at him, and the horse huffs in contempt. "Don't underestimate us!"

"Please. I could crush all of you like the insignificant insects you truly are."

"Then why don't you?" TK spits. "Try putting your money where your mouth is, how about it?!"

"TK, I think there's a big difference between being brave and deliberately pissing off the enemy!" Cody squeaks out.

"Not NOW Cody."

"You should listen to your friend, he seems less ruled by his emotions than you are. And to answer your question, why I don't just destroy you outright, there would simply be…no point to it."  
"What do you mean?" TK growls. "And you don't know a thing about me!"

"True, I don't. And you don't know anything about me, either, Takashi. Yet you seem to hate me. Why?"

"Except for the fact that you tried to kill us all?!"

"And I'm offering you a chance to live now. One more chance. Fly away on your pretty horse, little boy, and stay out of my way.:"

"TK maybe we should listen to him!"

"I don't make deals with Dark Digimon…." TK spits, his blue eyes like cold steel, and Cody flinches away. What the heck is his friend doing? Right now…he doesn't even recognize him…

"Your last warning boy….3….."

"RIONA!" GranDracmon's roar echoes throughout the plane as he frantically shakes Sira, the massive crack on her head having blood pour down.

"UNHAPPY! UNHAPPY!" Puttimon shrieks, fluttering around as he frantically headbutts his oblivious friend over and over again, him continuing to snore away.

"2…."

"TK…"

"1…." BlackWarGreymon leaps higher into the air, the orb glowing between his claws.

"TERRA DESTROYER!"

…

Willis flinches as the van bumps once again, and only glances down when his backpack starts to fidget. "…Terriermon, I told you, you have to be quiet."

"Well excuse me." Terriermon's muffled complaint echoes upwards. "After six hours of being a stowaway I get kind of restless."

"Terriermon, stowaway is the term they use when you're hiding on a ship."

"Well, what's the term they use when you're hiding on a moving truck in the middle f some Grandma's creepy furniture?"

"It's not THAT creepy."

"Really?" Terriermon says deadpan, gesturing. "Then why is everything decorated like owls?!"

"Uh…" Will sweatdrops as he glances around. The bedposts, the clocks, so on and so on, all have carvings of owls on them, with their big eyes gleaming in the darkness.

That was actually incredibly creepy, to be honest. "…Well look. Once we get out of here, than we will never have to ride in a moving truck again. Promise."

"…You know you can't just keep running from him forever right?"

"What else can I do Terriermon?" Willis says flatly, looking away. "I can't kill him. Not when it's my fault he's like this in the first place."

"Willis…"

"And I'm not going to risk loosing you too. And no one else is getting dragged into this mess, that's why we ran away from New York, to keep those other Digidestined safe."

"You know, you don't have to do everything on your own, right?"

Willis shakes his head. "I'm not going to get innocent people dragged into this. Not like my father did."

"…Willis…"

Willis sighs and then smiles slightly as Terriermon leaps into his arms. "You know I'll always be here for you, right Willis?"

"Yeah…thanks buddy."

Willis listens to the sound of the truck's engine continuing to chug away, and feels his eyes slowly close as he starts to drift off to sleep.

…

"So…should we knock?" I ask as we stand in front of the apartment door, feeling completely awkward.

"I guess so." Tai shrugs. "I think Alexander's pissed off about how he has to be separated from us, waiting outside."

"He has three eyes and is a black leather wearing shotgun wielding demon from hell." Matt says deadpan. "The last thing you want to do is have the guy wet himself."

"Couldn't he just have degenerated?" Agumon asks, covering his hood so only his orange snout is poking out.

"He said it was too risky. Does anyone else beside me think he's a little paranoid?"

I elbow Tai in the ribs. "He's not paranoid. He just doesn't want us getting into danger. He's seen a lot, you know."

"You mean he doesn't want his kids getting into danger?" Tai says, with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Are you really lumping me in the same bracket as the midget?" I exclaim, my eyes narrowing.

"Hey! I'm not that little!"

"I'm just saying, Alexander clearly doesn't care as much about me as he does about you."

"…Yeah? And so?"

"Nothing. I just think…it's sweet after all…"

"Shut up…" I mutter as Renamon snickers.

"So, shall we knock?" Gabumon asks, leaning forwards before any of us can say anything and rapping his claws against the door.

The sound echoes down the hallway, ominous and foreboding. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong, and I'm fighting the desire to bolt back down the hall with my tail between my legs, figuratively speaking, back to Alexander.

NO. I am a Tamer. Just because I have someone to run to now, doesn't mean I should.

There's silence and Matt mutters, "This is awkward…."

"No one's home." Zach observes with the unessceray way children do, and Renamon's eyes narrow. "Or we're being ignored."

"Do we get to blast down the door?!"

You might think that was Zach talking, but was Tai. I roll my eyes. "Step aside…"

Within a few moments, the door clicks open and Matt gives me a look of respect tied with slight disturbance. "Is there any lock you can't undo?"

"I've yet to really find one." I say cheerfully. "I always manage to find a way out, rather it's through hijacking or managing to annoy my captors into letting me go."

"And she's VERRRY good at that." Renamon chuckles as we all walk into the apartment. "I think at times Myotismon was this close to pulling his own hair out."

"I wish I had driven him to that point…" I sigh. "It would be hilarious…"

That was about when I trip over Gabumon's tail and fall face flat. "What the heck?!"

"Hey, what's up you guys?"

"Something's not right here…." Agumon mutters, both him and Gabumon inhaling heavily.

A strange feeling prickles up my spine as I mutter, "Matt, get the light."

"Yes ma'am."

As the light fills the small apartment gasps erupt from all of us.

"What the heck…?" Tai whispers, his brown eyes scanning the room. The wall has burn marks along it, the piano is cracked in half, the desks are flipped over, papers scattered everywhere.

"…What happened?"

I clench my teeth. "…Someone beat us to it." I say finally, frustration and rage filling me. I want to punch something so badly but I don't know what.

"What did they want?" Zach says softly, hovering close to me. He knows me best, so I guess in situations like this I'm the one who feels safest with.

"We'll check the rest of the place out." Matt says quietly. "Come on Tai…."

"No—wait…"

Tai frowns as he looks at the wall. "You see that?"

My eyes narrow. There's a small line along the wall—it's almost imperceptible and I'm amazed Tai managed to notice it.

Then again he has been staring angrily at that wall for a whole minute now, I'd hope something useful had come out of it.

"Agumon…"

Agumon hooks his claws into the small crevice and tears it out, and papers fall to the ground.

"He really wanted to make sure these weren't found…" I mutter, bending down. My eyes scan the pages, words scribbled across it frantically. "Hey, isn't this Sora's Dad's name?"

"Yeah…"

"…How much did you know about Sora's Dad?" I ask finally, standing back up and staring at Tai seriously.

Tai shakes his head, auburn hair falling into his eyes. "Not much…she never liked to talk about him. I always got the feeling that he left her mum on bad terms, or he was just never around."

"Well this says something different…" I mutter. "This talks about him being trapped…"

"…Why would this guy be so terrified that they would find the location of Sora's Dad?" Agumon asks.

Matt shakes his head. "I dunno. But this can't just be a coincidence. That Oikawa guy goes missing, so does Sora's Dad, and this guy appears to have been kidnapped…"

"If we'd been here SOONER…." Tai mutters angrily, his jaw clenching.

I close my eyes. "Don't you start blaming yourself again Kamiya. I'm not above slapping you by the way."

"She's slapped you?" Matt asks, sounding totally amused now. "Oh man I wish I had been around to see that."

Renamon's ears perk up just as I hear the faint sound of movement. "…What was…"

I turn my head only to have to duck and cover just as blasts of green energy are aimed straight at my face.

Zach yells as I pull him out of the way, pressing him underneath me for shelter as Tai yells, tripping back over the couch and Matt swears.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"I was about to ask you the same question…" A voice, hard and angry, echoes, and out steps the boy with a strange bunny like Digimon standing next to them. Neither of them look that intimidating, but they both look pissed.

Embarrased by my extreme reaction, I push myself off the ground and glower at him as Agumon tries to say soothingly, "Easy, we don't want any trouble."

"Like heck!" The boy spits. "What are you doing in here?! Where's my Dad?!"

"Whoah, whoah, you think we had something to do with…" My ears perk up and the sound of a familiar yell echoes outside.

"..Alexander…"

Without thinking I whip around to the exit, my feet pounding down the hallway.

"Hang on, I'm coming!"


	30. Battle Mania, Diaboromon's Darkness

Chapter Thirty

AN: YAAAAAAAY! HALFWAY THROUGH! (dances) I know, I know, this chapter is shorter than my others. I guess I'm just excited to get it out XDXD. BUT STILL HALFWAY THROUGH!

Lily-You're going to be on about this all day, aren't you?

Lilithmon-Is she always like this? So much excitement over a chapter. You need a love life dearie.

Me-...

Lily-I think you just broke our author.

I pound down the steps of the apartment building, not thinking about much except for the wild panic running through my chest.

Alexander's yell still echoes in my head, and even though I know my fear is irrational, he's a freaking DEMON LORD for Pete's sake, but…I remember Lucemon lying weakly in Alexander's arms, like a broken toy, and my heart leaps into my throat slightly at the mental image.

If our enemies could do that much damage to the leader of the Demon Lords then….

"Hang on, I'm coming!"

I burst out the door just as Renamon lands in front of me, having backflipped out the window and landed with ridiculous ease. Tai is clutched in her arms, and he looks like he's about to hurl. "When I said we needed to hurry up and get down there…" He gasps, his face pale, "That WASN'T what I meant!"

"That's the quickest way I know. What way were you talking about?"

"I meant taking the freaking ELEVATOR or RUNNING down the stairs!"

I don't pay much attention to their argument, hilarious as it is. I'm scanning the skies for signs of Alexander, and feeling the tension grow as he seems to have completely vanished.

But not for long.

"CORONA DESTROYER!" A very familiar and very pissed off voice roars, and there's a flash of brilliant light along with screams from several people.

Oh no…

"Come on!"

…

Alexander snarls, his raven black wings beating the air as he soars upwards, three eyes fixed furiously on the creature that bounds from building to building to get at him. One massive fist crashes into the side of the building and the panicked screams of the humans echo.

The creature had clearly grown, as this was much bigger than Lily or Tai's descriptions. In fact, it was about as big as some of the buildings it was nearly wrecking alone. He realizes that it must be an Antylamon, usually more gentle Digimon.

This one was clearly not gentle, in fact, it was giving him a harder time than he'd had in a while. The bunny's fists glow as it surges up towards the Biker demon, forming two giant axes, and Alexander winces slightly at the sight before ducking underneath one and then surging upwards to land a fierce blow on the underside of the monster's jaw.

But the Antylamon seems hardly affected by the blow and moves with it, backflipping. Alexander's eyes widen as the flat of the ax hits him full on, barely giving him enough time to think "Oh $$^^&7&*!"

He yells as he's plowed into the ground at full strength and slides down, leaving a massive scar in the ground.

Groaning, he pushes himself up as the sound of someone yelling his name echoes and the next second he knows, Zach's scrambled down next to him from Garurumon.

"Are you okay?" Zach asks frantically, his eyes meeting his partner's. Matt's jaw is tight as his eyes are focused on Antylamon, who lands and starts to eerily, calmly, make its way forwards, staring blankly at them.

"You need to get out of here." Alexander grunts, pushing himself back upwards, his eyes narrowing as he steps in front of his partner. He was sore all over from that blow but he'd been lucky. Just a slight change in the angle and he might have been easily sliced in half.

"I'm not going to just run away and hide." Zach says furiously. "Not again." He flips his Digivice over, and, just like Dilbert's and Edan's, this one forms a weapon. A bow.

"You…just barely learned how to use that thing…." Beezlemon grunts, pushing himself back to his feet, still wincing slightly. "And…against an Ultimate…you're not…ready…"

"But…."

"This is freaking ridiculous." Matt mutters and both of them turn sharply to look at him, but it's not the arguing team he's addressing. He's still staring at Antylamon. "That thing was at the Champion level only this morning. Now already it's a freaking Ultimate?!"

"I know…I don't understand it either…" Garurumon growls. "There's no way a Digimon is able to evolve that fast naturally."

"And there's no way Lucemon would come so close to deletion against one normal Mega either." Alexander's three eyes narrow as he remembers the dark object that floated down into his hand after Ghoulmon's defeat. It had looked familiar at the time but…he couldn't place it…

And now was not the time to be worrying about such things. Crouching down beside his partner he says firmly, "Listen to me. One day soon you and I will be fighting side by side. I promise. But for now, you need to stay safe and out of the way, because I can't focus if I think there's a chance of you getting hurt. Understand?"

"…Yes…"

"Good man." Alexander ruffles his hair as Matt says grimly, "We want a piece of this action too."

"This guy beat the crap out of Greymon." Garurumon growls. "I'm not going to take that lightly." He smirks, curling his lips slightly to show a toothy grin. "Besides, if we beat him, that's an excellent opportunity to take the mickey out of my good friend."

"Oh how very mature of you." Alexander says deadpan, because Matt has about the same smirk on his face as his partner.

He fights the desire to facepalm before glancing back sharply and then seeing…"…Where did it go…?"

"Uh…." Matt stares at the spot in front of them where the giant bunny had been slowing advancing towards them, as if it had all the time in the world. But now it was…gone? "…How did we loose a 15 foot high bunny?!"

Alexander's and Garurumon's instincts almost screamed at them too late, with a shout of "LOOK OUT!" Alexander had grabbed Zach and bolted out of the way and Garurumon's teeth snag the back of Matt's jacket just as what feels like bombs are dropped down on them, sending all of them flying. Matt rolls several feet, groaning loudly. Antylamon's eyes narrow as his paws start to glow again. "ARM BOMBER!"

…

"Hello and welcome to Disney World!" The voice intones over the loud speaker, and Gatomon pokes her head out of Kari's backpack to stare at the guy dressed in a Mickey Mouse costume, an inappropriately hungry expression on her face.

"Now, there's no need for that..." Kari scolds, trying and not really succeeding at keeping the laugh out of her voice. "You're going to have a lot of tramutized children about if you try to take a chomp out of that guy."

"Who cares? I'm hungry?"

"I have to admit, the sight has me quite peaked as well." Poromon chirps out, and Yolei gives him a slightly horrified look. "Poro…what the heck?! You're a BIRD for crying out loud!"

"Correction. I am a hawk, as you well know, not some common sparrow that hops around eating birdseed."

"Ugh, but still…" Yolei's voice trails off and she shakes her head. "Anyway, we can go off and get some lunch. Kari, you can tell me more stories about the first Digidestined's adventures."

"What makes you think I know that much?"

"Oh come on. Fighting against the Dark Masters, against Apocylamon himself…."

"Apocylamon wasn't really that bad." Kari muses. "All the guy mostly did was moan about pizza crusts."

"Uh…what?"

"Never mind."

Yolei looks baffled for a few more moments and Kari continues, "Anyway, most of the really hard stuff happened before I came in. They had their first clashes with Myotismon before I came in too."

"And I kicked all their butts…of course…" Gatomon purrs slightly. "They weren't nearly as strong back when we first clashed."

"…Wait…" Yolei stops in her tracks as both she and Poromon stare. "You used to work for Myotismon?!"

The amusement park is bustling with energy and noise but in that moment everything seems to go completely silent. Gatomon's ears droop and her eyes widen slightly. She hadn't really even been thinking when she'd said that, stupid, stupid, STUPID…

She feels Kari's hand resting protectively on top of her head as Kari says firmly, "Yes, she did. But then she met me and all that changed. Right Gatomon?"

"…Right Kari." She says softly.

Yolei's eyes narrow slightly and Gatomon tenses. She's ready for cold stares, accusations, or worse, for Yolei to pull away from both her and Kari, taking Hawkmon with her. But then Yolei just shrugs her shoulders and says in a tone that would suggest they'd been talking about nothing more important than the weather, "Okay then."

"…Eh?"

"What's the matter?" Yolei blinks as both Kari and Gatomon stare at her in disbelief.

Gatomon tries to speak but can't really find the words, her disbelief so strong, and Kari manages to stammer out, "Yo…You handled that…amazingly…well."

"Well, yeah. Why shouldn't I?" Yolei arches an eyebrow. "I mean, first of all, it was a long time ago, right? And second of all, judging by people's reactions whenever this Myotismon guy is mentioned, I seriously doubt you signed on for the job. And THIRD of all, look at Ken. I mean I'm basically fine with him now, and he did plenty of bad stuff too."

"…But he thought it was a game…" Gatomon says softly. "I don't have an excuse like that."

Yolei rolls her eyes. "Are you trying to make me come up with a reason for me NOT to like you or something?"

"W-wha?! No!"

"Then quit worrying about nothing. Sheesh. Honestly take a page from Davis' book. He never lets people's mistakes bother him, not even his own, for very long."

"…" Kari blinks and then Yolei squeals, "Oh, look! A restaurant!"

"…That was…really…that easy?" Gatomon says in disbelief, her jaw hanging down. Kari finally manages to clear the shocked look of her face and lets out a chuckle. "Well, I guess you and Lily have been worried about nothing all this time, have you?"

"…I haven't seen anyone be that accepting of me since…well…you Kari. And you're my partner, so that was kind of a given."

"Oh, I dunno." Kari chuckles. "Not all partners and their Digimon get along wonderfully at first. And some get along much friendly than others, like Sira and GranDracmon." She grins mischeviously before continuing in a more serious tone, "But it wasn't just because we were partners that I was so accepting of you Gatomon. I could tell from the beginning…I just knew you weren't a bad person. And the rest of the Digidestined didn't take that long to realize it either."

"I suppose…" Gatomon mutters, her ears twitching as a slightly thoughtful expression appears on her face.

"Hey, you know what's really interesting?" Kari smirks. "I think Davis is having a much bigger effect on Yolei than she'll ever admit."

Gatomon laughs as the two of them follow their loveable yet insane friend, and slowly lowers her head and feels a hint of a smile creep onto her face.

She really did fall into a group of very special people, maybe even more so than she knew. She wonders if Lily really understands what special friends they have.

…

Sora sighs, blowing a strand of red hair out of her face as she struggles to keep her temper in check. Using her politest voice, the ones she always used on the most annoying people at the flower shop, she says calmly, "Master Barbamon? Sir? I really think we should get going now. Yolei and Kari are waiting for us."

"In a moment!" Barbamon's tone is full of such childlike excitement that she actually feels bad for tyring to drag him away from here. But really, how could anyone possibly get so excited about WALMART for crying out loud?

Barbamon walks down the alley, his face positively beaming, looking like an eccentric grandfather with his long flowing beard and strange looking outfit. Sora was just glad that he'd hidden the staff. But that's not why people are staring.

They're staring because Barbamon's cart is filled…FILLED…to the brim of so many knick-knacks and such that it is absolutely ridiculous.

You may think you've seen a full cart, and Sora herself had seen plenty, but she'd never seen one stocked so high it actually resembled a tower.

"…Exactly why do you need three things of toilet paper?" Sora says deadpan, massaging her temples as she feels a headache coming on.

Barbamon beams. "It's TWO-PLY! Half the price, twice the…"

"Yes, yes, I get it." Sora assures him quickly, feeling her face flush red slightly as Yokomon can't help but surpress a snicker.

"You're not helping." She mutters to her Digimon, shooting the little pink radish thing a scowl. Yokomon giggles. "Sorry. It's just…it's just…oh Yggdrasil…" She finishes before going into frantic howls of laughter.

Sora suppresses the urge to roll her eyes and or start beating her head against something. Thankfully Barbamon totally can't tell that Yokomon is laughing at his expense.

"And the rest of all of this stuff?" Sora says wearily, closing her eyes and mentally counting to ten. Thankfully she'd had a lot of practice developing her patience. Traveling with five boys in another dimension with no adults had a way of doing that.

"Christmas and birthday presents for the others! Enough to last me, oh, about, fifty or so years, I expect."

"…And why exactly…do you need…_50 x 7, no I can't do that math right now with this headache…_that many presents now?"

Barbamon cocks his head. "I would have thought that would be obvious."

"Enlighten me."

"Well, this…splendid…cave of wonders…." Barbamon gestures around the expanse of Walmart with a slightly maniacal gleam in his eyes, "what should happen if I never find this miracle store again? With it's low low prices and ridiculous variety of items!"

"…"

Yokomon was literally having to bite on her own lip, muffled giggles making her entire little body shake. Sora pinches the bridge of her nose. "Look, Barbamon, we really don't have any place to keep this stuff unfortunately. After all, if we don't find the Destiny Stone…"

Barbamon's shoulders slump slightly and Sora hastens to add, "But I'll tell you what. You make a list of everything you want, and I will come back here every Christmas and birthday and buy them FOR you!"

"REALLY?!"

"Um…yes…."

Barbamon places both of his hands on Sora's shoulders. "You are very, very kind miss."

"…Right."

Yokomon giggles as Barbamon walks off, and then freezes as she looks over her shoulder. Sora glances back and her own eyes widen.

Around the corner, she sees….what looks exactly like..her jaw drops. "…What the…th-….that's not…"

"Bearer of Love! I wish to purchase my assortment of items now!"

Sora keeps staring at the girl down the aisle from her—a smirk appears on the girl's face, her brown eyes narrowing, red hair flowing behind her, and…

"Are you coming or not?" Barbamon demands impatiently, appearing right beside her. Sora glances away for one moment and then…the girl is gone.

Sora stands there, shaking for a moment, her face pale. It was like looking into a mirror, literally. But she…subconsciously she glances down at the scars along her wrists from where she was strapped to a table, unable to do anything, feeling totally helpless as she just prayed Tai or Matt would come and save her soon.

"_SORA! DON'T LET GO!"_

"_I…can't…I'm…SLIPPING!"_

"…Sora?" Yokomon whispers, and Sora's jolted out of her dark memories. Barbamon inclines his head slightly. "Are you all right child?"

"Y-yeah…I'm fine." She swallows, determinedly not looking at the spot. It was a fluke. It had to be.

…

The wind whistles loudly in Davis' ears, and he clenches his teeth to try to keep them from chattering, to no avail.

Glancing down at the being inside his arms, he winces slightly at DemiVeemon's shivering form. He doesn't know what to do, DemiVeemon is a reptilian Digimon, and even though Davis flunked biology, (twice), he knows reptiles don't belong in freezing cold climates like this.

"Man…I wish Yolei was here…." He thinks miserably, the snow hitting him in the face, goggles offering little protection. "She'd have some ideas to help keep us all warm. At the very least, maybe she'd help us figure out the way back to civilization."

He wonders why on Earth he's thinking these sort of things, when they're in the middle of the Artic tundra, the objects that looked like buildings had seemingly vanished into the storm, and he had the sinking feeling that they were all going to end up polar bear dinners.

"Davis…" DemiVeemon whimpers slightly and Davis sighs. "I'm sorry, buddy…I don't know what to d…"

"Here, let me take him."

Davis glances over at FlaWizardmon, whose flames have started to dim even. The fire wizard looks tired, and it's no wonder. They'd been out here for hours, and trying to keep all of them warm in weather such as this couldn't be easy for him.

This place was even exhausting a MEGA DIGIMON. But when Davis hesitates, FlaWizarmon just rolls his eyes and snatches the little Digimon from Davis' grip, holding him close so the extreme heat of his body manages to dilute DemiVeemon's shivering, at least a bit.

"…Thanks…"

FlaWizarmon just shrugs and continues walking, steam rising up from the snow where his feet press down, but not as much as before.

"…We can't go on much longer…" Ken mutters to Ryo, who bites her lip and shakes her head defiantly. "Monodramon's tough. He'll stick it out for as long as he needs too, right buddy?"

Monodramon just growls, sounding more like his draconic Champion form than anything else.

"Yeah, but you're not." Ken insists stubbornly, walking around so he's facing her. "You need to REST Ryo."

"Rest?" She lets out a slightly derisive laugh. "Rest WHERE?"

"Ryo…."

"Yggdrasil, this can't really be when we give up." She mutters. "You know as well as I do that if I really wanted to rest, I could try opening a portal and we'd hop right back inside."

"At risk of damaging the barrier…" Ken says softly.

Ryo nods, her eyes glances back to the rest of the group. "This…is why I'm glad, in a way, I was never made leader."

"What do you mean?"

"This sort of choice…having to decide between what's best for the group and what's best for the mission?" She shakes her head. "There used to be a time when I'd envy Sira. Now…"

"You guys!"

For a second, all of them thought it was simply the wind. Then Tsukaimon flutters over there heads, panting like mad. "Stella…she found…shelter…"

"What?!"

"Really?!"

Ken glances over at Ryo who bites her lip. She looks back at the others and sighs, her shoulders slumping slightly. "…I guess my choice was always obvious."

Ken smiles slightly and Ryo nods. "Lead the way Tsukaimon. We'll be right behind you."

…

"What could possibly be wrong about gaining more knowledge?!"

A high ridiculous and somewhat creepy sounding laugh echoed throughout the darkness. "Greedy little boy…you'll fall…"

"GIVE THAT CREST BACK YOU THIEF!"

"A…B…C…D…E…"

"Izzy! Izzy wake up!" Izzy's eyes, which had been tightly shut, jerk open as he feels a small shock pierce into his body. "GACK! Tentomon!" He shrieks, nearly leaping upwards. "What the heck was that for?!"

"I had to, Izzy…" Tentomon's green eyes are pleading, which was a feat in of itself, considering the insect Digimon never changed expression. However if he COULD, the tone in Tentomon's voice suggests he's close to tears. "That look on your face…I almost felt like I was loosing you again…"

Izzy's shaking hands curl into fists as he whispers, "No Tentmon. Never again, I promise you that. He…" His jaw clenches with outrage. "…He's got Mimi."

"How is he even still alive?!" Tentomon exclaims, buzzing upwards. "I blasted him and his crummy little universe into data dust!"

Izzy's mind shoots through numerous possibilities—he groans. "Wait a minute…remember how they used your data to help make Kimeramon?"

"I can honestly say I've tried to block that memory from my mind, Izzy."

"Think about it. When we beat an evil Digimon, their data doesn't go back to Primary Village. I think it's sufficient to say that when you beat Vademon, his data might have flown into you."

"…Oh, ick."

"Ick, indeed, but if that's what happened, it makes a lot of sense. When your data was being extracted some of Vademon's data must have escaped." Izzy clenches his teeth. "And naturally the little freak decides to go after us for revenge. Because that's just the cliché villain thing to do."

There's more anger in Izzy's voice than Tentomon can ever really remember hearing, and he flutters next to his partner uneasily. "…So what do we do now?"

"I'd have thought that would be obvious." Izzy says grimly, his scrawny muscles tensing as he stands at the edge of the pit.

"Oh no! Izzy, you can't go in there!"

Izzy snarls, a more obvious sign that he's not feeling at all like himself. "Let me go! He's got Mimi down there!"

"Yes, Izzy, but charging in like that is the Lily thing to do!"

…

My eyes narrow slightly in the middle of trying to shove our way through the panicked crowd.

"Lily, what is it?"

"Nothing…" I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck, trying to get rid of this odd feeling. "Come on, they need our help!"

…

"Izzy, if I have to shock you unconscious to make you see some sense, than that's exactly what I'll do!"

Izzy fumes, whipping around and shooting Tentomon a hot glare. "What kind of partner are you if you won't even let me go and protect the person I care about more than…?!"

"Believe it or not Izzy, I'm the best kind of partner. I'm the type of partner who cares enough about Mimi and Palmon that I'm not going to let them get into more danger because you're doing something reckless! Vademon expects us to just charge in there, I promise you that much. And if we don't figure something out, he'll make sure all of us die!"

Izzy's own eyes widen slightly before looking back down at the ground. "…Forgive me Tentomon…" His voice shakes slightly. "I…wasn't thinking…"

"Now that's not like the Izzy I know. Boy, love does do really weird things to humans."

"H-hey, I said nothing about!"

"Oh boy." Tentomon mutters under his breath. "Once we save them, I'm going to need Lilithmon to give you a lecture on the dangers of denial."

Izzy's cheeks flush pink as he stammers, "I don't think…that…THAT…I mean…ugh…"

"Oh, quit blubbering." Tentomon chuckles. "You want to save your girlfriend or not?"

Knowing that continuing to argue would be pointless, and he didn't have that much time to spare anyway, Izzy sighs, a wry smile forming on his face. "…Yes."

"Then shall we commence with Awesome Bug VS Wimpy Alien Version 2.0?"

"We shall." Izzy says, a slow smirk forming on his face as he stares down into the tunnel.

"Oh, see I know that look. That's Izzy's idea look."

Izzy smiles. "…I have…a thought…" _"You're not going to get away with this Vademon. This is the second time you've tried to take something that's mine. There WON'T be a third."_

…

"GARURUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…WEREGARURUMON!"

"Good to see you back buddy." Matt smiles as the light from the Crest marking on his body slowly fades away.

WereGarurumon smiles slightly, his scarred muzzle pulled back to show fangs, as he glances over at Alexander. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Alexander agrees, before a gray light surrounds him. Matt's eyes widen as in Beezlemon's place…

"…Wow…"

"…You really do look a lot like…" Matt's voice trails off as Alexander narrows his eyes. His blonde hair hung messily around his face, done back in a braid, but his pale skin and bright blue eyes, only two of them now, and that intense glare…looked so much like Myotismon it was plenty unsettling.

Alexander sighs, rolling his eyes. "Don't remind me…" He grumbles, annoyance radiating off of him.

"Er…okay…why'd you degenerate? Surely it would be easier to take this guy out in your Mega form."

"It would." Alexander agrees "But I'm not sure that taking him out will be the way to settle this."

"…What do yo-"BUNNY BLADES!"

Matt yells and WereGarurmon scoops his partner up in both arms, flipping over the attack, dropping Matt on top of the roof of a smaller house with a low growl of, "STAY THERE!"

He spins back around just as Antylamon charges forwards again, axes at the ready. "GARURU KICK!" He roars, kicking outwards and releasing a red blur of energy that is aimed straight at Antylamon's head. His eyes widen and Alexander yells, "WATCH OUT!" just as Antylamon raises his axes and the attack bounces right back towards him.

He slams into the building opposite, his claws digging into the mortar and brick, leaving deep scratches as he ,manages to save himself from hitting the ground.

Alexander hisses, baring fangs as his entire body glows with dark energy and he shouts out, "NIGHTMARE CLAW!"

The shadowy face shoots at Antylamon, who raises his axes to block again, but Alexander roars, "CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"

The red whip lashes outwards, wrapping around the axes and yanking them aside, causing Antylamon to tumble backwards, the shadows shooting forwards and slamming him straight in the chest.

He hits the ground hard, twitching repeatedly, as WereGarurumon leaps above him, his claws glowing a deep shade of red as he releases his attack and sends it crashing down towards the bunny Digimon.

The smoke rises above the crater as both Digimon land. WereGarurumon turns his head around and shoots Alexander a smile, and Alexander chuckles, triumph in both of their eyes.

That is, until another blast explodes out from the crater, and Matt yells from where he's standing, eyes widening in horror as he sees the giant rabbit pushing itself to its feet. Red eyes look into the Digidestined's, and he can't help the desire to gulp.

Antylamon stares at him a moment longer before slowly looking over its shoulder and then bounding away.

"…What is that thing…?"

….

"CODY!" The blast from the explosion sends all of them flying, TK hears the sound of Pegasusmon screaming as all of the plummet towards the Earth, a gray light surrounding his Digimon as he was reduced back to Patamon, his

TK gasps, his arms and legs frantically waving in the air, as he tried to find anything, ANYTHING, that could break his fall. But at this rate, he feared, that he was going to end up as nothing more than a smear on the ground.

Cody's screams echo around him, and he closes his eyes. He wouldn't let things end like this. He WOULDN'T! Another memory flickers through his head…Piedmon's laugh as he and Kari both plummeted…and then…

TK gasps, feeling his neck start to get uncomfortably warm, as a strange light surrounds him, glowing brighter and brighter.

"PATAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ANGEMON! ANGEMON DIGIVOLVE TO….!"

TK's eyes shot open, a strangled cry of disbelief erupting from his lips. He'd never thought he'd see this again, hear those words again, as Angemon grows even taller, more wings, more armour, a sword hanging at his belt, glistening like the warrior angel he truly was.

"MAGNANGEMON!"

"HELP US!" TK screams, and the next thing he knows, there's the sound of rushing wind increasing, and his partner has one arm wrapped around his waist, another around Cody's and clutching Upamon as well.

"…You…digivolved…again?" Cody breathes, looking into the masked face of TK's evolved partner. MagnaAngemon smiles slightly before clenching his teeth as he looks upward. "We have to hurry. He's going after the plane again!"

"…Don't show him any mercy." TK says, a hint of a growl entering his voice again. Cody's eyes narrow slightly as he shoots TK a look. "No offense, but isn't that how we got in the mess?! By you losing your temper?"

"…I…you…you don't' know what…"

"Enough…." MagnaAngemon says fiercely, his white wings beating as he pushes himself upwards. "I will do what I have to do. Trust me on that." He finishes quietly, reaching for the sword strapped to his belt.

…

"UNHAPPY!" Puttimon shrieks, finally giving up on headbutting Phascomon, as he shoots the sleeping Demon Lord Digimon a look that wasn't quite as threatning as it was back in his Rookie form.

Unperturbed, his colleague snored on, and Puttimon huffs, glancing back towards the window to see BlackWarGreymon floating mere inches from the plane.

Screams erupted from the rest of the crowd, people scrounging backwards, looks of terror on their faces. They'd seen the sheer explosive power of this monster. And they didn't have a single way of defending themselves.

Puttimon lets out an indignant growl of anger before glancing back at GranDracmon. GranDracmon slowly raises his eyes, golden, furious eyes meeting BlackWarGreymon's.

The Digimon made from nothing but a bunch of Control Spires and Adelina's pain stares blankly at him, though a hint of a smirk seems to form at the creature's mouth.

The message was clear. Either GranDracmon got out and fought him, or he'd tear this entire plane apart to get at him.

GranDracmon doesn't trust the prat though, and a fullscale fight between the two of them would be enough to send the plane crashing down anyway.

If he's lucky, maybe, maybe, if he doesn't bother to fight, he can try to teleport as many people out of here as possible. But he has to teleport one at a time, STUPID FILTHY MACHINE….GranDracmon lets out a feral growl. If they all lived through this he was going to deconstruct BlackWarGreymon's wireframe piece by piece.

While he was still alive

BlackWarGreymon's eyes narrow, as if he's heard GranDracmon's challenging threatening snarls, and the yellow orb between his claws starts to glow again.

"EXCALIBUR!"

The blade slashes and BlackWarGreymon lets out a startled roar as he is thrown backwards. MagnaAngemon kicks the door of the plane open, muttering, "Inside, NOW." While BlackWarGreymon still tries to recover, and then soars right back out.

"…What was that?!"

"Was that an angel?!"

Sira groans suddenly in GranDracmon's arms, and her eyes meet his. "…Ras…the boys…" Her voice cracks slightly. "Are they all right?"

"We're fine, Sira." TK says quickly, dropping down next to her.

"Wow, that's gonna be quite a lump on your head!" Upamon squeaks as he glances over at her. Sira growls, her eyes flashing red. "I'm FINE. I'll have one heck of a headache, but that's nothing compared to the headaches I get taking care of all those morons."

Yup. She was fine.

"MagnaAngemon can't hold him off for that much longer…" She mutters. GranDracmon bares fangs. "Trust me, I plan to…"

"No, not right now." Sira says firmly, pushing herself away from him and making her way determinedly down the hallway. "You've had your crack at this loser. Now I want my turn."

"…Sira…as strong as you are…" TK's voice trails off. "Even you can't beat a Mega Digimon."

Sira smirks back over her shoulder at him. "You don't necessarily need to beat the guy to win, Takeru."

…

"H-huh…?" Mimi's eyes slowly flicker open and she moans, shoving herself upwards. Everything around her felt icily cold, and she shivers. "…Palmon…?" She can't see a single thing in the blackness. Gulping she tries again, "Lilithmon? Anyone? Are you there?"

Only silence responds to her increasingly desperate cries. Mimi clenches her fists, the nails digging into her palms. She would not panic. She would not have a breakdown, here, and go along with whatever the enemy wanted of her.

She was not the same girly girl she used to be, the one who would whine and complain and hope someone would save her.

She was NOT that girl. She'd be like Sora, or Lily…okay considering Lily hijacked a Devidramon last time to escape, maybe imitating Lily was a bad idea.

"Hey!" Mimi calls, cupping her hands over her mouth. "I know you're there! Why don't you show yourself…? Unless you're too scared!" She adds with a spark of defiance she didn't know she really had.

There's an odd, really weird sounding giggle, and suddenly a bright light shines down on her, causing her to lift her hand over her eyes, and take a step back.

"Well, what do we have here…?"

Mimi gasps as she looks up. She's never seen the Digimon before, but his looks match Izzy and Tentomon's description completely.

Pale, skinny, with an overlarge head with no skull, pink brains pulsing outwards, with bulging yellow eyes and big fat lips.

"…I know who you are!" She gasps out. "You're…you're…"

"Vademon, at your service, my lady." The alien Digimon says mockingly, his yellow eyes gleaming hungrily as he looks over her form. "Hmm, it appears that my old friend truly did choose well. I'm almost jealous, it gets so lonely here on my own…" He adds with a slight coo, and Mimi fights the desire to vomit as she crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him. "What do you want, freak?"

"Clearly, manners aren't something that's taught to any of the Digidestined. Ah well. You might want to be more respectful since I have your friends right here in my hands, sweetheart."

"…What do you mean?"

Vademon smiles dangerously and snaps his fingers. Mimi yells as she realizes she's standing on top of what appears to be some asteroid, floating around in an orbitcal pattern. Across from her strapped to the side of the meteor that Vademon was standing on….

"PALMON!"

"Mimi!" Palmon squeals, straining against her bindings in a desperate attempt to break free. Strapped down next to her, Lilithmon fumes, dangling by her wrists, "I cannot believe this. By the way, when we finally break free, you are not allowed to mention this to any of the other Demon Lords. Agreed?"

"How did he possibly get ahold of you?!" Mimi gasps, staring at her. Lilithmon's cheeks flush slightly and she looks away. "…I don't want to talk about it."

"It was kind of awkward to watch." Palmon agrees, a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Mimi's expression becomes puzzled as Vademon boasts, "I am not affected by the Demon Lord of Lust's evil charms."

"…Wait…" Mimi's eyes widen as she glances back at Lilithmon. "…You tried to…"

"Uh huh…"

"…THAT….?!"

"I thought it would be relatively simple…" Lilithmon whines, her lips sticking out in a pout. "It's gotten me out of several scrapes before without the need to ever unleash my claws. I don't like just anyone's gunk on these." She insists.

Mimi fights the desire to facepalm as Vademon chuckles. "And it was all too simple for me when she was distracted by her pathetic attempts, it was easy enough to immobilize her."

"What?" Mimi stares in disbelief. Even at her most distracted, she doubted someone as weak looking as Vademon could possibly really get the drop on Lilithmon.

Vademon giggles and Mimi suddenly feels the ground beneath her feet start to rumble oddly. "My true strength isn't so easily apparent, it seems. Watch and tremble child! This entire universe is under my command!"

"That's not possib-AHHHHHHHHHH!"

The meteorite she'd been standing on suddenly breaks into two, and she screams as she's plummeting through the darkness. She can hear the warning yells of Lilithmon and Palmon and looks up, her eyes widening, to see another huge rock charging towards her, and another one behind her. She'd be squished like jelly!

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

The bright light of the explosion sends pieces of rock flying everywhere, hitting her on the face and arms but it could have been so much worse. Her eyes widen as she takes in the beetle Digimon, his teeth bared in a fierce snarl at Vademon.

"MIMI!"

Her eyes widen as Izzy wraps his arms around her, holding her tight to his chest. "…Izzy…"

"Yggdrasil…" He mutters, his hands tightening. "You had me so scared, Mimi."

She smiles slightly, leaning her head into his chest before pulling away quickly. "You shouldn't have come, this whole thing was a trap for you."

"I know." Izzy says simply and her eyes narrow. He slowly turns around, letting go of her, and calls up, "Vademon!'

"Are you two done playing kissy face and are going to actually do something now?!" Lilithmon says, a hint of a shriek in her voice. "I mean I'm all for romance but there's such a thing as a time and a place!"

"You believe in a time and a place?" Palmon asks in disbelief, her tone shocked.

"…Well no, not really. But I've heard of the theory and it can't really hurt, can it?"

Vademon ignores both of the girls and smirks down at Izzy. "So what are you going to do, my old friend? I happen to know that you don't have your precious little Crest anymore. Stupid fool. I thought you learned your lesson about not giving that up."

Izzy snorts. "No, Vademon. What I learned was to never give up my love of knowledge, true learning. My Crest….will always be with me, as long as I keep the lessons I learned in my heart."

"Oh Yggdrasil." Lilithmon groans. "I have to be tied up by some pervert alien and hear lame speeches? Kill me now. Just KILL ME NOW."

"Lilithmon!" Palmon scolds.

Vademon smirks. "Brave words, Chosen One of Knowledge. You really think I'm afraid of you though? With your Digimon only at the Champion level?"

"I think you are…." Kabuterimon growls, through clenched teeth. "You've actually made your fear of Izzy painfully clear."

"…What?"

"You heard him." Izzy's smile takes on a dangerous look, looks more predatory than anything else. "If you weren't afraid of us, then why'd you kidnap Mimi?"

"To make you suffer!"

"Uh huh." Izzy's tone suggests he's bored. "Sorry, not buying it."

Vademon fumes, his yellow eyes popping out more than usual. "Why you impudent little…."

"Even without my Crest, my partner can still easily defeat you at the Champion level. That much I know for a fact."

"Oh…really?"

Izzy smiles, and his hand clasps Mimi's again. She looks up sharply at him but he doesn't look at her. Somehow she has a very, very bad feeling that what he's about to say is going to make her feel very angry indeed, and he's trying to avoid the explosion.

"…You like making deals, Vademon. So here's one. Let Mimi and Palmon go, take me in their place."

"…WHAT?!" Mimi's shriek mingles with Lilithmon's. "Are you crazy?! I'm not just letting you do this!"

"And what about ME?!"

"Oh uh…." Izzy waves a hand awkwardly in Lilithmon's direction. "Her too."

Vademon looks thoughtful, a smirk appearing on his face as he presses his overly long fingers to his lips. "…Very well."

"WHAT?! NO!"

"Mimi, just go…" Izzy hisses through clenched teeth. "You have to."

"You don't honestly believe a word of what this creep says, do you?! Izzy, it's a trick, it has to be…."  
"Hey…." He gives her hand a tight squeeze. "Just…trust me on this. Okay?"

"…" Mimi clenches her teeth and Vademon cackles as he waves a hand. "All right then. I've got what I want, I have no further use of you. "

Mimi's eyes widen slightly as the ground opens up underneath her once more, and she lets out a scream as she plummets.

Vademon lets out a delighted cackle. "You should have listened to your friend, mo…." His voice trails off as something glows inside of Izzy's jacket. Izzy smirks and drops his jacket off to reveal his Crest of Knowledge branded on his skin and glowing a deep purple. "I didn't need to do much Vademon. I just needed to make you think you won."

"KABUTERIMON DIGIVOLVE TO…"

Mimi keeps yelling until suddenly she feels something grab her—her eyes widen and she looks up, seeing that the long arms of….

"…MegaKabuterimon!" She gasps, disbelief obvious in her voice. MegaKabuterimon chuckles. "It was ridiculous easy making that moron let down his guard. All Izzy needed to do was apply his smarts to the situation…and that meant putting his head over his heart."

"You honestly just let him almost kill me?!"

"Nah, he'd never do that." MegaKabuterimon assures her. "He had this all planned out. You're too important for him to take any risks."

"…Honestly…" Mimi mutters, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Now how about we have the rest of our friends join the party?" He says with a hint of a wicked grin, turning over so he's facing the underside of the rock the captives are chained to.

His horn begins to glow and he lets out a shout of, "HORN BUSTER!"

The light attack slams into the bottom of the rock at full strength, and Palmon and Lilithmon both yell as the explosion tears them free and they go flying. Izzy smiles—simple calculations. The best thing to do had been to get the hostages out of the way as quickly as possible, and he breathes a sigh of relief to see them both pushed away from the battle field.

Vademon yells as he's slammed down by several rocks, his fleshy, weak body hardly being able to withstand blows like this.

"UGH….ENOUGH!" Vademon's furious scream echoes as he starts to shine. Izzy's eyes widen. This…did not fit into his calculations…

…

Lunamon leaps down the train's corridors, letting out a horrified gasp as she looks outside. "Look!"

"Oh crap…" Dilbert mutters, his teeth clenching as he sees what exactly is standing in front of the train, leering down at them.

Covered in black amour, the creature has strange, feathery looking wings that don't seem to go along with the rest of its appearance, and deadly looking blade-like arms, Joe can't really tell from this angle. But he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up and he manages to stammer out, "Er….how strong is that….exactly?"

"Plenty strong." Dilbert growls through clenched teeth, his hands clenching into fists. Wormmon nods and glances at him. "Well? Shall we?"

"We shall."

"Wait, we're coming too!" Gommamon exclaims, waddling forwards with more speed than you would have thought a seal could possesses.

Dilbert shakes his head fiercely. "Gomamon can't get to the Ultimate form anymore, remember? This guy would squish you flat."

"I can't just stay back here and hide." Joe says firmly, his glasses glinting slightly in the sunlight. "I'm a Digidestined. It's my responsibility, my duty…to help deal with Digimon attacks. And if there's one thing I'll never do…it's shirk my duty."

"And I appreciate that." Dilbert says earnestly. "But you've got to realize I've fought Darkdramon before and they are insanely powerful."

"So?" Gommamon scoffs. "You should have seen the Dark Masters. Now they were extremely powerful."

"I know that." Dilbert says with more patience than other people have when arguing with Gomammon. "But…listen." Sounds of more panicked screams echo throughout the train, and Joe's eyes widen as Dilbert's jaw clenches. "I think Darkdramon brought friends."

"Crap…" Joe mutters, swearing, which is something he almost never does. But being derailed by a killer dragon and having to deal with dozens of people threatened when five minutes ago you were talking about your awkward love life…was proving to be a bit stressful.

"…All right. We'll get them." He says with a tone of frustration, and Dilbert grins, giving him a thumbs up before running off with Wormmon.

Gommamon stares after them for a moment. "You know with something that has those itty-bitty legs she can move quite quickly."'

"Come ON!"

Lunamon blasts down the door of one compartment to see a group of Gazimon leering at a couple of small children. The bunny's eyes narrow dangerously as she snaps, "Why don't you creeps take on someone your own size?"

The raggedy creatures sneer at her, their laughter echoing as the three kids stare at her in disbelief, the oldest standing protectively in front of his little siblings.

"Really? And what are you going to do about it?!"

A hint of a smile appears on Lunamon's face as she leaps into the air, a blue orb forming between her ears as she shouts, "TEAR SHOT!" The blast strikes the lead Gazimon into the chest and sends him flying backwards, the others letting out snarls of fury and lunging at her.

One of them swipes claws at her and she grabs his paw to dive underneath him, her claws glowing black as she smirks, "Two can play at the game. LUNAR CLAW!"

The attack hits his underside and causes him to slam into another of the Gazimon, both of them howling as they slam into the ceiling of the train and actually tear through, blown skywards.

Lunamon lands back on her feet, breathing heavily, glancing upwards as she sees the kids looking at her with an expression of fear on their faces.

"It's all right…." She says in a tone that she desperately hopes is soothing. "You're going to be o…" Her voice trails off as the sound of a snarl echoes. Her head whips around to see what looks like a wolf with raggedy purple fur, long sharp teeth, bat shaped marks on its thighs.

"Sangloupmon…" She mutters, her eyes widening as the wolf roars and lunges at them.

"LOOK OUT!" She cries, pushing the kids out of the way as teeth snap in the open air inches from the little girl's neck.

…

"DANNNNGGGGGG ITTTTT!" I roar, finally managing to break free of the massive crowd of people pressing in around me.

Renamon flips over an overweight man as he stumbles, rather to avoid tripping over him, and lands next to me. "In retrospect, maybe we should have biomerged earlier so we could fly over the rest of the crowd."

"Oh, you make that sort of suggestion now!" I bark, glancing back over my shoulder. "Tai! Blondie! Hurry up!"

"Why is she calling me blondie?" Willis mutters as he runs next to Tai. Tai roll his eyes slightly. "When Lily's mad, the offense nicknames ABOUND. Trust me on this one."

The charred buildings, the scars in the ground, all of these things show proof of the fierce battle that had gone on here. I swallow hard to try and force down the panic in my voice as I hear someone calling my name.

"Lils!"

"Matt!"

I run to Matt, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. "Where are the others?! Are they all okay?"

"…" Matt glances over and my heart leaps into my throat to see Alexander lying on the ground, bruises and scrapes all over his body more visible as he sits up next to Zach. Gabumon's managing to stand next to his partner, but he looks just as exhausted as everyone else.

"What HAPPENED?!" Tai exclaims, pounding forwards as Matt grabs him and pins him against the wall of another building. "Where the heck where you?!" He snarls through clenched teeth, his nose close to Tai's.

My shoulders rise up slightly. I hate seeing the two of them fight, especially after that one time….Tai wriggles free and glowers. "It wasn't my fault, moron. We tried to get here and we got caught up in the mob of people running for their lives…"

"Why didn't you have Agumon warp digivolve before so you WOULDN'T get stuck?!"

"…" Tai and I both exchange sheepish looks. I take a deep breath. "…That…might have been a smarter plan…"

"I'm going to hit my head against the wall a couple of times." Matt mutters. "I swear to Yggdrasil none of you ever think."

"Look, us arguing isn't helping…." Tai sighs as I run over to where Alexander lies. Dropping to his side next to Zach I say quietly, "Are you okay?"

Alexander sighs, pushing himself upwards. "Honestly, all this fuss. I'm quite all right, both of you." He grumbles, though a hint of a smile appears on his face as Zach and I both hug him.

Tai clenches his teeth and closes his eyes, lowering his head. "…What I don't get…is how an Ultimate Digimon can be that powerful."

"I dunno…."

"We can tell you." I glance up to see the little bunny Digimon, Willis' partner, hopping forwards. Willis' eyes widen. "Terriermon, NO!"

"But, Willis…I know you didn't want to draw anyone into all this mess but…"

"But nothing." Willis says fiercely, clenching his fists. "My feelings on that haven't changed. We've caused enough problems here."

"Didn't want to draw anyone else into this?" Matt says slowly, his eyes drifting over to Willis. His hot-blue glare seems to freeze Willis in his tracks. Matt's angry looks tend to have that effect on people.

"Look around you." Matt snaps, gesturing his hand outwards. Willis slowly looks in at the rest of the destruction, at Alexander and Gabumon both lying there beaten.

"….Rather you like it or not….we're in this now…" Matt growls, his hands curling into fists. "So start talking."

Willis glances around at all of us, at my narrowed eyes, Tai's scowl, and Renamon, Agumon and Gabumon all growling under their breath slightly.

Willis' shoulders slump and he feels a tiny hand pressing against his leg, and looks down to see Terriermon giving him a comforting look.

"…All right….."

…

"Back when I was a kid…I was lonely for most of the time. Dad was gone so much, and when he was home he and Mum were constantly fighting. I didn't really have any friends…I was just….invisible….then one day…something happened I wouldn't believe possible. Something came to me from the computer…two Eggs. Two Digieggs. Gummymon and Chocomon. They became…the most important people in my life."

"But…I couldn't just be satisfied with them. I wanted to create another friend, and I did…or at least…I started to…and then…it got infected…a virus…I couldn't have foreseen….and it formed…into the most…horrible monster…the virus…created…Diaboromon…."

"…"

I feel my face turning pale, the blood draining away. Tai's jaw is set but his hands are trembling. Matt takes a shaky breath, and Gabumon lets out a faint growl.

I remember that battle so clearly. Diaboromon's mad, mad eyes, the wild snarl, how our Digimon didn't stand a chance, a chance, I remember the fangs sinking into WarGreymon, the claws raking across MetalGaurumon's back, Renamon slamming into the ground, Patamon screaming as the creature wrapped his claws around him.

I remember the sound of the clock counting down…I remember knowing that if we didn't beat this thing…and we couldn't….then our entire country would be wiped out as the missiles collided into Japapn and turned into a mess of fire and brimstone.

…If it hadn't been for Omnimon….

"…When you guys…managed to kill Diaboromon…it was like the biggest weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And then…." Willis closes his eyes and slowly whispers out, "The virus that created Diaboromon…it wasn't gone…."

"…What do you mean?"

Willis' eyes shoot open, fury filling them. "I mean exactly what I said! The virus that infected Diaboromon infected Cocomon. My partner…Terriermon's brother…and it turned him into a monster just like Diaboromon. A Digimon with more strength in him than you would have thought possible, a monster that can't be reasoned with, can't be stopped, his only instinct…is to destroy until there's nothing left…"

….

"My lord…are you sure this is wise?"

"Hmm…." The entire area is darkness, pressing in around them, a feeling of evil that clung to your skin and dragged at you, and the being had to force himself not to shake at the sight. Especially as he looked into his master's crazed red eyes.

The being let out a dark chuckle. "You seem so…overly concerned. Were you not the one who gave us the techonology? Who betrayed your master, GranDracmon, in order to give me the Dark Spore?"

"…I…indeed…my lord…and it failed the first time so I question the validity of using it on so much of your forces…it…."

"It ends in a Digimon falling into madness, just as it did with Diaboromon…." He smiles darkly. "But I care little about what it does to a Digimon. After all, as we learned with our Emperor friend…..humans may have their use after all. Once I obtain the power I seek…I will seek vengeance on those who have betrayed me. You will not be one of them, will you my old friend?"

"…I…."

The darkness seems to grab onto him, choking him, and he lets out a whimper as the monster purrs, "Will you…?"

"…No…I am faithful Lord Milleunnimon…."

"No you are not." The voice laughs dryly. "You are a coward, plain and simple, and your greed lead you to betray your old master. How do I know you will not betray me in the same way?"

"..M-my lord…"

"Silence." The red eyes gleam once more. "Soon…it will be soon…one Destiny Stone has already fallen…is our little human friend here yet?"

"Y-yes…."

"Very good. Only a few more pieces of the puzzle must fall together." His laugh is raspy, deep, and echoes throughout the darkness, and the Digimon shudders. What had he gotten himself into?


	31. Welcome Willis, Revenge of the Robot

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Welcome Willis, Revenge of the Robot

AN: Hey you guys! Sorry this chapter took so much longer, should have been out yesterday but I had a temple trip and really what can you do? (shrugs) Anyway I have exciting news. I've been accepted to BYU Provo! YAAAAAAAAAAAY! College of my choice too XDXDXDXD. I just found out this morning. Did some happy-dancing.

I slowly slump against the wall of one of the buildings, breathing hard and trying really, really hard not to scream out loud.

Tai and Matt don't look much better, and Renamon's fur is puffed up so much she looks like a big yellow ball.

"…So you're saying…." I lick my lips, trying to find the words, but hoping I can fight this feeling that I'm about to be sick to my stomach, "that that….thing…is pretty much a fluffy version of Diaboromon?!"  
"He's not a thing!" The Terriermon says stubbornly, his ears dropping down to his sides. "He's my brother, thanks much."

"…Sorry."

"What's Diaboromon?" Zach says, poking his head around Alexander's legs. "I think I heard Sira and the others talking about it when they said that mess the Digidestined made two years ago but…"

"Wha-hey! I'd like to see them do better."

"Let it go Tai." I sigh. "Keep in mind that was back in the day when you didn't bother to know the Tamers existed and they thought you guys were beneath them."

"..Well yeah but…"

"Hey—I don't let my team badmouth you guys, don't start badmouthing them." I say firmly. Matt snorts slightly, looking amused. Alexander grimaces. "…I've heard more. That monster nearly killed all of you, correct?"

"It was stupidly strong." Agumon grumbles, crossing his arms. "I remember that thing throwing us around like a couple of rag dolls."

"And then it MULTIPLIED." Gabumon says grimly.

"So many Diaboromon's…." Renamon groans. "So many many…." She strokes the fur on her tail as if she's trying to force herself to calm down. "And then of course our partners scared the heck out of us by coming in there after us!"

"You…DID…WHAT?!"

"Thanks for that Renamon." I mutter as Alexander grabs me by the shoulders and yanks me around. "How could you possibly do something that reckless!"

"In all honesty, you sort of get used to it."

"…LILY…"

"Is it wrong that I find this absolutely hilarious?" Tai says, a smirk obvious on his face as I continue to literally bend backwards underneath Alexander's ire.

Matt snorts. "Not even slightly. Now it's her turn to know the fun of facing a protective parent's ire."

"You are grounded for three weeks!"

"EH?! IT WAS YEARS AGO?!"

"Kindly do not take that tone with me young lady. I will have you learning responsibility for your actions even if it kills me!"

I just stand there twitching for a few moments as I walk over to Tai and Matt, growling as the two of them continue laughing uncontrollably.

"Ow!" They both yell in unison as I grab their heads and clunk them together. "Shut…up…" I mutter through clenched teeth.

Renamon snorts. "Just be glad it's only Alexander here and not the rest of the Demon Lords to hear about your many, many stupid moments."

"Shhh, Renamon!" I hiss, clamping a hand over her mouth. "Let's…not….talk….about…certain…moments…."

"I smell the scent of blackmail." Matt says with a smirk, and I glower at him. "You wouldn't."

"Try me. There's this new guitar I have my eyes on."

"…."

"Er…." Willis sweatdrops. "Would you guys mind if we get back to the point?"

"Don't worry." Gabumon sighs. "The random tangents happen all the time. ALL of the time."

"Still, dude…that stinks." Tai says, turning his head to face Willis. "That's…seriously messed up. Your third Digimon turned into Diaboromon, than the disease infected your original partner, and then your Dad was kidnapped."

"…" Willis looks down at the ground, clenching his teeth, as Matt mutters sarcastically, "Way to sum it up, Goggle-brain."

"I am NOT…." Tai just sighs and rolls his eyes, knowing that it's pointless to argue at this point. I punch him in the shoulder and look over at Willis. "…I'm sorry. No one deserves that."

Willis blinks. "So….you don't hate me?"

"Why would we hate you?"

"…" Willis gives us an incredulous look like we're not all there. Well, we're really not, but still.

"Isn't it painfully obvious?! I'm the one that created Diaboromon! I'm the reason all of you were nearly killed, the reason Diaboromon nearly wiped out the entire county of Japan!"

"You didn't do that." Tai says calmly, his brown eyes meeting Willis' blue ones. "Viruses infect Digimon all the time, they are made of data, Maybe you shouldn't have been messing around, trying to create another one. That was stupid. But you didn't know this would happen."

"…"

"Thank you!" Terriermon exclaims, bouncing forwards. "I've been trying to convince Willis for ages that he doesn't need to be constantly blaming himself for what happened."

"…But…Kokomon…" His voice trails off. "And my Dad."

"Wouldn't blame you." Terriermon says, leaning into his partner's side. "Kokomon…Kokomon would never want to see you alone like this."

Willis' eyes close. "…He never does give me a chance to be left alone." He breathes. "If he'd really forgiven me…than he wouldn't keep following me…hunting me…."

Tai's eyes narrow. "…How long is this going been going on?"

"…A couple of months now…." Willis murmurs. "That's why I ran away from my mum. I couldn't bare for her to be mixed into this same kind of mess."

"…That's about the same time that…." My voice trails off. "That's about the same time Millennniummon started making his moves."

"Coincidence?" Matt snorts. "I doubt it."

"Alexander, do you know anything about this?" I mutter, glancing back over at him. Alexander sighs. "What on Earth makes you think I know?"

"Because you know everything, don't you?' Agumon questions.

"Not quite everything." Alexander cups his jaw in his hand in a thinking gesture. "…But I did hear something about a device GranDracmon made…and a connection to Millenniummon…."

"…Something GranDracmon made?"

"…Like the Dark Spore…" I breathe. "That Lucemon got out of Ken?"

"…."

"Why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this?" Tai mutters. Alexander's expression looks distracted, as if he's focused on remembering something.

I cross my arms, biting my lip. "Well, we don't have any proof for what's going on. We have to contact  
Edan. He can get ahold of GranDracmon."

"What if GranDracmon and the others are busy?"

"Eh, what can possibly be so urgent?"

….

MagnaAngemon snarls as he's pressed downwards, BlackWarGreymon leering into his face as he nearly breaks the angel's spine, pressing his claws down forcibly on Excaliber, the angel's only protection now.

"This is the great strength of the Digidestined?"

MagnaAngemon growls, feeling the exhaustion and pain filling his body. "Us….the children…are stronger than someone like you can possibly imagine…"

"Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

MagnaAngemon coughs, the claws now mere centimeters from his throat as he gasps out, "You're…not…real….you can never…understand….what it's like to be connected…to someone….to have your hearts beating as one….to feel the strength of that bond…flowing through your veins…." He pictures TK's face, split into a smile, a laugh, and his growl deepens. "That's why you will always be weak!"

BlackWarGreymon snarls, pressing harder down on his opponent, his teeth so close that one bite was all it would take to tear MagnaAngemon's head off his shoulders. "You dare call me weak?" He snarls. "You seem to think that your bonds make you so powerful, and yet whose facing deletion at this moment? You're right, I have had no one. There is no being, in this wretched world who gives a %%^&&& about me. I was made out of sheer darkness, and in the darkness I'm cursed to remain. But so help me, that's what's made me strong. Every minute, every second of this wretched life, I'm forced to push through by myself. That's the difference between you and me. You're forced to rely on your weakling partner and I…NEED…NO ONE!"

He yanks up suddenly and the movement sends MagnaAngemon sprawling across the top of the plane, Excalibur skidding away, teetering precariously on the edge.

"So where is your partner now?" BlackWarGreymon sneers, walking forwards, his yellow eyes gleaming disturbingly in the darkness.

Thunder suddenly boomed overhead, lightning crackling across the sky, before a white bolt came zigzagging down, crashing into the demon.

BlackWarGreymon screams, doubling over as though he's in sheer agony, his howls mixing with the thunder.

MagnaAngemon stares in disbelief. That bolt hadn't been that powerful from what he could tell but….of course….BlackWarGreymon is made out of wires, electrcitiy, and a bolt like that is twice as powerful against him as it would be against a real Digimon.

A fierce smile appears on his face as he stretches his hand out, calling his sword back to him. The purple blade glows as he holds it firmly, and, drawing a golden circular line in mid-air, he calls out fiercely, "GATE OF DESTINY!"

The circle glows, forming a golden gate inside of it, which opens to form a black vortex, sucking, drawing in the clouds around them…and pulling BlackWarGreymon with it.

"W-WHAT?!" BlackWarGreymon roars, his talons on his feet digging into the top of the plane, struggling to fight against the deadly pull. "What is this?!"

"BlackWarGreymon, a monster like you cannot be allowed to run free in our worlds." MagnaAngemon says with chilling calm. "Accept your fate and be taken quietly."

"N-no…" There's a hint of fear in those yellow eyes as the inside of the gate sparks, and he lets out a frantic, angry, snarl.

"I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!"

MagnaAngemon's eyes widen as BlackWarGreymon starts forming another yellow sphere in between his hands. With the suction from his attack, BlackWarGreymon shouldn't even be able to move at ALL!

The fire burning in BlackWarGreymon's eyes is disturbingly similar to WarGreymon's—a stubborn determination to keep going, to never give up no matter how the odds had been stacked against them.

BlackWarGreymon lets out a roar that seems to shatter the sky before sending his Terra Force attack crashing forwards—not at the plane, but at MagnaAngemon's gate. MagnaAngemon yells as he's thrown back from the massive explosion, spiraling out of control, one of his wings badly burnt and absolutely no use whatsoever.

The plane spins out of control wildly off to the side, damaged, the final explosion more than it can take. MagnaAngemon grimaces in pain and feels the last of his energy fade away from him. His eyes slowly close and he murmurs, "TK…I'..sorry….G…Gato…."

But right before he can slip into oblivion, he feels claws prick into his shoulder, the sudden pain causes him to gasp as he glances up and realizes that he is indeed not plummeting towards sudden deletion.

A strange looking dragon creature, thin, with green scales and red bulging eyes, holds him tightly, glancing down anxiously at him and making a strange kind of worried crooning noise. "I'm…alive…?" He gasps out. He stares at the creature—it's certainly not a Digimon.

It chirps worriedly at him again and MagnaAngemon coughs, "T-thank you...Where's BlackWarGreymon?!"

There's no sign of the dinosaur warrior. Apparently nearly dying at MagnaAngemon's hands was enough for him, or maybe he was just certain that his actions would finally mean the death of his old enemy GranDracmon.

"The plane…." MagnaAngemon gasps suddenly. "TK NO!"

….

"So….Datamon huh?"

Yolei sips the smoothie and continues staring across the table at Kari, who shrugs, running a hand through her honey blonde hair. "Datamon wanted revenge against this guy my brother and the others were fighting, called Etamon. He used Datamon to create this system called the Dark Network, which is sort of like the Control Spires, I guess. They made it so the Digimon couldn't evolve, couldn't properly fight at all."

"But why did Datamon want revenge?"

Kari lets a wry smile onto her lips. "Because once Etemon got what he wanted, he beat the snot out of Datamon and imprisoned him."

Yolei's jaw hangs open, showing her teeth stained pink from her smoothie. "T-that's horrible! Why?!"

"A number of reasons I guess." Kari admits with a shrug. "I doubt he ever really considered Datamon an ally for one thing, he was just using him. And Datamon was probably planning to overthrow Etemon anyway, so you can't really blame Etemon completely. He wanted to make sure that the one person who knew how to manipulate his source of strength didn't get in the way."

"…Boy, what a team." Yolei mutters, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Gatomon shakes her head. "Never trust someone whose like you—that is, when you're evil, anyway. In the end, those who follow the darkness are selfish, and those who are corrupt should be smart enough to know that they can't depend on others of their own kind. They'll backstab each other, that much is certain. It just depends who can get to it first."

There's silence for a moment, Yolei fidgeting in her chair as Kari sighs. "But that's all in the past. Or so I hope." She mutters.

Yolei glances upwards and then her face splits into a grin. "Hey, look! It's Sora!"

Sora was walking over to them, a slightly distracted look in her green eyes as she then turned to smile at the two girls. "Hey, guys. You tired of goofing off yet?" She laughs teasingly.

"Indeed." Poromon squeaks. "Amusement park food really is awful."

"Says the guy who ate about three bags of cotton candy." Yolei deadpans, rolling her eyes.

"Something about that stuff has some sort of drug in it, I swear, because no matter what I can't stop eating it."

"So where's Barbamon and Biyomon?" Kari interjects, eager to try and cut off the conversation about cotton candy, because Yggdrasil almighty knew if she didn't, by the end of the day both Gatomon and Poromon would be on the warpath to purify the world of the evils of the sugary substance. By eating a ridiculous amount themselves no doubt.

Sora smiles and shrugs. "I left Biyomon to Demon Lord sit for a few minutes while I came to get you."

"Does anyone else think it's weird how this has turned out to be more of a vacation than anything else?"

Gatomon's dark meow echoes out and Kari glances down at her. "…What do you mean?"

"Yeah! I had to fight off several evil enemy Digimon!"

"…Poromon, that was all of the graphics for the rides! I had to SIT on you to keep you from attacking them, gosh darn it!"

Gatomon sighs, rolling her blue eyes, her claws flexing. "All I'm saying is I've got that feeling, you know? That feeling that…that a storm's coming…."

"Miss Dramatic." Kari teases, as she ruffles her Digimon's fur. "Don't worry. We'll be on our guard, ma'am."

"Oy, don't make this into a joke."

"And you don't drive yourself crazy worrying about it." Was the retort as the friends began to make their way towards the exit of the park. "We needed this. That's why we took a day off in the first place, remember?"

"…This was a day off?"

"Of COURSE Poromon. Did you really think we'd find the Destiny Stone in the middle of Disney World California? Plus now I get to taunt Davis."

"Hmm, that's the second time you've mentioned Davis' name today."

"Yeah, so?"

"…"

"Shut UP Kari!"

Sora smiles slightly as she follows them from behind. The smile however grows into a smirk, her eyes flashing with malice, a light chuckle escaping her lips.

….

Vademon lets out a shriek of rage as he lashes his hands out, the massive rocks sent flying forwards at the group as his body continues to shine.

"Oh, crap, he's not actually!" Izzy gasps, his face paling.

"….He's digivolving…." Mimi says, her grip tightening on his arm so hard it actually starts to hurt.

"Would someone PLEASE get me out of here?!" Lilithmon shrieks at the top of her lungs.

"VADEMON DIGIVOLVE TO….EBEMON!"

Izzy's eyes widen as the cackle echoes outwards, and the light dims down, and the creepy alien guy is replaced by a robotic looking form, his metal mouth curved into a smile.

"….Surprised?" Ebemon laughs mockingly, pointing the gun straight at Izzy's chest. "Thanks to Lord Milleunnimmon, I am stronger than ever before."

MegaKabuterimon lets out a low growl as he drops on one of the asteroids across from their enemy. "You don't look that much stronger to me. You look exactly like the stringy weakling you've always been!"

"…Oh…really…?"

"Mimi, get down!" Izzy yells, shoving her to the ground as the gun is pointed straight at her, but then suddenly Ebemon switches his aim.

Instead the gun is pointed straight at MegaKabuterimon's chest, and fires. Izzy screams his partner's name, but the attack doesn't even do a slight bruise on the skin.

"Hah!" Palmon cries, punching the air. "I knew it wouldn't work!"

"….Are you sure now?"

The cruel smile on Ebemon's face makes the blood drain from Izzy's face. He swallows and realizes his partner isn't replying, is just standing there motionless like a statue.

"….MegaKabuterimon?"

A low growl echoes through the area, and MegaKabuterimon slowly turns around…so…he's…facing….them.

"….Oh Yggdrasil…"

"HORN BUSTER!"

Izzy and Mimi both scream as the blast of energy shoots straight towards them, Izzy throwing himself in front of Mimi as Palmon screams her name and tears forwards.

….

Now there are a few things people expect to see when they're on a train ride to Mexico. Desert scenery, huge cities, the sunburned faces of their fellow passengers.

But one thing they certainly do NOT expect to see is a bunch of demons attacking them, biting at their ankles, bowling humans over and sinking claws into them.

But even more unexpected than that, though less terrifying, was the white, shaggy furred walrus charging around the compartments.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikakumon roars, his attack sent straight into a Devimon leering down at the woman pinned to the wall beneath his claws—he barely even had time to yelp as Ikakaumon's attack nails him from behind and tears right through his core.

Joe shakes his head. "Would you believe that it was one of THOSE guys it took us forever to beat back on File Island?" He asks with a wry smile.

Ikakumon snorts with amusement. "Angemon got all of the fun last time around. But this is a good feeling, I admit. It means we're ten times stronger than we used to be!"

Joe laughs. "Agree…." His voice trails off and his head whips around, eyes widening as he sees a pair of Gizamon leaping towards him, spinning, the spikes on their bodies glinting like daggers as they aim right for the boy's head.

"LUNAR CLAW!" Right before Joe can be decapitiated and Ikakumon can save him, an angry rabbit leaps in between them, slicing back and forth and the next second before Joe knows quite what's happening, bits of Gizamon data all falling around him like confetti.

"You…are a scary, scary bunny." He says, bemused as he looks down at her. Lunamon shoots him a smile, her ears perking up. "Thank you. I take great pride in my scariness."

"You think Dilbert and Lilithmon are okay?" Ikakumon rumbles, looking out the window.

"Lilithmon is back with Mimi and Izzy, I'm sure she's fine." Lunamon says flatly. "It's those poor kids I worry about."

"Er…while I'm sure that's the case we're actually talking about Dilbert's Lilithmon." Joe says carefully, shoving his glasses up. "…Not yours."

"Ah." Lunamon puts a paw to her chin, looking a bit abashed. "Sorry, I guess it's a bit much for me to process. The idea that they're might actually be another Lilithmon…." She shudders. "I honestly think one is too much for the omniverse to handle."

"Eh. At least they're on our side. Now see if we had Lilithmon's that WEREN'T on our side, than that would be scary."

"Amen." Chorused both Joe and Lunamon in response to Ikakumon's proclamation.

…

In answer to the before mentioned question, Lilithmon and Dilbert were in fact, NOT having any easy time of it.

Dilbert clenches his teeth as he's thrown backwards several feet from the explosion, wincing as he skids. He's used to fighting side by side with Lilithmon however, and it takes more than that to really knock him for a loop.

"Come ON! Get him!"

"What EXACTLY do you think I'm trying to do?!" She shrieks, furious and spitting mad as she suddenly ducks to avoid being run through by Darkdramon's lance. "Hey, watch where you're pointing that!"

"Are you just stupid?" Darkdramon snorts before charging up his lance with energy, sending it blasting towards them once more.

Lilithmon shrieks as the smoke from the explosion hides her from view, and there's a scream of, "OH YGGDRASIL MY CORE!"

Darkdramon chuckles, a smirk on his draconic face as the wails and moans continue as the smoke slowly fades away. "Listen to her scream, Tamer. Does it feel you with horror to hear your partner in such agony?"

"Uh…yeah." Dilbert shrugs. Darkdramon blinks at the complete lack of emotion and Dilbert continues, "She can do much better than that. I mean COME ON."

"…Wh…"

"KAISER NAIL!"

DarkDramon barely manages to duck out of the way in time as Lilithmon's claws impale his shoulder instead of his neck. He lets lout a roar of pain and she smirks, crossing her arms. "I can't believe you fell for that. That was one of my far less stellar performances."

"Y-you…!"

"I keep telling you…" Dilbert says, rolling his eyes to heaven. "You are not going to end up in theatre."

"Oh? You think I'm untalented?" She asks in a too sweet voice.

"Not at all." Dilbert says hastily, his face paling slightly, not because Lilithmon has poisonous claws that can make a man go through horrible agony for a number of days and eventually turn to ash…nope. It's because she is one heck of a tickler and she knows all of his weak spots. For reals.

"I'm just saying, I've heard you singing in the shower and…."  
"AND…?"

"…And the world quite frankly is too full of idiots to possibly appreciate your beautiful voice." He says, lying through his teeth. But such is the life when you live with a Digimon. Or a female like his partner in any case.

Lilithmon eyes him suspiciously before an indignant roar of "Don't you fools DARE ignore me!" echoes a voice from behind as Darkdramon charges forwards once more.

"Okay, fine. If you insist, we won't ignore." Lilithmon smiles sadistically before diving downwards. "Screams of agony are like music to my ears!"

"…Well all right then." Dilbert says deadpan, sweatdropping.

….

"At least we managed to find refuge." Ken whispers, wrapping an arm around Ryo's shoulders. She sighs, leaning into him as Davis' voice squeaks out, "in a freaking ice cave!"

"Davis…."

"I'm just saying…" He grumbles, bunching up further closer to FlaWizarmon, who looks a trifle annoyed. "Watch where you put those hands boy—I'm not really a heating blanket, so you know."

"Wha…I'm not a perv!"

"So you keep saying." Ken says, a teasing smirk on his face. "That incident with the video camera in the girl's locker room seems to speak otherwise."

"Wha…." Davis' face flushes as both Ryo and Stella glower at him. "Lies! Vicious lies spread by my jealous rivals, I swear it!"

"Uh huh." Veemon rolls his own amber eyes. "You're just lucky Lily found it before you could actually get anything."

"…Lucky?! How is that LUCKY?! She strung me up by my underpants at the top of the flag pole!"

"And then paid Izzy to hack on so it was the front photo on your school's webpage." Ken smirks. "I know. I saw it."

"Hey, why were you even ON our school's web page?"

"Hmm? Doing research, back in the day." Ken says absentmindedly, pulling Wormmon up on his lap as Monodramon leans in closer to them. They looked like the perfect tight knit family already, boy, girl, and their odd children, Stella thought with a laugh.

Davis stuck his tongue out. "You mean when you were being a creepy stalking villain?"

"Davis…"

Ken, far from being offended, curves his lips into a slight smirk. "No, no. THOROUGH evil villain. That's completely different."

"Oy vey…" Ryo groans, rolling her eyes to heaven and Stella just mutters, "Boys…"

"I mean, most villains simply assume that they can go ahead and just crush everyone without problems arising. I at least had a better plan than that."

"Congratulations." Davis says deadpan, and Ken's smile slips slightly, as though he can't believe what he's joking about, but then Davis adds with a smirk of his own, "I still constantly kicked your whiny behind."

"…Oh REALLY?"

"Yup. At everything. Every battle, who lost and who won again?"

Ken's eyes narrow slightly and he says with a hint of old arrogance, "I never LOST Motomiya. Those were…temporary withdrawls."

"Uh huh. That's your smart fancy way of saying you ran with your tail between your legs."

Ken lets out a low growl and Wormmon's eyes narrow slightly. Ryo raises an eyebrow. Normally if you talked to Ken about his stint as a cosplaying evil maniacal genius, he'd get quite upset. But she sees the challenging light in his eyes—Davis was making the whole Digimon Emperor thing into a game. A joke. Taking it so lightly that it was near impossible for Ken to be upset about it.

…Wow. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or if he was just obliviously making comments as usual, but Motomiya had actually done Ken a favor.

"Oh, and let's not forget how I creamed you at that soccer game!" Davis finishes with a smirk, leaning back and then yelping as his skin touches the icy rocks. "Ugh, that's cold."

Ken snorts. "…Creamed me? As I recall, the score was 9-1." He says, smirking again.

"Uh huh. But I'M the one who blocked you from making that shot, something no one else has been able to do, right, "Rocket boy?"

"So you stopped me from scoring once out of nearly 10 times, whoop-de-doo for you."

"Hehehehehhe. When your eye starts twitching like that, it always means you're fuming on the inside."

"…Please."

"Facedown right in the dirt. Oh that was an awesome moment."

"You're really pushing it Motomiya."

"Hey, you can't deny it happened."

"They're taking a soccer game a little too seriously aren't they?" Tsukaimon whispers, confused into Stella's ear. Stella snorts. "I just love how of all the battles they could be obsessing over the one they obsess over isn't a battle at all."

"I do not follow." FlaWizarmon admits.

"Sorry, it was a bit of a tongue twister."

"Yay! Tongue twisters! How about this one? Sea shells she sells….wait I think I've got that wrong."

"Just a little bit buddy." Stella snickers, patting him on top of the head.

"…Well I don't follow that either, but I'm confused. What is this soccer you seem so enthralled with?"

"…"

"…"

"What did I say?"

For Ken and Davis were both giving FlaWizarmon looks of pure horror, and the Demon Lord was beginning to feel quite alarmed, as any normal person would when two boys' faces have been drained of all color, their mouths are hanging open, and little whimpering noises like keep coming out of their throats. Like squished kittens.

"Oh YGGDRASIL." Ryo groans, rubbing her temples as Stella says deadpan, "They do this often?"

"…Ken basically had the same reaction when I met him and asked what soccer was." Ryo groans.

"Don't worry, it wears off." Veemon says sheepishly, looking up at his partner who seems to have turned into a horrified gargoyle. "Er…eventually."

"How long is eventually?"

Monodramon yawns. "Who cares? Just tip them over so we can use their body heat and hopefully we don't all end up frozen popsicles."

"Popsicles…."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to mention food! We need our supplies to last, and if we keep THINKING about them, then we're going to overindulge and later pay the price."

"…."

"STOP THINKING ABOUT POPSICLES!"

"Popsicles? What is this word?"

"Oh GOSH…."

…

"So you don't really know anything about what your Dad was doing with Oikawa and Cody's Dad?" I question, Willis riding on Terriermon's champion form—what appeared to be a giant bipedal rabbit with…machine guns for arms.

Yeah. Alexander seemed slightly jealous.

Willis blinks. "…Who and who?"

"Give him some slack, Lils." Matt calls from Garurumon's shoulder. "The guy was probably a baby when they were a partnership. It's not his fault i…"

"Oh yeah…I remember them!"

"…Well that was a waste of speech." Matt mutters, hanging his head. Tai snorts as Greymon slows down to walk beside the rest of us. For a rather…well…pudgy dinosaur, he can really move when he wants to.

"So…? What exactly do you remember?"

Willis hesitates and shakes his head. "Well…it was after my mum left us, when I was really young, you know? For a while it was just me and my Dad. And to be honest, we didn't have much money back then—really cramped neighborhood, really small apartment in New York?"

"And…?"

"Well…I remember these guys were constantly coming over, talking to my Dad, talking about…well I never knew exactly what they were talking about, but…I remember they had a massive fight with my Dad."

I glance over at Tai and Matt, both of us frowning. "…What about?"

"I…I dunno. He just kept yelling that they were being selfish, wanting to keep this a secret, and they accused him of being greedy, wanting to capitalize and take advantage of it."

That matched slightly up with the information Mimi had told us about the video game that someone had tried to sell to her Dad.

I clench my teeth slightly, furious at the idea of someone trying to make profits out of my home world.

But…then again…if you have a child to support…I suppose you're desperate.

I know about being desperate.

"Wait a minute…." Tai frowns. "I thought you lived in New York with your mum, Willis."

"I do."

"…But earlier you said she left you…"

"Er…" Willis scratches the back of his head while Matt thumps Tai on the head for being an insensitive jerk, yet again. "Well, she did. A couple of years ago my Dad managed to get back in contact with her. He practically begged her to take me in for a while."

"Ouch."

"Can I hit him again?" Matt asks me.

"Please do."

"Wha-HEY!"

Alexander rolls his eyes, clearly not impressed with our maturity, but I don't know what he's complaining about. The members of his group are even worse by far. He glances over at Willis and his tone is gentle as he says, "Sometimes parents do things that don't seem right to their children. But it's not easy for them either."

Willis shrugs slightly and Alexander sighs. "Dear Yggdrasil meaningless speeches…I'm turning into my parents all over again."  
"Aww, your speeches aren't always meaningless Alexander." I say teasingly, smirking at him. Zach laughs. "Just about 60% of the time."

"Brats, the both of you." Alexander mutters, swiping half-heartedly at us.

"You've never really talked about your own family." I say, curious now, leaning forwards as Kyubimon begins ascenting up the hill that lead us out of the city.

I know I don't miss how Alexander's shoulders tense at that. "…The Demon Lords are my family, as far as I'm concerned." Is his final answer.

"Well I know but…."

"Lily."

Drop it. Okay, okay, I can take a hint. Sighing I shrug. "Just curious." Before nudging Kyubimon gently in the flanks to get her to go faster, as she was at the back of the line.

I get a bale look out of one blue eye facing me for my efforts. "I'm not a HORSE you know."

"Yeah, but right now the rabbit is faster than you. You know that's pretty darn sad, right?"

"Oh…whatever…." She mutters through clenched teeth. And I roll my eyes to heaven, before suddenly tensing.

Everyone tenses. The entire area seems far too quiet, the wind itself seems to have strangely stilled. My hand reaches for my alpha tamer ring which starts to hum, and Kyubimon lets out a low growl, taking an uneasy step back.

Garurumon and Greymon both growl in unison, backing and positioning themselves so that their partners were shielded by each other.

Alexander's eyes narrow down to slits as he's suddenly surrounded by a glow, forming back into his Beezlemon form.

His wings stretch out slightly, flapping as he reaches for the cannon strapped to his back. "…"

"How many do you sense?" I mutter to him.

"…Too many…."

"Great, just great."

Willis' face is slightly pale as he pushes backwards, looking as though he's about to hurl. I scowl at him as I leap off Kyubimon's back. "You're a Digidestined, blondie! Act like it!"

"I…I…."

Of course…Willis has been on his own most of the time. Except for the unfortunate mess of being chased by his own partner across the country, I doubt he's ever experienced something like this.

Sighing, I shoot him a fierce look. "You, Tai, Matt, and Zach. ALL of you need to stay back."

"Are you mental?" Tai exclaims.

Alexander shakes his head, his fangs showing as he glowers over the horizon. "Not this time boys. There are too many. We cannot risk a stray attack killing you on the spot."

"…But…"

"Tai, NOW."

Tai hesitates before sighing, knowing I'm right, and Greymon's low rumble of "Just do it Tai" is the final word.

He slides quickly off of Greymon's back the same time the other three boys slide off of their respective partners and duck back around the side of the hill.

I lift my hand to the sky, yelling out, "BIOM-ARRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"LILY!"

The giant wolf pounces on me slavering, pinning me to the ground, sinking teeth into my shoulder as I let out a piercing scream.

Tai's big hair can be seen above the crest of the hill as he tears forward, screaming my name.

"TAI GET BACK!"

"CORONA DESTROYER!"

Alexander's aim is possibly the best I've ever seen, blasting the Sangloupmon on top of me to data shreds without even touching me.

"Lily! Lily Lily Lily!" Kyubimon's frantic yips echo as she leaps to my side, frantically nuzzling me, as I moan on the ground. "Please, please tell me you're okay…."

"I…." My voice catches slightly and I look down at my stomach, instantly regretting looking at the deep, deep slash marks.

"Get her off the field!" A voice so full with ferocity I barely recognize it, and Alexander's standing in front of both of us, his eyes blazing with a rage I'd never before seen on his face. "COWARDS! YOU DARE STRIKE MY DAUGHTER!"

There's cackling all around us as the fog grows thicker and thicker, and my eyes widen. There must be about a dozen enemy Digimon all around us.

A pack of Dobermon and Fangmon circle us, hyena like grins on their faces, and I hear a sudden low moan from Greymon. His own red eyes are wide with horror, and I look up seeing the bony, massive feet close to my face.

Huge, twenty feet tall at least, with blank, unseeing eye sockets and a shark-shaped rocket projectile strapped to his back….

Oh holy Yggdrasil…

"SkullGreymon…" I breathe….

Greymon lets out an angry roar and the skeleton responds with a creepy, rattling one. And that's not all. Several Bakemon fly above in the skies along with a couple of Phantomon, a sight that brings back unwanted, unpleasant memories.

"Get her out of here." Alexander says through clenched teeth, all three of his eyes fixated on me before his wings beat and he takes to the skies once more. A few months ago, I would have protested at being forced to leave the battlefield.

I would have tried to fight despite the grievous state of my injuries, and I would have seen retreating as a failure on my part. But time brings a lot of change. And heavily bleeding all over the place really puts things into perspective.

I feel teeth grab me by the back of the shirt but before I can panic, Kyubimon's hoisted me onto her back with an expert flipping motion.

A short yelp of pain escapes my lips as my wounds on my stomach scrape across her fur, and she yells over her shoulder, "Hang on tight, we're getting out of here!"

"GARGO BLASTERS!" Terriermon's Champion form, Gargomon yells, his guns shooting out green lasers at a ridiculously rapid pace. Several Bakemon meet their end in that moment, bursting into data like fireworks.

Greymon and Garurumon both snarl at the massive skeletal dinosaur, Greymon forming fire in his jaws as he roars out a fierce, "NOVA BLAST!"

The fire simply seems to bounce off SkullGreymon but through the smoke the snarling wolf charged upwards, blue fire forming within his own jaws. "HOWLING BLASTER!"

SkullGreymon roars, and with one hand, swats Garurumon back and sends him flying into Greymon, both of them rolling and landing in an undignified heap.

The next second they are pounced on by the fierce pack of rabid Dobermons, all of them snarling and sinking their teeth into the Champions.

"GREYMON!"

"GARURUMON!"

Matt's face pales as the gray light shines around their partners showing their reduction back to Rookie form. "…!##$%&&&**."

Tai swears suddenly as well. "Wait a minute this is freaking STUPID! What are we thinking? Agumon, warp digivolve!"

"You too Gabumon!"

"AGUMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO….WARGREYMON!"

"GABUMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO…METALGARURUMON!"

Suddenly all of the Dobermon are blasted backwards with agonized screams, the blinding light of combined attacks creating what looked like the force of a nuclear bomb.

WarGreymon charges forward at the SkullGreymon with such ferocity that the SkullGreymon actually takes a step back. And if the creature was capable of really making much expressions, you can bet it would be something like, "OH %%%&&&**!"

"TERRA FORCE!"

Kyubimon's paws tear up huge hunks of grass as she bolts towards the city, not knowing why, but knowing she has to get as far away from the battle as possible.

My whimper seems to distract her and she grits her fangs, before skidding to a halt.

"Going somewhere love?"

She bares her fangs in warning to the pack of Fangmon circling around us. "Back off! What the heck do you creeps want anyway?"

"Well I wouldn't say no to a night with you beautiful." The leader of the pack sneers, his face getting dangerously close to Kyubimon's, licking his lips with his overly long pink tongue.

"…" Kyubimon's eyes narrow down to slits and her teeth clamp down on that tongue, eliciting a scream of pain from the enemy and the next thing I know I've fallen off her back while the two of them wrestle.

"Ky-Kyubimon….!" I gasp, struggling to get back to my feet, struggling to power the last traces of energy I have left in my veins into my ring.

Digivolve….I think desperately as I see the pack of those perverts tackle my partner, hear her yips turn into frantic, enraged yet fearful growls.

"…KYUBIMON!" The dull green shine bursts into a brilliant green light that illuminates the entire area a vibrant shade of green.

The wolves all glance up from tormenting my partner, their eyes widening with shock and alarm.

"KYUBIMON DIGIVOLVE TO….TAOMON!"

…..

TK and Cody are both knocked backwards off their feet and roll headfirst down the aisle, the scream of the other passengers and their own head injuries making the entire crashing plane a confusing whirlwind of terror, panic, and motion illness.

"Get up!" Sira's hand grabs TK by the back of the shirt, yanking him back to his feet and he lets out a strangled gasp of, "What are we going to do?"

"Can't GranDracmon do something with his weird freaky black magic thing?!" Cody shrieks, looking for all the world like he's about to be violently ill.

"I can do SOMETHING." GranDracmon says grimly, looking over at Sira. Her eyes narrow down to slits.

"NO."

"Sira, your safety comes before anyone else's on this plane for me! If I can only save one person than it has to be you!"

"W-wha?!" Upamon yelps. "No wait, just a moment! What about all of us!"

GranDracmon lets out a hiss of sheer frustration and TK shakes his head. "…Let him."

"Wha…."

TK's head is lowered to the ground as he stares at the floor. "…It's my fault the situation got this bad. Things would never have…maybe we could have actually escaped if it weren't for the fact that I just had to provoke BlackWarGreymon."

"…"

"…Get her out of here." TK says pleadingly to GranDracmon, who hesitates, looking back over at Sira.

Sira's eyes narrow dangerously and she grabs TK by the front of the shirt. "Look, blondie, I don't know if you're trying to be noble or WHAT but let me tell you, YOU, do not decide what I do, and quite frankly, I do not abandon my friends. And Ras, if you try to make me, I will make sure you regret it for all eternity. Got it?"

"…" GranDracmon closes his eyes and groans.

"…You're not going to get her out of here?" Cody says in a small voice.

"…Partly because I know she'll make good on her threat…and also because I unfortunately developed this thing called a conscious a few years back…"

"Oh that's SO VERY COMFORTING!"

Cody didn't say a word at all, not in a panic like his partner was. He was curled up on the floor of the aisle, shaking like mad, his head held between his hands. TK swallows. "…Cody?"

Sira drops down next to the boy and places a hand on his back, trying to comfort him, while glowering out the window with such baleful red eyes if the plane was a living thing it would have, by some really weird freaky miracle, ignored the fact that it's engines were probably toast and remained airborn out of sheer fright.

"UNHAPPY! UNHAPPY UNHAPPY UNHAPPY!"

Puttimon was shrieking over and over again, but this time he was doing something odd as well. He kept headbutting Phascomon over and over again, though because a Puttimon is mostly made of fluff and has next to no skeleton to speak of.

Suddenly Puttimon pulls back his lips to reveal a impressive array of very sharp teeth, almost shark like, and Armadillomon's jaw drops.

TK however is unfazed. After seeing Tokomon's chompers he really isn't surprised by much anymore. Puttimon sinks those teeth into Phascomon's leg, and finally, FINALLY, the koala Digimon awakes with a startled yelp.

He rubs his eyes and shoots Puttimon a resentful look. "What did you have to wake me up for? I was having such a nice dream, boss."

Puttimon bares his teeth at him again as the scream from the passengers continues and to add to their troubles smoke now is starting to fill the cabin.

Phascomon cocks his head, apparently confused. "…Oh. Okay, boss."

"What is he DOING?!" TK yells as Phascomon crawls over to the window on the other end of the aisle. Pulling back his little fist, he shatters the glass, scattering it across the seats.

"He's going to JUMP?!"

Indeed—Phascomon does jump. He hurls himself into the night air, disappearing, and TK watches in horror. Had the little Digimon just committed self-deletion?! Wait…that didn't even make any sense!

But neither did jumping out of a plane thousands of feet up without a parachute or wings, or….

Then came a roar that seems to carry across the whole sky. For a minute TK tenses, afraid BlackWarGreymon had come back for round 2.

"PHASCOMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO….BELPHEMON!"

The plane's descent seemed to be growing more and more rapid, and TK can see the glimmer of lights below. Oh YGGDRASIL he really, really hoped they didn't land on any cars, or houses, because that really would just be the icing on this craptastic cake.

Suddenly there's a snarl, and the plane…stops falling…as long black claws wrap around it….

"…What…." The other passengers aren't screaming anymore. They're frozen with fear, pressed against the sides of the plane, shaking, children burying their faces in their mother's outfits and trembling.

TK slowly turns his head to see one massive red eye look in at them.

"GAAAAHHH!"

He stumbles over backwards as GranDracmon grabs him by the shirt, hoisting him back to his feet. "Get ahold of yourself. That's just Belphemon." There's such relief in the vampire's tone it appears that they're not going to be eaten alive like in some Japanese monster movie, or crash into a million pieces.

Armadillomon's jaw is hanging down to the ground. "…That's…that's Phascomon?" He manages to squeak out.

"The Demon Lord of Sloth, yes." He says with a slight smirk. "Now you know why he spends most of his time sleeping or in his Rookie form. There's very little space for him otherwise."

The massive black pupil looks in through the window and Cupimon squeals, hopping up and down in his seat excitedly. "HAPPY! Happy happy happy happy!"

Belphemon lets out a noise that sounds like a rumbling purr. TK slowly sits back down, still shaking. "…We're alive…."

"TK! UNHAND THAT PLANE YOU VIL…"

"MAGNAANGEMON KNOCK IT OFF!" TK yells through the broken window before MagnaAngemon can charge the Demon Lord. "NOW!"

"…But…But…"

The angel's wings droop slightly in confusion and distress that he looks so much like Patamon after being told that no, he can't play any of TK's video games without TK being there or have a fifth chocolate chip cookie.

"…We're fine. He saved us." TK says firmly. "It would really be a pathetic show of gratitude for you to respond by trying to banish him to another dimension and then explode it."

"Because that move worked SOO well against an actual enemy." GranDracmon deadpans.

"Oh shut up." MagnaAngemon mutters before degenerating back to Patamon and flying through Belphemon's claws and the broken window, and straight into TK's chest.

"Patamon…"

Patamon looks up with glistening eyes suggesting the little hamster was actually close to tears. "I'm sorry TK." He mumbles, burying his bruised body closer to his partner. "I…failed…"

TK hugs him tightly. "You didn't fail me Patamon. I failed you. I was too impulsive and too quick to pick a fight I knew I wouldn't be able to win."

"…"

"Look, let's just get out of here." Sira says flatly. "We're wasting moonlight."

"You don't really think we can go searching for the Destiny Stone right now do you?!" TK exclaims and Armadillomon groans.

"Absolutely. This might have been a slight derailment but we cannot afford to be distracted from our main goal."

"…UGHHHH…."

"Not a chance." GranDracmon says flatly in a tone that suggests you'd have better luck arguing with a brick wall.

"…Ras, I told you, I'm perfectly fine." She says through clenched teeth. "I have to think of the mission…"

"Before anything else…?" His hand drifts down to her stomach, and rests there suspiciously. "You know some things are even more important." He says quietly.

"…"

"…You know I wish…" She says softly, looking away, and he catches her jaw, forcing her to look at him. "Riona….I'm asking you…as your partner, as your mate…as the father of your soon-to-be-child….you need to rest. Please."

TK and Cody don't hear the rest of this sentence. They're rather stuck on one phrase. That keeps repeating over and over in their heads.

Father of your…

Oh…

Oh HOLY FREAKING YGGDRASIL'S FLAMING UNDWERWEAR!

"Sira?! You're…YOU'RE….?!" Cody stammers out, his face turning pale. TK and Patamon both promptly faint.

"…Pregnant?" Sira allows a slight smile to appear on her face. "…Yes. Yes I am."

…

Sora sighs, letting the wind brush over her face as they finally exit the stuffy Walmart. She closes her eyes, letting it play with her hair. She half-wishes that she could hop on Birdramon's back and soar, just like they used to back in the Digital World.

Biyomon glances over at her partner's wistful expression and a smile appears on her beak. "You just wait Sora. When thing die down, you and me, we'll go flying again. All the way to the top of Infinity Mountain."

Sora lets a small smile appear on her own face. "Let's hope it goes better than the last time we visited Infinity Mountain."

"What? Being attacked by a possessed unicorn and then having to fight off a demon wasn't fun for you?"

"Not really." Sora deadpans, rolling her eyes. "But still…there was one good thing about the fight against Devimon. When we finally beat him…" She smiles, softly, running a hand through her red hair. "It proved something to me. That I'm not as tough as I thought I was, but in some ways, I was stronger, cause I was with my friends."

Biyomon blinks. "You know that didn't make very much sense at all, right Sora?"

"Oh shut up." Sora mutters, sticking her tongue out at her. "See if I try to have deep and thoughtful conversations with you ever again."

"Awww…."

"By the way, have you seen Barbamon?"

"Er…" Biyomon shuffles from foot to foot and Sora facepalms. "If he's buying hair care products again someone needs to point out to him that that ship has long since sailed."

"Well…not quite."

She glances up and nearly dies of embarrassment to see Barbamon walking around in what looked like aimless circles in the middle of the parking lot, tapping his staff on the ground and muttering to himself.

Needless to say this was causing quite a lot of staring. "You've got to be kidding me…" Sora moans, picking up the pace and walking forwards.

"What exactly is that weird geezer doing?"

"Look at that outfit, is he some kind of cosplayer?"

The whispers of the others keep playing repeatedly through Sora's head and she sucks in her cheeks, determined not to listen to them.

"…Master Barbamon sir?"

Barbamon is scowling intently at the ground and doesn't seem to even acknowledge her existence. Sora raises her eyes to heaven in a "kill-me-now" gesture and Biyomon mutters, "I could always set his robes on fire. That's sure to get his attention, don't you think?"

"I'd really rather you didn't, little pink one."

"…"

"Oh. So he is listening."

Barbamon lets out a grunt of agreement. "I may be obsessed with treasure, but my obsession with it means that I notice things before my brethren generally do, as they're all obsessed with blasting and smashing and being painfully non-discreet."

"…Dang. Lily really does fit into your family." Sora mutters, raising an eyebrow.

"Quite. But that is not the point." He fixes Sora with a more intent gaze than she's ever before seen on his face.

"…I know and you know neither of us were imagining that dople-ganger of yours that appeared in the middle of that wonderful store."

Sora feels the blood drain from her face slightly, and she stammers, "…I…I….it's nothing. It'…..I mean…It can't be…she died with Datamon…."

Barbamon cocks his head, running a hand through his silvery beard. "Did you SEE Datamon die?"

"Yes." She says firmly. "He fell into the Dark Network with Etemon and Tai and MetalGreymon exploded it."

"But…was his core shattered?"

"…I…" She swallows hard as Biyomon grabs her hand with the claws on her wing. "…I don't know. Does it matter?" She demands a trifle aggressively.

"Indeed, Bearer of Love, it does matter. Lord GranDracmon only achieves dominon over a Digimon's soul when their Core has been shattered. Unless the Core is destroyed, it is always possible for a Digimon to return back to life."

Sora's really, really, not liking the way this conversation is going. She has to ball her hands into fists to keep them from shaking like mad. "W-well maybe it DID shatter I don't know! All I know is he's dead, he's not…"

Barbamon keeps staring at her steadily. "Denial really doesn't suit you, Bearer of Love." Suddenly he blasts a hole into the parking lot, and the screams and furious yells of the other people surround them, but Sora's only got eyes for one thing.

"…OH YGGDRASIL…" Biyomon gasps, taking a step back. Sora stares at the mess of black wires underneath that writhe and spark like a thing possessed.

"…The Dark Network.,.."

Barbamon stares at her steadily. "…Where is the Bearer of Light and the one who wields the Digiegg of Love?"

"_Kari…Yolei…." _"No…" She breathes before turning around and bolting.

"Sora, wait up! SORA!"

All Sora can hear is her feet pounding on the ground and the sound of blood rushing to her ears. _"PLEASE, PLEASE, let me not be too late!"_

…

"Are you really sure another ride is a good idea?" Yolei complains as they all buckle in to the roller coaster. "I just ate, you know."

Sora laughs. "Come on, give me a break. I've been stuck with Barbamon all day."

"…True." Kari chuckles. She glances back over as their cars start moving. Her eyes widen and her face pales. "…Um..um…."

"I may be wrong." Gatomon says, with a hint of fear in her voice, "but isn't there supposed to be some kind of human controlling the cars?"

"WHAT?!"

The car shoots forward before any of them can do anything and Kari struggles to get out, her and Yolei both fumbling for their seatbelts as they feel someone grab them from behind and yank them back with inhuman strength.

"Hey, no need for that…" Sora smiles. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"…" Kari's eyes widen. "…You're not Sora…."


	32. Ryo Remembers, Fiery Wings of Love

Chapter 32

AN-Heyy you guys XDXDXD. Well not much to say. Procrastination can be a pain in the butt, especially when it means you have to work overtime on Saturday. But because I am a lucky senior, I have like no homework over the weekends anyway. So it all works out XD. And there is officially three months and six days till graduation. Not that...I'm keeping track...or checking every day...cause that would be obsessive...which I'm not...

Yolei holds Kari's hand so tightly Kari thinks it's going to be a lucky thing if the bones in her wrist don't break. The rollercoaster continues shooting forwards, up the hill, and Gatomon is struggling to scramble out of Kari's backpack right as a pale hand grabs it, dangling the bag and the cat Digimon over the edge.

"WHA-HEY?!"

"So…" The person giggles disturbingly in Sora's laugh. "Is it true a cat always fall on its feet?" She dangles the bag warningly as Gatomon lets out a terrified yowl of "KARI HELP!"

Kari freezes, horror gripping her as she stares into that face that looked so familiar and yet so, so wrong. The Not-Sora smiles sweetly. "Well…let's find out, shall we?"

"KARRRI!"

"NO!" Kari screams, unhooking her seatbelt and plunging forwards so far she nearly falls out of the fast moving car herself as she watches her partner plummet downwards. WHY hadn't she evolved Gatomon to Nerfertimon when she had the chance?! Now it was too late! She'd been so horrified by this fake-Sora that she…she…

Thankfully someone else isn't as completely distraught as Kari is and has the presence of mind to grab her friend by the back of the shirt and pulled her back to safety, at the same time hurling Poromon forwards.

"Go little pink one go!"

"POROMON DIGIVOLVE TO…HAWKMON!"

Hawkmon soars quickly down and manages to snag the bag with his talons before it could slam into the ground. Gatomon lets out a breath of relief, still trembling. "T-thanks….that was…"

"Don't mention it my lady. But…" As he pants, pulling himself back upwards he stammers, "It would be greatly appreciated if some weight could be lifted in future situations such as this."

"…Wha…wait a minute! Is that your pretty boy, roundabout way of saying I'm FAT?!"

"Oh thank Yggdrasil…" Kari breathes, burying her face in her hands, hating herself. Yolei whacks her on the arm. "Focus, Kari! We've still got to deal with Sora's evil twin here!"

The faux Sora laughs, and Kari realizes to her shock the girl is standing on top of the roller coaster car, completely unafraid. "I wouldn't worry so much about your Digimon right now. Worry about yourselves."

Kari and Yolei both glower at her as Yolei unbuckles her own seatbelt and pulls herself forwards, glowering. "Listen you…"

"YOLEI!"

The enterance to the tunnel part of the roller coaster appears and the girls both scream as they're surrounded by darkness. The echo of "Sora's" laugh bounces off the walls of the area and suddenly there's a loud creaking sound.

Hawkmon dives into the tunnel clutching Gatomon by the scruff of his neck in his talons and catches one glimpse of Yolei's terrified expression. "NO!"

Before suddenly the ground itself seems to open up and the car containing both their partners is unhooked from the rest, and seems to plummet…

"YOLEI!"

"KARI!"

….

The entire area seems to be charging with energy as MegaKabuterimon throws his head back and lets out a roar of "HORN BUSTER!"

The blast of light shoots right towards Izzy and Mimi—Mimi screams and Izzy can only stare in horror as his own partner attempts to kill them.

"POISON IVY!"

Suddenly the vines wrap around both of the Digidestined's waists, yanking them both to safety, on top of another meteor above them. Breathing hard Palmon gasps for breath. "…I think I…pulled a couple muscles….or more like all of them…"

"Palmon!" Mimi squeals, pouncing on her poor Digimon. "You saved us!"

"Ugh…now I'm even more sore!"

"…"

"Izzy?" Mimi whispers. Izzy seems completely unresponsive, his face a mask of pale horror, and he can only stand there shaking.

"…Izzy we can't stay here please, he's going to kill us, I don't know what's happening but…" She swallows hard. "But that's not the MegaKabuterimon you know, okay? I know that, you know that Tentomon would never ever hurt us if he was in his right mind. And you know that we can't do anything when we know nothing about what's going on!"

"…"

"Izzy, would, you please, please, just listen to me?!" Her voice rises to a shriek. "For once don't shut me out like this again, Izzy, PLEASE!"

"Aww, what a cute little lover's quarrel." That voice was making the way up the list of things Mimi hated most in the world. Right above the color black and below bugs.

Ebemon smiles sweetly, running his long stringy hands over his gun again as MegaKabuterimon lands beside him and growls. For some reason the image of a zombie slave is what's flickering through Mimi's mind.

"So cute, the pair of you. It's almost a shame that I have to destroy you here, you're the most interesting thing I've seen for months."

"So glad to be a source of entertainment for you." Mimi growls, clenching her fists in fury. "Now what exactly did you to MegaKabuterimon?!"

"Well I'd say I've expanded his mind." He says with a smirk. "And I'd watch your tone, young lady. You realize I can very well do that to any of your other friends right? Like your slut here?"

Mimi's eyes widen as she sees the gun pointed at Lilithmon's forehead. Dear gosh if they had to deal with a Demon Lord on the rampage…

Lilithmon however, just glowers at him coolly, without batting an eyelash. Funny. "…Weren't you blasted free along with Palmon?"

Lilithmon bares fangs at Mimi in annoyance. "NO you pink-haired brain dead fool! That was clearly some stupid typo or whatever!"

Mimi heard another loud booming noise, which was either the sound of more asteroids slamming together from the force of MegaKabuterimon's explosion, or the sound of the fourth wall breaking.

She wasn't sure.

"Anyway," Lilithmon says coldly, drawing Mimi out of contemplation of fourth walls and the evils thereof, "go ahead and try, you fat-headed stupid *beep* whose probably never even *beep* and can't ever…."

"Holy crap…."

"That's er…quite a vocabulary she's got there…."

"I don't even know what some of those words MEAN…."

Another low growl echoes behind them and both Mimi and Izzy whip their heads around to see MegaKabuterimon growling down at them. For a huge, muscular beetle, he moved surprisingly, ridiculously quickly.

"Tentomon!" Izzy cries pleadingly, straining forwards as Mimi grabs onto his arm. "Let me go, I have to try and reach him!"

"Izzy, the only thing you're going to reach is the bottom of his foot, and that would just be too ironic!" Mimi cries, not letting go of him for an instant, pulling him backwards slightly.

"….Bu…"

"Izzy, I swear we'll fix this!" She cries, feeling the hot sensation of tears starting to prick at the corners of her eyes. "You have to trust me that I mean what I say! That we won't let that freaky, no good alien get away with this, and we'll all go home, okay?! We'll go home, and everything will be ok. And you have to know that I won't give up until that happens!"

Palmon gasps suddenly as she sees green light appearing on Mimi's right shoulder. "Mimi, your…"

"GAH! I'M TURNING GREEN!"

"Mimi, for crying out loud, it's your Crest!" Izzy shouts, his own eyes widening. Ebemon laughs, twirling his gun. "You honestly think one more Digimon will make a difference? Go ahead, digivolve, and I'll add your pretty little plant friend to my collection."

Mimi's eyes narrow as the green light grows stronger. "You know something Palmon? In a way it's even more fitting than usual that I have the Crest of Sincerity. Because right now, I can sincerely say that I REALLY SINCERELY want you to wipe the floor with him!"

"PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO…TOGEMON! TOGEMON DIGIVOLVE TO….!"

Lilithmon raises an eyebrow as she smirks. "…Atta girl."

The light slowly fades away to reveal a fairy like creature, dressed in what looks like a petal-like skirt, her dark black eyes shining like two stars in the darkness of Vademon's universe.

"Lillymon…." Mimi says with a sniffle, rubbing her eyes. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to be back, Mimi." Lillymon smiles, winking. Ebemon makes a scoffing noise. "That little thing? One of the Chosen Digimon who defeated Apoclyamon? Heh. Don't make me laugh. Actually, I don't even think you're worth keeping as a slave, even if you are sort of pretty."

"Ew." Lillymon says flatly.

"I concur." Lilithmon calls over, convinetly forgetting that it had been Vademon that had rejected HER for whatever reason.

"Grrr….you little tramp….get them, MegaKabuterimon!" MegaKabuterimon roars, lowering his horn and starting to form an attack, but Lillymon surprises everyone by diving forward and actually grabbing hold of the top of his horn with her slender looking fingers. "FLOWER WREATH!" The strands of flowers shoot out from her fingertips and wrap around the struggling insect.

"Nonsense." Ebemon scoffs, waving one arrogant hand. "Kill them, MegaKabuterimon, and remind that faerie it takes more than flowers to stop something like you."

MegaKabuterimon doesn't move however. His muscles, which were previously so tense, slacken, and he turns his head turns Lillymon as she rubs his horn adoringly.

Izzy's jaw drops. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

Mimi's eyes widen. She remembers that move. She saw Lillymon use it against BlackTyrannomon that time at the Convention Center. Of course, then Myotismon brutally killed him, but it had turned the savage monster into a sweet dinosaur that had…obeyed….Lillymon's…every…command.

…Which meant, Mimi realizes with a feeling of disbelief growing larger every moment, in about two seconds Lillymon had just reversed exactly what Ebemon had done and turned it against him.

Ebemon lets out a snort however then, smugness reentering his tone. "You fool. You honestly think your little tricks will be enough to cancel out my spell?"

"Huh?"

"MegaKabuterimon, attack! And this time do it for real, you clumsy, oversized cockroach."

Izzy's jaw tightens with outrage at the way this creep dares talk to his partner, but then Mimi suddenly screams as MegaKabuterimon's hand whips upwards and wraps around Lillymon's waist. Lillymon screams as the hand travels closer to his mouth, the massive teeth baring down on her tiny pink flower head.

"I really think that's enough." A voice says coldly as suddenly, out of nowhere, MegaKabuterimon is thrown backwards with such force he rolls over and over again, finally relinquishing his grasp on the flower Digimon.

Lilithmon smiles sweetly, now for real completely free of her chains, her fingers curling as she says in a far too innocent tone, "Well, honey, you feel like playing with me now?"

….

Meanwhile, another Lilithmon is in a much worse predicament than our favorite Demon Lord. She screams in outrage as Darkdramon's claws press against her neck, shoving her farther into the ground, her body covered with scrapes and bruises and gashes.

"You…." She breathes, trying to keep the fury she feels back, but not having the energy to let loose another powerful attack.

This guy is strong, stupidly strong, much more powerful than the other Mega, and it's not fair, it's so not RIGHT that she might die like this.

Darkdramon smiles…well, darkly, would be the best word, even if it is a bit obvious. "Monosyllables, huh sweetheart? Have you run out of anything else to say?"

Her eyes scan the area and see her tamer struggling to shove himself back upwards, looking as beat up and worn down as she feels.

"…You're not going to win…" She breathes, a defiant sort of smile appearing on her face. His claws press down harder on her and she lets out a slight gasp of pain. "Oh really…why's that?"

"…It's in your nature." Lilithmon says cooly, and Darkdramon pulls back, his fangs curled in a snarl.

"Lovely as this conversation has been, I think it's time to say bye now."

His eyes start shining an eerie shade of red as he roars, and the beams of light shoot straight towards her chest.

"LILITHMON NO!"

Suddenly something out of nowhere slams a fist into Darkdramon's chin, jerking his head backwards and causing the attack to go flying.

He snarls, pawing at his muzzle before a blade shoots across and scars him right between the eyes, and his howl is horrible.

Something backflips and lands beside Lilithmon, a cool voice saying, "Picking on a lady while she's down, that only proves that you are a complete coward."

The creature looks a lot like Lunamon, but much taller. Her face is covered with a silver mask, with boots that have bunny faces on them, what looks like ribbons attached to the top of her mask, and…most unique of all, she has no hands. Instead wicked looking, massive blades are attached to her arms that glean in the sunlight.

A Crescemon. Dilbert recognizes her voice and stammers out, "L-Leviamon? You got back to your Ultimate form?"

"Indeed."

"Hey, you guys okay?!"

Ikakumon roars as he glowers at Darkdramon, "HARPOON TORPEDO!" Darkdramon swats the incoming missiles away without much bother, scoffing at the pair of them. "Honestly, you expect to defeat me? I already defeated your friend who was at the Mega level! You think a Champion and an Ultimate will be enough to stop me? You are naïve."

"Don't be too sure." Ikakumon growls. "Your cocky attitudes has been the downfall of many the enemy before. And we have something you don't."

"Oh really?" Darkdramon sneers. "And what would that be?"

Joe pushes his glasses up his nose and says in a tone of someone who's completely sure, "Conviction."

"…." Darkdramon's eyes narrow down to slits and he growls, "I've had enough playing around with you little brats. No more holding back."

"Go ahead!" Ikakumon barks. "Give us all you've got, you oversized lizard."

"DARK ARCHERY!" Crescemon cries, leaping into the air, arrows flying from her pure black and slamming into Darkdramon. He growls, shaking them off as Ikakumon lets out a shout of "HARPOON TORPEDO!" while he's distracted.

He bats the missiles away with one hand, snorting in disgust, "Your pathetic attempts," before suddenly screaming in pain.

See, that's the nice thing about Ikakumon's attack. Even if you miss…it comes back. Like the world's most epic boomerang.

And the missiles had returned to hit Darkdramon right in one of the few places not covered by tough armor…right in the eye.

"THAT'S IT!" He roars. "NOW YOU ALL DIE! GIGASTICK LANCE!"

The screams echo all around as the attack hits them head on, Joe, Crescemon, Ikakumon, and Dilbert can only watch in horror, not even able to get his body to move.

"….I can't let them die like this…" He breathes, struggling to push himself back upwards before he realizes he barely even has the strength to move, much less fight.

Suddenly he hears footsteps and sees someone crouching next to him, kind brown eyes, brown hair done back in a ponytail, and dressed in a plain outfit.

"Here, let me help you." He says calmly, stretching a hand out to him and pressing a hand to his stomach. Dilbert gasps as he feels the pain start to leave his body, the wounds starting to heal over.

The man stands up and tosses Dilbert his dagger, and Dilbert feels the cold weight of the metal resting in his hand like the embrace of a long lost friend.

"…Who…who are…" 'He tries to speak the words but he finds that he's almost too dizzy to move. Swallowing hard he stammers, "Who…are you…?"

"…They call me Gennai."

….

The cavern is dark and icy cold, with the children having to press ridiculously close to each other, and indeed, even closer to FlaWizarmon, just to not freeze to death.

The wind howls like mad outside, and there's at least the relief that they're sheltered from that storm. But the storm going on outside is nothing like the one raging inside Ryo at the very moment. She lies there, with her eyes open, Ken's arm is resting over her stomach, and she sighs. She's not even having nightmares. The images keep passing through her mind and she knows there's no chance of even falling asleep.

"_Hey, there's a kid in there!"_

_Ryo moans, stretching her hands out as she feels someone shaking her shoulder, pulling her out of the snow. _

_GranDracmon looks down at the little girl in his arms. "Sira, I think she's still breathing. Let's get her to Sorcerymon as fast as we can."_

"_You're right." The girl with red eyes stares down at the young girl, intimidating her slightly, before a gentle smile appears on her face. "You're going to be all right. Don't worry."_

…

"_We did it!" Ryo punches the air with her fist, whirling around to face her partner, the tall black dragon._

_Cyberdramon licks the blood of his claws and smiles darkly. "…Yes we did, didn't we?"_

"_RYO!"_

_She glances back to see Stella's face was pale, a horrified expression on her face as she looks at Cyberdramon. "…How…could…"_

_Ryo can't really understand the look of disgust on her teammate's face. "What are you looking at me for like that? He was an enemy, wasn't he?"_

"…_Yes but to die like that…" Stella's eyes flicker back to Cyberdramon. "You LOADED his data! He wasn't dangerous enough to warrant that. And now he'll never get the chance to come back and try to live his life again….You've erased him from existence you…"_

"_Enough with your whining." Cyberdramon snarls, lashing his tail slightly and then grabbing Tsukaimon out of the air._

_Stella screams, springing forwards and Ryo shouts as well, horror on her face as Cyberdramon's claws squeeze around the little Rookie Digimon._

"_No! No let him go!"_

"_CYBERDRAMON! STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!"_

_Cyberdramon snarls once more, now directing his glare at Ryo, and she freezes, every muscle in her body tensing. That was the first time she could ever remember being afraid of her partner…_

…

"_What do you mean you'll pick Stella to be the next leader instead of me?!"_

_Ryo's hands slammed down on Sira's desk, the older girl not flinching at all. "Stella has been chosen as my successor Ryo. I'm sorry. This doesn't mean you're not as important to the team."_

"_Bullcrap. I've been a member for years longer than she has. And Cyberdramon and I are second only to you and GranDracmon when it comes to power."_

_Sira's eyes flash slightly as she says deadpan, "I wouldn't go that far…"_

_Scowling Ryo turns to storm out of the room, but Sira calls after her, "Ryo…about Cyberdramon…."_

"…_What about him?"_

_Sira meets her gaze steadily. "You know the problems are getting worse. You'd be delusional not to see it. That the aggression problems are getting worse and worse. Threatening another teammates, using brutal force against enemy Digimon…"_

_Ryo clenches her fists. "Cyberdramon's just highstrung because you won't let us out in the battlefield as much anymore."_

"_I WOULD if I wanted to see all of our enemies brutally murdered."_

"_What does it matter as long as they're dead?" Ryo snaps, turning her head around. "These guys have killed plenty of people who weren't strong enough to fight back. Let them know the fear of being outclassed."_

_Sira stands up. "Because we're NOT like them, Ryo. We do what you and Cyberdramon want, we're sinking to their level, and that's something I'd rather die than see happen."_

_Ryo clenches her teeth before storming out, slamming the door behind her._

…_._

"_I'm so sorry Ryo."_

_She sits there at the table with her head in her hands, trying so hard not to cry as the tears prick at her eyes. "…You're wrong. You have to be wrong."_

"_I'm sorry Ryo…." _

_Dilbert takes a step towards her but Sira shakes her head. "…Go wait outside with the others." Adelina puts a hand on Ryo's shoulder trying to murmur something comforting, but Ryo shakes her off._

"_..There's no question, Your partner is really Millenniummon." GranDracmon says, his golden eyes meeting hers. "We thought he was sealed away. After the death of Chronomon, we suspect…we suspect rifts occurred to set him free. He didn't remember who he was for a time, and thus became bonded with you."_

"_So you're saying my entire partnership with him was a LIE?!" Ryo's voice rises to a scream that seems to make even the windows shake._

_GranDracmon winces and Sira closes her eyes. "…Ryo…you have to understand that he does not care for you the way he used to, and he's been slipping into his old darkness day after day now. Ryo, he tried to kill Edan and Stella, that's not…something I can let lie."_

"…_.You're going to destroy him…" Ryo breathes, horror filling her body and seizing her up. Sira sighs. "It's not like I have any other choice."_

"_NO! YOU CAN'T!"_

"_I have to do what's best for the entire Digital World, not just you!" Sira shouts, whipping her head around. "Think this through, for once!"_

_Ryo can only stare in horror as the two of them both leave the room, the sounds of locks clicking, and she knows they've trapped her in there, and she wants to scream, feels the monster tearing the inside of her chest, oh Yggdrasil, what is she supposed to do without her partner, she's…no one…just the orphan girl from the Pokemon world that no one really knew anything about, or cared about? She couldn't be alone again, she just…couldn't…!"_

…

"_You have to get out of here…hide somewhere…" She breathes, not able to look her partner in the face, in his terrifying new form. "They're coming for you, right now."_

_Milleunnimmon lowers his head, and she can feel those cold yellow eyes fixating on her. "…You think I am a coward to turn and run?"_

"…_Please…" Ryo begs. "For me?"_

_He smiles slightly, showing razor sharp teeth, as creatures, horrible looking Digimon scuttle around in the background. "The Tamer trying to protect the Digimon. And all this time I thought it was the other way around."_

"…_Just get out of here. Don't ever come back to Versandi." She says fiercely. "I may not be a Tamer anymore because of this but that's better than seeing you get destroyed."_

"_You have so little faith in me….and if I do? Will you come with me?"_

_Ryo slowly glances back over her shoulder at him, swallowing. "…Tell me it's not true. That you attacked the others. Tell me." She says, her voice hardening with anger and betrayal._

_His eyes narrow slightly. "….It's not true. It's one of Sira's lies, to try and turn you against me."_

"…_.Liar…" She breathes, more certain of anything else than she has been in her entire life. The growls of Millenniummon's lackies…a Digimon she didn't even know anymore…echo ominously but he just smirks._

"_Smart girl."_

"_What are you going to do, kill me?" She says through clenched teeth. "If you attack Versandi again, GranDracmon will kick your butt. You're not as strong anymore, because I won't help you." She yanks her Digivice out of her bag and throws it against the wall. It shatters on impact and everyone gasps._

_Millenniumon bares his teeth after her as she bolts, and one of his liteunants demands, "Should we hunt the little brat down and tear her limb from limb?"_

"…_No. Let her go for once." Millenniummon smirks. "Besides, killing her now would be boring. I look forward to watching her suffer more this way."_

…_._

"_A-Adelina?!" She freezes in horror, looking at the pale figure that is raced forwards, held tightly in Dilbert's arms, tears streaming down his cheeks._

_All of them are beaten up, badly injured, and she feels a growing sense of horror filling her. No, no, NO!  
Someone grabs her by the shoulders and slams her into the wall, and she lets out a yell of pain, strong hands digging into the twelve year old girl as Sira's voice tight with rage spits out, "You TRAITOR!"_

"…_Wha….Sira, NO! I never meant to!"_

"_You WARNED him, didn't you?! You backstabbed us, it was a complete massacre because he was ready for us!"_

"…_.I never….I never meant to…" Ryo stammers, backing away, Tamer headquarters, the place that had been her home for so long, now seemed too cramped, too tight, like it was pressing in on her and trying to choke the life out of her._

"_Get out…." Sira breathes, lowering her head. _

_Ryo's eyes widen. "…W-wh…?!"_

"_GET OUT BEFORE I DO SOMETHING I REGRET! DON'T COME BACK!"_

_Ryo doesn't know what to do, but she has to get away from the scent of blood that fills the corriders, the twelve year old girl pounds down the hallway, tears streaming down her cheeks, until she burst out the door and didn't look back._

…

"Yggdrasil…." Ryo mutters, squinting her eyes tighter. She glances down at Monodramon and takes a deep breath in, running a hand through her bright red hair. The exhaustion of grieving for everything she lost seems to hit her so much at once.

Still the images keep flowing through her brain, Tsukaimon screaming for help, Sira's face twisted into a furious snarl of hate, Millenniummon's cold yellow eyes glowering down at her.

She bites her knuckles, hard, to try and keep herself from crying in her sleep any longer. The guilt would never really go away, would it? Taking a deep breath, Ryo glances over at the peaceful faces of the others. She didn't deserve to have friends remotely like these people. They had been amazing to her, absolutely amazing, and she feared that…she feared that she'd end up doing nothing but hurt them again, the way she had hurt the Tamers all those years ago.

Ryo doesn't think she deserve friends. Not after what she did. Not after what happened. Suddenly a low beeping noise echoes throughout the cave. In a place where everything seemed oddly quiet, the noise seemed to pierce through her eardrums.

It takes her a moment to realize exactly what the noise is. She leans over and sees Ken's Digivice beeping insistently, red lettering flashing.

Her eyes widen and she shakes his shoulder. "Ken…Ken…"

He groans in his sleep, and she's alarmed to see the look of total distress on his face, him muttering, "No…please…I never wanted this….this isn't what I wanted…."

"Ken…!" Ryo whacks him in the shoulder. "Ken, you're not there anymore, okay? Wake up!"

Dark blue eyes slowly creak open as Ken mutters "…What is it…so late at night…."

Ryo sighs. "…You okay?"

"…I had that dream again." He mutters, closing his eyes again before the sound of the beeping reaches his ears as well. His eyes widen. "…It's reacting to something!"

"Really." Ryo says flatly. "Because I managed to figure that out by myself, thanks much, boy genius."

"…."

"What do you think it is?"

"Something big." Ken mutters, his eyes narrowed down to slits. "…You think it could possibly be…the…."

"You wake up Miracle boy." Ryo mutters.

"Great. Why am I the one stuck waking up Davis?"

"Because I'm the one who has to wake up Stella, trust me, you're getting the safer end of the deal."

Monodramon's pale yellow eyes slowly open as he looks over at his partner. "Ryo….what is it?"

She can't look him in the face for a moment, shuffling around in her bag instead.

"Ryo?"

Worry enters his voice and she finally glances back up. "We've got a hit. We're moving out, now. We don't have time to waste, because if we've managed to pick up a signal, chances are that Millenniummon's forces will too."

"But we can't go out in that!" He insists, gesturing back as the wind continues to howl like a savage beast outside. "We'll die for sure out there."

"My goodness." FlaWizarmon mutters. "You do realize who you're sharing this cave with right?"

"…But…."

"Not even you would last very long out there FlaWizarmon." Stella says, shaking her head. "I mean it's the freaking Artic, and…where are you going?"

"Uh, FlaWizarmon…"

"Just trust me." He says with a hint of a smirk on his face as he walks out of the cave, and suddenly there's a brilliant flash of bright light, and a voice that's similar but much deeper roars out, "EVIL INFERNO!"

Suddenly the cavern feels hot….REALLY REALLY HOT….which is not something most people would feel in the winter in the freaking Alaskan wilderness.

Davis yelps, awakening from his slumber at last, his head nearly slamming into Ken's. "Guys, turn up the AC!...Oh…wait…."

Cautiously all of them make their way outside, and their jaws drop as they stare at the figure standing in front of them. Daemon chuckles slightly, a terrible figure that seems fit to come only from nightmares, especially from the red flames that lick around him and melt huge chunks of feet deep snow around him.

But the smile on his face is far from threatening, and Davis grins, punching the air. "AWESOME!"

"Well…that answers that question…" Monodramon mutters, and Ryo nods. "Long as we just stick close to him we'll be fine."

"Gosh, and people worry about global warming melting the ice caps." Ken says under his breath as they all form a circle around Daemon and walk forwards together. "I don't think it can really compare."

"Ken…"

"What? I'm just saying."

…

"FINISH HIM WARGREYMON!"

WarGreymon roars as he charges forwards, claws and teeth bared, leaping into the air as he summons his attack. "TERRA FORCE!"

The bright light of orange energy streaks downwards and slams into the ground, tearing right towards the SkullGreymon, who roars in anger and panic, but Tai just smirks. There's no way a mere Ultimate can possibly stand up against the kind of fire power…

The explosion echoes outwards, and Matt punches the air. "Way to go! Direct hit!"

"Wait.." Alexander yells down as he kicks another Devidramon in the side, and then grabs another by the tail and swings it, sending it flying. "Don't make any assumptions that the enemy has been defeated just yet."

"W-what are you talking about?"

The smoke clears and standing before them SkullGreymon is…still…standing….Tai feels his stomach sink down to his knees as he stares in disbelief. "…That's…that's not…."

"That's not possible…" Matt breathes. "An Ultimate can't take any attack that powerful full on and walk away with so little damage!"

WarGreymon growls as he lands and MetalGarurumon snaps, "What's gotten into you?! Please tell me you were holding back for some strange reason!"

"Of course not, you moron! Why would I possibly do such a thing?!"

"Well I sure as heck don't kn…"

"Enough!" Alexander shouts, whipping out his cannon again and shooting a SkullScorpiomon over his shoulder directly between the eyes.

Without even looking really where he was aiming. The boys drop their jaws in a mixture of disbelief, respect, and slight terror.

"There's something terribly wrong about these Digimon…" Alexander growls. "I sense a dark power coming from nearly all of them, growing in size constantly."

"Dark power…you mean like a dark ring?" Tai questions, his eyes narrowing slightly as WarGreymon roars and rushes SkullGreymon again, determined to do this battle the old fashioned way with his teeth and his claws.

"…Possibly." Alexander growls, pulling two pistols out of his back pockets and blasting down the massive hordes of Bakemon. "But I fear something even more dark is at work here."

"…_Something more dark than a Ring…and more powerful too…"_ Tai clenches his teeth and looks back over his shoulder. _"Please Yggdrasil let Lily get out of here!"_

Willis' eyes narrow down to slits. Several of the Digimon have a crazed look on their expressions, a look that seems oddly familiar. His mind flashes to the mental image of Wendigomon standing there snarling, and how time and time again Wendigomon had managed to pound Gargomon into the ground.

…Could it possibly be that…but that didn't even make any sense!

…

"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!"

Taomon's attack slams into the Sanglopumon that tries to pounce on her and sends him flying, sprawling onto the ground where he leaps back up with a snarl and a clash of vicious teeth as he tries to bite onto her tail.

She whips around and clogs him on the head with her oversized paintbrush, a snarl showing off her fangs on her own canine face.

"NO ONE…TOUCHES…THE TAIL!" She shouts, before streams of what look sort of like cards fly from her sleeves and wrap around several of the vicious dog Digimon, yanking them into the air and slamming them into each other repeatedly before sending them flying.

Taomon pants, dropping slightly in height as she glowers at the one person still in front of her. Fangmon looks hardly alarmed, he looks more bored, and as she raises her paintbrush warningly he just sneers, "Don't waste your time, vixen. I can think of hardly anything less terrifying than your silly little toy."

"Oh really?!" She growls, forming another symbol of light that flies straight at Fangmon. Usually that would have had enough force to knock a regular Champion for a loop or at least make him back off, but Fangmon just easily dodges it and before Taomon knows what's going on, with speed she can't really comprehend, she's slammed from behind and hits the ground hard.

Fangmon smirks as his claws press into her chest and those massive, ridiculously long jaws are super close to her face. "You needn't worry. It's not so much that you're weak…well you are…" He chuckles as she growls angrily, "but you never had a chance anyway. We are the elite of Millenniummon's forces. We have been blessed by him in ways you could never really comprehend."

"You're just like every other lacky." Taomon wheezes, her face twisted in a sneer. "So convinced that you're special to your boss, that you're unique. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but when the time comes, you'll just be dropped like everyone else, so I wouldn't be so cocky."

He smirks. "It doesn't matter if Millenniummon looses interest in me or not. As the darkness inside of me grows stronger, than so do I. You may mock, but you have no clue about true power."

"…True power….you think this is true power…?" Taomon breathes, a mocking sneer on her face. "True power, gaining up on those you perceive to be weaker? Tormenting a young girl who doesn't have her powers anymore and can't even fight back? That's not power, and if you think it is, you're even stupider than you appear, wolf face. Even if you kill me right now, all you'll do is prove my point. That you only pick fights you're sure you can win."

Fangmon's eyes narrow down to slits. "…I've had enough of your gibbering…" He growls before lunging downwards at her throat, and Taomon closes her eyes for a moment, knowing she's going to die now, but suddenly then there's a shout of, "NO!"

Fangmon yelps as he's slammed backwards, green lasers pelting into his side. Taomon opens her eyes. "…Gargomon?"

Gargomon brandishes his cannons and glares at Fangmon. "She and the rest of the Digidestined accepted both me and Willis, even though they had absolutely no reason to do so. I'm not going to let you hurt a good friend of mine, because I've lost enough!"

The wolf snarls, getting back to his feet, furious and his fur singing in places. "You do realize that wolves eat rabbits, don't you, my long eared, foolish friend?"

Gargomon suddenly grins. "You can try. And I'll fill you right up. Fill you full of lead, that is. GARGO LASERS!"

Fangmon charges through the storm of green blasts and roars, leaping, teeth bared, only to have a heavy cannon sock him right in the jaw. Fangmon screams, completely caught off guard. No matter how strong the magic Millenniummon claimed to bestow upon him was, physically speaking, Fangmon's jaws weren't that thick. A jaw made of bone and a cannon made of solid metal? Yeah….you do the math…

Gargomon narrows his eyes as he points his guns straight down at Fangmon. "You can surrender now and maybe I won't have to blow you into data." He says firmly, though there's a flicker of unease in his eyes.

Taomon grimaces. Willis and Terriermon obviously haven't done much fighting before and so therefore the idea of actually killing another Digimon is bothersome to them. But this is one situation where holding back will cause nothing but more trouble. Struggling, she pushes herself upwards, thinking nothing but that she had to help him.

Fangmon snarls, and his eyes are near mad with rage. "I will never…surrender to a chump weakling like you!" He roars before springing forwards, fangs bared in a vicious snarl.

Dark shadows formed in his mouth even as his bottom jaw hangs crookedly, limply. "BLAST COFFIN!"

Gargomon's eyes widen as the attack races towards him, and then suddenly there's another shout of "TALISMAN SPELL!"

The black and white shield springs up around Gargomon, and the attack slams backwards, not affecting the barrier at all. His eyes widen in disbelief and he looks up to see Taomon smirking. "H-how did you…?!"

She grins. "To be honest, I didn't even know I could do that move. But ah well. Why waste it?"

Fangmon screams as his own attack hits him straight on, and, with the ridiculous boost from the dark energy and hate he was so proud of, it causes agonizing damage.

"Wha…NOOOO!"

"Time to finish this…." Taomon mutters, as Fangmon slams into the ground twitching and barely holding on. His data fluctuates over and over again as he frantically struggles to recover himself. But it's no use.

Taomon raises herself back up into the air, and shouts out a fierce, "TALISMAN STAR!" The cards shoot out from her robes once more, this time sharpening like blades, and slice into the evil Digimon.

He lets out one last howl of despair before his yellow eyes close and he bursts into data.

"….Could have been worse." Taomon breathes, dropping back to the ground and feeling herself beginning to degenerate back to her Renamon form.

Gargomon shoots her an incredulous look. "Could have been worse?! We both nearly died and that's what you say?"

"Pretty much yeah."

"Oy vey." He mutters. "Suddenly I feel the need to bang my head against the wall."

"Just use one of your cannons." Taomon, now Renamon laughs, turning to face the other direction. Suddenly she freezes, her tail fur poofing straight up, her eyes widening with horror.

"…Renamon…what is it?!"

She makes a noise that sounds like a faint whimper.

"..Renamon? You're starting to scare me, what's going on?!"

"…WHERE THE HECK IS MY TAMER!"

….

"I will never ever ever ever ride a train ever again." Armadillomon moans, pressing his stomach to the ground and wincing, shudders filling his body.

Cody sweatdrops. "…Armadillomon, that was an airplane."

"Confound it Cody, I can never keep your human's crazy technology straight. From now on, never again. Not even a car. What's wrong with plain old walking?"

"Uh…well…we'd have a hard time walking from Japan to America, Armadillomon." Cody mutters, sweatdropping.

TK is staring at the little thing snoring in Sira's arms. "…I don't believe it. He's…"

"Fallen back to sleep?" Sira asks deadpan. "Yes, TK, that would be Belphemon for you."

"…Dang."

"Belphemon can sleep through absolutely everything." GranDracmon mutters. "You saw him, we were practically about to all be blown to smithereens and he was simply enjoying a nice nap till Puttimon woke him up."

"Happy."

"Yes, yes we know."

"…Are you…feeling okay Sira?" TK asks carefully, unable to help how his eyes drift back towards her stomach. Dang, the woman didn't look like she'd gained much weight at all. And she was going to have a FREAKING BABY.

Sira's eyes narrow. "I'm fine. I could ask the same thing about you, considering how you and Cody both promptly passed out when you learned my little secret."

"…Er we were just surprised…" TK says with forced calm, still picturing how a child of Sira and GranDracmon's madness could easily take over the world one day.

Sira rolls her eyes. "Right…"

"..How long have you known?" TK asks carefully. Sira bites her lip. "…A couple of weeks now."  
"And you really think being out here in amongst all this fighting is a good idea?"

He flinches under the hot glare that Sira gives him. "JUST SAYING!"

She huffs in disgust and walks forwards, her shoulders tense. "I can't just sit back as I put my Tamers into danger. If they must risk their lives, then I must risk mine also…." Her hand rests on her belly and she bites her lip slightly before continuing.

"It's no good, she's not listening to me about this either." GranDracmon says flatly. TK feels his face flush. "…Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude…"

"Normally I would be bothered, but in this case, the more people who tell Sira she needs to give herself a break, the better." He closes his eyes. "I know her…the last thing in the world she wants to do is risk her child, but she considers abandoning the other Tamers as great a crime." He sighs, shrugging his shoulders. "And that's where we quite firmly disagree with each other."

TK's eyebrows knit together slightly. "So…what are you going to do?"

"Eh." GranDracmon shrugs, a nonchalant expression on his face. "If she continues to be stubborn about this and won't think of her own health than when it gets too dangerous I'll simply drag her back down to the Dark Area and make sure she can't leave."

"…"

"What?" He demands as both TK and Patamon are giving him slightly horrified looks.

"…You scare me sometimes." TK says flatly. "…I mean your motives are good and they make a lot of sense, but your methods are disturbingly close to most villain's."

"I am King of the Underworld." GranDracmon says with a slight purr to his voice. "It makes sense, does it not, that my methods are different to what you humans prefer."

"…Obviously." TK mutters. _"Why did I get stuck with the psycho group?"_

….

The entire room is pitch black, darkness swirling around and crashing in around the children who sit cowering in the roller coaster cart in the middle of the room.

Yolei and Kari are still hugging each other, both of them shaking like mad, before Yolei finally pulls away and whispers, "W-…where are we?"

"Well I'm glad you two asked."

The robotic sounding voice echoes throughout the entire space and both girls have to fight down the desire to scream as suddenly lights flicker on all over the place.

Unlike with Mimi in Vademon's world, however, these were the lights of hundreds of computers lining the walls, the screens covered with information even Yolei found hard to process.

"I'm glad you could join me in my little funhouse." The voice continues, sending shivers down both of the girl's spines.

A more familiar laugh echoes and they both whip their heads around to see Arukenimon sitting one on of the desks, with this ridiculous smirk on her face, her legs crossed.

"YOU!" Yolei shrieks, fury entering her voice as she struggles to get free but the seatbelts of the car suddenly snap up and yank them back down, the bar falling down to pin the two girls to the chair.

"Aww, see this is why little children shouldn't be wandering around on their own." Arukenimon says with a mocking purr. "Anything could happen."

"I am going to smear your face across the wall when I get out of here, you dumb, arrogant, little…" Yolei growls, clenching her fists in fury as Kari whispers frantically, "Yolei, wait."

"Are all of you Digidestined so terrible at keeping your mouths shut?" Arukenimon scoffs, as another voice says angrily, "Don't you dare talk to my Arukeni that way!"

"Mummymon, shut up."

"Yes dear."

If the two girls weren't both furious and also terrified, they might have found the dialogue funny. But he fact that they were prisoners sort of dampened the spirit.

Kari clenches her jaw and snaps out through gritted teeth, "If you're going to kill us, you should be prepared to know that the others are going to hunt you down and tear you limb from limb. Especially my brother and WarGreymon."

"Oh I know plenty about your brother and his equally hot-headed reptellian partner my dear." Says the voice. The figure steps out into the light and Kari's eyes widen. She'd never seen him before but she knew enough to know who the person was. Oh no no no. After she'd just been talking to Yolei about him? That was too much. That was just so cliché it wasn't even funny.

"Surely your brother mentioned me…" The figure says, smiling dangerously. He looked small for a Digimon, with long metal arms, a glass head enclosing what looked like his brain, and cold eyes that stared at her for far too long. "…Datamon."

"…Yeah. He mentioned you." Kari smiles tightly. "Not in any sort of language I can repeat however."

Datamon's sneer turns into a vicious snarl. "Your bigheaded arrogant brother ruined my chance at revenge against Etemon!"

"They helped you broke free and then you kidnapped Sora, cloned her, and nearly got the both of them killed."

He smiles dangerously. "How interesting that you mention my creation from all that time ago."

"Yeah, I get it." Kari says grimly, glowering at the figure that was and wasn't Sora who steps next to Datamon. "Sorry to spoil your big dramatic moment, but as soon as I realized you were involved, I realized she had to be the clone that you guys were talking about earlier. My question is how did you even manage to be reborn?"

Datamon smiles dangerously. "Why don't you ask your little human friends? I have them to thank for it, in actuality."

"H-huh?"

"You still haven't told us why you brought us down here." Yolei says angrily, straining to get free again. "You greasy bucket of bolts. And what exactly do you want us for? Just bait for the others to come?"

"Actually no I….need you two girls to do me a little favor."

"Like HECK."

"Aww, that's cute." Arukenimon smiles dangerously. "You think you have a choice."

Yolei glowers. "Look, lady, I've been dragged onto this psycho ride, got severe motion sickness, and am now trapped in this cliché villain lair. What IS all this stuff for anyway?"

"Glad you asked."

Kari and Yolei exchange looks, half trepidation, half, "dear gosh are we going to have to sit through ANOTHER evil villain's monologue?"

An image fills one computer screen—then another, then another, and Kari's eyes widen as the same image fills the entire room.

"Are those…." She breathes out, horror filling her body as Yolei stiffens beside her.

"Control Spires?" Mummymon grins, showing rotten teeth. "Why yes, yes they are."

"You've got to be kidding me." Yolei mutters, her hands clenching. "We've knocked down nearly half that amount an…"

"Control Spires are relatively easy to remake, even without the Digimon Emperor's aid." Datamon laughs mockingly. "Did you even think he was the one who created the program in the beginning?"

"So YOU were the one who…."

"Correct. But that's not all I made. Dark Rings aren't even necessary anymore when you take a look at what I have created."

Kari's eyes widen with horror as she watches the Control Spires morph into what looks like….

"Digimon…" She breathes. "So you're the one behind all of this!"

"I couldn't have done it without my dear Arukenimon here." Datamon chuckles nastily, a smirk on his face.

Arukenimon giggles, running a hand through her white hair. "It was worth all of the bad hair days. Plus you interfering brats were driving me to pull my hair out anyway so might as well make do with what you have, right?"

"…What does your ugly hair have to do with any of this?" Yolei says flatly.

Kari fights the desire to strangle Yolei a little bit. She's all for giving the enemies grief, but for Yggdrasil's sake, there's a fine line between taunting your enemies and being downright suicidal and Yolei had gone way past toeing that line.

"Why you little…"

"Enough Arukenimon." Datamon speaks up. "You can kill them once I'm done with them. But for now, we need humans alive."

"Alive for what?" Kari says through clenched teeth, though she feels her throat constrict slightly at his words. _Gatomon where are you…?_

"Why, for my next project of course." Datamon smiles innocently. "You see with every new invention there are always a few glitches. Sometimes it works on some groups and not on others. Obviously this is unacceptable for me. I must have perfection, even if it's not my original work. Millenniummon has intrusted me and I shall make sure his trust is not misplaced."

"Be sure that you don't." Arukenimon threatens with a low growl and Mummymon cocks his gun warningly. Daemon swallows pointedly and Kari raises an eyebrow. It was clear to her that the little robot was feeling…a little bit over his head.

"What exactly is this project you keep babbling on and on about?" Yolei demands hotly, her glasses flashing with the light from the computers.

The screens change image again and it shows a small dark object, not very big at all, hardly any bigger than a seed.

In fact….that's what it looks like. A seed. Kari feels something prickle at the back of her neck as she whispers, "What exactly…is that?"

"Millenniummon's Dark Spore." Datamon says with relish, almost reverence. "Quite a fascinating little device, don't you think? You wouldn't believe such a thing could be so powerful…"

"…"

"What? No demanding questions about what it is, how it works? I'm a little surprised. I'd have thought you'd be…bursting with curiosity. Or are you so impressed by the darkness that you're speechless?"

"No, more like we just don't want to give you any satisfaction." Yolei growls. "I doubt that thing is such a big deal anyway."

"Hmm? Really? Well it certainly turned your friend Ken Ichijouji inside out, did it not?"

"…What are you talking about?"

"Hehheh….you mean you don't know? A few years ago, your friend was infected with this beautiful little masterpiece. It made his grief and anger increase tenfold, converting him from the sweet little, weak human boy you knew, into…..the Digimon Emperor of course."

Kari's teeth are so tightly clenched with rage that she can't even speak. Yolei is trembling with fury as well. "You SICK CREEPS! How DARE you do something like that to Ken?!"

"It worked very well, I must say." Datamon muses. "But Millenniummon was quite annoyed. Your precious Ken began to slip from his control even before the Spore was removed by that interfering brat Lucemon. It appears as though Ken began to actually develop…caring." He speaks the word with complete disdain.

Kari clenches her fists. "And what's so wrong with caring?" She says icily. "You tried to turn Ken into something that wasn't human, a monster, and he fought it."

"Being human is weak!"

"No, it's never, EVER wrong to choose your emotions and your friends over power! And you know what? You may see Ken as a failure and a weakling, but because he was able to fight you creeps off, and regain his own mind. That's a heck of a lot stronger than any of you will EVER be!"

Arukenimon hisses her fangs angrily at Kari. "Listen, you little brat, you are coming very, very close to making me as annoyed with you as I am with your little friend here."

"Hey!"

Kari's eyes just narrow down to slits, and Datamon lets out a sharp chuckle. "So Miss Kamiya….you think that being able to fight off a Dark Spore will show that the person has true strength right? I wonder how you will fare then."

"…Wait…WHAT?!"

"KARI!" Yolei screams as Mummymon walks forward and unhooks Kari, yanking her upwards by the neck, choking her and bringing her over to Datamon.

Kari hisses, sounding much like her feline partner in her fury, struggling to break free of Mummymon's hold but not able too. "You're not going to get away with this!" She spits furiously.

"Oh…I'm afraid I already have." Datamon says with a smirk as he turns back to her, holding a suspiciously looking long needle in his fingers, and Kari can practically feel her heart stop.

"…I look forward to the look on your brother's face when he learns he'll have to fight against-…!" Datamon's voice stops as the sound of something rumbling echoes throughout the cavern.

"…What is th…?"

Suddenly the entire ceiling seems to be crashing down, rubble and metal slamming into the ground. Arukenimon shrieks and only manages to avoid being crushed by leaping onto the wall, Spiderwoman style.

Yolei lets out a horrified gasp as she sees the rocks plummeting towards her, and she's still strapped in, with absolutely no chance to run.

"CRIMSON FLAME!"

Purple flames shoot forwards, obliterating all of the rocks on the spot, leaving nothing, not even pebbles, to strike Yolei.

"I beg your pardon Ms. Yolei." Barbamon says politely, twirling his staff between his long fingers. "That was cutting things a bit too close, even for me."

Yolei shoots him a grin. "Don't worry about it. I knew something would turn up at the last second. That's how it always works around here."

Datamon's eyes narrow as he stares in front of him. "…Hehehhee. I might have known you would show up…."

Sora, the real Sora's, eyes narrow down to slits as she stands next to her snarling phoenix. Birdramon stamps a foot in warning, her flames shooting upwards even more. Sora glances at her doppelganger once before fixing her white hot glare on Datamon.

"…You know…when Tai saved me from you all those years ago,...I never got a chance to strike back. Let's fix that." She cracks her knuckles. "Shall we?"


	33. Ebemon's Eradication, Unknown Assailant

Ebemon's Eradication, Unknown Assailant

An: Hey guys! Sorry I'm a week later than usual XD. But I decided to take a week off to work on my original story. And just because taking a step back from a story once in a while gives you a break, and such. Anyway hope all of you guys like the chapter!

Datamon glowers at Sora, and Birdramon's low growl echoes ominously throughout the creepy labyrinth beneath Disney. Odd really how the world above ground was probably going through the motions, eating cotton candy, getting sick on rollercoasters, getting hugged by people dressed in Mickey Mouse costumes, while a grudge that had lasted for years was about to be carried out below. Arukenimon coughs and takes a slight step back as flames from Birdramon's body fly outwards. "I think I'll….just…be going now. Come on Mummymon. Datamon, I trust that you will be capable of handling this?"

"Of course." The rather annoying robot scoffs. "The little birdie couldn't do anything to protect her partner before, what makes you think things will be any different now?"

"Oh…I don't know." Barbamon says with a surprisingly calm tone to his voice. "Perhaps because I am with them?" He takes a step forwards. "You would be very unwise indeed to underestimate the power of a Demon Lord."

Arukenimon manages to get out a slight giggle at that. "Power? What would any of you possibly know about power?"

"Why don't you shut your mouth, you stupid hag." Yolei growls, struggling to get free again. "I bet Barbamon and any of the other Demon Lords could run circles around you. You're just a spider. Spiders get squished." She adds with a tone of condescension and a smirk.

"Ms. Yolei, please."

She looks up, surprised slightly at Barbamon's admonish. He strokes his beard and says slowly, "When you meet someone…with true power…you shall know it. Someone with true power does not feel the need to boast, or threaten the lives of those who cannot properly protect themselves. Only the weak and the cowardly are arrogant, or they are simply fools. Either way, they perish in the end."

"Pride goeth before a fall." Gatomon mutters quietly, her claws flexing out as she remembers Myotismon's sneering face and then his agonized scream as her arrow had pierced his black heart.

Arukenimon was either very brave or very stupid, because she tossed her head back and laughed. "You fool. That's just a condescending speech you pathetic goodie-goodies tell each other to avoid the feeling that you're complete and utter failures. If you were proper Demon Lords, real Demon Lords, you'd be running around causing havoc, fighting these Digidestined brats, wanting to rule yourselves, but oh no, you're WORKING with them?! Have all of you gone completely and utterly mad?"

"…"|

"Crimson Flame."

Yolei and Kari both have to shield their faces from the expanse of bright red flames that shoot forwards, wincing as the heat from just being near the attack burns them.

There's a strangled squeak like a mouse being trodden on, and when Yolei finally dares to look up, she had to fight the desire to burst out laughing.

Arukenimon had been blasted through the right wall and was now lying on the ground in the midst of rubble, her outfit burned nearly completely away, most of her hair gone except for her bangs, which had somehow survived but only served to make her look even more absurd.

"A-Arukeni!" Mummymon exclaims, removing his gun away from Kari's head long enough to do what Lily had always taught her to do in a situation like this.

One swift kick later and Mummymon was on the ground clutching his groin and whimpering futilely.

"Honestly…" Datamon mutters as he fought the urge to facepalm. "And they're supposed to be handcreated by Milllenniummon's most trusted servant himself."

"..What are you…"

Datamon suddenly snaps his fingers and the walls peel away to reveal dozens of robotic looking Digimon standing there.

Sora got a bit of a start, seeing as some of them were Andromons, but none of these were clearly their friendly factory friend. Mekanorimons and Guardromons also charged into the room, and Yolei mutters, "If they start chanting "Exterminate…"

"Yolei!" Hawkmon shrieks. "This is neither the time nor the place for you to start going on about that ridiculous show of yours!"

"OY! Do NOT diss the Doctor, Bird-Brain!"

"DATAMON GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE CREEP!" Sora shouts, plunging forwards as Datamon punches in another code and with a smirk, dives into a hallway that suddenly slides open.

But before she can get too close to him, a fist seems to come out of nowhere and hit her in the face.

Sora gasps as she falls backwards onto her butt, and looks up into her own glowering face. "Do not touch Master Datamon." Her counterpart growls.

Sora's green eyes narrow down to slits and she snaps out, "Birdramon, get after that wired freak. I've got things under control here!"

"On it!" Birdramon growls, before suddenly degenerating. On retrospect, that might seem like going backwards, but she knew there'd be no way she could follow him in that form.

Biyomon soars over the two wrestling Sora's heads, and nimbly dodges the missiles the Guardromon and Andromons shoot her way.

Barbamon's flames shoot outwards again, completely reducing the robots in front of him to melted metal and then data bursting upwards through the cracks in the ceiling. Tourists to Disney World stare in bemusement at the bright lights that float up from the ground, before laughing and shrugging it off as some kind of new attraction.

"If I could go all out…" Barbamon mutters as he stares around at the robotic Digimon, slicing his staff suddenly through the air and causing more missiles to divert back right at their startled owners, "none of them would stand a chance."

"So we'll be fighting together, is that right?" Hawkmon nods as he lands next to the Demon Lord. "It will be an honor to serve by you, my lord."

A wry smile appears on the older Digimon's face and then Yolei yells over, "Does NO ONE REALIZE I'M STILL STRAPPED IN HERE?!"

"Sorry Yolei." Gatomon bounds over, her tiger like claws slicing through the restraints like paper.

Kari runs over, panting. "Yolei! Hurry it up, the two of them are getting away!"

"What?!"

Arukenimon and Mummymon had indeed both scampered off, their absence slapping the two Digidestined in the face.

Yolei clenches her teeth. "She goes on and on about strength and yet she runs with her tail between her legs the minute it looks like she might loose?"

"You must go after them." Barbamon says firmly, slamming his staff into the ground and generating even more fire.

Kari's eyes widen slightly. "…But…what…we can't just leave you to fight alone, can we?"

"You must." He says sternly. "If we are to be successful in this venture than you will. Fighting in a war is like searching for the perfect bargain. You don't get it without going through some sacrifices."

"…That's a slightly weird metaphor…" Gatomon mutters. "But I get your point. Kari, let's listen to him. I trust him to make sure both he and Sora get out of here."

Kari clenches her teeth slightly before sighing and nodding. "…All right. Yolei, let's go!"

"Right behind you partner!"

…

"LOOKIE!"

Cody raises his eyes to heaven as he manages to grab Upamon just in time. "Don't eat out of there!"

Upamon dances around the floor, looking up with so much excitement at the mini-fridge like it was the promised land. "It's got candy bars and sodas and more! It's like a dream come true!"

"Upamon…" Cody tries to be as patient as he can possibly be. "We get charged money for stuff like that."

"…Well duh, but we already paid for the hotel room." Upamon says, confused. "And unless I've got your humans strange money thing wrong, you don't pay twice for the same thing."

"You would think not, but hotels like to milk everything they can get."

"Milk? Like a cow?"

"Our money is their milk." Cody agrees. "And the point is that we just don't have that much…milk…to spa…"

"Oh let him do it." A tired voice echoes behind him. Sira's lying stretched out on the bed, a look of exhaustion on her face. Clearly the day had taken a lot more out of her than she would ever willingly admit. Phascomon was lying next to her, snoring away. It was nearly impossible to believe that that snoring furry little guy had been the massive titan that had grabbed their falling ship out of thin air with his bare hands. But in the same way it was hard to believe that the little white bouncing orb was really the powerful Lucemon, the leader of the Demon Lords and more than capable of giving plenty Megas a run for their money.

But right now…

"Happy! Happy happy happy happy!"

GranDracmon's eye twitches repeatedly and he mutters, "If someone doesn't shut him up I am promptly going to flush the little twerp down the toilet."

Puttimon sticks out his tongue and blows a raspberry at the vampire lord, who just narrows his eyes dangerously. "Don't…test…me…."

"Jet lag Taddeo?" Sira mutters sleepily, and TK frowns, thinking of something.

"I'm not sure you can call the stress of nearly crashing in a plane and dying a fiery death "jet lag" Sira."

"Hey Sira?"

"Hmm…?"

TK shrugs. "I was just curious. You call GranDracmon Taddeo, but I've also heard you call him Ras at points. Why is that?"

Both Sira and GranDracmon flinch slightly and TK raises his eyebrows. "Sorry…did I say something wrong?"

"Well…no." Sira sighs, pushing her bangs out of her face. "It's not your fault. The only thing you did was be near me when I'm horribly stressed out and not thinking clearly."

"What do you mean?"

"A Digimon's name is incredibly special." GranDracmon says flatly, his eyes flashing. "It's...reserved for those who they are mated to. But since I've had to blend in as a human before, we picked a different name so they…wouldn't know that I was…"

"A vampire?" Cody questions. "Wait, so your family didn't know he was a Digimon Sira?"

Sira lets out a slight snort. "Not at first, I promise you. And if you think they were shocked to find out he's a vampire, you should have seen the looks on their faces when he turned back into the little purple fox."

"Awkward…" Upamon says in a sing song voice. GranDracmon rolls his eyes again.

"Fair enough." TK says, fighting back a smile. "So…we shouldn't…call you by your human name then?"

"You can refer to me as Taddeo." He says lazily, lying back in his bed. "If you use my other name then I'll be forced to hurt you."

"Duly noted." TK glances over and sees Patamon lying on the other side of the bed, seeming to be totally unresponsive. He touches his partner lightly to see if he's asleep, then sighs when he doesn't get a response. "…He's been like this all day. It's starting to make me really worry."

"Ugh…." GranDracmon mutters as he collapses in bed next to Sira, who was already snoring. "I'm not interested in giving one of those sappy speeches, besides I'm not good at it."

"..Huh?"

But GranDracmon also seems to be asleep by now, his arms wrapped around Sira's waist and his head resting on her shoulder.

"Aww, that's sort of cute." Upamon giggles quietly before giving the vampire a worried look, as though he was afraid GranDracmon had heard him.

TK isn't paying attention. He glances back over at Patamon, who flaps over to the windowsill and continues to be unresponsive. He sighs, despondency filling him as well at the sight of his partner seeming so upset. Even worse, Patamon seemed…to be upset with him for some reason. He tried to shake the feeling that somehow he had failed his partner, and crawled into the bed where Cody was already sleeping. Maybe everything would be better in the morning. That's how things usually went, after all.

…

Patamon continues to stare out the window at the bustle and noise of the city of Washington DC down below.

"Unhappy?" A voice queries above him and Patamon looks up to see Puttimon fluttering above him. "Yeah Puttimon…" He sighs. "…Unhappy."

Puttimon lets out a slight whimper and then beats his wings harder, causing a bunch of golden dust to fall upon Patamon. He blinks and sneezes. "What are you….oh…" Suddenly he felt…much more…relaxed, he supposed was the proper word. He didn't feel completely better, and the doubts and guilt were still nagging at the back of his mind, but they didn't seem to be like a crushing weight pressing down on him anymore.

A small smile appears on his face as he looks up at Puttimon. "…Thanks." Puttimon giggles before flying off again, and Patamon slowly pushes himself upwards on his paws.

Upamon leaps up beside him, excitement in his beady black eyes and chocolate smeared all over his mouth.

"How much of the stuff from the fridge did you eat?" Patamon asks, snorting.

"As much as I possibly could!"

"You know you're not supposed to."

"Oh, come on. Sira's rich, and she said it would be fine!"

"Uh huh…."

"Do you want some?" Upamon asks excitedly, then his ears droop when Patamon shakes his head. "…I'm not really hungry."

"You've been acting weird for hours now. What's wrong?"

"…" A few minutes ago, if Patamon had been asked that question, he probably would have remained as silent and unresponsive as he had been.

But, he suspected do partly to Puttimon's magic fairy dust or whatever, he felt…slightly better. Shuffling his feet he sighs and responds, "…I lost."

Upamon blinks. "…Well yeah, but we all loose sometimes, do we not?"

"…Not even my strongest attack worked on that guy." He mutters, his ears drooping again. "Gate of Destiny was strong enough to wipe out PIEDMON for crying out loud. I never would have thought I could lose so easily."

"No offense, but that's kind of an arrogant idea." Upamon speaks up, and Patamon's ears droop again. "….TK and the others could have all died…and I wasn't powerful enough to do anything about it, what does that say about me as a partner?"

"I don't know." Upamon shrugs. "What does it say about me, or even GranDracmon as partners? Heck it took all I had to just not puke while we were falling, and GranDracmon couldn't possibly save everyone on that plane and it drove him mad."

"…Welll…yeah but…."

Upamon bounces slightly. "You and TK both worry too much. You remember how Lily slapped Tai that one time for thinking everything was his fault?"

"…I wasn't there. Actually, I don't think you were there either, Upamon."

"Yeah, well I heard about it." Upamon snickers. "But my point's still there. We're not depending on a single person in charge of us. We look out for each other. Each one of us is important, and that's what makes us so strong."

Patamon hesitates before sighing again. "…I guess you're right."

"Course I am. Besides, I'm sure the next time we come across BlackWarGreymon, things will be different. Because even if you did loose again, the rest of us would be right beside. Next time around, he won't know what hit him."

Patamon's blue eyes fixate on his friend for a moment before he sighs, a wry smile appearing on his face. "…You're right, of course. Hey…is there any chocolate left?"

"You bet!"

Maybe he had lost this time, but next time would be different. Next time, Patamon vowed, he would not fail his friends. He owed it to them to become stronger. He owed it to her. She was strong, she was…amazing. And although he knew it was trivial at this time, he wanted so badly to show her that he wasn't simply the childish flying hamster he seemed to be. Well…okay he…was childish…but he wanted to show her he could be more than that.

Crawling into bed next to TK, Patamon kept his eyes open as the thought passed through his head-"I'll find some way to make you see Gatomon."

…

"NO NO NO NO! NOT AGAIN!" Renamon shrieks, tearing around wildly as she frantically scans the area for any signs of her partner.

Willis' face is pale as he sees spots of blood in the grass that seem to get thicker at certain points, as though someone had been thrashing around before being dragged off.

"…What would they possibly want with Lily?" Gargomon says, lowering his cannons and staring in the same sort of blank horror.

Renamon clenches her teeth, her claws digging into her paws from sheer anger. It doesn't make any sense! She'd thought for sure after Myotismon's death people would leave Lily alone, but it seemed that that wasn't the case. Maybe it was true that other Digimon simply couldn't be trusted—if they had any information about Lily being a star than they'd be obsessed with greed.

Rage filled every particle of data in her and she almost didn't hear what Willis and Gargomon were saying. She would tear whoever had taken her Tamer apart, she would not show any mercy, she would….

Her ears perk up suddenly as a strange feeling seems to be hitting her. In her rage she almost didn't recognize it, but the feeling ticking at the back of her mind was unmistakeable. "_Ren…a….mon…help….me….."_

"LILY!"

She pounds forwards, ignoring Willis's warning cry and Gargomon calling her name. Her paws dig into the ground and the only thought running through her brain was that she must get her Tamer back, no matter what the cost. Her paws suddenly seem to give out underneath her, and she screams as she feels herself plummeting to the darkness below.

"RENAMON NO!"

…

WarGreymon roars as he charges SkullGreymon again, the giant undead Digimon slowly turning its bony head to face him. However, that had been the plan, and as it focused on it's counterpart MetalGarurumon flew upwards with a roar from the other side.

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

The missiles shoot forwards and slam into SkullGreymon, him hissing with anger as the ice surrounds him and creates a giant block around him. MetalGarurumon smirks as he lands back down on the ground, and says, with just a hint of arrogance like his partner, "And that's how it's done."

"Oh shut up." WarGreymon grumbles, levitating slightly beside him. "Nice ice sculpture you made there. I'd hate to have to blow it to pieces."

"Nah, go ahead."

"TERR-!"

But before WarGreymon can send the attack crashing into the enemy that was standing so still for him, the ice started cracking on its own.

Tai's eyes widen. "…Are you joking?!"

"You've got to be KIDDING me!" Matt yells, his eyes nearly popping out of his face as MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon both take slight steps back, disbelief and slight fear on their expressions as well. This wasn't right, this wasn't natural, and as the SkullGreymon burst free from what should have been one of MetalGarurumon's most powerful attacks, the two of them couldn't help but wonder…Were they both out of their league?

"Incoming!" A black blur appears in the sky as several more Devidramons were punched out of the air, Alexander whipping around and shooting his weapons and giving true new meaning to the term gunslinger.

But the most unbelievable thing was when Alexander actually grabbed one of the Devidramon by the tail and swung it around, ignoring the howls of pain and rage from the black dragon.

Tai's eye twitches slightly in disbelief and Matt pats him on the back. "By the way…Tai you do realize that that's your girlfriend's Daddy right?"

"Shut up…" Tai says weakly, not even bothering to try and remind Matt that he and Lily weren't dating anymore. He was too busy being struck with the horrifying mental image of Alexander swinging HIM around like that. Dear Yggdrasil.

SkullGreymon lets out a startled snarl as the attack hits him head on and he's slammed to the ground, the dragon hitting him in the head. It takes a few moments for Tai's jaw to stop hanging there and for him to slowly close it.

Alexander's eyes flicker back towards them and then widen. "Matt! Look out!"

"Wh…"

Matt yells suddenly as the ground seems to give out from under him and he falls, Tai lunging forwards to grab his friend's hand a minute too late.

"NO!"

MetalGarurumon roars and dives downwards. "I'm coming Matt!"

…

Ryo mutters a curse word and Daemon says mildly, "Language…."

"…REALLY? You're a Demon from Hell and you're correcting me on my swearing?"

"True. I think Alexander's fussiness about the entire thing is what turned us against it. He's very particular at times."

"…The biker Digimon doesn't like swearing…" Davis says this slowly, behaving in his familiar manner of interjecting himself into any conversation, even ones that clearly he wasn't involved in.

"You guys really don't live up to your images, do you?" Veemon asks, looking up at Daemon. He was a lot more alert than he had been previously. While before walking outside he and Monodramon had been utterly miserable, being reptilian Digimon, now they were acting as though nothing was really amiss, as though this were just your average walk in the park, as if they're weren't in the middle of northern Alaska, in a snowstorm, at night, in winter.

Considering how hot Daemon's flames were, Ken was beginning to think his crack about melting all the ice might become an unfortunate reality. He was not eager to go swimming in weather like this.

Daemon chuckles ruefully. "Not villainous monsters set on world destruction? No I suppose in that sense we're truly not. Though had you met us when we first formed together…I suspect you probably would not have liked us as much."

"I don't know." Davis says. "After all we met Ken when he was still doing the Digimon Emperor stint and we liked him just fine."

"…I think you mean you like me NOW, Davis." Ken says, raising an eyebrow. "Because as I recall you and I spent most of our time trying to kill each other."

"Well yes…that part pretty much stunk, but I didn't hate YOU completely."

"Well why the heck not?! I certainly deserved it."

Davis shrugs. "Probably because I just…geez I dunno. You were a jerk, yeah but…I dunno. I guess I could never really believe that a kid like me could be truly evil."

Ken's mouth opens and closes a couple of times. Ryo fights back a smile. "…At least someone is fair to you." She murmurs. "More fair than you're being to yourself, really."

"…" Ken sighs slightly, Davis already up ahead and debating with Stella what direction they should travel. "…I don't know, sometimes…." He hesitates. "…I guess…a part of me feels like…if I don't punish myself…if I just forget what happened than how is that fair to all of the Digimon I put through such hell?"

"Ken, you need to stop thinking about these sort of things." Ryo says firmly, looking up from where she was messing with her Digivice again. "Look, I know you have guilt issues, trust me, I have them too. About…a lot of things…"

Ken couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Ryo had always seemed so much more confident than he did, but….

"You know I had a weird dream last night…" He muses, looking at her. "…You were in it."

"When you say weird, do you mean weird weird or do you mean kinky weird, because if you mean the latter keep in mind I can hurt you."

"Wha?!" Ken's cheeks flush a bright red. "N-No! Nothing like that, I swear!"  
Ryo eyes him a bit suspiciously and Monodramon socks a fist in his palm once, golden eyes narrowing.

"I SWEAR it was nothing like that." Ken repeats, because there's nothing more awkward than your sort of but not official girlfriend looking at you like she's wondering if she's going to have to beat you to a pulp. "…It was actually about you and Monodramon…and me and Wormmon…in a desert…"

"…What do you mean desert?" Ken can't quite understand why Ryo's tone suddenly turns very wary indeed, or why Monodramon's eyes widen slightly and a low growl escapes his throat.

"Er…yes…" Ken blinks. "You me and…one other guy I think…" Ryo's hands are shaking at her sides and he hesitates, reaching down to grab it insictively. "…Are you ok? What's wrong?"

"What did the other guy look like?" Ryo whispers, her voice cracking.

"…Tall…blonde…why? Ryo, what's wrong? I don't understand, it was just a crazy dream okay?"

She pushes away from him and walks forwards slightly.

"Ryo?"

"Leave me alone." Her voice comes out terse and angry, and she doesn't look back at him.

Stella's eyebrows knit together and she shoots Ken a look, he can't tell if it's sympathetic or if she's blaming him for something he can't understand, but then she hurries to catch up to Ryo.

"Girl trouble?" Davis asks, walking up beside him while Ken stares after her in a mixture of confusion, hurt, and a tiny bit of anger. Seriously, what had he possibly said that could make her so upset?

"…You wouldn't really understand." He mutters. "Look, let's just keep walking." He adds as Davis, indignantly, opens his mouth to start lecturing Ken about just how much he DID know about girls, thanks very much. "We want to find this Destiny Stone, do we not?"

And then Ken focused on completely shutting Davis out, because considering how the kid was still oblivious to the fact Yolei liked him and he obviously really liked Yolei, he really didn't have a clue about relationships. He continues to stare at Ryo's back before sighing miserably. And he really didn't either. Sometimes he thought he was so close to Ryo, but other times he didn't think he understood her at all.

…

Lilithmon's eyes narrow down to slits as she feels Darkdramon's claws bare down harder on her, pain filling her body, but she's refusing to show any sign of it.

"So much for bonds and friendship…" He snarls, bringing his head back for another attack.

"LILITHMON!" Joe screams, pushing himself upwards and watching in horror at what looks like it will be the demise of Dilbert's partner.

But right before the attack hits, a blur appears right above Darkdramon's head, and then suddenly he screams in agony. He has a pretty darn good reason to. Nothing worse than having one of your eyes slashed out by a furious Crescemon's blades.

"…Holy crap…" Ikakumon grumbles, managing to push himself back up. "I would not want to make that girl angry."

"…Me neither." Joe breathes, and in his mad thrashing around Joe's eyes suddenly widen as the attack he was preparing to blast at Lilithmon is misdirected and comes flying towards HIM instead!

"JOE!" Ikakumon roars, stumbling forwards, but Ikakaumon are not fast Digimon at the best of times and he had taken a serious beating from before.

The light of the attack reflects off Joe's glasses as he lets out a terrified cry of alarm, right before he felt someone scooping him up and leaping ABOVE the attack with a speed that brought Crescemon to shame.

The attack exploded on the ground, leaving a menacing scar on the landscape that stretched backwards for a couple of miles. Ikakumon's eyes widen with horror and he lets out a desperate roar of "JOE! NO!"

"I'm up here!"

Relief pounding through his Digicore Ikakumon looked up to see Joe and the person who had rescued him landing safely on the ground beside him. Wait…that person…

It was all the seal Digimon could do not to gape as he stared at the person in disbelief. "…Ge-….GENNAI?!"

Gennai chuckles, still standing there holding onto Joe. "I must say, the look of shere disbelief on your face never fails to get old."

"But you're…you're…."

"Young…?!" Joe says in disbelief, staring up at him. It was almost unbelievable that this person could really be Gennai. The Gennai both of them remembered had been a very old man, stooped over, with droopy eyes and a small strand of hair done up in a ponytail. True, he'd still been able to put Tai in a headlock but still…this was really really weird…

"What…how…?"

"I see your kids' obsession with minor details hasn't changed." Gennai sighs, rolling his eyes. "Should you possibly pay more attention to the fact that there's a giant draconic Digimon on the warpath that's now completely enraged and is likely to turn on that train again?"

"…What?!"

Screams from the passengers echoed outside as Darkdramon stumbles around before fixing one baleful eye on the source of the obnoxious noise, a snarl appearing in his throat.

Joe was beginning to wonder if the other humans would ever do anything BUT scream, because surely the smart thing to do would be to RUN by this point. And some of them had, but others, he could see, were too afraid.

"Guys, DO SOMETHING!"

"Go and lead the humans to safety…" Gennai says firmly as he stands next to Ikakumon, Crescemon lands gracefully by them, and Lilithmon manages to stumble back to her feet and walk over, wincing in pain slightly but eyes blazing with determination.

"…By myself?" Joe asks warily, swallowing. Ikakumon snorts. "Joe, give me a break. You're the Digidestined of Reliability, remember? I know you're not going to let those humans down. You've never let me down before, so don't start now, okay?"

Joe hesitates for a moment before a wry smile appears on his face and he nods, eyes glinting. "You can count on me. I'm not going to let any of you down."

"Then don't just stand there…" Lilithmon growls. "Go! I have business to deal with lizard face there!"

Joe manages to bolt down towards the train, unbelievable that a few years ago, he wouldn't be able to run towards the train at all, much less risk his own life to save all of these people. He had the Digiworld to thank for the new strength he had, and…he had Gomamon to thank to. He would not repay that by letting them down.

He bolts up into the train, slamming a door open, his eyes scanning down the halls warily to see if there were any more angry enemy Digimon out lurking around. He breathes a sigh of relief when that is not the case, and yanks a door open. A terrified family looks up at him, and the father steps protectively in front of his wife and children. "W-what do you want?" He stammers, eyes narrowing down to slits. "Go away—if you touch any of them I swear I will…."

"Easy…easy…" Joe holds up his hands and glances over to see the women has a bad gash on the side of her head, and from the look on her face, she looks close to passing out. Rather that's from the fear or the head injury is anyone's guess, but the main point is that she needs help.

"Look, let me…"

"You're with those monsters, aren't you!" The man bellows, louder, angrier this time. "I saw you with that hairy menace. I won't let you have anything to do with my family!"

This time Joe really had to duck a blow to the head. Clenching his teeth, he manages to reach up and grab the man by the arm, twisting it behind his back and causing a yelp of pain. He feels guilty but he really doesn't have time for this. "Look." Joe says, trying to force himself to remain calm. "I'm on your side, all right? And that, hairy menace, as you so put it, is my partner. And he's risking his life to protect you, and everyone else on this train, so I'd better not hear you say a word against him, all right?"

The man lets out a faint whimper, and Joe slowly lets go to let the big, beefy man crawl into the corner, trembling so hard even his moustache was shaking. Joe glances over at the woman, who had collapsed into a chair, her skinny frame the near opposite of her husband. "Are you going to help Mommy?" Their young, pudgy boy asks, his blue yes big and wet with unshed tears.

Joe smiles and ruffles the kid's blonde hair. "I'm certainly going to try. But we need to get you all out of here," He adds, hearing another roar from Darkdramon. "Then I'll make sure she's okay, I promise."

He gives the man a sharp look who reluctantly follows his unspoken order and carries his wife towards the door, obeying Jeo's request to follow him. Suddenly there's a loud snarl, and Joe lets out a startled gasp as the Snimon, which had practically forced its head through the wall of the train, snarls before bringing back his blade to slice right through Joe.

He doesn't have time to move, doesn't have time to react….and then suddenly his saving grace comes as another blade flashes, hitting the Snimon right between the eyes.

Dilbert turns around and flashes Joe a grin. "Long time no see, huh?"

"…You're ok?!"

"Heck yeah. Thanks to your friend." Dilbert says calmly, raising a hand again and causing his dagger to come flying back towards him, just as the Snimon burst into pieces of data.

The man whimpers before he too passes out. Dilbert looks down at him with a blank expression before looking back at Joe and stating flatly, "I'm not carrying that one."

...

Edan groans, slamming his head against the desk. D'Arcmon jumps slightly at the noise and looks over at her partner. "Edan? What's wrong?"

"Immm useee…" He mumbles, his face blockaded by the wood, and she rolls her eyes slightly before grabbing him by the hair and pulling upwards. "What is it, really?"

"Nothing, it's just…" His voice trails off. "…I feel like….I'm completely useless back here. The others are all risking their lives and there's practically nothing I can do to help."

"…Edan….." D'Arcmon sighs, closing her eyes. She knew Edan always had this sort of insecurity. He always hated how he couldn't be a fierce battler like the others. He was strong, when he had to be but…it just…wasn't something he was good at it. He froze up more often than not, and the idea of killing others, even causing enemy's pain wasn't something he could feel all right with. He'd felt horribly guilty for days after the fight against NeoVamdemon, and even worse after all the Digimon they'd been forced to kill when they fought to rescue Adelina. It was a contrast he just couldn't seem to fix—he was enraged when his friends were threatened and would turn vicious if that were the case….but it would scar him. D'Arcmon didn't care, she liked him how he was, and she knew the other Tamers felt the same way as well. They loved their pacifistic, nerdy little brother. It was the reason Sira had never really pushed him to become a battler.

"We all have our strengths and weaknesses." D'Arcmon quotes, remembering how Sira had once said the same thing to her, at a time when she'd been really frustrated with his pacifism, back when they'd first formed their bond. "Without our individuality we'd be like a clock without all of its gears. We need you how you are Edan. You're even better at computer stuff than Sira is, and very few people can say that you know."

Edan sighs. "….Sometimes I still feel that…" His voice trails off. "…I'd do absolutely anything to get stronger. Make any promises I had to, if it meant I had the strength necessary to be a good Tamer."

"You ARE a good Tamer, Edan." D'Arcmon pleads with him. "I wish you wouldn't worry about this kind of stuff and just realize how much you mean to the rest of the team."

"…Sometimes I'm not so sure that I deserve them." He sighs, lowering his head.

"What?! That's ridiculous. Edan, you're Dilbert's favourite person to mess with…." Her voice trails off, perhaps realizing that that's not the most helpful statement. Trying again she continues, "And Adelina and Sira both see you as a brother figure, and Zach looks up to you, I mean not as much as the others but…." Wow. She was really REALLY not good at this.

Edan shoots her a slightly sour look and she sighs, trying one more time. "…Stella likes you." She says softly, lowering her head. There's a slight flush to Edan's cheeks as he stares determinedly at the computer screen.

"…Edan…."

"Look, don't worry about it." He says quickly, before pressing a couple more keys. "I'm the guy in the background. That's all I'll…ever really be good for, and eventually I'll come to accept that."

"Edan, that's not….' Her voice trails off as his entire body stiffens.

"Be quiet."

Her eyes narrow down to slits and she snaps, "You know I'm just trying to help you, right?"

"I know that, but there's something…." His voice trails off and she realizes he's not annoyed at her, or being rude, there's something on the screen that's bothering him. And judging by the way his entire posture is tense, it's something very big. "…What is it?"

Edan hesitates before clenching his teeth and then pulling up a picture that shows Ryo's group trudging through the snow—well, more like slush, now, thanks to Daemon. He minimizes the picture slightly to see another signal moving closer to them, at a rapid speed.

"…" D'Arcmon feels her hackles start to rise as she says slowly, "What…is that exactly?"

"…It's Lily's signal…" He mutters, pinching his nose between his finger.

"What the heck?! Wasn't she supposed to be with Alexander and the others?"

"That's what we thought." Edan says grimly, his eyes narrowing down to slits.

"Could it just be a glitch?" She asks, confusion and this strange sense of fear rising up in her. She doesn't know why, it's ridiculous to be afraid of something like this. But…but…

"…I don't think so…" Edan's jaw sets as he manages to say grimly, "Something's wrong, something's very very wrong."

…

Ebemon's eyes widen as he takes a slight step back, and stammers out a voice that seems robbed of it's usual confidence, "H-how did you possibly get out of there?!"

Lilithmon smirks. "You might want to invest in tighter chains, buddy." Her claws glint wickedly as she continues in a far too sweet tone, "It was simple enough as soon as you were distracted."

"Thanks for that Lilithmon." Lillymon breathes, floating so she's closer to the Demon Lord of Lust. Lilithmon snorts slightly. "Don't thank me just yet. You take the Bug, he's only an Ultimate. I'll take care of the reject from Mars."

"But if you get hit by that gun, you're under his control as well!" Mimi protests, her face paling slightly. "I really don't think this is a good…."

Lilithmon lets out a bark of laughter. "Sweetheart, there is no way that someone so hideously ugly and who also can't appreciate a beautiful woman could possibly control me."

"Besides, it's not like we have a choice." Lillymon says grimly. "We're the only two Digimon left, now that he's got Tentomon."

Izzy clenches his fists to try to keep them from trembling. The whole thing was like an awful twist. Four years ago, he had been the one underneath Vademon's control, so to speak. Now he understood how Tentomon must have felt, watching the loss of someone you loved right in front of you. But he would repay the favour.

"Tentomon saved me, now I'll save him." He says firmly, his eyes glinting slightly.

"Absolutely." Lillymon nods. "…Izzy…you know I might have to hurt Tentomon in order to help him ok?"

Mimi winces and Izzy sucks in his breath, before closing his eyes and nodding. "…Do what you have to do."

"Not if we strike first!" Ebemon shrieks, and Lilithmon blinks. "…Is there a reason why you haven't attacked even during this long and frankly filler-space of a conversation?"

Ebemon puts on an obnoxious pose, hand over his chest, and says, "A true gentleman never strikes against a lady first, isn't that right, MegaKabuterimon?"

MegaKabuterimon growls slightly, taking a menacing step forwards. Lillymon just shrugs before flying upwards. "Your mistake. VICIOUS VINE!"

It was a new attack she hadn't had as much time to practice with, but the vine slams downwards as MegaKabuterimon charges at her again, right on the underside of his jaw.

MegaKabuterimon screeches in rage and then a mixture of pain as the vines spread and sprouted several large thorns, that even his tough shell couldn't stand a chance against.

She glances back over her shoulder as he continues to try and break free, but this time to no avail. Lilithmon was having a very, ridiculously easy time with this, only having to slash her claws a few times to send Ebemon into a cowardly panic. The idea of facing an actual Demon Lord seemed to have robbed him of nearly all his senses, as any coward would be. Lilithmon just rolls her eyes before finally pinning him to the side of a larger asteroid. "You should know that none of your tactics were really going to work on someone like me." She says in a very bored tone, bringing her claws back again as the other hand held him pinned by the throat. "Now say goodbye."

However Ebemon's terrified expression turns into a slight smirk, and Lillymon gasps as she sees the gun pointed right at Lilithmon's stomach, starting to charge once more. "FLOWER WREATH!"

The string of flowers shoot downwards and wrap around Ebemon's weapon, yanking it out of his hands and sending it flying.

"He-HEY!" Ebemon's face goes absolutely pale as he sees the weapon go flying and end up near Izzy's feet. Izzy stares down at it for a moment before smiling darkly and picking up a loose rock and raising it high above his head.

"MEGAKABUTERIMON! KILL HIM! NOW!"

MegaKabuterimon lets out a furious roar as he finally manages to tear free of Lillymon's attack, though it leaves deep scars on his skin as he does so. "HORN BUSTER!"

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Lillymon screams, putting her hands together again and forming a bright orange bulb. "FLOWER…CANNON!"

Both attacks shoot forwards before ramming into each other at top speed. Lillymon screams as she's thrown backwards, and the explosion bursts outwards, a blinding light that fills the entire miniature solar system.

The rock Izzy was holding comes smashing down onto Ebemon's gun, shattering it into dozens of pieces, and Ebemon's scream echoes.

Izzy stumbles backwards as the rush of energy surges towards them, and Mimi screams, when suddenly, Lilithmon is there, wrapping both of the kids up in her arms and pinning them close to her chest. At any other moment Izzy would have found this beyond awkward and scarring but the destruction of Ebemon's whole entire universe kind of made him forget about that.

"We've got to go!" Lilithmon snaps, soaring upwards at top speed as the explosion grows louder, the light seeming to seer up after them,

"WAIT!" Mimi screams, horror filling her as she tries to get free. "WE CAN'T LEAVE! TENTOMON! LILLYMON!"

Lilithmon tightens her hold on the two cursing, struggling teenagers so there's no way they can possibly break free. "Look, I'm sorry, but I have to get you out of here, got it!"

"TENTOMON!"

Suddenly there's a flash of pink wings and then Lillymon's right there beside them, and Mimi lets out a cry of relief, as does Izzy, because held tightly in Lillymon's arms is…

"Tentomon!"

Tentomon moans and stirs feebly, and Lilithmon clenches her teeth, looking frantically around for a way out. "This entire place is going to be torn apart, and if we don't get out of here soon, we're going to go down with it. Any suggestions, braniac?"

Izzy casts his mind frantically around for some sort of solution to this disaster, but he's drawing a complete blank. Not only is this incredibly rare, but this is possibly the absolute worse time for him t be drawing a blank!

"Izzy?!" Mimi asks desperately, clinging onto his jacket sleeve, and he clenches his teeth at the fear in her eyes, as the roar from the exploding universe gets louder and louder.

"…Do…" Tentomon moans.

Izzy glances back over at him, eyes narrowing in confusion before widening. "Door! There's a door Vademon would use to get in and out!"

"Oh BRILLIANT!" Lilithmon shouts, suddenly ducking to avoid chunks of asteroid blasted at her. "Anyway you can think of to help us find this so called door of yours?!"

Eyes desperately scanning the area, Mimi suddenly then screeches, "There!"

Sure enough, even though it's hard to tell because of the fact the whole data of this place is fluctuating, there is a simple brown door, looking horribly out of place, floating admist the cosmos.

"Better hurry!" Lillymon gasps, her wings pounding upwards, knowing that if they didn't make it there in time, then they were all doomed.

Her fingers inches from the door she whirls around at a yell of pain from Lilithmon. Apparently Lilithmon had been hit with some of the flying debris, quite heavily in the side, and she let out a scream of pain as she was thrown downwards.

Mimi shrieks, feeling herself fall from Lilithmon's grip and towards the explosion of light.

"MIMI!"

A hand wraps around hers firmly and Izzy's fingers lace through hers, a look of sheer desperation in his eyes as he stares at her. "Don't…let…go…" He says through clenched teeth, even though all of his muscles were screaming at him to do just that, that there would be no way to save her now.

Mimi swallows hard as she dangles and the very fabric of Vademon's play world seem to be coming apart. "Izzy I…I just want…to tell you…"

"FLOWER WREATH!"

The flowers shoot down once more and wrap around all three of them, yanking them back up towards the safety of the door. Gasping, Lillymon exclaims, "Don't scare me like that EVER again!"

"Won't try to." Mimi manages a wry smile even though her heart is pounding at what feels like a million miles an hour and she has to surpress the urge to be violently ill.

Lilithmon snorts. "I know I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but no one tells any of this story to the rest of the Demon Lords, got it? They'd never let me live it down, and I mean NEVER."

"All right, all right." Lillymon laughs, and the next second the group dives through the open doorway, just as another loud explosion echoes.

…

"Ugh…Mimi…" Izzy mumbles, pushing himself upwards. The sounds of hundreds of people talking at once fill his ears, like the annoying buzzing sounds of insects, and he slowly opens his eyes to see a group scattered around.

"Car accident…"

"Must have been…."

"Hey kid, can you hear me?"

"Mimi…?" He breathes, a frantic fear filling him. He grabs the man's shirt and pulls himself up slightly. "Easy, kid, don't move too suddenly, you could have some serious injuries."

"Mimi, is she…" He coughs. "Is she all right?"

Glancing around, Izzy sees Mimi being supported by several more humans, who are lifting her, despite her fierce protests that she's fine, onto a stretcher. She looks completely fine, annoyed at the worst.

He glances over and then fights the desire to facepalm, again. Lilithmon is batting her eyelashes as she places a hand on one of the paramedic's shirt. "Oh, honey, how very good of you to come and rescue us." She positively purrs, her eyes gleaming.

The poor guy's face is completely red as he manages to stammer out, "…J-Just doing our jobs ma'am."

"Oh, but you're my little knight in shining armour, aren't you?" She giggles. And his face turns even redder, as he manages to squeak out, "Um…I…I….Ma'am…we need to…get you to the hospital so the doctors can check you out."

"Hmm? I'd be much happier at the idea of YOU checking me out."

"LILITHMON!" Izzy and Mimi both yell at her, eyes twitching. Up on top of the building, out of sight of the humans, Lillymon sighs before collapsing, wiping sweat off her forehead. "That was too, too close."

"Lillymon…"

"Hmm?"

Tentomon looks up at her, and somehow, with those big green eyes that don't change expression, he manages to convey so many words. And all he says out loud is, "Thank you…"

Her own black eyes widen slightly before she smiles. "Don't worry about it! What are friends for?"

…

In the darkness, something stirs once more. "Is the project…commencing well?"

"I believe in my forces, Lord Millenniummon." A voice responds, much younger than the other, which sounds like it's seen, appropriately, millennium.

"…I have waited a long time for this…if GranDracmon thought the use of his own mistake against innocent Digimon was painful, wait until he sees what shall come next."

The younger being's eyes narrowed, hair flying back slightly, as he stares without fear into those cold gold eyes. "You know it is likely none of them will survive the process."

"And do you care?" The tone is mocking, the massive pupils slitting. "After all, you raised your own…little one, in a way."

The other being lets out a snort of complete disgust. "I certainly wouldn't call it that. And the person to who you're referring to, was a complete waste of my time."

"…I wonder…"

"I assure you, master, while I might have…digressed and sought for my own power after your sealment…I am completely loyal to you now."

"Hmm…" The being closes his eyes. "You are the only one of my old liteunants left. They all sought their own power as well, only to be destroyed by the Digidestined. As you were as well, as I recall."

"I failed, I am not so prideful as to believe that I am invincible."

"You have certainly changed since those early years, then, it appears. Do not forget that I am the one who instructed you in manners of darkness."

"I have not forgotten it master." He bows his head and can't help the thought passing through his mind, "_And neither have I forgotten the phrase, the student may oft surpass the master."_

"Then go. And do not fail me…" The ground below him shakes slightly and peels away to reveal a gaping mouth with massive teeth, a black tongue, and data flickering through the skin the way a human would have bones poking through. It's an absolutely horrible sight and as cocky as he is, the being cannot help the fear that runs through his body.

"…I would never fail you master." He vows, lowering his head again. The master closes his eyes once more and his liteunant takes that as his cue to leave.

The minute he knows the master is no longer paying attention to him—the lord was not ominescent no matter what he claimed, his lips curl into a vicious smirk. Like putty in his hands.

…

Monodramon glances anxiously at his partner, seeing her downcast expression and sighs. He knows she's clearly feeling horribly guilty for snapping at Ken like that, but she also believes she didn't have any choice.

"Ryo…"

"There's nothing to talk about Monodramon." She says stiffly, looking at the others who would certainly listen in. Granted none of them appeared to have Davis' eavesdropping habits but still, she was reluctant to take any chances.

Monodramon shakes his head stubbornly. "You don't need to do this Ryo. Not for me. Not for…" His voice trails off as an increasingly dark look appears on Ryo's face. He has a feeling that if he mentions the name he was about to, Ryo might actually slap him. Why couldn't she realize that he was grieving too? More than she could possibly imagine.

"He asked me to watch out for you." He whispers, lowering his voice. "I need to keep that promise Ryo. It was the last thing he asked me to do before we lost him."

"…And he asked us to watch over Ken too." She whispers, her voice cracking. "And look how well that turned out."

"We didn't realize what had happened to him." Monodramon pleads. "How could we? We didn't know…"

Ryo's head droops even more, her fists clenching.

"…All I'm saying is…you can't protect him if you keep pushing him away…."

She slowly raises her head, and he can see the hint of tears glimmering in her eyes again. "…I dunno, Monodramon. I just don't know."

"HEY! WHAT THE-GAHHHHH!"

Her head whips around at the sound of Davis' scream, as does Daemon, who slowly turns his head around and narrows blue eyes.

Something has Davis pinned to the ground, a ball of light formed above his chest, Veemon lying unconscious in the snow, and Ken and Stella both bolting back towards their friend, Tsukaimon and Wormmon right behind them.

"MONODRAMON! COME ON!"

What could POSSIBLY be attacking them?! Ryo thinks in disbelief as she skids to a halt in front of Davis. It had to be some kind of Digimon. No wild animal could use special abilities, of course.

"GET IT MONORDRAMON!"

Monodramon snarls as he charges head first, bringing his claws back for a slash, the being standing to full height and slamming a fist surrounded with light energy into his face.

Monodramon skids backwards with a yelp, landing on his back next to Ryo, who shouts, "Oh COME ON! Is that the best you've got, creep? Cause we can take a whole lot more!"

Daemon raises a hand and blasts a sphere of fire at the snow right in front of the being—with an inhuman snarl it leaps out of the way, landing crouched.

"I don't know who you are but…" His voice trails off and his eyes widen in disbelief. Ryo has to force her mouth to close. Because…what she's seeing in front of her…is IMPOSSIBLE…

"N-no…it can't be YOU…why would you?!"

AN: OH SNAP. Who could that be?


	34. Fire and Ice, Not again Lily!

Chapter Thirty-Three

AN: Well not much to say this time. Actually managed to get it out earlier than I expected! And there's only 9 more weeks left of school before I graduate! I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!

Davis groans, struggling to get back to his feet. His head was pounding in pain from hitting the icy ground so hard after getting hit by what had felt like a steamroller.

"Yggdrasil, what Golemon did we piss off?" He mutters, dazed, his maroon eyes struggling to focus in on…anything. He could see Ryo standing in front of him, her face icy pale, her eyes widened in shock and horror.

The figure standing between him and Ryo wasn't that tall, but he could definitely tell it was a girl. No man had curves like that. Then there was the fact that her entire body was glowing. Not extreme glowing, but a faint, golden light like the warmth of the lava lamp he kept in his room. At first he thought it had to be some kind of Digimon. But no Digimon, as far as he knew, wore tight jeans and a old T-shirt.

His eyes widen slightly, because suddenly, he knows who this person is, but his mind can't accept what his eyes are telling him. No way…no freaking way…

"Lily, what the HECK?!"

Lily's lips curl back in a snarl as she's facing both Ryo and Daemon, the two of them both too stunned and horrified to really act.

"Are her eyes…." Ryo's voice trails off. "…Are her eyes…gold?"

"H-huh?"

Ken scrambles back to his feet and places himself in front of Ryo, ignoring her protests. "Lily, it's us! Don't you recognize us?!"

"I…don't think she does…" Wormmon says nervously as Lily's snarl grows deeper, curling her lip to show fangs glinting in the night.

"Enough of this foolishness." Daemon says firmly, taking a step forwards. "Lily, I don't understand what's going on but you must desist immediately."

"You honestly think that's going to be enough?" Monodramon deadpans, and Daemon mutters, "It's how we handle it when Lucemon has a temper tantrum, all right?"

Lily's growling stops slightly and she slowly studies him, eyes narrowing as though she's trying to piece together a memory.

"Thatta girl…" Daemon mutters, his tone way more gentle and soothing than you could ever believe a Demon Lord of Wrath could have.

Ryo's hand snaps towards her gun as the look of slight confusion on Lily's face quickly slides into something much different—a look of dangerous cruelty.

"NO!"

The blast of light seems to be aiming straight for Daemon, before suddenly changing course and hitting Ken instead, screams of horror erupting from all who were watching., the attack scoring a deep gorge in the ice that seemed at least a meter thick.

Ken hits the icy ground like a discarded doll and lies there, motionless, and Ryo's and Davis' screams of horror and rage seem to overpower the wind.

"TRAITOR!"

Wormmon lets out a strangled gasp as Ryo charges forwards and Lily's head snaps around, her eyes flashing with dark amusement. "Ryo, look out!"

Lily's knuckles glow with light energy as she aims a punch at Ryo's head that possibly could have knocked the human girl's skull in, and probably would have as well, if Stingmon's hand didn't curl around her wrist and send her flying backwards.

She lands, shrieking like a thing possessed, and Stingmon flies protectively in front of Ryo. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if I have to." He growls, looking into those emotionless eyes. This COULDN'T be Lily. It wasn't possible.

Lily bares her fangs in contempt and charges forwards, her hands glowing bright light, slashing downwards. The blades of light form an X-shape that slams into his chest and he staggers back before flying upwards. She snorts, her own wings ripping free from her back and soars after him.

"Wormmon! Be careful!" Davis yells. Veemon clenches his fists. "I should be helping him, for crying out loud!"

'You can't fly, buddy." He sets his jaw in frustration, trying to fight back the feeling that he's going to be horribly sick. "…There's nothing we can do."

"SPIKING STRIKE!" Stingmon shouts, his arm surrounded in the pink energy, the blade forming as he slices down at her. He doesn't intend to actually hit her, only to freak her out. But Lily just smiles darkly and the next second, when he slices down at the spot near her shoulder, she's suddenly behind him, kicking downwards with the force of any angry Champion Digimon.

He slams downwards and her fists shine with gold light again, before forming another X-shape. Stingmon lets out a scream of agony as the light punches right through his left wing. He slams into the ground hard, smoke rising from the ground.

"STINGMON NO!"

Monodramon snarls desperately, squinting his eyes tight to try and force the darkness he feels raging up inside of him growing stronger and stronger every second.

Ryo slowly turns her head to look back over at him, her eyes widening with horror. "Monodramon…wait….don't….."

Lily smirks and takes a few more steps forwards as Stingmon struggles to get back to his feet.

"Enough!" Daemon's voice barks out as Lily just snarls in response and starts forming a ball of light between her hands again. The streak of fire freaks out both bug and girl, both of them jumping back with shrieks, Stingmon throwing his arms up to protect his face.

Davis whirls around to glower at Stella. "What the heck are you doing?!Why are you just standing there?!"

Stella hisses with frustration, Tsukaimon fluttering next to her. "….What am I SUPPOSED to do?" She growls. Her shoulders are tense and her face is pale. "….I….don't….."

"…." He looks over at her. He's never seen her like this before. "….You have to do something." He insists. "It's your responsibility as leader!"

Stella clenches her teeth with frustration. This is exactly like before. Her freezing up when her team needs her most!

Lily snarls and charges forwards, Daemon raising the flames slightly to try and dissuade her, but she forms the blast and directs it right at Ryo and Ken.

"MOVE!" Stella slams into her and knocks her out of the way, the two of them sent sprawling down the icy bank along with Ken.

Her hair is covered with icicles and such as she struggles to push herself back upwards. Glancing over at Ryo she gasps out, "Are you okay?"

Ryo's eyes are full of fear as she frantically shakes Ken's shoulder. "Wake up…please….please…Ken!"

Lily's eyes however, reflect only the flames, no emotion, no recognition, just flames tainted with gold from her irises.

"Something's wrong." Davis mutters, his fists clenching so tight that the fingernails cut into his palm.

"Gee, one of our friends is possessed, the other is unconscious, and to top it off, we're lost in the middle of the Artic! What was your first clue?" Veemon demands, his voice growing slightly more shrill.

However, his eyes widen in horror as Davis bolts towards Lily. "Have you gone CRAZY?!"

"Motomiya, come back!" Daemon roars as Davis yells, "I've got to at least TRY and reach her!"

"Ken…Ken…" Ryo's tone becomes increasingly desperate as Monodramon stands by her side. He feels a sudden tightening in his chest, and his growl becomes increasingly more enraged. How dare anyone hurt his partner like this? Hasn't she been through enough already? To loose ANOTHER person she cares for?!

The darkness seems to rise up more and more inside of him, despite his best efforts to keep it under control. No, no, no, he can't loose it, not here, not with so many injured, they wouldn't stand a chance…

Lily snarls a warning at Davis as he approaches her, another orb of light forming in her hand. Her eyes gleam with menace and she spits out a, "Get back, Digidestined brats, unless you want your inners scattered all over this place."

"I'd rather not." Davis admits, trying not to let his knees knock together. "I'm kind of fond of my innards, to be honest with you."

Her eyebrows knit together slightly and she snorts. "Idiot…" But the voice seems different somehow than the previous snarl.

"Davis…" Veemon whispers, about ready to bolt forwards, when Daemon grabs him by the tail, lifting him up in the air slightly.

"Let me go! I can't just let him get blasted to bits as well!"

"Silence." Daemon growls, his blue eyes narrowing. "Let the boy try. Is she acting aggressive right now at all?"

The Demon Lord is right. Lily's face is still slightly blank, but when Davis says, "I know. I really am. I mean, you and Yolei tell me so enough times, right?", her mouth curls in…what looks like the barest hint of a smile.

Veemon struggles not to gape in disbelief. "She can hear him?!"

"A part of her can, yes." Daemon murmurs. Davis w asn't sure quite what to do now. Lily was still eyeing him far too intently for his liking, but that hint of a snicker on her face…Yggdrasil knew she;d given him that look plenty of times before.

Ugh, he really, really wished Tai would be here. Tai would know what to do in this situation. And certainly if anyone could make Lily truly snap out of whatever was going on with her, it would be Tai.

Wait a minute…that was it…

"Lily…I'm going to do something you're probably REALLY REALLY not going to like but I think it's going to help you so please don't kill me later!"

"…What is he talking about?" Stingmon asks deadpan before his eyes widened in disbelief. For Davis had suddenly leaned forward and done the unthinkable. He just full on kisses Lily on the lips.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…That…."

"…Did not just happen…."

Lily's eyes shoot open and she lets out a strangled cry before punching Davis in the face and sending him sprawling backwards. Veemon rushes forwards, panic obvious, but then Lily shouts in her normal voice, "YOU COMPLETE #$$% IDIOT YOU! DON'T…EVER…!"

"Lily?!" Davis grins even though he's sporting a black eye, quite the shiner too, and Daemon breaths a sigh of relief.

Lily's eyes flicker back over to where Ken is barely starting to stir, and sees the look of fury Ryo shoots her, and her face pales. "Oh Yggdrasil almighty…." She breathes. "Not again…" Backing away she whispers desperately, "Not again, please!"

"Again?! Lily, what are you talking about?"

She cringes, bending over from pain, and Daemon reaches out to grab her and she lets out a scream of "DON'T TOUCH ME! You have to GO! RUN!"

"Run…? Run from…?"

There's a low growl behind them….a growl that seems to be coming from the Earth itself. Davis glances down and seems small pebbles of ice trembling and manages to gulp.

…"….Uh…Davis…" Veemon's voice comes out as a squeak. "I….think she was talking….about that…."

Davis slowly turns his head around, feeling like he's been thrown into a ridiculous horror movie. Climbing over the slopes of the massive icy hills around them, the dark creature's red eyes gleam. It's massive, it's terrifying, it's….

"A GIANT BUNNY?!"

"Cherubimon?!" Ryo gasps, her eyes widening with shock as it raises itself to its full height. Stretching its arms to the ceiling it lets out a roar, and thunder crackles above, lightning streaking across the sky.

"RYO! LOOK OUT!"

…

Mimi sighs, leaning into Izzy's arms as the two of them stand in the middle of the hospital lobby. "I'm just glad they let us out, finally."

"All thanks to my wonderful abilities at persuasion." Lilithmon says with a sly smile. Izzy shudders. The sort of stuff Lilithmon had been offering in exchange to being let out had been…frankly scarring.

"I can't believe that it's all finally over." Mimi murmurs, pressing her head into his chest. Izzy sighs. "You know…Millenniummon is still out there, right? We're going to be ending up in situations just as dangerous as that, possibly even worse before this war is over."

"I know but…" She looks back up at him. "But…we still beat Vademon, did we not? The monster who caused you so many problems." A hint of a smirk appears on her face. "Don't tell me you're not at least happy about that."

"Well…maybe a little." Izzy says with a chuckle. "…I'm proud of you too. Mimi, you were amazing back there. You didn't back down once. You….you were amazing back there."

"…Thanks…." Mimi says softly. The two of them stare at each other for a couple of moments more before Lilithmon lets out a very exaggerated yawn. "Oh HONESTLY, You two call that a romantic moment?! This SNORE-FEST?!"

"Go away…." Izzy moans, burying his face in Mimi's hair as both of them blush scarlet. However Lilithmon's far, far from done.

"You call this ROMANCE! There should be passionate snogging, and burning eternal flames, and desire so strong it causes electrical appliances to fry!"

"…When has that ever happened? In reality?" Mimi says deadpan. "That sounds like something out of a bad Twilight fanfic."

Lilithmon shoots her daggers. "I HAPPEN to like Twilight young lady!"

"Oooh…."

"Yes." She says, crossing her arms over her ample chest, as Izzy buries his face deeper in Mimi's hair, though she suspects, to cover up mocking laughter now instead of hiding a blush of embarrassment.

"It's a passionate tale of romance, heartbreak, passion, blood, and IZUMI ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME?!"

"But…the main girl is so…." Mimi's voice trails off. As someone who'd spent ages trying to fight monsters and at the age of 14, the idea of someone completely without a backbone and totally reliant on a man sort of sickens her. "Besides, vampires aren't sexy." She adds firmly, mental images of Myotismon standing there smirking as the bats flew around them, trying to eat them alive, and Lillymon's scream as she was nearly murdered by him. "Far from it."

Lilithmon sniffs. "Honestly. You're just like the other Demon Lords. Absolute complete and utter cynics when it comes to young love."

"…Uh huh."

Lilithmon opens her mouth to continue this debate, but suddenly there's frantic shouts of "MIMI! MIMI!"

Mimi's eyes widen slightly just as two people completely barrel Lilithmon down as they try to get to her. Uh oh…"M-um?! Dad?!" She stammers, feeling her cheeks flush with nervousness as she sees her mum, her usually perfect hair now in array, her eyes wild with terror, her Dad's tie undone and flopping behind him in a mess.

Izzy takes a quick step back as the two parents glomp her. Her mother sobs as she wraps her arms around Mimi. "Oh sweetheart...when they called and said you were at the hospital…!"

"Mum, I', fine! Really!" She exclaims, trying to gently disentangle herself from her parents without making them upset, but no luck.

"We thought we got you away from all this Digimon nonsense when we moved here to America." Her father says, his voice choked. He shoots Izzy a steely glare. "How could you drag her into this again?!"

"Wha-…?"

"Daddy!" Mimi manages to yank herself free and shoots them both a fierce glare. "You can't talk to him like that, this isn't his fault…"

"We're going home." Her mother says shakily, not letting go of Mimi for a minute. "We're going home right now."

"Mum…" Mimi steps away. "You don't understand, do you? I'm a Digidestined."

"You're an eighteen year old girl! You should be focusing on shopping, on getting to college, not fighting monsters…or…or being with them who cause nothing but problems!"

"Sir just let me…" Izzy begins but her father steps in front of his wife and Mimi, glowering at him, an expression that seems totally wrong on this usually gentle man's face. "Let's go you two. And tell that flower Digimon…" He says shakily as he walks out the door. "We have had enough. We're not letting her be put into danger anymore."

"But she'll be in more danger without us!" Izzy shouts as Mimi's parents force her out the door, not harshly, but they're clearly not willing to let this one go.

"Izzy!"

"Mimi!"

Lilithmon still lies on the floor, looking annoyed. "Does anyone want to help me up…?" She mutters. "Ah well." A goofy smile appears on her face as she hears Izzy shouting and Mimi frantically calling his name. "Ah. I get my Romeo and Juliet story full of passion after all."

….

"Edan, have you gone completely insane?"

Edan scowls, folding his arms. "You know full well I have to do this. You know I can't just sit back when things like this are going on…."

D'Arcmon shakes her head. "You've never battled on your own before Edan…."

"And we have to start sometime, don't we?" He insists, his green eyes full of a determination she's never seen before. Her eyes widen slightly but she continues stubbornly, "Sira told us to stay behind, remember? You really want to disobey the boss' orders? You know she wouldn't like this…."

"Uh huh. You realize ALL the other Tamers disobey Sira on a near regular basis, right? Adelina's done it about thirty times the last time I counted, and Dilbert….too many times to count." He says with a deadpan expression.

D'Arcmon sighs. "….But you're not….Adelina or Dilbert…."

"Wow, that's a far cry from the whole, "You're just as important as any of the other tamers" speech you were giving me earlier. Or did you just say that to make me feel better?"

"No that's not…." Her voice trails off and she sighs. "…Edan….I haven't even reached the Mega level yet, all right? Don't you understand? It's not so much that I don't think that you can handle it, I just don't know….if I'm the one whose ready for it."

The two of them stare at each other for a moment longer and Edan sighs before pulling her into a hug. "…C'mere…." D'Arcmon rests her head on the top of his shoulder like she usually does, and he murmurs, "We're going to be okay. I promise you. I may not be the strongest tamer…okay….I'm not anywhere near the strongest...or the bravest….but I swear I'll watch out for you, and the others. I'm tired of hiding in the darkness. Maybe….maybe now it's our turn to prove that we're more than everyone thinks we are…."

"…"

She slowly looks up at him. Her face is hidden mostly by her mask but she brushes a strand of hair from her face and closes her eyes. "….You know…maybe….you're right. And…." She holds his hand and squeezes it. "…All right. Let's do this."

Edan smiles at her before turning back to the computer and punching in a few more buttons. The light shimmers slightly before expanding to form the portal. The two of them glance at each other once more and nod, before getting ready to jump through.

That was when the explosion happened. Both of their heads whipped around, eyes widening in shock, as panicked yells from the rest of the worker Digimon echo throughout the base.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"…We're under attack?!" Edan breathes, disbelief in his green eyes. The Tamer base hadn't been attacked ever since it had been set up. D'Arcmon lets out a low growl, her eyes narrowing down to slits. "Only a Tamer can open the gate to Versandi."

Edan glances back at the screen where Lily's signal…has once more disappeared. He swallows. He doesn't understand what the heck is going on, she couldn't be a traitor…could she?

"Edan, we need to focus!" D'Arcmon's wings spread out as she grips the sword at her belt. "Are you ready to figure out rather or not you're as tough and willing to fight four your comerades as you said you were?"

There's a brief moment of hesitation as she looks at him, and then Edan's eyes harden slightly and he flips his Digivice over in his hand. The steel blade hums as he grips it, the two of them standing next to each other, their blades shining in the light of the computer room.

"Let's do this." He says flatly. D'Arcmon rolls her eyes. "Don't try to be cool, it really doesn't suit you."

"Oh shut up." He grumbles as she smirks over her shoulder at him. The door to the computer room starts to buckle, the sound of enemies slamming their weight against the steel over and over again.

"Come and get some…." Edan mutters through clenched teeth. The hinges on the door finally give way and blood spatters the ground as the blades swing in unison.

….

Joe grimaces as he helps the injured woman down the steps, and calls over his shoulder, "That's the last of them Dilbert!"

"Good, because it's certainly not the last one of these!" Dilbert calls back over his shoulder, his dagger stabbing a Dobermon in the throat and his glower intensifying as it burst into data. Joe clenches his teeth and looks back over. The only good news was that it appeared that Darkdramon was on his last legs as well as those who were fighting him.

Dilbert's Lilithmon rakes her talons directly down the monster's spine, and he lets out a roar of pain as even more of his data fluctuates up towards the sky.

She snarls in frustration, landing beside Gennai and Ikakumon once more. "It doesn't make any sense. Surely a mere Mega would have gone down by now, correct?"

"You might think so." Gennai's tone is surprisingly calm and unconcerned. His eyes are grave however, but oddly enough they seem more fixated on the lackies Dilbert continues to fight off.

Ikkaumon huffs. "What are you bothering about the little fish when we've got this gigantic shark trying to eat us all?"

"Have you ever heard of piranhas?" Is Gennai's strange reply as he stares over at the broken down train. Lilithmon's eyebrows knit together in confusion before suddenly the sound of low growls echoes throughout the valley.

Darkdramon struggles to remain on his feet, and there is actual real fear in his eyes now, real panic. She whips her head around to see Dilbert giving her a confused and alarmed look, because the grunts had lost interest in their human prey. They were instead walking towards them….no…walking towards Darkdramon…

Darkdramon lets out a defiant snarl and pulls his lips back, but they continue walking forwards, as though they have all the time in the world, a predator like gleam in their eyes.

Suddenly Lilithmon knows exactly what's going to happen. Shuddering she whirls back around, cringing and the sound of Darkdramon's screams echo. None of these Digimon are that powerful, but there are so many of them, and he's already so badly weakened from the battle…She hears the sound of Ikakumon retching as the screams increase in volume and pain.

"They're after his data." Gennai says softly. "That's all these monsters care about, is getting more data, and if they can't get it from us…."

"Oh Yggdrasil…." Ikakumon mutters. "I did….NOT…need to see that." He still looks a bit queasy, and Gennai glances over at them. "You needn't worry about striking them at this moment." He says calmly.

"Oh yeah?" Lilithmon demands, her eyes narrowing. "And what's to stop them from coming after us now?"

Sure enough now that….their old master had met his….untimely demise…several of them were eyeing the Digidestined and their partners now.

"Uh…Gennai…?" Joe asks nervously, as Dilbert steps in front of him. Crescemon grimaces and gets ready to battle, her axes brandished, but Gennai shakes his head. "No need to worry my friends. I have everything under control."

"That's great." Crescemon says, her tone a little less gentle than usual, her breathing more labored than usual after fighting for hours. "But if you do…..could you maybe hurry up and I don't know, actually do it?!"

Gennai smiles slightly before pulling something out of his coat sleeves. Joe's eyes widen as he realizes what it is….a remote…with a big red button that looks just perfect for pushing.

"…Oh dear."

Gennai's smile turns oddly devilish, and just as the first Devimon springs he presses down on it. The explosion was possibly one of the biggest that Joe has seen in a long time. The first thought is of WarGreymon's Terra Force, though of course it can't possibly be as powerful as that. Terra Force can wipe out an entire mountain, but this explosion does a pretty good job of wiping out the entire enemy force.

Smoke fills the clearing and Lilithmon coughs, brushing smog out of her face. "Why didn't you do that EARLIER?!"

"Couldn't," Gennai shrugs nonchalantly. "Couldn't act until I was sure that the civilians were out of the way." He brushes off his sleeves and then says calmly, "Shall we continue onwards after we help the people?"

"….Continue where?" Crescemon asks, slightly confused and fighting back feelings of suspicion of this man who had just appeared out of nowhere and was clearly much more powerful than he looked.

"To find what you seek." Was the vague answer as he walks past Dilbert and Joe.

Dilbert's eyebrows knit together, clearly annoyed by this vague answer, but Joe was…used to Gennai by now. "Do you mean the Destiny Stone?" He calls. "You know where it is?"

"No…."

"This guy is really getting on my nerves." Dilbert mutters. Joe laughs sheepishly. "Gennai is…well he's Gennai. It's hard to explain."

Gennai pulls out another device out of his pocket—something that looks oddly like an Ipod, holding it up to the face of the annoying man from before. Blustering, the older man frantically backs away. "What the…just what do you think you're doing sir?!"

"Relax…." Gennai murmurs, pressing the side button as the screen flashes. The man's face suddenly goes oddly slack, and he moans, rubbing his head. "…W…where am…."

"He has a freaking memory wiping device?" Ikakumon gapes. "…Dear Yggdrasil…."

Gennai flashes a smile over his shoulder. "Who do you think helped all of the Tamers get their fun little devices?"

…

Davis had been nearly killed about a thousand times during his career as a Digidestined. He'd faced evil egomaniacs, possessed friends that had turned into evil man-eating dragons, fought battles in the pits of hell itself. He never in his wildest, weirdest dreams, ever believed that he would die at the hands of a gigantic bunny.

The bunny's eyes glow a creepy yellow n the darkness—its fur was a deep shade of purple, with a strange blue jester collar around his neck. It was at least about fifty feet tall. Davis' eyes widen as the creature's mouth opens slightly to reveal a strange sort of purple looking…diseased goop that looks absolutely revolting.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!"

Ryo's eyes widen as Monodramon lets out a completely feral sounding snarl. "…Monodramon what is it?! MONODRAMON!"

"Darkness…." Monodramon hisses, his yellow eyes narrowing down to slits. "So much darkness…and power….raw power….been a long time…since I sensed something like this…" The tone in his voice soinds less angry now more…hungry.

Ryo shakes her head wildly, lunging forwards to try and grab her partner by the arm. "Monodramon, don't do this. Don't do it, I swear! Not here, not now, you idiot, MONODRAMON PLEASE!"

Stella growls as she takes a step forwards. "I'm not freezing up this time. We're taking this one on."

"I certainly hope you're not planning on leaving me out of this." Daemon says, his bright blue eyes narrowing down to slits. He turns his head-"…Wait…where's….."

"We can't think of Lily right now!" Tsukaimon shouts, flying forwards. "Give me a boost, Stella!"

"Absolutely!"

"TSUKAIMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO…SERAPHIMON!"

Seraphimon stands proudly, snow glinting on his armor, Daemon beside him. The irony wasn't lost on her at all—her partner and the "fallen" version of himself standing next to each other, ready to head off into battle.

Veemon scowls with frustration and looks over at Davis. "We should be helping them…."

"NO!" Daemon glances over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing fiercely. "Find Lily! That is an order!"

"But…" Davis begins and then freezes when Daemon's hand appears full of flames suddenly. "You really don't want to find out what happens…." Daemon says icily. "When people directly disobey me."

"…."

"Shall we go find Lily now?" Veemon says with fake cheerfulness, exchanging side looks with Davis.

"Sounds good!"

"Darn, you have the two of them completely whupped." Seraphimon mutters, his lips quirking in the barest hint of a smile on his normally serious expression.

Daemon smiles darkly. "Years of being Lucemon's second in command gives you some….good practice….especially after years of having to keep Lilithmon and Barbamon in line."

"I have no doubt of that." Seraphimon chuckles, then his eyes narrowing underneath his mask. "Shall we defeat this monster?"

"After you." Daemon says with a smirk, the two of them suddenly dodging at unbelievable speed as the spheres of dark energy come crashing down on them.

Stella winces slightly as blasts of ice slam down on her face, so sharp that it even cuts her skin. "Get back to Ryo and the others!" Seraphimon bellows as he streaks forwards, forming orbs of light around his own self. "SEVEN HEAVENS!"

The light slams into the dark, pushing against each other, straining before exploding into a fierce explosion that sends Seraphimon sprawling backwards.

Daemon growls, the flames around his body growing ever bigger. "EVIL FLAPPING!" The flames shoot upwards in the form of what appears to be a gigantic tower before coursing outwards. The heat is so intense cracks form along the surface of the ice, and Ryo gasps, her eyes widening. "DAEMON STOP! YOU'RE GONNA GET US ALL KILLED YOU IDIOT!"

The flames slam into Cherubimon and he falls backwards, the attack much more forceful than Seraphimon's. It's unclear of rather or not Cherubimon was still weakened from the fight with Alexander earlier, although obviously Daemon and the others would have had no way of knowing that. Or, if, when it comes down to it, Daemon is simply the more powerful Demon Lord.

The rabbit Demon's heavy body slams into the ground and even more cracks form, this time the ice shattering completely in some places, tipping over. Ryo screams as Ken slips from her grip and slides down towards the dark water. "NO!"

Without even thinking, without even considering how dangerous it surely will be, Ryo plunges downwards….her body screams at her as the icy water embraces her….the water floods into her eyes, near blinding her as she scramble around desperately to get a hold of something, anything. She sees a flash of something pale and sees Ken slowly sinking into the darkness. She kicks out fiercely and her fingers reach, miss, and then….finally….finally….they wrap around his own pale hand. She kicks upwards and gasps as she breaches the surfaces, and feels the warmth of another pulling her upwards.

Stella's face is absolutely pale as she takes in Ryo's shivering form—Ken coughs weakly, stirring as Stingmon rushes forwards, calling his partner's name as he lands next to him desperately. "Are you hurt?! I was going to grab you but before I could Ryo…"

"You IDIOT." Stella hisses, looking absolutely furious with Ryo. "Do you have a freaking DEATH WISH?!"

Ryo is shivering too badly to respond, her body shaking, her wet clothes dripping. Stella hisses with frustration. She knows that if it weren't for the fact that Daemon is practically turning the Artic into his own personal spa, than Ryo would probably be dead by this point, or so badly frozen they would have had to drop everything and get her to a hospital immediately. As it is, the girl is too weak to even get up, much less run if she has to.

Cherubimon roars, his fist extending at an unbelievable rate and socking Daemon right in the chest, this time throwing the Demon Lord back. He raises one hand, electiricty crackling in his palm, before what looked like a massive freaking LIGHTNING bolt forms inside of his hand, and he roars, before plunging it downwards at the Demon Lord.

Just then Seraphimon charges forwards with a defiant roar, slashing his sword Excalibur downwards and slicing the enemy's palm open, causing the monster to roar in pain and send the attack crashing into the mountanius slope on the other side of the icy ground.

Seraphimon allows himself a smirk but then his eyes widen in disbelief as the massive wound that slowly heals over, Cherubimon's face pulled in only a slight grimace before he smiles lopsidedly, crookedly, disturbingly.

"…I have to admit…" He mutters, raising his sword again. "…I was not expecting that…."

…

Matt yells as he continues to fall downwards, the black expansion seeming to be nothing but darknes.s He wonders if he will ever stop falling, when, instead of falling on spikes embedded in the ground, or something that seemed fitting for a creepy pit like this, he fell on something…soft?

"What the?!"

"Ow…" A very familiar voice groans. "Ishida you have about ten seconds to get off of my back before I take a chunk out of your leg. Don't think I won't." She growls.

"Renamon?!" Matt scrambles off of her. "What the heck are you doing in here?!"

"Well I got bored and decided to take the scenic route back to you guys." She deadpans. Matt shoots her a look and she responds with an irritable, "I got dragged in here same as you, I've got to assume. And I really don't have time for this, I have to find Lily!"

"Lil…" Matt's voice trails off and it takes about all he can muster to fight the urge to beat his head against the side of the pit. "She got captured again didn't she?"

"If Lily were here, you know she would slaughter you for the "again" statement right?"

"MATTTTTTT!"

"…Oh no."

Renamon tackles the blonde boy out of the way just in time, because MetalGarurumon nearly squishes him when he lands there.

"You do know you can fly right you idiot?!" She shouts, glowering at him. "There wasn't any need for that!"

"….Er…"

"You are both idiot." Renmon says deadpan, though the fear in her eyes is obvious, and the way her claws keep twitching and her teeth clenching like she's fighting the urge to bite someone's face off.' Matt glances over at MetalGarurumon before looking back at her.

"…Look, Renamon, we'll find her, I promise. Everything's going to be all right."

"Fine words." She mutters, her ears pinning back. "It's just so….so FREAKING UNFAIR! Even despite everything I do, despite how careful both Lily and I are, despite how she's become ten times less reckless than she used to be….I still can't protect her." Her ears droop. "…I still keep failing her."

There's silence for a moment before Matt shakes his head stubbornly. "You're not failing her Renamon. I may not know exactly what's going on, but I know that you two look after each other just as fiercely as any Digidestined and their partner would." He shoots her a fierce look. "I know we've had this speech about a million times before, but sometimes crap just happens. Because there are power hungry creeps in this world who just can't let Lily be, that's not her fault, that's not your fault. And trust you me, if she has been kidnapped and we get our hands on the git who did it, then we're going to make the creep wish he was never born." A faint smirk appears on his face as he drawls, "That is, if Lily doesn't make him plead for death first."

Renamon still looks terrified for her partner, but Matt's words slowly cause her to calm down, her fur slowly settling and her hackles lowering. "….You're right." Renamon chuckles darkly. "I doubt even Myotismon himself could fully control her. Even if she doesn't have her powers anymore….."

"Exactly. Whoever is messing with our group, will never get away with it ever again."

There's a low growl and Matt glances over at MetalGarurumon. "….Was that you?"

MetalGarurumon's eyes narrow down to slits, "We're not alone…." Both he and Renamon force a protective stance around Matt, their canine senses scanning through the darkness. Renamon's teeth go back in a growl as her ears flicker backwards, searching for even the slightest hint of sound. Suddenly…wait….but that would mean….shooting forwards she grabs Matt around the waist and backflips into the air, ignoring his yells of protest, just as emerald flames shoot upwards right where he had been standing.

"W-…WHAT THE?!"

"METAL WOLF CLAW!" MetalGarurumon roars, his weaponry opening up once more to reveal several guns that shoot forwards and impact with the flames. There's an explosion of ice and flames, and there's a giant green crystal wall standing in the middle of the dark cavern, glistening eerily.

"W-whoa…." Matt breathes, staring in disbelief as Renamon can only nod, gaping slightly. MetalGarurumon however, tenses, ready for battle, which is a good thing because moments later there's a furious roar and something big, dark, and heavy crashes into him, sending him sprawling backwards.

The creature has three slavering heads, a whip like tail, and six gleaming red eyes glowering at MetalGarurumon. MetalGaruurmon snarls back in response as Renamon mutters, "A freaking Ultimate? Come on, that Cerberumon can't honestly think that he can beat MetalGarurumon."

Matt clenches his teeth, hating the doubt that fills his body, hating that he's not sure that his partner will be okay as he mutters, "Don't be so sure."

MetalGarurumon doesn't flinch away from the flames shot his way—he charges through them, the fire scorching at his metal armour, and he roars, lunging forwards and trying to sink his fangs into the demon dog's neck.

Cerberumon snarls and lashes out with the wicked looking claws on his paws, causing MetalGarurumon to let out a howl of pain as he staggers backwards, deep rents in his armour.

"No!"

MetalGarurumon snarls with fury, pushing himself back up to his paws and snapping a quick, "Get Matt out of here!" to Renamon, before lunging forwards at his opponent again.

Renamon nods and grabs Matt by the back of the shirt, her superior strength making it easy for her to drag him protesting down the dark tunnels.

The Cereberumon laughs darkly. "Your efforts are futile. No one escapes my darkness, no one!"

"Well…." MetalGarurumon murmurs, pacing in front of him, like any predator looking for an opening would, "There's always a first time for everything, isn't there…?"

Cerberumon's eyes narrow down to slits and he appears about ready to lunge again before MetalGarurumon says darkly, "Oh, before we start in the cliché death threats and violence, I would like to ask you something."

"And what makes you so sure I'll answer?"

"The fact that I've yet to meet a villain who can resist the overwhelming power of the monologue." Is MetalGarurumon's response, a sneer obvious on his robotic muzzle. "It's in your data to gloat. Besides if what you say is true, and there's no way Matt and Reanmon can escape anyway, then you have nothing to loose, do you?"

"…." Cerberumon's teeth flash back in a snarl then turn into a smirk. "What are you so concerned about that you would waste your time with questions? Jealous of how my strength is so much greater than yours, even though you're a…level above me?" He asks with a sneer. "The very idea of levels will mean nothing anymore during Lord Millenniummon's new reign!"

"And why is that pray tell?" MetalGarurumon growls. "No matter what your Lord claims, there will always be those who are weak and those who are strong, nothing will ever change that."

"So you might think. But look at me now. I used to be the weakest Digimon in my village…the single one that could never even digivolve to Champion….and now…because of Milleniummon's Dark Spore….I will never be overlooked ever again!"

MetalGarurumon's teeth show. "True strength does not come from the witchcraft and darkness of others. You may think you have increased so much in power, but you are completely reliant on your master. You are nothing but a mere puppet!"

"And what are you?! Your strength is not your own either, if it comes from that pathetic sack of flesh that you carry around and insist on protecting only because he himself gives you strength. And yet you dare try to claim that you are better than me?"

"Yes, I do." MetalGarurumon growls. "The bond Matt and I share goes both ways, and it always will. If we were not close to each other, than I wouldn't receive the power that I have at all. The strength I have comes not from him, but from our bond, which is something that you will never be able to understand. If power is what you seek than you shall never be able to obtain it!"

Cerberumon snarls, completely outraged now before springing once more. "EMERALD BLAZE!"

The plate on MetalGaruurmon's chest opens up as he roars, "GARURU TOMAHAWK!" releasing what looked like a very big missile, the explosion colliding with the flames and rocking Cerberumon's entire lair.

…

Renamon skids to a halt and growls in frustration. There seems to be absolutely no way out of this darkness. No escape route, the sun blocked out completely, the paths just continuing on and on.

"Yggdrasil's flaming underpants!" She curses with frustration. Matt just groans. "Please, please, can we not talk about the goddess' underwear? I'm half-afraid we're going to get ourselves smited everytime you people say that."

"Oh come on, Yggdrasil doesn't smite people anymore."

"ANYMORE?!"

"Look, we don't have time for this." Renamon says with more grim stubbornness than they've heard in a long time. Matt can hardly remember the last time he's seen Renamon looking this serious. Usually she can be distracted by some sort of food, or, in actuality, a chewtoy. He's not even joking.

Matt pulls out his Digivice and growls in frustration. "Gah, no signal, you've got to be kidding me." He mutters, half ready to throw the thing against the wall. "According to this we're like…nowhere near Tai and the others."

"What?" Renamon blinks. "But that's not possible, is it? I mean…surely…it must just be that the signal is messed up."

"I'd like to think so." Matt mutters, clenching his jaw. "But I learned a long time ago, not to discount any possibility when it comes to you Digimon."

"Oh…thanks?" She says awkwardly, confused as to rather or not that's supposed to be a compliment or a complaint. Shaking her head, she glances back up at the place where the ceiling would have been, if it wasn't all darkness. "_Wherever you are Lily…stay safe…."_

…

Datamon continues to run through the corridors of his old base. Well, running might be a strong word, he thought, dismissing the idea that he could possibly be frightened of that Digidestined brat and her partner, the overgrown parrot. However the sensation of fear was still there. He'd have to report back to Millenniummon about this failure. How he had had the three Digidestined children in his grip and had failed to infect a single one of them with the Dark Spore. Oh, his Lord would not be pleased, would not be pleased at all. There went his chances of showing up that other, pathetic lackey, his lord's so-called second in command. Hah. Everyone knew that twerp didn't have what it took, even after months he hadn't been able to eliminate the Digidestined and he'd had more than several opportunities.

Perhaps he could come up with some sort of story that his Lord would buy, some sort of excuse that would make it so his punishment would not be so great. Yes instead of one Digidestined and her partner, he'd make it about a thousand enemy Digimon instead. And he'd been completely swarmed, he hadn't stood a chance, really, what could he have done…?

Yes….yes that would work very well. A smile crosses over his robotic face and he has to fight the desire to burst into triumphant laughter. And he'd be back, that was for sure. Even if his base fell, he'd return, and he'd create even more Control Spires, and more slaves for the master's army, and surely, soon, they'd completely overwhelm the Digid-"SPIRAL TWISTER!"

The green flames shoot into the robot and sending him flying, crashing into the ceiling. He gasps, the wind completely knocked out of him and just barely manages to grab a rod on the other side of the room with his long, extendable arms, to flip over the pink bird Digimon as she charges at him in complete fury. Biyomon spins back around, her eyes blazing, claws extended. "You're not going to get away with this mess this time Datamon. You've made your bed, dug your own grave. Now deal with it"

Datamon sneers. "You honestly think you can defeat me? You couldn't protect your partner the last time, remember?"

"That was last time." Biyomon says grimly. "I wasn't as strong then as I am now. You forget who I've faced since then Datamon. I fought back a vampire who could have taken over all of the human world. I took on the Dark Masters themselves, even Apoclyamon. You're nothing compared to those monsters."

Datamon's eye twitches in rage, his robotic fingers trembling. "Don't you dare…don't you dare say that I am lesser…" He hisses. "I am far more intelligent than any of them!"

"And yet you let Etemon, possibly the stupidest villain we ever faced, walk all over you?" Biyomon questions.

"SHUT UP!"'

His fingers snap and spread out once more as he roars, "DATA BOMB!" The blasts of viruses shoot forwards, seeking to not only badly injure Biyomon from the impact, but also to completely correode her data itself.

Biyomon's eyes narrow down to slits as she calls out another fierce "SPIRAL TWISTER!" The flames shoot forwards and Datamon laughs. "You really think that your pretty little flames can block my ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screams, covering up his one good eye as Biyomon had managed to redirect her attack, and it had hit him in the face instead, and as he howls in pain, Biyomon flips over several of his bombs, forming another Spiral Twister that tore through the last one. "I told you that you weren't getting away with this!" She seeths, as her entire body shines with energy once more.

"BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…BIRDRAMON!"

The giant phoenix's wings spread out, cramped in this small area, but her talons slam down, pinning Datamon to the ground. He stares up at the giant monster that moments ago, he thought was no threat at all. No consequence. But now….now he is afraid…

"You will learn what happens…" Birdramon growls. "When you threaten those who I love."

…

Sora yells as she's slammed onto the ground, her doupleganger leaning over her with a sadistic smirk on her face that seems so, so very wrong.

Sora squrims, struggling to get free, but the fake-Sora pins her to the ground, and growls low, close to Sora's ear, "Now everyone will know that I'm not the failure here. That I'm not just some mistake. I'm the one that deserves to exist, not you!"

"What are you…"

"You don't know what it's like…" The fake-Sora hisses, her face contorted into fury, "to be stuck as the one person who represents everything your master failed at. This is my last chance to prove that I'm more than a symbol of his mistake, and so help me, I'm going to do it!"

Sora glowers angrily up at her, but she can't help but feeling the pity that rises through her veins. She knows that this person is not her—that this person is just a clone, and that her heart has been twisted through Datamon's darkness one too many times to ever be redeemed. Hurting Kari and Yolei, and the hate she sees in the girl's eyes now, proves that she can't redeem this girl. Not now anyway. Sometimes…sometimes you can't be merciful, even though that's what she wishes she could show.

"You're not going to say anything…" The faux Sora growls, pressing a knife blade against Sora's neck. "You're not going to try to appeal to my humanity are you? Because I promise you I never had that."

"…I'm sorry." Sora says softly, before striking out with a kick that actually sends the copy stumbling backwards with a howl of pain, clutching her stomach. Sora doesn't hold back and quickly slams her fist into the girl's face, yelling when her evil twin sinks her teeth into her arm.

The two of them are then pulled back down to the ground, both wrestling, punching and kicking each other in every way possible.

The number of Datamon's lackies continues to grow. Barbamon deflects three missiles shot from the incoming army of Andromon before letting out a cry of pain as one of them unexpectedly hits him in the side, and he drops to one knee.

Barbamon's jaw clenches in frustration, struggling to stand back up as delighted expressions appear across the faces of the flunkies. Well as delighted as a bunch of robots could possibly look.

"We have him now." One of the Guardromon states without emotion. "Even the mighty Demon Lords crumble beneath the power of Millenniummon's army."

Barbamon slowly looks up as the rest of the robots aim at him. They're taking their sweet time. They know he's seriously injured and they know there is next to nothing they can do about it.

"I may not be the strongest of the Demon Lords…." Barbamon mutters quietly, trying to ignore the aching pain in his side as he struggles to get back up, winces slightly, and then continues to push his body. There are startled cries from the robots, and one of them asks, "Lord Andromon he is attempting to…"

"Let him. He doesn't have the energy left to fight anymore."

"…A foolish presumption." Barbamon snorts. His legs almost give way again and nearly bring him to his knees once more, but his eyes have a strange sort of glitter in them. "Allow me to educate all of you. For a Demon Lord, the battle is not over until we SAY it is."

He raises his staff once more just as Sora is kicked in the head by the clone and falls to the ground unconscious.

The clone smirks and advances forwards only to stop, freezing as she looks over her shoulder and sees Barbamon's staff shining with dark energy. Her eyes widen in shock and horror. "STOP! SOMEONE STOP HIM! ALL OF YOU, KILL HIM NOW!"

The missiles fly forwards a moment too late. Barbamon lets out a roar of viciousness as the darkness itself seems to be obeying his call, flying into his staff. It shines even brighter and for a moment, there seems to be complete and utter silence. And then….the explosion.

…

"…Wha…."

Head…pounding….aching…memories fluttering through my brain at a rapid pace, so fast I can't hold onto them, can't grasp them. Fleeting impressions of a cold laugh, a red light and then searing, horrible pain, and then….being held by some boy and…

"Ack…." Squinting my eyes tighter shut my hand rests on top of my forehead.

"_Lily…Lily wake up…please…." _

My….name…do I….even know…is Lily my name? Is that who I am? Everything about the past seems to be nothing but a vague blur. Another voice echoes inside my head, this one painful, and it seems to be trying to squash out all of the memories.

"_Obey the master…obey…obey….your only function is to obey…."_

"_NO! That's NOT who you are Lily! You have to fight it!"_

"_Obey…obey…"_

"_LILY!"_

"_YOU WILL LISTEN-!"_

"_YOU HAVE TO HEAR ME!"_

"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP?!" I roar, my eyes finally snapping open. There's a strange silence and concrete presses against my body. Coughing, I rub at my face as the first voice says frantically, relief in every syllable, "_Lily, are you all right?!"_

The little figure in front of me can't be more than about three feet tall, her face hidden by green hair, two horns sticking out. "…"

I stare at her for a moment before she asks desperately, "_You know who I am right?!"_

"Ralts…?" I mutter, pushing myself upwards. Her relief flows over me in such a crushing wave it makes my head start pounding again.

"_You idiot. I mean I wasn't really worried about you, but you've caused a heck of a mess."_

"…What do you mean?" I ask slowly, confused. Glancing around the room I'm in that's when I realize exactly where I am. In the middle of. A. FREAKING. CELL.

"….Please tell me this is a very, very stupid joke." I say through clenched teeth. My one Pokemon gives me a look that seems to signify what a complete moron she finds me.

"Oh $$%^^. AGAIN?! REALLY?!"

"_Wow. Exactly how often has this happened to you?" _ She enquires, her tone clearly implying that she's wondering what sort of a moron she teamed up with.

I give her a look that lets her know I am not above shoving her out of the nearest window. Unfortunately there are no windows big enough to throw out a really annoying Pokemon, just small slits in the wall. Rolling my eyes I mutter, "You just wait until Sira hears about this. She will never ever ever stop lecturing me."

"_You don't sound all that overly concerned for someone who is being held against her will." _Ralts comments.

"Because this happens all the freaking time. You get sort of numb to the whole thing, to be perfectly honest with you."

"…_I really hope I don't ever reach the stage where kidnapping is considered normal."_

"Heh. Stick with me, and you will." Suddenly there's a noise from the other end of the cell. My hackles rise as my head turns, and Ralts inches in front of me, holding out her little arms. I see there's some weird bundle in the corner, and, pressing my finger to my lips, I nudge forwards.

First, I prodded the lump with a stick inside my cell. Then, I threw a couple of rocks at it. Finally, Ralts got sick of my more cautionary approach and exclaims, "_Oh for Arecus' sake!" _ and uses her Psychic abilities to turn the poor smuck over.

My jaw drops, as I take a look at that beaten face. "D-Damien?!"

AN: Hehehehheheheh. The plot thickens. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I won't be uploading next week, as I plan to take time off to work on my original story, because my muse for that one keeps tapping me on the shoulder and nagging me. Isn't writing weird that way? It's never the story you're meant to be working on XD


	35. Cyberdramon's Darkness, Dark Spore

Cyberdramon's Darkness, Dark Spores

AN: I know! I know this chapter is a day late and I'm really sorry for that, truly I am. But in my defen...actually no. I don't have an excuse. I was just being lazy this weekend, enjoying my spring break in doing nothing. Shame on me I know XD

Out of all the times I'd been freaking kidnapped over the years, I thought I'd seen it all. The bad guy comes around to gloat, I inevitably make some snarky and side remark that causes them to look like their head is about explode, and then somehow I manage to pull off a miraculous albeit unexpected escape leaving said bad guy cursing wildly in my dust.

I can honestly say I did not except Mr. Bad Boy Damien to be lying there, covered in scrapes and bruises and his lower leg suspiciously covered in blood.

"Damien?!" My hand reaches down to his shoulder and I shake him, desperately trying to get him to wake up. "Oh crap…crap crap crap crap!"

"_Yeah because that's REALLY helping the situation." _Ralts deadpans as she watches me frantically shaking him. "_Uh…Lily I'm pretty sure slapping an unconscious person really isn't the way to go about things."_

"That's what Sira always does to me!"

"…_Dear gosh what pack of lunatics have I fallen into?"_ Ralt's voice trails off but this time I'm not paying attention to her. My eyes are focused on Damien, watching him wincing and slowly, slowly, his eyes opening.

"Wha…?" He moans, reaching up and feeling the good sized lump on his forehead. My face splits into a relieved smile. "You're okay!"  
He mutters something before yelling as he gets slapped on the arm. "What the Dark Ocean?!"

"_Well if you're going to beat him up anyway can you let me have a go as well?"_

"Don't I look beaten up enough?" Damien moans, pushing himself upwards and wincing in pain.

"You look freaking awful."

"Well thanks." He grumbles before his eyes widen in alarm. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

"Uh…" I glance meaningfully at the bars of our cage. "I think that answer speaks for itself, does it not?"

"_More to the point, what the heck are you doing here pretty boy?" _Ralts crosses her stubby arms, scowling underneath that helmet…hair….I'm still not sure what that is. Last time I asked, she told me to go throw myself out of a window.

Her dislike for Damien is obvious though. I don't know why, but from the minute she saw him she declared that she'd like to see him eaten by Leviamon. My jaw hardens when I'm reminded about what he said the last time we saw each other, and I'm tempted to concur with her suggestion.

You know…if we weren't in a stupid cell Yggdrasil knew where. And if Leviamon ate people. "You'd better start talking." I say coldly, pushing myself away from him and narrowing my eyes dangerously.

Damien rubs his face with his hands. "Shouldn't we be more worried about how we're going to get out of here than you acting like you're about to interrogate me?"

I scowl, frustration filling me. He is right that getting out of here is the most important thing, much more so than me being bitter because he acted like a complete jerk earlier.

But still…

"Just tell me why you're here." I growl, curling back my lips, trying to hide my emotions behind a threatning look.

From the "_Fail" _Ralts sends my way, I can tell I'm clearly not doing a good job. But then she turns her head to look at Damien. "_You know I know how to use Psychic right?"_

"I have no idea what that even means…." Damien growls, looking away.

"_Then I shall attempt to enlighten you. With Psychic I send out powerful waves that I can use to read your mind, but you should know…that when I use Psychic there's a 50% chance that it will end up destroying your brain cells completely."_

The nonchalant way she says this is sort of creepy, to be honest, and I almost feel bad as Damien's face pales slightly. But not really. Because A, I may not be a world class Pokemon battler, but I'm pretty sure Psychic can't be used to read minds. B, It certainly can't cause lasting damage to the opponent's brain, because if that were the case I'm dead sure it wouldn't be allowed in the Pokemon league.

Still it's sort of fun watching Damien squirm for a few seconds. Does that make me a kind of sadist? Ah well. It's fun.

At first Damien glances my way, probably hoping that I'll call my psychotic Pokemon off. No such luck. Sighing he lowers his head. "….I made a stupid mistake, all right?"

"What do you mean?"

Damien hesitates, glancing first at me, then at Ralts, who socks one fist into her outstretched palm. Yeah…overkill much?

"…The reason….I was able to get into the Digital World…" His hand slips into a back pocket and he pills out a Digivice. I must have seen it before and at the back of my mind I knew he must have one….but…

"…Where'd you get that?"

"Before I….met you…I was a rogue like Ryo…Millenniummon's forces…killed my…." He hacks suddenly, placing a hand on his chest and wincing in pain. "We were outnumbered…we didn't have a chan…."

"…They killed your partner." I say slowly, the true horror of that idea seeping into my brain. That's the worst nightmare of any Digidestined or Tamer. Seeing their partner be blasted into data before their eyes, or even worse, seeing their Cores be shattered and know they were gone for good and none of Anubismon's efforts would ever being them back.

"…Damien I…."

"I pretended to be one of his forces…pretended to sign on…" He grits his teeth as another spasm of pain hits him and he manages to gasp out, "but then….just last week I found out that they'd captured the man they were searching for."

"Who?"

"Willis' father…." He gasps out, wincing again. "They…need him…he was…a part of the exploration team of humans that ended up here…they…found out…they know where….the last Digiegg is. The others rotate which makes it difficult but this one…this one they could never have found without,…"

A very icy feeling runs down my spine. Oh ##$%%%. That's about the worst thing possible Damien could have said. Milleunnimmon and his forces have found the last Digiegg than we are in serious trouble. Of absolute epic proportions.

Swallowing hard I manage to ask quietly, "….And you're sure of this?"

"Dead sure." He rasps.

"_Must not be a good spy if you got caught like this." _Ralts says deadpan, though I can smell unease coming from her as well. "_Why didn't they just kill you? Millenniummon doesn't seem like the type of guy to really like some loner guy with tight pants to play him for a fool."_

She's true about a lot of things there. Most villains would just toss Damien to the sharks, figuratively speaking. And…Damien's pants are…very tight indeed.

"Millenniummon…wouldn't let me off that easy…." He breaths out. "Death would be…merciful to me…."

"Oy." I squeeze his shoulder perhaps a little too tightly because he winces again. But I can't afford for him to pass out on me. I'm not dragging six foot something of unconscious boy down these halls. "You're not dying on us, you got that? We're all going to get out of here."

"_Lily, what about the guy who he was talking about?" _Ralts asks. "_If he's really here than he could be in even more trouble than we are. Plus, if they manage to make him talk…"_

I clench my teeth. "…There isn't anything we can do right now. We're outnumbered, we're in enemy territory, and if we can get out of here at all it will be a miracle."

"I don't….know if we can…" Damien mutters. "You don't…fully comprehend what we're up against Lily."

"Maybe not." I admit, but my eyes are now burning with determination and as anyone who knows me knows, when I get like this there's no stopping me. "But we don't exactly have a choice, do we? We've got no way of contacting the others and I don't like our chances of being fond before it's too late. And I'm not going to sit around for people to rescue me.

"_So? What's the plan?"  
_I hesitate before a slow smile appears on my face. "…."

"Oh no…." Damien mutters, rubbing his forehead.

…

"What….exactly…is the plan…." Yolei gasps as she follows Kari the two of them shoving their way through crowds of people who yell indignantly at the apparent rudeness of the two girls.

Kari glances down at her Digivice once more, biting her lip in frustration as the signals of both Arukenimon and Mummymon start to fade away. Not this time. They couldn't let those two gits nearly escape again!

"Grr…come on, this way!"

The pounding of their footsteps was drown out by the sound of the roller coaster whipping overhead. The entire park seemed nearly oblivious to what had happened back over there, or the battles going down underneath.

Well…not entirely. There were guards rushing from different sections of the park towards the area. Maybe they'd finally clued in. Maybe they hadn't.

All Arukenimon knew…she thought, pushing down her glasses as she watched the two human girls flee the area, pursuing them in the entirely wrong direction, that was she was just very grateful for Datamon's Dark Network.

It threw all human technology off, even the Digidestined's precious little devices couldn't function normally in these circumstances.

She allowed herself a slight chuckle. Really, she had known that giving them the slip would be easy but she hasn't expected it to be THIS easy.

"Arukenimon?"

"What you undead maggot-brained moron?" She snapped, turning her head. "What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm gloating?"

"But you weren't actually gloating, my love. You were just standing there with a very silly…if adorable smile on your face and then you-"

"Oh, shut up!"

"LIGHTNING PAW!"

She'd been so busy yelling at Mummymon that she hadn't even noticed the cat's prescence, but Gatomon's furious hiss and claws surely registered now. Letting out a howl of pain Arukenimon stumbled backwards and held a hand to the back of her now bleeding head.

Mummymon let out a shout of anger and blasted several bullets the cat's way, but with agility that is beyond impressive Gatomon flips over the shots, down and around, a mere white blur as she shoots forwards and slams another powerful Lightning Paw into Mummymon's chest.

If people hadn't truly understand there was something wrong in the magical world of Disneyworld they sure did now.

The sound of gun fire sends people screaming in wild terror, panicking, even pushing each other out of the way in an effort to escape the madness. The sound of children sobbing for their mothers echoes.

Arukenimon curls her lip and says with a sneer, "Why do you even bother helping these pathetic humans? They would never help you. They won't even help their own kind!"

Gatomon's blue eyes narrow down to slits as she says dangerously, "I'm pretty sure you are the last person here who has the right to be giving a morality lecture."

"Oh, but you know I'm right. When it comes down to it, these humans are selfish, greedy, cowards that are beneath us. Digimon are the surperior beings." She says that with so much confidence. Gatomon rolls her eyes. "Yeesh. You know what's really really scary? Is that you remind me back when I was a stooge like you."  
"…STOOGE?!"

"Uh huh." Gatomon's tone sounds bored. "Convinced that I was superior, that the Digimon siding with the Digidestined were just a bunch of weaklings, yadda yadda. Well guess what….I was proved wrong. So horribly wrong. And my mistakes…." Her voice trails off before becoming more tense. "…Maybe…if I'd realized sooner…if I'd realized that I'd thrown my lot in with the wrong person…I wouldn't have lost him…." She glances down at her paws as Arukenimon and Mummymon look at each other in confusion.

"…You take someone for granted and you think you'll never need them." She mutters, looking back at Arukenimon with a strange sort of sadness in her eyes. "You don't realize what your mistakes have done until it's too late."

Arukenimon's lips curve into a snarl as she spits out, "You think I give a #$$ about your pathetic little life lessons, kitty cat?!"

Gatomon leaps above the swipe but then yells as sticky green threads slam into her stomach and pin her to the ground, burning at her body like acid.

Trying to break free only causes more pain and in this instant, her claws aren't doing her any good at sall.

Arukenimon cackles as the shift from her human body completes, peeling away to reveal an eight-legged giant spider woman with bulging eyes and razor sharp teeth.

Lots more screams echo and a woman with two kids scrambles to get out of the way. Arukenimon grins maniacally as she releases more of her poisonus threads—right at the little family.

There's an angry screech and suddenly a feather-shaped boomerang shoots forwards, slicing through the threads before reversing backwards. Hawkmon's claws snag his weapon in mid-flight and he glowers. "I believe I have had enough of the cowardly behavior of you two ruffians."

Arukenimon curls her lip in disgust just as shouts of "GATOMON! HAWKMON!" echo close by. Kari gasps as she sees her partner lying there yowling in frustration. "What the heck happened to you?!"

"An attempt at an epic the reason you suck speech gone wrong." Gatomon grumbles, trying to pull herself free and hissing in pain. Kari struggles to pull them aside before Gatomon can warn her and leaps back with a cry of pain.

"KARI!"

There are burns across the human girl's hands and she winces in severe pain, gasping, tears forming in her eyes.

"You idiot, what were you thinking?!" Yolei snaps at her, only to have to duck as blasts of energy are flown her way. Mummymon, now in his Digimon form as well, laughs manically as his guns continues to discharge over and over again.

"MONSTERS!"

"Please, someone, help us!"

"Mommy!"

"_I'm not brave like Davis…and I'm not tough like Sora…and I'm not as pure hearted as Mimi…." _Yolei shoves her glasses up on her nose, as she slowly pushes herself up from the ground once more. "But so help me…I can do this…." She says softly, her jaw setting. Her Digivice feels warm in her back pocket, as if it was humming in response to her words.

Hawkmon shouts in pain as Mummymon's attack clips him on the right wing, and he crashes into the ground, not able to get back up again, smoke rising from the injury.

"HAWKMON!" Yolei screams. "Don't you dare LOSE TO THEM!" Her Digivice bursts into red light and Hawkmon's eyes snapped open, gasping as he felt a strange sensation rippling through his body. Power…more power than he had ever felt from one of the Digieggs.

"HAWKMON DIGIVOLVE TO…AQUILAMON!"

Red wings snapped outwards and a massive horned head revealed itself, cruel beak and claws glistening warningly in the sunlight.

Mummymon let out a squeak and looked about ready to drop his gun, that and or wet his bandages. "H-how did you learn to do that?!"

Aquilamon smiled darkly, stepping out protectively in front of the two girls and Gatomon. "Looks like it's my turn to be bringing the hurt."

…

The noise of howling is what catches Renamon's attention first. Her ears perk up, twisting and swiveling and recognizing one of them without a doubt.

"MetalGarurumon…" Off like a shot she raced forwards, her paws digging into the ground, leaving a very disgruntled Matt behind.

"Oy! Renamon! Don't just leave me behind like this! What do you mean MetalGarurumon's in trouble?!"

She hates to leave him behind—he's a human, he's vulnerable in these dark tunnels she's sure, but right now she doesn't have a choice. She knows from the way MetalGarurumon sounded that he's in trouble. Call it canine intuition, call it, working with them for years now, she just knew from every bit of her Digi-core that her friend was in trouble.

And of course, her instincts had been dead on. MetalGarurumon lets out a growl of pain as he's slammed into the ground once more, groaning in pain. He cannot freaking believe that he's being beaten by an Ultimate…again!

Cereberumon cackles, his claws digging into the giant wolf's sides. "Teach you arrogant…bleeding heart fools not to underestimate with us…"

MetalGarurumon snarls just as a yellow blur appears above them, and his gaze widens. "…What is she…?"

"What?" Ceberumon blinks, and like so many villains he was too busy caught up in his moment of triumph as Renamon shouts, "DIAMOND STORM!"

The diamonds don't do much more except bounce off his flank…except for when one enters his eyes. Upgraded or not by the dark spore that really, REALLY hurt.

He screams, pawing at his face as MetalGarurumon scrambles back to his paws. "Where's Matt?"

"Hopefully fine."

"You left him?!"

"You needed help." She says grimly, her tail lashing back and forth. "If he's smart he'll just stay put where it's safe."

MetalGarurumon growls slightly at her, clearly not happy about this leaving his partner in the lurch, but Renamon glances over at him. "I trust Matt. Don't you?"

"…"

MetalGarurumon huffs with slight amusment. "For someone whose main concern is usually filling her belly, you are surprisingly quick to the point at times Renamon."

"I'm just always surprising you aren't I." She chuckles before glowering at Ceberumon, who curses violently as he snarls at them, teeth bared. "Bah! One more doesn't make a difference! You're already weakened from your battle earlier!"

"You'd be surprised." Renamon says in a far too innocent tone as she takes a step forward. 'You know I really have had it up to here with you creeps. You've tried to kill me and my friends. And worst of all, I know you are responsible for the disappearance of my partner."

"…What?"

"Make it easy on yourself. Tell me where my partner is and maybe, just maybe, I won't rip you apart."

Cerberumon sneers. "You? A mere Rookie do what a Mega could not? Don't make me laugh. And I have absolutely no idea what you're blabbering on about."

MetalGarurumon's eyes narrow down to slits. Something…tells him that this angry mutt isn't lying. It's an unsettling feeling that fills him, and it doesn't make any sense. These enemy forces must have been the ones to kidnap Lily, it's not like she would have just run off on her own.

…Right? That was…crazy…

However Renamon has reached her breaking point. She is exhausted, she is furious, she is terrified for her partner, and she simply is beyond able to think rationally.

Her pupils slitting she snarls, "Wrong answer!" With a feral expression on her face as she leaps up into the air one more time.

"RENAMON WAIT! DON'T!"

"DIAMOND STORM!"

The attack, of course, again does nothing, but this time Cerberumon is out for revenge against the injury she caused his eye. "EMERALD BLAZE!"

"RENAMON!"

Her scream echoes and MetalGarurumon lets out a roar of rage before charging at Ceberumon full on, teeth flashing as he pins the other canine to the ground.

Cerberumon shrieks and his claws lash out over and over again, but MetalGarurumon hardly seems to notice. Now he is the one that Cerberumon seems to have absolutely no power over.

"For harming a member of my family…" He snarls, his muzzle inches from Cerberumon's. "And one I happen to care for quite a bit, don't expect any mercy from me!"

Cerberumon's eyes widen in fear as the chest cavity on MetalGarurumon opens up once more.

MetalGarurumon was designed for picking up weak spots in the enemy's design, perhaps even ones that they didn't know existed. And right now his sensors were screaming at him, because right in the middle of Cerberumon's chest, he could see something powerful…extremely dark, so dark it nearly made him recoil in disgust, but powerful none the less.

…He knew what he had to do.

"GARURU TOMAHAWK!"

A missile at point blank range. Cerberumon, even bolstered by the Dark Spore as he was, didn't stand a chance. His scream echoed for miles across the dark canyon.

Matt's eyes widen as he heard it, forced out of the bitterness that he felt at being left behind. "…." A slow smile appears on his face as MetalGarurumon skids to a halt in front of him just a few moments later.

"Gt hm."

"Didn't have any doubt buddy. Uh, why are you talking like that?"

MetalGarurumon rolls amber eyes obviously annoyed by Matt's lack of capability to see the obvious. Matt's eyes widen slightly as he sees the little ball of yellow fur MetalGarurumon is holding by the scruff.

"Whoa…is that…Viximon?"

"Rlemn…"

"Relemon." Matt mutters as she whimpers in MetalGarurumon's jaws. "Got knocked back all the way to her baby form, huh? Just great. That's exactly what we need."

The sound of another explosion racks the entire place, but this time, it's come from above. Matt hits the ground hard, wincing slightly as Relemon whimpers again.

MetalGarurumon snarls, his eyes fixating back above. His friends needed help, and badly it seemed.

..

"ALEXANDER!"

Alexander gasps in pain as he slams onto the ground. His right wing was a total mess. Scars were lashed across his body as well.

Snarling, he shoves himself back upwards…or tries to. This was absolutely ridiculous. He was a Demon Lord for crying out loud! He was not going to lose to some prehistoric fool!

…Dear Fanglongmon….he pulled his hand away from his side and winced as he saw the amount of blood staining his glove.

"Are you all right?!" Tai's brown eyes flicker over him and he clenches his teeth. "No, you're not. You need to…"

Alexander shot him a slight warning look. "Don't make the mistake of giving an order to me. I can do this just fine, thank you much."

Tai shoots him a steady look back. "If you get yourself killed Lily will hang me and then skin me." He says flatly. "I'd rather not risk that if it's all the same to you."

Alexander arches an eyebrow slightly. _"….Huh."_

There's a sound of frantic panting and a cry of, "GUYS!"

"Wha?"

Tai glances back over his shoulder to see Willis and Gargomon running forwards. "Would you two get out of here?! You're sitting ducks out here!"

"There's…something about that SkullGreymon…." Willis wheezes, brushing a strand of sweat from his face.

"Yeah, we know that, thanks much." Tai says deadpan, gesturing over to Alexander whose still bleeding. He glances back over at his partner, who lets out another terrifying roar before charging SkullGreymon, spinning wildly.

"GREAT TORNADO!"

The giant dinosaur became nothing more than a mere blur as he span wildly, a spinning top of claws and razor sharp teeth.

Charging forwards he slams into SkullGreymon at full strength, the demonic version of himself roaring in pain and stumbling backwards.

WarGreymon pulls back slightly snarling before a clawed hand strikes him and sends him flying.

"NO!"

WarGreymon hits the ground so hard that he actually forms a chasm, sliding backwards several feet before collapsing with a moan of pain.

Tai is about to bolt to his partner's side before Willis grabs him by the sleeve. "Let me GO! I have to…"

"What you have to do is LISTEN to me, Kamiya!"

Willis says this with such force that Tai actually stops in his tracks, slowly turning his head around to look at the other boy.

"…You have a plan for us to beat this thing?" He says grimly. WarGreymon and Alexander had also been forced to wipe out the rest of this cursed army, he didn't know how much longer either of them was going to last against this creep!

"…This monster is exactly like…like Wendigomon…." Willis says softly. "Neither of them are getting their energy naturally. It has to come from some source."

"You mean…."

"The virus that infected Wendigomon? Yeah. I think it's in all of them."

Tai's eyes widen slightly before jerking back from a cry of pain from his Digimon. SkullGreymon's foot was now pressing down on the warrior Digimon's back, squeezing him down into the ground.

WarGreymon lets out another scream of pain as he's sure that his spine itself is going to start to rupture.

"NO!"  
Fanglongmon, what is he going to do, what is he going to do?! But thankfully, before he could repeat Renamon's act of complete and utter stupidity and charge at the monster tormenting his partner, something springs upwards out of nowhere.

Crashing upwards through the ground MetalGarurumon slams into the dinosaur's leg with such force it causes a long crack to go up the creature's bones.

Ignoring the howls of pain MetalGarurumon steps closer to his friend. "You look almost as bad as you did that one time against Piedmon." He huffs.

WarGreymon groans, stirring. "…Shut up…"

"Idiot." He says this with slight affection and WarGreymon cracks an eye open. "Same to you."

"Matt!" Tai feels a surge of relief as his friend pushes himself out of the dark hole, panting slightly before running towards his friend.

"Are you okay?! What happened?!"

"Eh, no big." Matt shrugs. "Some idiot thought that it would be a good idea for him to try his luck. Didn't end well for him."

"Is that…" Willis' voice trails off and Relemon shoots the both of them a disgruntled look like, "Please stop calling attention to the fact that I currently look like an idiot because I already feel rotten."

Or maybe she was just hungry. Baby Digimon were incredibly simple creatures. Tai takes her from Matt and cradles her in his arm for a moment. "What the heck happened to you?"

She whines slightly and Tai looks over his shoulder at Alexander. "Can you take her and get out of here?"

Alexander snorts. "I hardly think that I'm going to be the one that…that…" He tries to stagger back to his feet and winces in pain. "….Ugh….I'm getting old…." He mutters, clenching his teeth.

"Look, I told you before." Tai says. "Lily is going to kick my butt if she finds out that you got hurt, or worse, that I let you get hurt. This isn't about whose strong and whose not. You don't really like me, and I can't pretend that you have to take orders from me, but you know full well…that if Lucemon was here right now he'd be saying the exact same thing I am."

Alexander stares at Tai before snorting lightly. "….More like grabbing me by the ear and literally dragging me off the battlefield…"

"Exactly." Tai says cheerfully. Alexander rolls his eyes slightly but he looks more amused than anything else now.

"Look, please just take her.' Tai insists, holding out the little puffball. "Don't do it for me. Do it for Lily. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Renamon."

Alexander only hesitates a moment longer before sighing and gently prying Relemon from him. "You'd think that I would have learned by now not to be so stubborn." He mutters. His wings fly out from behind him once more as he takes to the skies.

Tai breaths a sigh of relief. Normally he'd never be pushing a Demon Lord of all people like that, but….it was Lily's father too.

"You ready for this Matt?" Tai asks grimly, both of their Digimon standing together in front of their partners, snarling at SkullGreymon.

"Absolutely." Matt says through clenched teeth. "This guy has been around for at least two chapters now. He's going down."

(Off in the distance the author screams in outrage and coldly informs all of the characters that the next time the fourth wall is broken she's handing them over to Lilithmon dressed in skimpy cosplay outfits)

"I'm helping out too." Gargomon says fiercely. Willis bites his lip. "…Gargomon you're only a Champion you can't-.."

"Aw, shucks Willis, you worry too much. Besides, you saw me kick major behind against that one creep. Let me help, please?"

Willis hesitates, but the earnest look in Gargomon's eyes….constantly he'd kept Gargomon from fighting, terrified that his partner would be hurt, or worse. And he also could never bare to see Wendigomon hurt. But this time was different. Ths time their friends were in danger. And he…couldn't turn his back on them the way he'd been forced to turn his back on Wendigmon.

"So you think that the virus is what's giving these freaks their strength huh?" Tai mutters darkly.

"Can you sense the power source MetalGarurumon?" WarGreymon rumbles in his deep voice. MetalGarurumon's eyes narrow down to slits as he focuses on their enemy, who screeches again as the rocket on his back begins to fire up once more.

"…DARK SHOT!"

"Willis, look out!" Gargomon flips over with more agility than you'd think such a muscular bunny could provide, grabbing Willis around the waist and dragging his protesting partner into the air.

Willis' face pales slightly as he stares down at the ground far below. "Oh…I think I'm going to be sick…."

"Not while I'm holding you you're not!" Is the fierce reply. Gargomon's cannons swivel around as he barks out a shout of "GARGO LASERS!"

The green lasers strike the demon dinosaur on the spine—it doesn't do much damage but it does distract him.

The missile crashes down on the ground next to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Coughing wildly, Tai feels the smoke stinging his eyes as he struggles to remain on his feet from the impact. "AGUMON!"

WarGreymon growls as both he and MetalGarurumon levitate in the air. That was close. That was a shot far FAR too close to his partner. Now, he's pissed.

"Do you sense it yet?!" He barks angrily at MetalGarurumon who scowls at him slightly before glancing back over. Hs eyes widen as…

"Yes…." He growls. "Right underneath the missile!" He barks, sensing the dark aura as the missile reattaches itself back to SkullGreymon.

WarGreymon growls. They need to end this quickly which means he does not have time to fight this creep off. "Can the two of you keep him distracted?"

"Aye sir!" Gargomon calls. "GARGO LASERS!"

The lasers bounce off again but this time, SkullGreymon seems to be truly fed up with the obnoxious rabbit. With a snarl he lashes outwards, bony claws ensnaring the rabbit.

"TERRIERMON NO!" Willis nearly completely flips out, charging forwards, screaming his head off as Tai and Matt try to hold him back.

Gargomon struggles to break free as those massive teeth loom up at him. This is SOOO not how he wants to go! As some demon's lunch!

There's an angry roar behind him just as MetalGarurumon charges, teeth sinking into the metallic arm. SkullGreymon hisses in fury and grabs him by the leg, causing him to scream in pain as he's swung around and around and around.

"OH CRAP!" Matt gasps with horror as his Digimon is thrown flying, his data actually flickering from the pain that's filling his body. However right before he degenerates, he manages to flip around and let out a roar of "METAL WOLF CLAW!"

The blast of ice missiles hit SkullGreymon full on. He roars in agony, but at the same time, WarGreymon soars up behind him. The orb of energy between his palms continues to grow bigger and bigger and he lets out a devastating roar.

"TERRA FORCE!"

The size of that sphere is so large it seems like it could almost be a sun itself, and it crashes into SkullGreymon with such force that it completely destroys his lower half. Maybe it was because the team had finally managed to get at him from behind, where his weak point was.

But whatever the case, it's finally curtains for the creep. With one last defiant scream he topples over, data leaking outwards from his wounds at a rapid speed, and then finally collapsing with an explosion outwards.

Tai laughs, a note that sounds slightly hysterical. "It's over. Dear gosh I do NOT want to go through that again!"

A pink ball bounces forwards. "Yeah me neither! I could sleep till next Christmas! Or…maybe lunchtime? When is lunchtime?"

"Tai?"

Tai glances over at Matt, and then a cold feeling suddenly courses through him. In the heat of the battle he'd been too worked up, too angry and frustrated…but…

"Matt." He takes a step forward, his fists clenching at his side. Why hadn't he realized what must have happened the moment he saw Viximon? "…Where's Lily."

….

"GIANT BUNNNY!"

"Are you just going to keep yelling that?!" Stella yells, as she struggles to help the barely conscious Ryo and Ken back to their feet. "Get over here and help me you braindead moron!"

"That's sort of redundant, isn't it?" Veemon mutters but he and Davis both race back over, helping to pull their two friends under a smaller cliff.

Ryo lies there teeth chattering madly. Ken is barely responsive at all. Wormmon nudges him desperately and looks up at Stella. "Will he be all right?"

"He'd better." Stella mutters. "If any of them die on us I'm going to kill them."

Her eyes glance back just as Cherubimon's roar echoes once more. Daemon has his flames, burning brightly, nearly destroying the entire landscape, and Serpahimon is clad in amour with his mighty sword Excalibur shining in his hands.

Cherubimon has soft fur and a silly appearance. If it weren't for those glowing yellow eyes and drool coming out of his mouth, you might think he's just a stuffed animal. And yet he is kicking their butts.

He raises another massive palm to the sky, lightning crackling once more as the massive bolt forms. Yeah, then again that might be what's playing a big part of this.

"Look out!" Daemon knocks Seraphimon out of the way just in time as the lightning bolt shoots forward, hitting him in the stomach.

He gasps, stumbling bavkwards as Seraphimon cries out, "You idiot!"

Daemon manages a wan smile. "I'm a Fire Demon remember? Lightning hurts me a lot less than it would hurt someone clad in metal armour."

Seraphimon grumbles something under his breath about overly brave idiots before glowering at the snarling bunny once more. "Something is seriously wrong. We should have brought down this foul beast by now."

"Agreed." Daemon cracks his knuckles. "But it's been ages since I've been in a proper fight. If that means having to strain myself a little bit more than usual I am perfectly fine with it."

"Thought you might say that." Seraphimon chuckles before his wings spread once more and he takes to the air again.

He dodges three lightning bolts thrown his way, the fourth one he actually SLICES through the next one, tearing downwards, raising his blade as he streaks towards the top of Cherubimon's head.

"EXCALIBUR!"

Cherubimon's arm swings out at such a rapid pace that it slams Serpahimon in the stomach and sends him flying. "CABLE CRUSHER!"

"SERAPHIMON!" Stella screams as her partner goes flying and ends up crashing on the opposite side of the mountain, smoke and rubble rising.

Davis gulps. "…Um..is anyone else beside me….starting to get a very bad feeling about this?"

"What was your first clue?"

Ryo groan slightly, struggling to push herself upwards. "Mono…Mono…." Her voice is slightly terrified. "…Don't…."

"Monodramon will be okay." Veemon tries to reassure her, shoving her gently back down to the ground. "You need to rest is what you need to do!"

"…!"

Stella slowly turns her head to see Monodramon still standing out in the freezing snow, his yellow eyes gleaming, a few feet away from their hiding spot. Her eyes widen slightly as she realizes that he looks less angry…and more hungry…

Wait…she'd seen that expression before…

Ryo's voice is a horse whisper. "Monodramon, please don't, not here, not now….!"

Daemon suddenly freezes in his tracks. He feels a very strong dark aura beginning to pulse upwards, one much more twisted than anything he's felt in a long time.

Monodramon growls as his body shines with dark energy, his form growing taller and bigger.

"He's….digivolving?" Davis asks in confusion as Veemon growls and pushes his partner behind him. Something about this is not right, very, very not right.

As the dark light slowly fades away a tall dragon like Digimon is standing there, his body covered in black scales, raggedy red wings, razor sharp claws, and possibly most unnerving of all is how…his entire face is covered by a steel mask.

His expression is completely hidden, blank and unfeeling, and the way he looks in Davis' direction Davis gets the feeling of someone looking into his soul, as horribly cliché and melodramatic as that sounds.

"Cyberdramon." Stella whispers, her face pale. "Ryo…HOW?!"

"He was…never supposed to use it…." Ryo gasps out. "He promised he'd never….."

Cyberdramon flexes his claws and snarls loudly in contempt at Cherubimon before spreading his wings open and soaring upwards.

The hooks on his arm began to glow along with his claws as he slashed downwards letting out a devastating roar of "DESOLATION CLAW!"

The attack slams into Cherubimon's chest, forcing him back slightly. While not more powerful than Seraphimon's or Daemon's attacks, its definitely as strong.

"And coming from an Ultimate too…." Davis mutters, feeling an odd chill run down his spine that he can't really understand. Surely he should be happy that such a powerful Digimon is on their side, shouldn't he?

Cherubimon snarls again as Seraphimon prepares another one of his attacks. Golden orbs of light appear around him as he shouts out, "SEVEN HEA-!"

He's cut off as he's slammed from beside and nearly knocked out of the air by a furious missile of black snarling dragon.

"HEY WHAT THE….!"

"DESOLATION CLAW!" Cyberdramon roars, slamming his attack downwards not caring that Daemon is right in the middle of his path.

The Demon Lord thankfully manages to dodge it and prevent a direct hit, but the attack leaves a deep slash across his robes and a bloody gash before it hits Cherubimon head on again.

"Is he turning on his own teammates?!" Veemon gasps.

Stella clenches her teeth. "…This is exactly what happened with Ryo's first partner…." She mutters.

"…First partner?"

"Don't worry about that right now." Davis hisses, his maroon eyes filled with concern as Cherubimon lets out another angry roar. "How are they supposed to deal with Cyberdramon AND that monster at the same time?!"

Cyberdramon lands on the ground, snarling, facing Daemon and Seraphimon, his teeth pulled back, his hidden expression making the entire scenario that much worse.

"We do not have time for this." Daemon growls, his wrists snapping open to reveal flames burning deeply.

"You cannot kill Ryo's partner!"

"Wha…?"

Stella's eyes are wide as she looks out at her partner. "….Seraphimon…."

Ryo stirs slightly and lets out a low moan, her pain obvious. They don't know if she has any idea whatsoever about what is going on in the outside. Ken however is slowly starting to recover, his arm wrapped tightly around her, holding her close to him, his expression nearly unreadable.

Seraphimon shakes his head stubbornly as he levitates between the two of them. "I will not allow it."

"We can't afford to…"

Cherubimon and Cyberdramon both roar in unison, Cyberdramon breaking out into a full out charge as he lunges at the other Digimon, not caring if they are foe or friend, simply driven by his desire to destroy anything that's in his way.

As for Cherubimon, he lifts his hands to the sky once more, the entire horizon suddenly filled with dark clouds. The energy filling the area is so intense that it makes the hair on the back of Davis' neck stand up, makes his breath catch in the back of his throat.

"Wait, don't!"

"STORM OF JUDGEMENT!"

The entire sky seems to be exploding as dozens of lightning bolts strike the ground. Stella screams Davis' name and yanks him back under cover as the light flashes and lights up the entire freaking Artic.

Davis holds the others close, Stella's breaths short and terrified for her partner, Wormmon pressed next to Ryo and Ken as though he's trying to protect them, as futile as that seems.

Veemon's fists clench and unclench, his eyes bright with fury, his teeth set back in a furious snarl, and eyes gleaming with outrage.

"_There has to be something I can do!"_

…

"…"

"…"

Joe glances over at Dilbert. Dilbert's mouth is hanging open slightly and then he turns to share an incredulous look with Wormmon. Gommamon and Lunamon however look about ready to leap up and down with joy.

After finally getting sick of staring at Dilbet's shocked face, Joe asks, carefully, "Gennai?"

"Uh-huh?"

"…This is the ocean."

"Very astute observation. I mean, it was sort of tricky to tell, I mean, few people could put that together after seeing the massive body of water, the seagulls, and the sand that sticks everywhere."

Apparently Gennai's younger form had an amazing talent at sarcasm. Taking in a deep breath, Joe says carefully, "No, Gennai. What I mean is…why are we HERE?"

"Another grand philosophical question. I don't pretend to fully understand what Drasil was thinking when he created the Digital World, but after he did so protectors known as the Digidestined were created." Gennai's lips crinkle as though he's thinking of something. "But if you're asking what are you specifically doing here, than I can safely tell you that I have no idea whatsoever your parents were thinking at the time, but I believe the belief is that when two people love each other very much…."

"OH PLEASE STOP TALKING!" Joe's face is bright red as Gommamon howls with laughter at his partner's embarrassment.

Gennai chuckles slightly and turns away again, and Dilbert nudges Joe. "…I have to say I sort of like this guy. Even if he is utterly insane."

"…Yeah." Joe sighs, pushing his glasses back up his nose and shaking his head ruefully. "Gennai is…definitely…one of a kind."

"Can we trust him though?" Dilbert says in a lower voice. He still has a long scrape across one cheek and his eyes look tired. Joe can't blame him for being wary. After all the crap they've been through the past couple of days, it's hard to imagine someone actually being on their side.

Still Joe nods firmly. "With my life." He says. "Gennai's been one of our biggest supporters for years now."

"If you don't count the fact that he forgot to show up at all while we were fighting against Devimon." Gommamon muses. "Or the fact that he went missing for ages at about the same time Tai did. Or the fact that he only told us that there was an eighth child and had us hunting for ages through Odiaba because he forgot the name of the kid, heck he couldn't even remember the gender."

"…GOMMAMON…" Joe groans, facepalming as Dilbert's eyebrows rise up higher and higher with eveyr statement that Gommamon states.

"What? I'm just saying."

"Thanks for that delightful summary." Gennai says deadpan as he walks up to them. Joe sighs. "So I don't suppose you're finally going to tell us what exactly we're doing here, are you?"

"Please spare us from anymore cryptic messages." Dilbert begs. "My brain hurts enough already."

"My little genius." His Wormmon deadpans.

"I told you, didn't I?" Gennai arches an eyebrow. "We're going to find what you've been searching for."

"…Here?!"

"Well….not here in so many words…." He says thoughtfully, before smirking again and pressing another button.

The water churns almost ominously as something rises up out of the surf—no wait, a lot of somethings. The group all tense as the water continues to churn before peeling away to reveal a bunch of robotic like Digimon.

Dilbert's eyes widen. "…Mekanoriomon…? What are they doing here?"

Gennai gently pats the side of one of the robotic Digimon. "I told you. The way to finding what you're looking for is right here."

"…You mean…." Joe's voice trails off as he sees Gennai lifting up the hatch of the Digimon and leaping inside. Now, for many many reasons that seemed sort of wrong to Joe, but the only one he can squeak out at that moment is, "Um, I have…claustrophobia?"

"And I'm not a big fan of tight metal places."

"…Dilbert that's what claustrophobia means."

Dilbert looks sheepish, running a hand through his hair. "Eh heh…I knew that."

"We can swim on our own, right Gomammamon?" Lunamon says excitedly, pulling on his flipper. Gommamon laughs slightly. "Hey, take it easy princess. But she's right, we've got this."

"We're wasting time Joe." Gennai says with more patience than usual.

Joe hesitates for only a moment before walking forwards with a slight groan. "Oh, all right, all right…"

"Eh, how bad can it be?"

"Plenty." Wormmon mutters. "You do realize that for a worm like me, there are only two beings that we're truly afraid of. Birds and fishes."

"…Thanks for that disturbing mental image." Dilbert says blandly as Gommamon cheers, "Everybody in the water!"

He charges forwards, his claws digging up dirt as Lunamon dashes behind him. Both of them dive downwards and splash, sending water over everyone standing there.

Gommamon laughs as he twirls underwater. This was where he belonged. The ocean water kissing his fur, the array of fish darting back and forth down below, the bottom covered with coral and all other creatures.

Suddenly a dark shadow looms over head, causing al of the animals to duck inside of their respective hiding holes. Gommaon's eyes widen as he looks up. "What the?!"

But it's not an enemy, as he expected earlier. No, instead it's a gigantic forty foot long crocodile. Her masisve eye floats downwards and she manages to smile down at Gommamon.

You'd think she'd be almost completely out of energy after that battle with that monster. But she seems.,..happy. At peace. Maybe the ocean regenerated her and made her feel safe, just like it did for Gommamon.

He smiles, his face curved in a massive smile as he flips onto his back so he's facing her more properly.

With a flick of her tails that almost sends him spiraling down into the sea bed, Leviamon chuckles and propels herself farther into the water.

Gommamon stares after her for a moment before a grin forms on his face and he swims after her.

…

"I cannot believe we're actually doing this." Izzy mutters as he crouches along the edge of the house wall towards the window. "It feels like stalking. Or burglary."

"We're not stalking and we're certainly not stealing anything." Tentmon buzzes indiginantly next to his partner.

Izzy bites his lip and looks away. Because the truth is, they are stealing something today. They're stealing Mimi from her parents. Sure, they didn't have a choice. They needed her in this upcoming war. And he knew without a doubt Mimi would be grateful to him.

But….it still felt so wrong, it truly did. After all, Mimi's parents weren't bad people. Short sighted, yes. They were convinced that they could protect Mimi from the evils of this world. What they didn't realize that without Mimi the odds of the evil sneaking back in grew larger each and every day.

…Still this feeling of guilt, ridiculous and unfounded as it is, continues to haunt him. The sound of raised voices echoes from inside the apartment.

Izzy ducks his head quickly around the corner safely out of sight, as Mimi's father's voice echoes, "I have heard enough young lady!"

Mimi's voice came back, just as angry. "You think that you have any right to tell me what to do anymore?"

'We are your pa-"I'm 18! If I'm a Digidestined, that's my choice! Not that it ever was a choice, really. Don't you guys get it? I was chosen for a reason. My friends are out there, fighting for their lives, protecting both worlds, and you want me to turn my back on them?"

There's silence for a moment as she says quietly, "I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. And I thought you two raised me better than to think so selfishly. I admit, I used to be a whiny girl who didn't want to fight because she was afraid. Then I didn't want to fight anymore because I was so afraid I'd have to see more people sacrifice themselves for me. And then….when Leomon…." Her voice trails off and she swallows. "When…Leomon died I realized that no matter how much I tried to run from it, evil was going to keep targeting my friends. And that…if I cared about them I would protect them."

There's silence for a moment and Mimi's mum says wearily, "Is it really worth it? Throwing your life away for a world that's not even our own?"

"The Digital World is my home just as much as this world is. Maybe that's something you can't understand, but it's how I feel. And rather you like it or not, I'm going back out there, and I am going to help the others curbstomp anyone who threatens it into the ground."

Izzy can't help the grin that forms on his face as he's standing outside. "_She's so pretty when she gets violent."_

"…You're our only daughter." Mimi's father sounds far more tired than usual. "We don't want to loose you."

"I know that…" Mimi's voice cracks slightly. "I promise I'll come back, all right? And when things calm down, all four of us, you guys, me and Palmon, we'll all be a family. But you've got to start realizing that no matter what you do, I'll always be a Digidestined."

"…."

"…All right.." Mimi's mother says softly.

"What? But sweetheart…."

"Honey, Mimi's grown up. She's going off to college this fall. As much as it pains me to say it, we have no right to tell her what to do anymore. And…although I don't like to admit it, maybe…maybe going to the Digital World…was actually a good thing for her. I know we thought it was a nightmare that our daughter was involved in this, but look at her."

Mimi allows a slight blush to appear on her face as her mum smiles softly and continues, "She's stronger than either of us will ever be."

Her Dad splutters for a few more moments, "That's not…but it's not…" before his wife lays a hand on his leg and gives him a pointed look.

"…." He closes his eyes. "….If nothing I do or say is going to make a difference…than I suppose I can't do anything more than just say the same thing that your mother said. Make sure you come back to us baby girl."

Mimi swallows back tears and says softly, "….I promise I will."

Walking quickly past her parents so they won't see her fighting back tears, she yanks the window open, ready to call for Lillymon, when a loud, "OW!" echoes.

"Izzy?! What are you doing outside of my window!"

Izzy groans, clutching his nose. "…Bleeding?"

"No, you idiot, before that!"

"I came here to get you." He mumbles, still pinching the bridge of his nose and contemplating the sheer weirdness of the idea that at this moment Mimi thought that he was the idiot.

"Bt…gs I dobt hab to now bight?"

Mimi bends over and touches his nose gently, causing him to yelp loudly. "Uh huh. Yup that's definitely broken."

"Dank you. I bould have bever bigured that one out."

Mimi just laughs and glances back over her shoulder at her parents one last time. Her mother manages a brave smile her way before leaning into her father's embrace.

"…Come on. Let's get going!"

….

The sounds of guard's footsteps echo down the small pathway. "Did Lord Millenniummon say when we're moving out?"

"Of course the boss himself isn't going to bother with giving us orders, he's more focused on finding out where that girl is."

"Oh yeah….so when are we moving out?"

"Ugh, I don't know. You'll have to ask the boss' second in command or something. Personally, I can't wait to sink my claws into some Digidestined flesh."  
"Hehehehhe….those pathetic humans will never know what hit them."

"Wait, did you hear something?"

"…"

"…."

"Nothing. You've got rocks in your head, numbskull."

"How can I have rocks in my head and be a numbskull?"  
"Oy vey…."

I glance warily around the corner and breath a sigh of relief as the guards continue to walk down the main hallway. Damien takes my hand and starts pulling me.

"Come on, it's this way."

"_I'm not meant for walking so quickly." _Ralts whines. "_I don't have any legs for crying out loud!"_

"Damien…." I whisper as we walk down the narrow stretch of hallway. "I think we're walking around in circles."

"I'm doing the best I can Lily." He whispers back. "This isn't exactly easy."

"Do you even know where to go?!"

"Ugh…sort of. I know this is the way out of the prison level because this is the way they dragged Wills' father in.."

"Oh great. So we're basically the blind following the blind." Something is nagging me. At the back of my mind, a question… a suspicious thought that I don't want to give much attention too, but I have to ask.

"…Damien. You were never around Willis and the others. How….do you know that this is Willis' father? I doubt that Milleunniummon would have shared that information with a flunkie, and definitely not a prisoner."

Damien's back stiffens slightly but before he can respond to me there are shouts of "THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM!"

OH #$$%.


	36. Miracle's Light, Darkness Returns

Chapter Thirty Six

Miracle's Light, Darkness Returns

AN: Hey guys! Sorry this one took a bit but hey! I'm uploading in the afternoon, not ridiuclously late in the evening! Score a point for me! And hehehehhe. I had so much fun with this chapter. Which is a little weird as it was intended to be more serious. Ah well. The characters never let me be serious.

Lily-Darn right.

Me-Oh stop being so darn proud of yourself. Anyway, you guys know the drill. Review? To those who don't review but favorite my stories still, I do really appreciate it, even if I wish I could hear more of your thoughts. Brings a smile to my face XD

"OH CRAP ON A CRACKER!" I yell, ducking as several blasts of energy nearly knock my head right off, only to be deflected at just the right moment.

I glance downwards to see my little Ralts straining with all her might to deflect the attacks. She glances up at me and growls, "_What are you looking at? Grab pretty boy and let's get the heck out of here!"_

"Good plan!" Grabbing Damien by the back of his jacket I yell, "This way!"

"…Wha?! Lily, you have no idea where the way out is!"

"I'm following a mixture…" I pant, hating how my leg muscles are already starting to scream at me as I run down the hall. "Of my instincts and my womanly intuition!"

"Oh for the love of…"

"Hey, everyone knows men stink at directions!"

"_Could we please have this argument a later time?!" _I hear Ralts shriek once more. The sound of wind wistling echoes and I manage to duck just at the right time to see a blast of energy hit her right in the chest.

"**NO!"**

Damien spins back around, cursing loudly, just barely managing to grab me by the waist as she collapses to the ground motionless.

"Lily, don't!"

"HE KILLED HER! SO HELP ME I'LL TEAR THE ##$$$%%%%% APART WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

"Actually…." The smug voice fills me with even more rage as the figure that shot at us steps out into the hallway. Wow. Let me just say that up to this point, I never thought in my life that there would be someone who looked even MORE lame than Dorkula. The guy is covered in red skin, leather boots, a ridiculous looking collar, a forked tail, and an actual pitchfork. I kid you not. A freaking…pitchfork.

"…What exactly are you supposed to be?"

He smirks and does a mock bow. "….Phelesmon my lady. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Charmed. Now get over here so I can tear your core out."

"Lily." Damien's hand slips over mine slightly. "….She's not dead."

"W-huh?" I glance back over my shoulder, stifling the urge to sob as I look at Ralts lying there limply. She might not have been a part of my life very long but-"_YOU IDIOT."_

…Oh. That's not death creeping up her limbs and stiffening her tiny body.

"_No, it's stone, you melodramatic moron. Now get out there and kick this guys' butt, because I'll be darned if I end up a stupid garden gnome!"_

Phelesmon glances over at us in disbelief, clearly either in shock that we're not bowing down in terror to him or….he just thinks we're insane. Ah well. Get that a lot.

"Do you not fear for your life?" Phelesmon says coldly, glaring at the two of us. I shrug. "Not really. Generally when I get kidnapped, it's because said psycho is obsessed with my powers. Trust me it gets old really really fast. Particularly when it's the same….obnoxius….stupid….smug….lying….cheating….ann oying…bratty…petualant-"Are you quite done?" Damien asks in a deadpan voice.

"Eh. Not really but I can rant/insult Dorkula till the end of time if I really want to, so moving on!"

Phelesmon snorts. "I cannot believe that you are the so-called Daughter of the Demon Lords."

"…How did you know about that?" I say, a warning growl in my voice. "And leave my family out of this mess, got it?"

"Aww…that's so cute. The little bag of flesh and bones defending THEIR honor. Bah! Makes me sick." A slightly glazed over look appears on his eyes. "I remember back in the glory days….when I served under Lord Lucemon…."

A tight knot in my stomach starts to form as I growl out, "Lucemon and the others would never have anything to do with someone who would attack a defenseless being. Alexander….My FATHER….would NEVER…."

His laugh is so full of mocking contempt. "Do you think so? Do you really think so? Child why do you think they're CALLED the Demon Lords in the first place? There was a time when they were much more bloodthirsty than I ever could be…..and I idolized them for it."

"Shut up, you don't know anything!"

Damien glances over at me, his eyes narrowing slightly before glowering at Phelesmon. "Get out." His voice is more commanding than I'm used to. "I'm sure Millenniummon would not be pleased with you threatening this one when he went to such lengths to capture her."

"Oh, I'm sure Millenniummon won't truly care if she dies." Phelesmon snarls as he stalks forwards. "You are the only person in this building that cares, I'm sure."

"_Hey I happen to care if she lives or dies!"_

"Aww thanks buddy."

"_No problem. After all, every evil mastermind needs a few good minions to carry out their orders!"_

"…..Why me?"

"You have HER EYES!" Phelesmon howls, his rage so strong I can almost taste it. I back away slightly as the mon is nearly foaming at the mouth. "HER EYES! THE EYES OF THAT MISERABLE LITTLE WHORE WHO SEALED MY MASTER! If it HADN'T been for THEM the Demon Lords would still be ruling the world and I would be a LORD by now, not some miserable flunkie! That is why YOU. MUST. DIE!"

The pitchfork lashes forward with more speed than I would have thought possible, about to cut my throat, when Damien grabs it with, I kid you not, his bare hands. The pitchfork actually melts while his hands glow bright red.

Wait…bright red….My eyes narrow slightly as Damien growls out a menacing, "Over my dead body."

"That can easily be arranged." Phelesmon snarls dangerously. "You're not as strong as you once were."

"…Oh really?"

…

"MIMI!" Lilllymon pounces on her immediately, nearly strangling the life out of the poor girl. Coughing she say weakly, "You know I've been gone less than two hours right?"

"I know but….but I hate being separated from you." She sniffles before reluctantly pulling away. "Every single time I'm afraid it's going to be years before I see you again, like after Apoclyamon."

Mimi's eyes fill with big, overdramatic tears as well as she whimpers, "Oh LILLYMON!"

"OH MIMI!"

"Please stop before the mushiness melts my hard drive." Izzy mutters. Mimi glowers at him. "I'm trying to have a nice, sweet bonding moment with my partner Koushiro." Her eyes harden for them even more. "Are you saying you have a problem with that?"

"Not usually." Izzy stammers, quickly trying to apologize for the look of irritation on Mimi's face. "But when I'm trying to contact Sira then I…sort of need to focus."

"You're trying to contact her?"

"Well yeah." Izzy narrows his eyebrows. "Considering how all of this has happened…Vademon coming back to life and all, I figure it's got to be connected to what Sira was talking about earlier. You know, how she messed up time?"

"She didn't do it on purpose Izzy…"

"Well of course I know THAT. But my point is, that Chronomon's death could have caused all sort of unprecedented occurances. You kill the Lord of Time, who knows what else could happen?" He makes a face down at his computer. "But all I keep getting…is this darn interference."

"It's Viruses."

Nearly everyone jumps out of their skins at this pronouncement. "Gosh DARN it Lilithmon!" Izzy shouts, his face slightly pale. "Don't freaking sneak up on us like that!"

"Sorry." Lilithmon says, glancing over the horizon. "Wasn't trying to sneak. I'm used to Digimon noticing my prescence more easily."

That was the group's first clue that something must be wrong. Because even though they hadn't known her long, they all knew that Lilithmon NEVER…EVER….apologized.

"…What is it?"

"I assume you mean Viruses with the capital." Tentomon says grimly. "As in the bloodthirsty monsters we've had to fight against before?"

Lilthmon flicks out her claws slightly, making him flinch back. "Watch it bug. I am a Virus, remember that. But these…." She clenches her teeth, showing fangs. "…These feel…powerful. Familiar…" She mutters. "…I really really hope I'm wrong. That would be just the icing on the cake, dealing with those crappy people again."

"I'm really really not liking the sound of what you're saying." Izzy says deadpan as Mimi nods vigorously. Lilithmon narrows her eyes slightly before sighing. "….Kid let's just say your friend Sira…she's not the only one whose made really REALLY big mistakes."

….

Something was nudging TK over and over again. He moans, turning over in bed, wincing slightly. "Mum, just five more minutes…please…." He murmurs sleepily.

There's an annoyed sigh above him. "If you don't get up off your butt in five seconds flat I am going to Grand Cross you out of it, and trust me you do not want to have to deal with that experience."

"…Huh?" TK's eyes blink open to see Lucemon levitating at the foot of his bed, his arms crossed over his chest, a very unimpressed expression on his face.

All TK can think to say is, "…You're not in Cupimon form anymore."

"WOW. Alert the media here people, I think we have a genius in the making on par with Albert Einestien."

"Oh my gosh you sound like Ralts."

"Rather or not Lucemon is being an impertinent little brat….again…" GranDracmon says dryly as Lucemon lets out an indignant yelp of "HEY!"

"Isn't the issue right now."

GranDracmon's expression is so grim that TK feels a chill run down his spine. Cody moans, and GranDracmon glances over at Lucemon. "Make yourself useful and get them up as well."

"Aye aye SIR!" Lucemon says deadpan, clicking his heels together (the effect was slightly ruined because he wasn't wearing any shoes) and turned about face before marching over to Cody's bed.

"TK…."

"Huh?" TK glances back over at where Patamon is staring wide-eyed out the window. "What is it buddy?"

The chilly air hits TK as he shoves it open. His eyes widen as he glances up at the sky. The dark clouds roll ever onwards, but even from this point, TK KNOWS that that is no ordinary thunder storm. Instead of the humidity there's an unprecedented tension, as though something very big and very powerful is watching them hungrily, uncurling claws and ready to strike.

TK's blue eyes narrow slightly and he glances over at Patamon. "Are you ready for this buddy?"

"You bet!"

"W-wait…" Cody's eyes are full of unease. "…We're not actually going to have to…to kill these Digimon are we?"

"If we do then we do." GranDracmon says flatly. "Come on, let's get going."

"But…."

"Kill or be killed here squirt." Lucemon says, arching his eyebrows. "I've got a family to protect back home so I guarantee you it won't be me that dies."

Cody glances over at TK who nods grimly and Armadillomon lays a head against his partner's leg. "It'll be okay Cody."

"GOSH DARN IT PHASCOMON WAKE UP!"

"Wait…." TK frowns as he counts the members of the group, Lucemon literally dragging the protesting mini-form of Belphemon by the scruff of the neck. "Where's Sira?"

He doesn't miss a particulary guilty look that passes between Lucemon and GranDracmon. "…Well…."

There's a loud banging sound from the bathroom making them all jump as a particularly furious voice screams, "RAS YOU UNCHAIN ME FROM THIS TOILET SEAT THIS MOMENT OR SO HELP ME I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOUR LIFE A FREAKING LIVING HELL!"

"….You…chained her up in the bathroom."

"What am I SUPPOSED to do?! She's pregnant, she can't possibly go out in a battlefield, and there's no way I can convince her to take her own personal safety more seriously!"

Another loud banging noise echoes menacingly and Lucemon states, with a slight sweatdrop, looking down at his bare wrists and ankles, "Uh, I think that we should probably get going." He coughs, looking around shiftily. "You know those power inhibitors are meant for me, right? Not her. Which means I can't guarantee she'll remained trapped by them forever."

"Crap." GranDracmon mutters. "Well…off we go!"

"RAS! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME HERE! YOU ARE SO FREAKING DEAD! ALL OF YOU! ARRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHH!"

…

The tightly enclosed space of the Mekanoriomon was definitely one of the more uncomfortrable experiences of Joe's life. However, then again as he'd spent time traveling around the Net Ocean in a Whamon's mouth, this could easily be considered the better option. At the very least, the more hygienic.

Noise crackles inside of the Mekanoriomon and for a minute, Joe panics, thinking, he doesn't know, the Digimon must be breaking or something like that.

But thankfully that's not the case. Instead Dilbert's voice echoes through. "This is your Captain speaking. We are continuing our travel to Who-The-Heck-Knows-Where?. On your left you can see….more water. And on the right, guess what? MORE water. Hope you're enjoying your time and are enjoying the bags of complementary peanuts we have given out to you."

"Oooh, peanuts would be nice right about now."

"I know, wouldn't they?"

Joe rolls his eyes to heaven and wonders how on Earth Sira could possibly tolerate someone like Dilbert when Gennai's voice cuts in. "All right, you two, that's enough messing around."

"Ugh, I'm bored."

Joe finally manages to find the switch to make his own radio come on. "I think you're all messing around., Gennai, I don't see anything here that looks remotely like a Destiny Stone."

"Hmm….things not seen with your eyes, sometimes the most obvious, they are."

"….What on Earth made you decide you weren't being vague enough and you had to quote Yoda? And what idiot let you watch Star Wars in the first place?"

Gennai's laugh echoes over the radio once more. "Heh. They're awesome movies. Plus….. You get really bored when you're all alone Joe." The last part of his sentence was more quiet and somber.

Joe remembers the flashback—of Gennai's race being slaughtered by the Dark Masters, Puppetmon blasting energy bullets and mowing several down, MetalSeadramon's and Machinedramon's roars mixing together, and Piedmon laughing like a complete maniac, his sword dripping with blood as he'd advanced on Gennai.

His hands tighten slightly on the controls. The Dark Masters had nearly wiped out their entire group as well. If it hadn't been for Piximon, then even despite the best efforts of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, it would have been an absolute slaughterhouse. But even that would be better…to being forced to go on alone after all of your companions were dead.

Joe doesn't think he could ever do that. It would be unbearable.

"And hey, if you want to blame my obsession with Star Wars on someone, blame the first Digidestined." Gennai's voice is rueful. "The twins were die-hard fans, I swear to Yggdrasil."

"…" It takes a moment for Joe to close his jaw. "…The…the first Digidestined?"

"Yup."  
Dilbert's voice is just as stunned. "Dear gosh man, how OLD are you?!"

"Wow, the idea of tact is just a foreign concept to you isn't it?"

"Oy, you can't speak Wormmon."

"Wait…" Joe's brow wrinkles. "The Digieggs we're searching for…the Golden ones…they're the ones that we're searching for right? They were created by the First Digidestined?"

"No." Gennai's voice was flat.

"Huh? But…but that's what Sorcerymon told us."

Gennai sighs, and there's so much exhaustion in that sigh. "…You have to understand. The first Digidestined's tale…there is far more to it than you could believe. When they left darkness spread over the world. We've managed to surpress it…call more Tamers and more Digidestined…but there's so much of the past we've had to keep hidden. So much…so many memories we've even had to take away from those who were there."

"But….why?"

"I didn't necessarily agree with it. But if I told you, I'm not sure you would believe me. Suffice to say that the first Digidestined were long gone by the time we helped create the Golden Digieggs." There's an anger to his tone as he adds, "The team who used the Golden Digieggs…we do not speak of them."

Joe feels a strange sense of unease rising up inside of him, but before he can ask Gennai to explain his strange comment, there's a frantic yell of "JOE!"

"What?! What is it?!"

Gommamon is speeding next to his Mekanaorimon, a more serious and angry look never before on the seal's face. "Joe, it's…it's HIM!"

"…Wh-"JOE! LOOK OUT!"

Something huge and heavy whacks his ride, sending it spiraling out of control as the glass cracks from the force of the impact, sending water bursting in as the poor Digimon starts to turn into data.

"Gah…I CAN'T…SW-…..!"

"JOE NO!"

…

The cross forms in the air as D'Arcmon shouts out, "LA PUECELLE!" Bursting outwards, it slams into several of the Pipismon that try to force their way into the room.

Edan's blade slices down through the air, cutting one of the massive bats in half and slicing the wing off of another.

"There's too many of them!" He hisses in frustration. Blood runs down one gash on his cheek, and he wipes it off angrily.

D'Arcmon glances back over her shoulder at her partner. "They're not that high leveled, just keep pushing them back!"

An angry roar is the first thing they have time to register before the walls at the back nearly explode. D'Arcmon shrieks and barely manages to push Edan out of the way, rubble crashing down all around them, as a massive clawed foot lands beside them.

The creature towering above them looks almost exactly like a regular Tyrannomon. Same green scales poking from his back, same body. But this monster was covered in grey scales. Marking it as a MasterTyrannomon. A whole level above Tyrannomon and their virus counterpart BlackTyrannomon.

Edan curses under his breath, clenching his teeth in frustration. "You've got to digivolve!"

"On it!"

"D'ARCMON DIGIVOLVE TO….LADYDEVIMON!"

LadyDevimon hisses angrily as her claws lash through the air, but they don't even make a dent on the MasterTyrannomon's scales. She had absolutely no way of knowing at the time, but nearly all of Millenniumon's forces had been infected with the dark spore at that point.

A regular Ultimate didn't stand a chance against a boosted one alone. She screams as she feels herself be grabbed by the leg and thrown to the ceiling, but she uses that momentum to come back with an attack of her own.

"DARKNESS WAVE!"

The bats swoop down and counter the flock of flying Pipismon. At first the attack doesn't seem to do much damage, but as weak as LadyDevimon's bats were, there were a lot of them. And the massive confusion was blocking MasterTyrannomon's sight of her.

He growls, letting out an angry roar as the flames begin to form in the back of his mouth once again. "MASTER FIRE!"

The flames that seer out are so freaking hot that Edan screams as he feels the burns begin to form on his own body, and many of the computers began to melt.

Edan curses loudly, glancing at the one computer they still had left. They had a choice—they could either continue to stay here and fight, or they could retreat now while they still had a chance to find and help the others.

…But abandoning the base to their enemies….?

That would be betraying Sira. That would be betraying everything the Tamers had built!

…

"_It's so big…." Edan breathed, his green eyes huge in his tiny seven year old face. Sira shrugs, brushing back a strand of black hair. "I guess."_

_He really wasn't so sure what to make of this girl, this nonchalant person who seemed to care so little about well, really anything. But the sheer amazement he felt running through his tiny body was all he could really think about. Shaped like a letter E on its side, the building stretched out over the side of the canyon._

_He could hear the sound of laughter echoing down the halls as he stuck close to Sira, Salamon wagging her tail excitedly beside him._

"_Can't catch me! Can't catch me!"_

"_Ryo, stop it! You're too fast!" Another voice wailed before he was nearly knocked over by a girl with flaming red hair._

"_How many times do I have to tell you to think about what you're doing?" Sira sighed, exasperation obvious in her voice as she straightened both kids to their feet. "One of these days you're going to find yourself in a real mess."_

"_Aw, you worry too much." Ryo muttered before flashing Edan a crooked grin, revealing a couple of missing teeth. "Hey, new kid!"_

"_Uh…..hi." He mumbles, drawing in closer to the older girl, not quite sure of what to make of this very loud one. The other girl, with darker skin and braided hair, flashed him a small smile. "…Hi. I'm Stella."_

_He couldn't help the faint hint of a blush appearing on his cheeks. "Um…um…."_

"_Wow, he doesn't really have much to say." Ryo muttered. Sira fixed her with another stern look as she touched Edan's shoulders. "All of you need to learn to be more respectful to each other. Someday there's going to be a time where I might not be there to watch over you, and I need to know you can protect the Digital World in my place."_

"_Heh. Easy peasy." Ryo says, grinning as she crosses her arms behind her head. Stella rolls her eyes as Sira responds, "Strength is only one part of it. Stella, you have a desire to protect others, Ryo, you have a desire to see justice done, and Edan…"_

_He looks up, startled to hear his own name spoken so soon when she clearly hasn't known him as long as she's known these other girls. _

"_Even if you've only been a Tamer for a few days, you have a great desire to belong. If you work hard, then I'm sure that will become great loyalty. To us. Can you do that for me?"_

_Edan's eyes widen slightly before a large smile appears on his face and he nods eagerly. "Yeah! I'll never turn my back on this!"_

….

A Youkomon, a creature that looks quite a bit like a Kyubimon except with fur a shade of ugly purple and glowing yellow eyes snarls as she pounces at Edan, his blade being the only defense against her claws sinking into his flesh.

"_At the time…I thought that being a good Tamer was all about doing your job, and nothing but your job." _Edan thinks, straining his head back and trying to keep his throat out of the reach of her claws.

"_But…now I realize what Sira meant. Being a good tamer is far more than simply doing as you're told to do. It's about following your heart!"_

LadyDevimon shrieks as the whack from the tail catches her off guard and she screams as the monster's claws wrap around her and squeeze.

Suddenly the giant dinosaur lets out a roar of pain, dropping her to the ground, and blood sprays out from the slash Edan has sliced down his leg.

"Come on!" Edan snaps as more roars echo down the corriders. "We need to get out of here!"

"But…."

Edan's head is down as his sword shrinks back to the size of his Digivice. "There's nothing more we can do here, but maybe we can help the others!"

"But the base!"

"Is just a building." He says. A faint smile appears on his mouth as he turns back around. "Everything that matters is on the outside."

LadyDevimon's red eyes widen slightly before a soft smile appears on her face as well. "…Right."

"GET THEM! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

"Bit too late for that." Edan mutters, the screen of the computer beginning to glow again. "DIGIPORT OPEN!"

…

"DAEMON! SERAPHIMON!"

The storm clouds finally break, letting the moonlight shine down on all of them. Stella scrambles upwards, desperate to get to her partner, despite the attempts of the others to hold her back down.

"….Where's Cherubimon?" Ken's voice comes out, horse and weak, and Davis glances back over at him, like he can't believe that the boy is even still conscious.

But when Davis glances back out, what he's seeing is even more unbelievable. Swallowing, he states, "Um, does anyone notice there's a distinct absence of a certain giant killer bunny?"

"…He ran off?" Veemon's voice is filled with disbelief. "Why in the Digi-world would he do that?"

"I….I don't know."

Stella scrambles frantically again, fear in her voice. "Use your brains! If Cherubimon's gone, the only reason he'd leave is if his opponents are…if they're….if they're…."

"….Oh Yggdrasil no."

"SERAPHIMON!"

There was absolutely nothing they could do to stop Stella from rushing to her partner's side.

Tsukaimon's eyes open weakly as he moans, "I'm sorry Stella."

"It's all right…." Her voice cracks slightly as she cradles him in her arms. "You did your best."

"Where's Dae…." Davis' voice trails off as he sees that Daemon has also shrunk massively down and is now…

"HE'S A FREAKING CANDLE?!"

"Candlemon to be exact." Wormmon says, his antennae twitching upwards.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE ACTUAL FORM IS NOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO FREEZE TO DEATH!"

"Davis…." Ken rolls his eyes to heaven and sighs as Davis frantically shakes Candlemon trying to wake him up. "Come on come on come on PLEASE! Just one tiny fireball, is that too much to ask!"

"At least the storm's stopped."

"But I'm not sure if we can carry on this mission regardless." Ken says, his shivering continuing. "Sira sent us out here specifically with Daemon because she thought we'd be safe in these conditions with him. I.,..don't think we can…."

"Uh…guys…" Veemon glances behind him, his own eyes widening slightly. "I think we might have bigger problems than just the cold."

"Oh please don't tell me…."

There's a furious snarl before something erupts like a black missile from the snowbank. Cyberdramon roars, lashing his tail as he soars down at the group, the nails on his elbows starting to shine once more.

"DESOLATION CLAW!"

"MOVE IT!" Stella shouts, pushing Davis out of the way just in time as the attack lands and nearly shatters the ice once more.

"What the heck is his problem?! Cheubimon is gone so why the heck would he be attacking us now?!"

A desperate scream echoes. "STOP IT CYBERDRAMON!"

"Huh?!" Ken's eyes widen with horror as he sees Ryo standing there, looking completely exhausted and her chest heaving in and out in exhaustion, but she still holds her ground. "Cyberdramon…please you're not like this." She whispers, fighting back the urge to let out a sob. "You were never supposed to be like this. Please, I don't want to loose you too."

Cyberdramon's tail lashes from side to side again, a low growl echoing in his mouth. He stands still like a statue. Finally, his shoulders start to slump, and it seems like he's about to relax, and Ryo breathes a sigh of relief, smiling.

"…That's it….."

But that was when things went horribly wrong. Cyberdramon charges at her suddenly, proving the whole thing was a ruse to get her guard down, claws stretching out as Ryo falls back on her butt, looking up helpessly as Ken and Stella scream her name…

"_Cyberdramon…."_

"VEE HEADBUTT!"

The attack hits Cyberdramon in the back of the leg and with surprising force. The great dragon is even forced down to his knees for the moment, such is the force and unexpectedness of the attack.

Ryo's eyes widen with disbelief as she looks past her partner at Davis and Veemon. Davis' eyes are blazing with so much intensity he doesn't look at all like himself. Not at all like the laughing, bouncy, stupid boy that she'd seen him as for months now.

"You sick ##$$$$." Davis growls menacingly. "You attacked our comerades, us, and now look at them!"

Tsukaimon stirs slightly in Stella's arms and moans once more while Candlemon's eyes slowly blink open. "Now you attack your own partner?! Clearly someone needs a lesson pounded into their thick skull, and lucky for you, I'm a pretty darn good teacher! Right Veemon!"

"Right Davis!"

"Davis, you…." Ryo coughs. "You absolute IDIOT. RUN!"

"No, you're the one who needs to shut up and run Ryo! Quit acting like everything is your problem and your problem alone to solve! You're not THAT important, bigmouth!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE!"

"DAVIS!"

Cyberdramon roars, furious now, before charging, teeth and claws bared, willing to do anything if it means making these little pests shut up.

"VEEMON!"

"STAY AWAY FROM MY PARTNER!" Veemon yells, charging forwards to meet the enemy head on. Davis gasps as his Digivice suddenly shines a bright blue. It had….NEVER….done anything like this before.

Veemon's eyes widen as the huge rush of energy fills him and a smile appears on his reptilian face. "All right! Let's do this!"

"VEEMON DIGIVOLVE TO…EX-VEEMON!"

"No…way…." Ken gasps, his mouth hanging down to his knees, and Wormmon's own eyes widen. "Wow. Didn't see that one coming."

Veemon's form began to grow until he was much bigger and tall, big, scaly white wings tearing from his back, a dagger like horn like in his Flamedramon form sprouting in the middle of his forehead.

"EX-VEEMON!"

Davis' face slowly splits into a huge grin as he watches his partner. "That is SO FREAKING COOL!"

"Should have known those would be the first words out of Davis' mouth." Ken chuckles. Stella holds Tsukaimon close to her. "You really think they can beat that guy?"

"I believe in Davis. Take it from someone whose fought against him before…" Ken's voice trails off as the corners of his lips pull upwards in a smile. "He has a habit of managing to win even when every conceivable odd has been stacked against him."

Cyberdramon's charge is stopped as ExVeemon slams his shoulder into the other dragon's chest. The two lock eyes, an unspoken challenge passing between them with their vicious snarls.

Both of them charge upwards into the air, their wings levitating them above the frozen surface.

…

"WHAT THE ##4$$555%%% DO YOU MEAN MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING?!" Alexander's shout seems to go on for miles, and Tai resists the urge to slap his hands over his ears, because his entire brain seems to be ringing.

"If it helps this happens all the time." Renamon says flatly. Tai and Matt both shoot her horrified looks, clearly wondering if Renamon is TRYING to get them killed at this point, and Alexander whirls around, snarling a fierce, "What do you MEAN all the time?!"

"Not…all the time."

"Yeah. To be honest she hasn't been kidnapped in months. Compared to when Myotismon was still alive that's got to be some kind of record."

"Maybe you guys should both stop talking." Willis says nervously, his blue eyes filled with unease.

Alexander growls. "So what you're telling me is none of you are capable of making sure she doesn't get herself into danger?"

"Hey, Lily's not a little kid." Tai says, a hint of annoyance entering his voice. "She's a grown girl, for crying out loud! Just because she doesn't always think before she acts, doesn't mean that she can't take care of herself."

Staring up at the sky, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, Alexander growls, "I am NOT losing her again. I'll search every corner of this world if I have to."

"And you think we won't?" Tai asks, a bit of incredulousness in his voice.

"I'm not sure you can be bothered to…."

"Are you trying to imply that I DON'T care about Lily?!" Tai shouts, fury entering his voice, and Matt grabs him by the back of the shirt, pulling him back. "Calm down before you do or say something you're going to regret…."

"You guys are the ones who lost her to Myotismon in the first place!"

"Too late…." Willis groans, facepalming. The snarl and the motion is so fast Tai almost doesn't see it coming, but the next second he knows Alexander has him by the front of the shirt and those claws…inches away from his stomach.

Tai's eyes widen slightly and Matt makes a slight gasping sound as Alexander growls, "…Do you want to make an enemy of the Demon Lords, boy?"

"…No." Tai manages to gasp out, not able to feel the air as well. "Never I…that's not what…"

"STOP IT!"

Renamon's shout is so forceful that Alexander actually lets go of Tai, Tai stumbling back and nearly knocking into Matt. "Look at yourselves! Busy infighting when we don't know what happened to Lily! Look, you two. You're BOTH right you're just both too hotheaded and STUPID to see it! Yes, I said STUPID! Chew on that Demon Lord of Gluttony! Look, Lily has come a long, long way, from the girl that would rush in, without thinking, the girl who could be manipulated. She's ten times the better warrior than she was before. So you're wrong in that area Alexander, and Tai is right. But what YOU forget Tai, is the fact that even the best warrior can't help being targeted over and over again, and with all that, it's inevitable something bad is going to happen! And with Lily, it's never slightly bad! It's always REALLY BAD! So Alexander's got every right to be afraid!"

Everyone was staring at Renamon in slight disbelief. They'd absolutely never heard her explode like that.

"Dang." Gargomon mutters. "I think she broke all of them."  
"I know right?" Gabumon also mutters, sounding more than slightly appreciative. Until he noticed that Renamon was crying. "Renamon I…."

"Please…..can you all stop acting like children bickering over who loves Lily more for goodness sake, and just find her?!"

"Nice going." Matt mutters to Tai.

Tai's jaw drops. "Wha-….I didn't do any…!"

"Yeah, we're taking a walk." Matt says flatly, grabbing Tai by the shirt collar and dragging him forwards, causing Tai to yelp.

"Renamon…."

Renamon glances over at Alexander, who looks more abashed then you could ever imagine a demon biker looking. "….I'm sorry. That was immature and stupid of me."

"You threatened Tai." She says, a hint of a low growl entering her voice. Agumon's green eyes narrow as well and Alexander holds up his hands slightly in a self-placating gesture. "I know, I….that was beneath me. And…"

"….." Renamon walks past him, punching him in the chest. "Just don't do it again, you got it?" She says flatly, before turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. Her eyes soften slightly and then tighten again with anxiety and determination. "We're going to find her. That is a promise. And then whoever took her from us…." Renamon growls, the fur on the back of her neck standing up again, "is going to wish they were dead."

….

The sounds of bones cracking echo as Phelesmon slams Damien into the wall again. Damien winces, hissing in pain as he slides down and I make a movement to step forwards and….and do what?!

I don't have any powers anymore, what the heck am I supposed to do?!

Phelesmon's smug laughter makes my teeth clench in anger. This guy…this guy makes my blood boil like never before. Damien's shoulder is clearly messed up, and he's breathing hard, and Phelesmon states mockingly, "I suppose the mighty really have fallen, haven't they?"

"_Does anyone else beside me feel like things are getting really weird around here?" _Ralts says warily. _"Or is he talking to Damien…like he knows him?"_

…She was right. Other times I'd probably wouldn't be thinking about this sort of thing, would be thinking more about how badly I want to hurt this creep for not only attacking Ralts but also insulting my entire family. And threatening to kill me too, of course. I'm not a big fan of that either but….

I can't keep my eyes off of Damien, and I didn't necessarily mean that in a good way. No I'm ogling him, I swear to Yggdrasil. Something uncomfortable fills my chest as I see him lift his head and smirk like that.

It seems so darn familiar but I can't remember where…..I rub the back of my neck, feeling a burning sensation starting to return there once more.

"You could say that." Damien murmurs, standing back to his full height as though the injuries are no trouble at all. "But then again, you always were the presumptious one, were you not?"

Phelesmon snarls, truly pissed now as he raises the pitchfork again. "Let's see how arrogant you are when you're nothing but stone crumbling into hundreds of pieces!"

"Ooh, let's see you just try." Damien says with an odd anticipating gleam in his eye. "BLACK STATUE!"

"DAMIEN!"

The blast of energy seems to be about to hit Damien but then with speed I didn't think anyone had, he was suddenly behind Phelesmon.

"My move." He whispers, eyes gleaming before his foot connects with the back of Phelesmon's head, knocking him forwards, and knocking him off balance enough so that the Digimon's pitchfork is yanked away from him.

He roars, slashing out with his own claws and leaving a massive gash on Damien's face, but Damien….rams the pitchfork forwards and stabs Phelesmon with his own weapon in the stomach. Phelesmon lets out a strangled gasp of pain and is knocked to the floor as I surpress the urge to hurl. This isn't even a real battle, this is…Damien's playing with him like a cat would a mouse. Correction, I've seen Gatomon hunt mice before.

She's not this cruel.

Damien leers down at him as he clutches his injury, unable to really move or dodge, fear in his eyes, and I bolt forwards shouting "##$%$%%^^ ! DAMIEN! STOP IT! STOP IT-NOW!"

He ignores me and says slyly, "Now who has fallen?" before plunging the pitchfork right into Phelesmon's core.

"…."

I can only stand there as the specks of data fly around my face. Damien slowly looks back up at me and this feeling of fear seems to fill my entire body. He looks…so hungry.

"…Why did you do that? There wasn't any….'

"He was going to kill you." Damien breathes, brushing a strand of hair flecked with blood from his face. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Um…I don't know, maybe NOT give him a horrible death for starters?"

"What are you fussing about?" Damien asks, glancing over his shoulder. "Look, your Ralts is fine now."

"_Scarred a little for life…." _I feel Ralts' tiny hands grab my jeans slightly. _"But other than that….fine."_

My hand rests down protectively on top of her head as I move slightly, like I'm shielding her from him. The mere fact that he's actually managed to scare RALTS off all people….

Damien lets out a laugh…an oddly sounding cracked laugh. His eyes lock on mine even when I try to look away and his hand rests on my shoulder. "Come on Lily….it's just me."

"I barely know anything about you." I breath, pushing away from him. "And the more I see the less I like."

His eyes narrow slightly. "…I save your life and that's the sort of gratitude you show?" He asks in a tone that's more colder and angry.

"How did you know Willis' father was here?! HOW Damien?!" I don't care if my shout attracts attention, but I'm sick to death of getting nothing but half-truths from him. The bullcrap stops HERE and NOW.

"Are you really so stupid as to make a fuss here and now?!" He growls, grabbing hold of my wrist.

"LET. GO."

"_Lily, there's something wrong with him! There's so much darkness, so much….it's like something's…trying to break through…."_

I pull hard, trying to break free but his fingers are like icy claws digging into my wrist. "Show some respect for once in your life you darn brat."

"_Ice…vice grip….darkness….so much darkness it feels like poison…."_

"_LET HER GO!"_

"_TAICHI!"_

_Cold laughter all around, the sound of bats chittering, Wizardmon's screams, the red whip lashing over and over again, blood, blood, so much blood, cold blue eyes, cold cold cold dark….._

I put so much force into the yank that it actually knocks Damien off balance….Damien….yeah right….

"….YOU. It CAN'T be."

….

Sora gasps as she feels the knife cutting through her right shoulder. Wincing in pain she pushes herself upwards in enough time to roll away from her doppleganger. She can't help but wonder if this is how Renamon must have felt fighting against Kuzuhaumon.

Someone who looks exactly like you, someone who practically is you….but not. The light of sheer hate shines through the expression of the dopple-ganger's face.

"You've had basically everything!" The fake-Sora slams the knife down inches from Sora's face. Sora responds with a quick upper right punch that knocks the other one for a loop, and she's suddenly very very grateful about those self-defense classes that she took with Mimi and Lily.

"Why should you have a family…friends….why should you have all of those…." The other Sora aims a punch at her face. "When all I am at best is treated like an expensive experiment. No, not even that! I'm a symbol of Datamon's failure."

Sora manages to gasp out, the smoke infecting her lungs, "That….that isn't my fault."

"Then whose fault is it?!"

The kick catches Sora off her guard and knocks her right back to the floor. She can feel the heat from the fire leaking upwards.

"_Birdramon please, wherever you are, hurry, help me! Barbamon…someone! Anyone!"_

Through the smoke she sees the fake-Sora lunging at her, a look of sheer madness on her face. So she did what anyone who was a soccer star would have done. She kicks outwards, her feet connecting with the girl's ribcage.

The other Sora lets out an agonized scream as the kick sends her flying right over the edge….and into the fiery abyss below…

"Oh Yggdrasil…" Sora breathes, her horror filling her. "Wait no…please….I…." But there's no answer except the sound of the fire crackling below.

Her head pounds and her throat aches and she wants to cry, do something but she…can't do anything. Exhaustion starting to fill her, her eyes slowly start to close as her head drops to the ground and her body slumps there.

…

"METEROR WING!" The balls of flame shoot downwards right at the trapped robot, but what Birdramon has unfortunately forgotten is that even when pinned, Datamon are obnoxiously flexible pests.

His arms stretch at ridiculous lengths, the left one reaching up and grabbing the railing above them, carrying his body upwards, and the right one forming another attack.

"DIGITAL BOMB!"

Birdramon squawks loudly as the attack hits her on top of the head and sends her slamming down into the ground while Datamon laughs triumphantly. Most villains would have been smart at this moment and taken the chance to finish an enemy off, but Datamon was too obsessed with the safety of his own skin.

He wasn't sticking around here a moment longer, no matter what Lord Milleinniummon thought. Pulling himself upwards, he forms another attack, blasting a hole in the roof. "Bye-bye, you overgrown chicken!"

The delicious screams of the other humans in the middle of this previously jovial place sound like music to his ears, but unfortunately he doesn't have any time to go and cause any more agony himself.

Any minute that horrible sparrow would be free and she would never let him escape, of that, the robot was sure. And no matter what punishment Millenniummon gives him for abandoning his post, for not being able to kill the children, he doesn't care. He'd run off and hide somewhere, it would be simple enough.

Suddenly yellow talons were wrapping around him once more, yanking the terrified robot into the air and then slamming him back down on the ground.

For a moment he's terrified that Birdramon had managed to capture him so soon, but the voice that growls menacingly in his audio recepters, "Going somewhere?" Is most definitely male.

Datamon yelps as he's slammed down into the ground with tremendous force. Yolei's glasses gleam menacingly as she crosses her arms while Kari and Gatomon stand next to them, both of them glowering.

"You know, my big brother is going to be so so sorry he missed the chance to kick your butt, you sorry tin can." Kari says, her eyes glinting. "I think we can do plenty even with his absence though."

"Has anyone else noticed that Kari has gotten progressively more and more scary?" Aquilamon mutters to Gatomon.

"So has Yolei."

"…Touche."

"I…." Datamon's one good eye narrows as he backpedals and then bumps into something much taller than him. He nearly split all of his circuits when he saw Barbamon leer down at him.

"Good afternoon." Barbamon says with far too much politeness in his voice. "It's a lovely day to die, isn't it?"

"Barbamon…." Sora pushes herself weakly up from the Demon Lord's protective arms. "You know you're intimidating enough without channeling the evil lord side of yourself right?"

"Oh I do indeed know that Miss Sora. It's just a lot more fun this way. Besides…." He continues, watching as Datamon actually shakes a little bit, "It's a lot more fun messing with those who would dare hurt a young girl this way."

"I….you can't…." Datamon splutters, and Barbamon smiles. "I can't? Actually I think you'll find that I can and it would be absolutely, ridiculously easy."

"….."  
"However…." Barbamon inclines his head towards Sora as he sets her down. "I believe your life should be in the hands of those who you have made suffer the most. What is it that the humans call this phenomenon? Ah yes! Karma!"

"He's right about that." Sora growls, glaring at Datamon as the ground below her shakes slightly, and with a loud shriek suddenly her phoenix is right beside her. "I'll give you this much Datamon. A one on one fight between you and my partner. If you cheat, then I'll just let the others rip you apart. What's it going to be?"

…

This is BAD. This is really really REALLY REALLY **REALLY ##4$%%% BAD!** There aren't many of things in this world that can possibly make me panic like this. Big Bang Theory or Doctor Who getting canceled.

The Demon Lords discovering the Internet and thus generating the Apocalypse.

My….ex-master the Digimon who STILL haunts my freaking nightmares four years later standing in front of me? In a human body I sort of actually ADMIRED?!

….This is NOT happening.

Ralts, apparently able to sense my panic, has positioned herself in front of me, stretching her little arms out, and glowering. "_Leave Lily alone!"_

Damien….no not Damien….cocks his head slightly to the side. "…Call off your attack dog before you do something you regret."

I can't….move. My legs seem to have turned to lead, my eyes seem to be about ready to pop out my head, and I know I probably look like a complete idiot standing here like this, unable to move.

"…" Damien glances back over his shoulder, glowering at the data specks that are still rising miserably into the air. "Stupid upstart." He growls. "If he hadn't gotten in the way I might have managed to keep my compulsion on you longer, because you're surely not smart enough to figure it out on your own."

He adds the last bit with a sneer that's all too familiar to me. Ralts clenches her little fists. "_Why I outta…let me at him Lily. I'll fry his brain cells, the little he has at least!"_

"Will you really?" Damien….Myotismon….says in a bored tone, arching one eyebrow before glancing over at me. A smirk appears on his face and he says with mocking sweetness, "Aw, too much for you to handle my pet?" He says the hated nickname with so much added emphasis and I feel my hands begin to curl into fists. "It's almost a shame that you found out so soon. I thought….I might at least get a kiss out of this deception before you figured it out."

His hand reaches up to my cheek….but before he can actually touch me my own hand lashes out and snaps around his wrist.

Myotismon's eyes widen slightly and I narrow my own. "YOU SON OF A ##$$$%%%%^^^^^&&&7&&."

"_Oh boy. Crap's about to go down!"_

The guards on the end of their hallway knew their mission was clear. Let the master lead the girl around in circles, continuing to keep attacking and ambushing them, whatever they did they were not to let her escape—unless the master allowed it. That part had confused them, but many of Lord Myotismon's plans were confusing so they didn't let it bother them too badly.

However they were relatively certain that their master screaming like a little girl had NOT been a part of the plan.

Hurrying down the corridors, they stopped and stared in disbelief.

".,..Holy crap."

"She's PISSED."

"GET OFF OF ME YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE WETCH!"

"YOU ARE SO FREAKING DEAD!"

I am nowhere near as strong as Myotismon, that much I'll freely admit. But the fact that I had flatout charged him instead of remaining there stammering in confusion or horrified fear, had well, c aught him off guard.

And sometimes sheer rage is a good alternative for power. A horrible burning sensation fills my arm and I screech with pain at the feeling of a half formed Crimson Lightning. He smirks but then lets out a shriek himself when I sink my fangs into the hand holding me.

Now we were BOTH pissed. Snarling, we both circle each other for a moment, and I spit out furiously, "WHAT THE CRAP IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

His eyes narrow slightly and I continue shrieking, "Since I was SEVEN FREAKING YEARS old you sick creep, you have been stalking me, do you have ANY idea how freaking SAD and PATHETIC that is?!"

"_Uh Lily?!" _Ralts tries desperately to interject as Dorkula's eyes narrow ominously but I don't listen to her.

"I cannot BELIEVE you actually had the unbelievable GALL to actually FLIRT with me! That is disgusting! That is MESSED UP. Oh my gosh, you realize what this makes you right?!You're basically exactly like those disgusting, old perverted men who hide behind the guise of hot men on the Internet! OH THAT'S RIGHT BLOODSUCKER. I WENT THERE."

His jaw literally drops to the floor a little bit and I can practically hear the sound of his pride starting to crack. It's a very pretty sound.

Grabbing him by the shirt, I snarl at him in the face, "Get yourself a freaking girlfriend, get yourself a freaking LIFE, do you realize at the moment you're more obsessed with me than your sad attempts to take over the world? Oh please don't give me that look, you tried twice, you're not going to succeed a freaking third, you're never going to pull it off, because you're too arrogant and stupid to ever learn from your mistakes! And you look like a freaking women dressed in the world's stupidest cosplay outfit!"

Ralt's mouth is hanging open as well as I drop him to the ground and grab her and walk huffily off.

"I don't think this is how the boss intended things to go." The guards mutter in a daze as I actually manage to walk right past them.

"_Lily, was that really smart?! At all?!"_

"Shh…." I mutter, quickly speeding up so I can get the heck out of there but not actually break into a run, because that will only snap people out of their confusion and encourage them to chase me. That's how predators are after all.

"_Seriously, what were you thinking?!"_

"Not much, that was the whole plan."

"_...THERE WAS A PLAN TO THAT?!"_

"I'm not STUPID you know, Ralts. Yes, of course there was a freaking plan to that!" I know Myotismon probably better than most of the Digital World does. And one thing I do know is that when you manage to completely behave in a way he didn't see coming and shatter his ego at the same time….

Yeah. I figured that the shock would leave his brain broken for a few minutes. Enough for us to hopefully manage an escape before the shock faded away and the absolute rage set in. Besides it's not like I could actually win in a fight or outrun him so….

"…._Oh my gosh. That's….that's actually….mildly intelligent…."_

"Oy. I can just leave you behind you know."

"_Now where would that fun in that be? Come on, let's get out of here before Count Dorkula realizes that it wasn't just a nightmare and you were really were insulting him repeatedly…and biting him…and kicking him…and punching him….? Maybe you should have just gone for a kick in the groin?"_

"….Maybe. We'll mark that down as Plan B."

I can smell Myotismon's anger starting to fill the whole corriders. "Uh….I take it back we may have only about…30 seconds left!"

"_RUN!"_

"YOU DARE…..LILY GET BACK HERE!"


	37. Lily's Nightmare, Lucemon's Curse

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lily's Nightmare, Lucemon's Curse

AN: Hey just so you guys know, chapters might be a little short this month. Why? Because this is the last month of school. And that means...duh duh duh...FINALS. Someone please just kill me. But on the bright side, this is my VERY last month of school. I'm graduating this year! YAY ME! And then I'll...have to go to college and be...even more responsible. Ugh. Ah well. At least you're never too old for fanfiction!

I pretty much knew at this point, beyond any doubt, that my childhood sucked. Sometimes people who've had terrible experiences look back, and they think to themselves, "Maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe it wasn't that traumatizing and soul-crushing and utterly dehumanizing after all. Well right now I was reliving my childhood and I can honestly say that it was sucking just as much as it had ever sucked before.

"_CAN'T YOU RUN ANY FASTER?! THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US!"_

"I'M—TRYING!" I manage to gasp out desperately, forcing air into my lungs as my feet pound down the hallway at top speed, trying to quell the rising sense of panic and terror rising up in my body.

Endless hallways, endless corridors, no way out, and the sounds of a miniature army chasing after you. This was not happening AGAIN. It couldn't be happening again. Yggdrasil, please, please, I'll do anything just let this be some sort of horrible, horrible nightmare.

….Just not him. Any of the Dark Masters, I'd take Apocylamon himself over that monster. The hair rises on the back of my neck and I know somehow he's watching me, watching me run through his trap like a rat running through a maze.

I am NOT his rat, I am not his entertainment!

"There she is!" I bolt down the hallway at top speed, and Ralts lets out a yelp. "_Lily, it's a dead end!" _

I just snarl, flashing fangs and keep running right in that direction, ignoring my frantic Pokemon yelling desperately if I'm insane or just plain stupid. The laughter of the grunts echoes behind me, and suddenly I'm seven years old again, Demidevimon's mocking snicker and Gatomon's leer replaying in my brain.

Well guess what Dorkula. I'm not seven years old anymore. And I've learned a few things. As I reach the wall I spring outwards, using the wall as a catapult of sorts and backflip over the crowd of gawking flunkies. Ralts is shivering in my arms, just as surprised by the sudden movement. I bite my lip as I look down at her.

The last thing I ever wanted was to bring someone else into my problems. The last thing I ever wanted was for someone I cared about to be targeted by Myotismon as well, just cause he wanted me. WHY he wanted me I didn't have a freaking CLUE!

My powers were gone. Gone, gone, GONE. And he KNEW that! He'd spent enough time skulking around me as Damien to know that I couldn't grant him his obsession with world domination even if I wanted to.

…Unless this wasn't about power. Unless this was solely about revenge. I feel my stomach churn and as I duck behind another corridor, the grunts rushing past without even realizing (oldest trick in the book, really cliché but you'd be surprised how well it works) I clasp a hand over my mouth, afraid I'm going to scream or throw up. Maybe both. That would certainly be interesting.

"_Lily?"_

I can sense Ralt's anxiety for me as she looks up at me, but right now I'm just trying to remember how to breath. Myotismon did…did terrible terrible things to people who betrayed him. I should know I'd seen it happen about fifty different times.

….I'm never going to see them again. Tai, Sira, Alexander…they're just going to find my body mauled beyond recognition by Myotismon's bats.

NOW I felt like throwing up. For all my fierce attitude and defiantness I didn't want to die. I SOOOO didn't want to die, especially…not like that. Please, please, not like that…someone please find me….

Taichi….where are you….?

"I know you're hiding in there…." That voice makes my blood run cold like nothing else could—a bizzare mixture of Damien's dry amusement and Myotismon's cold, smug arrogance. "Come on out….you're telling me you're too scared to play?"

I clench my hands into tight, shaking fists, and Ralts literally lets out an audible growl next to me.

"…Run." I mutter to her out of the corner of my mouth, and her head snaps quickly around in my direction.

"_Not without you, you useless idiot!"_

"Please, just for once don't argue with me." I mutter, wondering why I'm trying so darn hard to be quiet when it's obvious Myotismon is lurking right around the corner for me, just waiting for me to make another desperate bid for freedom.

An image pops into my mind of that one time there was this mouse hole in the Kamiya's apartment, and Miko sat there for hours, her eyes slit menacingly, her tail lashing back forth, a short satisfied hiss from her as a terrified last squeak from the mouse echoes.

The image really, really doesn't improve my mood. In all honesty, getting Ralts to run as well probably won't do any good. If Myotismon truly decides to kill her, then I'm not sure there's anything I can do to protect her.

But the best hope I have is that if he's too busy…torturing me then he won't bother going after one little Pokemon.

Ralts lets out a noise that sounds like a more desperate whimper than anything else, something I never thought in the world would come from her. And it breaks my heart. "GO."

"_I'll find help, I'll get help, I'll get Sira and Ras and they won't let this ha-_"JUST GO!"

She glances back over her shoulder before bolting down the hallway. I can only pray that she finds the way out.

Turning my head back around, I let out a startled scream as Damien's face is mere inches from mine.

"You know that was pointless, right?" He asks in a bored drawl, jerking his head in the direction where Ralts had raced off too. I don't say a word, just glower at him, clenching my fists and trying to fight the instinct to tremble. He was too close, too close, far too close, his breath on my neck.

"…There's no way out of here. You really think I'd be stupid enough for that, to let one of your friends run off and go for help and bring that sea-witch on my case?"

My brain still can't really process that this is MYOTISMON standing in front of me, MYOTISMON. When I thought of the #$$$$$ creep at all, I thought of dark rooms, lit candles, the swish of a cloak, the smell of blood filling my nostrils.

I did not, ever, think of a bored looking teenage boy, his dark hair askew all over, wearing jeans, and the scent of some cheap deodorant. This….couldn't be true.

"I suppose you want to make some stupid gloating monologue about how hopelessly naïve I've been and how your glorious plan is finally all coming together and then further torturing me by making me endure every single…freaking detail." I spit out through clenched teeth.

He cocks his head to one side. "…And I should do that because…?"

…Yeah. "You are NOT Myotismon." I say flatly, and his eyebrows shoot up, an amused smirk on his face. "Interesting. Care to explain why you think that?"

"Because…because I know him! You are nothing like him, you are…subtle, you're not filling the room with your conceited arrogance, you're not stomping all over underlings who annoy you, I haven't heard one single maniacal laugh out of you…."

"…Still not sure if I should be offended by this simple description of my character or not."

"SEE?! SEE?! He never talks like that, ever! You're…CALM FOR THE LOVE OF YGGDRASIL. For crying out loud, I would have been swatted into the wall and beaten within an inch of my life if I dared talk to Myotismon like this."

"The temptation is very strong in my mind, yet I will resist."

I grab him by the shirt collar without really thinking about it, slamming him into the wall and growling, "Quit toying with me and spit it out. Who…WHAT….are you…?"

Damien stares at me blankly for a moment before glancing down at my wrists. "….You got that when you were 12."

"…Huh…?" I glance down in the direction he's looking and see a thin, white scar there that slants down vertically. It's really not that noticeable, I can't think of anyone whose ever called attention to it.

"When you were 12 you were on the top floor of the castle." He says flatly, emotionlessly. "You jumped before Phantomon could grab you, and you broke both your wrist, shattered your leg bone, and broke a few ribs as well. I thought for sure you'd killed yourself that time."

I can't help but shift uncomfortably. Maybe, maybe I might have mentioned that story in passing, to him or to someone else, but I'd never told anyone how bad my injuries had been, or how high I'd jumped from to be honest. Heck Wizardmon had threatened to strangle me if I ever did anything that remotely stupid again.

"But by Yggdrasil…even when you were barely holding onto consciousness you were still fighting off the men that I sent out there. And I remember I thought that perhaps you were actually….maybe worth all of the bother after all."

"Wish you hadn't." I whisper back, my voice cracking slightly, emotions whirling around in me, the shock, confusion, anger and fear all combining to make me unable to move.

His lips curve back in a smirk slightly. "…I bet you do. Plenty of people think like that. The man who so kindly let me borrow his body surely wished that he'd just died instead as well."

"Wait, you did WHAT?!"

"So much revulsion…it was an easy enough thing you know. Once you and your friends went floating merrily off into the sparkling rainbow and were done dancing on my grave…."

Oh that is so unfair. We weren't actually dancing on his grave. I was just…whooping a little with Renamon and Gatomon. And some cartwheels and backflips might have occurred amongst the whole group but hey…

"I was barely holding onto existence….I'm still not sure how exactly I survived. Rather it was through sheer hatred of you filthy traitors or what, I'm still not sure. But somehow I didn't pass into GranDracmon's realm of the undead. And then I met him….that man completely distraught over the death of his closest friend, wanting so desperately to join you children in the Digital World." Myotismon gave me this look that was far too innocent. "I just gave him what he asked for, Lily."

"Somehow, I doubt whatever the poor sap had in mind was you taking over his body, mind and soul." I growl furiously.

"Then he should have been more specific, shouldn't he? Actually, he probably shouldn't have said yes to the creepy disembodied voice in the first place. Ah well. His problem, not mine."

"You think this is FUNNY don't you?!"

"Hysterical."

"…That doesn't explain the personality changes….and you said this guy was a man…not a teenager…how…."

"Far as I know, I am the first Digimon to bond with a human in this manner." Myotismon yawns. "Sort of like your beloved biomergence. Together, we created a new form completely, though I am the dominant one, I can still hear him…screaming at times."

I stare at him in disbelief, amazed at how he can say something like that without a hint of emotion. He's not even gloating. He's just…stating the facts, with a vague hint of amusement.

"Tis better to fight the devil you know then the devil you don't." He murmurs, his eyes flicking up to my face. "That's how the phrase goes, isn't it pet? That's why you're so afraid of me."

"HOW MANY YGGDRASIL FORSAKEN TIMES HAVE I SAID DON'T CALL ME THAT. I guess some things never change!"

"No…." His smile is positively disturbing. "Some things never do." The attack lashes out before I even have time to really register that I'm under attack, the red whip yanking around my heels and yanking me down to the ground, my face hitting the ground, stars whirling around my eyes as the splitting pain reaches my head and the burning sensation in my heels is enough to make me scream out freaking loud.

The smell of my blood fills the room as the Crimson Lightning bomb hits the ground in front of me once more, creating a deep chasm.

I gasp out, looking up at Damien, seeing him smirking widely, the light of cruelty in his eyes a kind of hunger.

"Yggdrasil, I've missed this…." He laughs, fangs glinting in the light of the room. "….Scream for me, girl. Let me hear you howl."

The whip lashes across my back, stomach, and arms over and over again, the blinding, agonizing pain, as the skin is ripped away from my body, and the screams echoing throughout the room sound so animalistic, so desperate and feral, that it takes me a moment to realize that I'm the one screaming.

SOMEONE HELP ME!

…

"Hey Mimi?" Mimi looks up at her Digimon, Lillymon holding her partner around the waist as they soared through the air. "Yeah?"

"Do you think….do you think she's okay?" The hesitant tone in Lillymon's voice was understandable. Mimi had been wondering the same thing as she looked over at the Demon Lord flying beside them.

There had been an almost scary lack of sarcastic and or perverted comments for the last while. The grim look on Lilithmon's face was seriously frightening. She looked as though she was fighting the desire to punch something in the face.

And that comment about….bad pasts. Mimi shudders slightly, rubbing her arms. She's so distracted by her thoughts that she just barely registers Izzy's frantic shout as they reach the capital of the country.

"Evasive action! NOW!"

The blasts of energy nearly strike right through Lillymon's wings, causing both her and Mimi to let out screams of panic. Lilithmon's head whips around and she snarls, flashing fangs before slicing through several of the giant bat like Digimon that charge up at them.

The feral expression on her face as the data scatters is slightly chilling, but Mimi's more concerned about the fact that even more enemies are coming from all sides.

Izzy glances down at Kabuterimon, clinging determinedly to his partner's helmet. "Are you ready for this buddy?"

"Born ready." Kabuterimon growls out as Izzy lifts his Digivice to the sky, the Crest symbol on his skin shining a deep purple.

But before anything can happen, there's a woosh of wings and then his Digivice is yanked from his grip.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Give that back!" Mimi shouts, furious now before her eyes widen in disbelief, as Lilithmon has frozen completely, staring at the figure in front of her as though she's seen a ghost.

The being is dressed in an incredibly tight red suit with a rosebud on top of her head, high leather pants and black leather boots, a thorn whip in her head and a cape that appears to be made out of white petals.

She giggles, backflipping in the air as she's still holding Izzy's Digivice. "Miss me Lady Lilithmon?"

"…Give that back." Lilithmon says, her voice quiet and more deadly than any shout as her black eyes narrow dangerously.

"Aw, come on. We haven't seen each other in so long, that's the best greeting you'll give me?"

"Better than me just automatically plunging my claws into your stomach." She snarls, her fangs flashing menacingly. "Which is what will happen unless you drop the boy's Digivice now."

"Drop?" She dangles the Digivice between thumb and forefinger and Izzy lets out a strangled cry. "What a fascinating idea. How breakable are these things anyway?"

Lillymon growls and clenches her fists but Lilithmon shakes her head almost inperceptibly at her. "Go."

"…But…"

"I will handle this." She says with icy coldness, and Mimi and Izzy glance at each other uneasily.

"Could you really bring yourself to kill me?" Rosemon giggles. "That wouldn't really fit with your new, well…reformed persona you've created for yourself, would it?"

Lilithmon smiles, rolling up her long baggy sleeve slightly to reveal her gnarled arm with the wicked looking claws. "Just because I am more…selective about the targets I bring down doesn't make me completely reformed, Rosemon. And it certainly doesn't make me weak either."

"Oh please." Rosemon's scornful laugh sounds much more biting than usual. "You and your friends turned your back on everything you were, and everything you taught us to be, simply because you felt bad. You had it all, and now you're stuck inside a pit of hell, with no glory or anything remotely like it to your name. And you say you're proud of that?"

"Something's are more important than power." She says softly. "You're right, we were stronger….back then. But we weren't respected, we were feared, people were terrified of us. It took me a while but then I remembered that…that wasn't what I wanted. It had never been what any of us had wanted."

"What if it was what I wanted?" Rosemon growls, her anger filling the skies. "What about US?! You abandoned us, do you think I can ever forgive any of you for that?!"

"…You're letting your hate get the better of you. Just because he has been preaching these words into your ears doesn't mean you have to listen…."

"SHUT UP!"

The thorn covered whip lashes forwards with an intensity that it slams into Lilithmon's stomach before she has the chance to block.

Rosemon smirks as Lilithmon gasps in pain and doubles over slightly, the whip tightening around her.

"See?" The hold tightens and the thorns dig in deeper. "I told you you'd gotten too soft to ever actually be considered a….wait…."  
There's the flash of gold and then the next thing Rosemon knows the whip has been torn into pieces and the punch sends her sprawling backwards.

"Did you honestly think that was going to work?" Lilithmon asks sweetly, cocking her head to one side, with a smile so innocent it was frankly eerie. "Now I believe it's my turn."

…

The screams of the civilians was starting to get waaaay too familiar to TK he thought grimly, as he leapt down from Pegasusmon's back and bolted forwards to where two policemen were talking frantically into their radios.

"Hey!" TK skids to a stop in front of them, and the fatter one, the cliché sort of cop that had eaten one too many donuts, waves him away angrily. "Get to safety, kid! We don't have time to be worrying about some moron running around in the street when freaking Armageddon is around us!"

TK acts like the idiot hasn't said a word, gesturing to the building he snaps, "I need a parameter set up around there, you guys might not be able to do much good, but at least make sure the civilians stay inside while we deal with this mess!"

"…YOU deal with this mess? Don't make me…."

There's a fierce whinny behind them and Pegasusmon lands next to TK just as several Gazimon launch themselves at the cops. Gazimon weren't strong compared to most Digimon, but no human stands a chance against a large group of Digimon, even if they are only Rookies.

Pegasusmon lets out a furious whinny and rears up in his hind legs, his forehead starting to shine a bright emerald as he lets out a cry of "EQUS BEAM!"

The bright light shoots forwards, incinerating most of the entire group on the spot, who then redirect their attention from the humans to pounce at the horse.

However he makes ridiculously short work of them, kicking and bucking one off his back so high it goes flying stupidly high and then is blasted by a shot of light. Lucemon grins slyly down at them and Pegasusmon snorts.

"Show off…."

"And he loves every moment of it." TK sighs before turning back and seeing the policemen staring in disbelief. He just raises one eyebrow and the taller policeman immediately turns his radio on, barking orders into it. "I need men on…!"

TK doesn't bother to hear the rest, because an angry roar distracts him. He whips his head around to see the snarling figure of a pair of Coredramons advancing on him, forked tongues tasting the air. Two very big dragons. Perfect.

Pegasusmon whinnies and springs into the air, his wings snapping open. "METEOR SHOWER!"

The one on the right, covered in green scales bares its fangs and lets out a roar of "GREEN FLARE BREATH!" from below that blasts upwards and hits Pegasusmon's attack, dissolving it.

Pegasusmon barely manages to swoop out of the way just as the other dragon, a blue one, suddenly with ridiculously fast speed appears above the winged horse and sinks massive talons into his back.

"PEGASUSMON!" TK screams, his eyes wide with horror as the horse Digimon lets out an animalistic shriek of agony.

Pegasusmon struggles in vain to get free, only to have the claws dig even deeper into his body. The raspy laugh of his attacker grates on his every nerve. With a furious snort, he uses the last of his energy to do perhaps the last thing his enemy saw coming.

He degenrates willingly, turning back into the small and fluffy form of Patamon. Coredramon lets out a shriek of frustration and anger as he realizes that he has now lost his grip on his prey, but he doesn't have much time to think about that.

TK's Digivice bursts into golden light as Patamon falls back slightly, calling out, "PATAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ANGEMON!"

The white light burns at Coredramon's sensiative eyes, screeching as he pulls away, he doesn't have a chance to block the punch filled with heavenly energy. Angemon's Hand of Fate slams into his chest and strikes his core in one shot, deleting him.

"Atta boy!" TK yells, as he punches the air. However another snarl echoes and he's suddenly reminded with a jolt that…well uh oh…

"Uh, Angemon?! There's another one!"

The green Coredramon roars and charges at TK just as Angemon lets out a furious yell and dives downwards, determined to protect his partner even if it's the last thing he does. But before the dragon can snap TK in half, the ground seems to explode in front of them.

"GOLD RUSH!"

The spike-like drills slam into the dragon, not enough to cause serious damage, but slam into his open mouth and knock a few teeth out. He rears back, spitting with anger and surprise, and Digimon glances over at TK, wincing.

"Hope you don't mind me stealing your thunder." He calls up at Angemon. Angemon breathes a sigh of relief. "If it means saving my partner, you can steal my thunder as you call it anytime you want."

"Brilliant! Then you can run along now, I've got this one covered." He laughs. TK's D-3 suddenly flashes with a message from Cody. His eyes widen as he reads the all-caps message.

"_HURRY."_

"Angemon, let's go!" Angemon streaks down, grabbing his partner around the waist and streaking across the horizon at ridiculously high speed.

Digmon smirks slightly as Coredramon whips his head back around, snarling menacingly, and he asks in his usual cheerful way, "So do you want to surrender now? Might save me the trouble of kicking your scaly tail in."

Coredramon smirks slightly. "I wouldn't be…nearly so boastful if I were you." He hisses menacingly. Digmon raises his drills again before freezing in alarm as the data from the previous Coredramon floats downwards, as if propelled by a magnet.

His jaw drops open slightly as the Coredramon absorbs it greedily, the hungry look in his eyes growing.

"…You just….you just…" Digmon's voice trails off and his eyes narrow. "You downloaded the data of your own comerade?! What the heck is wrong with you?!"

Coredramon snickers, licking his lips as though he'd just enjoyed a very fine meal and not the remains of the person he'd just been fighting alongside. "Wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I'm following the instincts that have been programmed into me. The Dark Spore reverts us back to our true state. This is how Digimon should be. Digital Monsters after all."

"…We're not savages seeking nothing but more data to load." Digmon growls. "That's like saying that we're no better than the animals Cody watches on his documentary shows. We can think. We can feel. We're just like the humans in that instance, so don't give me that whole, following your instincts bullcrap!"

Coredramon cocks his head and sneers. "That's why you and your pathetic human partners will always be the ones who fall in the end. Pathetic."

"Yeah. Well we'll find out won't we?" Digmon growls, straightening up again, the drills on all parts of his body whirling to life menacingly.

"Yes, we will." Coredramon smirks, leaning forwards and showing razor sharp teeth as his body starts to shine.

…Uh oh. That can't possibly be good. "I'm bored of this conversation. And I'm starting to feel…awfully…hungry….COREDRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….GROUNDRAMON!"

The giant dragon that stands in front of him is at least twice as big as his Champion form. Instead of wings, he now has giant claws that curve upwards over his back like clubs with blades.

"….Man, why can't these things ever be easy?" Digmon complains.

…

"This is TOO easy!" Lucemon laughs out loud, smirking as he pivots on one foot to whirl around and blast another Digimon that charges at him from point blank range.

"Don't get cocky brat." GranDracmon growls, exasperation obvious in his tone as he waves a hand. The large section of Digimon that charge them suddenly scream as they're literally sucked into the pits of hell.

"It's sort of scary how you can do that." Lucemon notes, arching his eyebrows.

"I am scary." GranDracmon says with a smirk. Lucemon rolls his eyes and glances back over at Cody. "Hey kid, you okay?"

"Fine." Cody wasn't completely fine. The rampant deaths of the Digimon around him were making him feel quite ill, if he was being completely honest with himself, but…

But Lucemon and GranDracmon were trying to protect him, could he really fault them for that? And the rest of the innocent people in this city.

That was the sort of thing….his Dad would have done, wouldn't it? After all dying for your country was one thing. But then who would be left to protect the people?

Cody manages a slightly braver smile on his face and nods determinedly. "I'm fine. These guys aren't going to get away with this."

GranDracmon snorts, amused, and then there's suddenly a loud scream from above.

"You're not that bad looking….for a human." A Devimon snickers as he lifts a terrified teenage girl up by the arm, possibly dislocating it in the process. "I have to say, that I haven't had a good time for a while here. Maybe you can show me one…."

She sniffles, tears running down her cheeks. "Please no. Let me go, please….."

He laughs loudly before he's blasted to pieces, the girl screaming as she plummets to the ground and then suddenly arms wrap around her waist protectively.

"Seriously, what is with all of these fools and their inability to ever treat a pretty girl right?" Lucemon questions. "You all right?"

"T-thank you…."

Lucemon shrugs, flashing a slight smile and then suddenly freezing. His blue eyes widen as he slowly turns his head around. His face pales as though he's seen a ghost.

Beside him, Cody glances up to see GranDracmon tensing as well. The vampire's eyes are horrified. "…How is it….it can't be…what I sense…."

The raspy chuckle echoes and then a scream. Another girl's scream. Lucemon's face drains of all color as words shriek frantically on the wind, "LUCEMON HELP ME!"

"…Wh-…."

The shadows whirl around in the middle of the sky, and Cody gasps suddenly, cringing backwards in horror. The metallic skeleton levitates there, black sunken eyes fixating lifelessly on Lucemon, teeth permanently fixed in a smile. "Hello my Lord. It's been a long time."

Lucemon lets out a low growl, pinning his ear wings back against his head. "Don't call me that."

"Oh I'm sorry. I should have realized that you don't like being reminded of your past. However I would have thought that you would have liked to see your old friend."

He waves his hand slightly to reveal a girl…a girl Cody had never seen before floating in a pink bubble. Her long dark curly hair flies around her head, scrapes all over her body, pale brown eyes.

"…..Lizzie….." Lucemon's voice was nothing more than a simple whisper, his voice cracking.

Cody jerks his head over towards GranDracmon. "What are they talking about?! Whose Lizzie?!"

GranDracmon's hands are actually SHAKING by his side. "….Someone…someone neither of us thought we'd ever see again."

Lizzie's brown eyes were full of pain as she writhes inside of the pink bubble, a scream erupting from her throat. "HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"I have to say, the despair coming off of this girl is possibly some of the most delicious I've tasted in a while." MetalPhantomon smirks, or would have smirked if his skull of a face could move. "So much agony, so much hurt so much….betrayal."

"…Let. Her. Go." Lucemon growls through clenched teeth, his pupils narrowed down to mere slits. Cody's taken aback by exactly how angry Lucemon looks. He's never seen him like this before. This is not the face of a angelic boy that could be distracted from his admittedly confusing world domination plans by watermelon.

He looked ready to kill somebody, and brutally as well. GranDracmon's head shoots up and he snaps, "Don't you dare lose control here Lucemon. Not here, not now, you'll only make things worse!"

Lucemon's lips curve into a feral snarl that sends shivers down Cody's spine. He could have sworn a glimmer of red passed over the angel's eyes.

GranDracmon swore loudly and using words that Cody had never even heard of. "You know it can't be her! This must be some kind of trick, use your head for the love of…."

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lizzie's agonized scream cuts GranDracmon off midsentence and Lucemon snaps, charging forwards with a speed he'd never used before.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

MetalPhantomon just smirks as he fades into the daylight, dragging his prisoner along with him. "If you want your precious human, come and get her."

"LUCEMON WAIT DON'T!"

"What's going on?!" Cody asks frantically as Lucemon darts across the horizon. GranDracmon seeths."Stupid….little…idiot. He doesn't have his restrainers on anymore. If he looses control of his emotions…."

"Maybe chaining Sira to the toilet with them really wasn't the best idea?" Cody asks in a sort of deadpan voice.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Critic, I am aware of that, but I didn't exactly have a choice at the time." He scoops Cody up in his arms and Cody yelps slightly as they begin to teleport.

"Now come on! If that idiot does what I think he's going to end up doing….."

…

Lucemon skids to a stop in the middle of the air, snarling a warning as MetalPhantomon appears in front of him, whirling his scythe around lazily as Lizzie floats beside him, her eyes closed now, as though she was unconscious.

"GRAND CROSS!" He shouts, the white light forming around his hands as he blasts the attack straight at the ! ### coward, but….

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." MetalPhantomon says lazily, moving the pink bubble, to Lucemon's horror, the attack hits the bubble dead-on. Lizzie's scream of agony literally seems to burn inside of him, and he doesn't realize for a bit that the scream of horror is coming from him.

"Relax, it can last that." MetalPhantomon yawns as the smoke clears and by some miracle, Lizzie's not turned to ash, but she's covered with burns and her breathing is shallow and desperate.

Her eyes feebly open and fixate on Lucemon's. "Lizzie, I didn't MEAN TO-….!"

"Aww, look at that, you're hurting her again."

"SHUT UP!" His head starts pounding ominously and he presses his hands to his temple, trying desperately to calm himself even though the rage pounding through him won't leave…

"_Kill him….KILL HIM….Take that scythe of his and slice his own head off with it. Let the fool see exactly who he is toying with."_

"_You don't want too? Even after he mocks you like this? Where's your PRIDE?"_

"_Weak….pathetic….you hide from the darkness, struggle to keep it contained while you know full well how much stronger you are when you embrace it."_

"Grr…..GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Lucemon yells, burying his face in his hand as his vision grew more and more blurry. No, no, not now, please no….

"_Hmm? Get out of your head? You know as well as I do that this is quite impossible. Because…I….AM….YOU."_

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The sheering pain in his head spreads to the rest of his body, despite his best urge to fight it, coughing and desperately gasping for air—he lets out an agonized scream as his right arm pulses with energy….and then suddenly grows massively in size, revealing the arm of a much older Digimon, with long, clawed fingers. He yells as the wings on his left side start to contort horribly, the fine white feathers falling out all over the place as black skin takes the place of it.

MetalPhantomon smirks while Lizzie freezes in horror. "Good to see you back….my Lord." He says, smiling at the figure before him. (Well again…he can't really smirk but you get the idea).

The figure is much taller than Lucemon was previously, black leather bat wings on one side of his body and white feathery wings from his previous form on the other. He flexes his fingers in and out, staring down at his hand as though he can't quite believe what he's seeing.

"…My Lord?"

A smirk appears on Lucemon's face, and those blue eyes are icy cold, absent of all warmth. "It has been a while….hasn't it?" He murmurs, arching an eyebrow, his voice deeper and more mature than the pre-puberty tones of his lower form.

"Aye, my lord!" MetalPhantomon's tone is much less mocking and much more excited now. "We knew that you only needed a….a little push to force yourself out of your self imposed exile. That was why the master…why all of us…sided with Millenniummon we knew that it would work out in the end and…and things could return to the…"

"The good old days?" Lucemon says, his lips quirking back in a sarcastic sneer. "Was that your thought?"

"….Um….well yes." Suddenly MetalPhantomon doesn't seem nearly as confident as he used to. Maybe it's because the dark aura coming off of Lucemon is so incredibly powerful that only an idiot wouldn't be afraid.

"Lucemon….?" Lizzie's voice comes out as a soft horse whisper. Lucemon doesn't even bother to look at her, suddenly shooting his hand up, a white orb forming in the middle of his palm before he blasts it straight at the pink sphere and the girl it contained.

Lizzie's scream echoes, but right before it hits her body shifts, revealing not a girl….but a raggedy ghost whose terrified expression lasts for a second before being blasted into bits.

MetalPhantomon tenses as Lucemon's eyes fixate on his hollow sockets. "….Did you really think….that playing me for a fool was a good idea?"

"…My lord….please….I….."

Lucemon cocks his head to the side and smiles slightly, a gesture he did plenty of times back in his Rookie form. But somehow it seems so much more chilling.

"Although I do suppose I owe you something for letting me escape that wretched fool…." He murmurs, stroking his jaw thoughtfully. "…You can help me again now. It's been a long time since I've felt another's strength fill my veins."

"My lord….WAIT….PLEASE! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

….

Joe gasps and splutters in the water. This was just like the time that he and TK had been attacked back in the harbor in Myotismon's reign.

Only this time, instead of simply MegaSeadramon, it was an entire freaking army of sea Digimon. Leviamon's roar of rage echoes in his head as he starts to feel the darkness enveloping him.

This was just sad, it really was. To come all this way and then to fall like this? Suddenly Joe felt a strong hand grabbing him by the side and pulling him upwards. Gennai grimaces as he forces Joe into the Mekanoriomon's pod. "You two stay inside here and keep going." He gasps out, and Joe looks over to see Dilbert, squished up against the wall, gasping.

"Your…elbow…is in my throat…."

"Save it." Gennai snaps. "The Mekanoriomon knows the way to go. Whatever happens, get the Digiegg and don't let anyone else get their hands on it."

"Aye sir!" Dilbert calls, his voice still slightly strained because Joe is practically being forced to sit on his lap. Wormmon rolls her eyes and mutters how annoying it is that this perfect opportunity for a joke is at the wrong time.

Gennai nods and pops what appears to be some sort of breathing device into his mouth before diving back out into the water.

"Seriously, what is he made of?" Wormmon questions.

Dilbert shakes his head as he watches Gennai swim with stupidly fast ease towards the site of the battle. "I dunno, but if he whips out a lightsaber, I'm really not going to be surprised."

"Oh hah-hah."

Gennai glances back over his shoulder and gives them an impatient gesture, and the Mekanorimon buzzes to life, swirling downwards at top speed.

Joe clenches his teeth, trying to keep himself from panicking. It wasn't the water that was making him so afraid this time though. It was the fear of being separated from his Digimon. It was a horrible sensation.

"Hey."

He glances over at Dilbert, who gives him a reassuring nod. "I'm sure Gommamon will be OK."

"I hope so." Joe whispers, his voice cracking slightly on the syllable.

"And besides, even if he can't reach the Ultimate level at this point, you forget who they have with them. LEVIAMON. LEV-I-A-MON. The Digimon is more like a tank than anything else, you should know that."

Joe lets a small smile appear on his face. That was definitely true. Leviamon was a true titan of the ocean. And right now…she was pissed.

Ikakumon lands on the bottom of the sea bed, smirking as he watches Leviamon blast several Scubamon into nothing but dust. He unfortunately spends too much time looking at her, distracting him right as a very familiar tail strikes him across the chest and sends him flying.

The snarling sea serpent was unmistakeable. Ikakumon's black eyes narrow. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

MegaSeadramon growls, lowering his horn that was sparking with electricity. But Ikakumon wasn't afraid of this creep anymore. He'd helped fight MetalSeadramon, for crying out loud. Compared to him, this twerp was nothing but a little guppy.

"All right, you want a piece of me?! Fine! Harpoon Torpedo!"

….

"Ah….hhhh….." The smell of blood is all over the place, my head is spinning wildly, I can't think, I can barely manage to push my hands up underneath me and raise my head a fraction off the ground.

That is, for a brief second until I'm slammed back into the ground and taste asphalt again. "So…weak." Myotismon's voice scoffs as he kicks me in the side, causing me to let out an admittedly pitiful whimper and crawl into a ball.

Every single nerve of my body is on fire. I don't even want to know how bad my back probably is right now. I'm pretty sure he's reopened every single scar I had in childhood, and if I don't die of bloodloss here and now, it's going to be a miracle.

So…tired…can't keep…eyes open….

"Why don't you just kill me?" I rasp out, glowering up at him through blood-soaked bangs. "I'm not any use to you anymore, am I? The star with no powers? Come on, we all know they were the only reason you kept my impudent butt around."

"Correct." He shrugs. "And if you had lost your powers completely, then I probably would end up simply killing you. I'm certainly not keeping you for your looks you know?"

Well okay. That's hurtful. A relief in some ways however. "In case you haven't noticed, they ARE gone you moron. I would have thought that you would have noticed that when you were skulking around spying on us. Or were you too busy eyeing yourself in the mirror to observe that."

"Are you really so stupid as to continue to run your mouth? Even in THIS condition?"

"I don't really have anything to lose at this point, now do I?"

He smirks, crouching next to me. "I could kill you, if I wanted to. But to be honest…that would be too simple. There are so many ways of showing you how far below me you are."

I bare my fangs at him and he shrugs. "And when it comes to you getting your powers back…why my pet you should know that there's…more than one way to turn on a light. You just have to…push the right buttons so to speak."

"You'll never get away with this. If I have to fight you for the rest of my life than I can and I WILL! I will never stop trying to get away from you, and I will never ever give into you!"

"Stubborn as always I see. Thankfulyl that…unfortunate aspect of your personality can be modified."

I glower at him once more before screaming as the whip lashes around my right arm and sends me flying into the wall opposite. Gasping I slide down, and his mocking laughter and the mocking laughter of the grunts echoes in my ears over and over again.

Suddenly Myotismon stops his gloating laughter slightly, narrowing his eyes and locking off to the side.

That's when the sound of an explosion echoes behind me, and the next thing I know, Myotismon lets out a scream of agony, clutching his stomach as the slash slices vertically across, and then he's punched in the face.

Edan snarls at him, his eyes narrowed down to slits of cold fury. "Keep your filthy hands off of her."

"E-…Edan?"

His LadyDevimon swoops in, slicing through several of the grunts with her wicked claws and seething. "Any of you cowards brave enough to actually fight rather than standing and laughing at a girl being tormented?"

"Lily, you okay?" Edan drops by my side, holding my head in his hands. "Holy crap…you're a mess…."

"Gee thanks I had no way of figuring that out on my own."

"Well you can be sarcastic still which proves you're not dying."

"…How did…" He holds me bridal style and I cling to his shirt whispering, "How did you know where to find me?"

"Well thank technology for that. Tracked your signal to here. And your friend filled us in on the situation. As she also vividly described how she was going to disembowel Dorkula the next time she saw him."

"_AND I STILL WILL YOU BLOODSUCKING FREAK!"_

"Ralts…."

The death aura that is surrounding Ralts is so strong that it actually makes some of the grunts back up a few paces, their faces paling.

"_Do not…EVER….touch my trainer again!" _ The Psychic attack slams into Myotismon at full strength and sends him flying backwards into the wall. And then Ralts continues to slam him against the wall for good measure. Repeatedly. With so much vehemence that it's actually a little scary.

"_IF. YOU. EVER. TOUCH. MY. TAMER. AGAIN. I. WILL. BREAK. YOUR. BONES. AND. USE. THEM. FOR. MY. BREAD!"_

"Disturbing and violent imagery duly noted." LadyDevimon says, sweatdropping slightly.

"Ralts…RALTS!" Edan yells, wincing slightly as the sound of Damien's face breaking echoes even more. "Put the creepy vampire down and let's get out of here. Your trainer is your top priority right?"

"…_.FINE. But this isn't over! I am the personification of vengeance you know! And my form is justice isn't the swift and brutal kind, it's long, humiliating, and torturous!"_

"Yes, yes we know!"

"_I WILL MAKE YOU WISH…THAT YOUR PARENTS NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED CONCIEVING YOU!"_

"Ralts…" I moan slightly, because quite frankly her shrill shrieking is making the headache I'm feeling about ten times worse, not better.

Ralts hops into LadyDevimon's arms, shooting Damien a very very rude hand gesture that I have no idea how she learned. LadyDevimon spreads her wings and grabs Edan, holding all of us in one long arm as the other forms a massive black spear. She rams it into the window with all her might, shattering the glass I couldn't break.

"Lily…" The wind whistles at my face and body and it's all I can do to not bawl horribly as the wounds sting agonizingly.

"_You should have let me kill him."_

"Ralts, seriously, you're not helping. Lily, it's okay. Look at me Lils. Look at me….look….."

…

Tai shrugs himself free of Matt's grip and glares at him. "Would you quit treating me like a child that needs a timeout?!"

Matt's punch comes out of nowhere and hits Tai flat in the jaw, knocking him to the ground with a grunt of pain.

Matt grabs him by the front of the shirt and hoists him up, glowering, blue eyes sparking with anger. "Understand this Kamiya. I know you and Lily have that awkward, dating and yet never calling it dating stupid thing going on, but let me make one thing…perfectly clear. You are not the only person who loves her, and you are not the only person who is terrified for her. Lily's been like a sister to me for as long as I've known her, we all feel the same way. So don't be, woe is me, no one cares more about her than me. Otherwise, dude, I will break your face. Are we clear?"

Tai's jaw clenches and he looks away. ".,..I never said…" His voice trails off. "…"

"Look, you didn't like it when Alexander assumed you cared less about Lily than he did, but don't respond by doing the exact same thing. We don't have TIME for that crap."

Tai lets in a shaky breath and sighs. "…I know." His brown eyes slowly meet Matt's. "….I'm sorry."

Matt's own eyes soften slightly. "…We'll find her, man. All right? But we have to work together if we're going to do this. It's not like Lily just is going to fall out of the sky on her own, okay?"

Suddenly there's a yell from Renamon. "Guys, get over here! We've got company!"

Tai and Matt both bolt to their feet, tearing forwards, Matt cursing under his breath while Tai clenches his teeth in fury. For the love of Yggdrasil, what else could go wrong?

The dark shadow circles above them several times, and he growls under his breath, the nails digging into his palm. His girlfriend—well not girlfriend—but girl he liked…a lot had been captured, and he was just not in a mood to deal with more data hungry freaks.

"Agumon, blast them out of the sky!" He snaps, whirling around to face his partner. Agumon shakes his head. "Uh, Tai. That might be a bad idea."

"…What do you mean it might be a bad id-"

"_You don't really think much through, do you goggle boy?"_

"…Ralts?"

"Edan?" Alexander asks in disbelief and confusion. His three eyes narrow slightly. "What are you…" His voice trails off and he makes a sort of choked noise.

Edan slowly lifts his head from where he's cradling a girl whose face is so soaked with blood it's almost indistinguishable.

But somehow Tai knows, in that moment, his feet pulling him forwards as though he's propelled by a magnet. "Li….LILY!"

….

Datamon swallows, taking another step back. Barbamon toys with his staff slightly, his long fingers wrapping around the object menacingly.

He doesn't say a word. He doesn't have to. Barbamon makes it pretty clear through that gesture alone that if the fool even tries to run, he'll blast him in half a second or less.

'Datamon growls. "Whatever happened to the forgiveness and mercy that you Digidestined brats are supposed to preach?" He says, his voice bubbling up into a nearly hysterical laugh.

Sora shakes her head, red tendrils falling into her face. "That only goes so far Datamon. Let's go through what you've done since the moment we've met you. You manipulated our good intentions in order to free yourself from your prison. And then what's the first thing you do? You kidnap me and drag me away from my friends. You frigging CLONE me in order to use MY Crest for your sick desire of revenge. You nearly killed both me and my best friend Tai. And then you come back. And you try to inject both Kari and Yolei with your so-called Dark Spore—what it would have done to them, I'm not sure. And I'm very glad you'll never get the opportunity to try it."

Yolei crosses her arms. "Not to mention, you and your cronies tried to wreck Disney World! I mean, who the heck is sick enough to do something like that?!"

"…Yolei. You're sort of missing the main point there." Kari points out gently to her friend.

"…But it's DISNEY! What sort of sick twisted evil mind could possibly come up with something like that?"

"Oh, forget kidnapping a young teenage girl and cloning her and then trying to murder a bunch of other kids to get revenge. Threatening Disney, now that's hard core."

"Thank you Aquilamon….wait were you being sarcastic?"

"Perhaps."

"…Dude I sort of hate you."

Datamon growls, clenching his robotic fists together angrily. "I cannot stand the idea of living in fear of you you….you gabbering idiots!"

His hands form together to create another dark sphere, which he lobs at them with a roar of rage.

Yolei and Kari both gasp as the attack is thrown right at their faces, but the angry screech echoes as Aquilamon opens his beak wide, and winds burst free from it.

The mighty winds send Datamon's attack flying into a nearby rollercoaster, but Datamon uses the distraction to propel himself high up into the sky.

"DATA CRUSHER!"

The giant shreds of glass shoot down all over the place, slicing down like arrows.

"METEOR WING!" The flames shoot upwards and counter the attack, melting the glass into tiny harmless particles. Datamon;s eyes widen as the giant angry phoenix is suddenly before him.

"It ends now." She states flatly, and the next thing Datamon knows her claws have wrapped around his body, keeping him unable to move.

He screams as they ascend higher and higher, until the theme park seems so very very small below. "PUT ME DOWN! YOU FILTHY OVERSIZED TURKEY! NOW!"

"If you insist." Is the cold response as she suddenly dives back down, pinning her wings at her side in order to increase her speed.

Datamon knew what was going to happen the minute before it actually came. He shudders, closing his eyes, wondering if he's squanedered a second chance at life…..

Birdramon squawks as she comes closer to the ground, brings the foot carrying Datamon up, and sends him crashing from at least 50 meters in the sky.

The explosion causes the smoke to rise up high over the amusement park, and screams grew even more frantic, people convinced that a bomb must have been the culprit.

Datamon's data flickers a bit, the glass encasing his head completely shattered. His one eyeslowly closes before he bursts into pieces.,

Birdramon breathes hard, glowering menacingly at the spot, before breathing a sigh of relief. The monster was finally gone.

Sora lets out a cry of joy as she runs forward and hugs Birdramon tightly around the neck. "You did it! I'm so proud of you Biyo!"

….

"My lord, are you all right?"

Damien/Myotismon growls, shaking the cement from his hair where that darn Pokemon had slammed his face into the wall repeatedly. "I'm FINE." He snaps, his temper rising. "Do you honestly think I need your help?"

"But my lord…." Wisely the grunt did not continue this conversation as it could only lead to his demise. "The girl escaped once more. Won't Lord Millenniummon be angry?"

"Why should he? I managed to copy hers." He manages to smile eerily, holding something in his hand.

"But my Lord, why did you need to copy hers so badly? We have used several on our Digimon armies."

"On Digimon, yes. But the ones we use on Digimon have been too modified to work on humans. This…earlier model….thank the Dark Ocean I managed to get my hands on it."

"But she still managed to escape."

"Yes, do not worry. Her friends will soon regret rescuing her." He throws back his head and laughs. "HAH. She thinks that death would have been better? Just now? She has no idea….."


	38. Lily's Decision, Damien's Plot

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lily's Decision, Damien's Plot

(I AM SO SORRY. I know it's been forever since I've written something. Hope I haven't lost my touch. But I had to get all of these finals done, and I did! And I'm graduating in less than two weeks! HALLEUJAH!

"Lils….Lily…" I moan softly, stirring in the midst of the piles of blankets that surrounded us. "Wha…." Something warm licks at the side of my face and worried voices surround me.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"_She'd better be. Because if she isn't I'll have to kill her."_

"Can't you be a little bit more supportive of your injured trainer?" The furry thing presses tighter against me and I cough as a warm tongue licks the side of my face.

"Renamon…" Her blue eyes light up and the next thing I know I'm covered in foxy kisses. "Get off, you moron, I'm drowning in canine spittle." I groan, trying and failing miserably to shove her off of me. "RENAMON…."

Whoever said foxes are more mature and refined than dogs…they lied. Renamon's nothing but a giant Labrador puppy. "Get off you idiot." I repeated firmly, shoving her upwards and then gasping out in pain as every single nerve seems to scream at me.

"OW OWOWOOWOOW THAT BLOODSUCKING OOOOOOWWWWW!"

I swear, nothing hurts worse than waking up to Crimson Lightning wounds. I curl up in the feeble position subconsciously, silently screaming and using some very creative swear words to describe exactly what I think of Myotismon.

"_Geez girl." _Renamon just growls over at Ralts.

"_I agree with her. Completely. No death is too painful for that monster, as far as I'm concerned."_

"_Ooh, I agree. You want to go for the cliché staking him through the heart or should we tie him to a post in the sunlight and watch him slowly bur-"_

"You both are very sadistic people." I say deadpan, sweatdropping. Although…he would sort of deserve it. I'm just not sure I'd ever be willing to take it to that level of cruel and unusual revenge.

Renamon curls her furry arms around me and I can smell her scent wrapping around me, and the feeling of familiarity and relief is almost overpowering. "Don't you EVER scare me like that again…I thought…I thought you were dead for sure….this is all my fault.."

"Wha? Why would you possibly think that this is your fault?" I give her a disbelieving look.

"…I should have known there was something wrong with…Damien." Her lips curl back in a ferocious snarl as she says his name. "The whole time it was MYOTISMON of all people and I couldn't…I almost let him…"

"Hey, you didn't let him do anything. No one lets Myotismon do anything, you know that. He just…steamrollers over everyone despite our best efforts. It is NOT your fault he's a MANIPUALTIVE and WORTHLESS PIECE OF ##$%$%%^^^&&&&&&*!"

"That…is quite a lot of obscenity." A vaguely familiar voice says deadpan, and Willis pokes his head in. "At least it proves you're better."

"Shut up." I grumble, pushing myself upwards.

"Well, if you're feeling better, I guess that means I can le-…." His voice is suddenly cut off and he's dragged down with a yelp as both Tai and Alexander are shoving their way through the doorway at the same time.

Suffice to say this doesn't really work out that well for them. I can only watch in stunned disbelief as Renamon giggles and Ralts just huffs in exasperation. And here I thought that sort of thing only happened in cartoons. Clearly, my life is just one massive sitcom.

The sound of cracking wood echoes as both of them manage to push their way through and then collapse on a heap on the floor.

"Fail." Matt says deadpan as he looks in, arching one eyebrow.

For once, Tai doesn't bother telling him to shut up, instead scrambling to his feet, his face icy pale as he walks over to me. "Oh thank God…" He breathes, burying his face in my shoulder. I feel my eyes burning slightly as I return the gesture, not even realizing how intimate this looks.

Without a doubt, Tai is my best friend, my rock, and if there's ever a time I wanted to break down and cry in this ordeal, it's when he's right there beside me.

I can hear the swish of Alexander's tail, and I can tell a part of him wants to pull me away and comfort me himself. But he doesn't. He lets me just damp Tai's shirt with my sobs. And by Yggdrasil…there are sobs….I think….maybe actually…from both of us.

Renamon picks up Ralts who for once isn't making her usual sardonic remarks, and Matt just sighs, before following the others out of the room and then closing the door.

"_She'll be okay." _Ralts says this with complete confidence, not allowing room for any doubt whatsoever in her voice. "_She's not going to let that undead Edward Cullen wannabe get her down."_

"How do you know about Twilight?" Matt asks her in disbelief.

"_Eh. First trainer. The fact that she liked that crap so much should have been a warning for me to run for the hills, now that I think about it."_

"…He played with her heart." Alexander growls, and the barely concealed rage in his voice is enough to make all of them flinch. Except for Matt. The kid was practically unflinchable, Renamon reflects. Maybe it was just because Matt and Gabumon were both made of so much sheer coolness nothing could intimidate them. Or maybe the hair gel soaked into their brains and made it so they couldn't even register danger.

Alexander's eyes, all three of them, are narrowed down to slits, and the aura he's giving off isn't just murderous, it's way past murderous.

Matt sighs. "Keep your head Alexander. Trust me, he's going to pay for this." The muscle jumps in Matt's jaw and he glowers. "I told you before, Lily is like my sister. And absolutely NO ONE…messes around with her and gets away with it."

"_I don't think SHE'LL let him get away with this crap." _Ralts states, crossing her stubby arms. "_She was so freaking pissed at him."_

"...If you tell me what she did, am I going to be tempted to beat my head against the wall a couple of times?" Agumon questions deadpan.

"_Let's just say that a lot of screaming occurred. And she may or may not have implied that Myotismon is a pedophile. But what can you do."_

"She did…"

"…"

Matt just sighs and rolls his eyes to heaven as Alexander stares at Ralts in disbelief, clearly now doubting the intelligence and self-preservation of his goddaughter.

"…Could have been worse." Gabumon smirks, his eyes clearly amused.

"Um, hello? Feeling very out of the loop here." Terriermon says, waving one giant ear around like an impatient child trying to answer a question in a test.,

"Sorry, it's….complicated." Renamon sighs.  
"Then maybe you should work at uncomplicating it." Willis says firmly. "Look, when Lily got back here, you saw how badly hurt she was. Those looked an awful lot like…"

"Whip scars…?" Edan walks out of the room, his own eyes narrowing down to slits, and the others all practically jump.

"Dang, you're like a ninja." Renamon says in disbelief, arching an eyebrow as Edan just shrugs. Willis is looking very alarmed at the statement whip scars and Gabumon growls slightly.

"…What are you asking for?" Alexander says flatly, crossing his arms over his chest as Matt scowls.

"Just answers, for the love of Yggdrasil. Look, I want to help protect Lily but I can't do that if I don't have a clue of what's going on. First there was the weirdness with her signal and I still don't know what to make of that…" Edan's voice trails off and he clenches his teeth. "The point is, you might think you're indebted to keep secrets for her, but you should care more about her safety than her secrets."

"…."

Edan gives the uncomfortable group one last firm stare before walking back into the other room of their hideout, where the lights from his laptop shine and D'Arcmon is standing in the doorway, looking very amused.

"Now I am going to try and contact the others. When you guys are ready to start acting like a team, let me know."

"…"

"Did he just…"

"That boy has a way with words." Renamon mutters, feeling the sensation of guilt creeping over her body again. It was a feeling she'd been way too familiar with for the past while. Taking a deep breath she closes her eyes. On the one hand, she's pretty sure that if she ratted out Lily's secret of being not human…a nephilim….Lily would probably kill her.

Well, okay. She wouldn't KILL Renamon. She'd just never trust her again. And that would break her heart. Loosing the trust of her partner, the one person she'd always stood beside? She wasn't sure she could do that. And yet….and yet…if it was what was best for Lily, wasn't she supposed to put Lily's best interests first?

Yggdrasil's underpants, why did everything have to be so freaking complicated?

….

Speaking of complicated….

Rosemon yells with pain as she's thrown OVER Lilithmon's shoulder and slams into the concrete of the building's roof. Groaning, she lies there for a moment, snarling defiantly as Lilithmon smirks way too innocently down at her.

"You ready to give up yet?"

"Not a chance." Rosemon hisses, staggering back to her feet, her pretty red outfit covered in tears as she lashes out more of her thorn whips out at Lilithmon, who just lazily slices through them.

"You know, I really believed you were more intelligent than that….' Lilithmon drawls out, lashing through the vines. "After the fiftieth time most people start to get the hint that doing the exact same thing doesn't work."

"How…?" Rosemon growls, her fingers curling into fists. "How are you so strong now when you have revoked everything you did in the past? I have absorbed the data of hundreds of Digimon, be they Rookies or Ultimates, and yet you still presume to challenge me."

Lilithmon felt her jaw dropping slightly at the unbelievable horror of what this Digimon was saying. "…You realize…." She begins faintly, fighting the desire to be sick. "That you basically just confessed to me you're a horrible mass murderer right?"

"Oh look who's talking….we've just been doing what you and the others taught us to do, my ladyship."

Lilithmon growls, fury in her voice now as she backhands the Digimon in the face, catching the other off guard and causing her to scream as her nose was certainly severely bruised if not broken from that punch.

"Listen here and listen closely." Lilithmon spits, her hackles rising along with her outrage as she stalks towards the girl. "I revoked that old life, we all did. And even at our worst, we were nothing…like what you're describing. You killed CHILDREN…."

"So did you! You can pretend all you like, but if you'd gotten the chance you would have killed that entire group of kids, wouldn't you?" Rosemon's lips curl into a smirk. "And they were your FRIENDS too, right? How sick is that. At least when I kill it's nothing personal."

"Because that makes all the difference in the world. " Lilithmon says deadpan. Her claws sharpen by her side and her eyes harden dangerously as she growls, "You should never have come back. And picked a fight you can't possibly win."

That was when the explosion happened, blasting upwards from the middle of town.

Lilithmon's eyes shoot open just as she's in the process of slicing through more of Rosemon's vines. Her entire body stiffens with horror, a gasp emitting from her as she jerks her head in the direction of the city's center.

That energy….but it….wasnt' possible, was it? Rosemon giggles at her old leader's horrified expression. "Oh yeah. You're not imagining things. Guess it all worked out nicely after all huh?"

"…That's not possible…" She breaths, feeling a chill go up her spine. She could sense so much hate in that energy, so much hate and an ovbearing desire for power.

"…Lucemon…."

YGGDRASIL'S FLAMING UNDERPANTS NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

"So now that we've got his lordship back where he belongs…." Rosemon beams. "We can recreate the Empire right? Wouldn't that be great? And we can have this world too, have it be purified like Lord Lucemon always talked about."

"HE DOESN'T WANT THIS!" Lilithmon roars, whipping her head back around, her fangs bared in absolute fury. "DON'T YOU GET IT?! WE DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE!"

Rosemon fake-pouts, looking disappointed. "Aw, that stinks, Lilithmon. We used to be like BFF's remember? Ah well. I'm sure I can get you to change your mind right?"

"NOT A CHANCE IN-"BEAUTY SHOCK!"

Lilithmon yells as the vines wrap back around her, catching her completely off guard, but there's something different about this attack. Before she can even try to break free the energy tears into her very nerves, her very brain, and she screams, doubling over in terrible pain.

Rosemon smirks as she stands over the Demon Lord of Lust writhing on the ground. "And if you don't like it, I'm sure I can convince his lordship you're not needed anymore. After all, I have always wanted to be a lady…"

"LADY MY #$%%^^^^^^^$#!"

Rosemon let out a yell of pain as she was slammed into from behind by a very angry fairy about half her height.

Lillymon levitated there with Mimi standing next to her, both of them looking wildly unimpressed and incredibly pissed.

Furious, Rosemon rose back to her full height and glowered, "You really think a pathetic Ultimate could beat me? I am worth about a hundred of all of you!"

"Yeah right." Mimi snaps, her brown eyes narrowing down to slits. "You're just a smug little brat who wants to play princess and doesn't care who she hurts, even if like you said, the person you're hurting used to be a friend of yours."

"…Friend?" Rosemon's eyes narrow down to slits.

"That's what you said isn't it? And let me tell you now, that I have had it up to HERE with sadistic creeps like you hurting MY friends."

Lillymon couldn't help but beam with pride despite the severeity of the situation. Mimi had grown so much so fast. The first time she'd met the girl, she'd been whiny, spoiled, and it had to be said, more than a little selfish.

The Mimi from four years ago was a far cry from the Mimi standing before her today. Suddenly her black eyes widen and she lets out a desperate cry of "MIMI WATCH OUT!" shoving her partner out of the way just as the whip lashes forwards again, tearing right through her right wing.

Lillymon can't help but scream and Mimi lets out a horrified scream as well. Lilithmnon screams as well, but this one of fury, as she struggles to tear herself free, but the unexpected attack had simply drained too much of her energy.

"LEAVE…THEM…ALONE!" She roars as the vines wrap forwards and cover her mouth, a crude but effective gag.

"Shut up." Rosemon snaps at her, her black eyes glittering with hatred as she glowers at Mimi and her injured partner. Lillymon is standing protectively in front of Mimi, despite her serious injuries, as Mimi looks on, terrified now.

"I hold nothing but contempt for the Digidestined." Rosemon growls, more menace and hate in her voice than you could possibly believe. "Weak, pathetic…."

"Don't you dare talk about Mimi like that…."

"I was talking about YOU you stupid little flower. To join forces with a human goes against the natural order of things. Digimon are strong by nature and humans…humans should subject themselves to us."

"What did we ever do to you?" Mimi cries out, frustration and fear in her voice.

"You specifically? Nothing." Rosemon's smile turns absolutely chilling. "But I want to send a message out to all who would side with the humans. They take away our power…those brats took away mine. And I will never ever FORGIVE THAT!"

"RRRRRRRRR!" Lilithmon screams into her gag, as she desperately tries to break free, but again to no avail.

"MIMI RUN!" Lillymon orders, panic filling her body as she dives at Rosemon to protect her partner, but Rosemon swats her aside, her cruel whip tearing forwards right at the vulnerable human girl.

Mimi's eyes widen with panic and she screams, just as the mark of Sincerity on her body bursts into green light.

"LILLYMON DIGIVOLVE TO….!"

…

GranDracmon rematerlizes out of the shadows, feeling his heart racing at a much faster pace than it ever has before. Which is seriously ironic, him being a vampire and all.

Oh Yggdrasil please don't let him be too late to stop this. Not again, not again….He scans the area, pupils slitting as he sees a distinct lack of other Digimon around.

No enemies…no sign of a certain petulant angel. At least not at the moment. GranDracmon growls lightly under his breath, and then tenses over completely when he hears a soft laugh behind him.

"Hello GranDracmon…."

CRAP. GranDracmon whirls around only to let out an admittedly embarrassing cry of pain as the sphere of light energy slams into his chest and nearly knocked him backwards.

Lucemon was levitating there, looking mildly amused. "A human form hmm? I have to say you look far less intimidating in this one, not that you ever did anyway."

"Lucemon…." GranDracmon hisses, flashing his fangs in warning.

"Oh PLEASE is that supposed to intimidate me? I'm amazed you even bothered to crawl out of the pits of the Dark Ocean after you were defeated so….shamefully."

"Oy." GranDracmon says deadpan, holding up a finger. "My defeat wasn't nearly as embarrassing as yours, thank you very much."

"My defeat?" Lucemon laughs. "How amusing—have you really paid absolute no attention to the outside world in the past six months? Or have you been sulking in that manor of yours?"

"_Six months…? But wait that means that Lucemon…or at least THIS form of him…is still. He still thinks ….oh. Ohhh no."  
_

"I have to admit, I have never seen this area of the Digital World before." Lucemon muses, turning his head to see the bustling city of DC behind him. "Odd….was this another part of your schemes, oh fallen one? Did the girl help you come up with this one, as well as trying to trap me in my weaker form?"

"Lucemon this is NOT who you are, you don't understand…."

GranDracmon dives quickly back into the shadows to avoid being hit by another attack, reappearing a moment later on the top of the building. He couldn't take too many hits like the one before after all.

And he can't hit back either. Not really. If he and Lucemon really wanted to, than at this stage, they could easily kill each other.

…GranDracmon doesn't want to see that happen. Never. Not when this entire mess is because of his own sins.

"PARADISE LOST!"

The rapid flurry of punches and kicks seems to come from absolutely nowhere, and GranDracmon roars in pain as a crack that is certainly his ribs echoes and he sprawls backwards, panting from pain as another kick hits him and knocks him to the ground.

"Pathetic…" Lucemon scowls playfully. "Come on, get up and fight. One-sided battles are so horribly DULL."

GranDracmon's brain frantically scans the area, searching for one way for him to come out of this battle alive but without killing the Demon Lord of Pride either.

"CRYSTAL REVOLUTION!"

The ice shoots up Lucemon's body seemingly out of nowhere, encasing him in a giant ice crystal. His startled expression is frozen onto his face and GranDracmon breathes a sigh of relief.

"That out to cool you down…" His voice trails off and he blinks in horror. "Oh did I REALLY just say that? The Digidestined are wearing off on me."

His sensitive ears catch the sound of cracking ice and he whips back around just in time to avoid a blast of light energy and then get shot in the chest with a blast of dark.

Lucemon smirks, the ice glinting on his skin not nearly as cold as the look in his eyes. " Nice trick…but you're not the only one whose learned some new moves…."

His right hand glows with dark energy and GranDracmon tenses, not expecting too much trouble with this one. After all, he is a dark creature himself.

However, he does not see this one coming at all. The dark sphere doesn't hit him, it ENCIRCLES him, sealing him in what was, for lack of a better term, pretty much a cage.

GranDracmon rolls his eyes, annoyed that Lucemon would honestly think that such a pathetic party trick would work on him and teleports right back out.

…Or….more like…he tries to teleport right back out. Because despite his best efforts, he didn't move. At all. Well…this was bad.

"So….?" Lucemon levitates in front of him and smiles dangerously. "You mind if we chat?"

"I think not." GranDracmon says flatly, forming his own Black Reqiuiem and letting the dark attack slam into the walls of the sphere. It doesn't do ANYTHING. In fact, the walls just crackled before they seem to strike back.

GranDracmon lets out a yell of agony, dropping to one knee from surprise. He'd NEVER felt a dark attack hurt like that before, holy crap…

Lucemon laughs, high and cold. "Good luck trying to get out of there. Trust me….my Live or Die can do a lot worse to you than this. So what will it be? Tell me what I want to know or continue to be a stubborn fool and deny the King of the Digital World?"

"You are not KING of anything." GranDracmon snarls back, furious now. "You are no more fit to be a ruler of the Digital World than I was all that time ago."

"I knew being defeated would make you sulk, GranDracmon, I didn't realize it would make you soft. Now because I am a patient person, I'll ask one more time. WHERE. ARE. THEY?"

GranDracmon blinks, confused for a moment, and then grimaces. There is only one group of people that would elicit so much rage from Lucemon, and indeed, only one group he ever held so much hate for.

"The Digidestined are long gone, Lucemon." GranDracmon sighs, meeting those cold pale blue eyes. "Long gone from your reach and long gone from mine."

Lucemon's fingers twitch slightly and he grinds his fangs. "…That cannot be….you're LYING….!"

"LUCE-"YOU! You and that dratted wizard, you somehow poisoned their minds and turned them against me! This is YOUR fault!"

…The really really sad truth that GranDracmon still hated to admit? It WAS his fault. Absolutely, unequivocally, his fault. Just not in the way that this version of Lucemon thought it was.

"I TRUSTED them! They were ALL I….AND YOU….SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!"

"LUCEMON GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" GranDracmon yells, slamming his hands into the dark barrier, not even caring how much it hurt.

Lucemon's howl of rage echoes across the city, like the cries of a tortured beast, and just for a moment, GranDracmon sees not the cruel tyrant in Lucemon's face, but the face of a confused, betrayed and heartbroken young boy who'd absolutely lost it all.

GranDracmon hangs his head for a moment, clenching his teeth together as he tries to find the words, though he knows absolutely nothing he says will make this better. "…What's done…IS DONE…Lucemon. I cannot change the past….though Yggdrasil knows I wish to…."

"Speak not that name." Lucemon snarls, his eyes blazing with anger. "Speak not the name of the old God, I AM the ruler of the Digital World, I. AM. GOD!"

"You call yourself a GOD?! All I see is a boy fallen so far into the madness of his own darkness that he can't even remember who he is….there is no POINT to this Lucemon!"

Lucemon's back is to him, his shoulders twitching repeatedly, and then slowly turns around. The smile on his face is enough to chill even GranDracmon's blood.

"…You know what? You're right…it's not worth it…." Lucemon smiles dangerously. "…I don't need your help of all things. I'll find them. I'll track them all down and I shall make those worthless traitors PAY!"

GranDracmon's eyes widen in alarm as Lucemon forms yet another sphere in his hand, this one made of light energy.

He throws it at full strength at GranDracmon's cage, and GranDracmon lets out a scream of pure agony as the light and the dark combine, and Lucemon's laugh echoes in his head as the attack seems to be stripping his data away,….

"ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!"

….

The Mekanoriomon continues to dive, the darkness of the ocean surrounding Joe like a living thing wrapping around him. Normally he would be terrified by something like this.

But right now, all he could think about was his partner, fighting one of their oldest enemies, alone, while he escaped to safety. Joe swallows hard, closing his eyes. That was probably the suckiest part of being a Digidestined. Knowing that you couldn't help your partner inside of a battle.

"Hey….he'll be okay.:" Dilbert looks over at him and offers him a comforting smile. Joe sighs. "You wouldn't understand, you've never had to leave your partner behind like this before."

Dilbert drops his head and sighs. "…You're right. But….that might not always be the case…." He says softly.

Joe glances back over at him, confused. "…What do you mean?"

Dilbert just stares out the window more, and the expression on his face is…unreadable….but a hint of sadness appears in his eyes.

"….Joe there's something..." His voice trails off and he sighs. "….Are you afraid of anything Joe?"

Joe blinks, confused. Did Dilbert have any idea of who he was talking too? "Are you kidding me? I'm afraid of about hundred different diseases, which is…really ironic because I chose to become a doctor…but I suppose the reason I chose it was because I could help people through their sicknesses, and I moved past it."

"So you're not afraid of diseases anymore?" Dilbert asks, arching an eyebrow. Joe shifts uncomfortrably in the very very tight corners. "Well I…wouldn't say that actually. I mean I am, but you know…people look up to me, so I have to move past it."

He stares out the window, a slight smile appearing on his face. "Did you know the first time I met Bukamon I was actually totally terrified of him?"

"Nice." Wormmon giggles, and Dilbert rolls his eyes and bops her on the head. "Understandable because you had just fallen into a world full of talking monsters."

Joe shrugs sheepishly. "Yeah well….I was actually terrified of Digimon in general when we first landed there. And it didn't help matters that a large portion of them seemed determined to try and kill us." He adds, making a face.

"…But you beat the Dark Masters and Apoclyamon."

"Yeah…." Joe shrugs and pushes his glasses back up his nose. "It's not like I did it on my own though. I doubt anyone could pull something like that off. I had my friend's help, every step of the way, you know? And well…even though sometimes all I wanted was to turn around and run back home…somehow I managed it."

Dilbert stares out the window into the deeper ocean, as though he's thinking about something.

"So…what about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are you afraid of?"

Dilbert traces a pattern on the window's grime and mumurs, as Wormmon stares worriedly up at him, "That I'll end up letting my friends down…..that I won't get done what needs to be done…."

"Well, if you mess up…" Joe tries to console him. "Then you'll always have a second chance, won't you?"

"…Sometimes there are no second chances." Dilbert says softly under his breath. Joe's brow furrows. "What are you-…"

Suddenly the Meknariomon starts beeping wildly and Joe yelps, pushing himself backwards with the instinct of a boy who knew when the loud noises and lights went off, that it rarely meant anything good.

"What is it?! What's happening?!"

Dilbert presses a few buttons himself, scowling in frustration as suddenly then the lights at the front of the Mekanariomon light up, cutting a path straight ahead of them through the darkness.

Joe has to force his mouth to close as he sees what's ahead of them. "…Have I gone….crazy?"

"Well if you have, so have the rest of us." Wormmon says softly, her big black eyes wide with disbelief.

"That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, you know."

Because standing in front of them, crumbled, ruined, was what appeared to be…..

"…A temple…?"

The pale stones of the temple shone in the middle of this dark place, kelp waving around it, strange inscriptions written on the archway of the enterance.

"Gateway to the Land of Dreams." Dilbert breaths, his eyes scanning the runes that looked as though they had been scrawled in ages ago. Joe blinks. "…You can read that?"

"It's written in Arsanic, the language the nephilim use. GranDracmon was the one who taught us it." Dilbert grimaces as the Mekanorimon drops down to the ocean's bottom and then calmly skids towards the enterance of the temple.

"I'm really not so sure about this."

"What…?" Joe fidgets uncomfortably in his seat, fighting the strange chill that runs down his spine. "If Gennai sent us here, than it must be for a good reason right?"

"…You trust him?"

"Completely and utterly." Joe says firmly, without a sliver of a doubt in his mind. "Gennai would never lead us into a trap. Besides, the nephilim are Lily's kind right? So…we're good?"

"That's like saying all Digimon or humans are good Joe." Dilbert says sharply. "It's a very naïve statement."

"Oh yeah, good point. But….this place is abandoned right?" The palace seems to be almost staring at them as they approach, with broken windows and doors, the entire place seems to be….almost watching them.

"Yggdrasil I hope so." Dilbert mutters grimly, not a hint of a joke in his voice. Joe glances back once more and shudders, feeling his Digivice in his pocket. "_Gommamon I need you…."_

…

Cyberdramon doesn't waste any time. Letting out a battle cry he charges forwards, ramming into ExVeemon at full strength and knocking him off balance.

ExVeemon yells as he's thrown head over heels tumbling through mid air, trying to regain feeling in his smaller wings as he feels the cold wrap around him.

He's a frigging reptile, and the frigging Artic is probably the worst possible place for a battle. He doesn't know why Cyberdramon isn't suffering from the same sort of problems, but he doesn't have much time to think about that as Cyberdramon's hooks start glowing again and he slashes his claws down, letting out a roar of "DESOLATION CLAW!"

ExVeemon frantically crosses his own arms over his chest, letting out a roar of "V-LASER!" The symbol on his chest burns bright orange before blasting upwards, colliding with Cyberdramon's own attack and watching the both of them explode like fireworks.

ExVeemon dives quickly downwards at a ridiculous angle, and Cyberdramon snarls with outrage at the idea that his prey would possibly be able to avoid him, charging after Davis' partner.

"YOU CAN DO IT!" Davis yells, punching the air and dancing around, looking sort of like a complete and utter moron, but at the moment he really doesn't care.

"Tsukaimon…" Stella blinks as she feels her partner shifting in her arms. He groans, slowly opening his eyes. "Stella….I lost. I let you down again."

"Shh, no you didn't, it wasn't your fault."

"Stella…that thing that attacked us…." He winces slightly in pain. "I could sense there was…something wrong with it."

"Well yeah I kind of noticed there was something weird about the giant rabbit about to murder us all."

"No, I mean…" Tsukaimon's voice trails off as he whispers weakly,"There's something wrong with….him specifically. There's a darkness inside of him tht doesn't belong there."

Stella's eyes narrow down to slits of confusion but before she can ask her partner to explain what the heck he means, there's another roar of pain from ExVeemon.

"NO!" Davis yells desperately as his partner is slammed into the side of a cliff, and Cyberdramon smirks, his claws pinning ExVeemon to the wall so he can't move no matter how much he thrashes and curses.

"CYBERDRAMON DON'T'!" Ryo screams, her face ash white and pale with horror as Cyberdramon brings back his right hand again, his claws glowing menacingly.

"I can't look." Wormmon whimpers, looking away with horror as he 's sure he's about to witness his friend's deletion.

That was before the giant phoenix appears out of nowhere and slams into Cyberdramon at full strength,

"You guys okay?!"

Stella's jaw practically drops down to her knees as Sora and Kari come racing up, concern on both of their faces.

Barbamon strokes his beard as he materlizes beside them and murmurs down at the young Candlemon, "My friend, it appears that once more your rashness has caused you to bite off more than you can chew."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Candlemon snaps grouchily, pushing himself back up to his stubby legs and shooting the older Demon Lord a look.

Barbamon chuckles. "Some things never change no matter what form you are in, correct?"

"Oh shut up."

"How did you know we were here?!" Ken asks in disbelief as he pushes himself upwards out of the snowy bank.

Kari holds up her Digivice. "Got a message from Edan! Thank goodness we found all of you! What's with Ryo? Is she okay?"

"Well let's think Kamiya." Ryo's voice cracks slightly as she snaps out, "My partner's gone psycho, I nearly drowned in the freaking Artic, how's that for starters?"

Cyberdramon roars, furious that he's been interrupted from a kill. ExVeemon charges upwards to fly next to Birdramon. "We are not your enemies, Cyberdramon! Try to think!"

Cyberdramon snarls and simply rushes the both of them once more, slamming into Birdramon's chest, and then raising his hands again only for them to be grabbed by ExVeemon.

"Not…this time…." ExVeemon snarls, baring his fangs at his darker dragon counterpart, as Cyberdramon struggles to break free from the other dragon's hold.

"Birdramon, I've got an idea that should knock him for a loop, but you're going to have to trust me!"

Birdramon lets out a shriek of approval, climbing higher into the sky, waiting for ExVeemon's signal. ExVeemon flares his wings out and soars upwards, dragging the resisting Cyberdramon with him.

Higher and higher he soars, until he feels like he can't get any oxygen in this cold, winter air. He hears Cyberdramon's increasingly frantic snarls and grimaces.

"I'm sorry I'm going to have to do this to you my friend, but believe me, it's for your own good!"

Cyberdramon lets out a snarl of outrage and fury as ExVeemon then as quickly as he'd soared upwards, he dives back down at top speed.

"WHOA!"

The blue streak speeds closer and closer to the ground, and Cyberdramon, in pure desperation, sinks his fangs into ExVeemon's arm, and ExVeemon takes that as a hint to drop him and let the rest of the plan begin.

"NOW BIRDRAMON!"

Birdramon's wings sparkle like stars before she flaps them, sending fireballs dancing downwards at top speed. The attack means that Cyberdramon doesn't have a chance to retaliate or dodge the imepending crash, so with one last defiant roar, he's driven into the ground, a huge explosion of snow shooting upwards.

"MONODRAMON!" Ryo screams, tearing free of the others and racing towards her partner, sheer panic on her face as she runs.

Davis sweatdrops and scratches the back of his head, looking over at Ken. "Um…maybe we went a tad bit overboard?"

"What do you think?" Ken asks deadpan, looking over his shoulder to shoot Davis a look.

"Oh come on! What else were we supposed to do, and not end up killing him? Of course I don't like hurting one of my friends but…."

"He'll be okay." Stella murmurs, resting a hand on Davis' shoulder before guilt can take over the Bearer of Miracles, and then gives Ken a stern look. "You know he didn't really have a choice."

"…Yeah. I'm sorry." He mutters over at Davis before bolting forwards to his girlfriend. In the middle of an admittedly huge crater, Monodramon, now thankfully back in his Rookie form, groans and rubs his head.

"What…hit me….?" He groans, trying to shove himself back upwards.

"That would have been me." ExVeemon says guilty, standing off the side and scratching the back of his head. "Oh and uh, her too." He gestures over to Birdramon who rolls her eyes and takes a step forward.

"Sorry about that, but you really didn't leave us much choice."

"Yeah…I know." He mumbles, looking down shamefacedly. "I'm just glad you managed to snap me out of that before…." His voice trails off and he looks away. Ryo hugs him. "It could have been worse." She whispers softly to him.

"Ryo, what the heck?"

She looks away as Stella stares down at her. "…I don't…." Her voice trails off and she sighs. "…I know what you're thinking. I swear, he's not…."

"Then what is he?" Stella's voice was quiet and dead serious, and Ken and Davis exchanged uneasy glances. The tense atmosphere was completely broken when a yell of panic echoes throughout the ice sky.

Davis glances sharply upwards, his face paling as he saw what exactly was falling towards him. "OH NO NO NO NO." He frantically ran forwards with his arms out as though he was going to try and catch her, but that proved to be a remarkably stupid idea. Yolei landed right on top of him, thankfully not from very high up, but still managed to squish him quite deep into the ground.

"…Oops. Eh heh. Sorry Davis."

He just lets out a faint whimper from his painful position.

"Are we too late to help?" Aquilamon growls, spreading his wings out as he comes into a descent."Birdramon, I trust you had a reason for flying ahead and leaving me in the dust."

"Simple. I knew the others were in trouble and I knew it was a time for haste." She interjects. "I knew you would find us though, Aquilamon. I had faith in your abilities." She cocks her head to one side and looks at him. "…Don't you?"

"…Well of course I have faith in my….that is to say…"

Ignoring the spluttering of her partner, Yolei says, shivering, "So…what did I miss?"

"I think a certain someone is about to start finally explaining." Stella says firmly, turning her head to look at Ryo and Monodramon, causing tenses and side looks at each other.

"Ryo…." Ken lays a hand on her shoulder causing her to startle. "….Do you trust me or not?" He says wearily, looking into her face.

Ryo grips her arm subconsciously. "I…I do trust you…it's just…it's just so complicated…." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "….But I don't know…" Her voice is so soft she can barely be heard. "I don't know how much longer I can run from this."

"Run from what?"

Monodramon nudges her leg and she sighes miserably. "…All right….fine….but trust me, Stella, if you and the tamers don't like me now, you're going to freaking hate me after you get a load of this bullcrap."

…

My eyes slowly open to realize I'm still lying on the couch of whatever house we've managed to fins sanctuary in. I groan and push myself upwards only to realize that there is an arm tightly wrapped around my waist.

For a moment I panic and whirl around to sock said assailant in the face before I realize that the "assailant" is none other than Tai Kamiya, whose head is resting on my shoulder and whose soft breathing probably woke me up.

Which I know, is sleeping ridiculously light but hey, what can you do….wait a second…why exactly am I cuddling up with Tai, on a strange couch, with no one else around AND OH HOLY YGGDRASIL DID WE?!

…Well considering we were both clothed still I was guessing probably not. Which was probably a good thing for Tai, because if Alexander was around, and he found out, we'd probably end up scraping Tai off of the wall.

I shudder and roll over so my back is pressed to Tai's stomach. Yup. I really, really hope that Alexander doesn't come in here, or Matt for that matter, because Matt would also assume the worse but then promptly blackmail us for the rest of our lives.

Yup. Matt's sort of a jerkish older brother at times, he really, really is. But worries about my overprotective father and sneak of an older brother vanish from my mind as I remember the images that had been passing through my brain.

I shudder and press my hands to my face subconsciously, as though I can hide from what I saw. It's like they'd been blocked from my memories, but I could remember…burned villages…Digimon screaming in pain, in agony, mothers wailing for their children and vice versa.

And all of us..me Gatomon, and Phantomon laughing like mad men as we ran around beating people senseless-that is if we didn't straight up kill them.

Oh YGGDRASIL. I could feel whatever food was in my stomach rising up to my throat, and for a moment I was horrified I'd end up puking all over Tai and the couch.

My gosh I am a monster I HATE myself. Swallowing hard, I glance back down at Tai and take a deep breath. He looked so frigging peaceful there, with a faint smile on his face.

…I held my head in my hands as I contemplated what the heck I should do. The fact that I'd done…horrible things in my past wasn't really what freaked me out. Well okay, it did freak me out, but that wasn't the main issue.

Plenty of people had done barbaric things in their history. Look at what Ken had used to do, even if he had thought the Digiworld had been simply a game. But what REALLY terrified me was the fact that until this point, I couldn't remember any of it.

Until now, at least. I didn't know why I was now starting to remember things, but it absolutely terrified me. What I had done, what I could do, and not know until years later.

What the heck was WRONG with me?! What if…what if at some point I ended up killing someone I loved and I'd never even know—because clearly I could snap, I had snapped before. It didn't make any sense…

I shudder, picturing that nightmare I'd had months ago when I'd ended up blasting Tai point blank in the chest with an attack, shattering his rib cage and heart and the blo-oh FANGLONGMON STOP IT!

I grit my teeth, shaking my head wildly and hear the sound of Tai stirring beside me. I stare down at him for a moment, my expression softens and I sigh. What exactly could I tell them? That I feared that I was a bomb just waiting to go off with the right provocation, and I couldn't allow that? If I did blow up, I wanted it to be with as little casualties as possible.

…Darn. They were going to be so freaking PISSED when they woke up, and I was gone again. I hesitate and notice a small notepad sitting on the nightstand, and quickly scribble a note.

"_Need to figure some things out. Will be back soon, I promise." _I wasn't sure if this note would make anything much better. They'd still be pissed. But at least they wouldn't panic thinking I'd been kidnapped again.

As I step towards the back door, I hear the sound of a soft mumur behind me. Tai rolls over on the couch, muttering something about food. I roll my eyes because that's just so darn typical it's pathetic before my expression softens as I stare at him.

His bangs hang into his face, his hair even messier than usual, with his face screwed up in an expression that's far too serious, that shows he's thinking. I always thought that expression was sort of adorable.

…Okay I lied. Completely adorable. Man, what I was I thinking?! I inwardly screamed at myself as I lean forwards subconsciously.

Don't do it…don't do it…you're going to make it SOOO much harder on yourself…my lips press against Tai's, and he lets out a soft sigh in his sleep. I bury my hands in his hair and press harder, trying to say all the things I couldn't say out loud.

Pulling away from him…was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. My fingers trace over his cheek and I manage one more choked whisper of, "…Goodbye."

I have to force myself not to look at him as I sneak out of the room, shoving the window open. I glance back for a moment to see Matt, Gabumon, Agumon and Willis sleeping in another room, Renamon lying on top of all of them like they're her personal pillows or something. I have to force myself not to giggle before I realize something that quickly makes me sober.

Where's Alexander? I swallow hard, my eyes scanning through the darkness, knowing that the chances of me detecting him if he's purporsely watching me are about, oh a thousand to one.

Unless he wants to be seen you'd never know he's there. And he'd never be okay with my feeling that the best solution was for me to leave.

There's the snap of a branch and I quickly duck behind a tree, breathing hard. Sure enough, Alexander is standing in the middle of the forest, looking grim as he stares up at the sky.

...Man I am in sooo much trouble. Swallowing hard, I contemplate what exactly I can do to save myself from probably getting grounded for the rest of my life, when I realize that Alexander isn't paying attention to me. Which is weird.

Alexander is staring up at the night sky,with a look of such aggravation and worry that I can't help feeling really really guilty. Even if he's not worried because of me, my running away will probably cause him to pull his hair out.

But I don't have a choice. I mean, of course I'm not dangerous to them—yeah…me possibly put a scratch on any Demon Lord, I don't think so. But the whole point is that I don't know what could happen. I don't

I have to do what's best for all of them….and if that means leaving than so be it. I quietly make my way through the forest as fast and as unnoticeably as possible, desperately hoping for a clearing.

When I finally do make my way out of the wooded area, it's not a clearing, but a cliff. I swallow hard and look back once more. There's no sign that any of them have come out to search for me. No sign that any of them even know something is wrong.

And that's…probably for the best. Let them live without the chance that one of their own could turn on them. I swallow hard once more before taking a deep breath. I can do this. The ground crunches under my feet as I stare down at the ground below—not very far, only a thirty feet drop. I unfurl my wings, the black feathers brushing against my face. Closing my eyes I jump.

The wind flows through my feathers and yanks my hair back from my face. "I'll come back." I whisper under my breath, not daring to look back around, because I'm afraid if I do, I'll lose the little nerve I still have in this situation.

"…I promise I'll come back." I repeat firmly before holding up my hand, my Alpha Tamer Ring glowing. Sighing, I shout out the words that will take me to the place where I know answers must be. "DIGIPORT OPEN!"

…

"Hey loser!"

The little girl slowly looks up from her book, wincing slightly as she sees the usual crowd of bullies around her.

"Hey Noriko. Is it true your Dad ran out on you?" More sniggers filled the crowd and Noriko feels her face pale slightly. "Can't believe your sister is that hot cheerleader and you're sitting here like a dorky mouse."

She stares around at the circle of mocking faces and swallows hard. "I…."

"Hey, whatcha reading?"

"Give that back!"

The main ringleader laughs loudly as he holds it up over his head, smirking as she dances on the spot trying to reach her book again.

"Come on shortie! Is that the best you can do?!"

Noriko hates herself for it, but she can feel the beginning of tears starting in her eyes. "Just give it back! Please!"

The bell from the school echoes and the boy to the right said, a bit awkwardly, "Come on Tom, you can give her book back now, we have to get to class."

The main bully smiles darkly. "Oh sure. I'll give it back." He laughs before throwing it over his head, smirking at Noriko's horrified cry.

The book lands in a puddle of mud, and Tom just keeps laughing even as she falls to her knees. That is before he gets punched in the face so hard he flies back into the playground equipmemt.

"That's no way to treat a girl…" The voice purrs hypnotically close to her. A boy with black hair and blue eyes stands there smirking. Tom is lying there in the mud groaning and struggles to push himself back to his feet, his face covered with blood.

"Hey man what the-" He screams as his back suddenly curves at a horrible angle, like he's being bent in half. The other students scream as well and bolt, as Noriko can only watch in horrified fascination.

"…Stop it. You're really hurting him!"

"And don't you think he deserves it?" The older boy cocks his head at her as Tom keeps screaming. "He's hurt you plenty of times, hasn't he?"

"Well…yes but…."

The boy rolls his eyes and makes a slashing movement with his hand and Tom collapses, not moving. "Relax, little one." He says as Noriko starts forward in alarm. "He'll be fine…mostly…" He adds quietly under his breath.

"…Who are you?" She whispers.

The boy smile and holds out her book, which is suddenly not covered in mud anymore. "I can take you away if you like. To a place where you'll never have to be bullied again. And people will accept you for who you are, not your father's failings or your sister's achievements."

…That sounded amazing. "W-where is this place?"

His smile grows. "Ever heard of the Digital World?


End file.

Digimon, Adventure, Humor